FROLITICKS

Satirical commentary on Canadian and American current political issues

Aug 10

Theatre of the Absurd: Trump’s Plan to Attract Black, Hispanic and Women Voters

by bcurry

Are you kidding! The Washington Post just reported that Trump’s campaign team has named Ashley Bell as national director of African American political engagement for the Republican National Committee. Bell was one of only eighteen black delegates at the recent Republican National Convention.  Remember, the Republicans had a very poor showing among black, Hispanic and female voters in 2012.  Nothing has changed.  In combined July and August polls by the Washington Post and ABC News, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton led Donald Trump 91 to 3 percent among black voters.  Recent polling has indicated that Trump is even losing the support of white males who normally had been his strongest supporters.  More importantly, this is happening in key swing states like Utah, Arizona and Georgia.

During the primaries and subsequently, Trump has repeatedly inflamed racial and religious tensions by attacking Hispanics and Muslims. He also made offensive comments toward women. So, where does Mr. Bell even begin?  Trump has single handedly destroyed whatever gains the party of Abraham Lincoln had made among blacks, especially African American women, in the last half century.  Maybe Mr. Bell should just resign now before Trump fires him.

There is no way that African American women are going to vote for Trump, and they voted at a higher rate than any other demographic in the past two election cycles. Black and hispanic voters are not the only ones getting turned off.  Every day that Donald Trump opens his mouth, out comes some further ridiculous assertions and statements.  More and more observers, including myself, are questioning his qualifications and temperament to lead the most powerful nation on earth.  He has even been classified as “dangerous” and a “national security threat” by members of his own party.

In conclusion, Trump’s campaign has evolved into the theatre of the absurd. So sit back folks, and enjoy the roller coaster ride to Hillary Clinton becoming the first female president of the United States.

Uncategorized US US Politics

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Jul 10

Black Lives Matter In Canada Should Take A Step Back

by bcurry

Black Lives Matter is a diffuse movement that started in the U.S. with a hashtag on social media some three years ago. It is a loosely organized protest group that is also spreading across Canada, with protesters from Vancouver to Halifax chanting their slogans. The group recently protested at the Toronto Pride parade against the inclusion of police floats in the parade.  They believe that police participation represents the institution of policing, which in turn is seen to have practiced racist activities such as the carding of black Canadians and other minority groups.  The movement also believes that the media has been anti-black and pro-police in its practice and unfairly criticizes its activities.

Spokespersons for Black Lives Matter recognize that there are police who are individuals, and the majority are not the problem. They see the problems residing in the institution that houses them.  The Canadian movement is perceived as being different from the American movement, but with many of the same goals, highlighting specific types of racism that exist in Canada.

However, along came the tragic shooting of several Dallas police officers by 25-year-old gunman Micah Johnson. Rightly or wrongly, various critics accuse the rhetoric of Black Lives Matters for having encouraged the sniper’s actions.  The Dallas shootings have now overshadowed the recent police shootings of African Americans in Minnesota and Louisiana.  Despite speeches by spokespersons for Black Lives Matters in Dallas and elsewhere denying any responsibility, there is little doubt that Americans at large will perceive some form of connection between the organization’s anti-police slogans and targetted police shootings.

For this reason, Black Lives Matters needs to take a step back and rethink its tactics. The issues facing black Canadians are equally numerous and complex.  Yes, as a society we need to address the fact that there are a disproportionate number of blacks in our prisons compared to their share of the population.  Yes, there is a disproportionate number of black children in the foster care system and there is a high dropout rate amongst black youth. Canada needs to address these and other critical issues which marginalize individuals.  However, in light of the Dallas and other targetted shootings of police, there may be a need to find ways in which to work more with the police, other authorities and communities to tackle racism.  At this time, the simple blame-game by any group could very well backfire among the general public.

Canada Racism Uncategorized

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Jun 27

Are You Going To Have Enough For A Comfortable Retirement?

by bcurry

Canada, like the U.S., has a federally-administered old age security program. In Canada, its main component is called the Canada Pension Plan (CPP). It kicks in at 67, although the current Liberal government has indicated that it will reverse that to its former 65 start.  There are also two other components — Old Age Security and the Income Supplement — the former for everyone based on income and the latter for those whose income in old age is very low. Now the federal government, with the agreement of the majority of provinces, wants to increase the contributions made by employers and their employees to the CPP.  This is the result of a number of factors including:

  •  Currently, the level of household debt to income in Canada is at its highest in recent history, combined with very low savings rates;
  • Individuals are not putting sufficient personal savings aside to ensure a comfortable retirement, including into Registered Retirement Savings Plans similar to 401Ks in the States;
  • Many seniors are compelled due to finances to continue working beyond 65, some well into their seventies and even eighties;
  • Only one-third of working Canadians have a private pension plan with their employers, especially defined-benefit plans; and
  • With an aging population there are already stressors on the public old age security reserves, with possible future increases in liabilities.

The proposed increase in CPP contributions has met with opposition from some interest groups, including those representing small businesses. The main argument is that the increase in employer contributions and associated costs will discourage additional hiring and result in job losses.  Employees may view additional contributions as a form of more payroll taxes, although they will benefit in the future when increased CPP payments are made to contributors.

What both sides really miss in their opposition is the fact that the costs associated with retirements, especially for those on fixed incomes, are increasing on a yearly basis. Anyone familiar with the costs related to providing housing, health care, personal support care, etc., etc., knows what I mean.  As a senior, try living in one’s home, in a senior’s residence or in a long-term care facility!  Indexing retirement payouts to annual inflation rates doesn’t even make a dent in meeting such costs.  If it weren’t for the involvement of families and volunteer groups in providing daily assistance and personal care to seniors, many elderly today would be suffering from poverty and isolation.  In two societies with so much wealth, can Canadians, Americans and their governments really ignore the future reality of trying to live in comfort as a retired senior?

Canada Seniors US

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Jun 8

Children as Young as 9 are Attempting Suicide in North America

by bcurry

In Southern Ontario, the small town of Woodstock, with roughly 38,000 residents, had five young people 19 and under commit suicide since the beginning of 2016. Local authorities noted that another 36 teens were known to have expressed suicidal thoughts or attempted suicide in neighbouring communities. How can this be?  Where are we as a society going wrong?

Well, the issue of youth suicide is nothing new in both Canada and the U.S.  Indeed, according to a 2011 U.S. study by the University of Washington, children as young as nine years old are attempting to kill themselves every year. Nearly 40 per cent of those who attempted suicide first tried to kill themselves in elementary or middle school.  Suicide is the second-leading cause of death for Canadians between the ages of 10 and 24.  According to Statistics Canada, 25 people in Canada aged 10 to 14 committed suicide in 2008. Girls are more likely to commit suicide than boys, and the proportion of girls dying by their own hand is increasing.  Depression was detected in 40 per cent of suicides. Cyberbullying may play a bigger role in youth suicide today than it did a decade ago.  These are not simply statistics, each number represents someone’s child.

According to recent research, teens who had a schoolmate die by suicide are more likely to consider or attempt taking their own lives than those who haven’t lost a peer to suicide — and the fallout can be longer lasting than once thought. That effect, known as “suicide contagion,” can last two years or longer.  Some believe that this form of contagion may have happened in Woodstock.

Whatever the causes, societies have to seriously begin tackling this issue. Resources have to be allocated to deal with youth mental health issues, reducing the daily pressures and stressors affecting young people, better educating the general population and instituting a comprehensive national strategy to address the issue.  Suicide prevention programs need to focus on elementary and middle school populations as well as high school populations.  The number of youth suicides, especially among girls, has been increasing in recent years. We cannot afford to continue to needlessly loose our children and adolescents to suicide.  The time for talk is over.  The time for action is now.

Health Care Mental Health Uncategorized Youth Suicide

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May 9

To Blog or Not to Blog, That is the Question

by bcurry

For about four years now, I have been blogging on a variety of issues within the blog entitled https://froliticks.wordpress.com/.  Blogging offers one an opportunity to express certain views on issues of the day, often in a satirical manner.  Whether they are read or not is often of little relevance as to why one bothers to blog.  If the writing is good and the subjects are current and interesting, one can only hope that its readers will enjoy the blogs and hopefully become better informed and willing to think about certain issues.

However, one must realize that there are thousands of blogs written every day. Besides keeping up on current events via print or on-line news sources, one only has so much time in a day to read blogs via the Internet.  For me, the frequent absurdities of politics in Canada and the U.S. make good fodder for any satirical writer. The current American presidential primaries are a perfect example of offering up plenty of comedic material for the likes of Saturday Night Live and late-night talk shows.  The total lack of real informed debate about serious issues is only one of numerous flaws in our political systems.  Both countries are among the wealthiest and best educated in the world, but have created leadership races involving mud-slinging and name-calling episodes worthy of the worst virtual reality television shows.

Select any important topic of current interest — be it the economy, climate change, inequalities among the sexes and races, national security, immigration, foreign policy, etc., etc. — and perspective candidates will respond with one-minute nonsensical sound bits. What is even sadder is the fact that voters and supporters continue to endorse such behaviour.  One would think that citizens would want to see well thought out and viable policies to deal realistically with today’s problems.  It was Otto Von Bismarck who said that politics is the “art of the possible”.  Moreover, it’s not necessarily about what’s right or what’s best. It’s about what politicians and governments can actually get done.

Listening to many of our politicians, you’d think that politics is the art of the impossible. Too many promises are totally absurd and lacking any grounding in reality and serious study.  This outcome has unfortunately culminated in the likes of Donald Trump.  Hillary Clinton is not too far behind.  Canada’s current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tends to be more of a stuntman than a statesman, too often immersed in selfies with his admirers. This political evolution provides an immense amount of amusing material for bloggers like myself.  As long as the current output continues, there is plenty of incentive to keep on blogging.

Canada Conservative Political Groups Justin Trudeau US US Politics

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May 2

Why Canada Should Get the Hell Out of Iraq

by bcurry

It was March 2003 and the U.S.-led coalition invaded Iraq. According to U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the coalition mission was to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, to end Saddam Hussein’s support for terrorism, and to free the Iraqi people.  After 21 days of major combat operations, the loss of thousands of lives and the destruction of much of Iraq’s infrastructure, President Bush declared that the war was over.  At the time, I had many misgivings and was happy that Canada had refused to participate in this farce.  Remember, no weapons of mass of mass destruction were found and the war continued on for a decade.  Saddam Hussein was subsequently found and hung by the interim Iraqi government.  Iraq supposedly was supposedly on its way to discovering “democracy”— Western style.

Jump forward a dozen years, and where are we today? On April 30, 2016, thousands of protesters stormed the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad and took over Iraq’s parliament. A state of emergency was declared in Baghdad.  President Obama’s plan for fighting the Islamic State (ISIS) was predicated on having a credible and effective Iraqi ally on the ground in Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.  Instead, we have a corrupt and paralyzed government overseeing an Iraqi society fractured once again along ethnic and sectarian lines, with Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish elements fighting for power, oil and territory.

Meanwhile, Canada has increased its military advisors on the ground to help train Kurdish fighters in the north in their battle against ISIS. However, the problem is that the Kurds are really fighting to eventually establish an independent state, separate from the current Iraqi regime.  Since ISIS is nothing more than a bunch of thugs who rely on fear and threats to maintain their occupation in parts of Iraq and Syria, fighting ISIS has become a “good feel” campaign for the West.  Recent ISIS-inspired attacks in France and Belgium have given an added incentive to the campaign.  However, there is the much tougher task of helping Abadi repair Iraq’s corrupt and largely ineffective government before a ground war can be won against ISIS.

Canada is caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, if it pulls out its advisors from Iraq, its allies and the hard-liners will argue that Canada is soft on terrorism.  On the other hand, if it continues with military assistance to Kurdish forces, the Shiite and Sunni factions will accuse Canada of supporting the Kurdish independence movement.  Iraq is becoming increasingly ungovernable and eventually the U.S.-led coalition will be left with overseeing the breakup of Iraq into separate political entities.  For the moment, the common enemy in ISIS has forced some form of sectarian cooperation.  If and when ISIS is effectively removed from Iraq, what will come next — another civil war?  Most likely.  Canada had better begin thinking about an exit strategy, sooner than later.

Canada Iraq Iraq and ISIS Iraq Today US

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Feb 29

Donald Trump and Extreme Narcissism

by bcurry

I’ve just finished a fascinating recent book by Dr. Joseph Burgo dealing with extreme narcissists. Guess what?  Donald Trump is given as one example of an extreme narcissist in the book.  Basically, narcissism is recognized in psychologists/psychiatrists circles as a mental illness, often referred to as “narcissistic personality disorder”.  People with narcissistic personality disorder are characterized by exaggerated feelings of self-importance.  They have a sense of entitlement and demonstrate grandiosity in their beliefs and behaviour.  They also have a strong need for admiration, are manipulative, but lack feelings of empathy.  If challenged, they often will bully and disparage those who would dare criticize them.  Sound familiar?

What’s interesting is that Sarah Palin, who once ran as a Vice-Presidential candidate in the U.S., was also described by Dr. Burgo as an extreme narcissist in his book. So here we have one extreme narcissist publicly endorsing another extreme narcissist, Donald Trump, for the Republican Presidential candidate.  Like two peas in a pod, both Palin and Trump have histories of making outlandish and irresponsible statements about American values, politics and policies.

Unfortunately, Trump is the most dangerous of narcissists in that he can attract a fairly large following by being outrageous and expressing the evident anger of some Americans against the so-called political establishment. He is very effective in using his celebrity and money to convince average Americans that he has simple solutions to all their problems.  Stop illegal immigrants by building a wall and have the Mexican government pay for it.  Prevent terrorists from entering the country by banning Moslems from entry.  Resolve foreign policy conflicts by bombing the hell out of everyone.  All with the ultimate goal to make America great again!  As Hillary Clinton has said: “Since when has America not being great.”

I can only hope that Americans, particularly Republicans, will more thoroughly research Trump’s history, both business and political, to really see his portrait for what it is: that of  an extreme narcissist.

U.S. Primaries US US Politics

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Dec 4

Help Me To Understand Mass Killings in the U.S.

by bcurry

Let me understand this.  The latest mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, which killed 14 people and injured 21 others, represented the 355th such mass shooting in 2015.  Mass shootings are usually defined as incidents in which four or more people, including the gunman, are killed or injured by gunfire.  According to the Reddit tracker, the number of mass shootings so far this year in the U.S. has already surpassed the total number of mass shootings in 2014.  At this pace, the total will be well above 2013’s pace, when a total of 363 mass shootings were recorded.

What is really difficult to understand is why Congress would block an attempt to ban the sale of weapons to persons on the American potential terrorist watch list.  According to the Government Accountability Office and The Washington Post’s Wonkblog, more than 2,000 terrorism suspects purchased guns in the U.S. between 2004 and 2014.  Democrats have repeatedly proposed closing that loophole, but the National Rifle Association and its Republican allies have apparently blocked those efforts, so it’s still legal.

In addition, just hours before this latest mass shooting, more than 2,000 physicians from around the country petitioned federal lawmakers to lift a restriction on research.  For nearly two decades, the restriction essentially blocked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from conducting research on gun violence.  The doctors spoke about the need to view gun violence as a public health epidemic and research ways to solve it – as the country would with any disease causing thousands of American deaths each year.  The removal of the restriction would have in no way infringed on the rights of gun owners.

As in the case of other mass killers, the authorities discovered that the assailants had large caches of lethal arms and ammunition in their possession.  Police found more than 1,600 rounds of ammunition on or near the California couple, suggesting that they were prepared for a long siege.  Police recovered two assault rifles and two 9mm pistols, all legally purchased, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  Kind of makes you wonder why such large quantities of munitions and the purchase of assault rifles wouldn’t have raised some eyebrows!

When one person dies in America every 16 minutes from a gun, people discuss an urgent need to talk about remedies.  Democrats, including President Obama, want to address America’s problems with guns.  Republicans talk about the need to address mental health. Both are right.  Society routinely constructs policies that reduce the toll of deadly products and activities all around us.  That’s what we do with cars (driver’s licenses, seatbelts, guardrails).  It’s what we do with swimming pools (fences, childproof gates, pool covers).  We often pre-examine and licence people (police officers, military personnel, drivers, pilots) so as to prevent persons with mental or other health issues from potentially endangering public safety.  Indeed, when it comes to improving universal background checks, recent polls have shown that a majority of gun owners would approve such an initiative.  So one can only ask why Americans aren’t ready to really deal with this issue?  I don’t have an answer or logical explanation.  Maybe you do.

Gun Control US

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Nov 16

Will the Paris Attacks Create a Backlash in Canada?

by bcurry

Already a fire was deliberately set at a mosque in Peterborough, Ontario.  Police believe that this may represent a hate crime.  Some prominent Canadians are increasingly questioning the Canadian Government’s stated intention to try to bring in 25,000 Syrian refugees by the end of the year.  Critics are concerned that radicals may be allowed to enter under the program, despite the Government’s assurance that all potential refugees will be adequately screened. For the most part, they will be selected from refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.  Many will be families with women and children.  Remember that the horrible war in Syria has left more than 250,000 people dead and has displaced half of that country’s population.  Despite the hard work of numerous agencies, many refugees have been living in difficult conditions for several years.

Given the recent tragic events in France and elsewhere, including ISIS-related attacks in Lebanon and Turkey, this is not the time for “fear mongering” when it comes to providing humanitarian aid to these refugees.  It is also not the time for attacking Muslim communities in Canada, even if they are isolated events.  If this occurs, we are giving the radicals exactly what they want.  Such actions by Western countries will be used in ISIS propaganda as examples of why their so-called causes should be supported.  This in turn could very likely lead to a further radicalization of certain individuals who are already susceptible to such propaganda.

We need to work within our communities to ensure that inclusive policies and programs are in place to combat radicalization.  We need to be better informed about the complexity of the issues creating the Syrian situation and the general unrest in the Middle East.  We need to combat ignorance, extreme forms of backlash and xenophobic policies.  The best way that Canadians can combat extremism at home and abroad is by continuing to promote our finest traits as a caring, inclusive and diverse populace.

Canada Foreign Policy Iraq and ISIS Refugee Policies

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Oct 5

It’s Not More Legislation That’s Necessarily the Solution, It’s Also Enforcement of Existing Laws

by bcurry

President Obama has again referred to the need for more gun control legislation in response to the recent tragic mass shootings at Umpqua Community College in Oregon. As complex societies, we have legislation regulating activities throughout our two nations, including those dealing with public and worker health and safety, the environment, financial institutions, transportation, etc., etc. It would seem that we are well regulated already in most of our daily activities. Yet, terrible things keep happening in communities across North America — be it the mass shootings in Oregon and elsewhere or the train derailment in Lac-Megantic, Quebec that killed dozens of people in 2013.

Years ago in order to reduce so-called ‘government bureaucracy’ and reduce operational expenditures, governments began to introduce the concept of ‘self-regulation’ in a number of areas. This meant that industry had to ensure that businesses were in compliance with the standards found under various forms of existing legislation. It also meant that the regulators would reduce the number of proactive inspections and restrict their interventions to investigating accidents and incidents affecting health and safety, particularly where there were fatalities and injuries. In other words, in a much more reactive mode, enforcement primarily became targeted at violations committed by bad actors. Where violations are found, penalties are imposed in the form of fines and in fewer cases criminal charges.

However, all of this enforcement activity is performed ‘after the fact’. People become sick from unsafe food, water sources are polluted by hazardous materials releases, air quality suffers from high pollutant emissions from diesel vehicles, workers die in coal mine explosions, etc., etc. Fewer inspectors and administrators means less preventive and proactive regulatory activity. Having a registry of persons with mental illness or criminal records is meaningless if states and local authorities don’t provide much needed information to the responsible regulator in a timely and efficient manner. Without the effective enforcement of existing government requirements, more people are going to die at the hands of some mass killer.

Enforcement of standards and regulated activities has to improve in many areas involving societal oversight. Otherwise, more tragedies will occur affecting all of us in one way or another. After all, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Hopefully, politicians will finally recognize this.

Canada Federal Government Gun Control

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