(no subject)
I think after a few days sick and out of commission I'm finally feeling human again. That was a nasty cold. Now Ben is sick and stayed home from school today. He's still sleeping which is totally unlike Ben. He'll more than likely miss gymnastics tonight (which won't go over well with his coach).
We're on the brink of getting our first local snowfall of the season today. It's forecast in several areas all around us but not for us. They can keep it, I prefer to remain blissfully in denial. I did request that hubby have snow tires installed on my car this season. Usually we make do with all season tires but this year.... the little birdie in my head was squawking that I needed snow tires. Perhaps it's trying to tell me it will be a bad year for snow. Bastard.
On Saturday I drove a couple of hours and met my sisters in Bridgewater for a "Committee Meeting" and a couple of hours of shopping. The Committee was formed when we were planning our parents 50th Anniversary. We agreed at the time it was nice to have us all together somewhere as sisters and that we'd make it an annual event. First year everyone flew in and we met in Halifax for a weekend to plan the event. Last year we all flew to Vegas for a chick week. This year we were supposed to go to Mexico but I think we're all worried about the economic fallout of the States' mess. At our meeting we all made it except the youngest of us who lives in Calgary. I used to have two sisters in Calgary, but one moved back last month. So the one remaining Calgary sister has been feeling VERY homesick the past month or two. So we all decided that instead of going to Mexico we're going to fly out to Calgary and surprise her and kidnap her to a local hotel and spend a long weekend catching up with her and doing fun things. The alternative is to chip in and fly her home to Nova Scotia. We're going back and forth on what to do, but we're leaning towards a Calgary Committee meeting. Yee haw.
Speaking of the mess in the States in terms of their economy I read this morning that another diarist considers the States the most progressive country in the world and pointed to their recent election as proof. I don't know about being the most progressive country or not. Really, I don't. Are they? And while the election was inspiring to many, I don't see how it can be held up as proof that they are the most progressive country.
So they elected a black man. So what? Big whoop-de. Real progress will be when that isn't even noticed. South Africa just abolished apartheid about 15 years ago and a once white dominated government/society suddenly had a new elected President, Nelson Mandela, a black man. THAT'S progress. The US is just playing "Catch Up". Canada, Britain, India, Ireland, Finland, Ukraine, Moldova, Haiti and countless other countries have all had women heads of government. THAT's progress. In the US only one woman has ever run and people said (just like they said with Obama being black) that the country wasn't "ready" for a woman President, and it wasn't just Republicans that voiced that gender bias. I see no progress there. Iran, so religiously strict and totally opposite our culture in many respects, is miles ahead of the rest of the world in terms of their Aids Prevention program. Germany is well on it's way to becoming the world's most enery efficient country. Yet the US is the world's heaviest polluting nation and has been reluctant to sign on to greenhouse gas regulations. Even Canada made headlines for dragging it's heels in it's attitude towards climate change. Shame on them both. I see no progess there. And the top countries for job creation and economic development, Scotland, Canada, South Korea and Estonia. Sweden and the other Nordic European countries (Norway, Finland, Iceland) are considered among the top progressive countries of the world. They seem to get it right. Unlike my country Canada, and the US. In fact if you rank the countries according to economy, opportunity, education, political empowerment, heath care and life expectancy, Canada didn't even crack the top 10 (they came 13th) and the States...29th. In terms of medical research? Japan is leading the way.
I don't profess to like politics. I don't pretend that world development is a passion of mine. It isn't. However I'm not ignorant to the world around me. I've long been curious about different cultures and how current day decisions effect their future. For example... gender selection. All those preferred male babies in India and China. They're now growing up and finding a shortage of suitable brides in their own countries. Little issues like that.
Other continents and countries have been occupied far longer than the US and Canada who are relatively young compared to the old world European countries. So, how did the US become a super power in it's "infancy"? I think at first it's "newness" was a huge attraction. Europeans saw it as a new opportunity. A great new world. People jumped on ships all over Europe and set sail. US populations expanded. Commerce and trade grew. The US economy grew and they were fairly isolated. While Europe was tearing itself apart in WW1 and WW2, the States ramped up its manufacturing to supply arms for the conflict. It was also rich in natural resources and didn't have to import them. I think immigration was a huge factor. The US offered sanctuary and there was an influx of Jewish scientists from Germany during WW2. That war may have had a very different outcome if those scientists had stayed in Germany. Think about that. So the States rose to superpowerdom because of great natural resources, immigration, the energy of a population that believes they are entitled to do anything, the freedom to become whatever you want to be regardless of your station at birth, freedom to choose their leaders and vote on issues and a belief in a "manifest destiny". After WW2 the US was simply the biggest, most economically healthy country left standing. That allowed them to invest in technology programs that other countries were investing in but couldn't afford to carry through...the space program, information technology. I think in some ways the US became a super power by default. That and some "gentle persuassion" when a country seemed on the verge of overtaking them in some way...ie... the forced scrapping of Canada's Avro Aero program. But I've ranted about that before.
Of course, having the biggest and most powerful bombs (aka "weapons of mass destruction") helped then and it continues to help now. Ironic isn't it? That the US will start a war with a country on the pretext of needing to disarm them for the common good when they are sitting on a virtual hotbed of nuclear weapons with no intentions of disarming themselves. What is good for the goose is definitely not good for the gander apparently. Progess? Leading the biggest economy (healthy or otherwise), being the most "mighty" does not automatically mean the most progressive. And in alot of ways, I truly believe that the US is a superpower in decline.
But what do I know? I'm Canadian. I was once told that I shouldn't be interested in US politics because it didn't effect me or Canada. I'll go back to polishing my toenails. At least some part of me will look good when I go back to sticking my head in the sand.
We're on the brink of getting our first local snowfall of the season today. It's forecast in several areas all around us but not for us. They can keep it, I prefer to remain blissfully in denial. I did request that hubby have snow tires installed on my car this season. Usually we make do with all season tires but this year.... the little birdie in my head was squawking that I needed snow tires. Perhaps it's trying to tell me it will be a bad year for snow. Bastard.
On Saturday I drove a couple of hours and met my sisters in Bridgewater for a "Committee Meeting" and a couple of hours of shopping. The Committee was formed when we were planning our parents 50th Anniversary. We agreed at the time it was nice to have us all together somewhere as sisters and that we'd make it an annual event. First year everyone flew in and we met in Halifax for a weekend to plan the event. Last year we all flew to Vegas for a chick week. This year we were supposed to go to Mexico but I think we're all worried about the economic fallout of the States' mess. At our meeting we all made it except the youngest of us who lives in Calgary. I used to have two sisters in Calgary, but one moved back last month. So the one remaining Calgary sister has been feeling VERY homesick the past month or two. So we all decided that instead of going to Mexico we're going to fly out to Calgary and surprise her and kidnap her to a local hotel and spend a long weekend catching up with her and doing fun things. The alternative is to chip in and fly her home to Nova Scotia. We're going back and forth on what to do, but we're leaning towards a Calgary Committee meeting. Yee haw.
Speaking of the mess in the States in terms of their economy I read this morning that another diarist considers the States the most progressive country in the world and pointed to their recent election as proof. I don't know about being the most progressive country or not. Really, I don't. Are they? And while the election was inspiring to many, I don't see how it can be held up as proof that they are the most progressive country.
So they elected a black man. So what? Big whoop-de. Real progress will be when that isn't even noticed. South Africa just abolished apartheid about 15 years ago and a once white dominated government/society suddenly had a new elected President, Nelson Mandela, a black man. THAT'S progress. The US is just playing "Catch Up". Canada, Britain, India, Ireland, Finland, Ukraine, Moldova, Haiti and countless other countries have all had women heads of government. THAT's progress. In the US only one woman has ever run and people said (just like they said with Obama being black) that the country wasn't "ready" for a woman President, and it wasn't just Republicans that voiced that gender bias. I see no progress there. Iran, so religiously strict and totally opposite our culture in many respects, is miles ahead of the rest of the world in terms of their Aids Prevention program. Germany is well on it's way to becoming the world's most enery efficient country. Yet the US is the world's heaviest polluting nation and has been reluctant to sign on to greenhouse gas regulations. Even Canada made headlines for dragging it's heels in it's attitude towards climate change. Shame on them both. I see no progess there. And the top countries for job creation and economic development, Scotland, Canada, South Korea and Estonia. Sweden and the other Nordic European countries (Norway, Finland, Iceland) are considered among the top progressive countries of the world. They seem to get it right. Unlike my country Canada, and the US. In fact if you rank the countries according to economy, opportunity, education, political empowerment, heath care and life expectancy, Canada didn't even crack the top 10 (they came 13th) and the States...29th. In terms of medical research? Japan is leading the way.
I don't profess to like politics. I don't pretend that world development is a passion of mine. It isn't. However I'm not ignorant to the world around me. I've long been curious about different cultures and how current day decisions effect their future. For example... gender selection. All those preferred male babies in India and China. They're now growing up and finding a shortage of suitable brides in their own countries. Little issues like that.
Other continents and countries have been occupied far longer than the US and Canada who are relatively young compared to the old world European countries. So, how did the US become a super power in it's "infancy"? I think at first it's "newness" was a huge attraction. Europeans saw it as a new opportunity. A great new world. People jumped on ships all over Europe and set sail. US populations expanded. Commerce and trade grew. The US economy grew and they were fairly isolated. While Europe was tearing itself apart in WW1 and WW2, the States ramped up its manufacturing to supply arms for the conflict. It was also rich in natural resources and didn't have to import them. I think immigration was a huge factor. The US offered sanctuary and there was an influx of Jewish scientists from Germany during WW2. That war may have had a very different outcome if those scientists had stayed in Germany. Think about that. So the States rose to superpowerdom because of great natural resources, immigration, the energy of a population that believes they are entitled to do anything, the freedom to become whatever you want to be regardless of your station at birth, freedom to choose their leaders and vote on issues and a belief in a "manifest destiny". After WW2 the US was simply the biggest, most economically healthy country left standing. That allowed them to invest in technology programs that other countries were investing in but couldn't afford to carry through...the space program, information technology. I think in some ways the US became a super power by default. That and some "gentle persuassion" when a country seemed on the verge of overtaking them in some way...ie... the forced scrapping of Canada's Avro Aero program. But I've ranted about that before.
Of course, having the biggest and most powerful bombs (aka "weapons of mass destruction") helped then and it continues to help now. Ironic isn't it? That the US will start a war with a country on the pretext of needing to disarm them for the common good when they are sitting on a virtual hotbed of nuclear weapons with no intentions of disarming themselves. What is good for the goose is definitely not good for the gander apparently. Progess? Leading the biggest economy (healthy or otherwise), being the most "mighty" does not automatically mean the most progressive. And in alot of ways, I truly believe that the US is a superpower in decline.
But what do I know? I'm Canadian. I was once told that I shouldn't be interested in US politics because it didn't effect me or Canada. I'll go back to polishing my toenails. At least some part of me will look good when I go back to sticking my head in the sand.