In Quebec The Train Go Boom!

"Shit has its own integrity"
Gore Vidal, The Selected Essays of Gore Vidal, p. 23

The Oracle of Ottawa thought he could take the summer off. The hit rates on blogs just tank in the summer, readers and most bloggers have a life after all. And to tell you the truth Dear Reader, the Oracle of Ottawa was getting tired of talking to himself. Blogging is a lot like being married to French girl, you talk to yourself a lot, and you learn to get used to it.

Christian Paradis brings industry to Lac-Megantic!

It was at a fine posh summer social engagement when the television came on just after the first smoked hamburgers were being delivered from the "smoker", when the Oracle of Ottawa first got ear of the massive tragedy of seventy tanker cars that somehow rolled down a hill of several kilometres in distance to derail and blow up inside of a town center at a place called Lac-Megantic Quebec in the middle of the night,early Saturday morning. It was Saturday evening when the Oracle of Ottawa caught the French CBC live coverage. They said it was a crude oil fire. What the hell is crude oil doing in a small town in Eastern Quebec?

Much to the Oracles utter surprise was the galling show up of the minions of the 'Harper Government' like this train wreck was a great photo - op! Denis "Blinkey" Lebel the minister of Transport made a very long appearance, no doubt the Liberals were practically cumming in their shorts as the awesome Minister made his own Liberal attack ads for the next general election. To the Oracle of Ottawa it was full 'Harper Government' surreal, as the Minister babbled about how safe rail transport is as the town behind him was going up in smoke! Only the 'Harper Government' could be so utterly insane. This was followed up by the Local MP for Lac-Megantic, who just happened to be Christian Paradis! The Minister of Industry for the 'Harper Government'! It all couldn't have happened to a nicer and more deserving guy, could it? It certainly appears that he brought much industry indeed to his home town....

This will make for very interesting Question Periods come September. One wonders if Minister "Blinkey" Lebel will still be of the view that it is not the Governments job to insure the safety of the general public by regulating private corporate transportation companies. The Oracle wonders how much fun we all have watching that come the fall.

A Little Housekeeping ?

To found a great empire for the sole purpose of raising up a people of customers, may at first appear a project fit only for a nation of shopkeepers. It is however, a project altogether unfit for a nation of shopkeepers; but extremely fit for a nation whose government is influenced by shopkeepers.
Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations..., Book IV, Chapter VII, Part Third, p. 667

How many nearly empty burger joints does a city really need? How many endless rows of marginal business' have to be tolerated like they pay all the tax revenue of the city you live in? Why should armies of minimum wage people waste their time and the resources of a mixed capitalist economy in work that shouldn't even be done any way? How stupid is all this?

Damn near anywhere, North America

In the meantime, every morning the people in real value creating business' the businesses that pay huge tax's, that create huge amounts to exportable GDP, not to mention way above average disposable income, can hardly get to their work! Because they are sharing roadway and transit seats with the lowlife scum bags and their uncaring employees who are going into "work" in the hope of catching a few crumbs from the real producers!

How stupid is it for you a senior employee that could have retired years ago... that has the house paid off.. that has a ton of money stashed away for that retirement? Especially when the employer is now starting with the "Enhanced Human Resources " techniques? Yes it is moral and correct to screw your charges out of their mileage money, or expense money? Why not tell them to SCREW OFF with the minimum notice?    
     
Wouldn't it just be cheaper overall to pay every body a guaranteed living wage and those that were really un-interested  could just stay out of the way at home? The people that are really driven and or talented could get about their business. The people at home could go to university or college or high school for the rest of their lives if they want to. Higher education would be totally - no charge -. We would only need to hit a "Bill Gates" from public housing, the son of a single mother, one in a million times to pay for all this! Think about it!!

It all Starts at Home!

Now the Oracleofottawa is no raving lunatic. The Oracleofottawa buys stocks every month and has done wicked well, thank you very much! I love the bustle of the place...Old style capitalism properly regulated can be a real education and a lot of fun! Just ask those two Russian guys that started up a little company called Google! Capitalism in the future has a future, but you will see it relegated more and more in the future to the background of our societies.

At some point in the near future, our lifetimes for certain, it will be discovered that it is much better business, especially for a whole nation, to be a Housekeeper instead of a Shopkeeper. (Prove how much a capitalist you are; click on something! lol....)

How many people in the old system never realized their potential? How many kids are out there that can play like this but may never discover themselves?