Canada: Too dangerous to visit

It wasn't much of a hockey game, but wow ... the post game presentation proved those Canadians really know how to put on a show. As I have mentioned before, on our satellite here in Mexico, we get TV from both the US and Canada. After the seventh and deciding game of the Stanley Cup where Boston handed Vancouver a humiliating defeat, my brother called from the US. to say rioting had broken out. I turned on Channel 9 CTV Vancouver. And sure enough, there it was, a riot pretty much like what we have seen in many other places in the world when out-of-control-fans get ... well, they get out of control.

The store fronts were being demolished, cars overturned and set ablaze, large fires burning without any effort by the fire department to extinguish them, bottles thrown, looting, many injuries, downtown Vancouver under siege. I've been in the middle of riots like this before (covering them for TV news, not participating), and this one was pretty much your standard riot.

This morning, watching the AM Shows from Canada and reading papers like the Vancouver Sun online, the typical Monday morning quarterbacking is taking place. Why weren't the police better prepared, particularly since the last time Vancouver was in the Stanley Cup, the same type of thing happened? Why didn't peace loving residents of Vancouver step in to stop it (yeah, right)? What will this do to the image of Vancouver (and Canada)? As one commentator said, while physical damage will exceed one million dollars, the public relations impact will cost billions. The riot was broadcast live worldwide on CNN. Perhaps he is right.

This summer, we had planned on visiting Vancouver and Whistler for two and a half weeks, then driving to Canadian national parks, and onto Edmonton to visit friends. We visited Canada last year, and really enjoyed it. But now, I am afraid we may have to cancel our trip.

Obviously, Canada has become a very dangerous place. Apparently, it is particularly bad in border towns like Vancouver where no one is safe. But as you know, what happens in border towns is indicative of what happens everywhere in that country. So, if you visit Vancouver (and thus, apparently Canada), you likely will be attacked with rocks and bottles, large throngs of zombies will converge on your car, overturn it, and set fire to it. Police will stand by and merely watch as screaming visitors caught in the crossfire run for mere survival. A once beautiful and inviting country has now become a dangerous hell hole where, if you visit, you take your life in your hands. Why would anyone visit a place like that?

I'm sure many of you, after reading this, will agree. You can't go to Canada and be safe anymore. Now, the problem is, you have a vacation planned, and have to cancel because Canada has been taken over by roving gangs. Where do you go?

For us, perhaps we'll just stay where we are. We have never seen anything like what happened in Canada occur in our town where we live. There have been no riots, looting, no bottles thrown, no buildings burned, no cars overturned. We feel very safe in our little Mexican beach town.

OK, that's it, we are not venturing into a country as scary as Canada. Too bad, though. That Canada sure is a beautiful place, and the people we know there are all so nice. I hope they do something about getting their problems under control. Yeah, it may just be happening at one or two places there (those damn border towns), but I am just not comfortable going anywhere in that country because of the violence. I do wish I could go to California for vacation, but I had to cancel my trip there as well. I read this morning that a bicyclist in Stockton was shot and killed yesterday. Again, the whole state apparently is too unsafe to visit.

(all photos courtesy of CTV BC)

Weiner's rise and fall

Politics has almost always been a breeding ground for the bizarre, unusual, unbelievable. Ask yourself, how many times have you heard something an elected official say and questioned where this moron came from, let alone how he or she was elected. That being said, the absurdity surrounding their often off-center thoughts and beliefs is dwarfed by the mischievous sexual energy that apparently is a prerequisite to run for office in so many races these days.

From Bill Clinton, his cigar, and the infamous blue dress to, most recently, Anthony Weiner’s titillating tweets, America seems obsessed with lurid sexual activities in which our chosen leaders chose to participate. It would be easy to write a litany of off-colored, perhaps even humorous remarks or clichés about what is transpiring. After all, just search the Internet and there are many stories about “Weiner’s weiner” and “The battle of Weiner’s bulge.” I will refrain. But I do wonder why all of a sudden is it happening now? My thoughts are, it isn’t, at least not all of a sudden. It's been going on since Paul Revere warned the British that they weren't going to be taking away our arms by ringing those bells and, um, making sure as he's riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that, uh, we were going to be secure and we were going to be free.

I believe there are three basic reasons that the sex-capades of politicians seem to dominate the news these days. First, with the Internet, online match-making, Facebook, Twitter, etc, it is easier than ever to be drawn into the “dark” side of sexual exploration, conquest, or apparently game playing. A lot of people do it, including politicians. Second, 24 hour news channels and racy websites thrive on (and make a lot of money from) exposing the latest misfortune of whatever poor sap gets sucked into their abyss of exploitation. And third, Americans, yes people like you and me eat it up and demand more raunchy details. The more lurid, the better. We have become a society of gawkers, everyone slowing down (and stopping) to see the gruesome car wreck. Or, as in the most recent cases, slowing down to see who takes their pants down.

Were Anthony Weiner’s missteps wrong? On one level, yes. He got caught and then he lied about it. Big mistake. Own up to the cauldron you create. And never lie to the media. It ALWAYS comes back to bite you in the butt. But was the whole thing with him texting sexy woman also off limits? A lot of people probably say yes. But then, as I found when I was a reporter, the loudest of the critics are usually those with the most skeletons in their closets. You know them, the holier than thou group who often times end up being the sleazier than thou group.

From what I have read, Weiner seems to be a good representative, and again, in this 24 hour news cycle, he will be forgotten in a few days. Assuming he doesn’t resign, and I don’t think he should, we’ll see if the voters have a longer recollection.