Under the Microscope

I watched with uncharacteristic interest as Barack Obama addressed
the US Congress a couple of weeks ago...
Obama's an intriguing political presence.
Economy, Education and Health Care...three areas of focus for his
administration...costly initiatives to be funded by trillions
of dollars recouped from scrapping inefficient, wasteful progams
of the previous government(s).
I am optimistic that he will have some success. Only time will
tell.
I do question bailing out the automakers. That may prove to be
good money after bad. I suspect that without life support from
taxpayers GM, Ford and Chrysler would all fold. Massive,
unwieldly, wasteful and inefficient, the North American car
makers represent in a snapshot what went wrong in the
"system." For decades the " Big Three" have been guilty of
throwing crap at the wall hoping something would stick worried
little about quality and customer satisfaction - concerned more
with fragile bottom lines and ridiculous executive payoffs.
Instinct tells me that from the ashes of the dinosaur -
corporations faster, stronger and more responsible would rise
seeing opportunity to create something good..and lasting.
We don't need companies dependant on government handouts.
We need companies that provide needed products - that can
bring those products to market, reasonably.
I hope that Canadians will someday soon see a similar strategy
employed in this country. Government focus on what we need.
Our once admirable healthcare system is in shambles. Our
education system resembles a carmaker and our taxes are
wasted on programs that sheild our politicians and civil
servants from anything close to accountability.
The CBC is begging for increased funding.They would have
us believe the 1.1 billion taxpayer dollars on which the
CBC survives is insufficient. The CBC, like many corporate
"bad dreams" has simply gotten too big and no longer
serves the master for which it was created. I support
a public broadcaster in Canada. I support every Canadian
helping to foot the bill. But - a responsible public
system would involve one Canadian Engish TV network -
one Canadian French TV network and one radio network in
each official language. In fact the time may have come
to pull the plug on even that - and make the whole service
web-based. 24 hours a day - all Canadian content ...on
5 percent of their current budget Canadians should be
able to enjoy, top Canadian quality - a major improvement
over much of what the CBC currently programs.A little less
Peter Mainsbridge and a little less Ron MacLean, would not,
in my view, necessarily be a bad thing.
In my last blog I used some lyrics from a song from an album
by Rice, Rice, Hillman and Pedersen...nothing wrong with the
lyrics but for anyone who may be trying to track down the song -
the title is " Out Among the Stars " not "Moment of Glory"...
the problem with aging is that the braincramps occur more
frequently and I only catch the odd one.
It is the middle of March. Time to start working on
the first " Atlantic Golf Radio Magazine E-Newsletter"
of the season. We'll be teeing it up again before we know
it. If you want to register for the newsletter just go
to the website ( www.atlanticgolfradio.com ) ...tips, golf
quotes, the odd editorial comment, places to play and things
that are going on in the Maritime Canadian golf community...
it's an easy read that attempts to entertain.
Time for me to go to work..I leave you with this quote
from golf pro Paul Goydos commenting on a particularly
treacherous golf course..." It's like playing Scrabble
without any of the vowels."
Til next time...Happy trials...and make it a good day.
Don