Trashy's World

It has been a hectic few weeks – both personally and on the political front.

On the Trashy front, I have been travelling a lot. Too much, really. First it was off to China on biz for almost two weeks. And then, a day later, my family and I boarded a plane destined for the Dominican Republic for a week of sun, beach, and rum punches.

I have documented the China trip in previous posts, so I’ll leave that alone other than to mention that I’ll be returning in September – hopefully to a place in China not called Beijing… just for a change.

The trip to the DR was a blast. The weather was perfect, the food was OK (pretty much what you’d expect at an all-inclusive), the staff were helpful and the facilities were very clean. I’d recommend the place in minute and will be posting an entry on tripadvisor.com when I get a minute. The hotel is called Gran Bahia Principe La Romana.

More importantly, it was nice to spend some time away from work and with my family. I wish I coud do that kind of thing more often. I feel much more connected to the things that are important to me when I can dedicate some exclusive time to the kids and the RLG.

On another front, hectic-ness is jumping and bounding all over the Hill these days! Helena Guergis and her hubby are the cause of no end of frustration for the Robot and his evil henchman. And that is of course making me snicker.

And before Ken or the Squid Dude say “Yeah, well the Libs were just as bad…” yeah, yeah… I know. But this still gives me great joy. Let me have my joy, dammit!

The downside is that attention is being diverted from other more important matters. The Reformations could be using this energy to, uh, let’s say formulating a real environmental and climate change plan. Or they could be looking at pension plan regulations. Or a national child care strategy. Or <fill in the blank>…

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Sitting in the AC international departure lounge in Vancouver right now. Not a bad lounge, but the domestic location has more than one tap of beer. Nothing but Molson available here, so I’ll stick to some Clamato for now. Still another 1.5 hours till boarding, so what better way to kill time than to pen some blah-blah.

Real excited about the trip… yeah, this one… sure, sure… but the one that immediately follows Beijing in yankin’ my chain a helluva lot more!

Juts got off Skype with the Resident Love Goddess and she was just finishing up the booking for our trip to the DR on easter weekend! Woo-hoo! Burn away that jet lag with beach, sun and cervesa!

Both of these trips will serve me well to distract me from my disappointment with the whole Canuck mindset these days. Did you see the EKOS poll the other day? The one that shows the ReformCons pulling open a wee bit of a gap over the Grits… a gap that is just outside the margin of error, but a gap nonetheless.

What are Canadians thinking????

Here we have a government that has made themselves out to be fools in the following ways over the past little while:

• said they would – for whatever reason – change the words to the anthem. Then decided not to after their supporters screamed and ranted.
• had two of their Ministers freak out at airport/airline employees… yeah, flying can be frustrating and folks lose their patience sometimes, but for crying out loud! You are supposed to serve as examples for the rest of us!
• took a cue from their christian conservative base (read: Alberta) and at first excluded family planning from their strategy to ameliorate maternal health in LDCs.

ON WEDNESDAY, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon told a Commons committee that his government’s initiative for maternal and child health care in the developing world “does not deal in any way, shape or form with family planning. Indeed, the purpose of this is to save lives.”

• And then, they flip-flopped – in a most hilarious way…

On Thursday, Cannon was sent onto CTV and CBC TV to eat his words. It turns out that he thought — apparently for real — that family planning was code for abortion, and didn’t include contraception.

“I take full responsibility for what I said, but our policy, our government policy, I’m not saying I was misquoted,” he said to Tom Clark on CTV. “I was quoted perfectly. But I did make a mistake. This has nothing to do with abortion. But it does not exclude any other options, such as contraception.”

Cannon, who does not always seem to be the most articulate foreign minister that a country could have, had apparently sown confusion in error.

“I said those words but that is not what the policy is,” he explained. “It wasn’t what should have been said.”

Eh?

So, I don’t get it… who out there would actually vote for these yahoos????

Oh yeah, and check this out:

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I’m writing this sitting in seat 3A of an AC flight to Vancouver and then on to Beijing.
As during my last trip, I’ll be updating this blog regularly if I have anything interesting to say… Yeah, and as if I won’t…
For instance : guess who is on the flight with me? None other than Stevo’s wife! Too bad she ain’t sitting with me!
That does explain the extra security!
I’ll post again from the lounge in Vancouver. Maybe about Stevo and his ever increasing problems…

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Not so very long ago, the sight of my colleagues and I would have brought about looks of curiosity in Beijing. White faces were not all that commonly seen among the average populace. Visitors stood out and were usually visiting government officials of western businessmen. They were most certainly not seen in the alley markets and shops where the common folk shopped.

Today, after the opening of Chinese society to the West, the integration of the Chinese economy with the rest of the world and increased tourism, Western faces are now commonplace. True, my colleagues and I did stand out from the crowd in some places more than others. And true, I would imagine that there are many places outside the urban centres where a white, bearded bald guy would still be a curiosity, but overall, we aren’t that big a deal anymore.

And it is not only the social, economic and cultural changes that have contributed to this demystification of white folks. Think about the time that it takes to travel here. At one time it would take a year or more by ship. Then it was months by train using such magical routes like the Orient Express. The advent of air travel made the journey even less. And today? Well, with some favourable winds over the North Pole, we arrived on Tuesday afternoon after only 13ish hours in the air. In my lifetime the journey has gone from one of days to mere hours.

The shrinking of the distance between our two societies is not confined to the spatial/ physical. Through the wonder of the Net and Skype, I spoke with my family this morning. And using a webcam, could see them as I spoke – in real time. For free.

Culturally, I imagine that the lay of the land is much different now in the early 21^st century than it was before the opening of Chinese society and the shrinking of the distance between our worlds. Much of the original culture is preserved – and rather ferociously, I imagine. A theatre listed only 2 of 9 features that were from Hollywood. In spite of a schooling system that insists on 5 years minimum of English language training, English is seldom heard and rarely understood. Rickshaws and bikes are still a prominent way to get around. In side street markets there are scorpions and beetles on sticks – to eat shish kabob style!

Even in the very modern buffet restaurant where we have lunch each day there are foods that I don’t recognise.

But there is a KFC down the street from my hotel. And apparently a Wal-Mart at a mall down the street. And a Scrawny Ronnie’s too.

My colleagues in the Chinese government tell me that they sort their household wastes into different boxes before pick-up. They compost organics. They worry about landfill space.

We cut through a high-end mall that could have been in Ottawa, Toronto or Montreal… complete with eyeball-searing lighting, model quality floor staff and fashions that wouldn’t look out of place in the Resident Love Goddess’s closet. And Audis and Hyundai’s are replacing the bikes and rickshaws. It might be happening slowly, but ever so surely, western norms are an invasive species.

I wonder what this place will look like in 50 years…

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So the ATU members are voting to give up their right to strike.

Yippee. Nice thought.

But given:

• the increasingly cramped buses
• the increasingly common buses that just, like, don’t show up
• the increasing congestion downtown and around Hurdman station. And I suspect it’s the same around Baseline, Lincoln Fields, Orléans, etc.
• the ever increasing fees for ever decreasing levels of service
• the notion that the transit users of this city will likely be the ones who foot the bill for the Siemens out of court settlement resulting from the Council’s ineptitude
• the notion that if I need to urgently pick up one of my little ones (i.e., “Hello, Mr. Trashy, this is the school calling, your little one has been throwing up all over the staff room…”), it will take me a minimum of an hour by bus or a $25 cab ride to get from work to the school or daycare.
• the distinct possibility that even if the ATU does vote away their right to strike, they may just go ahead and do so anyway
• etc.

For an extra $65/month extra – once I cancel my bus pass – I can park in the underground lot across the street.

After 12 years of riding, you’ve lost me, OCT and ATU. Bye-bye

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OK – so I’m on a bit of a high horse right now… I blame the Sleeman’s…

Things in Canada that would benefit from an integrated and modern rail network:

1. The environment – in terms of GHG emissions, ozone depletion, noise pollution, land use and unsustainable settlement patterns
2. Better service to the downtown cores of communities and not just to the soul-eating outskirts.
3. Economic impacts in terms of building / renewing the rail infrastructure but also the positive impact of improving the transportation corridors to smaller centres.
4. Everyone and anyone who travels any distance by train immediately has a better appreciation of the beauty and vastness of this country. And who doesn’t like beauty and vastness?
5. Less collective anger over weather delays and cancellations, lost luggage, surly Air Canada staff, exorbitant additional fees, cramped seats, etc., etc.
6. Increased productivity since you can do actual work on a train… but this increase may be negated by the ready availability of alcohol.
7. More Canadians get to see cool and interesting stuff – like this cloud for example:

Any others positive results that would comes from a better planned and integrated rail network?

Anyone? Anyone? Beuller?

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Just a quick observation as I’m sitting on a VIA train halfway between Ottawa and Montreal… why is it so damned difficult to get a concensus on the future of rail in this country? It is SUCH a superior way to travel!

• No security crap.

• A helluva lot more comfortable than air travel.

• Better for the environment re: GHG emissions than air travel – for sure – and arguably better than car travel as well.

But any time the debate is launched, the leaders in this country twist themselves into pretzels explaining how we cannot afford the cost of the infrastructure. Or how new rail lines or trains will have negative social impacts on communities.

Or they are just silent.

Can someone more knowledgeable than I am on these matters explain why this is so?

Anyone? anyone? Beuller?

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I am sitting on the deck of the cottage that we are renting for the week. The weather has kinda sucked so far with the exception of a few hours here and there. In fact, it was supposed to be t-storming, like right now. Thinking this, the girls headed off to town to catch a matinee at the Strand (I’m amazed it is still called the Strand after all these years). I was left behind to tend to Owen, who is having a nap.

Happily for me but sadly for the others, the storms have yet to appear and I just spent the past hour on the dock, with two fishing rods workin’ and enjoying every minute of it. No worries, no kids, no sounds save for the distant traffic, the odd boat and the sounds of the loon. Simply splendiferous!

I’m looking out on the lake. A clean lake that has been intelligently developed mostly without the monster homes that one can see on some of the larger lakes in Muskoka and on Georgian Bay.

I cannot help but wonder what this place would have been like if the ilk of Harper and his gang of ninnies had been in power for the past few decades instead of the Grits. Almost certainly there would have been largely uncontrolled development and few environmental controls in place. Yes, Mulroney was one of the greenest PM’s in history, but the ReformCons are not of the same stripe as Bri and the red Tories who, while I never was one of them, I could at least respect.

I suspect that if the NeoCons had been in control of the legislative agenda for the past 50 years or so, there may have been a Constitutional Amendment forced through that may have entrenched private property rights and limited the state’s role in the controlled and sustainable development of areas like these. Maybe Canada would have been at lot like certain cities in the U.s> – especially in Texas – where By-laws are non-existent or unenforceable and development is hell-mell and it’s every man for themselves. The CPC likes it that way. State bad, chaos good.

Aw hell, I’m on vacation. Why can’t I give it a rest? I dunno. I wonder if dyed-in-wool politicos like Kinsella ever take a break from thinking about things like these. I doubt it.

Owen should be waking soon. I’ll end the thread before I begin to ramble on about how the shitty weather so far this week (today excepted) was a result of climate change, which was a result of ReformCons inaction!

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I love my job. I really do. And my Director doesn’t know I have a blog, so I ain’t just sucking up.

My work is intellectually stimulating, pays very well, varies from day to day, and I am fortunate to work with some real kick-ass righteous folks.

But.

I work to live and don’t live to work. Holidays – time away from work – are what I’m about. Spending time outdoors with my family and mellowing out is what propels me forward in life. I mean, look at my subunits, aren’t they amazing?

Yeah – I’m a proud Papa who likes to spend the bulk of my time with those who matter most to me – The Resident Love Goddess and my kids.

So I am mega looking forward to the next week. Starting Saturday, I will be away from work for a grand total of a week and a bit.  The weather isn’t looking the greatest at this point, but that will (hopefully) change.

I blogged a while back about where we are travelling to so I won’t go into great detail about that.

My biggest challenge will be to keep all of the kids occupied and happy for the week. If the weather holds, it will be a piece of cake. If it rains, we’ll think of something. I figger that ants and other crawly critters will amuse Owen for at least a few days. Addy will be a bit more of a challenge as she needs semi-constant stimulation else the whining kicks in. But she’ll like being around “real” nature.

Torii is bringing a friend along for the trip – yeah, not crazy about a friend coming along on a family vacation but it was either that or having to deal with a moping teen for 7 days and two 5 1/2 hour car trips. I’m a little worried about how exactly Torii will amuse herself for the week.

Here is what I wrote back in March about what Trashy used to do when a teen on this very same lake:

When I became a teen, I was much more preoccupied with “cruisin” in the search of females rather than baiting hooks. And we did find quite a few – females that is. I, along with a childhood friend, Bill – and of course little bro’ Jim – motored around in our 12 foot aluminum boats with the 7.5 hp Mercury outboards clamped to the transoms. We’d see a boat full of bikinis and quite shamelessly pull up alongside to start a conversation and share a smoke or a beer. We met lots of other kids that way who were on the lakes for the same reasons as we were. To meet other teens and to have fun.

Yeah. Speaking of beer. We did lots of stupid things too. Things that would merit my eldest groundings of unequalled proportions. Like, returning from parties at 2am. In the pitch black. With no running lights aside from a Bic lighter. No lifejackets. And we were never drinking, uh, Diet Coke at these parties.

You see why I’m worried?

That aside, I’m pumped.  And if I find the time – and an internet port – I’ll blog a few scribblings while chillin’ in Parry Sound.

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I’m writing this about 4 ½ hours into the 7 ½ hour flight home. Not a bad day thus far. Long flight, yes, but manageable.

Yesterday was a good day. A day that was well spent in culture and old-world sensibilities. Le Louvre, L’arc de Triomphe, a lunch on the Champs Elysees, Trocadero and something that was damned close to a rugby riot.  The French take their rugby very seriously and the national league final is this weekend…

For the record, the galoots dressed in blue and white were louder than those dressed in orange and red.

The trip was an unqualified success both from the “what-I was –paid-to-go-there-for’ perspective and my own selfish views…

Here’s what I liked the most:

• The sights and the sounds of the City of Light. No wonder a drunken stoned visionary like Jim Morrison loved it so deeply

• The food. In its own way. There were hits and there were misses. The hits were the very fine foods – like the canard at the Trocadero at a pretty reasonable price. And the misses? The cost of cheaply made and poor tasting crap… like the 20 Euro “buffet” at the hotel. Waste of money.

• The coffee was consistently great. Even in the OECD cafeteria.

• The folks at the OECD… both the Secretariat (Nick and Ysé are very committed, interesting and charming people) and the staff were great to work with and I look forward to seeing them again. As well, my colleagues from around the OECD countries were knowledgeable beyond compare with insights and perspectives I had never considered.

• Big downside – Colleen wasn’t there with me.

Other thoughts…
I just watched the watchmen… good flick.
Why bowling balls are shaped the way they are?
I miss Colleen and the kids very much and can’t wait to see them in a few hours!

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