William Shatner sings ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.
Yep you read that right.
*“Space — the final frontier.” William Shatner said those words more than 40 years ago in his voice-over for the introduction to the classic ‘Star Trek’ TV series. Shatner returns to space — sort of — in the recently released video for his one-of-a-kind rendition of Queen‘s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody.’* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKo4FMzt_hM&feature=player_embedded
I came across this link in the comments section of an article supporting quotas to increase the number of women in board rooms (at the G&M). The article is the usual predictable clap-trap, but this link made interesting reading. Perhaps you’ve seen it before. It’s been around for a while. http://www.cypress.com/?rID=34986
“Bluntly stated, a “woman’s view” on how to run our semiconductor company does not help us, unless that woman has an advanced technical degree and experience as a CEO.”
While you were sleeping: Sneaky midnight-hour Senate moves; EduJobs rejected, Commerce nominee/solar subsidy mogul approved, Fannie/Freddie loan limits increased http://michellemalkin.com/
Are Darwin Award stories too lowbrow for SDA? Here’s a fresh one, from Toronto, about a guy on a skateboard going the wrong way on a one-way street who got himself killed under the wheels of a garbage truck: Wrong-way skateboarder killed by garbage truck
If you read the story (from the Toronto Star) you learn that he was the drummer in a band called Slow Motion Victory. No connection is made with the Occupy protest, but that’s the only possible addition I can think of that would make the story any more absurd.
Well it is Friday night, we’re in difficul;t financial times, and it is a nasty night in Vancouver, weather-wise. Something a littlew uplifting here
And they’re pretty easy the eyes as well…
Well it is a gloomy Friday night, weather-wise, in Vancouver. And we are all in anticipation of impending global financial problems that will affect all of us.
So to echo Ken’s advice, relax and enjoy what is here
And guys, they are pretty easy on the eyes as well.
apologies for the double post…I thought the first one was cancelled.
Yup, that happened to me once.
…
No wait, um… it was twice actually.
Warning, the column you are about to read will make your head hurt. Voter suppression is now the conservatives fault.
My favorite line”that people who may not share our views will determine the direction of our beloved city, province, country” As usual, the issues isnt’ that people aren’t interested in what the liberals are about its that everyone loves them but just didn’t get around to voting. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/hon-carolyn-bennett/voter-supression_b_1012513.html
Great tune Kate. Went right out and bought it. Bit of a flashback in there somewhere…..
Re CJ’s post on Toronto skateboarder killed by a garbage truck yesterday morning: “‘Skateboarders are neither allowed on the road if there are sidewalks present, nor are they allowed in bike lanes,’ said Ron Hamilton, the city’s manager of traffic operations.”
Well. Well. Well. Who would know?
I drive the mean and crazy streets of Toronto every day, (Lord, have mercy), and every day I see skateboarders and bicyclists on the sidewalks — and skateboarders on the road. (Yesterday took the cake: I saw a small motorcycle on the sidewalk.)
Skateboarders on the road are often hard to spot (almost universally, they wear dark clothing) and are hell to go around, especially with oncoming traffic.
I’m sorry this guy died — it’s a heavy price to pay for entitlement and stupidity — but I hope it sends a message to all of the other skateboarders out there that bad things can happen when you think you own the roads — and when you think that traffic laws don’t apply to special, wonderful, you.
Apropos of megalomaniacal dictators: Idi Amin of Uganda started his working life as a cook’s assistant in the Ugandan colonial army, but ended up as “His Excellency President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Dr. Idi Amin, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Seas and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular and uncrowned King of Scotland.”
Nice work if you can get it till you fall down and go boom.
Bruce, it is all right, as the song by the Celtic Woman was worth the listen, twice.
Just to comment on some comments regarding the coming global financial difficulties. My age group was raised by people who experienced the depression and the aftermath, so most of us who have not forgotten the lessons of our youth will survive. The financial difficulties will be harder on our children and many who are not so prudent will suffer, as will our grandchildren.
In fact, it might be appropriate to listen to “You Raise Me Up” a third time, as we might mentally need some raising up.
Here is a beaut from Elizabeth Renzetti.
Her opening: “I’m the mother of an anchor baby.”
Then she defines the term “anchor baby” for us: “They’re the children born in the U.S. to illegal immigrants.”
Then she says this: “My own anchor baby was born when we were living in Los Angeles. I wasn’t there illegally but on the sufferance of the horribly named “spouse visa”.
Pop quiz: Is Elizabeth Renzetti:
a) stupid?
b) a liar?
c) a stupid liar?
Page A2 of the Globe and Mail of Saturday, October 22. (Not on line yet)
Another bit on Hirsi Ali from the National Post: http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/10/21/kevin-libin-a-question-of-loyalty/
“The need for liberal, secular democracies like Canada to prepare themselves for immigrants who might come unready to accept citizenship responsibilities will likely be one of the warnings Ms. Hirsi Ali brings to Calgary on Tuesday, where she’ll be speaking at a sold-out dinner officially launching the Manning Foundation for Democratic Education. Exploring tensions around multiculturalism will be one of the focuses for the foundation, named for, and led by, Reform and Canadian Alliance party founder Preston Manning…,”
“misogynist culture”?
That’s Mohammedanism, aka Islam.
MSM piece here* does not identify the “misogynist culture” of Mohammed.
These words/names* tell the story:
“*Mohammad Shafia” and “Rona Amir *Mohammad” and “Tooba *Mohammad Yahya”.
MSM says, “its members behave like, well, children.” No, they behave like Mohammedans.
MSM’s pc kills.
Here is the killer quote: “On Fridays, the judge told the jurors, the lunch schedule will be shifted so the interpreters, all male, can get to mosque for prayers.”
…-
“*Christie Blatchford: Diary of ‘honour killing’ victim reveals competitive, misogynist culture” http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/10/21/christie-blatchford-diary-of-honour-killing-victim-reveals-competitive-misogynist-culture/
Strippers are not generally nice girls, know what I mean?
The Fraudulent Grove of Chuck’s* Socialist Academe.
“chancellor is the Prince of Wales*,” amended to: Chuck was the chancellor.
“Past students include the Prince of Wales, who spent a term at Aberystwyth in spring 1969, Neil Kinnock, the former Labour leader, who met his wife Glenys at Cardiff, and Huw Edwards, the BBC presenter, who also studied at Cardiff.”
…-
“University of Wales abolished after visa scandal”
“The second-largest university in the country with a 120-year history has been abolished following a visa scandal.”
“The University of Wales (UoW) will cease to exist after mounting pressure to draw a line under a series of damaging revelations. Its chairman Hugh Thomas resigned on Friday.
The university was a federation of institutions across the Principality, and its constituent parts will now go their separate ways.
Two – Newport and Glyndwr, in Wrexham – will become independent universities, while Swansea Metropolitan will merge with Trinity St David, based in Lampeter and Carmarthen.
The move follows allegations about a visa scam and failures to carry out proper checks on foreign colleges accredited by the university to award its degrees.” http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/8843200/University-of-Wales-abolished-after-visa-scandal.html
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/10/occupy_animal_farm_the_organiz.html
“Personally, I cannot wait for winter. It will clear out these people who aren’t here for the right reasons. Bring on the snow. The real revolutionaries will stay in -50 degrees.”
Translation: 98% of the 99% are posers.
” Strippers are not generally nice girls, know what I mean?”
Hehe,but when they’re good,they’re really good.
HT: A poll over at sun news: Do you think the UN should investigate Gadhafi’s death? http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/poll/results.html
Just my opinion, but there should not be another penny spent, nor time wasted on him…..
Leftists vs O’narcissisthimself.
…-
O’narcissisthimself:
“Obama touts foreign policy successes”
“President Barack Obama sought Saturday to cast himself as a strong leader on foreign policy, highlighting a U.S. pullout from Iraq and the death of Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi as success stories.” http://cnews.canoe.ca/
…-
Leftists:
“Iraq rejects US request to maintain bases after troop withdrawal”
“Guardian”
“The US suffered a major diplomatic and military rebuff on Friday when Iraq finally rejected its pleas to maintain bases in the country beyond this year.
Barack Obama announced at a White House press conference that all American troops will leave Iraq by the end of December, a decision forced by the final collapse of lengthy talks between the US and the Iraqi government on the issue.
The Iraqi decision is a boost to Iran, which has close ties with many members of the Iraqi government and which had been battling against the establishment of permanent American bases.
Obama attempted to make the most of it by presenting the withdrawal as the fulfilment of one of his election promises.
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk …” http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2796434/posts
Bruce,
Thanks for the video of the ladies. My little Corgi passed away yesterday, we played the video at his funeral and I cried like a baby. Beautiful song, apropos for a short legged little doggie……. and short legged wives.
Gorrible News AGW Modellers’ Feature Looms.
Temp drop is F. What’s that in C-PET’s-anada?
…-
“Midweek Snowstorm to Hit Denver, Colorado Rockies”
“Dramatic 50-Degree Temperature Drop Looms”
“News – Oct 22, 2011; 4:04 PM ET”
“Residents of Denver may find it hard to fathom that both snow and record-challenging warmth are on the way for early next week, but an impending 50-degree temperature drop makes it possible.” http://www.accuweather.com/
Ken:
Your comments at 10:43 are dead on.
I was born in 1948, both parents served in the war, I grew up in a Montreal housing development called “Benny Farm”…everyone there was a war vet. Every kid had something in common in terms of their backgrounds and values.
Watching my parents trying to put their lives back together after 6 years of wartime, with my father having been horribly wounded when his bomber went down, was not unusual for me, because so many of the kids that I grew up with experienced the same thing.
Demands, or needs, back then were relatively simple compared with today. Back then, everyone shared a room with their brother, or sisters with sisters. The notion of having access to more than one bathroom was simply out of the question.
But the cool thing, as kids, is we really didn’t know at the time how poor we really were.
And admittedly, I over-compensated concerning myself in terms of career and investment decisions, as well as with my children. Each had a room, each with their own bathroom. Looking back, and considering the current economic outlook, that was probably wrong, raising their expectations that the good life would simply roll on and on. And now I am trying to ease the financial pain through distributions of cash that they are both ultimately going to receive anyway. Not the best solution, but at least they are both fiercely committed to working for a living, which is good.
Bruce Wayne Riley:
I’m sorry for your loss, and can identify with what you are going through currently. Growing up, we had Corgis. I became a Golden Retriever man myself, and have been privileged to have known several wonderful canine friends.
My last dog, Murphy, was the perfect dog. He went everywhere with me, to work (I own the company) and pretty much everywhere else. He died in my lap two years ago when I had to provide him with the final act of kindness at our vet’s office, still faithful, loving and trusting.
To say that I was devastated would be a gross understatement. But I am comforted by the fact that when I go, my children will follow my instructions, pilot my boat to my favorite anchorage here in the BC Gulf Islands, and pour my ashes, along with my three golden retrievers, onto the ocean floor together. I don’t know if there is a hereafter or not, but regardless, I’ll be together with my beloved dogs.
OK…now I’m starting to get maudlin…I was about to erase this this, but, for whatever reason, decided to post it…
small c tory @ 7:57 a.m. (linking to http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/hon-carolyn-bennett/voter-supression_b_1012513.html):
That article was Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett essentially repeating some ideas from a couple of Warren Kinsella columns in the Sun on July 10 and 12 (I commented on them in Reader Tips of July 14).
If there is any such thing as “voter suppression” going on, it comes from the left who have held sway for decades and have ruined things to the point where voters see almost no hope.
I’m glad you posted, Bruce. Genuine stories of love and hope are good for the spirit. Thanks!
Bruce, there aren’t many comments that move me to tears, tough old nut that I am, but yours did. I did the same with the only dog — perfect, like yours! — I ever owned (for my kids; I’d been a cat person up till then): ‘held him, stroked him, told him I loved him and that he was the best dog anyone ever had till the drug euthanized him.
I also appreciated your comments about growing up “poor” but not knowing it. Too many kids today grow up rich and not knowing it, which means that their gratitude gene is totally screwed up.
The only good news about this global financial downturn that I can see is that we may find out what it is to share again, to make do with what we have, to be grateful for what we have — and not resentful or envious of what we don’t have. It’s so much easier to go up the financial ladder than come down it. But, it is possible to do it with graciousness if we learn gratitude for what we have, if we stop comparing ourselves to those who have more than we have and, instead, see those who have less than we have and be willing to share the little we have with them.
In God’s economy, I’ve found, one is more generous when one has less than when one has more — at least, that’s the way it works with me. I think it’s because when I have less, I can identify with others who have even less than I have. When I have more, I’m thinking about what I can afford to buy and do for myself.
I guess that’s what Jesus meant when He said, ” … it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Being rich isn’t the problem: Being stingy is.
Now I ain’t sayin’ she a gold digger, but she ain’t messin’ with no broke…
Saskatchewan election poll at:
http://www.regina.CTV.ca
Results on the 6 o’clock news Monday night.
Please vote!
Hits you by surprise when due dilegence is a ho…
For those of you who have also had a rough week. Pour a little gin or glass of Merlot, light your pipe and relax in your rockin’ chair.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTSsF7VLiM0
From Berkeley no less. Human component of global warming may be somewhat overstated.
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/10/21/sceptical-berkeley-scientists-say-human-component-of-global-warming-may-be-somewhat-overstated/#more-49700
William Shatner sings ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.
Yep you read that right.
*“Space — the final frontier.” William Shatner said those words more than 40 years ago in his voice-over for the introduction to the classic ‘Star Trek’ TV series. Shatner returns to space — sort of — in the recently released video for his one-of-a-kind rendition of Queen‘s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody.’*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKo4FMzt_hM&feature=player_embedded
I came across this link in the comments section of an article supporting quotas to increase the number of women in board rooms (at the G&M). The article is the usual predictable clap-trap, but this link made interesting reading. Perhaps you’ve seen it before. It’s been around for a while.
http://www.cypress.com/?rID=34986
“Bluntly stated, a “woman’s view” on how to run our semiconductor company does not help us, unless that woman has an advanced technical degree and experience as a CEO.”
Very scary chart of USD vs JPY:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/dollar-yen-plummets-new-post-world-war-2-low#comment-1799426
Good video Kate. It rocks!!!
While you were sleeping: Sneaky midnight-hour Senate moves; EduJobs rejected, Commerce nominee/solar subsidy mogul approved, Fannie/Freddie loan limits increased
http://michellemalkin.com/
Are Darwin Award stories too lowbrow for SDA? Here’s a fresh one, from Toronto, about a guy on a skateboard going the wrong way on a one-way street who got himself killed under the wheels of a garbage truck:
Wrong-way skateboarder killed by garbage truck
If you read the story (from the Toronto Star) you learn that he was the drummer in a band called Slow Motion Victory. No connection is made with the Occupy protest, but that’s the only possible addition I can think of that would make the story any more absurd.
Well it is Friday night, we’re in difficul;t financial times, and it is a nasty night in Vancouver, weather-wise. Something a littlew uplifting here
And they’re pretty easy the eyes as well…
Well it is a gloomy Friday night, weather-wise, in Vancouver. And we are all in anticipation of impending global financial problems that will affect all of us.
So to echo Ken’s advice, relax and enjoy what is here
And guys, they are pretty easy on the eyes as well.
apologies for the double post…I thought the first one was cancelled.
Yup, that happened to me once.
…
No wait, um… it was twice actually.
Warning, the column you are about to read will make your head hurt. Voter suppression is now the conservatives fault.
My favorite line”that people who may not share our views will determine the direction of our beloved city, province, country” As usual, the issues isnt’ that people aren’t interested in what the liberals are about its that everyone loves them but just didn’t get around to voting.
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/hon-carolyn-bennett/voter-supression_b_1012513.html
Great tune Kate. Went right out and bought it. Bit of a flashback in there somewhere…..
Re CJ’s post on Toronto skateboarder killed by a garbage truck yesterday morning: “‘Skateboarders are neither allowed on the road if there are sidewalks present, nor are they allowed in bike lanes,’ said Ron Hamilton, the city’s manager of traffic operations.”
Well. Well. Well. Who would know?
I drive the mean and crazy streets of Toronto every day, (Lord, have mercy), and every day I see skateboarders and bicyclists on the sidewalks — and skateboarders on the road. (Yesterday took the cake: I saw a small motorcycle on the sidewalk.)
Skateboarders on the road are often hard to spot (almost universally, they wear dark clothing) and are hell to go around, especially with oncoming traffic.
I’m sorry this guy died — it’s a heavy price to pay for entitlement and stupidity — but I hope it sends a message to all of the other skateboarders out there that bad things can happen when you think you own the roads — and when you think that traffic laws don’t apply to special, wonderful, you.
Apropos of megalomaniacal dictators:
Idi Amin of Uganda started his working life as a cook’s assistant in the Ugandan colonial army, but ended up as “His Excellency President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Dr. Idi Amin, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Seas and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular and uncrowned King of Scotland.”
Nice work if you can get it till you fall down and go boom.
Bruce, it is all right, as the song by the Celtic Woman was worth the listen, twice.
Just to comment on some comments regarding the coming global financial difficulties. My age group was raised by people who experienced the depression and the aftermath, so most of us who have not forgotten the lessons of our youth will survive. The financial difficulties will be harder on our children and many who are not so prudent will suffer, as will our grandchildren.
In fact, it might be appropriate to listen to “You Raise Me Up” a third time, as we might mentally need some raising up.
Here is a beaut from Elizabeth Renzetti.
Her opening: “I’m the mother of an anchor baby.”
Then she defines the term “anchor baby” for us: “They’re the children born in the U.S. to illegal immigrants.”
Then she says this: “My own anchor baby was born when we were living in Los Angeles. I wasn’t there illegally but on the sufferance of the horribly named “spouse visa”.
Pop quiz: Is Elizabeth Renzetti:
a) stupid?
b) a liar?
c) a stupid liar?
Page A2 of the Globe and Mail of Saturday, October 22. (Not on line yet)
Another bit on Hirsi Ali from the National Post:
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/10/21/kevin-libin-a-question-of-loyalty/
“The need for liberal, secular democracies like Canada to prepare themselves for immigrants who might come unready to accept citizenship responsibilities will likely be one of the warnings Ms. Hirsi Ali brings to Calgary on Tuesday, where she’ll be speaking at a sold-out dinner officially launching the Manning Foundation for Democratic Education. Exploring tensions around multiculturalism will be one of the focuses for the foundation, named for, and led by, Reform and Canadian Alliance party founder Preston Manning…,”
“misogynist culture”?
That’s Mohammedanism, aka Islam.
MSM piece here* does not identify the “misogynist culture” of Mohammed.
These words/names* tell the story:
“*Mohammad Shafia” and “Rona Amir *Mohammad” and “Tooba *Mohammad Yahya”.
MSM says, “its members behave like, well, children.” No, they behave like Mohammedans.
MSM’s pc kills.
Here is the killer quote: “On Fridays, the judge told the jurors, the lunch schedule will be shifted so the interpreters, all male, can get to mosque for prayers.”
…-
“*Christie Blatchford: Diary of ‘honour killing’ victim reveals competitive, misogynist culture”
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/10/21/christie-blatchford-diary-of-honour-killing-victim-reveals-competitive-misogynist-culture/
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/komo/article/Hertz-fires-26-Muslim-employees-over-prayer-breaks-2229083.php
Good for hertz ,
Read the article or watch the video i am glad hertz decided to fire muslims who leave the work station for prayer.
Strippers are not generally nice girls, know what I mean?
The Fraudulent Grove of Chuck’s* Socialist Academe.
“chancellor is the Prince of Wales*,” amended to: Chuck was the chancellor.
“Past students include the Prince of Wales, who spent a term at Aberystwyth in spring 1969, Neil Kinnock, the former Labour leader, who met his wife Glenys at Cardiff, and Huw Edwards, the BBC presenter, who also studied at Cardiff.”
…-
“University of Wales abolished after visa scandal”
“The second-largest university in the country with a 120-year history has been abolished following a visa scandal.”
“The University of Wales (UoW) will cease to exist after mounting pressure to draw a line under a series of damaging revelations. Its chairman Hugh Thomas resigned on Friday.
The university was a federation of institutions across the Principality, and its constituent parts will now go their separate ways.
Two – Newport and Glyndwr, in Wrexham – will become independent universities, while Swansea Metropolitan will merge with Trinity St David, based in Lampeter and Carmarthen.
The move follows allegations about a visa scam and failures to carry out proper checks on foreign colleges accredited by the university to award its degrees.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/8843200/University-of-Wales-abolished-after-visa-scandal.html
More Mohammedanism.
Not only are women the target of Mohammedanism’s vile culture; but, men with a voice are also targets.
…-
“Egyptian gets three years for insulting Islam on Facebook”
http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/10/22/egyptian-gets-three-years-for-insulting-islam-on-facebook/
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/10/occupy_animal_farm_the_organiz.html
“Personally, I cannot wait for winter. It will clear out these people who aren’t here for the right reasons. Bring on the snow. The real revolutionaries will stay in -50 degrees.”
Translation: 98% of the 99% are posers.
” Strippers are not generally nice girls, know what I mean?”
Hehe,but when they’re good,they’re really good.
wallyj, yep sometimes bad is good. ~:D
Phantom,you may enjoy this ‘motivational’ poster. A young lady has an epiphany.
http://memerial.net/2564-ill-be-a-stripper
HT: A poll over at sun news: Do you think the UN should investigate Gadhafi’s death?
http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/poll/results.html
Just my opinion, but there should not be another penny spent, nor time wasted on him…..
Leftists vs O’narcissisthimself.
…-
O’narcissisthimself:
“Obama touts foreign policy successes”
“President Barack Obama sought Saturday to cast himself as a strong leader on foreign policy, highlighting a U.S. pullout from Iraq and the death of Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi as success stories.”
http://cnews.canoe.ca/
…-
Leftists:
“Iraq rejects US request to maintain bases after troop withdrawal”
“Guardian”
“The US suffered a major diplomatic and military rebuff on Friday when Iraq finally rejected its pleas to maintain bases in the country beyond this year.
Barack Obama announced at a White House press conference that all American troops will leave Iraq by the end of December, a decision forced by the final collapse of lengthy talks between the US and the Iraqi government on the issue.
The Iraqi decision is a boost to Iran, which has close ties with many members of the Iraqi government and which had been battling against the establishment of permanent American bases.
Obama attempted to make the most of it by presenting the withdrawal as the fulfilment of one of his election promises.
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk …”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2796434/posts
Bruce,
Thanks for the video of the ladies. My little Corgi passed away yesterday, we played the video at his funeral and I cried like a baby. Beautiful song, apropos for a short legged little doggie……. and short legged wives.
Gorrible News AGW Modellers’ Feature Looms.
Temp drop is F. What’s that in C-PET’s-anada?
…-
“Midweek Snowstorm to Hit Denver, Colorado Rockies”
“Dramatic 50-Degree Temperature Drop Looms”
“News – Oct 22, 2011; 4:04 PM ET”
“Residents of Denver may find it hard to fathom that both snow and record-challenging warmth are on the way for early next week, but an impending 50-degree temperature drop makes it possible.”
http://www.accuweather.com/
Some smelly hippy music is gooood:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqZ95a249p0
(Boobie Brothers’ Blackwater)
Ken:
Your comments at 10:43 are dead on.
I was born in 1948, both parents served in the war, I grew up in a Montreal housing development called “Benny Farm”…everyone there was a war vet. Every kid had something in common in terms of their backgrounds and values.
Watching my parents trying to put their lives back together after 6 years of wartime, with my father having been horribly wounded when his bomber went down, was not unusual for me, because so many of the kids that I grew up with experienced the same thing.
Demands, or needs, back then were relatively simple compared with today. Back then, everyone shared a room with their brother, or sisters with sisters. The notion of having access to more than one bathroom was simply out of the question.
But the cool thing, as kids, is we really didn’t know at the time how poor we really were.
And admittedly, I over-compensated concerning myself in terms of career and investment decisions, as well as with my children. Each had a room, each with their own bathroom. Looking back, and considering the current economic outlook, that was probably wrong, raising their expectations that the good life would simply roll on and on. And now I am trying to ease the financial pain through distributions of cash that they are both ultimately going to receive anyway. Not the best solution, but at least they are both fiercely committed to working for a living, which is good.
Bruce Wayne Riley:
I’m sorry for your loss, and can identify with what you are going through currently. Growing up, we had Corgis. I became a Golden Retriever man myself, and have been privileged to have known several wonderful canine friends.
My last dog, Murphy, was the perfect dog. He went everywhere with me, to work (I own the company) and pretty much everywhere else. He died in my lap two years ago when I had to provide him with the final act of kindness at our vet’s office, still faithful, loving and trusting.
To say that I was devastated would be a gross understatement. But I am comforted by the fact that when I go, my children will follow my instructions, pilot my boat to my favorite anchorage here in the BC Gulf Islands, and pour my ashes, along with my three golden retrievers, onto the ocean floor together. I don’t know if there is a hereafter or not, but regardless, I’ll be together with my beloved dogs.
OK…now I’m starting to get maudlin…I was about to erase this this, but, for whatever reason, decided to post it…
small c tory @ 7:57 a.m. (linking to http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/hon-carolyn-bennett/voter-supression_b_1012513.html):
That article was Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett essentially repeating some ideas from a couple of Warren Kinsella columns in the Sun on July 10 and 12 (I commented on them in Reader Tips of July 14).
If there is any such thing as “voter suppression” going on, it comes from the left who have held sway for decades and have ruined things to the point where voters see almost no hope.
I’m glad you posted, Bruce. Genuine stories of love and hope are good for the spirit. Thanks!
Bruce, there aren’t many comments that move me to tears, tough old nut that I am, but yours did. I did the same with the only dog — perfect, like yours! — I ever owned (for my kids; I’d been a cat person up till then): ‘held him, stroked him, told him I loved him and that he was the best dog anyone ever had till the drug euthanized him.
I also appreciated your comments about growing up “poor” but not knowing it. Too many kids today grow up rich and not knowing it, which means that their gratitude gene is totally screwed up.
The only good news about this global financial downturn that I can see is that we may find out what it is to share again, to make do with what we have, to be grateful for what we have — and not resentful or envious of what we don’t have. It’s so much easier to go up the financial ladder than come down it. But, it is possible to do it with graciousness if we learn gratitude for what we have, if we stop comparing ourselves to those who have more than we have and, instead, see those who have less than we have and be willing to share the little we have with them.
In God’s economy, I’ve found, one is more generous when one has less than when one has more — at least, that’s the way it works with me. I think it’s because when I have less, I can identify with others who have even less than I have. When I have more, I’m thinking about what I can afford to buy and do for myself.
I guess that’s what Jesus meant when He said, ” … it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Being rich isn’t the problem: Being stingy is.
Now I ain’t sayin’ she a gold digger, but she ain’t messin’ with no broke…