Poor Mojo's Newswire

Because there’s a persistent strain of priggishness and humorlessness that runs under the psyche of this country. Maybe not down east – but in most other places in Canada you’re going to find a certain schoolmarm-y squeamishness.

Comedy commercials in Canada get complaints. I’ve read them. They have to change lines and tweak shots here all the time because some dear in Abbotsford or Wingham was outraged. You want to know why ads in Canada are so toothless? There's your why. It's a mug's game to try to get anything above the level of a scottish-sounding honeybee on the air here, cause someone is going to take umbrage and get the spot changed. Quick to judge, easily goaded into self-righteousness – Canadians may not have the religious right driven humorlessness of some U.S. states, but they more than make up for it with a lack of generosity of spirit when it comes to laughing at yourself.

Sure, Barbie had a lot of professional careers, but how could she really be an independent woman when she couldn't even stand on her own? To my baby boomer mom, and the many moms like her, the marketing drive to present Barbie as a woman with "choices" was a crock. These were women in a generation that actually made difficult choices about work and family, a generation that knew that real change took a lot more than slipping into a power suit. . . .

When the truck is filled, the drivers take the cargo to a recycling center or scrap yard.

Depending on the prices offered for the material, the crews can net hundreds to thousands of dollars on each load.

The garbage company says those figures add up quickly - totaling $2 million to $5 million a year. Ratepayers ultimately pick up the tab through higher trash bills, said Robert Reed, spokesman for Sunset Scavenger.