The Supply Chain and Inflation The images of ships anchored off California are startling, and we are told it will take a year to unload just those, then add the fact we are short of truck drivers. Now when I need a new model plane to build, or someone needs another pair of shoes, or needs to change the curtains because the “new” colours are not what they have - whatever - we have to wait. This in itself is not that bad - I bet 60% of what we buy is superfluous. However, the people who sell this stuff need to make sales to keep shops open. We need to keep circulating currency - and that’s the point. When money stops circulating, stops being available, things begin to tighten up. When the shopkeepers stop making profits, landlords, utilities, taxes - the list gets long - don’t get paid. People who make stuff find that other people are not buying, so they make less (get laid off). It's a downward spiral. Not enough money is circulating. So when multi millionaires and billionaires take their yearly average of 35% of currency out of the public sphere (their profits) and park them in offshore bank accounts or Wall Street, they automatically tighten the system. Governments are forced to create more free currency to keep the financial system running. This is the true nature of inflation. The wealthy need to be taxed (more heavily) to put more money back on the streets - back in circulation. Unless this happens, things will end badly.
An Ageing Canadian Population Ten years ago the elderly accounted for 14% of the population. Today it’s 18%, and by 2030 almost 1 in 4 Canadians will be over 65. How to house them (us) especially with rising rates of dementia and Alzheimer will be an enormous problem. On the bright side, 30 years from now most of them (us) will be dead. I suggest that those responsible for addressing this issue consider the construction of housing units which will be easily converted after the baby boomers have left the building. ![]() The Unicorn Cartoon It’s funny and politically charged. It’s obviously about climate change and deniers. But there will be no ark this time - we are all in this boat together (excuse the pun). A deeper meaning might be that it’s the way climate change deniers think - “climate change is a hoax, a natural occurrence” and it’s those who will become extinct. I do wonder when things begin to go really bad, where climate deniers will find solid ground. (sorry, puns galore) Not coincidentally many climate deniers are supporters of continuing the oil industry as it is. They deride all forms of alternative energy and go to lengths to point out the weaknesses of alternatives. Let’s keep pumping oil - the more the better. But what will happen if they are wrong? It’s happening now. Sunday, Nov 14, - first snowfall - didn’t stay on the ground, but on the car for a bit. Friday, Nov 19, - Kyle Rittenhouse found not guilty on all five counts. Wednesday, Nov 24, - Travis McMichael, who shot and killed Ahmaud Arbery 9 (the black jogger), his father, Gregory McMichael and William "Roddie" Bryan Jr. were found guilty. Saturday, Nov 27, significant snowfall and Michigan beats Ohio State (NCAA football) Monday, Nov 29, Brenda, our cleaning person was in last Thursday and wore a mask as she said she thought she had a cold. Turns out she had covid. We were called and required to come in for testing. Peter and I test negative, but Mum was positive. Omicron arrives in Canada ![]() Read The Last Time Around Cape Horn: The Historic 1949 Voyage of the Windjammer Pamir by William F. Stark 2004 Really enjoyed this memoir. A young man follows his dream - to sail on the last voyage of a large sailing ship - the Pamir, from Australia to England. The era of sail is ending and this will be his last chance. Just out of the service and with few funds, he takes a cheap flight from Italy to Australia. It was cheap because it made a dozen overnight stops enroute. He falls in love and has an affair with the only female (she was married) on the flight and he has to make the decision - to continue the journey or follow her and hope she will get a divorce. He continues on towards the Pamir without a spot in the crew. Waiting two months as the Pamir is readied, he lands a job - even though he’s never sailed. Goodreads reviews here ![]() Hellman and Hammett: The Legendary Passion of Lillian Hellman and Dashiel Hammett Joan Mellon, 1997 Hellman: As a playwright, Hellman had many successes on Broadway, including Watch on the Rhine, The Autumn Garden, Toys in the Attic, Another Part of the Forest, The Children's Hour and The Little Foxes. She adapted her semi-autobiographical play The Little Foxes into a screenplay, which starred Bette Davis. Hellman became the first female screenwriter to receive an individual Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay in 1941. Hammett: An American author of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories. He was also a screenwriter and political activist. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam Spade (The Maltese Falcon), Nick and Nora Charles (The Thin Man), the Continental Op (Red Harvest and The Dain Curse) and the comic strip character Secret Agent X-9. He is now widely regarded as one of the finest mystery writers of all time. This is not romantic passion in the strict sense of the word. Early in the relationship Hellman procured women for threesomes. They never married and both had a long series of sexual partners during their years together. Both were alcoholics and chain smokers. Hellman was financially very successful, while Hammett, though equally successful, spent everything he earned as soon as he had it - living in luxury hotels with maids and a chauffeur much of his life. Very interesting read for the most part - though I was a bit bored reading of their political affiliations and her attempts to curtail Hammett biographies. Goodreads reviews here ![]() Viewed Gluck: Who Did She think He Was 2017 Youtube Born Hannah Gluckstein (1895 – 1978) she was a British painter, who rejected any forename or prefix (such as ‘Miss’ or ‘Mr.’), as Gluck was gender-nonconforming. Gluck joined the Lamorna artists’ colony near Penzance, and was noted for portraits and floral paintings, as well as a new design of picture-frame. Gluck's relationships with a number of women included one with Nesta Obermer: the artist's joint self-portrait with Obermer (Medallion) is viewed as an iconic lesbian statement. Interesting personality trying to live her life in a less liberal time. She came from a very wealthy family and lived in luxury. View trailer here Mile Davis: The Birth of Cool 2020 Netflix The story of the jazz trumpeter Miles Davis. Rotten Tomatoes gives it ratings of 92/82. I enjoyed it - he did have an amazing ego. View trailer here Richard Jewel 2019 Netflix Stars Paul Walter Hauser as Jewel. (FTW) An American security guard and law enforcement officer who alerted police during the Centennial Olympic Park bombing at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. He discovered a backpack containing three pipe bombs on the park grounds and helped evacuate the area before the bomb exploded, saving many people from injury or death. For months afterwards he was suspected of planting the bomb, leading to adverse publicity that "came to symbolize the excesses of law enforcement and the news media. Directed by Clint Eastwood. View trailer here ![]() Cowboy and Bebop 2021 Netflix (series) Based on Japanese comic book characters, this real life sci-fi bounty hunting trio with a jazz based soundtrack - is lots of fun (IMO). View trailer here The Poison Rose 2019 Prime John Travolta and Morgan Freeman in a film noir. FTW “Set in 1978, the plot centers on Los Angeles private investigator Carson Phillips. He is hired to conduct an investigation in his Texas hometown where mental facility patient Barbara Poole has been incommunicado for some time, which has her L.A. based niece worried about her well-being.” It only gets worse from there. Only need to watch if you are trying to fall asleep. View trailer here Also continue to watch American Rust (Jeff Daniels) and the Yellowstone (Kevin Costner) series. Cole Hauser who plays Rip on Yellowstone, has an interesting background. One of his maternal great grandfathers was Henry Warner founding partner of Warner Bros., and his maternal grandfather was filmmaker and screenwriter Milton Sperling.
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AuthorI believe we are what we think. What we think depends on what we feed our brains. This is a partial record of what my brain has been eating. Archives
February 2023
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