My New Job

Tomorrow I start my new job at Yellow Cab where I'll be taking the calls for taxis. I really like the sound of the company and my new boss and co-workers gave me a good impression, as they seem very friendly, open to answering any questions I may have as I learn the job and the computer system. Because of this new job, postings on this blog may be less than usual.

Vancouver and North Vancouver Civic strikes

Well, it was bound to happen at some point. Despite the fact that our economy is booming and we having an image to maintain with the world coming in just three short years (for the 2010 Olympics) the Union was bound to wreck havoc by wanting to use "our time to shine" as a bargaining chip. I'm appalled that the civic workers feel they are above their brothers and sisters in other Unions who gladly accepted a reasonable 10% increase. Ultimately they wrongly believe that when the public gets pissed off about this dispute it will be at the employers. In reality, the VAST MAJORITY will be behind the employers and yelling at the employees to GET BACK TO WORK! These employees deserve the offer their getting and nothing more.

FIFA Under-20 Semi-Final #2: Chile Vs. Argentina

A couple of thoughts on this game:

First and foremost, I was positively appalled at the cheating Argentina was displaying with their players diving at the slightest nudge by a Chilean player. My friend and fellow blogger, Chad Pederson touched on this issue in a 2006 posting (July 14, 2006 to be exact). I watched most of the game, starting around the 20th minute or so and right from the outset, every time a Chilean player got anywhere near an Argentinian player, the Argentinian would go down like he'd been shot. It's teams like this that ruin the integrity of the game. Diving in any sport should not be tolerated. In hockey, there are rules against diving, ranging from a two-minute penalty and a warning letter for a first offense, a thousand-dollar fine for a second offense and a one game suspension for a third offense and for subsequent offenses the number of games the offending player is suspended doubles. As near as I can tell no such rule exists in basketball. Part of the problem is in soccer the field is so large that it's difficult for the referee to sometimes judge whether a dive has occured. That should not be the case in basketball. I would suggest adding a second referee might be a solution to this issue. In basketball, booting players out would certainly spell the end of the diving. Extreme as it may seem, diving must be eliminated in all sports as it to me is a sign of cheating.

The second issue I had with that game was the refereeing. The referee, where was that guy from anyway?, clearly was in favour of the Argentinian team. Several of his calls were very questionable, including red-carding two Chilean players. Also, he was giving Argentina many more free kicks than Chile and the game ended with Chile receiving seven yellow cards (two being automatic reds because of previous yellow cards to those players) to just two to Argentina. FIFA, the NHL, and the NBA need to hire neutral referees who can call the games fairly and by the book. In the NHL, referees tend to be inconsistent from game-to-game in calling penalties. There are games where there are 100+ minutes in penalties and other games where just a few penalties are called. The NBA is pretty good with consistency, although they can do better with recognizing dives.

I thought the Toronto Police did a great job in controlling the players and fans after the game, especially considering the fans and players on the Chilean side had every right to be upset after the game was over.

Here's hoping that there's no repeat performance in the Finals on Sunday.

140 reasons why I'm proud to be Canadian

In honor of this being the 140th birthday of my home country of Canada I'm going to compile a list of 140 reasons why I'm glad to have been born and raised in Canada.

1. we get to vote democratically
2. we have freedom of speech
3. Canada is a peace-loving country
4. George Bush doesn't run Canada
5. Saddam Hussein doesn't run Canada
6. Osama Bin Laden doesn't run Canada
7. our cities have actual trees, in fact many actual trees
8. good Alberta beef
9. breath-taking views from the tops of our mountains, especially Grouse and Whistler
10. mild winters on the west coast.
11. hockey
12. great beaches to lounge at in the summer
13. great flatlands in the Prairie provinces
14. Canada is a multi-cultural country.
15. many jobs to apply for.
16. Great health care system
17. free health care
18. free education (up to grade twelve)
19. 2010 olmypics
20. Wayne Gretzky
21. Terry Fox
22. the War Amps (for providing me with a paid-for artificial arm)
23. innovative people
24. reasonable gas prices
25. great sushi
26. Molson Canadian beer
27. CBC
28. Curling
29. Lacrosse
30. dedicated bike paths
31. great golf courses
32. decent wages (in comparison to the US and many of the third world countries)
33. no major famine
34. we're not gun-happy
35. Alexander Graham Bell (for inventing the telephone)
36. Canadian film industry (for many great movies)
37. Bryan Adams (for great music, he can be forgiven for forgetting the anthem)
38. Paul Revere (for revolting)
39. Dr. James Naismith (sp?) (for inventing basketball)
40. Steve Nash (for putting Canada on the map in the NBA)
41. Great Canadian Authors (including my grandfather Michael Poole)
42. Geoffery Bland (for his work in pioneering fuel cell research)
43. we invented the Smart Car
44. W.A.C. Bennett (for approving funding for the building of all those roads, bridges)
45. Roberta Bondar (for being the first Canadian in space)
46. Ed Broadband (for campaigning human rights around the world)
47. John Candy (for being so funny)
48. Mike Weir (for winning the Masters and being a great Canadian)
49. Trevor Linden (for all his community service as a Canuck)
50. Emily Carr (for all the wonderful things she painted)
51. Jim Carrey (see John Candy)
52. Marc Garneau (for all his time spent in outer space)
53. The Natives (for allowing us to inhabit their land)
54. Rick Hansen (for all his work in spinal cord research, rehab and wheelchair sports)
55. John Humphery (for being the primary author of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
56. We belong to NATO
57. We belong to the UN.
58. Simon Jackson (for campaigning to save the spirit bear
59. Silken Laumann (for inspiring Canadians with her effort at the 1992 Olympics after sufferring a serious leg injury 2 months prior, she won a bronze that year)
60. Julia Levy (for her work with anti-cancer drugs)
61. Nellie McClung (for writing best-selling novels that advanced the feminist cause)
62. Sir John A McDonald (for being the father of Canada and our first ever prime minister)
63. Kim Campbell (for being the first femal prime minister in Canada)
64. Pat and Edith McGeer (for being pioneers into Alzheimer's disease)
65. Lewis MacKenzie (for leading the UN-led peace mission into war-torn Bosnia in the early ninties)
66. we saved the US's butt in WWII (although the US likes to think the opposite)
67. Cliff Chadderton (for helping the War Veterans who come back and/or came back from war missing limbs)
68. Agnes MacPhail (for becoming the first women MP in Canada)
69. Maquinna (for greeting the first white men to land on Vancouver Island)
70. Len Marchand (for being the first native MP)
71. Gordie Howe (for a great hockey career)
72. Farley Mowat (for promoting Canada in his novels)
73. Canadian Dancer (for being the first Canadian-born thoroughbred to win the Kentucky Derby)
74. Jim Pattison (for his generosity to our charities and providing many people with jobs)
75. Micheal Smith (for his groundbreaking work in reprogramming segments of DNA)
77. David Suzuki (for his great work with the environment)
78. Ken Taylor (for helping US Embassy workers escape Iran by posing as Canadians)
79. Brian Tobin (for saving the Turbot fishery from the Spaniards)
80. we have great fishing rivers
81. BC salmon
82. Atlantic lobster
83. the mighty Fraser River
84. we have loads of energy
85. we're the third largest country, geographically
86. James Cook (for discovering Canada)
87. Queen Elizabeth I (for being our original queen)
88. we're one of the world's wealthiest nations, with a high per capita income
89. we have low unemployment
90. we have a high standard of living 91
91. we're one of the few developed nations that's a net exporter of energy
92. the beaver (for being our official mascot)
93. we have the world's second-largest reserve of oil
94. we're the worldest largest producer of zinc and uranium
95. the Canadian dollar is getting even to the US dollar
96. we don't start wars
97. we have 34 ethnic groups with at least 100,000 citizens living in Canada
98. Canada has the highest per capita immigration rate in the world
99. Canadians are generally friendly, helpful people
100. the maple leaf (for being the symbol of our flag)
101. We have a cool looking flag
102. We have a great national anthem
103. Canada has the produced more NHLer's than any other country
104. Sidney Crosby (for breakiing Wayne Gretzky's record for fastest player to 200 points)
105. Larry Walker (for being the first Canadian to win the MVP award in the Major Leagues of baseball)
106. Whistler (for being world famous for great ski runs and the primary reason why the Olympics are coming to BC)
107. we have a great suspension bridge (Capilaino Suspension Bridge)
108. Canada has great shopping districts (Robson street e.g.)
109. we protect the rights of the minority
110. we protect the rights of women
111. we hate bullying
112. we support homosexuals
113. Henry VII (for discovering either Newfoundland or Nova Scotia)
114. we have five "Great Lakes"
115. we have a mighty Waterfall in Niagara Falls
116. we don't get as many severe weather storms as the US
117. we get actual seasons
118. we generally don't cheat in professional sports
119. We have a high average age
120. We have a very low incidence of hiv/aids
121. we are very diverse religiously
122. Almost everyone in Canada (99%) can read and write
123. we have a great educational system
124. Canada does not have the death penalty
125. Canada believes in giving people second chances
126. most people live above the poverty line (86%)
127. Bob Lenarduzzi (for putting Canada on the map in soccer)
128. we are a unified country
129. we have great youth sports programs
130. Canada has healthier people than the US
131. we have many great parks
132. we have hosted the Olympics three times (including the one upcoming in 2010)
133. we belong to Amnesty International
134. Canada has the world's 10th freest economy
135. Canada is home to some great universities (UBC, SFU., U of T, etc.)
136. girl guide cookies
137. we own a third of all the fresh water in the world
138. we have the largest bay in the world (Hudson's Bay)
139. we have the longest street in the world (Yonge Street, which starts in Toronto, on the north shore of Lake Ontario and winds it's way north, then west to the end of the Manitoba-Ontario-Minnesota border)
140. The only flying saucer launch pad in the world is located in St. Paul, Alberta