GO CANADA GO!!!!!

I am here in Ottawa for gold medal game and this town is going nuts - as is the whole country. We were here for semi final with Russia and that goes down as the best game I have ever seen! Hopefully tonight we are even better and bring home Gold #5. Let's go boys!!!!!!

The waiting is the hardest part....

Sundin unlikely to make decision Thursday





Contrary to published reports, sources close to Mats Sundin say he intends on sticking to his original plan - making a decision on where to resume his career before Christmas.

It's not likely that there will be a decision today, however, and it is possible this saga could stretch through the weekend.

The only thing the Sundin camp is certain of is that a decision will be made pre-Christmas.

Sundin, 37, finished with 32 goals and 46 assists for 78 points in 74 games last season with the Leafs, leading Toronto in scoring for the fourth straight year.

The franchise leader in goals and points, he has played 13 of his 17 NHL campaigns with the Maple Leafs, who acquired him from the Quebec Nordiques in 1994.

Sundin has 555 goals and 1,321 points in 1,305 career NHL games since he was drafted first overall by Quebec in 1989. He re-wrote Toronto's record book over his 13 seasons in blue and white, scoring 420 goals and a franchise-best 987 points.

In 83 playoff games, Sundin has scored 35 goals and 74 points, with all but four of those points coming in a Leafs uniform. The two-time second-team NHL All-Star also won a gold medal with Team Sweden at the Torino Olympics in 2006.

I could not have said this better myself...

Dion must go, former Liberal deputy PM says

Stéphane Dion is facing calls from a senior party stalwart to immediately give up his post, the latest example of waning support for the Liberal leader within his own party.

John Manley, shown in a file photo, held several cabinet positions, including Finance and Foreign Affairs. (CBC)
Former Liberal deputy prime minister John Manley said the Liberal caucus and party executive should move to choose a new leader before Christmas who can get the caucus ready for the resumption of Parliament in January.

"As a Liberal, I believe the first step for my party is to replace Stéphane Dion as leader with someone whose first job is to rebuild the Liberal party, rather than leading a coalition with the NDP," Manley said in an opinion piece in Saturday's Globe and Mail.

His comments come two days after Prime Minister Stephen Harper persuaded the Governor General to suspend Parliament and ward off, at least for the moment, the demise of his minority Conservative government.

That move came after the Liberals and NDP agreed to form a coalition headed by Dion and aimed at ousting Harper's government, which the opposition accuses of failing to propose an adequate plan to deal with the economic crisis.

Manley said the idea that the public would welcome Dion as prime minister after having rejected him during the Oct. 14 federal election "was delusional at best."

"Mr. Dion had seemed to accept responsibility for the defeat (although somewhat reluctantly), and should have left his post immediately" after the vote, wrote Manley, who is now counsel at McCarthy Tétrault LLP.

"Furthermore, in agreeing to the terms of the coalition with the NDP and the Bloc, Mr. Dion bound his successor to a controversial arrangement without even consulting any of the candidates to succeed him in the process, leaving them no option but to endorse it or break with him as party leader."

The Bloc is not an official member of the coalition, but has agreed to support it on matters of confidence.

The Liberal leadership convention is still scheduled for May. Some MPs, however, have said efforts are underway to speed up the process of finding a new chief.

Liberal MP Bob Rae, who is considered one of the frontrunners of the race to replace Dion, admitted Saturday that the current situation is becoming difficult.

"Mr Dion has already said that he's not staying on. If the party wants to move dates around or move things up, we're certainly open to that as long as what emerges is seen as a credible process and one that has a lot of integrity to it."

Rae's leadership rival, Michael Ignatieff, told the Toronto Star that "discussions are ongoing" to replace Dion before the party's leadership convention in May.

"What the party is discussing is whether there are ways in which the leadership race can be accelerated in such a way that we can present a clear alternative to the country," he was quoted as saying.

On Friday, Liberal MP Gerard Kennedy suggested the party might move up the date for changing leaders.

Dion avoided answering questions about his future as head of the party during a pro-coalition rally in Toronto Saturday.

An EKOS poll conducted Thursday night found 60 per cent of Canadians surveyed think Dion should resign as Liberal leader in light of what has happened on Parliament Hill this week.

By comparison, 37 per cent of respondents said they think Harper should step down.

In total, a random sample of 1,502 Canadians aged 18 and over responded to the telephone survey. A sample of this size provides a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

With files from the Canadian Press

Tired of Big Auto Bailout - read this from cnn.com

Hooray for Rep Gary Ackerman of NY!!!!

This hand in cap bullshit has to stop - these old economy companies can easily start with saving money by looking in house.

Big Three auto CEOs flew private jets to ask for taxpayer money


(CNN) -- Some lawmakers lashed out at the CEOs of the Big Three auto companies Wednesday for flying private jets to Washington to request taxpayer bailout money.

Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli, left, and Ford CEO Alan Mulally testify on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

"There is a delicious irony in seeing private luxury jets flying into Washington, D.C., and people coming off of them with tin cups in their hand, saying that they're going to be trimming down and streamlining their businesses," Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-New York, told the chief executive officers of Ford, Chrysler and General Motors at a hearing of the House Financial Services Committee.

"It's almost like seeing a guy show up at the soup kitchen in high hat and tuxedo. It kind of makes you a little bit suspicious."

He added, "couldn't you all have downgraded to first class or jet-pooled or something to get here? It would have at least sent a message that you do get it."

The executives -- Alan Mulally of Ford, Robert Nardelli of Chrysler and Richard Wagoner of GM -- were seeking support for a $25 billion loan package. Later Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid reversed plans to hold a test vote on the measure.
An aide told CNN that Reid decided to cancel the test vote when it became clear the measure would fall well short of the 60 votes needed. Reid did, however, make a procedural move that could allow a vote on a compromise, which several senators from auto-producing states were feverishly trying to craft.
At Wednesday's hearing, Rep. Brad Sherman, D-California, pressed the private-jet issue, asking the three CEOs to "raise their hand if they flew here commercial."

"Let the record show, no hands went up," Sherman said. "Second, I'm going to ask you to raise your hand if you are planning to sell your jet in place now and fly back commercial. Let the record show, no hands went up."

Economic Woes????

I am personally not sure where the hell this current mess is headed but I continue to see signs of even more decay and collapse, especially in the first quarter of 2009. It was bad enough to see some of the world's biggest banks and investment house collapse, but Jesus, now we are talking about GM and Chrysler going under. GM??? Now I have never been a big fan of their union workers, but this one is well beyond that group. We have lousy long range planning, weak marketing and too many brands out there. Geez ... that sounds like a hundred companies out there

But I digress. I can worry myself sick about this or I can continue to strike a great work-life balance, enjoy my wonderful life and family and all of the good things I have going. I admit I have become a fan of "The Secret" and I am focussing on the good and will be dammed if I am going to fixate on bad business news.

Let's be positive, spend and invest wisely and get through this. As I always say "This too shall pass....."

What a joke ..... should be 20 games minimum

The NHL has suspended Montreal Canadiens forward Tom Kostopoulos three games on Monday for a hit on Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Mike Van Ryn on Saturday night.

Kostopoulos knocked Van Ryn into the boards from behind in the first period of the Toronto's 6-3 win. Kostopoulos was given a major penalty for boarding and ejected from the game.

'' First and foremost, I sincerely regret the injuries suffered by

Mike Van Ryn,'' Kostopoulos said in a statement. ''This is an unfortunate turn of events. I was just trying to get in on the forecheck and get the puck. I didn't anticipate him turning and couldn't stop. I was trying to finish my check and obviously it did not end up well. I never intend on injuring another player. I feel bad. I hope he is going to be all right and resume playing as quickly as possible.''

Van Ryn suffered a concussion, a broken nose, a broken bone in his hand and a cut to his forehead. He is expected to miss a month.

The 29-year-old Kostopoulos has only had one previous suspension. He was suspended for one game in November of 2007 for going after Boston Bruins'

Mark Stuart late in a fight-filled contest in Montreal.

Kostopoulos will forfeit almost US$33,000 in salary and will miss games against Ottawa, Boston and Philadelphia.

Transformational Change

Every one in a while a transformational leader appears on the scene.

Obama is the right man for America and the world right now. This is not a matter of policy or experience per se, but rather, the ability to inspire and create a movement - the very fundamentals of superb leadership. Obama has my support as a Canadian and a citizien of the world. I hope tomorrow the US wakes up and realizes on the world stage how tarnished their reputation is.

My fingers are crossed....