Canada’s Menu Pet Food, the dominant player in the pet food industry was forced to recall sixty million cans and pouches of pet food because of tainted wheat gluten from China.
Tag Archive: 2007 Year in Review
Jan 01
“Divorce is With Us”
While the political brain trust of the Federation is busy arguing over who should and should not be the captain of the Canadian national hockey-team and whether captured Taliban fighters should be brought back to Canada and given a “house (to have) arrest” (in), over on the dark side of Canadian politics, the Parti Québécois quietly replaces its party leader with a lady. [You will need to see my predictions to understand this headline – if you don’t already see it coming]
Jan 01
“Another Drop in the Bucket from our Political Einsteins” (or “a Liberal dose of New Math and Floating decimals”)
Just when we thought the Conservatives might be the only ones bent on selling us out to big business, Ontario’s Liberal Party proves that they haven’t missed the boat when it comes to “giving us the business.” The Province of Ontario’s proposed, “Safeguarding and Sustaining Ontario’s Water Act” proposes to protect water from being diverted from the Great Lakes via a whopping $3.71 surcharge on every million litres of water consumed by water bottlers, canning companies and heavy industry. That’s progress for you. Big Business will no longer be freeloading on our water-supply, while in some cases selling it (the same water supply we are already taxed to provide treatment infrastructure for) back to us for $1.69 per 1 litre bottle. To date Businesses have not indicated any plans for appealing this ghastly $0.00000371 operating cost and/or whether they will round it up to a penny and pass it along to the consumer.
In a related story: Apparently the new math being used in Alberta is not that much better. According to a MacLeans magazine article entitled, “Doomsday, Alberta Stands Accused” the three oil sands projects currently operating in Alberta are now licensed to extract 349 million cubic metres of water a year, twice what’s required annually for the entire city of Calgary. With 20 more projects in the works, extractions from the Athabasca River could triple in the next decade. By 2020, the oil sands could use as much as half the river’s flow in winter, a time when it is at its lowest ebb and fish populations are most stressed. Alberta’s oil sands operations also struggle with the problem of what to do with the water once it’s been used. Only eight per cent can be made sufficiently clean to go back to the Athabasca. The rest stagnates in huge ponds. “Birds that land on them never take off.” Consumption of natural gas, another critical oil sands ingredient, also boggles the mind. The industry’s daily consumption could heat 3.2 million homes for a day. Environmentalists have long decried the absurdity of wasting such huge quantities of reasonably clean energy to extract dirtier oil.
Jan 01
“Those Little Green Men are making me dizzy”
Politicians of all stripes are suddenly spinning a full 360 on the environment in their usual “small minded way” with well articulated plans and debates that generally translate into:
“I’m greener than you are.”
“No way, I’m greener than you!”
Oh yeah!
Jan 01
“Rumors of his dying were greatly… misinterpreted”
Proving that only his beard was dying, Osama bin Slidin’ silences previous rumors that he was at death’s door when he appears in this year’s 9/11 state of the nation redress sporting a trendy new makeover that some interpret as evidence that Al Queda might be one step closer to getting with the program. Yes, after all of their bluster and bombs fail to overcome Anna Nicole, Paris Hilton and Britney Spears for America’s attention, Al-Qaeda re-chanels their effort from shock and sabotage to schlock and superficial – it works, for a minute (now back to our program).
Jan 01
“Women live longer because … they need to”
According to a study quoted in “The Telegraph,” a daily newspaper from London, England, the average female spends three years getting ready to leave the house. Research found that the average woman takes one hour and twenty minutes to prepare for a big night out – 22 minutes to shower and remove unwanted hair; 7 minutes applying moisturizer and fake tan; 23 minutes doing her hair; 14 minutes applying makeup and 6 minutes putting on her clothes. The typical woman is also apparently spending another 40 minutes a day getting ready for work and 3 months of her life shopping for the right purse and/or the ideal pair of shoes.
Jan 01
“Where crimes against humanity are OK, what could possibly bear their harshest penalty under law?”
All of a Sudan, riots break out in Khartoum, not because several hundred thousand (and counting) Muslim and non-Muslim men, women and children have been killed by government sponsored militias in Darfur, but because “da furry” teddy bear was named Mohammed by 6 and 7 year-old children. Islamic fundamentalists call for a volunteer teacher from Britain to be put to death for allowing such a heinous crime. The good news: she was released and deported to Britain after tense negotiations; the bad news: it’s business as usual in Khartoum with no more reports of righteous indignation or riots.
In related stories: Quebec holds public hearings on reasonable accommodation for minorities while Canadian taxpayers must “bear” the burden of costs associated with detaining undesirable aliens who prefer prison here to deportation from whence they came.
While on the subject of reasonable accommodation, take a look at this article entitled, “Don’t Push That Viking Mythology On Me” from Ottawa Citizen Newspaper columnist Dan Gardner.
Jan 01
“Records, Records Everywhere, but…”
Those (non prison) records are more bark than bite as the sports world has pretty much gone to the dogs. NFL football superstar, Michael Vick set the bar when he opened the year by being charged with operating a dog fighting ring and closed it servicing the first of his 23 month sentence in the big (dog) house. The New England Patriots’ perfect regular season record is tainted by their having been found guilty of spying earlier in the season; however, their $750,000 fine was eclipsed by the $100 million fine that was levied against the McLaren Formula One racing team that same week for the same infraction. Meanwhile, Barry Bonds broke baseball’s all-time home run record but has been indicted on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice for lying to a federal grand jury when asked about his use of steroids. American Track super-star Marion Jones was stripped of all of her medals (including three Gold at the 2000 Summer Olympics) after she plead guilty to lying about her steroid use to US investigators. And then there was Floyd Landis who was stripped of his 2006 Tour du France cycling championship for – you guessed it – Steroid use. We closed the year with a report that listed MLB Pitcher Roger Clemens (previously listed as the 15th greatest baseball player of all time) with 87 other Major League Baseball players who are alleged to have used steroids or drugs. While on the subject of “the juice”, O.J. Simpson was arrested (again) this time for his part in the armed robbery of sports memorabilia. Ah, those were the days when memorabilia meant something.
Jan 01
Predictions for the Year 2008
One week after the latest 10 cent price hike at the pumps was fueled by the discovery that an ESSO tanker truck in Tatamagouche Nova Scotia was driving for two days without it’s left rear turn-signal, all hope that the world oil prices would recover are lost when a PetroCanada station attendant breaks a nail while punching in a sale.
In a related prediction, more pressure on the price at the pumps when a Shell Oil employee is abducted by his counterparts across the street at Sunoco after he allegedly crossed to their side of the street to catch his bus. Damaging though this “Intersectional Incident” would be on global prices, out and out chaos will arise when an inter-company memo is leaked to the press. The memo will cite the radical effects that the middle-east was having on tight oil profit margins and proposes that the companies need to by-pass the middle-men and introduce some more home-grown tension. A company spokesperson says all efforts and a gargantuillian dollars will be invested to locate and contain said leak. The portion of those costs that cannot be passed on at the pumps will be claimed under the Government’s new green subsidies on the grounds that this single voluntary Big Oil clean-up of one of their leaks eclipses all of their other cleanup bills combined.
In a pre-Olympic bid to embellish their otherwise tarnished environmental record, China upgrades the Yellow river from toxic to tasty.
In a related development: Not satisfied with their already hefty profits from selling western consumers tap water already paid for by their (the consumers) public tax dollars, the bottlers close their plants in North America in favor of cheaper operations in China.
More Chinese businessmen die in the line of duty, than the combined losses of all allied soldiers in all operating theatres combined. By comparison, and closer to home, still no reports of any multinational company CEO’s, politicians, or pension managers who have committed suicide or who have been jailed or executed for their indiscretions.
Bouncing Baby boomers go hungry when their checks bounce because what they paid into the pension fund was lost in Chinese investments gone bad; and because an absence of investment in Canadian stock and the ongoing exodus of jobs to China and other third world sweat shops has led to even fewer working Canadians to top the fund up. On the upside, those that don’t starve to death die a quicker more dignified death as result of their consumption of cheap (albeit toxic) Chinese dog and cat food; thereby, alleviating much of the burden on the pension fund.
No longer welcome in New York, the United Nations moves it headquarters to the North Pole. Asked why such a remote location was chosen, the Secretary General indicated that, it was a cost saving measure based on global real-estate values and a “no-brainer” given that most of the world’s flags have already been planted there.
In a related prediction: Scientists add the implied hot air, spinning wheels and imminent international friction into their prediction models and advance the expected disappearance of the Polar Ice cap by 2010 as opposed to last years predictions of as early as 2032.
Canadian Authorities can find no evidence that any of their illegal Mexican refugees are at risk of persecution, death or any other crimes against humanity at the hands of their previous U.S. employers; however, given that no less than 1.8 Canadian children are born per illegal couple over the 16 month investigation period they are all allowed to stay on compassionate terms.
The 2008 Summer Olympics are downgraded to Special Olympics on the grounds that all athletes are handicapped by the toxins in the air.
In a related prediction: Due in part to the overwhelming toxin levels in the air surrounding Beijing, China, the drug testing at the 2008 Summer Olympics has to be cancelled. Despite this, those Chinese swimmers who practiced in the Yellow River are disqualified on the grounds that, although the rules committee was willing to overlook their extra set of eyes, their gills and webbed hands and feet were deemed to provide too much of an advantage over other swimmers.
Realizing the “old boys” had it wrong and there was little if any chance of separating based upon a constitutional referendum the Parti Québécois’ new Madam plays the gender card and declares that she wants to divorce Canada. Quebec wins the case and gets ½ of everything.
Fast forward one week: The PQ ousts their madam and attempts to reconcile their differences with Canada and the other provinces when they realize that having won half of Canada’s assets in the divorce settlement, they have actually taken a significant (transfer) pay cut.
The World Health organization (WHO) unveils a can’t miss funding strategy for their global green plan with the announcement that all networks everywhere must immediately lay off their weatherpersons and contribute their salaries to green sustainable energy research.
In a related prediction: Unbeknownst to the WHO they also inadvertently fostered better job productivity and took a major bite out of depression when people everywhere are no longer spending time bitching about how the weather guys got it wrong for the Kyotillionth time this year.
Peace in our time “just ‘cause” Islamic Fundamentalist Leaders everywhere agree that a new Grecian Formula in exchange for Oil Treaty with the West represents a fair trade for the commodity that all agree has been the root of western exploitation and holy jihad. The few pockets of Islamic resistance quickly collapse as those hotheads who prefer to continue the fight, find their beards are spontaneously combusting because, in a vain attempt to keep up with the Bin Ladens, they substituted a more flammable crude oil extract for the safer western cosmetic.
The Canadian Loonie becomes the strongest currency in the world when Parliament outlaws snowbirds and cross border shopping in an incredibly successful bid to solve a number of nagging social woes that were further complicated by the loonie’s climb to par with the US dollar. Unemployed manufacturing sector employees are hired by Canada Border Services to nab cross border shoppers returning to Canada. All purchases are confiscated and redistributed to cloth and feed the homeless, while an additional surfeit of stiff fines are used to pay our new highly motivated border guards. Any snowbirds or retirees who have actually spent the best part of their year spending the overworked minority of jaded young Canadians hard earned Loonie south of the border are offered the choice of summary execution or exile – either option leads to the discontinuance of their Pension benefits and a chance that there will be some money left in the Pension Fund if or when the young working stiffs are ever allowed to retire.
Countries around the world struggle to cope with a mass influx of millions of refugees from … the United States of America. Having lost their homes to the great sub-prime mortgage collapse of 2007, millions of Americans claim refugee status and attempt to follow their jobs that were previously exported to all corners of the globe.
In a related prediction: Mexico builds its own fence along the US border and underwrites a multi-million dollar advertising campaign across all media in the US that claims, “Canada promises free citizenship, health care and education for American Refugees”.
Sport Halls of Fame commence displaying photographs of inductees in two profiles. Elsewhere, sports fans start asking for fingerprints in lieu of autographs.
Canada usurps North Korea and Iran as the most “clear and present danger” to US and therefore world peace. Insiders at the Pentagon claim that unlike the other nut-bars, half a world away, who only aspire to go ballistic on a nuclear scale, the Canadian Head of State next door who already has nuclear capability seems prone to flipping his reactors on and off with all of the care one might expect from a seven year old with a laser pointer. The fact that said leader, although from oil rich Alberta, was unable to curb that Province’s recent Oil Royalty hike or hold any sway over Newfoundland in their earlier game of chicken with Big Oil interests, has American Hawks demanding the democratization of Canada. Ever the opportunist, America’s “War President” sees his Iraqi exit strategy from heaven and recalls all troops to support this new liberation of Canada.
In a related prediction: The Canadian Loonie is supplanted by the US Dollar.
On the strength of the Canadian Loonie, Canada and the USA agree to unite as one North American country/empire. The position of emperor-elect based upon overall performances in public debate is shaping up to be a two man race between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Marcel Marceau (the mime). Insiders claim the latter has a burgeoning support base in the extinct notion of Quebec despite the fact that he died earlier last year.
Jan 01
Vital Statistics 2007
Vital Statistics |
2007 |
2006 |
a Canadian dollar is worth | $ 0.96 US | $ 0.86 US |
a domestic postage stamp costs | $ 0.51 | $ 0.51 |
a local call on Bell pay phone | $ 0.50 | $ 0.25 |
a liter of Pepsi costs | $ 1.79 | $ 1.79 |
a liter of water costs | $ 1.69 | $ 1.39 |
a liter of milk costs (purchased in a four liter bag) | $ 1.19 | $ 1.25 |
a liter of gasoline costs | $ 1.04 | $ 0.87 |
a loaf of bread costs | $ 1.67? | $ 2.29 |
a paperback novel costs | $12.99 | $11.99 |
a weekly (Time) magazine costs | $ 5.95 | $ 5.95 |
a comic book costs | $ 3.99 | $ 3.99 |
a daily newspaper costs | $ 0.94 | $ 0.93 |
a collectable card (Yu-Gi-Oh!) pkg. costs | $ 4.99 | $ 4.99 |
a regular bus ride costs | $ 1.90 | $ 1.90 |
a medium cup of coffee costs | $ 1.17 | $ 1.17 |
a basic cable television package | $27.49 | $25.99 |
a first run movie rental costs | $ 4.39 | $ 5.39 |
an adult movie theatre ticket costs | $ 9.95 | $ 9.95 |
a children’s movie theatre ticket costs | $ 7.95 | $ 7.95 |
a babysitter (for Things 1 & 2) costs | $ 8.00/hr | $ 8.00/hr |
a boy’s haircut | $ 9.95 | $ 9.95 |
a adult man’s haircut | $ 14.25 | $12.95 |
a medium combination pizza | $ 14.35 | $16.35 |
a new home computer (3.4GHz/160 GByte hard drive/) | $1387.00 |