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Dec.5th. 2006: Winter has finally settled in. What a beautiful scene
being displayed out of my window this morning. All the trees and lamp posts are
covered with sparkling snow which gives the landscape a truly winter wonderland scene.
This snow we have should stay around which will delight skiers, snowmobilers and those
people who like outdoor winter activities. During the first snowfall, I had put a new
sled dog harness on Buddy which I attached it to a toboggan. I wanted to see how Buddy
would take to wearing a harness and hauling a toboggan around, like the sled dogs one
sees being used in the far North. I was pleasantly surprised that Buddy took to it
very well. He just went lumbering along beside me as he towed the toboggan (empty)
through the fresh deep snow, up and down hills and along the roadway. Buddy is taking
to this sledding like a real trooper. Next time we go out on another jaunt, I will add
a little weight on the toboggan. I will keep adding a little weight each time we go
out. Hopefully, he will eventually be able to pull my weight and then some very
easily. Buddy is a very strong dog for his size. That will be the goal for this
winter. Sharren, who is a good friend, had lived in the Yukon and had been running
sled dogs. She is the person who had given me the sled dog harness and had loaned me
some books on Mushers (running a dog team) when I told her what I was planing to do
with Buddy this winter. Buddy got so proficient at towing that toboggan, I had to jog
all the way just to keep up to him. While running the toboggan, Buddy is picking up my
new Mushers lingo when I call out to him. Instructions like... Mush, to go forward,
right, to turn right, left, to turn left and whoa, to stop. I can't wait for the time
when Lake Temiskaming freezes over so I can take Buddy out on the wide open frozen
lake where he will be able to strech his legs and run all out. Hopefully, by then, he
will be able to pull me on the sled. Sharren told me that many people in the Yukon
use a one dog sled team which can pull a sizeable load on hard packed snow. The joy in
all of this is that you have something you can do together with your dog. You don't
have the constant noise of a roaring engine, the polution of gas exhuast, nor the
huge expense entailed in present-day snowmobiling. Later that day, Irean at
Come-by-Chance Treasures, gave me a plastic sled that has built-in moulded runners
and tried it out with Buddy. We came across Louie, who is a good friend of mine, I
got him to sit in the sled to see if Buddy could pull him. Louie is a big strapping
young man weighing in at 230 lbs. Buddy made a hard jerk and Louie and Buddy took off
down the lane. Then they came upon a hill and Louie went skidding down the hill,
followed by Buddy, who was running alongside. Louie tipped over the sled and skidded
to a stop. We all had a good laugh. I was greatly surprised that Buddy had managed to
pull Louie on the sled. He should have no problem at all to pull me along. I just have
to figure out how to get Buddy to go while I am on the sled. Every time I get on the
sled, Buddy sits down or comes to me, instead of pulling the sled. There must be an
answer to this problem in one of those Mushers books that Sharren had loaned me.
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The word "Christmas" was first used in 1038 CE by the Roman Catholic Church which had originally represented the Catholic "mass" that is held on Dec.25th. The best guess Christian theologians give for the birth of their man-made god is in late spring or early fall of 6 BCE, certainly not in December. The birth story says that the shepherds were out in their fields with their sheep at night, but in late December it is just too cold to be out in the fields, day or night. The shepherds didn't leave their flocks in the field during the month of December but corralled them into a barn. Dec. 25th was actually the Iranian birthday of Mithra, the "GOD OF LIGHT". The winter solstice fell on December 25, and the pagan Roman emperor Aurelian (270-274 CE) had proclaimed December 25th as Natalis Solis Invicti, the festival of the birth of the invincible sun. In 354 CE, Philocalus wrote a Christian martyrology that dates the nativity of the Christian Je-Zeus Christ on December 25th, and cites an earlier work as backup. From this we can deduce that Christmas was celebrated on the present date as early as 335 CE in Rome. Christians claim that Christmas was set on this day to supplant the pagan Roman feast. It was Liberius, a Bishop of Rome, who had ordered the adoption of Dec. 25th in 354 CE to be the birth day of their fictitious man-made god, Je-Zeus Christ, which is celebrated as the "LIGHT OF THE WORLD". Liberius felt this would turn the Roman pagan Mithra feast into a pagan "Christian" feast. The Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol VI Pg 945; Vol 7 Pg 202: states that "The myth of Mithra formed the origin of the cult of Mithraism, which flourished in the Roman Empire and was for a time the chief rival of Christianity. One of be most well known festivals of ancient Rome was the saturnalia, a winter festival celebrated from December 17th to the 24th. Because it was a time of wild merry making and domestic celebrations, businesses, schools, and law Courts were closed so that the public could feast, dance, gamble, and generally enjoy themselves to the fullest. December 25th, the birthday of Mithra, the Iranian "god of light" was the feast day devoted to the invincible sun, as well as the day after the Saturnalia, which was adopted by the Roman Catholic church as Christmas. The fictitious Christian nativity story of Je-Zeus Christ was written into the New Testament to counteract the effects of the Roman Mithra festivals. But the Roman Mithra festivals was only fully suppressed when Charlemagne, a "Christian", became the monarch of the Roman Empire. Many people who had rejected Christianity were slaughtered during his reign.
Here is a list of the origin of various "Christmas" customs.
The Mistletoe: The Druids considered it sacred. It was also a common belief that any couple who stood under the mistletoe had the right to kiss their partner.
Christmas tree: The Scandinavians worshipped the pine trees during this season. When they became Christians, they introduced the practice to their fellow Christians and it became a part of the Christmas tradition.
Christmas tree decorations: The Germans originated the decorations of Christmas trees. They even placed lighted candles on the Christmas tree which had burned down many homes.
The Yule log: The Norse burned a huge log once year to Thor, the god of thunder. When they became Christians, they in turned burned a huge log to their fictitious Christian god, Je-Zeus Christ.
The greeting of Merry Christmas which meant "Christmas-time" was originally a Yule-time greeting. Note the mix of paganism here.
The exchanging of gifts: This tradition came about because when the Christian god, Je-Zeus Christ was born, he was given gifts because he was believe to be the "King of the Jews". People in that era never approach a king without a gift in hand.
Santa Claus: The tradition of Santa Claus originally came from the Norse legend which was believed that the goddess, Hertha appeared in the fireplace and brought good luck to the house. Later it became the Christian legend of St. Nicolas, who was a Bishop of Myra in Lycia in around the year 300 CE. He is better known as old St. Nic. It was believed that he entered houses through the chimney and left gifts to poor families during Christmas. It was Bavarian illustrator Thomas Nast, that gave the image of Santa Claus, now so common today. Nast, the "father of American political cartooning," drew more than 2200 cartoons for Harper's Weekly from 1862 through 1886. Many of these were of Santa Claus at Christmas time. Before Nast, St. Nicholas had been pictured as everything from a stern looking bishop to a gnome, an elf like figure in a frock (as he had been pictured in the first edition of Moore's poem). Nast was clearly inspired by Moore's 1823 poem, but he also added additional features to the Santa Claus evolution, such as Santa's home at the North Pole, his workshop filled with elves, and his list of all the good and bad children of the world. The Coca-Cola company also contributed to the modern Santa Claus. In 1931, the Coca-Cola Company decided that they wanted to increase their sales to children. The law at the time did not allow advertisements showing children drinking Coca-Cola, so how about showing a friendlier Santa Claus, relaxing with a Coke served to him by children? The artist Haddon Sundblom was assigned to come up with a new, more commercial Santa. Sundblom came up with a large, jolly fellow in the well-known, bright red suit with white fur trim (the Coca-Cola colors). Beginning in 1931 and for 35 years, Coke ran advertisements that featured a human-size Santa (not elf-size) drinking Coke. These ads contributed much to the modern image of Santa Claus.
The nativity scene: In 1223 CE, Frances of Assisi, had filled a church chancel (front part behind the railing) with hay, added an ox, an ass and a young mother to sit with her baby.
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Dec.22nd. 2006: I had thought that winter had finally settled
in and that the snow would stay around which will delight skiers, snowmobile's and those
people who like outdoor winter activities. The lake was begining to freeze over, but since the
last few weeks, we had very mild weather and all the snow we had, just disappeared and there is
just open water out on the lake. I can't get over the beautiful weather we are having for this
time of the year. It appears that we are in for a snow-less holiday season. Because of the mild
weather, I may have to add some wheels to the sled if I am to do any mushing. I had spent some
time reading books on dog sledding during the past few weeks, and I read that during the summer
months, people can continue dog sledding with a buggy on wheels . But I think that I will hold
off making a buggy on wheels. We are bound to get some snowfall and freezing temperatures during
the months of January and February. So I will have to be patient and wait for this balmy weather to pass by.
During the past few years I had been busy repairing old computers or making one good computer
out of unrepairable ones to give to families who's children do not have a computer of their own.
I believe that children in this day and age are at a great disadvantage for not having a computer
at home. The use of computers nowadays is vital for children because whatever trade or
profession they may get into, they will have to know how to use computers and its programs in the
workplace. Anyway; after giving away the last computer, with monitor, keyboard and mouse, I had
on hand, the very next day, my own computer monitor gave up the ghost and I could not continue my
own work using my personal computer at home. I am grateful to Reg and Darcy who are the owners of
Tammarack Ltd, a computer store here in Haileybury, for giving me a computer monitor. I am also grateful
to the staff and board members of the Haileybury Heritage Museum for being so kind to me and for giving
me, just yesterday, a printer to add with my computer. Now I can make a hard copy on
some of the text I had written on my various web sites. Somehow; I still prefer to read
text in a book or on a sheet of paper rather than on a computer screen. Maybe that's
because I am still somewhat a bit old fashion when it comes to reading material. Looking
back on this year, I may not be wealthy, dollar wise, but the wealth I do have is in the
beautiful people I have come to know since the time I had paddled up by canoe to this
part of northeastern Ontario.
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Jan.11th. 2007: This morning as I look out my
window, it is truly a winter wonderland. The weather got colder yesterday and tears ran
down my face uncontrollably when walking in the cold air. It seems like that mild
weather we had been having is now gone and winter has finally set in. I must wax the
toboggan and get the sled ready for dog sledding. The lake should be safe enough to
go on it in a couple of weeks if this cold weather stays around. It is about time that our
Canadian arm forces in Afghanistan are thinking to get NATO to put more troops along
the eastern Afghanistan border with Pakistan. Placing guards along that entire border
should greatly put a stop for the Talaban fighters to escape to or come into Afghanistan
via the border of Pakistan. That is the only way NATO is going to end this fighting. I also like MS/NBC's
Wonderful World news which give some good news in a world full of bad news. Here are
some examples of what I mean.......
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - Oprah Winfrey opened a school Tuesday for disadvantaged girls, fulfilling a promise she made to former President Nelson Mandela six years ago and giving more than 150 students a chance for a better future.
“I wanted to give this opportunity to girls who had a light so bright that not even poverty could dim that light,” Winfrey said at a news conference.
NEW YORK - A 3-year-old boy was caught by a passerby after falling from the fourth-floor window of an apartment in New York City Thursday, police said.
The boy was caught by a 39-year-old man passing under the window, police said in a brief statement. The boy was taken to hospital with just minor cuts and abrasions to his head and face. Police are still investigating and gave no more details.
NEW YORK - Wesley Autrey faced a harrowing choice as he tried to rescue a teenager who fell off a platform onto a subway track in front of an approaching train: Struggle to hoist him back up to the platform in time, or take a chance on finding safety under the train.
At first, he tried to pull the young man up, but he was afraid he wouldn’t make it in time and they would both be killed.
“So I just chose to dive on top of him and pin him down,” he said.
SYDNEY - An alert tabby cat saved an Australian family of four from a house fire by clawing at its owner's face, emergency officials said on Friday.
Timmy the tabby sprang into action by waking his unidentified owner when a mattress caught fire as the family slept early on Friday in Cairns in Australia's tropical north.
"The cat was probably the best smoke alarm system ... it was clawing at the occupant's face and got him up and out of bed," Cairns fire service spokesman Robert White-Macfarlane told reporters.
Web Exclusive; By Ginanne Brownell and Stryker McGuire. Newsweek
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Updated: 6:59 p.m. ET Jan 10, 2007; Jan. 10, 2007 - In Britain, they call her “the new Diana.” But to the rest of the world, Kate Middleton, Prince William’s girlfriend of more than three years, remains little more than a cipher: a pretty, leggy brunette with a real job, an excellent education and a steady relationship with a man who, time and again, tops “sexiest” and “most-eligible” lists around the globe and who, incidentally, is second in line to become sovereign of the United Kingdom, after his father, Charles.
While I was visiting friends at Temiskaming
Lodge, whom I had met during the time I had been a volunteer at the Lodge.
Temiskaming Lodge is a seniors health care facility. While there, I was informed that
an elderly lady who was a new resident, had a wish to be taught how to paint paintings.
I had at one time given art classes at the Lodge a few years ago, so I met the lady and
had a little chat with her. Her desire to paint was genuine, and she had shown me some
of her artwork. I spoke to Cathy Ruddy, who is the Activity Director and we arranged to
set up a two hour art session once a week so that Mrs. Cook would have her wish come
true. The Lodge will supply all the art materials for this one-on-one art session. My only
contribution to this is my time, which I happily freely give. I can do this now since the
Haileybury Heritage Museum, where I am presently volunteering, is not that busy during
the winter season.
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Just when we are getting over the double
murder of Canadians in Mexico, where two Canadians, Domenico Ianiero, 59, and his
wife Annunziata, 55, from Woodbridge, Ont., who were attending a wedding for their
daughter, were murdered in a vacation resort at a hotel near Playa del Carmen, south
of Cancun, Mexico. Now we hear of yet another murder in Mexico. According to the
CTV News Staff; Fri. Jan. 12 2007: The body of Adam DePrisco will return to Canada
Friday evening as questions continue to mount on how the 19-year-old died while
vacationing in Mexico. What is disturbing and very troubling is that the Mexican police
had lied to Canadian officials. The Mexican police are once again shown to be covering
up something in this whole incident. Mexican officials claim DePrisco was killed in a
hit-and-run after leaving a local nightclub drunk last Sunday. But DePrisco's traveling
partner, Marco Calabro, disputes that account. He says his friend was killed after
dancing at the club with a local man's girlfriend. Calabro claims DePrisco was kicked
out of the club by bouncers, who were followed by locals, and was beaten to death.
I would not blame Canadians for not going to Mexico as a vacation resort. I have heard
from fellow Canadians that Cuba and the Dominican Republic is a very popular tourist
destination for Canadians. They are excellent places to go for a vacation. At least
you don't have to worry about getting killed and you can enjoy your vacation with
peace of mind. The Canadian Government should post a warning to Canadians going
to Mexico.
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Jan,18th. 2007; During the past few days we
had been having real cold weather. It was more like a freezing spell where the temperature
had dropped down to -22 Celsius during the daytime. Wind chill was around -32 Celsius.
But today, the temperature hovered around -4 Celsius which made it seem real warm after
all that cold weather. But this winter had been quite warm, in the + zone until the cold
northern winds which had come down from Hudson Bay, and put us in a deep freeze.
But with this freezing weather, Lake Temiskaming froze up solid which enabled some
people to haul their ice-fishing huts out on the lake. I had hitched up Buddy to a sled
and we made our way to the lake. I had loaded the sled with a small pack for snacks
and a lunch and added a pair of cut down ski's to act as snowshoes, in case we got into
some deep snow. Buddy by now, has got used to pulling the sled, at least when it is
near empty. As Buddy went along, I tagged behind and every now and then, I would get
on the sled while it was still running, and Buddy would tow me for a little while, and then
stopped, sat down and turned his head around my way and had a look upon his face, as
if to say. "I ain't no sled dog! " I tried to coax Buddy to go on, but he just walked towards
me and promptly sat down beside me. So I got up and walked with Buddy until the next
time around, when Buddy was clipping along real fine, I would once again get on the sled
while it was running and we would go through the same routine, over and over again,
each time Buddy would pull me a little further than the last time. After awhile, I
stopped getting on the sled, I did not want to press my luck. We wandered up towards
one ice-fishing hut and the people there had three nice big fishes, all flapping on the
ice. There was a man further yonder who was fishing at an ice-hole in the open, so
Buddy and I went over to see how the man was doing. He had no luck, but at least we
had a nice warm day with no wind. It was indeed a beautiful day to be out and about.
Buddy and I stopped after a while and we had some lunch and just enjoyed the day.
After awhile, we headed back to the apartment and had a good feed of pork chops.
Buddy deserved that after all the pulling he had done today.
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On Monday morning of Jan.22nd 2007, Buddy and I went to Temiskaming Lodge. The day was quite mild so I tied Buddy to the flagpole and left him there. I got the art session ready while Mrs. Cook entered the room where we have our art class. Last week we had started a painting that was simple enough to start this art session. It is of a rowboat at anchor on a lake. Today, I expect to have the painting done. As I painted, I show Mrs. Cook how it is done while I paint on a canvas board, and Mrs. Cook follows along painting on her canvas. The Lodge supplies us with all the material that we need. As we continued with the second art session, the paintings were coming along real fine.
By the time our session was over, we had finished our first painting. I had done the same painting except that my boat was a Newfoundland dory. Mrs. Cook was totally pleased how her first painting turned out. It helps a lot when you have someone to help you and show how it is done. I hope to take a photo of our paintings we had just done. Mrs. Cook will also learn how to mix her own colors before this art class session is over in around end of May. Then I'm off in my canoe during the summer months. I had some time before lunch to talk to John and Marilyn, who are residents at the Lodge. I will come and visit them on Sundays and spend some quality time with them. All in all, we had a very good day.
On Tuesday, 22nd. 2006, I hitched Buddy up to the sled and went to get some groceries I had forgotten to get the last time we went to the Trottiers Valu Mart supermarket. I had tied Buddy to a bench while I did my shopping. I loaded my groceries on the sled and made our way back home. Buddy did not seem to mind it at all, hauling the sixty lbs of cargo on the sled. Sharron had told me to keep adding weight as Buddy progresses to the next level of dog sledding. I know that in time, Buddy will make a good sled dog. He is very strong for his size.
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Feb. 5th. 2007; Watching the CTV news this
morning I heard about the tragic event of firefighters who had died trying to save lives
in a burning house in Winnipeg, Manitoba. According to various news reports, two of the
firefighters, were senior captains, were killed in this house fire. Three or four other
firefighters were injured. One of the firefighter is said to have been very seriously
injured. The fire had started around eight o'clock. Firefighters had arrived on the
scene and were in the process of searching the house to see if anyone was inside,
when the deadly back draft, which caused the flash-over, catching the firefighters
off-guard inside the house. The intensity of these flash-over can create such high
temperatures which can literally melt the firefighters boots. As homes and buildings
are ever increasingly being well insulated and draft-free, firefighters are encountering
the hazard of deadly flash-over's in greater number than ever before. These flash-over's
will cause greater risk of injury and death to these firefighters. It must be a tremendous
tragedy for the families of these firefighters to have lost their love ones. These are very
courage's and noble men and women who risk their own lives trying to save other
people while putting out these deadly fires. May they be remembered by the people of our noble, gracious land.
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Sat. Feb. 17 2007; I was not at all surprised while watching the program W-5, Fleecing the Flock on CTV this weekend, which had exposed one type of fraud being committed by some Christian "pastors" who was involved in an investment scam called "Affinity Fraud" whereby a great many of Christians were robed of their life savings. According to the W-5 investigation team, they had uncovered one of the fastest rising frauds in North America. In 1989 15,000 people in Canada and the USA have lost a total of $450 million. By 2001 those numbers had grown to 80,000 Christians who had lost a total of two billion dollars. What is this Affinity Fraud? According to W-5, these cons target seniors or members of some ethnic community, often it's Christian churches. Once they win over people's trust, they start selling them bogus investments. By offering rates of return upwards of 50 per cent a year and a guarantee on the return of the principle, people are coughing up their life-savings in droves. But as W-FIVE found out, after the process of forensic audits are complete, more often than not the money is gone, never to be returned to investors. You can get the full CTV's W-5 Fleecing the Flock story about this Christian scam, using this direct link to W-5. Unfortunately, a greater fraud is being committed on a daily basis by Christian priests and pastors who represent that perverted Christian religion with its corrupted bible and its phony god, which is in itself a total fraud.
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Sat. Feb. 20th. 2007; Peter Kimber a Canadian citizen born in Welland, Ontario and now lives in Mission, British Columbia, was charged and arrested in Mexico for having illegally worked in Mexico while holding only a tourist visa. He is currently trapped in a very corrupt justice system that treats foreign prisoners like pawns in a deadly game where deceit, extortion and bribery rules the day. Kimber's family and supporters are seeking some fairness and justice for a man who has been subjected to extreme suffering, torture and abuse while Kimber is being held in a Mexico prison. Mr. Peter G. Kimber, is being imprisoned in Reclusorio de Pochutla, Huatulco, Mexico for more than 2 years and 4 months. It is being alleged that Mr. Kimber has been beaten over a hundred times, tortured, injected with tainted blood, and has recently received death threats by the Director of the Prison, Senor Raul Pacheko, in order to silence him. The guards at the prison made a public announcement on January 16, 2007 to all the prisoners that they could harm Mr. Kimber for "causing all the problems" at the prison, which escalated any efforts to save Mr. Kimber's life. Regardless of the charges against Mr. Kimber, he do not deserve under humanitarian concerns, to be tortured or be inhumanely treated. According to CTV's news report, there is a little ray of light that Peter Kimber may receive some humanitarian justice, which is being requested by Peter Kimber family, friends and concerned citizens in Canada, the United States, United Kingdom and other parts of the world. Mr. Kimber's lawyer in Canada, Mr. Benning is working on his case and trying to find a reputable lawyer in Mexico to represent Peter Kimber who is currently being held captive in a Mexican prison in which Peter Kimber claims to
having been falsely accused of a charge of which he is innocent of. To insure that Peter receives a fair trial and that he be treated in a humanitarian manner while being incarcerated
in the Mexican prison. No human being deserves to be tortured or to be treated in an inhumane manner as it has been reported by the CTV News Broadcast. Canadian tourists have been murdered, shot, robbed, raped, kidnapped or falsely imprisoned while visiting Mexico. Unfortunately, Canadians do not heed the warnings to stay away from countries that are infested with corruption and violence. You can get the full CTV's story about this case with this link.
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