A Soccer Shocker

   It was Germany over Brazil 7-1 in semi-final play at the World Cup. The beautiful game was played in a city who's name translates to "Beautiful Horizon", Belo Horizonte, but it was an ugly outcome for the host nation.
   In baseball or hockey, a 7-1 scoreline is embarrassing. In football (soccer), it's almost unheard of. More so, because Brazil was one of the teams favored to with the whole shebang. But then Germany came storming in wearing the red and black and notched 5 goals in the first 30 minutes of the game, and getting the other 2 in the 2nd half. In that spate of goals, Miroslav Klose became the player scoring the most goals in World Cup history, getting his 16th. Brazilian superstar Ronaldo had been the leader with 15.
   Watching Brazil implode in that game was painful, even though they're not the team I am supporting. The defense was lackluster, and the usual sharp goaltending of Julio Cesar was dull. There was one moment of redemption for Brazil, if you can call it that. They scored their only goal in the final minute of play.
   So now Germany awaits the outcome of today's semi between Netherlands and Argentina in Sunday's final. I'm almost willing to bet today's game will not be another blowout.

TTFN

That's A Lot Of Bull

   Especially when several of them are coming at you on a torrent of hooves, horns and ornery bovine. It's the annual "running of the bulls" in Pamplona, Spain where several bulls are released, and people literally dodge death avoiding them. And although this is the first day of the festival, 4 people have been gored.
   I understand why people do it. For the rush. I'll be the first to admit I'm not much of a thrill seeker, so having several 2 thousand pound ticked off mad cows stampeding in my direction is not on my bucket list.
   The festival, according to some records, goes back to 1215, and was immortalised in Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises" novel in 1926.
   It's true I like my steak on the rare side, but not so rare to be thundering down a narrow street directly at me!

TTFN

Still Watching The Flood Situation

   Even though we've had a few days of sunny, hot, drier weather, flooding is still a major concern in our area. In Saskatchewan this weekend, more than 70 communities were under local states of emergency. The provincial government will be setting up response centers around the province to help flood victims, by giving them aid they need.
   One was set up in Melville Friday after flooding last week caused major damage (see picture), while others will be set up in Yorkton, Esterhazy and other areas. The good news is the water is going down. The bad news is there's going to be a lot of damage to repair, and there's a lot of farmland under water.
   In Manitoba, Prime Minister Stephan Harper toured flood stricken areas, including Brandon, where the first crest of flood water rolled through this weekend. Luckily for that city, the water wasn't as high as it was in 2011. Another crest is due later this week, but officials expect it will be lower that the one this weekend.
   When it comes to the cost of cleaning up, in Saskatchewan, premier Brad Wall figures it could be around 360 million dollars, and he's hoping to get a 100 million advance from the Feds. On his part, the Prime Minister says aside from what's currently available for disaster relief, neither Saskatchewan or Manitoba can expect much more money from Ottawa.
   I count myself as extremely fortunate. I've been checking every day, sometimes twice, for signs of water incursion into our home. So far, we're dry.

TTFN

Happy 4th!

   A very Happy Independence Day this July 4th to all my American viewers! Have a great, and safe, long weekend!

TTFN

Shame It Fails In Practice

   Just an update on yesterday's post about the new anti-spam measures that supposedly took effect July 1st. If this is an indication, they don't work. This is just one of several spam emails I've had in just the past 2 days:

[Good Housekeeping]

Want to know what really works to get thin?

-------------------------------------------------

You probably feel guilty when you overeat. Guess what?

You don't have to feel that way.

You want to do something  but you have lack of motivation. This will give you the boost to drop 22 LB's without changing what you eat. In fact you DO NOT even have to spend time in the gym.

Oprah is a prime example - [The doctors explain how this is possible] She just melted away 17LB: 

   So at first blush, it does not seem to be effective, at least with internationally generated spam.

TTFN

Great Idea, In Theory

   In Canada, new anti-spam laws took effect yesterday, with the federal government hoping to cut back on the amount of spam people get in their in-boxes. What it meant, was businesses and organizations had to send out what amounted to a confirmation consent form to allow them to keep sending you e-mails.
   According to the feds, "The intent of the anti-spam legislation is to deter the most damaging and deceptive forms of spam that impact Canadians and Canadian businesses." And that's fine as far as it goes. But, at least so far, it doesn't go far enough. While it's true that a communication can't be sent unless implied consent is given, there's still a 3 year gap where businesses etc can get express consent from former clients and/or customers. The upside is you can now report spam.
   Looking at my in-box at work today, I've noticed spam email dealing with weight loss, personal finance scores, and 3 exact messages about marijuana approval in the U.S. None of which I want, but most of which I'll still be getting over the next 3 years. At least at first blush. And the reason is the source is off-shore, be it the States, Nigeria or China.
   It's those emails I'm looking forward to never seeing again.

TTFN

What A Mess

   That was the scene outside the hospital in Melville, Saskatchewan this morning, taken by GX94 Sports Director Benny Walchuk. The hospital had to be evacuated after a weekend of excessively heavy rain dumped up to 240 millimeters, or 9+ inches, of rain on parts of our province and Manitoba.
   The dam at the reservoir in that city has apparently held, but a helicopter is being brought in to overfly it.
   Yorkton, where I live, was hit hard as well with 110 mm of rain through the weekend. Our mayor says 50% of the homes here have had some form of water damage, either sewer back-ups or seepage. Storm drain systems across the region are overtaxed due to the rain.
   Several highways have been closed and are impassable on both sides of the boundary.
   Ironically, it was 4 years ago to the day today Yorkton was hit by major flooding after a torrential storm. Some of the measures taken after that event to prevent future flooding did work, including drainage basins, which helped mitigate flooding in several homes and businesses.
   And while we are supposed to be in for sunny, hotter weather, that too poses potential problems in the form of possible thunderstorms as the moist air gets heated.
   As for when it's going to dry out.....right now, that's a mystery. But it is going to be days, if not weeks, before things in southeast Saskatchewan and southwest Manitoba return to any semblance of normal.

TTFN