Zero-tolerance rules sound great on paper but they quickly devolve into mindless bureaucratic stupidity. The case of one 12-year-old girl attending Westridge Middle School in Overland Park, Kansas, epitomizes this insanity. On September 18, 2019, she held her hand in the shape of a gun, pointing it at four other students while saying bang, then repeating the same gesture to … [Read more...]
Firearm Licence Revocation Lies from Justin Trudeau
On February 5, 2020, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stood in the House of Commons and lied to Canadians. Mr. Speaker, the police currently have the ability to remove firearms from someone who presents a threat to themselves or others, but they cannot suspend the licence and prevent that person from acquiring new firearms. That is what the red-flag law is all about. At the very … [Read more...]
School Shooter Alert: Margo Gaines, a 6-year-old with Downs Syndrome
We’re still stuck in a paradigm tyrannized by what I call “Bureaucrat’s Rule Number One.” The Rules Are More Important Than People They have it backwards... completely backwards. People are far more important than the best rules or policy statements. Is there a line where common sense finally kicks in? I hope so, but we haven’t found it yet. Today’s case in … [Read more...]
All Charges Dropped Against Detective Shane Donovan
Finally, some great news in the Detective Sergeant Shane Donovan case. All charges against Sgt. Donovan were dropped on Friday, November 22, 2019, because there was no reasonable prospect the Crown could obtain a conviction against the man who defended his life from an attack by a fellow police officer. He "believed his actions were fully necessary, fully justified and in … [Read more...]
NaNoWriMo 2019 – Day 4 – The Words keep Coming…
Today was another good day for words... aided greatly by Dragon Naturally Speaking. Word count for the day was about 4,500 words, so I'm pleased with progress so far. Just shy of 20,000 words in 4 days, not that word count is the goal this year. As I've done the past 3 National Novel Writing Months, word count is not my priority - completing a first draft of a book is the … [Read more...]
NaNoWrMo 2019 – Day 3 – Not Quite a Day of Rest
Typically during NaNoWriMo I take Sundays off. Today, being only Day 3, I didn't push it nearly as hard as I did on Days 1 and 2, but I still managed to get some good stuff down on the page and added another 3,363 words to my count. One of the fun things I forgot about was all the achievement badges you get during NaNoWriMo. It's hilarious. For example, for writing 2 … [Read more...]
NaNoWrMo 2019 – Day 2 – Breaking the 10K barrier
Broke the 10K barrier today, and am just 55 words shy of 11K at 4pm PST. Very fun, with many more words to come yet. There's still sunshine out my window, for crying out loud! Today's writing session was all about the appointment with Lynda's first surgeon, where we got the news that it was indeed cancer and we had to make a decision about surgery RIGHT NOW because the … [Read more...]
#NaNoWriMo 2019 Begins!
I love November, but not for the reason you might think. I hate mustaches. Not that I think raising awareness of prostate cancer is a bad thing. It’s not. It’s fantastic. But I’m a writer so November 1st marks the beginning of the greatest of all writing challenges - NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month, where I must write 50,000 words in 30 days to call myself “a … [Read more...]
Freedom of the Press, Alan Forsythe and the Hope Standard
Alan Forsythe was fired from The Hope Standard just 7 days after he started his new job due to “concerns about your ability to perform the duties of a journalist in Hope” according to an October 17th letter of termination made public by True North Centre. Then came the outrage on social media. “Canada does not have Freedom Of The Press!!!” wrote @DeniseInCanada in a tweet … [Read more...]
Fabulous Fur Babies
Throughout our lives, both Lynda and I have taken in fur babies who were abused or abandoned. Last summer we rescued two beautiful little Tabby kittens, the latest additions to our family. They were so starved they fought each other over the food bowl. That ended pretty fast, though. It didn't take long for the little fur-balls to realize all they had to do was yell and the … [Read more...]