Vancouver 2010 Paralympics

I have to admit I didn't get a chance to watch much of the paralympics but I do think it was an inspiring event.

Seeing former Vancouver mayor Sam Sullivan ride the zip line at Robson Square with Rick Mercer was inspiring.



The Vancouver Province ran a couple of amusing cartoons about the paralympics illustrating how many people with physical challenges are more active and more able than many without who are just plain lazy.

Terry Fox was a prime example as is Rick Hansen, both from BC. These are the kind of people that make us proud. If the theme of the 2010 Paralympics has been the one inspiring the many, then these individuals have indeed inspired us all.

Longboarders on Cypress

Breakfast Television was filming some longboarders on Cypress this morning. These are guys that ride long skateboards down the road up to the mountain. They're crazy. These guys are in a new movie about the sport called Drop my Life Down Hill.

New Snow on Cypress

Well Mother Nature certainly has a twisted sense of humour. Now that the Winter Olympics are over it snows on Cypress. What an ordeal.

I remember right before the Olympics started. They were trucking in snow from Manning and had this huge crane helicopter bringing that now to the freestyle moguls and Aeriel's part of the venue. Meanwhile they had a huge backhoe on Sky chair filling up a giant bucket that another regular helicopter was taking over to the other side of the venue.

As they were doing all this, the fresh snow line in the trees was just above the venue. Somewhat ironic. Just a little lower and none of that would have been needed. Last year we had 15 feet of snow during the same period. Then when it's all over it snows. Ya can't argue with Mother Nature. I still think everyone did a colossal job pulling it off despite the obstacles and as someone said, all the sunshine and warm weather was great for all the street parties downtown.



So now Cypress is open again and ready for business and the likes of us pions get some more extra work out of the season. Today I took my free pass and my six dollar skis with the mix and match home installed bindings and hit the slopes. It was nice. You could still feel there was a hard icy base under the new snow but the new snow was nice to work with.

Last time I hit a patch of slow snow and went down hard on my head in the packed ice. The good news was that I didn't break a leg and got my din settings right. The bad news is I had a road rash scab on my face for a couple of weeks. Such is life. It's all good in the end. Well not all but most of it and the conditions now are great.

Columbia: the U.S. War for Oil Continues

This is another one my daughter gave me. We all know about Columbia's struggle between paramilitary extremes. Now it seems oil has been discovered in Columbia and the U.S. are moving in. The war for oil is continuing.

Interesting background to the war for oil in Columbia. Harken Energy, a small oil company in Texas tied to George Bush has branched out to Columbia. That's the company George Bush was investigated for insider trading after he unload a bunch of it's stock right before the company announced substantial loses in 1990. So they threw Martha Stewart in jail and let the real criminals run free. Why is that not surprising.

Plan Columbia is continuing as the U.S. military moves in. Once again we can clearly see the war for oil that we pretend isn't happening.

Torture in Afghanistan

Ottawa continues to try to block the release of uncensored documents discussing their knowledge, support and legal liability of prisoners being tortured in Afghanistan. One source who claims to have seen the uncensored documents claims the reason the government is trying to block the release of that information is because not only does it prove they knew about the torture, they wanted it to happen.

There are a few points I'd like to make. First, I completely oppose torture. Second, I think it's totally hypocritical that the federal liberals are making a big deal about this when their chosen leader has gone on record saying he supports torture of terrorist suspects. The Harper government denied it but the Ignatief government would boldly and openly endorse it. Both are wrong.

Some people can rationalize torturing terrorist suspects because they are cold blooded murders and lives will be lost if they are not tortured. Roughing them up a bit is one thing but torture is another. Then there's the innocent until proven guilty thing. What about Operation Northwoods and all the false flag terrorist attacks in history? What if the purpose of the torture is to get a fake confession to something the suspect didn't do? That would change things considerably. That is one of the reasons I oppose torture. I believe that has happened in the past and the Toronto 18 is indeed suspect.

Torturing prisoners in Afghanistan is wrong because our very presence there has become suspect. If they really were responsible for 9/11 then the war is valid. However, there is a wealth of scientific evidence which makes that presumption suspect. We all know the invasion of Iraq was about oil not weapons of mass destruction. MI 6 were caught red handed putting false information into the media about Iraq's WMD in Operation Mass Appeal which proved to be false.

Likewise, the bin Laden confession video didn't even look like bin Laden. The bin Laden family gave Bush start up money for his family's defunct oil company in Texas and actually helped build the WTC in New York. Prior to 9/11 Texan oil Barron's from Unocal were wining and dining the Taliban trying to win the contract for the oil pipeline called Centgas, Central Asia Gas Pipeline that was to be built through Afghanistan piping oil from Turkmenistan to Pakistan. The two companies competing for the project were Unocol from the U.S. and Bridas from Argentina.

Although an agreement with Unocal-led corporation CentGas was reached, the deal was forfeited in January 1998 in favor of one with Bridas. Instability in Afghanistan delayed construction of the pipeline, however, and following the United States Invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001, the Bridas contract was rescinded in favor of the former one with Unocal.

There we have it. Unocol lost the contract with the Taliban to build the oil pipeline through Afghanistan in January 1998 to Bridas, an Argentina firm. After the invasion of Afghanistan, Unocol was given the contract again in October 2001. Do the math. Iraq's war for oil revisited.

So notwithstanding the religious extremism in Afghanistan and notwithstanding the many wonderful people who have given their lives to that struggle, the whole mission is fundamentally suspect and Michael Ignatieff, the devil incarnate, teaches torture is OK so it is totally hypocritical for the Liberal government to complain about something they would publicly endorse. Nevertheless, we need to stop our participation in torture. Especially when it is done to obtain false confessions. "Inasmuch as ye have done it to one of the least of these, ye have done it unto me."

O Canada French Lyrics

Well I'm glad to hear the Canadian government has changed it's mind about changing the lyrics to the national anthem: http://news.ca.msn.com/top-stories/cbc-article.aspx?cp-documentid=23586320

They are the ones that sparked the controversy by telling the media they were considering changing the lyrics. If something's not broken, don't fix it. Indeed there are a couple of places that could be more politically correct but as soon as you change one thing then you get a million special interest groups that want to change everything and forget the historical tradition in which it was written.

Speaking of which, did you know that the National Anthem was originally written in French? I didn't. According to Wikipedia, the original French lyrics were written by Sir Adolphe Basile Routhier, as a French Canadian patriotic song for the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society. The French singing of "Ô Canada" was first performed on June 24, 1880, at a Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day banquet in Quebec City. The Canadian government had bought the rights to the lyrics and music for one symbolic Canadian dollar in 1970.

Can you believe that? O Canada was originally a French song for the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society. Wow. Calixa Lavallée wrote the music, which was a setting of a patriotic poem composed by the poet and judge Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier. The lyrics were in French, but were translated into English in 1906.

The English translation of the lyrics was produced two years before Robert Stanley Weir wrote another English version, one that is not a literal translation of the French. Weir's lyrics have been revised twice, taking their present form in 1980, but the French lyrics remain unaltered.

I felt that we all need to know the French lyrics to the song better but upon discovering the historical origin of the song, it would be well worth reading the original French lyrics as well as memorizing the current French lyrics. Salut!

Ô Canada!
Terre de nos aïeux,
Ton front est ceint de fleurons glorieux!
Car ton bras sait porter l'épée,
Il sait porter la croix!
Ton histoire est une épopée
Des plus brillants exploits.
Et ta valeur, de foi trempée,
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.

Wasn't that a Party

Well that was amazing. Hosting the Winter Olympics was a wonderful experience. We have never seen such nationalism here before. It was very positive. The closing ceremony was the prefect end to a wonderful adventure.

We all know there were a few technical glitches to the games at first. However, everyone pulled together to make it happen. One of the four pillars to the Olympic cauldron didn't rise at B.C. Place during the opening exercise. As a result one of the four people selected to light the cauldron wasn't able to.



In the closing ceremony, that experienced was relived as a clown jumped out with a tool belt to fix the problem. The fourth tower successfully rose in the end and the person who missed their opportunity to light the flame in the opening ceremony was able to do it in the closing ceremony. It was wonderful. The ability to laugh at yourself and recognize in life things happen. We just need to deal with it and press on.

I thought the whole ceremony was magnificent. Steven Harper was seen standing with that painful look on his face unable to crack a smile while Gordon Campbell was seen hooting and jumping around like he was on crack. Or at least revisiting his last episode in Hawaii before he was arrested there for DUI.

Hedley could have chose a better song. They are very talented but to sing if you want to be a success in life you have to take off your clothes and be a porn star to the Olympic athletes was absurd. Neil Young did well as did Avril Lavigne and many others.

The whole Olympic experience was one of incredible nationalism. After Canada won the gold in Hockey against the U.S. you could hear cars honking way out in Surrey for hours afterwards. People driving around or standing on the street holding flags and maple leafs honking and cheering. My daughter called my son who was in Vancouver at the time and he couldn't hear a word. It was great for my kids to see and experience.

I still reject the slogan the best place on earth. I think that's arrogant and false. I prefer the old slogan Beautiful British Columbia. This place is, like many other places on earth, beautiful. The whole thing has helped us appreciate our own home a bit better and kindled a sense of pride in that home.

Roberto Luongo was born in Montreal. He's still our favorite in Vancouver. As is Joannie Rochette, also from Quebec.

Our deepest sorrow is reserved for Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili. For his family, his friends and his country. We made a horrible mistake. We should never have left a pole exposed on the track. What a tragic loss. We will remember him.



Canada did well with gold medals this time but as one Canadian medalist said it's not about the medals, it's about our values. It's like judging a person by their salary - somewhat superficial. Canada doesn't do very well in the Summer Olympics and we don't even place in the world cup soccer. One memorable moment was when a Canadian cross country skier broke her pole and a coach from Norway gave her another one. Now that's what I'm talking about. Cheers Norway.



Sunday the Olympic flag was flying from Vancouver city Hall but Monday it was taken down as it was passed on to Sochi in Russia. We look forward to visiting Russia. We love you Ruskies. Be forewarned we will try and get you to smile but won't push it if it's a cultural thing.



Our heart goes out to Chile who just experienced a major earthquake. We can't do everything but we can do something to help. Just as Vancouver's turn to host the Olympics has come and gone, so too will Vancouver's turn to experience a major earthquake. Until then our eyes are on Sochi and are arms are spread wide to embrace our Ruskie friends there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VH3go5onoI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1jrlpRCpcE

Vancouver should twin with Sochi. That place is beautiful. http://sochi2014.com/en/