Recently published obscenity in the media (SFW)

I can’t get this story out of my head.

On Wednesday, I happened to read a story in the International Herald Tribune on the income of hedge fund managers. It turns out that the top 50 managers collectively made $29 billion. The top manager, John Paulson, made $3.7 billion last year.

Think of it. $3.7 billion. Net. In one year.

Now, to put this in perspective, to make $3.7 billion in a year, you would have to rake in over $10 million per day, for 365 days. Or $1.35 million per hour of a “working man’s day.” How about $375 per second?

This dude made more money in one year than the entire GDP of any of 58 countries last year. I’m not sure that I’d want to brag that I made more money than the Central African Republic, but less than Kosovo. But I could say that I made more money than Monaco and Liechtenstein put together. Now, that's class!

Setting aside the ethical and moral issues around one person making such a horrendous amount of money, how can once conceivably spend it all? I dunno about you, but think I could get by with a few million a year – maybe less, who knows – but how would I spend the rest? Event if I was to keep $100 million for myself, what do I do with the remaining $3,600 million?

Well, maybe I could by a basic Toyota Prius ($29,000) for everyone in who lives in in the city of Nepean, where I live (population ca. 123,000) with enough money left over to buy everyone a tank of gas.

If I was feeling really philanthropical, I could buy 30 kilos of rice (at $0.50 per kilo) for every man, woman and child in the Philippines and Bangladesh. Think of it. Thirty kilos of rice for 245,000,000 people!

And this is the amount of money Paulson made IN ONE YEAR.

I can’t help but think that there is something seriously wrong with our Western capitalist system. Capitalism reminds me of Science. There’s nothing wrong with the system itself, but I think there is something seriously wrong with the values of a group of people that get plugged into the system.

75 Years ago: A democracy destroys itself

It was 75 years ago that the German Reichstag (the parliament at the time) passed the Enabling Act. The passing of this Act effectively destroyed what remained of Germany's democracy at that time.

This Act enabled the Reich government, and more specifically Hitler as Chancellor and his Cabinet, to promulgate and implement laws without referral to its Parliament. It allowed the implementation of the Nazi government's racist and repressive laws.

One should stop a moment and think about this...

75 years ago: Death of a democracy

Today is the 75th anniversary of the Reichstag Fire Decree. I scanned the web for a mention of the Decree, and I couldn't find any other than yesterday's article on the Reichstag Fire.

I find it odd and sad that the item of greater import, the slaying of the Weimar Republic by Hitler and his cronies, was outweighed by the media reporting the 75th anniversary of the Reichstag fire itself. For sure, the fire precipitated the Decree, but the Decree inscribed in law the restriction of "...rights of personal freedom, freedom of opinion, including the freedom of the press, the freedom to organize and assemble, the privacy of postal, telegraphic and telephonic communications, and warrants for house searches, orders for confiscations as well as restrictions on property." It enabled abuses, physical and moral intimidation and violence, the persecution of minorities (especially the Jews), and of murder - all in the name of keeping order in the State.

Today, we take so much for granted. I think it's an injustice to all those who were tortured and killed that we do not take the time to remember what happened 75 years ago.

The maws of hell opened...

75 years ago, Hitler got his chance

Today marks the 75th anniversary of the Reichstag fire, caused by arson. Marinus van der Lubbe, a Dutchman, and unemployed Communist, was accused of the crime, convicted, and executed in 1934.

The fire provided Hitler and his cronies the excuse he needed to seize power, within 24 hours, then Reichspresident Paul Hindenburg issued the Reichstag Fire Decree, which was written up by the Nazis, and which suspended most of the civil liberties enjoyed by German citizens at the time.

A memorial to van der Lubbe is to be unveiled today in his home city of Leiden, Netherlands. It’s interesting to note that at the time of the arson, the maximum sentence for setting fire was eight years imprisonment. The law was changed as a result of the Fire Decree to a death sentence, and that in January 2008, German authorities annulled Lubbe’s 1933 court verdict.

Deutsche Welle has an informative article on the Reichstag fire on its website.

75th anniversary of Hitler's installation as Chancellor

I’m a WW II buff. In today’s RFF feed of “On this day,” I read that on January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler was named the German Chancellor. Today is the 75th anniversary of Hitler’s installation.

I didn’t see this written up anywhere in my local paper, but a quick search with GoogleNews revealed that at least some people in the rest of the world had not let this anniversary pass unnoticed. Der Spiegel has a well-written article describing the context of Hitler’s accession to power.

It’s hard to believe, but within seven months of Hitler’s accession to the Chancellorship, people’s rights were curtailed or eliminated, people thrown into prison for their political, religious, or other beliefs, and opposition parties were abolished. Within these short seven months, a democracy was transformed into a dictatorship, and the seeds were sown for the persecution of the innocent, be they Jews, homosexuals, Gypsies, or anyone else which did not conform to the Nazis’ ideals of the “German race.” And a world war would follow.

The next important 75th anniversary days are:

· 27 February: The burning of the Reichstag
· 28 February: Hitler’s proclamation “Decree for the protection of the people and the state”
· 23 March: The final meeting of Germany’s parliament (the last until 1990)
· 1 April: The beginning of the persecution of the Jews in Hitler’s Germany
· 2 May: Outlawing of labour unions

Lest we forget…

Our Common Future: 20 years later, it's a joke

Gawd knows that I'm busy, too busy in fact to take the time to update my blog. (It's a shame, really, I quite enjoy writing.) Perhaps it's the fact that nothing has happened lately that has motivated me to write. But something did happen to change that.

I read a story in the International Herald Tribune entitled "UN issues 'final wake-up call' on population and environment" outlining the fourth report in the Global Environment Outlook (GEO-4) assessment which was published back in October 2007. (Why write about it now?)

The article mentioned that it was over 20 years since Gro Harlem Brundtland's landmark report Our Common Future was published. I didn't dissect the article, just skimmed over it, and realized that things really haven't changed, at least not in a way that that would substantially reduce mankind's impact on the global ecosystem. In fact, things are worse, and it's not hard to see that given the way things are going that we are going to deplete fish stocks on which we depend, eliminate biodiversity in much of the world, reduce forests to tree nurseries, and increase the rate of climate change. That's if things don't change. Predictably, the article reports:

"The program described its report, which is prepared by 388 experts and scientists, as the broadest and deepest of those that the UN issues on the environment and called it 'the final wake-up call to the international community.'"

Hah. "Final wake-up call" indeed! How many more "final wake-up calls" will we need, collectively, before we take action? Too many, since I think that things will have to get worse, a LOT worse, before any real action will be taken. And by that time, it will be too late.

I realize that in the 20 years since Bruntland's report, the only thing that changed was me. Twenty years ago, I was optimistic. I had faith in people, and that decision-makers would act with foresight and in the best interest of all.

Since then, I've learned a little bit about human nature and about politics. I now realize that nothing can beat 99% of people's appetite for apathy and greed, and that everyone is in it for themselves. And the 99% of the remaining 1% who think that they can "make a difference" in the world are simply deluding themselves since they cannot carry out any real effective action. And that little that remains (the 1% of 1%) that CAN make a difference, will get corrupted, co-opted or otherwise brought into line with the group-think of the decision-makers.

All this to say is that I'm betting that, in about 50 years time, mankind will be on the "endangered species list."

'nuff said. Time to get back to work.

...then the other end

Ugh. Again.

I had my colonoscopy today, part of the Government of Ontario's Colorectal Cancer Screening Program, and let's just say that it was a memorable event. Heh. But first some background.

Colorectal cancer is the second deadliest form of cancer in Canada, but it is preventable if detected in its early stages, so it makes sense that the Government is in investing $193.5 million over the next five years to implement and expand the program to increase access to colorectal cancer screening for Ontarians aged 50 years or older. (See press release.)

I got a call for my screening in early summer, and on the advice of my physician, he advised me to get a colonoscopy. I agreed. I met the gastroenterologist later that summer, and he explained the procedure. He said the colonoscopy would take about 15 to 20 minutes in total.

Yesterday, I fasted all day (well, liquid diet only), interspersed with two doses of sodium phosphate solution. My afternoon was spent running to the bathroom every 15 minutes or so. By 9 PM last night, there was nothing left in my gut. I know that for a fact. I didn't mind that so much as not being able to eat for a whole day.

Since Cheryl was very busy at work and preparing for her upcoming trip to Brazil, I had asked my sister Françoise if she could pick me up from the hospital. Not only did she agree, but she offered to drive me there in the early morning. What a sister... ;-)

The documentation that I had from the gastroenterologist and the Ottawa Hospital indicated that I should show up half an hour before my appointment. Clearly their literature was out of date, because when I got there at 6:30 AM, the sign on the clinic door said that it opens at 7:00 AM. Damn, we could have slept in an extra half-hour...

After my check-in and exchanging my clothes for an open-backed gown and bathrobe, an IV stent into a vein on the back of my hand (for sedation), and a 30 minute wait, I was admitted into a small cubicle with a large TV. My gastroenterologist greeted me, and proceeded to sedate me. After about 30 seconds, I got to feeling pretty good...

I then lay on my left side like this and then introduced the colonoscope. The first 5 to 10 minutes weren't bad - just the discomfort of feeling bloated with gas. Unfortunately, the doc had difficulty navigating the ascending colon (see diagram), and it took him extra time (and me, extra sedation) before the 'scope made its way down to the caecum. Finally, the exam was over and he withdrew the scope. The doc then told me that my bowel looked okay. I barely heard him, because by this time I was exhausted and the drugs were running strong... I don't even remember how I got to the recovery room. I just felt drugged-up and bloated. In the recovery room, the nurse removed the IV and I was allowed to leave after a 40-minute wait, at about 9:30 AM.

I'd hoped to have my first decent meal in 4 days at a Cora's restaurant on the way home, but the drugs still had hold of me and I asked Fran to drive me home. Once arrived, I had some yogurt and Fran tucked me in before leaving at about 10:30. I slept with the dog and cat curled up beside me for a couple of hours.

I don't feel too badly now, though I still feel the effects of the drugs. Mostly, I just feel tired and "out of it." Before I left the hospital, the nurse told me that I should be fine by Saturday morning.

I can't say that it was a pleasurable experience, but I'm glad I had the colonoscopy done, if only for my peace of mind about colorectal cancer.

And, it was kind of neat, really, being able to see the inside of my gut!