Leaf's Lair

My friend

2011-12-01T22:30:00.000-05:00

U.S. Media Tribute to Highway of Heroes

2009-11-06T09:18:00.005-05:00

I posted this to my YouTube page last year. With Remembrance Day right around the corner I thought I'd re-post it to my blog. It's rare that U.S. Media pays much attention to goings on in Canada unless it has something to do with their own country. Well, the Highway of Heroes, a portion of Highway 401 between Trenton and Toronto, Ontario, caught their attention. (The video is dated. As of this posting Canada has lost 133 soldiers in Afghanistan. You can see a listing of the losses here: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/afghanistan/casualties/list.html).

This portion of the highway got its name to pay tribute to Canada's fallen soldiers. Why this stretch of highway you may ask? Trenton, Ontario is the home of Canadian Forces Base Trenton, where Canada's military departs for and arrives from overseas deployments. When a Canadian soldier is killed overseas they are brought back here and then they are escorted to the Ontario Coroner's Office in Toronto.

Canada doesn't shy away from making these deaths public knowledge, and, with each death, they sadly announce when the soldier is going to make their final arrival back to Canada. To pay tribute to the loss the Canadian military holds a ramp ceremony and then the soldier is loaded into a hearse for the trip to Toronto. The hearse and the family then receive a police escort down Highway 401 all the way to the coroner's office in Toronto. Along the route many Canadians will line the highway and the bridges over the highway. Local police, firemen, and ambulances, along with vets from the Legion or The Army, Navy and Airforce veterans come out to salute the fallen. It doesn't matter what the weather is like, be it a hot sunny day or a cold rainy/snow filled day, they all come out to pay tribute.

WW I Vigil – A Time of Remembrance

2008-11-02T17:14:00.001-05:00

WW I happened a long time ago, but it is an event in history that should never be forgotten. It happened between 1914-1918. Back then Canada was a young nation, still very much tied to the British Commonwealth. It was clear right from the start, the fact that Britain was at war Canada too was at war.

Although our military was still small at the time, 3,100 men in the army and a fledgling navy, Canadians quickly volunteered to help defend the "Mother Country" and a force of 32,000 men gathered to train and cross the Atlantic. By the time the armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, a total of 619,636 men and women had served in the Canadian forces and of these 66,655 gave their lives and another 172,950 were wounded. Nearly one of every ten Canadians who fought in the war did not return.

Our veterans from this war are almost all gone, the last surviving vet is 108 years old. In honour of our fallen heroes, a vigil will take place at the Canadian War Memorial between Nov 4 - 11th. Each night, beginning at 5:15 pm and ending at sunrise the next day, lasting for 13 hours each night, the last names of our fallen will be streamed across the War Memorial. 9,700 names will be displayed each night. Besides Ottawa, the vigil will also take place in Newfoundland, Halifax, Fredericton, Toronto, Regina, Edmonton, Victoria, and London, UK, beginning at 5pm and running for 13 hours each night in each city. If you are unable to make it to one of the vigil locations you can also catch it live on the Internet at 1914-1918.ca.

I decided to use the site's search tool to find out if and when any Leafloor names would be displayed and found Sapper Arthur H. Leafloor of the Canadian Engineers, Service Number 2714538 died June 15, 1919 and his name will be displayed on Nov 7th at 11:49PM.
Using my Uncle Micheal Leafloor's Family History I have found that Arthur H Leafloor was my great-great Uncle. Athur H Leafloor was the forth son born to John Lafleur/Leafloor and Hellen Walker. John was my Great-Grandfather, father to my Grandfather Thomas Melborne Leafloor. Arthur is the second child that was registered with the surname Leafloor. Arthur was born 27 Aug 1898 and died at the age of 20 years, 9 months, 19 days on 15 June 1919. Arthur never married. Arthur received the British War Medal posthumously from the British Royal Family, which expressed Britain's gratitude for sacrificing his life in defense of the British people.

In honour of Arthur's service to our country, I will be making every effort possible to be at the National War Memorial on Nov 7th, dressed in my CF dress uniform, wearing my own medals, to salute my great-great Uncle.

Let us never forget those who gave their lives to fight for freedom and the way of life we all know and love.

Thanksgiving Long Weekend

2008-10-10T19:58:00.001-04:00

It's the Canadian Thanksgiving long weekend, probably the last descent long weekend for another year. The mornings are becoming cool and crispy, we even had a couple mornings with frost this week. The weatherman has smiled on us for the weekend and is forecasting sunshine with daytime temperatures of around 18 C. I'll be sure to get out there and enjoy it while I can.

Enjoy your turkey dinner, happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Government Says Killed Soldier Doesn't Merit Medal

2008-09-16T21:42:00.001-04:00

Father wonders why his fallen son doesn't merit Sacrifice Medal

CBC News

Master Cpl. Jeffrey Scott Walsh, 33, died on Aug. 9, 2006, while on patrol outside Kandahar. He was accidentally shot by a fellow soldier. Now a Regina man is asking why his son and other indirect casualties of war will not be awarded a new Sacrifice Medal to honour fallen soldiers.

To add insult to the injury of losing a son, when the father inquired about the medal, the Canadian government informed the father that soldiers accidentally killed do not qualify to receive the medal.

This means that out of the 97 soldiers that have been killed in action in Afghanistan to date, 13 of them will not receive the honour.

This policy is absolutely ludicrous and needs to be changed. It wasn't their choice to die in Afghanistan, they gave their life for Canada. All soldiers' families deserve compassion and understanding for the loss of a loved one. Each time a soldier is killed in Afghanistan we hear the government stand up in the House of Commons and say it was a tragic loss and that the soldiers died with honour. If they really mean what they say, they should show it to all by changing this policy for this medal.

Canadians should stand up and let their voice be heard, and write their MP if they disagree with this policy. When MP's come around looking for your vote in the coming election make sure you pass on your displeasure over this policy. With luck, if enough people complain to their MP's, perhaps they'll change the policy.

Fire in OC Transpo Bus.....Again

2008-09-01T12:54:00.001-04:00

Fire destroys OC Transpo bus

Fire destroys OC Transpo bus
Liam Casey, The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Monday, September 01, 2008

OTTAWA - A fire at OC Transpo's main depot left one bus completely destroyed and damaged the main building.

The fire began in the bus, which was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived at 7:08 p.m. The fire extended to a small portion of the adjacent building at 1500 St. Laurent Boulevard. Firefighters had it extinguished by 7:35 p.m.

No injuries were reported. Damage is estimated at $650,000 to the bus and $150,000 to the building. Twenty seven firefighters and 11 fire vehicles attended the blaze.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Blogger's comment: This is the second fire in an OC Transpo bus in a week. What's going on with our buses? Are we safe?

Off to see the Fireworks

2008-08-16T19:54:00.002-04:00

Everybody likes a good fireworks show, and I'm no exception. As luck would have it, just across the Ottawa River at the Casino du Lac Leamy in Gatineau, Quebec, they hold an annual fireworks competition during the first couple of weeks in August.
The competition is between four countries and runs Wed and Sat nights, with a grand finale at the end of the competition. This years show is between Russia, Italy, France and Spain. Russia won the show last year and last I heard they were in the lead for this year.
Each night, rain or clear night, one country puts on a half hour show and then at the grand finale each country gets another 10 minutes to show their stuff before a winner is finally announced. Before and after the show there is live music and other entertainment for everyone young and old to enjoy.
The Grand Finale is quite the show, with 4 countries lighting off a show and then the Casino putting on a show of its own to celebrate the completion of the competition.
The pictures above are from the show a couple of years ago. Sadly I won't be able to take any pictures this year because one of the chips inside my camera has gone on the fritz, but I'll still enjoy the show.
More information on Les Grands Feux du Casino du Lac Leamy can be found here: Casino du Lac Leamy Fireworks Competition

Editors update: What a show! This year's theme of the competition was "L'amour".

A perfect evening, relatively clear for a change and no rain to deal with. The competitors had to deal with a slight breeze, but other than that there were no drawbacks tonight. The breeze helped keep the mosquitoes away.

In the end Spain won the Zeus trophy this year. Along with that award they'll get the honour of being first up in next year's competition. Well done Spain, you put on a magnificent show.

They used an excellent combination of colors and what I would consider a unique combination of low, medium, and high altitude blasts. I think this is the first time I've ever seen a fireworks show that wasn't mostly high altitude shots in the air. The Lac Leamy fireworks are fired from a barge out in the middle of the lake. Although most of the competitors fire shots into the lake that ignite and glow on the lake surface, some of Spain's fireworks were shot out onto and over the lake surface and then ignited to burst just above the lake instead of high into the air.

The only complaint I have about the Grand Finale show is the 10 minute intermission between the end of the first part of the show where all four countries put on a final show and the second part of the show where they announce the winner of the competition and the casino puts on the Grand Finale. The competition only implemented this last year, where in previous years the judges voted before the Grand Finale, and the country that won got to put on the Grand Finale. I'm not sure how they can work around that as I understand the judges need time to make their final decision, but I've noted the last two years that a good number of people that come to see the finale, leave after the last country has put on its show, not realizing that there's still more to come. Something to keep in mind should you decide to take in the competition next year.

Is This Iraq? No, It's Toronto

2008-08-10T18:29:00.003-04:00

When first viewing this video you might think it was a scene from Iraq, but it's not. In the early hours of Sunday morning Toronto residents were woken up by a series of large explosions in the Keele and Wilson area. The explosions took place at the Sunshine Propane Industrial Gases distribution plant in the Wilson Ave. and Keele St. area, which is surrounded by residential neighborhoods. A 1.6 km area has been evacuated and traffic along Canada's busiest highway, the 401, has been shut down between Highway 400 and the 404 Don Valley Parkway. Fortunately there have been few injuries, but there has been at least one death, a 25 year veteran firefighter succumbed while fighting the fire, and one person is unaccounted for, believed to be the propane plant's truck dispatcher.

The situation has improved since the early hours, but there is still no word on when residents will be allowed back to their homes.

Another Darwin Award Winner

2008-07-24T16:06:00.001-04:00

Ont. man dies after trying to reconnect hydro himself

CBC News - Last Updated: Thursday, July 24, 2008 | 10:09 AM ET

A 46-year-old man was electrocuted by a 7,200-volt hydro line near Bancroft, Ont., after climbing a hydro pole Wednesday night.

The incident occurred on The Ridge Road in Wollaston Township, about 180 kilometres southwest of Ottawa, as the man was "attempting to turn on his hydro," Ontario Provincial Police reported.

He died of his injuries at the scene, police said.

OPP spokeswoman Tracey McDonald said it did not appear there was a power outage affecting other homes at the time of the incident.
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As sad as this is, it just goes to show you that Darwin still cleans up the gene pool. Who in their right mind climbs a hydro pole to connect their own power.

Montreal Police Get Scooters

2008-07-23T00:43:00.003-04:00

Montreal Police have a new vehicle on the streets. It's called a T3 Motion. It's a 3 wheeled, electric vehicle that looks like an upright scooter. The 3 wheelers can travel up to 40 kmh and costs the force about 10 cents in electricity a day. They produce no emissions and are relatively silent. They even come with snow tires, although the Montreal Police will not use them outside during the cold Canadian winter. Instead, they'll take them inside, into the shopping centers. During the summer you'll see them in downtown parks and streets, at festivals and special events.

Fun with Pictures

2008-07-17T16:29:00.002-04:00

Some may have seen in the news last week a picture where Iran test fired multiple missiles. Turns out the art department in Iran played around with the picture and added in an extra missile for effect.

This week Photoshoppers around the world have been doing a little playing around of their own. Think Iran will get the message or see the humour in this?

If I were Wile E., I'd be tunneling my way out of there in a hurry.

Man Claims he Found Knife in Sandwich

2008-07-16T17:15:00.003-04:00

NEW YORK - A man claims that he was nearly cut when he found a knife baked into the bun of a cold-cut 12-inch sandwich he bought at a Subway restaurant in New York City.

John Agnesini said he knew his lunch didn't taste right. The 27-year-old says he was horrified to find a 7-inch serrated blade in the bread.

Agnesini said it was protruding into the half of the sandwich he was about to start chomping on and that it "could've slashed" the side of his mouth.

Instead, he said he fell ill with "severe stomach issues" for hours after eating. He attributes it to food poisoning from the embedded blade.

Subway restaurants spokesman Kevin Kane said food safety and customer comments are taken "very seriously" and that the company is "investigating the facts."

Blog Editor comment:

Hmmm, something just doesn't sound right in this story. Man buys 12 inch sub, finds 7 inch knife inside. Any time I've bought a sub at Subway they've always cut the sub in half to make it easier to eat. Last time I checked half of 12 was 6, so if there was a 7 inch knife inside the loaf the guy preparing the sub would have found it.

Tech Support vs User

2008-06-28T14:26:00.001-04:00

I got a good chuckle out of this, hope you will too. It's a classic Tech Support vs User video.

Never mess with a tech support guy, they'll always win....lol Enjoy!

Do You Know This Person?

2007-12-08T17:58:00.000-05:00

Saw this video on Facebook and laughed so hard. I thought I'd share it with you.

Highway of Heroes

2007-08-24T00:37:00.000-04:00

As of Aug 23rd Canada announced its 69th death of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan CTV - Two Quebec Soldiers Killed a movement is growing to rename a 172km/107 mile stretch of Canada's busiest highway, Highway 401 in south-eastern Ontario between Trenton and Toronto. CNews - Ontario to dedicate Highway of Heroes in honour of soldiers felled in Afghanistan

As noted in this news article Osprey Media - Northumberland Today - Highway of Heroes: Let’s make it official, each time a Canadian soldier who has died overseas, they are brought back to Canada to the base at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Trenton and then taken to Toronto, where an official autopsy is performed. To get there they travel in a motorcade convoy, complete with an official police escort along Highway 401. Lately police, fire department, ambulance personnel and ordinary Canadians have been lining the bridges over the Highway 401 route whenever one of these processions take place to show their respect, pay tribute, and honour the fallen soldiers and their families with one final salute. It doesn't matter what the weather is like, be it sunny, rainy, or snowy, people come out.

If you would like to sign the official petition, please visit this site Petition the Ontario Ministry of Transportation to Rename Highway 401

Editor's Note: It's official, MTO has renamed the stretch of highway.

The Internet Crashed

2007-08-18T03:11:00.000-04:00

Have you seen the news? Reports are coming in that the Internet crashed. Watch this news report

Video courtesy http://www.glumbert.com

Humour, not to be taken seriously

Happy New Year!

2006-12-31T10:53:00.000-05:00

As 2006 winds down we look back on a year where the Canadian death toll in Afghanistan reached 45, weather was crazy but spared us another disastrous hurricane season, Saddam Hussein was hanged for Crimes against Humanity, Former President Gerald Ford passed away, James Brown (the Godfather of Sole) died, and Canadians elected a new Conservative Prime Minister. To see a fairly comprehensive look at the year gone by visit Wikipedia One of the best things to happen to me this year was that I met a girl and fell head over heels for her.

Melanie, should you happen to be reading this: "Bonne année mon amour. Vous remplissez ma vie avec le bonheur et signifiez le monde à moi mon chéri. Je regarde en avant à beaucoup plus de bonheur dans le nouvel an et vous souhaite la bonne santé, la beaucoup de richesse, et tout le bonheur dans le monde!" That's a rough translation to french for Happy New Year my love. You fill my life with happiness and mean the world to me my darling. I look forward to much more happiness in the new year and wish you good health, much wealth, and all the happiness in the world.

Wishing you all the very best in 2007, may the New Year find you healthy, wealthy, and wise.

Finally Got An Answer on Afghanistan

2006-12-17T00:20:00.000-05:00

Well I finally got an answer from the chain of command after waiting for a month on whether or not I am going to Afghanistan and I'm happy to announce that I will NOT be going. Talk about a nice Christmas present.

In celebration I'm posting this video from the Trans Siberian Orchestra. Click the play button to watch the video. Merry Christmas one and all!

Christmas Eve Sarajevo 12 24 Video - Trans Siberian Orchestra lyrics

Trans Siberian Orchestra Music Video Codes

Music Video Codes by VideoCure

Free Layouts

Still No News

2006-11-14T19:39:00.000-05:00

Oh how the chain of command likes to keep a person guessing. It's getting close to 2 weeks now since I was told that my name was being passed up to the CO for a decision on a deployment to Afghanistan in February and still no word on what his decision was.

Should I consider no news as good news or should I take a chance and start bugging the chain of command for an answer with the possibility that they could end up thinking "Boy, he must really want to go so we'll send him." The way I look at it right now is that the longer there isn't an answer, the less likely that they are going to send me because there is a bunch of pre-deployment training I'd have to do and there is less and less time for me to do it.

Keeping my fingers crossed that I won't be going. I'll let you know if I hear anything.

A Telling Video

2006-11-12T20:00:00.000-05:00

Recently I had a chance to attend a James Blunt concert here in Ottawa. One of the songs he performed was called "No Bravery", a song that he had written while he was peacekeeping in the British Army in Kosovo in 1999. Kosovo is a country in Europe on the border of Bosnia and experienced its own war between Serbian and Yugoslavian forces from 1996 - 1999. I spent 6 months peacekeeping in Bosnia myself during the winter of 2001 so I know of the things he had seen when he had been in Kosovo. Peacekeeping can be a demanding job at times, witnessing the horrors of war, but it can also be very rewarding when you see the improvements.

I'm going to try to post this video of "No Bravery" that I found on the Internet, hopefully it works. It's James Blunt in concert singing No Bravery and playing a video that he made while he had been in Kosovo. Watch his eyes, you can almost see the pain of the things he's seen.

Here are the lyrics: From the album "Back To Bedlam" - No Bravery

There are children standing here
Arms outstretched into the sky,
Tears drying on their face.
He has been here.
Brothers lie in shallow graves.
Fathers lost without a trace.
A nation blind to their disgrace,
Since he's been here.

And I see no bravery,
No bravery in your eyes anymore.
Only sadness.
And I see no bravery,
No bravery in your eyes anymore.
Only sadness. Only sadness.

Houses burnt beyond repair.
The smell of death is in the air.
A woman weeping in despair says,
He has been here.
Tracer lighting up the sky.
It's another families' turn to die.
A child afraid to even cry out says,
He has been here.

And I see no bravery,
No bravery in your eyes anymore.
Only sadness.
And I see no bravery,
No bravery in your eyes anymore.
Only sadness. Only sadness.

There are children standing here,
Arms outstretched into the sky,
But no one asks the question why,
He has been here.
Old men kneel and accept their fate.
Wives and daughters cut and raped.
A generation drenched in hate.
Yes, he has been here.

And I see no bravery,
No bravery in your eyes anymore.
Only sadness.
And I see no bravery,
No bravery in your eyes anymore.
Only sadness. Only sadness.

Things on My Mind

2006-11-12T18:55:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I posted here but I have some things on my mind. Here I am posting about Afghanistan. For those who have read my profile you know that I'm in the military, been in it for 22 years now, and I've seen my fair share of troubled places. I've enjoyed my time in the service and have gotten a chance to see parts of the world I may not have ever seen had I not joined the military.

I last did a tour in 2003 when Canada decided to go back to Afghanistan for a second time. I spent 2 months there providing a communications link back to Canada for the rest of the troops that were there building a camp in Kabul in preparation for the rest of the Canadian troops to come over. Things were fairly quiet for the most part, the Taliban hadn't been doing much in the first month that I was there. During the second month we experienced our first major disturbance and I'll never forget that day. I had been working the midnight shift and having finished the shift I headed for my tent to catch some rack time before the heat of the day came on. About an hour and a half after falling asleep I wake up to the sound of a very loud explosion. I wait to hear the attack siren and PA system come alive with an announcement to head for the bunkers, but it never comes. The heat is starting to build, it's already around 20 Celsius under the canvas, so I go back to sleep to catch a few more hours before the heat becomes unbearable. Waking up around noon, the temperature under the canvas now up to around 35 Celsius and impossible to sleep anymore, I get up and head for a shower before going to the mess hall for lunch. There's a fair amount of activity in the camp, but then it's mid-day, so I don't think much about it. After grabbing a bite to eat I head for our Internet shop to get some online time. The Internet shop is near our medical section and it's then that I realize what's going on as I note several foreign soldiers with crutches and bandages. To confirm my thoughts I ask around and find out that the explosion I had heard earlier was a bus load of German soldiers getting hit by a suicide bomber about a mile away from the camp. Some of the wounded had been brought to the camp to receive medical attention. The unfortunate Germans had been heading for the airport to catch their flight home after completing their tour.

That was the biggest incident to happen in the short time that I had been there, but that was enough of an incident to firmly put in my mind that I didn't want to be there. Sad to say as I've always believed that Canada can help other countries and people in need, and have always been happy to be somewhere helping a country and its people rebuild itself. Afghanistan and it's people do need the help, but their people have got to do more for themselves as well. The country is desolated from decades of war. Streets are in very poor condition and few are paved. Buildings still bear the scars of bullets and bombs. Driving is a challenge as cars, trucks, military vehicles, animals and people all share the road. Pollution is rampant, the air thick with smoke and dust, the rivers are no more than creeks full of rotting garbage and rusting vehicles. Almost everyone who goes there ends up getting sick at one time or another. I spent a day and a half sedated in sick bay during my third week there because I got sick (no, I didn't eat any of the local food or drink any of the local water).

So why am I writing about this now, 3 years after it happened? Well, I've been asked twice in the last couple months if I wanted to go to Afghanistan. My answer to that was a resounding no, I did not want to go back again. It appears that wasn't the answer they were looking for as on Friday afternoon (Nov 3) I got a call at home ( I had finished working a midnight shift that morning) from my Chief telling me that my name had gone forward to the CO for a tour that takes place in February. I should know more on Wednesday (Nov 8) whether or not I will be going.

I originally did this post over at MySpace. It's early Thursday morning now and I'm still waiting to hear anything. I have to hope that the old saying "no news is good news". Keeping my fingers crossed.

Moon Phases

2005-06-21T00:32:00.000-04:00

CURRENT MOON
moon phases

2005-06-21T00:24:00.000-04:00

Hello to all who stop in to my little corner. I hope you'll like what I've done to the place.