Work, Work, Work

It's all I ever seem to do these days. So now, in addition to the 40-hours-in-five-days of truckery I do, and the five-plus hours of professional bloggery, I've just contracted for another five hours per week doing more web writing.

Last weekend I went hiking for several days. Here's a pic:

Moat Lake, seen from Mount Albert Edward 

The weekend prior was spent at a wedding--the SO's cousin. He used to play video games for a living--sincerely. He was a tester for one of the bigger names in games.

But you see why I have little time to blog.

Today, the emotion is cold anger. It seems that the way the US treats their enemies isn't so different from the way they treat their friends.

The Softwood Lumber Dispute (and it deserves the capital letters) has been going on in one form or another for two decades. Basically, the US claims Canada's (cheaper) stumpage rates amount to a subsidy of its forest industry. So they've smacked outbound wood shipments with tariffs of approximately 25%, totalling billions of dollars over the past few years.

Most recently, a NAFTA Extraordinary Challenge panel ruled in our favour, as has every single such dispute arbitrator since the original Free Trade Agreement. The US, by the NAFTA agreement, is honour-bound to lift the import duties.

Honour means little when protectionism is the first thing on your mind, I suppose. If they could realistically compete, they wouldn't need duties. Big sugar in the US works the same way, so do textiles. In spite of the monster tariffs laid on the price of all these goods, they still seem to sell. Perhaps they're just better than home-grown?

The "Ambassador" is a hick and a poltroon whose sole visit to the country prior to Canada was a trip to Niagra Falls. His appointment was a studied insult, and now he pronounces that the States will settle only for a "negotiated settlement".

Uh--Mister "Ambassador"? Uh, can I phrase this so you'll get it? We already got us an 'greement with you-uns. It's called NAFTA--you can look it up on-line. It was negotiated some years ago.

And by the way, you owe us about $2.7 billion. Per year. For at least the past three years.

Pay up.