Studying is sure fun

I’ve nearly finished my first read through of the occupational first aid materials for  my first couple of days of classes. It’ll be nice to get out of the office for a week, and do something a little different. I’m just not looking forward to the long hours. All my regular stuff will still have to get done. So I’ll put in a little time to see that its not so much of mess when i get back. Plus I have to do the rest of the readings for the week. And probably some studying for the test in just over a week. Luckily I’ve decided to treat myself to some Juno concerts – mental health expenses – on thursday and friday. By thursday, I’m sure I’ll need it.

Not a bad little game on Friday

Its pretty overwhelming how much hockey I’m playing lately. 2-3 times a week and mostly late enough that it screws me up for a couple days. I haven’t done much league hockey though, which I guess is kind of strange. I ended up playing a league game at 8 rinks on Friday, which was pretty nostalgic for me. It reminded me of the less than great, but still fun ol’ days of playing in highschool. Not only because it was competitve and not just mean nothing hockey like i’m used to, but because we got the crap kicked out of us. I can remember maybe one or two teams that I’ve been on that actually won games on a pretty regular basis. The uninformed would say that was mostly because of some crappy goaltending, but that would be so untrue, and would really hurt my feelings. Damn near all of those losing teams were only in the game because I was playing so well.

And thats what it was like on Friday. We were getting totally shelled. They had almost twice as many skaters and some really skilled shooters, and as soon as we started getting a little gassed those shots were coming fast and frequent from the slot and in scrambles in front of the net. It felt pretty damn good even though we got the shit kicked out of us. Everyone came up to me after and said how much I was standing on my head and keeping them in it. Sometimes its hard to know what to do with compliments like that. Of course you play the best you can, but that can be like a totally different person from one night to the next. So I usually ended up nodding and thanking people.  I can’t explain, but I always play a lot better when I’m up against tougher shooters and seeing loads of pucks.

It felt pretty damn good though.

Nothing like taking away some sure goals to get the weekend started. Now that its almost over I better get back to studying.

Iggy supports the budget, and we go on for another day

The Prime Minister and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty tabled a stimulus budget or so it was called, and everyone held their breath. Would there be an election? Would we finally get the Harper-Iggy face-off (after waiting less than 2 months)? Would the coalition be dead on arrival? NO, NO, and NO.

The Liberals may be corrupt and completely devoid of all conviction, but I never believed they were stupid. The Liberals survive on their unwavering faith in the direction of the current political winds. They did not vote against the budget, because an election would work out badly for them. The Harper and Iggy tete-a-tete was a farce. Iggy is one of the most conservative leaders the party has ever had, and he knows he can’t speak against a relatively popular economic stimulus nor can he appear to be as weak as Dion. So there was some shouting, some threats and some concessions, but nothing was actually going to happen. And everyone knew it. As for the coalition, if it becomes useful again, Iggy will no doubt change his tune.

I would generally approve of an economic stimulus accompanied with an investment in infrastructure. However, there is fundamental difference between the promise of addition funding and having it actually delivered. Most of the funding previously promised still hasn’t arriWhy don’t you ask Joe Trasolini from Port Moody about his much desired Evergreen Line.  Big infrastructure announcements require long term-systemic funding – you cannot exclude everything but the shovel ready. The other thing that bothers me is the size of the package. $12 billion more is a good thing, but it doesn’t come close to solving our infrastructure deficit. Especially since the projects that are most needed are the replacing of rather un-sexy water, sewage and drainage systems. There are good things in this budget, but I think we’d all like to see a bolder vision for that kind of money. This is not enough of a stimulus to put us back on track or to settle our infrastructure problems.

Richmond Ice Centre

Normally if you’re standing around in the cold and sacrificing many hours of sleep, you at least get the chance to see the inside of the bar, and perhaps even the goodies inside. But if you’re sacrificing that sleep in order to play your second game of hockey for the week, then not so much. Playing hockey at 11:00 tonight. Getting home at 2:00. Getting up for work at 7:00 tomorrow. I’m an idiot.

And I kind of like hockey I guess, so I will at least enjoy it.  But its not like goalies can drag ass when we get out there, it is kind of noticeable.

I could do the bar thing after I guess, but then I would be really passed out.

Also Luongo’s long overdue return to the Canucks is happening tonight. And luckily, I should catch most of the game. Hockey night in Vancouver (and Richmond) for me tonight.

Time to Celebrate John A.

Whether you celebrate on January 10th or the 11th (there is some debate on the subject), there is no excuse not to raise a glass to our first PM. He would appreciate a good scotch, but I doubt he would mind wine or beer as he was always a big fan of drinking in good company.

We look at our friend Barack Obama to the south with pride at the great Canadian tradition of making your rivals your best of friends. Or at least unwilling allies. MacDonald wasn’t able to get the BNA act signed because he was a smooth talker (he was), but because he had allies, George Brown and Georges Etienne Cartier. And he brought a ship full of liquor to appease the Maritimers in Charlottetown.

MacDonald was one of the greatest politicians that Canada ever had, and he was easily one of the most fun. He drank, he lied, he had mistresses, he got in bar fights and had no compunctions about being a corrupt son of a bitch. Through all that he helped forge our country and build a national unity that we are still fighting for to this day.

Cheers to John A.

Sun Media Corp cuts 600 jobs

Its a trend in the newspaper industry right now. Owners say that they are having trouble competing in a more diverse and challenging marketplace, so they say have no choice but to fire the people who add value to their business. In a media landscape where ideas are too numerous to mention and move at the speed of the web, the response of the big media company is to fire the people who contribute ideas. They don’t fit into the business plan. But of course cutting 10% of the workforce will save them $14 million a year. Its truly a shame, but unfortunately businesses this poorly run do not deserve their spot in the marketplace. If you can’t recognize that in the age of information overload, you may have to keep producing content, than I guess we’ll see you at the bankruptcy sale because the slide will not stop. Its just a shame that it is the employees have to suffer for the company not learning its lessons

Belated thoughts on the coalition

Its a monumentally bad idea… Naked grab for power. Anger with Harper was justified but response was excessive. Its just another example of how insulated politicians have become. The $25 million subsidy he was removing would have hurt the other parties, and that is why their dander was up. It would have hurt Canadians overall, and our access to democracy, but that argument was not well made. And after Harper backed away from that, there was really no reason to continue other than that naked grab for power. The Liberals need to realize that they are no longer the natural governing party. You have to have a valid reason to defeat the government, otherwise the electorate will punish you. Harper has made his mistakes, but be sure the punishment fits the crime.

So I hope the coalition stays dead.

B.C. Votes… sort of

On Saturday most jurisdictions elected their local mayors, council, school trustees or parks commissioners and most people barely noticed. Voter turnout in Vancouver was 25%. I know there is a little election fatigue and most people probably think that there is no point as municipal politicians have very little power in our parliamentary system (and most of the time they would be right). But I thought we could have done a little better than one quarter of the population.

The local newspapers try to hype this up, to get people interested in their local government. But they often suffer the same weakness as they do in provincial and federal governments. That is the narrative structure to which they adhere. The good ol’ inverted pyramid that all journalists write to. It makes it very easy to cover an election as there is an anchor. A winner will be decided on a given day at which time the journalist can move on. But all the decisions that get made by that government and affect the lives of the people they represent do not occur during the election.  The only thing at stake in the eyes of many of us is the jobs of a few local politicos. Politicos who we never see between elections. Politicos who are on the board of a foundation we have never heard of. Politicos who usually get re-elected anyway. We don’t see the causal affect that their decisions have on us. Most of us don’t go to council meetings or sit on committees, we just go about living our lives until the next election comes around.  And that lack of engagement is a fundamental threat to our democracy. They bored us into giving away something very precious that we should never have let go (weapons of mass boredom?)

Despite the limits on power at the local level, more authority is being passed to municipalities, right or wrong (I would say wrong). Their decisions do matter to us. We just need to find a way to get people engaged… and for longer than an election campaign.

Canwest cuts 560 jobs

Canwest’s problems continue. Its no secret that Canwest stock has been in the tank, and here is more proof that Canwest has no idea how to dig their way out. There is no way that job cuts will not reduce their ability to provide content despite their claims to the contrary. You have the job cuts a couple years ago, and then you have these cuts and they are still in the tank. Take a lesson from Nortel and Air Canada. They have got into the this problem with debt. Canwest bought the Hollinger Papers at a price that was just ridiculous. Very soon after other acquisitions had put them into deep debt. The Hollinger Papers just dragged them down deeper. Sounds a little like Air Canada. So they decided to fire a lot of people. Sound like Nortel.  Except both Nortel and Air Canada are still in the tank. All those layoffs and debt restructuring could not change their fortunes, and it won’t help Canwest either. When you are providing a service, you have to listen to your customers and provide them with the services they want. Canwest can’t compete because they are clinging to an old media and their content continues to deteriorate. It is not inevitable for old media companies to fail, but it is when they stop relying on their service providers, in this case journalists, to keep their customers happy.  It is sad because it is not only the journalists who will suffer from these layoffs immediately, but the public also through increasingly inferior content.

Abbotsford council supports light rail transit

South Fraser OnTrax has for a while been advocating for light rail transit along the interurban corridor, and now they have Abbotsford City Council on their side. The City Council agreed to support efforts to implement a trial that could be up and running by the 2010 Olympics. Of course this is just an agreement in principle, but it is still a huge step. The proposed Interurban could run from Scott Road skytrain station in Surrey as far as Chilliwack (an interesting thought, but probably not right away). But still a connection between Abbotsford, Langley and Surrey would be an amazing sight, and I think very viable in terms of ridership. The Ministry of Transportation has agreed to conduct a public transit study for the whole Fraser Valley, which would include the Interurban corridor. However, I find demonstrations are much more effective.  I know there is a lot of support for this in Langley Township and Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts has expressed interest in light rail as well. I look forward to seeing what comes from this.  Surrey, Langley and Abbotsford are no longer mere suburbs of big old Vancouver. They are becoming complete communities, Surrey possibly a second regional centre. These cities need transit to deal with their rapid growth. And it is much easier to set these up before the highrises go in.