G8/G20 Cost Analysis

Mulder

No this is not a breakdown of the cost of the G8/G20 summits taking place in Huntsville and The Big Smoke this year.  This is my analysis of the whole “G8/G20 Cost” debate.

Question:  Did it need to be over a Billion dollars?

OfficiallyScrewed.com Answer:  It wasn’t over a billion dollars.  Sure, maybe it was earmarked as G8/G20 spending but realistically it is also a chance for the government to beef up permanent security needs for a major urban area. ex.  London, England already had 10,254 security cameras scattered around the city when they held the summit.  The Big Smoke did not.  So realistically all permanent infrastructure that will be in place for the benefit of Muskoka and The Big Smoke should really be eliminated from the bottom line when analyzing the cost.  And I am pretty sure that over half the cost can be assigned to this category.  So in effect it becomes stimulus money for the local economy.

And speaking of the local economy, I wonder what The Big Smoke tourism board thinks of all this.  With some entourages numbering in the 4 digit area, we can safely assume over 10,000 guests to The Big Smoke.  That’s a hell of a lot of hotel rooms and meals.  And think of the shops in Yorkville or along Queen St.  The VISA and Mastercard machines will be humming and alot of this spending will be subject to GST and PST reducing the total cost even further.

Question:  Will jobs be created out of this?

OfficiallyScrewed.com Answer:  Damn straight.  Security alone will be huge but there will also be paramedics, fire, police, food services, waste disposal, preparation, (and yes Nellie, even the arts get some money.  (Do you think some suit put together the fake lake?  No, I bet it was some artsy fartsy person taking their turn at the trough too.)  I am not sure about how many jobs are being created even temporarily but I can be sure that the paychecks for those jobs are subject to……ding ding ding…federal and provincial income tax further reducing the cost.

Question:  Will we come out ahead?

OfficiallyScrewed.com Answer:  Probably not.  But there is other inherent values to hosting the G8/G20.  Long term tourism dollars are the least of my concern.  You see in the old days in many countries a group of three people meeting could be considered conspiracy and you could be charged.  The paranoia ran deep in governments but it was also a symbol to them that the few at the top controlled everything.  This is not the case in a western style democracy.  Perhaps from a mile high view this is the case but realistically if taxes go up, jobs go down, that government will get tossed out on it’s ear.

So to me, having these nations get around a table and talk is important.  It shows leaders like Ahmedinejad and Chavez, and groups like Hamas and Hizbollah and Al Quaeda that we can sit and talk peacefully about how we should best address problems the world is having so we can all best move forward wherever our free will takes us.  We do NOT need to be pushed back in the shadows to meet under cover of the night or teleconference or in small groups.  We can do it openly…under their noses and in front of their faces.  And hopefully in front of the faces of their citizens too.

Because the bottom line is that as long as we are talking, we are not fighting.

I Am Calling Bragging Rights – Personal Post Alert

Mulder

Y’all know family comes first.  In light of that, I have to post that my daughter Cookie and her partner took Gold with their duo routine  in the Ontario Provincial Rhythmic Gymnastics championships in Toronto On Friday night.  This is their 3rd championship in a row!!

Additionally she eked in to the provincials in 10th place after the first two qualifiers for the individual events.  I told her that all it would take for me to be happy is if she surprised herself with her performance and scores.  Simply surprise yourself.

Well in her ball routine she took the bronze, in her hoop routine she came 7th and in her ribbon she took eighth for a 7th place overall out of ten.  Considering where she qualified, she told me that she surprised herself.

So today I am a happy man.   Way to go Cookie!!

Obama said ASS. Who Cares?

Mulder

He said “ass”. *giggle giggle snort snort*

I was rereading the story about the Gloucestor Dragon’s (who rumour has it have reversed their “win by 5 goals and you lose” ASSinine rule. I mean next thing you know they would fail kids who get more than 5 marks higher than the clASS average. So back on topic. In that post I said “ASS whooping”.

Well it has dawned on me that ASS is not a word we should worry about. It’s a very commonly used word in society and very acceptable and I think the fact that the President got a bit of flack for it from both the left and right wing media is ridiculASS. I mean anyone who watched “That 70’s Show”, one of my favourite sitcoms, knows Red Foreman would say the word ASS almost every episode. “Get your ASS in the car”, “Do it or I’ll kick your ASS.”, etc.

Even George Carlin, going back decades did a bit about the 7 words you can’t say on television. ASS was not one of the 7 words.

So the verdict is? ASS gets a pASS.

Smackdown: PM Harper Returns Liberal Leader Michael Zsohar’s Serve On Roland Garros Claycourt

Mulder

I love Question Period. Call me a goofball. I actually caught this without sound on a TV in the lobby of a customer’s yesterday afternoon. Good timing on my part. The bolded part is a nice zinger that plays on Liberal Leader Michael Zsohar’s status as a temporary visitor to our great nation.

Hon. Michael Ignatieff (Leader of the Opposition, Lib.):
Even France is saying that the costs of this summit are getting out of control, and France knows something about extravagance. Its foreign minister is making jokes about the lake.
How can the Prime Minister preach austerity and restraint to Canadians and his G20 colleagues when he has lost control of the cost of his own summit?

Right Hon. Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, CPC):
Mr. Speaker, of course, as has been observed by many people, the cost of these summits in this age is very expensive because of the security demands placed on the summits. Well over 80% of the cost for our summit are, of course, for security, and this is similar to all similar types of summits.
As for extravagance in France, I would not know about that, but perhaps the Leader of the Opposition, at his home in Provence, could tell us all about it.

Harper: 15, Ignatieff: L’oeuf

World Governments Acting Like Teenagers

Mulder

When I was a young man still in University I was offered my first credit card. It was a GM VISA with a $500 spending limit. Considering I didn’t have $500 to my name and summer was coming I was ecstatic that I would be able to load up my tackle box and pick up a carton or two of smokes. Although not necessities to the average person, they seemed like they were necessities to me.

So I cautiously ran up a bit of a tab on the card. Then the inevitable bill came. Sure it showed me a minimum payment which was a bit of reassurance. I wouldn’t have to pay the whole thing off at once. But little did I realize that that small monthly payment was coming right off the top of my income. Why? Because I chose to spend something I didn’t have.

Well governments around the world are doing it now. Forget extreme hyperbole such as “spending like drunken sailors”. Expressions like this make it sound like we are just exaggerating. Well the truth is they are spending like unsure, unaware teenagers with their first credit cards. They don’t realize that pulling more out of the taxpayers is like that teenager trying to find a job in a down economy. The potential to pay back that debt is there, but the economic conditions to allow that to happen are just not there. And the more we run up the debt the harder it will be to dig ourselves out.

That’s it. I don’t have any links on this. Just the anology and the request that everyone out there contact the politicians representing them at all levels of government and simply ask them to spend within their means. Do NOT extend their means to accommodate how much they want to spend.

Ottawa Recreational Soccer League Creates Wimpy Children

Mulder

It had to be said after I read this story.

In yet another nod to the protection of fledgling self-esteem, an Ottawa children’s soccer league has introduced a rule that says any team that wins a game by more than five points will lose by default.

The Gloucester Dragons Recreational Soccer league’s newly implemented edict is intended to dissuade a runaway game in favour of sportsmanship. The rule replaces its five-point mercy regulation, whereby any points scored beyond a five-point differential would not be registered.

If I were a parent of a child in this league, I would move them out. When kids are not allowed to experience the pain of a good ass whooping, they are simply being protected from an experience that will drive them to strive harder. The coddling has to stop or our children will grow up trained to roll over and take it because it can’t get any worse.

These poor kids aren’t even old enough to realize they are getting OfficiallyScrewed.

h/t to my friend Iain for this one.

Sir Paul McCartney Never Learned That People In Glass Houses Should Not Throw Stones

Mulder

Sir Paul McCartney, the man who has more money than brains (just ask his ex-wife Heather Mills), made this remark the other night.

McCartney thanked the audience and noted how nice it was to receive the award from the Library of Congress, and “in fact, after the last eight years it’s great to have a president who knows what a library is.”

Let’s compare.

Elementary School
George W. Bush – Yes
Paul McCartney – Yes

Secondary School
George W. Bush – Yes
Paul McCartney – Yes

College/University
George W. Bush – Yes (Yale)
Paul McCartney – No

Business School
George W. Bush – Yes (Harvard no less and the ONLY U.S. President to have earned an MBA)
Paul McCartney – No

Marriage classes?
George W. Bush (not sure but he’s still married to his sweetheart and probably treats her like gold)
Paul McCartney – Probably not but he sure knows how to pay through the nose for a divorce.

Sir Paul should be a bit more careful with his wise cracks.

Comparing Bieber Blocker to Hitler is Simply OfficiallyScrewed

Mulder

I fully agree that free speech means Justin Bieber can sing where he wants, have whomever he wants market him, show up on any channel willing to air him and any computer screen that doesn’t break from the screaling teens who sit and drool over this young man.

However, I also think if someone is ingenious enough to figure out how to block something he/she does not want to see, then good on them.  This is exactly what Greg Leuch has done.  His Bieber blocker dubbed Shaved Bieber may be a Godsend to many, but it is also now sparking death threats to the young programmer.

But after Leuch posted the application to a free technology website, word started to get around, and the backlash began. He started getting hate mail from around the world, sent by angry fans of the teen idol from Stratford, Ont.

“I hate you because you invented Shaved Bieber. Justin Bieber is the best,” one wrote.

Another even threatened Leuch’s life: “I know many things about you and I know where you live. Just be aware I might appear behind you and shoot you with a gun.”

Another compared him to Hitler: “What you’re doing is going back to World War II all over again. Hitler wanted to erase Jews from society, you want to erase justin Drew Bieber.”

Leuch is taking it all in stride, and said he is more bemused than worried. He offered a light-hearted response to the backlash:

“Oops,” he said. “Umm, I mean I really did not expect all this fan backlash, so oops.”

Comparing the Bieberblocker to Hitler might be a little OfficiallyScrewed.

Now to find out if I can find a similar program to block Apple I-product commercials!!!