Canadarrr.

Dominion Day, Canada Day, birthday!  I am a happy Canadian camper.  We just need a couple of small things.  Stephen Harper needs a haircut, some public speaking lessons, and some smile tutorials.  Stephen, I’m sure you can go on YouTube for some smile tutorials.  Less 8 year old boy, more international leader. You’re a smart man, you’re an economics geek.  I can get behind most of that.  Just don’t hold dissenters in contempt, and don’t give me the creeps everytime I see you shake hands with honourable people.  It’s a petty request, but it matters.

To my fellow Canadians – care more about your country, learn more about your country.  Canadians can act like whiny teenagers, sulking while inheriting a social and political system that (still) takes blood sweat and tears to uphold.  Just count your blessings, be grateful, be even-handed, be nice.

Take a worthwhile Canada quiz c/o the National Post.  History, landscape, politics, etc.  If you pass, I’ll give you 10 spacebucks.

Weekend links.

• Ten years of our impatience – hilarious article on the tech trends of the ’00s, and some nice snarky editorialism on our growing impatience as a culture. [Globe]

• Top baby names of the decade – you know you’re curious.  In short – bible names for guys, and grandmother names for girls.  Best news – no more Mike!  Oversaturation wins! [Globe]

• No one blames Canada for Copenhagen – we may not have helped matters, but we all know it’s U.S. and China that needs to lead.  And our reputation is turning into blue slime. [Globe]

• How to debate a climate change skeptic – learn more about their traditional arguments, and hear how Scientific American rebuts those arguments. [Scientific American]

• Montreal’s BIXI bike sharing program coming to Toronto – more talks coming, but I think changes to Toronto’s bike infrastructure and culture need to be improved before it can be as successful as Montreal.  Here’s to hoping. [Urban Country]

• New microscopes show the true shape of atoms – humans are amazing at some things.  Atomic and sub-atomic science can be truly spiritual. [New Scientist]

• 10 basic HST myths – learn more about our business friendly and electorate-somewhat-unfriendly tax. [Globe]

• Everything you know about going green is wrong – some valuable perspective for those who mean well but still buy into the greenwashing. [The Daily Green]

• The cap and trade critique – watch the trailer of a new movie critiquing cap-and-trade.  Us environmentalists are never happy are we?  if only it was politically palatable to implement a revenue neutral carbon tax.  Too bad Stephane Dion was one of the worst spokesmen to push said tax.  Siiigh…. [New York Times]

Greyhound and the free market.

Greyhound Canada said Thursday that unless it gets $15 million in government aid, it will cease passenger bus operations in Manitoba and northwestern Ontario because it is being forced to operate unprofitable rural routes without government help.

This article was from last week, and the news cycle has already buried it, but I found it interesting.  The simple question that I have is, “why don’t you just raise prices?”  To me if you’re threatening the government with unprofitable routes with totally deserting these communities, then you’re just being a bully.  These communities depend on Greyhound for many reasons, they’re the only source of transportation around most often.  So.  If  they’re not profitable, why not make them profitable and raise prices?  I don’t get it.    Remote areas continually have to pay more for goods and services, as we know.

Even more interestingly, this begs another question – does the market encourage people to move from rural to urban areas?  More competition in cities, lower prices, higher demand?  Are the fundamentals of our economic system the reason why our rural areas are dying?  Maybe it’s that, the exclusion of massive industrial agriculture, and likely the questionable effectiveness of OMAFRA.

I’m not an economist so this could be like Econokindergarten, but it raises a valuable question nonetheless.   Not easy things.  Cities should be high density for all of the standard reasons – encourages public transit, building up and not out, keeping fertile farmland for agriculture and not for cheap and numbing housing, etc.  But what an interesting impact of our economic structures.  Should rural areas be given different (but somewhat equitable) benefits?   Higher wages?  Even more controversial subsidies?  You used to do well as a farmer, especially in certain crops in Ontario (tobacco, corn).  But unless you have an amazing contract with a big supplier, it’s tough beans.

So it’s on ?

Don’t even bother watching the video.  You will want to scream at your monitor and proclaim, “Tell me something new before I pass out from boredom !”  Bored from hearing the same things you hear when you hear things.  I think it’s osmosis via border comparison, but I think especially this time around Canadians will feel even more disenfranchised.  With their petty politicians, their flawed political and electoral process, and the lack of motivation for partisanship and co-operation.  Even if Obama’s vote for change hasn’t fully actualized quite yet, he at least he got his country excited about politics and showed a genuine desire to harmonize rather than divide.  Face it babies, we will have minority governments for a long time.  Time to figure out how to make them work well.

So is this voter fatigue?  Effffff.   I’m too young for that.  I will be incredibly happy to queue and vote and support my party that won’t win, but I think it will be clear throughout the upcoming weeks that the electorate will show their distaste through polite and apathetic Canadian silence.  Democracy!  Getting strangled by selfish babies since 1945.

Pretty much done.

Steve!  You missed the photo bud!  No big deal though, too busy having incredibly awkward conversations about weather and jet lag with our monarchy.  Totally understand.  But when you forbid a British MP to enter Canada (and can enter the US!!), you give me no choice but to think you and your boys are complete idiots.

Can we have an election soon, pleaaaase Iggy?  Michael Ignatieff and his redrockets have been up in the polls since he took leadership, and I have next to zero tolerance left.  Not letting a British Parliamentarian into the country for supporting Palestinian independence and giving them medicine, food, and supplies?  Really. I have a new name for CSIS – HomeAndNativeLand Security.  Interview on “Democracy Now!” below.

Election fatigue my fat foot.  I would even consider strategic voting this time, just for you.

Big breath in.

You’ve seen the video, I just hope it didn’t flip ya.  I think some Canadians need to relax a little bit.  I’d be the first to recognize that the comments shared by Fox News from a newscaster only fit to broadcast at 3:30 in the morning, along with a constantly-stoned-comedian were completely disrespectful.  But it’s Fox News. At 3:30 in the morning.  With halfwit hosts and stoners.  Canadians can do 1+1+1.  Without YouTube, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.  Not to condone the message, but dudes.  Not worth it at all, maybe?  Obvious – no one sensible respects this network anyway.  Reasons 1+1+1!  Stopping the talking.

Let’s just say we can all agree that disrespecting military efforts from the very people that blindly support military efforts is pretty stupid from the get go.  Foreign Affairs Minister Peter McKay called for an apology and Fox responded with a half-response.

When in Rome.

At war.

Did you see this on the National last week?  Please please watch it.  Please.

I encourage all of you to watch clips of the Canadian battle in Afghanistan on YouTube, tons of videos.  What happened to peacekeeping?  I need to look into this more, as well as a proper way to thank Canadian soldiers, really.  The validity of this war  just amplifies the sacrifice they make.

Forgive my possible lack of understanding, but if we had a stronger non-interventionist mentality and focused on peacekeeping, wouldn’t we be considerably less likely to face hostility from Muslim extremist groups?  Maybe that’s too Switzerland, but often other governments (i.e. Australia) take it way too far to chum the U.S.  I understand that Canada has little to no defence and supporting them supports Canada’s defence.  But defending yourself and fighting a questionable war on foreign soil are two completely different things.

And who would hypothetically attack us?  Muslim extremist groups?  The exact people we are trying to kill right now by supporting the US?  And why?  Because they think we’re trying to modernize or moderate Islam?  Because we support Israel?  Because their fundamentalism is dangerous?  Because of our need for middle eastern oil?  Because we started it?  Because we funded militant extremeist groups?  Could be all of the above.  Messy.