Noteworthy: Bad passwords, gas-flavoured beer and best PMs

By Medicine Hat News on February 10, 2018.

Popular T-shirt at the Winter Olympics in South Korea: “My parents went to the Winter Olympics and all they brought me back was the Norovirus.” … If you use the password “123456′ or ‘password’ for any of your online security functions, congratulations — you have chosen the worst passwords of 2017, according to a recent Graphicnews report. … From the better-late-than-never dept.: Medicine Hat showed off its big heart a few days into the new year when more than $1,300 was raised via a Go Fund Me account to take care of some expenses for a familly whose vehicle died on them while they were en route to Niagara Falls to see a family newborn. The fund-raising was spearheaded by a couple of employees of Murray Chevrolet, where the vehicle went for repairs. The Go Fund Me goal was $1,000, but more than 30 people chipped in to exceed that amount. … It must be somewhat of a challenge for the UCP in Alberta to try to rationalize the actions of their ‘conservative cousin’ occupying the White House. There must be people in Alberta saying to themselves: ‘If that’s a conservative, I don’t want any part of it.’ On the other hand, a recent Angus Reid poll said Albertans are more supportive of Donald Trump than people in other provinces. Poll results said only 13 per cent of Canadians have a positive view of the Trump presidency but Albertans are significantly more likely to say they have a positive view of the president and his leadership team (29 per cent), though half (49 per cent) still say they view it negatively overall. … Columnist Mark Kingwell, in a recent Globe and Mail piece, wrote a piece headlined “You’re either with Trump or you’re a reasonable person,” wrapping up his column by pointing out all Trump’s foibles and then saying ‘If you continue to support him, when he cares only for himself and says these undeniably hateful things, then you are either an idiotic sucker or a shameful racist. Pick your poison, friends; you’re out of options.” … Yeah, well, you’re an idiotic sucker too, Kingwell, respond 29 per cent of Albertans. … Poseidon Expeditions, which calls itself the go-to company for Arctic and Antarctic cruises, is offering discounts of up to 15 per cent on most itineraries if you book by Nov. 1. Sounds like quite an adventure, especially if Gene Hackman, Shelley Winters and Ernest Borgnine are on the passenger list … Jennifer Davies at Crescent Heights High School must be doing something right with the school’s theatrical program. There were so many students interested in taking part in this year’s “Bullets over Broadway” production that Davies had to seek out a play with a huge cast. In the end, 75 students were in the play, which has its final show tonight, another 15 in the band and more helping in the wings. … A Nova Scotia craft brewery says it is concocting a ‘lobster beer’ to fit with the region’s economic stimulant. Maybe the Medicine Hat Brewing Company or Hell’s Basement Brewery can do something similar: Ladies and gentlemen: New from our taproom: A natural-gas flavoured beer for your enjoyment. … Angus Reid Institute surveyed Canadians on current and past governments, asking how they would rank each of the previous four governments — the ones led by Justin Trudeau, Stephen Harper, Jean Chretien and Brian Mulroney. Canadians answered in the way they are listed above: Trudeau the best at 32 per cent, Harper the next favourite at 28 per cent, Chretien third at 11 per cent and Mulroney bringing up the rear at 7 per cent. Another 22 per cent answered “none of these.” … Call it selfishness, call it boorishness, or call it a sad state of affairs. A woman loaded her groceries from her cart into her vehicle at a local grocery outlet and instead of pushing her empty cart about 20 feet to the cart stall, she drove away and left it sitting there — right in the middle of a ‘handicapped’ parking stall. Nice. … Gleaned from the Globe and Mail: The top five words found in Facebook posts in 2017 from Canadian users were “day,” “hangover,” “loud,” “ticket” and “word.” Hangover was No. 2? … Does any school or organization in Medicine Hat still collect pull tabs from aluminum soft-drink cans? If so, I know of someone with a couple of thousand to donate. … Pro golfer Suzanne Pettersen has played golf with Donald Trump on many occasions and was quoted in a recent Norwegian newspaper story that he”cheats like hell.So I don’t know how he is in business. They say if you cheat at golf, you cheat at business.” Hey, Suzanne, tell us something we don’ already know. After getting some heat, however, Pettersen said she was misquoted. Sure you were Suzanne, sure you were. The writer has her comments on tape. … Premier Kathleen Wynne of Ontario has started a trade war with New York over the U.S. “Buy American” program, Alberta premier Rachel Notley says Albertans won’t buy any more B.C. wines until this Kinder Morgan pipeline gets approval from our former friends to the west and Donald Trump is at verbal war with just about everybody. How did we get here and, like Rodney King so eloquently put it 27 years ago, “can’t we all just get along?” … My Facebook friend Steve Burgess, a transplanted Manitoban now living in B.C. and owner of one of the sharpest wits in Canada, said Albertans will be sorry as soon as B.C. develops a “merlot-powered vehicle.” … Medicine Hat Lodge is staging a couple of terrific dinner threatres in the months ahead. In May, Steve Hillis as Garth Brooks will be on stage and in September, it’s The Everly Brothers Experience. … Mark McMorris of Regina is the subject of one of the most fascinating Olympic stories. The snowboarder who was (and perhaps still is) No. 1 in the Big Air event, nearly killed himself last March after crashing into a tree in B.C.’s backcountry. If you haven’t seen the documentary ‘Unbroken’ about the McMorris tale, do yourself a favour and look for it. And if he wins gold at PyeongChang this month, they should cancel voting for Canada’s athlete of the year, because it shouldn’t even be a contest.