Hell and the hand-basket

It seems everyday that the world is descending further and further into a period of morose moronity.

Some headlines from around the world tell the tale…

Poland ‘closer to conflict than at any time since WW2’ as UK forces are asked to bolster Nato air defences
Starmer says he has confidence in Peter Mandelson amid calls to sack him over Epstein ties – UK politics
New French PM takes office as ‘Block Everything’ protests rock country – Europe 
Carney condemns ‘intolerable’ Israeli strike on Qatar that killed Hamas officials
NATO Says It Scrambled Fighter Jets to Shoot Down Russian Drones Over Poland

And all this is just a snippet. Dictators are in ascendence while democracy declines. The decline not without its own causes and shortcomings.

As a Boomer, I feel like I have been part of a huge failure. And that feeling comes after several decades of feeling like my generation had actually done well…rebuilding after the WWII; expanding incomes and work possibilities; controlling interest costs for decades (from the early ‘90s) shortening the work week; fighting off pandemic illness and erasing the scourge of diseases like polio and malaria, while making headway on cancers; reaching out to space and creating a more peaceful world.

Of course, those are all huge generalizations, but they are thoughts and feelings that in and of themselves are now under intense attack around the world. A tear can come to my eye quite easily these days as I ponder what has been and is being lost. Fortunately, so far anyway, the sun aways rises in the east and sets in the west. I am hoping we do not screw that up too…

Election Day in Norway

It is election day in Norway. No one seems truly willing to predict the outcome with any certainty.

The current government (centrist) is facing what The Guardian refers to as the MAGA-fication of Norwegian politics. The rightist Progress Party is making inroads against the incumbent Labour government.

Waking to Sad News

The term Great Canadian is used often…perhaps even too freely, glibly and often. Not today though.

Yesterday, we lost a truly Great Canadian. Ken  Dryden passed away after losing a battle with cancer. 

His lifetime of contribution to our collective community is immense. He was and is a rare legend in his own time.

Rest in peace Mr. Dryden and thank you for making Canada a better place in your lifetime. 

Opinion | How Math Turned Me From a D.E.I. Skeptic to a Supporter - The New York Times

It is unfortunate that this article is behind a paywall (I assume).
It is a powerful and practical description of DEI. Something that has been missing from the effort since the outset…
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/05/opinion/math-dei.html

It’s always the coverup (or even the appearance of one) that gets them…

Well…that did not take long…

Sir Keir had to shuffle his Cabinet today following the “resignation” of Angela Rayner after an ethics report concluded that she had not been exemplary in the handling of a residence purchase.

Thanks to the Guardian for providing all the relevant documents in one place. 

Nice touch by the PM to respond in writing.

With Ms. Rayner resigning, rather than being “fired’, the door may be open for a return to Cabinet in the future. 

If Anyone Still Needed Proof

 Breaking from NYT….

Trump Is Renaming the Defense Department the Department of War

The president is turning back the clock to the name the agency held until shortly after World War II.

Well…maybe not the Titanic…yet!

I could not help noticing on Monday that the Guardian reports that Keir Starmer is making changes to his office. I suspect that many UK Labour supporters are wondering "What took so long?!?". And Marina Hyde is talking about the moves today.

The UK PM and his governing Labour Party have been in public opinion freefall for months. Polls have shown a steady rise for the Reform UK ever since Starmer's overwhelming victory and ascension to power last year.

His government has been plagued by mis-steps, false starts and internal squabbling since the outset of their mandate. It is hard to imagine that the changes in staff around 10 Downing are going to make a big difference. The Guardian header is actually quite amusing if you think about it. One has to wonder just how moving people in from the Chancellor's office will actually help "wrest control" from Treasury.

Governments that are in trouble are often identifiable by moves just like this. It is not hard to think across the years and various governments, of various political stripes, to come up with similar types of actions. Former Canadian PM Brian Mulroney went through Chiefs of Staff, along with other changes in PMO staffing, at a prodigious rate. Didn't make a lot of difference, as what he left behind garnered the PC Party (as it was then known) a net of 2 seats in 1993 when the bell finally tolled. Recent PM Justin Trudeau was never able to escape the rut of falling poll numbers and sliding electoral success, even though many "resets" of Cabinet and messaging were tried over the years from 2019 thru late 2024.

Tinkering around the edges of communications, policy, operations and personnel is rarely a good way to reverse falling popularity. It invariably takes a 'big move". The type of decision just like the aforementioned M. Trudeau provided when he assessed that he simply could not reverse his numbers.

It will be interesting to watch and see if Sir Keir has anything substantive up his sleeve. Something that would show the UK public that he really has their best interests at heart and that he is learning as he goes along. 

Whoa…

 To all and sundry…

Whether local neighbourhood, community, province, country or international, the actions of our fellow human beings impacts us every day. I intend to use Young&Alive to provide my own observations on the world around us.

I will also remember that the sun rises in the east every morning…regardless of the goings-on in the world of living beings. In other words, while I have served a good many political roles in my life I will try to limit partisanship.

We will see how this goes…and I remain Young and Alive.