INGREDIENTS:
1 pound Italian sausage
1/2 cup diced onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 (48 fluid ounce) can chicken broth
1 large carrot, sliced
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach
1/4 cup uncooked pearl barley
DIRECTIONS:
In a skillet over medium heat, cook the sausage, onion, and garlic until the sausage is evenly brown. Season with Italian seasoning. Remove from heat, and drain.
In a slow cooker, mix the sausage mixture, chicken broth, carrot, spinach, and barley.
Cover, and cook 4 hours on High or 6 to 8 hours on Low.
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
one red paperclip and other schemes
one red paperclip
Too funny that this guy is making it... people will give money too anyone. Maybe I should start a money making site like the Million Dollar Homepage. Now to get the brain working... for those that don't know my buddy Norm has given up his life to you and now you can Choose you Normadventure. Is a Cafepress shirt far behind Norm? How about an eBaying (or better yet feeless Craigslisting) of some busted gear from your trip?
Too funny that this guy is making it... people will give money too anyone. Maybe I should start a money making site like the Million Dollar Homepage. Now to get the brain working... for those that don't know my buddy Norm has given up his life to you and now you can Choose you Normadventure. Is a Cafepress shirt far behind Norm? How about an eBaying (or better yet feeless Craigslisting) of some busted gear from your trip?
Monday, January 23, 2006
Harvest Pork Stew with Apple Juice - Crockpot Pork Stew Recipe With Apple Juice and Vegetables
This pork stew contains apples and apple juice, along with vegetables and cubed pork shoulder.
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 to 2 pounds pork shoulder, trimmed of fat and cut in 1-inch cubes
2 to 3 cups cubed potatoes, about 2 1/2 to 3 pounds
2 medium to large carrots, sliced about 1/2-inch thick
1 cup chopped onions
1 large tart apple, such as Granny Smith, peeled, cored, and chopped
1/2 cup chopped celery
3 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
2 cups apple juice
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
PREPARATION:
Combine all ingredients in slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW setting for 9 to 10 hours, or on HIGH for 4 1/2 to 5 hours.
Serves 6.
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 to 2 pounds pork shoulder, trimmed of fat and cut in 1-inch cubes
2 to 3 cups cubed potatoes, about 2 1/2 to 3 pounds
2 medium to large carrots, sliced about 1/2-inch thick
1 cup chopped onions
1 large tart apple, such as Granny Smith, peeled, cored, and chopped
1/2 cup chopped celery
3 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
2 cups apple juice
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
PREPARATION:
Combine all ingredients in slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW setting for 9 to 10 hours, or on HIGH for 4 1/2 to 5 hours.
Serves 6.
Monday, January 16, 2006
Creamy Chicken Crock Pot
INGREDIENTS:
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
or 8 skinless, boneless thighs
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of celery soup
1 large Green Pepper - sliced
1 large Onion - sliced or diced
equal mount Brocolli
1 or 2 Carrots
Basil
Garlic Salt
Thyme
Parsley
2 Bayleaves
some fresh peppercorns
DIRECTIONS:
Place chicken breasts and vegetables in a slow cooker. In a medium bowl, mix the cream of chicken soup and cream of celery soup until smooth Pour over the chicken, making sure it is well coated.
Cover, and cook on Low heat for 7 to 8 hours.
Serve over Mashed Potatoes or Egg Noodles.
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
or 8 skinless, boneless thighs
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of celery soup
1 large Green Pepper - sliced
1 large Onion - sliced or diced
equal mount Brocolli
1 or 2 Carrots
Basil
Garlic Salt
Thyme
Parsley
2 Bayleaves
some fresh peppercorns
DIRECTIONS:
Place chicken breasts and vegetables in a slow cooker. In a medium bowl, mix the cream of chicken soup and cream of celery soup until smooth Pour over the chicken, making sure it is well coated.
Cover, and cook on Low heat for 7 to 8 hours.
Serve over Mashed Potatoes or Egg Noodles.
Saturday, January 14, 2006
I'm the cook
So Yukiko is pregnant and today we heard the little One's heartbeat for the first time! I guess I have much to catch many people up on.
OK. First we've known that we're expecting for the past couple of months. It was pretty obvious with the increasingly more frequent nausea attacks Yukiko would have when faced with any smell... I mean ANY smell. So, I've taken over cooking duties. I started back a about a month ago and have decided that I should keep track of what recipes I use (box-top instructions excluded ;) ). Course, I did all the holiday cooking as is our family's tradition (heck, she grew up without an oven and deserves a break a couple of times a year, eh?).
I'll keep everyone posted on the details of our lives... and my indecision of who to vote for as the election comes (Jan 23rd - Do I vote for Potentially Crooked Patriots, Economically Unsound Zealots, Wolves in Turtle Necks, or Not Ready for Prime Time Wanabes? If you don't know which is which then you need to pay more attention).
OK. First we've known that we're expecting for the past couple of months. It was pretty obvious with the increasingly more frequent nausea attacks Yukiko would have when faced with any smell... I mean ANY smell. So, I've taken over cooking duties. I started back a about a month ago and have decided that I should keep track of what recipes I use (box-top instructions excluded ;) ). Course, I did all the holiday cooking as is our family's tradition (heck, she grew up without an oven and deserves a break a couple of times a year, eh?).
I'll keep everyone posted on the details of our lives... and my indecision of who to vote for as the election comes (Jan 23rd - Do I vote for Potentially Crooked Patriots, Economically Unsound Zealots, Wolves in Turtle Necks, or Not Ready for Prime Time Wanabes? If you don't know which is which then you need to pay more attention).
Crock Pot Split Pea Soup Recipe
INGREDIENTS:
1 (16 oz.) pkg. dried green split peas, rinsed
1 meaty hambone, 2 ham hocks, or 2 cups diced ham
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 ribs of celery plus leaves, chopped
1 or 2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped, or 2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
1 tbsp. seasoned salt (or to taste)
1/2 tsp. fresh pepper
1 1/2 qts. hot water
PREPARATION:
Layer ingredients in slow cooker in the order given; pour in water. Do not stir ingredients. Cover and cook on HIGH 4 to 5 hours or on low 8 to 10 hours until peas are very soft and ham falls off bone.
Remove bones and bay leaf. Mash peas to thicken more, if desired. Serve garnished with croutons. Freezes well.
Serves 8.
1 (16 oz.) pkg. dried green split peas, rinsed
1 meaty hambone, 2 ham hocks, or 2 cups diced ham
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 ribs of celery plus leaves, chopped
1 or 2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped, or 2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
1 tbsp. seasoned salt (or to taste)
1/2 tsp. fresh pepper
1 1/2 qts. hot water
PREPARATION:
Layer ingredients in slow cooker in the order given; pour in water. Do not stir ingredients. Cover and cook on HIGH 4 to 5 hours or on low 8 to 10 hours until peas are very soft and ham falls off bone.
Remove bones and bay leaf. Mash peas to thicken more, if desired. Serve garnished with croutons. Freezes well.
Serves 8.
Crock-pot Turkey Soup
8 c. water
4 chicken bouillon cubes or Chicken broth
1 (10 oz.) can or fresh tomatoes (cut up)
1 c. celery, diced
1/2 c. carrots, diced
1/2 c. onions
1/4 c. fresh parsley
1 tsp. salt
1 bay leaf
1 turkey carcass
Place everything in crock pot. (Don't bother picking the meat off of the carcass, it will cook off in the pot.) Cook 7-9 hours on low setting.
4 chicken bouillon cubes or Chicken broth
1 (10 oz.) can or fresh tomatoes (cut up)
1 c. celery, diced
1/2 c. carrots, diced
1/2 c. onions
1/4 c. fresh parsley
1 tsp. salt
1 bay leaf
1 turkey carcass
Place everything in crock pot. (Don't bother picking the meat off of the carcass, it will cook off in the pot.) Cook 7-9 hours on low setting.
savory spaghetti sauce recipe
1 to 2 pounds ground beef or turkey
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large carrots, grated
3 medium onions, minced or grated
10 cup tomato juice
6 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 (16 ounce) cans whole tomatoes, cut up, but no drained
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons ground oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons ground basil
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
Brown meat over low heat and drain excess fat. Add garlic, olive oil, carrots, onion and 3 tablespoons of water to beef. Saut�over low heat for 30 minutes, covered (checking to ensure there is enough liquid so the mixture doesn't burn).
In a large pan, combine saut�ed vegetables and beef with all remaining ingredients and simmer for 6 hours at the lowest heat setting.
When partially cooled, store sauce in the refrigerator in a tightly covered container. Extra sauce may be frozen at this point.
When you are ready to use the sauce, heat it slowly while you boil the spaghetti.
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large carrots, grated
3 medium onions, minced or grated
10 cup tomato juice
6 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 (16 ounce) cans whole tomatoes, cut up, but no drained
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons ground oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons ground basil
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
Brown meat over low heat and drain excess fat. Add garlic, olive oil, carrots, onion and 3 tablespoons of water to beef. Saut�over low heat for 30 minutes, covered (checking to ensure there is enough liquid so the mixture doesn't burn).
In a large pan, combine saut�ed vegetables and beef with all remaining ingredients and simmer for 6 hours at the lowest heat setting.
When partially cooled, store sauce in the refrigerator in a tightly covered container. Extra sauce may be frozen at this point.
When you are ready to use the sauce, heat it slowly while you boil the spaghetti.
Sunday, January 08, 2006
Starbucks Economics - Solving the mystery of the elusive "short" cappuccino. By Tim Harford
Note: I've been doing this for years... wel, not me specifically, but Yukiko has been ordering the "Short" coffees... and not because she's cheap or anything... more that she is caffeine sensitive and the "Tall" is just too much coffee for her. Also I'd like to note that I don't really like Starbucks and find their over-priced coffee high in acidity and bitterness. I much prefer Illy (nice independent chains serving the best mass-marketed espresso I've ever tasted). And may I add that Tim Hortons rocks and I will be buying stock in that company (given the opportunity to). But back to Starbucks, seems most don't know there is a "Short" option. This is an exerpt below from Slate.com.
Starbucks Economics - Solving the mystery of the elusive "short" cappuccino. By Tim Harford: "It's not hard to identify the price-blind customers in Starbucks. They're the ones buying enough latte to bathe Cleopatra. The major costs of staff time, space in the queue, and packaging are similar for any size of drink. So, larger drinks carry a substantially higher markup, according to Brian McManus, an assistant professor at the Olin School of Business who has studied the coffee market.
The difficulty is that if some of your products are cheap, you may lose money from customers who would willingly have paid more. So, businesses try to discourage their more lavish customers from trading down by making their cheap products look or sound unattractive, or, in the case of Starbucks, making the cheap product invisible. The British supermarket Tesco has a 'value' line of products with infamously ugly packaging, not because good designers are unavailable but because the supermarket wants to scare away customers who would willingly spend more. 'The bottom end of any market tends to get distorted,' says McManus. 'The more market power firms have, the less attractive they make the cheaper products.'
That observation is important. A firm in a perfectly competitive market would suffer if it sabotaged its cheapest products because rivals would jump at the opportunity to steal alienated customers. Starbucks, with its coffee supremacy, can afford this kind of price discrimination, thanks to loyal, or just plain lazy, customers.
The practice is hundreds of years old. The French economist Emile Dupuit wrote about the early days of the railways, when third-class carriages were built without roofs, even though roofs were cheap: 'What the company is trying to do is prevent the passengers who can pay the second-class fare from traveling third class; it hits the poor, not because it wants to hurt them, but to frighten the rich.'
The modern equivalent is the airport departure lounge. Airports could create nicer spaces, but that would frustrate the ability of airlines to charge substantial premiums for club-class departure lounges.
Starbucks' gambit is much simpler and more audacious: Offer the cheaper product but make sure that it is available only to those customers who face the uncertainty and embarrassment of having to request it specifically. Fortunately, the tactic is easily circumvented: If you'd like a better coffee for less, just ask."
Starbucks Economics - Solving the mystery of the elusive "short" cappuccino. By Tim Harford: "It's not hard to identify the price-blind customers in Starbucks. They're the ones buying enough latte to bathe Cleopatra. The major costs of staff time, space in the queue, and packaging are similar for any size of drink. So, larger drinks carry a substantially higher markup, according to Brian McManus, an assistant professor at the Olin School of Business who has studied the coffee market.
The difficulty is that if some of your products are cheap, you may lose money from customers who would willingly have paid more. So, businesses try to discourage their more lavish customers from trading down by making their cheap products look or sound unattractive, or, in the case of Starbucks, making the cheap product invisible. The British supermarket Tesco has a 'value' line of products with infamously ugly packaging, not because good designers are unavailable but because the supermarket wants to scare away customers who would willingly spend more. 'The bottom end of any market tends to get distorted,' says McManus. 'The more market power firms have, the less attractive they make the cheaper products.'
That observation is important. A firm in a perfectly competitive market would suffer if it sabotaged its cheapest products because rivals would jump at the opportunity to steal alienated customers. Starbucks, with its coffee supremacy, can afford this kind of price discrimination, thanks to loyal, or just plain lazy, customers.
The practice is hundreds of years old. The French economist Emile Dupuit wrote about the early days of the railways, when third-class carriages were built without roofs, even though roofs were cheap: 'What the company is trying to do is prevent the passengers who can pay the second-class fare from traveling third class; it hits the poor, not because it wants to hurt them, but to frighten the rich.'
The modern equivalent is the airport departure lounge. Airports could create nicer spaces, but that would frustrate the ability of airlines to charge substantial premiums for club-class departure lounges.
Starbucks' gambit is much simpler and more audacious: Offer the cheaper product but make sure that it is available only to those customers who face the uncertainty and embarrassment of having to request it specifically. Fortunately, the tactic is easily circumvented: If you'd like a better coffee for less, just ask."
Monday, December 19, 2005
Moola
Deal or No Deal? Bah! Now that I got my computer back I can play my friends Moola Advertournament. Brilliant system they have, I tell ya. I mean, advertisers fund the thing. You, the player have to watch some ad to play a game which is essentially like Rock, Paper, Scissors. You win, you double your bet. You lose, you lose your bet. Top prize is over $10,000,000.00 but you can cash out before that.
Frankly I think the brilliance is in the whole game theory which will have players cashing out well before they ever get to 10 mil. You start at a penny (paid by the advertisers and try double it with every win. You could, theoretically do so all the way up to 10 million dollars after 30 straight wins. But I ask you... who would wager 5 mil on such a game? Who would wager even $160 (the top pay out I've seen). Well I've won over 11 games straight and am at $10 going for $20 but can't find anyone to play with.
Doesn't cost a thing. If you want an invite, email me. I've got 6 to give.
Moola
Frankly I think the brilliance is in the whole game theory which will have players cashing out well before they ever get to 10 mil. You start at a penny (paid by the advertisers and try double it with every win. You could, theoretically do so all the way up to 10 million dollars after 30 straight wins. But I ask you... who would wager 5 mil on such a game? Who would wager even $160 (the top pay out I've seen). Well I've won over 11 games straight and am at $10 going for $20 but can't find anyone to play with.
Doesn't cost a thing. If you want an invite, email me. I've got 6 to give.
Moola
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Recommended
Agggghhhh the pain and anguish. Why didn't I backup all my data before? They say hindsight is 20/20... I'd like to add that it's quite expensive and painful, too. I picked up a Western Digital automatic backup dive (paid too much at Futureshop) and will still be waiting up to 14 days (they said up to but I'm betting they meant "at least").
I will never advise another to go somewhere which I don't have complete trust in. That's why I can say with confidently that if any of you are looking for some computer related thingamajiggy then this is the place to go. NCIX has gotten me parts that were near impossible to find (odd cables for example). And though I am currently tied into Futureshop's Service Plan (not worth it in time or cost) I will be buying my next computer from NCIX. You can click below to see what I mean about deals.
I will never advise another to go somewhere which I don't have complete trust in. That's why I can say with confidently that if any of you are looking for some computer related thingamajiggy then this is the place to go. NCIX has gotten me parts that were near impossible to find (odd cables for example). And though I am currently tied into Futureshop's Service Plan (not worth it in time or cost) I will be buying my next computer from NCIX. You can click below to see what I mean about deals.
Sunday, November 06, 2005
Crash Update: Hooray for Opera!
So here I am having to adjust to the old 233Mhz PII with 32mb ram Dell and a whopping 3gb drive... since I did a fresh install of Win98 (have yet to find a linux flavour that runs well on such poor specs) I started to look for some new things to play with. First stop was Mozilla for Firefox. Those Firefox fanboys can be so loud that I thought there might actually be something to it. After downloading I started looking for ways to speed it up (Fasterfox plugin), maximize browser space (new theme), do mouse gestures (another plugin), and have the BlogThis button (yet another plugin). Then I had to restart and could really start playing with it. Initial impressions: meh.
Net install: Thunderbird. I mean, It's got to be at least as good as Outlook Express. Got it installed and, yup, it's as good as Outlook Express... but no better. Impression: meh.
So then I think, Opera is free now... I can go get Opera 8.0 and have both email and browsing in one app. My only fear is that it would be too slow. Got it freshly installed and imported all the prefs from Thunderbird. No problems. No issues. Looks good. Tabs automatically. Didn't have to install plugins to do all these things (except the BlogThis Button). And it is indeed faster.
Impression: Rawks!
So here's to Opera. I know you don't do everything (mlxchange and point2agent but neither did Mozilla and I can keep IE around for those tasks) but I forgive you for all the joy an happiness you bring. I sound like such a geek.
Now if I can find a decent WYSIWYG editor to replace my downed Dreamweaver... Need to work on some templates which will work with Joomla.
Net install: Thunderbird. I mean, It's got to be at least as good as Outlook Express. Got it installed and, yup, it's as good as Outlook Express... but no better. Impression: meh.
So then I think, Opera is free now... I can go get Opera 8.0 and have both email and browsing in one app. My only fear is that it would be too slow. Got it freshly installed and imported all the prefs from Thunderbird. No problems. No issues. Looks good. Tabs automatically. Didn't have to install plugins to do all these things (except the BlogThis Button). And it is indeed faster.
Impression: Rawks!
So here's to Opera. I know you don't do everything (mlxchange and point2agent but neither did Mozilla and I can keep IE around for those tasks) but I forgive you for all the joy an happiness you bring. I sound like such a geek.
Now if I can find a decent WYSIWYG editor to replace my downed Dreamweaver... Need to work on some templates which will work with Joomla.
Friday, November 04, 2005
Terrible! Horrible! Catastrophic Crash!
Aggggghhhhh Hindsight may be 20-20 but foresight is all the sweeter... which makes ignoring that common-sense incredibly, regrettably, bitter. That's right, my 18 month old Toshiba notebook has suffered a mechanical hard drive failure and will be out of comission for up to 4 weeks. I may have lost so much. Digital photos, email, writings, real estate deals (copys), music. Etc. I had to pull out the old but trusty Dell Inspiron 3200 (circa 1999) with the Intel Pentium II 233 and a whopping 32mb of ram.
This old Dell is a work horse. Solid as a brick. It's too bad the new ones (I checked them out) don't have the same build quality
This old Dell is a work horse. Solid as a brick. It's too bad the new ones (I checked them out) don't have the same build quality
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
5, 11, 20, 30, 37, 43
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.... huh?
Winning ticket sold for $54 million prize
Last Updated Thu, 27 Oct 2005 00:31:58 EDT
CBC News
A winning ticket was sold for Wednesday night's record-setting 6/49 lottery - and the top prize is worth more than $50 million.
According to the Loto-Quebec web site one ticket was sold with the winning numbers, somewhere on the Prairies, and the ticket is worth much more than the $40 million estimate. It's worth $54,294,712.00.
Although Wednesday night's Lotto 6/49 draw has come and gone the question now is who is the lucky individual or group with the winning ticket and when will the rest of the country find out who holds the winning numbers.
Before Wednesday's draw the lineups were long in every part of the country. In the past four days, Canadians have spent an amazing $90 million on 6/49 tickets.
Peter Low, who owns a lottery ticket centre in Vancouver says he's never seen anything like it. "it has been on-going, non-stop," said Low. "I think today will be the busiest day we've ever had."
On Toronto's Bay Street, where the nation's financial wizards make the calculations and take the risks that shape the entire country's economy, sales were brisk.
Investment researchers Richard Wong and Jason Stu were caught in the act. When asked if they thought they were making a good investment, they said, "Not really."
But like millions of other Canadians they just couldn't miss out on an opportunity at $40 million. Abdul Alladin who runs a ticket kiosk says regular customers are buying 10 times as many tickets and the employees of some brokerage firms are going even bigger.
"I had one customers say they are collecting $100 from everyone in their office. They're going to collect $5,000 just from their office alone [for lottery tickets]," said Alladin.
It seems when it comes to lottery fever, Bay Street is the same as any other street in Canada. People want to buy a piece of a fantasy.
An Edmonton man has a strategy. "If I win I'd take my family and disappear," he says.
In Goose Bay, Labrador, people are "very excited."
In Ottawa one man says he's "promised all my friends we'd go to Paris for lunch."
But not everyone is enthralled with the lottery madness. Sean Villeneuve, a ticket store owner in Montreal says he hopes it ends soon.
"Well the most annoying thing is I guess are the people who say 'I want the winning ticket.' I love that one because I would love it too. I would want the winning ticket and yet they think they're special."
The chances of winning were estimated at 1 in 14 million - and someone managed to pull it off. "I would imagine the sales will be somewhere around 25 to 30 million in terms of number of tickets," said Jeff Schultz of the B.C. Lottery Corporation.
About 29 per cent of the money goes to provincial governments. A further 18 per cent is split between operating costs, payments to sellers and the federal government.
Those are the only numbers that are guaranteed- every week.
Winning ticket sold for $54 million prize
Last Updated Thu, 27 Oct 2005 00:31:58 EDT
CBC News
A winning ticket was sold for Wednesday night's record-setting 6/49 lottery - and the top prize is worth more than $50 million.
According to the Loto-Quebec web site one ticket was sold with the winning numbers, somewhere on the Prairies, and the ticket is worth much more than the $40 million estimate. It's worth $54,294,712.00.
Although Wednesday night's Lotto 6/49 draw has come and gone the question now is who is the lucky individual or group with the winning ticket and when will the rest of the country find out who holds the winning numbers.
Before Wednesday's draw the lineups were long in every part of the country. In the past four days, Canadians have spent an amazing $90 million on 6/49 tickets.
Peter Low, who owns a lottery ticket centre in Vancouver says he's never seen anything like it. "it has been on-going, non-stop," said Low. "I think today will be the busiest day we've ever had."
On Toronto's Bay Street, where the nation's financial wizards make the calculations and take the risks that shape the entire country's economy, sales were brisk.
Investment researchers Richard Wong and Jason Stu were caught in the act. When asked if they thought they were making a good investment, they said, "Not really."
But like millions of other Canadians they just couldn't miss out on an opportunity at $40 million. Abdul Alladin who runs a ticket kiosk says regular customers are buying 10 times as many tickets and the employees of some brokerage firms are going even bigger.
"I had one customers say they are collecting $100 from everyone in their office. They're going to collect $5,000 just from their office alone [for lottery tickets]," said Alladin.
It seems when it comes to lottery fever, Bay Street is the same as any other street in Canada. People want to buy a piece of a fantasy.
An Edmonton man has a strategy. "If I win I'd take my family and disappear," he says.
In Goose Bay, Labrador, people are "very excited."
In Ottawa one man says he's "promised all my friends we'd go to Paris for lunch."
But not everyone is enthralled with the lottery madness. Sean Villeneuve, a ticket store owner in Montreal says he hopes it ends soon.
"Well the most annoying thing is I guess are the people who say 'I want the winning ticket.' I love that one because I would love it too. I would want the winning ticket and yet they think they're special."
The chances of winning were estimated at 1 in 14 million - and someone managed to pull it off. "I would imagine the sales will be somewhere around 25 to 30 million in terms of number of tickets," said Jeff Schultz of the B.C. Lottery Corporation.
About 29 per cent of the money goes to provincial governments. A further 18 per cent is split between operating costs, payments to sellers and the federal government.
Those are the only numbers that are guaranteed- every week.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Svend Robinson ready to launch comeback
There is absolutely NO WAY this petty diamond thief should get a single vote. Are the NDP so poor they can't find anyone without a rap sheet to run. Maybe NDP stands for New Diamond Perps. This is sick. The guy tries to get out of everything by claiming the theft was a moment of "utter irrationality"? Voting for someone with a possible mental disorder (he's the one who plead insanity) would be a moment of utter irrationality.
CBC News
Former NDP MP Svend Robinson is set to make his political comeback official. He will announce on Friday that he plans to seek the NDP nomination in the riding of Vancouver Centre.
Robinson has been hinting at his return to federal politics for some months, and has now scheduled a news conference to spell out his political plans.
Vancouver Centre incumbent Liberal MP Hedy Fry says she's been expecting the announcement for months. "I did speak to Svend once on a plane about nine months ago, when he had been floating a balloon then, and I said, 'Oh ,I hear you want to run in my riding?' And he said, 'Yes.'" Fry has won four consecutive elections in Vancouver Centre, a riding she first won from former Prime Minister Kim Campbell in 1993. And she says she is looking forward to running against Robinson. She says Robinson has acknowledged that they share a similar position on human rights, especially for gays and lesbians. "Svend was very well aware that while he was very strongly advocating for this over most of his career, that in fact he could not achieve any real objectives unless he was in government. And therefore, it was good to know there was somebody in the government of the day, that was going to push his agenda forward
FROM AUG. 6, 2005: Svend Robinson gets probation
Robinson stepped down as an MP last year after making a tearful apology for stealing an expensive ring from an auction house in what he called a moment of "utter irrationality." Since then he's undergone counselling, and has vowed to champion the rights of the mentally ill if returned to office. He's also commissioned a poll to determine whether he'd have a realistic chance at winning an election. And he said two weeks ago he was encouraged by the results.
CBC News
Former NDP MP Svend Robinson is set to make his political comeback official. He will announce on Friday that he plans to seek the NDP nomination in the riding of Vancouver Centre.
Robinson has been hinting at his return to federal politics for some months, and has now scheduled a news conference to spell out his political plans.
Vancouver Centre incumbent Liberal MP Hedy Fry says she's been expecting the announcement for months. "I did speak to Svend once on a plane about nine months ago, when he had been floating a balloon then, and I said, 'Oh ,I hear you want to run in my riding?' And he said, 'Yes.'" Fry has won four consecutive elections in Vancouver Centre, a riding she first won from former Prime Minister Kim Campbell in 1993. And she says she is looking forward to running against Robinson. She says Robinson has acknowledged that they share a similar position on human rights, especially for gays and lesbians. "Svend was very well aware that while he was very strongly advocating for this over most of his career, that in fact he could not achieve any real objectives unless he was in government. And therefore, it was good to know there was somebody in the government of the day, that was going to push his agenda forward
FROM AUG. 6, 2005: Svend Robinson gets probation
Robinson stepped down as an MP last year after making a tearful apology for stealing an expensive ring from an auction house in what he called a moment of "utter irrationality." Since then he's undergone counselling, and has vowed to champion the rights of the mentally ill if returned to office. He's also commissioned a poll to determine whether he'd have a realistic chance at winning an election. And he said two weeks ago he was encouraged by the results.
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Wedding Snap
Everyone asks to see photos and since I'm not the kind of guy to post up a dragging slide show I picked the one best one of the two of us. Our photographer was Liza Biagioni of Accent Photography and is highly recommended to anyone seeking a photographer in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland.
Sunday, October 09, 2005
Joomla!
Joomla! - Main
I'm working with the new Joomla CMS to develop a site... For basics it sure is easy but when you start digging into the guts of how everything is going to look and work, well, for a non-PHP programmer (heck, non-programmer, period) like me it takes some learning and getting used to. I tried to find somne guys to do it for me but they want an arm and a leg (take advantage of the neophyte) so I'll do it by my own tortured self. Good thing that there is a wealth of information out there with the community of developers.
I'm working with the new Joomla CMS to develop a site... For basics it sure is easy but when you start digging into the guts of how everything is going to look and work, well, for a non-PHP programmer (heck, non-programmer, period) like me it takes some learning and getting used to. I tried to find somne guys to do it for me but they want an arm and a leg (take advantage of the neophyte) so I'll do it by my own tortured self. Good thing that there is a wealth of information out there with the community of developers.
Friday, September 30, 2005
Bush is a real piece of work...
The Complete Bushisms - Updated frequently. By Jacob Weisberg: "'See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda.'—Greece, N.Y., May 24, 2005 "
Buying of News by Bush's Aides Is Ruled Illegal - New York Times
October 1, 2005
Buying of News by Bush's Aides Is Ruled Illegal
By ROBERT PEAR
WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 - Federal auditors said on Friday that the Bush administration violated the law by buying favorable news coverage of President Bush's education policies, by making payments to the conservative commentator Armstrong Williams and by hiring a public relations company to analyze media perceptions of the Republican Party.
In a blistering report, the investigators, from the Government Accountability Office, said the administration had disseminated "covert propaganda" in the United States, in violation of a statutory ban.
The contract with Mr. Williams and the general contours of the public relations campaign had been known for months. The report Friday provided the first definitive ruling on the legality of the activities.
Lawyers from the accountability office, an independent nonpartisan arm of Congress, found that the administration systematically analyzed news articles to see if they carried the message, "The Bush administration/the G.O.P. is committed to education."
The auditors declared: "We see no use for such information except for partisan political purposes. Engaging in a purely political activity such as this is not a proper use of appropriated funds."
The report also sharply criticized the Education Department for telling Ketchum Inc., a public relations company, to pay Mr. Williams for newspaper columns and television appearances praising Mr. Bush's education initiative, the No Child Left Behind Act.
When that arrangement became public, it set off widespread criticism. At a news conference in January, Mr. Bush said: "We will not be paying commentators to advance our agenda. Our agenda ought to be able to stand on its own two feet."
But the Education Department has since defended its payments to Mr. Williams, saying his commentaries were "no more than the legitimate dissemination of information to the public."
The G.A.O. said the Education Department had no money or authority to "procure favorable commentary in violation of the publicity or propaganda prohibition" in federal law.
The ruling comes with no penalty, but under federal law the department is supposed to report the violations to the White House and Congress.
In the course of its work, the accountability office discovered a previously undisclosed instance in which the Education Department had commissioned a newspaper article. The article, on the "declining science literacy of students," was distributed by the North American Precis Syndicate and appeared in numerous small newspapers around the country. Readers were not informed of the government's role in the writing of the article, which praised the department's role in promoting science education.
The auditors denounced a prepackaged television story disseminated by the Education Department. The segment, a "video news release" narrated by a woman named Karen Ryan, said that President Bush's program for providing remedial instruction and tutoring to children "gets an A-plus."
Ms. Ryan also narrated two videos praising the new Medicare drug benefit last year. In those segments, as in the education video, the narrator ended by saying, "In Washington, I'm Karen Ryan reporting."
The television news segments on education and on Medicare did not state that they had been prepared and distributed by the government. The G.A.O. did not say how many stations carried the reports.
The public relations efforts came to light weeks before Margaret Spellings became education secretary in January. Susan Aspey, a spokeswoman for the secretary, said on Friday that Ms. Spellings regarded the efforts as "stupid, wrong and ill-advised." She said Ms. Spellings had taken steps "to ensure these types of missteps don't happen again."
The investigation by the accountability office was requested by Senators Frank R. Lautenberg of New Jersey and Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, both Democrats. Mr. Lautenberg expressed concern about a section of the report in which investigators said they could not find records to confirm that Mr. Williams had performed all the activities for which he billed the government.
The Education Department said it had paid Ketchum $186,000 for services performed by Mr. Williams's company. But it could not provide transcripts of speeches, articles or records of other services invoiced by Mr. Williams, the report said.
In March, the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel said that federal agencies did not have to acknowledge their role in producing television news segments if they were factual. The inspector general of the Education Department recently reiterated that position.
But the accountability office said on Friday: "The failure of an agency to identify itself as the source of a prepackaged news story misleads the viewing public by encouraging the audience to believe that the broadcasting news organization developed the information. The prepackaged news stories are purposefully designed to be indistinguishable from news segments broadcast to the public. When the television viewing public does not know that the stories they watched on television news programs about the government were in fact prepared by the government, the stories are, in this sense, no longer purely factual. The essential fact of attribution is missing."
The office said Mr. Williams's work for the government resulted from a written proposal that he submitted to the Education Department in March 2003. The department directed Ketchum to use Mr. Williams as a regular commentator on Mr. Bush's education policies. Ketchum had a federal contract to help publicize those policies, signed by Mr. Bush in 2002.
The Education Department flouted the law by telling Ketchum to use Mr. Williams to "convey a message to the public on behalf of the government, without disclosing to the public that the messengers were acting on the government's behalf and in return for the payment of public funds," the G.A.O. said.
The Education Department spent $38,421 for production and distribution of the video news release and $96,850 for the evaluation of newspaper articles and radio and television programs. Ketchum assigned a score to each article, indicating how often and favorably it mentioned features of the new education law.
Congress tried to clarify the ban on "covert propaganda" in a bill signed by Mr. Bush in May. The law says that no federal money may be used to produce or distribute a news story unless the government's role is openly acknowledged.
Buying of News by Bush's Aides Is Ruled Illegal
By ROBERT PEAR
WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 - Federal auditors said on Friday that the Bush administration violated the law by buying favorable news coverage of President Bush's education policies, by making payments to the conservative commentator Armstrong Williams and by hiring a public relations company to analyze media perceptions of the Republican Party.
In a blistering report, the investigators, from the Government Accountability Office, said the administration had disseminated "covert propaganda" in the United States, in violation of a statutory ban.
The contract with Mr. Williams and the general contours of the public relations campaign had been known for months. The report Friday provided the first definitive ruling on the legality of the activities.
Lawyers from the accountability office, an independent nonpartisan arm of Congress, found that the administration systematically analyzed news articles to see if they carried the message, "The Bush administration/the G.O.P. is committed to education."
The auditors declared: "We see no use for such information except for partisan political purposes. Engaging in a purely political activity such as this is not a proper use of appropriated funds."
The report also sharply criticized the Education Department for telling Ketchum Inc., a public relations company, to pay Mr. Williams for newspaper columns and television appearances praising Mr. Bush's education initiative, the No Child Left Behind Act.
When that arrangement became public, it set off widespread criticism. At a news conference in January, Mr. Bush said: "We will not be paying commentators to advance our agenda. Our agenda ought to be able to stand on its own two feet."
But the Education Department has since defended its payments to Mr. Williams, saying his commentaries were "no more than the legitimate dissemination of information to the public."
The G.A.O. said the Education Department had no money or authority to "procure favorable commentary in violation of the publicity or propaganda prohibition" in federal law.
The ruling comes with no penalty, but under federal law the department is supposed to report the violations to the White House and Congress.
In the course of its work, the accountability office discovered a previously undisclosed instance in which the Education Department had commissioned a newspaper article. The article, on the "declining science literacy of students," was distributed by the North American Precis Syndicate and appeared in numerous small newspapers around the country. Readers were not informed of the government's role in the writing of the article, which praised the department's role in promoting science education.
The auditors denounced a prepackaged television story disseminated by the Education Department. The segment, a "video news release" narrated by a woman named Karen Ryan, said that President Bush's program for providing remedial instruction and tutoring to children "gets an A-plus."
Ms. Ryan also narrated two videos praising the new Medicare drug benefit last year. In those segments, as in the education video, the narrator ended by saying, "In Washington, I'm Karen Ryan reporting."
The television news segments on education and on Medicare did not state that they had been prepared and distributed by the government. The G.A.O. did not say how many stations carried the reports.
The public relations efforts came to light weeks before Margaret Spellings became education secretary in January. Susan Aspey, a spokeswoman for the secretary, said on Friday that Ms. Spellings regarded the efforts as "stupid, wrong and ill-advised." She said Ms. Spellings had taken steps "to ensure these types of missteps don't happen again."
The investigation by the accountability office was requested by Senators Frank R. Lautenberg of New Jersey and Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, both Democrats. Mr. Lautenberg expressed concern about a section of the report in which investigators said they could not find records to confirm that Mr. Williams had performed all the activities for which he billed the government.
The Education Department said it had paid Ketchum $186,000 for services performed by Mr. Williams's company. But it could not provide transcripts of speeches, articles or records of other services invoiced by Mr. Williams, the report said.
In March, the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel said that federal agencies did not have to acknowledge their role in producing television news segments if they were factual. The inspector general of the Education Department recently reiterated that position.
But the accountability office said on Friday: "The failure of an agency to identify itself as the source of a prepackaged news story misleads the viewing public by encouraging the audience to believe that the broadcasting news organization developed the information. The prepackaged news stories are purposefully designed to be indistinguishable from news segments broadcast to the public. When the television viewing public does not know that the stories they watched on television news programs about the government were in fact prepared by the government, the stories are, in this sense, no longer purely factual. The essential fact of attribution is missing."
The office said Mr. Williams's work for the government resulted from a written proposal that he submitted to the Education Department in March 2003. The department directed Ketchum to use Mr. Williams as a regular commentator on Mr. Bush's education policies. Ketchum had a federal contract to help publicize those policies, signed by Mr. Bush in 2002.
The Education Department flouted the law by telling Ketchum to use Mr. Williams to "convey a message to the public on behalf of the government, without disclosing to the public that the messengers were acting on the government's behalf and in return for the payment of public funds," the G.A.O. said.
The Education Department spent $38,421 for production and distribution of the video news release and $96,850 for the evaluation of newspaper articles and radio and television programs. Ketchum assigned a score to each article, indicating how often and favorably it mentioned features of the new education law.
Congress tried to clarify the ban on "covert propaganda" in a bill signed by Mr. Bush in May. The law says that no federal money may be used to produce or distribute a news story unless the government's role is openly acknowledged.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)