This is a surprise. The New York Jets finished 10-6 and are in the AFC playoffs this weekend. Nobody expected this. Most people expected the Jets to win 0-6 games this year. While they benefited from a favorable schedule, they played well and won some tough games on the road late in the season. Coming into this season there was a rookie coach and huge question marks around quarterback and running back. Congrats to coach Mangini and the Jets for overachieving.
I remember the last time the Jets played New England in the playoffs. It was at home in 1985. I watched that game the Jets lost 26-14. This time the Jets are on the road. I doubt they can win out on the road like Pittsburgh did last year to reach the Super Bowl. I'm just glad to be in the playoffs, whatever happens.
I didn't watch much football this year. We cut back our cable package and lost TSN, so lost NFL Primetime. I used to pretty much always watch at least prime time to know what was going on and get the highlights. Without prime time I felt kind of disconnected and didn't really get into football this year. It kind of goes up and down a bit between seasons. This was a less season. Overall I'm less of a follower than I was in younger years, but I had more time for it in the past.
So go Jets, hopefully I'll be at home and able to catch the game on TV.
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Lucky 2007
I don't normally make New Year's resolutions. I haven't made one in many years, I can't remember the last time I made one (more than 10 years) or what it was. I like to think that you can make a positive change at any time. Why wait for the end of the year to change things to make your life better?
Still this year as 2006 winds down and the late 2000s are about to begin; I'm making a New Year's resolution.
My resolution is that 2007 will be a year that I Make Change. I'm not going to go into specifics. That will come out soon enough in good time. The changes will either happen if I make them happen, or not happen if I fail to make them happen. Some changes may be imposed externally, and that's OK too at this point.
I've needed change for a long time, like years. Sure I could coast along, trudge through another year of the status quo. Just like I have for the last X years. But it's time for change. This year needs to be different. The same old same old is not good enough any more.
This is the first time that I've really committed myself to changing things, instead of passively hoping for the things I want to happen on their own. Hopefully by writing them down here it will help me to overcome the intertia and get moving. Overcome the short term path of least resistance. I'll be able to check back on this a year from now to see if I actually went through with what I said here I'm going to do.
Still this year as 2006 winds down and the late 2000s are about to begin; I'm making a New Year's resolution.
My resolution is that 2007 will be a year that I Make Change. I'm not going to go into specifics. That will come out soon enough in good time. The changes will either happen if I make them happen, or not happen if I fail to make them happen. Some changes may be imposed externally, and that's OK too at this point.
I've needed change for a long time, like years. Sure I could coast along, trudge through another year of the status quo. Just like I have for the last X years. But it's time for change. This year needs to be different. The same old same old is not good enough any more.
This is the first time that I've really committed myself to changing things, instead of passively hoping for the things I want to happen on their own. Hopefully by writing them down here it will help me to overcome the intertia and get moving. Overcome the short term path of least resistance. I'll be able to check back on this a year from now to see if I actually went through with what I said here I'm going to do.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
God and Harold
Well it's December. Christmas is coming soon. My children are as always looking forward to it.
This time of year makes me think a bit about why the Lord has this fascination with the name Harold. Consider
Hark the Harold angels sing
Glory to the newborn King!
and
Our Father,
who art in heaven,
Harold be thy Name.
Something to think about I guess.
This time of year makes me think a bit about why the Lord has this fascination with the name Harold. Consider
Hark the Harold angels sing
Glory to the newborn King!
and
Our Father,
who art in heaven,
Harold be thy Name.
Something to think about I guess.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Bob Rae
I think Bob Rae has to be the most interesting Liberal leadership candidate. It's remarkable that he has a pretty good chance of winning it.
I didn't believe him at first when he entered the Liberal race. He just came across as a former NDP opportunist. But he's done a convincing and believable job describing his conversion from the NDP ideology to the more pragmatic Liberal ways.
I was in Ontario when he was premier. It was pretty bad. There was a recession and a massive defecit. Yet he continued to spend and borrow recklessly. He deserved to be turfed after one term and he was. Rae may have learned some things from the hard nosed Mike Harris, who I always thought well of. Maybe he's trying to put a human face on the common sense revolution. What was a revolution in thought for Harris is now the Canadian way.
Can Rae win? This is one of the things what makes him interesting. He can win. Rae is interesting because he is the left wing version of Stephen Harper. Like Harper, he softened his ideological stances to move enough toward the centre to form a coalition to govern.
Will Canadians believe him and give him a chance based on his NDP past and the bad track record in Ontario 1990-1995. Based on recent experience, Canadians will be willing to give a chance. It only took Harper one election to shed any lingering Reform Party labels and be accepted by Canadians as a moderate. Even in the first Harper Conservative election campaign it was hardly an issue. So given that, Canadians will be able to accept Rae when he says he's a moderate now. So if Harper can reinvent himself and get past the Reform Party history, then certainly Rae can do the same coming from the left wing to the center.
The Ontario thing can be easily dealt with considering the brutal recession he inherited when he was premier, plus he was NDP then. Most people will accept Rae if he admits that mistakes were made in Ontario, and will accept he is wiser and more experienced now. A Rae vs. Harper election would be a very interesting battle and I think very much winnable for Rae. If Harper continues to do a good job then possibly Rae could hold Harper to a weak majority and then be in position to win the next time. If Harper falters on the economy or Afghanistan then Rae could surge and have a very good chance of winning the first time.
I didn't believe him at first when he entered the Liberal race. He just came across as a former NDP opportunist. But he's done a convincing and believable job describing his conversion from the NDP ideology to the more pragmatic Liberal ways.
I was in Ontario when he was premier. It was pretty bad. There was a recession and a massive defecit. Yet he continued to spend and borrow recklessly. He deserved to be turfed after one term and he was. Rae may have learned some things from the hard nosed Mike Harris, who I always thought well of. Maybe he's trying to put a human face on the common sense revolution. What was a revolution in thought for Harris is now the Canadian way.
Can Rae win? This is one of the things what makes him interesting. He can win. Rae is interesting because he is the left wing version of Stephen Harper. Like Harper, he softened his ideological stances to move enough toward the centre to form a coalition to govern.
Will Canadians believe him and give him a chance based on his NDP past and the bad track record in Ontario 1990-1995. Based on recent experience, Canadians will be willing to give a chance. It only took Harper one election to shed any lingering Reform Party labels and be accepted by Canadians as a moderate. Even in the first Harper Conservative election campaign it was hardly an issue. So given that, Canadians will be able to accept Rae when he says he's a moderate now. So if Harper can reinvent himself and get past the Reform Party history, then certainly Rae can do the same coming from the left wing to the center.
The Ontario thing can be easily dealt with considering the brutal recession he inherited when he was premier, plus he was NDP then. Most people will accept Rae if he admits that mistakes were made in Ontario, and will accept he is wiser and more experienced now. A Rae vs. Harper election would be a very interesting battle and I think very much winnable for Rae. If Harper continues to do a good job then possibly Rae could hold Harper to a weak majority and then be in position to win the next time. If Harper falters on the economy or Afghanistan then Rae could surge and have a very good chance of winning the first time.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
The light and the myspace
So I've joined myspace. I had to join to post on some other myspace sites liked. My myspace site is at http://www.myspace.com/halpgr. Feel free to drop by and add me as a friend. Right now I'm a loser with only Tom the default friend you get for signing up. LOL.
myspace is an interesting site. It is kind of sticky, as there's stuff to explore and poke around. The user interface is, well, extremely busy. I think some in the younger crowd like it that way with links everywhere. I don't know how much time I'll spend on my site or hanging around there. But it is kind of appealing.
Update: April 2007.
I've cancelled my myspace account and switched to Facebook, which is much better. On Facebook I connect with real people that I know. On myspace it seemed I only ever heard from scammers and spammers and adult webcammers. Everyone trying to sell something. Facebook profiles look nice, and everything always loads quickly. My Facebook profile is here.
myspace is an interesting site. It is kind of sticky, as there's stuff to explore and poke around. The user interface is, well, extremely busy. I think some in the younger crowd like it that way with links everywhere. I don't know how much time I'll spend on my site or hanging around there. But it is kind of appealing.
Update: April 2007.
I've cancelled my myspace account and switched to Facebook, which is much better. On Facebook I connect with real people that I know. On myspace it seemed I only ever heard from scammers and spammers and adult webcammers. Everyone trying to sell something. Facebook profiles look nice, and everything always loads quickly. My Facebook profile is here.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Prime Minister Stephen Harper
That's something I've always enjoyed hearing. I voted for Harper and I'm glad he won. I think he's done an excellent job in his time as Prime Minister. Based on his record to date, he deserves a majority in the next federal election.
I've been a conservative for the last several years, after kind of finding it back in university. I was with the original Reform Party, so naturally I support the merged Conservative Party. It's great to see the old Reformer Harper now Prime Minister - we did it!
I remember going to see a Preston Manning speech back around the summer of 1992. It was in Halifax in the Queen Elizabeth High School auditorium. I recall there were around 100 people there. We opened the evening singing Oh Canada. Preston was greeted very enthusiastically and got a standing ovation after his talk. His speech was right on, the small c conservative line we all wanted to hear. I didn't walk up to the front afterward to try to meet him.
I don't think Harper has really been given the credit he deserves for what he has accomplished. Consider the situation Paul Martin inherited when he finally wrestled the Liberal leadership from Jean Cretien. He had a healthy majority. He had overwhelming support within his party. He had strong support and goodwill in the general public. He seemed a lock for another easy majority, if not a second one.
So given these tall odds, look what Harper accomplished. He took the Martin Liberals from a majority government, to a minority government in the first election, followed by defeat and official opposition in the conservative minority government in the next election. All in around a year and a half. Sure Paul Martin had a lot of inherited distractions from the Chretien regime, but Stephen Harpen just had his number and was the better man.
So all's well in conservative land right? Well unfortunately not quite. I'm increasingly concerned about the religious right. Based on recent US gambling legislation, they seem increasingly influential. I feel they are overly concerned with the private affairs of other people. As a libertarian, I feel their agenda is dangerous and regressive. The religious right is most active in Canada in the Conservative Party. So I need to reevaluate before the next election which party today is best aligned with my interests. It's probably still the Conservatives, but I will think about it.
I've been a conservative for the last several years, after kind of finding it back in university. I was with the original Reform Party, so naturally I support the merged Conservative Party. It's great to see the old Reformer Harper now Prime Minister - we did it!
I remember going to see a Preston Manning speech back around the summer of 1992. It was in Halifax in the Queen Elizabeth High School auditorium. I recall there were around 100 people there. We opened the evening singing Oh Canada. Preston was greeted very enthusiastically and got a standing ovation after his talk. His speech was right on, the small c conservative line we all wanted to hear. I didn't walk up to the front afterward to try to meet him.
I don't think Harper has really been given the credit he deserves for what he has accomplished. Consider the situation Paul Martin inherited when he finally wrestled the Liberal leadership from Jean Cretien. He had a healthy majority. He had overwhelming support within his party. He had strong support and goodwill in the general public. He seemed a lock for another easy majority, if not a second one.
So given these tall odds, look what Harper accomplished. He took the Martin Liberals from a majority government, to a minority government in the first election, followed by defeat and official opposition in the conservative minority government in the next election. All in around a year and a half. Sure Paul Martin had a lot of inherited distractions from the Chretien regime, but Stephen Harpen just had his number and was the better man.
So all's well in conservative land right? Well unfortunately not quite. I'm increasingly concerned about the religious right. Based on recent US gambling legislation, they seem increasingly influential. I feel they are overly concerned with the private affairs of other people. As a libertarian, I feel their agenda is dangerous and regressive. The religious right is most active in Canada in the Conservative Party. So I need to reevaluate before the next election which party today is best aligned with my interests. It's probably still the Conservatives, but I will think about it.
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