Is It Really Over When Its Over?

Ask yourself whether the dream of heaven and greatness should be waiting for us in our graves - or whether it should be our here and now and on this earth. Ayn Rand (1905-1982)

A lot of people are raised with the impression if you're good you go to heaven and if you're bad you go to hell. What we've been told about the garden of delights, it is a wonderful, marvelous and perfect Kingdom. Individuals experience such feelings like bliss, ecstasy, joy and paradise every day for the remainder of their new lives.

However, there is a slight problem with that notion. The complication being no one has returned to enlighten us with their adventure. Is it hearsay and overplay or accurate as well as the absolute truth. Maybe when you pass away people go into a deep sleep and never wake up. I'll get back to that in a moment.

According to the internet it's estimated 5.8 billion or 84% of the world's population is associated with a religious group with Christianity holding top spot.

As I have stated before I'm agnostic. I believe Charles Darwin's (1809-1888) theory. Simply stated, his view is species gradually change and diversify over generations. It's difficult for me to believe the Adam and Eve story. I find it even harder to accept Adam's age when he died. One record said 930 years old. Another one stated 130 years old. There is no record of Eve's age when she passed on. But I did read Moses lived to be 120 years old.

I also have difficulty accepting Bible stories, for example Noah's Ark, Jonah and the Whale, Daniel In The Lions Den and Moses paring the Red Sea.

Regarding life after death, I strongly believe the entire universe, especially the stars, play a major role just like climate change. If you have been a decent and honest person you'll be transported to your most favourite as well as enjoyable time in your first life, in addition it will last forever.

At our age (I'm 71 years old) our ships are sinking. I workout at the gym five days a week (Mon.-Fri.). I've met a lot of neighbourly folks while I have exercised. One fellow always complains to me while he's on the stationary bike. Without fail he says, "I hate doing the bike. It's the worst 15 minutes of my life." Like clockwork I reply, "Be thankful you can do the bike. All your body parts are functioning very well."

Another tale I lack faith in is the second coming of Christ. "They" have been predicting his return for 2000 years. Without a doubt it would be fantastic if he did make an appearance fixing everything and making a perfect world but...

I used to think why our education system didn't teach us about death while we were enrolled in high school. Finally I realized everybody deals with death in their own way.

Epilogue

I'll leave you folks with this final segment. Another fabulous quote from the brilliant 1986 movie titled "Platoon". Rhah (Francesco Quinn 1963-) is talking to his fellow G.I.'s and says, "Elias didn't ask you to fight his battles for him. And if there's a heaven and God, I hope there is, I know he's sitting up there drunk as a fucking monkey and smoking shit because he done left his pains down here."

The End

The Harvenut Puritan Project

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In Years Gone By

"Cities are everywhere in decline. Trade, industry and agriculture bend under the weight of taxation." -- Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

WHO YOU GONNA CALL? Certainly not politicians. For over six- and one-half decades I have resided in Hamilton, Ontario. During a period of time (1970's, 1980's and early 1990's) it was a fairly decent place to live as well as work. For my short time (six years) I was a Firefighter for the once Ambitious City (refers to one of Hamilton's nicknames). I was very proud of the metropolis and dedicated to my job.

The city was mainly prospering and flourishing in the 70's and 80's. Even though inflation was high, Steel Town was developing and progressing. Economically it was suitable for most people. Groceries, consumer goods, alcohol and tobacco had reasonable prices. There were plenty of jobs and crime was held to a minimum. Unfortunately, some big companies permanently closed their doors such as Hoover Suction Sweeper - 1972, Canadian Canners - 1986 and Otis Elevator - 1987. International Harvester as well as Susan Shoes Industries permanently folded in 1992 and 1994 respectively.

More upsetting was the closure of downtown department stores like Graftons - 1973, The Right House - 1983, Robinsons - 1983, Zellers - 1988, Woolworths - 1990 and Kresges - 1999. Customers were in their heyday shopping at those stores. Supposedly the reasons for the stores closing were the high dollar, high energy prices and overseas competition. So sad. Do we blame the government? I think so.

Back in the 1960's Hamilton City Council developed an urban renewal project to revitalize the downtown area. Little did they know it would be the beginning of the end for the core. It started with the opening of Jackson Square in 1972 followed by the Stelco Tower in 1973. Standard Life Office Tower in 1983. Copps Coliseum along with the Sheraton Hotel in 1985. Employment was wonderful, especially in the construction sector.

Meanwhile back to this day and age, our "beloved" and "adored" Mayor Andrea Horwath always describes Steel Town as a vibrant city. Excuse me for almost vomiting. I'm very interested to find out what city she is actually talking about. The Hammer is far from lively, sparkling and dynamic. Okay, I did read she now lives in Burlington, Ontario. Now it all comes together. Our "treasured leader" must be referring to Burlington.

The Spectator (Hamilton's Newspaper) had a disturbing and depressing article titled "Our City Is Basically Dying. How do we stop downtown Hamilton's progress from unravelling" on Aug. 29/24. The story described Steel Town becoming a truly dismal and dangerous city. Harassment of shop owners, panhandling, drug use, including break and enters at stores are constant as well as increasing.

Of course we can't forget about the murders, shootings and stabbings that have started to plague The Hammer. One of many comments at the end of the feature was stated by a woman who said she was never afraid of being in the core in the 70's and 80's. She also added, now the city is a shell of it's former self. It's truly sad and disappointing.

It's been indicated many times the core is driving people away. It started to decline in the mid 1990's. I'm one of those individuals that refuse to travel downtown unless it's absolutely necessary. It's been more than a few years since I use to journey to the Hamilton Farmers Market at Jackson Square, Starpolski's Delicatessen at Barton and Ruth St. along with Pane Del Sole Bakery on John Street North. I would visit each location at least six times a year. Now, no more. See you later, goodbye and farewell. I have permanently faded out.

I would like to reveal one more fact and comment before I wrap this up. The city blunderers have reduced our fire protection since the 1990's. It's disgraceful, unsafe and completely unacceptable.

At any given time, there are three senior officers located throughout the city. Each officer also had a driver. But guess what? If you answered not anymore? You win the cigar. However, that was only the start of the feather brain politicians' cutbacks. The elimination of various apparatus would follow. Cars 6, 8, 11, Arieal Truck 111, Snorkel 106, Pump 2 and Rescue 9 were placed out of commission. The shameful task was performed through attrition. Seven less vehicles and twenty less firefighters on each of the four shifts to handle emergencies. Unquestionably disgusting and inexcusable.

Epilogue`11

I have lost total delight for the city I once admired, appreciated and liked. For me it was very disturbing and upsetting watching Steel Town go down the toilet over the years. It's changed so much. WHY did this happen? HOW did this happen? I think it's quite obvious.

The End
The Harvenut Puritan Project

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Mindbender Syndrome

The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which to burn. - David Russell

Have you ever wondered about the choices you have made in life. I'm willing to bet five will get you ten everyone has produced at least one mistake. It's human nature and no one is perfect. Perhaps some misjudgments seemed minor while other bad ideas were very critical. Either way we are not flawless. That is reality.

One of many outstanding, superb and fantastic lines in the 1986 Academy Award Winner movie "Platoon" is when Staff Sgt. Barnes (Tom Berenger 1949-) says "I am reality. There's the way it ought to be. And there's the way it is. Reality is the absolute real world and life."

I had two goals my concluding days of high school. One was become a firefighter for the City of Hamilton, Ontario (I'll get back to that in a moment) and the other was to be Head Coach for a Senior Secondary School football team also in Hamilton. I did accomplish both objectives but they weren't what I expected. The 1969 song titled "Is That All There Is" by Peggy Lee is very relevant and meaningful.

Timing is an enormous component not just in sports but also in our movie of existence and survival. Occasionally people have second thoughts after they have implemented decisions but sometimes it's too late. I've experienced those circumstances more than a few times.

What if my E.A. (Executive Assistant) decided to permanently reside in Youngstown, Ohio with her ex-husband and not return to Hamilton.

What if a long-time friend of mine elected to remain at Dupont in Kingston, Ontario as a technician instead of resigning in his early years.

What if another long-time friend gave a different answer at his final interview for the Metropolitan Toronto Police Dept. circa 1974. Chances are because of his reply he wasn't hired.

What if Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) was accepted into the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, Austria in 1907 or 1908 as an artist.

Speaking of interviews, I was fresh out of high school when I had an interview in the final stage of the hiring procedure for the Hamilton, Ontario Fire Dept. in the fall of 1973. The Deputy Chief asked me, "What are your strong qualities?" I replied, "I'm easy going and get along with people." He then asked, "What are your weak features?" I hesitated for a couple of seconds and answered, "My mother says I don't have any patience."

DUH! What a fucking idiot. Did I ever blow it. Obviously, I was never hired. I have always pondered, what if I would've responded with something less stupid and lame brained. I didn't shoot myself in the foot. I blew my head off. However, after two more attempts I was finally hired in 1981.

What if I continued to date my first girlfriend while enrolled in Grade 11 at Westmount Secondary School instead of dumping her and giving no reason. I was a self-centered, selfish jerk.

What if my biological parents decided to raise me as their son and not give me up for adoption.

In 1983 I had a date with a beautiful and very attractive mid-twentyish lady who worked at my bank as a customer service representative. Let's call her Kelly. Meanwhile that was her real name. We went out for dinner (I can't remember where) but nothing transpired into a future relationship. Every so often I wonder, what if we had connected?

What if I didn't go to Kelsey's Roadhouse for a few beers on the Friday summer night in 1984 when I met my ex-wife.

What if I didn't quit the Hamilton Fire Dept. as a first-class firefighter in August of 1987? Quite often I think deeply what if I would've stayed on the job? It was definitely and unquestionably the worst decision or choice (call it what you want) I have every made.

Epilogue

As you can see, I'm a soul-searcher. Over the years I've reflected on more than a few incidents in my life. Maybe a lot of folks are in that similar situation. I will wrap things up and close on this note. A part of me will always wonder "WHAT IF?"

The End
The Harvenut Puritan Project

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Finally

It's About Time

"Politicians are the lowest form of life on earth...Democrats are the lowest form of politicians." -- George S. Patten (1885-1945)

Just to clarify, Democrats are Liberals.

Most Liberals are extremely dangerous to humanity and communities. The great pretender Justin (please take my picture) Trudeau was at the top of his mob.

I never thought I'd see the day our embarrassing, shameful and nauseating juvenile Prime Minister would resign. I honestly thought he'd never retire because the foolish "little boy" was too self-loving and full of himself. Without a doubt he has created a state of turmoil in Canada.

Sure, he established numerous new jobs if you can call government jobs beneficial to the tax payer. Our youngster implemented Canada's Child Benefit and also reinforced Canada's National Dental Plan. That's fine and dandy, but do the Canadian people realize our country has a deficit of $62 billion and our national debt is $1.4 trillion which snowballs more than $100 million every day.

According to an article by the N.D.P. (New Democratic Party) on May 4/23 it stated our vain adolescent "leader" promised every Canadian would have a doctor in his 2015 campaign. Yeah right. Six million are still looking. Our swindler also pledged affordable housing. Meanwhile the cost of a home has doubled. The con artist also guaranteed clean drinking water. Another tall tale. Thirty-two water advisories were still in effect in twenty-eight communities when this feature was posted.

What this big-headed creature hasn't achieved is dangerous, harmful and violent to our Canadian society than ever before.

His immigration policy and how he ignored the problems at various Canada-U.S. Borders is appalling.

His disgusting disregard for criminal activity and their violent behavior is absolutely frightful. His soft (and I stress soft) on crime attitude is horrendous.

The deceiver's entire neglect on our justice system is also horrifying.

The trickster should have judges elected by the tax payers.

You should all know by now Liberals enjoy taxing people. More proof of that is the crook's Carbon and Capital Gains Tax.

The homeless and poverty situation is a total catastrophe. It's never been so devastating.

After a lot of persuasion, the scammer did increase our armed forces budget a little-bitty.

The Youth Criminal Justice Act (the old Young Offenders Act) is a fucking joke. It should be exterminated, annihilated and extinguished forever! These delinquents truly get away with murder.

Why didn't this shady character lower the costs of cell phones? According to an article on the CBC Jan. 13/23 Canadians pay the highest cell phone rates in the world. Our TV fees are undoubtedly outrageous. Bell and Shaw Direct (Rogers,) are nothing more than scammers also. Our telecommunications needs less limits and more competition to eliminate these monopolies.

Epilogue

I'm optimistic the G.T.A. (Greater Toronto Area) have finally sobered up as well as come to their senses and decided not to vote Liberal. However, you never know which way the wind is blowing with the Canadian electorate. One last thing I must say. When the dishonorable shyster finally leaves the Prime Minister's Office, I hope the door slams his ass!

GOOD RIDDANCE! FOREVER!

The End
The Harvenut Puritan Project

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Bring On The Festivities

Hello folks. Puritan here. Hope everyone is doing well.

Once again it's the Yuletide season. I've been unproductive since my last rant back in March. A significant factor was I had right knee replacement surgery on June 8th. I'm still in recovery mode but progressing in a positive manner slowly but surely. Putting it mildly the ordeal was one hell of an adventure.

My Executive Assistant (E.A.) conducted an awesome, sensational, extraordinary and outstanding job looking after me. She was caring, sympathetic and selfless...like a Florence Nightingale. A superior caregiver.

Anyway, it's very sad to say the world continues to worsen in mayhem and chaos with no cure on the horizon. When we talk about our own backyard the asinine politicians are, well let's just say, hopeless and pathetic. Hamilton as usual is totally mismanaged and crippled. Ontario is completely negligent and mutilated. Then we have Canada which is an absolute embarrassment and truly butchered. Again, there is no resolution for the illogical idiocy. All we can do is try to survive.

Let's try to forget the turmoil and misery and concentrate on this magnificent time of the year. Enjoy the celebrations such as festivals, Xmas movies and decorations. Most of all relish and adore family as well as friends. Let's not forget about the Christmas cheer and delicious food that makes this time of year so special.

So folks, from my E.A. and myself have a Wonderful Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

The End

The Harvenut Puritan Project

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Toxic Behaviour

The old idea of putting crude sewage into water is now pretty generally discountenanced. Toronto Sanitary Inspector Robert Awde 1896

Prelude

Now and again, when people talk about sewage, some folks are referring to certain politicians. Funny, they both coexist and are well-matched. However, in this rant, I'm dealing with actual sewage. I won't dwell on the waste industries pollution, instead I'll comment on the sewage municipalities discard without any thought of health and safety to the public as well as contaminating the environment. Hard to believe, isn't it? But sadly, it's the truth. Damn sickening.

According to an article in GKP.6 Today.com on Feb. 27/20 Canada has dumped 900 billion litres of raw sewage into the country's waterways since 2013. We all know raw sewage consists of harmful and extremely unhealthy bacteria such as E.coli, flesh eating disease, Hepatitis A as well as Hepatitis C. It sounds like one of Quebec's favourite pastimes is dumping raw sewage into their waterways. On Oct. 23/15 CBC News reported one hundred municipalities from La Bell Province regularly discharge their raw sewage into waterways without treatment or filtration. On Oct. 8/16 CBC News revealed Montreal was planning to dump 8 billion litres of sewage into the St. Lawrence River… I believe they accomplished their goal. The Antarctic newspaper stated on Dec. 21/22 Montreal was once again going to dump 2 billion gallons of raw sewage into it's drinking water.

Then we have Hamilton, Ontario. I've lived there for 66 years. At one time, "The Hammer" was a fairly decent place to live. But for the past twenty plus years, the city has gone down the toilet…no pun intended. Most members of City Council (past and present) have incompetence glittering off their bodies. At times they are truly unconscious ignoramuses. They attempt to manage a city, but the majority couldn't operate a laundromat. The bulk of high-priced bureaucrats who impersonate middle and senior management are also blundering airheads. As in any government regime, it leaves a lot and I mean a lot to be desired.

Some people say Hamilton is known for their waterfalls. That could be true, but lately the settlement has been notorious for many raw sewage leaks that have been discovered. Back in 2018 our "magnificent" city managers noticed raw sewage leaking into Chedoke Creek. They estimated 24 billion litres had been discharged for over four years. In October 2021 353 million litres of wastewater spilled into Hamilton Harbour. Of course our "brilliant officials" blamed the release on rain and surprising enough an equipment failure. Then we have this doozy and sickening incident. In 2023 Hamilton Water Department stated 337 million litres of wastewater discharged into Hamilton Harbour for 27 years.

Remember Sheila Copps. If you don't, it's not significant. She was a M.P. (Member of Parliament) for the Federal riding of Hamilton East from 1984-2004. In 1994 Ms. Copps decided to take a swim in Hamilton Harbour. She was equipped with a snorkel and fins. Her outfil was a heavy duty, thick rubber scuba suit. The reason for her conduct was part of a cleanup program. Sheila said she was actually swimming in shit.

On Nov. 24/20 CBC News reported a different type of discharge. Our "city brains" discovered two leaks, losing nearly one-half a million litres of drinking water a day. Staff refused to say how long (a big secret) it had been going on but "officials" described the leak as fairly substantial. No wonder our water rates constantly increase at high levels year after year. Could it be our bungling and inferior city administrators?

Throughout the years we've seen on numerous occasions Southern Ontario beaches closed due to elevated E.coli and other deadly bacteria. The Health Department claims the cause is excessive rainwater that carries pollution from storm drains to natural swimming areas. I'm inclined to agree with that statement, BUT, what happens to all the raw sewage. Does it evaporate and vanish, never to be seen again?

Epilogue

The politicians and health officials seem to be very carefree about this problem. In my opinion, they don't seem to give a damn. The stuffed shirts and media continue to paint a dismal and grim destiny of the effects of climate change but appear to accept this repulsive form of horrendous contamination of our ecosystem. Once again, our "leaders" thought process is upside down and ass-backwards. Extremely shameful and disgusting. I think we would all agree with George Carlin (1932-2008) when he said, "Why do they bother saying raw sewage. Do some people actually cook that stuff?"

The End

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A Message from the Editor

How to Make a Youtube Video, by Hans Wienhold

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Try To Have A Merrymaking Time

Traditions touch us, they connect us and they expand us...Rita Barreto Craig (age unknown)

Hello folks. Once again that time of year has reached our lives. Unfortunately, 2022 was filled with grim and depressing events such as our health care system. In simple terms it's destroyed and beyond repair. Inflation was born again and the WuFlu (Covid-19) still lingers amongst us. Homelessness appears to be escalating. Our absurd justice system keeps becoming more senseless and illogical. Our little boy who tries so hard to be Prime Minister continues to waste our money (over $1 billion on his G-20 journey) and as usual acts like a fool.

The Nazi Christmas Bashers relentlessly try to make our Christmas traditions obsolete. Tim Allen's new Christmas movie titled "The Santa Clauses" received flak because the customary phrase Merry Christmas was mentioned instead of Happy Holidays. As far as I'm concerned, these Nazis should be placed in exile. Why can't people just sit back and enjoy the festive season rather than being assholes. Face it, that's all they are...fucking assholes.

I hope everyone can find some time and forget about the extreme mess the country and world are in. Enjoy your Yuletide decorations, enjoy the food and drink (remember please don't drink and drive). Most of all enjoy your family and friends. Celebrate the jolly time. It's time to relax, chill-out, unwind and try to appreciate what we have. We still have some things to be thankful for.

So from my E.A. (Executive Assistant) and myself have a wonderful and joyous festive season.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

The End

The Harvenut Puritan Project
Puritan will return in 2023

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