Checkered Lounge Pants

Manitoba's Jonathan Toews shares a moment of relief with goalie Roberto Luongo, #8 Drew Doughty and Mike Richards after a close finish against Slovakia Friday night at Canada Hockey Place in Vancouver. Canada downs Slovakia but has to hang on for 3-2 win and trip to Olympic finals - Winnipeg Free Press Ill be in touch. (photo : PHIL.HOSSACK@FREEPRESS.MB.CA )

Hmmm..contrary to Israeli beliefs there does seem to be a Palestine according to the European countries. News EU court keeps West Bank out of EU-Israel trade Ill be in touch.

"Most of the time, we're content to fritter away our lives on Facebook and numb our minds watching So You Think You Can Masticate Canada. Far-flung, poverty-stricken places like Bangladesh and Benin just don't concern us until major disaster strikes -- or the parade of nations marks the start of the Olympic Games." There is no secret ingredient beyond the belief in ourselves. Olympic-sized hypocrisy - Winnipeg Free Press Posted using ShareThis

WOW!! Check out this link about the Hamas arms dealer being killed while arranging an arms sale. This is better than a movie. Have you ever seen Spy Game with Redford and Pitt?? This whole story, as it unfolds, reeks of "believe nothing you hear and half of what you see"..and I wouldn't believe any thing, even if I saw it. Anybody could link a dozen countries and their governments opposed to purchasing arms for Arabs and making an example to discourage future arms deals from Iran or any other arms dealers. Middle East News Dubai has proof Mossad killed Hamas man: report I'll be in touch.

Impact on Community Coalition The Impact on Community Coalition (IOCC) is an independent, non-partisan and community-based coalition that is dedicated to maximizing the positive impacts of the 2010 Vancouver/Whistler Olympic Games for the host city and surrounding regions, while minimizing the negative impacts. Your chance to get red rabble.ca

Art and activism meet, with the help of a red tent rabble.ca

Canada is in fourth place in the Olympic medals with 2 Gold, 3 Silver and 1 Bronze at press time. Everybody is sure enthralled with the games in Vancouver, eh? Too bad the weather is not cooperating. For once, Canadian weather is too nice, eh? Olympic winter games with no snow..IN CANADA. Thank god for the indoor sports that are climatically controlled. Hockey, curling, speed skating, etc. are proceeding along smoothly, eh? (Whoops, by the time CLP hit the editor desk the ice machines at the speed skating track had calfed). The outdoor games are brutal though, eh?. The skiers are skiing on ice. The bobsled/luge track is so lethal that some critics are questioning if the design was authored by Al Qaida. The cross-snowboarders are navigating the track in the rain. The giant slalom is murderous with edges grinding for control on slushy ice somebody reported, and jumps granting so much air from the high speeds, the women's run was getting slopes cut down to minimize speeds to prevent ...

Hilarious, and he looks like Cam..I'll be in touch.

A couple hundred thousand disgruntled facebookers signed up to register their disappointment with "Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament" when the Prime Minister recessed Parliamentary business until March. Several presiding government Ministers publicly marginalized the Facebook group in media reports relegating the networking efforts as "without substance or merit". I personally expressed skepticism at the assessments when I recognized the Ministers as post-Baby Boomer geriatrics who have no exposure with social networking, OR Generation Y cultures (that would be the grand kids the "old farts" believe still watch TV). I got a real good laugh at Winnipeg radio talk show host Charles Adler audio clip of his broadcast reporting on the Grassroots Fury resulting from the Facebook protests. Corus Radio's Charles Adler on the 'media event.' (Corus / CJOB 68) http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/blogolitics/audio-grassroots-fury/article1443589/?cid...

Happy New Year !! I hope yall had a good Christmas holiday. My Xmas was quiet with our turkey dinner the day following Boxing Day. Ohh boy, was I ready for the old turkey and mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce sit-down, after hearing everyones' recount of the various turkey feasts and over-eating tales. The turkey dinner is the last bastien of remedy/cure for homesick blues for a relocated Manitoban, in my opinion. That brings back all the memories of sitting at the family table after being unable to do so, for so long. Not something you normally dwell on until it is gone. Speaking of gone, that's it for the first decade of the new millenium. Holy moly, Y2K doesn't seem all that long ago, eh? Anyhow, no living in the past. Here is some simple words of wisdom to chew on, and pass along, this year. To all the overly-complicated 2K10 conscientious objectors, and "chronic denyers" (those self-taught "Einsteins" to smart to need help), and Cryers And Whiners...

This magic moment. So different and so newww. Was like any otherrrrr.. "This Magic Moment" is the title of a song written by lyricist Doc Pomus and pianist Mort Shuman. It is one of their best known hits. It was first recorded by Ben E. King with The Drifters and it reached number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1960. It was rendered anew by Jay and the Americans in 1969 and ranked even higher, hitting number 6 in early 1969 and earning gold record status. Well in this case..my magic moment is finishing my Xmas shopping. So like okay, its not like I have a big ole family surrounding me here in Windsor, or, tons of relatives living anywhere nearby, to shop for. Au contrare mon ami, Christmas cards, gift cards and stamps comprise the majority of my Xmas lists but, I am notoriously last minute, in all aspects of the Holiday Season hullabaloo. I find it hopelessly commercial and bleakly spiritual concerning the heart of the Christmas celebration. I recall the hair standing on the...

Yall done the Xmas shopping?? I plan to start mine tomorrow. I just spent the last week in Boston visiting my son and daughta-in-law. The rain fell all the way on the drive eastward but the real challenge was finding their new home when I got there after midnight. My google search never indicated the community development was some 2 miles off the main street and isolated in the wooded suburb of Woburn, but more aptly situated in the adjoining community of Reading. Long story short..I flagged down a cop and got directions to find the place. Boston is sometimes called a "city of neighborhoods" because of the profusion of diverse subsections. There are 21 official neighborhoods in Boston used by the city. We shopped for some new skins for my car and followed up with a sprint out to Foxboro and the New England Patriots home field, Gillette Stadium. I checked out the pro shop and decided to scout any memorabilia at Marshall's back in Stoneham. I hogged all the time I could in...

Just riding out a Colorado low..winds been howling off the lake at over 80kms per hour all through the night and most of the following day. Awoke this morning expecting the white stuff, but nothing yet. The weather network reports +4C so snow wont survive that mercury reading. It is (the snow that is) better off to settle in BC with their sub-zero forecasts (settling in at -5 tonight) for a white Xmas. Nevertheless, we are better suited to navigate the flurries than west-coasters. BC blog follower Gerry Desharnais took off to Puerto Vallarta last weekend, so he timed 'er right. LOL. I could do without the power grey-outs that accompany these lake gales here, on the Erie shores, though. We just finished cleaning up from my beloved Val's 43rd birthday on Sunday. We had company, John and Sue, came in from North Bay and shared in celebrations. Our neighbour Tim took them on his family's greenhouse tour at Seacliffes Greenhouses and sent the gals home with potted Poinsettias for...

Remember remember the month of November, and the Gunpowder Treason and Plot..or at least the last week. Man it h as been hairy out there in newsland. Tiger holes himself up at home after wiping out at fire hydrant and hitting a wood (uh-hum) hazard and "because of his silence, Tiger will become a laughing stock in the eyes of his audience, and so will the products he endorses". Latest report from US Senate claims Osama Bin Laden was found a month after 9/11 in Afghanistan and lost to Pakistan while US is going to send in more troops. CN checkmated the Teamsters into a strike so the Canadian government will do their bargaining and become the latest enabler allowing CN's chronic predatory employee abuse to continue. OMG..Saskatchewan gave away the Grey Cup. University of Calgary gave away the Vanier Cup. Four cops gunned down in Washington state. Serena Williams, Iran nuclear capabilities, health care, jobs, China, blood gold in Africa, Walmart..whew. I am glad the month is...

Hey there!! Its been a while since we chatted on the blog. I just have not felt the urge to blog for almost a month. I hedge posted earlier in the month with a pasted November 11 memorial service out of the Winnipeg Free Press, but whenever I started to sign in to CLP site, I just lost the blogitis that usually settles over me, until I shake it off doing the last spell check while the jpegs files are downloading. Is that blogger block?? The news hasn't changed outside of the evolution of the issues that have been front and centre for about a year. My curiosity was spiked today when I read an article that elevated ( http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/bureau-blog/dions-wife-goes-rogue/article1372858/ ) Canadian politics to the heightened drama of US sensationalist politics. The article, called "Dion's wife going rogue?", relayed the story about a politicians better half getting tagged as a rogue when she critiqued her hubby's short lived career after a coup d'...

Winnipeg Rifles Regiment member Cpl. Dave Anderson on the honour guard to remember the fallen on Remembrance Day at Vimy Ridge Park in Winnipeg, Manitoba this morning. I'll be in touch.

It's closing in on midnite and I just dont seem to be bed-ready. My beloved Val called it a night sometime ago but I was watching the Monday Night football game because I have a pool with my son in Boston, and, we are down to a tie-breaker on tonight's game, to decide the weekly winner. My Sweet Pea and I threw our passports in the glovebox and a few gauchies in a bag and headed to the outpatients to get my shoulder stitches removed, early last week. We agreed to an impulsive trip and left a "journeys beginning" decided by the post-op outcome. The diagnosis was good so we made a run for the border. We took a ride to St Louis and had a great time. I cant drive with my arm all slinged up so Val did all the driving and we stopped whenever she felt tired. Speaking of tired, did you hear about the plane that over shot Minneapolis. Northwest Flight 188 from San Diego to Minneapolis overflew the airport by more than 150 miles, out of radio contact with air traffic controller...

So like I was sitting here in the porch surfing the web when my beloved Val said "Is the dog home alone???" You see, the neighbour folks asked us to dog-care whenever they are gone if we deem the need. She deducted somehow, that their vehicle had left sometime the day before and never came home. "I don't know, go see!" I answered. I'm just chillaxn since I finished my latest medical procedure from the injuries I sustained in my accident. My shoulder had been plated last week and I have some 30+ stitches holding all the pieces together around surgical steel, so my mobility is highly restricted for the next several months or a year (or maybe more depending on the insurance coverages..but that's another story). I have endured hours and hours of physicians, surgeons, occupational therapists, physio-therapists, rehabilitation therapists, xray technicians, nurses, lawyers, police, reports, exams, hospitals, clinics, therapies, complications, medications, appar...

Micheal Moore originally wrote on October 09, 2009 that Obama had to "earn" his Nobel. After composing and publishing the letter, his wife persuaded him to reflect on his knee-jerk response. The following is Mr. Moore's follow-up letter to his initial reaction on Obama winning the Nobel Peace prize. The original letter appears below that: Saturday, October 10th, 2009 Friends, Last night my wife asked me if I thought I was a little too hard on Obama in my letter yesterday congratulating him on his Nobel Prize. "No, I don't think so," I replied. I thought it was important to remind him he's now conducting the two wars he's inherited. "Yeah," she said, "but to tell him, 'Now earn it!'? Give the guy a break -- this is a great day for him and for all of us."I went back and re-read what I had written. And I listened for far too long yesterday to the right-wing hate machine who did what they could to crap all over Barack's bi...

What brought troops to Afghanistan? How did armed coalition forces get to here from 9/11? http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/obamaswar/ I'll be in touch. ps. Happy birthday to Gerry in Coquitlam, B.C.