In this issue...
• U.K. ponders smoking ban
• CBC Radio's Under the Influence: Old-fashioned sandwich board advertising
• By the numbers X 10 + 1
• Tim Hortons introduces... pizza?
• Love or hate Facebook, the only result is rampant misinformation whenever it blocks news
• Mother's Day is Sunday, May 12
• 1,100+ copies sold! #1 bestseller on Amazon: Acadian Recipes and More - Volume 1
• Before you go: 7 things you may have missed last week
• Next Greater Moncton Sunrise Rotary Trivia Night: Monday, April 22
... and trivia, quotes, community events and more!
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U.K. ponders smoking ban
The U.K. plans on banning cigarette sales. Will it work? I don't think so. All it will do is create a thriving black market for organized crime. A nice idea, but completely unmanageable.
Article excerpt: "The restrictions will apply to the sale of cigarettes in the UK rather than the act of smoking itself.
Under the new law, each year the legal age for cigarette sales - currently 18 - will increase by one year.
It means that people born in or after 2009 will never be able to legally buy cigarettes, leading to an effective ban.
The law will not affect those who are allowed to buy cigarettes now.
To crack down on under-age sales, the government says it will introduce £100 on-the-spot fines for shops in England and Wales which sell tobacco and vapes to under-age people.
Local authorities will retain the proceeds to reinvest into enforcement of the law.
This would be on top of £2,500 fines that courts can already impose.
The government says it will spend £30m on enforcement, which will include tackling the availability of cigarettes on the black market.
The new rules will apply in all duty free shops in the UK, but anyone buying cigarettes abroad would be able to bring them back to the UK as long as they were legally acquired elsewhere.
The government aims to have the new system in force by 2027.
Mr Sunak wants to work with the governments of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to introduce the legislation across the UK. "
Banning cigarettes will be a total and complete failure. Not only does the government lose the taxable income, but health costs will NOT decrease because of a thriving black market. Efforts to combat the black market will fail miserably. This is all a fantasy world.
This ban will be a bonanza for organized crime - and fully endorsed by the government. Oh well, at least the criminal millionaires that the ban creates will be happy! Meanwhile, the negative health issues will continue without the tax dollars to counteract them.
Read: What is the UK smoking ban, how will it work and when will it start?
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CBC Radio's Under the Influence: Old-fashioned sandwich board advertising
The latest episode of CBC Radio's Under the Influence with host Terry O'Reilly looked at the old-time art of sandwich board advertising. Is it passé... or is it still relevant?
• April 18, 2024 - Ham on Wry: Sandwich Board Advertising. Synopsis: "Take a walk down any busy Main Street, and you’ll probably see one of the oldest forms of advertising: the sandwich board. They have been around for over 200 years. Cities try and ban them. Storekeepers love them. They can make you smile. They can make you angry. They can attract a lot of attention. They are the pop-up ads of the physical world." Click here to listen to the episode.
Click here for the show's website and here for the show's podcast archive.
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Tim Hortons introduces... pizza?
In an effort to increase its afternoon and evening clientele, Tim Hortons has expanded its food offerings to include four different types of pizza. Will it crash and burn like McDonald's foray into pizza did many years ago? Only time will tell.
Article excerpt: "Tim Hortons executives and chefs have collectively eaten thousands of flatbread pizzas over the last several years.
There were versions that were spicy, others that begged for flavoured oil to be added to the base and a slew designed to figure out which combination of cheeses would nail the 'ooey gooey factor.'
The fast-food chain's aim was to craft a slate of flatbread pizzas hitting restaurants this week that would satisfy their youngest and oldest customers alike, but there was also a deeper mission: get diners in the door beyond breakfast.
'We are really strong in the morning... but we saw that opportunity existed in the afternoon,' said Tims' chief marketing officer Hope Bagozzi, sitting in the chain's Toronto test kitchen on a recent evening.
'With single-digit market share for a player of our size, that's really not tapping into the potential in the afternoon.'
Tim Hortons is hoping to turn that around when it follows up a two-year flatbread pizza pilot with the national launch of cheese, pepperoni, 'bacon everything' and chicken Parmesan varieties Wednesday, a month before its sixtieth anniversary."
I've seen some online videos of people taste-testing the new pizzas. The reviews aren't horrible. Will the Italian-inspired goodies inspire enough people to try out Tim's later in the day, as they hope? It certainly won't hurt.
Read: Tim Hortons launches pizza nationally to 'stretch the brand' to afternoon, night. Related: Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error.
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Love or hate Facebook, the only result is rampant misinformation whenever it blocks news
I hate the fact that Government of Canada legislation has led to Facebook removing legitimate news content for Canadian users. As suspected, all this has achieved is create an onslaught of misinformation and a breeding ground for fake news. It was bad enough before - and now it's 100 times worse because legitimate news media's content is nowhere to be found in Canada on Facebook. A sad situation which has been a boon to right-wing propaganda.
Article excerpt: "Since Meta blocked links to news in Canada last August to avoid paying fees to media companies, right-wing meme producer Jeff Ballingall says he has seen a surge in clicks for his Canada Proud Facebook page.
'Our numbers are growing and we're reaching more and more people every day,' said Ballingall, who publishes up to 10 posts a day and has some 540,000 followers.
'Media is just going to get more tribal and more niche,' he added. 'This is just igniting it further.'
Canada has become ground zero for Facebook's battle with governments that have enacted or are considering laws that force internet giants - primarily the social media platform's owner Meta (Facebook, Instagram, Threads) and Alphabet (Google) to pay media companies for links to news published on their platforms.
Facebook has blocked news sharing in Canada rather than pay, saying news holds no economic value to its business.
'The news being talked about in political groups is being replaced by memes,' said Taylor Owen, founding director of McGill University's Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy, who worked on one of the studies.
'The ambient presence of journalism and true information in our feeds, the signals of reliability that were there, that's gone.'
The lack of news on the platform and increased user engagement with opinion and non-verified content has the potential to undermine political discourse, particularly in election years, the studies' researchers say. Both Canada and Australia go to the polls in 2025."
The Government of Canada needs to fix this. It's an awful situation that has no end in sight.
Read: When Facebook blocks news, studies show the political risks that follow.
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1,100+ copies sold! #1 bestseller on Amazon: Acadian Recipes and More - Volume 1
My very first book is now available for purchase! Acadian Recipes and More - Volume 1 is a compilation of recipes gathered from members of the Acadian Poutine Râpée Facebook Group and elsewhere.
There are more than 100 recipes available in the book - many of which are family recipes that are impossible to find! Enjoy the extra bonuses of exclusive goodies from Marven's Biscuits and Cy's Seafood Restaurant, too - both iconic food legends in Moncton, New Brunswick!
On March 21, the book reached #2 on Amazon Canada bestsellers list for ALL books in Canada.
The print edition and ebook (Kindle) are available exclusively on Amazon. Click on the country you live in to visit the appropriate site for purchase:
• Amazon Canada
• Amazon U.S.
• Kobo.com (for Kobo ebook readers)
I'm also pleased to announce that the next two books in the series will be released this year. Acadian Recipes and More - Volume 2 and Acadian Recipes and More - Holidays. Stay tuned!
This is a great book for delicious homestyle recipes. Enjoy!
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Trivia: Did you know?
Kraft Peanut Butter is only sold in Canada and nowhere else in the world, much to the surprise of Canadians who look for it when visiting other countries.
To read more about Kraft Peanut Butter and related products - including recipes, click here.
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Quotes of note
• 1. "Courage is not the absence of fear but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear."
- Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945), President of the United States (1933-1945) (see photo)
• 2. "Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy."
- Dale Carnegie
• 3. "We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear."
- Martin Luther King Jr.
• 4. "The way people come into your life when you need them, it's wonderful and it happens in so many ways. It's like having an angel. Somebody comes along and helps you get right."
- Stevie Ray Vaughan
• 5. "Motherhood is the biggest gamble in the world. It is the glorious life force. It’s huge and scary – it’s an act of infinite optimism."
- Gilda Radner
• 6. "Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavour."
- Truman Capote
• 7. "Every man's life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another."
- Ernest Hemingway
• 8. "I think if I took therapy, the doctor would quit. He'd just pick up the couch and walk out of the room."
- Don Rickles
• 9. "Smoking is one of the leading causes of all statistics."
- Liza Minnelli
• 10. "Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I've done it thousands of times."
- Mark Twain
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Next Greater Moncton Sunrise Rotary Trivia Night: Monday, April 22
The next Greater Moncton Sunrise Rotary Club Trivia Night will be held at St. Louis Bar & Grill, 1405 Mountain Road, Moncton, on Monday, April 22, beginning at 6:30 p.m. $10 per person (cash only). Click here for the Facebook event listing.
Participants may play as teams or individuals. The winning team gets 50% of the door receipts as their prize.
It is strongly suggested that participants arrive by 5:15-5:30 p.m. for a seat. Trivia begins at 6:30 p.m. sharp and is usually over by 8 p.m. Everyone welcome!
Please note that restaurant reservations are NOT available for this event. First come, first served. Limited seating of approximately 50 guests.
Participants may bring an optional non-perishable food item (box of granola bars, Kraft Dinner, cereal, etc.) for distribution at Krista Richard's Community Sports Program events, of which the Greater Moncton Sunrise Rotary Club is a sponsor. Any donations will be gratefully received and provided to Krista for distribution to her program participants (school-aged children from Moncton-area schools).
Since Rotary Trivia Nights began in 2016, the Greater Moncton Sunrise Rotary Club has donated nearly $20,000 to Atlantic Wellness, Karing Kitchen, Ray of Hope Kitchen, Salvus Clinic, The Humanity Project, BGC Moncton (Moncton Boys & Girls Club), Junior Achievement New Brunswick, Project Linus - Moncton Chapter, and Krista Richard's Community Sports Program, among others. During the last Rotary Trivia Night season (September 2022 to May 2023), more than $6,000 was raised.
The Greater Moncton Sunrise Rotary Club gratefully acknowledges the kind and generous sponsorship of its restaurant partner, St. Louis Bar & Grill.
See you on Monday, April 22!
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Spring is here! Enjoy the great outdoors with the Greater Moncton Walking Group
In April, the Greater Moncton Walking Group meets in Rotary St-Anselme Park located at 505 Melanson Road in Dieppe, meeting in the Rotary Lodge parking lot.
In May, the group moves to the Dobson Trail in Riverview, meeting at the parking lot on Quinn Court.
The roup meets for walks every Tuesday and Thursday at 8:30 a.m. New participants are always welcome! For more information, please contact Wayne Harrigan at 506-386-2187 or via email.
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About this newsletter
Brian Cormier's Weekly Update is distributed weekly from September to June via email to more than 500 subscribers in addition to many others who access it online. If you're reading this newsletter online and want to subscribe, please email me, fill out the subscription form on my website, or subscribe via the "Join Our Email List" button at the top of the newsletter (if you're viewing this in a browser.) This newsletter is not published in July and August and on holidays.
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