Why I Write The Way I Do

Quite often, when I am writing my Blogs, I have the need to find some material to start off my Blog articles.  My intention has been to make personal the beginning of my written piece involving matters that impact me and which you might find of interest to you as well.

Naturally, if you don't like that kind of written material, all you need to do is pass it by and start reading my comments further down in the material on various matters about which I want to let you know. That is the more traditional type of writing that I used to do before and which I do in the rest of my Blog.

I do try to write about matters at the beginning that I think are useful, to me at least. They may seem rather small in importance in what I am discussing otherwise but you should understand me as well by now.  Even though they are something that happened in my life, these matters have a much broader outlook as far as I am concerned. I feel that they may be of interest to you as well whether it is because of what you are doing in life or someone whom you know.

One of the things I do like to point out is all of the generous actions that people have taken to help me since I have been so ill. What is so wonderful about it is how much others have tried for so long to make sure that I am well.

It was something that I started thinking about also. Based on how well my life has become, it is now something I do try to do when I start writing. Sometimes, especially if I think it is an issue for others, I let readers know what has caused me a problem and what I have done to try and eliminate it. Other times, I am happy to let you know what has pleased me so that you might enjoy a similar experience as well.

Anyway, dear reader, I have explained a little bit about my writing style in this Blog. Now I had better start writing some stories about why you come here.

IS THERE A "NEW" CHINA NOW

I really know very little about China even with lots of stories in the press these days.  For how many years has it really been closed off to the public in this part of the world.

What I am seeing now is quite a surprise to me.  I must admit that I hardly ever heard before about this gentleman at all. I am referring to this man as set out in Wikipedia:

"Xi Jinping is a Chinese politician currently serving as General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, President of the People's Republic of China, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission. As Xi holds the top offices of the party, the state, and the military, he is sometimes referred to as China's "paramount leader"; in 2016, the party officially gave him the title of "core" leader."

Here is one of the big issues that he is trying to achieve in China:

"China's ruling Communist Party has proposed scrapping term limits for the country's president, the official news agency said Sunday, appearing to lay the groundwork for party leader Xi Jinping to rule as president beyond 2023

The party's Central Committee proposed to remove from the constitution the expression that China's president and vice president "shall serve no more than two consecutive terms," the Xinhua News Agency said." (CBS, February 25, 2018) 

He interested me recently in this article that I read in CNBC on April 9, 2018: "China's Xi announces plans to 'open' China, including lowering tariffs on imported autos" (Everett Rosenfeld, HuilengTan, CNBC, April 9, 2018 ) 

I am not going to quote very much of this article but suggest you go and read it yourself as soon as you can. What interested me so much is the way he wants to see the Chinese Government operating. Here are just a few matters that seem quite positive to me considering the Chinese Communist background:

-open up the Chinese economy

-lowering import tariffs for autos, decreasing duties on other products, enforcing the legal intellectual property of foreign firms and improving the investment environment for international companies

-countries should "stay committed to openness, connectivity and mutual benefits, build an open global economy, and reinforce cooperation within the G-20, APEC and other multilateral frameworks

-encourage normal technological exchanges and cooperation between Chinese and foreign enterprises and protect the lawful [intellectual property] owned by foreign enterprises in China.

I will let you consider, dear reader, what you think the result of these offerings would be if in fact arrangements were made between China and many of the Western countries involved including the United States and Canada.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if fantastic arrangements were entered into between China and all these other countries! Should we consider it to be a wonderful opportunity that absolutely must be followed? Well, perhaps we should. However, based on my own education in school, I remember this which happened many years ago involving Russia and Western countries:

"The gradual accession of Stalin to power in the 1920s eventually brought an end to the liberalization of society and the economy, leading instead to a period of unprecedented government control, mobilization, and terrorization of society in Russia and the other Soviet republics. In the 1930s, agriculture and industry underwent brutal forced centralization, and Russian cultural activity was highly restricted. Purges eliminated thousands of individuals deemed dangerous to the Soviet state by Stalin's operatives." (Glenn E. Curtis, Russia: ACountry Study,  GPO for the Library of Congress, 1996) 

Hmm.  Could that be what was planned in China and what might happen in the future to any "free" economy that might be set up today!

IS THE HOUSE MARKET NOW FINISHED

I saw this story which is rather troubling about the house market in our area:

"Residential house sales were down 25.21% in March, compared to the same time one year ago according to the Windsor-Essex County Association of Realtors...

Home sales for the year are also down  compared to last year with 1,145 sold for the first three months, compared to 1,522 for the first three months of 2017." (Liz Thorne, Windsorite.ca, April 9th, 2018)

Here is a good graph that shows you what this looks like

Here is what is very interesting. It is something that is hard to understand I would think but it is what happened.  The average sales price of a house in March increased by 7.31% while it increased in year-to-date by 11.82%.

HAS THE NUMBER OF BRIDGE BIDDERS BEEN REDUCED 

All that I am going to tell you is to follow the stories to see whether the number of bidders for the proposed Government bridge between Windsor and Detroit has to be reduced and quickly.  Or, will Canada be afraid to do so because it might hurt its relationship with China when China seems to want to do more dealing with Western countries.

There is a reason for it:

"A company that’s involved in bidding on the Gordie Howe Bridge has come under scrutiny for its ties to a Chinese conglomerate.

Questions are being raised about whether Aecon, one of the three short-listed consortiums vying to build the new crossing between Windsor and Detroit, should remain as a bidder on the Gordie Howe International Bridge project since it is in the midst of a takeover by a Chinese conglomerate." (DaveBattagello, Windsor Star, April 9, 2018) 

It will be tough to be a Government official who has to make a decision in this case as you can see here:

"I won’t speak to speculation regarding a possible change in members in any of the short-listed proponents’ teams,” said Mark Butler, spokesman for the bridge authority."