Who knew that international Online orders would take so long to be delivered by mail? I ordered the first season DVDs — Made in Canada, CBC’s biting satire of the film and television industry, and Coupling, the British comedy on love and relationships currently on BBC America from Amazon.ca (the Canadian version of the ol’ chestnut).

Well, the order shipped on Feb. 5 via Canada Post Int’l Surface. Amazon says the package is expected to arrive “14 February – 27 February”. That’s more than 20 days at the outset. I live 50 miles away from Canada, as the crow flies — I would’ve thought it would be a little faster than that.

The good news is that the currency exchange rate between our two nations is in America’s favor. The order was about CDN$52 which comes out to be US$35. So I did save money from the domestic Amazon.com (which doesn’t even sell “Made in Canada”). Still looking for a copy of Men with Brooms. 🙂

In case you’re wondering, here’s …. The Copper Country’s top 10 stories of 2002 (as reported by The Daily Mining Gazette.)

1. A fire at fraternity Sigma Delta Chi in Houghton claims the life of one student.
2. Long-time retailer Kmart closes its doors at the Copper Country Mall.
3. Spring floods wreak havoc on U.P. roads and lives.
4. Western U.P. chapter of the American Red Cross is dissolved.
5. Michigan Tech EnterPrise SmartZone selects two local landmarks as its business incubators.
6. Houghton and Hancock build America’s first snowhouses.
7. Thousands of free spirits invade Ewen for the national Rainbow Family gathering.
8. U.P. invaded with wild animals ranging from wolves, wild Russian boars and maybe cougars.
9. First Superfund sites move toward delistment.
10. Mass City man fights to bury his mother without the aid of a funeral director.

It’s the night before Christmas, and I really don’t have too much too say — aside from Merry Christmas, of course. I need to try to write about poem about my special friend as one of my gifts. (I’m not spoiling too much posting this on my Web page — it’s not like she ever comes here anyway).

A poem can’t be that hard to write, can it? Perhaps it is telling that I promised her that I would write this a year ago ….

Trent Lott finally made a statement that I feel is a true apology for his comments last week. He said the segregation and racism are immoral. There now Trent, that wasn’t too hard to say wasn’t it?

It really is a statement that he should have made on Monday or Tuesday, but better late than never. I think the statement will do a lot to blunt criticism from his side of the aisle (and from many non-political minded Americans), but I hope that this whole incident will be a swift kick in the Democrats’ donkey hide.

Interesting points about the Sen. Trent Lott debacle. Joshua Marshall has been doing a good job about staying on top of the whole controversy. It’s curious how the story slowly developed from Saturday into the modest maelstrom that it is today.

I think Lott was wrong to make the comments regarding retiring Sen. Strom Thurmond’s 1948 presidential run. Lott said ” I want to say this about my state: When Strom Thurmond ran for president we voted for him. We’re proud of it. And if the rest of the country had of followed our lead we wouldn’t of had all these problems over all these years, either.”

Of course, some Lott defenders (namely Kevin L. Martin, government and political affairs director of the African American Republican Leadership Council) said he was trying to be humorous. Lott’s comments were about as humorous as dressing up in blackface.

It has come out (thanks in large part to Marshall’s reporting) that Lott has made such comments in the past — also signing on to a case where Bob Jones University fought the IRS’ revoking their tax-exempt status because of discriminatory policies. It’s true Lott has tried to apologize in the past couple of days, but I still haven’t seen him say racial discrimination and segregation is wrong.

How big is this story? I don’t know for sure. I think it shouldn’t be a distraction to other larger stories — namely the Bush administration’s handling of the environment, the economy and the “war on terrorism.” It’s discontenting — more than 35 years after the Civil Rights Act was passed many politicians still wink and nod toward the racism of the past. It happens in both parties, but it appears the GOP came up the big winner in last month’s elections. The Georgia flag flap is a good example where many want to keep the Confederate symbol on the state flag and were willing to dump Gov. Barnes to do it.

Still, I think it’s appropriate that this story damage the Republican Party in some way. I’m still disgusted at how the Republicans over-hyped the political tinges at the memorial service of Sen. Paul Wellstone. If they can manipulate the service into poltical capital, I think Lott should be gently braised for these comments.

There’s nothing like giving in to temptation. After checking out a friend’s blog, my co-worker has decided to check out a personals Web site. It looks like a complete bear to get registered on the page (we went through The Onion) It’s been about 30 minutes and he still hasn’t seen all the “beautiful” women in a 25-mile radius of Houghton, Mich. It’s not like the instant (yet swiftly fleeing) gratification of a “judge-a-person-strictly-on-their-appearances” Web site.

Still, it’s a really clever use of supply and demand — people demand an online forum to meet others, these Web sites provide the resources _and_ require people to register to get access thus keeping the supply of potential dates plentiful.

Now he’s comparing himself to Doogie Howser. Guess I’m his Vinnie (without the overt Italian stereotypes). Shesh.