As Ian Sees It

    It never ceases to amaze me what Christmas.....or the holiday season brings out in people.  It is no secret that I live the Holiday Season.  In America the Holiday Season begins with Thanksgiving.  In Canada, I have always considered the Holiday Season kickoff to be the Grey Cup.  Our Canadian football extravaganza that used to line up with the Americans Thanksgiving.   Back in the day the Grey Cup was something special.  To some of us, it still is.  It has been hurting since cable t.v. made the NFL available, but there remains a faint hint of national celebration that constitutes the kick off to the Holiday Season.   I don't always like what Christmas brings out in some people.  There are those who absolutely find Christmas to be nothing more than commercial hype.  A ridiculous expense.   Canned music,  unhealthy food,  too close quarters with relatives you love better from a distance.   Many think it s...

 Remembrance Day is a week away.  It is almost 80 years since the last world war, but we have exposed our service people to many conflicts since then.   There was that Korean War to which we referred as a police action.   Canadians were the bench mark for peace keeping and our men and women put themselves in harms way across the globe saving the lives of thousands of innocents who had the misfortune of being born in the wrong time and place.  .   Then there was the whole Afghanistan thing.  A war not of our own making but where we supported our neighbours.   As much as those in this corner of my home and native land will hate me for bringing it up, we were fortunate enough to have a sitting government with the insight to keep us out of Iraq.  But Canadians, like they always have, did the heavy lifting in Afghanistan.  And in defence of our neighbours we paid a very heavy toll.  It's what we do.  We have never asked for a whole ...