Thoughts Out Of Season

It is now a week since Typhoon Yolanda struck and decimated parts of the Philippines with a savagery unequaled in history. At this time over 3000 people have been confirmed dead, 12,000 injured and hundreds of thousands now in conditions so miserable that some have voiced envy for those that have died. Food and clean water are practically non-existent in many towns. There are no medical services. People have been forced to shelter in the open air amid piles of rubble and the decaying bodies of their loved ones scattered nearby.  Such are the images and stories we have received just from the city of Tacloban, one of the many areas that bore the brunt of Yolanda's savage winds and accompanying storm tide. One could imagine that if  the citizens of Tacloban  receiving worldwide, 24 hour attention  are in such dire straights what could be the situation in the the hundreds of towns and villages also devastated by the storm but unheard of up to now?  It is in my ...

It's surprising how little news regarding the ongoing financial dilemma afflicting many member-countries of the European Union. Just months ago it appeared that Europe and its continent-wide Union was coming apart at the seams. Riots where taking place in Ireland, Italy and especially Greece where the country's demise was being predicted by anyone who could hold a mic or pummel a computer keyboard. But what now? Have the EU's troubles been overshadowed by recent events perpetrated by the imbeciles that make up the United States government? Have austerity measures, beyond all odds worked leading Europe into a new era of prosperity that has brought a feeling of quiet contentment to the Union's suffering people? Not on your life! What is occurring right now throughout many countries in the EU is a collective sense of despair brought on by an extended period of economic downturn leading to widespread joblessness, food scarcity and a descent into poverty that has caused a d...