here comes the writ!

i love an election and luckily for me, i should be around for the next federal election. i technically 'live' in steve's riding so it is always a forgone conclusion who will win, but i still love the whole process of democracy. functional democracy, not that kind of democracy where the opposition demands the election was stolen and then they settle in to a nice 'power sharing' deal.

ahem, kenya, i am looking at you.

not that a canadian federal election would be remotely as exciting as the american one next door, but i still love election season. and i love autumn, which feels like the beginning of things, so maybe it will be a nice time to be home.

but back to the canadian election being boring, here is how margaret wente, a globe and mail reporter, described it:

The election next door is a battle of the titans. Ours is a battle of the midgets. Instead of a warrior and a charismatic transformer, we've got a mean-eyed guy with the charm of a ball-peen hammer, pitted against a man so clueless that half his own party hopes he'll lose. The best reason to vote for Guy No. 2 is that he's not Guy No. 1. And that's a powerful reason.

i have been following the story of the listeriosis outbreak in canada and i am pretty shocked and can completely understand how that would create widespread paranoia about food. it was timely for me, as i recently watched a 4 part documentary (nerd!) on grocery stores' incredible influence on food options in the uk that had segments about processed food. so i was already feeeling all self-righteous and activist-y about food and then to hear that a huge food processing plant is making people sick makes me want to step a little higher on my soapbox...

if a listeriosis outbreak happens in a western, developed country that is chock full of processed foods then i do not want to hear any more naysaying about getting sick from eating food in africa. food will not kill you in africa. water might, mosquitos might (spread the net!), armed rebels might, but food most likely will not.

public health scare or not, i am missing canada.

oh, and i have contracted a cold. i think it originated in the army and was brought home to me like a sick kid from day care. the similarities in that analogy don't end with the cold.