It’s Official - Drunk Driving Kills

Drunk driving kills. High speed chases are unsafe. Seat belts save lives. A long expensive process to tell us what we already knew.

A Nineteenth of A Cent For Your Thoughts

That’s what a penny buys today, compared to 1914, which is as far back as the Bank of Canada Inflation Calculator goes. The buying power of a penny back in 1914 was equivalent to 19 pennies today and nobody saw the need for a nineteenth of a cent coin. So why do we need a penny or a even a nickel today, which was worth almost a dollar (94 cents) back then in today’s buying power. We already have the loonie so we don’t need the nickel. But I would keep the dime, even if it is, relatively speaking, the equivalent of having a half cent coin in 1914.

In fact we have acted at the other end of the coin spectrum by recognizing inflation has turned one and two dollar bills into small change, so we added two new coins, the loonie and the twonie. Now it is time to eliminate the two at the bottom, the penny and the nickel.

For those that are concerned about losing a few nineteenths of a cent in the rounding process we could require that all prices be a multiple of ten cents and that all sales taxes be rounded down to the nearest ten cents.

Pat Martin has the right idea we just need to take it to the next logical step.

And while we are at it maybe retailers can stop treating customers as idiots with their silly pricing, such as labeling an item $1.97 to try to make us think it is priced under two dollars. Does anyone really think a car buyer does not know a sticker price of $29,989 really means $30,000. But then again, anyone who watches television commercials these days knows retailers think we are idiots.

The Other Videotape - Lukiwski affair

The Fifth Column has come across the transcript of a videotape taken during moving day in the Saskatchewan Legislature. The text follows:

SakPartyStaffer: It’s time to party. We’re all packed up and moving into the government offices.

SaskPartyMLA: Yep, I can’t wait till those queer loving commies have to move into the opposition offices.

SakPartyOfficial: Yep, I cant wait to get out of here and into the government wing,

SaskPartytMLA: Think we should do a last swing through the cupboards and cabinets in case we forgot anything.

SaskPartyStaffer. No, we’ve got everything important. It’s time to party.

SaskPartyOfficial: But we wouldn’t want to leave anything important behind.

SaskStaffer: But we did doublecheck all the cabinets labeled secret, that’s good enough.

SaskPartyMLA. But we did have some pretty wild parties and I remember some really good videos that those people wouldn’t appreciate.

SaskPartyOfficial: Yea, especially back when we called ourselves Tories.

SaskPartyStaffer: But nobody would be stupid enough to keep those tapes in the office.

SaskPartyMLA: OK lets get out of here. It’s time to party.

SaskPartyOfficial: Don’t forget to bring the video camera.

The Fifth Column Poll & Detailed Comments

I have written a series of questions that I ask visitors to the Fifth Column to answer. They will appear at the top of the blog until the summer. The Fifth Column encourages you to make more detailed comments by posting them as comments to this post.

The Fifth Column: First Year In Review - The Commentary

The Fifth Column has become perhaps not what I was hoping for when I first planned on writing Internet columns when I retired, which was to make a real name for myself with my self-assessed great writing. But a lot has happened since then, primarily the invention of the blog and the proliferation of blogs and bloggers, including many more dedicated and better than I could ever hope to be. There are some really great blogs out there and I am privileged to be in their company, even as a minor blogger.

I suppose with almost 5,000 visits by 3,670 visitors in my first year of blogging I should not feel too bad. From checking my stats I do have a sense that I do have some regular visitors and I know some bloggers have linked to me, either to the blog itself or particular posts. I do feel good about that. My biggest disappointment is in the lack of comments and I am not sure how to interpret that.

I do wish I had a greater sense of who was reading the blog and why and how many regular readers I have. I plan to post some poll questions in the near future to try to assess my readership better.

The blog did seem to take off, relatively, when I started posting daily (weekends and holidays excluded), in September, as well as when I became listed on Progressive Bloggers and New Democrats Online. I try to post at least one substantial post a week as well as shorter observations on the other days. I do not always follow the pattern and sometimes it is primarily medium length commentaries that get posted. I wonder if trying to post daily reduces the quality of the posts but then I think if I consider myself a blogger I should be able to have something to say everyday.

My blog also tends to be not just a political blog but to sometimes be a more personal blog.

The main thing that keeps me writing for a relatively limited audience is that I am also writing for myself. One of the first jobs I applied for after university was as a journalist but I did not get that job. Then I ended up working for the House of Commons where I was paid to read what Members of Parliament said and figure out what it meant. I left when the job was essentially dumbed down by new technology that allowed the work to be done faster by fewer people. The blog gives me a chance to write and express my own opinions after reading and analyzing other’s opinions for most of my life.

Lately I have found myself, more excited about blogging and thinking of more things to write about, even thinking that perhaps I should post on more than one subject per day. One thing I do try to do is to not just follow the “party line” but analyze the situation and call things as I see them - to be a progressive minded, but independent blogger.

The Fifth Column: First Year In Review - The Stats

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The Fifth Column: First Year In Review - The Commentary will be posted tommorrow.

Help Sick Kids - Sponsor Me in the Tour Nortel and Support CHEO

OK, this is a blatant request for you to sponsor me in the Tour Nortel on May 4, 2008.

Each year the Tour Nortel raises hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario and related charities.

It is one of the most important events of my year and the only fund raiser that I participate in. This year I will be participating in the 80 km tour as part of the OMBA Ramblers, made up of members of the Ottawa Mountain Bike Association. We are hoping that the snow and salt will be gone soon so we can get some riding in before the Tour.

Boycott Hypocrisy Hour - Become Enlightened

We already have Environment Week and Earth Day and numerous other Environmental Events.

We do not need another token 60 minutes to think about the environment before going back to our normal overconsuming energy wasting daily life.

On March 29, 2008 at 9:00 PM in our home the Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs) will be on, as necessary, the Energy Star appliances will be running, if needed, the single compact energy efficient car will be in the garage, with the snowblower (nobody’s perfect) waiting for it to be replaced with the push mower, and the bikes and kayaks will be waiting to replace the skis and snowshoes.

There is a lot that you can do everyday to reduce your energy consumption and your environmental footprint that will have a lot more impact than spending one hour a year in the dark.

We like to blame the big corporate polluters And they are at fault. And the tar sands are an environmental crime against humanity. But even their development is driven by our insatiable lust for fossil fuels.

The automobile is the first thing to cut down on. Cut down on the number - everyone in the family does not need their own car, and cut down on the use. When we had four drivers living at home we had one car, which was not used for driving to work - that is what public transit is for. With a few exceptions the vast majority of urban and suburban workers do not need to use a car to go to work. And nobody living in the city needs a Hummer (status does not count as a need) or any gas guzzling vehicle,

Improve the energy efficiency of your home. It does not cost a lot to change your light bulbs and appliances can be upgraded when replaced. We replaced our inefficient freezer earlier than necessary but the energy savings will eventually pay for the cost of the new one. Don’t waste water. We think of water as free, or at least we used to - the costs of cheap water are now catching up with us and prices are increasing to maintain the infrastructure that we let deteriorate.

Start to live a more environmentally conscious lifestyle. Do you really need to drive to the corner store. Walk or bike - don’t drive everywhere. After awhile you will be amazed at just how far you can walk or bike and you will enjoy it. It will be good for your health and good for the planet. Get out in the bush, on foot or on a bike and start to enjoy the wonders of nature. Once you start to appreciate it you will have a real incentive to protect it.

Become enlightened - being in the dark is not going to accomplish anything.

Debunking E-mail Bigotry: Immigration

I usually ignore and delete any of the hate e-mails I receive but I decided to comment on this one because:

1. It was sent to us by someone we know that thought we would appreciate it.

2. It claimed to come from the Royal Canadian Legion.

3. It was inspired by disturbing remarks by a 2010 Olympics ceremonies committee official, and

4. It was such an easy target that it would be fun to tear it apart.

First I would like to make it clear that this e-mail does not originate from the Royal Canadian Legion. I received the following response from the Legion when I enquired about this e-mail:

The Royal Canadian Legion has identified this as a bogus e-mail which has not been sanctioned. The logo in use on it has been out of date since 2001. Notification of this has been posted to all branches via elegion and on the bulletin board at www.legion.ca. While we would like to catch the person who started this e-mail this is proving impossible. Please send this on to the people that sent you the bogus message so that they too will know that this message is bogus.

The e-mail stated:

Bruce Allen not out of hot water yet.

VANCOUVER/CKNW(AM980) - Despite being given a show of support by Vancouver 2010 organizers, embattled music manager and CKNW editorialist, Bruce Allen is not out of hot water just yet as the fallout continues from his recent commentary indicating immigrants to Canada should 'fit in,' or 'go home.'

Richmond Liberal MP, Raymond Chan, is set to file an official complaint with the CRTC (Canadian Radio & Television Commission) about Allen's recent 'reality check' alleging the piece was discriminatory. Chan is also demanding an official apology and a retraction of the comments.

It's time we all get behind Bruce Allen, and scrap this Political Correctness business. His comments were anything but racist, but there are far too many overly-sensitive 'New Canadians' that are trying to change everything we hold dear.

So what did Mr. Allen say:

In his regular Reality Check radio comment on CKNW Sept. 13, Allen stated "special interest groups" expect rules for themselves.

"There is the door. If you don't like the rules, hit it," said Allen. "We don't need you here. You have another place to go. It's called home. See ya."

Added Allen: "This is simple. We have laws in this country. They are spelled out and easy to get a hold of. If you're immigrating here and you don't like the rules in place, you have the right to choose not to live here. If you choose to come to Canada, shut up and fit in. We are a democracy, but it seems more and more that we are being pilloried by special interest groups that want special rules for themselves."

His idea of democracy does not seem to include immigrants. So, according to Mr. Allen, we should all be living by aboriginal tribal laws with no special rules for those nasty European immigrants and they certainly should not have criticized anything or changed any of the rules that were in place when they first came here.

In fact there is only one class of Canadian citizen, whether Canadian born or naturalized citizen. We all have the same rights to express our opinions and the same democratic right to participate in the law-making process.

The e-mail continued:

For example, our National Anthem: Don't know what your opinions are, but I certainly agree. --- I'm sorry, but after hearing they want to sing the National Anthem in Hindi - enough is enough. Nowhere or at no other time in our nation's history, did they sing it in Italian, Japanese, Polish, Irish (Celtic), German, Portuguese, Greek, or any other language because of immigration. It was written in English, and should be sung word for word the way it was written. The news broadcasts even gave the translation -- not even close.

Well first of all the national anthem was NOT written in English. It was written in French. So Mr. Allen and his supporters better start singing it in French if they believe it should be sung “ word for word the way it was written”. And it has also been sung in many different languages on many occasions, a testament to the love of Canada exhibited by the various immigrant groups in wanting to sing their new national anthem in their mother tongue.

And the misinformed bigotry continued:

I am not sorry if this offends anyone, this is MY COUNTRY - IF IT IS YOUR COUNTRY SPEAK UP ---- please pass this along.... I am not against immigration .. just come through like everyone else... Get a sponsor; get a place to lay your head; get a job; pay your taxes; live by the rules ...AND... LEARN THE LANGUAGE

as all other immigrants have in the past.

Another lie, or perhaps just a “misunderstanding of Canadian history”. I would venture to state that very few immigrants, except perhaps for the early explorers, have learned to speak or write, Cree or Ojibway or any other of Canada’s non-immigrant languages.

And the hate message concluded:

and LONG LIVE CANADA!

PART OF THE PROBLEM? Think about this: If you don't want to forward this for fear of offending someone-----YOU'RE PART OF THE PROBLEM !!!!

Will we still be the and still be CANADA if we continue to make the changes forced on us by the people from other countries who have come to live in CANADA because it is the Country of Choice??????

Think about it! IMMIGRANTS, NOT CANADIAN'S, MUST ADAPT. It is Time for CANADA to Speak up. If you agree - pass This along.

Obviously, I do not agree with this hate. Canada is a country of immigrants that brought with them the cultures and languages of the world to create a multicultural country that is the envy of the world. It is the immigrants that came here and learned from our First Nations and added their cultures to Canada that have made this country what it is - “the Country of Choice”.

It is Mr. Allen, and those that think like him, that are “the problem”.

The Problem With Hockey

If Canadians are supposed to be so polite and Americans so aggressive why is their national game a gentlemens game and our national game a thugs game.

This is just the most recent example of thuggery in Canadian hockey.

Is it the big money involved at the highest level that has removed any semblance of ethics and sportsmanship from hockey, where experts and commentators routinely talk about “good penalties” and where it considered acceptable and even good strategic play to break the rules if the benefit is worth the penalty time. If you can wipe someone out for the season and not get caught it is even better and you can probably expect a bonus somewhere down the line.

Some will argue (why do I have visions of gawdy sports jackets when I type this) that fighting is an intrinsic part of the game and is required to reduce tensions and prevent even more dangerous infractions. If that is so there is something extremely wrong with the game where the most basic ethical principle has become winning at all costs.

In light of this most recent incident some have argued that fighting should be “banned” in junior hockey. By “banned”, I assume they mean that the “powers to be” should actually take the rules against fighting seriously with serious consequences such as not allowing participants in fights to continue to play.

However, junior hockey is the training ground for the NHL where players learn the skills necessary to play in the big league and fighting is an “essential” part of the NHL. Hockey players of all ages are always going to aspire to be like their NHL heroes. If you “ban” fighting at the lower levels players will still aspire to the day they can make it into the NHL and fight like real hockey players.

It has to start at the top in the NHL. As long as hockey players aspire to be like their heroes there will always be fighting at all levels until it is no longer acceptable at the highest level. Players who insist on continuing to participate in thuggery should no longer be allowed to play in the NHL, forever.