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When Henry Met Sully

 A positive post since beyond that Canadian residual crap I AM having a really great time here in the US with my family of besties! Yesterday I was handed a book of writing prompts by Heather and asked to contribute to it. This morning I found a worthy prompt. Take a scene from a well known story and write it in a different time. I wrote the following: When Henry Met Sully Courtly Lady: Name thee, good wench, yon hale, becoming man. Sully: Fie on you lass! Tis Henry, nothing more. Would he were more than nothing to be sure! Courtly Lady: Methinks you wrong him with your vexing barbs. Surely he could do great things in my name! Sully : A fool doth enterprises great 'tis true, But only great in foolishness forsooth. Twas but a day ago, or mayhap two Myself I sought this sense-starved knave to woo. Mark thee well what his arrogance doth wrought Lest in his web of witless wisdom caught You furnish him with numbers greater still To count the fully sated mounts this knight hath killed
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The Canadian Government Hard At Work

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 Last post I made the comment that Canadian politics is just banging our heads against the wall every 4 years or so voting for assholes who promise us the same things we've wanted forever and don't do any of them. Voting in our elections is the very definition of insanity I'm sure Einstein would agree.  Today I want to give you a very good illustration of how that plays out in the day-to-day life of a lowly citizen. My story is about taxes. Yes, we not only vote for insanity, we finance it, but it's every year and there's no democratic choice whether to pay taxes or not. They are mandatory and they are steep. Here's an article from one of the few semi-trustworthy agencies that will tell you what Canadians pay in taxes - The Fraser Institute . They say 45% in the article but they don't get into the hidden taxes. If you want to read about THOSE, here's a link to the Fraser Institute report from 1976 in which they calculate the regular AND hidden taxes Cana
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DNC or WWE?

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 I've been watching the DNC the last few days here. My current benefactors and househosts are highly politically active so that's what's been on TV.  Although I'd characterize my politics as "independent," since there really ARE only two parties that have a chance at leadership in any U.S. election (a MASSIVE limitation in democracy and freedom that is roundly overlooked in a country that constantly claims to cherish both), and since one - the Republican party - has strayed beyond what a great deal of its members KNOW is outside the ordinary scope of the party in terms of conservatism, fanaticism, and chaos, I'd like to see the Dems win this one. I saw Pete Buttigieg interviewed shortly after the nomination acceptance speech of Kamala Harris last night and he said he KNOWS there are Republicans who are against the direction Trump is taking their party, they are just going along with it because they think it's the path to victory. They are sacrificing t
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Grow the Hell Up!

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 I am still in the home of the brave, land of the free and, for my part, the confines of the puritanically sex-obsessed. An odd combo to be sure but... here we are. What other country could ban a girl from going to UFC fights because she flashed her boobs  in the same month a girl in Canada flashed her breastage at a hockey game and got cheered and rewarded for it with a Playboy pictorial, fame, and wads of dough?  It's not just in sports though. I often watch the late night talk show hosts slagging off Donald Trump by talking about his small hands and mushroom cap penis as though these physical attributes might render him a man incapable of leading the country. Don't get me wrong, I think of him as a man incapable of leading a quiz night at the local pub, but when his detractors use spankings with magazines, golden showers, and other sexuality to criticize him, in my mind their immaturity detracts from the legitimate point of his general ineptitude. They're shooting themse
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Let's Study and Die!

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  “We’ve bought into the idea that education is about training and “success”, defined monetarily, rather than learning to think critically and to challenge. We should not forget that the true purpose of education is to make minds, not careers. A culture that does not grasp the vital interplay between morality and power, which mistakes management techniques for wisdom, which fails to understand that the measure of a civilization is its compassion, not its speed or ability to consume, condemns itself to death.” ―  Chris Hedges,  Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle I believe it was just yesterday I said, "It seems like the whole world is busy turning all the schools into hagwons." I don't know how many times I've said it but two of the educational patterns I've seen in my travels throughout Asia are the abject commercialization of education that has become the norm in Asia and the adoption of this backward strategy by the west. And I&
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It's Lotsa Fun!

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 Ever heard that Genesis song called Illegal Alien? Talkin' 'bout how it's no fun being an illegal alien. Well, I just might be one and I'm having a blast!   As the gods of irony would have it, it all started on July 4th. I flew from Calgary to Denver where I was supposed to have a layover of about 2 or 3 hours but since my flight was late I just proceeded to the next gate, (B-53, I missed B-52 by ONE gate!) waited a short time, and boarded my flight to DC. Dulles airport. I deplaned and followed the procession of passengers to this moon mobile/glacier bus - looking airport shuttle to the main terminal. I got outta the shuttle and walked to the other side of the airport to baggage carousel #1 where I found my luggage immediately. Then I looked for immigration, customs, or maybe some other person to stamp my passport and/or ask me questions about my entry into the United States. None were immediately evident but there were exits every hundred yards or so. I had a heavy b
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