You knew this was bound to happen eventually. You know those rules about liquids on airplanes? Toss it out or drink it?

Well, this guy decides to chug his two pints of vodka instead of paying a fee to bring them on the plane as checked baggage.

As you might expect, this story didn’t end well, he ends up unable to stand or function. The guy potentially has alcohol poisoning and is sent to the hospital. I wonder if he ever thought about becoming too drunk to even get on the plane, assuming he was able to stand, in his grand scheme?

Makes you reconsider drinking that bottle instead of paying the fee, eh?

Ever wonder about the inspection results when eating at your favorite restaurant? Probably not; but, now that the results are easily available online - you might want to!

Simply visit the Department of Health’s website here to see the results.

Interesting places (the one’s in red) were:

• China Coast Restaurant - 1405 Mountain Road, Moncton - No soap at employee hand wash, etc…
• Mary’s Restaurant - 369 King George Highway, Miramichi - No hot water in employee washroom…
• Newcastle Car Wash & Mainway - 160 Jane Street, Miramichi - 7 Day expired food still for sale, hand sink did not have soap…
• Woolastook Park - 5171 Route 102, Upper Kingsclear

What I did like was the fact that no place in Saint John scored less then Green. I hope the restaurants will work hard to go above and beyond the bare minimum to provide good food that is also safe to eat! I also think the restaurants should be posting the last inspection report (including color coding) at the front door for everyone to see. It’s the best way to ensure the place is kept up to snuff.

UPDATE - It seems that this site is updated nearly daily.  The problem is that old reports are replaced with new ones, so those places scoring a red the other day could be green today without any of us knowing what happened.  I plan to email them asking to have a history available so we know which places have scored a yellow or red in the past and why!

This week, while randomly surfing the internet, I discovered a cool section on the Department of Transportation website.

This link will bring up a map of the province and allow you to view many different highway camera images. Check out Saint John’s camera here! The really interesting cameras are the ones in Mont Farlagne, Quisibis Hill, and Meductic. These have the option to loop the images taken all day to see how the day was!

My only complaint is that the images are only taken every twenty minutes. It would be nice to see it updated every few minutes; but, this is a great start. It would also be nice to have more cameras along typically busy sections of the highway - you know, the ones that have an accident and get backed up for 5km.

The next interesting item is that the city of Fredericton worked with Google to get their bus route information online. Now you can get driving directions and public transportation directions. It will show where you need to walk to get on the bus, the bus route, and where to walk once you get off. It also tries to project transit times!

This is my fancy example:

• Here is a map showing driving directions from one area to another.
• Here is a map showing public transportation directions to the same place.

My favorite part is where it calculates the cost of a fare based the cost to drive there. Very cool!

I’d love to see this happen in Saint John. Google Maps is a very easy to use interface. Compare it to trying to figure out the bus routes by looking at PDF documents on the Saint John Transit website.

As I logged onto Facebook last night, I noticed something strange. My news feed showed that a friend has joined a “Boycott Moosehead!!!” group. That’s right, a group that wants people to boycott our local company. Why you might ask yourself. Did the company do something terrible? No, that’s not it. The real answer is because people are angry at Andrew Oland, President of Moosehead Quebec. He was the chair of the task force that released a controversial report on post-secondary education in New Brunswick last week. So there you have it - because people disagree with the report, they want to boycotting Moosehead. Pretty stupid logic isn’t it?

Here is what the group is saying on Facebook:

“Given the argument put forth by Andrew Oland, President of Moosehead Quebec, that there is too much duplication of academic programs in New Brunswick and his desire to destroy our university, I think we should let him know, in no uncertain terms, that we think that there is too much duplication of beer in the liquor stores and that we are going to choose to drink Keith’s or Labatt’s.”

Some of the comments by it’s members:

“Despite the fact that I don’t drink but I take strong exceptions to this statement and will not let any of my friends buy Moosehead when they are with me.” - Waleed Yousaf

“This really annoys me. I’ve always made it a point to drink the local beer. I’ve even gone so far as to use it as an example of multipliers and spending in class. Remember Moosehead owns many different brands. Read the label when buying.” - Jason Childs

My response? I’ll start my own Facebook group and call it “Don’t Boycott Moosehead!!!“. Why? To show support to a company that has done nothing wrong and supports so many community groups and causes. Moosehead is Canada’s oldest independent brewery and as Canada’s two largest brewers (Labatt & Molson) are now foreign-owned, Moosehead is also Canada’s largest 100% Canadian brewery. They are a company that Saint John can be proud of!

Here is what my group is all about:

“Given the argument put forth by the Boycott Moosehead group, on Facebook, that suggests we punish one of our greatest local companies because the President of Moosehead Quebec was involved in a study that they disagree with, I think we should show these idiots, in no uncertain terms, that we support Moosehead and that we are going to choose to drink Moosehead products as much as possible.

If you have a problem with Andrew Oland, let him know, but don’t mess with a great local company that supports our city in so many events and causes!”

In less then a day, our numbers have hit over one hundred! I would like to continue building support over the next week. My hope is that people will realize the difference between a company and a person and direct their complaints to the right place. Moosehead is a local company we can be proud of. I’ll raise this glass to them!

This week, the international community has adopted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This occurs despite high-profile opposition from Canada, New Zealand, United States, and Australia. Eleven other countries abstained. The declaration was non-binding and sets out global human rights standards for indigenous people.

Before the vote, Canada’s UN ambassador, John McNee, said Canada had “significant concerns” over the declaration’s wording on provisions addressing lands and resources, as well as another article calling on states to obtain prior informed consent with indigenous groups before enacting new laws or administrative measures. Article 26 of the UN declaration states: “Indigenous peoples have the right to the lands, territories and resources which they have traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used or acquired.”

McNee said the provision is “overly broad, unclear and capable of a wide variety of interpretations” that could lead to the reopening of previously settled land claims and existing treaties.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper had earlier expressed his concerns about the language the declaration contained. “We shouldn’t vote for things on the basis of political correctness; we should actually vote on the basis of what’s in the document,” Harper said.

I agree with the decision to vote no, and I applaud the Prime Minister for saying what everyone else is thinking. There are important issues that need to be addressed here and now - issues like health care, the environment, and education. I’m tired of arguing over what happened four-hundred years ago. Issues need to be addressed today in today’s context.

This is the 21st century, and I believe that the elected governments we have today are capable of making proper decisions that are fair for everyone - not just one group of people.

This Friday, the education report that everyone has been talking about was released. The report recommends merging universities and colleges in parts of the province to create polytechnic institutions. One such merger would be between UNB-SJ and NBCC-SJ right here in Saint John.

Like most people, the first thing I thought was, “what the hell is a polytechnic institution?” Well, not really, most people are saying this is the end of the world. There are newspaper articles, letters to the editor, and facebook groups popping up left and right. However, the one thing I don’t hear anyone actually talking about is what the good ideas are in the report.

Personally, I’m not sure whether a merger would be a good thing or not. But, what I do know is that both UNB-SJ and NBCC-SJ are solid institutions on their own, and they offer students a broad range of education options. I really think the more reasonable approach would be to include more integration between the two campuses. There should be more programs at each campus that offer credits at the other one. Earning your BA degree at UNB-SJ should count towards credits when starting a program at NBCC-SJ, and vice-versa. We will be further ahead, as a province, when we work together at the local level to make sure that students can get a good education at home! We can have the best institutions in the world, but, if the students in this region can’t take the courses they want, they will leave.

I still look forward to hearing more about the proposed plan; however, no matter how good of an idea it may be - at the end of the day, the public is not behind it, and no government wanting seats in this region will push that agenda!

Marc Mayrand, Canada’s chief electoral officer, today says that veiled women will not have to show their faces at polling stations in upcoming elections, but they may be asked for sworn statements in some situations to verify their identities. He also challenged politicians who have voiced their criticism of the policy to change the Elections Act if they want more stringent identification requirements on election day.

“I invite Parliament to change the act,” Mayrand told reporters Monday at a press conference in Ottawa.

Invite? You have to be kidding me! This spring parliament brought in a new law requiring visual identification of voters. This decision by Elections Canada is nothing more then a slap in the face of the elected officials in this country.

“I have asked election personnel to invite anyone whose face is concealed to uncover it in a manner that is respectful to their beliefs,” Maynard said.

Respectful to their beliefs? Beliefs should have NOTHING to do with any decisions being made with regards to our electoral process. I don’t care what you believe or who you believe in, everyone should be treated the same when it comes to voting! Nobody should be hiding their face for any religious reasons.

All of this comes after the same issue came up in Quebec’s election in March. Quebec’s chief returning officer, Marcel Blanchet, decided it was acceptable for Muslim women to keep their faces covered at the polls. That decision was later reversed, requiring women to show their faces when they voted.  The same result should occur for this decision.

I hope that the elected officials will stand up and keep religion out of the political process!

Elections Canada has decided to allow people to vote while having their face concealed based on religious beliefs. I find this totally unacceptable. I am more then willing to allow people to practice their beliefs; however, such tolerance does not imply that our core institutions should be influenced by any religious beliefs.

The electoral system in this country is one of the greatest things we have in our society. We can not allow changes because of one person’s religion - not in our secular society. Where does this end? Who can define what is religious or not? These are not questions that the electoral system should face - it should simply lay out the rules that everybody must follow. People must show their face and provide ID if requested. This is not asking a lot; but, it does mean that people who choose to move to this country and become citizens must accept.

This country provides such great opportunities for people because of the systems we have in place. People need to accept the laws we all live by. I would not move to Syria and expect them to change because of my beliefs. Why would they? Now ask yourself - why should we? The law is meant to be fair and free from religion. We can not allow anything to jeopardize that!

Stephen Harper is standing up to this ruling, I only hope that parliament will mobilize and prevent this from taking place.

Well, this week has brought the big news that Irving Oil and Repsol plan to build a third LNG tank at Canaport here in Saint John. But that’s not all. The bigger news is that they are way ahead of schedule for building this third tank. This is because the two tanks in progress are expected to be finished in mid-2008.

I am still pissed about the LNG tax deal; however, I am supportive of this LNG project. It’s now employing hundreds of construction workers from the area for another year! Iving Oil says that there are more than 500 workers are on-site every day. About 95 per cent of them come from the Greater Saint John area and New Brunswick, officials have said.

Another cool fact is how fast the tanks are being build. The second tank was built in record time, noted Pat Darrah, executive director of the Saint John Construction Association. It took only 15 days once the substructure work was done. The world record had been 17 days, he said. “We’ve got the best per capita trained workforce in the country,” contends Darrah. They’re also contributing to the economy, each earning an average of $1,000 to $1,500 a week, he said. “The whole spinoff of 500 people working, making that kind of money, think about it; it’s just, whew!”

Mayor Norm McFarlane agrees. They’ll be shopping in stores, eating in restaurants, and buying homes, the mayor said. And having them here makes it easier for the city to attract new retail projects, such as the free-standing Starbucks retail outlet announced Thursday, he said.

Another good thing is what the city gets for the permit on the third tank - $100,000! Hopefully, these workers will gain new skills that will allow them to find work more easily. Irving Oil hopes to build a second refinery in the city, which would employee these workers well into the future. It’s just another sign that the city is really starting to pick up and move!

Well, not long after I posted the video making fun of Senator Larry Craig, the Republican Senator who plead guilty to a charge during a sex sting operation at an airport bathroom, he resigned. “I apologize for what I have caused,” Craig said. Craig was arrested June 11 in a police undercover vice operation in a men’s room at the Minneapolis airport. The arresting officer, Sgt. Dave Karsnia, said in his report that the restroom is known location for homosexual activity.

“I am not gay. I never have been gay,” he declared Tuesday in Boise, Idaho, with his wife, Suzanne, at his side. He said he had kept the incident from aides, friends and family and later pleaded guilty “in hopes of making it go away.” But pressure on the senator to step down continued to grow both inside and outside the Republican party, man of whom styles themselves as defenders of “family values.”

“It is with sadness and deep regret that I announce it is my intention to resign from the Senate effective Sept. 30,” Craig said, with his wife again at his side and Idaho Gov. C.L. (Butch) Otter standing behind him.