Hockey Hall of Fame Inductees

I am happy about all four of them - but most happy about Mark Howe.

This is the PERFECT example of the anti-dauphin. This is a guy who succeeded DESPITE of who his Dad was. This is a guy who worked his ass off for 2o plus seasons and was one of the most solid stay-at-home defencemen ever.

So what if he never won a cup. So what if he never won the Norris Trophy. He was a rock in the defensive end.

I am also happy about Ed Belfour. Not because my Upper Deck Rookie card may now be worth .25 cents instead of .20. But because he had a really hard go of it after his time in Dallas - he was accused of a lot of crap (and maybe it was true, given the video evidence entitled "Belfour drunk at my house") but ultimately, he was a very solid career netminder who has flashes of brilliance.

Hot goalies are awesome when they are hot.

My new favourite song

I really like her voice - but haven't quite figured out what this song is about

Set Fire to the Rain

Free Speech

If you haven't seen this, protected speech is after all, protected speech.

Art imitating life?

The Best Evidence is, afterall, the truth

For your information - do with it as you please

From David Frum, uber-conservative

Hindsight?

Great News!

The House of Commons has risen for the summer!

I can go back to planning. I don't know what I am planning, but there is nothing left to annoy me here.

Its raining

I don't like the rain.

Canada Post - Why the NDP is crazy

A lesson in politics for Mr. Layton. If you have a Quebec base, missing St. Jean Baptiste day is like...well, I don't know, actually. It is really stupid.

I have many views on the Canada post issue, but the most important is this: You need to have reality in context when you try to take your fight public. Let me explain.

Cops and Firefighters have a lot of political power. When they strike, they are effective because of the invaluable services they provide.

Canada Post also provides an invaluable service. But it is one that is quickly becoming dated. More letter mail can be replaced by email - even secured documents (might even be more secure). Only packages have the same need for delivery and that is what delivery services are for.

Now, don't misunderstand this as support for the government. Their legislation is PERFECT for their own political goals. They can drive down costs, use their majority to do it, and allign it with their goals for public service renewal. In a perfect world, I would have introduced even more draconian legislation and used that to pressure the sides to settle. The Government has NOTHING to lose on this issue - and will ultimately take credit for the work startage (is that a word? It is now!)

The Union AND Management at CP are on another planet. Neither side has any public sympathy and both of them are helping the PM get a few booster points. The Opposition is doing itself a disservice by thinking they are standing up for the workers of Canada Post - they are just prolonging the inevitable and giving the government a way to whap them repeatedly.

Sadly, Whack-a-Jack doesn't get that he is being played. He doesn't (or refuses to) understand the larger picture. He will push against a piece of legislation that he doesn't think he can stop. He will do so on principle.

Principles are really only worth the practical applications to which they are applied. In principle, I can fight for the freedom of speech, but in practice it is stupid to argue for the free speech of an idiot. This time around, Jack's principles are hurting him. Badly.

And, you know that I will hear about it from a 10-percent-er.

NDP Convention Starts Today in Vancouver

Expect Riots and Lootings to follow soon

Air Canada Customer service agents strike

and no one notices.

Actually, that isn't true - many people were shocked at how efficient the system ran without them. Moreover, many people thought that customer service improved.

Today's Profound Truth

I woke up with just as many NBA Championships as Chris Bosch.

Its very tough - NBA Finals

As a Yankees fan, it is really tough for me to be sore at a team for pulling together as many great players as possible.

As a fan of humanity, however, it is really easy for me to castigate a jackass who made a ceremony about where he chose to take his next job. It was like the Game of Thrones, except the King didn't want the crown. Then, to play second banana to a proven winner because when the chips were down, he couldn't get the job done.

I cheered for the Heat three times in my life.

The first time was when they drafted UNLV centre George Ackles. He barely got off the bench, but it was the memory of his dominance in college that made me like them.

The second time was when Alonzo Mourning - one of the greatest grit distributors (no error) literally beat up everyone EXCEPT the Knicks, who finally topped them in a 4-3 Conference final that featured 'Zo and LJ going toe to toe.

The last time was when Shaq got Kobe'd out of Los Angeles, only to take Flash to the golden ring. Evidence that the Diesel knew how to win. And, he brought 'Zo along for the title too.

But this team was annoying. With the exception of Flash (D Wade) they were a bunch of selfish, ego-driven losers who thought they could just pick their way to the title. All this proved to me is that Phil Jackson probably deserves a lot more credit.

I also don't have many nice things to say about the Dallas Mavericks. I like Jason Kidd- glad he got a title. And, happy that Chancellor Bird-noviski got his too. I don't buy the "he is one of the greatest players ever" crap though.

Soapbox

I don't normally talk about work on my blog, but I am really quite annoyed with Health Canada.

Personally, if you didn't already know that smoking was bad for you, I think you are an idiot, or so oblivious as to walk around in traffic and will die another way, on another day.

If you think that changing a warning label from 50% to 75% is going to make a difference in educating that very narrow class of people who don't already know that smoking is bad for them, I think your thought processes need re-evaluation.

If you think those same people, who would be affected by the moderately larger warnings, are actually going to quit smoking, as a result of the change (remembering that addiction is different than information) I think that the re-evaluated thought process needs another tinker. AND

I think that this is very similar to HC's policies on a litany of other issues which turn on the ability of a regulator to come up with inane rationales for their own self-existence. If they can't solve it, it can't be a problem. If they have a budget, they had better do SOMETHING to justify it.

Federal Budget

I have asked the PMO to "Blue-line" the federal budget so we can more easily see what changes exist to the one introduced in March.

They said ok. I am holding them to it.

The more things change

This is a reposting of the SECOND thing I ever put on my blog (from April 2006.) It was back when I tried to relate everything back to something that was in either the Fountainhead, or Atlas Shrugged, or one of the other lesser known Rand works. To this day, I still dont' know why (c)conservatives think she is a thought leader for them. But I digress...

For the record, I still believe almost every word of it. I have inserted some snide comments in red for my own amusement. It is fun to read stuff you wrote a long time ago.

The Virtue of Ceremony

Almost all of Rand's important characters hated ceremony. They either reflected this by their actions, or through their words. Waste, they would say, is the ultimate sin and is without virtue.

I gave a speech from the throne too. After I flushed it had about the same level of substance. (ew.)

The one delivered by her Excellency, however, had a lingering smell of cultural imperialism that just wouldn’t go away.The pomp and circumstance that goes into the speech from the throne is the only thing that gets ordinary Canadians, albeit temporarily, to even pay attention, which is a problem in and of itself. I don’t know if that is because they don’t care, or if it is because the speech is really boring.

This afternoon, there was about 45 minutes of very official knocking on doors and such. Did you know that the person who knocks on the door of the House of Commons (the usher of the black rod) makes well over a hundred grand a year? Pretty expensive trick-or-treater if you ask me.

In outlining the government’s five priorities, her Excellency did an adept job at reading the provisions drafted for her consideration by the Privy Council Office as ordered by the Prime Minister. It was also fun to watch the MPs herded behind the thin gold bar at the entrance to the Senate floor. That said, what a phenomenal waste of time and more importantly, money. (more than the per vote subsidy for the Liberals, I might add)

There were numerous government officials who probably don’t have to do anything except go to cocktail parties until the next throne speech. The entire process reeked of elitism and government largesse with which few Canadians could identify. It was nice that the Governor General invited Santa clause and eight of his stunt doubles to attend. (I solemnly respect the important role the Supreme Court of Canada plays as the new official opposition)

At least when the President delivers the State of the Union to Congress, he can actually do something about it. What is her Excellency going to do if the House of Commons ignores her? Go out and buy a new hat? (thank god for majority governments.)

Our system of government pretty clearly establishes that the de facto Head of State and the legislative branch are on the same page, and if it doesn't, let me assure you that separatists are not suddenly going to see the light because of the carefully chosen words of the Prime Minister, read by a woman who is the representative of her Majesty, the Queen of England, also known as the embodiment of English as an intergenerational cultural oppressor. Je me souviens, indeed. (added scorn that it is now David Johnston, and he is talking about reducing the leverage of Quebec in the House - At least Madame Jean used to be a separatist herself)

At least the State of Union helps frame the debate from the perspective of the single most important political figure in the states. This is not a call for a wholesale renewal of our parliamentary system or process. This is a call for the Prime Minister to look beyond the Senate when he goes after democratizing institutions that Canadians pay for. The Senate actually does something for the average Canadian from time to time- I don’t think the usher of the Black Rod can say the same thing. (oh, that is irony, part 1.)

But, what about tradition? Tradition is fine provided that it doesn’t impinge upon the present. Tell Canadians that there won’t be money for wheelchairs or for combating homelessness because they spent over a million dollars firing blanks into the air and making sure that the Senate understands the importance of their role. (the irony of that statement is not lost on me, part 2)

I am not going to suggest for one second that massive policy changes would occur if we had that extra million bucks, but if we added it to the millions "carefully expended" investigating the millions syphoned off to well placed members of the former government to help save federalism...It just smells. (something something about respecting democratic institutions)

Can't one of the more nubile Senators get up and knock on the door instead?