Right On! Blog

Retired Johnny Carson makes rare (last) TV appearance

I sent this note to the Hon. Jim Bradley, Minister of Transportation for Ontario.

Although I disagree with the need to have speed limiters placed on the most responsible drivers on the roads, ie. heavy trucks, I do agree that any vehicle in which a teenager is allowed to drive should be limited.  To make enforcement simple, allow officers to scan any vehicle that has been pulled over for speeding and is driven by a teenager.  If it doesn’t show governed, then issue a stiff fine to the vehicle owner.  I am getting tired of hearing about all those caught doing 200kmh and being charged and impounded.  That doesn’t really seem to solve the problem, although it makes a good headline.

Teen In Fast Company

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Got a good tip?  Need a good tip?

Take a Tip. Share a Tip. – Google Moderator.

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Could this be any sadder?

The recently married couple, who have four children, talked at length about death before he deployed in September, said Mishelle Brown, wife of Warrant Officer Dennis Brown.

via TheStar.com | Canada | Expected husband to die in Afghanistan, teary widow says.

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More putting the cart before the horse with government planning.  If we had built incinerators ourselves, we could use one truck to pick all the crap up, burn it locally, and have far more energy than any windmill.  So our blue boxes are going to China, and our green boxes are going to Niagara Falls, NY.  Amazingly stupid!

Ontario municipalities ’scrambling’ to cope with surge in kitchen refuse and plant closings

via TheStar.com | Ontario | Green bin waste trucked to N.Y..

You’ve heard of overprotective parents – how about overprotective states?

A couple forced to give up three children for adoption despite a judge ruling they may have been wrongly accused of abuse yesterday vowed to take their legal fight to Europe.

via Couple told they cannot have their children back after being wrongfully accused of abuse to take court battle to Europe | Mail Online.

It appears the “general” consensus is to let GM slip into Chapter 11.  Chapter 11 is an efficient way to get back to health – I have to agree with commenters that the $6B would be better sunk into infrastructure.

General Motors of Canada has doubled its request to about $6 billion for public aid from the federal and Ontario governments.

via Wheels.ca – GM doubles aid request – Canada’s Most Trusted Auto Resource.

Who knew the Buffalo News had such a great online site.  Here’s a fabulous story that can only make you sad – giving you some history on the 50 souls who died through no fault of their own.

Some of them were well known. Like Alison Des Forges, a human rights activist and world-renowned expert on Rwanda, who was coming home from a public debate with a member of British Parliament.

via Passengers and crew aboard Flight 3407: Their stories : The Crash of Flight 3407 : The Buffalo News.

More proof that we are but one gene away from being monkeys.

The four-footer — who looks no more than eight — said: “I know I’m young, but I plan to be a good dad.”

via Playtime for baby-faced 13-year-old dad Alfie Patten | The Sun |News.

Sometimes it seems the only people left breeding in the Western First World are the completely unequipped, both mentally and financially.  The other thing missing is outrage – noone finds these stories bizarre anymore.  Are we so desensitized to the bizarre?

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David Miller could learn a lot about saving money – it’s too bad he’s addicted to tax increases.

The recession-ravaged city should consider imposing a four-day workweek on municipal employees, reducing health and vacation benefits for new workers and adopting pension formulas that don’t count overtime, a study released yesterday found.

via RX FOR CITY: 4-DAY WEEK – New York Post.

This story doesn’t pass the smell test.  It’s one thing to charge a fellow officer – but for this to hit the papers like this?  Very odd.

An OPP officer has been charged under the province’s street racing laws for speeding in her police vehicle while on duty.

via TheStar.com | Ontario | OPP car seized, officer charged for 50 over.

If there was ever any doubt that recycling is simply a feel-good program that does nothing, except cost, the environment, then perhaps this blue box nightmare story will help convince you.

Ontario’s recycling scraps – dirty peanut butter jars, plastic toys, and unsorted paper – are being shipped to Asia at a rate of thousands of tonnes a month.

via TheStar.com | Ontario | Blue-box leftovers go to China and back.

The sooner we put all our time and effort into incineration the better.  Landfills up north – ie. far enough north where the suburbs are unlikely to ever reach – is another completely sensible idea.  Ontario is a massive province – just keep driving north of Dundas St., silly hall people, to realize this, and you’ll see we will never ever in a thousand lifetimes run out of room.

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• Just burn it (news.bbc.co.uk)

This chart compares the job loss so far in this recession to job losses in the 1990-1991 recession and the 2001 recession – showing how dramatic and unprecedented the job loss over the last 13 months has been.

via The Gavel » Blog Archive » What 3.6 Million Jobs Lost Over 13 Months Looks Like.

The green arrow is us, today.  This is a US picture, but the Canadian graph may be even steeper.

via JWalk

Garth says the corner has already been turned.  Boy he’s turned into quite the doomsayer.

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110 isn’t always too old to become a father of a multiple birth story.

It took about 110 years and some delicate surgery on his most private parts, but Henry — a lizard-like creature from New Zealand — is now a dad.

via 110-year-old ‘living fossil’ becomes a dad – CNN.com.

The bleak days of the current Leafs make me yearn for the H. Ballard days.  NP’s McParland reaches farther back to lament the Conn Smythe days.  Either way, the nameless, faceless entity that owns the Leafs today is as dull as the Leafs are bad.

But the soulless corporate monolith that now controls the Leafs with the same passion it manages its condominium holdings has yet to come to grips with the legacy of the Smythe family.

via Kelly McParland: The Leafs never learn. But Conn Smythe might have taught them. – Full Comment.