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Slow boat to the north coast...... We haven't even left yet and we're behind schedule. The ferry has been delayed a day, due to bad weather on it's Queen Charlotte Island(Haida Gwaii) run. So instead of Saturday we now leave on Sunday. At this time of year it's to be expected but I'll be happy when we're on our way. For those of you who are interested here's a site with some info on our trip. And here's a mountaintop view of where we'll be....brrrrrrrr. We won't be back until New Years eve and I may not have access to a computer while we're gone, so see you all next year. There will be pictures and notes when I return. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas or whatever holiday it is you celebrate. Peace everyone. p.s......I just have to tell someone this news...I got my research paper back yesterday...the one I had to write for a computer science class...I got 100%...he said it was perfectly done and there was nothing he could suggest to improve it!!! ok, you're right, it wasn't my Master's thesis, it's just a first year paper....but still, I'm dam impressed with myself.....bring on the next semester. Friday, December 19, 2003 10:32 p.m. Homeland Security.......Canadian style We have an airbase here in our valley, in fact it's the only Canadian Forces airbase on the west coast of our country. Last weekend there was an appreciation lunch for Elder College volunteers on said airbase. We gave our name at the guardhouse and were given directions to the officer's mess where the function was being held on the aforementioned airbase. I mentioned to my long legged blonde that in light of recent world events, to be cruising on the airbase unescorted seemed very Canadian indeed. Besides the geriatric rent-a-guard at the gate, it seemed as if we had the place to ourselves and were free to explore at will. This article in yesterday's paper confirmed my suspicions and in a way I'm sure most Americans could never understand, it makes me proud that I live where I do. Thank you very much to Rebecca, Tricia and Rebecca for the CD's I received in the latest edition of Burn-It. I look forward to listening to them and discovering some new music. Thursday, December 18, 2003 08:27 p.m. Court TV........U.S. vs Saddam, from Jim McNulty's column in the Vancouver Province, Wed. Dec/ 17/03 Hanging over the splendid capture of Saddam Hussein is the question of his trial, now giving western nations a case of the heebie-jeebies. In particular the democracies that strengthened his brutal reign by arming him when it suited their purposes, then cashed in on oil and other trade favours. The United States, France, Russia, Britain -- they were all in cahoots with Saddam during some of his most vile acts in the 1980s and much later in the case of France and Russia. Canada isn't entirely innocent: This country maintained diplomatic relations with Saddam's dictatorship until the Gulf War loomed in 1991. Washington, Paris, Moscow, London and points beyond want to avoid a quickie kangaroo court that could well martyr Saddam and enrage Arab nations. Thus the calls for a fair trial open to the public and international scrutiny. Simultaneouly they sweat, uh, bullets over the potential of Saddam using the trial to reveal them as past accomplices. And how curious to hear George W. Bush demand "a public trial . . . done in a fair way" than can withstand "international scrutiny" -- when his own record with war-on-terrorism captives in the U.S. and at Cuba's Guantanamo Bay is anything but. Before I'm accused of being a Saddam-lover in the hour of Bush's triumph, let me say that I'm thrilled to see the creep out of his rathole and behind bars. But that doesn't excuse the western weaselry going around. Paul Martin, for example, found it convenient to say the question of capital punishment should be left to the courts, lacking the courage to oppose it in all cases as Britain and New Zealand have. Back in complicity-land, most of us have seen the damning video of U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld pumping Saddam's hand during a 1983 visit to Baghdad. In those days Washington feared Iran as the greater enemy and gave Saddam weapons and the biological knowledge to gas Iranian citizens. All the while he brutalized Iraqis, but it was overlooked as Rumsfeld sought a pipeline contract for American industry. France and Russia have long kept ties with Iraq, ignoring Saddam's tyranny as they cut deals on oil and electricity. Will this come out at his eventual trial? Not if his former associates can prevent it, and they'll surely try. When questioned about international law last week, Bush sneered that he would have to call his lawyer. He shows scathing contempt for the International Criminal Court and basic legal rights for captives held two years at Guantanamo Bay without charge. This week the U.S. rejected a complaint from Mexico to the International Court of Justice over the handling of more than 50 Mexicans on death row. Mexico says the U.S. is violating the Vienna Convention by not informing foreign prisoners they're entitled to consular and legal aid from home. In his vibrant new book Navigating A New World (Knopf), ex-foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy recalls a similar snub regarding a Canadian on death-row in Texas when Bush was governor. "His response was that he didn't really care if he broke an international covenant even if it was ratified by the U.S.; the Texas court had spoken, and it was the only authority he cared about." Wednesday, December 17, 2003 04:18 p.m. TV Guide.... Thursday evening...9/8c...Extreme Makeovers.   Tune in this week for our biggest challenge yet! Sunday, December 14, 2003 02:30 p.m. Can we talk......? I stole this from Sonja, whom apparently got it from someone else. It's one of those trails that's so long, even with DNA testing you couldn't credit the original author. I think it may have been the "get to know you/Christmas lunch" with seven women yesterday, that made me think this was a good idea. Think of it as your five minutes of fame, and don't be shy....I mean, no one reads my blog anyway....ok, no one you know reads my blog. Here's the deal..... I know very little about some of the people on my friends' list. Some people I know relatively well. I read your thoughts, or we have something else in common and we chat occasionally. Some of you I hardly know at all. Perhaps you lurk, for whatever reason. But you friended me and I thank you. But here's a thought, why not take this opportunity to tell me a little something about yourself. Any old thing at all. Just so the next time I see your name I can say, "Ah, there's so and so...she/he likes spinach." I'd love it if every single person who friended me would do this. Yes, even you people who I know really well. Then post this in your own blog. Just found this over at Christine's......we've gone mainstream! He's a bright boy and blogs well with others...lol. I think i'll wait until they get a degree program in place. Rockinronnie, B.L.A.B. (Bachelor of Literary Arts in Blogging) Saturday, December 13, 2003 01:27 p.m. Shhhhhhhhhh........ We had our staff Christmas lunch today at the library. Seven women and me...who knew librarians were so unlibrarian. The food was tasty too. Friday, December 12, 2003 03:07 p.m. Fear of flying... Our Christmas plans may change, due to this. I’m considering flying instead. We have a daughter who is a flight attendant and can get us very cheap passes. Someone pour me a drink and call Fear Factor! Northern Exposure... Items like this always make me wonder what people were thinking, or not thinking, as the case may be. I'm all about old fashioned harmless fun with your spouse and a digital camera (blush), but I don't have teenage boys who use my computer nor am I the mayor of a small northern B.C. town. Say cheeeeeeese. "Borrowed" from other blogs... Drivers ed via Spike God is coming via Lee And finally, after finding all that religion I'm so horny I could spit. Thursday, December 11, 2003 01:50 p.m. Finals...finally.... Finals are here and so am I. Seems like just yesterday that I started back to school and it's the end of term already. My first exam is tomorrow morning and although I've done well in class and feel prepared for the test, there is still that nervousness which comes with uncertainty. To any of you who still stop by here, thank you, I will try and update more frequently for the next couple of weeks however it is the season to be jolly so I make no guarantees. This weekend for example, I'm off to Vancouver for an early Christmas dinner with family. Since we live on an island this entails a trip aboard B.C. Ferries who's union members have given 72-hour strike notice. So it could be an extended visit. Any of my Vancouver blogging friends want to do coffee next week? Also, we are going to the north coast of our province for Christmas this year and again, the whole island concept comes into play. This visit to meet our newest grandson involves an overnight ferry ride each way involving those same union members. Hopefully the spirit of Christmas will prevail in their quest for a better pension plan. All in all, life is good, in fact it's very, very good. I am enjoying the whole school experience. I've made new friends, learned lots of new things and confirmed some I already knew. It's very energizing and motivating to be around people with so much enthusiasm. Now, if I could just figure out a way to support myself and do this full time.....pass the eggnog please. Friday, December 5, 2003 01:50 p.m.