Waiting for the . . .

Second boot to drop?  Next government scandal?  The upcoming recession? Dental appointment?

When my wife and I first got married we lived on the bottom floor in a two story apartment.  In one of the apartments upstairs from us, we would hear a boot drop.  We waited for the second one, which duly arrived.  But then would come a third one.  Unnerving to say the least.

Governments at all levels and in any country are prone to gaffs, scandals and stupidity.  It has become almost a daily event and we wait anxiously for the next one to arrive.  The latest in Canada has been the Ethics Commissioner’s report on the performance of the Prime Minister during the SNC Lavalin issue.  To my mind, the worst part was not the report itself.  What is the most damaging was the refusal of the PM to apologize for his behaviour.  He said that he would not apologize for saving Canadian jobs.  But there was never any danger of jobs being lost since the projects that the company had would still go on and they would still be done by Canadian workers.  See my previous blog on this subject at http://gordf.blogspot.com/2019/03/snc-lavalin-fantasy-of-numbers.html. 

The President of the United States wants to buy Greenland to add to its colonial empire.  Denmark, which “owns” Greenland says there is no way that they would sell the world’s largest island.  So POTUS took umbrage and cancelled a visit to Denmark.  Another so-called US ally down the drain.

In the UK under a new Prime Minister, Brexit staggers on to sad conclusion.  The UK has to learn that this is no longer the Victorian age where Britain could claim to be the most powerful and commercially successful country in the world.  It is now the age of globalization and despite those who deplore the idea, globalization is not going away.  Multi-national corporations now control most of the international commerce and they are not going to let that go.

“You will find that the State is the kind of organization which, though it does big things badly, does small things badly, too.”
  - John Kenneth Galbraith

“Too bad the only people who know how to run the country are busy driving cabs and cutting hair.”
  - George Burns

There is a lot of talk these days about “the” upcoming economic recession.  Most of this talk is in the financial press, but it sometimes leaks into the news section.  This is the way a lot of recessions begin; with predictions in the press.  Which makes me wonder if this press coverage becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.  Because of the press coverage, people stop buying goods and services.  Investors stop investing.  Companies stop making improvements or hiring new hires.  Voila, a recession.  Maybe if the press shut up about it, things would be fine.

“In journalism, there has always been a tension between getting it first and getting it right.”
  - Ellen Goodman

 I was at my dentist the other day.  As I was led to the dental chair by the dental assistant, I took off my glasses and my hearing aids.  She said, “You don’t have to take those out.”  I said, “Oh yes I do.  I hate to hear myself scream.”

Donald Trumps motto:  “The public will believe anything, so long as it is not founded on truth.”
  - Edith Sitwell

And what are you waiting for?