Bonne fête des mères

We have just returned from a month in Paris. While there we celebrated Mother's Day, or at least the Canadian version in early May. In France, Mother's Day, or the  fête des mères falls on the last Sunday in May. That being today. We should celebrate this day again don't you think? Isn't it a great idea to celebrate mothers, and women, more than just once a year?

The flowers are from Van Dusen Garden in Vancouver. The goslings and ducklings are from the Bois de Boulogne in Paris.

Bonne fête des mères!

Photos by Jeem. Copyright 2015 by Jim Murray.

Rhododendrons at Van Dusen Garden

We came back from Paris just in time to see the laburnum and rhododendrons at Van Dusen Gardens. From the crowded streets of Paris to the tree-lined streets of Vancouver was an adjustment. There is something wonderful about a city that celebrates trees, on nearly every street, the way Vancouver does. It's that luxury, and abundance, of nature we in Vancouver might take for granted in our quest to become someone's vision of a world class city.
























And on our first full day back we visited Van Dusen. The blooms and blossoms, the colours and the fragrance were amazing.

Photos by Jeem. Copyright 2015 by Jim Murray.

Robert Fisk on Tony Blair

I follow the rants and writings of Robert Fisk. Fisk is a multiple award-winning Middle East correspondent, based in Beirut and he writes for the wonderful British paper, The Independent. Mr Fisk calls it as he sees it and he sees more than most. He is informed, thoughtful, objective and opinionated. The truth matters to Robert Fisk, as it should to all of us.

His latest commentary appeared in The Independent today, 28 May 2015, and features the a man I've been calling a war criminal for years: Tony Blair. Fisk's piece is called: Blundering Tony Blair quits as Middle East peace envoy – only Israel will miss him:


 Tony Blair’s time as Middle East envoy representing the US, Russia, the UN and the EU has finally come to an end. Eight years after he took up the role, Blair tendered his resignation and left one question: how come a war criminal ever became a "peace envoy" in the first place?

The people of the Middle East – and much of the world – have been asking this question ever since Blair was appointed the Quartet’s man in Jerusalem, solemnly and hopelessly tasked to bring “peace” between Israelis and Palestinians. Was his new mission supposed to wash the blood from his hands after the catastrophe of the Bush-Blair invasion of Iraq and the hundreds of thousands of innocents who died as a result?

For Arabs – and for Britons who lost their loved ones in his shambolic war in Iraq – Blair’s appointment was an insult. The man who never said he was sorry for his political disaster simply turned up in Jerusalem four years later and, with a team which spent millions in accommodation and air fares, managed to accomplish absolutely nothing in the near-decade that followed.

Blair appeared indifferent to the massive suffering of the Palestinians – he was clearly impotent in preventing it – and spent much of his time away from the tragedy of the Middle East, advising the great and the good and a clutch of Muslim dictators, and telling the world – to Israel’s satisfaction – of the dangers represented by Iran.

The more prescient he thought he was, the more irrelevant he became in the eyes of the region he was sent to protect. A Blair supporter once defended him on Channel 4 by recalling how he had travelled to the Middle East almost 100 times – without realising the essential irony: that Blair abandoned the region almost 100 times for more rewarding destinations.

Blair was supposed to produce more than the easy panaceas that slipped from his lips, the most outrageous of which was his contention that resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could be easier than ending the Northern Ireland crisis. But the Palestinians have much more in common with the Irish Catholics cleansed from their lands by the Protestant planters of the 17th century than with the pitiful historical battle in the province, whose resolution proved to be Blair’s only lasting accomplishment.

If only he had resigned more than two years ago, after Palestinian leaders had themselves characterised his job as "useless, useless, useless."   Israel, of course, would never have described him as this. Stoutly condemning the campaign for Israel’s "delegitimisation," Blair talked about this as a form of bias which was "an affront to humanity" – a choice of words he never used about the massive civilian casualties inflicted by Israel on the Palestinians of Gaza.

The Arabs will now wait to see if the Quartet will repeat its folly by appointing an even more unsuitable candidate – a truly difficult task – although many in the region think the whole panjandrum must be abandoned. Eight years ago, there just might have been the slimmest chance of bringing a Palestinian state into being. Today there is none.

And doesn't that say it all? Good riddance Tony Blair.

Selling of illegal trinkets is exploitation of the sellers

Today, in a rare occurrence, the Eiffel Tower was closed to the public for seven hours because workers went on strike to complain about the scourge of pickpocket-gangs at the site. Normally the tower is open every day of the year, except in cases where police receive information about potential threats.

Our experience at the Eiffel Tower, and at other major attractions in Paris, does not offer much; we were wary of the potential of pickpockets, but never saw anything to concern us beyond taking precautions that would apply in any city.









What we did see at various sites, including the Eiffel Tower and Sacré-Cœur, were tens and tens of men selling trinkets, baubles and beads. That they might be involved as pickpockets is unknown to me; that they are part of a larger problem of exploitation and criminal activity is much clearer.






According to a Reuters report, Chinese gangs import trinkets from China and then sell them to other groups who control the sellers. The sellers are usually migrants from India and parts of Africa and they work without proper licenses and certainly without proper pay, selling knock-off merchandise that undercuts legitimate business operators who sell licensed merchandise, pay taxes and wages.





According to Reuters, up to 400 black-market sellers hawk their wares around the Eiffel Tower during the height of the summer season. Hundreds more operate at the Louvre and Sacré-Cœur. In the past the police would show up and the sellers would scatter; now it seems as though they are allowed to stay as long as they don't become overly zealous in selling their knock-off trinkets. Police have been hindered by the inability of over-stretched courts to prosecute the wave of illegal sellers. When sellers are caught, their goods are confiscated but they are usually released because most are unable to pay their fine (which could be as much as 3750 euros). Even fewer are sent back to their home country.




These men are victims of others higher up. There is money to be made selling this merchandise for the gangs that control the sellers, yet it is the sellers who take the greatest risk. There is something wrong with this picture. France and the EU have dragged their heels on dealing with the issue of economic migrants. Nearly always exploited along the way, they face a difficult time transitioning into Europe without being further exploited and discriminated against once they land in an EU state. 

Photos by Jim Murray. Copyright 2015.

Another orange wave?

Jeffrey Simpson writing in today's Globe and Mail asks, "Can a third orange wave splash across Canada?"

After what happened in Quebec in the last federal election and in Alberta's recent provincial election, it is a valid question and Simpson goes on to come up with the answer:

A lot of voters dislike the Harper Conservatives and will vote in a fury to rid the country of them. When voters passionately dislike someone, they will search for the best available means of change, assuming the alternative is marginally capable of walking and chewing gum at the same time.

NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair is more than capable of meeting the lowest tests of leadership. Maybe he’s not a touchy-feely kind of guy, but then neither is the Prime Minister...

Simpson makes note of the problem we face by voting Liberal in an effort to oust the Tories; the two parties really aren't much different:

The Liberals suggest that they will do some things differently – but not too many. They will be "nicer" in government than the Conservatives or, to use a frightful buzzword much favoured by the politically correct and linguistically challenged, more "inclusive."

On the issue of Justin Trudeau:

Then there is Mr. Trudeau himself, the question being: Will he wear well in the rough-and-tumble of sustained debate and constant media coverage?

A lot of voters want passionately to get rid of the Conservatives, but when they look at Mr. Trudeau they ask: Has he got what it takes? 

Can another orange wave come to Canada in five months? Simpson thinks, maybe yes:

The failure of the Conservatives to grow and the Liberals' failure to seem like the inevitable alternative give the NDP a chance for a surprise.

Quotes from The Globe and Mail, Friday 22 May 2015.

Jeffrey Simpson; Can a third orange wave splash across Canada?