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Welcome to Wednesday Night #1341 Nov 14, 2007
the account of the
Wed1341 Diana's page
14 November 2007
A few weeks ago, Tony Deutsch suggested as a topic the subject of the New York Times article “The Prize That Even Some Laureates Question“. It seems that a number of Nobel economics laureates take issue with the kind of work that has often been honored.
Complaints about prize winners generally fall into one of three categories: too ideological; too preoccupied with theory and mathematics; or too narrowly focused on problems facing Wall Street instead of on pressing global issues like inequality, poverty and the environment.
We would suggest that the economist who can unravel the catastrophic effects of the rise of the Loonie on Canada’s economy would be a worthy recipient next year. Even though the exchange rate came down considerably today, there still seem to be a lot of problems, although we liked the idea that the stronger Canadian dollar could bring doctors back from the U.S.
No doubt there will be voices raised to deplore other awards and honours in a variety of fields. We would even suggest that this week’s bemoaning of the loss of Norman Mailer’s great talent is a touch over the top. The more one examines the body of his work , the more one might be justified in suggesting that he hardly belongs in the same ranks as the giants whose equal he claimed to be.
So, who should be given prizes, awards and honours?
It’s a fairly easy segue from awards and honours to appointments. Stephen Harper’s volte face with the announcement that he was appointing an independent and impartial third party to review the allegations made about Brian Mulroney and his dealings with Karlheinz Schreiber leads us to wonder who is the unfortunate who will be given this honour. (Pierre Marc, please do not answer your phone!)
It mustn’t be anyone connected to the Liberals, or for sure the exercise would be dubbed a witch hunt; on the other hand, a Conservative would be accused of a whitewash. We agree with Garth Turner who said that bringing in a third-party assessment is a [gamble] for both parties. He went on to analyze the possible effects of the law of unintended consequences. Although his opponents can no longer accuse him of protecting his former mentor, “If Mr. Harper is found to be at the centre of this, it will take away from high moral ground that came from the sponsorship scandal.” However, if the findings rule in favour of Mr. Mulroney, the Liberals would be embarrassed because they badgered for an inquiry. If an auditor found Mr. Mulroney’s conduct questionable, Mr. Turner argued, Mr. Harper could take credit for being a transparent leader; in turn Mr. Dion and his team would have to come up with an adversarial stance — one that might place them in the unlikely role of defending Mr. Mulroney.
As unfortunately Inspector Clouseau/Peter Sellers is no longer with us, we solicit your help in designing the ideal candidate’s profile, and your nominations and/or guesses as to who will be given the dubious honour. We hear Mr. Harper would like to name someone before Question Period tomorrow, so record your guesses and we’ll look at them on Wednesday.
As long as we are on the topic of more-or-less local politics, did you catch Alan Hustak’s piece Race for third term starts now, Tremblay says Now here’s another challenge for Wednesday Night: who should run against Mayor Tremblay? Who would be the ideal candidate and can he/she be recruited? Peter Trent, where are you?
There’s always an election to watch for somewhere. As the world concentrates on whether or not Pakistanis will be allowed to vote on January 9 , and the news tonight that the Commonwealth foreign ministers have given Pakistan 10 days to lift its emergency rule or face suspension , the BBC reports that in advance of the November 24 elections “Tens of thousands of people have staged protests across Australia calling on political parties to take stronger action against climate change.” It will be remembered that current PM John Howard is a staunch ally of George Bush on this issue. Less recognized is that Australia is one of the worst per capita polluters.
It would not be Wednesday Night these years without environment issues, so following on from Australia, we first call to your attention the environmental disaster in the Sea of Azov/Black Sea . We should also draw attention to messages from Ron Meisels who has become a great supporter of Lawrence Solomon’s pieces in the Financial Post. The latest is “The alignment of the planets, and especially that of Jupiter and Saturn, control the climate on Earth“.
Doug Lightfoot has sent along a Times online piece by Professor David Bellamy in which he argues that the science of global warming has not been done properly. Douglas adds “Incidentally, ‘consensus’ is not science. In any science controversy, someone is right and someone is wrong. Science is based on verifiable facts.” Finally, in the BBC’s Green Room , John Feeley argues that “total resource use is the product of population size and per capita consumption. We have no chance of solving our environmental predicament without reducing both factors in the equation.”
Things are heating up in the U.S. election campaign as polls indicate Hillary’s lead is shrinking and Obama was the star speaker at Saturday night’s Jefferson-Jackson dinner
We guess that’s why Bill Clinton wasn’t here for the (Montreal) Millennium Summit last week. On the Republican side, did anyone miss Pat Robertson’s endorsement of Rudy Giuliani , which gives a whole new meaning to “with friends like …”
While still on the topic of U.S. elections, how many realize that the date of the New Hampshire primary has yet to be set because by law it must be the earliest one? For those who care to know more about the decision, there’s a nice piece on Bloomberg
We were delighted to hear Robert Galbraith speaking from Afghanistan on Beryl Wajsman’s excellent Remembrance Day radio programme (940 AM) Sunday evening. Robert spoke about his most recent article and his experiences covering the war. Although he could not disclose his whereabouts, it seems that he is somewhere in the northern part of Afghanistan; he says he is in a mud fort that is a couple of centuries old. Wherever he is, our thoughts and prayers are with him.
On a lighter note - and we always need a lighter note - Sabra Ledent has forwarded this link to a wonderfully creative “aid-raising” website . It’s an online game that benefits the World Food Programme (WFP); it’s a vocabulary challenge and not only helps to feed the hungry, but to make any player more literate. It’s addictive for anyone who loves words, fun and instructive play. We are curious about the database; will it expand? Will they make a new version for George Bush?
On that happy note, we hope you will find food for thought and join us this Wednesday to munch on some kernels of truth.
Editor
P.S. Very amusing, because it's so true...
Here's a link to a satirical explanation of the sub prime mess. thanks to Andrew de Courcy-Ireland,
Diana & David Nicholson
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Bubble, Bubble, Oil in Trouble? - November 14, 2007
Black gold is on a tear again. Oil prices are currently within a hair of the psychologically-sensitive $100 mark, and the trajectory is steep. This is perhaps good news for the oil patch, but given oil’s effect on the Canadian dollar, many are worried. Will the price spike last?
Oil was making headlines of a different sort at the beginning of this year. Markets seemed convinced that conditions were more balanced – North America was surviving the winter heating season, and global growth indeed seemed to be slowing. Prices descended to the $50 per barrel zone in January, and the talk on the street turned to price floors. OPEC was worried about keeping oil at $40, and financial strategists were recommending a shift out of energy holdings. Past issues | his WN page
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