The View from Down South - A Liberal in DC

Pictoral Interlude X

2007-05-19T11:15:00.000-04:00

Myron Thompson: Now a Liberal?

2007-05-11T13:47:00.000-04:00

Wow - what a shocker when the very backbone of the Conservative Party crosses over to the other side, can't quite believe it...Either that... or Myron hasn't yet realized that the Tories actually won the last election over a year and 4 months ago! (I know, I know, Myron, I can't quite believe it either)... check out some compelling quotes from his bio that show, either he's now a sitting Liberal Critic (or still in shock at his own party's victory last election...which, just as a reminded - was over a Year and Four Months ago):

"Myron was first nominated as Reform Party candidate on June 13, 1992 and is presently serving his 4th term as MP for the constituency of Wild Rose. He currently represents the Official Opposition on the Justice Committee. He has also served as the Conservative Party's Critic of Canada's Child Pornography policies and has become one of the foremost defenders of the rights of the child. In the past, Myron has served as Deputy Solicitor General Critic in Charge of Native Issues, as well as serving as the Official Opposition Watchdog during the G-8 Summit in Kananaskis. Previously, he was Critic for Solicitor General, and Organized Crime; and Deputy Critic for Indian Affairs, and Canada Customs."

Read all about Myron on his personal website: www.myronthompson.com

What I really want to know, is what's he been doing all this time in Question Period? He must have had a blast back when Vic Toews was Justice Minister...

Pictoral Interlude IX

2007-04-27T17:46:00.000-04:00

If I Was a Tory

2007-04-26T13:02:00.000-04:00

I'd be kind of worried... I mean, there we are, going along with our five priorities, our muzzled caucus discipline, and our whole "new" Government slogan... and yet a year and three months later... we still aren't cracking the magic 40% support in the opinion polls (and that year was with leaderless liberals and the three months with the new leader settling in)...

I mean, if I was a Tory, I'd be kind of baffled - here we are doing (more or less) everything we'd said we'd do - and Canadians still don't seem to like us enough anyway... I'd start to worry that the Conserv priorities (of flip flopping, waffling, demi-tours) on Kyoto, setting up a new sponsorship program to key initiaties in Tory ridings, breaking their word on income trust, potentially violating the Geneva Convention, cutting my personal income tax exemption, maybe just maybe weren't actually Canadian priorities...

... Now normally, I don't pay attention to polls - polls smolls - but when looking at the aggregate number over the past year and 3 months of Tory govt... well, if I was a Tory, I'd be starting to feel the heat...

Bumper Sticker Wisdom

2007-04-25T13:50:00.000-04:00

Saw this one on my walk into work:

"Be nice to America... Or we'll bring democracy to your country"

I want my money back

2007-04-19T20:28:00.000-04:00

So apparently my hard earned tax dollars are going to pay for Harper's image consultant... Now I'd have no problem with this if I felt that I was actually getting my money's worth... But not only is Ms. Image consultant helping Harp out at home, apparently she travelled with Steve all the way to Vietnam for APEC summit. Check out fruits of her labour below.... Now maybe it's just me, but I don't think that shade of baby blue in his one piece jumpsuit is the correct shade to match his eyes...

Roses are Red, Governance is Blue

2007-04-19T19:54:00.000-04:00

And the drama continues over at the World Bank, where Bank staff are now wearing blue ribbons as a symbol for improving good governance in the World Bank Group...

...Yesterday, one of the two Managing Directors (the two dudes under the President) urged Wolfowitz to resign... Read all about it in the FT...juicier and juicier.

Confusing Climate

2007-04-19T13:22:00.000-04:00

Well colour me perplexed... I thought that the Tories were the next big green machine... turns out that was just for fun, after they saw the green tide sweep through the Liberal leadership convention...

The best part of the CBC story: "A study last fall by Nicholas Stern, former chief economist of the World Bank, said the costs of combatting global warming are manageable and would be much less than the costs of taking no action." Gotta love the Bank...and a good ole Tory flip flopping action...

No more guns

2007-04-16T19:47:00.000-04:00

Let's make guns illegal for all civilians... I can't just can't deal... yet another horrific shooting close to home...

Banking Change

2007-04-12T17:53:00.000-04:00

Interesting goings on over at the World Bank...Financial Times has a great analysis... worth checking out it's pretty juicy stuff..

Ripening with Age

2007-04-09T21:06:00.001-04:00

My mom often teases me for being a true Canadianophile... Like any good cheese or wine, my love for Canada improves with age and experience...

Three things happened to me this week than just served to nurture my burgeoning feelings towards the home and native land:

1) The Canadian Rockies with Snow
I want to start a new sponsorship program. This one brings seperatists out to the Rockies and places them on top of Lake Louise or Sunshine (right at the top of the Great Divide ski lift) on a sunny day in early April. I am willing to spend my hard earned tax dollars just to fly them all out there (and this is hard for me to say seeing as I just spent the weekend filing my taxes... is it just me or did the personal exemption decrease this year... evil tories). I would find it absolutely impossible to believe that after seeing that majestic, awe-inspiring spectacle, that ANYONE could find it possible to want to disassociate from a country that has such formidable and breathtaking natural beauty.

2) Public Health Care
Because I have a new contract with my place of employ, I finally have health insurance. I have been avoiding seeking medical attention for the past 10 months, crossing fingers and toes that I won't get sick or be struck by lightening. Today, I was introduced to my new health care plan (which I still have to pay $150 US a month for). I was the idiot asking whether you had to pay up front out of pocket when you went to the doctor and which health care services did you have to pay a deductible for (like I'm a fricken car). Now I know our system is far from perfect, but the fact that I can walk into my doctor's office, hand over my medicare card, and never fork over a dime, is nothing short of a miracle...

3) Ben Mulroney
Seeing him wait for his bags at Montreal Trudeau Airport at midnight on Thursday night, like any other human being, sans entourage, or red carpet and idol free... was icing on the cake...

... oh Canada...

Jet Lag

2007-03-30T11:16:00.000-04:00

I've realized that my tendency for blogging is similar to my tendency towards exercise. The beginning of the week starts off and I am all raring to go... and then towards the end of the week, the exhaustion, work deadlines, the social engagements, start to kick in and then blogging and the gym kind of get pushed off to the back burner... I also think that I'm suffering some kind of burn out... we were on full throttle at work up until that Vietnam trip... and now I kind of feel like a truck hit me...So lucky me, I am going on Vacation. Vacation with a capital "V". And to no other than one of the most beautiful places in the world: Banff, Alberta.

Unfortunately, I can't get my intelligent and worldly sister to fill in for me again... cause she's coming with me. So this blog will probably be on a bit of a stand still for the next week.

I am so excited to be going back to my home and native land... yay access to good canadian media! yay peter mansbridge! yay hard paper copies of the Globe & Gazette! Yay CBC radio! (man, I am such a geek... clearly in desperate need of vacation...)

What they are saying in DC: Quebec Election Analysis

2007-03-27T12:45:00.000-04:00

Check out the Washington Post's take on the election here... kind of interesting...not to mention, I can't begin to express how thrilled I am that the elections actually even had some sort of resonance in these here parts....

Being Bold

2007-03-26T22:22:00.001-04:00

Okay... here goes... I'm willing to money on John losing his seat.... man oh man oh man... who'd of thunk it?

UPDATE - apparently me willing to be bold and put money on it... wasn't quite that bold after all... CBC called it at the same time that I posted.... what does our future hold?

UPDATE UPDATE - or maybe not... oh the tension and drama!

Will Charest Keep His Seat?

2007-03-26T21:37:00.000-04:00

... still waaaayyyy to early to call - but some interesting numbers coming in from Sherbrooke, John's riding...

Totally off topic

2007-03-26T20:36:00.000-04:00

You know what makes me sad?

That season 5 of the West Wing isn't a good as Season 2...

What to do on Monday?

2007-03-23T10:53:00.000-04:00

On Monday, I face a qualm. A dilemma. No matter how I vote, I lose. I'm a federal Liberal, anti seperatist, socially progressive, anglo. What do to? I'm sorry, but Jean (or John) Charest is a Tory. He was the leader of the Tories federally for god sakes. He's a political opportunist. As much as it pains the Liberal anti seperatist in me to say it, there you go. He doesn't get us Quebecers. He just doesn't. It's kind of annoying and painful and sad. We want free (or practically free) post secondary education. We know that we had a crippling debt. We know we have to make tough economic decisions. But we can't help it. It's an emotion knee-jerk reaction. We want our social programmes. We are kind of like the French that way. They have to make v tough decisions to stimulate economic growth. But they can't quite seem to do it. And we're the same. I wish I had a solution, I really wish that I did. But you can't way that you're going to raise post-secondary tuition (even though it's amongst the lowest in the country). You just can't.

Now what are my other options. I obviously can't vote Parti Quebecois. I'm an anglo. 4th generation. I was blammed for losing the last referedum. I was told by the Conservative Fed govt that I am not part of the Quebecois nation. I don't want Quebec to seperate. So no matter what other policies the Parti puts forward, the seperation thing undercuts them all.

As for the ADQ, well, they are socially conservative (though I've had some debates recently with people about how socially conservative they actually are) - but whatever. To sum up: they're weird. Punto.

So there you have it.

Now for the federal implications: If Charest wins - it's a victory for Harper's Conservatives. If Charest wins a minority with the ADQ propping it up - it's a double win for Harper.

If the Parti Quebecois wins - it's potentially a victory for Dion and the federal Liberals- because he gets to show off his fighting the seperatists forte - and remind the country of his unifying the country - clarity acting - strenghts... But a Parti Quebec victory would mean plunging us all into another referendum on seperation... and honestly, I haven't gotten over the trauma and exhaustion of the last one...

So there you have it, if you're a Liberal in Quebec, it's a rough and tumble lose lose situation...

Never Thought I'd See the Day

2007-03-23T10:13:00.000-04:00

Stock, Stock, Stock, ... tut, tut, tut...

Emission Trading 101

2007-03-21T21:27:00.000-04:00

Great article in the globe today - explaining some of the nuts and bolts of emission trading (though I take slight offense at the title cause it makes it sound like emissions trading and foreign aid are an either/or... but still). Check it out here.

Are we going to go?

2007-03-19T22:15:00.001-04:00

Three weeks ago, I put five bucks up against my Tory political enemy saying no... he said yes... think it's time for me to cash in...

UPDATE: hmmm - or according to the CBC... maybe not... jeez make up your minds people...either way BRING IT ON!

Harper = Climate Criminal

2007-03-19T15:13:00.000-04:00

This is fantastic! Despite Stevie running around painting the country green... Greenpeace calls it like it is... if it walks like it won't talk about emissions reductions, and talks like it won't reduce emissions, then it is probably... is a climate criminal... meuhahaha!

Integration - Out of Many, One

2007-03-19T11:50:00.000-04:00

Occasionally, I get "criticized" for lack of posting... I happen to believe that blogging should be an organic experience - I don't want to just post of the sake of posting... and sometimes, frankly, I just don't have anything to say... But to be honest, my lack of posting of late is due to a bit of an internal shift... Strangely, I am starting to get used to living in DC. I have come to realize that my initial "contempt" for the local (i.e. how is it possible that you don’t have free health care kind of contempt) is a classic symptom of culture shock... and is now starting to dissipate. This is something that blows my mind - Canada is so similar to the States that I didn't expect to feel any shock - I have lived in 4 countries other than Canada... and have come to get used to the initial waves of integration and learning that come with moving to a new country... but I hadn't adequately braced myself for this one...

That aside, I am in a weird place: I am starting to like DC. I recognize the failing and issues with the US - but rather than feeling contempt and superiority, I feel endeared. I am starting to recognize or develop a more sophisticated understanding of US (or at least DC) society. I am starting to appreciate the vastness and diversity of 300 million Americans...

... As a result of my new found integration, however, or perhaps not related, but I am feeling increasing out of the loop with Canadian politics... no amount of reading the Globe, CBC, the Hill Times, the post, trolling blogs, watching Mercer's clips, is giving me the insider take and opinions that I used to have... I am getting impatient with waiting for the election (even though my money is on no election this spring)... I am getting tired of seeing all these phony Conserv green announcements (I could deconstruct them in a second - they still don't seem to get that climate change is a GLOBAL issue - and where you reduce emissions actually doesn't matter - cause emission rise into the GLOBAL atmosphere - and that they are sneakily trying to get involved in this stupid coal heavy countries not doing anything initiative set up by the non Kyoto Annex I countries US, Australia, and India and China) but I digress... all that to say - that my lack of posting... is due to an internal transition.. hopefully nothing that a week in Alberta (where I am heading in two weeks) won't be able to cure... despite my “integration”, I need a good dose of my home and native land.

Canada: A "She"?

2007-03-13T11:56:00.000-04:00

Just checking out some of the latest on the Globe and Mail website re: the census and population concentrations. I gotta say, they have some nifty graphics and powerpoint presentations.

Was settling in to watch "Where We Live: Canada" presentation, when a funny thing happened: the voice over and the footnotes to the slides, kept referring to Canada as "she". Wow - when did we decide Canada's gender?.. anyone who has insights on the history - please share, it'd be greatly appreciate...

Now, I am a big proponent of using gender neutral language and nothing exemplifies the ridiculousness of non- gender neutral language more than the phrase: "population concentration in her southern regions". (Sounds like the Globe and Mail is getting a little racy there.) Oh and the phrase: "Man is a mammal who breastfeeds his young" is another classic example of the ridiculousness of non gender neutral... but thankfully, the Globe refrained from using that one.

Linking China to Sudan

2007-03-12T20:57:00.000-04:00

Unfortunately, even though I was in NYC this weekend, I didn't have a chance to participate in this: a human chain linking the Sudanese Mission to the United Nations on 47th Street and the Chinese Mission on 35th Street. The purpose of the protest was to draw attention China's increasing support and aid to the Sudanese regime. Read more about it here.

Drinking With Republicans

2007-03-12T17:28:00.000-04:00

A few weekends ago, I headed out to the bastion of Republican Washington night life: a bar in Georgetown called Smith Point. I was warned before entering, to brace myself for an intense anthropological experience: observing the Republican in his/her natural habitat: fully equipped with pearls, cleavage, and extremely manicured hair and nails (for the women) and polo shirts, cords with palm tree logos and crew cuts (for the boys)... Newsweek actually has an excellent article describing the whole scene in great detail (way more articulately than I ever could - it's quite an interesting and succinct read).

I have to admit, that my anthropological observations kept getting interrupted by the cranberry vodkas that kept coming my way...and I found myself rounding up one innocent, self describe redneck, corralling him into a corner, and profusely asking for an explanation on how he could be pro-life and pro-death penalty at the same time and didn't he see the intense oxymoronic, lack of logic, contradiction in those beliefs...

Oh dear... So I have to say that my first foray into Republican Washington social scene was less than successful on the anthropological study aspect... guess I'll have to go back next week for further observation and research...

Let's Here it for the Women in Da House II

2007-03-08T14:59:00.000-05:00

As today is International Women's Day (though am looking forward to the time when we don't need one)... just wanted to serve up a little reminder about the number of women we have in parliament. CBC has a great site where you can compare percentage of representation of women in government worldwide.

This number always depresses me: Canada ranks 44th on the Inter Parliamentary Union's ranking of countries by representation of women in goverment.

Kudos to the top 10:

1. Rwanda
2. Sweden
3. Costa Rica
4. Finland
5. Norway
6. Denmark
7. Netherlands
8. Cuba/Spain
9. Argentina
10. Mozambique

Here's to hoping that next year - we see Canada's name up there...

Well I'll be... part II

2007-03-07T13:14:00.000-05:00

Just got offered a 2 year extension at my current place of employ... so looks like I'll be in DC longer than initially anticipated... that is, unless the opportunity arrise to fight the conservative forces of evil head on in a federal election....

Well I'll be....

2007-03-06T12:43:00.000-05:00

Just got asked to be a moderator over at progressive bloggers... turns out that I am deemed a "respected member" of the blogging community... hee hee hee... who knew? Am tickled pink... and looking forward to assuming my duties... yay!

Pictoral Interlude VIII

2007-03-05T16:55:00.000-05:00

And now... more from the 'Nam...

Wow!

2007-03-05T16:06:00.000-05:00

Not quite sure how Cherniak's attempt at getting a guy who posts anti-semetic comments to step down from being the head of blogging dippers can be misconstrued as "engulfing the blogosphere with his personal conflicts"... seems to me more like he's doing the Dippers a favour...

Facebook Omigod!

2007-03-05T15:09:00.000-05:00

This is terrible... I naively walked into the facebook trap yesterday at the urging of a friend from back home... and now I can't stop... help help - any suggestions on how to quell the addiction, v much appreciated!

On Being A Patriot

2007-03-05T12:35:00.000-05:00

Kay, there is this really good episode of the West Wing, where Ainsley Hays, a Republican, accepts a job working for the White House counsel’s office (the fictional White House being Democrat). At the end of the episode, she meets up with her Republican friends, who are making fun of the Democrats and the White House. Ainsley Hays stops them and tells them not to make fun of White House staff, because, despite all of their wrongful ideological learning, they are patriots.

After being in Washington, DC for the past 9 months, and slowly learning more and more about the country next door, I've reached a strange conclusion (of the post drinking with republicans in a dubious DC bar nature, i.e. the not very profound kind): Republicans have effectively managed to spin and sew up the whole Republican and patriot are synonyms thing. I mean, that's what this whole, Democrats voting in favor of the Iraq war was. Basically any time you spoke out against the (Republican) administration, you were being unpatriotic.

Now times are a changing... however, back at home, this whole discussion on extending anti - terrorism measure is a bit troubling to me... cause I am worried that Harper is trying to do the same thing... but subtlety (or not so subtly) he's trying to paint Liberal as being unpatriotic or un Canadian in their decision making process...

Now this post isn't about whether I think extending the clauses or not (I'm actually of two minds about this)... but rather, to serve as a warning... that Harper's trying to frame debates in the same way as the Republican did… Politics and partisanship, isn’t a patriotic competition – anyone who seeks public office (tough job that it is) does it because they are committed to public serve in some way shape or form…Framing the debate into a discussion about who is more patriotic… is dangerous, and we deserve better…

Whatever

2007-03-02T10:00:00.000-05:00

Not sure why everyone has their shirt in a knot re: latest poll numbers... if you look back to the last Jan 2006 election - the final results had nothing to do with poll numbers 5 weeks earlier, let alone 2 months earlier.

On Oct 27th, 2005, SES Research had the Liberals at 40 and the Conservs at 28. On Nov 24th, EKOS had the Libs at 38.7 and the Conservs at 29.4. On December 7, Leger had the Libs at 39 and the Conservs at 27... Just a few sample numbers to name a few (click here to see a full list of polling data right up until the Jan 23, 2006 election)...

All that to say, that the only thing interesting about the latest polls is what they mean in terms of possible election date...Harper could feel that these numbers are good enough for him to start planning his own government's defeat... other than that, I'll start getting nervous if those numbers are the same the week before Election Day... until then, think we can all just chill...

Pictoral Interlude VII

2007-03-01T11:17:00.000-05:00

I don't know if it's something in the water, post Vietnam conference burn out, or what... but I appear to be suffering from absolutelyzeromotivationitis... it's quite appalling actually... even lifting my pen seems like a gargantuan job... and the only thing that I seem to have motivation for, is absolutely gluttonous behaviour...

So to make up for my lack of posting… here we go: some more Vietnam pics… feast your eyes:

Stand Up for America

2007-02-26T10:40:00.000-05:00

Ever wonder where the inspiration came from for the Conservs' snappy slogan: Stand Up for Canada? Well look no futher than Republican Presidential hopeful, John McCain.

Unfortunately, I'm not tech savy enough to link you to his Stand Up video directly. But if you click on this link and then click on the Stand Up tab inside the main page video section, you can watch his, uh, slightly - jeez I'm actually at a loss for words on how to describe it - Stand Up video...

Hey come to think if it, maybe it's the other way around, maybe the Conserv election victory and Stand Up for Canada slogan inspired McCain to draw up his own Stand Up for America pitch... but either way, it's an interesting coincidence.

Traffic

2007-02-26T09:23:00.000-05:00

Over the past year, I have been lucky enough to hit all 6 continents (don't mean this post to spur debate on how to define a continent... but for simplicity purposes I'm defining the follow 6 as the continents: North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and AUS/NZ).

Now despite all their differences and complexities and cultures, smells, vibes, music, etc, everywhere from Toronto to Baltimore, from Nairobi to Rio, from Hanoi to Paris, from Montreal to Sydney, I’ve had the pleasure of sitting in traffic.

I think that traffic dislike is universal. I have yet to meet someone in my travels that says: “I just love this. Sitting in traffic makes me happy and relaxes me. Let’s just sit back, relax, and enjoy the concrete views and breath in that exhaust.” Waiting in a car in bumper to bumper traffic elicits the same kinds of feelings no matter where you are...the helplessness, the trapped, the boredom, the frustration... all common traffic feelings that binds us...

Anyone who has a solution or ideas on how to deal with this...and something tells me that traffic is a growing problem... could make millions...And though I am a big believer in public transport, I don't think that that is going to necessarily solve the problem... we need something that has evokes the same levels of feelings of independence as driving...yet doesn't leave you driving straight towards a 2 hour bottle neck...oh and the fact that ending traffic jams might be good for the environment and air quality too, well that's an added bonus...

Keeping Up With the Baileys

2007-02-25T15:35:00.000-05:00

Spurred on by the last post, have been spending most of my time on line lately in the search of the comms holy grail... not sure I'm going to share the fruit of my findings (better to keep some cards off the table, especially as it looks like we'll be heading to an election sooner rather than later)... however did want to link to one fab article that reviews a wack of the latest on Dem political strategy... and raises some extremely valid issues: how political success means responding to the needs of the middle class, the meat and potatoes of daily life, i.e. what would Joe and Eileen Bailey want? vs the broader "climate changey" type issues... or can you do both?

It's a great read.

Also wanted to give a shout out to my friend Taylor Owen, who just had an outstanding oped on Afghanistan published in the TStar the other day...you can read the whole, unedited version here...

Changing Comms

2007-02-21T10:41:00.000-05:00

Okay, so first: I agree with Wells... polls, smolls... and some of the questions were totally random... not sure how people can have an opinion on the Liberal position on Afghanistan... cause I have no idea what that is... (maybe I've just been totally out of the loop... but anyone who knows and wants to share... I'd v appreciate it)...

... so that being said... this post isn't motivated by the polls... I was thinking about it last week... after having read the papers a "normal" amount while in Vietnam (i.e. not obsessively everyday - bad habit that's hard to shake, after working in politics)... I came to the following, though not earth shattering in any way conclusion: time to get rid of whoever is doing comms in the OLO...

... Now, I hate to sow the seeds of discord and speak out against my beloved party... but I have a hunch that whoever is responsible for comms in Dion's office is the same person that has been doing comms for him for at least the past two years... And as far as I can tell, the best thing that he/she did - was to get zero media coverage for Dion in the leadership campaign... (though instincts tell me that, that though it was a blessing in disguise, it was not the result of a carefully planned comms strategy)... oh yeah, and the green swag on Saturday and the Dion drink coasters were good too...

Climate change and Kyoto are extremely complex issues... the Protocol is one of the trickiest in international law... and to get the message right on them is a behemoth of a job... The Tories have a much easier spin on this: any time we say a peep about Kyoto - there they are brandishing about the fact that GHG emissions rose while the Liberals were in power... Doesn’t' matter that the Kyoto Protocol only entered into force in Feb 2005 - doesn't matter that the reason there was little progress on reducing GHGs precisely because of Tory opposition in the House... that one line of Tory spin is, I hate to say it, damn effective... and we can do better/we have to do better...

Everyone knows the reason that Stevie went from talking about "so called green house gases" to committing $1.5 billion dollars on climate change - is because the Liberals under Stephane Dion made climate change THE issue... and a good comms strategy would remind Canadians of that...

... I also have a feeling that the comms folks are the same ones that got Dion absolutely zero domestic press coverage right after got over 162 countries to agree to a post 2012 Kyoto framework. I can't emphasize enough how much of a big deal this is... we have a hard enough time agreeing domestically within Canada on how we want to address climate change... meanwhile, Dion, steps up, gets 162 countries to come together and agree on how to move forward on reducing GHGs after the reduction period of Kyoto (which runs from 2008 - 2012) ends... The amount of kudos and accolades he got internationally was outstanding... the domestic coverage (in the middle of a federal election campaign when we were in desperate need of good press) was zip, zilch, zero...

...So there you have it... I think it's time for the Dion OLO to start mixing things up... comms wise...

Blog Revival & Video Interlude I

2007-02-19T08:23:00.000-05:00

I have been remise. The shuttling too and fro at warp speed, over the North pole and back (looks like there is some fantastic potential skiing on Baffin Island)... the running around Hanoi, hanging off backs of mopeds, tea pots under arm, sailing in Halong Bay, organizing and running a conference with over 500 participants from over 50 countries.... has all been too much for my system... sensory overload to say the least... living life at warp speed finally caught up to me and after spending every day last week either at an airport or in an airplane, I finally hit a brick wall and crashed...into a crisp, snowy Montreal landing.

So yes, apologies for lack of blogging... but barely had time to catch my breath... So in the interim and while waiting to get my feet firmly settled on hard ground... I give you: Street scene from Hanoi. Enjoy!

I'm Soooo Not A 'Blogger'

2007-02-09T16:15:00.000-05:00

Piccola-JJ
Toronto, Canada

I like my status as ‘guest-blogger’ on my sister’s blog. It’s kind of fun being at the helm of something that’s just out there, read by many people I don’t even know. However, these 2 weeks have confirmed for me that blogging just is not my calling. It’s simply not in my nature to maintain a running commentary on things. As I said in my first post, I tend to be fairly quiet. Now, a few people have interpreted quiet to represent some kind of lack of confidence and I’ve received some kind works of commiseration and of encouragement. Let me assure you, I’m very secure in my ability to form and articulate insightful ideas. To prove it, I’ll go so far as to say that I think I’m an even better writer than my sister (well, sometimes). But sending my personal opinions into some void of the blog-sphere isn’t an enticing idea for me.

Don’t get me wrong- I really value the blogging community and believe in its power to democratize ideas and provide an insightful alternative to the mainstream media. I enjoy reading the cacophony of comments that continuously appear throughout the day (and night). Perhaps this is what prevents me from making my own contribution- there’s just so much out there, all the time, on just about everything. Is this intellectually selfish of me- that’s I want to absorb the ideas out there without adding my own?

In any case, my sister is due back soon. In the mean time, I’ll happily (and hopefully), maintain this blog with a few more post, although I’m not sure what they’ll contain- possibly just a few more picture and links and, should the urge strikes, an extended analytic monologue….

Pictoral Interlude VI

2007-02-05T08:17:00.000-05:00

Piccola-JJ

Toronto, Canada

I have just returned from a run on this positively freezing Toronto morning. These pictures, from Chennai, India, are an attempt spread some warm during our moment of arctic weather. (I am also hoping that they’ll remind JJ to share with us some picture from Hanoi!)

Exodus

2007-02-01T23:55:00.000-05:00

Nothing is more frustrating than traveling half way around the globe (and taking 4 days to get there) and not being able to leave your hotel to explore the whole new world that lies outside. Especially difficult is catching glimpses of the exotic, different, beautiful, from your window - but not being able to capture the feelings in their entirety (the smells, the air, the humidity, the noise, the dusty, the bustle). See prairie fire for similar feelings and views from the same hotel windows.

Just when I thought I was about to burst with the need to get outside the hotel - a break presented itself – and off I went in the streets of Hanoi. Not far, but far enough to sample some of the local street food. No menu – I picked by pointing at what the other patrons were eating. Sitting on tiny plastic stools. Getting their shoes polished while eating (slippers are provided for your comfort). I ate a fantastic, filling meal – noodles, soup, spring rolls for a cool $1.50… Wandered through a market – meat of the day (I know this is a terribly stereotypical thing to say – but others confirmed) delectable pieces of dog – fresh (i.e. alive) cat fish swimming in bowls balanced on the ends of long sticks hung over shoulders– stunning flowers (at wonderful prices) and lush odors filled the air… cachews, apples, tofu, fruits galor…

And then, time’s up. Back to the grind. Back to sheltered hotel/expat temporary living… I can’t wait for today’s lunch break! Real, live pictures of Hanoi to follow soon (I hope!)

Travelling Without Moving

2007-01-31T03:05:00.000-05:00

Oh Air Canada,

My home and native airline.

True patriot love is the only thing that will keep me flying you again...

Do I sound delirious? Chalk it up to 4 days of travel, 3 cancelled flights, 4 reroutings, three unscheduled over night stops, three different countries, and arriving in Vietnam 2 days late.

Now don't get me wrong, I understand that technical difficulties, weather, whathaveyou, happen - but I have a hard time when the people that I am interacting with don't seem to know how to deal with the issues/challenges/obstacles presented... which happened to me consistently over the 12 hours (total - I kid you not) that I spent dealing with Air Canada reps... (issues ranging from flying me out from cities that I wasn't currently in... i.e. "we have a great flight for you leaving from NYC..." - to which I responded "wonderful... but, uh, I am currently in DC - so how are you going to get me there?" AC rep response.. "uh, I don't know... but can you get there in four hours?")

Anyway - totally delirious - walked straight into a meeting - am about to collapse - but just wanted to say hi, thank the little sis - for doing such a phenomenal job in the blog up keep - and also a shout of thanks to those who mentioned this blog in some their response to Warren Kinsella's Blogging Man List... hee hee (okay delirium and jet lag have finally over run the system)...

Comical Interlude

2007-01-30T19:41:00.000-05:00

I’m really enjoying my time as a guest-blogger , but I do wonder if this might be in my future?

What's going on here? Allow me to generalize....

2007-01-29T21:49:00.000-05:00

My co-worker casually says to me: “….Americans are lazy. They don’t want to use their brains. They don’t want to think.” She’s a visiting research fellow from India and we were chatting over coffee. She acknowledges that she used to only be critical of the US administration, but now, she’s giving up on all it’s citizens as well, leading her to the above conclusion.

More and more I’ve noticed people making all kinds of generalizations about Americans as individuals. I try and imagine reversing my colleague’s comment to describe India, and honestly, I can’t. As we seem to have a growing sensitivity to avoid cultural stereotyping, we also have an increasing ability to make assumptions about Americans. It’s similar to when my Canadian colleagues discuss the US health-care (non)system. They describe it one-dimensionally, that in the US it’s everyone-for-themselves, it’s some sort of quasi-anarchism for well-being. Certainly I grew up taking trips to the doctor for granted and the lack of universal coverage in the US took me a while to actually wrap my mind around. But once I did, I became aware of the elaborate public health services coordinated by state and national government. While in the US, I worked in a state department of health and, being in the family health office, learned about their sincere efforts to improve the health all children in the state, not only those with money.

Perhaps I’m the one generalizing from comments over coffee and from around the conference room table. Nor am I either criticizing or endorsing some of the typical claims made about Americans. But I can’t think of any other nationality that is subject to such assumptions from outsiders. So what’s going on here?

On an unrelated update about this blog, I’m happy to say that my sister is finally on her way to Vietnam. She faced some truly ridiculous delays- a nightmarish culmination of bad weather, city-wide computer glitches, and impressive airline incompetence. However, on the up-side, she was able to swing a brief stop through Toronto (30 hours late), and I could share with her my apartment and new ‘hood, and she could share with me some very quality Brazilian music!

I Have Some Pretty Big Shoes to Fill

2007-01-27T21:20:00.000-05:00

My sister’s request to cover for her while she’s in Vietnam comes right after I realized that I could never ever have my own blog. As the younger sibling, I tend to be more introverted, letting my sister open and carry on all kinds of discussion, while I prefer to listen, think for a while, and then, maybe, comment. I am, however, a huge fan and supporter of her blog, and am happy to what I can to keep in running over the next few weeks. I’m honestly pretty excited, if somewhat daunted, am curious as to were the new venture will lead.

I recently took a job in Toronto after a few years in grad school down in the states. I realized that my time in the US is a significant point of reference for me as I come to understand all that is Toronto (I’m a native Montrealer, so never spent much time here). So, contrary to what JJ mentioned, I’ll probably maintain a consistent US focus to the blog. We’ll see. My experience in the states was pretty interesting, though probably not very representative; I was in a mid-sized city in the north-east, enjoying life as a student at an affluent ivy-league school. There is much to be reconciled in that kind of existence, especially with the poverty and racial segregation that resided (literally) on the other side of the tracks from my college campus. I expect that my future posts will draw of my experiences there, as well my time living in India, Italy, and now, Toronto.

My views are undeniably shaped by my work, education, and travels. However, my biggest source of inspiration is my sister and I’ll try my best to maintain some relevant and insightful dialogue on her blog over the 2 weeks. That said, (deep breath), here it goes….

Good Morning Vietnam!

2007-01-26T11:51:00.000-05:00

Am off to Hanoi tomorrow morning for 2 and 1/2 weeks!

Very excited - though the trip promises to be intense - workwise in particular... so I am not sure how often I will get around to blogging...

In my absence, I am very pleased to announce the arrival of a very special guest blogger! Look for the introductory post of piccola - jj - coming soon!

Piccola - JJ is based in Toronto - so I anticipate that her posts will be slightly less US focused than mine... however, she already has provided this blog with tons of spicy, analytical commentary (both in the form of post suggestions and comments)! I am confident you'll be in great hands!

Converging Citizenship

2007-01-24T18:08:00.000-05:00

Last night, as a US taxpayer for the very first time, I heard how my tax dollars will be spent... among one of my favorites was reinforcing border security...

Now I'm not sure if Georgie was talking about the largest unprotected border in the world between the largest trading partners in the world... or rather the border to the South of land of the free... but it got me thinking about all of these arbitrary citizenship rules that keep rearing their ugly heads as Canadians go to apply for passports for the first time and find out that after 70 years in the true north, they aren't actually Canadian... how depressing... sort of throws a wrench in the whole questioning the loyalty of politicians with dual citizenship thing, doesn't it? Turns out there are a whole whack of laws that applied only for certain periods of time and under certain conditions that allow for Canadian citizenship...

Now, I have a confession to make: I am a dual citizen... not by choice - by total accident... My parents are Canadian, I have lived (with the exception of the present) my whole life in Canada, my sister is Canadian. But I was born in the States, while my parents were studying there. Six months later, they moved back to Canada with me in tow.

I've never felt conflicted about my loyalty or my citizenship - to quote a great Molson beer ad: I am Canadian.

Contrary to what Andrew Coyne said in his blog about how dual citizens never really say who they hope for when "their countries" are playing against each other in a sport match - I've never had that dilemma, I always hope for Canada. I was raise here, my family is Canada. It's a total fluke that I have American citizenship too. Just like how I have brown hair, or who my parents are - or that I am an anglo Quebecer... all things that I don't really have control over (well, I suppose I could become a bottle blond, or speak French to my parents at home, or renounce my US citizenship... but these are just random things you just happen to be born with and they sort of make up who you are...)

...I'm kind of sad that we started getting into this whole citizenship/loyalty discussion with regard to our politicians. That's the great thing about Canada - is that we are secure enough in our citizenship, in knowing what's great about our country - that we have room for more than one identity. We recognize that Canada derives strength from our mosaic - not weakness - we are enriched by diversity... That's what makes us all proud to be Canadian (dual citizens or not).

Je ne veux pas travailler....

2007-01-22T17:31:00.000-05:00

I don't know if it is mid winter blahs (spurred on by the fact that it finally, miraculously snowed in DC) or what - but the work motivation level has reached a pinnacle low (if that's not a total oxymoron - but whatev)... So I've been employed in some pretty stellar procrastination (if I do say so myself)... as a result, I thought I'd share the fruits of my labour:

Random find #1: Stephane Dion is up there with Rosie O'Donnell and Justin Timberlake as post popular msn - ca people search?

Random find #2: Tomorrow, our beloved prime minister is celebrating the one year anniversary of the last election... uh...who does that? And at the Chateau Laurier no less... I am dying of suspense to hear what he's going announce...(My guess is something along the lines of - "A year ago today, we saved Canada from its fate of turning into a full fledge northern European welfare state in the worse sense of the term...")

Random find #3: Need a little bit of tlc... coming soon to a shopping centre near you: Free Hugs... now available world wide (from Korea, to Canada, to Brazil)...

Okay, this post is getting so lame, that as a (non-intentional) side effect, I actually just convinced myself to get back to work...

Walking the Line

2007-01-21T15:48:00.000-05:00

Last night, spurred on by liquid courage... I got into my usual "talking to Americans" diatribe ...i.e. what a great country Canada is, universal healthcare, mosaic instead of melting pot, etc etc... when my panengyric commentary was interrupted by a question: How many Canadians live below the poverty line... and how does it compare to the States?

uhhhh... to be honest, I don't know...but I promised to look it up and blog about it.

And not one to go back on liquor induced promises, here are the facts:

Canada actually doesn't have a poverty line, it has low-income cut-off (LICO) - which is not a measure of poverty, but of income inequality... Okay, so then how many people live below the LICO? According to the CBC, as of 2004, 15.5 per cent of Canadians...

Now what about the States? Well according to the CIA Factbook, the 2004 estimates had 12% of Americans living below the poverty line...

...Tricky. Because then the stats/econ savy (or non-savy) part of me gets confused... I'm not sure that it's possible to compare the two, because it looks like Canada and the US aren't measuring the same things... so on first glance, it looks like the US has fewer poor people... but because Canada doesn't have a "poverty line" and I'm not sure if the methodology used to calculate the numbers are the same - so I don't think it's fair to compare.

... My knee-jerk reaction is also that I think Canada treats its poor people better... I intrinsically (not based on any indepth analysis) think that I'd rather be poor in Canada than in the States. I think that I'd have a better chance - easier access to better education, for example, and potentially better health and medical treatment...

... but I digress, the question was: Are there more poor people in Canada or the US.
I guess the answer is: I don't know. It depends on how you define poor.

Recycling Democracy

2007-01-19T20:38:00.000-05:00

So Stevie finally believes in climate change - and to prove that he's fully converted, he just ponied up a cool $1.5 billion plan to invest in reneweables... Liberal environment critic David McGuinty said (and I whole - heartedly agree), the Conservatives are simply "running around the country re-announcing" Liberal programs cut from the last budget...

That being said, I think that this announcement is a wonderful example of democracy in action (which I will be sure to drawn on the next time I come across the cynical non-voter)... this announcement is politicians doing exactly what they are supposed to do: respond to what Canadians want... WE said WE care about the environment and want solutions... so now we are (finally, belatedly, and unoriginally) getting what we asked for...

Canada's better off without me?

2007-01-17T20:05:00.000-05:00

Kay, I try not to use my blog as a soapbox too often.. but this really bugs me...

What's the Globe and Mail doing asking a poll like this?

"Have you come to believe that Canada would be better off without Quebec?"

... It's like someone asking you how you feel about a member of your family... granted family members can get annoying every once in a while, but they're still family... right?

(And if this post sounds chocked full of insecurity...check out the poll results!)

Warming up...

2007-01-16T03:23:00.000-05:00

Here we go - 15 hours after requesting on You Tube - the clip finally posted - thanks to all for the techie tips... guess there was just an overload at the youtube site...

Okay, so I know this is blogging the obvious, but, uh, it's cold in Canada... And it gets dark really early - like a 3 o'clock in the morning dark at 7 p.m. - which makes it really hard to motivate yourself to get out of the house... it took tons of motivation to get out from hiberation and go socialize...

...Just arrived back in DC, and it's something ridiculous like 20 degrees C here... so it makes the Canadian contrast that much more glaring.... I know I am saying this like someone who has never been to Canada before...but still - it's cold!... and dark.... so I thought that I'd post some quality Brazilian music to warm up the Canadian readers... This guy, Gilberto Gil is a musical genius as well as Brazil's Minister of Culture - don't we wish that we had one of those, i.e. a Federal Minister of Culture... and a musically inclined one at that? Anyway, enjoy!

You Tubing?

2007-01-15T20:42:00.000-05:00

Found a fab clip to share - and had attached this great post (basically comparing and contrasting the wildly different climates I've just traversed: mind-numblingly cold in Montreal this a.m. and summer night temps here in D.C.)... anyway, 5 hours later, it hasn't downloaded on my blog... this is causing a weird sort of vicious circle: I don't want to blog until the clip is up, but don't know how long to wait until I try again... man oh man... the dilems of the digital age....

Fighting the Surge

2007-01-13T10:33:00.000-05:00

I've been resisting blogging about the Iraq quagmire. Quite simply because an unhappy side effect of living in the States is, that Iraq haunts me. It's everywhere. I don't watch tv a lot - but I make a concerted effort to avoid it, especially at news time. I have diminished my intake of NPR - just gets too depressing in the morning and doesn't set ideal heading off to work conditions. So I try to fill my quality time at home with excellent music, quality company, and great food. But every so often, the underlying high pitch frequency on Iraq that reverberates throughout American life, breaks through and I am forced to consider it.

My initial thoughts on Iraq might come as a surprise for those of you who know me as a tree-hugging-latte-drinking-lefty. I always (even back in the day when Colin Powell was making an unconvincing case over at UN HQ) thought that invading Iraq was going to be (and has turned out to be) - a mistake of cataclysmic proportions.

However, for a while, I felt that the US should do whatever it takes to "fix" the situation in Iraq. A sort of you broke it, you fix it logic. If that means sending more troops, then send more troops.

Though I know the situations aren't comparable, but I thought that the States should mirror whatever the Allies did in WWII in Germany and Japan. Some the reasons (I think) for the successful reconstruction of those countries, had to do with the sheer volume of troops, which lead to the total defeat of other side, followed by the complete replacement and reconstruction of political institutions. (I just want to put a caveat here again, that I am by no means an expert in WWII military history or contemporary military strategy. The extent of my understanding of the rules of war - stems from reading Michael Waltzer's Just and Unjust Wars - an excellent book, btw). So yeah, my feeling was: whatever, however many troops you need - just do it! You want to invade a country? Well, jeez, at least have the decency to invade it “properly”.

So there we have it. My internal, private, view on Iraq over the past few months. However, I was finally tempted into debating Iraq with my American democrat political operative friend. I told him the same, more or less, as in the paragraph above...

And he convinced me that I was wrong. He said the US has past the threshold of being able to rectify the situation. Unfortunately, there have just been too many mistakes. The you broke it, you fix it rule only applies when you can superglue parts of the broken teacup back together... but when you throw the teacup on the ground, step on it, grind your heel into it, and mix in pieces of earth, then no amount of picking up the pieces and glue will put it back together.

Unfortunately, we didn't have a chance to discuss alternatives (the bill came just as I was ready to admit the faults of my argument). So I was left with the nagging, hauting question: If the US is no longer a viable, reputable broker for peace in Iraq, then what is the solution?

Hmmmm….maybe, just maybe, the international community won't stand for what is going on in Iraq any longer…

....Maybe the global conscience will intervene and the paradigm will shift.... from watching the American Empire hang itself (pardon the pun) on it's own rope of mistakes - to declaring that the situation in Iraq is unconscionable and has larger implications for the region and for global stability...

...and that perhaps the time has come to swallow our distain, to role up our honest broker peacemaker sleeves, start sifting through the rubble and slowly, steadily, try to put the teacup back together...

UPDATE: Check out a Rebuttal to this post on Canada's Debate...

Cold Revisited

2007-01-12T14:16:00.000-05:00

Must be some sort of bad karma from last post - but have been hit with the mother of all wish-my-head-was-no-attached-to-my-body colds... which is seriously impeding on my ability to blog (or work, or for that matter, live) properly... Wonderful news though: will be returning to the home and native land this weekend for a bit of quality home time R&R and some chicken soup...

Cold War Revisted

2007-01-10T21:23:00.000-05:00

Just finished watching Georgie's address to the nation... and feel like I am in a weird sort of time warp... this fight for freedom and liberty... and good and evil... doesn't it all smack of Cold War rhetoric?

Now I am sooo far from being an expert on this - all I know about the Cold War is a few random undergrad history/poly sci classes... and I am, after all, heading to Vietnam in a few weeks... so I could have messy wars on the brain...but still... very very strange... maybe soon we'll be told that in case of a potential biological weapon we should hide under our desks for protection... hmmm...hopefully we're not quite there yet....

Ringing in 2007 - The View from Down South

2007-01-09T17:50:00.000-05:00

I guess this always happens when the House isn't sitting... am feeling the lack of good political fodder to blog about... I mean other than a little floor crossing, a little cabinet shuffling, and a little Baird looking at some dead trees, I'm kind of feeling uninspired with the Canadian political scene at the moment (if any one has some tips, blogging suggestions, topics, etc – I’d be v grateful).

Anyway, so I thought I’d use this lull to talk about how they ring in the New Year down South in that beautiful country that is Brazil. So here it is:

Five Steps for A Successful Brazilian New Year’s Celebration

1) Dress in white - (not quite sure the origins of this – but it is supposed to bring you good luck...)

2) Eat turkey - (now I don’t know if this is a Brazilian nation wide tradition – I think it’s actually specific to the people I was staying with – we had three turkeys actually – two BBQ (hmm another interesting recipe that’d be good to share with my US Marine turkey frying friend) and one oven baked (the BBQ ones were actually better than the oven one...)

3) At midnight run down to the beach and after the countdown jump seven waves and make seven wishes (one for each wave) – (Actually surprising how hard it is to come up with seven wishes… guess I should count myself lucky...)

4) Put candles in the sand - (also not sure of the origins but something to do with bringing more luck - Some people put candles in little tiny boats and send them floating into the sea...)

5) Kiss as many people as possible - (uh, no explanation needed there...)

Enjoy!

Khan You Do the Khan-Khan?

2007-01-08T18:42:00.000-05:00

I know that Wajid Khan's defection to the Conservatives has already been blogged/columned to death... but I just wanted to add my two cents for whatever they are worth... mainly because I actually worked with Wajid when he was on the same Commons committee as my former boss.

And to tell you the truth, he was an extremely accommodating, easy going, kind, relaxed, partisan Liberal (but in a good-not-too-annoying way), nice-to-work-with-kind of guy.

So, when he declared in favour of Volpe for Lib leader – you could have knocked me over with a feather. In my mind, that was the real shocker…

…His latest cavorting with floor crossing actually seems less surprising in comparison… I don’t know, maybe the dude’s just a social conservative at heart… I actually think that’s the extent of the motivation behind his actions.

I mean, he’s essentially toast next election – he didn’t get anything out of it from a monetary/cabinet positiony type thing (as far as I know)… maybe he just get’s some deep rooted pleasure scratching Harpie’s back… I dunno…

...so yes, that’s the extent of my analysis: nice guy – with previously latent (but now overt) social conservative tendencies at heart.

Pictoral Interlude V - The View from Above

2007-01-07T15:12:00.000-05:00

I tend to have a hard time settling back into the DC "real life" groove (blogging being part of that groove) after life altering trips...

Travel, regardless of the distance, always seems to do this to me - ie. offers tons of new perspectives, ideas, realities... which makes the return to daily life that much more surreal and trickier...

So, in the interim, while I am getting my blogging groove back, please feast your eyes on the view from the Brazilian skies:

Moment of Political Genius

2007-01-07T14:45:00.000-05:00

So remember back when Mr. Virgil H. Goode Jr., GOP Representative from Virginia, caused a kafuffle, because Mr. Ellison (first ever Muslim congressperson) wanted to use a Koran in his swearing in ceremony?

Well, as it turns out, Thomas Jefferson, traditional nation builder himself, actually owned a Koran...So, in a moment of political brillance, Mr. Ellison used Jefferson's copy for his swearing in ceremony... promptly putting to rest Mr. Goode's concerns that using the Koran would be a "serious threat to the nation's traditional values"...

Coming Back Down to Earth

2007-01-06T12:31:00.000-05:00

Hmmmm... I guess that I should go on vacation more often... Just arrived back in DC to find that I made Cherniak's list of top 10 female bloggers...wow... nice thing to come back to.

Unfortunately (or fortunately), my vacation turned out to be a real vacation after all... no email, no internet, just friends, the beach, and some much appreciated capirinahs... all that to say... I have been in a info vacuum... and still coming down off of the plane ride and the Brazilian trip high...

I plan to be back to my normal DC state later today or tomorrow... and will have processed all that is Brazil and will be up to speed on all things politics (Wajid Khan, what?)

Thanks again for being patient with the blogging break... In the interim, I leave you with this:

Brazilian Blogging Break

2006-12-22T16:44:00.000-05:00

Just a quick post to let you know that I will be off lounging on the beach up until Jan. 6th... so unless I happen by an internet cafe on my way to grab a mojito... posts will be few and far between.

Look forward to seeing you all again the 2007! Word on the street is that it's going to be a good one!

We got it gooood

2006-12-21T19:09:00.000-05:00

Just noticed this little news item in the Post today (National, not Washington):

According to Stats Can, our avg life expectancy is now 80 years... which is fab... especially compared to what it was in 1851, when it was 42.9 years ... which is what it is TODAY, in 2006, in Afghanistan.

(Other countries worth comparing: Namibia 43.9, USA 77.85, Iraq 68.7, Sudan 58.54 - Source: The World Factbook)

Slippery Slope: The Unification of Church & State

2006-12-21T12:11:00.000-05:00

Republican Representative Virgil H. Goode Jr., of Virginia, is outraged at the election of the first Muslim congressperson to the House of Representatives. Apparently, Mr. Goode believes that Mr. Ellison (first Muslim congressperson in question) poses a "serious threat to the nation's traditional values". The thing that is really grating on Mr. Goode (gotta love that name btw!)is that, get this, Mr. Ellison want to use the Koran in his swearing in ceremony.

Something that I find extremely tricky, is reconciling America's "traditional values" of freedom, independence, the individual, and seperation of church and state narrative, with stuff like Congressman Goode's caring who uses what in their swearing in ceremony and "calling on Americans to wake up" or else there would "likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran."... I mean, wouldn't you just be embarassed to say those things in a life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and whatnot, society?

Ode to Saskboy

2006-12-19T14:43:00.000-05:00

Just felt like sharing a little blogger love today!

Whenever I'm having a particularly tough day, I keep randomly, by internet link accident, coming across more of Saskboy's brilliant pictures of those living skies... Just a few minutes of the aurora borealis and everything is back into perspective...

Pictoral Interlude IV

2006-12-18T20:28:00.000-05:00

All that talk of pastoral lands has got me thinking about farming in Namibia.

Picture below: farmers on communal land in north western Namibia. This family was having a huge elephant problem - so we worked with them to build seperate water holes for elephants (near the river bed - where elephants migrate - so basically water pit stops off of elephant highways) and seperate water holes for their cattle.

Alberta & Quebec: Separated at Birth?

2006-12-18T16:15:00.000-05:00

This summer, I had the opportunity to travel across Western Canada working on one of the Liberal leadership races. I am embarrassed to admit, that before this summer, I was a straight east-west Canadian, i.e. I've been to both the Atlantic and Pacific shores of Canada but had somehow managed to skip over the provinces that bind - the glue that holds us together.

Through my work, I met with Liberals from Selkirk, Man. to the Queen of Sask., to the foothills of the Rockies. It was quite an unforgettable experience, in particular those mind-blowing prairie skies.

Somewhere along the drive between Edmonton and Calgary, I had an epiphany. It was my 27th birthday. We had pulled over for a double double. I closed my eyes. And opened them again. And thought that if I had been blind-folded and plopped down somewhere on that good Alberta pastoral land - I could have sworn I was in a pasture outside of Magog, in Quebec's Eastern Townships. And that's when it hit me:

Alberta and Quebec have tons in common! They are like naughty adolescent twin brother and sister. Alberta is the boy: tough, strong, big on steak, and pick ups - going through the sort of football team stuff - Quebec is the girl: into hippy environment stuff, open liberal views, free love, laissez faire attitude.

Neither likes to be told what to do by the parent (i.e. Canada). Both demand respect and to be treated like adults and will do whatever they please - thank you very much.

But I think that both of them, like any teenager, have a deep down/hidden respect for a strong parent, who isn't a push over, who challenges them, who tells it like it is, who doesn't overtly pander to them, and who, no matter who they bring home or what they experiment with, will be there for them when the going gets tough.

The View from Down Under

2006-12-17T21:12:00.000-05:00

Came across this interesting post on the Lib leadership race, by a progressive Australian Group blog... (Also interestingly enough, the blog, titled: Larvatus prodeo, has a section for posts that fit under the category "Blame Canada")

I am all for international blog cooperation! Wonder if there is a way to say, link progressive blog groups in Australia with - something like - Prog Blogs in Canada?

All I Really Want...

2006-12-16T16:07:00.000-05:00

Disclaimer: This is my 100th post. So in honour of this momentous event, I’ve put on my naïve political blogger cap. I know the following is completely unrealistic – but I wanted to blog with a healthy dose of naïveté today… Why? Well, why not?

Despite the complexities of a minority government, the wheelings and dealings, the backroom politicking, today, I am going to talk about two issues that I think are so incredibly important that we shouldn’t be playing politics with them.

First, I’d like to given Stephen Harper’s Conservative Government credit because unlike their predecessors, they seem to sort of “get” what minority government is all about. Minority government is basically a special platform to campaign on until you win a majority. Once you win a majority, then you can really start to govern or run the show or what not.

I think that one of the reasons behind the fall of the Martin government is that they didn’t fully comprehend that they had a minority – which means in essence: Canadians were putting them on trial. The way things were run, smacked of a minority running around dressed up in majority clothing trying to act all majorityish. I know that my opinion is not a novel or innovative… but I wanted to put that paragraph in so that later I won’t be accused of not being able to give credit where credit is due and of being too politically biased.

That being said, naïve cap back on, all I want this holiday season, is for our government, my Prime Minister, (whether I voted for him or not, he’s still MY Prime Minister) to rally all 308 MPs from the different parties and stop playing politics with the following two things. They are just too important and lives depend on them.

So here we go, my wish list:

1) Climate change - Can we please stop pointing fingers and saying he said, she said. I am no less guilty of adding fuel to the fire on this, but I am getting sick of all the debating. Can we please just get on with it a do SOMETHING? anything? I want to know, dear government, what I, me, small being that I am, can do to reduce my contribution to global warming. I want direction, guidance, on how to make my apartment more fuel-efficient. I travel on a lot on airplanes, so I want to off set the emissions that come forth bursting from the plane’s rear. Heck, I want to lead a zero emission life! And all I am hearing from Ottawa is a lot of hot air. Let’s just do something! Enough already.

Also, can we please stop debating the science on this? For the non-believers (I am keeping my fingers crossed that despite the PM’s comments on “so – called greenhouse gases”, he does actually understand that no one is debating whether they are in fact, greenhouse gases any more...), yes so non-believers, can’t you ask your questions – explain what tools, answers, etc you need, so that we can all move on this together? Can’t you pick up some Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports, read Science magazine, or watch the Inconvenient Truth? I don’t know, do what ever it takes so that the government can get some answers to your questions and that we can just move on with it?

Next on the list:

2) Proper respect for the lives of our women and men in uniform - I think that when this happened, I wasn’t blogging yet so I didn’t have a chance to express my outrage. Now we have a Prime Minister who claims to be a friend of the military. The thing that I don’t get is, how on earth a “friend of the military”, could dishonour the lives of Canadian soldiers by not doing them the service of having a full public debate on their mission in Afghanistan? Is that too much to ask? Why weren’t our MPs given the chance to discuss, debate, question, and examine how long the lives of our troops are going to be in danger for?
This isn’t a statement on our mission in Afghanistan. It’s just that I am worried that we are playing politics with Canadian lives by rushing a vote without a proper debate on Canada’s involvement in a war torn country.

Okay so that was quite a rant. But those two things have been bugging me for quite some time. As I said, completely naïve to believe that you can’t play politics on absolutely every issue during the trying times of minority government. But if I could have just two things these holidays, they would be: real movement on the climate change file, and an open, public debate on Canada’s mission in Afghanistan... Is that too much to ask?

Tony, Tony, Tony

2006-12-14T16:19:00.000-05:00

An initial much-appreciated-for-his-frank-nature, White House Press Secretary, Tony Snow, seems to have landed himself in a bit of hot water with the press corps. Check out Dana Milbank's hilarious yet depressing Washington Sketch article in yesterday's Post.

Highlights of the article: "When Snow took over as White House press secretary earlier this year, reporters found it refreshing that he was willing to admit when he didn't know something. This has become rather less refreshing as Snow, while claiming access to Bush's sanctum sanctorum, continues to use the phrase -- more than 400 times so far in televised briefings and interviews. Sometimes, it seems more of a tic than a response; usually, it's a brushoff.

Why so many 'dunnos'? "Because I don't know all," Snow explained, knowingly."

Now, I know that not every press secretary can have prewritten and prepared and fictional scripted answers like C.G. Craig - but as you read the rest of the article, the amount of things that Snow doesn't know moves from comedic to down right unnerving.

- On another note - apologies for the lack of postings this week - following the leadership convention I have been completely, pardon the pun, snowed under with work...

DeLayed Reaction - Welcome to the Blogsphere

2006-12-11T21:54:00.000-05:00

A quick shout out to my new blogging homeboy Tom DeLay. That's right - fresh from the heels of one of the hottest political scandals in recent history - DeLay's got a brand spanking new blog - not to be confused with tomdelay.blogspot.com.

I encourage you to check them out - they are both quite a tribute to the blogsphere.

Betting on Barack

2006-12-11T21:38:00.000-05:00

Now I know that Mid Terms are just barely over, but apparently, Americans, just like the Liberals (gospel according to Macleans) love speculating about the next big political race.

So, here I am about to boldly go and declare - based on nothing more that watching Countdown with the sound off while bouncing up and down on the treadmill - that Barack Obama will win the Democratic presidential nomination. There you go, Ladies and Gentlemen, you heard it on this blog first. I am either bright enough or stupid enough to put my money on Barack this early in the game...

... I'm just hoping that by that time, the political winds of change will have blown through my home and native land and that I'll be able to watch Barack savoring the sweet taste of democratic nomination victory from above the 45th parallel...

Pictoral Interlude III

2006-12-10T18:52:00.000-05:00

To be honest, I am not too big on negative postings - or negative campaign ads for that matter (though I know that they can be effective)... So to mute the tone of the last post (though I don't think I was being negative, rather just expressing an opinion) but regardless...

Let's compare two genus species of elephants: the African elephant (very dangerous and a threat to farmers in some part of subsaharan Africa)...

...and the Indian elephant (very tame and great for manual labour and doubling up as sacred animal for blessing people before entering into Hindu temple)

HARPOCRISY

2006-12-10T14:04:00.000-05:00

This just in from the guy busy defending your human rights last week - oh wait, I'm sorry - the guy busy trying to revoke rights from us last week... unfrickenbelieveable:

STATEMENT BY THE PRIME MINISTER ON INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS DAY

December 10, 2006
Ottawa, Ontario

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today made the following statement to mark International Human Rights Day, which commemorates the 58th anniversary of the United Nations' adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

“Canada’s New Government is committed to the promotion and protection of human rights both at home and abroad. We will continue to stand up for human rights and take principled positions on important issues to ensure that freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law – values that define our country – are enjoyed around the world.

"This anniversary is an important opportunity to focus the international community's attention on the need for universal acceptance of human rights and to recognize those whose ambition and livelihood it is to achieve this..."

Getting the Message "Right"

2006-12-10T13:04:00.000-05:00

Based on a dinner conversation with a Democrat political operative, I came across this report by George Soros' Open Society Institute.

Random fact: "right wing" think tanks tend to spend 25 - 30% of their budget on "message development, public education, and government/media relations" while, "left wing" think tanks spend the vast majority of their (usually considerably smaller) resources on research and policy development... interesting... very interesting...

Holidaying it Up at the Canadian Embassy

2006-12-08T12:08:00.000-05:00

It's the holiday season and I'm am due back at the Canadian Embassy for another round of celebrating North American cross border cooperation! Well, hmmm, not me exactly, more like the guy who invited me was ... (not exactly sure how they do up their Embassy reception list...)

Now, if I was a Conservative/Reform/Alliance supporter - I'd feel it was my duty to report back to the Canadian taxpayer and say how the Father of the GST felt inclined to spent your tax dollars greasing the wheel of CAN-US trade relations (with an open bar, these delicious cheese artichoke thingies, and of course - mini sandwiches chocked full of Alberta beef)... I, however, am inclined to take a more open view of things, and appreciate the more subtle art of diplomacy and recognize that reception can actually do miracles in promoting CAN-US relations.

There was an interesting mix of US government officials and business reps(that I guess have a business interests in Canada) as well as Canadian Embassy staff and other random guests (this blogger being one of them).

Conversation ranged from: "what is a nation?" (are there different connotations or underpinnings of the meaning "nation" in French than in English?), to the importance (or lack there of) of dual citizenship.

The keynote speaker raised the three main areas of CAN and US collaboration. And to the backdrop of classical Christmassy music - his number one issue was not what I expected... Climate Change! Combating terrorism came in only 3rd on the list...

Could this be an indication of a changing CAN-US dialogue post a newly elected Democrat House and Senate? Or was "combating terrorism" last on the list for emphasis? A sort of crescendo towards the end of a paragraph? I don't know.

All that to say, that since my last, July 4th visit at the Embassy, when Alberta's leaders and trade ambassadors were highly prominent, this reception (held in the main hall - instead of on the roof deck) - held a slightly different tone... Felt to me like the cold December wind that buffeted the building last night, also brought with it a whiff of changing times...

Missing Italy

2006-12-05T21:58:00.000-05:00

Maybe it's just this fab Italian wine that I'm sampling tonight or overhearing some Italian today at work, but what ever it is, it's got me missing my days at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, Italy.

Nostalgic pictures below:

The view from the top of the FAO lunch room.

Ancient swimming pool at the Villa Adriana (about 30 mins outside Roma).

Convention Photo Diary

2006-12-04T22:05:00.000-05:00

Still at a bit of a loss for words to describe the convention, so please find below a chronological photo account of the convention...

... one of the fun parts of the week - I was "outed" to Paul Wells at the Iggy hospitality suite on Thursday night. That night, Wells' predicted a Micheal victory and a Dion loss. He said that he just didn't feel it "coming together for us"... hee hee hee... The Saturday morning after the 1st ballot and the two votes ahead in 3rd place - ran into him again and ask him if he wanted to revise his prediction... he hemmed and hawed... Again, Sat night at the victory party - Wells reversed his prediction and claimed it was predicated on him not wanting to jinx the race - well said...told him I'd blog it...

... another highlight - communing with my fellow bloggers at the Bloggers Only room (was graciously let in by Tribe). Nice to put names to faces. (However, started to feel v lame when people started to talk about hits on their blogs per day. I am thrilled when I get 30!)

Now without, further ado, the pics:

Dion enters the hospitality suite Thursday night at the Place d'Armes Hotel - Now known as Place Dion :-)

Friday scene - Dion Liberal Red

Dryden delivers the best speech of his campaign. Just goes to show that hockey players know how to rally. They can be losing 3 -0 in the last 3 minutes of the 3rd period and they play their hearts out. What a man!

The tide sways Dion Liberal green

And again for the final ballot - tous ensemble!

And finally Calgary Grit has a hilarious - Top 10 signs you were at the Lib leadership convention this weekend.

Gotta Love Him!

2006-12-04T14:21:00.000-05:00

Dion's first question in the House is on women's rights and cuts to Status of Women Canada.

...how much are you willing to bet the Harper wasn't expecting that one?

Hey, maybe Progressive Bloggers can get M. Dion to write his own "5 things Feminism has done for me"?

Searching for the Words

2006-12-04T11:03:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to say, that after 4 days of slogging and sleepless nights and a tremendously moving victory (check out Scott Tribe's description of my reaction)... I am still looking for the words to describe it all... will post soon.

Alternate Universe

2006-11-30T09:10:00.000-05:00

By far the strangest thing for me last night was watching the Dean promotional video right before he, actually right before Frank McKenna (who introduced Dean) arrived on stage.

It was a great 2-3 minute clip about the origins of Howard Dean... "Helper of the Sick" "Saviour of his town" (or something along those lines). Anyway the video was great, v oriented towards his work in the US of A. For a moment, I was starting to feel a nice link to my past couple of weeks in DC during the mid-terms.

It was a great little campaign video... The only thing that was really funny for me was that it was like watching one of the campaign ads for the mid-terms but in two official languages... Which totally threw me... I mean obviously it would be in the to official languages - but I got so use to watching American political campaign ads recently, that it was almost as if, I was back in DC, switched on the t.v. and half way through a Webb commercial he switched into French...

I thought Dean's speech was good. The crowd, in the lead up to the speech, seemed a bit apathetic... but maybe that's cause we didn't know in advance that there'd be like 15 opening acts (or at least I didn't know - damn it, there I go using the royal we again)... and the thing started about an hour behind schedule. No problem, but I was beyond thirsty and finding water was kind of like divining in the middle of the Namib desert..

Though I wanted to blog more about the convention, just came across this v interesting website that tracks feelings in the blogsphere. Apparently every few minutes it does a search of blogs and find sentences that begin with "I feel" or today "I am feeling". Then it arranges the "feelings" by location, weather, gender. It's v visually pleasing actually and looks like there are all these emotions bouncing around in blogsphere space.

Oh, So I am IN! ... Or am I?

2006-11-29T08:56:00.000-05:00

Not a moment too soon after arriving back in my home and native land (or make that nation), I am greeted with the news that seems to rectify all of my identity crisis issues. It seems that, according to my Premier, Jean Charest, I am, after all, a member of a nation that might not have wanted me as a member.

I can now thump my chest with pride, stand up straight, and wake up in the morning, knowing that after over 4 generations of my family in this province and complete bilingualism, I too am finally part of the Quebecois nation...

....or maybe not... It also seems that the federal Conservative government, the gospel according to Cannon (who, I think has 100 years of family lineage in Quebec, over me, nah nah nah) doesn't think that I am "in" the nation...hmmm... Then, didn't Senator LeBreton say something?

...hmmmm, looks like I am back to my precarious state of identity crisis once again.

Listen, I was hoping to get this whole thing sorted before I have to leave on Sunday. I was looking forward to testing out my two simultaneous identities (or not) before returning to the States and continue my listless identity as someone from that strange country north that Americans (unfortunately) rarely consider...

Off To the Convention - Tra la la!

2006-11-28T12:12:00.000-05:00

My bags are packed and sitting next to me here in the office. Am off soon to catch my afternoon flight! Cannot wait to get home and to go vote for STEPHANE DION!

Just As Wells

2006-11-26T18:31:00.000-05:00

After initial reluctance and some blogging prodding, I final hunker down and give a serious attempt to Paul Wells' Right Side Up.

I get all organized: I clear my mind, take off the book's dustcover (noting with interest that Wells' and I actually went to the same school in France... that school in and of itself is quite an experience, so I tend to feel some sort of underlying understanding with anyone who has gone through a similar process of writing endless “plan en deux parties”...), I arrange for provisions to be within arms’ length, fluff the pillows, install myself on the couch, grab a duvet, and dig in...

...6 hours later and I'm on page 185... turns out, that Paul Wells was wrong (see his comment on my initial post Drowning in the Wells).... cause it actually does get better... Somewhere, not too long after he mentions Delacourt’s Juggernaut (maybe just the very word triggers a pavlovian reaction) and I am fully ensconced. I finally manage to get past the narrator’s voice and let the words lull me into the down and dirty of political campaigning and party organizing details.

Waves of nostalgia and sadness creep up when reviewing some of the Libs campaign strategies and yet somehow I am strangely assuaged when Wells' follows up with analysis and dissection of "groupthink" as applied to "The Board"...

Only another hundred and some odd pages left… but so far, the book is working well to satisfy my political fix… just in time to gear up for my return home and gather up energy to blow up my thundersticks and head out to the roar of the convention…

I promised my colleague that I’d have the book back to him before I leave on Tuesday… looks like I’ll have to buy the book after all... just as well.

Recommending Reading

2006-11-25T17:08:00.000-05:00

Today's Editorial in the Globe and Mail and an what looks like a ringing endorsement from Mr. "politically and candidate neutral" progressive blogger Scott Tribe...

I highly recommend both as quality prerequisite reading; part of any good delegate's groundwork prep prior to the convention. Oh, that and Cherniak's everything you ever wanted to know about the Liberal Party's constitution.

Summer Sunset in New Zealand

2006-11-23T21:52:00.000-05:00

Inspired by Abandoned Stuff by Saskboy and too stuffed with turkey to write properly, please find below pictures of the sun setting on the other side of the world...

Identity Crisis

2006-11-22T16:15:00.000-05:00

Okay, so, the Prime Minister of Canada just introduced a motion saying that Quebecers are a nation within a United Canada...

Right. Okay, so as I've said before. I'm a forth - or come to think of it perhaps fifth-generation-Quebecer. I grew up in Quebec, I went to all levels of schooling in Quebec. I'm bilingual. I speak English with my parents, but I can switch into French without really thinking about it. I did my Master's in political science all in French. I probably felt my Quebec identity most strongly when I was living in France, more so than when I was living in Italy or Namibia or the States (but I think that's primairily because the French actually know what Quebec is and where you can find it on a map).

So now, apparently, the PM thinks that I am a member of a nation inside the United Church of Canada...(oops I meant United Canada). I'm not really sure what that means. Do I get to behave differently? Now that I belong to the Quebecer nation can I get that cool dual nationality thing I've been hangering for? How does this define me? What on fricken earth does this actually really mean?

Anyone???

PMO Frenglish?

2006-11-22T15:15:00.000-05:00

Does anyone notice anything about this PMO media advisory or is it just me?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Public events for November 22, 2006

November 22, 2006
Ottawa, Ontario

Public events for Prime Minister Stephen Harper for Wednesday, November 22nd are:

Ottawa, ON

Following Question Period today, at approximately 3pm, Prime Minister Stephen Harper will speak in the House of Commons. He will be addressing the issue of les Québécois being a nation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Maybe it's just that as une anglophone Quebecoise that I feel all mixed up inside about the use of pronouns...

I can't wait to hear what le Prime Ministre has to say...

Wellian Rebuttal

2006-11-20T14:37:00.000-05:00

Since Paul Wells' comment on my blog, we've had an interesting email exchange about the tone and style of his book. I thought (and with Mr. Wells' permission), that I'd share the emails with you. In the end, I think that you’ll find he offers a cogent argument for his narrative style and ultimately provides me with what I asked for in the first place: i.e. perhaps some motivation to get over my reader’s block and get past page 6.

To recap, in response to my post critiquing his book, he commented:

“It doesn't get any better. Thank god you didn't buy it.”

To which I emailed back:

From: jasminejohansson@yahoo.com
Sent: Mon 11/20/2006 11:16 AM
To: Paul Wells
Subject: Re: Drowning in the Wells
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I actually got to page 14 last night. It got better. Till the part about not noticing Harper in the bar... Maybe it just comes and goes in waves...

Hope I didn't offend. Maybe my comments just stem from slight disappointment cause I have an extemely high regard for your journalistic ability.

And you must realize that all of us who criticize are just jealous anyway...

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To which he responded:

Message from "Paul Wells" on Mon, 20 Nov 2006 11:30:01 -0500 -----
To:
RE: Drowning in the Wells Subject:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please don't worry about being critical or not liking my style. There's nothing wrong with your reaction. It is my style; it's highly personalized; and people who want an authoritative account are often put off by it. I'll be fine. The overwhelming reaction has been extraordinarily positive. I'd cite some of the people who've said nice things, but that would only confirm what Frank says about my ego.

One thing, though. I put myself in my book to *emphasize* that it's only one person's experience and account. To me, being in the book isn't self-aggrandizing, it's coming clean with the reader. I wrote the long Maclean's article on which the book is based in the antiseptic third person. It wasn't any harder or easier. But the voice of authority I affected in that piece was much *more* of an artificial construct than the I-was-over-here-and-I-spotted-this narrative. Also the Macleans' article was a hell of a lot less funny, and I'm happy to alienate readers who don't want a political book to be funny.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And then he added:

To:
RE: Drowning in the Wells Subject:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you ever get your hands on a copy of an obscure book called Trail Fever by a famous writer named Michael Lewis, you'll find a book that (a) is allllllll about the author (b) contains extraordinarily rich insights into politics (c) is side-splittingly funny (d) obviously influenced me more than you would like.

Drowning in the Wells

2006-11-19T18:52:00.000-05:00

In the "capital of the free world", hunting down Paul Wells’ book (now apparently #4 on the Canadian bestseller list), is no easy feat.

I started my search last weekend when I was hankering for some good Canadian political nostalgia.

First stop: Barnes and Nobles in Georgetown, arguably one of the largest bookstores inside the District. I start browsing in the politics section – nothing. Then the history section (hey, the fall of Paul Martin component – is now one for the history books)… anyway, there I am in the history section, going through the different sections: South African history, Brazil, Mexico, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Hungary…. Hmmm … Canada? Nothing. Ireland and Mexico, yes… Canada, zero (For god sakes, it was almost like being at the World Cup!)

So, I decide to ask.

I aim low: “Do you have any books on Canadian politics or history?” “Uh, Canadian?” “Yes, Canada” I clarify. A brief look on the computer system reveals that the one and only book on hand was a book on comparing US and Canadian political systems. Oh and they didn’t have it in stock. I have to order it.

Next stop. Amazon dot com. Turns out that I can get it sent to my doorstep for $34.00 approx. American dollars at that. If I get it sent home to Montreal, I can have it for 21.00$. Oh and there is a review of the supplier to the US, from the last person who ordered, saying that they’d never buy a book from that supplier again. Hmmm… So do I get it sent home to Montreal and then resent to me in DC? Or should I risk the supplier for $13 US dollars extra? Tricky. Very tricky.

Not one to resist a challenge, I start asking other Canadian colleagues at work. As luck would have it, one of them had ordered it and finished it and offered to share it. Ah, mission accomplished!

So I delve in. I can’t wait. The last book on Canadian politics that I read as Susan Delacourt’s Juggernaut. And I just couldn’t put that one down. Nothing gives me more pleasure than getting lost in a really-can’t-put-it-down-for-a-second pager turner book. And that’s what Juggernaut was for me.

Now, as soon as I started reading, I can’t help compare Well’s Rise and Fall to Delacourt’s Juggernaut. Maybe that’s an unfair juxtaposition. Maybe it’s just cause the first time I met Wells was actually with Delacourt…

I was at some event for this Canada25 group that a friend of mine was involved in and she got me to come along to hear Wells and Delacourt talk about their experiences in political journalism. I know this sounds strange, but at that time, I had just returned to Canada after 6 years abroad (way farther abroad than the country next door) and I had no idea who they were. Despite my ignorance, I found them impressive: frank, honest, challenging, and well spoken. Balancing pints on their knee (well, Wells was…I can’t remember what Delacourt was drinking) and pontificating on the state of the nation. It was a nice. A sort of fireside-ish chat with the Canada25ers policy wonks.

So after all of this rambling, the trip down memory lane and the trials and tribulations of getting my hands on Wells’ book, I couldn’t wait for a moments peace this weekend, to finally crack it open. Imagine my disappointment that I can’t seem to get past page 6.

I find Wells omnipresent. He seems to overpower his narrative. I guess I was looking forward to juicy gossip and insights into the Conservative’s fusion and electoral victory – without having to think about how smart Paul Wells is every two seconds. And I can’t help but think that he’s really smart. But I just wish that I didn’t feel like he wants to make me feel that he’s smart.

Interestingly, though Delacourt is present in Juggernaut as a narrator, I didn’t get the same vibe. It’s hard for me to articulate and again maybe the comparison is unfair. However, I really want to get past page 6.

Any suggestions on how to get over my reader’s block, suggestions on chapters I should skip ahead to, or when things start to get really good (i.e. pages where Wells no longer makes sort of uncomfortable “look at how witty I am talking about Hannibal and the Rockies” references) – would be very much appreciated.

Elections? Already?

2006-11-15T16:18:00.000-05:00

Is it just me (i.e. observing Canadian politics from afar) or does it feel like we are already in the middle of an election campaign? What with Rona venting about other Canadian political parties to the international community? And Libs commenting on Harper's pedantic/juvenial approach to foreign policy and China's snub? To discussion of the Conservs already following in Mulroney's steps and running a deficit in September? And the constant analysis of poll numbers?

Not sure what it feels like "on the ground" back at home, but after reading the papers, bloggers, pundits, columnists, for the last few days, it feels to me, like we are already smack dab (though obviously not technically) in the middle of a federal election...

Scamming Jackson

2006-11-14T14:32:00.000-05:00

Cam Jackson's mayoral victory in Burlington just makes me, for the lack of a better adjective, sad... so here's a shout out to the anbodybutcamformayor blog people/person - who ever they are... man oh man oh man...

Just a head's up

2006-11-13T19:03:00.000-05:00

This week is going to be a crazy one work wise... so this is just to say that posting will be sporadic and uneven, with potentially boring as hell commentary... all work and no play makes jack a dull boy... cross out the jack and put in jill and replace the boy with woman and you pretty much have it... will do my best though... and, if I can't get to the computer to blog this week, then enjoy Garth's announcement and potentially our first Green MP and Rona's fossil award...
Cheers,

JJ

Pictoral Interlude II

2006-11-12T17:32:00.000-05:00

Am completely brain dead this weekend, however they say a picture's worth a thousand words, right? Feast your eyes on Namibian desert scene numbah 2:

Pictoral Interlude

2006-11-10T18:41:00.000-05:00

After all that intense Kyoto discussion, thought I'd mix things up with a brief pictural interlude... feast you eyes on the beauty of the Namibian desert... (an interesting and totally random scientific tidbit: desertification is one of the key effects of climate change... imagine having what limited arable land you have encroached year after year by an expanding desert..for more details click here)... kay, I'll stop now...up next, thoughts on Dean as a keynote speaker at the convention...but for now, feast your eyes on this:

Kyoto, Kyoto

2006-11-09T15:09:00.000-05:00

There is a lot of talk about the Liberal record on climate change and how the Liberals didn’t deliver. Personally, I find it poor logic for the Conservatives to say, well you guys didn’t do anything, so weren’t not going to do anything either… but hey, that’s just me.

Now, when talking about Kyoto it seems to me that everyone ignores the actual Kyoto Protocol mechanisms. The way that Kyoto works, is that a certain percentage of Annex I countries (industrialized countries) have to sign and ratify Kyoto before it actually enters into force, i.e. becomes a legally binding international agreement.

And up until the late 2004, either Russia or the USA had to ratify Kyoto for it to come into effect. At the time everyone was talking about how Kyoto “was dead” or “dying”, etc because it looked like Kyoto was never actually going to happen - that it wouldn’t enter into its legally binding phase.

Finally on November 18th, 2004, Russia ratified and Kyoto entered into force on February 16, 2005. That means that Kyoto has only fully come into existence as a legally binding piece of international law as of last February.

Now what about Canada? We ratified Kyoto in December 2002. So yes, Liberals, as a party that believes in climate change and the importance of reducing greenhouse gases, should have “done better” – done better than what, I’m not sure, but yeah, sure, “done better”.

However, remember that Kyoto only became legally binding in February 2005. Now I don’t know about you, but when I know that a law is about enter into force, I start preparing myself, but I don’t actually go about abiding by the new law until it is actually a law. I think that that is pretty standard behavior.

For example, before wearing seatbelts in the back seat was the law, I didn’t wear my seatbelt. I knew I should have worn my seatbelt because it’s probably better for me, but it feels sort of uncomfortable and I wasn’t use to it, so I didn’t. I didn’t do it until it was the law. Now I wear it all the time, and I don’t even notice it. But I think that is pretty normal behaviour for both people and nation-states for that matter. We don’t usually tend to follow the law until it is ACTUALLY THE LAW.

Climate change and reducing greenhouse gases is sort of like wearing your seatbelt in the back seat. It’s going to be a bit uncomfortable, because it’s going to involve changing our behaviour. Now, I believe in climate change and I want to do something about it, I’m not too sure how, but I’d like my government to tell me how and suggest ways to make changes and reduce emissions.

Climate change is global – emissions don’t respect borders, it’s an international issue and needs an international legally binding framework. This legally binding framework is the only way to make nations abide by the rules and then implement their own national systems to make sure that we, collectively, play by the rules.

Sure Canada could have done better after 2002 – but the real timeframe that we should be judged against is how we performed after Kyoto became international law in February 2005. And I think if you look at the Liberal record from February 2005 onwards, I think you’ll find that we were on the right track to making huge and important changes. Hey, under the leadership of Stephane Dion, we broker a huge international agreement on how to reduce emissions after 2012 (Kyoto requires Annex I countries to reduce emissions only until then).

As a result, Canada achieved enormous international acclaim for negotiating that agreement between over 162 on something as complex as climate change. (Unfortunately, this international acclaim was drowned out by the internal domestic sounds of the last election). However, I think that, that agreement was a great example of Liberal leadership on the climate change file… Now, if only the Conservs could come close to demonstrating that kind of leadership… then, perhaps, we could compare scores.

Money Can't Buy You...

2006-11-09T09:36:00.000-05:00

...another interesting fact from the Midterms: three candidates spent over $50 million of their own personal money on their campaigns... and all three of them lost...

Holy Moly & Hallelujah!

2006-11-08T13:47:00.000-05:00

My mouth keeps dropping further as the day goes on! I never thought I'd see the day that Rumsfeld RESIGNS!!!!! Wow - this whole day is filling me with hope! Unfrickenbelievable!

We're putting our money on the Senate

2006-11-08T10:16:00.000-05:00

Prairie Fire and I are both ready to put our money on a Dem win in both Montana and Virginia...