When News Interviews go Horribly Wrong

Tsunami related deaths have taken as many as 60,000 lives as of this writing. This is, of course, a terrible, terrible tragedy and I wouldn't want to mock it. Coverage of it is another matter. The fact that it is tsunami-related isn't the issue. Live news reporting is.

Wonkette points to this exchange on CNN. The fact that Tucker Carlson is the talking head stuck in the mud is only an added bonus.

Ginger Penelope Wawrow

It gives me an enormous amount of pleasure to point out the birth of Ginger Penelope Wawrow on Saturday night in Kelowna, British Columbia. She's incredibly lucky to have Bri as a father and, although I've yet to meet Sherri, I'm sure the same can be said of her.

My congratulations to the three of them.

Land of the -46 Degree Wind Chill

Okay, it's frickin' cold. My one block walk to the bus stop yesterday morning featured tears that froze instantly on my face. Serves me right for leaving the house without checking the Weather Network. My ought-to-be-cooler-than-it-is really, really warm hat sat useless in the closet.

How cold was it? It was so cold that Drudge even broke from his 24/7 love in with the Bushes to make note of it.

Kia Canada Ad: "Bring Back Hockey"

This might be part of the beginning of a trend - major corporations forgoing selling their stuff to appeal to the NHL and NHLPA to get their shit together and get hockey back on the ice.

This one is from Kia, showing two guys thinking that they're gonna try to be replacement players. It's pretty good ("We put on a clinic out there..."), much better than the other such ad I've seen, the brewery one with guys singing a Culture Club song (yes, Culture Club) from way back.

Good on Kia for elbowing into what I figured was the exclusive domain of North American car companies, the hockey-loving guys niche.

My only problem with it is that, like so many other notable ads out there, you remember the ad but not so much the company (i.e. the real message) behind it.

Oh well. I don't expect to every buy a Kia anyway. But I like the ads and I appreciate the added pressure they're applying on the two key parties of the lockout.

U.S. Homeland Security Nominee Withdraws

This seems to be an American phenomenon - politicians, even (especially?) ones that has been around for a while, having to take themselves out of public office once word gets out that the help is either of dubious immigration status or hasn't had taxes or social security paid for them properly (see further down the CNN article for a list of recent examples). It certainly doesn't happen in Canada as far as I know.

I wonder, however, if this is simply the American version of the old Canadian standby of a politician removing himself from scandal by copping to a relatively minor transgression, usually involving meddling in a judicial matter for a constituent. These things usually come to light well into their political careers; it's curious that they either haven't been identified before or that the politician wouldn't know better. Might something embarrassing from Kerik's past have come out during confirmation hearings? I'd have thought that the administration would have done it's due diligence before an announcement was made.

But then again, maybe I'm just being cynical.

NHL vs. NHLPA

I see that folks in Leaf Nation have begun to get excited at what yesterday's NHLPA proposal could mean to them:

"The fight among owners is about to begin. That you can bet on. There is a deal to be done here: All Bettman has to do is catch his breath, compose himself and find a way.

That's what the Maple Leafs have to be hoping for. This kind of arrangement is more than they could ever have imagined.

Suddenly, Mats Sundin would be a $6.08-million (all terms US) player, down from $9 million of a year ago or the $8 million he was scheduled to earn this season.

Suddenly, Ed Belfour would go from $8 million a year to $6.08 million; Owen Nolan from $6.5 million to $4.94 million a year; Brian Leetch from $6.4 million to $4.86 million; Alexander Mogilny from $5.5 million to $4.18 million.

On five players alone, that amounts to a reduction of $8.3 million in payroll, which on its own is enough to sign two quality free agents in a market flush with them.

Maybe a Glen Murray. Maybe an Alexei Zhitnik. Maybe a Paul Kariya. You get the point."

Granted, Steve Simmons goes on to say that, if the NHL owners were to accept this deal, they would not be addressing the underlying problem which is the cause of all this hullabaloo to begin with: teams would not be able to compete on an even basis against each other.

But in his daydream he pointed out something that is evident if you look a bit beyond the headlines and talking points. This 24% wage rollback is for players who currently have contracts. It doesn't affect any of the much-larger-than-normal number of free agents out there who can still start unrestricted bidding wars for their services, does it? This rollback would only affect a chunk of the players out there, by no means all of them.

Plant a Seed and Watch it Grow

... unless, of course, it's frickin' cold outside and the ground looks like a skating rink. Dammit.