It is quite concerning to read the report which contains various names of Celebrities which have permits to carry hand guns. Concerning in the fact that their identity has been revealed. With this information, the "bad guys" can now plan better and be more equipped to deal with the celebs. The savvy ones will research through the public record what type of defence the celeb has and make sure they come stronger, for example: Celebrity - 9mm, Bad Guy - Magnum. There is also the concern with their identity revealed, they with be taunted in public perhaps by a intoxicated individual and an unfortunate mistake with happen in the "drawing" of their weapon. With some wannabe Celebrities and established ones only interested in publicity, one can only imagine how many of the "Spencer Pratt, Heidi Montag, Paris, Lohan or Snookie's of the world will not only obtain a permit for the use of carrying a firearm but have their publicists release that information to anyone who will print it to up their cache. All in all it's a bad situation which is another example of how totally screwed up our society is in regard to celebrity.

Marc Anthony was one of the names mentioned and this I found quite surprising. Surprised in the fact I was under the impression he was already sufficiently protected. Doesn't he already carry a large Sword?

Anyone who had taught in the Private College system upon reading that Premier McGuinty is considering and looking into the possibility of cellphones being allowed and used in the classroom would be left, in a word, laughing. Although the policy as it stands now is students must power off and store their cellphones or face possible discipline, Premier McGuinty said "it's something that we should be looking at in our schools." Any parent who pays for their child's cellphone Bill can readily see that a good percentage of that use is attributed to the day time and therefore the "policy" that does exist, is not enforced. Allowing cellphones to be used in the classroom is only going to create a huge problem. How are teachers supposed to monitor what is actually going on? He or she will be spending more time walking around the classroom checking rather than teaching. It's hard enough monitoring Laptop users without the added burden of checking if a student is Texting or on Facebook, Twitter, MSN, or perhaps sending questions to other students and awaiting answers via BBM. The Premier feels cellphones could be used for Internet research, notes, etc. What ever happened to Textbooks, handouts or perhaps actual writing hand written notes from listening and paying attention to what a Teachers is actualy saying? Here's a question, what about those students who do not have a cellphone or even a Smartphone? What about those who do, but don't have an unlimited or Data Plan at all? Is the government going to provide every school in the Province with WiFi or better still distribute Smartphones to every student at the beginning of every school year and pay for their use, repair and replacement? This suggestion of allowing Cellphones into the classroom is ridiculous. Money could and should be spent elsewhere in areas of benefit providing students with courses and supplies in Music, Art or re-opening Pools to name just a few. The Students of today aren't even being supplied essentials like Paper and Pens but the Premier is considering allowing Cellphones. I can see it now, step right up students, pick up your new Blackberry or would you rather have an IPhone or.........Come on people, lets be real here

You may not recognize the name however, you know the voice, Billie Mae Richards passed away recently. Billie Mae's voice can be heard in your head by the simple mention of one name - Rudolph. Billie Mae was the voice of the beloved character Rudolph from the classic Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer cartoon. She also was the voice of numerous beloved characters from many many cartoon programs including, King Kong, Willie McBean, Spiderman and Care Bears to name just a few. But it was the male Rudolph with the female voice of Billie Mae Richards which will always be remembered. The voice greats that have passed away now include Billie Mae Richards, but for their fans, friends and most importantly, family, they will continue to be heard forever.

www.examiner.com - Toronto City Buzz

Lotteries are a huge source of income, but where are the millions if not billions of dollars going and into who's pocket? It would be quite interesting to be informed of the exact totals. Think of all the lotteries that are available, the daily, weekly games that can be played. The amounts must be incredible. Why then do the citizens have to deal with, increases in transportation, congested roads, decaying buildings, homeless wondering the streets or huge wait times in hospitals. Government is always saying, there is no money. Really? If lotteries are such a huge source of funds, why can't they create source specific lottery opportunities. Create a lottery game which all the funds minus "costs" got to that specific need. Illness specific, roads specific, etc. Considering this being the first day of school, what about education? Walk through a random selection of Secondary Collegiate's in this city and you will realize how useful this suggestion would be. Everyone likes the atmosphere of an established environment however, it becomes quite a concern when you realize these building are in such disarray. Who doesn't enjoy walking through the halls of their former school, remembering what went on in those halls and classrooms. What's disturbing however, is seeing the dent you put into that locker 30 years ago, still there, the broken walls, faded chalk boards, cracked ceilings and boarded up rooms. Don't you think an Education lottery game would generate more than enough money to not only pay to fix these problems but also pay for Teachers, school supplies, equipment, special needs, sports, music, art, pools and repair? It seems quite logical but yet there is never a suggestion to do so. With all this money going into the Governments pocket, why don't "we the people" benefit form any of it in a manner in which we feel we are doing so, HST anyone?. We are always told there isn't enough, although millions if not billions are readily available for those in need in other countries the second an unfortunate disaster trikes. It is time the lottery corporation thought outside the box, or at least increase the odds of actually winning so we can perhaps in our own little way, do the job for them.

Who can believe summer is just about over and school is about to begin yet again. It doesn't matter how many years removed you are, the beginning of school feels like the beginning of the year itself. September -September really should be the calendar year. Anyone over 40 would remember the first day of school being filled with the usual anxiety and the day you received your school supplies. The Teacher would hand out your textbooks, pencils, erasers, paper, and the workbooks. The bin would be filled with pencil crayons, extra pencils and various odds and ends. Well, time has certainly changed hasn't it? In this new world, the first day of High School may start on the same day as in the past however, you won't be allowed to attend until you pay baby!! That's right, you are not entitled to receive your schedule or agenda until you fork over the coin. In some areas, it is $70.00. This will give you your agenda, schedule and yearbook. Without this fee, or ransom, you are out of luck. Must not forget the extensive school supplies as well. Not just random items you feel will suffice. No, 1", 2", 3" binders, pens, pencils(mechanical of course), calculator (can you believe how expensive they are?), paper, workbooks, markers, protractors, locks, locker shelves(really?) and anything else that will make your loving child happy. In some cases this could total $150.00 - $300.00+. Did I forget the new wardrobe, knapsack and cell phone case? You also have to take into consideration sports. In our day you could just play. Now you pay to play. Football and Rugby as an example, $100.00 for the privilege plus appropriate cleats. As parents we have another duty as well. Spending 30 minutes signing papers that will exonerate the School from any liability known to man-kind. Unfortunately it does not stop there. Now we get into the "please give us money" routine. Donate please to this, to that, for this, for that. You see the school board really can not supply anything anymore, and that's a shame. At least we can take comfort in knowing the Teachers Pension Fund is doing well and we can happily enjoy the triumphs of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors and TFC. Happy school year everyone, the first bell is at 8:45am.

Show Biz or Maroons R-US

Interesting how during one weekend, all in showbiz is revealed, the good and the bad. Enjoyed a Band with an excellent guitarist in Jarett Zaidlin in a lousy venue one night. Watched an actually good and funny Emmy Awards last night and read all about the ridiculousness of the biz in between. This ridiculousness is what unfortunately is sticking in my head. As much as I am not a huge fan of George Clooney, he was right when he said during the Emmy broadcast, "bad behaviour sucks up all the attention". Bad behaviour from absolute maroons have for some miss guided reason, become headline makers. Drunken crazies being paid too much money from the Jersey Shore fill the air waves with activities that I am sure make their families proud have now been associated with assault charges. Lindsay Lohan 's train wreck existence becomes her career and now we come to the best news of the weekend. Paris Hilton, the girl who really has done nothing, has no talent and isn't even all that "hot" fills the pages and screens again. This time busted for alleged cocaine possession. It's way past even trying to figure out how and why her parents seem to condone and obviously contribute to her way of life. The bizarre part is why anyone even cares. Multiple arrests, multiple indecencies and now her latest. Driving down the strip in Las Vegas with her latest boyfriend allegedly smoking pot with the windows open so all could smell was pulled over and then charged with cocaine possession which was found in her purse. Oh wait, "its not my purse". Really? Why hasn't it been reported that the purse didn't contain your identification? Why then hasn't it been reported that your purse was found by someone else who was at your previous location? Why? Most probably because it was your purse and was your cocaine. If my observation is wrong, I apologize, however, if these allegations are correct, it is time to send a message to these attention grabbing maroons. Charge her as you would anyone else and make her serve her time to its fullest. Don't let her money and misguided fame enable her to walk away with the photographers following her to the venue where she is getting her 50 thousand appearance fee. Whether its Lindsay, Britney, Paris or Spencer's pre produced "just found" sex-tape of his wife, can't we just for awhile ignore them and allow the brain cells of our youth a chance to regenerate?

It is interesting that Tiger Woods played his best round of golf just days after signing his divorce papers. I wonder what triggered the improvement. Perhaps knowing he only had to give maybe 100 instead of 500 million or was it knowing he was free to continue on his happy path without looking over his shoulder or above hers at it may be. It just brings you back to the question, why do these people choose to get married? Is it for the endorsements..the image, you know, Husband, Father..family man. In some of these cases, love certainly doesn't seem to be the root cause. There is nothing wrong with having a good time, jet setting, dating as many as you like, why get married?

Just like Tiger, these people don't realize as in the famous Seinfeld episode, there are those who don't appreciate "double dipping". After the fun stops, they always get caught, praise their wife or husband and either call or hire the very expensive Public Relations firm to make it all better. Oh, and yes, as in Kobe's case, call the Jeweller.

The TTC

The Toronto Transit Authority or The TTC has an on-line survey which they have encouraged riders to participate in. Do they really want to know how we feel? Do they care what the users of their system feel about the services or lack thereof? Examples of what was asked are: How often do you use it - Your start - end location - How many travelled - How long did you wait for a train - Did you see the Television screen - Did it keep your attention - How old you are - Gender- Education - Income. Are they kidding? Perhaps they should have asked: Was it clean - Was it on-time - Was it worth the money - Was the attendant to take your money actually there - Was the attendant courteous.......

TTC Chair Adam Giambrone recently said,"If we can hook people on transit at an early age, we're going to have them on transit for the rest of their lives." This is the kind of arrogance that has plagued the TTC for a long time. "We will have them hooked"? People use the Transit system Mr Giambrone because it is their only way to get to their job or particular destination. Know this, for most people, if they had an alternative, they would take it. The TTC is NOT the better way, for most, it's the ONLY way. The TTC is over priced with more redundancies than the Federal Government.

Perhaps Mr Giambrone should address some of these areas which Riders of the system have spoken out about.

Drivers:- rude- un-helpful- sitting in limbo areas of terminals while patrons stand cold by the pick-up area- leave while people are waving furiously at them- talk on cell phones while driving (ridiculous - but true)

Ticket, payment takers in station:- don't care or pay attention to see if you've paid- give incorrect change- rude- un-helpful- sometimes absent (why even pay at all)- sitting reading the paper totally unaware of your presence- sometimes 3-4 in booth (how many are needed?)
Constables: - extremely aggressive- glorified security guards- act as if they are actual police officers

Routes:- adding more buses on extremely busy routes- increasing train service - picking up the pace

The TTC is making some strides to improve service in these and other areas. Hopefully they will continue to do so without treating their users like a captive audience but more like the people for whom, in the most part, pay their salaries