Planet fear.

The U.S. midterm elections are here. To say that advance voting has been brisk is an understatement. From my point of view some of the campaigning has been distasteful, combative and instilling an atmosphere of fear and loathing in some of the electorate. Much is at stake here and much remains to be played out. Win or lose, I believe the current U.S. administration’s rhetoric and actions could become worse.

As for the shooting in Pittsburgh. I am so sorry this happened.

The polls put Democrats ahead in some districts, Republicans others. I have to say that I have little faith in polls anymore. Looking into some of them there have been around 25,000 calls to get a little over 500 responses. For myself I don’t like or trust a robotic call. First into my mind is that it’s a scam. Second, if it’s not, I think that if the caller can’t be bothered to talk to me then I can’t be bothered to talk to them.

I really hope that this nasty campaigning doesn’t spill over into Canadian elections. Jason Kenney was in the news recently being shocked over a UCP campaign worker’s views. Events happen and no matter how far ahead a party, any party thinks it is ahead something can always come out of left field and derail the campaign at a crucial time. In business one is only as good as one’s worse employee. I see political parties the same way. My vote isn’t decided yet. However, one of my red flags is nasty campaigning. What kind of example does that set? I want to see policies, reasoned debate and a willingness to work with others. Have I set my bar too high?

The murder of the journalist in Turkey, I think I can call it that now, is still resonating. I’ve also been watching a story of two Saudi Arabian sisters that were found dead in the U.S. Maybe there’s more to this case than meets the eye?

Remembrance Day is upon us again. Maybe more municipalities should step up to the plate in organising something to remember and also maybe a treat for local veterans and their families? I don’t think we should heap all the responsibility of legions and their hard-pressed volunteers. Maybe a little help?

Here we go again. A scientific report out the day that I write this suggests that we have underestimated the amount of heat that has been soaked up by our oceans over the last 25 years. The report says that the oceans have absorbed 60 per cent more than was thought. The outcome? It might be much more difficult to keep global warming within safe levels this century. Wow, no s—t Sherlock. Maybe we don’t have ten years to get it right. Frankly, I never thought we did. Even today or never doesn’t work for me.

New York is finally beginning to look at climate change consequences that could impact the city. This should have been done years ago and needs doing everywhere there is a coastal community just for starters. According to the UN around 40 per cent of the world’s population live within 100 km of a coast. Ocean front property may not be as desirable as it once was.