Month: November 2010

Today I was really craving a booster juice from the campus location in the village. To my shock on arrival, there were several rcmp cars outside the village.  What was even more shocking was the fact that all the policemen were located inside booster juice itself. Booster Juice isn’t really a target for crime what so ever. The only real liability is that its located beside the liquor store which usually has many thefts and criminal incidents. I just find it ironic in this day and age people are forced to steal from a convenience health food store. On top of this, the fact that it was in broad daylight so anyone could have done something about it but no one did. It is amazing how incidents like this happen daily in highly urban areas where people don’t even notice or care.

When many think of the Edmonton Oilers they think of the greats like Gretzky, Messier, and Fuhr. Many may also think of the new upcoming stars like Eberle and Hall. This however, has been pushed under the table recently with a giant debate between Oilers owner Daryl Katz and the City of Edmonton. Daryl Katz, who is a billionaire businessman bought the Oilers in 2008 and has been in the process of bringing the Oilers back to their legendary form. His main stance right now is that the Oilers need a venue change. In July of this year Katz proposed a new arena that would be in the downtown core as opposed to in Northlands (a recreation centre in North Edmonton). He called it a ” downtown vitalization” project which would consist of dozens of new shops and restaurants centered around a new arena for the Oilers. Rexall Place where the Oilers play in Northlands is outdated and one of the oldest buildings in the NHL. The problem is that the City doesn’t understand why Katz can’t build this arena privately.  Katz wants the City to contribute investment towards the project yet in the long run the Katz group would gain all revenue. On top of this, if the Oilers move from Rexall Place then what will happen to Northlands. Currently, Rexall Place is Northlands main contributor for revenue. If the Oilers leave the city worries that it may be the end of Northlands. None the less, Katz is firm on his stance that the Oilers will not play in Rexall Place once their lease expires in 2014. Someone has to budge fast or Edmonton could lose their main sports attraction and this could lead to a very poor economy.

In the Province newspaper today, Sun Life financial reported that it has finally returned to making a profit in its most recent quarter. This is huge as you compare this to last years numbers where the majority of insurance companies experienced extreme loses. Many associate this with the recession that began in 2008 and had large repercussions which carried over into 2009.

This means that everything is back to normal right? Wrong! The United States continues to stimulate the economy to our south which in the long run has been driving down interest rates in the following months. This creates no revenues for most financial aid companies. Many speculate that the only way the United States economy survives is if it is at war. This is ironic because just last week there was an attempted terrorist attack on a flight going to Chicago from Yemen. This now gives the US an excuse to attack Yemen creating a potential for war. Hmmmmm……trying to stimulate the economy? Who knows as this is always a theory that the US creates these fake terrorist attacks on themselves to start a war. Only time will tell how the economy to our south will fair in the upcoming months.