My last week in Windsor, and then I’m home for the Holidays. Then back to Waterloo.

Unfortunately for my readership this is going to be more like a regular blog (the HORROR!) than I usually make it. And you also get the *privilege* of listening to me rant about politics and the election. Hurray for you.

First off, I got an ‘Excellent evaluation’ on my work term at Nemak. I’m pretty happy about that. I really enjoyed my work term this time around. Learned alot about mechanical and facilities engineering as well as manufacturing and industrial settings. Hopefully I’ll get to return.

I recently passed 1500 unique visitors, and for the first 6 months of being online, I’m pretty happy. Last I checked I have a PageRank of 5, which is pretty decent. Between searches for my name, and for PDEng related search strings, that is where I get most of my search result referrals.

On to Politics…It’s been almost a month since the government dissolved and the election started. Last week we had the first french and English leadership debates. Nothing really special came from that. I do find it quite confusing though why Harper keeps on bringing up the Same Sex marriage legislation. It’s law, and won’t be changed. He claims that if he becomes PM he will have a free vote in the house to overturn the legislation. He also claims that he won’t use the Notwithstanding Clause to do so and he will grandfather in all current marriages under the law. Now isn’t this confusing? He says he is going to overturn the legislation that 134 law scholars have went on the record of saying that the Notwithstanding Clause is needed to overturn…without using the Notwithstanding Clause. Upon further reading, Harper doesn’t believe the Clause is needed, so he apparently believe he is more of a legal scholar that 134 respected legal scholars. Apparently a Masters in Arts is good enough to prove JDs wrong…

Furthermore, he is proposing to make second-class citizens of a subgroup (mainly gays) while making them also second class citizens to the greater population. The Grandfather clause he proposed (most likely) in an attempt to appease some voters further will discriminate as some individuals will have been awarded full rights, while others will be barred from them. Why is Harper wasting parliament’s time on this issue? It was decided earlier this year with a MAJORITY in the house. Proved that this nation’s parliamentarians (at least the ones who voted for it) are doing their work to preserve minority rights and support the Charter.

I’m going to have a tough time deciding who I’m going to vote for in this election. While I’m a self identifying Liberal, what it really comes down is the individual candidates in my riding. This leaves Joe Comuzzi (Liberal) and Bruce Hyer (NDP) [I won't vote conservative]. I don’t know if I can stomach voting for Joe after he resigned from cabinet earlier this year over Bill C-38. And Bruce is such a nice guy. I heard from my Dad that he stopped by our house looking for me (I volunteered at his last campaign) and even though my Dad noted that I had switched parties, Bruce left the invitation of meeting over the Christmas break to discuss policy and “win me back”. How can I argue with such a dedicated and personable man? The qualities I have witnessed in Mr. Hyer are far greater than anything I’ve ever seen Mr. Comuzzi convey. It’s not like Comuzzi has a cabinet position anymore where he can make an impact for his constituents.

Well, that’s for me to think about I guess. I still have a bit to decide. I do know that I will not ever vote conservative, especially with Harper at the helm. Last week a speech from 1997 came to light in which Harper, speaking to a group of Americans as vice-president of the National Citizen’s Coalition, in which he called Canada “a Northern European welfare state in the worst sense of the term”. He went on to scold unemployed, bilingualism, Quebec, our established political system, judicial system, and political parties. He even said the “NDP is kind of proof that the Devil lives and interferes in the affairs of men”. Essentially he bashed every aspect of Canada. I’m not sure how even the Conservatives picked such a horrible leadership candidate. He just wants Canada to turn into The United States.

Speaking of them, they had a few issues in the last week as well. The Patriot Act failed to be extended in Senate, with Bush saying “The senators obstructing the Patriot Act need to understand that the expiration of this vital law will endanger America and will leave us in a weaker position in the fight against brutal killers.” Meanwhile, he’s defending himself against illegal wiretaps against his own citizens saying “It was a shameful act for someone to disclose this important program in a time of war…The fact that we’re discussing this program is helping the enemy”. Funny that he will call it war when it conveniences him, and when he takes prisoners in this “war” won’t call them “war prisoners”, but “enemy combatants” to get around international law. The US has committed so many war crimes and should be charged, the administration indicted, and economic sanctions imposed.

And the US media? Did anyone else hear Tucker Carlson say “Canada is a sweet country. It is like your retarded cousin you see at Thanksgiving and sort of pat him on the head. You know, he’s nice but you don’t take him seriously. That’s Canada.” Wow. And you wonder why there is Anti-american sentiment in the world…sickens me.

Currently Listening to: The Sound of Silence - Simon and Garfunkel
Random Wikipedia Article: Parkour