Assorted Miscellany

I have a few short thoughts on a few different subjects today.

The Indian ocean tsunami has been in the news a lot lately, in fact it's been leading the news every day since it happened. To that extensive coverage, I can't really add very much. The number of casualties is beyond comprehension. The closest I can come is the population sign on the way into this city which reads 209,000. The vast majority of this town would be gone.

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In this country, after negotiations on offshore oil revenues broke down, premier Danny Williams of Newfoundland ordered Canadian flags taken off all provincial buildings.

In Canada the provinces can be divided into two financial categories, traditionally know as the "Have" (like Ontario and Alberta) and "Have not" (like, say, Newfoundland). "Have not" provinces receive federal equalization payments funded by the federal government and the "Have" provinces. So premier Williams stripped the Canadian flag from buildings funded by the rest of the country, something I personally find appalling.

Additionally, the negotiations basically broke down because the offshore oil revenue has the potential to take Newfoundland from the ranks of the "Have nots", but Newfoundland does not wish to give up their federal equalization payments. I can understand why they'd like to continue receiving them and, in fairness, Newfoundland has been robbed in natural resource deals before, but I'm not sure why we in the rest of the country should continuing subsidizing Newfoundland once they have the means to stand on their own.

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On a completely personal level, my car now has snow tires and the difference between them and the all seasons I've used in the past is just phenomenal. With all season tires I'd routinely get stuck three or four times doing something as mundane as going to the store. With snow tires I have yet to actually get stuck. Now, I'm not about to take my car off-roading, but really, it's a huge difference. My car no longer sucks in the winter!