Food for Thought

The Canadian Parliament resumed operation this week after being prorogued (suspended) for two months by PM Harper. This is highly unusual. Other leaders who suspended their legislatures, with their countries, from whom Harper may have learned are, Adolph Hitler (Germany, 1933), Francisco Franco (Spain, 1939), Benito Mussolini (Italy, 1939), August Pinochet (Chile 1973). A (pro)rogues gallery if ever there was one!- Indicators of the deepening recession and who pays the price keep surfacing – Microsoft lays off workers, 5 000, for the first time in its 34 year history.- In “The World is sinking in a Sea of Debt” (Toronto Star 24/01/09) Brett Popplewell tells us that we are all poor, that Western society has existed on credit for three decades and if each member of the G7 were to make good on all their liabilities, they would all be forced intobankruptcy. Apparently, Canada owes (in US dollars) $266.199 billion, US owes S7.39 trillion, UK owes $793.346 billion, France owes $1.5 trillion, Germany owes $1.85 trillion, Italy owes $2.13 trillion, Japan owes $5.7 trillion. John Ayers