The way the Ball bounces: July 2011

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Sunday Psalm: 2 -- "If You Make A Run For God, You Won't Regret It!"

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Psalm 2

Why the big noise, nations? Why the mean plots, peoples?
Earth-leaders push for position,
Demagogues and delegates meet for summit talks,
The God-deniers, the Messiah-defiers:
"Let's get free of God!
Cast loose from Messiah!"
Heaven-throned God breaks out laughing.
At first he's amused at their presumption;
Then he gets good and angry.
Furiously, he shuts them up:
"Don't you know there's a King in Zion? A coronation banquet
Is spread for him on the holy summit."

Let me tell you what God said next.
He said, "You're my son,
And today is your birthday.
What do you want? Name it:
Nations as a present? continents as a prize?
You can command them all to dance for you,
Or throw them out with tomorrow's trash."

So, rebel-kings, use your heads;
Upstart-judges, learn your lesson:
Worship God in adoring embrace,
Celebrate in trembling awe. Kiss Messiah!
Your very lives are in danger, you know;
His anger is about to explode,
But if you make a run for God—you won't regret it!

-- Eugene Peterson, The Message

Have a blessed day!

Does Cancer Have "Rights"?

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Previously I have argued that, under a strict darwinian view of life, cancer can be considered neither good nor bad -- it just is. Since there is no intention behind biological lifeforms, no purpose, no real functions, there can be no aberrations. Cancerous cells are just darwinian nature doing its thing, no better or worse than non-cancerous replication.

Little did I know darwinists would see my 10 and raise me 20. They're suggesting cancerous cells should be considered a form of speciation.

Well, I gotta ask. If cancer can be a species, does cancer have "rights"?

Just askin'.

And that's the way the Ball bounces.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Norway Church Burnings - Updated

Turns out Norway isn't the pacific idyllic left-wing paradise we've read about in the media.

The following is a partial list of church arsons:
1992:
May 23: burning of Storetveit Church in Bergen[23]
Jun 6: burning of Fantoft stave church in Bergen[24] – Varg Vikernes is strongly suspected as the culprit, but was not convicted.[24]
Aug 1: burning of Revheim Church in Stavanger[24]
Aug 21: burning of Holmenkollen Chapel in Oslo[23] – Varg Vikernes and Faust were convicted for this.
Sep 1: burning of Ormøya Church in Oslo[23]
Sep 13: burning of Skjold Church in Vindafjord[23] – Varg Vikernes and Samoth were convicted for this.
Oct 3: burning of Hauketo Church in Oslo[23]
Dec 24: burning of Åsane Church in Bergen[1] – Varg Vikernes and Jørn Inge Tunsberg were convicted for this.[1]
Dec 25: burning of a Methodist church in Sarpsborg[1] – a firefighter was killed while fighting this fire.[1]
1993:
Feb 7: burning of Lundby New Church in Gothenburg, Sweden[25]
1994:
Mar 13: burning of a church in Sund[26]
Mar 27: burning of Seegård Church in Snertingdal[26]
May 16: attempted burning of Gol stave church in Buskerud[26]
May 17: attempted burning of Åmodt Chapel in Buskerud[26]
Jun 4: burning of Frogn Church in Drøbak[26]
Jun 19: attempted burning of Heni Church in Gjerdrum[26]
Jul 7: burning of a church in Jeløy[26]
Jul 21: attempted burning of Odda's Church[26]
Aug 13: attempted burning of Loop Chapel in Meldal[26]
Dec 10: attempted burning of Åkra Church[26]
Dec 22: attempted burning of Askim Church[26]
Dec 26: attempted burning of Klemestrud Church[26]
1995:
May 13: burning of Lord Church in Telemark[27]
May 25: burning of Såner Church in Vestby[27]
Jun 14: burning of Moe Church in Sandefjord[27]
Jul 21: attempted burning of a church college in Eidanger[27]
Sep 3: attempted burning of Vågsbygd church college in Oddernes[27]
Nov 3: burning of Innset Church in Rennebu[27] (source: Wiki)

h/t Chris Petrie, a Mark Steyn reader.

Can you imagine the media outcry if this had been a mosque instead of over two dozen Christian churches?

Update: via reader D. Morris 2011 update. Another.

Friday, July 29, 2011

I Believe In Cod

Image via Wikipedia

Cod are bouncing back.

I useta take the Court Brothers' fishing boat from North Rustico, PEI and jig for cod. Four hours for about 15 bucks. (Tip: don't eat salt-and-vinegar chips in a choppy sea, unless green is your colour.)

Then, the jig was up.

But now, cod are getting down, again.

Ain't nature grand?!

I Still Like Sarah Palin

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A review of ‘The Quotable Rogue: The Ideals of Sarah Palin in Her Own Words’.

When the media controls the narrative, faulty perceptions inevitably emerge - and prevail - including the impression that Mrs. Palin is a one-dimensional social conservative with little interest in economic issues. In fact, Mr. Lewis writes, “Palin’s pre-veep identity was as a leading reformer and fiscal conservative … a starkly different image from what most Americans now know.”

I think Mr. Lewis also hopes to expose the media’s fabrication of a number of “Palinisms” that were designed to put her in an unfavorable light but, in the end, were malicious distortions. One of the most famous of these, you will recall, courtesy of Tina Fey on “Saturday Night Live,” was, “I can see Russia from my house.” Mrs. Palin’s actual words were, “They’re our next-door neighbors, and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska.” The truth doesn’t make her sound ridiculous, does it? Nor does it fit the liberal-media template....

I believe, and my hunch is that Matt Lewis believes, that much of the negative reaction to Sarah Palin is based far more on the media and liberal establishment’s systematic savaging of her character than anything she has said or done. They fear any effective, popular, influential conservative, especially those who happen to be female or black, and generally make a point - consciously or not - of trying to destroy them.

Regardless of your feelings about Mrs. Palin, it’s undeniable that she consistently demonstrates courage and leadership; she has an uncanny knack for anticipating the next important issue and is unafraid to express her opinion without first holding her finger in the wind to assess its political popularity. In the face of relentless attacks, she doesn’t cower or retreat but fights back and demonstrates her resilience in direct proportion to the assaults against her.

I still like Sarah Palin, savage leftist/MSM ad hominem ridicule notwithstanding.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Anders Breivik Is Not A Christian Fundamentalist (I)

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As Ann Coulter makes clear here, Anders Breivik is not a Christian fundamentalist in any reasonable sense of the term. This will come as a blow to atheist bloggers who, despite their supposed reverence for evidence, uncritically accepted early reports that he was and fell all over themselves in back-slapping self-congratulation.

There is in fact considerable evidence that Breivik could rightly be characterized as a scientism fundamentalist with strong social darwinism beliefs. John G. West lays out the argument here.

Science also trumps religion according to Breivik: "As for the Church and science, it is essential that science takes an undisputed precedence over biblical teachings." (p. 1403)

Breivik lists Darwin's Origin of Species as one of the "important" books he has read (p. 1407), and Social Darwinism is never far from the surface in his discussions of social policy. At one point he laments that "Social-darwinism was the norm before the 1950. Back then, it was allowed to say what we feel. Now, however, we have to disguise our preferences to avoid the horrible consequences of being labeled as a genetical preferentialist." (p. 1227) Breivik's vision for "a perfect Europe" also involves Social Darwinism, which he identifies with "logic" and "rationalist thought": "'Logic' and rationalist thought (a certain degree of national Darwinism) should be the fundament of our societies." (emphasis added, p. 1386)

In other words, Anders Breivik's beliefs more closely resemble those of functioning darwinian atheists than practicing Christians, who (as with abortion today), alone opposed social darwinism when it first reared its ugly head.

But don't expect a clarification or retraction from the New York Times any time soon. Their out-of-the-box declaration that the Oslo murderer was a fundamentalist right-wing Christian served its purpose of promoting anti-Christian bigotry in western society -- a bigotry blogging atheists were, and are, happy to indulge in.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Remembering John Stott

From Christianity Today:

From his conversion at Rugby secondary school in 1938 to his death in 2011 at 90 years old, Stott exemplified how extraordinary plain, ordinary Christianity can be....

Until his conversion and subsequent call to Christian ministry, Stott seemed headed for the diplomatic corps. A skilled linguist, he would win a first at Cambridge in French before going on to study theology, in which he also gained a first. (A prestigious "first" is something like "highest honors" for an American graduate.) Nobody doubted that Stott would have made a superb diplomat. In his ministry, he retained the best qualities of that calling, which is to faithfully and skillfully represent someone else.

Fallen asleep in Jesus, he awaits the resurrection.

John Stott, dead at 90.

For an example of the range of his writings, check out Amazon.com.

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Tuesday, July 26, 2011

New Poll -- Inspired by the Globe and Mail!

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Here's the Globe and Mail's poll question: "Is there a tendency to reley too heavily on technology such as facial recognition tools?"

See the Ball Bounces' at left. Have fun with it!

Monday, July 25, 2011

Concerning the NYT/MSM "Fundamentalist Christian" Storyline...

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The NYT was quick to characterize the Oslo murderer as a "fundamentalist Christian". Other media have followed suit. Atheist sites are beside themselves with self-congratulatory back-slapping.

I found this while trolling the internet: a comment in the New American. This guy does better than the un-inquisitive mainstream media:

1) 85% of Norway is officially "Christian" because every person born there is automatically registered as a member of the state church.

If he was such a Christian:

a) What church did he go to?

b) Who was his pastor?

c) How could he ignore everything Jesus Christ was sent to teach?

There is more evidence for him being a practicing Free Mason than a practicing Christian.

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Sunday, July 24, 2011

Sunday Psalm: 1 -- How Well God Must Like You!

Dewberry flowers. Note the multiple pistils, e...

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How well God must like you— you don't hang out at Sin Saloon, you don't slink along Dead-End Road, you don't go to Smart-Mouth College.

2-3 Instead you thrill to God's Word,
you chew on Scripture day and night.
You're a tree replanted in Eden, bearing fresh fruit every month,
Never dropping a leaf, always in blossom.

4-5 You're not at all like the wicked, who are mere windblown dust—
Without defense in court, unfit company for innocent people.

6 God charts the road you take. The road they take is Skid Row.

-- The Message

Saturday, July 23, 2011

The Oslo Massacres: The NYT Gets Right To The Point

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The New York Times gets right to the point:

OSLO — The Norwegian police on Saturday charged a 32-year-old man, whom they identified as a Christian fundamentalist with right-wing connections, over the bombing of a government center here and a shooting attack on a nearby island that together left at least 91 people dead.

Unlike when it's an Islamist attack -- then you have to wade several paragraphs in to get even a hint of the perp's alleged ideological leanings.

Christian? Right-wing? It's a banner day for the NYT. It's their lead-off sentence.

Also, have you noticed how quick the media have been to give us the tall, blond, nordic details of the perp's appearance? You would never get this if the identifiers were swarthy, dark-eyed, middle-eastern-looking. In fact, such reportage would be denounced as racist.

Just wait now for the NYT and other outlets to assure us that Christianity is a religion of peace.

Waiting, waiting....

My Gut Tells Me This Is Wrong...

H&E staining of sagittal section of 10 days ol...

Image via Wikipedia

UK Mail Online:

Scientists have created more than 150 human-animal hybrid embryos in British laboratories.
The hybrids have been produced secretively over the past three years by researchers looking into possible cures for a wide range of diseases.

Figures seen by the Daily Mail show that 155 ‘admixed’ embryos, containing both human and animal genetic material, have been created since the introduction of the 2008 Human Fertilisation Embryology Act.

This legalised the creation of a variety of hybrids, including an animal egg fertilised by a human sperm; ‘cybrids’, in which a human nucleus is implanted into an animal cell; and ‘chimeras’, in which human cells are mixed with animal embryos.

Human-animal hybrids? It's crunch-time, folks. Are we crossing a line? Are we exceptional, or are we not? Are human beings merely, as darwinists and atheists like David Suzuki insist, mere animals, no better, no worse, and nothing more? And if all creation is by accident and not by design, with no externally-imposed, objective right-and-wrong, good-and-bad underlying human existence, why not?

So, here's the question. Is there, or is there not, a line here that can be crossed? I'm listening to my gut -- what does yours say? Sometimes inward intuition is a source of knowledge. Meanwhile the atheist empiricist can only protest, "where's the evidence?".

The evidence? It's in the intuitions of the human heart. What's left is for us to figure out whether these intuitions of human exceptionalism were implanted as a cruel trick of mindless evolution, or by a purposeful Creator.

Regain your full humanity. Rebel against the atheist machine.™

And that's the way the Ball bounces.

h/t Drudge.

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Thursday, July 21, 2011

US Taxpayers On Hook To AutoMakers For Billions

Image by Chrysler-Group via Flickr

The Obama bailout of the auto industry was a gift to Big Unions at the expense of shareholders (who lost everything and got nothing) and the US tax-payer.

This article puts the cost at 14 billion.

Rich Lowry at National Review also weighs in.

Breaking: "Growing equalization payments to Ontario threaten country: expert"

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"Growing equalization payments to Ontario threaten country: expert"

“The poorer Ontario is, the less other provinces are going to get,” [expert Tom Courchene, economist at Queen’s University and senior scholar at the Institute of Research on Public Policy] says. “It’s a big issue and it’s going to get bigger.”

When Quebec gets eight billion in perennial transfer payments, it's building the nation; when lost-its-mojo Ontario gets two, it's destroying the country.

Here's an idea: every province should get an equal subsidy. Anything less threatens to break up the country.

And that's the way the Ball bounces.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

The Vancouver Rioters: "Poorly Behaved, But Well-Dressed"

OTTAWA, ON - FEBRUARY 4: Vancouver fans show ...

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

The Vancouver Hockey Rioters: "Poorly behaved, but... well-dressed".

Just about sums it up. No real reason to riot beyond it's fun and kinda expected of us.

Ottawa's David Warren weighs in.

The Lion Sleeps Tonight?

Cover of "The Lion King (Disney Special P...

Cover via Amazon

I've never seen The Lion King, so I don't know if it has a scene that features this. I saw a couple of lions in Africa that had just gorged themselves on a wild buffalo. They were so sated they couldn't move. You could have walked up to them and poked them with a stick. I said couldhave, not didhave.

And I know energetic young African Christian ministers who worry about being attacked by a lion when walking from one village to the next to share the good news of Jesus Christ. The risk is a real and present danger.

Problem is, most westerners' views of reality are formed more by Hollywood than Realitywood.

The Lion Sleeps Tonight?

Apparently not.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Poverty In America: Two TVs, One Xbox, etc. etc.

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Data from the Department of Energy and other agencies show that the average poor family, as defined by Census officials:

● Lives in a home that is in good repair, not crowded, and equipped with air conditioning, clothes washer and dryer, and cable or satellite TV service.

● Prepares meals in a kitchen with a refrigerator, coffee maker and microwave as well as oven and stove.

● Enjoys two color TVs, a DVD player, VCR and — if children are there — an Xbox, PlayStation, or other video game system.

● Had enough money in the past year to meet essential needs, including adequate food and medical care.

No mention of "savings". My African friends would be astonished to learn that their highest economic aspirations would make them poor according to American standards. I remember some guy once said that anyone who has two pairs of shoes is not poor. One pair, or no pair -- that's poor.

Cable TV? Not poor.

And that's the way the Ball bounces.

h/t Drudge

Monday, July 18, 2011

The Pearson Customs/Immigration Clearance Crunch

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Arrived at Pearson International about 4:30 pm on a long-haul series of flights from Singapore to Shanghai to Tokyo to Toronto. Happy to be home! However, Pearson isn't part of this.

For years Toronto's Pearson International has had one of the longest walks from gate to security/immigration; it's got to be close to a kilometre (or does it just feel that way?).

Now, to enhance the land-at-Pearson experience, they've added a customs/immigration jam. It was so jammed there was an airport employee holding back arrivees from even proceeding to customs/immigration clearance -- it was "full", she explained.

People line-crashed -- not just a few; dozens. She let people who said they had connecting flights through -- not just a few, dozens upon dozens of them. After 15 or 20 minutes she let the rest of us -- those still waiting after the connectees and crashees had long gone -- to proceed to customs/immigration clearance. Another 15-20 minute wait as weary travellers snaked around fifteen 50-metre segments (meaning the line was 3/4 kilometre long!).

What a way to welcome people to Canada -- nothing like putting your worst foot forward!

The fact they have a person holding people back prior to getting to customs/immigration clearance tells me the long wait is being institutionalized. Tthese long lines are apparently acceptable to the people who get paid big bucks to run Pearson. I suspect they wouldn't be if they had to experience them for themselves on a regular basis. So, here's the Ball Bounces solution. As a quality control step, and as a way of developing empathy for your, you know, customers, it shall be a policy that the person who runs Pearson personally navigates through this line up, dragging along a full weight of carry-on baggage, on a daily basis. Daily. As in, once a day. Every day. Even better, start your trip from one of the far gates. We want you to know what this long lineup feels like. Maybe then you'll be motivated to do something about it. Waste of your time you say? Well, now you know how I and others like me feel.

I've already given up on Pearson for trans-border flying; it's easier and cheaper to fly out of Buffalo. Now I'm going to give serious thought to flying internationally out of either Buffalo or Detroit.

May be the only way to solve Pearson's immigration/customs clearance crunch.

And that's the way the Ball bounces.

Friday, July 15, 2011

This Blog Speaks To A Certain Kind Of Linguistic Racism

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Roland Sintos Coloma is a professor at the University of Toronto’s Centre for Integrative Anti-Racism Studies. I didn't know U of T even had such a centre, but I'm glad it's integrative, because I wouldn't be caught dead in one that wasn't.

One can only imagine what Integrative is supposed to mean. Holistic? Cross-disciplinary? "Sustainable"'s even better. Career-enhancing hint: when in doubt, add "sustainable" what you're saying and you're "in". Trust me -- your company doesn't need a plan; it needs a sustainable plan.

At any rate, Roland Sintos Coloma finds the concept of seeking to reducing foreign accents among Canadians disturbing.

“This speaks to a certain kind of linguistic racism,” Prof. Coloma said, adding that the idea of “making North American customers comfortable is silly...".

I don't think it's as much making "North American customers comfortable" (which to my ears comes across as a racist put-down) as it is making yourself easily understood. I think it's nice to have someone on de udder end of da VoiP line datcha canachully understand. (And, call me a linguophobe, but I think the fact that Air Canada uses an American with a flat Chicago accent to do the pre-recorded boarding announcements is, well, un-Canadian. My linguistic sensitivities have been offended and I should probably sue Air Canada for half a mil and a case of 7-Up....)

And I know Roland Sintos Coloma is a professor, but does "this speaks to a certain kind of linguistic racism" make grammatical sense? I mean, what does "this speaks to" even mean? Could we not expect something more articulate from the rigorously trained mind of a U of T professor?

Or am I racist to suggest this?

And that's the way the Ball bounces.

PS. I looked up the Institute. It's part of OISE. Ah.... "Research and teaching in the areas of equity, anti-racism praxis and alternative knowledges in education." Knowledges? More bizarrely, they've just finished their "5th Annual Spirituality Conference. Theme: Land, Citizenship, Belonging, and the Place of the Spirit".

I doubt if it was Christian, and I know it's racist of me to even think this and doing so means I'm a bad person. But, if it ain't Christian, can it be said to be properly diverse and inclusive? And, if it ain't diverse and inclusive, here's the question, can it really be sustainable?

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Wednesday, July 13, 2011

The Big "S" Makes A Comeback

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"Syphilis is on a comeback. The Victorian-era disease is plaguing booming Alberta. Who is to blame?"

I'm guessing the sexually promiscuous?

But, no, having skimmed the article, the cause of syphilis is more likely to be persons with "conservative mores". I've heard of persons with pores, and affliction via spores, but mores? Can't imagine going to the doctor and saying, "doc, I think I may have contracted a case of conservative mores. Can ya give me a shot?".

And then this helpful explanation:

“People are okay to deal with certain things, but we’re still suffering from a lack of normalization of the harder topics.”

A lack of normalization of the harder topics? Eeyoww!

Christian faithfulness and monogamy are looking better all the time. Especially since I came across unviewable and unpublishable pictures of the effects of syphilis while selecting a suitable photo for this post. If they want to do some effective sex-ed, for starters they could try passing around a few of these photos.

Should do the trick.

And that's the way the conservative Ball bounces.

PS: Having seen the photos, I deeply grieve for those caught up in the lying matrix of guilt-free, consequence-free sexual licentiousness. Our being nice to the sexually licentious and disordered comes at great cost -- to them. We would rather let people suffer the devastations of STDs than risk offending them by telling them what they are doing is immoral, wrong, and, risky. It's the Christians who really love these people enough to tell them truth about their false sexual identities and risky behaviours.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

The Ball Bounces Banned In Beijing!!!

Image representing Blogger as depicted in Crun...

Image via CrunchBase

I was unable to access the Blogger server in Shanghai. Kept getting a cannot access message. Apparently China has blocked Blogger (but, inexplicably, not Wordpress) since 2009.

This shakes the Ball Bounces to the core. To think that there is this vast swath of humanity -- the Chinese -- who are unable to access this blog. Oh, the humanity! (I've also noticed that an awful lot of them can't speak English, so maybe it's a moot point.)

I haven't been able to approve any comments for the past few days. I'm getting caught up now, and will be back in the game soon.

Maybe I should flee to Wordpress.

And that's the way the Ball bounces.

Why Hasn't Newhart Been Released On DVD?

Image by trainman74 via Flickr

Newhart was a funny, classy, slow. And it's not just me who thinks so. Both my brothers -- Darryl and my other bother Darryl -- agree.

The series ran from 1982 to 1990. So, why hasn't it been released on DVD? Doesn't MTM want to make any money? Are they waiting for Bob Newhart to, you know, die?

Have the terrorists won?

Why are we being punished?

Or, as Seinfeld's George Costanza might say, "why? why? why?!".

And that's the way the Ball bounces.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

LOST: A Retrospective Review

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I don't watch shows when they are "on". I wait and buy the DVD set or Netflix them commercial-free and without having to wait a week or a summer to see the next episode. So only now, after the end of the CUPW moment of insanity, can I review Lost, having finally watched the grand and final episode via a Zip.ca disk.

TV series LOST in three easy stages:

1. It's all about characters who are physically lost, as in airplane-wrecked castaways on an uncharted island.

2. Aha. It's a bit mystical and deeper than that. It's not about being physically lost, it's about being spiritually lost. LOST is all about redemption! Hmm....

3. Year six -- it's not the castaways who are lost; it is the viewer. Hopelessly. Beyond recovery. Lost, lost, lost. "Abandon all hope ye who enter season six."

The plot from year six is taken from JAWS. Year six is all about (spoiler alert) the Island jumping over a huge, giant shark.

Now for a real spoiler alert:

LOST would have been a great series if it ended after season five, with the travellers reversing their plane crash and arriving safely in LA. It would have meant the entire series itself never happened -- something a person could spend the rest of their lives contemplating -- a truly unique moment in TV history.

And that's the way the once-in-a-lifetime Ball bounces.

Saturday, July 09, 2011

Pet Peeve: Where Are The Electrical Outlets In Airport Terminals?

WASHINGTON - OCTOBER 8: A traveler watches as...

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

I'm sitting in the Charlottetown International Airport. At least, I think it's still international -- there's still that flight in from Detroit, and maybe another one that goes to Boston, right?

Nice remodeled passenger waiting area next to "Gate 1" -- paid for with the passenger-provided airport upgrade fee. (I don't think there is a "Gate 2", but I could be wrong.)

So where are all the close-by, adjacent, at-your-feet electrical outlets for all the wired waiting passengers who want to use their laptops and charge up their electronic devices while waiting to be called? Eh?

There are none.

None. It's so short-sighted, it's the electronic equivalent of not providing seating.

Come on, airport terminals of the world -- get with the program. Someone gets paid to run an airport. Start running it.

And that's the way the Shanghai-bound Ball bounces.

Quebec City Ponders 2022 Olympics Bid; Eschews Federal Government Aid

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Concerning the 2022 Olympics bid:

Quebec City mayor Regis Labeaume's press secretary said Wednesday the mayor will meet with Quebec Premier Jean Charest, members of the Olympic task force Team Quebec and Marcel Aubut, president of the Canadian Olympic Committee. [condensed]

"We will take the time to think this through before making a decision, and we have other people to consult," said Paul Christian Nolin.

When asked about the possibility of federal support and funding, Quebec's mayor reportedly stamped his feet and said, "No, no, no. No way, José. We are the national capital of the nation of Quebec; we stand on our own two feet, while at the same time being proud to contribute to the financial well-being of the rest of Canada. But to seek financial assistance from Canada and Canadians would simply not be the Quebec way".

Just kidding -- can't let the whole "we're-a-nation" thing get in the way of federal government funding!

Friday, July 08, 2011

Canada Post? "They're Illiterate"

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Talked today to someone about our woes getting mail held or re-directed by Canada Post. This person's response: "I've given up -- they're illiterate". Hmmm. They may be on to something. You would think that an acute sense of er, the ability to process letters and numbers accurately might be a prerequisite for a job delivering mail where, you know, you have to be able to read stuff.

Apparently not.

We were re-directing mail from PEI to Toronto. Supposed to stop in June. Didn't happen. It got coded September by Canada Post. This is not the first time this sort of thing has happened -- for us, it's been the rule, rather than the exception. And, no, our writing is not particularly sloppy.

I'm currently looking at a stack of L.L.Bean catalogs. Shoulda been re-directed to Toronto. Instead, the postal worker circled the "Current Resident or" at the top and left them in PEI. So, we've got a stack of 'em now. Even though they were properly addressed, and we paid Canada Post a fee to re-direct our mail, because you, know, WE WEREN'T GOING TO BE HOME AND WE ARE THE CURRENT RESIDENT. Is it too much to expect that when you pay to have your mail re-directed it will actually be re-directed?

Apparently so.

I don't know who to blame -- Canada Post or the CUPW posties themselves. It's enough to make you want to cross the street to the competition. Oh.

Yeah.

And that's the way the re-directed Ball bounces.

"Mr. Santiago No Longer Works With The TSA"

Seal of the United States Transportation Secur...

Image via Wikipedia

TSA Agent: "What's that in your pants, air-boy?"
USA Air Traveller: "No, what's that in your pants, TSA-boy?"

Because of this "TSA Agent Caught With Passenger's iPad in His Pants; Allegedly Took $50,000 in Other Goods, Cops Say" after they pat us down, we get to pat them down.

Only fair.

h/t Drudge

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