Excuse the Momentary Political Rant

I'll be attending the Regina Death of Evidence Rally to protest Mr. Harper's policy towards science research (you have no idea how much restraint I've shown in this sentence).  Of particular concern to actuaries like me are

1. The cancellation of the mandatory long form census form, which invalidated the entire long form census.  This was nothing short of petty ideology aimed at satisfying a very small minority of right wing conservative faithful (check Stats Can's figures on how many complains have been received on the long form).  I am a member of no less than 3 groups who wrote to the Harper government decrying this move - the CIA (The Canadian Institute of Actuaries no black helicopters), CAUT (national Uni teacher's union) and the U of R.
2. Budget cuts (more precisely a gutting) of Stats Canada.

For those of you non-Canucks see the following links for more information:

• CBC
• CBC Regina Interview
• The Guardian

I don't have a US media link because it's all too biased to waste time on.

Please Support Conrad

I thought that I should put a plug in for Conrad Kinch's walk for charity, in aid of a NeoNatal car unit in his locale.  Conrad and one of his regular gaming buddies are walking the 50km from Dublin to the River Boyne in memory of a friend's daughter who passed away after a very short lifetime.

He's hit a soft spot for me with this fund raiser. My daughter spent her first few weeks in the Neonatal intensive care having arrived 10 weeks early and weighing in at under 4 pounds.  The staff at the NICU gave her wonderful care and she's now a healthy 16 year old.  However, it costs a lot to run a NICU and there is a lot of expensive equipment needed.  Also even with the best staff and equipment (in our case the Hospital was rated the best in North America for new borns), there are still some very sad outcomes.  My wife and I appreciate how very lucky we were.

I particularly like the fact that Conrad and Dave are taking the "Portable Wargame" concept to heart and packing the troops, terrain and game aids for a renactment of the Battle of the Boyne upon arrival.  This brings new meaning to the wargames terms of fatigue and attrition.  Remember Conrad - 20mm plastic figures good, 54mm lead figures bad.

Mr. Kinch of course tells it all must better (and in more detail) at his blog:

Joy and Forgetfulness

Oh yes it's an Irish Charity but they take North American charge cards.

I Have Been to...

I was off in Toronto (aka, TO, Tdot, the centre of the universe etc) for a conference this week.  I had an afternoon free and had planned to make my way downtown to Fort York, a place I had never been before.  Well unfortunately the weather did not cooperate - with humidity the temperature was well over 40c and there were both heat and smog warnings.  Past experience has taught me that an 18th century military fort offers little shelter from the sun (in fact they tend to act like solar ovens) and Fort York lies next to the Gardiner Expressway a very busy inner city artery.  Therefore I stuck down town and had an entertaining couple of hours poking through game, book and record stores.  Next time in TO...

On the flight back, I had a window seat on the correct side and a clear sky giving me a wonderful overhead view of Mackinac Island.  This was the site of 2 British victories during the War of 1812.  The first came early in the war - so early that the invaders arrived before the American garrison knew that a war was on!  The second saw the British garrison chase off an American expedition to recapture the strategic island.  The view from above clearly showed just how important the island is, located where Lakes Huron, Michigan and Superior meet.

History Quiz

An interesting quiz on the War of 1812 at http://www.cbc.ca/news/quiz/1812.html

Warning, even for a Canadian this is a tough one (I got 8/11).

A 200th Anniversary

So yes it was 200 years ago today that James Madison declared war on Great Britain to kick off the War of 1812.  Therefore, the Ministry of Truth (aka the CBC) has some good stuff on "the Current" today.  Different nations remember the war differently (or not at all) and historians debate who won and what long term consequences followed the war.  Me I just look up at the flag flying from my place of work and see that it's a Maple Leaf instead of the Stripes and Stars.

Part of the problem of course is that there were really a series of very different wars.  There was a mainly wilderness campaign fought in the old Northwest.  There was a game of invasion, raid and counter raid across the Niagara, Lake Ontario, St Lawrence frontier which saw a number of open field battles as well as sieges and amphibious landings all fought by a mix of regulars, militia and irregulars on both sides.  There was the Atlantic Campaign which saw raids by British Peninsula Veterans and Marines against local American forces.  And there was a a Naval war in which the RN won, despite  the USN winning a number of single ship victories.

As for me, I will focus on the Niagara, Lake Ontario and St Lawrence campaigns, painting figures for 1813.  And yes the uniforms changed every year!

Between garden work (delayed badly by rain), concerts, final exams and convocations I've also had some time at the painting table.  So far the count is:

British - 49th Foot (24 figures, painted and based with colour), Glengarry Light Infantry (8 figures painted and based, no colour)
American - 13th and 16th Infantry (each 16 strong, painted with colors but yet to be based)

Pictures to follow soon (I hope).

Is Proud to Be

Accessible to the sausages fingered among us

http://joyandforgetfulness.blogspot.ca/2012/06/this-is-appeal.html

You know you're a Wargamer When

The Arts& Life section of you morning paper has a lead article on a historical documentary, and your first reaction is "they didn't get the Belgic shako in Upper Canada until 1814"!

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