Last Saturday evening about twenty friends and family came to celebrate my birthday at Joyce on Forth from 5 to about 8 pm. It was a fine party with drinks and side dishes as my treat. Metta my son was there from the start, while John and Tammy - returning from holidays - joined us at around seven. My good friends Shirley, Elisabeth, Jack, Herman with Denise were there as well. Hanna with Ed, Rene with Eve, Sarah with BJ were present along with the friends of my sons such as Ed with Tammy, Adrian, my good neighbour Michelle and last but not least, Dan from the Kricket store.

Annie helped setting up the cake with candles, light them, blow them out and being rewarded for all this work with a corner piece of the cake!

Blessed with beautiful weather on Sunday, our celebrating continued in the afternoon from 3-5 and beyond at John and Tammy’s home, where Tammy’s family was well presented. Granddaughter Annie helped setting up the cake with candles, light them, blow them out and being rewarded for all this work with a corner piece of the cake! Metta and some of my close friends came as well, joining Roy and Shirley with Tammy’s siblings and close family. Marion had an hilarious Western ‘ornery’ birthday card for me, referring that life at our age is as yet ‘above the dirt’!

My family in Holland called earlier with best wishes, while my sisters sent presents by mail, with Tieneke’s arriving just a few days ago; a desk calendar with photos for every week from the old country. And there were various emails from overseas, which I hope to answer, while including a few shots of the festivities.

I also have a harvest of about eighteen birthday cards ranging from Juliet’s to Metta’s self made card using a caricature drawing made of me at an open house at Windesheim College, Zwolle, NL, Fall 2001. For me eighteen cards is a milestone, aligning harmoniously with my age of EIGHTY:-)!

So, I hereby give my heartfelt thanks to all who helped celebrate my birthday at the three venues, to wit the Palliser (14th), Joyce (20th) and at John and Tammy’s home on the 21st, wishing each and every one the very best for a long time to come.

So, I hereby give my heartfelt thanks to all who helped celebrate my birthday at the three venues, to wit the Palliser (14th), Joyce (20th) and at John and Tammy’s home on the 21st, wishing each and every one the very best for a long time to come. This includes Julie, as we will close of these celebrations with a breakfast at the Purple Perk, later this week!

Yesterday I copied my recorded talk audio files to the audio folder on my desktop, then edited it in preparation for the intended posting on my website’s Talks category. In the evening I marked up the ‘AudioPres-type HTML files for each talk, as both “Adding to Old Teachings” talks 1 & 2 are not yet posted on my site TTS TonysThoughtShoppe (“TonysThoughtShoppe.info”).

Yesterday I copied my recorded talk audio files to the audio folder on my desktop, then edited it in preparation for the intended posting on my website’s Talks category.

These files are almost complete, but I still have to mark up the hand out files and add the whole collection to the Group9 talk group. That makes it a part of the navigation chain that leads from my home page to the actual talk in question. Newly added items are also shown on the home page for visitors to see what has been added when. This also requires some extra linking as well. So, I’m not done yet, but about half way there.

A word on USA foreign policy. The Bush era aimed to bring a kind of ‘Pax Americana’ to the world, whether we wanted it or not. It was the brain child Daniel Pike, the American Century Institute and others and aimed at making the USA the dominating global player.

This attempt backfired, alienating countries that had been on the USA’s side and alerting other major players to quickly increase their defense preparedness. Most nations have now discovered that it is more effective to quietly aim to go around the USA intentions, rather than to challenge those directly.

We now have a similar development in the form of a “Trade Americana” policy using commerce, where force failed.

We now have a similar development in the form of a “Trade Americana” policy using commerce, where force failed. This new ‘Pax’ goes under the name of the “TPP” pact for Canada, Japan and others, while an analogous pact aims to take in Europe. The other day I noted the label “China exclusion” in the press, for this kind of USA initiated policy.

In relation to the above, it is worth noting the article in yesterday’s Globe and Mail on page B3 (not B4!) by Luo Zhaohui, China’s Ambassador to Canada. In it the Ambassador describes and explains China’s intentions and preparations for the G20 conference it will host this coming September. The main tone that this articles repeatedly strikes, is one of inclusion and the need for co-operation among the members and across the globe.

This essay by mister Luo Zhaohui lists names and countries that are asked for significant input precisely, because they are in the development stage.

So, I say, we must trust that both are equal in their intentions and their concern regarding self-interests.

I quite well realise that China is far more powerful than many of the G20 nations, but the same is true for the USA. So, I say, we must trust that both are equal in their intentions and their concern regarding self-interests.

The one not more so than the other, I say, unless you want to risk acting and judging with bias, which will lead to wrong decisions and harmful outcomes.

China, without neglecting its own interests, appears inclined to use the inclusive approach, while respecting the status and valuing the contributions of others, recognising that we live on this planet together and that cooperation rather than coercion will be the most productive way forward for all concerned.
<9:51am~