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September 30, 2005
Hate, just plain hate...
In the last few days I have been watching with amusement as the conservatives and right-wing nut jobs in this country have been slowly dragging down the Republican Party and running every decent person's name through the mud that happens to have an R next to it. It started off this week with Congressman DeLay and his diatribe over the Democratic DA that's persecuting him. The amount of vile crap and hatred that came out of his mouth made me nauseous. The DA has prosecuted twice as many Democrats then Republicans....get over it Tom. Where was your ritousness and compassion when Bill Clinton was being raked over the coals for a blowjob?
Then this morning I open my internet to see this little lovely gem of a quote:
"But I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could, if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down," said Bill Bennett, author of "The Book of Virtues."
Now, both of these men are not extreme right-wing nut jobs (well maybe in your mind they are) but are respected leaders in the Republican establishment. Tom DeLay was the House of Representatives Majority Leader, and Bennett was Education Secretary under President Reagan and director of drug control policy when President Bush I was president. These are the mainstream guys...think about that for a second.
I'm tired, so tired of the hatred in this country. Bush calls himself a "uniter, not a divider" but all I have been able to see over the past five years is nothing but an increase in hatred and division, and these two idiots have just thrown gasoline over the fire.
I am so ready to move.
September 25, 2005
La Vie Canada
Sorry, I have been absent the past few weeks. I went on a gay spiritual retreat with some friends to Ohio (I know, I know...Ohio?) and then I had to work last week and then went on an unscheduled trip to Vancouver this weekend.
Gods, I love that city.
It was odd because the minute I stepped foot in the airport my body shuddered with the feeling that I was home. Not the fact that I was in Vancouver, but that I was back in the land of the Maple Leaf, Hockey rinks, Tim Horton's and back bacon.
I worked a spell back in Toronto in June when I was lying on the Toronto Islands watching the clouds go by the skyline and feeling myself slowly sinking into the ground. Rooting myself to the city, to the province, to the country - this weekend I felt the results strongly. I warned Mason that whe he goes to Montreal in two weeks for the Black & Blue Ball that he needs to be careful...he may not want to come back - kinda like how I felt on the plane tonight.
The one nice thing was that I was up there with some friends. Two of them had never visited Vancouver, much less Canada, and at one point in the cab on our way to breakfast this morning to a place in Stanley Park, Roger looked over at me and said "Now I know why you want to move to this country..."
Indeed.
Posted by Nikolas at 08:20 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBackSeptember 07, 2005
I Miss My Manbridge
It's Mason Again (See, I really can post more than one entry!)
Our latest copy of Macleans News Magazine arrived today and I realized how much I enjoy catching up on the Canadian news. Unfortunately, I also realized how much I really miss watching the CBC News that was on the former International Channel (now Al Gore's Current Network.) Engrossing myself in the news helped me get ready for our eventual move and since I have an extensive news career background, it was something I could latch onto.
We must find a way to get it back.
Posted by Mason at 11:26 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBackSeptember 06, 2005
Southwest by Northeast
In my never ending realization (and anticipation) that the time for us in Colorado is coming to an end I have started to see things in a different light. More then likely this will be our last fall, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc in Colorado, in Denver, in the United States.
This weekend I took a trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico with some friends. I have always loved New Mexico - it has such a vibrant energy and is such a beautiful place. As I walked down the Plazas with my friends smelling the cedar and sage in the air I realized that my time in the Southwest is slowly coming to an end.
I never expected to live in Colorado. It was a careless whim of a 19-year old chasing a dream across the continent. I ended up in Denver on a dare and a prayer. Who knew 11 years later I would still be here, and preparing for a much more planned move back to the northeast section of the continent.
I will miss New Mexico, Colorado, the Rockies, the arid west, the big sky country of the new world...but I am ready to go.
Posted by Nikolas at 09:29 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBackSeptember 01, 2005
What if...
I've been spending the better part of the week at work surfing the internet about the Katrina aftermath and doing my job. The scope of the devastation is unfathomable and is going to take a very, very, very long time to overcome. For example, they are saying New Orleans won't even be dry till February 2006 - think about that for a second. I told Mason that I think people will just take their insurance checks and just relocate somewhere else. The city, the main economic engine will be closed for months...no one can go months without money, or needs.
Anyway, so I was at work today and I thought about how I must have a counterpart somewhere in NOLA. A social worker working with foster kids, finding placements, going to courts, doing home visit, engaging people in therapy. Then it hit me...where are all the foster kids? Did the foster parents evacuate them, and if so how are they going to stay in touch with their worker. Where are the workers? All the files are probably destroyed, their buildings are in shambles. What about the delinquent kids in detention...did they evacuate them? What about the kids in shelters, the kids in drug rehab, the sex offenders in placement. Did anyone think of them? Phones are down, computers are waterlogged...what happens to these families. The trauma these kids had to begin with just got compacted and multiplied by 100. No meds available for the schizophrenics, Developmentally Delayed kids in wheelchairs...how did they get out?
What if this happened in Denver? Would I care more about Mason and the dogs and getting out? What about my kids? For a moment I sat in my office speechless and frightened. I can only imagine how the worker in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama feel.
Posted by Nikolas at 05:21 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
