America, beware the bogeyman of Canadian-style health care.

O.K. we - Canada - are getting way too much attention in the USA these days. I am getting nervous, you really don't want to piss these guys off!

With U.S. President Barack Obama in the midst of an intense political fight to pass comprehensive health-care legislation this year, U.S. opponents have returned to a familiar argument in efforts to derail the plan — warning Americans that all roads lead to a dysfunctional, Canadian-style, single-payer health system.

I watched an ad against health care reform in the U.S. showing Canadian Shona Holmes staring straight into the camera and telling the audience a brain tumor would have killed her had she relied on her government-run health plan, which would have provided treatment far too late. "Now, Washington wants to bring Canadian-style health care to the U.S.," a narrator says darkly.

Someone check her Social Insurance card - if she actually is Canadian - then she is guilty of treason and better start packing!

In congressional testimony, in television advertising campaigns, and on cable news talk shows, critics this week answered Obama's call for a public health insurance option with dire predictions Americans would soon face long wait times, rationing of care and poor-quality treatment that they say is common north of the border.

The increased use of Canada's health system as a political tactic in the U.S. debate followed Obama's decision this week to ramp up his personal involvement in pushing the health-care issue.

One Republican senator has even taken to attacking the Canadian system by citing a decision two years ago by former Liberal cabinet minister Belinda Stronach to seek breast cancer treatment in the United States.

"Like under the old Soviet system, everything is free and nothing is readily available," David Gratzer, a senior fellow with the conservative Manhattan Institute, said in describing Canadian health care in testimony this week to U.S. lawmakers.


Gratzer, a Manitoba-born doctor and outspoken opponent of Canada's system, counselled Congress against the "temptation" of embracing government-funded universal health care."Canadians wait for practically any diagnostic test or specialist consult procedure, and some of them opt out of the system by crossing the (U.S.) border."

"When she got cancer, what did she do? She came to the United States for her care. That's what Canadians do," Barrasso said in one interview. In another, he said the MP came to the U.S. "because we do a better job with prevention, we do a better job with early detection."

What??????

Stronach, a former human resources minister who battled breast cancer in 2007, has also been unwillingly caught up in the debate. A source close to Stronach said Barrasso had his facts wrong. Stronach chose to have a highly-specialized type of reconstructive surgery at a California facility during a latter stage of her treatment. The treatment had nothing to do with early prevention or detection, nor her faith in the Canadian health system, the source said. Her cancer WAS treated in Canada.

Me thinks this guy has been partaking some our medicinal "Ganja", if he thinks that we would travel to the U.S. for early detection.

Obviously he has not heard of the development of the "Lab on A Chip" developed by Canadian Cancer researchers, which allows for patients to be able to walk into their doctor's office, give a few drops of blood and get a diagnosis within minutes. These quick test results not only gain precious time for patient treatment, but also offer significant savings, as testing can be done at a fraction of the cost of current methods.

This advanced diagnostic development has now become a world wide protocol. We have people from all over the globe traveling HERE for cancer treatment.

In his televised interviews, the Republican senator called Canada's health care a "trick-or-treat system, and that's because it's about Halloween time when they run out of money to do things like artificial hips and artificial knees." O.K. now that's just plain RUDE!!

Ironically, Obama has also faced criticism from activists on the political left who favour the wholesale adoption of a single-payer system but complain the White House, and congressional Democrats have essentially shut them out of the debate. And Canada has its defenders in Congress.

Representative Dennis Kucinich, an Ohio Democrat and perennial presidential candidate, got into a heated debate with Gratzer — the Canadian health-care critic — during a House committee hearing this week on health reform.

"Do you know what Statistics Canada says the median wait time is across Canada for elective surgery?" Kucinich demanded of Gratzer.

"Why don't you inform us, sir?" Gratzer replied. "It's four weeks. And what does Statistics Canada say the median wait time for diagnostic imaging like MRIs is? It's three weeks," Kucinich continued."How many uninsured are there in Canada?""Probably relatively few," Gratzer said. "That's right, none or very few," said Kucinich.

Even federal Industry Minister Tony Clement, who previously held the health portfolio, felt compelled to defend Canada's health-care system at a recent business forum in Washington.

"Not a single person who is unemployed has lost the ability to access health care" during the economic recession, Clement said.

Then he recounted a long-ago appearance at a U.S. health conference when someone told him Canada's system is the bogeyman for Americans.

"And as it turns out," Clement said, "the bogeyman for Canadians when it comes to health care is the United States."

By the way Belinda Stronach would have looked ALOT better on camera.


Til later

Footnote: since the publishing of this post the media & public reaction to Ms. Holmes has been brutal - in her defense I must say that she took action at the time of her illness which best suited her situation - and I am grateful that she was treated and survived what was obviously a very serious medical situation. - Fundywriter

Ah Houston?...we have a BIG PROBLEM!

Is it just me or is travel on the space shuttle loosing it's appeal. I really believe it is time to retire those cigar tubes on steroids. With all the O rings, and broken tiles, bad foam jobs etc. I wouldn't be caught dead riding around in that old thing.

Even as the shuttle Endeavour lifted off into orbit Wednesday evening, several pieces of debris fell off the external fuel tank, and at least one hit the orbiter. Astronauts in space and engineers on the ground will spend the next few days examining and analyzing the damage to see if it might pose a danger to the shuttle on re-entry.

The launching had been delayed five times by hydrogen leaks, schedule conflicts, lightning strikes and rain. That was one short of NASA's record for the number of delays. Two previous missions, in 1986 and 1995, were delayed six times before launching on the seventh try. “Persistence pays off,” Peter Nickolenko, the launching director, said to crew members a few minutes before launching. “Good luck and Godspeed.” Or...good luck everyone, you're gonna need it!

A camera on the external tank captured about a dozen pieces of debris falling off the external tank. At least one, coming off about 1 minute 46 seconds after liftoff, hit the orbiter, leaving three marks on the heat-resistant tiles on the underside.

“We don’t consider those an issue for us,” William H. Gerstenmaier, the associate administrator for space operations, said. Maybe not for him....he's not in the tin can!! “The issues will be in the back of the vehicle.” O.k. make sure you ride upfront another words....yikes!


Now every woman's nightmare - The bathroom lines at the already crowded space shuttle and space station complex got a lot longer Sunday because of a flooded toilet. I don't even want to imagine what that looks like in a weightless atmosphere.


One of two commodes aboard the international space station malfunctioned, right in the middle of complicated robotic work being conducted by the two crews. The pump separator apparently flooded. Mission Control advised the astronauts to hang an "out of service" sign on the toilet until it could be fixed. In the meantime, the six space station residents had to get in line to use their one good toilet. And Endeavour's seven astronauts were restricted to the shuttle bathroom. There have never been so many people -- 13 -- together in space. The toilet repair work fell to Belgian Frank De Winne, who had to don goggles, gloves and a mask. O.K.....YUK.


Flight director Brian Smith declined to speculate whether overuse caused the toilet trouble. "We don't yet know the extent of the problem," Smith told reporters. "It may turn out to be of no consequence at all. It could turn out to be significant. It's too early to tell right now."

Easy for him to say, he's down on earth with approximately 5 trillion john's to choose from.

How can you tell that these things were designed by men. If women had any say in the matter, there would be one men's toilet - consisting of one stall and some sort of "sucky kind of urinal thingy" -or maybe a hose of some type, and 6 stalls for the women with dim lighting, potpourri, candles and lots of soft tissue.

NASA said there is no urgency to the bathroom situation, at least for now. But he said if the toilet remains out of action for several days, "then we'll readdress the situation and see what we have to do." Typical male attitude. What man ever wants to work on the bathroom and we women really want it done! Two bathrooms ultimately are needed for a full station crew of six. Smith said he did not know how long six occupants could rely on a single toilet. Both the shuttle and station are equipped with other ways for the astronauts to relieve themselves, Smith said, including Apollo-era urine collection bags. O.K.....enough! Getting bad mental images here.

Time to go back to the drawing board and re-group thinks me....never EVER - saw these problems afflicting Captain Kathryn Janeway. She's got her own on-suite. Call me when I can look that good in space.




Til later

Frank McCourt, a return to "Angela's Ashes"

In no way is my blog turning into an obituary column and I may have been "commanded" not to write about you know who when he died, but I must dedicate my writings today to Frank McCourt. A school teacher and Author who still no matter how many times I read his writings, (the only books besides Dickens and Austen I have read more than once), I still laugh and cry and come away feeling that I have just talked to a very special and wonderful person.

Frank McCourt was a former New York City schoolteacher who turned his miserable childhood in Limerick, Ireland, into a phenomenally popular, Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir, "Angela's Ashes." He died on July 19, 2009, at the age of 78.

The poignancy of his writings always stick with me - because his story was not a story of extremely well written fiction - but rather a sad, gut wrenching and often hilariously humorous journal of his young life.

"When I look back on my childhood, I wonder how I survived at all," the book's second paragraph begins, in a now famous passage. "It was, of course, a miserable childhood: The happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood."

I swear that last line will be included with other literary quotes from great writers.


I assume most of us can look back at our childhood and remember what we imagined was one filled with horror and deprivation. I know I grew up in a home filled with mental, physical and psychological abuse - an alcoholic father who died when I was 14and who I tried to help in my own childish way and a mother who felt religion would somehow save us all. But no way in hell could it ever compete with the unbelievably horrific up-bringing he and his brothers against all odds survived.

I often thought Charles Dickens wrote about it in "Oliver Twist", Frank McCourt lived it.

In it Mr. McCourt described a childhood of terrible deprivation. After his alcoholic father abandoned the family, his mother — the Angela of the title — begged on the streets of Limerick to keep him and his three brothers meagerly fed, poorly clothed and housed in a basement flat with no bathroom and a thriving population of vermin. The book’s clear-eyed look at childhood misery, its incongruously lilting, buoyant prose and its heartfelt urgency struck a remarkable chord with readers and critics.

"People everywhere brag and whimper about the woes of their early years, but nothing can compare with the Irish version: the poverty; the shiftless loquacious alcoholic father; the pious defeated mother moaning by the fire; pompous priests; bullying schoolmasters; the English and all the terrible things they did to us for 800 long years.”


“Angela’s Ashes,” published by Scribner in 1996, rose to the top of the best-seller lists and stayed there for more than two years, selling four million copies in hardback. The next year, it won the Pulitzer Prize for biography and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Two more installments of his life story followed: “ ’Tis” (1999), which described his struggle to gain a foothold in New York, and “Teacher Man” (2005), an account of his misadventures and small victories as a public-school teacher. Both, although best sellers, did not achieve anything like the runaway success of Mr. McCourt’s first book, which the British director Robert Parker brought to the screen in 1999.

Born in New York

Francis McCourt was born Aug. 19, 1930, on Classon Avenue on the edge of the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, where his Irish immigrant parents had hoped to make a better life. It was not to be, largely because his father, Malachy, usually spent his scant laborer’s earnings at the local bar. Beaten, the family returned to Limerick when Frank was 4, and the pattern repeated itself.

Three of Mr. McCourt’s six siblings died in early childhood. The family’s circumstances were so dire, he later told a student audience, that he often dreamed of becoming a prison inmate so that he would be guaranteed three meals a day and a warm bed. At home, the staple meal was tea and bread, which his mother jokingly referred to as a balanced diet: a solid and a liquid.

When Frank was 11, his father went to work in a munitions factory in Britain and disappeared from the picture. Frank stole bread and milk, which became the family’s principal means of support. After dropping out of school at 13, he delivered telegrams and earned extra income writing letters for a local landlady.

In 1949, Mr. McCourt, at 19, gathered his savings and boarded a ship for New York and a new life, which began unpromisingly. Finding a job at the Biltmore Hotel in Midtown Manhattan, he was put in charge of the 60 caged canaries in the public rooms. Thirty-nine of them died, whereupon Mr. McCourt taped the lifeless bodies to their perches. The ruse did not work.

Despite his lack of formal schooling, Mr. McCourt won admission to New York University, where he earned a degree in English education in 1957. A year later he began teaching at McKee Vocational High School on Staten Island, an eye-opening experience that he recalled, in often hilarious detail, in his third volume of memoirs, “Teacher Man.” In his first week, an unruly student threw a homemade sandwich on the floor, an act that astonished Mr. McCourt not so much for its brazenness as for the waste of good food. After appraising the sandwich with a connoisseur’s eye, he picked it up and ate it.

“I think there’s something about the Irish experience — that we had to have a sense of humor or die,” Mr. McCourt once told an interviewer. “That’s what kept us going — a sense of absurdity, rather than humor."

“And it did help because sometimes you’d get desperate,” he continued. “And I developed this habit of saying to myself, ‘Oh, well.’ I might be in the midst of some misery, and I’d say to myself, ‘Well, someday you’ll think it’s funny.’ And the other part of my head will say: ‘No, you won’t — you’ll never think this is funny. This is the most miserable experience you’ve ever had.’ But later on you look back and you say, ‘That was funny, that was absurd.’ ”


These are the lessons you get from reading any of Frank McCourts writing - his example of what people are capable of with the will to live and the ultimate spirit of human survival. The lesson to remember that time really does heal all wounds and the ability to remember that in time all life's hardships (or what we consider) will seem "funny and absurd."

I truly think that "Angela's Ashes" should be part of the mandatory reading curriculum and help the young of today to reflect on what life could have been like, next time they don't get the latest release of Play Station, or IPOD, or when their sneakers are not as cool as other kids.

For us adults, perhaps when we look back on our lives - to count on the fact that as Frank McCourt said: “I learned the significance of my own insignificant life.”

As in Shakespear's Hamlet: "Goodnight sweet Prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest."



Til later

Got Pesky Bears?...no problem - just kill them!

We have a bit of a bear problem here in Saint John. Coming from Alberta, I can appreciate that bears are a little scary. I have ran across one in a campground back in Jasper and he was a little grouchy, and I wouldn't want to meet one in an alley with lets say a hot dog in my hands. At first I was on the side of the humans. The bears were getting too close to their property, scrounging around their garbage, peeking through people's patio doors and waiting out by the swing sets.

As said previously it was a pretty slow news week, and thought all the bear coverage was simply filler, but no. It seems they became the "bane" (excuse the pun) of the SJ police and there lies the problem.

New Brunswick Fish and Wildlife people should be evolved as well, they however are not giving their expertise on the situation. For days they were trying to lure the bears away with tasty treats, such as honey, Timmy's doughnuts and Crosby's molasses. That last choice may have been pushing it a bit, but it seems that none of these epicurean bear delights did not work. So the next best choice it seemed were to - kill them!

This was where I switched my allegiance and sided with the bears. Number one it is our fault that they are this close to urban centers to begin with, and then the home owners in question did nothing less but attract them in the first place. Now I know that black bears are not an in-dangered species but neither are humans, and we don't kill them when they become bother.

Due to the changing environment, bears are either losing their habitat or the sources of their food. In that case, bears, being highly adaptive, search for other sources of food – the food or even garbage that humans make. Bears are naturally shy and would avoid being seen by man, but when their survival is at stake, they get over their people-shyness and attempt to steal some snacks from humans.

If you do see a bear, you should not be afraid. They are just hungry creatures looking for food. It is only very rare that these bears attack people. Bears only attack people when you get in the way of their food or their cubs.

Hunters place bait in a barrel to attract the bears, and when these intelligent, gentle, and curious animals come to eat, they are shot—often several times before they die. Many bears escape wounded and face a slow death from blood loss, gangrene, or other infections, dehydration, or starvation.

Because of the barbaric nature of bear baiting, it has been banned in British Columbia and many U.S. states. Many Canadians and numerous hunting and conservation groups agree that this is a cruel and unsportsmanlike practice, yet black bears continue to be mercilessly slaughtered in Canada.

Mother bears who are killed leave behind orphaned cubs who- as was the case last week, when they killed the mother bear in West SJ - are completely dependent on them for food during their first 17 months, and when left in the wilderness alone, they often cannot survive. In many areas there are few restrictions against shooting mother bears with nursing cubs, leading to the destruction of entire families. Last week they killed one mother bear of two cubs, which are frightened and hiding themselves, tucked quietly away as they're mother trained them to do - in dangerous situations. They probably won't be found and will slowly starve to death.

Taken from the Telegraph Journal - Police shot and killed a female bear in west Saint John Thursday night, after she charged at them while they were standing on the deck of a home in Westgate Park. "The boys went down, they got a call about 8:30 and they went down to see what was going on," said Les Jarvis, resource ranager for District 3 of the Department of Natural Resources. They saw the bear in a driveway on Mountfield Crescent and had to back away from her because she wouldn't give ground. "Then they got up on a deck at the back of the house and the bear came at them so they put that bear down," Jarvis said. "That one was fairly aggressive - the boys hadn't seen one like that awhile." "The other two bears that might be in the are a may be last year's cubs that the same female had, so we are not sure how aggressive they are," he said. "They don't seem to be causing much problem right now."

She charged because her cubs were there as well - this was simply a natural protective mother bear reaction! Well trained animal officers would have seen this -killing her for protecting her cubs is horrific!

Sounds so expertly and humanely handled - what a joke! Shooting the bear should have been the absolute last alternative. And oh - I don't know - why not come armed with tranquilizers instead on lethal ammunition. Police just itchin to shoot something it seems!!



Til later

Welcome to Alberta....oh no wait a minute...that's England!

Considering that I am not allowed to write about MJ, because hubby told me I was not allowed to utter another word about it verbal or written, and that it is an incredibly slow news week, I, Fundywriter, have literally scoured the Internet looking for interesting little tidbits to bring to you.

Now I came upon this story which somehow slipped right under the radar here in Canada, for reasons which will be obvious, but certainly made the U.K. papers.

Being that I am from Alberta I almost P....d my pants when I read this.

Every couple of years Provinces like to re-vamp their Tourism campaigns, with brand new full blown media launches - and they work. We look at the yummy food eatin in fine restaurants, local culture and music to partake in and of course the sweeping vistas of the country or area.

Well the province of Alberta also relaunched its media package. In the past you typically saw the mighty majestic Rocky Mountains, crystal clear mountain lakes, and the vast sun kissed prairies, under the brilliant blue of an Alberta sky. (gosh - maybe I should be writing the stuff for them. All those scenes were included in this latest version - with one small addition. A five second clip of two beautiful children running along the - beautiful sand dunes and billowing sea grass growing along a white sandy beach, waves crashing along the shore.....WAIT A MINUTE?!? What waves???? where the hell are those? I lived there almost 4....well along time and I never saw any sandy dunes and breaking waves!

It seems that a Northumberland, U.K. beach was mistakenly used in the promotional advertisement for the landlocked province of Alberta.

The Alberta government issued an apology, saying it "screwed up", ah... yeah! A statement from the Alberta Public Affairs Bureau said: "At one point in the narrative we mentioned our regard for people in other places, and in that place we used the only image that did not come from Alberta. Come on! They couldn't find one single image anywhere? Also, I have written marketing and advertising for years and number one rule: when trying to promote the product or message - you should not show another product in its place assuming that will work better. That is called "False Advertising."

Despite the two places being 5,000 miles apart, and an 8 hour flight away, advertising executives charged with attracting visitors to Alberta decided to feature Bamburgh beach in Northumberland, and a boy and a girl happily running through sand dunes and tall grass on Britain's heritage coastline.

Alberta's government has denied any attempt to mislead the public and attempted to justify Bamburgh beach's inclusion. A spokesman for Ed Stelmach, the premier of Alberta, said: "The picture used just fitted the mood and tone of what we were trying to do. "Children are a symbol of the future. They symbolise that Albertans are a worldly people." Yeah...our OWN children!!

The beach concerned is a horse-shoe shaped stretch overlooked by Bamburgh Castle, built by the Normans after the original was destroyed by the Vikings, and restored by William Armstrong, Victorian industrialist. Sheelagh Caygill, marketing executive at Northumberland Tourism, said the issue had arisen at a time when the region is working to sustain a recent boom in tourism. She said: "We think it's quite funny, a landlocked province in Canada presenting an image of itself as an island.

The $24 million dollar re-branding was handled for the province by Edmonton PR firm Calder Bateman, who said they were unable to comment on work done for clients because of the terms of the government's contract. Olga Guthrie, manager of the brand initiative for Alberta's public affairs bureau, said: "This slide represents Albertans' concern for the future of the world. There's no attempt to make people think that the place pictured is Alberta." What would be the point of a Tourism campaign for Alberta that was not intended to make people think of Alberta? Also, it probably didn't help that the name "Alberta" is slapped across the image...?

Apparently the campaign has really worked though, hits on Northumberland's tourism web-site has increased 5 times to what it used to be.
And they didn't have to spend a dime.....ha! ha!

But you know....if it wasn't for the rest of Canada, Alberta would be surrounded by water....

Til later

First We Take Manhatten....Tim Hortons in Times Square!

t
New York, the city that never sleeps, will now sleep even less. He! He!

Canada is now creeping in and taking over the American psyche ever so subtlely ... with none other than Tim Hortons coffee. Yes the dark brew, containing secret Columbian ingredients, blended and ground in a undisclosed bunker (apparently somewhere in the basement of Parliment Hill) which wakes up most of the Canadian population each and every morning, now will be controlling the minds (or rather cranial cavities) of New Yorkers rushing thru Times Square.

Ever so quietly, like the British sneaking up the Potomac, over the weekend, 12 Dunkin Donuts locations were converted to none other than Tim Hortons. Overnight the DD signs came down and warm fuzzy Timmy's signs went up. They never new what hit them.

This has all been a well orchestrated, carefully planned infiltration, literally years in the making. In 1998 the New York Post ran a photograph of a mouse (special CSIS agent known as "Little Grey") eating a doughnut at one of the DD locations, and then it was agreed upon that "several prime locations" would be shut down by the end of July this year and replaced with Timmys.

In an interview in the New York Magazine, the CEO of Riese Organization said he hoped to make more money (American greenbacks - not Canadian Tire money, I am assuming) with Tim Hortons because it has a broader product line that includes lunch and dinner items - in addition to coffee and doughnuts. (yeah! just wait until they taste the Chilli!!) The idea was to unveil three co-branded stores with Cold Stone Creamery, an ice cream outlet, in Times Square.

Actually the opening of Tim Hortons received extensive coverage in the city's papers this week. The New York Times explained who Tim Horton was and quoted a food industry analyst who called the organization "the number one coffee chain in Canada."

The Daily News explained what a "double double" is and The New York Post said some people hold Tim Hortons "partly responsible for the overburdening (Canada) socialized health care system. Yeesh!! always gotta be sooo dramatic these Americans!

Tim Hortons, which has more than 2,900 stores in Canada, already has about 500 outlets across the United States, this is probably why Obama was elected to the Whitehouse...

One retail analyst said in a note Friday that "time will tell" if Tim Hortons expansion into New York City will work. "A tourist mecca like New York offers the opportunity to build brand awareness but it also offers high rents and plenty of completion."

Ha! what does he know...we Canadians still don't know what they put in the coffee and why we can't stop drinking it....this is a done deal!

Canadian tourists and immigrants like Jaye Landon, who said “Wow” when she heard the news, may be the surest customers for the Tim Hortons. “It’s hard to be a Canadian and not love Tim’s,” said Ms. Landon, an Ottawa native who has lived in New York for 20 years but still has a Tim Hortons coffee mug in her kitchen. “When you’re crossing the prairie and going through bear-infested territory, Tim’s is your friend.”

o.k. see this is how we get a bad reputation...."Bear Infested??" Mosquito maybe...

Anyways next,....Americans will be wondering why they don't have multi-coloured money too! Ooohahahah!!!

Til later

The Bay of Fundy back in the running - New 7 Wonders of Nature

O.K., now I am really confused. We’re in - we’re out? What’s going on. Every day last year before the “New 7 Wonders of Nature” contest round 1 closed, I faithfully, and I mean faithfully (I set my alarm daily to make sure!) went on-line and voted for the Bay of Fundy (for some reason pronounced ‘fun-day’ don’t know why - can’t see an A there) to win one of the wonders of nature.

But….I am also from Alberta….hmmm what to do, what to do…..I was torn. This caused me some grief. If I voted for the Bay of Fundy, I was abandoning the province in which I had lived all my life. I always was a very proud Albertan - as a matter of fact ‘Pride’ is a pre-requisite to be Albertan. But…if I didn’t vote for the Bay of Fundy I was not truly embracing my new identity as a ‘maritimer.’

The New 7 Wonders of Nature contest announced the Bay of Fundy, which boasts the world's highest tides, is now Canada's entry in the global competition. Alberta's Dinosaur Provincial Park was disqualified for not meeting contest requirements. Hmmmm…and what are the ‘requirements’ I wonder.

The Maritimes' iconic Bay of Fundy is back in the running to win an international natural wonders contest after a bid by Alberta's Dinosaur Provincial Park suddenly became extinct. Excuse the pun….

I grew up spending vacations in ‘Dinosaur National Park’ - have to admit it didn’t seem all that wondrous then, however got better once the MacDonald’s opened up across from the Tyrell museum. But then most children don’t appreciate things like that anyways. I know my son, was absolutely captivated and it jump started a life long love of fossils and everything ‘rock-jockey.’

Well to get the cold hard facts, and that is what I try to do….(don’t laugh), I went to the local papers out there in ‘Alberta land.’ No use going to my hometown paper the Edmonton Journal, as Edmontonians are still miffed that the West Edmonton Mall was not considered, although the food court there is pretty wondrous, anyhoo…I went to the Calgary Herald. According to their article this is the reason:

A spokeswoman for Alberta Tourism Parks and Recreation said "The reason they gave us was that expectations were different from our end than there was on theirs of what was involved in the competition." Well what in the heck does that mean? I suspected they did not want to really tell it like it is. So I checked out a paper from Belgium, which straight out said that the Alberta park didn't make the cut because, well, there's not much to do there. Wow!…nasty.

"Not much to do" kind of sounds as if "something to do" is dependant on man-made entertainment - can this really be true? I always thought experiencing nature was "something to do" - all these years I've been so misguided. No, there are not any amusement parks, water slides or tacky little people waiting to steal your money, however just a short drive away and you can find that. What Dinosaur National Park does have is an amazing carbon footprint in the history of creation of the earth. Located in the heart of the Badlands, Drumheller Valley has an interesting history which spans back some 70 million years to a time when the area was very different looking than it is today. White explorers did not discover the area until the 1880's. J.B. Tyrrell, in his search for coal deposits along the river, discovered a skull of a dinosaur. That dinosaur is today known as the Albertasaurus. This marked the beginning of the collection of dinosaur remains that are sought after by museums all over the world, including the Royal Tyrrell Museum located in the Drumheller Valley.

While Dinosaur Provincial Park was knocked off the list, the places that did make the cut in Canada were Niagara Falls and New Brunswick & Nova Scotia's Bay of Fundy.

Terri McCulloch, the manager of the Bay of Fundy Tourism Board, said now the bay needs votes to continue to the next stage. "I think the Bay of Fundy stands a very good chance of getting there," McCulloch said. "If we can marshal the troops again, Maritimers were just amazing for support and now we have the whole country behind us."

Well…probably not Alberta….

The Bay of Fundy again now joins the other 261 nominees from around the globe, a list that includes Mount Everest, whatever...you climbed one mountain you climbed them all.

The Bay of Fundy advertises a “New experience with Every Tide.” To say you have the highest tides in the world and to actual see this phenomena take place is something else.

The Bay of Fundy is a 170-mile-long (270km), straight-sided, somewhat funnel-shaped bay which splits at its northeastern head into two narrow bays, Chignecto Bay and the Minas Basin. It was formed as the continental plates parted millions of years ago. As they split, deep rift valleys formed, which quickly filled with sediment washed in from the land. The Bay of Fundy is one of these ancient rifts.

The mudflats also provide a larder of food to hungry migratory shorebirds. Each year up to two million semi-palmated sandpipers and other shorebirds stop over in the Fundy region during July and August on their annual migration from their spring breeding grounds, far to the north on the arctic tundra near Hudson Bay, to their wintering grounds along the coasts of South America. The semi-palmated sandpipers that settle in the Minas Basin and other areas represent 75-95% of the entire world's population of this species. They build up their body fat on tiny crustaceans found only in mud of a certain consistency.

As for things to do; kayaking, canoeing, caving, whale watching, camping, sailing, birdwatching, climbing, beaches, golfing, museums, arts & crafts, dinning, beer drinking, and...whales...oh I mentioned the whales.

But enough said. VOTE! And vote often…all of this country of ours is truly AMAZING!! That is why we are so lucky to be Canadian. www.new7wonders.com


Til later

Coffee, Tea or Kibble?

Air Canada travelers who fret over leaving Fifi at home when they fly can relax, the airline is once again allowing furry companions in its cabins.

I squealed in delight!!! Quickly grabbing cat no. 1 as it sauntered past the coffee table, got it in a two arm hug and clapped it’s little paws together - it was clapping with delight - o.k. I was helping it.

“Why is that good?” demanded hubby

“Well…now when we travel back to Alberta for a visit, we can bring the “boys” (that’s what I call them - my maternal hormones still going strong).

“Why the hell would we do that?” he asked . (cat no. 2 now has paw over mouth in shock!) “One spends all day in the tub, and the other one never leaves the closet - why would we take them anywhere?”

Good question.

The airline announced Wednesday that travelers can bring their cats or small dogs on the plane with them starting July 1 for a fee of $100 for domestic return flights and $200 for an overseas trip. A small price to pay I THINK….for my peace of mind. God only knows what shenanigans they would get up to while we were gone!!

I think what is really happening is that Air Canada has just found a new marketing and pricing technique. Don’t raise airfare but play on the heartstrings of crazy pet people by dangling the “Fido can Fly with me” carrot. Most people hate to travel on an airline with a pet - because giving them human qualities and sensibilities, most people are horrified at the thought of putting fluffy in a crate in the cargo hold.

Heck if I got a discount I’d put hubby there - he just sleeps through the flight anyways.

Air Canada has been struggling because of increasingly cut-throat competition from other airlines like WestJet, known as a pet-friendly airline, as well as the recession..It's part of their strategy to gain market share back that they lost to WestJet when they implemented all those policies, not necessarily only with the pets, but also other things, like call-centre fees and charging for pillows and blankets.

Does anyone remember the days when they actually served you on real china, and gave a choice of red or white wine?

The company has changed its policies on pets several times. In September 2006, the airline said it would no longer allow pets in the cabin due to allergy concerns. Nine months later, the company said it wouldn't accept pets in the cargo hold either due to the need for more space for luggage. "Like all businesses we constantly review and update our policies, and that's what's happened here," an Air Canada spokeperson said. "It's all part of a general strategy that we have here to improve our relationships with our customers." (I'll say - try feeding them)

While the concept of cats and dogs in such close proximity to travelers may raise concerns among allergy sufferers, the company says it rarely hears complaints from customers.

"We don't get a lot of feedback on that, surprisingly," they say. "If we do, what we try to do is we try to separate the two, the person with the animal and the person with the allergy. We put them as far apart as we possibly can." (I suppose non-pet owners could ride in cargo area?) "It's something that we get a lot of positive feedback on. People really appreciate the fact that they can bring their pets on board."

People with SEVERE allergies shouldn't be traveling anyways I say - they are too sick!

Well, out of earshot of hubby, I discussed this with the boys. (I think they talk back - but then maybe I just spend too much time alone on this blog) Anyways they love the idea! They are perusing over the travel mags as I am writing this. Both are big on the Caribbean - what with all the sand and everything.


Til later

Arctic Appetizers - more on the Canadian Seal Saga

O.k. here is the latest in my Seal Saga - just after I thought we had heard the last of it, all the hub-bub had died down surrounding Gen Jean’s culinary escapades - I came across this story in the “Nunavut News.” (Where did you think I get this stuff - the New York Times?)

It seems that all the fuss about General Jean has sparked a few entrepreneurial light bulbs a flashing. What’s the old saying “even bad press is good press?” Can’t pay for advertising like that. Inuit leaders want to capitalize on the promotional bonanza offered by images broadcast around the world of Canada's vice-regal munching on a raw slice of seal heart

They have reason for optimism: One Montreal restaurateur says his seal orders have doubled thanks to the media frenzy, and now account for two-thirds of his total appetizer sales.
The premier of Nunavut hopes more southerners follow the lead of General Jean and add to their diet what the locals call "country food" -- not just seal, but Arctic char, caribou, and muskox.

“YEESH” - what ever happened to plain old hamburger helper? You've seen it being eaten on your television screen. Now, people of the Arctic have visions of their food on your plate.

In a region desperate for economic activity -- the employment rate in Nunavut is just 58 per cent -- there are dreams of southern palates, and wallets, opening to the spoils of their land.
There's one big obstacle in getting the food down south: there are no roads to these Arctic communities, and shipment by boat or plane is painfully expensive.

"We have all these wonderful, highly nutritious foods," Premier Eva Aariak said in an interview.
"It's straight from the land. If only we had the infrastructure” Hmm…no preservatives. I would imagine it is Organic as well.

The Governor General can attest to the tastiness of country food. During their stay, Jean and her entourage were treated to succulent musk ox ribs topped in a demi-glaze sauce, and canapes of Arctic char, which resembles salmon or trout in colour, texture and taste. (o.k. I got to quit here….I have not even finished my morning coffee)

But none of those meals captured international headlines like the video of Jean slicing and sampling a seal. Jean said the blubbery mammal had a texture like sushi -- but with a meatier flavor. The premier agrees it tastes like meat, only with a subtle fishy flavor derived from the animal's steady diet of marine life.

“Subtle” fishy flavor?

Although fatty flipper pies are a favorite of Newfoundlanders, seal is a rare find on Canadian menus. One restaurateur who offers seal in unusual appetizers can't believe his good fortune.
Customers have been gobbling up the $13-$15 seal tartar with capers; rare seal tataki; and seal smoked meat from the appetizer menu at Montreal's Au Cinquieme Peche. "It's the most expensive item on our appetizer menu," Lenglet said. "But there's been so much publicity on this that seal now represents two-thirds of our appetizer sales. . . They have doubled."

But building a viable industry would require new infrastructure in Nunavut -- where there are no commercial ports for shipping and no highways connecting the tiny hamlets to one another.
To a visiting passenger, an Arctic community seen from an airplane can resemble a few specks of sand dropped in the middle of a frozen hockey rink.

Airfare even within the region can cost $3,000, and a plane ticket from Nunavut's capital to Canada's capital runs around $2,000. That's one of the reasons so many Inuit rely on hunted food, rather than shelling out more than $20 at the grocery shop for frozen chicken shipped up from southern Canada.

And, just maybe, better infrastructure might drive down the price someday of a seal surf and turf so the rest of us could pick up some Seal steak from lets say Super Store. You know - one gets so tired of Lobster in the maritimes……and I yet to hear any reports of “Mad Seal Disease.”


Til later

Election Canadian Style!

There are a few things that we Canadians are pretty good at. We brew really good, potent beer, give birth to our fair share of awesome hockey players and of course we are always there right behind the Americans to do general “Invasion Cleanup” detail.

But there is one thing that we perhaps excel at more than any other nation in the world and that is….ELECTIONS!!

Yes, we surpass every other country due to the fact that basically we get a lot of practice. We sometimes have elections even when we don’t need one. It’s like well…it’s kind of slow around here…I know lets have an election!

Look at the state of other countries who attempt to hold democratic elections. Riots, terrorism, outright assassinations take place in other places in the world when people simply exercise their right to choose a leader.

Then there is the American template. Their elections should be considered a 4 year sporting event. The stories, political mudslinging and the intrigue makes for some excellent reality T.V., yet we are able to make the whole process look like a walk in the park. Even the swearing in of a new cabinet, takes about an hour and only pre-empts an infomercial somewhere.

We have the whole election process down to a fine art. We have the capability to throw out one leadership, create smear campaigns, listen to both sides of the issues, debate platforms and vote in a new government - all within 30 days or less. If elections were an Olympic event, we would have the gold. You know with the demise of our fishing industry and softwood lumber, we could actually make our ability to hold an election an export of sorts. We could offer to go into a country, do a little campaigning, organize the polling stations and “Voila” new government and be out there inside of a couple of weeks - no violence involved.

Usually our government calls an election when all the infighting has gotten out of control and everyone has forgotten what the fight started over to begin with - or if we have exceptionally good summer weather and the hill wants to get out early

This week's saber-rattling between Michael Ignatieff and Stephen Harper over a summer election has all the makings of an epic battle over which leader has the biggest, um, sword.

Forget the worst economic crash in decades, the collapsing industries, the thousands of Canadians losing their jobs, their savings, their pensions, their homes.

If the political jousting between Iggy and the PM is any indication, the country is at risk of being dragged out of the pool and off to the polls in July over dueling egos. Harper, of course, is no slouch in the larger-than-life department, having spent the past three years successfully muzzling his ministers, and generally trying to put an iron grip on everyone and everything government.

Today, the Conservative administration remains predominantly all Harper all the time. But make no mistake, there's a new ego-slinger in town with the potential to make "l'etat c'est moi" s(the state is me) an understatement in both official languages.

But this time, instead of the usual Hewie, Dewie and Lewie, Mr. Harper and his gang have actually got some stiff opposition. So this time it looks like we could have ourselves one “Humdinger” of an election, a good old fashion shoot out! (not the O.K. Corral type - Hockey - we're Canadian remember)

So right now they are doing a little square dancing - everyone eyeing up the partners to “Doe-See-Doe", and I am sure an announcement will be forthcoming. I however will do what the rest of the country does when it really wants to know what is happing in the Canadian political climate - wait for Rick Mercer to make the announcement.

Til later