h/t Maggies Farm

CTV offers up some of the findings carried in a Tourism Association of Canada report on the “crisis” in the industry that took “a year and a half to create”;

suggested fixes include:
* reducing costs to the Canadian aviation sector;
* securing approved destination status from China; and,
* enhancing government-owned tourism properties like national parks and museums.

CTV’s online readers’ suggested fixes took considerably less time;

“Maybe the anti-American locals who leave snide notes and key US cars might consider the repercussions of their actions. The Internet is rife with such stories, discouraging other Americans from venturing north – and return visits from these same offended tourists.”
“A WEEKEND in Northern Ontario, Muskoka or Great Wolf Lodge is about the same as a WEEK in in an all-inclusive Caribbean. Where would you go?”
“Out in Tofino for example, a site to pitch a tent is $55 a night, if you buy their wood and want a modest 4-5 hour camp fire, add another $35. Park fee’s a day, $10. Ferry to get over there, $70.”
“I would love to stay in Canada and travel but when I can spend $45 on a hotel in the US compared to $120 here in Canada the math is simple. Plus I can fill up for about $20 less. Why would anyone in the US right now want to come up to Canada, with their economy the way it is to pay extra for hotels and gas, you don’t need 2 years to figure this out.”
“All the American bashing is finally having an impact. Chickens are coming home to roost. If you continue to pass moral judgement on your biggest trading partner… Mayor Miller should be the poster child for the tourism colapse.”

Yup. It’s why I do so much of my dog showing in the US right now. Not only is the competition keener, but it’s cheaper than showing in Canada – a fact that’s driven home the first time you’re charged 25 cents for filling your travel mug with coffee.

How else to explain someone with this much time on their hands?

That ip address belongs to the Canadian Cancer Society.

Bloomberg;

The U.S. Postal Service purchased more than 30,000 ethanol-capable trucks and minivans from 1999 to 2005, making it the biggest American buyer of alternative-fuel vehicles. Gasoline consumption jumped by more than 1.5 million gallons as a result.

Drew Thornley;

Robust wind power expansion is expected, as Texas’ Senate Bill 20 (2005) mandated 5,880 MW of renewable energy by 2015 and set a 10,000-MW target for 2025. To this end, $700 million went into new wind Texas farms in January, thanks in part to government subsidies.
In addition to generous federal assistance — namely a 2 cents/kWh production tax credit and five-year, double-declining balance accelerated depreciation for wind-generating equipment — the state of Texas entices wind developers with a franchise tax exemption to manufacturers, sellers, or installers of wind devices; a corporate deduction from the state’s franchise tax for renewable energy sources; and a 100-percent property tax exemption on the appraised value of an on-site wind power generating device. But even with these federal and state subsidies, electricity from wind is more expensive per kilowatt-hour than that generated by fossil fuels.
ERCOT’s estimates for transmitting West Texas wind energy, under four different scenarios, range from $3.78 billion to $6.28 billion. ERCOT estimated costs by using as-the-crow-flies distances for transmission cables. Thus, transmission costs were estimated using a best-case-scenario approach and, as such, should be considered the absolute (and unlikely) minimums. Add to this ERCOT’s estimates of $410 million to $1.03 billion for connecting wind generation to the new collection substations.

Previous.

BBC:

Rocky, a 700lb (317kg) bear, bit Stephan Miller, 39, in the neck at a centre where wild animals are trained for film and TV productions.
But officials have said they are puzzled by what provoked the bear, who had been touted as one of the “best trained” in showbusiness.
Two other trainers subdued Rocky with pepper spray and were unhurt.

I’m no bear expert, but when I was handling dogs, I didn’t “play wrestle” with the Rottie or the Kom.

The bear is not known to have been involved in any previous incidents. The victim’s brother, Randy, told news agency The Associated Press the bite occurred during “playful” wrestling behaviour by a “loving, affectionate, friendly, safe bear”.

Because smart dog handlers know that the lack of a “previous incident” means jack when you’re dealing with something that outweighs you, and has bigger teeth.

Yes, Walmart joins the “rationing.” Customers limited to 200 POUNDS of rice at a time.

(Related: As prices skyrocket, experts warn of an impending world wide shortage of airbrushed goalie masks. This may be the time to stock up.)

Lloyd’s of London warned yesterday that an absence last year of natural disasters or man-made accidents was putting pressure on firms to reduce premiums in 2008.
The world’s oldest and biggest insurance market said that though the lack of major disasters had allowed firms to push up profits 5% in 2007, underwriting margins were being squeezed.

h/t reader Fred.

More.

Via HotAir;

Canada has an estimated 1.6 trillion barrels of oil on its territory, much of it locked in tough-to-excavate tar sands in the province of Alberta. By comparison, oil-rich Saudi Arabia has an estimated 270 billion barrels left. It isn’t even close.
Yet, according to the Financial Times of London, Canada’s government recently sent U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates a letter of warning that it might not be able to sell the U.S. any of its oil, which the Pentagon desperately needs for national defense.
For that, you can thank the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, passed with great gusto and self-righteousness by the Democratic Congress.

Chris Horner;

So let’s do a quick review of the energy bill so far: environmental degradation, rampant food inflation, and a potential Third World famine due to corn ethanol; increased potential for mercury exposure from mandatory CFL bulbs; and the prospect of a ticked-off major trading partner on our northern border and an increased dependence on ever-more-expensive Middle Eastern crude. If this is the best the Beltway class can do, hopefully the public will become more inclined to trust the private sector and free markets to find solutions.

Law of unintended consequences? Hardly. This is Law To Enrich Socialists, and all is unfolding as planned;

Criticisms of Environment Minister John Baird for the vagueness of the moves announced this week to force oilsands to sequester CO2, and prevent construction of “dirty” coal plants reflects the Alice in Wonderland quality of the climate-change non-debate. Opposition parties brayed that he had not been “tough” enough. Media headlines suggested that big emitters had “won.”
But nowhere in either the policy or the attacks would you find any suggestion that any measures, whether tough or not, would have the slightest impact on the global climate. How did we get to this ridiculous mess? It is all inextricably tied to the remarkable job that the Left has done in the past 20 years to rescue itself from the brink of extinction by exploiting environmental concerns.
[…]
The old/new Left was quick to seize upon the potential of climate change at the huge Brundtland follow-up at Rio in 1992. Rio was organized by Brundtland commissioner Maurice Strong, a long-time committed Canadian socialist who was the strategic mastermind of the new environmental Left. From Rio emerged the processes that led to the Kyoto accord.
Why would governments support the theory of potentially disastrous man-made climate change? It was a combination of the success of the environmental Left — in particular activist non-governmental organizations — in stoking the concerns of the electorate, and of the desire of bureaucrats and policy-makers to stay relevant, busy and in power. This in turn gave them an interest in supporting the NGOs’ radical message, which was amplified by government funding, and by allowing them into the policy-making process. The policy process became self-feeding.
This orientation helps explain why the abject failure of Kyoto was not taken as an indication that such processes were fatally flawed. Rather it was seen as a justification for “redoubling efforts,” and for having bigger conferences in more exotic locales.

They were raising those glasses at the swim-up bar to us, dear suckers.

Technical details.
h/t to reader “Steve”

How many paper clips and where did you stash them?

I’d rather live near an open pit coal mine than have to peer through a hedgerow of these things every day.

The Oscars, liveblogged at Libertas.

I’m heavily invested in the “work till death” retirement plan;

[R]etirement programs are funny things and they have funny consequences. Especially when ALL of the retirement programs designate financial securities (read stocks) as the only medium by which you can save for retirement.
Let me repeat that again…

Its chartapalooza!