TALES FROM THE TOP

The swearing-in party of Barack Obama is historic in so many ways, he is not only the first African-American president, his inauguration was also witnessed by more people than ever before.

It is also historic for being the most expensive inaugural party especially during a recession.

It’s been reported than between 150 to 160 million dollars was spent staging America’s biggest inaugural celebration in history.

Half of the amount was from private donations, while the rest was used for security arrangements.

I’nst it a bit inappropriate to hold such a grand event with an economic depression in the backdrop?

I think 150 to 160 million dollars is enough to put food on the table of those 2 million jobless in America.

That money could have been put to better use especially since POTUS today called the current recession “disastrous.”

Since he was elected President on November 4th, more than 2 Million Americans have lost their jobs. And thousands more are losing their jobs as the days go by with one company after another announcing major lay-offs or complete shutdowns.

President Obama had nothing to do with the current economic meltdown.

The problem started way before he was chosen as the Democratic Party’s standard bearer.

And he will definitely be elevated to God-like status if he manages to get America and the world out of this economic depression.

He could have fast-tracked his God-like status if only he put the 150 Million inaugural fund into something better, like donating it to the unemployment benefits fund or something like that.

He could have turned stones into bread, and water into wine.

But America and the media still loves him — but for how long?

In Manila, it rained on Christmas Eve and New Year’s eve. I’ve never ever seen a wet holiday season in the Philippines for as long as I’ve lived. Record low temperatures were also recorded in many parts of the Philippines in the early part of January.

At that same time, Vancouver and most of the pacific South West of Canada and Pacific North West of the US experienced heavy snow fall and an arctic chill for the first time since the 1960’s. When I was living in Vancouver for over a decade, the sight of snow falling was rare. This winter season, it became the norm.

Las Vegas saw snow for the first time in a long time during the holidays too.

And this week, much of  Central and Eastern Canada and the US felt the extreme chill of Mother Nature with the region blanketed by an arctic cold front that flipped temperatures in some parts to as low as -50 degreees celsius. While the Yukon, in Canada’s NorthWest is experiencing warmer than usual 2.5 degree temperatures in the middle of winter, when it is usually in a deep freeze until spring.

If you havent noticed, In the last decade, the weather has been going topsy-turvey. Weather patterns are changing and are no longer what we expected them to be. Global Warming? Perhaps. The dawn of a new ice age? maybe.

Is there anything we can do to prevent this from happening? Will anything we do now still reverse the effects of one century of industrialization?

Will industrialized country finally put the Earth in front of economic gain and monetary growth?

Or should we just get used to the ever changing new weather and climate patterns and not leave home without our umbrellas, coats and sunscreen?