A New World Coming
Barack Obama's election, should it happen, will have many consequences
for us here in the United States, but perhaps the greatest effect may
be a drastic change in the world's political climate. During the Bush
era there was a rapid warming and bellicose language and actions
seemingly increased almost monthly. With the election of Obama I hope
we will see a period of lowered voices and perhaps decreased military
budgets worldwide. As an example, the two Chinas have just concluded a
treaty involving the contentious Straits of Formosa and improving
economic relations:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/04/china
This is the kind of thing that we could look forward to in the next eight years. When the diplomatic temperature cools and militarism is removed from the table I hope we will see an increase in this kind of rapprochement.
We may see an increase in the strength of the mechanisms of international law and the mechanisms of peaceful conflict resolution. We may see a re-channeling of budgets from guns to schools, from armies to health care, from weapon development to energy resource.
Already both China and India have indicated interest in exploiting the Moon's hypothesized stocks of Helium III, a possible major source of energy in the future: India's Chandrayaan 1 probe is already on its way there.
We are perhaps entering a brave new world. The McCain defeat, should it happen, really signals an end to an old order and an old vision of power and national purpose and
Obama's rising sun symbol is tremendously apt, not just for us here in the United States, but everywhere...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/04/china
This is the kind of thing that we could look forward to in the next eight years. When the diplomatic temperature cools and militarism is removed from the table I hope we will see an increase in this kind of rapprochement.
We may see an increase in the strength of the mechanisms of international law and the mechanisms of peaceful conflict resolution. We may see a re-channeling of budgets from guns to schools, from armies to health care, from weapon development to energy resource.
Already both China and India have indicated interest in exploiting the Moon's hypothesized stocks of Helium III, a possible major source of energy in the future: India's Chandrayaan 1 probe is already on its way there.
We are perhaps entering a brave new world. The McCain defeat, should it happen, really signals an end to an old order and an old vision of power and national purpose and
Obama's rising sun symbol is tremendously apt, not just for us here in the United States, but everywhere...
Advertisement
Speaking on behalf of Canadians, I feel I can safely offer that we'd be willing to tear down the Wall across your Northern border. But only IF....
... you finish the job & vote those psychopaths out.
Please?
After that, it's Old Home Week. Free beer and maple syrup!
November 4, 2008 4:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
And poutine -- what is that cholesterol train-wreck about?
November 4, 2008 5:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nectar of the Gods.
Warning: Canadians are genetically-modified to process poutine. It should not - REPEAT, NOT - be consumed (or even observed closely, by amateurs or un-modified foreigners.
November 4, 2008 5:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Agreed, with humility. Tried it once at a Tim Horton's in New Brunswick. Result? Sickened almost unto death.
But on a cheerier note; check predictions at:
http://election.princeton.edu/2008/11/04/final-predictions-four-2008/
November 4, 2008 5:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
.
Specifically for you Quinn . . .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dQGistoOKc
~OGD~
*Cafe contributor since june 2005*
November 5, 2008 10:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
Beauty. Fogerty for Secty of State?
November 5, 2008 4:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
what about pies and ear-wigs...then we can invite Bwakfat!
November 4, 2008 5:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, Bwak'll be by, I reckon. See, you just have to say any of the following words or phrases, and it works a charm: Eg*s, Feath*rs, Chick*n, or lazy working cl*ss bastard.
Stand by! ;-)
(We'll see how well that word search works!)
November 4, 2008 5:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Venting? (do a search on that)
:D
We did it! Huh!
November 5, 2008 12:31 AM | Reply | Permalink
Not venting, laughing! I still don't know how you manage to search out all these poultry-related references Bwak! ;-)
And yes, what a night. What a wonderful, amazing thing. Congratulations to you and yours.
Now I have to come up with some new ways to put chicken references in my comments that AREN'T searchable.
*Hmmmm. Evil plotting sounds.*
November 5, 2008 11:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
I just reread my essay...geez what a slapdash job. But then I must be a busy bee and no time for such niceties like checking for punctuation and other such trivia!
November 4, 2008 5:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Lux, you have long since earned a perpetual get-out-of -jail-free card on all issues pertaining to anything formulaic. The man who thinks outside, above and beyond the box is to be read for content, which in your case, as MLK would have it, is also always character.
November 4, 2008 5:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Still it would be nice to have the final concluding sentence come in one part!
(thanks for the kind words WW! you are, as ever, too kind!)
November 4, 2008 5:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
BTW Lux;
There's been a LOAD of TV coverage up here & in Britain on the idea of the world getting a vote! People proposing a "very small addition to the Electoral College" which could be voted upon globally, as so many were so directly influenced by US decisions on wars, financial affairs, CO2, etc. Now imagine that! (Well done.)
November 4, 2008 5:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't know whether to seethe with resentment or swell with pride.
I'll ask Freddy! [consult consult]
Crikey's! he's told me he signed a contract with the Economist and is working for them now! I'm toast!
November 4, 2008 5:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Quinn,
No representation without taxation. They can have their vote, as far as I'm concerned, but then I want some kickbacks!
Either that, or I get to vote in Canada. ;)
November 5, 2008 11:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
... for whatever THAT'S worth.
November 5, 2008 11:51 AM | Reply | Permalink
Considering WE'RE now the poor sods with a Hard Right government, I'd be happy to have ALL you progressive, peace-loving, socialized medicine-backing Americans vote in Canada!
As for the kickbacks... errrrmmmmm, no cash. But how about 20% of the annual maple syrup crop and 3% of annual doughnut sales? That last item, a SIGNIFICANT concession. Right now, donut purchases equal about 23% of disposable income up here..... ;-)
November 5, 2008 4:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Lemme see...
Carry the 1... divide by PI... take the remainder... convert to Canadian dollars....
That'll buy you exactly 42 electoral votes.
November 5, 2008 5:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
didn't you mean .42 electoral votes? The donuts are worthless!
Dr. FrankenLuxenstein
November 5, 2008 5:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
So it's come to this, has it Lux? While IIOOII can clearly recognize value, YOU attack THE National icon. Not only my favorite luncheon spot, but one named after my favorite hockey player.
Let me just say this: Not only $1.9 billion in annual sales, but - from Wiki - Tim Hortons has twice as many Canadian outlets as McDonald's, and its system-wide sales surpass those of McDonald's Canadian operations. Tim Hortons accounted for 22.6% of all fast food industry revenues in Canada in 2005. It commands 76% of the Canadian market for baked goods (based on the number of customers served) and holds 62% of the Canadian coffee market (compared to Starbucks, in the number two position, at 7%).
The fact that I consume a box of Tim Bits (tiny donuts) daily has nothing to do with it....
November 5, 2008 5:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Tim Bits are to donuts what White Castles are to hamburgers no doubt!
Ever had a Krispy Kreme!? That would show you how far ahead in donut technology the good old USA is!
November 5, 2008 6:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
We're Number One! We're Number One!
Donut maker to the world.
November 5, 2008 6:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Arsenal of Donut-ocracy!
November 5, 2008 6:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
There's a Tim Horton's in the next town over. I tried their coffee, it was....
good
I had a Bagel with a smear, too...
quite good.
Dunkin Donuts is running for cover....and America runs on Dunkin
November 5, 2008 6:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
I admit I have a Tim's jones... but there's NO place like the States for unbelievably huge, tremendously great, greasy spoon-style breakfasts. Finding those places is my first order of business whenever I'm there. Sadly, both the Brits & the Canucks are badly out-gunned in Big Breakfast World.
November 5, 2008 7:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
"I have been fired for giving a baby, a TimBit!"
http://theinfomaniac.blogspot.com/2008/05/trouble-with-timbits.html
November 5, 2008 7:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Breakfast? Like, with eggs?!
(feathers ruffling)
November 5, 2008 8:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ummmmm.... soy eggs?
November 5, 2008 8:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Er, also having waited for the 24 hour bell, may I point out, M. Quinn, that it was not Lux but I who slurred the good name of Tim Horton? I know, I'm on again about attribution, but, hey -- I suffered poutine for the right to know whereof I speak.
At least at Waffle House all one has to suffer is the ghastly decor. Eggs reliable no matter where. And, yes, the Krispy Kreme donut is an art form (also, at one point, a great stock buy.)
But, city by city, there are those that cannot be surpassed.
When in Charleston, SC: The Variety Store/ order sauteed shrimp and onion with eggs over and a side of grits or hash browns....
Shall I go on?
November 6, 2008 10:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, reading back, you DID get the first vicious slur in on Tim's. Duly noted. I'm just surprised they even tried to make poutine. Never had it there. The thought kinda frightens me, and I LIKE poutine!
As for greasy spoons, my usual method is to wander cities on foot, trying out the contenders as I go. It's an ugly process, but thorough. My requirements are few: grease, lots of it, coffee/tea out of a spout, and lots of famous people sitting around so I can have my prejudices reinforced as I eat. But mostly... the grease.
November 6, 2008 10:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
My bad. Now that I think about it, I'm sure it wasn't a Tim Horton's where I encountered poutine; that one-of, completely surreal experience was on my way north, in a roadside place notable only for its proximity to an astonishing giant hatchet which was attracting the attention of camera-wielding tourists.
During the time I lived in PEI and NS I did become fascinated by the success of TH's unintentional product placement -- the adaptive re-use of TH coffee cups, for example, which I saw everywhere as containers for everything from grommets and bolts in the marine hardware store to raffle tickets on Canada Day. I should send TH the photos I took of same.
November 8, 2008 3:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
There is such a mind-bending spread between giving other countries a vote in American affairs, of whatever percentage and the wingnut, socialist, Marxist vitriol I have been getting this week in emails from dear, if demented friends in the Old South. But then, my dear friends still refer to the Civil War as the "War of Northern Aggression."
Bring on the international voting block. Let us, finally, be citizens of the world.
November 4, 2008 5:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
amen amen.
November 4, 2008 5:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
And the Asian markets, all of them, are off to roaring starts. Asia approves our choice here it would seem.
November 5, 2008 1:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
but then again there's this:
http://www.scdigest.com/assets/Reps/2008_PE_Risk_Map.pdf
at least it predates the election. Its fun to live in one of the most over-leveraged economies in the world.
After China and Russia pick themselves up from their hard landings (so says Nouriel), then the next decades are going to be all-BRIC, all-the-time. But I wouldn't bet a busted CAT bond on the chances of that alliance holding together.
November 5, 2008 5:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yet another deep and thoughtful Lux blog degenerates into random ranting and chaos! Eggs, pies, ear-wigs, poutine (YEEECH), maple syrup, TimBits!
The guilty parties know who they are!
November 5, 2008 6:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why I thought I was quite restrained, in holding back the TimBits til after the 24 hour bell had rung!
The worst part, Lux, is I'm actually TRYING not to wreck people's nice posts until after everybody else has had their say. But now that I hold back, I'm getting taunted for it!
Ah well. This too shall pass. ;-)
Nice post.
November 5, 2008 7:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
no good deeds go unpunished......
November 5, 2008 7:27 PM | Reply | Permalink