Sunday musings

So last posting I mentioned about the upcoming election in the province of Quebec.
That is history now.
The secessionist governing party was soundly defeated by a Liberal Party led by a person who publicly says that Canada is an OK country to be part of.
Who would have believed it?
Perhaps, the answer to this might be a very simple one.
Maybe, just maybe the vigorous wanters of an independent Quebec are in the throes of middle age and the dreams of a new country dim compared to worry about pensions, health, grandchildren and their own mortality?
Maybe.
Priorities and desires change with age.
It is called maturity.
This week in Canada saw the sudden passing of Jim Flaherty. He was the former Federal Minister of Finance under whose direction Canada was able to navigate through the worst of the last recession/depression with minimal damage. Indeed Canada emerged as one of the better economies during that period. He had resigned his office a little over three weeks earlier in order to devote more time to his family. Reports indicate that there will be a state funeral for him this upcoming week and deservedly so.
 A good man gone too soon.
The unrest in the Ukraine continues to simmer with violence sparking here and there and barely concealed fear of war gripping any rational citizen. The call remains in Mr. Putin's' hands.
The suspicion that there is a more detailed long term goal becomes stronger by the day.
Is this the start of a new Russian Empire?
Or at least the attempt to start one by Mr. Putin?
One suspects the answer will be shown sooner than later.
In a report totally ignored by the media in the United States, Finance chiefs from around the globe today gave the U.S. until year-end to ratify long-delayed reforms to the International Monetary Fund. The reforms would double the Fund's resources and hand more IMF voting power to countries like the so-called BRICS - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. And this is something that the American government really does not want to happen. And the folks in the Tea Party who many term as international isolationists are extremely opposed to any perceived diminution of American power and prestige.
This story bears following my friends.
Do you remember the wall to wall coverage on the fiscal mess in Greece a couple of years ago? All the talking heads smirked over the stress and grief that country was going through in almost a gloating manner?
Hmmm... this week Greece returned to the bond market and yield-hungry investors rushed to buy its debt in a 3-billion euro deal that could mark the beginning of the end of its bailout era.
And hardly a murmur from the media.
Kinda sucks to have a good news story these days - all the media can do is obsessively focus on grief, fiscal ruin and some celebutante butt.
Did you notice in a number of the photos taken from airplanes in the search for that missing Malaysian airliner, all the floating debris - mainly plastic?
Terrible.
That being said, why cannot a country or some enterprise set up a fleet of scavenger ships to scoop up the debris and convert it into either a manufacturing product or a heat source by its combustion? Surely with all the smart green activists there are some with the expertise to build non polluting power plants that feast on plastic debris? 
Aren't there?
So in the capital city here on my Island, the sad story of political ineptitude in regards to the building of a new traffic bridge continues. A contract was awarded to a firm to build a vehicle traffic bridge across a water way with the bridge to be raised when shipping needed to pass under it. So, the construction started last year under what officials called fixed price and fixed delivery specifications. And of course now the builder has filed documents seeking more money and a later completion date. A top elected official blustered about "fixed price, fixed delivery date" to the media. Sounds good right? Hmmm...not so fast as it seems that the tender specifications were only 65% complete.
Really.
And the city expects the final price to be accurate based on that?
Something like having a lawn installer giving you a price for 65% installation of grass and then saying that the bill stays the same but you also want the additional 35% for free?
Really.
Politicians wonder why the public is sooooo cynical about them.
Really.
Meanwhile Spring continues unabashed here as the local magnolia and cheery trees are exploding into flower and giving one and all a grand sight to see.

And my walking program continues unchallenged much to my sorrow.......
take care out there,
flatlander52