The Ship of Life

This one's for you, doorkeeper.
Courtesty of Eileen

Along the shore I spy a ship
As she sets out to sea;
She spreads her sails and sniffs the breeze
And slips away from me.

I watch her fading image shrink,
As she moves on and on,
Until at last she’s but a speck,
Then someone says, “She’s gone.”

Gone where? Gone only from our sight
And from our farewell cries;
That ship will somewhere reappear
To other eager eyes.

Beyond the dim horizon’s rim
Resound the welcome drums,
And while we’re crying, “There she goes!”
They’re shouting, “Here she comes!”

We’re built to cruise for but a while
Upon this trackless sea
Until one day we sail away
Into infinity.

John T. Baker

Patience is a Virtue

Or so they say.

At any rate, it seems to be one that I never seem to have quite mastered. The funny thing is that I would have thought I would have by now. We went through so much with the Blue Jay when she was litttle. Uncontrolled seizures. Regression. Early intervention. Speech therapy. Neurologists. Numerous hospital stays. Respite workers. The ketogenic diet. And then one of the funnest of them all, school. Sheesh, I get tired just typing about it now.

But I would have thought, through all that, all that teaching and therapy and what-not, that somewhere in there, I would have been forced to learn to be patient. Nah, not so much.

And now I find, I think I am finally learning it. Or perhaps more aptly, I'm being forced into learning it, kicking and screaming like a spoiled child as I go. Fortunately (for the rest of the world), the majority of the kicking and screaming is going on inside my head. But I am being forced to learn to be more patient now, as I deal with mom's problems, then I ever was before.

Yes, I know how to advocate. Yes, I know how to fight the system to get what I believe somebody deserves. But somehow, somewhere, I seem to have lost my energy to do it. I think I am just burnt out. Well, they always told me it would happen.

But more than being forced to learn to be patient with the system (nah, I'm still not doing so well with that), I am learning how to be more patient with mom. To wait. And wait. And bite my tongue to stop the smart remark that is right there. Not because I'm trying to or want to be mean. But it seems to be the way I've been for a long time. Now, it's learning to take yet another deep breath. And try again.

Frankly, it kind of sucks.

But. Maybe it's just another one of those life experiences you (have to) go through to get wherever it is you are going. Or at least that's what I try to tell myself. When all else fails ... Rationalize. That's my motto. That and God never closes a door without opening a window.

Gee, it's getting a little stuffy in here. I wonder where that window is.

Round and Round We Go

There's a blog I like to visit daily. It's on the sidebar. Take 5.
Punky d has a had a few links to those Tom Cruise/Scientology videos that are all the rage on the net lately. One link is to Cruise's video, the other is a parody. That last one is rather funny ... in a scary kind of way.

I use to really like Cruise ...well, he's not that hard on the eyes, is he? And say what you will, he has done some pretty good movies. Admittedly, not so much lately. He has gotten a little [ahem] strange. Maybe that's what happens when you start believing your own press.

And I must admit that I hadn't given too much thought to where those videos came from or why. After all, there will always be someone out there with a bone to pick. Such is the price of fame, we say. As I said at LawEddie's yesterday, I think the explosion of technology just gives all of us more opportunities to behave badly.

But I thought it was interesting when I came across this. Apparently, anonymous hackers have released a new video declaring war on Scientology.

Whether you support the right of Scientology to exist as a religion or believe is should be crushed as a dangerous cult, the unique issue posed is the ability of dissenters to use the Internet to literally seek the destruction of a multibillion-dollar enterprise. New media is going beyond the power that traditional journalists have had to disseminate information in a way to achieve desired objectives. Perhaps more significantly, it is being done without hiding behind fictitious “objective reporting” claims. The goal — destruction of Scientology — is clearly stated.

Well, that might explain a few things. You can check out the hacker's rather interesting video at Business Lawyer Blog. And for any 'conspiracy theorisists' out there, consider this.

In fact, Lakhani’s analysis, written before the hackers released their video, raises an interesting possibility. If publicizing persecution is a way to attract members to a cult, this hacker video indirectly promotes Scientology. Could it be that Scientologists released it as a manipulative Internet marketing tool? Stay tuned.

Around and round we go. I guess some would have us believe that you can't take anything at face value anymore.

Namesake

For me?
Why, you shouldn't have.

Free Fallin by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
by Erika Brooks Adickman
iloveyourblog.blogspot.com
a crayon video

But thanks. That was really sweet.

H/T to the Blue Jay

Joie de vivre

I got this email from my neice today.

As you probably know, I'm leaving for Europe on Feb 19th. [My friend] and I will be doing two months of backpacking, hitting up as much of Western Europe as we can and a bit of the Eastern part as well. After that's done (and we're completely broke!) we'll be saying goodbye in Brussels as she leaves for Canada and I'll be spending the following 7 months experiencing the 'joie de vivre' in Belgium. So, as I'm not expecting to have enough time, money (to spent on internet cafes) or even the mental capacity to email everyone individually, I've made a blog that you can check out if you happen to have a fleeting thought of 'that little brunette girl' and might be curious as to what she's been up to...

I think I hate her...

I made a similar (albeit much shorter - parts of 3 months) trip after my first year of college. So I hope know that she will have a blast. But I still hate her.

Too bad I don't have a 'Label' for Jealousy

How To Beat The Stats

The statistics are dismal. And depressing.

• In Canada, the total divorce rate peaked at 362 divorces per 100,000 inhabitants in 1987.
• In 2000, the divorce rate was 231 per 100,000 inhabitants.
• After three years of marriage, the divorce rate was at its highest, at 26.2 per 1,000 couples. The risk of divorce declined slightly with each passing year after that.

And Statistics Canada figures from 2003 show the number of Canadians getting divorced more than once is on the rise.

• The number of marriage breakups involving husbands who have been divorced at least once tripled in three decades.
• In 2003, 16.2 per cent of husbands getting divorced had at least one previous divorce, while in 1973, the rate was 5.2 per cent.
• Similarly, divorces involving wives who had previously been divorced rose from 5.4 per cent in 1973 to 15.7 per cent in 2003.

Do you think things are much better south of the border?

• The last-reported U.S. divorce rate for a calendar year, available as of May, 2005, is 0.38% divorces per capita per year, the provisional estimate for the year 2005 from the National Center for Health Statistics.
• The Census Bureau's often-cited "50%" rate, the proportion of marriages taking place right now that will eventually divorce, which has since been revised downward to roughly 43% by the National Center for Health Statistics but was moved back up to around 50% by the Census Bureau in 2002, with even more ifs ands and buts than usual. Most recently, according to the New York Times, it has been revised downward to just over 40%.

With numbers like that, just how does a couple just starting out beat the odds, you ask?

By having a little fun, of course!

H/T to Dar

Just In Time For The Election Cycle

John Grisham.
Either you like him or you don't.

Or you use to like him but not really anymore.

Or maybe you use to really like him, got tired of him for a while but then started to like some of his newer stuff again. That latter one would be me. I really enjoyed most of his writing for quite a while. Especially The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client and The Partner. Until they all started to feel the same. Just a different story.

So I took a break from him for quite a while, then after a long respite, I read The Broker. Which, seeing as how I was into CIA books at the time, was okay. A while later, I tried The Last Juror. That one didn't really work for me. It felt like it rambled and rambled (enjoyable enough during the rambling, but I kept wondering how/when it would get where it was suppose to go) and then ... it kind of ended in a hurry. Disappointing.

But now I see he's come out with another new book. Back to the legal thrillers, it would seem.

“The Appeal” is John Grisham’s handy primer on a timely subject: how to rig an election. Blow by blow, this not-very-fictitious-sounding novel depicts the tactics by which political candidates either can be propelled or ambushed and their campaigns can be subverted. Since so much of what happens here involves legal maneuvering in Mississippi, as have many of his other books, Mr. Grisham knows just how these games are played. He has sadly little trouble making such dirty tricks sound real.

According to this review, Grisham makes no secret of his personal politics, 'a little to the left'. Which might explain the book's keen ear for the baloney of biased rhetoric, particularly when it comes from the right. But baloney is baloney in my book. Might just be worth a read.

H/T to How Appealing by way of the The California Bleg Blog of Appeal

When You're In, You're In ...

... and when you're out, you're out.

Or so says Stephen Harper, apparently.

Harper adopted Manley's call for a continuation of the mission until the insurgency in southern Afghanistan is pacified enabling more training of Afghan security forces and economic development.

Harper said Canada's long-term continued participation hinges not only on NATO coming up with more troops, but on his own government supplying heavy transport helicopters, and unmanned surveillance drones.

Harper said the Manley report recognizes that there are few options that "essentially you're either in or you're out, and if you're in, you actually have to be in a much bigger way."

So here's what I would really like to know. Harper has said that both recommendations [proper equipment for the trips and NATO supplying an additional 1,000 soldiers for the south of Afghanistan] will have to be fulfilled or Canada will not proceed with the mission. That these are essential to our success.

"While the case for the Afghan mission is clearly compelling, the decision to allow our young men and women in uniform to continue to be in harm's way demands the responsibility to give them a strong chance of success," Harper said.

- - - - - - -

"Canada has done what it said it would do and more," Harper said. " We now say we need help. If NATO can't come through with that help, then frankly I think NATO's own reputation and future will be in grave jeopardy."

Show of hands, please. How many think that just reeks BLUFF?

That was my initial response but when I gave it some more thought, I realized that it could be just about perfect, from a political point of view.

IF NATO doesn't pony up, Harper has the perfect 'out'; it won't be his fault, it was simply that we couldn't count on our allies and he stepped forward, brave soul that he is, to protect Canada's sons and daughters.

BUT if the stars somehow align and both troops and equipment materialize, once again he is the 'good guy'. Not only did his government not cut and run, not only did we kept our commitments and honour our dead soldiers by continuing their mission, but at the same time he can make his competition look bad. After all, he, good statesman that he is, appointed a 'blue ribbon' panel, the head of which was one of them, and followed its recommendations. Cue to sing 'O Canada'.

I believe the correct term is 'political expediency".

Mr. Harper, some words of advice.

When you're up, you're up.
And when you're down, you're down.
And when you're only half way up, You're neither up nor down.

Just so you know.

Happy Fried-Day

That's right. Happy Fried-Day. And why not?
I mean as long as there's Blue Monday, why shouldn't the first Friday immediately after be Happy Fried-Day?

I'm with this guy.

Here’s hoping Fried-Day marks the deepest emotional pothole of 2008, that the worst is in the rear-view mirror already. But frankly, the news is not helping to lift the mood. Everything seems like such tough slogging. The economy is in crisis. The environment is in crisis. The Middle East is in crisis. The health-care system is in crisis. When the bloody alarm goes off in the morning, it feels like a crisis.

Personally, I hope this is "the deepest emotional pothole of 2008", given that I'm sick and feel so god-awful today. Funny how sick as I am (and believe me, I am) I can still manage to blog though.

As predicted, the Manley report concerning Canada's future role in Afghanistan was released this week. The report itself seems fairly sensible, or is that middle of the road, concluding that Afghanistan has made economic and social progress in spite of its deteriorating security situation and that the mission is a worthy cause. After all, contributing to international security, improving the quality of life in one of the world’s most long-suffering countries and restoring Canada’s leadership role in global affairs all sound worthwhile, don't they?

Manley called on the combat mission to be extended beyond its current deadline of February 2009, on two conditions:

•The UN’s International Security Assistance Force sends 1,000 more soldiers to Kandahar province, enabling Canadian forces to accelerate training of the Afghan National Army.
•The government secures medium-lift helicopters and high-performance, unmanned aircraft to help soldiers avoid the deadly scourge of roadside bombs.

Manley suggested Ottawa take these two demands to NATO and draw a clear line in the sand, either 1,000 additional troops are provided by February, 2009 or we pull out. Perhaps most importantly, political parties were urged to wait to see what happens at a NATO summit in Romania in April before making any decisions in Parliament.

To keep the balance, the report also urged the Canadian government to play a more robust non-military role in the country. Apparently only 47 Canadian government civilians are working in Afghanistan — compared with 2,500 soldiers. Add that to the fact that Canadian diplomats appear to be muzzled and aid workers who volunteer to go to Kandahar are then prevented from leaving the base to work on reconstruction projects. As a good friend of mine is want to say, 'Things that make you go hmmm.'

Also as predicted, the politicians are having their usual fun in the park field day with it, with the Liberal, NDP and Bloc Quebecois leaders predictably reiterating their earlier 'preference' for a February 2009 overhaul of the mission. Despite not having actually read the report (why, oh why, would a person actually need to read something before criticizing it?) Stephan Dion, leader of the Liberal party, repeated (much like a stuck record) the party’s long-held position that Canada’s combat mission must end as scheduled in February 2009, although he conceded that Canada could continue to play a role in construction, training and humanitarian aid.

Apparently Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe believes that Canadian and Quebec troops have done their part. Time to move on. Not surprisingly (and depressingly for me), the NDP was most dismissive of the report and reiterated its call for a 2009 pullout.

"At a time when Canada should be drastically changing course to help the Afghan people build a lasting peace in the region, this report is recommending more of the same," said NDP Leader Jack Layton. "The combat role is the wrong role for Canada and it’s not making life more secure for Afghans."

Putting the politicians aside (in a locked room, if possible), other response to the report appears much more positive, at least in Nova Scotia. The families of Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan praised Manley's report, with several parents and spouses saying that they were pleased with the exhaustive document. Now you don't suppose our politicians could learn something from that, do you? Especially considering that it's these very same families that the pols are oh-so-concerned about.

The real problem (besides the political posturing, made all the more difficult for the Liberals given the fact that Manley is one of their own) was pointed out by a relative of one of our injured soldiers - the report merely restates a message that has been relayed repeatedly to NATO officials without results — that Canada needs more help from its allies in the country’s restive southern region. That's something we have been calling for for months with little response. I wonder what the chances are of that non-response changing now? Come on, fellow NATO-allies, isn't it really, finally, time to put up?

And how can I tell that it really is Fried-Day, you ask?

As definitive proof, I offer you this. For no reason other than to add insult to injury, I suppose, while researching the links for this post, I came across this. Now there's something that could (and no doubt will) get me going. But not today. After all, it's Fried- Day. And I'm already sick.

"Any idiot can face a crisis; it is this day-to-day living that wears you out."
Russian playwright Anton Chekhov

Winter

I found this beautiful winter poem and thought it might be a comfort to you. It was to me, and it's very well written.

ENJOY!

' WINTER '
a poem by Abigail Elizabeth McIntyre

' Sumbitch It's Cold ! '

The End

H/T to Bobby

I Have A Dream ... Do You?

Sara, from Balancing Act, following up on the American holiday of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, suggested we all try our own version of "I Have A Dream".

I'm not much at either poetry or speech writing, but I'm honoured to give it a try.

I have a dream ...

I have a dream that one day individuals with disabilities will truly be accepted into society, in every way imaginable. Not just with lip service, but to the extent that if someone were to actually mention the word 'inclusion'; the use of that term alone would raise eyebrows.

I have a dream that one day we will all care more about people than about possessions. That, as corny as it may sound, the world will finally, collectively, straighten out its value system.

I have a dream that one day we will all realize the value in helping to take care of those who need more help. And make sure that there are the necessary programs and services available. Be it the elderly, the very young or the disabled ... that we will always hold in our hearts that 'There, but for the grace of God, go I'.

I have a dream that my children will grow up as happy and healthy as possible. So that one day I can sit back, put my feet up, take a deep breath and think 'I must have done something right'.

I have a dream that, as a country, we will unite around our brave military and, for as long as necessary, always find a way to show them that no matter what we may think of the choices our politicians make, we know why they do what they do. And just how much we appreciate that.

I have a dream that the time will come when we will be able to see beyond our national borders and see ourselves as people and as citizens of the earth first. Before we see ourselves as Canadians, Americans, Europeans ...

Following Sara's tradition, I won't tag anyone but simply ask that you pass this along either via your blog or through e-mail. Renew the dream as it is a precious one.

Oh yeah, almost forgot one:

I have a dream that one day ... I will fly in a fighter jet.

Sorry, just couldn't resist that last one!

Men Are In Boxes, Women are ... Wired?!

Forget Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus.
This it explains it all so much better.




H/T to FbL at Neptunus Lex