The Iron Lady is No More

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher passed away from a stroke – she was 87.

I remember the Iron Lady – given that nickname by the tabloid British press for her unwavering stance on her economic policies which at the time caused protests in the United Kingdom, but were hailed as revolutionary and necessary changes by the leaders of Canada, the States and even the former Soviet Union.

Ah, the former USSR – or Soviet Union. When Baroness Thatcher was Prime Minister, the world was a very different place.

Thatcher’s Conservative Prime Minister reign ran from 1979 to 1990, right through the Cold War, and long before cell phones, smartphones, tablets and most of the mobile devices we take for granted today existed.

The Cold War was a frightful period for the world. It was a time when the world’s superpowers – The United States of America and the Soviet Union – were constantly at loggerheads over the way the world should be run, and at anytime, the world was ready to take cover from a nuclear strike by either superpower.

Or as ready as you could realistically be for the end of the world.

Fear over a nuclear holocaust was real. If you look back at the movies of the time, many were either about such a holocaust, or the fear of coming to the brink of such a holocaust, as the trigger-happy American’s edged closer to “DEFCON 1” – the codename used to signal the start of a nuclear war.

There was a now legendary tale about how a flock of Canadian Geese raised the DEFCON threat levels, when they showed up on NORAD’s radar, but failed to identify themselves, despite the NORAD commander’s urgent calls on the radio.

Luckily, a couple of F-16 fighter pilots were dispatched, and once they saw it was a flock of birds and not missiles or enemy fighter planes, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, maybe even had a bit of a chuckle.

Yes, Margaret Thatcher’s Iron Lady stance governed through some very interesting times. She worked on the world stage with other charismatic characters, trying to balance the power while maintaining the peace in very uncertain times.

If a flock of Canadian Geese could set off alarm bells, it’s any wonder how we somehow managed to avoid a nuclear war.

Or is it?

Before the world of instant always on and always available communications, the true test of political leadership was character.

Back in Margaret Thatcher’s time, email, cell phones, smartphones and other mobile devices just didn’t exist. So what really made a leader a great leader, was compassion, empathy, honesty, and above all else, being charismatic and an exceptional communicator.

Margaret Thatcher certainly was on par with the other great leaders of the time – American President Ronald Reagan (who’s nickname was “the great communicator,”) and the deep voiced and chiselled chin Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, who’s sense of humor often stole the show at press events where all three were in attendance.

The ever prim and proper Margaret Thatcher was like the stern but loving mother, keeping President Reagan and Prime Minister Mulroney on track and out of trouble.

The Cold War has long since ended, and the type of leadership our world needs has since changed forever.

However, the compassion, empathy, honesty and charismatic communications of the Iron Lady will be missed, in our new world of social media, and always on digital communications.

Remembering the 80's -- Are You A Cheese Head?

Alright – I Admit It – I’m a Cheese Head

Most of us can call a specific decade our own, and fondly look back on those years. For me that decade is the 1980’s.

Looking back now, it seems pure cheese – pastel colors were in, as were leg warmers, parachute pants, and even the Parachute Club.

I grew up on 1980’s television. I remember rushing through my homework in grade eight, so that I wouldn’t miss The A-Team. I’d stay up to watch Night Rider, followed by the Dukes of Hazard. On weekends, I’d watch Diff’rent Strokes, The Facts of Life, Kids Incorporated, and who could ever forget Fraggle Rock!

“Kitt! I need you buddy!”

“Right away Michael!”

I miss those shows, even though they were so very corny.

Television represented the decade quite well – the simplicity of good old fashioned family values in standard middle-class nuclear families.

This was the decade of loving, caring families always resolving their differences. Shows like Family Ties, Growing Pains even Punky Brewster all were big on cute kids, getting into big problems, but in the end solving these problems and teaching us viewers how to resolve our own.

I even remember watching ALF and Harry and the Hendersons. Two cheesy shows with puppets as lead characters.

So that makes me a cheese head – big deal.

Hey, I grew up in the best decade.

My decade was when Michael Jackson and Madonna were not only big mega stars, but they were also relatively ‘normal.’ This was before Michael Jackson went from black man to some manila colored alien-like creature. Back before Madonna exposed herself and her sexuality on Letterman. Back then, they were only churning out great tunes.

Back in my decade, off-the-shoulder sweaters and showing a little ankle were sexy. These days, women show butt-cleavage – and that’s among the lesser of the skimpy outfits in style these days.

Life was so much simpler back then. Predators online – naw, there was no online, the Internet didn’t exist. Privacy existed, because cell phones and pagers were only carried by doctors, lawyers and the exceptionally wealthy. These days, kids have cell phones, and most carry a smartphone around all the time.

There may have only been 30 channels on television in the 1980’s, but back then, at least there was something worthwhile on some of those channels. I have over 500 channels now, and often shake my head in disgust with the lack of quality programming.

We never had to worry about terrorist attacks in Canada or the States in the 1980s. Though our thoughts of dread came from the Iron Curtain. The Cold War carried on between the super-powers of the USA and the USSR. But back then, political leaders were really leaders – and they knew better than to just go out and attack. The Cold War was mostly a mental war, each side trying to prove the other’s bluff.

These days, political leaders are more in it for themselves, or their own entertainment value, and it is really scary to think of all the military might they have at their disposal.

Yeppers – life was a whole lot simpler back in the 1980s.

Maybe that’s why there is a resurgence of 1980’s trends making a comeback. I’ve noticed some 80’s fashion is back in fashion – things like leg warmers and big hair.

Ah . . . big 80’s hair!

I had a big 1980’s doo. How I miss that too. It was wild, free and even just a little zany. But it was pretty simple too – just wild natural curls, that were prone to their windblown styling.

Wild and free – ah the 1980s.

They say history has a tendency to repeat itself – well, I’m still waiting for the repeat of the 1980s.