Celebrating Birth and Children, in the past

From about 1934 to 1943, the Province of Ontario basically took over the lives of quintuplet girls who were born in northern Ontario; and they were on display at an amusement park built for them, "Quintland." People came from all over the world and the business generated a lot of income. These girls were the first surviving quintuplets, as far as I understand. If there was exploitation involved on the part of the Province, the parents of the girls seemed to be worse.--There were allegations of abuse later on; and maybe the family was somewhat overwhelmed by the publicity and the forced separation. It's sad that things didn't go as well for the family, although they profited financially also, but the public seemed to be delighted by the babies who grew into identical siblings. [The public had something to be happy about during the Depression--and about life in general.]

A fictionalized novel and TV movie have been made about the above family, so far. [From the point of view of society, it remains that the girls were a bright spot in a dark period, in my opinion. Apparently, the girls had also left home around the age of 18 years and didn't maintain connections with their parents any longer.]

The Work of Secret Police

Does the average person know or understand what secret police/secret agents do??? Of course the public isn't meant to know everything that goes on or the work would be hindered! But can we imagine? We can only speculate from what has been revealed of past work and agents.

In Great Britain, like in the USA, there are numerous organizations which work together to provide intelligence to the government. Have found it interesting to be reminded of MI5 and MI6. The first refers to "Military Intelligence, Section 5;" and the second to "Secret Intelligence Service" [England]. They're separate agencies but work together directly or indirectly, as far as I understand. In the police project, the numbers 5 and 6 are emphasized at times--maybe it's a nod to these two agencies? Have wondered about it before!?

The government in England didn't even acknowledge until the 1990s that some of their intelligence work--was it MI6--existed? [MI6 provides foreign intelligence.] Was it in the 1980s when our CSIS--Canadian Security Intelligence Service was created?

Secret Connections--V / A Real-Life Hero!

Camp X was founded by a Canadian from Winnipeg who was living in England, at the time. He was also the head of the British intelligence during World War II. His name was Sir William Stephenson. One of his code names during wartime was "Intrepid;" and there's evidence the "James Bond: Secret Agent 007" stories were inspired by him--even if the stories were romanticized for entertainment purposes, to be sure.

When I was a child, a neighbour friend pointed out James Bond to me on TV and I recall watching a TV show or a movie. Bond must have been one of the original action heroes--and maybe others were inspired by him!?

So far, am not sure William Stephenson has really been celebrated enough, although he's of course recognized in his home town!?

[If there has been controversy about whether or not the original author of the James Bond stories attended Camp X, I don't think it matters much!? The point was he learned about the activities and about William Stephenson.--He didn't necessarily have to go to Camp X for information! (Although I wouldn't want to say he didn't attend either.--Some other authors were rumoured to be former students from there.)]

Secret Connections--IV

Camp X was run by the military and not by police, as far as I understand, but there were American police who came for training--and I'm guessing some Canadian police were involved somewhere along the way!? We didn't have our CSIS--Canadian Security Intelligence Service--yet but there was the RCMP Secret Service, if I'm not mistaken. Have added the Canadian Police label to the entries on Camp X.

[NOTE, added June 21: Have been reading further on the Internet and there seems to be reliable information that some RCMP officers did take training at Camp X. The Americans included agents from the FBI and from the OSS--Office of Strategic Studies--which was the forerunner of the CIA--Central Intelligence Agency.]

Secret Connections--III

My blog seems to have a malfunction in an entry below.--It's similar to something that happened in the original blog recently. I deleted that problem but this time I'm not willing to do that. [Have also written in the original blog about the nicknamed "Mr. Big" undercover program by police!]

By the way, the entry immediately below shows a current-day monument which sits on the site of the previous Camp X. There are flags for Canada, the USA, and Britain--plus a fourth flag which I don't recognize.

Secret Connections--II

Here are a few more scenes from the mural by Tony Johnson. The pictures are showing some of the work at Camp X and related subjects.

Secret Connections in Local Area!

Here are some photos of a mural in downtown Oshawa. The mural is a panorama of scenes about the former "Camp X" which used to be in the area. Camp X was a spy training school which began around the time of World War II.

Have read a book about Camp X and attended a lecture by the author at the library earlier. But from reading on the Internet now, there's still more I didn't know! [Won't explain too much for fear of making a mistake but people can look it up for themselves.]

Camp X was apparently a link between Britain, Canada, and the USA--is that correct? [Sometimes the Internet notes aren't even accurate!?] They continued operations for a few decades following World War II before they closed down completely. The public and even most of the government officials didn't know what was going on! The property began with a farm; and some radio antennas were said to belong to our Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for their signals!--Meanwhile, the use of radio was important to the work at Camp X, if I recall reading in the book?

It has also been debated that some trainees at Camp X went on to write fiction books--like the author of the "James Bond" movies? But the spy work itself was very serious, for sure!

[The location of Camp X was approximately on the border between Oshawa and Whitby, for the record.]

NOTE: The mural was painted by artist, Tony Johnson.

Flowers and More Flowers!

Wanted to post these photos after the entry with leaves below. Spring really does follow winter!

These pictures were taken in late spring last year, just before the Peony Festival at a park in the city of Oshawa.

A Story of Leaves

When summer leaves change colour in the fall, they can be very beautiful. But the leaves soon fall off and die afterwards. Have read it can be like that with sin--it's enjoyable for the moment but the effect doesn't last.

If there's no harm to others, we should be able to make our personal choices in life. And it's the only real way to grow--there isn't a lot of point in living a life that's forced on us by others or society. God wants us to CHOOSE to live a good life, according to my understanding. [According to the Bible, He also helps us with our choices, if we want Him to. The Bible helps us understand more about God.]

Where gay issues go, it has been my position that people need to have the freedom to move forward.--To live their lives as they see fit--whether or not we agree with them. In making their choices, there will be a live-and-learn process, as there is with most of us. In Canada and some other countries, there has already been a lot of freedom for gays; but issues are still being debated in places like the USA.

If some Canadians think they've reached the limit for gay rights, they're mistaken. There's still more to be done; and I've seen that many Canadians, with their usual generous spirit, have been willing to reach upward to give gays their fullest possible benefits. On the other hand, Christians don't need to be afraid. Enlightened Christians know that Christianity helps to give us freedom while setting healthy boundaries. [It's by accepting the realistic limits of homosexuality--like of gay couples not being able to bear children together--that freedom is more likely to be found, in my opinion.]

***A final point I'd like to make here is that even though winter follows fall, spring also follows winter! We don't want to be reckless or presumptuous but there is often forgiveness even when we've failed very badly! Some Christians believe in a final Judgment Day at an unknown point in the future; and our personal fate could be closed without warning--we never know. But in the meantime, there's forgiveness and renewal--we have chances to start over again. And we need to be able to experience life on an individual basis--not to have others' unreasonable values placed on us, in my opinion. [Most of us already have a right to full freedom but many gays haven't been in that position, it seems. The subject doesn't apply to me personally but am attempting to speak for those who need help!]

Northern Photo--III

Here's a final photo from the river. It's always nice to think of summer and to go out to scenic locations when you can, in my opinion!

Northern Photos--II

Here are a couple more photos from the Mattawa River, from my previous boating days!

Northern Photo

Here's a photo from the Mattawa River, in northern Ontario, more than 15 years ago when my son and I went boating there! We had a small, inflatable boat which we used a lot.

This photo was taken with a cheaper camera I had at the time and the sun was unfortunately in the direction where I wanted to take the shot. There's a rock wall, approximately 100 feet high [I'm guessing now] below the trees. The first time my son and I went to this location, I felt somewhat proud of my discovery because I didn't know a location like this existed and it's not visible from the road. [We actually went to a small lake and then found the river passing through it. We proceeded to follow the river.]