John Stall

Never mind talk of recession taking a toll on the North American economy. I came across an addictive website for golfers this week that I suspect will take a toll on executive productivity for the rest of the winter, if not beyond. 

Worldgolftour.com is the latest, greatest simulated golf thing, not unlike the many golf simulator games that you can buy, but the hook is that this one is streamed free online (at least for the time being) . It is still in the developmental stage, but it is awesome and addictive, with a lot of legs as it develops.

The producers have digitally photographed some of the great golf courses in the world and can place you on the tee with the same views and sounds as you would see and hear if you were there.  I read about it in Fortune 500 magazine, so the buzz is already making its way through Bay and Wall streets.

From what I can gather, the owners of the site have big plans for online competitions, tournaments and skin games. The current prototype is a nine-hole closest to the pin competition that is inviting world response and feedback.  At the moment you can play a demo version, but be warned, it could cost you a marriage or a job or, at the very least a lot of sleep!

Keep your head up! 

Until now, I’ve always believed Canada was doing the right thing by contributing to the coalition war against the Taliban in Afghanistan.  As the interdependant neighbour of the America that came under attack on 9/11, I felt we had a joint responsibility to protect the North American continent from further terrorism and to be part of the coalition that goes after it.  But like so many others this week , I was deeply offended (as I’m sure the loved ones of the 77 Canadian soldiers who have so far sacrificed their lives for Canada and the U.S. are)  by the  recent comments of U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates who told the Los Angeles Times that NATO forces were not doing a good enough job against the Taliban and may not be as well trained in “counter insurgency” as the Americans are. 

He has since tried to clarify his point , backtrack and even called Canadian Minister of Defence Minister Peter MacKay (the day after the latest Canadian Soldier was killed) to make the point that he wasn’t pointing fingers at Canada and was embarrassed over the report. But for many in Canada the clarification is too little too late.  I suspect public opinion polls will find that opposition to the Canadian mission climbs higher  in the weeks ahead that the close to 50 per cent who oppose it now and would like to see Canadian troops return as soon as possible.

Canadian Forces have been doing most of the heavy lifting in Kandahar, have lost more soldiers, more equipment and more nights of sleep than the forces of any other NATO country and without a lot of whining, despite the lack of support from other NATO countries. 

Don’t know if Gates was aware when he made his diplomatically reckless comments that a panel appointed by Prime Minister is about to recommend a new role for Canada after the scheduled commitment ends around this time next year. But if he thinks Americans can do a better job on the front lines, then he will be happy to learn that the John Manley report is expected to recommend that Canadian soldiers make room for others on the front by beginning to withdraw. 

I distinctly remember hearing an American commentator muse last year at this time that Barack Obama didn’t have a chance of getting the Democratic nomination because his name sounded too much like Osama bin Laden. I really can’t remember who it was or where I heard it said, but he was likely a Republican who thought Americans were still as preoccupied with bin Laden, Iraq and the war on terror as the Bush administration is.  They are not.

Poll after poll reveals that Americans want out of Iraq, want their dollar back, their land values back and want some form of protection against health care costs that are more likely to kill them financially than any terrorist will — physically.

Barack Obama will, in my view, (but I’m not sure why) not only win the Democratic nomination, but will become the first black president of the United States.  The mania is spreading and appears close to unstoppable, fuelled by media attention that feeds on the spectacle.  He connects like crazy with a room, at an outdoor rally or on the other side of a television screen.  He has a ton of charisma and he knows how to use it.  Despite the systemic cynicism that politics breeds, young voters seem to be investing their emotions in him way more than in any other candidate.  Hillary Clinton looks and sounds more downright stodgy with each passing day. 

Obama is not saying anything revolutionary, but delivers his message of hope with panache. He doesn’t  sound any smarter than any of the rest, nor does any of his policies. So, why is he on fire among Democrats? Is it his charisma? Style over substance? Is it because he’s black? Is the prospect of a black president too delicious of an undercurrent for the mass media to not “keep alive”? Or, has he really got something that the people of America think they need? Will he bust or will he blast off to the White House?