Monday, December 31

The Other Shoe?

I just got around to reading Saturday's Freep while getting ready to go out tonight*, and I noticed that Garth Steek has left the Home Builders Association.

Mayhaps to accept the PC party CEO position in front of a River Heights run in 2011?

Just spit balling.

Happy New Year gang.  Talk to you soon.



* - Very happy to see the condo project on Assiniboine Ave is moving ahead.  We're an old city for the most part.  Time to start benefiting a few areas by allowing tear down and infill to begin instead of sitting on everything aged waiting for people to overspend in order to bring things up to code/modern standards of living.

Posted by The Hack at Monday, December 31, 2007 | | Comments

Saturday, December 22

That Was Something. Not Sure What, But Something Nonetheless

Coach's Corner just now was like an episode of The Office.  Funny as hell, but almost painful to watch in places.  Started off with Don repeatedly telling the kids how much "we all love Santa", but never forget that December 25th is about Baby Jesus, thus causing at least one or two folks at CBC to soil themselves.

Maclean then asked him about the Chris Simon suspension and after a few moments added Simon's aboriginal ethnicity to the  discussion.   Cherry was having none of it and fired off a few hearty "you have to earn it with hard work" when Maclean asked if he believed there were aboriginal kids who didn't believe they received fair shakes due to their race.  (Personally, I thought Maclean flirted dangerously close to condoning Simon's absolutely stupid excuse making in regards to his latest record suspension.)  Maclean then brought up the Ted Nolan purgatory run after his initial award-winning run in Buffalo.  I've heard Cherry explain that one before and always thought he was probably correct in his assessment.  Para-phrased: "It wasn't racism!  It was Nolan and John Muckler and the coach going against the GM to get him fired.  If you are another GM, are you going to hire a guy who does that when there are a lot of good coaches out there?"

After that settled down - and I use the term settled lightly, because it was clear that Don was agitated.  The rest of the show was scatter shot, with Maclean trying to get Grapes to make some nice comments about Crosby for the kid's scrap the other night, but a perturbed Cherry made some comment about "needing to show Crosby because I showed Lecavlier last week and we have to keep them happy."

The final moments were awkward and tense.  Maclean even fired off a "What's in you tonight?" at one point.  If it wasn't Christmas this week and just another regular winter weekend, my hunch is that the segment would get a little ink and attention.

Coach's Corner gets put up on the CBC website and it's worth checking out. 

Posted by The Hack at Saturday, December 22, 2007 | | Comments

Thursday, December 20

It's Not Quite Bill Parcells And The Atlanta Falcons, But....

Word around the in-box is that Brent Olynyk has signaled that he won't be taking the PC Party of Manitoba CEO job after all.  This only a day or two after it was made public that he was taking the gig.
 
Whatever the reasons, after weeks of back and forth with the hiring committee, this can only be see as a major set back. 

Now...Who's on deck?   Trudy or Ken?  Or someone else?

 

Posted by The Hack at Thursday, December 20, 2007 | | Comments

Monday, December 17

"Hey! Why Shouldn't An 11-Year Old Be Walking Around The Streets In The Middle Of The Night?"

Look, I feel badly for the girl having to go through this awful experience.  And if they find the guy and convict him, I would cheerlead for a lifetime sentance, even if it meant building a new prison to host the scumbag.

Sgt. Dennison is also right about the bigger picture as well:

"I know a lot of people will probably be asking, 'What is an 11-year-old doing out at that time of the day?" police spokesman Sgt. Kelly Dennison said Sunday.

"I think the bigger question is: where can we find the sexual predator who did this?"

That being said, the first questions deserves a lot of attention as well by non-police groups.  

Posted by The Hack at Monday, December 17, 2007 | | Comments

Friday, December 14

Touche Sir.

Touche.

Posted by The Hack at Friday, December 14, 2007 | | Comments

Mulroney

Work was crazy yesterday as I'm taking on new responsibilities there and moving up the food chain another level. Arrived home late and missed the news, so I haven't really paid much attention to the day's events.  Not ignoring it, just not knowledgeable enough to comment intelligently yet.

Posted by The Hack at Friday, December 14, 2007 | | Comments

Remind Me To Stop Paying For My Hookers With Cheques

Who knew that leaving a paper trail when paying for illegal activities was such a big deal?

Posted by The Hack at Friday, December 14, 2007 | | Comments

Wednesday, December 12

Continuing Along My Path Towards Just Accepting Things Won't Change Because People Don't Care To Change....

 
The Conference Board of Canada says Calgary is the best city in Canada to live in and it says Winnipeg is 19th best. Manitoba Premier Gary Doer begs to differ.
 
Well, I guess that ends that.








PS: Honestly, does this surprise anyone who's been paying even cursory attention to local and national trends?   Anyone at all?
 
We know this stuff.  We know the problems.  We know the hindrances holding us back from being the Manitoba we would like to be if it was easy.
 
And if you scratch the surface a little, you'll even find that many already know the solutions and fixes that would help Winnipeg and Manitoba get to where we want to go.  So why do we keep doing the same thing and using the same policies over and over again expecting different outcomes? 

The more I study the numbers and the trends, the more I believe Manitoba's window of opportunity is small.  We have maybe a decade to make a move or we all should just grow content with being a provincial offshoot of the real power centers in the country.  Always destined to watch the moving and shaking from afar.  

And the most frustrating thing to me is that I get the sense that people are perfectly content with that scenario.  Not only content, but proud to be settling in as the also-ran in Canada's West, which is going to continue to take the power balance from the Canadian East as the century goes on.

I'm getting tired of feeling like I'm in the wrong for questioning that direction.

The visit to Toronto recently tweaked some dormant feelings of exploration and excitement.  I love Winnipeg and Manitoba and would love to spend the rest of my life here, but I can't settle for the sake of settling.  Just not in me to do that.
 

....
 
 
Fuck, now I'm feeling pretty bummed out. 


 

Posted by The Hack at Wednesday, December 12, 2007 | | Comments

Saturday, December 8

Speaking Only On Mr. Gilleshammer's Appointment...

If a former minister responsible for provincial immigration isn't qualified to be a citizenship judge, than who is?

I've got a lot of time for Harold Gilleshammer. When I was just breaking into the political world, his office allowed me to spend my Grade 11 & 12 co-op ed working out of his ministerial office in Winnipeg. The experience went a long way towards guiding my future direction.

My favorite memory was from the year that he was minister responsible for immigration and his staff telling me about this new program they were beginning to implement. One that the province had negotiated with the feds - allowing Manitoba to control its own immigration destiny - and it was going to be very important to Manitoba for years to come.

It was called the "Provincial Nominee Program".


Judy Alphabet Either Has A Short Memory Or Is A Liar Update:
"Wasylycia-Leis said there is nothing in Gilleshammer's political career to indicate he took any interest in citizenship issues."

Posted by The Hack at Saturday, December 08, 2007 | | Comments

Friday, December 7

Get Used To This Comparison...I'm Going To Be Bringing It Out From Time To Time

Rate (October Rate)

-- Manitoba 4.2 (4.0)

-- Saskatchewan 4.0 (4.3)
 
My gut tells me that this one will be worth following.  I'm already looking forward to the round of Saskatchewan-related excuses that Manitobans must already be preparing.    They are going to kick our ass over the next five years and we're not going to like it.

Posted by The Hack at Friday, December 07, 2007 | | Comments

Thursday, December 6

Democracy In Action (Or How I Stopped Worrying And Learned To Love The Whale)

So Greenpeace has adopted a humpback whale....

And they decided, "Hey! Let's have the public suggest names and then vote for the best one...."

They narrowed down the list of over 11,000 suggestions....

Included names such as Malaya, Babu & Yarrindi....

Once that was finished, they opened the polls....

And the voters spoke.

The whale could not be reached for comment.

Posted by The Hack at Thursday, December 06, 2007 | | Comments

Now We Know....Part Two

Don Martin gives the run down on the ridiculous "porn" accusation the NDP threw around the House yesterday.  I expect Rick Mercer is already writing a bit for MP James Moore as you read this.
 
The lesson - once again - is that questions/accusations should all be run by the "Will This Make Me Look Stupid When Said Outloud?" test.  If an MP can't pass that test with her statement, then she should maybe consider not saying anything at all.

 

Posted by The Hack at Thursday, December 06, 2007 | | Comments

Wednesday, December 5

And Now We Know Why James Moore Is Not In Cabinet Yet....

Well, not really. 
 
OTTAWA -- Conservative MP James Moore is the subject of a complaint that he's been checking out "scantily clad'' women on his laptop computer in Parliament.

A New Democrat MP rose in the House of Commons on Wednesday to complain that she saw Moore with a racy image on his computer screen while at his seat in the parliamentary chamber.

Moore, a parliamentary secretary from British Columbia, vehemently denied the claim.

This is just stupid by the NDP member.  There's a subtext of "Women are such fragile and timid creatures that they are unable to deal with even the most minor of offences" to this accusation.  I would think most women would not care if there was a bikini pic* on Moore's screen.  This is just dumb politics and says more about the NDP's Irene Mathyssen than it does James Moore. 
 
On a completely unrelated topic, I present:
 
The Link Of The Day: Topless Women Playing The Wii. 
 
Suffice it to say, not safe for work.
 
* -  Does anyone really believe that he was checking out porn or something far more risque than a bikini or lingerie shot?  And does anyone believe he was just casually surfing for stimulation?

Posted by The Hack at Wednesday, December 05, 2007 | | Comments

Tuesday, December 4

Not That It Means Anything Per Se....

....But it is VERY possible that the Liberals/NDP miscalculated this one.  Of the twenty or so initial comments appearing thus far on this CTV.ca story on the Mulroney/Schreiber stuff, ALL of them are ridiculing the investigation and the opposition for dogging it.

I still believe there's something to this still worth finding out, but there appears to be a trend emerging that says this is a big do-nothing project for Ottawa right now.

And that won't play for the opposition.

Posted by The Hack at Tuesday, December 04, 2007 | | Comments

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