Monday 9 December 2019

“Moments of fear, pain, disappointment, helplessness, torment, and struggle” (Meng Wanzhou)


“If you don't laugh, you'll cry” was a side-heading in Maclean’s this morning, suggesting, it seems, that we should stop whinging about the plight of Kovrig and Spavor in China when compared to Meng in Canada.  Discussing the detention facilities of each person, while not explaining often enough why detention is applied, is a misuse of media responsibility.

China’s roads East and West, to eventual domination have enabled Huawei to expand its 5G security systems into Brazil and, thus, throughout South America.  Meng, chairperson and chief executive of her father’s company (Huawei) and family friend of Xi Jinping has been accused of fraudulent dealings with Iran, and this has created a US arrest warrant.

Knowing, obviously, that she would be arrested whenever travelling in the US, an important visit to Brazil required a diversion.  Normally, flights from China to Brazil require one stop in the US (normally Los Angeles).  Therefore, Meng booked her route via Vancouver, hardly imagining that peaceful Canada would be alerted of her arrival … silly woman !

“Tomorrow will mark one year since Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were detained by Chinese authorities in retaliation for Canadian police picking up telecom executive Meng Wanzhou on a U.S. arrest warrant. While out on partial — or should that be palatial — bail, she's found the time to read more books and complete an oil painting. Kovrig and Spavor meanwhile languish in cramped jail cells where the lights are kept on all night and they have no access to lawyers.”                  [Maclean’s]

It seems to me that the Canadian court for extradition is being deliberately, Trudeau-inspired, inactive in this case and, no doubt, if the verdict demands extradition, Meng will take it for years of appeal at the Supreme Court.  She, knowingly, did wrong and, therefore, extraditing her to the US must be the only course of action … now.

Please let me know.  For example, allowing her appeal will extend the horrendous conditions suffered by Kovrig and Spavor.


Sunday 1 December 2019

🇨🇦 Canada's Future Hope 🇨🇦


A Triad of Government Forces


I have removed this from my eMail in order to continue a serious discussion.  My point is that Mr. Trudeau must be removed from his position of decision-maker, and place our country back on the world's stage.


The removal from power (coup d’tat) would follow the actions of Security Minister Saijjan, as written in my next Best Seller, ’The Butterfly and the Tiger’ (Humour).

There being no possibility of finding a male heir, with the necessary tiger-like characteristics, anywhere in government and, thus, by studying an important temperament (or temper) of Mr. Trudeau, i.e., successful feminism, we can deduce the need for a female Triad of Government Forces, with teeth, for future success.

I feel that it is very important to remind people of the credentials of those selected candidates.


Rona Ambrose is a former Canadian politician who was interim leader of the Conservative Party and the Leader of the Opposition between 2015 and 2017.  She was the Conservative Party member of the House of Commons for Sturgeon River—Parkland between 2015 and 2017, and had previously represented Edmonton—Spruce Grove from 2004 to 2015.  In her first term as an Opposition MP, she was the Conservative Party's Intergovernmental Affairs critic. Ambrose also served as vice-chair of the Treasury Board and has held multiple cabinet positions as Canada's Minister of Health,  EnvironmentIntergovernmental Affairs, Western Economic DiversificationLabourPublic Works and Government Services, and Status of Women. She was President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada.  She is also a former communication consultant and public policy consultant for the Alberta government.  Although it is rumoured that she may become the next Canadian Ambassador to the US, a successful return as Prime Minister should not be beyond our imagination.



Lisa Raitt  served as the Deputy Leader of the Opposition from 2017 to 2019. She was the Conservative Party deputy leader, and was the Member of Parliament for the Ontario riding of Milton from 2015 to 2019, having previously represented Halton from 2008 to 2015. She is a lawyer and professional administrator (1999–2008) turned politician (2008–2019). Raitt served in several portfolios (Minister of Natural Resources, Labour, Transport, Opposition Critic for Finance, and Deputy Party Leader) as a minister in the 28th Canadian Ministry of Stephen Harper.


Caroline Mulroney  is a Canadian-American businesswoman, lawyer and politician who is currently serving as the Ontario Minister of Transportation and Minister Responsible for Francophone Affairs.  She is the elected MPP for the riding of York—Simcoe in the 2018 election as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario and was a candidate in the 2018 Ontario Progressive Conservative Party leadership election, placing third. She served as Attorney General of Ontario from 2018 to 2019.  Mulroney grew up in Ottawa, before being educated at Harvard University and the New York University School of Law.   She also served on the board of directors of the Windsor–Detroit Bridge Authority.  Although somewhat a rookie politician, her family connections and dual nationality would be extremely useful.  Perhaps, our representative at the United Nations should suit her.

Jody Wilson-Raybould  also known by her initials JWR and by her Kwak’wala name Puglaas, is a Canadian politician who serves as an Independent Member of Parliament for the British Columbia riding of Vancouver Granville. She served as Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada in the cabinet of Justin Trudeau from 2015 until January 2019 and then as Minister of Veterans Affairs of Canada from January 14, 2019, until resigning on February 12, 2019.  Before entering Canadian federal politics, she was a Crown Prosecutor for British Columbia, a Treaty Commissioner and Regional Chief of the B.C. Assembly of First Nations.  Although well qualified to assume a ministerial position in government, she would be especially well-suited to become our long-awaited indigenous Governor General ... in my opinion.


My position is to suggest and encourage a new party with both gentle, determined, and ambitious policies, for which the example shown could be respected both globally … and south of our border.


I feel sure that there are a few male chauvinists and not-me females that may be amused by my theory for a successful government, and let me assure you that men have not been excluded, but allow me to present the candidate's credentials, as I see them.


As usual, I seriously welcome your thoughtful views.



Tuesday 26 November 2019

Politics 22 - Canada's Sheepishness



At the 11th annual Halifax International Security Forum held in Canada recently, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan conveyed the strongest evidence yet that after much indecisiveness, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has retreated into the Liberal Party’s traditional normal approach to relations with Beijing — acquiescence, and submission.

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan


As Terry Glavin of Maclean’s said:  “The Trudeau government’s newfound faith in ‘appropriate discussion’ is the Canadian equivalent of ‘thoughts and prayers’ — an easy out when dealing with the China lobby”.


While the people of Hong Kong decisively crushed Xi Jinping’s increasingly savage aggression and belligerence by their district elections at the weekend, Sajjan said at the forums opening, “We don’t consider China as an adversary,”.  Well, Hongkongers certainly do. 


Mr. Glavin continues;  “So do the Uighurs of Xinjiang, a Muslim people whose persecution has accelerated to the point that at least a million of them are confined to concentration camps and forced-labour zones laid bare in the greatest detail yet in a trove of leaked Chinese  government documents just released by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.  So do Tibetans, whose dispossession and oppression over the past seven decades is now being replayed in Xinjiang — and whose tragic predicament, once a hallowed cause in Canada, is now rarely if ever even mentioned in polite company”.


My favourite quotes from the Maclean’s article are:
  • The findings of Canada’s own National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians contradicts the weird claims Sajjan made at the Halifax conference.  Last April, in its first-ever annual report, the committee officially declared China a threat to Canada’s national security, owing mainly to Beijing’s hostile espionage, its cyber threats and its subversive overseas influence-peddling operations.
  • Security Forum president Peter Van Praagh, Sajjan’s co-host at the weekend gathering, sees the same too, and he said so. “I think it’s clear that China and Canada do not share the same interests. There is some intermingling on some issues, but China has a very different view of the world than Canada’s view of the world. And so, what are we willing to surrender in terms of our own values in co-operation with China, and where is that line drawn?”
  • For several weeks now it has been increasingly evident that Trudeau’s government is willing to surrender a great deal and to draw that line where Beijing has always wanted it drawn — with diplomatic and corporate relations inside the relationship, and all those bothersome “Canadian values” about human rights, democratic accountability, the international rules-based order and the rule of law left entirely outside of it.
  • First came the September appointment of Dominic Barton as Canada’s new ambassador to Beijing. Barton took over from the disgraced China evangelist John McCallum, and while Beijing was sad to see McCallum go, Barton was the replacement China had hoped for.  In August, at a multinational summit in Bangkok, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi quietly told Canadian officials as much.  Barton came pre-approved by Beijing, in other words.  Barton had been an adviser to the state-owned China Development Bank, and he’d spent several years swinging big-money deals in Shanghai.  During his years as managing partner of McKinsey & Company, the global consulting giant had taken on several Chinese state-owned corporations as clients.  Just one of them was an enterprise building islands in the South China Sea, which Xi Jinping has arbitrarily annexed in defiance of the United Nations.  Last year, McKinsey held its glamorous annual retreat in Xinjiang, just a short walk from one of China’s several Uighur concentration camps.
  • Ottawa still hasn’t made up its mind about allowing Huawei into Canada’s fifth-generation internet connectivity rollout, even though a green light could end Canada’s engagement with the U.S., Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom in the “Five Eyes” security and intelligence consortium.
  • Canada’s new foreign affairs minister, François-Philippe Champagne, a protegé of former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, was again asking China’s Wang Yi for Kovrig and Spavor to be released.   Francois-Philippe Champagne, came straight out of the corporate sector when he was elected in 2015. He is not known to have ever uttered so much as a cautionary word about China. 
  • Rounding things off was last week’s elevation of Mary Ng to the post of minister of international trade. It’s a file that’s just tacked onto her previous cabinet portfolio — small business and export promotion.  Hired as an appointments secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office after the 2015 federal election, Ng was a political unknown until only two years ago, when she was elected MP in Markham-Thornhill, the riding held by John McCallum.  There are some interesting highlights in her strangely meteoric rise to the international trade ministry, especially with regards to China.

The full text of the reference article is available at:  https://www.macleans.ca/politics/worldpolitics/ottawa-goes-meek-and-gentle-with-beijing/


Saturday 9 November 2019

Astigmatism - A Revelation


I have recently discovered that I have astigmatism and there is nothing really revelational about that except to reveal that my local optician could not fully explain its impact to the patient (me).  Leaving the patient to discover for himself.

It was, as a teenager and electronics student, that I discovered that I was colour-blind (Discrete electronic components use colour to distinguish their value) and, unfortunately, it could have been a career-changing event if I had not seriously adapted to it (I say unfortunately, because my chosen career was a significant error). 



A decade later, a blood vessel ruptured behind the retina causing a visit to the local Emergency Room, and the additional diagnosis of macular degeneration … being a teaching hospital I immediately became the centre of study for a long time, even though, today, I remain curious that the ruptured blood vessel was responsible for the ARMD.  But I digress.  After all, later in life I earned a pilot license that required special eye tests.

Later, in my middle age, a routine medical examination caused my GP to mention the signs of cataracts, but that I was not to worry as it would be a long time before it was serious … so I took him at his word … and forgot about it ... until I met my favourite opthalmologist in China.

About five years ago, my new GP, as a result of testing poorly with the standard eye chart, advised me to visit an optician.  This produced a prescription for glasses and no verbal consultation.  There was no mention of cataracts or anything else, just the advice to buy prescription glasses.  I was already buying off-the-shelf reading glasses and, thus, assumed that the complicated magnification formulae that was written down was intended to simply assist my ability to read … so I bought a new pair of reading glasses … and continued with my life (as they say).

Last year, to cut a long story short, I had cataract surgery, which required a follow-up examination.  It is here that the word ‘astigmatism’ was first mentioned, with a strong warning that I should not drive a car.

You may. now, understand why I use the word revelation.  Apparently, I was, slightly, but legally blind and had been for some time !

I collected my new prescription glasses last week, and with the benefit of Wikipedia studies, I realized that opticians, who were personally unaffected with astigmatism, were at an important disadvantage in describing the effects to a patient.

You see, just as my brain had adjusted to colour-blindness in being able to see correctly the traffic lights or, more importantly, the difference at night between the main runway and taxiway lights, my brain had adjusted the astigmatic field of view.  My brain was telling me that everything that it could see was perfect and normal when in fact, it was not, and needed prescription lenses to show the brain the correct signals from the retina. 



Sphere
Cylinder
Axis
Prism
Base
Add
PD
OD
0.00
-1.50
90


2.25

OS
0.00
-1.75
84


2.25


Theoretically, all objects in my field of view, for one reason or another, were slightly distorted and, therefore, each letter on the standard eye chart (for example) had left and right fuzziness, especially when I moved my head around, because both the cylinder and axis is different in both eyes.

Now, for the first time in decades, my field of view is not only wider but clearer, and my brain is still trying to adjust … when I remember to wear the glasses.   Hopefully, dear readers, this essay will create some thoughtful attention regarding visits to a skilled optician. 

Monday 21 October 2019

Boeing B 737 MAX Controversy



We are beginning to discover that there is more to the Boeing B 737 MAX controversy than was originally believed.  I say believed because, now, it is known that many facets of the development were not known by all concerned … and, even at the time of writing, new aspects are coming into focus.


Grounded Southwest Boeing 737 MAX in California


Boeing has always believed that Airbus was a thorn in its’ side, ever since the European consortium was created.  Therefore, it is essential that we start this very brief blog with an Airbus introduction, as it relates to the subject.


Grounded Boeing 737 MAX at remote location


Noting the success of the Boeing 737. it goes without saying that the Airbus A320 family was designed in direct competition to the Boeing 737.  Specifically, the A320neo (New Engine Option) and the Boeing 737 MAX derived from the 737NG (Next Generation) in 2010 (Into service in 2016).  That, Airbus was able to get a ‘jumpstart’ on Boeing with a innovative, very successful, propfan technology engine for a modern airframe, caused Boeing to rush into developing a new version of their own, the Boeing 737 MAX (Into service in 2017 … an amazingly short design period).  This was going to open a Pandora’s box … to say the least.

In order to fit the large CFB LEAP-!B engines, it was necessary to modify the original attachments further forward on the wing due to the increased height required above the ground (Not required for the newer A320neo).  This, no doubt affecting the CG (Centre of Gravity) and writing new software related to AOA (Angle of Attack) signals.  The wing roots also required strengthening with fork-shaped metal plates (These, recently, have cracks reported).  Notwithstanding, the mixed messages between the FAA and Boeing, the lack of communication between test pilots and design engineers, and the apparent belief that maintenance manuals do not need to have every piece of information, we can only hope that the human race will soon grow wings.



It has been reported that Boeing is studying a new design to replace the Boeing 737 family all together based on a composite design used in the ‘Dreamliner’ aircraft.  The least said about that problem-plagued aircraft the better, I believe.

Hopefully, you will enhance this brief blog with your additional wisdom.



Wednesday 16 October 2019

English As We Don’t Know It


Jagmeet Singh, (Canada’s NDP leader) switches seamlessly from formality to so-called ‘multicultural Toronto English,’ sounding educated and down-to-earth at the same time, writes Prajakta Dhopade in Maclean’s magazine. 

"Not only does Singh use an informal register here, but he seems to be influenced by something U of T Mississauga linguist Derek Denis refers to as “multicultural Toronto English.”  Multicultural Toronto English is a “multiethnolect”— a variation of language that is influenced by multiple ethnic groups”.

Denis says a characteristic of this particular multiethnolect is noticeable in the “o” vowel sound in Singh’s “yo.”  Rather than moving his jaw to turn two vowel sounds into one (a diphthong—that would sound like “yuh-oh”),  Singh uses a monophthong, where the jaw is still while making that “o” sound, so more like “y-OH.”  Toronto slang and multicultural Toronto English are heard a lot in the suburbs of Toronto, including in Brampton, where Singh was an MPP and where Denis happened to have collected some of his research.  This type of pronunciation is also common in Jamaican patois, Nigerian English and Indian English, to name a few, says Denis”.

“That might appeal to multiple demographics;  to university students in downtown Toronto who appreciate his use of slang and multicultural Toronto English, but also to those in rural Ontario, where informal language is everyday-speak. His ability to have both a distinct “work voice” and a “talking to friends” voice is something every Canadian can relate to — he just does it on a public stage”.

I have always been concerned by the impact on changes to the English language as represented by the Oxford English Dictionary (O.E.D.) by such linguistic developments.  The O.E.D. (or whichever dictionary you may be unfortunate to use) is affected by so-called ‘common usage’ and should not be dismissed lightly.  Like it or not, we are bound to accept the authority of edited dictionaries, as long as terms, i.e., common usage and slang, are highlighted.  

Personally, I believe that such words be described in a separate addendum, and left for a reasonable period of time, until included in the main content.  Otherwise, obsolescent editions become a problem ... have you checked yours recently ?

Please, add your comment here.


Saturday 21 September 2019

Racism - An Introduction



During my teenage years (In those precarious eons when fire-breathing dragons roamed the school playing fields) I was chosen to play Antonio in the play The Merchant of Venice.  I imagine that Italians were considered to be dark-skinned at that time and, thus, I wore skin-darkening makeup.  

Somewhere, amongst my ‘treasures’ may be found a photograph … but no video.  

Incidentally, it being a boys school, Portia was played (with a few giggles) by a classmate.  He knew nothing about a ‘Me-too’ movement.  

Today’s subject is racism.

Racism [noun]  Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior:  A programme to combat racism.  The belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races:  Theories of racism.

Based on the outrage in the media, I considered it necessary to reveal my coloured past, just in case    well, you know, there could be an important position vacant tomorrow.

Honestly, this subject is absurd, almost everyone could be described in such a manner of identifying as racist according to the definition (above) should we wish to stretch the definition.

Yesterday, I visited a local popular beach.  There, I witnessed hundreds of people laying [sic] in the sunshine attempting to change their skin colour into various shades of brown.  Well, I’m just saying.  Could you share the argument in your mind with us.  


P.S.  Interestingly, Antonio has been described as the consummate bachelor which, personally, is somewhat ironic … if not God’s will.


Wednesday 11 September 2019

The South African Achilles Heel



Seriously, there may be a way forward to advantage the next generation of South Africans.  It occurred to me today, after reading a group e-mail from a group of white women looking for signatures and donations highlighting their cause.  Without doubt, a worthy cause — femicide.  But, in the general South African scheme of things, signed petitions are analogous to waving a feather at a charging elephant. The elephant analogy fits nicely here where the country is the china shop and parliament is an elephant.

Incidentally, once, I watched a video;  the scene is a dirt road with thick bush on either side.  Suddenly, a huge bull elephant emerges from the bush and makes a charge towards the camera.  Then, a young boy, a teenager, is seen running towards the elephant and, waving his arms in the air, shouted “Stop!” (That’s what it sounded like).  Immediately, the elephant screeched to a halt, flapping its ears and waving its trunk.  Then, as quickly as it came, the elephant retreated into the bush.

It seemed that I may have digressed somewhat but, maybe I didn’t …. 

The point that I wish to make is that satisfying as petitions, and marches, may be (to the marchers), the parliamentary elephant will not, in fact, stop.

There needs to be another way.  For example, thinking outside of the box.

Think about the real inner minds of parliamentarians.  What are their really private thoughts, should they be forced to consider the answer to a bankrupt country.  Is it only a short-term aid to accept international funds from corrupt large companies, and so on.  Sadly, I doubt that it is femicide.


Great leaders study in detail the defective minds of their enemies.  What is the Achilles heel of the South African parliament? 

Seriously, think about this (The true inner mind of each politician).  Make notes, instead of petitions.  Become diligent researchers.  Share and compare, and debate, until each  politician’s Achilles heel is revealed.  Then, focus, and lever one’s demands on that, individually.

It is an appropriate phrase, a cliché;  Rome was not built in a day …. 

Do you agree?


Thursday 5 September 2019

Global Warming -- Steve Bannon


Recently, I received some correspondence from my friend John Outram (Author of renown) regarding a letter to Andrew Scheer about global warming leading to the circuitous introduction of Steve Bannon.  It caused some active conversation between us, and I wonder, hopefully, if others could join in.  
_____________________________________________________________

Here's something to chew on:  
Scroll down to the letter from Mr. Stockman.

John

From: "Andrew Scheer" <andrew.scheer@parl.gc.ca>


To: "GJ STOCKMAN" <gjstockman@shaw.ca>

Sent: Friday, August 30, 2019 11:16:19 AM
Subject: Office of the Leader of the Official Opposition / Bureau du Chef de l’Opposition officielle

August 30, 2019

Dear Mr. Stockman:

On behalf of the Hon. Andrew Scheer, thank you for your correspondence. We appreciated having the opportunity to review your comments regarding climate change. Please know that your input is valued.

------------------- Original Message -------------------
From: Stockman, Gordon
Received: 2019/08/07
To: Scheer, Andrew; Scheer, Andrew

Subject: There is No Climate Emergency or Crisis

Dear Mr. Scheer

The column below, by Gwyn Morgan in the Financial Post is just one of many recent ones that have provided some excellent commentary on and counterpoints to the current government's position re climate change, fossil fuel and pipeline exploitation, and carbon taxation. 

Text deleted …. 


Wednesday 4 September 2019

South Africa Today

I have always made this Blog available for statements to be made by our followers in order to develop conversation on subjects that would be of interest to others.  My good friend Stephanie de Bon has offered the following statement to show the little-discussed (often ignored) problems in her homeland.




This is what I have heard from some of our indigenous people since the year 1994 heralded the new dawn of freedom for South Africa. 

The ANC inherited a fully functional country and a prosperous one.  The public sector, from government departments down to town councils worked.  The infrastructure:  health, transport, education, security, police, water, sewage, and electricity, all functioned, and our agriculture fed the country. Mineral wealth helped fund all this.

In 25 years all this has been broken down.  From levels A to Z in the public sector, cadres did work that they were not competent to do (at inflated salaries) so that, today, we have a country where there are protests - violent ones - about the lack of service delivery.  The hospitals are malfunctioning, roads are in bad repair, the train services are interrupted and the airline is not flying and planes are in a state of bad repair.  The school system does not deliver a literate population, crime is out of control, police are corrupt, water is polluted and sewage flowing into our rivers.  The electricity board (Escom) is billions in debt, and we have outages from time to time.  Municipalities owe billions in electricity charges which are not paid.  SOE’s (State-owned Enterprises) are queuing up for billions in handouts, and the feeling here is that they should, except for Escom, be closed down. 



On top of this the billions of dollars lost in revenue where these same freedom fighters have ripped the treasury off and pocketed the money.  S.A. is, in the president's words, “BANKRUPT”.

Now, tell me how well the ANC is qualified to run a modern economy. 


Steph