I figured Milos Raonic would lose to the fiery Gael Monfils and he did. The problem with Raonic is that he is over-hyped and merely efficient. He is also boring to watch. You know the guys in high school who had "no personality"? That's how I see him. Tennis Canada has pushed him way too far in the PR game and now everyone looks stupid.
How could he lose the Roger's Cup in his home town? The last Canadian to win this tournament was Bob Bedard in 1958. He beat the incomparable Whitney Reed -- know who he is? Bet not. Reed just died in his eighties and he was magnificent -- the kind of tennis bum who was simply unimaginatively talented and a bit of a real "bad boy". The kind of guy who left his racket in taxis on the way to a tournament and had to borrow someone's when he got there. The kind of guy who forgot his tennis shoes and had to beg a pair. The kind of guy who played totally hungover and won. The kind of guy who jumped out of bedroom windows when someone's husband came home. The kind of guy who beat both the Pancho's. And the kind of guy who was the top American player in both 1956 and 1958 and played on seven Davis Cup teams, compiling a record of 20 - 2. He ultimately won the Canadian Open a couple of years after Bedard beat him and he continued to play and play. For the bloody fun of it.
Unlike players today, Reed had no entourage. Watching Denis Shapovalov the other night, I saw that kind of exciting player. He went for absolutely everything regardless of the score and the consequences. Only 17, this kid is going to go far and I will love watching him do it. Raonic is a tad too tall for tennis and can't get down to shots. I am getting all this from B, who played junior Davis Cup for Canada and still plays twice a week. As a swimmer, I never really got into tennis, but B loves it. One of the biggest thrills in his life was taking an impromptu clinic given by Reed in Montreal at the Monkland Tennis Club. Would any professional today just show up, gather the juniors and hold a clinic? We all know the answer to that one.
So, we will watch the rest of the Roger's Cup unfold without the boring and studied Raonic.
Friday, July 29, 2016
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
At your mother's knee
That's what the late Ontario judge, Kenneth Fogarty, said to the opposing lawyer when B was in the vortex of his unnecessarily hideous divorce a million years ago. Asking the lawyer to approach the bench he said, "You don't learn ethics and morals in law school, you learn them at your mother's knee," he admonished this particular counsel. "If you don't settle this case within a reasonable timeframe, I will have you back in front of me and I will settle it," he added. Unfortunately, the "other side" fought on and His Honour actually died before things were settled!
But I have never forgotten Justice Forgarty's words, which came back to me today when I read the lead story in 'The Calgary Herald' this morning. Our hapless and luckless mayor, Naheed Nenshi, was publically admonished in a report by the city's ethics watchdog for the tasteless, rude and unprofessional remarks he made to a Boston cabbie many months ago. Not realizing he was being recorded, Nenshi called Uber, "the worst people in the world to deal with," and added, "the guy who heads it is a dick." I wish I were kidding, but I am not.
By the way, this is the same guy who was sued by a local developer for having called him a crook. Nenshi lost and then stiffed the Calgary taxpayer for $300,000 in legal fees! He claims to be paying it back through "donations" from his friends. Good luck with that in a city that is crippled by low gas prices, hundreds of failing businesses and scores of people laid off in droves.
When outed, Nenshi should have known that the right thing to do would have been to have admitted guilt and apologized immediately? Seriously. But no, it took a months-long investigation by the ethics commissioner to tell him what his mother should have taught him at her knee when he was a toddler. You just don't do that. To me it is unbelievable that he had to be put in line and made to heel by a city official.
Folks, don't believe everything you read and hear about Nenshi. Unfortunately, he has outlived his 'best-before' date. What he exhibited was precisely the kind of behaviour that would have outraged him when he first ran for mayor. Those days are long gone and it's time for him to be too.
But I have never forgotten Justice Forgarty's words, which came back to me today when I read the lead story in 'The Calgary Herald' this morning. Our hapless and luckless mayor, Naheed Nenshi, was publically admonished in a report by the city's ethics watchdog for the tasteless, rude and unprofessional remarks he made to a Boston cabbie many months ago. Not realizing he was being recorded, Nenshi called Uber, "the worst people in the world to deal with," and added, "the guy who heads it is a dick." I wish I were kidding, but I am not.
By the way, this is the same guy who was sued by a local developer for having called him a crook. Nenshi lost and then stiffed the Calgary taxpayer for $300,000 in legal fees! He claims to be paying it back through "donations" from his friends. Good luck with that in a city that is crippled by low gas prices, hundreds of failing businesses and scores of people laid off in droves.
When outed, Nenshi should have known that the right thing to do would have been to have admitted guilt and apologized immediately? Seriously. But no, it took a months-long investigation by the ethics commissioner to tell him what his mother should have taught him at her knee when he was a toddler. You just don't do that. To me it is unbelievable that he had to be put in line and made to heel by a city official.
Folks, don't believe everything you read and hear about Nenshi. Unfortunately, he has outlived his 'best-before' date. What he exhibited was precisely the kind of behaviour that would have outraged him when he first ran for mayor. Those days are long gone and it's time for him to be too.
Monday, July 25, 2016
You know me.....
....In my world, we are our hair. I firmly believe that our hair defines us -- whether man or woman. Do we dye it? Is it too long for our age? Do we demonstrate that we worry inordinately about it? Do we walk around with black roots attached to stringy blonde? Do we keep dying it harsh black when we are sixty? Girls, when your hair no longer matches your face, time to change your hair 'cause you can't do a thing about your face.
It all means something and it all telegraphs what we think of ourselves and what we want to project to the world.
So, it was with interest that I watched Michelle Obama address the DNC tonight, tearing up and praising black people everywhere and their roots and rights. Trouble was she did it with "white" hair. Obviously, she goes to a great deal of trouble to deny her natural hair and straightjacket it into a "Caucasian" style: long and straight. Must take a lot of money and a lot of time to get her hair to yield. Think about it, anyone who spends that much time on hair has a problem. Michelle, your hair doesn't match your face.
Didn't ring true. I think Angela Davis struck the right tone in the sixties when she debuted the Afro. Hey, let your hair be your hair. As they say, God doesn't make mistakes.
p.s. The American electoral process is ridiculous. Give me a Parliamentary democracy every time.
It all means something and it all telegraphs what we think of ourselves and what we want to project to the world.
So, it was with interest that I watched Michelle Obama address the DNC tonight, tearing up and praising black people everywhere and their roots and rights. Trouble was she did it with "white" hair. Obviously, she goes to a great deal of trouble to deny her natural hair and straightjacket it into a "Caucasian" style: long and straight. Must take a lot of money and a lot of time to get her hair to yield. Think about it, anyone who spends that much time on hair has a problem. Michelle, your hair doesn't match your face.
Didn't ring true. I think Angela Davis struck the right tone in the sixties when she debuted the Afro. Hey, let your hair be your hair. As they say, God doesn't make mistakes.
p.s. The American electoral process is ridiculous. Give me a Parliamentary democracy every time.
Life on The Rez
So, now the latest news out of Calgary is that 60% of Stoney Reserve people in Morely (just down # 1) are addicted to fentanyl. Well, of course they are. What is there to do on a reserve but cash cheques and get into trouble. Trust me, I have driven through it many times, the place is a dump. Even worse than Maniwaki, if that's possible. Another $85 million has been dumped into addiction "stuff", but doesn't matter. If you sit around with money and nothing to do, drugs will find and trap you.
Sadly, I have absolutely no sympathy with people who choose to stay on desolate and useless reservations. None. But there they stay because that is all they know and that is how the money is funnelled into their bank accounts. The chiefs have now declared the situation a "state of emergency" so they can, what.....? get more money? You bettcha.
I'm sick of it. As I have said so many times, thank God my Mohawk great-grandmother married off the Tyendinaga Reserve and we all became "Canadian".
Sadly, I have absolutely no sympathy with people who choose to stay on desolate and useless reservations. None. But there they stay because that is all they know and that is how the money is funnelled into their bank accounts. The chiefs have now declared the situation a "state of emergency" so they can, what.....? get more money? You bettcha.
I'm sick of it. As I have said so many times, thank God my Mohawk great-grandmother married off the Tyendinaga Reserve and we all became "Canadian".
Friday, July 22, 2016
Too much time and money on their hands
That's what thousands of people have who flock to a famous motivational speaker's seminars. Just watching a documentary about this guy and what a supreme bullsh-tter he is! It's unreal! People actually pay almost $5,000 to cry, wring their hands and listen to him blab on for six days.
What is wrong with people??!! Everyone is obviously not like my late mother, who eschewed public displays of "feelings" and "emotion". Why? Because in the "real" world no one cares.
Except those who pay $5,000 to vent theirs in the public thoroughfare.
He singles people out, asks them questions and turns their answers back on themselves as more questions -- always with lots of aggressive "fucking-this-and-fucking-that's" descriptions for shock value -- and then attacks them on their answers. Heck, I could do that and so could just about anyone else. His own life is nothing to write home about, by the way, google the guy. The crap he spouts is breathtaking -- plays on words and universal concepts you could find in any pop psychology book. I cannot believe people fall for this?! A snake-oil salesman, charlatan and carpet-bagger of the first order. Watching the documentary, it almost seems criminal to me, but people fork over and he carries on.
But they do. In droves.
What is wrong with people??!! Everyone is obviously not like my late mother, who eschewed public displays of "feelings" and "emotion". Why? Because in the "real" world no one cares.
Except those who pay $5,000 to vent theirs in the public thoroughfare.
He singles people out, asks them questions and turns their answers back on themselves as more questions -- always with lots of aggressive "fucking-this-and-fucking-that's" descriptions for shock value -- and then attacks them on their answers. Heck, I could do that and so could just about anyone else. His own life is nothing to write home about, by the way, google the guy. The crap he spouts is breathtaking -- plays on words and universal concepts you could find in any pop psychology book. I cannot believe people fall for this?! A snake-oil salesman, charlatan and carpet-bagger of the first order. Watching the documentary, it almost seems criminal to me, but people fork over and he carries on.
But they do. In droves.
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
America is ridiculous
Watching the coverage of the Republican National Convention confirms what I already think about the Excited States of America. Their electoral process is ridiculous. Contrast the months and months and months-long primaries and yakking with the British Parliamentary system and it's a no-contest. The Brits elect a new PM within a few days, but it takes the Americans more than a year to do so. In Canada, we have the same system as the Brits. The leader leaves and a new PM comes in. So simple and allows the PM to continue to run the country.
In the US, any president in the last years of his term is a lame duck while the race for the next White House gets underway. We're seeing it now and it's not over yet!
Obviously, when breaking away from Britain in 1776, the Americans were determined to do things differently and boy, did they succeed. In a bad way. If you listen to CNN you know that for Americans, nothing else in the world matters except a ridiculous spectacle of Trump-mania. So unserious.
And speaking of unserious, hugging, candles and teddy bears will not stop mass shootings anywhere. In the US, as long as the National Rifle Association rules, nothing will change. I don't care how many people talk about how "this has to stop", it will not as long as politicians of every stripe keep taking money from the gun lobby. That's just an irrefutable fact.
What a mess.
In the US, any president in the last years of his term is a lame duck while the race for the next White House gets underway. We're seeing it now and it's not over yet!
Obviously, when breaking away from Britain in 1776, the Americans were determined to do things differently and boy, did they succeed. In a bad way. If you listen to CNN you know that for Americans, nothing else in the world matters except a ridiculous spectacle of Trump-mania. So unserious.
And speaking of unserious, hugging, candles and teddy bears will not stop mass shootings anywhere. In the US, as long as the National Rifle Association rules, nothing will change. I don't care how many people talk about how "this has to stop", it will not as long as politicians of every stripe keep taking money from the gun lobby. That's just an irrefutable fact.
What a mess.
Friday, July 15, 2016
Let's not move....
,,,to Turkey, or France, or anywhere else in Europe for that matter. Whatever the outcome, Canadians simply go to the poles and change governments. That's about it. We don't have to dodge bullets and die. It is absolutely outrageous what is going on in Turkey, but not surprising. As I have wondered before, is it too much coffee??
Europe is totally effed. I would never go to London, Paris or any other large city in Europe. Ever again.
Come to think of it, Britain is a mess, what with Brexit and the new PM. Brilliantly, PM May has put the reckless Boris in charge of Foreign Affairs, where he will take blistering heat for his support for getting out of the EU. Most think his appointment a farce, but the new "Thatcher" is clearly telling him to put his money where his mouth is. Good on her.
It is always impressive to notice the difference between the American election, which has gone on for YEARS, and the Brits and Canadians, where a PM can be replaced within a few days. We both have civilized and reasonable systems, thankfully. If the US had the same system, Trump would never have progressed as he has.
Never.
Europe is totally effed. I would never go to London, Paris or any other large city in Europe. Ever again.
Come to think of it, Britain is a mess, what with Brexit and the new PM. Brilliantly, PM May has put the reckless Boris in charge of Foreign Affairs, where he will take blistering heat for his support for getting out of the EU. Most think his appointment a farce, but the new "Thatcher" is clearly telling him to put his money where his mouth is. Good on her.
It is always impressive to notice the difference between the American election, which has gone on for YEARS, and the Brits and Canadians, where a PM can be replaced within a few days. We both have civilized and reasonable systems, thankfully. If the US had the same system, Trump would never have progressed as he has.
Never.
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Really?
Saw this in a "fashion" magazine yesterday while waiting to get my hair cut. This is "fashion"?!
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| Hideous |
Thursday, July 7, 2016
Journalists are lazy
Either that, or they are sh-t-scared to tell truth to power and the public. Does any journalist today do the math when it comes to native people? Obviously not because if they did they would report a little more honestly about what's really going on with the money. I know I have blogged about this many times, but it just keeps getting more and more ludicrous.
The latest preposterous outrage reported in today's Globe and Mail is that the federal government has just handed over another $382 million for native child welfare. This is in addition to the $635 million they handed over not long ago on this file, adding up to yet another $1 billion for the chiefs' coffers purportedly slated for kids. Does anyone seriously think it will be spent on them?
And this does not include the roughly $17 billion given annually to 617 native communities across Canada, comprising approximately a grand total of 1.2 million souls! So, now we're up to $18 billion! A year! This translates into about $15 million per native for 5.6 percent of Canada's population. I kid you not!
Where does the money go? I mean, seriously, where? No wonder chiefs refuse to submit to audits. Is there any other public organization in the country that can refuse to have its accounts audited? They can't because its your money and mine and, by the way, it's illegal.
The latest from our friend Cindy Blackstock, executive director of the child and family caring society of Canada, is that....wait for it.....sit down......"it's not enough." Every announcement ever made about monies transferred to natives for children is never enough in her book. And she gives press conference upon press conference to bleat about it, with Perry Bellgarde sitting by her side, soaking up some of her.....whatever. And you pay their salaries too. "Biting the hand that feeds" is their eternal credo.
Just once I'd like a journalist to do a little research and write about it. Hey, it's all on the internet and takes about two minutes to dig up.
The latest preposterous outrage reported in today's Globe and Mail is that the federal government has just handed over another $382 million for native child welfare. This is in addition to the $635 million they handed over not long ago on this file, adding up to yet another $1 billion for the chiefs' coffers purportedly slated for kids. Does anyone seriously think it will be spent on them?
And this does not include the roughly $17 billion given annually to 617 native communities across Canada, comprising approximately a grand total of 1.2 million souls! So, now we're up to $18 billion! A year! This translates into about $15 million per native for 5.6 percent of Canada's population. I kid you not!
Where does the money go? I mean, seriously, where? No wonder chiefs refuse to submit to audits. Is there any other public organization in the country that can refuse to have its accounts audited? They can't because its your money and mine and, by the way, it's illegal.
The latest from our friend Cindy Blackstock, executive director of the child and family caring society of Canada, is that....wait for it.....sit down......"it's not enough." Every announcement ever made about monies transferred to natives for children is never enough in her book. And she gives press conference upon press conference to bleat about it, with Perry Bellgarde sitting by her side, soaking up some of her.....whatever. And you pay their salaries too. "Biting the hand that feeds" is their eternal credo.
Just once I'd like a journalist to do a little research and write about it. Hey, it's all on the internet and takes about two minutes to dig up.
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
Disgraceful
So, the latest aggressive, black protest vigilantes invaded the Pride Parade in Toronto and high-jacked it. Who do these interlopers think they are?! Apparently, they flew up from the US to make a mess of one of the most popular parades in the city and demanded that all the police floats be kicked out.
Never mind that Toronto has a black police chief. And let's not mention all the black lives taken by other blacks. No, let's not mention that at all. This is not Ferguson, Missouri, folks. Don't import your nastiness to this country.
Disgraceful and disgusting.
Never mind that Toronto has a black police chief. And let's not mention all the black lives taken by other blacks. No, let's not mention that at all. This is not Ferguson, Missouri, folks. Don't import your nastiness to this country.
Disgraceful and disgusting.
Saturday, July 2, 2016
Off-the-charts "PC-ness"
So, a Sikh's Charter rights were denied because he was without his turban for three hours and 20 minutes. OMG! The poor guy!
Never mind that he was in the back of a cruiser because he was driving drunk. Oh no, never mind that. And never mind the fact that he was so drunk he himself knocked the turban off stumbling into the police car. Picked up at 7:30 p.m., he was in custody -- not forced into the public thoroughfare -- and didn't get his turban returned until 10:50 p.m. This "humiliated and shamed" him, he told the judge and she (why does it always have to be a 'she'?) agreed and threw the impaired charges out. Wouldn't being drunk "humiliate and shame" him? Guess not.
What does his blowing over the limit have to do with whether his turban was on or off?? The guy was driving drunk. Period, the end. He would still have been drunk wearing his turban, so how the judge could connect the two is beyond me?!
This was in Ontario, but it might as well have been anywhere in Canada. We are so PC it's depressingly insane. Reality flies out the window when political correctness walks in the door. Yesterday we celebrated the diversity of this country on Canada Day, but when people take advantage of our tolerance, collective sanity goes into a cocked hat.
I am so sick of it.
Never mind that he was in the back of a cruiser because he was driving drunk. Oh no, never mind that. And never mind the fact that he was so drunk he himself knocked the turban off stumbling into the police car. Picked up at 7:30 p.m., he was in custody -- not forced into the public thoroughfare -- and didn't get his turban returned until 10:50 p.m. This "humiliated and shamed" him, he told the judge and she (why does it always have to be a 'she'?) agreed and threw the impaired charges out. Wouldn't being drunk "humiliate and shame" him? Guess not.
What does his blowing over the limit have to do with whether his turban was on or off?? The guy was driving drunk. Period, the end. He would still have been drunk wearing his turban, so how the judge could connect the two is beyond me?!
This was in Ontario, but it might as well have been anywhere in Canada. We are so PC it's depressingly insane. Reality flies out the window when political correctness walks in the door. Yesterday we celebrated the diversity of this country on Canada Day, but when people take advantage of our tolerance, collective sanity goes into a cocked hat.
I am so sick of it.
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