wise words...

Margaret Wente in the Globe and Mail reminds us of  Galbraith's wise words, "Recessions catch what the auditors miss."

photo from The Real Derryn 

it's too true to be funny, it's the story of our time...

puppies are people too?

There was a feel good news story yesterday. Two horses were abandoned in the back country. A group of volunteers dug a trail through at least a kilometer of deep snow to rescue them. A noble effort, no doubt, was it newsworthy, however? Well that’s a different story. On one hand these same people eat pork chops and eat eggs. Chickens and pigs are treated as if they are but one more stop on an assembly line. They are kept in cages or pens so small they cannot move and or in the case of sows are only enough to suckle their young. An incredibly high pecentage of money given to charities goes to organizations that safeguard the safety of pets. Somehow, the plight of a small child with Aids who is starving in Sub-Saharan Africa is less important than putting an end to the mistreatment of pets here.

photo from scott185

that's why ford still produces buggy whips...

It is wrong to demonize the union workers in the auto industry. To blame them alone is to ignore some fundamentals that led to the crisis, but in some cases they are delusional. As drivers turn to smaller more fuel efficient vehicles the days of the full size SUV are numbered and the industry recognizes this and has closed down plants that produce them. One of these was in Janesville where according to the NYTs “…workers felt G.M. broke a pledge in its 2007 contract with the United Automobile Workers to keep the factory running.” Now I support the labour movement and believe the unions when they say too much emphasis has been put on their wages and benefits. I am a little dubious, however, when they lay all the blame for the current crisis at the feet of Wall Street and the financial sector as whole: those who shower before work rather than those who shower when they get home. There is truth to this and it may be the case that bridge loans will see them through, but this ignores the fact that the industry was in dire straits before the meltdown. To think that an unprofitable plant should be kept open just to honour a contract that did not take into account the potential demise of the industry feeds fuel to the fire of the notion that union wages and benefits are what make auto makers uncompetitive.

photo from view[+]finder

the return of the hummer...

There are profound flaws in encouraging “green” products and practices as part of Obama’s potential bail out of the auto industry and his stimulus package. It is essential that the investments should lead to viable products. America remains a free market economy and no matter how tattered it is the market that chooses what will be bought and what won’t. In these perilous times Obama must rely on market research rather than base his choices on ethical grounds. Global warming may be a fact but the consumers turn to green products and technologies may just be a fad.

photo from American Council On Renewable Energy's 

it's how you play the game...

No one likes to lose but with a change in attitude the burden can be made easier. Doug Glanville, who was a professional baseball player, recalls his mentor saying “We didn’t lose, we just ran out of innings.” How many times have you run out of innings?

photo R J Malfalfa

Paul Krugman adds credence to The Onion's cynical take on the current economic crisis,  “Recession-Plagued Nation Demands New Bubble to Invest In.” , claiming the only way out is to establish strong fundamentals and implies that even Obama has not looked beyond the short term relief provided by stimulating the economy

three or four popular choices and a whole lot of party hacks, way to reform the Senate, Stephan!

Wry commentator Larry Zolf’s take on the Canadian Senate: "…..the only museum in the world where all the artifacts, specimens, relics and fossils are alive - if barely breathing."

photo from Lone Primate

white christmas for the entire country leaves retailers blue...

Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse retailers are taking an incredible hit. On a weekend when they were looking forward to some of the best sales totals of the year, the entire country, except for the Prairies, who are in a deep freeze, is in the midst of snow storms of apocalyptic proportions.

photo form  -liyen-

trudeau's folly revisited?

Jeffery Simpson in the Globe makes a point about the misinterpretation of Keysian economy by governments in the last 30 years. You stimulate the economy with short term deficits and pour the money into infrastructure projects, tax relief and other forms of stimulus but this is only for the short term, however, for who can forget the massive debt accrued by Trudeau and Mulroney? Once you start down that road it is difficult to stop. It may also be necessary to bail out industries such as auto makers, but this opens a Pandora’s Box for who in tough times doesn’t need money? Investing in infrastructure is absurd for as Simpson points out, “Infrastructure projects…for example, take a while to prepare. Plans must be made, materials bought, tenders given and labour found, to say nothing of environmental and regulatory hurdles. Rush any of these, and say hello to potential cost overruns and poor design.”

photo from laberal cartoons

it's time for parliament to put their chains on...

Jean Chrétien is perhaps best known for mangling the English language, not in the sense that Dion, who fractures syntax and abuses grammar, but more on the level of Bush. He is no W though. He  was elected to Parliament for the first  time in 1963 and at the time spoke no English and was a force to be reckoned with finally becoming PM in the ‘90s. Malapropisms aside, he is bilingually bad, making the same kind of gaffes in both official languages, he was brave enough to say what many of us felt: that to a certain extent we brought on 9/11 ourselves. He is no fool. He described how they got out of a previous constitutional crisis, quite aptly, "You don't get excited. You don't spin your wheels.....You just go forwards, backwards, forwards, backwards - and eventually you're back on the road."

photo from  mars2999

gm and chrysler a money pit...

A dirty little secret: General Motors and Ford already make popular, high-quality, high-mileage automobiles. The trouble is, because of regulatory differences between the United States and the European Union, they’re sold only in Europe. CHRISTIAN EDSTROM in the NYTs times thinks this can be resolved. One thing that sticks in my craw is the standard for seat belts. In Europe it is assumed people wear them in the US, not so. In Canada this is more than aggravating. Our cars meet US standards and air bags do as much damage as good.

I believe the green scare will pass, not that global warning isn’t real just that the scare  is a fad. Gas prices should remain stable so the whole mythology behind the shift away from SUVs and mini-vans being unaffordable as gas hits five hundred dollars is a crock. The US. will still have the lowest gas prices in the developed world. There is now a strong import market in SUVs and pickups driven by the belief in a virile mythology accounting for the ratonal of urbanites and suburbanites who have never use the vehicle for what it was designed for. Ford is a leader in this market and although they may not compete in selling other types of car they can scale back and focus on what they do best.

Obama’s team is looking towards a long term solution to the crisis in the auto industry and if they bail them out they will want to see the money is used wisely and will probably appoint a Czar. No one wants to mention the “N” word for government control of company even in countries where social democracy is a way of life has made things worse. I believe in bridge loans and if once the companies are fluid again and no longer find themselves facing bankruptcy, let them go. I believe GM and Chrysler’s management gave up a long time ago and are just looking for a soft spot to land. Ford will survive. The recession will make this hard but they will come out at the end of the tunnel. I am a social democrat who believes the economy should be controlled, but in a nation of freewheeling capitalism qausi-nationalization  is a recipe for disaster. I would have more sympathy for the unions if they made the drastic changes needed to turn the ship around but all they do now is complain about all the money going to the financial sector, which is a specious argument at best.

photo from  harry_nl

the lady protests too much...

Jennifer Aniston protests too much. On the Press reporting her every move, she says “I think it’s ridiculous,” she said. “There’s just this insatiable need… I am honestly getting sick of it, and I feel like telling people, ‘You know what? It’s none of your (expletive) business.’ Seriously, it’s enough.”

All this is fine until the interview mentions,

With a new film (“Marley & Me”) coming out Dec. 25, the former “Friends” star hopes fans will pay less attention to her personal business “and realize that I have a job, and I’m an actress.”

You have tried some serious roles but babe, you are no Judy Dench, Helen Mirren or Meryl Streep. People still watch, for the most part, to see the newest version of Rachel. If Aniston got her wish she probably wouldn’t get any work.

photo from Lykourgos

i kind of like ike...

Tomasky of the Guardian pooh-poohs liberals who fear Obama is moving to the centre and sees him as potentially the most progressive President ever. American infrastructure is falling apart and Obama is willing to put up the money to fix it and bring the country out of a recession at the same time. Two problems here: first in terms of improving infrastructure it is going to be hard to beat the Republican, Dwight D. Eisenhower who built the Interstate highway system and second throwing subsidies may be a waste of money if it is intended to lift the country out of a recession. Priming the pump may not work. It will change the face of America but will cost a small fortune and the stimulus may do nothing. Infrastructure projects take a long time to get off the ground and may not have any significant effect on the economy until the recession is over . That is not to say they aren’t needed just that the motivation is wrong and Obama may be putting his eggs in the wrong basket. Remember Ike’s projects were completed during the most prosperous era of the last century.

photo from Storyspinn

obama and the machine...

Well it’s business as usual in Illinois. The Governor is about to be indicted on numerous charges of corruption including trying to sell Obama’s Senate seat. The previous Governor is serving a 6 ½ sentence for corruption. This is the political milieu Obama came up through. It is no wonder he campaigned on the need for change. Reform begins at home and the ghost of Richard Daley casts a long shadow. 

photo from .caitlyn

will i be hearing from the gay mafia?

For many Liberals in California there possibly, was an unforeseen outcome of Obama being on the ballot: Proposition 8 failed. The logic is it brought blacks out to vote and as many as 7 in 10 blacks find homosexuality morally repugnant and the notion of gay marriage an anathema.  In an Op-ed piece in the NYTs Caitlin Flanagan and Benjamin Shwarz quote George Clooney as saying “At some point in our lifetime…gay marriage won’t be an issue, and everyone who stood against this civil right will look as outdated as George Wallace standing on the school steps keeping James Hood from entering the University of Alabama because he was black.” This is obscene. Gay marriage is trivial. Regular marriage for the non-religious or ethnic is passe. Should black Christian’s whose notion of marriage as a corner stone of their belief who believe and that this sacred bond is by definition the union between a man and a woman be equated with men like George Wallace? Should those Black Church’s who put their members in jeopardy by joining the civil rights movements be accused of being no better than racists because religious conviction holds gay marriage is an abomination? Can the struggle for Gay Rights ever be equated with the struggle of these same blacks whose African ancestors came to America in chains?  I’m no homophobe but think the “struggle” for gay marriage is absurd but will support the gay community’s right to it, in the same way I support free speech. I believe blacks have valid reasons to oppose it but wish they could overcome their homophobia but let's not equate resistance to gay marriage as always being based on homophobia. Civil Union for me for legal reason is the answer for all of us who don’t have traditional values, but to each his own. It’s good to know that Hollywood is fighting the good fight again. For God sake, pick your battles.

picture from nolareno

the best and the brightest...

Ironically the Press has chosen to call Obama’s Cabinet appointees the Best and the Brightest. this was the title of David Halberstam’s 1992 book about the Kennedy Cabinet and how they led the country into the Viet Nam War and ruined the Johnson Presidency. No one is saying America will attack Iran but there are striking parallels as Frank Rich shows in the NYTs. This is a dire warning  for Halberstams shows “…the weakness of the Kennedy team: “the difference between intelligence and wisdom, between the abstract quickness and verbal facility which the team exuded, and true wisdom, which is the product of hard-won, often bitter experience. That difference was clearly delineated in Vietnam, where American soldiers, officials and reporters could see that the war was going badly even as McNamara brusquely wielded charts and crunched numbers to enforce his conviction that victory was assured.”

For Rich the battlefield now is Wall Street and the men Obama has appointed to save the day. According to Rich, “Lawrence Summers, the new top economic adviser, was the youngest tenured professor in Harvard’s history…” unfortunately his arrogance shortened his term as the Colleges President. Rich is kinder to Timothy Geithner, “…the nominee for Treasury secretary, is the boy wonder president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Rich warns “...his sparkling résumé is missing one crucial asset: experience outside academe and government, in the real world of business and finance. Postgraduate finishing school at Kissinger & Associates doesn’t count.” The real problem is that both of these men were prodigies of Robert Rubin, Clinton’s Treasury Secretary who latter went on to work for Citi bank as a Director and was oblivious to the problems that brought the financial system crashing down. Summer’s, Geitner and Ruben all worked on legislation during the Clinton administration to deregulate the financial sector.

Now given the anti-intellectualism, cronyism, and the incompetence of the last eight years establishing a Brain Trust might not be a bad idea, but hopefully Obama and his inner circle will heed the warning that sometimes it takes more than being the best and brightest to govern effectively.

spears into ploughshares...

If Obama’s economic strategy does nothing else let it at least buy the coffin for the Military Industrial Complex. William Kristoll the NYTs right wing columnists suggests rather than ploughing money into infrastructure put it towards defense spending. Defense Secretary Gates would like to cut the stealth jet program in half and cut back on navy spending. He points out the US has more ships than the 13 next biggest navies combined. McCain squawked about pork and felt curtailing earmarks would have a major effect on the economy. This is bullshit. They account for a miniscule amount of the budget and often have very positive effects. What McCain never would have done is curtail military spending and ironically sanction the most obscene example of pork barrel politics. The Right argues it was the War Effort that brought the US out of the depression and although I don’t agree there is a certain amount of logic to the argument. I am not a conspiracy theorist but fortuitously the Cold War started after VJ and VE days and kept the Defense industry humming along. The Cold War is over. There are new realities. There is no foe on the horizon that could wage a conventional war on the scale of WW II. Terrorism and tactics on that scale are the immediate threat and it is a crime America isn’t prepared. It would be immoral if the problem was that the Industry couldn’t afford to retool fast enough or that it is not politically expedient that plants producing outmoded weapons be shut down. Senators and Congressmen’s constituents rely on these contracts and re-election often is contingent on bringing home the bacon. The cycle must be broken. It’s time to pound spears into ploughshares. It’s time to refute Galbraith. 

photo from Antoon's Foobar

compose the 9th but never mastered his abcs...

Beethoven’s father, according to Jan Swafford “…pulled him out of school…so he could concentrate on music. (Beethoven learned to add and subtract but never learned to multiply. If he had to multiply 65 by 59, he wrote 65 in a column 59 times and added it up.) “Music is the most mathematical of all art forms and Beethoven exploited this aspect as much as anyone. Your average 10 year old can master arithmetic with relative ease. It is absurd to think he would need a teacher in that for the most part he learned to compose on his own. There is something very wrong here. Adding mind boggling columns of numbers must have been more than just a nuisance so what was the problem? 

photo from plecojan

i wonder how much it cost for dubai to develop their links course?

During a drought in Alberta that was driving ranchers out of business there was well that kept at least some of them from going under. A golf course used it as well and for the most part used the water responsibly but during the drought there was a charity tournament sponsored by the Great One himself. Because of the money it was going to raise and the benefits to future tourist opportunities the tournament was allowed to go and more water was used than normal in order to make course seem world class.

This proves the tournament organizers employed an unethical cost benefit analysis. Charity is noble but robbing the ranchers of their land, land that may have been in the family for generations just isn’t right. Step across the pond however and it has always been a like night and day compared to the Alberta fiasco. Golf at the St Andrews course in Scotland is played on public land. The Links link the sea and shore and are covered with hardy grass. There is no watering and almost no grooming. Because it is common land and people like to walk their dogs and or just enjoy being out there the course is closed on Sundays and if the Open is to be played there an order must be obtained from a judge. Looking at how the game has been transformed in North America says a lot about our culture. It takes millions to design and build a course and for most part the fairways and greens are emerald even when they are located in the desert. 

photo from  airforcenutrisoda           

the collapse of the ice sheets sound and fury?

Once again no denier but beginning to be just a smidgen bit of an agnostic when it comes to global warming, I worry about simplistic analysis of an incredibly complex system. I offer as proof the collapsing Antarctic ice sheets reports of this phenomenon seemed to be proof positive that catastrophe is nigh. Wait a minute though, it is reported in the Guardian that according to   Professor Rob Raiswell these icebergs scrape minerals off the bedrock before going off to sea and the mud attached to them could act to stimulate enormous blooms of plankton, enough according to Raiswell “…to grow sufficient plankton to remove some 2.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide, equivalent to the annual carbon pollution of India and Japan.” This is a theory and there are factors that mitigate against it such as when the plankton dies it must sink to the bottom or the effect is reversed, but let it be a cautionary tale.

photo from BJ Johnson

and just when you thought...

It is hard to play for a sports team in New York. It is best to have a big ego to counter the fans: one day they cheer and the next boo. Alex Rodriguez is no exception. With the Yankees his numbers have been phenomenal. This was true when he played in Seattle and Texas as well where they were seen as a mark of distinction in and of themselves. New York has not won the Series since he arrived and didn’t even make the play offs this year. A Rod was supposed to supplant Jeter as the franchise player as his contact indicates. The numbers are still there but not when they have needed to count. Jeter is still the man. Regardless, Rod’s ego is as big as the Ritz and was a man about town even before his divorce. Just when he has become the man everybody loves to hate he does something self-less. In the last World Baseball classic he played for the US, not unusual as he was born there, but his parents are from the Dominican Republic so this time he will play for the country of their birth to honour them, and just when you thought…

photo from John West Photography

no disrespect implied...

One hundred soldiers have died in Afghanistan. I do not want to tarnish their tragic loss but wish there was not as much focus on it. If we look at conflicts over the last 100 years 100 is a pittance. I do not wish to see war glorified, especially a war that may not be won. Most of these young men were not storming Pork Chop Hill but were sitting in armoured personnel carriers and were the victims of road side bombs. This is far from glorious. Last year in Canada “…there were 2,578 fatal [automobile] collisions leading to 2,923 deaths.” These victims did not put themselves in harm’s way so I am comparing apples and oranges, but it is the scale that counts. The war in Afghanistan, if we look at deaths, is a minor skirmish. The conflict may be necessary and those who died made the ultimate sacrifice but we do as much damage in making each fatality a national tragedy as we would if we swept it under the carpet. There is nothing glorious about war. We can fight the good fight but there is nothing to celebrate. Wars will always be tragedies.

photo from yodi mulyadi

if only we didn't have dion to kick around anymore...

Jeffrey Simpson, in the Globe, writes a measured response to last week’s Constitutional crisis and apportions blame equally between the Grits and Tories. He slams Harper but admits even with his unchecked power and distrust of any advice that may have implored him to avoid the confrontational nature of the mini-budget, he came out on top. Dion painted himself into a corner and Simpson thinks was insane to establish the basis of a coalition. One of the best reasons is it is better to let Harper weather the economic storm for in the end he may own it.

photo from  Kent Barrett

what does chuck berry know about surfing?

Many of the Beach Boys tunes had a definite Chuck Berry flavour. So I was pleased to see on an old album that the master had in fact written, Surfin’ USA. But then there was a letdown. The melody was lifted from Sweet Little Sixteen so Berry sued and won for copy write infringement. Berry won but the travesty was the Wilson’s father granted Berry copy write to the lyrics as well and that is why Berry gets credit for the song.

photo from Al Q   

and who said 12 years of schooling was a waste of time?

avery's sensative side...

In The Slate’s woman’s blog, The XX Factor Sophie Gilbert ironically does not take exception with hockey’s Sean Avery’s comment about other players taking his “sloppy seconds”. She believes in this, day and age, it is an innocuous term. But in the definitely XY Factor world of the NHL the comment is seen as the equivalent of pissing on Mother Teresa grave. Avery doesn’t score goals. His sole job is to get under opposing players skins. I suppose fans think he tries to do the same thing with Starbucks barista every morning. What they don’t know was he was an intern at the fashion bible Vogue and there is most probably going to be a romantic comedy made about his experience there. Grapes, did you ever wonder how such a goon got to go out with such classy chicks?

photo from Penelope!!

peace, order and good government...

 I am Canadian but in college was a student of American history and culture and this blog is dedicated to same but occasionally I must comment on Canadian affairs. I do so today because we are in the grips of a constructional crisis There is nothing that angers a Canadian more than an Americans perplexed question: Is there really any difference between us? What is even worse is coming up with an answer. Other than our obsession with hockey and beer, and Medicare we are hard pressed to find values and institutions that differentiate us. There are fundamental ones however that most don’t even think about going right back to the roots of both nations. Simplistically we were loyalists to the throne during the Revolutionary Wars. What most American’s don’t realize is that we still are. We are not loyal to Britain as we have had our own constitution since 1923, but we are loyal to the crown. The Queen is our head of state and the Governor-General her emmisary serves a symbolic role 99% of the time and signs into law all of the legislation put before her but when there is a constitutional crisis she must assume executive powers and make a ruling, which should make most Americans shudder. Today she shut down parliament with a bill on the floor that could have brought down the government. American’s must feel we are still stuck in 1775, but the process works and to be smug, we have never had a Civil War. To delineate the core differences between our two points of view: Most American’s cling to the self-evident rights of the Declaration of Independence, but may of us subscribe to a radically different set of values. They are Peace, order and good government and are not self-evident. Now can you see that there may be a little bit more than a slight difference between our political ideologies?

photo from photocat62

harper solidifies the base but loses quebec...

Jean’s granting Harper’s request to prorogue Parliament with a non-confidence motion still on the order paper sets a wretched example and puts our political system in jeopardy. Harper’s rant about the twin evil of socialism and separatism was a smokescreen for his most outrageous statement: that the opposition was trying to bring down a legitimately elected government. He implies that all this talk of a non-confidence motion and the establishment of a coalition was nothing more than a coup de etat , robbing the voters if Canada of the Government they voted for. This was reckless demagoguery praying on ignorance of our system of government and the nature of a minority government.

 A Governor-General never has said no to request to prorogue, but never has she been asked under those conditions. Harper’s populism doesn’t fit within the confines of a constitutional monarchy or even the parliamentary system for that matter. His demagoguery over the last few days and his slamming of the Bloc, who may be a party with a secessionist ideology but also represent the majority of Quebecers, will do him irreparable damage in Quebec and ironically mean he will never gain a majority. The danger of course is that now that there is the precedent then why can’t a PM of a minority government ask to prorogue Parliament whenever there is a threat? 

photo from  KitLKat

depressing thought...

Daniel Gross in The Slate looks at the potential bailout of the Big Three and reiterates their plea that they need bridge loans to keep them out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Gross argues that they are in it in everything but name anyway and writes “But increasingly, it seems that the federal funding they're requesting is necessary to help manage failure, not to stave it off.”

 photo from mahoincity

there is no shame, or commons sense...

For all those who are outraged at the support of the Bloc solicited by the NDP and Grits in order to form a coalition, and for all those who believe Harper would never get into bed with the Bloc: read the following:

September 9, 2004

Her Excellency the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, C.C., C.M.M., C.O.M., C.D.
Governor-General
Rideau Hall
1 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A1

 

Excellency,

As leaders of the opposition parties, we are well aware that, given the Liberal minority government, you could be asked by the Prime Minister to dissolve the 38th Parliament at any time should the House of Commons fail to support some part of the government's program.

We respectfully point out that the opposition parties, who together constitute a majority in the House, have been in close consultation. We believe that, should a request for dissolution arise this should give you cause, as constitutional practice has determined, to consult the opposition leaders and consider all of your options before exercising your constitutional authority.

Your attention to this matter is appreciated.

Sincerely,

 

Hon. Stephen Harper, P.C., M.P.
Leader of the Opposition
Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada

photo from preciouskhyatt

 

what were you saying about change?

Julian E. Zelizer in a commentary on cnn.com looks at some of Obama’s cabinet appointments and comes to the conclusion that there will be a hangover from the Clinton administration but does not jump to the conclusion many have that his first term will be Clinton 3. Rather he points out that he is a centrist as Clinton was, which is why he draws from the same talent pool  and even goes farther by keeping Robert Gate on. Zelizer makes the point that Obama has never portrayed himself as left of centre, in the tradition of the party’s liberalism. Somehow his rhetoric and his colour gave the impression he was, but his choices for his administration don’t reflect that. Many of his acolytes will be upset that he will not transcend politics and take them on to the land of milk and honey, but the days of hyperbole are over.

photo from Peter Tsai Photography