Category Archives: Politics

CRTC Matching Line Speed Ruling

I came across this article on Slashdot this morning, apparently the CRTC has ruled that ISPs such as Bell must provide the same network service to resellers as they currently do to their own customers.  This means that ISPs such as Teksavvy that currently provide service over Bell’s DSL infrastructure and copper should soon be able to provide much higher capacity uplinks via Bell’s newly deployed fibre network.

I haven’t had a chance to read the actual ruling yet but from what I gather the only small print is that the big ISPs will be allowed to charge a 10% markup.  If you’re interested Teksavvy has posted this press release (PDF).

G20 Summit Plans

You are probably aware that the G20 Summit is on its way to Toronto in the not-too-distant future. From what I’m hearing it sounds like the Toronto Police, OPP, RCMP, CSIS and their friends are going to be out in full effect for the duration to enforce a DMZ they’re putting around the Convention Centre and Intercontinental Hotel. It’s a bit of a double bummer because my office is inside one of the planned security cordons and it sounding like I have to get added to a list and get ID’d in order to go to work during the duration. I was thinking about taking the week off and going on vacation but it doesn’t sound like that’s an option as by coincidence I’ll be the only one in town who does my job during that week.

I don’t understand why the Powers That Be decide to hold a meeting in the middle of Canada’s largest city when they want to make sure that nobody can get close enough to interfere with their plans, but I digress…

All this nonsense has got me thinking about what I’m going to do that week when I’m not in the office. Frankly I think most of the G8/G20 protesting is somewhat pointless and more akin to pissing into the wind than to meaningful political statement, however I’m not that impressed by the heavy handed tactics that the police have tended to use at the behest of their masters. So I’ve started thinking I might make a somewhat concerted effort to go out and attempt a photographic “study” of the whole thing.

I’ve been getting more serious about photography lately (just bought a new lens for my D80, but more about that in a future post) and it might be an interesting exercise, not to mention my definite feeling is that documenting things is probably the best way to avoid problems.  I’m just not sure how keen I am on getting even indirectly involved.  I need to think it over a bit more before I make up my mind…

US Piracy List, A Canadian Reponse

There’s a good summary over on Ars Technica of some of the problems involved with the continued American insistence of categorizing Canada as a country that doesn’t enforce intellectual properly law. I’m personally content with the middle ground that we seem to be standing here.  Although ideally I’d prefer to see a more open regime here, the reality is that so long as we live next to the United States we’re not very likely to have completely reasonable laws.  Anyway, the article I linked is pretty brief and has some interesting facts regarding piracy and IP violations in Canada.

Keynes: The End of Laissez-Faire

I just came across this essay in an article on Salon.com. It’s a very interesting essay by John Maynard Keynes called The End of Laissez-Faire and in my view it is a must read. Anybody who is not familiar with Keynesian Economics and how it fundamentally differs from the current Austrian School as championed by the likes of Milton Friedman and Alan Greenspan would do well to read Keynes if only to see that there are other options. I find Keynes’ writing style awkward and a bit hard to read, but his theories are undoubtedly interesting and his intellect is impressive.

When I was in school, I’m sure I never imagined I’d be reading economics papers for my own amusement. I’m getting old.

JPMorgan to buy Bear Stearns

The BBC is reporting that JPMorgan is not only bailing Bear Stearns out using money from the New York Federal Reserve, but before the markets even open on Monday, they’re poised to buy Bear Stearns for $2/share. On Thursday Bear Stearns closed at $57/share. This is, by any measure, a complete collapse of one of Wall Street’s biggest banks/investment firms. I wonder if this is an isolated situation or a harbinger of things to come.

I just finished reading The Party’s Over. I must say I’m not feeling overly optimistic about either the short or long term tonight…

Canadian National Debt

I just came across the current Canadian national debt numbers on the StatsCan website. It’s a bit higher than I thought, roughly C$619 billion. According to the chart this is balanced against C$111 billion of assets, but I’m unclear what that actually represents. I’m not sure if I’d consider the net number as actually representative of our real situation. After all, we can’t just pawn Fortress Louisbourg if the US economy tanks.

Reefer Vending Machines

According to the BBC, California is starting a programme to sell medical pot using vending machines! Not something I thought I’d ever see. I still find cigarette vending machines strange.

The rules are a bit draconian, you need fingerprints, photos and there is a security guard, but still it’s an interesting story for a Monday morning.

Recession?

It remains to be seen exactly what 2008 holds in store for us, but rumours/fears/speculation that a recession waiting in the wings seem to be gathering credibility. I woke up to news that Asian markets had taken a serious fall over the (North American) night.

This is a top story for a number of news organizations such as the BBC. The most disappointing part for me, and apparently a number of financial analysts, is that all that Dubya can do is march out the tired line of “tax cuts to stimulate the economy”. I have this vague recollection that cutting taxes for the wealthy and businesses while spending billions on wars halfway around the world was more or less the recipe that got the US economy to where it is right now. Not good news, but it seem like bad news is in the air. Milton Friedman must be rubbing his hands in anticipation.