It finally happened and, when it did, it happened better than I was even expecting.

Yesterday the federal budget for 2023 was handed down by finance minister and deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland and in it was money for dental care for Canadians who either struggle to or simply can’t afford it on their own.  As part of their supply and confidence agreement, the NDP had been insisting that this notion be made permanent policy.  It would, however, help only seniors and children to the age of 18.  If you fall outside those two demographics, then you go without dental insurance unless you either buy it yourself or have it as part of a benefits package at work.  So there would still have been a significant gap remaining in the population, particularly the economically fragile part of it.

Continue reading “FEDERAL BUDGET ADDRESSES DENTAL CARE GAP” →

Whether you agree with Prince Harry or not, whether you find him to be a grand-stander, attention-seeker, traitor to his family or not, nobody could possibly deny he’s had a tough time of things.

I suppose, to some, Harry can be seen as a freeloader of the public purse and a turncoat to the Royal Family.  I suppose, to some. 

But I don’t see him that way.

Continue reading “HARRY: THE SPARE WHO DARED” →

I checked and you can’t, at least I don’t think you can.  That is kick a nation out of the NATO alliance.  Because I’m seriously considering kicking out Hungary.

Under the current leadership of prime minister Victor Orban, the Eastern European nation once a member of the Warsaw Pact has drawn itself up as a consistent pain in the ass to the alliance as a whole, not to mention the interference it runs on the European Union as well.

Continue reading “HUNGARY PROVING TO BE A SUSPECT ALLY” →

A raccoon dog.

I have to confess, I had to Google that one when I first heard the term, and what I found was, well, I found it.

Scientists have been looking long and hard at how the whole COVID-19 thing got started, whether it was intentional, a lab leak from the local virology institute, or something that creeped out of the infamous Chinese wet market in Wuhan.  I suppose that’s appropriate, given that over 7 million people died as a result of COVID with millions more made sick, and still millions upon millions more impacted.  

One of the theories of interest at the moment concerns an animal called a raccoon dog, which by the way, is neither raccoon nor dog.  Apparently they’re included in wet markets in China for their fur.  Also apparently, the animal seems to be presenting itself as a vector for the virus.

Continue reading “A RACCOON DOG?” →

Exactly how much hate should I pour into a pair of socks?

It sounds liken a stupid question and, on its face, it is.  But there are people in this country for whom it’s legitimate, given the tendency of some to take a $100,000 vehicle and cheapen it with a buck-fifty bumper sticker expressing a profane dislike for a prime minister.

Being a prime minister is not something for the faint of heart, nor is it a means to engender popularity among the Canadian masses.  For many prime ministers, being disliked by people is just the way it goes, a part of the job I suppose.  The dislike, for most, is something that often fades when the politician leaves office and leaves the national conscience.

For most, but not for this one, not for Justin Trudeau.

Continue reading “HATING A PRIME MINISTER” →

The International Criminal Court, or ICC, has issued an arrest warrant for Russian president Vladimir Putin on charges of war crimes.  The charges stem from the forced evacuations and kidnappings of Ukrainian children to Russian territory to have them absorbed into Russia and to depopulate occupied Ukrainian territory of Ukrainians.

Putin “is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.”

So what does this mean?  Unfortunately, not much.

Russia is not a member of the ICC and doesn’t recognize its authority.  For that matter, neither does the United States, so that’s one problem.  Another is the fact that the ICC has no means of enforcing the warrant, having no “police” force of its own to make such an arrest, instead relying on member nations to do that part.  Fat chance of that.

The only way Putin appears before the ICC is if Russia loses the war in Ukraine badly and he’s overthrown.  And even then, if he was even still alive, I don’t see the Russians coughing him up.  Not their style.  Or rather, if they had style, it wouldn’t be this.

What the Russians are doing with Ukrainian children is naked genocide.  They’ve done it before, in exactly the same area and to the same people, most notably in the 1930’s during what’s known as The Holodomor, where millions of Ukrainians were either starved to death, arrested and sent to work gulags in Siberia, or kidnapped and exported as is happening now.

Russia is not a very nice country.  It never has been.  It’s not in the Russian DNA.

Putin will only face justice for these crimes when he dies, whether through old age or at the hand of others.  He has, however, taken his last trip to anywhere in Europe or anywhere else in the free world, as he could be conceivably scooped-up while out of Russia.  But he ain’t leaving Russia unless he has to because the risk of a coup in his absence is too high.  If he does travel, it’ll be to places like Belorussia, China, Iran, and North Korea, maybe Syria.  

Some nice, well-rounded company those Russians keep.  

Liars, murderers, war criminals, genocide artists, and thieves.  

It’s weird for me to say this, but I’m really looking forward to a movie coming to theatres in May.  So much so that I actually might go to the theatre to check it out rather than wait for it to appear on Netflix or some other streaming service.  The picture will likely not win any Oscars, although I can’t be sure of that.  I couldn’t tell you right now the names of any of the actors, so star-power-wise it’s not going to run with the big pictures.  In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if I ended up being the only guy in the theatre.  The movie?

BLACKBERRY.

Yes, I said it and I’m okay with that.

Continue reading “BLACKBERRY COMING TO A THEATRE NEAR YOU” →

What would possess someone to shoot and kill seventeen horses?

Seventeen feral horses were found shot to death on Friday close to Walhachin, B.C., an area in the province’s interior some 65 miles west of Kamloops.  While relatively remote, the Trans-Canada Highway cuts through the region and there are several protected natural areas around.  As well, there are a number of First Nation reserves close by, with one of them, the Skeetchestn Band, attaching significant cultural importance to the wild horses in the area.

I can’t fathom the motivation behind such a hateful act, no more than I can fathom somebody shooting up a school, or a church, or a mosque, or a shopping mall.  It’s beyond justification.

Why wild horses?  It’s not like these animals were all lined up along the guardrail on Highway 1 waiting for somebody to come along and shoot them.  Whoever did it would have to go back-country, and have some familiarity with back-country, in order to do it.  So right off the bat, I see someone who is semi-local to the area, someone who either lives there or visits there often-enough.

Again, why wild horses?  It seems to me that a person would have to have an unbelievable rage against equines to rise to the level of mass murder.  Maybe it was just a random attack, with horses conveniently happening along the path of the killer(s).  

Shooting seventeen agile animals would be hard to do alone, so I suspect more than one perpetrator.

Would it be somebody who knows of the cultural importance of the horse to the nearby Skeetchestn Band?  If so, does that rise to the level of hate crime?

Could it be a disaffected indigenous person, angry at the band for whatever reason, taking that anger out on something sacred and beautiful to that community?

Whoever is to blame for this abhorrent act is not somebody I’d like to see walking free.  I wish for a speedy identification and arrest.

I honestly don’t get what’s happening to women MPs, MPPs, and all manner of women politicians and civil servants.  The hatred being directed their way is costing us, as a nation, the talent of wonderfully gifted and purposeful people in public life. And there has to be a way to stop it.

Continue reading “THE SCOURGE OF MISOGYNY” →

What to make of Mexico.

The North American nation of 127 million people should be a powerhouse economically, militarily, and diplomatically.  But it’s none of those things.

Instead, it appears to be a failed state, and is recognized as such on the FSI, or Fragile State Index, where it’s listed in the WARNING category, one below the worst category of ALERT.

I’ve been aware of the Mexican situation forever, and I’ve been concerned, but since I don’t travel there for any reason, such awareness can be easily replaced with awareness of things closer to home.  Recently, though, with the killings of Canadians and Americans either visiting as tourists or attending a medical appointment, the situation there has come into greater light.

Continue reading “BATTLEGROUND MEXICO” →