Christmas wish

This is transcribed from a generic Christmas card I'm sending too my family this year.

What is Peace?
Peace is simple...
It's holding the door open for a stranger and waving to a child in the care next to you.
It'd doing something nice for someone withou getting caught, and giving and sharing with those who are in need.
Peace is reaching out and holding back.
It's practicing the golden rule as often as you can, and remembering to say please and thank you.
Peace is saying hello to people you pass on the street and letting cars pull out ahead of you in busy holiday traffic.
Peace is living each day with the spirit of CHRISTMAS in your heart...
(open card up)
...and peace is what's wished for you -- at Christmas and always.

Merry Christmas one and all!
Love and Peace,
Stephen

Stock Day shows his true colours

Read this lovely piece of ecological sensitivity from the blog of my parent's MP, Stockwell Day

Hey who knows, maybe Al Gore is right.

Maybe all my constituents living high up on the West Bench, or Lakeview Heights , or the hills of Logan Lake will soon be sitting on lakeside property as one of the many benefits of global warming.

All I know is last weekend when I got home from Ottawa there was more snow in my driveway than we usually get in a year.

And I was begging for Big Al's Glacial Melt when the mercury hit -24°. Do not despair, my fellow dwellers of the Okanagan and Nicola Valleys .

Lest the Tories try to change their tune and pander to Canadians with a new, more sensitive approach to the environment, please keep this Stock Day blog post in mind come election day.

Twenty-six years ago, John Lennon died.

Well, another year gone by, and another anniversary (26th) of the murder of John Lennon, except this year, I missed it. It was yesterday. Anyway, every year I post the lyrics to one or more of John's songs in memory of his life. Lst year, I posted "Imagine" and "Happy Xmas (War is Over)." This year, I will post "Give Peace a Chance" and "In My Life." We miss you John.

Give Peace a Chance

Ev'rybody's talking about
Bagism, Shagism, Dragism, Madism, Ragism, Tagism
This-ism, that-ism
Isn't it the most
All we are saying is give peace a chance
All we are saying is give peace a chance

Ev'rybody's talking about
Ministers, Sinisters, Banisters and canisters,
Bishops and Fishops and Rabbis and Pop eyes,
And bye bye, bye byes.
All we are saying is give peace a chance
All we are saying is give peace a chance

Let me tell you now
Ev'rybody's talking about
Revolution, Evolution, Mastication, Flagelolation, Regulations.
Integrations, Meditations, United Nations, Congratulations
All we are saying is give peace a chance
All we are saying is give peace a chance

Oh Let's stick to it
Ev'rybody's talking about
John and Yoko, Timmy Leary, Rosemary, Tommy smothers, Bob Dylan,
Tommy Cooper, Derek Tayor, Norman Mailer, Alan Ginsberg, Hare Krishna,
Hare Krishna
All we are saying is give peace a chance
All we are saying is give peace a chance

In My Life

There are places I'll remember
All my life, though some have changed
Some forever, not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places had their moments
With lovers and friends, I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life, I've loved them all

But of all these friends and lovers
There is no one compares with you
And these memories lose their meaning
When I think of love as something new
Though I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them
In my life, I'll love you more

Though I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them
In my life, I'll love you more

NDP hurtling toward irrelevance

I think that the NDP are hutling towards irrelevance. My problem with them is that they seem to be more interested in attacking the Liberals and trying to make deals with the Conservatives rather than the other way around.

They strike me of late as being shallow and politically opportunistic. They brought down the Liberal government which was going to pass a child care act. Child care advocates criticized the NDP for this. At the time, I was kind of with the NDP on this, but after I've seen what the Conservatives have done on this file, I wish I hadn't.

The NDP beats it's chest talking with the Tories about the Clean Air Act, but it's all show. It's grandstanding. The Tories won't move toward anything approaching a responsible green plan, and the Jack Layton knows it.

Yes, the Liberal governments of the past were corrupt. I'm not a Liberal; I have no horse in this race. They had to be held account to that, and they were, in the last election.

However, the times have changed since then. The Martin/Chretien Liberals were merely corrupt. The Harper Conservatives are threatening to tear are the fabric of Canadian society as we know it.

The Liberals have a new leader. Fair is fair, and he should be given a fair chance, instead of trying to tie him to the sponsorship scandal as the NDP are trying to do, when he had nothing to do with it. Stephane Dion is a man who is known for his honesty and integrity. In fact, to my knowledge, serious political commentators, even those critical of Stephane Dion, have not mentioned the sponsorship scandal.

I think much more helpful and instructive is the example being set by Elizabeth May and Adrienne Carr of the Green Party, who are welcoming his leadership of the Liberal Party with open arms. They are moving beyond petty partisanship, thinking about what is best for the country, and actually hoping he will be a good Liberal leader.

The progressive movement in Canada has much bigger fish to fry than Stephane Dion. Stephen Harper is the leader of by far the most right wing government in Canadian history, he must be stopped at all costs. The best bet for that in a majority of ridings across the country right now are probably the Libs.

Blogosphere, meet Andrea McKenzie.

I'd like to introduce you to an old friend of mine (not in terms of age but in terms of years knowing), Andrea Mackenzie from Victoria. She is an aspiring writer, and has just started up her new blog. She has had published a book of her finest poetry, A Mother's String.

Welcome to the blogosphere, Andrea.

World AIDS Day

Today is world AIDS Day. I'm too tired to put up a lengthy post on it, suffice it to say the global AIDS pandemic, especially in Africa, is one of the critical issues of our time.

My generation will be defined in part by how it responds to this pandemic. Will we stand up, take notice, and demand that Western governments provide support to battle it, or would we rather carry on with our mindless, insular lives.

I like what Matt Good has to say about the day.