Lucky to have made it so far!

When I was born, both my parents wanted me and needed me like another hole in their head. They had one girl and one boy, nine and seven years earlier, the Second World War was finally over and as a result they felt much tired and older after all the stress they had to endure, and could certainly have done much better without me.

So, my saving grace was the lack of effective birth-control products and methods, a tight-knit rural society with a strong religious oversight. Without any of that, I might not have made it to this world. I've always realized how lucky I was to “dodge” the proverbial bullet.

This is probably a huge reason why I love life so much and cherish every moment of it. This is also why, considering how lucky I was to make it here, I want to have as much control over my pathway and destiny as possible.

That's right, I fully appreciate my extraordinary luck and all the wonders life has brought to me. I can only hope it will last as long as possible under the best imaginable circumstances.

Today, making it last and enhancing every living moment is what my life is all about...

Another lousy write-up for Park City

My wife told me there was an article about Park City in the current November issue of Ski magazine. So I jumped on it, and discovered that the article written by Samantha Berman wasn't as bad as the comments made by Jeremy Pugh in the previous issue, but still was clearly a mixed bag of positive and negative, suggesting that the place was big, confusing and hard for skiers to navigate.

Of course, Jeremy Pugh's brilliant intellect chimed in, suggesting that “you needed to spend some time at the kitchen table with the trail map”. I assume Mrs Berman and her family were put up free of charge by Park City so she could write her piece and that Mr. Pugh gets a comp season pass...

Unless the Park City General Manager doesn't raise hell with this article when he reads it, he should get his paycheck from his employer's competitors, unless he is capable of turning a negative into a positive and follow the advice I offered him to propose a one-day "Discovery Tour" of his giant resort under the guidance of his ski school staff, so new guests can familiarize themselves with the resort as they get into town...

Ranked Choice Voting

A new electoral method is beginning to appear under the name of “ranked-choice voting” or instant-runoff voting (it's been used in Australia since 1918 for its parliamentary elections).

It consist of offering electors faced with a choice of at least three candidates to vote for them in order of preference. It's very useful when no candidate receives the majority of the votes in a traditional election, and it saves the cost and time of a run-off.

Another advantage of that system is that it could lead to a more civil tone during campaigns, as candidates might be less likely to use attack ads and bash their opponents. This could also be seen as a more democratic process, as the winner is more likely to have been supported by most of the electorate.

The system's downsides is that voting machines must be programmed accordingly or changed, which obviously could be a major expense. Another disadvantage is that it adds confusion to the whole process, as voting for the same position requires three choices, and requires to compute votes on election night.

Early November, Maine voters will decide whether or not to adopt the Ranked Choice Voting system. If it's adopted state-wide, we'll soon be able to measure how good it is...

Four decades of U.S. Presidents

We have almost lived in America for 40 years and during that time, have lived under six American Presidents, so yesterday, as we were talking politics as usual, we decided to grade each one of them, including of course, the two candidates currently battling for the job. Here are the results:

Jimmy Carter: We were not to impressed with him; first, the man couldn't articulate and his southern accent made it impossible to be understood. I guess, he fell into the job by accident and epitomized the aphorism: “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” We gave him 3 out of 10.

Ronald Reagan: The consummate Hollywood type, actor and used-car salesman. We kind-of fell under his charm but were not dupe when he got in trouble with the arm-for-hostages scandal. He talked his way through becoming a legend for the American Right and the 5 out of 10 we gave him is definitely overrated.

George Herbert Walker Bush: We though he was a decent man. He was quick and efficient in prosecuting the invasion of Kuwait and did not attempt to open a can of worms by going after Saddam Hussein. We gave him 6 out 10.

Bill Clinton: This was the first president we were offered as a choice when we became U.S. Citizens, but we preferred Ross Perot twice over him. We couldn't trust the guy, we thought he was a phony and just like Carter, were not fan of the southern drawl. We gave him 4 out of 10.

George W. Bush: At first, he looked like a deer caught in a car headlights, but very soon become a crazy warmonger, fueled by his born-again-Christian beliefs. He earned his war-criminal status with about 150,000 deaths on his conscience. We gave him 2 out of 10.

Barack Obama: We fell for his intellect, but soon realized that he was parachuted into a job for which he was lacking some critical skills. He tried hard, but tried alone, and was blocked every which way because of the color of his skin. He did a terrible job with Syria and let Putin take over. Because of the latter, we can only him a 6 out 10.

As for the following two characters, these are mere projections:

Hillary Clinton: We never liked her and wouldn't have voted for her if the Trump monster didn't exist. She has experience though, but is untrustworthy and by having her – if she wins – we'll stand still. We gave her 5 out of 10.

Donald Trump: Was fun to watch when he bashed his opponents during the primaries, but quickly turned into a monster and a dangerous agitator. He has all the ingredients to become a new Putin and for this alone we give him the minimum, 1 out of 10.

Now, you know everything about the dismal state of leadership in American politics. We certainly can do much better!

Too old to govern?

I believe that Clinton and Trump are too old to be presidential candidates.

Not so much because they only have 15 year of average life expectancy, but because energy dwindles fast past 65 (that's why we retire at 66).

Of course, there's no room at the Parties' top for young, bright, forward-thinking, energetic folks, because the old guard generally controls the inner working of each party and leaves no room there for the some new blood.

My sense is that the more time will pass, the more we'll have to put up with aging dinosaurs in leadership positions. It terrible, it's sad and it's another proof that we only get the candidates we deserve.

Time for everyone of us to get more involved!

Freedom from religion

When I was a kid and even a youngster, I strongly felt that religion was shackling me. I resented its dogma, its demands and I hated all the guilt and the negative experience it brought me.

It had poisoned the well of my early existence and it took years for me to separate its influence from my life.

Today, when I ask myself “who am I?”, my definition is not being an agnostic or an atheist, but a Humanist. That life philosophy embraces human reason, ethics, social justice, and philosophical naturalism while rejecting religious dogma, supernaturalism, pseudoscience and superstition as the bases of morality and decision making.

In other words I believe I can be ethical and moral without religion or believing in deities. From where I came from, this feels quite liberating and helps me see the world clearly and find a comfortable place within nature and the human community.

We're our lifetime of experience

We often wax nostalgic about “the good old days” and forget many bad moments we had to confront and process; yet, both good and bad experiences we went through along the way are the bricks that have build ourselves.

They are the sum of wonderful moments and tough adversities that have formed us and we ought to embrace them all, because we've become what we are through them and if anything, we should fully appreciate the way we are.

If we're not quite pleased with our stand in life and the current picture, it's still time to use the remainder of our time to add more good and pleasant things on the positive side of our life ledger.

The end result is that there are no more “good old days” than there should be “dreadful ones”. They all dovetail together in creating the mosaic of who we are and should make us appreciate every single moment since we were born.