Sunday, June 26, 2011

Sunday musings

Can you believe that we have finally had four days without rain? All through the west of Canada water has been falling at a rate that has been described as once in every five hundred years. Hopefully this is the start of the return to a more normal weather pattern.
I had some good news this week.
An author in the States who I have met on the 'Net has published another book. I was involved in a small way in this production and if anyone is interested in possibly getting a copy of this book, they can contact me at my blog and I will forward their email address to the author. The book is of a science fiction bent and it is the third in the series. All three books are excellent reads.
Well, Canada Day (July 1) is fast approaching and throughout the country celebrations are being planned and hopefully the weather will cooperate. We intend to go to the local park and mingle with the people and enjoy a good day off.
 And a happy 4th of July to our American cousins as well.
The process of withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan has been announced by President Obama. What a long and costly war that has been for the Americans.
What has been accomplished?
Money drained from the economy, too many lives lost, and for what?
This is a nation that is corrupt to the core. As soon as the Americans are gone from a village or town, the Taliban return with their terror tactics and Sharia law. Once the withdrawal is complete, opium production will resume and the export to the States will resume and the harsh impact on the people will be felt and seen.
This was truly a war of no hope.
I read an article the other day that said that there is a growing sense of unease in Germany these days as the crisis in Greece and other EU countries deepens. That this is fueling a desire to close borders and restrict people from moving into the country. Also a distrust of the Euro and a desire to return to the old currency- the Mark. If this is really happening in the economic powerhouse of Europe, then the possibility of another economic recession looms ahead I believe.
In many articles from the United States that I have read recently, there seems to be a growing rise of isolationism and tariff protectionism happening as the country is not recovering from the recession of '08 as well as had been hoped. Many politicians believe that this poorly thought out strategy will get votes and restore America to the powerhouse that it once was.
Sadly the solution is not so simple.
Once a trade and tariff war starts, every country will be the loser. If the NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) treaty between Canada and the States is revoked because of perceived pluses for the Canadians at the expense of the Americans, will the Americans be willing to have their country's largest supplier of crude oil (that is correct, it is not Saudi Arabia) literally turn off the taps and send the crude to countries like India and China?
For every action, there is always a reaction, whether in Nature or in politics.
In the near future I am going to see if I can change the look of this blog in order to accommodate photographs as pretty soon we are off to Vancouver and then in the future all the way to Argentina!
I am going to take a minute to thank all of you that have checked into my blog through the weeks. It never ceases to amaze me as to the fact that people actually read my thoughts and ramblings. From here in Canada to the United States to Germany, England, Philippians, Indonesia, Russia and Australia- thank you!
On that note I will sign off for this week,
take care out there,
flatlander52

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Sunday musings

Happy Fathers Day!
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We have a number of items today so let's get to them.
First, Mr. Weiner from the American government has bowed to pressure and resigned his seat over the  now infamous "sexting" episode where he has posted online rather risque photos of himself. Kind of funny that he does the "honourable" thing by resigning and yet in American history there are people that have done morally worse things and remained in office with the most prominent being President Clinton. Is this the product of a more and more aggressive electronic media age or have morals started to become stricter? I cannot believe the latter but perhaps in regards to our American cousins I am wrong - what do you think?
In Canadian politics we are in the final day of the Federal Oppositions NDP member convention. Top items on the agenda is to drop the word socialism from the party manifesto (possibly to appeal to people that think a tiger cannot change it spots. Remember if it talks like a duck, walks like a duck - it still must be a duck) as well as to reaffirm its solidarity (gotta love that socialist word) with the labor movement - in other words it will do Federally like it does provincially and do whatever unions want and to the devil with free enterprise. And finally to boldly proclaim its goal to become the government in provincial governments throughout the land based on its great break out Federally. Good golly, what is in the coffee they drink (probably not free trade but the best capitalist brand available) anyway? Their so-called breakout was not nation wide, it was solely in the province of Quebec-period. And many of the members from Quebec are/were Seperatistes!
On the bizarre side one of the observers at the convention was Stephan Dion the former leader of the Federal Liberal Party of Canada! Do you think there might possibly be behind the scenes meetings between high rankinf party leaders on both side about a possible merger?
The convention is being held in Vancouver, home of one of the saddest stories to come from Canada this year. That is the riots following the final game of the Stanley Cup series, emblematic of the winning team in the sport of ice hockey in North America.
The last time the team from Vancouver was in this situation was i the '90s and a riot followed that conclusion. Many people had though that the city has matured and following the great display of fellowship and sportsmanship from the recent winter Olympics that were held there that this series ending would be different. Many fans of the team from B.C. were quite vocal that this was their team and not being Canada's team in this series but the entire nation still felt the same shame over the riot that followed the last game.
What has changed in North American society that things like this happen? When riots have happened in Europe the explanation was unemployment, lack of a future and other social factors were involved. What is the excuse for what happened in Vancouver? This is probably one if not the best city in Canada with many superb things about it in terms of infrastructure, lifestyle, respect for environment, native cultures and so on.
I am at a lost to understand what happened there. Did not these people realize that the sun still would come up tomorrow? That this was still a sporting event? What were they thinking - or was this just an excuse to destroy and vandalize and steal under the cloak of anonymity?
Cowards, one and all.
Spain is back in the news again.
This is a country that has lived beyond its means for too many years and now things are coming to a rapid conclusion money wise. Part of the problem is a civil service that is proportionately higher per capita than anywhere in Europe.It has been said that only 1/3 of people that should be paying taxes do. So there you have an inverted pyramid where at the bottom is the taxpayer and at the middle is the civil service, above that social programs and at the top the untaxed 2/3's and the banks who balk at sharing their responsibility for this mess. In addition there is the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and the EU (European Union) that is determined to uphold the sanctity of the Euro and safety of the banks and determined to make the middle and lower class to pay for all the ills and woe that has befallen the country. Everyone and every institution must share in the fiscal"haircut" to restore the Greek economy or the riots that are now happening will escalate and anarchy will prevail in the land that gave the world democracy.
Dis you know that after the tsunami that devastated Japan recently a giant island of debris resulted that gathered and then started to flow across the Pacific towards the West Coast of Canada and the United States? After a partial landfall it will then follow strong currents and head towards the islands of Hawaii. At one time there was a web site that showed this and perhaps you might be interested to find and follow this story. There will be an impact on the environment to be sure and yet no one talks about this. Another area is what is called a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. As a result of industrial wastes and the like there is a huge area where nothing lives in the seas. And that is growing by the day. Another item to follow I think.
Well, the rain has finally stopped after a deluge of Biblical proportions this last couple of days and I think we will take this afternoon off and get some ice cram and go for a walk around the lake that is in the centre of the city.
So enjoy today and take care out there,
flatlander52

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Sunday musings

Shall we talk about the folly of people in this Internet age?
I am referring to the American politician aptly named Wiener who posted  by "accident" some photos of himself and his "wiener" on the 'net.Of course his first response was to lie about it. Then he finally stepped forward and accepted responsibility. Many in the media and other politicos are clamoring for his head and demanding that he resign his seat in the US government.
Well, boo hoo to them.
Yes what he did was stupid. Really what was he thinking of by this posting? He seems to be like a lot of younger people that post items on the 'net who have no thought to the consequences or who will see or read them. Did he damage the security of the country or any part of the world?
Should not the story be about what he has done politically - either good or bad?
Did Bill Clinton resign for his misconduct?
Now Mr. Wiener has done the smart thing and has gone for rehab - more for his image I think than for his lack of judgement.
With all that is happening in the world - why make such a big deal of this mans' folly?
So the e coli outbreak in Europe seems to have been from bean sprouts in Germany. If you ever wanted to see an example of the impact of global economic integration, you have to look no further than that. First it was though to be cucumbers from Spain and that rippled throughout all of Europe and devastated farmers from that country. Before such integration that effects would have confined to a region or district.
I wonder what the final tally in money and people will be when this is all over with.
The latest flap in Canadian politics is the departure of 4 senior members of the separatist provincial Party Quebecois to sit as independents. It seems that they do not like the way the leader of the party is running things.This might be some continuing fallout of the federal election where the federal Bloc cousins were decimated. I think it is more of a case where these 4 were not convinced that the party wanted to force separation from Canada and was more concerned with forming government instead. Is it not interesting how any party that has ever once been in power will do almost anything too remain/regain so even if it means changing its' raison d'etre.
Well football season in Canada is now upon us and that means that on Friday nights and Saturdays there will be many women whose husband disappears for 2-3 hours to watch on the TV and schedules around the house will suffer and have to be remade to accommodate the viewing of the games. This continues until the championship game - Grey Cup in November. The American version of football is in a state of flux as their players are on strike and at this time no resolution appears to be near. According to media reports it appears that the owners want 2 more games and more of the revenue stream and less for the players. This strike has been on for a while and will only get nastier before it is settled.
One of the results of the very wet Spring this year is the incredibly huge amount of mosquitoes that now patrol the streets here. I swear that they are the size of small robins and I think I saw 4 of them grab a dog by the ears and tail and fly away for a gourmet meal!
Last night we went to a local theater production of "on golden pond". I am going to assume you have seen the movie or know the premise of it. A more depressing show I have never seen. While there was humour in it, it struck me more as of the "black" variety. I never have seen anything funny about aging and loss of memory. No one ever tells you about this when you are a youngster and what then awaits you in life.
The second is to look in the mirror and see that the hands of time are leaving their mark on you as well.
Even doing yard work that took a couple of hours before now take most of the day.
However there are pluses to this. One appreciates things, no matter how large or small, a little better now. You now can see the other persons viewpoint and can maybe not agree but can understand it. Perhaps this is the start of some sort of wisdom that only time can bring. Things like a gentle rainfall, or even scratching the old cats' head bring pleasure.
Then again, you still have the time and zip to plan a trip, as in our case, that will take you half the way around the world next year. I am really looking forward to that and am planning to finally get a tablet  to take along and maintain this blog as well as post some photos or two.
We are going to take some road trips this summer around our Province and as a result my blog may be posted later in the day, but I hope to include pictures of this marvelous place that I call home for you.
So with yard work awaiting me, I say good bye for this week,
take care out there,
flatlander52

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Sunday musings

Away we go about another week that has been.
First off to politics federally. The Conservative government has had its agenda (Throne Speech) read in Parliament in which it states its intentions for the forthcoming session. This time it was mainly a repeat of the one that had lead to to the general election so there were no surprises. Tacked on were a a couple of long desired items such as  dissolution of the long gun registry and removing the monopoly of grains by the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB). These have been long on the wish list but never done due to the minority status where any such legislation would have been defeated and brought about an election.
Also introduced were amendments to the running of the Senate chamber - that body of appointed until 75 supposedly sober second thought of Parliament. It actually is nothing more than an excuse to give the ruling party opportunities to place "friends" in highly paid, actually extremely highly paid do nothing jobs as a reward for being party "hacks". This in addition to terms limits.
Representation reform is proposed where more seats in the government would be created based on population growth, especially in Alberta and British Columbia. You know, something one would call basic democracy, representation by population.
Whoops - there you go - Quebec is, to quote from the movie Casablanca, "shocked" about this and will fight this assult on their "rights" in the courts.
Say what - in the courts? They want to maintain a disproportionate balance of order (read control) in the government because it reflects their historical rights? They prefer ( actually it makes sense in a way ) to have clout way above their actual strength? And that this is their right?
So we get the response from smiling Jack the head honcho of the Opposition and he smirks and says nothing at all and then smiles some more. Maybe the fact that the Government has a majority and does not need his support anymore is slowly - and I mean slowly - starting to sink in.
Interesting to see that Germany has decided to phase out their nuclear power plants. I wonder where the alternative energy is going to come from and at what cost. Wind farms are not the total alternative and the cost of underground transmission lines is high. To place them above ground has been proven to be bad for humans and bird life.
But then again maybe the "Greens" will be happy over this.
That having been said, I have always wondered about the disposal practice of the spent nuclear rods from the power plants. There just has never seemed to have been a proper way of doing this. In mining nowadays the company is required by law to restore the terrain to its former state (and rightly so) but with the power rods....? Just does not seem a complete process.
I do not know about you but what is it with our friends the Americans and their fascination with Sarah Palin anyways? The media is totally enthralled by her every move and utterance no matter how banal or wrong it is. This week she did a supposed non political bus tour of parts of the country in a emblazoned political style bus. She, of supposed Presidential caliber makes statements about the Paul Revere ride where "bugles rang" and "he warned the British" with "bugles" again about the upcoming revolt. This set of untruths from a person who slyly indicates that yes, no, yes wants to be President could possibly lead the greatest country in the world?
Help.
I cannot believe that the American electorate would go that far or actually that her party would let her succeed in becoming their person on the ballot.
The cost of socialism.
Hugo Chavez in Venezuela trumpets the benefits of it and brags about his nationalization of companies and how he does it for the poor. Then tell me why the largest looming crisis in that country is housing and inflation?
Greece is about to default on its loans and bad economy.
People in the European Bank want it to nationalize more or most of its assets. Bad move. All that does is take profits that go into the government coffers and redirects them into individuals without repairing the problem. As hard as it is for me, a true capitalist, to say, there are some business assets that should be state run.
On to FIFA and Mr. Blatters. Remember the scandals that were part and parcel of the old Olympic era? It seems that FIFA has read the book very well on how to sweep things under the rug.In addition to possible corruption at the highest levels, look at the blatantly poor officiating done in games.No way can officials be so bad so often without something being very very wrong.
So it is time to end this weeks ramblings, the sun is finally shining after a week of hiding, the wind is low and the yardwork calls.
Have a good week and take care out there,
flatlander52
By the way, I have never suggested other blogs but there is one that I am attaching a link to that might be of interest to some. It comes from Cuba and to be honest I came across it by accident the other week.
http://desdecuba.com/generationy/