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Washington's Wars and Occupations:
Month in Review #76 (Español)
Scapegoats and monsters come in handy for the right wing and the powers-that-be. Real or imagined, they are very convenient for passing blame and justifying their own brutality, while diverting public attention from root causes and real threats.
The language and idioms of U.S. culture provide plenty of tools for passing blame and turning "the other" into an imaginary or exaggerated monster. The right-wing especially has become master of the art, targeting everyone from public school teachers and climate scientists to immigrants and Muslims.
So when London explodes in the face of massive austerity and police brutality, the problem is supposedly "black culture." When Palestinians promise to take their case to the United Nations, the evil-doers are the occupied and not the occupier. And when a Libyan dictator cracks down on Libyans opposing his regime, a ruler Washington was happy to arm just a short while ago becomes the latest devil incarnate and a great excuse for trying to bring back the discredited "Washington as hero" narrative throughout the Arab world.
Yet we have also witnessed push back from progressive forces to elitist scapegoating and blame-shifting. Antiwar activists are exposing the anything-but-humanitarian motivations for NATO's war in Libya. The immigrant rights movement has mobilized a new round of resistance to the Obama administration's so-called Secure Communities program, while across Latin America and beyond there is growing resistance to the militarism of the U.S. drug war.
On August 22, anti-Gaddafi forces entered Tripoli, Libya's capital. It was over five months after passage of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973. That resolution's stated intention was the protection of civilians, using a variety of military and non-military interventions, in particular a no-fly zone. But NATO quickly piloted a fleet of offensive weaponry through the resolution's "all necessary measures" wording and dismissed all calls for diplomacy, cease-fires and negotiations between the regime and the Libyan rebels. NATO leaders made it clear their actual goal was removing Gaddafi from power.
In short, NATO decided to gamble the lives of ordinary Libyans to pursue its own agenda, inevitably leading to many civilian deaths and eventually forcing UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to remark that he was "deeply concerned by reports of the unacceptably large number of civilian casualties."
With the Gaddafi regime now all but collapsed, the Libyan rebels are moving to take control of the country through their Transitional National Council (TNC). But with diehard Gaddafi supporters still fighting, with divisions in the rebel ranks, and NATO clearly expecting to be rewarded for its "services," the future of Libya is not at all clear.
To be sure, there is rejoicing in much of Libya and the Arab world at the overthrow of another despot. One consequence of Gaddafi's removal from power may be a dose of new inspiration for the struggling democratic revolts throughout region. But the particular way Gaddafi was overthrown is also causing concern and anxiety. For one thing, the costs in lives and suffering is still to be reckoned from a rebellion that - in contrast to Egypt and Tunisia - became militarized very quickly and saw the rebels (or at least its TNC leadership) allied with Western military force. And whether it will be Libyans or the West who dominate, whatever arrangement comes next is not yet decided.
And then there is the way Libya played out in Washington. In a performance worthy of Orwellian doublespeak, the Obama administration went to war without seeking congressional approval and simply stated that military intervention in Libya did not consist of "hostilities" because the lives of U.S. troops were not threatened. According to the "U.S. Activities in Libya" report from the White House, "U.S. operations do not involve sustained fighting or active exchanges of fire with hostile forces, nor do they involve the presence of U.S. ground troops, U.S. casualties or a serious threat thereof, or any significant chance of escalation into a conflict characterized by those factors." So now fighting only counts as war when U.S. lives are at risk, no matter how many non-U.S. soldiers or civilians are killed by U.S. firepower?
|Thanks to These Times We Live In for this image.
A dangerous precedent has been set for Washington's already "imperial presidency," which has long had too many unaccountable ways to start killing people. Especially in an era when modern military technology (from predator drones to special ops) can be used to attack foreign countries with minimal risk to the hi-tech attackers, this is one more step toward the institutionalization of permanent war.
And whatever freedom and democracy rhetoric is used, the reasons Washington goes to war have to do with geopolitical interests. In the Libyan intervention, the U.S. was above all seeking a different image than the one caused by its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and its blank-check support of Israeli colonialism.
After all, the US and Europe had no problem dealing with Gaddafi before the current uprisings. Gaddafi was until recently praised for being a reformed enemy who came in from the proverbial cold to exchange his weapons of mass destruction for friendly ties with the West. The Obama administration felt comfortable enough with Gaddafi's rule that it approved $15 million in weapons sales to the Libyan government in 2009. Furthermore, according to a new batch of classified U.S. diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks on August 24, the U.S. sought to bring Libya into a stronger relationship with AFRICOM, Washington's Africa military command.
But European and U.S. leaders saw a chance to gain privileged access to a new regime on the cheap when the Arab Spring arrived in Libya and it seemed like most Libyans were ready to emulate their brothers and sisters in Egypt and Tunisia and throw off dictatorial rule, if only Gaddafi's military could be "neutralized." By returning Gaddafi to his 1970s/80s status as an evil radical, the West could present itself again as a champion of freedom in the world, while fortifying and justifying its military presence in Africa and the Middle East.
Washington's "we're the good guys, we're for democracy" image-making is likely to find more takers at home than in the Arab and Muslim world however. A U.S. public fed a steady diet of Islamophobic lies and distortions may be fooled, but most people in the region will not. They after all see that Washington's all-out backing for longstanding regional allies Israel and Saudi Arabia is unchanged - and that both of these country's government's are bitter opponents of the democratic uprising that have come to be known as the Arab Spring.
Since the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the Saudis have seen themselves as leaders, with U.S. support, of a united Sunni coalition against the alleged threat of Shiite Iran. Meanwhile, Israel has long managed to build important (if often under-the-table) ties with autocratic Sunni regimes on the basis of hostility to Iran (and agreement that these regimes's support for Palestine would stay rhetorical only.)
But now Egyptian dictator Mubarak has been overthrown and whatever new government emerges in Egypt seems unlikely to stick as closely to that favored Saudi-Israel-U.S. arrangement. The democracy genii are out of the bottle elsewhere as well, and those with the biggest investment in autocratic rule are stepping up both their scapegoating/fear-mongering and their use of military force.
So when protests break out in Shia-majority Bahrain against the rule of the Saudi-backed royal Al Khalifa family, Saudi Arabia sent in troops and used violence and torture. And though Sunnis as well as Shia participated in the protests, the Saudis portrayed it all as a sectarian crusade sparked by Iranian meddling. And despite meager pronouncements from a White House spokesperson following the Saudi invasion, calling for "calm and restraint on all sides", Washington stood by its Saudi allies. The double-standard when compared to Washington's stance toward repressive measures by the Syrian regime - or Gaddafi for that matter - may not register strongly yet with the U.S. public, but it certainly registers across the Middle East.
In the Israel-Palestine conflict, Washington's backward, double-standard role is even more apparent. The last few months have seen a spate of racist and repressive laws passed or in the pipeline in the Israeli parliament on top of continued settlement building on Palestinian land. Top Israeli officials make it crystal clear that they regard the region's democratic upsurge as dangerous and negative, such as Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman saying outright that the Arab Spring will inevitably end in an "Iranian Winter."
But Washington still gives Israel every dollar of aid it wants and throws its weight behind Tel Aviv's positions at the U.N.
The situation on the ground, meanwhile, is extremely volatile, and Israel is not having everything its own way.
One top official after another has expressed fears of what may come of huge non-violent Palestinian demonstrations accompanying the Palestinian push for U.N. Statehood recognition next month. They fear that global public opinion - and even public opinion in their bastion of support, the U.S. - may shift further away from Israel than it already has. In that battle for hearts and minds, Israel's overwhelming military superiority does not do them much good.
So the Israeli establishment is much happier when faced with small-group violent resistance, which can more easily be portrayed as terrorism. But even when such things do happen, Israel does not now have the freedom of action it once enjoyed.
Witness the aftermath of the August 18 attack outside of the southern Israeli town of Eilat, near the Israeli-Egyptian border, which killed eight Israelis and injured several others. Claiming that militants from the Gaza-based Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) were behind the attacks, Israel immediately responded as it traditionally does, by sending warplanes to launch air strikes in Gaza killing a number of civilians. And on August 21 Israeli Forces implemented their widest military operation since 2004, raiding dozens of homes and arresting over 50 Palestinian civilians, mostly members of Hamas, including a number of academics, a journalist, and a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council.
Far right voices in Israel demanded even more aggressive action. But changes in Egypt especially checked Israel's options. During their pursuit of the suspected attackers, an Israeli aircraft killed three Egyptian security officials on the Egyptian side of the border. The incursion into Egyptian territory provoked an outpouring of thousands of angered protestors in Cairo. The Egyptian government responded too; though it did not carry out an early threat to recall its ambassador, Cairo demanded an apology and made it clear to Israel that the days of Mubarak covering up Israeli killings in Arab territory were over. Israel issued a rare apology for the killing of the Egyptian security officers. And though many in the Israeli leadership were itching to launch a full-scale attack on Gaza, Ha-aretz reported that at an Israeli Cabinet meeting:
"Netanyahu and Barak offered various arguments for why Israel must exercise restraint - its international isolation, the fact that the Iron Dome rocket interception system still offers only partial defense, and the fear of worsening the diplomatic crisis with Egypt. Under these circumstances, Netanyahu said, all-out war against Hamas-run Gaza would be inadvisable."
As the U.N. prepares to take up Palestinian statehood, Israel will go all-out in its campaign to blame every problem in the region on Palestinian terrorism and Iranian interference. But the Arab Spring is changing the equation; the opinions of the Arab masses, and of all advocates of equality, self-determination and human rights worldwide, can no longer be as easily swept under the rug by autocratic regimes.
Domestic politics in the U.S. is seeing plenty of blame-gaming too. Fantasy-land fear-mongering in Washington reached a new low this month with the Republican Party's crusade to impose austerity measures, seemingly at any cost.
Capitalizing on fears surrounding the U.S. economic crisis, congressional Republicans launched a deceitful campaign against a purported federal government spending spree, and refused to raise the debt ceiling without drastic spending cuts. Putting his administration into the 'impose austerity' camp, Obama signed the Budget Control Act of 2011 into law August 2, authorizing a severe slashing of government spending on much-needed programs. The deal will cut government spending by at least $2.4 trillion over the next decade; nearly $570 billion of that will come from what's called "non-defense discretionary spending," referring to everything from education to investments in physical infrastructure.
The whole debate ignored or underplayed central elements of the economic crisis: the costs of U.S wars abroad; the steady drop in tax rates on corporations and the rich over the last 30 years; the fact that the stimulus did not produce enough jobs because it was too small and that shoveling money to Wall Street, banks and wealthy individuals produces no jobs at all. The continuing occupation of Iraq has already cost the U.S. $47 billion in this year alone, while the interminable war in Afghanistan has cost $122 billion, also just in this year.
The debt deal (among other administration decisions) sparked intense criticism from labor and a host of other popular movements. But action and collective protest has not yet caught up with the level of progressive discontent. Those movements that are mobilizing, however, have won some welcome if still small victories.
The immigrant rights movement, for instance, recently gained a tentative victory in confronting the administration's demonizing of immigrant communities in the form of the ill-named Secure Communities (S-COMM) program. S-COMM is a deportation program established by the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency in 2008, whereby fingerprints submitted by local law enforcement agencies to the FBI for criminal background checks are automatically searched against immigration databases. Although it was originally announced that the program was voluntary, after a number of states declared that they would not comply with the program, the administration labeled it mandatory.
This revelation sparked outrage amongst immigrant rights advocates, culminating in national days of action on August 15-16. Tens of thousands of petition signatures were delivered to Obama's re-election headquarters and other Democratic Party offices demanding an end to this aggressive deportation policy. In response, Obama administration officials then announced they will give 300,000 people currently in deportation proceedings the right to a hearing before an immigration judge. Feeling they have leverage with a besieged administration hopeful of winning Latino votes, immigrant rights groups continue pushing forward and demand that Obama abolish the S-COMM program altogether.
The international militarization created by the U.S. "war on drugs" has also been met with upped resistance recently, both in the U.S. and abroad. On July 26, the NAACP passed a resolution calling for an end to the failed war on drugs, highlighting that the U.S. spends over $40 billion annually to lock up low-level drug offenders mostly from communities of color. Mexico's enormous "No Mas Sangre" ("No More Blood") movement, consisting largely of people whose lives have been devastated by Mexico's narco-war, has continued to mobilize thousands across the country, with a major march held in Mexico City on August 18. The Washington Post reports that pressure within Mexico has pushed President Felipe Calderon, an architect of Mexico's own militaristic approach, to utter some blunt words about U.S. policies and where blame really falls:
"Calderon blamed his northern neighbor for the devastating attack, arguing that assault-style weapons and billions of dollars in drug profits empower the criminal organizations that he said were probably behind Thursday's firebombing of the Casino Royale. 'The economic power and firepower of the criminal organizations operating in Mexico and Latin America come from this endless demand for drugs in the U.S.,'' Calderon said."
Through mass action in Mexico, the Arab world or the U.S. communities that are typically on the receiving end of the pointing finger can collectively begin to reveal the brutality of the blame game. Together we can show that those posing a real threat in the world are often the same ones pointing their finger.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the entire War Times project
Carlos Martinez is the coordinator at the Bay Area Center for Political Education, a movement-building organization providing activists and organizers a space for developing theory and strategy, He is co-author of Venezuela Speaks! Voices from the Grassroots, a collection of interviews with members of Venezuela's grassroots social movements published by PM Press in January of this year.
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I was able to take two weeks off of work for this summer's big trip, so after a week in the Cirque, there was an entire week left to play in the mountains before heading back home! (If you missed Wyoming Part 1, you can go back and read it here).
After our hike out of the Cirque, Seth and I drove into Pinedale, WY, found a nice little hotel, and spent a day doing laundry and recovering. We met two guys who were in the middle of hiking the entire Continental Divide Trail, and we saw a rodeo, complete with Mutton Bustin', my new favorite rodeo event (tiny kids riding sheep = awesome).
Then, up to Jackson we went to meet up with our friend Fred. Our objective was the Grand Teton, via the Owen Spalding route. Seth and I actually climbed the Grand two summers ago (that report is here). That was a guided climb, via the Upper Exum Ridge. This time, we wanted to do it on our own, and Fred agreed to join us! The weather forecast showed a perfect, two day weather window that matched our summit plans exactly. A relief, after being rained out in the Cirque the week before!
The Approach – Trailhead to Lower Saddle
The approach to the Lower Saddle, where we would camp the first night, is brutal. I'm not going to gloss over it, it's hard. I had, apparently, blocked it out of my memory. We had more weight in our packs this time, carrying our own ropes, gear, tent, etc, so that added difficulty as well.
The trail begins on the valley floor, at Lupine Meadows Trailhead, elevation 6,732 ft. Over the course of six miles, you hike up to the Lower Saddle, at 11,600 ft. That's nearly 5,000 ft of elevation gain. There's very little relief, and it's a mental and physical challenge just to get to the lower saddle.
We were feeling good. We heard of a few bear sightings along the trail, but made some noise and didn't encounter any ourselves. A couple miles in, I was dealing with a painful spot on my hip where my backpack was resting. It had bruised badly the week before in the Cirque and I had hoped a few days of rest would help. Seth came to the rescue and fashioned a piece of his foam sleeping pad to reduce that pressure point and it allowed me to forge ahead.
About 3/4 of the way up, somewhere around 10,000 ft, I began to feel some signs of mild altitude sickness. Nausea, weakness, headache… I had spent the entire week before between 9,500ft and 11,000 ft, so it didn't make any sense to me. I had only been back down to 6,000 ft for a few days, so I felt like I should have been fine. We continued on, set up camp on the Lower Saddle at 11,600 ft, and hoped that some rest and a night of sleep was all I needed.
The three of us had dinner, prepped for the morning, rested up. Seth was feeling strong, so he went up and explored the couloir, our final approach to the technical climbing on the Owen Spalding route. When he returned, we were able to talk with the park rangers about the approach (the rangers have a little hut up in the camping zone, and were a great source of information). We felt that we were in a great place to start in the morning.
The Lower Saddle itself is worth the trek. I've camped there twice now, and it's definitely the coolest place I've ever spent a night. It sits between the Middle Teton and the Grand Teton. On one side is a view of Jackson Hole, 5,000 ft below. On the other side looks out over a few smaller mountains, and Idaho stretching beyond. We had perfect weather. No wind, no clouds, not too cold… and it happened to be not only a full moon, but the *supermoon* that night. While the sun set over Idaho to the west, the supermoon rose over the Jackson Hole valley floor to the east. It was truly a sight to behold, and a magical evening on the mountain.
The Climb – Grand Teton via the Owen Spalding route
Our alarms were set for 3:15, with plans to leave camp at 4:15. Some parties headed up as early as 3:45, most without even turning their headlamps on, because the moon was so bright (did I mention that conditions were perfect?).
That morning I still wasn't feeling well. Nausea, no appetite, headache, and some dizziness as well. Mild altitude sickness is what we suspected. I had been planning this climb with Seth for over a year, we had done all of the prep together, studied the route a million different ways, talked through it over and over. We had planned to share leads; Seth would lead the first pitch (belly roll and crawl), and I would lead the chimneys that followed. A big part of this trip for me was not only summiting, but leading. Leading some pitches, leading the team.. it was really important to me.
After I forced some oatmeal down that morning, the three of us had a final check-in. I wanted to climb. My symptoms were mostly just uncomfortable, and a nuisance, not severe enough to be dangerous. We decided that all three of us would climb, but Seth suggested that if I was feeling at all dizzy, it wasn't a good idea for me to lead. It was a decision not just for me, but for the team as a whole. I knew he was right, I knew that it was the best thing for our team of three, and I agreed. That was tough. Seth would be leading all of the pitches.
We headed out of camp at 4:15 and began our ascent up the moraine and into the Col, guided by our headlamps and the bright moonlight. A couple of hours later, we were at the first pitch of the Owen Spalding route. The infamous traverse that includes the "Belly Roll" and the "Crawl." The climbing is very easy, but very exposed as well. An unprotected fall would mean a long drop into Idaho. Seth led the way and brought Fred and I over after him. Several parties lined up behind us, and we were glad that we got an early start!
After that traverse was a short chimney pitch, the "Double Chimney," and then an option to either do an exposed traverse or climb the "Owen Chimney." We opted for the latter. The Owen Chimney was my favorite pitch of the climb. Oh, how great it would have been to lead it…. Seth did an amazing job, though.
Above the Owen Chimney was Sargeant's Chimney. Most people were climbing up a chimney to the left, but we climbed the chimney on the right, which definitely had some 5.6 or 5.7 moves in it. We learned later that we had taken the 'true' Sargeant's Chimney, but now days most people take the easier variation to the left.
Above this last technical chimney were some slabs meandering back and forth, and then a patch of sunlight above. The first sunlight we had seen all morning, as the whole route is in the shade (and COLD because of it!). Seth offered for Fred to lead us to the summit. Fred couldn't believe we were there, and I distinctly remember that feeling the first time we climbed it two years ago. We made our final steps up to the summit into the warmth of the sun, and enjoyed the view. We had done it!
Twenty minutes on the summit, and it was time to head back down. We roped back up and started working our way back down the slabs. One short rappel down Sargeant's Chimney took us to the big rappel, a 120 ft. mostly free-hanging rappel. We triple-checked everything and Seth headed down first, followed by Fred, myself, and a guy we met who had just free-soloed the Upper Exum route.
The rappel was more intense than I remembered, maybe because we were on our own and not with a guide this time. I quadruple checked everything, then checked again. The first 30 ft. walk down a face, and then the bottom comes into view, and the rope ends are WAY THE HECK DOWN THERE. Then the wall falls away, and the last half is free hanging. Exhilarating is a mild word to describe it.
After the rappel, the technical parts of the day were over. We made our way back down the col and arrived back at our tent on the lower saddle mid-afternoon.
The three of us had lunch (I was finally able to eat a full meal for the first time that day), rested briefly, packed up camp, and began the long descent. We had a camping permit for the Meadows, about halfway down, but when we got there we decided to book it all the way back to the car. Our totals for the day were 2,000 ft of ascent, 7,000 ft of descent, and approx. 8 miles total. We arrived back at the trailhead at 9:30pm, making for 17 hours straight of physical activity. We were toasted.
We headed into Jackson for some pizza, and called it a night.
The wrap-up
We climbed that mountain, a two day ordeal with route finding and technical climbing. We did it on our own, and we did it well. I feel immensely proud of that. It was a mental challenge, it was a physical challenge, and it was also a challenge of confidence. Can we actually do this? Having climbed that same mountain previously with a guide, I knew I could physically do it, but having a guide makes it still seem magical and mysterious somehow. Going on our own, doing the planning on our own, making sure we had the necessary skills, the fitness, studying everything over and over again, talking through scenarios and what-ifs… and then actually putting all of that into practice and doing it… and succeeding…. was empowering. And it took a lot of the magic away. I want to do MORE.
With that being said, I grappled quite a bit with the disappointment of not leading. Because I wasn't feeling well, Seth led every pitch. It was awesome that he took the lead when the time called for it. I am grateful to him for that, and to have such a strong leader on our team. I had wanted to lead with him, though. And, even though I was involved in all of the prep and the decisions leading up to that morning, circumstances changed, and plans changed. I didn't feel well, and Seth took my leads. For weeks afterwards, I struggled with a feeling that I didn't contribute in the way that I wanted to. Instead of Seth and I co-leading, Seth led, and Fred and I followed. Even though we had successfully climbed the Grand, and we did it fully on our own, without a guide, I didn't fully meet my personal goals. I felt that I had failed somehow and struggled with that quite a bit.
It's been nearly a month since our summit, and I've had a chance to work through that disappointment and come to terms with it. I still believe that we made the right decision, based on how I felt that morning. When you're part of a team doing something dangerous like climbing a mountain, every decision is about everybody, and not just about one person. The decision for Seth to lead wasn't about me. It was about the safety of the team. And it was the right choice.
I'm so proud of the three of us, Fred, Seth, and myself, for our work together as a well-functioning team, and for our successful summit of the Grand Teton. It was an amazing experience, and I am so glad that I got to share it with two incredible people.
As for my personal disappointments? I'll be heading to Boulder, CO with Seth for my birthday weekend, and I have plans to lead the *crap* out of some flatirons. Seth has already said that he will gladly follow. Wish us luck.

subset: commoncrawl


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NWSB Insider and Seattle Mariners blogger Danny Ferguson reports on the Mariners series matchup between the M's and the White Sox in Chicago. The first pitching matchup features Mariners Blake Beaven (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs Jose Quintana. Danny points out he's happy with Brendan Ryan's plate discipline. So far Ryan has been impressive already tallying a handful of free passes. The White Sox have owned Seattle. This will be a tough series.
Worried about the 2012 Seattle Mariners offense? I'm not!
NWSB Seattle Mariners blogger Insider Steve weighs in today on the M's offense. If you break it down even further, through 5 starts this season Felix Hernandez has a 2.75 ERA while Jason Vargas has a 3.83 ERA. If you combine the two, you have an ERA of 3.25 compared to the 7.55 ERA between Blake Beavan, Hector Noesi, and Kevin Millwood. The pitching not the bats is the reason for the 11-10 record.
Perfect game turns out to be the Mariners lucky day
NWSB Insider and Seattle Mariners beat blogger Danny Ferguson tells us watching Brendan Ryan's final at bat against Phil Humber and the Chicago White Sox last weekend personifies the embarrassment and frustration that has hit the M's. It is curious that when the M's left Seattle to face the central division champs that they wouldn't just win, but they would humiliate the Detroit Tigers. Lucky?
White Sox vs. M's In Seattle: Pitching, series preview, analysis & predictions
NWSB Insider and Seattle Mariners blogger Danny Ferguson reports on the Mariners series matchup between the Chicago White Sox and the M's in Seattle. The Mariners (7-7) continue their inaugural home stand by hosting the Chicago White Sox (6-6) for a 3 game series. Tonight in game 15 we get LHP Chris Sale vs. RHP Hector Noesi.


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Making it three girls in a row this week, we have Emika. Currently based in Berlin, she has been enjoying some decent airplay on Radio 1 from the likes of Mary Anne Hobbs and Zane Lowe. "Drop The Other" has an interesting sound that takes dubstep into more experimental areas, slowing down the tempo with lots of strange samples thrown in. The whole track has an eerie atmosphere to it, which is only made worse or better when listened to at night. Emika's vocals are soft and gentle, which coupled with piano notes are completely at odds with the dark and broody environment she sings over. The single is released by Ninja Tune on 18th January, with a full scale album to follow later in the year. We have the Scuba remix for you to check out, which throws in added static, ticking clocks, and all sorts of other random tricks to spook it out even more.
- Anonymous10 December 2009 at 23:20
AMAZING!!! WOW!!! Blown away....nice meeting you too at the Hope mealReplyDelete
( Poppy's Mummy and Jody's wife!!) xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Anonymous23 July 2010 at 22:23
I love her more than I can ^^ReplyDelete


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The Lax Kw'alaams Band says it means business when it comes to protecting Flora Bank and Lelu Island.
The band issued a news release Monday stating it stands united against the proposed Pacific NorthWest LNG project in its current design.
Lax Kw'alaams Mayor Garry Reece says community members are worried that the massive liquefied natural gas project would irreparably harm salmon stocks on the Skeena River as the fish rely on Flora Bank for critical stages in their development.
Reece says the band's title claim for Flora Bank and Lelu Island is not about posturing for negotiations but aimed at protecting their sea resources.
He says Lax Kw'alaams traditional law, backed by science, make it clear that Flora Bank cannot be touched by the Petronas-backed LNG project or any other company that proposes development.
Reece says an alternate site will have to found if the project is to proceed.


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Also the reason you feel so limited is because its just a small beta and I think there will be enough abilities, spells and runes to satisfy my needs.
Im telling you guys its just the beta and when your done with the beta you have about a twentieth of abilities unlocked. Im sure the full game will change your minds.


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Hey guys - new to this forum, and I thought I'd share. Anyone familiar with Fewture will know of their Mazinger 1901 series - redesigns of the Mazinger figures as if they were designed in the early 20th century (I think it was referred to at one point as Steam Punk design, but I could be totally wrong). Well, they've now gone and redesigned the Getter Robo team, and it looks rather nice... Well, let's let the pics describe it. Enjoy!
Getter Robo fans - Fewture sculpts!
Other mecha manga, shows, OAV's & movies
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This sexy Telugu chick asks her lover to make love to her. She had openly asked him for the sex and he had to do something about this. Otherwise, she might even dump him for this. So, he books a hotel room and brings her to the place. He thought he would have the sex taped secretly. But she had noticed the camera and voluntarily places in the right place to cover their sex.
He hugs her tight and kisses her like crazy. Then, he makes her lie on the bed and falls on her body. Soon, he takes off her tops and begins to suck those hot melons. After that, he makes her come on top of her and he removes her panties. He inserts his tool into her love hole and fucks her from the bottom. After the sex, she poses her topless body and flaunts her sexy boobs to the camera.


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Giants, A's will follow Percival's comeback
The Giants and A's could be among the clubs interested in former closer Troy Percival, 37, officials from both teams said. First, they'd have to see him in person. He's throwing to hitters at UC Riverside and soon will invite big-league teams to watch him. He hasn't pitched in a big-league game since July 2005 and announced his retirement in April, but he told the Angels he wants his contract as a minor-league instructor voided so he could pitch again.
-- Engine problems canceled the Royals' charter flight from Denver, so the team found a commercial flight with available seating. Mike Sweeney thanked the passengers, who waited 90 minutes for the team to arrive. All were invited to a game in K.C. for free.
-- When Ryan Howard reported to Class A Lakewood, N.J., for his rehab assignment, 39 media credentials were issued (36 more than usual), and extra room was made for Phillies president Dave Montgomery, GM Pat Gillick and a dozen more team officials, including four PR people. It was the best covered quadriceps strain in recent memory.
-- The Cubs are erecting a statue for Ernie Banks, and the ceremony will be at their home opener next year. Banks said he's inviting Willie Mays and Hank Aaron, who have statues in their likeness in San Francisco and Atlanta.
-- This just in: Aaron reiterates for the 93rd time he's not coming for Barry Bonds' 756th home run. Someone should phone Hammerin' Hank one more time to make sure.
-- Tommy Thompson, a former White Sox minor-league instructor, had a 2005 World Series ring. He recently sold it on eBay for $28,100


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Force is Discraft's fastest driver, with a wide rim and jaw-dropping glide that delivers a new level of distance potential. It's overstable and intended for experienced players who throw with power. If you're throwing for maximum distance, reach for the high performance Force.


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Find the perfect place from the worlds best selection of vacation rentals on VRBO.
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From its iconic Yaquina Bay Bridge and jaunty old lighthouses, to the sea lions shouting on the dock and the locals crabbing down by the ocean, you'll soon realize that everything in Newport comes heavily seasoned with salty charisma. A Newport vacation rental is about craft breweries and independent coffee roasters, hot bowls of clam chowder, and briny boat trips to watch whales out on the ocean. Surf or kayak in the breakers, comb the beaches for cockles and agates, or explore the mysteries of the deep at the world-class aquarium and marine research center.
Aquatic life features heavily in a Newport vacation rental, whether you're admiring it in an aquarium or attempting to haul it out for your next meal. For the authentic Newport experience, head down to the water's edge or the fishing pier and get crabbing for Dungeness crab. Newport's well provided with beaches too, and the surfing's pretty good. Whether you're on board a kayak or a boat, or just kicking back on the beach, you'll want to keep your eyes on the horizon in case the gray whales decide to make an appearance.
The big crowd pleaser in Newport is the Oregon Coast Aquarium. At one time it was home to marine royalty in the form of Keiko the orca (of Free Willy fame), which pretty much makes it the Four Seasons of aquatic hotels. And a Newport vacation rental offers up some treats above the water level too. The Hatfield Marine Science Center has exhibits including a giant octopus, while Newport's iconic Yaquina Head Lighthouse is the tallest one on the whole Oregon coast. Even better, it's reputed to be haunted, so strap on your proton packs.
You want the good news or the bad news? The good news is that temperatures are pretty mild in Newport, so even in winter you probably won't need the arctic-grade goose down jacket. On the flipside, "changeable" doesn't quite cover it, and it does like to rain here. Winter and fall are when you'll have the biggest chance of horizontal rain flying in off the ocean, but even summer can get damp sometimes. Forewarned, however, is forearmed, so pack your slicker and sou'wester before you set off for your Newport vacation rental, and all will be well.
Newport is set on semi-enclosed Yaquina Bay, which opens out into the big old Pacific Ocean. Marine research is a big part of the local economy, and you'll soon see why. From the crabs, clams, and cockles to the pelicans, pelagic cormorants, and pigeon guillemots, the range of underwater and seabird life is mind-boggling. As for the mammals, if you want to catch sea lions, just head down to their favorite hang-out at the docks. Look out to sea, and you'll be in with a chance of spotting gray whales, particularly during their annual migrations up and down the coast.


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(Return tabled)
House of Commons Hansard #196 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was regard.
House of Commons Hansard #196 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was regard.
(Return tabled)
Question No. 1038Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnRoutine Proceedings
12:20 p.m.
Cathy McLeod Conservative Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC
With regard to First Nations financial transparency: (a) which bands, leaders, communities and organizations did the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs consult with between November 4, 2015, and May 3, 2017, broken down by (i) date, (ii) location, (iii) name and title of the Indigenous group or community, (iv) attendees, (v) recommendations that were made to the Minister; (b) with regard to the consultations in (a), by which criteria did the Minister decide which bands, leaders, communities and organizations to consult with; and (c) what are the details of the discussion questions brought to each meeting?
(Return tabled)
Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnRoutine Proceedings
12:20 p.m.
Kevin Lamoureux Liberal Winnipeg North, MB
Mr. Speaker, I would ask that all remaining questions be allowed to stand.
Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnRoutine Proceedings
12:20 p.m.
The Deputy Speaker Conservative Bruce Stanton
Is that agreed?
Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnRoutine Proceedings
12:20 p.m.
Some hon. members
The House resumed consideration of the motion that Bill C-49, An Act to amend the Canada Transportation Act and other Acts respecting transportation and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts, be read the second time and referred to a committee.
Transportation Modernization ActGovernment Orders
12:20 p.m.
The Deputy Speaker Conservative Bruce Stanton
When the House last took up the question, the hon. member for Brandon—Souris had a period of five minutes for questions and comments. He had just finished his speech prior to the beginning of members' statements, so we have five minutes for questions and comments and we will go to that now.
Questions and comments, the hon. parliamentary secretary to the government House leader.
Transportation Modernization ActGovernment Orders
12:20 p.m.
Winnipeg North Manitoba
Kevin Lamoureux LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, we are very happy with the Brandon airport and the expansion that has been taking place. I know that my colleague across the way would be very familiar with that. Maybe I will use that as a link to how important it is that we have air passenger rights. This is legislation that will ultimately lead to rights for air passengers. Would the member agree that we need to do what we can as legislators to ensure that there is a higher sense of fairness and that passenger rights are overdue?
Transportation Modernization ActGovernment Orders
12:25 p.m.
Larry Maguire Conservative Brandon—Souris, MB
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his interest in the Brandon airport, which is now complete. It has expanded. It is three times the size it was. It was my pleasure while a member of the government to be able to put some of those funds forward, and I appreciate the fact that it was carried out. I was there with another member from Winnipeg to make sure that they had spades in the ground and got it going a year and a half ago.
It is very important that we have rights for passengers in the airline industry, but I have a great concern in regard to the compensation levels, because the bill would give the Minister of Transport and the Canadian Transportation Agency an open cheque to set monetary compensation for passengers who are affected in this way, rather than having a set fee or set compensation for certain areas. That would be my main concern in that area.
Transportation Modernization ActGovernment Orders
12:25 p.m.
Kevin Lamoureux Liberal Winnipeg North, MB
Mr. Speaker, the member talked a great deal about wheat and the importance of wheat to our prairie provinces. We will talk about the province of Manitoba once again. In the legislation, we are seeing actions being taken with respect to rail lines. I wonder if the member might provide some comment on how important it is that we get it right in dealing with our rail lines, as our commodity industries need the best system possible.
Transportation Modernization ActGovernment Orders
12:25 p.m.
Larry Maguire Conservative Brandon—Souris, MB
Mr. Speaker, it is very important that we are able to export the grain we grow on the Prairies. A greater proportion of what we grow is exported than in any other country, virtually.
I am concerned that there are not even going to be committee meetings on Bill C-49 until September, as pointed out by my colleague. The bill would not come into action before July 31, when Bill C-30 dies. Bill C-30 had many sound management tools that could be used to make sure grain could move in a predicable manner. There will be no predictability in the movement of grain as of August 1, and of course, August 1 is the very beginning of the new crop year, when grain will start to be harvested for this year and moved.
I was urging the government to do everything it could to at least get Bill C-49 through. Maybe it could split some amendments by the end of July. However, we are rising shortly, and that is not going to happen. They have indicated that it will not even go to committee until next fall. We do not know when it will pass or how big a priority it will be for the government at that point.
We are very concerned that there will be a gap in the management of the movement of grain off the Prairies in a predictable and safeguarded manner.
Transportation Modernization ActGovernment Orders
12:25 p.m.
Bradley Trost Conservative Saskatoon—University, SK
Mr. Speaker, it has been a few years since I was last on the transportation committee, I think four or five, if my memory serves me correctly, but I enjoy speaking about these issues. One reason I enjoy talking about them is that in a country as vast as Canada, transportation really matters. Every country has its unique issues, but Canada's would be distinctly different from most countries in the world. Perhaps Australia, the United States, and Russia face some of the same challenges as Canada, but very few other countries in the world would have the exact same problems.
The other thing I find very interesting about the legislation is that it deals with an underlying problem, which is different economically than many issues with which we deal.
Before I discuss that, let me say a few basic words for context about this broad legislation.
Bill C-49, the transportation modernization act, is legislation that we call, for people watching at home, an omnibus bill. Many elements from different areas are put together under one larger theme. We have heard members from various opposition parties point out that not all elements of the bill really fit together. In fact, I suggest the government would have been better off breaking the bill into three, or perhaps even four, pieces of legislation.
A very small element of the bill deals with marine issues. There is a larger element that deals with railway issues, which could have been subdivided into separate legislation to deal with railway safety issues and broader economic railway issues. It also deals with issues related to airlines, consumers, the financing of airlines, foreign ownership rules, and so forth.
In many ways, the government has put together many things that really do not belong in a single piece of legislation, which makes it somewhat difficult to comment on. Some things in the bill are well-intentioned and could possibly be useful and good for the country. Other pieces of the legislation the government should rethink. I will take apart as many elements of the bill in the time allotted to me.
One of the biggest rail transportation issues in Canada is that there is a natural monopoly tendency. That is not caused by the railways through any malice or problem; it is just that there are some very natural realities. To build a railway, a large capital investment is required, making it very difficult for competition. Railways also serve specific geographic areas exclusively. They need to have that natural monopoly. To pay for the underlying capital cost, they need to capture the majority of the market. That, then, leads to a problem of a power imbalance.
If commodities can be shipped by means other than railways, for example, oil can be shipped by pipeline or perhaps trucking is better for other commodities, that is not a problem. However, for certain commodities and situations, rail may not be available. That is where a problem tends to result and get argued about when it comes to rail transportation.
In highly competitive markets where a lot of commodities enter and exit and product substitution is easily done, etc., there is no call for the government to get involved because there are few issues with the market. No monopoly is ever naturally total or pure, but to some degree railways in our country have those sorts of issues.
That has therefore caused a long history of the governments of Canada regulating, subsidizing, and interfering in the rail transportation industry, particularly in the west. If we look at the population centres of eastern Canada, they are much closer to the United States and commodities can be trucked. In that case, there is a considerable amount of competition.
That tends to be the underlying issue the government has to deal with whenever it deals with rail transportation issues.
In a previous Parliament, there had been some issues on grain transporting in the Prairies due to bottlenecks. Some of this was perhaps due to the railways, some of it perhaps due to weather issues, and the large crop in western Canada. The previous government put in some adjustments, which allowed shippers to use the railway system within 160 kilometres. This is a bit of a simplified interpretation. They were allowed to use the existing railways, and have the right, to ship their grain and other commodities to the United States and then connect.
It is this interconnection that is being discussed. It used to be 30 kilometres and was then extended to 160 kilometres. For those in places like Regina who needed to ship their grain and CN, CP could not get it out, they could then get them to ship it to the United States at which point a railway like Burlington Northern would have the option to ship the grain. As has been noted, that is coming to an end.
What the government has suggested is changing the rules to introduce something it is calling long haul interchangeability rights, eliminating this 160 kilometre rule.
This is very similar to what has already been in the legislation before and has not been used. If the government is putting in a new provision but it is almost identical to something that has been in the legislation since the 1990s but has not been used, what is the purpose? What is the government trying to accomplish?
The government will have to deal with this at committee. Why is it eliminating something that has helped eliminate a bottleneck situation and going back to an older system that has not worked well. That is my first criticism and question for the government.
The second thing I want to point out, particularly with the rail issues, is that I do not see anything the government is doing in this to bring down the costs. Service is important, and commodity shippers in western Canada have told me they are willing to pay more if they can get timely and accurate services. That is very good. Ultimately, time is money when shipping products.
I am failing to see where the government is dealing with ways to make the regulatory process quicker and smoother. In fact, most of the legislation seems to add more layers onto it. I understand it goes back to that underlying problem, the natural monopoly and how to dealt with it. We often deal with it through regulation.
There is a second question I would like to put to the government. With the rail situation and the added costs that will soon come through the carbon tax, which will ultimately hurt the producers, the shippers, and other Canadians involved, how will it do things to lower the costs?
Finally, there are elements in the bill which personally interest me and many of my constituents. They are around the creation of a passenger's bill of rights. In many ways, this sounds very good. As someone who flies a lot, and most western Canadian members of Parliament joke that our third office is an airplane, I am very familiar with problems airlines can have.
My question is this. What has been costed and how will this cost be passed on to the customer? Costs for airline flights in Canada are some of the highest in the world. We all have a major concern with that. If our businesses are going to grow, if we are going to have better connection and the ability for places like Saskatoon, where I come from, to move out and do business in the world, we need costs to be dealt with.
Therefore, these are the basic questions. Why is the government taking away something that has worked and replacing it with something that has been tried and seems to be wanting? Where is the government's ability to bring down costs, both for railways and air passengers? Also, how is it going to simplify the regulatory burden?
These are questions the government needs to deal with when the bill goes to committee. The Liberals would have been wiser if they had split the legislation into smaller bills so we could deal with it in more bite-sized pieces.
Transportation Modernization ActGovernment Orders
12:35 p.m.
Kanata—Carleton Ontario
Karen McCrimmon LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, it might be surprising to the member that we are on the same kind of ground. We want to achieve the same kind of impact for Canadians.
We tried to take an integrated and collaborative approach to this kind of legislation. The response from the actual stakeholders and experts has really been positive.
The Western Grain Elevator said, "We're thankful that Minister Garneau and Minister MacAulay understand just how fundamental this is to grain farmers and the industry...This is an important day for...grain shippers."
Cereals Canada said, "Cereals Canada Applauds Grain Transportation Policy...The policy announced today will provide that accountability when enacted in legislation."
From the Pulse Canada and Canadian Special Crops said, "On the whole, the Government has identified the core issues that need to be addressed and we see opportunities to engage...A great deal of consultation has been undertaken."
I have more, but my question for the hon. colleague is this. Why not send this to committee so we can hear from these experts and stakeholders?
Transportation Modernization ActGovernment Orders
12:35 p.m.
The Deputy Speaker Conservative Bruce Stanton
I will use this occasion to remind hon. members, even when another hon. member's name appears in a quote or citation in the course of a member's remarks, to change up the name to the member's title or riding name. This works well, and it is the right way to do it.
The member for Saskatoon—University.
Transportation Modernization ActGovernment Orders
12:35 p.m.
Bradley Trost Conservative Saskatoon—University, SK
Mr. Speaker, we are coming up to the mid-point of the government. We are likely to have, but not guaranteed, a prorogation where everything gets restarted and reset in the fall. However, if we send the bill to committee, there are ways of reviving it.
My suggestion earlier in my speech was that the government, instead of putting this out as one bill, was to put it out in four smaller pieces of legislation. This would have allowed the government to get the rail piece of the bill out sooner and get it done. As my colleague, the member for Brandon—Souris pointed out, it would prevent the legislative gap that was about to happen.
Therefore, if this is such a priority, and I agree it is, why did the Liberals not get started on it earlier? Why did they not break it down into smaller pieces where the urgent items could be dealt with and the less urgent items could then be debated more fulsome?
Transportation Modernization ActGovernment Orders
12:40 p.m.
Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON
Mr. Speaker, one of the concerns I have about the bill is the amount of things we have in it.
It is clear that the passenger bill of rights does not have any minimums or maximums with regard to identification of penalties, fines, or expectations for passengers. Regulations can set these things, but having no guidance at all from Parliament appears to be a weakness, especially when the European Union and the United States have at least hard targets for their legislative body to be involved.
What is my colleague's position on at least having some directional targets set by the legislative body versus leaving it all to regulations?.
Transportation Modernization ActGovernment Orders
12:40 p.m.
Bradley Trost Conservative Saskatoon—University, SK
Mr. Speaker, the member has a good point, and this is one of the things that would be discussed at committee.
If, and this is as big if, we are going ahead with these penalties, it would be wise to have the elected representatives give some sort of a framework rather than have it purely be done by regulation. I understand regulation can be more flexible, but the framework to the regulators should be given by the elected officials. This tends to be the democratic process, and I suspect that will be looked at when the bill comes to committee.
Transportation Modernization ActGovernment Orders
12:40 p.m.
Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be splitting my time with the member for Elmwood—Transcona.
In a previous Parliament, the member for Elmwood—Transcona was Bill Blaikie, who was a good friend of mine. I had the pleasure of spending some time with him in regard to a number of issues, including transportation.
The Winnipeg area is a gateway to much of the west and the United States. Ironically, my riding of Windsor West is the same. Transportation plays a key part in not only our economy, but also in the social and cultural makeup of civilization. Trade creates relationships, opportunities, entrepreneurship, and some of the hard industries.
When we were fighting for a new border crossing in Windsor, what I really appreciated about Bill was his understanding of the transportation issue.
I can tell members who were not in the House when Bill Blaikie was a member that he was a giant, quite literally. When he was coming to Windsor, I asked people what he was like, and a friend of mine said, "Well, he hasn't met a sandwich he didn't like." I was to pick him up at the airport, and I pulled up in a two-door Cavalier. This giant of a man was standing there. When he got in the car, the first thing he asked was whether the seat would go back. I replied, "Unfortunately, it is all the way back." He travelled with me in that car with his knees in his face for a long time.
Bill's first observation in my riding was on the border crossing. Transport trucks were lined up all the way down Church Road, one stacked after the other. He told me that in Winnipeg those things were called trains. Hundreds of transport trucks cross that particular border. As I said, I will be splitting my time with the new member for Elmwood—Transcona, and he has the same pedigree with respect to transportation.
This piece of legislation is important for transportation in many respects. I am going to focus on the airline passenger bill of rights aspect, which is something I personally have been trying to move in Parliament for a number of years.
I am sure that all members know that Canada lags when it comes to this. The European Union and the United States in particular have had a passenger bill of rights for some time. For Canada not to have one is a good example of our lack of consumer protection.
Canada is very unique when it comes to a lack of protection and the influence of those things on our pocketbooks. New Democrats have worked on a variety of issues, with the most recent one getting a lot of attention being the unlocking of cell phones. I worked on this with Rogers at one point in time. Rogers was the first company to unlock cell phones. That would be normal and expected behaviour, and at no cost to the consumer. The CRTC ruled that consumers would have a reasonable expectation of this, because it is normal practice in most countries around the world. For us to be treated differently is a drag on our economy and a drag on our capacity to compete.
An airline bill of rights affects passenger travel, and passenger travel is also business travel. Say, for example, a business traveller has been ripped off or not been treated properly or did not get to a destination, that individual would have something to fall back on. If we are spending so much of our time trying to figure out rules and regulations and fairness, and there is nothing more than a dog's breakfast out there, with people fighting for decency, for anything, from a bit of nourishment to proper compensation, they are wasting their time, energy, and resources. Airline travel then becomes an uncompetitive part of our economy.
Canada needs to think about consumer protection. If we do not have some kind of protection, it is a drag on our capabilities. We will be out of sync with our competitors and our partners, be it the United States or the European Union or whoever else when it comes to these types of things.
This act unfortunately includes several things. The Conservatives were very good at bringing a healthy repertoire of omnibus bills to the House of Commons, and we debated those bills on a regular basis. To some degree, I have to give the Liberals credit. Given that we have had so few bills coming forth, when they do come forward, they are omnibus bills on steroids. They are pumped up with several different aspects that we would not have seen in the past. They have augmented this type of practice.
In this bill, we should be discussing the passenger bill of rights on its own—for the reasons I have noted in the precursor—with respect to the competitiveness of our economy, let alone sincere fairness. If one has ever sat on the tarmac before, one sometimes has to wait three or four hours and cannot even go to the washroom, which is unhealthy to begin with, not to mention the spillovers we have seen in the past. We should be thinking about those small issues when we are talking about other things in this bill.
The Canada Transportation Act is being amended in this bill, as is foreign ownership of airlines. We are talking about an industry that has had quite a colourful past. Its current characterization of ownership has a full cast of characters in unknown quantities, to say the least. That is dependent upon a series of things, and we are shedding some control of ownership, which is worthy of a debate.
What is interesting with respect to the Railway Safety Act is where Canada stands with railway and railway safety. I was a former transportation critic for this party, and we worked on the railway safety review. There were a number of things that were never implemented. However, just because we are built on a railway system and have had some great advances, we should keep this example in mind when we compare ourselves to other countries. While we are still struggling to find high-speed rail, Uzbekistan is beating us on that. I can say that bleeds through the entire process with respect to rail safety in this place, because that is what it looks like.
I am a former municipal city councillor. One of the things I have learned in the House of Commons, and in my previous representation, is that there is city council, the provincial legislature, the federal legislature, then we have the Lord, and then the rail companies. It seems that is essentially the pecking order with respect to being a representative and dealing with the complications of rail safety, which are very significant, not only for workers, but also for the men and women who live around the rail lines and interact with them. For example, with respect to hazardous materials, the transportation between Canada and the U.S. is significant.
We also have the Coasting Trade Act, the Canada Marine Act, and the western grain transportation act that are all affected by this bill.
We have now moved closure on this bill, and instead of seeing this done properly, it will be done altogether. I do not want to be too hard on the previous government, but the reality of omnibus bills is that they do not go through the full vetting process that is necessary. It has not been cast in terms of a political advantage or political commentary for the Liberals or the Conservatives, the reality is that legislative bodies, like our committees, are supposed to go through individual legislation because we can enhance it. Even if we do not agree with the legislation and what it has done, we often find mistakes and other problems. Hence, the previous government ran into several different problems in the court system because bills did not go through the proper channels and the full vetting that is necessary.
The current government seems to have built upon that and pumped up its legislation to include even more. We will see this go to committee, and there will be a cluster of different things that will require testimony. I can tell members that we will have testimony that overshadows many different departments, from many different witnesses, and it will likely come back as a giant muddle and mess. At the end of the day, we will be dealing with this again.
I know that my time is coming to an end here. However, in conclusion, I want to impress upon the members that Canadians have spoken loud and clear about the passenger bill of rights. The EU has some models and targets that it has reached, and we have proposed that they should be part of our legislation. The United States also has that.
Let us not just think about the inconvenience of a passenger being delayed, but let us also think about our economy and capabilities, and the time management we have as individuals, who should have a good contract. When we purchase a ticket, we should at least receive a product that is similar.
Transportation Modernization ActGovernment Orders
12:50 p.m.
David Graham Liberal Laurentides—Labelle, QC
Mr. Speaker, I am proud of the bill, for a couple of reasons. As a licensed pilot and a long time trainspotter, it has all my interests in one place.
The railways in this country were built around the concept of building local monopolies. They are spaced out by certain distances for a reason. They were set up that way so that each company would have their territory.
I think it is very important for us to be modernizing it in the way we are doing here, and allowing these interchanging rules to be far improved to increase the competition.
I wonder if the member would agree with that general sentiment.
Transportation Modernization ActGovernment Orders
12:50 p.m.
Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON
Mr. Speaker, the fact is that the railway companies historically, when building this country, received unprecedented, even corrupt types of beneficial practices.
In fact, when we go back and look at, not just Canada, but also North America as well, there were whole practices in the United States, political as well as business, that looked at the interests of individuals and the accumulation of wealth. Sadly, these are some of the things we have to correct as part of our culture and heritage. I think of the types of labour we used on building our railways in particular.
I think that changes how I feel, and I think many feel the same. It is about time we realized that our land and our infrastructure are the predominant domain of Canadians, and the use of them is a privilege. The privilege should be respected.
Transportation Modernization ActGovernment Orders
12:50 p.m.
Colin Carrie Conservative Oshawa, ON
Mr. Speaker, anyone who listened to the speech by my colleague from Windsor West would know that comes from a position of knowledge. I had the opportunity to serve with him on the industry committee, and I respect his opinion.
He talked about the importance of the bill and getting it right in respect to Canadian competitiveness. Both his community and mine rely on a good transportation system as far as competitiveness, particularly for the automotive industry.
I am wondering if he could answer why it is so important that we get this right and that we give the time to study it properly, relative to our competitiveness internationally. I wonder if he could comment on how important it is to get this right.
Transportation Modernization ActGovernment Orders
12:50 p.m.
Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the intervention from the member for Oshawa, who is very well versed in the complications and challenges of the automotive industry. He well understood that on committee, and as a parliamentary secretary. For example, the movement of goods and services for supply, be it just-in-time delivery, but also the final products and how interrelated they are, multimodal, are very critical.
When we have the hearings related to the bill—and he was right to caution us on this—we will get a crossover of a lot of different things that are important. However, they may not get the heightened attention and the specific details they need. For example, a simple thing we would think would be easy to do is a rail tunnel between Windsor and Detroit. However, it does not allow for triple stackers for the automotive industry. For years, we have not been able to do proper shipments because the expansion of it is not there. If they run it through there, certain cargo may get destroyed. It is simple things like that.
We can only imagine constituencies like Oshawa that are still obviously very integrated to the auto industry. They need to make sure that transportation is an efficiency attraction for the investment, not a detraction, if the rail and other types of services do not provide for the easy and expedient access that they deserve.
Transportation Modernization ActGovernment Orders
12:55 p.m.
Gord Johns NDP Courtenay—Alberni, BC
Mr. Speaker, I also want to second the comment from the member for Oshawa, in terms of the member for Windsor West and the great knowledge he shares around consumer rights and protections. He has fought for capping merchant fees, for a gas ombudsman, and wireless competition to lower fees for consumers.
In the bill, it talks about raising the cap on foreign ownership from 25% to 49%, which was a recommendation in the Emerson report that the Liberals are supporting. However, the University of Manitoba research reports submitted in relation to the Emerson report concluded that there is no reliable evidence of a link between raising the foreign ownership cap and boosting competition. Would the member speak about that?
Transportation Modernization ActGovernment Orders
12:55 p.m.
Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON
Mr. Speaker, that is an important question because the expectation is that by going to 49% we would increase competition. However, there should be in the bill, at the very least, measurables for that. There is no corroboration between the two in terms of increasing the foreign ownership. That is a real problem because there are so many anomalies with regard to who owns airlines and what they can have financially.


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Published By : 17 Feb 2016 | Published By : QYRESEARCH
Technology is evolving at a rapid pace. This is particularly true in case of mobile technology and the internet connectivity. Advent of new technologies is witnessed at least once in every decade. These technologies are designed to fix the flaws of their predecessors. Now ahead of a new decade, the advent of fifth generation (5G) technology holds promise to usher the next big change in the virtual world. Experiments are still underway to study the viability of the fifth generation of wireless technology. However, several companies as well as government enterprises have already started laying foundations to support the 5G technology infrastructure.
5G technology will seemingly provide better and faster network connectivity than its predecessors. Furthermore, the novel technology is anticipated to provide such benefits over 4G and 3G technology at lesser power consumption.
Major Breakthroughs in Wireless Network Technology will Boost Global 5G Technology Market
Based on technology, the global 5G technology market can be segmented into worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX), radio access technologies (RAT), Wi-Fi, high speed package access (HSPA), and global system for mobile (GSM). RAT systems need to be completely redesigned in order to accommodate the novel technology and mobile access paradigm. The market for 5G technology is therefore, poised to witness major breakthroughs in wireless network. These developments will support faster network speeds and massive capacity, subsequently boosting the market for 5G technology.
Developed Countries Boast Lucrative Prospects for 5G Technology
Regionally, the global 5G technology market is spread across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, and North America. The 5G technology sees maximum potential for growth in developed economies with already established mobile network infrastructure such as the U.S. and Japan. In the meantime, developing economies such as Korea and China also exhibits lucrative prospects for the proliferation of 5G technology in their network landscape.
The leading companies operating in the wireless network market are planning to launch compatible with 5G technology by the end of 2020. Some of the most prominent companies and universities operating in the market are Deutsche Telekom AG, MW Group Research and Technology, Alcatel-Lucent S.A., Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., Aalborg University, NTT DOCOMO Inc., and others.


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- Original Title : 虐殺器官
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- Release date of movie : 2015-11-13
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- Countries of movie :
- Language of movie : 日本語,
- Durationof movie : 120 Min
- Average vote of movie : 0
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- Translation of movie : EN,
- Actors of movie :.
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January marks Alzheimer's Awareness Month, and both officials with the Alzheimer Society and those battling the condition are fighting to reduce any sense of stigma surrounding the condition.
In an effort to help bolster awareness about stigma and better educate folks about dementia in general, the Society has launched a campaign called, 'I live with dementia. Let me help you understand' that is geared to helping the public view it in a different light.
This past November, the Society surveyed 1,506 Canadians to get their thoughts on Alzheimer's and dementia.
The results were telling, including the fact that those surveyed believed that 57% said they believed those living with dementia experience far more stigma than those with physical health conditions.
Reports also showed that 58% of those asked said they felt those with Alzheimer's or dementia may experience being ignored or dismissed compared to 23% of those with a physical health condition.
Fifty-one per cent of Canadians also admitted to using some type of stigmatizing language such as telling dementia-related jokes, referring to someone as 'senile/crazy' or referring to someone as 'demented'.
"These results validate our thinking, that stigma is one of the biggest barriers for people with dementia to live fully with dignity and respect," says Pauline Tardif, CEO at the Alzheimer Society of Canada. "The findings underscore the work we must still do to end stigma once and for all.
"There is no shame in having dementia. We can't let negative perceptions stand in the way of people with dementia seeking help and support. Life without discrimination is a right for anyone affected by this disease."
Medicine Hat resident Roger Marple has stepped up to share his story as part of the powerful awareness campaign.
For this proud father and grandfather, who developed young onset Alzheimer's three years ago at age 57, his diagnosis was a tough pill to swallow, notes a release. But in time, he overcame his initial shock and sadness.
"It creeps up on you so slowly, and I get why people don't go immediately to their doctor because it's so gradual," he explained during a recent interview. "What got me to go to my doctor - is I worked in supply chain management for Alberta Health Services, and one day I was working on an Excel spreadsheet. I checked it over three times before I sent it because my boss demanded perfection.
"I sent it to him, and 90 seconds later he sent it back and said, 'What is this?' So I opened up the spreadsheet and it didn't even make sense to me."
A minute later his boss called him and following a talk, encouraged Marple to see his doctor.
He was eventually diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease with vascular components.
"My first vision of Alzheimer's is someone sitting in a wheelchair staring out of a window unable to communicate at the end of days. People's minds just race to that when they think about Alzheimer's. Trust me, there are thousands and thousands of people who are living well with this disease despite their challenges," he explained.
"But often you get stereotyped and put into a box." An awareness of related stigma in society began to surface as well.
In the time following his diagnosis, Marple made the choice to be completely open about his condition and first shared his story with the local paper. "The story ended up going viral. The only condition I gave her for the interview was that it had to be positive," he said. "I hadn't seen a whole lot of articles, if any, with a positive slant to them.
"People living with dementia and their families are starving for positive information, so that's how I got started speaking. It's really blossomed."
Marple and others invite Canadians to hear their inspiring stories and take a few pointers from them on how to be open and accepting towards people with dementia via the campaign.
There is also simply no place for inappropriate talk or jokes about such a serious condition, he said, noting that one day on facebook he saw three different jokes poking fun at Alzheimer's and dementia. "We need to connect the dots from 'point A', which is the joke - to 'point B', and how it affects people," he said. "There is no shame in it - it's a medical condition just like anything else.
According to the Society, in less than 15 years, an estimated 937,000 Canadians will have dementia.
Meanwhile, for Marple, being open about his condition has only led to positive outcomes.
"I have found by being open about the disease is that people tend to cut you more slack. If you do stumble, people tend to support you more. I truly cannot remember a time where there wasn't a positive ripple effect when I've spoken out - it's been 100 per cent good."
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Thursday, May 6, 2010
A Purl Jam 2010 Instructor
Nancy Lutz has a Ph.D. in Economics from Stanford University and is currently the Economics Program Director at the National Science Foundation. But we try not to hold that against her. When she isn't working (or knitting) she is one of the world's biggest Star Wars geeks and she regularly goes to sci-fi conventions. But she doesn't go in costume. Nancy has probably knit more pairs of socks than anyone on the East Coast. You may know Nancy because she lived in Blacksburg for 15 years before moving to Northern Virginia. She lives in a two bedroom apartment because she needs one room just for her stash…
Posted by Vouray at 3:24 PM


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Centra Pink Walks on target to raise €18,000 for Action Breast Cancer
Donegal people who took part in eleven Centra Pink Walks in October are on target to raise €18,000 for the Irish Cancer Society's Action Breast Cancer.
More than 600 people from all over the county pounded the pavements of their towns, villages and neighbourhoods in October, demonstrating tremendous community spirit and real support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
The Centra stores who got their community walking for this great cause were: Joyce's Centra, Clonmany: Diver's Centra, Ardara; Rooney's Centra, Donegal Town; Centra Moville; Boyce's Centra, Carrigart; Boyce's Centra, Falcarragh; Kelly's Centra, Mountain Top, Letterkenny; McIntyre/McCosker Centra, Ballyshannon; Boyce's Centra, Dunfanaghy; Hegarty's Centra, Kilcar and Hegarty's Centra Killybegs.
Almost 200 Centra stores nationwide hosted their own local walk, with 10,000 walkers raising a staggering €225,000 for the charity.


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A sportsbook complaint has been submitted against SmartLiveGaming (SBR rating D+).
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A player has claimed that although his identity is fully verified by SmartLiveGaming, the player's withdrawal request has been delayed for about two weeks because SmartLiveGaming is auditing his wagering activity.
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SmartLiveGaming wrote the following to the player:
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'"Firstly, we would like to confirm that your account has now been fully verified and thank you for your cooperation in providing all required documentation in this regard. Please be further advised that that Smart Live Gaming website and Casino is operated and managed by Smart Gaming Malta Limited, registered in Malta. As such, we are fully regulated by the Malta Gaming Authority. Please note that as per the terms and conditions of our company, which you have agreed with upon registration, we reserve to withhold any withdrawal requests, as per our discretion, until we have performed a further review of our client`s entire account game activity."
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The player has taken issue with the fact that no date has been established allowing him to withdraw his funds, and that it appears that SmartLiveGaming is sniffing around his history looking for a reason not to pay him.
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Sportsbook Review has asked SmartLiveGaming what triggered the review and if there is a date that they expect their audit to be completed.
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SmartLiveGaming players with feedback are encouraged to write to email@example.com.
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All right everyone, it's time to show a little appreciation to the High Priestess of TAR detectives, Puddin. In addition to being the glue that holds us together, she's the heart and soul of the Amazing Race threads. Her tireless efforts result in RFF being the best TAR detective site on the internet.Thanks for another great season, Puddin. Till next time.
You the best, Puddin, even if you are 100 years old!
All this would not be possible with out you Puddin. Thank YouObrigadoСпасибоDanke vielmalsGrazie MilleEfharistoبحثThanks mateค้นหาArigatoo gozaimasu Thank you so much!
I watch it for the naked people and once in awhile we even get to see some sex
I'm looking forward to Treasure Hunters , Slowhatch
For now we can talk about it here I say we all share the dough , and take some crazy amazing race together ! Roll the dice !!!
Quote from: puddin on May 18, 2006, 10:31:34 PMI'm looking forward to Treasure Hunters , Slowhatch Do we have a board for "Treasure Hunters"? And do we work together or is each and every one of us on his or her or its own?
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At a Glance
The Essentials
When to Go
Getting Around
The Center City area is a 20-30 minute taxi ride from Philadelphia International Airport, depending on traffic. Taxis charge a required flat rate of $28.50 from the airport to central Philadelphia, which includes Center City and some outlying neighborhoods. The city's public transportation system, SEPTA, operates a train line from the airport's Terminal B with stops at several downtown stations.
While central Philadelphia is concentrated and easily walkable, those who plan to visit attractions in more remote neighborhoods can travel by SEPTA buses and regional rail lines. Bus fare is $2.50 and exact change is required. Tokens and day or weekly passes can be purchased at a discount. Taxis are easily available on downtown streets or at any hotel.
Can't Miss
Food and Drink
The keystone of Philadelphia's thriving arts scene is the stately Philadelphia Museum of Art, recently bolstered by an annexed building across the street that enabled it to expand its already impressive exhibit space. Visitors should not miss the world renowned Barnes collection of priceless Impressionist paintings, recently transferred from the suburbs to stunning new digs on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. But the jewel in Philly's cultural crown is the city's Mural Arts program, which has earned it the title of "Mural Capital of the World." Visitors can take a trolley tour into various Philly neighborhoods to view buildings transformed by all manner of imaginative murals. Those interested in the local gallery scene should spend a day roaming 2nd and 3rd streets in Old City for an impressive array of original arts and crafts—two highlights of which are The Clay Studio and The Center for Art in Wood. Old City hosts a popular "First Friday" event, when the openings of new gallery shows are celebrated with wine and cheese.
The spring through fall seasons in Philly offer unlimited neighborhood street events like the 2nd Street Festival in Northern Liberties, the biannual Rittenhouse Square Fine Art Show, and gatherings of food trucks in Fairmount and other areas. Summer music festival highlights include July's XPoNential Music Festival hosted just over the Delaware River in Camden by revered local public radio station WXPN, and the relatively new Made in America Festival on Labor Day weekend. Penn's Landing on the Delaware River is host to frequent free events all summer long. And you won't regret spending time strolling South 9th Street in mid-May, when the nation's oldest outdoor market throws its annual Italian Market Festival.
What the Locals Know
Guide Editor
Sue is a self-taught artist and photography addict who is passionate about music, travel, and doughnuts. She is a regular visitor to New Orleans and her other favorite destinations include Hawaii, Latin America, Morocco, and New Zealand. When she is not exploring Philadelphia's Fairmount Park by bike or with her dog Daisy, she is busy posting thousands of travel and Philly photos on various websites under the pseudonym lucymagoo. Sue is also working on her new website Lucymagoo.com.


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Part 1- Flowers
Chapter 1
It all began with her name. With a name like Flower, you were doomed if you lived in a small town like Flatline, Texas. If you add in having to wear glasses, as thick as coke bottles, you were dead meat.
Her parents had been tree-hugging hippies; at least this was how her aunt always described them. She herself would never know them, since they died working for the Peace Corps shortly after her birth, leaving her in the care of her great aunt Millie. Millie was a sweet conservative woman, who did the best that she could for Flower, but she couldn't do anything about her name. You could shorten it to Flo, but then she sounded like she should be waitressing at a truck stop somewhere.
Her only friend growing up was Bradley Henderson. He was overweight and forced to wear some unfortunate headgear, but one day they discovered they owned the exact same Malibu Barbie, the one with the brown hair not the bleach blonde hooch. They were inseparable from that moment on and together teased without mercy. He was Blowfish-Bradley while she was Flower-Four-Eyes. She thought to go by her middle name once, but it was Luntz, and after learning the things that rhymed with that, she quickly reverted to Flower.
Flower swore she would change her name to something normal like Mary as soon as she turned eighteen, but on her sixteenth birthday, Millie took her to get contacts and that same day she met Chad.
Chad Williams at seventeen was already six foot four. His sweeping dark hair and laughing blue eyes stole her young heart away. He told her that her name was beautiful just like her. Of course, he also told her she was the only girl for him, divested her of her virginity, and then left her stranded at prom, but the new love of her name stuck even if he did not.
Losing Chad crushed her heart, and she was sure that she would never recover.
She even momentarily considered marrying Bradley, just so she wouldn't have to spend the rest of her life alone, since as a teenager she truly believed that without Chad, the world would end, but luckily, she didn't go through with it, especially since Bradley now lived as Brandy. He danced four nights a week down at the Queen of Diamonds in Abernathy and he was everyone's favorite gal. The Barbie should have been a tip off.
Flower flipped her long jet-black hair over one shoulder brushing her bangs out of her eyes. She readjusted the pins sticking out of her mouth pulling out just one. Once the hem of the shimmering gold dress was pinned to her liking, she stood trying to work some of the kinks out of her back.
"How does it look from the back?" Bradley asked twisting at the waist in attempt to see behind him.
"Quit twisting it or I'll never get it right," Flower, chastised.
Bradley dropped the material, as if it burned his fingers. "Sorry, sugar, I'm so excited about this new creation of yours that I'm getting impatient for it to be finished."
The Queen of Diamonds' held an annual charity event called, of all things, The Queen of Diamonds annual charity event. It was a huge gala, but the biggest draw of the evening was the fashion show at the end of the night. As strange as it may seem, designers fought tooth and nail to have their creations displayed across the stage. Apparently, drag queens dropped some serious cash on their costumes, and this year the leading designer was none other than her. Flower Luntz Calloway.
She loved to make a person beautiful, which was her dream. It may not seem like much to some people, but when people felt beautiful, it showed in everything they did. It made things better even when you were at your worst.
She was a huge success in Flatline, Texas and even fairly well known over in Abernathy, but this event would make her famous. It was not the kind of famous, where people stopped you on the street for your autograph. It was more of a prestige. However, none of it would ever happen if Bradley couldn't be still she thought as she caught him once again bunching the waist between his fingers in an attempt to see his own ankles. Letting out a frustrated growl a bell sounded from the front room alerting her to a delivery.
"Saved by the bell," she muttered, thinking that she might stab him with a pair of shears, if she watched him destroying all of her hard work, any longer. In the front room, a deliveryman stood holding a huge bouquet of flowers.
The guy looked to be around eighteen years in age. He was snapping at his chewing gum as if he'd rather be anywhere else in the world. He straightened up from his slump when he caught sight of her. "I have some flowers here for…Flower?" he asked skeptically.
She stopped herself from rolling her eyes by force of will alone instead opting to smile brightly. Kill them with kindness; that was her motto.
"That's me." He handed the flowers over then stood as if waiting for something.
"Oh I'm sorry," she told him setting the bouquet on the counter. "Let me get you a tip."
He brushed his hand nervously over his hair. "No, that's not necessary. Maybe I could get your phone number instead?"
She blinked at him in confusion actually wondering for a moment if he needed it for some official reason before it dawned on her what he meant.
"Um, how old are you exactly?"
He flashed a dimply grin. "Nineteen, ma'am," he answered cheerfully.
Her hands clenched. "Okay, Skippy. The fact that you just called me ma'am should have been your first tip off that this wasn't going to go well for you. For God's sake. I have a bra in my dresser drawer right now that's older than you."
He shifted his feet uncomfortably. "So…that's a no?"
She picked up the flowers, hugging them to her chest in an attempt to keep from wrapping her hands around his throat. "Yes. It's a no," she answered as sweetly as possible.
"Jeez lady, all you had to do was say no. I didn't need a whole speech about you needing to replace your underwear, and for the record, I really don't want someone with a nineteen-year-old bra anyway. I got me some standards."
He stormed out leaving her feeling oddly disappointed, which should've been a warning sign that she had been too long without a man. Well, a man who actually wanted to be a man, maybe she should have scooped up Skippy while he was willing.
"More flowers from Chad," she called down the hall, but as she turned the corner, she caught Bradley with the dress hitched up around his waist, so that he could rearrange his junk.
"Damn it Bradley!" She screamed slamming the flowers down. His head shot up and a look of guilt past over his face before he turned mutinous.
"I'm sorry Flower, but you have no idea what sequence will do to your boys."
"Please, please tell me that you're wearing underwear underneath there," she begged even though she already knew it was a lost cause.
"Um, well. It kind of messes with the line of the dress."
"Oh my God," she breathed. "This cannot be happening to me, not now. I have exactly one week to finish every one of these gowns before we head out to Nashville for the gala. What am I supposed to do if you keep refusing to work with me?" A single tear ran down her face, but she couldn't stop it any longer, nor did she want to. While this was a wonderful opportunity, it also stressed her out to the point, that she was pretty sure that she was going snap.
Bradley clicked across the room on three-inch heels drawing her into his embrace. "I'm so sorry baby. Just tell me what you want me to do, and I'll do it."
Flower started to speak but a knot formed in her throat making it almost impossible. Her voice ended up coming out in a squawk. "I'm going to fail. I'm going to be an utter complete failure. From this day on people will laugh about me behind their hands, because I don't have what it takes to do this."
"What do you need to get this done?" Bradley asked solemnly.
"I need you to hold still; don't twist the dress; not at the waist and not with your hands. I just need you to stand still long enough for me to get measurements and pin the hems. That's all. That's all I'm asking of you."
Bradley felt like shit. He was so accustomed to playing his part that sometimes he forgot that he didn't need to play the game here with Flower. She deserved this break for her career, and he wasn't the understanding friend that he should have been here lately. "I'm sorry. I have no excuse for my behavior. I know how important this is to you. Let's try it again. I'll be a good boy, and we will have your dresses ready even if I have to call in reinforcements. Okay?"
She only seemed to cry harder at his words. He hated to see her cry. It was one of those things, which were almost intolerable for him. He dropped his act completely. Becoming only the Bradley, she had known all her life. "Seriously Flower," he pled using her name intentionally hoping it would snap her out of her tears and make her realize how serious he was. "I will fix this."
She stared at him for a moment, as if she were in shock. He wondered if he was making a mistake by dropping his mask, but then she sniffled and smiled brightly. "You know I like Brandy because she is you, but I love Bradley and I miss him if that makes a lick of sense."
"You miss me?" He asked feeling confused but relieved.
She nodded. "I do. You're living over in Abernathy now and the only times I see you are when you come in for a new dress. A part of me thinks that you're not even coming to see me anymore, just my dresses."
Bradley's chest tightened at her words. There were so many things that he couldn't tell her, and so he did stay almost solely in Abernathy, just to keep from saying too much. Some truths went unchanged and they were not secrets. "I love you too, and I miss you so much. I'm sure that I could find someone closer to my house to buy dresses from, but yours are the best so for me it's a twofer. I get to see you and get what I need."
She didn't have to know that what he needed was her, because what she needed was not him. She deserved all the happiness in the world and he was all that was wrong with the world.
Flower was visibly straightening her shoulders. "Okay. I had a moment, but I'm over it now. Let's get to work on your gown. I want my man to be the hottest chick there." And, that's why he loved her. He loved her all of his life.