A Break in Florida

Evelyn and I got up at the ungodly hour of five in the morning to prepare for our departure. The cab picked us at six and took us to the airport for the flight at eight. Due to ice on the runway the plane sat fully loaded on the tarmac for an hour and was late arriving at Minneapolis. We had to run to board the connection for Orlando. After getting off the plane there, we walked a kilometer to collect the luggage and another kilometer to the rental car counter. It took about half an hour to get the car. It was dark by then and I have difficulty in navigating at night in a strange city. The car representative set the GPS system to guide us to the hotel. However, it did not give any meaningful directions once we were out of the parking lot. After a fair bit of confusion, we decided to follow the map and were soon on the State Road 535. Now we had to find the Holiday Inn, number 11345 on this road. However, there were not many buildings with numbers posted on them and we coasted past a Holiday Inn located just before a restaurant that displayed 8110 in bright lights which we assumed was the address of that location. We were hungry by then and Evelyn was very tense as well – it was getting late and she had to prepare for a three hour seminar the next morning. The manager of the restaurant confirmed that the hotel we just passed was indeed the one we were looking for. He ascertained it by calling the receptionist. He then guided us to a table and we had a calming dinner. The room in the hotel was satisfactory, the bed comfortable and the sleep sound.

When Evelyn was at the seminar I set our GPS for Orlando and it guided me to the rental car company where I returned their GPS and then back to the hotel by a roundabout route as it often does. The next morning it took us to the Epcot Centre but went into a blind stupor on the way back, never to wake up again. By now I knew my way around the map and we found our destinations by the most direct route. I booked Sea World visit for myself the following day when Evelyn was busy and swimming with the dolphins for her the following day when I planned to visit Cape Canaveral Space Station. Evelyn had a great time snorkeling and playing with dolphins but the cold water got to her. On my return from the Cape soon after six, I found her in bed with all her warm clothes on and wrapped in blankets. She had been trying to warm up for an hour and it took a cup of hot tea and another thirty minutes of rest for her to get ready for dinner. A hot soup and a steak helped her return to normal. Back in the room, we packed for our return flights on the following morning. The temperature in Orlando was plus 24 degrees when we boarded the plane. Journey was uneventful and we were happy to be home although the temperature was minus 24 degrees when the flight landed in Calgary.

I felt that the Sea World and Epcot Centre were more hype than substance. The ‘theme parks’ had several frightening rides which appeal to the daring teens but do not do much for the older clientele. Saturday was a fine day when I drove to Cape Canaveral on the other coast of Florida. Fortunately, the state is a long thin peninsula and the distance from one coast to the other is about 50 miles (yes, they still live with miles and Fahrenheit down there) and on good roads it took just about an hour. The entry fee was less than half of that in so-called theme parks. To avoid driving in the dark I allowed myself six hours in the Space Centre visitor complex and it turned out to be enough time.

Rather than discuss the exhibits, it will perhaps be more interesting to describe the overall impression of the place and the emotions it created in me. The space facility is located in a Wildlife Refuge covering around two hundred square miles. The installations are spread out and a bus takes the ‘guests’ to the sites of interest. Lucky visitors get to see alligators, bald eagles and their nests and several unique birds. One nest on a tree next to the highway is fifty years old. It is as big as a double bed and it is still in use.

The exhibits in Cape Canaveral bring home to an observer the immense effort expanded during the sixties for the moon landing in 1969. It was accomplished by eight years of intense effort by two hundred thousand individuals. Each space craft is an assembly of two million ‘systems’ and each of these has to be perfect. The most talented people, whether from the U.S. or abroad, were hired to research, develop, design and test each step in the progression from theoretical musings in 1920 to the landing on the moon. The team that designed successful German space vehicles during the Second World War was moved to the U.S. after the war to help in space exploration there and its contribution turned out to be critical in the development of U.S. space technology. The willingness and ability to attract talent from all over the world and utilize it to the full extent has been a crucial factor in the huge lead U.S. has maintained in all aspects of Technology. Compare this to Hitler who expelled much of the German talent pool and lost the war.

Another impression the exhibits leave is the mind-boggling scale of resources in the U.S. The nation spent more on space exploration every year over last five decades than the total GDP of many countries. Also consider that there are more airplanes sitting on the Chicago airport than owned by the airlines and air force combined of many reasonably prosperous countries. The scientists and economists of the country win most of the international awards and some of the best social studies research is done and published there. Yet, the American cities have more homeless people, illicit drug use is rampant and there are more homicides every day than in any other developed country. The unemployment is on the rise and people need two or more jobs to make ends meet. Middle class, the traditional backbone of the economy, is shrinking as the wealth concentrates in ever fewer hands. Unbridled capitalism and free enterprise is not working for those who can’t help themselves. To make the situation worse, the people and the government are polarized at two extremes and no one can agree on the steps required to solve the social and economic problems. The prospects of social chaos increase by the day when the governments are unable to deal with the problems faced by a large and growing portion of the population. It does not need saying that a political upheaval in the U.S. will bring the economy of the whole world to a grinding halt. Unfortunately, the friends of the great country can do no more than hope that it will muster the will to use its vast economic and intellectual resources to find the solutions before the problems become unmanageable.


Veto at the U.N.

Last week Russia and China vetoed the resolution proposed by the Western powers at the U.N. The resolution was relatively innocuous asking President Assad to step down to avoid further bloodshed in his country. Obviously, these countries have learnt their lesson.

A similar resolution was put forward in the Security Council by Arab countries whose hereditary rulers are beholden to the West when the opposition to Muammar Gaddafi was gathering momentum in Libya. Assuming that the resolution meant no more than what the words said, these powers supported it. However, it was later used by NATO countries to directly intervene in Libya and cause the overthrow of the dictator inconvenient to the West which may not have occurred if Libyans were left alone to sort out their problems.

Every power bloc looks after its interests and it is foolish to expect China and Russia to be different. They are not likely to be hoodwinked twice by pious resolutions which are later distorted to suit their opponent’s purpose. If we need strong threatening resolutions to achieve our goals, let us put these forward and not try to be sneaky, whether it is Syria now or Iran in a few weeks.