Author: Alan

President Kerry?

It would be facinating to watch if the wheels really came off the current US administration. This was slipped in the Toronto Star‘s article on Kerry’s wins yesterday:

One national poll yesterday put Kerry seven percentage points ahead of Bush as the president continued to be battered by the failure to find banned weapons in Iraq and his secretary of state seemed to express second thoughts about the decision to go to war. Perhaps more ominous for the sitting president, his approval rating had dropped to 48 per cent, the lowest of his presidency, according to the CNN-USA Today poll.

I would think that sending soldiers to a war which has had its primary ground – WMD – generally disproven is a biggie.  [Apparently Colin Powell thinks so, too.]   It feels like there was never a true buy-in to the Saddam-Osammy link. And the tighter security rules must discomfort – I don’t think this is a big thing at the border and security agencies will be security agencies but when you are checking up on what my kids take out from the library it gets a bit weird. But the main thing is the messed up budget. I don’t think you can have 20 years of being told that you must reduce government spending and reduce taxes only to have the shift to big spending and low taxes bought by the people. It used to be said of conservatives that they shifted the tax from rich to poor. This guy shifts it to no one…but money does not work that way. The loans from the Saudis and China mount. Who wants that dependency mounting?

The real question is, all in all, what has George Jr. done uniquely that another leader would not have done? I am not convinced the war on terror (remember that one?) would not have been taken on by anyone in the White House after 9/11. Others might have pursued it more diligently. Others soon might.

Battle of Ogdensburg

We are heading over to beautiful Ogdensburg, 100 km down river on the USA side, for the 14th. Beats the hell out of the Valentine’s Day when myself and herself were amazed at the easy access to the coin laundry machines before we remembered the date.

It is not the reopening of the cheese plant that attracts us. No. It’s the nutty recreationists dressing up like 1812 soldiers for the annual Battle of Ogdensburg re-enactment. Here is the contemporary British view of events. Apparently a group of Newfoundlanders were key to the victory. Here is an American perspective. Pretty big battle with 800 redcoats involved on a direct attack on a US village and fort. Here is a map of the battle. Canadian re-enactors as well as US take part. The area had a mid-1700s French presence and only became the USA in 1796 when the British retreated after the Jay Treaty.

Later St. Lawrence University will play host to Vermont at Canton in NCAA hockey – fewer guns but more real fights.

Men at Serious Play

So we went over to St. Lawrence County, New York, on Saturday to catch a War of 1812 re-enactment of the Battle of Ogdensburg organized by a local group, Forsyth’s Rifles Inc.. We were not disappointed. I had never been to one of these things before – other than being a mock soldier at Citidel Hill in Halifax for one day (I got sun stroke in the shade) – and so in had some pre-conceptions that, on one hand, it would be like a radio nerd convention and, on the other, a bit gungho.

It was neither. About 60 guys, who could very well have been all high school history from either side of the river/border, played out the actual battle with some authenticity for over about an hour. They were quite happy to answer all questions and made sure everyone kep a safe distance. The grey-coated British advanced over the ice in formation, cannons roared from both sides and fifes were played. It was quite cold and a couple guys said they were considering taking Walmart and holding it instead.

I wrote earlier this month on the events and provided links in that post. A year later in the War of 1812, the USA invaded Eastern Ontario and got hammered at Chrysler’s Farm where a much smaller force protected Montreal against 8000 soldiers (including the real Forsyth’s unit) coming up the river from Sackett’s Harbor. There is a bigger re-enactment in summer of that battle which we will likely take in. The Ogdensburg guys head over for that.

Some short movies of the action – all around 2 Mbs so expect some delay

The fifes play as the battle nears
The US forces march out to meet the Brits
a US cannon fires
The US musketmen are ordered to fire at will – note small Brit snowshoe unit coming up to the left in trees

Please give me a heads up if any of the links in the multi-media post do not work.

Mid-Winter Thaw

Winter weather colours so much of your mental landscape in Canada. Walking home yesterday it was a balmy -2 and everyone was Gene Kelly singing in the rain. Jackets open, heads bare. It has actually warmed up enough to snow (figure that one out, Ale-fan) and we are set for 15 cm or so – which would be the biggest snow in our corner of the world yet this season. This morning, however, the roads are wet. Luxury. A little early to think of them as million dollar snows, the snows that make sure there is enough moisture in the ground for a good growing season, but still we are past the middle. Mid-winter thaw was a time as a kid for ground hockey, a form of the game played on still frozen ground, ruining next spring’s lawn, road hockey without the incessent call of “caaaaaar”.

Formula 1 Threats

Here in Canada we have had ann annual game recently of Formula 1 racing threatening to pull out all activities unless we change our anti-tobacco ad legislation. Now I read they are threatening the EU as well:

“The EU is strangled by unnecessary and excessive regulations,” said [F1 head Max] Mosley.

“If you are involved in something that is at the cutting edge you’ve got to question if this is the right place.

We are involved in something cutting edge…umm…cutting out the lies of death merchants. People are free to smoke – away from me if you please. Just don’t teach its virtues to my kids.