More Randomness!
The Fill BTN With Random Stuff ‘06 campaign continues this week, as we again wander North America through the text of a blog.
Up in the True North, Canadians elected a Conservative government for the first time since 1993 on Monday. Prime Minister-designate Stephen Harper immediately provoked a minor spat with the USA by announcing plans to outfit three new naval icebreakers for Arctic duty; Canada claims sovereignty between the lines of longitude of its northernmost points of land all the way up to the North Pole, a claim generally ignored by everyone else on the planet; the Arctic was a submariners’ playground throughout the Cold War, and various countries have continued to sail below the icepack since. For my money, this is, as usual for Canada, a domestic political play thinly disguised as a foreign-policy dispute. Firing off a few small-caliber shots at America never hurt a Canadian pol, and Harper is in a tenuous position as the leader of a minority right-wing government that will have to work point-by-point coalitions with three opposing left-wing parties: the traditional rival Liberals who they forced out of power, the wacky near-socialist New Democrats, and the separatist Bloc Québécois. The Liberals in particular knocked Harper off in 2004 by trying to paint him as “George W. Bush-lite”, and cut into a once-big Tory lead this year the same way; being mildly irritating to us before he even gets into office is probably sound strategy. It’s vaguely disappointing, but Harper merits withholding judgement for now; if he can stay away from the spite that characterized Canadian Liberal governments’ transborder relations, he’ll be a major upgrade for both countries.
Bret solidifies his position as best writer on the BTN blogroll (since Daryl’s unfortunate departure from blogging) with this post about his family’s recent visit to DC. Peruse the Flickr gallery as well — it would appear that, like me, Bret inherited the photography gene from his mom.
Speaking of which, I have several new Flickr galleries up myself. Check ‘em out: - Indiana ‘05, visiting Mike and Erin last February - ACC Championship Game, shots from around Jacksonville before that disaster of a game - Gator Bowl ‘06, another Jax adventure with a more-favorable result (M-rc-s aside)
And you should expect to see one more after next weekend, as I go visit Amy in Arizona for a quick trip.
Speaking of Mrcs, his legacy continued to haunt Tech on Thursday during the Duke game. Coming up from a pile near the end of regulation, Deron Washington accidentally kicked Duke’s Lee Melchionni, who he had collided with and who was lying on the ground, in the face. It was a careless act, and Washington apologized properly to Melchionni after the game; both Melchionni and Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski accepted and called it done. Unfortunately, with video clips from the Gator Bowl flashing across highlight shows nationwide, the ongoing repair process to Tech’s image demanded that AD Jim Weaver suspend Washington for today’s game at Wake Forest. Fortunately, we won (!) 76-70.
28 January 2006 / 4 Comments / Tags: life, politics, canada, photo, basketball