Bud: High Finance -- Sustainable Development -- Population -- Drivers -- Globalized Timbits -- Anti-Americanism -- CBC
Adventures in the hogbelly market
I don't often comment on the financial pages of The National Post. This is not because the editorial and commentary pages aren't good, but mainly because I have been daunted by the terminology--derivatives, small cap turn-arounds, and leveraged takeovers, among other terms. Some of the articles could have been written in Amharic, for all that I comprehend. But occasionally, large economic issues are tackled intelligently and in layman's language, two of the best practitioners being Peter Foster and Diane Francis.
In the Post, (July 23, 2004) Foster reviewed a book by Wilfred Beckerman called, A Poverty of Reason: Sustainable Growth and Economic Growth, Foster shows how Beckerman debunks so much of what we have been fed on the Kyoto Accord. To begin with, even I know that the West will bear the brunt of the inevitable slow down in industry, with the resultant massive lay-offs. The UN tells us we can be good Samaritans by giving our sacrificial 'credits' to heavily-polluting countries like China, Russia, and India -- the kind of scheme that only a befuddled Third World NGO, and Canada's own Maurice Strong, could come up with. All this monitoring of pollution will, of course, be overseen by a vast body of bureaucracy comprised of bunglers, 'eco-warriors', and those ubiquitous NGO's. The crowd that think cows fart too much methane gas so our herds should be severely culled. Did I mention the PETA and vegan angle to all this?
Beckerman posits the idea that private business is the best nurturing agent for conservation. The owners built those companies with their own hands and they want to leave them fiscally intact to posterity -- in many cases, to their children. Yes, you have the buccaneer class, who care only about their mansions, but they are not the majority.
My one disagreement was when Foster claimed Paul Ehrlich belonged to the "intellectual lunatic fringe". No massive, world-wide famine did occur, as Erlich predicted would be the result of over-population; however, the explosive populations of many Third World countries have lead to horrific urban slums, which breed the fatalism of such as the Colombian Marxist guerrilla and the common gangster. Then there are the countries like Rwanda that fought for land, as well as ethnic rivalry. It was one of the most crowded countries in the world.
The first time I flew into Bombay the 'bustee' (slum) didn't start until five kilometers from the airport. Five years later I looked down to see them stretch beyond the horizon past the airport. People had turned huge water mains into homes, even cutting out windows. Every section of pipe had its army guard. An old Victorian park in downtown Bombay had been half taken over by bustees. The Sikh taxi driver said, "Take a picture of it, as it will be all gone the next time you come." The over-population in Rio by the poor from Brazil's north has led to full-scale battles between the criminals of the favelas and the Rio cops--often by necessity backed up by the Army commandos. Forbes Park, the tony suburb of Manila is/was the ultimate gated community. There were only a few entrances to the area, and they were guarded by well-armed men. Even inside the townsite, there were individual guards on the lawns to repel invaders. My guide told me that the Tondo slum people from the otherside of the walls mounted military attacks on the rich there. And that was years ago. Manila has tripled in size since then. Even the recent Danfur massacres in Sudan are partly a response to limited arable land. Finally, the Israeli wall is going up partly because the Palestinian birth rate is so high that it will ensure a never-ending crop of no-hoper suicide children. Allied to this is that those less able to afford large litters have the most. I don't think I can stand listening to or viewing another CBC reporter unctuously interviewing a Palestinian fish seller, who has 9 children and two wives to feed, but blames his impoverished state on Israeli policies. These are the people who pay big amounts of money and risk great danger to flee their hell-hole countries. The final line is that this explosion of the world's poor must be slowed, or the countries involved will collapse into anarchy. Imagine a world full of Karachi, Bombay, and Lagos clones.
Drivers: ripped from the pages of The National Post Financial section (July 23, 2004)
Mark Milke claims that "Drivers pay their way". To quote: "For years drivers have been told by environmentalists and their politicians that the roads they drive on are not fully paid for by automobile-related taxes." Pure hogwash he says. When you take the myriad overt and covert taxes that the driver pays in gas, auto insurance, and tollways, there is a cost benefit to government of almost $20 billion above what they fund transport infastructure.
The Molson's "I am Canadian" guy may have to develop a drawl
The venerable Molson family group will merge with Coors. Therefore Joe Canadian's rant might have to take a more inclusive bent. Perhaps above the beaver there might have to be an American bald eagle flying overhead. Not dive bombing our national animal, merely hovering above it. Subtle changes will definitely be needed. Who would rule our a dual rant? The American Coors guy starts to shout about the right to carry a semi-automatic, armour-piercing weapon, while the Hoser guy apologizes for not registering his BB gun. A synergy moment the ad types call it. It will take a delicate touch for sure.
It is getting a little hard to get behind a beer on a nationalist level when your brew is actually owned by a German Metals' union. Molson tried to crack open the Brazilian beer market. Actually, their the ads captured the reality of Copacabana. However, there is no beer that is going shove aside Brahma. The ad must have had too much reality, because Joe Beerbelly never gave it a toss. But then Interbrew out of Belguim also owns a large number of beer companies--from the American Rolling Rock (horrible beer) to the UK's Bass Ale, to Germany's Beck. They even flirted, Flemishly, with our sacred Molsons. To really squash your nationalist tendancies, Tim Horton is owned by American Wendy's, but as global recompense, Burger King, that bastion of all things fattishly American is owned--yes, by that same German metals union.
I, as an unabashed lover of the best of America, am always disheartened when I see this blatant Yankeephobia pop up among the 'elites' of Canada. What is equally amazing is when I see it trip off the tongues of the same people who want us to embrace the inner child of the Palestinian suicide bomber. America saved the Muslim Kuwaitis and Kosovars. "Sorry, but that is past tense. What has America done for the Islamic world lately?" the lefties cry. Well, the Americans overthrew the Butcher of Baghdad and saved thousands of lives--we can forget about that too as the Baathists and the Fundamentalists are displeased.
The left never asks what is the fundalmentalist Sudanese government going to do about its record of murdering and exiling millions of its Christian citizens, and now slaughtering its negro (or is the word "black", now?) Islamic brethern. Why that might open one to a politically incorrect ethnocentrism. Who are we to judge an ancient culture, which chooses to practice time-tested barbarity? Better to look at our own abysmal record with the First Nations. A hundred and fifty years of big time wampum and they still want Vancouver. We simply cannot get it right, can we? You don't see the Yanks hung up over these issues, now do you? Goes to show who has the cojones to admit their guilt. Canadians, that's who. And now Martin has added the Metis to our generous breast. We can feel doubly proud. A whole new--government-designated welfare--contingent has added thousands of new barnacles on our already sinking barque of welfare. But we don't mind, because we are Canadians. Next up: Compensation for everybody in the country who feels that they have been slighted, in any way, shape or form. A sort of Monty Pythonesque Ministry of Silly Slights might be the proper measure for a man of Graham's talents.
The new head of English language TV is Richard Stursburg. He will be replacing Harold Redekopp, who won't exactly leave CBC's employ, but will remain--in a lateral move--as senior advisor to President Rabinovitch. The words in The National Post story on this transfer (July 22, B-3) had Robert Rabinovitch stating that Stursburg was hired because he shared his own values about public broadcasting. For me, that says it all. The 'public' that Rabinovitch and Stursburg wants so desperately to reach is a very esoteric one. An audience that wouldn't see anything strange about CBC's NB local news at 6 being anchored by an Indo-Canadian, who hands off the plums there are to a series of fellow Asians--all are female--while the former native-born white anchors and key reporters are all consigned to the boonies to cover the Plaster Rock blueberry festival, or some other equally BREAKING NEWS event. This bracing touch of diversity is thought to be good for the less-than-sophisticated Maritimers of NB. The fact that this Asian-Canadian quartet represents, if lucky, .0008% of the province's ethnic background is ignored. Slip a little curry to these hicks and they will never want white bread again must be the thinking at the Morther Corp. Unfortunately, I hear that the curried half hour usually consists of non-news items, unless some Moncton kid being crowned Miss Teen Canada is really worth fifteen minutes of the allotted time. Next up is a feature on the NB Ship Museum. Cut to the weather and Ian Hanomansingh for the "real news". [Why, Bud, are you suggesting social engineering going on? That couldn't be; CBC is our taxpayer funded "national" . . . something or other.]
Apparently nothing newsworthy happened in NB that day; there are many, many days like that. Now, in Vancouver CBC coverage is more stirring because the locals romp and stomp at a more hectic pace. All the flotsom and jetsom of Canada pool on our streets. You want diversity of cultural viewpoints, well these people certainly provide it. The desperation of their last stands can be truly breathtaking. Take today's truck-jacking episode. Tons of vehicle rampaging at 120 kms through Langley's side streets. Four cop cars smashed, and the NASCAR thief tasered. Then of course, Robert Pickton's murders keep increasing, always good for the pig farm shot. As well, unlike those pacific New Brunswickers, our folk are feisty about their 'rights'. Not enough is being done about the AIDS epidemic amongst them. The CBC reporter looks concerned and signs off with some psychobabble about society's failure to care for its fallen sparrows. Nobody ever asks them about their sexual irresponsibilities, or the medical burden they impose on our hospital system. Grandma can't get her hip replacement because these guys like to 'ride bareback'. This equation could not be entertained, not in the capital of political correctness. CBC can always spare a thought for the junkies.
If they are native junkies that is even better. That allows them to slip the shiv into whitey. "Look at what you've done to these people", is the sub-text. It helps to have a sense of humour--whether you're watching CBC local on the east or the west coast.
