Monday, October 18, 2004

Canada Rocks!

Canada had the third largest navy in the world. Canadians have always answered their country’s call and have struck decisive blows for liberty and freedom from Vimy Ridge to the beaches of Normandy and beyond. Now, our forces are reduced to begging for basic equipment before humanitarian deployments. The Toronto Star reports:

Canadian troops sent to Haiti earlier this year on a peacekeeping mission were left "prodding and begging" for basic equipment, according to an internal defence department report obtained by Canadian Press.

The report examines the deployment of about 500 Canadian troops as part of Operation Halo — a U.S.-led mission to restore calm after a three-week rebellion prompted then-Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide to flee the troubled Caribbean country. The soldiers and equipment were airlifted to Haiti from Canadian Forces Base Gagetown in New Brunswick.

The report, obtained under the federal Access to Information Act, identifies a shortage of operational equipment including ballistic plates, fragmentary vests, tan safety boots and even protective latex gloves.
Alas, Canadians should not give way to despair for there are still champions among us:

A 34-year-old man from Burlington, Ont., is the 2004 Rock Paper Scissors champion of the world. Lee Rammage claimed the title on Saturday in Toronto, along with $7,000 in prize money.

He says being up on stage with the crowd chanting was intimidating at times but he kept his focus and pulled it off.

"It was pretty intimidating a couple of times because you get down a few hands, and you're thinking, 'Man, I can't believe I've gone this far and I might lose,' '' he said.

The rules of the childhood game are very simple: rock is a fist, paper is done with your palm facing down and your hand out flat and scissors is a fist with your index and middle finger extended.

Before a match, which is always best-of-three, players must first shake and retract their fist toward each other three times before delivering their throw.
As for who wins, it's simple: paper beats rock, rock beats scissors, scissors beats paper.

Our Prime Minister should immediately challenge the Danes to a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors for sovereignty over the North Pole.


1 comment:

Andrew said...

Thanks for that - the last line gave me a good laugh. :)