Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t Niagara Falls flow into Canada from the U.S.?
If so, why would someone think they could cross into the States through it on an air mattress?
Tag Archives: bad ideas
Calgary to N.S.: Here, take back your homeless
I’m thinking it’s time to start a “catfight” category, what with stories like this popping up. Apparently Nova Scotia is mocking Calgary in an ad campaign, and (surprise) Calgary isn’t impressed.
My favourite part is the Calgary alderman who notes that if Nova Scotia wants its poor, unemployed homeless deadbeats back, they’re welcome to them.
Snap!
On your marks. Get set. Spazz!
This ad is hilarious, if only because it proves corporate CEOs are incapable of not looking like idiots in staged photo-ops. Have any of them ever even run a race?
YMCA’s de-frosting
The Park Ave. YMCA has decided to replace their frosted windows with unfrosted ones, wasting yet more money on this stupid reasonable accomodation debate. (Fark thread)
Shhh, we’re giving Al Gore a degree
Concordia is handing Al Gore an honorary doctorate … behind closed doors. Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t this one of those times you want some attention? Methinks this is all Mr. Gore’s doing, since he’s so busy he can’t take a few days out of his schedule to properly receive an honorary degree.
In other Concordia news, the John Molson School of Business has changed its logo to be in line with Concordia’s change earlier. And Michael Di Grappa’s new video doesn’t do it for me (he’s explaining that sour labour talks are not his fault).
Save now for your disability!
Though the media is going all crazy over the federal budget being announced now (especially with the Liberals and NDP announcing they won’t support it), it looks like another snoozer with no tax bracket alterations, no GST cut, and only a bunch of minor fiddlings with the tax code and spending initiatives.
One change that caught my eye was the introduction of a Registered Disability Savings Plan (in the works for over a year, it seems), which helps parents save for their disabled children. The name is somewhat of a misnomer. It’s more like turning disabled children into mini-charities, and making contributions to their well-being tax-deductible.
The thing that bothers me most about it is that the government isn’t actually contributing anything to these kids. Shouldn’t services for people with disabilities be covered by the government, either through health care or other services?
And doesn’t saving for a disability just sound weird?
CBC, test thyself
CBC just finished its live telecast of Test the Nation, its hyped-up “event” of IQ-test-type questions.
My reactions to it are mixed. On the one hand, the questions themselves are complex, even for a genius like me. The crazy computer graphics are eye-catching, and they’ve collected some interesting people in their studio.
On the other hand, there are many drawbacks, some of which started weeks ago. Besides that, the show seemed awkward. Wendy Mesley (who I hate to put down because I actually really like her – even though she agreed to marry me but never called like she said she would) was forcing herself to grin throughout the entire two hours, making her seem fake and almost creepy. That and she (or the producers — probably both) screwed up quite a few times with answers and timing.
What got me most was that one of the questions even has an error in it (and I’m not the only one to notice). Question 41 dealt with algebra. If 2 < x < 6 and 4 < y < 6, what is the maximum value of x + y? It’s a simple enough question, but it leaves out an important part: The assumption that both x and y are integers. Without that, the maximum value is just less than 12. With it, the answer is 10. Since 11 is given as a selection and marked as wrong, I think the CBC owes an apology to some of us.
As for the guest test-takers, the CBC found out for us that (surprise!) surgeons are smart, and tattoo artists not so much.
Oh, and according to the test, I have an IQ of 132, which puts me well into the 90th percentile. While I’m flattered, I’m afraid that’s a bit of an overestimation.
What are you doing driving on my street?
Another day, another group of angry rich homeowners who want nobody to use their streets but them.
James Shaw Street in Beaconsfield, the Cavendish extension, and now residents of Montreal West are upset because one of their roads is being used by people who are not them. And their arguments just don’t hold water.
The thing about police brutality protests…
Yesterday afternoon I didn’t have anything better to do, so I decided I’d check out the anti-police brutality protest.
Past experience has shown me that these protests tend to get rather tense when the radical wing confronts police near the end. I could never quite figure out the cause of the pattern until yesterday when I realized something I should have concluded earlier was obvious:
The entire purpose of anti-police brutality protests is to prompt police brutality.
Class != school
Some letters are appearing following this Ottawa Citizen piece I blogged about earlier.
The piece argues that blanket bans on cellphones, audio players, digital cameras and almost any handheld electronic device in schools are going too far.
The letters argue that these buzzing contraptions are distractions in class. They are. They should be banned from class. But the opinion argues that they should not be banned from school. It’s a small distinction, but an important one.
After all, last time I checked, students were still allowed to socialize between classes. Or has that been banned too?
School rules are stupid
The Ottawa Citizen has an opinion piece which makes a lot of sense. It says schools shouldn’t put blanket bans on cellphones, digital audio players, digital cameras and anything else electronic and handheld, because these devices have legitimate uses.
When I was in high school, they had a lot of rules that either were unenforceable or just didn’t make sense. They banned public displays of affection. They banned visitors. They banned name-calling (a lot of good that did). They banned gossip. They banned fire. They banned juniors buying things during lunch.
The most annoying rule they had in place when I was a student was the rule that said you couldn’t go to your locker during lunch. It was a stupid rule. It meant any lunch I ate either had to be completely disposable, or I’d have to carry it around everywhere – to the library, to lunchtime activities – until the bell sounded ending lunch.
And this was before they started coming up with the really stupid stuff…
If you live under a rock, it’s new to you!
For those of us who need help with stripper-dating
We have “Dating tips for Montreal strippers“:
5-This is the big one! Listen to anything and everything she says. Make her feel she’s smart. I knew one that graduated med school and continued dancing because of the money, so you should not underestimate how smart some of these girls are.
This is just the kind of quality editorial material I expect from a website like swampfoxz.com. The sheer brilliance of the hard-hitting journalism clearly overshadows the minor grammatical problem with the title, namely that these are tips for dating strippers, not dating tips for strippers (who, presumably, have no problems dating because they’re so hot and all).
But remember kids, these are Montreal strippers. None of these tips will be helpful for dating strippers from Toronto or Vancouver.
Sorry, I don’t speak mass-hysterianese
Metroblogging Montreal points out something I hadn’t heard yet from the overblown lead pipes saga: the advisory letters sent to people’s homes were in French only.
It ain’t easy being unbelievably rich
Need a personal assistant? BMO has a fantastic idea: deal with the company who understands what you are: your bank. This story (rewritten from this press release) talks of new “concierge services” offered to the filthy rich, such as doing laundry and groceries.
What happened to the good ol’ days of Mexican domestic workers?
In other business “news”, Domtar Inc. has changed its name to Domtar Corporation. The CBC is among many to rewrite their press release.