Friday October 24, 2008
Matthew Carroll - 6:34 AM AST
Robo Calling Devices,
While here in Canada we thought we were bombarded by our own brand of telemarketers. Imagine being called by a machine that does not care if you hang up, curse and you cannot report them. The Do Not Call List in the U.S. unfortunately contains the same rules as here in Canada, political calls are exempt.
According to CNET News, residents of battleground states such as Florida, Iowa and Ohio are receiving 10-15 calls a day from campaigns. Some with outlandish claims stating such things as Obama having ties with terrorists. I am just musing but I imagine if I were being called repeatedly by a voice telling me the faults of Obama, I would most certainly not be voting for the McCain camp. If Obama is truly the omnipresent being that we are led to believe, then he should be sending out messages on these robo callers stating how terrible a leader he is and (insert generic attack on character here). Most would assume this was coming from McCain and if McCain wants to interrupt my family meal time then he does not deserve to be president.
How are these robo callers even seen as viable means to garner votes? Almost as bad as Carbon Tax Signs...
Iceland Freezes..
The hardest hit nation in the opinion of many economists was the small nation and one of Canada’s neighbours, the little nation of under half a million, Iceland. Many of Iceland’s banks closed up shop in the last month and its stock market has crashed. The situation was stabilized last week with a loan from Russia. If worse comes to worse here in Canada economically we can always dial the Kremlin for a loan. I have this picture in my head of Putin dancing around informercial style with one of the 1800 numbers, hocking cheap loans to desperate nations. I guess it pays to have a few hundred billion in cash reserves to throw around.
NHL Team Owners
I love Canada. I love that our main concern with the falling dollar means that Canadian NHL team owners will be shelling out more money to their players as player contracts are written in U.S. dollars. CBC News was reporting today that the Calgary Flames for example will be paying Mikka Kiprussoff an additional 425 thousand because of the Canadian dollar’s value. This is terrible. I hope that the government of Canada forgoes subsidizing industries that really need a boost (auto plants?) and give these all important NHL teams the money they need. Times are so tough for NHL teams in Canada that there are ever persistent talks of bringing another team to Toronto.
What about the good things that a declining dollar means like the fact that foreign investment will return to Canada and boosting out economy. Foreign investment is a good thing. It is like golf, the lower the number the better the outcome.
Thursday October 23, 2008
Matthew Carroll - 6:37 AM AST
W.
I had the opportunity this weekend to catch a movie with one of the ladies in my life, my mother. The problem though is that we chose to see the latest Oliver Stone bio pic W.
Why Oliver Stone do you insist on creating film versions of the worst cases of human tragedy? A September 11 movie four years after, a reliving of the Nixon era and the latest, a look at the inner workings of the world of George W Bush. I wish this movie had been released twenty years from now.
The best part of the movie was the preview for the film adaptation of the Frost/Nixon play which is a depiction of the historic David Frost interviews of Richard Nixon. This movie looks as good as the W was hyped to have been. Oliver Stone, you see what they did here, they released a movie on a historical topic after the event was done and with decades to buffer the bad memories.
Carbon Tax Signs
I read with great pleasure that many of the No Carbon Tax Signs were taken down before the election was even over. Whoever erected these signs was apparently quite concerned by the fact that someone was breaking the election act when they took the signs down, concerned enough to even contact the RCMP. I believe that it violates the election act to leave signs up past the day of election. Being over a week past the election, can a concerned citizen report the many No Carbon Tax signs still littering Greater Moncton?
The American Election.
Watching the McCain campaign deteriorate into a Saturday Night Live appearance, the repetition of the name of a certain plumber and some downright obscene campaign ads directed at Obama has been one of the highlights of the past week. If there was any doubt that Obama would not prevail, I am sure that all doubts have been laid to rest.
Draft Frank!
So one last musing, if Frank McKenna becomes Liberal leader, do you think Stephen Harper will adhere to the fixed election date law?
Friday October 3, 2008
Matthew Carroll - 12:06 PM AST
This Saturday Moncton political connoisseurs can get a taste for two of the political leaders. Both Stephane Dion and Stephen Harper will be attending events in the metro area tomorrow. While these rallies will most likely be little bit more lively than the Green Train's stop in Moncton I doubt they will have the personal touch that Elizabeth May brings with her whistlestops.
For those of you with taste for red, Stephane Dion will be at the Dieppe Farmer's Market at 8am and immediately after he will be attending a rally at Crystal Palace at 9:15. The Liberal leader, in my opinion, had an impressive showing at the debate but hopefully with stops around the country he can shake the negative image he has been stuck with since the beginning of the campaign. Can he lead?
If your palate has a craving for blue, the Conservative leader will be at Harrison Trimble at 2:45 for what I can only imagine will be a lively rally. I am just putting this out there but my prediction is that our Prime Minister will be sporting a sweater over a collared shirt. Do not expect any hugs from big blue though as he is not as cuddly as the Green's Elizabeth May (just as the Harper kids who received affectionate pats on the shoulder and handshakes when they were dropped off to school by dear old dad).
So expect to see some election busses on the road this weekend as Moncton takes center stage on the election trail. Dont worry it will all be over soon.
Tuesday September 30, 2008
Matthew Carroll - 6:26 AM AST
Remember the tests for the U.S. Missile Defense Shield and how it is supposed to protect North America from ballistic missiles? Remember how the tests never really work and the interceptors usually miss the incoming missiles by hundred of miles? I think this is a pretty apt metaphor for the new national Do Not Call List.
The Do No Not Call Legislation comes into affect today which means that in an ideal world that we will never have to worry about spitting out or supper in order to hang up on someone asking our business over the phone. How flawed is this legislation? Is it going to miss incoming calls by a few hundred miles?
First of all do not expect telemarketers to stop calling ASAP as there is a grace period of 31 days from the time telephone customers register for the telemarketers to update their lists. So let's Hulk out at the next telemarketer that calls us tomorrow morning. Wait until November... but even then...
Secondly, the exemptions to who can still call pretty much represent the usual suspects that we do not want to talk to anyway. You will still be getting solicitations over your peas and carrots from polling companies, political parties, newspaper subscriptions sales, any company that you deal with and charities. What is the definition of existing business relationship?
Anyway, this seems to be a pretty weak form of legislation and I can see a lot of people becoming even more irate than usual when they get calls from the exempted groups and leaving us wanting a more comprehensive form of legislation. Perhaps the telecommunications equivalent of the Beware of Dog sign that was so effective at scaring away the vacuum cleaners salesmen is in order.
If you want to give the list a shot you can register at www.lnnte-dncl.gc.ca
Monday September 29, 2008
Matthew Carroll - 6:44 AM AST
Saturday afternoon the Via train rolled into Moncton carrying a political leader and some very Green ideals. With little fanfare and about three dozen supporters from around the province the scene on platform one of the Moncton train station was more of an exercise in frustration than an actual political movement.
May only spoke for a few brief minutes and doled out hugs to those huddled in the rain to see her in person. Her idealism was refreshing and her message was clear: she was leading a party to make real change in Parliament. The Green Party itself as a party does not seemed flawed, as they now have a platform which is based on more than simply environmental issues. It is not the party, it is the system in which the party finds itself that is flawed.
The million dollar question though remains, is a vote for the Green Party essentially a vote for Stephen Harper's Conservatives? For example, if the voters cast their ballots for the Green Party in ridings that are neck and neck between the Conservatives and the Liberals that vote that was cast is essentially a vote for the Conservatives. Campaigning for votes in such ridings for the Greens is going to leave the country with a Conservative government with an agenda that could not be further removed from the platform of what they are championing.
Elizabeth May and the Liberal leadership even struck a deal to allow May to run against Peter Mackay in Central Nova because without such a deal the vote would be split between the Liberals and Greens leaving the Conservatives with the victory.
Remember in the 1990s when there was a Reform Party, a Bloc and Progressive Conservative Party that allowed the Liberals to win three majorities in a row? You can thank a system that does not actually count your ballot unless you vote for the winner. The New Brunswick election in 1987 is the go to textbook case of the fundamental flaws that are found in our electoral system. The McKenna Liberals won the election and all of the seats in the legislature with a mere 60% of the vote while leaving the other 40% of New Brunswickers without a voice in government. Where did thee other 40% of the ballots go?
I have nothing against the Green Party or Elizabeth May, I have an issue against a system that will not allow Canadians to vote for who they actually want to win and must vote in a way that will not leave their ballots wasted.
Wednesday September 24, 2008
Matthew Carroll - 12:23 PM AST
For anyone that knows of me, they are aware that my sister and I are known for our legendary arguments on every subject and they also know that they rarely end with us on speaking terms. Well, that is until we muster the strength for another argument on something else mundane that we are polar opposites on.
The other day we had lunch at a mutually agreeable restaurant and began to discuss travel. I prefer the method of travel where you spend very little money, stay in hostels and take the bus. I believe this is the best way to experience the culture of the people and it also involves little impact on the environment.
My sister on the other hand, prefers the idea of finding a chain hotel in a tourist hot spot and dropping bundles of money for comfort. Her perspective is that traveling should be relaxing and comfortable at all times allowing you to return to the "real world" of jobs.
The argument boils down to who gets the better experience? Is experience found in just visiting a place or is there a method to to actually getting the most out of your travel. Can we really say we have been to Cuba if we stay at a resort that we cannot leave? Do we have any better understanding of Cuba? Can we honestly say "I have been to Cuba and the country seems to be doing quite well?"
For example, I adhere to a bit of advice I once heard on the Outdoor Network where one of the host of some show that I cannot recall stated that most people travel in what he termed were "prisons." By this it was meant that people book tours, spend there days in a luxury motor coach, get out with all the other tourists at designated stops, get back on the bus and then stay at a hotel chain that is exactly the same in every other country. For me this is simply taking a bubble of western culture with you while you travel and keeping a safety net around you at all times. Is that an experience?
Over the past Summer I attempted to actually experience great things and put myself into situations and places that I had never been in, in order to make myself a better and dare I say wiser person (I don't think the wisdom thing happened... but anyway). So I went on an adventure, bought a Greyhound bus pass and traveled through Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada and then back east to Mississippi (by the way from Arizona it is a 48 ride on the Greyhound to Mississippi). I believe I saw more of the United States and had a better all around experience by actually traveling through instead of over, by meeting people by staying in campgrounds and hostels instead of hotels.
I will not say that I did not have some scary experiences on my travels, such as finding myself literally on the wrong side of the tracks in Biloxi, Mississippi and some shall I say interesting experiences in South Western Greyhound stations in the middle of the night. But overall the dangerous experiences were out weighed by the good experiences. By staying in hostels, tenting, working in a Habitat for Humanity camp and riding the Greyhound, I was able to meet some people that I never would have come into contact with. I would not have been given a great shirt from a Vietnam veteran in Flagstaff, Arizona, gone to the Grand Canyon with a group of Aussies, or have been inspired by some of the most incredible people.
Thankfully the love of my life sees traveling as an experience and enjoys putting the ole backpack on and traveling on the cheap. I guess the point of this meandering blog has been to advocate a new way of traveling, a way of travel that removes oneself from their bubble and the bubble of our culture and experience new things and meet new people.
Tuesday September 23, 2008
Matthew Carroll - 12:46 PM AST
After a long absence from the Canada East blogging scene I have returned with a new soapbox however I must say that I have sorely missed Moncton, having been away for nearly a year. Being home for merely a week I had what I think may be one of the little experiences in Moncton that is truly part of living in this city.
I was getting into my car at the Press Club parking lot on Saturday afternoon and a woman tapped on my window and wanted to know if she could ask me a few questions. She pointed to the river and asked if her and her husband had missed the Tidal Bore. They were traveling up from Florida to see the Atlantic Coast and they saw this as one of the highlights. Had they watched the bore from the wrong vantage point? Where was this 25 foot wave?
Wow. What do you say to this?
I think many Monctonians have gone through this exchange with tourists from all over the world who have heard of the tidal bore and come to Moncton with high expectations of seeing one of the great natural wonders and only to return home a little disappointed. I personally think that we should put a sign in front of Bore Park that says "We are renovating." Well, I guess it depends on the outcome of this election whether things get fixed... oh.. I think I am straying into political territory... anyway.
I spent the last five months attempting to experience the most out of life and subsequently spent months in Northern Ontario, planting trees. I traveled to Mexico and then took the Greyhound through the American South West, Texas and then north from Mississippi. I have seen the Grand Canyon, I visited Roswell, New Mexico to experience a town that has engulfed itself in UFO mythology, tramped through the tacky streets of Las Vegas and visited 13 states in a little under 3 weeks only to return to Northern Ontario for more treeplanting. However, none of those experiences can compare to actually being home once again in Moncton.
That woman from Florida may have been a little disappointed that her and her husband had taken time off from traveling to stop to see our Tidal Bore but coming home to Moncton has not been a disappointment for me.
I am excited to start this new blog and I hope to provide some unique New Brunswick perspectives on some of the crazy events going on in this world of ours. In the meantime, it is good to be home.
