Saturday Funnies

Loyalty Cards

In the past few months, Monsieur Bear and I have started to apply for and use the loyalty cards which are being offered by many of the stores and businesses here in Canada.

Instead of paying cash or using our debit cards, we are consciously using specific credit and/or loyalty cards at the various stores where we shop.

We pay off any account balances before interest rates would accrue so it is not costing us any extra to shop this way.

We have been pleasantly surprised to learn that by doing this we are accumulating points and/or dollars to the amount of $40.00 to $50.00 per month.

This amount may not seem like much but when you add it all up; it means an additional $480.00 to $600.00 we have to spend in one year.

Are there any others out there who are using loyalty cards in this way and have you found similar or higher savings?

Eco-baby toys

Gifts for the eco-baby

On a crusade against plastic toys?

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Plan Toys produces simple, colourful toys in Thailand, made with materials such as replenishable rubber wood and water-based dyes.

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But your baby doesn't care about all that.

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He/she will dig the smooth surfaces and bright colours.

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Oh, and the satisfying clunk these toys make when tossed on the floor.

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ABC Wednesday-U

Founded in 1907 as a messenger company in the United States, UPS has grown into a $49.7 million corporation by focusing on the goal of enabling commerce around the globe.

Today UPS, or United Parcel Service Inc., is a global company with one of the most recognized and admired brands in the world.

As the largest express carrier and package delivery company in the world, UPS are a leading provider of specialized transportation, logistics, capital, and e-commerce services.

Every day, UPS manages the flow of goods, funds, and information in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.

At this time of the year, having a familiar UPS delivery truck come to your home also brings a smile to your face.

(And it is always nice to see a man in a UNIFORM.)

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ABC Wednesday is brought to you by Mrs. Nesbitt.

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Mr. Linky can be found here.

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Safety Concerns

Today, Monsieur Bear and I were out driving in the car and we were shocked at how many pedestrians were trying to cross the roads in the middle of the block or crossing at a corner on a red light.

What was so disheartening was that there was not one specific age group doing this, but people of all ages. We saw teenagers in large groups, young mothers pushing strollers and with toddlers walking beside them and also seniors with canes crossing the streets in an unsafe manner.

Please people use your common sense especially at this time of the year. In winter conditions, cars take longer to come to a safe stop.

Everyone is in a hurry and rushing to get somewhere but please don't ruin your families' holidays.

We drivers also don't want our holidays destroyed by your carelessness.

Use a safe crossing. please.

Let It Snow

We have had our first real blast of winter here.

Monsieur Bear is in his glory because he gets to use his snowblower for the first time this year.
MEN!!!

Rest In Peace

From CBC News:

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Three Canadian soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan Friday, raising the Canadian death toll there above the sombre milestone of 100.

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All three — Cpl. Mark Robert McLaren, Pte. Demetrios Diplaros and Warrant Officer Robert Wilson — were based at CFB Petawawa in eastern Ontario.

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As with many of the deaths, the latest casualties came from an improvised explosive device (IED) — one of the Taliban's weapons of choice.
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The three were in an armoured vehicle when it struck the IED west of Kandahar city around 9 a.m. local time, Friday, December 5, 2008.

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Soldiers at Petawawa were upset that the latest casualty came three weeks before Christmas, especially after a three-month lull in fatalities for the Canadian Forces.

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Before Friday, the last Canadian death was on Sept. 7, when Sgt. Scott Shipway was killed under similar circumstances after his armoured vehicle struck an improvised explosive device during a security patrol.

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"To have gone for three straight months gave soldiers here perhaps a little bit of cautious optimism," said CBC's David Common. "That optimism, of course, shattered … tonight, as there are many solemn faces."

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"For some it could be a number, for some it could be a milestone," said one soldier, who didn't give his name. "We don't think about the numbers. We think about our fallen comrades, our brothers in arms."

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Cpl. Mark Robert McLaren

Pte. Demetrios Diplaros

Warrant Officer Robert Wilson

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Rest In Peace--Our Latest Canadian Heroes

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Cake In A Mug

Photo courtesy of Daryl from on the m104

Recipe courtesy of JeanMac from Welcome to our World

DANGEROUS CHOCOLATE *CAKE-IN-A-MUG*

1 coffee mug

4 Tbsp. flour (plain, not self-rising)

4 Tbsp. sugar

2 Tbsp. cocoa

1 egg

3 Tbsp. milk

3 Tbsp. oil
Small splash of vanilla

3 Tbsp. chocolate chips, optional

Add dry ingredients to mug, mix well with a fork.

Add egg, mix thoroughly.

Pour in milk and oil and vanilla, mix well.

Add chips, if using.

Put mug in microwave, and cook for three minutes on 1000 watts.

Cake will rise over top of mug--do not be alarmed!

Allow to cool a little; tip onto a plate if desired.

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This is a real treat and so easy to make.

It can be shared with another person but Monsieur Bear now knows if he wants some, he has to make his own.

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Canadian Government in Crisis

UPDATE:
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has extended the life of his minority Conservative government until the new year after Governor General Michaelle Jean today granted his request to suspend Parliament.
Jean made the unprecedented decision after a lengthy meeting with Harper this morning at Rideau Hall.
Her consent to prorogue Parliament means the work of the Commons has been discontinued, allowing Harper's Conservatives to escape a confidence vote next week that would have meant the defeat of his government.

SEVEN WEEKS of inaction---just what we don't need with the economic crisis worsening every day.

GRRR!!!!!!





This is copied word for word from Rick Mercer's blog.






http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/2008/12/3/Forgive-them-Canada-they-know-not-what-they-do
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EVERY Canadian should read this.
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"Not long after Stephen Harper took office as Canada's 28th Prime Minister an infant polar bear was born in a Berlin Zoo. Known as Knut, this cub was summarily rejected by his mother and so was nursed by human beings. Now two years later animal psychologists admit that he has become so addicted to human laughter and applause that the instant those things disappear he becomes desolate and cries for attention. This has lead to irrational behaviour never seen before in a polar bear. Experts fear that without constant applause Knut the polar bear could simply lose the will to live.
Enter Stephen Harper.
During our current crisis, Conservative staffers are being ordered to stand outside 24 Sussex Drive starting at 6:15 in the morning. Their job is to stand there in dark, in temperatures well below zero. Their instructions are to applaud, wave and sing Oh Canada loudly as Stephen Harper's motorcade pulls out of the gates and drives him to work. Harper, by all accounts, actually believes that the young people are there on their own accord and represent a ground swell of love and support for his actions. It's easier this way. Nobody wants to suffer at the hands of the inconsolable bear.
Enter Stephane Dion.
Stephane Dion is a humiliated and beaten man. Nothing prepared him for the thrashing he took in the last election, and the subsequent rejection by his own party just made matters worse. The applause and cheering stopped for this man a long time ago. Given the chance to exact revenge he will seize it at any cost.
And so is it any surprise that these damaged men are the architects of a crisis in Canada the likes of which we have never seen?
With leaders like this we shouldn't be blamed for asking why bother.
But I do know this. If this parliament was a dog it would be brought out behind the shed and shot. Rabid dogs aren't reformed, given second chances or trusted ever again.
At first this little crisis of ours in Ottawa was nothing but good old fashioned fun. For political junkies it was simply blood sport and made for great entertainment.
It began of course with the economic statement, a colossal misstep for Prime Minister Harper. The nastiness and partisanship caught everyone off guard – including the Conservative cabinet that once again were kept in the dark. Sane cabinet ministers were forced to grin and bear it as the leader revealed a strategy that not only highlighted the very worst elements of his personality, but reinforced the nagging cliché that this Conservative party cares more about inflicting pain on those they dislike then offering support for anyone in need.
For most casual observers it seemed like a game of hardball Stephen Harper would easily win. The opposition under Stephane Dion is, without a doubt, the weakest official opposition that Canada has ever seen. The leader is on his way out, the party is broke, and discipline is non-existent.
But then a funny thing happened on the way to the vote in the House of Commons.
Stephane Dion may lack the basic skills needed by all political leaders but he seems to have a grasp on basic math, something Stephen Harper, the economist, seems to have lost.
Dion crunched the numbers and quickly realized that if his party, along with the other two parties in the house, opposed Harper the government would fall – in theory Dion could even become Prime Minister.
The only problem with that scenario was that no Liberal leader would ever consider such a gambit because it would mean getting in bed with both separatist and socialist forces in the House of Commons.
The difference this time around is that those forces didn't spend the last two years destroying this Liberal leader's personal reputation. That was Stephen Harper's doing. A coalition could ruin Stephen Harper and that's the only motivation Stephane Dion needs.
This is personal.
Stephen Harper loves being the Prime Minster of Canada. Under Harper the motorcades have gotten longer, the office more presidential, the trappings more grand. The idea that within a week he could be standing in line at the airport with regular Canadians, photo ID at the ready, attempting to board an Air Canada jazz flight to Moncton so he can explain to party faithful why he now travels in a Jiffy Taxi gnaws at his very being.
Knut the polar bear could not survive such a humiliation and nor can Stephen Harper. So Stephen Harper tore up his economic update; he blinked and backtracked – behaviour not before seen in this political animal.
And this is where it should have ended; a substantial and unexpected victory for a lame duck Liberal leader and a humiliating lesson to the Prime Minister. A nice little reminder to all involved that nobody was granted a majority in this parliament, and we expect everyone to get along. Tragically, Dion wasn't strong enough to put on the brakes. Or more likely he was unwilling. It's not enough to see Harper humiliated he wants to see him out of a job.
And so we now face the notion that within a matter of days or weeks a Liberal NDP Bloc coalition led by Stephane Dion could form a new government of Canada. Stephen Harper will have no choice but to quickly rebrand the Conservatives as Canada's New Opposition.
In theory a coalition could work. If aliens from outer space landed and were running roughshod over the country perhaps a Liberal, a socialist and a separatist could put their differences aside and work together to defeat the alien overlords. A global economic crisis, however, is probably not enough for these three wildly divergent visions of Canada to gel.
This is many things. It is unimaginable, it is a little embarrassing and, it makes our parliamentary system look like a laughing stock.
However it is not, as Stephen Harper insists, undemocratic, illegal or un-Canadian.
The facts here are very clear. Stephen Harper has a minority of seats in the House of Commons – something he has never accepted.
He is required to allow for a vote on his economic update. To win he needs fifty percent plus one, and he doesn't have it. If he loses he must ask the Governor General to dissolve the House. And if she feels a coalition can govern with a majority of support in the House of Commons then she is required to ask them to do it.
Them's the rules and Harper knows it. And so his only strategy is to launch a full-fledged attack on the very institution he is sworn to protect.
Harper has taken to the airwaves saying that if he loses a confidence vote in the House of Commons it is a coup d'etat, comparing it to the hostile takeover of a legitimate majority rule government by a military dictator.
And so our Prime Minister is suggesting that the Governor General must not listen to constitutional advisors but to him and him alone. The Prime Minister's office, those same people who unbeknownst to him ensure there are people waving to the PM wherever he goes, is organizing a protest which will occur at the residence of the Governor General of Canada. In Stephen Harper's world it should not be 700 years of parliamentary tradition that determines the future but him and him alone. Incredible hubris for a man who received less than 38 percent of the popular vote in the last election. One imagines the Queen will not be amused. In a perfect world she would just knock their two heads together and call it a day.
This could be the beginning of the Republic of Canada. A nation where Stephen Harper and not the monarch is the head of state. A Harper republic will differ from others in the world, however, as he ostensibly will have majority powers without having that old fashioned 50 percent support in either the country or the House of Commons.
This is a perfect storm. Our system works on the assumption that regardless of whether we have a minority government or not we will always be guaranteed that there will be a clear and decisive majority of rational men and women who will in times of crisis put nation over personal or party interests. It operates on the assumption that our leaders will put country before party.
Somehow we lucked out here. Our bad.
And so as we come down to the wire, and both leaders are digging in, we can only hope that this unprecedented bizarre week gets just a little stranger.
Because in a week where every day we have seen things never before predicted there is a simple solution.
We need one more historic press conference attended by two political enemies. A joint press conference between Stephen Harper and Stephane Dion.
A historic event where they both apologise to their country and their parties, in that order, and then they resign immediately – no questions please.
Because quite frankly they deserve one another and Canada deserves better."
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Why do I feel that the only thing left for me as a citizen of Canada is to bend over and kiss my *** goodbye.


What a mess!

ABC Wednesday-T

Oh TANNENBAUM, oh TANNENBAUM,
Wie grün sind deine Blätter!
Du grünst nicht nur zur Sommerzeit,
Nein auch im Winter, wenn es schneit.
Oh TANNENBAUM, oh TANNENBAUM,
Wie grün sind deine Blätter!
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Oh TANNENBAUM, oh TANNENBAUM,
Du kannst mir sehr gefallen!
Wie oft hat schon zur Winterzeit
Ein Baum von dir mich hoch erfreut!
TANNENBAUM, oh TANNENBAUM,
Du kannst mir sehr gefallen!
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Oh TANNENBAUM, oh TANNENBAUM,
Dein Kleid will mich was lehren:
Die Hoffnung und Beständigkeit
Gibt Mut und Kraft zu jeder Zeit!
Oh TANNENBAUM, oh TANNENBAUM,
Dein Kleid will mich was lehren!
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O Christmas TREE, O Christmas TREE,
Your branches green delight us.
O Christmas TREE, O Christmas TREE,
Your branches green delight us.
They're green when summer days are bright;
They're green when winter snow is white.
O, Christmas TREE, O Christmas TREE,
Your branches green delight us!
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O Christmas TREE, O Christmas TREE,
You give us so much pleasure!
O Christmas TREE, O Christmas TREE,
You give us so much pleasure!
How oft at Christmas tide the sight,
O green fir TREE, gives us delight!
O Christmas TREE, O Christmas TREE,
You give us so much pleasure!
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The custom of erecting a Christmas TREE can be traced to 16th century Germany.

It is normally a coniferous TREE that is brought into the home and decorated with lights and ornaments.
An angel or star is often placed at the top of the TREE, representing the host of angels or the Star of Bethlehem from the Nativity story.
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ABC Wednesday is brought to you by Mrs. Nesbitt.

Mr. Linky can be found here.

UPDATE: MR. LINKY IS NOT WORKING, SO PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT AT DENISE NESBITT'S OWN SITE IF YOU WANT TO "SPREAD THE WORD" ABOUT YOUR OWN POST!