Happy’s Personal Rants – MASTER OF NONE

May 25, 2022

‘Modern Whore – A Memoir’ Book Review

Author – Andrea Werhun, Photography by Nicole Bazuin

“I believe that sex is one of the most beautiful, natural, wholesome things that money can buy.”
― steve martin

‘Modern Whore – A Memoir’ Book Review

Author – Andrea Werhun, Photography by Nicole Bazuin

In March 2020 while the unsuspecting World was about to be gripped in paralyzing fear of ‘The Pandemic’, a sex worker, real name Andrea Werhun, launched a second Kickstarter campaign as a follow-up to her sold-out original ‘Modern Whore’. The first rendition mostly contained vignettes from her two years as a ‘working girl’ for a Toronto escort agency. The second expanded version combines the first book with her experiences as a stripper/lap dancer.

From a technical point of view, Ms. Werhun is an excellent writer who followed the writer’s creed of ‘write what you know’, which she did with brutal honesty. The short stories loosely tie together a myriad of encounters and back narratives.

The photography (adult oriented) is stunning, provocative, and inventive ranging from the classy Playboy style centerfold to the banality of pissing on a toilet in elegant evening wear. Nicole Bazuin and the author have teamed up several times and many of their creations are found at Ms. Bazuin’s website. One suggestion for a future work would be to use the format of a cocktail table book to take advantage of the photo artistry.

As to the content, from my perspective, this is not a celebratory shout-out vindicating women who work in the sex trade. This is a cautionary tale regarding the superficial, vapid, capitalistic nature of the work which boiled down to separating the customer ie. in Andrea’s case, men, from their money while she shook her money-makers.

It is de rigueur for strippers and prostitutes to use alter egos. Andrea’s escort name was Mary Ann, after the ‘girl next door’ namesake on ‘Gilligan’s Island’. Her stripper name was Sophia, an euphemism for wisdom. My pick for a representative metaphoric duo to describe Andrea, would be Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel/Harley Quinn.

As Doctor Quinzel, Andrea is dangerously naïve of the dangers she places herself in. She describes becoming a teenage loner frequenting sex chatrooms, baring herself for internet pervs and almost being outed at high school. Twenty or so blackout drunk episodes by the age of 25 are only a concern after one too many knocks on the head. She says she gets a thrill from the sex work, does it for the enjoyment, lots of easy money, and then lists multiple times where she is describing clinical depression.

As Harley Quinn, Andrea uses the power of her sexuality to make the ‘piggies’ pay up. The thought process leading up to this epiphany was probably incubated in her Liberal Arts university education. The starry-eyed young girl with a burning desire for exhibitionism and alter ego was hammered with anti-patriarchy, anti-establishment, anti-white, anti-church ideologies. She cemented this worldview by jumping into the criminal underground of prostitution, drugs, and fast money. She and her natural C-cup breasts wielded the power now! Ironic that the politically self-proclaimed ‘Dipper’ took up a livelihood of crass, dirty capitalism where literally a lap-dance song equaled 20 bucks.

Andrea uses duality as a main theme of the two volumes. Message boards regarding the points of view of a particular sexual encounter read as yin and yang. Men are generally portrayed poorly, which considering if a Joker has an escort agency on speed dial, then maybe they are atypical role models. Women are semi-divine, a sisterhood, and are above reproach especially if they are sex workers.

While attempting to work a ‘respectable’ job, Andrea was described by her lady boss pejoratively as a ‘victim warrior’. It is an interesting term and many people act like they must avenge or fight for supposed ‘victim’ groups. Alternatively, there are several instances where she describes being victimized whether by being catcalled, as an escort, or in the strip club. Life will make you predator or prey, Andrea bounces between the extremes.

There is an occasional light-hearted anecdote but on the whole but I don’t think this book will entice women to embrace prostitutes or prostitution. In particular, there is one unsettling, controversial chapter describing when Andrea claims to be raped at the club. Reread the chapter carefully. Her frame of reference is that all women all have been raped. Another frame of reference is what do you expect when you have a history of waving your pussy over a guy’s hard-on and you let the situation literally ride out three times because ‘There was an erotic tension between us, a game of flirtatious struggle’. It is a vivid retelling of a very personal, disturbing incident which is a deep-dive into the demons running around in her head. Andrea played with a lot of fire then seemed surprised when she got burned.

This latest work from Ms. Werhun/Bazuin offers insight, understanding, and a forewarning to the inherent difficulties and dangers of working as a sex worker. It is not light reading or wholly enjoyable, and for some will be outright distressing. As a father, I would recommend having your teenage daughter read this book, then discuss it with them. I can proudly say, I am glad my daughter did not become a prostitute. But a book like this can help keep those communication lines open and bridge some understanding if they do. All prostitutes were once Mommy and Daddy’s sweet little kid.

Buy the book, read the book, reread the book, discuss if you like. It will make you think.

Blair’s LinkedIn Profile

Blair is a personification of a ‘Jack of All Trades and Master of None’. He has held several careers and has all the T-shirts. Time to add the title Blogger to the list.

April 30, 2022

STOP MINIMIZING DRUNK DRIVING

Officers assess the evidence markers at the very edge of the Point Frederick peninsula, located at the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) at CFB Kingston, where a vehicle entered the water in the early morning hours of Friday, Apr. 29, 2022, resulting in four fatalities. (Kingstonist) Photo by Logan Cadue.

MADD is MAD for a Reason

Does this scenario sound familiar? Four young military men in a car driving around just as the bars are closing, exams have finished and soon they will all be graduating. Then somehow the vehicle goes out of control and flips into the water, all four pronounced dead at the scene.

Officially, the authorities are not going to ‘speculate’ about the cause of the accident but I guarantee the first action at the autopsy will be a Tox screen for alcohol/drugs to determine the driver’s level of impairment.

Meanwhile, everyone is being polite for the sake of the families. The men are being described as ‘on the cusp of graduation, amazing young adults, heroes‘. Everyone through the Royal Military College leadership, CDS, Premier, MND, to the PM are making the polite remarks while eulogizing their deaths. It’s the well-mannered Canadian way.

It’s wrong.

Kingston Fire and Rescue and Frontenac Paramedic Services on scene following the incident at Point Frederick at RMC. (Kingstonist) Photo by Lucas Mulder.

From MADD Canada’s Statement of Beliefs, ‘Impaired driving crashes are not accidents, but rather the direct result of an individual’s conscious decision to drive after drinking or using drugs.‘

Cars do not flip upside down late at night in a low speed zone all on their own. These men do not deserve lionizing, they deserve to be held up as a cautionary tale.

Here is what the taglines should be saying, ‘The driver irresponsibly operated a motor vehicle in a reckless manner which directly caused the deaths of the vehicle’s four occupants. The passengers themselves did not have the fortitude to demand the driver cease his careless behaviour.’

Having spent plenty of years around irresponsible drunks in the CAF, I can vouch that alcoholism causes many issues. To give the CAF credit, they are attempting to tame the rampant drinking and are making some headway with the newer recruits. But there is still a long ways to go to completely rein in irresponsible drinking.

One way to stop more tragedies like this past incident is to stop calling them ‘accidents‘. These are violent crimes which frequently lead to death. Society does not put up with drunks walking around waving a loaded gun. There are no polite noises when someone gets shot, there is condemnation, and rightly so.

Blair’s LinkedIn Profile

Blair is a personification of a ‘Jack of All Trades and Master of None’. He has held several careers and has all the T-shirts. Time to add the title Blogger to the list.

April 22, 2022April 22, 2022

HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY

Sea lions are seen inside a fish farm off Tofino, B.C., on Sunday. (Supplied by Clayoquot Action & CBC)

Honesty is What the Saps were Told To Do

They lie to us, we know they’re lying, they know we know they’re lying, but they keep lying to us, and we keep pretending to believe them.
attributed it to Alexander Solzhenitsyn

There was a recent article being run by the CBC about a group of sea lions decimating a BC West Coast fish farm as the farmers were harvesting the mature salmon. What raised the bile in my throat was the universal hatred in the comment sections against fish farms. These farms are the highest regulated agricultural activity in Canada. People are literally cheering the destruction of these farmer’s livelihood. Even more alarming was that it sounded like the farmers were not even allowed to shoot the marauders. I know what I would be doing to a pack of wolves going after our cattle. Heaven help the asses who even thought about getting in the way.

If you want a good background on fish farms, I suggest reading Peter Robson’s ‘Salmon Farming: The Whole Story’.

I realize CBC plays to a particular audience which has been pre-conditioned to virtue signal towards everything in a racist, environmental, intersectional context, the vitriol is nothing new or unexpected. What is angering is how complete the brainwashing has become due to the wildly successful propaganda and misinformation efforts on the parts of the various environmental groups.

NEWSFLASH: THEY ALL LIE!

To clarify, every last government, organization, religion, salesperson, regular folk lie. I would wager that the most successful humans lie more habitually than the few glimpses of honesty which is how they became successful. The only thing which keeps people in check is the consequences to their lying.

This is why there has been such a swing in the power of messaging since the Boomers became political. They wanted to be heard, so they screamed more and more outrageously about the dangers of everything, nuclear power, GMOs, modern agriculture, Carbon Dioxide, plastic bags, polar bears, trees, climate change/warming/cooling/whatever it’s called now, racism, etc. They marched by the millions to support wind, solar, EVs, LGBTQalphabet, Trangenders or a little nothing girl. It’s all a massive mountain of lies.

It’s been pointed out that these progressives who are so protective of the environment are some of the least worried about provoking a nuclear war with the evolving hostilities in Ukraine. How mind damaged do you have to be to even consider nuclear armageddon as some sort of viable option?

Patrick Moore, former founder of Greenpeace Canada, recently released a book entitled, ‘Fake Invisible Catastrophes and Threats of Doom‘. It goes through NGOs typical MO of lying and their propaganda campaigns.

There used to be a time when media, government, or self-governing bodies would step in to shine the light of truth. Legacy media is too beholden to their narratives which generate their revenue. Government used to at least tell the ‘Noble Lie’ which was for the public’s own good, such as during an actual war. Now, their go to response is deny, deny, deny, and rely on the public’s short memories and penchant for being bought off with their own money. Self-Governing bodies like Teachers Unions bleat like scattered sheep over nonsensical issues such as over-the-top Covid restrictions, not out of concern for students but to keep a stranglehold on power.

As for environmental groups, NGOs, or supposed humanitarian groups, the act of outrageous lying is highly successful. It garners them power and riches. Does it make any sense whatsoever that the World should listen to a little Swedish girl about the environment? Why in God’s name have the scuzziest of men been held up as icons of virtue for various humanist movements because they happen to be black? What possesses people, especially feminists, to be okay with letting men dominate women just because they ‘identify’ as a woman today?

The only reason these lies are tolerated is due to the lack of pushback. This is dangerous because reality will crash these ridiculous systems sooner or later and it is the most vulnerable in society who will least be able to weather the shock. Look at the electric bills of those jurisdictions who most firmly embraced wind and solar.

There is a quote from Voltaire, “Anyone who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” Take a look around and start thinking logically about how our most trusted institutions have continuously lied to you, about literally everything. Just one tiny example, who caused more damage to the country, some truckers honking in Ottawa or Justin Trudeau’s interference in the SNC Lavalin Scandal? Who will be most severely held to account?

You know the answer but like a good-trained sheep, you will keep your head down.

Blair’s LinkedIn Profile

Blair is a personification of a ‘Jack of All Trades and Master of None’. He has held several careers and has all the T-shirts. Time to add the title Blogger to the list.

January 28, 2022

Public Relations 101 for the FREEDOM CONVOY

Here is some Public Relations advice for the Freedom Convoy organizers to help sort out their messaging. To be successful, you don’t have to be fancy or polished. In fact, you’re a grassroots, organic movement, being fancy wouldn’t fit your character. Above all, you need to be honest.

First, find some ex-military or media trained people in your outfit. Even if they’ve only worked on a school paper, it’s better than nothing. The military people are for organizing stuff. That’s what we’re trained for and they’re good at working under pressure with tight deadlines. Also, they know what SMEAC and OPORDs stand for.

Ok, your Situation is the Government has pissed you and a large bunch of your friends off.

Your Mission statement has to be short and sweet. For example, your goal is to take your message to Ottawa and deliver it to the Government. Take some time to think this over because this is what you want the media to latch onto. Right now they’re saying you’re an anti-vaccine convoy. If you want that impression changed, you’ve got to change it by multiple repetition. It’s got to be something simple so the public can understand it.

Execution, here’s the meat and potatoes. The media cannot be allowed to work in a vacuum or they will get 100% of your message wrong. DO NOT turn media away. DO NOT say NO COMMENT. DO NOT be rude to media. Plus nothing is ever ‘off the record’. Number one rule: BE 100% HONEST! If you don’t know the answer, say so. Take note and get back to the questioner. If the answer is going to make you look bad, OWN IT! For example, Tamara Lich is associated with the Maverick Party, ie. portrayed as Right Wing Kooks. Well, Preston Manning did this whole Reform thing and last I looked there are 32 Bloc MPs elected to Ottawa.

Okay, here’s my suggestions on getting your message out. First, find someone to be the ‘Face’ of the Convoy. They need to be personable, confident, knowledgable, & comfortable being in the spotlight. At least once a day there needs to be a set media access scrum (15-30 mins max), more depending on how fast events are moving. Standard news conference, make an opening statement detailing your mission, updates on the situation, facts and figures, pertinent details, 5 to 10 minutes tops. Open the floor to questions, one question and one follow-up. Don’t play favourites but the goal is to develop a professional rapport with the media. Be punctual, be professional, be informative.

The Convoy has image issues, you’re full of ‘racists, violent people, white supremacists, etc.’ Consider a ‘Trucker’ of the day. Showcase the ordinary people making up the group.

If you have the time, make up Backgrounders, Talking Points, general info that can be given to the Media and to your spokespeople. It helps keep everyone on the same page and reporters generally take that stuff verbatim so your message doesn’t skew.

Another avenue to get the word out is the authorities like the police and government representatives. Again, you have to be better than them and proactive. People in Ottawa are not going to be happy with you tying up their streets. Work with the Police to minimize traffic issues, pissing off ordinary people isn’t going to help you. Work with government types and invite their reps to talk/attend whether at rallies, in private, at their offices, etc. Set times and again get the media to these things and/or informed.

Admin/Logistics: gather a team, this needs to be farmed out or stuff will fall through the cracks. Make one person the Point of Contact (POC) for media enquiries/requests, someone can gather/disseminate general info, sort out a scheduler, figure out who’s in charge of all of this.

Command & Signal: get the word out to your people what the media policy is. Who’s the person a reporter can be directed to for greater detail? What’s the phone numbers, email addresses? What’s your Talking points you want to focus on. For example, B.J. Dichter had a good interview with Tucker Carlson but at the end he veered off on some tangent about cell phone info at the Border. NOT HELPFUL when you come off as conspiracy types. The Convoy members also need to know who they can direct reporters to when the questions get too detailed. Good reporters will ask questions from anyone, there’s nothing wrong with that, they’re just looking for a story. DO NOT YELL AT THEM! Whoever pissed off that one news crew got the negative attention of some heavy hitters. Not smart! Here’s a good rule of thumb, the media is not the enemy until they are the enemy. If a particular reporter screws you over, give them a chance to explain themselves but if it was malicious, then put them on the outs. As for people randomly talking to reporters, tell them to stay in their own ‘lane’. Talk about themselves, their personal reasons for being there, what they hope will come of this but they should stay away from conjecture or being baited.

None of this is particularly difficult. Be honest, own the mistakes made, show you’re willing to make corrections, be somewhat flexible, and be confident. Many Canadians are looking at your Convoy as something that will unite the country. But there’s some powerful enemies who want your movement to fail. Just Google some names of the organizers and see what pops up. Try to stay out of the ditch and on the high road.

Feel free to contact me for further pointers or questions.

Blair Gilmore, SLt(Ret’d), RCN, CD

Blair.gilmore@hotmail.ca

204-841-8340

January 28, 2022January 28, 2022

‘FREEDOM CONVOY’ IS BEING HIJACKED

Protesters and supporters cheer as a parade of trucks and vehicles pass through Kakabeka Falls outside Thunder Bay, Ont., on Wednesday. (David Jackson/The Canadian Press)

BAD ACTORS ARE SEEKING TO SIDESWIPE CONVOY’S MESSAGE

Shortly after General (Ret’d) Rick Hillier became Chief of Defence Staff in 2005, he made a push for an increase to the Public Affairs Officer branch. His reasoning was if no one knew all the good the CAF was doing then all those efforts were wasted. The Canadian public could not be expected to care for an organization which it could not relate to.

As for the ‘Freedom Convoy’ of people headed towards Ottawa to air their grievances, there have been numerous interpretations of what they want to accomplish. Bringing it to a personal level, I would like to focus on one person’s view of what the Convoy means to her.

In no particular order, she can be described as a 40 something, mother of three young children, Native descent, hands on business owner married to a tradesman. They own a modest home and they have been trying to keep afloat these past two years with constant interruptions to their employment, business, and children’s lives. They have also chosen not to be vaccinated but over Christmas, the family came down with Omicron with the mother being the sickest for a week but with a full recovery.

A group of women show their support for truckers in the Freedom Convoy, in Swift Current, Sask. — A group of Hutterite women show their support for truckers in the Freedom Convoy, in Swift Current, Sask. Photo by Courtesy Jordan Kosik / Facebook

The Convoy excited this lady because she is fed up with the government intrusions that have governed her family’s lives for the last two years. She, like the thousands of other regular, ordinary Canadians lining the highways waiting to cheer on this Convoy, just want some hope that their lives will get back to normal.

Parked in front of this hopeful message are roadblocks attempting to sideswipe any good which may come from this grassroots movement. Starting at the top, our Prime Minister opined a very bigoted view of the truckers and their supporters. Perhaps the son should look back through his father’s memoirs and look afresh at the meaning of the statement, “There’s no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation”. The PM’s job is to represent all Canadians, especially those with minority views. Unless this group was promising outright insurrection, they are allowed to protest as much as any other group in this country without our PM slandering them.

Unfortunately, the Convoy’s public relations is in danger of slipping into a skid. There is a social media war being waged trying to connect the Convoy and its organizers with violence, white supremacy, racism, etc. This is being picked up by the MSM and amplified. Another wedge issue has been the size of the Convoy itself as estimates are flying from tiny to enormous. Opponents want to minimize while supporters are over-exaggerating. What is needed are reporters who are prepared to act like reporters who are neither cheerleaders nor detractors but impartial observers.

Compounding the confusion, deliberate and unintentional, is the lack of a concerted, overall voice who represents the Convoy and their goals. They have a FaceBook Group that was up, down, then back up. It is up over 700,000 members and is replete with numerous testimonials, videos, and such but short on specifics and prone to intolerant posts subject to censure and/or fuel for detractors.

One of the organizers of the GoFundMe page for the Convoy, Tamara Lich, has put herself forward as a point of contact for media interviews. It appears she is overwhelmed and out of her depth. Interview requests are starting to pour in but concrete information has been sporadic. Consequently, reporters are randomly contacting whoever they can get ahold of and some of the responses have been hostile. If the movement doesn’t get a handle on their messaging, the powers to be will make up their own messaging out of the vacuum.

Particularly disturbing is the outright disinformation being maliciously disseminated against the Convoy. For example, searching for Tamara’s background information first returns her bio as listed as a Secretary with the Maverick Party based in Alberta. Next comes a bevy of websites titled with ‘Tamara Lich Racist, Go Fund Me Fraud‘. No substance is in the website’s narratives and in fact the paragraphs look like bot creations or badly translated nonsensical phrases such as:

Hello, all of the friends, so Tamara Lich emerged because the guardian angel of all of the Truck Drivers protesting in Canada “Freedom Convoy 2022.” So, in between all this one of many board of administrators of Maverick Party Tamara Lich arrived within the assist of the convoy of the drivers. The director started a fundraising web page for the drivers on Go Fund Me to help all of the drivers who’re struggling after the central authorities of the nation imposed a mandate throughout the pandemic. Apart from all this Tamara Lich was alleged for being a racist.
https://umorr.com/truck-convoy-is-tamara-lich-racist-go-fund-me-fraud-allegations/

Look up B.J. Dichter, the other listed GoFundMe organizer for the Convoy and the top hit returned is another robotic ‘news’ site with the heading including ‘Fraud and Racist Allegations‘. Again, the so called attached ‘article’ is full of nonsense like the following:

Opportunity Convey is a continuous dissent in Canada by Truckers gainst a new government COVID-19 immunization order forced on the shipping area. A Group of guards of trucks is set to show up in Ontario as a feature of their exhibit.
https://sleekgist.com/who-is-bj-dichter-aka-benjamin-dichter-fraud-and-racist-allegations-tg-time/

Powerful forces are being arrayed against a Canadian grassroots movement. Between the naiveté and inexperience of the participants and the general indifference and outright hostility of their enemies, this protest is set to spin out. The trucker’s main foe is not snow covered highways and black ice. Their bête noire is whoever gains the most from their failure.

Blair’s LinkedIn Profile

Blair is a personification of a ‘Jack of All Trades and Master of None’. He has held several careers and has all the T-shirts. Time to add the title Blogger to the list.

December 29, 2021

Book Review: Mein Kampf

My Struggle: Mein Kamphf - Mein Kampt - Mein Kampf (Hardcover) | Politics and Prose Bookstore

Narcissistic Ramblings of a Megalomaniac

It would be meaningless for me to do a deep dive into the psychology and meaning behind the words of one of history’s great monsters as this man’s actions have been dissected by luminaries time and again. This article is merely the general impressions I came away with after ploughing my way through this seemingly endless tome.

As endless tasks go, it was tough making it through this book but I pushed myself sometimes only a page or two at a sitting because I felt it is important to try to understand the origins of how these monsters come into being.

Hitler’s writing style does not lend itself to easy reading. Perhaps he forbade his comrades from doing a proper edit or there was not anyone brave enough to volunteer but it certainly could have used better structure. It seemed as if he thought of a subject, labeled bags with the chapter headings, and then randomly tossed in vaguely relevant thoughts until the bag was full. He would start with some premise to begin the chapter, write pages and pages of endless paragraphs which would somewhat torturously lead to a conclusion, then do a sort of summation to close. These two volumes are not for your casual reader.

Things Hitler did not Like

Jews

Hitler really got into his hatred for the ‘International’ Jew in the 2nd Volume. His main complaints related to the banking and media sectors who were going to ultimately ruin the Fatherland. The Jews had played a large hand in the ‘Revolution’ or the final days of WW1 where Germany surrendered. In addition, he abhorred the idea that Jewish blood would dilute the Aryan bloodlines.

Few things here, Jews don’t really intermarry outside of their faith and Hitler even mentions this in the book. So I am not sure where the widespread ‘contamination’ would come from unless he was refering verboten Jewish ‘ideas’. Jews did participate to a high degree in the banking and print sectors worldwide. As for general anti-Semitism, well, Hitler really was not the first to spew this type of hatred. He was of course, the first to try a Final Solution, but that did not come out in this 1925 writing.

Marxism

Hitler wrote extensively about his dislike for Marxism. The German Marxist political forces were the National Socialist Party’s main opponents. According to Hitler, they helped bring Germany to their knees at the end of the War. Russia could not be trusted because the Marxists had taken over. Plus there were the Jewish Marxist overtones.

Shirkers

Hitler felt that the best of Germany had gone to and had been sacrificed at the Front after four years of titanic struggle. The shirkers and cowards who remained behind eventually sold out the Fatherland when the government was taken over and the War was brought to an end.

When duties within the Party were divvied up, Hitler distained the Committee where he felt the shirker could hide from accountability. He would assign individuals tasks and they would hold sole responsibility for the success or failure.

Negroids

Hitler was not convinced that Germany’s strength was going to come from their colonies implying their Negro inhabitants were an issue. He looked towards France who allowed Negros to pour into the country from their colonies as a warning to Germany. Again, it was an issue of bloodlines being diluted.

France

The War was really a gigantic struggle between France and Germany fought mostly on French soil. France, understandably, took a hard line with the terms to end the conflict. Then later, French forces moved into the rich coal area of the German Ruhr. Hitler was not the only ex-soldier to be disgruntled with this backhanded treatment.

Things Hitler did Like

Himself: Hitler definitely had an outsized ego. He was the only one who knew the way forward. He pushed aside the leadership of the group he joined to lead them himself. He bragged about being the one to design the new flag. His speeches would last for hours.
Propaganda: To Hitler, this was the most important part of a movement in order to get it going and to bring in the followers.
Large Spectacles: Go big or go home would have been his motto. He understood the psychology of getting a mass of humanity together and how much more it would sway them during his speeches.
The Fatherland: Hitler’s goal was to centralize certain important concepts in order to cement proper respect for the German way of life. He was a hardline traditionalist in many respects. He definitely wanted the fair haired German women to breed with only fair haired German men to keep the Aryan blood pure.
Athletics: Hitler felt that an active German people who were fit would be a good base to draw from in case of a need to raise a military.

Some Miscellaneous Points

Hitler and his National Socialist Party were a product of their time. Their controversial and ultimately hugely successful propaganda newsletter was one of 1000’s being printed. Their political group started with a few men, no money, and would have been swept away like flotsam like so many others except for Hitler’s sheer force of will.
Hitler must have been one helluva good speaker. There would not have been much for entertainment except to go to a hall to listen to one guy or another up on his soapbox blathering away. Usually fights would break out. Drinks and a show would keep bored men entertained.
Hitler posited that Britain could have been an ally. His thoughts were that the Empire did not want just one strong European power like France. If there were at least two strong powers, then they would cancel each other out to Britain’s benefit.
Hitler’s goal for German expansion was not through colonies but through growing the German homeland, specifically to the East through Poland. He foresaw a population growth to 250 million Germans.
Hitler liked intimidation. He wrote a whole chapter on his Storm Troops. At first, they were the bodyguard necessary when rival groups wanted to break up one of their public hall meetings. They were the most fanatical of the Party’s members and used ferociousness to fend off attack.

Conclusion

Was there a point where Adolf Hitler could have stopped advancing his military and become a World leader instead of one of the most reviled villains of history? He marched into former German areas to reunite the Fatherland with nary a shot fired. Even Poland was a small bump which he deftly divided in half with the Soviets. Sure, that brought the ‘Big Boys’ into the arena but there seemed to be no stomach from the West to make the first move. In fact, could have Hitler extended an olive branch to Britain after the conquest of France? Would a strong Germany not have been a good bulwark between Red Russia and Britain? Push come to shove, if Russia had been more of a threat would the World have really cared that all the Jews were being rounded up?

In the end, Hitler’s megalomania which got him to his pinnacle of power was what ultimately defeated him. As for his book, it was not his skills in penmanship which gained him his fame.

Blair’s LinkedIn Profile

Blair is a personification of a ‘Jack of All Trades and Master of None’. He has held several careers and has all the T-shirts. Time to add the title Blogger to the list.

December 21, 2021December 21, 2021

Book Review: The Afghanistan Papers

U.S. officials misled the public about the war in Afghanistan, confidential documents reveal - Washington Post — Image courtesy of The Washington Post

Politicians & Generals Should be Jailed for Treason

“We know they are lying, they know they are lying, they know we know they are lying, we know they know we know they are lying, but they are still lying.”
Attributed to Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn

Thankfully, the West still has Freedom of Information (FOI) laws. If someone has the patience and deep enough pockets, despite deliberate government functionary obfuscation, documents are to be disclosed. The Washington Post backed reporter Craig Whitlock’s quest for the truth regarding the Afghanistan War and spent their own treasure and time suing the US government to turn over war documents. The following is a brief synopsis of the book’s contents.

Part 1 (2001-2002): Who am I supposed to shoot?

After Al-Qaeda spectacularly attacked America and traumatized the Nation, President George W. Bush invoked NATO articles and launched his ‘War on Terror’. Al-Qaeda was routed in their stronghold of Afghanistan forthwith and Osama bin Laden barely escaped across the border into Pakistan. At this point, the NATO forces could have high-fived and gone home.

Nope!

The Americans were all dressed up and ready for a party, so they looked around for a reason to stay. Well, the Taliban had harboured Al-Qaeda, were ‘mean’ to women, and most of the country was illiterate. Besides, if they could build a ‘Western’ style Nation in Afghanistan, they could keep an eye on the pesky Russians. Hooray, we’re here to stay! Everyone loves the States, they all want to be just like us, shoot all the Taliban if you can figure out who they are, what could go wrong?

Part 2 (2003-2005): Peek-A-Boo, where did you go?

Not content with one major war, President Bush went after his father’s bête noire in Iraq chasing after fictitious ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’. Immediately, the action in Afghanistan became an afterthought.

The Afghanistan conflict seemed to be running smooth enough at that point. The major players, Al-Qaeda and the Taliban seemed to be on the ropes despite that pesky bin Laden still being at large. Afghan women were liberated and the process of educating kids could start. An emphasis was placed on training the Afghans to take over their own security with a comprehensive training program to create their own National Army and police force.

The fly in the ointment was the constant hit and run attacks originating on the southern border with Pakistan. It was obvious that enemy combatants were hiding and launching strikes from across the border. But like Vietnam, NATO forces refrained from pursuit lest they raised the ire of this nuclear armed country. Pressure was put on Pakistan to sort this out themselves but they just played both sides.

Part 3 (2006-2008): We’re back!

Five years into the War, it became apparent that it was not going to wrap up neatly. The Taliban just would not lay down and disappear. A quote from one of their leaders, “You have all the clocks but we have all the time.” meant they were content with waiting it out until the Americans tired of the conflict and went home.

President Bush was disappointed with Donald Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense and swapped him out for a former CIA Director, Robert Gates. The conflict was described as ‘on automatic cruise control, without a roadmap or a destination.’

In addition, it was coming to the attention of the World through Human Rights groups that America had taken up with war criminals who were now ensconced as Afghan government leaders. The ‘puppet’ government was a cabal of warlords protecting their fiefdoms. Many of these mini empires ran off the lucrative opium industry which was a cash crop for the country. In the ultimate irony, the Taliban had outlawed the poppy in 2000 as against the will of Islam. Then with the arrival of the NATO forces, the poppy flourished under the corrupt Afghan government and the inept military strategies to eradicate it.

Part 4 (2009-2010): Enter Obama.

It was the new kid on the block’s turn at the tiller. President Obama put a new General in charge of the War, committed thousands of more troops to the fighting, and opened the funding gates to rebuild the country.

Instead of a decisive turn of fortune, Obama had to deal with Hamid Karzai running a corrupt election to get re-elected, Afghan’s largest private bank liquefied due to fraud, and anti-corruption efforts amounted to nothing. Ordinary Afghans were losing faith in anything connected to the Allies and the Taliban were waiting in the wings.

Part 5 (2011-2016): Got the dirty bastard, time to go home right?

In 2011, American forces in a clandestine mission into Pakistan finally took out America’s Public Enemy No. 1 thus symbolically removing the reason for invading Afghanistan. But America was going to stay because they were ‘winning’.

The Americans had a loose understanding on what ‘winning’ was supposed to look like. After years of training, the indigenous Afghan security forces were a joke. In fact, infiltrators were posing as Allies and there were numerous occasions where they would turn on their benefactors. The military was full on using weasel words to spin the ‘winning’ narrative but the Taliban were making more incursions and American soldiers were dying.

When asked point blank what would end the stalemate, the Generals trotted out the old chestnut of ‘more troops and more guns’.

Part 6 (2017-2021): Elvis has left the building.

Although President Trump had campaigned on getting the troops home and the States out of foreign Nation building, he ended up keeping the status quo. Massive corruption stymied any attempts to reform the country, it was still a money pit for massive amounts of American dollars, and tepid attempts to talk to the Taliban leaders led to nowhere. When Trump left office, nothing had really changed.

President Biden finally decided to pull the plug on twenty years of blood and treasure spent on a land described as ‘where Empires go to die’. The last American troops pulled out at the end of August, 2021.

The book does not go into the fantastic speed with which the Taliban retook the country but it was obvious that the staggering sums of treasure spent on the local military and police were spent in vain. For a more complete accounting of costs of the Afghanistan war in blood and treasure, I refer you to the Brown University Watson Institute figures.

Craig Whitlock’s reporting makes for fascinating reading but this chronicle is not just about a confusing conflict which took place in a faraway, foreign land. It goes to the very heart of the rot gripping the West. For twenty years, the political and military establishment misled, varnished, and mangled the truth over what was really going on in Afghanistan. They outright lied. It is a classic case of the elite believing the ends justify the means. If they are not held accountable, then what is to stop them from adopting this pattern of behaviour as OPS Normal for all forms of governing?

Blair’s LinkedIn Profile

Blair is a personification of a ‘Jack of All Trades and Master of None’. He has held several careers and has all the T-shirts. Time to add the title Blogger to the list.

December 18, 2021December 30, 2021

BC Government Failure in the Flood Zone

Shortly before the 25th, the West Coast Pilots Assn conducted ‘Operation Elf’ to cutoff BC communities to spread some Christmas cheer

Why have BC Communities been Abandoned?

A positive thing about social media is that stories which used to be the exclusive domain of large media outlets can be told by the ordinary citizen on the ground. Real time images and video can be instantaneously shared worldwide where otherwise the suffering would be done in silence.

Starting on November 15, devastating mudslides started to cut BC off from the rest of Canada. On November 17, after a formal request from the Province, the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) stood up Operation LENTUS 21-06 in order to augment the Province’s flood relief efforts. They did an admirable job but now they are leaving, in particular, the RCAF announced on December 10 that they were done.

But the job is not done!

Members of the Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadian) Regiment based in Edmonton, Alberta, fill sandbags in support of Operation Lentus to help the local community in Princeton, B.C. on Nov. 25. Photo by MCpl Nicolas Alonso, Canadian Forces Combat Camera, Canadian Armed Forces photo

On November 17, a friend and former military flight instructor of mine, Sigmund Bering Sort, posted that he and his Cessna 172 was available for no-cost flood relief flights. Since then, he has been chronicling his and other pilots efforts to provide lifelines to cut-off BC communities.

It did not take long for Sigmund to be taken up on his offer. An Operations Specialist at Hope Regional Airport (CYHE) was already putting out calls for volunteer pilots to ‘fly the needy‘ out. First efforts were these mercy flights but it was already recognized that essential cargo flights were needed. Offers of donations and fuel for cash were starting to already trickle in.

By December 2, the focus had shifted to cargo flights and Sigmund was making flights from Langley to Merritt. At this point, he had joined with the West Coast Pilots Association, headed by Shaun Heaps, who was coordinating a larger effort through their facilities at Langley Airport. Special mention was made of the local Sikh community stepping up during a CBC Morning Live Interview. Also in the interview, Shaun mentioned they had 40 fixed wing aircraft and 4 helicopters flying in relief efforts from Boston Bar to Merritt. A key point of the interview was he had reached out to the BC government with no response.

Another key challenge for the pilot volunteers was money for fuel to keep the operation in the air. In Sigmund’s words, “We are volunteers who are allowed to get a bit of fuel assistance with some restaurants donating some hot meals to the volunteers to keep us going – ground crew and air crew alike. My costs are mine to bear and I am not paid. I donate my time and the costs of running my aeroplane.” During the interview, Shaun stated that one day’s worth of fuel for the fleet cost $20,000.

Sigmund has continued to post news, images, and video of the enormous relief effort. Kudos has been given out to all who have been involved such as the BC General Aviation Assn, the Jewish community, the Sikh community, the Russian community, the West Coast Pilots Assn, the numerous airport facilities, etc. He stated, “The humanity in this mammoth effort is deeply moving affecting people in a very profound and humbling way. Some communities we’re flying into have received no other help. Wow! No other help?! Groceries are cut-off from oh so many people now in dire need. The grateful faces that light up when we taxi our aircraft in to unload the essential cargo literally brightens the day, and as we unload we get to hear and witness folks share their respective community plight and hunger for help, any help.“

By December 5, weeks into the relief effort, Government and the CAF had not even contacted the communities Sigmund was flying into. In a Global News article, by December 2, the pilots were helping 30 to 35 cut-off communities, many First Nations. The last correspondence I had with Sigmund on December 16 was they were increasing work to 12 to 15 hour days in preparation for Christmas. He does not have kind words for government efforts who are MIA.

The highways are severed in many, many places cutting off communities from their supply chain that’s also needed to recover from the physical damage, cut off from their jobs and similar. Some communities have been running out of basic groceries, prescriptions and similar. The volunteers that meet the arriving aircraft tell us that we are the ONLY help they’ve had. There is a political disconnect as well as a physical infrastructure disconnect for these communities. The “Emergency Disaster” playbook is in serious need of a rewrite and/or additional chapters added. This is not hard to address with immediacy of action… after all, that’s exactly what we’re doing. Governments are encouraged to step up and take over the delivery of the essential cargo today, and if they need some idea of how to assist in real time… we can do that too! Just sayin’.
Sigmund Bering Sort – Volunteer BC Flood relief pilot, December 5

Sigmund’s thoughts mirror my own regarding the overall incompetence of Canadian government’s efforts to deal with natural disasters. According to BC Emergency Management in a December 6 statement, everything was being taken care of.

It obviously is not.

December 10, RCAF Operations tweeted out the standing down of operations out of Abbotsford Airport. It was ironic Global News called the West Coast Pilots Assn of 40 aircraft and 4 helicopters a ‘tiny air force’.

As for the military’s efforts, my ire is not towards the personnel on the ground but with their spineless officers in command. Yes, they can hide behind regulations stating the Province needs to formally request CAF assistance. That is a coward’s way out. Senior officers are well aware needs still need to be met for Canadians who are struggling. Nothing is stopping them from speaking out that wrongs are being committed other than career implications. But it seems no one with big broad stripes on their sleeves has the balls to stand up for their fellow Canadians.

Thankfully, ordinary Canadians like Sigmund and the army and air force of volunteers with him are answering the call. Tells you who you can count on when the chips are down.

Blair’s LinkedIn Profile

Blair is a personification of a ‘Jack of All Trades and Master of None’. He has held several careers and has all the T-shirts. Time to add the title Blogger to the list.

December 10, 2021

The Insidious Nature of the Environmental Movement

https://i.inews.co.uk/content/uploads/2020/08/PRI_162444039.jpg — Groups like Extinction Rebellion are not concerned about the welfare of mankind, they are concerned with the extinction of the Earth. The extinction of Man is their ultimate anti-humanist goal. (Photo – Getty)

Mission Creep is Bringing Western Civilization to a Halt

There is a YouTube video making the rounds of social media of an older clip of Dr. Jordan Peterson chatting with Joe Rogan over the gradual loss of our personal freedoms. It is a fresh take on boiling a frog where you gradually heat his water and he does not realize until too late that he is cuisses de grenouilles.

Maybe you have not realized it yet but the Environmental Movement has nothing to do with making the environment better for you and I to live in. Their mission is to remove humanity from the environment with just a few chosen human caretakers leftover. Gradually, these anti-humanists have taken over our cultural entities, the media, our schools and universities, and have infiltrated their way into our various levels of government. The ideals of Marxism enthrall these eco-socialists and it does not take too much digging through history to see what happens to the masses when they get in the way of their dogma.

Here are a few examples to illustrate my point but just think of how your own personal or business life has been gradually hemmed in with increasing government oversight, regulations, and dictates.

**Former building from the Mount Agassiz Ski Resort** (August 2021)
*Source:* George Penner

On the Eastern edge of Riding Mountain National Park in Manitoba, there used to be a ski hill called Mount Agassiz. It is long gone and the site has been turned into a picnic and day use area. The ski hill’s lodge was repurposed as a cook shack. Unfortunately, the inside of the building is being steadily covered in Barn Swallow feces as Park staff are purposely allowing the birds to nest in an area that was designed for cooking and eating.

An outfit called The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC), described as ‘an independent advisory panel to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada’, deemed in May 2011 that despite the Barn Swallow being the most common swallow in the entire World (over six million in Canada) that it needed to go on the endangered species list. The Canadian population had dipped for some unknown reason but because they exploit structures for nesting spaces, places like buildings in National Parks stopped taking their nests down. In fact, it is illegal to do so anywhere in Canada.

Man-made structures are not a natural nesting area for Barn Swallows. They adapted to their environment when Natives first started building structures. In fact, upon further study, no one knows the exact carrying capacity or reasons why their populations fluctuate. But in the Federal Government’s opinion it is more important for a common bird to shit all over your food prep and eating area instead of just putting up a screen door.

Back in 2018 while I was a beat reporter for South Mountain Press, I wrote a series of articles on the FOUR WINDS ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PARTNERSHIP which was trying to create a super garbage dump to take care of the waste needs of a pair of local Rural Municipalities (RMs) and a pair of First Nation (FNs) Reserves. The Province had dictated that existing dump sites were to be decommissioned so there was impetus to find solutions. Extra Federal monies had been freed up through Indigenous Services Canada for projects like this hence the unique partnering of RMs and FNs. Years of meetings, public consultations, and hundreds of thousands spent later, the project was finally about to put spades in the ground.

Unfortunately, the FOUR WINDS PARTNERSHIP came up against their bête noire in the form of a vocal NIMBY group who literally shouted down Council and was able to elect a slate of new council representatives whose mandate was to kill the project. I spent quite a bit of time interviewing the opposition group. Despite a very expensive engineering study and numerous consultations, they were vehemently opposed to the dump site. The original problem with the area’s garbage has still not been solved, large amounts of taxpayer monies were spent spinning wheels, and a few score of people are going to inconvenience thousands.

The handling of waste in Canada has become a major issue with RMs coming under very strict guidelines. But when novel solutions are sought, the lead time for all the consultation and study runs into political considerations. At best, projects which seem straight forward are delayed interminably or at worst after considerable time and money, they are outright canceled. Meanwhile, the original problem has not been solved and continues to get worse and more expensive as time goes on. Environmental groups are famous for successfully delaying and ultimately cancelling projects through political pressure, judicial lawsuits, protests, and civil disobedience.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/aNWvnl7SQtA/maxresdefault.jpg — Nuclear Chemist, Galen Hulet Winsor, 1926-2008

Our ability to measure has exceeded our ability to understand.
Galen Winsor – Nuclear Chemist

Back in the 80’s before the internet, YouTube, TED Talks, or social media, people went on lecture tours to get their message out. But unless you were picked up by one of the few networks, it was a hard slog to gain any notoriety or publicity. One man, Galen Hulet Winsor, a long time Nuclear Chemist who started refining plutonium back in the 40’s after his war tour, was working hard to get his message out. Thankfully, there are a couple of videos surviving of his lectures and I highly recommend taking the time to watch them before the links get broken.

A Free Nuclear Economy – Galen Winsor Lecture (1985)

Ben Williams Presents Galen Winsor (1986)

While watching the lectures, a quote of Mr. Winsor’s jumped out at me. “Our ability to measure has exceeded our ability to understand.” He was referring to nuclear radiation and the fearmongering which has mothballed the nuclear industry. Michael Shellenberger expands on this theme when he explains in his 2017 TED Talk, ‘How Fear of Nuclear Ends‘, how the environmentalist movement struck gold when they invoked the fear of mothers. All sorts of organizations employ this tactic to great effect. MADD lectures no amount of alcohol is safe. Moms Against GMOs are dead set against agricultural progress. Moms Across America are concerned about parts per billion of glyphosate residue in their kids Cheerios. The list goes on because emotional arguments more easily sway this particular demographic.

Getting back to nuclear energy, as Mr. Shellenberger explains, ironically the Sierra Club was all for nuclear energy because it was cleaner compared to fossil fuels. But radicals in the group went the other direction, tied nuclear energy to nuclear weapons, and despite the fact that you can run the plants at greater than 100% efficiency, nuclear has stagnated.

Mr. Winsor finally got so fed up with the misinformation and needless safety measures, he tossed away the remaining years of his long career in the nuclear industry and incurred the wrath and censure of the Federal government. As he graphically explains, there is no need to be so afraid of nuclear power plants or nuclear materials. He advocated that every small community could easily have a small plant (similiar to those that have been employed for decades onboard US Navy carriers and submarines) producing cheap, abundant electricity for pennies. Nuclear is just not that dangerous.

Of course, despite the fact that Mr. Winsor should know what he is talking about considering his extensive experience, he is in the solid minority. The narrative is nuclear is scary and too expensive compared to wind and solar. Of course, this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy when ‘safety’ standards, environmental groups, and political opposition jam up the process of building nuclear plants. As an example, the Diablo Canyon (Nuclear) Power Plant which Mr. Shellenberger speaks of, took 19 years before it was allowed to produce electricity. In 1950, Mr. Winsor described how the plant he worked at was up and producing plutonium in a year and within five years, they had produced enough material that the States would not be able to use it all. But instead of embracing this technology, the World is dead set on anemic wind and solar generation for our energy needs.

The masses are easily swayed by emotional arguments made by nefarious actors within the environmental movement. Their motivations range from genuine concern to monetary enrichment. But the end goal appears to be the ranking of Mother Earth over that of their fellow man whom unless you are one of the Chosen, is seen as a blight to be curtailed and/or eradicated. As Dr. Jordan Peterson explains, millimeter by millimeter, these people are stealthily encroaching and then all the frogs are surprised when they look up and realize they have been pushed back by miles.

Blair’s LinkedIn Profile

Blair is a personification of a ‘Jack of All Trades and Master of None’. He has held several careers and has all the T-shirts. Time to add the title Blogger to the list.

February 4, 2021February 5, 2021

General Vance’s Fall From Grace

When you point the finger, more fingers point back at you

The Sexual Smear is Mightier than the Sword

So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
John 8:7

***Feb 05 Update – Global News is now reporting that The Canadian Forces National Investigation Service (CFNIS) has opened an investigation into possible improper behaviour on the part of the former CDS. There was also an important change to the narrative regarding the mystery military woman where the relationship between the two is now described as ‘intimate’. No extra information is provided that would lead us to believe the two were having sexual relations, neither person has claimed they were hooking up. Maybe Global could quit with the yellow journalism and the smearing campaign until some actual information from the investigation is made public.***

After nearly 40 years of dedicated service to Canada, General Jonathan Vance will be retiring from the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) under a cloud of sexual misconduct charges. Another former high ranking sailor, Vice Admiral Mark Norman, might be feeling some schadenfreude now that his ‘buddy’ who helped toss him under MV Asterix is getting some comeuppance.

To briefly summarize the Global News article, the former Chief of Defence Staff has been accused of sending a 2012 email (three years before he became the CDS) to a female Corporal that contained the suggestion of ‘the prospect of going to a clothing optional vacation destination with her.‘ No context was provided regarding their full exchanges and the Corporal never filed an official complaint but a comment was sent to the CAF Ombudsman. The other incident was reported to Global News via a third party. Sometime in 2019, it appears that Gen Vance had been ‘sexting’ with a female subordinate whom he had previously dated back in 2001. They also seem to have privately met at least three times outside of work over the last couple of years. Gen Vance says nothing sexual happened. Global News contacted the mystery military woman who confirms these facts and wishes to remain anonymous.

Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jonathan Vance speaks during a news conference on the findings of the Statistics Canada Survey on Sexual Misconduct in the Canadian Armed Forces in Ottawa on Nov. 28, 2016. – Chris Wattie / Reuters

The irony has not been lost on people that one of the first major actions of Gen Vance upon becoming CDS was to launch Operation HONOUR which was the CAF’s response to a damning April 2015 Deschamps Report alleging ‘endemic sexual misconduct throughout virtually all levels of the Canadian Forces.’

By the way, there is no regulation which says you cannot have consensual sex with anyone else in the CAF. There are time and place orders such as while on deployment, you should not be in each other’s direct chain of command, no professional reprisals or rewards should result from the relationship, and in the Navy you were supposed to ‘declare’ your relationship to your Chain of Command (COC). Back in the 80’s, an officer was not supposed to be hooking up with Non Commissioned Members (NCMs). Thankfully, that stupid order was rescinded.

There is a lot to unpack here, so I will start with a few of my thoughts in no particular order:

People are disappointed that Gen Vance appears to be ‘cheating’ on his wife, Kerry Vance, despite the lack of evidence of actual sexual relations. To that I say, so what? If the guy is cheating/thinking about cheating on his wife it is literally no business of yours or anyone else’s. Of course, there are work considerations to be mindful of which if that is taken care of then there is no argument other than morals. The relationship between a husband and his wife is theirs to deal with. Maybe the wife is a total bitch. Maybe they have an open marriage. You live your life and they can live theirs.

As an aside, the hiding of information like this was used by the military to turf homosexuals and lesbians back during the Cold War. The reasoning was a Soviet agent could compromise a service member and blackmail them. So if the CAF found out about your non-heterosexual orientation they would rescind your security clearance and boot you out.

People point to the unbalanced power structure between Gen Vance and the unnamed female subordinate saying it perpetuates the culture of military sexual misconduct. Up in the rarified air of the top ranks, you are literally only going to have lower ranks to fraternize with. In Gen Vance’s case, everyone is subordinate to the CDS. What is the solution, make every high ranking member take a vow of eternal celibacy? Maybe the CAF could hire escorts when the boys/girls feel urges so they don’t have to resort to other military members. Is there a possibility of abuse, well duh, that’s all of human history and don’t tell me it’ll be any different if it was a woman instead of a man with the upper hand. People form relationships with those they spend the most time with ie. the people at work because they share similar interests, understand what each other are going through, proximity, etc.

This goes back to the old argument of not allowing women to be part of the military. Everyone knew there was going to be ‘playing’ around when the girls and boys were away together on deployment or exercise. Heck, I had a ship ‘wife’ for a time while I was at sea. We didn’t tell our Chain of Command because we were mature enough not to let it interfere with our work and frankly, it was no one else’s business.

Humans are humans. Put men and women together, add stress, add some alcohol, they have sex. To deny that is to deny human nature. To deny this does not happen frequently in the military is straight ignorance.

For the true victims of sexual harassment and misconduct, yes, that is intolerable and justice should be swift and harsh. This type of misconduct has happened in the past and will happen in the future. For example, down in the Chiefs and POs Mess on the ships, the women had to put up with a lot of grabby hands. ‘Oh, Jim just gets a little too touchy, feely when he’s been drinking‘. Thankfully, the dinosaurs are dying out and the worst of the abuse seems to be passing. But when you have humans working together, there will be all forms of mistreatment that will never be totally eliminated especially so in a military environment merely due to the nature of the work.

Oh, the damning email with the inappropriate sexual remark, well that’s straight out sexual assault! As for inappropriate emails, dig deep enough and everyone has done or said something risqué at some point. If you haven’t, what’s wrong with you? You know who is the worst for black humour and sexual joking? Female nurses. Hang out with them but not if you’re a shrinking violet and have tender ears. I do not see interminable witch hunts admonishing the nursing profession for their inappropriate sexual innuendos.

When the Op HONOUR edicts, power points, and Town Halls started rolling out many of the victims were things like the removal of girlie calendars in the workshops, the curtailing of off-colour jokes, and even the painting over of decades old artwork on ship bulkheads. Sure, it was good to clean up the pig sty atmosphere of too many men gathered together. In some of the larger messes onboard ship, the rumour was porn was playing on the TV 24/7. But when you sweep through with a dragnet of ‘sexual’ correctness, you destroy esprit de corps and everything becomes sterile.

The self righteous had better be careful playing this card too often. Women fought for decades for inclusion and equality in the CAF. But when they get treated like one of the ‘guys’ who knows what stray email or remark will pop up years later to be used as a bludgeon. If it was a problem, deal with it at the time, not multi-years later as a smear tactic. It does not help the image of women in the CAF. What man will ever trust to be alone with a woman for fear of some later accusation?

It is sad when people are so quick to judge and smear others with these moralistic witch hunts. They remind me of the reports of the never-ending Stalin era denunciations where everyone was looking over their shoulder and they lived in fear of the midnight knock on the door. No one is safe when such minor indiscretions can be trotted out to destroy someone’s career and reputation.

Frankly, I do not feel a military member should be so dehumanized as to be absolutely squeaky clean. They will be totally devoid of mercy, understanding, and general humanity. Believe me, I came across a few high ranking RCN pricks who perfectly fit this description and you do not want to be serving under them.

At the end the day, who is going to be hurt or helped by this third party’s vendetta? I am sure Kerry Vance is thrilled to have all this out in the public square with all the associated tongue wagging. The mystery military woman will be dragged into this and face unwanted humiliation and attention. The Corporal never made a formal complaint regarding a off-hand email remark from nearly a decade ago, so what justice will be served here? Military women, in general, lose because this just reinforces the general notion of women’s vindictiveness over minor actions. Last but not least, a decorated, honourable soldier gets to have his name raked through the mud after finishing four decades of faithful service to Canada.

Who gets to profit from these sorry revelations? The disgruntled third party gets to say ‘Ah-ha, got the bastard!‘ The tabloids who pose as our mainstream media get to run salacious stories and garner more clickbait hits. The sanctimonious get to cluck, shake their heads, and wag their fingers.

In my humble opinion, it is disgusting, improper, and unprofessional of Global News to have reported this story in the first place. Gen Vance is no longer the CDS and is retiring soon. Nothing criminal or even untoward happened. This is yellow journalism that used to be reserved for rags like the National Enquirer. This was a hit job, plain, and simple. Do some actual reporting Global and dig up the real reasons and motivations behind these revelations. While you are at it, maybe you could report on Justin and Sophie’s rocky relationship which seems to be the Hill’s worst kept secret but verboten territory.

Gen Vance’s former military enemies from Afghanistan must be laughing their heads off to hear he has been taken down because of a woman. The sexual smear is indeed mightier than the sword.

Blair’s LinkedIn Profile

Blair is a personification of a ‘Jack of All Trades and Master of None’. He has held several careers and has all the T-shirts. Time to add the title Blogger to the list.