How do you remember?

So yesterday was November 11th which here in Canada is Remembrance Day and in the US is Veterans Day.  As with most people my kids had the day off from school and my day off from work was lost due to an emergency coming up.  Most of my clients worked in lieu of a day off at Christmas time.  So my question is how do you remember the sacrifices that the soldiers made and are still making if you are working and probably worked right through 11:11am with out ever realizing that you are to pause for a moment of silence.

I understand that in our society of mixed cultures that new immigrants may not realize the significance of November 11th nor do they probably care, but should that not be something taught to new immigrants to the country and taught to our children in school so that we don’t forget the sacrifices made to make our life better?

I know that one day is not really that big of a deal compared to what the soldiers went through but I think that is the least that our country can do for those that were killed, injured or simply fought so that we did and do not have to.

Today’s society has become forgetful and complacent with where we are in the world standing and it is a sad day that I think in the end will hurt us as a whole. With that I will leave you with a famous quote “Those who forget history are bound to repeat it”. Remember the past and if you see a soldier or veteran walking in the street don’t forget to stop and say thank you.

To be vaccinated or not?

Today Canada has released the vaccination for the H1N1 virus and are pushing radio ads, newspaper ads and pamphlets to say that you should be vaccinated and what to do if you get this horrific deadly disease.

I agree 100% that if you are at high risk for something you should get vaccinated for it. If you are not a high risk person I wonder why you would put your body through anything that could have possible side effects, one of which is death.

Some numbers for you to think about before you decide on whether or not to get the H1N1 vaccine. 250,000 - 500,000 people die every year from the regular run of the mill flu that you never hear about. This year (since January 1), 5000 people have died from the H1N1 virus world wide. Of those people that die from the regular flu or H1N1 nearly all of them have an underlying health issue that is exasperated by the flu and that is what actually kills them.

So I implore you before being a sheep and going and getting it just because everyone is telling you too, do your own research , talk to your doctor, see if your at high risk or not and decide based on facts whether or not you should put your health at risk by either getting this shot or by getting the flu. We are not talking about the black plague here, it is just a flu bug much like any other flu bug that you may catch this year.

H1N1, Pandemic or News Story?

So the top of the news list recently has been H1N1 and the way governments around the world are handling it (or mishandling it if you talk to certain people). I have an issue with the way this story is being portrayed and how misinformed people are about this "evil flu".

In 1976/77 a swine flu spread across the US and the world. People feared it was the same flu that caused world wide chaos and death in 1918 so they began to panic and called on the government to do something. They quickly released a vaccine for this flu and it turned out the vaccine killed more people than the actual flu did. Many to this day still believe it was more a political problem than an actual pandemic.

Now flash forward to the current situation, the media is hyping about how bad this flu is, how it is spreading world wide at unprecedented speed and how with out a vaccine the death toll will be massive. The WHO called it a pandemic before it ever left Mexico, the world has seen deaths in the hundreds (yes that is correct hundreds, not thousands, not millions but hundreds). Most people that get H1N1 get a runny nose, high fever, cough, sneeze and feel dead to the world for a few days up to two weeks (wow that sounds like how I feel when I get any flu). So what makes this flu so much different than any other flu strain that is floating around? I really don't know, I'm not a doctor or a scientist but the only difference I have seen is that it is giving the media tons to report on and the government's of the world something to fight over.

Now that fall is here and "Flu Season" is right around the corner what will happen? We will see death's from H1N1, we will see death's from other flu strains but the world will continue to survive and the government's will continue to fight, and the media will continue to blow things out of proportion in the name of ratings and sponsorship dollars. My advice to you is quite simple, ignore the hype, ignore the media, tell the government to get back to working on real issues and if you happen to get the flu, take something for it and if it seems to be getting worse go see your doctor and get him to give you something to help you out with the fever and the pain.
I personally will not be worried about dropping dead from any form of the flu but I will stock up on Nyquil cold and flu and will take to bed rest if I do get sick.

Political Parties in Canada suck.

It's been awhile since I posted my last blog as I have been busy and didn't really have much to blog about. Well leave it to the political parties in Canada to start fall off with a bang and give me more to get pissed off about.

If you haven't heard the Liberals have released 3 of 6 new pre-election ads to the Internet today. Now that in itself I don't have a problem with. What I have a problem with is how they (and their supporters) were constantly up in arms about the Conservatives having pre-election attack ads. Now I don't agree with Conservative attack ads either but at least we expected it from them. The high and mighty Liberals are always saying how they are offside and would never stoop so low. Well the English (1 out of the three) ad is very positive and saying how we can do better, the French ads are all about attacking the Conservative party.
Now why do you think they would do that? Quite simply, they know they are going to get more seats in Quebec than in the rest of Canada so why not bash the Conservatives the hardest where they can get the most gains.

What really pisses me off about this is that all the political parties do the same crap all the time. They say how they are so much better than the other parties and then turn around and do what they are yelling at the other party for doing.

Do I think the Conservatives are the god send to Canada? No. Do I think the Liberals will be a better government? No. Do I really think any other party has a shot in hell of winning? No.

Here are a few things to remember.

1) The Liberals started us down the road of economic shit.
2) The Conservatives have not really done anything to help.
3) The Liberals are wanting an election now so that they can take credit for a recovering economy even though it is recovering with out any real help from the government.
4) Every story that comes out is biased one way or another and the writer is trying to sell papers.
5) If you read a story actually look at what the history behind it is before you blindly believe anything you just read. (Example, Omar Khadr. He has been in prison for 7 years 3 of which the Liberals were in power and did nothing but the stories are always about how the Conservatives have done nothing).
6) All political parties are out for personal gain and could care less about you except during an election where they want your vote.

I know people have strong views when it comes to political affiliation but try and take your blinders off. I have voted in every Civic, Provincial and Federal election since I was 18 and take pride in doing that, however after 4 elections in 5 years I am really sick of the crap that is politics and the bs that every party throws out there. In Canada we have a lot of freedom which is great, I would not move from here for anything as I love my country but when you look at our political parties we have to give our heads a shake and really think what is best for our great country. We have a party that's sole purpose is to tear apart the country (the Bloc Quebecois), a party that is extremely left leaning socialist that will get in to bed with anyone to get any semblance of power (the NDP), a party feels it is their divine right to rule (the Liberals), and a party that is currently more about attacking other parties than trying to rule the country (the Conservatives). None of these parties are any better than the rest and if we have another election, nothing new will be settled. We will have another minority government and it doesn't matter which party is in power it will fail within a year and we will go to the polls again.

So my suggestion is that you write to which ever party you support, tell them to grow up, start acting like adults and work together without pushing their own agenda because in all honesty we know each political party is pretending to work with each other but the reason it is not working is that they are to busy trying to prove they are better and have better ideas than the other guy.

To end off remember the famous quote Anyone smart enough to be a good politician is smart enough to never become a politician.

NHL, Can they have worse Ref's?

I have been biting my toungue (more or less) on this issue for the better part of the season, but after watching the first round of the playoffs and a couple games of the second round, I can't really hold my toungue anymore.

The NHL is becoming more of a joke every year and every game. The penalties are getting worse and worse, you touch a guy and seem to get a penalty but when you go out of your way and head shot a guy, unless he goes down with an injury, you don't have a call. Perhaps the NHL needs to go with less rules instead of more in order to help these ref's as they seem to get confused as to what a penalty is. A guy putting his stick in another guy for .5 seconds doesn't really need to be called. Instead maybe you should call the penalties where guys are getting hit in the head with elbows, sticks or anything else.

Then if the penalties aren't dumb enough you have dumb and dumber up running the show and they suspend based on injuries to the player instead of making the suspension based on the action. I don't care if a guy gets hit in the head and bounces up or if a guy gets hit in the head and is out for the season, it should be the same suspension to both.

If the NHL really wants to make themselves a true professional support, instead of making rules to stop fighting perhaps they should look at the clowns in the striped shirts and try to improve the on ice play.

George W in Calgary

So today was the day George W. Bush was invited to Calgary to speak to the Chamber of Commerce (the same people that invited Bill Clinton). Now I don't really care if you like or hate George W. he is an unemployed former politician that was in charge of a country for 8 years during one of the hardest times in the world for a very long time.
I personally don't care for the man but then again I never met him so who am I or you to say what he is really like. Yes there are video's of him being a moron and saying stupid things but hey if camera's were on us as much as they were on him I am sure we would say stupid things too. The problem I have is the 100 or so moron's that went to downtown Calgary to protest this man and call him things like war criminal. I find these people are the really stupid ones. War criminals would be the people who are kidnapping our soldiers and aid workers and beheading them. I am sorry that not everyone captured by the US was treated with kid gloves and given a fair trial in a timely fashion but really when you protest Bush calling him a war criminal you are siding with these people that are the true criminals.
With the world in as bad shape as it is (which I am sure many of these protestors blame Bush for the entire world market crashing), I personally think there are better things to do than to protest an unemployed politician who never really thought for himself.

If anyone honestly really thinks the Bush is to blame for everything in the world then perhaps Darwin needs to step up and remove them from the food chain as they really prove that they are no smarter than the man that they hate and despise so much.

If you look back in history, look at the things that have happened during wars like World War 1 and 2. Do you call the russian leaders at the time War criminals? They shot and killed their own men as well as enemy troops. 15-20% of POW's died of starvation in World War 1. How about the US rounding up Japanese and German descendants and putting them in war camps in the US during World War2? Was the president at the time a war criminal?

As I said before I am in no means a supporter of Bush or what the US GOVERNMENT has done with the war in Iraq but for people to think it was ll Bush and to say he is evil incarnate really need to give their head a shake. Wake up, look at the real world and try to do things to make the world a better place and I don't mean by protesting an idiot retired politician.

What has happened to today's media?

My Rant today comes on the heels of a blockbuster news story out of Montreal that actually had me stay up later than I wanted to just so I could hear it. A newspaper in Montreal released a tidbit of information to a bunch of different media outlets saying that they had a news story that was running tomorrow (Friday Feb 20th) that would rock Montreal and the Canadiens organization.
Well it turns out that after having the entire internet and press corp running with wild accusations that it was nothing more than a couple players were acquainted with a guy arrested in a sweep of organized crime a week ago. The charges have been laid against said players and there is no proof they did anything illegal.

This got me thinking about several news outlets and the way they report stories. Everything in today's news is sensationalized and very tabloid orientated due to the fact that the more viewers/readers they get the more advertisers they get and the more money they ultimately make. This to me is a major problem, the news is supposed to be unbiased and based on facts so that people become informed and not about making the most money. When their focus changes from just reporting the news to sensationalizing it, I think they start to lose credibility and perhaps even cause the world to ignore real problems because they are constantly reporting that the sky is falling.

How do we end this? I really don't know. The problem is if you manage it by the government or just let one body fund the media they will control the content which is no better. Perhaps we must take it as a civilized world to not buy or watch news programs that we know are becoming to tabloidish and hope that real news organizations (if there are any left) survive and get us the real news and not the fake Lochness monster, alien babies, and stars screwing everything is site stories.

Why are people so dumb when driving?

Driving as much as I do everyday I run into just about everything you can imagine and it raises the question as to why people are so stupid when they get behind the wheel of a car?

I by no means am a patient man or a perfect driver but there are just some common sense things that people seem to not know what to do.

How can you get a driver's license and keep it if you can follow the rules of the road? A yeild is a big triangle that is red and white, a merge is the big yellow triangle with the word MERGE on it. Is that really difficult to figure out?

When changing lanes is that hard to reach over and turn on the little turn signal switch? I seem to have no problems with it but it would seem most cars don't come with turn signals as no one else uses them. The other issue I have with this is when I do put on my turn signal and the guy that is about a car length behind in the lane I want to go to speeds up when he see's my turn signal. Are you really in that much og a hurry that one car length will cause you to be late?

Speed limit signs. They are there to let us know the max speed you are to go, however, it doesn't mean you should go 30 under that in the left lane (which in most civilized countries is considered the fast lane). I have no problem if people are driving the speed limit, I can slow down and drive that limit if I have to but come on do you really have to drive 20-30 below on a clear sunny day?

Finally, and I know I am guilty to a certain extent, why the hell do people feel they have to do everything while driving in there cars? I look at the odd email or will send a quick text (most of the time when stopped at a red light) but do you really need to smoke a cigarette, put on your lip gloss, drink your coffee, talk on your phone and read the newspaper all at the same time while driving 80km down a main road with lights always turning red?

People need to wake up a few minutes earlier in the morning so they can be fully awake and ready when they get in their cars, that way they can focus on driving and following the rules of the road. If everyone did that I am sure that instead of 20 - 30 accidents in every city every day there would only be the odd one. Do you think it will happen? Me either but hey we can always hope right?

Global Warming truth or fiction?

Everyday there are several articles on the Internet about Global Warming and it makes one wonder is it really happening or not?

Yes, I believe we are having Global Warming. Whether or not humans are the cause of this is what I have a problem with. You look at most studies and they show a couple hundred years of statistics. Really, a couple hundred years is your proof? If we had been around in the ice age (which we are technically still coming out of) would you blame man kind for it or for the warming that has been occurring since? Do people not realize the Arctic used to be a tropical rain forest?

The Earth changes and yes we have some control over it but once again man is thinking they are greater than this entire planet that has been around for billions of years.

Do I think we need to change?

Yes, but not Global Warming, lets spend the billions being wasted right now on things like recycling, removing real pollutants (not CO2) from our atmosphere, water ways and our soil. Stop blaming every weather pattern, temperature change and anomaly on CO2 (hell in the 70's they predicted we were entering another ice age and to produce more).

What really pisses me off is when people take a disaster (such as the Australian wildfires) and blame it on weather change the same day that hundreds of people are killed while they slept. The worlds scientists (which are paid based on how quickly they can get funding for something) need to grow up and instead of fighting for funding actually spend their time using real science to come up with real solutions.

Remember not everything on the internet you read is the truth.

Autism and Vaccines

Today's blog is all about a news story I just watched tonight about a court ruling in the states that said there was no link between the Autism Spectrum and vaccinations.

I have no problem with people looking to find the reason for diseases but the only reason these people are looking at vaccinations as the cause is so they can sue someone. If 1 in 160 children have some form of the Autism Spectrum can you really say that something all 160 kids get is the cause of it? They also say that Autism is on the rise since vaccinations have started? Really since Autism and the spectrum is a fairly new diagnoses of course it's on the rise because before they lumped everyone into the same category as Mentally Retarded. Now they actually have created more defined reasonings for things so with every new discovery it will automatically cause it to increase in numbers.

I am all for finding reasons for disease so we can cure it but as I have a child in the Autism Spectrum, I personally think that is a hereditary type disease and not caused by anything given to the child. I am also working on dealing with it and getting him the help he needs not trying to find someone to sue, which is what all parents should be doing.

Today's society is to set in trying to find someone to blame instead of looking for solutions or ways to make the world a better place. Instead of suing everyone for every stupid little problem or finding someone to blame for nature, or an accident. Grow up, learn to live with it and make the best of the way life is.
I personally would not change anything with my son, he is loving, affectionate, and very unique in the way he looks at the world. It makes me look at things differently and brings a smile to my face when I am with him. Yes things are sometimes difficult and frustrating, but we are grownups and we learn to deal with the problems in life instead of looking to blame someone.