Spirited Kenny the Blog

The 511

2008-06-30T22:36:00.004-05:00

The July 31 2006 News Release headline reads as follows;

‘Environment Canada Welcomes 511 Weather and Travel Information Service.’

The promise is to provide up-to-date information to travelers about road and weather conditions so that they can make knowledgeable decisions about their travel plans. Since Environment Canada is moving quickly towards implementing this 511 service, it will be rolled out in 2007.

So if you were to phone 511 right now you would get the up-to-date information about the weather right?

No.

It is hard to imagine that almost two years after this press release, there is still nothing. Environment Canada is very tight-lipped about the whole matter. Inquires about the most basic of information about the 511 service, are replied with:

“Environment Canada is working both within and with other government departments on both the technical and financial requirements of such a service. Environment Canada has been working with Industry Canada and Public Safety Canada and the 511 system will be designed to be compatible with any future National Public Alerting System.”

This, however, was only after about two weeks of “back and forth”. This is also quite a different story then what they first told me. Before the email from which the above paragraph is quoted, I was told only Environment Canada was working on the 511 system, but was examining the technical aspects. The press release stated that Environment Canada was going to be working with, of course, private and government agencies like Transport Canada, and provincial and territorial governments. It seems like when you’re talking weather, and you’re working with multiple levels of government your deadlines will not get met.

The National Public Alerting system will not be alerting anyone until maybe 2010, and has only been in development for about 10 years. To even find out who is working on updating the 511 service is impossible, or at least Environment Canada isn’t telling me.

Does 2010 seem acceptable considering it was suppose to be useable in 2007? And is it ok that they have provided the public with no explanations for the delay aside from examining technical requirements? Technical requirements that could easily be resolved by phoning the United States of America where they already have this service available for their citizens, as stated in the press release.

Just what would be the ‘financial requirements’ for updating the already available highway conditions that anyone can now obtain from calling 511, to include vital weather conditions? I don’t know, but if it has taken over a year of counting, the bill is going to be huge.

Once you know what type of hardware and software are required, along with staffing needs, the financial requires should be a breeze. Then you have a two-week bidding period for equipment suppliers, installers, trainers, and building space. Since Winnipeg is the center of North America, and is the most logical place for server banks that might be required for holding all the recorded phone messages, it would make sense for the majority of the hardware and software to be set up here. We have lots of vacant building space downtown that I’m sure center venture would kindly show the Feds.

Then while the equipment is being installed, start some on-the-job training with the new federal employees that will be paid salaries according to union scale.

Maybe I missed something, a meeting perhaps. I always forget about the inter-government lunch meetings, dinner meetings, all on the taxpayer dime.

On a serious note, I would suggest you do two things.

1) Get a weather radio and set it up.
2) Go to get www.getprepared.ca, and start getting prepared.

Because it is becoming more and more apparent that the even though more then 50% of our total incomes goes to the government, they are incapable of doing anything more than using this warning system, and emergency preparedness for anything more then political posturing.

And they refuse to be honest with us about what the delays are.

Again, another story that is only be taken seriously on The Great Canadian Talk Show, only 92.9 Kick FM.

Happy Canada Day!

On It.

2008-06-11T19:43:00.001-05:00

I had just emerged from an all day meeting for work (that had a lovely lunch buffet) when I heard the news on CTV about Minister Ashton handing out money for a very much needed weather warning system for our very spirited province. After finishing my mug of ale I ran home, and started reading the press release.

This does sound promising, but we have been burned before with CanAlert.

I will be working on the story, and we will have a full report Friday on The Great Canadian Talk Show, only on 92.9 Kick FM 4-5

To read the press release please check out The Great Canadian Talk Show Blog.

Spirited Kenny for Starcraft

2008-05-22T22:03:00.005-05:00

My fellow citizens,

I implore you to take a minute out your busy life, and help me become the worlds first official audio content deliver for Starcraft. By simply signing this petition at ipetitions you can become part of the few, soon to be many that supports me, Spirited Kenny, in obtain this honorable position.

If you are one of the many that have come to my blog, and have not sign my petition, I ask you why not take the one-minute out and sign up?

Are you worried that you will be on the losing side?

Well fear not, for I have gained power friends in my quest to become the first ever Audio Content Deliverer for Starcraft.

Behold, one of the Friends of Starcraft…..

His worship Sam Katz, the mayor of this city of Winnipeg.

To help me become the first official audio content deliverer, please go to my online petition, or maybe if you’re lucky, you can email me, and you can get a photo with me and or Bleu Penn (That’s my campaign manager.)

I want to thank Sam Katz for being such a good sport, Thanks Sam, you rock bad ass.

The only question is who is next?

Entaro Adun, Ya all!

Plastic bags are more evil then the super devil.

2008-05-07T20:27:00.006-05:00

These plastic bag things keep flying back up into the tree branches, almost as if they don’t biodegrade or anything…

Oh..

I was reading Mary Agnes Welch’s article in the freep, and I noticed something a little, off. The article starts off well, with a bunch of students from Cecil Rhodes school (who haven’t yet been corrupted by the evils of GTA IV) eagerly awaiting the results of a reading of a private members’ bill that was written by Dr. Jon Gerrard, liberal leader (they left out the doctor part, its cool though because I caught it for you). These kids are holding onto their notebooks in class, glancing up at the clock, mumbling to themselves:

‘Ohh that bag bill is going to get read and I can wait ‘til it gets passed!’

‘Soon we will be able to skip all the way back home without having the gangs of plastic bags blocking our paths!’

‘Plastic bags and video games make me so angry that I do drugs!’

Like tossing a grenade into a room and shutting the door behind it, Mary writes that the bill is unlikely to pass. Take that Cecil Rhodes students! Stop wasting your time waiting to hear what happens in the house. Mary saved you a couple of hours of thoughtful debate, so run along now.>

And then, like opening the door again, and tossing in another grenade, and slamming it shut again Mary writes:

'The bags clog up landfills, entangle wildlife, litter streets and are almost impossible to recycle. Manitobans use about 200 million of them each year.'

What wildlife are being tangled up by plastic bags? I have cats, and my cats like to play with plastic bags, and through countless hours of observation, I have come to realize that if any animal gets stuck in a Safeway bag, and can’t solve its way out, it should die. That animal is genetically deficient, and it will improve the strength of the species for its seed will not be reproduced. Let’s just take a quote from this ‘Timesonline’ article from March 8^th2008:

They “don’t figure” in the majority of cases where animals die from marine debris, said David Laist, the author of a seminal 1997 study on the subject. Most deaths were caused when creatures became caught up in waste produce. “Plastic bags don’t figure in entanglement,” he said. “The main culprits are fishing gear, ropes, lines and strapping bands. Most mammals are too big to get caught up in a plastic bag.”
He added: “The impact of bags on whales, dolphins, porpoises and seals ranges from nil for most species to very minor for perhaps a few species. For birds, plastic bags are not a problem either.”

Theres another great line in that article

“…there is no scientific evidence to show that the bags pose any direct threat to marine mammals.”

After this whole article, that is basically bashing the poor defenseless plastic bag (after all, plastic bags have only tried to help you bring in your groceries, and carry up that 4L jug of milk up the stairs) Mary Agnes Welch closes with this little bit:

'On the Ban bandwagon
Leaf Rapids -- Banned in 2007 San Francisco -- Banned in 2007 China -- Ban starts June 1 South Africa -- Banned in 2003
Bags aren't so bad
It might be unhealthy to carry meat in anything other than disposable bags.
Paper bags are actually worse for the environment to manufacture, transport and recycle.
Plastic bags tend to be reused at a fairly high rate.'

It is a complete and total contradiction to the story above. I don’t know if Mary wrote this part, or the editors added it after.

Meanwhile back at Cecil Rhodes Jr. High…

All this time you had a hate on for plastic bags, well guess what, they are actually better for the environment. You should be praising these bags. There is just one issue though: as there are no citations listed, where did the freep get their data?

In fact, now that I think about it, in another recent article, “Super bug expected to flourish in Winnipeg” by Jen Skerrit, they again have a bunch of stats at the end of a somewhat flawed and alarmist sounding article, but no citations.

Now why do I say that article is flawed? Well let’s break down some of it. We are going to have some quotes here so hang on.

“..as much as 20 per cent of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) found in hospitals is being brought in by people who picked up the infection in their communities..”

Not shocking. If you have MRSA, you need to get to a hospital or you will die.

Ok…just one more thing:

‘Zhanel said the superbug is booming in places with a high number of people engaging in skin-to-skin contact, including gyms, day cares, prisons, reserves and the military -- primarily among young, healthy people.’

Ok sure….

‘Zhanel said researchers aren't sure what to do about people who are "colonized" with MRSA but not infected, and are still learning about how cats and dogs can spread MRSA to humans and vice versa.’

This is something I haven’t heard of, but it seems a little extreme to me. For bacteria to cross species and infect it has to be one hell of a bug. Bacteria and viruses are species-specific. To jump from one species to another and set up an infection is very rare, and then for that same bacteria to be spread from one person to another is very very rare. But I guess scientist need to check out any and all possible forms of transmission.

The truth is, that for a bacterium that was discovered in 1961, we still don’t know a lot about it. It can live on the skin for years, it infects some people not others, and its method of transmission is somewhat confusing. Drugs have been developed to treat it, but it’s a harsh treatment.

But instead of showing all this doom and gloom, let’s start looking forward. There are other treatment options that seem to be having some success.

Platensimycin is a new form of antibiotic, and is proving to be quite successful.

Maggot treatment, as revolting as it sounds, involves having disinfected maggots clean the wound of the dead skin and seems to help

And there is also Phage therapy, which involves modifying bacteriophage, a viruses that only attacks bacteria. MRSA is a bacterium, so this is essentially germ warfare on germs.

We have options.

Antibiotic Resistant Bugs are an issue we need to deal with, and understand. But like any other major issue, making alarmist statements doesn’t help. Such as street gangs and inner city violence, we can’t turn our heads on ‘super bugs’, but need to start actively addressing these issues.

Was there car jackings before GTA?

2008-05-01T22:59:00.010-05:00

Well, with my taxes being done, on time, even without the online extension, I figured it was time to toss up another post. Some people have asked why I haven’t tossed up a blog about GTA:IV yet? Well, I think that almost everything that needs to be said has been said, but I’m going to have at it anyway.

Lets start things off with a great post from http://www.gamepolitics.com/

The post contains a graph of police killed, and assaulted in the USA from 1997 until 2006, and also points out when the last three GTA games were released. I think it is interesting that the games all came out during a negative trend, almost as if these games have no correlation with these types of crimes. This graph is similar to one that Gamepolitics did earlier: check it out, it is also very clever.

There has also been some mention that this game is going to cut into ticket sales of Iron Man. Let’s just think that out for a second. The amount of MATURE 17+ gamers that are going to stay at home playing the game, over going to see a two-hour movie with their friends is going to be very minimal. If anything, the gamers are going to want a break from killing all those whores once they’ve raped them and taken their money back. They are going to want to see a real super hero, Robert Downy Jr. who hasn’t done anything wrong…

Has he?…

He’s a good role model… Right?

Where are all the people protesting a former real-life drug addict starring in a movie that is being marketed towards kids?

'Where is Helen Lovejoy when you need her?'

Police agencies?

Angry soccer moms?

Canadian Teacher’s Federation? Where are you? I need your help now, what should I do with this one? I don’t know. I guess the game must be OK, I mean you would have had a press release out saying its not...right?

I enjoy that fact that the gaming community is actually showing how MATURE 17+ it is. When the policy makers and the bureaucrats do nothing but blow hot air and try to make it look like they are doing something about this outrage, it’s the community that comes out and tries to inform the parents that this game isn’t for kids. Both Josh and I have been informing parents about videogames on The Great Canadian Talk Show for months, and will continue to do so. But honestly, there are plenty of resources out there for the busy parent who doesn’t have time to do research. Just check out that new ESRB widget on my side bar: type the videogame title in the search bar and BAM! You’ll find the rating and the content to earn it such a rating.

That little black and white rating box on the cover of the game actually means something. Just a few weeks ago I was contemplating starting a campaign to have the same organization that rates movies also rate videogames. After all, the rating you see on the box is done by a USA company, and we don’t allow the USA to rate our TV or movies, so why our video games? But now I see that the community is being responsible, and it’s time for parents and legal guardians to put on their big boy pants, or big girl panties and start doing their part.

To read all of the latest Shenanigans about GTA: IV check out http://www.gamepolitics.com/.

Happy Looting.

What does Geothermal mean to you?

2008-04-20T14:57:00.006-05:00

Once again the Winnipeg free press has the ability to drop my jaw, and make me to drool all over my pants. What did this? Some mind-blowing article, full of facts, and a well thought out commentary?

Nope.

What got me was this…

What is geothermal heat?

It's a process that uses stored solar energy beneath the surface of the earth, where the temperature is at a constant 10 C. Heat is drawn out of the ground (or groundwater) in winter by a pump that also raises it to the proper temperature. In summer, the process is reversed. Heat is sent back into the ground, cooling the building.

SOLAR ENERGY?

THE HELL?

That statement makes no sense. The Sun does not heat Winnipeg very well in the wintertime. I mean it keeps us alive, and it heats the planet's surface… but geothermal loops are buried deep in the ground to avoid the permafrost, and temperature changes caused by the atmosphere so it can provide a constant energy source. A quick Internet search, that any five year old can do, has provided many definitions of geothermal heat. Even Wikipedia has a great description that even I can understand.

None of them refer to ‘stored solar energy.’

As most of us have learned the core of the earth is hot, this is for various reasons, but the key here is that the Earth’s core is hot, very very hot, and this heat radiates out. This is the heat that the geothermal pumps use.

These people are in total support for something they have no idea what it is. It's not the first time they have made mistakes about alternative energy sources. Let's not forget Mary Agnes Welch's comments about Wind Mills, not for grinding grain , but for electric production. Wind Turbines work much better then wind mills, still waiting for the correction on that one.

Alternative energy sources are exciting things, and science is doing some crazy things, but how can you write an article about anything without even doing a 10-minute google, or wikipedia search.

Does the Freeps IT department block any website other then its own?

Did the Freep feel its Internet bill was to big, and now only has one computer hooked up to a dial-up connection, and the staff uses that one computer to listen to my podcast, The Great Canadian Talk Show, and 92.9 Kick-fm all day, and therefore don’t want to use it for any other purpose because it will suck up to much bandwidth?

Or

Are the facts that unimportant?

It's articles like this that make me glad that the Freep doesn’t have a bigger science section, I chastised them a few weeks ago on The Great Canadian Talk Show, for not having a bigger science section, but now….. ohhhh boy.

The article otherwise shows that private companies see the value of energy saving technology, and are starting to use them, and its about time.

But until you learn how to research properly..

Keep your dirty mitts off science please!

The Spirited Kenny Podcast has arrived!!

2008-04-14T20:03:00.004-05:00

Yes, Your not seeing things. The long await, PodCast is here and is ready for you to listen to.

What will you be listening too... well, its something that hasn't been done on Canadian radio for a long, a comedy based talk show... type thing. There are a few F-sharps, and some content isn't for impressionable minors, so watch out!

In this very speical podcast you can look forward to hearing;

Why does Girlicious have cultural significants?

What happens when you mix three friends, two microphones, and a whole lot of halfpints?

You know Spirited Kenny, now its time to meet Special Interest Kenny.

Music credits go to;

Danko Jones - Kiss on the first date
Clutch - Electric worry
Against me - Stop!
Sublime - Why can't we be friends
Raconteurs - You don't understand me

Please email me your thoughts of the Cast, as your opinion is important in this every evolving venture.

Either comment to this post, or email me at SpiritedKenny@gmail.com

Thanks, and enjoy.

Click Here to listen to the PodCast!

And remember its comedy,this was done out of malice or hate. So if you take offenses, just simmer down.

Get off my land!

2008-04-12T17:09:00.005-05:00

Last year on The Great Canadian Talk Show, we read out what you as a citizen can do to protect you, and your property. Yes, it is hard to believe that we here in Canada do have citizen arrest powers. I figured since spring has sprung, and the criminals are on defrost, it might be a good idea to post what you have the right to do to protect yourself, your family and your property.

This is a direct copy and paste for the criminal code;

Arrest without Warrant and Release from Custody Arrest without warrant by any person 494.
(1) Any one may arrest without warrant

(a) a person whom he finds committing an indictable offence; or
(b) a person who, on reasonable grounds, he believes

(i) has committed a criminal offence, and
(ii) is escaping from and freshly pursued by persons who have lawful authority to arrest that person. Arrest by owner, etc., of property

(2) Any one who is

(a) the owner or a person in lawful possession of property, or
(b) a person authorized by the owner or by a person in lawful possession of property, may arrest without warrant a person whom he finds committing a criminal offence on or in relation to that property. Delivery to peace officer

(3) Any one other than a peace officer who arrests a person without warrant shall forthwith deliver the person to a peace officer.

R.S., c. C-34, s. 449; R.S., c. 2(2nd Supp.), s. 5.

Please don’t take this as inciting vigilantism, because its not, and I think the people that read this blog are smart enough to figure this out. But I do think that we in the community need to know our rights. The police readily believe that it is our responsibility to protect our cars with immobilizers, but then also tell us that we shouldn’t intervene when a crime is happening, just report it, even though we hear story after story about the police not showing up for hours, even when citizens are detaining would-be car thieves.
These are your rights, this is what you can do, and this is what our laws in the country allow you to do.

Spirited Spirited Kenny for official audio content deliverer for Starcraft.

2008-04-06T08:41:00.004-05:00

My fellow citizens;

I come to you today as a man asking for your help. For far too long the Starcraft community has remained voiceless. Sure, there are games, books, and even stadiums where players battle each other while their fans cheer them on.

But there is no voice.

Well, on Friday April 4th 2008, live on The Great Canadian talk show I tossed my hat down and declared my intention on becoming the official audio content deliverer for Startcraft.

I understand that the thought of having only one voice for an entire cultural phenomenon can be scary, but trust me. When I’m appointed with this great honour, not only will your wildest dreams come true, but they will come true with such force that your brain will have no time to adjust to the new reality of pleasure that it has now been forced into.

Just go to:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/kennyforstarcraft/index.html

and sign the online petition. It’s that easy to make your dreams come true. Not only will I bring the integrity to this honoured position that it deservers, but I will also bring the dry cool wit that is needed to keep this position as celebrated as it should be.

Spirited Kenny for official audio content deliverer for Starcraft.

When you hear the name Spirited Kenny, think
Honesty,
Good looks and,
StarCraft.

Who is the Bully now?

2008-03-27T22:13:00.006-05:00

I think we can all agree, that videogames have a huge influence on kids. I mean look at all the Rock Bands, and Guitar Heroes that have popped up seemingly over night, playing their shows on street corners or at bus stops, harassing the gray tops with their ‘rock music’.

It’s a plague I tell you.

If you can recall a few weeks ago, on March 4 2008, Rockstar released a game. This game was so horrendous, so horrible, so evil, and so vile that to see the cover of it made most priests weak in the knees, and would cause lesser men to believe in true evil. This game was Bully: The scholarship edition.

The Canadian Teachers Federation (CTF) heard about this game, and that very day had a focus group sit down with the game to evaluate whether or not it was suitable for the children of Canada. This focus group included, I’m told, an extremely savvy 16 year-old who tried to play the game. I know what you are thinking, “the game must have been so evil that it tried to corrupt him and the CTF, being the responsible people that they are, grabbed him, and turned off the console to prevent any permanent damage to the poor lad, and that’s why he couldn’t play the full game”. No, here is what the CTF said;

‘According to the gamer, the game is plagued with freezing issues and audio glitches in addition to a less than solid frame rate. With respect to the story development, it’s a game that he would not recommend for his 14-year old brother to play. As you know, the game offers players the “option” to do a good action instead of being a bully. Well, our experience with the game has shown, whenever our gamer chose to do the “positive” action, the game would freeze up and we had to reboot and start the game over again.’

I don’t think I have every heard of children lying to grown ups. Especially when they would be getting special treatment. Have you? Almost like they were bullied into it.

‘Had the game producers ever considered that kids would voluntarily choose to do the “right” thing, these problems would have been ironed out. From the results of our study group, I think not.’

The game for XBOX is full of issues, and Rockstar never got back to me about whether or not they tested the game differently then others they have released in the past, however there is a patch coming out that will fix the issues... eventually. I also never heard back from Rockstar confirming that this is how the glitches are expressed for other copies of the game. However, everyone I talked to about it seems to disagree with the statement that the game freezes only when a positive action is done.

Well after what I’m sure was one frustrating day of playing a game full of glitches, the CTF came out with a press release on March 5 2008 calling to boycott Bully. It must have been hard coming to this conclusion when you haven’t fully played the game, kind of like judging a book by the cover, and all pretty fast too, its like they knew what they were going to say even before then ‘reviewed’ the game. A few people got their names in the papers, the CTF looks good and that’s that right.

Wrong. That’s when I heard about this nonsense. I phoned the Manitoba Teachers Society and after getting nowhere for about a week, I was finally engaged on the phone, but not before I was told by their communications person that he only had a limited time to devote to this issue.

Sorry, what, are you trying to bully me away from this story?

Then when I asked why the teachers decided not to take the opportunity to teach parents about the rating, instead opting to just out-right boycott the game, I was told that “it’s not our job to teach parents”. Imagine that, it’s not a teacher’s jobs to teach. Now I understand that it may not be teacher’s jobs to teach parents, but then they should be staying out of the parenting game all together. Let parents do their job, and the parents will let you teach.

So the CTF is not only going to tell you what you should let your kids watch and play with, but also they are now quality control testers for Rockstar. That’s what I pay taxes for, for the CTF to tell me how to raise my children, and to provide off site quality control for Rockstar. Sounds to me like they are trying to bully Rockstar about they're quality of work.

All this for a game that is bought and sold under the counter like cigarettes.

Kids are influenced by what games they play, but they are also influenced by what TV shows and movies they watch, what internet sites they go to, and what music and radio shows they listen to. But that’s all on a microcosmic scale, and it doesn’t even compare to how parents and guardians influence children. Parents are the ultimate filter for children and should be trying their best to let their children only be engaged by appropriate media. Letting a four-year-old play this game is pretty much the equivalent of letting a four-year-old watch Die-Hard.

Media imitates life, and life imitates media. The mafia was around before the ‘God Father’, dysfunctional families were around before ‘The Simpsons’, and bullying at school was around before the game.

But then, with out ‘The Simpsons’ we wouldn’t have D’oh. Its all very cyclical, like a Santa’s little helper chasing his tail.

A kick to the coin purse for gamers everywhere.

2008-03-09T14:50:00.002-05:00

As a gamer, I find it completely inappropriate when certain organizations and governments find it necessary to try to ban a video game because of the content. It seems like videogames are going through the same thing that any form of media goes through: a long drawn out phase where old politicians or old public officials find it necessary to ‘protect’ the public. Audio records (you can’t say cassette tapes because there are way more than just tapes) went through it, movies went through it, and now it’s videogames turn.

Things are different now. Banning a certain pieces of media doesn’t have the same effect it use to have. I mean, I guess it never had the desired affect any of the banners wanted it to have. A perfect example is BBC’s Radio One trying to ban ‘Relax’ by Frankie Goes To Hollywood. All that did was send the record to number one for five weeks straight.

So instead, as a compromise, we have a rating system in place for media. CD’s are adorning with explicit lyrics warnings, movies are rated R, and video games are given AO rating. This ensures that along with responsible parenting, children, with their fertile and moldable minds, aren’t exposed to brutally violent scenes. We rest assured that the proper people are hired, and review the content of any media fully, and come to a reasonable decision about the appropriate rating of the media.

Well, I have bad news for responsible parents. Gamespot picked up a story from ‘Electronic Gaming Monthly’ about a former employee of the ESRB (That’s the body who is in charge of reviewing, and giving appropriate ratings to videogames) Jerry Bonner, worked at ESRB for six month, and left under good terms. When he was at ESRB he notice several things that concerned him, among them were:

-When the raters came to an agreement on a rating, it would sometimes be raised or lowered after the fact by the ESRB, without sufficient explanation.

-Games seem to be picked at random for raters to play, not all the games that are released are played.

The ESRB replied to these matters, saying sometimes the ratings are chance due to previous similar content, and cultural norms at have been established by public option. OK, trying to keep the rating system consistent and relevant, that’s alright.

Then, to defend the sampling approaching to rating games, the ESRB said that they rely on clips of relevant content t provided by the studio that made the game. That’s like saying only watching the relevant clips of any movie is sufficient information to decide what its rating should be. How can any organization that is entrusted with rating any media believe that not fully reviewing a said media is acceptable? I would be surprised to find out that movies and CDs are treated with such disregard. With out fully playing a game, how do you know what type of cultural significance it has?

I am someone who believes that videogames have been given a bad rap, and aims to fix it. In a society that is basically trying to pin gangs, guns, violence, and antisocial behavior on videogames, it is very frustrating to find out that a body that rates videogames is basically pulling ratings out of their asses, licking the sticker and slapping it on the cover of the game, the whole while giggling like a girl playing a mean trick on a nerd. It makes everyone that said, ‘don’t ban these games, just give them an appropriate rating and let parents, and public decide if they should play them’, look like a dick.

Mainstream Vs Alternative: Crime can suck this - Update!

2008-02-25T18:32:00.004-06:00

I wonder what Dan Lett thinks about crime in this city after the shooting at Polo park.

Still nothing to be concerned about, or do you shop at St. vital Dan?

Mainstream Vs Alternative: Crime can suck this.

2008-02-23T10:22:00.006-06:00

Lets get this badge out and polish it up… there we go.

Here is a link to the offending blogpost.

I’m not trying to pick on Dan Lett, but the things he says really angers up the blood, and before I know it my fingers are a typing away. Now this ‘kinda white liberal’ news paper columnist starts out with very harsh words towards the latest Conservative campaign of direct mail to voters, accusing the current NDP government of being soft on crime. Well, Mister Doer and his government sure aren’t tough on crime. I can point out various cases where the public was sure given a disservice by our justice system.

The case that sticks out in my mind, when I first realized something was wrong with our justice system, occurred years ago. A 15-year-old punk killed an innocent 22-year-old refugee from Iraq with an 8ball in a sock, and was given only 1 day in a juvenile detention center (Homie don’t play that game indeed). Yes, this was a court of Canada 7-0 decision, I know not provincial, but it was escalated from the provincial level to the federal level.

Maybe that example isn’t fair of me to point out because it was a court of Canada error. Where else can we look to see that our justice system is failing us? Look at all the ‘Level 4’ MPI offenders: stealing hordes of cars, young car thieves ramming police with the stolen vehicles, police just recently being shot at, the murder of an 8-month pregnant woman, and the lack of justice for the Crystal Tamen family as a few examples. If hearing about stories such as these don’t shock and anger up the blood something is wrong.

Now when I first read Dan Lett’s blog, it was a jaw dropping experience. His whole attitude left a bad taste in my mouth. But then I got to thinking about how most of the crime that happens in Winnipeg happens in low-income areas: Magnus, Elgin, Logan. I’m not saying everyone who lives there are criminals, I’m just saying more often then not, the crime stat dot is going to land around one of these streets. So now, go and re-read Mr Lett’s blog and replace the word crime, with the word poverty…Lindor Renyolds would be all over that like South Park’s homeless on some spare change.

Back to Dan Lett’s blog, He brings up six examples of horrific crime that have happened in other provinces. Then he states this:

“The Tories may think it’s not safe anywhere in Manitoba, but I think most people in Manitoba and throughout the country realize they are not in immediate danger. Yes, crime sucks. But so does fear mongering.”

I think what he left out was something like “Me and my family and friends are safe in our ivory towers. Since most of the crime that is happening in my city and across the country doesn’t effect me, well it just doesn’t matter.”

Take the blue pill Dan. This whole attitude of ‘crime is happening everywhere else so it’s OK for it to happen here’ is bullshit. We all can see that crime is a problem and we all want it to stop. It is this attitude of complacency that has spread throughout our city that has lead it to deteriorate to the state it is in now. We are not good enough to have a NHL team, we are not good enough to have a world-class stadium, our roads are good enough, crime happens every else, so why not here.

Again I bring up the business example, if Winnipeg was a business and we had a re- occurring problem with employees getting injured by the equipment we use, would we:

A) Ignore it
B) Try to fix it.

No world-class successful company has every picked A. So why are we settling for it now?

There maybe be crime coast to coast, but that doesn’t mean it’s alright. We as a community should start working together and try to become country leaders in crime prevention, and crime solutions. Oh, and just a few days after his blog post, the Winnipeg free press posted a story stating that Winnipeg in 2006 was the second most violent city in Canada, second to Vancouver where they free admit of having gangs.

Yes, complacency sucks, and I’m trying to rock people out of their little ruts.

RIP CanAlert.. Hello Mister National Public Alerting System.

2008-02-11T21:39:00.001-06:00

AKA: Lets get some safety already!

Let’s not break out the Half Pints yet - there is still a lot of work to do. But if we have a national public alerting system in place by 2010, I will take Chuck Sanderson out for a Half Pints at the King’s Head Pub.

CanAlert is no more; it is now the National Public Alerting System. But let’s not be fooled, industry Canada was still given the project of creating a national warning system in 1995. So if the system is established by 2010, it will have taken 15 years to get this up and running.
Back in 1995, things like cell phones, and blackberries were not as prevalent as they are now, if not just concepts on a drawing board. It would have been pretty expensive to have a public alerting system that would notify you on your cell phone, and even then how many people would it reach? Not very much. The other option is TV and radio, and for that to happen legally, they would need to change their licenses.

Fast forward to now.

Everyone and their dog has a cell phone (except for those few holdouts like me) and broadcasters are voluntarily changing their licenses so they would be in compliance when they are broadcasting warnings. This is good, as the Feds have asked them to change it by 2009, or else… I don’t know, most likely fines. As far as the warnings you currently see, it’s only been out of the goodness of our broadcaster’s hearts that they broadcast any weather warnings. And lets face it, if you know CKY warns the public of a emergency and some other station doesn’t, you are more likely to watch CKY when the skies darken.

What, in theory, is going to happen when there is an emergency such as tornadoes, floods or chemical spills, is you will get notified on your cell phone. Hopefully it will be like an alarm that will keep chirping and chirping until you turn it off. This service should be coast to coast to coast. Then it breaks down to what the individual municipalities think they need. Trained people will be working across the country 24/7 to ensure that when a warning is needed, it will be provided.

There will also be an Internet service to alert people. You’ll be able to sign up to get warnings sent to your email.

But this doesn’t help low income families. Families that don’t have cell phones or black berries, What about these people? What about anybody at 3 AM, your cell phone, if you have one, has died and you are charging it while it’s off. Living in a major municipality how are you going to get warned of that midnight tornado? Maybe air sirens? A reverse 911 system? These are the important little details that need to get address by the municipalities.

And now that you have been warned, what do you do? Does your four-year-old child know what to do in an emergency? Chances are you have a good idea what to do in case of a fire, or flooding. We already teach our kids in schools what to do in case of fire, flood, or extreme cold. Now all we need to start teaching them what to do in case of tornados.

We have two years to create the system and train the people and standardize the messages that get broadcasted to cell phones. Two years to teach our kids what to do in case these warning pop up one day while they are out playing a pick of game of soccer in the park. Two years, and its only taken us 13 years to cross the starting line.

The cost should be around 16 million. That will be split 50/50 between the fed and provinces and territories. Then the 8 million will be split among the provinces on a per capita basis. Leaving Manitoba to pay somewhere around $350,000. A price tag I think we are all too happy to pay.

Just remember that this is a story that affects all of us. And it is a Great Canadian Talk Show exclusive! No other news outlet, mainstream or alternative has had the drive and determination to jump through every hoop. Go back and forth between the feds and provincial government, for months over and over again. No one else has tried to get opinions from other provinces and territories. No one else feels that a common sense public alerting system is needed, or is worth any space on any page in any newspaper.

CanAlert, just another story the mainstream media chooses to ignore in favor of the most recent pictures of Britney Spears.

I plan to keep in contact with the EMO, and Chuck Sanderson to find out what the progress is. If I find out that some one is dragging their heals on this one, I will be calling attention too it. We have the momentum to change things for the better, to make our kid’s Canada a much safer one.

Just reminder, the reply to Dan Lett’s ‘On going debate’ has been posted, just below this one

To read about the history of CanAlert, a Great Canadian Talk show exclusive, just click the link.

Mainstream vs Alternative: the final battle round 2?

2008-02-10T11:28:00.001-06:00

See, all it took was a logo for people to start noticing me.

Here is a link to Dan Lett’s response to my early post; it will make things a lot more
clear.

Media cop, I like that. I will only take the position if I get my own uniform and new car to drive around in, and of course a pay raise.

I would like to thank Dan Lett for breaking his New Year’s resolution and replying to my blog post. This just goes to show that this new media anarchy that we live in now is an amazing thing. Part time volunteer journalists or reporters are able confer or jump in to the ring, with their full time paid counterpart, adding another important perspective to the interpretation of world events (welcome to the thunder dome).

This is jumping into Dan’s response to the R.U. Serious blog, and I’m sorry if I’m stepping on toes here. Now it bothers me that people in the news media have this approach, to quote Dan;

‘I often tell groups who have asked me to speak to them about media and politics that no single news organization has the responsibility to make readers/viewers fully informed’.

Most people I know don’t have the time to go to multiple news sources, they just pick up bits and pieces here and there while they run off to their second job, night school, or their children’s events. If anything, it is now more then ever that people need at least one reliable news source. .

I understand that there are deadlines, and sometimes events are misunderstood or misinterpreted. It would be a reliable news source that would treat retractions with the same emphasis that they printed the original story, not just a little box hidden in between ads. When I make mistakes presenting material that I researched, I point it out. But I try to make damn sure what I’m saying is true, before I hit the publish button.

Dan then brings up Ottawa’s “Clean Crack Pipe Program” (or at least that’s what I think he means, as when I looked into this I only found news articles about Ottawa canceling its Clean Crack Pipe Program, not anything about Ontario’s Clean Needle Program).

“I remember recently toying with the idea of a column that lambasted Ottawa city council for ending funding for a clean needle program. Before I could muster the words, colleague Tom Brodbeck at the Winnipeg Sun wrote a piece lauding Ottawa for getting rid of the clean needle program. I decided to move on to another subject, but there was an issue where I believe the words “truth” and “bias” are really meaningless. I felt strongly that Ottawa should have supported the program, Tom disagreed.”.

Now, Dan asks me

‘Perhaps Spirited Kenny could tell me who was being truthful in that debate?’

Loaded question I know, but I will do my best to answer it. Lets look at just the facts:

The Ottawa government shut down the program.
Then the province of Ontario picked it up for a year.

Those are the facts, beyond that it’s just Dan’s opinion that differs from Tom’s. The part up for discussion is whether or not you think the program works. IF the goal of the program is to slow the transmissions of sexually transmitted disease then the goal is was reached. If the goal of the program is to stop the transmission of sexually transmitted disease then the program is a failure. It’s all in how much you value the quality of lives of crack users.

And then there’s this comment

“I loathe stories about Britney Spears but our readers don’t. I have an opportunity to write about serious things because people who like Britney buy the paper.”

I hate to break it to Dan, but ain’t no one buying the Winnipeg Free Press to read a three paragraph story about Britney Spears. It’s easier and more up-to-date to hit up sites like TMZ and Perez Hilton.

You present the facts about the program, what they’ve done, who they’ve helped, and the program’s goals, then its your opinion if the program is working or not. To some people, slowing the transmission of deadly, incurable diseases is worth it however other people will say that these drug users are still spreading the disease and the program is not working.

You don’t need to shout the loudest. But when a news media outlet is not reporting on a story that affects the public, because of backroom political reasons, it is the other media outlets, mainstream, and alternative, to point it out to the public, and present the facts of that case. Or worse yet, if a mainstream media distorts the facts of a story because an advertiser suggests that they should. Now it is up to other media outlets to let the public know what the real story is, and why the corrupted news outlet would betray their trust.

I’m also not that naïve to believe that a person should only go to one news source to get the whole story - this is one of the faults of our capitalist society. Society is diminishing the personal responsibility of each individual to go out and actively inform themselves, and transferring that onus to the major media outlets. Although it’s not ok to be lazy about informing ourselves, it still doesn’t make it right to allow a news source to be lazy about the information they publish. The goal of any news reporting agencies should be to report the whole story. What I think what people are forgetting in this is that they hold the power to make changes. If news agencies aren’t covering stories you want them to cover, or presenting them in a way you don’t like, you can ‘vote with your feet’, stop buying them, stop reading them, and tell others what you think of them. Hit them where it hurts to most, on the CFO’s bottom line.

So Dan, thanks for keeping this debate alive, and civil. Next time I see you running around in the World of Warcraft I will toss you a few ‘pots’ and help you on a quest or two, I’ll even let you keep all the greens we loot.

Mainstream vs Alternative: the final battle

2008-01-27T16:18:00.001-06:00

Now in order for this post to make any sense, I need to first get you to read Dan Lett’s Blog from Jan 25 2008. Its all right, going to multiple media sources is what you need to do sometimes do to get the whole story in these interesting times.

http://www.winnipegfreepress2.com/blogs/lett/?p=76#comments

Now as I sit here, listening to Albert King’s “Too Many Dirty Dishes”, and sipping on a half pints “The Son” (this is poking good-natured fun at his Jan 26th blog post), I think he is kind of confused about the role of the alternative media.

Alternative media has many roles, but one of its core roles is as a watchdog for the mainstream media. Many people thought and continue to think that the mainstream media was too heavily biased, and started using alternative media as a way of expressing their counter biased point of views. Another role of the alternative media is to combat against corporate censorship and since most alternative media outlets have little advertisements, they can’t be bought and silenced by advertisers, or worse: political parties and special interest groups.

(Now the song has changed to Modest Mouse – Spitting Venom)

To bring up this idea of ‘Honour among thieves’ is worrisome. When it comes to the people that the public turns to and trusts to present the most accurate and honest account of events, I would hope that this brass bar would not get in the way of the truth. When one columnist notices that a fellow columnist is abusing their role to misrepresent events and reporting false conclusion, I would hope that the first columnist has the balls to call this rogue columnist out. Not only does it discredit all columnists everywhere in the eyes of the public, but it is also provides a disservice to the public, and that is really who journalist and columnist are serving. Columnist and journalist are the people that get paid to find the truth because the public is too busy with their lives to check every little fact, to read every little news release, and to watch every debate.

(Kate Nash – Merry Happy, ya I like that song)

To say there is an unwritten rule that we not waste space to other media is silly. But then to say there are expectations, and to list one as Don Imus’ on air self-destruction shows a certain level of mind-blowing ignorance. The fact that you can print article after article about what Britney Spears is doing shows that you can make some space for what other media outlets are doing (I think I will post about this Don Imus thing later because that incident does need some explaining.) If another media outlet screws up, and they are not retracting their statements someone should report it to the public.
Why?
Because people need to know that someone is presenting false information as truth, or warping quotes and the truth to paint a completely different picture of events and outcomes. When the public criticizes a media source they are letting that source know what they expect. If the public did not think that a source is capable of providing a higher quality of reporting, they would vote with their feet, and that outcome would be far worse.

(Sublime – Why can’t we be friends)

A great example mainstream news outlets taking up space to report on other mainstream news outlets is Keith Olbermann on MSNBC and O’Reilly of FOXNEWS. When O’Reilly does, and says something stupid Keith Olbermann holds him to it. This goes to show you that this idea of a unwritten rule can really be summed up with one phrase;

Status quo. Lets not challenge things, lets not ask questions, lets just keep doing what we have always done and things will be all right. No person, company, or country has every accomplished anything great by just doing the status quo.

Don’t eat the 28 oz. steak that has been marinated for 48 hours in 4 peppercorn and beer, it’s a clone.

2008-01-15T22:49:00.000-06:00

Imagine that, cloned cows, pigs, and goats are ok to eat, but we won’t be able to for the next five years or so however, cloned sheep are still shady and should be approached with great caution. As far as I’m concerned this is just the next step to total control over our food sources, which I think is excellent. With cloning comes genetic modification, and with genetic modification beef becomes leaner, larger, taster. Think about it, there will be less chemicals injected into those beefeaters because they will be growing fat without aid. Have a herd of cows that grow bigger, faster, fatter will be simple.

Pick a cow
Take DNA
Clone
Repeat as the Keg needed

There are a few issues that come up with this tasty topic

1) Controlling the natural evolution of a species.
Folks your gonna need to get over this one. Us as humans have be shifting and controlling the natural evolution of all sorts of species for well, ever. Every since the first crop of wheat was harvested and we selected the longer grains to plant again because it was easy to harvest we have been controlling the natural evolution of other species.

2) Lack of genetic diversity
Yes this is a problem. A primes example of a species losing its genetic diversity is the hyena. One illness can in theory wipe out the whole species. But this is nothing that constant vigilances and pre planning can’t take care of. Along with having banks and banks of genetic material to pick from, we can also monitor the cattle.

Now all you dirt-footed hippies don’t need to get your dreads in a knots. Now days you have more choice then ever where to get your food from. From buying from hippie stores that have free ranged animals, or picking up organic foods from presidents choice you will always have a choice. I’m sure cloned meat will be labeled just like when the first genetically modified tomatoes hit the stands had labels. And if you don’t like genetic modification, and don’t believe that its worth it, and nature should takes it course. Let me remind you that marijuana these this is incredible compared to the weak stuff from the 70’s, all this because growers have been genetically modifying their crops by picking the best, cross breeding the cloning.

The Hilary Watch

2008-01-06T13:57:00.000-06:00

Can you believe what they got Hilary Clinton saying now? Just days after what the critics are calling a defeat in the Iowa primaries, they’ve got Miss Hilary Clinton acting like a fourth rate candidate. Obama has her running scared. She lost in Iowa with a record turn out, so that must mean that this is what the country wants. And now it’s time for everyone to start jumping to conclusions like:

- Hilary’s a weak candidate
- There is no way that Hilary could work with the Republicans
- She needs the support of young people

The worst part is, she is now acting like all these are true. Hilary was never expected to come out on top in the Iowa primaries. In fact Iowa turned out like Hilary supporters thought they would. Hilary was never strong in Iowa, but nationally she is the strongest. If she had stuck to acting like she was the front-runner and not start mud slinging against Obama she would have won New Hampshire no problem – but now that is questionable. By resorting to verbal attacks she looks scared and desperate. This is the point where Billy needs to step in a say something like “Babe, its alright. You just need to keep acting like a winner and everything will turn out all right”. But the last thing she is going to do is listen to Billy. She has had the pants in that relationship for such a long time Billy doesn’t even know what pants look like. I sort of equate this to any job - you dress and act for the job you want, not the job you have. And Hilary needs to start acting like a President again, like before Iowa, or she better learn the bass to help support Billy’s Band.

The CanAlert lowdown: Update

2008-01-02T22:37:00.000-06:00

I contacted Manitoba EMO and asked for a copy of the recommendations that they were to submit to Minister Ashton today. I was informed that the file is not done yet, and will take another week or two to complete.

Yet more delays in the quest for our safety.

The CanAlert low down

2008-01-01T23:34:00.000-06:00

Why is CanAlert a big deal, and why do I keep beating it like a long dead horse?

For one, beating a dead horse is so much fun and two, because it is common senses to have a public warning system to alert everyone of incoming dangers. We keep bringing it up and giving everyone bits and pieces about it, so I figured I would give a 2007-year end fact sheet about the program, the concept, the strategy, and the debacle that is CanAlert.

Industry Canada was given the CanAlert project in 1995, but was then made into a joint project with Public Safety taking the lead in 2002. It was finally made a priority in 2005 between the federal and provincial governments, then again in 2007. No budget has ever been given for CanAlert. When I tried to contact the public safety critic about CanAlert, the critic didn’t even know the project was a public safety project. When we first looked into CanAlert, Manitoba wasn’t planning on implementing any warning system until the federal government acted. That’s when alarm bells sounded because the federal government planned to do nothing until 2009 while it waited for broadcasters to voluntarily change their licenses with the CRTC so that they could legally interrupt their broadcasts to alert the public. This is another two years of inactivity where the people of Manitoba are nothing more then sitting geese with blindfolds on waiting for lightening to strike. After 2009 the Feds would only act as a leader and not dictate what the provinces and territories did, as it was also brought to our attention by Public Safety that the provinces and territories would have the final say. Currently there is no standardized message, no set of rules for if and when the system would be activated, who it would be activated by, how these people would be trained, who would train these people, how many people will be needed, and how much this will cost. This is all still being discussed.

CanAlert has been described to me as a "project," a "concept" and recently as a "national strategy". There seems to be confusion between the different levels and regions of government about the status of CanAlert. I have been told that it has been cancelled, that its still being pursued, and that the CanAlert Strategy was never adopted and other strategies are being looked at.

When all the provinces and territories (except for Nunavut) were asked about their current warning system and what they had planned for in the future, only BC, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and the Northwest Territories replied. It is refreshing to hear that Manitoba is no longer waiting for the feds to get it in gear anymore and has formed a group co-chaired by Manitoba EMO and the Association of Manitoba Municipalities. This group is planning to send recommendations to improve emergency preparedness to Minister Ashton in December.

So where do we stand now? Well, we have seen more movement on emergency warning systems in the past six months since I started working on this story then in the past ten years. It's my opinion that CanAlert is a huge project and shouldn’t be handled by elected officials. The elections of provincial, territorial, and federal governments are staggered in such a way that there is at least one new person coming to the table every year. This person or people need to play catch up and may have a whole new set of issues to bring up that need to be dealt with first before movement can happen. Also if the provinces and territories have the final say, then why is the federal government so entrenched? At the very most they should just encourage and help fund provincial and territorial approved warning systems, help with some cross board issues within Canada and internationally, and ensure there is a consistent minimum level of warning across Canada. It's pretty obvious that if it's taken more than ten years for nothing to happen something needs to change. That change may have occurred already, some provincial governments are now setting out on their own to build warning systems, playing catch up to Alberta that has had a weather warning system in place for years. One of the things Manitoba is looking into is something called a reverse 911 system. The theory behind this system is an official would be able to phone everyone in a certain region at the same time and relay to them the warning, hopefully being landline and cell phone based. But words and reviews and committees don’t save lives. Right now in Manitoba we have a couple of different warning systems: Pinawa’s community access channel broadcasts emergency information, and Manitoba broadcasters have an agreement to relay unedited emergency information provided by EMO. There is also environment Canada and weatheradio.

Is this enough? The simple answer is no. It’s the 3 AM questions that I’m stuck on. Its 3 AM, you're asleep in your bed and there is a freak hail and lightening storm with gale force winds heading in from the south. How are you warned? The systems we have now are based on you pulling, or actively looking for the warnings. Warning systems should be a push information system, something that wakes you up, or makes you stop what you are doing and lets you know what is currently happening, where it is coming from, and where experts predict it will be going. In addition to updates, it should also inform you what you can do to be safe. There is also a certain level of personal responsible too, have emergency preparedness kits with lots of clean water and food that won’t spoil, a radio and batteries, winter clothing, flash lights, a cell phone (a way to charge it wouldn’t hurt), and of course most importantly a family plan of what do to when you hear an alarm.

Duke would always bet on the fat nake Gay

2007-12-29T22:36:00.000-06:00

Lets start things off on a positive note.
Duke Nukem forever has been renounced. With just a few seconds of CGI and what is promised to be in game video, things are looking better then ever for Duke Fans like me. If you don’t know who Duke is.. He’s like John McClain but all hyped up on steroids with a witty ass attitude and the predisposition to taking craps in decapitated alien bodies all the while make smart ass comments while he blasts the alien away. He say things like ‘You’re a inspiration for birth control” and “What are you some sort of scum sucking bottom feeding algae eater.” But is all in good spirits. Yes next year is going to be a great year for video games. You think Halo 3 was big, while just wait for Starcraft 2 to come out. That game is going to make Halo 3 look like amateur night at the community club staring your crippled aunt Susan and her lap dog.

Anyways…

Is this writers strike really getting to anyone? What a awful time to go on strike right at Christmas, when all the Christmas specials are on and most shows are on break until late Jan, or like heroes last year until Feb. I haven’t really noticed it, and besides heroes this season seems to be lacking something, Ohh I love that fact George Takei is in it, but other then that its just missing something it had last year… I guess we will call it unpredictability. These people are suppose to be the creative back bone of the whole entertainment industry and no had the foresight to notice their presence won’t, for the most part, be missed until Jan. Besides most shows have a stock of scripts, hell the Simpsons had the whole season done before the writers walked out. The part that worries me the most and sends me into a cold sweat is what the networks have said they are going to do, that would be to make more reality shows. The problem with that is, most reality shows are scripted beyond belief anyways. I’m just waiting for one of the first survivor people out live there vice like contract and write a tell all book that describes all the food they handed who they had to hook up with. I even wager you if you look deep enough you will find that there has been some inside betting going on.

My heart goes out to you writers (Ya, like any are going to read this) and I hope some movement, any movement happens over the next week or so, but until then it re runs of married with children.

I’ll be honest I would be watching married with children even if the write strike wasn’t on and its not because of the writing it was Ed O’Neil’s facial expressions.

Think.... Think...

2007-12-15T09:57:00.000-06:00

I have quite a few dreams: one is to host a big time radio show where I can act like an asshole and people still like me (kinda like Howard Stern, except with out the degenerates). Another dream I have is that one day, Al Gore will pull up in a SUV, tell me to hop in and we take a trip to Smitty’s on a Tuesday night. There Al and I would have a few drinks and some cheap wings and we would talk man to man about global warming. Then after we have both said our bits he would take a long gulp of his beer, and with a glass half full he would hold it up to cheers and say, “Well Kenny, I see your point. I guess I might have been wrong about this CO2 causing all this warming here. Here take this Nobel Peace prize - you earned it, not me.” We would then clink our glasses and we would start to compare CFL to NFL. This however will never happen for a couple of reasons: one I don’t think Al Gore is one of the five people that actually reads my blog (I love all five of you by the way), and two, media and special interests groups have made it impossible for a politician to do something all of us do everyday… learn.

It’s called flip-flopping. Once a politician says something they can never ever take it back. It is cast in stone with a polyethylene coating. Now what would happen if a politician did in fact do such a thing as learn? Here is a quote that I’m sure would be heard around the water coolers or even coffeemakers (if your company has one of those really fancy ones that can make like cappuccinos and stuff. Mine doesn’t but I wish it did sometimes).

“That guy doesn’t know what he is talking about. He says this one day then he goes saying that the next day… he doesn’t have a clue”

The media would rip him apart and you see two clips played back to back with him saying one thing then the other, and a smarmy-sounding announcer would say something like “Al Gore replaced by his evil twin? We have more after this ad for Endure X.

And there in is the problem. I would love to see some politician come up to the podium and say “I’ve checked the numbers and talked again to some experts in this field and I guess my stats were mistaken.”
Then some asshole in the crowd would yell “Good work, now I see why we elected you. Can’t even get your facts straight.”
Then the politician would shout back “Hey asshole, everyone of us makes mistakes, like I’m sure the first Big Mac you made at McDonald you didn’t get it right, no. It took a couple of lunch rushes to get your mojo going and learn how to do it right. We are all learning here and I’m, in fact all of my people, are trying to do our best. This one just slipped by us.”
Then the asshole would yell back “Ok, I see your point. Thanks for coming clean about it.”

Could you imagine if a politician reversed their opinion on gay marriage, abortions, or God? They would be done for. Now don’t get me wrong, we should still give it to politicians when the bone up, but if they come up and admit they were wrong as well as admit to the proper way to fix their boner, well then we should all pitch in a couple of bucks and treat them to a ice cold beer. But I don’t think we need to worry about that for a bit.

Spirited Kenny: Vegas

2007-11-26T23:23:00.000-06:00

It has been brought to my attention that I have a blog, and the last time I posted was Hallowe’en. (I have also just realized that the version of Microsoft Word I use thinks the word blog is a misspelling for the word bog.) I’m not going to sit here and tell you about all the things that happened. I’m not going to post pics of my family and me standing in front of statues or water fountains. If you have been to Vegas you know what its like, and if you haven’t been to Vegas I would suggest that you go at least once - and bring your walking shoes. For those who do want to know how it was I would sum in up in one word: CRAZY.

If you have been listening to ‘The Great Canadian Talk Show’ you would have heard me mention that I was working on something big. That was not a lie, I’m still working on it, and it will be up shortly (see, like governments I have learned not to give specific dates or time lines).

As I start to go through the web looking for things to comment on I find this tidbit of interest: currently on BBC the most read article is ‘Spice Girls in “fake” email claim’ and the fourth most read article is ‘Kenyan police “kill thousands”’. Now we could look into this and make statements like:
- There is a disinterest in the public mind about what’s doing on in Africa.
- There is a war weariness that has set in and around war stories out of Africa.
- There is no oil in Africa so we don’t care about the slaughter that happens there.

We could examine each point and its merits, but that’s not what is going one here. None of these statements are true. What is true is that the majority of people in Africa don’t get their news from the Internet, as where people in the US, Canada, UK and China would use the Internet more. Therefore, we see news of pop bands, such as the Spice Girls affecting much more people then the dead in Kenya. Kenya is a far off distant thing, but the Spice girls are coming to a town near you! Guaranteed if the headline read ‘RCMP Kill thousands’…

Well…. lets face it the RCMP would be number two, the Spice girls would still be number one. They are way hotter then any RCMP officer and still affect way more people then the RCMP do. Even if it were the FBI or China’s secret police, the Spice Girls would be number one. Come to terms with it people, the word “Pop” in Pop band means popular. Music and the people that make it have always been more interesting to read about than genocide and the latest laws that are about to be passed. Why is this? Generally it’s because most people don’t want to know about the horrors that other human beings commit, and out own collective inability to do anything about it. We want to hear about the good times, the fun people, the people the create beautiful things like art, not the bottom feeders of the human race that remind us that we got to where we are today by killing and murdering other humans and other races. So where am I going with this? The next time you get ultra critical about some star or starlet being the lead story on CNN or BBC just remember those empty headed stories are the only things that are keeping us out of the muck that is our dark and horrid nature.
Now this brings up the whole question of what are we going to do about it? If you don’t like the way the mainstream media lines up its stories and reports on brain dead issues you need to vote with your feet so to speak. Stop clicking on those articles, change the channel when those trashy stories come up and start reading other blogs (But still keep reading this). You may even want to start picking up those free news papers you see at the newsstands. But if you do like how things are, status quo, then keep on watching CNN - I know I’m going too