deep inside my psyche

Bruce wins but still looses....

2007-11-13T08:03:00.000-07:00

Ont judge has ruled that firearms ownership IS a right BUT, it is subject to restriction by legislation.

This means the judge "skirted" the issue and now Bruce must face his criminal trial. He has vowed to take his fight all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada.

How ridiculous was this decision? goto Bruce's site and read the judges comments for yourself. There is no doubt this issue is a hot potato for any lower court judge who does not want to "rock the boat" so to speak. However, I find it very hard to swallow his ruling. He indicated that he agrees that firearms ownership in Canada is indeed a right but he refused to address the server restrictions on ownership and how it could relate to section 7 of the charter and the right to self defence.

Constitutional court challenge

2007-03-16T14:31:00.000-06:00

Bruce Montegue is in court in Ontario arguing his case against the firearms act (C-68) and how it violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

His case is set to conclude on 23rd of March. You can check out his website for updates.

http://brucemontague.ca/html/index.html

This case has the potential to be ground breaking for firearms owners in Canada. It has been argued that the act violates numerous sections of the charter including;

- right to undue search and seizure
- right to private property
- right to be presumed innocent
- right to timely representation

This is only the start. It is suspected that the Crown will loose but will appeal the case to the Ontario appeals bench. If the crown loose that, Bruce is ready to take the case to the Supreme Court of Canada.

In 1994, owning a firearm (of any kind) in Canada was a right. In 1995 and C-68, this became a privilege. Firearms owners were subject to "licensing" and strict new control laws and with it, extremely harsh punishments for violation. Including reverse owness, which requires the firearms owner to PROVE his innocence of any charges. Firearms officers could enter your home at anytime and demand inspection of your legally acquired property.

I urge all Canadians to pay close attention to this case; this is not about guns! It is about our rights as guaranteed under the charter and how the government thinks they can take them away.

Owning a firearm...is it legal or not??

2007-01-17T18:54:00.000-07:00

Fast approaching is Bruce Montague's constitutional challenge of the firearms act. I have been around firearms all my life, I see them as a tool. As a means to do something like you would use a knife to cut, I would use a firearm to shoot. I am not a hunter, I do not hunt anything really (outside of the occasional gopher!), so people ask me "then why do you own a gun?". This is a perfectly legitimate question...to them. But to me, it's akin to asking someone why a city person owns a truck and not a more economical car? Really it is the same question...he owns a truck because he likes them. Maybe he likes the option of hauling things, maybe he needs one for work. Or maybe he is just a "truck enthusiast" who enjoys truck ownership. I own firearms because I like them, and use them to target shoot and skeet shoot. And, I admit I have been to the odd farmers land to rid him of some rodents in the past. Now, I belong to a pistol club and quite regularly take my pistol out to fire off 50 to 100 rounds on weekends. I simply enjoy it, I guess I am a "gun enthusiast".

What is my point to this banter? well, the way I see it I am being unfairly labeled, and subject to some extremely harsh laws and penalties just for owning a firearm. Now, I am not talking about automatic, military style assault rifles here. I mean, my pistol, my .22 and my shotgun. You see, I started with the vehicle analogy for a reason so let me spell it out for you. If you want to drive your vehicle on a public road, you need a licence. Makes sense to me doesn't it, I mean you need to show that you had SOME training and are reasonably competent behind the wheel so you hopefully won't hurt yourself or anyone else.
No problem, as a firearms owner, I too have to have a licence. And just a drivers licencing has "conditions" or endorsements so too does my firearms licence. Mine has a "restricted" endorsement which means I can own restricted firearms (like my pistol...ahhh good ol' GLOCK). Now, if you also wanted to drive that vehicle, on top of the licence you need to register it and have insurance. Ok, no worries, makes sense accidents may happen and you need some regulations and insurance to make sure you are covered in the event of an incident. No worries, now, my firearms need to be registered also. Ok no worries there, for me...I don't mind doing that. For some gun owners this is akin to raping and murdering your sister! But up to now I say, ok I can live with that because despite the somewhat inconvenient red tape it doesn't stop me from owning and using my firearms as I like to. No worries.
Now you need to pay close attention here. This is the difference between the two. If you DO NOT drive on a public road or just want to have the vehicle without registering or insuring it you can. You can still OWN the vehicle even if you never use it, its your property you legally acquired and so not a big deal. However, I can NOT own my property UNLESS it is registered AND I have a licence. So what happens if my licence expires? Well if you get pulled over by the police and oops, your licence is expired you get a warning and perhaps a ticket. 99% of the time, the police officer will let you go with said ticket and DRIVE away even without a licence. As a firearms owner, if I simply own a firearm without a valid licence I can go to jail for 5 years! Period, I get arrested and hauled to the clinker! I have committed no crime, I could have NEVER taken a firearm anywhere out of my house, yet I goto jail. Does this seem reasonable to you?

So the next time you think about guns in Canada think about that. Bruce isn't fighting the law because he is a criminal, he is fighting for what is right and just. Not to own bazooka's or automatic firearms or grenades etc etc. But to be able to have a firearm (a non restricted firearm) without a licence. Like the "old" laws under the FAC system allowed every Canadian to do. The facts are this, C-68 (the "firearms act") that the liberals brought in 11 years ago makes every gun owner a criminal. Your only protection is this little plastic licence that expires every 5 years. Throw in the reverse ownus clause (which says under the act, ANY firearms offence means you are guilty period, you the individual must prove your innocence), search and seizure clause which allows any "firearms" officer to enter your home anytime and search for anyplace he may reasonably think firearms are being stored - without a warrant, complaint or criminal action nor intent proven or accused. Does this seem fair or right? I could go on and on about other "clauses" this little act subject firearms owners to, but I think you get my point.

I am all for gun control, licencing and minimum safety training. But I draw the line at being guilty and having to prove my innocence and I think if you were in my shoes you would be just as upset as I am. So in March, Bruce M. is taking the law to court in the first constitutional challenge this act has been subject to. It doesn't matter if you are "pro" or "anti" gun, what matters here is do I have the same rights as you? The right to be innocent and PROVEN guilty, does the state have the right to invade my home at anytime and demand to inspect my firearms, their storage etc without any probable cause? These are the basics of the Canadian Judicial system...why am I not protected by my constitution? Can you explain it? I can't...

I need a deck!

2006-09-27T07:53:00.000-06:00

So, as the summer of 2006 winds down, Ceci and I were able to do quite a bit to our new house. We managed to finally get grass and build a fence. Now all that is left is to put in a deck, which I am now finding maybe should have been ahead of the fence.

We went with a 4 foot high black, chain link fence to continue to architectural style that the community has adopted. At first I wanted a nice high privacy fence but on further reflection, I am now glad we went with the simpler option. Not only does it look better, but our yard in the back is only about 1000sq feet so a high privacy fence would have made it feel like a prison yard!

Grass??

2006-07-24T20:53:00.000-06:00

So, you think owning a new house is all roses? Well, actually it is! All you have to do is build a deck, fence and put in some lawn. Ceci and I decided to also install Air Conditioning. I know, not very environmental BUT it is a 13 SEER unit that is slightly larger than we need so it won't have to work as hard. We have been debating putting in AC for years, even when we were living in Brooks but just never did. I have found this summer in Calgary to be unbareable however, we are not able to sleep well at night and it was beginning to impact our quality of life.
So, putting in all these things you take for granted on an "exsisting" home really begins to add up, it is not cheap! We also had to water seal our front porch, our design is fantastic, it has a HUGE front porch, very nice place to sit in the evening and watch the world go by. Next on my list is a fence which should be up within a few weeks and then a deck. Finally rounding off with some grass!

This year, Ceci and I have been talking about what to do for Christmas, I think we are going to make the trip back to Bolivia again for the festive season. We had a fantastic time in Cocha with C's family, we were thinking of staying home and having a X-mas in our new house with just the two of us but, we think the holidays is all about being with family so we have decided to start shopping around for tickets.

Life in Houston

2006-04-23T13:48:00.000-06:00

I am currenlty on a course in Houston, Texas until early June. Generally speaking the folks around here are pretty nice, generally friendly. Driving is an interesting challenge, I do not think many people really know the rules of the road down here. And yes its true, everything is bigger in Texas. EVERYTHING. No need asking for a supersize, you get it by default. You actually have to ask to get regular size things here, from food to beverages etc.

Some of the guys went to a big bass outdoors store, very nice. I think we should open a few of them up in Alberta. I could get lost for hours in a store like that. Talk about the "shoe" store for men!

house work

2006-02-19T21:26:00.000-07:00

Since our move into a house with a nice large two car garage, we have always wanted to finish the development of the intiror. This includes insulation, vapour barrier and putting up drywall. So, today we went to Rona (GAWD, I love that place...mmmm....power tools....) and picked up some R20 thermal insulation and all the required gear for such a venture. I am happy to report that 95% of the garage is now insulated and about %35 has the vapour barrier up. I imagine the remaining VB will go up tomorrow sometime as we Albertans vast in our family day long weekend.

I have found that I really enjoy working on household projects in our new home. I find it very satisfying seeing the project from creation to completion. Our plan is to put up drywall sometime this summer though, I doubt we will actually tape, mud and sand after all, it is a garage!!

Settling down

2006-01-15T13:51:00.000-07:00

Ceci and I are finally feeling settled in Calgary. We have been in our new house for about 3 months now and life is starting to get back to normality. I have been able to set up a new 90Gal (350L) freshwater tank because we now have the room!
Our suburb has an express bus that takes us directly downtown during the work week hence, we have only driven to work a few times. I wouldn't say the bus is more convinient however, it is much cheaper, I can sleep during the 30 min drive and the obvious benefits to the environment. Hence, I think we will continue to use the service as long as its available.

I hope everyone had a good holiday season. Some of our holiday pics and others can be found here...

http://community.webshots.com/user/udowish

In Calgary

2005-10-04T11:43:00.000-06:00

Ceci and I are now in Calgary! We bought a new house in the NW and we are now officially one of those city slicker types, with our coffees and commutes. Good thing there is public transportation! Our area has an express but that takes us directly downtown (where we each work) and then back again in the afternoon.
Our life is still full of boxes and "where did that go?" but its all part of the game. My biggest issue is finding nice clothes to wear everyday since I am now located in the corporate head office.

Calgary bound

2005-09-06T18:49:00.000-06:00

Well,

after many a tease we are finally heading to Calgary. A transfer within our company which is a step up for both of us. We are pretty excited but also sad to see the last 5 years of our lives draw to a close. We have had headaches and alot of fun in this small city, and we will definately miss those we have come to call our friends. However, you can not live totally comfortable all of the time, a change is needed and a shake up of our comfort zone is required.
We have bought a new house in the NW of Calgary and will be moving on the 28th of this month into new positions, in a new city with new challenges. I am looking forward to a change of pace and although, my wife is not as excited to go..I think she will warm up to it after the nerves and frustrations of a new job settle down. Anyone in Cowtown is more than welcome to look me up and drop by to say hello!!!

New "N" altitude record in Canada..

2005-07-21T15:21:00.000-06:00

Well, LDRS24 has come and gone and what a fantastic time I had. I spent a lot of time assisting in the running of the range, firefighting and launch system maintenance. A good time was had by all. I managed to launch Nostromo on a full K (660) to about 7500 feet and lost it for one night. Man, I found out just how hard it was walking threw wheat that is chest high. Thanks goes out to Ken B who suggested putting his falcon tracker onto my rocket, without it, it would still be in the middle of the field somewhere.
Our team (LRA, Lethbridge Rocketry Association) successfully launched the upper stage of our BBX rocket on an N1100 Moon burner motor. This motor has a burn time of about 9 seconds and it wasn't long until it was totally out of site. Good thing the RDAS was on board for real time data link and telemetry reports giving us the GPS data as the rocket progressed threw its flight path. We got the GPS lock on the vehicle and essentially drove right to it only 700m from the launch pad!
After looking at the two altimeters and taking the average we found we had set a new N altitude record in Canada. Just over 29000 feet (AGL)!!! Overal, there were somewhere in the order of 5 to 600 HP launches and at least 2 to 300 model luanches by some 180 registered flyers. Thanks goes out to all who helped and made our jobs much easier!

LDRS24...

2005-06-27T15:25:00.000-06:00

Not much time left to finish my latest rebuilt of Semetar. I have just less than two weeks to build the electronics bay, and finish fiberglassing and sanding. I think it may be possible to get it finished as long as nothing else major happens that requires large portions of my time..

Severe Weather...

2005-06-22T08:49:00.000-06:00

Well, all the heat here in Southern Alberta is whipping up some pretty intense weather. We have been having severe thunderstorms every night since our temperature is climbing into the 30's. Yesterday, there were two large tornado's on the ground within a 100km of Brooks. Again today the weather office is issuing another severe weather watch for this evening. Never a dull moment around here!

61st anniversary of D-Day

2005-06-06T18:43:00.000-06:00

Today, is the anniversary of D-day. The invasion of Normandy and the 5 beaches on the coast of France. We owe our freedom to those brave men (and women) who risked everything for our freedom. As a Canadian, I am most impressed with Juno beach, and the Canadian campaign during this day 61 years ago. Well done, and many thanks!

Turbot war part 2??

2005-05-30T20:27:00.000-06:00

Interesting news today out of Ottawa. Canada has seized a Portuguese trawler for fishing inside Canadian 200Km exclusion zone of waters. This isn't the first time Canadian Coast Guard has seized a foreign vessel for fishing in our waters illegally. Back in 1995, a Spanish vessel was seized and two more were boarded and their nets cut as they were attempting to catch under sized fish banned by the international community. Tension mounted so much that Canada and the Spanish sent warships into the area and a brief showdown ensued when a Spanish frigate entered Canadian waters. It hastily retreated when two Canadian destroyers fired warning shots at the vessel. I highly doubt the Spanish would be foolish enough to challenge the Canadian Navy. I hope this doesn't escalate again like it did a decade ago. This just goes to show that fish stocks are still very low threw ought the Atlantic, and fisherman are going to more and more extremes to find some fish to haul in. The last thing I want to see I world headlines about Canada sinking Spanish or Portuguese vessels. It may sound silly, but Canada (yeah the peaceful, peacekeeper nation) will not allow our or the world's resources to be plundered by anyone. The Canadian fishery has suffered in agony for over 10 years, so why should some other nation simply ignore scientific data on fish moratoriums? This stock is not "ours" it belongs to the world and someone has to protect it. If not us (as Canadians) then who????

Canadian Hero's

2005-05-06T14:52:00.000-06:00

The news flash reached Canada at 9:36 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on May 7, 1945: Germany has surrendered unconditionally.

Canada was remembered in an emotional parade in The Netherlands yesterday where Canadian Forces broke threw Nazi lines and liberated much of the nation.

A heart felt thank you to all of our veterans and to those who still wear the uniform.

Bravo Zulu! from a former Captain in the Air Reserves.

Adscam...Liberal Thieves

2005-04-05T09:32:00.000-06:00

Well, after only one search on Google.ca I managed to find the famous yankee web blogger who is dishing out all the gossip from the "banned" Gomery inquiry. I have read all his posts on the matter in great detail and it does not surprise me. All I can say is it was Ontario (for the most part) that voted these criminals back in and now you have to pay for that mistake.
The testimony is quite damming of the Liberal party and talks in detail about scams, kickbacks, bribes and threats. Not at all surprising to me but for some of my fellow Canadians you may be a little shocked at just how deep and damming the testimony is and it works all the way to the top...the PMO's office of both the present and former head clown of our great land. If this won't get rid of the Liberals then my fellow Canadians in Ontario are even more blind, no strike that, STUPID than I thought.

Check the link to find the info...Canadians have the right to know especially when the ban ONLY applies to us, the Canadian public. Every party has "a representative" sitting in on the testimony and briefs their party leaders as to what was said. So in reality, the only people who don't have a clue about the biggest scandal in our nations history is us!

Fish...UPDATE

2005-03-31T11:44:00.000-07:00

SUCCESS!

Yesterday evening I managed to catch the two pairs I wanted. They look the healthiest and have the best colour out of the seven Tbarbs in my tank. It only took afew minutes after their introduction to the spawning tank before they started to spawn. Hopefully I will be able to raise a few fry again.....

Fish..

2005-03-30T10:45:00.000-07:00

Most people who know me realize I am an avid fish keeper. Those of us who own an aquarium(s) always investigate bigger, better setups and more elaborate ways of provide a stable environment for those little (or not so little) critters to happily live out their lives in front of us.
I have been keeping fish for almost four years now and my primary tank (140L) is considered mature and stable. It has been running for almost two years since an upgrade from a 90L tank, many thanks to John for "giving" me his old tank and inhabitants that has started me on this fascinating new hobby. I have a heavily stocked tank, some would say over stocked but in reality it depends on your filtration setup and how well it can handle the pollutants and mechanical filtration. People that stop by our humble abode have always commented on how clear and clean my fish tank water looks and at the same time say, " man there is a lot of fish in there". Since this larger tank set up two years ago I have only lost one fish. A silver shark and a big one upwards of 20 Cm, but not because of my lack of care. These fish (of which I have two) are easily agitated and are prone to sudden darting movement when startled. Sure enough one night whist we slept soundly in our bed one of my sharks committed suicide and rammed himself into the side of my tank. He was found floating the next day....
My quest to get bigger and better has hit a snag however, our house is pretty full and my thoughts of a nice HUGE 350L plus tank are now on hold. We simply have no where to put this monstrosity of a tank. Hence, I have set up my first 90L tank again in an attempt to satisfy my need for more...I am trying to get a pair of my Tiger Bards to breed. I have been successful in the past with this species and raised a small brew of fry of which I still have one, now mature, male in my large community tank. My first go round at fish romance this week appeared to be positive. I conditioned my tank by feeding lots of protein, blood worms etc to get the juices flowing. I then isolated a female and introduced her to the breeding tank. The next day I introduced a male to see what would happen. Over the course of a few hours they started to exhibit typical mating behavior. So I just left them alone hoping to see small eggs all over the plants during their encounter. But I do not see any at all as of today. I think I will have to try again with another pair...you have to get the water conditions just right for spawning to be triggered, so it looks like my quest continues...

Chernobyl...

2005-03-22T09:37:00.000-07:00

I was surfing around the other day and I decided to visit the S.T.A.L.K.E.R Shadow of Chernobyl (formerly oblivion Lost) site. I am eagerly awaiting this FPS game and in my quest for more knowledge about the reactor and the nuclear disaster that occurred (I am a Physicist after all..) I stumbled across this dramatic website.

The site is basically from a young Ukrainian women who is one of these adventure seekers. Elena decided to take a motorcycle ride threw the "dead zone" or exclusion zone around the reactor. In particular the ghost city of Pripyat, only a few Km from the actual reactor. This city had a population of 45000 people and was evacuated the next day after the reactor explosion. It is pretty Erie to take a look at the photos of what appears to be a regular town totally evacuated.

You can check out the site here http://www.kiddofspeed.com/default.htm

to move or not to move...

2005-03-13T21:12:00.000-07:00

Well, things are work are starting to stir up. I think my wife and I are overdue for a transfer; I am really looking forward to a change but at the same time we are definitely in our comfort zone here in smaller town AB. I do desire a change of pace after 6 years in a smaller center doing important but now long since not challenging work.
A move into a large center like Calgary would mean allot of pluses and some drawbacks, longer commutes, higher prices etc etc....So I guess we should be careful what we wish for. I think deep down inside I am a "small town" guy...well small city guy for sure. Brooks is just shy of 15K people and Cowtown is just shy of 1 Million....I think that is a little too big for my liking. Being from a city of 250K to me is just perfect. Large enough to have lots to do and all the attractions but not so large you get lost in the shuffle. Well, a move will either happen next week or in 5 months....only time will tell now.

Hills and Valleys

2005-03-08T09:26:00.000-07:00

Life sure has a way of making you think. Up to last Sunday everything in our world was putting along fine. Happy, no real worries then...tap...tap on the shoulder. Life's little problems force you to turn around and see what all the tapping is about. One of my close friends came to me in desperate trouble...more trouble than I have ever known anyone to be in. That began the Sunday (God's day..yeah right) from hell. Then shortly after that my wife gets a phone call from her mom in Bolivia (yes my wife is from South America and all of her family still lives there), informing her of more political unrest in the country. Now, to us Canuks, political unrest is...hum how did the Liberal commies screw us again? how much money is missing this time?? In Bolivia, political unrest is how many people were shot? what city is burning? Who assassinated the President??
So needless to say our little comfort zone was soon shattered by the realities of the world around us. No longer could we proceed in our little bubble we had created, sheltered from the issues this planet and our society create two fold. Luckily the issues in Bolivia seem to be settling down a little, and as for my friend, only time will tell.

RCMP..

2005-03-04T08:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a sad day in Canada, especially in my Province. Four RCMP officers that were guarding a grow opp were shot in a gun battle with at least one of the queers growing that stuff. They even had the Militia on standby in Edmonton with a platoon and two armoured units. This is the worst multiple killings of Officers since the rebellion over 100 years ago.

A very sad day indeed.

PVR

2005-03-03T10:54:00.000-07:00

Man, I love High Definition tv (HD), its the cats meow. Now with these new DVR's I can record any program and watch another one at the same time. It records HD content (and SD) onto a 120Gb internal drive in my dual tuner STB. I must say I love my 50 inch Hitachi and now I really feel like I have some control over whats on. I can watch what I want, when I want to watch it! Long live Motorola and their fancy little box...

gaming...

2005-03-02T16:29:00.000-07:00

Well, since my better half gave me permission to put together a new machine, I have been turning my eyes square finished Doom3. Yes, yes I know please do not email telling me how much of a goof I am because I STILL have not finished Doom3. Part of the reason was due to my limited hardware on my 'old' gaming box which, in my defence is quite old. I have not done anything with it in almost three years. We all know 3 years in computer time is like 10 years in human span. It seems time dilation does exsist and computers and morse law are prime examples of that. But I digress...so, I put together this new machine. My first venture into Athlon, AMD 64 with...wait for it.......and ATI x800pro AGP with 256Mb.. Needless to say my Doom experience has greatly improved, my 1.6A P4 with a 64Mb vid card just didn't have the steam to keep me airborne. I stuck my old HD's from my workstation into it and put 1Gig of DDR ram into it and I am smoking!

I finished HL2 in oooo about a day and I am about 50% threw D3. Can't wait for S.T.A.L.K.E.R

hum..

2005-03-02T16:10:00.000-07:00

I used to blog long before bloggin was cool. Now everyone seems to be getting into the game. Thats fine, so be it. It used to be so uncool to put your thoughts down on paper into a journal or some other form of diary style writing. Now, we can push everything into html and poof, the whole world can see your musings.

enough for today