Is the BIG one coming?

First came Brexit. Next Trump. Now Macron and Le Pen. Blanche, you know when something happens three times it becomes part of a new normal? We are speaking of the first part of the French election which took place on Sunday.

Lest you think that Brexit and Trump were mere coincidences, think again. For the first time in the 59-year history of the French Fifth Republic, neither of the country’s two main parties, the Socialists and the Republicans, made the second round of presidential balloting causing  jaw-dropping, stunning losses.

Macron is a thirty-nine year old independent centrist. He made up his own party – En Marche 18 months ago and has at least 200,000 people signed up. He’s middle of the road, leaning to healing the economy and creating jobs. Sound familiar? That was Trump’s call to arms. Le Pen is left of left, calling herself the ‘great alternative’.

There’s a bit more to this dude. People are wondering who is funding his party and are not 100% sure where he really stands on many issues. One thing is certain – he doesn’t sound like the shrill Le Pen.

Le Pen supporters were rioting all over Paris on Sunday night because she is now the underdog. Why is it that all over the world left leaning people cannot accept losing? According to them, if they win it’s a fair election. If they lose, it’s rioting, whining, complaining and endless marches.

Blanche, did you hear about the three cities who lost power last Friday? San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles. No? Pay attention.

San Francisco was the only one hit with a huge power failure while New York had some subway stations blacked out and Los Angeles’s massive LAX was out.

While we are certainly not survivalists – people who freeze-dry food that can stay for 25 years (we don’t want to even dream what that tastes like), we are a tad concerned. There are those who think that the entire national power grid has been mapped by adversaries of the United States and it is believed that sleep trojans or malware may exist within the computer systems that maintain the grid. It’s certainly not out of the question. People are hacking into every other part of our lives.

Whether you believe that or not, the three cities hit last Friday, basically around the same time was just a little more than a coincidence. What can we do?

Not rocket science. As we learned from our ice storm, when the power is out, virtually everything else is out with it. Like banks. Grocery stores. Drugstores. Gas pumps. Here’s what do to ‘just in case’.

Firstly, always have a stash of cash available in your house. We’re not talking $100. If you recall during the ice storm, people who had things like diapers and water were gouging the public who were desperate and caught totally off guard. Those who had cash on them got the goods. Those who didn’t…

We are supposed to have a two week supply of dried or canned food, water, batteries, flashlights, personal medication and anything else that is a necessity in your life.

Look, we hope we are dead wrong about this. We hope the big one Elizabeth will never happen. But given  last week’s power failures in three big US cities, it certainly looked like a dry run for the main event.

Is anyone surprised that the towing industry in la belle province is run by the mafia and underworld? That was most likely the worst kept secret known to man. What is disturbing is that it is part of an entire culture – both in and out of the Quebec government – where nothing is what it appears to be. Welcome to our banana republic.

Take the new Champlain bridge being built. Does anyone think that everything is 100% honest in that massive undertaking? If so, we have some swampland for you in Florida.

From the top to the bottom, left and right, from the Premier’s office to the mayor’s office and every bureaucrat in between, people are making money off you and me.

You want a gazebo built in honour of Mordechai Richler? Fah sure. But it’s gonna cost you, big time. Why would the government find a company who actually builds gazebos when they can keep passing the order from person to person, each one making a nice amount of money per hour to keep the charade alive. Keep it going as long as possible until the public gets annoyed and then build it for close to a million dollars. It’s in the papers for a week or two at the most and then everybody moves on until the next scandal.

This is one tiny symptom of the problem. Imagine, just imagine, how much money was made on the side from both super hospitals? Now quadruple that at the very least with the bridge construction.

Face it folks – in order to have a nice quality of living we have to give something up. In our case it’s our bureaucracy and  governments that have never been honest. Ever.

Yesterday was Yom Hashoah – Holocaust remembrance day. Unlike his predecessor Obama, Trump spoke in a forthright tone. “This is my pledge to you: We will confront anti-Semitism, we will stamp out prejudice, we will condemn hatred, we will bear witness and we will act,” he said.

“As president of the United States, I will always stand with the Jewish people and I will always stand with our great friend and partner, the state of Israel.” Nothing more to say here.

Canadian lumber imports are expected to face new duties ranging from three to 24 per cent, starting next week. While we feel badly about the lumber industry, we can’t wait until Trump gets to the dairy industry.

The protectia that the lobbyists of the dairy industry have on the government appear, with some help,  to  be coming to an end. Trump said that he can’t figure out why products are banned from coming into Canada to protect dairy farmers who don’t need protecting.

Blanche, you do know that many, many products never make it here because we can’t produce them ourselves and the dairy industry would rather not have us buy things they can’t make. That would take money out of their pockets.

Picture this scenario: You make the best carrot muffins but your friend has decided that only his, which taste awful and have fake carrots, will be sold in the stores. Why? Because he’s friends with the store owners and you’re not. Is that normal? Is that how retail works? No on both counts.

The magical world of the dairy industry and their lobbyists are up against Trump, an astute businessman. Looks like the lobbyists days are numbered.

Anyone try eating healthy these days? Like having a salad. Fuggedaboudit. Recently we paid $4.99 for a package of three measly, skinny heads of romaine lettuce. And iceberg lettuce? $3.99 per head.

The problem seems to lie in California. First they had a drought. Then it rained too much causing moisture and bugs infesting the lettuce. Ich. So Blanche, you may have to eat french fries until June when local lettuce will make its debut.

We’ll talk…