On this day in 1997 my wonderful wife and I had our first date. If you had told us that we would be very happily married 24 years later I think we both would have thought you were crazy.
I think the lesson to be learned is that it’s very important to keep an open mind, which is why I rail against blind adherence to ideology. I LOVE YOU, V Squared!
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This article from CNBC is about how some sports fans are losing access to televised games because cable companies are dropping regional sports networks (RSNs) from their lineup. The reason is that these companies claim very few cable subscribers actually watch more than just a handful of games. They’ve decided the amount they have to pay to keep RSNs in the bundle no longer makes economic sense, given how few people watch them and how much they charge.
Although I have watched more college football this season than I have in many years, much of that has been on CBS or Fox and not an RSN. With Nebraska’s decline into irrelevance, I would not care if I lost access to the Big Ten Network.
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Here are some links to pieces in Why Evolution Is True. While many posts on the site are disturbing to me, this one about how the Canadian government is denying grants to a university professor because he is hiring based on merit and not on “diversity” is very disturbing. Maybe Mark can weigh in, but I have read more than once that “wokeness” is even worse in Canada than in the US.
Two more links:
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On this day in 1895 the first organized automobile race took place in the US. The Chicago Times-Herald had actually announced it would host the race in July, but many entrants telegraphed the paper because they needed more time to work on their prototype vehicles. Since Herman Kohlstaat, publisher of the Times-Herald, wanted a good number of participants, the race was delayed until November.
One source claims the reason only six of the 83 vehicles signed up for the race actually arrived for the start is that the Chicago area had several inches of snow. Another source claims that many cars could simply not be completed in time or were damaged en route to the race.
Two of the six cars were electric and three of the other four were Benz automobiles. However, the winner was American Charles Duryea, who finished the 54-mile course in seven hours and fifty-three minutes in his two-cylinder gas vehicle. Neither electric car finished the race. From This Day in Automotive History a picture of Duryea and, supposedly, his winning vehicle.
The Duryea brothers–Charles and Frank–are usually cited as the builders of America’s first gasoline-powered automobile, which was first driven in 1893. Some sources claim that John Lambert’s three-wheeled vehicle or Henry Nadig’s four-wheeled automobile were actually built and driven before the Duryea brothers’ first car. We’ll never really know, of course, in this reminder that record-keeping hasn’t always been computerized and available 24/7/365.
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Since I don’t really need an excuse to test drive a nice car, but under the guise of scouting out potential replacements for the Cadillac ATS when (if?) it is returned to us but seems to be not the same as before the accident, I recently drove this car:
My wonderful wife would still much prefer a four-door vehicle as grocery car/taxi. I have told her I might consider such a car, but only if it is not a run-of-the-mill automobile. (Happy Wife, Happy Life)
With the exception of a little turbo lag, the car drove very well in terms of acceleration, handling and braking. The smell of leather in the interior was almost intoxicating and the back seats were very comfortable. They also sit a bit higher than the front seats, which I think is a nice feature.
Surprisingly, my wonderful wife has not ruled out the purchase of a car like this Ghibli. Why not the Quattroporte? It won’t fit in the third garage bay as it’s too long.
#SundayAnniversary
#WokeIsACult
#FirstUSAutomobileRace
#MaseratiGhibli
#somanycarsjustonelife
#disaffectedmusings
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Disaffected Musings 
That would be some grocery car!!
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Molto Buono!
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In short, yes, overall and generally, Canada has always tended to be more leftist, leaning more towards social welfare ideologies than the US. The reasons are many, mostly having to do with how this country was formed and how it was to survive.
I’d say the biggest factors would be that a) When Wolfe defeated Montcalm in the French-Indian War (or Seven Years War), and New France came under British rule, the French were not forced to change. They were allowed to speak French, remain Catholic, keep laws based in French law. Of course the rest was based in English speaking, Protestant, English common law. Hasn’t always been smooth but both these traditions are the basis for Canada.
b) We are a land mass larger than the US but with 1/10th the population. It was only by government and social programs the country survived. A national sea to sea railroad, a national broadcaster, socialized healthcare, they generally only could have come from government. Of course, this is still a country based in capitalism, and it hasn’t been all government. Much credit goes to North America’s oldest company The Hudson’s Bay Company, which opened much of the land. But the truth is the market is too small, the corporate/capital entities just don’t exist here to a level that would have supported keeping the US from expanding its borders, that would have supported towns and cities across the country.
c) This also means that while both the US and Canada are immigrant countries, the much smaller population means Canada tends to be more open to immigration still.
I think this all means that yes, by and large there is more of a tendency to wokeness.
As to the specifics of this professor, I had not heard this story though I have now read both article and the post. I certainly see where he’s coming from. I’d like to know more though, in terms of his hiring. I mean, he works for a publicly funded university (most in Canada are, again see social programs), so they would definitely have their own EDI criteria for his hiring even if he did get the grant. Frankly, he himself may have inadvertently benefit from the university’s EDI policies in being hired (speculation on my part as I know nothing outside the article, though I think it’s fair to ask in this case).
Definitely an interesting story to follow though.
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And my apologies, I forgot to say a belated happy anniversary!
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Thanks for the good wishes. Also, thanks for the informative exposition on Canadian development and its impact on politics.
Without trying to make sweeping generalizations I think that most Canadians know far more about the US than most “Americans” know about Canada. I also think that despite the “split” between Anglophiles and Francophiles, Canadians have a greater sense of national unity than Americans. The US is going to be undone from within.
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It’s true, unless you live in a border state/city, there’s little reason most Americans would know much about Canada. But as our often hated former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau once said, “Living next to you (the US) is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast, if I can call it that, one is affected by every twitch and grunt.” We rely on our friends to the south for so much from goods and services to common defence to a market for our goods and services, we cannot afford to be ignorant nor unaffected by what occurs south of our border.
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Thanks, Mark. Well-written…
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