For those who don't know, Ralph Klein has been the Conservative Premier of the Province of Alberta (Canada's richest province, due mainly to large oil reserves) for the last 14 years.
During that time, he has:
- Opposed the Kyoto Accord
- Become good friends with U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney
- Lobbied for a national referendum on same sex marriage AFTER it had already been passed
- Suggested that rather than give out welfare, the province should give unemployed people a one-way bus ticket to Vancouver (which is in British Columbia, the next province over)
- Threw a copy of the Liberal Health Care policy at the 17 year old girl who delivered it to him during the Alberta legislature, shouting "I don't need this crap!"
- And finally, one night he got rip-roaring drunk, went to a homeless shelter in Edmonton, verbally abused the people there and reportedly threw money at them. And he still got re-elected after that.
Well, so long Ralph. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.
2.) Many Canadians not practising good hand hygiene: study
I have already partially shared my views about hand-washing in an earlier post. Now, I understand that there must be some scientific evidence behind all of this...and it's not as if I never wash my hands (just rarely). And yet, I stand by my testament that in spite of this lackadaiscal personal policy toward hand-washing, I tend to be healthier than many 'clean freaks' that I know/have met. I obviously can't extrapolate my personal experience to the world at large, however I think there is something to be said about building up one's immune system (so maybe I just spread the germs without getting sick myself!) As I have previously admitted however, I am not a scientist or biologist. Lastly, while we are on the subject, two lines tucked away in the middle of the article caught my attention:
"[The think-tank which did the survey] operates on a grant from Reckitt Benckiser, which makes home-cleaning supplies such as the Lysol and Dettol disinfectant products."
Call me cynical, but in a society based on our perverted form of capitalism, in which money is more powerful than absolutely anything else, does that not make this a foregone conclusion? What I mean is, the think-tank is not going to publish the results of a survey which are contrary to the commercial interests of its funders/investors. For example, Nike isn't going to fund a think-tank investigating sweatshops but may fund one investigating the positive effects of basketball on inner-city youth. Similarly, I doubt the funding for this group would last long if they discovered that the effect of products like Lysol and Dettol were really rather minimal. Therefore, I'm questioning the relevance and authenticity of such a study...
3.) Argos' lineman faces sexual assault charges
(Disclaimer: innocent until proven guilty, I know)
According to the article, Williams used to play in the American football league (NFL) until he "was suspended by the league for violating its substance abuse policy." It's nice to know that Canada provides a home for the drug-using rapists from the NFL :P
And on that final, cheery note I am off to a supper at Aziz to say farewell to my friends from hOME this evening.
1 comment:
Let's see, I taught you to wash your hands and brush your teeth. I taught you to read and encouraged you to write. I taught you to respect others and encouraged you to have opinions. I taught you to live life with humour and encouraged you to explore the world.
How come you did so well on all the others but the first stuff didn't stick? I think it was the damn lesson on independent thinking that you really excelled at!!!
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