Day: November 6, 2004

My buddy Ron sent me 5 rather messy photos of what happens when an exotic reptile takes shelter in a car’s engine compartment. Thanks, I think. However, I asked for CUTE animal pictures, not outtakes from Peter Jackson’s first film. No, I won’t post them until I have a members’ log on to my site. Did I say that I was going to have my very own email address at this site, and so you can start emailing me and telling me what a sick little baby seal I am? and there will be a PRIVATE MEMBERS ONLY section where we can live in our own little world?

The snake pix were educational though, and I heartily concur with Ron’s conclusion that people should avoid exotic pets. No Pythons besides Monty was how he put it.

Went dancing with Maria, Mike, Victoria and Paul last night at the Rowing Club in Stanley Park, one of my favourite places to dance as the dance floor is … well… sprung. And Night Shift, the band, was smokin’.

My webmeister is going to be coming over on Sunday, and once I load him up with food and beer he’s going to review my site fer ickyness and bogosity, and I’m going to beta test some calendar software that will make AllegraSloman.com the premiere destination site for my friends and relations; you will be able to schedule damned near anything from anywhere and you can publicly post events etc from anywhere on the web. Maybe. We’ll see. I can’t promise more than I can deliver, but it’s a nice looking bit of software, and not too dear.

I got my must on. Paul, because he is a god among men, JUICED ALL THOSE FREAKING PEARS YESTERDAY. Many thanks to our wonderful, supportive and friendly neighbours for providing the juicer. It apparently went through the pears like the noisy whirling and registered trademark cartoon character. Then he went out and bought about $60 worth of winemaking equipment and we are GOING TO HAVE PEAR WINE. From our very own tree! The must tastes FanTastic so I have high hopes. Just finished scrubbing and rinsing the primary and am waiting for the first batch of juice to just come to a boil.

Later today off to eat at Tomato’s (yeee haw!!! it’s a really really good restaurant with GREAT waitstaff and not too dear) and clack and flap my elephant sized ears with my cherished compadres from the Dunnett group. Our gatherings are called SPITS and it’s complicated to explain, you’ll just have to take it as it is. THEN WE GO BOOK SHOPPING. Sh. Don’t tell Paul. I’m supposed to get rid of two books for every one I bring into the house. Yeah right!!!! Derisive snorts of middleaged woman, ha!

Then, if everything goes really well, I’ll feel energetic enough to go to a pub and walk into yet another group of strangers and expect to feel a welcome. We shall see. There are no fewer than 4 groups of people or individuals who may lay claim to my time this evening. Generally in a situation like that Paul wins. It’s easier, and I can see where I’m gonna sleep. Besides, did I mention he’s a god among men? And that’s with his clothes on! (Evil laughter….)

Note from 2019 – Can’t find this on line any more, the site still exists but the ranking no longer exists because they have a whole bunch of different criteria.  Okay, back to the fall of 2004.

 

Finland,

Iceland,

Denmark,

New Zealand,

Singapore,

Sweden,

Netherlands,

Australia,

Norway,

Switzerland,

Canada,

Luxembourg,

United Kingdom,

Austria,

Hong Kong,

Germany,

Belgium,

Ireland,

USA,

Chile,

Israel,

Japan,

France,

Spain,

Portugal,

Oman,

Bahrain,

Cyprus,

Slovenia,

Botswana,

Taiwan,

Qatar,

Estonia,

Uruguay,

Italy,

Kuwait,

Malaysia,

United Arab Emirates,

Tunisia,

Hungary,

Lithuania,

Namibia,

Cuba,

Jordan,

Trinidad and Tobago,

Belize,

Saudi Arabia,

Mauritius,

South Africa,

Costa Rica,

Greece,

South Korea,

Belarus,

Brazil,

Bulgaria,

Czech Republic,

Jamaica,

Latvia,

Colombia,

Croatia,

El Salvador,

Peru,

Slovakia,

Mexico,

Poland,

China,

Panama,

Sri Lanka,

Syria,

Bosnia & Herzegovina,

Dominican Republic,

Egypt,

Ghana,

Morocco,

Thailand,

Senegal,

Turkey,

Armenia,

Iran,

Lebanon,

Mali,

Palestine,

India,

Malawi,

Romania,

Mozambique,

Russia,

Algeria,

Madagascar,

Nicaragua,

Yemen,

Albania,

Argentina,

Ethiopia,

Gambia,

Pakistan,

Philippines,

Tanzania,

Zambia,

Guatemala,

Kazakhstan,

Moldova,

Uzbekistan,

Venezuela,

Vietnam,

Bolivia,

Honduras,

Macedonia,

Serbia & Montenegro,

Sudan,

Ukraine,

Zimbabwe,

Congo, Republic of the,

Ecuador,

Iraq,

Sierra Leone,

Uganda,

Cote d’Ivoire,

Kyrgyzstan,

Libya,

Papua New Guinea,

Indonesia,

Kenya,

Angola,

Azerbaijan,

Cameroon,

Georgia,

Tajikistan,

Myanmar,

Paraguay,

Haiti,

Nigeria,

Bangladesh,

You will note in this list of which countries have the least public and business corruption and the highest level of public scrutiny of their accounts, that Canada does not place in the top ten. However, it does rank above Britain, France and the US. If I was a real SD, and I am, I would pull a very poker face and ask that the ratings of Iraq and the US be mingled, seeing as how Iraq is not really and effectively a sovereign state at the moment but a ‘client state’ of the US. I am sure a lot of Iraqis would be cheesed at me for saying that, and likely even more Americans.

Transparency International, by the way, is headquartered in the UK. So even though it’s a more corrupt place than Canada, at least it’s a safe country to say that in. Karl Marx, you will recollect, took refuge in Britain.

I find it interesting that the only person I ever knew socially who came from Africa came from Botswana, the first African country on the list. One of the the things that Botswana has done… check out the country’s main website, it rocks… is encourage people to go overseas and get an education and then COME HOME. Apparently more than 95 percent of Botswanans who are educated overseas go back when they’re done. And that’s what Serara did. She and her hubby came to Ottawa, and imagine if you dare their reaction to their first Ottawa winter…. busted ass on their respective degrees, and went home. The reason Botswana is at the top of the list for Africa is three fold. They didn’t get their independence via a civil war, which meant that they didn’t lose whatever infrastructure was in place when the Brits left. They emphasize literacy. And they don’t have a brain drain. If all the educated people come home to fill up the bureaucracies and schools and universities and telephone companies and power companies and mining companies, then it’s a lot easier to make progress. They have an active, noisy and pluralistic democracy, and high voter turnout. And don’t forget the role of an independent judiciary. They have a lot of the same features to their political landscape that the rest of Africa does (like lots of different ethnic and religious groups and brutal weather), but anytime you emphasize peace – civil order, I mean- and education you can accomplish amazing things.

And I see that Nigeria and Bangladesh continue to duke it out for last place. God help us, but colonialism has a lot to answer for.

I can’t help looking at the bottom four fifths of this list and think that it reads like the roll call of places I’d never want to live. May the deity of your choice bless Canada!