Humbug judge needs to lighten up

The provincial judge who made the decision to banish the Christmas tree standing in a Toronto courthouse lobby because it might offend non-Christians proved that political correctness has gone way to far. No one was offended by the symbol of happiness, This is plainly, one judge with a serious hate of the season. Many groups have offered their opinion on the matter, this is only one.

"It's so stupid. I'm at a loss for words," said Muslim Canadian Congress founder Tarek Fatah. "The judge should take a trip to the rest of the world. Christmas is celebrated by Muslims in many countries -- they should ban political correctness, not Christmas trees.

"If people are offended (by a Christmas tree), I'm glad they're offended. I think it indicates a serious mental disorder when people want to bring down other people's happiness."

The group issued a press release calling on Muslims to "celebrate Christmas with their Christian cousins and light up Christmas trees to send a message to the Ontario judge that she is wrong on all counts."

Every culture in Canada has the right to celebrate their traditions as they see fit. That is what makes Canada a great country, especially at this time of year. I enjoy the cornucopia of decorative and religious symbols that adorn our homes and businesses this time of year. It brings beauty to the city on days when things seem gray and bleak. What these judges need to legislate is the line between festive celebrating and blatant over commercialism. I'm talking about the barrage of tacky advertising with Santa hocking every conceivable consumer good.

Please, a Christmas tree is not offensive, stupid "Bell Canada" adds with beavers mistaking an elderly white bearded gentlemen for Santa is, and so is this judge. Who needs to relax, try some egg nog and enjoy the season.

Later,
Kenaz

Praise for the Matthew Daly Jury

After a full week of deliberations, the jury did the only thing they could when they sentenced four men in connection with the May 2001 murder of Burlington teenager Matthew Daly.

The men and women of this jury should be praised for their deliberate and careful attention to detail. They asked for clarification from the judge concerning the definition of "first degree murder" and "second degree murder". What they where told from all I understand of law, basically it boils down to one factor. Did the accused plan to murder Matthew?

Early on in this case like many, I thought fair justice was only a murder conviction for all involved and nothing else. As the case unfolded in became clear that these "men" did not start off the tragic evening with the intent to murder. As the events unfolded it became clear that blind hate took hold and steered these men down the path that led to the untimely death of a bright star.

It is now up to the judge to send a message to Sam Nop, Vuthy Chak and Fadil "Neil" Mujku. Who have been found guilty of second degree murder. Stephen Papadopoulos has been found guilty of manslaughter. A message that tells the country that the justice system has had enough of senseless hate and they are ready to start making those who commit these type of crimes pay to the fullest the criminal code allows.

Chak was a young offender at the time of the murder and will be eligible for parole in less than two years. A judge will set parole eligibility for Nop and Mujku on January 29th, the same day Papadopoulos' manslaughter sentence will be finalized.

A fifth man, whose identity is protected under a strict publication ban and who is also charged with first degree murder, will go on trial next year in the case.

Background Story

Four or five blows to the head and neck was the cause of death of Matthew Daly. He died in hospital about 12 hours after he was ambushed and attacked at about 3 a.m., May 19, 2001, while walking home with his girlfriend, Erin Keller, from a Nelson High School graduation party in Burlington.

The assailants were angry because Daly and his buddies had ejected a group of Hamilton men from the party less than two hours earlier. They came back to the party armed with bats and clubs, clubbed, kicked and punched Daly until he was no longer moving.

At this point, four of the attackers ran away but Nop stayed behind and delivered four or five more blows to the victim's head.

Later,
Kenaz

Say it isn't so

It was a shock to me when it was announced Sunday on Ch Hamilton that Jerry's Man Shop went into receivership.

The yellow awning overhanging onto James Street North at Cannon was a perfect fit as for the neibourhood as is the mustard three button suit jacket that I purchased a couple years ago from Mr. Sherman. (The one I'm wearing in the picture, above)

Bernard Sherman has since the late 1940s been the cities man to go to for their business and casual wear. So what happened? The reason why one of the city's iconic businesses, and oldest men's clothier, is in jeopardy is a mystery to even Sherman, who is 80 years old.

This is the busy season for most clothing stores and Jerry's is no different. The display windows were lit, decorated with Christmas ornaments, featuring pinstriped suits. Hopefully as Mr. Sherman said in an interview, this is only temporary and the multi-time winner of the Hamilton Spectator Readers' Choice Awards, will be back in business.

The business has been handed down from generation to generation in Sherman's family over the past 90 years. He sold it to a numbered company last year, and had planned to retire. But he says the new owners asked him to stay on and run it for a year, because of his experience and contacts.

Okay, I couldn't end this post on a sour note, so I would thought I'd share this funny moment that happened to me Monday afternoon while heading into work. I was on the Beeline heading into Stoney Creek, the number 10 was detouring into the Eastgate
Mall turning circle as it does before continuing east. So picture this, the bus stops for a women in the turning lane who also wishes to turn into the mall, to do so. A bus from a private company in the lane coming the opposite direction also wishes the women would make her turn. The man driving the other bus makes a clear gesture, heeding the right away to the women, who doesn't respond and decides blocking four lanes of traffic is a great idea. Impatient, but in a 'jolly' mood, the driver makes an exaggerated motion to turn the car and drive into the mall both with his hands and mouth. This apparently woke the women up, and she made her turn. The funny part is in case you didn't get the hint, the bus driver was dressed as Santa. This caused some laughter from the driver of the HSR bus, myself and the couple of passengers in front of me who had the perfect seats.

Later,
Kenaz

Help make a difference

http://www.salvationarmy.ca/

I walked into the mall on Friday to look around and was immediately drawn to the work of a Salvation Army volunteer. I don't carry much money on me as a rule, so I felt a little cheap in only placing a dollar into the familiar kettle. My meager contribution was graciously accepted by the friendly Army associate and I reciprocated with much praise for everything this great organization does.

On my mothers side, the "Sally Ann" was held in great esteem. From my mother, to my Aunt, back to my Grandma, all where part of Salvation Army. Over in my family photo link you will find a picture of my Grandma wearing her Army bonnet.

Our conversation went from my family history onto a heart warming story that was published in the Spectator of a small girl running up to a Salvation officer, hand full of change and then spotting the candy machine in the mall. After a little soul searching, helping someone else won over her sweet tooth and the red kettle was a few coins fuller.

Before I went on with my day, I couldn't help voice my displeasure with those who abuse the kindness and generosity of the Salvation Army. Those who find enough money to pour alcohol down their gullet, yet don't have enough to feed and clothe their children and rely on handouts.

I don't mean to sound preachy but these people make me sick, always looking for a handout, never a hand-up. With that the lady thanked me sincerely for my views and as I walked away I couldn't help feeling a little more enlightened. I totally relate to the message of The Salvation Army organization. A message of understanding, peace and hope delivered to those who wish to receive the gifts offered by the good book, in a way that doesn't hit you over the head. A that point I felt that maybe the Salvation Army has finally found a home in my heart.

As I continued on with my afternoon, the thoughts of the contributions they make where not lost. In the middle of winter, many hard-working families fall on tough times, and can no longer make ends meet. The Salvation Army is always there to provide food, clothing and shelter in an atmosphere of dignity and respect.

This is just one example of the many great humanitarian acts that the Salvation Army has carried out over the last 100 years. It started in 1865 when William Booth left the Methodist ministry to preach as an independent evangelist in the slums of London's East End. Many converts were won, but they didn't feel 'at home' in churches, so Booth set up Christian Mission Centers. He adopted the name 'Salvation Army' in 1878. At first, the Army was persecuted by church people because it was so unconventional. But the organization was successful at attacking social problems of the day - hunger, homelessness and poverty.

Today the Salvation Army serves people in 102 countries around the world. In addition to physical humanitarian aid, providing the necessities of food, shelter and clothing, they also help people facing personal problems, such as single parenthood, alcohol and drug abuse, offering counseling, and work therapy.

And whenever disaster strikes, the Salvation Army mobile canteens bring food, clothing, blankets and medical supplies. Workers comfort victims, help reunite families and find emergency shelter. A Christian organization, the Army is organized in a military pattern, adhering to the New Testament concept of enlistment in the service of God as soldiers who subject themselves to Divine authority and discipline.

Unlike secular aid organizations, the Salvation Army is dedicated to providing help and hope to all the hurting. The Salvation Army relies solely on donations to operate and continue their work. The soldiers with their red kettles are out in force at shopping centers for their annual Christmas fundraising effort. In the giving spirit of the season, I hope you'll drop what you can into a Salvation Army Bell Ringer's bucket this year, to help keep this organization going strong.

Later,
Kenaz

Yet another dirty Hamilton cop

The reputation of the Hamilton Police department has taken yet another shattering blow. This time, a veteran cop is accused of ignoring a woman's domestic abuse complaint and telling her he was once her customer at an illegal massage parlour.

Constable Rick Mowers faces Police Act charges for neglect of duty and discreditable conduct related to a call at the woman's house, but nothing related to allegations he once paid her for sex.

Mowers' predicament began Dec. 6 last year. He and Constable Chuck Beasley responded in separate cruisers to a child custody dispute in Millgrove.

The mom says she was loading her sons, 2 and 8, into a taxi to escape an abusive household when her partner arrived and called police. She says both officers spoke to them for an hour. Then Beasley left and Mowers stayed behind.

The mom says she told Mowers, a cop for 16 years, that her partner choked her and kicked her in the head a week earlier. She told him she'd phoned police on the day of the beating for advice on escaping an abusive relationship. Mowers, she says, did not take notes, ask questions or investigate her allegations.

What he did say, according to the mom, is he'd once been her customer at a massage parlour called Chelsey's that used to operate behind the Piccadilly strip club on Barton Street East. Vice and drugs officers raided Chelsey's in December 2003 on sex related charges.

Here's where the story gets predictable. The complaint makes its way through the system until it gets to an internal Discipline Review Committee of superintendents and the service's lawyer. In June, that committee decides Mowers did act wrongly, but then goes on to identify his mistakes as "nonserious" rather than "serious," which are the terms used within the Police Act.

A serious act carries with it a hearing, a pay loss of three days or more and a black mark on an officer's record for five years. A nonserious act requires no hearing, costs less than three days pay and stays on the record two years.

Some redeption occurred when the decision and appealed to the Ontario Civilian Commission on Police Services. In October, OCCOPS ruled that "there is sufficient evidence to warrant a hearing into the conduct of Constable Richard Mowers."

A hearing is set for Jan. 16. Mowers continues to perform his regular duties in the meantime.

Mowers it seems is no virgin to controversy, this is Mowers' second time before a Police Act hearing. In the late '90s he was convicted of two counts of neglect of duty after a complaint that he did not arrest a man who breached a court ruling ordering him to stay away from his wife because of an assault charge.

He was also convicted of not conducting a proper investigation for not getting an interpreter for the couple.

I can't believe the arrogance of our police. This is the second time their committee has tried to sweep serious charges against one of their own under the carpet recently. The first was when Hamilton police cleared two officers after they arrested a black man for a break-in -- despite descriptions of a white suspect -- and never checked his alibi. OCCOPS ordered a hearing. The officers pleaded guilty to not checking the alibi.

I'm sorry if I sound like a broken record, but when will this city get rid of these filthy 'pigs'. Oh, and as note as the story in the Spectator points out, so far, no one is questioning that Mowers may be in the habit of paying women for sex at massage parlours. What?!

Later,
Kenaz

Hamilton Police black and blue in 2006

I'm guessing Hamilton Chief Brian Mullan's letter to Santa starts with a new suit. One to replace his tattered and hole riddled suit of armour that he currently wears. While he's at it I bet he's wishing some elves could sprinkle a little magic dust over his entire force and make the miriad of troubles disappear.

Well, unfortunately this isn't "Never, Never Land" and unless serious changes are made at the top, Mullan's reign as top cop won't end with "Happily Ever After".

2006, to say the least hasn't been a good year for morale and public trust for Hamilton Police. Corruption, bribery, drunkeness and racism are a few of the allegations that have been lobbied against the once solid "blue wall" of honour. The cracks are getting wider with each volley.

Let's look at the dishonour that faces Mullan and his team of damage control consultants.

* The Michael Dixon case. He is a black trade-show worker who was mistakenly arrested by officers allegedly chasing a white suspect. The officers were later disciplined for not properly following up on his alibi. Dixon has launched a human rights racial discrimination complaint and civil lawsuit.

* Police Service Board member Jane Mulkewich says she fears racial bias is a systemic problem in the service. Officers are outraged by her remark and are angry Mullan did not come to their defence.

* Eight officers are currently facing Police Act Charges on a variety of matters ranging from sexual harassment to drinking on duty and ignoring calls to attempting to extort money from the public.

* Another officer was recently criminally charged with bribery.

*Most recently a Hamilton police constable has been fined three days pay for failing to investigate a pizzeria manager's claim he had been assaulted by a patron.

What the Police are saying in their defense,

* Officers say their workload has become unmanageable thanks to a rising number of officers on sick leave, increases in calls for service and complicated and voluminous paperwork.

* Some officers are unhappy about a recent round of promotions, saying those who volunteer and take continuing education courses are rewarded more than people who have the skills to be good supervisors.

* Mullan's appearance at parade is being met with a money-where-your-mouth-is attitude from his officers.

Interesting note, all these problems come at a time when Police association members have been without a contract since Dec. 31, 2005. It sounds like at lot of buck passing to me. In reality its more like a few bad apples are finally being culled from the barrell and creating a stink. The problem is, we don't know how far the rot has gone. Have these bad cops corrupted the new generation so badly, it has left Hamiltonian's questioning how safe they are?

Later,
Kenaz

The Eternal Kenaz's Christmas

Over at The Eternal Kenaz it's once again time to get into the holiday spirit. So, I've rolled out my favourite Old Time Radio classics the likes of Amos and Andy, Abbott and Costello and The Bickersons. As well as great dramas such as Orson Wells recital of the Christmas Carol. Oh course what would Christmas be without The Nutcracker Suite, Bing, Frank Sinatra and Perry Como? The Chipmunks Christmas that's where.

So, I hope you will tune in and enjoy and remember, even though god puts people on this earth who think cheap cologne and "Kfeds" Cd are great gift ideas, there's plenty of people who are without families or in the case of our men and women serving our country, unable to enjoy the season with their loved ones.

From me to you all, what ever faith you are, enjoy the season and always keep the torch in your heart burning.

Later,
Kenaz

He was only protecting his family

And what did he get for it? Called a thug, vigilante by his peers and denied justice by the ones sworn to serve and protect.

I'm sorry but I call Don Shaxon a hero for what he did to a punk he found cowering in his Burlington basement. Alerted by the family cocker spaniel he found the teen, drunk to the gills, claiming he mistook the house on the quiet street as a party house that he tried to stumble to.

After punching and apprehending the 16-year-old he took for an intruder, Shaxon was accused by some bleeding heart teen advocates as going to far in defending his family and property. To make matters worse the police decided to not charge the kid. The only solace comes in the fact that the police did not charge him for the beating he gave the youth.

I applaud Mr. Shaxon for what he did, he did what every Canadian would have done, even those who said "oh he should have just called the cops". Sure and hope the punk doesn't kill you in the meantime.

The criminal code allows a person to use reasonable force to subdue a person illegally found on their property. The question was whether Mr. Shaxon crossed that line. The answer was obviously no, the kid was not seriously hurt, a bit bruised and a lot sore once he sobered up.

I have one thing to say to his critics, I hope you all feel so comfortable in your gated communities with your blinders on that you will never feel the sense of violation that this man felt and before you call someone a "thug" use your brain. These little scourge of society need to know who's boss and if the justice system allows room for people to act on their own accord then go for it.

Spectator link to the story

Later,
Kenaz

TTC officers should be ashamed

The grinch hit a young Toronto mother early and hit her hard. I'm not talking about the odd looking, eternally grumpy, green hater of the kind spirit. I'm talking about a blue uniformed constable of the Toronto Transit Company.

As a warrior of Hamilton's bus system and many times patron of the world famous "red rocket" subway system I cringed and shook my head in disbelief when I read this story in today's Toronto Sun while I waited to start my afternoon shift.

Where? Queen's Park subway station.

Who? Little Johnny 4 years old, holds tight to his mummy's hand, Kaeli Goldman, as they wade through the multitudes surging through the gates to the northbound train on Tuesday.

Johnny wants to be a rock star. Or a Blue Jay. He has just torn his eyes away from a busker playing mariachi guitar at the foot of the station's escalator.

Kaeli is 31 and seven months pregnant.

What? Mom flashes their monthly passes like the rest of the sea of commuters munching and slurping their breakfasts on the way to work. Goldman works as a freelance writer.

Very pregnant lady. Five-foot-5. Tidily dressed in sweater and jeans. In tow, a boy, in a hoodie. Immediate concerns to security right? Apparently so.

In a stern voice the two are culled aside from the pack by the TTC special constable and another officer listening to an ear piece, looking like an extra on the set of "24". But this is no movie, but no less a horror.

The problem is, Johnny's transfer, off the College St. streetcar, is just fine. But his mom is using her December pass. Two days early. Oh, oh! defcom 5 alert!

She tries to tell them she got mixed up, the November pass is at home, but she has a receipt for it, and the December pass too is bought and paid for out of a very tight budget.

The constable isn't swayed a bit, with the face of a prison camp guard he insists she hand over the pass. Now people are staring and pointing as if the very pregnant women was a drug mule. To make the situation more uncomfortable little Johnny does his best Duddly Do-Right imitation and reminds mom that she has to do what the police officer tells her.

Great Mom hands over the $100 pass after Mr. Personality threatens to arrest her, in front of her child! The two are then let onto the train to cry and stew all the way up to Bloor St.

If this happened to me, my first thought would to send the president and vice-president of the TTC a copy of the lyrics to the Dixie Chicks "Not Ready to Make Nice" with the part of being mad as hell underlined in red. Then drafting an email referring to the constable as a cold, heartless heathen, bred from the muck that collects in the corner of the subway tracks. Then deleting it, and finding a more educated way to demand action from those who should know better.

Common sense should prevail hear, lets not turn an honest mistake into the unleashing of the hounds of hell. Give her the damn pass back!

Later,
Kenaz

'Hortons teaching a little Canadiana to the world in Kandahar

I read this in Thursday's Hamilton Spectator online edition and it just gives you the right feeling of Canadian pride.

It turns out the universal language isn't the language of love after all, at least not here at Kandahar airfield.

No, the universal language here is all about coffee.

"I'll have a large double-double and a regular," said a young soldier with an Australian accent, stopping in at the base Tim Hortons.

"We call it Tim Hortonese -- Tim Hortons lingo," laughs Kelly Taylor, 42, of Oromocto, N.B. who has been working at the base since July while her military husband is at home.

"The British will come up and ask us for a regular coffee, only 'regular' in Tim Hortons language is one milk, one sugar. Only to them it's not -- it's white, whatever that means," she added.

Currently, 1,300 customers a day file through the Kandahar Tim Hortons from the military of 12 countries stationed on the base.

Whereas Canadians file in and out as if they are on a conveyor belt, it takes a lot longer for others.

"It takes a little while to pick up the lingo," said Air Engineering Technician Daniel Stace from Darbyshire, England, who is in the Royal Navy.

"A double-double? It took me a while to work that one out, but normally I just stick to the bagels and the orange juice," he said.

Others don't even try to learn the language of Tims.

"No, not yet, because I only just drink black coffee and so that's just fine by me," said Sergeant Mike Koninkle of the Netherlands.

"I'm not quite familiar with all the slang around Tim Hortons and I just drink coffee and that's it and I don't need all the fancy coffee or tea."

Taylor boasts that she can tell a soldier's nationality even if they speak perfect English and are not wearing a uniform, simply by what they order.

"The British and the Dutch mostly will order Boston creams and Canadian maples... and the Americans will probably order five dozen doughnuts at a time. And the British and the Dutch always order the very sweet cappuccinos," Taylor explained.

"Canadians order bagels and coffee," she said.

The confusion over the Tim Hortonese has Taylor vowing to put a Tim Horton-English dictionary on the door of the store.

"I'm going to write a dictionary and post it on the outside of the door for all the non-Canadians. That's my job for the next week."

I stopped at "timmy's";(another slang for the franchise that is so engraved in the lexicon of our English); tonight after work to kill some time before my bus arrived and I remembered this story and it made my cup of black coffee and Tim Bits taste that much better. As Christmas draws closer lets all take a second out of our busy lives to remember all of our unsung heros serving our country in Aghganistan and around the world. Cheers! come home soon.

Later,
Kenaz

"Devilish" battle with social security

While searching through a box of old stuff I found this humerous newspaper clipping from a few years ago. I thought I'd post it here for your amusement.

A couples 1-year old daughter finally got rid of the mark of the beast-- the 666 part of her Social Security number.

The Orange County, Calif. couple have been warring for months with the Social Security Administration to get a new number for religious reasons.

"Christians are supposed to refuse the mark of the beast,"

said the mother, 30, a pharmaceutical company representative. The 666 reference is found in Revelation 13:18. It's a common theme in santanic movies such as The Omen.

However at the Social Security Administration, a 1994 policy prohibits changes sought for religious, cultural or superstitious reasons. Numbers 666 and 13 prompt most requests for changes.

"When we saw the couples case was even being discussed in the Ann Landers advice column, we knew it was a big-time headache,"

said the regional Social Security spokesman in San Francisco.

"The commissioner said to give the couple's baby a new card and we'd worry about the rules later,"

said the spokesman. The agency sent the new card. In light of this case, the commissioner has called for a policy review.

The couple felt so strongly about the 666 number that they did not claim their daughter on income tax forms. They will file an amended return with the new number.

Later,
Kenaz

Be a cool cat. Not a dumb rat

This weekend I've drawn a couple of new cartoons depicting my take on the scourge that taken over our society. Once again it features my lovable cat friends telling you that there's nothing wrong with being a hard working blue collar worker and contributor to society. Meanwhile the "Dead Rats" prove that there is everything wrong in believing in the gang life.



Dedicated to Eugene Kelly

Later,
Kenaz

Stupid celebrities of the week

This week there was not one, not two, but a tri-fecta of celebrities afflicted with the dreaded "idiotitis" disease. The symptoms include, unexplained actions and verbal diarrhea.

The first outbreak of this potential career killer feld Michael Richards, former Seinfeld co-star. During a stand-up routine he called two black hecklers the n-word and then paced across the stage taunting the men for interrupting his show, peppering his speech with racial slurs and profanities. Moderating his tone at one point, Richards tells the audience, It shocks you, it shocks you and refers to what lays buried.

Once the "fever" died down the one character wonder went on national television and tried desperately to apologize and convey that he is not a racist. Nice try, not buying it, "No soup for you!". Or in his case, soup might be the only thing Richard's will be able to afford if the clubs don't let him back.

The second outbreak occurred when day time talk host Kelly Ripa made a comment that was conscrewed as a homophobic remark.

Clay Aiken was co-hosting with Ripa and became annoyed by her gift of the gab and covered Ripa's mouth with his hand during an interview on Friday's show. Ripa pushed his hand away.

Oh, I'm in trouble, said the 27-year-old American Idol star, to which Ripa responded, No, I just don't - I don't know where that hand's been, honey.

The poop really hit the fan when fellow daytime talk show co-host Rosie O'Donnell accused her of making a homophobic comment. Ripa phoned the show and tried to claim that O'Donnell was misunderstanding the comment and offered this rebuttal.

"He's shaking hands with everybody in the audience. I mean, it's cold and flu season. That's what I meant"

The furor will die down, and the two will appear together on an episode of "Celebrity Death Match". Two bad it won't be "celebrity Boxing". I would love to see Rosie knock the stuffing out of the annoying muppet.

Finally, the worse case of "Idiotitis" in known history, knocked the crap out of O.J Simpson.

Simpson says "the only thing he is guilty of is trying to get out of debt and provide for his children."

The former football star said in interviews that he deserved criticism for his part in the If I Did It book and interview deal. He said any profit from the book would be blood money, but he needed to pay his bills. It's all blood money and unfortunately I had to join the jackals, Simpson said, referring to authors of books about him. It helped me get out of debt and secure my homestead.

Good lord! I haven't heard that much mental masturbation since the Europeans conned the Natives out of all their land for a bag of beads. If O.J is so desperate for money maybe he can sell some crap on Ebay like normal people do.

Thank god Fox Broadcasting and publisher Harper Collins, cancelled the project this week and condemned it as revolting and exploitive.

Well that's all for now.

Later,
Kenaz

A New Seven Wonders of the World

Over the weekend I found this great sight that lets people choose a new "Seven Wonders of the World".

The commonly known Seven Ancient Wonders of the World were all man-made monuments, selected by Philon of Byzantium in 200 B.C. Today, only the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt remain.

His selection of wonders was essentially a travel guide for fellow Athenians, and the stunning sites were all located around the Mediterranean basin, the then-known world.


The monuments he chose, to be remembered in perpetuity, were:
The Lighthouse of Alexandria
The Temple of Artemis
The Statue of Zeus
The Colossus of Rhodes
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus
The Pyramids of Egypt

All had been built between 2,500 B.C. and 200 B.C.

Now, just as Pierre de Coubertin revived the Olympic Games in 1896 with his modern version of the competition, New7Wonders founder Bernard Weber is seeking to revive the concept of the 7 Wonders of the World with this ambitious global campaign, the New 7 Wonders of the World.
The key difference is that, this time around, they will not be chosen by one man, but rather by millions of people all over the world.

The new wonders that are selected will be the people’s choices, and they will be drawn from the earliest time that humankind walked upon the earth up through the year 2000.

It is, therefore, possible that the only survivor of the original 7 Wonders of the World, the Pyramids at Giza, could be chosen for a second time, taking them well into a third millenium of fame!

At the end of 2005, the N7W panel chose 21 candidates from the top 77 nominees that had earned the most votes, and these 21 are now in the final stage of the competition. The official N7W 21 finalist candidates were announced by the panel's President, Prof. Federico Mayor, on January 1, 2006 in Zurich.

The final round of voting for the New 7 Wonders will continue throughout 2006 and half of 2007. Then, on July 7, 2007 -07.07.07, the dream of the N7W initiators will become a reality as the globe joins together to celebrate the New 7 Wonders of the World, as chosen by the world's population using modern communications technology.

Below are the buttons to vote for your fav's or visit the sight for yourself here:
http://www.new7wonders.com/index.php























Enjoy,
Kenaz

Letter hits my message home

In a previous post I depicted in the form of a cartoon my frustration with the 'garbage' turning our beautiful streets into a gang hangout, unsafe for the good kids and hard working stiffs to enjoy.



Today I found this well written letter to the editor of the "Spectator". This gentlemen voices the exact same opinion and I would like to share it.

Re: 'Youth gang suspected in assault on musician' (Nov. 14)

I find it frustrating that again we are not being informed of trouble spots in areas of the city, areas where we might be in danger of attacks from mobs of bullies.

Where is the police presence over this upswing they say has occurred, and where are the parents who should have a leash on these hoods?

Is it any wonder a neighborhood will call out for vigilante justice because we don't want to see our good citizens earmarked for a pounding by youths who fear no one? Individually, they are mouthy, but as a group they are fearless.

Maybe we should go the way some other countries have with this problem -- bring back curfews and ban gatherings of no more than three people, lest you are confronted by a police presence.

Women who take back the night are right in their message.

Maybe we as citizens should take back our neighbourhoods, from James North to Stoney Creek to the Mountain. If the police can't do it, we should.

In the update of this story on Friday the three 'kids' charged with the beating appeared in front of the judge sobbing. I hope this judge throws the entire library of law books at these morons especially the 18 year old leader.

Enough is enough, I take the bus to work right past where the attack occurred, I watch the kids get off the bus at the school mentioned, wearing the gang attire d'jour. My steel toed boots are covered in layers of grease and grime. They look to cover there's in blood. I wear blue and red flannel as a symbol of hard work. They wear their 'colours' as symbol of callous pride.

I pray for Eugene Kelly to awake and once again fill the clubs with his sweet Irish melodies and I pray for these kids will wake up and re-join the human race.

Later,
Kenaz

Fast Freddy trump over Di Ianni no shock

Am I the only who does not feel Fred Eisenberger's Mayoral win over Di Ianni was a momentous upset? As many news outlets in the city suggest.

Let's face facts. Di Ianni's lies left a bad taste in a lot of peoples mouth and fast Freddy took advantage. Eisenberger used his much smaller war chest; devoid of any union or corporate money; frugally and wisely. He took the pulse of the public and created a campaign that promised to rein in sprawl, promote smart growth, create a bus rapid transit system, redevelop the city's brownfields, and promote waterfront development and the arts.

That said I do believe it was more of an anti-Larry vote than a pro-Fred vote and Eisenberger and council will be under huge pressure from the assorted beggars and hangers on that got fat and rich under the pro-big business Di Ianni era to meet status quo.

It's time for Fred to show that his blue collar roots run deep and bring Hamilton back to it's glory. The city built on the backs of the working class.

One side note, Di Ianni's loss had nothing to do with Dundas bookseller, Joanna Chapman blowing the lid off his campaign finance illegalities in 2004 as the Spectator believes. Chapman didn't perpetrate the crime and then try to cover it up, she only woke the city up to what was happening. She wasn't trying to smear anyone's reputation maliciously as the former mayor and several councilors too this day believe.

In the end election 2006 was won and loss at the ballot box and as far as I see it turned out to be a fair and clean election.

Later,
Kenaz

A sombre week of goodbyes

In my previous post I said my goodbyes to Ed Bradley, legendary broadcaster. This week we also saw the passing of Canadian Football hall of famer Jackie Parker and actor Jack Palance.



Jackie Parker (January 1, 1932 - November 7, 2006) was an All-American in college football and a running back, quarterback, defensive player, and head coach in Canadian football. He is primarily known for his play with the Edmonton Eskimos. Late in his career, he also played for the Toronto Argonauts and the British Columbia Lions.

Parker became one of the most important parts of the Eskimos dynasty of the mid-1950s. Joining the Eskimos in 1954, Parker played both the defensive and offensive sides of the ball, a practice not so uncommon in his day as it is today; however, his main strength was offensively, where he was both a strong runner and an excellent quarterback. This is shown by his all-star selections; as a running back in 1954, 1957 and 1959, and as a quarterback in 1955, 1956, 1958, 1960 and 1961. He won six consecutive Jeff Nicklin Memorial Trophies as the West Division's most outstanding player from 1956 to 1961, and seven in total. He was awarded the Schenley Award as the league's most outstanding player in 1957, 1958 and 1960 and was the runner-up in 1956 and 1961.

During the first three years of his career, the Eskimos won three consecutive Grey Cups, and in the first, Parker made one of the most famous plays in Grey Cup history when, in the fourth quarter, Ted Tully hit Montréal running back Chuck Hunsinger and forced a fumble. Parker recovered the ball and returned it ninety yards for a touchdown, giving the Eskimos, who were a large underdog in the game, a surprise victory. The Eskimos traded Parker after the 1962 season to the Toronto Argonauts for five players and $15,000. Parker played in Toronto from 1963 to 1965. He finished his career with the BC Lions in 1968 when, as an assistant coach, he helped the team out of a difficult mid-season situation by donning the pads for one last go round as quarterback. At the time of his retirement, Parker, who also kicked extra points and field goals, had scored a then CFL record 750 points.

After his playing career, Parker moved into coaching. Parker coached the BC Lions for part of the 1969 season and all of 1970, before moving on to the front office as general manager the next year. He stayed as general manager until being fired in 1975. Parker coached the Eskimos from 1983 to 1987 CFL season, winning the Grey Cup in 1987. Parker's #91 currently hangs on the Wall of Honour at the Eskimos' Commonwealth Stadium. The "Jackie Parker Park" in Edmonton, Alberta was named in his honor.

Jackie Parker was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1971. Parker died in the early morning hours at a local Edmonton hospital at age 74 due to throat cancer.



His acting break came as Marlon Brando's understudy in Streetcar Named Desire. He eventually replaced Brando on stage as Stanley Kowalski.

In 1947, Palance made his Broadway debut, followed three years later by his screen debut, in the movie Panic in the Streets (1950). He was quickly recognized for his skill as a character actor, receiving an Academy Award nomination for only his third film role, as Lester Blaine in Sudden Fear.

The following year, Palance was Oscar-nominated again, for his role as the evil gunfighter Jack Wilson in Shane. Several other Western roles followed, but he would also play such varied roles as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dracula, and Attila the Hun.

In 1957, Palance won an Emmy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Mountain McClintock in the Playhouse 90 production of Rod Serling's Requiem for a Heavyweight.

Jean-Luc Godard persuaded him to take on the role of Hollywood producer Jeremy Prokosch in the 1963 nouvelle vague movie Le Mépris, with Brigitte Bardot and Michel Piccoli. Although the main dialogue was in French, Palance spoke only English.

While still busy making movies, in the 1980s, Palance also co-hosted (with his daughter Holly Palance), the television series Ripley's Believe It or Not.

Appearing in Young Guns (1988) and Tim Burton's Batman (1989) reinvigorated Palance's career and demand for his services kept him involved in new projects each year right up until the turn of the century.

Palance died of natural causes, he was 87.

Later,
Kenaz

Saying Goodbye to Ed Bradley

June 22, 1941-November 9, 2006

"The talent of success is nothing more than doing what you can do well, and doing well whatever you do without thought of fame. If it comes at all it will come because it is deserved, not because it is sought after."
-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

No words written could be truer when describing Ed Bradley who died from complications due to chronic lymphocytic leukemia at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York; he was 65 years of age.

His introduction to news reporting came during the riots in Philadelphia in the 1960s. He then became a stringer for CBS News covering the Paris Peace Talks. In 1972, he was transferred to Saigon, to cover the Vietnam War. He spent time in Phnom Penh covering the war in Cambodia. While covering the war, he was injured by a mortar round. He had shrapnel wounds to his back and arm. In 1974, he moved to Washington, D.C. He covered the Carter campaign in 1976 and then became CBS News' White House correspondent until 1978. From 1978 to 1981, he served as principal correspondent for CBS Reports.

In 1981, he stepped into some big shoes when he landed a job on 60 Minutes, when Dan Rather left to replace Walter Cronkite as the anchor of the CBS Evening News. He not only filled those shoes, but when on to re-define journalism with his brand of no nosense but fair reporting.

Over the course of his career, Bradley received the Emmy Award 19 times; a Peabody Award for his African AIDS report, "Death By Denial"; a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award; and the Paul White Award from the Radio and Television News Directors Association.

Tonight's Larry King Live featured the remaining cast of "60 Minutes" remembering this truly great man with many stories accompanied by clips. My favourite was the time that Muhammad Ali along with his wife duped Bradley into believing that the champ of practical jokes had Narcolepsy and while asleep he would act out his best boxing punches. The look on ultra serious Bradley's face was priceless as Ali let him off the hook.

Later,
Kenaz

On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month...

Today we promise never to forget. We wear over our hearts a flower with a revered history. A symbol of our thanks for those men and women who have fallen so we can live in freedom.



The poppy.

It has been used since 1921 as a symbol of remembrance in Canada, a visual pledge not to forget those Canadians who have fallen in war.

Other countries also have adopted its image to honour those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice.

The association between the poppy and war dead goes back at least as far as the Napoleonic Wars at the beginning of the 19th century, when poppies grew thickly over the graves of soldiers in Flanders.

Just before the First World War, few poppies grew in Flanders, a region now divided between Belgium, France and the Netherlands.

During the tremendous bombardments of that war, the chalk soils became rich in lime from rubble, allowing poppies to thrive. When the war ended, the lime was quickly absorbed and the poppies became less common.



The person responsible more than any other for the adoption of the poppy as a symbol of remembrance in Canada and the Commonwealth was Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae, a Canadian medical officer during the First World War.

Born in Guelph, McCrae already belonged to the Queen's Own Rifles of Canada when he attended the University of Toronto Medical School.

After Britain declared war on Germany in 1914, he enlisted and was appointed brigade surgeon to the First Brigade of the Canadian Forces Artillery.

In 1915, he was stationed in Flanders near Ypres, Belgium. There, he treated hundreds of wounded soldiers.

In May 1915, the day after the death of a fellow soldier, McCrae wrote his now famous work, an expression of his anguish over the loss of his friend and a reflection of his surroundings - wild poppies growing amid simple wooden crosses marking makeshift graves.

These 15 lines, written in 20 minutes, live on ...

The poem was first published in December 1915 in Punch magazine.

McCrae died of pneumonia in France in January 1918. He was 45.

Later the same year, Moina Michael, an American teacher working in New York City, read McCrae's poem.

She immediately made "a personal pledge to keep the faith and vowed always to wear a red poppy of Flanders fields as a sign of remembrance ..."

Two years later, during a 1920 visit to the United States, a French woman, Anna Guerin, learned of the custom.

On her return to France, she decided to use handmade poppies to raise money for the destitute children in war-torn areas of the country.

Following Guerin's example, the Great War Veterans' Association in Canada (the predecessor of The Royal Canadian Legion) officially adopted the poppy as its Flower of Remembrance on 5 July 1921.

The lapel poppies worn in Canada were first made, beginning in 1922, by disabled veterans.

For many years, poppy material was made at the Vetcraft sheltered workshops run by Veterans Affairs Canada in Montreal and Toronto.

About 10 years ago, the Legion volunteered to take over the responsibility for the production of poppies from Veterans Affairs. A private company now makes them under contract, but all operations are conducted under strict Legion control and oversight.

In Flanders fields-John McCrae, 1915

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

Later,
Kenaz

Troubling letter to the editor

I read this in the 'Letters to the editor' section of November 7, 2006 edition of 'The Hamilton Spectator' and am deeply confused by this persons message.

Re: 'Saddam to die: Now Iraq braces for civil war' (Nov. 6)

It must be me. I certainly do not understand how international law is applied.

If I recall correctly, Saddam Hussein had to deal with Iraq's many factions of faith and the associated problems. His methods of control were iron-fisted, unjust and deadly. But, the job got done and peace and order came over the land in some form.

The U.S. and the so-called coalition saw fit to remove Saddam and take over the controls. I think they had a better idea on how to deal with the problem. They didn't get the flowers thrown at their feet as they thought they should, but they created a puppet government and had the gall to demand that they, too, take up the fight in the same manner. Be more forceful, take control, eliminate those who should commit crimes against the coalition. Be like Saddam? The killings go on as if Saddam was still in control and if time allows, the killings will eventually match or surpass those of Saddam's days.

There's only one thing troubling me at this point. Why was Saddam charged and sentenced to hang? All he did was hand over the controls. It must be me.

Let me take this letter point by point. Firstly, this person contends Saddam brought 'peace' to Iraq by quelling religious violence? Reality, the Kurds and many thousands of other persons who had the right to practice their religion under international law where isolated, starved and murdered. At least the writer admits these actions where 'unjust'. These actions did not bring order, they brought choas and world condemnation.

Secondly, when the Americans, British, Canadians and many other 'coalition' nations went into Iraq, I doubt anyone thought they would have flowers thrown at their feet. The purpose was to eliminate Saddams factions and returns order. In the long term, which will take many years, Iraq will be governed by their own people and justice will be served from the courts of their own.

By hanging the 'Butcher of Bagdad' for crimes against humanity we send a message to the remaining evils in Iraq that the country has had enough. To the writer of this letter, by saying that all 'Saddam did was hand over the controls', we've heard that before. During WWII, and in the Balkans, please take the blinders off.

Later,
Kenaz

Justice Served:Saddam Hussein found guilty

On Sunday, the Iraqi High Tribunal showed the world that they are serious about making Democracy work. It found Saddam Hussein guilty of crimes against humanity. The sentence: death by hanging.

The evidence against Hussein was overwhelming. He and his henchmen were found guilty of rounding up and killing 148 Shiite Muslims from the northern Iraqi town of Dujail in 1982, in retaliation for an assassination attempt on Hussein there.

Hussein stood trial in his own country and was judged by his own people. That is a historical first and a huge accomplishment for this fledgling democracy.

Bringing Hussein to justice demanded immense courage; all those involved faced constant danger. During the yearlong trial, three defense attorneys were killed. The brother-in-law of the presiding judge was gunned down. Incredibly, some 200 relatives of victims of Dujail were reported murdered. Several families of witnesses had to be moved into the U.S.-protected Green Zone.

A second trial is under way. Hussein is accused of genocide for his role in a 1987-88 campaign against Iraqi Kurds, in which about 180,000 people were killed. All told, Hussein's regime is believed to have killed at least 300,000 Iraqis.

Hussein's death sentence probably won't be carried out soon. There are appeals and more trials. Iraqis have waited for justice. Now they have it. Ending the reign of one of the world's most vicious, brutal men.

Later,
Kenaz

Death of Botha brings closure

This week the world said good riddance to P. W. Botha, the South African leader who fathered apartheid. The bastard child grew up until it consumed a country in a tide of domestic racial violence and global condemnation. He was 90.

Roots of Racism

Pieter Willem Botha was born on Jan. 12, 1916, in the Orange Free State to a Afrikaner farm family with deep roots in southern Africa’s “White Tribe” — descendants of mainly Dutch settlers who had been living on the continent’s southern tip for more than three centuries.

Beleaguered, stubborn and insular, they saw themselves as heirs to a promised land watered with the blood of their ancestors in wars against Zulu, Ndebele and other tribes.

The Afrikaners and the British, with their imperial aims, were also old enemies, rivals for land, diamonds and gold. Their enmity culminated in the Boer War of 1899-1901, which ended in a British victory and the eventual consolidation of the country under the empire. Mr. Botha’s father fought the British, who burned his mother’s family farm. She and her family fled but were eventually captured and interned. Their experiences forged their son’s attitudes. Raised in the traditions of the Bible and the gun, he learned to ride and shoot and to embrace the embattled but beneficent self-image of the Afrikaner.

Rise to Power

Mr. Botha was a combative, irascible son of a well-to-do Afrikaner farm family who dropped out of college to work for the right-wing National Party, then rose through the ranks of South Africa’s political establishment, gaining a reputation as the “Old Crocodile” for his ability to charm, outwit and crush his opponents.

In 1978, Mr. Botha became prime minister and proceeded to engineer the creation of a new Constitution, one that held out the promise of limited reform of apartheid policies. When the Constitution came into effect in 1984, Mr. Botha became president. “We must adapt or die,” Mr. Botha told his constituents after becoming prime minister.

Aparthied

Though it allowed Asians and people of mixed race to be represented in a white-controlled Parliament, it continued to exclude the nation’s black majority. Some apartheid laws, like a prohibition on mixed marriages and a requirement that blacks carry special passes, were relaxed.

Opposition

Holding out the promise that apartheid would eventually be dismantled, he opened negotiations with Nelson Mandela, the imprisoned leader of the African National Congress. The talks went nowhere, and Mr. Mandela remained confined.

Paranoia

Mr. Botha used the climate of the cold war to justify his actions. He portrayed a growing Marxist threat in southern Africa and warned that Communists had infiltrated the anti-apartheid movement at home. South Africa, he said, was engaged in a “total war” and must develop a “total strategy” to fight the battle.

The End

As opposition to apartheid spread, Mr. Botha’s room to maneuver shrank. Mr. Botha was re-elected in 1987. Two years later, as opposition to his intransigent style grew within his own party, the president suffered a stroke and resigned. He was succeeded by F. W. de Klerk, who legalized opposition parties, freed Mr. Mandela and other political prisoners, and made the agreements that eventually brought apartheid down.

Era of Rebirth

Under the new government, led by Mr. de Klerk, apartheid unraveled. In 1990, Mr. Mandela was freed after 27 years in prison and the African National Congress became a legal political party. In April 1994, the republic’s first multiracial election was held, the Congress won an overwhelming victory and Mr. Mandela became president. In May 1996, a new national Constitution was adopted.

Apartheid was finished. In the late 1990’s, the brutal methods that had been used to prolong its existence were exposed during hearings of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Actions by the country’s security forces and police during Mr. Botha’s years in power had killed 4,000 people; as many as 50,000 others were held without trial.

The aging Mr. Botha derided the commission as a witch hunt. After failing to attend a hearing in Cape Town on Dec. 19, 1997, he was found guilty of contempt of the law, fined and sentenced to a suspended 12-month prison term. The conviction was overturned on appeal, and the Old Crocodile remained as intransigent as ever.

“I have nothing to apologize for,” he said. ‘’I will never ask for amnesty. Not now, not tomorrow, not after tomorrow.”

Botha joins Hitler and Milošević in hell. All that remain is the arrival of Saddam Hussein to round out the table reserved for lasts century's worst sinners.

Below are some must see films that cover this tumultuous time period.

Mandela and de Klerk (1997)(TV)
"Ekhaya: A Family Chronicle" (1997) Canada (Mini)
Mandela (1996)

My personal favourite
Cry Freedom (1987)

Later,
Kenaz

Reply from Mr. Caplan on the Di Ianni post

This morning I received this interesting reply to a post from March 11,2006 entitled Mayor Diianni saga reads like a trashy novel.

I was looking through Blogs looking for my name and noted an error related to me. In fact I was accused but not guilty of contravening the act.

Throughout this "trashy" two and a half years my name and reputation were sullied by Ms Chapman.

I accepted no illegal donations, had all my records and my "reporting errors" consisted of leaving the word "Ltd." off a business name and misspelling another.

Would that McHattie, Christopherson and co. had the same honesty I do.

Innocent until proven guilty is a principal I would have thought you followed.

Cheers
marvin-caplan@gmail.com

Interesting in that not once do I say that Mr. Caplan was found "guilty" of accepting illegal donations and in fact say that he was only found guilty of bad book keeping as he implies. I guess when their are too many fingers in the pie, inevitably somebody will be caught with sticky fingers. Mr. Caplans beef is with Ms Chapman, the accuser, I'm only the messenger who wishes to spell out the saga for my readers. My account is as accurate as the facts that I have.

As far as Mr. Caplan questioning my belief in the Canadian justice system, yes Mr. Caplan you are "innocent until proven guilty" but the burden of proof is yours. And let me remind you and your college's as you enter the final phase of your election campaigns, the court of public opinion is often headed by a "hanging judge" with an itchy rope hand.

Good luck, Mr.Caplan you have done fine work in your riding and I hope you can distance yourself from those on the council who have done wrong and bring dignity back to Hamilton.

Thank You
from Kenaz's Blog

Top 5 Best Performances as The Count

On this day; all Hallows' Eve; I bring you my Top 5 picks of the best performances of the famous man in the black cloak from Transylvania.

Who can forget this 1980's character who was as famous as Tony the Tiger, unfortunately the cereal taste like soggy sofa cushion stuffings.

Count Chocula

Hands down the best performance and creepiest rendition.

Max Shreck-Nosferatu 1922

I put this selection ahead of Oldman's not because it was the most athentic portrayal of Stoker's character, but because it gave birth to a ledgend that will be never forgotten.

Bela Lugosi 1931

Lugosis' Dracula was the modern adaptation with the cloak and the campy movements and dialogue, Oldman brought the character back to its dark Victorian roots and provided the purest rendition.

Gary Oldman 1992

Christopher Lee was the genesis for Oldmans' count. Portraying the count as the romantic rather than the monster.

Christopher Lee 1958

And as a bonus, who could forget this classic pop culture icon, "The Count" from "Sesame Street" Ahh! Ahh! Ahh!

Count from Sesame Street.

Have a happy Halloween, me I'm off to the plant for another afternoon shift.

Later,
Kenaz

Rush Limbaugh attacks Michael J. Fox

Rush Limbaugh will say anything and attack anyone who challenges his buddy George Bush and to get his fat, ugly mug on TV. This time, his target is Michael J. Fox. Meds are something Rush should look into and consider taking.

The Story:Rush Limbaugh accused Michael J. Fox, actor and Parkinson's Disease victim, of deliberately going off of his meds to appear on camera with exaggerated symptoms of his disease for dramatic effect. Fox appeared in a recent Clair McHaskill (D-MO) Senate campaign ad, touting the need for stem cell research. Limbaugh even goes so far as to accuse Fox of faking his symptoms all together.

Audio

"I stated when I saw the ad, I was commenting to you about it, that he was either off the medication or he was acting. He is an actor, after all."-Limbaugh

Limbaugh claims to have emails in which Fox admitts in interviews that he goes off his medication." A tireless search of the Internet produces no such record of any interview, or any statement in which Fox has ever admitted or even suggested that he ever goes off his Parkinson's treatment at all, let alone for the purposes of shaking it up for the television audience.

Despicable, Limbaugh is the lowest of life to ever crawl out of somewhere south of the preverbial "bible belt". Somewhere smelly and very small(minded).

Here's the ad Limbaugh was talking about.



From a doctor commenting in a forum about the situation,

the chorea that Michael J Fox has in that ad comes from chronic use of dopamine agonists in the context of Parkinson's. They're movements from the medicine, not the disease itself. Although he might have odd movements OFF of his meds, they wouldn't look like the ones in the ad. They'd look like the Parkinson's-like presentation of Muhammed Ali's Dementia Pugilistica.

In addition, those movements are hard to imitate accurately because they stem from circuits between the basal ganglia and cortex that you can't just turn off or on. Those aren't volitional circuits. There is little chance he was acting, and if he was, he could only accentuate slightly movementse already had. In other words, this is as tragic as it looks.

Later,
Kenaz

"Halloween"

The ancient festival of Samhuinn (or "samhain") is upon us-- on the eve of the 31st of October; the beginning of the ancient Celtic new year. All Souls' Day (November 1) is the Christian version of samhain, the Celtic feast of the dead. Some writers believe that this name is based on the ancient Aryan Lord of Death, Samana-- called "the Leveller", the leader of ancestral ghosts and spirits. It is a time of divination, of the cleansing of the old, and the bringing of the new; also, of honouring the fruits of the harvest time, and the ancestors of the tribe(s). The crone crone goddess the Cailleach (the Greek Hecate)-- Queen of the Night-- is expecially important now. The veil between this world and the Otherworld is expecially thin at this time, and because of this, samhain is a time of the "opening of the doorway".

According to the ancient Celtic calendar, festivals were celebrated in the `eve`, rather on the day. So what we now call `Halloween` is actually a continuation of this ancient Celtic festival-- the earlier pagan `All Hallow`s Eve` was the origional festival, later displaced to the following day by the church-- on 1 November, called `All Souls Day`. The Irish used to call samhain a holy night, the Vigil of Samhain. Churchmen described it as a night of charms, divinations, of reading the future with witches` mirrors and nutshell ashes, dunking for apples in tubs of water (representing the Cauldron of rebirth), and other so-called `objectionable` rites. Other Christian authorities wrote of Halloween customs: `many other superstitious cremonies, the remains of Druidism, are observed of this holiday, which will never be eradicated...(huh!)The name samhain remained, however, and down to the present day many churches still celebrate the Harvest service, with parishioners bringing fruits and berries to the alter.

One example from Scottish history earlier this century, is the following account of a local man who told of how samhuinn was celebrated in Fortingall (Perthshire, England) when he was a young boy. (The Fortingall area is famous for having the oldest yew tree in Europe, its standing stones, its connections to the story of Jesus and Joseph of Amrimathea, and for its connections with the early Druids and Celtic priesthood(s).)
This account tells of what it was like early this century to go to a samhuinn celebration, which featured a huge bonfire on the top of a hill, called the Mound if the Dead:

...Everybody shared in the preperations which began months before the event. The young people used to go up onto the hill to collect and store great quan-tities of whin, (gorse) which was once very plentiful there. This went on night after night. It was finally made into a huge pile with wood shavings and tar barrels added to increase it... it was the duty of the older men to build the bonfire on the top of the Mound of the Dead. Finally, it was lit, and the whole community took hands when it was blazing and danced round the mound both sunwise and anti-sunwise. As the fire began to wane, some of the younger boys took burning (cigarettes) from the flames and ran through the field with them, finally throwing them into the air and dancing over them as they lay glowing on the ground. When the last embers were showing, the boys would have a leaping competition across the ramians of the fire. When it was finished, the young people went home and dunked for apples and practised divination. The older people went to the Fortingall Hotel, an old coaching house, and held a dance there, with much merry making. The bonfire being the absolute centre of attention until it was consumed. The last bonfire, made by the community, was lit on the mound in 1924.

The Fortingall `Carn nam Marbh`, or Mound of the Dead, was the focus of the whole samhain season there. This mound is a Bronze Age tumulus; a stone called the `Clach a`Phlaigh`(Stone of the Plague) tops the mound. Local tradition says the mound contains the bodies of those victims of a horrible plague in early times.

Also sacred to ancient Celtic samhain time was the hazel nut, believed to have divining powers and sacred to poets. The magic of this nut was considered to be especially powerful on samhain eve-- and was often used in marriage dininations.
Robert Burns wrote about this Halloween custom in Scotland:

...Some mery, friendly, countra folks Together did convene, To burn their nuts, an`pu their stocks, An`haud their Halloween Fu`blithe that night.

Hazel nuts were sometimes named after an individual, and then thrown into the bonfire on samhaon eve. The manner in which it burned would determine the `fate` for that person for the next year.

To honour the dead, and devine the future were seen as important spiritual activities, as well as good community fun!

Later,
Kenaz

My Top 30 Best Horror Films

When I sat down to put this list together I thought long and hard to define the criteria for this list. Although its called the best 'horror' films, I didn't want a list full of today's slasher, shock movies the likes of 'Saw'. This type of film has no appeal to me. I decided to include any film that created an emotional stimuli that caused feelings of not only shock(that wow! Jolt feeling as Candyman comes through the medicine cabinet) but a more deep emotional impact. Like the feeling of repulse when the Frankenstein monster through the girl into the water or the adrenaline rush you got as you tried to anticipated the next move of the killer in Se7en. I've even included a movie like the Raven, which can be considered a farce rightfully so, but because it includes so many performances by masters of the macabre it had to be considered. I hope you enjoy my list. I know for each selection I made I've left another off that is as probably as worthy depending on a particular taste. Enjoy.

1.THE EXORCIST(1973)-Those who had a definitive belief in Heaven and Hell, of Good and Evil, of Jesus as The Savior and Satan as the epitome of pure evil were affected by The Exorcist far more than those who were agnostic or just never had a strong belief in spiritual matters.The Exorcist caused many to reconsider how they felt about their faith. The Exorcist made the prospect of Satan being alive and well and a life of eternal damnation a very uncomfortable prospect. The fact that the author claims his book and screenplay were based on a true story seemed to give the film even more credibility.

2.THE SHINING(1980)-The Shining is, without doubt, one of Stanley Kubrick's undisputed masterpieces and a true classic in horror cinema. It is a film that, over the course of the years, has managed to scare the living hell out of its audiences.

3.THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS(1991)-Foster's performance is absolutely brilliant. While Anthony Hopkins receives most of the (well-deserved) praise for his chilling portrayal of incarcerated serial killer `Hannibal ‘the Cannibal' Lector', it is Foster's performance that holds the movie together. The fear she shows just behind her eyes makes Clarice's outward courage all the more interesting and vulnerable.

4.TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE(1974)-Chain Saw isn't about storyline and plot; it's about creating an experience, a sensory overload. There are scenes and images that are raw and powerful and ultimately, against all expectations, beautiful. Leatherface's travesty of motherly domesticity as he prepares dinner, his child-like dance in the dawn light, the open door at the gas station, the van making it's slow turn off the road towards the derelict and ivy clad Hardesty residence are all images that burn themselves into your consciousness after just a single viewing.

5.AMITTYVILLE HORROR(1979)-The real 'star' of the movie is the house! The building is both attractive and sinister - truly gothic in the importance of the setting.

6.ROSEMARY'S BABY(1968)-"Rosemary's baby" is a perfect film to me. Scary in a way that makes you breathless. You're thinking and feeling throughout the film. One of the many sides of Polanski's genius is to suggest. And what he suggest is so monstrous that we don't want to believe it, hell on earth, but we do. The characters are so perfectly drawn that there is no cheating involved.

7.SE7EN(1995)-According to Se7en, our culture is drifting through darkness. The prophecy comes from Somerset, a literate man who also happens to be a detective, a man who can read a clue ("This isn't going to be a happy ending") or Dante's Inferno with equal understated bravado. He even provides the film's final thematic statement with a quote from Hemingway.

8.THE OMEN(1976)-The premise behind THE OMEN is frightening: the Antichrist is unwittingly adopted into an American political family. The movie is a loose interpretation of the book of Revelations, the implication being the cinematic depiction of the end of the world.

9.THE SIXTH SENSE(1999)-All your worst childhood nightmares: the noises in the attic, the intruder in your house, that cold breath that makes your hair stand on end are here and then some.

10.THE EXCORCISM OF EMILLY ROSE(2005)-The movie offers a plethora of food for thought, regarding existentialist issues of perception vs. Objective truth, and social issues of liability and responsibility.

11.POLTERGEIST(1982)-Poltergeist, the story of suburban California family that discovers the darker side of the American Dream when their youngest daughter, Carol Ann, makes contact with evil spirits through the family television set. "They're here", never fails to send chills down my spine.

12.WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE(1962)-The story itself is about two elderly sisters. One, Baby Jane, (played by Bette Davis) was a child star in the early part of the century. She was hugely popular on the vaudeville circuit. Backstage she was a spoiled brat. Later on in life the other sister, Blanche (played by Joan Crawford) became a popular Hollywood movie star, overshadowing her now 'has-been' sister. A supposed car accident leaves Blanche crippled during the height of her popularity and a crazed Jane is left to care for her.

13.PSYCHO(1960)-Most modern-day horror films make the killer to be an absolutely inhuman, grotesque, unimaginable monster in order to scare the audience out of its wits. Most of the time, however, these stereotypes create a generic murderer a raving, ranting, clearly demented psychopath. Instead Anthony Perkins' skillfully crafts his performance as Norman Bates, a subtle, creepy, cool, and unsettling assault on your psyche.

14.THE HOUSE OF USHER(1960)-Roger Corman's brilliant adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's chilling tale is one of the greatest achievements in cinematic horror. It's hard to pick one of Corman's Poe adaptations as the best, but this, the first, might be it.Vincent Price turns in one of his finest performances.

15.VIDEODROME(1983)-Videodrome is film that manages to repulse and intrigue simultaneously. It is horrific and contains numerous science-fiction motifs, but, unlike the horror and special effects driven pictures of today, Videodrome, has a philosophy. Videodrome is not about mind-controlling cable shows; it is about our un-healthy consumption of visual media.

16.WHEN A STRANGER CALLS(1979)-Carol Kane plays Jill, a babysitter who receives ominous phone calls all night long from psycho (Tony Beckley) who repeatedly asks her if she has 'checked the children'. This goes on until the cops are finally called to the scene - just 21 straight minutes of well-crafted suspense.

17.CARRIE(1976)-Based on Stephen King's first full-length published novel, also the breakthrough film for director Brian DePalma. Sissy Spacek makes a lasting impact as Carrie White, an awkward and ostracized teenager whose classmates can't stand her merely because she's shy and "different". She is finally pushed over the edge at the climactic school prom, unleashing her telekinetic abilities in revenge.

18.HALLOWEEN(1978)-Brutal, emotionless Michael Myers stabs his sister to death at age six on Halloween night in 1963; on October 30, 1978, he escapes from a mental institution and institutes a new reign of terror in his hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois. He is pursued the whole time by a psychiatrist (Donald Pleasence) who knows just how evil this young man is. It opens with a bang, and sets up a genuinely suspenseful and atmospheric chiller that is actually superior to the many slasher pictures it helped to inspire.

19.THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL(1959)-The legendary Vincent Price is in his element here as the cynical millionaire trapped in a loveless sham of a marriage, and Carol Ohmart, is a knockout as his tough as nails "better half". Haunted party guests round out the cast.

20.CANDYMAN(1992)-A strong contender for the title of best horror film of the 1990's, Bernard Rose's "Candyman" is a very faithful (and therefore truly scary) adaptation of Clive Barker's skin crawling short story. This film features a very rare and successful combination of both creepy atmosphere and visual ingeniousness. Whereas most movies (especially during the 90's) can hardly focus on any of these essential horror elements, Bernard Rose masterfully succeeds in stuffing his film with genuine tension as well as shocking gore-images.

21.NIGHTMARE ON ELMSTREET(1984)-John Carpenter defined the horror genre in the late 70's, early 80's, Wes Craven re-defined it with A Nightmare On Elm St and Freddy Krueger, the definition of a bastard son. Up until this point, horror was very predictable, most films adhered to the 'rules' of horror' (the 'virgin' survives, if you have sex, you die, if you drink or get high, you die and never say, "I'll be right back" cause u won't). In 1984, this little film came out about a murderer who killed you in your dreams.

22.WAIT UNTIL DARK(1967)-One of the best Hitchcock film that Hitchcock never made. Most of the film is shot within this basement apartment unit. And the thriller is so great because of Hepburn being blind and these three bad guys freely walking into her unit and introducing themselves as her husband's friends, or police, or some neighbour. But they all forget one thing: She uses her ears like no regular person does, she doesn't need eyes. But that is where the thriller kicks in.

23.CAPE FEAR(1991)-A fabulous remake of the 1962 noir classic and it keeps the viewer on the edge right through until the closing credits. Robert De Niro (in yet another brilliant teaming with Scorcese behind the camera) plays Max Cady, a psychopathic rapist who was sent to jail 14 years earlier for such crimes. He leaves prison with vengeance. Not for his victims or his prosecutor, but his defence councillor, Sam J. Bowden, played by Nick Nolte. It seems Bowden did not defend Cady to the best of his ability. Cady knows this and wants some payback.

24.DELIVERENCE(1972)-A bit of odd choice for a horror list but this film is worthy because the film's theme. Nature, in the wild, can be violent. How appropriate that the setting should be the American South. Very few places in the U.S. are, or have been, as violent as redneck country. In a story about Darwinian survival of the fittest, the film conveys the idea that humans are part of nature, not separate from it. use local people, not actors, to portray secondary characters. The locals provide the film with a depth of characterization unequaled in film history. In thus creating the best bunch of villains other films could only wish to create.

25.THE BIRDS(1963)-The movie is still pretty terrifying, even if you've seen it again and again. You know what bad, brutal scenes are coming and don't want to see the carnage again, but can't help yourself. It's ominous as the crows flock tighter and tighter, always more and more, attacking the kids on the schoolyard Monkey-Bars.

26.THE RAVEN(1963)-Vincent Price, Peter Lorre and Boris Karloff are a total treat to watch in this tale loosely based on Edgar Allan Poe's poem.

27.James Whales FRANKENSTEIN(1931)-The best presentation of the classic story by Mary Shelley. The film was presented in such a way that makes you feel as though you are watching a stage play rather than a film.A creature is given the complicated thing called life.His large,overpowering human form,coupled with the limited capacity to grow,and learn,turn out to be very deadly indeed.He is,basically,a very large baby,who does not understand the world around him.He wreaks havoc on those who he feels are out to hurt him.I have seen the completed version of this film,complete with the disturbing sequence involving the little girl with the flowers,which was cut out of the film for many years.It is indeed shocking,and once you see it,you will understand why this was done.

28.NOSFERATU(1922)-The count is a perfect distillation of evil, that of a vain, narcissistic, absurdly self-confident to the point of machismo, married man largely indifferent to a wife he abruptly leaves to make the fortune worthy of a man of his merits. He ain't afraid of no ghosts, nor robbers. So, the image he sees in that mirror is one of wholeness, perfection - I am Hutter, I command all I see, my unity of identity is linked to my power in body. To the viewer, however, the effect is the precise opposite. The framing of the scene is fragmented, with the outer frame, the window and the mirror; Hutter himself is doubled - the 'real' Hutter and his reflection, or shadow. All the assumptions smilingly embodied in Hutter will thus be destroyed in conventional horror terms.

29.BRAM STOKERS DRACULA(1992)-This film is a very rich gothic telling of a story that has become watered down greatly with the many different versions of stories with the characters. Here the basic plot follows the tale from the creation of Dracula, his love and his confrontation with Van Helsing and the various suitors of the lovely Lucy. The story is told with a real respect for the source.

30.THE WOLFMAN(1941)-The key to a good monster movie is its atmosphere and interesting characters and the Wolfman delivers on both accounts. The story revolves around Larry Talbot who returns to his hometown after having been away for many years. He takes a liking for this girl who works in an antique shop, and while they go out for a walk in the night, he is attacked and bitten by a werewolf. Lon Chaney's performance is excellent as a tortured man, and through no fault of his own is turned into a killing murdering monster.

Later,
Kenaz

A Dogs Lunch

In many urban centres plagues of vermon have taken once respectable nebourhoods and reduced them to bleak, dirty sespools of crime, gangs, drugs and violence. This cartoon depicts the future if we start now. A stand against these "dogs of war" and turning our communities from a dogs lunch back into the cats meow.



Later,
Kenaz

Hamilton police service plays lets make a deal

And instead of the new car! They wound up with the pig wagon.

Two years ago, the Hamilton Police Service purchased four used 2002 Ford Crown Victoria cruisers which had previously been part of the Brantford police fleet.

Hamilton's policy at the time was to rebuild patrol cars when they reached 150,000 kilometres on the odometer. The idea was to purchase used cruisers for a reasonable amount, introduce them into the patrol car fleet and then rebuild them when necessary. They quickly realized they got taken and before the egg on their face was even dry, Hamilton Police Service scrapped the used-car experiment for good.

At the time of purchase, the four cruisers had come off a two-year lease and each car had racked up between 95,000 to 110,000 kilometres. Brantford leases all 15 of its police cruisers in two-year intervals, and the Hamilton Police Service paid about $10,000 each for four of the cars once the leases expired. But the used-car project turned out to be a dismal failure.

Two of the four cars aren't even part of the Hamilton fleet any more and the other two are no longer used as patrol cars.

One of the two remaining cars travelled just 18,000 kilometres in its first two years and cost Hamilton police $11,600 in maintenance and repair costs over that time.

That's a whopping 64 cents per kilometre in maintenance costs, not including gas.

The other remaining Brantford castoff travelled almost 48,000 kilometres in its first two years and cost Hamilton $16,500 for maintenance and repairs. That works out to 34 cents per kilometre.

Police Services says it will now only buy new. Good idea! What now? I suggest somebody down at the Police services pick up a copy of the "Lemon Car Guide" before they go shopping again.

Later,
Kenaz

For whom the bell tolls

The bell tolls for you Acting Hamilton Police Chief Tom Marlor. Why? Because of his incredible lack of leadership.

This year hasn't been a great one for this cities cops. Accusations of corruption and abuse of power have caused enough doubt in many peoples minds as to second guess the ability of many of those who are paid to serve and protect. This could lead to serious problems in public relations and general trust between the public and officers.

The latest incident involves a man stepping off a bus and grabbed by two cops and thrown in jail for doing nothing wrong. If I hadn't read the bi-line that read "Hamilton", I would have easily thought the story was from Beirut or Kandahar.

The man in question is Michael Dixon. A break-in occurred during the Aug. 14, 2003, blackout. Hamilton police were looking for a Caucasian suspect. Dixon is black.

Dixon begged the officers who nabbed him to check with the driver of the bus he had just exited on his way home from work in Toronto. They wouldn't. He sat in jail for almost four days; for nine months he lived under strict bail conditions. Three times, an assistant Crown attorney demanded the two arresting officers interview Dixon's alibi witnesses. That never happened. All charges were eventually dropped.

Dixon tried to file a complaint but a staff sergeant refused to give him the forms. He pursued the complaint and a police internal affairs investigation exonerated the officers. He complained to the Ontario Civilian Commission for Police Services; Peel police were ordered to investigate and concluded serious misconduct had occurred. The OCCPS ordered Hamilton police to lay charges. The two constables pleaded guilty. Their sentence was three days' lost pay. That's less time than Dixon spent in jail.

Dixon is yet another victim of shoddy police work. Another honest citizen denied his basic rights which include the right to file a complaint. And yet another incident in which an internal investigation has draped the thin blue curtain around a case in an effort to cover up and silence a complaint that would clearly point to substandard police work, and possibly racism.

If the Hamilton Police where a sports team the coach would be fired and every member of the team would be forced to go back to basics. In this case, back to the classroom for more sensitivity training and hands on training in public diversity awareness.

Simply saying I'm sorry and dismissing the claims of race bias is not enough. It's another cop out, and leaves everyone with a bad taste in their mouth. The tarnished brass face some serious ethical questions that include racial bias and shody investigating. I'm sorry, but this time the situation cannot be swept under the rug as Marlor is attempting to do.

Chief Brian Mullan must show his metal and address Dixon's complaints in a straightforward manner or risk being drowned in the flood of popular opinion that could sweep the city if he doesn't scrutinize the integrity of internal investigations and seriously consider that a police service should not investigate itself.

And he must ensure that all police officers -- whatever their rank -- are doing their jobs fully and properly. If he doesn't than he should be out of work.

Later,
Kenaz