Category World Affairs

The Oil Crisis

The price of oil regularly fluctuates on the world market. It is at more than $120 a barrel as I write this, up from below zero a couple of years ago. (If you don’t quite understand the math to that, join the club.) People are feeling the pain at the gas pumps. But there is another oil […]

The Long Wait

Today is the 78th anniversary of D-Day, the start of the battle to retake Europe from the Nazis. It seems appropriate to revisit one of my first posts, written at the site and posted in 2014. Today is also, barring unforseen circumstances, the last day of my trip I am looking forward to being back […]

Are These Thoughts Dated?

In June 2016, right after the UK voted to leave the EU, I shared some thoughts about what the Brexit vote would mean for US politics and the upcoming presidential election. Seemed obvious to me, but apparently it wasn’t to the Democrats. Re-reading, I see some Canadian parallels as well. One paragraph in particular struck […]

Some Thoughts On War

The destruction in Ukraine contnues to be at the forefront of many people’s minds. Somehow it seems less rmote than the war in Syria did a decade ago. Perhaps that is becasue there are so many Canadians of Ukrainian background who have been asking for and offering help to their ancestral homeland. Today’s thoughts were […]

Are Names Important?

We continue our series of old posts while I am traveling with some thoughts on children’s names first posted in 2015. William Shakespeare has many memorable, oft quoted lines, including the one about the rose. You know the one, from Romeo and Juliet, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” The implication is […]

Are The Experts Wrong?

“If I were running oil and gas for the U.S., I would leave most of the oil we have here and pay whatever the Arabs charge for their oil and conserve my own….I think it’s going to be very precious stuff over the next 200 years.” – Charlie Munger What do you think of that […]

I’m Not A Doctor…

Back in the 1980s there was a television ad, for cough syrup, I think, featuring an actor who said “I’m not a doctor, but I play one on television.” It was as if TV conveyed authority and expertise.  We know it doesn’t. If it did, reality television star Donald Trump would have done a much […]

Hey John

The war in Ukraine has been taking up much of my thoughs these days. I have friends who have fled Kyiv for their safety, leaving some family members behind. I have several unfinished posts reflecting on the situation and the global politics involved. At one time, I worked for a Member of Parliament who was […]

It’s Not The Bad Guys…

… who worry me, but the good guys. People who are obviously evil don’t last long. Dictators like Hitler or Stalin may have a short run, but in the end they are removed from power. What I fear more are the self-righteous, those sure their cause is just, and apparently unable to understand why anyone […]

Pictures of Leadership

There’s a lot I could say about Russia’s cowardly attack on Ukraine. I’ll save that for another day. I saw this graphic last night and was struck by what it says about leadership. There might be fewer wars if those in charge had to go into battle themelves.