Friends, coming back from dropping my son off at school this morning I heard about a report issued by the ILO (International Labour Office) which keeps records of world employment.

It shows that the current global economic and financial crisis is having a marked effect on the employment of people across the world and that many more people are actually starving now and their children are permanently malnourished. Some of the figures are rather staggering:

- In the Global Employment Trends Update (May 2009) the ILO revised upwards its unemployment projections to levels ranging from 210 million to 239 million unemployed worldwide in 2009, corresponding to global unemployment rates of 6.5 and 7.4 per cent respectively.

- Updated projections of working poverty across the world indicate that 200 million workers are at risk of joining the ranks of people living on less than $2 per day between 2007 and 2009 (of which there are already billions).

- The ILO report said 2009 will represent the worst global performance on record in terms of employment creation. The report underlined that the global labour force is expanding at an average rate of 1.6 per cent, equivalent to around 45 million new entrants annually, while global employment growth decreased to 1.4 per cent in 2008 and is expected to drop further to between 0 and 1 per cent in 2009.

If you translate these figures into what happens in millions of homes especially in third-world countries it means that as more people lose their jobs, more children go to bed hungry, more children are pulled out of school thereby decreasing their chances of finding employment, more children are sent to work (if they can find it) where they earn little and have unsafe and unhealthy employment conditions, etc. It is a picture of increasing misery and hopelessness.

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Friends, of late the number of comments have been gradually dwindling as have the number of visits. Also, I have received several critical though subtle evaluations like: “This blog has fallen off a cliff.”

Perhaps it’s time for me to hang up my keyboard, sit on a veranda with a blanket over my knees, and contemplate my navel. Well, someone’s navel! Is yours available?

I guess with all the fancy things around now like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter and with so many celebrities and newspapers  and politicians running blogs, it’s not easy for a small, unfunded operator like me to compete. As well, I’m not known for telling people what they want to hear!

Perhaps I’ve said all the useful things I can say. I mean, I’m not Jesus Christ! I never claimed to be. I don’t have all the answers for the world or even any of the answers! I mainly ask questions, sometimes hard questions. Believe me, I don’t mean to be difficult!

I might take a break for a few months, join a monastery. Alternatively, I might enrol in a nudist colony although I find that human naughty parts are rather ugly. Well, most are. Besides it’s winter here. Perhaps I’ll undertake a Ph.D although I’m probably not conformist enough to jump over the mindless hurdles?

Perhaps I’ll just accept that the world is insane and take up basket-weaving. Perhaps I’ll follow my hero, Omar and take up drinking red wine professionally.

Ah well, I’m at yet another crossroads it seems. How many can life present you with? Whither goest me?

All ideas welcome.

P.S. Keep them civil if you would!

Friends, America has tried to calm the dangerous escalating situation in the South-East Asian region by sending the first of twelve Raptor F-22 supersonic fighter jets. It further demonstrates American generosity and their deep understanding of political strategies.

A leading American militarist, General Blowm Awai the Third has said: “It’s amazing what a soothing effect the sound of these nuclear-armed aircraft have on stressed nerves. Why, when they leave Okinawa…we have a large military base there you know, one that’s been there since 1945…er, they’ll be over enemy territory in a matter of seconds and, in formation, they’ll pass back and forth across North Korea dropping leaflets showing a moonscape, them and chocolate bars with nuts.”

He went on to say that tests had been carried out in Iraq that showed that low-flying aircraft flying at supersonic speed over civilian areas had the calming effect of sending people to their beds. “Some get under the bed of course but it matters not because what we want is to have people relax, perhaps drift off to sleep safe in the knowledge that America is running the world and God blesses us and we would never harm a single civilian if we could help it but accidents do happen even to the best of us.” He crossed himself several times and appeared to be whispering a prayer.

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