the best summer vacation ever

atlas shrugged is taking over my life. i read it first in grade 11. reading it now is wonderful; i reference it conversation on nearly a daily basis.

my election predictions were almost spot on. i'm proud to have pegged west van-sunshine coast correctly. i'm really fascinated by blair wilson, and am interested to see where he goes. i wonder if he will run for the liberal leadership and hang on until the last ballot, john turner-style. he's got the looks.

several points
-very few rookies in the last parliament were defeated this time. partly, that is because the last election was a prelude, in theme, to this one. also, it points to the power of incumbency. even a short term in office means a lot. people are unwilling to renege on candidates that they so recently supported. incumbency is a powerful thing!
-social conservatism is a death knell in the GVRD. i underestimated what a role that would play, and erred in calling north van for the conservatives.
-i clipped out 'THE WEST IN IN' fron the 24hrs and pinned it up in my office. this is the most interesting aspect to the election. how long will it take for people, including stephen harper who founded the goddam beast, to completely forget that the reform party won over 60 seats in 1997? it will be considered an abberation in a long continuum, i imagine, which is unfortunate. reform ads in 1993 said 'DON'T TRUST POLITICIANS? NEITHER DO WE!'. where are we now?
-all the noise being made today about the rural-urban divide in canada in this election's wake is troubling, because it isn't that accurate. while there are no tory seats in vancouver, toronto, or montreal, they swept every seat in edmonton and calgary, which are two of canada's fastest growing cities.
-more later.

here's an incredible image!