A man who, allegedly, made a threat to bomb the Yorkton City RCMP detachment is off to North Battleford for a psychiatric assessment. Is it just me, or are there more disturbed people than ever before in our world’s history? When a bad incident occurs, we just assume the perpetrator isn’t a bad person, there is just something unstable upstairs that can be repaired with a few pills and counselling sessions.
Politicians in Regina spent Monday night debating whether or not to allow a man to open the province’s first strip joint in that city. Personally, I think there are a lot bigger fish to fry than deciding whether or not a guy can operate a bar where you might see half naked young women. I’ve lived in cities with strip bars and they are, for the most part, an after thought. I will almost guarantee you that there will be more violence and other incidents at main stream bars than what you will find at one where you see a bit more skin. I get that it’s not an ideal industry for women, but I would also suggest it’s not going to stop a woman from using her body to make money. This may, actually, be safer for them.
A bar in Winnipeg has been forced to apologize and remove a poster showing a woman in a short skirt bending down to reach for a drink. There is a caption along the bottom that says something to the effect of ‘this is why I keep the drinks on the bottom shelf’. Apparently, many people have been irreparably harmed by seeing this. I, myself, will be filing for stress leave as soon as I’m done writing this article.
From the files of the galactically stupid, comes word of a 27-year-old Muslim woman suing a Michigan police department for violating her right to religious expression after she was, allegedly, forced to remove her head scarf for a booking photo. Allowing her to keep it on and snapping her pic would make her look no different than most women who dawn a head scarf. Remarkably, there are lawyers who have analyzed this suit and feel as though she has a pretty good case to win. Next up will be the bank robber who refuses to take off his balaclava for a booking photo.
Going one better is the story of the head of the BBC Arabic, who says using the word ‘terrorist’ is ‘too loaded’. The thought process here is that the word is ‘value laden’ and, therefore, it’s better to just say ‘two men killed twelve people in an attack on the office of a satirical magazine’. I guess, put your head in the sand and it goes away?
Major League Baseball has a new commissioner and he is bringing with him some fresh ideas on speeding up the game. I applaud a few of them, such as a clock on the pitcher and batter to hurry up their process and also limit the number of visits to the mound a catcher can make. One thing that is also being tossed around is making a defensive alignment known as ‘the shift’ illegal. I disagree with this one as I feel the onus should be on the hitter to find the open spot of the field and place the ball. For those who are not aware, a left handed batter like David Ortiz has a very strong tendency to hit the ball to the first base side of the field. So, defences will move the shortstop over to second base and second base will slide into shallow right field to eliminate holes on that side of the field. Of course, this makes for a huge opening between second and third and, to me, any good hitter should be able to just lay the bat out and get a base hit to left in this situation. Sure, the possibility of a home run is taken away, but defences will stop shifting if the batter develops a reputation for getting on base by exploiting what’s been given to him.
I didn’t watch a single second of NHL All-Star festivities over the weekend. The whole idea of the draft, skills competition, and game is romper room to me. Maybe kids enjoy it? The final score was something like 16-11, which isn’t hockey. I can’t believe the copious amounts of money spent by television networks on this. It’s all just speculation, but there are a few reports out there of players drinking alcohol on the ice while they took part in the activities. That’s a nice example. I hope those reports aren’t true.
I wish I could pick a side and have a rooting interest in the Super Bowl this weekend, but I can’t. I despise Richard Sherman, Marshawn Lynch, and Pete Carroll on the Seahawk side. I don’t know what to make of this whole Deflate Gate that has surrounded the New England Patriots; but I do know they are cheaters and have shown repeated disrespect for the game of football. I guess I will just hope that one side gets creamed and is forced to sit through a lengthy beat down.
Nice person mentions this week to: Bruce Luebke, Mike Reagan, Michelle Smith, and Joelle Bohn.
