Whoops. Was supposed to do a Six in the AM this AM and completely forgot. So, after receiving a chastising e-mail from Whitworth, here I am with my first Four in the Afternoon on the new blog.

1. THE “FEASIBLE” DOME: The consultants announced yesterday that a new covered stadium would be feasible for downtown Regina. And while reps from the city, provincial and federal governments were in attendance, no one would commit any money to the project at this time. In fact, figuring out how to pay for the initial construction has yet to be worked out. Which makes me wonder how they can say it’s “feasible” if they haven’t even worked out if they can pay for it. What did they spend that million bucks working out exactly? Oh yeah, how much it’ll cost. Which, as it turns out is not the $350 million we were all initially told. If we get the non-retractable dome version, the price comes in at $386 million, the retractable dome version is $431 million. And you know what, projects like this never come in under budget. Never. Never. Never. So we’re looking at at least half a billion dollars spent on a sports stadium. And, realistically, much more than that. Do you know how much we could accomplish if the three levels of government and private industry threw that kind of cash into our libraries? Our downtown? Our civic infrastructure? The mind boggles.

Oh, also, some of the ways they’re considering paying for this seems to be using cash from the casinos or from some new lottery. Meanwhile, on CBC this morning, they were talking about how post-secondary students are increasingly suffering from gambling addictions. Great. So we’re going to get a stadium by making students pay for it. Not to mention all the other poor saps who blow their pay cheques in the casinos and on scratch tickets. (Leader Post)

2. “PSST, THEY’RE NEW HERE. DON’T MENTION THE GAYS.” Our Immigration Minister, Jason Kenney, pulled any mention of gay rights from the study guide given out to new immigrants to Canada. Now why would he do that, I wonder? Kenney, by the way, fought hard against gay marriage back in the day. But I’m sure his personal feelings had nothing to do with it. (Globe and Mail)

3. POLLEY TAKES NAME OFF FLICK: When she discovered a short-film she’d made for the Heart and Stroke Foundation to promote women’s heart-health would also be used to promote Becel Margarine, Sarah Polley, the activist/actor/director, announced she’d rather not be associated with it. (Globe and Mail)

4. MORE REPUBLIC OF DOYLE: The CBC is announcing that the makers of CBC series, Republic of Doyle, are cheered to learn their series has been renewed. Good for them. Still, on a lark, I watched an episode of this show last night (on my computer). Wow, did that ever take me back. It reminds me of all those 70s and 80s PI shows like Spencer for Hire or Rockford Files. And I’m not sure if I needed or wanted reminding. My wife thought the show had to be a parody because, she reasoned, the writers couldn’t possibly believe that what they’d made was a high quality program. My wife hasn’t watched nearly as much television as I have. (CBC)