After watching the State of the Union address Monday night, I was interested to read this article recounting the success of President Bush's unprecedented AIDS package to sub-Saharan Africa. I was pleased to hear Bush call for a massive and, once again, world leading expansion of a good program. If we were to listen to Bono and his cheerleaders, you would think nobody was doing anything for AIDS in Africa.
Funny Story, U2 was performing in Scotland and Bono was doing his thing about AIDS clapping his hands and saying, "Every time I clap my hand a child dies in Africa." Some bloke from the crowd yelled, "So stop clapping your hands you evil bastard."
I digress. The reason I like this program, as a conservative, is because the bloated bureaucracies of the UN and NGOs are circumvented in favor of local organizations. The key to conservatism is divesting power to the local people because they know better than the central authority how to manage local affairs (most of the time). Many of these organizations are faith based groups who already have relationships developed within the community. I think this adds to the success rate by spending the money on the people who need it instead of corrupt organizations. However, as with all social justice initiatives from the right, it has been ignored.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Friday, January 25, 2008
Talking Frogs
He bent over, picked up the frog and put it in his pocket.
The frog spoke up again and said, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a beautiful princess, I will stay with you for one week."
The engineer took the frog out of his pocket, smiled at it and returned it to the pocket.
The frog then cried out, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a princess, I'll stay with you and do ANYTHING you want."
Again the engineer took the frog out, smiled at it and put it back into his pocket.
Finally, the frog asked, "What is the matter? I've told you I'm a beautiful princess, that I'll stay with you for a week and do anything you want. Why won't you kiss me?"
The engineer said, "Look I'm an engineer. I don't have time for a girlfriend, but a talking frog, now that's cool."
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
We have a date!
There are many "key" dates in the Davis household.
There's the day that Mac first asked for my number.... i think it was sometime the very very end of august 2006 (maybe in the first couple days of september), which was followed a week later by our first date.
There's the date that we made our relationship "official" which was Sept. 30 2006.
There's the day Mac told me he loved me (which i think was Dec 17 2006)
The day Mac finally proposed ... March 3 2007
Our Wedding date... August 4 2007
And now we have a new date (though i'm not sure its one we'll remember in posterity)... Friday, February 1! That is the date our of our first interview at the US Consulate office in Toronto for my visa. So to those of you who are praying folks, we ask for your prayers for that day. Our hope and prayer is that the interview will go smoothly and that hopefully they will decide that we are such a fine and upstanding young couple that we don't need to go through the secondary interview (we've heard that sometimes they don't make you go through the 2nd interview). The main reason we hope for no second interview is because that will make this Visa process faster. But really, as an excuse to go to Montreal and visit the Shihs and the Armstrongs... a second interview is fine. So really we're ok either way, as long as they say yes, Mrs. Davis you are welcome to enter the United States and live and work there legally!!
There's the day that Mac first asked for my number.... i think it was sometime the very very end of august 2006 (maybe in the first couple days of september), which was followed a week later by our first date.
There's the date that we made our relationship "official" which was Sept. 30 2006.
There's the day Mac told me he loved me (which i think was Dec 17 2006)
The day Mac finally proposed ... March 3 2007
Our Wedding date... August 4 2007
And now we have a new date (though i'm not sure its one we'll remember in posterity)... Friday, February 1! That is the date our of our first interview at the US Consulate office in Toronto for my visa. So to those of you who are praying folks, we ask for your prayers for that day. Our hope and prayer is that the interview will go smoothly and that hopefully they will decide that we are such a fine and upstanding young couple that we don't need to go through the secondary interview (we've heard that sometimes they don't make you go through the 2nd interview). The main reason we hope for no second interview is because that will make this Visa process faster. But really, as an excuse to go to Montreal and visit the Shihs and the Armstrongs... a second interview is fine. So really we're ok either way, as long as they say yes, Mrs. Davis you are welcome to enter the United States and live and work there legally!!
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Life in the south
So we're in VA Beach right now, and here are some of my ponderings!
Apparently Canadians are known for how much we talk about the weather, so let me first start with that topic :)
For instance, when we were packing to come down here, I was thinking it would be like warm Toronto winter temperatures. Well, my thinking on that, as an average, was a little off. The day after our arrival it was so warm outside that Mac was wearing shorts, a t-shirt and flip-flops while washing the cars (as a study break from his comprehensive exam readings). Apparently they get 4 or 5 of those a winter. After that it cooled down again, but it was still warm enough that you could be outside with a light jacket or a sweatshirt/fleece and still be fine! Ok, so this is what winter means in the South (well in VA)? Well..... not exactly. Yesterday we had some snow squalls -- though not like what we call squalls in the norther reaches of this continent -- the sun was still shining, but the snow did come down pretty good for .... oh.... 5 to 10 min. And this happened twice!! All the while it was above 0c! (i think the radio said it was 36.) The snow didn't accumulate at all, but it was pretty. So the verdict: Winter in VA Beach = a little bit of everything!
It seems that the term "cold" is a very VERY subjective term. Cold here seems to mean any temperature that you must where a sweater (minimum) to be outside in. Ok, so i wouldn't call 0-10 degrees hot or even warm, but i don't know that it deserves quite the label of being temperatures for a "cold winter"! But hey, quite frankly -- i could live with 0-10C being "Cold" for winter! There's no mistaking that!!
I bumped into someone I "knew" yesterday for the first time. Well let me clarify, I'd met Sara before, she went to Mac's old church and was at our Wedding Reception. But i didn't expect to see her at the grocery store. But there she was shopping with her daughter Kylie. I know so few people down here that it was really really good to be able to see someone I knew simply because we ran into each other! Makes it feel a little more like home down here!
The ironies of ironies. The other day we were visiting with Mac's mom and dad. [Some of you know that his dad re-broke his hip on Christmas Eve Day (the first break was on my birthday, Oct. 11, the day before my grammie broke her hip). Winston is healing much better and is already walking a lot better than he ever did after the last break! It is very encouraging to see him as mobile as he is!] While we were at his mom's house, Jewel mentioned that Mac's brother is thinking about selling his 2000 passat. He's been promoted within the fire department to arson inspector and drives a company car now, so has little need for the passat. So we took it for a bit of a drive around Atlantic Shores (the Seniors community the Davises live in), and are now thinking seriously about buying it from Jon in March if he decides to definitely sell it and is willing to wait a few months until we move south. The ironic part: Mac sold the passat to his brother a number of years ago!! The other exciting part, is that we might be able to get about the same amount for my golf as he's selling the passat for, so it would be an easy (financial) switch and we could by-pass all the importation laws and taxes etc. (And while its not my dream car of a Jetta, i think I could "settle" for a passat!)
For Christmas Mac ordered me a kitchenaid stand mixer -- so this has taken my desire to bake to a new level. It arrived yesterday and I was desperately trying to figure out what i could make for dinner so that i would have an excuse to use the blender! So we settled on a homemade soup and homemade dinner rolls! It was quite an enjoyable evening!
We're also getting ready to start work on the house down here. On tuesday Jewel was here and the three of us walked through the house and listed off what needed to be done. New paint, take up the carpets to let the hardwood shine, new bathroom(s), update the kitchen.... Its going to be fun! We've picked out a couple possible colours for the livingroom/dining room and may get started in there before we head north again. But there is a leak somewhere that we need to find, patch and then fix the damage it did in the living room ceiling. So we might paint another room instead. We've also cleaned out a couple closets (and promptly filled them with our own things) and most of mac's mother's books are in boxes now. So its exciting to see the progress there. I'm really looking forward to being down here full-time and being able to really attack what needs to be done.
Apparently Canadians are known for how much we talk about the weather, so let me first start with that topic :)
For instance, when we were packing to come down here, I was thinking it would be like warm Toronto winter temperatures. Well, my thinking on that, as an average, was a little off. The day after our arrival it was so warm outside that Mac was wearing shorts, a t-shirt and flip-flops while washing the cars (as a study break from his comprehensive exam readings). Apparently they get 4 or 5 of those a winter. After that it cooled down again, but it was still warm enough that you could be outside with a light jacket or a sweatshirt/fleece and still be fine! Ok, so this is what winter means in the South (well in VA)? Well..... not exactly. Yesterday we had some snow squalls -- though not like what we call squalls in the norther reaches of this continent -- the sun was still shining, but the snow did come down pretty good for .... oh.... 5 to 10 min. And this happened twice!! All the while it was above 0c! (i think the radio said it was 36.) The snow didn't accumulate at all, but it was pretty. So the verdict: Winter in VA Beach = a little bit of everything!
It seems that the term "cold" is a very VERY subjective term. Cold here seems to mean any temperature that you must where a sweater (minimum) to be outside in. Ok, so i wouldn't call 0-10 degrees hot or even warm, but i don't know that it deserves quite the label of being temperatures for a "cold winter"! But hey, quite frankly -- i could live with 0-10C being "Cold" for winter! There's no mistaking that!!
I bumped into someone I "knew" yesterday for the first time. Well let me clarify, I'd met Sara before, she went to Mac's old church and was at our Wedding Reception. But i didn't expect to see her at the grocery store. But there she was shopping with her daughter Kylie. I know so few people down here that it was really really good to be able to see someone I knew simply because we ran into each other! Makes it feel a little more like home down here!
The ironies of ironies. The other day we were visiting with Mac's mom and dad. [Some of you know that his dad re-broke his hip on Christmas Eve Day (the first break was on my birthday, Oct. 11, the day before my grammie broke her hip). Winston is healing much better and is already walking a lot better than he ever did after the last break! It is very encouraging to see him as mobile as he is!] While we were at his mom's house, Jewel mentioned that Mac's brother is thinking about selling his 2000 passat. He's been promoted within the fire department to arson inspector and drives a company car now, so has little need for the passat. So we took it for a bit of a drive around Atlantic Shores (the Seniors community the Davises live in), and are now thinking seriously about buying it from Jon in March if he decides to definitely sell it and is willing to wait a few months until we move south. The ironic part: Mac sold the passat to his brother a number of years ago!! The other exciting part, is that we might be able to get about the same amount for my golf as he's selling the passat for, so it would be an easy (financial) switch and we could by-pass all the importation laws and taxes etc. (And while its not my dream car of a Jetta, i think I could "settle" for a passat!)
For Christmas Mac ordered me a kitchenaid stand mixer -- so this has taken my desire to bake to a new level. It arrived yesterday and I was desperately trying to figure out what i could make for dinner so that i would have an excuse to use the blender! So we settled on a homemade soup and homemade dinner rolls! It was quite an enjoyable evening!
We're also getting ready to start work on the house down here. On tuesday Jewel was here and the three of us walked through the house and listed off what needed to be done. New paint, take up the carpets to let the hardwood shine, new bathroom(s), update the kitchen.... Its going to be fun! We've picked out a couple possible colours for the livingroom/dining room and may get started in there before we head north again. But there is a leak somewhere that we need to find, patch and then fix the damage it did in the living room ceiling. So we might paint another room instead. We've also cleaned out a couple closets (and promptly filled them with our own things) and most of mac's mother's books are in boxes now. So its exciting to see the progress there. I'm really looking forward to being down here full-time and being able to really attack what needs to be done.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Iowa
Well, I guess White Middle America is not as racist as was portrayed over these last few decades. Either that, or Senator Clinton is so unappealing that defeating her transcends any latent racism that may exist. It will be interesting to see how the Dems nominate in the more 'racially tolerant' state in the Northeast and West. Race aside (because I think that African American voters are more worried about Obama's blackness than are Euro-Americans but the worry has been greatly eased by the Oprah factor) the inevitability of Clinton seems gone. This may seem a shock coming from me, but I think Obama and Edwards are far more radically Leftist than Clinton. I will be interested to see how the rest of the campaign works out.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Random Thoughts
As this new year begins, I have no words of wisdom only strange observations.
1. The youth pastor at our new church in Toronto looks like Karl Pilkington. It is hard for me to keep a straight face.
2. Ski poles in dry snow is a disturbing sound...much like fingernails on a chalkboard.
3. I am now a fan of the Nintendo Wii game system.
4. Black squirrels are easy to spot when it is snowing.
5. After I read all 3000 pages for my comp exam, will I remember what the first 1000 pages was on?
6. I am not excited about skiing the east coast, but I am looking forward to pointing my skis downhill and not turning before the bottom of the run.
7. I have been to 6 of the Canadian provinces.
8. Why is Ontario so big? It looks like someone should have put a boundary at Terrace Bay. I can't imagine people in Kenora having much in common with Toronto.
9. I am still kicking myself for seeing No Country for Old Men.
10. North Dakota...I don't ever see myself in that state again.
oh well...i think that is all.
1. The youth pastor at our new church in Toronto looks like Karl Pilkington. It is hard for me to keep a straight face.
2. Ski poles in dry snow is a disturbing sound...much like fingernails on a chalkboard.
3. I am now a fan of the Nintendo Wii game system.
4. Black squirrels are easy to spot when it is snowing.
5. After I read all 3000 pages for my comp exam, will I remember what the first 1000 pages was on?
6. I am not excited about skiing the east coast, but I am looking forward to pointing my skis downhill and not turning before the bottom of the run.
7. I have been to 6 of the Canadian provinces.
8. Why is Ontario so big? It looks like someone should have put a boundary at Terrace Bay. I can't imagine people in Kenora having much in common with Toronto.
9. I am still kicking myself for seeing No Country for Old Men.
10. North Dakota...I don't ever see myself in that state again.
oh well...i think that is all.
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