Sunday musings

What a whirlwind of events has occurred this week!

Death of a prominent person in Canada and in Germany.

The end of the Gaddafi era in Libya.

Steve Jobs of Apple resigning.

Hurricane Irene storming up the east coast of North America, and an earthquake rattling Washington D.C.

In Canada Jack Layton, Leader of the Federal Opposition New Democratic Party died of cancer less than 2 months after announcing he was removing himself from duties due to the discovery of a new form of cancer, this after successfully dealing with prostate cancer earlier.

There was a nationwide outpouring of grief at this that to be honest puzzles me. This is similar to that when Lady Diana died as well. People who were total strangers were overcome with tears and struggled to express emotions as to the loss of this “great” man. Toronto citizens are being told that they should rename city hall square in his name.

Maybe we should hold on a minute and think this through properly. First off he was a politician that achieved nothing on the Federal scene in terms of Legislative accomplishments or legacy structures. Yes he increased his party standings in the House of Commons – but hey, that was his job!

I find it cynical that as he lay on his deathbed that party hacks carefully drafted a very political partisan letter to the Canadian public to be released on his death under the guise of a farewell letter. It only showed how much a complete political person he was and how the NDP stop at nothing to further their cause.

German humorist Vicco von Buelow, often cited by Germans as proof of their sense of humor and known to the nation simply by his nom de plume, "Loriot," has died. He was 87.

In a nation accused of having no sense of humor, this man showed the world that indeed humor was a fact in German life.

I wonder which of these two men was of more lasting impact and value to their country?

Tripoli has fallen and the hunt is on for Gaddafi. Just last week the rebels were just starting to encircle the city and as quickly did the pro government forces lay down their arms and “melt” into the citizenry. This seems to be one of the most interesting facets of modern warfare in that whole armies disappear simply by laying down arms, changing to civilian wear and going home and facing little reprisal from the victors who cannot distinguish between friend and foe after the dust settles.

I think everyone in the modern world has heard of Apple corp. and its head honcho Steve Jobs. Well this week he retired due to health reasons, and indeed a photo posted on TMZ.com shows a shockingly frail Jobs, and the future of the company is a little less bright now than it was last week. He was the force behind the IPod,  IMac, IPad and other inventions that seem to have defined this brave new age. Sadly one of the dark aspect of all this success is the way that Apple has virtually dominated many markets and as a consequence eliminated competition .

Competition drives the world and the consumer is the beneficiary and when it is eliminated, then the consumer pays whatever the victor dictates.

Washington was rattled by a minor earthquake this week and the Washington monument suffered structural damage as a result. A sign of this era is that when people were interviewed as to their reaction, all first indicated that their initial reaction was that they thought that a terrorist attack was underway and not a natural event instead.

Hurricane Irene is pounding up the east coast of North America and already there are more than 3 deaths accounted for and the cost is mounting and still to be totaled.

In the Province of British Columbia, a referendum was held on whether or not to repeal a tax that blended in a Federal and Provincial sales tax (HST) that was in the opponents view improperly and possibly falsely introduced and implemented. We now have the sight of the Provincial government having to repay the federal government 1.6 billion in “compensation” and face a deficit budget higher than anticipated. This will probably result in higher personal taxes, reduced services and programs, with the blame being blamed, deliciously in my opinion, on the taxpayer for voting against the HST! This is typical of all levels of government in that when they fail to do the job that they were elected to do, they blame the electorate instead.

After a very prolonged wet Spring, we in the Prairies have had a wonderful summer, similar to what we remember from our childhood days. The days were hot and just the right amount of rain at the appropriate time have brought the harvest back to speed and now is at the 5 year average with all crops grading very good to excellent at this point. There are a large number of fields still behind in development but if the weather holds, then all looks good.

 As well the markets are priced well and that bodes good for the farm and provincial economy. Saskatchewan has changed over the last number of years where not everything is dependent on the harvest but rather the harvest is part of a group of strong sectors of the economy. They include, oil, uranium, diamonds and of course our number one resource, potash!

It is little wonder that the provincial economy has been going flatout for the last 4 years and seems to be headed for more to come.

Well, that is it for another interesting week,

Take care out there,

Flatlander52

Sunday musings

It seems almost like a switch was clicked this week weather wise. We have gone from hot days and nights to hot days and coolish nights. The temperatures in the evenings now reside at 6-8 whereas before they were in the teens.

Even more ominous is the sight of tomatoes ripening on the vine.

The race for president in the United States is really underway now. I find it astounding that the incumbent President, Obama, is fundraising at a record pace but all media reports state that his approval rating is at a historic low for any sitting President. If this is true – where is all the money coming from?

Probably one of the best things going for him is all the hopefuls from the Republican side seem to be trying to outdo each other in being extreme right wing Tea Party supporters.

Has anyone told these people that the majority of American people seem (according to polls at least) to want to distance themselves from the most from the goals of taxing the middle class to death and “freeing” the wealthy from the chore of paying taxes?

In Canada a report on the future of the military was released and largely ignored by all reporting sources. In it were details on how to reduce office staff, eliminate overlapping departments, streamline the reserve corps and improve modern weaponry acquisition. Since this endangers so called “sacred” turf for a large number of people and contractors – it will be sadly ignored.

Instead all the media attention was directed at the restoration of the word Royal in the name of the three forces. Great, give the Separatists in Quebec new life over this perceived slight at Quebec sovereignty!

I see where Venezuela has decided to nationalize the gold industry. Just another step in the long line of “freeing” industries to become state run to benefit the people. Has not seemed to help that much so far. much will “disappear” in transit to wind up in the hands of “special friends” of Chavez or even relatives of his?

So it has been a couple of weeks since the riots in London and over 1,000 have been charged and some have already been convicted. Here in Canada it is over 2 months since the riots in Vancouver and not a single charge or conviction has occurred.

I am not saying  there are serious problems with the Canadian judicial process but……………………………………………….hmmm…………………………..

The national broadcasting corporation (the CBC) of Canada whose mandate is to promote Canadian unity, in a rare moment (actually its' history is littered with these moments) of stupidity hired the former head of the Federal Separatist Bloc Quebecois to provide the odd commentary. Not enough that this person bent upon the destruction of the Canadian union now gets a pension of over $140,000 a year for life but this happens? After the firestorm created by this news abated slightly the corp. said “oops” we forgot to tell him that no speaking on politics for 2 years was allowed and released him.

And some people wonder why many call for the abolition of the CBC?

Have you heard the latest news about Hewlett Packard or HP as it is known? The largest PC (personal computer) maker in the world has conceded victory to Apple in the tablet wars after only month of its entry into the market with its' TouchPad unit. Even more disturbing is the call that it is going to sell it computer making division. In early trading the stock value dropped 20%. In effect HP is conceding the market to Apple and if other PC companies do the same, we will be left with only one company to choose from. They make a great product but every knows the result of a monopoly on the consumer cost wise. Just look at the money Apple is making with its ITunes store. It dominates the music market and sets its own prices. It is trying to do so with  the publishing field with its IPad tablet applications where it takes 30% cut of the money subscribers pays to the publishers.

Libya seems at the tipping point with the capital of Tripoli apparently encircled by the rebel forces. Rumours abound that Kaddafi and family are looking for countries to flee to. Another is that he will decide to die like Hitler in the rubble of the city and try to unleash as much destruction as possible on the rebels.

Europe is still teetering on the brink of financial collapse and many are looking towards Germany to see where the future lies. Part of the basis for the formation of the Euro in my opinion was the support of the Germans in that they still felt some sense of duty to the continent for the two world wars they caused. I think that this time is now over and Germany is finally standing on its own modern day merits and saying that it no longer has to be bled dry by other poorly run countries such as Greece, Italy and even France. More and more of the German population support this line of thinking. In fact the European Union is French run and German funded. The days of the Euro may slowly be ending and the return to individual country currencies may be upon us. There are many who say that this may be good long term for the poor cousins in debt where they can devalue and rebuild their financial institutions as a result.

I wonder what the death count in the drought stricken Horn of Africa is now? Seems more attention is given to the wedding of a Khardasian than that.

Gotta love the priorities being shown there.

Hey, almost back to school time for those little buggers, cannot come soon enough for me!

Saturday was my wife’s birthday and it is amazing how Time has been so gentle to her, not like in my case, sometimes I get the feeling that when we are out and about people wonder who the young girl is with that old fart!

Well, another week, another column and I still find amazement at the number of people that log on to my ramblings.

So with that, until next week,

Take care out there,

Flatlander52

Sunday musings

Another wonderful summer week here in the Canadian Prairies and all around the world fires ignite.

What a spectacle of London in flames were we treated to this week. What started out as a peaceful demonstration in the death of a young man turned violent and ugly. Many of the rioters were young unemployed youth who lashed out at any and everything they could. They destroyed large boutique stores and stores run by struggling small business folks. Social media via Blackberry was the tool used to coordinate these activities. Authorities arrested scores based on street camera footage as well as postings on the Internet. When asked why, the thugs replied that they had no idea why they did what they did. Once again this twisted sense of entitlement among some of the younger generation surfaces.

In Syria the brutal suppression of the people by the Government via military might continues with the death toll mounting. It proves the total waste of time and space that is the United Nations in that motions of censure go unnoticed. Of course you know that the largest donor of funds to the UN is the United States?

 You know, the country that everyone dumps on, those mean old Americans? The same “broke” country that just donated another 14 million to help in relief efforts in the drought stricken Horn of Africa? And tell me, where are to so called other champions of the world – Venezuela, Russia, China, India, France to name a few in this process? Pretty conspicuous by their absence and silence I would say.

Have you noticed how democracy is being subverted in the United States by the Government itself in their monetary crisis? Part of the deal in raising the debt ceiling was the establishment of a so called super committee, consisting of 6 of each party from both levels of government. They are to meet to impose without debate budget restrictions in order to meet debt reduction goals. If not successful sweeping cuts to programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and the military will kick in. Lost in the whole process is the documented proof that Americans want to maintain the health programs and increase taxation of the wealthy. Instead the whole country is being held hostage to a radical group of ultra conservatives who believe that in order to create jobs, you should fire people and reduce government programs that would in effect reduce funding for such things as road and infrastructure construction, policing – see how well that worked in England.

Great civilizations wither and die away when government is destroyed from within- not from without.

Prime Minister Harper is down south signing all kinds if trade agreements with countries like Costa Rica and Honduras and getting all kinds of grief over this from those wanting to link human rights treatment to trade. Where are all these concerned citizens when they purchase their IPods, IPads and the like that are made in China? Convenient conscience I say.

Ever notice how most of the Green People live in majour cities that consume a lot of power that contributes to global warming? They have easy access to mass transit – try that in a city of 120,000 or so where the buses run every hour in winter at 40 below- that will change many a person’s perspective pretty damn quick.

Have you read where the Israelis are ignoring the world community and especially their great friends the Americans in the building of additional housing in disputed territory? It seems the easiest way to get votes in the States is to adopt a pro Israel stance- this also works in Florida where a anti Castro stance will garner votes from the Cuban exile community.

Speaking of Castro - he turned 85 this week.

I see where a number of European countries have issued short term bans on what is called short trading. A rough version is that traders sell off what they believe is overvalued stock causing prices to fall and then rebuying almost immediately and pocketing the profit. This can have the result of devastating a stock market and causing wild swings in a countries perceived value- France being such a case. As soon as this was done, markets have stabilized to a degree. Of course traders are complaining because they are not doing what they are supposed to do – make money. And maybe that is what a lot of people never have understood in both the crash of 2008 and now, profit and traders. The people on “Wall Street “ and other stock markets do not give a rats ass about the average person-period! All they care about is how they measure up against their job description and wage earmarks. Nothing more, nothing less. Until people stand up and demand that there be strict control and regulation on the way the markets run – expect to see more of the swings as computers drive the buying and selling and they depend on the programs that are written for them to spot trends immediately and react without hesitation to sell at the best price and avoid a loss at all costs. So when a companies stock value shows a slight drop- it can be accelerated to almost worthless value by the traders who are frantic to sell before the losses become larger and thus continues the downward cycle.

Ever been to a Farmers Market?

A common sight in the summer months and they bring a taste of freshness to the palate that you cannot get from grocery store produce. You notice that tomatoes are not what they used to be, say about 15 years ago? They have been genetically altered to take long distance transportation without bursting. How was this done you might ask? By forcing the skin to develop so as to be almost as thick as a sole of a sandal. Here is an example of science gone wrong –getting a short term goal but sacrificing too much to do so. The same applies to peaches, apricots and heck, even cherries!

It almost makes freezer vegetables look good!!

Ever wondered what you would do if you were ever given the chance to redo one thing in your life? I have always said that you are now as a result of what was in your past. It shaped you to be the person you are – would you want to change that? No, I do not think so.

Anyway, time for a walk around the lake and a visit to the ice cream stand.

So until next week, (remember only 4 more months to Xmas!)

Take care out there,

Flatlander52

Sunday musings

This is a shorter column this week due to a reason that I will mention a little later on.

So on we go..........................

Well the American government avoided defaulting with a grand compromise.

Right?

You are more than incorrect  in that sad assumption. The markets have tanked. Resources, commodities are dropping as fears of another recession and possibly depression, both in the United States and the World emerge.

One of the worst decisions a person could make today would be to sell their stocks at a loss instead of sitting down with their financial adviser to plot a long term strategy that accounts for the peaks and valleys of investing in my opinion. That being said, this is little comfort to those whose retirement is based solely on stocks and are watching their value erode back to 2008 panic levels.

Remember me saying that the AAA+ credit rating of the States would suffer no matter what?

That has happened as the credit rating agency Standards and Poors has downgraded the rating to AA-, a state lower than that of Canada which presently sits at AAA+. This will immediately impact all facets of the American economy starting with interest rates on business and consumer rates. Drying up lines of credit, causing employers to limit new hires and probably review existing staffing levels with a look at reductions.

There exists a very strong likelihood that there will be a generation emerging that is over educated, deeply in debt, and highly unemployed as older workers refuse to retire and remain longer in the workforce. We see this is Spain and Greece and those two countries are on the edge of class warfare as a result.

Have you seen the pictures taken through bars of Hosni Mubarak on trial for his life in Egypt? There are many people in that country and indeed in the world that thought that this day would never happen.

There was a massive religious demonstration in the streets of Cairo this week by Islamic fundamentalists demanding an end to democratic reforms and the implementation of Sharia law and of course them running it as they see fit. I guess women’s rights are not worth a tinkers damn to these people.

I really fear that the possibility of a religious war starting this decade is a real possibility. The concept of the Global Village is at threat.

We went to Vancouver this week for a short break from the daily grind.

I have to laugh at how we go there and decide we were twenty again and walked all around the city for six hours a day! It is going to take a week for my poor aching tootsies to heal.

It is a wonderful city with so many wonderful things about it. The temptation to move there is very strong.

Are you old enough to remember Lucille Ball from the I love Lucy show that aired in the 1950s? Well she would be 100 this weekend. What a wonderful comic she was. In the series which she and and her husband Richardo Arnez (Rici Ricardo in the show) starred in, a number of now tame topics were introduced. The most trail breaking was  that when her real life pregnancy was  followed on the show and then the episode where she gave birth (off camera of course) was watched by over 71% of the television audience in the United States! What networks would give for that kind of viewership today!

Well we are  into the month of August and the hours of sunlight are starting to decrease and temperatures are slowly moderating, can Fall be far from now? I do not know about you but the older that I get, the more I dislike Winter and the snow, ice and cold and darkness that is part of it.

Perhaps the only solution is to keep buying lottery tickets and hope for a winner so that one can buy an island retreat somewhere.

Sigh.

Anyway, there are still plenty of great times and weather ahead, so get outside, take a stroll, have a tea or just sit in the sun for a while and enjoy the good things in life that you have.Because there are many millions of people out there that would switch places with you in a blink of an eye if they could.

And as usual, have a great week out there and take care,

flatlander52