I would like to clear something up with my American friends. I was reading a CNN article this morning about Bush visiting Canada, and here is a quote from the article:

"President Bush's trip North of the border will be akin to a polite dance where he'll try to avoid missteps that could create more anti-Americanism in Canada."

Link to article: http://edition.cnn.com/2004/US/11/30/bush.canada.ap/index.html

I think there is a misconception inherent in the US media regarding the attitude of most Canadians towards Americans. In my opinion, a lot of Canadians (including myself) that oppose American policies or wars are not anti-American. I feel I am anti-Bush, anti-Bush Administration, and anti-Iraq war, but not anti-American. I feel that the US Media perceives protesting the Iraq war as anti-Americanism when another country holds protests. When there is a protest by Americans against the war, the media wouldn't say "Anti-American Americans protesting war", although they might label the protestors as unpatriotic. But I don't agree with this either, in my mind, being patriotic in a democracy includes voicing your opposition when you don't agree with something. The Americans that are protesting the war love their country just as much as Americans that support the war.

So my message to my American friends is that even though a lot of Canadians don't agree with the Bush Administration attitude or policies, Canada still loves America. And you'll be seeing a lot more Canadians traveling to the US because of the great exchange rates ;) New York City rocks!

This week's quotes of the week come from George Carlin.

'"I am" is reportedly the shortest sentence in the English language. Could it be that "I do" is the longest sentence?'

"Women like silent men, they think they're listening."

"The very existence of flame-throwers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done."

Every time I see one of these Rasta hats, I think to myself: "Why on earth would anyone want to wear a big giant hacky sack on their head?" I don't know who decided these hats are cool, but to me they are definitely not cool.

My brother Tom has a bobble head of NHL Goalie Martin Brodeur in his room. It was given to him by his friend a long time ago because it kinda looks like him. Tell me if you think it resembles Tom or not, the picture I posted is a couple years old though. I think it's funny that he has a bobble head of himself ;)

Yesterday morning, our department had a "Town Hall" meeting where the entire department gathers together. I set my alarm clock for 7:30, slept through it and didn't wake up until 8:30. It wasn't until after I got out of the shower that I remembered the meeting (It was 8:45 by this time). I knew they would be announcing that I was the winner of the Puerto Rico trip to the entire department, so I didn't want to be late. But it was going to be very difficult to get dressed, brush my teeth and get to the meeting in 15 minutes. I rode my bicycle because I figured it would be quicker than taking a taxi or a streetcar (Because I can go right past all the traffic). I rode as fast as I could, and I think I arrived at the meeting by 9:07. I walked up to the entrance to the conference room, put my ear to the door, and I could hear my Vice President saying "... But I don't see him anywhere in the audience". I knew this was my queue, so I plowed through the doors, and my VP said "And there he is!" "C'mon up!". So I walked up to the front to shake her hand, sweat dripping down my forehead, with baggy eyes from just waking up, while she announced my award to 300 people. Later in the day, I had multiple people tell me that they thought it was planned that I would walk in at that exact moment, they were surprised when I told them I was actually late for the event.

Then later in the event, I had to act as Richard Simmons in front of the same 300 people. It was quite embarrassing, but funny though.

Instead of checking the weather forecast to see if it's going to rain, all I need to do is to look out my back window. My next-door neighbors occasionally put their clothes on a line outside. But they seem to do it only when it's either raining or when it's going to rain. It also seems that after the rain starts, the clothes do not get gathered up: they just leave it there.

I still haven't figured this out, maybe it's just a coincidence that it's raining every time they dry their clothes, and maybe they just leave it in the rain because they figure after the rain stops, the clothes can dry again.

I can't think of anything better than sleeping on bed sheets with the smell of Toronto's polluted rain.

I am so annoyed right now. For almost 10 minutes straight, all I could hear was constant rapid clicking of the mouse coming from a cubicle near mine. I couldn't understand why somebody would be clicking so fast for so long. What piece of software can possibly require someone to go into a clicking frenzy? So I get up to see what the hell is going on. It turns out she's scrolling through her entire Inbox consisting of hundreds of emails by using the down arrow, one click at a time! I was appalled. I even observed that she possesses a Scroll mouse, so there was absolutely no reason to click the down arrow hundreds of times. There are many viable options: Scrolling, using the keyboard down arrow, using the Page Down key, etc. There are many less annoying ways to scroll through emails.

Balaclava-wearing thieves attempted unsuccessfully to kick in an unlocked sliding door at an Australian seafood restaurant they were attempting to rob. The sign on the door said "Slide", but they obviously were incapable of reading it.

Link to the article: link

You have all seen postings from "Jim's Hot Friend". Well here is a picture of "Jim's Hot Friend". His real name is Tim, and anyone that knows him knows that he likes to work out his upper body.

Look at this sexy man:

NASA has set a new record in flight speed, reaching close to 7000MPH in an unmanned 12 foot long X-43A supersonic combustion ramjet.

Could you imagine flying from New York City to London in 30 minutes?

Link to the article: Link

This week's quotes of the week come from Winston Churchill and they illustrate the mood I'm in this evening.

"History will be kind to me for I intend to write it".

"Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events."

"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm. "

"The price of greatness is responsibility. "

"We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give. "

"I would say to the House, as I said to those who have joined this Government: 'I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat."

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." Nov 1942

My cell phone hates me. Every week or so the battery starts dying and I always like to fully drain the battery before recharging. It always seems that by the time the battery is fully dead, it's either a Friday night or a Saturday night; the worst time for a cell phone to die. I decided today to charge the battery before it dies to avoid this from happening this weekend.

My bicycle was locked up outside of my work for a week or so, so I decided to ride it home today since I was running late for hockey tonight. (It's faster to get home on my bicycle than taking a streetcar or driving).

It was an interesting ride home. The first incident was with a 3-legged man on crutches. He was basically sprinting across the street. He was going faster than any other person I've seen on crutches in my entire life, and he was almost directly crossing my path so I had no time to stop. I swerved to the right directly in front of his path and hoped to god his crutches didn't get stuck in my spokes. A girl standing on the curb thought I was going to hit her so she jumped out of the way as I swerved back to the left after narrowly missing the 3-legged man.

The second incident was with a businesswoman. She was also J Walking; she took one look, then slowly walked across the street. I figured I had lots of room to ride by her in front of her path. But without even looking still, as I'm approaching to pass her, she starts jogging, putting herself right in front of me. I slam on the brakes, swerve, and yell "JESUS H CHRIST!" she was very startled and jumped out of the way. Close call.

Then I happened to see a Parkdale prostitute on the side of the road. It was only 5:15PM! 5:15PM! I've never seen a hooker out there at 5:15PM. Ridiculous!

It's not too often I come across rednecks in Toronto, but today was a prime example.

I took the last 2 days off work to do construction on my house. (We dug out a separate basement entrance, and a new room in the basement, and we built a new washroom upstairs). Well the contractor we're working with took me to a bar for lunch today, one that he regularly visits. He and another regular went outside together for a cigarette. Another regular sat at the end of the bar a few stools away from me. He looked like your typical redneck. Long dark mullet, glasses, not too many teeth left, weathered face. I did my very best to avoid eye contact with this guy, and it was very awkward. My peripheral vision told me that he kept looking at me looking to start a conversation.

Eventually he asked me if my cell phone had a camera on it. I told him no it didn't, and that it was just a regular cell phone. At this point I was regretting putting my cell phone on the bar. Well in subsequent random blurbs from this guy, we learned a lot about him. Here are some quotes and other conversations that took place in a 20 minute time span.

- "My daughter is doing very well for herself. She's in Manitoba working at Wal Mart. She is the only one with any brains in the family".
- This led to a conversation about brains, and here is another quote from him while slurring his words: "Beer doesn't affect my brain cells, since I only have 2 brain cells, so it can't affect them.. ha ha "
- He asked another guy if his parents had any kids that survived.. Then he felt obliged to explain his joke. "Because you don't exist.. ha ha ha "
- Apparently another regular from the bar overdosed on sleeping pills 2 nights ago, and again the night before. (After leaving this bar heavily intoxicated)
- A conversation with other patrons in the bar led to a discussion about school. One guy remarked "Well at the schools these days, they let all the monkeys in first, then they let the white people in if dere's room left". (Extremely racist)

Anyway.. I just wanted to share my first Toronto redneck experience...

CNN has featured a story on their main page advertising Canada as a haven for fed-up Democrats in the United States. The amount of press Canada has received from the United States news agencies is extremely valuable for tourism in Canada.

Here's the article: Link

The CNN article states that the UN has named Toronto the world's most multicultural city. The article also mentions the reasons some Americans might want to emigrate to Canada, such as: Universal health care, gay rights, abortion rights, gun-control laws, drug laws, opposition to the Iraq war, ban on capital punishment and ethnic diversity.

It also mentions some of the reasons Americans might not want to emigrate to Canada, such as: The cold weather, the baseball's not very good, and the higher taxes.

Also, a website was actually setup for Americans seeking to move to Canada called "CanadianAlternative.com" www.canadianalternative.com

Just some random toilet thoughts that came to mind:

1) Why is it that you are more of a man if your urination takes longer than another man? Is the man with the shorter urination any less of a man? I see guys competing with each other all the time.

2) At work last week I was in the stall, and someone else went to the stall next to me. I started hearing some crazy noises; sounded like maybe something he ate that day. I happened to notice his shoes underneath the stall. About 10 minutes after, I was walking down the hallway and I saw the exact same shoes. It was very uncomfortable to connect the noises I heard to an actual person that I work with.

Due to very short deadlines to obtain the Airline tickets in time, I had to make a quick decision on whom to bring with me on my trip to Puerto Rico in January. After a week of contemplation, my 19 year-old brother Tom (AKA Mini-Me) is the lucky (or unlucky depending on how you view it) individual that will get to accompany me on the Caribbean island.

For all the people out there that were extra nice to me last week in hopes of getting a free trip, please note that you don't need to be extra nice to me anymore ;)

For all those people that were being extra nice to me that don't check my website, then you can keep being extra nice to me until you ask me explicitly if I have decided who to bring with me ;) I enjoy the treatment.

Last night I was at a buddy's apartment playing a board game called "Balderdash". The way the game works is that one person reads out a name, or an acronym, or a word, etc, and you are to write either the real meaning or you make something up. It's quite fun. Here are a couple examples of some of the answers.

Name: Steveland Judgkins Morris
Real Answer: Stevie Wonder's birth name
Fake answer: Renowned for his self-mutilation acts with a penis on a traveling road show.

Acronym: ASA
Real Answer: American Sunbather's Association
Fake Answer: Afro-Somalian Association

Laws: In Chicago Illinois, it is illegal to fish while sitting ... (blank)
Real Answer: On the neck of a giraffe.

Laws: In Iowa, it is illegal for a bear to ... (blank)
Real Answer: (I don't recall)
Fake Answer: ride on a city bus.

Laws: In Michigan, it is illegal for a duck to ... (blank)
Real Answer: Quack after 10PM.
Fake Answer: Swim in a public swimming pool.

It is quite the interesting game, I wish I could remember more of our answers, some of them were quite amusing and a lot of the time, the real answer was more ludicrous than any of the fake answers.

I was having lunch with a friend from work today, and she was telling me about how she tripped and fell today in the printer room at the office, so that was quite a shocker for her colleagues on her floor. She informed me that this tripping and falling happens frequently, at least once a month.

As if predicting her own fate, when walking back to the office, guess who trips and falls flat on her face right in front of a small crowd of people! This was the second time today! I'm very intrigued by this, as I've never heard of someone falling so frequently. I informed her that she should get this checked out before she gets too old, because I don't think it would be very healthy if she was 60 years old and falling all the time ;)

On this day, we remember those who fought to save the world. These were ordinary young men who stood up to fight for their country. These were boys who became men in a very short period of time.

They knew the danger they were exposing themselves to. They watched their brothers die right before their eyes. They knew that they may never see their Mothers again, but they carried on with great determination.

In our lives, we should feel blessed that we aren't called on to fight as they were. Every time something happens in our lives to bring us down, we should think of these men who never got to see their mothers again, were never able to raise kids, and who died too young. These men sacrificed their lives for our freedom that we take for granted today.

Never shall these men be forgotten. We owe it to them to remember their great sacrifice, and above all, we owe it to them not to let our world come to war again.

Well, in January I will be experiencing my first trip to the Caribbean. I won a performance award at work that awards me a free trip for 2 to Puerto Rico. I'm very excited about this, the resort looks beautiful! I'm looking forward to the golfing, scuba diving, the blue water, and the smooth sand.

I'll be staying at the Westin Rio Mar Beach Golf Resort & Spa: Link

Nice!

After robbing a bank, an Albany man turned himself into police after seeing himself on TV. The police told him to come back the next day to be arrested.

Full story: Link

16 Canadians were awarded the Victoria Cross during World War II. I wanted to share the great story of P.O. Andrew Charles Mynarski.

Pilot Officer Mynarski was the mid-upper gunner of a Lancaster aircraft, detailed to attack a target at Cambrai in France, on the night of 12th June 1944. It would be the crew's 13th sortie. They would be over the target on Friday the thirteenth. While waiting to go, the crew couldn't help but think of these omens. Andy found a four leaf clover in the grass by the planes. He insisted that his closest buddy in the crew, tail gunner Pat Brophy, should take it.

Shortly after crossing the French coast, the Lancaster was briefly coned by enemy searchlights. After some evasive maneuvers, they were in the safety of darkness again. They began descending to the level of their planned attack when a Ju88 came in from astern. Its cannons blazed from below. Three explosions tore the aircraft. Both port engines were knocked out and began to flame. Hydraulic lines to the rear turret were severed and the fluid ignited, turning the rear of the fuselage into an inferno. The captain, Art de Bryne gave the order to bail out.

Mynarski left his post at the mid upper turret and began to make his way to the rear escape door. Through the fierce flames, he could see his friend Pat Brophy, desperately trying to escape from the immobilized rear turret. Pat was trapped. The turret had jammed in a position where the doors to escape didn't line up and, in his frantic attempts to free himself, he had broken the manual back-up system as well. By now, all of the other crew members had made their escapes from the stricken aircraft.

In complete disregard for his own safety, Andrew crawled through the flames to assist his fellow gunner. Not noticing that his own flight suit and parachute had caught fire, he fought heroically to free the turret, but all his efforts were in vain. Brophy signaled that there was nothing more he could do and that he should bail out and save himself. Reluctantly, Mynarski complied. Backing through the flames to the escape hatch, he stood up and, before jumping, he saluted his doomed comrade.

French witnesses saw him plunge earthward in flames but when they found him, he was so severely burned that he died within hours.

Ironically, Pat Brophy survived, unhurt. When the Lancaster crashed at a shallow angle, two of its twenty bombs immediately exploded, throwing the tail gunner clear. His watch stopped at 2:13 a.m., Friday, June 13, 1944.

Posthumously, with the rank of Pilot Officer, Andrew Charles Mynarski was awarded the Victoria Cross, the British Commonwealth's highest award for bravery.

This week's quote of the week is on a more serious note, due to Remembrance Day taking place this Thursday.

The context of the quote is to remember the aircrews that sacrificed their lives in World War 2 to fight the Germans against appalling odds. I'd also like to remember the many Canadians and Australians that served with the British RAF, as well as the American Air Forces that participated in attacks in Europe.

Here are some quick stats on the RAF bomber command: For any given 100 aircrew in Bomber Command, 1939-1945:
- Killed on operations - 51
- Killed in crashes in England - 9
- Seriously injured - 3
- Prisoner of War - 12
- Evaded capture - 1
- Survived unharmed - 24

The quote:
"All your operations were planned with great care and skill. They were executed in the face of desperate opposition and appalling hazards, they made a decisive contribution to Germany's final defeat. The conduct of the operations demonstrated the fiery gallant spirit which animated your aircrews, and the high sense of duty of all ranks under your command. I believe that the massive achievements of Bomber Command will long be remembered as an example of duty nobly done."

-Winston S. Churchill

The US Prepares all-out offensive on Falluja in Iraq, and the leaders have declared a 60-day state of emergency in Iraq. Residents of Falluja are fleeing the city in advance of the US attack, bringing the population down to 50,000 from the normal 250,000. US Warplanes have bombarded targets to prepare for the offensive.

Full Story: Link

The State of Emergency was conveniently declared shortly after the US elections. I suppose declaring a "State of Emergency" wouldn't be good press for President Bush in a war that he's losing politically and strategically.

Americans have been flocking to the Canadian Immigration website since the elections, pondering the idea of leaving their country after Bush's victory.

On average, 20,000 Americans visit the site. On Wednesday, that number shot up to 115,016, and 65,803 on Thursday.

Full story: Link

The Canadian Government is concerned about whether there are enough igloos for the Americans to live in. The igloo market has shot up over the last couple years due to low interest rates.

It sounds like Yasser Arafat might not make it. In his degrading health over the last couple years, I've often wondered how things will change in the Middle East post-Arafat.

Many politicians have found Arafat to be a roadblock to peace because of his questionable ties with Palestinian terrorist groups, and his history of fighting for the Palestinian cause. Others have even blamed Arafat for ordering suicide bombings in revenge for Palestinian deaths.

I wonder if a world without Arafat will help to come to a quicker solution, or if there will be a loss of control over the Palestinian Military groups. Maybe a more radical leader will emerge, and more suicide bombings ordered. Or maybe the new leaders will be more willing to come to terms with a solution for peace. The Israeli government has often discussed assassinating Arafat, so now they have their wish. But whether this will help them at all is questionable.

I have been having problems with my Rememberance Day poppy. It keeps falling off, especially when I'm wearing a jacket. I can't seem to figure out the proper way of securing it on my shirt. I have tried pointing the pin down (Hoping gravity would keep it attached), I tried pointing the pin sideways too.

Nothing seems to work, does anyone know the proper procedure for fastening a poppy on your shirt??

I heard an American say that if Bush wins the election, he will be moving to Canada. At first I was like "ha ha". But apparently it's not so much of a joke. There is actually a news article that discusses American Democrats emigrating to Canada.

Here is the article: Link

If I drive by the immigration office and see a lineup of people with John Kerry shirts on, I'll know what's going on.

A Canadian man at the Los Angeles Airport that was upset that he was refused a plane ticket to Australia stripped naked, hopped a barbed wire fence, sprinted across the tarmac and climbed into the wheel well of a moving jumbo jet.

Here is the full story: Link

Why are dogs a much better pet to have than a cat? I've made some observations (since we have both a cat and a dog in the house). When a cat is going to throw up, there is usually quite the build up. It's almost like the damn thing is having a heart attack, heaving and huffing and puffing. At first I feel bad for the little creature, but after a while I'm just like "OK already, get it over with, stick your damn paws down your throat and make it come out!". Then after that you're left with a pile of puke mixed together with fur balls.

When a dog throws up, it comes out quickly, and you're not left with a mess, because they lick up the whole thing back up!

Gotta love dogs!

There is only one more day until the big elections. Tomorrow is a very important day for the world, and I hope you all make the right choice. I would like to share my opinion on the election, since the outcome of the elections impacts not only the people of the United States of America, it also impacts people in Canada, Iraq, Iran, North Korea, France, Germany, England, Australia, Palestine, Israel, and dozens of more countries all over the world! I read in a local newspaper article last week that the whole world should be allowed to vote in the US elections, because the whole world is affected by the outcome of the election. Some people in other countries are even more affected by the outcome than people that live in the USA! This is attributed to the fact that right now the USA is as close to an International police force as anything we've ever seen before. It's quite obvious that Bush's support in countries all over the world is much lower than in the USA. His support is also lower in the big cities like New York City, likely because people in NYC are from different parts of the world and they are possibly more aware of what's going on in the world, or maybe they have family in their home countries.

I truly do think that the Bush Administration's attitude towards other countries is dangerous and is driving the world to an eventual war. I believe that the missile defense system currently in the works is only going to make other nations feel threatened by the United States of America. It will promote countries to develop larger more powerful weapons. What if Iran someday builds a missile defense system? Is this going to make the world more stable? So why does the US spend so much money on war when it's only promoting other countries to keep up with their pace? I believe it's because this administration has convinced their people that there are imminent threats against their homeland, and the only way to protect itself is to preemptively attack other countries that they feel might be a threat to our country. Who do you think is spending money on beefing up their military right now? I would say that the countries on Bush's "hit list" are probably preparing for an attack by the United States. Bush's naming of these countries now makes the United States a threat to their national security, and if Bush wins an election, these countries will likely build up their armies as much as they can, causing even more instability throughout the world.

Every time anybody writes anything that's anti-war, people always seem to bring up September 11th and tie it to the reason for going into Iraq. Everybody knows that September 11th gave Bush a good reason to get approval to do something he was going to do anyway, even though the attack on September 11th was unrelated to Iraq. There is a man out there named Osama Bin Laden that has attacked the United States of America and killed thousands of innocent people. Why hasn't Bush pushed to search for the mastermind behind the attack against innocent civilians? I think there are too many fringe benefits to "liberating" Iraq. There are the billions of dollars in contracts to be made, the oil to be sold, and the political aspect of being responsible for "Libarating the Iraq people". We all think that the News agencies only talk about the bad things, and never the good things. Why don't the news agencies ever talk about the number of innocent civilians that have died in Iraq since the war started? On September 11th the first thing the news agencies did was try to estimate how many people died in that attack. When there are air strikes in Iraq, why don't we ever hear about how many civilians died? I’m sure in World War 2 Germany didn’t count the number of citizens that died when they invaded other countries either. A recent Reuters article finally released some estimates on the number of innocent civilians that have died in Iraq in the last 18 months. Les Roberts of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, stated "Making conservative assumptions, we think that about 100,000 excess deaths, or more have happened since the 2003 invasion of Iraq". "The use of air power in areas with lots of civilians appears to be killing a lot of women and children," Roberts told Reuters. They found that the risk of death from violence in the period after the invasion was 58 times higher than before the war. Here is the full article: Link

Do you really think that putting a US-backed government to run Iraq is going to stabilize the country? If so, how long will this take? How much more blood will be shed? Who will be the next country to go?

Who are you going to vote for tomorrow?

I just saw the funniest thing. My Jack Russell was play-fighting with my roommate's cat. Mojo (the Dog) was right in front of Arlow (The cat), so Arlow had this clever idea of averting Mojo. He jumped about 2 feet in the air, cleared Mojo and ran as fast as he could out of my room and down the stairs with Mojo trailing right behind him. It looked like one of those flying squirrels that you sometimes see jumping from tree-to-tree. Very smooth Arlow!

This week's quotes of the week come from Chris Rock.

"If a woman tells you she's twenty and looks sixteen, she's twelve. If she tells you she's twenty-six and looks twenty-six, she's damn near fourty. "

"You know the world is going crazy when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, the tallest guy in the NBA is Chinese, the Swiss hold the America's Cup, France is accusing the U.S. of arrogance, Germany doesn't want to go to war, and the three most powerful men in America are named 'Bush', 'Dick', and 'Colon'."

"Never go to clubs with metal detectors. Sure it feels safe inside. But what about all those niggas waiting outside with guns? They know you ain't got one."

"Yeah, I love being famous. It's almost like being white, y'know? People are nice to ya, they give you the beneift o' the doubt... You drive a flashy car down the freeway and the cops'll pull y'over and before they even look they like 'What the f**k are you doing?' and then they see it's you and they like 'Awww man, it's Chris Rock, it's okay, man we thought you was a nigga'."