Tag: Patriotism

Canadian Pride

As “we,” like my being a Canadian citizen has anything to do with the Canadian Olympic Hockey Teams performance, prepare to face the Slovakian squad in a semi-final match for the gold this evening, I’m painfully reminded of everything Canadian Pride involves.

You can’t pick and choose what to be patriotic about. It’s all or nothing. So before celebrating Canada’s potential victory tonight, read Yves Engler’s piece, Canada’s Neoconservative Turn, and actually consider everything being a proud Canadian really entails;

“‘Preemptive action’ is likely a euphemism for a bombing campaign. Canadian naval vessels are already running provocative maneuvers off Iran’s coast and by stating that ‘an attack on Israel would be considered an attack on Canada,’ Kent is trying to create the impression that Iran may attack Israel. But isn’t it Israel that possesses nuclear weapons and threatens to bomb Iran, not the other way around? Of course that would be a reality-based analysis, not something George W. Bush’s Canadian clones favor…”

I guess the two positive’s this article brings up, for me, is, 1) I hadn’t previously known Yves Engler had a new book out, Canada and Israel: Building Apartheid. Great news, that he wrote another book, not that he thought he had to. And 2) Don Cherry has, potentially years of further reason, ahead of him, to praise his main interest. The Canadian Military.

I can’t wait…

Quadriplegia

Something about the label “quadriplegic” and being considered a “quad” was something that never felt right. Not for any other reason than I felt it failed to give my ability proper description. In terms of I how used to view the term as a description of a disability more than anything.

When I think of a person who suffers from quadriplegia I tend to picture people I’ve shared time with in rehab. Individuals who, for the most part have a fair amount of difficulty moving most of their body below their neck. Not that I saw it as degrading or insulting. Honestly I just thought of myself not fitting into, what I perceived as the classification.

I realize how flawed my interpretation of the condition was, and yes I’ve rearranged the way in which I look upon it and myself. Continue reading Quadriplegia

I Wonder

It was Canada Day 2008. Just a very short 26 days ago. While normally an absurd reason to “employ” moronic traditions signifying the founding of a “nation state,” I chose, instead to celebrate a friends birthday with a load of other people…

We were outside in a different friends backyard until well after nightfall when I realized I hadn’t been bitten by a mosquito. Strange. I’d even been warned by the home owner, more than once that her backyard was notorious for the little critters. But no deal. Continue reading I Wonder