Goldbugs have a lot of nostalgia for the Gilded Age, so they put the face value it where it would have been in 1896.

Both CEOs are horrible but the new one is a former McKinsey consultant with a background in finance and the silicon-valley C-suite. According to statements she put out her strategy is: layoffs and AI.

It’s just a suggestion.

Quebec is also where I learned the phrase “No cop, no stop.”

But I think they were arrested for not saying arrêt.

Some of them are flying the Confederate flag in Alberta!

Historically Europe (and the British Empire) sided with the confederacy because they saw a united USA as a potential industrial rival, whereas the south was more of a resource colony. Interestingly there was a major class divide in Europe where the working classes were anti-slavery and therefore anti-confederate wheras the upper classes saw the confederate cause being in their interest. There’s a book about this called A Cause for All Nations by Don Doyle.

My understanding is that nowadays the confederate flag is used by people outside the USA who are on the fascist end of the spectrum for whom Nazi or fascist symbols are too extreme (or just illegal) in their countries.

If they said they didn’t find any, then everyone would know it was a whitewash. So they decided to “find” a small amount and then pat themselves on the back.

Reality is about to get all melty and people are gonna have six fingers.

He ain’t the sharpest tool in the shed. That’s for sure. I think the world is gonna roll him. The ice is getting pretty thin, the water’s warm. Do you think he can swim?

I think I’m beginning to understand how Trudeau keeps winning.

Is it really possible to sign away a right to sue a company, especially hidden in an EULA?

Yes it is. It is called “forced arbitration” and pretty much every contract you are compelled to sign has it.

In any kind of just society with a fair legal system it would not be legal. But that doesn’t describe us or our legal system.

My guess is you’re seeing the computer go into a reject loop until a human operator finally takes over.

Russia’s nuclear sabre rattling isn’t credible because their nuclear arsenal is not dispersed. Dispersal is the key to a nuclear exchange and it’s why both sides spend so many billions on submarines and stratobombers. Since the cold war Russia’s nuclear assets have been sitting grouped at bases around the country. If Putin wants to be credible he has to first order the planes in the air and the submarines to sea. But the submarine he sent to Cuba was accompanied by a tug “just in case.”

I always heard “Canada is three mining companies standing on eachother’s shoulders in a trechcoat.”

Although that one applies equally to Australia.

It’s cool that you’re in the well-insulated house business. But we’re still cooking the planet and jet aircraft are bad.

As the country lost its connections to the British it became more easily influenced by the Americans.

Not very often I see someone characterizing the British as the good guys.

My experience is that Firefox often has problems on Google-owned properties. Either performance/responsiveness or functionality just not working. Why this would be is left as an exercise for the reader.

Tim Hortons invasion

We already have bad coffee and stale donuts down here.

Municipal police mostly came from the great railroad strike of 1871.

Separately Canada has an Ambassador to the UN.

Do you think he and the consul-general room together?

By the way, the building that he’s moving into is literally part of “Billianare’s Row.” It’s the swankiest of the swanky ultra-tall-and-narrow “every apartment is a penthouse” building built along central park in recent years. I guarantee you there are cheaper places to live in Manhattan.

One thing that’s crazy is during 2008 Canada was one of the only countries where were no housing busts or bank failures. It was explained at the time that they didn’t deregulate like the US did in the 90s, and didn’t go crazy with Eurodollar and derivative speculation like the European banks.

The takeaway was that in Canada banking is still a boring business managed by professional adults, overseen by stern but fair regulators who would ensure that things don’t get out of hand.

So what the hell happened? Seemed like the Canadian government and finance people took the lesson that they missed out on a hell of a party and they’re going to have their own housing bubble with blackjack and whatnot.

Why does Canada need a consul general in New York City? It’s not capital of any government. It’'s not very far from Canada, so Canadians in need of consular services could probably find someplace more convenient. The whole thing seems like a way to grift the Canadian taxpayers into swanky Manhattan digs for some well-connected asshole.