Just for fun today at work I spent some free time emailing myself interesting newspaper articles. Now I'll share them with you:
- A Union vote is not an Arts vote. Not in Vancouver at least.
- At first glance I thought this was the "Sonofabitch Prize", which probably would have been a cooler (and more accurate) description.
- Today is the 50th anniversary of Sputnik. Howard Stern says thanks.
- Halo 3 has now become a $300 million seller (That's $299.4 million Canadian). Xbox Live subscriptions and Xbox 360 sales are expected to also spike as a result. Many have noted how Halo 3 is far more profitable than Hollywood blockbusters, though perhaps people aren't entirely shocked and impressed that "By contrast, Sony’s Spider-Man 3, which cost about £250 million to produce and market, grossed $151 million on its opening weekend." Is that even good?
- George W. Bush has been invited by an Iranian college to speak to their campus. If Bush was really as stupid as the left likes to portray him as, he's probably go. In a semi-related story, some students from
MontrealToronto went to New York toprotest the Iranian state visitenjoy a taxpayer funded vacation. - The Globe and Mail doesn't like the idea of Snus being sold in Edmonton starting this month. Okay, look, I've had snus before. Some people go nuts for the stuff. Others don't. If smokers can be convinced to give up cigarettes for some nicotine flavoured happy pills, doesn't that mean less annoying smokers on the streets? As soon as the anti-smoking nutsos get it through their heads that some morons like poisoning themselves as a "stress reliever", and that companies like Phillip Morris like the idea of making money, and that these two groups have a good relationship with each other, its time to get off the high horse. While snus may be more harmful to you than carrots, its less so than cigarettes, and has far less impact on passerbys. If Les Hagan and his cronies really want something to fight about, why not try this story?
- Colby Cosh weighs in on MMP, which apparently has something to do with why Ontarians are idiots.
- Astronomers have discovered an Earth-like planet in its early stages of being created. Probably pushing fate to name it Miranda though...
- You thought women drivers were bad? don't ever put them on a boat!
- The first residential school "victim" got her paycheque today. The story reports she wore full native garb and her profession is...teacher. That's right, let's remember all over again how horrible these residential schools were: they took the primitive uneducated unproductive Phil Fontaine lot, and converted them into educated men and women able to make their mark on society. I guess we're the assholes...
- Now that's what I call 5-Alarm Chili!
- An old man donates his SciFi collection to the University of Alberta. Since, obviously, he couldn't leave them for his wife.
- The math on this just doesn't work out: 100,000 bottles and cans of beer stolen. So how was the value of a "retail value of $200,000"? Since when was Moosehead and/or Labatt beer only retailing for $2/bottle? Also:
Police believe the suspect is responsible for stealing 1,100 cases of beer and was selling the ill-gotten ale to bars and after-hours clubs.
1,100 cases of beer is 12x1100=13,200 bottles. Or, to be generous, 24x1100=26,400 cans. So where do the 100,000 come from? - Every member of Edmonton Police Services is corrupt. Having reminded you of that, pay careful attention to the news that police can be held civilly responsible for the consequences of their shoddy police work.
- Finally, Plawiuk and friends aren't going to like that the Alberta Alliance knew what it was talking about on the subject of natural gas, and that royalty changes to that industry would be catestrophic. Meanwhile, the CBC (surprise surprise) found an expert who knows way more about the oil industry than the people who work in it and/or own/operate it (which is why he's not pulling down $12 million a year advising companies in Fort McMurray).
