Reading, what am I reading now...

I have several books waiting to be read either in paperback or on Kindle. I am a slow reader by nature and will often leave a book and then pick it up again a few days later. Of course there are books you cannot put down and those I will read and often reread again. I had bought in May, The Good Earth by Pearl Buck written some 80 years ago, it is or was a bestseller and she won the Nobel Prize for Literature I only got around to reading it this past August and then read it in 3 days.  I enjoyed the story about a Chinese peasant in the last decades of the Empire before the revolution of Dr. Sun Yat Sen, his family, the land and the role of women in China in those days. Though Pearl Buck was an American citizen, the child of Christian missionaries in China. She captures all the flavours of China and its people. The story now read some 80 years later with our knowledge of what happened in the decades afterwards with the Japanese invasion of China, the Second World War, the Civil War and the Communist take over, you can appreciate the complexity of the story and of the people it represents, their complicated relationship to each other and their humanity.

This book is well known and I had heard of it for decades, it is often quoted as an example of life in China before 1925. It also always reminded me, I do not know why, of a movie made in the 1950's entitled Love is a many splendored thing about a women Eurasian doctor (Jennifer Jones) and an American reporter (William Holden) in ChungKing, the Provisional Capital of the Nationalists nowadays called Chongqing.  The period is the Civil War between the Nationalist of General Chiang Kai-Shek who have the total support of the USA despite the fact they are hopelessly corrupt and loosing the war, the Americans really know how to choose sides, against the Communists of Mao Tse Tung.  I know that the book of Buck and the movie have no relations but nonetheless it was an association for me.

Come to think of it, Canadian Foreign Policy towards China was also largely influenced by Canadian Christian Missionaries who convinced the Political Establishment in Ottawa, i.e. the Liberal Party in the era of Pearsonian Diplomacy that Canada should recognized the People's Republic of China in 1969. Rooms in the Embassy of Canada in Beijing are named after them, Chester Ronning, Arthur Menzies, John Small and Ralph Collins, three of them served as Canadian Ambassadors to the PRC in the 1970-1980 period. What I did not know and maybe should have, given I served in China (2004-2007) was that the One China Policy was a Canadian Idea, a compromise of sort, devised by Pierre E. Trudeau which allowed us to recognize the PRC in 1969. He argued that since the mainland represented one third of the population of the planet Earth, it was silly to not recognize them. Taiwan on the other hand was a nasty dictatorship with a population of a few million people. Taiwan was no more democratic than the Communist PRC. In the geopolitic sphere the People's Republic had more weight and Canada should open up to this new relationship. Thus the problem of the Chinas was solved by recognizing the greater number of Chinese instead of the lesser number. Then other countries of the world, including the USA with Kissinger as Foreign advisor to the President, simply followed suit and did the same thing.

Man reading by Farr

Another book I read recently is The Once and Future King: The rise of Crown Governments in North America by F.H.Buckley is an interesting comparison between systems of governments in Canada, USA and UK. All three have their peculiarities on their development and practices and the central idea from which they evolved. There have been several books lately on how democracy is evolving towards ever greater powers being given to a single person, either the Prime Minister or the President. In Canada Executive system, Cabinet which is the composition of various ministers and the Prime Minister around a table come to a consensus on political decisions and it is or was a collegial affair. Nowadays it's a one man rule, the Ministers are informed later or are a simple rubber stamp. The same is true of Parliament, where matters like the Budget are voted on without much discussion and most Members of Parliament do not bother to read the thousand page document.

It made for an interesting read except that I found that much of what was said about Canada needed revision given the style of our current PM Harper who has taken us down the road of one man rule.

I am now reading in French, L'art d'avoir toujours raison by Arthur Schopenhauer (the art of always being right). I do not know if anyone still reads Schopenhauer. An interesting book on conversation and how to present arguments and either get your opponent to agree with you or deflect his arguments. I can see how this is done in French but in English I do not think I would be able to do that. An interesting read nonetheless.

I am also reading all of Aesop's Fables which I never read before, it is highly entertaining and something everyone should read, if for no other reason that it is amusing.

But that is not all, I still have 3 other books to start on various subject, one being how modern archeology was invented just 300 years ago, another on Stalin, a river of blood, Hitler looks like a boy scout in comparison and yet another on the diseases that killed famous authors or at least made their lives miserable, sort of a mystery novel, since in many cases no one knew what they were suffering from.

So as you can see it is a very mix bag of topics and not one airport bestseller in the lot.

Our failure as a Society witnessed

We do live in a Society which promotes individual worth and values at the expense of the Community as a whole. When we say our Community or Community values it is a very vague concept and one which does not or must not interfere with personal individual rights and values. In fact the word community nowadays in modern Canadian Society is pretty meaningless, the same goes for Community Leaders this is a term the media loves to use when it is trying to support the idea that an initiative or a project has a wide support amongst people. That is not true, the majority are too busy pursuing personal goals to bother much with the so called community.

In Canada today there are 3 types of what could be defined loosely as a community, there is the Rural group mostly farmers and individuals who live outside cities.

Then there are suburbanites, people who live in these large bedroom communities with malls and is composed mostly of either Heterosexual White Christian groups or large single Ethnicity groups who live in a suburban ghetto, they can be Asians like in the Suburb South of Montreal or in Suburb around Toronto which use to be small towns now absorbed in larger metropolitan areas. This group usually sees the inner city as dangerous and full of crimes, despite the fact that the crime rate in Canada is as low as in 1970.

Finally you have the City Core dwellers who are either old or young, rich, middle class and the urban poor, the Natives, the disabled, comprising every ethnic background in very varied neighbourhoods. Many have always lived in the City itself and are usually more progressive socially.

So in other words the idea of a community does not really exist in a Society dominated by the pursuit of individuality, social responsibility is diluted and this may explain, only in part, why we have so much indifference towards the many poor people old and young in Canada. There is also in the last 25 years the rapidly changing economy and in Canada we are clearly creating more minimum wage jobs in the service industry and inequality in general is on a rapid rise. One million Canadians do not have enough to eat or go without food on any given day, that is what is called food insecurity, 14% of children in Canada are poor and suffer from lack of adequate food, this is the highest rate in all industrial nations. Some 40% of Canadians pay two thirds of their income in rent or mortgage, housing in Canada is expensive.  All this to say that Canada is on the fast track to economic disparity and poverty for the majority.

The economy may be rock solid for some, like the Banks and the Oil Company an image our PM Harper spins endlessly, but for your average Canadian it is very far from being rock solid, more choppy seas with much uncertainty and with record personal debt. You loose your job and all of a sudden you are tipped into poverty.

Yes the urban poor is nothing new and existed since we have had cities in Canada, it has been a difficult problem to effectively deal with. Most people prefer to think that it exist but is not that serious and could be remedied easily with a bunch of social measures. Or worse that people who are poor deserve it because they are lazy. It is also easy to look down on the poor because they fit into a category we do not understand and do not want to know about.

All this to say that like most people I had heard of poverty in our cities but in the last 16 months I have become more aware of it. First was a conversation I had with the Director of the Soupe Populaire in Gatineau, his soup kitchen feeds the urban poor in the city across the river from the National Capital, he told me that in the winter of 2013, some 12 people had frozen to death on city streets in Gatineau. In Ottawa the Nation's Capital the numbers are a little higher, unbelievable when you think that most Canadians love to tell the world how rich we are. It is a National disgrace that this should happen, we do have enough shelter beds in the City provided by Churches and other groups but some people because of mental health issues do not want to participate and fall in the cracks. The other national disgrace is the situation of the Native people in Canada, there are about 1 million natives all around Canada. Recently I was speaking with UN Officials and I was told how completely horrendous the situation of Natives has become, the effect of years of neglect by the Federal Government on top of the savage budget cuts of the Harper government and the incredible level of violence suffered by native communities is beyond what we imagine Canada to be about. As a country we are failing at several social policy levels and also in terms of responsibilities towards our Native population. But most Canadians are totally oblivious and simply do not want to hear about it, which suits Harper and Co. fine. At any rate the UN is not much liked by the current government and this has been made clear in Official speeches.

I started to volunteer at the Shepherd of Good Hope on Murray Street in Lower Town, it is the largest shelter in the Capital, very well established it provides many services to the homeless and disadvantage including those suffering from mental illness though on that level what they can do is limited.  So I go and serve lunch, the routine is fairly simple, we get there by 08:30am and you are given food preparation duties, you may be asked to peel potatoes, cut up meat, make sandwiches, etc..

This past weekend I made about 150 sandwiches in about 2:30 hours, these sandwiches are given to anyone who comes after lunch looking for food. At 11:30am lunch service starts, all the food served is fresh, the menu changes daily and the food is good and wholesome, there is always a hot dish, a stew or a pasta, a soup, salad, bread and butter, dessert and coffee or tea. There are also vegetarian meals for those who want them.

The manager asked me to go to the door to greet the lunch crowd. Some 260 men and women came in, all young or old, many were faces I recognised, you see them in the market or around town. This was a slow day, being August, a long weekend and welfare cheques had just been given out. On a busy day some 400 to 500 persons will come in. One fellow asked me if there was any food left, he said he was really hungry he had not eaten in a day or so.  I could see the pain on his face, the stress and the fear that he might have missed lunch. It is very hard to think that anyone would be in that position, shocking in fact.

The Shepherd of Good Hope buildings is in a central location in the Capital surrounded by expensive condo towers and affluence in the nearby Rideau Centre, expensive shops and National Museums. This is not an isolated part on the edge of town.

What is amazing is how polite they all are, many are very courteous, quick on the thank you and speaking softly, no one that I have seen was loud or aggressive though I can imagine this happens.  I did have one fellow who came in and said to me rather sharply that he had heard we had chili with meat again, is that all you folks can prepare he asked. I told him simply what the menu was today, he looked at me surprised and said oh well that is nice and lined up at the counter.

Some people wore the marks of a recent fights, two women had big shiners, a man had his nose freshly broken and someone had taken a knife to his face. Another women maybe she was in her forties, hard to say, had a leg that had been broken and had not healed properly so she had a pronounced limp. Many Natives in the group and Innu, they are a special case because they come from the Arctic circle and here down South they are completely out of their element, it is very sad to see. Some are manic and this is out of character given their culture but obviously under a lot of stress.

So I stand by the door and say hello to those who come in, they will ask me about the menu of the day, all insist on washing their hands, and then line up at the cafeteria with their trays, they can eat as much as they want. Eating is such a human thing, no food and you die, washing one's hand, the need to feel clean is very important also. Simple courtesies, a simple hello, a word of welcome, a smile, it makes anyone feel more human, part of society. It is so simple, but it is what we all expect without often realizing it.

I also tell them, though they know the routine, that we have sandwiches also for the afternoon. Some will ask about water for their dogs, though we do not give them food for their pets. When you see such numbers coming in for a meal, it gives you an idea of the magnitude of the problem. I also work at the slop table which is clean up after the meal, cleaning plates and trays. All the dish ware is heavy duty porcelain, same with cups.

I do not know if I could do this volunteering on a regular basis, it is psychologically hard. Your first reaction is to feel embarrassed to see this kind of poverty. We do live in a world where most people feel they are paying too many taxes and the government is too intrusive, so you hear or read the heart less comments, few want more social programs, not understanding that organizations like Shepherd of Good Hope keeps the lid on social peace and is our safety net. I know first hand the misery of poverty in the Third World where there is little or no social programs or Caritative organizations like Shepherd.  There is an urgent need to get off the mean and corrosive thinking wagon we have embarked on in the last 9 years.  I can only hope that the support Shepherd is getting in Ottawa will continue and be strengthen, their role is valuable in providing a respectful and stable place for those who have been pushed to the wall.

It could happen to any of us.

This week is truly full of dreadful news and the recent downing of the Malaysian Airways jet MH 17 at the Eastern border of Ukraine and Russia by Pro-Russian militia with a BUK missile is an horrendous crime against humanity, 298 people died. One can only hope that they felt nothing and that their death was quick and painless.

The spectacle of the Pro-Russian militia and Russian agents looting the personal belongings of the dead is not only revolting but shows the level of barbarity of those so called Pro-Russian militias and the Russian government. As an ex-Foreign Service Officer I knew from my days in the service during the Cold War that the Soviets (Russians) had absolutely no scruples and no morals whatsoever. After all they supported Nazi Germany and had a secret pact to destroy Eastern Europe and its population. Then in 1941 Soviet Russia decides to switch sides and join the Allies because it was risking annihilation at the hands of Nazi Germany. So you can see that political calculation and hedging their bets is an old Russian way of doing business. They invoke the Raison d'Etat, you do what you have to do and morals or scruples do not enter into it. Something politicians are loath to admit to the electorate in Western Countries.

When MH17 was shot down, someone asked me if I thought there would be consequences or that President Putin would be made to pay. I answered that little if anything will be done, there will be no reprisal. There will be lots of angry words but not much else, just enough to occupy the Media and distract the public.

This is what has happened so far, France is still selling to Russia two war ships a deal worth 1.5 billion Euros, President Hollande of France said he did not see any reason to cancel the sale.
Germany is thinking about its gas supplies it receives from Russia and has no other source of heat for the coming winter, not to mention the important trade ties, despite German sympathies for the victims there is a limit to what they are willing to endure.

Britain has made lots of angry pronouncements but Russian money is still flooding the Financial markets in the City, where would the City be without all the oligarchs and their money?

Italy is against sanctions because it would damage its luxury goods market to Russia and given its fragile economy Italy needs all the export sales it can get.  As for The Netherlands who had the most dead in this tragedy, it has been strangely quiet.

Everyone in the EU is thinking Trade and Economics, do not jeopardize the economics and Putin knows that, he knows all too well that he is holding the strong cards. Even the USA is very reluctant to do anything because it does not want to be caught in a situation where Russia could manoeuvre between it and a divided Europe.  Also no one wants to go to war, not over Ukraine and not over a down passenger airliner, it is not worth it, too much is at stake in terms of trade, oil and gas and the politicians know it. But what does it say to Ukrainians about the EU? Not much really, Ukraine you are on your own.

So we have the public message of Western politicians to the people carefully crafted by the Spin experts and then we have the reality of trade and economics. Because if a Western politician in France, Germany, UK, Italy or USA took serious steps to sanctions and punish Russia political consequences would follow. For all of our wringing of hands and our words of sorrow over the dead civilians, none of us would like to suffer the consequences of a Russian angry response and yes Russia can sell its oil and gas elsewhere think China who has an unquenchable thirst in terms of energy demands.  This is where human nature comes in, the me first attitude despite the atrocious incidents.

Canada in all this, well PM Harper has sounded sharp and hostile against Russia. We are fairly insulated from any possible retaliation from Russia except for our Northern Border which is with Russia, unfortunately Canadians do not look at that border, no one thinks that the Russian would dare claim the Arctic. Surely the Americans would come and defend us, think again Canada, the USA will do nothing if it is not in their interests, we are very likely to find ourselves alone in having to deal with Russia. We have no Navy and no Armed Forces to defend the Arctic Border, so it is wide open for the taking by Russia or whoever wants to take it. Again short-sighted policies by the Harper Government despite all the talk.

So the tragedy of MH17 could happen to any one of us and do not count on your government to help you out, other priorities will take precedent over your life, that is what is call ''Real Politik''.

In the meantime, do you remember that Syria is gripped by a vicious Civil War, Gaza is being bombarded by the Israeli Army, Iraq is unstable and a violent Jihadist group is now emerging. Afghanistan is still no further ahead and the Taliban is a dangerous force. How about those 200 girls kidnapped a few months ago by Boko Aram, no more news about them. The Media has lost interests in those stories. The world goes on and on.

This is Canada! 1534-1867-2014

I found this song listening to the CBC Ben Heppner's show on Opera. Heppner is a famous Canadian Tenor now retired. Here we hear Canadian Soprano Terasa Stratas sing This is Canada, the images are  of Canada 1960. Things have changed, you can see Toronto skyline at 01:35 not like today at all. The last image is of the Royal Yacht Britannia sailing on the St-Lawrence Seaway. The song is a bit corny but fun nonetheless.

Calixa Lavallée, musician, composer, maestro, world traveller. 

The composer of the Canadian National Anthem is Calixa Lavallée (1842-1891) I learned today that he immigrated to Rhode Island and served as a Union Soldier with the rank of Lieutenant in the American Civil War. He died in Boston. He was one of 60,000 French Canadians who fought on the side of the Yankees. His anthem as first was composed for the Société Nationale des Canadiens Français which then became the Société St-Jean Baptiste. What was once since as a Patriotic anthem for French Canada became shortly thereafter the National Anthem of Canada.



We have put up our Canadian Flag on the balcony, the same flag which has travelled the world with me for the last 40 years. I originally got it from Parliament from my Member of Parliament, back then you wrote to them and they would send you a flag.



Because this is the Centennial of the Great War 1914-1918, I post here the Old Flag, known as the Red Ensign, which was replaced in 1965 by the new Maple Leaf Flag.

Canadian Flag in 1914.

Canadian Flag 1929-1965

Happy Dominion of Canada Day to all Canadians wherever you may be on this July 1. 

Crimea, Ukraine, Russia, then what?

During the Sochi Winter Olympics we were told by numerous officials that this was the symbol of the New Russia, post-USSR, modern dynamic etc... What we were really seeing was a bunch of modern buildings and infrastructure. Mentalities had not changed one Iota. Remember the Beijing Summer Olympics a few years ago. Well I was posted the that Communist Paradise from 2004-2007 and I saw how you can transform a city like Beijing by State Decree to impress the world with shiny new buildings and infrastructure this does not mean that attitude and government policy or general culture has changed. You can install new drapes and paint walls, you still have a derelict house.

Just a few days after the end of the Olympics it now seems we are back in the old Russia. President V. Putin decided that given event in the Ukraine he had to protect Russia's National Interests. Now Putin is playing to a National audience, his home base want a strong eternal Russia, the Mother Russia of Peter the Great or Ivan the terrible, it wants its Icons of its old past.

Putin has strong and influential supporters, the Orthodox Church in Moscow who wishes to control the Orthodox Church in the Ukraine, H.I.H Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, pretender to the Romanov throne and would be Tsarina and her son HIH Crown Prince George, Tsarevitch and Prince of Prussia, they are allied with the Church and can claim many monarchist who dream of a return to Imperial times, the Russian business elite who has grown rich with Putin, the Russian armed forces who feel they are regaining their old strength and part of the Russia people who are xenophobic and respond well to anti-Western propaganda.

Today the Communist Party of China and the President of the People's Republic of China came down on the side of Putin and Russia. This is why China was so quiet since the operation Crimea started. The Ukrainian Puppet and Moscow's man, President in exile Victor Ianoukovitch who is just over the border is also supporting all of Russia's moves. All his moves and words are stage manage by handlers in Moscow. Ianoukovitch is largely irrelevant now but useful nonetheless.

Why would Russia decide to occupy the Crimea? Well history should be our guide, first the city of Sebastopol where the Russian Navy is anchored was the creation of Tsarina Catherine II the Great in 1783. Before her Tsar Peter the Great at fought with much vigour the Ottoman Turks to get free access to the Black Sea. Historically the Crimea is part of the mythical greatness of Imperial Russia.
Of course the native people of the Crimea where the Tatars who lived under the Ottoman Turk rule until 1782 when Turkey lost the war against Imperial Russia and gave up the Crimea to Russia. Many Muslim Tatar fled to other parts of the Ottoman Empire, the Crimea was then populated with Russians, Ruthènes (Ukrainians) Moldaves and Germans.

Many Russian and Soviet leaders came from the Ukraine, Christianity entered Russian through Kiev 1000 years ago, the Kievian-Rus links go back centuries and have nothing to do with what Vladimir Putin wishes, he is simply using history as a guide.

There is also the question of the Ukraine of today compared to the Ukraine of 1946, the whole Western part was Poland, cities like Lviv were Polish not Ukrainian.  All this to say that the picture is a very confused one and not a simple black and white issue.

In 1954 under the rule of Nikita Krouchtchev, Crimea was given to the Socialist Republic of Ukraine.
A personal gift of the Secretary of the Communist Party to his adopted homeland Ukraine.

What is now emerging of this situation is that Russia had a very well prepared strategy to take over Crimea. A given sets of circumstances would trigger the deployment of Russian troops. While the world was looking at various events in and around Russia, Putin had given orders to prepare for this eventuality, supporting the then President and marginalized the Opposition groups. That NATO, the EU and the USA failed to see what was happening is not credible, they most probably knew but thought that it would probably not happen. It is now known and the US Congress is investigating, that the CIA had reported numerous times of the very real possibility of Russia taking over Crimea. But in an inter-governmental agency dispute the State Department ignored the reports and did not pass them along.

So we are presented with a fait accompli, the Russians have taken over Crimea, NATO has done very little despite the meetings and posturing. A resolution was passed by member countries. NATO could have asked Turkey a member State to close the Bosphorus to prevent Russian Navy ships to travel up to the Black Sea but it did not. The EU and Britain are not in favour of any economic sanctions, remembering that gas and other trade investments come from Russia. Germany and France prefer dialogue, the UK has done nothing to freeze assets so as not to anger President Putin. Everyone seems to be looking out for their economic interests.

The USA cannot do much either despite threats which are largely empty. Canada has huffed and puffed because our PM Harper is big on grand gesture always with an eye for the easy vote, in this case the Canadian-Ukrainian community in Saskatchewan. Our Foreign Minister Rusty Baird has made silly remarks about the Sudetenland and 1939 making a show of his ignorance and puffery.
Trade between Russia and Canada has increased from $1.5 billion a year to $4.5 billion in the last 3 years, a detail that seems to elude our PM and the Government. It would appear that Canada is not much interested in trade and more so in grand empty statements. It is well known that Putin has a profound dislike for Harper.

As for war, the media has gone on and on about it, really war with Russia? Is anyone serious? There is no chance of war between the USA and Russia, first because the public in the USA is not interested in Crimea or Ukraine after the adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan. But more importantly war between the 2 powers would mean a nuclear war or the end of the world. NATO has been careful not to mention war and the wording of its declaration has been more of denunciation than anything else.
The EU even Poland which borders Russia is not talking war, sanctions maybe.

No politician cares much for this situation because Ukraine is a bankrupt country with multiple socio- economic problems, Russia remains the main important trade partner. What EU politicians are carefully doing is a ballet, giving one message to the masses in their respective countries to respond to their concerns over Human rights etc... but on the other hand carefully manage the fall-out with Russia to protect economic interests.

President Putin knows that the West is not going to do much beyond talking, he has carefully assessed past situations. He knows that he is still required to provide support to the EU and USA for the situation in Syria and Iran. So it is important not to alienate him otherwise those situations could drag on and become more complex than they are now. Just on the question of Iran, PM Netanyahu of Israël was making noises today while the world is busy with the crisis in Crimea.

The public also knows little about the new Government in Ukraine, though the various EU governments and politicians know probably more. There are some extreme elements in the group and some discredited Ukrainian politicians like Ioulia Timoshenko who was released from jail a few days ago, she certainly is not a unifying voice in Ukraine.

Will we discover later that the Ukrainian opposition are not partners with whom we wish to engage politically? Is Putin right in describing them as ultra-Nationalist and Fascists? His pronouncement are based on local history and how history is viewed and understood there. We cannot fall in the trap of deciding that Putin and Russia is wrong and all they say is merely propaganda to be dismissed. We too are often played for fools by our own politicians and media outlets.

Latest story today was that the EU was ready to concede the annexation of Crimea to Russia simply to buy peace and get guarantees that Putin will not try to annex the Eastern part of Ukraine. Stay tuned to see where this situation will go nowhere. Other developments reported by the magazine FP
mentions a private conversation between Catherine Ashton, EU Foreign Minister and Urmas Praet Estonia's Foreign Minister, they spoke on the phone and it was revealed that the sniper in Kiev who was responsible for most deaths is believed to be on the pay of the Opposition now in power.
Baroness Ashton was surprised to learn this from Urmas Praet who informed her that the Opposition now forming the new Government does not want the matter of the sniper to be investigated. Baroness Ashton simply said, neither do we. Could Putin be right, Kiev has been taken over by ultra-Nationalists and other extreme right groups but in the continuous East-West dispute we refuse to believe a word he is saying.

I want to offer my own solution to this crisis, since a lot of the power of the Russian Government stands at the moment on Oil and Gas and the enormous revenue it gives Russia, why not weaken Putin by attacking Oil and Gas revenues. Canada has lots of oil and gas and nowhere to send it. Why not offer energy contracts to the EU as a safe and reliable supplier.  It could be shipped directly from Canada's East Coast to Europe, no need for the Keystone XL Pipeline which is dead in the water at this time.

Canada by becoming the supplier of energy to Europe could help make Putin feel insecure. The Russian threat to cut-off shipments of oil and gas to Europe would vanish. A potential energy weapon which would force Putin to be far more agreeable once he has less money coming into his coffers.
It would enhance Canadian trade and increase our world profile.

Talking about Syria

Yesterday, Saturday 24 August, which is still summer vacation time, in Europe most people are still at the beach, here in Canada people are also on vacation, thinking of other things and not looking at the ''hard'' news, we could read in the local paper that Stevie Harper was talking with Cameron of Britain and Hollande of France about Syria. I wonder what did the conversation sound like given that all 3 men have different agendas politically in 3 very different countries. Where they responding to the grumblings in the Obama White House? The US Government is itching for a fight with Russia after the Snowden affair, tempest in a tea pot perhaps?

Last week there were reports that a poison gas attack had taken place in Syria and that scores of people were dead and even more injured. Capitals were assessing if any of it was true. Suddenly French reporters started to present in their news stories detailed reports of poison gas attacks describing the symptoms of victims. None of these reporters where on site, no, they instead picked-up the detailed accounts from gossip heard on the Internet and pieced it all together. Allegations that 2 French reporters brought back samples, really? A bit like your Aunt Maud hanging the wash and hearing neighbourhood gossip over the clothes line.

Syria on Sunday agreed to having UN inspectors look at the alleged site of the attack, the White House says ''It is too late'', an almost Bush Era like response. So we will never know if there was or not a poison gas attack. Does it matter, the goal appears to be to get rid of Assad and give a blow to Hezbollah and Iran. I would counsel patience, let the UN team do its work and if it is demonstrated that poison gas was used then decide what to do. But before doing anything think of the consequences and what might happen next. Public Opinion is not pushing for a quick solution.

Again the media in general is more than happy to trumpet whatever the politicians will claim to be the reason for this attack. In the past 20 years the following reasons where given, #1 must eliminate weapons of mass destruction, #2 bring democracy to the region, #3 bring prosperity to the region, #4 educate girls (boys are never mentioned, they apparently do not deserve education), #5 Uphold human rights, #6 win minds and hearts, #7 Defending our National Interests.

I remember after the First Gulf War (1991) when Iraq under Saddam Hussein was forced to retreat and leave Kuwait, the Media announced that the USA had brought democracy to Kuwait because Kuwaitis loved Fast Food and Shopping malls, they were just like us, they want to breathe Freedom.

Of course Freedom, Democracy, Promotion of Western Feminist ideals and Education for girls are all good popular ideals to throw into the debate, the public can see that the goals are noble. We do not need to ask ourselves hard questions or understand that we are dealing with societies unlike ours and societies that are evolving under very different circumstances and a history very different from ours. In other words, we have little in common. What we want for them is not what they want, we did not ask them, we simply imposed our views on them. More and more it smacks of New Colonialism disguised under new words, slogans, colours and banners but is in fact the same old story. Colonialism did not die in 1960, it simply went into a slumber like Sleeping Beauty.

Intervention in Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan, Libya and now possibly Syria did not change anything to the lives of the people of those countries, it only made things worse, much worse.

Intervention in Syria is not to help Syrians, it is about getting back at Iran and it's proxy army Hezbollah. Many of whom are Canadian Citizens with families in the Greater Toronto Area, thanks to our blind and generous immigration policies. It is also to make a point with Russia's Putin, Syria has always been a pawn in Cold War Politics and it remains a pawn to this day. It's a cynical game between Russia and the USA. France also has a stake in the region as it sees Lebanon and Syria as old colonies. But France has been kept on the sidelines in the Middle-East by the USA and this creates a lot of friction between France and the USA.
The French are still trying to position themselves in this game. Let's not forget how in Iraq, France tried and failed to protect its Oil contracts with Saddam and how they sheltered for years in France the Ayatollah Khomeini going so far as to fly him on a special Air France flight to Iran in 1979. Britain also has an role or a hand in all this since Ottoman times. In such disputes the UK are the strong ally of the USA.

What I do not understand here is the involvement of Canadian PM Harper in this debate. A man who has repeatedly shown how little he understands in World Affairs, is he even interested beyond the photo-op? Canada has never had anything more than a small role in the Middle-East and in terms of Foreign Policy we have been fence sitters, refusing to take sides until recently when Prime Minister Harper decided that we would change course and put ourselves squarely behind Israël and support wholeheartedly Prime Minister Netenyahu, come Hell or High Water.

Again in what way does this enhance our Canadian National Interests is not clear. It does enhance the political profile of Mr. Harper and partisan politics is what he is all about. Canada did very well in Afghanistan and we did make an important contribution, what will be the lasting legacy of that intervention is uncertain at best. It is for the Afghani people to decide what they want for their future. It is clear though that we did not need to get involved, it was not a peace keeping mission as initially explained by Mr. Harper. We were not involved in Iraq our Prime Minister then, Jean Chretien refusing to go along with the USA.

In Libya, Canada was the master of the skies, our Air Force was stationed in Trapani, Sicily, again we did very well, though the final goal beyond getting rid of the troublesome Qaddafi and company was not clear. No one, who is knowledgeable about the ground situation in Libya expected democracy to blossom. The Libyans would be grateful we were told, really? The public had to be told that we were pursuing a peaceful and democratic solution in Libya. However politicians have used this excuse so often that very few still believe that our goals are noble, its all about power politics and influence, the public has become increasingly cynical of what politicians have to say.

I do not see Canadians in favour of our involvement in Syria, an involvement which would complicate our clouded Foreign Policy. Harper will have to explain how involving our armed forces or more likely our Air Force in Syria which is an expensive enterprise in difficult fiscal times as the Prime Minister likes to say, would be of any benefit. We are well on our way in 2013 in creating a new budget deficit larger than last year while our PM is trying to tell us that he is desperately trying to balance the books which he has not done in 8 years in power. What would we gain from such an intervention. I could see pandering to the Lebanese-Syrian Community in Canada and to the Iranian diaspora in a cynical political game for votes, beyond that not much.

We have to accept that trying to re-arrange the world order by massive military intervention is not a solution. Some conflicts no matter how horrible and devastating in far away lands are none of our business. The idea that we have an international obligation to intervene is bunk. Sometimes conflicts exist for reasons beyond our understanding and I would advocate in such case the Chinese approach, not to meddle in the internal affairs of other countries, especially when it does not threaten our Sovereignty and or our vital National Interests.















  

Salute to a brave and modest nation!

Salute to a brave and modest nation - Kevin Myers , 'The Sunday Telegraph'
LONDON :

Until the deaths of Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan , probably
almost no one outside their home country had been aware that Canadian troops
are deployed in the region.

And as always, Canada will bury its dead, just as the rest of the world, as
always will forget its sacrifice, just as it always forgets nearly everything Canada ever does..
It seems that Canada's historic mission is to come to the selfless aid both
of its friends and of complete strangers, and then, once the crisis is over,
to be well and truly ignored.

Canada is the perpetual wallflower that stands on the edge of the hall,
waiting for someone to come and ask her for a dance. A fire breaks out, she
risks life and limb to rescue her fellow dance-goers, and suffers serious injuries. 
But when the hall is repaired and the dancing resumes, there is Canada, the wallflower
still, while those she once helped glamorously cavort across the floor, blithely
neglecting her yet again.

That is the price Canada pays for sharing the North American continent with
the United States , and for being a selfless friend of Britain in two global
conflicts.

For much of the 20th century, Canada was torn in two different directions:
It seemed to be a part of the old world, yet had an address in the new one,
and that divided identity ensured that it never fully got the gratitude it deserved.

Yet its purely voluntary contribution to the cause of freedom in two world
wars was perhaps the greatest of any democracy. Almost 10% of Canada's
entire population of seven million people served in the armed forces during the First World
War, and nearly 60,000 died. The great Allied victories of 1918 were spearheaded by
Canadian troops, perhaps the most capable soldiers in the entire British
order of battle.

Canada was repaid for its enormous sacrifice by downright neglect, its
unique contribution to victory being absorbed into the popular memory as
somehow or other the work of the 'British.'

The Second World War provided a re-run. The Canadian navy began the war with
a half dozen vessels, and ended up policing nearly half of the Atlantic
against U-boat attack. More than 120 Canadian warships participated in the Normandy
landings, during which 15,000 Canadian soldiers went ashore on D-Day alone.

Canada finished the war with the third-largest navy and the fourth largest
air force in the world. The world thanked Canada with the same sublime
indifference as it had the previous time.

Canadian participation in the war was acknowledged in film only if it was
necessary to give an American actor a part in a campaign in which the United
States had clearly not participated - a touching scrupulousness which, of course,
Hollywood has since abandoned, as it has any notion of a separate Canadian
identity.

So it is a general rule that actors and filmmakers arriving in Hollywood
keep their nationality - unless, that is, they are Canadian. Thus Mary
Pickford, Walter Huston,Donald Sutherland, Michael J. Fox, William Shatner, Norman Jewison, David
Cronenberg, Alex Trebek, Art Linkletter, Mike Weir and Dan Aykroyd have in
the popular perception become American, and Christopher Plummer, British.

It is as if, in the very act of becoming famous, a Canadian ceases to be
Canadian, unless she is Margaret Atwood, who is as unshakably Canadian as a
moose, or Celine Dion, for whom Canada has proved quite unable to find any takers.

Moreover, Canada is every bit as querulously alert to the achievements of
its sons and daughters as the rest of the world is completely unaware of
them. The Canadians proudly say of themselves - and are unheard by anyone else - that
1% of the world's population has provided 10% of the world's peacekeeping
forces.

Canadian soldiers in the past half century have been the greatest
peacekeepers on Earth - in 39 missions on UN mandates, and six on non-UN
peacekeeping duties, from Vietnam to East Timor, from Sinai to Bosnia.

Yet the only foreign engagement that has entered the popular non-Canadian
imagination was the sorry affair in Somalia , in which out-of-control
paratroopers murdered two Somali infiltrators. Their regiment was then disbanded in
disgrace - a uniquely Canadian act of self-abasement for which, naturally,
the Canadians received no international credit.

So who today in the United States knows about the stoic and selfless
friendship its northern neighbour has given it in Afghanistan ?

Rather like Cyrano de Bergerac , Canada repeatedly does honourable things
for honourable motives, but instead of being thanked for it, it remains
something of a figure of fun. It is the Canadian way, for which Canadians should be proud,
yet such honour comes at a high cost. This past year more grieving Canadian
families knew that cost all too tragically well.

Lest we forget.

On China

Just finished reading the 2011 book by Henry Kissinger, titled On China. Since I lived in China I wanted to read it to see what he had to say. Kissinger is a great believer in China and has many friends in the leadership of China. Whenever he travels there he gets the Head of State treatment with all that it entails. Kissinger had a great deal of influence many years ago in the original opening of the USA to the People's Republic of China. First secret meeting between himself and Premier Zhou En Lai in 1971, followed by the Official visit of President Nixon in 1973. Formal recognition did not come before 1979 for various reasons of internal USA politics and because of the War with Vietnam and the official recognition the USA government had granted Taiwan back in 1949.

Kissinger gives a lot of details on the personalities and character of each person he met, Mao Tse Tung, Zhou En Lai, Deng Xiao Ping and others. Mao the philosopher king, Zhou the cultured Mandarin and skilled diplomat and administrator, Deng the rough pragmatist. He described how the meetings went and how they were received and many more details on how the entire relationship evolved. For history all these details are important as a first person account. Kissinger stresses how the Chinese are master of the detail and are fully prepared with great seriousness for each encounter, nothing is left to chance or haphazard. He does not say it but the reader guess that the other side is not as well prepared and this is the Chinese advantage in any encounter.

Kissinger also looks at historical precedent in China and how Confucius influences the way of thinking of the Chinese leadership through the ages, he does spend some time in his book guiding the reader through the various phases of thinking which guide Chinese reaction to events. He also goes into what were the expectations and fears of the USA in the first meetings in the context of domestic American politics of the late 1960's. Past events like the victory of the Communist in China in 1949 against the Nationalist, the Korean war, the toll of the Vietnam war on the American public opinion, the Cold War and the difficult relations with the USSR. Though Kissinger never criticize past US Administrations he served and treats his Chinese counterparts with much courtesy in his book,  he does point out several times how many American thinkers made mistakes in their evaluation of China and its leadership, in the process delaying or impeding the relation between the USA and the PRC.  Kissinger gives the impression that he had to fight several battles with an entrenched bureaucracy at the State Department correcting what he considered wrong evaluations based on misunderstandings of history and events. What he considered to be too many assumptions, confusing Communism in general as an ideology and then believing that the way it was practiced in the USSR was the same in the PRC or that the new giants worked hand in hand against the West.

Kissinger also explains the concerns of the Chinese Leadership and their own problems with the USSR in border disputes which went back centuries to the time of the Emperors in both China and Russia. Of the rivalry between Stalin and Mao and then successive Soviet leaders who often failed to understand that the Chinese did not want to be dominated by them or even guided. The reader understand how the USA came to play a balancing act between the two great Communist powers in the world.

Then Kissinger guides us through the post-Mao period and the great changes brought about by Deng Xiao Ping. The internal fights within the Chinese leadership with two camps, one, the gang of four, for continuing the Mao doctrine and Deng's approach to go down a different path. It is clear that China today remains a Communist dictatorship and a police State but has a commercial, capitalistic components important to improve the material conditions of the people if the Communist party is to survive in power. Kissinger points out the great realizations under Deng, such as the eradication of hunger for the first time in China. Providing for basic health care, schooling and housing for all and most important quadrupling in a matter of a just a few years the wealth of individual Chinese who could see a net benefit under Communist rule.

In the last paragraph and epilogue, the books meanders as if Kissinger was at a lost on how to conclude his book and that part is less interesting, probably because the writer himself is retired and does not travel as much now as he did in the past.

A good read.

A momentous day

Well today I handed in my resignation letter from the Canadian Foreign Service at 4:16 pm effective on 28 December 2012. I spoke with the Director of Personnel, an old colleague of mine and with my assignment officer, we reminisced about the past years, so many years and so many postings at different Canadian Embassies around the world. It all seems to me like a movie, another world, another time. When I joined the Foreign Service, Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister in Britain, Ronald Reagan was President, in Canada Joe Clark was Prime Minister, a man I always like for his honest straightforward approach to things. My postings were in order: Mexico City, Cairo Egypt with accreditation to Khartoum, The Sudan, Chicago USA, Amman Jordan with accreditation to Iraq and Palestine, Warsaw Poland with accreditation to Belarus and Lithuania,in 2004 to Beijing PRC, finally in 2007 to Rome Italy with accreditation to Greece, Malta and Albania. I also served on temporary duty at the United Nations, General Assembly, Social Affairs Committee in the Fall of 1985, then in 2001 in Lagos Nigeria and  Ankara Turkey. I also organized the first Protocol Office for the Department of Citizenship and Immigration and served as first Head of Protocol and Official Visits.

I was in Mexico City on the first anniversary of the devastating earthquake of September 1985 and in Egypt during the first Gulf War when Kuwait was invaded by Iraq. I was in Khartoum on the night of the defeat of Iraq and came face to face with Tareq Aziz the Prime Minister of Iraq in the lobby of the Khartoum Hilton whose distinction was that the hotel was built at the point where the Blue Nile meets the White Nile, an impressive sight. I was stunned to meet Tareq Aziz in the lobby, a coincidence an accident really, he noticed by diplomatic passport and all he said to me was that he really like Canada and hoped to come one day to Canada. I will never forget his eyes, they were those of a man who had seen too much. They had no expression in them a bit like the eyes of a dead person, the flicker had gone out. He was as always courteous and polite, the human face of the awful Saddam Hussein Regime of Iraq. I remember in the Sudan how everything was paid for with cases of Johnnie Walker Scotch despite the fact this was suppose to be an Islamic Regime.

In Egypt I received death threats from some disgruntled person, the regime provided me with body guards and I never had a parking problem in Cairo for the next 3 years. In Jordan, His Majesty King Hussein, a charismatic and wonderful man, one of the great leaders of the XXth century, sent me a photo of himself in a silver frame with a dedication, to my friend Mr. Laurent Beaulieu with my best wishes. I was so surprised even my ambassador was a little jealous. His brother Prince Hassan followed up a few days later with a similar gift, apparently I had done something, I do not know what, that had attracted their attention. I remember on a return flight from Egypt to Jordan, I discovered that I was seated next to Sharifa Dina Abdul Hamed, the first wife of the King and we spoke of her horses, those white Arabian stallions, she was delightful and charming.

In Chicago, the great rival of New York, but with the polish and culture the big Apple lacks. Great City with wonderful architecture and cuisine. The USA from the mid-western point of view.
In Poland, Warsaw another great city, reborn after the darkness of Nazism and Communism, the rapidity of changes in the economy and life in general were dazzling. A country of culture, opera and the arts, a people with an interesting history. Warsaw a city of beautiful parks and palaces torn between Germany and Russia, a Slavic people with a Western European accent, very unlike their Russian neighbours often described by the Poles as too Asiatic.

Then China, a country which still clings to its Imperial past and the notion of the Middle Kingdom despite its 60 years of Communism. I discovered real Chinese cuisine and a very different perspective on China which is not apparent from home. Finally my postings to Rome and Athens, to end a career one cannot ask for anything better. What an incredible opportunity to be able to live and work in what is the cradle of Western civilization. Despite the fact that we have returned from Europe one year ago, we still often think of Italy and Greece, if not daily as you can tell from my posts on this blog.

All in all not a bad career and a charmed life. So it all comes to an end, like any thing else in life.
As I said to my colleagues today, One has to know when to leave the party. It was wonderful and now let's move on.

During my career I received many honours for my work but one I truly cherish, on the occasion of my 30 years of service as a member of Canada's Foreign Service a tree was planted in Sudbury, Ontario to honour me. I did not know of this in advance nor expected it and it means the most to me as it is a permanent symbol of my years of service. This tree is part of a vast project of rejuvenation for the City and it will certainly do a lot of good.

This view of Parliament in Ottawa just down the street from where we live in Ottawa. The buildings were built in 1864 and are the symbol of Canada representing our National goal of Peace, Order and Good Government.

Demanding respect for one's values

A news item on the English version of Al-Jazeerah News says that President Morsi of Egypt will asking for respect from the USA for Egypt's values. Morsi is in New-York for the opening of the Fall session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.
Such a headline in the current climate or even any other time will attract attention and raise eyebrows. I can see the comments from some readers enraged by such a request. How can the President of Egypt ask anything given the generous financial subsidies his country has been receiving from many countries for so many years. How can a poor country ask something from wealthy nations. People will view such a request through their own optics and pass a quick judgement call.

We should remember that in 1971 during the first secret meeting between Henry Kissinger and Chinese Premier Zhou En-Lai in Beijing which led to the Nixon visit and recognition of the PRC by the USA in 1979, the Chinese position was that the PRC had its own value system and that they would not adopt American values, the relationship would be one of equals.

What President Morsi is saying has to be viewed in the context of his region of the world and its people and their grievances. It does not matter if you agree or not, it is a matter of listening to what is being said. Many of the countries of North Africa and of the Levant (middle-east) were for centuries dominated politically by the Ottoman Turks and where part of the greater Ottoman Empire. The Turks are not Arabs, in origin they are from Central Asia and migrated about 900 years ago to Anatolia. In the 19th century, with the Ottoman Empire becoming weaker politically, the establishment of a new domination by Europeans started all over North Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria came under French domination, the British took Libya, Egypt and then pushed into the Middle-East with France and created new countries like Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and a protectorate in Palestine. Installing at the same time Arab Princes as Kings of these new countries in the hope that they would do Europe's bidding.

Egypt had a difficult time of it, with Napoleon looting ancient treasures in his contempt for Egypt. To subsequent French and English governments who took over the administration of the country on the pretext that debts on enormous loans were due and since the Khedive could not pay well then we simply take your country and rule it. The Royal family in Egypt were hostages to their colonial rulers. The end of the Second World War saw a diminished Britain and France and a growing USA influence in the region. Finally in 1952 Colonel Nasser overthrew the Monarchy and kicked the foreigners out. But the years of political humiliation and economic subservience were not over. There was the Suez Canal crisis which nearly caused a third World War and where the USA had to intervene to stop both British and French interests and then the wars with Israël and the support of Arab independence around the Middle-East. In the 1970's with the death of Nasser and the failure of his socio-economic experiments appeared a growing Muslim religious movements with strong political and social overtones, asking for economic reforms and social justice.

During the Cold War years the great powers both the USSR and the USA played the Arabs against one another, in Egypt it was over technical cooperation and financing of the great Aswan Dam.  The Egyptian government did not know how to respond to the demands of its own rapidly growing population, not enough schools, not enough jobs, not enough food nor money nor economic opportunities, poor infrastructure and finally generalized poverty in what was in antiquity a great Empire as the ancient monuments attest. The loss of face also in 1967 in the conflict against Israël. The Egyptian population demanded change and change came finally a year ago with the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak whose political career went all the way back to 1973 under President Anwar Sadat.

The Egyptians are now looking for a new approach in their diplomatic relationship with Western powers like the USA based on mutual respect. Egypt is an ancient land, 5000 years of history, its important contribution to the advancement of civilization is established.  Egypt is also a conservative society with strong family values, in the West some will cringe at those words. But for all that, Egyptians are an easy going people. It is also a mix society, there is a small  Egyptian-Jewish population, the Christian Copts represent about 10% of its population and the rest Muslims, very few fanatics in either of the faiths.

What President Morsi is saying to us is NO more cartoons, movies, and other insults against Islamic beliefs and religion in general. Is it too much to ask that you do not insult a people's religion or beliefs. It is pretty common for all of us to expect basic respect for what we believe. You may not agree with a person's beliefs but you do not have the right to insult them because you claim the higher moral ground.

You will have clowns who want to burn a holy book, who think that a cartoon is just that, but for many people it has far more meaning, especially if you have a long colonial past of oppression, injustice. and humiliations at the hands of countries who still claim to this day the higher moral ground. The indignation is understandable, it is inconceivable in Egypt that anyone could say deeply offensive things and simply walk away.  One also has to question the motive behind this little movie or the cartoons, what was or is the motive. Such individual damaged our interest and cause untold damage to to others by their behaviour, is that not worth at least a moral sanction and being called to account.
No one has explained so far their motive, not the movie producer nor the editors of newspapers or magazines. When asked they do not give a reason, hiding instead behind general notions of freedom of speech or freedom of the press. Though such freedoms are important in a democratic society they should not be abused for notoriety.

President Morsi is basically saying you respect us and we will respect you, simple enough and do not expect us to adopt your value system. The relationship has to be on an equal footing, no more condescending attitude. The missionary zeal, the lectures are no longer acceptable, we may not agree on every point but we will respect our differences.
We should also not forget that Morsi speaks for the Egyptians who elected him and for their aspirations, which go well beyond religious matters.

A little song from the past

I remember this song from my childhood in Montreal and how it became associated with my parents. My father liked it a lot and would often sing along with Tony Bennett. I visited San Francisco with Will in 1983, staying at the San Francis Hotel. I always kept a beautiful souvenir of that city. I heard the song again the other night as we were driving to friends house and every time it brings back a host of happy memories. Composed in 1954, George Corey, music and Douglass Cross, lyrics, it was first performed by Tony Bennett in 1961 in the Venetian Room of the Fairmont Hotel on Knob Hill.
It has become his signature song. They don't write songs like that anymore.

On a Sunny Sunday in cold Ottawa.

As this is a quiet Sunday morning at -30 C in Ottawa under a bright blue Sun filled winter sky, I sit here with puppies quietly listening to Angela Hewitt playing the English Suite by J.S. Bach.  In fact winter officially arrived in Ottawa on Thursday 12 January 2012 in a snowstorm which created meter high snow banks on the streets everywhere, making street parking impossible for a few months to come and walking difficult and hazardous.  I wonder what was my ancestor thinking when in June of 1662 he boarded a war ship in Brittany for Quebec City in far away Canada. Knowing that life expectancy upon arrival in this French territoire outre-mer was at best one year. If disease or the elements did not get you the Aboriginals living in the dark primevil forest would. I would rather live in a more southern temperate clime.

Near our home while walking the puppies this morning at 8 am.

The Rideau Canal finally ready for skaters, the longest skating way in the world, I forget how many kilometers it is but it is very long indeed.

cleaning the snow off the canal for skaters to enjoy a good exercise.

 quiet streets and a brave few walkers along the canal.

This morning in the New York Times, Lee Siegel has a very good opinion piece on Mitt Romney and race.
Describing Mitt Romney as the whitest white presidential candidate anyone can hope for to replace that black fellow in the White House. It seems that Americans are incapable of accepting a black president, the old race card comes again to haunt the political agenda. Sad for a country which loves to present itself as forward thinking, modern and a defender of freedom and human rights. What is it they say about Freedom, '' the price of freedom is eternal vigilance''. The Americans or at least the Republicans are unable to free themselves of their old prejudices, they inherited the narrow minded and mean views of people like George Wallace of Alabama, nothing has really changed since the 1960.


Lee Siegel says and I quote; Of course, I’m not talking about a strict count of melanin density. I’m referring to the countless subtle and not-so-subtle ways he telegraphs to a certain type of voter that he is the cultural alternative to America’s first black president. It is a whiteness grounded in a retro vision of the country, one of white picket fences and stay-at-home moms and fathers unashamed of working hard for corporate America.

In this way, Mr. Romney’s Mormonism may end up being a critical advantage. Evangelicals might wring their hands over the prospect of a Mormon president, but there is no stronger bastion of pre-civil-rights-America whiteness than the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Yes, since 1978 the church has allowed blacks to become priests. But Mormonism is still imagined by its adherents as a religion founded by whites, for whites, rooted in a millenarian vision of an America destined to fulfill a white God’s plans for earth. 


He goes on with: ''as became immediately apparent in 2009, millions of Americans were unwilling to accept the basic democratic premise that Mr. Obama legally and morally deserved to sit in the White House — and that was before they confronted his “socialist” and “un-American” policy agenda.

Mitt Romney knows this. He knows that he offers to these people the white solution to the problem of a black president. I am sure that Mr. Romney is not a racist. But I am also sure that, for the many Americans who find the thought of a black president unbearable, he is an ideal candidate. For these sudden outsiders, Mitt Romney is the conventional man with the outsider faith — an apocalyptic pragmatist — who will wrest the country back from the unconventional man with the intolerable outsider color.''

Terribly sad but so true of the USA. It seems that some ghosts of the past are unshakeable.

In Canada this week the law on same-sex marriage was firmly enshrined by the Federal Government by a simple declaration by the Minister of Justice, for anyone who thought that it could be changed by the current administration or some exception was about to be made in Divorce Court. The law was passed in 2005, giving full marital rights, recognition and protection to same-sex couples. Thousands of foreigners have come to Canada to marry because it was not possible in their own country. A great coup for Canada and the Government. 

It is a beautiful day but too cold despite the fact that the Canal is open to skating, I can stand the cold and even the puppies don't want to go outside for too long. So we will enjoy the view from inside.




 
Nora in the Sunshine

Nicky dozing in the morning sun