JOANNE'S JOURNAL
Edition No. 3
QUOTE OF THE DAY
Eternity's a terrible thought. I mean, where's it all going to end?
- Tom Stoppard (1937 - ), British dramatist
From Rosencrantx and Guildenstern arre Dead [1967]
BLACK FRIDAY COMES TO CANADA, BUT DO WE NEED IT?
So now stores in Canada are running Black Friday ads. I appreciate that the economy is weak and that retailers are trying almost anything to entice people to spend their money. But Black Friday ads? They don't have any meaning or relevance in this country. The term "Black Friday" refers to the day after American Thanksgiving. We celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving back in October. Our Thanksgiving is a harvest festival. It has nothing to do with pilgrims and it does not usher in the Christmas shopping season.
Derek Szeto, founder of the discount website RedFlagDeals.com said, "A lot of stores, especially those that are Canadian extensions of U.S. companies, will take the opportunity to hold sales." "There is a lot of economic uncertainty," he added. " We expect it will be a huge Black Friday shopping day."
Canadians already have Boxing Day, the day after Christmas, to shop for bargains and return gifts. Retailers have tried to stretch Boxing Day into Boxing Week. We don't need Black Friday here, thank you very much. I'm probably in the minority, but I will not be joining the frenzy. I will not be bargain hunting on Friday.
To my American readers: Enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday. All the best to you and your families. If you would like to read my story, A Thanksgiving Tale, click on the FICTION tab above.
CREATING JOBS IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN CUTTING DEFICIT
From Greece to Italy to Spain, governments under the gun from financial markets are doing precisely the wrong thing.
They are slashing jobs and deficits in an effort to eliminate deficits.
But because unemployed people don't pay taxes, all that these governments have accomplished so far is to cut deeply into their own revenues, thereby making their deficits worse.
This increases the cycle to cut, thereby starting the whole cycle all over again.
- Thomas Walkom
Toronto Star, November 23, 2011
Altogether now, class. Uunemployed people don't pay taxes. Unemployed people don't pay taxes - at least not as much as they did when they were employed. When companies lay off people, those people don't spend as much money either. They do not buy cars and refrigerators. End of economics class for today.
Baseball
I'm glad that the Toronto Blue Jays decided to put the "blue" back in their uniforms. We're finally rid of those hideous black uniforms with the evil blue jay on the logo. Now all they have to do is put a contending team on the field.
I'm not saying that Justin Verlander wasn't deserving of the American League MVP award. I'm just saying that if pitchers can be MVPs, then why have a Cy Young Award? I'm also saying that if a player has to be on a contending team to win the MVP, then spell that our clearly. Say that it's the award for the most valuable player on a contending team. Then, define contending as perhaps a player whose team made post-season play.
Football
It will be Winnipeg and B.C. in the Grey Cup. I was hoping that Hamilton would represent the East in the Canadian football championship. It just doesn't seem right to have Winnipeg in the CFL's Eastern Conference. The East-West rivalry is an integral part of the Grey Cup game. By the way, the Ti-Cats haven't been to the Grey Cup since 1999. They won it that year too, 32-21 over the Calgary Stampeders.
Once Ottawa rejoins the league, Winnipeg can return to its rightful place in the Western Conference. It will great to have the CFL back in the nation's capital.
Hockey
NHL bigwigs breathed a sigh of relief when Sidney Crosby returned to the ice. He is, after all, the league's marquee player. Fans are happy to see Sid the Kid back too. Nevertheless, the NHL can't just close the book on the incident and say all's well that ends well. The league should not be let off the hook so easily. What happened to Crosby, should not have happened in the first place. It probably would not have happened if the proper rules and penalties had governed the game.
Crosby was wise to take his time in returning to the game. There is no guarantee, however, that he won't be hit again and suffer another concussion. He might not be so fortunate if it happens again.
- Joanne