Was fur ein Pfusch!

German slang for either ‘What a giant mistake’ or ‘What kind of shitty workmanship is this’ – depending on where it is said in the Country.

The Crying is over… Time for some answers!!!

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Was fur ein Pfusch! The Bayern season is over. Not a trophy to add to the case. Only shame and embarrassment. Record possession, record corner kicks, record shots on goal…but absolutely nothing to show for it! Unfortunately fitting to much of the way the team played the second half of the season. Great play – almost complete domination of their opponents – but an inability to put the ball in the back of the net when it really mattered.
First thing to note, all the bullshit made of the Bayern formation and weakness in defense worked out to nothing. In fact, if I were coach…the starting lineup was much the way i would want to see the team setup…except maybe to have Badstuber in for Tymo…but nothing can be taken away from him…Tymo…and even the often flat footed Boatang both showed up to play tonight. Kroos as a holding midfielder also looked great. This is his position. A smart coach needs to sit down with him and go over that. Get him to be a bit more defensive minded and you have a star attacking midfielder turn into a dynamite folding midfielder. Wasnt that the way things went for Schweini as well? Kroos is to damb slow to be a center forward. Seeing Muller in there was great. If you even have the vaguest thoughts of keeping him on the bench ever as a coach…have your head examined. Jupp did just that towards the end of the season. Ridiculous!
For me there were two clear failures tonight. Perhaps the biggest failure was on the coach. Jupp, why in the sweet hell did you take off Muller in the 85th minute for Van Buyton…a player who hadn’t seen the pitch since January. Fucking January! Seriously. Why would you do such a stupid thing. Nothing against Van Buyton…in health I would highly support him as he is a very reasonable center back – but come on! Ridiculous substitution. Heynckes needs to go. I’ve said this before – I will say it again. He just doesn’t not have what it takes. His tactics are garbage…and no better evidence go have been provided than Klopps annihilation the week prior and his inability to react effectively. Time for the axe!!!
Then…in extra time, Robben misses the penalty. Why the hell is this guy still the go to guy on penalty’s when he keeps chocking? I won’t take anything away from an amazing save by Cech…but WTF! What a garbage shot to begin with! Unacceptable. Robben is a great player – but he is NOT a great player for Bayern – in fact – I am quite disappointed they re-signed him. He’s been a cancer on the team since re-joining after injury. His problem isn’t even his selfishness or lack of vision on the pitch – his problem is the negative chemistry he brings to the Bayern team. He just doesnt work in their line up. Look at how things were humming for Bayern until they brought him back in. There were doing quite well with Muller on the sides. A new coach either needs to tame Robben or come up with some kind of strategy that doesnt not rely so heavily on his movement for success.
The ending was heartbreaking. It never needed to land on Schwieni like that! The game should have been won 10 times before that. His port did NOT lose this game. It was lost WELL before that.
Time to clean up a bit Bayern. Here’s a hint, start in central defense. Badstuber needs a experienced quality veteran to play along side. Get yourself a strong backup striker as well. Most importantly, get a real quality coach that can teach the team tactics! With a little house cleaning there is no reason Bayern can’t be right back in there next year – hopefully this time with a better result.

Conservative Privacy Bill (C-30) is Junk

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As most people know, I have very conservative leanings. But lately the Harper gov is starting to ‘push my buttons’ – so to speak. This privacy bill put forward by Toews is ridiculous. Wrapping it up in some kiddie porn verbiage and polarizing the debate by saying those who are against it are for kiddie porn is an afront to common sense.
I think we all agree a limited bill related to suspect kiddie porn suspects is a good thing. Trying to slip in a bunch of other junk to further snoop on peoples digital lives is not.

Traffic Mayhem in Toronto

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I know a thing or two about traffic in this City. I drive from Richmond Hill to Liberty Village every day. The 404/DVP combo is my poison of choice…and poison it is. I’ve been too cities around the world and the only place I can say i’ve experienced worse traffic is in LA. Having been to Germany quite often – I look very favorably on their traffic conditions given the size and scope associated with moving people around the country. While public transit is inextricably linked to traffic – I want to look at some specific things i think Europe – but particularely Germany does much better than we do. We could defeinetely learn a thing or two:

1. Respect the lanes. Do Canadian’s even know that the left lane is for passing? This should be pounded into drives new and old. If you want to drive slower or needle the speed limit – stay right and keep the passing lane open of for the rest of us.

2. Transport Trucks stay right and limit your speed. Speed limiters on trucks makes damn good sense. How many roll overs from over worked truckers on the 401 do we need before we just install these damn things – i.e. make them mandatory. I don’t care if my shipment of X will get to Wal-Mart 1 day later…we’ll wait! Furthermore, keep transport trucks to the right except to pass! Seriously – this is genius in Europe. Sometimes you can see literal truck convoys on the right side of the highway. I think its great.

3. Pay attention to the road dammit. I change the radio here and there and look down to punch in the numbers for a call – but come on. I see some ridiculousness with people on phones, typing emails, etc. Just dont. BUT, we need to be reasonable as well. Cracking down on people dialing numbers or changing a radio station is counter productive. Nailing the person with the phone on their ear or head in an email is righteous and sensible. This goes for city streets especially – where pedestrians and bumper to bumper traffic can make driving conditions change all to quickly.

4. Lane diversions. THere must be a better way to direct traffic around a fender bender and to force people to move quickly. Even better – clean up the accident faster. I look at some fender benders and wonder why the hell these people even stopped to being with!

5. Kill the HOV lane…or at least limit it. THe HOV lane has some merits, but it is also a bit ridiculous. On the 404 – the HOV lanes are like luxury lanes. If you cut the size of that thing a bit and limited the shoulder – you could very likely fit another entire lane there! Which would make sense, because a driving/passing lane is REALLY need for an HOV lane to function effectively. And oh yeah, after 8pm to 5am – all bets should be off and those lanes should be free to use. I might also suggest weekends as well.

6. Speed. Why are our highways and streets so slow? You can add 10-20 km and you would still be fine. I would like to see studies that directly correlate accidents with speed. If we can all drive a bit faster, we all get their a bit faster…those who want to drive slower…dont forget…stay right!

7. Roundabouts. Do we need a traffic light at every friggin intersection? I refuse to believe that there are not other effective ways to manage traffic other than slapping a light every block. In some cases, get rid of the light entirely. In other cases – especially in the burbs…put in a round-a-bout. Finally, lets get the lights in sync…share data between cities and manage the flow dynamically based on known/understood traffic patterns and associated variables (weather, an accident, lane closures or construction, etc.).