Latest news with #CaptainObvious
Washington Post
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
Solution to Evan Birnholz's July 27 crossword, ‘Captain Obvious Gets a Car'
Periodic reminder: Any comments about The Post's new online crossword format should go to games@ rather than the comment section here. Captain Obvious is back for another adventure. This time he has the keys to go for a spin in his new car. It's not uncommon for me to use Captain Obvious puzzles as semiautobiographical updates on my own life (like when he became a dad, or when he went to the beach while I was in Hawaii), but that isn't the case today. I'm still driving the same car that we've had since early 2020. Some phrases that the Captain couldn't use this week include THAT'S THE TICKET, TOOT YOUR OWN HORN, IT'S MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY, and PUT THE PEDAL TO THE METAL.
Edmonton Journal
18-07-2025
- Health
- Edmonton Journal
Bell: Stampede bartender's sob story of drunks and long hours — gimme a break
Article content It's not often I take on one of our own stories. Article content Article content In the Woe Is Me file this one goes right to the top of the pathetic pile. Article content A bartender signs up to work during the Calgary Stampede, at one of the tents that pop up around town. Article content Article content You see, there are stories to tell. Stories where wrongs need to be made right. Article content There are also stories that are just interesting or entertaining. They might make you laugh or make you cry or make you laugh and cry. Article content Or think. Or feel. Article content There are other stories providing you with news you can use. Article content This is not one of any of these stories. Article content This bartender story is what was once called a sob story. It is an open invitation to a pity party. Article content It is self-indulgent crap in an age of self-indulgent crap. Article content Here goes. Article content This story tells us this bartender believes drinking around Stampede contributes to deteriorating mental health. Article content Article content Quite the statement to make when she is the one serving the drinks and no doubt getting a pretty penny for doing so, driving all the way from Edmonton to take the job. Article content As the days go on she says people get more aggressive and demanding, even hostile. Article content What she means by this is not explained. Article content Having hit the bottle hard in my day and patronized far too many watering holes there isn't much you don't see with alcohol in the mix. Article content Article content Thank you, Captain Obvious. Article content Enter a scientific study in a medical journal. It shows a spike in emergency visits during Stampede time by men and an increase in substance misuse cases. Article content The study was from about 10 years ago and was done so emergency rooms could know how much they should staff up during Stampede.
Calgary Herald
18-07-2025
- General
- Calgary Herald
Bell: Stampede bartender's sob story of drunks and long hours — oh please!
Article content It's not often I take on one of our own stories. Article content But this latest doozy takes the cake and it was front-page news. Article content Article content In the Woe Is Me file this one goes right to the top of the pathetic pile. Article content A bartender signs up to work during the Calgary Stampede, at one of the tents that pop up around town. Article content She works long hours. She encounters drunks, some of them acting like idiots. Like that's never happened to a bartender before. Article content Article content Article content It attracts many eyeballs. Many. Could well be the top-read story of the month. Article content Now, folks, there are injustices in the world. Big injustices, smaller injustices. They often becomes stories. Some become headlines. Article content You see, there are stories to tell. Stories where wrongs need to be made right. Article content There are also stories that are just interesting or entertaining. They might make you laugh or make you cry or make you laugh and cry. Article content Or think. Or feel. Article content There are other stories providing you with news you can use. Article content This is not one of any of these stories. Article content This bartender story is what was once called a sob story. It is an open invitation to a pity party. Article content It is self-indulgent crap in an age of self-indulgent crap. Article content Here goes. Article content This story tells us this bartender believes drinking around Stampede contributes to deteriorating mental health. Article content Article content Quite the statement to make when she is the one serving the drinks and no doubt getting a pretty penny for doing so, driving all the way from Edmonton to take the job. Article content As the days go on she says people get more aggressive and demanding, even hostile. Article content What she means by this is not explained. Article content Having hit the bottle hard in my day and patronized far too many watering holes there isn't much you don't see with alcohol in the mix. Article content Article content Thank you, Captain Obvious. Article content Enter a scientific study in a medical journal. It shows a spike in emergency visits during Stampede time by men and an increase in substance misuse cases. Article content The study was from about 10 years ago and was done so emergency rooms could know how much they should staff up during Stampede.
Toronto Sun
09-05-2025
- Business
- Toronto Sun
RESCON: Lots of talk but little action
An annual construction rate of 350,000 homes, including low-rise and high-rise, is needed to tackle the affordability crisis. Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. Housing industry is nowhere near reaching the number of homes that need to be built to ensure affordability This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Let me play Captain Obvious for a minute. To solve the housing supply and affordability crisis, we must build more homes. But we must also build them at a price tag people can afford. The common rule of personal finance is that a home should cost no more than three times your gross household income. With the average price of a new single-family home sitting at more than $1.55 million in the Greater Toronto Area, and a condo at $1.02 million, that means families would need incomes of $517,000 and $340,000, respectively, to afford a new home. Sadly, that metric is not realistic for most. A report done for the Ontario Home Builder's Association found that 11 of 26 municipalities analyzed in Ontario were 'completely unattainable' for middle-class households. Meanwhile, young people in Ontario are spending more than 40 per cent of their monthly income on housing in many areas. We are in dire straits. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The Missing Middle Initiative at the University of Ottawa reported that in 2005, in only three of 26 markets in Ontario, a middle-class buyer of a single-family home would have to pay 25 per cent or more of his or her pre-tax income on mortgage payments. Today, this is the case in all 26 markets. Housing is being addressed by political leaders of all stripes and at all levels of government. And, in light of comments made by elected leaders on the provincial and federal campaign trails, we expect changes are forthcoming on sales taxes on new housing, development charges and red tape. However, the changes were needed yesterday. There is no time for dilly-dallying. Ontario Premier Doug Ford has promised to bring in reforms to speed up the cumbersome permitting and approvals process. Housing Minister Rob Flack recently declared that we must lower fees, speed up approval times and make sure we have the talent in place to build homes faster. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Prime Minister Mark Carney pledged to eliminate the GST for first-time homebuyers on homes at or under $1 million. He also committed to cutting municipal development charges in half for multi-unit residential housing, as well as reduce the bureaucracy and red tape for builders. These are all positive commitments. But presently, they are still promises. Governments must now walk the talk. To start, it is critical that we speed up the municipal planning applications and approvals system. A study done by Altus Group for the Canadian Home Builders' Association showed that Ontario municipalities are far behind their counterparts in other parts of Canada when it comes to efficiency. For example, in the City of Toronto, the application approval timeline is taking an average of 25 months when they are supposed to be cleared in 90 days. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. This is outrageous. We must speed up the system so that we can build up the stock of housing. In a LinkedIn post, Murtaza Haider, a professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, wrote that to address the current crisis, Canada must significantly increase its housing output. He noted that the country needs to build far more homes annually than it has over the past decade. He figures that raising the annual construction rate to 350,000 homes, including a mix of low-rise and high-rise housing, is essential to tackling the affordability crisis. Sadly, we are headed in the opposite direction. Ontario housing starts between January and March 2025 were 38 per cent lower than during the same period in 2024. Toronto has seen the condo market slow to its worst point in more than 30 years. In Toronto, starts in the same period in 2025 were 58 per cent below those of 2024. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Urbanation reports that eight Toronto projects have been cancelled since the beginning of 2024, encompassing 1,899 condo units. Three projects, with 338 units, are on hold. Six developments, with 1,434 units, are being converted to rentals. The Frasier Institute recently reported that although Canada's population has more than tripled since the 1970s, housing starts have not kept up. In 2023, Canada added 5.1 new residents for every housing unit started and, without an acceleration in homebuilding, a slowdown in population growth, or both, Canada's housing affordability crisis will likely persist. A lower tax burden and speedier approvals are necessary to kick-start the residential construction industry. Delays stymie new development and significantly add to project costs which are ultimately borne by consumers. Hefty taxes, fees and levies make new homes too costly. We are nowhere near reaching the number of homes that need to be built in order to ensure affordability. Chinese philosopher Confucious once said, 'When it is obvious that the goals can not be reached, don't adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.' It is time to modify our approach and up our game. Richard Lyall is president of the Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON). He has represented the building industry in Ontario since 1991. Contact him at media@ Canada Sunshine Girls Sunshine Girls Canada Toronto Maple Leafs
USA Today
25-04-2025
- USA Today
Pinehurst makes planning more precarious in the best possible way
Pinehurst makes planning more precarious in the best possible way At the risk of sounding like Captain Obvious, Pinehurst is a must-play destination. If you have never visited the quiet North Carolina hamlet for golf, it's time to start considering a trip. And with news this week from Pinehurst Resort of a new course slated to open in two years, there's more reason than ever to start considering a either a maiden voyage or a return trip to the Sandhills. Pinehurst No. 11 will be designed by the esteemed team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, and the new course will sit alongside the resort's No. 10 course designed by Tom Doak and Angela Moser. Anywhere else in the world, those two courses alone would be enough to warrant the construction of a new interstate offramp and a possibly a runway extension. In the Pinehurst region, they are just two more spectacular courses in a rolling green world of incredible options. Pinehurst No. 2 is famous as a U.S. Open site packed with history and pedigree, and the resort is also home to Pinehurst No. 4 by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner. As the numerical naming convention implies, there are plenty of other courses at the resort worth checking out, including the par-3 course, the Cradle. Away from Pinehurst Resort, the classic Mid Pines is a personal favorite, and it's just one of three historical treasures managed by Pine Needles Lodge. Less than an hour away are two Mike Strantz playgrounds, Tobacco Road to the northeast and Tot Hill Farm to the northwest – both of these turn classic golf architecture on its ear. If you were fortunate enough to book a five-day stay in the region, you would be lucky to see half of what is on tap – and blissfully tired after all the walking. No. 11 will only complicate such destination planning in the best possible way, as golf's game of what to leave in and what to leave out soon will be even more interesting. Check out more on the new No. 11 below.
