Canadian News - Default USA and The World

Now is surely the winter of my discontent - I have had enough of the odd bubble that surrounds Canadian news.  Frequently, stories from the United States and other countries take over the headlines.

One of the reasons I love social media is that I can somewhat control the stories I see.  I can add local information, follow companies I like, read about issues I care about.

But there is a danger in getting your news from favourite sites and social media - you don't read everything that is going on that you might care about but simply aren't aware of yet.  If you don't think about a topic to search for, it likely won't appear.

It is well known that Facebook filters your content so you only see a fraction of what your "friends" and contacts are sharing.

On Twitter, while superior in many respects, stories you don't know about appear - but only if they are "trending".

I also follow issues on Reddit, Google News, and various publications.

My main concern is that I know I'm missing things that I care about.  Yes, it's true that no one can follow every important story; nobody can effect change on every issue.

But if I'm a Canadian who isn't able to travel much and, therefore, is mostly in Canada when I'm doing research on Canadian issues, why does Google always given me American and other international results to my searches?  Why must I put "Canada" in every search so I don't get top results from other countries?  Don't get me wrong, I care very much about international issues, but why can't there be more Canadian content?

I looked up online versions of various Canadian newspapers - several have websites that are not very sophisticated, many links are broken, and most well-designed sites require a paid subscription.  So, I can read about what's happening in downtown Chicago for free but not the Rankin Inlet?

Then there is the issue of our multicultural perspective - we are meant to embrace all of our Canadian friends from every province and territory, from all roots and outlooks - this is the Canada I believe in very strongly.  So why am I familiar with dating lives in Hollywood (even when I actively avoid those sites) but am not able to mention anything I've seen from Quebec cinema?  I grew up watching shorts produced by the NFB and Histori.ca Minutes, but these aren't regularly produced anymore.  CBC no longer has a physical or online store like it used to have - it sells through Amazon and other companies.  Much of their older content is difficult to find and probably filed away in some warehouse or archive that can't be accessed by everyday Canadians.

I love my country deeply and I am very worried that we must take better care of our past and current talents.  Yes, our neighbour to the south is very large and highly populated and they are mostly a benign and friendly giant - but it threatens to roll over and smother us.

Justin Trudeau, our Prince Valiant

Participating in a poll by The Hill Times: Who was the year's most valuable politician in 2015?

My response: It's a tie between Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau

As the system works, we collectively got angry with The Liberal Party of Canada | Parti libéral du Canada over the Sponsorship Scandal and other infractions of trust, so we brought in the The Conservative Party of Canada - Parti conservateur du Canada for 10 years. While encouraging our economy through some dangerous waters, there was a systemic shift attempted in the shutting down of public debate, use of omnibus bills, discussion over how scientists inform us about their research and goals, and the silencing of MPs and Cabinet Ministers in front of the press... So we got angry and gave the reins of power back to the Liberals. In this past election, Stephen Harper made a perfect villain - dower, forceful, driven, enigmatic, and dedicated to his message. Justin Trudeau was made Prince Valiant - the optimistic friend who'd stop and talk to you about your troubles, the leader who would rescue Canada from darkness and superstition. The gallant captain who would smite negativity with his winning smile and openness to discourse. 

The media and the voters ate it up, the NDP fell in the polls, and (when Trudeau won... I mean... when the Liberals won...) the CBC News was particularly smitten with Trudeau's victory. As I was driving to work the morning of his swearing in, the CBC morning show was chattering about how people were crowding around waiting for the ceremony to begin - and then they started talking about the weather - they mentioned how lovely it was, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, "It's as if Helios blessed this morning's events...(paraphrased quote)"... Helios!!! They talked about Helios!!! Gone was any possible prospect of non-partisan journalism, they were so enamoured with the thought of Prince Justin having defeated the dragon Harper.

Sunny Ways, indeed.

I have made a discovery for anyone who has migraines - a community of migraineurs describing how they feel in actual (not clinical) words:

What do migraines feel like?

Here is my contribution to the comments:

This is fantastic!  I'm so tired of clinical terms like "discomfort" and "tender"... I have a few different types of migraine attacks:

(1) My brain is a washcloth being wrung out
(2) My skull is in a vice - this is generally the more "mild" type where I can still do things, it just feels awful.
(3) My brain is suddenly claustrophobic and is trying to escape my skull
(4) My brain has been replaced by a ball that rolls back and forth whenever I move and somehow stabs the side of my head if I move too fast
(5) Ice Pick migraines - sudden and over quickly

I have issues with a lot of medication and get "rebound" migraines when I'm on something.  I can sometimes stop them with Advil gel caps (since I normally feel them coming on) but since I get several in a row, this only works for the first few.  Also, since there are liver issues in my family, I don't like taking medication.  If I don't "catch" a migraine before it gets worse, I get the usual light/noise sensitivity, exhaustion, dizziness, and nausea that many people mention - I also get a sort of numb pain down my arm.

Thank you for setting this blog up and giving us a space to share symptoms.  It often feels like I'm losing my mind when they get bad.

Skewed Numbers

So, I subscribe to newsletters from all the governing political parties in Canada, so I'm used to seeing pleas from all of them for donations and promises about what they would prefer to do when they are in power/what they're doing now that they've won... but the Conservative Party of Canada - Parti conservateur du Canada have gone nuts bashing the other parties so much while they were in power and now it's even worse since they lost.

Here is their latest attempt to make the Liberal Party of Canada | Parti libéral du Canada look like they're trying to destroy Canada and my response (which I cc'd to my MP, Kent Hehr):

Melissa,

The Liberals gave a fiscal update on Friday ... and it's a worrying sign of things to come.

The facts are grim. While our Conservative government left a surplus of over $1 billion as of the end of September, the Liberals are claiming to find themselves $3 billion in deficit already!

While Liberals rush into big deficits, our Conservative Party will fight for responsible spending and balanced budgets. Help us in the fight with a small donation today!

Melissa, it's more than a little concerning how the Liberals want Canada to go into deficit so incredibly quickly.

Canada's finances are too important. We will continue to closely watch their spending, and we will call them out for trying to recklessly plunge Canada back into the red.

I'm going to be blunt: this is what we're going to be up against for the next four years.

We will fight tirelessly for accountability and transparency -- but we're going to need your help. Do your part with a $35 donation today!

Thank you,

Lisa Raitt
Critic Responsible for Finance

My response:

What’s concerning is how fast they found this discrepancy in the numbers - Both the Liberals and the Conservatives have a history of presenting numbers in the most palatable way possible before elections and then the other party comes up with completely different figures. 

I don’t believe either party fully.

I’m tired of seeing Canadian companies sold off and our everyday living not getting better. I’m tired of skewed numbers making the sow’s ear look like silk.

And I’m tired of these notes with Conservative letterhead telling me how untrustworthy everyone is - guess what? I can decide that for myself.

You guys screwed up and limited communication and debate while you were in power, so you get to sit down for a bit while the Liberals hold the reins of power.

Why don’t you take this time to think about how you can make Canada stronger and stop knocking the Liberals as they announce what they are attempting.

Politics isn’t just about saying “No” - You have to say “Yes” occasionally.

Melissa Knive

A Global Citizen

Every day, the world challenges us.  It shows us darkness and violence that we cannot comprehend - and then it shows you a glint of light in a beautiful sunrise, a great work of art, or the success of your "betters".  It throws down the gauntlet and it is our job to pick it up and slap the darkness.  Pull the curtain back to show the light to someone else and prove yourself to be the better - Because if we're all better, we arm ourselves to defeat that darkness that constantly threatens to overwhelm and smother us.