The Passing of The Year

My glass is filled, my pipe is lit,
My den is all a cosy glow;
And snug before the fire I sit,
And wait to feel the old year go.
I dedicate to solemn thought
Amid my too-unthinking days,
This sober moment, sadly fraught
With much of blame, with little praise.

Old Year! upon the Stage of Time
You stand to bow your last adieu;
A moment, and the prompter's chime
Will ring the curtain down on you.
Your mien is sad, your step is slow;
You falter as a Sage in pain;
Yet turn, Old Year, before you go,
And face your audience again.

That sphinx-like face, remote, austere,
Let us all read, whate'er the cost:
O Maiden! why that bitter tear?
Is it for dear one you have lost?
Is it for fond illusion gone?
For trusted lover proved untrue?
O sweet girl-face, so sad, so wan
What hath the Old Year meant to you?

And you, O neighbour on my right
So sleek, so prosperously clad!
What see you in that aged wight
That makes your smile so gay and glad?
What opportunity unmissed?
What golden gain, what pride of place?
What splendid hope? O Optimist!
What read you in that withered face?

And You, deep shrinking in the gloom,
What find you in that filmy gaze?
What menace of a tragic doom?
What dark, condemning yesterdays?
What urge to crime, what evil done?
What cold, confronting shape of fear?
O haggard, haunted, hidden One
What see you in the dying year?

And so from face to face I flit,
The countless eyes that stare and stare;
Some are with approbation lit,
And some are shadowed with despair.
Some show a smile and some a frown;
Some joy and hope, some pain and woe:
Enough! Oh, ring the curtain down!
Old weary year! it's time to go.

My pipe is out, my glass is dry;
My fire is almost ashes too;
But once again, before you go,
And I prepare to meet the New:
Old Year! a parting word that's true,
For we've been comrades, you and I --
I thank God for each day of you;
There! bless you now! Old Year, good-bye!

Robert Service

Enter: The Reductionist Movement

Circa: now.

It is said, when populations of mice and rats form rapidly, the hungry and stressed survivors tend to kill and devour the weaker.

In the case of Lions; When new adult lions take over a pride, they often kill the young and thus eliminate the chance of any rivalry against offspring he later fathers. Successful males that takeover a pride have about 2 years before another younger, stronger coalition replace them.

One of the main reasons for adults killing competitors is due to males taking over leadership of a group.

All of these mechanisms may seem cruel, but many of the strategies have a logical basis, as they are geared towards survival of animal [read: political] groups.

Danton, celebrated/hated/loved French revolutionary leader, himself executed after coming to power, said; "The revolution...devours its own children." Danton as a man “devoid of honor, principles, and morality”, who only found excitement and a chance for distinction. He was merely "a statesman of materialism".

The old revolution, not unlike Goya's 'Saturn devours its own children', was a common saying during the French Revolution (1789) and that it was most famously uttered by Danton during his trial.

By the period Danton fell out of favor with the Committee of Public Safety and Robespierre, the revolution had become so suspicious of loyalism and foreign intervention, it set up kangaroo courts throughout the country to purge society of counterrevolutionaries.

In the end, the people of Paris took virtual control of the National Assembly and the committee of Public Safety.

Successive waves of radicalization, quickly made conservatives out of yesterday's radicals.

Are you seeing what I'm getting at?

Fortunately this is not a revolution.....good god, this is Canada!! We don't do anything here.

I'm just sayin'...


"...by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned"
Georges Jacques Danton October 26, 1759 – April 5, 1794

Golly GG

Nice to see our Governor General takes dictation well....*....



This was a lose-lose-lose-lose-faeces situation.

None of this is democratic.

None of this attends to the larger questions, or fills the dire lack that Canada faces.

None of this was or is good, but will plague us henceforth.

None of this prepares, ready's or steady's Canada as we head into 2009.

And still no one, is capable of leading our country.

But our trembling little barking mad chihuahua PM has effectively defended [whizzed on] his dog house.

Coal for Christmas

eeegahds.....

This slow motion face-down-kiddie-gravel-slide just gets worse.

There's gonna be scarring for sure.

Incredibly (though what else can one expect from non-credible individuals?!) Harper has managed to harpoon himself in the foot. Just like that NY Giants sports guy at a dance bar.


But you know what molocule I am most proud of about our country?

....we don't use bullets or car bombs.

In other countries, people get killed for trying to do this.

Fortunately, we're not as organized as the proverbial third world we belong to.

((yet))

Otherwise, we're not unlike any other destablablized, weak, power mongering, inept, unfit, irrational, incapable corrupt Government.

And, as the old saying goes, if you aren't wise.....you're otherwise.


We are, officially, other-than-wise at this point.


So much has already been put on record of this riveting turtle race, for anyone to peruse and view 24/7, I will not rehash it all without real hash here.

But will say this:


I believe there will be dirty coal doled out for Christmas this year.


...which we all know is a pollutant, and not a sustainable, or viable solution.

Oh Canada....*.....

Oh Canada.....*.....

OK! So we've got a rugby scrum charging at, and wanting to bring down Stephen Harper in a humbling rumble.

I have no problem with that. Personally, I hope the microphones get in close so we can hear the crunching of broken bones.

What I do have a problem with is the crummy team doing the charging and scrumming.

So let's hypothetically say, Stephen Harper isn't able to suspend-and-or-dance-his-way-out-of-a-delay-by-immaturely-calling-a-
great-big-time-out, and let's just say the Governor General, who was always, up until now, purely a per functionary car hood ornament actually grants the scrum to take place.....and let's just say the potential coalition Gov't form, & win their vote-of-no confidence and take him down....assuming all that gets lined up in the crosshairs....

WTF?

Sadly. They are all the same politickers we've always had playing Pollyanna politics. No one is up for the job in this current economic global crises climate. Which is particularly clear in Canada when our adolescent-elects start doing that punch-each-other-in-the-back-seat-of-the-car-thing-that-is-Canada

...not bothering that no one is driving the thing that is Canada...and we're about to careen over a cliff, only this isn't as cathartically symbolic as that Thelma and Louise car careening scene.

So fast forward this twilight zone compendium of in incapabilities scenario to solutions.....

What's say, we alllllllllll agree, c'mon now, EVERYBODY, just hop on a plane (or just this one freakin' band wagon in your life), now's your chance, I say, if this infantile power struggle takes place, and we end up with Dion / Rae / Layton & Duceppe ((shudder))...I say we ALL - head in droves to Pearson Int'l Airport, from every corner of this once upon a time ( pre 1400's in my eyes ) great land of ours....and, let's all arrive at Pearson in our very own Thai-inspired anti-government "co-abolishing-political-cleanse' from our system.

THAT would trump the unprecedented. What's say WE wrest control of our country and write history together.

Especially given how unutterably Canadian we all are. Which has always been accept-and-complain tactics.

How 'bout we show some strength?

I think we, as a nation could take advantage of the upcoming busy flying holiday season down at Pearson Int'l Airport and just sit in to show our determination to have a capable, functioning Government at a time we kinda need one..we could oust each of our existing nonsensical, incapable governing 'leaders" if we stopped whining and did something.

Admittedly not something citizens want to do....but when you're stuck with these juvenile sandbox kiddies, c'mon man....some disciplinary action demands to be taken. WE are equally responsible....or else these little horrors actually grow old because (a) they were allowed to and (b) they forgot what the hell their post, position, duties and responsibilities were originally all about at one point (see waaay back in some history book for an example of a real leader, as none pops to mind as I type).

I think this is a great opportunity to step up and be as peaceful (however painfully-annoying) as the Thai population were in ousting their corrupt government. It works! ...not that we'll ever know that first hand.

In lieu of that, I say bring Casey our of retirement - that squeaky voiced, blonde little hand puppet from Mr. Dressup and stick him the seat of power (and Finnigan can be our new GG) until we find someone better. Casey may be our best Prime Minister we've ever had.

(or was Casey buried with Mr. Dressup? ...cremated you say?!?!)

AUGH!

See you at Pearson this holiday season people!