Recent Events November
Dateline Ottawa November 11, 2011. Armistice Day.
I went to the National War Museum today to honour our troops who have served and many who have lost their lives in protecting Canada, the Canadian people and help fight tyranny throughout the world since 1914. There are no more World War I Canadian veterans left in Canada since John Babcock passed away in February 2010 at the age of 107.
The turnout of both young and old was quite stirring and deep down you know that there were many people like myself that went there as a Canadian honouring those who served, but many where there to honour fathers, sons and now daughters who had paid the ultimate price.
I reeled when the first of the 21 gun salute exploded across the cold November air and the smell of gun powder drifted from behind me to the memorial I could not help but think what it must be like to be face down in the mud with not one but dozens of explosions from guns but also shells landing all around. It brought a serious lump to my throat. The horror of this must stay with these brave souls until their last breathe on earth.
In spite of the millions who die in these useless wars the carnage continues. Those who ignore the past are destined to repeat it.
A Sad Little man - Joe PAthetic
As the revelations continue to bombard newspapers, television and the internet concerning the university coverup of the child abuse committed at Penn State University, the subsequent firing of long time coach Joe Paterno for doing the least he could do legally and absolutely nothing morally to report to the police the going ons of a pedophile that were reported to him nine years ago I wonder why his myopic followers are worried about his fallen stature and believe he received the wrong end of the stick. Well what if you were the child or children who were molested after this incident that the revered Joe Pa failed to get in his car and notify the police of this childs rape how honourable who you see this conceited, self-absorbed miss aligned person I guess his football record is more important than the shattered lives of nine ten who knows how many could have been saved. Instead of being the winningest coach and a real hero he is now remembered as the person who failed what all educators are supposed to do. Not only teach athletics but to uphold and protect their charges not to let your coworkers bugger little children . What was wrong with the assistant coach who actually witnessed this act? He went to his father, then to Joe Paterno. What part about buggering a little boy didn’t he get the he had to get a second opinion? He should have gone to the police immediately. Shame on him and the others who stonewalled on this, lied or misconstrued the circumstance to protect their football program. Could it be the $70 million in revenues that made this easier for them to lie? Paterno and the others that were fired because none of them did anything that would stop the perpetrator. None of them called the police. A decade went by.
We all know that this is the tip of the iceberg and there is more to come.
Ottawa The Gastronomic Quagmire!
Recently moved to Ottawa from Burlington, Ontario the nations’ capital only to discover that while all the major grocery chains, National Grocers, Metro, Sobeys, are all here, there is a shortage of product on the shelves. To fill a grocery list requires that you travel to several stores and that does not guarantee that you will find what you are looking for. Meat choice is abysmal, beef and pork, in fact tons of pork, some beef, some chicken. Not exactly what the old cardiologist suggests as a healthy diet.
Fish at these stores looks like leftovers that Sylvester wouldn’t eat unless the last bird disappeared from the plant and even then. I was told that I should go to the Byward market to find fresh fish, so off I go, GPS leading me Lapointe Fish Limited, a name trusted for quality fresh fish and seafood, their words not mine. Well Sylvester buddy if you want to eat from their trash can in the alley, knock yourself out, because it’s the same quality inside.
Looking for a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, a common item in groceries throughout North America but alas not one can in all the aforementioned chains. In fact no one knew what I meant as they have never heard of this. Now one of the stores in the National Grocers chain named the Super Store (no i am not being sarcastic, that’s their name) when I asked the manager if they had horseradish root went to get his produce manager who informed me that he thought he knew what it was but not sure. He told me to buy some in a jar. Bravo, wunderbar, that’s the route to fine dining an informed supplier.
People don’t dine in Ottawa they eat supper, early and the earlier the better. Brings me back to the joyous era where women stayed at home and when the man arrived home from his daily chores he expected dinner on the table ready to eat. Ah nostaglia! Birdseye TV dinners are starting to look good.
Now it’s easy to point a finger at the grocery stores, but hey, if nobody wants quality and variety, you can’t blame them for stocking what they do. The sad thing about this is individual stores are all under the gun to be profitable so they cut back further. One just has to walk through the aisles to see empty spots on the shelfs, in the produce bins and in the meat counters. Produce looks like what they put on sale that the elderly grab up on sale.
Now does the Prime Minister eat the same crap? If he doesn’t, where does he get his groceries? Are we paying to get food flown to Sussex Drive? I’m not suggesting that there’s something afoot here, but let’s face it he’s not losing any weight.
As further proof that Ottawa is a culinary nightmare here are the requirements to work in the Cafeteria of the House of Commons. Cafeteria helper ( NOC: 6641 ) 27,609.00 to $34,934.00 Yearly for 35 hours per week Anticipated Start Date: 2010/09/07 Location: Ottawa Centre, Ontario (1 vacancy) Skill Requirements: Education: Completion of high school Credentials (certificates, licences, memberships, courses, etc.): Not required Experience: 1 year to less than 2 years Languages: Speak English, Speak French, Read English, Read French, Write English, Write French Work Setting: Cafeteria, Restaurant, Formal dining room Weight Handling: Up to 9 kg (20 lbs) Security and Safety: Bondable Transportation/Travel Information: Own transportation, Public transportation is available Essential Skills: Reading text, Oral communication, Working with others, Critical thinking Other Information: Experience in a food services environment, team player. Basic Food Safety Training and costumer service experience. Please indicate reference #2009-47. Only those selected will be contacted. Employer: House of Commons How to Apply: Please apply for this job only in the manner specified by the employer. Failure to do so may result in your application not being properl….
Notice no mention of cooking requirements. Duh!
” This food is terrible.” How did you get this job”
“I’m bilingual!”
Say no more!
Airline Safety Versus Rights…Again
The recent breach in security has brought on tightened security protocols. Once again the brain trust that safeguards our national security has hit another home run in counter logic. Let’s see we have a system of security that had all the parameters to insure our safety, but a highly suspect individual manages to foil the system with x-number of checks and balances, even though he was on many international lists as a risks and believe it or not his own father let authorities know of his possible threat and he manges to foil the system. So they have added more checks. They couldn’t handle the checks they already had, so now they add more checks. Where’s the logic in that? It’s not that the checks already there were inadequate, the checkers were and are inefficient, they could not operate those checks, so now we are telling them there are more checks that they can screw up. What do you expect, underpaid, under educated, under trained and not the brightest individuals on the globe and we are trusting them with our security. Here in Canada they can’t speak with any clarity either of the two official languages. Airport security in Canada is a dumping ground for immigrants who have no particular skill that our government places there to justify them being in the country. See they are working! Well of course all this is overseen by a bureaucrat whose main interest is to increase the size of his department so he can stroll into the parliamentary cafeteria arrogantly knowing he has more people in his department than another bureaucrat. Money well spent. A mentally business challenged individual, directing people who are basically unemployable anywhere else, checking passengers to assess their potential as terrorists, frisking peoples crotch to see if they are carrying explosives in their unmentionables. Hey, if they had read the list that was available, (assuming they can read) the terrorist would never of boarded the plane the first time, never mind the second time. So the level of intelligence of these guardians of the air is so that they can’t read so they have to resort checking out underwear. At Pearson airport most of the checkers would be immediately profiled by the US customs as they look more like terrorist than grandma whose been in line for an hour waiting to be frisked by security.
