Ten Things Old Guys Should Do
Read my blog
Read good books
Watch the sunrise
Watch the sunset
Have a nap after lunch
Enjoy sitting in the sun
Walk in the woods
Listen to great music
Enjoy good food
Visit with other people
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Ten Things Old Guys should Do.
Quite some time ago I did two posts with the "old guys" theme. I did "All Old Guys Should Cycle " and "All Old Guys Should Have a Paper Route." I had fun with these posts and have some ideas for more. Today I would like to make alist for old guys(and gals too).
Friday, January 29, 2010
Stephen Harper not Trusted
I have always found it difficult to trust statements coming from Prime Minister Stephen Harper. I have kept my mouth shut before this and not criticized the prime minister. Lately, he has gone too far for me to remain quiet. Proroguing parliament has pushed me over the edge and I can no longer remain silent. To remain silent means that I approve of his deceitful methods.
It has bothered me for a long time that Harper announces and reannounces spending projects. He seems to think that I am a fool and fall for this deceit and that I will think he's giving out more money. People who are not well informed will fall for this line. There's an old saying that goes something like this . Take me for a fool and YOU are a fool. That's how I feel. I think that this practice is morally and ethically wrong.
Harper very quickly blames others for his lack of success in getting his legislation passed. Some of his accusations may have a smattering of fact in them. He's his own worst enemy. When he prorogued parliament he left many of the bills in the House of Commons and they are now lost. They will have to be brought forward again because of his own shiftiness .
There are more examples that could be described , but two are enough to illustrate my point
To put it bluntly Harper has used bully tactics and when they don't work he takes his ball and runs away.
I can appreciate discussion and point of view which differs from mine. I cannot tolerate someone who will stoop to use deceitful tactics to get their agenda achieved and then expect us to think that he is a nice guy and we should vote for him.
It has bothered me for a long time that Harper announces and reannounces spending projects. He seems to think that I am a fool and fall for this deceit and that I will think he's giving out more money. People who are not well informed will fall for this line. There's an old saying that goes something like this . Take me for a fool and YOU are a fool. That's how I feel. I think that this practice is morally and ethically wrong.
Harper very quickly blames others for his lack of success in getting his legislation passed. Some of his accusations may have a smattering of fact in them. He's his own worst enemy. When he prorogued parliament he left many of the bills in the House of Commons and they are now lost. They will have to be brought forward again because of his own shiftiness .
There are more examples that could be described , but two are enough to illustrate my point
To put it bluntly Harper has used bully tactics and when they don't work he takes his ball and runs away.
I can appreciate discussion and point of view which differs from mine. I cannot tolerate someone who will stoop to use deceitful tactics to get their agenda achieved and then expect us to think that he is a nice guy and we should vote for him.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Enforcement Discussion Grows
What started out as a generic discussion of law enforcement on Hiawatha House grew when I had a discussion with a paper subscriber. So out in the ice and snow my subscriber asked the innocent question, "What's new?" My immediate response was nothing but I knew that he wanted more than that. So I told him that I had been doing a couple of blog posts on lax law enforcement. This topic interested him greatly and he soon got on to capital punishment as he is a supporter of capital punishment.
So with such a discussion I am right back to a blog post I had not thought of making.
I have been opposed to capital punishment as long as I can remember. Briefly I oppose capital punishment because it doesn't work. We only have to look at murder rates in states which use capital punishment and we do not see lower murder rates. Then there's the nasty problem of our justice system not being infallible. Too many convictions are in error. With capital punishment the sentence cannot be undone. It's permanent.
So my friend and I had a discussion where we agreed to disagree. He's a person who can discuss an issue and doesn't attack the person who opposes him. So when I visit with him it's always a stimulating discussion as he has made me post a blog on the topic.
So with such a discussion I am right back to a blog post I had not thought of making.
I have been opposed to capital punishment as long as I can remember. Briefly I oppose capital punishment because it doesn't work. We only have to look at murder rates in states which use capital punishment and we do not see lower murder rates. Then there's the nasty problem of our justice system not being infallible. Too many convictions are in error. With capital punishment the sentence cannot be undone. It's permanent.
So my friend and I had a discussion where we agreed to disagree. He's a person who can discuss an issue and doesn't attack the person who opposes him. So when I visit with him it's always a stimulating discussion as he has made me post a blog on the topic.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Law Enforcement Again
I am not one of those people who want a law for everything that moves. One of my favorite bloggers http://myretirementchronicles.blogspot.com/ sometimes puts on a piece called More Dumb Laws. She hits the nail on the head.
Laws which are outdated or impractical are a waste of time as they do more harm than good.
We need well written, necesssary laws and they have to be enforced. Laws which are not enforced or poorly enforced only tell the bad guys that the odds of getting away with something are worth their while to break the law.
My favorite example of lack of enforcement and that people really go to town and break laws with abandon is highway traffic laws. I'm a little old guy who drives down the highway at 120kmh which is 10 kmh over the speed limit. I'm afraid I'm going to get run over . People pass me like I'm standing still. I do not get the satisfaction of seeing my speeding friends stopped down the road receiving a ticket. What is worse is that in Alberta there are over $100 000 000 of outstanding traffic fines . So even if you do get caught you don't have to pay a fine. So traffic laws must be enforced and then the bad guys get the idea that the odds are pretty high that they will be aprehended. Somehow or other the fines have to be collected. So the offenders not only get caught, but they pay the price.
The same thing happens in the criminal law enforcement. Bad guys don't like to get burned. They don't mind doing time , but to get caught is the down side for them.
So we are going to have to lobby our politicians to take a serious look at enforcement and do what it takes to enforce laws.
Laws which are outdated or impractical are a waste of time as they do more harm than good.
We need well written, necesssary laws and they have to be enforced. Laws which are not enforced or poorly enforced only tell the bad guys that the odds of getting away with something are worth their while to break the law.
My favorite example of lack of enforcement and that people really go to town and break laws with abandon is highway traffic laws. I'm a little old guy who drives down the highway at 120kmh which is 10 kmh over the speed limit. I'm afraid I'm going to get run over . People pass me like I'm standing still. I do not get the satisfaction of seeing my speeding friends stopped down the road receiving a ticket. What is worse is that in Alberta there are over $100 000 000 of outstanding traffic fines . So even if you do get caught you don't have to pay a fine. So traffic laws must be enforced and then the bad guys get the idea that the odds are pretty high that they will be aprehended. Somehow or other the fines have to be collected. So the offenders not only get caught, but they pay the price.
The same thing happens in the criminal law enforcement. Bad guys don't like to get burned. They don't mind doing time , but to get caught is the down side for them.
So we are going to have to lobby our politicians to take a serious look at enforcement and do what it takes to enforce laws.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Be it resolved that bylaws be enforced.
It's time for a gripe. Usually I am fairly calm, laid back and agreeable. I hope that Hiawatha House is usually upbeat. So what has crossed me so that I will complain?
Here's an example. Our city has a bylaw which says that receational vehicles cannot be parked in a front driveway from Nov.1 to Mar.31. On my daily rambles through the neighborhood I see all kinds of recreational vehicles parked in the front drive way. They don't bother me, but if they were right next to me it would be a nuisance.
Here's my point . The city only enforces the bylaw when someone complains. So somebody has to be the bad guy and turn in his neighbor. How many people will do this? Not very many. The city will not make a patrol and request owners to move rec vehicles. Most other bylaws are treated the same way.
Now here's my point. If we have laws which are nor enforced it tends to give people the wrong idea. People will think that their chances of geting away with things will be pretty good.Yes, people will easily think that they can get away with many other violations because bylaws are not enforced. We are giving citizens the wrong idea. We would be better to not have bylaws if they are going to cause other problems. Are we bringing about a general disrespect of laws and bylaws?
Here's an example. Our city has a bylaw which says that receational vehicles cannot be parked in a front driveway from Nov.1 to Mar.31. On my daily rambles through the neighborhood I see all kinds of recreational vehicles parked in the front drive way. They don't bother me, but if they were right next to me it would be a nuisance.
Here's my point . The city only enforces the bylaw when someone complains. So somebody has to be the bad guy and turn in his neighbor. How many people will do this? Not very many. The city will not make a patrol and request owners to move rec vehicles. Most other bylaws are treated the same way.
Now here's my point. If we have laws which are nor enforced it tends to give people the wrong idea. People will think that their chances of geting away with things will be pretty good.Yes, people will easily think that they can get away with many other violations because bylaws are not enforced. We are giving citizens the wrong idea. We would be better to not have bylaws if they are going to cause other problems. Are we bringing about a general disrespect of laws and bylaws?
Friday, January 15, 2010
Chinook : Winter Break
We have been enjoying a week of mild weather after 40 days of worse than average winter weather.
Through December and early January we had winter temperatures which were lower than average. There was no break. Lots of wind. We had above average snowfall. So we had a streak of weather to complain about.
Fortunately in the Red Deer, Alberta area we get chinnooks. We've had this one for over a week. Some of our snow has melted. But mostly it's been a nice break. We do not get chinook temperatures as high as Calgary or the Crowsnest Pass, but we don't get the high winds either. For a site that keeps all kinds of great weather stats click on http://blog.boomerphoto.com/ . This site also has excellent weather pictures.
So we will take this chinook and enjoy it. There's lots more winter yet.
Through December and early January we had winter temperatures which were lower than average. There was no break. Lots of wind. We had above average snowfall. So we had a streak of weather to complain about.
Fortunately in the Red Deer, Alberta area we get chinnooks. We've had this one for over a week. Some of our snow has melted. But mostly it's been a nice break. We do not get chinook temperatures as high as Calgary or the Crowsnest Pass, but we don't get the high winds either. For a site that keeps all kinds of great weather stats click on http://blog.boomerphoto.com/ . This site also has excellent weather pictures.
So we will take this chinook and enjoy it. There's lots more winter yet.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Copenhagen Climate Disasters #3
For my last post on Hiawatha House I dealt with what individuals can do to help fight gobal warming and climate change. Individuals do have a very vital part in climate change.
For this post I will deal with the broader picture. The Copenhagen Conference was a group of nations who supposedly met to bring about some solutions to climate change. It is important for treaties to be made as governments set up rules, regulations and policies which hopefully would lead to a decrease in the productions of green house gases which contribute to global warming. The citizens and industries of each country would be forced to reduce their contributions to green house gases.
Industries produce most of our green house gases. One culprit which produces highly is the power industry and coal fired power plants. In Alberta, the oil sands contribute not only an enormous volume of green house gases, but also destroy natural areas and our water. For large industries the monetary implications are huge. Investment and competition complicates things. We as individuals want more power. So we're all in this together. As consumers we are going to have to pay more for energy and products we purchase so that costs to reduce green house gases can be covered.
So all people on this earth are going to have to be prepared to contribute more to reduce green house gas. The key word is reduce. Our Canadian government wants us and the world to think that they are doing wonderful things to reduce green house gases.Unfortunately for us, our Govt. is only spouting words and playing shell games. It's a complicated issue and for the ordinary citizen it's difficult to know what is going on.
All of us have to take global warming seeriously and work together to begin reducing it. We can't just look at the other guy and expect him to do the job while we do nothing.
Let me know what you think we could do to bring about some solutions to this issue.
For this post I will deal with the broader picture. The Copenhagen Conference was a group of nations who supposedly met to bring about some solutions to climate change. It is important for treaties to be made as governments set up rules, regulations and policies which hopefully would lead to a decrease in the productions of green house gases which contribute to global warming. The citizens and industries of each country would be forced to reduce their contributions to green house gases.
Industries produce most of our green house gases. One culprit which produces highly is the power industry and coal fired power plants. In Alberta, the oil sands contribute not only an enormous volume of green house gases, but also destroy natural areas and our water. For large industries the monetary implications are huge. Investment and competition complicates things. We as individuals want more power. So we're all in this together. As consumers we are going to have to pay more for energy and products we purchase so that costs to reduce green house gases can be covered.
So all people on this earth are going to have to be prepared to contribute more to reduce green house gas. The key word is reduce. Our Canadian government wants us and the world to think that they are doing wonderful things to reduce green house gases.Unfortunately for us, our Govt. is only spouting words and playing shell games. It's a complicated issue and for the ordinary citizen it's difficult to know what is going on.
All of us have to take global warming seeriously and work together to begin reducing it. We can't just look at the other guy and expect him to do the job while we do nothing.
Let me know what you think we could do to bring about some solutions to this issue.
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