The Russians are Comin'

The Russians are Comin’!

 

              D’you really believe that Russian ship off the coast of Haida Guaii is there by accident? What’s a Russian ship doin’ prowlin’ around in Indian country in the first place? That’s what I’d like to know. I wouldn’t think anythin’ about it except that a few weeks ago there was a Russian bomber flyin around our northern territories, an’ now this. An’ don’t forget that Russian nuclear sub at the bottom of the Beaufort Sea.

Well, I gotta admit they done us a temporary favor in showin’ how unprepared an’ under-equipped we really are, not that it makes any difference to our government departments. They couldn’t find their rear ends with both hands behind their backs anyways. They’ve been busy gettin’ our shipment of Ebola vaccine ready to be shipped off to the World Health Organization (one day late), an adverstizin’ to Isis that they’ll be there to start their bombin’ raids in about two weeks time.

              In the meantime, they send out a coupl’a tug boats to tow that Russian vessel away from Haida Guaii, but they got no cables strong enough to pull the sucker any distance. So they hire an American tug to do the job. But the Americans want nothin’ to do with this Russian vessel. So instead of towin’ it into Seattle (where it ought to be), it gets hauled to Prince Rupert, B. C. I assume somebody paid the Americans to do that an’ it was likely the Canadian taxpayers.

             So now we got ten Russian crew members floatin’ around Prince Rupert checkin’ things out while somebody else cleans or changes the spark plugs in their engines. Then they’ll go sailin’ back to Russia to tell Mr. Putin the Canadians are as ready as they’ll ever get, meanin’ not ready for anythin’ at all.

              It turns out the Russians have pulled off a perfect spy mission an’ nobody’s the wiser for it. The government, in cahoots with the oil companies are trumpetin’ the fact that they’ll be ready for an oil spill if (an’ when) it ever happens. Yeah, well they just proved that didn’t they? Well they’re even less ready for Putin’s nefarious ideas. When it comes – and it will, it will be very painful. The Ukrainians can attest to that.

               It looks to me like the Pied Piper is leadin’ the government an’ the oil companies an’ the business investors et al by the nose into a dark hole from which there is no return. At least that’s how it seems to me from up here on the top shelf.

              Just sayin’.

 

Bully, Bully! The Prime Minister's a Bully

Bully, Bully! The Prime Minister's a Bully

Did you hear about that? The prime minister has declared that he is entitled to use material (copyrighted) from media to construct and broadcast attack ads for his election campaign. And he’ll change the law if necessary to make sure nobody gets in his road on the subject.

Bully, bully prime minister, you’re a bully! I guess you’re the number one bully in the country. What a wonderful example to set for our students who are working so hard to eliminate bullying. Originally I wasn’t goin’ to use the word “bully”. I had another word in mind that rhymes with “brick”, but the Missus wouldn’t let me use it. Too bad. It really fits, but I guess I’ll have to make do.

Well now, low and behold, if providence didn’t come along an’ shore up the whole notion of bricks. Turns out the brickwork in the parliament buildin’s is crumblin’. Holy crackers! They got that right! Well, they might be talkin’ about the bricks that’s holdin’ up the roof in the place, but it’s prophetic that it coincides with the “bricks” activities goin’ on inside the house. Maybe they’re the cause of all the falling bricks in the buildin’s.

Whatever the case, it’s become abundantly clear that Mr. Harper is the biggest brick o’ them all. He’s decided to change copyright law so that he can use inadvertent TV quotes from opposition parties in his attack ads. The media is of course incensed at his blatent use of power to tromp on their copyright. Well, I think perhaps they’re a little overly sensetive but that’s neither here nor there. It’s the principle of the arbitrary power by which he operates that offends. And what is all this in aid of? To insult the opposition, that’s what. Maybe that way he’ll win the next election (he says to himself – feelin’ kinda cocky).

Harper has already proven beyond a reasonable doubt that he’s a bully, given all the people he’s thrown under the bus during his time in power. An’ most o’ the other bricks in his load who are too covetous of their fat government pensions to go up against him and will ultimately add up to a couple of bricks short of a full load come election time. At least that’s how it seems to me from up here on the top shelf.

Just sayin’.

 

Lessons Learned - Or Not

Lessons Learned - Or Not

In 1938 Neville Chamberlain sat down with Hitler to map out a way to convince the British people to accept the German agenda in a non aggression pact. One shudders to think what might have happened had the deal been consummated. Well the Russians learned that first hand with their non aggression pact with Germany didn't they? And the end game of asylum for the Nazis in Argentina in exchange for precious artworks stolen from captured towns which came to pass.

It seems to me our government and indeed ALL governments should go back in history a little bit to re-learn the lessons of the past and act accordingly. It would certainly help to clarify the debate about the middle east as well as the Ukraine. Do we need boots on the ground in these places? You darn right we do, and lots of them. The enemy, in order to be defeated needs to be overwhelmed by a force to storm its very foundation, house to house and door to door if necessary. There will always be time for diplomacy later, once an unconditional surrender is signed, sealed and delivered.

This whole international conflict business has taken on a false civility that benefits no one but the arms dealers and the businesses in the conflict zones. During WWII some 2 billion people served in the armed forces (on both sides) There were some 1.1 million Canadians in the fray. Between 38 and 55 million civilians died and 22 - 25 million military lost their lives. What I'm saying here is that war is a deadly business and you're either in it or you're not. And if you want to win the war, you'd better get all your boots on the ground and quickly.

Of course, the Americans are following FDR's formula of not entering the war as such, but supplying all the armaments for it. That's how they became such a wealthy nation. Now they are acting as the world's policeman (as well). They're convinced that they can orchestrate the outcomes of their actions by way of drones and remote warfare methods. Let somebody else do the dirty work. Well, it ain't gonna happen. The U.S. should remember that from Pearl Harbor. It's always the infantry that mops up the mess left by everybody else and that ain't changed none. They'll want somebody like the Australian Diggers to do that work.

War is a bloody brutal, dirty, dehumanizing business to be involved in, and if you're going to get into it, you'd better be prepared to put all your resources into it in the first place, or else stay home and mind your own business. At least that's how it seems to me from up here on the top shelf.

Just sayin'.

 

Goin' to Mars?

Goin’ to Mars?

It has kind of an adventurous ring to it don’t it? I mean, takin’ a one way trip to a planet that’s a gazillion miles away to live in a fabricated community, never to return to earth. Well I guess it must be attractive to some folks, ‘cause they’re signin’ up for it left, right, an’ center awlready. They prolly think they’re goin’ to be in a star wars movie. Gives a whole new meanin’ to “Beam me up Scotty”. Only thing is you just get only one beam up. There ain’t no beamin’ back neither. That of course gives rise to another thing I saw this mornin’, bein’: “There’s eight planets in our solar system an’ all the idiots are livin’ on mine.”, but that’s another story altogether.

What I was drivin’ at here was the fact that the weather on Mars is so hostile that you can’t even go outside there for fear of bein’ flash frozen just outside yer door. An’ who knows what kind of air you can breathe there anyways? An’ water? Well they say there used to be water there an’ maybe there still is somewheres underground. That sounds like a pretty big gamble to me.

All of this comes with a cost of course. As of 2012, it was about two and a half billion dollars. That’s two years ago an’ since then India has also launched a rocket to go to Mars, so there’s even more cost, an this is just the start o’ things. It almost seems that the greater the cost, the more important the mission, (if that makes any sense).

I’m sure it will come as a great shock to the people involved in this Mars mission to discover that there is already a place right here on earth that meets most of their criteria. It’s called Antarctica an’ it’s a whole dad blamed continent, uninhabited except for a few researchers here an’ there. There’s fourteen million square miles of solid ground (under the ice) to walk on, an’ there’s air to breathe there too. Not only that, but it also has ninety percent of the world’s fresh water supply right there. They even got return trips at certain times o’ the year. That’s got to be a bonus! 

Oh, wait! Maybe that’s it. Maybe they don’t wanna come back. Maybe they just want an adventure, or maybe they wanna get away from everybody an’ everythin’ else. An money ain’t no object neither. It’s not like they’re gonna need it to buy groceries or gas or go to a nightclub, that’s for sure. An’ why leave it to the kids anyways? They’d just piddle it away on groceries an’ gas an’ nightclubs.

An for the investors in these sophisticated transport systems, they’ve already presold their rides on the bus to Mars, so they ain’t out anythin’. In fact, they figure they need about a million people to go up there for the planet to become self-sustaining so they got their futures mapped out.

Well what are we to make of all this? Nothing really. That’s just human nature. We been doin’ that since we first got booted outta the garden of Eden. We’re so busy lookin’ after our own wants an’ desires, we don’t give a rip about anybody else. It’s the prime example of the self over the community. That’s our civilization. At least that’s how it seems to me from up here on the top shelf.

Just sayin’.