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Hmmm, is there something hauntingly familiar about the early days of the Trump administration?

It has occurred to me that there is a parallel to be drawn between the Trump administration and The Hunger Games movies. Before you roll your eyes and tune out, bear with me while I make my case. In case you have not seen The Hunger Games movies, here is a quick overview.

The Hunger Games trilogy takes place in the dystopian, post-apocalyptic nation of Panem located in North America. Panem consists of twelve districts ruled by the Capitol. The Capitol embodies oppression at its peak and thrives in decadence, lavishly rich and technologically advanced. The districts toil in deprivation and various states of poverty. President Snow is the dictator of the state of Panem.

As punishment for a past rebellion against the Capitol, one boy and one girl from each of the twelve districts are selected by lottery to compete in an annual pageant called the Hunger Games. The Games are a televised event – a fight to the death in a dangerous public arena.

The purpose of the Hunger Games are to provide entertainment for the Capitol and to remind the districts of the Capitol’s power and its lack of remorse or forgiveness for the failed rebellion of the current competitors’ ancestors.

The parallel I am drawing is in effect a prequel to The Hunger Games scenario. Trump is in the process of attempting to establish the U.S. as the Capitol of his kingdom where all the power and wealth will be consolidated. Not unlike President Snow, he asserts the right to exercise absolute power and authority.

Canada in some respects equates to District 12 – a land rich in natural resources. Trump’s desire to annex Canada is a power grab to access these resources. I would argue that Canada would not be a state in this scenario. It would end up being at best a pour cousin and a subsidiary to Trump’s Capitol.

Greenland and the Panama Canal, which Trump also has his sights set on, are in the same category. They are strategic pieces of the puzzle Trump wants to acquire by whatever means necessary to consolidate wealth and power in his kingdom.

In the parallel I am drawing, Elon Musk and his DOGE pit bulls are not far removed from President Snow’s Peacekeepers. Their real mission is to enforce compliance and consolidate Trump’s control in his home country.

There is no current parallel to The Hunger Games themselves in my comparison as Trump is in the prequel period of gathering and consolidating power. Let me be clear. I am not suggesting we will ever get that far down the dystopian road. God forbid.

But we do need to mount a resistance now to prevent Trump from achieving his fantasy of being a real-life equivalent of President Snow.

If you think I am way over the top with my concerns, consider that on Saturday Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to detain and deport all Venezuelan migrants suspected of being members of the Tren de Aragua prison gang – in effect, treating them like wartime enemies of the U.S. government.

When Trump reaches back to a 227 year old piece of legislation, we all need to start worrying.

~  Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel (now out of print) which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Tags:   Canada · District 12 · Donald Trump · Hunger Games · metaphor · Michael Robert Dyet · President SnowNo Comments.

Scam, scam, everywhere a scam,

blowing up my e-mail, robbing me blind

Hmmm, could we turn the e-mail scam barrage to our advantage in battling Donald Trump?

With apologies to Five Man Electrical Band for the riff on their song Signs, it feels like we have reached this stage when it comes to e-mail scams. Billions of dollars are siphoned out of innocent people’s savings every year by these nefarious schemes.

Out of curiosity, I did a Google search for the different types of e-mail scams currently in use to see how many of them have been directed my way. My search revealed 13 kinds of e-mail scams of which I have experienced about half:

Crypto Blackmail Scams: Scammers send e-mails claiming they have personal information or compromising photos or videos and threaten to make them public if the victim does not pay a specific sum in crypto currency. Check. I have had several of these in the last few years often claiming that malware has been covertly installed on my laptop.

Suspended Account Phishing: E-mails advising that your account is suspended and advising you to click a link to fix it. Clicking on the link enables stealing your log-in information or installation of a malware program. Check: These ones are a regular occurrence.

Document Review Scams: Phishing e-mails asking you to review a document by clicking on a link. Check. Again, a regular occurrence.

Dropbox Scams: E-mails pretending to be from Dropbox, claiming you have new messages, designed to steal your account information. Check. I have had at least one of these e-mails.

Phishing: E-mails impersonating trusted sources (i.e. banks) to steal your log-in credentials or financial information. Check. Again, a regular occurrence.

Advance Fee Fraud: E-mails promising large sums of money or an inheritance but requiring upfront fees to release the funds. Check. I have received a few quite creative versions of this scam.

Business E-mail Compromise: Scammer impersonating business colleagues to trick you into sending money or sharing confidential information. Check. I received one of these e-mails in the last few years of my working career.

If I were a person of low moral character, I would be tempted to create my own scam e-mail leveraging the current political climate.

Help Kick Donald Trump in the Balls

In light of Donald Trump’s tariffs levied against Canada and his attempt to make it the 51^st state, our organization has placed on operative with high level security clearance in the White House. Upon receipt of the sum of $500,000 in crypto currency, this individual will access the Oval Office wearing a hidden camera, announce to Trump “Canada will never be the 51^st state!” and then deliver a swift kick to the balls while wearing a steel-toed work boot.

The fee is necessary for our operative to carefully plan out and secure his exit plan. We have raised $218,000 to date. Please send your contribution to our crypto currency account to help make this patriotic statement a reality! All contributors will receive a copy of the video as proof of execution for your viewing pleasure.

Would I really do create this type of scam? No, of course not. But if there was a real “Kick Trump in the Balls” fundraising campaign, I might just pitch in a few bucks.

~  Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel (now out of print) which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Tags:   Donald Trump · e-mail scams · metaphor · Michael Robert Dyet · phishing scamsNo Comments.

Hmmm, can we trace the tangled path that led us to the state of affairs we find ourselves in?

As I write the first draft of this post, Donald Trump has pushed the button on his threatened tariffs against Canadian goods and Justin Trudeau has responded in kind. Provincial premiers are doing what they can at their level. The trade war is officially underway and both sides are digging in for a fierce battle.

Many of us are wondering: How did we get here? How did a man like Donald Trump get elected as President? How did we let this happen? I am by no means an expert in political matters. But I do have the threads of a working theory.

The COVID pandemic started the wheels in motion. Society worldwide shifted on its axis as political leaders scrambled to take action and in some ways, in their honest zeal to protect citizens, overreacted. Widespread shutdowns were implemented and individual freedoms were curtailed in the interests of putting the brakes on COVID. The economy suffered and working class people took the brunt of the impact which seeded discontent.

At the same time, a pendulum shift was happening in terms of values from the Liberal (Democrat) to the Conservative (Republican) side of the spectrum. The simmering discontent from the curtailing of freedoms during the pandemic and the subsequent economic downturn stoked the fire behind this shift.

And also at the same time, a split was happening in terms of what are considered to be Christian values. One side entrenched themselves in hardline, black letter Christianity while the other side began to embrace a more open and inclusive Christianity. Unfortunately, there is little common ground between the two viewpoints.

Along comes Donald Trump who champions (although often does not live into) the black letter Christianity side of the equation. Trump had the right ideology, in political terms, for the particular moment in time when the presidential election took place.

In my view, there is evidence to suggest that Trump is a megalomaniac. He equates the values he embraces with absolute power and authority and sees himself as the USA Savior. His rally cry, Make America Great Again, sounds good in principle but is corrupted in the way he interprets it.

For Donald Trump, greatness means dominant and unyielding. In his view, in order for America to be great, there must be an iron fist that wields absolute control. All other countries must be submissive to the USA and all authorities, in the USA or elsewhere, must be submissive to him and him alone. Trump’s confrontational meeting in the White House with Volodymyr Zelensky is evidence of this belief.

Trump’s definition of greatness is radical and, in my opinion, not particularly Christian. A more enlightened view of greatness embodies the qualities of love, mercy, service and humility. Excuse me for going biblical for a moment but it is necessary. Jesus Christ proclaimed when he walked the earth: For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.

Trump views himself as the anointed King and Saviour with absolute authority. In reality, he is more akin to a false prophet. False prophets have their day but eventually self-destruct. Unfortunately, they can cause a great deal of harm before that happens.

It is the responsibility of each of us to stand together in opposition, as we are able, to hasten the day when divine justice prevails. This post is my contribution to the cause.

~  Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel (now out of print) which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Tags:   Christianity · Donald Trump · metaphor · Michael Robert Dyet · tariffs · trade warNo Comments.

Hmmm, is it time to put parameters on the runaway train of election advertising?

Election campaigns always take a heavy toll on my psyche. The non-stop coverage on the evening news and the leader debates, where the candidates deflect all questions and default to their core messages, is exasperating enough. But the no-holds-barred character assassination of the party leaders in TV election advertising is what really wears on me.

We have been dealing with a double dose of this babble here in Ontario with the unnecessary winter provincial election campaign and the anticipation of a federal election, as the Liberals chose a new leader, once Parliament resumes. The provincial election is now in our rear view but the runup to the expected federal election is still gathering steam.

In the interests of our collective mental health, I propose these new election advertising rules.

RULE #1

Election advertising cannot begin until an election has actually been called or triggered. No more jumping the gun.

RULE #2

Election advertising targeting a party leader cannot begin until that person has actually become the party leader (e.g. Mark Carney).

RULE #3

Only one TV ad per week attacking a party leader’s credibility will be permitted. All other ads must refrain from referencing other party leaders and must focus on the platform of the party placing the ad. Ads will be previewed to ensure no subtle digs are embedded in them.

RULE #4

Election ads on TV will be limited to a maximum of one per day, and no more than five in any one week, per party. This applies across all television networks cumulatively.

RULE #5

For every dollar spent on election advertising, the party must donate a dollar to one of a preset list of charitable organizations who have no political affiliation and have not donated to a party’s campaign. Political parties are prohibited from trumpeting how much they have contributed under this rule.

The penalty for violating any of the above rules will be a $50,000 fine. In addition, the leader of the offending party must wear a sandwich board with “We broke the advertising rules” emblazoned on it in public for one week. With each additional infraction, the fine increases in increments of $50,000 and the sandwich board provision increases in increments of one week.

Election campaign advertising has become a runaway train barreling down a whatever-money-can buy railroad. It is time to put the brakes on for the sake of our peace of mind.

~  Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel (now out of print) which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Tags:   Canadian federal election · election advertising · metaphor · Michael Robert Dyet · Ontario electionNo Comments.

Hmmm, how many Tachinid Flies have buzzed around your feet but escaped your notice?

I have become an admirer of Tachinid Flies in the past year albeit mainly the larger ones that catch my eye. There are more than 8,200 known species of Tachinid Flies worldwide with over 1,300 species in North America alone. Save to assume that many of them escape the notice of even a bug enthusiast like myself.

What is so special about Tachinid Flies?

The sheer number of Tachinid Fly species makes them special in and of itself. But they are also notable because the larvae are parasitoids that develop inside a living host and in most cases kill it by feeding on its tissue. This may seem cruel but such are the complex mechanisms of nature. Adult Tachinid Flies, however, are not parasitic.

What do Tachinid Flies look like?

Tachinid Flies are quite varied in appearance. Some may be brilliantly coloured, like the ones displayed in this post, but most are rather drab resembling house flies. They are usually, however, bristlier and more robust. They range in size from 1/12 to 4/5 of any inch.

How long do they live and where?

Adult Tachinid Flies have only about a month to enjoy life. They can be found in almost all habitats resting on foliage, feeding at flowers or searching for hosts. If you have a flower or plant garden in your yard, there are likely Tachinid Flies making their home in it.

Where do they fit in the quilt of nature?

Many Tachinid Flies are important natural enemies of insect pests and therefore help keep the delicate balance of nature. Some species are used by humans for biological pest control. Adults feed on nectar from flowers and are therefore important pollinators.

Tiny, bristly Tachinid Flies – one more, fascinating patch in the quilt of nature stitched together by threads of interdependence and natural balance.

~  Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel (now out of print) which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Tags:   metaphor · Michae Robert Dyet · Nature · parasitoid · Tachinid Flies1 Comment

Hmmm, did Shakespeare foresee the extreme hubris of  Donald Trump?

When I was a child, one of my favourite books was titled Fortunately, Unfortunately. The concept it employed was: a good thing happens, undermined by a related bad thing, redeemed by another good thing, undermined by a related bad thing… and so on.

Example: Fortunately John won a new car, unfortunately the new car was stolen. Fortunately the thief was caught and the car returned, unfortunately the car was damaged. Fortunately John had insurance, unfortunately his insurance did not fully cover the costs of the damage…

I do not know why the book captured my interest so powerfully when I was a child. But looking back upon it now, I understand that there was a life lesson embedded in it. Life is a continuous rollercoaster. Good and bad things will happen in a recurring sequence but ultimately ending with something positive.

This lesson is a good one to apply to the current situation we face with Donald Trump although I need to reverse the pattern to unfortunately, fortunately.

Unfortunately Donald Trump was elected President of the United States, fortunately I live in Canada.

Unfortunately, Donald Trump wants to absorb Canada into the U.S. and make it the 51^st state, fortunately our political leaders are determined not to let that happen.

Unfortunately, Trump is determined to use economic force (in the form of tariffs against Canadian exports) to achieve his objective, fortunately our political leaders are committed to apply counter tariffs against U.S. imports to fight back.

Unfortunately, the U.S. economy is ten times the size of the Canadian economy and therefore far more resilient, fortunately the threat has become the impetus to reduce interprovincial trade barriers in Canada to offset the losses.

Unfortunately, interprovincial trade will not fully offset the impact of the Trump tariffs, fortunately we have other trade partners who Trump has also alienated.

Unfortunately, Trump neither cares about nor understands the risks of making enemies of so many countries, fortunately his extreme hubris and delusions of grandeur are what will ultimately lead to his inevitable downfall.

Perhaps Shakespeare foresaw what was going to happen in this day and age when he coined the phrase hoisted on his own petard in his classic play Hamlet. Trump will ultimately be blown up by his own bomb of hubris as karma and poetic justice take their toll.

On a closing note, the broadcast news media needs to cease and desist in replaying every word that comes out of Trump’s mouth. Doing so is playing directly into Trump’s hand as what he craves more than anything else is the spotlight. Stop giving him a public platform for his tirades!

~  Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel (now out of print) which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Tags:   Donald Trump · fortunately unfortunately · Hamlet · hoisted on his own petard · metaphor · ShakespeareComments Off on Trump: Hoisted on his Own Petard

Hmmm, who wins the battle of the slogans for the Ontario provincial election?

The marketing machines are cranked up to full capacity for the Ontario provincial election scheduled for February 27^th. Given the abbreviated lead-up time dictated by Doug Ford (for the election that no one but Ford wants), the marketing gurus have no doubt been burning the midnight oil to get the individual party’s campaigns up and running.

It is customary for each party to have a campaign slogan on which to hang their election hat. As a former marketing professional myself (albeit in an entirely different sphere), I decided to analyze and grade the individual slogans.

The Ford Conservatives have show the least imagination running with Protect Ontario. The reference, of course, is to the threat of tariffs on Canadian exports by U.S. President Donald Trump. The objective of the slogan sound – to position Ford as the only leader who can effectively protect Ontario’s interests on that front.

Protect Ontario was an obvious choice. But it has had the legs cut out from under it by the 30-day reprieve Justin Trudeau negotiated on the tariffs which extends beyond the election date. I envision the Conservative marketing gurus cursing. Well shit! We didn’t see that coming. Whose stupid decision was it to make it such a short campaign? Oh, right… Never mind.

Grade: C-

Bonnie Crombie’s Liberals are going with Real Leaders Fix Healthcare. This slogan certainly delivers a strong message and hits on one of the motherhood issues in the province. It is also an area of vulnerability for Doug Ford who has a poor reputation in terms of health care funding.

On the downside, the Liberals are running the risk of putting all their eggs in one basket with this slogan. They are gambling that the majority of voters will see healthcare funding as the runaway #1 issue in the election. A calculated risk, to be certain.

Grade: B

Marit Stile’s NDPs have landed on NDP on Our Side with an accompanying, double-entendre tagline Do it With Stiles. On the plus side, the slogan positions the NDP as the we’ve go your back party for the people contrasting with the Conservatives who favour big business. The clever tagline also riffs on Ford’s former tagline Doug Gets it Done.

On the downside, the slogan is somewhat vague and does not hit on any of the hot button issues. It runs the risk of being too generic and failing to light a fire of interest for the party.

Grade: B-

And finally, Mike Schreiner’s Green Party have settled on People Over Profits. This slogan is again a clever swipe at Doug Ford who is know to favour big business helping them raise their profits. It also positions the Green Party as the grass roots alternative to the big three – the party with a heart.

On the downside, similar to the NDP slogan, it is a bit generic and does not ring the bell on any of the burning issues. The sentiment behind the slogan is nice but perhaps a bit too nice for the cutthroat election environment.

Grade: B-

And so, in my grading system, the Liberals win the battle of the slogans by a narrow margin. But from my perspective and in metaphor terms, none of them hits the ball out of the park. It will be interesting to see if any of the parties change course in the few weeks they have at the plate.

~  Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel (now out of print) which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Tags:   Bonnie Crombie · Doug Ford · Marit Stiles · metaphor · Michae Robert Dyet · Mike Schreiner · Ontario provincial election · slogans1 Comment

Hmmm, are you ready for the rough ride that lies ahead as the reset button is hit?

I thought that the COVID pandemic was the big upheaval I would have to endure in the latter stage of my life. (I am in my late 60’s.) With that mayhem in the rearview mirror, I was looking forward to a period of relatively smooth sailing.

Alas, that was overly optimistic. There are a number of tumultuous developments clouding the horizon and disturbing the peace I hoped to enjoy in my retirement years.

Front and center in this time of upheaval is the Trump factor. Since he took office for a second time as President of the U.S.A., Trump has unleashed a barrage of political and ideological missiles. Canada is squarely in his crosshairs as his 25% tariffs against certain Canadian exports to the U.S. will be in place by the time you read this post.

I have a degree of insulation against the impact of the tariffs as I am out of the workforce. Job security is no longer an issue for me. But no one will be immune to the ripple effects.

For the record, I am not in principle opposed to every one of Trump’s beliefs. A shift back to the conservative side of the spectrum is a natural swing in the ebb and flow of society. But I am troubled by the extremism of his views, his bullying tactics, his ruthless wielding of power and the flat-out bizarre behaviour he regularly exhibits.

In the meantime, our federal government in Canada continues to be in disarray at a time when leadership is critical. Parliament is prorogued as the Liberals race to elect a leader to replace lame duck Justin Trudeau before the party is felled by a non-confidence vote. Conservative Pierre Poilievre, whose abrasive manner and at times inflexible views do not sit well with me, will be our next Prime Minister.

Here in Ontario, Premier Doug Ford – ever the unprincipled opportunist – has seized upon the tariff threats as the lever to pull the trigger for an early, expensive and unnecessary election. He says he needs a new mandate to battle against the tariffs. But we all know that trade falls under federal jurisdiction.

In reality, Ford is using the tariffs as a smokescreen to hide his own failures and questionable dealings on such issues as the Greenbelt scandal and the Ontario Place redevelopment fiasco. In the unlikely event he ever did get a face-to-face with Trump, Trump would chew him up and spit him out.

Viscous attack ads on leadership candidates have begun on both the provincial and federal front. It is a below the belt, muck-racking at its worst environment. What would be slander in any other circle is deemed acceptable in this realm.

In summary, we have entered a period of chaos that will prevail for some time. Among the many metaphors for chaos, the shattered mirror metaphor fits best. Shards will be flying in every direction for the next year or so.

There is an argument to be made that the mirror needed to be broken as a reset mechanism for a society that is in need of a new vision and values. Whenever this happens, the pendulum tends to swing to the far side of the other end of the spectrum before working its way back to a more moderate position. But that does not make it any easier to ride out the period of chaos that the pendulum shift brings about.

~  Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel (now out of print) which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Tags:   Donald Trump · Justin Trudeau · metaphor · Michael Robert Dyet · Pierre Poilievre · shattered mirror · tariffsComments Off on The Shattered Mirror Reset

Hmmm, can we ever return to the state in which being elected to political office is about faithfully serving the people?

I only watch the first twenty minutes of the evening news because that time period exhausts my limited capacity for bad news and recycled stories. But I may have to opt out of the news altogether now that it is dominated by my least favourite subject: politics.

There are many definitions of politics in circulation. I came across this one today and I think it is now the definitive one. The struggle over power and resources in society. It involves a continuous debate over who gets what and how authority is exercised.

Being elected to a leadership position in political office has ceased to be about serving the people. It is all about acquiring power, holding onto it all costs and imposing an ideology on the public. It is a continuous, increasingly no-holds-barred battle between the right and the left for the reigns of control.

There is no better example of this fact than new U.S. President Donald Trump. From the day he took office, he has signed a flurry of executive orders designed to reinvent the U.S. He says he wants to Make American Great Again but “great” in his mind means The way I want it to be.

Political allegiances are constantly in flux as the voting public tires of one party or the other. The current trend in Canada, and arguably North America wide, is shifting heavily to the right. Eight of the twelve Canadian provinces or territories have conservative or right-leaning parties firmly entrenched in power.

The same shift is about to happen at the federal level in Canada. Justin Trudeau has prorogued Parliament to give the Liberals time to select a new leader. But he is only delaying the inevitable as the Pierre Poilievre Conservatives are poised to crush the Liberals in the next federal election which is on the near horizon. Poilievre is visibly drooling for power.

At the provincial level, Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling an election – with a majority government and sixteen months left in his term – on the pretense of “needing a new mandate” to battle Trump’s threatened tariffs against Canada. He is fooling no one. We all know he is taking advantage of the situation to consolidate his hold on power regardless of the impact on an already chaotic situation.

I do not have a strong allegiance to either the Conservative or Liberal agenda although the current shift to the extreme right and its ultra conservative policies troubles me. But what troubles me the most is that governing is no longer about serving but rather about acquiring, wielding and preserving power.

There are many metaphors for power. In the current political environment, the most apt one may be: Power is a river that can be damned or diverted. The concept is that power can be redirected or damned by clever people to make it do what they want.

Too many of today’s political leaders are solely interested in diverting the power to do what they want, to satisfy their lust for authority and to aggressively assert their preferred ideology.

So, the question becomes: How can we get back to the state where being elected to political office is about humbly and faithfully serving the public? I honestly do not see any current political leadership candidates who offer that possibility.

I am open to suggestions. Fire away!

~  Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel (now out of print) which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Tags:   Conservative · Donald Trump · Justin Trudeau · Liberal · metaphor · Michael Robert Dyet · Pierre Poilievre · political powerComments Off on Political Power: Diverting the River

Hmmm, if you blink you might just overlook these striking and very important insects.

Mimicry is a common occurrence in nature. It is a defence mechanism whereby a harmless animal adopts the warning system, such as a colour pattern, of a more dangerous animal and gains protection from predators because it is mistaken for something that might pose a threat to them. In the case of Bee Flies, they mimic Bumblebees but do not sting.

What is so special about Bee Flies?

Bee Flies can hover in midair, move very fast and maneuver with great skill – changing directions in the blink of an eye. They feed on flower nectar but are able to do so by hovering rather than perching on the flower using their long tongue to sip the nectar. Why is this important? Predators, such as crab spiders and ambush bugs, hide in flowers awaiting prey. But Bee Flies remain tantalizingly out of reach.

What do Bee Flies look like?

Like the Bumblebees they mimic, they are often brown and furry and make a buzzing sound when flying. But whereas Bumblebees have four wings, Bee Flies have only two. They also have large eyes, skinny long legs and very short antennae. They vary in size from a fraction of an inch to 1-1/2 inch and can be quite striking as the photos in this post demonstrate.

How long do they live and where?

It is not known definitively how long adult Bee Flies live but experts estimate only a month.

They live in gardens, woodlands, cliffs and grasslands and are often found in sandy or rocky areas. Bee Flies are found in North America, Europe and Asia with over 5,000 species worldwide and roughly 800 species in Canada.

Where do they fit in the quilt of nature?

Bee Flies play a crucial role in pollination. They are equally efficient pollinators of flowers as bees. But they are more frequent visitors and therefore are thought to pollinate more flowers than bees. And as we all know, if there were no pollinators, many plants and flowers – including some that are staple foods for humans – would die.

Bee Flies – one more  fascinating patch in the quilt of nature stitched together by threads of interdependence and natural balance.

~  Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel (now out of print) which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

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Tags:   Adorned Bee Fly · Banded Bee Fly · Bee flies · Greater Bee Fly · metaphor · Michael Robert Dtet · Nature · Tiger Bee Fly2 Comments