Whoohoo...... The world didnt end

When I initially woke up this morning it took me a moment but something dawned on me, I had in fact woken up...the world was still here.

My first thought after this realization set in was, Duh...Stupid Mayans.

However once the cobwebs cleared from my head and I was able to think clearly I realized that it was never the Ancient Mayans that foretold the world ending today, they simply predicted the end of a cycle on their long day calendar. It was ill informed doomsayers that incorrectly interpreted the meaning of the Mayan calendar and predicted the end of us all. Duh....Stupid Doomsayers

None the less, even though this appears to have been a false alarm (remember the day is not over yet), maybe we should view it as somewhat of a second chance, a new beginning, so to speak. So moving forward these are some things I personally would like to see take place starting tomorrow.

Political Correctness, Will it ever come to an end?

Just when I think I have heard it all, along comes another example of just how ridiculous the whole issue of being politically correct has become. Maybe I am simply more aware of it because we are heading towards Christmas and the confusion is rampant, Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays... no one is quite sure. Even Santa seems confused, how many times does old St Nick appear in an advertisement wishing everyone "Happy Holidays"' pretty sad when even he is afraid to use the "C" word in public.

But enough about the confusion surrounding "Christmas" (oops, old habits die hard). What got my head spinning this week has absolutely nothing to do with the political correctness surrounding this particular time of year. It appears we have a new word that has been added to the list that we are not allowed to use in polite company. Now this particular word is one that many of us grew up hearing on a regular basis, one that we all took for granted, and one to my knowledge carried no animosity or ill will with it. Even as a very young boy I commonly used the world to refer to a popular sports and even a particular model of sports car.

At this point you are undoubtedly wondering what this taboo word is, well for now lets just call it the "M" word as I am now finding myself having difficulty even using this now demeaning term in my blog, "oh the humanity".

Our court system is full of surprises, sometimes even good ones

How often have you read an article regarding a legal decision made by one of our public judges and shook your head in disbelief wondering if any sanity still remains within our justice system? Unfortunately it has become far too common an experience to pick up a daily newspaper and read about a court decision that seems to fly in the face of public safety or even basic common sense.

Thankfully, once in a while a judgement is rendered that actually seems to make sense even if it's one that doesn't have a major impact on society as a whole. This particular tale begins in 2011 in the city of Toronto, a place in years past that was often referred to as "Hogtown", (based on the many slaughterhouses in existence at the time, not the residents) but in today's world  it is in fact considered the center of the known universe by many of those that live there.

This boy is definitely a "chip off the old block"

As the Federal Liberals go through yet another leadership race in the hopes of finding someone to lead the chosen people out of the wilderness, I can't help but marvel at the desperation in their ranks.

Although one has to ask, why would we expect this race to be any different from ones of the past. In the last decade the Liberal party has certainly had some interesting potential leaders, looking back to 2006 they also produced a bumper crop of poor choices for party leadership.

Michael Ignatieff
Half the battle was teaching voters how to pronounce his last name (honestly, I never mastered it), but that was the least of the challenges facing the Liberal party with Michael. Here was a Canadian who moved to the United States, lived there for almost 30 years, crooned publicly about the wonders of living as a pseudo American, and then when he thought he could take the Liberal leadership and possibly become Prime Minister he parachuted back into Canada. Well as we all know he did become the leader of the Liberal party and went onto lead the party into a federal election that resulted in the Liberals almost being wiped of the face of the Canadian political map. Upon being soundly defeated, old Michael stepped down and now splits his time between teaching positions in Toronto and Harvard. Alas, a true Canadian patriot.

Bob Rae
Need I say more? As the former NDP Premier of Ontario, Bob was instrumental in leading that once successful province down the road of financial ruin. Bob made even America's President Obama look like a spendthrift when it came to holding the reins on the public purse. Once he had left a trail of fiscal destruction in his path he moved on and set his sights on the top job in Canada, Prime Minister. Now old Bob knows an opportunity when he sees one, and when the Liberals needed a leader he was not about to let the fact he was a card carrying member of the NDP party stand in his way, he simply jumped ship. However, what he couldn't leave behind was his record as Premier in Ontario, much to his dislike that stench clung to him and he was beat out by Michael Ignatieff. However, after Michael moved on Bob did get the job of acting party leader for the Liberals and the good news is that he could hold most of his caucus meetings in a broom closet.

Now , back to the present leadership race. The shining star in this one as far as most Liberals are concerned is Justin Trudeau, the son of former Canadian Prime Minister (and international playboy), Pierre Trudeau. Now amongst many Liberals, Pierre is held in the same reverence as say John Kennedy is with American Democrats. However most of us remember him better as the guy that flipped Canadians "the bird" from the back of the train on his way out of town or as the Prime Minister who coined the phrase "fuddle duddle". Someone who as a nation we could all be proud of, mind you I understand he did date Barbara Streisand.

So can we expect more from junior?

Now this is truly a case of the pot calling the kettle black......

"Sydney, what happened to you? You've become obese!"

Recently, Jim Flaherty Canada's Finance Minister has taken to publicly criticizing the spending habits of the provincial government of Ontario.

Now while I can't argue with the criticism nor would I in my wildest dreams ever consider defending Premier Dalton McGuinty and his merry band of free spending caucus members, I do have a problem with this.
Where do I start, well it seems Jimmy has suggested that the McGuinty Liberals should "look in the mirror" to see who is responsible for Ontario's current economic woes. A fine suggestion, but tell me Jimmy-Boy, do you own a mirror?

Rather than having me take off on a rant (something I tend to do occasionally), let's keep this short and use a couple of old but well proven adages that accurately describe this soap opera.......
"cast the first stone" or  "Those that live in glass houses....."

I am personally amazed that Jimmy feels he can tell anyone how to be fiscally responsible. It certainly is not based on his setting such a fine example to follow,  another old adage says it best  "Don't do as I do, do as I say"

On the other hand, maybe there is a simpler motivation at play here, like the fact that Jimmy's wife Christine Elliot is the deputy leader of Ontario's Conservative party. You know, the same Conservative party that would like to form the next government of Ontario and currently sits in opposition to McGuinty's Liberals.

So Jimmy, how about doing us taxpayers a couple of favors?
First, balance your own governments budget and address it's debt before you worry about the other guys, and secondly when your working on our nickel let your wife do her own campaigning.

See you in the funny pages....

Alberta Politics - Busting with Enthusiasm

If your looking for a little humor be sure to check out the latest addition to our "Just Plain Funny" page. It's sure to "bust" you up ....lol
In fact it is the talk of the town here in the great white north, here's a hint......

The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round, all day long.