Merry Christmas!.....So Just Feel Good News!

A lump of Coal for my Letter-Carrier

I know this doesn't rate as a feel good story but it does make me feel good, so here goes.
I received a polite 'Holiday' card from my letter carrier reminding me that it is time for her annual tip.
Here is the card I left her.

So You Want to Boycott Israel? Here’s A List of Products and Services You Need to Start With....
Now that that is out of the way, Let's go on to good news only.....

Quebec's balanced budget gets no love....but it should.

How about a little love for Quebec's beleaguered Liberals for finally balancing the budget.

"Quebec is emerging as one of Canada’s fiscal stars after delivering on a promise to avoid a deficit for the second year running while reducing debt as a proportion of output for the first time since 2008-09.
Canada’s second most populous province will balance the books in the year that ends March 31, and in fiscal 2016-17, Finance Minister Carlos Leitao said Thursday in Quebec City. It joins British Columbia as the only major provinces not to forecast a deficit in 2016-17.
Quebec bonds were the best-performing of Canada’s 10 provinces....."
 Bloomberg

Yes, Quebec is getting about $10 billion in equalization from Ottawa, but them's the rules. LINK

Quebec unemployment rate falls below Alberta rate

Djemila Benhabib wins slander suit against Muslim school

I'm not generally a fan of the PQ stalwart who gets no love at the ballot box, but was pleased to see her prevail in defending herself in a lawsuit where she was accused of slandering a Muslim school over disparaging remarks she made in a radio interview.
The cherry on the sundae was the fact that her celebrity lawyer and human-rights activist lawyer Julius Grey took it on the chin in representing the school. One would think that Grey, given his record, would be defending free speech, instead of opposing it.
And yes, that is exactly what the court found, that Miss Benhabib was exercising her right to free speech.

"In a 2012 interview with a Montreal radio station, Benhabib lamented that Qur’anic verses published on the school's website referred to the need for young girls to stay pure. She also stated they criticized non-Muslims.

She was also critical of the fact the school uniform included the hijab for young girls.

"(The school) resembles the kind of indoctrination similar to what goes on in a military camp in Afghanistan or Pakistan," she told the radio host.

Benhabib added during the interview the school "models itself on a society different than ours. It's a model where women have to lower their heads and walk behind men. Where kids are forced to learn Qur’anic verses and where, probably, men will commit honour crimes against their sisters."

Montreal Metro looking good.

I haven't used the Montreal subway in twenty years although I use the New York subway all the time on my many trips to the Big Apple.

There's no doubt that the New York subway is better with more routes and express trains to boot.

I habitually travel to Bloomingdales on 3rd Avenue from my hotel in Brooklyn taking just one express train, a 7 mile trip under the East River and a good chunk of Manhattan in an amazing twenty-five minutes!

While the New York subway may be more efficient, it looks like crap, unlike Montreal's subway which may be the prettiest system in the world.
Here is a photo essay of a girl doing yoga in some of Montreal's most beautiful stations.
See the 16 picture photo essay on MTL Blog 

Etcetera...etcetera!

New York Times wine critic salutes Montreal's inexpensive 'expensive' wine.
 New York times wine critic Eric Asimov (yes, the nephew of that Asimov) had a surprising piece about a wine experience in Montreal

"On a weekend trip to Montreal for a dear friend’s bachelor party in October, I stopped for lunch at L’Express, a venerable bistro on the Rue St.-Denis. What struck us immediately were the wine list’s prices, which seemed much cheaper than in New York. One in particular was a 2013 Meursault Vireuils, a village wine from Domaine Roulot, one of Burgundy’s best white wine producers.

Though it often sells in New York restaurants for $250 to $300 a bottle, L’Express had it for the Canadian equivalent of $98. We leapt on it, and it was a welcome reminder of the beauty of white Burgundy and of Meursault."  New York Times

 By the way the Montreal Gazette's food critic issued her top ten list of Montreal's best restaurants and L'EXPRESS was on it and no, THE KEG was not.

Lesley Chesterman's best Montreal restaurants of 2016

Quebec judge rules that tickets  based on photo radar inadmissible

"Good news for anyone who has received a photo radar ticket in Quebec, as a recent court ruling has found the tickets to be invalid.

In a ruling obtained by Montreal newspaper La Presse, Judge Serge Cimon found that tickets for speeding that were based on photo radar evidence were inadmissible. In the ruling, Judge Cimon found that the problem is that the officer who writes the ticket wasn’t there for the violation. That means that they were not able to verify the speed limit at the location of the infraction and that they were not able to verify the calibration of the radar equipment. The Judge found that this means that any testimony from police based on the evidence is hearsay, due to being based on second-hand information." Read more at Autotrader

Rambo to run for office

Believe it or not, union thug Bernard 'Rambo' Gauthier is running for political office.
The union organizer testified before the Crime Commission where it was revealed he used intimidation and violence to control job sites. He  was later convicted of workplace intimidation.
In an interview you can see here in French, Rambo showed why he's no regular politician....

"I don't wear a tie and I make spelling mistakes.
I don't have university, I'm not a lawyer or a doctor, but I am a father and taxpayer, and yes, I know what I'm doing is like getting f*cked  in the behind"

Yup, he said that on TV....

Montreal's very own 'NURSE JACKIE'

You might remember the television series of a nurse who stole drugs and carried out her job often under the influence.

A lot of those in the nursing profession scoffed at the notion that a nurse could act this way over an extended period of time. 

 Well, a Montreal nurse went before the board of the professional order of nursing for stealing drugs from dialysis patients and injecting herself while on the job and this over five years.

She would typically steal half the dosage and replace the missing drug with water. The drug she stole was Dilaudid, ten times more stronger than morphine.

I won't link to the story or name the unfortunate nurse because addiction is no laughing matter, but it's an interesting 'life imitating art' story.

Journal de Mourreal

The Journal de Mourreal is a satirical website that pokes fun of the real Journal de Montreal which actually went to court to get the site shut down.

At any rate, here are my favourite headlines of the year. No need to read the stories, the headlines say it all.

"Woman becomes Pregnant by Hydro-Quebec's New Electronic Meter"

"Hell's Angels to Protest against Legalization of Marijuana"

"Ruins of 17th century snow castle found in Sept-Iles"

"Pit Bull Owner to be Euthanized after Attack"

'Escalaphobia' is a thing

There are some of you out there with an irrational fear of escalators, silly because escalators never fail.....right?

There are lots of stories of people being injured and in fact a Montreal woman died last year when her hijab caught in the rungs.

But I've never heard of a runaway escalator until I read this story of a Brooklyn escalator that started up abruptly and sent riders flying.

Why do I mention this story that relates not a whit to this blog?

Because I myself have taken this escalator many times on my way to Chuck E. Cheese with my grandchildren.

We'll be taking the stairs next time...

Worst and Best  CH branding

How soon we forget!

Some further reading

Quebec is a magical land at Christmas, and all through the year- Fort-Worth Star Telegram

A basketball standout from Montreal is taking Maryland by storm

Montreal and Quebec tied for  2nd place for Best Under-rated Winter Travel Destination 

There's a butcher in Montreal that ages beef for 700 days

Montreal's Xmas market complete with ugly tree chosen in top ten by New York Times.
Here's some pictures of it

New York Times loves French-Canadian tourtiere   

 If you click on just one link this weekend, start with this great read from Vanity Fair magazine;
Inside Quebec’s Great, Multi-Million-Dollar Maple-Syrup Heist

Let's end with a REAL feel good story;

"Thirty-seven dogs that were destined for a Chinese dog meat festival are on their way to Montreal to start a new life after being found crammed in rusty iron cages so tightly they were gasping for air, unable to move.
The dogs were expected to arrive at the Montreal SPCA this evening.
The Humane Society International/Canada found the dogs seven months ago at the Yulin dog meat festival in China." Read the rest of the story

Merry Christmas!!!