Orban is one of those European leaders regularly trotted out as an example of the racist "populist" wave threatening Europe.
Why?
Because he has closed Hungary's borders to the never-ending wave of migrants coming from Syria and Iraq.
Let's step back a bit and size up the big picture.
Why is there a never-ending wave of migrants walking to Europe from Syria and Iraq?
Do you think it might be because American foreign policy has rendered Syria and Iraq uninhabitable?
While it's true that Hungary offered some token support to America's wars on those countries, it is beyond obvious that this was never a Hungarian initiative.
So why should Hungary bear the cost of feeding and housing the refugees who are fleeing American foreign policy in the Middle East?
Alas, questions such as this are never asked in your "mainstream media."
It's enough just to know that Orban is a repugnant racist.
Friday, June 29, 2018
What the Phoenix fiasco tells us about the people running Canada
I've long held in check my suspicion that both Justin Trudeau and his number one rep on the world stage, Chrystia Freeland, are lightweight twits who are in way over their heads.
But the epidemic of ineptitude that has overtaken us goes far beyond Justin and Chrystia.
Check out this story at CBC about the Phoenix payroll scandal.
The sub-head says it all; it'll take five years and billions of dollars to sort out the shit-show that is the public service payroll system.
I'm sure that everyone involved in every step of this fiasco is very well educated and has a very impressive CV. They've all got multiple degrees from the finest universities in the land. After all, you don't get into the upper reaches of public service without those prerequisites.
And this is the best they can do?
We are well and truly screwed...
But the epidemic of ineptitude that has overtaken us goes far beyond Justin and Chrystia.
Check out this story at CBC about the Phoenix payroll scandal.
The sub-head says it all; it'll take five years and billions of dollars to sort out the shit-show that is the public service payroll system.
I'm sure that everyone involved in every step of this fiasco is very well educated and has a very impressive CV. They've all got multiple degrees from the finest universities in the land. After all, you don't get into the upper reaches of public service without those prerequisites.
And this is the best they can do?
We are well and truly screwed...
Thursday, June 28, 2018
Why a 1988 thirty foot SeaRay is worth less than nothing
Because more than likely it's got gasoline twins.
It's summertime, and I'm boat-shopping again.
Got my eye on a twenty-five foot Doral, circa '92 or so, with a single 7.4 Merc.
She's a beauty. Original owner since '92. That in itself is a wonder...
But I gotta wonder about the resale value.
Truth be told, there isn't any.
There's absolutely nobody out there looking to buy a V8 powered inboard these days.
And it's not a mystery why...
At WOT this Doral with a single 7.4 Merc sucks up 28 gallons per hour. That translates into about six bucks per minute at full throttle.
On the other hand, she's only got 400 hours on her, since '92.
Maybe, just maybe...
It's summertime, and I'm boat-shopping again.
Got my eye on a twenty-five foot Doral, circa '92 or so, with a single 7.4 Merc.
She's a beauty. Original owner since '92. That in itself is a wonder...
But I gotta wonder about the resale value.
Truth be told, there isn't any.
There's absolutely nobody out there looking to buy a V8 powered inboard these days.
And it's not a mystery why...
At WOT this Doral with a single 7.4 Merc sucks up 28 gallons per hour. That translates into about six bucks per minute at full throttle.
On the other hand, she's only got 400 hours on her, since '92.
Maybe, just maybe...
Wednesday, June 27, 2018
Let's face it; billionaires just have too much money
Where I come from, a millionaire is somebody who is rich. I know that verity has been degraded by the fact that anybody who owns a house they bought in Vancouver or Toronto thirty years ago is now a millionaire.
Nevertheless, there's a case to be made against billionaires.
A billionaire is a millionaire who made a million a thousand times over.
The SCOTUS sanctified the political power of billionaires a few years back with the infamous "Citizens United" decision.
Yup, corporations are people too. You'll recall that created a bit of a flap when Mittens made that claim in the 2012 election campaign.
In reality, corporations are not in fact "people."
In reality, having billionaires and their shadow corporations fund super-PACs is not an exercise in democracy.
No, it's quite the opposite of that... it's the super-rich buying democracy.
That's a state of affairs that's working out quite well for the billionaires.
Just look around you.
But how is this state of affairs working out for you?
Nevertheless, there's a case to be made against billionaires.
A billionaire is a millionaire who made a million a thousand times over.
The SCOTUS sanctified the political power of billionaires a few years back with the infamous "Citizens United" decision.
Yup, corporations are people too. You'll recall that created a bit of a flap when Mittens made that claim in the 2012 election campaign.
In reality, corporations are not in fact "people."
In reality, having billionaires and their shadow corporations fund super-PACs is not an exercise in democracy.
No, it's quite the opposite of that... it's the super-rich buying democracy.
That's a state of affairs that's working out quite well for the billionaires.
Just look around you.
But how is this state of affairs working out for you?
Tuesday, June 26, 2018
City planning
Have you ever noticed that the most livable neighborhoods in any city are those that were developed before the invention of the "urban planning" profession?
Take my old 'hood in Guelph, "The Ward."
By the time my clan got there in the '50s it was pretty much all immigrants. A smattering of Germans and Greeks and Ukrainians, but for the most part, Italian.
The quality of life was incomparable. Everybody walked everywhere. Everybody had a garden. Everybody who wanted to work had a job. In a lot of cases, if you lived in The Ward you could walk to your job at Fiberglass or Omark or Malleable Iron, or Woods or Harding Carpets.
You'd find 30 by 80 foot lots with a 900 square foot bungalow planted in the middle that still had room for dozens of tomato and pepper plants and grape vines galore. The gardens would take up the front yard, the side yard, and the back yard.
Anybody with enough get up and go to get up and go to work could afford one of those plots on a factory wage. There was absolutely zero "urban planning" involved in the evolution of that neighborhood.
Contrast that to the lifestyle that the children, grandchildren, and greatgrandchildren of those immigrants enjoy in Toronto today, a city that never tires of broadcasting the savvy of its urban planners, who have made downtown Toronto a wonderful example of a "livable city."
They've moved on to Toronto for better opportunities. Education, jobs, and so on. Once they've got the education and the job they stay for the "action."
After all, downtown TO is where the action is!
Indeed!
All the cool shit happens in Toronto!
You probably won't be able to afford 900 feet anymore; that's a million bucks easy in a downtown highrise. So settle for half that.
And of course, that magnificent garden your Noni had on that 30 by 80 foot lot in Guelph is out of the question. If you have the extravagant good fortune to own a balcony, you'll settle for maybe two each of peppers and tomato plants. Forget the grapes.
But you're where the action is!
You are but a mere walk or a very short transit ride from the ACC or Rogers Centre, where you can go to see the corporate Leafs or Jays play ball!
You've got dozens of chain restaurants to choose from; you know the ones... everything comes from head office flash frozen and your chef heats it up. At $150 for two, with wine and tip!
And you're just a jaunt from half a dozen corporate music and arts venues where you can, for a pretty penny, view the latest avante-garde artsy spectacle that the corporate media has been raving about!
What's not to love about life in downtown Toronto?
Well, for one thing, anybody who remembers the rhythms of an authentic neighborhood, like The Ward, for example, is going to find it sterile in the extreme. Corporate condo towers, corporate dining, corporate sports and entertainment...
For this you want to mortgage your life?
I think not.
But... it's too late to go home to The Ward.
The urban planners have done f@cked it good. There's condo towers galore in downtown Guelph now, and they've been seeping into The Ward for at least twenty years. The corporate developers have been marketing them to folks who commute to Toronto. After all, that half million dollar condo in Guelph would cost you a million and a half or more at the other end of that GO Train ride.
But if you follow the market real close, you might still get that 900 foot bungalow on a 30 by 80 lot. True, it might run you half a million... but it would be two or three or four millions in downtown Toronto.
Obviously, no factory hands are moving to The Ward today.
But our "urban planners" are doing a great job, aren't they?
Take my old 'hood in Guelph, "The Ward."
By the time my clan got there in the '50s it was pretty much all immigrants. A smattering of Germans and Greeks and Ukrainians, but for the most part, Italian.
The quality of life was incomparable. Everybody walked everywhere. Everybody had a garden. Everybody who wanted to work had a job. In a lot of cases, if you lived in The Ward you could walk to your job at Fiberglass or Omark or Malleable Iron, or Woods or Harding Carpets.
You'd find 30 by 80 foot lots with a 900 square foot bungalow planted in the middle that still had room for dozens of tomato and pepper plants and grape vines galore. The gardens would take up the front yard, the side yard, and the back yard.
Anybody with enough get up and go to get up and go to work could afford one of those plots on a factory wage. There was absolutely zero "urban planning" involved in the evolution of that neighborhood.
Contrast that to the lifestyle that the children, grandchildren, and greatgrandchildren of those immigrants enjoy in Toronto today, a city that never tires of broadcasting the savvy of its urban planners, who have made downtown Toronto a wonderful example of a "livable city."
They've moved on to Toronto for better opportunities. Education, jobs, and so on. Once they've got the education and the job they stay for the "action."
After all, downtown TO is where the action is!
Indeed!
All the cool shit happens in Toronto!
You probably won't be able to afford 900 feet anymore; that's a million bucks easy in a downtown highrise. So settle for half that.
And of course, that magnificent garden your Noni had on that 30 by 80 foot lot in Guelph is out of the question. If you have the extravagant good fortune to own a balcony, you'll settle for maybe two each of peppers and tomato plants. Forget the grapes.
But you're where the action is!
You are but a mere walk or a very short transit ride from the ACC or Rogers Centre, where you can go to see the corporate Leafs or Jays play ball!
You've got dozens of chain restaurants to choose from; you know the ones... everything comes from head office flash frozen and your chef heats it up. At $150 for two, with wine and tip!
And you're just a jaunt from half a dozen corporate music and arts venues where you can, for a pretty penny, view the latest avante-garde artsy spectacle that the corporate media has been raving about!
What's not to love about life in downtown Toronto?
Well, for one thing, anybody who remembers the rhythms of an authentic neighborhood, like The Ward, for example, is going to find it sterile in the extreme. Corporate condo towers, corporate dining, corporate sports and entertainment...
For this you want to mortgage your life?
I think not.
But... it's too late to go home to The Ward.
The urban planners have done f@cked it good. There's condo towers galore in downtown Guelph now, and they've been seeping into The Ward for at least twenty years. The corporate developers have been marketing them to folks who commute to Toronto. After all, that half million dollar condo in Guelph would cost you a million and a half or more at the other end of that GO Train ride.
But if you follow the market real close, you might still get that 900 foot bungalow on a 30 by 80 lot. True, it might run you half a million... but it would be two or three or four millions in downtown Toronto.
Obviously, no factory hands are moving to The Ward today.
But our "urban planners" are doing a great job, aren't they?
Monday, June 25, 2018
The greatest show on earth
For my money, the greatest show on earth is the never-ending shit-show unfolding in DC. I can't even call it a reality show anymore; it's a surreality show.
Let's see if I've got this straight; the Grand Old Party has been taken over by a rogue, a silver-spoon twat who stands for nothing more than lowering taxes on the rich and boosting, endlessly, America's obscenely bloated military budget.
Yup, the rogue has yanked the tiller out of the hands of the "real Republicans," those dyed-in-the-wool patriots who stand for... lowering taxes on the rich and boosting, endlessly, America's obscenely bloated military budget.
But do not despair, dear American neighbours... the RESISTANCE LIVES!
Near as I can tell, all roads of resistance lead back to the Democratic Party...
You remember them - the party that stands for lowering taxes on the rich and boosting, endlessly, America's obscenely bloated military budget.
Am I missing something here?
Let's see if I've got this straight; the Grand Old Party has been taken over by a rogue, a silver-spoon twat who stands for nothing more than lowering taxes on the rich and boosting, endlessly, America's obscenely bloated military budget.
Yup, the rogue has yanked the tiller out of the hands of the "real Republicans," those dyed-in-the-wool patriots who stand for... lowering taxes on the rich and boosting, endlessly, America's obscenely bloated military budget.
But do not despair, dear American neighbours... the RESISTANCE LIVES!
Near as I can tell, all roads of resistance lead back to the Democratic Party...
You remember them - the party that stands for lowering taxes on the rich and boosting, endlessly, America's obscenely bloated military budget.
Am I missing something here?
Friday, June 22, 2018
John's barber shop
Apparently John Drimmie has opened up a barber shop in Owen Sound.
That's good to know, because I need a haircut something bad.
It was John's mom who clued me in to the barber shop. His mom and me go way back, even way further back than either of us care to remember.
John's mom married the sibling or maybe a cousin of one of my grade school pals, David Drimmie. The Drimmies had a turkey farm just outside of Elora at the time me and David were school pals, and they also owned a sawmill in town.
Me and Dave used to play in that sawmill after school.
Somewhere along the line the Drimmie sawmill became the Elora Inn. Ya, that fancy-pants Inn overlooking the Tooth of Time.
As a matter of fact, I proposed to my first wife right there at the Elora Inn after a fabulously over-priced dinner. I'd got one of the wait staff to bring out the engagement ring!
How romantic was that?
Alas, it was all downhill from there...
So today John Drimmie's mom tells me John has a barber shop in Owen Sound.
"And you know he has a degree in economics," she says.
Well, actually, I do. And not only that, I happen to know he did an internship on an organic farm for a spell.
So the organic farmer with a degree in economics has opened up a barber shop...
Hey John, I'll be there as soon as your Mamma gives me the address. I want it way short on the sides and maybe a little longer at the top.
See you soon.
That's good to know, because I need a haircut something bad.
It was John's mom who clued me in to the barber shop. His mom and me go way back, even way further back than either of us care to remember.
John's mom married the sibling or maybe a cousin of one of my grade school pals, David Drimmie. The Drimmies had a turkey farm just outside of Elora at the time me and David were school pals, and they also owned a sawmill in town.
Me and Dave used to play in that sawmill after school.
Somewhere along the line the Drimmie sawmill became the Elora Inn. Ya, that fancy-pants Inn overlooking the Tooth of Time.
As a matter of fact, I proposed to my first wife right there at the Elora Inn after a fabulously over-priced dinner. I'd got one of the wait staff to bring out the engagement ring!
How romantic was that?
Alas, it was all downhill from there...
So today John Drimmie's mom tells me John has a barber shop in Owen Sound.
"And you know he has a degree in economics," she says.
Well, actually, I do. And not only that, I happen to know he did an internship on an organic farm for a spell.
So the organic farmer with a degree in economics has opened up a barber shop...
Hey John, I'll be there as soon as your Mamma gives me the address. I want it way short on the sides and maybe a little longer at the top.
See you soon.
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