Canada has one of the best diplomatic staffs in the world. Known for their fairness and professionalism they work for Canadians of all stripes. The Harper Government has made a huge mistake in appointing a novice to the post of Ambassador to Israel.
This is probably one of the most important and difficult positions to be held by any diplomatic standards. Based in the hot spot in the middle east one has to be able to tread lightly and respect a fairness in dealing with the many powers in the neighbourhood.
This newly appointed person has publicly stated on her acceptance that she is tunnel visioned when it comes to Israel. WE will have a difficult time working with the other nations there when you signal that Canada is only interested in Israel. What about the people in the area? Do they not count to us or they just people not worthy of our support?
I would think that we are following the lead of the USA and the right wing conservatives that have one view of the middle east. Sad appointment and we will pay dearly for this one more mistake of this unimaginative government.
The solution would have been to appoint one of our senior ,well trained and intelligent diplomats of which we have plenty. amen.
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Free Trade Costs A Lot
To discuss free trade you must have more space than you get in a blog. There are some good things about free trade. There are many bad and expensive things about free trade.
Free trade is excellent for the 1%. Rich owners of international companies who love free trade because it permits them to move their plants across international boundaries to get cheap labor and tax breaks.
Free trade does not increase the employments advantage of Canadian workers. Ontario lost hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs since free trade. Owners move their plants to the USA where labour is cheaper and unions have little power.
Ontario has lost five major plants in the last months by moves where operation costs are less but workers are paid less and benefits are sometimes non-existent. Heinz, and Kellogg's are two examples.
The automotive industry has helped Ontario to become a world leader because we have great workers protected by good unions who protect the wages and benefits of its members. Free trade works at this point in time.
The real losers in free trade are the people in the labor pool. Here workers who traditionally were among the best off in the world now have to compete with the labor forces in the free trade geographic area. This causes our workers to accept less on nearly every contract settled during the past few years. The great middle class is shrinking at an alarming rate.
The 1% are becoming so wealthy that some individuals have a greater income than some small countries.There is a great divide here where the gap between rich and poor is widening at a fast rate.
The great problem for Canada is that the Harper government has a foreign policy totally committed to becoming the salesmen for the oil and resource industries. Our government is using our tax dollars to promote these huge international companies on the world stage. These companies are for the most part are not even Canadian.The Prime Minister is so near sighted when it comes to Alberta oil that he personally advocates on their behalf..These companies receive huge tax dollars to grow and develop our Canadian resources without a cost benefit to the working people of Canada.
The pipeline debate is a case in point and watch the pressure on behalf of these interests during the days leading up to the next election. We need some balance between government support of huge industries and small business. Small business have been and remain the chief employer in the Canadian labor market.
Our government is ignoring the real needs in this country. Our system has been hijacked by this Harper Government and democracy has been raped over and over because of the secrecy and central power in Ottawa. There is help on the way as Canadians are fed up and will not accept this to continue. Election day puts the power back in the hands of the voters on election. I only hope that people do use this power and vote.
Free trade is excellent for the 1%. Rich owners of international companies who love free trade because it permits them to move their plants across international boundaries to get cheap labor and tax breaks.
Free trade does not increase the employments advantage of Canadian workers. Ontario lost hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs since free trade. Owners move their plants to the USA where labour is cheaper and unions have little power.
Ontario has lost five major plants in the last months by moves where operation costs are less but workers are paid less and benefits are sometimes non-existent. Heinz, and Kellogg's are two examples.
The automotive industry has helped Ontario to become a world leader because we have great workers protected by good unions who protect the wages and benefits of its members. Free trade works at this point in time.
The real losers in free trade are the people in the labor pool. Here workers who traditionally were among the best off in the world now have to compete with the labor forces in the free trade geographic area. This causes our workers to accept less on nearly every contract settled during the past few years. The great middle class is shrinking at an alarming rate.
The 1% are becoming so wealthy that some individuals have a greater income than some small countries.There is a great divide here where the gap between rich and poor is widening at a fast rate.
The great problem for Canada is that the Harper government has a foreign policy totally committed to becoming the salesmen for the oil and resource industries. Our government is using our tax dollars to promote these huge international companies on the world stage. These companies are for the most part are not even Canadian.The Prime Minister is so near sighted when it comes to Alberta oil that he personally advocates on their behalf..These companies receive huge tax dollars to grow and develop our Canadian resources without a cost benefit to the working people of Canada.
The pipeline debate is a case in point and watch the pressure on behalf of these interests during the days leading up to the next election. We need some balance between government support of huge industries and small business. Small business have been and remain the chief employer in the Canadian labor market.
Our government is ignoring the real needs in this country. Our system has been hijacked by this Harper Government and democracy has been raped over and over because of the secrecy and central power in Ottawa. There is help on the way as Canadians are fed up and will not accept this to continue. Election day puts the power back in the hands of the voters on election. I only hope that people do use this power and vote.
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Cold Day Project
Theresa and I planned to replace the kitchen chairs as I broke one of them sitting down a little too hard. The weather report had the temperature with the wind factor at minus 40. We went to I
kea and picked up four boxes and prepared to have a tough time putting them together.
We became pleasantly surprised when we began the task and were completely finished two hours later. Since we have a solid pine table it was hard to match but we did find a nice chair of solid pine but a little different stain. We have had some real battles with putting furniture together when directions were hard to follow. This one was a breeze.
We became pleasantly surprised when we began the task and were completely finished two hours later. Since we have a solid pine table it was hard to match but we did find a nice chair of solid pine but a little different stain. We have had some real battles with putting furniture together when directions were hard to follow. This one was a breeze.
Sunday, January 5, 2014
77th
What is in a number?In my case the number 77 only means that I have been granted a certain time on this earth. The time was precious and I attempted to use every minute with conscious living. There were times when I felt I was not sharing my time properly with my family and outside commitments.There were times when there were not enough hours in the day nor minutes in the hour.I was never satisfied with the effort I gave on projects as I was distracted with the next and the next idea or adventure.
As I aged I began to realize that this youthful enthusiasm for life was natural when you have endless energy and ideas to fill every moment. As I aged the balance between family and outside efforts became more in line with my desire to become a better father.
During the past ten years I have been able to make my time a happy sharing of family and personal growth. Theresa and I have more time to share and feel the need for family get togethers
when we are able to sit back and feel the love shown by our grand children for each other and ourselves. I always wondered what it would be like to have a family of healthy children and grand children mingling during family events and loving every moment.
Today on my birthday I sat back for some time and reflected on just these thoughts and realized that my mission has been accomplished. Our family is healthy in so many ways and will remain so as long as they keep the communication open and the get togethers a vital part of the family strength.
On this day I have completed my book on my time in the education continuum. I am completing my second book on my life and musings during that period of time. I hope this will be a small record of our family and friends and bring a smile when read by people who appreciate amateur writing.
As I aged I began to realize that this youthful enthusiasm for life was natural when you have endless energy and ideas to fill every moment. As I aged the balance between family and outside efforts became more in line with my desire to become a better father.
During the past ten years I have been able to make my time a happy sharing of family and personal growth. Theresa and I have more time to share and feel the need for family get togethers
Today on my birthday I sat back for some time and reflected on just these thoughts and realized that my mission has been accomplished. Our family is healthy in so many ways and will remain so as long as they keep the communication open and the get togethers a vital part of the family strength.
On this day I have completed my book on my time in the education continuum. I am completing my second book on my life and musings during that period of time. I hope this will be a small record of our family and friends and bring a smile when read by people who appreciate amateur writing.
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Another Year
Theresa and I ended 2013 quietly with dinner at Lynda and Peter's home. It was a nice way to share time with family and talk of the year in a friendly manner. We did see the events of the year troubling but also so many good things that we chose to dwell on the future. We were planning on projects and adventures and basically believe that gloom and doom were not in our chemistry
We have had many special famjams this year and because we are not going to Florida this year we feel much more involved in sharing time with our family. One achievement realized this year and completed this week was a book about my teaching career. I have named it, Restless and Inattentive to highlight the comments on my personal report cards while toiling through the public education in Cape Breton in the late forties and early fifties.
We see our grand children reaching out into the world and they are no longer kids but young adults.We look forward to watching their progress as we have during the past year and it gives us huge happiness to see the energy and diversity of their programs.
Doris turned 96 this year and is still with us and enjoying the contact with the family. Doris has lived such a varied life with her years of working and years of travelling as a reward. She shares some of her past with the young people but health has not permitted her to be very physically active and her activities remain more sedimentary We all notice that her lust for sweets has not changed one bit and her happiest moments are with the family at get togethers.
Theresa and I made a few shared resolutions and as I recall they were the same ones we made for the last few years. We look to 2014 to be a time for continued good health and close communion with our family and friends.
We have had many special famjams this year and because we are not going to Florida this year we feel much more involved in sharing time with our family. One achievement realized this year and completed this week was a book about my teaching career. I have named it, Restless and Inattentive to highlight the comments on my personal report cards while toiling through the public education in Cape Breton in the late forties and early fifties.
We see our grand children reaching out into the world and they are no longer kids but young adults.We look forward to watching their progress as we have during the past year and it gives us huge happiness to see the energy and diversity of their programs.
Doris turned 96 this year and is still with us and enjoying the contact with the family. Doris has lived such a varied life with her years of working and years of travelling as a reward. She shares some of her past with the young people but health has not permitted her to be very physically active and her activities remain more sedimentary We all notice that her lust for sweets has not changed one bit and her happiest moments are with the family at get togethers.
Theresa and I made a few shared resolutions and as I recall they were the same ones we made for the last few years. We look to 2014 to be a time for continued good health and close communion with our family and friends.
Hungry Squirrel
This area of the city is fortunate to have a large treed park adjacent to our street and our yards become home to many animals. The most numerous and visible are the large gray and black squirrels.During the recent ice storm these little creatures became very aggressive in attacking the bird feeders. We attempt to place our feeders away from these robbers but they are so clever.
I placed one feeder on a wire with a closed top and thought that it was impossible for it to be reached by a squirrel. One afternoon this animal studied the problem and within an hour solved the problem. He attacked the wire and hanging upside down , holding on by his two hind legs worked the top off the feeder. He then slid down the wire and placed half of it's body in the feeder. The head, front legs were completely inside the feeder and it was a tight squeeze. To get out he had to pull his entire body straight up with his mouth stuffed with birdseed.
This system which he perfected on each visit to the feeder was amusing but also gave me a respect for the degree of problem solving ability of this creature.
I placed one feeder on a wire with a closed top and thought that it was impossible for it to be reached by a squirrel. One afternoon this animal studied the problem and within an hour solved the problem. He attacked the wire and hanging upside down , holding on by his two hind legs worked the top off the feeder. He then slid down the wire and placed half of it's body in the feeder. The head, front legs were completely inside the feeder and it was a tight squeeze. To get out he had to pull his entire body straight up with his mouth stuffed with birdseed.
This system which he perfected on each visit to the feeder was amusing but also gave me a respect for the degree of problem solving ability of this creature.
Expensive Beauty
The recent ice storm caused our neighborhood to be turned into a crystal garden with every strand of grass, bush or tree covered with solid inch thick covering of ice. When the sun shone through this magic picture we were treated to a spectacular vista only seen when nature puts on this deadly show of power.
It is only when the ice melts and the damage assessed that we realize that fully 20% of our forest covering has been destroyed or damaged and will take years to correct. During the week long ice show many people were held hostage as power was knocked out and people suffered tremendous hardships.
People living in high rise condos were mostly bound to their rooms ans elevators were out nd without power there was no heat or use of many of the necessary tools needed to have a life. People in rural areas were hard hit as roads were blocked, power was lost and when power is lost farmers fear for their livestock.
All this mess shows us once more the power of nature and our inability to cope with natural disasters. Because we have not maintained our power grid in a manner where trees are not permitted to overhang the wires we will always be faced with this problem
It was powerful, dangerous, destructive and beautiful all at the same time.
.
It is only when the ice melts and the damage assessed that we realize that fully 20% of our forest covering has been destroyed or damaged and will take years to correct. During the week long ice show many people were held hostage as power was knocked out and people suffered tremendous hardships.
People living in high rise condos were mostly bound to their rooms ans elevators were out nd without power there was no heat or use of many of the necessary tools needed to have a life. People in rural areas were hard hit as roads were blocked, power was lost and when power is lost farmers fear for their livestock.
All this mess shows us once more the power of nature and our inability to cope with natural disasters. Because we have not maintained our power grid in a manner where trees are not permitted to overhang the wires we will always be faced with this problem
It was powerful, dangerous, destructive and beautiful all at the same time.
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