Making the wrong choices

By Adam McArthur

People I’ve never met make decisions every day. Wrong decisions. If we can’t stop the wrong people from making the wrong decisions, how do we win as a whole? Besides violence and childish name-calling, I’m stumped.


Orange sacks


My roommate pointed them out to me along 24 Ave. At first I thought they were being used by a nearby construction project, but upon further inspection, they seem to be an alternative to levelling the curbs to make them wheelchair friendly. Going down as one of the worst band-aid solutions since, well, band-aids I suppose, these orange sacks are filled with leaves and sand and are placed randomly against existing curbs. They don’t meet flush with the sidewalk, they are damaged and misshapen, they are not firm enough to do any good.


This decision was made by the City of Calgary. The City’s official website, which can tell you what it thinks about everything from open burning to cat control, has no mention of an orange sack program. Considering how busy 24th gets, it doesn’t seem like a good idea to count on aforementioned orange sacks to allow for easy transition between sidewalk and street. Do people using a wheelchair really want an incline to launch into traffic from? The orange sack campaign is just stupid enough to be dangerous.


I have an idea: why don’t we just put nails or glue at random spots on the sidewalk? See how wheelchair users can negotiate those puppies.


If we are going to create hazards for people, let’s not go about it half-assed. I wonder how long before someone gets hurt and the city comes up with something a little better than orange sacks?


Not "uniting the right"


The Liberal party will not lose a federal election. I know this drive just about everyone west of Thunder Bay nuts, but it’s true. Conervatives spread their vote between the Tories and the Alliance, then complain that the Liberals are doing an awful job.


In the spirit of lighting a match instead of cursing the darkness, last week representatives from each side decided to hold less-than-secretive meetings to try and find common ground. Judging from what Stephen Harper and Peter McKay, the Alliance and Progressive Conservative leaders respectively, said, it didn’t go well. They aren’t on the same page. Maybe it’s because neither man would end up as leader of the joing party. Hearing them speak, it almost sounds like they only half like the one-party idea.


That’s not leadership and they aren’t doing their followers any favours.


For the most part, I do not agree with the conservative agenda. I’d rather see hospitals than tax cuts and all that noise. If the Liberals don’t have a very real threat to be voted out of office, however, then it’s impossible to keep them honest. The conservative politicians’ decision not to squabble is not a surprise, but it won’t be an option much longer. They must unite or go the way of the Leisure, Tourism and Society program.


Icons


Maybe I missed the vote, or perhaps they are only waking me up for the important meetings, but when did we decide to make Kelso from That 70’s Show the new Jesus?


His name is everywhere. I went to church last Sunday and he handed me the cup of wine. I hate to admit I know his name, so I’m not going to use it.


Amazingly enough, Kelso has a degree in biochemical engineering from the Unversity of Iowa, which I have to imagine is an indication he’s not a complete idiot. It’s a shame he is where he is because he’s a pretty bit and his degree is all for naught.


Punk’d, Kelso’s own show, premiered Mon. Sept. 29. as the newest MTV-to-CTV crossover. He basically pulls a candid camera gag on other people who have also no talent but are famous anyway, and then runs up to them to declare that they’ve been ‘punk’d’


I was on the show once. Kelso, Fox and Blockbuster collectively punk’d me for about $4.50 a couple of years back when I rented Dude Where’s My Car?


Punk’d is not going to bring home any awards, but I’ve seen it and it’s not completely awful. Kelso may be here to stay, even if it is for the wrong reasons. This will, I predict, lead us down a slippery slope of pretty boy actors invading our lives. I don’t want to know Siffler’s real name, do you?


Pop culture might have to start having higher standards as far as who the new saviors are going to be. Do you want your children to go to school with the runner-up from American Idol on their lunchbox?


When we get the chance to make out own decisions, let’s try to make the right ones.

Leave a comment