Canada

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F1 Power Rankings: Canadian Grand Prix

And so the Formula One World Championship makes its annual summer pilgrimage to North America for the best event on the calendar. The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve may not be the most impressive looking track on the calendar but it does provide some of the most impressive racing on the calendar. And Montreal might not be an internationally renowned cultural mecca but that doesn’t stop the teams from claiming this race weekend has the best atmosphere this side of Monza.

So who wants to let the two Mercedes boys loose on F1’s most exciting track?

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Wednesday Link-Off: Countdown to the Cup

anais-pouliot-victoriassecret14-45The Stanley Cup Final starts today which is a pretty big deal in Canada. I suppose that it’s an even bigger deal because this might be the CBC’s last one. Stupid Stephen Harper and his crusade against public broadcasting. He’s already kept funding low enough that they’re among the lowest funded national public broadcasters in the world. Now, he may have killed it.

Sorry, got a bit off-track there. We’re here to do the links after all. Let’s start with Anais Pouliot.

Rob Ford might still be in rehab but that doesn’t mean that he plans on becoming a permanent resident. He’s gearing up for a Canada Day return to campaigning. (Toronto Sun)

Have you ever wanted a look inside the biggest (legal) grow-op in Canada? A company has invigorated little Smiths Falls, Ontario, by converting an old Hershey’s factory into a medical marijuana grow-op. (MacLean’s)

We might perceive America as the top military powerhouse in the world but one retired Colonel says that the actual fighting state of the US Army isn’t what they’d have you believe it is. (Politico)

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Sunday Link-Off: They Actually Made Me Go to Rehab

kim-cloutier-soma14-01If you’re not here in Canada, you might not know that this is a holiday weekend. It’s our version of the May long weekend coinciding with the third Monday of the month while America’s Memorial Day is on the fourth Monday. The more you know… not that you needed to know that. I like to educate every now and then.

And since this is a Canadian holiday weekend, we should start this post with a Canadian model. Here’s Kim Cloutier. Really, no one else could kick off this post.

New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson was fired because she demanded equal pay to her male predecessor. That’s a sad state of affairs when that happens. (The New Yorker)

How far behind male colleagues was Abramson? Only about $100,000. (Politico)

It’s not just the Fair Elections Act that the Harper Government is missing the mark with. Everyone from lawyers to NGOs to the victims of cyberbullying are opposed to the Canadian Government’s cyberbullying bill. And you want to elect Harper’s Ontario lieutenant. (Vice)

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Sunday Link-Off: Harper Strikes Back

jessica-pare-esquire14-02It’s the beginning of another week which means that it’s time for us to give you another set of links. I’d like to think of the start of this post as Canada-centric while it finishes a more nationally agnostic. That doesn’t mean that there won’t be something for everyone in here.

But let’s start off with something Canadian. Since Mad Men is back on Sunday, here’s Jessica Pare.

The Fair Elections Act is going to cripple democracy in Canada but most Canadians aren’t arsed about the impending death of their democracy. Why are they so apathetic? (CBC News)

In news that should surprise no one, an upcoming UN report will suggest that Russia did everything in its power to make sure the secession of Crimea happened as they planned. (Foreign Policy)

A retiring SEC lawyer used his farewell speech to denounce the commission’s soft stance on traders who caused the recent financial crisis. I don’t think he’ll find many people off of Wall Street who will disagree. (Bloomberg)

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Sony Raises PS4 Console and Game Prices in Canada

ps4-moneyBack in January, we brought a story about EB Games Canada quietly raising prices on almost all of their new releases from $60 to upwards of $70 whether they were on current or last-gen consoles. Last month, Microsoft quietly announced that the price of Xbox One games would increase to $65 each. Now, Sony has announced that the price of the PS4 console in Canada will increase along with the price of games and peripherals.

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EB Games Canada is Quietly Raising Prices

eb-games-canada-logoThe Canadian currency market is probably not something most gamers pay attention to but it might be something that will concern Canadian gamers if what EB Games is doing becomes an industry-wide trend.

The Canadian arm of GameStop has very quietly raised the prices of some much-anticipated upcoming games. Rather than being $60 as it was for new games in previous years, EB Games is charging up to $70 for new games that are available for pre-order.

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The History of Canadian Thanksgiving (Infographic)

It’s going to be a quiet day on the blog today because it’s a holiday up here in Canada. Today is our Thanksgiving. Unlike America which has Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November, in Canada, it’s the second Monday in October.  In fact, Thanksgiving in Canada has been in April, May, June and November before being an October holiday.

So to celebrate a day off in the fall, let’s bring back a classic infographic with this look at the history of Canadian Thanksgiving.

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Wednesday Link-Off: Left or Right

chrissy-teigen-beachbunny13-25It’s the middle of the week which means that it’s time for us to do the links. Let’s start this post with Chrissy Teigen.

Scientists are more convinced than ever that humans are speeding up global warming. (Think Progress)

New Jersey governor Chris Christie has banned gay conversion therapy. Makes sense since gay conversion therapy is basically a lie. (Politico)

Senator Ted Cruz has renounced his Canadian citizenship. Where are the Cruz birthers? (Washington Post)

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Wednesday Link-Off: With or Without Google Reader

chrissy-teigen-gq13-09Welcome to the post-Google Reader era of The Lowdown Blog. So this weekend has seen troubles with me finding a new RSS reader and WordPress screw up image embedding so now most of them won’t work in a paragraph. So I don’t know if the linkdump image is going to be to the right of this paragraph or above. It might eventually sort itself out. I’ve noticed that this has gone retroactive so it looks like some update got pushed down that messed up the layout.

Anyway, let’s start this post with Chrissy Teigen.

Getting kicked out of two of the most popular bands of the 90s would completely devastate most men but Jason Everman isn’t most men. (New York Times)

The iWatch isn’t something that Apple has to make for you or me but it has to make it for their investors. (The Atlantic Wire)

The NRA might blame video games but it looks like Newtown school shooter Adam Lanza was a student of mass murders. (Orlando Sentinel)

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25 New Reasons to Love Canada

Here at The Lowdown Blog, we love our country. Not only that but we love the women of Canada. I might be a bit biased but I think that Canadian women are the greatest in the world. Since I know the Yanks will be promoting their finest on Independence Day, to celebrate Canada Day here’s another look at 25 of the hottest Canadian women. Happy Canada Day!

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