AWESOME

I've known Rick for almost 7 years. I've had many conversations with him and have, obviously, heard him talk - a lot! But today, for the first time, I heard him use the word "awesome". I overuse it (just read the blog and see), but it was so funny to me to hear Rick use "awesome". He used it in the context of what Bill Casey did this week and from what we heard on the show this week you are in agreement - what he did was AWESOME.

Only caller Burt today has a slight qualm with what Casey did, arguing that it didn't really make much of a difference. What did you think of Scott Armstrong, Casey's riding association President talking about Bill returning to caucus once this Atlantic Accord issue is sorted? Once bitten, twice shy I would think, but politics is a very strange beast, so you never know what could happen.

That was an interesting article in the paper about Elizabeth May threatening to quit the Greens. As she described it, it came during her "week from hell", where she was taking to task about making comments about Nazis. Plus, she's dealing with chronic pain. She's on the wait list for a hip replacement. I'm glad she didn't quit because I (probably too optimistically) think she has a chance to beat Peter Mackay. The callers didn't hide their vitriol today when speaking about him. He was called a "nitwit", the "Minister of Affairs" and a "liar". Ouch. I just found out someone I used to go to university with works with Peter Mackay!! So I'm going to e-mail him and get the skinny. I'll keep you posted!!! I think one caller said it best: Bill Casey, not Peter Mackay, is Nova Scotia's man in Ottawa.

Another caller suggested starting some sort of Atlantic Party. As Rick pointed out we have 32 seats and that could be the only way to force some sort of concern for the region. Rick thinks Gerald Keddy has no chance in hell of being re-elected in the current political climate. The only way to save face for the Tories, I think, is to simply respect the Atlantic Accord. That will haunt them. I can't wait for the election! I can't wait for candidates to come to my door so I can grill them, it's going to be so great. Is anyone else annoyed about the current trend of backtracking on deals? The G-8 announced they signed a deal on climate change. Uh....sorry...I thought we did that and it was called "Kyoto". Now, the Conservatives promising us a deal on the offshore. WE ALREADY HAVE A DEAL - IT'S CALLED THE ATLANTIC ACCORD! No wonder no real issues are ever tackled when politicians keep negotiating things that are already signed and sealed...they just don't DELIVER.

One of the callers called about the streaming audio on www.cjch.ca not working. Here are 2 options. When it says the streaming is down for maintenance, click "OK" and it should open. If not, instead of clicking on the button to listen live, right click on it with the mouse and go to "Open link in new window". That should do it! But the engineering department has indicated that it does indeed work.

Man, AJ took some good-natured ribbing today during the sports hour. AJ's love of free food is well-known, but can you blame him? Whenever there's a plate of food in our lunchroom downstairs, you have to really motor down there or else you're going to find crumbs. It's a well-known trait found in most broadcasters!!! AJ hitting the BBQ scene totally cracked up everyone today, especially Marcel Patenaude! It was quite entertaining. I've never heard Marcel laugh before, so that was truly hilarious. I wish I could post audio here! I've got to figure that out. AJ said something extremely rude during the commercial break and I won't repeat it, but I'm thinking about getting a water gun for the Summer Hotline. Whenever he says something dumb I'll just fire away.

Anyone else excited about the French Open finals this weekend? It looks like it will be a Federer-Nadal rematch on Sunday! I volunteered to be the Hotline's tennis correspondent and talk tennis during the sports hour, but Rick says all the time: "Tennis is not a sport". He's wrong because tennis is the best sport of all time...sorry boss!

Rodenhiser is in on Monday, so that will be fun...and we get to hear his theme which we all enjoy!

Have a fantastic weekend!!

Take care,

Amber