Category: News Item

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But Daddy when you call me, you can call me Steve

Steve is the Prime Minister of Canada.  Steve is friends with Bush.  At least he doesn’t mind too much that Bush likes to call him Steve.

While his mother isn’t a big fan of the moniker, Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he doesn’t mind if the leader of Canada’s biggest trading partner wants to call him “Steve.”

During an appearance on a Calgary radio program Tuesday, Harper was asked what he thought when U.S. President George W. Bush referred to him as “Steve” at least three times during a joint news conference in Washington last week.

Harper's belt buckle from the Calgary Stampede“I’m proud to have allies like Steve who understand the stakes of the 21st century,” Bush said during the televised news conference.

“It surprised me a bit,” Harper laughed during an interview on CHQR Radio. “I’m normally called Stephen … but a few people, close friends of my mine, do call me Steve.”

The prime minister joked that his mother isn’t a fan of the name.

“My mother doesn’t like that, and I’m sure that President Bush will be getting a letter,” he said with a laugh. [cbc]

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If it’s metallic, lightning is attracted to it

There has been one of those warnings put out by medical researchers saying not to use iPods or cellphones during thunderstorms[guardian]. This makes complete and total sense, but is it really anything that we, as educated human beings, shouldn’t already know?

CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — A teenager who was hit by lightning over the weekend talked about his close brush with death Thursday.

Jason Bunch was mowing the lawn and listening to his iPod at his home in Castle Rock in the 3200 block of Cherry Plum Way on Sunday when he was struck. […]

“From where the iPod was, it damaged my hearing and it ruptured my eardrums. Where the cord was, it burned me all down my body,” said Bunch. “We need to shave my head because my hair is like dreadlocks. It’s all sticking together.” [thedenverchannel]

Now there are couple other details to this that strikes me, no pun intended.

He was mowing the lawn in weather conditions where lightning was possible. It seems to me that the mower would have been the main thing saying, “Hey, lightning! Here I am!” However, since his ear buds were the highest point of contact, that’s where the strike made its entrance. Any part of his body touching the mower probably didn’t help much, but with the iPod on him, the bolt did it best to fry those components first before moving on.

With that being said, why is the focus here on the iPod? He was probably trying to mow as much of the lawn before the storm came in. Lots of people do it. It just seems that the story here is saying that if you have an iPod on while you frolic in the rain, you will be struck by lightning. Officials will admit that occurances of this is rare, but worthy of educating the public.

Millions of golfers from around the world are saying, “Tell me something I don’t know.”

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Million dollar closets

Maybe it’s rehashed news or nothing new to those of us living in the downtown area, but I always thought that condos, and apartments for that matter, were correlationally getting smaller as they are getting more expensive.

Size doesn’t seem to matter for people looking for a condo these days.  Units on Howe Street in downtown Vancouver range from 478 to 600 square feet for a one bedroom.  And even though they are getting smaller, the prices for the apartments haven’t shrunk.  [news1130]

They fail to mention the price tag going for something so quaint.  Taking a quick look at Vancouver Craigslist, I found a condo coming in at just under 600 square feet in Gastown, going for $299,000.  An 836 square foot, 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo near BC Place going for $558,000.  Something simliar to that in Coal Harbor?  $700,000+ is what you’re looking at.

It does seem outrageous, but the amenities are supposedly what you are paying for.  Security, workout facilities, pools, hottubs, saunas, and so on.  A huge chunk of change to shell out for a sweet downtown address, but it depends on what you want.

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Even more talk about the stadium proposal

Been watching this closely lately, and the excitement is killing me. After lots of hunting, all I could find was that there are to be even more meetings to discuss this issue. In the states, we call that a filibuster.

Two extra meetings have been added to accomodate public debate on the issue, and so far, opponents of the project have focused their arguments on the proposed waterfront location of the stadium.

Jon Stovell of the Gastown Neighborhood Coalition says the Whitecaps should find another site, “And, we would like to encourage Council to help the Whitecaps find an alternate location, such as BC Place. People have been talking about Hastings Park and the old Empire Stadium location.”

Meanwhile, some supporters of the stadium say Stovell is a real estate developer who wants the waterfront property to be used for condo developments. [cknw]

I already had a thought in the back of my head that those architects and developers who have come out against the stadium have alterior motives. It’s a hot piece of land that could get top dollar for even more, outrageously expensive condos that would net more profit than a stadium would, at least in the short term.

I’m almost more inclined to say no to the stadium if there would be more of a push to build office space instead. There seems to be more and more of a shortage of that in the downtown area.

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Waterfront stadium

Panoramic of the Gastown rail yard

I understand that I am not from Vancouver and have only lived here a few months. With that being plainly said, I have to admit that I like the idea of building a stadium in the Gastown waterfront.Watching this whole issue unfold is teaching me a lot about the way things happen in Vancouver. From the people who want change to those who are strongly against it. Being so new here, I’ve been slightly afraid of really expressing that opinion. Being American is another thing. We are stereotyped to love the idea of more development as a way of life. That might be a stretch to say, but just something that I’ve felt with still getting familiar to my new home.

Vancouver councillors heard from those ‘for’ and ‘against’ a proposed Whitecaps soccer stadium in Gastown.A whopping 96 delegations signed up to voice their opinions on the 70 million dollar project.

Caryn Duncan spoke for the Central Waterfront Coalition, “My feeling is that the proposed stadium has been imposed on us, and that it doesn’t feel very good or very neighbourly. Over the months, discussion of the stadium has looked a lot like a couple of little boys in a sandbox, kicking sand at each other.”

Council has set aside an extra day to hear all the speakers.

The debate will continue on Thursday. [cknw]

I’ve heard both sides to the argument, and they all make sense. In terms of anything negative, I do get concerned about “possible hazardous materials” being on the rail lines under the stadium, but it makes me wonder what’s passing through those lines right now?

And on the other hand, the benefits of something like this has me in support of the whole project. In such an international city, a downtown futbol(soccer) stadium would be really great. It would mean so much more income to businesses in the area, aid tourism, provide a great venue for concerts, and bring some extra charm to the area.

Look at the pictures I took and pasted together just the other day. They’re not the best, but the area isn’t the most appealing to look at right now. The stadium would be a nice addition. It’s not a high rise with horribly expensive condos in it. It’s added recreation for a city that is constantly growing and changing.

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Big music business wants to get bigger

Exactly what the music industry needs.

EMI and Warner Music were locked in a two-way $4.6 billion takeover battle on Wednesday, with each trying to acquire the other to create a combined company that would shrink the industry to three dominant players.

London-based EMI Group Plc, home to Coldplay and Robbie Williams, said it had rejected a 2.5 billion pounds ($4.6 billion) cash offer from its smaller U.S. rival, calling the bid “wholly unacceptable”.

At the same time, EMI revealed that it had sweetened its takeover bid for New York-based Warner Music, whose artists include Madonna and Red Hot Chili Peppers, to $31 a share or $4.6 billion in total, from its original May offer of $28.50, although the new bid was also rejected.  [reuters]

Oh, by the way, I was being sarcastic.

This is just asking for more problems within the music industry.  The bigger something gets, the more you have to feed the giant.  Record companies are already having a hard enough time dealing with the growth of the digital music format.  Getting bigger is not the answer.

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A new trend in the rich giving to those in need

At least that is something I would like to see happen. Bill Gates started it with his announcement of retiring from Microsoft in 2008 to focus on his foundation. Now the guy who ranks number two in the richest people in America is looking to add to the thought, pledging $40+ billion of his fortune to charities.

The nation’s second-richest man, Warren Buffett, has decided to turn over most of his $44 billion fortune to the nation’s richest man, Bill Gates. Buffett is committing to give about 10 million Class B shares in his holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, to the $30 billion Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. (Here’s the Gateses’ gracious response.) He’ll start by handing over 500,000 shares this year (worth about $1.5 billion at today’s price), and will make annual donations of smaller numbers of shares. Buffett will also give billions to foundations run by his children, and to the foundation created by his late wife, Susan Thompson Buffett. [slate]

I want to believe that people around the world who seem to have more money than they know what to do with might take some inspiration from this. Instead of hoarding it, building huge mansions, buying islands, or tucking cash away for trust fund babies, we might stand a chance at dealing with world issues. Famine, disease, debt, cleaner energy. It’s not wrong to enjoy the fruit of your labor, but why not try to do the world some good, even when you’re long gone?

Let’s just hope that Buffett’s fortune actually transfers without too much headache.

He and the Gateses sat down for an interview Monday with Buffett’s close friend, PBS talk show host Charlie Rose.

And Rose says the most excitement came when the session ended.

“We were all walking down. I was gonna say goodbye to them at the sidewalk,” he told The Early Show co-anchor Hannah Storm Monday. “And Warren turns to me and says, ‘I forget the documents!’ I said, ‘Where are they?’ And he said, ‘I left them in the studio.’ So, I ran back to the studio and brought back the documents and Bill said, ‘Check and make sure I (Rose) didn’t change the beneficiary!’ [cbsnews]

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You can pick your friends and do it poorly

I am all for social networking. That is the buzz phrase right now. Using technology to reach out and make connections with new people. The only problem comes from the fact that we have millions out there doing this via a terminal of some sort, but everyone is connecting to each other while still stuck in front of a computer screen.

It’s great to see folks actually getting out to meet each other, but you still have to keep your wits about you.

A Jacksonville man says he was duped and robbed by two girls after attempting to meet with a woman he met on the internet.

The victim says he chatted online with a woman, known on her MySpace.com profile as “Natalia”, for two weeks before deciding to meet with her. He says her profile showed sexy photos, and a blurb which said “just lookin’ for something fun”. That brief, friendly description was all he knew about her before they planned to meet. [woai]

This is the internet, but real life rules still apply. Don’t take candy from strangers, and if it looks too good to be real, it probably is.

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Ride the prairie with Lance

This almost makes me jealous. I’ve always wanted to do this.

Lance Armstrong, winner of the Tour de France the last seven consecutive years, is passing up Paris this summer to ride RAGBRAI.

Barry Jackson of the Lance Armstrong Foundation confirmed Tuesday that Armstrong hopes to ride at least one day of the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa. [desmoinesregister]

It’s like one, big rolling party. The last time the ride stopped through my home town, I was running the beer ticket stand with some friends. I’m not sure I could handle a night of drinking followed by a 45+ mile ride the day after to get to the next town, not to mention the heat and humidty if the weather decides to be nasty. For some people, that’s the best part of the ride.

Still, it’d be pretty neat to say that you rode RAGBRAI[wiki] the year Lance Armstrong[wiki] came out.

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Charged with mooching

You could do this virtually anywhere, and I’m guilty of doing this more than a few times. This might make you think twice. It helps to know the local laws, no matter what country you’re in.

A Vancouver, Wash. coffee shop tired of seeing a 20-year-old man mooch off their free wireless Internet access called the police, who charged him with “theft of services.”

Smith allegedly parked his truck in the parking lot to use Brewed Awakenings’ wireless access.

County deputies charged Smith with theft of services after returning to the parking lot after they told him to stop. The crime, which covers such crimes as bypassing a utility meter, stealing cable, and leaving a restaurant without paying, has been used in the past to prosecute hackers who have accessed a computer or network without paying for it. “It’s something that is borderline creepy,” Pranger said to KATU. [techweb]

If he could afford a laptop and a truck, then why couldn’t he handle going in for a coffee, juice, or even a muffin? I mean, come on. Everyone loves muffin!