I think I said it best when...

In China, political protestors who seek the most basic democrative freedom's are met with tanks and are crushed by a despotic communist government.

In Iran, political protestors who seek the relaxation of religious rules and greater choice in their government are rounded up, and lord knows what happens to them behind closed doors.

Two groups who are seeking change that most of the democratic world can agree with are brutalized. We lament their tragic losses.

In Canada, a gang of luddites swarm hapless Starbuck's windows in the spirit of wanton destruction. They have no 'ask' so to speak, but they convey the message of "NOT THE STATUS QUO" without actually identifying what is wrong with democratically elected governments.

No one touches them.

I think they should try this in China and Iran and see what happens to them

Loves the view from here- or at least the sounds

If you didn't think they would be blowing those infernal horns, what did you think they would do to make a ruckus?

To all avid sporting fans - good luck trying to make a local tradition go away.

But, if you are successful, can you please go to Fenway and make Red Sox fans less assholey?

A random list of things that piss me off

1) People who bitch about Oil companies making profit - if you don't like it, stop fucking driving

2) People who think that oil comes from trees - if you don't like it, stop fucking driving

3) People who think that large corporations can just pay more taxes - if you think that tax policy doesn't directly affect employment, you are dreaming

4) People who think that the government is a trusted source of information - they have way more of a motive to lie than you do - or a company does - because they need you to keep their jobs. A company can always find another new investor

5) People who think that if you disagree with your political party of choice on a key issue, you should be banned from that party - by this logic, I would never be able to be in a political party except my own.

6) People who think that not defending a stupid policy by a political party is tantamount to treason - uh, fuck that noise - a stupid idea is a stupid idea, and me saying it is just means that you should come up with less dumb ideas.

7) People who think that they are right about something because they have the right to vote - by this logic, the crowd would eat the sow every time because 51 stupid people are just as right as 49 rocket scientists

8) People who crap on the CBC for their bias. Everything in the news is biased. Read two articles if you are worried about CBC-speak.

9) People who try to cover up their mistakes by blaming other people - the first FIRST thing you should do when you discover an error is try to rectify it - and come up with a solution to the problem as opposed to locating another person to blame for the problem

10) People who don't understand how important clear, concise communciation is - I stopped listening to the guy jabberring on a long time ago

G20/G8 Security Costs

I wonder if it cost more to Marc Garneau into outer space then it did to host the G20?

Worst Call Ever

James Joyce wrote Ulysses - a 1800 page book about 22 hours in a fine day in Dublin (Edited to show what an imbecile I am.)

Jim Joyce will get over 1,000,000 pages of press today about something that happened in less than five seconds.

Not to forget the great over the shoulder basket catch made two plays prior, the "final" play of last night's game was a grounder to the right side of the infield, handled by the first baseman, and covering the bag was Tigers Pitcher Armando Galarraga. He was one out away from a perfect game.

They executed the play, it was close, but the runner was clearly out. Game over, perfect game. Right?

Nope. The umpire blew the call. Jim Joyce will now be known as the guy who made the call that broke up the perfect game.

Now- there are already 80 bazillion people saying that this is the straw that will break the camel's back and will bring about instant replay. They should be castigated for this call.

That would create a slippery slope, right?

Well, yes. It would also create a log-jam as Managers clamour to the TV to make the call for instant replays on every close play. As if baseball isn't a slow enough game.

Currently, there are instant replays on the field for issues relating to home runs. Which is FINE because a home run will *end* a play. A play at second base with no outs will not. The ball remains live.

We trust the judgement of umpires to make the correct calls. This was an egregious error by a human being. It should not be turned into a carnival to justify expanding instant replay - as I have said before- you should NEVER use egregious errors to justify a change in policy.

Right Rahim?

Baseball NEEDS to do something

I was looking at the standings today, and a few things occurred to me:

There are FOUR teams with records over .560 in the American League East. Including the Blue Jays, which is kind of funny, because they will be as many games below .500 by this time next month. Similarly, there are FOUR teams in the National League West that are playing over .529 and the NL East has four teams over 500.

The Texas Rangers are in first place in their division with a record that is .529

Ergo, if the playoffs started today, the Rangers would make, get their asses kicked by the Rays, and two teams in the AL who are better than they are won't even make the playoffs and at least two in the NL that are better.

So, do I have the solution? No - I just identify problems. Here are some others. The current formula (which was amended in 1996 post strike) has 8 playoff teams out of 30 teams in the MLB. Some teams stop trying halfway through July because they are already out of it, and frankly, it looks like Baltimore has already stopped trying this year. Of course, that is because they get shelled by the four great teams in their division.

What if more teams made the playoffs? What if they started earlier.

Well, the MLB would say, that will crystallize all records by shortening the season.

A) So what?
B) Or, you can include playoff games in records - and adjust the other ones post-facto

As a Yankee fan, this is a great idea :)

As a fan of baseball, it just makes sense - you can keep the divisions AND have an expanded playoffs - just do it by record (like the NHL) guaranteeing the first place team in each division and then have 5 wild cards based on record. There are no ties in baseball, so it should be pretty easy to figure out. In the case of identical records, head to head record counts, and if they are still tied - a 1 game playoff.

We need more baseball that matters. The past-time is often quite stupid by early September, and sometimes most teams don't even field good teams! They are just ripping off their fans who pay good money for tickets.

In an unrelated matter - the NL central has six teams in it, including Houston. The AL West has four, including Texas. Why don't we just flip Houston into the the AL, and create a great rivalry.

The Perfect Prefect

Senator Pitfield will be resigning today - You can check it out here

When first appointed, he was an independent. Ironic, considering that he was shit-canned by Joe Clark for being too close to Trudeau. The man Clark appointed to replace him, Marcel Masse, was a Chretien Cabinet Minister. Great work there Joe.

Anyhoo- This is the PERFECT example for Harper to follow. Kevin Lynch would make a wonderful Senator, and would probably prefer it to some cheesy international gig.

While I don't love the Senate, it really was originally designed to be full of senior advisors who made a great contribution to society. In some limited cases, it accomplished that role - like Dr. Keon, for example. In other cases, it has failed miserably.

This is also a chance for Harpo to look not so political which he could desperately benefit from.