Christmas Truce 1914

 I have a music based Facebook group for the Rush bassist Geddy Lee (you can join here if you're a Rush fan).  One of the things I do is post new music as Rush no longer makes music.  Being that we're in the midst of the Christmas season, I posted a song called "Christmas Truce" by the Swedish power metal band Sabaton.  I was reluctant to put it on the list.  When I watched the video, which you can see here (or here, I decided to put it on the list.  The imagery of the video and the song are so powerful and rife with emotion.  Until I watching the video and listening to the song, I had no idea that it had any historical significance surrounding it.




On December 7, 1914, Pope Benedict the XV called for a temporary hiatus of the war.  Many warring countries refused any sort of ceasefire.  But an unofficial ceasefire was declared by many troops in the trenches on Christmas.

Christmas truce occurred on Christmas 1914 during World War I.  Many troops ceased their fire while others kept fighting.  Not sure why they all couldn't have put down their weapons for a brief period.  For those who did, it started on Christmas Eve, when British and German troops fight in the war started singing Christmas carols.  At various points, the Allied soldiers even heard brass bands joining the Germans in their singing.

At the light of dawn on Christmas Day, German soldiers emerged out of the trenches approached the Allied lines across no-man’s-land, and were calling out “Merry Christmas” in their enemies’ native tongues. At first, Allied soldiers were fearful that it was a trick at first. Once they saw the Germans were unarmed, they also emerged from the trenches and shook hands with them.

They exchanged presents of cigarettes and plum puddings, sang Christmas carols and songs. Some Germans even lit Christmas trees around the trenches. Some documents show that they played a good natured and rousing game of soccer.

At least some fighting had a temporary ceasefire and truce even if only for Christmas. Again, the countries and troops that kept fighting should have done the same.

For those that did stop fighting, we could learn something from that.  But hey, hopefully you and yours all have a Merry Christmas.

Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church gets $4.4 million in Covid relief

Churches in the United States are not looked upon as businesses. You could make a case that Lakewood Church is. Even though megachurches should be treated as a business, they will always be listed as a charity. Therefore, they are exempt in paying taxes.

If you looked at the financials of this church, you would see they are making money. Considering his church can house over 50,000 people on any given Sunday.

Hypothetical situation with 2020 being a normal year with no pandemic.. If Osteen was pulling in 52,000 people each Sunday and at least half of the people put in one dollar for the "collection," obviously the church is taking in $26,000 per Sunday. With 2020 having 52 Sundays, the church would take in $1.3 million in a year. That would never be taxed.

So why is Lakewood Church getting $4.4 million in relief when it's pulling in over a million easy? There are small businesses struggling that need it more than said church.

I went to Bible college in 2006-2007. It was a small privatized Christian college that is now closed. My year in Canada is when everything ceased operations. The final location was in Strathmore, Alberta.

Now, we had a thing called a "worship blitz." Basically, we went to various churches from Saturday-Monday in Calgary. I didn't like the idea. But a couple of churches we went to weren't so bad.

On the Sunday, we went to a service at a megachurch in Calgary at Centre Street church. I hated it. It was a megachurch (a joke was there was a Footlocker in it). The church felt so impersonal. I fell asleep during the service.

Centre Street has a bookstore and a coffee shop. It had theatre seating, big screens, and a big stage. The music and talent of the people playing in worship is one thing. But it seemed overdone.

My point is that it showed me that I don't like megachurches. With Osteen's church being one of the biggest churches in the world and obviously the biggest in the United States, it further cements my dislike.

I bet all the members of this church are just numbers to Osteen. You realistically can't know every single member of the this church.

You might be thinking 52,000 people as week? Yes; 52.000. The building that Lakewood Church is in was a sports and events venue. It used to be the home of the Houston Rockets and other sports teams. The last concert was ZZ Top in 2003 when everything moved to the Toyota Center which opened that year.

Osteen entered into a 30-year lease with the City of Houston. Seven-years later in 2010, Osteen bought the property for a mere $7.5 million. There have been varying reports around that time about how much it would cost and did cost to renovate the p[ace. I seen $29 million amd $75 million. The point is they church had the funds to renovate and purchase the building.

In this New York Post article, a quote from another publication quoted Osteen saying him and his wife don't take salaries. I find that hard to believe. He has published many books that has raked in millions most likely. He achieved his goal of his broadcasts being seen all over the world.

Even if they don't take salaries, they don't need to.  The Osteens are multi-millionaires with a $10.5 million mansion.  Joel himself is worth $100 million.  They have all sorts of money coming in.

There are 368 full and part-time staff. The money went to salaries, medical insurance, etc.   Burger chain Shake Shack is going to payback the loan they got. I have my doubts that Lakewood Church is going to do that.

I don't know if they did it for free, but Lakewood Church had an Easter service which had Mariah Carey perform and Tyler Perry speak. Kanye West pulled out because of COVID. If they can get big names in music and entertainment and they did pay them (hypothetically), they surely don't need this PPP loan.

I understand that donations maybe down and they want to sustain their staff, but one can presume they are still taking in enough to sustain themselves.  There are small businesses and small churches that need the money more than they do.

Need to Pay More Attention to What's Happening in Canada

There are many issues and problems in Canada that needs to be talked about and addressed.  There is one particular issue I noticed in myself.  Many are probably in the same boat.  It essentially is that we need to pay more attention to what's happening in Canada.  With what's happening in other parts of the world, more specifically the United States, dominating headlines, it's easy to focus on that.  The death of George Floyd is a prime example is dominating headlines (as it should) and we are focused on that.  But that doesn't mean we should focus solely on that.

I recognize that I know more about what's going on in the United States than Canada.  I need to change that.  Social media is a way to find out news and to see what's trending.  That's how I find out about stuff.  I don't always go out of my way to find out about what's going locally, provincially, and nationally.  It's one thing to say one should do more of that.  It's another to actually do it.

Am I out of touch?  Am I not informed.  Not necessarily.  It's easier to focus on things dominating the headlines.  Such things as COVID-19, George Floyd, and the rioting for instance.  That's what currently dominating headlines.  Lots of things are in the news, but they don't get even half as much attention as other stuff.  I get why.  But that doesn't mean we should just stick to what is dominating headlines.

You might think it's easy to say that.  I have already acknowledged that in a round about way. Again, that's why it's good to look at all news and not just what is in front of our faces.  Hopefully I'll try to make more of a conscious effort in this regard.  Saying and doing are two different things.  I don't keep ear close enough to the ground when it comes to Canadian news in terms of a wide range of news.  COVID-19 in Canada is one of the few things I hear about most times which proves my point.  We could use some positivity in this world right now.  I know it will be hard, but it's out there somewhere.


That's enough news for today.  I know I won't be able to avoid it, but it can burn one out.  Now to do something else.  Movie, video games, continue binging "Seinfeld?"  Not matter what, I need to take my mind off the dominating headlines for now.  Be well and stay safe.  See you on the flipside.

October 17, 2018 - Marijuana is Legal in Canada

I haven't blogged in eight months.  There have been many items I could have blogged about, but I didn't.  But marijuana becoming legal in Canada, that is a good topic.

With today (October 17, 2018) being the date, marijuana becomes legal, people who are recreational and medicianl users are rejoicing that it is becoming legal.  People who have used it for whatever reason, they have been waiting for it to become legal.  It's not like the United States that allow individual states to make the choice to make it legal or not.

The history of marijuana being illegal in Canada goes back to 1923 according to a CBC article.  Basically, it has been a 95 year wait for marijuana to become legal again.  Historians have tried to find any record of a debate, but they have found no such thing.  That seems odd.  You would think there would be records of it.  Apparently not.

When marijuana was added to the schedule of proscribed by Parliament,  Canada became one of the first countries to make it illegal.  The United States made it illegal 14 years later during the Great Depression.

In 1923, then Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King's Liberal government introduced an Act to Prohibit the Improper Use of Opium and other Drugs.  Henri Beland, who was the health minister at the time, said the bill was a consolidation of other legislation that had been passed over the previous few years, with some changes.Heroin, codeine and "cannabis indica (Indian hemp) or hasheesh" were also proscribed and added to the new bill.

Apparently the Hansard is the only recorded mention of the changes to schedule.  It happened on April 23rd when Beland told the House of Commons, "There is a new drug in the schedule."

 There were three new drugs added to the schedule.  According to historian Catherine Carstairs, Beland was probably referring to cannabis when he said there was this "new" drug because in the government's view, "the other two are extensions of other products that had already been added to the schedule."

Side note, Carstairs is the author of Jailed for Possession: Illegal Drug Use, Regulation and Power in Canada, 1920-1961 and chair of the University of Guelph's history department.

Fast forward to May 3rd.  It was the Senate's turn to review to review the legislation.  Raoul Dandurand, the Liberal government's leader in the Senate, told his colleagues, "There is only one addition to the schedule: Cannabis Indica (Indian Hemp) or hasheesh."The 1991 book Panic and Indifference: The Politics of Canada's Drug Laws is the most detailed account of the events of 1923.  It states that the health department’s narcotic division's files contain a draft of the bill that does not include cannabis. There are also several carbon copies, and to one of them was added, "Cannabis Indica (Indian Hemp) or hasheesh."

Nobody knows who ordered it added to the schedule.  Both the House and the Senate agreed to the additions without any discussion.You might find it odd that nobody challenged the addition to the schedule.  There was little know about this "drug" in Canada and apparently, very few people were smoking it.

No newspapers made reference to marijuana and the first seizure of it by the police didn't come until 1932, nearly ten years later.

In 1922, a book entitled he Black Candle, by Emily Murphy, is frequently given as the reason for then Prime Minister King's government to make marijuana illegal.  Apparently there is no evidence that this book or Murphy influenced the government's decision outside of coincidence.

Panic and Indifference: The Politics of Canada's Drug Laws states that unlike drugs added to the schedule and proscribed, marijuana was criminalized before it was defined as a "social problem."  "Why this was so remains a mystery."

This was all during an era of prohibition and King was an advocate against opium which goes back to 1908.  Also, Carstairs says that there's no record King was then keeping a close eye on the drug file and she has found no reference to marijuana in his diaries.

Trying to brief with the history of marijuana, you can see the full article in the link.  Fast forward to modern times, Canada failed with trying to decriminalize marijuana.  When Justin Trudeau was elected, he promised that marijuana would become legal.  With various dates being talked about including July 1, 2018; obviously marijuana becoming legal never happened on those dates.  There were still a number of steps to go through before ending the 95-year prohibition.  That's why July 1st never happened.

I don't know how things will work in other provinces, but the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority is accepting applications for Wholesale Cannabis Permits/Licensed Producer Registration. Although, Quebec has their own cannabis/marijuana laws. One thing you can't do is sell items with the marijuana leaf on it unless it is government approved.  If you don't see the irony of this, that's on you.

A lot of people are complaining that if retailers sell it, it will be low quality and cheap thus the black market will still thrive for now.  Seems like they are just assuming based on what they think they know.  There will be dispensaries and shops that will open.  But will the various provincial and territorial governments regulate them like government owned liquor stores?  Will they tax it like alcohol?  Earlier this year, Manitoba announced multiple taxes on legal marijuana.

I am not a recreational user of marijuana at all.  Although I tried it once at a Halloween party as I was drunk.  It's like drinking or smoking.  Just because alcohol and cigarettes are legal, it doesn't mean you have to do it.  You don't have to do it.

There are lots of positives to it being legal even if you don't smoke it.  Everything from social, economical, and law enforcement reasons with the exception of driving while under the influence.  With it being legal and taxed, it will bring in extra money for the government to help possibly reduce debt.  If you look at California, marijuana sales top $14 billion annually.  Just think what that can do for Canada.

I could talk about medical marijuana, but that's another post for another time.

If you are recreational user of marijuana, congrats.  Go enjoy marijuana freely as this was a long time coming.

Are People Buying Into the Fear Mongering?

The Paris attacks has dominated headlines, more so than the attacks on Beirut.  That doesn't mean that the motives behind them are different.  ISIS has taken credit for both attacks.  Now that this heightened alert is happening all over the world, not that it is a bad thing, we need to not let these events run our everyday lives.  That's what these militant groups want.  They are want us to be fearful of our everyday lives.  They want use to do our everyday tasks with a certain sense of fear and trepidation.

It is has gotten to the point, whether they believe it or not, that some people are saying that blocking refugees from entering any country could drive them closer to ISIS and other such militant groups.  I don't necessarily believe that.  We need to have some proof that this sort of thing happens.  But on a segment of episode of CBC Radio's "180," Syrian-American political researcher Nader Atassi has said specifically this.  That seems like another case of fear mongering.  Why would they want to join up with a militant group when they want to somewhere better and away from that?  Doesn't make much sense.

It has gotten so out of hand that, Saskatchewan premiere Brad Wall is calling on newly elected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to suspend fast tracking 25,000 Syrian refugees into Canada by the end of year.  This happening wasn't as big of an issue until the Beirut and Paris attacks happened.  Now people are full of fear and trepidation like something is going to happen.  I'm not saying the Wall is wrong, but he is not totally thinking rationally.  It's gotten to the point that a number of American Republican govenors are blocking Syrian refugees from resettling in their state even if it is only temporary.  One is presidential candidate.  Bobby Jindal can be seen as a hypocrite for not wanting refugees to resettle in Louisiana.  Jindal is of Indian descent as his parents imigrated from India.

It would be interesting to know if Wall and Jindal can prove if any of the refugees pose a real credible threat.  Yesterday on Facebook, the Ecomomist posted the following:

Source: The Economist

If you do the math, you will see that an average of roughly 53,500 refugees per year were resettled in North America. Yet when Prime Minister Trudeau wants to resettle a mere 25,000; we lose our minds. No I'm not saying that fast tracking is the answer. But if those 750,000 did nothing to cause use harm, than what are the odds that these 25,000 will? Sure if you break it down per month, it doesn't come up to that many per million. In the United States is came up to a smaller number per month. Even if you break it down for Canada, it still comes up to a small amount per month.

These mililtant groups want us to live in fear and trepidation. That's why blocking refugees from Syria has become hot topic. I give credit to those premiers (if there are any) and those govenors who will let refugees into their provinces and states. If we give in a close our borders out of fear, than our world will be completely governed by fear and we will be afraid to live our lives. I don't want to live my life in fear and trepidation. I don't think you want to either.

The Attack on Paris

The attack on Paris and other such attacks on places around the world are becoming increasingly common.  I don't know what the motive is behind this.  But what I do know is that France has a high Muslim population.  That is not to say that all the Muslins in France wanted to do the attacks.  It is the radical/extremist Muslims of the world that want to do this.  It is unfortunate that Paris was the target for these attacks.

No matter where you went whether it be out for evening to have a good time, to friends place, to work, stay at home, or online; the tragic events that occured were being talked about.  They are still being talked about.  Rightfully it should be talked about.  It is being talked about to not make people fearful.  Sure there are people who fear it could happen in their own backyards.  Sure that is a scary notion, but we need not let those people who do such things be fear mongers and scare innocent civilians into not wanting to live out their normal day-to-day lives.

When United States President Barack Obama addressed the media one thing he said stood out.  He said:

"This is not an attack on Paris.  This is not an attack France.  This is an attack on humanity."

He was right when he said that.  Stuff like this is happening all over the world all the time.  It is happening in places you wouldn't expect.  Domestic terrorism is an all too real thing.  You don't want to have to admit it to yourself, but it is happening.  People gunning down people in schools can be seen as a form of domestic terrorism.  It is scary.  The people of Paris if not all of France fear for their future.  I get that, but if they find a way to be strong in the face of this, they could be probably find some semblance of normalcy in there lives.  Sure it might take awhile, but I believe it will happen.

Talking to a friend of mine tonight about these attacks and we talked about how not every Muslim is radical or an extremist.  I've worked with Muslims and they wouldn't hurt anybody.  They wouldn't attempt to harm anybody.  They are nice people.  But it's the extremists the give them a bad name.  He also said that he gets messages from people on Facebook from places like India and whatnot because of his YouTube videos and he said they are geniunely nice people.  So don't be like professional wrestling personality Tammy Lynn Sytch formerly known as Sunny in the WWF who said:

"What I think the world needs is another holocaust, but this time for the Islams of the world... The ones who really should be extinguished.  HAIL TRUMP!"

 This was said on her Facebook page.  What a sick thing to want.  You can't blame all Muslims based on the actions of small percentage of people who profess to practice this religion.  Why do people have to be so fucked in the head?

I'll leave you with a status I posted on Facebook (both personal and fanpage), Twitter, Tumblr, and Google Plus.

"The Paris attacks shows how scary this world is. If a developed country such as France is not immune from such attacks, just think it can happen here. Just don't let that stop you from living your life. As scary as it is, life does ultimately go on."

Don't become so fearful that you can't live your life.  You need to keep on keeping on even if it is tough.

Here are some hashtags you can use #PrayforParis #PeaceforParis #JeSuisParis

Peace be with France during this time.