Wednesday, March 18, 2009

A blogger Returns

Hi
This blogger may never read this ..... lol
This specific blogger took a hiatus and has decided to return, albeit slowly, and continue her wonderful pictorial postings.
I did miss her blog, so I encourage all to go and enjoy her refreshing sessions.
Welcome back Ann, we all missed you.

Edited Session
I really forgot to mention two other pictorial blogs which I find interesting, so I thought why not edit this session and post my opinions.

It is not the camera equipment that takes a terrific photograph, it is the person behind the camera.
This bloggers pictorial exemplifies the above. He shows potential and has a good "eye" for capturing what he wants to portray. Take a good look at his blog.

Is photography an art form?
That phrase/question has been debated for years, and I am not going to solve or rectify that argument. However, this bloggers photographs may convince many that photography is art. Please take the time to view and appreciate this blog located here.

Walk Good

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

iDigress, Part II

Now where was I ......
Ahhhh, I got it.
The other morning, I was listening to someone on CBC radio talk about newly-minted President Obama’s protectionist policies and I got to pondering. How many of us really think about the daily items that we use and where they come from?
I started poking around in my bathroom and came up with twenty items including shampoo, conditioner and moisturizer. Of those twenty items, only three of them were actually manufactured in Canada.
I must admit that I was embarrassed by this realization. I though I was a little more savvy in my purchasing choices and I do routinely check labels for food and clothing. Shampoo, soap, and cosmetics are fairly expensive items (for what you get) and, during my whirlwind grocery store forays, it never occurred to me to think about that whole classification of items.
Sad to say, I don’t think we can complain too much about being so tied in with America’s economy. Protectionism on the part of the U.S. is going to be bad for all of us. Maybe we should try doing something that is good for us and buy Canadian whenever possible.

It is also fascinating to see this story about CNS and NBC, as the shoe is also on the other foot.

Walk Good

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Economic Upheaval and Social Unrest

A few months ago, I devoted three sessions in discussing "Social Power". A few days ago an article came across my desk. This article started me thinking along a path that is dark, foreboding and in some respects "unthinkable".
Will the present Economic upheaval cause Social Unrest, more suicides or the destruction of the human spirit?
Quoting from the article:
"The global economic meltdown has already caused bank failures, bankruptcies, plant closings, and foreclosures and will, in the coming year, leave many tens of millions unemployed across the planet. But another perilous consequence of the crash of 2008 has only recently made its appearance: increased civil unrest and ethnic strife. Someday, perhaps, war may follow."
This is a serious thought process, and I hesitate to consider the unthinkable.

The article goes on further:
"As people lose confidence in the ability of markets and governments to solve the global crisis, they are likely to erupt into violent protests or to assault others they deem responsible for their plight, including government officials, plant managers, landlords, immigrants, and ethnic minorities. (The list could, in the future, prove long and unnerving.) If the present economic disaster turns into what President Obama has referred to as a “lost decade,” the result could be a global landscape filled with economically-fueled upheavals."
This sounds pathetic and has a wisp of a "doomsday" scenario.

It also states:
"The riots that erupted in the spring of 2008 in response to rising food prices suggested the speed with which economically-related violence can spread. It is unlikely that Western news sources captured all such incidents, but among those recorded in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal were riots in Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, and Senegal."

Read the article in its entirety Economic Crash Will Fuel Social Unrest

Walk Good