Month: April 2005

Unbelievable

I keep thinking I have posted my last post this Saturday morning, this is simply stunning and has to be noted:

“Ever since I was there [in 1998], there was a guy who told us that one cafeteria was for whites, one was for black.” But his eventual complaints, along with those of three other black workers, led to a damning decision recently by Quebec’s Human Rights Tribunal against Centre Maraîcher Eugène Guinois Jr., one of Canada’s largest commercial vegetable farms, located about 40 minutes southwest of Montreal. In her 32-page report, Judge Michèle Pauzé said she was “stunned, even scandalized” by the racism, neglect and segregation that took place at the 1,300-acre farm where Mr. Michel and scores of other black workers were hired to pick and process vegetables. The judge was so shocked by the case that she prefaced her decision with the phrase, “The events you are going to read happened here, in Quebec, during the years 2000 and 2001.”

While the Globe and Mail, instead of invoking the US south, could have as easily said this sad story sounded like something out of the segregationist elementary schools of forty or fifty years ago in my Nova Scotian hometown or the segregated movie theatres there then, too, the point is the same. Read the whole story and check the labels in your vegetable drawer.

Brian’s War In Iraq

I haven’t reminded you for a while – so do not forget to read my upstate NY neighbour Brian’s posts from Iraq where he is working as a paralegal with the 10th Mountain Division. He has been involved with some of the biggest non-combat news stories coming out of the war and, while he maintains his professional cone of silence, he is able to deftly tell fthe story of what it is like to see what he is seeing. Today, he writes about seeing photos of an entire village Saddam had murdered as part of the making of the case against the former dictator.

Sports Update

The sports pool is suffering from a gap and I realize I should have had some first round NBA questions to fill in at this point – like “how many techical fouls will Iverson pick up?” for 30 points. That being said, I am astounded how I do not miss the NHL in any way. My gawking at athletes life is entirely complete without it, exemplified by how much I enjoyed last night’s 2-0 Jay’s victory over the Yankees.

Of my three disliked teams across all sports – the other two being the Habs and Man U – I admire the Yankees the most. So while I will turn on the TV just to see them lose, when they do lose it is quite the thing. And losing to the Jays is quite the thing as well. Roy Halliday, the pitcher for Toronto, threw a three hitter was as in control and dominating as any pitcher I have ever seen making veterans dive back at pitches that transformed from beanballs to middle of the plate strikes but the time they hit the catchers glove. Their shortstop, MacDonald, made a unbelieveable snab at a sure looper and Hudson at second was very strong. Randy Johnson, by comparison, appeared as weak as I have ever seen him but he still had a more than decent start with a complete game and nine strike-outs. He was just over-shadowed. The New York Times this morning says of the game:

Halladay throttled the Yankees, 2-0, spinning a three-hitter and doing his best imitation of Josh Beckett in the 2003 World Series. On a night when Randy Johnson also threw a complete game with nine strikeouts, Halladay shone brightest. “He was nasty, that’s just the bottom line,” Derek Jeter said. “Everyone talks about the great pitchers in the game: Clemens, Randy, Pedro,” Jeter added, referring to Roger Clemens and Pedro Martínez. “They need to start talking about Halladay, because he’s as good as they come.”

With the Big Unit out to a poor start along with the rest of the team, the judges now will be out for a good long time to determine whether Boston, with Wells, or New York was craftier in their selection of guys my age as starting ace.

Baseball has won me back. I have box seat tickets for a Pawtucket Sox game in late July and may even take the kids to see a Jays game from the cheap seats – seats you can actually afford at nine bucks and seats that are actually available. I may even drag them over the river to see the Watertown Wizards of the NYCBL. June 18th there is a whuppin’ of Glens Falls scheduled at 3 pm on a Saturday. Soon, CFL will start up. Soon, there will be talk of NFL. Soon, Bettman will be fired and, someday, the new 16 team NHL will figuring out how to get a revenue stream when you force a lock-out and declare that you will not use replacement players.

Election Watch: Tories

It took some coaxing from certain parties but here is a link to the March 2005 Policy Declaration of the Conservative Party of Canada. I do not seem to be able to actually save the document and even my operatives deep within the Big Blue Blob had difficulty locating the document on the rather badly laid out CPC website so read it while you can.

Update: I have had a quick look through and am not drastically concerned except for all the wingy property rights things not to mention a federalism (aka constitutional) review of the needs of those poor Western Canadians (aka the rich Albertans!). Here is a list of some of the highlights as far as I am concerned:

    Apparently, you will not be encouraged to be an autonomous slacker under Tory rule. Being yourself is not part of well being, just money, money, money and I, me, mine. Nothing to fear as a constitutional amendment will never never never pass. It is nutty dreamerism of those with to pretend that their Audi and cottage on the lake is worth the same protection as the independent media or those personal characteristics which are used by discriminating state agencies against individuals.

  • Tighter breach of public trust provisions are fine and the Tories will be able to consult with their own incarcerated Senator on the idea.
  • Big science projects are the best science projects. I love big science.
  • I am happy living with the health care and pharmacare principles which include universal access and public funding but public and private delivery as well as catastrophic illness drug coverage.
  • The principle of respect for provincial jurisdiction over housing and immigration gets a little confused as deals with municipalities appear to be on the table.
  • I have no idea what it means that Parliment will run foreign affairs matters. Leadership by disfunctional committee in time of crisis. Brilliant.

So all in all the best thing is it is all there for you to see. I will have to see whether the other parties can pull our a broad ranging paper on what they stand for. Operatives behind the blue wall inform me that this document will form the basis for the election platform in the next election. I may think some of it is nuttsy Alberta speak but at least it is speaking. So not more hidden agenda talk from me. It is all there and some of it is scary but no scarier than those guys who date or married your female pals from undergrad who monopolize dinner parties boring everyone with softie rightist monologues on whatever. Do you want to see that guy on TV every night with PM after his name?