World, Thoughts, Flummoxed

The extensive catalogue of policy and character flaws of the current prime minister: Climate change evangelism             Saudi Arabia, which is frequently OPEC in its entirety, exports over half a million barrels of crude oil to Canada per day. Tankers importing Saudi crude are the prime source for refineries which belong to vested interests within eastern Canada. In addition, there seems to be relative lawlessness in terms of dealing with somewhat extreme protesters against the domestic oil and gas industry. There is a flood of conspiracy theories as to the organization and funding of these seemingly radical groups.          In order  to prove in a roundabout way that Justin Trudeau is serious about climate change, the Minister of Environment is Steven Guilbeault. He is a former environmental activist and Greenpeace clown who had previously been arrested for one of his many publicity stunts. He is just as dete...

Both Russias and both Germanies.                                       The genesis of the current war in Ukraine dates from the end of the era of the two German states and of the predecessor of Russia, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR / CCCP). Less than a year after German reunification during a family trip to Berlin, I saw the withdrawal of some of the last battalions of the Red Army, trucks full of ethnic Mongolians. The process of removing vestiges of the old regime was still ongoing - the last few segments of the Berlin Wall and  Stalinallee was renamed to Karl Marx Allee.           The former Soviet embassy on  Unter den Linden became the  Russian embassy, with the statue of the bust of Lenin either hidden underneath a large wooden box or replaced by it.            The most appropriate a...

            Worldwide, there are a number of monarchies which take different forms. There are many constitutional monarchies, of varying degrees. Of many of them, although not every single constitutional monarchy, the head of state in the UK is also the mainly symbolic head of state of the following:  Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu.                 As such, Charles III is head of state of both nations of which I am a citizen. It remains to be seen whether this is a blessing or a curse. Other monarchies                 There are still a number of absolute monarchies. They are mainly in the Middle East. While one of them is actually in  Europe, Vatican City is ruled ...

If you can keep calm and level headed When all around you and further away overreact  Then wonder why you don't see it their way, Even asking what is wrong with you; If you can be patient without becoming irritated, But can understand why something or someone can be irritating; If you are mistreated but don't give in to the temptation  To mistreat others, even those who have done it to you. If you want the seemingly impossible to become a reality And are not afraid of dreaming about it, But don't allow your imagination to get beyond your own self-control; If you remain objective when dealing with setbacks, And see them as an opportunity to learn; If you can criticize objectively, And even persuade a liar that doing so cannot save anyone from the consequences of another lie; If you don't succumb to whataboutery as a means to provoke you, While remaining aware that if you are not moving forward, you are moving backward. If you are dealing with someone who claims th...