Carolyn Grant
What a week in the headlines. There have been some incredible highs and lows, even aside from the scourge of terrorism which we read about on a daily basis.
First, Glenn Frey passes away. That one hit me, dear readers. I was shocked when David Bowie passed away earlier this month. Even somewhat saddened. I’d always listened to Bowie of course, but he was so bizarre, so out there, such an untouchable rock star. I remember going to a movie he was in, ‘The Man Who Fell to Earth’, and after watching it, was unable to say more than, “That was definitely a movie with David Bowie in it.” Didn’t understand it. At. All.
But Glenn Frey? I understood him. He wore his hair long like all the guys I knew. He wore the faded jeans, the denim jacket. And his music, The Eagles, played in the background through all my teen years. The Eagles were always on the radio, and that’s how we heard music back in those halcyon days. Well, on eight-track too. In any event, Glenn Frey’s death was really sad. But it also made me pause a few moments to think about those teen years, drifting down the lake with my friends — our boats tied together with the outboard motors off and The Eagles playing on a tinny transistor radio. Nothing wrong with those memories at all.
Let’s lighten the mood with some comedy, shall we? Sarah Palin has endorsed Donald Trump. Yup, that’s what I said. She endorsed him with a long, rambling speech — one writer called it a ‘word salad’, which perfectly sums it up. It was incoherent, full of red meat and guns for the Tea Party crowd. It was everything we learned about Sarah Palin when she first appeared on the scene some eight years ago as John McCain’s running mate. The New York Daily News, which has really put out some epic front pages in recent weeks, ran a huge photo of Trump and Palin and an even larger headline, which read, “I’m With Stupid”. Awesome. With a side order of awesome sauce. Well, at least Palin can show Trump where Russia is. She can point it out from her porch. Perhaps when The Donald is done making ‘Murica great again, he can get to work on Russia.
A scientist has projected that by the year 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in the world’s oceans. Ponder that over your morning cereal.
The loonie continues its freefall. Driven by factors beyond the control of any one government, namely the plummeting price of oil worldwide, the loonie is not fairing well. The Bank of Canada, worried about the amount of household debt carried by the average Canadian, as well as other weighty matters, is keeping interest rates low, even as they are raised in the U.S. But amid all this, there is one burning question. How long is the Canadian public going to sit and placidly accept paying over $1 a litre for gas, when oil is at historic lows? How many times are we going to swallow the same tired excuse from Big Oil? Supply is tight, there’s a refinery down, it’s a holiday weekend — gas always goes up on a holiday weekend because there’s such a demand for it. And of course, the favourite — it’s all taxes.
There’s lots of oil out there, real cheap oil. You got a short supply? Get more. Taxes are merely a percentage of overall cost. If the price drops, it’s still the same percentage of a smaller number. Over-simplified? Of course, but I am getting pretty sick of swallowing the same weak explanations. We are paying too much for gas. Period.
Let me get my rage under control and end with this. Consider life in North Korea, must be pretty bleak. Many times, people living a bleak existence like to have a drink or two to wash their sorrows away. This week, North Korea made a bold claim. No, not a nuclear test or pronouncement on the greatness of Kim Jong Un, better than that. A liquor that doesn’t give you a hangover. Wow. Get me some of that. Of course, last June, North Korea said it had developed a ginseng-based drug that could prevent and cure Ebola, SARS and AIDS. Sounds like a great place. What do you suppose they pay for gas in North Korea?
Carolyn Grant is Editor of the
Kimberley Daily Townsman
