Sunday musings

There is an old saying that starts like this "better the devil you know than....." and it is obvious that the political parties in Italy are determined to follow it as they have settled on a new coalition government and a strong supporter of former Prime Minister (convicted felon, young girl-child womanizer Silvio Berlusconi) has emerged as the Deputy Prime Minister.
As with most feeble parties in a system that encourages ruthless leaders that fear no back bench revolts, this person is merely a surrogate for Berlusconi himself so the specter of that persons ruinous policies returning has emerged.
Italy will in all likehood be in for troubling times.
Spain has admitted that the effects of the depression gripping the country is worse than forecast. Instead of the economy contracting .5% it is now expected to contract at least 1.3% with some analysts forecasting even worse. The deficit will not be 4.5% of economic output but rather 6.3%. And of course the European Commission has extended the grace period for the economy to get back on its projected path without any penalties.
So, what indeed is the difference between this and the collapse in Cyprus?
Do you see the hypocrisy at work here as well?
Just saying....
Here in Canada in the province of Quebec, labour unions, students and some community groups banded together to set up a march in Montreal for Monday to protest the changes in the Federal Government's reforms to the workers unemployment wage loss program ( a program to assist those who lose the jobs with a financial bridge until they find new employment) called the EI Program.
Spokespeople say the changes unfairly target seasonal workers and make it too difficult to qualify for employment insurance.
It is amazing to many other Canadians that a province that elects a government whose raison d'etre is to destroy the country by succession has such a deep attachment, some would say dependency, of social welfare programs paid for by the rest of that hated country.
Just saying....
A clothing factory in Bangladesh collapsed this week killing scores of workers and trapping many in the rubble. This factory remained open even though it had gotten orders to close from civic authorities because inspections had revealed many deep cracks in the building itself. Many groups around the world have called for a boycott of the companies that used this factory to supply consumers in, mainly Europe, with cheap clothing products.
Well, that is a problem folks.
First off, if the products and the factories are boycotted, then the factory owners will just close the factories, fire all the staff and relocate in another country in the eastern world sector. Thus the workers, who earn pathetic wages indeed, will now earn nothing, worsening their economic state. The governments of these areas turn a blind eye to these abuses because if they did enforce wage standards and decent, humane, safe working conditions they know that the factories will disappear as the owners relocate elsewhere. Thus depriving the economy of needed money and helping in a vey small way the lives of the workers. This is not to say that this is right but saying that the real world is not black and white but filled with many shades of grey and good and evil.
Is there a solution at all?
As with environmental health, probably not. Who is going to tell China to stop polluting the air with its coal power plants? Or Spain, who once embraced the "Green Way" when prosperous, now having abandoned it, is scrambling to restart less expensive to run coal power plants? Or countries in the Far East with their water polluting factories discharge or Argentina in the city of Buenos Aires with its own factories spilling into local rivers?
Who indeed.
Reports are coming forth saying that the use of chemical weapons in Syria by both sides of the war (only a wimp would call it "civil unrest") and yet the world stands by idly. And yet the manufactured "truth" by nameless officials in the employ of the British and American governments about possible weapons of mass destruction in Iraq prompted an invasion almost overnight.
The lack of response is a true showing of the hypocrisy of world governments isn't it?
Speaking of hypocrisy, my favourite world body, the United Nations (such a paragon of nobility-HAH!) had a forum the other day where such countries that are such champions of virtue such as Pakistan, Cuba, China, North Korea and Iran have attacked Canada on its human rights efforts internally.
Really?
This proves how much a waste of space, time and money the UN is these days doesn't it? It is now dominated by countries that deflect their horrible record of treating their people by attacking other countries. Like Canada, the USA, many in Europe. Indeed the countries being attacked are the ones that pay the bills for the UN as they are assessed much higher "dues" than the others biting at their heels. And yes, these countries are not perfect - but look at the records of the accusers and tell me where you would rather live OK?
Thought so....
By the way, how come we let let politicians lie to us anyway? We would call out anyone that told us such bald faced lies as they do but instead we give them a free ride.
They stand in Government Chambers or in front of TV cameras and with a completely straight face say black is white and have no fear of any consequence. They promise all sorts of freebies to get elected and then say-oops the cupboard is bare, we will have to raise taxes instead. They call a budget balanced but cook the fiscal books in such a way that the tooth fairy would smile.
But no consequences. In BC the dreaded HST was repealed but no politician said that some infrastructure grant money would disappear with its removal forcing projects to be cancelled - or have taxes raised yet again to pay for them. Oh no, they were silent when asked or fudged the answer. Once again, no consequences for them.
A pox on their houses......
2 musical legends from different genres passed recently. Rita MacNeil in Canada and George Jones in the United States. Look them up, listen to some of their music and then mourn their passing and our loss.
Great news from the Great Frozen North of Canada-namely Saskatchewan. It is now official, the winter that started 7 months ago is over! Wahoo for the people there! The temperatures are reaching normal levels now and the accumulated snow packs are melting quickly away. Indeed spring flooding is underway in areas with some grid roads being affected by washout conditions. As this rate they golfers will be on the course by the 3rd week of May. And it is about time as they have endured a winter of numbing proportions this year. I bet the citizens cannot wait for the snow to fall in October again!
We had our friends from Regina visit us this week and it is safe to say that a great time was had by all. We toured many areas, ate waaay to much rich and varied food and literally walked our feet off! My golf buddy and I got in a couple of games and we both were in mid season "fibbing" form, that is to say our excuses were of Olympic quality! And the malls never knew what hit them when the ladies descended upon them!
That being said, remember time and life is short, so when you have an opportunity to enjoy life and people, do so because you may never get such a chance again and you do not want to regret that.
take care out there,
flatlander52

Sunday musings

News reports coming out of China indicate that there has been a massive earthquake with great damage and many casualties as well. Hopefully rescue and recovery efforts will assist the survivors.

The President of Argentina was in Venezuela this week to attend to the inauguration of the new President elect and took a side trip to visit the remains of Hugo Chavez in what some observers see as another clear sign that she is leaning even more to the left in the political spectrum and attaching herself to symbols like his and also Eva Peron in order to bolster support at home.

We have all followed the events in Cyprus and the followed the economic ruin of the country. So, as it seems all politicians around the world do, the President has come up with a way to save that faltering country.

Casinos.

Correct, casinos.

He thinks that by building a number of them, as the movie Field of Dreams so famously stated,”they will come.” Apparently people with scads of money to gamble away without a care will  descend on the island or the populace itself, will emerge to pour money into the coffers of the government and save the day.

Fool.

It really is too much to expect politicians to do the right thing these days isn't it?

In a couple of small cities on Ontario, the police chiefs there earn in the high 6 figures, well over $150,000 a year, while their counter part in Detroit earns $53,000! All local governments are straining under what many call excessive pay packages for police, firefighters and civic officials and the answer given to the taxpayer to pay for the insatiable money pit is more taxes! Now I am not blaming these out of line pay rates solely on the employees, no, someone in management had to sign off on these agreements in the first place.

But when will this stop?

When will politicians actually make the hard calls and start to actually spend money honestly and act as if they were accountable for doing so?

I remember when running a commercial printing company one year during contract negotiations in tough economic times, the employers put forward a proposal to the union negotiators that certain job classifications were to be red circled. What this meant was that there would be no more wage increase for that type of work classified worker and that the job would be eliminated over a set time line. Perhaps not elimination, but maybe the time has come for the wages of teachers, nurses, doctors, professors, police and firefighters, high placed government employees to be frozen until the rest of society catches up.

Many would argue that society has been held hostage by these groups long enough and the time has come to change that.

Having a career is all about choices. No one is forced to become what they do become trade or career wise. And no one is forced to remain in that field forever. They can change careers if they want to if they deem that what they are paid is not what they deserve.

But few do, don't they?

In B.C. where a provincial election campaign is underway, the same lack of comprehension is displayed by both major parties. The heavily favoured to win socialist NDP agrees that the province is heavily in debt but instead of offering a plan to stop the money bleeding away down a black hole, offer all kinds of goodies – bribes- to the voter as a way of getting elected. Just to name a few, freezing fare increase for ferry service to and from Vancouver Island to the mainland. Increasing money flow to the education system-read teachers and teachers assistants there. Increase social welfare payments. One question – where is the money coming from for all this largesse?

And the soon to be Opposition, former Government Liberal Party promises to eliminate the total provincial debt “soon” by the brand new liquified gas industry profits.

Of course the industry is almost non existent and may take up to a decade to come on stream if it ever does.

What fantasy world do they live in anyway?

Can you imagine what your mortgage banker would say if you went to them and asked for a cheaper, longer term of even forgivable mortgage based on your promise that maybe one day you might win the lottery or find a million dollars under a rock?

And politicians wonder why people no longer come out to vote.

Could it be that the average citizen wants to hide and hopes not to be noticed and taxed yet again and again?

I think so.

OK, over in France, bus drivers in the crime-stricken city of Marseille have announced on Friday they are to take strike action over restricted working conditions.

Their grievance?

They don’t like “the quality, the colour or the fit” of their new pants.

Once again, only in France one supposes.

And what of this news “flowing” out of Germany? Apparently stiff market competition and reduced consumption by consumers are forcing German breweries and craft beer shops to cut beer prices in half! Oh the horror!

Industry experts proclaim with completely straight faces that these price cuts could affect the quality and integrity of the amber hued brew.

I think these so called “experts” are in cahoots with those in the Egg and Milk Marketing boards in Canada that fix prices to the detriment of the consumer.

Want to get an idea at how tough the economy is in Spain these days?

Figures released by the Spanish National Bureau of Statistics (INE) offer the following figures. Of the 25 million homes in the country, over 3.3 million or almost 14% are EMPTY! That is a result of people either walking away from them or being evicted for non payment.

That is incredible.

I really did not want to talk about this, but I have to. And that is the horror that occurred in Boston, America this week at its world famous marathon race. By now we have all read and seen and heard the details so there is no need to repeat them here sadly.

What evil prompts people to do these things?

One weeps for America yet again.

But rest assured, the American people are resilient and will triumph over this obscenity, of that there can be no doubt.

And good for them.

So, some good news now.

I have written before about my 3 surrogate daughters and this past week I got some great news from the “entrepreneur” in Regina. I will become a “virtual” grandfather this fall as she and her beloved are expecting their second child! How cool is that? She sent me some snaps of her ultrasound and that was something else indeed. I told her that I thought I saw a resemblance to me with a triple chin and a pencil thin moustache in the pictures but she told me that maybe I needed to have my eyes checked!

It seems that "he" is actually a "she"-oops!

Also this week, we (as mentioned previously) are hosting our friends from Regina and they arrived in Victoria on Friday. I fully expect that they are walking around with smiles on their faces as they are, at least for a while, away from the snow that still blankets Regina.

We have (actually this itinerary was planned by my better half ) a whole swack of things to see, do and eat while they are here and I anticipate that when they do leave for Regina at the end of the week, that they will have had a great time.

Anyway, take care out there,

flatlander52

Sunday musings

I feel like I am raging against the instant communications that the Internet provides these days.

I will give a couple of examples as to why to you.

First, there is the news that the former Prime Minister of England, Ms. Margaret Thatcher passed away this week of a stroke at the age of 87 after suffering from dementia for a number of years. The world media is awash with in depth, almost gleeful coverage of the reaction of some Britons. These “people”are rejoicing in her death and have promoted the song from the Wizard of Oz that was originally sung about the evil witch in that film – Ding Dong the Witch is Dead on music charts.

History will pass judgement of her term in office, no doubt about that.

But the glee about her death and the media coverage are almost obscene.

What is wrong with these people anyway?

Another example is the truly tragic suicide of a young woman in Eastern Canada as a result of allegedly (and I use this word because as of this day no charges or convictions have occurred, and not in a disparaging way) being raped by 4 young “men” (no male deserves to be called a man if they rape anyone BTW) and then having photos of this posted throughout the school they went to. The torment and abuse spewed her way as a result by both male and and yes even female co-students drove her to take her life. Almost immediately a continent wide outpouring of rage via social networks came forth. At least three internet postings via online newspaper sites posted the thought that this was the fault of not just the four individuals but indeed – was the fault of you and me as well.

I am sorry, but that is wrong.

You cannot assuage your anger or guilt by lumping all of humanity into a guilty party such as occurred here.

That is wrong.

I grew up believing that you should always try to consider how your actions might affect others before doing so. In the case of the late Ms. Thatcher, one has to ask why from those celebrating her passing. Do they feel better now?

I doubt it.

In the suicide tragedy, assigning guilt to society does not help change people or their behaviour, it only makes the person casting blame feel better about themselves.

If people want to affect change, join groups, become political, donate time to good causes instead of lashing out at others.

The world has in some cases become too small for its own good.

The 24 hour 365 days a year news cycles exploit the sad, bad, evil, tragic news of the day and completely submerge any mention of anything positive. No wonder so many young are emotionally giving up on society these days.

This is our modern day sorrow.

Palestinian Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad resigned on Saturday after a lengthy feud with President Abbas. Highly regarded by the international community, his departure will hamper the continuing statehood aspirations of the Palestinian people. It also increases the power of the Fatah Party in the area. For sure Israel will not look favourably upon this development.

SAIT Polytechnic in Calgary, Canada is asking a student not to bring her medical marijuana vaporizer to classes and she has so far refused. In Canada medical marijuana usage is legal while usage of non medical marijuana is illegal. This is not to get into the debate about whether or not to legalize the drug but where the heck do the people that promote its use get off by blowing the smoke from the consumption into the open air anyway? You see large protests every year in large cities where these folks gather and puff away in defiance of existing laws and they do so without any regard to those passerbys that do not want to inhale said product. Go to any music concert or large event and the smoke haze and smell is incredible.

What about the rights and health concerns of the non smokers?

Venezuela will have the election of a new President this Sunday. All indicators point to the election of the man Hugo Chavez anointed as his successor. That will probably bring huge sighs of relief in Cuba as the Cuban economy has been supported for years by Venezuelan exports of oil at rock bottom forgivable prices and now appears set to continue. Indeed, in all likelihood the American administration probably will not be too upset with the result as it assumes that it might be able to deal with the new President. Do not forget that America has a long history of  importing oil from that country.

Speaking of Cuba, this week 2 grossly overpaid American singers travelled to that country in spite of laws forbidding American citizens from going to that country. Another example of 1 set of rules for the average person and another for the rich and politically connected?

Beijing has reported the first human case of a new variant of the so called bird flu this week. Health experts around the world are watching these developments with concern, but really, what can be done if this flu becomes widespread? In all honesty, probably very little and any new vaccine if required will take a few years to develop unfortunately.

The boiling pot called North Korea is still bubbling merrily away and the rest of the world just kind of watches. It is almost starting to resemble the fable of the little boy who called wolf once too often. That being said, this is a country with the atomic bomb and an extremely large and very well equipped military so they cannot be dismissed out of hand.

The consequences are unthinkable.

Will the Chinese actually do something?

They seem to be the only country that the North Korean leadership might actually listen to.

A man in Belarus has reportedly died after being attacked by a beaver that he was attempting to photograph. Hmm, and this rodent is the national symbol of Canada? I can hear the marketing slogan now from Tourism Canada, “Attack us and we will chomp you to death!”

Nope, won't work will it?

Of course this bit of news from France is, well, bizarre. A report of a study of 320 women over 15 years concluded that wearing a bra was bad for the womans health. Hmm, does that fact the report was done up and administered by men make the results a little suspect?

Oh France......

Speaking of the United States, have you noticed how all the gloom and doom and despair about the end of the country because of the “fiscal cliff” has abated? Where are the non stop media TV roundtables that were so prevalent just a month ago? Or is it the fact that the American economy seems to be surviving reasonably well these days have anything to do with that? Reports indicate that house prices are starting to slowly climb and employment numbers look better as well. Indeed some large American banks are now saying that inflation is becoming a concern. Strange, I grew up in times (not that long ago actually) where when a recession ended, it was followed by a couple of years of no growth or quiet economic activity and then the so called boom times emerged to run for a number of years again. This cycle repeated over and over again. Now it seems the world crashed, depression set in, people suffered and in a blink this ended and inflation has returned. Did all the unemployed find jobs again by the way? I don't think so. Something has dramatically changed here in the economic equation and yet no one is talking about it. We see a generation of almost permanently unemployed young people emerging and that is now acceptable?

If that is the case, boy are we in trouble, maybe not today but surely in the not so distant future.

So I have gotten some e mails from folks in Saskatchewan cheerfully snarling about the continuing grip of winter and the forecasts that say temperatures will remain below normal until the 24^th or so of the month and then as soon as things heat up, a massive flood of almost biblical proportions is being called for. 

Ouch. 

And ouch again. 

The flood of 2011 laid waste to vast swaths of land and devastated many small communities that just now are getting back on their economic feet. A new flood will be tough to say the least. Hopefully this, if it does occur, will not be as severe as thought.

Here we are fortunate. I am so amazed at the sight of blossoming trees. There were very few in Regina and I never imagined the beauty of such a thing.

We have a couple of trees in the back that will be flowering in a week or so, just in time for the arrival of some friends (and yes, he is my golf buddy that I have mentioned before!) from the Prairie Flatlands for a looked forward to visit by all parties.

Take care out there,

flatlander52

Sunday musings

So, actually once again this is really a Saturday night posting and there is a reason for this.
Yesterday we took the ferry from home to Vancouver, stayed overnight and then left at 6 in the morning for the over the mountain drive to the small interior B.C. city of Vernon.
We were on the road for 6 hours and drove through 2 mini blizzards along the way as we journeyed to attend a Celebration of Life for my late Uncle KK.
And what a great Celebration it was. The family, friends and love were overwhelming. Indeed, if the greatness and impact of a man can be measured by these benchmarks, then he was truly a great man.
Tomorrow we are back on the road for the return to the Island in the late afternoon or early evening.
Another long day to be sure.
And that is why the posting a day early.
So, this will be a short edition this week.
A series of storms hit the province and city of Buenos Aires this week with massive flooding and 51 deaths as a result.
That poor, beautiful city.
One wonderful announcement of the government is that when all is restored that no property taxes for this year will be collected in the affected areas.
Something that governments in North America should look at copying.
North Korea has moved 2 missiles into what is termed "a better firing position" at either the USA or Japan. Once again this is a true head scratcher.
2 blasted missiles?
Ooh, I bet the Yanks are quivering in their boots!
Next thing we will see announcements from the North Koreans how they have "won" this war and now are laying down terms of surrender and repatriation to both the South Koreans and the Americans.
Once again you have to ask, what are these dudes smoking anyway?
In a case of follow the money trail, Caterpiller in the US, which closed a large Canadian plant a few years ago because the workers were "overpaid" in comparison to their counterparts in the States and transferred the jobs there, has closed a plant there now, releasing 460 of those workers.
Want to bet those jobs show up in Mexico or Asia?
In Canada, the American retailer Target has opened its doors to the public. Not surprisingly, prices are not as low as the same stores in the States. Indeed they rival that of the WalMart chain. Officials of both chains say that the Canadian market is "different" than that in the States.
What they really mean is that the Canadian consumer is beaten into submission into accepting higher prices without a murmur of opposition.
Pretty sad.
A massive leak of people hiding money out of country in order to avoid paying taxes touching individuals around the world has been released to the media. A large number are Canadians, yet the Federal Government, which is responsible for tax law enforcement has been strangely quiet in response to this bit of news. Of course a couple of low level civil servants have mumbled some talk of "looking" into this matter but not a peep from the Finance Minister or the Prime Minister.
Perhaps a set of laws for the average citizen complete with high fines and another set for the money hiders, many who seem to be in the legal or political profession?
Just saying.
Makes you want to take your money from the bank and stash it under your mattress. And you might as well considering the pitiful interest rates working for you versus the obscene fees banks charge you for the privilege of using your own money.
In the Merrie Monarch Hula contest, dancers from my favourite isle of Maui swept the competition, good news indeed!
And in Regina, yet another late winter snow/ice storm hit the besieged city yet again this week in what many residents hope is the last embrace of winter. Indeed, city officials expect that the huge man made mounds (actually mini mountains by Prairie standards) created by collected snow removal operations may not melt until September of this year!
Just in time for the next winter.
Wow.
Well, that is it for this short column,
take care out there,
flatlander52