Lawrence Martin in the Globe this morning has it exactly on point:

... if he’s to be credible, Mr. Ignatieff needs more than rhetoric. He needs a comprehensive Bring Back Democracy plan. He needs it, and so do we. Someone’s got to get serious about this country’s drift from what was once a respectable democracy into today’s sham version. Ever since Pierre Trudeau started overcentralizing the power structure four decades ago, we’ve been regressing into what former Quebec Superior Court justice John Gomery, who headed up the federal sponsorship inquiry, described as “one-man government.”

Why don't Canadians do one-man government well? Frankly, it is because we create leaders who are either dull like Martin or dreamers like Trudeau or both like Harper. Chretien was the only one to do anything effectively with all that power when he beat back the deficit. The trouble is, of course, that Iggy is of the same sort. He's a good fellow how has plenty more in the coconut than I do but is also dreadfully dull as a public personality. It's not his fault - it's Canada's. Remember, this is the nation that spawned the great populist revivalist by name of Preston Manning.

What to do? Maybe ask the Belgians or the Finns how to make our leaders more lively.

Maine. Air clear. Sky blue. Fabulous. People are off to Scratch. Last night it was Beale's by the pound. This has been an eating holiday. I need an exercising winter.

• Damon should not have been a Red Sox player a second time. Not that he is not a good guy or a great player. There just would not have been a compelling script to make him a member of the team again.
• I am a trend.
• I should have thought of this. I could have thought of this. I must have been able to think of this. Why couldn't I have thought of this?
• When beer blogging goes too far.

Must run. Finally a beach day. Need to find a beach on the way home tomorrow... if I don't eject all the swim wear to get another case of great craft beer back home.

You would think that they would have thought of this maybe in 2006 when people were making money at blogging:

According to Andrea Mannino of the Philadelphia Department of Revenue, in fact, simply choosing the option to make money from ads — regardless of how much or little money is actually generated — qualifies a blog as a business. The same rules apply to freelance writers. As former City Paper news editor Doron Taussig once lamented [Slant, "Taxed Out," April 28, 2005], the city considers freelancers — which both Bess and Barry are, in addition to their blog work — "businesses," and requires them to pay for a license and pay taxes on their profits, on top of their state and federal taxes. Mannino says the city doesn't keep track of how many bloggers and small-website owners are affected.

It can see lumping freelance writers and bloggers together as a business class if they are actually making above a certain level of income, say $5,000 a year. But to license someone just to have a hobby is a bit weird. I would expect well under 1% of all bloggers actually make reportable net income from tapping away at the keys. Does it matter that this might deter people from blogging? And does it apply to Twitter? Why not? After all, what is a blogger?

The Taconic State Parkway in eastern New York State. Some very weird design elements that challenge one's sense of highway driving. Storm water grates. Unmarked short turn off lanes. Cross roads that simply cross without any merging opportunities. No shoulders. You have to drive on to the lawn if you have car trouble. In the north it is quiet, like a post-apocalyptic highway. In the south, locals in expensive cars slalom madly.

This time tomorrow I'll be pretty much around here. Travel takes time after all. But we'll be in Connecticut soon. Just passing through and curious to see if we can connect with the place. There was I time I was not well with New Hampshire until we got roadside help on that trip back in 2003. It's rough when you can't get along with a state. But I don't know how to patch it up with Connecticut. How to start? Mini-putt? I don't know what we would have done if not for Sea Swirl.

• Big day for me and NCPR today as we get a new frequency here in Kingston and 36 times the power aimed at us all.
• This is one of the few things in life I am ticked off that I cannot actually do. I had an acre fruit and vegetable garden in my old home and would love to have a 100 x 65 foot one out front.
• Who do you trust more: StatsCan or Tom Flanagan? For the visionary behind the theory of becoming the nation without a vision or purpose, he can make sense but you keep asking "why?" - is it to correct X or to undermine X to undermine Y? Would it be different if Margaret Atwood wasn't involved in this sort of thing?
• Vital data about Syracuse diners but a slightly ripe use of the internet to present data, no?
• Is there any lower form of support than having someone "feel" for you? Only Roger knows for sure.
• Unusual ways to have Nazis not machine gun you #459.

Monday was a day off, a practice travel day and the Glenora Ferry was calling us. Probably the best sweet potato fries I have ever had at the Acoustic Grill in Picton. Burgers were really good, too. While this was not a beer hunt, the selection could improve to match what looks like a pretty fine if tiny folk blues bar in a bit of a surprising location. We went to Huff Estates for a decent local bottle to take to the sea and Black River Cheese for massive 3 buck ice cream. My wine sense is shot but I went for the 2008 Riesling Reserve. Twisty roads.