Nothing serious today, just a little “I can’t believe I just watched that” award for;
Sweet beat.
Unfortunately for the past couple of months I needed to buckle down and focus on completing a contract and obviously left this little blogging project languishing by the wayside. Well fret no more Mom, Dad, and whoever else is bored enough to read these rambling pages, it’s time for me to join the ‘information generation’ once again and hopefully start a discourse online about a variety of topics. On that note;
- It’s nice to finally see Schreiber out of the country (if you’re smart enough to lead the country you should probably be smart enough to avoid shifty types like Mr. Schreiber).
- I’m still confused as to why we’ve not seen any concrete policy recommendations from the Conservatives or Liberals (maybe they’re saving all the good stuff for a fall election?)
- I continue to be impressed with the ability of the Green Party to present actual policy alternatives, even if I don’t always agree with them.
- After travelling nearly from one coast to the other in the past month I have a new respect for the small but fantastic regional differences our country holds.
- My wonderful partner (who is focusing on food security in a Masters program) got me to read a couple of Michael Pollan books and I was very impressed (more posts on this to follow).
- The 2009 COPA convention was a blast.
My goal of this blog is still to eventually create a basic framework that could be used to provide solid policy alternatives to our government. There are other policy hot houses out there but I feel it’s important to take a more active role in the democratic process as we get the government we deserve, and with all the ambivalence most Canadians hold towards our leaders these days I feel it’s only reasonable to expect the nasty games and low level of discourse we’ve been seeing on the Hill lately. This week let’s brainFtorm some of the basic requirements that we expect the national government to provide us as Canadians.
Ma-halo,
Matt
While I am sure to be missing something, why are we still hearing updates on the Mulroney/Schreiber train wreck? Unless there is a possible outcome whereby taxpayers are able to claw back some of money awarded to Mulroney in the Airbus libel suit this form of entertainment seems better left to the arena of American Idol, where Kris vs. Adam can keep us gossipping for at least a couple more weeks. I don’t think anyone is going to change their opinion of either individual in this case at this point, and if Mulroney broke some tax laws then let the justice system play out and we can all move on. Amazing how we focus on his tax bill but almost no one wants to talk about the lasting impact of the failed Meech Lake or Charlottetown Accords that gave us a decade of Quebec separatist resurgence evolving into the recent awkward truce between our two founding nations. Or the fact that the introduction of the GST may have been one of the most painful, but important modifications of our tax structure in the previous century as consumption taxes have an important role to play in regulating our economy (albeit hopefully when matched by accompanying reductions in income or payroll taxes).
What are your thoughts on the GST, should we be lowering it at all costs, maintaining it where it is, or increasing it once the economy picks up in an attempt to keep our federal budget in the black for the future? Is it time for Canada to have a serious look at it’s federal tax structure, especially with the movement to Harmonized Sales Taxes (HST) in more and more provinces?
As the confirmation of Micheal Ignatieff as Liberal Party leader progresses this weekend in Vancouver, I was heartened to see the media continue to push for more substance from the Liberal Party. While I am sure that Ignatieff’s Washington connections and past experience in academia will be an asset as a potential Prime Minister, his unique position as an acclaimed leader has given him and the Party time to solidify it’s vision for the country. read more…
Recently a British Columbia NDP candidate decided to resign over Facebook photos displaying what some consider to be ‘lewd and inappropriate conduct’ for a future representative. It is just the latest in a string of incidents where ‘private’ photos on Facebook have been ferreted out by the media and displayed for all to see. This issue illustrates two important points;
1. Nothing posted on Facebook should ever be considered private.
2. It is much more difficult to have a foolish youth without someone placing it in the public record. read more…
It was refreshing to see the sage of Omaha actually proclaim, once again, that despite some serious issues to work through in the short to medium term, in the long run everything is going to be alright. While it is painfully apparent that we still have an indeterminate amount of uncertainty left in the global economic recovery, by all accounts we had created a massive and unsustainable wealth bubble over the past 20 years.
How smart are your stocks?
I am not a stock or wealth expert. I too was pummelled in the recent and ongoing stock market correction. But it was my own fault for investing in firms that were obviously and outrageously over priced. After re-reading The Intelligent Investor from Benjamin Graham it was apparent that there was no possible future whereby many of the companies I owned could sustain the 20 – 30% growth rates required to justify their stock prices. How do you choose your stocks? Is it based on an understanding that you are actually becoming an owner in a real business? I know I forgot that lesson. read more…
Louis CK tells us how it is…
Play time is over. With the Conservative announcement that they are readying an assault on Dr. Ignatieff in an attempt to tarnish the soon to be acclaimed leader’s seemingly competent image we can expect a return to the politics of gossip once again. Not that there is a serious economic realignment underway around the globe to focus on. Not to mention we seem to be lacking a coherent vision or set of strategic goals both domestically and abroad. No, it’s time for our national political brain trust to get down and dirty, mono e mono.
The leaders of our two predominant political parties seem to have a near monopoly on the policies and direction of their ‘teams’. Is this how politics is supposed to work? Do the entire party structures exist solely to enact the wishes of a leader? read more…
Image from Dion Hinchcliffe's Web 2.0 Blog
Even after President Obama essentially wrote a pop-up book on how politicians should use the Internet in a political campaign, it’s painfully obvious that most of our governing superstars have yet to grasp the full potential of the Web 2.0 as a communication tool. Then again social networking, blogs, and tweets are relatively new to the Political scene, but any tool that can create a two-way conversation between a society and its government is a very good thing. Let’s help convince our representatives to embrace these technologies - send your MP, MLA, council person, and/or favourite political party a message supporting more Web 2.0 in government whether it’s via email, Facebook, telephone, or even good old fashioned letter mail.
High-Level Web 2.0 Application Model
When does an industry take the hint? Just as the movement to take smoking out of enclosed public spaces appeared to have achieved critical mass, the scientists of the world have brought us the ’smokeless’ cigarette. Essentially a vaporizer with a nicotine flavoured liquid built in, I’m really not sure what the advantage of these devices would be for current smokers. However apparently the company behind this recent drug-like paraphernalia is trying to position it as a way to smoke on planes and in other ‘non-smoking’ locations.
Needless to say I’m not all that convinced these smokeless cigarettes will be as inoffensive as the company pushing them states. For a great blog on the matter check out this post on Wired.