I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.  I certainly did.  The past few Christmas Days have been difficult, primarily due to health problems or a severe disruption of my sleep schedule (because you try so hard for everything to be perfect, yet just seem to run out of time).  This time, everything worked out and a great time was had by all.

For those in the Commonwealth, happy Boxing Day.  Traditionally, it is the biggest single shopping day up here in Canada, with retailers opening their doors as early as 5:00 am to let the stampeding herd of people through their doors.  Much like Black Friday in the United States, stores offer up deep discounts in the hope to motivate people to purchase.

Personally, I stay away from the big crowds.  I don’t buy too much in any event, as I lead a rather Spartan existence.  I do not have much use for novelties or decorations; as long as I have my technology, I am a happy camper.  In a complete contradiction of the first sentence of this paragraph, I did venture out to Wal-Mart to pickup some milk and juice, and I decided to browse through the store to see what kind of specials they were offering.  Near as I can figure, not too many.  They had some Blu-Ray discs moderately priced at $9.97, but they raised the prices on others!  Two examples would be the movies The Aviator and Pathfinder, which were priced at $16.97 two weeks ago, yet are now “on special” at $23.63 each.  Full Metal Jacket was the same way.  Wal-Mart is truly deserving of a post of its own, as they generate a lot of contoversy.  The trick is to stick to the products on sale in the main aisles.  Those are generally sold for little profit.  They make their money when you decide to venture down the aisles to upgrade your purchase.  The perception that you are getting the best price because you are shopping at Wal-Mart is just that, a perception.

Continuing on…

For those wondering, “A look at the economy…Part Two” is currently being researched, and will be posted soon.

UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008 takes place tomorrow.  On paper, this is arguably the best card that the UFC has put together since Dana White and the Fertita brothers purchased the company seven years ago.  I was always a big fan of the tournaments that were offered up by the early UFC’s, however due to the fact that the UFC has become regulated and gone mainstream, these are a thing of the past.  For those who are unaware, the UFC was conceived by Art Davie and the Gracie family as a method to determine what the best style of fighting is.  They brought in fighters of all shapes and sizes from all disciplines – wrestling, kung fu, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, boxing and even made a few types up (like trapfighting and pitfighting).  Royce Gracie won the tournament three times out of the first four UFC’s, his only blemish being UFC 3.  Kimo gave him such a fight that he was unable to continue to the next round due to exhaustion.

The UFC could conceivably hold a tournament within a single weight class during a pay-per-view, but the logistics are difficult to handle because you do not know the length of the fights.  An eight man tournament would produce seven fights, which may run over the allotted pay per view time unless they booked four hours.  I think that the return on a tournament would be immense because it would generate millions of dollars and create a true number one contender in the weight class that they run it in (I would start with the 205 lb. division).  The fighter who won would have to fight three times, each fight lasting up to fifteen minutes.

I would also see the UFC introduce a women’s division.  For years I was not a proponent of such a division due to that lack of high-calibre female fighters.  Dana White has felt the same way, but now he is seeing the potential as the quality of the fighters have improved, and the women are now very marketable.  Specifically, I am thinking of Gina Carano, who is a fantastic fighter (when she can control her weight issues) and is gorgeous.  The UFC owns the WEC, which is a feeder organization and that is where they should start the women.  It can only raise the profile of the sport.

UFC 97 has been announced for April 18th, 2009 in Montreal.  The main event will be Thales Leites vs. Anderson Silva for the Middleweight Title.  I will break this fight down as we get closer to the event, which I hope to attend in person.  I was in Montreal at that time last year for UFC 83: Serra vs. St. Pierre II and I had an absolute blast.  I went alone, and thoroughly enjoyed every minute I in Montreal.  I hope to take a few extra days and see the city some more.  I did not do that last year, but I get a second chance this time around and I intend to make the most of it.

Back to UFC 92.  The card, like I said is fantastic.  Listed below are the fights:

Main Event: Forrest Griffin (Champion) vs. Rashad Evans (Challenger)
Co-Main Event: Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera (Champion) vs. Frank Mir (Challenger)
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva
C.B. Dollaway vs. Mike Massenzio
Cheick Kongo vs. Mustapha Al-Turk
Dean Lister vs. Yushin Okami
Antoni Hardonk vs. Mike Wessel
Matt Hamill vs. Reese Andy
Ryo Chonan vs. Brad Blackburn

Normally, I would break the fights down, and give my pick as to a winner, but tomorrow I’m just going to watch for the fun of it all, rather than analyse each fight critically.  One fight that is not on the main card that I would like to see is Dean Lister vs. Yushin Okami.  Hopefully, the UFC will broadcast it because I think that will be a fantastic fight.

In other sports news, at the World Junior Tournament, Team Canada absolutely hammered the Czech Republic 8-1.  The tournament is being held in Canada this year, and they are the defending champions.  The juniors are aiming for their fifth consecutive gold medal.  I enjoy watching this tournament more than I do the NHL, because it just seems like a better quality of hockey.  These kids are not multi-millionaires (yet), and are playing their hearts out.  I hope to have the opportunity to catch a few of the games.

The Doctor Who Christmas Special aired on BBC as well last night.  As with the series, the Christmas Special was very well done.  It is no secret that I have high praise for the BBC and Russell T. Davis when it comes to Doctor Who.  The 2008 Christmas Special does not introduce any new aliens, instead bringing back the Cybermen to the 1850′s.  They are under the control of a mad feminist and the Doctor must stop them from destroying London.  A nutty concept, but they made it work.

I apologize for the lack of updates, however the majority of my time has been allocated to Christmas preparations.  A major update will be posted soon, along with the launch of a new website.

In the United States, the digital switchover takes place early in 2009 (February 17th, to be precise).  The OTA analog frequencies will cease to function, and everything will be digital.  For some people, such as those with ATSC tuners in their televisions, will not be affected.  Neither will those people who are currently subscribing to cable and satellite services.

For those who are affected, they will need to purchase an analog to digital converter box.  These boxes are priced in the neighborhood of $60.00, but the federal government is offering a $40.00 coupon to alleviate some of the cost.  You will need to have one of these devices on each analog TV that you own.

In Canada, this transition is not scheduled to take place until August of 2011, but to the best of my knowledge that is an open date and has not been completely finalized yet.  Canadians who live near the border who pick up analog signals from the United States will no longer receive these channels after February 19th of next year.

The sale of the NTSC spectrum is going to reap billions of dollars for the United States Government.  Major players such as Google, AT&T, Motorola and others will purchase this bandwidth.  Some companies do not even know what they will do with it, but they recognize it as too valuable of a commodity to pass up.

Those who subscribe to satellite service are already enjoying the benefits of a mostly digital signal.  Cable companies in the United States are mandated to carry analog signals through 2012.  However, there is an interesting battle shaping up between the FCC and and the cable/satellite companies.  The reason is over the costs of a digital transmission and bandwidth, if it is good for the consumer, and if they can pass these costs down.  The reason to implement an early transition to digital is due to one reason:  bandwidth.

Bandwidth is all that these companies have to sell, when you look at the big picture.  If they do not have enough bandwidth, they are unable to provide such services as internet and cable (or with respect to cable, they cannot carry as many channels).  This is what is motivating the transition to digital.

An analog cable channel takes up 38.4 megabits of bandwidth.  An SD digital channel occupies only 3 megabits, and an HD digital channel is less than 9 megabits.  When a channel is converted to digital, a fair amount of bandwidth is freed up.  Imagine – the crappy weather channel takes up more than four times as much as HDNet!

The more channels that are pushed to digital is the more bandwidth that these companies can allocate to other uses, such as broadband Internet (or adding more channels).  In this age, the need for speed across the Internet is omipresent.  Applications are being developed that require as much bandwidth as we can give them.  A good example of this is YouTube.  If the bandwidth was available they could increase the bitrate of their service, allowing for a much better viewing experience.

The caveat to all of this is that people who are subscribing to basic cable with analog television sets would be required to obtain a digital cable box.  Where the FCC gets involved is determine who pays for this box.  Is is the consumer, or the cable providers?

Being a tech junkie, I’m all for digital cable (better quality, less bandwidth) and faster Internet service over analog tv service.  However, I see the other side of the coin.  I don’t know if this is the right solution or not, but what I would do is start by grandfathering digital cable into the homes.  Split the cost of the cable box between the consumer, the cable company, and the FCC.  All new subscribers would be purely digital.  At the same time, start rolling out pure digital areas in select towns and cities, and upgrade existing users using the aforementioned formula.  The cost would be about $20.00 per party.  Initally, the cable companies will take a hit but by being able to offer better services across the board, they would quickly make up that lost revenue.

As my brain essentially seems to be failing me at this all too important time…yeah…whatever.

Ok…so O.J. got nine years in prison for forcible confinement and kidnapping in Las Vegas. I guess he thought that the real killer was selling his memorabilia. He is a product of his own stupidy. Next thing you know, he’ll be writing a book on how he would have done it…if he was the real kidnapper.

Burn Notice. It’s a new show I have started to watch. Essentially, it’s about an ex-covert operations agent who gets hung out to dry – A Burn Notice. Now he’s trying to find out who burned him and why. The show has some wry humor to it and is particularly sarcastic and funny; it also has a decent amount of action in it. The show is in its second season, but I have only watched the first six episodes. It’s my new dinnertime show. At 45 minutes of TV per day, I’m under the national average. At twelve hours of computer time per day (minimum), I’m so far above the national average they do not even have a classification code for me.

Christmas is coming…Some people love it, and some find it very stressful. I do not find Christmas stressful. It’s a holiday. A time of peace and happiness, for people to get together and enjoy one another’s company. It is truly my favorite holiday of the year. I really enjoy seeing everyone happy throughout the world, more especially so closer to home. For some it will be a meagre holiday, what with the economy in the shape that it is in. To me, however, that doesn’t matter. Of course I buy gifts, and I receive them too. More importantly is the feeling that I get when I see someone open a present and see the smile on their faces.

Christmas shopping for someone is a science. It’s easy to run out and buy jewellery or something quick, but its quite another to surprise someone with a gift that they were not expecting. It does not have to be an expensive gift, either. Sometimes the most inexpensive gifts bring someone the most joy.

A common theme right now is the ongoing economic crisis.  Ordinary people who have invested their money are watching it vanish with the woes of the stock market and the ups and downs of the dollar.  The Bank of Canada today lowered interest rates to their lowest level in nearly half a century in order to encourage consumer spending.

Regardless, this will take months to trickle down through the system.  The only way to get out of a depression or a recession is to spend money.  Not just the government, but everyone.  This is what stimulates the economy.  However, as I mentioned previously, this does not fix the larger problem.  This only makes the economy run in a cyclic pattern.

I’m glad that I am no longer working in the home theater or consumer electronics fields.  I think that this luxury sector will be hit very hard as we get deeper into this recession.  The  big box stores such as Wal-Mart and Costco will survive, not only because they are diversified but they sell these products ridiculously cheap.  The Internet-based companies will, for the most part, continue to exist due to the fact that they have low overhead and slim profit margins.  The specialty home theater companies, that rely on high markup and low volume, will feel the most crunch.  In this economy, they simply will not be able to survive.

Sony announced that they are laying off 8,000 full time people and 8,000 seasonal people globally today.  Due to the high value of the yen, it is costing Sony more to manufacture their product, which in turn leads to higher prices.  Higher prices lead to less sales, especially when you are competing against discount brands such as Vizio and I-Inc (or whatever Chinese company).  Sony has a great name in the electronics industry – so much so that there are people who will only buy Sony products.  I own my share of Sony product, but a name only carries you so far.  Merry Christmas from Sony.

The North American auto industry is in dire straits as well.  The CEO’s of Chrysler, Ford, and GM have been petitioning Congress to provide them bailout money.  Their Canadian counterparts have asked the provincial and federal governments to do the same.  While I understand and sympathize with these companies, if the governements are to provide any monies then serious restructuring is necessary.  A handout cannot be allowed to happen.  Furthermore, the unions, who are opposed to any kind of salary restructuring for their members, must also give in.  Auto workers are some of the highest paid people per hour in the world, and good for them being able to negotiate those deals.  However, the trough is almost dry now, and if everyone is to feed, then everyone needs to take a little less.  The Japanese auto makers are doing just fine – so it’s not the industry itself.  People are still buying cars.  They are just not buying American made cars.

I can see one of the big three companies closing its doors prior to any injection of cash by either government.  Of the three, Ford is in the best shape, followed by GM, and then Chrysler.  Looking at the big picture, if one of these companies close, all their workers will be laid off.  However, the suppliers of parts to the company that is rendered insolvent will also have no customer.  Therefore, they will shut their doors and lay off their employees.  And so on and so forth.  This trickle-down would affect thousands of people.  Tens of thousands.  The United States is already reeling from a staggering November job loss of over 500,000 people.

Even the Chinese are affected.  Last year, Wal-Mart cancelled over two billion dollars of orders from their Chinese suppliers.  Now, the Chinese are being hit with factory closures and layoffs due to the sluggish economy.  They are getting a brutal lesson in Capitalism.  China is due though.  The majority of their exports are to Europe and North America, and people are getting fed up with their shoddy manufacturing efforts.  Initially, the goods were of decent quality and they were cheap.  Now, the majority of the goods produced look, feel, and last relative to the cost to purchase them.  They grew too fast, and now it is catching up with them.

The Kill Point was an eight episode TV series that aired on Spike TV last year.  A group of former United States Marines attempt to rob a bank in downtown Pittsburgh.  A simple formula, that was turned into a captivating drama.

Starring Donnie Wahlberg (Yup, New Kids on the Block!) as Detective Horst Cali, and John Leguizamo as Sgt. Jake “Mr. Wolf” Mendez, The Kill Point pits soldier against negotiator in a bank robbery gone wrong.  The bank robbers, all ex-Marines from Platoon 1013, are holed up in the Three Rivers Bank trying to outwit the police and facilitate an escape.  What the police do not know, however, is that they have a little help from a few friends outside the bank.

Even though the series aired in 2007, I only got around to watching it now.  I am glad that I did not watch it when it aired because it would have been tough to wait a week between episodes.  Instead of making this a two hour movie, the producers allowed the story to arc over eight episodes, or about six hours.  This allowed the plot to proceed without a rushed feeling to it.

For those out there looking for a smart, tense drama, this show is for you.  I was captivated by it.  Yes, this is more of a lighter post today, and as opposed to the previous weeks drama, at least this one took place on television.

The biggest crisis currently facing the world today is the state of the global economy.  People are losing their jobs, the cost of goods is on the rise, stock markets are crashing, and banks are failing.  In the late 1980′s, the market crashed, but people are starting to compare the economy today to that of 1929, the beginning of the Great Depression.

To understand the crisis further, you first have to understand how it happened.  In a nutshell, we are a society that survives on credit, from the federal treasury to the banks to the individual.  For those people who do not have credit, they may still feel the impact because they are lenders (through their investments or mutual funds).  Most people borrow money to pay for goods or services that they want or need.  They borrow from banks, or other financial institutions, or by paying via credit card (borrowing money from the credit card company).  The money that has been borrowed is to be repaid over time with interest.  The interest is the cost (to the individual) of borrowing money.

The banks, for the most part, lend out the money.  However, they do not necessarily have this money to lend out.  Through a process known as fractional reserve banking, the banks can lend out up to nine times as much money as they have on deposit.  For example, if a bank has $1,000,000 on deposit, they can lend out up to $9,000,000 to their customers!  Due to the likelihood of every single person not wanting to withdraw all their money from the bank at one time, this is possible and does not pose a problem.  The problems occur when the people spend their money to purchase goods, and the merchants they bought the product from re-deposit these funds in their bank account.  This enables the bank to re-lend out that deposited money again, retaining only 10% of the re-deposited loan.  This happens over and over and over.  Keep in mind that the banks always charge interest on these loans, and depending on the interest rate (let’s use 5%), they can make up to 45% interest on the lended amount (5% x 9).  If you have ever wondered why a bank grows faster than almost any other business, that is the reason.

By lending out so much money, the money supply has been artificially expanded.  The more money that there is on the market, the less purchasing power the consumer has.  Interest rates begin to fall because there is more money out there to lend.  This causes the price of goods and services to increase (inflation).  As a result, the currency falls relative to that of other countries, depending on their stage of money expansion.  To combat the currency falling, the federal government will raise the prime interest rate.

This is, as mentioned earlier, an artificial bubble.  It cannot continue indefinitely due to the fact that the rising interest rates (remember, interest is the cost of borrowing money) inhibit borrowing because it becomes too expensive.   This slows, or even halts, inflation.  Credit is more difficult to acquire, and people start saving their money instead of spending it, which causes the business sector to contract (as companies go out of business).  When they go out of business, inevitably their people are no longer gainfully employed.  They have no income, but they still have bills and loans to pay.  Additionally, home prices begin to fall, because people cannot afford the high prices (and they no longer qualify for significant credit to purchase them).  This continues until the dollar begins to rise in comparison to foreign currencies.  This attracts foreign investments and allows the federal government to lower the prime interest rate.  The cycle then begins anew.

This is the primary reason that the economy is so unstable.  A system of highs and lows that reward the lender (or lending institutions, if you will) with an extraordinary amount of interest revenue due to fractional reserve banking.  To put it blunty, it boils down to greed.  Money’s most powerful ability is to allow bad people to continue doing bad things at the expense of those who don’t have it.  This is the system that allows the banks to make record profits in the worst of times.

I am Canadian.  I am proud of my country, but her politics make me sick to my stomach.

For those who are not aware, we have a federal minority Conservative government.  Two months ago, they won the election.  This is the second consectutive minority Conservative government that we have had, which prior to that was a Liberal minority government.  The other two federal parties, the socialist New Democratic Party and the separatist Bloc Quebecois, have never been much of a factor in our government.

Together the three opposition parties can form enough of majority to topple the current Conservative government, and this is what they are currently attempting to do.  For the first time in 91 years, they are hoping to form a government without holding an election.  Canadians are up in arms over this turn of events.  They are outraged.  In fact, a Facebook group founded yesterday, “Canadians Against a Liberal/NDP Coalition Gov’t” already has 31,000 members!  The media is not holding back, either.  How ironic it is that the three opposition parties attempt to usurp power on the 250th anniversary of the birth of parliamentary democracy in Canada.

Does the Conservative government have any options?  They do, but they are very limited.  They can legally challenge it, however it is unlikely that this will get them too far.  They can ask the Governor General (Michaelle Jean) to send Canadians back to the polls, or they can ask her to prorogue Parliament.  In short, none of these options are likely.  An election in Canada costs $300 million dollars, and Canadians do not want to go back to the polls again, six weeks after electing a government.

The Conservatives understand this only too well and are mounting a public campaign in order to get The Three Stooges to back down.  I hope they succeed, because their reasons for forming a coalition government are not altogether altruistic, and the fact that they were not duly elected to govern the country.  For the same reasons, I did not support Harper when he suggested this very same maneuver in 2005 with the Bloc Quebecois (to topple the then minority Liberal government).

The reason that the three parties are banding together is due to the economic update that was presented in the House of Commons by Jim Flaherty, the Minister of Revenue.  In short, this mini-budget had a serious poison pill within it to cut all taxpayer subsidies to political parties.  In effect, this would save the government a paltry $30 million dollars, but would cripple the finances of all three opposition parties, as well as the Green party (who hold no seats in Parliament).  The Conservative party would be the hardest hit financially, however it would suffer the least amount of impact as the majority of their fundraising is derived from other sources.  The taxpayer subsidies are currently $1.95 per vote. The budget also temporarily stopped federal employees from striking.

There were no economic stimulus measures within this mini-budget, as they were going to be tabled in the next budget due in late January.  This is the excuse the three opposition parties are using in their attempt to form a new government.  Needless to say – anyone with half a brain can figure out that this has nothing to do with the economy.  The fact is that during a recession, spending your way out of it is not the best way of doing things.  Furthermore, our neighbor – the world’s largest economy – has a new President on the way.  A very different President than the current sitting President.  This means that there will be a lot of changes coming, for better or for worse.  The wisest course at this time with respect to the Canadian economy, as difficult as it is, is to wait.  Stephen Harper understands this because like him or not, party politics aside, the man is a trained economist.  The other three leaders are lawyers.

Many people see this as a cheap attempt at a power grab.  In some ways, it is.  Moreso, however, I think it is an attempt to ensure that the three opposition parties continue to have funding provided for by the taxpayers.  Without it, they would be as bankrupt financially as they are morally.  All three parties had their backs against the wall.  The leader of the Liberal party, Stephane Dion, was the author of the Clarity Act, which defined the terms of separation for Quebec from Canada.  Gilles Duceppe, the leader of the Bloc Quebecois, is an open separatist who will do anything to ensure that Quebec leaves Canada.  Jack Layton is the leader of the socialist NDP party, who seems to sit in the middle of the other two leaders whose politics are so polarized from one another.

Throughout this political turmoil, none of the three stooges failed to note that the Toronto Stock Exchange dropped almost 9% upon hearing their intentions.  Nine percent!  Billions of dollars wiped out, gone and disappeared.  Yet their first order of business if they form a successful government will be to introduce legislation that will inject thirty billion dollars into the economy.  Curiously, this sounds like a “robbing Peter to pay Paul” scenario.  No one can deny that the world economy is in serious trouble, however this will be the topic of a future article.

This should not be allowed to happen, under any circumstances, regardless of your political affiliation.  What the country needs right now is stability, and to navigate through the economic tough times slowly and steadily.  It is my hope that the Governor General makes the right decision.  It will be the most difficult decision that any Governor General has had to make (it is a largely ceremonial post).