This is ridiculous…my life is passing before my eyes

I just spend about two hours fiddling with my blog. That’s stupid…but as with most things on the internet, if you really get into it, the time just flies. The problem is there are so many options and so many possibilities for customisation. A big part of me likes that, but then I look up at the clock and realise half of my day has just disappeared.

And there’s the rub: it can be so easy to get lost in cyberspace. While parts of it are highly useful for both personal and business reasons (such as email, messaging and voip), others are great for those of us trying to learn (believe it or not, Wikipedia can sometimes be a great starting point for research for a university paper).

Some parts of it, though, are just time-wasters, and unlikely to improve your life in any tangible way or advance your career in any way at all. Here I’m referring to almost any social networking site, including Facebook, MySpace, del.icio.us, Technorati, etc.

I know many would disagree with that assessment, but unless you are a business person, it is, in fact, quite unlikely that your use of these things is geared towards business, advancement or something else “worthwhile”. There are already so many people who label themselves “addicts” of one or more of these kinds of sites…can this really be a good sign?

Nevertheless, I keep trying to update my blog with half-intelligent thoughts and am trying to make it better (more on that later). Does that make me an addict too? Why are people so driven to put their inner-most thoughts out there for anyone to see and dissect? And why won’t people do that with someone F2F (face to face)?

 

Paranoia at its finest

Apparently, it’s now become too dangerous to have people apply for a passport by mail. Don’t misunderstand me, it’s not that I think this is the biggest crime of the century, but it seems rather ridiculous to expect people to trek across the country to get a travel document.

The problem is I need a new German passport and the “closest” consulate which can help with that is in Vancouver. That’s a whole 1500 kilometres away (approximately). It wouldn’t be so hard/impossible/bad if there was a consulate in Calgary (a mere two hours away), but no; it’s either Vancouver or frickin’ Toronto or Montreal, not to mention Ottawa (site of the Embassy in Canada).

I just find that ridiculous, and I know I’m not the only non-Canadian citizen trying to get a new passport who isn’t a U.S. citizen (they have consulates all over the place because of Canada’s “close ties” with them). The Germans are the only ones I know of to implement this “new” rule, which is typical. If the Swiss can manage to do this by mail, why can’t the Krauts?? (The closest Swiss consulate is also in Vancouver.)

Grrr…..sooo frustrating! Thanks for reading my rant, we now return to your regularly scheduled internet content.

 

Democracy…what democracy?

I could claim that I haven’t posted anything in a coon’s age because I’ve been depressed, but that would be a lie. Don’t misunderstand, I was really disappointed by what happened in the Alberta elections almost three weeks ago, but I haven’t really been posting because I’ve been so bloody busy. Bills have to get paid, preferably on time, you know, so I work. Too much. And assignments generally have to get handed in to get marked, imagine that!

With only about 41 per cent voter turnout, the election was something of a travesty. As far as I know, that’s the lowest voter turnout ever in this province. To make matters worse, with only about 53 per cent of the popular vote (so, about 21 per cent of eligible voters actually voted for them), the “Progressive” Conservatives got a whopping 72 of 83 seats in the Legislative Assembly. That’s about 87 per cent of total seats. In other words, a quarter of the province managed to hand the oligarchy of this province the governmental reigns and smash any opposition.

That’s really sad. What’s even sadder about it is that people call us Albertastan now, and we can’t even argue. There was, however, one bright spot: someone I know who is quite active in student politics at the University of Lethbridge and a staunch conservative shares my horror at the situation. I never would have thought it of him (though I should have, given what I know of him), but Kelly Kennedy, President of the U of L Students’ Union, mourns the decimation of the provincial Opposition.

I can’t decide if that’s because he likes to watch lively debates from the Legislature on tv, or if it’s because he realises nothing really gets done for the people without someone prodding the government to get a move-on. Politics at its finest, I suppose.

Okay, now I’m all depressed again. Lovely. The perfect mood to go back to my book on U.S. primacy. Stephen Walt is off his rocker, but then, so are a lot of the people who disagree with him (see here for an idea of what I mean). When I’ve finished it, and the book review that needs to be written for my class, I shall be commenting quite forcefully on some of what Mr. Marc Schulman had to say. So there.

I’m going, I’m going…*forcibly drags herself away from distractions*

 

An Update

I must confess that I kind of keep forgetting about my blog. Hence, an update nearly a month after my last posting. This is bad. Nevertheless, here’s what’s going on in my little corner of the provincial election.

At this point, it looks like the Progressive Conservatives are in a serious dog-fight for several of their seats. Hallelujah!

Maybe we’ll get a government that actually does something. Maybe.

Election Day is on Monday, March 3rd, and I’m going to a little party to watch the results with the Association of Political Science Students, which should be great, those guys are lots of fun.

I am feeling utterly uninspired today, so I’ll close here, with the vague notion of not waiting so long between posts again.

And that’s all she wrote.

 

Elections, elections and more elections

Ye Gods, everyone in my world has some sort of election going on!

I live in Alberta, and people around here are pretty sure that our premier, Ed Stelmach will be calling an election pretty quick here. This is notable, because it will likely occur prior to this year’s budget being released, since the good premier does not want his budget being delivered by a member of cabinet who disagrees with him (one Lyle Oberg). This is important, I think, because Stelmach did not come to power by a provincial election. Rather, when King Ralph resigned, the ruling Progressive Conservatives had a leadership race, which “Steady Eddie” won as the dark-horse candidate. Generally, most of the province was fine with that, especially members of the party, since they got to vote (although I heard stories of people buying a membership just to have a say in who would now rule the province).

Now many people are unhappy, even a sizable number of Conservatives I would wager, and the opposition’s voices are growing louder, especially since Stelmach supposedly sold out to big oil last year when it came to reviewing royalty rates. I can’t actually vote in any election that might happen (one of the few drawbacks of only being a permanent resident here), but it sure will be mighty interesting once things get going. *gleefully rubs hands together*

Beyond my own backyard, so to speak, we’re supposedly going to be having a national election pretty quick as well. Apparently, either the opposition parties will make the government fall when it comes time for the budget to be presented, or the Conservative government itself will call an election, hoping to get while the getting is good, and try to snag a parliamentary majority. God, I hope not. But again, this should be rather interesting, and I am very interested to know what issues will be driving this year’s campaign. I can’t vote in that potential race either, but nevertheless, interesting times, especially given what’s occurring just south of the border. And this is where it gets really interesting, because that one I potentially add my two cents to. Canadian cents, because they’re now worth more. So there!

I cannot claim to be anything less than an Independent, when it comes to American politics, because I’m not a registered Democrat, let alone a Republican. In fact, I would consider myself more of a socialist; a democratic socialist, but a socialist nevertheless. Since that does not officially exist Down South, and I would want my vote to actually count for something (let’s face it, the US is not ready for a president who is not a Democrat or a Republican), I generally agree with the principles of the Democratic party and pick from among those candidates.

Social programs are not evil, contrary to popular Republican belief. So there. For a long time, I was torn between the two front-running candidates in the Democratic primaries, but then I learned a bit more about Barack Obama, and what really struck me is that he is not part of the establishment, something that Hillary Rodham Clinton certainly cannot claim, especially given the fact that her husband used to have the job that she now so desperately wants. Someone needs to shake things up and not simply accept that business as usual is the only way. And wonder of wonders, I think Barack Obama may actually be the one to be able to do that.

It’s about damn time we had a president who cared about the plight of the people as much as their potential legacy and how good having “former President of the United States” on your resume looks. Now Imagine what such a President and a cooperative Congress could accomplish together. It boggles the mind.

And by the way, the reason I care, is because I get to help elect that person, I hope. And the reason you should probably care? Well, because like it or not, what happens in the United States affects the rest of the world, whether we agree with that reality of globalisation or not. And if that’s so awful (which I think it is), people need to agitate for change with their governments. The way I’m trying to use my right to vote to effect a little change. No apathy here!

All hail the call to the ballot-box!