Craig Read

The Dems are represented by Teachers and Trial Lawyers - that is who pays the most cash. Reps receive on average $50 per donation. That is middle America. You want to know the average Dem contribution - about $3000. The idea that Dems defend the little man is a nonsense. They defend primarily two groups, and 2 little areas - West Ca. and New England/NY. The choice is between 'reality' and 'liberalism'. The Dems and their little pockets of protest are for liberalism. Pray they lose and lose large.

Well the CBC violates journalist ethics in its scorching anti-US bias. It is really nauseating. I DON'T want my dollars supporting such drivel. I SHOULD have the right to withdraw support from the CBC ie. funding and so should every other Cdn. Here are the "7 Violations of Media Objectivity" - all of them can be found in CBC reporting which is one sided and full of rah rah rah: Misleading definitions and terminology. Imbalanced reporting. Opinions disguised as news. Lack of context. Selective omission. Using true facts to draw false conclusions. Distortion of facts. [see the Code of Ethics of the Society of Professional Journalists, and additional resource material on media ethics,- courtesy of Virginia Commonwealth University.] Private funding is the only cure for what ails the CBC and its smug Mansbridgeans.

Ah a true tree hugger, crying as he hugs his little fir tree - unaware that technology, progress, intelligence and effort have created the modern world order. I guess you listen to John Lennon, raptly admire David Suziki and can prattle word for word anti-modern CBC broadcasts. Here is a hint - grow up and read about eco issues before you post. Either post some information that is useful or don't waste our time - better spend it hugging your trees. BC is a HAVE NOT province. Do i hear your tin cup rattling ? You can start your reading with Lomberg 'The Skeptical Environmentalist' - use a dictionary he does engage in some words that are multi-syllabic. [that means big], and Driessen's book quoted above is excellent. You can try [and fail of course] to refute what I stated: Do you know what what GHG means ?

Chirac is so corrupt he makes Chretien look like a sparkling boy scout. Le Devoir is certain that Hussein directly funded his campaigns. He is a whingeing xenophobic mafia impersonator. I don't know why the left liberal media is not reporting with greater detail and more often the collapse of Libya. The US and Britain have now effaced one dangerous regime and all that remains is to finally remove Ghaddafi from power. Iraq has signalled to all rogue regimes that their glory days are over. We need to complete the job in Libya and crush the PA. Then move on to Syria and Iran.

The CBC - Canada's left wing mouthpiece - is funded by the taxpayer - most of whom do not care to watch it. Why they are they forced to pay for it ? For nation building, for political purposes and because the CBC strongly supports the Lie-beral party. Nary a murmur of dissent emanates from the Mansbridgeans. In fact like all gov't coddled and protected businesses the CBC operates like a business but with special favours and regulations. Link Byfield at the Citizens Centre for Freedom and Democracy wrote a nice article on the CBC and how it can be privatised: Good idea - though only 1/3 privatisation is too small. It must be mostly a private run company with some gov't aid for nation building [entirely a suspect idea]. Socialist mouth pieces are a relic of the 1930s. Time to join the modern world.

Action, practicality, common sense, COURAGE, convictions, morality - none of these are taught in school today. Memorisation, abstraction, human rights and entitlements [give me i deserve it i am aggrieved], revisionist history [if it is taught at all], self esteem, self actualisation - these are taught. Education is useful - only if you LEARN what is actually needed, used and relevant in life. Studying Schopenhauer and getting a PHD in advanced philosophy might be interesting - but not working, not living and not experiencing life is a huge price to pay to revel in abstract theory. I know kids who are 29 who have never worked but study. How relevant are they in our world ? Irrevelant they are - and they can only survive if the 'doers' make enough money to pay for them. Dean's education is inconsequential. I have met too many Harvard trained jackasses to take their degrees seriously. What do you do ? What have you done ? Where is the action ? What are the plans ? Concrete, hard, discernible measureable. Dean fails the reality test. Destroying the US economy and disengaging from the war on terror - all to gain power - so another fat guy can be head of the class - is the LAST thing we need.

Steven Edwards in the NP wrote a great article today on the immaturity of France and the socialist anti-American shrillness of the French media and society. He outlines why Alain Hertoghe - a Belgian - working for Le Monde was fired for his great book La Guerre a Outrances. Since the socialist left wing Cdns love all that is French [nous sommes bilingue bien sur], i won't bother translating the title......Hertoghe catalogues the lies and misrepresentations in the French media and its massive anti-US stances. As i wrote earlier i was shocked when one week ago, while watching TV5 from Paris i witnessed a one hour 'talk show' that was full of lies and half truths and so anti-american it might even have made the CBC blush. [you can order hertoghe's book on amazon.fr] As Edwards wrote...."the French public was amazed when US led forces ended up winning the war." Hertoghe writes that "Even the sight of US tanks rolling unopposed into Baghdad failed to faze them. It was explained by reporting Saddam's henchmen had decided to give up fighting out of compassion for the Iraqi people.' Sure those loveable fascists - 500.000 civilians murdered and 1 million more dead via various wars. 1.5 million dead souls - no wonder the French loved Hussein so much - besides huge billion dollar contracts Hussein et al killed people in a technocratic fashion - fascinating no doubt the moral French and Germans. Hertoghe was fired for telling the truth. No french media gave his book a review. What does his firing state ? as Edwards points out: -France has no freedom of speech -Journalist integrity means nothing in France -Anti-Americanism is a rabid disease that infects all of France -France needs to grow up. So Canada's new ally and best friend - France - is a centralised, politically corrupt, morally bankrupt state - that trades in death for contracts [ie. Iraq and other fascist/terrorist regimes], while pontificating on the rights of men and its hatred for the US. Rather sick isn't it. Welcome to Post modern Canada !

Well i don't think US practices are the answer either - however since the case IS now Canadian [we said this on dec 26th], Canada must reform its regulatory and safety frameworks. We need to know: -Cost per capita -Cost per head of cattle -Amount of dollars on admin vs. field testing and safety -Int'l comparisons Once we determine how to use our resources effectively we need a reform of the health system and regulatory framework in agriculture. Will this happen in Canada ? No - like i said before in dec. Canada will spend 2 weeks denying the problem first. Now it will spend 2 months spinning the media and telling people how wonderful its current regulatory framework is. If I was the US I would invoice Canada $3 billion for lost income. Then maybe the Cdns will get off their soapboxes and DO something instead of giving mindless chatter......

CBC itself admits to reporting bias. Here are the "7 Violations of Media Objectivity" - all of them can be found in CBC reporting which is one sided and full of rah rah rah: Misleading definitions and terminology. Imbalanced reporting. Opinions disguised as news. Lack of context. Selective omission. Using true facts to draw false conclusions. Distortion of facts. [see the Code of Ethics of the Society of Professional Journalists, and additional resource material on media ethics,- courtesy of Virginia Commonwealth University.] For more info see: honest reporting canada EXAMPLE: CNN.com offers a list of web sites relating to the Middle East. Under the heading of "General Information Sites," all 12 sites are Arab-related, including one specific Palestinian site. There are no Jewish or Israel-related sites listed in this category. The same CNN page recommends web sites within each Middle Eastern country. For example, five sites are listed for the tiny under-developed country Yemen, and five sites are listed for Palestine. The Israel category lists four sites. This is blatant media bias and unprofessional reporting leading people to read and adopt pro-Islamic/Palest. views as sponsored on these websites. CNN has no right to publish such a sad list of propagandist rhetoric. I have listed many many examples of media manipulation from the CBC to talking head Peter Jennings and his anti-war crusade. The media is arch Liberal and pathetically one sided. Unfortunately most people garner their news via the major news groups and it certainly colors anti-americanism in the world and gives it focus and force.

Chretien's legacy is for most of us an embarassment of corruption, anti-americanism, military impotence, and the maintenance of Canada's Federal political and spending structure. Chretien did nothing fundamentally to alter the nation's course or its Trudeau Liberalism. In fact via the Charter the Courts are more active than ever in shaping our world - and there is nothing citizens can do about it. Historians will discuss the 'Trudeau-Chretien' era as one and almost the same. Apologists point out that he defied Quebec, reduced the deficits, expanded the economy and distanced Canada from the US. These apologists are however the same group that lionised Trudeau, and feel that post modernism should define Canadian political structures. Their attitudes, like the actions committed by Chretien are inaccurate and deny that political-economic and moral change is needed in Canada. Chretien's legacy is as one editor wrote, 'that he lowered our expectations'. Indeed. Mediocrity has never been more in vogue in Canada.

I probably erred when i posted this - the Title should be "UNO HAS failed." Sorry to have offended those who knew the obvious. I pull this out of some writing i did previously - it sums up pretty well the insipidity of the Useless Nattering group: "The UN's charter proclaims that "faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, and in the equal rights of men and women" are principles central to peace and security. Regrettably, the U.N. has failed to act upon the centrality of human rights to its mission. Secretary-General Kofi Annan apparently recognized this reality in his Nobel lecture when he said: "The sovereignty of states must no longer be used as a shield for gross violations of human rights." Since the U.N.'s creation, millions have been killed, maimed, starved, tortured or raped by brutal rulers whose governments nevertheless wield great influence in the U.N. General Assembly and the Security Council. These facts clearly reflect the inadequacies and failures of the U.N. For example, North Korea's dictator, Kim Jong Il, has inflicted a holocaust on his people. Defectors and observers have estimated that more than a million people have starved to death in brutal Gulag-type camps. The resulting flood of refugees into China, where an estimated 360,000 North Koreans may now be hiding in an effort to escape brutality, has not produced action in the U.N., though the U.N. High Commission on Refugees is fully aware of this human catastrophe. China classifies these tragic human beings as "economic migrants" and "not refugees," while cynically embracing the refugee convention as the "Magna Carta of international refugee law" and thereby earning the applause of U.N. officials. The U.N. Human Rights Commission has become a travesty. Two years ago, the U.S. -- which has worked diligently to make the commission an effective instrument -- was replaced by Syria, a corrupt, totalitarian supporter of terrorism. This year, in spite of American efforts, Libya was elected to chair the commission, an egregious challenge to the commission's integrity considering Libya's rule by a militant tyrant responsible for the 1988 bombing of a U.S. civilian jet in Lockerbie in which 270 people were murdered. U.S. opposition to Libya was supported only by Canada and Guatemala; 33 countries voted for Libya, while our European "friends" conspicuously abstained from voting at all. In electing such states as Syria, Libya, Vietnam, China, Saudi Arabia, Cuba and Zimbabwe to serve on the commission, the ostensible guardian of human rights, the U.N. has forfeited its commitment to those values. In 1948, the U.N. recognized Israel as a new state and member. Shortly thereafter, Israel's Arab neighbors -- refusing to accept the U.N. decision -- invaded Israel. Since that time, and until quite recently, neighboring Arab states have publicly considered themselves in a perpetual state of war with Israel, and have acted accordingly. How has the U.N. responded? Since 1964, the Security Council has passed 88 resolutions against Israel -- the only democracy in the region -- while the General Assembly has passed more than 400 such resolutions. The U.N., an organization committed to peace, permitted Yasser Arafat to address its General Assembly in 1974 with a pistol on his hip, and subsequently formed -- under U.N. auspices and with U.N. funding -- three separate entities with large staffs which advance the Palestine Liberation Organization's anti-Israel agenda: the Division for Palestine Rights; the Committee for the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People; and the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Human Rights Practices Affecting the Palestinian People. No Arab state has ever been chastised by the U.N. for actions against Israel and for its defiance of the 1948 U.N. resolution. Is it any wonder that many Americans hesitate to place their security concerns in the hands of the U.N.?" It is no wonder - the real wonder is why does Canada support it ? [the reasons are selfish of course].

Churchill barely passed into Sandhurst. Roosevelt did not care much for academic achievement. Sir John A liked the bottle more than books. JFK - the liberals white knight - when he wasn't getting expensive assets like PT boats blown out from under his ass, shunned theoretical academics. I know many successful people in life who did poorly at school, some did not go to college. I would hardly give some clown like Dean with his moronic program of left wing liberalism, my confidence over less academically burnished, but more intelligent, worldly and wise individuals. The left for instance calls Eisenhower and Reagan 'stupid' - yes they were so dumb they both won world wars. Yep that is the mark of stupidity alright. Marks, grades, your Univ. etc. mean very little in the real world. A degree helps, but only helps you in life. There is evidence of higher education being linked with higher incomes, but like everything else the law of diminishing returns sets in. I know 32 yr olds with Phds and just starting to work. Complete waste - 10 years of working life wasted - their views of the world and capabilities are remarkably immature. But according to the Libs they have Phds and are therefore 'worthy'. I think not - they strike me as babies compared to people who actually get things done in life. Education with some exceptions is not an infallible indication of future success. Action, focus, effort, perseverance, knowledge, personal and professional skills are more vital. Dean might come from a blue blood family with the right contacts and pedigrees - but his ideas, policies, ravings and plain immaturity disqualify him from serious service in any branch of life - private or public. Just another idiot.

Considering that the Cdn herd and testing IS the problem, i don't recommend that the US adopt Cdn techniques. Be rather foolish wouldn't one say ? The Japanese test every cow that is killed for BSE - and the Brits do likewise and the Brits have the most rigorous testing in Europe. However we need to answer some fundamental questions first on cost-benefits and efficiency and fire regulators and others who do not do their job properly. We need an efficient effective system that does not endanger our trade relations and we need to start firing incompetents, reforming the regulatory agencies and cleaning house. As well there is lots of dispute about the real link of BSE to human Creutzfeldt Jakob conditions. Many dispute that BSE 'prions' are transmitted via cattle to human agents. So the system of quality control has to be cost effective and not overburdening the market with unnecessary costs and delays. source: Steven Milloy JunkScience.com, scholar at the Cato Institute and the author of Junk Science Judo: Self-Defense Against Health Scares and Scams (Cato Institute, 2001).

The left is hardly neutral as you stated Morgan they are pathologically anti-semitic [see the rise of violence against Jews in Europe and do a troll of Cdn media vitriol against Israel]. The Palestinians have a homeland - it is called Jordan. So let's look at Jordan - how many Palestinians are allowed into the country. The answer is very few. Originally Jordan was created by the British to be a homeland for the Palestinian Arabs - but even today Jordan which has developed its own socio-economic and foreign policy programs wants little to do with Palestinians. Perhaps the Jordanians know something that is obvious to all except the BBC and CBC - that the PA is a rotten corrupt dirty regime and the Palestinian people - brainwashed fanatics who are desperate enough to engage in any violence. Even officials inside the PA admit that it is a fascist organisation: The PA and Arafat have to be destroyed. So let's do it and forget the Martyr objection - i am sure Stalin and Hitler apologists mentioned the same.

The CBC is pro terror basically - intoning that the US is to blame for 9-11 and portraying, Afgh. and Iraq as disasters. The CBC is a joke. It never presents facts - only its opinions. Anti-US and Anti-Jew. It is fodder for the sick of mind. Some facts on the PLA and the world's ugliest man: Arafat's PA was created in 1994 and has has presided over the collapse of the Palestinian economy. He was given billions in aid, and squandered what he and his cronies didn't steal. GDP has collapsed since 1994 by nearly 70 percent, and Palestinians have seen their collective national net worth reduced by more than two thirds. Good job boys. Virtually nothing remains of a once reasonably vibrant private sector. Corruption exists on a scale that even the normally approving Europeans have trouble [only some it should be said] accepting. Public infrastructure has disintegrated. Public health standards, in 1993 the highest in the Arab world, are among the lowest. And the disastrously self-destructive terrorist war against Israel that Arafat started in September 2000, has reduced Palestinians to the most desperate conditions they have seen since the creation of Israel in 1948. But the US and the Jews are to blame !! In a typical year the PA receives about $600 mn from the international community. It also gets about $800 million in tax revenues collected by Israel from Palestinian Arabs. Last year when the PA released its annual financial report, $323 million - nearly 40% of the annual budget - was "missing." Yasser Arafat is believed to have personally benefited, possibly with billions of dollars flowing into personal accounts. Yet, the world community continues to make donations to Arafat's organizations in order to try to buy peace, a process that is usually called extortion. The IMF has stated that the PA and Arafat are stealing money - yet it still flows. Arafat and his coterie of unofficial economic "advisors," in the words of Pal. expert David Hirst: An investigation by Newsweek in 2000, on the brink of the Camp David talks, revealed abuses at almost every level of the Palestinian Authority. Said Newsweek: No kidding this is why the EU loves Arafat. It mimics its own technocratic corruption. It allows the EU to dream it is a 'player' in the Near East which it is not. France and Germany are funding terror and by extension are responsible for civilian deaths. They like Chretien should be tried at the ICJ - after all isn't that what the court is all about ??? Whoops sorry i forget that Jews were exempted.

Boyd, good points - rather pessimistic are you Boyd wrote: I would agree old chap. Social engineering and appeasing Quebec, by letting them take over the Federal Gov't and plum posts. Bilingualism is a Trudeau byproduct - and part of the anti-american pro Quebec policy that has informed Cdn politics since 1968. Language and cultural are 'natural' flows that can't be forced onto populations. Cultural flows are always 2 way not one way - ie. globalisation alarmists depict the McWorld of frightening homongeneity. This is puerile. Real cultural change is always 2 ways and dialectical. Ergo multi-culturalist and bi-lingualism emanating from the top of gov't pervert and distort society. There is simply no demand for it, but lots of supply. They are not real but surreal policies designed as social engineering. In Toronto the equivalent would be that all people learn Chinese who covet gov't posts. While an interesting intellectual excercise, it would be a waste of time and money. I too feel that Canada will fail - its EU styled nationalism and hypocrisy and socialism have been proven historically to be bankrupted ideologies. Canada has many strengths and advantages that would allow it to outshine the US - but alas no one here cares. Regionalism will become more prevalent as power is further centralised both provincially and federally. In FPTP there is verily no need to vote or care about politics - the perversity is that a better educated populace knows that its votes make no difference in such an unrepresentative system. Result? Regional issues will come to the fore again and again. Political reform is needed in Canada including a Triple E Senate - to stimulate debate, reform its outmoded socialism and interject reality into policy and stop corruption. But the non ideological nature of the Cdn people - suffering under socialist propaganda - precludes change. Damned depressing. The country has potential and ignores it.

The guy is an idiot. He preaches moral equivalency, foreign weakness, economic destruction and lies about how he will help the 'average man'. The Dumbocrud party is supported not by the average man, but by Hollywood sluts, Trial Lawyers and Teachers Unions. It is in retreat across the US. The I hate Bush message is something his 10 year old kid must have wrote. If Dean had any idea of history, which he obviously doesn't - he would know you don't beat an incumbent with a message of hate. As for being a R.S. big deal. Clinton another clown and do nothing President was a RS. The Media also told us Al 'I failed Vanderbilt Law School' and 'I invented the Internet', Gore was a genius. He is just another fat boring mediocrity plying TV talk shows trying to be funny. Genius indeed. I love it, the Libs always come back with 'but our guy is smarter than your guy'. Really. I take the proof of intelligence from action not whether you brown nosed your profs at Harvard. Some of the smartest men in history never went to University - some of the most powerful never did well at school - remember a guy called Churchill.......or perhaps that is too historical for you.

Morgan, Canada ties 80 % of its foreign aid via CIDA to buy Canada goods programs. The PLA is NOT a large recipient of aid from Canada. But your articles on Cdn rhetoric supporting terror in Palestine by Neuman and others points to the disturbing psychosis within Canada that the democratic, Western styled Jewish state, formed after centuries of pograms and holocausts is somehow 'unworthy'. Such moral equivalency has destroyed Canada's foreign policy and its reputation. We are mental and moral lightweights. As for the PLA it receives U$300mn per year DIRECTLY from the EU. The US sends about the same via NGO's and IGO groups and tries to monitor via the IMF where the money goes. The EU does not. As such your statement 'Is the EU Fighting a proxy war' is accurate. The French and Germans are funding terror regimes around the globe - i posted the list in another thread with $ values attached. They fund regimes that sponsor terror and importantly these regimes receive no funding from the US. The only thing preventing the destruction of ugly Arafat and his uglier terrorist regime is the US. For domestic consumption US gov'ts tie Israel's hands and threaten to withdraw 5 billion in aid, if they are too tough on the PLA. Time to retract this policy and let Israel destroy the PLA and rebuild with saner Palestinian elements a new Palestinian state. Contrary to CBC hysteria Israel would accept a stable peaceful Palest. state.

Democratic reform is a top priority but like I said why would a government in power initiate such reforms when for the Liberals - the FPTP system works perfectly. The 'right wing' so called always has its votes spread out across the country, the Libs dominate certain regions and therefore parliament. It is obvious that some form of PR is needed but it will never happen - it demands constitutional amendments. You believe that after Meech any gov't will toy with the Constitution. No way. The democratic deficit leads to: -Media manipulation -Declining voter participation -Regional parties -National fissures along regional lines -Corruption and fraud All important posts including the Ethics commissioner are appointed. I DOUBT that any Sun King would willingly give up this power. As for the example of Nunavut and 'consensus' ie. loving gov't. Who Cares. 80 % of Nunavut's revenue comes from Ont. and Alta. It is just another socialist welfare program and waste of tax payer money. It should be disbanded.

Notice how the little libs on this site never respond to their own 'idols' idiotic words. Too busy watching Canadian Idol one supposes or dreaming up new 'minority rights' cases to drag before the judiciary. The media howling about Iraq has quieted down quite a bit too. Quagmire ! Vietnam ! The Iraqi's love their children too ! Pull Out !! Where are you now Libs ?? 400 men unfortunately have lost their lives in Iraq, by the time the mindless midgets and terrorists are eliminated probably 700 men and women will die. Not bad for a war and an important step in securing the West. In fact I would say it is AMAZING and without parallel in history. I guess if the Libs want us to pull out of Iraq we should pull out of Chicago [600 murders in '03], New York [about 500+] and Washington [300 in '03]. Those 3 cities equal about 1500 killed. Quagmire ! Vietnam !! Pull out, Chicago is too tough ! They love their children too ! Human Rights violations !! I wonder if the Libs can spell Moron correctly [hint only 1 R ladies]. Even in the US murder rates are declining and fast. In Canada they are rising - socialist empathy might be the reason ?

Howard Dean, the barbarian from Vermont wants to tear down civilised policies, retract from foreign obligations, allow Islam to defeat the West and make sure the US economy becomes second rate. The Libs who are in thrall to Teacher's Unions and Tort Lawyers profess to be for 'the little guy.' Yeah right. Dean's plan would force roughly two million low-income working Americans -- that's roughly three times the population of the state of Delaware -- who don't pay any income taxes now, to start paying them. This is the candidate who says he's going to be the voice of the little guy in Washington. On average US taxes per family under Dean would go up by NET $2700. Nice one. The Liberals are out to murder the average family's savings. Just since the Bush tax cut, the increased valuation of the stock market has increased the net wealth of American households by more than $1 trillion, according the American Shareholders Association. Repealing those tax cuts would impel the market to surrender those higher share prices. Since half of American households now have their savings stored in stocks, this market give-back also will put a severe dent in family finances. So the Dean tax is a double whammy on households: It reduces their after-tax income and reduces their wealth. Nice one. The worst thing for Canada is that Dean wins in 04. Pray for a Bush landslide. Dean is such an incompetent bonehead that he will destroy the bullish economy now in train in the US. Dean and his tax plan would raise ALL taxes including the death tax; Dean Tax Capital Gains Tax 20% [now at 15 %] Dividend Tax 39.6 % [now at 15 %] Income Tax Rate (highest) 39.6 % [now at 35%] Income Tax Rate (Middle) 28 % [now at 25%] Income Tax Rate (lowest) 15% [now at 10 %] Per Child Credit $500 [now at $1000] Marriage Penalty Tax Back [now eliminated] Death Tax in 2010 55% [vs. 0 %] Source: The Club for Growth This would result in: -Less investment -Declining Stock markets -Job destruction -GDP contraction not growth -Less Revenues and larger budget deficits -Inflation Welcome to Trudeau Liberalism - US style.

Maple, i agree, the first past the post system suffers from serious flaws. A good book I read on reform is: "Fixing Canadian Democracy" G. Gibson. It is a series of 'experts' that offer solutions - and give the pros and cons of each idea. It is good i would recommend reading it to understand better what alternatives exist. Most western nations have some PR system and Not first past the post. The benefits of PR are: -regional representation -greater voter choice based on policies and not only party affiliations [in which you pick 2 MPs based on % votes gained per riding for instance or based on MPs/Population ratios] -coalition governance structures that tend to reflect divergent regional and local interests. Some cons are: -complexity of the voting system -more MPs and Politicians and hence more dollars [and waste ?] -coalitions lead to inertia and political manhandling and very little real change [witness Germany and France] -How to change the system from FPTP ? This is the most serious objection - it would involve Constitutional amendments and I DON'T see that happening in Canada. We will be stuck with FPTP - there is no compelling reason why the Libs would change it. On the other hand some paramount issues with Cdn democracy that MUST be redressed include: -MPs are irrelevant -Power is centralised in the PMOs office -All major Senate, Gov't., Crown and diplomatic posts are appointed by the PM -Ottawa is using extra legal techniques to expand power -Party whips and Party lines preclude real discussion inside parties and across party lines About 50 % of voting age people cast ballots. Of this maybe 40 % will vote for one party leading in most cases to a large majority. The country is thereby run for the benefit of 20 % of the population. This is egregious.

The C$ had a good 2003 - but it will fall. There is no need for a small country dollar in a regional trading world. The CBC as usual got it wrong: "The U.S. dollar has been under pressure for months, pushed down over concerns about the health of the U.S. economy, and the country's big fiscal and trade deficits." No that is not why the US$ is depreciating. The Fed Reserve is printing too much money - more than 3 x GDP growth. It is liquifying the economy and debasing its currency. It is doing this on purpose to stimulate exports, allow easy credit and sustain consumer spending levels. Inflation will pick up in 2005 - presaged by higher rates in 2004. Inflation in 2005 will be at least 2.5 % and in 2004 probably a shade over 2 %. As interest rates in the US start to climb - around March 2004 - and money is tightened somewhat - the US $ will rise. The only reason the Loonie is doing well is the gap in rates and the movement out of U$ to higher interest bearing notes. Long term betting against the US $ with a surging economy, its huge productivity gains, and lower regulations is a fool's bet.

Secular Christ. has nothing to do with revisionism - in fact the opposite. It accepts the issues, problems, Church revisionism and ravings of Church demagogues by dismissing fantasy from reality. S.C. invokes the tenets and spirit of Christ. and rejects its supernaturality. It has nothing to do with PC or revisionism - in fact it supports the exact opposite. It has little time for social liberalism in all its forms, nor does it support moral equivalency and relative theories. It is named 'rational humanism'. Erasmus, Descartes, Newton, and even Churchill believed in this melange. You are confused.

Socialism, centralisation and perverted economics which dominates the EU and the UN has no place in countries with agendas that demarcate freedom and responsibility and fair economics. Go see Lord of the Rings - best movie in years and one reason why is the MESSAGE. [yes content still rules, sorry we don't need penis jokes, gratuitous sex, silicone bodies, thongs and Brittany or Beyonce showing off her body to enjoy entertainment.] There are things in life that are not relative, equal, the same, and there are issues in life worth fighting and dying for. This is Tolkein's message - men act like men, not social liberals preening themselves that nothing matters. This is historical hooey. History has been a struggle of freedom vs. centralisation in its various guises. The EU and the UNO are on the WRONG side of history. They want social and economic coercion, centralisation, blood sucking tax levels and political management for political benefit of all affairs. We spent as a race, a long time fighting against this darkness. No point in stopping now. The US is the only force for good in the world, supported by Spain, the UK, Australia, Japan and the Ukraine and Poland. The rest of the world are just a bunch of whiners and parasites.