I’ve been watching the furor which has erupted over the payment of bonuses to employees at AIG in the US.  Edward Liddy, the man appointed by the government to oversee AIG, claims the bonuses need to be paid out as they are a debt owed by the company. Liddy is not one of those receiving funds, he receives $1 annually, so this is not about his pocketbook.

From what I have read, the agreement to pay these bonuses was made early in 2008 which preceeded the stock market meltdown. I rather doubt the agreement preceeded any awareness at all on  AIGs part that the company was in financial trouble. Seems to me some pretty hard questions need to be asked about just who had the authority to agree to allow such a huge amount of money to be paid out.

Logic says that is should have been someone pretty high up in the company and should have been aware of the financial situation. The reality is, the current financial crisis wasn’t totally a shot from the blue. The depth and seriousness of it has been a bit of a shock but the fact that something was pending is not. I’ve been seeing signs of what was coming for the last 2-3 years and I’m not involved in a high finance industry. Read the rest of this entry »

You know, I’ve watched this situation in the Gaza strip going on. I can be some what detached from it all as I don’t have any direct connection to either side of the conflict other than it being in the area of the Holy Land which is where the roots of my own faith are.

I don’t even begin to understand all that goes on there other than the emnity and hatred on both sides runs deep. I expect that just as there are those on both sides of the divide who believe the other side is absolutely the agressors there are those of goodwill who mere want to live their lives in peace.

The Palistinean group Hamas remains committed to the annihilation of Israel and ultimately the Jewish people. In many countries in the world, certainly in the west, Hamas is considered to be not a government but a terrorist group. For years they have used the Gaza strip to fire missles into Israel. They have also used Lebanon to do the same. Read the rest of this entry »

I started this post yesterday but my site went down, then I had to go to work and time shifted by until yesterday’s post is now today’s. c’est la vie!

Well, the world watched as Obama took the oath of office to become the 44th American President. I don’t normally follow American politics beyond the most basic information. The Americans are after all, the next door neighbour to my own country and what happens there has an effect on Canada. Do I hang on their every sneeze, no, as small as our little boys in Ottawa are, they are the ones who truly impact my life.

I watched fascinated and almost unable to believe what I was watching as the first black American took the reigns of power. I’ve said it before in these pages, I never ever thought it would be possible for that to happen in the USA of all places in my life time. This man is a man like no other, of any colour. Read the rest of this entry »

In a surprising nod to the march of time, Fidel Castro resigned as President of Cuba yesterday. Castro and Cuba have just always been in my life. I was just four months old when he wrested power and became dictator of the island.

Aligning his country with the Soviet bloc, Castro stood up to anything the US, and in particular the American CIA, threw at him. Of course, that was in the days before the fall of the Soviets and the era of making up excuses to invade countries to topple their leaders. Castro might not have fared well in today’s world climate.

Castro’s health has been deteriorating since at least the 1990s and became more profound in 2006 when he temporarily turned power over to his brother Raul. The exact nature of his illness wasn’t disclosed but he’s been rarely seen in public since then. His brother is his designated successor but it is expected that Fidel will remain a strong influence in the politics of Cuba. Read the rest of this entry »

In a valiant effort to divert blame from himself or his cronies, Pakistan President Musharraf has come up with a theory for who to blame for the death of Benazir Bhutto…. it was her fault.

In an interview on the American TV show 60 Minutes Musharraf blamed Bhutto for her death because she choose to see and be seen amongst the people she was asking to support her run for Prime Minister.

The government has blamed a  warlord with ties to Al Qaeda for arranging her assassination. Many of Bhuttos supporters blame Musharraf and his officials for at minimum not providing sufficient security and at worse, actually conspiring to kill her.

BillW at Crooks and Liars reports on the interview with Sara Logan and provides links to either listen to or download the segment.

Having escaped injury or death in a suicide bombing attack in October on a parade celebrating her return to Pakistan from exile Benazir Bhutto, has been assassinated. Reports from Pakistan indicate that Bhutto was shot in the chest and neck as the entered a vehicle following a rally in Rawalpindi. The attacker then blew himself up killing up to 20 others. Bhutto died a short time later at a local hospital.

Twice Prime Minister of Pakistan, she was the first female elected to lead a post-colonial Muslim state. Both of her tenures were ended by the Pakistani President of the time on charges of corruption. In 1998 she went into exile in Dubai until her return to Pakistan in October. She was running in the Pakistani elections due to be held January 8th. Read the rest of this entry »