Wednesday Night #1495

`The time has come,’ the Walrus said,
`To talk of many things:
Of shoes — and ships — and sealing-wax —
Of cabbages — and kings —
And why the sea is boiling hot —
And whether pigs have wings.’

WE HAVE BEEN DOING THAT – TALKING OF MANY THINGS – WITH YOUR HELP FOR OH, SO MANY WEDNESDAY NIGHTS AT OUR BELOVED 33 ROSEMOUNT. AND WE SHALL CONTINUE TO DO SO IN OUR NEW HOME, ALTHOUGH LIKELY IN SLIGHTLY SMALLER, MORE FOCUSED GATHERINGS, RETURNING TO THE ORIGINAL CONCEPT OF OUR AFTER-CLASS SEMINAR WITH CARL BEIGIE, THE GENESIS OF WEDNESDAY NIGHT.

IN THE THROES OF TRIAGE, PACKING, MOVING, UNPACKING, CLEANING AND STORING, WE MUST WARN YOU THAT THERE WILL BE DOWN TIME FOR OUR COMPUTERS, THOUGH LIKELY NOT UNTIL THE WEEKEND. WE ARE ALSO SUFFERING CONSIDERABLE DOWN TIME IN OUR DAILY – HOURLY – OBSERVATION OF AND COMMENTARY ON WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE WORLD. THUS WE OFFER A LIMITED BULLETIN OF THIS WEDNESDAY’S POSSIBLE TOPICS – NOT UP TO THE STANDARDS OF THE USUAL ‘PROLOGUE’.

POTASH – WILL WE OR WON’T WE JOIN THE DANCE? HOW IMPORTANT ARE THOSE THIRTEEN SEATS IN SASKATCHEWAN TO MR. HARPER? OR IS THIS ALL A CLEVER EXTORTION PLOY BY PREMIER WALL? WE HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING THE ISSUE INTERMITTENTLY AND WELCOME KNOWLEDGEABLE COMMENTS.

WIKILEAKS ROUND TWO – THE NEW YORK TIMES HAS A FULL ARCHIVE . WHILE MANY OF THE REVELATIONS ARE DEEPLY TROUBLING, SOME OF THE SHOCK AND AWE EXPRESSED STRIKES OBSERVERS AS NAÏVE AT BEST, E.G., REACTION TO EVIDENCE THAT Iran Is Said to Give Top Karzai Aide Cash by the Bagful TO FURTHER IRAN’S INTERESTS IN AFGHANISTAN.

WE TRUST YOU ARE DULY CAPTIVATED BY THE QUEBEC POLITICAL SCENE AND MME MAROIS’ DECLARATION THAT L’indépendance se fera grâce à l’énergie
ALSO, CONRAD BLACK‘S OPINION PIECE IN THE NATIONAL POST An icon of Quebec’s misunderstood past
Commenting on Brother André’s canonization, he invokes the Duplessis era, stating that “The Quiet Revolution was made possible because Maurice Duplessis created, retrieved, and preserved the provincial secular authority to enact it.” He attacks Gilles Duceppe as an ‘egregious charlatan’ and endorses our favorite Maxime Bernier’s latest pronouncements at the Albany Club. It’s a wonderful interpretation of history. MEANTIME, AFORESAID MAD MAX IS BUSY WITH THE FOUNDING OF THE Réseau Liberté-Québec  – THAT SHOULD MAKE MR. HARPER HAPPY.

AS WE TOIL WITH MUNDANE MATTERS, SEVERAL CURRENT AND PAST WEDNESDAY NIGHTERS ARE CONFRONTING THE ENDLESS AND FRUSTRATING UN PROCESS AT THE BIODIVERSITY CONVENTION‘S MEETING OF THE PARTIES IN NAGOYA, JAPAN. OUR THOUGHTS ARE WITH THEM AND OUR HOPES THAT THE GLOBAL GOOD TRIUMPHS OVER THE INDIVIDUAL NATIONAL INTERESTS – BUT WE HAVE SEEN THIS SHOW BEFORE.

IN FRANCE AND BRITAIN [see also The Economist] THE POPULATION IS UNHAPPY, FOR SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT REASONS ALBEIT ALL RELATED TO AUSTERITY MEASURES OF ONE FORM OR ANOTHER.

THE G20 FINANCE MINISTERS HAVE MET AND DESPITE THE USUAL ANODYNE COMMUNIQUE, THE INDEPENDENT FINDS THAT THERE IS SOME ENCOURAGING PROGRESS ” … there was more than a hint of the ways in which nations are beginning to re-think the architecture of global finance. The joint suggestion by Tim Geithner, the US Treasury Secretary, and the Korean hosts that countries should prevent their current account surpluses and deficits from rising beyond a certain specified amount is intriguing.”

ALTHOUGH THIS IS FAR FROM THE TOUR D’HORIZON WE WOULD LIKE TO OFFER YOU, WE WILL CLOSE WITH THE U.S. MID-TERM ELECTIONS. RATHER THAN ATTEMPTING A COMPLICATED BETTING POOL – ONE QUESTION: WHAT WILL BE THE OUTCOME IN DELAWARE? WILL “I’VE-NEVER-BEEN-A-WITCH” CHRISTINE O’DONNELL TRIUMPH? SHE IS, OF COURSE, NOT THE ONLY CERTIFIABLE CANDIDATE – READ MORE  Our astute American observers tells us: “no”–the witch will not win. The Reps gave away the seat by rejecting a moderate representative/former governor (Castle) in the primary for someone who was unelectable state-wide. The most unhappy individual is “Beau” Biden (Joe’s son) who elected not to run believing that Castle was unbeatable.

YOU MAY ALSO WANT TO PONDER “How Fundamentalist C-Street Center is Shaping the Mid-Term Elections”

Guy Stanley adds to our potpourri: Here’s something you might also find of interest: [Future Shock Author] Toffler’s new “forecast” for the next 40–from Michigan Technology News via Dave Forrests’s Innovation Watch. Toffler Looks At Trends For Next 40 Years 40 for the Next 40