Birdy

No, not starting a new tradition, truth be told we got in the car just after eleven, not really realizing the time.

Thanks Myrna, it was a good day. The whole dreading work thing is a Sunday night weekly occurence, it passes Monday morning around 9.15 when i'm back in the swing of things. I'm very grateful for it all!

I woke up with a wino headache and a serious hangover, hung out for a little bit and ventured off to breakfast with some friends. We pulled in the parking lot at 11.10 am and sat still till the clock hit 11.11. Then we had a moment of silence. We went in and I ordered two scrambled eggs/bacon/brown toast, one cup of coffee which turned out to be shitty and a big glass of orange juice. We talked about our grandparents and war. Chris’ grandpa freed his grandma from a German concentration camp by bribing a nazi with a carton of American cigarettes. My great uncle was honourably discharged for a shrapnel’ed leg and came home to live with my grandma. He had been living with them for 6 years before my dad was born and continued to live there for another ten before he died. My dad says he can remember waking up at night to my uncle screaming and hiding in the closet. After breakfast we ventured home. I read my book and did a crossword puzzle before falling asleep. Three hours later my mom called, asking me to stop at the grocery store to pick up a few things for dinner on my way over. I arrived to find my baby niece standing on the floor arranging alphabet magnets on the fridge. She turned and smiled and pointed as I walked in. We had a tomato casserole for dinner, my great grandmother’s recipe, it was delicious. I said our family grace and told everyone I was thankful there were people out there who had the courage to sacrifice their lives and families and freedoms to allow us to sit here today. Dinner was good and my niece said my name for her first time. Now I’m here, drinking a cup of tea, surfing the internet and considering going to bed. I so don’t want to go to work tomorrow!

I will sympathize with you, but I can't say denying a city infrastructure money in a budget is tyrannical behaviour. I can't help but imagine the response of a person who is *actually* living under such oppression hear of Canadians complaining about money-allocation issues as tyrannical... i imagine they'd either be seriously pissed or laugh their faces off. I agree most cities in Canada are in need of major infrastructure upgrades, but the lack of funding isn't 'incomprehensible'. It's far, far more important considering the nature of the global economy in these uncertain days to focus our attention on making good payments on the federal debt, improving trade relationships (!! now that our dollar is at all time record high) and decreasing our dependency on oil. I'd rather have a strong economy secure enough to focus on improvements, rather than a weak and volatile one with good city infrastructure. By then it may not even matter as most Canadian citizens could be out of work and/or not able to afford a car to drive down a super highway. In the meantime, for me at least, it comes down to the old adage, 'short term pain, for long term gain'.

You must hit up Cafe Calabria on commercial drive for the most delicious coffee you'll ever drink in Canada.

o. m. g. i respect your dramatization for debate purposes (hey, i'm all about it), but C'MON! How does Harper 'routinely ignore the will of the people'? I can see you personally not agreeing with some policy issues, but i wouldn't say he's ignoring the will of the people. If he was, where's the leader of the opposition who should be protecting that will of yours? If i was of your mindframe where i thought these things (which i really, really don't) i'd be more pissed that the leader of the opposition didn't have the balls to stand up and say something... no? Even worse, should Stephan Dion agree with you and truly think Harper's ignoring the will of the people, he's an even bigger schmuck in letting it all side while waiting out the best possible time for an election. If he really thinks Harpers policy making *that* detrimental to Canada and for Canadians, shouldn't he be doing something about it now? I'd think so. I'd hope so. But he isn't, and are you okay with that? :crazy: I don't know where to start with the rest of your post!

I hear you. But i also don't think that sentencing a person to live in a 8x8 cell for the rest of his or her life is 'saving'. Although it does give the judicial system a chance to right a wrong should such a person be found not guilty after all. I hear you.

Please! I have a hard time imagining this, knowing to what little degree I do of other goings on in the world. Think about those living in Pakistan under a state of emergency if you think the firing of a government official implies dark days. This one's a tough one. Do you look within and find the strength to stick up for the rights of a convicted murderer because of how you feel about punishment, or do you let it go and think he's a man with some degree of reason who committed a crime in a place where the penalty for that is more severe? I'm leaning a little to the latter and i'm the furthest thing from being in favour of capital punishment... maybe just because he's a murderer. I can't help think of that one dude who got caned over in Asia years back for chewing gum or something like that... I'd fight for him. I guess i just don't like people who kill other people.

I think i may have a girl crush on Maggie Gyllenhall.

I love: travel, big-budget parties, cool people, million dollar cars. I hate: managing people, 7 days a week cellphone/emails, pre-auction stress-outs.

My heart goes out to all of the *Canadians* in Afghanistan... here's to hoping that place can once again be a hippie heaven!

I'm still dying to know!

I remember.

i also stayed at a hotel that George Bush was staying at, at the same time. that was... er... interesting.

slippers, happy hours, windows that open, views, whirlpool tubs, in-room movies, pillow options, extra blankets, late night room service, bell boys... i stayed at a hotel once that had a gi-normous chessboard with life size chess pieces. that was fun!

I'm in the classic car auction biz and take care of really, really rich dudes.

lol. i'm hot off the press.

I don't think we should have to. If people claim to be conscientious enough to care about what the effects the GST cuts will have on social spending, should they not be able to donate that money themselves? Sorry, but without pointing fingers as I really don't know, it just reeks of hypocrisy to me. If you want to make a difference, friggin' make a difference. Why rely on some government entity, which considering the volatility of the economy may not be a sure shot, to do the work for you?

hehe.. i read the same article and ended with a feeling of personal outrage!

I think funding faith-based schools noble in nature but really unfeasible and any sort of political promises to support it are bound to hurt some electorate, somewhere. Regardless of our history, continuing to fund the Catholic school board is undoubtedly creating a culture of entitlement amongst other religious groups. My vote would be to abolish all funding of religious schools entirely and to create a broad curriculum of religious studies in our public system.

I guess my question then is how are you being tolerant when you call to task people whose religion dictates intolerance? Even if it's just frustration? Frustration leads to intolerance, and while i respect that you can put up with it, i wouldn't venture to say everyone can. I disagree. Not to sound too 'focus on the family'ish, but it all starts in the home with the parents, influencing their childrens ways of thought... or in the schools or from friends. Individuals have more power than you attribute them. They're just a step away from organization.

Sorry, i just think it's taken for granted that our audiences are as liberally minded as ourselves. And I was speaking under the wider context of religion, not just evangelicalism.

Like what? Create momentum in promoting a misunderstanding of religion, creating stereotypes and inciting hate.

pure gold and so f'ing true.