Read About W-N NP story on W-N Contact W-N and Map Invite to Wed1333 Wednesday Night Salon #1333 19 Sept Page 2 Introduction American Presidential elections With just over thirteen months to go until the next election, Americans are faced with a dilemma. The Republicans have no outstanding candidate and it is apparent to knowledgeable observers that the Democratic nomination will be decided before March; the two front runners, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama have only a few months until the final die is cast. And Hillary, who has succeeded in avoiding making political errors by not taking a stand on controversial issues, looks in every respect (organization, money, etc.) like the one to beat. The question arises as to whether Americans are prepared to elect a woman President. The answer is probably, yes. She will almost inevitably receive the nomination and would be elected. Barack Obama has taken a very popular anti-Iraq war stance, is charismatic and articulate, but has only limited experience in the Senate. Is the American Public ready to elect a Black Man as President? Colin Powell might very well have been elected had he chosen to run; why not Barack Obama? Hillary is basically a technocrat; if you were she would you want Mr. Charisma as your Vice President? The critical question is not only whether the American electorate is prepared now to elect a woman and a black man on the same ticket. It is also if Senator Clinton of New York (with a Chicago connection) is the presidential candidate, how will she best balance the ticket in terms of regional representation. A fellow Senator who is from Illinois is not the obvious answer. What is really remarkable is that the U.S. has reached the stage at which these possibilities are being discussed In the end, when the choice is between the two presidential candidates whether the voters ponder the issues and the press reports, or remain uninformed, they will inevitably vote for the candidate that they dislike the least. Either of them (Hillary and Obama) will motivate the Republican base to go out and vote against them Media and politics The mainstream media’s ability to turn public opinion plays an important and often questionable role in elections, as is illustrated in the revealing story in this month’s Vanity Fair about how Al Gore’s unsuccessful run against George Bush was affected by the manner in which the press portrayed him, and misquoted, or quoted him out of context and created the myths such as the “I invented the Internet” statement. The same evil geniuses who were behind the Swiftboat campaign are taking aim at Obama’s unusual past, especially the four years he spent in Djakarta. It seems the team is fully financed and ready to unleash the smears. The media meanwhile is/are changing as evidenced by the CNN/YouTube debate for Democratic candidates in July, and the addition of bloggers to the accredited media in the 2004 campaign (and subsequently in high-level international meetings). It is noted, however, that the accreditation process means that the bloggers are selected ahead of time and therefore are generally acolytes of mainstream media. The question remains, how much effect will this secondary media have on the campaign? In Canada the growth of political blogs is a refreshing change from the sameness of most reporting by the Big Seven (one entry mentioned: Albertasenator.com ) A recent development is the appearance of Canadian columns and opinion pieces as blogs of Canadian newspapers (at least the National Post) in addition to their on-line and/or print columns. As well as giving access to non-subscribers, the blog sites provide reader feedback. Among North American urban populations, as fewer people get their nightly news from the television at home, more and more are getting it from the Internet. Will this have an effect on voter patterns? The Outremont By-election Locally, Thomas Mulcair (see Wednesday Night #1267 has won the Federal Outremont riding for the N.D.P. Articulate, personal and popular, had he run for the Liberal party, Canada’s political future might very well be different. As an N.D.P. Member of Parliament, he may have a difficult time in Ontario because there is very little common ground in that province between unions and environmentalists. The loss of all three by-elections in Québec places Stéphane Dion in a very difficult situation. Despite his personal appeal in an intimate group, he’s not an effective communicator, he is physically and vocally distant from his constituency; his academic manner and lack of charisma do not attract the average voter. One experienced Liberal suggests that a number of grassroots organizers have abandoned the party and unless they can be attracted back in anticipation of “spoils of war”, the party is in deep trouble. His emphasis on the environment to the exclusion of other important issues has done him a disservice. In politics, it is rare that one is given a second chance to deliver and so, his political future is uncertain. The Market The bull market is not over as long as stock prices keep rising. The world is in pretty solid shape except for the housing crisis which could put the U.S. in recession down the road. We are about to test the market and there will be a lot of turbulence, but there is a lot of money out there and the economy looks good for Canada, if not for the U.S., and a lot of money is still looking for investments. With about fifty-five percent of the world’s remaining investable oilfields and hundred-dollar-per-barrel oil within a year a certainty, the Canadian economy looks good. In the United States, with his credibility virtually destroyed, Alan Greenspan, first named by Ronald Reagan as Chairman of the Federal Reserve in 1987, has seen his image change from hero to a spent force in the market place following the current predictable U.S. financial problems. Don’t forget there are a lot of people who are 32 and have no historical knowledge of anything The European and Asian economies are more decoupled from the U.S. economy than at any time in the past 40 years The decoupling thesis is about to be tested The Anglo community in Québec The Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN) which represents 23 English-language community groups across the province has issued a report today whose findings confirm that the needs and nature of the English community in Greater Montreal have evolved and changed. [Examples: English speakers have fewer job opportunities, leading to a significantly higher unemployment rate than among Francophones. Anglophones in the greater Montreal area are 24 per cent more likely to be jobless than Francophones. It also reported a lower proportion of middle-income earners (those making $40,000 to $60,000 a year) among the Anglophones Overall, the nature of the community has changed drastically while the perception of the community remains that of a privileged, well-educated, relatively homogeneous group of over achievers. This may be still true of a majority of the older members, but there is a barbell effect whereby at the other end of the barbell there is a rising number of unilingual, undereducated, under-achievers. Generally, the level of bilingualism and biculturalism is such that problems are now social rather than linguistic. An organism with a mandate to bring the relevant issues to light and to work on them is required in the light of today’s Anglophone community. The environment and aviation While there has been widespread finger pointing at civil aviation as a major contributor to environmental degradation, this is partly because the industry has for some time assumed that its efforts to improve performance [for economic if no other reason, the air transportation industry has been taking measures to become more efficient] were widely understood. Realizing that this was not the case, IATA has put forward a vision of an industry that does not pollute - zero emissions. In light of the incredible leaps in aviation technology over 50 years, from the Wright brothers’ ‘toy’ to jet aircraft carrying 100 people on transatlantic flights, this is not a wild-eyed proposal, but must be accomplished through strategic stages. Boeing will be testing a hydrogen-powered plane next year (though there is considerable scepticism about the acceptability and/or viability of hydrogen as a commercial aviation fuel) ; a Swiss explorer will be testing a solar-powered aircraft (single passenger) on a round-the world flight and another programme will test an algae-fuelled 747. The nature of the international transportation business - maritime transport has most of the same characteristics as aviation - requires that international standards be agreed. Aircraft (and ships) are often manufactured, owned and registered, leased and operated in a number of different sovereign states and must travel between - and over - sovereign states, and airport/port administrations some under national government authority, it is useless to apply national environmental standards. Initially, it was intended that international transportation (aviation and shipping) be included under Kyoto, however it was soon realized that aviation must be come under ICAO. Unfortunately, all those involved have been slow to implement change, partly because of the difficulty in doing it and partly because it is cheaper not to do anything. [Note: The military operates on a different premise from civil aviation and, particularly in the U.S. will do whatever is deemed necessary to ensure the security of fuel supplies, without thought for the environmental consequences. Thus the embracing of coal-based jet fuel, a process initiated by the Nazi government in Germany and later widely used by South Africa during the years of embargo, and to this day.] Confronting the challenge of environmental issues, it is tempting to avoid individual or collective measures that cause inconvenience or pain by pointing to the transgressions, real, exaggerated or imagined, of other entities including foreign countries. Because the energy requirements of certain countries are increasing exponentially, even a grand gesture like abolishing all flying would have so little impact on man-made carbon emissions that its benefits would be overtaken within a year. Given that there appears to be no way to compel China, or India, to limit their economic growth and concomitant energy requirements, we must recognize that they will do as they will and the rest of the world must redouble its efforts to find clean energy solutions, including effective carbon sequestration processes. CO2 emissions and climate change dominate current concerns, but there are other issues that should not be neglected. The toxicity of the Asian Brown Cloud over the Indian sub-continent affects not only human health, but agriculture and the world’s ability to feed its population. Forests are carbon storehouses; tropical deforestation is responsible for approximately 20% of total human-caused carbon dioxide emissions each year without taking into account the further impact of burning the fuel supplied by forests. Buildings emit about 35% of global warming gasses; the good news is that today we can build buildings that are 85% more energy efficient and it is estimated that by 2030, buildings could be carbon-neutral. I am not in favour of cap and trade. I am in favour of carbon tax. We have built an entire economy on cheap energy and now we have to change 50 years of energy consumption patterns My concern about the climate change debate and carbon sequestration is that the issue is being treated as an environmental and technical issue; the ethical dimension is being dropped As we consider putting people closer together and stacking them in ever-higher energy-efficient buildings, we also need to consider that if we did this to rats, they would become rabid I live on a lake that was closed last week because of blue-green algae. Problems begin in our own back yard and we need to address them before we point fingers at others I think that there’s no choice but to electrify as much machinery and transportation as we possibly can and power it all with nuclear because there is effectively an unlimited amount of uranium The Consultation Commission on Accommodation Practices Related to Cultural Differences (aka the Bouchard-Taylor Commission) The Bouchard-Taylor commission is traveling throughout Québec offering citizens’ groups and individuals an opportunity to air their opinions and feelings about accommodation of cultures and practices that are not perceived as an inherent part of Québec’s social fabric. [Editor’s note: we are trying to be politically correct in our interpretation of the definition of what is to be accommodated.] A guideline document published on the commission’s website gives overviews of the dimensions of the consultation with questions to guide the presenter through the various alternatives. There has already been considerable participation with a wide range of views expressed and it is to be hoped that many more will consider making submissions or statements. In contrast to this consultative approach, amidst considerable public outcry (riots) the French government has banned the wearing of all religious/ethnic symbols including the hijab, the yarmulke and the crucifix. 19 sept 2007 To day NYT Podcast | Menu Radio Like the report of Mark Twain's death, reports of the death of radio –at least FM – are greatly exaggerated. Real estate Bulletin Board www.flickr.com More of davidnicholson's photos tagged with Wed1333 Wed 1333 slide show Canadian dollar is expected to decline against its U.S. counterpart. The economy See also JACQUES CLEMENT: Pages ON THE ECONOMY Previous Videos Notes by Herb Bercovitz OWN Editor: Diana Thébaud Nicholson OWN Radio, the long-lasting treasure intro Wed1333 | Wed1333 slide show Oil DTN OWN more Louise | DTN Diana Nicholson OWN slides | hands | all | & Louise 3-M slides | albums | all Jacques Clément OWN slides Gerald Ratzer OWN 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 2007 From #1333 invite It’s not a Bush problem, it’s an American problem. He is playing double or nothing. He is trying to shift the responsibility from the Coalition to the Iraqis New York City has more police officers than Iraq has troops More Quotes Short | Full List www.flickr.com This is a Flickr badge showing public photos from davidnicholson tagged with diananicholson. Make your own badge here. Diana Nicholson Past Quotes Best or All Mouse bio see Diana show hands | RJG | Album Herb Bercovitz OWN Galbraith imges his page See slides | Album and Art slides | Album W-N Links for #1333 a NewYorker Cartoon every 30 sec. see w-n Right Menu => Harper's Home 2007 Notes for #1333 Rex Murphy's Point of View index Past Stephen S. Poloz issues | Archives Wednesday-Night.com on Privacy Canadian dollar vs euro | Dow 30 w-n chart | TSX Fed Parties Stéphan Dion | Stevie Harper see also Wednesday-Night.com MedicalNotes Would you like to the Computer Box Click Here To Add Wed1333page2.asp To Your Favorites More Info About... Read Cookie for Site Wed1333 19 Sept 2007 with Thomas Windmuller flickr and Michel Choquette and Erika Eriksson who brought Sheelah Freeman great on voice Jaime Webbe back see her w-n page and her room mate Bertrand Revenaz Ginette Sauve-Frankel and Dr. Andre Pasternac and Diana and Dame Margaret Lefebvre OWN, Alex Weinstein | Brian Morel OWN also Stephen Kinsman and Cornelius Cremin & StevenLightfoot on camera Diana and Cornelius Cremin see click for Wed1333Report | flickr NYT Podcast weekend biz | Fri 21 | 20th | Wednessday 19 sept | 18th | 17th Mon | Sat 15th | Fri 14th | Menu at Wednesday-Night1333 Peter Perkins mkts the 19 Sept 2007 3:53 at Wednesday-Night 1332 Chil Heward forecasting the .50% cut in Fed Funds rate & over par $ 15 Aug 2007 2:28 see movie page dee Please click here to see new/updated pages since last visit www.iedm.org/ coming Events Wed1332report Wed1333 invite Wed131934 The views above are neither those of the authors nor the owner of the website, but merely reflect discussions that took place on this evening