Winnipeg is West, Vancouver is What?

As evidenced in policy, action, and opinion, when those in the East look to the West they can't seem to see beyond Alberta.

And now they're seriously talking about Winnipeg as one of the cities in the West and conveniently leaving Vancouver off the list?

This is from an article about Canada having the lowest crime rate in 25 years.

"Higher crime rates are more the trend in large western cities, such as Winnipeg, Regina and Saskatoon, Melcher said."

True, it seems as though they might be saying that Vancouver doesn't have the same "higher crime rates" - not only is that not true, but the chart in the article shows that BC and Saskatchewan moved about the same on the crime scale between 2005 and 2006. So you can see why it appears once again that Ontario-goggles, providing fog to overshadow the land beyond Calgary, have struck again.

And for the record I have no beef with Manitoba, so if they like being Western, they're welcome in my house...they can take Alberta's place.

Serious Reporting

Want to see the most interesting wobble fall on heels I've ever seen?

This video is from an NBC news piece about a model who fell twice on a Paris runway during Fashion Week.

Can you help but laugh?

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Stoner Geeks

That's what we are. A girl I met in Amsterdam said that she got the feeling that I threw the wickedest parties. She would be wrong about that. Being an American in Amsterdam I knew she had a wild frat party in mind. When I chill with my friends, we relax, toke, and have high-minded philosophical discussions about things most do not expect.

Wookiee: You know what Will Ferrell is? He's an even-more-insane version of Bill Murray. He's Bill Murray squared.

Spage: Well, I don't know if 'squared' is really the right term.

W: You're right...Will Ferrell is the inverse log of Bill Murray!

S: Yeah, I think that's more accurate.

W: Will Ferrell is 10 to the power of Bill Murray.

QED


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Local God

Instead, this guy thinks that it's his job to master; "Thou shalt drive at the speed I decree - whatcha gonna do about it? You're trapped behind me! Bwah ha ha ha ha."


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Awesome / Sad

From Wired News I learned that Americans who watch The Daily Show as their primary news source (!) know more about current events than those who watch CNN, read the daily papers, or watch the evening news (!!).

Plus, see the chart showing how Americans know less about politics today than they did in 1989.

Toker Nation

Well, I'm a few days late posting it here (too busy toking), but earlier this month the UN's 2007 World Drug Report was released and "Canada has the dubious honour of leading the industrialized world in marijuana use". Woo!

Some interesting things about the report are in this article which focuses on the world usage of what's referred to as 'The big five'; cannabis, amphetamines, cocaine, heroin, and ecstasy.

Some fun facts:

☺ 16.8 per cent of Canadians between the ages of 15 and 64 smoked pot or ingested one of its derivatives last year, well above the world average of 3.8 per cent for the same demographic and ahead of almost every other country in the world.

☺ Of the estimated 200 million people who used illicit drugs last year worldwide the vast majority, 160 million people, used marijuana - "which if they all lived in the same place would represent the seventh-largest country in the world." (!)



Happily Canadians are into the harmless drug, for the bad ones:

Iran, Russia and, oddly, nearby Estonia, have the biggest heroin problems (Canada is well below the world average here). Australia and New Zealand appear to lead the way in amphetamine abuse. (The Philippines have higher numbers but it is based on a small study.) Australia and the Czech Republic are the hotspots for ecstasy.

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Braemar Tribute

Not because he died or did anything particularly special today, but because in the spirit of image searches (see last post) I have a little album of icons to share. These have been sitting on my drive waiting for the right moment to be busted out, and it has arrived. So here they are; all of the 'Braemar' images that I could find. Enjoy, Brabe!

Spage Images

Strangely, before this week I had never done a Google Image search on my name. A couple of days ago I was looking for an image to accompany a post and typed 'ask spage' into the search and the first two results were pictures I took and sent to Mike Doughty that he posted on his blog. I found that I get the same search results only when I type in the letter 'a' itself before or after 'spage' or a short word starting with the letter 'a'. ('art spage' yields three pictures I took for Doughty as the 5th, 6th and 7th search results, while 'are spage' gets the number one and two spots.)

Curious, I tried just searching 'spage' and the pictures end up in the number 3 and 4 spot. The number one result? A picture of a naked guy with his penis through a plate of noodles. It's titled 'Food Fuck'.

I won't post that picture, but I will post the second result from 'spage', and that is Scott Page's homemade replica of Mad Max's Interceptor.

Man I love the Internet.




Note: Wookiee reminds me that these search results can change drastically and quickly so I can't vouch for the searches after today!

ID4

ID4, that's what I've called Independence Day since the movie came out in 1996.

Shifting gears, I leave you with a link to a post on Matthew Good's blog from today. Because it's true. When will we all use the immense power we have to make changes?

Brabe Asks

via e-mail...

"so the gov has made a law about telemarketing and have made the do not call list but they have made a few exceptions:
-Registered charities (calls made by them or on their behalf)
-Political parties
-Calls made for the purpose of public opinion surveys
-Newspapers of general circulation (for subscription solicitation)
-Businesses with whom you have an existing business relationship (e.g. businesses from which you have purchased goods or services within last 18 months)

I think you dont ever get telemarketing calls and i rarely get them, but every one i have ever gotten in my whole life falls into these categories. so tell me, what is the point???"

Spage replies...

You know, one of the MPs who spoke to us in Ottawa was the woman who put forth the private member's bill to institute that very do not call list. She fought hard for it and had a team of public servants helping to hash out the policy. It was modelled after the American version that is currently in effect. She says that after all that (and this was in 2004), it was never made into law. I see that it has finally received royal assent but obviously not in the same form she (and the Commons) sent to the Senate...I wonder what her reaction is today?

You are right, I've never gotten telemarketing calls on my cell, but that will change as I start to use it as my actual public telephone. Of course, I do get unknown callers from time to time and I simply do not answer those calls and they don't leave voice mails so I'm not sure what other kind of solicitation is going on out there. I'd hazard a guess that a lot of credit card companies, competing phone and cable companies, etc. who are not on the exceptions list would be culprits.

To be honest, the only exceptions on that list that irk me are the newspaper and charity ones. But I'm not surprised that they would be on this list either. Newspaper subscription solicitation being permitted is disgusting, why the media barons' unsolicited sales calls should be treated any differently is beyond me. Same goes for the registered charities - they are essentially just doing sales calls too, but we as citizens are supposed to feel that soft spot and respect for all charities no matter what they are trying to accomplish. This is also hogwash.

I have less issue with political parties, public opinion surveys (depending on who administers them ie. StatsCan or miscellaneous BizRate types?), and obviously companies with whom you already do business because you have an existing relationship with them. When it comes to political parties contacting people I think instead of people having a knee-jerk reaction to it, they should realize that this is a prime opportunity to communicate directly with your government or, those trying to be your government, and let your opinions be heard. Hate the political party that called you? Tell them why! Political parties are in the business of representing their constituents and if they don't know what you think and feel how will they know what you want? Love the political party that called you? Tell them why! If you don't they won't know that they're doing anything right! This is along the same reasons that I don't wholly disparage public opinion surveys - I mean, if one called to ask you about your opinion on new legislation, would you think that it would be a good time to voice your discontent over the national do not call registry? These are your opportunities to shape the world you live in without ever leaving the comfort of your ass-indented chesterfield. Have people become so angry and lazy that this is unacceptable? It's not like they're not trying to sell you war bonds or anything!

So what is the point Brabe? Well, it's certainly better than nothing, it starts the ball rolling and can always be updated and amended, it at the very least addresses a major complaint by the public, and it gives me blog fodder - and that's what's really important right?

It Would Be Funny...

...if it weren't so damn unfunny.

A report was released confirming that yet another Canadian soldier in Afghanistan was killed by an allied American soldier, who also killed an American in the same fray and injured several allies.

What struck me as tragicomical was the first hand account of what happened when Canadian Pte. Robert Costall and American Sgt. John Thomas Stone were shot in their backs while crouched behind walls during a battle with Taliban insurgents.

"One witness, a sergeant, recalled how a special forces security unit in one corner began shooting toward the perimeter of the battle.

"I immediately realized the [special forces] was shooting at the Canadian position," the sergeant, identified only as Witness 1, said in the report.

He said he whistled to signal the special forces soldiers to stop firing.

"The [special forces] security then turned his weapon 100 to 140 degrees from its original position and began firing in the direction of the American ETT compound," the witness said, referring to the location where Stone was hit."

Maybe if they stopped feeding their soldiers amphetamines they'd be able to control and aim their damn weapons.