Give me 700 Billion Instead

I want 700 Billion dollars.

I know everybody is talking about it, but I just can't get over the sheer size of that number.

700 Billion Dollars.

That is about 350 Space Shuttles.

Or a whole bunch of other more important, but less cool, things.

You could buy half of Canada for that.

I haven't really decided where I stand on the bailout of the American financial institutions. For me, it comes down to two big issues, but the problem is, they are on opposite sides of the bailout idea.

On one hand, without some sort of action, the American economy might collapse. Bad thing.

On the other hand, bailing out the financial institutions who's own shitty business practices created this whole mess is also bad. Why? Because it tells those institutions something that goes against what I've been told all my life. It tells them that they are not responsible for their actions. It tells them that no matter what they do, and how they screw up, the taxpayer will foot the bill. The government will always bail them out. In fact, by letting Lehman brothers fail, but helping AIG, the American government has told these companies that the bigger they fuck up, the more likely they are to get bailed out of it. This is a dangerous mindset for the people who run those companies to be allowed to have. It promotes recklessness, and will only lead to bigger such events further down the road.

Whether the bailout happens or not, the financial industry needs more regulation, careful regulation. I know that people are going to bitch and complain about that and say that they can make more money without regulation. That is true, they can, they can also lose more money much faster.

Does the Media Suck All the Time, Or Just at Election TIme?

There is a problem in this Canadian election, and it is exactly the opposite of one of the problems in the American one. The problem in both cases is the media, but while the American media has turned their election into an absolute circus, the Canadian media seems to have chosen to ignore our election.

As someone who plans on voting, and who likes to know what I'm voting for, I thought I'd look around and see what I can find out about the various parties and their positions on certain issues. Of course, the websites that the political parties run are pretty much bullshit because they want to win, so I thought I'd go through the media. Boy was I, disappointed.

Take the CBC's website as an example. No mention of the election on the front page of the site. In the news section? The first visible item is a history of campaign gaffes. Only one was from this campaign. Next you have to scroll past the "Things that go Pop! Sex in the City: The Teenage Years" link and picture to get to a "Canada Votes" banner. The banner is noticeably smaller and less visible than the E-Bay add next to it. The three showcase election stories today? A biased opinion on the election promises of the smallest national party. Another section on campaign gaffes, and finally, a quiz.

This is the sort of content that our "national broadcaster" gives us about our own federal election. At least the Americans get interesting substance-less crap. How is a member of the public (A.K.A'd as voters) supposed to make an informed opinion on election day if this is the junk that gets fed to them?

Now, I took into account that the CBC might just be incompetent, so I looked at some other sites too.

Next site: CTV

Unlike the CBC's site, on this one the first election related is right near the top. On the right side. In a box about the size of the top joints of both my thumbs next to each other. It's an opinion poll. About the American election. The next item is right below it, in a slightly smaller box. This box raises a promising question: what is the most underreported campaign issue? My mouse pointer quivers in anticipation for what this link might unveil. Perhaps a few paragraphs on some important, but unglamorous issue? Foolish of me, I know, because what I should have been expecting is a video sent in by a grade 9 class. Finally I find the link to their special election centre page. Instantly there are 3 things on the page vying for the eye's attention. First, right at the top is a banner ad for the new season of Criminal minds. That add leads nicely into the box add below it and to the right that is showcasing CTV's online video player. I never have to worry about missing "Gossip Girls" again! The third thing that stands out is a picture (with no link to a story) of Stephen Harper autographing a sign.

Right, CityTV up next.

Nothing on the front page, but they don't really bill themselves as a full news service, so I'll click over to the News tab. Finally! The very first news item is about the election! Once again, I click. And find myself reading an article about an opinion poll. No help there, so I go back to the news page. I'm bombarded by adds for "Breakfast Television", or "BTV" as they call it now. God damn those morning hosts have creepy, other-worldly smiles. Those empty stares, and chipper attitudes so early in the day, maybe it's because I don't smile before 2pm as a matter of principle, but something about those hosts just creeps me out. Anyways, the rest of the news site has absolutely zilch of value when it comes to the election. Well, not quite, there is an add reminding us to vote, and it links to election.ca which tells you how to vote and the such, which is nice, but it isn't a source for information about the parties.

Next was the National Post, which was refreshing at first because there was a big "ELECTION 2008" banner right under the headline story. There were, however, only 2 stories under that banner. One was telling us that the Liberal leader says the Conservative leader is a liar (not so directly, but that was the gist of it) and then goes into talking about opinion polls. Next story was just flat out about an opinion poll.

Don't journalists (also known as REPORTERS) get paid to give us information? Shouldn't they be informing the electorate? You know, so come election day we actually have a chance of voting for someone who shares our views? But no, the Canadian news media has decided to give us unsubstantial crap about opinion polls. The run opinion pieces, they tell us who the pollsters expect to win, but when push comes to shove, they never really tell us what we are voting for when we put a mark next to a candidate's name.

Still no Internet, But Lots of Stupid Politics

Well, unfortunately I'm still waiting for my new internet to work, so I've been jumping from one wi-fi hotspot to another lately. I never realized how much I depend on the internet in my day-to-day life until I had to go this long without consistent access. It's almost like part of my awareness has been amputated.

In political stuff, because that seems to be all that has been happening lately, the polls look like Canadians aren't going to give the Conservatives a majority. Periodically, they slip close to majority territory, and then it seems like people realize "oh wait, that would suck" and change who they say they're going to vote for. I actually wouldn't really mind a conservative minority, as long as the opposition parties aren't total lame asses in the next government. Seriously, this time around a preschool class in opposition would have been more productive. The opposition allowed the Conservatives to almost act as if they were a majority government, and a lot of things that Canadians care about are suffering because of it.

As for south of the border, it seems like the shine has come off Palin. It was weird, overnight it went from her being inexperienced to all of a sudden she's a reformer and fiery. Now her honeymoon is over and people have noticed that she's crazy again. She holds positions that even Bush has given up. In her first interview, she didn't even know what the "Bush Doctrine" is. I know a lot of people who have been in much less important positions who can tell you. (By the way, it's a blanket statement referring to his post 9/11 foreign policy, including the idea of a unilateral preventative war). She doesn't understand the economy. Probably most worrying to me is that she runs her government in Alaska in a very Bush-ian fashion. Instead of hiring people with experience, she hires people she knows and people who agree with her. And lets not forget the investigation into her abuses of power as governor. And the fact that her staffers are refusing to comply with subpoenas to testify. Is this really the person you want as vice president? Though, she does seem to fit in with what is being recognized as the least honest presidential campaign in recent history.

What Happened to Politics?

Just another quickie, more of a question really.

What ever happened to politicians and political parties running campaigns based on actual issues instead of just slagging the opponent. It used to be that election campaigns were a mix of insults and issue talk. You know, so there's a chance of someone making an informed opinion. It seems like during this year's campaigns (both in the United States and Canada) the fear-mongering, self delusion, and insults are the only things that make it into the media. I think Obama is trying to make this an issue election of course, as he is a politician, it might just be because Democrats have never been as good at fear-mongering as Republicans are. But in the early days of Canada's election process, most of the talk I've noticed has been the Conservatives making fun of the Liberal's green plan (which is not perfect, but is far better than the pathetic idea the Conservatives call a plan), the Liberals complaining that everything is the Conservatives fault (Like the democrats, the Liberals aren't very good at rousing fear), the Bloc still being unhappy about being part of Canada, and the Greens and the NDP saying anything that will further their quest to get noticed at all.

It pains me a little when I see parties engaging in this style of politics so early in an election campaign, or at all really. But what pains me more, is that these tactics seem to work. Why do otherwise intelligent people get sucked in by this pandering and fear? Do we really get so sucked into party affiliations that we forget about things that are actually important?

As someone who, in all honesty, cares more for what a political party stands for than for what they say, can we please have a political party that will stand up and declare where it stands on the issues that people care about? I don't really give a damn who I'm supposed to be afraid of. What I want to know is: if you are elected, what are you going to do?

What is it going to take to get back to a political climate where tax cuts and villification aren't all it takes to get votes? When will people take enough interest to actually ask what these parties stand for?

Damnit.

Downtime

Updates will be sporadic for the next little while because I'm between internet connections.

Hopefully I'll have a new one set up in the next few days, but no guarantees.

UPDATE:

Hopefully I should have an internet connection again by sometime Wednesday.

CERN-Pocalypse!

So, they switched on the CERN Supercollider this morning, and the world hasn't ended yet. Now, to be fair, it's more on idle right now, and will take months to get up to the point where anything it does would be meaningful, but its always nice to not start out with a bang.
Of course, I'm among those not convinced that this will end the world at all.
"But, how can you have an opinion on something you don't know about?" I hear you ask.
Well, first of all, despite my best efforts, uninformed people have opinions all the time.
Secondly, this isn't really my opinion at all. No, I'm taking the advice of actual physicists who tell me not to worry. That's right, I've decided to take advice from people who actually know what they're talking about. It may seem like an extreme step to take on an issue like this, but I think it's worth the effort. And not having to think about the planet being eaten by a black hole.
I'm actually kind of excited about the whole CERN thing, because I'll enjoy finding over-simplified explanations of the results on Digg. Besides, if it goes wrong and somehow does destroy the planet, at least I can know that smart people finally got their chance to annihilate the planet, and not politicians.

In Canadian election stuff, all the parties seem to be trying to be the "greenest". And by all the parties, I mean all the parties except the Conservatives. They seem more concerned with making saving the environment/planet look like a filthy tax grab. While Canada might not be able to meet the Kyoto targets any time soon (thanks both due to the dithering of previous liberal governments, as well as a complete lack of effort by the conservative government) I don't think that we should make a government policy of being in denial about the gravity of the situation.
The Canadian political parties should also take note of the ever-growing anger against the telecommunications companies in Canada. Class-action suits are flying all over the place, and people are just plain fed up with the bullshit these companies pile on their customers. System access fees disguised as government fees, bandwidth capping, enormous interest and fees on late payment, internet throttling. Ever since 1995, Canadian governments have been increasingly allowing telecom companies to do whatever the hell they want. I think that regulation of an industry should absolutely be only used in extreme cases, but I think that partial regulation would help here. Personally (and many people I've spoken to agree with this) I don't believe that Canadian telecom companies act as though they were part of a free market system. It's like Bell, Rogers, Telus, Vidéotron and the rest operate in a little semi-monopolistic bubble. They compete only on the minimum level possible, and have largely reached a happy medium with each other. They have realized that none of them have to provide affordable, honest service if they all price gouge. The government (past and current ones in fact) deregulated this industry without providing any sort of consumer protection, and now we are all paying for it. And we're sick of it.

Mr. Harper, You are a Hypocrite.

Canadian Election, October 14th.
Canada, do not give the Conservatives a majority government. Or even another minority. Let's get these clowns out of office. This government rode into power on a promise of change, transparency, and accountability. Instead they've become one of the most secretive governments in Canadian history. They have shunned the media, prevented MPs from speaking freely, hide the fact that many of their MPs are extraordinarily right wing. I personally believe that it would, at this point, be dangerous to give the Conservatives a majority government. We would see a vast Americanization of our policies, a roll-back in abortion rights, an anti-science culture in government. Mr. Harper says he lets his MPs vote with their conscience on issues like gay marriage and abortion, but will not let his MPs declare where their conscience lies. Not to mention the audacity of calling an election within weeks of scheduling not one, but four bi-elections to replace empty seats. Do you expect those voters to vote twice? Are you really just throwing away all the tax-payers money that has already been spent to organize these bi-elections? This is also the "transparent, accountable" government that is actively trying to derail an investigation into allegations that it violated financing laws. Their efforts include telling their staffers that a summons to the investigating committee doesn't actually mean they have to show up and testify. Real accountable if you ask me.
On top of this, Prime Minister Harper is a hypocrite.
Yes, Mr Harper, I'm going to come right out and say it. You sir, are a hypocrite.
By calling this election, you are violating the spirit of an election law that your own government authored and passed. Your party cried foul for 12 years as the Liberals called elections when they were high in the polls, so you legislated fixed elections. The election that YOU scheduled is not until late 2009 Mr. Harper. But you saw that your party is nipping at the magic 40% approval rating that is considered majority territory. You could not resist this golden opportunity could you Mr. Harper? So what do you do? You create a false political crisis. You whine and complain about the opposition parties and how it's their fault that Parliament isn't working. You know what Mr. Harper? This minority Parliament was working so well for your government that you were able to abuse it to pass bills that you know the public did not agree with, but you also knew that the opposition parties were too weak to oppose them. Parliament deadlocked? Your government has not been defeated in Parliament yet Mr. Harper, a fact that you know as well as I do. Your government didn't even have any confidence motions tabled that the opposition had vowed to defeat. In a way, Parliament was not working, however it's because the opposition parties were not putting enough pressure on your government, Mr. Harper. Your government was getting away with things that no minority should be able to, and yet now you ask us to give you a majority? After you show a blatant disregard for election laws, including the ones that you yourself signed? Disgusting behaviour for a governing party Mr. Harper.
So now I call on you, Canada. I call on you to show this government that you will not be bullied and tricked into giving them a majority. Am I a fan of the other major parties? No, The NDP seems hell bent on knee-jerking itself into uselessness, and the Liberals are not a vehicle for change. Do I think that a Liberal minority government would be far less damaging to this country than another Conservative minority or, worst-case, a Conservative majority? Hell yes. This government does not respect us, Canada. This government thinks it can flaunt rules and laws for its own convenience. Let's get them out.

The Swing of Things

Well, it's time for me to get back into the swing of things here.
Been getting used to actually having to go to class and read again.
Damn I want my summer back.

Anyways, it looks like the idea of Sarah Palin as V.P. is (rightfully) getting picked apart by the Democrats and the media. The idea of someone with so little real political experience, such a limited world view, such rediculous beliefs and who still uses a Bush speech writer being a heartbeat (or lack of one) away from the presidency is, frankly, terrifying for anyone with two functioning neurons, and a longer memory than a goldfish. Yeah! Let's all go elect the ticket with the guy who doesn't understand the economy, and the bible thumper who doesn't understand the economy!
I am a little disgusted by the amount of media attention that her daughter being pregnant is getting. Mostly because the media coverage seems to be centered around whether it shows weak family values, and I really just don't care. What I think is more important is that it shows that Palin's policies on sexual education and contraception are flawed. If she can't even get her own daughter to abstain, then her sexual education ideas are obviously not working. And, oops, her daughter ends up pregnant because she didn't know about contraception.
News flash world, people have sex.
You can't decide that young people will stop having sex just because you tell them to, especially when they are already having it. It is short-sighted, foolish, and just downright stupid to decide that the personal beliefs of one person are more important than the health and wellbeing of an entire generation of young people. Pregnancy is a big deal. What if Bristol Palin had contracted AIDS because she didn't know about using condoms? So how about the media lay off the whole family values thing and work on the failed policies angle?