Your “Welcome To Day 3 – Bargaining With Bargaining” Wednesday Evening Open Thread

Hi, my name’s Beerguy, and I’d like to talk with you about the future.

Super Bowl LI(cked) is in the book, so it’s time to start looking forward to next season.

If you’re like me, your team didn’t win, and that’s okay. It’s okay because your team has learned from its mistakes, and now has a clear path going forward. Holes will be filled; dead weight will be cut; and a strategy for success going forward will be put into place.

Why, the Packers have already started the process, cutting James Starks & Sam Shields. Sure, they have to eat $4.0 million in cap space, but it’s a start to streamlining the team going forward. And the Seahawks have the negotiating opportunity to keep their entire offensive line intact through 2017. Looking at their schedules and divisions, they have a fantastic chance to make it through to the playoffs again. The window’s not closed on either team.

Why, the draft is a chance for them to get better, to add to a team that is just 1-2 key pieces away from returning to the championship game. A draft pick and a couple of trades and they’re right back.

True, they haven’t mastered the salary cap wizardry of the Patriots, who have $62 million in available cap space for 2017. The Packers will have $43 million available, and I’m sure the Seahawks can work some magic with the $26 million they have. Only the Browns, 49ers, Buccaneers, Titans and Jaguars have more cap space than the Patriots. I’m sure there’s ways around that.

But that’s for the GM to figure out. There’s no reason to think he can’t succeed. I’m sure coach’s input will be valuable in this process.

It’s just 78 days until the draft.

Speaking of things you can’t (or shouldn’t) bargain away, Canada’s got its own mild Muslim-ban-esque issue going on right now. The Anti-Terrorism Act, 2015 (formerly Bill C-51), passed under the old Harper regime, has six components:

1. It created a new terrorism offence that criminalizes knowingly advocating or promoting “terrorism offences in general” while aware of the possibility that someone else “may” commit such an offence;
2. It allows the preventive arrest and detention of a person if it is “likely” to prevent a terrorist activity that a “peace officer” reasonably believes “may” be carried out;
3. It creates the new concept of “terrorist propaganda” and allows a judge to order the deletion of such material from the internet;
4. It gives the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) the power to take measures to reduce “threats to the security of Canada”, even if doing so would violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the “Charter”) or other Canadian law;
5. It allows government institutions to share information with each other about “activities that undermine the security of Canada”; and
6. It codifies the Minister’s ability to put Canadians on a “no-fly list”.

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While it’s nowhere near as draconian as anything in the Patriot Act, it still is a frightening piece of (Canadian) legislation in the wrong hands. If you are so inclined, there’s a Day of Action planned for February 25th to try and pressure the Trudeau government to amend or repeal it. [Note: His old man would’ve laughed at you while banging your girlfriend.] While I’m not a Chicken Little, I also don’t want the feds interpreting some of my online activities the wrong way.

For the DFO legal scholars, have a read at the Canadian Bar Association’s breakdown of the law.

And while we’re on the subject of the Home & Native Land,

Canada 150:

February 8, 1879

At a meeting of the Royal Canadian Institute, Canadian scientist and engineer Sandford Fleming proposed a system to divide the world into 24 time zones.

Born in Scotland, in 1845 Fleming immigrated to Upper Canada (now Ontario). In 1851, he designed Canada’s first postage stamp, which would do much to publicize the beaver as a distinctly Canadian emblem.

As chief engineer for the Canadian Pacific Railway, Fleming became interested in how to schedule the trains. In that era, time was calculated in each town by checking the sun. When the sun was at its highest, it was noon. Time between places was not accurate.

He chose the meridian of Greenwich, England, as the prime meridian, at zero degrees of longitude. On 18 Nov. 1883 the railways of North America adopted the system of one-hour time zones that remains in force today. Because of its simplicity, railway time soon became the standard for the continent. This system was gradually adopted by all countries in the 19th and 20th centuries, and is now used worldwide.

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Tonight’s sports:

• NHL:
  • Blackhawks at Wild – 8:00PM | NBCSN / Sportsnet
• NBA:
  • Clippers at Knicks – 8:00PM | ESPN
  • Raptors at Timberwolves – 8:00PM | Sportsnet1
  • Bulls at Warriors – 10:30PM | ESPN / Sportsnet1
• NCAA: tons
  • highlighted games:
    • North Carolina State at Florida State – 7:00PM | ESPN2 / TSN
    • Providence at Seton Hall – 8:30PM | FS1
    • West Virginia at Oklahoma – 9:00PM | ESPN2 / TSN

It’s all going to be fine. YOU’LL SEE!