Thursday, December 31, 2015

No reservations required, magnificent view, group rates available ..... "book" now!

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Had too much to drink did we ..... eh?

What happens to your body after you've had too much to drink

We've sifted through some of the literature to help make sense of your morning-after sensations

By Jonathan Forani/Staff Reporter
Wednesday, December 30, 2015



Head

Your temples are pounding, your ears are ringing, and the lights are too, too bright. Research by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism says intoxication leads to vasodilatation — the dilation of blood vessels, decreasing blood pressure — which might be the reason for the most common of hangover symptoms: the headache.

It doesn’t end there. “Alcohol interferes with the brain’s communication pathways,” according to the NIAAA. “These disruptions can change mood and behaviour, and make it harder to think clearly and move with coordination.”

Some sufferers may be overcome with anxiety, which researchers have suspected is a symptom of alcohol withdrawal after several days of drinking.

Eyes

Just because you pass out quickly at the end of the night and stay in bed all day, you won’t necessarily feel rested. Drinking can mean you’ll spend more time in “slow-wave” sleep and less time in satisfying REM (rapid eye movement), according to the NIAAA. No wonder you’re so fatigued and drowsy.

Mouth

Thirsty? A dry mouth is often indicative of dehydration, one of the most direct effects of excessive alcohol consumption. If you’re really dehydrated, you can expect to feel weak, dizzy and light-headed too.

Research by the Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences suggests drinking water before bed and/or during your hangover may reduce some of these symptoms of dehydration, but that “it is unlikely that rehydration significantly reduces the presence and severity of alcohol hangover.”

Hands

Your average hangover shouldn't involve tremors. If it does, consider seeing a doctor. This could be a sign of alcohol withdrawal. Symptoms of withdrawal are often teamed with anxiety and nausea, but can be as extreme as hallucinations and seizures.

Heart

When your heart is pounding irregularly the next day, think of it as thrashing about in protest. “Drinking a lot over a long time or too much on a single occasion can damage the heart,” according to the NIAAA. That can lead to problems like irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, and the stretching and drooping of heart muscles. Chronic drinkers may need to worry about increased risks of stroke, heart attack and failure.

Liver

The liver takes the biggest hit. Since its job is to break down the bad stuff, it takes a beating. Alcohol can interfere with glucose production, and in extreme cases of binge drinking, can result in “alcohol-induced hypoglycemia.” Without enough glucose in the body, you can expect fatigue, weakness and mood disturbances.

Pancreas

Drinking prevents the pancreas from doing its job aiding digestion after a night of drinking, leading to indigestion. This can eventually lead to pancreatitis, according to NIAAA.

Stomach

Alcohol inflames the stomach lining, delays stomach emptying and produces gastric acid, which may result in the all-too-common nausea and vomiting.

Some research suggests the culprit may be a substance called acetaldehyde. That's what your body converts alcohol into after it's broken down. “Acetaldehyde is highly reactive and can cause tissue damage due to its toxic effects,” says research by the Utrecht Institute, “which may lead to hangover-like symptoms such as nausea, sweating, rapid pulse and headache.”

Bladder

Forget “don’t break the seal,” that common refrain you hear from friends when you say you need to run to the bathroom at the party. It doesn't really matter how long you wait to go to the bathroom. Alcohol is a diuretic that will send you there anyway. According to research by the NIAAA, drinking promotes urine production by interfering with the release of the hormone vasopressin, which helps the kidneys retain water.

Sexual Organs

More research has been done on alcohol and erectile dysfunction than hangovers in general. The verdict: Performance issues can surface when alcohol is in play. For both men and women, alcohol abuse can also lead to infertility, the NIAAA warns.

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

No ... no ... wait Will there's a better way make all the little buggers virtual!

"The first thing we do, lets kill all the lawyers!" .....  Dick the Butcher in Henry VI, Part II Act IV Scene II Line 73
Toward virtual lawyering: LawStudio

By Sean Doherty
Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Virtual lawyers will one day become the norm not the exception. Today lawyers can meet clients online, retain them with digitally signed agreements, complete the client’s scope of work on a computer, deliver the results through an agreed-upon digital medium, invoice clients, and get paid—all in electronic format.

Lawyers must make court appearances, but the tools to prepare for them are found online too—in software as a service. Veritext, a court reporting and litigation support provider, recently released LawStudio, a Web-based trial support software used to build a case with integrated access to Veritext services, such as deposition transcripts and video.

LawStudio supports tools to organize, annotate, redact, search and report trial data, stream deposition video, and collaborate with trial team members using shared files, notes and annotations. The service runs in Amazon Web Services and uses an online repository in Amazon S3 to store deposition transcripts and video, documents and exhibits that can be accessed by all members of a trial team.

Files and folders can be securely added to LawStudio via HTML5 using the website’s drag-and-drop functionality. Drag and drop individual files, groups of files, or entire folders with subfolders from a local drive onto the website; copied folders retain hierarchical information down to subfolders and files. Apply custom tags to files to classify and group-related information. Tags are filters in the website search form, which is a faceted search builder. See Figure 1.

Figure 1. LawStudio’s faceted search form can focus on discreet folders or all folders. It supports wildcards (e.g., litigat* for litigation or litigate but not litigious) and the insertion of automatic Boolean connectors when searching for any listed words (OR) and all listed words (AND). Targeted searches can apply to cases, witnesses, plaintiffs, defendants or exhibit numbers. Click image to enlarge.
Uploaded documents are assigned to cases, which are typically associated with discrete folders. Documents can be annotated with private notes or, when the file is dragged to a shared work space, shared notes. Files and entire folders can be dragged to shared work spaces to collaborate on the content with trial team members. Team members are notified via email when new content is dragged to shared work spaces and available to share. System log files document who did what and when to website content.

Besides internal file sharing, LawStudio’s secure filing sharing feature allows team members to send documents to external colleagues and counsel for review. Create tiny URLs to website documents, assign a password, schedule an expiration date, and send the URLs to colleagues direct from the LawStudio interface. File recipients securely view the documents via a Web secure socket layer (HTTPS).

Figure 2. Secure file sharing form available from LawStudio’s file menu function. Click image to enlarge.
The file-sharing function can also be accomplished in Microsoft Outlook using a LawStudio add-in. Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint also sport LawStudio add-ins, allowing subscribers to open, edit and save LawStudio content directly from the website without first downloading the files and opening.

Website files can be redacted to create deposition exhibits and documents that can be filed with motions, briefs or other memoranda. Documents with redactions are republished in PDF format to make the underlying data unavailable. Annotations and redactions work on a layer above the original document, which can be viewed in its original state. See Figure 3.
Figure 3. Two methods create annotations. 1. Annotate a region of text or an image using the Annotate Region tool to capture an area and create the corresponding annotation (above); 2. Click Text and drag the cursor over the text to annotate; select highlight from the drop-down menu and insert a note. Click to enlarge image, from “Rising Personal Liability — Perception and Reality,” by Stacey English and Susannah Hammond (Thomson Reuters, 2015).

Veritext’s court reporting services are integrated with LawStudio. Transcripts and video deposition content from Veritext can be delivered into LawStudio accounts to review, annotate and share with team members. If you use another service, you can upload captured audio from a deposition or court proceeding. Veritext will generate a transcript from it and produce the results for review in LawStudio.

LawStudio’s reporting feature compiles notes and annotations to attend depositions and courtroom proceedings. The reports contain excerpts from documents, transcripts and images with notes and annotations. The excerpts are reported in PDF files with HTML links to the original content in LawStudio.

LawStudio partners with inData Corp. to use TrialDirector software to edit video content and present vignettes in LawStudio to use in trial or other proceeding. The company plans to export video content directly to TrialDirector.

The new SaaS has a way to go to compete with more mature trial support software, such as LexisNexis CaseMap, Opus 2 International, and Thomson Reuters Case Notebook. LawStudio’s integration with Veritext services is a plus but it needs support uploading and viewing email message formats, such as .msg, and it should offer an internal chat function to provide secure communications between online users without resorting to an external email server.

LawStudio starts at $299 per month per user and includes unlimited file storage. The price drops as low as $208 per user per month for firms with more than 21 users on an annual subscription.

Disclosure: This review was conducted using LawStudio’s 45-day free trial from www.lawstudio.com.


Attorney Sean Doherty has been following enterprise and legal technology for more than 15 years as a former senior technology editor for UBM Tech (formerly CMP Media) and former technology editor for Law.com and ALM Media. Sean analyzes and reviews technology products and services for lawyers, law firms, and corporate legal departments. Contact him via email at sean@laroque-doherty.net and follow him on Twitter: @SeanDoherty

Saturday, December 26, 2015

Read our keyboard!


Friday, December 25, 2015

Four fingered Trudeau-Gregoire!


Thursday, December 24, 2015

Headline: Prime Minister to write exclusive Christmas column for Toronto Star

Good Day Readers:

Here's what CyberSmokeBlog predicts Prime Minister Justin Trudeau-Gregoire will say.

Sincerely,
Clare L. Pieuk

Dear Sunny Ways, Middle Class Canadians:

I'd like to begin by thanking the ownership of the Toronto Star Newspaper for this unique opportunity and not extending it to the Leaders of the Official Opposition Parties whom I left in my dust (Chortle! Chortle! Chortle! Gloat! Gloat! Gloat!) on October 19.

During Christmas - Rats! I keep getting that backasswards - the Holiday Season I find it difficult to keep my hands off Ms Sophie Trudeau-Gregoire your First Lady. Excuse me for a moment.
To the millions of poor Canadians I say, "Tough join the middle class like Sophie and me!"

I'd also like to apologize to the millions of middle class Canadians for not sending them a glossy, expensive Christmas Holiday Seasons card with your taxpayers' credit card that won't quit.

To my Immigration and Citizenship Minister John "Cowboy" McCallum I say to hell with refugees from other countries trying to enter Canada open the floodgates for another 25,000 Syrians even though we did not meet our target of January 1, 2016 for the first 25,000 and there will be no follow up to determine how they're integrating. Load up the planes and ships whatever it takes and after that another 25,000 and another 25,000. F... the deficit and national debt! Besides, it's not Sophie and my money it only belongs to taxpayers.

And to my Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Carolyn "Cowgirl" Bennett I say, screw the First Nations Financial Transparency Act unlock the millions and millions of public dollars that were previously withheld for non compliance and while you're at it halt any court actions underway to force compliance. It matters not that the FNFTA was working with only 31 of 581 reservations failing to obey the law. Those band members who suspect malfeasance can make information requests under the Access to Information Act that hasn't been upgraded in the more than 30 years since it's inception. Good Luck!

While at it we'll accept all 94 recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission even if some may be impractical and unworkable. You see, Cowgirl, we need the Aboriginal vote if we're going to stay in power which is what this is all about. Public expense be damned.

Dear friends, you should know I've instructed my Minister of National Defence Harjit "Badass" Sajjan to spare no expense. Order all the new fighter jets, helicopters and navy frigates you need regardless of cost besides it's not coming out of his pocket.

I must go now to attend important matters of state. Nudge ... nudge ... wink ... wink ... know what I mean ... know what I mean?
Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau-Gregoire 

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Are the sunny ways Liberals kissing too much ass?

Good Day Readers:

Given the Canadian Taxpayers Federation's analysis (below), one has to wonder just how far Prime Minister Justin Trudeau-Gregoire and his sunny ways gang of Liberals are prepared to go to ensure the Aboriginal vote in the next election? To Carolyn Bennett CyberSmokeSignals says, "Balls ..... whoa cowgirl whoa!"

Sincerely,
Clare L. Pieuk
CFT slams Trudeau government's abandonment of the First Nations Financial Transparency Act
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) today condemned the Trudeau governments decision to cease enforcement of the First Nations Financial Transparency Act (FNFTA)

OTTAWA, ONTARIO: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) today condemned the Trudeau government’s decision to cease enforcement of the First Nations Financial Transparency Act (FNFTA).

“This government was elected on a promise to improve transparency and accountability, and this decision does exactly the opposite,” said CTF Federal Director Aaron Wudrick. “A law without consequence for non-compliance is a toothless law. As such, soon many First Nations people across the country will again be in the dark as to how their elected leaders spend public dollars.”

Wudrick noted that as of today most bands were complying with the law and that only eight out of 581 First Nations had failed to file FNFTA documentation for 2013-14 – a compliance rate of 98.6 per cent. For 2014-15, 38 out of 581 First Nations have not yet complied, for a compliance rate of 93.5 per cent.

“The FNFTA is a critical tool for band members to hold their First Nations politicians to account, in exactly the same way similar laws do for federal, provincial and municipal politicians across Canada,” said Wudrick. “Suspending enforcement of this law is wrong, and completely undermines the very principles this government claims to be advancing.”

Wudrick noted that the importance of the FNFTA is illustrated by cases such as that of Chief Ron Giesbrecht of the Kwikwetlem First Nation, who pocketed $800,000 of band money as part of a band land deal. Kwikwetlem band councillor Marvin Joe even stated “I want the public to know that the membership knew nothing about this. And it if wasn’t for this new transparency act, I don’t think we ever would have known.”

“Without the FNFTA being enforced Mr. Joe along with thousands of other band members will soon be in the dark again,” concluded Wudrick.
Posted by Aaron Wudrick
Tuesday, December 15, 2015

By bil on December 18, 2015

Taxpayers, Canadians and 1st Nations Peoples have a right to know where their $ are being spent. Last time I checked, Canada is an open and transparent Democracy. How our tax dollars are being used must be publicly documented for scrutiny. Otherwise, someone will invariably abuse the process for personal gain (power), or be open to suspicion by not being transparent. In my opinion, establishing a healing process with 1st Nations does not entail hidden ledger books.

By AlMaj on December 21, 2015

I was not pleased to hear that the transparency was removed. It's bad enough that Canadians pay $5 billion plus for aboriginal affairs (welfare basically) but that a few dozen reserves are totally corrupt and not held accountable is not right and should be prosecuted, not shuffled under the carpet. As a new subscriber, I encourage you to make this a national issue.

Carolyn Bennett reinstates funds frozen under First National Financial Transparency Act

Liberals to suspend court actions against First Nations that have not complied with Act

Kathleen Harris
Friday, December 18, 2015
Forty-three First Nations are waiting on the new Liberal government to release funding frozen under the First Nations Financial Transparency Act, which was put in place by the Conservatives. (Adrien Wyld/Canadian Press)

The Canadian government is reinstating funds frozen under the controversial First Nations Financial Transparency Act, Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett says.

The government is also halting compliance measures that required bands to post detailed financial information online.

In a news release issued Friday, the minister said the government will suspend court actions against First Nations that have not complied with the act.

Ottawa backs off as First Nations ignore deadline
First Nations risk losing funding under new law

"We will work in full partnership with First Nations leadership and organizations on the way forward to improve accountability and transparency," she said in the statement. "This can not be achieved without the engagement of First Nations and its members."

Forty-three First Nations were waiting on the Liberal government to release more than $12 million in funding, which was held back by the previous Conservative government.

The First Nations Financial Transparency Act brought in by the Conservatives, required 581 bands across Canada to release their financial information or have their government funding cease.

Bennett said these "initial steps" will lead the way to discussions on transparency and accountability that are "based on recognition of rights, respect, co-operation and partnership and that build towards a renewed, nation-to-nation relationship with Indigenous Peoples."

Aboriginal leaders have called the legislation prejudicial because it requires reporting of non-taxpayer-supported streams of income.

First Nations claim that information is already provided to government, and that publicizing it violates treaties as well as protections to privacy under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
38 First Nations fail to file

As of Friday, 38 First Nations had not had a completed set of documents published online.

Bennett said she will work with Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould to review laws to ensure the Crown is "fully executing its obligations" in accordance with constitutional and international obligations.

Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde called it a "welcome move."

"First Nations fully support accountability but Bill C-27 is a flawed piece of legislation that does not respect our rights and must be repealed," he said in a statement. "Today's announcement gives us an opportunity to work together on a better approach where First Nations are accountable to their citizens first and the government is accountable to the public for its funding to First Nations."

National Chief Dwight Dorey of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples also applauded the move.

"We are encouraged that these monies will be made available and that the First Nations people living off-reserve in remote rural and isolated communities will benefit from the minister's decision," he said in a statement.

A taxpayers' watchdog group condemned the government's decision, calling the transparency act a "critical tool" for band members to hold their political leaders to account.

"This government was elected on a promise to improve transparency and accountability, and this decision does exactly the opposite," said Canadian Taxpayers Federation federal director Aaron Wudrick in a release.

"A law without consequence for non-compliance is a toothless law. As such, soon many First Nations people across the country will again be in the dark as to how their elected leaders spend public dollars."

Monday, December 21, 2015


Whoa Cowboy whoa!

"Sunny ways cowboy John McCallum"

Good Day Readers:

This time Cowboy McCallum has gone too far. His comment about bringing another 25,000 Syrian/Middle East refugees to Canada in 2016 given the facts is clearly over the top. Consider:

(1) While the sunny ways government's plan to take in these people is admirable, they will put a significant financial strain on the country's social safety net (education, health care, affordable housing, etc.) all at a time when the economy is fragile at best

(2) During this time, how many non-Syrian refugees will be admitted? Presumably, the total immigration program will continue to operate

(3) Expand, consolidate, expand. There needs to be a step back, breathing period after the first year to go back to ascertain how these new Canadians are faring. Simply, ordering up another 25,000 without any follow up is foolish and short sighted

(4) The Sunny Ways Gang is already predicting a deficit of at least $10 billion in each of the next four years. CSB predicts it will be considerably higher? And the daily interest charges on that will be .....?

(5) When the original Sunny Ways was Prime Minister Canada's national debt reached an all time high with interest payments servicing it accounting for almost 35 cents of every dollar in revenue collected by the federal government

Is Sunny Ways McCallum basking in the limelight while spending too much time reading his newspaper clippings? CyberSmokeBlog thinks so. Not to pee on your parade Cowboy McCallum but it's time to get practical.

Sincerely,
Clare L. Pieuk
Canada vows to double Syrian refugee intake
Monday, December 21, 2015

Mr. McCallum has been meeting refugees in Jordan.

Mr. McCallum has vowed to double its intake of Syrian refugees next year.

The minister of immigration and citizenship, John McCallum, said the country's resettlement programme would be expanded in 2016 to take 50,000.

Mr McCallum made the announcement from the Jordanian capital of Amman, where he met Syrians heading to Canada.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau welcomed some of the first arrivals earlier this month and said Canada was "showing the world how to open our hearts".

His new Liberal government had promised to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees by the end of February.

But Mr McCallum said Canada now hopes to settle as many as 50,000 Syrian refugees by the end of 2016.

The UN refugee agency, the Jordanian government and the International Organization for Migration will be helping to speed up the vetting process, he said.

The minister spoke to Syrian families as they prepared to board flights to Canada.

He told one family: "Everyone in Canada is waiting to meet you."

Mr McCallum also toured development projects and refugee facilities during his two-day visit. has been meeting refugees in Jordan.

Friday, December 18, 2015

Canada's new national pastime - watching Shaw's yuletide fire log and the national debt clock! Mesmerizing ..... eh?


Stoned or not stoned that is the question?

Good Day Readers:

Given the sunny ways Liberals and saviours of the middle class are on the public record as legalizing marijuana, they'd better get their collective asses in gear to accurately measure impairment otherwise there may be more cases such as the one documented below especially if it is not or unsuccessfully appealed. But help may be on the way in The Kingdom of Justin The Good. Read on .....

Coming soon to a Manitoba Liquor Mart near you the "double bud six pack" - 6 Budweiser beer and 6 joints? How would you like to receive that in time for next Christmas?

Sincerely,
Clare L. Pieuk
Driving when high not enough for conviction, judge rules

Mike McIntyre
Tuesday, December 17, 2015
One of the first "while impaired by drug" cases in Manitoba has ended with the accused going free because a judge says it's not clear whether the accused's marijuana use had any significant impact on his motor skills, in this case, the driver was going 80 km/hr, about 20 under the speed limit. (John Woods/Winnipeg Free Press Files)

He admits smoking up before getting behind the wheel and feeling a bit "tipsy" as a result.

But one of the first "driving while impaired by drug" cases in Manitoba has ended with the accused going free because a judge says it’s not clear whether the accused’s marijuana use had any significant impact on his motor skills.

"The indicia of impairment by alcohol are fairly well-known and accepted in the case law: improper driving, bloodshot or watery eyes, flushed face, odour of alcohol, slurred speech, lack of co-ordination and inability to perform physical tests, a lack of comprehension and inappropriate behaviour," provincial court Judge Cynthia Devine said in her written decision.

"The same cannot be said for the indicia of impairment by drugs."

The Criminal Code was amended in 2008 to make drug-impaired driving its own unique offence. But there have been a "relatively small" number of arrests and convictions in Manitoba, said Devine.

In this case, Tyler Manaigre was spot-checked by RCMP in November 2013 while driving near Steinbach. Corporal. Terry Sundell told court he pulled Manaigre over because he was only doing about 80 km/h, which was 20 km/h below the posted limit. There were no other issues with his driving.

Sundell had been specifically trained in drug recognition, finishing a course in Florida just weeks earlier. He said his suspicions were raised by the slower driving, even though it was a dark winter’s night.

"He noticed that the accused appeared to have larger than normal pupils and that the white part of his eyes had pink lines, known as reddened conjunctiva, which is, among other things, an indication of having consumed marijuana," Devine said in her judgment.

Manaigre admitted he had smoked about half a gram of pot that night but that he felt like he was OK to drive.

Sundell then put him through the standard field sobriety protocol, which involves a number of physical co-ordination tests such as balancing on one leg and touching your nose. Sundell testified Manaigre "did not perform (some of) them well."

"He testified however that the accused’s movements were slower and more deliberate and his manner of speaking seemed more deliberate, ‘It seemed that he wasn’t doing everything right off the bat. He was processing it and then responding,’" Devine said in summarizing the officer’s evidence.

Once at the RCMP detachment, Sundell put Manaigre through a specific drug evaluation as required by law. Again, he performed well in some tests, not so well in others. But Sundell said there was no doubt in his mind Manaigre was impaired.

"People that are sober and have no disabilities do not perform poorly on these examinations," he told court

Devine wasn’t as confident. She said there was nothing about Manaigre’s driving that night that speaks to possible impairment and that the mixed results on his various tests don’t provide a clear picture of his status.

"The accused in this case did well on several aspects of the tests and not as well on others. It is also difficult to know how a completely sober person would perform on several of these tests. The presumptive statement of the officer that sober people do not have difficulty with these tests is not helpful," said Devine.

She said the law requires her to find there was more than just "marijuana use" but actual impairment in order to convict.

"The evidence is therefore at best, equivocal," said Devine. "It is difficult to know precisely how performance on the tests is correlative to impairment."

Devine’s lengthy decision breaks down every single test Manaigre was put through and assesses the results.

"I am satisfied he consumed marijuana. I am even satisfied that he felt the effects of the marijuana at some point. But I am not satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that his ability to drive was impaired, even to a slight degree, which is what is required in a driving impaired case," said Devine.

The Crown will have 30 days to decide whether they wish to appeal Devine’s decision.

www.mikeoncrime.com

Law enforcement may soon have breathalyzers to measure marijuana impairment

In an attempt to measure in real time

Julie Fidler
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
Marijuana has been legalized in several states, leaving both drivers and law enforcement officials worried about people getting high and then getting behind the wheel. Current tests can tell cops whether an individual has smoked pot recently, but it can’t determine how impaired the person is. Law enforcement has to rely on behavior and appearance alone.

But a new invention will soon make it easier to law enforcement to weed out (pun intended) pot users who are too stoned to drive.

Read more: http://naturalsociety.com/police-breathalyzers-marijuana-impairment/#ixzz3uhD67akz

Follow us: @naturalsociety on Twitter | NaturalSociety on Facebook

A marijuana breathalyzer manufactured by Oakland, California-based Hound Labs Inc. will be used in clinical trials early next year, the company announced earlier this month.

“The idea is that law enforcement will have one device out on the road to test for both THC [a marijuana component] and alcohol,” said Hound Labs CEO and founder Dr. Mike Lynn, an emergency room physician at Highland Hospital, in Oakland.

Levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) – the psychoactive component in marijuana – are traditionally tested using urine, blood, or saliva. These tests can only show whether the person has used cannabis in recent days or weeks, but they’re fairly useless when it comes to measuring real-time impairment. They’re expensive and results can take days. [1]

“The issue was really all-around measurement,” said Lynn. “We need a way to not only test ‘yes’ or ‘no’ for the presence of marijuana, but to actually measure and correlate THC levels with impairment, like we have done for alcohol.”

The hand-held devices will cost around $1,000, about what the average alcohol breathalyzer costs.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), it’s well-known that marijuana impairs psychomotor skills and cognitive function, but not much is known about how much cannabis you have to use before you become unsafe on the road. [2]

While Hound Labs’ breathalyzer isn’t the only one on the market, Lynn claims his company’s product is the only one that can give precise measurements in pictograms – measurements of one-trillionth of a gram that can determine exactly how stoned someone is at that moment. [3]

Even so, some states are not waiting to find out. In Washington and Montana, the set limit is 5 nanograms/milliliter (ng/mL) of blood, while Pennsylvania has set the limit at 1 ng/mL limit.

The new Hounds Lab device can measure THC levels from smoked pot, but can’t prove how impaired an individual is by itself.

“Our ability to measure THC in breath really should shift the national dialogue from one about simply detecting if THC is in someone’s body to a conversation where standards can be developed that reflect actual impairment,” Lynn said.

The new breathalyzer will be tested roadside by law enforcement agencies in the San Francisco Bay Area. If it proves useful, it could someday be used nationwide.

“Our ability to measure THC in breath really should shift the national dialogue from one about simply detecting if THC is in someone’s body to a conversation where standards can be developed that reflect actual impairment,” Lynn said.

Approximately 20 million Americans use marijuana. Some studies suggest its more common for young people to drive stoned than drive drunk.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) warns on its website that “marijuana significantly impairs judgment, motor coordination, and reaction time, and studies have found a direct relationship between blood THC concentration and impaired driving ability.”

A study funded partly by NIDA, the Office on National Drug Control Policy, and federal safety regulator, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration published in August found that “alcohol, but not marijuana, increased the number of times the car actually left the lane and the speed of the weaving.”

Pot did, however, reduce drivers’ peripheral vision, giving them tunnel vision. At blood concentrations of 13.1 µg/L THC, drivers began weaving within the lane more, similar to those with 0.08 breath alcohol (the legal limit in all 50 states).

But there’s not much data showing how many car accidents are actually caused by marijuana impairment. While it certainly does impair drivers to a degree, Benjamin Hansen, an economist at the University of Oregon in Eugene and at the National Bureau of Economic Research, who has studied marijuana legalization in relation to driving accidents, told LiveScience that if people who would normally drink and drive instead chose to smoke and drive, it might be safer for the population as a whole.

Hansen specified that it’s always better to drive while you’re not drunk or stoned, but he pointed to a 2009 study in the American Journal of Addictions that showed cognitive impairments caused by marijuana are correlated with only modest reductions in driving performance in driving simulations.

Additionally, a 2013 study in the Journal of Law and Economics found that in the year after medical marijuana laws were passed, traffic fatalities actually fell.

Sources:

[1] CBS News

[2] Reuters

[3] The Washington Times

[4] CNN




Read more: http://naturalsociety.com/police-breathalyzers-marijuana-impairment/#ixzz3uhJKpTwE
Follow us: @naturalsociety on Twitter | NaturalSociety on Facebook

Thursday, December 17, 2015


A Tim Hortons double double moment - "Take that you a-hole! ..... and that ..... and that!"

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Quebec: "Congratulations Ontario on finally getting beer in grocery stores!

Good Day Readers:

At times like this CyberSmokeBlog is reminded of that Rick Mercer series of a few years ago, "Talking to the Americans!" where he could get them to acknowledge and support the damnedest causes such as the time Harvard students congratulated Canada on getting its first university. Or when students and professors at a leading American Ivy League University agreed to sign a petition opposing Saskatchewan's annual seal hunt.

OMG, now you can purchase beer in some Ontario grocery stores. My God will marijuana be next so consumers will soon be able to visit their Liquor Control Board of Ontario/Beer Store retail outlets for a "double bud six pack" -  6 Budweiser and half a dozen joints? Add a "munchies" display and the possibilities for generating revenue for the anally fixated sunny ways debt Liberals are enormous.

During the early 1980s while living and working in La Belle Province (Ville de Quebec) beer in grocery stores and local depanneurs (convenience stores) was old hat.

Recall many a night after a long days work stopping in at the local depanneur on the way home to pick up "une grosse cinquante." My God how civilized!
 You have to wonder whether the Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries Commission is ready for the concept of a double bud six pact.

A special note to Premier Wynne. Woman, please do something to upgrade those Stalinest era Beer Stores which hitherto had a virtual monopoly on beer distribution in the province.
Sincerely,
Clare L. Pieuk
LCBO should sell pot when legal, Wynne says

Its still unclear when it will hapen, Wynne said Monday at Queen's Park, but when it does the liquor distribution system is "very-well suited to putting in place the social responsibility aspects" that will be required.
Robert Benzie/Queen's Park Business Chief
Monday, December 14, 2015
A liquor store on Queen's Quay in Toronto. The Ontario Public Service Employees Union has also weighed in on who should sell marijuana, with Union President Warren (Smokey) Thomas saying the LCBO "has a solid track record of responsibility selling alcohol and would bring the same service standard to marijuana. (Rick Eglinton/Toronto Star)

Weed with your whisky and wine?

Premier Kathleen Wynne says once Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government moves to legalize marijuana it should be sold in provincially owned LCBO stores.

“It makes sense to me that the liquor distribution mechanism that we have in place at LCBO is very well-suited to putting in place the social responsibility aspects that would need to be in place,” the premier said Monday at Queen’s Park.

Wynne’s surprise comments came the day before she unveils the liberalized sale of beer in the province’s supermarkets. She will be at a Loblaws on Leslie St. on Tuesday morning to launch expansion of selling six-packs.

The government’s Liquor Control Board of Ontario operates 651 outlets across the province, enjoying a monopoly on spirits and imported quality wines.

Its unionized employees are trained to keep alcohol from minors and the visibly inebriated, and work with groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving to promote safe consumption of alcohol.
Emphasizing that marijuana should be controlled and regulated, the premier said she would work with Ottawa to ensure that health and safety are key priorities as legalization rolls out.
“Obviously, I don’t know what the timeline is with the federal government but it seems to me that using that distribution network of the LCBO — as has been talked about in other provinces, using their provincial institutions — I think that that makes a lot of sense,” said Wynne.
Her views echo those of Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger.
“These are all highly addictive drugs and we want to make sure Manitobans get the best opportunity to be protected from them,” Selinger said three weeks ago.
“At the retail level, we would like to do it the way we’re doing liquor in Manitoba right now, to make sure it’s safe,” he said in Winnipeg.
Last month, Ontario Public Service Employees Union president Warren (Smokey) Thomas said the LCBO “has a solid track record of responsibly selling alcohol and would bring the same service standard to marijuana.”
“If legalization happens, marijuana must be a controlled substance, and no one has more experience retailing controlled substances than the workers at the LCBO,” said Thomas, whose union represents LCBO employees.
“There needs to be a strong regulatory framework in place, including minimum age limits, a ban on marketing, and a plan to prevent cannabis-impaired driving,” he said November 23.
“If we let industry write the rules, we won’t make any headway in reducing the social harm from marijuana.”
Thomas noted the LCBO currently conducts more than 500,000 lab tests on spirits, wine, and beer annually and has secure warehouses and a safe distribution network.
“All the infrastructure is in place for a smooth transition to a safer system. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel.”
In the October election campaign, Trudeau promised to “legalize, regulate, and restrict access to marijuana.”
Such a move would presumably take criminals out of the business and bring money into government coffers through taxation.
If alcohol and tobacco tax revenues are any indication, there are hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes to be made from imposing levies on marijuana.
Queen’s Park, which is saddled with a $7.5-billion deficit, collected $1.163 billion in tobacco taxes last year and $3 billion in booze taxes — including $1.8 billion from the LCBO, $565 million from beer and wine taxes, and more than $600 million in Ontario’s share of the harmonized sales tax.
Progressive Conservative MPP Tim Hudak (Niagara West-Glanbrook) last month echoed the concerns of many who oppose the government taking control of marijuana sales instead of opening things up to the private sector.
“Well if gov stores are going to sell pot, at least we know quality will be poor, the price high and the hours lousy #420,” he tweeted with a link to a Star story on Manitoba’s plans.
South of the border, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington have effectively legalized marijuana.
But the Canadian Taxpayers Federation has pointed out that cannabis may not be the panacea for cash-strapped governments, noting total national sales in the U.S. were $4.6 billion in 2012. If the provinces adopt levies similar to Colorado’s, that would generate about $628 million a year across the country.

Donald Trump's new mousy, muted colourless hair!


Monday, December 14, 2015

Everyone has biases!

"Here's looking at your biases Sweetheart!"

Good Day Readers:

Jezus, wonder if "Big Jungle" Jim Carr knows she doesn't have any biases but then again how the hell would he know none of those sunny ways Liberals do!

Sincerely,
Clare L. Pieuk
Former CAPP veep says she doesn't bring any bias to new Natural Resources Job
By Charles Mandel in News, Politics | December 14th 2015
Janet Annesley, Chief of Staff, for Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr. (Photo Courtesy of Janet Annesley)

Janet Annesley doesn’t back down. The new Chief of Staff to the federal minister of natural resources has taken on everyone from actors Robert Redford and Leonardo DiCaprio, to respected think tanks like Alberta’s Pembina Institute.

The former Shell company executive and vice-president of communications for the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers’ (CAPP) has managed multi-million-dollar campaigns promoting the Alberta tar sands and oil interests.

And in 2011, when the Energy Framework Initiative lobbied the Harper government to cut the red tape on oil mega-projects, CAPP was one of the four groups that pushed for the dismantling of environmental regulations.

She’s sailed with climate-change deniers on Conservative Ezra Levant’s Freedom Cruise.

And now she’s landed a high-profile job at a ministry that will have to make some tough decisions in coming months over hotly-contested projects such as the Energy East and Kinder Morgan pipelines.

It’s made environment groups edgy and left them wondering what kind of sway Annesley might have in the pivotal department of a government that’s already indicated that it favours pushing ahead with the pipelines.

“I can see this appointment may be an appeasement to the industry, but CAPP was absolutely irresponsible in dealing with climate change in the last 25 years. It did everything it could to prevent Canada from taking real action,” John Bennett, policy advisor to Friends of the Earth Canada (FEC) told National Observer.

“I’d be very concerned.”

Cameron Fenton, a Canadian tar sands organizer with 350.org, frets that it’s a “dangerous return to Stephen Harper-era politics,” and remarks that it undermines much of the positive rhetoric from the federal government, especially from Paris.

Who is Janet Annesley?

On the phone from Ottawa, Annesley laughs out loud when asked what kind of influence she thinks she wields in Minister Jim Carr’s office. “Right now, not a lot," she says. "I can’t even get pens.”

Annesley describes her job as a professional manager whose role is to influence the team to be collaborative and work with a wide variety of stakeholders to adopt the government’s mandate as outlined by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and in the mandate letter given to the minister.

“I don’t think I have a bias,” she told National Observer. “I don’t have, in the most technical sense, a conflict of interest. I don’t have any shares or interests in resource companies. What I do have is strong experience.”

On the merit of that experience, Gerald Butts and Carr hired her, Annesley says. Butts is Justin Trudeau’s senior political advisor and, as Annesley reminds National Observer the former President and CEO of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

Calgary-born Annesley attended Mount Royal College, joining Shell Canada Energy in 2004 as its senior manager of stakeholder engagement and major projects communications. In 2009, she joined CAPP.

At CAPP, Annesley says she advocated and communicated on a wide variety of topics, including technical issues related to oil and gas production.

“But I also communicated and advocated for things like climate change policy and carbon pricing, and Indigenous participation in resource projects,” she says.

During her time at CAPP, energy trade magazines frequently profiled Annesley. Her communication style was blunt, descriptive and created narratives about “us” and “them.”

“It became apparent in 2009 that a negotiated or constructive solution wasn’t the outcome that environmental groups wanted,” she said in a 2013 story in the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum Magazine.

“They wanted to have a broad public campaign against the oil sands in an effort to shut them down. The industry was slow to understand what kind of scenario was playing out, and this in this particular drama, it was going to be cast as the villain.”

To fend off the vocal opposition, CAPP launched a multi-million-dollar, industry-funded campaign that included billboards, television ads, and print, radio and web.

The purpose of the campaign was to demonstrate the benefits of the oil sands to Canadians.

A low-key offensive in favour of fossil fuels

By this point, Annesley had already had plenty of experience coordinating advertising meant to convince that public that fossil fuels were good for the economy and environmentally benign.
Except that it didn’t always work that way.

In 2008, while Annesley was still at Shell, Fort McMurray Today reported that the U.K. Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) called an ad from Royal Dutch Shell ambiguous and misleading over the use of its word “sustainable.”

The fuss occurred over a print ad in the British Financial Times—referring to the Alberta tar sands and expansion of its operations in Texas—which caught the attention of the WWF's U.K. office. They filed a complaint.

The ASA advised Shell in the future to contact the Committee of Advertising Practice for guidance before placing future print ads.

Annesley told Fort McMurray Today, “We accept the adjudication of the ASA.”

In 2010, Alberta Oil Magazine published a story on the “low-key offensive” that Annesley, now at CAPP as its Vice-President of Public Affairs, and then Alberta Energy Minister Ron Liepert were leading. The story was headlined, “The quiet fight for Alberta’s environmental record.”

In truth, it was anything but quiet.

That advertising push coincided with a Leger Marketing poll that showed Canadians lagging behind Albertans when weighing the economic benefits of the tar sands against the environment.

The poll offered words that came to mind when thinking of the tar sands. On words such as “dirty,” “dangerous,” “wasteful” and “environmental disaster,” Canadians overall polled higher than Albertans. The opposite was true for economic words.

Clearly, Big Oil had run into an image problem.

Talking about the campaigns environmental groups were leading against the industry, Annesley told the magazine: “Canadians are amazingly practical. They know when they’re being treated like mushrooms. They know when they’re being fed rubbish. They use their common sense when they encounter wild claims.”

Liepert backed her up: “The best approach is not necessarily in-your-face,” he said. “Some of the stuff [in eco-warrior publicity] is starting to wear a little thin.”

Annesley said Robert Redford's film on the tar sands had little grounding in reality

But it wasn’t just “rubbish,” “wild claims,” and “eco-warrior publicity,” dogging the tar sands.

In August 2010, environmental journalist and author Andrew Nikiforuk wrote about a Proceedings of of the National Academy of Sciences study that found pollution from the tar sands industry “released a highly toxic brew of heavy metals into northern waterways.”

A few weeks later, Nikiforuk published another story, this time about fish with abnormalities found downstream from the tar sands operation. The fish had been hauled up in fishing nets from Lake Athabasca and the delta over a two-year period and included different species with tumours and lesions, among other things.

An Alberta humour website, The Lapine, published a satirical post on the stories about a red herring caught downstream from the tar sands. The post included a made-up quote from Annesley, telling media that “fish from lakes and rivers near the oil sands are delicious and are regularly tested, pointing out that the lab technicians ‘cook ‘em up in crushed Ritz crackers and eat ‘em afterwards.’”

Undeterred, Annesley kept up the offensive against anyone opposing fossil fuels.

In 2013, she appeared on the Sun News Network, talking about how she’d just returned from Washington, D.C. There, she met with some of the oil companies and the American Petroleum Institute where they strategized on how they could “mobilize more people on the ground” to show U.S. President Barack Obama that Keystone XL should be approved.

“Over the next couple of months we’re going to see a lot of noise coming out this group,” she told the broadcaster.

That same year, Annesley published a guest blog on TransCanada’s website. In it, she took Hollywood icon Robert Redford to task for a film he’d made on the tar sands. Annesley said the film had little grounding in reality, adding: “In fact, it makes a number of false claims in a script whose only outstanding quality is a lack of facts.”

In early 2014, the Pembina Institute issued a report saying the amount of crude necessary to fill the Energy East line would result in 34 million more tonnes annually of carbon dioxide emissions.

In The Globe and Mail, Annesley said the report was written with a “foregone conclusion in mind,” and called it “inconsistent with that of a credible research organization,” as well as “biased and flawed.”

Later that same year, she called out Leonard DiCaprio after the actor posted a video calling for carbon to stay in the ground. Annesley pointed out that during the summer DiCaprio partied on a super-yacht called the Topaz and reportedly flew in 30 guests for the occasion. “Yet he says, ‘we must fight to keep this carbon in the ground,’” Annesley mocked.

That didn’t stop Annesley from previously going on her own boating adventure. In 2013 Annesley was a featured speaker on Ezra Levant’s Freedom Cruise. The then-Sun News Network personality hosted a week-long Alaskan cruise out of Vancouver on Holland America’s mid-sized luxury liner, the ms Zuiderdam.

Accompanying Annesley as speakers on the cruise were Alberta Wildrose Party leader, Danielle Smith, former Harper cabinet minister Monte Solberg and noted climate skeptics Patrick Moore and John Lott, Press Progress reported in early December.
The MS Zuiderham, the ship Ezra Levant used for the Freedom Cruise. (Image Courtesy of Holland America)

CAPP worked with the federal government around tar sands advocacy

The FEC's Bennett describes Annesley’s role as the gate-keeper who decides who gets access to the minister, and that concerns him.

“We know that from documents that were obtained over the last nine years the Ministry of Natural Resources has worked closely with CAPP to create propaganda campaigns to convince not only Canadians, but Americans that we should stake our future on oil.”

Bennett’s referring to a series of documents investigative journalist Mike De Souza unearthed in 2011 detailing how in a 2010 meeting, CAPP joined with the federal government to work out a strategy to “turn up the volume” and get “the right attitude” on tar sands advocacy.

De Souza wrote: “Natural Resources Canada says a powerful oil and gas industry lobby group was responsible for organizing a key meeting and some controversial messaging in partnership with government, to polish the image of Alberta’s oil sands industry.”

That meeting involved senior federal and Alberta government officials and CEOs from oil and gas companies, De Souza detailed.

Back in Ottawa, Annesley says the department’s mandate is very clear, and includes the modernizing of the National Energy Board and meaningful participation from Indigenous people from across Canada in resource projects.

“Those are things that Canadians can judge us on, including those whose primary lens is environment,” Annesley says.

She points to Environment Canada, noting that department has a strong team as well.

“People should look at the broader team. Look at me, for sure. But also look at the broader team that this government has attracted and then finally to really judge us on our performance.”

The universe in balance?

It remains to be seen how much clout Annesley will carry in the minister’s office. Warren Kinsella, a former adviser to former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, worked as a Chief of Staff in more than half-a-dozen federal ministries and crown corporations.

According to Kinsella, the job essentially consists of keeping the minister out of trouble and advancing his or her agenda and that of the government’s. As to the amount of influence a chief of staff might have, it can vary.

​“You need somebody who knows the industry. You need somebody who is going to be able to receive people from the industry and is not going to be seen as tilting against them right from the get-go,” Kinsella says.

For those who are concerned about Annesley’s background, Kinsella points out that the Chief of Staff for Catherine McKenna, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, is a former Director of the Pembina Institute. “So the universe balances out.”

Not everyone is so sure. Fenton of 350.org says the government is already on the verge of breaking its biggest promise from the campaign trail related to environmental reviews and regulations by allowing Energy East and Kinder Morgan to move forward following existing processes.

“I think the appointment of Janet Annesley is another piece where it seems like they’re already capitulating to that way of thinking, that the interest of big polluters is ahead of the people.”

CyberSmokeBlog to these Canadians: "Please shut the .... up!"

John Doyle: The top 10 most irritating Canadians of 2015 (Television - related)
Monday, December 14, 2015


CBC Television host Amanda Lang is shown in an August 2014 promotional photo in August 2014 promotional photo for the show, "The exchange with Amanda Land." (David Donnelly/The Canadian Press)

My fellow Canadians, I write to you at the most auspicious time of the year. When lists are made.

Now, there are certain parties who scorn lists. Those people wear very skinny jeans, order “flat white” at the coffee shop and think that having a beard (facial hair, not a person who carries out a transaction for someone else in order to conceal the other’s identity) is having a stance on life itself. They can go chew on their beards. Lists are important.

The most fraught list is the one that tackles the most absurd people: the preposterous, the boastful, the deluded and the foolish. Those who take the cake. The irritating.

The matter of determining the top most-irritating Canadians on TV and in the TV-related arena is vital. At this most auspicious time of the year, we are often given to declaring, “Enough already!” And we are entitled. Irritation flares up often when you watch TV and we all watch TV.

The year 2015 has been astounding. When it opened, Our Glorious Leader (OGL) was hard-nosing his way as usual. As it ends, we live in a magic kingdom, ruled by Justin the Good (JtG), who sprinkles goodness like fairy dust.

In compiling this list, my fellow Canadians, your many e-mails of snark and dissatisfaction have been taken into account. Please note, however, that each year brings a new batch of those who take the cake.

So then, after due consideration, this column unveils the Top 10 Most Irritating Canadians 2015 (TV-related).

1. Amanda Lang

First, in January, Lang had a long-winded defence against allegations of compromised reporting and interviewing. It was aimed at what she calls “the malevolent.” Eventually, the CBC Ombudsman decided, “CBC policy was violated in the case of Ms. Lang’s involvement in the coverage of RBC.” And eventually Lang went away to join Bloomberg TV Canada. Many, many months after she should have resigned from CBC. It was the umbrage and haughtiness that was galling. That makes her No. 1 on this list.

2. Tie Domi

For more than two years, Domi has been telling TV viewers to “stand up” to the big phone and cable companies, on behalf of Comwave. We get it. Yes, we get it. He’s little and he stood up to the big guys in the National Hockey League. Point taken. We’ve been hit so hard with the same sloganeering, it’s getting to be like a concussion.

3. The Belairdirect guy

The idiot in the suit of clanking armour. “Contact us for a quote,” he says. Here’s a quote you can use: “This commercial makes Belairdirect look ridiculous.”

4. The penguins on the CIBC mortgage advice commercial

Hello? Penguins have a good name. Everybody thinks penguins are adorable critters. Now, because of this irritating nonsense, we see them as cantankerous curmudgeons, squawking complaints about banks. It’s a disgrace to nature and the noble penguin. How Julia from CIBC can stand them is beyond me.

5. Former immigration minister Chris Alexander

An exchange between Rosemary Barton and Alexander on CBC News Network’s Power & Politics helped cost the Conservatives an election, and little wonder. His venom-filled defence of the Conservatives’ inaction on the Syrian refugee crisis was beyond cringe-inducing. After the election, a defeated Alexander was interviewed by Global News and was still venomous: “We’re still the party that sees reality as it is, doesn’t want to go on some hippy-trippy jaunt down memory lane and put marijuana in the windows of every store,” he said. As non-gracious in defeat as you’d expect.

6. Brad “Brad” Smith, host of Chopped Canada

The dullest hunk of manhood in Canada has moved on from being the Bachelor Canada. He is the dull host of Chopped Canada on the Food Network, a show that is not supposed to put you to sleep, but it does now. “I’m beyond thrilled to be joining Chopped Canada and to work alongside such an esteemed roster of celebrity chefs,” he announced. “I’m an avid viewer of Food Network and I’m excited to take my career to new heights.” You are, sunshine, you are.

7. Chrystia Freeland

The first most-irritating person to emerge from the government of Justin the Good, Freeland was irritating with her stunt of crashing a Toronto men’s club where Conservative finance minister Joe Oliver was supposed to speak. The engagement had been cancelled, but Freeland crashed it anyway, harrumphing like nobody’s business. Next, you could not miss her at the new government’s swearing-in, with the red dress. Since then, it has been one red dress after another. Possibly it’s the same one, which will need to be surgically removed. And her appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher was a dud, an exercise in more preening, again in a red dress. And no, that’s not sexist. Freeland worked at the very top in media for years and I can assure you there are few people as lacking in the common touch as her. (And I’d know; full disclosure, she was Deputy Editor of the Globe and Mail at one point.)

8. The government of Nova Scotia

Way to kill a film and TV industry. A national disgrace. The slashing of tax credits has eliminated an important cultural achievement – placing a Maritime and Atlantic Canada culture at the centre of the national psyche. Now, actor Jonathan Torrens is offering to fly Nova Scotia film workers forced to move away because of industry cuts home for Christmas, using his Air Canada points. Now that is the real Nova Scotia spirit.

9. The Bell Media bosses

Big profit announcement followed by hundreds of layoffs.

10. The guy in the Wal-Mart steak commercial

You know the one – the guy who shouts at his missus about the steak, “Get two more. No, three. And I love you.” That guy needs to meet up with Brad “Brad” Smith of Chopped Canada for a celebration of male dullness.

Follow John Doyle on Twitter: @MisterJohnDoyle