Lest We Forget: Vimy Ridge

Vimy Ridge defined Canada as a nation. Here is a poem I wrote in honour of that great battle and the men who fell there.

 

09 April 2017

100th Anniversary of the Battle for Vimy Ridge

Canada’s Birth by Fire

 

 

 

The Ridge

Reflection’s wise. Its true insight flies

Throughout our minds and forever binds us

To eternal life that is devoid of strife

Just peaceful thoughts, not restless, nor caught

Into that web of war to tread

Not normalcy! Pure madness bred our way to be

Yet as one we brand an ancestral land

As our spirits rise to embrace God’s sky

And shed away our fears.

 –

Our thoughts of home as our mothers roam

Among our graves, their faces brave

To the sadness here of men with fear

Yet for our nation’s prayers we died out there

For a home sweet home, dear Canada

That knowledge bears a passion… flares

Within our hearts, to love; to shove

Our fears aside and run in stride

To get away from there

– 

Over top we’d go in whistled throes

That plundered us within gun sight foes

Such madness…crushed, our brothers flush

With abject fear with those guns so near

We’d pray in silence for our leader’s guidance

For in them we trust and as Canucks we thrust

So far ahead though we walked with dread

With the barrage we shudder, our blanket cover

Oh God we’re scared.

– 

The earth it shakes… please mothers take us

Into your arms and away from harm

We’d fall in silence…no pride in violence

We looked ahead for behind ’s our dead

Their faces seared, no longer feared

Just a darkness now with thoughts that bow

To a light that’s gone, forever done

For now it seems our passion stream

Is ebbing some for our time has come

–

We fought for glory, each life a story

With silent breath we faced cruel death

Our youthful brash ‘gainst madness, crashed

Into the mud, the cold, the blood

That Ridge has been a horror scene

A Ridge that bears our lives and shares

Blood curdling chills, then silence… killed

And down we go with our cries now still

Just silent prayers to loved ones shared…so far from there

 –

The death knell rings for our lives and brings

A peace you share from that Ridge out there

Is a peace we paved to our silent graves

And a peace we share in God’s love’s lair

We were men of arms, a brotherhood

And beyond that Ridge, your nationhood

With souls set free our spirits now see

Just peaceful lands and a national brand…your nation‘s free!

Yet horrendous loss this madness cost…Canadians!

–

Please…remember us

Here is the anthem that those men fought under:

Combined with this:

And today:

Never forget and never let wokeness scuttle our great heritage.

Check out my books at: www.johnmorrisonauthor.com (or .ca)

SJ….Out

Liberal Government Is A Joke

This Liberal government is a joke. They have to be voted out.

Earlier this month, the Canadian Armed Forces issued a directive that prohibits chaplains from reciting religious prayers and mentioning God during official public functions and ceremonies, including Remembrance Day. Veteran Tom Marazzo joined True North’s Andrew Lawton to discuss the implications of this directive, and its impact on the traditions and values that many veterans hold dear.

My father, a veteran of the second world war, is rolling in his grave at the moment.

As for me? Is this why I served for 37 years in the RCN?

Shame.

          Souda Bay, Crete

Margraten war cemetery, Norman Lapensohn. | Frank de Kleine | FlickrMargraten, The Netherlands

A great movie. They do not make them like this anymore. The theme song is great but I challenge anyone to get it out of their head after listening to it:

By the way, a true story but there were no Americans who took part in the escape. Only British, Canadian, some Polish, Dutch, Norwegian, Australians, New Zealanders and others. 50 of the escapees were murdered by the Nazis.

Out Of Touch With Reality

Biden and his staff are completely out of touch with reality:

On Wednesday, the White House announced a “National Strategy to Counter Islamophobia,” the necessity of which, is that Muslims endure a disproportionate number of “hate-fueled attacks and other discriminatory incidents.”

Wait a minute here:

Last year set a record in the US for anti-Jewish hate crimes, breaking the previous record that was set the year before. Since the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, antisemitism has erupted in our cities and on campuses, this time with the imprimatur and cooperation of the identitarian (sic) left.

Of course, not to be outdone by those dastardly Americans, Canada doubles down on fighting so called Islamophobia:

According to the CBC…“The evidence is clear. Islamophobia is an acute threat to Canadian Muslims and urgent action is needed,” Sen. Salma Ataullahjan, chair of the Senate human rights committee, told reporters Thursday.

“We must commit to building a more inclusive country and to better promoting our Muslim relatives and friends, neighbours and colleagues.”

But for Canadians of Jewish origin and heritage? Hmmm…not so much.

Canada, and the Liberal Prada CBC, are also a way out of touch with reality.

CBC’s top official is standing by the state broadcaster’s erroneous reporting on a Gaza hospital attack (by the IDF) that never happened.

“I will not apologize because our journalism is among the finest in the world,” CBC CEO Catherine Tait told Conservative MPs Thursday. “Our journalists operate in an independent fashion independent of management, independent of the board of directors and independent of government and political influence.”

Just a few weeks back reporters were directed by supervisory staff at CBC that they could not refer to HAMAS as terrorists! So there CBC. So much for independent reporting. She and the CBC, and the Liberal government, are way out of touch. They must think we are stupid.

This is what Canadians are paying $1.4 B dollars for.

Hey, maybe we are….stupid.

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So, you are going to buy an EV huh? Shocking!

Electric Vehicle Charging Sparks Multiple House Fires - Climate Change Dispatch

Insurance rates on EVs and houses that store them are soaring. Soon to be uninsurable.

That’s okay, say our dear leaders. We will force them to insure them just like we will force Canadians to buy EVs or have no cars at all.

Those insurance rates, coupled with the cost of EV repairs, have made the expensive automobiles almost exclusively a luxury product.

“But…but, we don’t want EVs…”so say Canadian consumers. “We don’t care what you want plebes, you are going to get them whether you want them or not…” so says our Canadian Prime Minister.

What ever happened to accountability. Oh yeah, Canada’s Supreme Court ruled that there are no legal requirements for politicians to represent their constituents or adhere to their needs or wants.

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In all my travels in Europe these past two months: Spain, Portugal, Crete and the Netherlands, I never saw a single EV. But here on Vancouver Island? Hundreds of Teslas and other models. You see them everyday. And it is you, dear plebe taxpayer who are subsidizing them.

Oh yeah, and not a single homeless person. The odd beggar yes, usually outside  of a church, but nothing compared to what we have here.

BTW, cities over there are light years ahead of us in just about every standard of living category.

Oh and BTW, BTW, bai – Canada is by far the woke-ist country on the planet.

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Another poke at our freedoms.

BC will ban short term rentals. Homeowners will not be allowed to rent out rooms or basement suites on a short term basis.

Can’t cut down a tree even if it impinges on hydro lines or poses a fire hazard during dry spells.

Hey, ban all gas powered garden tools.

No more wood stoves.

No more natural gas in our home appliances.

No more propane.

 

Why can’t they just leave us alone.

But…but it is for the greater good.

Goodness me!

Freedom! Yesssss.

But not in Canada you say? Shitty (sic).

Our so called leaders are completely out of touch with reality. They have all drank the psychedelic kool-aid.

 

 

Where’s The Beef

Yes, in-laws can be a bother but….

Ms Patterson, from Victoria Australia, made beef wellington for her estranged husband Simon’s parents Gail and Don, both 70, as well as Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, and brother-in-law Ian Wilkinson, 68.

Heather, Gail and Don all died days later having fallen seriously unwell, while Ian spent nearly two months in hospital before eventually recovering.

I told you we should have gone Vegan!

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“But we don’t want wind farms off of our coast…”so say the residents of New Jersey….”never mind what you want” says New Jersey Governor…”you are getting them.”

A Quarter-Billion People Are On The Move - Election Central

“But we don’t want mass immigration…” so says Canadians…”never mind what you want…”says Prime Minister Trudeau…”you are going to get over 500K new immigrants a year.”

“We need more Liberal voters, don’t ya know. And we have to fill all of those parks with new Canadians.”

Canadian tent manufacturers are jumping for joy and glee.

“But we don’t want the carbon tax to fight climate change. It is killing us financially” so say most Canadians…”never mind what you want….” so says Prime Minister Trudeau…”we are going to double down on the tax.”

Canada Carbon Tax Now in Force

“We need more money…” so says our Prime Minister…”we have to go green.”

Breaking news. This just-in…Opposition Conservatives have obtained leaked secret recordings concerning a billion dollar Liberal “green” slush-fund that was used to funnel “free money” to “well connected Liberals.”

Where’s the beef?…erm pork

Where are the green backs?

Where are the Liberals?

Classically Liberal: Calling all porkers, your trough is ready.A liberal porker!

You are in good Liberal hands.

We Live In A Sick Society

Hey, as I far as I am concerned if you support Hamas and the Palestinians then you support the rape and murder of women, men and children and the beheading of babies. If you would love to go back and live in the 7th century Islam culture then go right ahead. If you are LGBTQ etc and you support Hamas / Palestinians and not Israel then go and live over there, admit your orientation, and see how far that gets you under Hamas, Hezbollah, Sunnis Shiite or the Palestinians.

It is hypocrisy of the biggest order. Israel must abide by International rule of law in its take down of Hamas terrorists. Hamas’ take down of the Jewish people and the Jewish state?…not so much.

Israel be damned by the international community and University campuses here in the west for going after Hamas indiscriminately. Hamas? Let’s go and kill Jews and clear the land of Jewry from the river to the sea. Yesss screams our lefty Hamas cheerleaders.

It is a sick society we live in here in the west.

There is no place for antisemitism hatred.

There was no precivilizational, unspeakable atrocity that the butcherers did not commit—torture, beheading, rape, mutilation, and necrophilia.

The terrorists were followed into Israel by a multitude of opportunistic Gaza civilians, who in turn joined in the violence and looting.

Back in Gaza crowds reviled and tried to harm Israeli captives bound as hostages to trade for jailed terrorists in Israel.

In sum, the population that once elected Hamas into power, and cheered on its bloodletting—as long as there was yet no Israeli response—now claims to have no connection at all with Hamas. Yet the world assumes correctly that the people of Israel are inseparable from its military.

The surreal paradoxes of this war still do not end there. (Victor Davis Hanson)

Just sayin, that’s all.

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An antidote to all of the madness going on out there:

“She comes out of the sun in a silk dress running like a water-colour in the rain”

“In the blue tarred walls of the market stalls….”

Perfect

From 1976: Beautiful lyrics, great melody, piano, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, strings, and a haunting sax riff…the perfect song as far as I am concerned.