Guess Canada isn't important on this bored

[ontellen]

That is all.

[christie1111]

Of course you are. There are just so few people here anymore.

I have been on a couple of my quilting FB pages a lot this afternoon with Canadian quilters. They are in shock.

My thoughts are that sadly we almost expect news like this here but I would not have even thought of it happening in Canada.

My thoughts and prayers are with you and our neighbors to the North.

I hope this never becomes as common in Canada that is unfortunately has become here.

[a1mamacat]

Ellen, I have to disagree. I just think that folks are in such shock about this happening in Canada of all places, that they don't know what to say.

I can't access the Bored from work, so didn't post anything earlier. I am now so saturated, I just can't deal with anymore about the situation.

All I know is that I am so grateful that James decided that the Reserves was not his career of choice.

My heart bleeds for the lost soldiers this week.

[elwoodblues]

Lately there have been a number of news stories that in the past would have been discussed at length here but now are barely mentioned if at all because of the declining participation.

I just saw that before tonight's Pittsburgh-Philadelphia hockey game they sang O Canada to show their support. That was a classy gesture.

[Ritterskoop]

Someone at work tonight was surprised the Ottawa-Toronto NHL game was postponed until we told him why.

[kayrharris]

I was impressed with the Prime Minister's response. It's a terrible thing to happen anywhere. From what I've seen, it was very fortunate more lives weren't lost. When I visited you with my sisters back in 2001, we were on our way to Ottawa and Charmion's meetings were at Parliament.

It's a very beautiful place and such a shame that violence had to shatter that today.

kay

[TheConfessor]

I felt a personal connection because a few years ago I got a private tour of the Parliament building and the surrounding area, thanks to a trivia friend who works there. We walked around some of the passageways in the basement levels and sat in the gallery of the House of Commons during Question Period. I had to show my passport to enter the building and I think I went through a metal detector, but overall, the security didn't seem much different from a Jeopardy taping. I suppose that might change now.

So just as one individual with a lot of Canadian ancestors and distant cousins, I send my sympathy and support.

As for the rest of the Bored, I hope for once the usual suspects can show some restraint and keep this thread from degenerating into a nasty, pointless political mudslinging fight.
http://www.thescore.com/nhl/news/611225

[littlebeast13]

As for the rest of the Bored, I hope for once the usual suspects can show some restraint and keep this thread from degenerating into a nasty, pointless political mudslinging fight.

Which is exactly why Ellen should have been content, rather than seemingly insulted, by the fact that nobody has posted this story yet... because it's only a matter of time before it does go down that nasty road. I wish the Ferguson incident would have never saw the light of day on the Bored....

lb13

[themanintheseersuckersuit]

Nice tribute to a fallen soldier

[Bob78164]

I'm traveling on business and have been relatively disconnected, so I saw the news this morning for the first time in the New York Times. As I'm sure most of us did, I found the news shocking. Canada will be in my thoughts today. --Bob

[macrae1234]

They stand guard holding rifles that aren’t loaded, in a show of respect for those who have fought and died for this country.
It was only months ago that members of the Canadian Forces started spending longer hours standing guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

The first sentries were posted for the full working day — 9-to-5 — in August after restorative work on the National War Memorial was finished. Their last duty was to be Nov. 10, the day before Remembrance Day.

The rotation was then to begin anew on April 9, which marks the anniversary of the start of the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

The armed forces have served as sentries at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier during July and August since 2007 — a year after three young men were photographed urinating at the monument on Canada Day and caused a national outcry — especially from veterans groups.

Outrage heightened when the Citizen published a front-page photograph of the incident, and it moved then newly minted Prime Minister Stephen Harper to phone an area radio station.

“Obviously, it’s a terrible thing to do,” said Harper. “Certainly, my impression is that doesn’t represent in any way the views of any segment of Canadian society.”

Those skateboarding and pulling bicycle wheelies in and around the monument also contributed to the decision to have a greater military presence at the site and to re-enforce the message that the site was to be treated with dignity rather than as a public playground.

The National Sentry Program expanded the rotation of sentries to the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Canadian Special Operations Command.

The plan was to recognize special military anniversaries with sentries from units whose history is associated with those events.

The remains of an unidentified Canadian soldier who died in the First World War were repatriated from France in May 2000 and, in a special ceremony, buried in a special tomb in front of the war memorial.

It honours more than 116,000 Canadians who died in the Great War

[jarnon]

They stand guard holding rifles that aren’t loaded, in a show of respect for those who have fought and died for this country.

I'll feel sad, but not surprised, if this tradition has to change. Good thing the Parliament's Sergeant at Arms was, in fact, armed.

[T_Bone0806]

I did not even read of this until today. I admit to not following the news as much lately as I used to. I have been preoccupied recently with life and health matters to be sure but I just haven't felt the urge to look at the news as much. We'll just leave it at that.

Rest assured, though, that any U.S. citizen worth his salt has his or her heart pointed directly up North. Anyone who doesn't remember how firmly our Canadian cousins stood by us in the aftermath of 9/11 needs to go back and get a refresher course pronto.

We mourn with you.

[mellytu74]

This is the first time I have been able to write about this.

I have postcards that Marietta and Pop wrote to TLAF when they visited Ottawa back in the early-1960s. Pop's niece Maria lived there with her husband and two children - Vincente and Claudio. They visited Philadelphia a couple of times in the early 1960s, too. Pop had very little family in the US - unlike Marietta's side with the extended Riccardi and Chiralanza families.

I remember several Ferrante cousins tried to kidnap Claudio the second time they visited.

Claudio was the toddler - all big brown eyes and black curly hair. We wanted to keep him. I kept telling TLAF I could have a baby brother, ready-made. We tried to hide him in one of the empty wine barrels downstairs. One of us kept watch over him at all time. It didn't work.

Anyway, in those postcards, they raved about how nice the folks in Ottawa were - how welcoming the folks in the Little Italy section were. How much they liked Canada

I wished we hadn't lost touch with them because I haven't been able to get Claudio (and Maria, Tony and Vincente) out of my mind. I just want to tell him I am thinking of all of Ottawa - and Canada - since yesterday.

[macrae1234]

My father-in-law had the Italian grocery store in Little Italy for years

[Snaxx]

I also think the lack of posting was primarily caused by the decline of interest and activity here. For me, this was my first Bored visit since posting the transcripts on Tuesday night. Yesterday CNN, which is the only channel at the cafeteria and break rooms at work for me, was covering the events in Ottawa constantly. This is what finally interrupted the 24/7 Ebola coverage on CNN. (Now there's report of a positive Ebola test in NY so I suppose it will be back to Ebola 24/7). I visited Ottawa once in 2004.

[Beebs52]

I've been down with the crud and was at a meeting till 10:30 last night when I found out about this. I expressed my outrage and condolences to Sauce on FB. It's horrible, and another creepy thing we have to rail against. But I don't recall any Ellen posts in massive support of any attacks on us. Not that that means anything. Just don't complain about some dis about Canada, when you're lurking during all the other crap that goes on.No one is blowing Canada off.

[macrae1234]

Want to break your heart keep the tissues handy
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/10/23 ... 37358.html

[Estonut]

We had a hatchet-wielding lunatic attack 4 NYPD rookies and someone else in a Washington high school open fire in the cafeteria. Where's Ontellen? Guess the U.S.A. isn't important to her...

[jarnon]

Come on, Esto, let's not let this escalate into a border war. We're all friends here, as stories like this remind us:
Canadian fighter jets intercept Russian military aircraft in Baltics

[Estonut]

Come on, Esto, let's not let this escalate into a border war. We're all friends here, as stories like this remind us:
Canadian fighter jets intercept Russian military aircraft in Baltics

Oh please. She shows up for just the fourth time this year. She finds no post about yesterday's tragedy so, rather than start a thread about it and how it affected her, she starts one only to chastise us (all 14 of us left) for not yet talking about it. She knows that BJ would only have posted about it had there been an unsubstantiated report that the shooter was a Republican.

Had her post been either informative or personal, she would have had unanimous support here.

[ontellen]

I want to thank so many of you who sympathized with what happened on Wednesday. I have answered my Facebook friends. One thing that truly amazed me was Prime Minister Stephen Harper shook hands and hugged opposition leader Tom Mulcair and Liberal leader Justin Trudeau in Parliament on Thursday.

As for the other remarks here about my frequency of posting, etc., I'll forget I ever read any of it.

As for concern with what happens in America, 9/11 hit us very hard as well. I truly appreciate the many friends I've made on this board.

[christie1111]

And everyone wonders why so few people come here anymore.

Seriously?

Someone as nice as OntEllen?

And you have to criticize her and question whether or not 9/11 affected her?

Seriously?

[a1mamacat]

'sigh'

With everything that goes on, do we have to really go at each other?

Some people post non-stop political buttons

Some people post silly happy stories

Some people post deep thoughts and emotional events.

Some people don't post much, some post on overload.

We are here because of many shared years and love of game shows and each other.

[ontellen]

Thanks to my friends on the bored for defending me. I agree that perhaps that is why no one comes here anymore.