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Showing posts from November, 2015

Vancouver Canucks at Anaheim Ducks: L0-4

The Canucks were dominated in the first period of the game. They didn't dig themselves out of the hole they'd dug for themselves, and lost the game by a sizable difference. Ah, well. It happens. No Canucks players really distinguished themselves, this game. The rookie, Jake Virtanen was injured, and didn't play the whole game. I'll note Bieksa looked fine playing for the Ducks. Seems to be skating smoothly and comfortably. Shame he was run out of Vancouver, but at least he's playing for a contender, now. The Canucks do miss his ability to get shots on the net from the point, though. No one's really replaced that in this lineup. The Canucks are in severe need of one more penalty killing forward. Their PK is killing them one blown PK at a time. As a team, the Canucks have probably shown everything they're capable of this season. They can get hot, and string off a few wins, but it'll probably be win one, lose one for the most part. In terms of advance

Vancouver Canucks at Dallas Stars, Final Score: Vancouver 2 - Dallas 3 SO, November 27, 2015

Good game for the 'Nucks. They lost in a shootout, but they could've won. Should've won, if not for noted Canucks killer, Antti Niemi. No Canucks' players had a bad game, tonight. Everyone was at their best. What beat the Canucks was their inability to finish on the power play early in the game, and their inability to kill penalties early in the game. Don't let anyone tell you different. The best Canucks players played at their best, and the role players did their jobs. Can't ask for much more, except possibly for the second Dallas goal back. Then again, Miller just couldn't react to that blistering slapshot. He was beaten cleanly. Stretched out, and treated like a drum, then. Some notes, The Sedins impressed, once again. Sometimes they score against the flow of play, sometimes they dominate play. Tonight, they cleanly beat their matchups. Alex Edler, he can dominate a hockey game, but he's very reserved on the ice. I'd like to see him demand the

1 officer, 2 civilians dead in Colorado Planned Parenthood shooting

CBC News This is, simply put, a terrorist attack . It won't be treated as such, however. The suspect probably won't face terrorism charges. His crimes will be whitewashed as being an isolated incident. You know, much like the other dozens upon dozens of isolated incidents resulting in hundreds and hundreds of murders that've occurred over the years.

Erdoğan's goose is cooked

Fittingly, a day after the US' Thanksgiving holiday, we're starting to smell roasted bird. That would probably be Erdoğan. He's well done, as of now. Cooked to perfection. Now, it's a matter of time. Waiting for him to be finished, entirely. For the time being, NATO's hung him out to dry. They've denounced Russia's retaliations, but have actually done nothing else. Article 5's not even in play. It's been skirted around, and all but dismissed entirely. At this point in time, Turkey's only a member of NATO in name only. This is especially important, knowing Russia's not interested in attacking Turkey, but has made it known they'll retaliate to any attack on their forces, going all out. They've basically triple-dog-dared Turkey to attack them, too, brushing aggressively close to Turkey's border, and doubling down on attacks on the people Turkey had demanded Russia not attack, the Turkmen. And now Syria finally has access to Russi

Canucks at Wild, Nov. 25, 2015, Final Score, 3-2

Good game for the Canucks. They pulled out a win by the skin of their teeth. They had some fortuitous luck, too. Some notes, Sedins were outshot whilst on the ice, this game, but their line scored two points. It doesn't seem like the Sedins were outshot, though. Vrbata scored two goals. Finally had some production to go along with his great play. Vancouver really need to assess if they wish to keep him for next season. If not, they should consider finding another team for him in exchange for picks or prospects. Edler and Tanev have been playing well lately. Makes me wonder what the hell other observers are seeing to be calling Edler a terrible player. His play is solid, and his Corsi stats back this statement up. He's at the same level this year as he was last year. And he was near incredible, last year. Same goes for Hamhuis and Weber. They've been solid, if not spectacular. The Canucks should consider resigning both for next season, if possible. If not, then they sho

Reason is probably out the door in Turkey

Turkey's been pissed with Russia for some time. Ostensibly over Russian bombing of Turkmen settlements in Syria. Others claim it may have to do with Russian bombing of illegal oil smuggling chains, or possibly illegal arms trade. Who knows the reason? I don't. What I can say, though, is the reason probably doesn't even matter, anymore. It left, long ago, out the front door, possibly to Europe with the flow of refugees. Turkey downed a Russian jet. They say in defense. Others state in retaliation. Some believe it was a warning. Russia has claimed it to be a stab in the back. Now, Russia's pissed off with Turkey. Overnight, they've halted trade with Turkey. They've pressed their nation's agencies to suspend trips to Turkey. They recalled their minister. And there are rumblings Russia might shut off the gas to Turkey. And possibly as a warning or threat or retaliation, Russia's stepped up their bombing campaign on the Turkey-Syrian border, today. Border

Mulcair, you loser, get the hell out of Dodge

Tom Mulcair vows he will stay on as leader of NDP It's probably fair to call Mulcair out as possibly the second worst leader in the NDP's history. And there's been some pretty bad leaders since McLaughlin, arguably the NDP's worst. To be fair, the NDP's probably dead. The ideals of yesterday are buried, and the leadership group is filled with career pols and exiled neo-libs. It's time to kick these fuckers out of the party. Start with Mulcair, and work our way down the list. Get some backbone into the party. Get some real heart. Neo-liberalism is dead. It's a failed idealogy. It's ruined lives, worldwide, and enriches none but those already rich and powerful. And of the two dead entities, I trust the NDP could rise again. But it's time to stop buying the snake oil hucksters like Mulcair have been selling. Power is only important if you have heart. Power for its own sake is corrupting. This has been known for millennia, and still we allowed ours

Turkey, Russia, Syria

We've reached a new tipping point. Whether this will be localized to merely Turkey, or if it will involve numerous states (i.e., WWIII), is probably up to NATO's response to whatever Russia decides to do about Turkey. The nation of Turkey's been acting as a spoiler these past few years. A dangerous, and stupid, wildcard. It's been flooding Europe with refugees, and continually allowing radical Syrian militants safe haven within their borders. Russia probably won't attack Turkey, militarily, but instead economically. A not insignificant amount of Turkey's energy needs are met by Russian suppliers. NATO needs to find a way of appearing to have Turkey's back, while also burning Turkey's fingertips. If NATO backs Turkey unconditionally, then we're probably in for a cold and dark winter.

How the cult of shareholder value is cannibalizing corporate North America

Financial Post As I read through this article, I couldn't help thinking, as I read some of the defenses of the proponents of this sort of business practice, of that W.C. Fields quote, "If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit." And it's a whole lot of bullshit. These companies have been overheating their own stocks, and calling it profit. They've been raiding their own savings to placate demanding and aggressive shareholders. And in the end, it's all make-believe. They're rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. It's an ages old scam, Three-card Monte, but it's played using banks instead of cards. Feel safe and secure with our financial leadership?

Syria, France

My opinion, let's stay the hell out of Syria. It's Russia's business what happens there, and the less we have to do with it, the better. Let's take care of our selves before we adventure off to some quagmire, and lose many lives in some fruitless search for peace. France, please refrain from a war-like response. However terrible the attacks on your populace were, remember the masterminds behind the attacks should be pursued as criminals. True justice would begin by sending in police investigators to arrest the suspects after gathering strong evidence, rather than soldiers who aren't at all trained for this sort of thing.

The NDP's defeat

I'm happy the NDP lost the election. Very happy. It first lost its values and principles, and now, it's lost the election. Thankfully. I'm marginally happy the Liberals won. They've done alright toward First Nations in the past, but I have major concerns regarding their policies concerning the environment and corporate crime.