I'm a bad blogger in some ways...

I tend to produce posts and time-stamp them... and I did that with the "Blog My Blessing" post you'll see tomorrow... I did that post early this morning.

...before I heard about this... from Avitable...

As you know, the man we know as New York City's Watchdog has had the unspeakable tragedy occur of losing his five-year old son, Puppy Monster. This is a man who doted on his son in every video I saw, and clearly adored every second of his time with him.

We can't be there to hug him, and we can't be there to support him physically, but we can show how the blog world can come together and help someone who needs it.

Sue and I have done what little we can... to be honest, we're not too wealthy and can't afford to do as much as we'd like, but we did purchase two of the "graphics" to help Dawg...

I cannot stress, as a parent (albeit a step-parent,) how much a story like this affects me... and I can not even begin to imagine how it is affecting Dawg... it's not a terribly rare thing for me to get "choked up", but this was one of those instances...

So please, click here and consider helping a fellow traveller on the blogsphere... one who has suffered one of the worst things any parent can suffer...

Dawg, if you ever read this... I don't know if you know me... and I can't say I really know you... but I am a parent (of sorts) and a human... and like so many, the better angels of my nature have come through... and I hope that our thoughts and prayers reach you and your family...

Again, gentle readers, if you can't afford to buy a graphic, then stop by to express your thoughts at Dawg's blog...

If I could, I'd send every blessing in the world in their directions...

The standard last note on the old blog... PLEASE SUPPORT THE DREAM!

This blog is here to help promote a dream that an entire family shares... that dream is to rescue an old London Double-Decker bus.

Please, if you have a few minutes, take some time to find out more about this bus and the kooky dream by clicking here.

This bus is VERY special to myself and the whole family, and any help any person can lend us would be most gratefully accepted.

If you or someone you know might be interested, there's our tiny banner site, HelpCoverTheBus.Com and a PayPal donation button (see the upper-right hand side of the blog) and, of course, a Cafe Press shop for T-Shirts and shtuff!
(...and who doesn't need some shtuff!)

Please help us make this dream a reality and save a piece of history!

We thank you for your support!

Please Note: We are also hoping for help from a public relations/marketing standpoint... If you might be able to assist OR know someone who might be willing to, please click here and read this entry...

Okay, what's with the traffic??? The traffic to this here blog has been tremendous lately! Yup, lots and lots of new folks reading about... ah, who am I kidding, reading all the weird missives and looking at all the pictures.

I could kid myself that they are all interested in our kooky dream... and I'm sure 99.999% of them wish us well... but I know better... and I'm quite fine with that!

I'm glad so many enjoy our missives here... the notes about paranormal investigations, whines about current news, and of course, the obligatory pleas for assistance on said kooky dream.

Sadly, all these newfound readers (about two-hundred new folks per day this week on top of the one-thousand we normally get,) have not translated into more help with our quest... but hey, it's all good... one of them may tell a friend, who'll tell a friend, who'll tell a friend and WHAMMO! Our bus is en route!

There's no new news on the bus itself... I'm certain it's still in the barn in Santa Rosa and it's probably still filling up with refuse.

Anyway, this may or may not become a regular feature here on Saturdays, but I have to say something that's been nagging at me all week...

CAVEAT! What I'm about to commit to pixels below may not be popular with everyone... we all have our right to an opinion... this is mine with some facts tossed in to support it... but I'm taking a chance by really revealing part of my thought process on things... take this as you will... and read at your own risk...

Earlier this week, my marvellous local politicians (the ones that run this city,) had a vote... yup, they all had an idea that they must sit down and decide the fate of our public emergency service vehicles... get this... DISPLAYING YELLOW RIBBONS TO SUPPORT CANADIAN TROOPS IN AFGHANISTAN.

Okay, the reason why...?

Well, according to some of these elected officials, doing that is PRO-WAR and SUPPORTING ARMED CONFLICT!

Congratulation, turkeys... you made Toronto the laughing stock of Canada and further afield just by suggesting this.

I'm happy to report that the vote was a complete loss for those narrow-minded crapwits in our joke of a city hall who don't understand the difference between supporting those people doing their duty and being an arms salesman to bad guys.

...but thankfully, the vote was "unanimous" in favour of keeping these stickers on the vehicles... well, sorta unanimous.

Several folks "refused to vote" and walked out... most likely because the vote was open to the public and they didn't want to look like the buffoons they are in front of the voters who will hopefully take away their phoney-baloney jobs next election.

Six of 'em... including one in particular that needs to have a little light on her...

MY STUPID PERSON OF THE WEEK...

Pam "Ain't I Wonderful?" McConnell.

Pam cited her bad feelings about the ribbon as stemming from her father passing in WWII and had a nephew hurt in Afghanistan.

From The Toronto Sun...

"In order to support what I think is important to our troops -- in order to show my support for both my father, my nephew and other people who are being hurt, maimed and who have died in wars -- I left the chamber," she said. "I felt it was the most important thing that I could do and I was not going to vote against my conscience or my belief."

Did you ASK your nephew about how HE feels about the yellow ribbons? I doubt it... no, let me rephrase this, I KNOW YOU DIDN'T.

DO YOU REALLY, REALLY, REALLY think that everyone who supports our troops WANTS war? DO YOU REALLY, REALLY, REALLY think that all the troops over there are just waiting to kill or be killed?

...or perhaps, like GOOD SOLDIERS, they have gone to where we told them to go, whatever that reason, and are doing their duty... some above and beyond... and for that, we SHOULD remember them and SHOULD thank them.

Most folks know that the yellow ribbons are NOT supporting the government's sending troops into battle... it's supporting those brave men and women who are DOING THEIR DUTY!

...but not for McConnell... she KNOWS better!

Just (don't) ask her family! She did(n't)!

McConnell was also chair of the Toronto Police Services Board and was... oh, pardon me, was NOT (yeah right) responsible for the non-re-signing of the contract for one of our best police chiefs ever, Julian Fantino... as he favoured tougher police policies and tougher laws... and not building more basketball courts. I'm sure glad we got rid of him, eh Pam?

She also was very helpful in keeping the scourge of helicopters out of the hands of Toronto's finest too... and boy, that was a good thing, eh Ms. McConnell? (For a page of friends of Ms. McConnell and to read some VERY bad science and arguments from people who don't know how to study, click here and feel free to ask them if they've spoken to the parents of the recently deceased folks from the last high-speed pursuit... and also ask if they feel that Toronto should get rid of the air ambulance too.)

Certain folks in my city, consider this an open letter to you...

Dear Ward 28 Toronto Centre-Rosedale,

Please, PLEASE, PLEASE! don't vote for this woman anymore.

I am not a Conservative... I'm not a New Democrat... I'm not truly a Liberal...

...but I do know poop when I see it, smell it, and read about it...

...and she's poop in my humble opinion.

Next election, vote Mickey Mouse! Vote for The Natural Law Candidate! Vote ANYONE except Pam McConnell... she's done enough damage for one lifetime.

She's gotta go.

Sorry.

On a positive note, Pammy and her little closed-minded, unlearned, not-willing-to-look-into-things friends little coup backfired... Not only did their buddy, our mayor David Miller vote in favour of keeping the yellow ribbons, they are now being added to police vehicles in the city... AND in neighbouring Peel County vehicles too!

You did GREAT work again!!! Your ideas, thoughts, and philosophies have ensured that soldiers will be thought of ACROSS THE GREATER TORONTO AREA AND BEYOND!

Yellow ribbons for all thanks to Pam McConnell and her buds (like councillor Janet Davis... who said she voted in favour of the ribbons in the first - closed door - vote but mysteriously walked out on the open-to-the-public second vote! Did someone tell a fib?)

Pray, why DO your constituents vote for you again???

As a side note... It always struck me as odd that the "artists" and more "gentle" community that now hate Canada's involvement with the war in Afghanistan were SCREAMING for us to do something when the Taliban blew up those Buddha statues a few years back... and were so upset about their track record with human rights and especially women's rights... and then, when it was revealed without hesitation that Al Qaida camps were based in Afghanistan and they Al Qaida was responsible for the terrorist activity on September 11th, 2001, they too were all on board...

...but NOW, well... it's all different NOW, I 'spose... right?

Now, where is my dictionary... OH! Here it is!

hypocrisy: noun hi-'pä-kr&-sE - A feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not; especially : the false assumption of an appearance of virtue or religion.

The standard last note on the old blog... PLEASE SUPPORT THE DREAM!

This blog is here to help promote a dream that an entire family shares... that dream is to rescue an old London Double-Decker bus.

Please, if you have a few minutes, take some time to find out more about this bus and the kooky dream by clicking here.

This bus is VERY special to myself and the whole family, and any help any person can lend us would be most gratefully accepted.

If you or someone you know might be interested, there's our tiny banner site, HelpCoverTheBus.Com and a PayPal donation button (see the upper-right hand side of the blog) and, of course, a Cafe Press shop for T-Shirts and shtuff!
(...and who doesn't need some shtuff!)

Please help us make this dream a reality and save a piece of history!

We thank you for your support!

Please Note: We are also hoping for help from a public relations/marketing standpoint... If you might be able to assist OR know someone who might be willing to, please click here and read this entry...

There's been a scourge of "tagging" lately... tonnes of "memes" being tossed hither and thither... and I've had my share for now.

I understand the reasons... it's Summer... people are not "blogging" as oft as they used to... things are falling by the wayside...

...but I'm doing at LEAST one update per day (if not more... like today...)

So, I'm calling a personal moratorium on being tagged for now... at least for three weeks from this date.

It's not that I don't like memes... or being tagged... but how many lists of "X" number of weird things about myself can I do? How many "loaded" lists can be requested to try and allow the original tagger to guess my politics, spirituality, or other personality traits?

I need time to refuel the "list tank", basically...

Perhaps in three weeks, I'll have more weird things happen or notice more weird things... and take in some new movies... or old ones...

You get the idea.

Thanks for everyone who thought about tagging us here!

The standard last note on the old blog... PLEASE SUPPORT THE DREAM!

This blog is here to help promote a dream that an entire family shares... that dream is to rescue an old London Double-Decker bus.

Please, if you have a few minutes, take some time to find out more about this bus and the kooky dream by clicking here.

This bus is VERY special to myself and the whole family, and any help any person can lend us would be most gratefully accepted.

If you or someone you know might be interested, there's our tiny banner site, HelpCoverTheBus.Com and a PayPal donation button (see the upper-right hand side of the blog) and, of course, a Cafe Press shop for T-Shirts and shtuff!
(...and who doesn't need some shtuff!)

Please help us make this dream a reality and save a piece of history!

We thank you for your support!

Please Note: We are also hoping for help from a public relations/marketing standpoint... If you might be able to assist OR know someone who might be willing to, please click here and read this entry...