FROLITICKS

Satirical commentary on Canadian and American current political issues

Dec 30

What Are My Top Ten Biggest Events of 2015

by bcurry

Well, another year is coming to an end. Like a lot of bloggers, I’m thinking back to what I see as the top ten biggest events of 2015.  Some are earth shattering, some are not.  There is no particular order of precedence, much the choice depending on one’s politics or interests.

  1. The first event for Canadians was the election of Justin Trudeau’s Liberals to form the next federal government, and the defeat of Steven Harper’s Conservatives. Apparently, according to Conservative attack ads, young Mr. Trudeau was mainly elected because of his nice hair and good looks.
  2. The U.S. presidential primaries began for both the Democrats and Republicans. Far more interesting is the Republican circus, clowns and all, hosted primarily by one Mr. Donald Trump. May Allah help America if this is the best that they can put forward as presidential candidates, including the likes of Hillary Rodham Clinton.
  3. A shooting in Ottawa, Canada, shootings in San Bernardino, California, and attacks in Paris, France raise once again the specter of home-grown terrorism. The expression ‘radicalization’ has now entered our vernacular. There is now a struggle between maintaining our civil rights and defending national security. Beware, Big Brother is watching.
  4. Saving our planet, and in turn ourselves once again emerged as a major issue. The accord on climate change arrived at in Paris took center stage. Like many well intentioned hand shakes and marriages, there were a lot of promises made. Time will tell whether they can be kept.
  5. Technology kept moving forward, with the likes of self-driving vehicles, smart wearable pieces, Uber, multiple uses for drones, virtual reality devices, etc., etc. However, questions still remain about their social impact. Like all technologies, they can be used or abused.  The real question is whether they are really needed.
  6. Civil war in Syria and the rise of the Islamic State in the Middle East resulted in ‘Coalition’ air strikes in Iraq and Syria. The situation became even more convoluted and complex, with so many different groups and foreign states involved. Far be it for me to even attempt to explain its complexities, including what the Islamic State’s self-proclaimed ‘caliphate’ is all about.
  7. The re-emergence of the Taliban in Afghanistan in taking over several regions, such that the United Nations now believes that control of around a quarter of all Afghan districts is now being “contested” between state forces and Taliban militants. It sure looks like the U.S. will have to keep some forces on the ground in order to support the Afghan security forces.
  8. Oil prices on world markets plummetted. This has had a particular serious impact on oil producing countries such as Canada, the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Russia, Venezuela and others. Some experts have even forcast that crude prices could stay low for the next 15 years in a world awash with oil. However, even lower gas prices at the pumps in North America have done little to help with any economic recovery.  The drop in oil prices hurt Russia a whole lot more than economic sanctions applied by the European Union and the U.S. in response to Russia’s aggression in the Ukraine.
  9. Syrian and other Middle Eastern/African refugees fled by the hundreds of thousands into Europe. Since the Second World War, there has never been such a major and tragic human influx. Even Canada has agreed to help accept some of the refugees (possibly some 50,000), while the U.S. is still debating how many it might be willing to accept in the light of national security and immigration concerns.
  10. Rounding off the selected highlights was the impact of extreme weather events around the world. These included devestating droughts, floods, fires, mud slides, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc., etc. Some parts of the world saw the warmest temperatures in our short human history.  Debates continued over whether these events were related to ‘climate change’?  Each evening, it was rare that some weather event didn’t make the news, national or local.

I hope that my list is fairly comprehensive, but I’m certain that you all can add to or change some of the events. Happy New Year.  May the force be with you.

Uncategorized

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Dec 16

Sure, Let’s Put American Troops on the Canadian Border?

by bcurry

Well, listen up you weak-kneed socialist-loving Canadians. Republican candidate for President, Ben Carson, now says he wants soldiers and the national guard stationed not only along the Mexican border — but also at certain unspecified spots along the Canadian border.  Remember that last fall, former presidential candidate Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker had expressed interest in building a wall along the U.S.-Canada border. The Republicans appear to be implying that Canada is some sort of terrorist haven — with certain Americans expressing concern about Islamic State radicals crossing into the U.S. through Canada.

However, history has shown that the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and most recent Boston Marathon bombings and San Bernardino shootings were carried out by home grown American terrorists. So far, there has been little evidence of any large or small scale threat from Canada in terms of potential Islamic State radicals. If anything, Americans have more concerns about their own citizens who have travelled to the Middle East to join ISIS. Just as Canada is concerned about the few Canadian nationals who have done the same thing.

Let’s face it, both the U.S. Homeland Security and Canada’s Canadian Security Intelligence Service share their terrorist-watch lists. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Royal Canadian Mounted Police are keeping an eye on potentially radicalized individuals in their respective countries.  Never-the-less, the most recent polls indicate that national security is now the No. 1 concern of American voters. I’m confident that this concern is right up there among key issues for Canadians.  However, additional security measures adopted more than a decade ago after the 9-11 attacks continue to impact trade and cross-border traffic.  Both countries have been looking at ways to ease the border backlog, partly by screening people at checkpoints away from the actual frontier.  After all, the U.S. is still Canada’s largest trade partner, and there is a lot at stake for the economies of both countries.

If dispatching American troops to the border with Canada makes Americans feel safer, so be it.  I doubt it very much if Canada would react in kind, particularly given that our armed forces have better things to do with their limited resources. Indeed, American troops may help to keep some gun smugglers from entering into Canada, given that the vast majority of illegal weapons have their origin in the States. Stopping access to guns by Canadian criminal elements is by far a much bigger issue for Canada.

Terrorism U.S. Canada Border 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.

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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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Nov 9

A New Younger Generation of National Leaders is Emerging

by bcurry

Guess what, as Baby Boomers our time has gone when it comes to political leadership. Take a current look at the recent arrival of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.  He was born on December 25, 1971, and at 43 years old is one of the youngest Canadian Prime Ministers ever. Indeed, looking at the ages of newly elected Members of Parliament, it becomes apparent that fewer and fewer were born before 1965.  A new generation is emerging, representing more of those who make up what has become known as Generation X — those between that ages of 30 and 44.

Indeed, this transition is a good thing. Governments today have to deal with very complicated national and international issues.  These include the impact of globalization on our economic and social lives, work-live balance issues, climate change, rapid technological advances, renewable energy initiatives, etc., etc.  While Baby Boomers may have got the ball rolling, now a new generation of political, social and business leaders must carry the ball forward.  Experience may have been a key factor in the past, but energetic vitality and commitment will be more important attributes for current and future visionary leaders.

An older generation tends to be too preoccupied with the past and maintaining the status quo. What we need today are leaders who are willing to question the status quo and introduce new and more innovative ideas and policies.  They will need to question the existing establishment and the old ways of doing things.  They will have to reflect the views of younger generations raised in a totally new economic and social environment.  Instead of slow and mostly incremental policy development, more drastic and major policies will have to be quickly developed and implemented to tackle today’s most important issues.  Leaders will have to surround themselves with younger, savvy and more proactive advisors; thoroughly knowledgeable about such issues and interested in finding real long-term solutions.

Perhaps the emergence of Justin Trudeau is the first such significant case exemplifying a genuine changing of the guard. I sure hope so for all our sakes and for that of our children and grandchildren.  After all, it’s younger Canadians and Americans – Generation X and Millennials – who are in urgent need of advocacy.

Canada Federal Election Justin Trudeau

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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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Sep 21

Should Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Ever Fly in Canada?

by bcurry

The answer is clearly a resounding “NO”. As a result of the current Canadian federal election underway, the governing Conservative Party is still defending its involvement in a plan to purchase F-35s to replace the current aging fleet of CF-18s. The problem is, Canada can’t afford it and there are several practical reasons why the F-35s don’t make any sense in the Canadian context. Both the New Democratic and Liberal parties have indicated that they would scrap F-35 purchases should they form the next government, and will look at cheaper and more suitable alternative aircraft.

The following are detailed concerns expressed by insiders and recorded by several media outlets in Canada, the U.S. and other countries:*

  • Right from the start, Pentagon officials were warned of the dangers of beginning to produce an aircraft before it was fully tested. (New York Times, 2012)
  • In 2010, Pentagon officials estimated that the planes could cost as much as $5 billion more than previously estimated. That comes on top of a $2.8 billion increase, which brought the total for development alone to $50 billion. (New York Times, 2010)
  • In 2011, S. defence specialist Winslow Wheeler estimated the planes would cost around $148 million apiece or more. (Ottawa Citizen, 2011)
  • The Canadian military does not have the ability to conduct aerial refuelling of the F-35, a must for longer flights in our North. The Defence Department had listed air-to-air refuelling as a mandatory capability for any new fighter aircraft Canada (Ottawa Citizen, 2011)
  • F-35 would not be able to safely land on runways in Canada’s North as those are too short for the fighter. (Ottawa Citizen, 2011)
  • The Pentagon official in charge of the F-35 project said major cracks and “hot spots” had been discovered in the stealth fighter’s airframe, causing further delays and testing. (Postmedia News, 2011)
  • F-35s don’t have the satellite capabilities necessary for communicating in the Arctic. (Postmedia News, 2011)
  • The Pentagon grounded all of its F-35s after a routine inspection found a crack in one of the stealth fighter’s engines. (Postmedia News, 2013)
  • Lockheed needs more foreign orders to realize volume savings. In 2012, Italy cut its planned order 30 percent. Britain and Australia delayed decisions on how many F-35s to buy. Lawmakers in Canada and the Netherlands were questioning the costs. (New York Times, 2012)
  • Several countries, including Britain and Japan, have stated that they may have to cancel their F-35 order in view of the cost overruns, technical problems and delays. (Postmedia News, 2012)
  • Retired Canadian colonel Paul Maillet, an aerospace engineer and former CF-18 fleet manager, said the F-35 does not meet the needs of the government’s Canada First Defence Strategy, a key pillar of which is Arctic sovereignty. “How do you get a single-engine, low-range, low-payload, low-manoeuvrability aircraft that is being optimized for close air support . . . to operate effectively in the North?” he asked. (Postmedia News, 2012)
  • In 2012, Auditor General Michael Ferguson delivered a report highly critical of the Defence Department’s handling of the F-35 project. The auditor general’s report indicated Defence Department officials twisted government rules, withheld information from ministers and Parliament, and whitewashed cost overruns and delays afflicting the F-35 program. (Postmedia News, 2012)
  • The first F-35s were supposed to be delivered to Canada in 2015. The federal government quietly decided in the fall of 2015 to spend $400 million to extend the life of Canada’s CF-18 fighter jets past 2020. (Ottawa Citizen, 2015)
  • With all the delays — full F-35 production is not expected until 2019 — the U.S. military has spent billions to extend the lives of older fighters and buy more of them to fill the gap. (New York Times, 2013)
  • Mark Gunzinger, a retired American Air Force colonel who is now an analyst at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, noted that the F-35 could be too sophisticated for minor conflicts, and its relatively short flight range could be a problem as the Pentagon changes its view of possible threats. (New York Times, 2012)
  • S. air force data demonstrates that single-engine jets have crashed more often. The manufacturer and the government have argued that improvements in technology have made the F-35’s engine more reliable and safer than its predecessors. A report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and Rideau Institute noted: “The single-engine versus twin-engine issue has not been resolved by improvements in the reliability of jet engines”. “Engine failures will still occur, and when they do so away from an airport, a second engine is the only thing that can prevent a crash.” (Canadian Press, 2014)
  • A 2014 government-commissioned report on the F-35 and its competitors shows little difference between the four warplanes when it comes to the vast majority of missions they will be required to perform. The only major exception is fighting against another country, though the report says such an event is “highly unlikely” to occur in the future, and even then, “the government is not obliged to undertake such a mission.” (Ottawa Citizen, 2014)
  • An Industry Canada report said that the four aircraft companies reviewed had all laid out plans for bolstering the Canadian economy with jobs and other benefits should their aircraft be chosen to replace the CF-18. (Ottawa Citizen, 2014)
  • In 2015, the U.S. Government Accountability Office stated that progress had been made on some of the problems that have plagued the controversial jet fighter’s development for years. These include designing a new pilot’s helmet and fixing an issue that resulted in cracks in the aircraft’s frame. But the GAO, which serves as Congress’s independent auditor, said “key gaps” persist that threaten to increase costs and put development even further behind schedule. Problems with the aircraft’s engine have delayed aircraft deliveries and testing. (Ottawa Citizen, 2015)

*In addition to Canada and the U.S., the original F-35 project included Britain, Australia, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Turkey, Israel, Singapore and Japan.

Canada Federal Election Federal Government Justin Trudeau

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Sep 18

Tis the Season for Political Debates

by bcurry

Well summer is coming to an end. Now begins a new season of politicking and televised debates, both in the U.S. and Canada. Don’t get me wrong, I think that televised debates have a place in letting potential voters know about candidates’ policies and their ability to express themselves in a clear and concise manner. Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy were two of the first presidential candidates to have a televised debate. Due to its novelty at the time, millions of Americans and Canadians watched the debate. Kennedy took full advantage of his good looks (i.e. formidable charisma) and speaking style to hammer Nixon in that debate. Kennedy’s photogenic qualities definitely helped him to go on to win his presidential race. Nixon’s image did not come across at all well on the television screen, although he was a good debater.

With the advent of social media and other avenues for displaying one’s politics, the role of television and radio have somewhat diminished. While watching a couple of recent political debates, it seemed like each debater was attempting to get that one memorable stinger against the others — that one 30 second notable quote. Then, it’s up to the media gurus to analyze the results, proclaiming winners and losers. Needless-to-say, political commentators have their biases just like the rest of us. Debating results usually don’t affect the choices of the majority of voters who have already made up their minds or vote along party lines like the robots they are. Candidates today prepare carefully for such debates with the help of media experts, image and speech consultants. Some may even take acting courses. Indeed, it’s often not what you say that counts, but how you say it.

Let’s face it. Television is old school. Most of our younger voters, including those between 25 and 40 years old, will obtain their information through various forms of social media. They do not watch televised news, listen to radio talk shows or read newspapers. The declining ratings for televised debates only highlights this major change. Today’s voters don’t have time to sit through long drawn out debates. When it comes to elections and party politics, all they want are short blips. The “me generation” is just too busy multitasking nowadays.

Federal Election U.S. Primaries

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Aug 19

Two Election Processes – Nothing Very Impressive To Date

by bcurry

The hot summer is here, and people are out and about enjoying the warmer weather. At the same time we are being bombarded by various media in the U.S. and in Canada about the current election processes occurring in both countries. The average person probably couldn’t necessarily care less. However, Donald Trump’s antics in the U.S., Hillary Clinton’s e-mails and Senator Mike Duffy’s “fraud and bribery” trial in Canada have emerged as primary targets for the media and rumour mills. Nothing like a few scandals to get one’s attention!

How about those issues and party politics? When are the candidates really going to get down to brass tacks? So far, parties have been scarce on details and loud on rhetoric. The electoral processes are getting longer and longer and costlier, and the electorate is becoming more bored and disinterested. Millions will be spent on attack ads and media events. However, is the average American or Canadian really all that engaged under the current circumstances? Not really, and the polls tend to support this observation. Most of us would rather just be lying in the sun on a beach somewhere.

Indeed, the issues are important, starting with the economy. Then we have climate change, global and homeland security, structural unemployment, lack of good-paying jobs for young people, hydrocarbon, nuclear and green energies, immigration, urban decline, infrastructure maintenance and development, old age security, health care and aging populations, access to higher education, etc., etc. Maybe we’ll hear more about positions and policies in future debates, but whose going to be listening? We may all be turned off and tuned out by then. It would appear that many people already have made up their minds or will simply vote along party lines.

Well, we are democracies after all. Until something better comes along, I suppose that we have to live with the system as it exists, headaches and all. Good luck with that!

Canada Federal Election

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Jul 27

Could Donald Trump Become President? Sure, Why Not!

by bcurry

Donald Trump wants to be President of the United States of America. Well, maybe he’s not all that crazy. After all, Ronald Reagan was once a former actor whose greatest role was playing the U.S. President for real. He was said to have slept through Cabinet meetings and insisted on having briefing notes of no longer than one page in length. Apparently, this was to accommodate his short span of attention by providing script-like documents. Bill Clinton was well known for failure to keep it in his pants during his entire political career. George W. Bush invented new words or mispronounced actual words, thus becoming the butt of numerous comedians’ jokes. President Bush was given 9/11 as his legacy, and messed it up by invading Iraq under false pretences. Barak Obama became the first African-American President, although many Americans including African-Americans, didn’t think of him as really being black.

So why couldn’t Donald Trump become President? Trump leads all other Republican candidates in the polls at this time. He shoots from the hip, much like Reagan and Bush. His mouth often outruns his brains, not unlike former Presidents. Yet, he has come to represent a significant part of the American electorate that is angry with the state of their politics, the economy and society in general. He represents that portion of the population where the American dream has become a nightmare. He talks about issues like immigration which other candidates have tended to avoid by employing the usual cautious platitudes. He doesn’t rely on carefully-worded positions developed through focus-groups and well paid politically-savvy advisors.

Many Americans, like many Canadians, are frustrated with the current political scene. They feel that the powers that be in Washington and Ottawa do not reflect their real interests. In all truth, can you blame them? When you struggle everyday to make ends meet and good paying jobs are becoming fewer and fewer, you tend to target those fat cats in government and in the corporate world. However, despite Trump himself being a fat cat, he seems to speak for this disgruntled portion of the population. You may not like the things he says or how he says them, but you have to admit that his straight talk is somewhat catchy and to the point. If anything, he once again has become a media darling, which may in the end be his downfall.

Federal Election US US Politics

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