January 26, 2007
Arar Gets Paid, Greens' Day Is Made, And Chris Bosh Is Totally Awesome
Ottawa reaches $10 million settlement with Maher Arar. Meanwhile, Arar is still on the American no-fly list, so the next time some American asks you why us Canadians are so smug and self-superior as regards them, just point them to this and laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh.
One in four Canadians lists the environment as their chief issue of concern. Twenty percent say they are very likely or somewhat likely to vote Green in the next election, which - well, it's the Green party, so take the standard "divide by five to see what they really get" rule and - oh, look, four percent. Yep, sounds about right.
A new study sheds light on emergency room wait times in Ontario. Quick summary: they're kinda long! And in Toronto, they're longer than everywhere else, because we have more people and larger hospitals than everywhere else. Among other staggeringly obvious conclusions of the "wait, somebody spent money figuring this out?" variety are that bed shortages are bad and overcrowding contributes to longer wait times.
U of T lit student is Canada's first Madden videogame football champion. Good news, everybody: here is one person you are probably much cooler than! Coolness not guaranteed if you participated in this challenge and lost. (This is not to say that playing football games makes you lame. However, describing your victory in these terms: "The game came down to the last play. It was a pretty dramatic finish and I just managed to pull out the win," - that, on the other hand, yeah, it's pretty sad.)
And finally, Chris Bosh is starting at the NBA All-Star Game! The last time anything this exciting happened to a Raptors player, it was Vince Carter, and we all know how that turned out, so, uh... never mind.
Image via elpais.com.
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I think you can divide by 3 for the Greens this time, since they are much more likely to make it into the televised debate this go around, and have a breakthrough because of it.
http://wheredthatbuggo.blogspot.com/2007/01/theres-no-debate-canadians-want-to.html
75% of Canadians favour May to be in the debate.
Hello Christopher Bird!
I do no see what is 'sad' about what the young man who won a video game competition said!
Perhaps you can explain!
I like Chris Bosh.
We should point and laugh at Americans because our government screwed up and had to pay reparation to a citizen we shipped off to Syria to be tortured? What am I missing here?
Chris...if I may be so bold....
the quote, "The game came down to the last play. It was a pretty dramatic finish and I just managed to pull out the win
Let's see, sad part. Um, referring to a video game as 'dramatic", and the ego of congratulating himself on "just managing to pull out the win"...like he managed some superhuman physical feat. Oh, and the part that ...
It's A Video Game.
Re: Maher Ahar.
Jerod. I'm sure Canada played a minor role (extradition?) and it was more the US's decision to send this guy off to Syria to be tortured (oh wait, the US does NOT torture, phew). Anyway, it sounds like, Canada can at least realize it's mistake and rectify an injustice toward someone that thhe US is, apparently, still afraid of, and will more than likely, NOT clear his name or pay him squat for what he went through. That is why you are better than us. You can admit mistakes.
On a lighter note. Congrats to the UofT video football winner...even if it is just a video game (as per my earlier comment).But, he did win, and gets to go to Hawaii and possibly win 100 grand. Not too shabby, better than anything I've ever done.
I don't think describing a football video game competition win in those terms is any lamer than any fan who likes to discuss their team of choice in the second person, i.e. "we managed to pull the win."
In fact, a gamer would have greater grounds to talk like this, considering they exert direct influence on the outcome, and fans sitting in a bar really don't.
Hello Steve!
Thank you for your kind interpretation of Christopher's words! I have to say if Christopher had responded in such a way I would have been disappointed however as I think he's better than the classic response "It's a video game!"
a) Videogames are dramatic! Have you seen a film recently that you consider dramatic? That is nice because films often contain drama! Videogames are interactive, and feature two kinds of possible drama, that of the diachronic story (the narrative that plays out written by the game designers) and the synchronic story - the narrative you create by playing the game!
A film contains only a diachronic story that you passively experience (I don't want to get into the minefield that is discussing active viewing right now, we can save that) but games have two, and therefore can contain TWICE THE DRAMA!
Of course, in this case a game of Madden only really has a synchronic story, which, is, of course, like a real game of "American Football" can be very dramatic!
b) "Just managing to pull the win" is not a particularly ego filled thing to say! He implies that the win was a struggle, and high level competitive videogame play probably is! There are tournaments all across the world, and yes, I understand that probably the majority of the people who do that stuff are a bit fat and have cheeto dust on their Tazmanian Devil t-shirt but fair enough, that doesn't affect that being good at a video game is a legitimate skill, even if it is a very narrow one!
Perhaps Christopher Bird has a better explanation that doesn't fall into such classic pits!
What, you paid $10 million to a known terrorist (we know he's a terrorist 'cause our list says so) and you're laughing at us?? Silly Canadians...
p.s. God Bless GWB!
Have you listened to or watched any sports games lately (or ever)? Athletes and broadcasters use exactly the same over-the-top language and hey ... it's "just" a sport.
And hey! I love Cheetos. The puffy ones.
Point taken, I was wrong and judgemental. Apologies. I admit, I neither follow football (I'm probably the only American who doesn't) or play video games. Not that I haven't played or enjoyed them. I'm sure they can get dramatic or passionate.
And, again, with a trip to Hawaii and a 100K prize, that's pretty cool.
At your' word, I shall fall upon my sword (or keyboard).
No problem Steve. No reason to fall on your sword.
Still waiting on "The Bird", though!
The geek within is saying, "Dude, you have a SWORD? Awesome!"
Videogame competitions are becoming pretty big. Expect a videogame 'sports' specialty channel within a year or two. There are people who play professionally, with corporate sponsorship, around the world.
Of course I think it's just as ridiculous as paying guys with the IQs of Wonder Bread millions of dollars to move a ball around on a field, while millions of people get all hot and bothered about points and trades and qualifying for the finals, but if one's legitimate I don't see why the other can't be.
Mad videogame skillz at a world championship in Hawaii: exciting and newsworthy.
Inviting your friends over to play video games and telling people about it later: boring and useless.
SNAP!
Oooh! Sounds like someone is so very jealous that they weren't invited!
Look, Canada is a great place. Why are you people so fing obsessed about what America thinks? Every news story, it seems, is something regarding why Canada is better than the states. We get it, you all are perfect, we are horrible. In the meantime, get over yourselves. What the Torontoist seems to not realize is that Americans do not even think about Canada, at all, ever. So being "smug and self-superior" to the US us kind of like trying to be better than a celebrity who has no idea who the hell you are.
Canada about now sue the USA for, oh, $8 million. Their portion of the Ahar mess.