Guelph First

Copernicus Had Blue Eyes

2009-07-10T16:40:00.001-05:00

So cool...
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/07/09/copernicus-blue-eyes.html

Video of Girl being flogged

2009-07-03T13:09:00.001-05:00

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/02/taliban-pakistan-justice-women-flogging

Imagine walking down the street with a male, who is not a relative, and being punished this way for it. Barbaric.

Liz May

2009-07-03T13:04:00.001-05:00

Liz May to run in Guelph?

At first I though the papers were kidding, then I read the articles.

So much for representative democracy, out the window it goes.

Maybe I’m old fashioned, but I kinda like the thought of my MP living, working and being a part of my community. Liz moving here to run, would only be politically expedient.

Guelph should not just be an opportune place for Liz to get into Parliament. Guelph should not be whored out and used just so Liz can get to the national stage.

The Baloney Detection Kit

2009-06-24T23:22:00.001-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUB4j0n2UDU

A

2009-06-15T23:00:00.002-05:00

For fun!

2009-06-10T22:33:00.001-05:00

www.onemilliongiraffes.com

Christopher Hitchens

2009-06-04T07:42:00.002-05:00

Seen Christopher Hitchens speak at the Royal Ontario museum Tuesday night. Great speaker, enjoyed the evening very much.

Kim Taylor while in Japan

2009-05-26T21:19:00.003-05:00

One of Guelph's best kept little secrets is Kim Taylor and the Sei Do Kai of Guelph. http://www.uoguelph.ca/~iaido/

Kim is a 7th Dan in iaido and a 5th Dan in Jodo. One of only three iaido 7th's in Canada, and the only jodo 5th in Canada.

It amazes me that people in Guelph and the surrounding area's don't take advantage of this man and seek him out to train with.

This weekend in Guelph

2009-05-15T12:14:00.002-05:00

Hey if you're in Guelph this weekend and not doing anything or are interested in the Japanese sword arts, pop over to the AC at the University and give it a try, or just watch.

http://www.uoguelph.ca/~iaido/iai.seminar.html

Time for change.

2009-05-08T20:49:00.002-05:00

Firstly let me say, I love Stephen Harper, in a completely platonic way :o)

I think of the PM as I do Preston Manning, initially a little taken back and unsure of them, kind of a wait and see attitude, Now? I love them both.

I have some significant differences with their politics, but I’ve supported them, defended them, and in the case of the PM I've worked my ass off for him. If you’ve read my comments or articles, it’s about loyalty; it’s about circling the wagons and supporting the leader and the party regardless. I know people who have similar beliefs to me abandon the party because of differences with the PM, not me I stayed and tried to make it better from the inside.

I believe you should support the Leader and the party even if you have serious issue differences, because it is about the end game. It is about the long term view of things, getting most of our policies implemented over the years to come. Changing the country for the better. Party unity.

That being said, I don’t see the PM or the Party winning a majority anytime soon. Yes I know Doug and the girls/boys know their stuff and will pull out all the stops to make it happen. We tell people not to vote LPC/Green/NDP, but why vote for us? Are we really that stale as a party we don’t have any really “cool” ideas/policies? Do we have to keep bashing the LPC for points? I want people to vote for us because of us, not in spite of the LPC. I know its about timing, you don't let everything out know for an election 12 months from now.

Maybe, just maybe, we need some serious soul searching in Ottawa, within the party and caucus to make some changes, in 39 months we are still no closer to majority territory, time to take a close look as to why not.

Principles of being a Conservative

2009-04-14T13:06:00.002-05:00

I’ve had some thoughts on what is or isn’t a Conservative. What can you strip away or add and still be considered a core belief in the movement. Many people believe that if you believe in X, Y or Z you can’t be a true Conservative, to an extent that is true. However I believe that the vast majority of Canadians are middle of the road people, me included.

Below are the 10 core principles of what I consider to be Conservative beliefs. Yes I know, there is more to everything then the few words I’m listing, there are many buts, and what if’s. These core principle though, its the implementation and the meanings that cause us all grief.

1. Lower taxes.
2. Less government.
3. Free market.
4. Strong military.
5. Universal health care.
6. Universal education.
7. Effective social programs.
8. Tough on crime.
9. Free speech.
10. Freedom of religion/freedom from religion.

These are the principles that should unify us, not divide us.

Rant

2009-04-07T13:11:00.004-05:00

I’ve taken a sabbatical this past year from all things political, and it’s been hard. When you read something, hear someone speak, or watch someone on TV say inaccurate or plain stupid comments it’s hard not to pounce on them.

It was very difficult to sit out this last Federal election, but sometimes we need to sit back and regain our perspective on life. It was time to do so. I watched many good friends working their collective asses off, while I did little. It made me feel somewhat guilty, but again, it was past due for some time for me.

The past year given me a newer perspective on a few things political. Hence a bit of a rant.

1. I don’t think we, (The Conservative parties) give the volunteers their due and I’m probably as guilty as the next person in that regard. The vast majority of folks working for the parties are there of their own free will, and are not paid. We need to appreciate them more. Not just the once a year folks but those who sit on the executives and take the daily crap on the local level.

2. We do a terrible job with our public image. The LPC, the NDP and the BQ control the media stories. We have problems getting our messaging out. I don’t understand why. We have so many talented people in the parties, we should be dominating the media. We have years of leftist propaganda to fight.

3. Conservative supporters are very principled. They may agree with you on 190 out of 200 policy issues, but will walk away from you on the differences from the remaining 10. They may be principled, but many are not loyal. The other parties tend to keep their supporters regardless of the issues, they circle the wagons and fight the common foe.

4. The vast majority of Conservative members are middle of the road people. Somewhat left/somewhat right in their beliefs. Getting back to number 2 and 3, that’s why the media focuses on the minority religious right, they scare away the soft middle support. In my last executive, perhaps 4 out of 30 were serious about religion, ask the common folks their opinion, and we where all zealots about to make Canada a Theocracy.

5. It’s not about policy, it’s about getting elected. It’s not about getting elected, it’s about policy.

6. No, It’s about Canada. Period.

7. Do what you think is right, regardless of the consequences. Sometimes you have to break some eggs to make a cake.

8. Always tell the truth.

9. There is way too much deadwood in the party. We all know the folks who talk big and never quite do anything. These are the same ones who only come out to be delegates or candidates and do little else. They refuse to get their hands dirty with the actual running of the party. They like to have their photo’s taken with cabinet Ministers and MP’s, but God forbid they should man a table, make phone calls or organize events. But…..the parties are made up of volunteers, so what are you going to do?

It's about good jobs!!

2009-03-10T14:45:00.002-05:00

I love hearing all the economists and politicians talking about coming out of this recession this quarter or next quarter, or next year. But when really? They all have zero clue as to how long it will last.

I still hold the same opinion as before; this is going to be a long one. Kinda like what Japan has been going through these last two decades.

The high paying manufacturing jobs are gone. Period. They’re not coming back anytime soon, our cost of doing business is too high. Wages, taxes, health care, etc. etc. any business worth its salt is going overseas because it’s cheaper and easier to produce their products.

The jobs started leaving during the recession in the early 1990’s, coincidentally the same time credit started to become easier. You see while people didn’t have the high paying jobs they once did, they still wanted to live the same way, hence credit, and more credit. Governments did the same thing, Reagan and Bush Sr., cut taxes and started debt spending like crazy. In Canada Mulroney realized that we were becoming a service economy and brought in the GST, resulting in a win fall for Jean Chretien. Hell it could have been an NDP government in, and they would have seen a win fall.

Business, specifically car companies talk of freeing up credit, that’s not what we need. What we need are good high paying jobs. What good is credit, if you can’t pay it down?? People making $14 an hour can’t have a house, a car, electronics and vacations somewhere warm, except on extreme credit. Credit that can never be paid down. So unless we really fix the problem of not having good paying jobs we are going to limp along living on new credit, until the bill comes due again.

I don’t have the solution, but I do know that huge government debt spending is not going to solve the problem in the long run. Good paying jobs are what we need.

An old one

2009-03-09T07:55:00.000-05:00

but I love it anyway.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1s0dRcdyizU

Dead like me

2009-02-24T13:13:00.001-06:00

One of my all time favorite TV shows is “Dead Like Me”, it lasted on Showcase for two seasons. A dark comedy with exceptional writing and acting.
http://www.deadlikeme.tv/

Sadly the show never had a third season.

Recently however they have just released to DVD a movie of DLM. If I recall correctly it was made two years ago, why they waited till now to release it, I don’t know. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1079444/

I just finished watching it…I miss Mandy Patinkin as Rube, and Laura Harris as Daisy, but what are you going to do? IMHO The movie started off not so well…..then about halfway through became the DLM I know and love.

Hopefully they’ll give the show another shot on Showcase, but it’s been gone for more than a few years now, so I’m not holding my breath.

If you have yet to watch the show, give it a chance.

You just gotta love what your DNA does...

2009-02-14T23:19:00.001-06:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGI_y-r_WcI&feature=channel

Another sad day to remember...

2009-02-11T23:13:00.003-06:00

Charles M. Schulz

November 26, 1922 – February 12, 2000

Ten Years

2009-02-09T10:08:00.002-06:00

Ten Years
http://ejmas.com/pt/2009pt/ptart_morgan_0902.html

http://www.uoguelph.ca/~iaido/

I realized recently that come this June I’ll have been practicing Iaido and Jodo for ten years. And I still feel like I still have little to no clue as to what I’m doing.

I’m still a student, more then happy to let Sensei run his class as he see’s fit. There will be no Coup, no matter how many times he asks me to overthrow him.

If I were somewhere else in the country or the world, I’d probably be teaching at my own club, but this is Guelph, hence there is no need. Established Clubs need their senior students to teach the newbie’s all the little things Sensei forgets. We’re the Sergeants, Lieutenants and Captain’s of the dojos. Let Sensei deal with the National organization, and the stuff between clubs, we’ll handle the mundane internal club stuff that needs to get done.

Aside from that, I have learned a few other things from iaido and jodo I could never have learned elsewhere.

1. Those of us who have hung around any length of time have the same souls. We all tend to have similar interests outside of the dojo, and as such, can form quite a cohesive unit. You can meet anyone, from any dojo and odds are very good that they will be “good people”. This is one of those places where you meet life-long friends, they gravite here. The people that leave shortly after joining, would never have fit in anyway.

2. Practice, practice, practice.

3. Trust what your body tells you. If you are unsure as to “what’s next” in a kata you haven’t done in a while, trust your body to remember. What it is telling you in all things, is quite probably correct. Sadly we let our minds frequently overrule our bodies.

4. The level of ones character can be measured directly by the perseverance applied.

5. You will never be able to do any kata perfectly. Just like Sisyphus and his rock, you just have to keep going. There is no end to it.

6. Technique is more important then strength.

7. Awareness of your surroundings.

8. Iaido is really boring.

9. If you’re doing it correctly, Iaido and jodo is exhausting. I’m by no means in perfect shape, but I can still run 5k without too much difficultly, I can bench press 300+, squat 400+, I’ve done weight training for 32 years, I’ve competed in bodybuilding shows, I’ve run upwards of 80km a week, I know nutritionally what my body needs to function at peak performance, and iaido and jodo can still drop me on my ass. Sometimes 20 minutes into a two hour practice and I’m looking at the clock. Anyone can go though the motions, anyone can memorize the dance steps, but to actually attempt the kata with the correct physical and mental intensity, that can drop you. That took me years to understand.

10. Practice, practice, practice.

30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965

2009-01-22T11:52:00.002-06:00

One day early to remember one of the Great's.

“You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.”
Winston Churchill

Sir John Dinner

2009-01-16T08:30:00.000-06:00

http://www.guelphcp.ca/

Sir John A. Macdonald’s Birthday Celebration

Friday, January 30, 2009 Guelph Place Banquet Hall492 Michener Road Guelph

The evening of Friday January 30th is rapidly approaching, so plan on booking your tickets or table for Guelph’s annual Sir John A Dinner now! We’re offering a special rate for this year, just $40 for members ($60 for non-members) for this great event! It’s going to be an exciting week in Canadian politics, certainly one for the history books. So plan on closing off the week of January 30th with fellow Conservatives right here in Guelph over dinner and a thought provoking speaker!For this year’s Sir John A MacDonald dinner, we’re pleased to announce that our speaker will be CFBR Bill Carroll! Known for his no nonsense speaking and interview style, Bill Carroll is one of the best known radio personalities in the GTA. He’s sure to have something interesting to say about the week’s events!

To reserve your tickets, please call Shaylene at 519.822.1337. If you have any questions regarding the event, please feel free to e-mail, to membership@guelphcp.ca. Please also feel free to let fellow Conservative supporters in and around town about this great event!

We look forward to seeing you there!

Happy Birthday Sir John A

2009-01-10T17:11:00.001-06:00

The new Great Depression

2009-01-07T07:26:00.001-06:00

I’ve been thinking recently on the recession we are in and its lasting consequences on Canada.

This is/will be unlike another down turn we’ve ever experienced.

This is the continued deindustrialization of Canada; it is a trend that we will not be coming back from, ever.

All the job loses we are experiencing will stay gone; the manufacturers who have gone to the States, to Mexico, to Brazil, to China or to India are never coming back. Companies are not going to close a plant in China and move production to Canada. Sorry, but it’s just not going to happen.

We are in a situation where any stimulus package will do little to heal our economy. We are treating the symptoms and not the disease. If we do not change the path we are heading down, Canada will be essentially a third world country in the near future. I’m not being overly dramatic.

We are basically irrelevant to the world economy, we are just so small in scale. Many developing countries are blowing right by us in all economic scales.

We need to be more productive, more efficient, create R & D and be willing to take risks, and we are doing none of the above right now.

Welcome to a new great depression.

Canadian Politics

2008-12-17T14:40:00.001-06:00

I was talking to a friend's little girl, and when I asked her what she wanted to do when she grew up, she said she wanted to be Prime Minister some day.

Both of her parents, Social Liberals, were standing there, so I asked her, 'If you were Prime Minister what would be the first thing you would do?' She replied, 'I'd give food and houses to all the homeless people.'

'Wow - what a worthy goal,' I told her.

'You don't have to wait until you're Prime Minister to do that. You can come over to my house and mow the lawn, pull weeds, and sweep my yard, and I'll pay you $50. Then I'll take you over to the grocery store where that homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the $50 to use toward food or a new house.'

She thought that over for a few seconds because she's only 6. And while her mother glared at me, the little girl looked me straight in the eye and asked, 'Why doesn't the homeless guy come over and do the work and you can just pay him the $50?'

And I said, 'Welcome to the Conservative Party.'

Her folks still aren't talking to me.

Coalition-Coup nonsense

2008-12-07T11:55:00.001-06:00

This whole Coalition-Coup nonsense was going to happen sooner or later. The catalyst just happened to be the PM’s attempt at getting rid of the $1.95 per vote, per party. (Which I agree with, the public should not be in the business of financing political parties.) If it wasn’t the political financing issue, it would have been something else later.

The BQ, the NDP and the LPC needed to be seen as having some type of relevance to the Country and to their membership, for some reason, this was perceived as the only way to do it. Larry, Moe and Shemp's time was up as political Leaders, they needed to do something/anything to stay around.

You can’t keep saying how bad a government is, and then keep supporting them, you look like a fool.

In Canada the tradition has always been a minority government, governs through the support of smaller parties. The Canadian people see it as a training ground for future majority governments, or keeping a short leash on parties they are still unsure of. They see minority governments as sometimes the best governments, as the parties have little choice but to get along. Legislation is generally based on compromise.

Budgets and important pieces of legislation are/can be confidence motions. Even then, there is back room talking and dealing to get a compromise. It’s not strong arm tactics.

A coalition coup is a majority government. Something that no one in the Canadian public wanted. This was not what the people wanted, drop the government in January and lets have another election.

More student garbage

2008-11-28T11:07:00.002-06:00

I guess white people, and males are not as important as everyone else?
Is it any wonder so many of our politicans are stupid? When we have student groups like this as the training ground?
All people are important. White, black, green, plaid. As are both sex's. God....get past race, religion and gender folks, it's not that hard.

Students fire back in CF charity flap
By AEDAN HELMER, SUN MEDIA
The Ottawa Sun

Carleton University student Marissa Hofteizer, center, walks with Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Regional Director, Nadine Imbleau-Redman, right, while participating in a fundraising demonstration on campus one day after the Carleton University Student Association (CUSA) overturned a decision to cancel the Shinerama fundraising campaign which benefits Cystic Fibrosis, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2008.

OTTAWA -- When the Carleton University Students' Association voted to scrap a popular cystic fibrosis fundraiser because the disease "only affect(s) white people, and primarily men," Christine Skobe was shocked.

But the Carleton student, who was diagnosed with the degenerative disease when she was 12, isn't getting mad. She's trying to get even.

Skobe and 25 other students marched through campus yesterday, collecting donations for the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CCFF) in an impromptu fundraiser.

"As a person who has cystic fibrosis, it's unacceptable for my school to be like this," said Skobe.
"I can honestly say that the donations that have come from Shinerama and other CF fundraisers have improved my quality of life, and it's terrible that my school wants to stop supporting that because it's helping me live."

Nadine Imbleau-Redman, regional director with CCFF, said the widespread media coverage "hasn't been all that bad for CF."

"It's given us an opportunity to re-educate the public to allow people to truly understand how devastating a disease it is, how widespread it is and that it is the most common fatal genetic disease among young Canadians," she said.

But as CUSA moves into full damage-control mode, a student coalition is forming on campus to impeach CUSA president Brittany Smyth and councillor Donnie Northrup, the student who wrote the controversial motion to scrap Shinerama in favour of "a new broad-reaching charity."

Coun. Kailey Gervais circulated a petition calling for Smyth and Northrup's resignations, and collected more than 500 signatures in two hours.

According to CUSA policy, 1,250 signatures are needed to impeach Smyth, while 90 science students are required to sign the petition to force Northrup, who represents the faculty of science, from office.

"If the students feel they need to remove two people from office to show the world that we are responsible and that the students can take action and be heard, then that's what needs to be done," said Gervais.

Gervais also wants to reform the political process at council, saying the motion tabled by Northrup allowed "no time for research and no time for consultation."

"Because we did not talk to our constituency, we acted unilaterally at that table and that's incorrect for council," said Gervais.