The MLSE Has Failed the Toronto Maple Leafs & Torontonians...

You know, everytime the Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment Group comes out and talks about how successful they've been at running the Toronto Maple Leafs' "Business", it just makes me laugh at how obviously ignorant they are.

Running a money-making NHL franchise in Toronto is not the challenge, it's running a winning NHL franchise in Toronto that's the real task. In fact, I would beg to argue that it would be harder for the MLSE to turn the Toronto Maple Leafs into a money-losing sports franchise, than it would be for them to turn the Leafs into a winning franchise. Why? Because hockey is God here in Toronto (common knowledge), and regardless of whether the Leafs win, lose, or go on the ice and figure skate, the ACC will sell out everytime (these days they could probably charge more for tickets to the latter...).

Watching Mario Lemieux Play Still A Treat For Hockey Fans

If you're a huge Mario Lemieux fan like me, then you probably found a way to catch the 2010 Winter Classic Alumni game this morning at 9am, and if you did, then you definitely were not disappointed. The game ended up in a 5-5 tie between both Alumni squads (as much as the croud hated the fact that they didn't have an overtime period or shootout to decide the game).

And in case you were wondering, Mario Lemieux, the greatest hockey player ever to lace up the skates, has still got it! ;) Mario had 2 assists in the game, and many close opportunities.

Government Policies Partially to Blame for 24% of Canadians Driving Drunk?

It's just a question folks, and a fair one at that.

I was listening in to NewsTalk1010 the other day, and one of the topics of discussion was the results of a new CAA Study that came out which showed that 24% of Canadians drove drunk in the last year.

One of the listeners called into the show and said that the increased Taxi Rates -especially here in Toronto and Ontario- were a big driver behind the increase in Drunk Driving because put simply, people just can't afford to take a taxi home anymore because of the huge increases in the cost -not to mention the addition of the HST.

Add to this the fact that people are getting charged with public intoxication while waiting outside a bar for a taxi or their designated driver to take them home (SOURCE: Drunks fined while waiting for DD), and you now have 2 things that our Government has done to directly influence the increase in Drunk Driving in Canada.

I'm just saying...

Here's the story about the CAA Study from the CAA website:

Loblaws To Ignore Toronto Mayor Rob Ford's Plastic Bag Fee Abolishment

Regardless of whether Toronto Mayor Rob Ford wants to abolish the Plastic Bag Fee, or whether Torontonians who voted for Rob Ford want to abolish the Plastic Bag Fee, Loblaws has decided that it will continue to charge the fee.

Here's the story from the Toronto Star:

Swiss Bank UBS Pushes Invasive Dress Code On UBS Employees...

Apparently, Swiss Bank UBS is pushing a new invasive dress code on its employees in Switzerland, which includes what colour clothes to wear, requirements for the lengths of skirts for women, haircut styles, perfume usage rules, shaving guidelines for men, and makeup guidelines for women...not to mention, much, much more (44-pages worth!).

Here's the story from the Wall Street Journal:

The McGuinty Government Fails Ontarians With Mental Health Issues...

Could it possibly be yet another failure by our Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty's Government?  This latest one is yet another Health Care related fiasco, and this one involves Ontarians with Mental Health issues.

Here's the story from the Toronto Star:

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford to Abolish the Much-Hated Plastic Bag Tax!

I've said it before and I'll say it again, thank goodness for Mayor Rob Ford!

In keeping with his title given by the people of Toronto, Mayor Rob Ford, "The People's Mayor", is as disgusted and offended by the 5 cent plastic bag tax implemented by former Mayor David Miller and his lefty cronies down at City Hall, as the majority of the people of Toronto, and will look to abolish it as soon as possible.

The plastic bag tax, a tax based on pure stupidity, takes 5 cents for each plastic bag used when purchasing goods in Toronto (not to mention adding on an additional penny when the HST is thrown on top of it). The tax never had any kind of instruction for the retailers collecting the tax to give the money to the City of Toronto. Instead, the retailers were allowed to use the tax as they saw fit, with some giving portions to charity, and others keeping it for additional revenue. I mean, what other product can you sell with over a 500% markup, and have the full backing of the mentally un-sound former Mayor of Toronto?

Here's the story from the National Post:

Apple Monitors & Sells iPhone/iPad Usage & Personal Info to Advertisers?

"Yikes!!", is what most iPhone and iPad users were thinking when the news came out that a lawsuit has been filed against Apple for monitoring and selling to Advertising Networks, your personal information and usage statistics captured & stored on your iPhone and iPad (without your consent).

Here's the story from Bloomberg on BusinessWeek.com:

Soul/R&B/Hip Hop Artist Slakah The Beatchild Defines Chill Music...

I caught "B-Boy Beef", a track by Soul/R&B/Hip Hop Artist Slakah The Brainchild on Much Vibe today, and I was happily surprised at the old school vibe and chill flow of his music, something that has been lacking of late in the mainstream music scene.

After doing a bit of searching around, I found out that Slakah is a homegrown Canadian Artist out of Sarnia, Ontario!

Below are a couple of his Music Videos from his YouTube page:

Reminder: Dalton McGuinty's 2003 & 2007 Election Promises/Platforms

With the Ontario Provincial Election coming soon on Thursday October 6th, 2011, I felt it only right to display a reminder of your Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty's Liberal Party Election Promises and Platforms from both 2003 and 2007, so that you can judge for yourself whether he has fulfilled what he pledged, and essentially, what you voted for in electing him your Premier.

ASIDE: Here's another related story, in case you're interested: List of Ontario Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty's Scandals with Details...

Dalton McGuinty's Ontario Liberal Party Election Platform/Promises from 2003

Toshiba Launches Glasses-Free 3D TVs in Japan!

One of the biggest complaints about 3D movies and now 3D TVs is the requirement to wear those uncomfortable 3D glasses. It's one of the biggest deterrents for me personally, and it's a big reason why I always look for the 2D versions of movies.

Avatar was one movie where I really felt the annoyance of the 3D glasses, and they actually ruined the entire theatre-viewing experience for me, as I spent more time being frustrated with the glasses than I did actually enjoying the 3D experience (if you can say that it is an enjoyable experience).

Anyway, it appears that our mass-complaints about the 3D glasses have been answered, as Toshiba has now released in Japan Glasses-free 3D TVs under its Regza brand, and these TVs are now going for the equivalent of $1,400 USD for the 12 inch 12GL1 model, and $2,900 USD for the 20 inch 20GL1 model.

Here's the story from a YouTube video by networkworld:

Manpower Study: 84% Of Employees Are Looking For New Jobs...

Across North America, the past few years have been a time of tightening our belts and working extra hard to keep our jobs (with the exception of unionized workers and public sector employees of course). This meant taking on the responsibilities of multiple people at work with no justifiable compensation increase, if you were lucky enough to avoid being let go by your employer.

This also meant wage freezes with not even cost-of-living/inflation increases, no bonuses, and basically the reward you got for exceeding expectations was that you got to keep your job...barely.

While the average workers were being forced to make these concessions, upper management still got their big-time raises and bonuses, and in fact were rewarded for keeping the workers down and having them live in a state of fear for their livelihoods and security.

Well folks, the every day non-unionized worker has had it, and apparently there is now a huge shift coming.

Studies coming out now show that 84% of employees hate their jobs and are looking for alternative work (84%!!), and if employers want to keep their skilled workers (and not have to do some actual work themselves), they better start making sacrifices at their level, because the job search is on and the days of screwing the employee are coming to an end.

Here's the story from CNN Money:

Smitherman's Unfair Mayoral Campaign Sign Practices Will Cost Him $8,000

Former Deputy-Premier of Ontario, or scumbag lapdog of Premier Dalton McGuinty as he's better known, Frivolous George Smitherman was outted today for having violated the City of Toronto's policies in regards to the placement of Campaign Signs during the 2010 Toronto Mayoral Camapaign.

Of course for those of you who were in a coma over the past year, Smitherman ran a shameful Mayoral Campaign that lost horribly to Rob Ford, and continued Smitherman's spiral of failure down the toilet.

And apparently even though he used tactics to cheat in the Mayoral Campaign (via illegally placed Mayoral Campaign Signs), he still lost, and now he's going to have to pay $8,000 for his vilations.

Here's the story from the Toronto Sun:

Statistic: Less Than Half of Toronto Cyclists Actually Use Bike Lanes...

Talk about a waste of taxpayer money...

Statistics being released now by the City of Toronto show that only 45% of Toronto Cyclists counted during September 2010, were actually using the taxpayer funded bike lanes in the downtown core.

The majority of cyclists actually preferred mixed traffic roads to bike lane provided roads, bringing to question the entire purpose of having bike lanes in Toronto, especially if more than half of Toronto Cyclists choose not to use them.

Here's the story from the Toronto Star:

Ignatieff's "Fetish-de-Francais" Catastrophic for the Federal Liberals

Much like his provincial counterpart here in Ontario (soon to be former Premier, Dalton McGuinty), Federal Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff has shown his stupidy knows no bounds.

His latest queste-de-stupide involves Bill S-220 proposed by his Senate which would modify Canada's bilingualism laws to require all workers across Canada at all airports, railway stations, ferry terminals and ports including all 3rd party contractors therein (ex. car rental employees, restaurant employees and etc.) and also RCMP officers, to be fully bilingual, or fully fluent in both English and French, in order to be employed in those areas.

Meaning, that if Michael Ignatieff were the Prime Minister today, all of these workers who aren't fully bilingual (an extremely high majority outside Quebec) would be instantly fired.

Here's the story from the Toronto Sun:

Toronto Councillor Adam Vaughan Misses His Beloved Miller Gravy Train...

Elitist Toronto City Councillor Adam Vaughan, the #1 enemy of the Toronto Taxpayer, admitted to the Toronto Star that the Gravy Train did indeed exist under the Mayor Miller Regime, and now complains that a new Gravy Train has been created, and unfortunately for him, it is one that is finally for the Toronto Taxpayer...

Here's the story from the Toronto Star:

Toronto's Downtown Pedestrians Smugly Ignore Traffic Crossing Laws...

This one is going to get me in trouble for sure... Oh well, here it goes...

It seems like almost every day I hear about another Pedestrian in Toronto being hit by a car, or bus, or streetcar or truck, and as bad as I feel about it, if you take a drive downtown, you see nothing but Pedestrians breaking the most basic of traffic crossing laws; laws that were taught in elementary school and even a kid in kindergarten can understand.

Therefore, as sad as I am to say it, if Pedestrians are negligent to the most simplest of traffic crossing laws, then they deserve to get hit.

Toronto City Councillor Janet Davis Shows Her Uselessness To Ward 31...

Even though residents of Ward 31 Beaches-East York re-elected Toronto City Councillor Janet Davis, she continues to fail her constituents, and the kicker is that it is the Ford brothers -Davis' exact Political Opposites- who pick up and put back together the pieces that Davis and her office leave behind.

The latest story coming out from the Toronto star -of all places- is in regards to Maxine, a 77 year old who needed to call Doug Ford to help her out, as Janet Davis, her Toronto City Councillor, couldn't be bothered to care for the safety of the Seniors in her ward.

Here's the story from the Toronto Star:

Tim Hudak to Scrap Dalton McGuinty's Eco Fees When Elected in 2011!!

Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader, Tim Hudak, announced yesterday that when the Conservatives win next year's Ontario Provincial Election, like Dalton McGuinty and his Ontario Liberal Party's future, McGuinty's Eco Fees will be tossed in the trash.

Here's the story from the Toronto Star:

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford Successfully Abolished the Personal Vehicle Tax!

Wow, a Toronto Mayor that actually keeps his word... Who'd a thought it..

Yesterday Mayor Rob Ford successfully pushed his motion to Abolish the Personal Vehicle Tax through Toronto City Council!

To watch the online video of the Toronto City Council Meeting on December 16th where this vote took place, and also to watch any of the Toronto City Council Meetings, please visit: Rogers TV - Toronto City Council.

Below are the results of the votes, and which Councillors voted for and against abolishing the Personal Vehicle Tax:

Delusional Toronto City Councillor Joe Mihevc Transcends into Irrelevance...

Joe Mihevc, one of the worst City Councillors Toronto has ever had, and a yes-man to David Miller -the worst Mayor Toronto has ever had- for some reason still spouts his rhetoric like anything he has to say still holds any kind of relevance in the new Toronto, where the Taxpayer is respected and the elitist has been tossed to the curb.

Mihevc, who with his partner in crime, Adam Giambrone, completely destroyed whatever kind of usefulness the TTC had, turning it into the news headline-grabbing symbol for incompetence and waste that it is currently, shamelessly and hypocritically talks about the stopping of Transit City costing the taxpayers millions of dollars, all the while being one of Council's most wasteful spenders, costing taxpayers millions in disastrous projects like the St. Clair Right-of-way boondoggle. It's almost comical listening to Mihevc talk about fiscal prudence and about caring about the Toronto Taxpayers' pocket book.

Mihevc had this to say when asked about Rob Ford's plan to end the war on the car and therefore put an end to David Miller's horrifying legacy of Transit City:

TTC Essential Service - Workers Strikes Cost More Than Arbitration

Many people are questioning why a fiscally prudent Rob Ford would even consider making the TTC an Essential Service, when all that means is that an Arbitrator will get to make the decision on any conflicting issues, and Arbitrators always lean towards the favour of the workers and not the employers.

Well, the answer is simple.