I've About Had it.

Here's some of my weapons.

I've been battling a cold for about 10 days now. At times, I've had little to no voice, a fever, a bad hacking cough, etc. Right now, the dry cough is driving me batty at night - 4 to 5 hours of interrupted sleep. Last night, I took Nyquil and Buckleys before bed.(not sure about the med mixing there) I actually slept sitting up on the couch to try to stop the hacking. The night before, Naomi G had suggested another thing I hadn't heard of before. Shanda rubbed my feet with Vicks Rub (gobs of it) and then I put my socks on and went to bed - on top of Buckleys and a humidifier going.

I've been missing Fit for Life excercise and I'm not happy about that either!
I'm going to the doc tomorrow to see what (or if) else I can do.

We Would Never Do That!

The Canadian military in Afghanistan is a subject of controversy for many. I personally am torn at times for a variety of reasons. However, when I read stories like this, I think it might be a good thing that we are there to help establish justice... An 18 year old girl (with some other girls) has acid thrown into her eyes as she walked to school. They suspect that the men that did it did it because they are opposed to girls going to school.

Eighteen-year-old Shamia was blinded by the acid, which the girls first thought was water until their eyes began to hurt."You see the situation, it's very bad," said Shamia's mother Malina, crying. "It's a very painful and terrible situation. Her sin was that she was going to school."

The Taliban denied involvement in it, almost like they were saying that would be just too terrible of a thing for them to do. They kind of undercut their argument when they were quick to claim responsibility for a suicide bomb.

However, Ahmadi said the Taliban did carry out the suicide bombing in the city at 12:40 p.m. that killed six, including a woman, a child and two intelligence agents.

"It's just overwhelming," said Canadian Lt.-Col. Bruno Plourde of the Black Watch Canadian Highland Regiment of Montreal, after surveying the damage. "As a soldier, I can understand soldier-versus-soldier. But using civilians, it just doesn't add up. It just baffles me that people can't put their mind and intelligence to better use than that."

These people's tactics are just terrible...In that environment, in 2008, Canadian soldiers continue to put their lives on the line for the freedom of others. I salute you, men and women of the Canadian Forces.

REGULATION OVERLOAD

Is it just me, or does it seem like the various levels of government are regulating life more and more? Comox was debating whether or not to ban clotheslines because of 'visual pollution'. Some staff were suggesting even banning automatic clothes dryers because they 'pollute too much'. You can read about those here. Courtenay is preparing to spend $17 million for water metering because we apparently use too much water. Courtenay is set to ban every backyard fire on the grounds that it pollutes your neighbour's air. What's next? Banning the BBQ because the smell goes into my neighbours airspace? The carbon tax is coming into effect to tax us into greenness (allegedly). The money will be going into general revenue, so it is unlikely that there will be much change. There's a provincial law coming into effect that says you will need to have a car seat for your child up to age 9! (subject to weight and height issues). BC is also preparing to ban smoking in a car if you have a child in it. Will they soon be regulating whether or not you can feed your children at McDonalds because the fat and grease make them susceptible to heart disease?

More and more the state is creeping into the private affairs of citizens, all under the guise that 'they know better.'

Now many of these issues need to be addressed. However, instead of bringing out the stick of regulation all the time, perhaps they could invest in education and positive incentives to encourage change OR here's a radical thought - stay out of people's private personal lives? I have thoughts on many of these political issues and will be talking about them over the next while.