I just got the power turned back on. It is freezing here. What is going on with my landlords? I mean, seriously? I feel like I only just got hot water back.

I was supposed to drive down to USC tonight to go to dance class, but now I'm so freezing cold, and really cranky, and still missing my soc. security card, and hungry, and tired. I do not want to go.

The dance studio might be warmer than your apartment? That's the only compelling reason to go.

No, it's not. It's Mudd Hall, with all those giant drafty windows and doors that are left open so the class of eighty can breeze in and out. Plus all those high ceilings.

P.S. The room itself is absolutely gorgeous. But that alone will not keep you warm at night. And as a further aside- have you been in the library in Mudd Hall? It has the most inconvenient hours ever, but it's so pretty! I want it. I also want to stand inside one of those fireplaces, just to say I have.

Thank God for that. My poor husband last week had to listen to me rant for a good half hour on how ridonkulous it is that in America we act like the theory of evolution is one of those things on which rational people can disagree, instead of calling out disbelievers for being nut whack.

It's qutie a change from the Catholic Church's original reaction, where Pius IX described the theory of evolution as "a system repudiated by history, by the traditions of all people... by the observation of facts, and even by reason itself... The corruption of this century, the guile of the depraved, the danger of oversimplification demand that such dreamings, absurd as they are, be refuted by true science."

And, funnily enough, that's not so far from my outlook on creationism.

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has requested Israel's permission to post pro-vegetarian signs on both sides of its barriers with the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

I think approval should be given by Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas on condition they hold the signs in person. And then there needs to be a joint operation by the IDF, Fatah and Hamas to capture those holding the signs and sell them to organ traffickers. The profits would be split evenly; the operation would serve as a confidence building measure on the road to a peace agreement.

Guess which country, alone in the industrialized world, has not faced a single bank failure, calls for bailouts or government intervention in the financial or mortgage sectors. Yup, it's Canada. In 2008, the World Economic Forum ranked Canada's banking system the healthiest in the world. America's ranked 40th, Britain's 44th...

It's true. Our banking system is way more regulated, and there are fewer, but largeish banks. The gov't also stopped some mega-mergers about ten years ago, which may have actually prove to be a plus to the banks now. However, some Canadian banks have taken over smaller US banks (like whichever one Sam Waterson shills for, the TD is should for Toronto Dominion.) and have sunk a fair bit of money into those shoddy mortgages and ABCP, they have taken a hit, but not as devastating a hit.

Canada has also been shielded from the worst aspects of this crisis because its housing prices have not fluctuated as wildly as those in the United States. Home prices are down 25 percent in the United States, but only half as much in Canada.

In some urban centres where prices rose high, they are now crashing pretty badly, mostly BC, Alberta and parts of Ontario. Where I live the rise has been less crazed, and the decline is only supposed to be a percentage or two before it starts moving upward again.

Why? Well, the Canadian tax code does not provide the massive incentive for overconsumption that the U.S. code does: interest on your mortgage isn't deductible up north... Ah, but you've heard American politicians wax eloquent on the need for these expensive programs—interest deductibility alone costs the federal government $100 billion a year—because they allow the average Joe to fulfill the American Dream of owning a home. Sixty-eight percent of Americans own their own homes. And the rate of Canadian homeownership? It's 68.4 percent.

Canada has been remarkably responsible over the past decade or so. It has had 12 years of budget surpluses, and can now spend money to fuel a recovery from a strong position. The government has restructured the national pension system, placing it on a firm fiscal footing, unlike our own insolvent Social Security. Its health-care system is cheaper than America's by far (accounting for 9.7 percent of GDP, versus 15.2 percent here), and yet does better on all major indexes. Life expectancy in Canada is 81 years, versus 78 in the United States; "healthy life expectancy" is 72 years, versus 69. American car companies have moved so many jobs to Canada to take advantage of lower health-care costs that since 2004, Ontario and not Michigan has been North America's largest car-producing region.

However, the US is our largest trading partner and the economic health of Canada is undeniably tied to the health of the US economy. Besides, the relative strength of the CDN dollar to the US Dollar makes investing here less attractive. We've just reported our first trade deficit in 33 years.

Also, this recession is global, so it's not just US firms that are cutting back, but it's all multinational firms, including all the oil companies working in Alberta, and the automotive industry is cutting thousands of jobs in Ontario. Canada is having negative growth too. I hear of new job losses and companies closing on a weekly basis. the downturn is hitting home. But it may just not be as extreme a recession here...yet.

Suddenly, I can't seem to get anywhere on the interbunny but here. People, don't leave me.

Also, this recession is global, so it's not just US firms that are cutting back, but it's all multinational firms, including all the oil companies working in Alberta, and the automotive industry is cutting thousands of jobs in Ontario.

Yeah, a mom of a friend has worked her whole life on a Chevy factory floor outside Toronto. They're worried, she's not retirement age yet, and she doesn't have skills outside the assembly line. (Friend used to work summers and vacations there, which back in the day, set her up good. )

Argh! I was going to stay up later than I should to watch Top Chef, but the feed or whatever is completely effed up. I think I'm going to set it to tape a later airing and go to bed. Hmph.

If you were asked to name the "traditional Valentine's Day colors", what would they be? (settling an argument...)