Stupid questions deserve stupid answers.

 Q: Do all Canadians live in igloos?

A: For starters it is iglu, or more accurately ᐃᒡᓗ. Yes! We all do. Only the very rich here can afford wood and cement and other fancy southern building materials.

The pros; iglus are very eco-friendly, fire insurance premiums are very low (self-extinguishing house) and air conditioning in the summer time is next to nothing!

The cons: every little piece of dirt shows up and when our dog sled puppies pee in the corner you have to stare at yellow snow all winter long and warn the kids not to eat it.

Iglu prices here range from $150K to $200K for a condo, right up to a cool Mill for a big single family iglu on a large ice floe (with a waterfront in the Spring).

That is why global warming scares us so much: Where will we live when our houses all melt?  

USA in Distress

As I reflect on Independence Day it is obvious to the observer that the USA is certainly in distress (unless you have a six or seven figure income) as the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The rich can afford to remain healthy by buying healthy food and regular medical checkups, while the poor get and remain unhealthy because they cannot afford healthy food, thereby relying on cheap heavy starches and sugar laden foods, never mind seeing their doctor for regular body maintenance.

When the poet Emma Lazarus penned The New Colossus, part of the sonnet reads:

… Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!...

It was an invitation to those being subjugated in other lands to come to the USA to seek religious and political freedom, not an indication that they should continue their station and remain … tired, … poor, …huddled masses yearning to breathe free...[or]  wretched refuse of …the homeless.

Indeed many did cast off their political, moral and religious chains and started dynasties of their own, replacing being suppressed to being the suppressors of their own employees. This trend continues today in the USA, the latest barrage to hit the … tired, … poor, …huddled masses, is a ruling by the Supreme Court that allows an employer’s religious beliefs to restrict medical insurance payment of medication and medical procedures, thereby overruling medical decisions by licensed physicians. Without medical insurance, physicians can charge astronomical fees for their services, and pharmaceutical companies can charge whatever the market will bear for medication.

It is sad that President Obama and his Democrats did not have the power necessary to have a social medical system such as Canada, England, Australia, New Zealand, or India. At every step, the opposition Republicans raised their Bibles with one hand declaring that certain procedures are against the words of a 1700 year old book, and stock portfolios with the other demanding that the wealthy who could afford insurance had the right to do so, while those working poor who could not afford insurance … oh well, it sucks to be you … get a better job where you can afford insurance.

As I reflect on Independence Day it reminds me of what a great country Canada is by comparison. We don’t wrap ourselves in our flag, but are no less proud of who we are. Universal health care may mean waiting your turn for surgery when there are more urgent cases before you, but until, during and after, there is no cost for medical services. Medical insurance is provided without restrictions based on your employer’s religious beliefs because we have true division between “Church and State” – a concept lost in US corporations.

737 Safety Features

This is why I fly Southwest when I am in the US. Westjet in Canada come close, but they have to do the same speech in both official languages so it makes it a little more difficult.

Transcript from a Southwest Airline FA:  Safety Features on a Boeing 737

If I could pretend to have your attention for just a few moments, my ex husband, my new boyfriend and their divorce attorney are gonna show you the safety features about this 737-800 series. It's been a long day for me.

To properly fasten your seatbelts, slide the flat into the buckle; to release, lift up on the buckle. Position your seatbelt tight and low across your hips like my grandmother wears her support bra.

If you get mad and you wanna take the tour alone, there are eight ways to get there! Two forward exit doors, wing window exits, two rear doors. Signs overhead, disco lights on the floor leading to each exit.

Everybody gets a door prize in the seat back pocket in front of you along with dirty diapers, chewing gum wrappers, banana peels and all other gifts you leave us from time to time. Take it out, check it out. You'll notice in the highly unlikely event that the captain lands us near a hot tub, everyone gets their very own teeny weeny yellow Southwest bikini! One size fits all. Take it out of its holder, place it over your head, wrap that strap around your waist, buckle it and pull to tighten. Once that's on, pull on the tab to make it inflate; to re-inflate, blow on the tube at your shoulder. The flight attendants are coming by hoping you'll tell them how good looking they are. 

We're gonna make sure your seats and tray tables are in the full upright and absolutely most uncomfortable position possible, and that your carry-on items are currently stored completely under the seat in front of you leaving absolutely no room for your knees or feet.

As you know, it's a no smoking, no whining, no complaining flight. 

It's a "Please and thank you" and "You are such a good looking flight attendant" flight. 

Smoking is never allowed on board a Southwest. If you're caught smoking in the lavatories the fine for that is $2000, and if you wanna pay that for your air fare, you should have flown somebody else.

 If we do make you that nervous in the next hour and a half, you're more than welcome to step outside. We don't discriminate at Southwest, we have a special smoking section just for you. We'll even show you a movie tonight! We have: Up In The Air.

The flight attendant serving you tonight is Wendy and her motto is if you can light it, you can smoke it! Federal law prohibits tampering with, disabling or destroying any smoke detector or webcam in either of our lavatories.

Federal aviation regulations require passenger compliance with any passenger information signs and plastic placards. Basically, just do what we say and nobody gets hurt.

And although we never anticipate a loss in cabin pressure (if we did, we certainly wouldn't be at work tonight), but if needed four oxygen masks drop from the compartment overhead. Stop screaming, let go of your neighbor, pull until that plastic tubing is fully extended, place the mask over your nose and mouth and breathe normally. To activate the flow of oxygen, simply insert 75 cents for the first minute, and 15 cents for every minute after that. Although that plastic bag may not inflate, you are receiving lots and lots of "gin". Oxygen that is.

And if you're travelling with small children, we're sorry. If you're travelling with more than one child, pick out the one that you think might have the most earning potential down the road. And if you're travelling with somebody needing very special assistance, like your husband (bless his heart), or your wife, put on your mask first.

That's it for the dos and donts of show and tell. Sit back and relax, or you can sit up and be tense, either way. You're already on our flight and the clock's already ticking.

Seriously, if there is anything we could do to make your flight more enjoyable please tell us... just as soon as we land in Salt Lake City. 

And if there is anything you could do to make our flight more enjoyable, we'll tell you immediately. We're not shy at Southwest. That's what you call very cheap entertainment. No one has to pay any extra but you certainly don't get a refund! 

Thank you for choosing Southwest, welcome aboard!"

Caveat Emptor

This will not be a big shock to people who travel for both business and pleasure, but for the infrequent traveller – one who spends the family savings on a two or three week vacation once per year someplace far away from work, it may come as something that makes you go

“Huh! That is interesting / shocking / backwards / and other superlatives”.

When you stay at a hotel or motel, the more you pay, the more they make you pay.

To explain…

If you stay at a place that has a rack rate under $125/night, chances are you will get a microwave, fridge, complementary high-speed internet, free local phone calls, sometimes complimentary water, bed-time chocolates, a morning newspaper, and a buffet breakfast – all at no extra change.

Stay at a place that charges $200/night, any or all of the above will cost you from $3 - $30 per night if they are available at all.

Forget a microwave or fridge – they want you to eat at their (usually over-priced) restaurant. High speed internet can cost upwards of $30/24hour period ending at noon each day. Phone calls start as low as $1.00 for a ‘connection fee’ per call, and long distance has a premium tag of $1 to $3 PER MINUTE over and above the actual cost of the call. Water and chocolates are available at the gift shop ($0.38 for 500ml of cold bottled water at Safeway will cost $3.00 at the gift shop), your morning paper will cost $2.00 and your buffet breakfast will be billed to your room at $17.95 + 5% tax + 20% Gratuity ($22.62).

Is this not backwards?

If I choose to stay at a higher priced hotel such as Hilton, Delta, George V, Four Seasons, etc., I would

expect the rates for the lodging would include the amenities available at moderate to low priced accommodations such as Ramada, Travel Lodge, Quality Inn, Quinta, etc., as they also include these in their costs.

Before you book your next hotel stay, especially if the costs are coming out of your own pocket, check to see what you get for what you pay. Given the choice of Delta or Quality Inn, I will take Quality Inn any day of the week

Tough On Crime

One day, Canadian judges will realize that to get tough on crime, there needs to be some funds directed at the Canadian justice system that either deters others from committing the same crime, has a REAL shot at rehabilitation, or for those for whom rehabilitation is a lost cause, to keep these people away from the general population outside the walls and fences of our human warehousing we know as jails and prisons.

Start with eliminating the concept and practice of concurrent sentencing. If somebody is convicted of three counts of {name your crime}, with an 18 month sentence each, that person needs to serve 54 (4.5 years) months in federal prison, not 18 months in provincial jail. While you are at it change the automatic time off for good behavior from 10 days for every 30 sentenced, to five days for every 30. 

That way the person sentenced to 18 months would only get three months off for good behaviour instead of the existing six months – during the 54 month sentence as above, the person could earn up to nine months off for being a model prisoner and be out in 45 months.

Change the earliest time for day parole or early parole to be after the person has completed 80% of their sentence after time off for good behaviour. The 54 month sentence could see early parole in 36 months.

Get drunks off the streets. The very first conviction of driving while impaired needs to result in a minimum mandatory sentence of 729 days (two years less a day) in provincial jail. With good behaviour they would still be off the streets for a little over 20 months.  A second conviction needs to result in a minimum mandatory sentence of five years in federal prison in a different province. IF the person decided to repeat the behaviour, then they have demonstrated they are a lethal menace to the public so a minimum mandatory sentence of 25 years, for each charge is appropriate. The three-time loser would still have to serve a minimum of 16 years before they could apply for parole, but at least the public would be safe for 16 years.

Make conviction fines mean something by combining a minimum amount with a percentage of income – whichever is greater. If a person is speeding up to 39KM over the posted limit, there is a speeding ticket of $138-$196 is applied. It is the fines for excessive speed that needs to be adjusted (currently, the range is from $368–$483). For a first offence this needs to be from $3,680–$4,830 OR 5% of the driver’s gross annual income, whichever is greater to be paid within 365 days. 

A second offence this needs to be from $36,800–$48,300 OR 10% of the driver’s gross annual income, whichever is greater to be paid within 365 days.  

A third conviction demonstrates they are a lethal menace to the public so a minimum mandatory sentence of 25 years, for each charge is appropriate. The three-time loser would still have to serve 1 minimum of 16 years before they could apply for parole, but at least the public would be safe for 16 years, in addition to the minimum fine.

I have absolutely zero tolerance for drug dealers. Any conviction requires a minimum mandatory sentence of 25 years, for each charge. Period.

If you can't do the time, don't do the crime

Which Bible? (Continued)

Thanks for the comments, private and public on my original Ramblings

If you are looking for citations for my Ramblings, you are out of luck. This is not an academic exercise, but a culmination of 35 years of research (academic, mentored, and personal) and my opinions based on those 35 years of intense navel-gazing contemplation with the support of an assortment of a dozen (or more) Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic Priests/Ministers , no less than five Rabbis, three Imams, a Mahasaya and a very interesting Sikh Granthi who had more positive input on the Christian Bible than any other community religious leader noted above.

My original point was referring to a document that cannot be called THE Bible, because there are so many variations and information lost in translation from the second and third century CE Armenian (the common language of the people in the Middle East from 2000 BCE), to Greek (the common language of international commerce and philosophy of the day) to Latin (the common language of law of the day) to ancient Spanish (the most widely spoken language on the planet after the 4^th Century CE) and finally to English in the 16^th Century CE, and the variety of translations in English since 1611.

This is not to mention the dozens of political additions, subtractions, and translations from the bible from the First Council of Nicea (325CE) to the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council (Concilium Oecumenicum Vaticanum Secundum) in 1965.

As an instrument of instruction for living a good life, it can be boiled down to what has been come to be known as the “Golden Rule”: Treat everybody that way you want to be treated. This is common in every one of the current spiritual instruction books on the planet – Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, Islam, Jewish, etc. Everything else is filler and often poor translations from the original Armenian/Greek/Latin writings of the second and third Century CE when 90% of the Common Era history was written.

In 35 years of academic instruction, reading, and being mentored in the study of organized religions, there is nowhere in any Bible I have been able to find that rejects the celebration of birthdays, that requires spiritual leaders to abstain from marriage, that the world was going to end in 1925, that the ‘gates to heaven’ closed in 1935, that the world would end in 1975, or that the birth date of Emmanuel (Jesus) was December 25 (rather than late Spring/early Summer as indicated in actually READING the book).

The bottom lines:

Do good stuff, not bad stuff

Treat others as you want to be treated

Which Bible?

It continues to amaze me that there are those that cling to a singular view of all things biblical.  If it is not in the King James Bible exactly the way he had it translated, it is a fake, a forgery, or an insidious plot by Satan to corrupt the minds of men.  

All of the excluded books from the 4^th through 19^th century, of course, are controversial to some, but authenticity is an individual decision.  Anything else is, in any case, intellectual censorship. 

It is also interesting to note that the first books of the New Testament were not written until 40 years after the crucifixion, therefore written by scribes who were at best, toddlers at the time of the crucifixion with only word-of-mouth stories to relegate to papyrus. The following books were written after that. Three hundred years later, a political convention (Diet of Wourms) made political decisions as to what should, or should not be included in the Bible to ensure that the Church of the day maintained absolute religious and political power over the population.

For anyone who claims that the Christian Bible they hold so dearly in their hands is THE Bible, it had better be written in Greek, Hebrew, or Armenian and contain ALL of be books of both the old and new testaments. For example, the four Gospels of Mary of Bethany refer to the marriage of Emmanuel (Jesus) to Mary of Bethany, (Magdalene), at Kefr-Kenna and the subsequent birth of their son Sirach, which flies in the face of the Catholic belief of a life-long bachelor and childless Jesus.

There are over 500 books that have been associated with the Bible either through archaeological research or historical documentation.  This does not include any books believed to be written after the corruption of doctrine by the Universal Church established by the Emperor Constantine in the Fourth Century AD.

More than 60 English-language versions are available. We can divide them into three broad types: word-for-word, meaning-to-meaning (also called thought-for-thought) and paraphrased. Usually a particular Bible version will explain, on its introductory pages, which approach was used in preparing it – some include the apocrypha, many do not. The term "apocrypha" comes from a Greek word meaning "hidden" or "secret" and the books were originally considered by the early church as too exalted to be available to the general public. As time progressed, the exalted nature of the books was lost and the books were deemed by some as false. Between the Book of Malachi and Matthew there is a gap of approximately 450 years. It is these books that fill that gap and, in the time of Christ, these books formed part of the Septuagint Greek Bible that was in circulation at that time.

What is missing from most Bibles, and our understanding of it, is what happened in that 450-year gap. Prophets were still writing and reflecting on life in the Holy Land right up until the Romans destroyed the temple of Jerusalem in 70 AD. The world that Jesus entered in 4 BC is not the world that Daniel and Malachi experienced. One of the values of these books is how they reflect the mindset of Judaism and a Roman world that the New Testament writers faced. Malachi and Daniel leave us in Persia; Matthew brings us into a Roman world. 

The Apocrypha bridges that gap and gently nudges us into the reality of Roman Palestine. It was only in the fourth century AD that Christians first started to question the “canonicity” of the works, although most survived to be included in the King James translation of the Bible in 1611.

Unknown to almost all of the over two billion people who claim the Bible as their spiritual foundation is that there are several books and two sections missing from all but a few modern versions of that Bible. Perhaps one of the best kept secrets of the modern Protestant church is that the Bible used by that church is not the original King James Bible. That translation, completed in 1611, and the Bibles published for the use of the clergy and the church members until 1885, contained 80 books. Although attempts to remove the books of the Apocrypha from the Bible began immediately after the King James translation was completed, they remained in the Bible until the end of the 19th Century. There is no doubt that the books of the Apocrypha were controversial, but it cannot be denied they were included in the original King James Bible.

The concept of the Protestant Church about the Apocrypha is virtually non-existent, with the general understanding that only the Catholic Church uses it. One would be hard-pressed to find any members of the clergy even aware that these books were ever included in the King James Bible. There are 155,683 words and over 5,700 verses contained in 168 chapters now missing from the King James translation of the Bible due to the exclusion of the Apocrypha. Although this only happened just over a hundred years ago, their existence as fully accepted scripture is virtually unknown.

The Apocrypha in the original King James Bible (1611 – 1885):

1st Esdras

2nd Esdras

Tobit

Judith

Add to Esther

The Wisdom of Solomon

Ecclesiasticus or the Wisdom of Jesus Son Sirach

Baruch

Letter of Jeremiah

Prayer of Azariah or Song of the Three Young Men

Susanna

Bel and the Dragon

Prayer of Manasseh

1st Macabees

2nd Macabees

The Apocrypha in the Douay Rheims Bible:

1st Esdras

2nd Esdras

Tobias

Judith

Wisdom of Solomon

Ecclisiasticus (The Wisdom of Jesus' Son Sirach)

Baruch

Abdias

Micheas (This is the book of Micah)

Aggeus (This is the book of Haggai)

1st Macabees

2nd Macabees

These Apocrypha books are missing from in the Douay Rheims Bible:

Addition to Esther

Letter of Jeremiah

Prayer of Azariah or Song of the Three Young Men

Susanna

Bel and the Dragon

Prayer of Manasseh