The Thing About Suicide

The Thing About Suicide 

I had just finished writing a highhanded blog about Suicide Prevention Week. Actually it was pretty good, considering the subject matter. I generally don't have much sympathy for people who take their own lives. It's a loser's gambit as far as I'm concerned. But then I heard of the eighteen year old young man in B.C. who had been moved out of his group home because of it's unsatisfactory conditions. Four months ago he had been placed in a hotel room by child and family services without any supervision or guidance. Yesterday he went out the window, kissing the concrete four floors below. That was his last act.

Now of course the agency in question is devastated, saying he should never have been placed in a hotel and should never have been left alone. Obviously they never took note of the girl in Manitoba who was staying in a hotel and was murdered a few months back and the tearful minister vowing to remove children in their care from hotels. I got a notion that neither of these ministers would be nearly as devastated if it hadn't been splashed all over the TV. This kid had no one, not even the agency who's care he was in. He was sitting in the hotel room for four months - like solitary confinement. So there's somebody whose mental outlook you can sympathize with or at least understand.

That Derek Zaretsky fellow on the other hand who murdered little Hailey Blanchette and her father, tried to commit suicide while in custody and is now in hospital. I really, really hope he survives. He should live a long life in prison so that each and every day he can be reminded of the terrible things he has visited upon so many people, including his own family. He did it, so he should live with it without mercy.

So there you have two completely opposite sides of the same issue. On the one hand you have somebody who's been absolutely abandoned for a long period of time. That's an outcome that should never have happened. On the other, you have somebody who has perhaps realized what he has wrought and so takes the coward's way out of his dilemma.

Do I have a solution? You know me better than that - of course I do! A lot of these problems can be solved around the family dinner table before they even become problems. Well, at least if we still had families and dinner tables. At least that's how it seems to me from up here on the top shelf.

Just sayin'.

 

The Cretien Magic

The Cretien Magic

 

Holy Crackers! I jumped up outta my chair an' stood at attention before I knew what I was doin'. There he was, large as life an' feisty as ever, openin' the conversation for his former boss's kid. What in the H E Double hockey sticks was he doin' there? The man is eighty years old an' yet he's actin' an' talkin' like a man o' forty, slicin' up the competition with a precision as only he can. He certainly aint lost his touch neither. In fact, if anythin' he's honed it somewhat.

Well an' I wasn't the only one cheerin' for the old politician neither. As he was finishin' up his speech, the whole crowd was yellin' "Cretien, Cretien, Cretien!" It was a magical moment. It took a little doin' for the kid to find his feet but, as if buoyed by the old master, he did an' delivered a pretty good campaign speech.

I can't remember bein' that excited about a political rally since the days of ol' John Diefenbacker. Them were the days when what the politicians said meant somethin'. At least that's what we believed at the time. It's a little different today when we don't even believe they're usin' their own names for heaven's sakes, never mind anythin' else.

Well, case in point: They come out with economic numbers the other day, sayin' we got a surplus, not a deficit. Harper's jumpin up an' down sayin "See, I told ya! Stick with me an I'll lead ya to prosperity." Of course, the opposition is climbin' all over this, citin' cuts to Immigration, Aboriginal Affairs, Veterans Affairs an' so on. Stick with them and make the changes that'll bring the middle class into prosperity. It's got to the point that no matter which o' them Pied Pipers we follow, we're gonna get led up the garden path and into prosperity (well at least up the garden path).

I got a problem believin' any one o' them politicians (for want of a better term), but if I were to lean toward any one, I'd go with the guy who's got the most ammunition. Trudeau seems to have that in the person of Cretien, so that's where I gotta lean. Holy crackers, I was ready to vote right then an' there last Sunday! But you know, his timing is way off. He should'a waited 'til about a week before the election to spring that surprise. That would have had a much greater effect on the election outcome. Timing is everything. At least that's how it seems to me from up here on the top shelf.

Just sayin'. 

 

The Time of the Eighth Fire

The Time of the Eighth Fire

People have been migrating all over the world for almost as long as there have been people. But this time seems to be somewhat different. The world is getting full of people and there's not a whole lot of room left. We have come to a crossroad it seems. The mass migration of people now happening is something that hasn't been seen for a while. This time it isn't the weather or other natural phenomena causing the migration. Like everything else these days, it's perpetuated by the corruption, short sightedness and cruelty of humanity. As a result, we are due for a long look at our potential future.

If you're familiar with the Anishinabe legend of the "Seven Sacred Fires", you will know that the time is upon us for the "Eighth Sacred Fire" to be lit. For those who are unfamiliar with it, it goes something like this: "Now the light skinned people will come to a fork in the road. Should they choose the right road, the Seventh Fire will ignite the Eighth Fire. This will be the eternal fire of peace and brotherhood among all people, men and women alike. But should they make the wrong choice, the destruction they brought with them from across the sea will return to them, causing much death and destruction to the earth's people."

Well, that sort of coincides with the biblical reference to a thousand years of peace in the book of Revelations. If ever there was a time for the indigenous people who follow these ancient teachings to come together to speak with one voice that will echo across the world, it is now. It's hard to say whether anyone will listen and agree to give up their power struggles or their coveted hatred of their fellow man, but it's worth a try.

As to resettling the masses for example, the current population in Nunavut to the space available is 63 square kilometers per person. It is similar in the NWT and the Yukon. In fact, you don't even have to leave Manitoba or Saskatchewan to find some elbowroom. People seem to think they have to be in Montreal or Toronto or Vancouver in order to have a good life. Well how do they think these cities started out? I can remember standing in front of a statue of Champlain in the park in the Gateneau hills where he is gazing over a vastness of dense forest and hills, and wondering how all these cities and communities ever got built in this wilderness in the first place.

In my mind it is only the First Nations of this country that can help and guide the refugees to settle and develop the vast wasteland of northern Canada in a way that is both productive and eco friendly. These same First Nations have after all been refugees themselves in their own country for a long time so they know better than anyone what to do. The Federal and Provincial governments have proven themselves to be inept at doing anything so if ever there was a time for our First Nations to speak and act, now is the time. At least that's how it seems to me from up here on the top shelf.

Just sayin'.

 

 

The Great White North

The Great White North

 

Well it ain't all that white no more, what with global warming and all, but it's still great in size, second only to Russia (which ain't that far away). An' when it comes down to it, there ain't nobody up there other than a handful o' Inuit an' a whole lot o' wildlife. Well, I shouldn't discount the oil an' gas drillers an' the miners who are causin' all the disruption to the environment.

The reason I mention that is in connection with the terrible disturbances goin' on in Europe over refugees enterin' (or trying to) Austria, Germany, Sweden, etc. in search of a better life. Ya can't really blame the refugees for fleein' their homelands, to escape all the wars an' rape an' plunder an' corruption goin' on. But see where they look for refuge. They wanna be in places like Vienna or Berlin or Stockholm where there's good economic activity, not in some God-forsaken cold place where they might have to bend their backs an' do something for theirselves. No, they'd rather be in places like Toronto or Vancouver where the livin' is easy. Well who can blame 'em? If you're lookin' for improvement, ya may as well go whole hog.

The Indigenous Peoples from around the world must be crackin' up laughin'. IT'S PAYBACK TIME! Obviously the Europeans don't much like it. When THEY was invadin' places like Africa, India, Australia an the Americas, well that was different. Now there's people comin' from all over lookin' to share in THEIR prosperity. It seems the only country brave enough to act on this crisis is Germany. They're prepared to take up to eight hundred thousand refugees. Well of course, they got the experience from when the Berlin wall came down. Ain't nobody noticed how their economy has flourished since that time?

Well, to the great white north: There's yer port o' Churchill. Just sittin' there watchin' all them foreign boats go by, an' now even Chinese boats. An' all ya got is people comin' to watch the polar bears eatin' garbage. That port should be an' could be a port to equal Singapore if it were properly peopled an' operated. An' the whole gawl dang north could be managed an preserved as an eco tourist area like only the Africans know how to do, managin' migration routes of animals an' a balance of wildlife an' human interaction in concert with the Denė an' Inuit. Intersperse that with a bunch o' Mennonites who would turn the fields into gardens an' crops like I said a couple o' weeks ago, an' you got a whole new Great Green North.

But you gotta have a plan. An' the government's left hand gotta shake hands with it's right hand so everybody knows what he/she's doin. At least that's how it seems to me from up here on the top shelf.

Jusr sayin'.