Be Strong and of a Good Courage

Vancouver North Shore Mountains
[Photo By: KPA]

Joshua 1: 1-9

1 Now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord it came to pass, that the Lord spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying,

2 Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.

3 Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.

4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.

5 There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

6 Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.

7 Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper withersoever thou goest.

8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

9 Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

Ha!

Ha!

Ha! again!

Happy Fourth!

Cloisters: Dove
[Photo By: KPA]

Happy Fourth of July.

In this day and age when symbols are hard to find that authenticate common values, we should cling to them however flawed they may be .

I believe the Fourth of July is one of them.

Canada 150 Special Edition: Thank You Canadian Forces

Over Kempenfelt Bay

Thank You Canadian Forces, for skill, strength and beauty.

Canada 150 Special Edition: Thank You Governor General David Johnston

Prince Charles receives the Extraordinary Companion to the Order of Canada medal
from Governor General David Johnston at Rideau Hall in Ottawa
July 1, 2017

As a member of the Royal Family, Prince Charles has been made an extraordinary companion of the Order of Canada, the highest level of the order, for his global philanthropic work and support for Canada's Armed Forces members. [Source]

And

Companions of the Order of Canada, the highest level of the Order of Canada, have demonstrated the highest degree of merit to Canada and humanity, on the national or international scene. [Source]

And finally about the order:

Established in 1967 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the Order of Canada is the cornerstone of the Canadian Honours System, and recognizes outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation. The Order recognizes people in all sectors of Canadian society. Their contributions are varied, yet they have all enriched the lives of others and made a difference to this country. Since its creation, more than 6 000 people from all sectors of society have been invested into the Order.

Desiderantes meliorem patriam: They desire a better country

The Order of Canada, the highest level of distinction in the Canadian honours system,
was established on July 1, 1967, the 100th anniversary of Confederation. [Source]

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you Governor General David Johnston, for fawning over the adulterer Prince-in-Waiting Charles. And for continuing the archaic relationship we have with Britain. When will Canada finally grow up and separate from its sovereign Queen Elizabeth?

About the role of the Governor General:

The Queen or sovereign is the head of state in Canada. The Governor General of Canada represents the sovereign, and most of the powers and authority of the sovereign have been delegated to the Governor General. The role of the Canadian Governor General is mostly symbolic and ceremonial.

And

The governor general acts within the principles of parliamentary democracy and responsible government as a guarantor of continuous and stable governance and as a nonpartisan safeguard against the abuse of power. For the most part, however, the powers of the Crown are exercised on a day-to-day basis by elected and appointed individuals, leaving the governor general to perform the various ceremonial duties the sovereign otherwise carries out when in the country; at such a moment, the governor general removes him or herself from public, though the presence of the monarch does not affect the governor general's ability to perform governmental roles.

But aside from all these roles and responsibilities, the Governor General's role "is mostly symbolic and ceremonial." So why don't we do something symbolic and remove this symbolic relationship!

Canada 150 Special Edition: Thank You Prime Minister Trudeau

"Diversity has always been at the very core of Canada...Ours is a land of original peoples and of new comers."

Thank you, Prime Minister Trudeau.

For the teepee presence and the diversity slogan:

"I'd like to acknowledge that we are on ancestral lands of the Algonquin people," starts off the Prime Minister at his speech on Parliament Hill this Canada Day.

"Today isn't really our 150th birthday. We're much older than that. Canada, and the idea of Canada, goes much further back than just 150 years. For thousands of years, in this place, people have met, traded, built, loved, lost, fought and grieved.

Canada is a country made strong not in spite of our differences, but because of them. We don't aspire to be a melting pot. Indeed we know true strength and resilience flows through Canadian diversity. Ours is a land of original peoples and of new comers. And our greatest pride is that you can come here from anywhere in the world, build a good life, and be part of our community. We don't care where you're from, what religion you practice, or whom you love, you are ALL WELCOME IN CANADA!!"

Here Trudeau resumes his speech in French (he had been making this dual-language speech as is officially required), and the irritating translator talks over his voice.

He talks about how this multicultural spirit came from the inclusion of the French language and French-Quebec culture into Canadian society, and how bilingualism has became a...

"...central and defining part of our identity and an official policy. Right across this country, Trudeau says, "we speak French and English, as well as hundreds of other languages."

Back in English:

And so, diversity has always been at the very core of Canada over the centuries. It's the foundation upon which our country was built. We may be of every color and creed, from every corner of the world. We may live in British Columbia, Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nunavut, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia or Newfoundland and Labrador, we embrace that diversity while knowing in our hearts that we are all Canadian.

Etc.

But at this point while listing all the provinces and territories, Trudeau forgot Alberta. It was quite funny really (and I didn't notice, as probably didn't thousands of others - except of course for Albertans), a gaffe anyone could make while not reading off a list during an impassioned speech. The news media narrowed in on that gaffe.

But not on Trudeau's aggressive promotion of now cliched and failed multicultural experiment that keeps on unraveling as the "...central and defining part of our identity."

If even the French and English in Canada couldn't get along, how can he expect people who speak "hundreds of other languages" to do so?

And why in a country so "proud" to be bilingual do we need translators at every official speech?

Thank you Mr. Prime Minister Trudeau, for clouding the realty and playing with our emotions. Your words will be on the record in Canada's history books (should there be such a country).

Full speech here.

Canada 150 Special Edition: Thank You Sandra Oh

Sandra Oh
From the poster for the film Catfight (2016)


Thank you Sandra Oh for your multicultural/artist's presence at the Parliament Hill Canada 150 Celebration. But you don't even live in Canada so I don't know how you got onto that stage.

Thank you Sandra, for giving us such wonderful films, the only one which anyone might remembers being Under the Tuscan Sun where she played a lesbian (thank you for giving Canadians the chance to say: "Oh yes she's Canadian!"). This was surely a career move since her Grey's Anatomy role was leaving her stuck on television as someone who acts in a night-time soap opera.

And her entrance into the film world was in an "Indie" playing the daughter of Chinese immigrants whom she leaves for a white boyfriend (no matter that Oh herself is Korean but the Chinese screen writer couldn't find a suitable Chinese-Canadian actress to play her autobiographical character, I guess).

Oh's back again with another film. This time a "fight club" for housewives, and with at Turkish American as director (although he was born in Taylorsville, North Carolina).

Says Onur Tukel about his flm Catfight - starring Oh:

I wrote [a script ] in 2013 called Catfight. It was about women in their twenties fighting over a guy.

[...]

When I reread my original script, I hated it. I didn’t want to make a movie about young women fighting over a guy. The culture has shifted. I wanted to make something more relevant. I rewrote the script with more experienced actresses in mind, fighting over something radically different than a guy.[Source]

And more:

...a rivalry is revived, old wounds are torn open, and a Manhattan stairwell becomes home to a woman-on-woman brawl the likes of which are seldom seen outside of martial-arts epics. And now the gloves are off. Over the course of five years and three bloody, bone-crushing rounds, Catfight's formidable adversaries will lose everything they cherish, and rail furiously as their fortunes are subject to wild reversals.

"The culture has shifted." Says Tukel. "I wanted to make something more relevant."

Yes. Women bashing each other up in a movie which even men would walk out on.

Canada 150 Special Edition: Thank You Indigenous Peoples™

Thank you Indigenous Peoples™, for letting us use your territory to celebrate our 150th anniversary.