OfficiallyScrewed.com Outpaces Toronto Star

Mulder

In 2006, this blog hired no one. But we also did not have to restructure and lay off anyone either.

(disclosure: we are not a company and their is only one person who blogs here…me. I am the marketing department, the news department, the sports department, the editorial department, the financial department, etc.)

But TorStar Corporation, the parent company of the Toronto Star newspaper, announced they would be restructuring and laying off about 85 employees. The cause, according to local radio, was lower revenues from advertising.

TORONTO, ONTARIO – December 20, 2006 – Further to the formation of the Metroland Media Group and the Star Media Group, Torstar today announces that its newspaper division has undertaken a combination of voluntary and involuntary restructurings which will result in a net reduction of approximately 85 positions. Torstar expects that the restructuring charge, which will be recorded in the fourth quarter, will be approximately $11.0 million. The savings associated with this initiative are expected to be in the range of $5.5 million annually.

This tidbit is meant to be a bit of inspiration for all you bloggers out there. The MSM is taking their hits and it is showing.

Wednesday Humour

Mulder

In a busy Parisian cafe, a tourist is sitting alone, enjoying a crème caramel. Another tourist approaches:

Me sit here?

No problem…

Thank you, very nice…

Are you on vacation?

Me, I arrive yesterday…

What country are you from?

Norway. You?

From Quebec.

Quebec? Me not know Quebec…

Quebec… near the Atlantic, next to Ontario, the Great Lakes…

No, me not know these places.

Never mind then, I’m from Canada…

Ah! Canada! Canada I know! So why you tell me you come from Quebec?

Because, my first country is Quebec!

Oh, you were born in Quebec and immigrated to Canada….

No, no, I was born in Quebec and I stay in Quebec…

Oh, then your father is from Canada?

No, no, my father, my mother, my wife, my dog, everybody, they come from Quebec…

So why you say Canada?

For Christ sake, because you say you don’t know where is Quebec!

OK, but if you say you not know Norway, me I not say that my country is Japan…

Crap! Canada isn’t Japan. Canada, it’s my country.

Oh, your country not Quebec anymore?

My country is Quebec. But my country, it can be Canada too, if the
person I speak to not know where is Quebec, Tabarnak!

Me not understand…

Look, it’s simple: I come from the Province of Quebec, in the country of Canada.

Ok! But me not ask you what province you’re from, I ask you what country. Me, I come from Lofoten region in Norway, but I answer you Norway when you ask me what country I come from…

I know, I’m not stupid, Coulisse! But me, when they ask me what country I come from, I answer Quebec. Even if it’s the name of my province. For me, it’s my country.

Oh, now I understand. You are a separatist, you want your Quebec province to be your country…

Are you crazy, Hostie? I don’t want to know nothing from that crap!

Me, I not understand anything anymore.

I tell you before, it’s simple! You ask me what country I come from, I answer Quebec because Quebec is my country, but I don’t really want it to be my country, it would be too much trouble. I just want to say it. So, why don’t you just let me say it?

Me all mix up. You have passport from what country: Quebec or Canada?

CANADA, Hostie!

So why you not tell me Canada right away?

Because it don’t feel right. For me, Canada is Anne Murray, the Calgary Stampede, the Mounted Police, SARS, it’s not my home all that. Home, it’s La Famille Plouffe, Saraphin Poudrier, La P’tite Vie, Falix Leclerc, La Poune, Les Canadiens de Montreal, Les Bougons… Do you understand???

Less and less…

Listen, forget all that crap. Ask me another question.

Ok, what town you come from?

Mmm…, I don’t know anymore…

You not know what town you come from?

Yes, yes, I know what town I come from, but my town it merge with another town, but soon it is going to demerge from the town that was supposed to be my town…

Oh, that very complicated! When you write your address, what do you write?

I don’t know anymore. Before, I used to write Hull, but Hull changed to Gatineau, but they tell us to wait 3 years before stopping to write Hull to not mix up the mailman. But now, the Liberals they pass a law that make it ok for Gatineau to be Hull again, but I don’t know if we have to wait 3 years to be able to write Hull, or when the 3 years are passed, if we have to write Gatineau for 3 years, and after we write Hull. Unless, of course, the PQ come back in power and we remerge with Gatineau, then we’ll have to write Gatineau for 3 years.

I leave now; I have hurt in my head…

It’s so simple Tabarnak: My town is Hull, my country is Quebec. But if you prefer, my town is Gatineau and my country is Canada.

OK, I think I understand!

It’s about time. Anyway, it was fun talking to you, if you come around where I live; maybe you come and see me…

OK, but where? Hull in Quebec? Or Gatineau in Canada?

You’re a pain in the ass. Forget the whole thing

H/T to my friend Sandy

I'm MADD At Telemarketing Fraud

Mulder

No more. I hate to say it, but no more.

For all you legitimate charities out there, you are the big losers. After organizations like MADD have reportedly put 80% or more of the donations they receive towards promoting for more donations … No More!

After a telemarketing ring in Montreal was busted yesterday with over 30 people tied in, I have to say … No More!

I think the BEST way I can help stop telemarketing fraud, and shady charity practices is to stop giving money to anyone who comes to my door, emails me, or telephones me.

When the money from stupid softhearted people like me dries up, the scams will stop.

Here’s a tidbit of information for you:

The Phonebusters Canadian anti-fraud call centre estimates that 500 to 1,000 criminal telemarketing boiler room operations are conducted on any given day in Canada, grossing about $1 billion a year.

I will continue to give to the one charity our family has always given to, and I will probably add a second charity this year, but beyond that, it had better be a good one and it had better be supported by numerous media outlets.

Al Gore Takes Movie Money And Hides

Mulder

A friend of mine was telling me how global warming could be proven and that a big part of it was due to the cutting down of the rainforest. The current of water coming up along the east coast of South America was being dramatically affected, and warmed, which created an imbalance in water temperatures, thus creating more Atlantic Storms.

Bullchips is all I have to say.

If that was the case, this year should have been as active, or more active, in terms of Atlantic Storms. But here are the hard facts from the past 8 years. Notice that this year there is a significant drop in the number of tropical storms.

2006 Name Storms

But you can also look at the inconsistency in the East Pacific storms in the same time period.

2006 East Pacifici Name Storms

Let me put this in graphical terms, I put the following chart together indicating each sections name storms and outlining the total.

2006 Chart

The average number of storms in the two regions is 29.25/year over the past 8 years. In the same 8 year period, 4 years have been above that watermark and 4 years have been below that watermark, including 2006. (technically the year is not over, but there would need to be 4 new name storms in a week and a half start up to change this statistic so it is safe to make this claim.)

Considering there was some pretty significant fearmongering by Al Gore, his environmentalista followers and his propaganda movie last year, I think he owes society an apology for not waiting a few years to see if the trend was accurate.

So now I want to know why more Liberals are not on the CLEAN air bandwagon which Conservatives like Rona Ambrose and Stephen Harper have adopted, and why they continue to harp on the HOT air bandwagon Al Gore erroneously created.

Liberal Bloggers Don't Even Understand Kyoto…

Mulder

Liberals Can't CountBut they will keep plugging it.

I have seen this “counter” (displayed at right) on a few Liberal websites and need to make a clarification so that Conservatives who read my site can help educate others.

The counter has presented quite an erroneous view of both the Conservative Clean Air act and the Kyoto Protocol in a fashion I usually only credit the MSM with.

It states that there are 6000 and some odd number of days until the Conservatives set air quality targets. This implies the recent mercury ban does nothing to improve air quality. It also implies the restriction of the 200 or so hazardous substances does not improve air quality. This shows us how little Liberals know about what clean air actually is. Either that or they simply can’t count.

The number of days is a reference to the Tory green house gas targets which go out to 2050. What really makes the Liberals look stupid for posting this is that the Kyoto protocol aims to reduce green house gases and has nothing to do with air “quality”. The whole Kyoto concept is to reduce green house gases in an effort to prevent global warming.

Since warm air and cold air are both equally desireable depending on where you are and what season it is, and since neither is of “poor quality”, the statement just goes to show us that Liberals who believe Kyoto and green house gas reduction is about CLEAN air simply do not understand what Kyoto is about.

Smile … It's A Joke

Mulder

A first grade teacher explains to her class that she, like many other teachers, is a Liberal. She asks her students to raise their hands if they are Liberals too. Not really knowing what a Liberal was, but wanting to be liked by their teacher, their hands fly into the air. There is, however, one exception…a little girl has not gone along with the crowd. The teacher asks her why she has decided to be different.

“Because I’m not a Liberal!” she reports.

“Then, asks the teacher, “What are you?”

“I’m a proud Conservative!” the girl says.

The teacher is a little perturbed now…her face slightly red. She asks the young girl why she is a Conservative.

“Well, my daddy and mommy are Conservatives…so I’m a Conservative too!” she responds.

The teacher is angry now. “That’s no reason,” she says loudly. “What if your mommy was a moron, and your daddy was an idiot…what would you be then?”

The little girl smiles and says…”Then I’d be a Liberal”

ARARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHH … Just Shoot Me

Mulder

Arar Chronicles from CitizenSo I got up this morning and flipped open the big 24 page Arar section in my Sunday edition of the Ottawa Citizen. For some reason, it just didn’t have quite as much information for me and the text just wasn’t cutting it for my audio/visual personality. (image is from actual Ottawa Citizen website)

This drove me to flip on the boobtube and I caught a couple of hours of CTV-Ararnet. For those of you not on digital cable … you lose!! But for some reason, they missed some of the choice audio clips that I was really looking forward to hearing today. (I read about them on Dear Arar, the syndicated advice column designed for people who missed out on past Arar events.)

So I proceeded to turn on my Sirius digital satellite radio to listen to the 24/7 Arar call in talk radio show called Arar You Sirius? and dialled in a few times to try to ask about these hidden audio gems. No dice. The lines were packed with angry callers from Damascus demanding photos of his Syrian passport.

So, I just did the same old, same old and visited the www.arar.youtube.com hoping one of the Arararrazzi caught some good cellular phone video footage that they uploaded. Now and then I find some really awesome audio to go along with the video.

Barring this, I will just have to catch that Gemini winning, CBC reality show Terror Error – The Maher Arar Affair. Season 5 is available on DVD in time for Christmas. (nudge nudge wink wink to my wife)

Zimbabwe Cheers Two More Years Of Mugabe … NOT!!!

Mulder

I was sickened when I read that Robert Mugabe is being encouraged to stay on as the dictator , errrrr… evil head of errrr… Satanistic leader errrrr… head of the Zanu PF party for two more years.

His head of security even went so far as to suggest he stay on for life, which would be a slap in the face of democracy. After raping the country of it’s riches for years, the Zanu PF party may be starting to see some dissent, which will probably be a good thing.

As many of you who read this blog regularly know, I am not a big fan of Robert Mugabe as indicated by my posts here, here and here.

H/T to Dr. Roy for this one.

Judge Chops Down Tree With Politically Correct Axe

Mulder

I’ve had it. I’ve finally flipped my lid when it comes to political correctness.

I have spent the last two days in Toronto on business and talk radio here has been rambling on about Judge Marion Cohen’s decision to have a Christmas Tree removed from the courthouse on Jarvis Street.

The judge, who oversees administration at the courthouse, said it’s inappropriate that a Christian symbol is the first thing visitors see when they enter the building.

I have to point out that the Christmas Tree is not a Christian symbol, but a Pagan one from Germany adopted by Christians in the late 1800’s when the Queen of England put one up for her German husband.

I am waiting to see what she makes people swear to “tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth” on. Is the bible that many of our laws are based on to be banished next Judge Cohen? Or do you just remove the new testament?

Should Judge Cohen ascend to the highest court in the land, would she refuse to allow turbaned RCMP officers to provide security for her court or testify in it? Will she have the word God stricken from our national anthem?

I have just about had it with these politically correct situations that are not giving Canadians Freedom OF Religion but, more aptly, they are giving us Freedom FROM Religion.

Bill Carroll spoke a mouthful when he said it is crap like this that empowers those who say things like “You see? This is what they are doing to our country.”

I have started wishing EVERYone I know or run into a Merry Christmas. This includes my grocer, the Walmart greeters, the postman, police officers, the Tim Horton’s drive through personel and, yes, even judges.

I encourage you to do the same. You will be surprised at how many smiles you get compared to scowls.

World History – As It Really Was …

Mulder

It’s time for a chuckle.

I received the commentary below from a past boss and friend, an American conservative. It made me laugh enough that I just had to put it up for you all to read and enjoy. I did touch up the last two paragraphs for continuity of making it a blog vs. an email but other than that, it is intact as it appeared in my inbox.

Thanks Pete.

Humans originally existed as members of small bands of nomadic hunters/gatherers. They lived on deer in the mountains during the summer and would go to the coast and live on fish and lobster in the winter.

The two most important events in all of history were the invention of beer and the invention of the wheel. The wheel was invented to get man to the beer. These were the foundation of modern civilization and together were the catalyst forthe splitting of humanity into two distinct subgroups:

1. Liberals; and 2. Conservatives.

Once beer was discovered, it required grain and that was the beginning of agriculture. Neither the glass bottle nor aluminum can were invented yet, so while our early humans were sitting around waiting for them to be invented, they just stayed close to the brewery.

That’s how villages were formed.

Some men spent their days tracking and killing animals to B-B-Q at night while they were drinking beer. This was the beginning of what is known as the Conservative movement.

Other men who were weaker and less skilled at hunting learned to live off the conservatives by showing up for the nightly B-B-Q’s and doing the sewing, fetching, and hairdressing.

This was the beginning of the Liberal movement.

Some of these liberal men eventually evolved into women.

The rest became known as girliemen.

Some noteworthy liberal achievements include the domestication of cats, the invention of group therapy, grouphugs, and the concept of Democratic voting to decide how to divide the meat and beer that conservatives provided.

Over the years conservatives came to be symbolized by the largest, most powerful land animal on earth, the elephant.

Liberals are symbolized by the jackass.

Modern liberals like imported beer (with lime added), but most prefer white wine or imported bottled water. They eat raw fish but like their beef well done. Sushi, tofu, and French food are standard liberal fare.

Another interesting evolutionary side note: most of their women have higher testosterone levels than their men. Most social workers, personal injury attorneys, journalists, dreamers in Hollywood and group therapists are liberals.

Liberals invented the designated hitter rule because it wasn’t fair to make the pitcher also bat.

Conservatives drink domestic beer. They eat redmeat and still provide for their women. Conservatives are big-game hunters, rodeo cowboys, lumberjacks, construction workers, firemen, medical doctors, police officers, corporate executives, athletes, Marines, and generally anyone who works productively. Conservatives who own companies hire other conservatives who want to work for a living.

Liberals produce little or nothing. They like to govern the producers and decide what to do with the production. Liberals believe Europeans are more enlightened than Americans. That is why most of the liberals remained in Europe when conservatives were coming to America. They crept in after the Wild West was tamed and created a business of trying to get more for nothing.

Here ends today’s lesson in world history: It should be noted that a Liberal may have a momentary urge to angrily respond to the above before clicking the “Email This Post” button below and forwarding on to friends.

A Conservative will simply laugh and be so convinced of the absolute truth of this history that it will be clicking the “Email This Post” link below to forward immediately to other true believers and to more liberals just to piss them off.