Walk it back a bit people

This goes for all people in all counties.  Watching the TV, listening to the radio and reading (paper and online) is troubling.  Too many politicians, media and people in general have been using language that is extremely troubling.  The labels they apply to others they disagree with, the words all degrade people, delegitimize them as a people or what they believe in.

It is OK to disagree, but, point out where you don't agree and why and not use words that incite hatred and intolerance. Politicians should know the power of words as that is what they use to get into power and stay there.  They should use the language of inclusion and tolerance. 

Words like

• Classy
• Crooked {insert name here}
• Fake news (one of the ones I dislike a lot)
• Horrible person
• Loser 
• Pathetic
• Political correctness (another one where they use it to justify their hated)
• She/he is a great person.  Every time I hear that now it seems to be just before a certain person south of the border then goes nuclear on them.
• Stupid
• Swamp.  A swamp is a good place where nature does its magic.  What they should be using is cess pit.
• Weak

It isn't an all inclusive list, but, words/phrases above should not be a part of any speach given by a politician or business leader.

Break time for a caregiver

Last week I had my first vacation in over four years (after 1,496 days).  Most of my personal time off that is allowed and my vacation time have been spent looking after my wife.  Days she is sick and I am at home caring for her and the many medical appointments eat up the time I am allowed and each year I don't have any time (at best two days in my time bank) left over to take at least a one week vacation.  While she is able to do a number of things on her own it has been a bit stressful and not having time off to recharge has left me all too often feeling tired.

This year has been different.  Even with her having cataract surgery (11 appointments in total for both eyes) I have enough time accumulated that I could take a one week vacation.  We didn't do much other than my slowing down and relaxing.  Where I work knew how long it was since I had a vacation and they made it a point to ensure that I was not to be contacted while I was off.  Several days it was 'retail therapy' by going to malls she hasn't gone to for years.  One day there was really nice weather and I told her it was just for me.  I spent the day outside walking along the Ottawa and Rideau rivers with my camera and for four hours totally relaxed.  I don't know if it is a big deal for most people, but, for me it was a wonderful break.  For part of the day I could relax, enjoy the views and have a day to myself.

Before her stroke I tended to take vacation either in October or December.  I like October as the weather usually is still nice and fewer tourists out where I like to walk and take photos.  Christmas I used the time off to bake and finish off the buying/wrapping of presents.  For both it is a slower life and a time to forget about work and enjoy life.  I am looking forward to next year and see if there will be enough time for a two week vacation.

Who is running the circus?

It is a sad and scary thing watching the political turmoil south of the border.  The president says nice things only if the person agrees with POTUS 45.  Once they lose favour then the language changes and language of a bully is used to put down the person. His supporters will flood the media that they control and social media with half truths and complete lies and repeating it until the people start to think it may be true.

When he tries to pick a person for a high level job he expects them to swear personal loyalty to him and not to the constitution and the law.  If there is a person in a position that he can terminate he does so and demeans and puts the person down and then attempts to put a replacement in who will swear personal loyalty to him and put in effect what he wants (whatever that is as it changes).

Now he is trying to regulate social media to remove 'bias'.  They seem to think that when those on the right get banned for hatred, bigotry, sexist offensive language.  They want to use the power of government to dictate who gets to 'free speech' online, social media and traditional media which is the government interfering with the first amendment.  They believe in free speech only when it is their speech and anything else is to be shut down or regulated.  This sounds more like Russia, China and North Korea.

It is almost a daily event to see/hear what POTUS 45 or his minions will do.  They work for the rich, powerful and politically connected who agree with what he wants and will work to demean and destroy those who question his actions or disagree with him.

It will only get worse as the next election gets closer.  I foresee him using language that will incite incidents to intimidate anyone who does not support him or his supporters.  He will deny, lie and spin when confronted with that and claim that the ones questioning him are the ones who are spreading 'fake news'.  When he loses the election I see that he will dismiss the results claiming fraud, blaming illegal immigrants, 'fake news', and then invoking powers that he does not have to try to stay in office.  Those on the right will then start actions claiming to support the true president and a time of civil unrest will distract everyone and those who truly want this discord (Russia, China and North Korea) will take advantage of this to expand their control of those who cannot protect themselves.

Rambling thoughts on politicians

It is disappointing that elected governments think they have the right to do anything they want.  They vilify the policies and laws of the prior government and then dismantle them without any apparent reason other than the other party put it into place.  It does not matter the party (NDP, Liberal or Conservative), it is the policy, the services or the laws that does not fit their ideology and therefore must be chucked out no matter the price the people pay. 

When we question it they ignore us, phrase and twist words to make it look and sound better than it really is, or, try to make us think they know better than us and speak down to us in rather condescending words.  They forget that we elected them to represent us and that they are responsible and accountable for all their actions and inactions to us.  They need to remember that they must consult with us and to inform us of what they are going to do.

All too often large companies, the rich and well-funded special interests seem to be dictating to the politicians what they can and cannot do like the current federal scandal that has the appearance of businesses dictating the actions of politicians.  Politicians are more worried about losing votes and power rather than doing what is right and what the law says.

What can be done?  For starters we need legislation at the federal, provincial and local government level that allows the people to forward a petition for the recall of the politician.  Once a specified threshold has been met there is a special election.  There may be limits such as how long after an election before a petition can be issued and how many more months before the next election also.  There needs to be a threshold on the number of people required and they must reside where the politician is and must be an eligible voter.  It may not be a cure-all, but, if politicians know that if they do not work on our behalf we can turf them from office and replace them with a person who will work on our behalf.

Another thing is for us to stop being hyper-critical of anything they do.  That isn't easy, but, if we look rationally at what they are doing and ask why and ask them why, maybe we will be more understanding of what is being done.  Also when you are reading those 'articles' ask yourself where the information came from, are they checking their sources and do other news sites are reporting the same thing.  I have seen 'articles' and while they seemed reasonable something was off and when I dug a wee bit I found that the 'Canadian' article was actually written outside of Canada.

The next thing is to completely remove their being funded by organizations and the rich.  They need to have a hard dollar limit per person and only a real person can contribute.  This will minimize the influence the rich and corporations have and force the politicians to solicit funds directly from the voters.  It won't be perfect, but, if they can see in their pocket book the effect of not listening to us it may be another way to persuade them.  Personally I have stopped taking calls looking for money and turfing their physical mail and emails and let them know why I have stopped and what it will take before I start contributing.  Will it stop them?  Right now it is 'no', not many are doing it and the hit on their bank accounts is minimal.

When there is an election try to go to the 'meet the candidate' meetings and have a short list of questions prepared for the candidates on the topics that matter to you.  Ask the incumbent why did they do what they did, ask the other candidates on what they will do and let them know if they break their campaign promises it will cost them their job.  Read up on the platforms and be a knowledgeable voter.

The next big, very big thing is to vote.  I have voted in EVERY municipal, provincial and federal election since 1988.  If you don't vote then don't complain as you not voting indicated that anyone who gets voted in is fine by you! Not everyone who I voted for got into office.  All too many were a disappointment or their party was a disappointment.  When that happens I look at the next election as an opportunity to correct that. 

Participate in the process.  Decades ago I volunteered for a campaign and got an excellent education on what it takes a candidate to run for office.