overthere

He'll probably sign a one year deal for about $4 million, on condition that he gets moved to somewhere that appreciates his talent . In hockey terms, that is good bye soon. He hasn't forgotten that he's been told his whole life how good he is, and reinforced by being #1 overall. See Franson above, same deal, same result. Glad to see your admission that Yakupov will not get the same deal all the other first overall picks (and Eberle) got at this exact point in their careers. Could it be because he is not very good? You think he'll be happy about being fourth donkey on a crap team? I feel a bit sorry for him. He has never been obliged to learn anything about defence until now.

Your frequently stated assertion that association with a group implies extremism, or a group of strong beliefs. Stuff like " If I see a bedsheet moving down the sidewalk,"(273 above), which is not supported by anything other than bigotry. Never mind law, there just is no sense other than rage to what you write. The case in point is not at all about what the woman believes other than the extant example: should she be permitted or not permitted to wear a veil at a ceremony? No, you don't get to pretend otherwise. You can wank on and on about extremism being automatic when a person is a member of a religion, but this is much more about an appeal to bigotry than an appeal to logic and the law. Harper knows he will lose this appeal, but the time it winds through he'll have mined a few votes from the bigots, and not lost many en route. This is about poliutics. I hope you're not heartbroken when the obvious is revealed in due course.

I did not say he was worse than Daigle, but he is clearly the worst since Stefan in 1999, 15 years ago. DiPietro was a good goalie that was crippled by injury, almost every year. Yakupov scored many of his rookie year points at the end, when nothing mattered. Since then, he has shown nothing that would indicate inmprovement, other than a few points recently. Despite being #1 overall, he was never in the running for the Calder. The only thing he has excelled at since was having the worst plus/minus. He still has little clue of the defensive game. Watch where he is when he does not have the puck..... He likes to goalsuck, which costs us goals. When the play turns around, he is very often well behind the play and often on the wrong side of the puck. He has another problem, which others have commented on and is obvious if you watch the Oilers. He is slow. he is quick, but slow. He gets to top speed quickly, in a few strides, but his top speed is average. It was enough to blow around defence in junior. Not in the bigs. Where he could make some happy times is by emulating Brett Hull, Find open space and use his excellent shot to score often. Of course, you cannot do that loafing on the halfwall, at a bad angle- where he often can be found. It won't matter soon. He won't be in Edmonton longer than another season unless a) his play improves dramatically and Edmonton gives him big and long term money. a) has to happen before and it won't. Bust. Move on.

I spent years squalling screaming and demanding attention-including lots of free health care I did not speak a word of English for the first couple of years in Canada and did not pay a cent in taxes for 14 years.

so you are a big supporter of controlling the beliefs of groups? I'm a supporter of assessing actions. I don't give a shit what people think or believe. I do care about how they act. It is grotesque to assess people by their affiliations, and through some thoughtful intervention called the Constitution there is barely a lick of law in this country to support you. All this lady is required to do is obey Canadian law. And covering her face does not break any law, nor does it threaten me in any way. I do hope you keep your bizarre fears to yourself and not act out on them other than talking, which you have the right to do. That is what Canada is about Argus. LOve it or leave it.

Umm, can you give ne a date and time I should run shrieking into the street?

Of course he will. Edmonton Journal and everry local station was all over this with film of Larionov arriving in the middle of it all. His parents are really involved, he lives with them in Edmonton. Three years of scary-bad play is plenty of time to notice that the #1 overall pick is -64 and has little clue of the pro game despite intense tutelage.. Would you hang on to him until he is 34 and then make the call, that the team made a mistake? Have you ever actually watched a game, do you have any awareness of NHL contracts and how they work? Unless he turns into Alex Ovechkin overnight I think we're going to find put when he plays somewhere else. It would actually be less embarassing to the Oilers if he went to the KHL. At least then they would not have to admit that he was an awful choice. They should have picked Murray, Reilly, Trouba- all players who would have contributed far more. Oh, and note that EVERY #1 overall pick goes to a shitty team. Of course. Yakupov has set a new low for lack of talent, he's the worst #1 since perhaps Patrik Stefan in 1999.

That is not the issue. It is her choice to cover her face, in a venue where it does not matter if it is covered or not. Many new citizens wear turbans, dhotis, sarongs, or whatever they wish to the ceremony. It's actively encouraged, to demonstrate the diversity we all love. . Some posters project her personal; choice to mean she must be also wearing a suicide vest. And so what if she is devoutly religious? That has nothing at all do with her qualifications as a new citizen. It is not part of the points system for entrance, the family reunification program or the refugee program.

If you are an electrican from Alberta, you are likely to be unemployed or underemployed soon. Vote for the party that can change that. Because despite all the yap about programs we need, none of it happens unless people are working an earning.

Yep. I can see Argus believes in different rights for people based on their culture. Now you are transferring your hatred to an individual, somebody who has not expressed any extremist views. Oh sorry, you consider wearing a head covering as indicative of extremism. I would not want to see how you'd feel about a bunch of kids wearing face shields or a baseball team.

You are making an incorrect assumption, that there are only two options for the player. He can also say: I won't play another game here unless you give me big money long term, or at minimum big money short term. What then? Do you think he thinks he is a lesser player than Eberle, Hall, or NH? if he does that, his value in a trade goes from minmal to near zero. It might be different if he'd actually done anything that mattered in three seasons. I know for a fact there was, which forced Eakins or more accurately MacTavish to back off. I cannot say how I know that. But you can also check the record of what was said by all sides then. It is clear enough that Yak got his agent involved and the threat was real and it was made. Why? Because a shitty team put a shitty player back into icetime he simply did not warrant- as was evidenced by his ebnching/demotions and swift reversal. Lrionov came to Edmonton, dinner was had, Yak is back, Taht simple. Been there once, and he'd be welcomed back with open arms to a familiar place. Options options options. Soon. Duh, that doesn't matter. What matters is his #1 overall, his performance4 for three years, and his contract status. Subban was 43rd pick overall and already much better than Yakupov when his entry level deasl ended. He got a bridge contract, and his response was to win the Norris trophy and earn a whopper deal. Ain't gonna happen with yakupov. Yeah, I'm sure Nail will acknowledge that all the others are more deserving. The question I ask myself is: where would Nail be playing on a good team under a good coach/management group? Lets say Detroit/Babcock, or Rangers/Vigneault, St Louis/Hitchcock, Chcicago/Quenneville etc. The answer is this: he'd be in the AHL learning the pro game. When he had that figured out, he'd be playing fourth line until he could be trusted not to be a cumulative -60, the worst plus/minus and the worst player on a really bad team.

You are not paying attention at all if you think I'm a lefty. Your hyperbole does not make your point, it just causes further personal embarassment on this topic. Since you've lost perspective, perhaps take a few minutes and consider why the niqab is or should not be an issue to you? Her wearing or not wearing it does not mean the Jihadist, homosexuals or other people you regard as deviants have won or will win. In fact, those stout Canadians like you who rally behind the cause of personal freedom are the ones who have won. Congratulations. I admire what this lady is doing, her courage in the face of all this bigotry.

I agree the team has looked better under Nelson, but they are still eyars away from making the playoffs. They have massive holes in goal, center and and particularly on defence to fill. They are about to get very little return for Petry, their best defenceman(after investing several years, they will be fortunate to get a second rounder for him). McTavish has already said his 1-2 defence pairing next year will be Schultz and Klefbom, a terrifying prospect. Shultz, Klefbom, Fayne, Nikitin(oh how awful he is!), Fernce and pick one of these choices: baby Nurse, Marincin and Aulie) That adds up to likely the worst 6/7 in the NHL. Your vet center Roy will be gone soon too, he is just not in their plans going forward. He is a midget sized stopgap after the cluster f**k that was Dreisatl. I did not say there would not be trade interest for Yakupov, I said they'd get nothing for him- certainly nothing like a trade for pretty much any #1 overall should get. He just has no hockey sense. The biggest problem is the big gap between reality and his own self-perception. He'll be gone soon, one way or another. They have to negotiate his bridge deal soon, and that is not going to go well at all. A humble, team first kid? Yakupov clearly had no clue about defence(aka team play) until recently and showed little interest of it in the first couple years. He asked for a trade last year through his agent Larionov because Eakins was not playing him where he thought he should play. The Oilers caved and pt jhim back on the second line with power play time because they feared what would happen- that he'd just walk.. And of course he wants a big contract and thinks he's worth it. Everybody else got one, why not him? So when he does not get it, and realizes that nobody in the NHL will give him longterm big money, what does that leave? Yes, he did play in the KHL during the lockout. His father and family are heavily involved in his hockey life, they intervened to keep him from going back to Sarnia. His agent is Larionov, who heavyhanded the Oilers not too long ago.The Oil may keep him a year or two on a bridge contract as did Montreal with Subban, but unlike Subban he is not going to become a premier player and the clock is ticking on Nail.. I've watched him play pretty much every game as an Oiler, and he is nowhere near the kind of franchise, high quality player you'd expect from that draft slot. Everybody in the league knows it. The Oilers have a tough decision ahead, and it may be as early as this summer when he becomes RFA.

Both Bushes and likely Clinton would have gone Defcon + over Ukraine. So would Reagan if he'd been President after the fall of the USSR. Obama? Nyet. The US has been spanked pretty hard twice in the last decade.

Oh, and Kessel has a Luongo -like problem with his contract. I think Toronto will have to eat some cash on this trade.

We've seen Nail 'turn a corner' before. I'd prefer that he score a ton of goals right now so they could get something, anything in a trade. He has a problem they cannot fix: no hockey sense. Right now, he would get the Oilers almost nothing in return. Here is the rub for the Oilers, and it is a big one. The Oil paid Eberle, Nugent Hopkins and Hall big money on long term deals at the end of their entry contracts- $6 million per eyar for 5 or 6 years each. There is no way they will pay Yakupov that, it would be insanely irresponsible. But you can be absolutely certain that Nail thinks he is worth that, and he has shown a strong propensity to pout big time. All the Oil can offer him is a year or two as RFA, maybe at $3 million tops. Then he'll play so badly nobody will want him at any price, which is pretty much where he is right now. They're in a bad spot, and I expect Yakupov to end up in the KHL where he'll get paid well and everybody will tell him every day how great he is.

I know why. The Leafs offered Franson a long term deal that did not - in his opinion- have enough term, money or a no trade clause. Their opinion of his value was much less than his opinion. They'll know who was right July 1, when Franson signs with somebody.

If only Europe had the spine to battle at all.

and effectively, it is again. Russia now controls their industrial heartland.

10 years ago.

Yep. She absolutely must be required to identify herself to the satisfaction of authorities as part of the process of gaining citizenship. And she has, until the actual cermeony which is the last and least important step. I believe niqabs must be taken off in cirmcumstances including: airport security, border crossings, under oath in court, at traffic stops when required by a peace officer and others. After the identity is established, the veil can be worn.

I predict Wynne will fold like a cheap tent.

Prior to this dustup about the niqab this human being has satisfied every requirement for being a citizen up to taking the oath. And she is eager to do that, if she can retain her modesty. She still meets all those requirements today. I wonder how many of your own ancestors would be met with your scorn at their culture or lack of it? I welcome her and her family with open arms. I hope they thrive.

Nearly all wrong. People come here to be free, not to be like you. It is her choice to wear a veil, not yours to deny it. She has no or more less rights than you or I do- do you think that because you got here 10 minutes earlier than her you have some special right to judge?

Coming on April 5: Wolf Hall on PBS. Now this series should appeal to every poster here. It's all about political intrigue, chicanery and dirty tricks at the very top of the political pile. As it happens, this pile is England in Tudor times, the early 1500s when Henry VIII became King and the world turned upside down. It's based on what I think are two must-read, superb books by Hilary Mantel: Wolf Hall and Bring Out the Bodies. Few authors are as intelligent or agile as Mantel. If it is half as good as the books, this is one you should watch.