May 9 – Scalp ’em ! : The Szpinner

Use of indigenous names, a no no ? Doug Ford, Ring of Fire, another no no. Rotzy’s definitely on a rant, though a clear and logical one.

Readers Write
These are from an oldster type person who still retains a sense of humour….check ’em out! *Who knew that the hardest part of being an adult is figuring out WHAT to cook for dinner every single night for the rest of your entire life until you die?! (*well, ain’t THAT the truth?) **Because of COVID, for the first time since 1945 the National Spelling Bee is cancil….cancul….cansel….OK….OK….it’s been called off! Thanks folks….and keep ’em coming.

Rotzy Went Into A Semi-Rant….
….in this space last week….altho it may not have been EXACTLY in THIS space….but close enough, you know what I’m sayin’? Talking about Cda’s involvement in Putin’s War vs The Ukraine. Or, more accurately, Cda’s LACK of involvement in it. More on that in a minute, but there’s this ‘thing’ that’s being omitted from any and all news reports, ‘breaking and otherwise’….or maybe it’s just me? The lists of wounded and dead from Ukraine are constant/non-stop….DAILY (*see below). Yet I NEVER hear a tally of Russian casualities….wounded and dead. OK, OK…..I shan’t say ‘never’, but I can say for a month or more….and 10,000 fewer Ruskies seems to ring a bell. Anybody help me with this ‘thing’? I guess I coulda Googled*tm it up but I was busy ‘Googling’tm the Cdn Ministry of Defence, following Min. Anita Anand’s ‘big’ announcement I picked up on Zoomer 740 News at 5:00 this ayem! (*if you haven’t heard this you may wish to sit down) Min. Anand is sending/has sent 12 RCMP Officers….TWELVE!….to the Ukraine to help investigate a growing/out of control number of female civilian rapes by Russian soldiers…..to see if they qualify as ‘war hate crimes’. Or something close to that. Well it says here Putin’s run into an ‘enemy’ a LOT tougher/more committed than he ever imagined, hence he’s changed his ‘tactics’ and made it ‘open season’ on the general population….male or female….and ‘relaxed the rules of battle’ on his young male soldiers, IF there ever were any in the first place. Rules. Anyway, Cda’s response to The Ukraine’s most recent pleas for HELP! results in a DOZEN police officers heading off to war….sort of, altho I know not if they’re on horseback and sporting the famous red tunics and hats. Well, I don’t know Min. Anan well/at all, but when I heard her message, let’s just say she might be better suited in another Ministry…..maybe Tourism? Ahh, never mind. But FYI, did you know that 24,000 people work for the Min Of Defence!…..twenty-four thousand!!….and that’s not counting ANY of the armed forces…army/navy/airforce/coastguard/rangers, you-name-it. And we send these desperate/hanging-on-by-a-thread people 12 ‘Sgt Preston’ wannabe’s. Tell you what….forget Min. Anita….this thing’s got Trudeau written all over it. One more note on the Ministry of Defence …..their Budget for 2020 was $21.16 Billion, OK? A whole lot of people would have you believe/tell you flat out that THAT amount is THE most expensive Ministry. It’s NOT!….Rotzy’s not about to get into a major squirting contest here, so go check it out. AND in truth it’s WAY below where it needs to be….especially in the 2000’s. Not a new problem, in fact Papa Trudeau encouraged a ‘cheap MND’. But, 12 Mounties? Imagine. Pierre would love it.

Stuff….
Tyson The Cart Guy (not his real name), my main sports info guy over at Zehr’s, gives me the TV rundown for games (MLB/NHL/NBA) each night, and Miz. Jo is always on top of the Jays games, so last Thurs aft he said ‘Jays at Cleveland at 7:00PM’……’cool, thanks, Ty’. Miz Jo had the game on and I landed after supper. Took a while, at first I’m wondering if Miz Jo had the right channel on as I said (to myself) (‘Hey Toad….WTF goes? Where are the Indians? The Cleveland Guardians? Really?! Toad….you must have drifted off. Where in **** did they scoop those ugly/beer-league sweaters’? Then it clicked in….aha…..another one bites the dust. Just like Washington’s NFL Team, the ‘Once Upon A Time Redskins’ (*ooops….’bad word’….see below). S–t, I guess Atlanta’s next. Oh well, I guess somebody, somewhere in Cleveland is pleased, and that’s cool. Hey, last Thurs nite it didn’t matter….dumb name and bad outfits aside, they thumped the Blue Jays pretty good.

Hey again….speaking of ‘name changes’, stick with me on this, OK?….it has nothing to do with aboriginality. What if you had been borne a bird? Like, a Gray Jay! Then about four decades ago along comes this upstart MLB team in T.O…..and somebody names them the Blue Jays! I mean would you not feel rather (pick one); left out/sad/mad/glad/made fun of/wanting ‘same species reimbursement’/a split in TV revenues/a free corporate box. Or a name change to The Gray Jays??!! Now you’re talking right, ‘Lefty’….hell, I’d go with Gray Jays, thumbs down!….we had scads of them up north, in Nakina and out at camp. Their blue cousins are nicely coloured, I’ll give ’em that much…..but the GRAYS?! They’re bigger, smarter, surely more trainable…..AND if you didn’t know this….they are also known as the CANADA JAY! Well Sir/M’am, if that isn’t some P/R firm’s marketing dream come true, I don’t know what is??!! They’ve openly been trying to sell the Blue Jays as ‘Canada’s Team’ for some tyme now….. so…. SO…. well….duh!…. just think about it….’The Canada Jays’! From Vancouver, B.C. to Whale Cove, Baffin Island to Gander, Nfld/Labrador. It would catch on immediately and I betcha even Torontonians would like it! Certainly much more than former ‘Indians’ fans(*see above* if this word ‘offends’ anyone, that is the problem of the reader) in Cleveland are enjoying being called the ‘Guardians’.(*note* Cleveland is sometymes referred to as ‘the mistake by the lake’. Bingo. So, what about Atlanta Braves (*ooops)?

More Stuff
‘Breaking news’ dept? Hardly. Premier Ford’s campaign bus was in SS Marie yesterday (Fri 7th) trying to get their candidate elected by hanging their PC hat on The Ring Of Fire….if you don’t know/remember it, go Google*tm it. The RoF, with the ‘290-mile all-season road, record-setting metal deposits, ya-da, ya-da, yoo. Look Doug….this news was ‘breaking’ about 22 years ago as Rotzy recalls. Lotsa ‘yays’….but more ‘nays’ than you can shake a stick….or a stake, for that matter….at. Mostly NIMBY (*Google it) stuff. By the bye, a new potential malcontent surfaced recently….the Hudson Bay Lowlands Peat! This could be a REAL bad setback….not about $$ this tyme, but all about carbon dioxide and climate control. And forget your all-season road! as RAIL is the ONLY way to move the material. Hey…..forget the whole thing! Jeez! Around 15 years ago yours truly swore ”I’d never write another word on that —-ing ‘white elephant’ again”. Hey….go for it Dougie! You da man!’ Nuff said, Rotzy….settle down olde guy….’twas just a little slip of the memory.