Random acts of criticism #1 · Thursday April 3, 2008 by colin newell
In a continuing series of randomly orchestrated and generally abusive diatribes on the Canadian condition, Colin Newell will skewer, broil and digest items of regional interest… regardless of the outcome, irrespective of those whose feelings he hurts… Oh! Has he no shame!? Anyway… on with the show.
Athletes on Canada’s national snowboarding team are paying their own way to World Cup events or missing them altogether because the Canadian Snowboard Federation has run out of cash.
Canadian snowboarder Alexa Loo claims she racked up a credit card bill of more than $5,000 taking planes to races in Japan, Korea and Lake Placid, N.Y. during the
season only to miss the final race in Italy because she couldn’t afford the airfare.
Stop! Stop! Enough already. I thank God everyday that we did not have children who turned out to be jocks. Such waste. Pity the hard working families whose children turn out athletic. Tragic yes, but it happens to many Canadians…
Take heart: Relief is on the way! The government of Canada is doing its part to put an end to amateur sports. A pandemic of funding cuts to Canadian sports programs has left our Olympic bound skiers in hot water and our swim teams rowing downhill. In America, if an athlete wants to get ahead, he or she need only sign onto a lucrative Nike deal – In Canada an Olympic hopeful signs up on a Girl Guide cookie route – sticky sweet, yes but hardly a solution to their money woes. How can you help? Attend any Canadian athletic event (if you can find one…) and cheer on the swimmers with an exuberant “Run! Run! Run you slacker Run! …and toss large coins. Anything helps.
In Hockey news, the Vancouver Canucks are struggling in their fitful and pathetic attempts to get on the golf course as soon as humanly possible.
With my infallible magic powers, I will grant them this wish tonight!
The nations broadcaster, CBC, continues to astound, amuse and aggravate Canadians with yet more startling cut-backs. By now you have heard of the complete gutting of CBC Radio 2 programming and the axing of the CBC orchestra. News from the inside indicates that Peter Mansbridge’s prime time Canadian newscast is getting the guillotine – and in its place will be a flat-screen TV tuned to CTV’s Lloyd Robertson. It’s bold. It is grandiose. But will Canadians notice this subtle whittling away of Canadian culture?
Walmart law-suit shocks even me · Wednesday April 2, 2008 by colin newell
I have ranted, in the past, about how totally and completely morally bankrupt the Walmart corporation appears to be; alleged exploitation of workers, unsafe working conditions, denial of health care coverage for almost 1/2 their work force, theft of hours, harassment of employees and on and on and on and on. The documentation backing all this up is staggering.
Now for an update: Enter Deborah Shank.
A devastating collision with a semi-trailer truck seven years ago left 52-year-old Deborah Shank permanently brain-damaged and in a wheelchair. Her husband, Jim, and three sons won a $700,000 accident settlement from the trucking company involved. After legal fees and other expenses, the remaining $417,000 was put in a special trust. It was to be used for Mrs. Shank’s care. Or so they thought.
Instead, all of it is now slated to go to Mrs. Shank’s former employer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
Two years ago, the retail giant’s health plan sued the Shanks for the $470,000 it had spent on her medical care. A federal judge ruled last year in Wal-Mart’s favor, backed by an appeals-court decision in August. Now, her family has to rely on Medicaid and Mrs. Shank’s social-security payments to keep up her round-the-clock care.
Wow. Walmart must be really hurting financially to go after this woman.
But are they? Not really.
Their C.E.O. made over 17 million dollars last year – his salary alone.
That is twice the average C.E.O. salary of 9.6 million.
So how do Walmart employees fair? They get $9.68 an hour – if they are full time. 26% of Walmart employees are part-time.
How do Walmart’s myriad subcontractor employees do World wide?
Between Bangladesh, Nicaragua, Indonesia, China and Swaziland, the average wage for a Walmart subcontractor is about 25 cents… an hour. When they actually get paid that is.
25 cents an hour. So you can save money.
Back to Deborah: – Less than a week after the Shanks lost their appeal, their son Jeremy was killed in Iraq… Ironically protecting the American Dream, freedom and the pursuit of happiness.
Get this: On the advice of consultants, Jim has divorced his wife, to make her eligible for public aid as a single and totally disabled person. After attending her son’s funeral, she still could not figure out why he was missing from the family circle.
So – how does this all happen with Walmart’s HMO? When Deborah signed onto the Walmart health plan, she agreed that her employer would be first in line for payment out of any subrogation. Yea, it’s in the fine print.
Subrogation – fancy word… It means that if an accident victim is paid out – and that victim was employed when the accident happened – and insured by the employers insurance company – and there is a big pay out – guess who has their hand out?
In this case… Walmart. Cutting the heart out of the American worker by hiring Chinese workers to make toxic junk (for 25 cents an hour) so you can buy something more that you don’t need – that you will invariably throw away – to fill up a toxic landfill in China.
Comment [2]
The Dismantling of CBC Radio · Tuesday April 1, 2008 by colin newell
CBC Radio, our country’s national treasure of classical and non-mainstream
music, has announced drastic format changes which will shift the station away
from it’s traditional roots. Moving away from classical and jazz genres, the
programming changes will move the station to more mainstream styles of music,
supposedly to reflect the changing taste of Canada.
On March 4, 2008, CBC Radio announced the complete restructuring of Radio 2.
This was the second installment of changes, the first being mid-way through
2007, albeit less drastic on that first round. Announced by Jennifer McGuire,
Executive Director of CBC Radio, the changes are meant to “provide a
dedicated range of genres, including classical, pop, jazz, and roots music.”
These changes mean a clean slate of programming and radio hosts from 6am
through to 10pm weekdays. Now, stop for a moment and think what
programs and hosts currently occupy these timeslots. First to mind is likely Tom
Allen’s ‘Music and Company’ and Jurgen Gothe’s ‘DiscDrive.’ Moving along,
other programs included here are ‘Here’s to You,’ ‘Studio Sparks,’ and
‘Tonic’ (which was recently installed in place of the long standing ‘After
Hour’s with host Andy Shepard).
The outcry to these changes has been astounding as I read the editorials in
our National newspapers and comment forums online. These radio programs are
institutional, specifically Jurgen’s ‘Disc Drive’ which is now in it’s 23rd
year. As a dedicated listener to Disc Drive and Music & Company for the
better part of a decade, I consider these two programs and their hosts to be
the jewels of CBC Radio and Television combined. Nowhere else in Canada do
you gain a more varied offering of classical and jazz music. Furthermore, the
commentary from Allen and Gothe to complement their musical choices is second
to none. Whether it is the antics and humor of Allen’s weekly ‘Cage Match’,
or Gothe’s tangents ranging from wine, gourmet recipes, and extending all the
way over to The Canadian Brass’s latest recording, these are our national
radio hosts at their finest.
Three weeks after changes to Radio 2 were revealed, the CBC has announced the
dismantling of it’s own Radio Orchestra. Originally formed in 1938 and North
America’s last existing Radio Orchestra, Vancouver’s CBC Radio Orchestra will
perform it’s last concert in November 2008. Executives at the CBC argue that
the cost to operate the orchestra (in the range of $1million annually) does
not make sense given the limited concerts performed each year.
Before our eyes, we are watching CBC dismantle itself and move towards a more
mainstream focus. The intent is to water the station down and appeal to a
larger audience with less classical music and more jazz, pop, and roots
music. Now, last time I checked, all I had to do was turn my FM radio two dials
over and I was inundated with mainstream stations. The focus of the CBC has
always been to promote music that could not be found elsewhere on the air, as
well as promoting music by Canadian artists, including orchestral works
commissioned for the Radio Orchestra.
Whichever way the folks at CBC explain the changes, these are sad days for
the CBC. They seem to go against what the CBC mandate has always been, a Public Broadcaster. Meanwhile, these changes on Radio 2 are meant to draw in an entirely new group of listeners; these changes only seem to be driving away the current audience, and attracting new listeners from an already watered-down group is not going to be an easy task. As for the Radio Orchestra, another unsubstantiated move that does not seem to really be about funding. You really have to ask if the CBC is even awake and hearing out it’s listeners?
As we draw into the final few months of solid Radio 2 programming, I do
question what will fill this hole in Canadian Radio? An institution that has
had a presence for decades, the absence of some of these programs will be
very challenging to replace. We can say goodbye starting our day with
“entertaining wit, wisdom, and a smile” from Tom Allen….right over to
finishing our afternoons with “off-the-cuff commentary and flights of fancy”
from Jurgen Gothe.
For those of us who have listened to Radio 2 and it’s varied programs, we can
say this: We are better off for taking the time out of each day to listen to
these programs, and we will truly miss them once they are gone.
Quality such as this is not easily recreated.
David Reimer is a Vancouver resident and freelance pop culture analyst – his musings will be featured on the Coffeecrew blog from time to time.
Comment [4]
Variations on Alton Brown's Pressure cooker chili · Sunday March 30, 2008 by colin newell
Here is a subtle variation on Alton Brown’s classic which we cook up once every couple of months – it freezes well and makes a super hot hot lunch entree! Recipe easily doubles for a larger group!
Primary variation – Use a stock or stewing pot – Pressure cooker not needed.
1 pounds Sirloin tip or lesser grade of beef (or pork… or Tofu)
2 tablespoons Canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 bottle of beer, medium pale ale
1 (16-ounce) container hot salsa
30 tortilla chips (really! 30… not 29 or 31!)
1/2 cup chipotle peppers canned in adobo sauce, chopped
1 tablespoon adobo sauce (from the chipotle peppers in adobo)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 medium onions – chopped
1 Yellow pepper chopped
1 Red pepper chopped
1 small Zucchini
1 large Pablano pepper chopped
2 Anaheim peppers chopped
1 chopped Habanero or Scotch bonnet peppers (be VERY, VERY careful with these peppers! There is a real risk of burning or blistering if your skin comes in direct contact with the seeds or chopped pepper flesh.)
OPTION A: 2 medium carrots shredded (adds sweetness!)
OPTION B: Add 1 or 2 tinned drained high quality chick peas and reduce or eliminate the red meat.
Place the meat in a large mixing bowl and toss with the Canola oil and salt. Set aside.
Heat a 4-quart steel pot over high heat until hot. Add the meat in 3 or 4 batches and brown on all sides, approximately 2 minutes per batch. Once each batch is browned, place the meat in a clean large bowl.
Once all of the meat is browned, add the beer to the pot to deglaze the pot.
Scrape the browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
Put in onions, yellow and red peppers, zucchini and carrots (or option of chick peas) to brown for around 5 to 7 minutes.
Add Pablano and Anaheim chopped peppers – cooking an additional 5 minutes
Add the meat back to the pot along with the salsa, tortilla chips, chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, tomato paste, chili powder, and ground cumin and stir to combine. Bring to boil, cover and simmer for 1 hour. Serve immediately with cold beer and more corn chips on the side.
Depending upon how hot your salsa and chilis are will dictate how much of a sweat you will work up – add sour cream to serving for the more delicate among you!
Link to original Alton Brown recipe.
updated August 2014
Colin Newell is a Victoria resident and roaming food and drink freelance journalist – has been writing online since 1994
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