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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2009-11-05, Page 5THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2009. PAGE 5. Bonnie Gropp TThhee sshhoorrtt ooff iitt When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross. – Sinclair Lewis I read the news today, oh boy… – The Beatles Aguy could get awfully depressed reading the news these days. Joe Wilson, a peanut-brained Republican congressman from South Carolina gratuitously and publicly insults the President. Historically, this is not a career-enhancing move. Squeaky Fromme tried it on President Ford in 1975 and spent the next 34 years in the slammer. When Iraqi Muntazer al-Zaidi hurled a Hush Puppy at George Bush he went to jail too. He surfaced last month with two broken ribs and a smashed foot. Joe Wilson? Dissing Obama made him a folk hero to the Republican lunatic fringe. Donations to his campaign office went up by a million bucks in the next week alone. Oh, and he was praised as a valiant patriot from the pulpit of his church the following Sunday. We live in crazy times with crazies at home and crazies abroad. But a lot of them have one thing in common: they are very religious. Fanatically so. Zealots on the other side of the water cable- stitch explosives into their suicide cardigans and dream of being serviced in the afterlife by 72 virgins. Is that so much stranger than the zealots on this side who think Obama is the Antichrist and seriously contemplate the coming of the Rapture? The Rapture – that Disneyesque day a- comin’ when the Goodly among us will spontaneously shed their clothes, their credit cards and their car keys and levitate magically upward through the elms to live for eternity above the clouds leaving the rest of us unsaved and ungodly sods to duke it out here in Hell On Earth. You want to really get depressed? Some polls say as many as 55 per cent of Americans buy into the notion of the Rapture Stephen King couldn’t make this stuff up. We live in an age when access to information has never been freer and the ocean of knowledge has never been deeper; yet as near as I can tell ‘way too many of us are stupider than ever. I can only see three responses to this pathetic speed bump in human development: get mad, get sad or laugh our butts off. Some people are embracing Option Three. A new website is extending a helping hand to all pet-owning Rapture believers by offering a post-Rapture pet care service. Simply put, for a mere $110 per critter, the folks at Eternal Earth-Bound Pets will look after all the dogs, cats and cockatoos that sky-bound Rapturites will be leaving behind. Naturally, there’s some fine print. If the subscribers lose their faith or are not ‘Raptured’ within the next 10 years, they are not entitled to a refund. Eternal Earth-Bound Pets members are all atheists, but as their website points out, that turns out to be a Good Thing. They’re definitely going to be left behind and thus can be counted on as reliable kibble and cat chow dispensers. Facetious? Maybe – but there’s nothing tongue-in- cheek about the e-mail service being offered by Mark Heard. Subscribers to his service, called Youvebeenleftbehind, get to send up to 63 post-Rapture e-mails after the sender has been whisked off the Earth and transported to Heaven. The inspiration came to Heard, a Christian, after it occurred to him that he would not be able to send his wife important passwords if the Rapture should suddenly sweep him, but not her, skyward. “This gives you,” says Heard, “one last chance to reach your lost family and friends for Christ.” Meanwhile, on the other side of the divine divide, television station Kanal T, in Istanbul is about to air a reality show variation. In this version, 10 atheists will try to resist conversion by a priest, a rabbi, a Muslim imam and a Buddhist monk. The winner, if any, gets an all-expenses paid trip to the Holy Land (Vatican, Jerusalem, Mecca, Tibet) of whichever faith he or she converts to. Stephen King couldn’t make this up either. Still not laughing? Then let me leave you with Robin Williams take on the Al Qaeda belief that 72 virgins wait to entertain ‘martyrs’ when they get to the other side. “My only hope,” says Williams, “is that when those terrorists get to heaven, they meet up with the kind of virgins we had in Catholic school: Sister Mike Ditka from Our Mother of Eternal Retribution.” Arthur Black Other Views Well … as a martyr of fact Premier Dalton McGuinty says he has not even begun to choose which programs he will cut to start whittling down the biggest deficit in the province’s history, but he has dropped a few clues. The Liberal premier has to reduce his government’s spending dramatically, because it is headed for a $24.7 billion deficit in the current year, brought on mainly by a slump in the economy from which recovery will take years. McGuinty has made it clear he expects to restrain spending in health, by far his most expensive responsibility, and has made several studies aimed at reducing its costs. The government likes to describe these as working papers rather than approved policies, but the premier has warned hospitals specifically will have to live with smaller annual increases in funding. Because demand for hospital services is increasing constantly, particularly from the growing number of older residents, this could have the impact of funding decreases. One of the studies focused on drug costs and new Health Minister Bev Matthews has said she is not considering reducing drug benefits for seniors and social assistance recipients, but the two groups naturally are worried this will result in fewer drugs being available. The Liberals also have started nibbling away at programs that serve limited sectors of the population and this suggests a trend toward cutting where protesters are likely to be fewer. Programs reduced so far include one to persuade people to stop smoking. Health Promotion Minister Margarett Best has tried to justify this by saying government in times of recession has to make the best use of public money. But this cut could be counter-productive, because money the province saves will be small compared to the cost of treating more illnesses related to tobacco. The province similarly has stopped accepting new applicants for a program training out-of-work residents to start their own businesses. Training, Colleges and Universities Minister John Milloy has explained resources are finite and have to be used where they are most needed, but the program has helped some and there is concern it will not be revived. The province for four years has had a program that provides funds to small municipalities particularly for health and social services and some of these have had hints it will be ended, but ministers stonewall any questions on this. The government in the latest example has refused to contribute toward the costs of repairing homes and businesses severely damaged last summer by a tornado in Vaughan and flooding in Hamilton. It argued its criteria do not permit it to help, but earlier interpreted them more generously and this seems another indication of where belt-tightening will come. The province has no option but to reduce dramatically its hiring of consultants after revelations it spent $1 million a day last year hiring many, including friends, some of whom were paid $3,000 a day and still billed taxpayers for every coffee and doughnut. The government is already under huge pressure to fire many of them and only a few restaurants will shed tears over their absence. McGuinty also seems preparing to save big time by reducing the cost of the public service. Finance Minister Dwight Duncan said months ago the province has a target of reducing the size of its public service by five per cent over the next three years through attrition and “other measures.” He did not specify what the other measures would be, but McGuinty said more recently to questions, he would not rule out saving by forcing public servants to take days off without pay, as New Democratic Party premier Bob Rae did in the early 1990s, when they became known as Rae Days. Most of the public feels public servants have been treated generously, keeping jobs and receiving pay increases others were denied in the recession. Some municipal councils also have asked McGuinty to impose pay freezes on their own and provincial public servants and he would have many people cheering him on. Eric Dowd FFrroomm QQuueeeenn’’ss PPaarrkk The cat was away and this mouse was going to play. A rare opportunity had presented itself and while play might be a bit of a misnomer, the time that had been awarded was going to be taken full advantage of. It was a weekend afternoon. Suddenly I found myself with a couple of hours smack dab in the middle of a hurly burly whirl of cleaning, catching up on things left too long undone, and the preparation for and eventual time of hosting guests. My guy had set off for points I had no interest in visiting with him ( it involved garages if memory serves correctly) and feeling that I had my tasks relatively in hand it seemed the stars had aligned for me to greedily grab some me time. With a glass of crisp Reisling beside me, I curled into my favourite cuddle-me chair and settled in for some reading. The book had been loaned to me by a friend and as I let it take me away for the first few chapters I wondered at first if I really wanted to go. It was a strange place for sure. But, then, as often happens when words are crafted skillfully into story it wasn’t long before I was enchanted, by the characters and the fictional world they inhabited. Before I knew it two hours had passed and pulling myself back to me and now I reluctantly accepted that the time had come to leave my newfound friends and return to the mundane. While I soon found myself playing a bit of catch up on the work that still needed to be done, the jobs were attacked with a renewed energy and determination. The time spent between the pages of a book had been escapism, relaxing and satisfying. Not all that long ago, this scenario would have played out significantly different. Precious weekend hours couldn’t be wasted so frivolously when there was work to be done. A cobweb in the corner or a phone call to be returned could never be put off despite common knowledge that they would remain until my return, It’s taking me a long time but I’m learning to take advantage of every opportunity to quiet body, soul and mind, to step away from chaos and responsibility. My attempts on occasion are perhaps somewhat half-hearted; I still have issues with guilt when I try to take a break while seeing dust balls skitter across the floor. But, a little determination and denial can be a wonderful thing. And really, of all the wisdom offered on ways to improve our health and lengthen life, this one is a pretty easy change. Getting a facial, having a nap, finding a quiet corner and reading shouldn’t be things we have to be told to do twice for our health. The problem is that we are becoming more and more conditioned to a busy, crazy lifestyle. Work and effort are rewarded, as they should be. But at the end of the day, being the best at work and play means a healthy balance of the two. One is no more essential than the other. It comes down to self-care. It’s common knowledge today that taking time for you, doing the things you enjoy, soothing and pampering a weary spirit are good for you. And if you still feel bad about taking time for yourself think of it as a selfless act. You’re doing it for others. Those moments we snatch nourish us, contribute to overall well-being and in turn make us respond better to the needs of others. And you thought that massage you had was for you. McGuinty choosing cuts to programs Do it for others Letters Policy The Citizen welcomes letters to the editor. Letters must be signed and should include a daytime telephone number for the purpose of verification only. Letters that are not signed will not be printed. Submissions may be edited for length, clarity and content, using fair comment as our guideline. The Citizen reserves the right to refuse any letter on the basis of unfair bias, prejudice or inaccurate information. As well, letters can only be printed as space allows. Please keep your letters brief and concise.