WHO OCCUPIES WALL STREET

                                    

                                              OCCUPY WALL STREET

There recently was a post on Face book extolling the virtues of a young man who had posted the merits of his relatively short life of hard work, sacrifice, frugality, saving, studying, and planning for the future.  I would be the first to affirm his spirit and integrity.

Several Facebookers made comments to the effect that what the world needs is more people like him, and less like the deadbeats with the Occupy Wall Street bunch in New York City.

From all I have seen and read it appears to me the vast majority of citizens participating in these proceeding are normal everyday people. Some are there because the events of the major bank bailout in 2008 have afflicted their lives directly. Others, whether they are small business owners, housewives, waitresses, fast-food employees, teachers from all levels, lawyers, doctors, laborers, in fact it appears all segments of society have felt the effects of the actions of the mega corporations. These same corporations that not only received the bailout monies – but indeed caused the financial mess in the first place.   . [There is an obvious parallel here to the demonstrators in Egypt – same cross section of society demonstrating against a dictatorship masquerading as a democracy not treating the populace fairly.] 

 Others are probably there for the thrill of participating in an action that they can get away with taunting  the police and vandalizing property while part of the crowd – something they would never have the courage to do on their own. These are the professional agitators.

However the vast majority of peaceful demonstrators are I believe a part of the millions of honest hard working citizens of our world that believe in –

                                                                   FAIR PLAY

Yes I know this seems very simplistic – but when you get right down to it – that’s really all we – the average voter (and those still to get the right to vote) strive to attain.

When  right thinking people see what is obviously a situation where one section of society is treated with distain, arrogance, indifference , and yes even cruelty, they will eventually rise to the occasion and let the oppressor (whether it be a dictator, Corporation, or democratic government) understand enough is enough.

When unsophisticated homeowners make mistakes with managing their finances, they very quickly find themselves out of a home, and at times literally thrown on the street.

Mega corporations like AIG,  Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sacks etc etc at the same time were given bailouts by the Various government agencies. Taxpayers (including those losing their homes) were paying to the tune of hundreds of Billions to these financial giants for their financial mistakes. It as has been alleged by several Government committees that some of the companies have committed outright fraud and in at least one instance a charge of perpetuating a monster ponzi scheme has been alleged. Some executives are at present being charged.

These companies through their greed (giving their managers millions in bonuses with the bailout money) and fraudulent practices have caused untold suffering throughout the entire world, and it is still continuing – in some cases it is escalating.   

                                            THIS IS NOT FAIR PLAY

I hope the young man that posted about his frugal hard working life style never has his life savings that he worked so hard to accumulate lost in the blink of an eye by some unethical corporation. I hope he never has a sick child that he cannot afford the hospital bills. I hope he is always treated fairly, because in life it you will run into people that do not believe in your values of hard work and honesty. You may many years from now find yourself out there, trying in some small way to express your democratic right protest what you believe to not be  - FAIR PLAY.

Some Interesting reading.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/the_best_policy/2009/03/the_real_aig_scandal.html

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=22291

 http://consumerist.com/2011/05/feds-gave-220-million-in-bailout-bucks-to-two-morgan-stanley-wives.html

GOD - WOMAN - LOVE - AND THE OLD TESTAMENT

                       READING THE OLD TESTAMENT 

                  THE RAVINGS OF A TRIBE OF ANCIENT 
                              WANDERING  NOMADS

Many who read this little rant probably wonder - what is the big deal – we knew this, ions ago. 

Just as many ( probably many more), mostly regular church goers, have  listened to the message of love preached by their priest or minister, and given the subject little or no thought.

There is certainly no lack of experts on the bible. They cover a wide spectrum of opinion and expertise, not to mention intelligence, logic and the ability to express their thoughts clearly.

We have the right wing fundamentalists from the southern United States who stubbornly refuse to use the brains “god” has given them and insist every word of the entire bible is the dictated word of god.

At the other extreme are the Atheists who use their brains, insist there is no god, and believe (and let’s not be fooled here, it is a belief, every bit as much as the Theists) that with enough lightning bolts and time, the first spark off life will burst forth. The route this spark takes on its inevitable march to the Nobel Prize is open to conjecture!

In between these polar opposites are the so called intellectuals, Christians, Islamists, Jewish, in fact they cover virtually every religion known to man.  There are literally hundreds of wonderful books out there that give a particular insight into god, life, and the various religions bibles. They are all worthwhile in their own way.

I understand one famous Christian philosopher when asked if he believed all the horrible stuff found in the Old Testament was true, answered something like this.

Why worry about it, it is obviously is all myth and metaphor, read it and get on with life.

The above is undoubtedly wonderful advice – but not being a famous intellectual, I have to read and make some of my own observations, before I can get on with life.

            The basic premise of this essay is not to determine if there is, or is not, a god or Supreme Being.  Rather it is to determine to my own personal satisfaction if the god of Moses is a loving compassionate god. As you will see below the answer is a resounding

NO! 

Reading the New Testament, it would appear Jesus came to the same conclusion.

The inescapable conclusion.

The god of the Old Testament is a vengeful, cruel, fickle, spiteful, bloodthirsty god.

If the above is not true.

 Then the obvious conclusion (in fact the only conclusion) is, this god is the invention of a small tribe of vengeful, cruel, fickle, spiteful, bloodthirsty, wandering nomads. 

These Nomads made their god in their own image.

At the time of the writing of the Old Testament (or Torah) when a people decided on a god to worship (and there was quite a number), it was only natural they endowed their god with a body, and the morals of their own. It was natural to claim they were made in his image. Of course there were female gods as well; one in particular – sometimes referred to as ‘Wisdom’ seemed at times to be of considerable interest to the god of the Israelites. It appears that all the peoples of the time had one or more gods. It also appears there was considerable competition among the various tribes/clans, and indeed countries, as to which god was the most powerful.

I guess to peoples of this time in history, powerful was congruent with being cruel, jealous, vengeful, and at times spiteful.

It is almost inconceivable to this writer, but this ‘loving’ god, decides to display most of these traits with the first two humans born on earth.

 Here we have two brothers who are taught presumably that this god must be given gifts from time to time. Since there aren’t too many professions available, one brother raises sheep and goats. As any self respecting Nomad knows, herding animals is the preferred way of life. The other poor brother is relegated (by god presumably) to being some sort of farmer, and grows grain.  It would then be natural if they were to give anyone a gift, it would be of what they produced. One might think any reasonable human (or god) would appreciate such a gift. This is especially true since these two brothers were the only humans born on this earth. 

But no- this loving god (like the Nomads) loves having a slaughtered animal, but looks with disapproval upon the brother that gives him the best of all he possesses  - the grain he produces.

 This of course leads to jealousy, and naturally in this fresh new world we soon have fifty percent of the entire native born population a murderer.

                                               What a beginning! 

Genesis 4 (New International Version)

Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. ³ In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. ⁴ But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favour on Abel and his offering, ⁵ but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favour. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

 ⁶ Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? ⁷ If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."

 ⁸ Now Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field." ^[d]

⁹ Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?"
      "I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?"

 ¹⁰ The LORD said, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. ¹¹ Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. ¹² When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth."

Now we have the entire native born human race living under a curse. It is rather difficult to imagine a worse beginning for our world. The all knowing, all loving
 god, begins the mess by being cruel and small minded by chastising poor Cain. After toiling in the sun and heat to grow food for his family, Cain gives god a gift of the result of his labours.  Then god chastises Cain again for looking downcast – it would be hard to imagine looking bright and happy when the all powerful god of the universe shows you displeasure.

Three verses later Cain marries and starts to build a city. Quite a trick – from being the sole native born, scourge of the earth, to finding  a wife, (sister?) to building a city.

 ¹⁷ Cain lay with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then building a city and he named it after his son Enoch. ¹⁸ To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael was the father of Methushael, and Methushael was the father of Lamech.

I realize the above is only a myth, and it is not my intention to go through the entire Old Testament to show the temperament of god, it will suffice to say things get a lot worse. Just a few examples will follow.

Deuteronomy 13

In Deuteronomy the lord god gives the world instructions on how to treat other peoples who dare to worship other gods – or as in the following, how to treat the chosen ones  -  if they think about worshipping other gods

Worshipping Other Gods

 ¹ If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, ² and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, "Let us follow other gods" (gods you have not known) "and let us worship them," ³ you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. ⁴ It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him. ⁵ That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he preached rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery; he has tried to turn you from the way the LORD your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you.

 ⁶ If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, "Let us go and worship other gods" (gods that neither you nor your fathers have known, ⁷ gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), ⁸ do not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him. ⁹ You must certainly put him to death. Your hand must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people. ¹⁰ Stone him to death, because he tried to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. ¹¹ Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and no one among you will do such an evil thing again¹² If you hear it said about one of the towns the LORD your God is giving you to live in ¹³ that wicked men have arisen among you and have led the people of their town astray, saying, "Let us go and worship other gods" (gods you have not known), ¹⁴ then you must enquire, probe and investigate it thoroughly. And if it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done among you, ¹⁵ you must certainly put to the sword all who live in that town. Destroy it completely, ^[a] both its people and its livestock. ¹⁶ Gather all the plunder of the town into the middle of the public square and completely burn the town and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the LORD your God. It is to remain a ruin forever, never to be rebuilt

Chapter 18--¹⁹ if anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account. ²⁰ But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death."

This god is about to give his people the promised land – of course there is one problem – there are people living on this land, worshipping their own gods, and minding their own business.  This god through the voice of Moses instructs his people how to treat these unfortunate souls – those that are the first to be attacked – and those at a distance.

How to treat the inhabitants from a city that is at a distance

Chapter 20--- 10 when you march up to attack a city, make its people an offer of peace. ¹¹ If they accept and open their gates, all the people in it shall be subject to forced labour and shall work for you.

If this is the loving god’s idea of peace - I’d sure hate to see what he would call slavery.

 ¹² If they refuse to make peace and they engage you in battle, lay siege to that city. ¹³ When the LORD your God delivers it into your hand, put to the sword all the men in it. ¹⁴ as for the women, the children, the livestock and everything else in the city, you may take these as plunder for yourselves. And you may use the plunder the LORD your God gives you from your enemies. ¹⁵

This is how your lord, the loving god, instructs you are to treat all the cities that are at a distance from you and do not belong to the nations nearby. Kill all the men and make all the women and children into slaves.

ETHNIC CLEANSING   

               OR

HOW TO EXTERMINATE THE CITIZENS OF A NEIGHBOUR

 ¹⁶However, in the cities of the nations the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. ¹⁷ Completely destroy ^[a] them—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—as the LORD your God has commanded you. ¹⁸ Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshipping their gods, and you will sin against the LORD your God.

Numbers Chapters – 31  Gives a more graphic and real life (DEATH) example of the results of carrying out the instructions of god upon the “evil” ones

NUMBERS  31

Campaign against the Midianites

31:6 So Moses sent them to the war, one thousand from every tribe, with Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, who was in charge⁸ of the holy articles⁹ and the signal trumpets. 31:7 They fought against the Midianites, as the Lord commanded Moses, and they killed every male.¹⁰ 31:8 They killed the kings of Midian in addition to those slain – Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba – five Midianite kings.¹¹ They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword.¹²

31:9 The Israelites took the women of Midian captives along with their little ones, and took all their herds, all their flocks, and all their goods as plunder. 31:10 They burned¹³ all their towns¹⁴ where they lived and all their encampments. 31:11 They took all the plunder and all the spoils, both people and animals. 31:12 They brought the captives and the spoils and the plunder to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the Israelite community, to the camp on the plains¹⁵ of Moab, along the Jordan River¹⁶ across from Jericho.¹⁷ 31:13 Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the community went out to meet them outside the camp.

The Death of the Midianite Women

31:14 But Moses was furious with the officers of the army, the commanders over thousands and commanders over hundreds, who had come from service in the war. 31:15 Moses said to them, “Have you allowed all the women to live?¹⁸ 31:16 Look, these people through the counsel of Balaam caused the Israelites to act treacherously against the Lord in the matter of Peor – which resulted in the plague among the community of the Lord! 31:17 Now therefore kill every boy,¹⁹ and kill every woman who has had sexual intercourse with a man.²⁰ 31:18 But all the young women²¹ who have not had sexual intercourse with a man²² will be yours.²³

KILL –KILL – KILL – MEN, WOMEN, BOYS,  - HOWEVER  THE  LOVING GOD  SAYS YOU MAY MAKE VIRGINS SLAVES  - THOSE HORRIBLE NON-BELIEVERS – JUST WHAT THEY DESERVE!!

Back to Deuteronomy

CHAPTER 21

Rebellious Son.       Or Stoning Teenagers

 ¹⁸ If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him, ¹⁹ his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town. ²⁰ They shall say to the elders, "This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a profligate and a drunkard." ²¹ Then all the men of his town shall stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid.

Chapter 22---  OR - THANK GOD FOR MAKING YOU A MAN !     (A JEWISH PRAYER?)

 ¹³ If a man takes a wife and, after lying with her, dislikes her ¹⁴ and slanders her and gives her a bad name, saying, "I married this woman, but when I approached her, I did not find proof of her virginity,"

¹⁵ then the girl's father and mother shall bring proof that she was a virgin to the town elders at the gate. ¹⁶ The girl's father will say to the elders, "I gave my daughter in marriage to this man, but he dislikes her.

 ¹⁷ Now he has slandered her and said, 'I did not find your daughter to be a virgin.' But here is the proof of my daughter's virginity."

 Then her parents shall display the cloth before the elders of the town, ¹⁸ and the elders shall take the man and punish him. ¹⁹

 They shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver ^[b] and give them to the girl's father, because this man has given an Israelite virgin a bad name. She shall continue to be his wife; he must not divorce her as long as he lives.

Sounds like justice-   the young (they are always very young) girl, -  who has done nothing wrong  -   gets to live with a man [and probably one of his other wives] that slandered her and probably hates her now  -  the girl’s father gets rich – sounds like a fair minded loving god to me.

 ²⁰ If, however, the charge is true and no proof of the girl's virginity can be found, ²¹ she shall be brought to the door of her father's house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death. She has done a disgraceful thing in Israel by being promiscuous while still in her father's house.

Being a girl in the land of the loving god, means having no justice, and having virtually no rights or protection from men. She dies – he, at the worst pays a fine, and keeps a virtual slave for life. A real win – win   for the female race.

  ²³ If a man happens to meet in a town a virgin pledged to be married and he sleeps with her, ²⁴ you shall take both of them to the gate of that town and stone them to death—the young woman because she was in a town and did not scream for help, and the man because he violated another man’s wife. You must purge the evil from among you.

Such a deal  -- prevented from screaming  -- not screaming loud enough –Deserves a good stoning to death – loving god! 

²⁸ If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, ²⁹ he shall pay the girl's father fifty shekels of silver. ^[c] He must marry the girl, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives. You must purge the evil from among you.  

     Just what a young girl dreams of!

THE ONE THING THAT COMES OUT CRYSTAL CLEAR IS THAT THE LOVING GOD ONLY THOUGHT OF FEMALES AS CHATTELS OF MEN.

THE FATHER, -  ALWAYS GET PAID IN SILVER IF HIS   PROPERTY    IS NOT TREATED FAIRLY.  

THE HUSBAND OR BETROTHED MALE, IS   COMPENSATED   IF THE UNFORTUNATE GIRL IS STONED TO DEATH BECAUSE SHE  WAS RAPED IN THE CITY AND DIDN'T YELL LOUD ENOUGH!

ON THE OTHER HAND IF SHE IS LUCKY TO BE RAPED IN THE COUNTRY  AS OPPOSED TO THE CITY - HER FATHER GETS PAID IN SILVER - THE RAPIST GETS THE GIRL.

THE INNOCENT YOUNG LADY IS TAKEN FROM HER FAMILY, AND  IN ALL LIKELIHOOD,   WILL LEAD A MISERABLE LIFE WITH THE RAPIST  - AND HIS  WELCOMING OTHER WIVES.

                                    

GLAD I GOT THIS OFF MY CHEST  -  NOW I CAN GET ON WITH LIFE

PROGRESS - DESPITE EXPERT ADVICE

THIS IS THE AFTER PICTURE - NOTE THE GATE WHERE BEFORE THERE WAS A FEW JAGGED BOARDS.

BEFORE PICTURE - WITH UGLY BOARDS NAILED TO SHED - NO

CUTE LITTLE WINDOWS.

When we moved into this home a few years ago there was an old looking shed in oursmall back yard. I thought it was ugly and a bit of an eye-sore. The family experts - all female

I might add - insisted it stay the same lovely rustic icon. I wanted to at least paint it. No! no! they all said - it would ruin the 'ambience' of the yard. It took a while but eventually I sort of convinced one of them I should do a bit. This is the beauty before I started - granted not a perfect shot to show all it beauty - but all I could find.

INSURANCE RIP-OFFS

Along with millions of other homeowners I received our home insurance

bill this month. Now I have never been a big fan of insurance companies

but the size of the continuous yearly increase made me almost choke on my porridge.

On top of an approximate thirty-five percent increase over a three year period this friendl

national company advised me since I did not fill in a new little phony self appraisal form

they would not be insuring at present value but at depreciated value - but of course at the

same cost to me.

SO THERE.

Now there is an offer I couldnt refuse! Pay an additional 12% over last year and get 80% less coverage.

I REALLY DO NOT LIKE BEING BULLIED. IN FACT I WILL NOT BE BULLIED!!

I'm not sure if they want the value to be greater or less - in any event I feel rather sure in saying they probably wouldn't pay more regardless of what squiggles I put on there silly form.

BUT ONE CAN'T GET AWAY WITH IGNORING SUCH AN UPSTANDING COMPANY!

Now I am what is called a Senior Citizen - and I don't like being dictated too - even if the letter writer is an attractive young woman from the nice little city of Chilliwack BC. The fact of the matter is - I am really peed off!

I realize the insurance business is rather convoluted confusing business to the average


layman, but one thing I do realize is that reinsurance (or maybe as it may be called now- Credit Default Swaps [CDS] ) is a large part of what drives the cost of home insurance the world over.


So before I decide which company to insure with I decided to do a little research.

The first thing one notices is that virtually all the MAJOR companies even including such as bcaa charge virtually the identical rates - it appears to me this is because of the reinsurance world.


In that world One name that always comes up is American International Group or as it is better known AIG.

Yes you are right this is the company that recently was given - thats right

GIVEN

over $180,000,000,000

I think that means - one hundred and eighty billion - yes BILLION SO IT can stay afloat. And why are they having a hard time staying afloat - it is because they were, in effect, running a gigantic ponzi scheme - a very convoluted and humongous one, but definitely a scheme any little crook would be proud of.

This group operates worldwide and has I believe has been one of the largest if not THE largest re insurer in the world. It looks like they have now restuctured into severaL NEW ENTITIES and partnered with BMO in Canada in some form.

I gather AIG has sold or transferred some of its reinsurance business's lately. As I look into this business the more shady it appears. Words and phrases from the US government report such as; scam - unconscionable, rip-off- dillusion and deception -
played the dirivative game with AIG -

appear repeatedly in the official report.

The Congressional Oversight Panel (COP) chaired by Elizabeth Warren produced a devistating and comprehensive Account.

Anyway to make a nausious story short - changed brokers and now have a new policy with a
small company for LESS than half the old charge.

It really is too bad the federal govt (through its agent CMHC) when charging the homeowner the percentage fee for a high raio mortgage to protect the BANKS AND MORTGAGE COMPANIES doesn't give the homeownrer the same consideration and provide reasonable home insurance in the same way.

Seems to make sense to me.

Which from experience probably means it wont happen.

Melina,s Birthday

Ken said I could download a picture from email - he was right - beautifull mother and child

LIFE HAS ITS UP'S AND DOWNS

ME AND SHILRLEY - ON OLD FRIEND OF BETH AND ME - HER BIRTHDAY

I was sitting here reading some of this blog from 2008. It seems a very long

time ago. At the time I was getting very powerful hormone injections (at $1500 a shot) and radiation treatment. My little body was, I reckon, going through multi changes -

and not liking any of them.

Against two specialist advice I stopped the injections after nine months. Once I had made it very clear I would not continue the injections, Both of these doctors in hushed tones said,

"neither would I"

So now my body has returned to being more or less its old self. I am back to shaving every day.

I have lots of energy. I was going to play hockey again with my old timers group, but it appears the Peripheral Nuropathy in my feet/legs may not let that happen - I may give it one more try.

My knees are much better than they have been for years - I rode my bike about ten k today.

So all in all, if Beth would put about fifteen pounds on I would be a very contented man.

MOTHER AND CHILD - BEAUTIFUL

Jasmine - Such a pretty little lady

A much happier subject - proud mommy and a happy healthy baby!

We who have large families are so very blessed - even it we cant see them as often as

we would like.

THEY ARE WINNING - WE ARE HELPING

The other day as I was entering a store I held the door for an elderly couple to enter, and then followed close behind into the store.

Immediately the alarms went off.

Almost at the same instant both the lady ahead, and I said ,"don't worry it's just me."
We both had a little laugh as I explained that for some reason I often make the alarms go off either entering or leaving some stores. The lady then told me she had a prosthesis that had just caused her all sorts of trouble at the Vancouver Airport YVR. She was body searched, which included the humiliation of having her panties pulled and snapped, all evidently in front of several onlookers. She and her husband were still fuming, weeks after the incident.

I have been mussing lately about airport security. What specifically bothers me is the obsessive, intrusive, and callus attitude most of these people exude. It appears to this observer some of these workers are just a little too enthusiastic, exuberant, and thorough
in their work.

I have just read an article from the Saskatoon Star Phoenix, about among other things, the actions of airport security personnel at Canadian Airports. The situation is similar in all of North America.

Evidently at Calgary a four year old Saskatoon girl was forced to put her doll through the scanner, and then was told to proceed alone for a full body scan or submit to a pat down.
In this same article it mentions an 84 year old breast cancer survivor, who when asked if she carried any fluids said no. Despite this they forced her to submit to a pat down. They then humiliated and embarrassed her as they fondled the gell in her prosthetic breast.

As I mentioned I have been thinking about this whole ridiculous situation for some time. The following thoughts keep popping up - in no particular order.

The odds of being in an aircraft downed by a terrorist is probably about twice high as being hit by lightening.

Not very many Caucasian (at the risk of being called a racist) Canadian grandmothers have been convicted - or charged- with being a terrorist.

Not many Caucasian (at the risk of being called a racist) Canadian men, women, children, or even teenagers, have been charged with being a terrorist.

Very few Canadians of any color or religion have been charged with being terrorists.

Virtually all those involved with 911 were from Saudi Arabia - all were Muslim.

Most of the suicide bombers in the world are Muslim.

The Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv has probably the best airport security in the world. Evidently they do not hassle every passenger - they only pay special attention to a passenger if he or she gives them reason for suspicion Evidently they concentrate on close observation, some sort of profiling and general airport security.

Very few Canadian carry bombs - even if they did I assume the super detectors at all our airports would find them - without anyone having their underwear touched.

The overwhelming odds are, a terrorist (at the risk of being called a racist) will not be a Caucasian.

The leaders - if there is actually a cohesive world leadership of terrorists, must be extremely satisfied with the situation at airports throughout the western world. I imagine they are thrilled by the inconvenience, frustration, anger,lost time and,delays innocent travelers the world over suffer because of them (with lots of our help). Maybe the worse part of this whole frustrating situation is the feeling of helplessness millions of people feel, every single day of the year.

Maybe we should use common sense at airports.

Because we as a nation feel we must be fair to all (which is good) we must never acknowledge the obvious - it may hurt someones feelings. so we will gladly inconvenience millions instead of maybe inconvenience a few - and I do sympathise with the few.

A person about to enter an aircraft, that through no fault of his/her own, resembles persons known to to be terrorists should maybe expect just a little more attention than a four year old child that has no resemblance whatsoever.

Well I feel better now!