No respecter of borders.

The airwaves are crammed. The internet is full. Calgary even has more than three passable radio stations for the first time since, well, ever.

But the New Media is no respecter of borders. With the advent of 'You-Said-Mega-What?' bandwidth, the internet is front-and-centre in most people's lives- in a big way. Why watch 30 Rock tonight when you can stream it tomorrow? Why buy a newspaper when you can get it for free from any number of free news portals. (Plus, ever try reading the Herald on the can? Exactly.)

Is Canada's cultural identity threatened by this new globalization of information transfer?

In 1951 the Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences was released by the Canadian government. In it, chairman Vincent Massey concluded that Canada was at significant risk of its culture being over-run by American radio and television waves drifting across the border.

Today's argument, as espoused by the ACTRA (Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists) is that Canada's culture is at danger of being over-run. Not only by the nasty Americans and their well-written and well-produced sitcoms, but indeed by the world and the legions of You-Tubers and extremely intelligent bloggers.

Canadians have been prominently in the spotlight urging the Americans to throw away "Buy American" and keep international tariff walls down.

Isn't this cultural isolationism?

O-Bama in O-Town

I enjoyed this. I make no secret of my admiration for the United States, and also no secret of my admiration for Stephen Harper.

It was nice to see Canada so well-represented in this meeting. I think back in my mind to a past presidential visit involving former PM Jean Chretien, and how ashamed I was of our leader and the way he portrayed Canada to the world.

This was certainly not the case yesterday. I was struck (unlike most of the Canadian press) not so much with Obama's presence or his words, but with Stephen Harper's.

You see, I've always thought that Stephen Harper looks like a promotional cardboard cutout of himself, and I would think that this would play out poorly next to the obviously charismatic Obamessiah.

It didn't. Harper handled himself with aplomb and poise. He portrayed Canada as confident and willing to contribute.

I don't care if Obama "loves Canada". That's nice, thank you.

I do care that we have a leader that we can be proud of.

Finally.

A third party for Alberta?

I read an interesting post on www.daveberta.ca this evening. Check it out here.

I've been a card-carrying Conservative, both federally and provincially, for as long as I've been a card-carrying anything. My family and friends, predictably, are Conservative as well (both big "C" and small "c").

Of late, especially provincially, I find myself separated from politics. It all seems so hopeless anymore: I find it obvious that larger forces are in play in Alberta politics than I could possibly approach or even understand.

I find Ed Stelmach to be less than adequate, David Swann an untested but seemingly erratic leader, and other options, well, non-existent.

I think that a third party in Alberta could appeal to a large portion of untapped voter resources: a silent majority. Majorities have rights too, sometimes.... With voter turnouts abysmally low, surely the silent have something to say, but haven't found the way to say it.

I would throw whatever resources I may have (limited they may be) behind a properly configured third option in Alberta. And in Canada, for that matter.

Yankee Love

(Disclaimer: My heart belongs to Canada, I am an extremely patriotic Canadian and am very proud to be Canadian. I AM CANADIAN!)

Notwithstanding the disclaimer, I feel I must declare my sincere admiration for the United States. Rather than bog you down with broken prose and block paragraphs, how about a little list, a la David Letterman.

Top 10 Reasons the United States Rocks:

10. The United States has the (excuse my language here) balls to go out on a limb and stand up for what is right. The United States has a set of values (freedom, liberty, equality, et cetera) and is not ashamed of them. It is willing to defend them, for both Americans and non-Americans. For isn't that the true barometer of one's belief: that I love what I have so much that I feel the overwhelming need to share it?

9. Don't mess with Texas. (because my name is Dallas, get it...?)

8. Jazz.

7. The birth of suburbia. I don't particularly appreciate suburbia today, but I just love the history of the 50's exodus to the suburbs. What an amazing phenomenon: in one generation people were able to own their own large, beautiful homes and transform their lives.

6. Income tax. Appropriately low, tax-deductible mortgage interest. Excellent.

5. The military. Sorry, it's impressive. The American's dedication to their big toys keeps the world safe.

4. The House of Representatives. I love the free-voting system and the rare imposition of party discipline. A democrat from New York can agree with a Republican from Utah. It happens.

3. Hollywood. Nowhere else in the world is there such a concentration of entertainers. It's an amazing concept: a bunch of people whose sole purpose in life is to make you laugh, cry or be afraid. Most of them would do it free, I believe....

2. ---

1. Charlie Wilson.