Guest Column

Facebook faces a drop in it's book value

The drop in stock market prices is now being attributed to Facebook's value or lack of value. Why is my retirement fund taking a drop because of facebook which is designed to keep you in contact with people you don't know or don't want to and show you ads for products you didn't know you needed? There should not have been a surprise that a company such as Data firm Cambridge Analytica was a user of Facebook that collected, collated and considered and potentially corrupted the political system. It 's time to face the truth and turn Facebook off so that we can live our own lives and not an online one.

The breaking news that Vladimir Putin has won the election - again - should not surprise anyone or really be a news item

The breaking news that Vladimir Putin has won the election - again - should not surprise anyone or really be a news item. He has used a number of effective strategies that are not available to most politicians including jailing your opponents although declaring them ineligible does seem to occur in a number of countries. For true leadership to occur it must be with the support of the people and not with rigged election - a number of African countries, not with a family tree - North Korea nor appealing to mainly the disenfranchised - the USA. If readers have the time, they could count on their fingers the number of countries that have leaders that are freely elected with the support of the masses and that are making their county better. Don't worry - you won't run out of fingers.

Einstein’s long career filled with the pithy quotes of a skeptic!

PRINCETON, New Jersey — Albert Einstein would almost certainly have been a global warming skeptic if he were alive today. Many distinguished, contemporary scientists are skeptics too.

Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking was a great scientific that helped in our understanding of the Universe even if most people couldn't understand his work. He was also a very successful author. His work included Black Holes which may be symbolic as he did not wallow in a personal black hole when he became ill but rather fought it and showed that handicaps do not stop you. His humor and wit was shown through his cameos on Big Bang Theory. A piece of trivia - he was the only person to appear on Star Trek as themselves. A great role model for all.

Twisted Twitter

Wikipedia gives 'Bushism' as linguistic errors in the public speaking of former George W. Bush and I wonder if there will be a 'Trumpism' in due time as I heard a similar error on the radio concerning President Trump. The announcer misread 'a Trump from President Twitter' even though there may be some truth in this expression as he has appeared to pull a 'Trump' card from his pack with accepting the proposed talks with North Korea and announced it on Twitter. Some in the media have suggested that the President overuses Twitter as an 'official' means of communication and that not all of the tweets have met with approval. What we need is clear communication of a clear message.

Freeing the accused?

There has been concern when Malka Leifer, a Melbourne principal accused of child abuse was released from custody to home arrest on the word of a Religious leader. Putting aside the question of guilt or innocence till it is resolved in court it is still important that she face court. The issue in this case is that she left Australia 10 years ago when she was to face trial and has avoided court for the 10 years on various medical issues, and the worry is that she will still avoid facing her accusers. With the number of events that have come to light recently it is important that no accused escapes their trial and that they have an opportunity to prove their innocence or face the consequences of their actions.

There is no reason to encourage or facilitate illegal workers

On the subject of immigration, I feel like we are having a ridiculous argument. For example, there are jobs that we need immigrants to fill. But they do not have to be illegal. They can come in on work visas, be tracked, and go home when the work is done or their visa expires. This allows the work to be done, it keeps prices in the moderate range and it allows for keeping or bringing back jobs to our shores. All the systems are in place. There is no reason to encourage or facilitate illegal workers. The same basic premise works on the subject of securing our borders. Doing so does not make us anti-immigration, it makes us pro-national security. We welcome those who enter through our lawful channels, if those channels are not adequate, revise them. Finally, on the rights of illegals. They have the rights to humane, fair treatment as we would hope all human beings enjoy. They do not have the right to our welfare, education, or vote. Those are things afforded to citizens. Otherwise we are not a country. None of these are difficult concepts nor are they illogical.

Gun Debate

A logical solution to the gun debate would be this: Put desired outcomes into the bill along with an expiration date. If the desired outcomes are not met ie: 50% (or 25%) reduction in gun deaths, the bill would sunset and we would go back to business as usual. That is the only way to satisfy both sides and to determine who is right on the issue. The time needs to be long enough to actually gather statistics and those statistics should be adjusted to reflect other influences such as changes in school security, reduction of gang members and the like. Further, the study should be done by an impartial 3rd party, not the government.

Let it go?

Do we 'Count our cents and the dollars will take care of themselves' - take care of the small stuff or as in the song 'Let it go' - only worry about the big stuff? A trivial, petty incident provoked thought on the matter - 'that' hamburger joint had run out of 5 cent coins so they couldn't give me all my change and seemed initially surprised and then annoyed that I actually wanted my change. The coin was irrelevant but I thought if it was their fault then they should be the ones 'short changed'. As I waited there quietly at the front of the quickly building queue they found the needed coin.

Hopeful lies or Hope full of lies

It was once 'lies, dammed lies and statistics' when it should be 'the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth' but this was before the time of fake news. It is sad to see that the retiring White House communications director, Hope Hicks has admitted thst she was at times required to tell white lies. There are no such things as lies of any color - a lie is a lie. There may be times when answers cannot be supplied for a number of reasons but this should be stated. The Pinocchios in government must have trouble keeping themselves balanced with the length of their extended wooden noses.

Ban Junk Food

The latest suggestion to ban food junk at supermarket checkouts is excellent but what will parents bribe their little darlings with - a fresh health orange just isn't as attractive to a four year old.

Preventing government data failures

A primary reason governments exist is to protect their citizens from dangerous threats – foreign, domestic and natural. People can play important roles in this arena, but most lack the resources, funds, legal authority or political power to act on their own.

U-Haul statistics, of Americans leaving blue states in favor of red states

There is a very enlightening article in the American Thinker regarding the trend, based on U-Haul statistics, of Americans leaving blue states in favor of red states. This may explain the rabid insistence on maximized immigration, legal and illegal. The states that are losing citizens are the same ones that encourage illegals with benefits, sanctuary and the American right to vote. There is a strong argument to be made that these are not actions made out of compassion but actions made out of desperation to retain their blue state status.

Guns are not bad, guns in the hands of mentally ill, criminals, terrorists and gangsters are bad.

Guns are not bad, guns in the hands of mentally ill, criminals, terrorists and gangsters are bad. While gun bans might provide a false sense of security, the fact remains that all of the above have access to weapons, or can build them. Could we all agree that isolation in society is preventing people from speaking out when there are warning signs? Could we agree that mental illness is at the root of most of the shootings? Could we all agree that perhaps school need to be hardened targets not soft targets? There are things we can agree on, if we will only stop being so "my way or the highway" about it. Both sides are passionate. Both sides have some legitimate arguments. Even though I firmly believe that you cannot prevent people from getting weapons if they want them, even though I believe that political correctness prevents people from identifying potential shooters, and even though I think in all of the cases, someone dropped the ball, I also believe we have to take a step forward. That step being to find common ground. This latest shooting was done by a person who had no right or permission to be on campus. Could that meeting of the minds be a commitment to securing our schools? Who can disagree with that?

Same people clamoring for gun control are against all the common sense steps to address drugs

They are more sensational and more publicized, but are shooting deaths any more tragic, or common than drug related deaths? Actually, no, they are not.

Teacher shortage?

Why is there a shortage of teachers? The answer is the same as for nurses and police - they can't do their jobs. It's not a criticism of their ability or effort but rather the administrative tasks that stop them from doing their actual job.

It's weather, not climate change, Governor Brown

2017 featured incredibly intense, damaging wildfires in California: first the Wine Country fires of October, and later the massive Thomas Fire in December. Each destroyed hundreds of homes, the latter in many of the affluent suburbs and enclaves northwest of Los Angeles and Hollywood.

High visibility Olympic uniforms

Watching the Winter Olympics I wondered where the Occupational Health and Safety officials were. The impacts on knees and backs with the moguls and the numerous potential dangers with the luge and jumps are too serious to ignore, or are they?

A California, Democratic Legislator, has introduced the "Journalist Protection Act"

A California, Democratic Legislator, has introduced the "Journalist Protection Act". It would make it a federal crime to "intentionally cause bodily injury to a journalist affecting interstate or foreign commerce in the course of reporting or in a manner designed to intimidate him or her from news gathering for a media organization". Is that not the most convoluted of statements? Simple English please, how is the word affect being used here? And should a journalist be affecting interstate or foreign commerce?

Trudeau's Speech in Edmonton

For the most part Trudeau actually said very little about anything. No comprehensive plan for doing anything to help Canadians on any stage. And he didn't answer the one question that every Canadian wanted answered, though it was a two part question on the same topic.