The All New Quintonian

Faves

Another year, another post. There's a whole lot going on in this big ol' world these days, and The Quintonian has been taking it all in, like a fat, sassy lizard on a rock. But how does The Quintonian manage to stay so well-informed? you may ask. With the information technology of our modern era, how can you not be well-informed! retorts The Quintonian. But there are certain web-sites that we consider must-visits, because of their factual content and/or shared anarcho-Christian-eco-communitarian-libertarian ideologies. So, as a public service to all 7.5 (average daily) loyal readers/spam search engines, here is what keeps one logging on to the www. each day. The following is an annotated list of my daily roundup, that I implore you to check out. 

www.lewrockwell.com 

Updated daily, and "unabashedly anti-state, anti-war and pro-market". A daily compendium of essays and articles put together by the eponymous Mr. Lew Rockwell, the site includes a strong roster of regular contributors writing on such topics as economics, culture, health and militarism. What is especially refreshing is how this site shows the idiocy of describing people as being "left-wing" or "right wing". Most of Lew's contributors are what the commercial media would be described as "right wing" in certain areas, i.e. in opposition to international global warming treaties. Yet their strident anti-war, anti-military stance would put the doltish commercial media's stock character of "tree hugging left wing hippie peacenik" to shame. Definitely the place to be if you happen to like Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX). 

www.kunstler.com

James Howard Kunstler is a master polemicist, whose weekly Monday morning rants are not to be missed. One of the major voices of doom concerning the peak oil problem, JHK has a very obvious disdain for present-day American pop culture (i.e. repeatedly referring to his countrymen as a nation of overfed clowns and tattooed morons), while also providing very entertaining diatribes against the entire social-economic apparatus.

http://theautomaticearth.blogspot.com

A collection of articles and commentary collected by a chap with the pen name "Ilargi". Takes the editorial position that the global economy is a house of cards built on a foundation of ruinous debt and environmental destruction. Ilargi and his website are quite sure this house of cards will be collapsing shortly, resulting in a long-term period of depression, penury and upheaval. A bracing antidote to the happy, ad revenue-generating talk of The Quintonian's favourite whipping boy, the aforesaid commercial media. Are we headed for economic recovery and growth, or an epic day of reckoning? If you believe the latter, this site offers choice front row seats. 

http://www.greaterfool.ca

Former MP and business pundit Garth Turner's blog. Garth is a bit of a cocky egotist, but in a good way, in the best tradition of Snoopy, or Chad Ochocinco. His daily, Canadian-specific advice on financial planning and investing is always welcome, but we mostly enjoy his mockery of the present-day conventional wisdom of the business press. 

www.deadspin.com

If you love sports, and also subscribe to the belief that sports is entertainment, and a rather trashy form entertainment at that, you will love this site. A daily clearing-house of the latest outrages, peccadilloes and general wackiness from the world of sport. 

(Got to put a quarter in the meter. More to come).

Abolish the Beer Monopoly

Citizens of Ontario, arise!

It's time for a "Beer Party" in this proud and sovereign province. Not the kind of beer party portrayed in the many imbecilic commercials rammed down our throats during these hockey playdowns by Molson and Labatt (the two headed monster of urine-y swill known as "Mol-batt"). Rather, something akin to the late Boston tea shindig. For decade upon decade, Ontarians (Ontarioans?) have been forced, through the very unholy alliance of government, Mol-batt and beer store employee unions, to buy their pilsners and ales only from the Beer Store (or, as formerly known in a happier long-ago time, "Brewer's Retail"). Owned primarily by the aforesaid Mol-batt, the Beer Store enjoys a near-complete monopoly on beer sales in the province, but for a small handful of micro-breweries which are allowed by the grace of the aforesaid unholy alliance to sell meager amounts of their craft to the proletariat.

The Quintonian recently had cause to visit Quebec, and noted the vast chasm separating the sister provinces on the subject of biere, vin et alcool. While La Belle Province has to work on some issues of its own, ya gotta give the frenchies kudos for their Gallic shrug when it comes to grown-up drink. You can buy beer and wine pretty much anywhere in Quebec-- even at newstands located in large government office complexes. And beer discounts are a regularity, with competing retailers offering deals to entice the alcoolique . Why, The Quintonian was even lucky enough to purchase a case of Coors Light for the low. low price of $22, and place it in the cart right next to the Humpty Dumpty croustillantes and 2 L Pepsi whilst traipsing down the aisles of the Provigo.

Compare this to Ontario, where a chump has to drive to some distant Beer Store outlet, with ever-shifting closing times, get hassled by various low-lifes milling around the parking lot, and then suffer the indignity of waiting twenty minutes to buy their twelve-pack of Wildcat Strong, only to be informed by the union goon behind the counter that they are all out, and also that the debit card machine isn't working. And that's not even when the poor chump has to bring back empties. In that case, increase the line-up time by another 20 minutes, at least, thanks to The Man's new laws mandating that liquor and wine bottles must be returned to the Beer Store, as well.

What interest is served by such a system? Surely it does not benefit the aforesaid chump, who gains no advantage in price or selection, and certainly not convenience, with the status quo. And not Mother Earth; the Beer Store's self-fellating regarding its environmental stewardship is patently ridiculous and insulting to one's intelligence. How does it help Mother Earth to have to drive 15 minutes to the nearest Beer Store? Especially when the nearest Beer Store turns out to be closed when you pull up, requiring you to drive another 15 miuntes to the next-nearest store that hopefully has extended hours.

I'll tell you whose interest the Beer Store's continued existence is in!

1. Obviously, Mol-batt's-- almost all beer can only be sold in stores they operate, which is obviously a huge detriment to any competitor hoping to break the monopolistic sleeper hold they have on the market.

2. And the union's-- no Beer Store means no more cool-guy unionized Beer Store employees chatting up the ladies while ill-bred hosers ransack cases of Bud Light in search of free t-shirts, and the line-up expands amid the odor of stale urine and cigarette smoke.

3. And The Man's-- freedom of beer sales would soon lead to calls to privatize the government's most beloved cash cow, the LCBO. This would ultimately reduce the revenue available for the aforesaid Man's sundry nanny state initiatives and prerogatives, which includes the maintenance of a large troupe of Alcohol and Gaming Commission performers.

Anyhow, what we are getting at is that the Beer Store is egregious corporate welfare run amok for far too long, whose existence is an affront to the cause of liberty and a free society. Etc.

Don't Blow it up... Re-Brand it!

Yes, the Quintonian’s team, those Ottawa Senators, went down meekly in this year’s edition of Lord Stanley’s hockey playdowns. This posting is not a scathing rebuke of the disastrous ‘07-08 season. Frankly, this has already been done up and down by the bloggers and the normals. Also frankly, we saw this collapse coming way back in December whilst attending a Saturday afternoon snoozefest in person at the ScotiaBank Place, when the then-frontrunning Sens put on a miserable display of lacklustreness vs. the Rangers; so weak was the effort put forth that an ominous foreboding was cast for the rest of the season, surely for all in attendance.

No, rather, this missive is a plea for the Senators organization to transform their damnable brand. Lose the Neo-Classical Roman kitsch, at once! The original Ottawa Senators, whose legacy the modern-day franchise is always trying to conjure with its Silver Seven brew pubs and “O” shoulder patches and glorious banners of cups won long ago, were named after the local variety of Senator, found on the banks of the Rideau, and not the Roman kind once found along the Tiber.

That is, Sens Army should be celebrating the Red Chamber cigar-smoking plutocrat fatsos riding around in limos and bedding call girls, or doing whatever plutocrats did in the 1920s, and still do today. The Ottawa Senators of old were not named for the colleagues of Gaius Cassius Longinus and Marcus Tullius Cicero. They were named after the proud and sovereign (and, of course, corrupt) Canadian senatorial class.

You see, nobody who works in the marketing departments of professional sports (or probably anywhere, for that matter) has any knowledge of the glory that was Greece, the grandeur that was Rome, beyond the historically-inaccurate idiocies paraded by Hollywood and Disney. They don’t teach the classics to marketing students these days. So that’s how you get such travesties as the much-lamented opening ceremony from game 3 of this year’s playdowns.* Which brings up another important point. What does a soldier have to do with the Roman senate? And why is the Sens logo a Roman soldier? It would be like the Toronto Maple Leafs sporting an oak leaf. You see, a Roman senator was a wealthy, land-owning orator politician who waddled around in togas, whereas a Roman soldier wore a helmet and fought in battles. Two different things!

*lamentable pre-game ceremony:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi5nCd1ZVrw&eurl=http://theuniversalcynic.blogspot.com/

And by the way, enough of Spartacat the Lion! Yes, we get it. Lions ate people in Ancient Rome. But, once again, what does this have to do with the City of Ottawa? Or even the Roman Senate? If you want to stretch the correlation that much, why not make the mascot an wild ibex, since Romans used to hunt them? Or a giant olive, since Romans ate olives? If you want to stick with the Roman theme, at least a orator in a toga would fit the senate narrative.

Rather than the dumbed-down, mockery of history and good taste that presently defines the Sens brand, may we suggest a much more appropriate alternative. The infamous Ottawa fatcat of yesterday and today, living high off the taxpayer hog. A lovable villain who we sort-of-picture looking like this guy:

Old Salt, Redux

As an update to the last entry, concerning the excessive use of road salt in the modern age, please see the photos provided below. These were taken in the midst of the Great Blizzard of '08 on February 1, in the Distillery District of Toronto. Whilst strolling along, I noticed the salting boy pushing a large wheelbarrow filled to the brim with NaCl and its various toxic binding agents (this web-blog, supra). Were his orders to cover each square foot of sidewalk with the same in road salt? Apparently, because in the midst of the Great Blizzard, this sidewalk looks like a Palm Springs golfcart path.

Old Salt

These are the sidewalks of Toronto's fair and fine Distillery District, a couple of days after a light dusting of 2 cm of snow:

As you can see, there is no snow around, but plenty of road salt. The place looks like the bottom of a pretzel bag!

This is a scene repeated throughout the cities of the nation, every day, from November to April. While one can understand some over-zealotry in the salting of major highways, why is there a thick coating of the stuff on historic brick walkways bearing no snow or ice? The sodium and chloride and whatever Union Carbide chemical treats they add to it must surely be melting the handsome bricks almost as fast as they melt the thin veneer of snow.

Have we become so soft, as a supposedly nordic peoples, whereby a slight snowfall that would melt naturally within hours must be met with a saturation bombing campaign on every sidewalk and roadway?

Yes, indeed we have. The merest trace of precipitation is sure to greet a pedestrian with the crunch of a crust of salt crystals beneath their Grebs. The salt is rough on footwear and dogs' paws. But also pity the ecosystem, for the annual onslaught of road salt that percolates into groundwater, lakes and streams and the countless problems it causes.

Harold D. Foster, some professor from the University of Victoria, notes, "Most road salt contains sodium ferrocyanide as an anti-caking and corrosion inhibitor. Under acidic conditions, in the presence of strong sunlight, this compound is known to break down, generating toxic cyanide forms, including hydrogen cyanide. These toxins appear to have caused serious fish kills as the result of sodium ferrocyanide’s use by the BC Ministry of Forests in fire retardants. Recent animal studies also have shown chronic cyanide exposure may be deleterious to liver and kidney functions and causes both time- and dose-dependent DNA fragmentation, accompanied by cytotoxicity."

http://www.elements.nb.ca/theme/transportation/salt/salt.htm

The modern day technique of road salting is an example of how technology and the convenience it creates makes us lazy and stupid, and richly deserving of whatever payback nature ultimately has in store in return for our raping and pillaging of it. We can buy these bags labeled "road salt" for cheap, and it sure beats shoveling and scraping, so why not dump it everywhere? Better to leave some leftover in case it snows next week! Maybe sand works better than salt in dealing with snow and ice, but it's sooo messy! Why not use the magic chemical that makes the snow go away, and then vanishes itself!

When people head down the salted streets in their gas guzzlers to buy those "green" light bulbs this winter, well, I hope they give a thought to the pretzel-flavored surface they are driving on, and cytotoxicity, and groundwater contamination, and male bullfrogs with female genitalia. Maybe, between bites of the doughnut, they might consider getting snow chains or something.

The Lazy Blogger

Holy Crap! What a lazy-assed blogger I am! Not a single post since the autumn. And even that one was pretty lame, being about provincial electoral politics. Yet, still, this site is averaging 12.24 hits a day for some reason. While it's true this ain't no DailyKos, or Dooce, that figure is still rather acceptable considering the utter lack of updates, worthwhile or otherwise, for so many moons.

Anyhow, blogging can be unsatisfying with a capital "U", unless you are dooce or dailykos, or that deadspin guy. What's a chap to write about? I'm not going to be laying it all on the line like that dooce chick, talking about my breasts or puppies, nor do I care about the military-industrial complex government racket in the U.S.A. like the DailyKos. Don't even get me started about the resource exploitation- Tim Horton's supping-centrally planned-industrial complex up here. Meanwhile, sports are splendid, but a full-time blog dedicated to pro sports is just sports talk radio with typing. I could call in to the Fan 590 if I really needed to curse the name of Darcy Tucker.

Maybe it's the Seasonal Affective Disorder talking, but all I want to do is read lewrockwell.com all day. and wish that I could vote for Ron Paul.

http://www.ronpaul2008.com/

Sic Semper Tyrannus: Vote MMP!

To all Ontario readers:

There is a provincial election on October 10. Forget about whether you should vote for Tyler Tory, LaQueeta Liberal or Nancy NDPer. In the opinion of The Quintonian, the only question that matters is whether you vote for the Mixed Member Proportional system. In our opinion, this is the most important election in the history of Canada. Finally, if enough people vote yes, Ontario will have meaningful ballot choice, "stronger representation and fairer results".

Let's face it, every election is the same. One of the ol' gasbag parties, the Liberals or Conservatives or NDP (usually the first two) receives around 40% of the vote. But because they win more seats than the other parties combined, they get to rule like Joe Stalin for four or five years. Their resulting arrogance rightfully pisses off large segments of the electorate. But come election time, they start tossing around c-notes and g-notes, and maybe they even win another majority. Even if they don't, and get tossed out, the damage is done. Take (please!) for instance the Khanate of Mike Harris. Harris, the provincial legislative version of one of Genghis' duller grandsons, laid waste to vast segments of Ontario's civil society. He managed to achieve this over 7 years and two "large majorities" despite the harsh opposition of almost 60% of the voting population. The opposition of the sizable anti-Khan bloc verged on, and often surpassed, seething hatred.

There are plenty of other good reasons to implement MMP. For example, under the current system, a resident in a populated urban riding in downtown Toronto with 100,000 people has less voting power than one living in a remote riding with 40,000. Is that right? Is the urban resident less a person? Judging by the way the City of Toronto is routinely shit upon by parties in power, who owe their elections to rural areas and suburbia, yes, the urban resident is less a person. Meanwhile, the Green Party is constantly turning heads with its wise and logical platform. But people don't want to "waste" their vote on the Green Party, which never elects no-one, so they elect some scoundrel from an "established party" instead, who mouths enviro-friendly platitudes during the campaign and then turns around and approves a new coal plant or subdivision a few months later. Or else tries to build a multi-level parking garage for their SUV collection, like the Liberal Environment Minister Laurel Broten attempted this summer http://www.thestar.com/News/article/230332 (The environment minister, for goodness sake!)

Anyhow, that's enough political palaver for now. But Vote for MMP, willya! Read all about it here:

http://www.voteformmp.ca/

Current environment minister's house (awaiting automated SUV multi-level garage):

A Vickcup on the Way to McDonald's

Nice title, eh? Supposed to be a play on the phrase "A hiccup on the way to McDonald's"! Get it?

Anyway, here goes. While it is true that Micheal Vick is one huge asshole for that whole dogfighting thing, what about all the rest of the animal abusers out there?

Dogfighting is a bad, bad thing, but hasn't anyone out there read Fast Food Nation? Everyone who eats factory farmed meat in North America is dining on the corpse of an animal that was probably dispatched just as cruelly as the unfortunate creatures of Bad Newz Kennels. But treated even more badly when alive.

I don't mean to be a preachy PETA-type here, but the information is starkly apparent to anyone who chooses to look. The Quintonian used to eat as much meat as an Eskimo on the Atkins Diet, until a chance encounter with a parked rig full of pigs on the way to the slaughterhouse caused a serious ethical crisis. Which was eventually resolved toward a state of half-assed vegetarianism, with frequent lapses. So there is no stone being cast here. When I feel the urge to join the goosepile and condemn Michael Vick these days, though, I think of that burger I had last week, and the cows it used to belong to (because ground beef is usually composed of the the meat of numerous cows-- didn't you read Fast Food Nation?) Those cows spent the last part of their lives jammed on a feedlot eating substances that Mother Nature did not intend them to, before being transported and shredded by the Killing Machine, sometimes hung and/or electrocuted, just like at Bad Newz Kennels. And cows still have it better than chickens and pigs, who spend their entire sad, dismal lives inside cages too small to turn around in.

And what about greyhound racing? This ridiculous enterprise is still legal in many states. Despite the encouragement of adoption nowadays, a great many of these noble dogs are wiped out once they start to slow down on the racetrack. Killed for underperformance, just like Michael Vick's mutts. But why aren't there shackled greyhound track operators being frogmarched before the media? How come the useless, utterly trivial sports media don't chatter about that? Maybe because they are too lazy and non-original to google "greyhound racing"?

And when was the last time a bull fighter was suspended by the Commissioner of Bullfighting for being cruel to bulls?

And what about hunting? On what level is killing a pit bull worse than blowing away a deer minding its own business in some forest?

Michael Vick certainly deserves to cool his jets for awhile in the hoosegow. But the lynch mob ought to think long and hard about its own inconsistent and hypocritical relationship with animals.

Someone had to say it

At last, something to rouse us from our months' long slumber. As you may know, the proprietor of this site enjoys the game of baseball, or, as some wags have dubbed it, "fatball". Anyhow, we especially enjoy attending live professional performances at the local concrete bowl, the "Rogers Center", to watch those Blue Jays (how about those Blue Jays!)

So, anyway, this article which we recently stumbled across spells out exactly what is wrong about these baseball games at the Rogers Center/Skydome. Namely, the idiotic promotions, and the spectators who enjoy them. The Quintonian loves the free market as much as the next guy, but, c'mon, get outta here. The mass spectacle of endless shiny lights and hippity hop, MCed by morons and dancing little ferrets, must end. It's insulting to the sport, and to those fans with dignity. Anyhow, read on:

Take me out to the mall game

http://drunkjaysfans.blogspot.com/2007/07/take-me-out-to-mall-game.html

OK, that has to be the worst post title in the history of DJF or maybe the history of blogs. But fuck it. This is all about the atrocity you witness any time you check out our beloved Jays at what is supposed to be their sanctuary. Even more so on weekends. This is about feeling your ears bleed in the 6th inning after being bombarded by repeated advertising for things you have absolutely no interest in. Even more so when the dome is closed. This is about not even complaining about it because it's there and we've become numb to it. Even more so on five pints of beer. This is all about the super shitty promotional shit at the Rogers Centre and the tool who puts it in your face, Ryan Greer.

First of all, Greer, sit the fuck down and shut the fuck up. Most of you will know this douche as the "host" of the Rogers Centre on otherwise perfectly beautiful days to watch a ball game. What Greer does is turn that beautiful day into an onslaught of capitalist bullshit that he will spew through the microphone with his dickhead voice of relentless faux enthuisasm until you are so depressed, you wish you'd never come to the game at all. He is a great example of everything that is wrong with capitalism. The guy is a total asshole and thinks he's a total hotshot celebrity. You know the type. I've seen him getting "ready" for one of his announcements and he is stressed as fuck and treats his crew and whoever is around him like dirt. But once the camera's on, he's all smiles. Dude, you announce promotions. You are not a star, you're a fucking tool.

I missed out on two games this weekend and I would say 99% of the reason for that is due to this piece of shit (the other 1% not wanting to jinx Towers' outing yesterday). Seriously, why do we have so much promotional shit at the Dome? Simmer the fuck down, Ted! How much more money do you need to make? If I'm not watching a rigged Staples truck race, then I'm being told to lose my shit for a fucking Klondike bar. Now considering they probably charge $10 for a Klondike bar at the Dome, I guess I can see some appeal in getting a free one. But have you seen how some people seriously lose it for this stuff? And that's the saddest thing, all these fuckfaces in the crowd go for this shit. They cheer louder for the promotions than the Jays.

And that's a problem with society in general. But it sucks to see this at the ball park cause one of the reasons why I like to watch baseball is because it temporarily makes me feel that life is somewhat worth living for. But you can't even watch a ballgame without being reminded that mankind really does suck shit and that everything is terrible. Let's take a look at some of the culprits who are ruining the game:

1. The Pizza Pizza "Seven strikeouts" promotion: Now this one used to seem harmless and even kind of like a bonus. I mean, shit, the Jays get seven strikeouts, and we get rewarded. Seems like a utopian agenda. But I've come to fucking loath this one. Thing is, you're in the top of the ninth inning, it's a close one and you're losing your mind, and instead of having the fans giving props to the Beej or Accardo or whoever, we've got the whole stadium chanting "Pizza! Pizza! Pizza!" Now really, chanting "pizza" is beyond retarded. You might as well get yourself a styrofoam tomahawk and move to Atlanta. This promotion apparently completely miffed BJ Ryan in one of his earlier save situations last year. And I don't blame him. You're supposed to be excited about the game, not about a bland slice of pepporoni pizza that tastes like shit. Frankly, most of you have probably been loading up on greasy shit food the whole game. The last thing you need is a slice on top of that. And also, this poor promotion means drunk dickheads harrassing the poor people who have to work at this godforsaken hellhole food chain (Parkes, Stoeten). Pizza Pizza, go fuck yourself. Your pizza is never hot or fresh and it fucking sucks.

2. The fucking El Ranchero Chili race or whatever the fuck it is: OK people, this promotion is not funny. I know you think it is. But it's not. You probably all thought "Full House" was or still is funny. And I know AJ kinda gave it some cred, but that's old now, too. Seriously, this promotion sorta reminds me of the highlight of my working life spent at Blockbuster during the time when they used a computer animated guinea pig and rabbit (voiced by James Belushi, who's a tool, and James Woods, who is fucking insane) to sell their shitty product. They would do the most unfunny things. Like spontaneously start dancing to "Maniac" and yelling "Shake what your momma gave you!" Yeah. Think about those fucking Bell ads with the fucking beavers. They were so offensively unfunny, I thought Blockbuster might actually lose customers due to this marketing campaign. But holy fuck me, whenever those commercials aired in the store, customers would stop whatever the fuck they were doing to watch those ads and laugh their balls off. I've never thought the same of people since. So if you really bust a gut seeing people dressed up as chili peppers with shades on, you're a sad fuck.

3. The Fedex "Holy shit! What the fuck is in the box?" promotion: Had I never found out what was in these stupid boxes by this stupid company, I would still hate this fucking promotion. Simmer the fuck down, people! It's not a million dollars. It's not an all expenses paid cruise trip. It's not even a fucking bus ticket to fucking Scarborough. You get a fanny pack. There you go. But go ahead and lose your fucking mind and make a complete moron out of yourself. For a fanny pack. (I previously reported the prize to be a fanny box, which understandably I would lose my shit for, too.) Seriously though, folks, only way to justify this sad display of consumerism is if these boxes contained autographed Josh Towers jerseys.

On another pop culture sidenote, this promotion always reminds me of a scene in one of the greatest movies of all time, "UHF," where a contestant on "Wheel of Fish" chooses the box over the red snapper as her prize. When it's revealed that there is in fact nothing in the box, Kuni, Weird Al's Japanese martial arts instructor neighbour and host of the show, berates the contestant by repeatedly calling her stupid. If only he was running the show at the Rogers Centre.

4. On that note, it's amazing just how fucking cheap these companies are with their promotions. Not only do they have no creativity, they don't even pay up. On a fateful day last year, the Chairman, James and I were suddenly caught in the middle of a Mr. Sub "Holy shit! Get the fucking sub to the end of the fucking aisle quickly!" promotion. To the amazement of my friends and myself, I got really amped and serious about the whole thing. See, I was fucking hungry. And while I would never spend real money on Mr. Sub or any of the godawful food at the Rogers centre (save for the french fries and nacho combo, delicious!), this almost seemed too perfect. I would be satiated by a free sub. Now I've seen winners receive subs before, but after we won (key is to just fucking throw it over, especially if you have a bunch of geezers in your row), we got fucking T-shirts. You can't eat a shirt. Amazingly, James still has mine and wears it all the time.

But we still buy into it. Why is that? While our futile attempts to get away from the stress of capitalism must inevitably fuel the system itself, why does it have to suck so bad? I hardly want to start giving you the impression that I'm a raging communist, but from what I've been told, it's much more pleasant to watch a ball game in fucking Yankee stadium or Fenway cause they don't beat you over the head with ads. And that's just fucked up. We shouldn't have to suffer through this shit. I'm here to watch a ball game, the greatest game on earth, without the voice of Jamie Campbell or Ron Black to fuck it up. Don't go botching the peace and quiet and tranquility of a ball game with promos for stupid products that suck. Jays fans, you can help by not lifting a fucking finger when they tell you to lose your shit and actually cheering for the Jays when they make a good play. Imagine how much you'd piss off Ted that way. Shit, I'd even tolerate you doing the wave just to vent all of your consumer urges if you could actually pull that off. But just once, cause the wave really fucking sucks.

A River of Tears at the Pump

Today's headline at the Toronto Star:

"Outrage over hike at pumps"

http://www.thestar.com/News/article/215714

"Filling his station wagon at the Petro-Canada at Richmond and Jarvis Sts., Paul Wilson estimated the visit would cost him $80.

"The gas is just killing me," he said. "It's just murder. It's just unreal. The cost is ridiculous."

Jennifer Harris said motorists should have seen it coming.

"It's always like this," Harris said as she filled her SUV at the Esso station at Lake Shore Blvd. E. and Leslie St. "They spike it up on weekends. They spike it up on the long weekend. They always have an excuse. It's refinery problems, or it's terrorism in the Middle East, or hurricanes. Oil is down, so there's no reason for high prices."

This story shows us three things:

1. Canadians are big babies who claim to be all concerned about the environment, but get their knickers in a knot when the price of gas goes up ten cents. Obviously, people will never be willing to make any meaningful sacrifices when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions or energy conservation. But, on the bright side, geology will give them no choice, even though...

2. Canadians are utterly unprepared for the grim future of oil scarcity, and unwilling to face reality. I suppose you get the leaders you deserve, because...

3. Canadian politicians are utterly unprepared for the grim future of oil scarcity, and unwilling to face reality.

It's a lot of fun to goosepile on Big Oil, etc., etc., but much harder to explain how the world's giant oil fields are running dry, and the fact that there are no adequate replacements:

http://www.theoildrum.com/node/2470

If people think the price of gas is high now, just wait a few years. Dedicating newspaper space to stoking the outrage of whiny, self-absorbed consumers should be used more constructively. The finger should be pointed at all the whiny, self-absorbed consumers whose over-consumption got us in to this mess in the first place. But, alas, that sort of reasoning doesn't sell newspapers, or get votes. And yes, though it's been said countless times before, SUV drivers should be especially singled out when they get worked up into a frothy lather over high gas prices. The SUV driver is like a fisherman who uses dynamite, then complains when there are no fish left in the pond.