Musing of the Moment: Canada's Election as a Harbinger of Good?

The New York Times reports that the Liberal Party of Canada won the election this week, so the new Prime Minister is Mark Carney. 

See "Mark Carney's Liberals Win Canada's Election. Here Are Four Takeaways." 

As polls have shown this week, Moscow Don's approval rating is in the crapper. 

The Democrats need to take advantage of this goon's failings, overreach, idiocy, and mismanagement to take the House back in 2026. 

Get it done. 

Random Notes from a Crank

In not-so-surprising news, the travel and tourism industry is getting hit hard as hell because President Adolf has pissed off Canadians. The Washington Post's article, "Canadian Travel to U.S. Is Plummeting: 'There's a Lot of Anger,'" relates that fact with lots of details. 

The consequences are going to affect two red states in particular: Florida and Arizona. There are estimates that there are going to be 4 million fewer travelers to the U.S. because of this anger and Canadian patriotism.

If I were Canadian, I'd just vacation in Mexico, Costa Rica, or Belize. 

Also, I would think European travelers will be avoiding the U.S.  

As the saying goes, FAFO, America.

Based on Moscow Don's tariff policies, if one were to buy say a Nissan Sentra, which would normally be about $22,000, it now would cost, at minimum, $27,280.

I wonder what percentage of automotive parts are made in China and Japan? A cursory search panned out that it's not as large of a percentage as I assumed: 9.5% from China and 9.4% from Japan. 

However, 38% of automative parts come from Mexico, and 10% come from Canada. I'm assuming those are still subject to a 25% tariff. 

As I drove over to get my car an oil change this morning, I saw that gas prices went up. In my little corner of the planet, gas is $3.39 a gallon. 

61% of the oil we import comes from Canada, which is a country hit by 25% tariffs. 

The one country not hit by tariffs?

Russia. 

Moscow Don at work. Not really. He's golfing on my tax dollars. 

Random Notes from a Crank

I take YouGov surveys on a regular basis. The most recent survey asked about the U.S. and Canada. At the time of me taking the survey, here are the responses to this question, "If you and your family lived in Canada rather than the United States, do you think your life would generally be better or worse?"

• Much better - 21%
• Somewhat better - 26%
• About the same - 21%
• Somewhat worse - 12%
• Much worse - 10%
• Not sure - 9%

In response to the second question, which asks about which country "has a better reputation around the world," here are the responses:

• The United States - 27%
• Canada - 56%
• Both equally - 10%
• Not sure - 7%

Those percentages are rather damning of the U.S. 47% of those polled think their lives would be either much better or somewhat better if they lived in Canada. 

With Moscow Don's dumbass tariffs about to hit, it's going to hurt the economy and raise prices as supported by various smart people in "U.S. Economy Shows Signs of Strain from Trump's Tariffs and Spending Cuts." 

As a supporter of President Adolf says, "At least for now, the economic signals are flashing slower growth and inflation. Not good." 

Measles, of all things, is making a comeback in certain area of Texas. Read the NBC News article "First Measles Death Reported in Texas as Kennedy Downplays the Outbreak." The anti-vaccine crowd did this. As the article relates, measles was considered gone 25 years ago, but now the number of vaccine exempt kids entering kindergarten is 3%. In that area of Texas it is 18%. 

Of course, Kennedy is going to downplay it. He's a moron. 

Random Notes from a Crank

The American Prospect has an excellent article that pretty much describes how President Adolf has united Canadians because of his threat of a stupid trade war based on tariffs. 

As a result, as "Canada's Conservatives Crash with Onset of Tariff War," the upcoming elections for our ally to the North are set to be tightening. Trudeau is stepping down, but the new leader of the Liberal Party might do well. 

Meanwhile, the Senate has confirmed too many people to important posts, recently Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who will endanger the American people. 

While I find RFK Jr.'s anti-vax sentiments and concern about fluoride in drinking water asinine, I do like his focus on food additives and ultra-processed foods. 

The BBC has an interesting perspective on it all in "Can RFK Jr. Make America's Diet Healthy Again?" The article focuses on food, but the troubling part of his background is his anti-vaccination tendencies and propensity to support assertions with junk science. 

However, with all the hurdles in front of him and under an administration that touts junk food, I don't think he'll change squat. 

I need to find some more outlets--print, video, TV, or streaming service--that will make laugh more often. It's going to be a long four years. 

I rediscovered one, Regular Show, a series my oldest kid got me into. 

Good old Mordecai and Rigby...

That show hits the spot. Yeah!

Another one I've watched off and on recently that is not a comedy but is a sci-fi drama is Battlestar Galactica, a show I didn't watch when it was running on TV.

Of course, I could always watch one of my favorite TV series of all time, Northern Exposure. As I told my daughter, after each episode one leaves with a good feeling. Watching that show can be therapeutic. 

And I've been watching eposes of Seinfeld and The Office, but especially with the former, I've watched it so many times that I might need a break from the "show about nothing."  

Perhaps I need to revisit Parks & Recreation? 

Regardless, I am enjoying the new series St. Denis Medical. 

Stay Positive: Ontario

Yesterday the Nasty Family started a bit past 6am and drove from East Central Illinois to Niagara Falls, Ontario. We're on a family vacation based on the fact that my daughter has a national dance competition in Sandusky Ohio starting on Tuesday. We went to Niagara Falls for a couple days, and then we'll drive through upstate New York and Pennsylvania to get to Sandusky. 

We crossed the border at Detroit-Windsor and drove all the way to Niagara Falls, which had us cross a mighty good portion of Ontario, which is an enormous province. 

I wouldn't call the drive beautiful. It's pretty enough. The terrain reminds of certain parts of Michigan.

But I would call the drive impressive. 

Once we got past Windsor and out on Ontario Highway 401, Mrs. Nasty and I were both struck by the sheer number of wind turbines there are in that part of Ontario. In addition, we noticed many households that had solar panels, and there were a number of concentrated solar fields. 

This is what happens when a government provides smart incentives to its citizens to invest in renewable energy. I would say the first 50-60 miles of the drive on 401 there was not a landscape that did not have wind turbines dotting it. Very impressive.

As my daughter smartly said on the drive, "The US needs to take some notes from Canada." 

Here are some links about information and incentives given regarding clean energy:

• "Canadian Wind Energy Association"
• "Canadian Solar Power/Wind Power Generation"
• "Canadian Solar Energy Programs"
• "Solar Tax Credits, Incentives and Rebates in Ontario"

Once we got on the 403 and around Lake Ontario and the Hamilton metro area, there were wineries all over the place. Every exit around that area had at least two wineries featured. 

I'm not much a fan of Canadian whiskey (bourbon is my drink of choice), but I suspect I'd like Canadian wine, especially if they offer some good red wines. 

Today at the hotel I picked up the self-proclaimed "Canada's National Newspaper," The Globe and Mail. 

I read that paper today, and in comparison, USA Today, which is also available at the hotel, reads more like a newspaper for dumbasses, for Americans who don't like to read. 

Three articles in the paper offer some helpful, non-US takes on the G20 Summit where MoscowDon basically isolated the US and looked like the doofus he is:

• "Why the G20 Is Needed More Than Ever"
• "Global Steering Committee Hits the Ditch"
• "Beware the Populist Prescription"

I need to read The Globe and Mail more often.