Canada is my country, but sometimes it feels like I should go around apologizing for the utter dishonesty of its leadership, its media, and the consequent ignorance of its people.

There's an old joke about why the people of Halifax didn't join the American revolution against the crown - they didn't have a permit. it's funny because it's not literally true, but it is true to history, true to the national temperament, and true in its consequences: 250 years of economic servitude, refused opportunity, and failed ambition.

A shocking lack of sympathy: whining to my dog's vet about the horrible cold I am just getting over - the kind where dying looks like a great option and the sooner the better - "oh", she says, "a man cold". Well, a good thing my dog likes her..

Distracted, busy

It has a been a bit since I posted anything - sorry: been working on learning how to use blender/godot = 24/7 frustration because I just don't understand enough about the jobs these tools are used for. Plus my son got hit by someone running a red light and Allstate Insurance is not covering themselves with glory on this one.

On giving democrats worms; Artemis; working with AI, an Alberta police force, and LNG imports to Canada

(For American readers: Ms. Smith is the premier (think governor) of Alberta; Mr. Poilievre is the leader of the national conservative party and is currently pretending to be Alberta member of the federal parliament - in reality he's from Ottawa; it's a long story - and Mark Carney is the liberal party's prime minister of Canada)

Army brats and peak human performance

Iran

Trump, Netanyahu: for God's sake, get on with it.

Carney, Alberta and the 51st state

One of the major problems with the original NAFTA agreement was that it didn't go far enough - trade across the Canada/US border became easier for most high value products and services but political and regulatory action intended to protect local favorites, particularly in the populous Toronto-Montreal corridor, exacerbated both the reality and the emotional content of inter-provincial trade barriers inside Canada.

Oil, Alberta, and events in Venezuela and Iran

Many people, assuming events in Venezuela and Iran end well for the people there, think that the presence of enormous and easily accessible oil reserves in those two countries bodes ill for Alberta's ability to sell its hydrocarbons on world markets. They're wrong - badly wrong.

First, it will take over a year before governments in those two countries achieve the stability needed before the risk associated with investing in either country falls to the level needed for private sector resource commitment.

And now from far out in right field, where the math nerds live..

I recently had the unhappy experience of having to review my understanding, or utter lack of it, of category theory. Yikes - but, with all due respect to Eilenberg et al, I'd now like to at least try to write down an appropriately childish thought about making sense of it all.

I thought I'd get a head start on predictions for 2026..

Politics:

First and foremost: the state of the world for the next two decades will be determined largely by the 2026 U.S. midterms. The people who control the democratic party certainly know their futures depend on this; Canada's Mark Carney and leaders across western Europe have bet their countries on Trump losing; and the GOP national leadership is only just starting to understand that the issues extend beyond their immediate personal agendas.