Heeeeeeeee. . . ar's Johnny!
Carson was great. Two of his zingers:
"The French cultural minister was quoted as saying, "Euro-Disney in Paris will only attract fat, lazy Americans." Yes", Carson said, "the same fat, lazy Americans who died liberating you in 1944."
"I know a man who gave up smoking, drinking, sex and rich foods. He was healthy, right up to the day he shot himself."
Bud Talkinghorn
Books and Something Instead of Gifts
Wasn't Johnny Carson simply delightful! And I concur on that second one;
"Nine out of ten men dies a suicide." -- apologies if I have misquoted from memory--Benjamin Franklin. Oh, how I miss the great ones when they go!
Theodore Dalrymple makes my day when I read his work in the
Spectator and I remember him months later. I can't even explain exactly why; I just love his writing. If only I had such talent!
Speaking of great talent, do get
Paul Theroux's Dark Star Safari; immerse yourself in one of the great chroniclers of his travel.
Having worked in the Peace Corps in Africa, Theroux returned thirty-four years later and everything had grown worse, but he tells of his journey from the Mediterranean south across Africa so engagingly.
I would consider it a personal success if I could interest the young in reading instead of buying! Faint hope. Doesn't any child need what some of us want to share? Faint hope, indeed. I shall get a cat.
Before I do, I must add one piece of
advice for the next gift-giving season. If you have a child, a favourite relative or someone to whom you give gifts, particularly expensive ones, instead,
gift the beginning of a future revelation. Start putting gift money into a bank account for a world trip or various shorter trips for that special person -- perhaps years later. If the account is added to every time you normally would buy a gift, it will add up amazingly.
Instead of buying junk, treat someone to money for a peek at the world as it is -- definitely not first class, but a journey as safe as can be reasonably assured. It is even better if the money covers living in a few places for a period of time, talking with the people while living as the local inhabitants live -- shopping in their markets, travelling as they do, and all the rest. First class insulates the traveller; people come gradually to understanding by actually living at the local level. The recipient will never look at the world in the same way again.
Highlights that I would mention? There are so many. Perhaps I shall prepare a list after I think a bit. Off the top of my head, I would start with what is left of
Pagan in Burma, Borobodur in Java near Djogjakarta, Macchu Picchu in Peru and the valley nearby, along with the ruins of Sacsahuaman and the city of Cuzco, a Saturday morning market in Otovalo--if I have that name correct--about an hour from Quito, Equador and the market in Chichicastenango Guatemala--the people in their vibrant costumes--the mountains--wonderful, the sub Sahara / sahel and the Sahara (if security allows) or the Australian outback, game parks such as Serengeti / Masai Mara. In India there are wonders to be seen--Khajuraho--Elephanta Caves--people to meet, and so much more. The recipient of such a gift will be so impressed by what human beings have accomplished.
Prepare the recipient with articles in the
National Geographic and encourage reading books from good writers. There are beaches and cities that I have not even touched upon -- art galleries in Europe and in Asia such as the
National Gallery in Taiwan, for a start. There is still more -- but what an education to start with some of these.
Certainly it beats buying the latest and most expensive fashions and what I call "general junk" -- variations on gifts of the type repeated ad nauseam -- and the young adult has nothing in the end. Travel opens the mind -- the gift that keeps on giving. Enough! I am salivating at the idea of what is truly worth receiving. NJC
Crime pays--especially if it is white collar
Doesn't it strike you as strange that
white collar criminals, who bilk the public of huge amounts, get a mere slap on the wrist -- if that. There was a case of two band council members from a native reserve in New Brunswick who
defrauded the band of over $2 million, but upon conviction, they were given an absolute discharge.
This week's revelation of a
massive fraud at the Saskatchewan HRDC--around $1-million--involves a woman who had previously defrauded the CIBC in Newfoundland of $600,000. She was sentenced to only two years (in reality about 8 months real time) and she was
pardoned afterwards.
To take this to the big leagues, we see
politicians and government bureaucrats who scam away hundreds of millions; yet, nobody ever goes to jail. If Gagliano had been a mafia boss (there is even a suggestion that he was) doing the same thing, he would find himself in the Big House for a goodly number of years.
Two businessmen in BC were judged guilty of skimming hundreds of millions from investors. It will be interesting to see what lightweight sentences they receive.
The judiciary is actively destroying the sense of equal justice for all.
© Bud Talkinghorn -- but of course, Bud, NJC
Notwithstanding Martin's empty rhetoric
The notwithstanding clause was inserted in The Charter for a perfectly good reason. It was to stop a biased, activist court from destroying the essence of Canada's social fabric. Even an old leftie like Trudeau could see how the courts could be subverted by crazed 'political correctness'. It was put there as a brake to Supreme decisions that over-ruled the commonsense of the majority. As a little aside here; isn't it interesting that the Liberals are so concerned with the rights of the 'minorities', yet feel absolutely free to ram through legislation, often with little or no parliamentary oversight, purely because they have a feeble majority? A classic case of 'do what I say, not as I do'.
Funny,
I don't remember too much sputtering by Martin, when the PQ used the notwithstanding clause to keep their draconian anti-English language laws on the books. In fact, years later, Martin was happy to allow an equally draconian decree to pass. That one gave over all the top positions in the civil service to 'fluently bi-lingual' personnel--read French Canadians. And you thought that the government was over-represented by Quebecois in the past? Being well indoctrinated by the leftish universities and the liberal media, this travesty was given scant attention -- except in the West, where it drove another nail in the Liberals' coffin. However the Liberals realize that they can do without the Western vote, as long as the country's francophone voters feel appeased.
The situation is so dire now that I hope Harper will come out and say, "Yes, I plan to use the notwithstanding clause to defeat same-sex marriage." I suspect that even many borderline Lberals would vote for a man of substance and integrity. And maybe all those immigrant voters who love the ultra-lax Liberal immigration / refugee policies would see a reason to vote their conscience instead.
© Bud Talkinghorn
This is only one of the issues I hope Harper stands up for. All you would have to do is check this blog to see my picks for a leader -- one who is not cowed by the politically correct nor the Liberal / liberal / leftist media and their co-dependents--the reddest of the Red Tories.
By the way, where is Joe Clark today and what Liberal positions is he supporting? He and Scott Brison must be getting their heads together for the next election by now. NJC
