“Right over left; left over right, makes a knot both tidy and tight”; I remember that mnemonic from many decades ago as a school kid learning to tie a reef knot. Used it countless times during my long career at sea, where one of my favourite and frequent ports-of-call in the early 1960s was Hamburg.
All those memories flooded back with media coverage of the G20 Meeting in Hamburg last week, where the constantly-displayed logo was a reef knot. Couldn’t help but wonder if the “right over left” and “left over right” directions referred to the politics of those world leaders. Most of the outcomes were not too “tidy and tight” from all reports. Precious little really achieved, apart from a lengthy face-to-face meeting between the presidents of the USA and Russia. Some protesters used anarchistic violence to get their point across, as has become the norm at these annual political bun-fests.
With the world’s focus on Hamburg, big news at home of an official apology and large monetary settlement for Omar Kadhr caused confusion and consternation. Our Prime Minister ducked several reporters’ questions about this during his weeklong trip, that included a stop-off for “sock diplomacy” in Ireland. When he finally addressed the Kadhr questions it was with a lecture rather than an answer; he came across as a haughty teacher, not dissimilar to his predecessor Stephen Harper whose demeanour was often that of a haughty preacherman.
Less than two years after the Liberals were ushered in with promises of Sunny Ways, there seems to be an ever-deepening dark cloud of deception covering their promises of openness and transparency. The government has a knotty problem with so many pledges that have completely unravelled, and apparently enjoys tying the populace up in knots.
Bernie Smith
Parksville