The Saints still lifting spirits, Canadian excess and "Bourne" news

- The cynic might look at Tuesday’s visit by the Super Bowl-champion New Orleans Saints to the Gulf Coast region as a straight PR play, one designed to boost the team’s public image and portray it as a concerned resident of the region that cares about those who come to see it play, buy its merchandise and root for it like maniacs. Personally, I’m going to set aside the cynic hat for a second and salute head coach Sean Payton and his players for taking time to visit Fort Jackson in Plaquemines Parish, stop by some of the facilities where oil-coated marine animals are being cleaned and lift the spirits of the area’s weary residents. Payton, team owner Tom Benson and some of the team’s best-known players - Drew Brees, Reggie Bush, Jonathan Vilma, Jeremy Shockey and more - were on hand to visit with crowd that packed the fort. Fort Jackson has been a staging area for cleaning birds rescued from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and those working at the fort clearly needed the pick-me-up that the world champs provided. "We haven't had anything to smile about in a while. Today at least people are getting the chance," said Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser. The players didn’t do anything miraculous, but they didn’t need to. Signing autographs and posing for pictures was a boost for those on hand and Brees also announced a chance for a lucky fan to get a Super Bowl ring like those that will soon be worn by the team. The Saints will raffle off chances to win that ring, with all funds going to aid victims of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Tickets are $2 each, but buyers must make a minimum $10 order. The winner will be announced prior to the Saints kicking off the 2010 NFL season with a Sept. 9 regular-season game against Minnesota. The Saints hope to raise $1 million through the effort and for the chance to win a legit, authentic Super Bowl ring, I’d say that’s a distinct possibility. The people of the Gulf Coast are going to need all of the support they can get and perhaps no area epitomizes that more than Plaquemines Parish, where most coastal waters have been closed to fishing. It’s a region where oysters, shrimp and other seafood species are the lifeblood of the local economy. Locals like Le and Shawn Townsend are struggling to get by and Le Townsend said she was delighted the Saints were in Plaquemines. So while oil continues to leak into the Gulf of Mexico and relief efforts fail, fall short and disappoint, props to the Saints for doing a little something to brighten the days of those affected……….

- Red and Black café owner John Langley, I salute you. You had the testicular fortitude to boot police officer James Crooker from your store at Southeast 12th Avenue in Portland, Ore. on May 18 and as someone who LOVES stickin’ it to The Man, this pumps me up. Crocker entered the café for a cup of coffee but was asked to leave by Langley, who worried the officer would resort to unnecessary violence if something went wrong. What Langley anticipated going wrong (too much sugar in the coffee?), I don’t know, nor do I need to know. I simply wish I had been there when Crooker sauntered up to a cop, gave him the boot and did so because he is a police officer. Langley’s actions become more understandable when you realize that he is a self-described anarchist. There just aren’t enough true-blue anarchists around these days, pining for all-out chaos and freedom from rules and government. Those few bright lights of anarchy tend to attract similar thinkers and it’s logical to imagine that those thinkers might not feel safe around police. For that reason, Langley asked Crooker to leave. In fact, the Langley stated that if anything went wrong in his shop, he would not be comfortable calling police for help. "If there's a police officer there, I wouldn't feel safe in that situation. I would feel worried that the officer might Tase the person or potentially shoot them for having a mental health issue," Langley said. Perhaps a little irrational and excessive, but Crooker actually respected the decision and left without incident, saying it’s the right of the proprietor to decide whether he is allowed to be in the shop. "He comes from a place that I respect. He comes from a place where he doesn't view the police the same," Crooker said. "Everybody views the police differently and he's got the right to express his opinion." The officer has actually handled the situation better than the general public, which has responded by creating a group asking for a boycott of the Red and Black café. The group has gained 15,564 fans, creating such hubbub that Langley called a news conference Monday to respond to criticism. "It's not a personal thing against this police officer. It's not just an irrational hatred of police at work here," he said. "There are some real reasons behind it and there's some real thought behind it." Take it easy on him, general public. Langley can just as easily point to three Portland officer-involved shootings this year as you can call him a discriminatory jerk, so back off………….

- Umm, you probably don’t want to spend nearly $2 million building an indoor man-made lake for this month's G20 summit if you, like most nations, are dealing with widespread financial troubles, Canadian Cabinet ministers. That’s just a friendly thought from me to you and judging by the massive outcry against the plan by media, citizens and civic groups around the country, I’m guessing most Canadians feel the same way. The lake was supposed to be part of a new complex in downtown Toronto for reporters covering the meeting, but those plans may now be scrapped after left-wing legislators ripped it during a question period in Parliament Monday. “Instead of hosting world leaders, maybe the government should consider party-planning for Lady Gaga," Liberal MP Mark Holland said. Hey oh! Cue the rim shot and someone get that guy a brick wall behind him, a cheap suit and a slot at 11 p.m. at the nearest comedy club. But then again, Holland’s words may not have been that far off, not when the country's budget for hosting the event also included paying for "dancers, singers, fiddlers and flowers" with $20 million Canadian (about $18.9 million U.S. dollars). Apparently Holland and the lake’s other detractors don’t appreciate the irony of throwing down seven figures for an indoor lake as part of a meeting that will focus on recovering from the global economic crisis. It was high comedy to watch cabinet members defend the Canadian government's plans while trying to out-shout their opponents. "It's a normal practice for the host country of an international summit to use the opportunity to showcase all their country has to offer, and that is exactly what we're doing...and we're going to be proud to showcase Canada to the world, contrary to what the Liberals want to do," Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said. Umm, that’s great, but how does a fake indoor lake show off your country? Are fake indoor lakes indigenous to Canada and something you Canucks are renowned for? If so, I stand corrected. If not, maybe focus on making the G8 summit as efficient and fiscally responsible as possible when the world’s leaders gather June 25-26 at a lakeside resort north of Toronto. I’m sure that the 3,000 journalists who will cover the event from the media center in Toronto will understand, as will those who attend the G20 summit from June 26-27. "We're proud of our government's efforts to showcase this great country so it can be a magnet for jobs, investment and opportunity," Transport Minister John Baird said Monday. Again, it’s a nice sentiment, but I’m inclined to agree with MP Jack Layton, Canada's social democratic party leader, who said the following: “We've got a government here that has to create an artificial lake, when Canada has more lakes than just about any other country in the world. The taxpayers are going to end up at the bottom of the fake lake.” Well said, MP, well said………….

- Should I be excited about the announcement that Tony Gilroy, the writer for all three Jason Bourne films, will be writing a script for a fourth film in the series? On the one hand, I love the Bourne films and all three have been great. Unlike the Pirates of the Caribbean, Ocean’s Eleven and Spiderman franchises, all of which had their third installment come out the same summer as the third Bourne film, Jason Bourne and friends have put out progressively better incarnations of their film and as such, a fourth movie in the series should be a slam-dunk of a good idea. However, in considering the fourth Bourne movie, one must also factor in the very real possibility that Jason Bourne himself, a.k.a. Matt Damon, won't be a part of the movie. Damon, has gone on record as saying he would not return to the franchise without director Paul Greengrass and right now, no one at Universal has confirmed whether Greengrass will be a part of the film — tentatively titled The Bourne Legacy — and that leaves Damon in limbo. Producers Frank Marshall and Pat Crowley are also returning, but it’s Greengrass that will apparently be the deal-breaker for Damon and for me, Damon being involved in Legacy could well be the make-or-break factor for me in terms of seeing the movie. Some characters become so intertwined with a certain character that the thought of anyone else playing that character just doesn’t feel right, no matter how great an actor the replacement is. All we know right now is that the studio is aiming for a 2012 release, meaning there isn’t a lot of time to hammer out the details and determine if the Greengrass/Damon duo will be part of the project. If those two aren’t on board, I suspect a lot of Bourne fans may spend their movie dollars elsewhere…………

- Brace for more Cash4Gold commercials. Those ubiquitous infomercials encouraging you to drop your gold jewelry into an envelope and ship it off to be melted down into a lampstand in exchange for pennies on the dollar are already popping up on every channel in seemingly every commercial break, but after gold prices climbed to a new record high Tuesday, I have a feeling the volume of those ads will only increase. Gold is seen as a safe haven in a financial world where nearly everything is a risk and with investors hedging against inflation, the precious metal seems like a safe bet. Gold for August delivery rose $5.70 to reach a record $1,246.50 an ounce. That came on the heels of the metal reaching an intraday trading record of $1,254.50 an ounce earlier Tuesday. With nations around the world dealing with debt and budgetary problems, gold and other low-risk investments have become that much more attractive. Since the start of the year, the price of gold has increased 13 percent. “On one hand you have the possibility of additional problems in Europe going forward. And if Europe implodes, gold prices will continue to rise sharply higher,” said Tom Pawlicki, precious metals analyst at MF Global. So the price of gold will keep going up and based on the massive profits that Cash4Gold and similar businesses have to be making off of the desperate schmuks who actually use its services, so will the number of commercials asking you to send in grandma’s old wedding ring, your aunt’s solid-gold necklace and your cousin’s conference championship ring for one-tenth their actual value…………