Sunday musings

I know this is not the 5th of the month but I would like to wish everyone a happy Cinco de Mayo day!
I think that every month should have a minimum of 2 holidays in it just to relieve the stress and tedium of the workweek.
Now on to business.
Only 1 day left until the Federal Election this Monday. All the socalled experts and pundits are in a lather over the so called Orange wave that they insist is sweeping the country.
Will we  - gasp - have a socialist NDP Government on Ottawa?
Will the Liberals disappear off the map?
Will the separatist Bloc be muzzled in Quebec?
Will the Conservatives be humiliated nationally?
All the polls say so. However, maybe someone should take a deep breath and look at things calmly.
Let us talk about these precious polls - does anyone think that they are really that accurate anymore?
Look at how they are conducted in the first place. Nearly all are done over landlines - the traditional way, you know, the saying, if it was good enough for my granddad, it is good enough for me. Did anyone take into account how many young voters no longer have landlines but use cell phones? I bet you no one did.
Does anyone think that maybe a lot of people say one thing in a poll yet revert to traditional patterns in the voting booth? How many polls are done that hit a certain group with a vested interest - say seniors who say that if the NDP will raise pensions, they will vote for them.
Policies - the NDP were given a free ride on this since no one thought they would become the governing party. They have promised to introduce  what is called a cap and trade system for energy producing provinces that is merely a wealth transfer tax from the West to the East - where the votes are.This is the National Energy Program created by the late Pierre Trudeau that did the same and brought the West to the brink of economic disaster. Western Premiers have vowed to never again let this happen without consequences to the rest of the country. This could be the start of a long and bitter struggle that could potentially split the country apart - that is how serious it is.
Leadership - the NDP leader has been in a bubble of his  own who no hard questions asked about how he can do things like spending $2,000 a week to travel 300 km and back to Toronto from Ottawa.
How do I see the election results?
Sadly the way the constitution is set up, the majority of seats in the House of Commons are in the East (that is from Ontario east) and generally all are decided before the results from the West are even stated to be counted. In effect it makes the Western vote useless as far as decision making. I think we will see a parliament that closely resembles the previous one with probably a minority Conservative Party at the head. That means in another 6 - 12 months we will endure yet again another election.
All one can do is vote  - and this is a rare privilege to have in the world today and see what occurs.
So the wrath of nature has descended on the United States yet once again, do you notice that once again the European community has been silent on even offering aid to the Americans? Not that they would take it in all likelihood, but you know, would it kill Europe to look past its nose sometimes?
People complain about the price of gas these days, yet you notice governments do nothing about it? They all say that this is the free market at work. Well that is a poor excuse this time as OPEC itself says that there is plenty of crude around. Big oil can buy anybody they want here in North America. In the States they have an enormous lobby that makes sure they pay no taxes and instead get incentives! Here in Canada the governments stay quiet as the higher the price of gas, the higher the amount of money they get from gas taxes.
France and Italy seem boxed in by refugees these days - especially those from Tunisia. It is ironic that the concept of open borders and immigration vanishes when it becomes NIMBY (not in my back yard) in regards to a mass influx of people. All of Europe seems to be saying that this is not their problem and maybe the people should be loaded onto boats and sent back to the country of origin. I think this may be a result of decades long use of guest workers in those countries doing work no one else would do and now the people of the countries realize that the guest workers and their families are here to stay and that they are not adopting the culture and customs of the countries but insisting on maintaining those of their mother countries. A new form of ghetto may be emerging.
Anyway, all the snow is finally gone here and slowly the flood waters on the river and lake systems are beginning to recede and ones thoughts turn to the yard and the nice warm days of summer. Those cannot come soon enough, that is for sure!
So take care out there,
flatlander52