HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2001-02-14, Page 5THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2001. PAGE 5.
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I sure can't finger that out!
If you ever happen to meet a gentleman by
the name of Shridhar Chillal, don't even
think about shaking hands with him. You
can't. Not with his left hand, anyway - because
even when Mister Chillal holds his left arm
out at shoulder height, the tips of his
fingernails brush the ground. The nails on the
fingers of Chillal's left hand are, to put
it mildly, grotesque and freakish. They writhe
and coil off his hand like copulating snakes.
Mister Chillal hasn't cut those nails in twenty
years. The shortest nail on his hand
would, if stretched out straight, be nearly six
feet long.
Needless to say, Chillal is not a speedy typist
or a card shark. You can't grow nails like that
without giving up a significant amount of
manual dexterity.
Chillal's fingernails have made him a fixture
in the Guinness Book of World Records for
years as the man with the world's longest nails.
But they have also caused his left hand to
wither, given him almost constant pain in his
left wrist, elbow and shoulder and made him
go partially deaf.
Any time in the past 20 years Chillal could
have ended his suffering with five snips of the
nail clippers, but he didn't.
Why?
For the same reason high-born Chinese
women used to cripple their feet in bindings,
S ince gasoline prices have been the centre
of controversy these last few months, I
thought you might like to come back
into the classroom with me and learn a bit
about what the relationship of money is to the
production and flow of oil and indirectly to the
value of the Canadian dollar. Like many
another subject this flow is not quite as simple
as it might seem.
First of all, the price of oil is always quoted
in U.S. dollars and, when it is bought, it must
be paid for in dollars, regardless of who buys
it. The only exception to this is, not
surprisingly, Saddam Hussein, who, to annoy
the Americans, has stated he would be willing
to take payment in euros, the new European
currency.
The only country that does not have to keep
a supply of a. foreign currency for such.
purposes is, of course, the United States. The
others, including Canada, must deal in the
American currency and it is up to them to
decide how best they are going to, handle such
transactions.
Let's look at some of the major oil producing
countries such as Saudi Arabia, Mexico,
Venezuela, Kuwait and the United Arab
Emirates, to name a few. Because the price of
oil has gone up to such an extent over the past
two years, these countries are in possession of
many more dollars than before.
Since they cannot rush right out and spend
al( of it as it comes in, the question right now
is what they do with it in the meantime.
You would probably think that the first result
of these higher oil prices is a greater demand
for the American dollar, if a vital commodity
costs you more, you have to have more money
on hand to pay for it. This fact alone accounts
to a considerable degree for the rise in the
value of our neighbour's currency that took
place as oil prices were rising.
But the first thing that many oil producing
countries must do is to pay off some of the debt
accumulated over the past few years. This debt
is the result of large capital projects planned
Raymond
Canon
The
International
Scene
and started during the previous era of high oil
prices which, unfortunately for them, did not
last long enough for the projects to be
completed and paid for.
Any money left over, and there is a goodly
supply of this, the oil countries do what we
would do - they save it and these savings are
most frequently channeled into American
bonds, since they consider such bonds are as
safe as anything these days.
This causes increased demand for the U.S.
dollar, so it goes up while there is downward
pressure on such other currencies as the euro
and our dollar. It is calculated that such flows
of money into the U.S. add up to about $1-2
billion a month. The rest of the money saved,
which is left in banks, sees the latter lend it out
to other countries, many of which do not
produce oil and need the money (to buy oil and
other things).
Older readers may recall the first big price
hike for oil in the mid-1970s and the flow of
such money to emerging economies was
nothing less than enormous and economically
disturbing. It also contributed to a recession in
Canada and elsewhere, not to mention the
double digit inflation which we suffered for a
while.
Final Thought
People-ask you for criticism, but they only
want praise.
— William Somerset Maugham
pinky fingers of the odd hairdresser and the
fingertips of a few Carmen Miranda wannabes
caught in a 1940's time tunnel, even
moderately long nails are a rarity.
As a matter of fact, we tend to the other
extreme. Extremely short nails are more
common on this side of the water - and not just
among students sweating it out through exams.
In the latest U.S. presidential campaign (is it
over yet?) the news came out that Al Gore is a
dedicated nail-biter, often chewing his nails
right down to the quick.
But considering he lost the only job he ever
wanted to a stumble-tongued frat boy from
Texas, I'm surprised Gore doesn't have a
manicure like Venus de Milo.
Considering that they're fundamentally
useless, fingernails are pretty interesting,
overall. Did you know that there's a standard
scientific unit called the nail-second? That's
the average length a human fingernail grows in
one second. If you want to haul out a yardstick
and measure it off, one nail-second equals
.0000039ths of an inch.
That's the most amazing thing about your
fingernails- they never quit. The rest of your
body eventually stops growing, but not your
fingernails. They're growing all the time,
summer and winter, day and night. Why, they
even keep growing after you croak. Mind you,
the phone calls taper off,
•
Is there any good news in all this, you might
ask.
Well, for one thing, if any recession is caused
by the increased price of oil, it should not be
nearly as -severe as was the one to which I
referred above. In addition, there are
indications that the current high prices will not
be long term in nature.
Certainly the OPEC countries would be
advised not to count on this but there is a
lesson to be learned. It is simply that we should
be trying much, harder than we have to use
other forms of energy other than oil. And,
while we are at it, that are less polluting to the
atmosphere.
I have the feeling, unfortunately, that we
won't get around to either of those until we are
really backed into an economic corner. I
would, however, like to be proven wrong.
Canada is both an exporter and an importer
of oil. It does not belong to OPEC and most of
the oil imported comes from countries other
than the U.S. It would be nice if we were
totally self-sufficient in oil but we are not.
If we could utilize more efficiently the
famous tar-sands in western Canada, there is
no doubt that we could soon become a net
exporter, but that is another story.
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To the man I love
M aybe it's my age. Maybe it's my
cynicism. Maybe I'm just a little
less fanciful.
Or perhaps I'm just tired of fighting the
good fight.
Either way, it has finally happened —
Valentine's Day just doesn't mean that much
to me.
You see, such was not always the case. As
not only a romantic, but an idealistic one to-
boot, I took matters of the heart very much —
well, to heart. I liked the ideas of soul mates,
your one and only and happily ever after.
Which, as the somewhat effacing term 'chick
' flick' applied to movies might indicate, is
pretty much a girl thing.
Thus it's kind of ironic that the ones we want
to say it to us with flowers, really don't have
those communication skills. Oh, there are
exceptions, but generally, men and romance
only go together in women's minds. As my
dearly beloved once indicated in the middle
days of our courtship, "I think Valentine's Day
is dumb, so why would I buy anything?"
Not that he was always so unbending. There
was a time, early in our relationship, of course,
when he actually tried to do what women are
supposed to want. Candy, flowers, even a
leather Coat have all come my way on
Valentine's Day.
With these gestures I was sure I had a true
romantic on my hands, particularly when he
often went out of his way to accommodate.
There was a particular year when my poor,
hard-working hubby came home at the end of
a 12-hour night shift and an hour and a halt
drive, only to see his pouting bride rather
distressed that he seemed to have nothing to
offer this Feb. 14. Truly exhausted, and to be
.honest, not understanding what the big deal is,
he slipped. downtown anyway to purchase a
card because it meant something to me.
Later, however, I was somewhat surprised to
discover that the card he had purchased was
still in the bag, apparently not even signed.
Removing it, I soon found out why, and as I
relate this remember that that morning he had
only wanted to sleep.
The card, was typically lovely with a huge
big heart on the front and flowery lettering
declaring "Happy Valentine's Day".
Unfortunately, the inside read, "To the man I
love."
Well, they say it's the thought that counts,
but as I'm not really sure what that would
indicate in this case, I focussed on the fact that
he had tried. That was the best Valentine's gift
he could give.
And he saved me money, because I kept the
card and gave it to him the next year.
It was realizing that this didn't bother him in
the least that made me truly begin to question
his , commitment to this special day. He was
neither offended to receive his' previous year's
faux pas, nor all that happy. It was, quite
frankly, something he could live with or
without.
I don't know if that's when things started to
change. What I do know is that his
participation became less with every passing
year. And I soon realized it didn't really matter
that much to me anymore. Sure, chocolate, a
card, is nice. To be singled out in some way as
being special to another is great.
But don't we do this from time to time all
year? And if not shouldn't we?
Ubangis distended their necks with brass rings
and modern-day granolaheads stick bars and
rings of metal in their ears, nostrils, tongues
and I don'twannaknowaboutits.
It's fashion - which is a fancy word for
showing off.
And a set of outlandish fingernails does tell
you something about the bearer. It tells you
that the person is so well off,- he or she can
cruise through life with one hand figuratiiiely
tied behind his or her back. These fingers toil
not, neither do they spin.
Washerwomen can't afford to have long
nails. Neither can labourers, soldiers or
anybody engaged in a trade.
Therefore long, debilitating fingernails are a
perverse badge of success - or so goes the
thinking in parts of China and India, even to
this day.
Not in North America, thankfully. In these
parts, cultural statements and digital displays
like that of Shridhar Chillal (who hails from
Bombay) are unheard of, and aside from the
Money, production and the flow of oil