Long time voice of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Rod Pedersen, resigned last week after serving in that capacity (and more) for the last 20 years. It will be a highly sought job by sports media types right across the country, but make no mistake about it. The ‘new Rod’ will be under a lot of scrutiny and will be micromanaged to the point that the individual will be nothing more than glorified public relations. Have you ever wondered why local Saskatchewan sports media never breaks a big story? Think of the Chris Jones hiring by the Cleveland Browns. Dave Naylor, of TSN, had it first. There’s no way we should ever be scooped in our own backyard, but it happens constantly and I refuse to believe professionals like Rod were unaware of what was going on. I think they are handcuffed and have to wait for the information to become public or for the Riders to give their okay. But, such is life in the media now. There is no such thing as journalism anymore. Everything is geared around promotion and the Riders are no more or less protective of their brand than any other sports organization. This is the way it is. I just think the new person coming in is going to be immersed into a pressure cooker and I don’t envy him (or her).
I don’t know who’s responsible for fixing railway crossings, whether that lies with CN or the City of Yorkton; but what we have on our busiest downtown street (Broadway) is a serious problem. It doesn’t seem to matter how slow you go, heading west and crossing the CN line near McDonald’s results in a fairly violent bump. I’m trying to recollect when I started to notice this, but it’s been about a month I think. Let’s get it fixed. Broadway is too busy and someone, unknowingly, is going to ruin the undercarriage of his/her vehicle.
I can get behind Premier Scott Moe opposing the carbon tax, because I oppose the carbon tax. I think it’s useless (actually harmful) and I agree with Moe that it is a cash grab. However, I’m not a fan of Moe screaming cash grab when his government is also guilty of cash grabbing against people who can least afford it themselves. I look at putting PST on children’s clothing, adding PST to certain used vehicle purchases that had been previously exempt, and now there is PST on your Netflix subscriptions. In the case of the tax being applied to the used vehicle purchase, the excuse was that it brought Saskatchewan in line with the rest of the country. Hmmm, I wonder what the Netflix excuse is seeing as how only Quebec charges this tax and no other province is guilty of this gouge. Heck, the federal Liberals aren’t even charging GST on Netflix... yet. It seems like Saskatchewan only opposes cash grabs that aren’t their own.
For the most part, I have come to tune out American politics because it’s impossible to discern what’s truth and what isn’t. Media that represents the left (CNN) as well as the right (Fox) are so full of it that almost none of it is factual. However, I find this tidbit interesting. President Donald Trump wants $5.7-billion in funding to build a wall along the border with Mexico. The Democrats oppose this and the entire government is shutdown over it. There are countless numbers of federal workers thrown out of work and missing paycheques. It’s not pretty. There are 360-million people in the United States, the majority of them are taxpayers that would foot the bill for this. Meanwhile, in Canada where the population is 36-million people, we have a government that didn’t even bat an eye purchasing a $4.5-billion pipeline that will never ever be built. Read that again and let it sink in.
The Gillette ad released last week that attacks toxic masculinity has drawn widespread praise as well as criticism and those who are opposed to the social media campaign have been told that, at best, they don’t understand what the message is saying. Count me in as one of those folks who doesn’t get it. First of all, what is toxic masculinity anyway? Second of all, I am not aware of any men in my social circle who are disgusting human beings. That’s not to say all men are perfect; but nobody is perfect. Man or woman. Painting an entire group of people as being guilty of a crime committed by a very select few is dangerous. To suggest all men need to be self-reflective on their behaviour is just wrong.
Where’s the ad campaign against all religious groups who have radicals giving them bad reputations (whether it be sex offenses by priests, the nut jobs at Westboro Baptist, or the terrorists who use Islam as a cover)? That’s just one example, but I could give many.
Someone pointed out to me that the ad wants me to be aware that it’s okay to cry. Sure, fine.
Nice person mentions this week: Jay Boyd, Chris Lewgood, Rob Hart, Kevin Saurette, and Vicki Schnurr.
