'FREEDOM OF SPEECH' HAS YET TO REACH CANADA

We can’t blame them for trying, but the Canadian government may have opened a massive can of worms with its latest move. According to the International Herald Tribune, Canada wants to trademark the word “winter” plus a list of other related words to protect its rights for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games being held in Vancouver. Among the other words that would be protected in a bill before parliament are “gold, silver, medals, sponsor, games, 21st, 2010” and various combinations of those words, the Tribune reports. We wish them luck, even as we rush to trademark the word “butt-heads.” We’ve got a feeling it’ll be used a lot in upcoming stories about this move, and we sense we’ll make a killing.