He is a Buerhle fellow, after all

For the record, 45 consecutive outs is completely insane

I was lucky enough to see this left-handed ace pitch in June. His control and velocity was unbelievable.

My Foriegn Policy...

I am not sure what to think about this

On the one hand, I have some serious problems in the subtle language changes.

On the other hand, I think the Prime Minister is the boss and Foreign Affairs should do what it is told - even if it is stupid.

I think their job is to say "doing that will be a mistake for the following reasons" and then hopefully they will listen to reason.

If they don't - the bureaucrats are NOT supposed to supplement their own views for those of the Prime Ministers' Office.

That said, this is different than other issues. Just like in America, Canadian Foreign Policy is largely directed by the Leader of the Country - hence why he/she is the leader. They have advisors who are experts on every area - they are, after all, on the groud. That is their job.

Foreign affairs is, however, very different than other domestic policy issues. It really does work like a symphony - with several different pieces playing different roles/harmonies. In fact, Canada has often been a foreign policy arm of OTHER countries since WW1, and even before.

My personal view is that the PM has a larger strategy on any given suite of issues - and he knows that changing language whittles away certain assumptions about existing policy. They aren't all dummies, you know.

Do I agree with the changes in language in the cited article? I don't know - I am sure there is a reason behind it - I hope it isn't like what Mr. Bush did with foreign aid funding an foreign domestic abortion policy - but it might be.

And while I disagree with it - that is their policy decision to make.

I have never seen such a complete retraction

And, even though I don’t love the PM – I am ELATED to see someone take responsibility for what would have otherwise been a defamatory story for sure.

 

Congrats to the Telegraph-Journal for owning up to its mistakes

 

 

 

Telegraph-Journal apologizes to Prime Minister

Published Tuesday July 28th, 2009

On Wednesday, July 8, 2009, the Telegraph-Journal published a story about the funeral mass celebrating the life of former Governor-General Romeo LeBlanc that was inaccurate and should not have been published. We pride ourselves in maintaining high standards of journalism and ethical reporting, and regret this was not followed in this case.

The story stated that a senior Roman Catholic priest in New Brunswick had demanded that the Prime Minister's Office explain what happened to the communion wafer which was handed to Prime Minister Harper during the celebration of communion at the funeral mass. The story also said that during the communion celebration, the Prime Minister "slipped the thin wafer that Catholics call 'the host' into his jacket pocket".

There was no credible support for these statements of fact at the time this article was published, nor is the Telegraph-Journal aware of any credible support for these statements now. Our reporters Rob Linke and Adam Huras, who wrote the story reporting on the funeral, did not include these statements in the version of the story that they wrote. In the editing process, these statements were added without the knowledge of the reporters and without any credible support for them.

The Telegraph-Journal sincerely apologizes to the Prime Minister for the harm that this inaccurate story has caused. We also apologize to reporters Rob Linke and Adam Huras and to our readers for our failure to meet our own standards of responsible journalism and accuracy in reporting.

 

 

Tom Watson: Old man to some, hero to others

Tom Watson (age 59) was one putt away from winning the oldest and in my opinion most prestigious golf tournament in the world.

He made several mistakes on the final day, and bled lots of shots - but, he was the leader at the end of the first day, and he was tied for the lead at the end of regulation play.

He lost in a playoff to Stewart Cink, one of the greatest ball strikers of this era. In fact, many compare him to - Tom Watson.

That said- there are many people out there who call him a "choker" - he couldn't finish.

Ok, lets forget the fact that he has already beaten out Jack Nicklaus on the final hole of multiple majors for just a second, and take a hard look at what actually happened in the final few holes.

1) He hit an approach shot exactly 15 feet too far (he missed on the wrong side of the hole, after landing his perfectly hit approach shot in the exactly middle of the green).

2) He hit a putt from off the green that rolled 8 feet too far. If he had left the putt short, it would have rolled back, possibly off the green.

3) He hit a poor putt that finished two inches from the hole and guaranteed him a spot in a playoff. He did not aggressively putt back down to a hole where he had already slipped off the green.

It is true, he played very badly in the playoff. Awful in fact. Tiger woods didn't make the cut, I guess he choked too.

Seriously, Tom Watson has won FIVE British Opens - there is no person alive who has won more. It would have been soooo sweet to see him win another one.

He didn't - but it was still great.

Haven't they learned anything?

Ok- a few weeks ago, I saw a news paper that had TWO key headlines. The first was "Gay Community fuming over funding firing" - that is a lot of "f"s. But, really, was anyone shocked that a cabinet minister in THIS government got rapped for giving PRIDE money?

Kudos to her.

On the opposite side of the page, the headline was "Catholics aghast over Host pocketing" - my first and only thought is "you have to work REALLY hard to get those two groups to both be against you."

Bravo.

In an unrelated story, newly appointed tourism dollars czar Tony Clement made this "announcement" fresh off his most recent trip to Sudbury which went over like a Sudbury Sunday morning after a Sudbury Saturday Night (google it, Stompin' Tom).

Ok, so in a province where you are trying to make in roads, and after already giving money to the Toronto PRIDE festival, you decide to not fund an event that will increase economic activity and simultaneously raise the ire of the most socially liberal province.

And, they did it FIVE DAYS before the event.

Yikes.

Oh Diane, how I miss thee.

What a great game

It is too bad that the American League won because of a couple of booted plays by the hometown hero, but I digress.

The fact that the AL retired 18 straight batters - effectively a 6 inning perfect game - during an ALL STAR GAME - is completely unbelieveable.

I think this headline tells the entire story.

Paplebon getting the win and Mariano Rivera getting the save? Priceless.

How about those blue jays

Two starters in the All Star game- wow, that is pretty impressive

It is time to do something about the Mohawk Warriors...

It is pretty rare that I agree with the stuff written in the Capitalist Pravda (National Post) but this author is the only one to have the balls to say what is true.

This is not about aboriginal rights, this is about rampant criminality - and I wish law & order Stephen would do something about it...





Say no to Mohawkistan

Section: Editorial Byline: Lorne Gunter Column: Lorne Gunter Source: National Post

Ottawa must reopen the Cornwall Island border crossing with the United States, whether the Akwesasne Mohawks like it or not.

The Ontario crossing has been closed since the end of May because the Mohawks oppose border guards being armed with handguns to protect themselves while on duty on the island. The Mohawks claim that giving pistols to Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) customs agents, whose post in the middle of the St. Lawrence is on the Akwesasne's island reserve, violates Mohawk sovereignty.

They also oppose the arming of agents because doing so raises the risk of violent confrontation. True, but only if the Mohawks start something first.

Customs agents abandoned the post with the tacit approval of the CBSA and Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan late on May 31 and have not returned. After 200 or so Mohawks -- many of them masked, some of them armed and claiming to be members of the infamous Warrior Society -- encircled the border post and lit bonfires, one former Mohawk chief, the current chief and the chief of the reserve police entered the building and warned agents they could no longer ensure their safety.

Since the Warriors had already sent the agents anonymous threats, guards left to the cheers of protesters.

While for some Akwesasne residents, this dispute may be about who controls the land and who has the right on the reserve to stop and inspect visitors coming into Canada, mostly it is a fight between Ottawa and on-reserve smugglers, with the chief, reserve police and the majority of residents caught in the middle.

Armed customs agents would be bad for the illegal trade in guns, cigarettes and other contraband that pours through the reserve. They could disrupt the tens of millions in profits the "Warriors" and others make sneaking tobacco and firearms, perhaps drugs, too.

When Jean Chretien was prime minister, our Armed Forces refused to fly over the reserve out of fear that the lawless elements below possessed shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles that are capable of downing a helicopter or fixed-wing plane flying low.

Marijuana grow-ops are said to be plentiful on the reserve, too.

Whenever a community reaches the level of lawlessness reportedly present on the Akwesasne reserve, it becomes difficult for civic authorities to keep the peace. Sometimes they aren't even the ones in charge; the criminal gangs are.

I would not want to be the chief of Akwesasne or the head of the reserve police. The pair are damned if they do and damned if they don't. If they try to bring order, the criminals living among them may get vicious to protect their illicit incomes. But if they cannot bring matters under control, their law-abiding majorities may never know safety and their reserve's limited economic opportunities will be in jeopardy.

Add to this the sovereignty angle -- and on-reserve politicians' need to placate it -- and a situation has been created in which there is almost no way for a chief to win.

But all that aside, the fact remains that federal border agents have been driven from a federal office by lawless Canadians threatening violence. Ottawa must step in to stop this, even if it means calling out the military to protect the agents at the Cornwall Island crossing.

The laws of Canada must apply equally to all Canadians regardless of skin colour or treaty status. So just as non-aboriginal Canadians may not use violence or threats to make the federal government back down, neither may aboriginals.

What if a group of cantankerous white farmers along the Manitoba-North Dakota border decided to declare a few thousand acres to be their sovereign nation and then chased federal agents from the adjacent border crossing so they could start trucking in semi-automatic rifles, tax-free booze and (horrors) free-market wheat and barley? Would Ottawa and the provincial government roll their eyes skyward, whistle nervously and drum their fingers hoping the tempest would blow over?

Of course not.

There would be a standoff and hours of fruitless negotiation, followed by a SWAT takedown if the other side did not comply.

Akwesasne Chief Mike Mitchell says he is willing to try alternatives to arming CBSA agents. Ottawa should listen. But if none of these is workable, the CBSA must reclaim its post for the good of Canadian sovereignty.

Women's Professional Golf

A thoughtful demand

That will have no impact whatsover.

I saw the LPGA play MY golf course last year. To be blunt, they were ok. They played a short course, and didn't play all that well.

Sorry, women's golf is boring. And that is when compared to Men's golf - which isn't exactly Jai Alai...

Maybe they should simply reduce purses (pun intended) and start from scratch. Build a fan base built on the market value they can attract. Sponsors don't want to contribute to something that no one is interested in.

Oops...

Apparently, I have just forgotten to blog for a few weeks. Sorry.

You will notice a trend over the past three years of this blog - when the springtime arrives, blogging slows down. I call it "golfing time."

So, what do I have for you this week?

A recomendation that you go visit Chicago. It is really just like Batman Begins and the Dark Knight.