13 March 2012

3.5 Timeouts Tuesday



Tough one today.  I haven't blogged in a week, because I didn't have much to say.  Oh well, here goes.

1.

For those in Toronto: More and more knives are coming out for our democratically elected mayor.  I don't like the man.  In the last municipal election I voted for a politician I knew to be a criminal rather than for this man, as the lesser of two evils. I don't agree with most of his policies.  I believe I could spit and hit someone who would be a better, more intelligent mayor than this guy.  Having said that, even I think this is a witch hunt.  The left leaning councillors have been saying from the beginning that the election of Ford was a mistake, and now they are trying to rectify that mistake by any means whatsoever.  They are not merely undemocratic, but antidemocratic, and foolish in the extreme.  The mayor was elected by the same democratic process as the councillors.  Launching witch hunts against those in democratically elected positions simply because you disagree is a precedent they may wish to consider very, very carefully, and then reject.

UPDATE:

The latest news is that Ford participated in a vote from which he stood to benefit personally, to the tune of a few thousand dollars.  I'm waiting to see how this plays out, whether this is a righteous call, or his opponents just flinging mud to see what sticks, or his opponents flinging mud and accidetally hitting a righteous call.

2.

March Break up here.  It is always an achievement to survive.

3.

I was more broke than I have ever been before, was looking at eating pasta for the rest of the month until my next pay cheque, and at a complete loss as what to do.  Then, out of the blue, I am contacted by an old friend I have not seen in about fifteen years, and he sent me a cheque for a grand I loaned him about twenty years ago.  In my books:  a flat out miracle.

3.5

Why I would never audition for Canada's Got Talent: the judges Whereas the Americans and British have more vicious and sarcastic judges, Canada has a comedian and two professionals in the music industry, one of whom is a star soprano.  In other words, the other countries have guys who can be mean, but when it comes to talent, they are of the "I may not know much about what you're doing, but I know what I like" school.  Canada, on the other hand, has much kinder and gentler (and ergo less likely to gain great ratings) judges who know what they are talking about when it comes to singing.  Take this audition, wherein a man sings Nessun Dorma, (and in my opinion does a better job than Paul Potts) and one of the judges takes him to task for his breathing and support.




I am interested to see how he goes, though I doubt he will win.  From the shows in the other nations it seems that it is not the most talented who wins, but often the one with the best narrative.  The bullied kid who can sing.  The everyman or the homely person who turns out to have great talent, but was never given a chance to use it.  The one with the best story behind the talent comes out on top.  This guy has a similar story to Paul Potts- guy with blue collar job who can sing well, but Potts was wearing that crappy suit, had broken teeth and a bum haircut- he just generated sympathy.  Wonder how CGT will turn out.

6 comments:

Larry Denninger said...

Wow on #3! Definitely a miracle!

What's your take on the robocall scandal?

Patience said...

If Ford is ousted; what is the protocol? I don't think it's a done deal that Smitherman would replace him; either the Deputy Mayor (who thinks along the same lines) or another election?
Great that you got the cash. Prayers that more miracles of a similar vein come your way!

Bear said...

Robocall? Hard to say. As yet, no one has traced it back to the PM. Another problem is that it wasn't exactly robots calling, but was mostly people on the phone. My wife got one, but then she called elections Canada for confirmation and was told to go with the voters card.

As it stands, as I understand it: it was a dirty trick, Done by people in support of the Conservatives if not actually with the party's blessing, or even under its direction, (As of right now there isn't any evidence to indicate the party leadership was directly involved) it is dirty pool, and it may have tipped the balance in several close ridings. However, had those ridings gone the other way, it still would not have been enough to defeat the Conservatives in the last election.

In short, I am curious to learn more as the investigations continue, and do not know enough at this time to make a clear call.

Bear said...

Patience,

my wife has just informed me that if it is proven that Ford profitted from a vote in which he participated then the penalty could be a mandatory removal from office, and a ban from holding public office for eight years.

Patience said...

I know that but then who succeeds him?

Bear said...

I'm not sure. I imagine it would be the deputy mayor, although council may make use of this opportunity to make another power grab.

Frankly, this is starting to remind me a cadid and frightening statement made by Kyle Rae just before the election.