Archives for October 10, 2019

Demolition Day at the Oliver Small Wheels Playground site 

All of Oliver invited to ‘Demolition Day’ to celebrate the start of construction on the Small Wheels Revitalization Project

Oliver Parks and Recreation is delighted to announce that construction of a revitalized Small Wheels Park facility is officially scheduled to begin on October 22. The project, which will be completed by New Line Skateparks, has been made possible due to the exciting win of $100,000 from BCAA’s Play Here contest in July and the generous support from the Regional District of the Okanangan-Similkameen, the Kiwanis Club of Oliver and the Oliver and Area “C” community.

We are thrilled that BCAA Play Here has organized for over 250 of their employees to come to Oliver on October 22nd for a short “ground-breaking” (or, in this case, skatepark-breaking!) ceremony at the site. We invite local dignitaries, funding partners and as many members of our community as possible to join us at the ground-breaking to celebrate. All who attend the ground-breaking ceremony are invited to join us for a celebration luncheon event catered by Oliver Eats Ltd at the Community Hall immediately following.

The agenda for the ground-breaking demolition (“Demo Day”) event at the park will be:

• 12:15pm: Assemble at Lion’s Park
• 12:30pm: Welcome BCAA!
• 12:35pm: Official welcome and speeches from Dignitaries and BCAA Play Here
• 12:40pm: Demolition of an old concrete feature in the park
• 12:45pm: Everyone heads over to the Community Hall for lunch
• 1:00pm – 2:00pm: luncheon event (featuring a skateboard decorating activity, lunch, special presentations to key members of the community and video presentations from local schools.
• 2:00 pm: Wrap-up.

Consider attending and please bring your children! This is a fantastic opportunity to help celebrate this major gift to Oliver kids and youth; and to be part of thanking BCAA, the RDOS, Kiwanis and other supporters of this project.

 

minus 5.6 in 2009

minus 4.0 in 2019

Praemonitus, Praemunitus – 

We Stand on Guard for Thee – WTF Version

 

Trump removed some US troops from Syria – not all (he said all) just those who were standing between Turkey and the Kurds. Turkey is annihilating the Kurds. Russia is helping Turkey. Turkey has the second largest military among NATO nations.

ISIS/ISIL wanted to use Syria as their home. The US didn’t want to commit ground forces in large numbers. Instead, they looked for a local force that could do the job with US support. That would be the Kurds. But Turkey has been trying to eliminate the Kurds for decades – enough to total two centuries depending how you read history – and in outright war for the past 31 years.

One of the things the US had to do was put a formation – call it a wall on Turkey’s southern border – between Turkey and the Kurds. That way, the Kurds could defeat ISIS without being eliminated by Turkey. The US said to the Kurds: you go do our work; we’ve got your back. This is the US force that Trump has removed – not all US troops in Syria, just this small, important force.

Canada was in Syria – on the ground and in the air – with the full approval of Parliament. Look up Operation Impact. Canada helped but the Kurds did the heavy lifting.

This Trump-ordered action benefits ISIS, Turkey, Russia, and Iran. No matter what happens, Russia will benefit. Of the four beneficiaries, only one is – nominally – an ally. Turkey has been a member of NATO since 1952. They are not a founding member.

I have worked with Turkish exchange officers. I have sat at the NATO table representing Canada and the officer representing Turkey sat at the same table. Seating at the head table had meaning. From left to right across the head table: US, Turkey, UK, chairman, host nation, Canada, Netherlands unless the Greeks – another NATO member – were present in which case Greece sat to the right of Canada.

Turkey doesn’t like Greece. In 1974, a unit of the Canadian Airborne Regiment stood their ground in the path of a full-scale Turkish invasion of Cyprus – an effort to decimate the Greek Cypriots. This is called peacekeeping. This is why peacekeepers must be combat capable troops. Small Canadian force in a hot engagement with a big Turkish invasion. Three Canadians died. The Green Line held. Today, Turkey occupies about a third of Cyprus. That is deemed illegal by the international community. Cyprus has de jure sovereignty but not de facto sovereignty. Just like Ukraine.

There is no good reason why Turkey should be allowed to remain in NATO – except for their geography, except for their perfect positioning on the south-east flank, except for the wall that they could be in keeping Russia out of the Mediterranean, and except for keeping them from becoming a Russian ally. So, we put up with them. And we lie to ourselves.

US military casualties in Syria: six killed. Canadian Forces casualties in Syria: four killed. Kurdish casualties: 11,000 killed. ISIS/ISIL? Eliminated except for the ten thousand-plus who the Kurds were holding captive until yesterday. They are now unguarded. They are free. The Kurds are busy defending themselves against Turkey backed by Russia. The Americans have left the Kurds back door ajar.

Casualties in the coming weeks? Turks – several. Kurds – all of them. Russians – zero. And, one American.

Which one American? The one at the root of the problem, the one who cannot keep a promise, the one who has no concept of history, the one with no integrity, the one who cannot plan past Friday, the one who cannot tell the truth, the one who cannot be trusted, the one who is responsible, the draft dodger, our NORAD ally. Yeah, that one. To be eviscerated on the floor of the Senate if there is any justice.

Stuart Syme