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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in the "R Smith" journal:[<< Previous 20 entries]
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07:24 am
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Lest We Forget
Salute to our Nation
Reprinted here is a remarkable tribute written by Irishman Kevin Myers about Canada’s record of quiet valour in wartime. This article appeared in the April 21, 2002 edition of the Sunday Telegraph, one of Britain’s largest circulation newspapers and in Canada’s National Post on April 26, 2002.
Salute to a brave and modest nation
Until the deaths of Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan, probably almost no one outside their home country had been aware that Canadian troops are deployed in the region.
And as always, Canada will bury its dead, just as the rest of the world, as always will forget its sacrifice, just as it always forgets nearly everything Canada ever does. It seems that Canada’s historic mission is to come to the selfless aid both of its friends and of complete strangers, and then, once the crisis is over, to be well and truly ignored. Canada is the perpetual wallflower that stands on the edge of the hall, waiting for someone to come and ask her for a dance. A fire breaks out, she risks life and limb to rescue her fellow dance-goers, and suffers serious injuries. But when the hall is repaired and the dancing resumes, there is Canada, the wallflower still, while those she once helped, glamorously cavort across the floor, blithely neglecting her yet again.
That is the price Canada pays for sharing the North American continent with the United States, and for being a selfless friend of Britain in two global conflicts.
For much of the 20th century, Canada was torn in two different directions: It seemed to be a part of the old world, yet had an address in the new one, and that divided identity ensured that it never fully got the gratitude it deserved.
Yet its purely voluntary contribution to the cause of freedom in two world wars was perhaps the greatest of any democracy. Almost 10% of Canada’s entire population of seven million people served in the armed forces during the First World War, and nearly 60,000 died. The great Allied victories of 1918 were spearheaded by Canadian troops, perhaps the most capable soldiers in the entire British order of battle.
Canada was repaid for its enormous sacrifice by downright neglect, its unique contribution to victory being absorbed into the popular memory as somehow or other the work of the ‘British.’
The Second World War provided a re-run. The Canadian navy began the war with a half dozen vessels, and ended up policing nearly half of the Atlantic against U-boat attacks. More than 120 Canadian warships participated in the Normandy landings, during which 15,000 Canadian soldiers went ashore on D-Day alone.
Canada finished the war with the third-largest navy and the fourth largest air force in the world. The world thanked Canada with the same sublime indifference as it had the previous time.
Canadian participation in the war was acknowledged in film only if it was necessary to give an American actor a part in a campaign in which the United States had clearly not participated - a touching scrupulousness which, of course, Hollywood has since abandoned, as it has any notion of a separate Canadian identity.
So it is a general rule that actors and filmmakers arriving in Hollywood keep their nationality - unless, that is, they are Canadian. Thus Mary Pickford, Walter Huston, Donald Sutherland, Michael J. Fox, William Shatner, Norman Jewison, David Cronenberg, John Candy, Alex Trebek, Art Linkletter and Dan Aykroyd have in the popular perception become American, and Christopher Plummer, British.
It is as if, in the very act of becoming famous, a Canadian ceases to be Canadian, unless she is Margaret Atwood, who is as unshakably Canadian as a moose, or Celine Dion, for whom Canada has proved quite unable to find any takers.
Moreover, Canada is every bit as querulously alert to the achievements of its sons and daughters as the rest of the world is completely unaware of them. The Canadians proudly say of themselves - and are unheard by anyone else - that 1% of the world’s population has provided 10% of the world’s peacekeeping forces.
Canadian soldiers in the past half century have been the greatest peacekeepers on Earth - in 39 missions on UN mandates, and six on non-UN peacekeeping duties, from Vietnam to East Timor, from Sinai to Bosnia.
Yet the only foreign engagement that has entered the popular non-Canadian imagination was the sorry affair in Somalia, in which out-of-control paratroopers murdered two Somali infiltrators. Their regiment was then disbanded in disgrace - a uniquely Canadian act of self-abasement for which, naturally, the Canadians received no international credit.
So who today in the United States knows about the stoic and selfless friendship its northern neighbour has given it in Afghanistan?
Rather like Cyrano de Bergerac, Canada repeatedly does honourable things for honourable motives, but instead of being thanked, it remains something of a figure of fun. It is the Canadian way, for which Canadians should be proud, yet such honour comes at a high cost. This past year more grieving Canadian families know that cost all too tragically well.
Lest we forget.
Tags: canada, history, rememberance
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07:33 pm
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In Flander's Fields
In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army
IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
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10:49 pm
[Link] | Ugh, I hate when the time changes. It has always messed up my already messed up sleeping patterns.
The stupid thing is I've never been able to understand just what the point of the time change is supposed to be. Wouldn't it make more sense just to decide whatever the time is and then stick with it? At least then there wouldn't be so many zombies on the day after the time change.
Current Mood:  tired
Current Music: The Shadow radio show
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11:26 am
[Link] | Nothing quite like going to bed to no snow, and waking up to approx two inches of fresh snow.
Current Mood:  happy
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10:54 pm
[Link] | Snow is falling. No idea yet if it'll stick.
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04:04 pm
[Link] | I was in the valley for a short bit this afternoon.
According to a thermometer, at approx 3:30pm it was 45C. That is 113F.
That is just too bloody hot.
Current Location: hell is colder then here.
Current Mood:  hot
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03:35 pm
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Car stuff
Looks like I may be getting a different (better?) car.
D has lost his license for about a year due to stupidity and won't be getting it back till sometime in December. In the next couple weeks/month, he's planning to move out to Saskatoon for a job out there. Rather then deal with all of the headaches of moving a car he can't drive, registering it in saskatchewan, etc. He instead wants to swap cars with me, sell my 2001 chevy cavalier and use the money to buy a vehicle when he gets his license back, while I get the 1992 toyota camry that he has now.
1992 Camry history
-Bought in late 1991/early-mid? 1992
-Was used for several years by parent as main car. Running joke at the time was that the car was getting insufficient exercise/use.
-Approx 2004 or so, was given to D as he was commuting to school.
Cavalier history
-Bought Oct 2000.
-So far; has had part of the steering column replaced (key suddenly no longer worked for the ignition), there have been other problems, but I can't recall them at the moment.
-According to the dealer, my cavalier needs to be in the shop for a checkup approx 4-5 months.
Pros
-It's a Toyota, which means it isn't the chevy that I have now which has given me plenty of grief and headaches.
Cons
-It's was made in 1992, still runs great though. How relevant this is, I have no idea.
-Not sure how much mileage it has on it at the moment. My cavalier has approx 50,000km on it.
-No idea what paperwork/registration is involved, though it should all be very minimal.
In short, I know next to nothing about cars and am wondering if I'm missing anything.
Current Mood: cheerful
Current Music: Something on the radio
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08:12 pm
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Weather
It's snowing.
Tiny little flakes, not sticking too well to the ground, but it is snowing, and they lasting longer and longer on the ground.
Current Mood: amused
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12:29 pm
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To crzmslmaven
Current Mood: cheerful
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09:56 pm
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Who knew?
Tags: local
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09:33 am
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Car update
An update, turns out the problem was not a cracked windshield washer container as I had originally been told by the dealer. Instead, some hoses had broken, but that couldn't be seen until the whole windshield washer assembly had been removed.
Final tally of this mess, not the $380 + labour as was originally quoted. Instead, $48.93. A much more agreeable amount.
Current Mood: relieved
Tags: car
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11:28 am
[Link] | In Canada, there is a federal election today.
As in previous elections, it is expected that the youth vote will continue to drop. With that in mind, came across an article on MacLeans.ca about this.
( Stop him before he votes )
Current Mood:  cynical
Tags: politics
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09:58 am
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Car Troubles
Well, my monday morning was ruined by an early morning appointment to get some repairs done to my car.
About a week or so ago, I noticed that the windshield washer aparatus wasn't working quite right. Potentially serious with how much dirt and crud the average windshield here gathers.
This isn't the first time I've had problems with this part of the car. Previously, part of the windshield washer assembly managed to take itself apart, and for awhile, it seemed that if someone just looked at one of the hoses funny, it would break.
I won't get into some of the other issues I've had with this car, like the ignition key locking because the tumblers had been worn down. An out of warranty repair I might add.
Final tally for this trip... A replacement windshield washer tank on order for $380 plus an as of yet unknown amount for labour, and another appointment for way too flipping early in the morning later this week to get the actual work done.
Well, next time I buy a car, north american brands are right out. Going even deeper in debt in order to get an import would be preferable compared to this nickel and diming.
Current Mood: annoyed
Tags: car, idiocy, rant
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01:36 am
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Gotta love stuff
I've been battling some sort of bug for approx 3-4 months now, maybe a bit longer. Nothing serious, just a big pain in the ass. About a week or so ago, it received reinforcements and knocked me for a loop.
I've been taking cold pills as needed to control the symptoms so I can actually function.
I took a nighttime cold pill to knock myself out tonight. ... That was at 9pm or so. ... It is now 1:30am.
Aren't these things supposed to knock me out?
Current Mood:  sick
Tags: rambling
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12:15 pm
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The Conservative candidate for my riding
By ROD MICKLEBURGH
Thursday, January 12, 2006 Page A7 With a report from Brian Laghi VANCOUVER
-- Confusion and controversy swirled around Conservative candidate Derek Zeisman on several fronts yesterday, even as Mr. Zeisman struggled to recover from serious injuries suffered in a B.C. highway accident last month. The most serious matter was a report on CTV News that Mr. Zeisman, who is running for the Conservatives in the province's Southern Interior riding, is facing smuggling charges that could land him in jail. Conservative campaign organizers were caught off guard by the report, which said Canadian Customs officials have charged Mr. Zeisman, 33, with trying to smuggle 112 containers of alcohol across the U.S.-Canada border in a Mercedes and lying about it. "This is the first anyone has heard of this," Colin Metcalfe, Conservative communications co-ordinator for B.C., said late yesterday.
"We don't have the full story. Supposedly, there are charges. I'm told they are not criminal but administrative in nature, and he has a lawyer dealing with them."
However, Mr. Metcalfe said all candidates for the party go through a thorough screening process "and they should be forthcoming with their history."
Yesterday, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper told reporters that he was not personally involved in the party's screening process for candidates. "My understanding is that it's supposed to look into criminal backgrounds," he said in Fredericton. "We obviously rely on candidates to be forthcoming with information as well."
From his hospital bed, Mr. Zeisman told CTV News that he expects to be exonerated. "The customs people overstepped their bounds."
At the same time, Mr. Zeisman is under criticism for the Dec. 20 highway collision that has sidelined him during the campaign, as he recovers from a fractured pelvis, a broken femur, three broken ribs and a collapsed lung.
The candidate was driving from Trail to Castlegar in British Columbia when his sport-utility vehicle struck another SUV driven by a woman, who has not been identified.
A letter to the editor written by June Campbell of Rossland, B.C., published in the Trail Times yesterday raised questions about the cause of the accident. It also criticized Mr. Zeisman's campaign team for ignoring the plight of the other driver, a single mother who remains on crutches and away from her nursing job.
"Not one [of them] has ever shown one bit of interest, remorse or concern for his innocent victim," Ms. Campbell wrote.
Source
Current Mood: cynical
Tags: amusing, local, politics
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06:44 pm
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Karma
Some days, I really wish I could always carry my camera with me.
Tonight, my drive home was one of those times. ... At a gentle corner on the highway, sitting astride one of the cement highway shoulder barriers was a SUV. Parked ontop of the barrier in such a way that all four wheels were up in the air.
On the other side of the barrier is a parking lot, for the volunteer fire fighters for The Village of Warfield.
In the driver's defence, that particular corner can be icy. However, the speed limit there is 50km/h, there are a couple crosswalks nearby, as well as an elementary school.
Current Mood: amused
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02:42 pm
[Link] | Yay, some of the old time radio shows I listen to now can be listened to through the website.
http://www.rock101.com/shows/shows_lights_out.cfm and scroll to the bottom for what is available for listening.
Current Mood: excited
Current Music: Old time radio shows
Tags: link, radio, reference
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04:21 am
[Link] | Tonight, the time here moved back an hour.
On the plus side, an extra hour. On the downside, my already messed up sleeping patterns take an even bigger hit.
I've noticed that since I first became aware of the time change, that for the day before and after the time change, for those forty-eight hours of the time change, I just don't sleep. I get tired, I show signs of sleep deprivation, but every time I try to actually sleep, I am suddenly awake.
And this is incredibly annoying.
Current Mood: awake
Current Music: The ticking of the clock
Tags: local, medical, rambling, reference, stupidity
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12:18 pm
[Link] | Woke up today, and there is snow on the ground.
It was just a light dusting and will probably be gone in a day or two, but we have snow now.
Current Mood:  bouncy
Tags: local
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03:40 pm
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Random link
A random link for ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) stegzy and celticblissy
Tags: amusing, link
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