I know most of my blog posts can be all over the place at times but this one may actually go over the top on that.
This weekend we had a friend come visit us from Montreal. It was great to have her for the weekend and she brought us Montreal bagels, which I don't know why seem way better than Calgary bagels. As payment I took her and the kids to see The Muppet's new movie as a friend gave us 4 passes to the premiere on Saturday morning.
The movie was amazing, it brought me back to my childhood of watching the Muppet's on TV and it had humor for both the adults and the kids. The new songs they had were funny and good and the old songs they sung were nice to see in the movie. It may not be the best acting and plot you will ever see in a movie but it was an awesome Muppet movie and if you like the Muppet's I recommend you go see it.
This weekend was also the start of a huge sale in Canada for the BlackBerry Playbook. I already have one so I didn't really think to much of it til our friend started talking about wanting a tablet. The price for a 16GB Playbook was 199 plus tax which is a 300 dollar saving. Pretty amazing price for a great tablet. After some discussion and her playing with mine we decided to see if we could find her one before she went back to Montreal on Sunday. Well it turned out that price was so amazing that every store we called were sold out. This was 1 day after the sale started. To me this shows that the price point was great and means more people will have their hands on a great tablet. The more people that have it the more software will get developed for it and the better it will become. In the end she had called one store and they told her they had one on hold but if she left her name and number they would call her back if the person didn't come get it. About 2 hours later the store called back and said they would sell it to her. It turns out it was on hold for the manager and the clerk called the manager and asked if they could sell it to her, to which the manager said yes. Now that is what I call amazing customer service. We set it up for her and she had it ready to go for her flight home to Montreal.
My final ramblings is Occupy Calgary, what a gong show that has become. I really felt for the Occupy Movement when I first heard about it in the US but when it moved to Canada I questioned what it would be about here and when I found out about the movement in Calgary I was really curious. After 5 weeks I still know very little about what the people in Calgary are trying to change and I honestly don't think most of them know.
As the camps are slowly being evicted and closed down across Canada, the Calgary movement is staying strong and saying they won't leave. The mayor although giving them eviction notices has yet to go any further. Then today I read on the Occupy Calgary forums the discussion of what demands they should make of the city that would get them to leave. I was taken a back by the thought of a group of people illegally camping in a park making demands of the city where the majority of people do not support them, in order for them to leave. Then I read the list and was just flabbergasted. I just can't fathom where they possibly can be coming from to think they have the right to make any demands let alone this list. I as a taxpayer and resident of Calgary that is not a member of the 1% they are supposedly fighting will be pissed if the city gives them any of this stuff. The courts in Vancouver and Toronto have already sided with the cities saying that people do not have the Charter right to camp where ever they please so it is time to move them out and not put up with their crazy demands. If they want these items they should for a charity or a political party and have people donate to them so they can pay for this stuff themselves. If they truly are representing the 99% they should have no problem getting enough cash together.
Here is a list of their demands that they are discussing
1) That the city find a place agreeable to OC where we can hold GAs in safety and warmth.
2) That the city will cover rent for said place.
3) That the city pay for the rental of all equipment necessary to hold our GAs. For example: mics, amp’s, speakers, tables, chairs etc. Including internet access for live steaming.
4) That the city pay to hold sixteen GAs as stated above with time/date/location/format of our choosing. (Maybe even twenty to get us through our winter of discontent with weekly GAs).
5) That the city permit one tent at the plaza, or at a mutually agreed location, as an info booth to disseminate information to the public and to operate during normal park hours.
6) That the city provide electricity during normal park hours to ensure adequate lighting in and around the information tent referred to in 5) and provide assistance (CFD, Bylaw) in setting up an adequate and compliant heating system for the information tent referred to in 5). Also, that the city provide security for the information tent during off hours.
7) That the city pay for three evenings rental of the largest rooms at every Community Hall in Calgary for the purpose of holding public forums.
8) That the city pay for the rental of all equipment necessary to hold such forums. For example: mic’s, amp’s, speakers, tables, chairs etc. Including internet access for live steaming.
9) That the city pay to advertise all public forums. Including TV, radio, newspapers, community newsletters, etc.
10) That the city pay for a CPS presence at each public forum for the duration of the meeting.
I’d decline the city’s offer to provide planners/help to set this up. It’s probably more trouble than it’s worth.
And a link to their forum
http://forum.occupycalgary.ca/showthread.php?63-Text-of-the-City-s-Offer&p=149&viewfull=1#post149
If the city caves in to any of these demands it shows all you have to do is make an eyesore in the city and they will pay for whatever you want to make you go away. That is not a good precedent to set. If they do I would say that any of those that are opposed to it simply tell the city we are no longer going to pay our taxes and we are protesting the government. Let's see how quickly that one gets squashed in the courts.
These are my ramblings for the day thanks for reading.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Congrats on blocking a pipeline
So the US protesters have been successful in at least delaying the Keystone XL pipeline to take Canadian Tar Sands Oil down to Texas to be refined. I want to say congrats to you. You have done a great disservice to your country. Pipelines are relatively safe ways to transport oil and are monitored constantly, if they spring a leak they can be shut off and very limited amounts of oil will be spilled and can be cleaned up. Now with out that pipeline the oil will travel by ship to Houston where it can be affected by weather and once a ship springs a leak we all remember the Exxon Valdez spill. Only this time it will be on the coast of the continental US and have far worse consequences.
Other than the environmental issues, here is though take a look at everything you own and use every day, including the roads you drive on , the places you walk and the buildings you work in. Everything has some petroleum products in it in order to be made. This means if you take oil away all of that also goes away. It is more than just gasoline it is a way of life that can't just be packed up and removed.
If the US doesn't want Canadian Oil, I say cool. Lets build refineries in Canada and process the oil ourselves and sell it for 10 times as much as what the barrel of oil sells for. If that doesn't work for Canadians then why not go over to China who would be more than happy to pay top dollar for a scarce resource. The people in the US are always happy to protest and chant about one thing or another but let them really see the consequences to this pure stupidity when gas, power and every day products are no longer affordable because they either pay more or run out of oil.
Other than the environmental issues, here is though take a look at everything you own and use every day, including the roads you drive on , the places you walk and the buildings you work in. Everything has some petroleum products in it in order to be made. This means if you take oil away all of that also goes away. It is more than just gasoline it is a way of life that can't just be packed up and removed.
If the US doesn't want Canadian Oil, I say cool. Lets build refineries in Canada and process the oil ourselves and sell it for 10 times as much as what the barrel of oil sells for. If that doesn't work for Canadians then why not go over to China who would be more than happy to pay top dollar for a scarce resource. The people in the US are always happy to protest and chant about one thing or another but let them really see the consequences to this pure stupidity when gas, power and every day products are no longer affordable because they either pay more or run out of oil.
Monday, November 7, 2011
OccupyNothing
Today I write about the Occupy Movement that is sweeping the globe, it is the in thing to do, go out and occupy some piece of land somewhere to protest how evil the world, the government and corporations are.
I will start off saying I think that the people in the US do have some justification to do this and seem to be well organized and actually have goals as to what they want to change but as it spreads to Canada I think the message and the reality is lost.
In Calgary the OccupyCalgary movement has taken over a very nice space called Olympic Plaza right across from city hall and are causing tons of damage by camping in area not meant to support camping. I would not have an issue if they came everyday to protest but I do have an issue when they are breaking City bylaws and are not being charged or ticketed for said offenses. There are laws and they need to be enforced. It is not against the law to protest but it is to camp overnight at the Plaza. Why can't they come back everyday?
Perhaps they could even take a few days off and actually figure out what they are Occupying for, the standard lines of corrupt government and corrupt corporations and they are the 99% and the 1% has to pay doesn't really work in Canada. The majority of taxes are paid by those earning over 80,000 a year which is not 1% it is more like 40-60% of the population and they are supporting the rest of the people that are not paying the taxes and make less than 30,000 a year. If any of these so called protesters had ever filed a tax return they would now if you make below a certain amount in Canada you actually get all your taxes back. They also need to look at how Canada has many social service programs to help the poor, the homeless, and the sick. In Canada you can walk in to any clinic or hospital and get help. That is not the case in the US. That is why they are fighting so that they can get access to equal care. In Canada we already have it.
An anti-protester was ticketed and had his truck towed with in 3 hours of starting his own protest in the same Plaza, yet the mayor, police and by-law officers say they can't enforce the law in Olympic Plaza because it would trample on their Charter rights to protest. I call BS on the mayor and the rest of them. It is time that they enforce the law and remove these squatters and get our space back. If they want to protest I say go for it but do it with in the laws which means you are not allowed to camp out over night.
I would like to really know how many of the OccupyCalgary movement are professional protesters (IE that's all they do is find things to protest about), homeless people that are camping simply because other people are, or have ever had a job and paid taxes. I am personally very busy with work, family and life to sit day in and day out breaking the law because I don't like something. When I want a change I go out and I talk to politicians and I vote for the guy I think will support the changes I want and I talk to my friends and family and help get that person elected. That is how you get change, not by camping out in a park and trying to figure out what needs to be changed.
I will start off saying I think that the people in the US do have some justification to do this and seem to be well organized and actually have goals as to what they want to change but as it spreads to Canada I think the message and the reality is lost.
In Calgary the OccupyCalgary movement has taken over a very nice space called Olympic Plaza right across from city hall and are causing tons of damage by camping in area not meant to support camping. I would not have an issue if they came everyday to protest but I do have an issue when they are breaking City bylaws and are not being charged or ticketed for said offenses. There are laws and they need to be enforced. It is not against the law to protest but it is to camp overnight at the Plaza. Why can't they come back everyday?
Perhaps they could even take a few days off and actually figure out what they are Occupying for, the standard lines of corrupt government and corrupt corporations and they are the 99% and the 1% has to pay doesn't really work in Canada. The majority of taxes are paid by those earning over 80,000 a year which is not 1% it is more like 40-60% of the population and they are supporting the rest of the people that are not paying the taxes and make less than 30,000 a year. If any of these so called protesters had ever filed a tax return they would now if you make below a certain amount in Canada you actually get all your taxes back. They also need to look at how Canada has many social service programs to help the poor, the homeless, and the sick. In Canada you can walk in to any clinic or hospital and get help. That is not the case in the US. That is why they are fighting so that they can get access to equal care. In Canada we already have it.
An anti-protester was ticketed and had his truck towed with in 3 hours of starting his own protest in the same Plaza, yet the mayor, police and by-law officers say they can't enforce the law in Olympic Plaza because it would trample on their Charter rights to protest. I call BS on the mayor and the rest of them. It is time that they enforce the law and remove these squatters and get our space back. If they want to protest I say go for it but do it with in the laws which means you are not allowed to camp out over night.
I would like to really know how many of the OccupyCalgary movement are professional protesters (IE that's all they do is find things to protest about), homeless people that are camping simply because other people are, or have ever had a job and paid taxes. I am personally very busy with work, family and life to sit day in and day out breaking the law because I don't like something. When I want a change I go out and I talk to politicians and I vote for the guy I think will support the changes I want and I talk to my friends and family and help get that person elected. That is how you get change, not by camping out in a park and trying to figure out what needs to be changed.
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