Trashy’s World

I have commented a couple of times about Canada’s attachment to the archaic institution that is the monarchy of the United Kingdom.

The Ottawa Citizen says that:

Canadians pay about $50 million a year — about $1.53 per person — to maintain the monarchy, a figure on a par with the $1.43 we pay for the National Gallery of Canada, and significantly less that the $2.45 each shells out to keep the Senate warm.

Robert Finch, the Dominion chairman of the Monarchist League of Canada, argues that the monarchy brings political stability to Canada.

“It’s an institution that has given us a good system of government for generations and also provides us a symbolic sense of unity. That national unity and political stability that comes with it should be reason enough alone to want to maintain it.”

Finch points to last year’s parliamentary stalemate — when the Governor General agreed to Prime Minister Harper’s request to prorogue Parliament rather than allow a coalition of Liberals, New Democrats and Bloc Québécois govern.

“Having that non-partisan head of state in the Queen, represented by the Governor General, was kind of like a neutral referee,” he says. “That’s the perfect textbook example of a monarchy working. The system stood the test.”

Finch calls this figure “peanuts” and “a drop in the bucket.”

“I’m a tax-paying citizen as well,” he says, “and we always begrudge spending money, but $50 million is not a lot.

It is often misleading to break down large expenditures to a per capita number. It is used primarily to either control for population – like what you see in solid waste stats, for instance, or to diminish the importance of a given number.

But I don’t know about you, but $50 million is not exactly “peanuts”, as the Monarchist League fellow claims. Figgering $200 K a unit, that money would set up 250 low-income houses. It would set up thousands of Canadian kids with hockey equipment. It would feed thousands of hungry families for a year.

The list goes on.

Finch crows with pleasure while stating that last year’s parliamentary crisis was a perfect example of the usefulness of the monarchy.

Poppycock! Any duly elected parliamentary president could have served the same function. And at a far lower cost than the 50 mill that the monarchy is costing us! In any case, having an appointed representative of a foreign monarch making critical, nation-changing decisions spits in the face of democracy.

Charles and the royal consort have met with some opposition during their visit here over the past couple of weeks.  And while I despise the Bloq and the separatists with every thread of my soul, their anti-monarchist statements ring true…. though I’m disgusted by the egg throwing and general rowdiness.

Maybe we Canucks will someday cut this cord to a bygone time. But I doubt it will happen in my lifetime. In the meantime:

Long Live the Republic of Canada!

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So tomorrow is Remembrance Day, right smack in the middle of Veterans Week.  In the past few weeks, there have been interviews with ex-soldiers on CBC and elsewhere. Rick Hillier’s book is doing well. Afghanada is a radio serial on the MotherCorp and by all accounts is listened to by, if not legions of CBCers, at least a battalion or two. I’ve caught a couple of episodes… good stuff.

Don Cherry cries on the air every Saturday night when a soldier falls.

Red ribbons are everywhere. Many wear red on Fridays. There are public debates on whether the Feds should make Remembrance Day observance mandatory by businesses and schools instead of voluntary, as they are now.

When did this augmented sense of militarism happen. Did I miss the memo? Veterans Week? How long has that been around?

Any reader of this blog will know that I am very much a peacenik. I do not believe in war. At all – with VERY few exceptions.

I do not believe in the military, but know that at this stage of human evolution, military forces will continue to exist for a long time to come.

I do not diss soldiers and certainly wish them well but do not believe in what they do. I admire that they believe that their job is important and that they willingly put their lives on the line in this belief… I simply don’t share their beliefs.

And the fact that my point of view and those of others like me is becoming increasingly marginalized really disturbs me. Canada as a quiet peacekeeping nation was tolerable for a peacenik like me. Canada as a boastful, über-patriotic, militaristic, American-like nation is not.

But how and when did this happen?

It is generally agreed that there has been a marked move to the social right of the political spectrum in this country. The current government in particular, with it’s roots in western social conservatism, has been actively supporting a guns and god agenda. The more that a citizenry feels allegiance to the “flag”, the more likely it will be to turn a blind eye to policies that they may otherwise find distasteful. I’m not saying that Harpy is completely behind all of the renewed rah-rah, but he is a keen strategist who is seizing upon the rightward shift and the tangential increase in support for things traditionally supported by the right – e.g., the military.

There is also the lingering 9-11 effect. I think Canucks, like our southern neighbours, felt more than a bit threatened by the events of that day. We retreated into a comfortable cocoon where we called on the comforts of bygone years to assuage our fears. We, even a bit, looked to the folks holding the guns to protect us from the perceived threat. And when we were not hit by a terrorist plot (at least not yet), we gave an appreciative nod to the cops and the military for a job well-done.

I find that as I age, I am becoming more set in my ways when it comes to my basic belief systems.  For example, I feel much more strongly now than in my 30’s that opposition to war in almost any case is a morally just stance and that there is almost NO moral justification to take up arms. Too much suffering – both by those actively participating in a conflict and by those caught in the cross-fire (civilians) – and, IMHO, to little morally justifiable end.

I do not think we should be engaged in foreign conflicts and believe that it is a completely unnecessary waste of young and talented lives. I mourn these men and women while simultaneously condemning the governments that sent them into harm’s way.

Again, I do not demean these brave folks. But what about those men and women who also put their lives at risk for their country or community? What about the cops? Firefighters and other emergency professionals? Do they not at least merit equal treatment? Many die in the line of duty in acts that are moral and just by any measure. There is seldom ambiguity – especially in the case of firefighters.

I know I’m going to catch some flak for this post. Yet the main reason I have a “blog” is to express my unsolicited opinions and ideas openly and freely and I should not be held back by the prospect of being flamed.

And yes, I will wear a poppy. But only on November 11. And while I am silent for that minute or two, I will think about John Lennon’s words in the hope that no more young Canadian lives are lost in a place where we really shouldn’t be:

“Give peace a chance.”

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Frankie says:

Oh no-there’s got to be a better way
Say it again
There’s got to be a better way-yeah
What is it good for?

War has caused unrest

Among the younger generation
Induction then destruction
Who wants to die?

War-huh
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing
Say it again

War-huh
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing
Yeah

War-I despise
‘Cos it means destruction

Of innocent lives
War means tears
To thousands of mothers how
When their sons go off to fight
And lose their lives

I said
War-huh

It’s an enemy of all mankind
No point of war
‘Cos you’re a man

[Repeat]

Give it to me one time-now
Give it to me one time-now

War has shattered
Many young men’s dreams
We’ve got no place for it today
They say we must fight to keep our freedom
But Lord, there’s just got to be a better way

It ain’t nothing but a heartbreaker
War
Friend only to the undertaker
War

War
War-Good God, now

Now
Give it to me one time now
Now now
What is it good for?

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There has been much gnashing of Ottawa student teeth, and Ottawa seniors’ gums, over the past week concerning the OC Transpo fare increases to be put into place next summer. Students are crying “poor us… why won’t anyone think of the children!?” And grey-hairs are croaking “dag-nab-it! we’re entitled to lower fares than everyone else! We went through WW2 and the Great depression, you know!”

Now, I am NOT one to defend the increases or essentially anything that OC Nogo proposes, but in this case I have to (gag!) set that aside.

Planning future revenues is essential to any business and the better the projections the better informed the business decisions. The Ottawa transit goofs are no different.  They need good information on ridership to be able to make decisions on everything from capital investments to staffing.

Plus, single tickets and monthly passes mean higher administrative costs than those associated with passes of longer durations; say annual or per semester passes.

As the handy-dandy table below illustrates, there is an attempt to get commuters to commit to a transit pass of longer duration. Thus the fee adjustment are lower for the annual and semester passes and higher for single tickets and monthly passes. This is not new. OC Transpo, and I suspect most public transit organizations, have been moving in this direction for quite some time.

Look at the bottom of the scale and you can see that student passes (in yellow and senior passes (in grey, of course) are increasing only marginally. all of the other increases fall somewhere between the two (my pass is coloured green in the table above).

While I don’t think for a moment that the increases in costs will result in better service, I can appreciate why OC Transpo is structuring their fee increases in such a manner. Sure, it is a bit harder to come up with the higher up-front annual fee – especially for those on fixed incomes – but the City is giving everyone about 8 months to put aside the money.  A senior need only save $50 per month in order to purchase an annual pass next summer.

Even for most pensioners, that’s really not much to ask, is it?

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Just a quick tip of the cap to everyone involved in the delivery of the H1N1 vaccine at the Jim Durrell Centre yesterday.

Expecting chaos yesterday morning at 7:45 am, I packed drinks, snacks, reading materials, ensured my mp3 and cell was charged, dressed warmly for the inevitable wait outside in the cold and flurries… etc. I was prepared for anything!

Except for an efficiently-run process…

After all of the media accounts I had heard and read in the past few days, I had expected disorder to reign, a long wait and cold feet. But what I got was, chronologically:

7:45 am : a nice greeting at the door, shown to a seat inside (?!!)

8:00 am: told that wristbands would be distributed shortly

8:15:  moved to another waiting where wristbands were distributed by a very enthusiastic and funny gentleman

8:45: given wristbands and, after staff ensured that they were firmly affixed to my wrist, I left the building.

Total time elapsed – 1 frickin’ hour!

So fine, they got the wristband thingy right… surely things wouldn’t be as smooth at the appointed time of 5 pm?

But again, I am happily surprised. We walk into the arena at 4:55, are greeted with a smile, documents checked and all-injected and outta there after the obligatory wait in the designated area by 5:20.

Wow.

This whole business may be a bit wheezy elsewhere, but on this particular day and in this particular place, they sure knew what they were doing!

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Now HERE’s some innovative self employment.

Buddy thinks: “Hey, I’m a mechanic. I’m outta a job.  I need to create a market for my skills.”

“So hey, I’ll pull off a wire here, disconnect a valve there and voilà! Instant work!”

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. — Tennessee police said a mechanic was drumming up business by tampering with parked cars, then charging to help start them. Police arrested 41-year-old Christopher Walls of Johnson City on Thursday night.

Investigators said Walls disabled cars parked at restaurants, waited for the owners to try to start them and then offered his services as a mechanic. Police said Walls charged between $40 and $200 to get the vehicles running again.

In other news – another bailout??

thenothingstore.com is quoting a Washington Post article that claims $45 billion is spent by Americans this year on canine anti-depressants, hip replacements, and fancy doggie spas. But with the downturn and all, pet owners will be hard pressed to keep up the payments on Poofy’s gym membership.

Hmmm…. sounds like these folks could use a good ol’ American bailout!

You’ll know this is coming if we start seeing sob stories on Oprah and the lefty networks about families forced to cancel Fido’s charm school or deprive Spot of his gourmet din-din.

Then someone from ABC will ask White House Press Secretary Gibbs about the rumors of help for strapped pet owners. There will be Poodle Parades in San Francisco. The big doggie drug and food companies will sic their lobbyists on Congress, begging for some stimulus treats.

The NAPO (National Association of Pet Owners) will blast the nay sayers in Congress as mean and heartless right-wing fanatics.

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I made my periodic trek over to Foxnews.com to get my chuckle for the day.  I, of course like other sane individuals, don’t take one iota of what is spouted over there as anything but drivel. And today is no exception.

This time they are giving much column space to the sometimes incomprehensible, often staggeringly stupid and always a troglodyte, Rush Limbaugh.

This time he is again ranting about President Obama and how he is closely related to demons, trolls and socialists.

President Obama is pursuing a “radical” agenda that is putting the economy and national security in peril, talk show host Rush Limbaugh told “Fox News Sunday,” giving the young president failing grades across the board and standing by his sustained criticism of the administration.

Radical? Really? Here is Canada, the President’s proposals would be clearly to the right of the political spectrum. But, in the bastion of christian conservatism to the south, “radical” implies something very different.

In a wide-ranging interview, he called Obama a “child” driven by his “out-of-this-world ego.”

And he predicted that Obama, who built a broad-based majority over Republican candidate John McCain a year ago, would not win a second term.

“I’m really, really worried. We’ve never seen this kind of radical leadership at such a high level of power in the country,” Limbaugh said. “I don’t think we’re better off in any way it could be measured.”

There he goes with this radical thing again! Really, Rush-baby, you should do a bit of research to see that America is radical only in your mind! And if your country is at all “radical” as you say, it is of the conservative, theological bent! Not like we in Canada or the Swedes or some other godless socialist state, but more like Iran. Or maybe Saudi Arabia. The America of the 21st century certainly is far more similar to those latter countries than to the former.

All Mr. Obama is trying to do is fix what’s broken. For example, your economy or health care system.

But hey, Rush is paid to be an entertainer, and he’s entertaining, right? The problem with his style of entertainment is that someone might actually take the big galoot seriously!

I might criticise our own media sometimes – The National Post comes to mind.  But at least we haven’t any equivalent to the esteemed Mr. Limbaugh. Or if there is, I’m unaware of it.

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Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Yeah, so I have scribbled a lot of bad things about our current PM.  I happen to think that he is a cynical, plotting bully who throws a hissy fit if things don’t go his way.

But an international bully? I didn’t think it was possible.

Yet, according to the Niono news source, our own Prime Minster has been a key part of a greater effort by the G-8 to goad Lichtenstein and Andorra into going to war with one another!

This, of course, is completely reprehensible! Why aren’t they covering this on The National?

The G8’s proposal, which seeks to pit the small, landlocked principalities against each other in military combat, was reportedly drafted after the leaders of the eight nations had grown bored with their recent negotiations over international energy tariffs.

“After much careful deliberation, we have come to the consensus that the nations of Liechtenstein and Andorra need to just man up and fight, ” said U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown during an afternoon recess. “All of the bigger countries want them to, and everyone agrees at this point that it would be quite lame if they didn’t. Therefore, I would advise Liechtenstein and Andorra to grow some balls already and get on with it.”

“This is going to be so hilarious,” said President Barack Obama, who plans to take time away from health care negotiations to oversee the distribution of heavily armored mobilized units to the citizens of Liechtenstein and Andorra. “Once they get into it, they’re going to go nuts. They’re just going to totally go off on each other.”

“I cannot wait,” he added.

In a final effort to ensure that the proposed confrontation between Liechtenstein and Andorra commenced tomorrow afternoon “without a hitch,” Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper held a press conference intended to persuade the two countries.

“Fucking just fight already!” Harper said. “Fight! Fiiiight! Fiiiiiiight!”

Um.

OK. I got most of that from The Onion… just bored with posting serious end of the world stuff like the flu, killer robots and wars…

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The first Terminator has always been one of my fave flicks (1). A killer robot intent on changing the future by changing the past really got my attention. Arnie was über-cool and Linda Hamilton was pretty hot.

But the concept was pretty out there -- especially back in the mid-80’s. I mean, killer robots that look like humans build a time machine while warring with the human race in the then-distant 2029. As the tag line went back then:

In the Year of Darkness, 2029, the rulers of this planet devised the ultimate plan. They would reshape the Future by changing the Past. The plan required something that felt no pity. No pain. No fear. Something unstoppable. They created ‘THE TERMINATOR

Now, in 2009, 2029 is only 20 years away but still… pretty far-fetched, eh?

Which brings me to what has freaked me out.

Boston Dynamics is a small engineering and robotics firm spun off from MIT in 1982. According to its Web site it “builds advanced robots with remarkable behavior: mobility, agility, dexterity and speed.” Mostly military applications: the US Army, Navy, and the Marine Corps.

You might remember their robot dog a couple of years back. Cute little thing that didn’t pee in the corner and would do as told all of the time.

And there is this guy -- called Petman…

According to fastcompany.com, BD says its an “anthropomorphic robot for testing chemical protection clothing. “  Petman will balance itself and move freely; walking, crawling and will also simulate human physiology within the protective suit by sweating when necessary.”

This is the first generation of the machine.

What will Version 15.0 lo0k like?

And does Stevo have plans to create a body-double?

1. It’s likely tied with Predator - the only movie that I know of that starred not one but TWO future Governors!

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