hey america: fuck off. “Bush is counting on Canada to achieve the U.S. goal to wean the country off Middle Eastern oil — a goal now defined as a national security objective.” it should be *really* interesting how harper responds to this humble oil request, in light of dion making the environment a major part of his platform. and Polls showing the environment is the number one concern of Canadians (so obviously proof that the ndp and the green party deserve more representation in parliament). with afghanistan going to shit and the slow unfolding of an energy crisis in tandem with a climate change crisis, canada’s relations with america will certainly get a little more dicey in the coming years. personally, i dont think we should increase our oil exports until they give us alaska. to sweeten the deal, they can have saskatchewan, then the map will look like america is giving the world the finger. which, of course, they are.

i think i stole that joke from jeremy hotz. and i’ve probably used it on this blog before… my lameness aside, salon has a great article on the lack of an anti-war movement with where’s the outrage:

When America got rid of the draft, it also got rid of the ultimate check against presidents who lead the nation into foolish wars: people power. I am not advocating a return of the draft. But its absence is undeniably the single largest reason that there is no antiwar movement. People are capable of genuine concern for their fellow citizens, but self-interest is an exponentially more powerful driving force.

the toronto star has a series on the war on poverty:
a constant state of dread
New way to fight hunger
Struggling on $1,008 a month
Tackling poverty benefits all society

As Canadians, we like to think we live in a just society, one that gives fair treatment and opportunity to individuals and groups and a rightful share of our common wealth. But how just and inclusive is a society where children go hungry, some working people cannot earn a living wage, and the homeless crowd into shelters because they cannot afford a place to live?

hows about some peace on earth?

How about we start with equality in and among nations, a social commodity — says a just-released UN think tank study — in grotesquely short supply.

…

The new study — the first ever to tally, for the entire world, all the major elements of household wealth, everything from financial assets and debts to land, homes, and other tangible property — finds some $125.3 trillion worth of wealth about in the world, as of the year 2000.

…

How concentrated? The richest 5 percent of the world’s adults — minimum net worth, $150,145 — hold 70.6 percent of the world’s wealth. The richest 1 percent — minimum wealth, $514,512 — hold 39.9 percent of the world’s wealth all by themselves, 13,000 times more than the entire bottom 10 percent.

and lest we forget that its the economy stupid, it’s a good idea to keep in mind What $1.2 Trillion Can Buy (cost of the new and improved iraq)

apparently i get like 10 thousand hits a month (about 4 thousand unique), and that seems like a lot… i imagine much of that is cause i talk about music and movies so much… and cause i link to mp3s a lot, sometimes hosting them myself. so people aren’t coming to read my brilliant prose, i realize that. but there might be random people reading this, not just friends and estranged family? most of my hits come from the states, and i only know of one actual reader (hey broseph, how’s the new job?)

so i implore you, dear reader, to leave a comment if i don’t know who you are. normally, requests such as these don’t get much response, so i’m hoping for at least one anonymous person to say ‘yes i’m a reader and no you don’t know me’

i’ve always been a fan of excuses to do things (like holidays = drinking), so new years resolutions seem like a good idea to me. the roomie and i exchanged a list of 10 for each other. for the record, hers were much more harsh than mine. shit about respect and displacing blame, far out. i told her to get out more, and “get phd and become dr. bond”

for myself, i’ve decided to learn more about philosophy and economics, which means listening to lectures on plato on my ipod and getting a subscription to the economist. and trying to read articles in the business section of the globe such as hopes, fears and bold predictions for 2007. what is it dear readers, are we doomed in the 07 by increased energy costs or gigantic american debt or net selling of U.S. Treasuries by foreign central banks or terrorism or some wicked concoction of all four? i’m not usually this apocalyptic, it’s something about the medium of blogging i think…

speaking of the apocalypse, robert fisk is mandatory reading in these end times. “How the West armed Saddam, fed him intelligence on his ‘enemies’, equipped him for atrocities - and then made sure he wouldn’t squeal”: A Dictator Created Then Destroyed by America and He Takes His Secrets to the Grave. Our Complicity Dies with Him

happier things!

the nobel peace prize this year went to Muhammad Yunus, the guy who created microcredit. My thoughts exactly on this whole problem of “terrorism” and “the middle east” and “war”:

I believe that putting resources into improving the lives of the poor people is a better strategy [for combating terrorism] than spending it on guns.

and here are some other such good things commies like me can be happy about for 2006.

revolutionary idea for 2007? open course ware, by [the real] m.i.t. read about it in “how to go to m.i.t. for free“. for my fellow fake mit graduates or other mediaphiles, they have a Comparative Media Studies program and a Media Arts and Sciences program, including graduate classes.

speaking of open-source, my homeland is going open source too.

i mentioned last.fm and firefox and hype machine as technocessities (copyright!), i forgot digg.com. and now i have a profile and you could see which stories i dugg, if one were so inclined. once again, join and add me as a friend.

(i wish i had more nerd friends who would actually do such a thing)

im back in vancouver after my 10 day breakneck-speed holiday in ontario, trying to see as many people as i could. i didnt get to see some (megs, call me), but all in all, a great trip. it pretty much had to be though, i only packed red, green, and white clothes. i also got a glorious christmas sweater from value village. advice for next-mas: when you start and finish your christmas shopping in a single trip, everyone is so much friendlier when you have a stupid sweater on. behold, the power of the sweater. behold it!

i also went to this skateboard industry christmas party before i left, with burlesque dancers and sweaters and free-flowing alcohol. still cant take a focused picture in low-light conditions though, little help from anyone who takes pictures? (cartwright or haffie, im thinking of yous)

santa got me sweet new gigantic headphones and scene-it! movie edition which i proceeded to destroy alicia in two games in a row. my gift to you is my favourite songs of 2006 in tidy zip file.

christmas party with the high school gang including nog-a-saki’s which were actually really good! warm up the nog and the saki, it’s glorious. we also played some sort of ice cube drinking game, dan what was it called?

first day back in vancouver i slept-in big time, went to bon’s off broadway (it has a fantastic 3 dollar breakfast special and a myspace page!) and a pitcher of the lager, some more drinks till the tiny gang - including the long-lost sioned - arrived, and we drank a bunch of those knock off energy drinks and whiskey and then owned the stage at some bar downtown. i accidentally pushed sioned into the cage, it was almost disaster. but not quite as disaster as the drunk young women: “[cross word puzzle question:]The ’70s had the hustle, the ’80s the moonwalk. We’ve got the faux lesbian dance.” in this case, to the song “rock around the clock” by bill haley and the comets! fuck!

new years eve, i dressed up as a nerd for the “nerds, cheerleaders, and jocks” (?) themed party. i was definitely in my element as a nerd, awkwardly dancing to the 80s jams. first house party ive ever been to with a a draw bridge in front of the house, it was lowered for each new guest. it was quite an advanced pulley system, they also had a really good dj who had crates and crates of terrific records, there was some sort of freeform jazz funk jam band in the basement, eggnog and skittles were bought in the post bar grocery store trip, and i finished the night by waking up my roomate (who stayed home on new years eve by herself cause she’s a huge loser!)

happy new years!