Snippets 17 (a), (b), (c) and (d)

 When there appears to be more than one item of serious interest each day, it seemed that this format is suitable -- I hope that you agree, and follow with comments.

(a) Deadly Child Labour

A class-action lawsuit on behalf of a group of mothers and children from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) against five U.S.-based Big Tech giants may short-circuit President Biden's plans to electrify American transportation.

Apple Inc., Google parent Alphabet Inc., Dell Technologies Inc., Microsoft Inc., and Tesla Inc., are knowingly benefiting from and aiding and abetting the cruel and brutal use of young children in cobalt mines.

(b) Canadian Minister "Not Concerned"

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau said that he is not worried that a Beijing-linked (CCP) visa application company that Ottawa has a contract with, will result in the personal data of applicants falling into the hands of Chinese authorities.

"That office functions entirely within the control of the Chinese intelligence services" said Ward Elcock, former CSIS director.

(c) NATO Toughens Stance on Chinese Regime

 The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will confront the Chinese regime's growing military ambition for the first time, the 30-nation Western alliance said on June 14, describing Beijing as presenting "systemic challenges" to the global order.

(d) France, U.K. Back Australia Against Beijing

European leaders stated "We stand by your side." as they announced their backing against Beijing's ongoing economic coercion campaign and its increased belligerence in the Indo-Pacific region.

Now, Here’s A Thing

The BBC says that the Australian government has decided to keep its borders closed to prevent the spread of the virus into next year.  Into next year ??

Additionally, a study finding shows that 56% of people who got a lot of their information from Facebook believe there was no hard evidence coronavirus exists !

Well, is there ?

And,  a decision by Oriel College in Oxford to remove an “iconic” statue of Cecil Rhodes follows a long-running campaign by those who argue the memorial is a symbol of imperialism and racism.  "End of the Rhodes" is the Daily Mail's headline.

I wonder if black recipients of Rhodes scholarships will return their grant ?

The CBC says that current and former employees of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg say its management would sometimes ask staff not to show any gay content on tours.

And, the four candidates vying for the federal Conservative leadership will be on stage tonight for the only English-language debate of this campaign.  The four contenders agree on many things — reducing the size of government, shrinking the tax burden and cracking down on crime. 

Hello, have we forgotten the huge fiscal burden made by the Chinese virus.

And, the CH-148 Cyclone was cutting-edge tech when it became the Canadian military's new maritime helicopter.  Industry experts said the digital system opened up a world of new possibilities for flight operations and the future of helicopter aviation in general. However, after a crash killed six service members, investigators are being confronted with some awkward questions about how ready both the machine and the military were for fly-by-wire technology.

May I assume that someone is dismissing a relationship with the B-737 MAX syndrome ?

So, there’s the thing.

10,000 Views

My not-so-popular ‘Blazon’ has finally moved into five viewing figures and it is time to evaluate the situation.

Starting from the beginning of time, politics seems to dominate, although not deliberately, and the most popular Post dealt with using a percentage to develop fair salaries (Percentage Formula - August, 2013).  I have temporarily removed this article in an attempt to allow other articles to surface into view.  This places Travel 5 - South East Asia (Bangladesh) of August, 2012, into a more suitable position.

Statistics

Google Chrome has been, by far, the most popular Browser at 40% overall the whole period and, today, increasing to 81% for the month.

Microsoft Windows OS, originally, had a slight lead over Apple Macintosh OS by 47% and 36% respectively, but this lead has been definitely eroded over the years to 22% (Windows) and 67% (Macintosh).

Naturally, Canada and the USA have produced predominant viewers with Russia following closely (My personal letter to Mr. Putin may have had an affect.  Ha!).  Interestingly, many other countries have shown interest, notably;  China (of course). Australia, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Brazil, and Sweden (Surprisingly, countries in the Middle East were not represented).  

It is hard to imagine six viewing figures, therefore a change of direction may be required (To quote Lao-tse) but that is probably in another life.

Travel 9 - International Retirement

Recently, a close friend told me of her wish to retire to a country other than her own, with only one requirement;  the English language.  Now, that requirement needs a definition which, from my understanding, means any country where knowledge of the English language by the local population would be sufficient to permit reasonable communication.

A source of information ① provided one list of more than 90 countries using the language formally.  Of course, many of these countries use a form of English greatly modified by localization (other languages, dialect, and accent) that affect one’s ability to communicate.  In fact, there are only eight countries where English is the majority language, as a proportion of the native English population;  U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, Nigeria, Ireland, South Africa, and New Zealand.

Of those countries, the Canadian government ② cautions against any non-essential travel to Nigeria.  Thus, from the few remaining countries, a Chinese citizen faces a difficult immigration hurdle to jump over.

Therefore, I looked elsewhere, and discovered 'International Living' ③, that appears to offer a treasure trove of information.  Unfortunately, some of the information appears to be out of date or in conflict with other destination information found elsewhere.  Nevertheless, it is a useful initial source.  For example, they provided me with a list of “Top Ten Retirement Havens” comprising the following;  Ecuador, Mexico, Brazil, France, Panama, Nicaragua, Italy, Costa Rica, Uruguay, and Belize.  Unfortunately, only three of these countries (France, Italy, and Uruguay) avoid the Canadian caution advisory against all forms of travel.  Therefore, to avoid strict European immigration rules, I concluded that Uruguay should be investigated.

Montevideo, Uruguay, has been named as the "second least expensive city in the world" ④ and, certainly, seems to show good value against the dollar.  It has a low poverty level, the second lowest level of corruption, and is the most developed and prosperous country in Latin America.  Between the years 2007 and 2009, Uruguay was the only country in the Americas that did not technically experience a recession.  Aesthetically, it is a very old-world European city, mainly as a result of the Spanish history, with minor British and Italian influences, and 85% of the population are of European origin.

Located within a temperate zone, Uruguay has a climate that is relatively mild and fairly constant nationwide.  Seasonal variations are pronounced, but extremes in temperature are rare.  Therefore, one may assume a closer investigation into our search for a haven is required.

To be continued, perhaps.

① wikipedia.com
② voyage.gc.ca
③ internationalliving.com
④ mercer.com

Politics 10 - Thin Edge of the Wedge

The U.K., the place of my birth but, now, a place that is almost unrecognizable in certain areas.  The County of Kent, where I grew up, known as The Garden of England, feels different, as if there is a pulsing undercurrent of unrest.  My loved Thomas Hardy County of Dorset, pictured on Christmas cards (Remember those?), breathes the fresh air with innocence of an uncertain future.  London, of course, has always been a multicultural city, since being established by the Romans, and where it was usually difficult to distinguish one culture from another but, now, there is an obvious ‘frontal attack’ by an increasingly dominant, and vociferous, Islamic community ... and the government appears to lack any authority for which to display the necessary control.

My Peaceful English Country House

Most English villages developed around small farming groups.  Produce marketing established the eventual village shop;  A religious need built a church;  eventually, a sense of community introduced the Public House (Pub).  Over the years, there were more shops, churches and, certainly, more pubs, as towns and cities were born (Please excuse the simplification).

Today, Christian churches are closing, and Islamic domes are constructed above their roofs.  Many shops are boarded up because of changing customer needs and, in their place, some are reopening with signs written solely in Islamic script (The Quebec language police would have a heyday with that).  The need for social community takes place in the mosque (although the ‘need’ for some Muslims is doubtful), and, thus, the once-popular pub has closed, and dereliction has taken over ... a probable breeding ground for extremists.

No, this is not Dhaka, Bangladesh, but London, U.K., 2013

A good friend of mine who made a more extensive tour of the U.K. recently, wrote to say that he was forced to double-check his air tickets because he felt sure that he had landed in Pakistan by mistake.  He wasn’t exaggerating. 

One is bound to ask, why do Muslims emigrate to a country that sells world-famous pork sausages, tasteful ale, and listens to glorious choirs singing in cathedrals every Sunday.?  If I had wished to become an Australian, I would have gone to Australia, but I admired the Canadian way of life and came to Canada.  Is this new wave of immigration the result of Muslims wishing to become British because they admire the British way of life?  It seems such an alarmingly sad question when they carry banners saying, “Kill the Queen” and “Sharia law for everyone”.

I think this to be a very important question for a country like Canada which believes, wrongly, in a policy of multiculturalism.  In 2012, 257,515 immigrants and 23,056 refugees came to Canada, and the Minister for Immigration states that these numbers are planned to continue in the future.  It may be too late for the U.K. (and France), but it could be a warning for us. 

The U.K. and Canada (and other similar countries) occasionally make changes to their respective list of “safe” countries, (Countries from which refugees are no longer accepted).  It occurs to me that refugees from these countries who have enjoyed the safety, and benefits from our welfare systems, could be deported back ... certainly, if they have not proven to be productive members of our society (I have written elsewhere about the huge number of criminal immigrants in our over-crowded goals).

I see it as the thin edge of the wedge, that requires a sensible strengthening of immigration and deportation laws.

As a Postscript, my attention is focussed on our indigenous communities.  They are Canadians too, yet we segregate them to wilderness reserves.  I am tempted to suggest that we set up reserves for refugees too, after all, Australia does it.  Remember, qualified immigrants come here after a long intensive scrutiny to integrate and become tax-paying, employed Canadians, whilst refugees come to simply escape politically and culturally unsafe countries.  I imagine that when the word travels globally that refugees in Canada no longer live in highly subsidized, high-rise apartments, etc. (usually, better than low-income Canadians) there would be an remarkable reduction in refugee numbers ... simply because some of them are not refugees, but ‘queue-jumpers’.

Now, we shall discover if controversy creates discussion, anonymously or otherwise.   

Your comment is welcome by clicking below

Aerospace 3 - Fighter Confrontation

I always find the aerospace industry interesting, and military aerospace more so.  By definition, everything related to the military is political and I am, very much, a political individual.

Therefore, I should like to comment on two ongoing global stories relating to fighter aircraft.

Firstly, the Lockheed Martin F-16 (Flying Falcon) fighter aircraft that is flown by pilots of 26 different countries and, although first flown in 1978, remains a formidable aircraft today ... albeit with some modifications.

One country that has enjoyed being equipped with this aircraft is Taiwan, assisted by the U.S. by virtue of the Taiwan Relations act.  But the earlier purchase F-16 A/B aircraft are in urgent need of refurbishment or a new purchase upgrade to the latest F-16 C/D version.  Of course, that appears to be a problem for the Obama administration who, it seems, do not wish to enrage the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing who will, again, display their sabre rattling posture.  Nevertheless, the U.S. has, now, agreed to a refurbishment contract for the older aircraft, which is interesting because it seems that refurbishment will take longer to facilitate compared to buying the new F-16 C/D version.  Perhaps, that is expected, but unlikely, to appease Beijing.

Thus, there we have it, politics.  Although I am sure that the U.S. is also wary about espionage, considering the improving relationship between Taiwan and the mainland, and Russia's recent display of anger at China’s recent copying of Russian aircraft.

Personally, I would approve the immediate sale of the F-16 C/D to Taiwan (the order was placed 6 years ago) ... and let the arms of the CCP tire as they rattle their sabres.

Secondly, the Lockheed Martin F-35 (Lightning) stealth fighter is also coveted by Taiwan, but it seems an unlikely purchase at the present time.  Personally, I would be happy if Canada transferred its order of F-35s to Taiwan ... and I do not mean to appear flippant.

The F-35 remains in an extraordinarily problematical pre-production/testing phase, even though some examples have been delivered to the USAF as training aircraft.  The delivery dates to various countries have been extraordinarily delayed and costs have risen to a unit cost of $133 million.

Early models missed performance requirements because they weighed too much, and extensive redesign was required to reduce the weight;  Recently, it was reported that only 50% of the aircraft’s software had been written and would take another six years and 110 additional software engineers to complete the software;  There has been a long list of design failures;  Many pilots have commented on the comparatively short range, and studies have shown that it could cost as much as 40% more to maintain than previous aircraft.

Australia has reduced some of its original options to purchase and, instead, has ordered the new Boeing F-18F (Super Hornet) aircraft to supplement its existing F-18A squadrons, and replace the GE F-111.

Canada, which is increasing its presence in the Arctic territories, continues to argue, unintelligently, that the single engine, shorter range, F-35 is the ideal aircraft to replace the twin engine CF-18 A/B, even though an engine failure over Arctic territories is not conducive to enthusiastic pilots.

Once again ... politics.

I have been deliberately brief with these comments (really) in the hope that it may encourage continuing participation in the discussion — F-16 C/Ds for Taiwan and a cancellation of F-35s for Canada.