Saddam First?

I want to address a recent comment by millersam. He comments that, as a dialysis patient, it should have been easy to get Bin Laden and the US should have gone after the worst first (Bin Laden) then North Korea, Iran, and Saddam. He point is that Bush failed by not following the right order.

First, I want to thank millersam and everyone who comments on this page. I am still naïve enough to believe that debate can change a persons mind and I, like Jon Stewart, abhor the partisan screaming seen in the United States, exemplified by shows like Crossfire. All those who comment intelligently add to the debate, and it warms me to think that not everyone is a partisan, screaming automaton for their respective ideologies.

However, I must strongly disagree with millersam regarding the war on terror.

Bin Laden is a dialysis patient, and, at first glance, it should be easy to get the guy. However, there are many logical reasons for why the US has been unable to get him so far. Just because many Arabs are poor and live in less developed countries does not mean they are stupid. We tend to see the US as all powerful and can do anything they want at any time. Is it so hard to believe that Bin Laden can outsmart US intelligence services? This depends on your cultural bias. Also, the GF reminded me that Bin Laden is a very rich guy and that he can afford to purchase any type of electronic device, scrambler, encryption, etc. He likely is using communications devices that even the US military cannot crack. He may be a more sophisticated enemy then we think.

In addition, there may be reasons not to catch the guy. In WWII, the Allies cracked the German code machine and often did not act on intelligence they received because to do so would tip the Germans off that their code was compromised. Perhaps we have something similar. Maybe we have broken one of Bin Laden’s bodyguards and are getting great intelligence from him and killing/capturing Bin Laden would stop us from getting good intelligence on future attacks. Personally, I do not believe this to be true, but I just use it to make the point that there may be other reasons not to get Bin Laden. We just do not have enough information on this.

For these reasons, I am not ready to condemn Bush for not getting Bin Laden. I am reserving judgment.

However, I will not reserve judgment on the order of the war on terror. I think the order Bush has approached it is correct. This is not to say that the war in Iraq is being run perfectly. Mistakes are being made. Specifically, it is clear that there were not enough troops to secure Iraq, and keeping many of the Ba’ath party types in the army may have prevented them from going over to the insurgents. However, this is typical Monday morning quarterbacking. War is chaotic, the Bush Administration made mistakes. The best thing to do is analize those mistakes and not to make them again.

Now we get to the crux of the matter: the order of the war. Some say we should have gone after the biggest fish first and worked our way down, dealing with Saddam last. There are several reasons that this is not the way to go and I will use an analogy to demonstrate this.

Let’s say there are 3 bullies in the playground that are bugging you. You think you can take number 3, but not sure you can take number 1 or 2. Why not take out the one you are sure you can? Maybe the other two will be deterred by your willingness to fight and stop bugging you. As well, you may learn something about fighting bullies which may help when you have to take on the rest. Maybe you will gain some allies or find out some weakness about them you did not know.

These are all valid reasons for going after the weakest member of the axis of evil. Notice that John Kerry and his supporters’ best make the argument for going after Saddam first. Kerry talks a lot about how many mistakes the Bush Administration is making in Iraq. Better to make your mistakes on your weakest opponent, where the mistake will be less costly, then on the guy you are not sure you can take.

This leads me to North Korea. Those on the left seem to hate war and constantly moan about the casualties. The approach to the war taken by Bush seeks to keep these causalities at their lowest. Take out the weak bully and maybe the rest will fall into line. No need for war with the rest. Does anyone think a war with North Korea would be less bloody than the present war in Iraq? Remember that North Korea has nuclear weapons and I doubt crazy Kim lacks the will to use them.

Which leads me to my last point: this war is about the will to fight it. Bin Laden knows he cannot beat the US militarily. He is conducting the classic North Vietnam Tet Offensive and trying to destroy the enemy’s will to fight. The US will to fight the war on terror is waning, as evidenced by the tight US presidential race. If the people of the US are losing their will after 1,000 causalities in Iraq, imagine what would have happened if a US beachhead in North Korea was nuked and they lost 50,000 soldiers in a split second?

If Kerry wins the US presidency it will signal a lack of will in the US to continue this war. This means the rest of us will no longer be able ride on Uncle Sam’s coattails. Without the US to defend us and our own government's lack of will to do the same, this should make every Canadian very worried.

Ollie Ollie Oxen Free....

An interesting story a few days ago stated that Bin Laden was spotted Tibet-Laddakh region, which is on the India/Pakistan border.

This is a subject the GF and I disagree on. She subscribes to the usual lefty moonbat conspiracy theories that Bin Laden is in Musharraf's basement and will likely be trotted out just before the US election.

I tend to agree with Mark Steyn and believe that he is already dead. Here is my reasoning: Bin Laden was putting out regular tapes after 9/11 and then, all of a sudden, it stopped and we have not heard of him since. Why not a tape from him? The GF says he is sick, so maybe they do not want him to be seen. Good point, but they could do an audio tape, which they have done in the past. The counter to this is, if he was dead, why not proclaim him a martyr and carry on. Another good point. But they may have political reasons for this, as someone may judge it better to keep the idea of Bin Laden alive and demonstrate US weakness by showing Bush cannot even find/capture an old man. If Bin Laden is DNA smeared on a cave wall in Afganistan, we may never prove he is dead.

The GF point about him having the support of Musharraf is a good one. Bin Laden needs regular kidney dialysis and since you cannot run a dialysis machine from a cave, Musharraf, or someone in Pakistan, must be helping him. My counter to this is that Musharraf gains little from protecting Bin Laden. Islamists in Pakistan are already trying to kill him for cozying up to Bush, so he gains nothing from protecting Bin Laden and can gain more US support by further helping Bush. This also further supports the theory that Bin Laden is dead, as if Musharraf is not helping him, how would he get a hold of a dialysis machine.

I find the theory of Bin Laden's whereabouts very interesting, and would appreciate any comments on where he might be, etc.

This is a long way of coming to a bet I made with the GF. There has been talk in the US press that Bush caught Bin Laden long ago and is waiting to trot him out just before the election. Four days to go and we will see if this moonbat theory holds any water.

So I bet the GF that if Bin Laden does not show before the US election, I get I night of wild "cuddling".

I see this as a win-win, since if he does show, I get to watch the lefty moonbats froth at the mouth about conspiracy theories and trying to influence the US election (as if the MSM hasn't been doing this for Kerry for months). Oh, and I also have to provide her with a night of wild "cuddling".

"I am so smart. S-M-R-T. I mean S-M-A-R-T."

Update: Great timing. I few hours after I post this, FOX has this story on their site about a new Bin Laden tape. Unless they catch him in the next few days, I guess I win. Mark Steyn and I are wrong about Bin Laden being dead though.

WMD, Saddam and Russia

Interesting article from a former Romanian intelligence officer regarding Soviet plans to remove traces of WMD and how Russia may have been involved helping Saddam just before the war.

Another Liberal MP Blames Terrorism on the Americans

Thanks to The Flea for putting me on to this story.

In a profile in the Ottawa Citizen this week, Liberal MP Yasmin Ratansi, who is Canada's first female, Muslim MP, said the U.S. government's actions have fuelled anti-Americanism and terrorism."Who wrought this terrorism?" she asked in the Citizen interview. "Where did they come from? They are the result of the policies of the United States. They have been interfering in the world."
Ratansi said in the interview that she is not anti-American and would say the same thing about "any imperialistic power that tries to influence another country and creates chaos in that country."

It's deja vu all over again.

Ah Ha!

Back a few weeks ago, I though I was a bit hard on our CDS in this post entitled "Nice bum, can I kiss it?" I stated that Ray should not defend the indefensible, especially when he has hit the height of his career, being the top military man in Canada.

Boy, have I got a lot to learn about politics and Ottawa.

This story in Tuesday's National Post mentions that Ray is the leading candidate for the top job in NATO.

Says Scott Reid, the PM's Communications Director "He is definitely a candidate for the chairman of the NATO Military Committee" and "We're offering him every support required".

Mystery solved.

Update: Why would you want a guy who cannot sort his own military out telling NATO members what to do?

The Wedding

So we have started to argue about the wedding. My family has stated they are thinking of coming to Alberta for Christmas 2005 so I suggested we have the wedding then. The GF is not to keen on that. She wants to elope. I am not against eloping per say and it does have some advantages. We are not keen to spend tens to thousands of dollars on a wedding and have no need for breadmakers and toasters. Both of our families live out of the province and when her brother was married, his wedding was a bit of mess. She also thinks it is tacky to get married at Christmas.

I, however, am a big believer in family and would like to have our families meet each other at least once during our lives. When we were in Jamaica at a resort, there were 3 to 4 weddings per day and those weddings seemed a bit impersonal. I would like to have a few people we know there to share the occasion with us.

The GF really likes to travel, so she wants to go somewhere exotic like Africa and get married. I don't mind travel and have already agreed that she gets to choose the honeymoon location. I expect I will be marching up mountains or looking at old rocks instead of lying on a beach.

So far, it looks like a compromise. We may get married in fall of 2005 and have some sort of reception at Christmas.

Why I blog

This entry was supposed to be published last week.

I got the idea to blog from the GF. She has this ex-boyfriend, "Todd", who lives in San Fran and is a rabid lefty. (The quotes around his name represent the derision with which I say his name to her). Even though "Todd" has been an ex for around 10 years, he still sends out these spam emails, of which the GF is one recipient. These are the usual collection of jokes, etc, all from a lefty perspective.

"Todd" is not really a threat, but it is fun to make fun of the GF's exes, and pretend to be jealous. (ya, pretend). I won't give you "Todd's" site, as I do not want to increase his traffic.

Anyway, this is a long way of saying the following is one of these anti-Bush, left wing jokes I am constantly subjected to. Unfortunately, I think it is funny, so read it below:

The Politics of a Light Bulb


Q: How many members of the Bush Administration are needed to change a light bulb?
The answer is: 10
1. One to deny that a light bulb needs to be changed.
2. One to attack the patriotism of anyone who says the light bulb needs to be changed.
3. One to blame Clinton for burning out the light bulb.
4. One to tell the nations of the world that they are either "for" changing the light bulb or "for" darkness.
5. One to give a billion dollar no-bid contract to Haliburton for the new light bulb.
6. One to arrange a photograph of Bush, dressed as a janitor, standing on a step ladder under the banner: "Lightbulb Change Accomplished".
7. One administration insider to resign and write a book documenting in detail how Bush was literally in the dark.
8. One to viciously smear #7.
9. One surrogate to campaign on TV and at rallies on how George Bush has had a strong light-bulb-changing policy all along.
10. And finally, one to confuse Americans about the difference between screwing a light bulb and screwing the country.

If you can't laugh at yourself....

Update: ...then laugh at the other guy.

Thanks to Anonymous for this reply. I had to put it on the main page

How many members of the John Kerry team does it take to change a lightbulb? 14

1. One to write about how John Kerry bravely changed light bulbs in the face of the enemy in Vietnam.
2. One to write good copy for journalists about how important light bulb changing is for the future of the country.
3. One to say that the Bush Administration has screwed every lightbulb that ever came along.
4. One to go out a look for a light bulb as ordered by John Kerry.
5. One to go out and cancel the guy looking for a light bulb because John Kerry realizes that what is really needed is a study on light bulbs and the environment.
6. One to go out and poll black voters on how the light bulb being out affects their lives.
7. One to go out and cancel the black vote poll because John Kerry realizes that Hispanics are more likely to be put out by the lack of a working light bulb.
8. One to begin the study of the light bulb and the environment.
9. One to go out and cancel the environmental assessment study because it might conflict with the version of Vietnam history purported by #1.
10. One to tell the media how garbage from Canada is the reason why the lightbulb burnt out. 11. One to run out and cancel the press conference by #10 and hold another press conference outlining the problems with light bulb replacement in the wake of the war in Iraq.
12. One to organize a Global test for the accomplishment of the light bulb screwing, according to other nations.
13. One to write a speech for John Kerry attempting to clear up his voting records in the Senate for and against light bulbs.
14. One to tell John Kerry which way he should jump on this whole sordid light bulb issue.

The difference is that while you can criticize actions taken, at least something is done about the light bulb.

Fahrencrap 9/11

The GF rented Fahrenheit 9/11 on the weekend and I had to watch it. I have wanted to see it (so I can fully criticize it), but I was dreading the 2 hours of propaganda. I wasn't disappointed.

Michael Moore asks some good questions about the Bush Administration and the war, but ruins it with every propaganda trick in the book. David Koppel does an excellent job here debunking F9/11 . I read his site long before I saw the movie so I could not see it in the theater for two reasons: I did not want to pay full price for crap, and I would have spent the entire time yelling "bullshit" and "lies" at the screen, likely getting thrown out. So I did it at home (what do they say about people who yell at the TV screen?). I was not too bad, the GF only have to tell me to shut up a few times.

My favourite lies are deceits 53-56 and involve the children of members of Congress and the war. Moore states that, of 535 members of Congress, only one has an enlisted son in Iraq. Note the very precise phrase. In fact, Republican Duncan Hunter's son was a 2Lt and served in Iraq. He quit his job to join the Marines after 9/11. Of course, he is technically not an enlisted man, being an officer. At the time 7 members of Congress had children who were in the US military. If you look at the ratio of people serving in Iraq in the general population you get 349:1. Compare this with Congress, which had 2 of 535 which is 268:1.

I also like the segment with Representative Kennedy (R-MN) where Moore asks him about sending his son to Iraq. The film is cut there with a dumb look on Kennedy's face. Here is the conversation:

"Congressman, I'm trying to get members of Congress to get their kids to enlist in the Army and go over to Iraq."

Moore: Is there any way you could help me with that?
Kennedy: How would I help you?
Moore: Pass it out to other members of Congress.
Kennedy: I'd be happy to - especially those who voted for the war. I have a nephew on his way to Afghanistan.

My biggest complaint about the film: Don't claim to be showing a documentary and give only one side and ignore facts that do not fit your hypothesis.

Go to Dave Koppel's site for more detailed analysis.

American Election predictions

Jay Currie gets into the election prediction game, so I thought I would jump in as well.

My prediction: Bush by 2%, with a few weeks of lawsuits flying back and forth. Bush confirmed as prez, legal stuff solved on November 23.

Post your own predictions in comments.

Honey, I care for you so much...

During my trip to and since returning from the Middle East, I have, on occasion, experienced what we sometimes refer to as "gut rot". This is a fact of life and a fairly routine occurrence. However, it has been a year since I got back, so I should be ok by now.

Being I guy, I tend to suffer through any problems. I usually do not take anything for headaches.

The GF, always thinking about me, decided to subtly make a comment to encourage me to get checked.

There is nothing like coming downstairs first thing in the morning, still rubbing the sleep out of your eyes to sit down to check email and seeing two pamphlets staring you in the face with the titles:

Is Irritable Bowel Syndrome affecting your health?

Parasites are a Serious Health Concern

My apologies to anyone who has not eaten breakfast yet.

A Small Fib

Last week I mentioned that the reason that I did not post much was due to some computer problems. This is the truth, but not the whole TRUTH.

Part of the reason I did not get the computer problems fixed sooner (in addition to frustration) is the fact the the GF bought a new computer game which has been taking up a lot of my attention. It is called Evil Genius and a demo can be found at www.howevilareyou.com

You are 60's evil genius (a la Dr. Evil) and have to build your base, send your minions on missions and set nefarious traps for the forces of justice.

If you have ever wanted to take over the world (what right winger hasn't?) go and give the demo a try.

Published?

I am now a published writer. I sent a letter to the editor of the National Post (find the original here) which was printed in today’s paper. While I was quick to prance around the house, proclaiming myself the next Conrad Black or Rupert Murdoch, the GF reminded me that I did not even get paid for it.

True. I guess I am still a long way from being paid for what is now really a hobby.

It is amazing how quickly some of us in the “new media” desire the recognition of those in the mainstream.

I feel like the short, chubby, ugly girl at the dance who swoons when the school quarterback looks in her general direction.

Update: You can find the letter here (needs subscription)

Scandal Rocks Canada

A scandal of the most serious kind has appeared in our nation today as former deputy prime minister Shelia Copps accused Prime Minister Paul Martin of the worst crime known to our fair land. Is it some deviant sexual preference? Perhaps eating the flesh of cooked babies? No, for this is far, far worse. A pact with Satan himself, for Paul Martin stands accused of ........... suggesting we scrap the Canada Health Act.

He's a witch! Burn him! Burn him!

These are the headlines and lead-ins I expected to read today when I heard last night the Shelia Copps' new book was going to mention that Paul Martin wanted to scrap the CHA.

Let's ignore the old saying about Hell having no fury like a woman scorned, and pretend that Paul Martin, Ms. Copps' most hated enemy, the guy who took away her job, really did say that. One of Canada's greatest myths is the sacrosanct Canada Health Act, and, if what Copps says is true, he will likely pay a political price for it. But what does the CHA really give us? Without getting into a long, detailed analysis, the main points of the CHA supposedly guarantee that the provinces comply with the following 5 principles: Public Administration, Comprehensiveness, Universality, Portability and Accessibility. Find a more detailed overview of the Act here.

It's like babies and puppies: Who can be against that?

But really, what has the Act ever done for us? A Fraser Institute report that hit the papers this week talked about how wait times have increased even with the increase in health care funding. Quebec ignores the Portability principle and what do the feds do about it? Nothing. In addition, the Provinces are responsible for delivering health care to the people and, let’s say one or all of these 5 principles are really important to you but the province does not deliver. Could the citizens of that province do something about it? Of course. Vote the bums out. Just like every other area of public policy in this country.

The way I see it, the Act is already dead and good riddance. All it does is prevent the provinces from experimenting in certain areas, notably private delivery/administration, to improve our heath care outcomes.

If only Paul Martin would stand up and admit it. I just might vote for him.

Nice Bum, Can I Kiss It?

You think that when you get the job of the Canadian Chief of the Defence Staff, you would not have to kiss political ass anymore. I mean, you have the top military job in Canada, there is no higher rank, so promotion is out.

A report in the National Post states that the CDS, General Ray Henault, defended the purchase of the used British subs to a parliamentary hearing. The lead of the Post story is "The used subsmarines Canada bought from Britain are still a good buy and there is nothing to indicate the military would do it differently if it had to do it over again, says Canada's top officer."

Now, I am not saying the sub purchase was bad, but knowing what will know now, would you really do the same thing again? I mean, if you bought a used car, which perhaps was not a lemon, but had more wrong with it than you thought and cost more to get running than you anticipated, would not that be enough to consider buying something new next time?

Now, I know nothing about the reasons for this particular purchase, but I cannot believe that the Navy would not have prefered brand new subs, if the budget was there for it. I challenge anyone involved in the project to look me in the eye and say "We would rather have the used subs than new ones".

And Ray, you do nothing for your credibility in the eyes of your subordinates by claiming otherwise. Instead of always saying what the government wants you to say, how about saying what is true and strengthening the faith of the lower ranks in their senior leadership?

High School all over again

There was some sort of something going on in the Canadian right wing blogosphere regarding Warren Kinsella. He threatened to sue some people over comments they made, apparently something about his mother and father being retards. Ianism has more on this and it apparently has been resolved.

Gotta add my two cents. Was Warren really serious that he was going to sue someone over that? I have heard much nastier things said about much higher profile people in much bigger publications. (no offense to Ian)

I guess I feel a bit left out. All the cool right wing bloggers got to be threatened by WARREN KINSELLA, and I am still back in high school, sitting at the geek table while the popular, good looking kids argue about who gets to be prom queen.

Maybe I will send some nasty email to Warren so I can be at the cool table too.

Winter Wonderland

As a write this, I am looking at about 2 feet of snow in my backyard. Friday night it started to snow and continued for the weekend.

Usually we expect our first snowfall by about Halloween, so this is a bit of a surprise. Last year we made it until mid November before the first snow.

Luckily, I raked up the leaves last weekend. However, the patio furniture did not do as well. I will have to dig it out sometime.

If we were not ready for the snow, the GF's cats certainly were not. We let them out about once a day for a few hours, but they are a bit reluctant now. It is interesting to see them scratch at the door to go out and when I open it, to see a large shiver go down their spine and quickly turn around with a look of cat disgust on their face. The female will then go immediately to the front door, somehow expecting it leads to another dimension where it is always 25 degrees C.

If only that were true.

Where are you??

Have not posted for almost a week. Been having problems with my computers. I just built a new desktop and was installing software on it. Unfortunately, having to update windows, drivers, etc, the first thing I did not do was install anti virus and anti spyware/adware. By the time I did put on those programs, I had so much of the stuff that I kept timing out trying to download virus updates, or I would get 100% CPU usage rates. Of course, I thought these types of problems were something else, and spent time trying to solve that. It was a wake-up call to install Norton Security and see my system get attacked every 1-2 seconds. If you do not have virus protection or a firewall, get one. Also, it seems that my 100% CPU problem was adware/spyware hijacking my system. I used Spybot - Search and Destroy to kill the stuff. I you don't have something like this, I highly recommend it.

She thinks I made a big mistake....

On the weekend, the GF said to me "Tonight we are going to snuggle...". This was a good thing for me to hear as it means I do not have to beg for it. There is usually a lot of begging in our house. Unfortunately, there was a last part to that sentance which took a few moments to register "...but, you have to put some of your clothes away first".

For those of you who do not know me, I hate putting clothes away. There are piles of clean clothes all around our place. I am not sure why I hate putting them away, but I think it has something to do with not having anywhere to put them. I have a huge closet which was mostly empty. That closet is full to overflowing since she moved in.

By the time we were getting ready for bed, I had completely forgot about the conditions she mentioned earier. Of course, just as I was jumping into bed, she asks "Did you put some clothes away?" I quickly jumped up, grabbed two pairs of underwear from the pile and threw them in the first drawer I could find in the dark.

Now the GF is very smart. She sees all the angles. Fortunately for me, so do I. Her problem is she can't wait to gloat to me when she puts one over on me. This is one of those occasions. She immediately says to me "You are going to regret this. You just set a precedent." To which I mumble something about how I have made a big mistake.

She thinks she has me, because the precedent being set that I have to put away clothes to get some loving. However, the way I see it, no more hour of begging. All I have to do is put two pair of underwear away and I am home free.

Isn't perception wonderful?

Left and Right making dinner

We had another fight last night.

The GF was making dinner and was having a bit of trouble. She was trying to fry up some perogies and, of course, decided to blame me for it. Of course, I was reading the newspaper in the kitchen, completely oblivious as to what was going on.

She starts getting mad because the things were frozen. She had them on too high, she was getting splattered with hot margarine, and the perogies were getting burned on the outside while still frozen on the inside. She makes some nasty comments about the margarine being no good ( I bought it), slams down the cooking utensil, and storms off saying, "That's it, I've had enough, YOU cook dinner" leaving me wondering what happened.

Now, I have to admit, I did not help the situation. However, it is not my fault. I am a man and I pride myself on being logical. When someone has a problem and is complaining that they are having some difficulty with some task, my default is to make helpful suggestions. Unfortunately, this is not what the other person wants. Just like some of the lefties in our society, they do not want to know how to solve their problem they just want "the man" to take all their troubles away.

I had to be The Man.

Note: Please no comments about how I should have offered to cook for her. I cannot count the number of times I have tried to do so and been cut off at the knees with some comment about how I must not think she can do some easy task. I don't make that mistake anymore.

We Stand On Guard For.....

Lots of military news today, so I thought I would comment.

Sheila must be in the tequila again

This is military related, but it also has to do with a little thing called logic. In yesterday’s National Post, Sheila Copps wrote (ed. need to register) regarding the purchase of the four subs, one being the HMCS Chicoutimi, the scene of a fire which caused the dead of Lieutenant Chris Saunders. She stated that over four years, three successive defence ministers tried to convince Cabinet to purchase the subs. Tequila Sheila comes to the conclusion that, since the military “begged” the government to buy the subs, the military, not the government should be blamed for their disrepair.

Let me take you through the thinking of the military mind, dear reader. The military thinks about the tasks given to it by the government and then pitches the government for the equipment to complete those tasks. In most countries, these tasks are something like defend the country from foreign enemies, and do any other tasks the government asks. The second part is where the peacekeeping and disaster relief are covered.

The military determined that having the capability to deploy submarines was important. In other countries, the governments would likely accept that advice and ask what subs we should buy to meet the need. Usually the military suggests a piece of equipment that is very fancy and does a lot of cool stuff and is the best piece of equipment for the job money can buy. Face it, if it is your life on the line, you want the best piece of kit there is. In Canada, the government is so cheap that the military is reduced to trying to get the equipment any way they can. They know the government will never buy the best subs, but something is better than nothing, so they came up with something like this used sub deal. At $800 million, less than the cost of a useless gun registry, Cabinet rejected the plan twice, until the military came up with a deal to trade the subs for free use of CFB Suffield (and, I think, CFB Wainwright) by the Brits. This is touted as “getting them for free”. Now, any kid who gets an allowance knows this is not really free, since the Brits were going to pay use to use those bases. As well, they have been mothballed for four years, so there will be a cost just to get them running again. However, in Sheila’s world this is free, just like health care is free. If you don’t actually have to give someone the money, it’s free.

Note to Ms Copps: Wake up! Based on experience, the military knew you would never approve the “Cadillac” of subs (remember what your buddy Jean said about the helicopters?), so they started by pitching the used Chevy. Four years after the Chevy has been rusting in sea water it gets approved and any problems are not the governments fault? Knowing the Liberal government's pattern of under funding the military, I would also be interested to know how much the repair costs for these subs were under funded and how that contributed to this accident.

Court Martial of Public Opinion

Global Sunday is going to hold a mock trial (article: need to register) where the government will be accused of failing to adequately equip the Canadian Forces. Ask any military member what they think of this question, and I am sure most will have already found them guilty. The only problem is the public keeps commuting the sentence.

This sounds like a bit of a publicity stunt, but maybe it will help to prevent some of my friends from getting killed. God knows nothing else has helped.

And finally,

Focus on the Big Picture

Yesterday’s National Post published a letter by the Chief of the Defence Staff, General Ray Henault, about an editorial cartoon which depicted a Canadian Forces (CF) submarine as a coffin with his comments that it was “tremendously offensive” to all members of the CF.

What is really offensive to me is the shabby treatment of successive Liberal governments towards the military.

Note to General Henault: Less time spent complaining (my job); more time spent fixing the military’s problems (your job). It’s not like you don’t have enough to do. If you are not sure where to start, email me here and I will be happy to respond. As a former member of the military, I have some thoughts as well as first hand experience. Or you could get yours ass out of the puzzle palace (National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa) and ask just about anyone else in uniform. Oh, it also helps if you listen to them.

Poker Night

A bunch of my friends get together about once a month for a bit of poker. Last night was our usual game. Unfortunately, I came out with less money then I started. I also had the best loss of the night, when my four nine's were beaten by four Kings.

I hate when that happens.

Distracted

I have not been blogging much lately. I have been building a new desktop, and it has consumed most of my time this week. The hardware installation went pretty smooth, but the software has been a pain. When I get onto something I have to finish it. This time I had to give up and take a break. There are some smaller programs which are eating up most of the processor time, making the thing very slow to respond to the simplest things. I have had to give up for a bit and get some more professional help. Hopefully it will be sorted up by the end of this weekend and I can get back to my normal routine.

It's the little things......

Last night the GF and I decided to go to bed early as she had to get up earlier than usual for work. Early to bed is always an opportunity for a little "canoodling". Unfortunately, just as we were going to go up, The Family Guy came on. This was followed by Futurama, putting our bedtime back by 1 hour. As it was pretty late by now, I knew I did not have a chance, but I had to try anyway. Rejected.

However, all was not lost, as this gave me the perfect opportunity to take her to task for all those little things around the house that piss me off. Like not taking the recycling out to the garage when the box is full. Heck, she is the lefty, she is supposed to care about the environment, not me. Why do I end up taking it out all the time? She also makes sure to get it nice and full. She recycles everything, so when I take it out to the garage it is always overflowing with tiny bus passes and little pieces of paper.

Another thing that gets me is the bathroom. Lipstick, eye pencils and I bunch of other stuff that I do not recognize is always on the counter. Put it in the drawer, where it is supposed to go. Is that so hard? I made extra room for this stuff, there is no excuse. Unfortunately, while I am ripping into her on this stuff, building to a good head of steam, she mentions that my electric razor is always on the counter.

Don't you hate when people throw your words back at you?

Thank you, Roy!

This really burns my potatoes. Roy Romanow, in an article in the National Post, wants private health care debated publicly.

This is the man who, in my opinion, has done more to stifle the health care debate in Canada by slavishly abiding to his narrow, left wing ideology.

Note to Roy: Shut your pie hole, you have done enough damage already.