October 10, 2005
    I saw "King Arthur" [5/10] this afternoon, and it was a disappointing movie that dragged on and on.
    On the bus home from Regina, I talked with 3 elderly women about a variety of topics, everything from travel to smoking.  One of them was less than thrilled with my suggestion that smoking indoors amounts to a fire-smoke damaged interior.

October 9, 2005
    I ate at a Thanksgiving meal at my aunt and uncle's farm south east of Lafleche tonight.

October 8, 2005
    Last night I saw "The Brothers Grimm" [8/10] at the Rainbow in Regina, and it was an entertaining fantasy movie.  Today I went to Sears and The Source, and saw a remote controlled jet model plane for $99.
    The Riders play tonight, against Montreal.  last time we played them, we turned the ball over about 9 times in a horrific game that nearly began our slide into seasonal demise.  We've since turned that around, and have won the last 5 games we've played.

October 6, 2005

    I spent a few hours at Yorkton Public Library today, while the vehicle was getting a windshield repair.  I was able to help with a few problems at the library, and got some leftover veggies from a snack tray, so it was a great morning.
    The wind wasn't as cold today, and I stopped at a garage sale near my place, and picked up my first power tool - a cordless drill, at a price where I can afford to store it in the closet until I need to drill something.  Now I just need a bit set, hmm, back to the garage sale tomorrow I guess, since they promised to have more stuff out by then.

 
The major mess of an intersection near my home looks like this, and has been shut for almost a month.

    sir-rantsalot:"And [the media says] if I don't DIE from avian flu, I'll DIE from global warming, a rogue asteroid, AIDS, or mad cow disease!"

    The problem is that people one day WILL die from one of those things. It probably won't kill all of us though, and we'll live another day to die from another mass death experience.

    The "scaring" comes in because of the way the media, or perhaps human interest works. When one person mentions something, other people want to talk about it too, injecting their own views. They don't tend to talk about something on a completely different subject until either the conversation is exhausted, or something more interesting comes along. For example if I started a discussion about space invaders, there's a greater chance that others will be thinking and talking about space invaders for the next day than if I didn't bring them up. It's not that space invasions are at a higher risk now than yesterday, it's just because I mentioned it and now you're thinking about them too, at least more than you're thinking about water borne illness. Oops, I just changed the subject.

    Media hysteria, is related to a failure of the media to CHANGE the GOSH DARN SUBJECT ALREADY. Although hysteria can offer an incentive for otherwise ignorant or apathetic people to take the time required to prepare for a disaster or to even avert one.

    The thing about most of those terrible things Rants listed, is that they can be stopped to some degree through planning and effort on the human race's part. If we put as many resources each year into curing AIDS as we do into baseball, then I think we'd have had it beat by now, just for example. When the last one of us is infected with AIDS and there's no escaping the mutated AIDS laced rain clouds in a science fiction demise, we'll wonder if we spent too much time wondering who's on first.
==

October 5, 2005
    I was looking at my bank statement today, and there was an odd entry that said CANADA FPT had made a deposit into my account of about $100.  I had to rack my brain for several minutes trying to figure out what Canadian organization would deposit money into my account, and what for.  I finally realized it was my seasonal GST rebate, and there was nothing unusual about the deposit, especially since I signed up for direct deposit of Canadian Government rebates and refunds last tax filing.  It saves me a trip to the bank this way, although it does create the odd confusion or concern not having the paper sent right to me, giving me a description of the money they give back to me.
    "The Wedding Banquet" [8/10] was on the CBC International movie, and I started watching before bedtime, but it quickly became after bedtime by the time it finished.  It was worth watching though, it was about a gay couple where one of the partners staged a wedding to get his tradition-pushing parents off his back.

October 4, 2005
    The -4 weather last night didn't kill my sunflowers, but I'm sure it didn't do them any good.  It's not supposed to freeze hard tonight, so I'm not going to even cover them up.  The drier today ate some of my socks, so I put a sign on it to let people know it's out of order.  I had been keeping an eye on the drier because it was making a funny noise.  It turned out the funny noise was the drum that had slipped out of place, and allowed some of my footclothes to become wedged between the turning bit and the heating bit, causing nice brown marks on the socks.  I'll be doing a bit of sewing on the ones worth salvaging, later.  For now I'm just going to watch another Daily Show with Jon Stewart, then go to bed.

October 3, 2005

    It was a frigid day today, with more cold on the way.  The sunflowers will have a hard time surviving the freeze coming tonight.  I think they have a better chance at living than Tom DeLay does at staying out of jail, after he was indicted a second time today :-) for money laundering in an election scam.

    My official baseball picks are in.  Keep in mind that I didn't watch a baseball game this year, and so my opinion is based entirely on my gut, and somewhat on what some random person said about who they thought would win.
Angels beat Yanks in 6
Chi Sox over Red Sox in 7
Padres lose to the Cards in 5
Astros beat Braves in 4

You can tell how closely I follow baseball these days? I haven't cared since '94 and the Expos were robbed by the strike.  The first series I was reminded, is only out of 5 games.
In the first series, the games it takes to win, will be my initial predictions, translated as such: 7/7 = 5/5. 6/7 = 4/5. 5/7 = 3/5. 4/7 = 3/5 too.
--
Chicago and Cards in the World Series, with the Cardinals winning it all in 6.

October 3, 2005

    Last night's game in B.C. was about the most fantastic ending possible in football, and it happened already once earlier in the season.  On the last play of the game, with the last second off the clock, the Riders blocked a field goal attempt which would have tied the game at 22 had it been successful.  But it wasn't for B.C., and the Riders ran the ball back for another 6 points on their lead of 3, and we won 28 - 19.  It's the 5th win in a row for the Riders who still have a shot at first place, and B.C.'s second loss in a row as they try desperately to give us a shot at a home playoff game and possibly an assured spot in the playoff finals.

    I watched "The Fugitive" [8/10] the Harrison Ford movie from 1992.  I had to laugh at what should have been a scary scene involving a train, because it matched the "Wrongfully Accused" spoof so well that Leslie Neilson did several years ago.  I also took out the trash, and sent a letter to my Grandma, as well as made corn bread in the evening.  And I changed my fish's water too.  It was quite a thrilling day, oh my.

October 1, 2005

    It was a cloudy day today, with some sun that made it warm enough to walk around a bit, but the wind still had a Fall chill to it, and sent coloured leaves flying in all directions.  It's October now, and so the new month brings thoughts of looming snow.  At least the mosquitoes will be dead.  I saw perhaps the last mosquito of the year today, it landed on my left hand as I was wheeling my bike along, and I brushed it away with a deadly intentional force not unlike the coming frost.  Fall is probably my favourite season, for the bug killing factor alone.  I still prefer Summer for many more reasons, one of course being the ease of getting around without freezing fingers off, or wading through mud puddles nearly every day.
    The Riders play the B.C. Lions tonight, and the game doesn't start until 8:00 PM which has always been annoying, although there's no way around it with Vancouver being two timezones over for another month.  I'm just fortunate that I'm not down east where the game won't start until 10:00.

    -And yet nearly everyone with TOO MUCH money, has TOO MUCH of it.  Strange how that works.  Why does someone need MORE than they NEED, of anything?  Why do we permit some people who are supposed to be our equals, more resources than they need, when so many people have not even the resources to have safe drinking water every day?  Not only do they not have those resources, they are too poor to go to war with places that they could obtain those resources from the old fashioned way [by taking them by force].  Developed nations [except Iraq I guess] have the resources AND they have the means to stop with crushing force, any country [except maybe China and the USA] from invading and taking those resources.

    I don't begrudge someone a comfortable life if they've worked hard and have built a fortune.  But obscene fortunes in the hands of so few, do not benefit humankind.  It creates an obscenely poor class of people who support the obscenely rich, and the middle class can't help the poor reach the middle class without risking becoming poor themselves because so many of the world's resources are not in the middle class's control.

    Not every rich person is a boon to employment or the economy.  Some don't "share the wealth", and trickle down economics doesn't work, at least not for the poor being trickled down on.  Do you think it's the best thing since sliced bread that Alan Jackson's obscene vehicle collection, or Jay Leno's, employed automobile manufacturers?  Well, considering most of the vehicles were probably made more than 10 years ago, it hardly is a modern contribution to today's economy.  And if they just sit in a garage and are never driven, well, the best thing that can be said about that is that at least they aren't burning too much gas.  It is not an ongoing contribution to the economy, it's a one time injection.  It's American steel sitting stagnant in a building, instead of American steel making up a building for people to have a good home or a place to work.

    When even the poorest person in Canada can go into a hospital and have his appendix removed and not be in further debt, and an average farmer in Zimbabwe has just been kicked off his land and has nothing, it should make one wonder, "Just why do people in North America have it so good, and people elsewhere have so little?  Why don't those other poor countries trade for our resources, or if they have nothing to trade, why don't they try to steal our resources?  Why does someone think it's OK to have 50 trucks that sit idle most of the time, when 99.9% of the world would be happy to have just 1 good vehicle?"

    We all want more than we have, that's human nature.  But part of being civilized is not taking the last piece of roast beef off the serving tray, when you're not even going to eat it, and there is a line of people who haven't even made it to the table.  Who cares if you raised the cow yourself!  It's still greedy and senseless to let other people go hungry just so you can revel in your achievements.
==

September 30, 2005

    I also went to Walmart here in Yorkton for the first time.  It's on the far side of the city from where I am, but I wanted to price out how much a propane camp stove would cost, and a tent. It seems that a tent can be had for about $55, and a stove that works on butane for $35 that includes some fuel.  Propane for about $43 with some fuel included.
    I tried the new maple flavoured Mini Wheats and unfortunately my first impression was not favorable.  Something about it reminded me of a chicken coop, possibly a bird feed smell/taste to it.  I just had another bite, and it was better than before, so maybe my taste buds were thrown off by having a cappachino Oreo McFlurry ice cream snack just prior to trying the Mini Wheats.
    I was also giving some thought to trying the Foster Parents Plan, so if I'm still thinking about it in the morning I'll probably sign up.  I haven't given much to charity this year, and I don't have any addiction I need to feed that eats up $33 a month, so I think it would be a tangible way to make a difference in another family's life.

September 29, 2005

    It was about the busiest day of the month today at work.  I had problems in three remote branches, all affecting the staff computers which made them severe problems.  It turned out two of the problems were linked, it seems the Internet provider had made a typo when assigning IP addresses, and they gave both libraries the same address which is a BIG NO-NO.  The result was that when one of them got onto the Internet, the other one got booted off!  Since they were both open at the same time, this caused quite a lot of concern until I figured out what was happening.
    Then I had to help the third branch reconnect to their wireless router.  It seems their office building had upgraded without giving them, or me, the new password.  After about an hour on the phone, I finally figured out that the person reading the screen to me was saying ASCII, even though I heard ASP2.  If I'd heard ASCII [pronounced ask-ee] I would have had them fixed up in 10 minutes, but even the hour long call was still worth it, since it saved me a 5.5 hour round trip of driving.
    I was also trying to configure a complicated database program on computers in the office, and barely got the first of four done on time, so that I could confirm it was working properly before I left work for the long weekend.  I then biked at an alarming rate of speed due to the massive westerly wind, down the highway and Broadway Ave. to Nutters.  I bought some pretzels, cooking dates, and almonds for snack food.  I dropped some CDs off at the library and picked out a couple more, then  I then did some banking, stopped at the liquor store for a couple beers, and went home.  I had to take my winter jacket off because it was so hot, and stuffed it into my canvas bag since my backpack was already filled to the brim.
    For supper I ate a bit of an unusual combination.  I had my snack of dates, almonds and pretzels first, and cooked up a potato in the microwave while I boiled some water to make Cream of Wheat (COW).  I tried brown sugar and butter on the Cream of Wheat, as well as my potato.  I sliced a plum into the COW to give it some more flavour too, and tried some pancake syrup on it, which was alright but not as good as brown sugar.

Is North America a "Disaster Resistant" Robust Society?

    There was a discussion today on Slashdot that talked about the outgoing Tech generation that laid the foundations for what we're doing today, and the incoming generation that isn't used to building from scratch.  I opined that this will have serious consequences one day, possibly killing millions after a massive disaster that shouldn't kill millions despite it being widespread.  Something as simple as losing electricity after an ice storm, or tsunami.  Someone replied that the examples I gave, things that had happened already, hadn't been so bad.  But I'm talking about the something that hasn't happened yet, but we all know can and will happen.

geoff127 (913027), "During the blackout you had a bunch of people depressed because they couldn't get online, but we survived without any major effects. Hell, in many cases people met their neighbors for the first time, and I'd consider that a good thing personally. I do know that all those examples did disrupt society, but I wouldn't, by any means, say it brought society to its knees.They were nothing more than a little speed bump in a parking lot."

    Those instances were a speed bump in the grand scheme of things, but they demonstrated just how much people depend on society to be a smooth running machine to do every day tasks like using the washroom, and having clean drinking water. The events in New Orleans put a bit of an exclamation point on the example, since it wiped out and/or strained the first responders to the disaster. Now imagine a tsunami on the west coast? Do you think Victoria, Vancouver, Seattle, San Fran, and LA would all be able to be hit, and there'd be enough international [anything] experts to keep society functioning west of the Rockies?

    We'll know more in a few weeks I'm sure, but if Rita had hit Houston directly, would there still be a cleanup team in New Orleans?

    There will probably always be at least some part of North America unaffected by a widespread disaster, at least unaffected enough to go on as normal, but once police, doctors, and the power/food/water supply is disrupted in a widespread area... well you saw what happened in New Orleans.

    We can't live without electricity. LIVE, not "get online". It's not a luxury anymore here. If you don't have power you don't have a fridge. You don't have water. You don't have a stove probably, to make drinking water. You don't have any way to pump gas at a filling station to get the heck out of Dodge. [No traffic lights too.] And if it's winter, some people don't even have heat, [or A/C in summer]. You don't have a bank machine to get cash anyway, and you don't have any on hand because you used your credit card or debit card all of the time. Stores can't sell anything quickly because they don't have cash registers. And if its snowing, the snow plows have trouble starting because they can't be plugged in to warm up. I hope your manual release on your garage door works too, because otherwise your car is trapped anyway.

    Do you see what I mean now, if there's a prolonged power outage even in a city of 2 million, you can multiply those woes listed there by 2 million or so, and add in sick people in hospitals and old folks homes who might need electricity to breath.

    We're losing touch with how to do the most basic survival tasks like making clean drinking water, or finding food, because someone else does it for us and we pay them. In a day when money means nothing, or there are no supplies, we'll regret that.
==

September 28, 2005

    Make Poverty History in Canada.  Canada should cancel the debt we demand 3rd World countries pay us, since it's at least partly our fault they are still in debt today.
    Today, Tom DeLay the US House majority leader was indicted for campaign shenanigans.  It's about time, he's been known to be a slime ball for more than a few months now, if not years.  In other "American money" news, the US announced a new $10 bill coming out, and I'm sad to say it will not be purple.  How hard would it be for them to standardize their background colours with Canada's?  It wouldn't be hard at all, so one can only guess they didn't realize it would be a good idea.
    The CBC Lockout continues, and I've discovered CBC Unlocked a news site created by CBC employees who aren't being treated fairly by CBC management.

    Last night it frosted, but the sunflowers still seems to be unaffected.  I'll have to see if there are any viable seeds ready, and if so it might be time to take it down and put some away for planting next year.

September 27, 2005
    I finished reading The Da Vinci Code today just in time to return it on time tomorrow.  It was an excellent book, and while I haven't rated books on my blog before, I'd have to give it [10/10].  It was interesting, thought provoking, and couldn't be any better.  After I finished it, I watched a British TV special called The Real Da Vinci Code, which explored the historical possibilities presented in the novel I'd just finished reading.
    I went to Saltcoats today, and did some work in Watson, thanks to a remote administration tool on the computers there.

September 26, 2005

    Today I wrote, "humans are contributing to climate change; Look at any satellite photos from long ago and compare them with today's photos."  This prompted a sarcastic and poorly thought out response from a Climate Change denier. "Indeed, you can SEE the global warming right now! LOL".

    You can't laugh off the destruction that "human caused climate change" is going to bring, and possibly already has brought to America's doorstep.  You can see the CAUSE of the climate change in the photos, even a child can see the reduced reefs and forests, and the soil erosion in the most badly affected areas.  Humans clearly have the power to resurface the planet, and it's not a leap of faith to see that we can change the "surface" of the air and water as well.  Even a simple stubble fire causes throat clenching smog for our more vulnerable breathers.

    So don't be care/clue-free.  Recognize that even if we aren't the sole cause to modern weather changes, we are undeniably ONE of the reasons.  When we know bad things can happen in the weather, why would we risk making things worse when we DON'T HAVE TO?!  There are tangible things we could do today to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, and lumber use.  The technology exists, but it isn't being mass produced because powerful people stand to either make less money, or lose their power entirely.

1. Was there bad weather before humans?  Yes
2. Can humans change the weather? Yes
   

They are not mutually exclusive facts, so don't fool yourself that they aren't both true.

==
On a brighter note, today's weather was superb, with a nice warm Fall evening, and almost no wind at all.  I watched Corner Gas, where they fill in a pothole.  It was pretty unrealistic, since the town only had one pothole.  That's a very well maintained street.  But that's comedy for you, the more absurd, the better.

September 25, 2005

    I won second place in the sunflower growing contest! My 135" monster plant did the job, and was resoundingly beat out of first place by a 157" super-monster plant.  I celebrated by reading more of The Da Vinci Code, and biking 12km today.

Clinton, H. speaks out against inappropriate museum at WTC site

http://www.ajc.com/.../Attacks_Museum.html
"Sen. Hillary Clinton is opposing a freedom museum planned for ground zero, citing concerns raised by the families of the World Trade Center victims who say the proposed museum would dishonor the dead."

    I agree that a museum discussing the political aftermath of the terrorist attack in New York, is a bad move that doesn't respect the true nature of the deaths of those people.  They were not soldiers in the cause of freedom, they were innocent passengers and business-people who died senselessly.  To put a museum up to honour the hijacked meaning of the event that Bush's crowd pushed upon the world, is indeed dishonourable.  September 11, 2001, has as much to do with the war in Iraq as September 10, 2001.
==

September 24, 2005
    I went grocery shopping this morning, picking up some oddity foods just for fun.  For lunch I had king crab flavoured polluck, and a pickled egg.  I'm not really sure what to have for dessert with that, but I'll think of something before the afternoon slips away.
    It's a good thing I'm writing this, because I just remembered I have to uncover my sunflower from last night, now that it's about to be sunny on it. - The apartment gardener probably uncovered them as my bag and two cloths were not on them, or anywhere to be seen when I went out.

    I played frizbee some of the afternoon, and watched some episodes of Medium.  I saw the highlites of the Rider game that was played last night, and a commercial came on with people eating a DQ Grillburger and had a strapped on arm from a mannequin.  They were trying to do their jobs while eating the burger, such as arresting a criminal, and performing a rectal examination in a doctor office.  I was thinking it probably wasn't a good idea to associate rectal exams with the Grillburger, but it was funny that they thought the humour was worth the risk.

    My friend Hank today asked me if I was an amateur photographer.  I said, "I'm a pro.  A prolific photographer, that is.  One that produces a lot of photos."

    The Yorkton Gallagher Center is mostly complete now, and I'll put together a time lapsed photo soon which I can make into a screen saver too using the program called Irfanview.

September 23, 2005
    I went to Quill Lake, and for lunch I ate at a Chinese food cafe which was pretty tasty, and finished up work a bit later than I'd planned initially, in Wadena.  Gas was 103.9 there, which seems like a pretty good deal considering the horror story prices in other parts of North America.  In parts of Texas, there is no gas left as millions tried driving on empty tanks in their SUVs on plugged freeways.  Hurricane Rita is about to hit, and Houston may have a problem by morning. New Orleans sure does, since a levee re-breached, making the city the world's largest refillable pool with bodies, and house wrecks, and barely enough supplies oh my.

    The evening is pretty cool, so I guess I better go cover my sunflowers as I almost forgot about them.  Writing this I remembered about them.  The Riders won tonight 24-13 over Toronto which is pretty cool too.  They've won four games in a row, and are tied for second place with both Calgary and Edmonton, which means we could still be hosting a playoff game if we keep on our roll.

    The morning radio featured an open discussion about tattoos.  Most people calling in had them, and were eagerly describing them.  One memorable one was a guy that said he had his done over several years, and it started as an idea to have two small 4" gargoyles, which his friend talked him out of.  But his friend talked him into larger gargoyles on two large columns done in greyscale up his back.  Then there was a graveyard added in the background, and finally Little Red Riding Hood in colour :-|.  This guy was intensely proud of his back, but now he can't be shirtless around children or normal people without illiciting a sense of dread from them about him.  I'm more of a mindset of some of the callers who pointed out the unnatural aspect of putting ink under your skin which is an important organ for your body.  It can interfere with some injections you might want later, there's a possibility you'll not like the art later, and my favourite reason for not getting a tattoo is it's easier to escape after a crime if the victim can't say, "It's the dude with the snake tattooed on his neck."  Not that I'm considering a life of crime, but it's important to keep your job opportunities open, and tattoos could easily cost you a first impression that you need to make a good one.  I think the majority of people who get tattoos are striving to be unique - just like everyone else.

September 22, 2005

    Today was an interesting day.  I started out biking to work in my dress clothes, except for my shirt which I change when I get there.  I had to attend a formal occasion at the Godfrey Dean Cultural Center [art gallery], where a ceremony to honour visual artists was being held with the Lieutenant-Governor awarding special centennial pins to the artists.  I was there to get a picture of Dr. Lynda Haverstock reading a book, in order to put the picture onto a library poster.  The email at work was on the fritz in the morning too, and I had to make a trip over to Yorkton Public Library later too, so it was a busy day at work. On my way back home I didn't feel like biking all the way to get groceries in my slacks, so I headed home and stopped at a garage sale on the way, and took a picture of the nearly complete Gallagher Center [Agriplex] buildings.
    When I got home I noticed the flower had opened on the smaller sunflower finally.  It's so funny that it's so tiny next to the other one that was planted at the same time essentially.  I had moved the short/bent one though a few months ago, so obviously it stunted the growth, probably by removing part of the root system.  The only sunflower growing now that hasn't been uprooted at one time or another is the one across the street which redefined the meaning of a small sunflower.  It looks like a weed and if I'd not planted it myself, I'd not believe it was the same thing as I have outside my window.
    Then I got bad news from my good friend in Yorkton, her employment opportunity in Saskatoon was looking bleak, and she doesn't have many other job options in Saskatchewan for work which she has a degree for.  It makes me disappointed in our immigration system, when a skilled worker is being toyed with by our system, leaving them helpless to the whims of an immigration paper pusher, or indifferent employer.  Here Saskatchewan is, practically begging to grow by 100,000 people in the next years some how, and we're making it nearly impossible to hire new skilled people. Grrr!

The Sick parody that is Fox News, and a defense of CBC's The National

    CBC [when not locked out] actually has the best national news broadcast because they give a broad news picture instead of focusing on something like a bride that runs away in Georgia. They cover important stories for Canadians, and even if they don't end up interviewing people you might agree with, they still talk to people, and give normal people air time as fairly as possible. They also do in-depth coverage of usually the top story, AFTER the rest of the news has been read, so you don't have to sit through blab if you don't want to.

    As for "allowing" Bill O'Idiot on the air, that's the public's fault for continuing to listen to him as if he's entertaining. As Jon Stewart said about Crossfire on CNN, Bill too is "Hurrrrting America". He may be entertainment, but he's providing lies and saying they are true and verified and because he's broadcast with the word "NEWS" in the corner, the more gullible of the American nation take him at face value.  Lies and misinformation on a station with "NEWS" in the title is what I'd expect from China or Iran, not a country called America.

    If Bill O' had a blog and no TV show I'm sure crackpots and those who enjoy real-life parody would continue to support him, but for a station to put him on the air is complete irresponsibility. If they loved their country and were actually committed to being fair and balanced and informing the public, they'd be ashamed to have someone like him working for them. Money talks, but look who has the money in China, Iran, etc. Do you really want the people with the most money doing your talking?

Consider this:
    Bill O'Idiot works for the government but the public either isn't aware of that, or they don't care because they don't know that their government would mislead them.  Would it still be a free press if this government shill had so much air time disseminating government propaganda [lies]?  Perhaps.  But if anyone tries to contradict him on air he simply has to tell them to "SHUT UP" and then he wins and his viewers love him for it.

    Don't forget the purpose of a free press.  The free press is supposed to stop a government take-over of factual information distribution, so they can disseminate whatever spin, lies, and brainwashing they can put out in order to stay in power.  Do you really think Bill O'Idiot is contributing to that goal?  He's on the wrong side; he's on the side that wants people like Jon Stewart to "SHUT UP!"

    And I'll close off with this comment from an anonymous Internet user:
"Freedom of the press is not a license to print whatever they want. Its a license to print the truth without government censorship or reprisal.  [Don't confuse] freedom of speech with freedom of the press.

The press has an obligation to be fair, balanced, and as unbiased as possible while wearing the 'News' hat. If they want to be liars, hypocrites, extremists or nut jobs they can put on the 'Comedy' hat and hang out on comedy central with The Daily Show.

Nobody is saying Bill O' can't have his say. Just that it's ethically bankrupt to represent it as having any 'legitimate journalistic integrity' by broadcasting it while wearing the 'News' hat."
==

September 20, 2005 {Tuesday}
    Today was another great day out weather-wise.  I biked over to the library after work and picked up some VHS tapes and CDs.  And now I'm off to bed to read more of The Da Vinci Code.

September 19, 2005 {Monday}
    My friend Peter came by for a short visit today, since he was driving through the city and his car broke down for good.  I was able to help him get to the bus depot and find a place to park his nearly dead brown Pontiac Chevette, so he could return to Regina.  Then I went to the government liquor store for the first time here in Yorkton, and had a look through it.  I was considering buying some Kahlua, but it was much more than I thought it would cost, so I got a couple of beers and a schnapps, and picked up some things for supper at the Co-op before biking home in the perfect weather.  Last week was cold and rainy, but today was like a July or August day.
    The football game yesterday afternoon was fantastic!  Crandell, the Rider's QB, played a good game with at least one memorable block, and a fumble that wasn't entirely his fault since he had no protection as the Eskimo came up behind him to strip the ball. There was one pass though into the endzone where if he threw it on the money the final play would have been a lot different because we'd have been up by 8 points. But I really like it when the Riders play in the first and fourth quarters, even though they forgot the game was still being played in the 3rd quarter.  The last play of the game involved the Riders blocking Edmonton's field goal-to-win attempt.  There were 3 flags thrown after the block, and I saw the clock stop at 1 second, then count down to nothing a few seconds later, so I was concerned there might still be some game left, such as another chance for Edmonton to kick the winning points, but if I'd thought about it there was no way for them to since they hadn't got a first down if they'd recovered the ball on their 3rd down play.  So the Riders held on to win 37-36 in one of their seasons most important wins.  They've won three games in a row now [I've attended two of them], and hopefully they now have the confidence to take the team all the way into 2nd place so they can host a playoff game.  There is no chance of catching BC for first place, so we'll just have to beat them in the playoff final.

    There was an award ceremony for my sister after the football game, and they somehow misidentified her hometown as "Radville".  It was the joke of the night that they didn't know how to pronounce "Wood Mountain", or that Radville is preceded by a silent "Wood Mountain".  They managed to get Rockglen correct for someone else though, so when they were writing the script they must have looked at the wrong row in a spreadsheet I'd have to guess.  I had some wine, cheese, crackers, fruit, and various other goodies after the ceremony, and got a ride to Angus St. with my brother.  He had a Christian Rock CD on, and it sounded professionally done.  It was done in his church in Regina, by some obviously musically talented people.
    I watched "The Day After Tomorrow" again, and listened to various funny songs and audio clips until it was too late, so I went to sleep.  I had to get up at 7:30 to get ready to catch the bus back into Yorkton, and I slept most of the way home once on the bus.  I also had a good long nap before I was going to go out shopping, which turned out for the best since I was still here to help Peter out toward the end of the afternoon.

September 17, 2005 {Saturday}
I saw "Transporter 2" [7/10] it was good but not as good as the first one.
Tonight I watched "Garden State" [6/10] which I almost gave a 5 to, but the ending was better than I had been expecting.  I also biked back from the south end, had a ride in a Dynasty, and ate supper at Caesar's Palace.
The last movie I saw tonight was Spiderman 2 [8/10] which was just as good as Spiderman 1, and sets up the 3rd and perhaps final movie in the series.

September 16, 2005
    I'm headed to Regina this evening, and will be in town for the football game against Edmonton too.  It's a cool rainy day today in Yorkton, and I'm still not used to the idea of paying for my bus rides again.  Wow do I love bus passes.

September 15, 2005
    I had a union meeting today which was blissfully short, and now I'm a trustee of the books I guess.  It was explained to me that I just have to verify the record keeping is accurate, so it's not a lot of work.
    I went to Raymore and Semans today, and had been planning on going to Govan but ran out of time after I had a bunch to do in Semans to finish improving their new highspeed Internet enabled network.  On the radio on the way there it was "Bugs Day: The Hour of Rage" which happens every Thursday on News Talk Radio 980 CJME.  The callers had things to say like there was an old lady currently driving the wrong way down the Circle Drive freeway in Saskatoon, and someone peeved that China Lilly soya sauce was in a "crisis level shortage".  It seems the factory had been shut down for a while after a family death, and fans of the crucial condiment were going into withdrawal and had started buying it on eBay and hording it.
    Then on the afternoon radio, Adler was talking about Britney Spears who reportedly has not given up smoking during her pregnancy, and is planning on having a C-section in order to avoid letting the baby fully develop so she won't keep gaining weight.  Apparently her concern for the child is taking a severe backseat, to satisfy what her publicist is recommending no doubt.  Such a caring expectant mother; Ick.

    For supper I ate at A&W and had a chocolate shake in a glass mug, a veggie swiss burger, and a salad instead of fries.  It came to the exact same [over]price of $8.01 as my two "teens with small fries" did the other day.  Both meals were equally satisfying and tasty.

    The weather outside is getting cooler, with a threat of light snow tonight although the official forecast is rain and +7.  I don't think I'll cover the sunflowers, since the rain will make any cloth too heavy and possibly will break things.

September 14, 2005

    The Sunflower contest is coming to a close tomorrow so here are my final* measurements
135", Killed In Action, 52", Missing In Action, 20"
[* I may measure them later when winter arrives and I can yank them out of the ground for a proper end-to-end precise measurement.]

I was going to watch a movie, but instead I ended up posting to eBay's message boards and doing laundry tonight.  I tried a 9" pizza for supper, with cream pie and ice cream for dessert.  Then I had a peach and later some chips with salsa mixed with blue cheese.  It was all so very good, and it's a good thing I biked a bit extra today.

September 13, 2005

    The earth was shaken today, by words from the United States President.  Bush said, "I take responsibility," in reference to the disaster on the Gulf coast resulting from a horrible emergency response system that his government gutted over the previous four years.  FEMA was supposed to be able to handle a city wide catastrophe, but after it was plunked into the Homeland Insecurity Department, the head resigned.  And Bush replaced the head of FEMA with Brown, a friend of his, who was fired from his previous job that was not in the emergency response field of work.
    When FEMA is a wreck for the next widespread disaster, hopefully many many years from now, remember Bush's words: "I take responsibility" for fixing the disaster management response.  If it's not fixed for next time, I guess we'll all know who to blame then, won't we?
    "Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government, and to the extent that the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility," Bush said.

    I watched "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" [7/10] tonight.  It was pretty funny in some parts, although it's not very realistic in any way.  And I wasn't really impressed with the ending, although it's still a good movie.  Frost is coming tonight, so I covered 2 of my sunflowers as best I could, and I'm hoping it pulls through the predicted 0 degree Celsius night.

    And I got an email today saying that Heritage Canada and the Liberals are pulling funding from Canadian magazine publishers, which amounts to a 7% cut in their funding starting November 1, 2005.  Next April the cut is much deeper, leading me to think some Canadian publications may be going out of print, to be filled by American publications naturally.  Oh well, who needs Canadian heritage anyway, not Heritage Canada I guess?

Additional newer blog here, Archives & More & even older blog available here.