Tracker

And once our O-line gets healthy and settled, and Oliviera gains experience and more confidence, the difference will be even more apparent, particularly with Harris injuring his wrist last game-not good for lugging the ball or catching it.

I believe that what you see as divisive politics by the Liberals is mostly hysteria generated by the newly-energized right wing nutjobs which have a disproportionate influence on both the PCs and media, giving them a much larger profile that their numbers warrant. The Trudeau government has enforced the existing laws about public health and safety (the mask/vaccination stuff) but the final choices were made by the provincial governments. As far as I can tell, the federal government has not gone out of its way to antagonize people, right-wing or not. There are bottlenecks in government services, both federal and provincial and there appear to multiple reasons for that, some beyond government control. The small but vocal and sometimes unhinged minority in Canada (and elsewhere) are having hissy-fits because they are not getting their way, and often for good reason. The trucker infestations in Ottawa, Winnipeg and Alberta are examples- they wanted all COVID measures repealed instantly and for the federal government to be overturned without due process. The economic situation such as high housing prices has been here before and looks to be cyclical. The measures required to correct it are probably unpalatable to most (eg: some cities in Europe require that houses must be sold to the city and bought from them, and have kept housing prices way down). In the meantime, the rich are getting richer and the poor are disproportionally taxed. Yes it is, and appears to have been born out of the frustration related to the lack of response to the trucker occupations in Ottawa, Winnipeg and Coutts, Alberta.

A couple of developments today: firstly, the section of the FBI that obtained the search warrant (signed off by a Trump-appointed judge) was applied for by the section of the FBI that deals with espionage, and secondly, Trump is refusing to release or show the warrant that was served on him and discloses exactly what the FBI is looking for. All of which indicates that this is serious stuff. Trump is apparently alternating between rage and terror.

There is growing speculation that an insider is feeding information to the American DOJ. Melania? One of his sons, daughter, or son in law desperate to avoid jail?

Hot in New York today........

https://img-9gag-fun.9cache.com/photo/aqG0XqZ_460svav1.mp4

Smoke rising after explosions near a Russian military air base in Crimea on Tuesday. ODESA, Ukraine — A series of explosions rocked a key Russian air base in Kremlin-occupied Crimea on Tuesday, killing at least one person and sowing confusion among local officials about the cause and whether Ukraine’s military could threaten targets on the peninsula. Publicly, Ukrainian officials would not confirm the involvement of Ukraine’s military, as Russian and occupation officials scrambled to determine the source of the blasts, raising the terrorist threat level in the area. But a senior Ukrainian military official with knowledge of the situation said that Ukrainian forces were responsible, having carried out an attack on the Saki air base on the western coast of Crimea. Speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters, the official said the air base was one from which planes regularly took off for attacks on Ukrainian forces. The official would not disclose what type of weapon caused the explosions, saying only that “a device exclusively of Ukrainian manufacture was used.” A Ukrainian attack on Russian forces in the Crimean Peninsula would represent a significant expansion of Ukraine’s offensive efforts, which had mostly been confined to pushing Russian troops from territories occupied after Feb. 24, when the invasion began. For weeks, however, Ukraine has been shifting troops and striking deeper behind the front lines than before, as it signals that it is preparing a major counteroffensive in the Kherson region and uses longer-range weapons supplied by the West. Crimea, shielded by the Russian Navy and heavily fortified after eight years in Russian control, has largely been spared the violence. Last month, a small explosive device delivered by drone blew up at the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in the Crimean port of Sevastopol, injuring six but causing little damage. Russia blamed Ukrainian forces for the attack, but Ukrainian officials vociferously denied it. A strike in Crimea would also be an embarrassment for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, who often speaks of Crimea, which he illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014, as if it were hallowed ground. Ukraine possesses few weapons that can reach the peninsula, aside from aircraft that would risk being shot down immediately by Russia’s heavy air defenses in the region. The air base, which is near the city of Novofederivka, is well over 100 miles from the nearest Ukrainian military position. https://www.thedailybeast.com/ukraine-claims-responsibility-for-massive-blasts-at-russian-base-in-crimea-despite-kremlins-story?ref=home

GOP Senator says Democrats support abortions up to 52 weeks Another Republican man is being humiliated publicly after they revealed that they have no idea about the biology of female humans. For years, Republicans, men, in particular, have been ridiculed for bizarre ideas they have about biology that are not only false but laughably so. Todd Akin, who ran for the U.S. Senate in Missouri, infamously said that women can't get pregnant from rape because if it is a "legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down." That's false. Over the weekend, Indiana state Rep. John Jacob (R) claimed, "The body inside of the mom's body is not her body. Let me repeat that: The body inside of the mom's body is not her body. Not her body, not her choice." Rush Limbaugh infamously decided to shoot all women who sought an abortion. "You know how to stop abortion? Require that each one occur with a gun," he announced. Similarly, Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX) tweeted his idea in 2013, "If babies had guns, they wouldn't be aborted." Conservative blogger Erick Erickson, who now has his own radio show, told women in 2013 that they should bookmark a website where they can buy clothes hangers to perform their own abortions. Now Sen. Tim Scot (R-SC) can now be added to the list. Huffington Post reporter Amanda Terkel reported that Scott thinks women carry a fetus for longer than 52 weeks and that Democrats want abortions up to 52 weeks. The comment came in a Monday fundraising email saying, "If we don’t take back the Senate, Dems will pack the courts, give DC statehood, grant abortions up to 52 weeks, and Republicans will never win again." Dr. Meera Shah, chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic, told Terkel, "It is not logical or medically accurate to say that people can be pregnant at 52 weeks ― let alone be seeking an abortion. It is comments like this one that underscore exactly why medical decisions should not be made by politicians." https://www.alternet.org/2022/08/gop-senator-abortion-52-weeks/

Prokop is dinged up again? I'm starting to think he is brittle.

Olivia Newton-John Spoke Candidly About Death In One Of Her Last Interviews Olivia Newton-John gave her perspective on death and the afterlife in a candid discussion on the “A Life of Greatness” podcast. “I’ve had quite a few times where I’ve contemplated it as being a possibility sooner than I would’ve wanted it,” the actor said with a laugh, after podcast host, Sarah Grynberg asked the actor if she’d contemplated her own death, or what happens after people die, given her longtime struggle with breast cancer. “I mean, we all know that we’re gonna die. I think we spend our lives probably much in denial of it,” Newton-John added. The interview took place in February 2021 and is one of Newton-John’s last appearances. It resurfaced following the “Grease” star’s death on Monday at age 73. “Everyone that I know who’s had a near-death experience, my husband being one of them, says it’s the most unbelievable feeling of love that you have ever experienced and you don’t want to come back. So I’m kind of looking forward to that ― not now ― but when it happens,” she said.

Apparently there is only one Rebel Media and that is in Canada run by the disgraced Ezra Levant, which is ironic because "Levant" is a Jewish name in all likelihood, and these right-wing jackholes are as antisemitic as it gets.

I drove east on #1 highway on Sunday afternoon and about 12km east of Winnipeg there was a gathering of convoy protesters on a frontage road, complete with big Canadian and American flags. there was less than a dozen vehicles and this would probably qualify as emotional masturbation that may make you feel good but produces no new life,

My late mother in law suffered from dementia and was left for hours on the toilet at a for-profit care facility in Ontario. Eventually she tried to stand but fell onto the floor, breaking her hip and was apparently left that way for an extended period. She never recovered. A coroner's inquest found that she was not the only one in that facility to have been neglected that was and this was due to chronic staffing shortages. Doubtless, it was not the only such in Ontario, and no one was ever fined or convicted. This is the probable future of healthcare in Ontario and any Conservative-governed provincial healthcare system. The American healthcare system is a horrid, frightening example of a privatized system. Recently I spoke to nurse here working for a private company contracted to supply interim nurses for the Department of Health. This nurse earns almost three times to going rate for salaried nurses in the system, and the billing to the provincial government would also add administrative costs. The PCS can wail that healthcare is just too expensive to maintain and this is only one example of a probable many.

Looked like an injured left wrist, and painful.

Yes, my post WAS highly speculative, but isn't a lot of the stuff posted here? People are people, regardless of career and for many, the call of wherever they have an emotional connection to as "home" can often be very strong, even after decades. I do not know O'Shea well enough to say if this is true for him, but only time will tell. And yes, the Argos are a mess. Their team is barely good enough in an anemic East division but the greatest obstacle they face is the indifference of MLSE which seems content to let them wither away in the biggest city in Canada.

Merrick Garland's case against Donald Trump is probably airtight First, the news. The FBI executed a search warrant on Monday morning of the former president’s home in Florida. Federal agents were looking for secret government documents that Donald Trump had taken with him after leaving the White House in January 2021. The FBI’s search warrant arose from a grand jury investigation that was opened after representatives of the National Archives last January had gone to Mar-a-Lago to retrieve 15 boxes of documents. That visit was followed by another visit “in the spring,” according to an unnamed Times source, this time by federal agents searching Trump’s residence for classified documents. “At least one of the agents,” the Times reported, “was involved in counterintelligence.” So as far as we know, Monday’s was the third search. But the first to be authorized by a federal judge. Second, the legal context. The search warrant executed on Monday morning is separate from the J6 committee’s investigation of Trump’s leadership of the sacking and looting of the US Capitol in 2021 in a bid to take over the US government. It is separate from a criminal investigation in Georgia of election meddling. It is separate from a civil investigation in New York state of property-value fraud. Third, the legal process. Federal search warrants are authorized by federal judges. To get approval, prosecutors must show probable cause – reasonable suspicion of a crime having been committed. They have to show evidence of there being more evidence of the crime at the place to be searched. All of this process is under oath. So the search is not a “preemptive coup,” because coups are illegal. This search was lawful. It’s not Watergate, because Watergate was a crime (burglary), as was its cover-up. This search was lawful. Federal authorities suspected reasonably that there were more documents at Mar-a-Lago. They apparently asked politely first. When that didn’t work, they presented the evidence they did have to a federal judge so that they could search the premises for more evidence of the crime. At this point, we should pause to say that no one knows what the crime is, how many crimes there are or whether there are crimes at all. All we know is what’s been reported. Everything else is noise. Speaking of which, fourth, the political backlash. Trump’s Republican allies say the search violates the tenets of American exceptionalism. We just don’t do that here, said US Senator Marco Rubio. “Using government power to persecute political opponents is something we have seen many times from 3rd world Marxist dictatorships.” The president’s allies are also issuing threats. Without knowing anything more than that Trump’s gaudy residence was searched by lawful warrant, they are vowing to investigate US Attorney General Merrick Garland. https://www.alternet.org/2022/08/merrick-garlands-case-donald-trump/

As a BTW: I have been watching Lawson the past few games, and he is getting better each game. Probably not going to make us forget about Dougie, but he has been solid with a good future here.

The jokers in the deck are his long connection to the Argos and their current sad state as well as a psychological one: the pull towards "home" gets stronger as we pass the half-century mark. The more a good person is a good person, the stronger they react to emotional tugs as they age.

It is not fair to Rourke to compare him the Casey Printers. Printers had great physical tools but a brain the size of a walnut combined with an ego the size of a Mack truck. Everything I have seen in Rourke leads me to believe that he is a good guy as well as a pretty decent quarterback.

Not worth the pixels to post about him.

From Lawler's point of view, cash provides great comfort. Don't blame him at all.

Well, most of Trump's support comes from rural, low-income and poorly-educated areas with no end of social problems- like low life expectancy, high chemical dependency/abuse, third-world infant mortality high crime rates and low incomes. These rubes place unquestioning faith in authoritarian corporations and politicians who blame minorities and promise, but never deliver dramatic panaceas.

A bit surprised, but not shocked. After all, it is Alaberta.

Fortunately, Trump for all his intended malevolence. is incredibly stoopid and paranoid to the extent where he did not trust anyone else to cover his misdeeds and instead chose to believe that he was clever and entitled enough to bluff his way out of literally anything, including sedition and treason.