Why Mexicans don't drink Molson

I have finished reading the book Why Canadians don't drink Molsons by Andrea-Mandel Campbell. I first heard of it on the radio program the Sunday Edition. I had high hopes for it, but unfortunately I found it lacking, not necessarily with its message but I found the way it was presented lacking.

Now I found the second part of the book more impressive than the first half. I suppose because I heard the radio interview the first part lacked anything new, because all her examples on the radio and the stories were from the first half of the book. I found the book chock full of anecdotes and smaller examples but I found that the author had problems painting the bigger picture. She does a better job in the second half of the book, but I found the larger context missing a bit.

Now this isn't to say that she doesn't try, she constantly worries about the challenge posed by China as of course many business people are becoming increasingly interested. I found it hard to figure out who her audience was. I found the book itself in the business section, but it seems in some sections to be aimed towards a larger audience.

I guess my biggest complaint was that it really didn' take aim at any specific myths or problems. Its central thesis has been examined by other claiming the Canadian business sector has failed. Including George Grant's lament for a nation (although of course this was from what we would now consider the 'left') It had the opportunity to go beyond that, and I don't think that it did. Of course being a largely pro-market commentary it blamed government for pretty much everything even while showing that it did have potential. I think this paragraph is a good example and deserves to be quoted here

“If Canadians don’t believe in themselves, it’s largely because government is sending them signals that it shouldn’t. If Canadians think big business is bad, it’s because government is confirming their suspicions. If Canadians glorify the middle of the road it’s because that’s what government espouses. If Canadians are indecisive and risk averse, it’s because that’s how they see the government behave. If Canadians don’t know their place in the world, it’s because their government is lost” (page 311)

For someone who largely sees government intervention in a negative light, she sure ascribes a lot of power there to government.

I will be posting a longer review in the future my other
blog

Spiderman 3

Well i went to go see it, and I was pretty impressed with the story line, but I hope they don't make a 4th! To be honest I think they were a bit out of gas, and I liked the 2nd one the best. At least i think I do. I may have to go see Spiderman 3 again.

The fight scenes were amazing, and I thought the idea of having two bad guys team up, was a pretty good idea. Venom was cool!!

I haven't been doing a good job of posting here over the last little while, but I'm hoping to get back at it. I still have a lot to say. I'm hoping actually to do a few books reviews over the next couple of months, to practice writing and I think it'll be a good experience to do it. I'll post them on here of course, and criticism is welcome. I'll decide on a book sometime in the next 2 weeks.

Virginia

Well I think this whole Virginia event is overblown to the utmost degree. I can't fathom why an event which though tragic, suddenly becomes a national tragedy. I truly find it ridiculous how every event in which something bad happens becomes a tragedy. The word tragedy should be reserved for events which are truly sad, not for any event where someone dies. Yes it is tragic, yes it is sad, but something like 38 people, are killed very day in the US by gun violence.

I think that was it going on in Iraq is truly a tragedy, a country is being destroyed by its own people because of the actions of the United States. That is something that was preventable, has led to enormous suffering and really has had only negative consequences.

However I find it puzzling that an event like today's killing of 171 people in Iraq gets way way way less coverage than the murders of 33 people in Virginia. Both were senseless , both were random acts of terror, and i do understand that the one is in the US and thus strikes closer to home, but I still find it hard to believe.

I also find it truly disturbing how the media sends out streams of meaningless information just to fill time. I mean how important is it to know every single detail of the last hours of this boys life? There is an entire network(CNN) devoted to finding out every detail. Finding out that the person who did this wore brown shoes today is not worth a live update!

It is a good example of losing the forest for the trees. The real job of the media would be to look at the larger picture and ask the tough questions. Why do these shootings happen in our country at all? What can be done to prevent this from happening? These are uncomfortable questions and I find that too often it becomes all about the victim in an attempt to avoid asking the larger questions. It comes out in a predictable manner that the victim was a 'loner'. Well golly gee that took some analysis!! It's the same line in every case!

Maybe I'm just cynical but I find the blanket media coverage of the events in Virginia over the last few days excessive.