While the City of Toronto Burns a Despondent By-Law Boy Seeks Comfort From a Familiar Friend, the Bottle

High Pants Leaves the Company After a Fashionable Tenure

Haper Insults Obama

I wonder why Harper's trained seals think its a good idea to insult president Obama over the Keystone pipeline? Harper will do anything to promote the oil industry, but insulting the most powerful man on earth can't be helpful. Why not work on controlling emissions instead of taking potshots at Obama? The oilsands are dirty oil and Harper wont bring in tough regulations.

The latest revelations about Premier McGuinty's staff bullying the Speaker to shutdown enquiries into the Gas Plant fiasco should be enough evidence to bring criminal charges against the ex-premier. I recommend 2-years less a day in a provincial facility should be enough. Premier Wynne has no mandate to rule. A full election should be called. The NDP has no right to criticise this government as long as they prop up Wynne.

I'm watching the protesters walking down Dundas St. protesting the shooting of an18-year-old on the streetcar this past weekend. The protesters abuse of the police officers on bikes is way over the top. I have no idea if the shooting was justified, but the actions of the protesters is disgusting behaviour. Let's wait until we get an independent review before we pass judgement. Afterwards protests should be peaceful and respectful.

I'm done with the British Monarchy. I demand the Queen of England's resignation on my desk by dusk on Friday. When the sun sets on Friday we will be free of English tyranny. An apology would not be out of order.

If you live north of Newmarket, Ontario how do you vote for Peter van Loan with a straight face? What a despicable human being and a disgrace to parliament that man is.

I read in the Globe this morning that America's greatest investor, Warren Buffett, is investing in the market and promoting long term investments. I have been preaching this mantra for years. Don't sweat the short term fluctuations. Don't panic, buy well run blue chip stocks that pay dividends. Buffett is also a fan of index funds, which is my primary investment. I just wish that Harper and Flaherty were not such poor stewards of the Canadian economy.

10,000 Visits

I broke the 10,000 visitor mark on my blog in just over one-year. I have had visitors from around the world. About 2/3 are from Canada and the remainder spread to dozens of countries. Not everyone is a fan, a co-worker's 10-year-old daughter thought that the cartoons were drawn by a 5-year-old. It is not easy to draw with a mouse.

I have strived for justice in the Brian Mulroney brown envelope affair. I have proven to be a sound judge of character predicting that Mike Duffy would fall flat on his face. I have sought jail time for former premier Dalton McGuinty over the handling of the gas plant scandal. My favourite targets are irresponsible dog owners, urban cyclists, the foreign royal family, Harper's undistinguished cabinet, politicians that promote self-interests over the public good. I have taken aim at the elitist, uncaring dermatologists at Toronto Western Hospital and people who seek to poison morale in the workplace.

Largely misunderstood cartoon anti-hero By-Law Boy ripped the B from his costume when he found out that good behaviour is not rewarded in kind. By-Law Boy is beginning his descent into the dark side. I think a more sinister hero will emerge. We could see the return of the popular 4-heads artistic period and under water stick men. The angled art inspired by Nigerian prints may see a return. They may have the most artistic merit. I also see a return to Dilbertest cubicle cartoons. That's controversial!

By-Law Boy Accepts Royal Baby's Resignation on Behalf of a Grateful Nation

Royal Baby I Demand Your Resignation

You are one day old but I will not wait any longer. I demand that you give up your right to be the future Head of State of Canada. We are not mature or confident enough as a nation to have a true Canadian as our Head of State so I'm asking you to give up your right to be king of this country in which you have no connection.

You will spend decades travelling the world promoting British trade against its competitors like Canada. You will cheer against Canadian athletes and national teams supporting British nationals.

Royal baby I want your resignation on my desk within 72-hours. If you fail to meet this deadline I will consider you to to be late and you will have disappointed me. I will be the first person that has been let down by the royal baby.

Royal Pain in the Ass

I can't watch the news for a week until this royal baby nonsense stops. By accident of birth this future anti-Catholic, privileged rich child will have everything handed to him on a silver platter. Waited on by servants for the remainder of his life on earth. He will be the king of countries in which he has no connection. Countries that he will cheer against in Olympic games and sports matches.

Someday we may go to war against his country and he will be the Head of State of our nation. How insane is that? What will Canada do then? These royals join the military. What happens if our future king is shooting at Canadians? The US and Britain have fought each other many times. A country may be friend or foe at any given time.

We should be more concerned with a baby born in a Third World country struggling to eat a proper meal than some pampered kid that is already the subject of a cult of celebrity.

I have no loyalty to this kid, his father, grandfather or great grandmother. If we go to war with the UK I know which side I will be on, but I'm not sure about your loyalty to my country.  

Irish Brawler on Lake Ontario

We had 10-people on the Brawler this past weekend. That is the new record. My docking skills have improved and I had a near flawless landing. On Friday I was going to take the Blaney Boys out but a severe weather system brought lightening and high winds. We stayed in port. It was great to get Dave Singh out on the Brawler for the first of I hope many trips. We did miss M who called in sick on Colombia Independence Day and left her sister to sing a solo rendition of the national anthem.

I'm even getting a bit braver with the anchoring. I'm manoeuvring the boat between other anchored vessels.

I'm looking to add an extension to the swim platform. This will make it easier for people to enter and leave as well add usable space and enjoyment. The extension will have to wait for the end of the season as the boat will have to be out of the water.  

Colombia Independence Day on the Brawler

Office Recluse

When I started in the business 25-years ago I was the water cooler guy, talking about sports, badmouthing management, giving people grief about their bad haircuts. I would hold court and visit people at their cubicles to pass on joy and good natured quips. Fast forward 25-years and I'm the office recluse, hived away in my cube avoiding eye contact in the hallway. Hoping people will leave me alone.

Yesterday was office bliss, all of my co-workers were out of the office. It was like the public library, complete silence. I was typing away at my computer without interruption. By mid-afternoon there was high volume babble emanating from The Doors, but I tried to tune that out.

I don't understand why The Doors don't use the door when they have conference calls? Pet peeve #347.

The longer I'm with the company the less people I know. I'm down to about a dozen people. My goal is retire and have people say "who was that guy?". I have not had a meal in the company cafeteria in at least 4-years. I did walk in their for a coffee a couple of years ago. Someone left a yellow sticky with a note "thanks for stealing my milk" I added a note "can you bring 2% next time?". I laughed and laughed at my joke.

One of the older guys in the office looks like Captain Kangaroo. He is a nice enough guy so I don't give him any grief. There are a couple of older guys on contract. I'm pretty sure I will end up like them. At least they have pensions. Public sector types have no clue that private sector workers have no pensions these days. We do get contributions towards self directed pensions, but they are minuscule compared to gold plated public sector pensions. I squirrel away money for retirement but I think a lot people are going to be in for a shock when they retire.

I'm sticking my head out of my cube like a groundhog, making sure the coast is clear when I dash for the copier room. I'm like a doomsday hoarder, adding to my stash of yellow stickies and pens. The precious post-it stickie file tab things being the most prised procession. Some of my co-workers may find their stash a little lighter today when they return to their hovels.  

Chris Alexander Rewarded with Harper Cabinet Post

I wonder if Chris Alexander knew that the only way to get into Harper's cabinet was to sell his soul? I don't recall a MP that had so much potential and credibility who sold out so quickly. He became a partisan talking point guest on the political shows. He never strayed from the party script. Took PMO insults and spewed Harper hate on the opposition.

Alexander left his integrity and honour at the door when he became a politician. This is the Chris Alexander people will remember.

It's Controversial2!!!

For some unknown reason the 3-urinals in my office bathroom fail to flush. They fill to near capacity but never overflow. My issue is the back splash. It has gotten to the point that I'm stressing about peeing in the office. I don't know who to complain to? What's worse is that this situation has been going on unchecked for weeks.

As a boat Captain I'm now confident enough that I no longer stress about docking the boat when I return to the marina. I still often struggle with getting the perfect landing, but I'm close enough that there is no property damage or bodily injury. If I get in trouble I can back the boat out and try again.

One worry I had about the boat is that I would have a hard time attracting people on weekends. It has turned out that this is not a problem. People really enjoy heading out on the boat to Lake Ontario, an amazing body of water within minutes of downtown. People are swimming in the 21C water.

I read that the city of Toronto has 5-unfunded transit projects that are priorities over a Scarborough subway. But none of them have the vote buying potential of an unfunded Scarbro subway. A truly tragic, sick political fiasco. Ontario deserves  better than Mayor Ford, Premier Wynne and Minister Murray. We deserve people with honour and integrity, not political opportunists.

I'm not sure what motivated former Winnipeg Mayor Glen Murray to move to Ontario, but it is a tragic, decades long hole we will have to climb out of to put transit back on track. When politics trumps planning, we are all the losers.

I always find it amusing that right-wingers believe that Conservative governments are great stewards of then economy. Harper has run up the largest deficits in Canadian history. The previous record held by Conservative Brian Mulroney. Chretien ran massive surpluses as PM, much like Democrat President Bill Clinton.

It should not be a surprise that the new Harper cabinet is the largest since the tax and spend Mulroney era. By the way, increasing EI and CPP payments every year is a tax increase. It should not surprise cons that the civil service is at its highest levels since the Mulroney era.

Storm of the Century

I survived the Rain Storm of 2013 in Toronto by ducking into a bar for a beer.
I ran into Gloria in the reception area of our office tower after work, caught contemplating my next move. I was paralysed with indecision. Gloria lives near me so we decided to take the underground walkway to John Street, about 1/3 of way home. Torrential rain showers were still coming down as we surfaced. We tried grabbing a cab but none were available. It was like looking for a a cab at 1AM on NewYears.

We then waited for a slow moving streetcar. We waited 20 minutes, none in sight. We ducked into the local pub to wait it out. We managed to get one beer before the power went out. By then the rain subsided. We walked home the rest of the way.

By the time I got home the power was still out. I could not open the electronic entrance to my building. Two minutes later the power came back on. I BBQ a hamburger on the balcony and was safely tucked away at home.

There are advantages living downtown. Like the great black-out of 10-years ago. I watched it unfold drinking beer from my balcony.

I felt sorry for the people stranded and trying to get home.

Proof of Mariana's Double-Down Caught on Camera

Panorama Photos Lake Ontario

I have no Proof But Mariana Consumed a Double-Down at KFC and Liked It

Trinity Bellwoods Park

I live near the western edge of downtown Toronto. Our local park is Stanley Park, basically a dog toilet. Hijacked by off leash dog activists. The much larger Trinity Bellwoods Park is only two blocks away. I did a feature on Trinity Bellwoods a while back which included photos. It is a huge urban park that is well used by the community.

Like all public property in downtown Toronto activists and artists feel it is their exclusive jurisdiction. Their puritanical rules prevail. They make the rules and the rest of us can go to hell.

The latest alcohol crackdown at Trinity Bellwoods is an example. Matt Gurney of the National Post has written a great piece on the issue in today's paper. The artist-activist crowd wants a crackdown on open bottles of beer and wine in Their park. The police have written over 200 tickets in the last two weeks. Typical overreaction by the moral minority.

This is precisely why I bought a boat. It was because I wanted a place where my friends and I could crack open a beer in the great outdoors within the shadow of the CN Tower. Anti-fun local councillors like Michael "apple falls close to the tree" Layton and Adam "No Fun" Vaughan have no jurisdiction on my boat. Artists and extreme leftists can wag a finger in my direction but I can display my middle finger back at them.

I pay for public spaces with my taxes but long ago lost the right to enjoy them. They are the exclusive realm of the artistic crowd who insist on scrubbing any signs of laughter and joy from the downtown core.

Random Thoughts

I started to read a book.... got bored..........I'll try again next year.

If you believe that Tory house rag Toronto Sun has an ounce of credibility as a newspaper read the "editorial' tribute to Marjory LeBreton. The flowery article about her integrity is untimely, inaccurate and whitewashes her leadership during the Senates most public scandals. She presided over the Senate when the Canadian public respect for the institution is at its lowest point ever.

I will say this about Marjory LeBreton, she set the bar lowest for ass kissing Conservative Prime Ministers. Her devotion to Brian Mulroney was so intense that you had turn away to avoid gagging. It took her some time to get over the demise of the Progressive Conservative party but she soon became Harper's Chief bag carrier. A Senator for decades, never accountable to the Canadian public, not there to represent the people of Ontario as was her constitutional mandate but an over the top partisan follower of the Dear Leader of the day.

I was the first to publicly call him out but the more your read about Senator Mike Duffy the more you wonder if prison food is in his future. His plea to the judge to avoid incarceration would be epic and required textbook reading at law schools.

That Mike Duffy thought an unelected Senator could pass over elected MP's for a cabinet post, what was he thinking? An incredulous Senator, Cabinet Minister Marjory LeBreton mused.

Bob Rae has been retained by aboriginal groups to represent them in negotiations against the Government of Ontario over mining royalties in Northern Ontario's "ring of fire". Just when you thought that decades of Rae screwing Ontario taxpayers ended with his resignation from the House of Commons. It is the gift that just keeps on giving.

Why does the myth that Conservative governments are great stewards of the economy persist against all the evidence to the contrary?  Canada never had greater prosperity than under Chretien and Paul Martin. Harper and Flaherty have been failures on the economy. Look at the growth in the US and compare it to Canada. Our economy is in neutral while US recovery is in full bloom. Go back and check the Mulroney years of deficits. Not even Marjory LeBreton can polish that turd.

Great Canada Weekend Cruises

I finally had the H-Girls on the Irish Brawler this past weekend. Not surprisingly they drew a crowd. We had a record 9 people onboard. I thought that might be a little tight, but it was a great group and a perfect mix. It was a great trip. I also had a more laid back group out on Monday with Gloria and the authentic Irish boys, not F-Irish as they are fond of calling guys like Jimmy and I. That is Fake Irish.

I have no doubt that when the H-Girls agree to another trip I will have to use a boat hook to keep the boys away from the Brawler. The only downside was Bereza's insistence on filling every available moment with either actions, or incessant chatter. You can't rest with Bereza around. Constant questions, barking orders, changing the radio station, it is exhausting.

H Sisters Finally Take a Cruise on the Brawler

Gloria, Aardvark & Irish Boys 

Jimmy & Missy