As you might have noticed, I have taken a bit of an unscheduled blog break. Sometimes things just get too busy… sometimes I just don’t feel like I have anything of value to say. On this day after Father’s Day, I should credit my father who taught me (among other things) that it is OK to say nothing. In fact, sometimes its preferable.
It so happens that there are so many things going on in the world that silence is bound to end.
The disaster in the Gulf of Mexico remains top of mind. Previous to the current chaos, one of the worst oil spills in history was the Exxon Valdez – a tanker that spilled 250,000 barrels of crude (10.8 million U.S. gallons) into Prince William Sound, Alaska in 1989. The effects of that disaster are still felt more then 20 years later. To put it in perspective, it is now estimated that the Deepwater Horizon collapse is spilling 60,000 U.S. gallons per day – meaning each 4 days is the equivalent of the Exxon Valdez. That’s 15 tanker loads and counting with the only apparent end in sight not coming until August… maybe! How sadly ironic it is that the rig causing all this collapsed on Earth Day (April 22).
I can’t imagine the impact of this on the eco system and the lives and livelihoods of the people who live around the Gulf of Mexico.
Obama blames BP – with cause - but where are all the regulators hiding? No company should have the ability to cause such disaster.
Changing gears, I had to smile last week when I received a petition to stop the HST. This proposal was originally tabled in the September 2009 Provincial budget and is set to launch on July 1st. Does anyone really think it can be stopped now?
I was reading the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants paper on the budget and Sales Tax Reform and find it hard to believe there is any benefit to businesses or taxpayers other then a single reporting system. I am afraid to find out but would be interested to know what % of our income actually goes to tax including all the hidden taxes, the sales taxes, income taxes.
The FIFA World Cup is in full swing and almost every car I pass has a flag flying from the window. In addition, many an afternoon is interrupted by loud horns honking in celebration of a country's victory. I am admittedly a marginal soccer fan and have had difficulty getting interested in the 2010 tournament. I'm not entirely sure but think that the horn (vuvuzela) buzzing in the stadium is not helping. In the past I have gotten really interested – perhaps I can turn down the sound, rededicate myself and that passion will return! However, maybe not - the NBA finals just wrapped up and despite the fact that the Lakers were playing the Celtics, every time I turned it on it just seemed boring.
Cheers and have a great day!
George
"where are all the regulators hiding? No company should have the ability to cause such disaster." - Odd how few people in the media have mad that point. You would think that on a project that potentially harmful there would be 24/7 federal oversight. The biggest shock in this whole story as far as I am concerned was never that they were so irresponsible but that they seemed to have largely been responsible for "policing" themselves. Like that ever works in any industry..
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