Riders Stomp

I haven't had a chance to post this, but I caught the Rider game on Saturday night and did they lay a licking on the Bombers. I think that opening the season with a kickoff return for a touchdown is a statement for the year the Riders will have.

Greene played well ... and most importantly did not make any mistakes that particularly hurt too much, and the D stood up and did a great job of bending and not breaking.

The only thing that looked weaker than I could hope for was return coverage for the Riders and while I think that Paul McCallum did not deserve the treatment that he got after last year's missed field goal, his shanked punt is something that I hope I don't see again.

Had Enough

Ok, Ok ... I've had enough. The rainfall that we have been having is too much.

Please turn off the tap ...

Dirty Tricks

The events that took place in Parliament recently as a means of getting the Liberal budget passed should take no one by surprise. That it took the Conservatives by surprise is a signature of that party's lack of forethought.

I am not a Liberal fan and think that the Conservatives should form the next government. That being said, there is a history here that should have warned the Conservatives to expect anything that could be tried to get the Liberal / NDP budget passed would probably be tried. The tricks that the Liberals have used to stay in power and pass legislation show their ethics, but the fact that the Conservatives were caught flat footed is more concerning.

Moron Healthcare

Reaction from government and those involved in the government monopoly on healthcare to the decision from the Supreme Court has been fast and exactly what one would expect. What I did not foresee is that some people believe that the concept of for profit healthcare is not fair.

What is not fair about it? Right now it is possible, if expensive, to receive medical procedures in a for profit hospital or clinic. Those clinics are not in Canada, but in the US or other countries. Do not think for a minute that people do not go to those clinics for care from Canada in order to jump the queue ... they do. So our uniform healthcare system is a joke.

Their dollars go south or out of country where we do not get income tax on them. If those clinics and hospitals were in Canada, those with means would be able to go to those clinics (and the means would not need to be as high as for a long distance trip and staying out of country). Those clinics would employ more health professionals who will pay income tax, the clinics would make money and pay corporate taxes on that money. These funds help pay for our goverment run healthcare system.

All this comes from reading a post by Colby Cosh (click here to see it) regarding the decision and the reaction he has seen.

Hockey Rule Changes, NHL Salary Cap Agreement, New Image

With all the talk of hockey rule changes, the salary cap coming into play and the need to have a new image, I think I have the perfect answer. What the NHL should adopt is the use of a shinny puck (aka sponge puck). This would improve the image of hockey as the use of helmets could then be removed. Also, the screens at the end of the rinks could be removed as a shinny puck will not be as injurious as a traditional puck. This would also allow the goalies to use the smaller equipment without worry of injury.

On the serious side, what is the deal with needing more scoring in the NHL. I understand that the trap is bad as it makes for what people consider unentertaining hockey. Why not simply legislate against the trap? Allow only so many players per team in the neutral zone at a time and do away with offsides completely. If you can only have 3 players in the neutral zone at a time, the defensemen will have to play deeper in their own zone in order to allow the forwards not to be trapped in the offensive zone. This opens up a greater area for the team being pressed offensively to move the puck up. Doing away with offsides would allow the defense to put the puck back into the zone even if it crossed the blue line, which means that teams would carry the puck or pass the puck out of the zone, but would not just dump it to center ice in order to relieve pressure. Another element of this could be that the offsides are off until the puck is brought back past your own blue line (presumably by the opposing team), but once it is, the offsides are on (so there would not be cherry picking).

One the other side of the coin regarding a defensive style game, I do not think that a 1-0 or a 2-1 game is a bad thing. The goals mean more in a close game like that. Soccer games which are longer in time, and have less speed over a larger surface, are well attended and have low scores. Do hockey games need to have scores like baseball, football or basketball games in order to be exciting? Not to me. I was brought up watching hockey and have played a few games myself. I can appreciate the defensive aspect of the game. Other elements of the game can take on more of the excitement that is needed ... the hitting, the nice playmaking, and gasp ... dare I say it ... the fighting.

I will watch whatever form that the NHL takes when it comes back. I will not watch some patchwork league, whether it be the WHL or the league being proposed by Rugy Giuliani and others. I would watch replacement players ... I cheer for my team no matter who is on that team ... and I buy apparel that has the team name on it rather than a player name.

Health Care as Offered by The Supreme Court of Canada

There are two things that I find interesting in the ruling from the Supreme Court of Canada concerning the right to use private health care. The first thing is that we have another case where the courts are making legislation. By ruling that private health care should be available to those who want it in Quebec, the court has basically said to the government that they may not hold Quebec hostage for its federal health care dollars if the provincial government allows private health care.

The second thing is that the ruling is specific to the province of Quebec. The vote on whether this would apply to the rest of Canada was tied 3 to 3.

We have another instance where la belle province gets preferrential treatment.

One other thing that I just noticed ... we don't need more than a hundred MP's in Ottawa, fundamental changes to Canadian law can be given by only six Supreme Court Justices.

Hollywood's Role

What is Hollywood's role in US policy and politics? (Generalities abound here ... I know it's wrong, but don't care)

Hollywood, on the whole, has become very politically active against the current White House administration, from Michael Moore to many others. This activity and a comment that I read today on Captains Quarters made me think, what is the real role of Hollywood in US politics and government?

Many Hollywood personalities have pushed the Bush administration's buttons since he was first elected over Al Gore. The 9-11 attacks offered slight respite from the undermining of the administration, but the aftermath and the war in Iraq have refreshed those who feel they have an axe to grind. Political involvement and speaking your mind, are not only rights, but responsibilities, if you would believe the lines from Hollywood.

What I have a problem with is the later use of events by Hollywood to make money. Will there be movies made on elements of the Iraq war? Absolutely. With there be movies made on 9-11 events? For sure (although further down the line, I think). What will the goal of these movies be? To educate the masses or to entertain and make money? I think we all know it is the latter. Does that not make the criticisms of the White House seem hypocritical?

Out of the Loop

Have you ever gotten busy in your work, personal and social lives all at the same time. I am going through this right now (and its all good), but it does take its toll on this blog. Some of what has been happening in the past two weeks and in the coming weeks as well is that I have been in and out of the office doing some business travel.

Last week I flew down to Raleigh, NC to do some training for a customer who needed some help with some software that the company I work for sold. It was a fast trip (by my standards) ... out on Tuesday and back on Thursday with two days of work (Wednesday and Thursday) in the middle. It was a good trip, but there was no time to see anything or do anything. Plus it was raining.

On the plus side of that, I got a portable DVD player under the guise of keeping the kids entertained when we go on longer road trips in the car, and I took it with me to Raleigh. I loved it. I watched movies on the way our and back in.

Next week I go to a trade show in San Antonio, Texas. I will try to post from the show site and let people know how things are down there.

Socially, I have gone to a wedding and will be going to the improv night at the Centennial Auditorium. I also was at the Top of the Hops event at Prairie Land Park on Thrusday and Saturday.

Personally, I went to Watrous for the long weekend in May. I also had some work to do on the house last week in my basement and have some landscaping to do in the yard at home.

I also did some things that were necessary and fun with the house like getting my home theatre set up, but I need to clean up all the cables that I ran and put all the ceiling tiles back in place in the basement as well.

Anyways, all this activity has cut me off from the world, or so it seems and I need to get back into the swing of things.

One political note: why didn't Pat O'brien take his stand when it would have made a difference?