Gambling Winnings Tax in Canada – [2021] Casino Taxes

I like to start off saying that I have never had issues claiming back my gambling refund for the past 6 years. Understood with covid alot of returns are delayed.
Here's the story, I mailed in my 2019 refund package in February 2020. (Mid 5 figures) Then as you know the covid hits and I recieved a letter back in June 2020 that they will need up to 6 months to issue any refund due. No problem, totally get it.
Then I recieved a second letter in September 2020 saying my ITIN is expiring in December 31, 2020 and I need to renewal if I want to claim any 2020 Refund. Sure, I mailed my ITIN renewal document in mid November 2020.
Fast forward to January 2021, I have not recieve any updates so I gave IRS a call. The rep mentioned my ITIN has expired hence my account is "deactivated", so 2019 refund is on hold. The rep also mentioned there isn't any info on my ITIN renewal application.
Everything is paused until my ITIN is renewed.
I spoke to my accountant and she suggested I should go through the advocacy group and perhaps they can help speed up the process.
Here's my question : 1) Is it true when my ITIN expired in end of 2020 that my 2019 claim is paused? Even tho I submitted way before ITIN expired and IRS was working on it? 2) Do you think going through advocacy would speed up the process during covid?
Edit: all my documents were mailed in as registered mail, so I know the IRS recieved them.

Just wondering if anybody knows how it works if you win a big jackpot / tournament in Ireland. Being Canadian I know Ours and Ireland’s views on gambling taxation are the same. Neither of us tax winnings. But would me not being a resident of Ireland effect this? Just wondering if they charge capital gains on foreign gamblers basically.

I've noticed a lot of new people in here asking some obvious questions to those of us who have been around for a while. So to generate new and better discussion I want to answer some of these frequently asked questions.

1. Where can I find information about these companies
I hope you haven't bought any of these names before you did research and before you even know where to start looking. First place you should go to is Google and type in " investor relations". If this is too much you can shorten it to " IR". It should be the first link in every case and if it's not then that's already a red flag.
Read about the companies products, how they operate. Read their MD&A, read their financial statements from the last few years. Maybe look at product reviews or review the products yourselves. Watch interviews with the CEO. Find out what makes this company unique, operationally effective and worth buying for consumers. You should quickly figure out that APHA is NOT a cannabis company, but a consumer packaged good company. They own Cannabis, Alcohol, and Pharma businesses (plus hemp after the TLRY merger).
Doing your DD should take time. Don't be in a rush to buy the stock because it's run up 100% in the past few weeks. If you look at the chart, 2 years ago these companies rocketed upwards to ATHs, you could have waited another year or so and bought lower. Are we taking off to the moon and never coming back? Probably not.

2. Where can I buy these companies? Are they on Robinhood?
First, ditch Robinhood a get a broker that won't go under in the next few years. Pay a trading fee if you need to but just buy enough stock to make the tade worth it. Don't buy $20 of Apha on investorline or you're immediately taking a 50% haircut with a $9.95 trading fee.
Second, you can buy these companies on most/all legit trading platforms. I won't name them all but all of the big Canadian banks self-directed platforms have them. I'm not American so I can't speak for them but I've heard good things about Fidelity and Vanguard.
Oh, did you also mean what exchanges can I buy them on? Big Canadian names are on the major exchanges like TSX and Nasdaq. Smaller names are on the CSE and OTC markets. US names can't list on the big exchanges because your government decided cannabis was bad like 50 yrs ago so those are only on the OTC and CSE markets. MSOs is a fund on the NYSE (I think) that hold some sort of swaps on the US names but I personally just buy the names myself. Again, do you own DD, even if you're buying a fund.

3. This stock went up x% in the last y time, should I buy it or wait for a dip?
This ties into point 1 above, so if you've done your DD you should know if the company is worth what it is priced at. The market does wacky shit all the time (see Gamestop, morgage crisis, great depression) so it'll go up and down, but generally follow along the trajectory of the company profits. If the profits increase by 5x in 10 years, the stock price will do the same. If you're asking for predictions in the short term consult a fortune teller, roll dice or find one of those pets that pick stocks.

4. What stocks should I buy? How do you feel about x company?
See 1, then 3. I can't tell you what companies are good in the space better than your own research. Especially since you don't know what my plans are. Maybe a poster says buy "Apha" but they're only holding until the TLRY merger closes. They'll never tell you when they're selling so if it drops you'll be scratching your head. Do a bunch of research on the main players, then some smaller guys and figure out what you can stomach. Maybe a cannabis ETF is right for you or maybe 1 or 2 strong picks or maybe you like gambling with penny stocks. Just do your own DD.
Popular names and good places to start are:

Canadian names: APHA/TLRY, CGC/WEED, ACB, CRON
US names: CURA, TRUL, CL, GTII

5. Should I buy leaps or warrents or calls or puts? Also what are derivatives?
If you have to ask, no. I'm also not going to explain because I don't know either.

6. I bought Gamestop at all time highs and I sold and lost 90%, is cannabis good?
No, kindly take your paper hands and go back to WSB. We don't want investors in this space who sell at the first 10% drop after an 100% run, or after a 50% drop from ATHs, or after a short report from some short selling parasites. We hold because this is a once in a lifetime opportunity of a product moving from the illicit market to the legal market. There is no need to build up demand, merely move the consumer from buying from their dealer to our dealer. This will take time, regulatory changes, perception changes and most importantly, your patience.

7. Any small companies you can reccomend?
Being a small company in this space comes with distinct disadvantages. Price compression in Canada will kill small/medium sized growers since they can't achieve postive margins without scale. Add in some mould on even 1 harvest and the losses have destroyed your business. On the US side, regulations are weird and vary across different states. Califonia is a dumpster fire, Florida requires you to be vertically integrated, and other states have limited licences for retail and grows. Think about how hard it would be to get a foothold in Florida as a small business. Think about how valuable a licence is in limited licence states. Maybe your small player is looking for licences and gets NONE. That's devastating. Curaleaf misses 1 licence? Not great, but they have other applications in multiple states.
If you're buying a small company or penny stock, know the risks and do extra DD.
THERE HAVE BEEN COMPANIES THAT ARE FRAUDULENT IN THIS INDUSTRY.
COMPANIES HAVE GONE BANKRUPT IN THIS INDUSTRY.
Canntrust was legit but had fake walls with more plants behind them. Ignite was run by Dan Bilzerian. YOUR PICKS ARE NOT IMMUNE FROM GOING BANKRUPT.
Let me repeat the most important point: THERE HAVE BEEN COMPANIES THAT ARE FRAUDULENT IN THIS SPACE.

8. I wanna buy because of US legalization! When will Cannabis be legalized in the US?
Asking for a specific date is dumb and assuming that it's going to pass is dumber. Yes, Democrats control all 3 branches of government and yes, they are more cannabis friendly than Republicans and yes, some Republican states also recently legalized cannabis. THIS DOES NOT MEAN LEGALIZATION WILL PASS THIS YEAR, OR EVEN UNDER THIS CONGRESS OR PRESIDENT. Some Republicans in the house voted for cannabis regulation under Trump and some Democrats voted against it. We have no idea how the senate will vote and it doesn't take many votes to torpedo any legislation.
If you know the US Cannabis space right now you'll know that descheduling and getting access to lower tax rates, access to capital and ability to cross state lines are some of the most important regulatory changes that need to happen. Look up the ~~208e~~280e tax code. Seriously do it. Full legalization is nice but also unlikely.

If I've missed any questions post them below. and I'll add them.

TL:DR: Do your own DD. Start here:

Canadian names: APHA/TLRY, CGC/WEED, ACB, CRON
US names: CURA, TRUL, CL, GTII

EDIT: Adding in some resources for those who want more. These are my own resources I use/used to get started. If you have resources to share please do so but don't self promote you ding dongs.

Resources
New to Investing:

Most people think Warren Buffet is the GOAT but Peter Lynch is also a GOAT in his own right and a better speaker.
People also think you need to read through all of "The Intelligent Investor" before you can start investing but that's bs. Read "One up on Wallstreet" by Peter Lynch. It's like 300 pages shorter and more fun. Then read Intelligent Investor if you want but if you get 20 pages in and fall asleep or feel stupid then I told you so.
Martin Shkreli is an asshat but he knows the finance side of valuing companies. His finance lessons are awesome if you stand him for a few hours at a time. Follow along with your own companies.

Cannabis Resources:

The sidebar has great resources. ~~Stateside cannabis investors~~(EDIT: Currently down) is awesome for the US side.
The OCS releases a quarterly report you should read for Canada. Hell, go to OCS.ca and see what products are available and prices. Go to the BC page, the quebec page etc...
Statscan has a cannabis hub. It's updated super rarely and it might be archived but it's good to look at to start.

The cannabis market right now is so similar to the start of the green energy market.. its nowhere near done being bullish. Save for some small dips, there will very likely be a huge bullish trend for 2021. EVEN NASDAQ AGREES. I’ve posted my positions a few times, and I’ll continue to do so. But this is my reasoning for investing in cannabis stocks in general for 2021.

I've been a bull on cannabis since the democrats had a strong pro-cannabis platform. But what made me go balls deep into the market was that the UN changed its classification of cannabis. Countries follow the UN closely for guidance on their own classification of controlled substances. Congress has repeatedly cited the UN’s classification as one of the reasons for not changing it. Several countries immediately changed their stance on cannabis in response to this, including Israel, which In November 2020, announced that it was moving forward with a plan to legalize recreational cannabis nationally. “The country is aiming to implement recreational legalization within nine months, and even if there are delays, that means mid-to-late 2021.” (This is my reason for investing in Canadian cannabis companies, because they are already poised to expand internationally since its legal there nationwide)

THE SENATE IS NOW BLUE! The Georgia runoffs were won by Democrats, and they can now swing the vote left with VP Harris. She promised it as part of her platform, so we know it will be prioritized. CHUCK SHUMER SPONSORED THE MORE ACT. HE WILL BE SENATE MAJORITY LEADER. IT WILL 100% BE PRIORITIZED BETWEEN HIM AND VP HARRIS.

EVERYONE predicted beforehand that the republicans would win Georgia... everyone talked down decriminalization passing the house because of they believed it would NEVER pass the republican majority senate. But the left spent more than any senate race in history to encourage voters to go out and vote. Only once the race started did it become clear that the left had a chance. Then some gains from the surprise that they won. However the gains from 1/5 onwards definitely hasn’t been priced in for all the future legislation, because some of it will be completely new legislation that wasn’t possible to consider before without a blue senate. THIS HASN'T BEEN PRICED INTO THE MARKET YET.

The SAFE BANKING ACT has bipartisan support, and is likely to pass BEFORE decriminalization because it is tied into some stimulus bills.

The government is broke post-COVID. There is a terrible image of the police. They don’t want to waste more resources on cannabis related crimes that would be fixed under decriminalization. And the tax revenue from decriminalization would be significant. Decriminalization (THE MORE ACT) opens up the borders to interstate-commerce and international import/export. This would all trickle down into Uncle Sam’s empty pockets.

New York Governor Cuomo announced on Jan 6 his plan to legalize marijuana for adult use (right after New Jersey vote, as I anticipated in my last post) as part of his State of the State agenda. The next step is a ripple out on the North East. NY didn’t want to miss out on tax revenue, neither will any of the other states in the northeast within driving distance of NJ and NY. This is Cuomo’s third attempt in three years to legalize adult-use cannabis in the state; last year, Cuomo included a legalization proposal in his state budget, but the plan was ultimately cut in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Other ongoing state legislature:

Rhode Island: Regulators have received 45 applications for six new medical cannabis dispensary licenses in the state. If all applicants meet the requirements for a license, six will randomly be selected in a lottery to operate retail locations in different regions across the state. Read more
Missouri: Rep. Shamed Dogan has filed legislation that would place an adult-use cannabis legalization measure on the state’s 2022 ballot. Meanwhile, Missourians for a New Approach has announced plans for a separate 2022 ballot initiative after an unsuccessful signature campaign to get the issue before voters in 2020. Read more
Alabama: Sen. Tim Melson plans to reintroduce a medical cannabis legalization bill this year. Medical cannabis legislation passed the Alabama Senate during the 2020 session, but failed to clear the House. Read more
Illinois: Illinois lawmakers have proposed the creation of 75 new cannabis retail licenses to give disadvantaged and minority applicants a second chance at licensing following the controversial licensing lottery to issue an initial 75 dispensary licenses. A work group made up of lawmakers and members of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration met this week to finalize details of the bill, which will be introduced in a lame-duck session that starts Jan. 8, before new lawmakers are sworn in Jan. 13. Read more
Minnesota: House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler is again renewing his push to legalize adult-use cannabis in the state, announcing plans to reintroduce a legalization bill this year. Winkler told WCCO that he sees “Senate leadership as being the number one obstacle,” but said that if lawmakers agreed to place an adult-use legalization initiative on Minnesota’s 2022 ballot, “it would pass overwhelmingly.” Read more
Virginia: Del. Steve Heretick has reintroduced a bill to legalize adult-use cannabis. Heretick has proposed legislation related to decriminalization and legalization in the past, and this year’s bill would legalize the cultivation, sale and consumption of cannabis in the state. Read more
Connecticut: Gov. Ned Lamont renewed his push for adult-use legalization during his State of the State address Jan. 6, announcing that it is a priority for the new legislative session. Connecticut’s 2021 legislative session opened Jan. 6, and Lamont, a Democrat, kicks off the session with increased majorities in the House and Senate, which could increase his chances of passing an adult-use legalization bill. Read more

Now that you understand why I’m going green, here’s my reasoning for my positions.
TLRY (Tilray)

largest cannabis company in the world by revenue post merger. Will run out of Seattle and New York City. New York Legalization on top of senate turning blue is a big catalyst for TLRY.
Merger hasn’t completed yet, and the merger happened before the senate went blue.. that was the gamble APHA was making, and they won. The sky is the limit now. When they merge, they will reduce expenses and be much more likely to post profitable quarters. (This is why mergers have so much hype; the sum is > than their parts because they can reduce operating expenses while maintaining revenue from the two companies)
Tilray CEO Brendan Kennedy: “I think medical cannabis will be legal at the federal level, which means medical cannabis can cross state lines and be imported into the U.S., like we export cannabis from Canada and Portugal to about 15 countries now,” Kennedy said. “Anyone who thinks there’s a state-specific medical market is wrong.” As for the recreational market, Kennedy says the state-specific markets, with interstate trade banned, “are not going to last long.” Kennedy believes that cannabis will be distributed like alcohol and tobacco within two years’ time. That would require significant overhaul of US federal drug laws—and would significantly disrupt all US cannabis companies’ existing business models. Brendan Kennedy, the cannabis billionaire will step down as Tilray's chairman and CEO. Irwin D. Simon, Aphria's current chairman and CEO will take Kennedy's place.
[On December 18, 2020, just three days after the U.S. Senate adopted the Cannabidiol and Marihuana Research Expansion Act (CMREA or the Act) (more on this below), the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA or the Administration) published in the Federal Register a final rule, “Controls To Enhance the Cultivation of Marihuana for Research in the United States” (Rule), which finally paves the way for DEA to issue additional licenses to grow “marihuana” (i.e., cannabis) for research purposes.](https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/on-heels-of-senate-s-adoption-of-36129/)

GNLN (Greenlane Holdings)

One of the largest global sellers of premium cannabis accessories. Pax/JUUL/Volcano products. I’ve had Pax products, and although I prefer Arizer because of the affordability, I can’t deny Pax has quality products and is like the “iPhone” of vaporizers. I like their products, I like their branding. There’s lots of hype and loyalty, especially with their Volcano desktop vaporizer.
Strong US brands.
The main reason they did poorly was bad timing. They IPO’d during the year that JUULs started being banned. They’re actually at all those levels again. Theres a ton of upside potential.
Market cap is ridiculously low for some really renown brands all because of the JUUL flavor pod ban. Everyone knows Pax, Volcano, and JUUL. But no one knows Greenlane because of the bad timing of their IPO and the subsequent JUUL flavor ban. It’s crazy. They’ve already broke all time high for the year. But I’m holding until they break 1B market cap.
Recently became the exclusive distributor for the world's first gravity powered contactless water hookah.
Overall i think too many people count it out just because of their IPO and subsequent decline in JUUL sales from the JUUL flavored pods ban. They definitely have the potential because of their strong branding and quality products. I’m betting on them having more high quality products in the future with equally loyal customers.

SNDL (Sundial Growers)

SNDL must close above $1 per share for 10 consecutive sessions by June 26, 2021 or it will be delisted from NASDAQ. People see this as a fear factor, I see this as “they will do anything necessary to reach $1 for a week so they won’t be delisted”.. IMHO reverse splitter probably isn’t on the table since they could have done that in 2020, but instead applied for a 6 month extension after announcing “alternative strategic investments”. We can already see this by their predatory loan SPAC spinoff.
Rumors of a merger with CGC; SNDL also purchased a SPAC recently and entered an agreement with Zenabis, immediately claiming they defaulted. Turning that SPAC into predatory loan/debt repurchasing company. Imo if they want to complete a merger, it would be easy to sell ownership through that SPAC to the buyer.
THEY RECENTLY WENT DEBT FREE by selling off unprofitable assets in the business. This means we are much more likely to see earnings in future quarters, and they are much more attractive for mergers.
Because they are indoor growers, they are more likely to be bought up by a company in the consolidating Canadian cannabis market than fail all together. The amount of space licensed to grow cannabis in Canada is now heavily skewed toward outdoor cultivation instead of indoor for the first time, according to new data from Health Canada. A growing population of licenses for outdoor growers means that there aren’t as many indoor licenses being given out... If a company ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD wants to quickly expand into indoor growing OR into the west, they would have to purchase an existing company that has the license to quickly do so. This is WAY faster, and a guaranteed way to obtain a license rather than applying for one and waiting x amount of months and be rejected for some requirement that wasn’t met.
From my own experience, outdoor cannabis is subpar quality to indoor grown cannabis. So a growing market for outdoor cannabis doesn’t necessarily mean its better... it is likely just cheaper. I would imagine a high quality “craft cannabis” company would want to purchase SNDL, or an existing outdoor growing company that wants to quickly expand to indoor grown cannabis. With this being a Canadian company, there’s a chance a company in another country like Israel would be interested in purchasing it in the near future.

PLNHF (Planet 13 Holdings)

Biggest tourist trap in Las Vegas if you’re a stoner, casual smoker, or just wanting to try it. From my own experience, I think they will continue to be successful. If I went around the US trying other brands I’d probably be more confident in putting 5-10% of my portfolio into those picks or choosing to not include them lol. Like for example, I used to have Curaleaf. But there's tons of bad feedback on Curaleaf, a friend has tried it said the nug is really subpar quality and if I tried their nug I’d probably confirm that I wouldn’t want to invest in them. With PLNHF, i’ve seen the ambience and tried the product myself. It’s definitely a lot of hype price wise, but still quality. This is my own bias showing, but I still think they’ve got solid fundamentals and excellent location/strong US branding.

I’m well aware of other good stocks like GTBIF, CRLBF, SSPK, TCNNF, GRWG.. but these stocks haven’t been swinging as hard in response to pro-cannabis news. E.g. TLRY, SNDL, GNLN swung more than 20% some days from pro-cannabis news...I will likely reduce my current positions shortly after inauguration, after some news about the timeline for cannabis legislation, and diversify my positions more between these other good picks.

2021 is the year of cannabis boys

To start, this should be a single player game. If Bethesda/Obsidian/MS can make it so I can play with 1 or 2 friends, I want that but understand it's not that simple.
So why it should be picked:
First, NY has an amazing history when it comes to Pre-Revolution, Revolution, the Civil War, and beyond. Major events like the battle at Saratoga (which is considered the turning point of the Revolution), the 1980 Miracle on Ice, and Woodstock (along with a whole lot more) all took place in upstate NY. So the rich history of the area is ripe for pro American stylizing and propaganda that gives FO it's unique take on American Atom-punk.
That along with more modern history of things like the Native Americans (The Oneidas) actually taking back their land and forming their own sovereign nation (basically they have their own gov. Pay no state taxes, and self govern with police, fire, and allow gambling which NY does not). So their modern government would not only be some great lore, but I honestly believe could be a basis for the main quest line. Things like their unique tribal leadership, philosophy, and gambling (hello 10 luck) could bring a very grey area to fallout that was kind of missed in FO3 + 4. Plus their mythology would make for a great weird scene that fallout has at least 1 of every game.
Also, for those who don't know, upstate NY is very country with major cities pocketed about. (Utica, Albany, Syracuse, etc). So if you liked NV style of wandering the wastes, or 3s style of city wandering, we've got both. Also, we've got two mountains areas, one in the Adirondacks and the Catskills are the other.
That said, one of the most important parts of fallout are the locations. Where can we go? For that I have a list:
Major locations:
Lake Placid Winter Olympics training facility - the winter olympics world be held in 2078 and if they still exist by then and to play into the game, LP could be the location of those games. Again, the miracle on ice where American Amateurs bested the Communist Russian Pros, was held there. The "Better dead than Red" sentiment would be full force. Not to mention one of a few great locations for a possible vault (80, in this case to house winter olympians). Plus, the weapons could be cool too. Hockey sticks, hockey skate blades on gloves, a goalie mask for armor, you name it.
Cooperstown Baseball HOF - Now when you think Americana, Baseball is one of your first thoughts, don't lie. Cooperstown is baseball central and very pretty. Another great place for pro-american styles and fun gear like baseball base mines, softball helmets (because fuck you "A League of Their Own" style pro-baseball league in FO sounds awesome), and of course bats and baseball grenades. Also a baseball Vault (Vault 4, 5, 7, or 9). Not my idea, but in this vault, there's 32 teams of mens and 32 teams of womens baseball (or coed teams, idk), all of whom are pro players. Vault tec test is simple, winner gets food and drinks, loser gets steroid infused food and drink (but they don't know it has steroids obviously). The idea is, test how good at baseball people can be if given monster amounts of steroids for generations. I'll make a separate post about this in detail if desired.
Canastota Boxing HOF - Another unique area for America. Canastota is pretty boring and empty, but for those of you old enough to remember Rocky when it came out, it basically revived Boxing as a major sport and also had a moment where America bested the Red Menace (Rocky IV). Maybe a spot for a vault or to learn unique unarmed moves. Pugilism Illustrated anyone?
Albany - NYs capital and an easy big city area along the Hudson. A great location for corporate greed, governmental corruption, and side quests. Can't say it'll be the focal point of the game since its very near the eastern border of it, but a good location for exploring and lore.
Buffalo/Niagara Falls - Ya ever gone over the falls in a barrel? Do ya want to? I think using Niagara Falls (which has an American and Canadian side, Canadas is the U-shaped famous one) as Fallouts first "Non-American" location would be fun. First, the falls are beautiful and are a major source of hydroelectric power. Second, in FO, America annexed canada, so it's technically still America! Third, right across the "border" are casinos! More gambling! Third and a half, it's another big city and buffalo is where the buffalo wing was invented (God bless buffalo wings). Besides the cool lore opportunity about the annexation and the city location, the falls could be a major location for the story if the main conflict was about powering the area, similar to NV.
Syracuse - NYs (literal) center city. The Salt City as it was formally known is a big city with some great old and new style. Again, not much about the city to say, but a great opportunity for corporate BS. The main attraction would be the Syracuse Dome (formerly the Carrier Dome). Due to its location and style, it's perfect as a central trading hub for the major cities and people. Think of Great Green Jewel style, people living, bars, shops, etc. BUT the really interesting part is what's right next to the Dome. SUNY ESF (Environmental Science and Forestry). This college is special because (A. I went there) it has very unique programs and with some future tech thrown in, could be a great location for a Fallout 3 Harold or NV vault 22-esq quest. The college already does experiments with major chemicals, evolution (FEV anyone?) and breeding plants for unique purposes. Again, I have a really cool idea for this area, but that can be a different post. Fun fact, ESF is actually working to bring back the North America Chestnut that went (nearly) extinct! Also, some asshole releases the fruit flies the genetics lab work with every year and it sucks.
NYC (Empire, 9/11 memorial, Statue of Liberty) - Yeah yeah, you can't have NY without the City, but frankly there's so much here to explore and deal with, I'd leave it to the pros to really do it justice.
Turning Stone Casino - Gambling, a hotel/restaurants like in NV, and a good spot for the main quest line.
Fort Stanwix - A real revolutionary war fort. HQ or major area for raiders. Safe, well protected and with plenty of history.
Fort Drum and Griffis Air Force Base: Two major bases that could be packed with guns, nukes, and power armor. Heavily guarded by turrets, robots, and security gates.
Main Quest:
Without too much detail, I figure your character will be hired to figure out the future of NY.
You'll be brought to the Turning Stone which is currently the HQ of the Oneida tribe. Your job would be to either work with the other tribes in the former Iroquois Confederation (Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk, and Tuscarora [added later]). (Quick note: in my AU, some time after the bombs fell, the IC came to power because of their knowledge of living off the land and attempted to rebuild society. After some time rebuilding and establishing a post-war society, the tribes do the thing all humans do and bicker. Around 2200 the IC broke apart but the tribes retained power in their areas. They fight, trade, yadda yadda but no one is in control of everything.
Throughout your quest, it turns out that what is holding everyone back is a lack of power for things like lights and running water. Your job will be to determine where to get that power (Nuclear power plant in Oswego or the falls in Niagara?) And where to give it (one tribe? A few? Or all?). But that's not all, the tribes can't decide who should be in charge. One tribe wants to remain independent, don't help the outsiders and rebuild society in their image within NY, another wants to help others but would need to sacrifice their own people's safety and seclusion. Maybe another wants to be imperialist and expand their borders throughout America through way of force and fear while another agrees with taking land but wants it done through offers of protection for taxes. And each tribe has its own opinion on bringing the IC back together, staying separate, or taking over the tribes for themselves.
It's up to you character to decide who to help. Do you work hard to try and bring all tribes together under one banner or choose a side and execute their will as a paid mercenary/ambassador?
Other choices would be chaos by siding with raiders, or maybe a BOS path to take out all the tribes, idk, haven't thought it all out. Again, not a writer.
Mechanics:
So personally, I like the idea that if you choose to go with a single faction, there would a battle/war mechanic where you and an army (or alone if you really wanna try) take over and lay claim to areas similar to Nuka World where you fly the gangs flag. Nothing complicated, normal fallout fights, don't die and kill the leadehis troops to win.
Karma is back. You will garner good or bad rep with each tribe depending on what you do. I'd like an armor system like in NV but I can live without it.
There is an ending. Once you beat the game you can continue doing side quests for armoexperience/ammo but only for the tribes left in power. Occasional rebellions will rise up as random events that need to be put down.
Settlements are limited. Like skyrim, but a plot and build. No need to build one everywhere and you don't even need to do it if you don't want to.
Radio host? Gimme a Mr. New Vegas type guy. I don't want an eccentric 3-dog, I want a smoothed voiced person wishing me lady like luck.
Also, smarter AI.
Otherwise, typical FO mechanics. Weapons degrade, can upgrade weapons and armor, etc.
Main problems with NY:
No real borders to the south. Invisible walls would like be necessary which is stupid. Same to the East, but the Hudson could theoretically be used as a border if you put crazy strong mirelurks or something to kill the player if they tried to cross (or more invisible walls)
Don't want to disrespect the tribes. This is an issue with using each tribe as a possible faction. You're bound to piss off or disrespect one. So it'll be a task to make sure it's as limited as possible.
What to do with the city? It's a huge area that can be used for so much, but as a part of NY it's actually pretty seperated. It's a commercial hub now, but there's nothing there that would really be a reason to go down there. So do you make it one or do we just make it a glowing sea type area that's completely decimated from the bombs? That's my personal choice honestly, but it's a tough one to please as many as possible.
Conclusion: NY is rad.
I'll be taking questions as long as they do not involve Canadian trivia. Thank you.

Album first
Edit: Added some additional pics in the album.
Intro
This is my third pair of goodyear welted boots. My current go-to boots are Wolverine 1000 Mile Evans; these being a very casual look, I wanted a dressier boot, one that I could dress up with a suit or dress down with jeans. The chelsea boot seemed to fit the bill.
Purchasing
I bought these from Meermin’s website for $330 CAD, including shipping. As a Canadian who has been shopping around for quality footwear for a while, this is CHEAP. I’m more than happy with the price. Got dinged for $16 in taxes when it cleared customs, and UPS charged a $10 brokerage fee for collecting this. Something to keep in mind for fellow Canadians - if you need to do any returns, there’ll be some costs that you won’t get back. Still quite happy with the $356 CAD all-in; I don’t think I could have gotten anything close to this quality at local retail for that price.
Meermin also shipped the boots UPS Expedited from New Jersey, which was nice, as shipping was quite fast. They shipped about 1 business day after ordering, and arrived 3 days later.
Sizing, Fit, and Comfort
Buying footwear online without the opportunity to try on is always a bit of a gamble, and I put a lot of effort into trying to get the sizing right, since return and re-purchase costs could add up pretty quickly, on top of just being annoying. Meermin customer service emailed me some very helpful information on measuring my feet, as well as a link to their sizing tool (https://digamelon.typeform.com/to/yqolYj), which was super helpful as it gives full measurements for all the Meermin lasts in each size. I did a lot of measuring of my feet before settling on size 10UK.
Again, the sizing tool was invaluable for choosing the right size - I had seen a lot of advice to go a full size down from your US size to Meermin’s UK sizing. I wear a US 10.5D in most shoes, but I think the 9.5 UK would have been too narrow in the toe - this is a common issue for me, as my forefoot is around a D width, but my hindfoot and ankle are rather narrow. In many of the chelsea boots I’ve tried (including Red Wing Willistons), the ones long enough to accommodate my foot length are either too narrow in the toe, or too wide in the heel and around the ankle. For further sizing reference for anyone out there, I wear a US 9.5D Wolverine 1000 Mile, I own a pair of US 9.5D Thursday Presidents that are just a bit too narrow at the point of the toe for me to be truly comfortable, and when I tried on a pair of Iron Rangers at the Red Wing store, the US 9D fit me best.
Overall the fit is comfortable, but not perfect. The collar is a bit loose around my ankle at the front and back, and there's a bit of extra room around my heel, though heel slip is minimal. The fit around my forefoot and toes is just right. Snug, but not tight. Thicker socks improve the fit somewhat. I ended up buying Superfeet’s ¾ insert off Amazon, which fills in some volume in the heel and under the vamp, and makes the fit almost perfect.
Pretty satisfied with the fit overall. Finding chelsea boots of this style that were even remotely comfortable for my foot shape was a challenge, much less a goodyear welted pair. At some point I’d like to see if a cobbler could make me a thicker ¾ leather insole so that I’d no longer need the Superfeet inserts. If anyone’s ever done something like that, I’d be interested to hear about it.
Look and Style
I was debating a black chelsea vs. a dark brown and ended up going with dark brown, as I feel like it would be more versatile with my wardrobe. The look and style is exactly what I wanted - the toes are somewhat pointed, giving the boots a dressier and sleeker profile than the rounded toe on chelsea boots like Blundstones, while still providing enough room for my wide, squarish toes. The colour is pretty true to what was shown on Meermin’s website, a nice shiny uniform dark brown that can be dressed up or down. The day my boots arrived, my kids wanted to have a “fancy dinner” at home, so I wore them with my suit (which doesn’t get any wear these days due to COVID) - the boots looked sharp!
Leather and Craftsmanship
The calf leather (from Les Tanneries Du Puy in France, per Meermin) is quite soft and supple. I haven’t worn these for an extended period yet, but so far the break-in seems pretty gentle, contrary to what I’d heard about Meermin boots in general. A few mild tight spots, but overall pretty comfortable right off the bat.
The overall fit and finish is pretty good. I’ve read mixed reviews about Meermin in this area, but mine seem pretty solid. There were a few loose threads left around the edge of the elastic areas, but they weren’t attached to anything and I was able to just pick them off. Looked like stuff that just didn’t get cleaned up before they left the factory.
There is what appears to be a slight crease line running down the front center of both boots, from the top of the collar down to the toe. Just a slightly lighter thin line in the leather - looks like where the leather was folded to shape the boot. It’s very hard to see; I can only see it up close in certain light, but this might bother some people. This is my first pair of chelsea boots, so I don’t know if this is common.
Conclusion
Pretty happy with these. I’ve been looking for a good chelsea boot for a while, and this is exactly the style that I wanted. My options in Canada at this price point that aren’t cemented crap are next to non-existent, so this was a nice introduction to Meermin. If anyone knows if Meermin has a last with the same width toe as the Hiro with a narrower heel, please let me know!

UPDATE – 26 January 2021
COVID has been in Canada for one year now.
The strange case of the CEO in disguise to get vaccine for himself.
COVID-19 tax tips.
COVID-19 and the world of work – the International Labor Organization.
A breakdown of cases among healthcare workers.

If you’re having trouble regulating life while working from home, the fake commute might be for you, have a look: https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/18/success/fake-commute-meaning-benefits-pandemic-wellness/index.html
“For the many who have been doing your part, you may be asking, what more can I do? Be the voice of support and encouragement for those who may be wavering in their resolve.” – Dr. Bonnie Henry.
Feel free to share this post, or copy and paste, in whole or any part of it.

LOCAL:
· 82 cases among New West residents in the previous week.
· No new school exposures in New Westminster since that of the Queensborough Middle School on January 11th.
· Current outbreaks: Royal City Manor, declared Jan 21; Royal Columbian Hospital, declared Jan 20.
· The Rio Theatre in Vancouver has converted into a sports bar.
· The theatre is dealing with a full closure of movie theatres. But as restaurants and bars can remain open with safety protocols, the theatre is seeking other ways to do business. The move does show that the Rio cannot do business as a theatre right now, but can meet the safety requirements to operate as a sports bar.
· There are differences though. The theatre has to actually meet the requirements for a bar, such as taking orders from people’s seats rather than allowing a line-up at the concession.
· The move has stirred controversy, with some decrying the Rio as finding a loophole while the basic lay-out is still that of a theatre, with narrow entryways and tiny washrooms. Others welcome the move as innovative, a way for a theatre to survive during the closure.
Sources: CBC, Global News, Fraser Health

PROVINCIAL:
· The strange case of the CEO in disguise.
· Vancouver couple Rod and Ekaterina Baker were fined $575 after sneaking into the Yukon to try to get the vaccine for themselves.
· The couple posed as local motel workers.
· The clinic at Beaver Creek normally has one nurse and a receptionist, but a team of six was flown in to do vaccinations. Beaver Creek was chosen because “of its remoteness, elderly and population, and limited access to health care,” said Chief Angela Demit of the White River First Nation in Beaver Creek.
· The story of the wealthy executive trying to get vaccine intended for remote elderly First Nations people has not gone over well.
· Rod Baker is the Chief Executive Officer of Great Canadian Gaming, since 2011, where he earns $900,000 per year as salary, but last year also made $45.9 million from company stock options.. The company announced his resignation yesterday. The gambling company cited it’s “core values.” Ekaterina Baker is an actor, but not apparently a good enough one to fool Yukon officials. The couple chartered a flight to the Yukon.
· “We had not been imagining that someone would go to this length to mislead or deceive.” John Streicker, Yukon’s Minister of Community Services.
· The manager of the 1202 Motor Inn, where the couple claimed to work, was also rather upset. “That’s a risk (serving travellers) that we take – not a risk that somebody enforces upon us because they are too ignorant.” Staff at the Beaver Creek clinic found the couple suspicious, and phoned the motel to check on their story. While at the clinic and pretending to live and work in town, the couple rather oddly asked if anyone could drive them to the airport afterwards.
· Story from the Globe and Mail: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-great-canadian-gaming-ceo-resigns-after-being-charged-in-yukon-ove?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Coronavirus%20Update&utm_content=2021-1-25_19&utm_term=Coronavirus%20Update:%20Great%20Canadian%20Gaming%20CEO%20resigns%20after%20alleged%20botched%20disguise%20as%20Yukon%20motel%20worker%20in%20attempt%20to%20get%20COVID-19%20vaccine&utm_campaign=newsletter&cu_id=czq7hF%2BueFDcmmCKozRUQ1bduJl6paGe
· Ekaterina Baker is known for acting in productions such as Chick Fight, Fatman, The Asset, and The Comeback Trail, and as producer of Big Gold Brick.
· IMDB page: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm9698063/
· BC has adopted a four phase vaccination plan.
· Phase 1, December to February: Residents, staff, essential visitors with long-term care and assisted living; people waiting for long-term care; people in remote Indigenous communities and hospital workers caring for patients with COVID-19.
· Phase 2, February to March: Seniors over 80; Indigenous seniors over 65, Indigenous elders; more health-care workers; vulnerable populations and nursing-home staff.
· Phase 3, April to June: Members of the general public aged 60 to 79.
· Phase 4, July to September: Members of the general public aged 18 to 59.
· Premier John Horgan says the plan is based on those who get most sick, and those most likely to die, so priority goes to the elderly and vulnerable, and those who work around them.
· The Premier said multiple groups argued that they were front-line workers and so should get priority. But with vaccine supply limited, it didn’t seem to make sense to vaccinate people on the basis of their job, like being a front-line worker, ahead people ahead of seniors or those more likely to be hospitalized or to die. Health care workers are not only the most likely to be exposed, but they also work with and have direct contact with patients and the vulnerable.
· Here is a good article with the numbers and the rationale behind the priorities: https://www.newwestrecord.ca/local-news/opinion-elderly-should-get-covid-19-vaccine-before-bc-teachers-3291898
· The dates might vary, depending on supply.
· Covid cases in BC have plateaued to an average of 500 per day.
· Dr. Bonnie Henry said that the number is still dangerously high. “For the last few weeks, we have plateaued at 500 new cases. This is too many. We are at a precipice. The virus continues to circulate in our communities. We are at the threshold of where we were in late October and November when cases started to rise.”
· “Over the next two week, I believe we can bend our curve. Not just plateau, but bend it back down…. More than you’ve done before, stay home, stop social interactions.”
· B.C. will receive no new doses of vaccine over the next two weeks. It is not sure how much will be received in February.
· Over the past three days – Saturday, Sunday, Monday:
· 1,344 new cases. 618 of those in Fraser Health. 527 reported on Saturday, 472 on Sunday, 346 on Monday. 64,828 cases to date.
· 26 new deaths. 1,154 total.
· 4,392 active cases.
· 57,831 recovered.
· 11 outbreaks in long-term care declared over.
· 6 cases of the UK variant in BC, 3 cases of the South Africa variant. No community transmission of the UK variant, but the South Africa variant cases are not connected to travel and are being investigated. Dr. Henry: “I’m very concerned. I’m concerned that if those variants start to spread, it’s just going to make our job that much more difficult.”
· 119,850 doses of vaccine administered to date.
· New numbers for Tuesday:
· 14 new deaths. 1,168 total.
· 407 new cases. 65,234 total. (Comparison: a high of 911 cases happened for Nov 27).
· 313 hospitalized, 71 in intensive care. (A high of 381 were hospitalized on January 6th).
· 4,260 active cases.
· 6,450 in self-isolation.
· 58,352 recovered.
· 122,359 doses of vaccine administered to date. 4,105 are second doses.
· No new outbreaks, one outbreak declared over.
· Dr. Bonnie Henry: “For the many who have been doing your part, you may be asking, what more can I do? Be the voice of support and encouragement for those who may be wavering in their resolve.”
· New restriction may be necessary if the number begins to climb again.
· 4,850 cases among health care workers, from January 2020 to 15 January 2021. About 8% of cases.
· From January to December 17th 2020, care aides had the highest number of cases among healthcare workers at 1,193 or 24.6%. Nurses were second at 833 or 17.2%. Below are the ten highest number of cases by healthcare worker category.
· 1,193 – care aids.
· 833 – nurse.
· 304 – licensed practical nurse.
· 280 – administration.
· 177 – housekeeping.
· 156 – dental professional.
· 151 – physician.
· 149 – kitchen staff, dietary aid, food services.
· 91 – occupational therapist, physiotherapist, respiratory therapist.
· 75 – student.
· The document is here: http://www.bccdc.ca/Health-Info-Site/Documents/COVID_sitrep/COVID19_healthcare_workers_2021_01_15.pdf
· BC has has opened 3 clinics for people with longer term Covid symptoms.
· Located at St. Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver General, and the Outpatient Care and Surgery Centre in Surrey.
· Some people still have symptoms months after the start of the disease. Of patients who were hospitalized in BC, after three months half still had breathing issues. About 20% have permanent lung scarring.
· The St. Paul’s clinic already has 160 patients.
· Nanaimo Regional Hospital has had an outbreak.
· Two staff and a patient tested positive.
· Limited to the 4th Floor on the east wing.
· A homeless shelter in Surrey has had an outbreak.
· 2 staff and 24 clients test positive.
· The Surrey Emergency Response Centre was set up to make more shelter available to homeless people during the pandemic.
Sources: CBC, New Westminster Record, Globe and Mail, BC Centre for Disease Control.

NATIONAL:
· Worked from home during Covid-19? Be sure to check out these tax tips: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/accountants-break-down-tips-for-working-from-home-expenses-1.5872477
· Covid has been in Canada for one year now, starting back on the 25th of January, 2020, with one case in Toronto.
· Long-terms care homes are particularly hard hit, and it continues to be so that care homes are getting outbreaks.
· From the CBC, “What we’re seeing in the long-term care facilities just demonstrates, unfortunately, years and years of neglect.” https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/covid-19-ontario-canada-first-case-one-year-1.5884630
· In those early days, the public was generally told in Canada that the risk was low, and that people should not wear masks, and emphasized into March that there was no community spread.
· In late February, community transmission was evidenced in the U.S., and people returning to Canada from the U.S. began to show Covid. The halt to non-essential travel, on the land border, came on March 20.
· Canada is considering more travel restrictions, says the Canadian government.
· 143 flights have arrived in Canada in past two weeks with confirmed Covid cases. Deputy Prime Minister Freeland has assured, “We are considering the issue very, very seriously.”
· In this story, you can see where Canadians are flying during the pandemic. There sure seems to be a lot of urgent need to travel to places that happen to be warm vacation spots: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/freeland-travel-restrictions-1.5887163
· There is an 8 p.m. curfew in Montreal, and that is hard on the city’s homeless people.
· Homeless people have seen a dramatic reduction in help since the pandemic began. Shelters have to have social distancing, if they are safe to open at all.
· The province has refused to exempt homeless people from the curfew. People who break the curfew are subject to fines that start at $1,000 and can go up to $6,000. Premier Legault says making an exception for homeless people could cause people to pretend to be homeless.
· Some shelters have been forced to close altogether, because they can’t meet the requirements.
· Story: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-homeless-covid-curfew-1.5880946
· 90 “adverse events following immunization,” 0.015% of the 601,901 doses administered as of January 9th 2021.
· 63 were non-serious, 0.010%. This includes things like a skin rash.
· 27 were serious, 0.004%. In Canada, this includes a wide range of symptoms from headache to nausea to anaphylaxis.
· Learn about the Canada Adverse Events Following Immunization Surveillance System (CAEFISS) here: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/immunization/canadian-adverse-events-following-immunization-surveillance-system-caefiss.html
· Here is where the numbers are updated every Friday (but not consistently): https://health-infobase.canada.ca/covid-19/vaccine-safety/#seriousNonSerious
· Manitoba is now requiring a 14 day quarantine for non-essential travel from other parts of Canada.
· The move is being made to attempt to prevent new variants of Covid-19 from entering the province.
· Applies to air and land travel.
· Includes Manitobans who are returning to the province from elsewhere.
Sources: CBC, Toronto Star, Public Health Canada

INTERNATIONAL:
· The world is experiencing Covid-somnia – an epidemic of insomnia.
· Insomnia is now at one-quarter of the population in the UK, and at 40% in Italy and Greece.
· There is concern that this is affecting people’s health in other ways.
· Work productivity is also affected.
· A University of Ottawa study of health care workers in 55 countries and 190,000 people showed that depression, anxiety, and PTSD have all risen at least 15% since the start of the pandemic. Insomnia has risen by over 23%.
· People are advised to seek help, which many are not as people avoid medical services, or those services are unavailable. Seeking help is important, because sleep issues over time can become and ongoing sleep disorder. “Tele-health” now makes treatment more available despite the pandemic.
· Working and using screens in bed is a big part of it. The recommendation is to use your bed only as a place of sleep.
· Full article: https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210121-the-coronasomnia-phenomenon-keeping-us-from-getting-sleep
· Vaccine delays are happening around the world.
· Canada is receiving zero doses this week.
· Health workers who were scheduled for vaccination were mostly notified by email of their cancellations.
· In Canada, 50% of doses will be delayed for up to four weeks, up to 400,000 doses delayed.
· Restoration of supply will happen in the European union before it happens in Canada. Pfizer explained this as differing contract deals but did not reveal details. Europe has also threatened to sue Pfizer for breach of contracts, and threatened to abandon Pfizer altogether as a supplier, perhaps in doing so catching the company’s attention.
· Pfizer and AstraZeneca say they will catch up to their commitments in the Spring. Pfizer says their delay is due to changing production systems, so a short-term shut down for a greater number of people vaccinated more rapidly overall. Pfizers says that they are upgrading to be able to produce 2 billion doses per year, from the current 1.3 billion. AstraZeneca has not given details.
· UPDATED: The Pfizer production facility in question is in Belgium. The European Union has threatened to ban exports of the vaccine if commitments to Europe are not met. The company is attempting to distribute the problem in the world somewhat equitably. If Europe followed through on the threat, that could mean delays for other countries would be longer, including Canada, which is served by the Belgium facility.
· The UK, having had Brexit and pulled out of the European Union, has realized that they, too, would be one of those outside countries. The UK, somewhat ironically, is now arguing against nationalism as government policy, referring to what they called “the dead end of vaccine nationalism.”
· The World Health Organization’s Covax program, to distribute vaccine around the world fairly to low-income countries, has not been affected, some good news in the mix. The Covax problem is still on schedule, as its vaccine supply is produced in India and South Korea. The program has also received a substantial boost, following US President Joe Biden’s decision to contribute $4 billion to the program.
· The CDC in the US says that allergic reactions to the vaccine are extremely rare.
· Out of 4 million given the Moderna vaccine, 10 had severe allergic reactions.
· Moderna – 2.5 per million doses have severe allergic reactions.
· Pfizer – 11.1 per million.
· Normal flu vaccine – 1.3 per million.
· Allergic reactions begin quickly, at a median of 7 and a half minutes, so people are able to be supported through it. The majority were known to have severe allergies in advance. In the US, all vaccination sites must have people trained in responding to anaphylaxis, or severe allergic reaction.
· Story: https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/22/health/moderna-severe-allergic-reactions-rare/index.html
· A doctor in Texas has been arrested for stealing vaccine.
· The doctor stole 9 doses to give to his friends and family, authorities allege.
· A man lived in the Chicago O’Hare airport for three months because he was afraid to fly. Story: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55702003
· Los Angeles has lifted its air quality limitations for cremations. An emergency order was issued so that crematoriums can catch up with the number of bodies. One person every eight minutes was dying from Covid every 8 minutes. The rate of death in LA county is double the norm from past years. 13,800 deaths in the city, 7,400 currently hospitalized, and 23% of those in intensive care.
· Over 200 incidents with plane passengers over the wearing of masks have been reported in the U.S.
· The behaviour has included refusal to wear masks once onboard, shouting abusively at flight attendants, and even physical assault.
· On Thursday, President Biden issued an executive order requiring the wearing of masks across transportation, a move welcomed by flight unions.
· The FAA, Federal Air Administration, has introduced fines up to $35,000 and potential jailing for abusing aircraft personnel, a move made in December after two flight attendants were assaulted.
· One person has been fined $15,000 after hitting the flight attendant, and grabbing her phone away from her while she was notifying the captain of the problem. Another passenger was fined $7,500, who when asked to wear a mask approached other passengers without a mask and sexually harassed a flight attendant.
· Some airlines are banning passengers from their flights who refuse to follow the rules. United Airlines has banned 615 people from flying on the airline since June, Delta Airlines has banned 700.
· There is a lot of news about variants of the virus.
· New variants have appeared in Britain, South Africa, and Brazil, all countries that have had high rates of Covid.
· So, what about vaccines? Scientists have actually expected that vaccines would still work against the variants. Moderna says that antibodies triggered by their vaccine works on new variants in lab test results. More study will be needed of people who actually have been vaccinated and who had the variant. The study so far was a small sample of eight people. Early results with the Pfizer vaccine also show that it works against variants.
· Moderna is also studying to see if there is a benefit of giving a third booster shot.
· Reports vary almost daily about if the variants are more deadly or not. The truth is that data is too limited and it is too early to really tell.
· Covid job losses have been four times worse than in the financial crisis in 2009.
· That’s according to a report by the International Labor Organization.
· The report estimates that 8.8% of the world’s work hours were eliminated. The ILO looks not only at those who have become unemployed, but those who have had reduced hours of work as well. That loss is equivalent to 255 million full-time jobs, or $3.7 trillion dollars of income.
· Press release: https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_766949/lang--en/index.htm
· Study: COVID-19 and the world of work. Seventh edition. https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/documents/briefingnote/wcms_767028.pdf
· What’s the latest with the Tokyo Olympics?
· The government of Japan wants to go ahead with the Olympics that were delayed last summer.
· The Olympics are planned to start on July 23, and the Paralympics on August 24.
· The International Olympic Committee is currently planning on proceeding, but has not made a final decision. Efforts are underway to have Olympics that are Covid safe. That might mean no audiences, athletes restricted to their accommodation areas, and each sport would have to have protocols around training and competition areas.
· “We need the vaccine to come to Africa.” A note about Grandmothers in Zimbabwe. I encourage you to read this one: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-55726054
Sources: BBC, Toronto Star, International Labor Organization, CNN, Los Angeles Times.

STATS (as of end of Monday)
CANADA
· 144 new deaths. 19,238 total.
· 5,628 new cases. 753,011 total.
· 1,222 fewer active. 62,446 total.
· 849 in critical care.
· 6,706 new recovered. 671,327 total.
USA
· 1,887 new deaths. 431,392 total.
· 152,244 new cases. 25,861,597 total.
· 9,812,845 active.
· 26,259 in critical care.
· 207,426 new recovered. 15,617,360 total.
WORLD
· 2,149,496 deaths.
· 100,286,772 cases.
· 72,315,474 recovered.
Sources: www.covid-19us.live/, https://www.covid-19canada.com/

Pandemic updates provided on a voluntary basis as a community service, on Tuesdays and Fridays unless circumstances do not allow (currently dealing with an injury that limits my typing).
To provide accurate and timely information, locally, provincially, nationally and internationally, all in one place.
Feel free to share.
With love and hope,
Jaimie McEvoy, City Councillor, New Westminster, B.C.

Hi, I'm a new investor and looking for some guidance:
As the title says - I want to invest in ARKK. I understand Norbert's Gamble is the best way to convert my CAD into USD.
My question is - if I buy ARKK, in USD, can I keep it in a TFSA?
Or is this a terrible idea and I should buy a Canadian ETF instead?
I'm worried about breaking some kind of tax laws by holding a US ETF in a a tax free account.. I use Questrade. My risk tolerance is high and I also don't need to touch this money hopefully for a very long time.

$TSCRF
Heard about this first by u/coinforce so s/o him but I’m going to expand on his DD since I believe he missed a key point in why its going to sky rocket ———————————————————————— * TheScoreApp
Is a digital media app with sport betting products and is the #1 sports app in Canada. If you wanna hear more good stuff about the app just go look at u/coinforce post on it to see more. ————————————————————————

CANADA SPORTS GAMBLING MARKET

At the moment Single game sports betting is illegal in Canada and is unregulated by the government meaning none of the profits are directly taxed by the government. ————————————————————————

Bill C-218

The bill was first introduced in the last Parliament and is meant to amend section 202 which prohibits single-game sport betting.
———————————————————————— * How this will effect TheScoreApp:$TSCRF
Right now the black market single-game betting is worth an estimated $14 BILLION Dollars. If the bill passes and becomes law TheScoreApp is setup to takeover the Canadian sports gambling market
———————————————————————— * Support for the bill
There seems to be strong support in the parliament for the bill since it will provided billions to the government and help fund other projects. Also Five National sports association came together in a joint statement to support the bill stressing the importance of legal framework for sport betting. So I leave it to you guys, as coinforce said “We’re handing you a golden platter” 🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀 ————————————————————————————— DD links
https://openparliament.ca/bills/43-2/C-218/?tab=major-speeches
https://www.google.com/amp/s/sportshandle.com/canada-bill-tabled-121120/amp/

Spent a couple hours thinking and writing out brief theses for all of my current positions. I follow news and financials, but these are more internal thoughts I had moving into positions. This exercise definitely helped flesh things (positive and negative) out and gave me things to think about. I think it's something I'll be doing at year-end on an annual basis moving forward as well as exit comments on all positions. I am open to risk and my portfolio reflects that. Thoughts and criticisms appreciated!
Investment Theses - Dec 1, 2020
ARKK ETF: Technology is expanding and compounding at a rate that is hard to keep up with. The same can be said of many of the primary holdings of ARKK. These are companies that have benefited the most from how quickly the world is changing today as well as how the stock market landscape in general is changing.
CLOU ETF: Cloud computing is becoming more and more relevant as businesses are relying more and more on big data to optimize their businesses. While this sector has received a bump from the COVID-19 pandemic and may level off for a time, I see it as a catalyst to a sector that isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
QQQ ETF: The Nasdaq has exploded over the past decade, far outpacing the S&P 500. This is the technology age, and those changes are just starting.
TAN ETF: As we push into the 2020s, solar energy (and other forms of clean energy) is something that is finally starting to be looked at seriously. With the massive amounts of infrastructure to be laid and work to be done, this industry won't be slowing down anytime soon.
AMZN: I mean, it's Amazon.
BAC: Huge financial institution with a long history that will be propped up by any means possible. Bank of America and other financial institutions were hit particularly hard by the drop in early 2020 and should have some further upside. This is more of a short-term idea as investors seem to be somewhat rotating back into value plays.
DIS: Disney is currently at a crossroads - they have the opportunity to break into the streaming revolution that is taking over the world, and they seem to be doing far better than anyone thought they would be. With a huge amount of IP, Disney has the capacity to rise to the level of Netflix (while not being a direct competitor) at a much quicker rate. Add into the mix their parks and retail side, and we should have great growth and a stable rebound moving into 2021 and beyond.
T: AT&T has obviously bungled their way through the DIRECTV acquisition while taking on a lot of debt to acquire it along with Time Warner. On the plus side, they've been able to effectively manage and bring their debt down due to continually strong cash flows. It remains to be seen whether they can shake off the nightmare that has been DIRECTV and capitalize on the shift to 5G as well as HBO Max.
V: Credit and debit cards are far from ubiquitous in the US and even more so in other areas of the world. Visa remains the company to beat in the space.
CRSP: The secret to the future of medicine lies in CRISPR (gene editing) technology. If this technology can be harnessed in the way it is imagined, the potentials are without end. The technology is still in the nascent stages and will undoubtedly face many delays and challenges along the way. This combined with the fact that CRISPR Therapeutics is not guaranteed to come out on top in the sector (although they are well-positioned) makes this is still a speculative but somewhat safe play.
DKNG: Betting on outcomes in life is something that the average person does every day. Throw sports, money, and easy accessibility into the mix, and you have a perfect storm. DraftKings already has a strong presence in their fantasy lineup pools. Now states are dominoing to legalize online sports betting as not doing so will lose them out on a lot of taxes as people cross state lines to place their bets. 2021 will see an explosion in the sector.
FUBO: A synergistic investment with DKNG, fuboTV is the ultimate streaming platform for all things sports. They've spent the past several years building up quite the library and consumers have no problem shelling out $60 a month in order to access it. As ESPN bleeds under DIS, consumers will flock to the streaming service that provides all of their sports needs: fuboTV. One of their most interesting ideas is how to work live sports streaming in conjunction with sports gambling.
LULU: The king of athleisure, Lululemon is here to stay, and it's safe to say that lines that come out of Lululemon stores even during the pandemic show just that. Sound financials throughout 2020 and seem to be poised to come out of the pandemic in a better position than they were in before. It will be interesting to see how they leverage their acquisition of Mirror.
U: You can mine for gold or you can sell pickaxes. While gaming might not quite be a gold rush industry, it has shown a lot of solid and steady growth over the past decade, and we are starting to move into the next generation of gaming. This growth will continue as more and more of Gen Z get older. Unity is well-positioned but will need to see if they can capitalize in the upcoming years.
VRYYF: A very small Canadian plant-based meat company that had its IPO in mid 2020. The products are great and in line with the growing population of vegetarians and vegans. Their demand is currently too high, and they cannot ship product in a timely fashion to consumers. They've acquired several new plant locations that could show huge expansion in their production as well as the US market. It remains to be seen whether that spike in production will be met with the same level of demand, which is what the current astronomical valuation is based on. Highly speculative and volatile but still viewed as a long term hold if demand surges YoY.

Just getting into cigars and any Canadians in this sub will know the prices here are nuts from the taxes. Buying online is a gamble if you get hit with duties but it's a gamble I'm willing to take. Any recommended websites? Shopping in singles is preferable, can barely afford a box. Also Cubans are a plus of course.

Blameworthiness for Avoidable Psychological Harms

Cross-posted from my personal blog.
Here are two premises I firmly believe:
Premise 1: Normatively, psychological harms[1] matter.
Premise 2: Descriptively, an individual's ideology[2] will change her affective response to events.
From these, there arises a dilemma: who is to blame when psychological harm to an individual arises as a result of the victim's ideology? In this post, I explore the this dilemma by:
First, sketching the relationship between emotion and ideology.
Second, proposing two extreme approaches to it and rejecting each.
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Affective Ideologies | Two Extreme Approaches | Extreme Approach One: Reject Premise 1 | Extreme Approach Two: Naïve Accounting of Psychological Harms | A Better Framework | Better Affective Ideologies

Would you buy from an altruistic shop?

Hey guys, I've always had strong feelings against conspicuous consumption, so me and a friend decided to try to subvert this trend by collaborating with designers and making an exclusive online shop where you can buy expensive limited-edition items, but where most money goes to charity. Before launching the shop though, I figured I'd ask for some feedback from the EA community. Do you guys have any thoughts? I know it's a long shot to expect this to take off, but it's a very low-risk gamble with all the free tools available today, so I figured I'd give it a shot. I've provided more details about how the shop would market itself in the following sections.
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What are these “effective charities” exactly? | Why not donate all the money to charity? | Wouldn't it be distasteful of me to show off how altruistic I am? | Isn't it unethical to promote a culture of bragging about how altruistic you are? | Isn't it still better to share a fundraiser on social media for example, so that all money goes to charity?

Day One Project Technology Policy Accelerator

I thought some people here might be interested in this, so I am posting.
https://www.dayoneproject.org/tech-policy-accelerator
The following is pulled from that site.
What is the Day One Technology Policy Accelerator?
The Day One Project is launching its Technology Policy Accelerator to identify, develop, and publish a set of technology policy ideas that could be implemented by Congress or the Biden-Harris Administration.
The accelerator is a nine-week process, designed to guide each participant as they develop an initial idea into a tailored, actionable set of policy recommendations. Selected participants will have a chance to develop their ideas with guidance from policy advisors, meet with veteran policymakers to learn more about the nuances of policy implementation, hone their ability to craft actionable policy on the federal level, and build a community with their fellow cohort.
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Ecosystems vs Projects in EA Movement Building

People should be aware that as well as starting projects solving a specific problem they could start/support ecosystems that allow many more projects to be created.

What I mean by ecosystem is an organisation or project that supports a network of people to connect with other people/ideas/resources and potentially act as an incubator for other organisations and projects in that field. In the context of this post I mean EA related ecosystems.
Examples include:
And within EA:
I think there are often more attempts at starting specific projects in an area before there is an ecosystem set up to support projects. For example, there have been multiple AI safety related projects but there isn’t a central coordinating organisation for the various people/orgs involved. There is no CEA for people working on AI safety, that creates websites, discussion platforms, conferences, connects mentors, surveys members etc. There is a newsletter, forum and FB groups but they have mainly been set up as separate projects rather than as part of an organisation focused on building up an ecosystem to support the whole network.
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Summary | | Ecosystems | Benefits | Supporting an ecosystem | Counter arguments | Missing Gaps | Thinking bigger | Conclusion

13 Recent Publications on Existential Risk (Jan 2021 update)

[From Haydn - This month had some particularly interesting papers, on existential risk, nuclear winter, alternative foods and AI alignment, so I thought I'd cross post them and link to all the updates, stretching back to July 2019]
Each month, The Existential Risk Research Assessment (TERRA) uses a unique machine-learning model to predict those publications most relevant to existential risk or global catastrophic risk. Please note that we provide these citations and abstracts as a service to aid other researchers in paper discovery and that inclusion does not represent any kind of endorsement of this research by the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk or our researchers.
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The following are the 13 papers identified in the January monthly update. | 1. Apocalypse Now? | | | 2. ‘Solving for X?’ Towards a problem-finding framework to ground long-term governance strategies for artificial intelligence | | | 3. Examining the Climate Effects of a Regional Nuclear Weapons Exchange Using a Multiscale Atmospheric Modeling Approach | | | 4. Accounting for violent conflict risk in planetary defense decisions | | 5. Risks of space colonization | | 6. Food in space from hydrogen-oxidizing bacteria | | | 7. Potential of microbial protein from hydrogen for preventing mass starvation in catastrophic scenarios | | 8. Methodologies and Milestones for the Development of an Ethical Seed | | | 9. Putting the humanity into inhuman systems: How human factors and ergonomics can be used to manage the risks associated with artificial general intelligence | | | 10. Challenges of aligning artificial intelligence with human values | | 11. Norms for beneficial A.I.: A computational analysis of the societal value alignment problem | | | 12. Role of Resource Production in Community of People and Robots | | 13. Canadian journal of bioethics revue canadienne de bioéthique |

Donors in the Netherlands can now make tax-deductible gifts through GiveWell

We’re excited to announce that donations to GiveWell are now tax-deductible in the Netherlands!
Dutch donors can make donations on the GiveWell donate page. Our top recommendation for all donors is to give to GiveWell’s Maximum Impact Fund, which we grant regularly to our recommended charities according to where we believe donations can do the most good.
GiveWell is a registered Public Benefit Organization (Algemeen Nut Beogende Instelling, or ANBI) in the Netherlands. Our status is listed here, under our legal name, The Clear Fund. Our identification number, or RSIN, is 8262.78.516.
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Additional details for donors in the Netherlands | Information for donors outside of the Netherlands

Problem Profile of Mental Health in the Philippines

Hey, everyone! We, Rikaela Gabriel and JP Apellido, are third-year psychology students from the Ateneo de Manila University. We are currently volunteers for Effective Altruism Philippines’ Cause Prioritization and Career Advice Research, which aims to find out what the best causes Filipinos can contribute to are and what career paths they can take to help in these causes. As part of this project, we wrote a research paper about the scale and neglectedness of mental health in the Philippines. This work was supervised by Brian Tan, co-founder of EA Philippines.
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Welcome to our 978 new giving pledges!

Giving What We Can has just finished up our recent pledge campaign (December 2020-January 2021) and want to welcome our new members: 513 of you who have taken The Giving What We Can Pledge and 465 who have taken a Try Giving pledge.
2020-2021 has been our biggest campaign yet. December was a record-breaking month with 261 new members of The Pledge and January broke the record for Try Giving with 267 new pledges.
As of the end of January 2021, our community now has 5,718 total members of The Pledge/Further Pledge and 961 active Try Giving Pledges! Together we've already donated over $219 million and pledged over $2 billion. We're so excited to see our community growing, and our members being so generous.
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What next for new | | members?

Killing the ants

(Cross-posted from Hands and Cities)
Recently, my housemates and I started seeing a lot of ants in the house. They marched in long lines along the edges of the basement and the bathrooms. A few showed up in the drawers. My girlfriend put out some red pepper, which was supposed to deter them from one of their routes, but they cut a line straight through.
We thought maybe they were sheltering from the rain, which had become more frequent. We had had ants before; we’d talked, then, about whether to do something about it; but we hadn’t, and eventually they disappeared. We thought maybe this would happen again.
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I. The ants | II. Owning it | III. Paying attention | IV. “What one does” | V. If dust-mites were different

SEASON 1 - 26/50

Frank Skinner - A slower contestant, not too funny, but had interesting takes on certain tasks, sort of took a back seat and didn't truly stand out with much, so very middle of the road 5/10.
Josh Widdicombe - His voice/laugh can get grating if you're watching the episodes back to back to back. Was really willing to go the extra mile, and had creative moments, he had to to win after all 6/10.
Roisin Conaty - Since this was season 1 and they wanted to try something new, I am 99% convinced that Roisin and Greg were at the same party one day during casting and Greg said "Wanna go on this show with Alex Horne? It's gonna be funny I think" and she just said "Yeah might as well". Half of the time she looked like she didn't want to be there, and if that was a 'character' it really didn't appeal to me 2/10.
Romesh Ranganathan - He surprised me, he genuinely tried to win some tasks despite having this whole laid back angry man persona. While I don't really understand the 'Tree Wizard' hype, I think Romesh was full of great moments, and probably my favourite contestant from season 1, 8/10.
Tim Key - The definition of inconsistent, he had great episodes where he was full of jokes and bits, contrasted by parts where nothing he did seemed to hit for me, I'm not talking in terms of how he did with tasks, I'm talking about general demeanour and his attitude in the live show, so same score as Frank Skinner but for different reasons 5/10.

SEASON 2 - 35/50

Doc Brown - He's great, it might be because this whole season was great, with a good mix of people good at different tasks, but he added his own niche, his approach to tasks was unique and very chaotic, but I loved the way you could see that he was genuinely learning about himself as a person based on how he performed in the tasks. His studio bits and prize tasks were creative most of the time and I appreciate him as a contestant 7/10.
Joe Wilkinson - Something about bearded men in suits who look homeless, but he genuinely had a bit of a Tim Key vibe, not because of the way he did in tasks, but because he was very inconsistent in his studio performances. He has had some iconic moments, but would disappear sometimes. I like his comedic persona very much though, which is personal preference, so that's why he's above Tim for me 6/10.
Jon Richardson - I love Jon Richardson, I really do, I am a fan of his brand of humour and what he brings, but something about his style just doesn't suit Taskmaster, he was decent at the more cerebral tasks, and tried hard to complete them to the best of his ability. He had a few great bits in the studio shows on the prize tasks, overall solid but the format doesn't fit him nearly as well as the other shows he has featured on, 6/10.
Katherine Ryan - I don't know why so so many people are angry that she won... I think she genuinely deserved it, she had a very unique spin on numerous tasks, as well as despite being Canadian, living here for so long that she gets the humour. I think she was funny, she brought up the whole "Woman" thing but in a light-hearted way that I don't find annoying or imposing in any way. I think she was the best contestant, both in terms of task performance and studio vibes, 9/10.
Richard Osman - A classic "I'm only good at one kind of task" contestant, but with a couple surprises up his sleeves, as I remember the trolley shopping task in particular. I did not expect him to do well at all but he got me. Not the funniest contestant, but he wasn't supposed to be, he has his own brand which he mostly stuck to and it weirdly worked for me, he was one of the only 'slower' contestants who I genuinely appreciated taking part in the show, 7/10.

SEASON 3 - 25/50

Al Murray - I don't know, I liked him, his money approach to certain tasks was certainly new, and because it hadn't been done before, it didn't get boring to me. The most important part is the fact that he looked like he was having fun, he was funny at times and went through different stages of arguing with the taskmaster or letting things go. Perfectly balanced 6/10.
Dave Gorman - Like Jon Richardson his format doesn't really match taskmaster, in theory it should because he loves to research and do the dirty work, but it showed that he truly needs those weeks and months of preparation for his shows, without them he's very average. His prize tasks were good sometimes, although given what I already knew of him I expected more. He was good, but didn't match my expectations 5/10.
Paul Chowdhry - Many people didn't get his humour, understandably it's niche. But... lucky for him I love that humour, I feel like he would've and could've done much better with some of the tasks, but prioritised laughs and his character over doing well, which while admirable, I don't subscribe to. He brought laughs, but didn't bring effort, and I believe a perfect taskmaster contestant brings an abundance of both. For that reason 4/10.
Rob Beckett - Annoying, not very funny, the only parts of the show that were funny with him in it were the ones making fun of him and Sara being Nazi twins. I say 'not very funny' he did have his moments, some of his prize tasks were great, some, not many, but some of his jokes hit for me. Now I have the negative out of the way, he brought effort and I admire him for that, he tried his absolute hardest in most tasks, which is why he ultimately won I think. The fact he annoys me brings him down but overall 6/10.
Sara Pascoe - I like her, but the Josh Widdicombe and Rob Beckett issue crops up when watching the episodes one after another, in that the cadence of her voice becomes very repetitive and therefore annoying. I like what she did on the tasks, she was creative, I did not appreciate the whole "Pay your taxes" thing, because it dumbs down a huge political and economic issue, boiling it down to a tag line, and she mentioned it just sliiiiiiightly too much. She was relatively funny, had her moments, but her humour can be quite one-dimensional, a dimension which I got bored of quickly, 4/10.

SEASON 4 - 37/50

Hugh Dennis - One of my favourite contestants, I realise he wanted to come last in all prize tasks on purpose, but he did it very creatively, so in a way I appreciate it even more. He seemed genuine, weirdly athletic, and had a wit about him, which few contestants had to his extent. He also had great chemistry with Mel in the group tasks, and those were some of my favourite bits. His trademark for me will always be creativity and arguing word definitions, which I really enjoyed, 9/10.
Joe Lycett - I see why some people don't like him... I however, am not one of those people, I think he brought a unique energy into taskmaster and while some of his live task attempts seemed pretty half-baked, I appreciated his humour. He did go for some low hanging fruit when it comes to jokes and bits, but that's okay sometimes, you don't have to be the funniest person in the room all the time. A very average score of 5/10.
Lolly Adefope - She had her moments, I'm a big fan of some of her prize tasks and tasks in general, she wasn't the funniest but you don't have to be to be a pleasant addition to the show. That is exactly what she was, a pleasant addition. A mixture of poise in the studio, with her voice and tone signifying a more measured individual, and absolute chaos in some of the tasks, 6/10.
Mel Giedroyc - Mel is great, she shows that you don't have to be a comedian to be funny and a great person to have amongst comedians. Even when she got made fun of she didn't retreat into her shell, she is a very genuine person who is seemingly just unapologetically herself. She did not care how the tasks made her look, she was just purely trying her best and having fun doing it, an amazing Taskmaster addition 9/10.
Noel Fielding - Was a bit more laid back than when he has a script to follow. He seemed to take on the persona of a mischievous child in quite a few tasks, but I did not mind it one bit. Normally I am a huge fan of Noel Fielding, and here I also liked him, but I also expected more of him, he had a fair few opportunities to express himself through art, as well as show his athletic ability to everyone's surprise. Overall not on Mel and Hugh level, but a solid 8/10.

SEASON 5 - 32/50

Aisling Bea - She walked a fine line between too feminist, and just the right amount of getting humour out of the misogyny of popular media. In my books she passed, it was the right amount, she had her moments but isn't an extremely memorable contestant to me. 6/10.
Bob Mortimer - Oh to be in the mind of Bob Mortimer, I think he might be my favourite contestant due to the sheer likeability of his character combined with the nuggets of chaos. I'm sure that Bob Mortimer has said sentences that have never been spoken before in the history of the world. His insanity didn't alienate anyone though, to me, the best contestant 10/10.
Mark Watson - What Dave Gorman wishes he could be. He put his own spin on tasks, tried very hard, and while not being very funny, performed admirably and had very interesting moments. Not for the comedy, but for the task completion aspect of the show he was perfect, but because he was only perfect for half of the brief, I have to give him half of the score 5/10.
Nish Kumar - His laugh didn't annoy me, it genuinely didn't. What did annoy me was his way of speaking and his attempts at social and political commentary which totally misfired with me. His humour, while it probably appeals to lots of people, is the definition of low hanging fruit. To me Nish Kumar is the Facebook mum of comedians, he will take the obvious route in every possible way, his only redeeming quality was the song he made with mark, which gets him 2/10.
Sally Phillips - Another one of my favourite contestants, the perfect blend of grace and grit, creativity and directness, while also being better than expected at certain tasks. Was funny at times, had creative approaches to tasks and really did what was supposed to be done by a taskmaster contestant 9/10.

SEASON 6 - 30/50

Alice Levine - A very marmite contestant similar to Aisling Bea in her approach, but less annoying I think. I am very much on the fence with her, but she had great moments, as well as total misfires. 6/10.
Asim Chaudhry - I don't get his humour, probably because I haven't seen the show and I'm not very familiar with Chabuddy G, I'm sure that if I did, then I would laugh more at his attempts. He chose to put his face in every prize task... Not the best idea in my opinion. It's similar to Hugh Dennis' in that he would most likely lose prize tasks, but much less creative which I do not appreciate. Part of my dislike for Asim stems from not him, but from the blatant favouritism towards him in later episodes, granting him extra points because he probably had a "Win an episode" clause in his contract, 3/10.
Liza Tarbuck - This series is full of marmite contestants, Liza being one of them. I for one enjoyed her approach to tasks, it was very simple, but when you go simple you have to do it well or it misfires. She did it well, had her charm and did very well in the show. I would actually put her just above Alice at 7/10.
Russell Howard - Probably my favourite contestant from this series, again mostly a simple approach to tasks, but had a real "Bosh" quality which I really appreciate. He didn't milk his parents like he does in his comedy but was funny nonetheless. Athleticism is always welcome too, so while he doesn't make it into 9... he does get 8/10.
Tim Vine - Who doesn't love a good pun, I feel like he struggled in some tasks and probably gave up early on a few due to being disinterested, but a few punny groans were most definitely heard form the audience. His jokes were very creative, and that is what he is known for, but I don't he overdid it. He was visibly angry at himself sometimes which puts him down a little 6/10.

SEASON 7 - 35/50

James Acaster - I don't know what it is about James Acaster saying his own name but I really like it. I don't think he was as good as some people say in the humour department, but he did well overall I think. His anger at Rhod I hope wasn't genuine, although Rhod was being an absolute dick. Another contestant who I had high hopes for, but ultimately didn't fully live up to those hopes, 7/10.
Jessica Knappett - Was just sort of there, with her Northern charm, had her moments, especially in the prize tasks. Outside of the prize tasks she was not very memorable however, which is why I must give her a 6/10.
Kerry Godliman - I saw some people got bored of the "Bosh" thing, but I did not. She was probably my favourite contestant this series, mainly due to what I call the "Mel Giedroyc" factor. In that she was unapologetically herself, and no-one else. A very direct approach to tasks, and a few iconic moments put her into 9/10.
Phil Wang - Again, like "Bosh" I didn't get bored of his prize task bit, it became so unfunny that it went full circle and became funny again. A lot of his success in the show probably came down to his attire, but I don't mind that. He had some great approaches to tasks, but would also disappear sometimes, I have to put him ay 6/10.
Rhod Gilbert - A very polarising figure, if the show was only prize task plus solo tasks I would really like Rhod, but his stage and group tasks take him down for me. There is a level of 'nice' that people should exhibit, and the way he acted in those tasks just didn't sit right with me. Also how uncomfortable he made Alex sometimes verged on bullying and crossed the line from innocent fun to just being mean. He was very creative and sometimes funny though, also had a fascinating approach to some solo tasks. Overall a 7/10.

SEASON 8 - 31/50

Iain Stirling - Competitive, wanted to win, but he was a good sport about it. Him getting angry at puppets was hilarious to me, he had some very unique approaches to tasks as well as some absolute stinkers. Overall, a very funny individual who missed sometimes but not often with me. 8/10.
Joe Thomas - I still don't know whether it's a character or not, in a way I hope not because that makes him the funniest contestant to me, but being that socially awkward in such a social profession must be difficult for him. I just found it hilarious whenever he did anything, call me biased but I have to give him a 10/10.
Lou Sanders - Not my favourite, I understand she's a polarising character but I fall on the wrong side of that, she just seemed very bratty of a person, but I appreciate the level of effort she would go to for tasks, especially prize and live ones. She won because she deserved it, but I didn't particularly like the person she was, 5/10.
Paul Sinha - I expected much more from him, and his only redeeming feature was the prize tasks for me. I understand the bad shoulder, but he really didn't try... that's all I can say, he didn't try on most tasks where he was alone. For me 2/10.
Sian Gibson - A 10 year-old girl trapped in a 40 year-old woman's body. It had it's charm, she was a perfectly pleasant contestant, not a bad word to say about her. She was very different in terms of how she approached tasks from episode to episode which I appreciated, but I can't give her more than a 6/10.

SEASON 9 - 35/50

David Baddiel - I didn't laugh with him, but I did laugh at him sometimes, which he did not mind too much so I appreciate him more. Went through phases of either making an effort or not at all. For that I cannot give him more than a 5/10.
Ed Gamble - Funny, weird at times, tried hard and I could tell that he genuinely likes the show, had some absolute stinkers, but all contestants do, was creative sometimes, and simple at other times. A good blend of qualities that are required on taskmaster, I will settle on 8/10.
Jo Brand - Didn't try very hard, very laid back making jokes mainly at her own expense, I usually am not a huge fan of that approach, but it's Jo's... well... Brand. You could tell she liked some tasks more than others, and at times I'm sure she would rather be elsewhere, but I appreciate that it's her identity so she gets 6/10.
Katy Wix - Poise, Grace, Creativity, with a dab of humour, I really liked Katy Wix, she wasn't a standout contestant, but she did her bit and I loved how she stayed on track, never swaying from who she was. For that reason, and the fact she just seems like a genuinely nice person, 7/10.
Rose Matafeo - A great contestant, she tried her hardest, was creative and reserved at times, but really let chaos creep in. Had a mixture of funny bits with some self-deprecating humour thrown in which is always appreciated. I found her accent very pleasant on the ears even after watching multiple episodes in one day. 9/10.

If I win $2000 on an online gambling site, do I have to pay taxes on my winnings?

Warning: the title was click bait. This is a personal historical account for people to come to their own conclusions contrasting against their own realities. I will avoid casting judgement
(For those downvoting: this is a discussion point to find what the challenges are. I didn't arrive to conclusions. Don't you think it's worth discussing?)
Like many in this sub, I keep detailed records of all my historical transactions, I went through the contracts, deeds and bank statements to get to these numbers.
I am 53, I bought my first apartment in 1993 in Mexico city. I was 25, two children and a wife who didn't want to work.
Due to the differences in countries and years, I converted all the numbers to current Canadian dollars using the following process

Using historical exchange rates, I converted MXN to USD as of the corresponding year.
Using a USD inflation calculator I converted values to today's dollars.
Using today's exchange rate I converted USD to CDN dollars.

Apartment 330 sqf in a very large apartment block in a working middle-lower class neighborhood. Here is a google aereal view

	1988	1993	1999
	In 1988 seller bought the apartment	1993 I bought the apartment	In 1999 I sold the apartment
Apartment value	$15,886	$62,814	$70,989
Mortgage balance		$48,034	$50,206
Mortgage rate		+20%	(there were no fixed rates, all rates were variable and changed day by day. The lowest it ever got was 8%)
Monthly income before tax		$3,547
Monthly payment		$1,046
Equity recovered			$20,783

What do these numbers tell me:

At first blush the apartment was really cheap. It was, I got a good deal. But see how much it increased in value from 1988 to 1993. (hyperinflation). Wow, houses were cheap, anyone could afford them, right?
Inflation and interest rates were crazy, even with that low price, I paid 30% of my salary before taxes on the mortgage!! And I had a relatively good job.
Rates were so crazy that when I sold, I owed more than the original loan!!!
In that period credit card interest rates were between 3% and 9% MONTHLY... 36%-100% annual. I am right now looking at my scanned statements. (all paid in full monthly)M
At the end of 1993 and over 1994 it was the worst financial crisis ever in Mexico. + 30% of all mortgages went into default.
Thankfully for me, prices also went up and I was able to recover some equity.
I can tell you I made huge sacrifices to buy that apartment.
- So I could save the money for the down payment I worked 12 hours a day and after hours consulting.
- I lived in a rooftop room of my in-laws house. (In Mexico, a rooftop room is not a fancy room. These rooms are usually used as storage rooms or for live-in maids)
- After buying, the crazy work schedule continued
I bought something that I really couldn't afford, but I thought of it as a way to protect equity during hyperinflation. I gambled and barely came ahead.
I could have rented all that time and in 1999 I would have spent the same and in the end wouldn't have had anything. (No amount of working class savings can protect you against hyperinflation)
That money helped fund my immigration to Canada.

So there are the numbers, some things were better then (prices), somethings were worst (rates and uncertainty). Had the rates been lower, the apartments would have been more expensive, but in the end the monthly payment is what makes a difference.
I know that not everyone will be able to afford to buy and that's not fair. It really hurts me. Everyone should afford a place where to live.
However, when I hear those couples making $50K each or singles making $80K+ complaining that they can't save to buy, I wonder how much that's the financial reality and how much it is that they unfortunately have bad financial literacy and the wrong expectations.
So, are you living the worst financial time ever for a 20'something year old?

Obligatory ‘posting from a throwaway account for obvious reasons.’
I apologize in advance for adding one more ‘critique my plan’ to the subreddit, but I don’t have anyone IRL to ask about this and I don’t know of any good, reliable local fee-only fiduciaries that I can trust to help me with planning.
I am Canadian and currently live in Canada, though I previously lived and worked in the United States for many years. There is a ~20% chance I may move to the United States in 2021 for several years to upgrade my marketability. This would involve a pay cut to ~50k USD for at least the first 3-6 years, but I anticipate that it would allow me to maintain the same– if not higher – income with more regular, predominantly daytime weekday work.
My goal: to achieve FI so that I am more comfortable with cutting back to work fewer and more regular daytime hours instead of always feeling obligated to pick up every crumb of work I can line up. I don’t think I would ever fully retire, but instead shift to working part-time. In this “retirement,” I would like to maintain an income of $80-100k CAD/year in current year dollars. I don’t expect my expenses to be anywhere near that, but would prefer to overshoot my goal.
What’s important to me: day to day, I’m a worrier and planner. I value stability and certainty in life. However, when it comes to my investments and saving for retirement, it’s “out of sight, out of mind.” Since I almost never check my accounts and I don’t plan to ever fully retire, I believe that I can tolerate more risk.
The Vanguard risk tolerance quiz recommended an 80/20 S/B allocation. As you will see below, I went the 100/0 route to try to squeeze out a slightly higher return. I am comfortable with this because I don’t check my accounts, have a reasonably high earning potential, have no dependents, and have a high savings rate.
I’m not cut out to be a landlord and I think my potential future movement between countries also reduces the practicality of that.
My questions:

What can I do optimize my current holdings within reason? I would love to achieve FI earlier without going all /baystreebets or gambling too heavily. It’s hard enough trying to keep up with work and I don’t have the expertise to day trade or time to learn how to do this on my own. *I haven’t doing anything in the way of investments with any of my non-registered US accounts because I don’t know what I am ‘allowed’ to do as a Canadian resident without causing problems with the IRS. What can I do without causing problems? What should I do, if anything?
If I do move to the US, (1) do I also need to liquidate the Canadian ETFs held in my RRSP to simplify my US tax filing? (2) Is there anything else I should do beyond liquidating all Canadian ETF shares held in my TFSA and non-registered accounts and withdrawing the entirety of my TFSA before the end of the preceding calendar year if I have that advance notice?
Is it worthwhile to try to set up an investment account for my corporation’s retained earnings? Could this affect my US taxes if I move back to the US?
What else do you think I might be overlooking?
Where can I learn about the rules, regulations, restrictions, and requirements of providing services/consulting for US entities while I am in Canada via my Canadian corporation? I don’t know anyone without US citizenship or a green card who does this. I would have to hand a potential client the details of this kind of arrangement on a silver platter to have them even consider it.

About me:

Age: mid-30s
Status: single, no kids (current or planned)
Work: self-employed (incorporated in BC) in a highly-regulated field. Work is mentally exhausting and can also be physically draining some days. Work is also neither guaranteed nor regular. I have to hustle literally every day to get more work. Some months, I work up to 28 days. Many days are >14-hour days and this is not sustainable. I am burnt out and this isn’t the first time.
Career prospects: I am one of a handful of people with my specific niche expertise in Western Canada. However, I am at a dead end in my BC and across most of Canada and I cynically expect my earning ability to fall over the next several years. My expertise is valued in the United States (getting a job there would at minimum double my income after the exchange rate, though I would have to become a salaried employee, be at the mercy of my employer, and likely relocate to a smaller place), but not in Canada. Large differences in the size and structure of the two markets are the reason for this.
Income: TBD for 2020, but likely in the low $100k range. How much I pay myself would depend on what my accountant recommends. Gross income to my corp for this (busy) calendar year is so far around $150k. I don’t specifically take time off; my time off consists of days I wasn’t able to line up work. I would guesstimate business expenses as being $10-15k for the year.
Personal expenses: currently minimal. I am generally frugal and spend all my time working or trying to get more work. I have neither a partnespouse nor kids and there are a few reasons I have no desire to acquire the latter. I live in a very HCOL area and have grudgingly accepted that I will have no life as long as I remain in this province because I will always need to hustle to get work and work long, erratic hours.
Personal assets:
- In Canada (in CAD): $130k (RRSP – 4000 shares VEQT, 2000 shares HHL, 100 shares ZWB), $50k (TFSA – 2500 shares XEQT), 205k (non-registered – 9600 shares XEQT split over 2 accounts), 130k (idling in chequing/savings)
- In the United States (in USD): $45k (403b - 92 shares VIIIX, 140 shares VTSNX), $3k (HSA I don’t have any way to access and the CU is not responding to my emails), $150k (idling in chequing/savings)
Canadian corporation assets (in CAD): ~$280k (idling in chequing/savings - almost half is retained earnings from previous years. I have not paid myself in at least the last year and a half and never paid myself anything the years I was a US taxpayer).
Insurance products:
- I continue to pay for a US-based long-term disability policy to replace my income up to $5k USD/month. Level premium is $1600 USD/year.
- Additionally, a successful, well-meaning and relative had purchased a Canada-based “critical care” policy for me several years ago and paid the first year of premiums; it is one of those plans where you pay ~$10k/year for 15 years for up to a $500k payout if you get one of the ~dozen diagnoses on their ‘bingo’ list or alternately have all of the premiums you pay into it returned (without any interest) upon expiration of the policy if a claim is never made. I thought the plan was not worth it, but the person wanted to keep paying into it so that they could eventually recoup the sunk cost of that first year. I listed them as the beneficiary and they plan to continue paying into it, eventually keeping the returned premiums. I have thought about term life, but it seemed like a waste since I have no dependents.
Credit score: high 700s to low 800s with the American CRAs. I don’t know what it is with the Canada CRAs, though I never had trouble being approved for Canadian credit cards in past years. A couple months ago, I was preapproved for an unsecured LOC ($15k at 4.45% with no credit bureau or income verification requirement and no fee for keeping it idle) from a big 5 bank - which I declined because I was busy and overwhelmed with life. In hindsight, after reading recent posts on PFC, I should have probably accepted it.
Liabilities: my brain + perfectionist tendencies = analysis paralysis. Ugh.

If you made it this far and are still willing to share your thoughts and suggestions: thank you, thank you, thank you!

I finished a successful Glenn playthrough last night and afterwards I was thinking about just how bonkers his achievements were and how he would be regarded by history. So, I wrote this, exploring just that kind of thing! Spoilers for the President Glenn path obviously, and I fudged the fact that content ends and leaves things dangling as him winning a third term in office.
Coming into office off the back of the most disruptive decade in American politics since the Civil War, inheriting the legacy of the astonishingly unpopular and constitutionally questionable policies of Strom Thurmond, the expectation was that the incumbent President would be one who would have to devote all their efforts to simply stabilizing the situation and beginning to restore some measure of trust and confidence in US politics. A competent, cautious man might have attempted just that. John Herschel Glenn Jr. was not that man - Glenn was rather a man of vaulting ambitions and boundless optimism, who believed that the only way for trust and confidence to be restored was with the boldest vision he could imagine.
Glenn’s rise to the Presidency was almost as meteoric as the event which made him a household name; the veteran of the Second World War who went on to become a test pilot and thereafter the first man in space recalls he had no political ambitions before President Nixon’s decision to defund NASA in the wake of the Reich’s arrival on the moon in 1962. Glenn was, to be sure, distraught by losing this milestone achievement to the Germans, but he was far more upset by what he regarded as Nixon’s total capitulation on all matters of space which stemmed from Kollner’s historic steps on our lunar neighbor. Even after this his political ambitions were not about election but in his attempt to make enough of a fuss to see NASA’s budget and remit protected, but it was soon clear to him that he could not achieve that in his existing capacities no matter how hard he tried. Here we see the twin, seemingly opposed character traits that would define Glenn’s presidency; he came to the conclusion that he could only make the changes he thought necessary in elected office, preferably at a very high level, in the course of an afternoon, but once the decision was made he drew plans that spanned decades and exhibited the utmost patience in pursuing them.
Glenn knew he would struggle to reach the Presidency from a standing start, and he further believed that even if he made it his lack of political experience would mean he would use the office inefficiently and be vulnerable to political manipulation by more experienced actors. So, he set his sights at a lower level, and announced his campaign for the governorship of Ohio in mid-1962. Ohio’s favorite son would immediately attract criticism for what was regarded by many as a vanity project, but Glenn had prepared for this possibility - he had spent weeks working with friends, his wife Annie, and a small cadre of political advisors to draw up a suite of plans that he could pursue as governor, plans which were the kind of effective low-level policies that would help the average Ohioan in their day to day life. Storming out of the gates with a primary campaign to highlight these ideas, he rapidly quelled enough of the criticism to be seen as a legitimate and credible candidate, and that was all he needed. Though joining the Republican Party he was able to win over enough of the Democrat wing of the RDs to become the candidate for Governor, usurping presumptive candidate Jim Rhodes, and took up the race against the NPP. It was a close race - by the time November rolled around, the Nixon government had got its first taste of scandal and controversy, and it dented RD prospects nationwide. By less than a single percentage point, John Glenn won the race and had taken his first small step on his long plan.
As it happened, the events of the 60s would prove so disruptive that Glenn’s timetable could be rapidly accelerated. Conversations with his early allies have told us he originally intended on pursuing the Presidency in 1972 or 76, depending on the political landscape at the time — he intended to secure his base of support, make the political contacts needed, and gain extensive experience. That America would enter the costly war in South Africa and the less costly, but still unpopular, war in Indonesia was unknown at this point, but it was only the tip of the iceberg of what would occur in that tumultuous decade. Barely a year and three months into his Governorship, the Presidency would be rocked as Nixon resigned before he could be impeached, and worse, his Vice President John Fitzgerald Kennedy would be assassinated just weeks later by a disgruntled Guyenese nationalist. JFK’s death would put the Presidency in the hands of John McCormack, who had never had ambitions on the office and saw his role purely as one of salving the country’s hurt and trying to bind the Republican-Democrats back together going into the November elections of 1964. He failed dreadfully on both counts; his pardon of Nixon was widely derided, and JFK’s brother Robert Francis Kennedy would defect to the NPP over Nixon’s vetoing of the Civil Rights Act — RFK had been JFK’s Chief of Staff and closest friend, and he was strongly motivated to see through his beloved brother’s vision. The NPP had struggled to find the kind of charismatic leader they would need, and Bobby Kennedy was the perfect choice. The race was hard fought but RFK became President with over 360 EC votes, a healthy margin, and the political landscape was drastically shaken up.
Though not nearly as shaken up as it would be a few years later. Bobby Kennedy’s policies were inherited in part from his brother, and he had a core of rage that held the Nixon Administration responsible for Jack’s death. This anger drove him to being a devoted progressive, spurred by the NPP-C wing of the party, and he enacted policy after policy to drive through a comprehensive Civil Rights Act in 1967, an act Glenn voiced support for and said “If I were in the Senate, I’d be voting for this. Bobby Kennedy might be from a different party from me but he’s a good man with some good ideas.” And a few weeks later, RFK would meet the same fate as his brother, gunned down by a fanatic segregationist as he exited a hotel with his own Vice President, Hubert Humphrey.
The country was stunned. Just as sunlight had seemed to break through the clouds, and the Kennedy administration was working to fully implement his Civil Rights policies while also continuing some economic reforms, another President, another Kennedy, had been killed in America’s streets. Not only that but the VP was dead too, leaving the succession to someone who was never on a Presidential ticket for the second time in four years. Strangely, the next in line declined the role, refusing to elaborate on his reasons, meaning it fell another rank to the South Georgia Senator Strom Thurmond. (It would not be until 1987 that the explanation for this and Thurmond’s blackmail efforts would come to light — his already disgraced name falling even further, especially in an era of rapidly increasing acceptance of gay rights. It would also spark countless conspiracy theories that Thurmond had arranged the assassinations himself, though there has never been any corroborating evidence to that effect.)
President Thurmond had one mission and one mission only - to roll back the Civil Rights Act and all associated policies. He would ensure that he restored and reinforced segregation, Jim Crow, and all the other racist policies that RFK had almost killed, and he had no care for what the cost to the law or Constitution might be. Though initially popular and viewed with cautious optimism for his tender eulogy of Bobby Kennedy and hints that he considered himself a caretaker president akin to McCormack, he moved rapidly behind the scenes to secure his power and enact every policy and pass every bill he could in pursuit of his goals. The Congress, shellshocked by the last few years, seemed to have given him a more-or-less free hand as he appealed to the need for leadership and to show a united American government to the people in order to restore faith. He was also completely unafraid to use Executive Orders in whatever capacity he thought he might benefit from. By the end of Thurmond’s presidency barely a year after he took the office, the Constitutional order had been upturned. Maps were redistricted with offensive transparency. Those Thurmond considered politically opposed to him - minorities of all kinds as well as Republican and NPP-C voters - were disenfranchised to the best of his ability. Most infamously of all, and the policy which pushed America from protests to riots in all 49 states, he used an Executive Order to stack the Supreme Court with four additional Judges, all of them arch-conservatives who would reliably rule in favor of the segregationist, anti-black cause.
Amidst all this, Glenn’s opportunity had come early and he seized it with both hands. Painting himself as a moderate who disdained most political labels in favor of effective policies regardless of their origins, he was quickly adopted as the exact kind of all-American guy needed by the Republican-Democrats. He had been a competent and well-liked Governor that had pushed Ohio’s quality of life up, poverty rates down, and enticed lucrative aerospace and other high-tech industries to the state. He was an American war hero, and an American hero generally, his name still carrying plenty of currency from the old feats in NASA. In short he ticked all the boxes — Existing fame, proven record (if shorter than some would like), mass appeal, visionary even as he was a level-headed straight talker. Exactly what the country needed, or so the RDs gambled.
Meanwhile the NPP was riven between the Centrists and Far Right, the latter eventually claiming ascendancy as their ranks were filled by defecting Democrats who were now looking to the best place to secure what Thurmond had set in motion. Glenn would thus go up against the Far Right’s Margaret Chase Smith. Much has been made about to what extent Smith’s sex factored into her defeat, and certainly scholarship has demonstrated it played a role, but the scope of Glenn’s victory on Election Day was tremendous and far more than could be accounted for by sexism alone. Winning over 400 EC votes, Glenn came into office with one of the strongest mandates in American history, and he wasted no time.
Though restoring NASA had always been John Glenn’s dearest purpose, and his earliest moves were centered around setting that institution back into motion, he had no shortage of other challenges and ideas to meet them. Indeed, while NASA busied itself with actually using its new influx of cash to rebuild, rehire or hire new staff, and overhaul its facilities, Glenn pursued something that made a far greater difference to the man and woman in the street, a project Glenn termed “Closing the empathy deficit”. Long argued about by American administrations and their Congresses, Glenn had seen how harmful the absence of a solid safety net was to Ohioans, and Ohio was one of the union’s richer states at the time.
Though in regular contact with NASA’s director and personal friend James Webb, Glenn had no distractions on the legislative front. He pursued reform with a zeal, and within mere months had secured the passage of the most comprehensive reform to American benefits in history. Pensions were increased and protected, and poor Americans would still be able to claim pension sufficient for a dignified retirement even if they had not been able to pay in whilst younger. Medicare was a transformative healthcare coverage policy that provided coverage to all Americans over the age of 65 and all Americans with disabilities, and implemented controls on insurance companies outside of that to help insulate people from predation or excessive prices. The Americans with Disabilities Act (1969) was also implemented as part of this legislative fusillade, which Glenn insisted must include those who acquired disabilities during their lives as well as those who were disabled from birth, as some in Congress had argued against. Glenn’s wife, Annie, had grown up with an extreme stutter that left her preferring to communicate without speaking, and the President’s disability policy is widely acknowledged to have been at the least inspired by her, and perhaps to some extent guided by her advice and experiences.
By the summer of 1969, then, Glenn had already implemented large changes to America, and his popularity steadily rose. In Congress, he was usually disliked by the NPP-FR and struggled to attract votes from Democrats even though they were notionally a part of his party, but he had massive support from the Republicans and found a common cause with the NPP-C. The rising Social Democratic movement of America was represented by this wing of the NPP and were more than happy to support Glenn’s reforms, even as many of them wished he’d go further. Joyfully, the President was able to return his attentions to the institution he most loved, NASA. After months of work the institution was ready to go, and Glenn authorized the commencement of America’s return to space with the Minerva Program. The unmanned Miverva I was prepared, launched, and America once again broke the bonds of Earth and had a presence in space. It was well understood that even going so far as to get a man back in orbit would be a serious undertaking and NASA would need, in essence, practice before it could attempt that. Minerva was only the first step in this long road, but it was one that boosted NASA’s profile and popularity. Soon new missions were planned, and before long there seemed to be a launch almost daily. His duties precluded Glenn from viewing them all personally, but there was almost always a TV showing the latest launch in the White House.
Satisfied with the ongoing progress Glenn turned back to Earthly concerns, this time looking at matters relating to nuclear power and weaponry. The destruction of Oahu had made Americans deeply leery of anything with the word “nuclear” in its name, but President Glenn had been convinced of the merits of nuclear power and worked hard to bring that word to the public. Here, he struggled, even after recruiting the Disney Corporation to produce educational propaganda — tedious in the extreme in the eyes of kids, but lauded by parents for being a balanced, unsensational, and honest look at the topic. He faced significant opposition from mining and power concerns, however, and though successful in the abstract, nuclear power never really took off under the Glenn presidency the way he had hoped. Militarily, he authorized a significant increase to America’s stockpiles, expensive but hardly something that most would argue against, given the ongoing threats of the Nazi Reich and the Empire of Japan. That he had a greater plan in mind was known only to himself and a couple of closest aides.
It was at this point that almost everything was derailed. In the Middle East, decades of Italian rule and control came to a violent and sudden end as revolutions and civil wars ripped through the entire Arab world, and then beyond. Violence occurred in Egypt, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, the Gulf States, Iraq, and Iran, all of it amid and exacerbating a tremendous spike in the prices of crude oil. The Oil Crisis had numerous causes and many dimensions, but the effect for John Glenn was that it put everything else on the back burner. None of his ambitions or plans mattered a whit if the country ground to a halt, and that’s exactly what it was doing, as people couldn’t fill their cars and industries couldn’t keep the lights on. Emergency measures were implemented, including price controls, then rationing, massive investment in the Texan oil fields, and similarly massive investments into synthetic oil production. It was a chaotic period lasting months, but in time the situation stabilized and the domestic oil situation became a tolerable one. Belts were tightened countrywide, and smaller cars rapidly became the vogue for new buyers while existing plans for gas-guzzlers were scrapped by companies like Ford, but the worst of the crisis had been kept from America’s shores.
And then, Americans were back in space. Only in orbit at first under the Daedalus Program, but then the Diana Program aimed for the moon, taking up where the Apollo Project had been looking just before Nixon aborted it. Americans could not be first to the moon, but they could reach it, and that was almost as important. Regrettably, the first great tragedy struck the space program during this period - Diana II, intended to perform a lunar flyby and return to Earth, exploded in flight 194 seconds after liftoff. The three astronauts aboard died, and immediately the political and media classes pounced on Glenn. Support for NASA drained precipitously, and questions about why money and lives were being spent in this way were widespread. The President managed to divert the issue somewhat by lionizing the deceased, and when one of the widows spoke up in favor of continuing the project and how her husband would have wanted to carry on, the furor abated somewhat. NASA was now on notice, but it was not doomed.
If there were fears Diana II would hurt Glenn’s re-election chances, they were swept away in a tidal wave of support for the man himself. A growing number of people supported the President primarily for his space program, referred to as the ‘geeks’, but the great majority regarded it more ambivalently. To some it was a positive thing but not the priority, whilst to others it was the President’s pet project that could be tolerated as long as he didn’t get lost in the clouds. But the first Glenn term had shown he had no such shortcomings. SSA, Medicare, and the ADA had transformed the lives of millions of Americans. He had not yet fully reckoned with the legacy of Thurmond, but things were certainly better for black Americans than they had been four years earlier, and Glenn was clearly no committed segregationist or racist - thus he carried the vote across the entire country, with the sole exception of California, who were strong supporters of the NPP and their hardline goal of reclaiming the Treaty Ports and revenging America against Japan. That was the sole state that went for Jeane Kirkpatrick, resulting in an EC vote of 494 for Glenn and 40 for Kirkpatrick.
Just months later Diana IV would vindicate the President, the space program, and NASA. Buzz Aldrin was not the first man on the moon, but he and Michael Collins were the first Americans, and when they planted the flag on February 13th 1973 it established that the United States was not only back in action, but a serious contender for space. It was smiles all round as the men returned to parades and dinners and events the likes of which Americans hadn’t seen in decades, and John Glenn’s boyish glee was visible to all. But it was a real achievement, one that seemed to restore a sense of confidence to the American people, and more people moved from simply letting the President have his toys to support, and more moved from casual support to strong support, and more and more young people proudly proclaimed themselves geeks while speaking of internships at NASA, JPL, and the other centers of American aerospace.
Glenn’s second term saw a new wave of domestic legislation, for despite the continuing claims of opponents he had no desire to see things on the ground slide backwards. First he looked to ongoing problems in healthcare; whilst Medicare was largely working well and its initial problems had been ironed out, there were lingering difficulties. Foremost among these was in drug pricing. Seeking to gain ever more profits, Big Pharma had begun jacking up prices at an unsustainable rate, leaving more and more Americans unable to pay for their medication and taking bigger chunks out of Medicare into the bargain. John Glenn was incensed by this and it has been argued since that this was the real moment of his ‘radicalization’, which drove him from a reformist to someone more aligned with the NPP-C than his own party. As the pharma companies began funding anyone opposed to Glenn and the RDs, speaking out on the disastrous consequences they foresaw, and accused him of fascistic overreach, he deployed everything he had to crush Big Pharma’s opposition, and when they began to fear he was winning and offered a compromise that would cover price controls on prescription medication but not others, he rejected it out of hand where once, it is believed, he would have taken the deal readily. Major price controls were introduced despite the howls of protest from big business. But Glenn was not done.
Now that he had experienced first-hand the full fury of American business he had lost any love for them, and grown significantly more aligned with criticisms of business practice stemming from the left. In characteristic John Glenn fashion he did not rest after his victory, nor did he even take aim at a small target, but rather he went right for the jugular. He would destroy Right to Work. Right to Work was so named because it was claimed to give Americans the right to work without being forced to join a union to do so, as had been the case in several industries before such legislation was entered. In practice, it was a lynchpin of American business’s strategy of crushing unions altogether, and keeping them weak and ineffective where they could not be eradicated. Glenn was no hardline Bukharinist, but the experiences with the drug price fight had convinced him that big business had too much power and the American worker had too little, and he sought to redress this.
Surprisingly this passed with little trouble. Reeling from the previous fight with the President, big business seemed caught on the back foot, and he had huge popular support. In Congress he was able to count on the full support of the 18 NPP-Cs, one of the two NPP-FRs who was in the body at the time, and 43 of the 45 Republicans. Altogether, with some Democrats also convinced to come over, the vote passed by 68-30, and Right to Work was dead. His subsequent efforts on Social Security were even more intense and more dramatically successful, and there was a massive “Glennite” or “Glennist” tide across the country where, quite aside from questions of nuclear power or space exploration, the President’s domestic proposals found huge support and popularity. Social Security was a tremendous undertaking that far outmatched the scope of his first term reforms, though it was informed by them and incorporated them into a larger structure. Unemployment benefits would rise, healthcare coverage would continue to expand (The first ‘public option’ arose here, with a special insurance provider available to any employee of the Federal Government), and most dramatically, it featured the introduction of a six-hour workday. This last reinvigorated the strength of big business, who threatened opposition and promised doom, but Glenn was never a man to do things by halves and his will was unbreakable, and he had experienced those howls before only to find them impotent in the face of public support. Though initially a step too far for some in his own party, the President appealed directly to the public to write to their Congresspersons and Senators in support of the policy, and the Glennite tide became one of mail that inundated the country’s leadership, convincing them that it was not going to be electoral suicide to support it.
Less noticed, and more of interest to the accountants and lawyers of the country, were efforts to rationalize and better codify the tax system. Though few actual tax rises took place (hence the lack of public interest), the closing of loopholes, simplification of the code, and increasing the ability of Americans to either easily do their own taxes or to allow the government to do it for them helped bring in greater revenues. More importantly was the general state of the economy - after years of work and investment, and a whole host of new measures to help the poorest Americans, the introduction of Social Security was followed just months later by a glowing report on the state of American poverty. Where the poverty rate had peaked as high as 45%, and was in the high 30s when Glenn first took office, it had now dropped to below 25%, a milestone that widely reassured the public of Glenn’s projects and plans while taking the legs out from criticisms of how much was being spent. After all, a richer society means a higher tax take, but you have to invest to get to that society - so the argument went, and so America in the 1970s seemed to prove. Even those who remained in poverty were seeing increases in their quality of life, and abject penury had been cut significantly even where it had not been replaced by affluence.
Meanwhile, the frontier of space was looking to its greatest challenge yet, and NASA had spent its time marshalling resources, conducting the needed research, and experimenting with any number of plans and components and mission profiles. Dianas V and VI had taken Americans to the moon and conducted vital experiments, but Glenn, James Webb, NASA as a whole, and now most of the country, wanted to see America not just take second place or catch up with the Nazis, but to fling themselves into first place. The German Reich had emerged from their bloody Civil War almost a decade ago but the orthodox Fuhrer Bormann had no seeming interest in returning to space, and the collapse of the Reich into the German Civil War of 1963-65 had done major harm to their economic and industrial base, meaning it would have been domestically unpopular to spend money on a race deemed long since won rather than on the ongoing project of rebuilding cities from Hamburg to Munich. Thus, without any real rivals at the time, NASA turned their eyes to the great prize, Mars. The Ares Project began.
Still proceeding at a breakneck pace, Ares was intended to get a human to Mars in just four missions. This has since come in for much criticism, and labeled as a desire to get it done while Glenn was still in office rather than to do it with maximum safety. In the event, however, NASA was either competent enough, lucky enough, or both, to avoid any major disasters like Diana II in the Ares Project. The four missions were to proceed as follows;
Ares I - An unmanned probe designed to both test mission parameters and part performance, whilst also taking the best possible orbital pictures of Mars to examine potential landing sites. Ares II - An unmanned probe which would attempt a landing near a selected landing site, equipped with a rover for scientific work. Ares III - An unmanned package which contained the bulk of materials and supplies needed to establish Hellas I, the prospective Mars base where the astronauts would dwell and work during their time there (The realities of orbital mechanics meant it was far less efficient to try and return immediately than to remain on Mars for a time and return at a later point where planetary alignments were better) Ares IV - The lander unit, return rocket, and the three astronauts would be aboard.
Every mission went perfectly. Every step seemed to fall into place. NASA had attracted the best and brightest by this point, and it paid them well, but they were motivated by more than financial reward now and devoted themselves utterly to the task. Even so, James Webb later said “I don’t want to downplay the extraordinary efforts that everyone at NASA made to achieve this incomparable milestone, but it did feel at times that we were proceeding with the blessing of our great almighty God.” Whether by grace or effort or pure luck, the Ares missions succeeded and even as Glenn was embroiled in scandal back home, the stars continued to inch closer.
That scandal was Glenn’s major defeat that stemmed from his efforts to nationalize the entire country’s uranium mines. His longtime nuclear weapons plan had been proceeding somewhat in the background, seen as simply an unpleasant reality that had to be done by most of the public, who would rather not think about such things when life elsewhere was continuing to improve. The project, even after purchasing Canadian, Australian, and South African uranium in bulk, was facing ongoing shortages of the material. Glenn was pushing for increased production from domestic mines, and seemed to be succeeding, until he got the bill. Rates were double the existing costs, and the mining concerns were quite happy to demand this price from the government under the guise of needing to undertake expansions in pursuit of Glenn’s production demands. Had the price hike been more reasonable, or had the mining concerns come to Glenn to explain and negotiate on such lines, it seems certain the President would have acquiesced. To be slapped with something so extortionate without warning, however, provoked his ire. Normally a man with a strong handle on his emotions, aides would later describe Glenn as “stormy” and “voluminous” over the matter.
By now used to bold moves and cutting Gordian knots, Glenn believed he saw an obvious, if drastic solution. The nation’s defense hinged on the nuclear stockpile. The nuclear stockpile hinged on the production of uranium. Ergo, the production of uranium was a matter of national defense, and the President had the authority to nationalize the industry if it was required for that end. The uproar was immediate and massive, but Glenn persisted, and when no offer at compromise was forthcoming he pushed through with the policy. The mining bosses had a powerful route that other big businesses who had faced Glenn’s policies lacked, however, in the form of legal argument. Given the seriousness of the matter and the importance of national defense it rushed through the courts with incredible speed, before finding itself before the Supreme Court, a place still filled with the packed Judges of Strom Thurmond.
It was not known beforehand which way they would break. On the one hand they were seen as steadfast allies of the NPP, meaning overwhelmingly concerned with matters of defense - but on the other, they were seen as friends of big business as well as leery of the President’s progressive bent. In the end, the 8-5 ruling went for the mining companies thanks to arguments that, as there was no ongoing conflict that directly involved the USA, the President’s attempts to invoke the country’s security could not apply.
Before the day was out, a new offer had landed on the President’s desk, not double but triple the original prices.
It was a massive defeat for the President and one which shook him deeply. He had been America’s golden boy until that moment, a unifier, a man of vision and drive, a man who was trying his best to make life better for ordinary people. He now learned that his ambitions could be checked, and that said roadblocks could be insurmountable. But John Glenn was no Strom Thurmond. Despite his anger, he accepted the ruling and paid the mining companies, and if he was to exact a revenge it would be both done legally and done for the good of the country, not to settle a personal grudge.
This drama was not the best base from which to break with centuries of American tradition and announce his bid for a third term as President, but that is just what President Glenn did to party leaders in early 1976 as they were discussing who would attempt to succeed him to the White House. This caused more hubbub and dissent, but there was never any law against it, and Glenn argued that in the absence of any obvious candidate who could succeed him they may as well stick with the man who was still polling pretty well. The Democrats were incensed by this and driven still further from the Republicans, but the Republican segment of the RDs agreed with his suggestion, on condition that he renounce any possibility of pursuing a fourth term.
The political and media elites had a similar reaction, ranging from outrage to mere grumbling that Glenn would dare attempt something George Washington had made verboten at the country’s founding. But there was still no law against it, and the administration argued that John Glenn came into office with a number of promises, promises he was keeping, but which required one more term to see through to fruition. The NPP opposition decried this as a dangerous overreach, whilst those less opposed to Glenn himself voiced worries that it set an ill precedent and questioned the man’s humility. The NPP would this time abandon the Far Right after two consecutive losses to Glenn, and instead put forward Michael Harrington, who had unsuccessfully pursued their nomination in 1968. This made for an unusually civil and friendly Presidential campaign — Glenn did not go so far as Harrington wanted on most issues, but by this point there was no great gulf ideologically between Glennite Republicanism and the Social Democrats of the NPP-C. After their first debate the viewing figures tanked as the men got dragged into details on broader topics they more or less agreed on, and neither seemed inclined to attempt any serious attacks on the others, though Harrington did try to needle the President over his pursuit of a third term somewhat. Only in foreign affairs did they different significantly, with Harrington making some gains by proposing a nuclear drawdown while pressing Japan conventionally over the Treaty Ports while Glenn maintained his hardline pro-nuclear stance.
The consequence of this was not just a calm election, but one with much lower turnout than any election for decades by percentage. The more radical right stayed home as they saw no candidate for them, as did the harder edge of the Democrats, while the apparently lower stakes than usual meant an awful lot of people decided to enjoy election day with other matters. For the first time Glenn did not achieve a total blowout victory, winning 345 EC votes, but this still gave him a strong mandate to finish his work.
Glenn’s third term would be his most dramatic, and most tense, and would culminate in what has since been argued to be the greatest diplomatic achievement of any American President even as he oversaw America’s greatest scientific achievement. His first task, he decided, was to finish the work of building up American nuclear stocks. He now had an endgame in sight, and was gradually bringing more people into the high-stakes game he intended to play as he moved the pieces into place. A secretive incursion into the remnants of Nazi Africa secured a major uranium mine that helped bolster American production, and it soon became obvious that the US nuclear triad was no longer merely overwhelming, but had become outright apocalyptic. Even if no other powers fired back, the American stockpile alone would be sufficient to end human life on Earth, and most other forms as well. So armed, Glenn began to put out feelers and turned his attention to domestic matters while the diplomats began their work.
Domestically, the legacy of Thurmond had faded over the eight years of Glenn’s presidency. Tactics such as redistricting must be updated as populations move around, and a great many legal challenges had succeeded in weakening all of Thurmond’s projects at local and state levels. His tangle with the Supreme Court had brought the whole affair directly into Glenn’s sights, and he resolved that when he left Washington four years hence, he would leave behind a transparent, honest, and scrupulously clean capital. He had never been a corrupt man himself, and having brought in a fresh staff for almost every role in the White House in 1969 had helped sweep some of the corruption out by itself, but there was still work to do. Investigations were begun, houses were cleaned, and the Senate Ethics Committee was refreshed and newly empowered. A long-term project to review constitutional matters with a goal to preventing excesses like President Thurmond’s or corruption like Nixon’s was established. And in his last major effort against corruption, Glenn banned outright the practice of lobbying, a move which massively diminished the power of corporations or similar actors to unduly influence elected officials where the common American could not. America, finally, emerged from most of the shadows cast by the 1960s and entered a new era of clean and honest politics, one where districts would be drawn to maximize democratic representation rather than suppress it and where the size of the purse had much less influence on the size of the voice.
The Supreme Court provided a major stumbling block, however, and Glenn and his administration were never able to navigate a satisfactory course through that particular issue. If it was allowed to stand, what was to prevent a future President from stacking the court further, even to farcical levels? But there was no apparent way to reduce the size of the Court as it stood, not when doing so would involve the removal of sitting Justices. This was a matter left to a future administration, in the end.
(Continued in comments)

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