None of the Above

The Politics of this country and in the U.S. are messy and not really informative.  It comes down to – it’s the economy, stupid. 

A lot of games have been played in the past years by speculators and high powered investors who have either intentionally or luckily have manipulated the various markets.  A recent study has noted that the recent ridiculous price rises in oil were not due to the normal supply and management issues, it was primarily caused by speculators that manipulated the prices for their own greed and enrichment at the cost of much of the stability in world markets.  I suspect that they haven’t thought of the consequences of their actions which could have destroyed the world’s economies and their huge gains in profits would become worthless.   They did it because they could.

The thought that greed and ripoffs were at the heart of the mortgage meltdown in the U.S. yet the tax payer is being told that they must be bailed out.  It’s disgusting to think that these executives that got these companies in this mess would be allowed to make huge pay and benefits.  The argument against this is that companies would have a hard time finding a quality manager if there are restrictions – these guys created this mess so who thinks that they are good managers to start with. 

We are in a unique financial meltdown in the worlds economies.  How bad it gets is impossible to know at this time.  There is a lot more to that will happen before we will get back on a normal economic track.

So, in these elections it’s unfortunate that we can’t vote for none of the above.  There are no saviours running for leadership in either country.  God only knows what will happen.

Indignation – From Politicians?

I am finding it amazing to listen to the politicians who profess to be outraged at this comment or that comment.  Many times the comments are true.  Other times the comments are poorly framed jokes that didn’t work.  It brings to mind the old adage about “people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones”.

There are an awful lot of glass houses with holes in them from our politicians of stripes.  For some who have a horrid past record they seem to be reborn and rebranded by changing parties, Bob Rae comes to mind when they talk about former Mike Harris Ministers in the Tory Government with disdain yet the Rae NDP Government almost destroyed Ontario more than Mike Harris’ Conservative Government did.

No government is perfect.  No politician is perfect.  We aren’t perfect.  If everything a person had said was on the record and be replayed when it wasn’t appropriate then we’d all be guilty of some form of discrimination or insulting some group or another.

I try to remember a government that really did what it said it would do and I can’t think of any.  Some came close but only when they established a small number of priorities.

I enjoy watching Mike Duffy Live but it gets annoying when you listen to the actual politicians open their mouths.  The strategists are biased but easier to stomach.

Some thoughts come to mind:

1. How can you tell when a Liberal is telling the truth – he’s not saying anything.

2. How can you tell when the NDP  will take credit for an idea – when they hear one.

3. How can you tell when the Conservatives are worried about the people – there’s an election on.

4. How will the Greens save the planet – they’ll increase taxes and fees so high that we can’t afford to buy anything that would pollute.

5. It’s time to bring back the Rhinoceros party – at least we knew their platform was a joke.

We lost Buddy

My brother-in-law is now adjusting to life without his Buddy.  He lost one of his best friends – a 12 year old golden Lab called Buddy or Bud the Bear.  He died at home with Bob beside him.  When he couldn’t move, his eyes were always looking for him when he was on his way out.

He was a lot slower and looked pretty rough but Bob could still see the young pup that he got all those years ago.  This was a dog that went everywhere with him.  I can remember that every time I saw Buddy all I had to do was watch his eyes and there would be Bob.  This dog was dedicated to his owner.

Buddy in December 2003 - a dog in his prime.

Now as for me, I really liked Buddy even though I always had an alergic reaction to him.  No matter, I would pet him, play with him and then rush and wash my hands and face to try to stop the itching.  This was a good dog.  I remember one incident – We have two ragdoll cats who don’t go out.  Bob brought Buddy with him one day while my cats were at the patio door watching the world outside, Buddy came in the back yard and made a beeline for the screen door, I’m surprised that he didn’t go through the door but he managed to stop, but I heard my cats bounce off the wall on the opposite side of the house.  They immediately ran downstairs and didn’t come up for hours.   Buddy just went on running around the yard.

Many people are fortunate enough to have a pet like Buddy, a friend and companion who is always there.  You have a hard time finding human friends that would be as dedicated as a good pet.   Thanks Buddy, I know you were ready to go and you left your friend Bob but you had a good life and did your job of just being you.

August was normal?

So as far as August weather goes, we had 16 days of precipitation as measured at the Ottawa Airport although I know in my area there were days, where there was rain at the airport and closer to where I live, when we didn’t have anything.  So the total as shown in the EC Climate Database was 74 mm where the average August is 87.1 mm.  A second “drier” month, distribution was wider spread which stuck it to the farmers trying to get a hay crop in.

Temperature wise our highest temperature was 29.2 C (Average 24.8) and a lowest temperature of 8 C (Average 13.4).  No in September we’ve had a string of 30 C days – the months are backwards.