Half Mile Of Hell

Not sure what the hell I am talking about? This is the coined phrase that describes the “World Professional Chuckwagon Association“. It really is crazy if you haven’t seen it before. Part of the attraction of the Calgary Stampede

I had the privilege of attending the “chucks” both in Calgary and recently in Strathmore. Leaving a little early, I missed out on a couple of crazy events including the “Running of the Bulls”. This event is not for the faint at heart. It is much like the one is Spain, where people run around when they let the bulls out and try not to get hurt or hit. I wish I could embed the following video, but check out:

1. Go to http://wpca.com/video.aspx
2. Scroll down to the different locations on the flash player and make sure you are viewing “Strathmore“
3. Scroll through the videos to hit “Running of the Bulls: Day 2“

That video has a contact with a bull and one of the contestants that is just crazy.   It is around 1/2 way through the 3:33 video

Is It Really A Carbon Tax?

This past Friday, I was listening to Alder Online with the host Charles Adler speaking with his guest, Liberal MP from Thunder Bay, Ken Boshcoff.    What came out of the show was some refreshing, but brutal honesty about the real underlying meaning behind the proposed Liberal “Carbon Tax” plan.   Let Mr. Boshcoff tell you in his own words:

The ‘shift’ will transfer wealth from rich to poor, from the oil patch to the rest of the country, and from the coffers of big business to the pockets of low-income Canadians.

Even though the Liberal leader has never specifically stated that the plan was going after the wealth in Western Canada, Mr. Boshcoff had no problem saying this was the case.    The proposed “Carbon Plan” will take money through taxes from the “polluters” of Canada.  While on the surface this seems much like “Robin Hood”, it has far reaching implications as the vast majority of Canadians would be deemed as “polluters”.

As far as I can tell, this proposed plan will negatively impact not only “big oil”, but farmers, truck drivers, rural communities, large and small business owners and almost anyone that drives.    What Canadians hopefully realize is that taxes often lead to economic hardships on everyone.   Big and small companies alike might have to downsize and jobs might be at stake, from Vancouver Island to the farthest reaches of the East coast.    Besides unemployment, this plan could also drive down home and property values as an unwanted consequence.

We have to guard ourselves against plans for redistibution of wealth being disguised as as something that is environmentally responsible.   With the global slowdown of the economy, the US in recession and Canada on the brink, this plan scares me.   I hope it scares you as well.

Anti-Social Networking?

I guess the rise of social networking sites will also breed hybrids that are not exactly what the founding fathers had imagined. From CTV news:

Hatebook unites members over things they despise

Updated Thu. Jul. 3 2008 11:46 AM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

A new online community is attempting to copy the wildly successful format of the social networking site Facebook, but with one big difference.

Instead of finding common ground through mutual interests or friends, members are encouraged to unite over the things they hate.

In fact, Hatebook.org could easily be described as an anti-social networking site, where instead of making friends one makes enemies and instead of receiving messages, one receives junk mail.

“Obviously people feel the need to talk about their neighbour and their friends and their teachers, professors, students, in a negative light while maintaining a pseudonym online, and that’s the forum to do it,” Photi Sotiropoulos, a media expert from McGill University, told CTV’s Canada AM.

The site, which boasts over 65,000 international members — or “suckers” as they’re called by Hatebookers — was started by a German market researcher close to one year ago.

The majority of Canadian members of the site are from Montreal — 530 — and most are male and in their mid-20s, Sotiropoulos said.

Other sites have also tried to copy the successful Facebook format, such as Deathbook, a site that helps members keep their dead loved ones’ memories alive, and the self-explanatory Dogbook and Catbook.

A quick perusal of Hatebook reveals some striking similarities to Facebook. It mimics the site’s look and style, though instead of the familiar blue and white, Hatebook uses an angry-looking red and pink.

And in terms of content, not surprisingly it’s pretty negative with messages showing up such as this one from someone calling himself “drevil”: “We love to hate - this world is so ridiculous - be evil - take over the world!”

While some posts are quite vitriolic and the language is often foul, most messages appear to be playful slams directed at other members rather than rants about specific issues.

While Facebook and other sites like LinkedIn or MySpace allow members to create a social network and as a result connect with people of similar interests, hobbies or passions or to reconnect with long-lost friends, Hatebook seems simply predicated simply on, well, hate.

“The motive of this website is hate and it’s this very counter-intuitive thing. Nobody really understands its raison d’etre,” Sotiropoulos said.

But he suggested that sites like Hatebook are gaining popularity as a backlash against the more mainstream sites and their “anti-social” feel — and that they serve as proof that online social networking is here to stay.

No, I don’t think that is one site that I will be joining……

Lessons Learned