City of Ottawa - State of The Burg(h)ers

I affect not reserves, which I do not feel. 
Federalist Papers, Alexander Hamilton, No. 1

The Oracle of Ottawa has recently become more and more befuddled at the actions of Gentleman Jim the mayor and his merry band of burg(h)ers. The vulgar media coverage of the great mans latest obsession to score Ottawa its very own gambling house just boggles the ordinary mind. And his obsession that it has to be "downtown" in Ottawa, which is the federal capital of Canada, is all rather appearing  to resemble salient behavior. Yet like a dog chasing a hubcap, he just pushes on. His first light bulb of an idea, to have said new casino in the old train station, which is now known as the Ottawa Conference Center was shot down in flames by the National Capital Commission, as was the brilliant idea to build it in the new disposable building recently completed at Rideau Center.

Gentleman Jim beckons to the Lead Nugget Casino....

 It has not crossed the little hay seeds mind that any Casino in downtown Ottawa would be less than two miles away from the very posh Casino already in operation in Gatineau Quebec! The befuddled mayor fails to realize that Ottawa has been beat to the gambling dollar punch by several years by the Frenchmen. And any Casino built in Ottawa, that will certainly look like a McDonalds burger joint,  certainly won't endear the spoiled rotten low rollers of Ottawa!

Let us put all these recent events into perspective dear reader. The mayor and council of the City of Ottawa want to build a new Casino, posher than the one in Quebec, very close by. The City of Ottawa is going to build an insane "light rail" system and subway for a mere 1.5 billion dollars, starting anytime soon. We are screwed into a public -private partnership in Landsdowne Park that is ready over budget... In the meantime people are driving their cars into massive "sink holes" that was actually the failure of a structure that hadn't been looked at in God Knows how long! The people of Ottawa cannot even afford to get their garbage picked up once a week! Those poor souls living the burbs are terrified at when the next overloaded garbage truck is going to collide with another garbage truck or just end up in the living room! All in an attempt by City HR to make all the Garbage truck drivers, better truck drivers and better garbage men, with two or more routes a day! You can do it if you TRY!!!  Well it appears not.... The small town cheap hypocrisy is simply astounding, and will prove soon enough to be utterly fatal.

Yes, we will get that shit hole casino, it won't be downtown though. The Oracle of Ottawa has realized just today where it will in the end, be situated. Due to the inability to attract retailers to the Landsdowne Live site, and the utterly laughable suggestion that any one will shell out fifty million dollars to get their name on a certain train wreck, which has as about as much of chance of happening as Gentleman Jim catching AIDS. Oh yeah.. About as much chance of being hit by lightning... Gentleman Jim's  Lead Nugget Casino will be the feature attraction!! The people of the Glebe will no doubt be thrilled!

The year is 2016. The site is Landsdowne Live, Gentleman Jim's Lead Nugget Casino beckons, can you feel the ambiance??

The light shines....

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the life of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not over come it.
John 1:1-4, English Standard Version (Study Bible), p. 2019

Saint John

Preamble:
John was the last surviving apostle and the only one to die of natural causes at the age of 94! Wikipedia has a beautiful article about him and it is worth the time. The board and scholars of the English Standard Version must certainly be proud of this translation. It brings the melodic counterpoint of the Koine Greek to its English  translation. Compare this to any other translation. The English Standard Version is head and  saint above the rest. It is hard to be a "one percenter". And it must have been frightening as hell against the Romans, whose pure cruelty of power would make a battle hardened combat veteran of today look like a school crossing guard. At the end of the day we realize that John was  a blogger, who posted to his medium with an enduring faith in the permanence of the word and the timelessness of his message.

Tomb of St. John in Ephesus, Turkey

Economy:
The Ontario Municipal Election is on October 25. The last time I checked there were 14 candidates for the job of counsellor  in my ward! Some wards have many more. The reason is that municipal politics is the entry level to public life in Canada, or if your really cynical admission to the shallow end of the trough! How to pick the right candidate? I will share an algorithm with you. Algorithms are very important. I count them as one of the three most  unsung inventions of modern life. The other two being the Haber-Bosch process and the standardized steel shipping container. Okay, here we go! Now this is not "politically correct" but it is easy and quick. First drop off all the fat ones. Reasoning: If the candidate cannot manage himself why would you allow him to manage your stuff?  Second: Drop off all the ugly ones. Reasoning: Ugly means inflexible, it means "issues", it means impossible to reach agreement on anything. Now you should have about two or three attractive candidates left. Now pay attention... Pick the second best looking one! You will get it right over 75% of the time! I read it in a math book, honest to God!

Media:
The prediction of the demise of the book I am afraid is somewhat premature. With the advent of the internet and Wikipedia I have never read so much in all my freaking life! I have an OED with the magnifier! I have two editions of the Chicago Manuel of Style! I actually looked in one the other day and it was interesting! I don't get no respect at all!! I have books read for Wikiqoute, I have books for cited references for Wikipedia. I have books in read, books to read and books that got to go.. My cat is threatening to call the Department of Worker Health and Safety if she gets caught in another remainder avalanche! Its tough.. I'm telling ya...