What legacy are we leaving behind?

The birth of a new grandchild has left me thinking about the world that she will know when she grows up.

When I was born the world was between World War 2 and the Korean conflict.  When I turned 12, two seemingly intransigent foes almost came to nuclear blows.  By 20 years I was protesting Vietnam.  And on it went.  I am now 60+ and I write about our soldiers killed in Afghanistan.  Is that want I want for little Tegan?

Back in the 70's a movie was released called "Suppose they gave a war and nobody came?"  The title came from a "hippy-culture" anti-war slogan from the 60's.  The movie was a comedic drama which explored the reactions of WW2 veterans to the contemporary U.S. Army.  It might be fun to do a update to the movie exploring the reactions of former Canadian Peacekeepers, during the days that we had such a beast, to the contemporary Canadian military.

But back to the topic at hand... Tegan's world as she grows up.

Is it fair for her to live under the veil of terrorism?  Should her food have to be genetically modified in order to be plentiful?  Should her playground need to be a 5 x 5 foot green and brown space in the middle of a rapidly "densifying" city?  Should she have to witness genocide on the TV (or a super-smart phone in her case) news?  Should she have to decide her vote on which candidate will not go to war?

Nobody's grandchild should have to live that way.

Suppose we gave a peace and everybody came?

Something to think about in the CNOOC takeover

I have been closely following the proposed takeover of NEXEN by CNOOC.  In all the rhetoric and verse that has been penned in past six months there appears to be a couple of items that have been overlooked.

If the Chinese spend $15.5 billion for an oil exploration company, with holdings in the Alberta oil sands, doesn't it follow that they may want to use some of the oil in China?  Yes?  So how will they get it from Ft McMurray to Shanghai.  The Northern Gateway Pipeline?

You may notice that the Harper government has been pretty quiet on the pipeline as of late.  Is it because they are talking with the Chinese about it?

Secondly, you can't help but applaud the speech given by John Baird at the UN this week.  Since we have no trade or relations with Syria and we do not seem to care about the UN, talk is what we do best.

But... where is the resistance at the UN over Syria coming from?  Primarily the Russians, we are told, but also from the Chinese.  So what are we going to do about that?  Nothing.  We will continue to trade with Russia and China wants NEXEN. 

Trade trumps human rights yet again.