Two Brief and Unrelated Thoughts

[chris_gerrib]

Well, thoughts that are related only by being in my head.

Thought #1 - The Canadians Are Invading

I don't watch a lot of TV, but my parents do, so when I'm with them or they are with me, the TV gets turned on more. Via my parents, I've noticed two Canadian TV shows on US primetime TV: Rookie Blue and Flashpoint.

What's noteworthy about them is that they are "stealth" Canadian shows - shows that go out of their way to hide the fact that they are in Canada. I didn't realize "Rookie Blues" was Canadian (filmed in Toronto) until I saw a crown on a police sergeant's uniform. "Flashpoint" is set in Vancouver, and is a little less stealthy, but again, your key clues to location are subtle uniform details. It's exactly the opposite of most fiction, where one tries to develop a sense of place.

Thought #2 - The Great Debt Ceiling Debacle

So, much of the political news is about various attempts to raise the US Government's debt ceiling. My thoughts track very closely with John Scalzi's. For those not clicking through, we think that:
1) yes, the debt ceiling will be raised
2) yes there's political posturing going
3) the "dogmatic morons ideologues who are either too ignorant or too stupid (or both!) to realize what a very bad thing it is for the United States to default on its debts" AKA the Republicans will raise a ruckus
4) If one encourages others to vote for "dogmatic morons ideologues," one has to deal with the consequences thereof.

Comments

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

We were following "The Guard" until recently. ION was showing it here. (We don't have cable or sattelite, so we only get what's availiable on air.) The Guard isn't stealth at all ;o)

[acebullets.livejournal.com]

Heehee. Your powers of observation need some refining. ;-)

Flashpoint is set in Toronto. Note the rather prominent presence of the CN Tower, Nathan Philips Square, Lake Ontario... There are Ontario license plates, maple leaf patches and flags, Ontario provincial flags, Canadian currency, Tim Hortons coffee... The Toronto Maple Leafs have been mentioned in passing, the Toronto Star newspaper has been seen... And they call the cops 'constables' more often than 'officer'.

While in the early days of the show they were reluctant to specify these were Toronto cops, a show doesn't have to go out of its way with a flashing neon sign "HEY, WE'RE TORONTO!"

I suppose to Canadians, it's extremely obvious these are Canadian cops in Toronto. Americans unfamiliar with Canada would probably think 'everytown' America. (Until they saw the coloured money...) ;-)

[chris-gerrib.livejournal.com]

Sorry - I haven't watched Flashpoint in at least a year. I could have sworn I'd seen a sunset over the water, which doesn't jibe with my (American) knowledge of geography, but I was apparently wrong.

[acebullets.livejournal.com]

That's okay. It would have been a sunrise over the Lake.

Meanwhile, elsewhere on my f list:

[baron-waste.livejournal.com]

The way I see it, we have two choices.

First, we can blink, and let Obama ram our economy up the backside with more debt, more spending, and more distortion of the citizen-government relationship.

Second, we can call his bluff and get instant spending cuts on August 2nd. We've got the money to service the debt; pay social security, mediscare, and military pay; plus have enough to run the government. We effectively go onto the "Pay-Go" idea that democrats LOVED when they thought it was a way to defund Iraq. In addition, we have no choice but to balance the budget.

Sure, Moody's and S&P will whine, but when we don't actually default, they'll have to relent. Any rating agency that downgrades on failure to take on new excessive debt ought not be in the credit-rating business.

I'm not seeing what our incentive is to raise the debt ceiling.

Personally, I think assuring the world that we don't really mean it when we cap our borrowing, and that we intend to keep refinancing our mortgage until the cows come home, doesn't really send the message a creditor wants to hear.

Re: Meanwhile, elsewhere on my f list:

[chris-gerrib.livejournal.com]

It's called a "revolving line of credit" and lenders write them all the time.