News and views.

I have a couple of things to talk about and I'm going to combine them into one (reasonably lengthed?) blog. First...

TIM HORTONS

Anyone reading the news and is a coffee fan knows about the two girls and the coffee cup. My opinion is this: The first girl found it, it's hers. Even if she did ask for help rolling the rim. This solution is too simple. All parties - pronounced 'parents' (I couldn't bring myself to use the word adult) will spend thousands of dollars on legal fees for a judge to likely say what I just did.

With that being said, if I were the owners of Tim Horton Donuts (and with the IPO, one day that just may be the case) I would say something like, "Can't decide? Here's what we'll do. We take the 30,000$ RAV4, slice it down the middle, and you can call heads or tails to decide whether you get the driver or passenger side."

Worked for Solomon didn't it?

STEVEN HARPER

Whether you like him or not (and I don't), I am more than a little impressed that his first out of country visit was to Kandahar to visit the troops. Many Canadians are concerned that our role which is traditionally a "peacekeeping" role has developed there to become more of a combative "peace-making" role. I understand this concern, and so I'm sure do our soldiers.

Never forget that a soldier does not ever make policy. They follow the directives that come from their political masters. So while the public may not like or be comfortable with what the soldiers are doing, never stop supporting them or ever make them feel alone. If you have an issue, call your MP; if you meet a soldier, thank them sincerely for their service and pray that those still over there come home safe and sound.

Steven Harper I'm sure was not lost to the potential photo-ops from this visit. Be that as it may, he made the visit, and reminded the troops that while they were far from home, they were still in the minds of the highest level of their government. They are not forgotten.

CARL

Friday a man died. While I was not there at his death I was there while five medics and three firefighters worked frantically to try and get his heart started and to get him breathing again. Sadly we were not successful. I didn't see Carl's obituary in the paper. Why? Likely because he was of "No Fixed Address", or homeless.

Carl and I met more than a dozen times. He would get drunk and lie down somewhere to sleep (parking lot, stairwell, places like that) and a concerned citizen would call 911 and report a "man down". In my experience Carl was not really a nice man, personality or circumstance I don't know but he wasn't the worst I've encountered. He didn't try to hit me or spit on me. He just wanted to be left alone to his own devices. I can say that at least he was in a warm place when he died.

Even though he was homeless, their should be some service. Some clergy somewhere to say a prayer for his soul. As I didn't find an obituary, I assume he went to the morgue for cremation by the city. I don't know if it's my place, but I did say a prayer for Carl. Was it too little, too late? I don't know.

I feel a little better though.