Tokarski outplays Lundqvist in Game 3; Galchenyuk gets the deciding goal – his first ever playoff tally – in overtime for the Habs in their victory over New York. Right now, at 11:31 Thursday evening, I plan to head off the NYC for Sunday’s fourth game. Sure hope there are tickets available but like I say, there are always tickets available if one is willing to pay a premium for them.
“He must be good-looking cuz he’s so hard to see.” — The Beatles, “Come Together.”
MONTREAL — In a disturbing case before the courts in Montreal last year, a woman described her recruitment into prostitution.
First she was seduced by a charming man, then gang-raped, intimidated, beaten and held captive.
She was forced to have sex with 30 men in one evening at a bachelor party. She was raped with a 9-millimetre handgun for a “promotional video.” She witnessed a stabbing, then was made to clean up the blood.
Being ordered to shoplift turned out to be her salvation. When she was arrested, she spilled her guts to police and finally managed to escape six months of sexual slavery.
This was testimony in a rare case of pimping that was prosecuted last year. It ended in mistrial and will be back before the courts this fall.
But the woman’s horrific account is not so rare, and it’s the kind of case we may see more of in the coming years.
TORONTO – Improved profits at Royal Bank of Canada during the second quarter helped drive its stock price to an all-time high on Thursday.
RBC’s shares (TSX:RY) briefly touched $75.94 in morning trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange, after the bank reported that its net income grew 15 per cent during the three-month period, helped by record earnings in its wealth management segment, Canadian banking and other key divisions.
Later in the session, Royal Bank shares were at $75.58, up 1.7 per cent or $1.29 from the previous close and above the previous 52-week high of $74.29.
For the quarter, Royal Bank profits reached $2.2 billion, or $1.47 per share, from $1.9 billion or $1.25 a share in the same period a year ago.
Cash diluted earnings per share were $1.49, beating analyst’s estimates by five cents a share, according to data from Thomson Reuters.
“We continue to focus on achieving the right balance between driving volume growth and maintaining strong margins in order to deliver profitable earnings,” said incoming CEO Dave McKay, who will officially take over from Gord Nixon in August, in a conference call.
— The Gazette, 05/22/2014
Finally, we have this article by Matthew Boyle, of the Montreal Gazette and Bloomberg.net.
Hemp Prepares for Prime Time as Weed’s Sober Cousin
By Matthew Boyle, Bloomberg.net
Mike Fata figures hemp could be the perfect food — if only people would stop snickering.
Fata, the 37-year-old co-founder of Manitoba Harvest, has worked for the past decade on transforming the sober cousin of marijuana from the butt of jokes into a supermarket staple.
The effort’s paying off. Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST), Safeway Inc. (SWY) and Whole Foods Market Inc. (WFM) now sell his products and hemp is on the cusp of a breakthrough, thanks to looser cultivation bans and the food industry’s hunger for nutritious plants. Even the stoner stigma is slowly abating as hemp gets recognized for its ability to deliver protein, rather than psychoactives.
Above: A combine harvester at work cultivating a hemp field.
“Our customers are bright enough to know that it does not have dope in it if Costco’s selling it,” says Jim Taylor, a founding partner of Avrio Capital, a Calgary-based venture capital company and one of Manitoba Harvest’s backers. “It’s more than a fad. We believe we can build a brand.
Hemp is woven into American history. George Washington grew it, and the nation’s first flags were made from it. It’s easily digestible and packs more protein than chia or flax. It’s also a versatile food: Hemp hearts can be sprinkled on cereal, yogurt or salads, or processed into powders, flour or oil to make everything from bread to beer. Hemp is pricier than, say, chickpeas, but it provides a more complete protein, with all nine amino acids that the human body cannot produce.
“We have our eye on it,” says Colleen Zammer of Bay State Milling Co., who has worked with food and beverage companies like Kellogg Co. (K) and PepsiCo Inc. (PEP) to develop and promote healthy ingredients for the past 25 years. “It’s THC-free, similar to chia in nutrition, and better tasting.”
Hemp’s resurgence comes amid a broader shift in climate, crops and consumer preferences. Other protein-rich plants — think peas and quinoa — enjoy booming sales and are in short supply, global warming is scrambling the cultivation map from Argentina to Canada and environmental concerns kindle demand for local produce.
Hemp Diet
Amid this landscape, opposition to hemp is softening. Fourteen U.S. states have removed barriers to its cultivation, and the farm bill Congress passed in February will allow hemp growing for research purposes in those states. Restrictions have eased as even marijuana gains acceptance, and Democrats and Republicans alike support the economic lift hemp could provide industries ranging from textiles to home building.
“Without realizing it many Americans already use hemp in their soaps, automobile parts, or even in their food,” says Representative Jared Polis, a Democrat from Colorado (where private consumption of pot is legal), and one of the legislators behind the farm bill’s hemp amendment. “The potential for a billion-dollar-plus domestic industry is very realistic.”
Hemp growing has been legal since 1998 in Canada, opening the door for entrepreneurs like Fata. As a teenager in Winnipeg, Fata weighed over 300 pounds and tried countless fad diets until a friend turned him on to hemp. The mix of protein and fiber curbed his appetite for junk food, and he’s now a walking advertisement for healthier living through hemp, practicing yoga and eating a plant-based diet.
For the remainder of this Matthew Boyle piece, please see Sunday’s Juicy Lesson [222]
That’s all for today. Have a good evening. Waiting to see the Habs tonight; if they win, I’m off to NYC for Sunday’s fourth game. MSG here I come. We still have hope.
Peace.