New Blog Site
I have decided to launch a new blog that will be dedicated to some writing that I do at times. As some of you may know I have flirted in the past with writing poetry and even a short story once. Last night I went to a multiple book launch by various authors and was inspired to set up this site.
The new blog will be an expression of my humble literary aspirations. It will have some older material, some reworked material, and hopefully some new material shortly. It will never have posts about current events, politics, or my opinions on various topics, those will stay on the this blog , which I will continue as well.
I hope that people will enjoy this new blog and as always I appreciate all commentary via e-mail. The first post will be the beginning of a short story that I wrote about eight years ago.
Ciao Monty
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A Vacation Memory
I decided to write an entry about a small town this morning. The town is called Mirabello Sannitico, it is located in the Molise region in southern Italy. This is the place where my ancestors are from, the town my father and his family left in 1952 to come to Canada. 
Like so many other small towns in Italy it is situated in one of the mounatin ranges that cut through the country. Mirabello is located in a deep valley surrounded by high hills. It is a special place with charming people, the perfect example of small town life. The photo above is of the town square(the piazza) , where the people gather to talk and have a coffee or drink at the small bar/cafe that is located there.
I had been there a long time ago(back in 1988), so going to Italy this summer I felt that we just had to make a visit. I still have some distant family(cousins and a uncle of my dad) there, and it did not seem right to not stop by.
My family was happy to see me again, after all these years. My father and grandfather never had a chance to get back there, so in some strange way I took them there with me. The family in Mirabello had so many memories of my father and my grandfather that it is almost as if they were there with us in spirit.
We did not stay a long time in Mirabello, only three days but it was lots of fun and we had some great local foodÂ. We both brought back many fond memories of Mirabello with us and sometimes we find ourselves wondering what they are up to in that small town.
See links below for info and photos on Mirabello. Also see album Italia 1 at right.
http://www.comune.mirabellosannitico.cb.it/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirabello_Sannitico
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The Fun Army
I was watching the old TV last night and I saw an ad for the Canadian Forces. In the ad they showed soldiers fighting forest fires in British Columbia, helping flood victims in Manitoba, and rescusing people at sea off the coast of Nova Scotia. It makes the armed forces look fun and heroic.
They should get real and show what will really happen to you. The reality is that they will ship you off to some foreign land, most probably Afghanistan on the so-called aid mission. In Afghanistan where some people there are so happy to see you, that they welcome you by putting bombs on the road and shooting you. Odds are the bombs will kill you, cause these bombs are usually huge. It is not a friendly mission.
I find it quite hypocritical that they would run an ad like that this. The people that sell war and death in the name of some misplaced honor, always make it look like fun and games, when in essence, it is just death.
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Dog Days
Last week our Foreign Minister, Peter MacKay apparently referred to his ex-girlfriend and political opponent as a dog. Not a very nice thing to do. It is a sexist remark and really shows no respect for his colleagues and opponents in the house. Of course this week, he says that he never said that.
I hate politicians that say one thing and then deny it. It is just unreal, people heard him say it. I seriously doubt that they all had an auditory hallucination at the same time. People in power should be made accounatble for the remarks that they make.
Mr MacKay should do the right thing and admit what he said. He should accept the consequences that are associated with his remarks. It will teach him to reflect before blurting out stuff in the house.
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Unlawful Enemy
A few days ago a law was passed by the US governement that evaporates the rights of all Americans. It was given a fancy name, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, but in essence it is a law that is just ripping basic rights away.
The law gives the President and US government sweeping powers where anyone can be declared an enemy combattant, that anyone can be you. Rights that took many years to acquire, were just stripped away with one signature. With that one stroke of the pen the US no longer recognizes habeas corpus and they reserve the right to torture, how nice.
Once again all this is being done in the name of terror. Sad how the world has changed and how much the US is getting away with, they are breaking intrenational laws and now just ripping away rights in their own country. The President and his cronies get the ideas and the congress just rubber stamps it. October, 17th, 2006, will be known as the day justice and freedom died .
See link below for more on the law.
http://web.amnesty.org/pages/stoptorture-061017-features-eng
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Name Follies
Montreal has decided to change the name of a major avenue to honor an ex-premier(Mr. Robert Bourassa) who passed away ten years ago. I can not understand the need to change Park Ave/Ave du Parc in order to honor Mr.Bourassa. Another street could have been chosen and people could have been consulted I think.
Mr.Bourassa was a good premier for Quebec and he deserves some honor I agree, but they could have chosen another street or some park I believe. Park Ave/Ave du Parc is Montreal. It is a part of Montreal, and closely associated with one of Montreal’s best known green spaces, Mount-Royal Park. A entire area of the city also became associated with the street, Park Extension.
Even the family of the late premier wanted another street to honor him, boul. St.Joseph, but the city chose otherwise. The city went and took a unilateral decision that is certain not to make everyone happy.
Check out below link for info on Mount Royal Park.
http://www.lemontroyal.qc.ca/en_index2.html
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Nork Nukes
The always controversial Kim Jong Il is at it again. He is just getting everyone angry at him. Last week he did a nuclear test which apparently was successful. It was not the largest bomb, but nonetheless a bomb. A nuclear weapon in the hands of someone that does not appear too stable is highly dangerous.
I wonder if this nuclear weapon testing by North Korea is not just to get a reaction. A way for North Korea to find out who its friends are. An interesting yet risky strategy I believe. The UN is now looking at applying sanctions and Ms. Rice is doing the rounds to convince people.
Today North Korea’ s buddies the Chinese went to see him and gave him a talking to, it seems. The Chinese have some clout at the UN and I hope that they gave him a serious talk. Someone needs to knock some sense into this guy.
North Korea’s nuclear testing is also another failure of the US Administration I believe, the US is obsessed with terror and the Middle East that they just forgot about Kim Jong Il. Obsession is not a good thing for a superpower like the US, they should be looking at things globally.
See link below for a short bio of Mr Kim.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1907197.stm
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One Year Already
I have been writing this blog for a year now. Hard to believe that a year has gone by so quickly. Time flies when you are having fun they say. This blog has been fun so far. I have received various comments on the subjects, that I have chosen to write about. Thanks to those of you that send me e-mail commentary.
I was just looking back at my subjects and they have been quite varied it seems. There has been a wide range of stuff, from global warming, my anti-war stance, my musical tastes, and so on. I realized looking at the different subjects that these blogs are in essence a reflection of what has been going on around the planet that we live on.
I will keep this blog going and further express my opinions on stuff that I find of interest. I am not a famous blogger yet, but who knows, maybe one day.
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Dark Mornings
It has been so dark the past few weeks at six in the morning when that alarm rings. It is so hard to drag myself out of bed. Usually my girlfriend has to literally kick me out of bed. The fact that the mornings have been real cool in Montreal have not helped.
After what I just reading on the web concerning the weather in Buffalo, I am not really complaining. I was just reading that they got up to two feet of snow this morning in some areas. All that snow makes for a real brutal awakening.
In reflection the dark mornings are not so bad compared to that all that snow. I just hope that we will not see snow here for some time, I am definitely not ready for that yet.
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Muhammad Yunus
The Nobel Peace Prize was given today to Mr. Yunus and Grameen Bank(the bank he founded) for helping to fight poverty in the world. Grameen Bank is based in Bangladesh and is helping many poor people in that country break away from the grip of poverty.
At first I looked at this news and said to myself that it seemed like a strange choice for a peace prize but then I realized that it is not so out of place. Poverty is a major problem on our planet and getting people away from poverty will lead to peace.
Many of the conflicts on this planet are a result of the haves against the have-nots, the classic struggle of the rich against the poor. Fighting poverty is a good method to put an end to these problems and make this planet a more peaceful place.
For more information on Mr. Yunus and all about the Nobel Prizes see links below.
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StuffIThinkAbout 