Worn-out Gazans fear war

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya has denounced Israel's offensive in Gaza as an attempt to bring down the Hamas-led government.
In his first public address since Israel's military campaign began, Mr Haniya said Hamas would not change its policies.

Meanwhile in the streets the citizens are preparing for war.

Landmark Decision of the Day |US Guantanamo tribunals 'illegal'

The US Supreme Court has ruled that the Bush administration does not have the authority to try terrorism suspects by military tribunal.

Justices upheld the challenge by Osama Bin Laden's ex-driver to his trial at Guantanamo, saying the proceedings violated Geneva Conventions.

The ruling is seen as a major blow to President George W Bush - but it does not order the closure of Guantanamo. In the short-term at least, the prisoners remain in legal limbo.

Here's Eco-Leadership!Japan to require ethanol cars by 2030

Japan plans to fight global warming and surging oil prices by requiring that all vehicles on the road be able to run on an environment-friendly mix of ethanol and regular gasoline by 2030, an official said Thursday.

The new policy, adopted by the Environment Ministry this month, will require all new cars to be able to run on a blend of 10 per cent ethanol, an alcohol fuel often made from corn or sugar, and 90 per cent gasoline, starting in 2010, said Takeshi Sekiya, an official at the ministry's global warming division.

Now if only they can legislate the other 90% (to what I don't know).

Curses! McCabe back in Blue and White

John Ferguson, vice-president and general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs (and now my No. 1 GM to be fired), announced today that the club has signed defenceman Bryan McCabe to a five-year contract. In keeping with club policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed. McCabe would have become an unrestricted free agent July 1.

What a disaster. It looked so hopeful for a while.

Israel seizes Hamas legislators

Israeli troops have detained eight Palestinian ministers and dozens of officials from the ruling Hamas group in raids across the West Bank.

Sixty-four MPs and officials were seized, amid Israeli efforts to secure freedom for a captured soldier in Gaza.

Israel warns of "extreme action"

Israel's prime minister has warned of 'extreme action' to free a soldier captured by Palestinian militants.

Witnesses reported an air strike on a militant training camp in Gaza, after planes bombed a power station and three bridges overnight.

Tanks also moved into the southern Gaza Strip, in the first big incursion since the Israeli withdrawal last year. Among the politicians, this latest development might be the catalyst for the establishment of a Palestinian government of national unity.

Foriegn donors have established three tests that the Hamas government must pass before the money tap is turned on again - recognising Israel, giving up violence and accepting past agreements. The current Palestinian deal falls well short of that.

World Cup 2006 | Spain 1 - 3 France

France struck twice in the last 10 minutes to see off Spain and set up a quarter-final meeting with Brazil.

Spain went ahead through David Villa's superbly struck penalty after Lilian Thuram rashly fouled Ibanez Pablo.

France soon equalised when Frank Ribery rounded Iker Casillas after he was found by Patrick Vieira's clever pass.

With seven minutes to go Vieira powered in a header and with Spain pushing forward Zinedine Zidane broke clear for a solo effort in stoppage time.

Guess this serves me right for writing off the French so offhandedly.

I know my Bothers would agree...

...that a Gift Certicate from Lululemon so I could buy some pants would be a nice birthday idea. They could call the Toronto Lululemon location to get it, so I can look fabulous while checking my karma.

On the France v Spain Match

Weekend Report.

This past weekend started with a bang on Friday with Sebastian's stag (he's married next month). Excellent food, plenty of beverages and ... !edited for my own safety!

Saturday I headed to a workout with Humberto (a brave move given the previous evening), caught the Argentina match (Mexico gave them a game!) and into the evening we headed to Lee's for dinner. The meal was excellent and I recommend it to anyone.

Sunday I was of course watching the England match, arriving at Scallywag's around 9:30. I am tired of having people egg me on about the England game and their quality of play and so will only go to say that I'm looking forward to their appearance in the next round. After the match I headed to my yoga class, which went surprisingly well (meaning that I didn't embarass myself and was very relaxing).

Unfortunately this relaxed mindset didn't last. The afternoon Portugal-Netherlands match was a mess of cards, and so England will face a side without as many as three key starters.

Canada sells its mineral wealth

U.S. copper miner Phelps Dodge Corp. said Monday it plans to buy Canada's Inco Ltd. and Falconbridge Ltd. for at least $48-billion (U.S.), creating the world's largest nickel producer and the largest publicly traded copper producer.

The first step of the transaction would see the U.S. company buying as much as $3-billion in debt from Inco to help the Canadian nickel miner buy Falconbridge. Phelps Dodge would then pay about $40-billion for the combined Inco and Falconbridge.

Gaza on the Brink.

Israeli papers say yesterday's deadly raid by Palestinian militants which left two Israeli soldiers dead and another feared abducted raises the possibility of an all-out conflict in the Gaza Strip, just one year after Israel's pullout.

While some Palestinian and Arab commentators say the targeting of troops was a legitimate response to Israeli actions, others urge both sides to step back from further escalation and a new cycle of bloodshed.

Israel's prime minister has promised prolonged and extensive military action to free the Israeli soldier missing and presumed held captive.

Cry Baby Video

Very funny. Reminds me of a couple people I know.

On "Lord of War"

I really should have know better than to expect something from a movie where Nicholas Cage is cast (I'm still waiting for my "Con Air" and "Face/Off" letters of apology), but I had enjoyed Gattaca and The Truman Show and so I was hoping that Andrew Niccol's "Lord of War" would be a decent flick. It wasn't. Took ages to get to where it was going. What a disappointment.

World Cup News -Ghana, Italy through

Group E, which played today, was the group to watch in the World Cup as the combined results had the potential to change the rankings significantly. In the end, that was not to be.

Ghana clinched a place in the last 16 with a win over the US. Italy won convincingly to finish top of Group E and eliminate the Czech Republic from the World Cup. (I had hopes for the Czechs)

Later today are the games of Group F. Its hard to imagine that Japan will slip by Brazil, but Croatia might make it if they can beat the Australians...

I'm sure my brothers will agree

That this would make a nice birthday present!

CBC to return to roots?

A parliamentary committee will release today a sweeping report on the Canadian media industry that will call for tougher ownership restrictions, a new regulatory framework for acquisitions, and a new road map for the CBC.

One government source said the report will call for the CBC, the television arm in particular, to return to its roots as a commercial-free operation that emphasizes content not being offered by the private sector. “If anything, CBC Radio is an example for CBC TV.”

On the Cup final

Edmonton lost Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals to Carolina by a score of 3-1.

In many important ways, the Stanley Cup final highlighted the two best things about the game - speed and skill.

Not that I watched THAT much of it. That said, a good product this year. Despite my losing my pool. And despite the fact that I still think Bettman forever ruined the game.

Sweden 2-2 England

England will play Ecuador in the last 16 of the World Cup after securing a draw with Sweden to top Group B.

The result was marred by a knee injury to striker Michael Owen, who was stretchered off in the first minute. Some horribly inept second-half defending means the question marks remain for the England side.

Sweden v England

Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen will start up front together for England against Sweden, as expected in todays final Group B matchup. This game will decide who faces Germany (the loser) or Ecuador (the winner).

Steven Gerrard, who is one booking away from a ban, is taken out of the team with Owen Hargreaves replacing him.

Guité sentenced to 3+ years in prison

Former bureaucrat Chuck Guité was sentenced Monday to 42 months in prison after being found guilty of all counts of fraud in the wake of the federal sponsorship scandal.

The Crown had sought a sentence of between three to four years. Prosecutor Jacques Dagenais told a Montreal court that Mr. Guité's power and position of trust meant he deserved the harshest sentence to date of the three players convicted in the federal scandal.

Mr. Guité was found guilty earlier this month of five counts of fraud.

Canadian Researchers unlock Huntington's Secrets

Researchers have unlocked the molecular secret that eliminates the symptoms of Huntington's disease in mice, a landmark discovery that is offering new hope for preventing the devastating effects of the disorder in humans.

A team of scientists from the University of British Columbia have discovered that by preventing the cutting, of a protein responsible for Huntington's in genetically altered mice, the symptoms of the disease do not develop and the animals exhibit normal brain function.

On the England Match, X-Men 3

Yesterday's England v Trinidad and Tobago match was pretty painful -- England won 2-0, but not in a dominant fashion and showed little cohesion as a side. Crouch and Gerrard scored, so that is a plus for the Reds although Crouch was underwhelming to say the least.

Karina was out with friends last night so I decided to catch a flick. I wanted to go see Nacho Libre, but apparently that's only opening today. Instead I went to see X-Men 3. I had enjoyed the first two films in the series, but on reflection probably could have gotten away with renting this one -- the big screen didn't do anything for it particularly.

The emergence of an urban world

The world is fast approaching the point where the majority of the human population will be found in urban areas.

Somewhere, sometime in 2007, someone migrating from their rural home to begin a new life in a town or city will tip the global rural/urban balance, the UN estimates.

That other sporting event...

In case you had forgotten (I pretty much had) Canada's Edmonton Oilers are playing in that big hockey thang... oh yes, the Stanley Cup final.

The Oilers were down 3 games to 1 but it seems that they are still managing on life-support as they won 4-3 in overtime tonight. I didn't watch the game, but have reviewed the scoreline!

In other hockey news, I have been told that Bryan McCabe may in fact not be re-signing for the Leafs. Prehaps I should correct the typos in my Trade McCabe page!

Moving Day; Working Out is hard to do

I've moved desks today - I'm in a new pod away from the programmers and techs and instead with the admin/management group. I am now completely surrounded by people and senior people at that. On the plus side, there's a lot more light - natural and artificial - where I'm sitting now. On the negative side, I may not be able to laugh aloud at myself anymore and it's a long haul to the kitchen (essentially I walk through the entire company). Cameron will apparently be sitting nearby when he arrives next month.

Yesterday's boxing class was a bit of a physical disaster for me as a combination of new exercises, dehydration and the exertion of rugby the night before had me pretty beat. In fact, I had a nap when I got home. I have a break tonight before class with Humberto tomorrow, boot camp Friday, Humberto again on Saturday and then possibly yoga Sunday.

England's match against Trinidad is tomorrow and in all likelihood I'll have to live vicariously through the reports of my coworkers -- it doesn't look too good when the new guy vanishes for a couple hours or sits at his desk hooked into a video feed. It will be somewhat interesting to see if Rooney plays -- in my option, it's just not necessary to rush him.

Whaling nations set for majority

Pro-whaling nations look set to command a majority of the votes when the International Whaling Commission (IWC) annual meeting begins on Friday.

Several countries which appear likely to vote with the pro-whaling bloc have joined the body in recent weeks.

A pro-whaling majority could lead to the scrapping of conservation and welfare programmes, though not a return to full-scale commercial whaling. !sigh!

On the Commute in Today...

... Karina and I saw a unicyclist. He was heading towards a hill. I wonder how that worked out for him.

U.S. cows mad in a different way

Two cases of mad cow disease in Texas and Alabama seem to have resulted from a mysterious strain that could appear spontaneously in cattle, researchers say.

Government officials, however, were downplaying differences between the two U.S. cases and the mad cow epidemic that has led to the slaughter of thousands of cattle in Britain since the 1980s.

On the Weekend.

A fairly busy time this past weekend. I split my time on Saturday between the England match (they won), brunch with Sue and Graham, a tour of a wedding hall and a drive to Hamilton for a great BBQ (almost running out of gas in the process). Sunday included a drive to Caledon to visit the folks, Neal and Sarah.

I couldn't find my pump last night, so I'm headed to our first night of rugby silly buggers tonight with an uninflated ball.

Sue Shipton said she would visit this blog if her name was to be mentioned. There you go Sue - you're mentioned twice!

Jobless rate nears 32-year low

The Canadian economy added a stunning 96,700 net jobs in May - matching a record high -driving the unemployment rate to its lowest level since December, 1974.

The rate unexpectedly tumbled to 6.1 per cent from 6.4 per cent as a jump in full-time jobs outweighed a drop in part-time positions, Statistics Canada said Friday.

The strong numbers took economists by surprise and sent the Canadian dollar higher. They expected the rate to hold steady, with only 20,000 new jobs created in the month.

Radiohead Tonight - What a Show!

Just back from the Radiohead show - and what a show! They mixed some new material with old favourites. "You and Whose Army?" was a massive favourite along with several other songs from Kid A and Amnesiac. I'll post more when less tired.

Here's the Radiohead show review from eye - they caught the show the night before.

Canadian Terrorist Arrests

An event that is rattling the very fabric of the country has been the top story in Canada the past few days. Last week, police raided 12 locations in the Toronto area to arrest members of what was described as a "homegrown terrorist cell".

It would appear that Muslim extremists planned to storm the House of Commons, take politicians hostage and behead Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Their objective would have been to demand the withdrawal of Canadian troops from Afghanistan, as well call for the release of Muslim political prisoners.

Watch the bouncing ball | US Senate blocks gay marriage ban

The US Senate has blocked a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage proposed by President Bush.

President George W Bush had backed the ban, saying marriage between a man and a woman was the most fundamental institution of civilization. (?!!)

But Democrats accuse Mr Bush of cynically promoting an issue which appeared to have little chance of Congressional approval to appeal to the Republicans' conservative base ahead of November's mid-term elections.

Tomorrow - Radiohead; New VP of Marketing

Only one day until the Radiohead show -- I'm very excited! The Hummingbird Center is going to be an excellent venue. I'll post a review on Friday.

In the end I did meet my new boss yesterday - he's an old marketing hand (Coke, Monsanto! NutraSweet) that was on the Canadian Olympic Basketball team back in '76 and attended Duke. He started agency work in '80. Be interesting to see what leadership he can provide.

As mentioned Karina is away in Ireland until tomorrow -- I can't say that I've been able to get up to too much trouble while she's been gone, maybe try harder tonight.

Oops! Missed Him.

Well the new VP of Marketing came to the office today - and I missed him as I wasn't sitting at my pod. I guess all I'm left with at this point is that he's very tall.

Blogging a Storm

Karina is away in Ireland this week, so I've been mostly left to my own devices. As it turns out, the week she's to be away is one of the busiest I've had in some time. Still I missed going out for Dim Sum on the weekend.

There's now a little less than three days until the Radiohead show at the Hummingbird Centre - I can't wait (and K better be the same if she's knows what's good for her...)! Needless to say my iPod is playing 100% Radiohead in preparation. In other concert news, I today received my tickets for the July show of Solomon Burke at Massey.

Saturday was the Trinity 10 Year Reunion (yikes) and it was great to see so many familiar faces. I don't think anyone took any pictures, which is probably for the best. Many weddings these days - including my own of course.

Plugging away on my now rapidly growing list of projects and tasks at OANDA - and some news - they've hired a VP of Marketing! He's wisely scheduled a three week vacation before starting, so it will be next month before I meet him now. My current project is to get our online ad campaigns in order, but this is requiring quite a bit of site review and development. The scope of this thing just keeps growing and growing! (which is good as it's my job!)

After an unexpectedly inactive Sunday - I went swimming in the pool for all of two dives - I had a great meal and visit with the Prices. Four courses later (well five if you split the two desserts) and much damage to a bottle of wine I was strongly committed to making it out to workout today at the gym (where I was reduced to a sweaty mess).

As I dragged myself out of the gym this evening, I was given to wonder why there were so many women on the sidewalk along King St - then I realized Robert Redford was speakign at Roy Thomson Hall. Good to be the King I guess.

Wednesday is Cashin's farewell do as he's taken a job in the UK - and he starts next week! That's going be hard.

The Rapp Optical Odyssey

On Saturday my Rapp Optical saga finally came to an end when the frames for the glasses I had ordered in mid-May finally came in. Seems Fedex didn't deliver the parcel and no one followed it up.

Great product and selection, but the service left something to be desired. I wasn't too impressed when asking for a quote on some sunglasses (the frames of which I had picked out), they were only willing to waive the "special stocking charge" -- and had the ridiculous followup comment that if only I'd been in three days before, they would have had it. Yes, that's because I was waiting for you, "guy". And why didn't they just give me the damn frames they had in store if that was their practice? >argh!<

When Ad Services go Bad.

As I've been looking at a number of vendors that automatically provide ads for "publisher" websites - I have become all too aware of how these services can... well, go wrong.

This appeared on the Doonesbury Daily Dose ad rotation. And yes, that's online.

Probe into new Iraq massacre claim

The US military is investigating an incident in which 11 Iraqi civilians may have been deliberately killed by US troops.

Video footage appears to challenge the US military account of events in the town of Ishaqi in March. The US said at the time that four people died during a raid, but Iraqi police said 11 were shot by US troops.

The video evidence comes in the wake of the alleged massacre by US marines of up to 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha.

The troops are also suspected of covering up the deaths in November 2005. [Iraqi PM Response]

Crouch gets starting spot in 4-4-2?

Peter Crouch looks likely to start the World Cup as a first-choice striker alongside Michael Owen after his goal against Hungary on Tuesday night.

The Liverpool striker (and dancer!)scored as a substitute in Tuesday's 3-1 win over Hungary at Old Trafford and may be promoted to the starting line-up on Saturday, when England face Jamaica at the same venue.

"I think everyone who starts that game, or is involved in that game, will try to push for a starting place at the World Cup,'' Crouch said at an England press conference, televised by Sky Sports News.

McCabe re-signed? Argh!

The Toronto Maple Leafs have agreed to a five-year deal with defenceman and playoff choke-machine Bryan McCabe.

The deal is worth between $5.5 million US and $6 million per year, the source said Wednesday.

McCabe would have been an unrestricted free agent on July 1. According to a team spokesperson, the team has not reached an agreement with McCabe, but talks are progressing forward and a deal could happen soon. We can only pray that someone wakes up!