President H.W. Bush

Read My Lips

As a Canadian I have a somewhat remote attachment to any U.S. President. I do think that their 41st was one of the best. I believe many of my American neighbours share my feelings.

If the "Read My Lips" comment about no more taxes is the worst entry in his legacy then it is one to be admired. Since he raised a son who became President as well I believe that puts him into a very unique league.

He was a strong leader and apparently a devoted husband. His wife was highly admired. The man had integrity, guts and loads of experience including serving as Vice President and I just read head of the CIA. If there were any scandals, he was smart enough not to get caught. I remember an interview once in which he took the host to task for even hinting at scandal. The look he gave that anchor said it all. The topic was instantly dropped.

America and the world need more of the likes of him, Reagan, Kennedy, and yes - Obama.

So again I fast forward to the present and say to the voters south of me: "What were you thinking? After men like this? Give your heads a shake!"


The Brewster

Demise of Petroleum Fuel Cars

Facing Reality is Extremely Tough

Yesterday November 26th, 2018 many families were shocked to hear that their livelihood with General Motors would soon disappear. GM named 3 car production plants - 2 in America and 1 in Canada, and 2 transmission plants in America that have been scheduled to close.

This must be devastating news. The truth is however, that it is inevitable and probably overdue. The internal combustion engine and the entire industry that produces its fuel have to wind down. They are killing or will be killing either us or our future generations - our kids.

I have to think that the families of all those associated with steam locomotives; coal miners; horse-drawn buggies; tube driven electronics; the Telex and telegraph services; taxi driving; and paddle wheel water craft to name a few all felt similar emotions.

We only have ourselves as consumers to blame. To their credit countries in other parts of the world at least have a history of driving much smaller and more efficient vehicles than the North American gas guzzlers and muscle machines. We all should have been pushing governments and industry to provide us with less polluting alternatives years ago. Many cities elsewhere also made sensible public transportation a priority.

An Indian company - Tata - produces a vehicle powered by compressed air. I just viewed a list of 10 cars from India, China, France and Italy all priced under $10,000. At present however, most North Americans would turn their nose up at the prospect of driving these. And there is the biggest problem.

We have generally moved away from the monster cars of the '50s and '60s but it is time to downscale again. It will be much easier to power such vehicles on other energy sources like electricity.

I suggest that one way government(s) could help out is to create a division whose sole purpose is to find inventions and technology being pursued by others elsewhere in the world and to make it known to us. Then they should state areas of priority and make money available to private individuals and corporations to develop our own versions of them. 

Another objective should be to cooperate and form relationships with those other countries to develop and enhance these potential products together. This seems to work well in the space industry - why not transportation here on earth?

Governments throw money at problems usually resulting in more reports and studies - aka stalling. It is time for a leader who can deliver some new solutions and the jobs associated with them. JFK boasted that America would land on the moon within 10 years. They did.

The Brewster

Hazing Etc.

Sick: Too Much Harry Potter?

Recently in the local Toronto news was a story that unfortunately is all too common both in Canada and beyond. It described a so-called "Hazing" or initiation incident at a local and generally highly regarded private school for boys - St. Michael's College School.

The event apparently involved new students being subjected - sick as it is - to being forcibly sodomized by more senior students with a broom handle while others watched, pointed their cameras, and did nothing. Many of them now have this video on their cameras.

In the feature it also mentioned similar incidents where the victims were new football players at the university level at a different institution of "higher learning."

I was a "Frosh" once at university. Yes some just plain silly and sometimes humiliating things were done to new students. Never were they forced and never did it involve these kinds of acts. Participation was expected but voluntary. Sometimes you wore silly clothes; sometimes you were to repeat embarrassing phrases about yourself; often you were to pretend you were a dead horse with arms and legs in the air. Violence was rare and somebody would step in if it went too far.

The above however is just plain sick. To their credit the school involved police and parents after the media published the story. The police have now said this meets the definition of child porn and recommended deleting any copies of it. 

In my view, the perpetrators should be immediately expelled - apparently some students were - and perhaps the parents should forfeit their tuition or a large portion of it. I would even favour mandatory court-imposed counselling. What else will change future behaviour? Maybe responsible parents would warn their kids of the consequences.

Some will say this reaction is extreme - they were only having fun that got a bit carried away. Carried away? What is fun about pushing a piece of wood up someone's anus against their will while they are held down? What kind of mind even conceives of such stuff? Is this some quirky Harry Potter syndrome - the all powerful broom? (No offence intended to all the legitimate readers and fans.)

There have been cases over the years where young people have been seriously injured and died during such rituals. Surely it doesn't matter if it involves men, soldiers, women,  or teammates of the toughest character - it is sick. Try it on anyone outside of a school or team environment and you will end up behind bars for assault.

Maybe it is just that Harry came after my childhood. Anybody hold similar views?

The Brewster

Bombs in the Mail in America

Where is Capital Punishment when you Need it?

There are some crimes for which I wish the death penalty still existed and was automatic. The current campaign of pipe bombs being delivered to specific addresses is one of them. Imagine opening one of these or just being in its proximity and suffering the effects of its detonation.

Other such crimes to me are first degree murder, terrorism resulting in death, and kidnapping, whether the hostage is returned unharmed or not if the victim or their loved ones were told the victim would be killed. Just try to feel what hostages feel not knowing when and how they are going to die.

Many will take up the usual cry about punishment not working because statistics show that criminals still repeat their offences after punishment blah, blah, blah. To them I say - not after this punishment they won't! We do not need these people in our lives and they have zero respect for ours.

By all means make it humane but make it effective and well understood. 

The Brewster

Annoying Commercials

Worse than Fingernails on a Chalkboard

How about hearing from you as to what TV commercials annoy you the most. Here are a few that I can't stand. Who comes up with these and the characters?

Full kudos to the actors. I will avoid their personal names. This is not about them. If they annoy me so much they are probably doing their job. It is the people that think some of this idiocy will incent me to buy their product or service that I dislike.

Captain Obvious - This guy is featured in Hotels.com commercials and I can't stand them. I have not seen one of them that even makes me grin - I just groan and hope it will be over soon. I had to look him up to recall what company he represented - how effective is that?

Trivago - These are right up there - or down there - with Captain Obvious on the groan scale. I think they started in 2013 - great for this guy who must be rich by now. I have to admit that in this case I did remember the company and actually did refer to the Trivago site because of it. I didn't use it but it must have worked. Now if they would just teach him how to dance! That 360 he does looks like a five year old being instructed by his mother to turn around while the camera is rolling. Thankfully I am not seeing him as much anymore.

Toronto Dominion Bank (TD Bank) - This one might be known to Canadians only. There is a guy who is supposed to be a TD financial advisor. He has black hair, large dark framed glasses, and a full black beard that somehow looks phony. It is his voice that gets me the most - makes me cringe. Please TD - put him back in the vault somewhere. I really want someone to pull his beard just like they did with Donald Trump's hair one time just to see if it comes off.

Ruby Tuesday - Worst of the bunch for this company is the actress in the red dress playing a keyboard. I won't waste any more words on this. I will say when I travel in the USA I do really enjoy their menu and buffet - despite the commercials. I happened to visit a location long before I had even heard of them and I have returned since. There you go. Now pay me instead.

All Lawyer Commercials - I probably dislike these the most - especially the classic ambulance chasers. Just imagine - here we have people raking in a fortune on the backs of the death or serious injury of others. Featured in most of them are one or more of the principals who, if they are actually intelligent, must realize that hiring a professional actor would be more effective than making asses of themselves on TV. There is at least one case here in Canada where I know the dignified man on the camera is a professional actor (he used to do a cannonball in a vacation commercial) and he does a great job - far more attention getting than the "we care" images of others. As might be expected they are starting to implement regulations whereby it must be stated that such a person is indeed an actor.

Other "Professionals" - Everything that applies in the previous entry about lawyers also applies to the Trustees In Bankruptcy people. They probably can help certain people but wow does it ever cost! I have to include here all the commercials that feature a person wearing a white lab coat and posing as a dentist, doctor, or pharmacist. Again there should be a very clear statement if they are actors, that they are not qualified professionals in their particular discipline.

Pepto Bismol - Not a really big country music fan but include it in a commercial with some western singers mentioning nausea; heartburn; indigestion; and then upset stomach and diarrhea while turning their butts to the camera - surely that would put anyone off. Perhaps there were complaints because now there is a more hip group of three doing synchronised movement while dressed in PB pink! Still not a fan. Maybe that is the plan - now I reach for the stuff before I ralph my guts out!

What are some of your most disliked?

The Brewster