FROLITICKS

Satirical commentary on Canadian and American current political issues

Jun 7

Why Should NBA Basketball Fans Get So Much Attention?

by bcurry

In Canada, there has been a hell of a lot of excitement over the Toronto Raptors playing in the NBA final for the first time in club history. This event is doing a lot for young inspiring players in Canada. I have seen it first hand on local basketball courts.  However, recent actions by some so-called fans have unfortunately taken away from the brilliant plays and excitement on the court.

Take for example the inappropriate action by Mark Stevens, a part-owner of the Golden State Warriors, at the third series’ game when he shoved Raptors star player Kyle Lowry who had accidently tumbled into courtside seats. In addition, Stevens who is a billionaire apparently uttered some profanity toward Lowry.  As a result, the Warriers club correctly issued a sincere apology to Lowry. The NBA levied a one-year ban against Stevens from attending any NBA game or Warriors events, also handing him a $500,000 fine.  In Toronto, we have superstar Drake, who of course has courtside seats, openly harassing and berating opposition players during games.  Okay, one pays thousands of dollars for the privilege of sitting courtside, but does this give a fan the right to act in inappropriate ways towards these players?  Subsequently, Drake had to been told to cool it by the league and most-likely by the Raptors club.

Yes, most top NBA players are multi-millionaires. They represent the best of the best.  In addition, three-quarters are Black even though Blacks make up only 12 percent of the American population.  In the U.S. and now in Canada, playing basketball represents one sport which allows many young Black men an opportunity to get a college scholarship and possibly to play professionally in a major sport.  Their achievements should be recognized, celebrated and respected.  As in any sport, team play and sportsmanship should be promoted along with individual skills.

There is no place in amateur or professional sports for unsportsmanlike conduct. Fans, coaches and players must be held to the highest possible standards.  It is unfortunate that such situations as these take away from the play of two excellent teams and the thrill of the games.  Sports are a reflection of our society and its values.  As fans, let’s please keep our participation civil and respectful.

Sports Uncategorized

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Jun 2

Now Trump Has Gone Too Far With His Tariff Strategy

by bcurry

U.S. Vice-President Pence just visited Ottawa this week to discuss the ratification of the proposed new North American free trade agreement, which includes Mexico. In order to encourage Canadian ratification of the agreement, the U.S. just lifted its tariffs on Canadian and Mexican steel and aluminum products. Tariffs that should never have been implemented to begin with given the President’s use of ‘national security’ as a justification.  No sooner had these tariffs been lifted, President Trump’s administration placed new tariffs on Mexican imports.  Only this time, Trump is using these tariffs to try to force the Mexicans to do something more about stopping Central American refugees from crossing into the U.S.  Most would agree, including some of Trump’s own advisors, that this tactic will have little effect with respect to the border issue.

Instead, the new tariffs on Mexican products will cause as much economic harm to the Americans as it will to Mexicans. Many goods, including vehicles assembled in Mexico and agricultural goods, will cost American consumers even more. Combined with the recent increases in tariffs on Chinese imports, Americans can be expected to pay even more for consumer products of all kinds.  Remember, at one time about eighty percent of Walmart’s sales inventory involved cheaper Chinese imports.

Recent headlines in The New York Times (May 31, 2019) read: “Things Were Going Great for Wall Street. Then the Trade War Heated Up.” Basically, the article notes that up to now the U.S. economy was going fairly well. However, since the introduction of further tariffs on Chinese goods, the benchmark index of the stock exchange ended down 6.6 percent in May, its first monthly decline of the year and its worst drop since an ugly sell-off at the end of 2018. As well, stock markets in trade-dependent economies such as Canada, Japan, South Korea and Germany also saw steep losses in May. In addition, government bond markets have been sending some of the strongest warning signals.

I have been warning for some time that we could be heading for another major global recession if the U.S. continues its protectionist policies. The President’s use of economic threats and a trade war appears to be unravelling. Many economic indicators in the American economy are showing a growing weakness, despite the current low unemployment rate and high corporate profits. As indicated in the above article, investors are becoming increasingly fixated on any signs that growth is flagging. Consumer debt is high and consumer spending is on the decline in both Canada and the U.S. It just may be that Trump’s tariff strategy has gone too far. There is little doubt that ordinary Americans and Canadians will pay the price under his economic policies.

Canada Foreign Policy Global Economy Protectionist Trade Policies US

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May 16

With Friends Like the U.S., Who Needs Enemies!

by bcurry

Well, President Trump is at it again. This time he has launched an all out trade war with the second largest economy in the world — China. As of next week, virtually all of the imports from China to the States will be under increased or new tariffs. In turn, the Chinese will retaliate by placing new tariffs on American imports to that country worth billions of dollars.

What does this mean for Canada? The Bank of Canada predicts that the U.S.-China trade war will shave 0.8 percentage points off the Canada’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Already, various Canadian agricultural exports to China, such as granola and soy beans, are down or non-existent because of an extradition request by the Americans and subsequent arrest in Vancouver last December of the Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou of Huawei Technologies Co. The decision to proceed with the extradition process sets in motion proceedings that could drag on for months and possibly years, inviting further retaliation measures by the Chinese government and costing Canadian suppliers billions of dollars. The American request has also resulted in the questionable arrest of Canadian citizens in China by its government.

As a result of the trade war, it is estimated that the U.S. itself could lose a full percentage point off its GDP, possibly costing some 1.5 million jobs. In turn, due to Canada’s close reliance on trade with its partner to the south, the Bank of Montreal predicts that some 150,000 Canadian jobs could be affected down the road by the resulting decline in economic activity between the two countries. In addition, the U.S. continues to refuse to eliminate the existing tariffs on steel and aluminum coming from Canada and Mexico. To date, U.S. refusal to do so has prevented both countries from ratifying the proposed new North American free-trade deal which would benefit all three countries.

Good political, defence, cultural and economic relationships between Canada and the U.S. are longstanding. Hundreds of thousands of Americans and Canadians work and live on both sides of the longest border in the world.  Together, we have made a robust and viable North American economy, with 70 percent of Canada’s trade being with the U.S.  However, this relationship has been damaged by the recent actions of Trump administration, although hopefully not beyond repair.  Under the current circumstances, all one can do is reiterate that with friends like this, who needs enemies!

Canada China Donald Trump Protectionist Trade Policies US

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May 9

Ontario’s Conservative Government is Hurting a Public Education System Already Under Stress

by bcurry

The Ontario government under Premier Ford recently announced budgetary cut-backs to the province’s primary and secondary public schools, including an increase in class sizes over the next four years. There will be fewer teachers for students and the continuation of some specialized classes and after-school programs will be jeopardized.  The cut-backs will particularly affect inner-city kids who have a need for special programs such as English-as-a-second language for immigrant children and additional assistance for disadvantaged and lower income families.

I came up through the Ontario education system which once prided itself on being one of the best in Canada and among industrialized countries, readily available and accessible to kids in both urban and rural settings. Provincial oversight and funding of education ensured that children would have equal access to quality public education wherever they lived.  Teachers became well trained, paid and respected under the system, and rightly so.  After all, the ultimate result was a highly trained and educated labour force which served as a major attraction for national and foreign investment in the province, resulting in a higher standard of living for all.

However, over the years there has been some valid criticism of the product flowing out of primary and secondary schools. Post-secondary institutions are complaining of receiving high school students who are not well prepared for university or college, often lacking the critical thinking and communication capabilities normally required at the post-secondary level.  Unfortunately, what they see is an assembly-line approach to education, based too often solely on the use of testing to measure outcomes.  These higher institutions are frequently required to introduce remedial programs to improve writing and analytic skills of new entrants.

Instead of instilling young people with attributes related to imagination, creativity, comprehension and discovery, schools appear to be more interested in meeting provincial testing standards in order to ensure their future funding. Often such performance standards are based on the percentage of kids graduating with a high school diploma, whether or not this piece of paper is a true testament to their actual capabilities.  Of course, this issue is one which exists elsewhere in Canada and in the U.S.  Instead of undermining the public education system because of short-term budgetary considerations, maybe it’s time to step back and examine just what values and qualities will help our children to live full, successful and meaningful lives in the long-term.

Canada Education Uncategorized

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May 2

Little Doubt the Climate Change Affects Economies

by bcurry

Wild winter and mid-spring storms in the American mid-west, wild fires on the West Coast, major overland flooding in Eastern Canada and extreme winter temperatures are just a few of the climate impacts affecting the North American economy. This past year has seen numerous climate-related catastrophes which have caused serious problems for several industrial sectors, including transportation, tourism, agriculture, forestry, insurance, etc., etc.  Several large corporations have taken a hit to their bottom lines, including Canadian Pacific Railways Ltd., United Parcel Service Inc., Tim Hortons Restaurants, Disney Enterprises and Air Canada.

No one can estimate exactly how much these climate events are actually costing our economies, but a rough guess would be in the billions of dollars annually to both the private and public sectors. However, we are all paying for limiting the damage, recovery and restoration activities and higher insurance premiums.  Governments are forced to allocate increasing funds to enhanced emergency services and disaster assistance to victims.  Then there is the lost in productivity due to temporary business shutdowns and loss of workforce in the aftermath of the destruction to communities and businesses, not to forget the regretful but inevitable loss of life.

Such extreme climate events appear to be becoming the norm. Governments, industries, communities and people are going to have to adapt and adjust behaviours in order to cope with this new reality.  The impact on existing infrastructure has been especially significant and costly, and will now require major investments.  People may have to move from vulnerable regions such as flood plains and potential wild fire areas.  Enhanced building codes will have to be developed and implemented, just as they are in zones prone to earthquakes.  New technologies will have to be developed to assist in preparing for and alleviating the negative outcomes associated with climate change, including those related to agriculture.

A fundamental question is just who should pay for the needed changes — tax payers, individual households or corporations? Indeed, the insurance industry has now formally recognized the impact of climate change and its associated societal costs.  Can we afford to ignore these costs.  If we do so, it’s at our own peril!  By the way, if one still doesn’t believe in climate change, one might want to check out the web site for the Canadian Center for Climate Services.

Cimate Change Climate Change US

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Apr 14

Winter May Be Over, But Crazy Weather Isn’t

by bcurry

There are two things that most of us can’t avoid: taxes and the weather. In my neck of the woods in Canada, we have endured a long and hard winter from mid-November to mid-April. We seemed to be breaking a record almost every other day — be it for temperatures or different forms of precipitation such as snow, sleet and freezing rain. Meanwhile, extreme weather patterns were reported across the U.S. and in different parts of the world. The headline statement in a recent federal report, commissioned by Environment and Climate Change Canada, indicated that Canada has warmed “twice as fast” as the entire planet since 1948. Boy, it sounds like we’re in big trouble now!

Despite numerous international reports confirming some form of climate change, there are still nay-sayers running around with their heads in the sand. Anything that affects the climate affects us all.  Every sector of our economy is affected, be it agriculture, tourism, transportation, insurance, manufacturing, energy, etc., etc.  We have seen an increase in damaging floods, droughts, fires, tornadoes, cyclones, hurricanes, etc., etc.  You can’t turn on the evening news broadcasts without at least one story being about a severe weather event.

Already, many communities and industries are beginning to prepare and adjust for future climate change. From an economic and survival point of view, they have no choice.  This represents the greatest challenge to humans, and ignoring or denying it does no one any favours — while doing so is at one’s peril. Yet, here we have a leader of the world’s wealthiest nation and biggest contributor to greenhouse emissions, simply looking the other way.  Instead, blind policies are implemented that will even make the situation worst, all in the name of populism.

On top of which a new World Bank report concludes that climate change will transform more than 143 million people into “climate migrants” escaping crop failure, water scarcity, and sea-level rise.  For example, many of the migrants from Central America fleeing to the north are farmers who can no longer eek out a sustainable living because of the impact of climate change on their farmlands. So while I might complain in the comfort of my home about the miserable weather we’ve been having, my circumstances are nothing compared to the misery facing many populations around the world.  Think about it!

Cimate Change Climate Change US

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Apr 3

Getting Closer to a World Economic Recession

by bcurry

One does not have to look too far or to be an economist to understand that there is the real danger among the world’s economies of a near future recession. On the one hand, you have the negative results of the U.S. tariffs on China, Europe and Canada. On the other hand, Brexit is already damaging the British economy, and the possibility of a no-deal with the European Union is a definite chaotic possibility.

Meanwhile, Japan’s economic growth is stumbling, particularly as trade with one of its biggest customers, China, is in trouble. China is the biggest driver of global growth, so its slowdown — or fear of it — is stoking concerns about the prospect of a worldwide recession. Japanese consumer electronics and automotive companies that depend on their fast-growing neighbour — China — are now slashing profit forecasts and considering idling factories.

Donald Trump’s administration, in the meantime, is all over the map. There appears to be no end in sight in the trade negotiations with China.  American and Canadian farmers — especially those with seed crops like canola — are already feeling the pinch as a result of losing the once profitable Chinese market.

While a global recession may not be as horrendous as that in 2005, the fact is that governments and central banks today have fewer tools to deal with it. Governments in North America and Europe have run up enormous debts in recent years.  Consumers also have run up huge debts over the last decade in light of extremely low borrowing interest rates.  Moreover, there is little wiggle room for governments to respond proactively.  The growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is declining everywhere. National unemployment rates are still low, but for the wrong reasons.  While there are too few skilled workers for those trades and professions needed in our modern economies, people are being forced to take lower skilled and lower paying jobs in the retail and service industries.  Average wages for the middle class have not increased adequately when inflation is taken into account, while family debt loads continue to go up.  Given that they drive over 70 percent of annual GDP growth, don’t expect consumers to help get us out quickly of the next recession. As politicians like to say, people are going to have to tighten their belts!  The question is — for how long?

China Global Economy US

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Mar 17

Extremist White Nationalist Movements Worldwide and the Attack on Mosques in New Zealand

by bcurry

Back in August 2017, I had a blog entitled White Supremacists Movements Should Be Outlawed in North America, after the march of white supremacists in city of Charlottesville, Virginia. At that time I argued that such movements have no place in today’s multicultural societies in the U.S. or Canada.  Just as governments target extreme Islamic groups like Al Quaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Western governments should also jointly target white supremacists movements. Failure to do so could result in more attacks on Mosques, black churches and synagogues in the U.S. and Canada.

Today, these groups are increasingly using social media to spread their hateful messages and to recruit new members through radicalization and anti-immigration slogans. One newspaper article called this trend “the weaponization of the internet’s culture of trolling.” Unfortunately, as in the case of the horrendous attacks on the mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, on March 15, 2019, live coverage of the shootings occurred on Facebook. This despite the fact that social media companies have said they would quickly take down content involving the mass shootings, which are posted online as the attack unfolded.  The company is again being scrutinized over its handling of privacy, extremism and political content, but to no avail so far.

Enough is enough. Since coming into office, President Trump has reduced the federal government’s oversight of the surveillance of national white supremacists in the U.S.  Instead, even after the lateness atrocity in New Zealand, the President is simply placing the blame on an individual or lone wolf. On the other hand, Trump does not hesitate to blindly blame Moslems as an ethnic group for supporting radical attacks and violence against Western targets.

Today, we see the emergence of radical right-wing white extremism across borders, especially through social media. Although attempts are being made to deal with radicalization among individuals within our communities, there appears to be no point in debating the issues with such violent groups as a whole.  They are dangerously well armed and relentless in the pursuit of implementing their doctrines against peaceful and non-violent members of our society.  It’s all fine and dandy to express our belief that love can overcome hate, but recent events have demonstrated once again that forceful and proactive counterterrorism is the only way to proceed when dealing with domestic terrorism.  Governments need to act now, not later when more atrocities occur and dozens of innocent men, women and children become victims as a result of inaction on our part.

Anti-Terroism Canada Extremism Terroism and the Media US

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Mar 3

Where Does It All End? — The Weird Era of Donald Trump

by bcurry

This past week has shown a bout of insanity not seen for some time under any American president. First, we had Michael Cohen’s testimony before the House Oversight and Reform Committee, calling the President “a liar, racist and conman.”  Wow!  Then we had the abysmal failure of the Trump-Kim talks over North Korean denuclearization and end of U.S. sanctions. Next, we had word of Trump last year ordering officials to grant top-secret security clearance to his son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, despite warnings by his own senior counsel and chief-of-staff not to grant such clearance.  Congress now wants officially to look further into the matter.

Meanwhile, 77-year old Bernie Sanders has once again declared himself a presidential candidate for the Democrats in 2020. Some analysts have predicted that as many as 40 Democrat candidates may launch bids against Donald Trump for the White House.  One may have to issue them football sweaters, each with numbers and names since there would be enough players to form their own NFL team. The trouble is that they don’t appear to have a common game plan, with some moving far to the left and others trying to be more centrist. Are Americans really ready for democratic socialism, a brand already attributed to Democrats by Trump? Ah, those dam lefties!

Last but not least, we have the President issuing an emergency order so as to take existing funds from the defense and other budgets to help pay for the construction of “barriers” along the border between the U.S. and Mexico. The U.S. House of Representatives then voted to revoke Donald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency to build his wall, whose efforts Trump vows to veto. Of course, the whole situation — due to valid questions of constitutionality — will end up in the courts, probably lasting several months if not years before a final decision is rendered.

What’s worst, numerous Republicans, mainly because they are afraid of Trump’s base, are increasingly backing the President’s executive orders and crazy political manoeuvrings. Of course, all of these shenanigans make good fodder for comedians and Saturday Night Live sketches.  One doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry!  As William Shakespeare once wrote: “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”  In this case, the politicians are playing the role of clowns, with Trump leading the way.

Donald Trump North Korea US US Politics

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Feb 18

Crazy Remark by President Trump Gives Kim Jong Un the Proof He Needs

by bcurry

Here we go again, a recent off-the-cuff remark by President Trump that former President Barack Obama had stated in a meeting with then President-elect Trump that the U.S. had been on the verge of war with North Korea. Within hours of his remark, several former high ranking officials under President Obama indicated to multiple media sources that no such statement had been made during the exchange.  According to these knowledgeable persons, at no time had the U.S. been in a state of planning to carry out an assault on North Korea as claimed by President Trump.

What Donald Trump’s remark has done is confirm for Kim Jong Un that the threat to his regime of an attack by the U.S. had been imminent in the past. Kim can use this false revelation to defend the continuing build-up of his military capabilities, including his nuclear and missile capabilities.  Such statements by a sitting American president reinforce Kim’s past assertions to North Koreans that there was a real threat of American military action against their country.

Signing a peace treaty with North Korea will require addressing issues regarding the U.S. military’s presence in South Korea and its transfer of wartime operational control to South Korea and United Nations forces in South Korea. The removal of American forces, numbered in the tens of thousands, from South Korea is a precondition for any denuclearization by the North Korean regime. North Korea views the American forces as a real threat. Mass military drills and naval exercises by the U.S. and South Korea are also viewed by Kim’s regime as a rehearsal for war.

Next week, President Trump intends to meet once again with Kim Jong Un in Hanoi, Vietnam, as a follow-up to their previous meeting. Reports had suggested that pre-summit talks may include North Korea’s closure of its main nuclear scientific research centre in Yongbyon in exchange for some sanctions relief or a declaration to formally end the 1950-53 Korean War. Let’s hope that President Trump’s false assertion about previous U.S. foreign policy positions vis-à-vis a war with North Korea don’t negatively influence the outcome of the upcoming talks. Please, Mr. President, no more silly off-the-cuff remarks!  The seriousness of the issues at hand leave no room to play politics.

Donald Trump Foreign Policy North Korea US

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