Deficit Spending

The topic of deficit spending is again on the rise in Canada. The big question is should Canada abandon it's years of fiscal responsibility to help alleviate the suffering of a growing economic downturn? Is it even possible to remain balanced without severely hindering services even possible is probably the second question on most people's mind.
Deficit spending is probably necessary in 2009. Canadians should not just accept this as a necessary evil but understand it is an important tool. During the prosperous (almost) decade that came to an end sometime around June of this year we were able to run a balanced budget and help shrink the national debt. But, conversely, it should be understood that during economic downturns it is not being irresponsible to push the the federal books into the red. This is how we maintain a similar level of services, like education and health care, throughout the boom and bust of the business cycle.
The important factor in fiscal responsibility is to be sure to place the budget squarely in the black when the economy recovers. It would be easy two or three years down the road to continue running a deficit, even though it is not necessary, but that would be foolish. Reducing public debt helps trim excess from the budget in the form of all the fees associated with servicing the debt.
With the price of oil the lowest it has been in years foreign investment into the oil sands, a large but expensive oil source, has been stifled. Because of this Canada's economy is poised to fall more now than when the economic woes were more focused on the banking system. Canada staved off a lot of the problems with the banking crisis because the regulations in Canada are better designed than in America. This regulation meant that Canadian banks were less affected by the toxic debt. Now that oil has dropped in value, Canada's exports will start to drop significantly.
Now is a good time for the Canadian government to start spending. We cannot restrict the governments actions to what it can do with a balanced budget. Tax revenue, and especially oil royalties, are poised to drop substantially so a balanced budget would mean less spending next year than this year which would not help any one.

Harper names 18 new Senators

Harper named 18 new senators in one fell swoop. This is contrary to his pledge to hire no new Senators. A rather significant change. Zero, every available seat; I could see how he could get those mixed up. Pundits have argued that he his trying to gain power before a likely change of regime. Harper, on the other hand, has said it is to help jam Senate reform legislation through the Upper House to make it an elected body with mere eight year terms (opposed to the current 45 years). Many of the people he has chosen are clearly his supporters. Inside members of the Conservative Cadre, successful Conservative fund raisers and people closely associate with Harper specifically.
I hope that Senate reform is the reason. I would hate to think Harper is trying to solidify his power and influence for long after he retires from politics.
I would like to see the Senate elected by a proportional representative system. Each province would be given their quota of seats and by the popular vote in the province assign the proportionate amount of seats to each party.
I will give Harper the benefit of the doubt and say it is to push through the reform measures. Though, appointing 18 new Senators to push through democratic reform does seem a little oxymoronic.

Obama's New Spending Plan

Obama has announced that he will quickly pass a huge stimulus package upon entering office in January. Over the last week and a half there has been wide speculation to the actual figure of the package. I have seen numbers ranging from $400 billion all the way to $1 trillion. These numbers are all absurd. We have entered a point in politics where things are so bad that the citizens of the nation don't care how much the government spends so long as there is, at least a perceived, chance of things getting better.
Obama's plan is essentially JM Keynes' wet dream. He wants to invest this money into infrastructure, calling for a public works project to rival when Eisenhower made the national defense network (the interstate highways). This seems like a sound idea to me. It has become clear that tax breaks and rebates will likely be saved since so many people are in financial peril or are worried about the long term security of their jobs. America cannot rely on foreign demand for their products to stimulate the economy since demand is down everywhere. The only other option would be government spending. Since corporate output, at the national level GDP, is a product of labour and capital there is no better way, in theory, to spend money than on infrastructure. It boosts the national capital, be that rail or road links, improved harbours, airports or upgrading utility connections. These all lead to a higher capital base which increases the potential GDP in the future.
So how do you spend a trillion dollars quickly, efficiently and fairly? You can't really. State and city governments have been lining up for their chance to get their pet projects financed. The government could transfer money to the state governments that, under the zero deficit rule, have been struggling and cutting back on everything to help fill the gap and keep services up to the normal level; now that the economy is so bleak those services are even more important. Although most people would like the money spread fairly there is a lot of merit to keeping the money in the cities. The cities drive the American economy and as such improving city infrastructure will lead to a greater secondary boost to the economy from the private sector. If Obama tries to spend the money too efficiently and scrutinize all of the planned projects too much he may waste precious time. If the government saves 10% of the costs of the stimulus, at the price of an extra quarter's worth of contraction the benefits are highly outweighed by the costs. Likewise if he doesn't look closely enough at the proposals, the money may make its way to less important projects (like a proposed dog park from one big city mayor) at the cost of better project.
There is still some good that could be done by a large tax rebate. If everyone received a $500 tax rebate, approximately $150 would be spent and $350 saved (According to figures in last weeks 'The Economist' tax rebates in America have a 70% saving rate). This will do little in comparison to government spending to boost the economy but maybe help the banks keep liquid with the added deposits. That is, if people still trust the banks?

Soda Tax - Where fiscal policy meets moral stewardship

Governor David Paterson's proposed 2009-10 budget for New York state includes a variety of new sales taxes, including one on soda. This is not the first time a government has used fiscal policy to administer their morality. In Canada it is common to tax tobacco and alcohol heavily to offset the costs of the health care system. In this case it seems warranted since those who consume such goods tend to use the health system more often. In Canada the proposed 18 percent soda tax would have some merit for the same reason. Especially considering obesity related diseases, such as diabetes, may cost taxpayers more than the diseases related to smoking and drinking.
But in New York where there is no government health care, is there merit for specifying a particular good for higher taxes?
Certainly taxing 'bads', such as carbon emissions are a different matter. Everybody has to share the burden on utility when such 'bads' are released even though only a few people are responsible. So if a few people pollute the drinking water to produce their goods, should they not have to pay to clean the water instead of taxpayers-at-large?
Is this tax arguing that fat is a public bad? Everybody has to see it but only a few get the joy of over consumption? No I don't think so. That seems too ridiculous to be true.
Is there a way to evade taxation? Perhaps. Right now if you go to a fast food establishment you can get a 'meal'. Buy a burger and add fries + soda for $1.99 or something like that. Now what if they changed the menu to say 'buy a burger + fries and get a free pop'? Would that reduce a customer's tax burden by a 25 cents? Seems like there could be quite a few loopholes to be exploited.
With State budgets across America stretched, and New York having one of the largest deficits, perhaps this is more about the money than trying to force people into shape. This more simplistic argument gains barrings when you consider new taxes on health clubs and massages. Both, I would wager, have net benefits to people's health; both physical and mental.

Canadian Airports infiltrated by Mobsters

The RCMP have revealed that the three biggest airports in Canada, located in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, have been infiltrated by an estimated 58 organized crime groups. The report suggests that more than 1000 members of organized crime factions, including about 300 airport employees, were involved in this nation wide conspiracy to bring drugs, goods and people into the country.
The drugs?
Apparently the primary drug brought into the country is Khat. This is an East African plant that can be chewed to illicit a narcotic effect. This is only the second time I have heard anything about this drug. The first time was at a fair trade coffee symposium at the University of Guelph which talked about the rampant growing of Khat in the horn of Africa. The speaker thought that awarding copyright protection to high quality beans from Ethiopia would allow for a higher value placed on the community grown coffee and make it more profitable than the competing crop, Khat. It is rather surprising that such a drug would be so popular in Canada, or that the transhipment point for the product is Britain where it is apparently legal. Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto were all listed as destination ports for this product.
It was also found that Vancouver was a popular destination for Caribbean cocaine whereas Toronto seemed to be where Heroin was being shipped. I always thought that those two cities tended to have the opposing vice? Not to mention Toronto is closer to the Caribbean and Vancouver is closer to the Far East where most of the poppy seeds are grown.
Organized Crime groups apparently tried to help their spouses and members get jobs at the airport as security guards, baggage handlers and customs agents while trying to subvert those already in positions of authority.
The report stated that checking employees upon both entry and exit of the terminals and more background checks for the employees is needed to reduce the illegal shipments that manage to get through port security. When you leave work at a retail store they check your bag to make sure you didn't steal socks yet it is not considered prudent to check airport employees to make sure they aren't hiding cocaine in their pocket after leaving work?! Likewise retailers may ask for you to order a criminal check before hiring you to make sure they can trust you with a few hundred dollars so how can airport security contractors, of all profession, not do the same?

Ill. Governor charged with soliciting a bribe (among other corruption charges)

Gov. Rod Blagojevich has had allegations brought against him for trying to solicit a bribe to be appointed to Obama's vacant Senate seat. He was already under investigation for other corruption charges. Because of this ongoing investigation the phones in his office had been tapped by the Attorney General's office. Blagojevich was recorded saying "I've got this thing and it's (expletive) golden, and I'm just not giving it up for (expletive) nothing. I'm not gonna do it." I guess two things. What kind of high ranking official swears like a sailor? I mean shouldn't this kind of appointment beat the ghetto out of you? You are constantly in the public's eye and trying to be elected for a position. Show some tact. Second, how does someone this stupid get elected to begin with? He knew he was being investigated already. How could he trust the security of his phone lines? This is why shady, yet luxurious, hotels were invented. The hotels may even be bugged (Watergate?) but certainly you have the foresight to get out of your office.
Blagojevich is not an isolated case. Chicago has one of the most corrupt state buildings in America. No Less than three former Governors (of the last seven) have been convicted for their Fraudulent activities. These include:
— Otto Kerner (governor 1961-68) was convicted in 1973 of tax evasion, bribery and others counts for fixing horse races. He served one year of a three-year sentence.
— Ten years after he left office, Dan Walker (1973-77) pleaded guilty to bank fraud and forgery unconnected to his service as governor.
— George Ryan (1999-2003) covered up brides and awarded state contracts to political pals. He’s serving a six-year prison sentence.
This means four of the last eight governors of Illinois, assuming Blagojevich is incarcerated, will have served time in prison. The other four are likely on the run as we speak and hiding out on some tropical island sipping mohitos (it's just fun to say, mohitos). Jon Stewert Tuesday night made the point that committing murder will result in arrest and conviction about 48% of the time in America whereas being the governor of Illinois results in a 50% chance of incarceration.
Balgojevich, who tried to find a high paying job for his ife, as one of the conditional bribes to become a Senator, may not have been the only half of the couple procuring shady deals. It appears as though the foul-mouthed wife may have been just as guilty. She is recorded conspiring to maintain local ownership of Wrigley field, saying "Hold up that (expletive) Cubs (expletive), (Expletive) them." This is just one instance among many suspicious real estate dealings.
Did it have to be Obama's seat? The poor man is trying to quit smoking, the last thing he needs before taking on the Presidency in under a month is to hear his former position is now in the hands of a 'wise' guy. I hope that this scandal does not taint the President-elect but at the same time I am confident that Palin, as Governor of Alaska, is corrupt, like Ted Stevens its former Senator. So it is not unlikely that the Governor and Senator in Illinois would be in cahoots, though I would think a President-elect would have the foresight to stop any mutual activities as soon as it was clear he may be the next President so as to insulate himself from future allegations.

Google Zeitgeist 2008

Google has compiled its 2008 edition of the Zeitgeist. This is their web search index of what people are 'thinking' about. The global list is not very surprising but the differences between some of the regional lists is quite interesting. An example of this is 'weather' being the fourth most popular search in Canada whereas in Australia it was the ninth. I suppose Canadians have less nice weather days throughout the year and so like to know when it is coming and plan as early as possible.
Unfortunately the categories listed for each region are different. In The UAE it lists local 'restaurants' whereas in the UK it has popular 'recipe' searches (what the hell is Eaton Mess?). There is also a lack of country by country information - only 34 nations have data showing. This could be caused by local privacy laws or the lists are not completed yet but either way it reduces the the value of the Zeitgeists.

One of the results I found interesting from the Canadian results was the popularity of the political parties, by search:
1. green party
2. liberal party
3. conservative party
4. ndp
5. bloc quebecois
Presumably the Green Party would have a boost solely because it is a newer party and so people may just be interested in knowing their policies. The Liberals and Conservatives on the other hand are well established and as such Canadians likely require less research to know their core policies. But, perhaps, this points to a greater voter base for the Green Party for the next few years.
In the UAE, a bastion of religious reverence, who was one of the biggest searches - by character name and real name? Hannah Montana. It's good to know we have things in common with the middle east. We need to build on this young Hollywood vixen affinity and work from there to gain the trust of the whole area.
The website Surf the Channel is one of the fast growing websites in the world. I find this particularly interesting because I only discovered the website a few weeks ago and I see the number of views their videos are receiving and it is not surprising that it is becoming one of the most popular websites. We will see if it goes the way or other video indexing websites.
The power of Youtube is growing very quickly. It will soon be the preeminent collector of humanities' culture. It is already one of the most popular websites in the world and is also steadily increasing its popularity. We see it listed in both of these categories on regional surveys from Brazil to Germany.
Facebook seems to be the digital border between the East and West. It is either one of the most popular websites or fastest growing or both in Countries from the Americas (North and South) as well Europe. It is, however not seen as often in the East and if it is only in the fastest growing field (Malaysia, Singapore).

The Future?

I have been watching a lot of cheesy sci-fi recently and I have noticed that one thing seems to be a part of every future whether it be a utopia or distopia; on Mars or underground. People in the future will sleep less than we do now. Their sleep patterns will be irregular at best. I, for one, do not like where this world is going. If the future means staying awake for two or three days at a time on a regular basis then we need to start acting now to prevent this. Slumber change is a very real and likely threat to humanity.

Coalition Government

There is talk of a new government in Canada. A proposed coalition between the Liberal and NDP parties, with concessions offered to the Bloc, could take over leadership from the Conservatives provided they can come to an agreement that is able to gain Royal Ascension.
Aside from the clashing colour scheme (Red and Orange?!) what would this new government look like? I think we can say with certainty that it would have some decent green policies; it would probably focus on some social issues; the Bloc will be able to gain more money for their constituents and it would probably be very expansionary during the financial downturn. Even though the Liberals were the party that balanced the budget it seems likely that, with the help of the NDP they would be more inclined to spend their way out.
This coalition could mark the beginning of a new phase in Canadian politics where parties are forced to cooperate to govern. It could, on the other hand, alienate a large portion of left leaning voters and the result being a further decimation of the Liberals perennial supremacy.
How did this all come about? The conservatives failed to offer enough money to boost the economy, at least in the eyes of the opposition, and used their initial budgets to pass some far right leaning policies. The one that is getting the most attention is the end of party financing. I think that party financing is an important institution in safeguarding our democracy. Without some level of party financing we risk our government being taken over by a few select, wealthy, interest groups.
With the Liberals in the middle of a leadership debate one must wonder who the next Prime Minister would be and how he will be chosen. If the leader is selected by the powerful Liberal cadre instead of the members-at-large it would jeopardize our democratic choice in a rather ironic twist considering one of the major excuses for this endeavor. The alternative is Dion as PM while the Liberals can hold a caucus to decide the replacement PM. Ignatieff seems to be the favoured candidate, though I think he was a few years ago too when Dion somehow managed to win. Bob Rae would likely be more popular with the NDP which may end up being important given their duel party government.
Of course this could all be moot if somehow Harper remains in control or our fearless Governor General decides a second election is more prudent.

Sourcing Food, Buying Nations

News has broke that a large South Korean conglomerate, Daewoo, has leased about half the arable land in Madagascar for 99 years. The intent is to produce cheap produce, like corn, and plant products to convert into ethanol, at a lower cost than could be produced in the cooler climate of South Korea. The ethical questions that arise from this are numerous. The thought of going into a destitute economy and literally taking their land, the only thing of value, from a group of people that cannot afford to eat is outrageous. But at the same time this will produce a lot of jobs, building needed infrastructure for the exportation - new highways and a modern port to start; then all the jobs at the port and the newly exploited land. Add in the amount that Daewoo will pay the government and there is now a clear case on both sides.

But, this is not the only plan currently in place at a national level to find new sources of food. Saudia Arabia, as I have mentioned before, is planning to scrap its irrigated wheat fields, which is one of the most expensive wheat production areas in the world, for a cheaper alternative elsewhere. This would be done using their sovereign wealth fund as a financing vehicle to purchase or lease land in a more hospitable environment (IE: better growing location with cheaper running costs). This plan has the added benefit of being, at least in some respects, more environmentally sound. It would be trading more fuel expenditure to save on scarce water supplies. In a nation that uses large amounts of energy to desalinate the water to run the facility, perhaps even the energy requirements may prove to be neutral or better.

The Maldives have an even more grandiose plan. Since most of the nation sits very close to, or below, current sea levels, the government has realized climate change poses a very real and timely threat to its existence. As global sea levels rise it is possible the entire group of islands may be submerged. Their Head of State has declared that to keep their culture and community together it will consider saving up to buy a plot of land somewhere so, if disaster does strike, it is able to relocate its entire population.

As energy needs rise while production remains flat, capital becomes scarce, a need for food security rises and coastal land becomes more threatened, by both rising waters and increases in both frequency and strength of maritime storms, nations will find themselves considering more and more large scale plans to protect their interests cost viable. What is next I wonder?

CO2 Emission 1990-2006

This selected "Daily Chart" from The Economist is telling.
The chart, which details the rate of change of CO2 emissions, shows some surprising details. Not surprising are Canada and Australia's emissions rising faster than America's. Though America has done little to mitigate its emissions, with the rise of production in the Canadian oil sands, and Australia's increased mining exports it is not inconceivable that America would be increasing at a lessor, though still alarming rate. Ireland's emissions are rising quickly even though the majority of growth in the country is found in the high tech sector. This is, presumably, caused by both the increased demand for energy as well as an increased level prosperity. Ireland does have one of the highest per capita GDP in the EU after years of, by western standards, high growth.
The former eastern bloc nations have seen the most dramatic drop in emissions, but this is more likely because of a breakdown in their heavy industry sector versus any commitment to environmental concerns.
Germany, however, is down almost 20%, with Britain and Sweden in the 10% area. Indeed the EU has quite a few nations making serious strides to reducing their emissions. Their successes show proof that a nation can still prosper while helping to reduce climate damage. (Current financial crisis withholding).

"Man Sex Thursday"

A reporter for the Toronto Star has learned of something very interesting going on in Afghanistan. As he reported from Afghanistan, some of the local military men, that were trained by Canadians, have engaged in pedophilia with some of the local villages boys. The reporter's translator referred to this as "Man Sex Thursday" which is an apparent weekly ritual of abuse. See? Catholics with the alter boy love Sundays do not have a monopoly on religious people abusing boys. An inquiry is looking into the allegations.
I'd make a joke about the 'surge' at work but it just seems to be in bad taste.

Kick a Ginger Day

This past Thursday was designated Kick a Ginger Day in Canada. It appears as though there have been some acts of violence against the gingers because of the Facebook group that started the craze.

According to the Edmonoton Sun a few incidences occurred in Calgary. Where some children were beaten to the point of bruising.

What bothers me about the post is how it blames South Park for warping the minds of impressionable youth. South Park never declared kick a ginger day. It merely argued that gingers do not have souls and try to kidnap kids in the night. How something so benign could lead to this massive amount of hate is beyond me.

One mother quoted in the article says that "It's assault - it's racist, too." Although I agree that it is assault, I would hate to see kids lose their chance at a decent future over criminal charges being laid now. As for the second, by saying it is racist is the mother not admitting that her child is different? I mean is the sun racist for being the enemy of these fair skinned folk as well?

Wolly Mammoth Genome Sequenced

Scientists have completed the sequencing of DNA taken from the frozen hairy corpse of a Woolly Mammoth. Once the modern elephant's DNA is sequenced for comparison so the extinct mammal's DNA can be culled of all external fragments (fungi/bacteria interwoven with the hair) it could be possible to resurrect the old beasts.

Firstly, why did scientist work on sequencing an extinct species DNA when they had not yet dealt with a threatened species like the elephant? It seems like these people are more like showmen than scientists. Clearly they picked the woolly mammoth because it would get more attention.
Secondly, How long after they start to bring back these species for research purposes will it lead to some sort of zoo. And, more to the point, how long after these zoos open will you be able to buy a woolly steak or a saber tooth stir-fry?

Called it!

Just one day after Somali pirates hijacked a Saudi tanker filled with 2 million barrels of oil and just one hour after I suggested a Chinese cargo ship would make a better target, Somali pirates hijacked a Hong Kong cargo ship carrying 3600 tonnes of wheat destined for Iran. This is probably the ideal target for a large pirate organization whose is undoubtedly associated with the Islamic groups that are starting to take control of Southern Somalia. The food can not only generate funds, feed some of its militiamen but also be distributed to their fellow countrymen in a bid to solidify their authority and add some general support.

$100 Million News

Two interesting pieces of news today have a hefty figure attached to them. The first is regarding arson in California. A recent court verdict has sentenced a homeless man to four years in prison for setting two fires in California. The fires were set in 2002 and 2006; the latter of which was the fifth largest forest fire in California state history. Along with four years in prison the man was fined $101 Million.

Somali pirates hijacked a Saudi Arabian oil tanker with $100 million worth of crude oil in its hold. With Somali being essentially stateless and completely lawless the violence and hording has long been spilling off of the horn of Africa and polluting the nearby waters. This has resulted in already tumultuous seas becoming increasingly difficult to navigate for the huge queue of ships from the middle east carrying oil destined for Europe as well as the endless flow of container ships coming from China.

The first story seems ludicrous. Why levy such a huge fine? A homeless person would be lucky to afford $101 without adding another six zeros to the figure. But, at the same time, it is tied to the direct costs of fighting the two blazes. It doesn't even factor in the value of the timber or biodiversity lost.
As for the pirates, I wonder what their endgame is? They cannot process the fuel. It is not as though Somalis have the technical expertise or infrastructure to bring it to even the blackest market. I mean a similarly large container ship from china would make a far better target. With time the ship could be unloaded with more rudimentary equipment and whatever trinkets are on board could likely be brought to market much easier than crude oil. Further to that, The thousands of containers would probably make squatter houses of a higher quality than the ones found in slums near Mogadishu.

Fucking EPA

Environmentalist recently won a battle against the Environmental Protection Agency which will mean that CO2 will be included on the list of air pollutants. This is a victory in the fight against climate change and so I do not want to speak too ill of it but I think this victory underlines a problem.
Wouldn't a well functioning environmental watch dog be fighting in the courts on the side of the environmental groups against the corporations? It seems like the EPA is misnamed.
I think that President-Elect Obama could really help the environment by making the EPA as independent of the government as possible creating an organization whose goal is to work through the judiciary to try and force through as many new protocols as possible to increase the amount of power it has and to reduce the amount of pollutants that industry may emit.

Pregnant Man fighting Stereotypes

Months after giving birth to a child, the pregnant man is still fighting the stereotypes. But, what are the stereotypes of a pregnant man? I mean we can all think of some stereotypes for nearly every divide in society (from the fun - ex. pot smoking hippie to the cruel - ex. baby eating republican) but how do you stereotype a group as small as men who have given birth?
Since I can only think of one other man who has given birth I assume that the general stereotypes of a pregnant man are similar to him personally - Austrian accent, former body building champ, possibly a robot from the future come back to the past to kill and/or save John Connor and most likely harbours Gubernatorial aspirations.

Worst Mother Ever

Yesterday I was on lunch and decided to buy some bento from the local supermarket. After making the purchase (some sort of stuffed potatoes and pizza) I went to the microwave to heat it up. Unfortunately a mother and child arrived first. That's fine, lunch is an hour, you can wait a minute for someone else. But no, not one minute, the women throws her frozen lasagna in for 10 minutes (the box says 5 minutes) then tells the daughter, who is sitting in a hybrid Anpanman car/shopping cart (the back has room for groceries and the front looks like a plastic toy car that kids sit in with an Anpanman theme) that she will be back soon and to not move. She leaves her 3 year old daughter to watch the microwave while she goes and buys cookies! Finally after waiting ten minutes, in disgust over the bad parenting, I heat my food and go to ride the escalator up to the lunch room (my school is inside of a shopping centre). Except I can't walk up the escalators because two old people are standing side by each blocking the walking lane. In the Kanto region it is accepted practice to stand on the left, walk on the right. In the Kansai region it is the opposite. Slow people walking abreast is bad enough but stationary people standing abreast is that much worse!
I hereby declare that the mother is in violation of the social contract. The honour code that exists between individuals that allow us to live in a society without having to yell at each other constantly.

Ken's Belt

I borrowed a belt off of Ken when I was either in my first year of university or my final year of high school. I can't remember exactly but having no belt or twine around I asked Ken to borrow a belt. Thanks to his grandmother he had 3 identical belts which I took advantage of by permanently borrowing one. Every time he asked for his belt back I just told him no. Truth is I really liked that belt. Last night the knob snapped off and it is now ruined putting to bed possibly the most selfish clothing related thing I have ever done.

Sarah Palin's Clothes

Sarah Palin is in the news again after accidentally bringing some of the $150000 wardrobe the GOP bought her home to Alaska. According to her father she is frantically rummaging through everything she owns to sort her JC Penny pant suits from the clothing bought at Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. This is no easy task as from the exterior the clothing is very similar. This problem is made more difficult, according to Poppa Palin, because children tend to lose their underwear so it is nearly impossible to account for everything. i understand completely as I recently lost a pair of underwear that cost me 1500.

Extras

I was just thinking about extras in TV shows and something occurred to me. You often see some extra in the background of two or three shots but they never have a line throughout a whole episode. How often do you think the actor was given a line, felt like it was going to be his or her big break then for time constraints "pass me the sugar" or whatever it is gets cut? Because I am sure to get episodes to be nearly exactly the same time each week small cuts are always necessary and directors are probably more likely to cut some extra's lines than the stars who are liable to throw a tantrum over their 'art' being tampered with. Sad really.

The State of their Nation

America is reveling in the aftermath of one of the most important elections in American history. Barack Obama is now a mere two months away from removing George Dubya Bush from the white house. America chose the candidate who was nearly unanimously preferred outside of their borders (according The Economist's Global Electoral College Obama was chosen by every country except Iraq, Cuba, Algeria, and The Democratic Republic of the Congo). Irregardless (taking every opportunity to use Bushisms while it is still fashionable) of whether Obama is everything people have made him to be, simply being popular the world over will help repair America's image. If he promotes world unity, environmental protection and completes his plan of near universal health care it would be enough to make him a very successful President. Unfortunately with two wars, a financial crisis, and a budget so stretched that higher taxes or cuts will be a necessity in the short term will make even those three initiatives difficult.
Barack has begun the difficult task of picking his new cabinet to be fully prepared for the inauguration. His first announcement was regarding Chief of Staff where he chose an Illinois local and veteran of the Clinton administration, Rep. Rahm Emanuel. I hope Warren Buffet makes his way into the cabinet as the appointment of a respected figure like Buffet can increase investor confidence immediately. Also having a very wealthy person in charge of the treasury will make the tax hike on the rich easier to enact. Buffet is now, after all, the richest man in America and one of the strongest supporters of heavy taxes on the wealthy.
Around the country we have seen some interesting local election results. It appears as though popular comedian Al Franken lost his chance to be a senator by the slim margin of 700 votes. This has been contested and may result in Minnesota having its first recount in 40 years.
Elizabeth Dole lost her incumbency in North Carolina. Not surprising when it was revealed she spent all of 13 days in North Carolina during the year of 2006. Bob Dole's daughter was distraught on television.
Even with this win and a few other pickups, the Democrats managed to fall short of the filibuster proof 60 seat majority in the senate. With only 55 seats, perhaps 56 if Mr. Franken wins on the recount, the Democrats will have a hard time pushing through any legislation without enduring time wasting bipartisan debates.
Surprisingly California voted to end gay marriage. With absentee ballots not yet counted it is possible this will change but as it stands California has reversed a right bestowed on its gay community. With the liberal hotbed of California saying no to gay marriage it looks as though nationwide bans may be seen in the future.
Already the speculation of Palin 2012 has begun. I really hope this pans out as it would be a huge boost to Obama, giving him an even larger landslide for a second term and likely pushing the senate majority over the 60 seat threshold.
Palin 2012?

Early Results (Update 2)

Ohio and Pennsylvania have been called for Obama! Florida and North Carolina are leaning Obama. West Virgina and Louisiana have been called for McCain but it doesn't seem to matter. Even if somehow McCain wins North Carolina and Florida, Obama should still capture the 270 necessary electoral college votes. I am comfortable going to work now believing that Obama has won!

Early Results (Update 1)

Update: Looks like Florida is heavily leading to Obama while Indiana is starting to move into the red. Indiana has over 20% of precincts showing results, Florida only 10%. These results could still change dramatically depending on which precincts these are as both States have areas that tend to go Democrat/Republican.

Democrats have already picked up one new seat in the Senate. It is unlikely they will end with the Filibuster-proof 60 seats but with some centrists, like Lieberman, it is likely that most of their main stream legislature should be able to pass through unimpeded if they can manage even 55 seats. This is possible with all the money Obama has thrown around and the state of the economy.

Early Results

Currently Maryland is leaning Obama by a ratio of 2:1. That is to say there are three votes totaled and 2 are for Obama.
Vermont is called for the Democrats (with 0 votes counted?).
Kentucky has gone to McCain and Indiana is looking very close. If Obama carries Indiana I think that would be a good sign of a landslide in the works.

Two more teens dropped off in Nebraska

Yes, two more teens (both aged 16) have been dropped off at hospitals in Nebraska under the safe haven laws mandate. Apparently the girl didn't know she was being dropped off. The family, originally from Nebraska, live in Arizona. Let this be a lesson to all teenagers everywhere; if your parents say 'lets take a road trip to Nebraska', avoid all hospitals for any reasons.

Humans test DNA of Homo-Gay prehistoric man

Scientists have recently tested the DNA of a 5000 year old mummified corpse found near the Austro-Italian border in 1991. Quite shockingly the DNA is believed to have no modern descendants. Though there are other possible reasons, I think that this is proof there have been homosexuals populating Italy for at least 5000 years.

Nebraska Baby Drop Off

Nebraska passed a law that went into effect this past summer that gives parents immunity to child abandonment laws if they drop their child off at a state hospital. The law, I assume, was to slow down an epidemic of dumpster babies. The problem being lawmakers failed to put an age limit on the term 'child' so half of the children dropped off thus far have been teenagers! Most lawmakers have agreed to change the de facto age restriction from 18 years to 3 days old. Imagine staying out past curfew when you were in high school and as punishment your parents could threaten you with abandonment?

Palin is the future?

There has been a lot of talk about Sarah Palin since she was picked, seemingly by random draw, by McCain to be the vice presidential candidate. The interest in Palin has far overshadowed that of Biden for two reasons. The first being Palin is certainly less known being that she is new to politics, is situated in state, not federal, politics, and the state she is from is quite removed. The second being that as vice president she would be far more likely to become president (due to McCain's age) than Biden.
With the election nearly finished and Obama almost certainly going to win I was looking forward to Palin reverting back to obscurity. But, shockingly, the ultra-conservative cadre that runs the GOP is not saying that the future of the party is Palin. Is this what cultural politics in America has resorted to? Even with all the preparation done on Palin's behalf she still struggles to be a half-wit. You can put lipstick on a pig, but Palin is still a fucking idiot.

Paul Schlesselman

I recently noticed that this potential assassin does not yet have a Wikipedia article so I decided to submit a stub of an article to the people working there in hopes that it will be added. It will certainly be popular for a little while as people try to learn about this guy and his friend/ co-conspirator.
If you don't know who he is, this is one of two Neo-Nazis who were arrested recently for planning to kill Obama. They were from small towns and therefore Palin thinks they are part of 'Real America'.
Click below to see if my article was made!
My potential Article

Grandmother gives birth to triplets

I recently had the pleasure of reading a headline on the Yahoo website about a grandmother giving birth to three daughters. Now before you try to wrap your head around this concept and start laughing at the other southern states for their long, glorious, tradition of incest you need to know this actually happened in Ohio. Which of course means that a mother and son did no propagate a new generation of the family but that in fact the title of the article was misleading and the grandmother was in fact a surrogate.
But does this make it any better? Well yeah, I guess it does but still consider that a daughter decided to inject her husband's sperm and her egg into her own mother's vag. Is nothing sacred?

"I thought she was 16".... oh Canada

A man in Alberta has been found not guilty of raping a 13 year old girl by using the excuse "I thought she was 16". The 26 year old man succeeded in having his charges thrown out on the grounds that the girl sent him nude photos and convinced him of her sexual experience and therefore she must be 16.
I think if you are at a club, especially in America where people are supposed to be 21, it is conceivable that you could hook up with an underage girl completely by accident, and this could be forgivable. In those situations the girl is clearly lying about her age, a sober bouncer has checked her ID, she has been ordering drinks, and you are likely intoxicated. But that being said it is probably a 16-17-18 year old girl pretending to be 19-20-21 depending on where the act occurs.
This man was happy to sleep with a 16 year old. What else can you say about that?

Edmonton, Alberta (AKA Houston, Texas)

Discussions on the future; Or: I is living in the future

Bryce says: maybe for you because you're in the future; over here its still November 17 1985
Tim says: yeah its like 2130 here
we are watching the elections between George bush Jr's head in a jar and a sexbot that looks like Bill Clinton
Bryce says: That's one sexbot you can really jam your economy into
Tim says: they are really fighting for Robot vs Wade - the rights of robots to adopt human children. Its a big issue because human babies can be liquefied into alternative robot fuel
Bryce says: can robots there have jobs, bank accounts, houses etc?
Tim says: they can have jobs but most do not pay enough for a full house. They must settle for shitty apartments like all the rest of us. They can open bank accounts but most have built in ass safes so they don't need to.
Bryce says: Is there any fear over robots taking over all the jobs at a lesser pay, much like Mexicans? Oh god... are Mexicans robots?
Tim says: Although it does happen, nobody fears it. They have accepted it. Mexicans are in fact robots. They are the Honda 1.0s reprogrammed to speak Spanish. But a common fault in the voice activator makes their Spanish somewhat garbled
Bryce says: That is scary. robots would have the ability of telepathy due to wireless technology. they could be plotting against you- binary stylez

Leave it to the British to be arrested for drunken public fornication

A British couple in Dubai are going to jail for public fornication. I don't think this should be a crime.... unless the couple is obese.

They Fucked Up

Voter Turnout

It is interesting to see that the green party's vote count in real numbers was the only party to see an increase during the worst voter turnout in Canadian history.

Greens Go Up!

what does a low voter turnout signal? Is it really just apathy? Because I would have to think now, during what looks to be a second great depression (GDII), apathy would be at an all time low. Surely now, when everybody's finances are in turmoil, change would be important?
Is it complacency? People look at the Liberal alternative and just think "Say hello to the new boss, same as the old boss"? With none of the other parties realistically having a chance of winning, at the top it is a two person race and perhaps complacency was felt when looking at Dion? If the leader matters much at all I would have to say Dion seems weak.
Is it a sign that people are happy? Believing the Conservatives are doing a good job and they can win with or without an individual's vote?
What if the answer is a little bit more sad? Canadian law assures people the right to leave work to go and vote but with an economy slowing is it possible people feared exercising that right might put them on an axe list as someone who doesn't put the company first?

Any thoughts?

Super WASP!

Proving once and for all what kind of people become astronomers, a group of people working for the project "SuperWASP" have discovered a new planet. Its hot and fast and close to its star which is far from ours.


The Article

This Side of Paradise (The Romantic Egoist) F Scott Fitzgerald

This book required me three attempts to finish reading it. The first attempt I don't count because I lost the book poolside in Cuba and it took me a few months to find a new copy. But, anyways, the book is not a simple read but it is quite rewarding. I think the art of writing a romantic novel is dead.
The constant allusions to the troubles of the time, the depression and WWI, are frighteningly relevant now. The main character, Amory, struggles through the end of his family wealth in such a terrible way that it really questions the cliche 'it is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all' as it is clear that Fitzgerald, mirrored in this character, does love money.
Reading the book helped me form an idea about growing up. About how simple it is to read a novel at my age, even if both the language and content are difficult like in a Fitzgerald novel, because of how we are conditioned as we grow up.
Its not just that we learn and therefore novels become easier to read as we get older and increase our education, though it certainly is part of the process. I think it is as much our tolerance for the unknown as it is our knowledge about the topic that makes the novel easier to read. Certainly we understand more but, also, do we not just keep reading when we don't understand something instead of stopping the progress of the book and figuring out what is meant?
Of course my book has been dogeared and dissected as much or more than I would have taken the care to do in high school but I wouldn't stop reading to do research, I would wait until some later time.
Anyways, it is worth the read if you have the patience and time to do give it a try. I think the American classic is hard to find but when you can, it is quite nice.
The only other one I have read in the past year is "Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters & Seymour: An Introduction" by JD. Salinger. (Thanks to Ken as this was a Christmas present about 5 years ago).

Head of State, Head of Government

I think everyone here knows the difference between the Head of State and the
Head of Government, so I will just skip over it with the links to Wikipedia for anyone who wants to read up on it. It is quite interesting and there is a lot of variety.

Anyways I think there is a folly in Places, like America, where the Head of State and Head of Government are the same person. I think these presidential republics are flawed. In my previous post, Obama vs. McCain, I talked about how stupid it was that in the middle of all this turmoil in the markets someone took the time to make poll people on who is the better 'football buddy'. But later I had the revelation that, aside from Bush Sr., I think every presidential pick has been the better football buddy.

44th 1960 John F. Kennedy* (Democrat) Richard Nixon (Republican)
45th 1964 Lyndon B. Johnson (Democrat) Barry Goldwater (Republican)
46th 1968 Richard Nixon* (Republican) Hubert Humphrey (Democrat)
47th 1972 Richard Nixon (Republican) George McGovern (Democrat)
48th 1976 Jimmy Carter (Democrat) Gerald Ford (Republican)
49th 1980 Ronald Reagan (Republican) Jimmy Carter (Democrat)
50th 1984 Ronald Reagan (Republican) Walter Mondale (Democrat)
51st 1988 George H. W. Bush (Republican) Michael Dukakis (Democrat)
52nd 1992 Bill Clinton* (Democrat) George H. W. Bush (Republican)
53rd 1996 Bill Clinton* (Democrat) Bob Dole (Republican)
54th 2000 George W. Bush* (Republican) Al Gore† (Democrat)
55th 2004 George W. Bush (Republican) John Kerry (Democrat)

Even when we look at Bush Sr., Dukakis is not all that entertaining a guy. It is the reason that the Republican's have been so successful in making each election a 'Clash of Civilizations' in essence by rallying the far religious right. They have managed to run and win as the Head of State even though the Presidential role as Head of Government seems so much more important.
If America elected a Head of State and Head of Government separately, it is likely that the result would be better.

Third Debate (Review part 1)

I will do something serious later as I am only half way through watching the debate now but I am pretty sure McCain accidentally said "Breast and Fresh Hair" instead of "Breath of fresh air" when explaining why he thinks Palin would be a good President. Can anybody confirm this?

Canadian Election Results

The results:

Conservatives - 143
Liberals - 76
Bloc - 50
NDP - 37
Greens - 0
(from cbc.ca)

Now it is time to get my pundit on.

First, this was an important election for Canada. But, unlike usual, it was an important election for the world. It was a verdict on our economy and the world economic crisis. This was the first election to follow the collapse of the world economy. The verdict, though not the one I personally would have liked, is probably the best for world stability. It says that Canada has decided it is pleased with the current situation.
Why shouldn't it be? The dropping Canadian dollar will help rebuild our export base, by reducing the price of our goods in America at a time when Americans need cheaper commodities, our banks are considered the strongest in the world (thanks in part to very heavy regulation), and our current account and fiscal balance are quite good.
Is this all the Harper administration's doing? No. As Harper himself once said 'It wasn't raining when Noah started building the Ark'. Which, apparently, means that the plans to protect the economy have been in place for a long time. The policies that are keeping Canadians wealthy started back with Trudeau (unless you are NDP, then Tommy Douglas). Trudeau helped shape the welfare state that keeps people safe, secure and healthy. This, furthered by a strong boom in first manufacturing, then energy, allowed Canada to become a first rate economy. The Chrétien administration is to be thanked for balancing the budget. But all of this is really beside the point which is Canadians said they are confident we can weather the storm.

Party by Party:

Conservatives: Harper should be disappointed. He came very close to a majority but failed to achieve it because of his inhuman demeanor. Politicians, everywhere, need to relate to the masses. If a leader is not trustworthy, compassionate and understanding, they face an uphill battle at the polls. Yes Canada has a better position than almost every other country in this crisis but you need to be able to speak to the people about this. The leader of Lockheed Martin, may need to be secretive but as the leader of a nation you need to be more open. I understand that there are security concerns that sometimes lead to silence but on a day to day basis this is unnecessary.

Liberals: This is essentially a deathblow to Dion's leadership. Unlike Harper whose French has improved greatly over the years, Dion has failed to get comfortable in English. His environmental policies are far better than previous Liberal leaders and that should be commended. He is clearly not electable. The Liberals failed to capitalize on the issues that differentiate them from Conservatives. Dion's best hope at retaining power in the long run may be to put his money where his mouth is and cross party lines and become a green party member in Parliament.

Bloc: Like every year, Duceppe ran a good campaign. He has moved his party from a Separatist party to a more relevant special interest party. This is an important deviance. It has become apparent that Separatist feelings are waning. The Bloc are helping to shape policies in a way they could never do before with a more antagonizing leader. Especially in a current administration where the conservatives only need the support of one party to pass legislation. Harper may find it easier to bargain with the Bloc than the Liberals or NDP.

NDP: Layton should be happy with his results. but, then, it is his tenacity that both helped him gain his party's influence and will deny him pleasure at the results. The NDP should be able to push through a couple of their policies in the new house. I think one specifically they could work on is a compromise with the Conservatives where there would be some sort of duel child care system. This would result in tax deductions for single earning families and free child care for other families. Or something else akin to this.

Greens: First, congratulations to Mike Nagy for 21% of the popular vote. It was not enough to be the first Green MP but I have confidence that he will be one of the first to be elected. I am disappointed by the Green's portion of the popular vote. I thought they could get 3% more. I believe that Elizabeth May is correct in saying that the Greens will win in a landslide in 10 years time. I, however, need to fault Elizabeth May. She made a decision to make a deal with Dion to have no liberal candidate in her home riding. She was running against MacKay, who is probably my favourite Conservative politician, and lost. She should have done one of two things. Either make a similar deal with the NDP which likely would have resulted in her being elected or move a riding over which probably could have resulted in her winning. She had already risked her scruples on the deal so she wouldn't have been too much worse for wear if she did either of those things. Or why not make a deal with Dion for 3-4 ridings. Mike Nagy may have won if there was no Liberal candidate.

In conclusion, congrats to Harper. I hope this time you are less autocratic and adversarial. It would be helpful if you were more compromising and less inclined to force an election. Your denial of environmental problems is concerning. I have said it before and will again; ignoring environmental problems is the most selfish thing you can do. You are harming your own children for personal gain. Hopefully this government can last a year. If you have to raise taxes, consider consumption taxes. That was your worst decision. With the economy the way it is we do not have to worry about your social agenda and your economic policies may be helpful in the short run.

United States Cabinet

The American election looks won. I would be very surprised in Barack loses. Even if all the secret racists lied to the pollsters and vote McCain on election day. So it comes time to pick the cabinet. Since it appears that Hilldog and her hubby are hard on the campaign trail, I can't help but think she was guaranteed a spot in his cabinet. Though Secretary of State is the top prize, I think that Hillary could do some good as Secretary of Health and Human Services.

While looking into this I visited the Wikipedia site for the American Executive Branch (below) and one thing struck me as humourous.

Current US Cabinet

Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings. No?

Global Electoral College

The Economist has a fancy little application on their website. It is a map of the world and asks the question who would the world vote for in the American election? The world, by country, is divided up similar to the Electoral College in America. Each country receives a minimum of 3 votes with their true number weighted by population.

Electoral College

It is quite clear who the world wants to be president. It also looks like America may agree. This will help American foreign policy gain legitimacy by implicitly saying they are on some sort of level ground, morally, with their world community.

NRA

The NRA have officially endorsed McCain for president. Here is the article:

NRA Article

I always suspected the NRA as an organization had a high RQ but here is some proof. Firstly, they like Palin!
"Palin, an NRA member, received an A-plus rating from the group when she ran for governor in 2006. That compares to an NRA grade in the average range for McCain in his last Senate race. McCain isn't an NRA member."

Second, did you notice the scale? A good score is an A-plus; McCain scores and average. I guess the scale ranges from a high of A-plus to a low of Hippie? This is a pretty big deal since the NRA do not always endorse candidates. Bush Sr. was never endorsed - perhaps the fact that he bombed Japan, had his plane shot down and still continued to fight is not enough for the NRA to think he likes ARMS? So what is wrong with Obama?

"Obama has said he respects the Second Amendment but doesn't think it precludes "some commonsense gun laws so that we don't have kids being shot on the streets of cities like Chicago.""

Yes! The NRA is pro gang violence - but only when guns are used. They don't want gangs to have to resort to the Nancy tactics of knife fights.


What are my view on guns? I don't really know. I guess I could see how hunting could be fun, I have shot guns before and it is exhilarating. Though, I don't know if I would want to kill an animal? That being said I do like the taste of Deer, Moose and the like. I fish and have no problem killing fish. They are really delicious. There is something to be said about the fact that restricting gun ownership only affects those who have them legitimately since the gangs are not exactly registering their guns.
Considering how many people the Canadian, and I presume American too, police kill with Tasers, I don't think they can be trusted anymore than the criminals to use their weapons safely. For military purposes it is understandable but I think that most people would rather live in a world without wars but that will probably never happen.
The idea that guns don't kill people, people kill people is especially stupid. If someone attacks you with a bat, you can run, you can scream for help, you can try to fight back; but with a gun you have no chance.

Second American Presidential Debate

Obama: Fundamental difference
McCain: My friends
Repeat

The preceding dialogue is essentially the entire debate.

McCain really started off strong. His rhetoric resonated through the first two questions and really his answers were better. The problem is, as he was walking around he looked as stiff as a 72 year old. He looked feeble!
Obama really picked it up through the middle hour of the debate. What is more important to my feeling that Obama won is that McCain started to sound pandering. Calling the crowd 'my friends' repeatedly ws ludicrous. He should have called everyone my 'children' or maybe 'grandchildren'. But, more importantly, his mannerisms changed, he cracked his old man smile and his voice sounded like he was looking for an emotional response. This is something that works with Obama but not McCain. McCain is running on the tough, experienced, guy platform and he should not try to move out of that range. It is not believable.

Bloc Quebecois Party of Canada

Why is it the Bloc only run in Quebec? I know it sounds like a stupid question because the Bloc's ultimate goal is to separate from Canada. However they also wish to strengthen French Canadian values and culture. Frankly if separatism was no longer part of their platform I would say they are a very good party. Most of the social justice claims they bring forward are far more reasonable than The NDP.

Two things to consider; First, there are many french people out east, especially New Brunswick, as well as in Northern Ontario and Winnipeg. I imagine if Quebec separated many of the people would, at least, consider migrating to the newly formed French nation.
Secondly, There is government financing in Canada for elections so every vote raises money for the party. If these French people good vote for the Bloc, the Bloc's coffers would be filled. further they could cash in on the racist who might vote for the Bloc in hopes that Quebec does leave.

MMORPGH (Mass Multiplayer Online Role Playing Gamer's Health

Though not the most obvious threat to the world, nor the greatest, the following does strike me as something to worry about. Apparently people who are addicted to online gaming are now more fit than the general population.
War, financial stress, regime change and the like are all commonplace in this world but if there is one thing that I thought would remain constant, it is that people who play World of Warcraft, on average, are the most slovenly people around. Admittedly the few that I know do not fit into this category, but I assumed they were the exception.


They Are Less Fat

The article in question is actually about a different MMORPG and not about WOW and therefore you would expect the people to be even more fat. I mean the less people the MMORPG you play, the lamer you are and therefore the fatter you should be.

I am now wondering if the world is coming to an end... No I am not but I think the world makes more sense when gamers are fat, covered in acne (and pizza pop crumbs) and live in their mother's basement. Maybe some of it is still true?

Canadian Alliance Caught Plagiarizing

Bob Rae recently released information proving that a crucial speech given by the Leader of the Opposition in 2003 was stolen from a speech given by the Prime Minister of Australia. What makes the act of plagiarism worse is it pertained to the issue of the War in Iraq. The speech was pro the war which at the time, and even more so now, the majority of Canadians oppose. Bob Rae is quoted as saying, “How does a political leader in Canada’s Parliament, on such a crucial issue, end up giving the exact same speech as another country’s leader, let alone one who was a key member of George W. Bush’s Coalition of the Willing?”

Plagarism in da House

Now this is an interesting one to pin down. I have to say first kudos to the liberals. I am sure the campaign ads showing the former Australian PM and the former Leader of the Opposition saying the speech as a duet will be very influential. But, then, people are fickle and really, overall, it doesn't seem all that pertinent to the current political climate. After all we are talking about the PM not the Leader of the Opposition, the Conservatives not the Alliance, etc, etc. On the other hand, Harper was the leader of that defunct party as well.

Considering the speech was given in Australia just 36 hours before Harper performed the encore, how is it nobody noticed? Surely someone in the Liberal caucus noticed the similarities. To say they didn't would mean nobody follows Aussie politics and that is a little bit frightening. What I am trying to say is at the time the Liberals did not need to smear the Canadian Alliance because the Alliance was never going to win. But now that the Conservatives have won the previous election, and could end up with a majority in this election, the Liberals are releasing the information.

Oh and did I mention Bob Rae used to lead the Ontario NDP? So in conclusion vote Green!

Funny English

I have taken hundreds of pictures on my mobile depicting funny attempts are writing in English. I understand that it is the same as the westerners who wear Chinese symbols on their shirts, around their necks and tattooed on their back even though they have no idea what the meaning is but still, sometimes it is just too funny. So here are my two favourite pictures.



This is one of my students wearing a shirt that says "Under Ware". Now as a person whose last name is Ware, I was often called things like "Under Ware" as a child. A silly play on underwear. So not only is the kid wearing a shirt that makes reference to his underwear, but the use of Ware instead adds a little bit of humour just for me.




J-Crew. Isn't it an American company? J-Crew, are you trying to tell me there is a party in your pants and I am invited? No thank you J-Crew.

Television

I don't want to turn into a blog about TV and so I am going to cram it all into one entry. The reason being is I watch enough that it deserves mention but I loathe it enough to allow it more than one entry.

It is strange to think that the shows we watch now versus a couple of years ago are so dramatically different. What I mean by this is, we of course chose different shows when we are in our 20s than say when we are eight but even year to year they change as new shows are produced and others go off the air or more likely we forget about them. It is also not surprising that at this point we care more about the world and watch more news and sports shows but even in the sitcom world our opinions can change rapidly. Also the internet and common DVD format have led people to consume a single series for a week or more (depending on amount of time dedicated to TV) then move on.

For example not too long ago I was really into Canadian television - Little Mosque on the Prairies, Trailer Park Boys, Corner Gas. I don't even know if these shows are on any more, though I suppose if they were I would try to catch up on them.
I was watching Weeds intently but it is an off season show and has now finished.
Now I have begun watching Dexter Season 3, Terminator Season 2, True Blood Season 1, The Riches Season 1 and am highly anticipating the return of South Park Season 13 in October.

Grilled Cheese

The grilled cheese, and its derivatives, are fantastic. The standard grilled cheese; cheese in bread with a layer of butter on the outside, fried to perfection and dipped in Ketchup, is an amazing sandwich. But, how did the grilled cheese get so locked up with Ketchup? It is good to dip in anything!

You can change the grilled cheese in so many ways! Lets take a look at everything you can add to it:
Bread: I like brown bread, whole grain or roman meal but of course white bread is standard. You can also use hard breads or even french toast to make it a Monte Cristo.
Cheese: I guess the processed cheese is standard but I especially like Havarti. Gouda, Mozzarella and Cheddar are all pretty common. If you are using a hard bread I recommend some Camembert for an interesting flavour mixture.
Butter or Margarine is a heated debate that I cannot solve in just one post. I will say this. Butter tastes better but is more likely to burn. Margarine is healthier and easier to cook.
Vegetables: This is not a limiting list but Onions, Tomatoes and peppers are my personal favourites. If you plan to use a roast beef (especially anything rare) I suggest pickles.
Meats: Almost all meat is okay. You want to make sure it is thin and not too greasy or the sandwich will fall apart. This means bacon is great but be sure to remove excess grease. Frying the sandwich in the greasy bacon pan is acceptable. I have learned to love Nama Hamu (raw ham) since being in Japan but any ham is good. With tomatoes and bacon perhaps some turkey breast would give you the feeling of a club grilled cheese. Wow. That sounds amazing. Spicy pastrami or corned beef is probably my favourite.
Now for dipping: Ketchup is good but it is not your only option. I recommend Maple Syrup for the Monte Cristo or anything with Camembert. For anything with a spicy meat on it, you need to match it with a coarse mustard. It is the only way to do it justice. For your ham (raw or roasted) I suggest pizza sauce. Finally for something in a mozzarella with onions, The only way to sauce it up right is with left over curry (a lil east meets west action). You dip that sandwich in some curry and you have yourself a meal! Anything with tomatoes on it becomes dipping sauce optional. I also like gravy and au jus. These are extremely unhealthy and therefore you risk a heart attack if you eat them before 8 am. After that it is no problem.
Cooking. The frying pan is standard but if you want to cut out the fatty butter you can always use a toaster oven. There is also what I call the five cent welfare special; cheese whiz on white bread heated in the microwave. Oh those remind me of a simpler time.

Typhoon, Earth Quake, Typhoon

I started a short holiday last night after work. Thought I would be able to get a couple things done on my four day weekend (Saturday-Wednesday) including picking up my new work visa and maybe enjoying the end of summer. Well Friday night it looked like the weather might be turning bad as a typhoon rolled through. It was supposed to hit on Saturday so I was happy it was going to be a day early.
This morning there was a pretty strong Earth quake. The dishes that I left drying last night on the counter all rattled pretty good and my window was banging back and forth. It was strong enough to wake me up (which is pretty rare) so I checked it out and it was a 4.9 and only about 50km from where I live. This may be the strongest or, at least, second strongest I have felt. That is to say not the strongest I have experienced but some of the really powerful ones that have occurred since I have come here have been further away and as such they felt weaker. Usually (in my short experience) there seems to be one strong shake with each subsequent shake being weaker than the previous but this one was actually backward to that. The second shake was much stronger so I was a little worried. There is also the knowledge that it could be a weak 2.5 right underneath you or an 8+ that has an epicenter near Kyoto and so even if it feels weak here many people could be in trouble somewhere else.


4.9 East of Tokyo

The little earthquakes are a little bit fun.
Anyways now a second typhoon has struck! It was supposed to miss us but it is raining pretty hard. Earlier the rain was unbelievable. Especially the fact that it wasn't raining when I walked to the 7/11 but on the way back there was 8cm of water flooding all the streets. Hopefully the weather is better tomorrow!

Who the fuck is Ross Purdon?

He is on my facebook list because apparently he went to St. Joe's (my high school)? I can tolerate random people adding me to their list (even if they are bald like this guy - yeah I am a baldest) but he starts messaging me today through the facebook messenger. This is the conversation:

Ross
hey timothy how it going
11:55amTimothy
good, how are you?
11:56amRoss
im good how you been
11:56amTimothy
pretty decent
whats new?
11:57amRoss
working lots
11:57amTimothy
nice
11:57amRoss
yea
11:57amTimothy
I miss working lots. Now I have a lazy job
11:57amRoss
yea
11:58amTimothy
only 26 hours a week
11:58amRoss
that good
12:01pmRoss is offline.

If he ever knew me he wouldn't start with Timothy. He probably wouldn't say my name at all. Do you generally use your friends name when talking directly to them?
Second, you add the hot girls from your high school to facebook so you can see if they got fat or not. Not the men. Not unless you were at least acquainted with them.
We need to make rules for randoms on facebook.

No wall posts
No messages
No comments on photos of people (buildings, scenery, etc are acceptable)
No Messenger
No Bald People

Bailout

The American government has bailed out the banking system to the tune of $1 Trillion. It has asked congress to increase the ceiling for the national deficit by $700 Billion to facilitate further bailouts. Namely, taking all of the bad debt.
Here is something that occurred to me. Lets assume that the war in Iraq's cost, which was borrowed from the financial community, is partially responsible for this. Would that mean the government borrowed a lot of money with no intentions of paying it back and as a result the banks neared bankruptcy. The government is now bailing them out instead of paying them back and fixing their balance sheets?
Not to mention in the process taking a huge share in at least one company (AIG). This situation is seriously messed up!

The Art of Filibustering

Have you ever watched the highlights of a filibuster on TV? Its hard to call them highlights because even the most entertaining moments are so unbelievably boring that most people would rather fuck a warm apple pie than have to watch and/or listen to it.
What is a filibuster?
It is essentially a loophole in American Democratic procedures that states the senate can pass anything with a majority but in order to do it with less than a threshold greater than a simple majority they must pass a trial. The trial is an attempted mass murder by speech. Lots of speeches. Long speeches. Speeches that all sound the same.
Filibustering is the madlibs of political conjecture. Every member of the current, slight, minority party gets together and has all of their advisers write the longest speech they can. They then compile all 45ish speeches together, redistribute them for slight editing; "insert colourful simile here", "reference Iraq here", "Point to stupid bar/pie chart now". Then each senator takes turns trying to goad the other side into ritualized suicide.
To stop this from happening in the future, my plan is that all American children should be forced to watch - start to finish - a filibuster during their civics class in high school or elementary school so that when they grow up they realize the barbaric practice must end.

Facebook profiles

You know what annoys me? People who list favourite authors (especially exclusively) under the favourite books section without a preamble like "the works of" or "anything written by".
I mean its annoying that Facebook has "movies", "books", "Music" as sub-headers instead of 20-30 that you can select or omit. Or that it doesn't have more generic ones such as "video input" "audio input" and "reading material". But it doesn't so I question whether or not you have read anything at all if it says "books" and you write "JD Salinger".

Obama vs McCain

This is stupid.

Obama more preferred Football Buddy

With everything going on in America right now some asshole decided to waste his time and money polling Americans as to who they would rather watch a football game.

the quotations make it sound a little bit like hetero man dating. Like "the age differences is too great" or "McCain might be an angry drunk if his team doesn't win".

I guess if it came down to it, I would pick Obama solely for "Da Bears".

SEC Halts Short Selling

Well the SEC (along with the apparent aide of the British) have stopped short Selling of Companies in the Finance sector.

No Short Selling

799 to be precise.

799 Financial Companies Off Limits

I guess, like everybody else in the world, I should be addressing this. It is interesting news. Interesting in its less common, negative, connotation. With Lehman Brothers going bankrupt we have now witnessed the biggest bankruptcy ever (in America anyways). What does this mean to the world? I have no idea. Clearly people with more power and money don't know whats going on so why I should I pretend to?

Here we have a person, who McCain said he would fire, coming out guns a blazing two days later. Is this a rash decision brought on by market turmoil? Is today really that much worse than say Wednesday or when they stopped short selling on a dozenish shares awhile ago? Or is it just now Cox is worried about his livelihood? Okay, That's probably unlikely since I am sure the guy has other money and head of the SEC does not seem like the best job right now anyways. But why are we so late on this? Is it so bad right now that people keep thinking "It can't get worse" then it does, and they are left thinking of the next way to fix it?

Is Short selling all that bad anyways? Are they essentially saying that if you have money in the financial markets right now you are going down with the ship?
What about the situation where you own X amount of shares in company A and believe that it is only in turmoil because the market as a whole is. You don't want to lose money but you also want to keep your shares. You short -X shares to hold a market position then in the future when the market changes you buy X shares back. Are things like that allowed? Is it just 'malicious' shorting they are worried about?
The markets are going to lose a lot of liquidity over this.

Should you even care? Do you have a job? Do you need a job? Do you own a house? Do you have insurance? Do your parents own a house you plan to inherit? Do you hope to retire at some point in the future? I think we reached the point sometime in August where even lay people with no money from lower class parents who rent a property and have a six month contingency bank account need to be worried. Shit that's me.

The Elephant in the Room

OMG WTF AIG.

What can we say about this. I was slow to write about it because it is such big news that I don't know what to think.
If America chose to nationalise its energy market or water markets because of a similarly comprehensive, immediate and catastrophic failure in these markets would people accept it the same way? I don't think so. This happens all the time in the world. Generally with the word Socialismo being muttered. Is it somehow better or more necessary to aide financial markets and insurance providers than water and heating oil?
It seems necessary to guarantee Freddie and Frannie - possibly AIG - because of the way our economy is based. To lose the construction industry would cause a cascade effect through the whole system.
The following article (IMHO) has an interesting view and some original information.

Wall Street Journal: AIG

I think I will need a lot of time to fully decide how I feel about this. Certainly something had to be done. Is this the best way? Already we are hearing this is the worst market condition in fifty years! That beats the dot.com bust, the early 90s, the oil shocks and any problems associated with 'nam or Korea. I hope governments, individuals and companies start to look proactive over the next week or so because if this becomes the worst market condition in a century I don't think synthetic shoes make as good a soup as our great grandparents enjoyed in dickity-nine.

I am especially interested in hearing what you think on this topic as it worries me. Frankly it should worry you too.

Brad Pitt

Apparently Brad Pitt was recently named the most dangerous person in cyberspace. That is to say searching his name is the most likely to cause your computer to contract some sort of virus.

Cyber HIV

Now to me this by itself is not that interesting. Though it is funny to think that the hierarchy is;
Brad Pitt
Porn
Other
But here is something interesting, Brad Pitt recently donated a bunch of money to fighting HIV/AIDs. He also donated 100k to preserving gay rights in California.

Donates Money to fight the HIV

Aids + Gay Marriage + Brad Pitt + More Computer Viruses than online porn
= what? exactly.

Sagamihara

I used to think of Sagamihara as the 'Mississauga of Tokyo' but recently I have learned it is more like the "Scarborough".
I went and got my haircut on Sunday (Its really short... still rocking the faux hawk but when the lady showed me a picture of these audacious red bangs and said "Is this good?" and I said no, she literally cut off my bangs completely. At Least it will grow back (so there bald people HA).
Anyways this lady (a larger woman with tattoos all over her) accosted me. She asked me if I was a soldier (I live near an army base and my hair got chopped off so I pardon such a question) to which I told her I was an English teacher. She went on to tell me she used to live in Texas and was married to an American. Anyways she is now divorced and is worried that her daughter's English will deteriorate. Standing beside us was a girl who looked about 14 and was clearly half-white. So I say hello and agree that I could do a model lesson to the daughter and if she likes me I will do private lessons for her.
Then the mom tells me its for her other daughter (age 9) who is at her grandparents house right now (2 train stations north of where I live). I am a little taken aback as I really don't want to teach a young child lessons outside of the safety of a school. Parents can be protective of their children after all and Japan is very much racist toward foreign people so you could see how a wild accusation could go a long way. But at this point I have already given her my number and agreed to teaching her daughter (thinking it was the older one). As soon as I get home I get a call from the mom informing me she had just cooked dinner and if I wanted to meet her in front of the Yamada (electronics shop) where we had met earlier I could come over for dinner. I said okay.
I immediately realized how stupid I was and send an e-mail to Ken telling him the situation to that point and that he should come looking for my abused and decaying body if I don't e-mail him in a few hours. I get to Yamada and see the daughter I had met earlier waiting for me. We make some small talk then get to the apartment.
The apartment is a tiny 1DK (One Bedroom, Dining Room, Kitchen) with bunk beds in the dining room for the two girls. The younger of which is suspiciously not there (and I had brought some books and print outs and toys to show her). Apparently she was not coming home that night and I was there for social purposes. lovely. If I am not uncomfortable enough sitting around this tiny table squeezed against the wall realizing the mom may not have the money to pay for me everything that happens from then on does the trick.
The mom starts off the conversation with "do you like Jager Bombs?" I mean I am already there so I say sure. Unfortunately she is out of Red Bull so it is just straight Jager. After that it is champagne. Elegantly poured into a glass filled with ice (a big juice glass so the bottle evenly splits between the two). The mom tells me that she is often very lonely (Tattoos are a huge stigma here so it is difficult to meet new friends) and she likes to meet foreign people.
I rebuff by talking about my girlfriend. She says she has a boyfriend too, who lives in Texas. This makes me wonder if maybe its part of the reason she is divorced. The picture she shows me of her 27 year old boyfriend (she is mid 40s) is him with his arm around Britney Spears (apparently he went to her concert and after waited to meet her). So I realize I am being paranoid and she was not somehow trying to pick me up in front of her daughter. Until she asked how old I was and said she thought I was a few years younger. So perhaps the set up was for the daughter?!
She also told me the dad (who I assumed lived in Texas) lives one station away (like a 20 minute walk) from them! Why can't they talk with him in English?
The mom downs her wine in like 10 minutes, tells me to drink up as I am lagging and when I am half finished my glass, she opens up a bottle of wine and pours part of it into my half glass of Champagne!
Afterwards she invites me to watch a movie, not wanting to be rude I say ok. The movie? Borat. So we are all crammed onto the bottom bunk (the elder daughters bed!) watching Borat together. Around the time when they are wrestling naked (Borat and his friend NOT the mom and daughter) the uncomfortableness really peaked.
After the movie I excuse myself and go home. On the way home she sends me an e-mail with two of her friends pictures in it and says they are looking for foreign boyfriends. The one is Thai and liable to be a lady boy!






The worst part is I can't help but feel sorry for the girls. Living with a mom like that and being half foreign would be incredibly difficult for them. But, I still have to avoid that situation like the plague.

Adult Friend Finder

Every time I go to megavideo to watch some sort of television program there is a pop up ad for Adult Friend Finder. The thing that annoys me is it says something like "Single Women in your Area" then has a bunch of pictures of girls with either the city I live in or ones near by (Sagamihara, Kawasaki, Tokyo, Yokohama, Atsugi, etc.) . But all the women are white! Every Caucasian cunt in the area must be giving herself up on this website. Its not that pornographic pop up ads bother me. Its just the blatant lying. If it were "blondandbusty.gov" or something it would be cool but this is supposedly people living near me. Shouldn't they be Filipino?

The Philanthropic Philanderer

Giving it to ugly women so you don't have to.

PETAx2

Apparently PETA has done it again. They went undercover at some pork producer and videotaped people abusing the animals - including sodomizing them with metal pikes.



Oink Oink, Boo, Boo



I want to say thank you to PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) for doing what the other smaller PETA (People for the Eating of Tasty Animals) cannot do. We just do not have the resources to deal with these things.
I know from working in a butcher shop that bruised meat just does not taste as good. It is also more difficult to cut cleanly and less likely to sell. For all those for Eating Tasty Animals lets hold up are steak knives and salute the other PETA.

Japanese and Whales

It is bad enough eating whale when they are just majestic beasts swimming through the water that may or may not be smarter than us. Some Japanese guy is trying to teach them our language / learn theirs.
What happens if they have something profound to say? Would the Japanese still eat them?


Japanese Whale Whisperer

They only taste okay.

Train derailment

Have you ever been texting while walking and stubbed your toe and first thought ouch and immediately after think of yourself as an idiot?

Article 4 U 2 read

This guy was texting his teenage boy pals (what is a 'train enthusiast' anyways?) when he failed to yield and killed over 20 people. Very tragic so I hate to sound callous but wow.

There are often human deaths caused by trains in Japan. But not because drivers are TEXTING! Merely because it is the preferred way to commit suicide and so people, often men fed up with their shitty office job and/or broke from gambling on pachinko, decide to jump in front of a train.

My theory is the people that hate their job and with their last breath want to spare others from work for an hour jump in the morning. The people that hate their jobs and with their last breath want to spite the people jump at night so everyone is stuck on the crowded platforms instead of at home with their family.

Coincidentally the families of the people who heave themselves in front of the train are sent a huge bill from the train company to cover the loses incurred because of the stoppage.

The Yen!

I am very happy to say that the Yen is getting much more valuable.
Since coming to Japan the Canadian Dollar relative to the Yen has dropped from about 118JPY/CAD to 96JPY/CAD. This means that the money I need to send home to pay off my student loans is now worth a lot more. Thank you world markets.

Living abroad and still having debt in Canada has exposed me to the most currency risk I have ever experienced. Aside from vacationing the movement of foreign currency prices has not had a direct and visible affect on me.
Of course going to school for business kept me aware of the currency markets and understand the less visible ways it can help or hinder our purchasing power. Even when buying local products the 'second best' option of exporting the goods can change with the value of the local currency relative to the importing market's currency and so it can easily change the price of said goods.
If your country is very oil dependent or oil rich the change in currency value can be even more apparent.

How much attention should the average person pay the currency markets?
little? none at all?

Australian Outback a failed state?

Apparently Reports are coming out about the situation in Australia's Outback. At first I thought who cares about the Outback until I realized that was essentially what the articles are about. Turns out almost everyone is moving out of the outback, the government is underfunding the area and crime is out of control.

Australia the Failed State

If they worry about the fact that it is so desolate that their sovereignty is questioned, then they should just do what Canada does. I mean driving some soldiers through on snow mobiles wouldn't quite work there but you know 4x4s or something.

The mining companies are complaining that too many people are leaving the area which will jeopardize their interests. Here is a thought, increase your wages and maybe people will stay?

Why not give the outback some amount of self determination and let the aborigines deal with everything like we did the Inuit in Nunavut.

Regulation Gap?

How are Sperm Banks regulated? If a woman walks in and wants to buy the sperm of some famous athlete or something does she get some sort of letter of authentication?
Can a sperm bank just say all of the semen is from Harvard grads ("our sperm is actually crimson in colour?") then just give homeless people cookies in exchange for their 'deposit'?
Do you think there are instances of fraud? Do you think on occasion a baby comes out Korean and the mother is really pissed off?
These are the things I worry about?