When I look at Al Gore I continue to be amazed that one, let alone 50 
million, Americans voted for him.  Both Clinton's and Gore's continued 
shamelessness, and disregard for doing the right and decent thing, is only 
slightly less amazing than the American people (or at least half of them) 
continuing to find reasons to support them.  My only, yet substantive, vested 
interest in the outcome is that we are inundated with US T.V. and I can't 
bear the thought of looking at Gore (and God forbid Hillary) for the next 
four years.  If they don't settle this Florida thing, I am going to have it 
have my cable disconnected.

We vote in our federal election on November 27th.  We will not have any such 
problems however - not because we are any better than anyone (in fact, I am 
not entirely confident that most of my fellow Canadians will understand, or 
have ever have understood, the ballot or voted for who they thought they were 
voting for) - but rather because of the political system which Jon's 
ancestors were so kind to bestow upon us, which I refer to as "parliamentary 
dictatorship''. 

(Sorry Tana if you are a Democrat, but that is the independent middle of the 
road - yeah right - view of a Canadian observer.  Jon, I cannot, however, 
apologize for the political ruin which your system of Government has brought 
upon us, other to acknowledge that the problem my not be the system but 
rather our screwed up regionalization of your unified parliamentary system 
into 11 separate parliamentary systems - and I suppose that could be 
construed as an apology of sorts, except, for the record, I will never 
apologize to you for anything until you make a public, i.e. to Tana and me by 
e-mail, confession of your sins on San Felipe.  For that matter, you are as 
bad as Clinton and Gore.)

Peter.