Ah Yes... Wikileaks

I'm reading and watching on TV as Obama and Clinton have their knickers in a knot and political talking heads turn this story every which way. It's really amusing actually, listening to them. So far in the documents most world leaders have been trashed to some degree. I'm waiting to see what they have to say about Canada. It makes for very interesting reading.

Photo Gallery of how the U.S. sees world politicians.

One previous American Ambassador to Canada yesterday said, "never put anything in writing that you're not prepared to see on the front page of the Globe and Mail". How true...

Demonizing the Wikileaks guy is kind of dumb at this point wouldn't you say? America wanted to be better regarded in the world after Bush but it seems to me that this way doesn't do it.

Lots of good reading in Spiegel today and I hear the Guardian is posting more momentarily. I'm just simply fascinated at the arrogance. The administration should be very embarrassed...

The Ultimate Car Salesman

That would be the Premier of the Province of Ontario, Dalton McGuinty. He has a new plan to get us to buy cars made by GM, the company bailed out by our/my tax money. Nice...

So let me get this right. Not only do the residents of Ontario own part of the automobile industry with the huge bailouts, our genius provincial government of the day run by Premier Dalton McGuinty is bribing us with up to $10,000 rebates if we buy an electric car from said auto makers. Good one... where does he get the money to give us rebates? Well from our tax money of course. How many times do we have to pay to keep these car companies in business?

There's a couple of things wrong with this plan of his in my mind. First and foremost, the charge on these vehicles doesn't get you very far and there are no charging stations anywhere yet and no real concrete plans to where they will be. So you'd really only be able to use this car in and around the city. Forget using it to get up to our cabin in the woods which is about 225 km away.

The second problem is the little issue of the cost of electricity which is quite expensive now that we have smart meters with time of day pricing here in Ontario. Heck I'm already doing my laundry and dishes in the middle of the night. Come winter I'll have to turn my furnace off in the daytime and heat only at night and McGuinty wants us to buy electric cars. I'm already dreading this months hydro bill even though I've been so careful.

This man is looking for ways to part us with our money. Hydro is a public utility and the more we use the more money in the kitty. He's also recently suspended plans for a new nuclear power plant in Ontario and the current ones are pretty old and only produce about fifty percent of our power needs. Where does the rest come from? Burning coal maybe?

This is the same man who said he wouldn't raise taxes as part of his election promise and within one month slapped us with the biggest tax ever disguised as a health care premium. He is also combining the provincial sales tax and GST next summer which means everything will be taxed. Right now there are many things where there is no PST payable such as real estate fees, lawyers fees, and home renovations just to name a few.

If you want to buy an electric car go for it. I don't have a single objection. What I do object to and very strongly is that it is my tax dollars that will subsidize it and that is patently unfair.

Here are the old summer electricity rates that residential users without activated smart meters pay:

5.7 ¢/kWh for the first 600 kWh in a month
6.6 ¢/kWh for each additional kWh

Of course, this is only the cost for the electricity, excluded are transmission charges, distribution charges,

Here are the new "Smart-Meter" summer electricity rates for Toronto (and the rest of Ontario):

Week-ends and holidays: 4.2 ¢/kWh

Weekdays	¢/kWh
7 am to 11 am	7.6¢/kWh
11 am to 5 pm	9.1¢/kWh
5 pm to 10 pm	7.6¢/kWh
10 pm to 7 am	4.2¢/kWh

Conclusions on Smart Meters and Ontario Electricity Pricing

To be honest, based on my gut instinct, I'm calling this a (temporary) stealth price increase.

So what's the next thing he'll come up with ... maybe flying cars. Just 72 hours to go until this miserable cast comes off my foot...

June 4, 1989 Tiananmen Square

June 4, 1989

Read the Angry Chinese Blogger"s take on the protests. Was the loss of life worth it?

Socialized Medicine - Patience Needed

So let me tell you how things work here in Canada for those of you who don't already know. You have a problem, in my case my eye and you go off to your friendly Primary Care Physician (GP). He is the gatekeeper of all and he decides who you need to see next. He doesn't order tests, at least not expensive tests he just sends you up the food chain. Problem is the food chain has many hungry people so you wait your turn and hope for the best. In case you think your health care is "free" let me disabuse you of that notion. We pay for it in the form of higher taxation and payroll deductions. There are also things not covered like the Optometrist and the eye scan in my case although there are many more on that list. Of course if you need a sex change operation, yup that's probably covered especially if your a prisoner, go figure...

In my case (we'll talk about Steve later) it was an appointment with the Opthamologist who had a look see and said, "nothing serious, just some floaters" things will sort themselves out. Ya right... here I am three months later half blind in one eye. That was early November, 2008.

In early January when we returned from our lovely (freezing) holiday in Calgary, I suddenly had flashes and waves in my eye. I thought maybe it was a stroke or some such nonsense and off we went to the ER. Many hours later I was told it was an eye issue and needed to see a Retinal Surgeon, call your Opthamologist I was told. The next available appointment was 10 days away and being an impatient person I took myself off to the Optometrist (which is not free). She had a good look at told me it was a macular hole or pseudo hole but couldn't be sure. Only a dye x-ray would show it for sure.

I waited patiently to for the next appointment with the eye doc. He then referred me to the retinal surgeon. That appointment was yesterday after a three week wait. Now I'm assuming rightly or wrongly that he is a good surgeon since the wait was so long and because the appointment was at a major hospital assumed (wrongly) that a resolution was not far off. Never assume, dam it, I'm always wrong.

He also had a good look and told me it was retinal scarring, huh...were did that come from. From the best I can glean after googling, it could have been the floaters back in November that started this unlucky chain of events. Now the problem is if the scarring is too thick it can't be operated. Great, said I, book the surgery. Not so fast...it all takes time.

Two more tests yesterday, a dye x-ray and some fancy MRI type scan (not free) and more waiting. This doc is so busy that even though I had the tests done right away and had the results available, he can't see me again until March 18th to discuss those results!

His gatekeeper is the receptionist and even though I was all done with the tests in half an hour and had the results in my hand she wasn't budging, March 18th was the date. I almost begged for an earlier appointment and came close to breaking into tears. How long does it take to look at two test results and decide yes or no and book surgery? I would gladly have sat and waited no matter how long.

It was not to be and the wait goes on. Remember, this all started early November and as each day goes by my eye gets blurrier and I am scared that by the time "my turn" comes around it will be too late and my vision will be lost.

Now this is not an anomaly here in Canada. I waited TWO years for a hip replacement, four months for gallbladder surgery and 5 months for heart ablation. Oh yes I almost forgot, there is a ONE year wait for a foot surgeon to fix my foot. In the U.S. my cousin had her gallbladder out within weeks with her choice of surgeon and another cousin got a pacemaker in 24 hours.

My mother, in May of 2007 died of heart failure because it took the hospital 4 weeks to give her a lifesaving pacemaker and never did get her MRI even though she was in the hospital. If I'd know that would happen I'd have taken her stateside for that surgery. My husband has been waiting for surgery on his torn tendon since last October. He has been sent from one doctor to another and is still waiting for an MRI booked for March. He has now missed the "window of opportunity" and requires TWO surgeries instead of one. We also still don't have an appointment with the surgeon.

My offspring and I disagree about this all the time but I would rather have had the option of paying for insurance and having some sort of private system running concurrently with the public system as is the case in many other countries. This system is broken. The people with money go to the U.S. for immediate treatment and those covered under Workers Compensation jump to the front of the line here. It is an unequal system in spite of what our politicians like to tell us.

That's it for ranting, I'm going to go have a shot of cognac, might as well be dizzy for a good reason...

Getting Ready For Hard Times

Well sort of, I mean I know that bad times are definitely ahead of us, but I'm ready.

Lest you think we're rich buying that much wine, let me assure you it was cheap. It's home make plonk actually and costs about 4 bucks a bottle. And we actually like it. We put up 60 bottles of the stuff, half Riesling and half Gewuertztraminer and it's very drinkable. At least to this non wine snob.
I am overwhelmed by the bad news out there. Job losses in Ontario are staggering. The national unemployment rate is 7.2% but in Ontario it's 8%. this is the largest job loss in 30 years. Now I know that Michigan for example, has unemployment rates in the 10% range but that is because the big three auto makers call that state home. They are, unfortunately responsible for their own near demise. I have owned and still drive a North American vehicle but I did have the pleasure of having German car once. My North American vehicles never lasted more than 10 years maximum and that's with spending mega bucks on repairs. And they want a bailout? I had my German car for 20 years and it looked as good as the day I bought it, not one rust spot.

Sales of homes in Toronto are down 48% over last year yet our city fathers wont rescind double taxation to help the situation (Ontario land transfer tax is double in the city). Most of my friends are in real estate and they are feeling the pinch. These are also the people who don't qualify for unemployment benefits. These are the very people who, when times are good spend lots of money to keep the economy moving. They won't be spending too much anytime soon.

Both our government and the American government are going to pour BILLIONS of dollars into bailouts and job creation programs. I've been watching the debate with interest. Some of the things that were in the American bill and were cut belie belief. How would some of these things create jobs?

Protectionism isn't fully off the table yet and that may make things much worse. Here's an interesting commentary on the subject. Canada and America are so entwined trade wise any kind of protectionism would be bad for both countries. I would hope though, that since Canada is America's largest stable foreign supplier of oil, and Canada also takes $100-billion more of America's exports than does any other country the people who are debating the stimulus package remember that. For both our countries and the world's sake.

In our recent stimulus budget there were some interesting things on offer. There was an increase in the personal exemption which is always a good way to reduce tax but the one that affects us directly in the Home Renovation Tax Credit. This allows a home owner to do a little work like maybe a new bathroom, kitchen or maybe even a new deck. There is a 15% tax credit up to $10,000. So that give you another $1,350 bucks tax deduction. This little goody is only good for one year and already we've had two bathroom jobs and a fence job booked. That tells me there are still people with money to spend. Unfortunately Steve may not be able to take the jobs since he is has been waiting for hand surgery since October with no date booked yet.

The automakers will get their pound of flesh too but they might have to re negotiate some contracts and take pay cuts. Maybe they will start making cars that people want to buy. If not, they deserve to go under and I'm sorry for all the lost jobs. But really, can we afford to support an industry to makes cars that nobody wants to buy and just sit unsold in parking lots? I desperately need a new vehicle as does my husband but we are loath to buy one now, we'll just make do. We also need to replace the tv which seems to have lost three inches of the picture in recent months but again, waiting is the order of the day.

Around here there will be less yarn purchased for a while and when I get groceries I concentrate more on ways to save money than buying things we want. Luckily for me having been poor before is now serving me in good stead, I really know how to stretch a buck. I don't like it, but what the heck, this too shall pass.

As long as I don't loose my vision, nothing else matters much. My fateful appointment with the Retinal Specialist is Tuesday, wish me luck.

Political Fun And Games - In Canada

I'm a political junkie and I don't deny it. I also have conservative leanings in most issues with a bit of liberalism thrown in just for fun. What is happening in Canada this past week would be fun to watch if it wasn't so darn serious. There was an election mid November where Prime Minister Stephen Harper was re elected with a minority, albeit a larger minority than previously.

According to the news reports one of the loosing parties the NDP led by "Taliban Jack, "I'm running to be Prime Minister", immediately conspired with another party, the Bloc (the party that wants to separate Quebec from Canada), to oust the Prime Minister at first opportunity. According to news reports it didn't matter what vote came up in the House, it would be voted down. They'd get the Liberals on side, never mind that the Liberal party has a "lame duck" leader at the moment. Stephane Dion "we have to get back to power as soon as possible" has resigned and there is to be a Leadership race in the spring.

That opportunity arrived last week when the Finance Minister presented his fall economic update. There weren't enough handouts to suit Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition not that it would have mattered.

Predictably the TSE dropped 700 points this morning with banks stocks leading the decline. So much for faith in the new potential leadership of this country.

Now as my offspring says, the opposition have every right to bring down the house if they have lost confidence in the Prime Minister, (Westminster System) I know that, but what I find so offensive is that this was preplanned by Jack Layton.

I think that Stephan Dion, Jack Layton and Gille Duceppe should all be forced to live at 24 Sussex Dr. (the official residence of the Prime Minister). What the heck, if their all in bed with each other why not live together...

Meet the potential new Prime Minister of Canada...

Russia Throws Down The Gauntlet?

The whole world (almost) has congratulated President elect Obama except for this one world leader. Dimitri A. Medvedev has declined to do so and has issued a thinly veiled threat. This could be the first test facing the new President of the United States. Is Medvedev serious?

I Wish Him Well

Here's hoping...

And The Winner Is???

I'm writing this on the day of the American election, you know, the one that will change the face of America and make the rest of the world love her. Somehow I doubt it though, maybe for 15 minutes or so and then it will be back to Yankee bashing. It's become a sport and nothing, not even an Obama win will make most of the world give that up. It's too much fun...

I'm not one of those people by the way, I happen to love Americans generally; I'm married to one and have cousins, stepsons and friends in the U.S. If it wasn't for health insurance, we'd seriously consider moving to sunny California.

Anyway, since I'm heading off to bed I'm going to predict that Obama will win.

Obama can not possibly live up to the expectations of the world, nor can he be the saviour of the U.S. in spite of the very liberal media wishing it so. It is the inhabitants of that country who must first come to terms with a very simple fact; they are not always the best, biggest, brightest and most superior in the world and when I hear him say that he will change the world I am struck by the sheer arrogance of it. Is this just election rhetoric or does he really believe it?

There have been many charismatic and eloquent world leaders, some good some bad and some very bad so I truly hope that Obama has more to offer. I suspect that within a year the shine will have worn off, kind of like an imitation "gold" ring that turns green with wear. Style without substance. I find it hard to believe that he can deliver on everything that he promised.

The world is watching and I hope for the best for my American friends...and now I'm going to bed confident that I'm not wrong and by tomorrow morning Obama will be the new president elect and all will be well in their world...

Al-Qaeda - Their Choice For President

Seems al Qaeda has an opinion on who should be the new president of the U.S. and their choice should surprise you. It did me...seems they would like McCain to win.

This makes for interesting reading.

Michael Moore Go Home!

Doesn't he have enough to do in his own country that he must feel obliged to come to ours and create a little shit? What's with this guy anyway?

Maybe he hopes to change the minds of those Canadians who are willing to vote Conservative? I think the man is an opportunist...

Who Will It Be - Obama Or McCain?

I tend not to write about American politics not because I don't have an opinion, but because I hate it when Americans come over here and try to influence our elections, Michael Moore comes to mind. I also happen to believe that Americans are generally smart and will vote en masse and get the government they deserve.

And I rarely link to other bloggers but this post is worth reading if you'd like read an Egyptian mans opinion. The Sandmonkey is based in Egypt and although it's a bit of a long read I found it interesting, you might too. I know what Canadians think; a recent survey showed that 99 percent of Canadians would like to see Obama as your next president. If nothing else it should be an exciting time...

Blogging With Risk

There is currently a human rights trial happening in Vancouver, British Columbia with the subject being a hate crime.

Will bloggers who write about these things also end up in front of the tribunal?

I link you to this .

We don't always have to agree with everything that is written but I believe that we must guard against the loss of freedom of speech. The man who is at the centre of this complaint is Mark Steyn who wrote a book, of which an excerpt was printed in Macleans magazine. I don't particularly like this writer but taking away his freedom of speech is wrong.

A Little Of This - A Little Of That

These were my recycling bins until this spring. They worked just fine and any excess recyclable material went into a clear plastic bag. Why fix what's not broke? Seems the City of Toronto just loves spending money, so...

They gave us these... They come in four different sizes and this one is one down from the largest one. Looks pretty nice right, there's only one problem. Whenever I need to take it down the driveway on recycling day, I have to move the cars to the street. It is so bulky it won't fit and I wonder how I will manage that in winter when there is nowhere on the street to put the cars. Snow removal as I might have mentioned before doesn't usually happen here, they just plow down the middle of the road creating huge snowbanks. After a winter like the one past our road was turned into a one way street with no parking. Lest you think I'm whining, let me assure you I'm not. These bins have created dissent all over town. A large majority of homes in the inner city don't have driveways, just a small walkway and the bins don't fit down those either. So they get parked on the front lawns for a really cool look, so much for curb appeal.

These bins cost the city about $80 per household and in my view were an unnecessary expense. Do you suppose the fact that the garbage collectors (whose union heavily supported the current Mayor) and no longer have to lift them might have something to do with it? The new bins are picked up automatically with a lever system.

And that's not all. Today I got my notice about the new garbage cans, again at a cost. But this time the cost is being passed on to homeowners. Guess apartment dwellers get a freebie on this.
These little bins comes in four sizes with the smallest being free. It holds one green garbage bag and gets picked up bi weekly. If you need a larger one say one and a half green garbage bag then it will cost you $39 per year and the largest one that holds four and a half green garbage bags will cost you $190 a year.

Now considering that our property taxes have been raised again to just under four percent I guess the city fathers might be feeling a little guilty and are giving us free, no charge, five free bag tags a year and if you need more you can buy them for $3.10 each.


I am incredibly vigilant about recycling and compost like mad so I'm getting the smallest bin. But what gets me in this deal is that our property tax money is being spent in ways not intended.

For example, homelessness and begging has become an industry in this city sucking almost 14 million dollars out of city coffers. Why not just make pan handling illegal? Nope, too easy, lets just hire a bunch more social workers to do what exactly? Sue-Ann Levy writes about this issue and explains it all. And then there are all the other city handouts that should not come from the tax base.

One of the more conservative councillors Doug Holyday commented...

"Holyday reckoned that if city officials are targeting just the 408 panhandlers they found last summer with an investment of up to $14 million, that works out to almost $35,000 a head."

Meanwhile, the dandelions take over the city, the garbage doesn't get picked up on time and potholes are just multiplying as I type... All chemicals have been banned in the Province of Ontario which doesn't bother me overmuch, but where are all the city workers digging them out. As soon as they go to seed my head clogs up and I sneeze continuously. Our city looks like crap. Pools in schools are being closed because the city says it can't afford to fund them. I wonder if some of the panhandlers might like digging up dandelions? There is something wrong here in T-Dot. Does anybody still want to visit or live here?

An I thought I had nothing to write about...I think I'm going to update my knitting blog, it's less stressful...

Standing Up For Canada

I have been following what is happening in the U.S. primaries with great interest. Whoever becomes the new President will have some effect on this country for good or bad. I don't write about it because it's really none of my business how my American friends choose to vote.

I do find some of the rhetoric over the top though, especially when both Clinton and Obama speak of renegotiating NAFTA.

Today in New Orleans Prime Minister Stephen Harper was quite clear that he wouldn't mind so much. I tend to agree with him on this one. A lot of Americans are complaining about the price of gasoline these day but I wonder if they would like to pay what we pay. I assure you it's much more and considering that we ship a lot of our oil down south that seems kind of unfair to me.

"Canada is the United States' number-one supplier of energy. We are a secure, stable supplier. That is of critical importance to the future of the United States," he said

Nuff said...

I Have A Friend...

"whose parents don't believe in conserving..."

Shoot them, I say...



Is there anybody else who finds this commercial and the kid not cute or is it only me?

I've Got The Flu - I Think!

Well it's either the flu or a relapse of Fybromyalgia and I won't know until tomorrow which one ails me they are both kind of similar in the beginning. For the first time in 5 years I didn't get my flu shot, it just didn't work out time wise in the fall. I had bronchitis, I had the gallbladder thing and I just kept putting it off. So it is possible that it's the flu. Usually my first symptoms with both is that my skin hurts. Isn't that bizarre, I can't touch my skin anywhere so I'm crawling into a hot bath with my carefully hoarded Lavender Bath Salts from the Healing Garden and then to bed. I may resurface in a few days.

Meanwhile just to keep you busy there was an interesting story in Saturdays Globe and Dope, which is Canada's premier newspaper. This is a six part series and is available online and it's about the Taliban. All done kind of under cover and very interesting reading. You can find it here... I've always said that Canada should get out of Afghanistan. It is an un winnable war and unless we are prepared to be there forever the moment we leave the Taliban will be back.

And then there's this. For those out there who would like to blame Bush and the Americans in totality for the Iraq war they might like to read this and find out the the Germans had a hand in it. It's called intelligence and if it's bad you get into a lot of trouble.

Of course then there's China and Tibet and I'm still watching that one. China is not know for it's human rights and I'm absolutely surprised they were awarded the Olympics. For me, I just don't buy goods made in China, it's really all I can do.

And now I'm off to bed... we're getting another snow storm.

A Gentler Side To Sharia Law

One African country, Nigeria has turned away from the harshness of Sharia law to a certain degree. It was a nice surprise to read this article in the N.Y. Times today. Maybe other Islamic countries would do well to follow that example?

Stoning women to death for adultery and cutting off limbs for robbery doesn't quite sit right with me.

Meanwhile two Islamic members of Britain's upper house of Parliament have gone to Sudan to try to get Gillian Gibbons, a school teacher released.

Execute The Teacher - In The Name Of Islam

I was taking a break from the computer today since I have a ton of sewing and knitting to finish but I do have the TV on the news channel. I caught the tail end of a report describing riots in Sudan. Men brandishing knives, swords and sticks are rioting and demanding that British teacher Gillian Gibbons be executed for naming a teddy bear Muhammad.

There you go, Islam is the religion of love and peace boys and girls and they want to execute a teacher because her pupils named the teddy bear. Next will they demand that all the students be executed as well?

I can think of many reasons why Muslims don't like us (westerners) but there sure are a heck of a lot of reasons for us not to like them as well.

Rick Mercer Video

Lisa at Stink Eye and Tube Steak has posted an amazingly funny Rick Mercer video clip on her site. Go visit and have a look, it is hilarious.

I don't think Americans know who he is but he is mother CBC's premier comic and really quite funny. Thanks Lisa.