Editor, The Times:
In William Shirer’s The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich there is a scene in which Adolph Hitler was handed some figures that showed Russian tank production was three times that of the German rate. Hitler is said to have ripped it all up in a rage.
He didn’t want to hear it. He did virtually the same when presented with U.S. production figures of bombers and ship building.
Hitler preferred to retreat into a world of Teutonic myth and super weapons that were going to result in the Third Reich’s triumph in the end.
Let’s see here. Just a few weeks ago a storm swept through the Lower Mainland, the Gulf Islands, and the east side of Vancouver Island. It was, as was observed, the worst ever.
Saltspring Island where I used to live was without power for close to two weeks. The storm had not only pulled down wire, but destroyed much of the power infrastructure – poles, transformers, etc. There never had been anything like this in recorded history.
Drought in Scandinavia, the Northwest and Northeast Passages open. Then of course there were those dreadful wildfires in Northern and Southern California where 80-some odd people died rather gruesome deaths. This is all very real. No matter what one wants to believe.
They say Ivan the Terrible used to spear the messengers that brought him bad news. The way Jim Lamberton verbally speared Keith McNeil in last week’s Times, well, just another example of kill the messenger.
Perhaps while sipping his coffee with his buddies in the “Wells” while sounding off on his rightwing version of how the world should be Lamberton, like Ivan the Terrible, doesn’t want to hear any bad news?
One wonders when Soviet T-34 tanks were rolling through the streets of Berlin and Russian artillery shells were hitting the Reichstag, did Adolph Hitler ever think maybe he should have paid more attention to those Russian tank production figures?
With climate change it’s, as my waggish friend puts it, like a man sitting on a riverbank with a big crocodile sneaking up on him. You don’t turn your back on him or try to ignore his presence. You either shoot the beast or run for your life.
Dennis Peacock,
Clearwater B.C.
