While it's disappointing to hear several hundred Saskatchewan potash workers will be out of jobs this Christmas season, I can't help but wonder if the union could have saved some, or all, of these positions by negotiating concessions for all staff. It's easy for me to say, I guess, but if I was approached about taking a small pay cut in order to save some of my fellow coworkers, I would do it. After all, it could be me on the chopping block some day and I would want my coworkers to do the same for me.
Police have arrested an 18-year-old man for stealing the roof panel off the red Porsche Carrera driven by Paul Walker when the Fast and Furious actor was killed last weekend. Apparently, a tow truck was removing the wreckage and it's alleged Jameson Witty helped himself to a souvenir and then posted the find on Instagram. Witty doesn't deny taking it, saying he was planning a memorial for Walker on December 28th and admits to making a big mistake (not sure if he means the mistake was taking the crash piece or the mistake was posting it on Instagram).
Imagine how better the world would be if people reacted with the same compassion when it comes to tragedies involving regular, ordinary citizens the same way they react when a famous person, whom 99 per cent of us have never met react?
If an Instagram post is enough for this 18-year- old to get arrested, I'm left wondering how come Rob Ford isn't up on criminal charges?
One also has to wonder what's been promised to Nigel Wright that would result in him staying quiet while the rest of his Conservative buddies, repeatedly, throw him under the bus with regards to this Senate controversy. And, how come Stephen Harper won't come clean and admit that he's either an incompetent Prime Minister or a dirty one that tried to cover up this incident that involves high salary receiving Senators stealing from taxpayers, the majority of, whom make less than the politicians.
You don't need to pay a company to conduct a survey to see how unpopular the Conservatives have become. I, simply, look at how western Canada, a usual Conservative stronghold, is responding. You have to think that if we don't like it, Ontario people have already made up their minds and won't be voting for them in the next election. Only a leadership change is going to save them.
I got into a dispute with the broadcaster of the Battlefords North Stars last week over how SJHL weekly and monthly winners are chosen and this amplifies how the world thinks in this day and age. I was told, essentially, that weekly and monthly award winners should be split evenly between south based and north based teams, which is to say if Yorkton's Kale Thomson rips off three shutouts in a row (which he has done), I should consider omitting him from the Sasktel Goalie Of The Week selection if other award winners that week also end up being from southern based teams. Imagine telling a player he's unworthy of winning due to a geographical location's dominance during a particular week. What's the world coming to?
Sticking on the topic of announcers, don't look for the quality of your NHL broadcasts next year to get better. In fact, they may be worse. Rogers is likely to attract a few heavy hitters from TSN and CBC, but for the most part they will offer peanuts to announcers wanting to work in the NHL and can get away with it because if you want to work in the NHL, you have nowhere else to market your skills. People will still watch too because there won't be any alternative. Fans can also expect to pay more, even though very little regarding that issue has been publicized. Remember, Rogers is the same company that pulled Blue Jay games from the mainstream channel midseason and put it on a new one in order to pressure people to demand their cable company to carry the new channel. Dirty pool.
I watched the highlights of Pittsburgh and Boston on Saturday night and Shawn's Thornton's sucker punches to Brooks Orpik were cheap. What's lost in this is a play seconds before where James Neal took an equally cheap shot to Brad Marchand. Here's how I feel: Thornton, Orpik, Marchand, and Neal are all dirty players and none of them deserve a roster spot in the NHL for various reasons. Either suspend thugs and repeat offenders harshly or don't suspend them at all. These rinky dinky 4-5 gamers are a waste of time. Give a couple of 80 game suspensions and all this comes to an end. How much do you want to bet Orpik is back in a couple of days and wasn't as hurt as it appeared? Sorry, I don't have respect for that guy. Neal, to me, is Matt Cooke with the only difference being he can score.
There are a lot of dumb people in charge of Major League Baseball franchises. I challenge whoever runs the Seattle Mariners to tell me why giving anyone a 10-year contract is a good idea.
Nice person mentions to Dave Melnychuk, Mara Doepker, Lisa Kirkwood, Val Ruf, and Branden Crowe.
