crazed monkey

For me, the early days in November are some of the year’s most sorrowful. The first days of autumn have taken their course, felling the brown leaves from their trees, covering the green life of the grass and revealing death in the stark branches. The cold of the coming winter is in the air, but its cleansing snow has not yet arrived.

It is in these gloomy days that Remembrance Day comes upon us, filling our heads with grainy images of fallen soldiers and scarred battlegrounds. As if coming out of hiding, aging heroes reveal their presence, hoping to infuse the sacrifice of others in our memories for just one more year. But every year their numbers dwindle, and so every year our memories lessen.

In the days leading up to Remembrance Day I do what I can to remember. I remember the story my father would tell about how the door of his family’s farmhouse was once blown open by the explosion of a fallen V-1 flying bomb. (If a V-1 passed over your head still buzzing its horrid noise then you were safe. If one ever stopped making that noise, it meant that it was falling.) I try to picture my grandfather in his RAF uniform, thankful that he was able to return safely home to Britain.

I remember the various war-themed books I have read and movies I have seen, their images melting together to coalesce into a series of horrific montages of death and destruction. One can never get a true feeling for war by watching its movies. The content is too sterile, too polished for a wider audience, too detached from the experience. I feel that books give a more honest picture, a more detailed first-person account which movies can never replicate.

I remember those who have died and those who are still serving in recent conflicts, like that in Afghanistan, to remind me that war is not a long-forgotten thing. Every year brings more veterans, and more names to remember.

Sadly, this year the hour of remembrance passed by without my acknowledgement. However, Remembrance Day to me is always more than the mere two minutes of silence at the eleventh hour. It is two minutes of contemplation, of gratitude, and of sorrow repeated many times over.

Posted on November 11th, 2003 in politics, world - No Comments »

How long has Tom Jakobek’s campaign website featured a list of Toronto weblogs? (Specifically, how long has this weblog been on that list?) Many of the listed weblogs are pro-Miller, and not one of them supports Tom Jakobek’s bid. Did Jakobek’s team even take a few moments to read some of those links?

Oh well. Tom was never a contender anyway, although he gets a few points for recognising the weblog community.

Update: Tom Jakobek’s internet advisor responds, and rather nicely despite my being a complete ass:

As an internet advisor to Tom Jakobek I want you to know the reasons bloggers were included on www.tomjakobek.ca is because Tom recognizes the important role bloggers play in providing independant coverage of issues and a venue for dialogue. Yes the campaign has read the opinions expressed on the blogs and several have acknowledged the value of the policies and ideas Tom has put forward. We all want a better city, dialogue will help that happen.

Amen to that.

Posted on November 10th, 2003 in ontario, politics - No Comments »

I have been against the fixed link to the Toronto City Centre Airport from the start, thinking that it would lead to further expansion of the airport. According to John Barber’s column in today’s Globe And Mail, that was the plan all along. (Thanks to Andrew Spicer for that link.)

However, John Barber’s column is far from the last word on the topic of the island airport. Earlier today, the Globe And Mail posted a follow-up article on their website with a response from the CEO of the Toronto Port Authority:

According to the statement, Ms. Raitt noted “all three parties to the agreement have clearly agreed from the outset that there would be ‘no jets’ and ‘no runway expansion’ at the TCCA. We intend to keep that promise.

So now the question is, who are we to believe? Air Canada Jazz, who are pressuring the Toronto Port Authority into opening the island airport to commercial jet service, or The Toronto Port Authority, whose current CEO says that there will be no jets? One thing is for certain: CEOs can leave their posts, but corporate pressure to increase profits and break into new markets is constant.

Note: David Miller is the only mayoral candidate completely opposed to expansion of the Toronto Island airport, including the creation of a fixed link.

Update: Andrew Spicer has dutifully written a follow-up to the above article.

Posted on November 8th, 2003 in ontario, politics - No Comments »

Something which looks like a letter to the National Post (via Smuggy) has been making the rounds of a few weblogs. It concerns David Collenette’s plans to investigate the feasibility of future El Al flights to Toronto should a terror threat remain:

That wannabe terrorists in Toronto could be planning to shoot down a civilian aircraft is disturbing news indeed. But just as disturbing was Mr. Collenette’s weak-kneed response — a case study of exactly how not to respond to threats of terrorism. Instead of questioning the future of El Al’s presence in Toronto, the Minister should have expressed his resolve to eradicate any threat.

Certainly, if the threat is real then all leads should be followed and investigated. However, until the threat disappears it would be irresponsible to allow subsequent flights to land at the Toronto airport. Doing so would be placing the passengers of El Al flights, not to mention people on the ground, in jeopardy. In a perfect world, we could eradicate this threat in an instant. Unfortunately, investigations take time.

The threat to El Al flights is not like the Los Angeles airport incident which the letter mentions — that could have been avoided through better airport security. This threat may not even come from within the airport itself; it could come from anywhere along the landing or takeoff path of an El Al flight.

Despite what some people may believe, acting with temporary precaution does not mean that the terrorists have won. The terrorists win when they successfully kill people or cause damage, thereby increasing fear. Rest assured that if El Al flights are temporarily diverted from Toronto, terrorists will not be jumping up and down and cheering. They will, however, be jubilant if they successfully down an El Al flight over Toronto simply because we did not take precautions.

Posted on November 5th, 2003 in canada, politics - No Comments »

If the $5.6 billion Tory deficit wasn’t troubling enough, the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario is now attempting to spin it in their favour and, I kid you not, use it to smear the Liberals.

In a Friday news release entitled Promise Breakers: Promises Made, Promises Broken by the McGuinty Liberals, the Ontario Tories list six campaign promises that they claim the Liberals have already broken. Three of those six “broken promises” deal with the consequences of the Tory deficit, and all of them are evidence of the seething occurring within the Ontario PC Party.

One of the deficit-related broken promise claims deals with the decision to lift the artificial hydro cap which was imposed by the Tories and was costing Ontario $2-million a day. Naturally, if the deficit didn’t exist there wouldn’t be a need to quickly reduce expenditures. It is unfortunate that this promise had to be broken, but it is a necessary step considering the extenuating circumstances. Such a large deficit was completely unanticipated. The Fraser Institute pegged the deficit at $4.5 billion back in September, over a billion dollars less than the actual figure.

The second and third broken promise claims have been lumped into one item entitled (and I couldn’t even make this up if I tried) “Running a Deficit and Increasing the Debt”. The Tories, who again are responsible for our $5.6 billion deficit, are accusing the Liberals of breaking their promise to balance the provincial budget and not add to the provincial debt. Evidently an elected Tory government, faced with such an unforeseen deficit, would have quickly called for their legions of pixies and leprechauns to both eliminate that deficit and fund debt payments. In the absence of pixies and leprechauns, the Tories would have carried through with their plans to simultaneously cut taxes and increase government spending, all the while putting their fingers firmly in their ears when the mighty deficit came a-calling.

The Tories’ recent Promise Breakers news release demonstrates, to me at least, that they show no remorse for the burden they have placed on the province, and will attempt to use their own failings to point fingers at the Liberals. Ontarians are smart enough to see through this misrepresentation and, hopefully, will recall this release once the next election comes around in four years time.

Posted on November 2nd, 2003 in ontario, politics - No Comments »