After 30 years of flying (mostly business) and logging hundreds of thousands of air miles I can honestly say Yes.... air travel is safer than most every other mode of travel you can think of. Of course that is not to say I haven’t experienced some harrowing moments in the clouds over the years. On my first trip overseas in the mid seventies I recall flying out of Charles De Galle airport in France traveling to Lyon and as we approached our destination the plane suddenly dropped 20,000 ft in a matter of seconds (at least it felt like seconds) as part of our approach to the airport. I didn’t realize that with the mountainous terrain in large parts of Europe the typical slow decline and moderate approach angle we usually see in North America doesn’t work so instead you have to drop almost straight down to get in a position to land. A learning moment, with my stomach in my mouth, of which I will always remember. Then there was the time I was in a 737 flying from Charleston en route to Atlanta. Seated beside me was a young woman with a baby who was flying for the first time. She was going to visit her military husband who was on leave in Charleston. During the trip I reassured her that flying was a piece of cake and not to be worried. Then as we made our final approach to the runway at probably 1000 ft the plane’s engines roared back to power as the pilot went full throttle to pull up and abort the landing. The plane shook and rattled as the large bird groaned and moaned its way back up to holding altitude. Of course the young woman was terrified and looked to me to provide some explanation which would make sense. I remained calm on the outside but my knuckles were white holding on to the armrest away from her while I said “something must of have been on the runway”. When the pilot finally came on the intercom and said that an airplane had not fully exited the runway on which we were about to land and the tower had asked us to abort, I felt like an expert but realistically during the ordeal I was worried about finding a new pair of pants. This type of thing happened a couple times later and although I was much more prepared for it the shaking and load noise of the straining engines still made you hold your breath. One of the scariest times was on a trip to the Soviet Union, before the Iron Curtain came down. I had flown from Canada to London England where I boarded a British Airways flight to Warsaw Poland where I was to transfer and fly to Borispol in the Ukraine. Getting off the modern and well maintainned BA Jet in Warsaw I had no idea that the next plane ride I would take would be one of the scariest of my life. You see I was flying to my destination on a plane from the Aeroflot fleet, the USSR’s signature airline. Once seated I snapped shut my seatbelt and began to take in my surroundings. The first thing that caught my eye was the dimness of the lighting which may have been by design but I noticed that several of the various lights about the aircraft were out thus creating a gloomy atmosphere. Then I picked up on the head rests that were not the disposable kind that was in style with NA airlines in those years, but a heavy knitted square pad that was secured by thread directly to the seat back. They were dingy dirty and faded obviously not changed in a long time. There were no instructions by the flight attendants and the only refreshments were a cup of luke warm tea and a small biscuit but this is not what made it a scary flight. It was the constant flexing of the sides of the aircraft while we were at cruising altitude. Imagine watching the side of the plane next to you moving in and out and then noticing that many screw holes had missing screws, some of which were rolling around at the edge of the porthole. The affects of air turbulence was terrifying in comparison to anything I had experienced inside an aircraft up to that point in my life. I found out afterwards that I was on a so-called “domestic flight” which normally doesn’t carry foreigners. The better planes are kept for flying international flights out of Moscow of which I finally ended up doing. There were many more uncomfortable moments over the years as I said but none that would ever deter me from
flying.

Several issues raised over the past year show how we have allowed special interest groups and the Liberal mentality to take very simple things and spin them into politically correct causes.If you want to retain your sanity then follow this simple rule. Discard all of their rhetoric and ask yourself, "what makes sense". Here are some examples to illustrate how the left spins things:

1. Quebec bans face coverings
a) Spin...A human rights issue because it does not allow the practice of one's religion.
b) Common Sense...How do you identify someone with their face covered..licences, passports etc.
2. Ottawa university bans Ann Coulter
a) Spin...Coulter is a hate monger spewing rascist propaganda
b) Common Sense...Ann Coulter is an outspoken Conservative who has an opinion of Liberalism that differs with the mainstream. Free speech should apply to all.
3. BC tries to ban the book "America Stands Alone" by Mark Steyn
a( Spin.....The book is about Muslims and the growth of their population around the world and therefore must be considered biased against their Religion and thus is hate speech.
b) Common Sense....The book documents facts and figures that are indisputable and generates probabilites for the future. Once again Freedom of Speech under attack from the left and special interest groups.
4. Cartoonist under attack from Muslim Fanatics
a) Spin....Because this person drew cartoons about Mohammed he has been deemed to have defamed the Prophet and must be killed.
b) Common Sense.... Cartoons are pictures and words. Since when does a person have to die because of them?
5. UN slams Isreal for killing Hamas leaders
a) Spin... Isreal is an occupying nation unnecessarliy killing poor innocent Palestinians.
b) Common Sense....Isreal retaliates after months of rockets sent over their borders by Hamas which killed many innocent citizens.
6. Government pays Clifford Olsen, a convicted Serial Killer, a pension
a) Spin...Everybody is human and therefore we shouldn't discriminate.
b) Common Sense....Why does a serial killer who will never get out of prison need a pension?

I could go on but this is a sample of the stupidity surrounding Liberalism and our society of victims. Don't get fooled by their nonsense.

Ann Coulter is one of the most intelligent people I have ever ran across and so much so I would put her in a class with Rush Limbaugh who is the smartest of them all. What makes me laugh is all of the left wing pundits and elitists that demean her constantly without ever understanding that she plays them like a fine violin. Most if not all of her passionate critics never really listen to all that she has to say. They only hear snippets and sound bites that the media chooses to publish or air because they too, are critics and therefore only report on the things they feel will show her in the worst light. She has a superior wit and an incredible sense of humour but it is lost on those that have none of the same. She speaks the truth without the cover of politically correct spin and this just makes the liberal minds boil. How can this woman break all of the rules we have formed over many years of PC spin? Has she no compassion? Generally she turns the tables on them like she did with the threat to go to the "Human Rights" Commission with a complaint about a hate crime committed by the University of Ottawa. She throws their beloved Liberal beliefs back in their faces and makes them look silly when they get angry and start calling her names etc. How appropriate that these people fawn over the likes of Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, Che Guevara and others that have killed thousands of people including women and children and yet they lose their cool over the words of Ann Coulter. Of course she loves the publicity because it helps sell her books and increases her popularity on TV. This is how she makes her living but it doesn't change her principles and beliefs as it does with so many of her rivals. Liberalism and its proponents provide her and Rush with a never ending supply of ammunition to point out the idiocy of this political persuasion. And when faced with having to look at their illogical policies and subsequent failures they revert to personal attacks which in turn makes them look even more incompetent. I don't consider myself a "right wing lunatic,gun totin' redneck that the left purports are the only people that listens to her and I don't believe anyone else who enjoys her is either. It does help to be a conservative however because it means you will have an open mind and will take the time to listen and understand what she says first, before forming an opinion based on what you have heard or seen in the media. Think about it. I believe you will be surprised.

I believe Brian MacLeod missed the entire point behind Obama’s victory in passing the recent Health Care Bill in the USA. Our neighbours to the south are a representative republic meaning that the government should build legislation and laws based on the will of the people. Almost 75% of the voting population did not want this huge spending bill and they made their Democratic Congressmen aware of this fact. The Republicans also heard from their constituency but were powerless to do anything because of Obama’s super majority in both Houses. So let’s be clear he was not fighting his opponents he was fighting his own party and the American people (75%). Far from taking a stand on principle he forged ahead with this Bill because he is an ideologue who believes he knows what’s best for everyone regardless of what they think or want. He used tactics that may have been used before but never for a Bill of this magnitude. He and his co-horts bullied and bribed their own Democratic Congressmen and Senators to get the votes they needed to get this gigantic piece of legislation passed. Fortunately for him it will be these people that will face an angry electorate in November while he has three years to allow memories to blur. There is a grass roots movement in the USA to return to Conservative principles and it is being driven primarily by backlash to Obama’s administration and the way they have governed since coming into office. So I’m not sure I would call him courageous for only winning a battle within his own party and for refusing to consider the will of the majority of his citizens. We don’t need a leader of this ilk in Canada as we already have a plethora of these types.

It is very evident that the Anglo-Saxon or Caucasion race of people is slowly dying out. In Countries where thi s race of people primarily reside the birthrate is 1.5 babies per female or lower. In order for the population to stay even it needs to be a minimum of 2.1 children born for every woman. The prediction is that both the Anglos in Canada and the European Countries will have ceded the majority to non Caucasion peoples by the middle of the century. The USA will take a little longer depending on the influx of both legal and illegal immigrants over the next ten years but nevertheless it will fall in line by the end of the century. There are many reasons for the decline in the Anglo American and European races but most if not all are directly related to "Social Engineering" and "Special Interest Groups". To start and review this phenomenum one must look at the beginning of the 20th century and the Industrial Revolution. From this point onward we saw a continuous expansion of wealth in the western world and regardless of the bumps and temporary slowdowns of financial depressions and recessions the standard of living improved continuously up to and including the current day. With the prosperity came freedoms not seen or heard of before and everyone wanted their fair share of the pie so groups such as the Suffragets, the ACLU, labor unions and many many more organized to fight for their particular cause. The suffragets for instance formed to seek rights for women which was a just and righteous cause but later became the Women's Liberation movement that demonized men while at the same time ridiculing women that wanted to be family caregivers and raise their children. They also fought successfully for a woman's right to abort a baby for any reason. Now whether you agree with this right or not you have to admit that losing potentially 40 million babies to abortion over the past 40 years has negatively affected the white population in the western world. Labor unions who were originally fighting for basic workers rights grew into large political organizations concerned more with power and wealth. They, along with other leftists have pushed for more entitlement and socialist type programs which are cover terms for the "redistribution of wealth". In order to support this philosophy everyone had to pay more and more taxes which drives up the cost of living for everyone. So in the 60's and 70's it became apparent that women no longer had a choice between staying home and raising a family because two incomes were required to 1) be able to enjoy all of the products coming available in the new age of technology and 2) to cover the high cost of taxation. Mix in some planned parenthood and voila' we have the reduction in childbirth by healthy families to 1 or 2 children because they just can't afford more. Sure there are other factors involved but none with more impact than those I have noted. The United States was the last beacon of hope but with Obama trashing the concept of self reliance and inividual rights and conforming America into a large "Collective" it appears they are heading along the designated path with the others. I worry for my grandchildren and their children because if I'm right we will have not left them as great a Country as our fathers left us.
Margaret Thatcher on Socilaism........There is nothing wrong with socialism until you run out of other people's money.

Two stories leading the news this past week involve policemen and they both illustrate how fragile their on the job safety can be regardless of rules procedures and upgraded equipment. The first article talks about a murderer who is applying for parole after a quarter century in jail for murdering a policeman one day in Toronto. It was a bungled robbery attempt and this idiot shot the first officer on the scene. Not only did he deliver the fatal wound he chose to let the officer bleed out rather than allow him to be released so he could receive medical attention that would have saved his life. He joked and taunted this officer ,his partner and colleagues while watching the life ebb from his body. Years later the officer's partner lost his battle with depression over this incident and committed suicide. Now the justice system will allow him to apply for parole every 6 months until he is free or he expires. Sooner or later he will receive a parole that he doesn't deserve because the system is slanted in his favour. The police officer who was shot, Michael Sweet was a good cop, a father and a husband who was just doing his job trying to protect the public from the kind of useless trash that killed him. The second story involved a young officer who was conducting what he thought was routine stop on the highway when he was shot and killed by a 70+ year old man. The scary thing about this murder were the circumstances, which seemed so normal and not resembling any type of unsafe situation. Here he is, on a back country road preparing to confront an older gentleman in a pickup truck for a minor infraction. As he stepped out of his cruiser the man in the truck jumped out and shot him point blank before he had a chance to react. A young man who had a family and his whole life ahead of him cut down in his prime. Once again just doing his job. Imagine that you were in danger of being shot or attacked in some manner every day you reported for work. This is the possiblity that looms over our police personnel each time they show up for their shift. And yet our lawmakers continue to put them at risk by enforcing rules such as the raft of paperwork that is required everytime an officer unholsters his weapon regardless if he uses it or not. In the USA an officer is trained to approach every vehicle with caution and weapon drawn particularly when his vision of the perp is impaired. Do you think this young officer could have defended himself if he had his weapon out and ready to fire? Why do our socialist politicians constantly want to denigrate our police force in favour of the scumbags roaming the streets? Is it any wonder that the blue wall is alive and well when the police are faced with bias from some of the very public they protect. Instead we should be supporting the men and women in Blue as they are the final thin line of defence between us and the crazies.

After watching this amazing woman since she came onto the political scene a couple of years ago I have developed some opinions of which I will now share. She is not an intellectual as defined by the political elite around the world. She verifies this fact everytime she tries to be like one of them and usually fails. Knowing all kinds of facts and figures of which most are insignificant, is not the talent that should define the President of the USA, or for that matter any strong leader. The main stream media are going to try and crucify her ( and have done so) regardless of what gaffes she makes or doesn't make. Her strength is in her passion for Conservative values and the belief in the USA Constitution and everything it stands for in the lives of every American citizen. Because of these things she is a magnet for the "everyday" American who thinks as she does about a small Government with less intrusion into their lives. People can understand her positions because they are straight forward and simplistic without any political spin or beltway jargon and this makes her a dangerous foe of the elitists in Washington. Ronald Reagan faced this same sort of animosity from the left when he ran for the top office as they painted him out to be some "dumb" actor stumbling outside of his comfort zone. He faced these attacks with several skills that Palin must attain if she is going to be succesful. First she must recognize the fact that this will happen and understand that being humble and not taking yourself too seriously strengthens your profile with the folks that count, not the other way around. Concentrate more on how to communicate what you believe rather than what you know. This doesn't mean you don't have to be intelligent it just means that people will never know who you are unless you can clearly define yourself through words. Last and probably the most difficult is to possess a quick wit and an ability to think quickly on your feet, as they say. This comes with practice, experience and an ability to be comfortable with who you are. If you feel inferior to your opponent this will become apparent to everyone in short time and this is not the place to be when running for office. If she can garner these three skills and retain her core beliefs she will become a force to be reckoned with over the next 3 years and possibly a candidate for the "Comander in Chief's" job in 2012. Somewhere between now and the next 12 months she will have to decide because the process is long and arduous and will require a lot of energy and fortitude to make it to the finish line. Among the talents that make good candidates in this techo-age is the ability to look good and she does have this one sewn up. Personally I hope she gets her ducks in a row and makes a run for the top. I'd love to see her set a few of these Liberal elitists on their rear end.

I grew up in a small town of about 4500 people and the memories of those 16 years remain some of my best of all time. We were a family of 5.....2 parents and 3 kids (4th came near the end of my time in the "burg") and although I can't remember much during the 1st 7 or 8 years there are some things that stand out. I remember JF as my very first friend and we did everything together from watching TV (his family had the first one in the neighborhood) to hunting German soldiers in the bush out back of our houses'. His dad and mom were like my second set of parents and we spent our formative years discovering life's secrets as our imaginations guided our activities during those fun times. As time passed our hobbies changed and our friendship network expanded to take in other characters such as LR, one of the next door neighbors who would end up a household of 12 with 4 girls and 6 boys. The oldest 2 were a little older than us so we didn't associate with them much pre-teen because it wasn't cool to hang out with younger kids at that age. Down the street there were a lot of kids that I remember, the family from the Ukraine (K's), the Dutch twins (I & H), the brother and sister (J&W) from the east coast and R & R the milkman's sons.. There was a black haired girl (MF) who I believe was in my class at school that came regularly to visit her aunt and uncle across the way. I had a crush on her but somehow I don't remember too much about it but my guess is that she dumped me for an older man in grade 2. Sports started to take over my life in late public school and I spent my summers playing baseball and winters on the ice with my other good friends the M's....C&G. When puberty hit I started to think less about sports and more about girls (like every 5 seconds) and I started to hang around with JJ, JH and JF. I had some crushes in early high school (SH) but I always felt these girls were on a higher level than I was so I never made my thoughts known. LJ and DB were two real heartthrobs in those early days and life was reasonable. Things changed rapidly over the next year and I found myself leaving the small town for the big city and an entire new world but the years spent in that small town will live with me forever.

Before I get into a lot of trouble let me say that I know many many teachers and some are very good friends so please don't take my following comments personally. Let me start by stating a few facts; first, teachers in the public sector are members of a union. I realize they don't have a choice but never the less they have to live and act according to a collective mentality. Second teachers work 10 months out of 12 every year. Third they are government employees who work for the people that pay the taxes that pay their salary. I want you to remember these facts as I point out some things that I believe are negatively affecting the education of our children. First of all anytime the teachers union want more benefits, higher wages and less work they hold our children's education as ransom (strike) in order to secure these things. The union makes it almost impossible to remove ineffective teachers from the job because their focus is on their members not on the kids. The union dictates that teacher evaluations are unfair and therefore will fight to the death to keep the taxpayers from finding out if the people who teach their children are qualified to do so. This honoured profession has become another collective union group and they operate no differently than the auto employees union, the truckers union or any other brotherhood of employees. Their purpose in life has nothing to do with improving children's education and all to do with extractiing more and more from their employers (taxpayers). Large unions are a part of the socialist system of government and in the private sector there is a balance between the reasonable sharing of thebusiness's success in good times and taking less in hard times. In fact when they press to hard they sometimes become a major reason why businesses fail vis a vis GM, Chrysler etc. But what balance do the teachers unions face? In fact what balance do any public sector unions face when the press their demands regardless of the current economic situation. There are none and added to that they are bargaining with people that have nothing to lose...(politicians). So on one side you have unions that can use your children as a ransom to achieve their goals and on the other side you have politicians that put up a good front but the reality is, they won't lose anything if they cave in to the union's demands. Who always loses is the taxpayer and their children. Seems a little unfair to me that these two groups, who are immune from any negative impact have the ability to continously gouge the ordinary citizens by dipping into the that deep black hole that is known as government funding (tax revenue). Realistically the unions aren't going away but at least the government should take away the right to strike and this would even the playing field a little. The private sector creates the wealth in any Country but today who in the hell wants to work in the private sector with all of the uncertainty and the fact that the public sector earns 20% more in wages on average. Diminishing private sector , growing public sector.....you tell me is this sustainable? I think not. Unfortunately no politician wants to take them on because the big unions, the Liberal Media and the socialist members in the government will attack them mercilessly. What is really sad, is that they attack people on a personal level rather than arguing the issues. This the favorite tactic of anyone on the left when they can't argue with logic and common sense they go for the throat and demonize the person who is debating them. Anyway I got that off my chest so its off to the scotch and soda.

"Socialism only works in two places: Heaven where they don't need it and hell where they already have it." -Ronald Reagan

'Here's my strategy on the Cold War: We win, they lose.'

- Ronald Reagan

'The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'-Ronald Reagan

'The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn't so.'

-Ronald Reagan

'Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong.'- Ronald Reagan

'I have wondered at times about what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the U.S. Congress.' -Ronald Reagan

'The taxpayer: That's someone who works for the federal government but doesn't have to take the civil service examination.'- Ronald Reagan

'Government is like a baby: An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.'- Ronald Reagan

'The nearest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth is a government program.' - Ronald Reagan

'It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first.'- Ronald Reagan

'Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it'

- Ronald Reagan

'Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed, there are many rewards; if you disgrace yourself, you can always write a book.'- Ronald Reagan

'No arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is as formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.'- Ronald Reagan

'If we ever forget that we're one nation under GOD, then we will be a nation gone under.'-Ronald Reagan