It's nice to be recognized as one the LINQ community voices.
But could you at least look at my blog to get my name right?
Love,
Ren.
Update: I did this entry on my son's computer and didn't realize that I spelled Spectator wrong.
Where's my proof reader Adrian when I need him???
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Friday, June 1, 2012
One-way, two-way - Is there any way???
The gang over at Raise the Hammer are now debating how Main Street should look when some councillor begins the really crazy idea of slowing downtown to a crawl, not even during construction season!
Being a Hamiltonian, there is no rite of passage greater than the quest of navigating your way through downtown along the one way streets. It is your initiation into the great brotherhood of Hamiltonians. Of course that would go hand in hand with driving along Burlington Street and Industrial Drive (oh no! one way streets!) and coming out to either end of the road with your suspension still intact! But I digress...
I am only going to say this: I cannot get behind such a plan without a suitable traffic management plan which would have the same level of traffic flow or better. Any plan that would end up creating inconvenience for many to create some semblance of livability for the few is not a step forward.
James Street and John Street are now two way roads and while there is improvement to life north of King Street, there is chaos to the south. Not a day goes by without a pedestrian crossing St. Joseph's Drive, walking uphill along James Street South, experiencing a near miss from a car that was turning onto St. Joseph's Drive from James Street.
And what about the International Village stretch of King Street? How will anyone navigate through that while going through downtown to get on the 403? There's only two lanes and they both go the same direction. There would a lot of work to do, should we somehow head in that direction.
Hamilton used to be a place where people met and now it's not so much anymore and that's not attributed to one-way or two-way streets, but to the lack of vision and imagination that made cities like Toronto great and cities like Hamilton end up with more street level parking lots. Apart from Lister Block can you name a great office building or real estate project that could mill all the great visionaries over to us?
We are about to embark on building a new rapid transit system and a new stadium, neither of which required or solicited a radical vision, but radical visions are needed to keep our city vibrant and they need to move the city forward, and not turn back the clock.
Being a Hamiltonian, there is no rite of passage greater than the quest of navigating your way through downtown along the one way streets. It is your initiation into the great brotherhood of Hamiltonians. Of course that would go hand in hand with driving along Burlington Street and Industrial Drive (oh no! one way streets!) and coming out to either end of the road with your suspension still intact! But I digress...
I am only going to say this: I cannot get behind such a plan without a suitable traffic management plan which would have the same level of traffic flow or better. Any plan that would end up creating inconvenience for many to create some semblance of livability for the few is not a step forward.
James Street and John Street are now two way roads and while there is improvement to life north of King Street, there is chaos to the south. Not a day goes by without a pedestrian crossing St. Joseph's Drive, walking uphill along James Street South, experiencing a near miss from a car that was turning onto St. Joseph's Drive from James Street.
And what about the International Village stretch of King Street? How will anyone navigate through that while going through downtown to get on the 403? There's only two lanes and they both go the same direction. There would a lot of work to do, should we somehow head in that direction.
Hamilton used to be a place where people met and now it's not so much anymore and that's not attributed to one-way or two-way streets, but to the lack of vision and imagination that made cities like Toronto great and cities like Hamilton end up with more street level parking lots. Apart from Lister Block can you name a great office building or real estate project that could mill all the great visionaries over to us?
We are about to embark on building a new rapid transit system and a new stadium, neither of which required or solicited a radical vision, but radical visions are needed to keep our city vibrant and they need to move the city forward, and not turn back the clock.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Ontario Budget - The Slow Painful Return of Sanity
So the Ontario Budget has passed and it is with great credit to both Premier Dalton "Dad" McGuinty and Third Party Leader Andrea "Mom" Horwath. I would like to first congratulate the two leaders for deciding to compromise together. They certainly understood that no one wants another election and neither of them want the other guy in power, which could have been the result.
And of course "Tea Party" Tim Hudak gets the brickbat for his inability to negotiate a suitable plan, hoping he'd get a do-over of a disastrous campaign. But it was not to be and Timmy once again was on the outside looking in. And I'm sure he can expect far more of this. Tim Hudak still hasn't learned his lesson and will have to sit in opposition for another two years. Too bad, so sad. No power for you!
Now it's time for McGuinty and Horwath to co-operate with each other and keep shutting Timmy out. This man is a loose cannon and is truly not worthy, let alone mature enough to take the reins of the economic powerhouse that is Ontario. Yes folks, Ontario is still the economic powerhouse. No prosperous Ontario, no prosperous Canada. That's the equation.
We certainly can't afford to tie our economy completely into the energy industry. At some point, one energy company will do something incredibly stupid and next thing you know, energy companies start going under. If there is anything we should be learning, it is not to put all our eggs into one basket. Ontario remains the financial center of the country and where most acts of commerce happen. Ontario doesn't need to be in lockstep with Alberta, because we're not Alberta.
The sooner we realize this, the sooner we will understand that such ideologies should be confronted with the same level of ferocity as they have used in dividing us in the first place. Social conservatism will be ruin of our country, our province and our place in the world.
And of course "Tea Party" Tim Hudak gets the brickbat for his inability to negotiate a suitable plan, hoping he'd get a do-over of a disastrous campaign. But it was not to be and Timmy once again was on the outside looking in. And I'm sure he can expect far more of this. Tim Hudak still hasn't learned his lesson and will have to sit in opposition for another two years. Too bad, so sad. No power for you!
Now it's time for McGuinty and Horwath to co-operate with each other and keep shutting Timmy out. This man is a loose cannon and is truly not worthy, let alone mature enough to take the reins of the economic powerhouse that is Ontario. Yes folks, Ontario is still the economic powerhouse. No prosperous Ontario, no prosperous Canada. That's the equation.
We certainly can't afford to tie our economy completely into the energy industry. At some point, one energy company will do something incredibly stupid and next thing you know, energy companies start going under. If there is anything we should be learning, it is not to put all our eggs into one basket. Ontario remains the financial center of the country and where most acts of commerce happen. Ontario doesn't need to be in lockstep with Alberta, because we're not Alberta.
The sooner we realize this, the sooner we will understand that such ideologies should be confronted with the same level of ferocity as they have used in dividing us in the first place. Social conservatism will be ruin of our country, our province and our place in the world.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Modernizing the Labour Movement
Let's touch on the bigger problem with unionization in this day and age. It's not that the whole idea is antiquated. It's not that unions are irrelevant. And it's not that there is no need for unions. We do need unions to keep the powers that be in check.
It's the scope of the union that's the problem. It's too small and territorial. It can't compete against the corporations, whose fingers have crossed oceans and have taken advantage of their new found powers to force their workers to concede things they normally wouldn't, with the threat of closing their plants and throwing them out of work. What was once unconscionable has become acceptable in today's economic climate of shock capitalism. And things seem more hopeless than ever before.
But does it have to be this way?
Let's face facts. Our governments have sold us out. Rather than defend the interests of the people who elect them, they have in fact acted against our own interests. A lot of those people have vilified unions as anti-democratic, elitist and neglectful. How many times have we heard the meme "union bosses" wielded like a machete in the hands of a madman? A lot of that criticism stems from the negotiation team refusing to put a proposition to a vote. But it should be understood that holding such meetings on the insistance of the employer has "waste of time" written all over it. The union elects the negotiation team to negotiate as instructed by the membership. So why all the hate? Part of it is envy and the other part of it is the fact that the union will defend those who really shouldn't be defended, but in their view if they throw one of their own under the bus, then what's to stop others from the same fate.
So for one thing, unions need to choose their battles a little more wisely. Even the membership needs to be kept honest now and then, so perhaps they need to re-assess that end and stop defending those who don't deserve to be defended. They sometimes have sacrifice the few for the sake of the many.
There is also a lot work needed in the way unions are presented. They need to push back on the "entitlement" meme that has been going around and talk about how there may not be anyone to buy the cars, the houses or even the furniture that makes life easier to live without unions. What about those vacations? Who's going to take them? I recall an interesting epiphany made by a CFO for a company I did work for, who pointed out that it was the people on the production floor that made money for the company and everyone else was merely overhead. That's a winning line right there.
Up to now, it's the unions that changed the way people are employed, but with companies going global, the companies gain more leverage and are better able to get concessions from their workers. And with nationalism being ramped up as a diversion, the unions can ill afford to take the bait. It's time for the unions to cross the borders, get international, and go global. The only way to defeat a multinational corporation is to go multinational yourself.
Show the world what unions are truly about and get connected. Gain partnerships, even start investing in companies that support unions. And if the goal posts are moved, move with them.
The world is changing and the unions have only two choices: adapt or perish.
It's the scope of the union that's the problem. It's too small and territorial. It can't compete against the corporations, whose fingers have crossed oceans and have taken advantage of their new found powers to force their workers to concede things they normally wouldn't, with the threat of closing their plants and throwing them out of work. What was once unconscionable has become acceptable in today's economic climate of shock capitalism. And things seem more hopeless than ever before.
But does it have to be this way?
Let's face facts. Our governments have sold us out. Rather than defend the interests of the people who elect them, they have in fact acted against our own interests. A lot of those people have vilified unions as anti-democratic, elitist and neglectful. How many times have we heard the meme "union bosses" wielded like a machete in the hands of a madman? A lot of that criticism stems from the negotiation team refusing to put a proposition to a vote. But it should be understood that holding such meetings on the insistance of the employer has "waste of time" written all over it. The union elects the negotiation team to negotiate as instructed by the membership. So why all the hate? Part of it is envy and the other part of it is the fact that the union will defend those who really shouldn't be defended, but in their view if they throw one of their own under the bus, then what's to stop others from the same fate.
So for one thing, unions need to choose their battles a little more wisely. Even the membership needs to be kept honest now and then, so perhaps they need to re-assess that end and stop defending those who don't deserve to be defended. They sometimes have sacrifice the few for the sake of the many.
There is also a lot work needed in the way unions are presented. They need to push back on the "entitlement" meme that has been going around and talk about how there may not be anyone to buy the cars, the houses or even the furniture that makes life easier to live without unions. What about those vacations? Who's going to take them? I recall an interesting epiphany made by a CFO for a company I did work for, who pointed out that it was the people on the production floor that made money for the company and everyone else was merely overhead. That's a winning line right there.
Up to now, it's the unions that changed the way people are employed, but with companies going global, the companies gain more leverage and are better able to get concessions from their workers. And with nationalism being ramped up as a diversion, the unions can ill afford to take the bait. It's time for the unions to cross the borders, get international, and go global. The only way to defeat a multinational corporation is to go multinational yourself.
Show the world what unions are truly about and get connected. Gain partnerships, even start investing in companies that support unions. And if the goal posts are moved, move with them.
The world is changing and the unions have only two choices: adapt or perish.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Another Betrayal
It seems that Electro-Motive is now closing their plant in London after offering a boot to the head that the union rightly refused to accept in the form of a 50% pay cut.
When corporations negotiate in bad faith, lock out their workers and then close the plants, it sets labour relations back in years.
The CWA did do the right thing, but they got punished anyway. How this gets handled from this point is anyone's guess, but one thing is definitely for sure. The old way the unions have fought for their rights is starting to lose its effectiveness. We'll talk about this in another post...
All things aside, I recall a certain country which beat down their unions and subjugated others for being different. They even had a really crazy guy in charge with a war monger and a propagandist for lieutenants.
Parallels... they have a funny way of showing themselves.
When corporations negotiate in bad faith, lock out their workers and then close the plants, it sets labour relations back in years.
The CWA did do the right thing, but they got punished anyway. How this gets handled from this point is anyone's guess, but one thing is definitely for sure. The old way the unions have fought for their rights is starting to lose its effectiveness. We'll talk about this in another post...
All things aside, I recall a certain country which beat down their unions and subjugated others for being different. They even had a really crazy guy in charge with a war monger and a propagandist for lieutenants.
Parallels... they have a funny way of showing themselves.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
The Betrayal Continues...
Well it seems that that other shoe has dropped.
The strike ended months ago, but U.S. Steel seemingly has no intention of resuming operations at the Hamilton plant. And to make matters worse, the case between the Feds and USS is now closed and justice once again never gets done.
So when corporations commit crimes against the people, purchasing other companies and factories to close them up and take out a competitor. Selling out our national security, through the removal of our manufacturing capacity and in turn selling out our self-sustainability, seems be a priority.
Anybody who says that justice is universal isn't paying attention.
Welcome to Stephen Harper's Canada, an unjust shadow of its former self.
The strike ended months ago, but U.S. Steel seemingly has no intention of resuming operations at the Hamilton plant. And to make matters worse, the case between the Feds and USS is now closed and justice once again never gets done.
So when corporations commit crimes against the people, purchasing other companies and factories to close them up and take out a competitor. Selling out our national security, through the removal of our manufacturing capacity and in turn selling out our self-sustainability, seems be a priority.
Anybody who says that justice is universal isn't paying attention.
Welcome to Stephen Harper's Canada, an unjust shadow of its former self.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
A Modest Proposal to the BCS
Did you know that there were 35 bowl games played this year? That doesn't even count the all-star bowl games like the Senior Bowl, the Shrine Bowl and even a Texas vs. the World bowl. I devised a system that would fill those spots with qualified teams, featuring 22 playoff and consolation games and 13 exhibition bowl games. You could start off with the top 32 teams qualifying for the playoffs, while 20 teams would vie for a spot in one of the 13 games.
For the Conference final week, there would be 32 teams divided into two groups of 16. The AQ group would be comprised of the 12 AQ finalists and 4 top at-large teams. The winner of the games in this group would get a bye, while the losing team is relegated into the first playoff round. The second group of 16 would be comprised of the 10 non-AQ finalists and 6 top at-large teams. The winner of these games go into the first playoff round, with the AQ runners up. The losing non-AQ teams in the conference round would be put into a pool of 26 teams to play one last bowl game.
So now we'd have 24 teams. These teams are guaranteed one more consolation game, should any of them lose during the three rounds leading up to the championship. The 8 losing teams in the non-AQ group are now in the 26-team pool, the 8 winning teams in the AQ group earned a bye and the remaining 16 do the playoff round in which the winner advances further into the playoffs, while the losing teams are added into the 26 team pool, which now needs 10 more teams. This could be decided by a 20 team pool in which the winning team is placed into the pool, while it's "better luck next year" for the losing team in the 20 team pool. This round is done the week after the conference round, so we could call it the post-conference round.
The bowl season, which now begins the weekend before Christmas should begin a week earlier to start the first playoff round. The second playoff round (elite eight), would take place the week of Christmas. The semi-final round would take place on New Years Day. And either the Rose Bowl becomes a semi-final or the consolation between the Big 10 champion and Pac 12 champion, if they have reached the second round. What games become the semi-final and elite eight consolation would obviously be up to the BCS.
During this time, there's 13 exhibition bowl games to enjoy, along with 22 playoff and consolation games. The biggest feature to this plan is that spots are earned and not just given. This could even open the door to more bowl games. In this playoff, the eliminated teams get a final consolation game in the next round.
So the first round of 8 games would lead up to the week before Christmas, then the 8 games of the second and first consolation round would lead before Christmas. The semi-final round would be New Year's Day and the Rose, Sugar, Fiesta and Orange Bowls would have the semi final and consolation games.
Finally, we get amped for the BCS National Championship, but not before the final consolation game, which could be the Cotton Bowl.
So in all, there would be up to 5 additional games for the playoffs. And that once and for all ends all debates, does away with all the silly polling politics and ensures that each game will have a quality and some excitement to it.
So in summary:
What do you think?
For the Conference final week, there would be 32 teams divided into two groups of 16. The AQ group would be comprised of the 12 AQ finalists and 4 top at-large teams. The winner of the games in this group would get a bye, while the losing team is relegated into the first playoff round. The second group of 16 would be comprised of the 10 non-AQ finalists and 6 top at-large teams. The winner of these games go into the first playoff round, with the AQ runners up. The losing non-AQ teams in the conference round would be put into a pool of 26 teams to play one last bowl game.
So now we'd have 24 teams. These teams are guaranteed one more consolation game, should any of them lose during the three rounds leading up to the championship. The 8 losing teams in the non-AQ group are now in the 26-team pool, the 8 winning teams in the AQ group earned a bye and the remaining 16 do the playoff round in which the winner advances further into the playoffs, while the losing teams are added into the 26 team pool, which now needs 10 more teams. This could be decided by a 20 team pool in which the winning team is placed into the pool, while it's "better luck next year" for the losing team in the 20 team pool. This round is done the week after the conference round, so we could call it the post-conference round.
The bowl season, which now begins the weekend before Christmas should begin a week earlier to start the first playoff round. The second playoff round (elite eight), would take place the week of Christmas. The semi-final round would take place on New Years Day. And either the Rose Bowl becomes a semi-final or the consolation between the Big 10 champion and Pac 12 champion, if they have reached the second round. What games become the semi-final and elite eight consolation would obviously be up to the BCS.
During this time, there's 13 exhibition bowl games to enjoy, along with 22 playoff and consolation games. The biggest feature to this plan is that spots are earned and not just given. This could even open the door to more bowl games. In this playoff, the eliminated teams get a final consolation game in the next round.
So the first round of 8 games would lead up to the week before Christmas, then the 8 games of the second and first consolation round would lead before Christmas. The semi-final round would be New Year's Day and the Rose, Sugar, Fiesta and Orange Bowls would have the semi final and consolation games.
Finally, we get amped for the BCS National Championship, but not before the final consolation game, which could be the Cotton Bowl.
So in all, there would be up to 5 additional games for the playoffs. And that once and for all ends all debates, does away with all the silly polling politics and ensures that each game will have a quality and some excitement to it.
So in summary:
- 32 teams play in the conference round
- 8 teams get a bye, 16 play in the post-conference round
- the eliminated 8 join the 8 non-AQ runners up and 10 qualifying round winners to play in one of the 13 exhibition bowl games.
- the remaining 16 play four rounds of playoff and consolation games leading up to the championship and consolation final.
What do you think?
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