Flaming the Bear

It's been a tough week that started last Tuesday. Everything came to a screaming halt with a dreaded phone call from mom @ 8:00 a.m. From mom's voice I knew things were going to change forever and they did. Dad passed away in the night and some of the longest toughest day's of my life were about to begin. It's been a marathon ever since the phone call, and I think I got about 4 or 5 hours sleep in the first days leading up to the services on Friday and memorial service and internment on Saturday. The planning and the work have been unbelievable and somewhere during this we have to find time to mourn and move on. It's been tough - writing the words of remembrance was very challenging and my greatest fear was that we would miss somebody and sure enough we did, my brother in law who's been an integral part of the family for so long I can't even remember what it was without him in the picture got missed. Over looked or whatever, I'm not sure how it was even possible, but it seemed like there were words for everyone - yet at that critical time, words for Brad were missed. It makes a person wonder if it's a wise thing to even mention peoples names when doing these sorts of things. Mention one, then mention all. Maybe it's better just to mention no one and slight everyone.

There's another positive for BSE in Canada, just click on the link to the CTV article for more details. Why is it everytime there's a set back in the US, we're sure to follow with one of our own within a week or so. Wierd how that works out, but I suppose that's just Canadian luck. Anyway, I hope that the Canadian elections have a positive outcome and we have a leader with some tact and backbone, something Martin definitely lacks and I'm not so sure Layton's line of thought is all that stable either.

I've spent yesterday and part of this morning rigging up a digi-cam that I mentioned earlier. It's been a lot more challenging than I expected. This is mostly due to the fact that I decided to use opto-couplers in place of reed relays to trigger the camera shutter and refresh. Theres' been a couple of challenges so far and I hope to get things resolved some time today. After fighting with it this morning I'm taking a breather so that I don't frustrated and start wrecking things. Did you know for instance, that transistors may not all be wired the same? These little do-dads have 3 pins, now you would assume that the pins would be arranged the same irregardless of who made them - NOT so. That's a real head banger! Hours of testing and checking coming down to the collector & emitter pins not being standardized! Anyway I've got the camera firing now, I just need to get the refresh circuit working and the count LED co-operating again and the rig will be ready to box.

A friend and I went out and checked the 2 camera's I do have out right now, 1 needed a full roll of film while the other had only taken 16 pic's BUT the batteries were deader than a door nail. I'm afraid the first camera will only have a full roll of bird pic's like the last time. I'm not sure if I'll make the drive to Stettler today or wait a week and pull the film on the other camera next week @ the same time. If I go today I'll try and post some pic's here later on.

The central Canadians are at it yet again. Yesterday the Liberals, the day before that Buzz Hargrove of the CAW, days before that the NDP and today the Bloc Quebecois. If a westerner were to utter such nonsense and lies he or she would be hauled off to jail. Unfortunately the same doesn't apply to eastern politicians, they all seem impervious to any amount of common sense and the pre-requisite intelligence to understand the damage that they are doing. They have chosen to swing a machete through the east/west divide and cause even more hemorraging. It's beyond me why anyone would think it's 'okay' to gain votes by demonizing part of the nations population. In fact the real evil is the willingness of the centralist parties to attack fellow Canadians simply to gain power. Western alienation is alive & well in Canada and it's being fertilized by the very people who fear it most.

Just 3 days and a wakie and it's time to vote. Will things change much in Canada? Not likely, in fact I'm willing to bet that the Conservative's hopes for governance will be dashed. An NDP/Liberal power grab that will reach out and shake the very foundations of the country could be in the making. The NDP & Liberals have both used the west and Alberta in particular as thier Bosnian style scapegoat. It would seem that they want everyone to believe that all that's wrong with Canada lies with Western Canada's values. Both parties happily point that these values are un-Canadian with out much thought to what westerner's think of being demonized. I can't help believe that they don't care much about the west or what the westerners think, in fact thier actions & words are screaming that very thing. It's a sad time indeed, if the Liberal/NDP government comes to pass, I doubt that the west will tolerate anti-westernism of another self centred Central Canadian ruling junta.

The Liberals & NDP have both been promoting the idea that the Conservatives are 'scary'. The premise has always been the Conservative's don't represent the true values of 'Canada'. Considering the core of Conservative's power base is western Canada, the value's argument is really a rejection of the west! So when the Liberal's attack ad's ask me to choose my Canada I have one very clear thought - the continuous rejection of the values of Canadian's who live east of Ontario. The blanket rejection is all too clear to us in the West. Every time the Liberals or NDP want to pick apart the erosion of public health care, it's off to the steps of the Alberta Legislature. Never mind the biggerst violators of the health act lie in far off Ontario & Quebec. Alberta's a pretty safe target, the Liberals & NDP stand to lose nothing, after all you can't alienate the alienated! I really find it a bit scary that politicians are willing to trample one region in order to gain votes in another. As someone close to me said; Canada's current politics are bothersome - too much like Yugoslavia was during it's death throes. Politicians are willingly working one region against another for political gain, and that is truly scary!

If you're connected to the current Canadian federal government you may be 'entitled' to certain relocation services Sounds like a sweet deal too, Cancun, Miami, Santo Domingo - nearly any where you want to be 'relocated' for a couple of weeks. So, I'm one working stiff that really feels the urge to be 'relocated' Maybe, they'll send me the tickets in the mail? Somehow I doubt it, after all I'm just a tax payer and I don't see the 'big picture' and obviously not entitled to such services.

Are you tired of the election yet? I sure am, it's the same old recycled crap every time. It never stops, the exageration, the 'soft' promises that are never meant to be. On and on, it's to the point that I hope for a majority government just so that we don't have to put up with the bs for at least another 4 years! The biggest bs'ers are the media, sensing the end of the Liberal reign of power are jumping ship like a bunch of rats. Suddenly, the Liberals are the donuts and the Conservatives are 'the party' and it seems that the CBC & CTV are suck holing to beat anything. I sure hope everyone remembers what a crew of brown nosers these guys seem to be!

Just remember go make your mark on the 23rd and it's your RIGHT not a privlege!

Alberta is going to take part in a National survey to find out what the latest fishing trends are for the province. Maybe someone should tell them, the latest trend is to go fishing in BC or Saskatchewan! The fishing pretty much sucks in the lower 1/2 of the province and that's where all the people live! If you're not familiar with the size of Alberta, if you were to enter @ the border crossing @ Milk River/Sweet Grass Montana and drove to the north end of the province, you may want to stop somewhere for a nap - it's a 14-16 hour drive! To put that into perspective, it would be Nearly the same as driving from New York, NY to Jacksonville Florida or Chicago Ill. to Dallas Texas! On the Yellowhead Highway, to go from Lloydminster on the eastern side of the province to the BC border on the western side is an 11 hour drive! So here we are in a big chunk of land and no water in it!

This morning I got up bright and early and headed out to check my cameras. I pulled the film in all 3 and moved one since it took only 5 photo's in a week - 4 of me and 1 of a rabbit. The factory made camera is eating 8 double a's in 5 days so I pulled that camera and put the non-productive camera in it's place. I got my most interesting photo from that camera but I can't afford to run it!


My wife tells me that's something's really wrong with that deer since it's tongue is hanging out. But if you look closely, you can see that it's curled up and I think he's gettin' ready to lick his nose. I really have to get off my butt and set up the home-brew digital, I can't afford getting pic's developed all of the time, especially since I have to drive to Stettler which is 60 miles west of here to get them developed. It would nearly pay for me to bite the bullet and buy a digi game cam, but cripes a decent one is over $500 bones! So here I am, squeaking like 50 year old door hinge that's never been oiled, buying film @ $2.50/roll, developing $5/roll including CD & oh about $60 of gas every trip. Talk about spending a dollar to save a nickel! I'll take the time to post the pic's once I get all of my web space figured out - the site's location is flamingbear.ca It's an old site but I'm going to try to develop a different theme for it. I'm hoping it'll be more news based and a lot more active than my old telus site. I stopped doing the Telus site when I read the TOS - it basically said if I put stuff on the site, they had a claim to copyright! That put a hold on the whole enthusiasm, I sure as hell wasn't going to put a bunch of work into a website and then have Telus be the beneficiaries!

There's a post over at Workshop Buzz that really sums up the prevailing attitude towards the west. I'll give you the part of the exchange that pretty much left me stunned, just remember I'm the ignorant, uneducated westerner.

Quote: How is it that the Ontario economy helped the country for so many years and now that the roles are changing I hear people say ignorant things like lets kick Ontario out? Let's see what the 'colonys' have to say about it. Ever heard of the thieving done to Alberta called the "National Energy Program"? How about the "Crow Rate", where the west got to pay the freight BOTH ways. Now that was a fair program - NOT. How about the Canadian Wheat Board - why does it end at the Manitoba border and why can every farmer east of the Manitoba border market thier grain to anywhere in the world freely while the western farmer has his hands tied. Why is it that after 60 years the CWB won't open it's books - citing the official secrets act. Why is it that if we're supposed to be in a democracy where the representation is supposed to be equal that we're short 35 seats in parliment by population in BC & Alberta and the Maritimes are over represented by more than that? Why is it that in west we have to work 24 weeks to get EI benefits and the Maritimes only need to work 16 weeks - even when our economies bust? Why is it a farmer can't collect EI, but a fisherman that clears $100,000 in 2 months can. How about it eh? You wanna send some of the money BACK to the west that's been pilfered over the years or do you somehow think you and your Liberal friends are more entitled to it?

and the come back?

Quote: And another thing.... if there is something you don't like about this country united then feel free to get out.

To which I responded:

Your response pretty much sums up why there's so much resentment in the west. Thanks for showing your TRUE colours!

Oh but wait he's not done with me yet! Here's the 'feel the love' response from our boy in Ontario

Enough from me responding to ignorant, uneducated hicks who know nothing of reality except their little piece of the praries and a $400 cheque form ralph buying their support.

After the Liberal Party of Canada released the attack ad's it had to happen - everyone blogger & thier dog is spoofing them. If you're not familiar with the ad's you might want to check them out on the CTV's web site @ Liberals Release Series of Attack Ads The ad's in many people's view make the LPC look desparate. One in particular seems to single out the Canadian Military as evil demons that would occupy our cities and oppress the little people. Makes you wonder what the Liberals really think of our military, anyone who thought it was high has had to readjust thier thinking!

I just got back in from collecting film from my trail cameras. I have them spread out in about 1/2 sq mile area. I'm trying to get a feel for how the game travels on the flats. My most productive camera spot is set on a gate along side of strip of bush that runs north/south. It's punching out 24 pic's in less than 5 days and the cam is set to go off about every 5 minutes. Unfortunately the cam I have set there is also an absolute battery pig, 24 AA's in 3 weeks! That's what I get for being lazy & buying, my 2 other camera's are home brews and they might use 2 AA's in 2 weeks & 1 9v in 4 months when it gets nasty cold, as in -40 stuff. Trouble is we haven't even come close to that type of weather since I set the cams between Christmas & New Years. I can't wait to see what's on the film, there's always a great deal of anticipation when I pick the film up at the processors. That brings up another sore spot, I should really get off my butt and build my digital trail cam, I've had the components for more than a year now! Camera, infra-red sensor, PIC controller chip - everything - just some assembly required.

Blah blah blah, that's my response to that sound bite, check out the NDP's attack @ Back off - if Jack Layton of the NDP had any guts and I'm sure he doesn't he would be telling the Province of Ontario that they're already going to lose thier share of the health care dollars! Why? They're the BIGGEST violators of the health act! Ah, but Alberta must be you say! After all, that's who everyone goes after all of the time! Nope, it's all about votes people, I mean would you vote for a party that's going to hammer YOUR provincial health care system? Not on your life!

Keep it up Jack, just remember you're playing a dangerous game to gain votes in central Canada. It's a wee bit naive to think that Albertan's & westerners in general don't notice! Or do you really think that BC & Sask are as misinformed about the true state of Alberta's health care system as central Canada? Is it because you think it's alright to alienate one part of Canada to gain power in another? I think we all know the answer to that one don't we Mr. Layton!

Okay here's an addendum to my post, turns out Mr. Layton has used private health care! For more details on this check out Campaign Shocker I think the best description coming out the thread over at SDA is Champagne Socialist Yup, he's got enough money to have socially correct values ;-(

Fighting for Taxpayers: ACOA and the virtual university

Yeesh - I'm really beginning to like the paraphrase 'a scandal a day keeps the Liberals at bay'. Then again it may be wishful thinking. I suppose we'll know more on the 23rd!

Theres a post over at SDA, (http://www.smalldeadanimals.com) regarding a bio of one of the Liberal's candidates. The LPC bio shows a pic of the maple leaf superimposed over Big Ben in London England. I have to say it's an obvious screw up but has me wondering about other things such as didn't anyone bother to check what the photo was of, and if they don't know what the photo was of, did they know who owns the photo? If they can't answer those questions, couldn't they possibly be guilty of breaching copyright?

I just heard on Global that GM Canada is going to lower the prices on some or all of it's cars by 12%. Well it's about time! Although the big G has some of the best cars on the north american market they suffered a bang for the buck factor. Case in point - the Chevy Impala, rated the best built car in NA PERIOD. Working at a dealer I can tell you that you can count the quirks of this car on one hand and you don't need all of your fingers! I sure hope that the big G does it with the parts too. When the canuck buck was low, they raised the prices of a good number of parts to stem the back flow of parts into the US. However, it was like a farmer stabbing himself with a pitchfork to kill a mouse running up his leg. The raised prices damaged parts sales more than it helped GM - when the parts were being bought in Canada they were still getting the sale, once they boosted the price they lost the sales and thier credibilty completly. Oh well - I guess I need to be a been counter to completely understand the reasoning, but I really don't think it helped the cause on either side of the border.

As Canadian's we've been getting used to seeing blind faith in the ruling Liberal Party of Canada by the main stream media (MSM). Tonight, the 10th of January - John Duffy a spin master for the LPC got roasted by Mike Duffy the Canadian Television Network's (CTV) top political commentator. Mike's hackles were raised when the LPC spin master John tried to wag the dog and in Mike's words intimidate him into NOT asking a question! You can check out the action @ http://angrygwn.mu.nu/archives/150845.php Angry has posted his own commentary & links to the video.

This is going to be a blog about nothing. Well not really, I'll talk about beer, deer & politics and a whole bunch more.