Checkered Lounge Pants

"The CRA are up to their old tricks of trying to mislead Canadians, this time in response to the latest leak of tax haven information," Sen. Percy Downe, a Liberal-appointed senator who now sits as an Independent, said in a statement issued Tuesday. Downe referred to the CRA's assertion of a "billion-dollar investment" to combat tax evasion in the two most recent budgets, and said the agency had in fact spent less than $40 million of that money. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2017/11/07/paradise-papers-canada-losing-billions-more-than-estimated-to-offshore-tax-havens_a_23269548/ X

I was emailed a good question today by my Canadian cousin. What are they all saying about this Trump stuff in New England? It took me a few minutes to respond...I started by recalling that I told a friend that one of those Nazis posters images had been outed as a guy from Boston. My friend said theres lots here. Nobody says shit publicly here outside of the odd bumper-sticker (Obama's still far outnumber the Trumps *wink wink*)....but its so divisive. The Dems are tagged as bleeding heart, sell the farm, snowflake liberals and the GOP are tagged as Nazi knuckle dragging, brain-dead, numb-skulls. It is so divisive with the Obama haters and the Trump haters you could cut the tension with a knife. Hillary wasn't even the core wedge....its was black vs white. This society has never gotten over its slavery differences and its worse because the communities are so fukking different its like being in two different worlds from a white neighborhood or a black neighborhood. The ethni...

Shout out to Canada for free healthcare and no wars and clean water and poutine and equality for everyone.

The Scottie McLaren/Tommy Freeman Golf-Gimli My time here in Winnipeg is coming to an end. Things have been crazy last couple days. Wednesday I got an email saying the rental property was now being sold so my house in Ahmerstburg is gone. Next... my son called and asked I come watch kids or they need $ for summer school. Then... yesterday my realtor buddy called and we discussed how I should delay house till spring and shop for an equitable cost neutral home, rather than subsidize mostly unoccupied rental properties.  I have meshed those problem pieces together and come up with a NEW REVISED PLAN. A long story short, sadly I will not be getting my stuff out of storage yet but, I will be leaving for Windsor on Thursday to store more shit and drive to Boston later. 

Star date may 20 2017: I just saw the trailer on Facebook for the Seth McFarlane satirical Star Trek version called The Orville. Fn hilarious. Check it out: https://youtu.be/Yy9sKeCE8V0

I have been in Boston for almost a week. Weather is coolish and wet but no snow. I will be here for 3 weeks and then fly back to Winnipeg to get me car. I hope to spend a month or so golfing (if it doesnt snow) and then drive to Ahmerstburg and settle down for the summer. I got a tip on a little small house in town and will get my stuff out of storage and make that my summer home.

I have been struggling for a meaningful publication this month or miss my first monthly post in 10 years. "Today is the day"...as the line goes in the movie The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. I got all my to do tasks completed over the last few weeks. Condo renos and deco completed and Visas, permits and licenses have all been renewed. I also attended my first committee meeting since retiring from the union almost 10 years ago. Roberts Rules of Order yay. It was the condo committee that is embroiled in a conflict with the past committee members and the present. It was comical watching an inexperience committee struggling to keep order in a meeting full of multilingual condo owners and bitter past members promoting chaos. I was hard pressed to remain silent while the walls of order slowly crumbled around a committee chairperson without a gavel. There was lots of finger pointing and blaming by old members and new that fueled the flames of conflict, besides the obvious jealous...

Hey there.... I have come to that time in my winter home to get all my dux in a row. I have to renew my retirement visa and my motorbike license and my automobile license before I head back to Canada. Its all been done before so its not like its new ground to walk. Speaking of new ground I bought some property this trip. I purchased a modest condo and will be giving up my leased condo after this winter. I hope I enjoy owning one as much as I enjoyed this one. The Thai family here ran a very quiet, serene and tranquil little complex of apartments and condos and treated us very well. I will miss them and the ladies that do the domestics. Talk to you in March. Cheers.

"It's becoming increasingly clear that the aroma of bigotry infuses the whole operation, and anybody who aligns too closely will end up sharing in the stench,"  David Brooks  

The Con Bigots and the Quebec City Massacre I wonder how Kellie Leitch, our sad Trump impersonator, is feeling today. Not so good I imagine. Or should I say, I hope. For on Saturday as I told you yesterday, she attacked a private member's bill designed to crack down on violent Islamophobia. Only to look like an idiot or a beast the very next day.

Hi there. Well it's been almost 6 weeks since getting to my home in Thailand. Great to see my Ning again. We video chat everyday we are apart and she works so much that I feel like I see her more when apart but it is good chemistry for us. We spent a week up in her village for rice harvest and that was fun. Weather seems cooler than I remember from last year but still over 30C everyday. Nights go down to 24C and that seems cool once I am climatized. Still haven't broke out the golf clubs. Talk to you later. Cheers.

David Suzuki Slams Conservative Party's Trump-Like 'Rejection Of Facts' Article Byline Information Posted: 11/21/2016 7:08 pm EST Updated: 11/22/2016 8:36 am EST Much like climate change, the effects of Donald Trump's election will not stay on the southern side of the U.S.-Canada border. There have already been hate crimes since the American election results and, as David Suzuki told The Huffington Post Canada, Trump's anti-diversity and "frightening" campaign rhetoric is being echoed by Conservative leadership candidate Kellie Leitch and her party. "Trump's campaign really was based on the rejection of facts and rationality," Suzuki said, connecting U.S. Republican candidates' climate change denial during their primary season with a similar stance by Canada's Conservative party leadership contenders. "We had the recent debate among Conservatives and Michael Chong got up and said he favoured some kind of carbon tax and he ...

Edited time: 22 Nov, 2016 01:52 Cranes are seen at the No. 3 reactor building, next to the No.4 building, at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s (Tepco) tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture. © Kimimasa Mayama / Reuters The cooling system of the third reactor at the Fukushima nuclear power plant has stopped circulating water following a powerful 7.3 offshore earthquake. TEPCO said it managed to restart the system some 90 minutes after the failure. LIVE UPDATES: 7.3 Fukushima quake & tsunami The cooling system servicing the Unit 3 spent fuel pool was not able to circulate water to cool the nuclear fuel because of a broken pump, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Agency. The temperature in the pool went up to 28.7 degrees Celsius. It takes up to seven days for temperatures to rise to 65 degrees Celsius, which is the upper operational limit, Japan’s national nuclear agency said. According to NHK, cooling equipment ...

Happy October to all my golf buddies and winter friends. I am getting in the last few good weather golf days in Essex County before heading to Winnipeg next week. I met some new golf friends and renewed old ones. I have a fully slated week of teetimes and close out Saturday with a reverse scramble golf tournament and banquet and a Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday with my host family. They have been so gracious and kind for the last 5 weeks it will be hard to say goodbye but goodbye I must OR as my grandkids so prophetically say "see you later". Goodbyes are so much easier that way. I see snow in the forecasts in Manitoba so I hope I dont have to raise a shovel or a scarf before I fly out to Asia. I do hope I get a few golf days in with my cousin Archie Grift before the snow falls. As Buddha says "Do not dream of the future. Concentrate the mind in the present moment." My brother asked me to house-sit for him and Gloria while they go state-side for a holiday. My c...

Hello to you... Spent the last month in Essex County as planned. Could not procure a house but I rented a loft studio (old gym) from old VIA Rail buddy Joe LeBlanc. It's primal minimalistic but it has a TV and satellite and jacuzzi shower and futon. I rescued my AC out of storage and Joe graciously installed it while I got a router to connect to his server with wifi. I Will hunt down a residence this spring.  Getting in lots of golf and caught up with friends.  Will head back to Winnipeg very soon and make my rounds before heading to Asia for the winter to see my Ning and tend my cattle..  Cheers. 

Hi there, I spent the summer in New England and it was a blast. Spent a lot of time wandering the ocean shores along Marblehead and Nahant and got to hop the ferry and wander Martha's Vineyard too. Also had a great time in New Hampshire at the RV trailer with the kids. After 5 weeks I headed back to Canada. I plan to stay here until the end of September and then start the journey back to the winter condo. I haven't done much golfing since June but perhaps I will find some golfers here in Ontario's Essex County. Cheers.

It's been two months back home in Canada. Crashed at Moms coop condo and caught up with brothers. I borrowed some golf clubs and brushed up on the game. It nice golfing when it's only 27C. Got the game back down to 20ish handicap. Lol.  This week it's road trip to Boston in the new car. Love the zippy  Chevy Turbo charged fuel grinch 1.4 l Eco. Looking forward to seeing the kids and the beach.  I'll be in touch. 

"It’s a routine that feels darkly familiar: Republicans blame radical Islamic terrorists, Democrats blame lax gun laws, and everyone sends thoughts and prayers."

I flew back to Canada 3 weeks ago and been visiting with friends and family and getting reacquainted with climate and time zone (noon here is midnight at my condo in Asia). I came in from a two hour hike yesterday to the plan to go see a Pow Wow. ( noun   pow-wow.  a North American Indian ceremony involving feasting, singing, and dancing.) That was my first time I witnessed a Pow Wow. It was an international gathering of First Nations and sponsored by the Manitob Ahee council. The drum groups were shivering and the dancers were of all ages and shook the entire floor when the entire nations assembled. It was spectacular.  I had a very good time for two hours and felt more than welcome but then started to feel outside so I left. Nonetheless I would enjoy attending again in a more natural aboriginal setting if the chance ever arises.  Two memories will stay with me from the PowWow. They are: 1. a quote that went "Religion has all the good answers ...

I am, by any reasonable measurement, old. And yet, more often than not, I feel ageless. Not young, mind you. Ageless. Without age. Nevertheless, the two things create a sort of cognitive dissonance--when the fact of something doesn't sync up with the experience of it. Of course, it's possible that what I'm feeling is the fact. Ageless is some kind of basic spiritual truth, and being old is simply an experience that we choose to have. We could, for instants, pee often and slowly; make odd, involuntary grunting noises while getting out of the chair; have difficulty seeing, hearing, eating, sleeping, walking, copulating, remembering, bending our fingers and breathing, while remaining a field of awareness that exists outside the illusion of time. We also could complain all day and take lots of naps. As I said, it's a choice.