Canadian politicians are in an uproar.   The U.S. House of Representatives voted Wednesday for a so-called “Buy America” provision that would call on major public works projects to favour U.S. steel over imports.  Liberals, who wouldn’t do anything anyways, are all over the Conservatives for not protesting more.  Now…let us look at this a little more closely.

First and foremost, due to the fact that this is Federal money being used for major public works projects, it automatically falls under the Buy America Act, which clearly requires that the United States government prefer U.S.-made products in its purchases.  This act was passed by Congress in 1933!  It took our politicians 76 years to figure this out?

There are two exceptions to the Buy America Act.  The Act can be waived if the burden of purchasing domestically manufactured products is deemed to be unreasonable.  It can also be waived by the President within the terms of a reciprocal agreement (in this case NAFTA) via the Trade Agreements Act.  There are still a couple of hurdles to clear when selling foreign-made product to the United States Government.

First and foremost, all government contracts in excess of $25,000 are tendered out to bid.  Any company, foreign or domestic, can bid on these tenders.  Foreign-made product is subject to the Trade Agreements Act of 1979.  Certain countries are ineligible to do business directly with the United States Government due to being considered hostile (Iran, North Korea, Cuba), having an oppressive regime (China, Indonesia), or not having a valid trade agreement (Taiwan, Russia).  As it pertains to Canada, we have no such restrictions.

Secondly, it helps if you are a preferred supplier to the United States Government.  To achieve preferred status, you must acquire a contract to sell your products from the General Services Administration (GSA).  All bids and tenders are listed on GSA as well as its sister site FedBizOps.  Obtaining such a contract can involve a number of hurdles, but ones they have been passed, the business opportunities are only limited by the amount of time that you have.

Public Works projects use steel.  Lots of steel.  China currently owns twenty percent of the global steel market.  Companies based in the United States own less than three percent of the global steel market.  Canadian companies have no significant investment in this market (Dofasco is owned by ArcelorMittal and Stelco is owned by U.S. Steel).  Of course, these two companies employ many Canadians, but even if the United States chooses not to purchase the steel manufactured in Canada, the global market is ready, willing, and eager to gobble it up.  Yes…we are in the midst of a global economic downturn (how many times will I have to hear that) but infrastructure projects are always being built.  The steel market has never been healthier.

As a complete aside, 316 is one of the most popular grades of steel.  Interesting.  I always wondered why I was getting many hits from people looking for steel.  Now I know.

As for my own opinion on such matters concerning how the Canadian government should administer the spending of our money, I think that they should take a very close look at how the United States does business.  Canada is extremely inefficient when soliciting tenders, and the system is radically expensive and bass-ackwards.  The U.S. Government – technically the largest business on the planet – is very streamlined.  It costs relatively little to be a participant and viewing all of the tenders is easy and free of charge.  They have reserved bids for small businesses, minorites, veterans, and women.  In short, they make it easy to do business with them compared to Canada.

Simply put, our government needs to stop pissing and moaning and take a look at itself, then at the United States, and then back at itself.  Maybe they would learn something rather than whining about laws that are over 75 years old.

I love snow days…they are like a small bonus…get paid to stay home.  Obviously not all companies have these, or support them.  However, when you get them…take ‘em.

I’m using the day to get caught up on projects that I have ongoing around the house, and updating all my various websites.  I have many things on the go, and I am busier than ever.  This is a good thing though, because it keeps me out of trouble.

In other news…The new digital transition date in the United States is now June 12th.  This will give the new Obama administration enough time to get things sorted out.  If stations are digitally compliant and wish to switch sooner, there is no legislation preventing them from doing so.  It quickly became clear less than a month ago that the digital switchover date of February 17th was not feasible.

*** Update ***

Congress did not pass this motion as of Wednesday.  To pass legislation a 66% majority is required, and the bill did not meet this requirement.  Therefore, as it stands now, the February 17th transition date is still in effect.

When I was younger, I loved to play with Lego.  I could amuse myself for hours on end.  Fast forward to today, and my roommates’ five year old is quickly developing the same fascination that I had.  I purchased him some Lego for Christmas, and a small box after Christmas.  The prices seemed somewhat expensive, but not terribly so.

Today, I browsed through the Lego aisle, and I was really taken aback by the prices.  It seems as if they have increased almost 20%!  Truly, I was floored.  I have always budgeted Lego out to be about ten cents per piece.  That leaves everyone a healthy profit margin.  They are plastic pieces, how much can they cost to make?  Today, working out the numbers it looks like the new sets are priced at twelve cents per piece!  Now, an extra couple of cents does not sound like a lot but multiply that by 500 or 1000 pieces.  I can see how some sets such as Star Wars or Indiana Jones may cost somewhat more due to royalties or licensing, but the brands that Lego develops themselves should not be priced as high.

If people think like I do when they buy Lego, brands like Mega Blox and K-Nex will flourish because they are completely compatible with the Lego bricks, and much cheaper as well.  I have picked up a couple of boxes of K-Nex and they are just as good as Lego.  That’s where my money will go in the future if Lego does not get its act together and keep the prices reasonable.

The National Hockey League is holding their annual All Star game in Montreal this year. It is the centennial anniversary of the Montreal Canadiens hockey club (les habitants), thus the city selection makes sense. What does not make sense is the way the players are chosen and the fact that the game is meaningless.

Unlike the recent Winter Classics and the Stanley Cup playoffs, many people tend to shun the All-Star game due to the fact that it is a non-checking, boring, high-scoring affair. It’s understandable, because the players do not want to get injured for a meaningless game. That could cost them millions of dollars (Doesn’t look like the economic downturn will bother professional athletes too much, does it?).

The solution would be to make the game meaningful. Stanley Cup home ice goes to the team from the winning conference. This would also stop players from not wanting to participate. As it stands now, if the player does not want to play he is suspended for one regular season game. This is where management is sticking their fingers where they do not belong. Let the players police themselves. If the stakes are high the best players will want to play, and those that do not will be held accountable by their peers.

Additionally, to boost the popularity of the game, turn it into an outdoor game in a large stadium, much like the Winter Classic. Give it an all world feeling of importance. Instead of fighting with the players union, the owners should work with them to promote the game of hockey as a global sport. There is no better place to start than at the All Star Game, which is supposed to be the showcase for your best players.

Welcome to the 44th President of The United States.  Black or white, Democrat or Republican, male or female, I think that everyone can agree that Obama has a certain charisma about him that the world needs right now.  He has the ability to inspire people and make them feel good about themselves and what they are doing, which are two traits that a leader (regardless if he is leading the nation or a small company) must have.

It is too early to tell what the effects of the Bush presidential legacy will be.  It would seem that most people would love to blame the outgoing President for many of the world’s problems, and while he does have to bear his share of the responsibility, those who would cast the first stone are mistaken.  You can point to 9/11 as the turning point of the Bush presidency – a time where he has the highest popularity rating of any President in modern history, and where it went from there.

Obama is one of the youngest Presidents of all time.  Only Grant, Roosevelt, Kennedy, and Clinton were younger (though Clinton aged ridiculously while in office.  Monica sucked the life right out of him.).  He is the first born in the 1960′s, the first President of that generation.  He is the first colored President, and the first born in Hawaii.  More importantly, he is the first President to embrace the digital medium of communication.  He sleeps with his BlackBerry, and uses the Internet as a means to interact with the public and to share his ideas, thoughts, and values.  Furthermore, despite his affliation with the Democratic Party, he does not mind crossing party lines in order to get things done.  All of these traits endear him to the people.  Not only in the United States, but around the world as well.

It is my hope that he can begin to fix some of the major problems currently occupying the United States.  A woeful economy, two wars, and crumbling infrastructure.  A nation who had lost faith in its previous leader.  The United States is the only true superpower left in the world.  As they go, the world goes.  If they are prosperous, then likely so shall we be.  As I am Canadian, I know how tightly our two countries are tied and we enevitibly follow, be the times good or bad.

Good luck to President Obama.  He has a lot of work to do.  It would seem that the weight of the world is truly riding on his shoulders.

For those who have not had the opportunity to see a Metallica concert live, I encourage you to do so.  Even if you are not a fan of the band (ok, if you like country music or rap, you’re going to be a little out of place).  The show that they put on is nothing short of spectacular.

I had the opportunity to see them recently, and not only did I leave with a lot less hearing than I had before, it was the most enjoyable evening out that I have had in a long time.  The concert was at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.  A note about the Joe – it’s an old arena, built in 1977, but it has a feel to it that it was constructed much earlier.  I liked it…and I also liked that I didn’t get ripped off going to the concession stand.

Metallica also gives fans the opportunity to download the concert that they attended for free.  They record it directly from the sound board, and post it online within hours of the concert finishing.  I don’t know of too many bands that do this, but consider it a little extra value and allows you to remember the concert forever.  In addition, they even post the cover artwork!  How cool is that!

Opening for Metallica was a band I’ve never heard of, nor can I remember.  No big deal, their music was decent but the lead singer (if you can call him that) was pretty horrid.  I don’t think I understood a single thing that came out of his mouth.  They were followed by Machine Head.  A decent band, and really did their best to warm the crowd up for Metallica.  They did a cover of Iron Maiden’s Hallowed Be Thy Name, which went over pretty well.

Metallica took the stage just before 10:00 pm.  It certainly did not feel that late, considering we got to the arena at 7:00 pm!  The show started of with a laser light show similar to Pink Floyd.  This played throughout the first two songs, as well as The Ecstasy of Gold.  Pyro throughout the show erupted from the stage, and more light tricks with the floating “Death Magnetic” metallic caskets above the band.

The track listing was as follows:

That Was Just Your Life 
The End of the Line 
Creeping Death 
For Whom The Bell Tolls 
One 
Broken, Beat & Scarred 
Cyanide 
Sad But True 
Welcome Home (Sanitarium) 
All Nightmare Long 
Kirk Solo #1
The Day That Never Comes 
Master Of Puppets 
Damage, Inc. 
Kirk Solo #2 
Nothing Else Matters 
Enter Sandman 
Last Caress 
Breadfan 
Seek and Destroy

The last three songs were encores, and the band played for about 2 hours and 10 minutes.  Obviously, they played a lot of material off of their new CD (six tracks), but mixed in some classics and favorites.  I certainly did not expect to hear Last Caress!

My next road trip will be for UFC 97 in Montreal in April.  For that, I can’t wait either…but I will elaborate more upon that event in a later post.

An interesting bit of news today.  As many know, the digital conversion from analog television is scheduled to take place on February 17th in the United States.  All analog transmissions will be shut down at midnight.

However…there is a problem (because nothing ever goes smoothly).  The NTIA and the Department of Commerce have run into a cash shortage with respect to providing consumers coupons for the digital to analog set top converters, which has created a backlog of approximately 1.1 million customers.  These set top boxes allow analog tv sets to display digital signals, and are necessary due to the fact that once the digital conversion occurs, these televisions will cease to function otherwise.  The coupons offer $40.00 off the price of these boxes, which typically run anywhere from $45.00 to $80.00. 

Furthermore, there is a shortage of the boxes on the market.  People cannot find these units (amusingly enough, they are all manufactured in China), and therefore are unable to purchase them.

As a result, the incoming Obama administration has asked Congress to mandate a law postponing the digital conversion.  Republicans do not want to change the date, and neither do some Democrats.  We shall see what occurs in the next few weeks as the date becomes closer and closer.

In December, Panasonic Corporation quietly began a 9-billion dollar takeover of their rival Sanyo.  Sanyo has been on shaky financial ground since 2006, and the current global economic downturn has not emboldened their ability to recover.  Sanyo’s fall, however, was not as much due to mismanagement as one would believe.  In 2004, their semiconductor plant was destroyed following an earthquake, and they have been unable to recover.

in 2006, large investors such as Goldman Sachs infused the company with approximately 3.2 billion dollars (USD).  However, the caveat was that Panasonic would have first option to purchase the shares that these investors own.  This takeover will create the worlds largest electronics company, with revenues in excess of 110 billion dollars (USD) per year.

Sanyo, in essence, was born from Panasonic.  The founder of Sanyo, Toshio Iue, was the brother in law of Konosuke Matsushita, who was the founder of Panasonic.  Mr. Iue started Sanyo in 1947 manufacturing bicycle lamps in an unused Panasonic plant that was lent to him by Mr. Matsushita.  Once the takeover is complete, however (in April 2009 projected), Sanyo will not disappear.  Panasonic has indicated that they will keep the brand separate.

Sanyo also has close ties to Sony, supporting numerous Sony projects throughout the years, such as Betamax and Video8.  They did not support Blu-Ray, however, though to my knowledge only had one HD-DVD player that made it to market (the HD-S100).  I do not believe that it debuted on North American shores (though it was demonstrated at CES 2006).  This relationship could bring Panasonic and Sony closer together.  Steering forward – now what a merger would that be!

At any rate…looking at Sanyo and Panasonic, they directly compete on a number of different levels.  Specifically, as it related to the consumer electronics industry, projectors.  Sanyo and Panasonic both manufacture LCD video projectors, ranging from very affordable to very high end.  It would make no sense to run two parallel brands competing for the exact same dollar.  The likely scenario would be to manufacture projectors that do not compete with one another, or shut down one brand’s production entirely (and rebrand the other surviving brand).  Thinking forward, they may decide to jump into the DLP side of things, giving Panasonic-Sanyo good coverage for the video projector business.

Of course, digital video projectors are just one small line in both of these massive companies’ global portfolios.  Both companies offer such a dizzying array of products that itemizing them all would take a few pages.  Microwave ovens, washing machines, televisions, solar cells, and more.

It would appear not.

The Israelis and the Palestinians are in deep conflict once again.  I guess there are only so many rocket attacks the Jewish people can take before they get fed up.  One can understand why by looking at the country of Israel.

In 1947, the United Nations approved splitting the country of Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab.  Less than a year later, the Jewish state declared independence (which was recognized immediately by the most powerful nation in the world at the time, the United States).  This plunged them into an immediate war with the Arab state (and their neighbors, who just happen to all be Arab).  Israel won these wars and annexxed even more territory, expanding their borders beyond the initial United Nations partition plan.

This is just recent history, and Israel has fought battles against its neighbors and the Palestinians ever since.  As they receive aid from the United States, as well as access to military technology (and are also extremely resourceful themselves), they have never been defeated.  If they were, Israel would be obliterated off the map by the victors.

The Israelis take no chances.  They are not afraid to go on the offensive, and their spy service and internal security service (the Mossad and Shin Bet, respectively) are the best in the business.  They have effectively and ruthlessly carried out many kidnappings and assassinations.  In fact, they warned the United States about 9/11 long before it took place.

All of this conflict stems from religion.  Despite the obvious reference to the domain name, I do not consider myself religious and I do not understand hating someone because they are of a different faith.  Religion is supposed to preach peace, yet look at all the conflict throughout the world that it inspires.  It is supposed to provide hope and joy, yet millions of people have been killed in the name of religion.  Peace and harmony, faith and understanding…but at what cost?