Read About W-N NP story on W-N Contact W-N and Map Invite to Wed1367 Wednesday Night Salon #1367 14 May 2008 Page 2 Introduction Judith Patterson photo imgs Chil Heward imgs The Report   NAFTA/Mexico The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has proven beneficial to both United States and Canada, but apparently less so to Mexico where companies, even large ones, are mostly family owned and the personal financial well-being of many Mexican families depends, to a great extent, on Mexican expatriates sending money home from the U.S.  Political, as well as economic, problems persist there.  The contrast in benefits to Mexico with those to Canada and the U.S. raises the question of the utility of including Mexico in NAFTA.  One explanation offered is that it was intended to serve as a physical buffer between the U.S. and Central and South America’s economic and social problems. But NAFTA has not turned Mexico into a stable, developed country (although the early years were promising - http://www.mexidata.info/id1828.html  ; it is riddled with corruption and is on the brink of becoming a failed state. Is there anything that we (Canada, the U.S.) can or should be doing to stave off disaster? www.flickr.com More of davidnicholson's photos tagged with Wed1367 Wed 1367 slide show Despite the demonstrated benefits of NAFTA, there is an obvious need for improvement, particularly in the area of arbitration procedures.  The U.S. has consistently refused to respect current procedures. ‘The Responsibility to Protect’  The apparent inability of United Nations members to intervene in the physical destruction and human devastation caused by the recent cyclone in Myanmar is inexcusable to many Wednesday Nighters.  Indeed, the world’s population has been touched by the tragedy in that country, including in addition to the overwhelming size of the problem, the destruction of the land, and the resulting disease and death of an incredible number of Burmese despite the will of many nations to intervene with food, supplies and manpower.  But, the Burmese Junta refuses to allow western - and indeed most  foreign - troops and aid workers into the country and U.N. rules forbid the invasion of one member country by another without its consent.  The Junta has indicated that air drops by Thai planes would be acceptable, but not those from U.S. planes.  Indeed, in a country in which human rights are minimal if not inexistent, it would not be unusual for the citizens in a dire state of deprivation, to bond with foreign aid givers and rise up against a cruel, corrupt regime.  In such circumstances, citizens so deprived, might very well bond with their benefactors and rise up against their government.  The history of this phenomenon has been so frequent that nations offering help under the United Nations flag find themselves present over the long term, not a great idea for the U.S. and its allies at this point. Even before the cyclone, Burma was a failed state, the ruling Junta either not able or willing to  protect the people. If the western nations unilaterally moved in, it would imply the recognition that Burma has no valid government.   What might very well occur if the U.N. or U.S. went in to take care of the humanitarian problem is that either an uprising against the Burmese military would follow, or that once there, the western powers, lacking an ‘exit strategy’ would find it impossible to extricate themselves On the other hand, we need look no further than the relief provided to Banda Aceh by the U.S. military in the wake of the 2004 tsunami. The similarities include an unstable region and oppressive central government; the U.S. Navy had a carrier off shore, military helicopters ferried material and people to land. When the task was accomplished, they left, saying in effect “we were here to help the people and now we are going”. Wednesday Nighters who recognize the problem express the view that the enormity of the tragedy warrants providing the aid to the Junta, accepting the corruption and inefficiency of that route. Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Although democracy is without doubt the best form of government for the population it serves, it is important to understand and accept certain imperfections.  It is in the best interest of opposition parties to recognize and magnify lacunae in the personages and policies of the party in power.  While Maxime Bernier’s appointment to Foreign Affairs was an unfortunate one, one for which he had obviously not been properly prepared, his stint as Minister of Industry had been outstanding, one in which he effected many important changes, particularly in the area of working with the CRTC to reduce overregulation in the area of telecommunication. What puzzles many people around the table is that traditionally the Foreign Affairs portfolio has been reserved for outstanding ministers, whereas it appears that in the Harper government it is relegated to a secondary role. The Economy In the opinion of one Wednesday Night expert “the last 4 months have been the toughest market I have ever gone through in 50 years - with so much volatility” Year-to date averages show Europe, Southeast Asia, China, the U.S. - all down - . Banks remain a major concern. Large write-downs have been reported and more may be expected. On the financial scene, as we near the end of the second quarter, many companies are reporting better than expected earnings.  There was a significant rise in the market towards the end of January, particularly resources & energy, and a new high in Canada recently.  A consolidation is predicted in the next few months awaiting signals indicating the direction that earnings will take during the third quarter.  There will be some hesitation in the next few months in Southeast Asia where rising inflation, energy and food prices may adversely affect the market. Continue to ‘expect the unexpected’. In the U.S., second quarter results will probably be better than expected, with a significant level of exports. The challenge is to determine the asset mix in which to invest. Experts are worried about currencies; they feel that the Euro is too high and could easily drop back to $1.30-1.35 and the pound is having a difficult time, down from $2.10 -1.94 too low (”Get your currency right and the rest will follow”) and commodities, high with the exception of gold.  Southeast Asia has had a terrible quarter.  The immediate future appears to indicate a volatile time in currency and interest rates, reminiscent of the ‘70s stagflation era.  Especially with expected multiple mergers and acquisitions, Canada remains very fertile ground for investment, albeit with greater volatility than witnessed in the past half century.  The greed factor in commodities and riskier investments has returned, especially in commodities and riskier investments, and so advice for investors would be to conserve cash in order to await and recognize opportunity. Canada continues to profit from its development of oil and gas reserves.  Brazil’s Petrobras claims to have discovered oil five miles under water, ultimately a reliable source when increasing price warrants its exploitation. The discovery is not surprising given that the deltas of the Amazon and Niger Rivers are geologically identical. The technology for drilling in deep water is available and already in practice in Mexico, but the oil in the Brazilian field is heavy oil, making it very expensive. Although Russia is doing well because of its oil and gas, it is in dire need of improved physical and governance infrastructure.   Thursday 25 Apr 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 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 Wed1367 | Wed1367 slide show Oil DTN OWN more Louise | DTN Diana Nicholson OWN slides | hands | all | & Louise 3-M slides | albums | all 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 2008 From #1367 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 this W-N nsnbc Economy Where Next a NewYorker Cartoon every 30 sec. see w-n Right Menu => Harper's Home 2008 Notes for this Wed-Night Diana's site | RSS feed Thursday 22 May 2008 Identify e-mails trying to steal your identity You open your in-box and find e-mail from eBay or PayPal, warning that your account has been compromised by identity thieves and that you must log on immediately to verify your information. more good tips - 1367 Chil Heward_EDIT_Seq_01.avi May 14, 2008 May 14, 2008 - 8 min Video page Thursday 15 May 2008 Junta Tightens Grip as Myanmar Starves style="color:yellow" Wednesday, April 23 2008 Ex-Tory candidate refused money scheme David Marler wouldn't accept funding manoeuvre Rex Murphy's Point of View index see also Wednesday-Night.com MedicalNotes Would you like to the Computer Box Click Here To Add Wed1367page2.asp To Your Favorites More Info About... Read Cookie for Site Please click here to see new/updated pages since last visit www.iedm.org/ coming Events Wed1367 report Wed1367 invite Wed1367 invite 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