Fellow SDA’ers, as I am merely a humble guest writer, I thought it would be appropriate that instead of deluging you with stories from the US, I try to pull some interesting statistics and charts about Canada so that we may all take home an exciting and interesting education in Canadian economics.
My goal was simple; compare health care expenditures as a % of GDP and the budget over time to provide all those interested a measure as to just how much of your budget goes to the health care system as well as what percent of your income goes to health care.
I found a great site called Statistics Canada that had all the data a budding economist could ever want. I quickly found the database where I could pull all the necessary information and upon clicking the “enter” button, received this little notice;

What in the name Puff the Magic Dragon is this?! I have to PAY to get what should be public information? Is this some kind of attempt to keep economic information from the poorer masses or some bureaucrat’s idea of a power trip?
Nothing like keeping vital information that would empirically disprove socialism away from the population.

You can see the video excerpts here.
For some reason I watched the rest of the show last night. Trust me, just watch the excerpts at the link, you didn’t miss much in the rest of the show.

For the Quebec Labour movement:

A union’s celebration of the first contract with a Wal-Mart outlet in North America turned out to be short-lived. The giant retailer announced Thursday it has closed the Tire and Lube Express centre located in a Wal-Mart department store on Maloney Boulevard in Gatineau.

I wonder who will eventually give up first. Will Quebec workers finally decide it’s not productive to unionize at Wal-Mart or will Wal-Mart give up entirely on doing business in Quebec?

As any poker player knows, when the other players run out of chips it’s time to go home.
Read the full letter of a hedge fund manager who sent his clients’ money back because he figured the “idiots” at the banks taking the other side of his trades were no longer sure to pay up.

You just can’t make it up.
(My apologies if this was already posted, just wanted to make sure it got some press)

Think an Obama/Democrat Majority of the US Congress.
I feel like I owe all Canadians an apology that the Toronto stock market is at least tangentially affected by ours.
If any SDA’ers find themselves in the Twin Cities area, feel free to look me up and I shall buy you a compensatory/guilt ridden drink.

Every time a Canadian lad wants to wander astray and run afoul of the law, he thinks of Bach … or Einstein … Michelangelo, or even that most brilliant of Canucks … Oswald Avery … and his heart is filled with pride and he pursues violent no more:

Jim Knight, the schools minister, claimed lessons in the scientific and cultural innovations of Islam over the centuries would give young Muslims a sense of worth and reduce their risk of becoming alienated and falling under the spell of radicals.
He said it could also bring divided communities closer together, by teaching children from other backgrounds about the debt we all owe to Muslims – from coffee and pinhole cameras to the three-course dinner and advancements in maths.
Mr Knight spoke at the launch of an exhibition in Parliament about Islamic innovations, which has been developed by an education group dedicated to improving knowledge about Muslim history in Britain.

… enter BBC with more of the same.
Personally, I have a better solution … board games.