Maybe I have just lived too long, I don’t know, but really what is happening in our world today, is sad & frightening. Not the Terrorism that is going on, Not the natural diseasters either, and not even the slumping economy is what I am talking about.

IT IS THE CHANGE IN VALUES, IN ETHICS, IN HUMANITY.

Thanks to the type of leadership the world is now enjoying, from Bill Clinton, George Bush, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Brian Mulroney, and Stephen Harper, we have seen the complete erosion of our values. The Religious Right may spout all they want about ‘old time values’ but when it comes to actually doing what they say, it is a far cry from the old time values I grew up with.

VOTERS today don’t vote FOR a party, but instead have been convinced to VOTE AGAINST A PARTY.

That simply makes no sense to me, because it is what a party stands for, what it’s policies are, that should matter. It should not be about what the other guy may be like. YET that is exactly how WE are choosing our Governments today. 

I dislike Stephen Harper and his Conservatives, BASED ON THEIR PERFORMANCE, ON THEIR POLICIES.

AND that is how it should be. I cannot support any political party that is ignoring the needs of ALL CITIZENS, THAT PLACES CORPORATE INTERESTS OVER THOSE INTERESTS OF THE PEOPLE.   Yet, to me, that is exactly what Stephen Harper is doing, and it has trickled down to even civic levels.

It is fine to have PRIDE in your country, but not at the expense of what BEING CANADIAN IS. Yet we have seen it in how the Media & Government have pushed that envelope, with the recent Winter Olympics.  And worse, we seem to have ignored the other areas of our National Pride, such as our Health Care.

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CIFA is monitoring the recall of some food flavor enhancer in the USA.  It hasn’t opted to RECALL it here, which begs the simple question.  

IF THE PRODUCT IS NOT SAFE IN THE UNITED STATES, HOW CAN IT BE SAFE FOR CANADIAN USE?

Sure, I know, different lots made on different days, in different plants, all are things that come into play, but without knowing if the stuff shipped up here is from that lot, or if the products using it, are shipped up here, why are we just MONITORING IT?

I would suggest that from now on, let me do the shopping for Mr. Harper. First off, I’ll save him lots of money, because I’ll only buy the stuff that is being discounted.  While I won’t buy it for my family, given Mom is 92, and I really don’t buy into Harper’s Bullshit that a ‘Best By Date’ isn’t important, I am sure our PM won’t mind.  I mean after all, he is young, vibrant and can easily weather some tummy ache, right?

So what if the meat is brown instead of red? Once it’s cooked, you won’t notice the color, and add a few more spices, you certainly won’t notice the horrible odour from it either. So I could really save a lot of money, given how virtually every grocery store can now legally sell expired foods.

I’ll make some nice sandwhiches for him to take to the office, while he mulls over which lines to change in our National Anthem, or in how he can not tell us just where he spent $60 Billion of our money.   A couple of extra stuffed ham or corned beef sandwhiches will help him concentrate, and well, so what if they passed their ‘best buy date’ a week ago, and are from Maple Leaf Foods.   We all know that Listeriosis is everywhere, right?

GET REAL MY FRIENDS, THIS IS HARPER’S TYPE OF COUNTRY WHERE THE ONLY THING THAT COUNTS IS THE PROFIT MARGIN FOR BIG BUSINESS.  YOUR HEALTH IS THE LEAST OF THEIR, OR HIS, CONCERN.

THAT IS WHAT YOU GET FOR VOTING FOR STEPHEN HARPER

 NOTHING!

I really have to wonder, if the organizing committee for the Games, took anything into account, other than how to push their advertisers and corporate sponsors?

Almost a week after being lit, they are finally making the Olympic Torch in the Harbor, be viewed by spectators, without looking through a chain link fence. [source]

I simply do not understand the powers behind all this, who would not realize, that the lit torch would draw spectators? Instead they deliberately erected a fence to deny access, or to let people have an unobstructed view.  It amazes me, that anyone would want to look at it, because frankly it looks like a couple of implanted girders wrapped in tin foil, but hey, what do I know about design?

Personally, if these games were truly about real amateur athletes, I’d be more inclined to support them. However, it has become nothing more than a way for Big Business & Politicians, to strut their stuff. It really isn’t about the purity of amateurs, but about raking in cash.

Will these games attract more tourists to British Columbia? Perhaps, though why? I mean it isn’t like the media is touting anything about the province, about the communities here, and really, the opening ceremonies certainly didn’t do that. So how is the watching world going to know what kind of place this is? Has the Campbell Government taken out ads on those stations, like they have on CTV?

Somehow, I doubt it. Least not commisserate with what these games are costing us.

That is what the ‘wife’ says, about why there is so much crap being sold, given, made, whatever. In his thinking, it is simply that there is an endless supply of people willing to pay for garbage, whether it be food or sub standard housing, or even in electing a government. To his way of thinking, it has nothing to do with anything else.

Personally I think he is full of shit.

Myself, I do not believe that the number of consumers impacts the quality of goods, unless they stand up and take a stand. Unless people DEMAND better quality, we are going to continue to be fed crap and sub standard shit. Business today is not about being proud of their product, but about how much money they can scam from us, and WE LET IT HAPPEN.

The Media force feeds us their own agenda, ignoring the truth as much as possible, just as our Political Leaders do, no matter their affiliation.

BUT THE BOTTOM LINE IS WE ALLOW IT. WE KNOW BETTER, WE HAVE BEEN TAUGHT BETTER, BUT WE ACCCEPT IT & THAT IS WHY WE ARE FACED WITH GARBAGE INSTEAD OF QUALITY.

The Conservative mantra of Less Government in our Lives, is a nice concept, but totally impracticle. The move to self regulation to industries, is asking for trouble, and worse, for serious illness.  Especially as it applies to the Food Industry.

This Afternoon I went shopping, bought some hamburger, that expires in a few days, however, when it came time to cook it, well, let’s just say we didn’t have hamburger tonight. Fairway Markets, here in Victoria, had a nice sale, and now I know why, too. Due to Self Regulation, consumers are being put at risk, and when you cook for a 92 year old, you can’t be too careful, and yet we place a great deal of trust, into our supermarkets, meat producers, etc.

The Hamburger was bad, but what was worse, is how it was packaged. To begin with it had a nice red color, all around, so why should I suspect it of being bad? The ‘best before date’ was a few days away too, so I mean, hell it had to be good, right?  WRONG!

Once opened, the package was a deep dingy brown color, the red meat was all around the dark colored meat, which makes me wonder if it wasn’t simply packed with fresh meat, with old meat placed inside. Never mind that hot dog packages with a best buy date are weeks gone, but if a business if fudging the fresh stuff, what is left?

What if I had frozen the meat? The color would have changed, and I’d have opened it for use, without knowing, and as a result, could have seriously impacted not just my health, Davids, but Mom’s as well. AND THAT COULD BE DEADLY.

We need to go back to a system, where stores COULD NOT SELL ITEMS EXPIRED.  We need to return to a system, where independent inspectors are given the authority to close a place down, if it doesn’t meat the minimal health standards set down by legislation. No more of this not inspecting machines, that slice and prepare food for thousands. No more letting an industry run amock, endangering our health, or those of our loved ones.

STEPHEN HARPER NEEDS TO BE SENT PACKING, SO WE CAN GET A GOVERNMENT THAT CARES ABOUT US, THE PEOPLE, NOT THE CORPORATION THAT GIVE HIM HUGE CAMPAIGN DONATIONS.

Truth is, Industry is about making profits, and without a real independent force, regulation, watching over them, they are going to cut corners. AND YES, that does mean safety, health corners. The goal is to make money, at any cost, and we have seen how that works, with Maple Leaf Foods, and others.