Graffiti is a Crime

Property owners who have their properties vandalized by graffiti are victims of crime. The Halifax Regional Police’s proposal for a graffiti by-law that re-victimizes property owners by having the cost of graffiti removal placed on their tax bill, and at the same time threatening them with fines or prosecution for noncompliance, is outrageous.

As reported on April 17, 2006 in the Chronicle Herald's Proposed Graffiti By-law Would Leave Mark, Chief Beazley is correct when he states that, “graffiti is a crime that negatively impacts citizens’ sense of safety.” As such, those who cause property damage through tagging and “spraying pieces” should be held legally responsible for their crimes and sentenced to pay restitution to repair damage to properties. In addition to focusing on prosecuting the perpetrators of graffiti who diminish our sense of safe community, the Police should provide property owners education and heightened awareness about preventative measures to combat graffiti such as increased lighting, musical distraction and landscape architecture measures.

To focus on the victims’ pocketbooks to fight the crime of graffiti is a backwards solution.

Health and Wellness Stuff I'Ve Learnt

Over the past few years I have tried to learn about health and wellness. The 7 lessons below are ones that I have learned and that have helped me to be healthier, more balanced and happier. Through providing them here, I hope that they may help you as well!

The seven healthy lessons are:

Live in the situation that you have. Too often we focus and send energy on wishing that things were different than they are. I have to constantly remind myself to live in the situation that I have, and not the one that I would like to have or one that I have had in the past. It is what it is and nothing more or nothing less. Do not bemoan the situation that you have, or the one that you would like have, live with the one that you have!

Your work peers are not necessarily your friends. Ideally, we could be friends with all people with whom we work. When you really think about it this is highly unlikely to occur. You should try to be friendly with t your co-workers, but only in a few lucky circumstances will you find someone who will become a friend and a peer. We seem to think that because we work with people we should be friends with them – but just because it is the workplace, we should not automatically let down our “real life” barriers.

If you cannot influence or control something let it go. It took some time for me to learn to let go. After many a frustrating day, I realized that there is nothing gained through trying to change things over which you have no control or influence. In cases where you have no control, I had to learn to “suck it up” and “let go” or else end up wasting way to much energy and spirit.

Do not judge how others live their lives. People choose to live their lives in different ways. Too often I found myself judging decisions that others made; we all do it. But who are we to judge? It took me a while to realize that I have to accept that people will make good choices and bad choices. People are free to choose the way that they live. Their choices will determine their paths, just as mine will determine my path.

Past behaviour is the best indicator of future behaviour. At times I was the perpetual optimist. HR professionals know that past behaviours are the best indicator of future ones. Unless someone makes a conscious choice to change their behaviours, usually as a results of a critical situation, it is pretty well known that behaviour that brought someone to a certain place will likely be the behaviour that they continue with.

Over the Arch

Blow out, you bugles, over the rich Dead!
There's none of these so lonely and poor of old,
But, dying, has made us rarer gifts than gold

These laid the world away;
poured out the red Sweet wine of youth;
gave up the years to be
Of work and joy, and that unhoped serene,
That men call age; and those who would have been,
Their sons, they gave, their immortality.

Blow, bugles, blow!

They brought us, for our dearth,
Holiness, lacked so long, and Love, and Pain.
Honour has come back, as a king, to earth,
And paid his subjects with a royal wage;
And Nobleness walks in our ways again;
And we have come into our heritage.

Classic Lyrics

When I read about Canadian Soldiers dying in Afghanistan, I can't help recall these lyrics..............

We met as soulmates on Parris Island
we left as inmates from an asylum,and
we were sharp,
as sharp as knives; and
we were so gung ho to lay down our lives

We came in spastic like tameless horses
we leftin plastic as numbered corpses; and
we learned fast to travel lightour arms were heavy,
but our bellies were tight

We had no homefront,
we had no soft soap
they sent us Playboy,
they gave us Bob Hope
we dug in deep and shot on sight; and
prayed to Jesus Christ with all of our might

We had no cameras to shoot the landscape
we passed the hashpipe; and
played our Doors tapes;
and it was dark, so dark at night
and we held on to each other,
like brother to brother
we promised our mothers we'd write

And we would all go down together
we said we'd all go down together
yes we would all go down together

Remember Charlie, remember Baker
they left their childhood on every acre
and who was wrong?
And who was right?
It didn't matter in the thick of the fight

We held the day in the palm of our hand
they ruled the night...and
the night seemed to last as long as six weeks on Parris Island

we held the coastline,
they held the highlands; and
they were sharp, as sharp as knives
they heard the hum of our motors,
they counted the rotorsand waited for us to arrive

And we would all go down together
we said we'd all go down together
yes we would all go down together

Keep It Simple

Responding to a simple issue with a complex solution creates a complex problem.

Wise Words of Wisdom

If you can't control it, and you have no influence over it -- let it go.

Hanlon's Razor -- err wasn't that Okham's??

"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity"