Charity starts at home

Every time Hamilton gets another "flood of the century" area politicians and citizens who aren't capable of higher inteligence look for a scapegoat to blame and pay for their own ignorance.

Sam Merulla, Councilor for Ward 4 went off half cocked a week and a half ago after he received a deluge of complaints from irate home owners standing in waste water and no insurance, denied because of previous claims. Merulla, always the opportunist sent out emails to the media laced with childish obscenities aimed at anyone who dared to challenge his self professed claim of being the crusader for the poor and ignored.

Give it a rest Merulla, insurance is meant to aide those in getting their homes and lives back together after a tragedy not to compensate idiots who use the system as a honey pot for free home improvements.

I have not had more than a small amount of water come into my basement when there have been heavy rains. I live in the Sherman and Barton area, which has had many flooded basements over the past few years.

I did not need to experience a flood first- hand to know that it would be unwise to have a finished basement. My basement is used for what it was intended to be, a storage area and laundry area. The storage is on shelves and the bottom areas have everything in sealed waterproof containers. There is nothing that is irreplaceable or precious in my basement. I have basic insurance coverage and my insurance rates are very low.

I would not blame the city if I was not capable of learning after repeated flooding in my basement nor would I expect my insurance to continue to cover my losses. I am upset that these people who fail to learn from past experiences continue to have the insurance companies pay to renovate the basements of their homes. My insurance rates went up thirty bucks a month for no reason and I've never had to put in a claim.

I am supposed to feel bad that a surround sound stereo and a white couch was damaged by the flood. Why would anyone put something that valuable in a basement that has had many floods? That's like leaving it on the front lawn and then complaining it was stolen.

People claim "the city has known about this problem for many years and continued to do nothing about it," yet they continue to live in the seventies when "wreck rooms" where the norm. The problem is not going away until we get a city council who sees merit in investing in infrastructure instead of higher profile items like the Red Hill Expressway.

An Expressway that every member of City Hall including Mr. Merulla touted as something that would improve the quality of life for all citizens of Hamilton. All the expressway has done is leave Hamilton with a woeful Red Hill Creek storm barrier not capable of handling even modest amounts of rain.

The people who are the most vocal on the TV, radio or in the Spec are the most ignorant. These people deserve to have no insurance, maybe they can invite Mr. Merulla over for a beer and sit in the basement and wait for the next flood. At least each would be eye to eye with the problem and hopefully the "plagues" that besiege Hamilton will be washed away.

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Albert Einstein. In laymen terms quit pissing in the wind people.

Destined hero's pay the ultimate sacrifice

"Vir fortis natus" "Destined Hero" I found this fitting song composed by MacPhee, Schram, Howe in my files simply entitled "Ode To The Canadian Soldier "and uploaded to imeem. Please give a listen. The lyrics pay tribute to the men and women who are "Fighting for freedom and staying the course. Yet another two heroes have paid the ultimate sacrifice in the name of peace. My thoughts, prayers, condolences and sympathies go out to the families of these young men. Don't ever feel as though your efforts are not being respected and acknowledged as our country is what it is today due to your efforts as well as those before you and those serving today. May you rest in peace. Sapper Matthieu Allard, 21, based in Valcartier, Que., was one of two soldiers killed by a roadside bomb in the Zhari district of Afghanistan on Saturday, Aug. 2, 2009. Cpl. Christian Bobbitt, 23, based in Valcartier, Que., was killed by a roadside bomb in the Zhari district of Afghanistan on Saturday, Aug. 2, 2009. Two Canadian soldiers killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan Saturday. Sapper Matthieu Allard, 21, and 23-year-old Cpl. Christian Bobbitt were killed in the Zhari district, west of Kandahar. Both were members of the 5th Combat Engineer Regiment and had been serving in Afghanistan since March with the 2e Batallion of the Royal 22e Regiment, also known as the Van Doos, based in Valcartier, Que. The two soldiers were killed when their re-supply convoy was hit by two improvised explosive devices. The two soldiers had left their vehicle to secure the area after an initial explosion near the town of Senjaray, when a second IED exploded around 3:20 p.m. local time. Brig.-Gen Jonathan Vance, commander of Task Force Kandahar- The roads in Kandahar are heavily travelled by Afghans, and soldiers like Christian and Matthieu work tirelessly under extremely hazardous conditions to try and prevent restrictions to the freedom of movement of Afghans, so that they can begin to live more normal lives. The two soldiers were part of a group of engineers who clear roads of IEDs. The two likely helped defuse half of the roadside bombs found in Kandahar province in July On the day the two men died, soldiers halted operations at two bomb-making factories and seized a quantity of bomb-making equipment. The total number of Canadian soldiers killed during the Afghan mission is now at 127. Peace.