Elvis Presley has not been reported to have been spotted for some time; even as the autumn harvest proceeds, there have not been reports of crop circles or sightings of space ships hovering over the earth and the aliens travelling therein holding earthlings for examination and then releasing them. Did the United States deliberately hold back advance knowledge of the Pearl Harbour attack in order to justify joining the allies in World War II? Did the 9/11 attacks actually occur or were the destruction of the World Trade Centre, the attack on the Pentagon and the foiled attack on Congress staged by government for some nefarious purpose? Why are many people inclined to believe conspiracy theories over more rational, documented reporting?
Certainly there has been some evidence of government cover-ups in some instances, and the rivalry between F.B.I. agents, many of whom have been the successful offspring of Irish immigrant policemen and the elite Eastern Seaboard Ivy League class-distinctive members of the C.I.A., have led to large gaps in communication not only in the Kennedy era, but most recently in the months leading up to 9/11. Still, this does not explain the irrational hypotheses presented and accepted by so many otherwise reasonable people.
[Editor's note: perhaps as the public becomes more aware of the dubious information on which the Iraq was launched and has been waged, there is some sympathy for the readiness of many to believe the conspiracy theories?]
We in Québec and more particularly in Montreal, take great pride in the civility of our population and in contrast to large U.S. cities, walk around at night in our downtown area or in the seedy St-Laurent – Ste. Catherine sector without fear of threat or assault. It is this warranted image of personal security and friendliness that attracts so many tourists to our city and is a justified source of comfort to Montrealers, which may possibly explain the strong support for gun control by Quebeckers and their shock at the recent events at Dawson College.
Of all the instruments of homicide, only guns are designed with the sole purpose of killing. It is physically and psychologically much more difficult to kill a person while touching them or standing close to them than to fire at them from a few feet or from a distance. While in the U.S. the federal Constitution accords the right of citizens to own guns, gun registration is the domain of the individual state and there are as many guns owned by individuals in the United States as there are residents of that country. Some suggest that Canada’s major problem lies less in gun registration than in the need to prevent smuggling of guns across the Canada – U.S. border. In this province the memory of the killing at l’École Polytechnique is very vivid, and there does seem to be some evidence that deaths among women have declined since that incident. Policemen are generally in favour of gun control legislation. But this all begs the question of how to deal with the (now) obviously unstable perpetrator of the Dawson shootings, who apparently had no trouble legally purchasing all three semi-automatic weapons within the framework of the gun registry. And for what purpose would anyone private citizen need semi-automatic weapons?
The political outlook in Canada
Inexplicably, many in this province who supported Stephen Harper because they believed that his pre-election statements represented the direction that he would take the country, now appeared astonished that once in office, he has brought us closer to the U.S. in keeping with his pre-election agenda. This has lost him much support in Québec [Editor's note: see his interview with Linda Frum in the National Post of Saturday September 16], critical for his possible re-election to head a majority government. [A further complication arises from the Dawson shootings: Jean Charest wants to focus the debate on the national gun registry, a program that Harper and the Conservatives have long resisted, and that Charest has now vowed to defend]. This makes the Liberal leadership race all the more interesting. Three credible candidates remain in the contest for leadership, namely Michael Ignatieff, Bob Rae and Stéphane Dion, each with strengths and weaknesses.
At first glance, Stéphane Dion should be the most viable candidate, brilliant, charismatic, fluent in both languages, and experienced in the politics of holding a cabinet post. However, he has become extremely unpopular in his own province, which currently holds the balance of power in any federal election.
Bob Rae has had the political experience, but in addition to being a recent reborn (or perhaps born for the first time) Liberal, he brings with him the additional baggage of a less-than-heroic record of fiscal management in Ontario.
By all measures Michael Ignatieff should logically be the front-runner. Extremely articulate, intelligent, frank, open and intelligent, his only real problem is his lack of experience in government. Government, especially at the provincial and federal level, is a business of humungous size and complexity. Without having served an apprenticeship, the unwritten rules and subtle human interdependencies risk transcending intelligent thinking or honest goodwill. Not having served that apprenticeship and learned from it, one is especially dependent on rivals, advisors and civil servants whose own ambitions are to be the major actors in running the government to the detriment of unsuspecting elected officials whom they feign to help. It is believed that it was this culture that led to the downfall of Paul Martin. If Mr. Ignatieff is to succeed he must learn to distinguish between what is true and what is politic.
Bilingual if necessary but not necessarily bilingualism?
Common wisdom has it that the only credible candidates for national leadership must be fluently bilingual. But, some ask if linguistic ability is the criterion by which we should select a national leader? Are there not more important criteria?
On the surface, it would appear that Canadians could be deprived of the contributions of many talented unilingual potential candidates with much to offer. However others share the view of one Wednesday Nighter who commented, "the essence of leadership is not to dictate but to inspire. To inspire people in Canada you have to speak two languages, especially on television. You need [a leader] who is brilliant but who is able to inspire people with that brilliance".
Certainly, simultaneous translation has been used extensively, but the ability to express oneself and the ability to communicate may be virtually unrelated. Ronald Reagan’s reputation as the Great Communicator was not universally believed to translate into the Great Legislator.
YouTube a steal at $1 billion?
Sony's acquisition of video-sharing site Grouper could
mean big bucks to others in online video. If someone
were to buy YouTube tomorrow, what would they have to
pay? News.com's Greg Sandoval reports.
READ FULL STORY
Global growth continues strong. Outlook for the markets is positive, but the tightening of interest rates will ultimately affect the stock market and the economy, with a gradual movement of share prices. The global economy is not headed for a recession, but there are risks. The U.S. economy is very dependent on central bank money as opposed to economy money. Bush’s policies may very well be undermining the stability of the U.S. economy. The most serious criticism of President Bush is his attempt to fight a war while simultaneously cutting taxes. If wars are not financed by taxes they tend to lead to inflation. Ascending Asia will ultimately put pressure on the U.S. dollar to fall. Another problem is China as any crisis there such as a crisis in the banking system, risks causing the Chinese boom to fall. A depression in North America is unlikely but a very long recession is possible. With rising interest rates, the real estate market in serious danger of collapse.
Note
Wednesday-Night creates charts and follows stocks, including timely related financial news items, in which Wednesday Nighters are interested and in order to demonstrate a service that could eventually be developed and marketed. Wednesday Nighters are invited to participate and help to test the service. see Wednesday-Night.com Flip charts
QUOTES of the EVENING from recent Wednesday Nights
Political reality tells us that if there were not the threat of separation, this (fluency in both official languages) would not be an issue
For the first time in my life, I was judged (in Québec) not by how I speak, but by what I say
Government cock-ups are the norm. Governments and military are very inefficient and people mistake incompetence for lying
Throughout history not everything happened in history as written
Isn’t it more reassuring that it is a conspiracy rather than government’s inability or incompetence?
They (prefer to) think that it was due to something that the government couldn’t do anything about
Journalistic integrity not what it used to be; reality is not interesting enough so they have to dress it up to make it entertaining
A lot of support for gun control was hand gun control because they can be secreted and they can kill at a distance. That is the seduction of guns
Most killings are between people who know each other and at a distance rather than close up
There are countries such as Austria where only the state (and hunters) are permitted to have guns … In Switzerland, only the (obligatory) army rifle (is permitted).
Since Pluto has been downgraded, a lot of things have been going wrong, so we should be very careful about prognostication
Softwood lumber was never resolved during free trade negotiations. There are winners (the powerful) and in the short term, the losers (the weak)
We have benefited enormously from the Free trade agreement … Euro zone has also benefited greatly. Japan in agreement with Australia, New Zealand and other Asian governments ... We will ultimately end up with a small number of currencies, possibly the Euro, the U.S. dollar and an Asian currency
Are the Taliban actually bad guys? I1280s this an idealogical rather than tribal dispute … different groups controlling different territory? Why are we there?
Layton is pandering to some sector of the population that is not there
Harper will not call an election but will probably wait for the opposition to force one
My feeling is that Harper will make his concession (to the provinces) in the budget (Spring 2007) and will call an election if his prospects look good
“The hallmark of a good negotiation is when both sides are a little unhappy.”
“Who is going to enforce the regulation against a superpower? It is a question of interest.”
“We have a solution (to the software lumber dispute) because the Prime Minister wants to make people happy.”
“What is to be gained by letting this (softwood lumber dispute) go on for another ten years?”
“Canada’s capitulation puts into question, the very existence of the World Trade Organization.”
“The World Trade Organization does a great job of protecting pharmaceutical companies.”
“Surely, there will be some move to expand NAFTA and other countries may hesitate.”
“The next big battle with the U.S. will be over the sovereignty of the north.”
“If we continue to keep on in the courts, what happens if we can’t sell our lumber to the obvious (U.S.) market? This is a good deal for the Canadian government because it would cost more to subsidize the industry.”
“Over the long term, Canada will be stronger.”
“Canada is not as innocent as it appears.”
“(The U.S.) supports the W.T.O. dispute resolution mechanism … will work in the background to make it work.”
“He (Stephen Harper) has lost his way in trying to get the support of Quebeckers.”
“Harper was surprised that Quebeckers came on side and he believed that it was karma.”
“He (Stephen Harper) seems to be a principled person. He doesn’t necessarily act to get a vote here or there.”
“He Stephen Harper) is making the same mistake as Joe Clark.”
If you add all the people who died in all the wars, the death rate has gone up, not down
There is one country that has been the target for elimination. The whole raison d'être of Hezbollah is to destroy Israel. If Israel had lost control, Lebanon would have been a wasteland
Our market is transparent to the people
They (hedge funds) could be our undoing. There is always some new fad that taken to extremes that eventually blows up. I worry about hedge funds and derivatives because of the potential liability if they blow up.”
Hezbollah has taken over all functions of local governments, NGOs and community development
The cost of the war is the notion that Israel is invincible. Chances of survival of Israel (in the longer term) are not that high
Future wars will be not between armies, but between regular armies and irregulars
(Hezbollah) … bringing money, reconstruction funds, stability. It’s not just Lebanon, it’s the whole region and it’s scary for the rest of the world
Hezbollah is an agent, but for whom?
Nineteenth century Europe had its anarchists. Britain fought in a half dozen small wars prior to and post World War II. The Brits were successful in many countries including Malaya, Kenya. These things can be won by force and intelligence. It is not just from our time. Many people died to produce our system of free speech and liberty. It was handed to us. The United States was the first country to separate Church and State
Iran and Syria are the nations that make things happen
No one instigated this (the Israeli incursion into Lebanon). It has been going on over twenty or more years
At a certain point, after (repeated) punches, you fight back. There was no reason for Hezbollah to abduct two soldiers because of a conference in Russia on Iran
We are losing our ability to distinguish right from wrong
Self-regulation is not popular among the experts
Auditors have problems auditing hedge funds (and other mutual funds as well).
A major problem in Canada is the lack of a single national regulator
There is no need for a single regulator in Canada as long as everyone buys into the passport system
Blaming regulators is a favourite game of disappointed investors
The internal barriers to trade in this country are absurd
The nice thing about the mining industry is that [the foreign buyer] cannot remove anything – the rocks stay, the jobs stay …
A hedge fund manager is just a manager with skills in reducing risks
Twenty years in the future, hedge funds and pension funds will just be funds
It is absolutely the case that the majority (of hedge fund managers) are not buying and selling short; they are smart and a bunch that think that they are smarter than most and they are. They have a target on their back
You are informed but not protected and that is the basis on which securities are sold in North America
Hedge fund is a misnomer. Everything not a mutual fund calls itsxlf a hedge fund
Most hedge fund investors are misinterpreted but central banks should be better informed because hedge funds lean on the banking system
Stocks do well when the Fed finishes raising interest rates
I am wondering at what point the public will revolt against (inequities in) compensation (between CEOs and employees). This is the stuff that the Russian revolution was based on
In a liberal system, what you earn is linked to what you permit other people to earn
It is the difference between the wealth of the rich and the poor that is a danger to democracy. The only way to influence the political process is money
If the fans want to pay 150 bucks to see a hockey game, why should the players not be paid rather than the owners?
When the C.E.O. is overcompensated it is to the detriment of the shareholders
People will get away with anything they can to make money
Managers are hired to do a good job. Overcompensation does not make sense. Managers manage short term not to disappoint shareholders, to keep stock prices up, to increase their own compensation
Good managers versus bad managers make a difference of thousands of jobs
It’s not an easy time now in the financial markets and is not likely to be for some time now
If the South Africa Rand takes a fall, the Canadian dollar will fall
We have played all our cards. What card has the U.S. left to play in the Middle East?
Israel has no trump card left. It will be very difficult to negotiate. The U.S. can’t even back down for a while and come back again
I think that the U.S. believed that Israel could take care of Hezbollah, neutralizing Iran and Syria by proxy
Menu to mitworld.mit.edu/ on-demand videos of significant public events at MIT. in RealPlayer
Ex Thomas L. Friedman. While you were Seeping The World IS Flat Video length is 1:15:04.
; "DTN pan 2400x407")
Wed 1280 webshots
Andy Nulman 
BBC
; "DTN Chair by Robert J. Galbraith")
; "click for Diana Nicholson OWN")
 "Louise des Trois Maisons")
; "click Jacques Clément OWN")
 "click for Diana T. Nicholson")
; "click for Herb Bercovitz OWN")
Stephen S. Poloz
Wed1279 report 
Wed1281
Bloomberg
get player
