1. GOODBYE FLIP VIDEO. The nifty Flip Video camera, which looks a bit like a smartphone but has nearly none of a smartphone’s capabilities, halted production this week. Cisco, the company that bought the Flip for $590 million two years ago, shuttered the line and laid of 550 employees. Sorry employees! You’ll do fine in this strong economic clim – oh. Wait. Oh, sorry.
2. BIEBER JUST WANTS TO WALK WHERE JESUS WALKED. Justin Bieber’s visit to Israel has proven contentious and difficult to parse. A meeting between the singer and Israeli PM Netanyahu has fallen through for what look like political reasons. Meanwhile, Bieber just wants to visit the Holy Land without being pursued by the press. “You would think paparazzi would have some respect in holy places,” he tweeted, forgetting, like so many other Israeli tourists, that his faith doesn’t mean that he owns the place.
3. IN RELATED NEWS, PEOPLE LIGHTING OWN HOUSES ON FIRE FOR THE ‘COZY WARMTH’. That leaked Auditor General’s report should have put a dent in the support for the Conservatives, right?. Apparently not.
4. THE VAGUEST ANNOUNCEMENT IN THE WORLD AWARD GOES TO: Mayor Pat Fiacco, who announced that a further announcement would soon be made regarding plans for a stadium. What? Anyway, there may be ‘a provincial component’ when the province sees ‘whatever comes forward’. I can’t wait to hear what someone has to say about something at some point in the future.
Regarding the stadium, Mayor Fiacco had one excellent zinger: “”There’s been a tremendous amount of work done since the federal government decided that Regina should not get any of our hard-earned federal tax dollars back into this community.” He’s talking about the people who are currently on track to run this country for another five years.
5. SASKATCHEWAN GOVERNMENT INTENDS TO INDEX THE MINIMUM WAGE. It’s still in the early stages right now, but Labour Relations Minister Don Morgan announced that the Saskatchewan Party intends to index the minimum wage to some combination of industrial and labour indicators. This seems like a wise move, at least in principle.
5. BREAK OUT YOUR HOVERCRAFTS, SASKATCHEWAN. Flooding has shut down several highways in the province. You can call the Highways Hotline at 787-7623 to get up-to-date information. Or, you know, just drive around until you’re underwater.