Sunday musings

Here is a hope that your Christmas was/is a good one this year. And if you traveled to be with friends or family, that the roads or skies were safe.

Here in the City we had an incident where a Salvation Army Christmas money donation kettle was stolen with over $800 in it. The money was intended for aiding the less fortunate. The next morning the community, after hearing the news, rallied and raised over $10,000 to replace the money. Nice story.

Maybe there will be time to take a moment’s pause to reflect on those less fortunate and perhaps make an effort to dedicate a small financial donation to an aid agency for those suffering in areas like  Haiti, the Horn of Africa and countless other places of misery.

And some things stay the same - the Pope issues his annual lament against the commercialization of Christmas. As if that will ever change in this society!

Prince Phillip of England underwent minor surgery to have a stent inplanted in his heart to open up blood flow in it. He is 90 and next year is the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth's ascension to the throne of England. The changes that have occurred during her tenure are mind boggling to say the least. Her formative years were during World War 2, ascended the Throne during the Korean war, saw the launch of television, microwaves, lunar landings, Kennedy assassination, Bay of Pigs, the Beatles, fall of the Berlin Wall, Lady Gaga, and the Arab Spring. And yes, sadly, also Justin Bieber.

Ah yes the Arab Spring. One country that was in the forefront was Egypt with images of masses of people crowding the main square in Cairo demanding the downfall of the country leader Hosni Mubarak. Pictures of troops with flowers embracing the protesters were shown constantly.

Some things never change however. And it seems that this may be the case in Egypt.

A recent demonstration saw troops beat, strip and abuse a woman that will be forever known as the woman in the blue bra. In a society where female modesty is valued to have had the troops partially strip her in public was a horrible thing to do. Of course the army said the perps will be prosecuted - fat chance of that occurring!

In the United States, a 2 month extension of a tax cut was passed after daily posturing between President Obama and Speaker Boehner. A lot of anger over a supposed saving of $40 per worker. With all the trillions in debt that the American politicians are mismanaging - they have the audacity to squabble over a measly $40? So how about it my American friends, that for your sake and indeed that of the entire world, make next year one where you hold the politicos feet to the fire and force them to stop playing to their egos and instead work for the good of the country. It may be some short term pain but the results will be good for country long term and that bodes well for the rest of the world. It needs a strong and vibrant America. There are way too many despotic countries wanting to expand their corrupt sphere of influence not to have a counter force for the good. And never think that Europe will step up to the plate willingly, they would rather debate armed intervention to death and then hope the Yanks will step in to do the dirty work once again.You ever notice that India, one of the most populous countries with an extremely large military – never participates in so called police actions or humanitarian efforts? Same for the Chinese.

Just saying.

Speaking of Christmas presents, I did receive a rather nifty one. It is a little gizmo that is shaped a little like a small rectangular chunk of wood but actually is a cool plastic metal combo that is a portable scale for weighing your luggage. No more standing on the bathroom scales with the luggage and deducting your weight to maybe, hopefully, doubtfully get the proper weight.

Really cool thing, just in time for Argentina.

I have only one more vaccination shot to go and then will be ready for any type of water, salad or strange food – bring it on!

 So North Korea has a new leader. The son of the son of the man who founded that country in the early ‘50’s. This may be the first case of a nuclear “monarchy”. Pictures streamed of people screwing up their faces in order to “cry”.

Real tears or not? You be the judge.

I just wonder when the Chinese will finally bring this rogue nation to order and impose some sort of decent living conditions there. Strange to imagine that the Chinese form of government would be possibly the best for North Korea – but I cannot imagine what kind of war would result if democratic ideals were to be imposed on a nation that has been so conditioned to state and one man rule over generations.

With this being the last weekend of the year 2011, I think that I will try to review and revisit some columns for next week’s blog.

So with greetings to readers in the United States, Canada, England, France, Germany, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Spain, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia and Nicaragua, I extend my wishes for a healthy and prosperous new year.

Take care out there,

flatlander52

Sunday musings

Well, it is the weekend before Christmas. It seems, at least according to our weather officials, that Christmas in Regina will be a brown one, that is to say one without snow on the ground. Truly unseasonable warm weather and no snow since early November has left streets almost completely clean and many lawns have large areas of still green looking grass visible. In fact I am thinking of using the bar b q today to grill supper.

 A rare treat indeed!

I think I will talk about Christmas first and then about events here and there.

All the present (singular not plural you notice) for my better half have been bought and wrapped. It reminds me of the first year we were married and like all first year husbands, I believed that what my wife told me she wanted was truthful. So I believed her and bought her something sensible as she stated she wanted. How was I to know that winter snow tires would  not thrill her to pieces? The sickly pasted on smile did give me an inkling all was not perfect but I shrugged it off to a case of bad gas from the meal eaten earlier.

Next year I was given a fur coat that fit her to a "T" and finally realized what a boob I was the previous Christmas. That lack of foresight in gift giving was not repeated until the year where I forgot her birthday and instead treated myself to a new fishing rod - ouch indeed!

But I digress.

This week will be spent in preparation of the big Christmas Day dinner. Our guests will be my Mother and my wife's brother. The meal will be one that is of German origin. A truly traditional meal with all the trimmings.

First there will be the serving of a pigs foot soup with a side dish of sour pickled dandelion flowers.

Then the main course will follow accompanied with carol music played by bagpipes. The meal will be bratwurst soaked in beer set afire with a side dish once again of sour pickled dandelion flowers.

Dessert will be jellied sauerkraut garnished with red cabbage with a side dish of sour pickled dandelion flowers.

Also this will be accompanied with mugs of homemade stout beer and radishes.

I ask you - can any Christmas dinner be better than that?

And yes, that is really not what we will have for supper but I just could not resist putting that down just for the sheer enjoyment of it.

Now back to the serious world.

The crisis over the Euro sadly continues. The governments that agreed to do - I cannot remember what at the most recent summit of all summits, are now strangely quiet. They assumed that since the big announcement of reshuffling the chairs around the table, that all will be well and fine. And who wants their Christmas vacation ruined by something so mundane as a monetary crisis. Heaven knows, that has to be the Americans fault – doesn’t it? The last major tool available to stop the slide of the Euro is the ECB, European Currency Bank.

Why the ECB?

Well, you do not have to be a rocket scientist to see that for governments to reduce costs they have to do the following items. First, reduce the cost of government; this includes staff as well as programs. Second, sell off assets to raise cash to pay bills. Third, reduce pensions OK - you see where I am going with this? Well once you have less people working, you get less income from taxes. Then you get more of a drain on the economy when you pay Unemployment benefits to those you laid off. With less people working, there is less of a demand for manufactured products so employers have less of a need for workers, so they lay off staff who- you guessed it- apply for Unemployment benefits. And the cycle continues. Added into this mix is the fact that banks will no longer lend money to business to expand, modernize and/or hire new staff. In fact the banks have less money now that they have no income streaming in from non existing loans.

 Sooooooooooooo.................the banks are slowly being primed to fail and that means that the country has to borrow money at higher and higher interest rates which drives the country deeper and deeper in debt.

Just like Greece and Italy.

The ECB must step in and finance the banks to prime the economies of governments at risk. And it refuses to and the European governments seem to have forgotten that the ECB answers to them and not the other way around.

Of course not a word was ever said about tax cheats in Greece and Italy, where it is estimated that if they paid their taxes, a large portion of the debt crisis would be relieved.

The next quarter will be interesting indeed.

The last American troops are leaving Iraq after 9 years of war and sadness. Already the government is starting to fall apart and sectarian fighting is beginning. Iran is starting to send disguised fighters apparently into the country. What is it about Middle Eastern countries that appear doomed to one man/party rule anyway? Is democracy such an alien concept that only in Western countries can it flourish? Is this a result of the climate, history and or religion?

I find it of interest that here in Canada we welcome diverse cultures into the land believing they will enrich us and yet when people come here, many of them want to live exactly the way did in their old country, clothing, religion, politics- everything the same. If that is the case, then why come over here in the first place? Can anyone answer me that?

So Time magazine named the “Protester” person of the year and on the cover of the magazine had a drawing of a masked face to represent this person. I think I have made my opinion known on how I feel about many of these protesters that in some cases were actually hired to be part of the protests and in others, were trying to affix blame to society for the fact that they never wanted to bust their chops to get ahead in the world as others before have. That being said, many protesters became part of the movement because they feel lost and have no means of reattaching to a segment of productive society. And that the rest of society no longer seems to care about them.

I feel that the person of the year should be Mohamed Bouazizi, the brave shopkeeper in Tunisia who in protest against continued police and government corruption set himself on fire in protest and set the spark for the Arab Spring that swept the Middle East this year. His death inspired millions and may his name never be forgotten.

I ordered a replacement battery for one of my laptops 2 weeks ago from an on line site. I had to do so as I could find one here in Canada for under $100. So I assumed the site was in the States and awaited delivery. Usually when I order and have it sent by UPS, I get it in 5-7 days. Not this time. Two weeks go by and not a trace. So I e mail the order place and wait 2 days for a reply. I think to myself that maybe I was scammed. That would be new in all the times that I have ordered, but what the heck, that’s life right? Well I finally get a response and was set aback by it. The place was in Hong Kong and instead of UPS they sent it by United Post Service-regular mail! Then that afternoon the package arrives in the mail! Unbelievable and yet again proof positive on how small the world literally has become.

I see where radioactive materials were seized at a Russian airport where their final destination apparently was Iran. Good for the Russians for spotting and halting this shipment. Hopefully they find the people behind this and prosecute them. This would appear to substantiate Israeli and American claims about the non peaceful goals of the Iranian program. Indeed experts say that the cost to produce power from nuclear plants is ridiculously extravagant compared to just repairing existing oil refineries that have fallen into disrepair. This because while the Iranian clerics may run a strict government, they cannot fix bugger all mechanically and are embarrassed to ask the despised and ridiculed Western industries to help.

Beats all doesn’t’ it?

In China there is an amusement park that sits idle except for the occasional farmer that strolls through the abandoned site.Once promoted at the largest amusement park in Asia, construction stopped at the location, which sits on the outskirts of Beijing, in 1998, when funds were withdrawn due to disagreements over property prices with the local government and farmers,

 

Kind of a sad and lonely photo isn’t it?

Next time we talk it will be Christmas Day, so stay safe, take care of you and yours and have a Merry Christmas,

Flatlander52

Sunday musings

Well, I am at a loss to try to understand what the heck happened at the meeting of the 27 heads of state from the European economy on Friday. 24 of the 27 countries and the main holdout of the three was England, agreed to bolster the Euro by integrating budgets to penalize countries that ran deficits.

That was it.

On this wonderful news, the world stock markets rose and all was wonderful in the world.

I do not get it.

This is akin to tossing a wet towel to a man with a kitchen on fire and telling him that the fire can be controlled with it.

Interest rates are at an all time low and yet there is little indication of economic recovery or increased manufacturing. People are living off savings or credit cards or a combination of both. In Canada there are persistent stories in the media where so called housing experts are predicting a majour slump in the house and condo market. I can attest to this because I have out of curiosity been following the markets in Toronto and Calgary and Vancouver and early indicators seem to support this. Of course here in Saskatchewan, where the economy is booming, prices continue to rise by an average of 7% per year.

I think that the true story will emerge in the next 6 months, and for some less fortunate parts of the world, the story will indeed be grim.

I still think that the Euro as it exists today is doomed.

I see that the Americans somehow lost a super secret spy drone over Iran and it somehow survived the crash almost 100% intact. Images broadcast on Iranian TV seem to confirm this. I am sure that the Russians, Chinese and North Koreans are lining up with checkbooks at the ready in order to get their hands on the advanced technology that is in the drone.

It is funny how such a supposedly decadent country like the United States still produces technology that is far in advance of other countries, isn’t it?

Here in Canada the court case of a man, son and second illegal wife accused of murdering their daughters because they somehow besmirched family honour by having boyfriends, wearing makeup and body piercings is now in the hands of the jury. The father has been quoted in police interviews as saying that “the devil should sh­_t on them” for their bad behavior. And as he tells the jury-he believes that he is a liberal Muslim, interesting thought I would say.

Earlier this year he Government of Canada was re-elected with a majority, thereby allowing it to present and pass, hopefully prudent in scope, legislation. One of the election promises was to restructure the Canadian Wheat Board so that farmers wanting to sell grain to buyers on their own rather than through the marketing board, could do so. The legislation was introduced and is making its way through government. However the government ignored a law stating that the farmers would be allowed to vote on whether they wanted this change or not. A court has found the Minister in charge of the Board guilty of ignoring the law. Sadly the government seems to say – so what – we will do what we want since we have a majority.

This is not the way democracies are supposed to run. Governments are elected by the people to serve the interests of the people in a just and fair way. This is just wrong.

This week the government also announced that Canada was withdrawing from the Kyoto Accord. They were just stating the obvious, yet all the greenies were shocked.

 Bunch of hypocrites.

China, Russia, USA and India – biggest producers of carbon emissions are not part of Kyoto so the treaty is useless anyway without their participation.

And by the way, when it comes to protesting against the so-called tar sands – how come the greenies never protest against the biggest carbon emitter of all?

Electricity.

That’s right, electricity pollutes much, much more.

In the United States, Republican presidential nominee hopeful Herman Cain has dropped his bid and withdrawn due to intense media pressure over alleged affairs with women in his past. Like I said last week, the standards with which Americans judge their politicians bewilder me. To think that someone like Newt Gingrich with his history of spousal “escapades”, financial adventures and lack of world knowledge is now considered a front runner for the same party that ate Herman Cain is astounding to say the least.

The Russian elections went as expected and pre-predicted by the Russian government itself, with Mr. Putin’s party getting re-elected. However a strange thing happened  on the way to the ballot box and many people objected to obvious ballot box stuffing – videos circulate showing this and voted for a strong opposition. Indeed this past weekend demonstrations are happening – and that is an unheard of thing in Russia. Open, vocal dissent has not been permitted in that country for centuries and this is a story that has great ramifications and will not end any time soon.

In another country with a long and rich democratic history, Zimbabwe, the leader, Robert Mugabe declared that at the age of 87 he would continue to lead the country against the undeclared white man’s war against the country. Of course, he stopped short of indicating when elections would be called and under what conditions of transparency would they be held.

Remember the tsunami that hit Japan earlier this year? Well here is a picture of some of the island of debris that is floating towards the coastline of British Columbia and due to hit late 2013 – early 2014.

And yes, beside the roof of a building you have the hull of a ship! And that is only a tiny bit of the debris. Reports indicate that much of the plastic that is in the field is dropping to the ocean floor and may be the start of new reefs – and would that not be a great thing, that out of such a tragedy something good would emerge?

For as we all know that the oceans reefs are under siege these days and any help they get is good.

Incidentally, reports are emerging that the nuclear meltdown in Japan was much, much more serious than reported and that there was a core breach and only a great deal of luck, not technical skill, saved the country from a horrific disaster.

Nuclear power can supply much needed electricity but the more one hears of near disasters and lack of controls and oversight, maybe it is time to revisit the discussion and come to new safety protocols or abandon the industry itself. I believe that the coal industry, if cleaned up and given incentives to do so, is the best option for the foreseeable future. Solar and wind have 2 big drawbacks – namely one being solar works during the day only and usually the wind dies at night and the power grid demands power 24/7. Also there are many reports of sound issues with wind turbines and avian disruption as well.

I had a laptop bite the dust the other day. Lost all my e mail folders and addresses. Web bookmarks. The horror, the horror! You do not realize how integrated with your machine you are until it fails you. Bastard!

Sigh.

So I spent 2 days slowly, painfully rebuilding everything on another machine. Of course I learned a lesson that I preach to others – back up your shyte you fool! Well, now I have and I laugh!

So my question to you is this – do you have your bookmarks, passwords, e mail addresses copied and in a secure position if your computer – shudder – ceases to operate? If not, take some time and do it, you will never regret it. But for crying out loud, do not back the information up on the computer itself- put it on a USB drive and secure it somewhere.

However with this being the Christmas shopping season, have you looked at the price of computers and TV’s? It makes you want to go out and buy one just because the prices are so darn good.

Here in Regina the weather is quite unusual for December, that is to say there is hardly any snow on the ground and today the temperature was plus 3c. Usually there are three foot snow banks and the temperature is minus 25c or worse. In fact there is a possibility of a semi brown Christmas this year and that would not hurt my feelings at all. Only in the movies do you get the cute fluffy white snow that is gentle on the skin and the temperature never seems cold- just watch White Christmas with Bing Crosby to see what I mean.

Well, that is it for another week. Sometimes it is funny how when I sit down to do this blog, all I see is white space and wonder what the heck I am going to write about. Then after a few minutes I look up and see that I am over the 1500 word mark or so.

I have been charged by some that I dwell too much on age but I beg to differ. Age is one of the most wonderful gifts you can get. Yes it brings sad changes to the body but the learning, patience, wit and dare I say wisdom you gain is priceless. In fact I have always said that you should retire at the age of 25 to enjoy your health, travel and do wild and wonderful things and then un-retire at age 60 and work until you drop!

Take care out there,

Flatlander52

Sunday musings

December 9^th –circle that day on your calendar. That is the final day for a solution to the Euro crisis. To make a long and often repeated story short, Germany has presented a list of conditions that the rest of the European community – especially France must agree to in order to stabilize and save the Euro as the common currency of Europe. It involves ceding fiscal control to the ECB (European Central Bank) which means a loss of sovereignty over money matters. This is something that Sarkozy of France is dancing around, one day he agrees in principal while talking with the world press, and the next while talking to French media, denies that this will ever happen. If failure is the result, look to the end of the Euro starting in the New Year. This will impact the entire world, causing probably a return to a double digit recession, massive layoffs, and majour social unrest. If you think the Occupy demonstrations in the United States were something, well, that will look like child’s play in comparison. The worlds stock markets will be savaged, pension plans decimated and it will take, in my opinion, anywhere up to 5-10 years to recover – that is how serious this will be.

Think the problem is only in Europe? Try looking at America. The so called Super Committee that was supposed to reduce government spending took the whole summer to dissolve into finger pointing and posturing and achieving diddly squat. So sure enough the fiscal ranking institutions in the States were the beneficiaries of a credit downgrade. This makes borrowing and lending money in the States more costly. And of course the banks immediately pass this on to the customer and the government turns a blind eye to this. So while politicians play at being irresponsible, the consumer pays and loses. And incredibly the politicians get re-elected time after time.

In the United States, one of the people running for the nomination of the Republican party to be the candidate in the 2012 Presidential elections has ceased his campaign. This was due to a number of women coming forward to claim that he had affairs with them in years past. I do not know the man or even his political positions but it amazes me that in a such a great country that almost venerates a former president that had a number of well known affairs- John Kennedy, that now they judge a man solely on this instead of how and what the complete man is. That does not minimize the alleged affairs, but if they were consensual – why does this disqualify the man? Indeed there is also another candidate, Mitt Romney who has endured attacks on his religious beliefs.

Strange people the Americans.

Yet I still believe that they were and still are, one of the greatest societies this world has seen.

Today marks election day in Russia. In the last few days the only independent election overseer has been arrested with no charges laid. This does not bode well for the democratic process in the land. Also Mr. Putin is reengaged in the process and that is something that rarely happens in a truly democratic society where the accepted norm is that once a leader has had his time at the head of the country, he/she slowly fades back into obscurity and a dignified retirement. Not apparently with Mr. Putin, it seems the lure of power is too irresistible for him. Not an encouraging sign. Maybe the Russian people yearn for the days where certain basic things in life were a given, no matter how harsh life was, there was a form of security in that. They may resent the rise of a rich wealthy class and no corresponding rise in their own life. Who knows?

In Egypt election results show that 2 fundamentalist Islamic parties, if they decided to form a coalition would become the first democratically elected government. There is a difference in their approach to policy where one favours strict Sharia law, with all its’ negative implications for women. And the other having a more moderate approach and seemingly more concerned with the rule of the land and improving the lot of the average person. Funny thing about the interpretation that some strict Muslims give to their faith and that is in the way they treat their women. Apparently there is no mention of women having to veil their faces, yet it appears that their men are too insecure to allow this. This applies to education for boys versus girls. Even codes of morality allow for extremes for the males but have great restrictions for the females.

Further unrest in the Middle East where tensions are slowly starting to increase as more and more evidence comes forward about the nuclear goals of Iran. Israel will surely not sit back much longer before taking action of some sort to stop what they (and the Americans) believe is a threat to their existence and peace in the region. Something to keep an eye on.

So here in Canada there is a system of government and individual funded retirement benefits called- are you ready? The Canada Pension Plan. It is designed for those people that have been in the workforce and is based on contributions paid in over the years. It can be accessed at age 65, for the most cash monthly or at age 60 at a reduced rate if so desired. For this you apply a year before your 60^th birthday less one month. Well that surely is an indicator that something has changed in your life and you are starting a new phase. Formerly called old age, it has now been termed “later middle age”. That truck has hit me today. For now I can apply for those early benefits. Funny, I do not recall the years slipping by so quickly. Indeed I still wake up from my mid afternoon nap (just joking!) thinking I am in my mid forties. It is true, you never think about time so much, as when you perceive that you are on the wrong end of the stick. Anyway, getting back to my upcoming pension (late next year), heaven knows what I will do with all that new found wealth. That is said tongue in cheek, because if you had to live on just that, life would be very difficult indeed for you. I think for the early takers it is in the $600 per month range. Kinda tough to live on that nowadays. If you have been fortunate in life, you planned for retirement without figuring in the Canada Pension and that money is bonus. In fact just a few short years ago, many so called “experts” were proclaiming loudly that the plan was going to run out of funding in the near future and all chaos would happen in Canada. Strange thing about that, it seems that there is more than enough money in the Plan to cover obligations.

So tomorrow I will access the forms online and probably spend a couple of days trying to figure them out and them submit them and then like a child on Christmas Eve, await that glorious day when the dough rolls in!

OK, speaking of Christmas shopping, how is it going? Are you one of the few that is long finished are now are one of the struggling masses running up and down the aisles looking for any and everything under the sun? Are you spending as much as last year- more or less? Probably no matter what item you spend money on, the day after Christmas it will be on sale for even less. Those that celebrate Christmas in January have had the right idea all along I think. I tried to boycott Christmas one year, bad idea, I still get teased about being Mr. Grinch all these many years later. One of the things I do not participate in is carol singing – when you have a voice like a dying frog, it is the right thing to do. Otherwise you might get a call from the police seeking to find the person who is being murdered according to the screams coming from the house.

Want to hear a pet peeve of mine in this wireless age we live in? In Canada there is such a lack of free WiFi spots that it is ludicrous. In Europe and the United States they abound. But no, not here. Sometimes the lack of competition in the wireless market here is striking in that rates are high, plans are restrictive, you have to lock into term lengths with whacking big penalties to opt out. Try to get a plan for more than 1 phone, cable and internet combined – fat chance my friend. Just like cable TV here, you are saddled with channels you do not want, and those you want, are not allowed to get. Almost makes you want to go back to the days of a party line phone system and 2 channels of black and white TV!

Sure, and while I am at it, why not go back to the horse and buggy and the outhouse in the backyard and walking uphill to school and uphill back home again? Maybe it is time for my pension. Sometimes I sound like the grumpy old farts I used to laugh at years ago!

Well the winter weather is here. Blasted cold, rotten wind whistling through every exposed pores in body, golly gee, how many months until Spring anyway? At least we have not too much snow on the ground at this point, but sure as death and taxes, there is at least 4 to 6 feet of the stuff on the way over the next few months. I am glad that I have a tuned up snow blower in the garage but I will not be heart broken if I use it very little this winter. It is something like insurance, nice to have, better not to have to use it.

So, anyway, hope you are bundled up warmly.

Take care out there,

Flatlander52