Sorry, I mean Smarty NOPants.
The Independent, a Brit bird cage liner, cited "...preliminary findings from a year-long study of 300 lap dancers conducted by Dr. Teela Sanders and Kate Hardy from the University of Leeds, in northern England." that discovered that about a quarter of the women have university degrees.
They also found that the myth of the drug addicted peeler was just that, a myth. In fact "...most dancers entered the industry for financial reasons..." The money is there, "Dancers are also paid an average of £232 ($360) per shift, and most work between two and four shifts a week, meaning they take home between £24,000 and £48,000 a year." That a 100,000.00 CanuckBucks give or take.
In what comes up as a zero in the surprise department, Dr. Sanders discovered that "These women are incredibly body confident. I think there is something of a generational cultural difference. These young women do not buy the line that they are being exploited, because they are the ones making money out of a three-minute dance and a bit of a chat."
Mamas don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys.
WFDS
Monday, August 30, 2010
2810...Heartwarming Story
From 610WIOD in Miami, FLA.
Let me point out that I listened to an interview that Ms. Remondino did with Hot99.5 in Miami and what makes this story even more stupidly stupid is that Ms. Remondino dropped 118 pounds with Weight Watchers and has kept herself at her, not their, but her goal weight for half a decade. She is comfortable as a size twelve but that ain't skinny enough for the food tyrants at WW.
OMG. OMFG.
LOL.
WFDS
Weight Watchers Discriminates Against “Overweight” People
Lynae Remondino is looking for employment. She's been a National Trainer for many years and saw an opportunity with Weight Watchers but her own weight turned disqualified her for the job.
Monday, August 30, 2010
What? Weight Watchers? The company that says it's their mission to help people lose weight? Lynae Remondino, like many Americans right now, is looking for employment. She's been a National Trainer for many years and saw an opportunity with Weight Watchers International, Inc, and applied. According to the job announcement she would have been responsible for the facilitation and presentation of required training programs for new and existing Weight Watchers employees. Some other buzz words in the announcement included upbeat, classroom skills, leader, positive role model, etc... What Lynae didn't notice off hand was under Key Skills & Behaviors was a bullet that read: Maintenance of weight within two pounds of the Body Mass Index (BMI) healthy weight goal range.
Let me point out that I listened to an interview that Ms. Remondino did with Hot99.5 in Miami and what makes this story even more stupidly stupid is that Ms. Remondino dropped 118 pounds with Weight Watchers and has kept herself at her, not their, but her goal weight for half a decade. She is comfortable as a size twelve but that ain't skinny enough for the food tyrants at WW.
OMG. OMFG.
LOL.
WFDS
2809...Then There Were Three
Bye, bye Alex Cullen. First in, first out it seems. Alex Cullen, the sanctimonious city councillor for Bay Ward in your capital's north west end, is apparently going to leave the race for mayor to the big boys, Clive Doucet, Jim Watson and the current hizzoner, Larry O'Brien.
His problem is that no one wants to give him money; he has raised about 20,000 shekels and that just won't cut it.
"Cullen declined to provide an update on the status of his campaign on CBC's Ottawa Morning on Monday, saying those curious 'will have to wait.'" But CBC reports on its website that "On Sunday Bay Ward candidate Oni Joseph added new fuel to the speculation when she posted a message on her Twitter feed saying Cullen would drop out of the mayor's race and return to Bay Ward. 'Just got a call from Alex Cullen - Alex is running in Bay Ward!' she Tweeted on Sunday morning."
There are like ten candidates in Bay Ward so winning there won't be the slam dunk that Mr. Cullen thinks it is either.
Time will tell.
WFDS
His problem is that no one wants to give him money; he has raised about 20,000 shekels and that just won't cut it.
"Cullen declined to provide an update on the status of his campaign on CBC's Ottawa Morning on Monday, saying those curious 'will have to wait.'" But CBC reports on its website that "On Sunday Bay Ward candidate Oni Joseph added new fuel to the speculation when she posted a message on her Twitter feed saying Cullen would drop out of the mayor's race and return to Bay Ward. 'Just got a call from Alex Cullen - Alex is running in Bay Ward!' she Tweeted on Sunday morning."
There are like ten candidates in Bay Ward so winning there won't be the slam dunk that Mr. Cullen thinks it is either.
Time will tell.
WFDS
2808...I Love The RCMP
Truly and dearly.
QMI Agency reports that the RCMP in B. C. "...are investigating the conduct of several officers and municipal workers who reportedly watched two people being held in custody engage in sex acts...August 18."
I don't have to tell you that the held-in-custodys were women and the lookee-loos were dudes.
Oops, I just did.
I am looking forward to the movie.
WFDS
QMI Agency reports that the RCMP in B. C. "...are investigating the conduct of several officers and municipal workers who reportedly watched two people being held in custody engage in sex acts...August 18."
I don't have to tell you that the held-in-custodys were women and the lookee-loos were dudes.
Oops, I just did.
I am looking forward to the movie.
WFDS
Sunday, August 29, 2010
2807...Apparently Denmark Is Not Worried
That we will attack them.
Hans Island is the line in the sand, snow, perma frost, you know what I mean.
Go get 'em Team Blue.
WFDS
Hans Island is the line in the sand, snow, perma frost, you know what I mean.
Go get 'em Team Blue.
WFDS
2806...Happy Pride Day [Ottawa]
Missed the parade.
Slept in.
Damn alarm.
I gotta get electricity.
Still, great day for it.
The only thing that pisses me off is that every city has a different Pride Day.
Like, hello, Christmas Day is Christmas Day same day everywhere.
Seriously.
Make it Stonewall Day and get it over with.
Another problem solved.
WFDS
Slept in.
Damn alarm.
I gotta get electricity.
Still, great day for it.
The only thing that pisses me off is that every city has a different Pride Day.
Like, hello, Christmas Day is Christmas Day same day everywhere.
Seriously.
Make it Stonewall Day and get it over with.
Another problem solved.
WFDS
Saturday, August 28, 2010
2805...Another Bad Robber
Portland police, that's Portland, Maine and this was in the Portland Press-Reporter, say a man's craving for drugs sparked a one-morning crime spree that included an attempt to steal an ambulance, three armed robberies and attempted theft of a cash register.
The theft of the cash register at a Portland McDonald's, and, note to robber, alleged robber, 25 year old Paul Schlosser, you are supposed to steal the money not the cash register, was thwarted when an employee of McDick's threw hot coffee on our hero.
He was later caught when "...he tried to escape by jumping into a car stopped at an ATM..." and the driver no go.
Again, folks, if you are robbing, make stealing a vehicle job one, k?
WFDS
The theft of the cash register at a Portland McDonald's, and, note to robber, alleged robber, 25 year old Paul Schlosser, you are supposed to steal the money not the cash register, was thwarted when an employee of McDick's threw hot coffee on our hero.
He was later caught when "...he tried to escape by jumping into a car stopped at an ATM..." and the driver no go.
Again, folks, if you are robbing, make stealing a vehicle job one, k?
WFDS
2804...Joe Comartin Writes A Letter To The Editor
It was wrong to include my photo with 12 MPs
The Ottawa Citizen
Sat Aug 28 2010
Page: B5
Section: Letters
Byline: Joe Comartin
Source: The Ottawa Citizen
Re: Gun registry's fate is in their hands, Aug. 25.
It was incorrect to include my photograph as one of 12 New
Democrats still weighing their position on the Conservatives'
controversial Bill C-391 on the long-gun registry. This is a serious
misrepresentation.
As New Democrat justice critic, I have voted at each stage of the
process to maintain this critical investigative tool, and worked
tirelessly within my caucus and at committee to halt the advance of
this potentially disastrous and politically motivated legislation.
Jack Layton is the only national leader working to bridge the
genuine cultural divides between urban and rural Canada, even as
Michael Ignatieff and Stephen Harper continue to play cynical wedge
politics with the safety of our communities.
New Democrats remain focused on the pursuit of practical solutions
which will balance the rights of legitimate sportsmen and women with
a vigorous public safety regime capable of empowering our valiant
police services to effectively protect the Canadian public and
themselves.
Joe Comartin, Ottawa
MP for Windsor-Tecumseh
Edition: Final
Story Type: Letter
Length: 166 words
Idnumber: 201008280049
I gotta ask the honourable member for Detroit South a question: If Jack Layton, and before him Ed Broadbent and Tommy Douglas and the rest, are so in touch with Canuckistanian values and blah blah blah, how come you guys cannot get above 20 points in the polls and never even make it to Stornoway?
WFDS
2803...I Don't Take The Bus
I have been on The Hill.
But if terrorists want to scare the f*ck out of Canada, to bring the country to its knees, they might wish to take a page out of the book written in October 2003 by John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo. You may recall that, in a metro, D.C., that has about fifty murders a month, this pair, driving a blue 1990 Chevrolet Caprice sedan, wreaked havoc by randomly shooting just regular folks, ten of them I recall, doing regular stuff.
In the newish book Superfreakonomics, by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, they make the point that if the September 11th terrorists had of spread out across the States and just randomly shot people, nineteen one man crime waves, they could have brought America to her knees.
Ditto this crew.
Someday, not looking forward to it, but someday.
WFDS
But if terrorists want to scare the f*ck out of Canada, to bring the country to its knees, they might wish to take a page out of the book written in October 2003 by John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo. You may recall that, in a metro, D.C., that has about fifty murders a month, this pair, driving a blue 1990 Chevrolet Caprice sedan, wreaked havoc by randomly shooting just regular folks, ten of them I recall, doing regular stuff.
In the newish book Superfreakonomics, by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, they make the point that if the September 11th terrorists had of spread out across the States and just randomly shot people, nineteen one man crime waves, they could have brought America to her knees.
Ditto this crew.
Someday, not looking forward to it, but someday.
WFDS
2802...Bank Robbery 101
I just think that if you are going to do something, do it right.
And it strikes me that bank robbers are phenomenal at doing it wrong.
Case in point: my morning Ottawa Sun has the story of the the older fellow in Peterborough, Ontario, who knocked off a TD bank and took off in a cab.
That's error number one. If you are robbing a bank, steal a car.
While the coppers were at the bank our hero stopped at a nearby Coffee Time.
That's error number two. The cab was your getaway car not your hang around car.
Oy vey.
This is a tremendous opportunity for the community college, junior college or CEGEP in your part of the world to step up to the plate and add this profession to their list of trades.
WFDS
And it strikes me that bank robbers are phenomenal at doing it wrong.
Case in point: my morning Ottawa Sun has the story of the the older fellow in Peterborough, Ontario, who knocked off a TD bank and took off in a cab.
That's error number one. If you are robbing a bank, steal a car.
While the coppers were at the bank our hero stopped at a nearby Coffee Time.
That's error number two. The cab was your getaway car not your hang around car.
Oy vey.
This is a tremendous opportunity for the community college, junior college or CEGEP in your part of the world to step up to the plate and add this profession to their list of trades.
WFDS
Friday, August 27, 2010
2801...Stephen Strasburg Meet Mark Fidrych
Metaphorically of course; Mr. Fidrych got killed in a tractor accident last year but the similarities are there.
Last Saturday I am reading Bernard Fernandez gush in the Philadelphia Daily News about the 22 year old bonus, 15,100,000.00 U$D, baby with the Washington Nationals. Mr. Fernandez quoted the Phillies batting coach, Greg Gross, as saying the phenom is "...the real deal."
Sometimes things can be to good to be real. Here's the deal: Mr. Strasburg, who in 68 innings has 92 strikeouts, which is Hall of Fameish, has blown his arm out. The New York Times reports that "The Nationals announced Friday that Strasburg had a significant tear in the ulnar collateral ligament of his right elbow. He is expected to have Tommy John surgery, the elbow reconstruction named for its first and most famous patient, and will need 12 to 18 months to recover."
It ain't even started and it may be over.
I hope the cheque for the 15 large has cleared the bank already.
WFDS
Last Saturday I am reading Bernard Fernandez gush in the Philadelphia Daily News about the 22 year old bonus, 15,100,000.00 U$D, baby with the Washington Nationals. Mr. Fernandez quoted the Phillies batting coach, Greg Gross, as saying the phenom is "...the real deal."
Sometimes things can be to good to be real. Here's the deal: Mr. Strasburg, who in 68 innings has 92 strikeouts, which is Hall of Fameish, has blown his arm out. The New York Times reports that "The Nationals announced Friday that Strasburg had a significant tear in the ulnar collateral ligament of his right elbow. He is expected to have Tommy John surgery, the elbow reconstruction named for its first and most famous patient, and will need 12 to 18 months to recover."
It ain't even started and it may be over.
I hope the cheque for the 15 large has cleared the bank already.
WFDS
2800...Corruption Perceptions Index
Ever heard of it? Me neither. But it is there.
On the latest index New Zealand is number one, Denmark, who if they don't keep their hands off Hans Island, will be our eastern most province in short order is number two and Canada is, is, is, number eight, tied with Iceland and Australia.
Imagine how well we would do if we could take the, not pointing any fingers mind you, Island of Montreal, out of the mix.
Number one with a bullet.
WFDS
On the latest index New Zealand is number one, Denmark, who if they don't keep their hands off Hans Island, will be our eastern most province in short order is number two and Canada is, is, is, number eight, tied with Iceland and Australia.
Imagine how well we would do if we could take the, not pointing any fingers mind you, Island of Montreal, out of the mix.
Number one with a bullet.
WFDS
2799...Kiss Of Death
Headline in yesterday's Globe and Mail says it all:
That's Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone of Toronto who is running for the big job. Mayor.
Mr. Pantalone, who has been on city council for thirty years, is at nine points and is going to get beat like a rented mule in the municipal election in the Big Smoke.
Mr. Layton's endorsement just seals the deal.
WFDS
Layton endorses Pantalone
That's Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone of Toronto who is running for the big job. Mayor.
Mr. Pantalone, who has been on city council for thirty years, is at nine points and is going to get beat like a rented mule in the municipal election in the Big Smoke.
Mr. Layton's endorsement just seals the deal.
WFDS
2798...Larry King Back To Radio
Perhaps.
The New York Post speculates that Larry King may return to his radio roots when he leaves CNN later this year. Mr. King is in discussions with media mogul Ryan Seacrest, who you know from American Idol.
Mr. King started in radio, mostly in Miami and then, in '78, moved north to Arlington, Virginia where he mined new ground, an overnight talkshow on Mutual, that ran til '94.
As pukey and bland as he was/is on the tube, Mr. King was dynamic on the radio.
The best ever.
WFDS
The New York Post speculates that Larry King may return to his radio roots when he leaves CNN later this year. Mr. King is in discussions with media mogul Ryan Seacrest, who you know from American Idol.
Mr. King started in radio, mostly in Miami and then, in '78, moved north to Arlington, Virginia where he mined new ground, an overnight talkshow on Mutual, that ran til '94.
As pukey and bland as he was/is on the tube, Mr. King was dynamic on the radio.
The best ever.
WFDS
2797...Wanna Help Your Ontario?
Here is one way you may:
Give 'er.
WFDS
Good afternoon,
As you may know, on April 22 our government launched the Partnership Project, a consultation with the not-for-profit sector about how to strengthen the relationship between the Ontario government and the province’s not-for-profit sector.
Since our launch, we have been asking for the sector’s advice on ways to renew, streamline and modernize the relationship between government and the not-for-profit sector. We are seeking your views on how government can be more responsive, supportive and accessible to the sector. We are looking at what works and what doesn’t in terms of legislation, policies, structural issues and funding mechanisms. We are interested in finding new and better ways to coordinate policy, research and communication with and for the sector.
To help in this process, the Ministry of Citizen and Immigration has launched the Partnership Project website where you can go online to participate in an interactive discussion, submit research, provide your feedback or learn more about the process. I encourage you to visit www.partnershipproject.ca and participate in this discussion.
We know what a valuable role you play in our community. You are our champions and our caretakers, helping to create opportunities and deliver services across a broad range of demographics. I know that you are committed to our community and are major contributors to our social and economic success as a province. And I know that you are eager and able to play a major role in forging a more effective partnership with the public and private sectors to create a stronger third sector.
The outcome of the Partnership Project’s work will be a strategy that offers a set of practical, concrete recommendations to the Premier on how to strengthen the partnership between government and the not-for-profit sector.
I hope that you will share your valuable insights, experiences and suggestions with us by participating in this discussion. Visit the website, sign up and let us know what you think!
Thank you for your continued contributions to our community.
Have a wonderful weekend,
Yasir
Yasir Naqvi, MPP
Ottawa Centre
Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Revenue
Community Office
Suite 204, 411 Roosevelt Ave. Ottawa K2A 3X9
[t] 613-722-6414
[f] 613-722-6703
[e] ynaqvi.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org
(i) www.yasirnaqvimpp.ca
fb Check out my facebook!
tw Follow @yasir_naqvi on twitter !
3R Please consider the environment before printing this email.
Give 'er.
WFDS
2796...Guns Guns And Guns
Ah, the gun registry.
Personally I think that a/you want a gun, you should be able to have a gun, no questions asked and b/you should have to register it like you have to register your car.
Peter Wheeland makes a similiar point in his piece in the Montreal Gazette, sarcastically but it is still there.
He also makes a valid point about the Stephen Harpers writing that "It's the same government that promotes a 'law and order' agenda yet refuses to listen to the unanimous position of the Association of Police Chiefs on the usefulness of the long-gun registry."
I shudder at the implication that the Tories have said one thing and yet are doing another. Unthinkable.
WFDS
Personally I think that a/you want a gun, you should be able to have a gun, no questions asked and b/you should have to register it like you have to register your car.
Peter Wheeland makes a similiar point in his piece in the Montreal Gazette, sarcastically but it is still there.
He also makes a valid point about the Stephen Harpers writing that "It's the same government that promotes a 'law and order' agenda yet refuses to listen to the unanimous position of the Association of Police Chiefs on the usefulness of the long-gun registry."
I shudder at the implication that the Tories have said one thing and yet are doing another. Unthinkable.
WFDS
2795...Summer In Your Capital
Terrorists in the news, heat wave imminent but the big news in The Ottawa Sun is that The Hockey News is picking the Senators to finish the 2010-11 season tenth, that is out of the playoffs, in the East.
The horror.
Now back to your regular programming.
WFDS
The horror.
Now back to your regular programming.
WFDS
Thursday, August 26, 2010
2794...Terror Plot In Ottawa
Some excitement in the Carlingwood area of my town. Five-oh of all stripes hit a townhouse in that quiet part of the city, and being in quiet in a sleepy town like Ottawa means it is q u i e t, where Roger Smith of CTV reported that "In an early morning raid police swooped in on this Ottawa townhouse, arresting one suspect and carting away evidence of an alleged plot to bomb targets in Canada by a group with suspected links to al-Qaeda."
My fave piece was from Simon Gardener, goodness, hope I got his name right, from CBC News At Five, who interviewed a woman who did not want her identity revealed. Her face was pixillated but one could still make out that she was blond, about 35, shoulder length hair and her voice wasn't distorted. Oh, yeah, and in the tag Mr. Reporter explained that she didn't want her face on TV coz she lived in the house next door to the alleged terrorists. That house, the one with the blue drapes, to my right.
Beauty.
WFDS
My fave piece was from Simon Gardener, goodness, hope I got his name right, from CBC News At Five, who interviewed a woman who did not want her identity revealed. Her face was pixillated but one could still make out that she was blond, about 35, shoulder length hair and her voice wasn't distorted. Oh, yeah, and in the tag Mr. Reporter explained that she didn't want her face on TV coz she lived in the house next door to the alleged terrorists. That house, the one with the blue drapes, to my right.
Beauty.
WFDS
2793...Charlotte Whitton
There is a lot of controversy in your nation's capital about its first female mayor, Charlotte Whitton, being officially honoured as a historical figure in Our Home And Native Land. The stumbling block is her antisemitism that was responsible for many, and one was too many, Jews being turned away during the pre Holocaust years which, presumably, led to the deaths of many.
Many feel that should prevent her from being recognized.
I am not one of those many people.
She is truly a historical figure, in the same way the Louis Riel and Jefferson Davis and other repugnant individuals were. That is undeniable. Her antisemitism was some serious bullsh*t but facts be facts: she was the first female mayor of Ottawa, first full time female mayor in the Dominion of Canada.
She was no Sophie Scholl or Rosa Parks or Anne Frank but she was the first female mayor of your capital and we cannot, nor should we, whitewash history. Ignoring her repugnant actions is not the solution; we should shine a light upon her horrific actions. We should also look to the anti-immigrant sentiment in our country today. Either we are or we are not a nation that is welcoming and is a nation of immigrants. Yes or no.
Don Butler in Sunday's Montreal Gazette points out that Miss Whitton was not the only racist leader during that era. Mr. Butler writes that "William Lyon Mackenzie King, Canada's longest-serving prime minister, was known to hold anti-Semitic views and worked hard to limit Jewish immigration." For that he should, as should Miss Whitton, be shamed but not ignored.
What was, was and what is, is.
Never again.
WFDS
Many feel that should prevent her from being recognized.
I am not one of those many people.
She is truly a historical figure, in the same way the Louis Riel and Jefferson Davis and other repugnant individuals were. That is undeniable. Her antisemitism was some serious bullsh*t but facts be facts: she was the first female mayor of Ottawa, first full time female mayor in the Dominion of Canada.
She was no Sophie Scholl or Rosa Parks or Anne Frank but she was the first female mayor of your capital and we cannot, nor should we, whitewash history. Ignoring her repugnant actions is not the solution; we should shine a light upon her horrific actions. We should also look to the anti-immigrant sentiment in our country today. Either we are or we are not a nation that is welcoming and is a nation of immigrants. Yes or no.
Don Butler in Sunday's Montreal Gazette points out that Miss Whitton was not the only racist leader during that era. Mr. Butler writes that "William Lyon Mackenzie King, Canada's longest-serving prime minister, was known to hold anti-Semitic views and worked hard to limit Jewish immigration." For that he should, as should Miss Whitton, be shamed but not ignored.
What was, was and what is, is.
Never again.
WFDS
2792...Fried Beer
I love science.
I love beer.
I love fried stuff.
I love the fact that scientists at the Texas State Fair have figured out how to deep fry beer.
Life is beautiful and deep fried beer is one of the [new] beautys of life. It is one of the contestants that Dallas/Fort Worth's Pegasus News tells us is in a big old fried stuff contest they are having at the fair in Dallas.
The total list of finalists for the 2010 Big Tex Choice Awards are:
Deep Fried S’mores Pop•Tart®
Fried Chocolate
Deep Fried Frozen Margarita
Fried Lemonade
Fernie’s Fried Club Salad
Texas Fried Caviar
Fried Beer™ Texas
Fried Frito® Pie
They all sound great and ever so slimming.
I love Texas.
WFDS
I love beer.
I love fried stuff.
I love the fact that scientists at the Texas State Fair have figured out how to deep fry beer.
Life is beautiful and deep fried beer is one of the [new] beautys of life. It is one of the contestants that Dallas/Fort Worth's Pegasus News tells us is in a big old fried stuff contest they are having at the fair in Dallas.
The total list of finalists for the 2010 Big Tex Choice Awards are:
Deep Fried S’mores Pop•Tart®
Fried Chocolate
Deep Fried Frozen Margarita
Fried Lemonade
Fernie’s Fried Club Salad
Texas Fried Caviar
Fried Beer™ Texas
Fried Frito® Pie
They all sound great and ever so slimming.
I love Texas.
WFDS
2791...Hot Chocolate Should Not Be That Hot
Maroons I tell you, maroons. The world is full of maroons.
Woman sues McDonald's after daughter is burned with hot chocolate. It is called HOT Chocolate for a reason, eh?
Not Luke Warm Chocolate or Refreshingly Room Temperature Chocolate.
Hot.
H-O-T.
Hot.
The chicagobreakingnews.com website, that's The Chicago Tribune, WGN-TV and 720WGN's website, reports that a "Northlake woman sued McDonald's in Cook County Circuit Court today claiming that her daughter was seriously burned in 2009 when a hot chocolate she ordered from the fast-food giant spilled and seriously burned her leg."
Hot.
H-O-T.
Hot.
There is a precedent of course. "In 1994, an elderly woman was awarded over $2 million after suing McDonald's for burns she suffered when coffee she bought at a drive-through window spilled in her lap. That amount was later reduced by a judge."
I would write more but I have to call my lawyer; some of the special sauce from my Big Mac just stained my Levi's. That has to be worth a shekel or three.
WFDS
Woman sues McDonald's after daughter is burned with hot chocolate. It is called HOT Chocolate for a reason, eh?
Not Luke Warm Chocolate or Refreshingly Room Temperature Chocolate.
Hot.
H-O-T.
Hot.
The chicagobreakingnews.com website, that's The Chicago Tribune, WGN-TV and 720WGN's website, reports that a "Northlake woman sued McDonald's in Cook County Circuit Court today claiming that her daughter was seriously burned in 2009 when a hot chocolate she ordered from the fast-food giant spilled and seriously burned her leg."
Hot.
H-O-T.
Hot.
There is a precedent of course. "In 1994, an elderly woman was awarded over $2 million after suing McDonald's for burns she suffered when coffee she bought at a drive-through window spilled in her lap. That amount was later reduced by a judge."
I would write more but I have to call my lawyer; some of the special sauce from my Big Mac just stained my Levi's. That has to be worth a shekel or three.
WFDS
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
2790...Putting The Toronto Maple Leafs To Shame
Sure, the Leafs haven't won a Stanley Cup since the Centennial Year of 1967 and they may not win another until the Bi-Centennial of 2067 but at least, occasionally, they make the playoffs and the finals in the East [if that is what they are calling it this year] and they sure seem like they are trying, both on the ice and in the front office.
Plus they make beaucoup d'argent.
Still, the Leafs are pikers in the lose games/make money department compared to the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates have not had a winning season since Barry Bonds left. In 1992. The closest they have come is not even close.
But they make beaucoup.
According to a set of confidential documents published on Deadspin.com earlier this week, Major League Baseball's worst team had a net income of close to $30 million in 2007 and 2008 despite fielding teams that lost 54 more games than they won. As the AP reported on Sunday, "Losing has been profitable" for Pittsburgh.
Ottawan Phil Birnbaum wrote an extensive article in Slate that indicates that due to the way revenue sharing is structured in MLB "...the Pirates can spend a lot of money on player salaries, or they can turn a profit. They can't do both."
The deck is stacked. Not so much in the NHL.
Read the complete article, if you wish: http://www.slate.com/id/2265068?wpisrc=newsletter
WFDS
Plus they make beaucoup d'argent.
Still, the Leafs are pikers in the lose games/make money department compared to the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates have not had a winning season since Barry Bonds left. In 1992. The closest they have come is not even close.
But they make beaucoup.
According to a set of confidential documents published on Deadspin.com earlier this week, Major League Baseball's worst team had a net income of close to $30 million in 2007 and 2008 despite fielding teams that lost 54 more games than they won. As the AP reported on Sunday, "Losing has been profitable" for Pittsburgh.
Ottawan Phil Birnbaum wrote an extensive article in Slate that indicates that due to the way revenue sharing is structured in MLB "...the Pirates can spend a lot of money on player salaries, or they can turn a profit. They can't do both."
The deck is stacked. Not so much in the NHL.
Read the complete article, if you wish: http://www.slate.com/id/2265068?wpisrc=newsletter
WFDS
2789...If I Was A Tory I Would Have A Job
Man, when the Blues get in power they don't fool around, do they?
The Cape Breton Post, yessir I read them all, quotes Prince Edward Island Liberal Member of Parliament, Wayne Easter, as saying that "Stephen Harper is doing everything he once criticized, in fact is doing everything he once campaigned against." What our beloved Prime Minister is doing, in bunches, Mr. Easter pointed to 386 patronage gigs, is giving prime time jobs to not so ready for prime time Tories. "The message is clear: If you run for the Conservatives, work for the Conservatives and give to the Conservatives, they will reward you with paid gigs backed by taxpayer dollars."
Shame on him.
WFDS
The Cape Breton Post, yessir I read them all, quotes Prince Edward Island Liberal Member of Parliament, Wayne Easter, as saying that "Stephen Harper is doing everything he once criticized, in fact is doing everything he once campaigned against." What our beloved Prime Minister is doing, in bunches, Mr. Easter pointed to 386 patronage gigs, is giving prime time jobs to not so ready for prime time Tories. "The message is clear: If you run for the Conservatives, work for the Conservatives and give to the Conservatives, they will reward you with paid gigs backed by taxpayer dollars."
Shame on him.
WFDS
2788...Detroit Is The Gateway To Windsor
And that is the real reason Johnny Damon turned down a chance to move from the middle of the pack Detroit Tigers to the contenders in Boston.
Of course the T-shirts worn in New England that say The T-shirts read "Looks like Jesus, acts like Judas, throws like Mary" probably didn't help bring him onside.
Sports Illustrated reports that he would be more than glad to play for either the Tampa Bay Rays or the New York Yankees but no way to the Red Sox.
Plan B for the Bostons is to try and get Manny Ramirez, who the Los Angeles Dodgers are set to waive. Methinks that is not going to happen either.
Bridges.
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Of course the T-shirts worn in New England that say The T-shirts read "Looks like Jesus, acts like Judas, throws like Mary" probably didn't help bring him onside.
Sports Illustrated reports that he would be more than glad to play for either the Tampa Bay Rays or the New York Yankees but no way to the Red Sox.
Plan B for the Bostons is to try and get Manny Ramirez, who the Los Angeles Dodgers are set to waive. Methinks that is not going to happen either.
Bridges.
WFDS
2787...Who Doesn't Love Bagpipes?
The New York Times has this brilliant story about "Bill Millin, a Scottish bagpiper who played highland tunes as his fellow commandos landed on a Normandy beach on D-Day and lived to see his bravado immortalized in the 1962 film The Longest Day, died on Wednesday in a hospital in the western England county of Devon. He was 88."
Whilst his buddies were fighting their way up the beach on June 6, 1944, Mr. Millin was playing bagpipes to cheer them up. "'I shall never forget hearing the skirl of Bill Millin’s pipes,' one of the commandos, Tom Duncan, said years later. 'As well as the pride we felt, it reminded us of home, and why we were fighting there for our lives and those of our loved ones.'"
What is truly amazing is the fact that on this bloody day the bagpiper, walking erect on Sword Beach, did not shot to smithereens. "He said he found out later, after meeting Germans who had manned guns above the beach, that they didn’t shoot him 'because they thought I was crazy.'"
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Whilst his buddies were fighting their way up the beach on June 6, 1944, Mr. Millin was playing bagpipes to cheer them up. "'I shall never forget hearing the skirl of Bill Millin’s pipes,' one of the commandos, Tom Duncan, said years later. 'As well as the pride we felt, it reminded us of home, and why we were fighting there for our lives and those of our loved ones.'"
What is truly amazing is the fact that on this bloody day the bagpiper, walking erect on Sword Beach, did not shot to smithereens. "He said he found out later, after meeting Germans who had manned guns above the beach, that they didn’t shoot him 'because they thought I was crazy.'"
WFDS
2786...Brilliant Xenophobia Piece From Calgary
Xenophobia illogical in Canada
Calgary Herald
Mon Aug 23 2010
Page: A8
Section: The Editorial
Page Byline:
Jeremy Klaszus Column:
Jeremy Klaszus
Source: For The Calgary Herald
It's a disconcerting string of stories, to say the least.
In April, Arizona passed a law cracking down on undocumented migrants, making it a crime for them to be in the state at all -- regardless of whether they're involved in criminal activity. Two months later, voters in Fremont, Neb., approved new rules forbidding local landlords and businesses from renting to or hiring undocumented workers.
The Arizona and Fremont laws have since run into legal snags (damn those checks and balances!), but elsewhere in the world, outsiders are being similarly targeted by states that want to thicken their borders -- even though these same states rely heavily on newcomers for labour.
In France this month, police have been uprooting small camps of impoverished Roma migrants, giving them two options: leave voluntarily with government help, or get deported.
It would be comforting to believe Canada is immune from this creeping xenophobia. Yet we saw it after a ship arrived in B.C. earlier this month with almost 500 Tamil migrants from Sri Lanka. "Victoria residents angry at arrival of Tamil refugees," brayed a Vancouver headline. In the story, Liberal MP Keith Martin said his office had been flooded with callers who were "angry because they don't want the Tamil people to be let into Canada and they don't want them drawing from our social services."
Sound familiar? Those callers use the same fearful rhetoric -- " they'll take what's ours" -- that U.S. politicians employed to get their nutty anti-Hispanic laws off the ground. Instead of calling for a more tempered response, the Harper Conservatives have fed Canadians' fears of the unknown.
Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said the boat contained "suspected human smugglers and terrorists." That's scary stuff, no doubt about it -- and while there may be a degree of truth in those comments, it's far from the whole story. The migrants came from Sri Lanka, a country reeling from more than 25 years of civil war. According to Amnesty International, both sides of the conflict -- the government and Tamil Tigers -- broke international humanitarian law throughout. But while the government declared victory over the Tamil Tigers last year, Amnesty International says Tamil people living in Sri Lanka still face "enforced disappearances" and torture.
Human rights advocates and journalists are "killed, assaulted, threatened and jailed." That's a hell of a lot scarier than a boatload of strangers. But Prime Minister Stephen Harper chose to play the tough guy when facing the media after the ship docked: "We are responsible for the security of our borders, and the ability to welcome people, or not welcome people, when they come."
To be fair, he has a point. Of course Canada should seek a balance between national security and openness -- and the last thing Canada should do is provide a haven for human traffickers and others who abuse human rights. But Harper seems more interested in pleasing the cranky hardliners of his voter base than seeking that difficult balance. "Canadians are pretty concerned when a whole boat of people comes -- not through any normal application process, not through any normal arrival channel -- and just simply lands," Harper said of the recent arrivals. That's a revealing comment.
Modern Canada exists on this continent only because Europeans -- "whole boats" of them, to use Harper's words -- sailed here in the 16th and 17th centuries and simply landed. And "not through any normal application process" with the original inhabitants of the land, either. Many others arrived as refugees fleeing war in the years following, and now they and their children proudly call themselves Canadians. Anti-immigrant types hate to be reminded that white North Americans are either immigrants, or descended from immigrants. It makes their hysterical arguments look ridiculous.
But go back far enough and we're all outsiders. This fact, not xenophobia, should guide Canada as we face the complex challenge of handling modern asylum seekers.
Jeremy Klaszus is a Calgary freelance writer.
Edition: Final
WFDS
Calgary Herald
Mon Aug 23 2010
Page: A8
Section: The Editorial
Page Byline:
Jeremy Klaszus Column:
Jeremy Klaszus
Source: For The Calgary Herald
It's a disconcerting string of stories, to say the least.
In April, Arizona passed a law cracking down on undocumented migrants, making it a crime for them to be in the state at all -- regardless of whether they're involved in criminal activity. Two months later, voters in Fremont, Neb., approved new rules forbidding local landlords and businesses from renting to or hiring undocumented workers.
The Arizona and Fremont laws have since run into legal snags (damn those checks and balances!), but elsewhere in the world, outsiders are being similarly targeted by states that want to thicken their borders -- even though these same states rely heavily on newcomers for labour.
In France this month, police have been uprooting small camps of impoverished Roma migrants, giving them two options: leave voluntarily with government help, or get deported.
It would be comforting to believe Canada is immune from this creeping xenophobia. Yet we saw it after a ship arrived in B.C. earlier this month with almost 500 Tamil migrants from Sri Lanka. "Victoria residents angry at arrival of Tamil refugees," brayed a Vancouver headline. In the story, Liberal MP Keith Martin said his office had been flooded with callers who were "angry because they don't want the Tamil people to be let into Canada and they don't want them drawing from our social services."
Sound familiar? Those callers use the same fearful rhetoric -- " they'll take what's ours" -- that U.S. politicians employed to get their nutty anti-Hispanic laws off the ground. Instead of calling for a more tempered response, the Harper Conservatives have fed Canadians' fears of the unknown.
Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said the boat contained "suspected human smugglers and terrorists." That's scary stuff, no doubt about it -- and while there may be a degree of truth in those comments, it's far from the whole story. The migrants came from Sri Lanka, a country reeling from more than 25 years of civil war. According to Amnesty International, both sides of the conflict -- the government and Tamil Tigers -- broke international humanitarian law throughout. But while the government declared victory over the Tamil Tigers last year, Amnesty International says Tamil people living in Sri Lanka still face "enforced disappearances" and torture.
Human rights advocates and journalists are "killed, assaulted, threatened and jailed." That's a hell of a lot scarier than a boatload of strangers. But Prime Minister Stephen Harper chose to play the tough guy when facing the media after the ship docked: "We are responsible for the security of our borders, and the ability to welcome people, or not welcome people, when they come."
To be fair, he has a point. Of course Canada should seek a balance between national security and openness -- and the last thing Canada should do is provide a haven for human traffickers and others who abuse human rights. But Harper seems more interested in pleasing the cranky hardliners of his voter base than seeking that difficult balance. "Canadians are pretty concerned when a whole boat of people comes -- not through any normal application process, not through any normal arrival channel -- and just simply lands," Harper said of the recent arrivals. That's a revealing comment.
Modern Canada exists on this continent only because Europeans -- "whole boats" of them, to use Harper's words -- sailed here in the 16th and 17th centuries and simply landed. And "not through any normal application process" with the original inhabitants of the land, either. Many others arrived as refugees fleeing war in the years following, and now they and their children proudly call themselves Canadians. Anti-immigrant types hate to be reminded that white North Americans are either immigrants, or descended from immigrants. It makes their hysterical arguments look ridiculous.
But go back far enough and we're all outsiders. This fact, not xenophobia, should guide Canada as we face the complex challenge of handling modern asylum seekers.
Jeremy Klaszus is a Calgary freelance writer.
Edition: Final
WFDS
2785...Food For Thought
Gary Kasparov, the former world champion chess player and now an opposistion activist in Russia, was quoted in Monday's New York Times as saying that "There are certain rules of any dictatorship: never save money on police or propaganda."
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2784...Ottawa Petfinder
That's what the late and ever-so-missed Frank Magazine used to call The Ottawa Citizen.
Today's Petfinder had a story that was cobbled from Stanley Coren's The Intelligence of Dogs.
The top three are, in order, Border Collie, Poodle and German Shepard.
The last three are Bulldog, Basenji and Afgan Hounds.
Bear in mind no matter how smart a dog, your dog is, no dog has ever built a bridge, written a poem or been Prime Minister.
WFDS
Today's Petfinder had a story that was cobbled from Stanley Coren's The Intelligence of Dogs.
The top three are, in order, Border Collie, Poodle and German Shepard.
The last three are Bulldog, Basenji and Afgan Hounds.
Bear in mind no matter how smart a dog, your dog is, no dog has ever built a bridge, written a poem or been Prime Minister.
WFDS
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
2783...Blog Tax
You knew it was coming.
From TheAtlanticWire.com, cut and paste:
WFDS
From TheAtlanticWire.com, cut and paste:
Debating Philadelphia's $300 'Blog Tax'
< Previous article By Ray Gustini
| August 23, 2010 4:53pm
Getty Images Print Comments (3)
More The city of Philadelphia is now requiring bloggers who sell ad space to register for a $300 "business privilege license" to continue working in the city. The move to bolster the city's finances--first reported by the Philadelphia City Paper--was greeted with deep skepticism. Here's a sampling of responses:
$300 Far Too High
The city's rationale for demanding the tax is understandable, writes Technorati's Alex Priest. "The city's budget is screwed, everyone is in the red, tax revenue is down, yada, yada, yada." It's the amount of the tax he thinks is wrongheaded. Priest writes that a $300 licensing fee is"outrageous and inexplicable in almost any context," especially when applied to bloggers who "99.9% of the time, aren't making any money anyway."
Not as Unreasonable as it Looks
The fact the city requires freelance writers to pay the same fee shows that bloggers aren't being singled out, contends FireDogLake. "Bloggers aren't being unfairly targeted," they write. Rather, "anyone conducting any form if financial transaction is being targeted."
How Angry Bloggers Should Respond
New York Magazine's Nate Freeman suggests outraged Philly bloggers eschew ad services like Google AdSense as a way of protesting the fee. Sure, "the minimal profits that once came rolling in will dry up," a fact Freeman believes is outweighed by the "self-satisfaction of refusing to give the city that hard-earned blog revenue."
Will Affect Very Few Bloggers
Mashable's Christina Warren puts the fee in context. "It isn’t like they are doing full-scale audits for every person in Philly who runs a blog with ads," Warren notes. The only people the crackdown will have a "real-world impact on" are amateur bloggers who "report their blogging income on their individual income tax return." So, in other words, very few people.
WFDS
2782...Another Reason To Avoid Jail
Pain beams.
I know, I know, what are pain beams?
Well, they are invisible heat-beam weapons developed in secrecy by the military and they are, according to the Los Angeles Daily News, now set for use at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Pitchess Detention Center.
The formal name for the weapon is the Assault Intervention Device and it uses millimeter waves to heat the top layer of skin, causing an intense burning sensation that forces the person being targeted to move away immediately. Commander Bob Osborne says it feels like the blast of heat one feels when you open the oven door except it is more concentrated.
I bet this will be on Vic Toew's shopping list sooner rather than later.
WFDS
I know, I know, what are pain beams?
Well, they are invisible heat-beam weapons developed in secrecy by the military and they are, according to the Los Angeles Daily News, now set for use at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Pitchess Detention Center.
The formal name for the weapon is the Assault Intervention Device and it uses millimeter waves to heat the top layer of skin, causing an intense burning sensation that forces the person being targeted to move away immediately. Commander Bob Osborne says it feels like the blast of heat one feels when you open the oven door except it is more concentrated.
I bet this will be on Vic Toew's shopping list sooner rather than later.
WFDS
2781...We Could Take Denmark In A Scrap
Seriously, I think their army still rides horses.
Here is what the Globe and Mail is reporting in this morning's paper. "A Danish cruise ship dropped off 64 tourists on the hotly contested Hans Island earlier this month. The Danish passengers went ashore on the island between Ellesmere Island and Greenland and erected a cairn with Greenlandic and Danish flags on top, Ritzau News Service reported."
Reached on tour in northern Manitoba our beloved Prime Minister Stephen Harper made light of the whole thing by saying that "Hans Island is a one-kilometre square rock in the middle of the Arctic Ocean, so I'm not sure it would have made for much of a tour."
I say send in the Marines.
We have Marines don't we?
WFDS
Here is what the Globe and Mail is reporting in this morning's paper. "A Danish cruise ship dropped off 64 tourists on the hotly contested Hans Island earlier this month. The Danish passengers went ashore on the island between Ellesmere Island and Greenland and erected a cairn with Greenlandic and Danish flags on top, Ritzau News Service reported."
Reached on tour in northern Manitoba our beloved Prime Minister Stephen Harper made light of the whole thing by saying that "Hans Island is a one-kilometre square rock in the middle of the Arctic Ocean, so I'm not sure it would have made for much of a tour."
I say send in the Marines.
We have Marines don't we?
WFDS
2780...It Is All Coming Together In La Belle
From this morning's Canadian Press:
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Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff has reportedly tabbed former cabinet minister Martin Cauchon to advise him on Quebec.
That position has been vacant since Jean-Marc Fournier, Ignatieff's former principal secretary, resigned last week to become Quebec's justice minister.
The gap widened on Aug. 12 when Ignatieff's communications director, Mario Lague, died in a motorcycle accident while on his way to work.
Cauchon served as justice minister and revenue minister in the Jean Chretien government before leaving for the private sector in 2004.
He will join the Liberal leader in Quebec's Eastern Townships on Friday.
WFDS
2779...Dick Maloney Laid To Rest
If you live outside of Ottawa you have most likely never heard of Dick Maloney.
If you were born after 1960, meme chose.
He was a lounge singer, a disc jockey and, in the 1960's one of the hosts of a local dance show on CJOH called Saturday Date.
He was part of the fabric of this city for a generation and his funeral was today at St. Pat's in downtown Ottawa.
It is said that when you die your life will flash in front of your eyes; the joke, offered with love and kindness, about Mr. Maloney was that when he died Frank Sinatra's life would flash in front of his.
He really will be missed.
WFDS
If you were born after 1960, meme chose.
He was a lounge singer, a disc jockey and, in the 1960's one of the hosts of a local dance show on CJOH called Saturday Date.
He was part of the fabric of this city for a generation and his funeral was today at St. Pat's in downtown Ottawa.
It is said that when you die your life will flash in front of your eyes; the joke, offered with love and kindness, about Mr. Maloney was that when he died Frank Sinatra's life would flash in front of his.
He really will be missed.
WFDS
Monday, August 23, 2010
2778...The End Of The Green Party Of Canada
From Bowie's Blog.
Just let me go on the record, in case you are reading this George Georges Laraque, that I think you were a great hockey player and would be a great Prime Minister and would like you to not hurt me, please.
And if you ask, I will give you directions to James Bowie's house Mr. Georges Laraque, no problem.
Also, in all seriousness, I think that Georges Laraque is a better choice for deputy leader than the sanctimonious David Chernushenko. Film maker, well, he may make him but no one outside of a small circle of friends. Don't forget that Mr. Chernushenko took the magic of being endorsed by the paper of record in Ottawa, The Citizen, in both '04 and '06 and manufactured fourth place finishes.
The party really is over for the party.
WFDS
Just let me go on the record, in case you are reading this George Georges Laraque, that I think you were a great hockey player and would be a great Prime Minister and would like you to not hurt me, please.
And if you ask, I will give you directions to James Bowie's house Mr. Georges Laraque, no problem.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
The end of the Green Party of Canada
They've had some momentum. They've raised some money, especially through the public per-vote subsidy.
They've also had their troubles. They seem to go through a deputy-leader about once a year, leaving behind some very talented, articulated, likable politicians like film-maker David Chernushenko. Georges Laraque, as popular a boxer in the NHL as he was, is as fit to be an understudy for Chernushenko as he is to stand in for Sir Patrick Stewart at the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Serious troubles, then, I should have said. The Green Party has had some serious, serious troubles...
Nothing, however, will compare with the excommunication they will suffer if they go forward with this proposed Green Party policy of decriminalizing polygamy. Astute followers of the Civil Marriage Act will remember this was the subject of fear mongering attack ads - if you legalize gay marriage today, what is next? Polygamy? Marriage to farm animals?
What many fail to realize is that the Green party pull support (however thinly) from across the political spectrum. Right-wing, left-wing, centrist, Canadians may not be likely to vote Green, but they are almost as likely to vote green regardless of their position on the political spectrum. That trend, which the Greens enjoy almost as much as they enjoy talking about it, will die a sudden death if conservative Canada gets wind that they want the guys they saw on National Geographic with the 25 wives living next door.
I can just see it. "Vote Green! This message is brought to you by the Church of Latter Day Saints!"
Personally, I hope they will do it precisely because it will destroy them. The Green Party needs a cleansing of biblical proportions to get back to its origins of democratic renewal and environmental responsibility. Currently it can't even sort out the democracy of its own leadership, so how can it be expected to sort out the democracy in Parliament? The departure of so many deputy leaders is just a harbinger of the true renewal that needs to take place in the GPC.
The Greens, remember, used to be that highly ethical party full of really smart Canadians with ideas ten years ahead of their time. In 2004 they were already proposing a carbon tax. They have been the champion of the single transferable vote. They used to be smart. Now they're just a collection of leaders holding desperately onto power without review, and deputy leaders who would do better on an episode of Coaches Corner than on a national debate.
For serious folks, imagine the Greens win, and G. Laraque is a heartbeat away from the top job? Can you imagine it? Especially compared with the brain trust of the Green party now making films with Quiet Revolution Pictures....
I'm not particularly worried, because I know the Greens stand zero chance of forming a government. I do think, however, that Canadians deserve an ultra-idealistic and impossibly intellectual option to vote for when they choose to wipe their ballots on their bums and cast a vote for a candidate with no chance of winning. It helps us feel superior, righteous, indignant, and what could be more quintessentially counter-cultural and Canadian. To that end, I hope the Greens can get their collective heads out from backwards-between-their-legs and mount something like the 2004 campaign, which may go down in history as the Golden Age of the Green Party.
Also, in all seriousness, I think that Georges Laraque is a better choice for deputy leader than the sanctimonious David Chernushenko. Film maker, well, he may make him but no one outside of a small circle of friends. Don't forget that Mr. Chernushenko took the magic of being endorsed by the paper of record in Ottawa, The Citizen, in both '04 and '06 and manufactured fourth place finishes.
The party really is over for the party.
WFDS
2777...Hockey News
They had this little piece in The Ottawa Citizen yesterday listing the top 10 hockey countries in the world.
The usual suspects.
Beauty is that, even though we are not tops in pops we have the largest number of registered players, a smidge under 500K. We also have, when you take out the USA, more indoor rinks than Russia, Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Switzerland, Germany and Belarus combined. Also, according to this figures that The Citizen got from the IIHF website, we have like more than twenty times as many outdoor rinks than the rest of the world, including the States and Russia, combined.
Oh, Canada.
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The usual suspects.
Beauty is that, even though we are not tops in pops we have the largest number of registered players, a smidge under 500K. We also have, when you take out the USA, more indoor rinks than Russia, Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Switzerland, Germany and Belarus combined. Also, according to this figures that The Citizen got from the IIHF website, we have like more than twenty times as many outdoor rinks than the rest of the world, including the States and Russia, combined.
Oh, Canada.
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2776...Not Through Any Normal Process
That's how most of our forefathers got here.
No point system, no sponsorship, no bullsh*t.
Show up and you are in.
Just wanted to point that out.
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No point system, no sponsorship, no bullsh*t.
Show up and you are in.
Just wanted to point that out.
WFDS
2775...And Everyone Thought They Were Forever
WGR, Sportsradio550 in Buffalo, reports that "Lawyers for both Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren have confirmed that the couple is officially divorced. There were no official terms released except that both parents will share parenting."
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2774...Down In The Bunker
Life may not be as rosy with the Stephen Harper's as one is lead to believe. Jake Wright, The Hill Times, writes that "Conservative MP Jay Hill was frustrated with the 'excessive control' put upon him by the Prime Minister's Office in his government house leader job..."
" 'He knew how to manoeuvre the rules. But I knew he was frustrated by the control that was being exercised by the Prime Minister's Office. It was excessive control by the PMO in comparison with what we saw with the Liberals,' NDP Deputy House Leader Joe Comartin (Windsor-Tecumseth, Ont.) said last week."
Bloc Quebecois House Leader Pierre Paquette from Joliette concurs.
In Mr. Hill's replacement the Prime Minister seems to have found his Martin Bormann. " 'When the PMO says, 'Jump,' John's going to jump whatever height they want,' said Mr. Comartin."
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" 'He knew how to manoeuvre the rules. But I knew he was frustrated by the control that was being exercised by the Prime Minister's Office. It was excessive control by the PMO in comparison with what we saw with the Liberals,' NDP Deputy House Leader Joe Comartin (Windsor-Tecumseth, Ont.) said last week."
Bloc Quebecois House Leader Pierre Paquette from Joliette concurs.
In Mr. Hill's replacement the Prime Minister seems to have found his Martin Bormann. " 'When the PMO says, 'Jump,' John's going to jump whatever height they want,' said Mr. Comartin."
WFDS
2773...May Be They Don't Like His Music
Wyclef Jean, Fugee's singer and new politician, has been rejected by the electoral commission in Haiti meaning he cannot run for President this November. He was one of fifteen candidates rejected.
Daniel Krebs in the Rolling Stone says that Mr. Jean is not taking the decision of the commission lying down. In fact he is royally pissed. The supposed reasoning is that "...Haiti's constitution requires that all presidential candidates live in the country for at least five years before starting a campaign. Jean has lived in the U.S. since he was a boy."
Mr. Jean replied thusly:
Mr. Jean's platform is one that will have special impact on Canada, specifically Quebec and even more specifically Montreal. Mr. Jean proposes that Haitians abroad be allowed to hold dual citizenship and for expats to be give the opportunity to vote.
WFDS
Daniel Krebs in the Rolling Stone says that Mr. Jean is not taking the decision of the commission lying down. In fact he is royally pissed. The supposed reasoning is that "...Haiti's constitution requires that all presidential candidates live in the country for at least five years before starting a campaign. Jean has lived in the U.S. since he was a boy."
Mr. Jean replied thusly:
After careful consideration and much soul-searching, I have made the decision to contest Haiti's board of election's pronouncement stating that I am ineligible to run for the presidency of the country. I will be seeking a solution through legal channels, and I urge my countrymen to be patient through this process.
In the 36 hours since the board's decision, I have been in constant conversation with my family, friends and advisers, and reading the comments of good people and supporters throughout the Haitian diaspora. I've also been closely monitoring the situation on the ground, which I am happy to report has remained peaceful and thoughtful. I, along with my supporters, am deeply disappointed that I have been denied the chance to present my candidacy to Haiti's voters. I want to continue in my efforts to always keep Haiti top of mind for the world -- I don't want to give anyone the chance to forget the earthquake victims, or my impoverished homeland, rich only in human potential and kindness.
These factors, and more, inspire me now. I am heartened by the world's focus on Haiti and its needs, as well as the great spirit of the Haitian people -- my people, and I cannot in good conscience give up my quest to lead Haiti to the greatness I know in my heart we are capable of reaching. I cannot surrender now, simply because an obstacle has been set before me; now is the time I must stand up and show Haiti -- and the world -- that my vision of a nation renewed and redeveloped is a vision for which I am willing to fight.
We in Haiti are united in our struggles, and we will be united in our victories and triumphs. Now is the struggle -- let us peaceably bear it and look forward to the time when our efforts will pay off, for all my fellow Haitians. Thank you for your love, understanding and support.
Wyclef Jean
Mr. Jean's platform is one that will have special impact on Canada, specifically Quebec and even more specifically Montreal. Mr. Jean proposes that Haitians abroad be allowed to hold dual citizenship and for expats to be give the opportunity to vote.
WFDS
Sunday, August 22, 2010
2772...This May Go On His Permanent Record
MYFOX LA reports that 31-year-old Michael Kevin Lallana of Fullerton, for reasons that I cannot fathom, allegedly "...deposited his semen on Jan. 14 and April 9 in the water bottle of a co-worker on her desk at the Northwestern Mutual Mortgage Co."
I am thinking that he will get a pass on bring stuff to potluck dinners forever after this story breaks.
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I am thinking that he will get a pass on bring stuff to potluck dinners forever after this story breaks.
WFDS
2771...Take Your Daughter 2Work Day In Germany
From the Sun, the one in England, comes this heartwarming story of a mom and her daughter spending quality time together.
WFDS
Diana Ahlen, 34, held up a branch of the Sparkasse bank in the eastern city of Chemnitz, Germany, yesterday, armed with a bread knife.
In her other hand she clutched her little girl.
She demanded several thousand euros from a female cashier who managed to trigger a silent alarm linked to two police stations just 500 yards away.
Armed cops surrounded the bank in the city's Hainstrasse within five minutes.
Police spokeswoman Jana Kindt said: "The police stormed the bank and the woman gave herself up immediately.
"She later said she resorted to a bank robbery because she was in dire financial straits."
Her daughter was sent home to her father.
The woman appeared before a judge in the afternoon — and was bailed.
Incredibly she then set off to try to rob another bank.
Armed with another knife she tried the same procedure — and was arrested again within minutes.
This time she was denied bail.
If at first you don't succeed, fail, fail again.
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2770...Tories Lead In Ontario
Like, doh.
It was in yesterday's National Post.
"If an election were held today, Tim Hudak's Progressive Conservative party would get 36% support among decided voters, narrowly defeating the Liberals (35%), according to the poll conducted for the National Post, Global Television and NewsTalk 1010 Radio."
Here is the surprising part. After the Premier brought in the HST and did a few other little tinkers with the everyday financial lives of Ontario's residents it is surprising that Mr. Hudak is not farther ahead.
That said, when it comes time to vote next fall, well, when the positive impact of the HST et. al. has trickled into the economy, when the great things the Liberals have done this century are illuminated by the light of an election it will be another four years over there for Mr. Hudak and his gang.
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It was in yesterday's National Post.
"If an election were held today, Tim Hudak's Progressive Conservative party would get 36% support among decided voters, narrowly defeating the Liberals (35%), according to the poll conducted for the National Post, Global Television and NewsTalk 1010 Radio."
Here is the surprising part. After the Premier brought in the HST and did a few other little tinkers with the everyday financial lives of Ontario's residents it is surprising that Mr. Hudak is not farther ahead.
That said, when it comes time to vote next fall, well, when the positive impact of the HST et. al. has trickled into the economy, when the great things the Liberals have done this century are illuminated by the light of an election it will be another four years over there for Mr. Hudak and his gang.
WFDS
2769...Apparently People Lie On The Internet
A lot.
And everywhere else too.
Josh Wingrove in yesterday's Globe and Mail wrote about "Investment in complex fraudulent schemes is on the rise in Canada, fuelled by technological advances and the popularity of social media, warns a new report on organized crime."
According to a report, The Criminal Intelligence Service Canada report, released by Bill Elliott and the Queen's Cowboys, thirty eight per cent of us have been approached by fraud artists. Not surprising, if I had a dollar for everytime I won a million dollars online I would be a millionaire. What is surprising to me is that 11 per cent of us have taken the bait and over a third of those put in 5,000.00$ [or more].
There is good news in the report: "The senior officers attending the report's release said they aren't aware of any debit cards that contain security chips, now favoured by banks, being compromised."
Now, if any of you want to d o u b l e, no t r i p l e your money in the next 7 days just send a certified cheque, made out to cash to: Me, In Care of Here.
That's Me, In Care of Here.
WFDS
And everywhere else too.
Josh Wingrove in yesterday's Globe and Mail wrote about "Investment in complex fraudulent schemes is on the rise in Canada, fuelled by technological advances and the popularity of social media, warns a new report on organized crime."
According to a report, The Criminal Intelligence Service Canada report, released by Bill Elliott and the Queen's Cowboys, thirty eight per cent of us have been approached by fraud artists. Not surprising, if I had a dollar for everytime I won a million dollars online I would be a millionaire. What is surprising to me is that 11 per cent of us have taken the bait and over a third of those put in 5,000.00$ [or more].
There is good news in the report: "The senior officers attending the report's release said they aren't aware of any debit cards that contain security chips, now favoured by banks, being compromised."
Now, if any of you want to d o u b l e, no t r i p l e your money in the next 7 days just send a certified cheque, made out to cash to: Me, In Care of Here.
That's Me, In Care of Here.
WFDS
2768...Ian Morrison Hits It Out Of The Park
Often I think that Ian Morrison, who is Friends Of Canadian Broadcasting, is a bit off base and wraps himself in the flag. But in this weekend's Ottawa Citizen he hits it hard, high and far.
Of course the CBC he is primarily referring to is English CBC. As a former [and who knows, perhaps future employee] I can tell you that in my view one of the problems that the CBC has is that it doesn't look like the community that it represents. It presents and represents a stylized view of Our Home And Native Land.
In my town, Ottawa, the cultural diversity that your capital has developed over the last two decades is virtually non existent on the local stations. And the et'nics that they have are from areas that the chattering classes are comfortable with: Rockcliffe, Centrepointe and The Glebe. Volvo, Subaru and Lexus.
It's WASP's and wannabe WASP's talking about stuff that is hard for most of us to relate to.
WFDS
Of course the CBC he is primarily referring to is English CBC. As a former [and who knows, perhaps future employee] I can tell you that in my view one of the problems that the CBC has is that it doesn't look like the community that it represents. It presents and represents a stylized view of Our Home And Native Land.
In my town, Ottawa, the cultural diversity that your capital has developed over the last two decades is virtually non existent on the local stations. And the et'nics that they have are from areas that the chattering classes are comfortable with: Rockcliffe, Centrepointe and The Glebe. Volvo, Subaru and Lexus.
It's WASP's and wannabe WASP's talking about stuff that is hard for most of us to relate to.
How to fix the CBC
The Ottawa Citizen
Sat Aug 21 2010
Page: B7
Section: Arguments
Byline: Ian Morrison
Source: Citizen Special
Polls tell us that CBC enjoys broad public support, despite the failings of its senior management. The abrupt departure earlier this month of an executive responsible for CBC's English language operations presents an opportunity for all of CBC's 34 million shareholders to reflect on what kind of national public broadcaster we need in the second decade of the 21st century.
Most Canadians would agree that CBC has seen better times. Earlier this century, great programs such as Canada: a People's History captivated the public imagination, building upon a rich tradition such as Pierre Berton's The National Dream and Peter Gzowski's Morningside. Lately, CBC programs have descended to a lower common denominator, often described as "dumbing down." In order to look forward, we need first to assess some of the things that have gone wrong in recent years. Here is a short list: CBC Television's audience share has dropped from 13 per cent to 10 per cent since 2004. CBC Radio Two has lost 20 per cent of its audience over ill-considered scheduling changes which confined world classical culture to a midday listening ghetto. CBC has lost to CTV the broadcast rights to the Olympic Games, the Grey Cup and curling. On the eve of a world recession, which depressed the volume and value of advertising dollars, CBC almost doubled its rights payments to the NHL while frittering away the rights to Dolores Claman's promotional tune for Hockey Night in Canada, arguably the country's alternative national anthem.
Recently someone leaked an internal survey of CBC Radio reporters. This report reads like a cry for help from CBC Radio's dedicated journalists and provides evidence that senior management appears determined to make CBC Radio News more superficial, less intelligent and ever more dominated by CBC Television News when it comes to decision-making and resource allocation.
Why is this happening? One reporter offers this simple and cogent explanation, going to the heart of the mindset of the CBC's senior management: "TV makes money and radio costs money. The concept of public broadcasting is lost." Another says, "We've gone more to entertaining than educating or informing. I think we're losing what Canadians love most about us and becoming more like the privates all the time." Referring to CBC Radio's flagship, and highly rated World Report, another reporter mused "What kind of an organization cuts the most popular program on the most popular service?" Despite the recent recommendation of the Commons heritage committee that CBC Television's 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. schedule should be "reserved for Canadian productions," CBC-TV has cut its prime-time Canadian schedule from 27 hours in 2004 to just 21 this year. What replaced all those Canadian programs in prime time? Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy and Hollywood movies.
I would like to offer a suggestion to improve CBC's corporate culture. In recent years, CBC's top management has lacked prior experience in radio or television production, scheduling and marketing. Having people in charge who lack appropriate skills would be unthinkable in private-sector broadcasting, or in public broadcasters in other western democracies. How come? CBC's board of directors does not choose CBC's president. And the board cannot dismiss the president. Guess who chooses the president of the CBC? The prime minister. This is not a new development. It goes back to 1936. Stephen Harper appointed Hubert Lacroix as CBC president just as Jean Chrétien appointed his predecessor, Robert Rabinovitch.
In contrast, the director general of the BBC is chosen by the BBC's trustees, and those trustees can fire their director general. The BBC's process is the rule among public broadcasters in industrial democracies. Canada's process is an anomaly.
In its 2003 report "Our cultural sovereignty," the Commons heritage committee recommended that "in the interests of fuller accountability and arm's-length from government, nominations to the CBC board should be made by a number of sources, and the CBC president should be hired by and be responsible to the board." Two years ago, the Commons heritage committee also recommended that "CBC/ Radio Canada's core funding be increased to an amount equivalent to at least $40 per capita." As CBC's current parliamentary allocation is just $33 per capita, this recommendation would provide CBC with a least $230 million in additional funds and thereby offer the Corporation an alternative to excessive dependency on advertising.
By international standards, $40 per capita is a modest sum to fund a national public broadcaster. The average in OECD countries is $80 per capita. You get what you pay for.
Ian Morrison is spokesperson for Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, a watchdog for Canadian programming on radio, television and new media.
WFDS
Friday, August 20, 2010
2767...Bank Robbery 101
One of the first things that one is taught, I am told, in the course is to never, ever, ever leave your wallet at the scene of the bank robbery.
I know, one would think but...
Take veteran bank robber, he did time and everything, Kevin Crockett, 25, and an accomplice allegedly stole an undetermined amount of money July 29 from Key Bank in Cincinnati before dropping the loot and his wallet. Mr. Crockett and comrade made like birds and flocked off before officers could respond, The Kentucky Post reported Wednesday. Leaving his wallet made the job easy for the Cincy flatfoots.
No cash, no wallet and now he is looking at 25 years.
It sucks to be you, Mr. Crockett.
WFDS
I know, one would think but...
Take veteran bank robber, he did time and everything, Kevin Crockett, 25, and an accomplice allegedly stole an undetermined amount of money July 29 from Key Bank in Cincinnati before dropping the loot and his wallet. Mr. Crockett and comrade made like birds and flocked off before officers could respond, The Kentucky Post reported Wednesday. Leaving his wallet made the job easy for the Cincy flatfoots.
No cash, no wallet and now he is looking at 25 years.
It sucks to be you, Mr. Crockett.
WFDS
2766...Sky Blue, Water Wet
And Bill Clinton had an immature attitude regarding sex.
That assessment appears in A Complicated Man: The Life of Bill Clinton as Told by Those Who Know Him by Michael Takiff. In today's New York Daily News it is reported that NPR, National Public Radio, reporter Nina Totenberg, who covered the Clinton administration's most inglorious moment when Republicans got Clinton impeached for lying about having sex with Monica Lewinsky, felt that President Clinton had the "...mentality of an 18-year-old..." when it came to sex.
Shocking.
WFDS
That assessment appears in A Complicated Man: The Life of Bill Clinton as Told by Those Who Know Him by Michael Takiff. In today's New York Daily News it is reported that NPR, National Public Radio, reporter Nina Totenberg, who covered the Clinton administration's most inglorious moment when Republicans got Clinton impeached for lying about having sex with Monica Lewinsky, felt that President Clinton had the "...mentality of an 18-year-old..." when it came to sex.
Shocking.
WFDS
2765...Don't Mess With Sarah Palin
Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart, that's a rock band from the Northwest, ask your mom or listen to your local classic rock station for an hour, say that they have been forced to increase security at their shows because Palinites are sending them death threats, all because the band sued Governor Palin for illegally using Barracuda in her campaign.
Nancy Wilson tells Classic Rock magazine, "Some of the fans decided they didn't like us and didn't like our music any more. At least for a while. We were out on the road, and the next show that we played after that was somewhere in Florida - which is not where you wanna be if you're a Democrat. We were kinda nervous, but we upped our security and kept a close watch on people walking in. Luckily - knock on wood - of all the crazies who have threatened to take us down, nobody so far has done that."
America.
WFDS
Nancy Wilson tells Classic Rock magazine, "Some of the fans decided they didn't like us and didn't like our music any more. At least for a while. We were out on the road, and the next show that we played after that was somewhere in Florida - which is not where you wanna be if you're a Democrat. We were kinda nervous, but we upped our security and kept a close watch on people walking in. Luckily - knock on wood - of all the crazies who have threatened to take us down, nobody so far has done that."
America.
WFDS
2764...The Sky Is Falling
Again.
That pesky EKOS poll that is done for the CBC every week says that the Stephen Harpers are in the lead. Again.
Dang.
Double dang.
WFDS
That pesky EKOS poll that is done for the CBC every week says that the Stephen Harpers are in the lead. Again.
Dang.
According to the latest poll results, released exclusively to CBC News, 32.5 per cent of respondents would vote for the Tories if an election were held today, compared with 27.9 per cent for the Liberals. In recent weeks, the ruling Tories had enjoyed a notable lead over the Liberals. But in the last polling period, that advantage dried up, with the Tories polling at 29.7 per cent support, compared with 28.5 per cent for the Liberals. Now, the Tories are back up, with a nearly five-point lead over their political rivals.
Double dang.
WFDS
2763...Stephen Harper Here Is A Job For You
And it is in your hometown, may be even your home riding.
Parsing stuff from an editorial in the Calgary Herald earlier in the week, fix the Calgary Olympic Oval. According to the piece "...Federal Sports Canada Minister Gary Lunn still hasn't signed off on a proposal he's had since January, that would allow the cash-strapped Oval to draw on the principal of the Olympic Endowment Fund, rather than relying only on the interest."
Dude, er, Minister Dude, leaders lead. The article says that we have won a gazillion medals and set 150 world records since the Oval got going in time for the 1988 Olympics.
As the unnamed editorialist writes "Lunn should get moving on approving the funding proposal, without further ado."
Just ask the boss.
WFDS
Parsing stuff from an editorial in the Calgary Herald earlier in the week, fix the Calgary Olympic Oval. According to the piece "...Federal Sports Canada Minister Gary Lunn still hasn't signed off on a proposal he's had since January, that would allow the cash-strapped Oval to draw on the principal of the Olympic Endowment Fund, rather than relying only on the interest."
Dude, er, Minister Dude, leaders lead. The article says that we have won a gazillion medals and set 150 world records since the Oval got going in time for the 1988 Olympics.
As the unnamed editorialist writes "Lunn should get moving on approving the funding proposal, without further ado."
Just ask the boss.
WFDS
2762...Bills In Toronto Update
You may have read WFDS Post 2755 about the Buffalo Bills in Toronto and how poorly managed the whole affair has been.
Last night the Buffalo Bills had a 34-21 preseason victory over the Indianapolis Colts.
No surprise there. On any given Sunday. Also not a surprise is the crowd reported on NFL.com: "...an announced crowd of 39,583 -- about 14,000 below capacity at the Rogers Centre."
And you know that an announced crowd is usually an inflated number. They canna even paper the house.
WFDS
Last night the Buffalo Bills had a 34-21 preseason victory over the Indianapolis Colts.
No surprise there. On any given Sunday. Also not a surprise is the crowd reported on NFL.com: "...an announced crowd of 39,583 -- about 14,000 below capacity at the Rogers Centre."
And you know that an announced crowd is usually an inflated number. They canna even paper the house.
WFDS
2761...Forgot One
One oldtime pol' trying to make a come back in Ottawa.
First it was Bob Chiarelli rising from the ashes to become a minister in Dalton McGuinty's cabinet.
Second actor in this play is Shawn Little, running for city council in Bay Ward.
The third player, the one I forgot, is the former super mayor of Ottawa-Carleton, Peter Clark, who wants to represent the good people of Rockliffe at the municipal level.
The more things change.
WFDS
First it was Bob Chiarelli rising from the ashes to become a minister in Dalton McGuinty's cabinet.
Second actor in this play is Shawn Little, running for city council in Bay Ward.
The third player, the one I forgot, is the former super mayor of Ottawa-Carleton, Peter Clark, who wants to represent the good people of Rockliffe at the municipal level.
The more things change.
WFDS
Thursday, August 19, 2010
2760...Stop Me If You Have Heard This One Before
The Ottawa SuperEx, or, as I prefer to call it: Vanier Visits The Glebe, opens for its 122nd and final year.
For those of you familiar with your capital this final year thing has been going on for about sixty or more years.
But, according to today's Ottawa Citizen, this time it really is for real.
WFDS
For those of you familiar with your capital this final year thing has been going on for about sixty or more years.
But, according to today's Ottawa Citizen, this time it really is for real.
WFDS
2759...Roger Clemons Indicted By Congress
First, let me go on record as I prepare to watch the CFL and NFL this Thursday night that I am pro steroid.
No kidding, if they got steroids out of football it would be little guys like me playing in the CFL and NFL and we don't need that.
What we do need is honesty and, according to Rush Limbaugh's flagship station, 77WABC-AM, apparently, Roger Clemens missed the George Washington I-cannot-tell-a-lie lecture in middle school.
The deal is he has been indicted for lying to Congress about his steroid use.
A federal grand jury indicted Mr. Clemens early today on charges of making false statements to Congress about his use of performance-enhancing drugs.
Icon or not, he is in trouble deeeeeeeeeeep.
WFDS
No kidding, if they got steroids out of football it would be little guys like me playing in the CFL and NFL and we don't need that.
What we do need is honesty and, according to Rush Limbaugh's flagship station, 77WABC-AM, apparently, Roger Clemens missed the George Washington I-cannot-tell-a-lie lecture in middle school.
The deal is he has been indicted for lying to Congress about his steroid use.
A federal grand jury indicted Mr. Clemens early today on charges of making false statements to Congress about his use of performance-enhancing drugs.
Icon or not, he is in trouble deeeeeeeeeeep.
WFDS
2758...What Was, Is, V.2
For those of you who follow this sort of thing, Shawn Little, the former alderman for Kitchissippi Ward in Ottawa's west end, has decided to comeback.
Mr. Little, who is on the sunny side of 50, is going to one of [from memory] ten candidates in Bay Ward, which is presently represented by Sean Cullen, wait, no, he is a bad actor and comedian, it is represented by Alex Cullen, a bad politician and mayoralty candidate.
The last time Mr. Little was elected he got 27 per cent of the vote in another crowded race. He is the only conservative candidate in the race and if he gets his base he should be in like Flynn.
WFDS
Mr. Little, who is on the sunny side of 50, is going to one of [from memory] ten candidates in Bay Ward, which is presently represented by Sean Cullen, wait, no, he is a bad actor and comedian, it is represented by Alex Cullen, a bad politician and mayoralty candidate.
The last time Mr. Little was elected he got 27 per cent of the vote in another crowded race. He is the only conservative candidate in the race and if he gets his base he should be in like Flynn.
WFDS
2757...What Was, Is
To quote Yogi Berra, "It was like deja vu all over again."
Yesterday the greatest mayor the city of Ottawa ever had, Smiling Bob Chiarelli, became Minister In Charge Of Trains In The Second Biggest City In Ontario.
Of course if the good people of your capital had of elected Mr. Chiarelli back in '06 the LRT would be here.
Thank you Larry.
WFDS
Yesterday the greatest mayor the city of Ottawa ever had, Smiling Bob Chiarelli, became Minister In Charge Of Trains In The Second Biggest City In Ontario.
Of course if the good people of your capital had of elected Mr. Chiarelli back in '06 the LRT would be here.
Thank you Larry.
WFDS
2756...Want To Kill A Redneck?
Read them this post.
Ex of the Fugees, Wycleff Jean is a serious contender for the top job in Haiti. WMI Agency reports that Mr. Jean said over the weekend that if elected one of his priorities would be to allow Haitians to have dual citizenship.
This, of course, would encourage more Haitians to put down roots in their new country, Canada, the States, La Belle, while keeping stronger ties to their homeland.
WFDS
Ex of the Fugees, Wycleff Jean is a serious contender for the top job in Haiti. WMI Agency reports that Mr. Jean said over the weekend that if elected one of his priorities would be to allow Haitians to have dual citizenship.
This, of course, would encourage more Haitians to put down roots in their new country, Canada, the States, La Belle, while keeping stronger ties to their homeland.
WFDS
2755...Bills In Toronto
Absolute shambles it has been.
The Buffalo Bills are playing the Indianapolis Colts tonight at Rogers Centre, the erstwile Skydome, in the Big Smoke.
There is a saying on Wall Street, that saying being "Bulls make money, Bears make money and Pigs get slaughtered". This series is an example thereof.
When the series was designed a few years ago Ted Rogers and the owner of the Bills, Ralph Wilson, had dollar signs in their eyes. They totally misread the market. These exibition games were supposed to open the door to Toronto getting an NFL franchise. Instead they may have slammed it shut.
First off, the stadium sucks. The NFL demands a stadium that is exclusive to the NFL team these days. The Rogers Centre is exclusive to no one. Also it is too small, way too small, too dark, too dingy and, even though it is younger than my last girlfriend, too old.
Secondly the marketing sucks. One of the travel companies that is running trips from Ottawa to Toronto is announcing in its radio ads that it is "...your chance to see Terrell Owens and the Buffalo Bills take on Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts..." Newsflash guys, TO ain't coming to TO coz he ain't a Bill no more; he is playing with the Cincy Bengals. The devil is in the details.
Thirdly they, Rogers and the Bills, misread the town. As Steve Simmons wrote in today's Toronto Sun "In order to fill the Rogers Centre for the first Buffalo game, the house had to papered." I was in town for that game and for the game the next day between the Argos and the Als and the street scalpers told me that the demand for the tickets to the Argos game was stronger. Toronto goes on and on and on about how multicultural it is and how half the people there were born outside Canada and so forth. Well, doh, if you are from Somalia or China or Venus it is not a stretch for you to embrace FC Toronto or the Raptors coz you are grounded in hoop and footie. The NFL, not so much.
Greed was not the only factor that brought the Bills to Toronto. When Ralph Wilson originated the team for the innaugaral American Football League season in 1960 the car based Buffalo and the Niagara Frontier and the Niagara Penninsula markets were booming. Buffalo was a top 25 market; now they are not in the top 50. The Bills inhabit the second smallest market in the league, next to Green Bay, which is an anamoly. They only sell 90 per cent of their seats, which puts them near the bottom of the league in attendance. They are also the market with the second lowest per capita income in the league, New Orleans being last. The writing is on the wall, they need to grow.
Buffalo is close to two thriving markets, Rochester, which has no stadium, and Toronto, which sort of does.
Why is this important politically? Bread and circuses. These things, exhibition games at Rogers Centre, are wont to be paid for by the taxpayers of Ontario one way or the other. Extra cops, extra busses, extra this, extra that equals you know what and you are paying for you know what.
How to fix it: In my view this is a fixable problem. Ferget about the Bills moving to Tronna or the Big Smoke getting an NFL team in the next quarter century. Toronto is not going to spend a billion dollars on a stadium on spec for an NFL team that may or may not come. But they can help each other. In my view it would be great, a no brainer, if the Bills played one pre season game a year in Toronto and played one regular season game there also. I would suggest that they play on Canadian Thanksgiving, the actual day, Monday Night Football. Start a tradition. And if they make the playoffs, play the second home playoff game in Toronto [if there is one].
One more thing: don't get greedy. That is killing it. The face value of the tix is a gazillion dollars. The Stub Hub price is 69. I betcha if you hook up with a scalp you will be able to get in the house tonite for 20.
WFDS
The Buffalo Bills are playing the Indianapolis Colts tonight at Rogers Centre, the erstwile Skydome, in the Big Smoke.
There is a saying on Wall Street, that saying being "Bulls make money, Bears make money and Pigs get slaughtered". This series is an example thereof.
When the series was designed a few years ago Ted Rogers and the owner of the Bills, Ralph Wilson, had dollar signs in their eyes. They totally misread the market. These exibition games were supposed to open the door to Toronto getting an NFL franchise. Instead they may have slammed it shut.
First off, the stadium sucks. The NFL demands a stadium that is exclusive to the NFL team these days. The Rogers Centre is exclusive to no one. Also it is too small, way too small, too dark, too dingy and, even though it is younger than my last girlfriend, too old.
Secondly the marketing sucks. One of the travel companies that is running trips from Ottawa to Toronto is announcing in its radio ads that it is "...your chance to see Terrell Owens and the Buffalo Bills take on Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts..." Newsflash guys, TO ain't coming to TO coz he ain't a Bill no more; he is playing with the Cincy Bengals. The devil is in the details.
Thirdly they, Rogers and the Bills, misread the town. As Steve Simmons wrote in today's Toronto Sun "In order to fill the Rogers Centre for the first Buffalo game, the house had to papered." I was in town for that game and for the game the next day between the Argos and the Als and the street scalpers told me that the demand for the tickets to the Argos game was stronger. Toronto goes on and on and on about how multicultural it is and how half the people there were born outside Canada and so forth. Well, doh, if you are from Somalia or China or Venus it is not a stretch for you to embrace FC Toronto or the Raptors coz you are grounded in hoop and footie. The NFL, not so much.
Greed was not the only factor that brought the Bills to Toronto. When Ralph Wilson originated the team for the innaugaral American Football League season in 1960 the car based Buffalo and the Niagara Frontier and the Niagara Penninsula markets were booming. Buffalo was a top 25 market; now they are not in the top 50. The Bills inhabit the second smallest market in the league, next to Green Bay, which is an anamoly. They only sell 90 per cent of their seats, which puts them near the bottom of the league in attendance. They are also the market with the second lowest per capita income in the league, New Orleans being last. The writing is on the wall, they need to grow.
Buffalo is close to two thriving markets, Rochester, which has no stadium, and Toronto, which sort of does.
Why is this important politically? Bread and circuses. These things, exhibition games at Rogers Centre, are wont to be paid for by the taxpayers of Ontario one way or the other. Extra cops, extra busses, extra this, extra that equals you know what and you are paying for you know what.
How to fix it: In my view this is a fixable problem. Ferget about the Bills moving to Tronna or the Big Smoke getting an NFL team in the next quarter century. Toronto is not going to spend a billion dollars on a stadium on spec for an NFL team that may or may not come. But they can help each other. In my view it would be great, a no brainer, if the Bills played one pre season game a year in Toronto and played one regular season game there also. I would suggest that they play on Canadian Thanksgiving, the actual day, Monday Night Football. Start a tradition. And if they make the playoffs, play the second home playoff game in Toronto [if there is one].
One more thing: don't get greedy. That is killing it. The face value of the tix is a gazillion dollars. The Stub Hub price is 69. I betcha if you hook up with a scalp you will be able to get in the house tonite for 20.
WFDS
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
2754...New Radio Station In Ottawa
Well, not really new, it has been around for a bit, but they have changed format and sound oh-so-cool.
The station is CKAV-9 at 95.7.
During the day they sound like an I Pod on shuffle; I know a lot of stations say that "Playing What We Want" but this station really is random. Commercial music but, for example, the other day they played Al Stewart's Roads To Moscow, a minor album rock hit in the 70's in the same hour as Shania and Faith and some current hip hop plus Huey Lewis.
All over the place.
Late at night it is hip hop.
Seriously, check it out if you are in your capital.
WFDS
The station is CKAV-9 at 95.7.
During the day they sound like an I Pod on shuffle; I know a lot of stations say that "Playing What We Want" but this station really is random. Commercial music but, for example, the other day they played Al Stewart's Roads To Moscow, a minor album rock hit in the 70's in the same hour as Shania and Faith and some current hip hop plus Huey Lewis.
All over the place.
Late at night it is hip hop.
Seriously, check it out if you are in your capital.
WFDS
2753...He Never Had A Chance
He being the poor Parisian lad that the Daily Telegraph tells was robbed of 300 Euros, that is about 600 Canuckbucks I think, at an ATM on the Left Bank the other night.
Never had a chance.
WFDS
The women in their 20s exposed themselves to the victim as he punched his pin code into an ATM machine in Paris. As he stared at one, the other then withdrew 300 euros from his account before the pair fled with the money.
Never had a chance.
WFDS
2752...Treating War Veterans With Disrespect
That is what the ombudsman appointed by Stephen Harper says.
His name is Pat Stogran, Colonel Pat Stogran, and he has three months to go on his term as ombudsman for military vets. Laura Payton in today's Kingston Whig-Standard reports on a presser the Colonel held today:
Colonel Strogan said that if he is not renewed at the end of his term it is coz he has been doing his job.
Our beloved Prime Minister replied: Blah, blah, blah and blah.
WFDS
His name is Pat Stogran, Colonel Pat Stogran, and he has three months to go on his term as ombudsman for military vets. Laura Payton in today's Kingston Whig-Standard reports on a presser the Colonel held today:
Stogran held a press conference Tuesday, flanked by veterans, to lay out some of the problems he has seen since he took the post the country's first champion for them.
"Our heroes are suffering," he said.
Among the problems is a move to lump sum disability payments rather than disability pensions, which means less money for injured soldiers.
A modern veteran who loses both legs to a landmine in Afghanistan, for example, would receive a lump sum of about $276,000 rather than a lifelong pension.
Another problem Stogran has pointed to is a clawback that sees the government pension reduced if the veteran is entitled to a group insurance disability pension.
Dennis Manuge is leading a class action lawsuit with 6,500 other veterans against the clawback.
"The deep sense of betrayal I feel towards our government, Canadians and even veterans themselves is one of the reasons clouding my ability to get well and to be a successful advocate on our behalf," he said.
Colonel Strogan said that if he is not renewed at the end of his term it is coz he has been doing his job.
Our beloved Prime Minister replied: Blah, blah, blah and blah.
WFDS
2751...Apparently He Is Nuts
I mean allegedly nuts.
I refer to Daniel Skahan, the 29 year old who lit a fire outside of 24 Sussex, the home of the Prime Minister, Saturday evening.
The Ottawa Citizen reports that he "...suffers from schizoaffective disorder, a mood disorder whose symptoms can resemble bipolar disorder or schizophrenia." It also reports that he "...was once found not criminally responsible of twice stabbing a stranger in the back with a Swiss Army knife."
The man is 6' 4" by the way, a big 6' 4" and has delusions/dreams of making a name for himself by hurting someone of prominence such as Stephen Harper.
Thankfully he did not cause any great harm Saturday night.
WFDS
I refer to Daniel Skahan, the 29 year old who lit a fire outside of 24 Sussex, the home of the Prime Minister, Saturday evening.
The Ottawa Citizen reports that he "...suffers from schizoaffective disorder, a mood disorder whose symptoms can resemble bipolar disorder or schizophrenia." It also reports that he "...was once found not criminally responsible of twice stabbing a stranger in the back with a Swiss Army knife."
The man is 6' 4" by the way, a big 6' 4" and has delusions/dreams of making a name for himself by hurting someone of prominence such as Stephen Harper.
Thankfully he did not cause any great harm Saturday night.
WFDS
2750...Dr. Laura Checks Out
Feautured in many markets in Canada and in most markets in the US of A, Dr. Laura Schlessinger announced on CNN's Larry King Live that she is checking out of terrestial radio after a 4 decade or so run.
As one of the most popular talk show hosts in radio history, Dr. Laura Schlessinger offers no-nonsense advice infused with a strong sense of ethics but she did drop the ball bigtime earlier this month when she used the word we aren't supposed to use, starts with N, to make a point.
The Los Angeles Times puts it this way:
She says she is not retiring and in this world of the 'net and podcasts and so on there is no need for her to do so.
WFDS
As one of the most popular talk show hosts in radio history, Dr. Laura Schlessinger offers no-nonsense advice infused with a strong sense of ethics but she did drop the ball bigtime earlier this month when she used the word we aren't supposed to use, starts with N, to make a point.
The Los Angeles Times puts it this way:
Schlessinger drew fire last week when she got into a discussion with a woman who called in to get advice on what to do about racial comments made by relatives. Schlessinger suggested the caller was "hypersensitive" to racism and observed that many African Americans use the very racial epithet that they hate hearing non-African American use. Schlessinger used the N-word repeatedly in making her case.
Schlessinger apologized the next day, saying her behavior had been wrong. But she said on her program Monday that "as the media have rebroadcast my error again and again and again and again, compounding the damage which I shouldn't have done — and never intended to do in the first place — the effect has been that my words have offended many, many, many, many more people and there are many who are saying they will not accept my apology."
She says she is not retiring and in this world of the 'net and podcasts and so on there is no need for her to do so.
WFDS
Monday, August 16, 2010
2749...You Cannot Make This Stuff Up - V.3
Chris Chambers’, he is a pass catcher for the Kansas City Chiefs of the NFL, stalker was so awesome at stalking that Chambers decided he wanted to marry her.
Yeah, you read that correctly.
July 24 of this year Mr. Chambers entered wedding bliss with Stacey Bernice Saunders, a woman who was charged once, twice, eleven times with stalking him, in Las Vegas.
The back story is that Miss Saunders was Mr. Chambers’ mistress while married. Mr. Chambers’ wife found out about the duo so Mr. Chambers broke it off. That did not deter Miss Saunders; it lead her to a stalking campaign that culminated in 11 counts of stalking.
The San-Diego Union Times had the account:
Is it hot in here or are these people crazy?
WFDS
Yeah, you read that correctly.
July 24 of this year Mr. Chambers entered wedding bliss with Stacey Bernice Saunders, a woman who was charged once, twice, eleven times with stalking him, in Las Vegas.
The back story is that Miss Saunders was Mr. Chambers’ mistress while married. Mr. Chambers’ wife found out about the duo so Mr. Chambers broke it off. That did not deter Miss Saunders; it lead her to a stalking campaign that culminated in 11 counts of stalking.
The San-Diego Union Times had the account:
A 27-year-old San Diego woman who had an affair with former Charger Chris Chambers has been charged with 11 misdemeanor counts for allegedly stalking and harassing the wide receiver’s family.
Stacey Bernice Saunders is due in court Jan. 19 for arraignment, said Paul Levikow, a spokesman for the District Attorney’s Office.
Chambers’ wife, Christina, told San Diego police in April that Saunders was harassing her with phone calls. Two months later, Chambers requested a temporary restraining order against Saunders, saying she has “launched an incessant attack verbally on me, and now my wife, her mother and sister.”
Is it hot in here or are these people crazy?
WFDS
2748...You Cannot Make Stuff Like This Up - V.2
Councils pay for prostitutes for the disabled
Taxpayers' money is being spent on prostitutes, lap dancing clubs and exotic holidays under schemes designed to give more independence to the disabled.
So sayeth the headline in today's Daily Telegraph.
England, ah, Merry Ole England. So progressive.
This is serious stuff.
"One local authority is using its budget to pay for the services of a prostitute in Amsterdam, while others have said visits to lap dancing clubs are permissible under new policies which transfer funds directly to those who receive care from social services. Holidays abroad, subscriptions for internet dating and driving lessons have all been funded by the taxpayer under a national initiative introduced by the last Government."
Real serious stuff.
The Brits are spending over a billion Canuckbucks on these various programs.
My fave story is the one about the "...local authority [that] has agreed a care plan including payment for a 21-year-old with learning disabilities to have sex with a prostitute in Amsterdam next month. His social worker, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said social services were there to identify and meet the needs of their clients – which, in the case of an angry and frustrated young man, meant paying for sex."
By the way, that is Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Whatever happened to shopping locally?
Is Monica Mint busy next month or something?
Peter Crouch will vouch for her skills.
WFDS
2747...You Cannot Make Stuff Like This Up - V.1
The relatives of the survivors of the Titanic are going to retrace their fore-bearers steps, departing, says the BBC, from Southampton, United Kingdom on April 8, 2012 for New York City.
Hopefully they won't make that nasty stop off the coast of Newfoundland.
The unsinkable Titanic sank on its maiden voyage after hitting an iceberg on the night of April 15, 1912, killing more than 1,500 people.
Wouldn't it be ironic, truly ironic, if?
WFDS
Hopefully they won't make that nasty stop off the coast of Newfoundland.
The unsinkable Titanic sank on its maiden voyage after hitting an iceberg on the night of April 15, 1912, killing more than 1,500 people.
Wouldn't it be ironic, truly ironic, if?
WFDS
2746...Time For A New Microwave
Or at least a thorough cleaning.
With acid perhaps.
The Ottawa Sun reports that "According to some disgruntled OC Transpo workers, the morale is so bad that one employee defecated on a plate and put it in the staff microwave with a note to OC Transpo management."
This does not make for a pleasant environment and, if you recall, they have had one Columbine incident at OC already.
This is On The Buses; honestly, chill out y'all.
WFDS
With acid perhaps.
The Ottawa Sun reports that "According to some disgruntled OC Transpo workers, the morale is so bad that one employee defecated on a plate and put it in the staff microwave with a note to OC Transpo management."
This does not make for a pleasant environment and, if you recall, they have had one Columbine incident at OC already.
This is On The Buses; honestly, chill out y'all.
WFDS
Sunday, August 15, 2010
2745...Tiger Woods Franchises
Peter Crouch is the owner of the British franchise.
Never heard of him? Me neither but the Globe and Mail reports that he is a multimillionaire Tottenham Hotspur, engaged to model Abbey Clancy, oh-la-la but but but.
He got caught with a 19 year old 1,500.00$ a night hooker, Monica Mint.
This may coz some problems with, for starters, Miz Clancy.
WFDS
Never heard of him? Me neither but the Globe and Mail reports that he is a multimillionaire Tottenham Hotspur, engaged to model Abbey Clancy, oh-la-la but but but.
He got caught with a 19 year old 1,500.00$ a night hooker, Monica Mint.
This may coz some problems with, for starters, Miz Clancy.
WFDS
2744...Getting Punched In The Head May Be Bad
But soon you will, if the front pages of the major dailies in the Trillium Province are to be believed, be able to get punched in the head, arm barred and abused professionally in my province.
Yes, MMA, Mixed Martial Arts, legal in Ontario toute suite from now.
For the first match I would like to see Andrea Horvath, leader of the NDP in Ont, take on Tory leader Tim Hudak with the winner grappling with Dalton McGuinty.
It would be a Pay-per-view gold mine.
WFDS
Yes, MMA, Mixed Martial Arts, legal in Ontario toute suite from now.
For the first match I would like to see Andrea Horvath, leader of the NDP in Ont, take on Tory leader Tim Hudak with the winner grappling with Dalton McGuinty.
It would be a Pay-per-view gold mine.
WFDS
Friday, August 13, 2010
2743...Apparently Getting Punched In The Head
Is bad for you.
Who would have thought that?
Surely not Dana White and the legions of followers of mixed martial arts, commonly referred to as MMA.
The Vancouver Province tells the tale of those spoil sports at the B.C. Medical Association who want the sport to be banned in Canada. The B.C. docs are concerned about the potential for serious injury, including brain damage.
From getting punched, repeatedly, in the head?
Again, whodda thunk it?
Nonetheless I don't see this sport getting banned. Ever. It may not get approved in Ontario or New York but it is here to stay sports fans.
WFDS
Who would have thought that?
Surely not Dana White and the legions of followers of mixed martial arts, commonly referred to as MMA.
The Vancouver Province tells the tale of those spoil sports at the B.C. Medical Association who want the sport to be banned in Canada. The B.C. docs are concerned about the potential for serious injury, including brain damage.
From getting punched, repeatedly, in the head?
Again, whodda thunk it?
Nonetheless I don't see this sport getting banned. Ever. It may not get approved in Ontario or New York but it is here to stay sports fans.
WFDS
2742...Money Money Honey Honey
In the Ottawa Sun today they had salaries of various TV people.
What was surprising to me was how little Peter Mansbridge makes: $280,000.00.
Sure, more than a waiter and almost as much as a cabbie but still I would wager that the lead anchors at all the stations that run news that come in on our cable in Our Home And Native Land, all the l o c a l lead anchors in Buffalo, Detroit, Seattle and Boston, make more than that.
Just saying.
WFDS
What was surprising to me was how little Peter Mansbridge makes: $280,000.00.
Sure, more than a waiter and almost as much as a cabbie but still I would wager that the lead anchors at all the stations that run news that come in on our cable in Our Home And Native Land, all the l o c a l lead anchors in Buffalo, Detroit, Seattle and Boston, make more than that.
Just saying.
WFDS
2741...And It Is Not Good
The Ravens.
The basketball.
Just left, they got beat by tenish by a much bigger and tougher and more athletic University of New Mexico Aggies squad.
Next game at the end of the month against the Maine Black Bears.
WFDS
The basketball.
Just left, they got beat by tenish by a much bigger and tougher and more athletic University of New Mexico Aggies squad.
Next game at the end of the month against the Maine Black Bears.
WFDS
2740...It Is Back
Ravens basketball at the U of K, Carleton.
Carleton University, final four finishers in the CIS last year, take on New Mexico State tonight at 7 at Carleton.
Aggies, Ravens and the WFDS in his usual spot wearing his black sombrero.
WFDS
Carleton University, final four finishers in the CIS last year, take on New Mexico State tonight at 7 at Carleton.
Aggies, Ravens and the WFDS in his usual spot wearing his black sombrero.
WFDS
2739...Try Try Try
Page 14 of the Ottawa Sun has a teeny tiny story about Terry Kilrea, the former candidate for mayor and councillor, the former f a i l e d horribly candidate for mayor and councillor, of your capital.
He was also the man the falsely accused hizzoner Larry O'Brien of being a crook, an accusation that f'd up the works in Ottawa.
I digress.
Mr. Kilrea is planning on being defeated this time out in Bay Ward, where he got smoked last time.
And will get smoked yet again.
WFDS
He was also the man the falsely accused hizzoner Larry O'Brien of being a crook, an accusation that f'd up the works in Ottawa.
I digress.
Mr. Kilrea is planning on being defeated this time out in Bay Ward, where he got smoked last time.
And will get smoked yet again.
WFDS
2738...Speaking Of Accidents
Not as serious as the fatality that claimed the life of Mario Lague but still a teeth rattler for the Honourable Helena Guergis who, it is reported widely, got into a bit of a car accident at CFB Borden yesterday.
The pregnant Member of Parliament for Simcoe-Grey spent some time in the hospital and is now back home, resting.
Been a tough year.
WFDS
The pregnant Member of Parliament for Simcoe-Grey spent some time in the hospital and is now back home, resting.
Been a tough year.
WFDS
Thursday, August 12, 2010
2737...Sad News For All
But especially for Michael Ignatieff and his inner circle.
It is being widely reported that Mario Lague, 52, communications director for federal Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff has been killed a few blocks from his home in a motorcyle/SUV accident.
Mr. Lague was riding to work when he t-boned the SUV. The Ottawa Sun says that "Rescue crews were called to the Westboro intersection just before 7 a.m. and arrived to find a motorcycle and SUV had collided. The motorcyclist was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics after attempts to resuscitate him failed."
Sadness and prayers all around.
WFDS
It is being widely reported that Mario Lague, 52, communications director for federal Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff has been killed a few blocks from his home in a motorcyle/SUV accident.
Mr. Lague was riding to work when he t-boned the SUV. The Ottawa Sun says that "Rescue crews were called to the Westboro intersection just before 7 a.m. and arrived to find a motorcycle and SUV had collided. The motorcyclist was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics after attempts to resuscitate him failed."
Sadness and prayers all around.
WFDS
2736...Remedial Media
WFDS Post 2735 referred to the US Open.
Boy, oh boy, silly moi.
Of course the tourney this weekend, the one that Tiger Woods is in and one of his mistresses is performing oh-so-close-to is the PGA Open.
Tell you who to blame though: Stockwell Day.
Yes, Stockwell Day.
See I am in a pool and the guy who is running the pool sent out the entries as the US Open, perhaps to throw Mr. Day off, and my Carleton edumacated brain done got confused.
WFDS
Boy, oh boy, silly moi.
Of course the tourney this weekend, the one that Tiger Woods is in and one of his mistresses is performing oh-so-close-to is the PGA Open.
Tell you who to blame though: Stockwell Day.
Yes, Stockwell Day.
See I am in a pool and the guy who is running the pool sent out the entries as the US Open, perhaps to throw Mr. Day off, and my Carleton edumacated brain done got confused.
WFDS
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
2735...Tiger And Joslyn And The US Open
All three will be in Wisconsin starting tomorrow.
Tiger of course is Tiger Woods.
The United States Open is the final of the four golf majors this year.
Josyln is Joslyn James, one of the scores of mistresses Mr. Woods has, uh, had.
She is an adult film star and stripper and she is spending this weekend peeling at Silk Exotic on Milwaukee's northwest side. Lately, her gigs have been in cities where Mr. Woods plays tournaments. But, she told TODAY'S TMJ4 said, despite dancing at Silk this weekend, an hour away from where the swinger is playing at Whistling Straits. she's not following him.
She had a three year affair with the man who she says she both loved and stopped making pornos coz of.
Hell hath no fury like a women scorned though. Miss James has retained Gloria Allred, a high profile ambulance chaser, to get what is hers.
WFDS
Tiger of course is Tiger Woods.
The United States Open is the final of the four golf majors this year.
Josyln is Joslyn James, one of the scores of mistresses Mr. Woods has, uh, had.
She is an adult film star and stripper and she is spending this weekend peeling at Silk Exotic on Milwaukee's northwest side. Lately, her gigs have been in cities where Mr. Woods plays tournaments. But, she told TODAY'S TMJ4 said, despite dancing at Silk this weekend, an hour away from where the swinger is playing at Whistling Straits. she's not following him.
She had a three year affair with the man who she says she both loved and stopped making pornos coz of.
Hell hath no fury like a women scorned though. Miss James has retained Gloria Allred, a high profile ambulance chaser, to get what is hers.
WFDS
2734...My Old School
Ah, a proud alum I am, my old school, St. Pius X makes the front page yet again. And it is not for something as picayune as athletics or academics like those public schools.
Same song, different verse.
CFRA.com reports that Father J. Kenneth O'Keefe has been charged with you-know-what. These charges relate to allegations made by a former student at St. Pius X High School in 1972.
"The former priest is expected in court for a brief appearance this afternoon, a show-cause hearing, which is simply to provide the court with enough information on the case to show there are grounds to continue through the court system. Ottawa Diocese Archbishop Terrence Prendergast has made a statement, saying his office has been cooperating with the Ottawa Police on this investigation, which has been underway since last month."
WFDS
Same song, different verse.
CFRA.com reports that Father J. Kenneth O'Keefe has been charged with you-know-what. These charges relate to allegations made by a former student at St. Pius X High School in 1972.
"The former priest is expected in court for a brief appearance this afternoon, a show-cause hearing, which is simply to provide the court with enough information on the case to show there are grounds to continue through the court system. Ottawa Diocese Archbishop Terrence Prendergast has made a statement, saying his office has been cooperating with the Ottawa Police on this investigation, which has been underway since last month."
WFDS
2733...This Had To Hurt
If you live in Toronto you may have seen this on WIVB, the CBS affiliate in the Queen City.
Police in Buffalo say they found a 23-year-old man impaled on a fence at Walden and Wood Avenues Tuesday night. He later died at ECMC.
The victim's name is not being released, but there are reports he had been running from a domestic incident and then severed an artery when he tried to hop the fence and went down, down, down.
WFDS
Police in Buffalo say they found a 23-year-old man impaled on a fence at Walden and Wood Avenues Tuesday night. He later died at ECMC.
The victim's name is not being released, but there are reports he had been running from a domestic incident and then severed an artery when he tried to hop the fence and went down, down, down.
WFDS
2732...The Lord Moves In Mysterious Ways
Is it hot in here or are you crazy?
Just a question, just a question.
WFDS
A Bakersfield woman is claiming divine intervention after she said she found a cross seared into a potato chip, Bakersfield TV station KERO reported.
Amanda Biezad was about to eat the Lay's potato chip when she discovered the cross.
She said she's never seen anything quite like it, but isn't ready to call it a miracle just yet.
"I don't know, it's either divine inspiration or some random rogue person that decided to stick it into the bag of chips. I don't know, but I think it's cool," Biezad said.
She said she usually pays attention to what she eats and is glad that she didn't take the next bite.
"I was talking to my family while I was eating chips," Biezad said. "As I took a chip, I saw the cross. I thought, 'Wow. Wait a 'minute'. Then I just stopped and stared at it. My family was looking at me like I was crazy. I told them there is a cross burned into the center of the chip."
She named it the Cross Chip and stores it in a box to keep others from eating it.
"My boyfriend always jokes with me that he is going to eat it," Biezad said. "Now I keep it hidden in a box to keep it safe. Maybe one day I will get one of those plastic cases."
She said she hopes the chip inspires others to keep the faith.
"I know it's just a potato chip, but there is a cross in it," Biezad said. "Everybody these days is looking for a sign of hope, something positive."
Just a question, just a question.
WFDS
2731...The Sun Turns On The Stephen Harpers
OMG, OMFG, is the earth spinning backwards?
The various Suns, including the one that Stephen Harper can pick up in his hometowns of Calgary, Ottawa and Toronto, had this story online last night and in their hard copies this morning:
It may not be the beginning of the end but, as Winston Churchill said previously, it is certainly the end of the beginning.
WFDS
The various Suns, including the one that Stephen Harper can pick up in his hometowns of Calgary, Ottawa and Toronto, had this story online last night and in their hard copies this morning:
His reckless spending wins short-term gain for long-term pain
Last Updated: August 10, 2010 10:00pm
I love partisan Tories. They make me laugh.
They just can’t accept the fact that their leader, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, has turned on them. Turned left that is.
I know it’s painful to accept. But Harper and federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty are not fiscal conservatives. When it comes to fiscal policy, they are now liberal social democrats.
Harper was once a proud fiscal conservative who headed the National Citizens Coalition, which — among other things — preached fiscal responsibility, including balanced budgets and debt reduction. It was their gospel.
No more. Harper is now spending taxpayers’ dollars so wildly, it would make former prime minister Pierre Trudeau blush.
The Harper government is projected to put taxpayers $56 billion further into debt this year. And long-term projections would have the Tories add more than $150 billion to the national debt before getting back to surplus, bringing it to a record level of more than $600 billion.
The conversion is now complete. Stephen Harper’s a lefty, at least when it comes to government finances.
Oh yeah, I forgot. The opposition made Harper do it. I’m still hearing that tired, pathetic old line from Tory faithful in response to my Tuesday column.
Harper was “forced” to go $56 billion into deficit this year. He had “no choice” but to create a structural deficit which will take years to get out of. And he was “pushed” to add more than $150 billion to the national debt.
Right. Talk about revisionist history.
I’ll tell you what. Provide me with evidence that the opposition was demanding that Harper go $56 billion into deficit, that he create a structural deficit beyond “stimulus” spending and that he add more than $150 billion to the national debt. And then I’ll correct the record. Maybe I missed it. Send me the evidence.
What we do know is that back in 2008 the opposition parties were proposing a one-time stimulus package of something “substantially less” than $30 billion. None of the parties were demanding government go more than $50 billion into the glue in 2009 and 2010, which the Tories have done.
None of the opposition parties were demanding government create a long-term structural deficit.
And not once did I hear any of the opposition leaders say government should add $150 billion to the national debt.
Sorry Tory folks. That was all Harper. Hate to break it to you.
If Harper was a true fiscal conservative who had respect for taxpayers’ dollars, he would have posted a limited, short-term deficit of, say, $10 billion to $20 billion. He would have controlled spending, cut bureaucratic waste and delayed discretionary projects. He would have exercised a little short-term pain for long-term gain.
By posting a small, short-term deficit of one or two years, he would have satisfied the demands of opposition parties threatening to topple his government.
And he would have successfully managed the delicate balance of not cutting too deeply during recession while protecting the long-term interests of taxpayers.
That’s what fiscal conservatives do.
Harper didn’t do that. He blew the bank wide open and spent recklessly. He exercised short-term gain for long-term pain.
That’s what New Democrats do. That’s what NDP Leader Jack Layton would do if he were in power.
It’s not what a fiscal conservative does.
Stephen Harper may be many things, my friends. But he is no fiscal conservative.
Deal with it.
For more, visit Brodbeck’s blog Raise a Little Hell at
winnipegsun.com.
Reach Tom by e-mail at
tom.brodbeck@sunmedia.ca.
It may not be the beginning of the end but, as Winston Churchill said previously, it is certainly the end of the beginning.
WFDS
2730...This Did NOT Happen In Quebec
It happened in the land of cheeseheads not the land of poutine.
The Fond du Lac Reporter has the story and it is a story of three peelers fighting over a client. It happened at 1:33 a.m. Friday morning when "A 21-year-old dancer from Fond du Lac claimed a 33-year-old woman 'violently' grabbed her arm while a 32-year-old Fond du Lac woman spit at her, according to the Fond du Lac Police Department report. The two strippers accused the 21-year-old of allowing men to inappropriately touch her during lap dances so she could make more money, according to the report."
The 21-year-old also reported that someone glued her curling iron shut.
WFDS
The Fond du Lac Reporter has the story and it is a story of three peelers fighting over a client. It happened at 1:33 a.m. Friday morning when "A 21-year-old dancer from Fond du Lac claimed a 33-year-old woman 'violently' grabbed her arm while a 32-year-old Fond du Lac woman spit at her, according to the Fond du Lac Police Department report. The two strippers accused the 21-year-old of allowing men to inappropriately touch her during lap dances so she could make more money, according to the report."
The 21-year-old also reported that someone glued her curling iron shut.
WFDS
2729...The Prodigal Sun
Oooops.
Freudian newspapery slip.
Y'see he did own the Chicago Sun[-Times].
Conrad Black that is.
And this morning's op-ed in the Toronto Star calls for his return.
Le cut.
Le paste.
Hey, I am all for that, he would be a great addition to any newsroom.
Mr. Black is kinda of the Mensan version of Don Cherry.
WFDS
Freudian newspapery slip.
Y'see he did own the Chicago Sun[-Times].
Conrad Black that is.
And this morning's op-ed in the Toronto Star calls for his return.
Le cut.
Le paste.
If Black wants to return, we should welcome him back; But drop the love-in and focus on what he can contribute to our national identity
Toronto Star
Wed Aug 11 2010
Page: A15
Section: Opinion
Byline: Neil McLaughlin
Canadian columnists and journalists have spilled too much ink on the continuing saga of Conrad Black.
We have been warned about Black's quest for revenge and libel payments in The Globe and Mail.
We have been bombarded by the National Post's love-in; his largely uncritical supporters claim he has been vindicated and has emerged from prison a changed man with head unbowed.
Even the normally critical Rick Salutin explained away the obstruction of justice conviction with reference to Black's "boyish" charm. Powerful intellectuals and academic and business elites are accustomed to grovelling from graduate students and employees, but the cult of personality around Lord Black is unbecoming for serious journalists. Yet Black could once again be one of Canada's most important "public intellectuals."
Two years in jail seems a fair penalty for the contempt for the law he showed when removing boxes from his office at night while under investigation for a serious crime. We will see whether the original fraud charges are upheld by the American court system after their Supreme Court found that the prosecution misused an overly broad and vague "fair services" law initially designed to deal with kickbacks and bribes in the public sector.
Whether or not Black leaves the United States with a felony criminal record, our journalists should drop the Black worship and focus on larger issues related to the status of public debate in Canada. The issues have been polarized by both Black's defenders and his critics. We could do without the excessive and premature language about vindication pushed by Black's supporters. His convictions have not yet been overturned, and his greedy and arrogant behaviour was appalling even if it turns out not to be illegal.
It is no time, however, to engage in vindictive and petty talk about keeping him out of Canada because he gave up Canadian citizenship to take a British title. If Black wants to return to Canada, we should welcome him back. Black has deep roots in our country, has a Canadian wife and daughter, considers it his home and he may even have learned something new about Canada during his recent Florida vacation.
Black would not be the first Canadian to have romanticized both the United States and Great Britain, and then come home to re-establish roots with a desire to contribute to our quest for national identity. Whatever one thinks of Black's politics or his business practices, he is a serious intellectual with much to contribute.
I will not be marching in anyNational Post-organized "Welcome Back Conrad" parade, but once the American courts decide his fate, we should let the man back into the society where he belongs. Conrad Black has the potential to help add intellectual diversity and historical depth to our public debates. His sharp wit, excellent biographies on Duplessis, Roosevelt and Nixon, and his ability to discuss foreign policy, economics and culture make him a public intellectual worth debating.
Former Dominion workers and many Hollinger investors will surely feel we will all be better off if his recent legal troubles force him permanently out of business. The Canadian government should pass laws that criminalize the underhanded "non-compete" contract he used to pad his pockets, and would do well to make sure his taxes are in order. But Black has things to say about political history, ideas and Canadian society.
Black's defence of the unregulated free market is distorted both by ideology and self-interest, but we should respond with better analysis and policy. Black does not deserve a medal, as Jonathan Kay seems to believe, for changing his mind and coming to understand that the American criminal justice system is overly harsh and irrational.
The Canadian socialists and liberals Conrad Black has been attacking for years have long known this. But Black has joined those of us skeptical of Stephen Harper's build-prisons-for-unreported-crimes agenda, and this is a good thing. Black's teaching among his fellow inmates does appear to have taught him about the class and racial inequalities deeply interwoven into American society and this intellectual honesty must be acknowledged even if Black thinks everything is about him. Real public intellectuals, of course, can come to understand the plight of others not simply because of their own situation, and they rely on the strengths of their arguments for influence, not bullying critics with lawsuits or owning the media. But even if Conrad Black still has growing to do, if he were kept out of business and allowed back into the Canadian intellectual scene, it would be a win-win for everyone.
Neil McLaughlin teaches sociology at McMaster University. He writes on the sociology of public intellectuals. ngmclaugh@mcmaster.ca
Hey, I am all for that, he would be a great addition to any newsroom.
Mr. Black is kinda of the Mensan version of Don Cherry.
WFDS
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