Back to Some Semblance of Normal

Made it through my sixth income tax preparation season...best yet.. but awfully tiring... was up many days before 6:00 AM and sometime working on returns past midnight....last few days have been sleep deprived.. but so it is with a seasonal business.

Still have some to finish but real pressure is over.............

On to other challenges...

Demonization .. again

I really get upset when one group of people 'demonize' others.. it bothers me we just cannot accept that others are just as important as we are...

You really hear about this on radio talk shows...most distressing.....

Why can't folks learn to get along in this world? We are all humans with hopes and aspirations. We don't have to agree with groups' tactics particularly if their acts are terrorist in nature. But there aer so often, thousands of civilans caught up in conflicts..when will we ever learn????

Tamils and Other Immigrants

I hear some right wing voices in our media questioning the value of multiculturalism in view of the recent events here in Ottawa.

you know these same voices were heard in Europe and other parts of the world ever since the 1930's. Xenophobia is a serious condition which our opinion leaders (including those on radio call in shows) must tread very carefully...hearing some of the phone calls on our talk radio station hereis frightening...

A Calmer Post

Who is one's best friend? Who can one share one's most exciting aspirations, dreams with? Who can one share in life's struggles as well as its joys?

I am a believer that one's spouse/partner has to be one's best friend. A person who knows you intimately in all meanings of that term. A person who can laugh with you and who can cry with you.

THis summer my best friend and I celebrate four decades (yes 40 years together). Isn't it wonderful two people can remain so close to each other after this long period of time....

Recente Stuff Invovling Tamils in our Town

Whole situation is troubling...horrible things seem to be going on in Sri Lanka...but 'TIgers' group seemed to be prototype of terrorist outfits given all I have heard about them (using child soldiers and suicide bombers).

As always there are so many innocents hurt by both sides in Sri Lanka's political conflict. My sense is most protesters this week were family members of innocent civilians..

And of course there was our right wing news talk radio show ranting all week about.. one of their hosts even compared a very reasonable statement by Ottawa Police Service to a manifesto by the Communist Party.. can you believe such a comparison....

Sports Stadium

Glad to hear our city staff in Ottawa are urging our councillors to decide what is more important.. a new sports stadium or transit.. Cleary transit should remain as number 1 priority.

Ramblings for Today

Hope the 'review' the Afghan government is doing leads to a total withdrawal of that awful law. International human rights standards must always trump 'cultural' practices.

See that a major grocery chain here is to charge 5 cents for customers wanting plastic bags. Such a move will discourage use of plastic and reduce plastics at landfills. Hey that sounds like a 'plastic bag' tax....and no one in our government or private sector is complaining about it...hmmm.. didn't many of these same folks cry out against the proposed carbon tax last fall...makes you wonder how 'hypocritical' some folks can be...

Lots of musings in our community about next mayoral campaign. Glad to see a major 'progressive' councillor is likely to run....

Awful Law Proposed in Afghanistan

If I hear the reports right, the current Afghanistan President is proposing/supporting a horribly retrogressive law on women's rights., Is this the same guy our government keeps saying is the one to support ... and for whom over 100 soldiers have died??

I was pleased to hear that even our more traditional political leaders cannot stomach the proposed law. May it never ever see light of day!!