From the Desk of Murray Lincoln

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

More Giggles and Thought Stoppers

~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Way to go Judge Anne Molloy! Way to go!

Misty Hollow Carving
This BLOG is sponsored by “Misty Hollow Carving”. You are welcome to visit Misty Hollow and see all of my carvings.

My Web Site is a like a Gallery – please drop in for a stroll through.

To help me promote my Web Site please copy this URL address and email to someone today http://www.murraylincoln.com/

* * * * * * * *
Today’s Blog Post
Way to go Judge Anne Molloy! Way to go!

I am attempting to switch gears from the elation of this past weekend to the draw drop mode that I am in as of today.

Checking my News feeds this AM I read with great interest the reaction and statements of Ontario Superior Court Judge Anne Molloy as she challenged the Federal Government of Canada with her ruling on a criminal case. Instead of the criminal getting a minimum of three years in a Federal Prison, he was given “house arrest” for one year.

The person that was on trials was Leroy Smickle, age 30, of Toronto. Mr. Smickle was sitting on a couch at his Cousin’s place when the Police broke into the home looking for another bad guy. They found a shocked Mr. Smickle sitting on the couch taking on a weird pose for a Lap Top Camera. Mr. Smickle was acting the part of being real cool, while holding a hand gun in his left hand and the Lap Top in his right hand, while taking a photo of this cool pose for his Facebook Profile!

For starters that certainly puts crime right up front in a modern way… because of Facebook. What was the dummy thinking by having hand gun, out in the open and not secured in a protective case which would indicate that it was a registered handgun of some sort?? Instead he was holding a loaded hand gun in front of a camera that would and apparently did take his photo for the whole world to see.

Now to complete the story… Mr. Smickle dropped the hand gun and the Lap Top when the police barged in… and evidence showed (likely the photo taken) that he is holding the gun in his left hand – and he is right handed – proving that he was not threatening the police.

Complicated for you to understand? Me too. I had to read and re-read a number of articles that were published today to get this much of gist to what took place.

But the story is not about a stupid Mr. Leroy Smickle using a hand gun and Facebook to impress his friends.

This is a story about politics and more specifically the politics of prisons. It is about a Ontario Supreme Court Judge laying out evidence to the Government of Canada that their laws are not making any sense in the way that they are being presented.

In her statements I understand that she declared, base upon what Mr. Smickle did and the fact that the punishment that the Government of Canada has called for, it would be cruel and unusual punishment and that the Charter of Rights and Freedom Act of Canada does not allow this to happen.

WOW! And DOUBLE WOW! Canadians need to watch this case unfold across our air waves of TV, Radio and the Media od all sorts. It is not over yet!

What should have been a clear case of wham, bam and slam to a stupid man with a gun, with him being jerked from his family and stuck in a Prison for three years, was almost struck down by delivering a fairly light slap on his hand by giving him “house arrest”!!!

It was a clear message to the Government that they need to get it right. That they need to take time and think it through.

Well it didn’t stop there. With this verdict being delivered right now it was super important to the whole of our Nation.

At this very moment in Ottawa a House of Commons Committee is trying to go over each part of a much bigger Government Omnibus Bill on Crime, where nine pieces of possible legislation are under one large bill, and are about to be passed into Legislation.

The trial verdict being read out and explained by the Judge placed a clear message to the House of Commons Committee and the much larger Conservative Party that rules the Government with is large majority, that you had better get this right.

While reading all of this, up pops another fact that I had no idea about. TRIPPLE WOW!

The new Legislation, when it is pushed through in or under the 100 Day time point of the Conservative Government, makes it possible to keep a Federal Prisoner in solitary confinement, without any visits from anyone, up to 30 days at a time.

In other words, when a Prisoner does something bad inside, acts aggressive toward someone or to a guard, and doesn’t keep the rules… the guard(s) can place him in solitary confinement. And they do that all the time now. Nothing is new here. BUT WHAT IS NEW is the Prisoner will not be allowed any visits during that time. For 30 days he will be confined with no contact to the outside world, family or friends.

Sounds about the right thing to do if you believe that stronger arms and tighter disciplines will change a person. Lock them up longer and tighter and be sure to make them more miserable! That will show the little IDIOTS who is in charge here!

The fact is that the person was charged, tried and convicted by a Judge and the court of law. But following the new measures it will make it possible to try and convict the man over again while in prison – but not by a Judge or Jury. It will happen by people like you and me that work in a difficult job to say the least. It will be done by people like you and me that have had urine thrown at them, they have been spit on, and or any other method the incarcerated person can use to vent his anger.

Now pause for a minute as a thinking person….
By making it worse for the stupid person inside of prison… will that make them smarter? I don’t think so. I truly believe by what I have seen and know, that it makes them angrier. They will become more violent and do even more extreme things. Then we release them back to live next door to us!

I drop one name in this debate at this point and it should say it all. Her name is “Ashley Smith”. Her original crime was throwing a crab apple at a mail man. And her worst crime was her anger and mental state. When they placed her in custody she got worse, more belligerent and more angry… continually striking out against the guards and staff.

She was not convicted of anything but treated to constant forms of isolation until she finally took her own life with the video cameras along with eyes and ears of the guards taking it all in… as she breathed her last breath.

Tell me that “Tough-on-Crime” Bills in the Legislative Assembly of Canada works! Tell Ashley Smith’s mom that it works well.

FOUR TIMES MY WOWS!

MY jaw is still moving but I am definitely going to follow this verdict and the repercussions with it. I will be following the OMIN BILL of the Conservative Government. “Conservatives” that I know are NOTKNOWING FOR THEIR LISTENING SKILLS. But now an Ontario Supreme Court Judge has sent a clear message that will surely get even the Deafest Conservative listening.

Way to go Judge Anne Molloy! Way to go!

~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/

Resource:
http://www.timescolonist.com/news/Judge+refuses+impose+mandatory+time/6149003/story.html
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Judge+bucks+mandatory+sentence+firearms+case/6149059/story.html
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/mean-spirited-crime-bill-would-deny-visitors-to-punish-inmates/article2237630/

Monday, February 13, 2012

Moving from “Tall Tales” to the Truth – a Great Adventure at Selwyn Outreach Centre

Take a look at the photo below. WOW! The audio-visual guys were all powerful!!

An Art and Craft Table on a church platform on Sunday AM? Talking about your business in church as part of the service! You have got to be kidding – right?

It was all part of the presentation of how Misty Hollow Carving came into being and of how I had left the role of being a pastor in this community to become what I am today.

Yesterday I wove through my life story for all to hear. I told the good parts and the talked about the bad parts. I shared how I lost my job as the minister of Northview, being placed on Employment Insurance for the first time of my life just before retiring. Yep I told 95% of my life story – both good and bad.

And yep I talked about the stories that had circulated around our city about a minister that had done some terrible things – namely that he had been teaching from the Satanic Bible. I talked about the “tall tales” that had been shared by so many and even at the Selwyn church.

Gulp.

A Minister teaching from a “Satanic Bible” – YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING!?

Yep - again. That was the story that two men in Northview church started about me. And as you can see they really didn’t like me at all. They claimed I had been doing that within the youth group – away back in 1998 – just after I arrived in Peterborough. It was not a good thing to have following you around!!!

That story was like the Lighthouse and the American Naval ship’s conversation – it never happened… but is was told over and over again.

I am not going to tell you all that I talked about yesterday at Selwyn. You needed to be there. But I can say that they listened carefully to what I shared…. Every word was received well.

(On the side.. the bit about the two men that shared the story about me… one died and is very much gone… the other moved far, far, far away. God took care of them. But the story again was related to me only two months ago as some asked me if it was true.)

The Selwyn folk are the most gracious people that I have met in years. They love you and love whoever comes for help. Pastor Brian Mahood has been there since this present church was replanted and all that Brian is the church has become.

These folks blessed us and loved on us in amazing ways. It is like we have known each other forever.

So there it is. God touched me deeply at Selwyn – through the love and reception of these people. And most of all, in spite of my own fears, the stories that circulated had died with the angry people. No one cared anymore… no one at all.

~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/

Sunday, February 12, 2012

MOURNING the LOSS of MY YOUTH

Misty Hollow Carving
This BLOG is sponsored by “Misty Hollow Carving”. You are welcome to visit Misty Hollow and see all of my carvings.

My Web Site is a like a Gallery – please drop in for a stroll through.

To help me promote my Web Site please copy this URL address and email to someone today http://www.murraylincoln.com/

* * * * * * * *
Today’s Blog Post
MOURNING the LOSS of MY YOUTH

Why does my right arm feel like it is four inches longer than my left this morning? And my back has a strange sensation that a cord is pulled somewhere. Coming back to the right arm and shoulder, there is a sharp and shooting pain when I move in a certain way – actually any way!

Could it be my heart and I am having the early warning signs of a heart attack?

But there is a pain in the lower part of my leftside gluteus maximus! I don’t think that area is deeply affected by my heart having an attack. So maybe a pain in my butt is good and the heart is okay…?

I just checked on the Internet for a diagnosis of some sort of that lower area and got the following…
“The Muscles and Trigger Points that Cause Gluteal Pain - There are five muscles that can harbor trigger points that produce gluteal pain. The three most commonly involved are:
• The Gluteus Maximus
• The Gluteus Medius
• The Piriformis
The Gluteus Maximus muscle group is the large muscle mass that forms the buttocks. It attaches to the pelvic bone and runs downward to attach to the large leg bone (the femur). This muscle contracts to swing the upper leg backward, and is heavily used during swimming and squatting. Three trigger points can be found in this muscle. All three refer pain in the buttock region. A person with active trigger points in this muscle will have difficulty sitting comfortably.”

Hokey Mokey – no wonder I have trouble today! What a pain in the “Asterisk” it is!!! I will sit carefully for sure – likely for a few days to come. (And it is not Income Tax Pain in the Asterisk – it is too early to get that done yet.)

What could possibly cause this sudden breakdown to all these body parts?

Well I have a confession to make to all my friends today. I tried hard to act like a Teenager last night. I went bowling with 30 or so people. And in my 67th year of a quickly aging life – I AM NOT A TEENAGER ANY LONGER! My body is screaming. “IDIOT! Brain what is wrong with you bringing the rest of us out last night to do something so silly!!?”

Between 7 PM and 8:30 PM I threw that silly little ball 99 times. We bowled 3 games and each time I was up for my turn I threw it 3 times, for 10 frames! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!

It was fun watching everyone else trying to keep the ball on the hardwood floor part of the bowling lane as well. But most were like me, the two gutters, either left or right attracted by bowling balls!

Flash back…
Whoa! I remember when I was in High School and those many times of bowling. It was so much fun. We sometimes bowled 10 games in a row – or even more. One time we bowled all night!!!

Way back then they had guys that worked as “pin setters”. Their job was to hop down from their small perch between two lanes and set the pins up again, after we knocked them down.

We also knew that if we threw the bowling balls hard enough the explosive power of the fast rolling ball hitting these stationary, wooden pins caused the pins to fly in all directions. And if you were lucky you could likely cause the “pin setter” to jump or duck away from a flying pin or two.

It was kind of the “extra” about bowling that was enjoyed by the young and powerful men of that time.

I learned to really throw the ball with great speed and I could make the pins fly everywhere! I mean the crash and the tremendous noise with each hit was simply fantastic!

But to do that you needed to extend your arm way back of your body as you held that ball tightly… then at the same time with smooth steps forward to gain extra speed for launch of the ball, your started the arm swing forward quickly, and with the last powerful step your whole body came to a squatting forward position, low to the floor so the ball would release just as the arm was full extension forward. The squat was not possible unless you curled your one leg around to the back of the other leg, making kind of scissor position for whole body.

The bowling action wasn’t finished until the body swung back up into a position where both feet were securely planted on the floor and motion forward was halted… which required all muscles to work against that powerful action that everything had just gone through.

When you did it just right each time, a strike or a spare was always there and your score would climb quickly.

Not only was the fun there to clip off the body parts of the pin setter friend, you also enjoyed killing your opponents off one by one with your higher score.

I am only bragging a little here – but I was good, very good, very very good! I could at times fill the score sheet with strikes and spares and only throw the ball about 13 times a game.

Flash forward...
All that swooping down and flash forward with that powerful little ball HAPPENED IN THE LAST CENTURY for me. That is the last time I bowled – somewhere in the late 1980s when I last threw a Five Pin Bowling Ball. And it was sometime in the last century that I threw a Ten Pin Bowling Ball as well.

And after having my body remind me this morning that “YOU CAN’T DO THAT ANYMORE YOU IDIOT!”, it will be the NEXT CENTURY BEFORE I DO THAT AGAIN!!!

But it has pointed out to my body parts how much they need to be activated again.

Snow blowing and shoveling don’t quite do the same things for these muscles groups.

Having an extremely strong arm and hand to carve wood with and the other strong arm and hand to hold the wood, doesn’t get the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius and the piriformis muscles doing anything at all!

Not only am I in deep pain physically this AM, I am in pain emotionally and spiritually as I MOURN the LOSS of MY YOUTH!

I didn’t really want to lose that powerful, young body that could so easily do everything. But I did… and good Lord – I hurt all over.

~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/

Resource:
http://www.painwhisperer.com/ptpath/ptpath/ptpath/glutealpain.html

Saturday, February 11, 2012

When you believe the Lie – it is downright funny

Friday, February 10, 2012

How do you learn? I learn best by doing

You can see that from a Lecture I retain about 5%. From reading a book I retain about 10%. Audio visual – 20%, Demonstration – 30%, Discussion Group – 50%, Practice by doing – 75%, and finally Teaching Others – 90%. (Click on Image to enlarge)

No wonder school was hard at times for some students. I know what that feels like to struggle with some topic that is simply killing me. When the lecturer is torturing me… when the book is murder to plow through… when the demo makes no sense at all.

I know that problem as well as any other guy.

But give me a “hands on” class where I can do something with what you have told me and I am so on fire with the new things I am doing that I cannot quit or go home.

Recently I began doing another form of art work. I am now working in Digital Art work and Painting. Instead of a real brush I use a special stylus that is connected to my computer.

All these years I have been good at drawing and putting colour to my drawings. Now with a simple click here and a swish there I can make a Digital Image come alive.

I wrote of a Eureka Moment that has been happening for me a few posts back. That was some of what I was referring to. That “AaHA!” moment when it all makes sense. That time when all that you have read and all that some one told you comes into an amazing focus… and you can say, “Yes, now I understand!! I have got it!”

In working with some amazing computer programs that click and pop and whiz away, my creative idea springs to life. I can draw, but now my drawings come alive!

Now ‘old tyme’ oil and water colour painters likely would freak when they hear me expound the way that I do. They would never do what I do!!! Well okay… but have they ever tried?

Now having to clean up old paint brushes and my clothes that became splattered/smudged with the paint.. is so cool. I do not need water or oil to do what I used to do. I simply need a click and swish and another click and – WOW! I can’t believe that I did that!.

I have some grandson that do well in school. They pass their tests with flying colours after listening to their teacher talk. Others do not do so well. The ones that don’t do so well simply need hands on stuff – not talk stuff. And when they get it they excel. Grandpa gave them all that he had… hands on is best.

Do I think that I will become a great digital artist? Nope… not likely – but I will be very good because I have me hands on something that I love to do.

Why do this kind of thing at almost 68 years old?

Well it seems that my drawings and illustrations are now becoming some folk really want to own. In about a week’s time the Crop Circles Web Site will have some of my new images on it for the whole world to see.

To get ready and have a sneak preview click here http://www.cropcircles.ca/shop/ and then when it all comes live you will be able to see a whole lot more by clicking on the “Gallery” button at the top.

Clicking on the “Gallery” now and “Shirley’s Doodles” you will get a hint of what is to come. I love the presentation of Shirley’s designs and can’t wait for mine to get up there as well!

I am honored to have one of my drawings in the Title of the Web Page now! Thanks Ted and Helen!

As a sneak preview I am letting you see what happens when I draw a chicken…
The Drawing.. and The Colouring…

This is so much fun!!!