Philosophy, Politics

Trump As President Again

I’ll leave it to the historians to document Donald Trump’s “indiscretions”. Now, Trump is President again! He should not have been restored to hold this office and nor should the constitution / legal apparatus of the U.S. enabled him to access the office given his conviction on 37 counts of financial fraud and other troubles with the law.

The shock amongst us whom intuitively perceived of his moral weakness early is that voters discounted his character so dramatically in lieu of their personal plight that they actually returned him to the Presidency. The thought that this is the best they can do as a leader is outright shocking.

It should go without saying that in absence of moral compass, there is the potential for an absence of moral judgment disposed in administering policy. First and foremost this fundamental predicate should way on the minds of voters upon casting a ballot and if it doesn’t then one is safe to assume that a personal plight is so compromised by current policy that any one different would suffice.      

In visiting punditry post election, we consume the following:

  1. Biden should never have run for a second term
  2. Disenfranchised young men flocked to Trump in a spirit of “aspirational masculinity”
  3. Abortion issue isolated via referendum from candidate selections in some jurisdictions
  4. Latinos feeling alienated via democrat policy
  5. Manufacturing sector still not delivering good jobs to working class
  6. Perceived failure of democrats of weak border policy
  7. Elitism and failure to address wealth gap

Was it a comedy of errors in delivering a message? Were the democrats obtuse in failing to acknowledge sentiments uncovered by the Trump campaign? Did voters need to be told how to vote by Bruce Springsteen and Taylor Swift? What about the non-union worker earning under $15 / hour? What about the inner city communities in San Francisco, Seattle, Philadelphia, and L.A overwhelmed by homelessness and drugs? What were you going to do with tax receipts received via increased rates applied to the ultra rich in context of the people facing financial hardship? Were you going to reduce interest rates deemed usurious? Were you going to apply carry forward tax credit for those looking to get re-trained? What about single family households with a child at home whose spouse is deadbeat? What about specifics on reducing gun crime and gun access? What about the state of a tawdry legal system ineffectual in delivering timely results? What about an education abandoning “excellence” and “performance” as central to delivery.

Get this – half the country voted for a man bereft of good moral character and this speaks volumes.

Lifes Lessons, Sport

Canadian Soccer Cheaters

If you spy on your opponent by flying a drone into their practice, you are a cheater. Cheaters should be disqualified from competition. Any Olympic medal arising having been caught being a cheat would forever hold an asterisk should the governing body deem that the act could be rationalized in a way to impose only a penalty instead of a disqualification. This is the situation currently with the Canadian women’s soccer team at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Yes….there would be honest committed women soccer players hurt because of an unethical coach. These young women would come to learn that life isn’t always fair in that honest committed athletes would come to pay a price for their unethical leader(s). Of course it will be complicated when it shouldn’t be because of the enormity of sacrifice of so many involved. There is also the backdrop of our new age of failing to be resolute and absolute. We’ve become so good at turning a blind eye due to the work involved in producing accountability. Send the Canadian women’s soccer team home. They have cheated. They have also stained Canada’s image on the world stage at a time when we should be rebuilding it.    

Lifes Lessons, Politics

Hearing of The Secret Service Director

Having caught snippets of the hearing this morning which dealt with the Trump assassination attempt I suspect there will be regrets in the handling of the matter. She should have been fired at the outset instead of putting her through a grilling which appeared more to serve the disappointment of elected officials than to extract information which was unavailable to this woman nine days after the incident pending an investigation which has yet to draw conclusions.. There was much drama but not much progress. The facts actually speak for themselves for the most part just from what’s been conceived through documented accounts of the incident through video footage. The roof was not secured. The premise was not secured. The secured area was not sufficiently wide. The suspiciousness of the individual was not communicated effectively amongst all security personnel through all agencies represented at the event. There was insufficient reconnaissance done prior to the event. This all was clear because of what actually happened.

By firing the woman at the outset, a temporary director could have been installed in order to facilitate the investigation and provide most effective cooperation for making immediate change while gathering answers. Instead, there was grand standing and the wielding of insults akin to the new norm of interpersonal conduct. It was actually bizarre to witness the level of disdain and contempt from U.S. politicians directed to this woman, Ms. Cheatle – the Director of the Secret Service, in the context of the assassination attempt when half of these same congressmen (women) show such complicity for the ease of accessibility of automated weapons throughout America which leads potentially to the utilization of such for facilitating countless mass shootings and death across the country.

U.S. elected officials and candidates of late have perpetrated a decline in civility as exemplified within this hearing. It’s aberrant to the cooperative norm imperative. Outrage is justifiable in context of a security failure, but its best simply to execute the outrage administratively and succinctly instead of perpetrating circus like theatre. None of these politicians needed to verbalize a desire for her to resign or be fired during proceedings but every single one of them which I watched took the occasion as if they felt an incumbency to go on the record.        

Health, Lifestyle

City Driving

It’s been two years without a car and I’m loving it. City driving can work you over emotionally and it can be impactful on your psyche. I see evidence of this every day. I was one of those enthusiastic 16 year olds out to get licensed at the earliest opportunity and I’ve owned a car for all these years but now I don’t. I walk. I jog. I take Uber / transit. I drive with a car sharing service and on the rare occasion I rent a vehicle for the weekend. Rarely I’ll also ride a rent a scooter (Neuron). While walking I sense the impatience and frustration of drivers. There are those who have their wheels turned toward you creeping forward as you traverse the cross walk. There are those who speed incessantly when given some breathing room between lights. There are those who follow too close. There are those who express their vanity in boutique or hot rod rides. There are motorcyclists annoying their neighbors with modded mufflers.

Robotic driving apparently is upon us with the google voice telling you how to get there. You now no longer need to think about your route as a potential distraction from the gridlock. A poll shows that Torontonians are seriously considering leaving the city due to congestion. Not all of you will have the luxury of going without a car but if it’s a possibility….you might consider it seriously. What is the cost of getting home after work and saying something stupid to your family out of frustration from your ride?

Lifestyle, Philosophy, Politics

Beyond Calgary’s Water Pipe Fail

It’s quite interesting to listen to the mayor of Calgary talk water restrictions in lieu of the recent major water main fail. Naturally, the message of conservation is easily heard but for some it’s fallen on deaf ears because the utilization should have dropped more dramatically than it has. 

For good reason the city has asked overtaxed taxpayers to help and we step forward but subconsciously we wonder why with water flowing abundantly through the city in two rivers that such a crisis has emerged. What has the city not done in anticipation of potential water main breaks? Why is it that the city has made decisions to increase urban sprawl via single family dwellings in face of obvious resource limitations and the smaller 21st century family unit? Why do we have office high rises empty in the downtown core thereby impeding the efficient utilization of infrastructure?

I hate to say it but civic generosity is decline and the relatively poor water conservation rate in Calgary in face of a crisis is indicative of the public’s lessening appetite for being neighborly. You see…the income disparity in Canada has grown. Those sensing an inequity wonder whether serving their neighbor any longer serves them altruistically, financially, with their higher power, or the greater good. They turn on the news and see a convicted criminal earn the nomination for a chance at the Presidency. 

So when people are being told how to brush their teeth and skip flushes and scrape their plates without rinse, some will pause and ask…..what about those homeless people you walk by every day? What about the unenforced civil infractions? What about the closed swimming pools? What about the ridiculous tax payer funded public art? What about the bridge we didn’t need? What about frivolous debates amounting to nothing? What about the failure to regulate unnecessary noise? What about…..