Does the World End in 2012?

It's fashionable in some circles to claim that our doom is at hand and with it those elements of civilisation that we find most disagreeable. There is a certain comfort in thinking, even believing, in the possibility that the end of world is nigh within less than two years. We are at the cusp, it is stated with great confidence and woe betide those who claim otherwise. Can't you see all the signs that tell us the dangers we face and the forces which will tear at the fabric of our societies. And, so the story comes from people who would will us to believe in the destruction of our world.

Such pronouncements have their place as an expression of people's amazement at events reported through third parties and spread as mantras for living life to the full in the here and now. Plan not for your plans will come to nothing as this earth is torn by destruction. Should you choose to believe in such pronouncements, you can party with abandon enjoying the delights of the flesh without feeling the guilt of your super ego's remonstrations to calm and more deliberative action of a preservative kind to maintain balance and sobriety.

The truth is that we cannot say whether as an individual our worlsd might not be shattered by the dangerous forces that will inevitably sweep through the world in 2012. That the world is or will be any different from what it is or was in the past we can be sure that the answer is no. No the world or worlds will not be destroyed in 2012, just as the worlds were not destroyed in previous speculations of its coming end. No cataclysmic fire will blow us all to smithereens. Some fires may end a few of us, but for the majority, 2013 will be a period of immense joy and growing security as we turn the tide of our failings and increase the abutments to a strong and definable future.

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

Children of the Sea

Yesterday, I saw the youth of Positano! A lad of six perched on the front of his father's boat happily shouting to his dad pronouncements about the wonderful experience of a life divided between the way of the water and the way of land. Clearly, here was a lad learning the fluid life of the sea. He was obviously becoming a meaningful member of a largish Italian family for whom the life of the waves was a destiny and calling not to be questioned but delighted in. The enormous pleasure to be derived from this way of self determination was unquestionable. This is a way of life that has survived the millennia, a way of existing between the many forces shaping a community. Fortunate, are they for whom this way of life is possible.

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

The World of Give and Take

Rising early in the small coastal village of Positano, Italy, I am waxing philosophical! From a balcony of a villa overlooking the Mediterranean, the sea stretches flat and peacefully into the distance while a high curved landscape defines a basin against which small waves lap continuously, their gentle rush echoing into the reaches. Yes, here it is that one can imagine a man of the sea, harpoon in hand setting the stage of all things maritime.

Yesterday, we took a cruise to Amalfi from where as history tells us many an adventure into the Mediterranean was launched. The now familiar cross of the Hospitaliers, the Maltese cross, hangs high decorating the narrow corridors of mysterious stone carved out of the mountains that fall away into the depths of the salty waters. The village by the sea is a curious blend of vibrant enterprise and exploratory enthusiasm. A strong rocky and massive church holds the secrets to the peoples strength of character as generation after generation took their confidence from a faith based on suffering and painful self sacrifice.

The people are part of a civilisation based precariously on a balance between what was feared and what was trusted, a confidence arising from an assurance that to do right by the men of faith would bring about the certainty of survival in a landscape continuously pressed between competing mountains of water and sea, one soft and giving yet merciless in it's rules, the other hard and taking requiring little more than the application of strength and determination. Two world exist here side by side, a world of uncertainty, risk and massive reward from the depths of the waters to the fortunes of the distant climes, set against a harsh but more predictable world of calculation and application of will from faith in the goodness of higher authority.

Occasionally, now a cock will crow or a driver will toot.

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

Brand New Webpage from Woooosh | Wuhlax's Blog

http://wuhlax.wordpress.com/?p=3&preview=true

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

Doug Bonesteel - Candidate for Councillor - Ward 2 ... Lambton Shores / Grand Bend

I asked Doug Bonesteel some questions.

Hi Doug!

I have a few questions of you regarding issues:

What is your position with regard to the proposed sewerage system for Grand Bend and Southcott Pines?

What is your position with regard to commercialisation of the Grand Bend beach area?

What is your vision of the future for Grand Bend?

Thank you,

Arthur Lake

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends!  May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

Reply from Doug:

Arthur, thank you for your email. I'll try to be as brief as possible with my answers to your questions.

1. Sewers for Zone 3

As a member of the original Zone 3 Community Group I stand by their mission statement of finding an ecologically appropriate and sustainable waste management system for this area through an accountable, public process. We should continue to test the groundwater and initiate a septic inspection program that makes sense. I would also suggest that we ask the Ontario Ministry of the Environment to have one of their hydrogeologists conduct unbiased, blind groundwater testing both in Zone 3 and the village to compare groundwater results. Perhaps, this would shed some light on the need for a collections system in the first place. I am firmly opposed to the low pressure grinder pump system that the municipality has suggested as the preferred collection system in their Environmental Assessment application.

2. Commercialism of the Grand Bend Beach

I believe that the people most impacted by council decisions should have input well before any decision is made, circumstance permitting. There are varying degrees of commercial activities that could be permitted in public places e.g. would people object to a single hot dog vendor on the beach as opposed to the volleyball proposal. The entire PVB volleyball proposal should have been handled much more effectively. Municipalities should communicate any business decisions affecting the lifestyles of their citizens well before any decisions to proceed are made to the point of no return. This is where you can connect people back to their community. I believe that the municipality needs to consult with the public about their vision of what recreational and commercial activities they feel are suitable for a public beach (by laws permitting). People in various communities need to be contacted on a regular basis to determine how they feel their municipal government is performing and demonstrate that they have listened to what has been said. Elected officials and bureaucrats should never take their ratepayers for granted. I have a suggestion in my last answer as to how the next council can accomplish this.

3. Vision for the Future of Grand Bend

I would hope that no one would disagree that we live in a very special place in Ontario. Like anything of value it needs to be cared for and tended to as a communal venture. I think the vision for Grand Bend should come from the local people. As an elected official it's my job to see that their wishes are carried out. I believe that regular town hall meetings could connect ratepayers back to their council. Council needs to hear how they are doing, and not just every four years. I've knocked on hundreds of doors in Ward 2 to date (it's my goal to knock on every door before the ballots are mailed) and I've met a lot of interesting people. Many of these people have indicated that they would be willing to serve as volunteers on advisory committees for the municipality to deal with matters in economic development, recreation, finance, waste management etc. This is a meaningful way of connecting citizens back to their local government. We should never adopt an attitude that we don't have time to deal with our residents' concerns. That's what local, grassroots government is all about. I have heard a number of people suggest that a shuttle service on main street in the village would alleviate car crowding, noise and air quality, parking issues (including metered parking rates), create summer jobs and add a carnival atmosphere to the town (it works well in Denver for instance). Others have commented on the need to have store fronts and signage in the village reflect a consistent theme.

Arthur, we could chat for hours on all of these issues. I hope that my answers have given you some indication of the type of councillor that I will be if elected. We all need to work hard to keep this special place an attractive and affordable one in which to live. Thank you for your interest.

Doug

Hi Doug!

I like your answers which come close to what I had hoped.  Would you mind if I posted them on a friendly blog page.

Thank you,

Arthur Lake

Doug's Response:

By all means, Arthur. I appreciate you asking in advance. Openness, transparency and accountability begin at home. Thanks for taking the time to care.

Doug

Attitudes towards Pollution and the Quality of the Environment

As one gets older, there is a sense of detachment that is often difficult to describe except that it is the absence of the rush or high of youth. When we are young, our attitudes to messiness and being dirty relate more to what we are about than to what we remember as "shoulds", those things our parents tell us we ought to do. We are more likely to have our own "shoulds" as standards that young people feel and sense.

I can remember effluent of colourful water flowing into the local river. It was beautiful, but I knew there was something wrong about it. Essentially, the adults had not got their "shoulds" right. We read that young people are keeping youthful attitudes long into their adult years. Does this mean that their attitudes towards the environment never grow beyond what they were as children, being into whatever it was without thinking about consequences for others very much, or will young people bring a fresh approach to their environment by being observant of what makes it messy and dead looking. Turds floating in the river or harbour waters for example. How do they get there? We know they should not be there, but have the adults got their "shoulds" wrong again.

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

Syd Fletcher Mayoral Candidate for Lambton Shores, Ontario a place that includes the community of Grand Bend

Syd Fletcher is a candidate for Mayor of Lambton Shores, a city that is not a city, but a municipality that is a strange concoction of different communities, some that go together and others that seem strange together. It is a home to the environmentally friendly and to those who should be more environmentally friendly, a place of joy and community, and a place where wild animals meet humans on their front door?

Syd posts his email address and invites questions, so I thought I would ask him what was on my mind at the time ... Yesterday.

I am pleased that this candidate has ticked my boxes for what I am presently thinking about commercialisation and sewer systems.

Good on him!

RT, a nickname I use because I like art and my name is Arthur. I am also known as Woosh to some, since I am a bit of a head full....

On 30-Aug-10, at 11:47 AM, Woosh wrote:

Syd!

Thank you for putting yourself forward as a candidate for Mayor of Lambton Shores.

As a potential voter, I would like to know what your positions are regarding commercialisation of the front at Grand Bend and regarding the development of a sewerage system for Grand Bend.

Any information you can give of your vision for the future of Lambton Shores would be welcome.

Thank you,

Woosh

On 30 Aug 2010, at 03:11 PM, Syd Fletcher <promise@xcelco.on.ca> wrote:

Hi Arthur:

Re: Commercialization of the waterfront at Grand Bend

Commercial interests should not be allowed on the waterfront. It needs to be left open to the public.

One time events such as the Summer Games sailboat racing should be allowed as they would draw people to the area.

If the Ministry of the Environment mandates a sewer system for subdivisions in Lambton Shores then we would have no choice in the matter and would have to proceed.

There should absolutely be no thought of a 'grinder' system - ever. It is a poor solution at best.

My understanding from Carl Belkie is that the Ministry has no intention of mandating a sewer system. I also understand from the meeting on Thursday night that the present council has applied for a grant to do the sewer. If that does come through (and I cannot believe that that will happen before the new council comes in) then it would be the new council's position to say politely, "We made an error in applying for this grant. We will not be accepting it. We have found that we cannot afford to put up the balance of money that would be needed for the project."

I believe that we need to take a very strong look at the process of consultation that is being used to make decisions about major projects such as the sewage system and the water lines which were put into the former Bosanquet Township area. Firms which have a vested interest in proceeding with a project should not be allowed to be the main 'opinion' on said projects.

We need to set up a system of community committees which would (in conjunction with council) come to a consensus on future projects - e.g. if a committee of residents and business owners had had appropriate say in the design of the main street in Grand Bend, I have no doubt that it would look considerably different as opposed to those who like things to 'look pretty' instead of 'pretty and utilitarian' for the people who are using them.

Finally, we need a council and bureaucracy which understands the difference between the 'letter of the law and the intent of the law'. The example I use here is in the treatment of the young couple who were starting up a trucking business just to the north of Forest. The planner told them that they had to pave all around the building and put in curbs. They asked if they could be given a couple of years grace, until the business was started. They were told, "No, it has to be done right now." They took the issue to the OMB which agreed totally with them and said that the municipality was being high-handed with them.

I'm hoping that the new council will begin to deal with issues using common sense, thinking more about people than about projects.

Good day to you sir! Hopefully this helps you understand where I stand on some of the current issues.

Respectfully,
Syd Fletcher

On 30-Aug-10, at 9:10 PM, Woosh wrote:

Hi Syd!

I like your answers and would ask whether I might post them on my blog with favourable comments by myself!

Arthur

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

Syd responded:

Certainly.
Syd

May the road rise to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the sun shine warm upon your face
May the rain fall upon your fields
And until we meet again
May He hold you in the palm of his hands
(Irish blessing)

Syd's blessing above.

And mine follows:

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

One can buy UBS 3 external hard disks in Paris, but where is it in North America?

Why does innovation these days take place where you least expect it, well, at least, out side of America?

http://www.pcworld.com/article/186877/hps_first_usb_30_laptop_ships_others_on_the_way.html

http://www.trustedreviews.com/laptops/news/2010/02/08/Dell-Unveils-First-USB-3-0-Laptop/p1

Oh! You may not have heard about USB 3?

http://www.eetimes.com/electrical-engineers/education-training/tech-papers/4201089/USB-Explained-An-Introduction-to-USB-and-Its-Future

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

Intel's Strategic Changes (Health, Security, Mobility, Smartphones)

In the early 1980s, Intel and Microsoft had a strategic alliance that has done the companies proud. We are now 30 years on looking at another wave of innovation in the industry that has progressed from awkward boxes on one's desk to smiling videos in one's hand. The future has health needs of the world written all over it. So, is Intel devising a winning strategy to bridge the gap between the many sick around the world and the medical professionals. Only time will tell.

The great chip maker Intel is moving forward with the times by implementing an integrative strategy:

http://newsroom.intel.com/community/intel_newsroom/blog/2010/08/02/ge-intel-to-form-new-healthcare-joint-venture

http://newsroom.intel.com/community/intel_newsroom/blog/2010/08/19/intel-to-acquire-mcafee

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703618504575460721131232894.html?mod=djemalertDEALS

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infineon_Technologies

http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4205890/Intel-likely-buyer-Infineon-wireless-semiconductors

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

A Review of Superconnect a book by Richard Koch and Greg Lockwood

After a few chapters of this book, I was saying to myself that the concepts presented were in other books that I have read. That being so, the book is an excellent collection of key concepts which most people would like to understand about networks, hubs, connectors, super connectors and hubs, etc.

The book is easy to read in a few days. It provides a huge number of everyday examples so the average reader will have no trouble understanding the ideas presented.

It will make a good reference book to be read several times.

Beneficial reading. Buy the book or get it out from your local library!

http://www.superconnect.org/

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/superconnect-by-richard-koch-and-greg-lockwood-1989586.html

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Superconnect-Power-Networks-Strength-Links/dp/1408701715

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

The Gordon Brown Smile

We all love to watch politicians because of the antics they get up to in pushing forward their agendas. In the UK the Gordon Brown smile is famous and produces spasms of stomach wrenching laughter as people try to cope with a very human reaction to a politician many began to loath:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/29/bush-white-house-grave-doubts-brown

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

A World of Inequality between Sexes! Can love be present?

Such we read about the shoddy and often violent way that men treat women that we must wonder whether much love is actually present in these societies.

Were a "man" to love a woman, he would wish and allow for her to develop to "full human potential" with all that that means in participation within the community, to even become a "leader" within society.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/29/afghanistan-election-campaigners-shot-dead?CMP=EMCGT_300810&CMP=EMCNEWEML961

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

The Oil Industry's Quest to Leverage Technology for Oil Reaches Dangerous Extremes

As in the case of the financial sector with it's foray into more and more leveraged products, the oil industry is leveraging it's technology to dangerous limits.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/30/business/energy-environment/30deep.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

Leveraging involves the taking of risks by using methods vulnerable to catastrophe. For a while leveraging may work, but ultimately it is likely to produce the monster disasters like that witnessed in the Gulf, international banking and in the US property markets.

Firms leverage first because they can and they can do so without accounting for the full risks. Because returns are very high and can cover penalty payments when things go wrong, it is still attractive to leverage beyond present boundaries. Were the external costs properly assessed and those charged to the investors, it would not necessarily reduce the amount of leveraging because of the second factor which is that those that leverage are playing with other peoples money. Accountability is secondary!

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

The key variable in determining whether a septic system serves well could be the size of lot on which the system is placed.

http://cincystreetcar.wordpress.com/2009/01/26/infrastructure-allows-greater-density/

Let in the sewerage system engineer and let in the cookie cutter home developer who cares little about the environment and produces homes to the minimum standards. Noise and light pollution results as tightly packed communities experience the trauma of citification, places where people don't know each other and don't talk to their neighbours that often.

http://www.ccwpc.org/index.php/cape-cod-water-protection-collaborative/about-the-collaborative/78-comparison-of-costs-for-wastewater-management-systems-applicable-to-cape-cod

Developers with limited amounts of land want to pack people into small lots and will almost invariably call for a sewerage system because of the environmental damage small lots and household density will cause. A prelude to packing a region more densely could be to introduce a sewerage system in order to allow a developer to pack people together in tiny box like homes rather than spread them out within the woods.

Licensing systems can provide a means of thinning out population density in order to preserve natural habitats and the environment.

http://www.water.rutgers.edu/Fact_Sheets/fs533.pdf

The profit incentive thus for engineering consultants getting business from governments in municipalities, from other engineering companies and from land developers or owners of smaller lots will be to push for sewerage systems.

These groups will raise their profitability because of economies of scale. In other words the more densely they can pack houses together the more profit they make and the less space the household owner has to grow a family.

http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11241&page=54

Sewer systems are thus bad for home development where the family is trying to enjoy the environment and the natural preservation. They destroy the environment by packing too many households into too small a space. Rather than leave a beautiful environment for families to enjoy developers create compounds of houses with small gardens and poor outlooks. Trees are cut down, small lakes are filled in and nature leaves. Small birds have to depart because they cannot hear other birds talking to them. All nature is squeezed out as the bulldozer changes the environment into a densely packed cookie cutter development.

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

Soils and Septic Systems

Soil and septic systems work together. the chances are that if you already have a septic system conditions formthe system were appropriate at the time of installation. However, conditions do change, and the water table may for example rise:

http://www.septicdesign.com/homeowners/soils-and-septic-systems/

http://ohioline.osu.edu/aex-fact/0742.html

Checking your soil type is important:

http://www.johnstonsmith.co.uk/fact4.html

Septic systems are by no means inferior to sewerage systems and can be far superior:

http://cru.cahe.wsu.edu/CEPublications/eb1475/eb1475.html

http://www.shelterpub.com/_shelter/ssom_advanced-01.html

We should not kid ourselves that septic systems could not fail. A good discussion of what causes failure of septic systems is set out below in the following link:

http://if-srvv-edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ss114

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

Nudity in art

Much of the time when I am not writing about Wuh Lax, I am painting images in many media. The rise of the Internet means that there is an immense library of material to stimulate artistic efforts.

I think of myself as a pretty normal human male with pretty normal appetites of all sorts. Where I differ from the mainstream is in my opinion in my appreciation of artistic form. I, for example, think a nude painting whether of a male or female, or several humans in the nude is art.

I am interested in such art both from the aspects of how it was created, what it symbolizes, how it informs me, and how in stimulates. I don't think the human form should be hidden away, even though I know conventional wisdom suggests otherwise, and the evidence might suggest the viewing of nudes is erotic and addictive hence potentially dangerous to one's health and social relationships. That's the theory and it is pretty sound.

Nude and erotic art is frequently almost pornographic, but not quite. The line between art and pornography is pretty variable over time and across locations. Much depends on age and maturity. But, since young people these days are staying immature for longer one wonders. They seem to be developing physically sooner, but mentally later. That should alert us to the inappropriateness of the figure as an art form to be placed before children.

As a child myself once, I was not alone is viewing library books and nursing magazines for the odd glimpse of a the nude form. I jokingly admit that what got me heavily in Freudian psychology before the age of eight was the discussion of sex in almost all of his writings. Who didn't want to know why another kid wet his bed?

There is, nevertheless, in society a strong reluctance to breach the gap between the reality that our views of sex are socially determined and have nothing much to do with how we feel or wish to feel. Hence, we see so many people addicted to sex and pornography as a secret rite of passage which can lead to many deformations of character and premature aging.

That last comment might shock you, but it's probably the case that too much preoccupation with sex leads to physical changes that promote maturity prematurely. If sex becomes an addiction, it may very easily lead to premature death arising from natural causes, such as disease and abuse of one's body.

Religions vary in their attitude towards sex and nudity. We have the Roman Catholic church and the Moslem religions abusing their roles as guardians of the peace and of cooperation and sound thinking. By being obsessed with nudity, they detract from good policy. I have seen it proven that to deny one the pleasure of what is normal leads to an overcompensation psychologically. Hence, we witness the abuses of the Catholic and Moslem religions as regards the human body and it's appropriate care and beautification.

The fact that the disease of sex addiction afflicts many men of the church and the moslem places of worship should come as no surprise. That in the Moslem community women are treated as men's sex objects should also not come as a surprise. It's all in Freud!

Now those religions that work with the human body explicitly have a somewhat different take, and seem to be more in tune with human needs in an open environment that is loving and caring. We can all see the pleasures of the body, such as the sight of the reproductive organs and so called carnal knowledge are for us to enjoy. This is not to mean that we form addictive behaviours, but that we become more in tune with our bodies and potential social relationships that could derive.

My reality is that the people of whom I write in the Wuh Lax series belong to social arrangements very different from our own present day arrangements. Their attitudes towards sex, children, and families, were very different from what we have today. Woman, for example, had multiple sexual partners and children were a group responsibility. Thus, men in many cases did not know whether they were the father of a specific child. Some men would ignore their responsibilities and would sell children off as slaves for the Romans to abuse.

Art and nudity are very closely related. The earliest art forms such as found on the island of Gozo in the Mediterranean, represent women of enormous size as a fertility symbol. That reproductive organs appeared in art in early societies should not surprise us. We should be more surprised that archaeologists hid these paintings from us because they themselves were shocked by them, as in the case of digging up Pompeii art.

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

Secrecy, Addiction and Ignorance Are Joint Catalysts For Conflict

Little Jack of five years comes up to me typing away and says, "Arffer, you are in trouble. You are in trouble." He looks down at my socks and eyes the big toe sticking out of the one on the right.

I say to Jack, "Well, thank you Jack. That's very kind of you to point that out!"

I say to myself that I wish everyone were so open with me. Then returning to my writing, I have a strange notion about how little is said about more major problems until they burst out into open warfare.

The human is a creature that has cravings and appetites. If not kept in check, they grow within. The human is a hedonistic hub in which desires arising from chemical changes within produce greater and greater, more and more, cravings. Without satisfaction, these cravings can come to dominate a person's mind so much that they are a fabric of their very being.

When people with the same hidden cravings get together as a hub of activity then we can have problems of a major sort. It's groups that keep secrets that cause conflict. The craving drives the secrecy which drives the group towards actions that go beyond the group into the world. Within the group remains a sort of ignorance about what is actually going on, a sort of denial of what percolates to drive the group forward.

In the end, hedonism within a group can lead to conspiracy, excessive allegiance and ultimately to actions and behaviors that predispose the members of the group to premature death.

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

Is Canada Doing Better than Australia?

We often hear how well the Canadians are doing during the present world crisis period. That Canada was doing so well even became rhetoric during the recent British National election. Professor Stiglitz below comments on the Australian economy. Can we see similarities? Of course we can!

http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/stiglitz128/English

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

Do Democracies Perform Better?

There is something to be said for young people who learn to think for themselves rather than let their parents decide. Traditions are important, but the best traditions may be those that support the family while raising children to be independent. Such it is with democracies that we may see greater progress coming from communities that allow children to develop quickly and take on responsibilities sooner in life. That women in such societies are given a grater role is self evident.

More at:

http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/rodrik46/English

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

Waking up to the Challenges the Migration of People and Technology

People compare what happened during the Great Depression with what is happening today.  For a discussion of the causes of depression:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causes_of_the_Great_Depression

In my view, we have evolved economic systems based on the fear of another great depression.  We have central banking systems that give us more tools to avoid the scourges of rapid asset depreciation.  But, we are still vulnerable to a major depression arising out of excessive over investment during a period of enormous demographic change.  

That demographics have come to the rescue of the American economy many times arise from what used to be known as the safety value, a gap between what could be done migrating westward and the opportunities such migration afforded to a troubled eastern side of the continent.  

We still have the safety value, but in our modern world it is migration of technology in one direction and people in the other.  People will migrate to industrial economies and the technologies of industrial economies will migrate to places where there are loads of people.  Both migrations have the enormous potential to be destabilizing.

 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/fan16/English

On the one hand places receiving people will need to build homes, while on the other hand places receiving technologies will also need to build homes as more and more people are housed in cities.  Thus demographics and the housing markets of our modern economies will be severely impacted quite apart from changes in money supply, land prices and environmental conservation.

While we talk about energy prices, we see how money in the form of liquidity and the demographics in the per household management of that liquidity can have a major impact on whether or not we experience a major depression.

We know that population growth rates and land prices are critical forces for human discomfort quite apart from energy prices.  We are presently observing rapid development in all the key forces of discomfort.

  http://hubpages.com/hub/What-Bad-Financial-Policy-can-Bring-Weimer-Germany-in-the-1920s

We need to wonder and research how the modern world will cope with the impact of major shifts in the migration of people and technology.

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends!  May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.