Your thighs are strong like Russian bear

Financial Services

What happens when you adopt policies intended to strongly orient your economy towards financial services, and then the financial services sector collapses? This:

"Iceland's GDP could shrink by 85 per cent"

Since a major objective of corporate-oriented free-trade policies is the development of the financial services and resource extraction sectors to the detriment of domestic manufacturing, it may be wise to have a debate about the wisdom of those policies.

Indiana

Within the margin of error.

Even the racists in Martinsville are feeling the love:

Silver Lining?

I'd say the one good thing that has come from the Conservative re-election is that John Baird is getting the boot from the environment portfolio in favour of Jim Prentice. John Baird is a useless hyper-partisan blowhard who is only used in Cabinet to stonewall against any and all reasonable inquires into Government policy in a particular area. The Conservatives have had no policy whatever on the environment, and so the selection of a ridiculous idiot like Baird to run the Ministry was fitting. Jim Prentice is by far the most reasonable and competent Conservative MP. I'd say his record at Indian Affairs was mixed - which is far kinder than I would describe the record of any other Conservative Minister.

That's all well and good...

but did you, or did you not, see a third testicle?

Classic cross-examination technique. Make the witness at ease, and then boom - drop the ol' third testicle question. Brilliant.

Love John Hodgmen!

Here he is on NPR.

Ted Nugent, what do you think of the global liquidity crisis?

Canada's Fourth Estate

Reporters Without Borders ranks Canada as 13th in the world in their index of press freedom. Personally, I love the smell of press freedom in the morning. Smells a lot like, well, Canwest... who own just about every media outlet in the lower mainland, including:

Vancouver Sun
Vancouver Province
Vancouver Courier
Abbotsford/Mission Times
Burnaby Now
Chilliwack Times
Coquitlam Now
Delta Optimist
Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows Times
New Westminster Record
North Shore News
Richmond News
Surrey Now

As well as:

Global Vancouver
BBC Canada
Food Network Canada
History Television
HGTV
National Geographic Channel Canada
Showcase
Slice

Ahhhh, the freedom to ensure that all of our news is filtered through the views of the ultra-wealthy Asper family. That's freedom you can believe in.

Vertical Urban Farms

The story is here. They look pretty awesome. There is no reason you couldn't push this a step further and start buildings houses with one floor as a garden. Or even better, high density complexes with communal farms.

Hedge Funds, Weed, and American Revolutions

Andrew Lahde is a New York hedge fund manager who recently made a fortune thanks to his bets against the subprime mortgage industry. He is now taking the money and running, and he just published a letter explaining why. In the two-page letter, he also manages to propose a new system of US government (one that involves George Soros and the Linux operating system), and calls for the legalization of marijuana. You can read the full letter here. I don't have much to add, except that it is pretty awesome and hilarious.

Flood's here

Shock of all shocks: there's more to the economy than just the credit market... gasp!

“If manufacturing has been the sliver lining that’s been holding us up to this point, it’s gone,” Mr. Larson said, referring to a index of manufacturing in New York State that tumbled in October to the lowest since its inception in 2001.

Yes, it had only a sliver of a chance (I love typoes like this). That's what happens when you export the manufacturing sector to poor countries and don't groom businesses in that sector in your own country's economy.

This makes me think of all those emergency preparedness tips that tell you to keep a 2-week supply of food and water in your home and to keep batteries and flashlights handy. When times are good, it feels like you're wasting your time, energy, money and shelf space on collecting and keeping these things around. Then the levies break and they're all you have...

But we only gave ourselves a sliver lining... so thin and easily shattered.

Cheap Green: Laundry Time

Laundry! Here's some tips for economizing on energy...

WASHING
* Rinse in cold water.
* Set your water heater to 120 degrees, not 140 degrees.
* Always wash a full load — or at least adjust the settings to match the size of your load, so the machine knows the right amount of water.
* In general, washing machines that load in front are more energy-efficient than machines that load on top, though there are some exceptions. (Whirlpool says it has some energy-efficient top-loaders.)

DRYING
* Dry multiple loads in succession. This ensures that the heat the dryers produce does not go to waste.
* Clean the lint trap after every load. As lint fills up, it blocks air flow, making the dryer work harder.
* Use the sensor-dry settings to dry your clothes, rather than timed drying. The latter will keep clothes tumbling even if they are already dry.
* Dry similar kinds fabrics together. Ever noticed that towels dry more slowly than T-shirts?

My tip? Don't use the dryer for anything but towels, if you have to. Your clothes will last 10 times longer and will keep their shape much better. Dryer heat breaks the fibres in fabrics like cotton and elastic and saps colour as well.

Canada...

A good place to ride out the world banking collapse?

Canada has the world's soundest banking system, according to a report released this week by the World Economic Forum amid soaring concerns about the health of banking systems here and around the world.

Ladies and Gentlemen... The Modern Republican Party

Gross.

Attention "DuckLover24" or whatever you're called

I call on Adam Porter to post a spirited defense of Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party, as per his recent declaration of his political stripes! Freakin' homeowners.

I'm embarrased to say that I've been largely uninterested in the Canadian election, mainly because 1) I'm a bit sick of political campaigns at this point, and 2) I assumed the Convervatives pretty much had it locked up. Looks like this may not be the case, which is exciting, right? Who knew? I'm suddenly interested.

Back to Porter....in the spirit of "rubbing salt in the wound", I feel I should mention that we have a bet over who will win the US election. Loser buys the winner a full-fared Buddhas dinner. Guess who chose the Republicans.

(Porter, here is my order in advance: 3 ducks, large hot'n'sour, spring rolls, #33, #35, #29, wontons, that cashew nut & vegetable thing, the dish with black moss & bamboo fungus that costs like 16 bucks, and yam rolls to stick my fingers in.)

Michael Moore goes to Sault Ste. Marie

Weird! I wonder what his new "project" is going to be about?

MP Gary Lunn loves rich people

When a few people in Conservative cabinet minister Gary Lunn's riding wanted to hook their high-priced homes up to the region's water pipes, Lunn came through with a $1.1 million grant from the federal and provincial governments pulled from a fund for sustainable green projects.

Lunn brags on his website that he "delivered" for his Saanich suburban constituents. But now members of the Mount Newton Neighbourhood Association, representing nearby residents, is asking the federal and provincial government to cancel the grant. They say the project's hardly green, will benefit only a few wealthy homeowners, and was "approved on erroneous grounds."

Mr. Looney Lunn is also Minister of Natural Resources and has been working hard to help the Harper govt lift the moratorium on tankers in the Inside Passage. This is a guy who absolutely abuses the power the people of Canada have bestowed him. I can think of no better title for him but to call him a bonefide bad person.

This is what happens when you vote Conservative. They rape and pillage your land and then let oil tankers spill their loads all over your banks because they think they found a loop hole.

A loop hole. Is that really how we want the world to work, through loop holes. This is exactly the kind of shady behaviour that got us into the economic mess we're now trying to wade through.

Gary Lunn, I declare battle. You and me, buddy. Archnemeses. Watch out.

(Yeah, that was a threat.)

Call to Arms: End Black Out on Palin

Letter from Thomas Jefferson to Colonel Edward Carrington Paris, January 16, 1787

".... the basis of our government being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were if left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter..."

"... Cherish, therefore, the spirit of our people and keep alive their attention..."

By every account, the McCain Campaign has suspended interviews by the national press with Republican candidate for Vice President of the United States Governor Sarah Palin until after the election. Since nominated, Governor Palin has had three interviews with members of the national press. In contrast, Democratic nominee Joe Biden has had more than 90 interviews.

If you believe that the citizens of our country should hear from a vice presidential candidate who shares the ticket with a candidate for president who is a 72 year old cancer survivor, please request that Governor Palin be interviewed by respected members of the national press. For example, Tom Brokaw moderates Sunday's Meet the Press and Jim Lehrer moderates the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on PBS. They are respected journalists who moderated the first two presidential debates.

1. Email the McCain campaign

info@johnmccain.com

2. Phone the McCain office in your district or state

Currently, Indiana doesn't have a McCain Headquarters or office. Please call:
Indiana Republican Headquarters: 317.635.8881

3. Write the McCain Headquarters in Virginia:

John McCain 2008
P.O. Box 16118
Arlington, Virginia

4. Call the McCain Headquarters in Virginia:

703.418.2008

5. Write your local newspaper

RCMP Pay for Anti-Insite Propaganda

The joke that is our national police force continues. It's sad that police accountability hasn't been an issue in this election

Obama Rally in Indiana Today

The realities of our economy, health care costs loom

Good all-arounder on Bernake's economic mud puddle.
Economic Scene
Ignoring Reality Has a Price
By DAVID LEONHARDT

Uighurs

17 of them free from Guantanamo Bay.

The saga of Harper's evil plan to kill all life in Canada continues...

CBC News has learned that 16 Canadian lakes are slated to be officially but quietly "reclassified" as toxic dump sites for mines. The lakes include prime wilderness fishing lakes from B.C. to Newfoundland.

Environmentalists say the process amounts to a "hidden subsidy" to mining companies, allowing them to get around laws against the destruction of fish habitat.
...
Last fall, a Federal Court judge ruled that federal bureaucrats acted illegally in trying to fast-track the Red Chris copper and gold mine without a full and public environmental review.

The decision put the project on hold, but late last week, the Federal Appeals Court reversed the decision, paving the way for federal officials to declare lakes to be dumps without public consultation.

Imperial Metals said in a release Monday that federal authorities "are now authorized to issue regulatory approvals for the Red Chris project to proceed," although the matter could still be appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Agenda Item X: Population, Family Planning

An article about a subject not often talked about but likely at the root of many global problems today, including the failed market economy (too many people playing the same risky game), environmental degredation (one word: California) and heightened energy consumption:

As World Watch Institute's latest magazine issue "Population Forum" illustrates, concerted foreign assistance that emphasizes international family planning programs is going to be required to address the nexus of population issues that have emerged - environmental degradation, climate change, as well as poverty, security and the health of women and children.

McCain's Paranoic Straw-Grasping

This is what he's resorting to. A man who once proclaimed (loudly) that politics as usual wasn't good enough falls prey to politics as usual.

My guess: it'll only stimulate the extreme right who wouldn't have voted for Obama anyway and will further distance independents, who are probably the biggest opponents of just this type of strategic politicking. It's a gimme for Obama.

One point Obama, Zero points McCain.

The Prosperity Gospel

At the intersection of faith and sub-prime mortgages.

Chekhov on B'way

Probably my favourite play of all time, Chekhov's The Seagull has been adapted for Broadway. If only I lived in New York...

When I saw it before it was in Central Park and it was free. The best part? An amazing cast: Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christopher Walken, John Goodman, and on and on. The worst part? Natalie Portman. Every scene she was in she ruined. (Yes, she's hot, but get over it, bonerhead, she hasn't been good since the Professional.)

Financial Crisis, a Long Time Coming

This is what I've been saying for, um, a long time. And I'm not even close to being an economist... My point? Anyone could have seen the current financial meltdown coming a mile away. Take it away Kruggers:

For the fact is that the plan on offer is a stinker — and inexcusably so. The financial system has been under severe stress for more than a year, and there should have been carefully thought-out contingency plans ready to roll out in case the markets melted down. Obviously, there weren’t: the Paulson plan was clearly drawn up in haste and confusion. And Treasury officials have yet to offer any clear explanation of how the plan is supposed to work, probably because they themselves have no idea what they’re doing.

A Message from John Cleese

Britain is Repossessing the U.S.A.

A Message adapted and updated from Mr. John Cleese:

To the Citizens of the United States of America:

In light of the strong possibility you are about to elect an elderly gentleman with a bad temper and a lady who thinks she can run foreign policy because she can see Russia from her house, as President and President-In-Waiting of the USA and thus to risk Life As We Know It for everyone else on the Planet, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately.

Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths, and territories (except Kansas , which she does not fancy). She won't actually be in charge, but she'll greet foreign leaders as necessary and not put her foot in it or vomit on anyone at dinner.

Your new prime minister, Gordon Brown, will appoint a Governor for America without the need for further elections. He will choose someone who does not have his or her hand in the till and has significant experience in running Big Things. You have not had one of them for almost a decade and trust me, it is a big plus.

Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. They have given away too much of your money already to rescue incompetent business executives and soon your American Dollars will resemble Zimbabwean Dollars in total worthlessness.

There is no free lunch you know. Although we originally let you get away with secession because King George was robbing you blind, recent events demonstrate that your present leaders are doing much worse things and unfortunately you have not noticed.

A questionnaire will be circulated next year to determine whether more than half of you still believe Saddam Hussein was behind 9-11. Information to the contrary will again be provided by the rest of the world and we request you read it this time and refrain from invading the wrong country ever again if you possibly can.

To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

You should look up "revocation" in the Oxford English Dictionary.

1. Then look up aluminium, and check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it.

2. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'favour' and 'neighbour.' Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters, and the suffix -ize will be replaced by the suffix -ise.

Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. (look up 'vocabulary').

3. Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as "like" and "you know" is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication.

4. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday. But we have a lot of Bank Holidays you will enjoy instead.

5. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers, or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not adult enough to be independent.

Guns should only be handled by adults. If you're not adult enough to sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist then you're not grown up enough to handle a gun.

6. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. A permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

7. All American cars are hereby banned. They are crap and this is for your own good. When we show you German cars, you will understand what we mean.

8. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables. Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.

9. The Former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling gasoline)-roughly $9/US gallon. Get used to it. Your driving armoured cars to buy groceries is unnecessary, boorish and killing the planet.

10. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with catsup but with vinegar.

11. We will require that people running things, like your government, are at least moderately competent and not related by blood or bribes to those who benefit from their decisions. We know it makes you more cozy when your leaders know as little as you do, but, honestly, it is short sighted: you need doctors who know more about medicine, pilots who know more about flying and leaders who know more about leading.

12. We respectfully request you give up this notion that Politics is Entertainment, and that very complicated things can only be explained to you in less than fifteen seconds. If you wanted to have a democracy, honestly, you'd really need to have taken the time to understand things a bit more before you voted. And may I suggest the startling notion that politicians don't need to look good to do a good job? And it really is acceptable if they are a bit boring, so long as they do their homework. It's especially important if evidently you have not done yours.

11. The cold tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer, and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager. South African beer is also acceptable as they are pound for pound the greatest sporting Nation on earth and it can only be due to the beer. They are also part of the British Commonwealth - see what it did for them.

12. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters. Watching Andie McDowell attempt English dialogue in Four Weddings and a Funeral was an experience akin to having one's ears removed with a cheese grater.

13. You will cease playing American football. There is only one kind of proper football; you call it soccer. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies). Don't try Rugby - the South Africans and Kiwis will thrash you, like they regularly thrash us.

14. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 2.1% of you are aware that there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable. You will learn cricket, and we will let you face the South Africans first in their country. The six out of ten of you who don't own a passport will need to get one first.

15. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.

16. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due (backdated to 1776). Although this will raise your taxes, remember that the Neoconservatives will no longer be robbing you blind and so your Dollars will stop shrinking. Didn't you know that inflation and government bailouts of huge companies were really paid for by you? We must do something about your educational system. What on earth is going on over there? Are you oblivious to the crushing debt you are leaving your children? You might as well throttle them now.

17. Daily Tea Time begins promptly at 4 pm with proper cups, never mugs, with high quality biscuits (cookies) and cakes; strawberries in season.

God Save the Queen. But at least God won't instruct your President to invade any more wrong countries.

Alaskans Rally Against Palin

Forwarded email:

[The] Alaska Women Reject Palin rally was to be held outside on the lawn in front of the Loussac Library in midtown Anchorage . Home made signs were encouraged, and the idea was to make a statement that Sarah Palin does not speak for all Alaska women, or men. I had no idea what to expect.

The rally was organized by a small group of women, talking over coffee. It made me wonder what other things have started with small groups of women talking over coffee. It's probably an impressive list. These women hatched the plan, printed up flyers, posted them around town, and sent notices to local media outlets. One of those media outlets was KBYR radio, home of Eddie Burke, a long-time uber-conservative Anchorage talk show host. Turns out that Eddie Burke not only announced the rally, but called the people who planned to attend the rally 'a bunch of socialist baby-killing maggots,' and read the home phone numbers of the organizers aloud over the air, urging listeners to call and tell them what they thought. The women, of course, received some nasty, harassing and threatening messages.

I felt a bit apprehensive. I'd been disappointed before by the turnout at other rallies. Basically, in Anchorage , if you can get 25 people to show up at an event, it's a success. So, I thought to myself, if we can actually get 100 people there that aren't sent by Eddie Burke, we'll be doing good. A real statement will have been made. I confess, I still had a mental image of 15 demonstrators surrounded by hundreds of menacing 'socialist baby-killing maggot' haters.

It's a good thing I wasn't tailgating when I saw the crowd in front of the library or I would have ended up in somebody's trunk. When I got there, about 20 minutes early, the line of sign wavers stretched the full length of the library grounds, along the edge of the road, 6 or 7 people deep! I could hardly find a place to park. I nabbed one of the last spots in the library lot, and as I got out of the car and started walking, people seemed to join in from every direction, carrying signs.

Never, have I seen anything like it in my 17 and a half years living in Anchorage. The organizers had someone walk the rally with a counter, and they clicked off well over 1400 people (not including the 90 counter-demonstrators). This was the biggest political rally ever, in the history of the state. I was absolutely stunned. The second most amazing thing is how many people honked and gave the thumbs up as they drove by. And even those that didn't honk looked wide-eyed and awe-struck at the huge crowd that was growing by the minute. This just doesn't happen here.

Then, the infamous Eddie Burke showed up. He tried to talk to the media, and was instantly surrounded by a group of 20 people who started shouting O-BA-MA so loud he couldn't be heard. Then passing cars started honking in a rhythmic pattern of 3, like the Obama chant, while the crowd cheered, hooted and waved their signs high.

So, if you've been doing the math Yes. The Alaska Women Reject Palin rally was significantly bigger than Palin's rally that got all the national media coverage! So take heart, sit back, and enjoy the photo gallery. Feel free to spread the pictures around to anyone who needs to know that Sarah Palin most definitely does not speak for all Alaskans. The citizens of Alaska , who know her best, have things to say.