Writing Blogs

Believe it or not, I like writing articles for my Blogsite.  

I have to admit that I don't write as much as I did in the past. Part of the reason obviously is that it is much more difficult for me to spend so much time researching a topic and then write an article about it. Where I had the ability to do so much work previously, I just don't have that now. Nevertheless, I still do as much as I possibly can when I decide to write an article to make sure that what I distribute to the public is worthy.

Clearly that is not the only reason why I do write less than I did before. Another reason is that I just don't see the need to do so on some of the topics that I thought were so important before.  Just to give you the obvious example, what do I need to write about the new border crossing now?

Notwithstanding all the silliness that is still going on, it is clear to me that the Ambassador Bridge Company will be able to build their 2nd bridge in a relatively short period of time and then be able to operate it. Accordingly, who needs to produce any extremely long and very detailed article after article on subjects about the new bridge that are now quite boring.  Seriously, it's a done deal!

I use this Website as an outlet to express my own personal views about what is going on in this world. As my usual process, I will refer to some stories I see elsewhere and give you my view on them. Here are just a few that I have seen recently.

CANADA INFRASTRUCTURE BANK

In case you did not know it, here is what this Bank is supposed to do as shown in the Infrastructure Canada website:

"The Canada Infrastructure Bank will invest $35 billion from the federal government into infrastructure projects. $15 billion is sourced from the over $180 billion Investing in Canada infrastructure plan."

To be honest about it, I don't know very much about this Bank or how successful it will be. Given the financial problems that the Government Canada has, I just wonder if there is enough money to provide to this Bank. Interestingly, I saw this comment at the beginning of a Globe and Mail article (which I saw on a different website that I could access):

"Federal Liberals are promoting the Canada Infrastructure Bank to the Trump administration as a way to fund large cross-border projects…

And a new report prepared for the Washington State Department of Transportation says the bank could be a source of funding for an ultrahigh-speed rail line connecting Vancouver, Seattle and Portland. The high-level report, released on Dec. 15, estimated the high-speed rail line would cost between $24-billion (U.S.) and $42-billion." (Bill Curry, Globe and Mail, January 11, 2018)

The article did state, which I found interesting, the following:

"The federal Crown corporation is designed to encourage institutional investors – such as pension funds – to lead the funding and management of large infrastructure projects with minority funding from the government bank."

In other words, there is a need for other financial sources for Canada's major projects or they just won't be built with financing only from the Canadian Government. Yet, isn't the Government supposed to paying all of the costs itself on its Border Bridge project here:

"Meanwhile, the Finance Canada document makes reference to leaked documents from Donald Trump's presidential campaign, which listed 50 priority infrastructure projects across the United States.

That list included two projects that cross the Canada-U.S. border: the Peace Bridge and the Gordie Howe Bridge… 

The Canadian government is currently committed to covering all of the construction costs of the new Gordie Howe Bridge between Windsor and Detroit, including a new U.S. customs plaza. The plan is for Canada to recoup the cost of the American share of the project through tolls."

Just reading this suggests to me once again that the Gordie Howe Bridge is never going to happen nor was it ever expected to be built if Canada requires money from others for other projects but will pay for the Gordie Howe Bridge all on its own.

TROUBLE WITH A WINDSOR VEHICLE

Chrysler Pacifica minivans are built in Windsor aren't they? I do not think they are built anywhere else. I saw this in a Windsor Star story a few months ago:

"Just this past week, in only its first year of production…the 2017 Chrysler Pacifica and the Pacifica Hybrid, scooped up awards No. 60 and No. 61." (Doug Schmidt, Windsor Star, August 3, 2017)  

I am certain that it has won a lot more awards. As an example, I saw in another article that the number had increased to 72.

However, will it continue to receive awards because of this story:

"After scores of owners filed safety complaints or shared concerns through social media, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said Friday that it was recalling nearly 154,000 Chrysler Pacifica minivans to fix an issue that has caused some to stall suddenly while being driven.

The company discovered that under rare conditions the minivan’s engine control module could incorrectly assess the operating status, potentially causing the engine to stall. Drivers found that they had to shut the vehicles off and restart them to resume driving. Some reported experiencing stalls in intersections or on highways." (Neal E. Boudette, New York Times, January 12, 2018) 

I did see a story about this in the Windsor Star on January 12, 2018. Strange though, it was not a story written by a Star reporter but rather came from the Associated Press. 

ADD-ON  Just to let you know that a Star reporter did do a story on this afterwards but it was posted on January 13.  Here is what the reporter was told that was extra:

"Company spokesman Eric Mayne told the Star Saturday that there had been “no injuries we are aware of, and there has been a single, potentially related, accident.” Most of the instances of stalling that had been reported occurred when the vehicles were idling or while starting, turning or moving at slow speeds, the company said." (Doug Schmidt, Windsor Star, January 13, 2018)