Terry Chenier

I have a theory, I call, The Missing Link Theory.

I hate shopping! That's right-shopping!

This is one thing I do not excel at;

however, buying, I am good at!

I go in, grab, pay and leave!

As fast as possible!

Women, on the other hand are good at it.

I believe they have an extra strand

of DNA that compels it!

Last year, we went with another couple to Las Vegas.

On the last day, my wife asked me if

I wanted to go shopping with them.

She quickly pointed out that "Walter"

was going and it would be a foursome.

I would have preferred to stay behind and

play "Texas Hold 'Em", but, because

"Wally" had agreed to go, I

reluctantly went along.

I'll try and paint a vista of this mall. I can't remember what it's called,

but it's huge. Every major brand out there in America had its own "big box" store on

this site! It's was acres and acres of stores. Of course the women were practically

foaming at the mouth by now and running from store to store!

It was almost a form of hysteria! It was scary to watch.

At one point I asked "Wally" why he had agreed to this.

He said, "The girls told me that YOU had already agreed!"

WE HAD BEEN CONNED!

The year was 1953 and the cold war was heating up.

To answer the threat of Soviet long-range bombers,

the Canadian Air Force needed a new plane.

What was existing, world-wide, by

any manufacturer, did not meet

the requirements dictated by

the Canadian air force.........

So, they built it!

What they ended up with was the fastest,

highest flying interceptor on the planet.

THE AVRO ARROW

No one really knows why the program

was cancelled. Certainly politics had

a lot to do with it..................... ............but, cancelled it was and

the 5 prototypes were dismantled

for scrap!

Following the start of its test flight program in 1958,

the Arrow along with its accompanying Iroquois

jet engine program, were abruptly cancelled

in 1959, sparking a long and bitter debate.

The Arrow is still the subject of controversy

50 years later!

Most of the design team ended up at NASA,

a huge brain drain for Canada.

No one seems to know why, (I researched it to death and I can't find an answer),

but Finance Ministers in Canada, when bringing down a new

budget, buy new shoes. It happens at

all levels of government.

It's a tradition lost in the obscurity of time.

This is the Federal guy buying his new shoes!

The other day in British Columbia, The Provincial finance minister,

wasn't having any of that tradition!

No Gucci's for this guy!

Oh no! He was bucking the trend!

He didn't buy new shoes.....

Instead, he dug into his pocket

and wrote a personal cheque

for $4,000 to buy......

new running shoes for needy kids.

This is the Provincial guy.

Tell you what....this guy's got my vote!

And you know, being the cynic I am, I researched him.....

turns out, he's just a decent guy!

HELLO! Is anybody paying attention in Ottawa?

Lately in the news, there's been a lot

of coverage about two incidents

involving commercial flights.

One, unfortunately did not

turn out well and the

other is hailed as a

miracle landing

on the Hudson river.

A couple of other incidents come to mind.

I would have thought that when a jetliner lost power

it would drop like a stone. Apparently not true!

Case #1 became known as the "Gimli Glider".

A Boeing 767 on route from Montreal to Edmonton, completely ran out of fuel.

In 1983, when the incident happened, Canada was still in the process

of converting from imperial to metric, and somebody

miscalculated, and somewhere over Manitoba

they completely ran out fuel.

The pilot somehow managed to "dead-stick" this

plane to a safe landing by gliding the plane

to a deserted air strip. No lives lost!

The irony: The crew who were sent to recover

the plane ran out gas on route.

They had to be picked up!

The other incident was Air Transit Flt 236 flying

from Toronto to Lisbon. It too ran out of fuel, w-a-y over the Atlantic.

Somehow this pilot managed to glide this plane and land

safely in the Azores. Although he came in very fast

and blew most of the tires when he power-braked,

there was no loss of life.

Both pilots were awarded medals for their skill.

A comment on the justice system......

I don't know where you live,

but where I am, a LOT of people

are fed up with our system of justice.

These days it seems, criminals

can pretty much operate with impunity.

Petty crime, break-ins and all manner of other

misdemeanors are on the rise. Some recidivists,

with several hundred convictions, continue to roam about

freely.

Law enforcement seems powerless!

For the average citizen, this "revolving door" style

of justice is frustrating, to say the least.

Not far from where I live, there are two brothers, well known to police,

that are so bad, the municipality has actually

installed video cameras on their street

to monitor their activities. And, there still out there!

I don't make this up.

Not a week goes by that these two sweethearts aren't

in the papers for weapons offences or drug deals.

They are continually in

court and their lawyers argue their clients "rights" and

usually get them off on a technical point of law.

So once again, the cuffs come off....

........and so, it's back to business as usual.

Where, may I ask, are my rights?