BEST FIGHTER FOR CANADA

More valuable than gold right now.   Canada has just received a harsh lesson on self-sufficiency. As the Coronavirus pandemic ravages the globe, it has brought to the fore shining examples of both the best and the worst of what humanity has to offer. We see acts of kindness, like people helping seniors collect their groceries or buying coffee for healthcare workers .  We see a moonshot effort to find treatments  with finding a cure as the top priority .  Everyone seems to be doing whatever they can to pitch in, whether it be sewing masks at home or simply providing entertainment  for a much needed distraction during these anxious times. Unfortunately, we also see acts of selfishness and ignorance.  Hoarding toilet paper has become a meme for being a prime example of both.  There are heartless landlords demanding rent from suddenly unemployed tenants.  We see " snake oil salesmen " peddling fake cures .  We have seen racist ass...

What a long, strange trip the story of the F-35 has been...  And it still ain't over. Originally conceived as a lightweight and affordable replacement to the F-16 and F/A-18, the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) would soon grow (both figuratively and literally) to become one of the most controversial military procurements in modern history.  Beset with cost overruns , delays , and defects ; the F-35 program has nonetheless soldiered on and is now officially in service with several air forces around the world and is being produced in large numbers . Canada's relationship with the JSF has been a turbulent one.  The Harper Government announced the purchase of 65 Lockheed Martin F-35As back in 2010 , only to backtrack on that announcement two years later .  The F-35 purchase remained in limbo until 2015, when a newly elected Justin Trudeau announced that Canada would conduct an open competition to replace Canada's CF-18 fleet. Back in 2012, the F-35 program was politi...