WAITE-O-GRAM (RELEASE 234.0)

QUEBEC AND IRELAND - SEPARATED AT BIRTH?

 

While most might not instantly think of Quebec as Ireland's doppelganger, the recent Irish gay marriage popular vote victory reinforces how quickly the two societies have moved in less than half a century. Both were arguably among the most conservative places on earth and each was dominated, politically and socially, by a particularly stifling variant of the Catholic church. It was a formula that worked...until it didn't. And when the change did come, it came swiftly and with a vengeance. Quebec today is in many respects Canada's greatest flouter of conservative convention. It has Canada's highest common law coupling rate; led the way in terms of public opinion polling regarding gay rights (including, somewhat ironically in La Belle province's case, the right for gays to marry, legalized in Canada in 2004), and has been a leader in legislation providing public child care for working mothers. The lesson? Perhaps that reactionary regimes, at least in the west, seem to sow the seeds of their own undoing... especially at times of massive generational change.

 

YOUTH IS SERVED

 

In some respects the seemingly rapid sea-change in Irish attitudes had been predicted. Economist and journalist David McWilliams' perceptive 2005 book, "The Pope's Children", chronicled how a much-delayed Irish baby-boom, commencing in the late 1970's, led to a generation that by the late 1990's and into the new century was questioning everything, from sectarian violence to strictures on birth control and abortion. As the Irish government's Minister of Communications, Alex White, put it, "This (vote) didn't change Ireland - it confirmed the change."  And, if exit polls can be trusted, it wasn't just the young, urban voters that carried the day. Rural folks and people over 40 apparently ticked the "Yes" box too (although the percentages were said to be somewhat lower). 

 

DO THE CHILDLESS CARE ABOUT THE FUTURE?

 

Speaking of children... with federal election campaigns now essentially underway in both the United States and Canada, we're hearing a lot of rhetoric regarding future generations. Nearly every candidate invokes children (or grandchildren) in making a pitch for votes. There seems in all of this to be an underlying assumption that you need to have progeny to care about the future of the planet. Harvard historian Niall Ferguson not long ago went so far as to suggest that the childless "don't give a damn about the planet or the future". But is this true? While my spouse and I have let loose two offspring to roam the earth, we have countless friends who are childless, by design or by chance, and they pretty much seem as committed to the planet's long-term survival as anyone else.

 

THINK GINK?

 

As it happens, there is actually an advocacy group for those who believe the childless are unfairly portrayed as ecologically uncaring. It is called "GINK" (Green Inclinations, No Kids) and is headed up by Lisa Hymas, an editor at "Grist". Her mission is to challenge what she calls a "pro-natal bias" in the media and society in general. One of the points she makes is that she and her childless cohort are doing more for the planet simply by not adding another generation of carbon footprint-stomping, oxygen-depleting humans. Almost makes you want to give up on the idea of grandchildren. Almost.

 

SHAMELESS SIBLING PROMOTION

 

My brother Tom Waite has a new novel set for release. Titled "Trident Code", it is the second in his popular Lana Elkins series and is once again focused on cyber-terrorism, but this time with an ecological twist. (And yes, the fictional Lana Elkins has a child, which I suppose would please Professor Ferguson at Harvard). Tom is getting some very encouraging reviews and comments on the novel, including from Admiral Ron Thunman (Ret.) who judged it "a winner". Not to give anything away, but nuclear submarines are involved in the plot...and few would know more about submarines than Admiral Thunman, who was at ComSubPac during the latter stages of the Cold War and prior to that served under legendary Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, the "Father of the American Nuclear Navy".  Tom was interviewed by Factor magazine recently about his new book - you can read the interview here:

http://factor-tech.com/feature/combining-ecological-and-cyber-threats-author-thomas-waite-on-writing-trident-code/?utm_content=buffer73b8e&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer    

             

BASEBALL'S LOSS: MARKETING'S GAIN

This weekend one of baseball's forgotten legends will be turning 65. I speak of course of Eric "Sudden" Morse, the Massachusetts-born teenage pitching sensation who in the 1960's seemed on the verge of becoming for the Boston Red Sox on the mound what Tony Conigliaro had been in the outfield. Morse, who pitched in the Maine Developmental (ManDev) league under the tutelage of noted French-Canadian coach George Washingmachine, had a fastball that clocked in at above 100 miles an hour and a dipping curve that caused fillings to spontaneously fall from the teeth of baffled opponents. I know this because I faced him more than once. "Sudden" seemed destined for the Big Leagues straight out of high school, but then tragedy intervened - a croquet accident so severe he was never able to pick up, much less throw, a baseball again. Eric instead went on to university and a stellar career in advertising and marketing in Boston and New York. I want to wish him all the best on his upcoming special day (even if I personally hold him responsible for Boston's 1975 World Series loss to Cincinnati and Bucky Dent's 1978 playoff home run.)

 

AND FINALLY...

Shouldn't there be an NHL rule that at least one of the Stanley Cup finalists be a Canadian team?  So that there is an actual audience that cares?

 

(The views expressed are solely those of the author, who takes full responsibility for any errors, omissions or exaggerations. In fairness to Professor Ferguson, for example, he later tried to modify his statement regarding the childless. And in fairness to Eric Morse, he also had a pretty wicked change-up...but should have never demonstrated it with a croquet ball. And in fairness to my brother, I probably should have included a link to Amazon, so you could buy his book. But sibling rivalry is a cruel thing.)