Party Pooper.

I hate the party system. 

I could never be part of such a system as I would owe my loyalty to the voters that I would serve NOT a collection of shakers and movers.
I've been asked to get involved several times but Independents usually do not thrive in this system.
Once people are elected they should be representing the people NOT the bloody party.
Parties should be put in the freezer, disbanded, not allowed to influence policy in any way until the next election.

Idealistic I know! 

The parties would have to set and layout their platforms and that is the mandate on which they are voted in and must stick to.
Just think - it could make governing so much more effective than the shameful scenes we see enacted in Parliament, Congress, even at the local level where parties have no place whatsoever.
I know, the back room boys, the vested interests will still weasel away to have their agendas met but at least those agendas will be in the open.

Imagine, governments being held accountable for their promises?!
I really believe that if this started at the local level it would solve many ills.
Voting against a bill or bye-law because the other party proposed it.
Voting against a proposal from the other party just because you have a majority and have to flex your muscles.
They might start voting for items that make sense.

Private members bills would have a better chance of surviving; the party whips could be laid off.

Vancouver City Council, just to use one dysfunctional example, would be precluded from bringing in social engineering projects that suit the mayor's whim if those projects were not part of the platform.
The voters might be more engaged if presented with an accountable, fully costed, platform.
The public might even feel that there are not being ignored for 4 years until the next election comes around and they have to do their duty and vote.

I know, I know, government has to be able to function but it doesn't does it? Look at the U/S of A with a powerless President who can't get his own bills through without wheeling and dealing, something that he is not suited for. Really!
Look at our Parliament with a dictator Prime Minister stacking the benches for his own agenda.
And they all do it no matter their stripe.

Discuss.

A Career in Politics

Getting ready for a career in politics. 
Mr Harper I think I am ready for the Senate. 
Here goes: "I am only human and I make mistakes, I try to do my best for the little people who voted me in and I feel I have let them down, and my family, but most of all myself. 
I am deeply sorry but the rules against embezzlement, bribery and conflict of interest are so hard to understand that my confusion is understandable. 
I hope you can forgive me as I have myself. 
I am deeply sorry and ashamed of myself for getting caught, but I place the blame squarely at the feet of my aides, who have been fired and hit with a law suit requiring their silence. 
I will do better next time". 
How's that? Will I do?

Link to older blogs: http://temboderriere.blogspot.ca

For some reason I cannot get into my older blogs so this is a link to them. Google of course are unable to help me, http://temboderriere.blogspot.ca  Tembo Derriere Blog, me really!

Remembrance Day Revisited - We will remember them...or will we?

That time is coming up again in a month, Remembrance Day, Veterans Day, so I thought I would repost my blog. Nothing has changed and I could have written this today as my thoughts, feelings, and philosophy haven't changed either. but some things get worse. Injured Canadian soldiers face later life in dire straits as the government has decided to give a lump sum for them to invest and then washed their hands of them. Shameful. And this despite what the Forces Ombudsman recommended.

I wrote this 4 years ago;
 

…and in the morning we will remember them. Excellent turn out these days for the Remembrance Day ceremonies. Notice how the average age of parade participants is getting younger? We don't just have WWII veterans taking part, there are cadets from all three services (considering just how little government support there really is for the cadets these days and how little pay the volunteer officers receive, but that is a blog for another day); younger veterans from service experience ranging from Korea in the 50s to Afghanistan today and theatres of operations (war!) from then until now and all over the world. We parade to remember those with whom we served, those who did not make it back, those who did but were damaged, and to remember ourselves.

Why did we serve? I joined the British Army in 1969. I did not need to - I had a job at a newspaper in Bolton; it was a chance to do something different, to get a trade and experience. Let me be frank here, nobody joins the military to make a sacrifice. I get tired of hearing about servicemen making the "ultimate sacrifice" that makes it sound like a voluntary act, it is not.

A soldier is trained and is part of a team - platoon, company, regiment, squadron, ship - a team that can be more than family. An infantryman relies on his mates and they rely on him, it is these mates that one gives one's life for and they would do the same for him. Extreme acts of bravery are usually for self and mates' preservation, so is the day to day routine. Being a serviceman is a job, a profession, a career, a way of life; we train to do our job well. It keeps us alive. We know that "it can never happen to us", otherwise the fear can become too great. Training and experience helps to overcome the fear but it does not go away, fear keeps you alive, it is a balancing act.

Nobody I that I knew would say that they joined to sacrifice themselves for their country. Nobody.

Nobody joins to ensure freedom for the folks back home.

How can fighting in Iraq, or Afghanistan, or Northern Ireland back in the day ensure freedom of speech, freedom to vote, back in UK or Canada or USA or wherever. Fighting to overcome an invader is another matter. Don't get me wrong we go into active service with open eyes, we know that politicians put us there, and we know it is up to us to get us out of there. So soldiers fight - to live. Some actually enjoy it and take pride in a job well done and look forward to the next action, but they are not there to sacrifice themselves. No way.

That is why we serve.

What about the other casualties? The wounded. The ones we don't hear about or see.

For every soldier killed in Afghanistan 4 are wounded. Many tragically so. But they are just statistics to the government. And they are shamefully treated. Reservists even more so; they get only a fraction of the "compensation" that a regular serviceman receives yet the risk is the same. After three years the military can cut them loose if they are not well enough to serve, and on a pittance of a pension. Shame on the government and shame on us for not making this a major issue. How many are blinded; lose limbs, disfigured...who knows, nobody is saying. How do they support themselves when discharged? They have families to support on the poor pension they receive. Of my son’s intake in the Canadian Army some 16+ years ago he is the only one left alive. That’s his picture below.

"…We will remember them"? They need more than that.

The Brits are as bad if not worse. I witnessed families put on the breadline and practically homeless when the soldier father/husband was discharged due to injuries. Having to rely on the service charity organisations.

James 2:12 If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?" Indeed.

Where am I going with this?

Servicemen do not sacrifice themselves for their country - their country sacrifices them for ideals, for oil, for mistaken beliefs, to remove non-existent weapons of mass destruction.

So when we parade or watch the parades every 11 November remember the fallen, the wounded, those still in service and think there but for the grace of God go I.

Bomb them back into the Stone Age!

What happened in Syria is awful, an abomination, something I trained to deal with whilst in the Army. And it terrified me. You don't do that to your own people.
But who did it and how does the international community ie the rest of us deal with it?
What lessons have we learned from the past?
Not much apparently because the US President and the UK PM really want to drop bombs on someone and soon, just to show how decisive we are.
After all they have the proof of whom they think did it. Don't they? Well they have Intelligence Best Guesses and can use the same Intelligence Networks that provided incontrovertible proof of Weapons of Mass Destruction - call them WMD it's catchier - in Iraq? Didn't they? No they didn't.
We were flying UN weapons inspectors in Iraq right up to the day of the invasion when our helicopters had to flee to Cyprus.
There were no WMD but the Americans, ok Pres Bush, had unfinished business there that Daddy had left him to sort out.
Oh, and I am convinced that G Bush I did not know that Iran and Iraq are different countries.
"Iran - Iraq what's the diff, still a bunch of A-Rabs with oil that they don't deserve; show me on a map; can anyone show me on a map?"
So they put boots on the ground, planes in the air, bombs in bunkers...and market places and schools, all on a best guess.
And they were wrong and the effects were wide ranging and horrific.
The casualties were horrific.
On both sides.
And it led to Afghanistan.
Do we see a pattern here?
So, we don't want to cause "regime change" like we did in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Panama, and a host of others going back over the ages, how did they work out, eh?
We'll just engage in "surgical strikes" that will hurt the regime, oh and innocent people who should not be there anyway. Think of Yugoslavia, Libya...
Oh and we won't get involved in places that really need us (almost anywhere in Africa) but produce no economic benefit. What would we do with the Congo?
Now President Obama, he of the unearned Nobel Peace Prize, and unkept promises and his sing-song gospel mission preacher rhetoric wants his place on the world stage; after all he is not exactly winning over his own people so let's bomb someone who will appreciate him!
I digress, so what's new, best quote I read in a while: "Obama thinks he is King, but he's no Martin Luther". The man should be given a Ph.D in saying nothing of any consequence.
What will happen? Well the Brits voted out any action but there is a small option available to the PM to take action in the nation's interest, whatever that might be. Obama has the same option, he can surgically strike to protect American interests so long as he doesn't put boots on the ground. Unless those boots are advisors. Vietnam?
As we disentangle from Afghanistan and eventually from Iraq it frees us up to entangle in Iran (who keep tweaking the tail of the lion and need to be taught a lesson) we will find ourselves involved in Syria, will enact regime change and get stuck with another fundamental western hating government and annoying Turkey, the Kurds, Israel and a host of peoples most Americans have never heard of.
Then the US can wonder why they are not liked around the world.
So, back to the premise: "Bomb them back into the Stone Age" or those parts of their countries that are not still in it.

My dog died.

You steel yourself; 

you're tough, you've been there, 

done that. 

Active service; hard training. 

Then you take your dog to the vet 

and tell him that you know 

there is nothing to do for her 

so please end her suffering. 

Then you say "goodbye" 

and hold her in your arms 

as she dies. 

And it opens up that other memory 

of 14 years ago. 

And you cry.

Empty house and empty heart

I've always hated coming home

to an empty house

But one constant this past

fourteen years was being greeted

by one who loved me

who was always happy to see me

and would let me know

if I were late.

Who would share my bed

and refuse to move

when I couldn't get my legs in.

Who'd let me know

if someone were outside

or might be

at 3 o'clock in the morning.

Who'd remind me that its time

to go out for a walk

and get my exercise.

When I really didn't want to

go out in the rain.

Who knew my moods 

and understood me

and forgive me if I were sharp.

Who shared my food

and appreciated anything

I cooked.

That all ended yesterday

and now I come home

to an empty house

and I hate it.