A Liberal member of the Senate has apparently been voting since February when she was allegedly declared incompetent because of Alzheimer’s disease.

Government Senate House Leader Marjory LeBreton  believes the case undermines public confidence in the Senate.

I beg to differ.

The Senate is filled with party hacks appointed by the prime minister of the day. They are basically trained seals who would be home at Marineland (they wouldn’t be treated as well though). They are programmed to vote as their parties suggest.

To have a person with Alzheimer’s in the Upper House adds a touch of intrigue. The person might forget to vote as the party suggests and vote intelligently.

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A 69-year-old Senator and his 23-year-old caused a ruckus on an airplane two weekends ago.

Maybe both of them have lost their minds.

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And when the next federal election rolls around, there will 30 more ridings, giving us a total of 338 MPs in the House. Thirty more hacks to drain the public purse. It wouldn’t be so bad if we elected MPs with spines – but they always follow the party line.

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It’s the fall fair season, a time celebrate the harvest.

In this part of the world, we don’t pay much attention to our food supply and from where it comes.  That’s because Southern Ontario is a land of milk and honey.

Much of the world is not so lucky. Food prices have been rising since 2008 which means the world’s poorest now maybe get one meal per day instead of two.

I’m in the middle of Jerry Rubin’s book, The End of Growth. Rubin, a former economist with the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, says food prices have major implications for food importing countries. “Dictators throughout the Arab World have seen how hunger can quickly lead to revolution.”

If a dictator wants to stay in power, he has to keep his people well fed.

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At first, I thought the Kincardine Fall Fair Parade was rather short – the pipe band, some antique tricycles and some seniors on scooters.

The rest of the parade came along about 10 minutes later and it was a good one. Someone in the parade told us that a few motorists got involved, holding up most of the parade.

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Twenty or more years ago, PetroCanada, owned by the people of Canada, was heavy into oil exploration and development.

Western oilmen didn’t like Ottawa involved and it was eventually privatized.

Now state-owned companies from China and Kuwait want to buy their way into the oil business. I wonder why there is no hue and cry now.

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I sometimes wonder if we have abandoned our children.

Most of them had to hop a bus yesterday for the first day of school. Like going to work, I suppose. My grandson, not yet four, was one of them.

I was not a fan of school but at least we could walk there and back four times a day and there was much to do on the way – be it catching grasshoppers or having snowball fights.

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The Kincardine Scottish ended the summer season parades on a high note. In the concert following the Saturday night parade, Glenn Walpole’s solo piping showed why he is one of the world’s best pipers.

Do you believe the large crowd was there because they saw it on facebook?