News: The New Ripley's Channel
Sunday, January 27, 2008 at 02:03AM Maybe, just maybe I'm not quite awake yet on this cold sunny Sunday morning.
Maybe there's a nasty virus going around the internet that's caused a bunch of freakish news stories.
Maybe the aliens are finally here.
Is "Canadian" In Use As A Racist Term? A small excerpt below....
Is "Canadian" the new black? Perhaps – that is if you're a racist speaking in code.
Recent revelations that the term "Canadian" is being used to replace racist names for black people have got a Texas assistant district attorney into trouble and have left others wondering what exactly it means to be labelled a Canadian in the American south.
Long derogated as weak-kneed liberals with lax laws and funny monopoly money, Canadians have carried a negative connotation in certain regions of America – but not as a replacement for the N-word.
Earlier this week a columnist with the Houston Chronicle uncovered an email from Harris County assistant district attorney Mike Trent who, in a congratulatory note to a junior prosecutor, used the word "Canadians" to describe blacks on a jury.
Trent wrote of the prosecutor in a 2003 email: "He overcame a subversively good defence by Matt Hennessey that had some Canadians on the jury feeling sorry for the defendant and forced them to do the right thing."
Trent's email remained unchallenged by colleagues who received the email, despite there being no actual Canadians on the jury.
Next up, a news article entitled "The High Cost of Using Less Water", which I'm thinking is seriously irresponsible reporting. Excerpt below....
Peel Region treasurer Dan Labrecque estimates his region has lost $7 million to so-called "revenue or billable flows shortfall." The need to make up for that lost money accounts for nearly half of Peel's proposed 16 per cent water rate hike (expected to be phased in at 12.5 per cent).
"A number of factors are contributing to this, including the success of our water consumption (reduction) efforts," said Labrecque. "We've pointed it out to council saying, here's the trend, we don't know if it's a sustainable trend, or whether it's an adjustment because of changes, the Al Gore movie and all that kind of stuff."
Individual efforts are an obvious part of the change in consumption. For example, Peel's water use didn't increase last summer even though it was one of the driest on record; people took the message to heart and watered their lawns less.
I especially liked the last line, because, yanno, people get sarcasm and irony, right?
"The alternative is to tell them to use more water so we can get more money," he said with a big smile. "But that's not our goal."
The only thing in that whole article I agreed with was...
"Other ideas floated by politicians and water staff include charging bottled-water producers more for using municipal water; creating block rates; and – taking a leaf from the hydro sector – charging higher rates for people who use more water at peak times.
Canadians, according to the Canadian Environmental Law Association, are among the most wasteful water users in the world, at more than 300 litres per person per day – second only to the United States. The fact that our water comes so cheap has a lot to with that. And it's a message that's starting to get through.
"It seems to me we haven't been paying what we should be paying for water over the years," Mississauga Councillor Pat Mullin mused at a recent regional council meeting.
Next up? Australia Issues Canada Travel Warning. Entire article below...
Jan 25, 2008 10:06 AM
THE CANADIAN PRESSAustralians taking the advice of their government's "Smart Traveller" web site will likely be steering clear of Canada.
That website, which is run by Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, has Canada listed as a country where travellers should "exercise caution," which is the second-safest category.
Apparently our problems stem from the threat of terrorism, heavy snow, ice and forest fires that can erupt "at any time."
British Columbia, in particular, was singled out as being in an active earthquake zone and "subject to avalanches" along with Alberta.
Countries listed on the Smart Traveller website that are considered safer than Canada include Chile, South Korea and Latvia.
Canada's Foreign Affairs website which offers advice to travellers has no official warnings against Australia, and says most Canadian visitors to that country don't have any problems.
Strangely, in 38 years living in the west, I've never felt an earthquake, seen an avalance, confronted a terrorist (besides high school that is) or found myself trapped in the middle of a suddenly erupting snowstorm, ice storm or forest fire.
Maybe I'm just lucky. Those of you who know me though, probably don't believe that any more than I do.
Maybe I'm suffering from dangerously low nicotine levels.
Maybe I should just stop reading the news.
i used to get high for a living
believing everything that i saw on my tv
i used to get high for a living
eating all the bullshit food that they sold me
i used to get high for a living
thinking that my destiny was out of my control
Reader Comments (1)