Daydream Notes

Last week, for the first time in Canada's federal election, a defense issue was actually addressed by candidates. Trudeau of the Liberal party said  if elected he'd back away from the F-35 as a replacement for Canada's CF-18s.   Harper said Canada needed the F-35 to remain military relevant. And Tom Mulclair used the opportunity to say Trudeau was inexperienced, and what was really needed was a fighter competition and some sort of assessment as to what the RCAF actually needs. This is all politics as usual, though Harper's statement on the subject is interesting in a few ways - first, it seeks to deflect the discussion away from the Con's total incompetence in finding Canada a new fighter jet; second, it is actually the first time the Cons have stooped to justify their decision of procuring the F-35. Despite all the vitriol I'm going to be displaying toward the F-35 and the Conservatives, Harper's argument has some merit in the question of what fighter p...

Mid-sixties Life has really taken off. The Vietnam War, generating stories since Kennedy's time, has entered into the public consciousness, as has the protest movement against it. Two stories worth sharing: The Great Blackout of 1965. In November 1965, a faulty relay circuit in Ontario caused a blackout across southern Ontario and New York State. This blackout naturally happened at rush hour, stranding millions of people in New York City.  Somewhere between 600,000 and 800,000 people were stranded in darkened subways, but all of the commuters were out by midnight thanks to the efforts of the police and the fire department. Restaurants (if they had gas burners) stayed open by candlelight. Respectable people ended up sleeping in hotel lobbies and the buses that were supposed to take them home. It's a disaster story that wasn't; the people of New York City demonstrated an amazing amount of solidarity. A few issues later, there's a profile of a Broadway de...