Craig Read

Boyd, i would agree - what then is the impact of the Sharia arbitration in Toronto on what you just mentioned ? It fundamentally challenges the legal order in Canada and creates a separate muslim religious jurisprudence. To quote Hugo Yes indeed. The Charter is an extra-legal process to bypass Parliaments. It is enthusiastically supported by minorities since going through fat white men in Parliament is a tiresome bother. Better and quicker to get Liberal judges to grant special rights, actions and statutes. The Sharia decision in Toronto conforms perfectly to the Vision of the Charter of Rights - multicultural jurisprudence and rights protection. It is nothing more than a logical extension of Trudeau Liberalism and the CoR - apparently supported by a vast majority of Cdns. I doubt that 90 % of the population knows a damn thing about the CoR - but they like it. The Sharia-CoR process is another multi-cultural division of Canada into separate minority kingdoms each with its own interpretation of reality and law. The Sharia decision incredibly allows Mulsim-Koran religiosity to be used to decide legal issues. What a country.

The US is the largest funder of the UN and the largest indirect funder of NGO- UNO activities outside of the official UN budget. The US pays for most of the peace keeping that goes on by transferring dollars to say Bangladesh who receive US$ in return to send their troops on UN missions. Both sides win - the Bangladeshis and others get international recognition, respect and $, and the US can free up its military to do other things. But that does not mean the UN system is effective. There are too many examples of UN failure in keeping civil peace to be sanguine about its role. Glaringly the UN does not extend its 'Human Rights' code to Jews or Israelis. This is preposterous - the UN was build on the graves of the Holocaust, one of the signal events of World War II. 60 years later the UN has repudiated its reason for existence. It is now an outdated artefact of bygone ideals. The US DOES deal outside of the UNO, which is why its actions in Iraq and Israel [Canada to its eternal shame has NEVER supported Israel], have sent the dithering legal and media elite into progressive spasms of apoplexy. National sovereignty was never meant to be compromised by the UNO - neither Churchill nor Roosevelt had any intention of submitting their nations to the will of an unelected council. The UNO is only effective if the nations that comprise it share common values and aspirations. They don't. The UNO is largely anti-modern, anti-capitalist, anti-technology, anti-innovation and anti-Western. Other than that it is a great group. The UNO does not defend Jews that are murdered by homocidal terrorists. It milks Iraq for $21 billion in revenue during the 1990s and obstructs the US in defending the UN's own resolutions. It engages in corruption and fraud at the highest levels of its organisation that would make even the mandarins on Toronto's City Council blush. It spends money on 55.000 employees and hundreds of programs that are not audited, and provide in most cases little value added for either donor or recipient and are more often than not totally mismanged. For example World Bank projects [about 2/3] fail to meet 'internal' standards for success. This is akin to an employee telling her employer that she fails in doing her job properly - a highly peculiar admission. This says nothing of the bloated bureaucracy, paper shuffling and diplomatic costs embedded in a sprawling massive organisation. Depending on your view the UN is either too small to do its job [World Gov't] or too big [selected roles and responsibilities and focus]. The UN might have some usefulness but not in its curr ent construction. Unless it focuses on 2 or 3 main issues it will become entirely useless. Currently it is just another tax on northern taxpayers, and through such dumb ideas like Kyoto, it is an attempt to retard progress and punish rich countries. No thanks.

Morgan i agree. There are ample posts dealing with the perfidy of the UNO and its allies - France and Russia - in Iraq and elsewhere. The EU is the largest single funder of Palestinian terror. I don't see any media coverage of the misuse of EU funds by Arafat and his ugly cabal. Just the usual anti-Jewish ravings - focused now on the wall. As if Israeli security would be better served by open borders with the PLA/O and its terrorist regime. I don't know why Riff is even allowed to post his drivel here. No sources, no reasoning, just vitriolic hate - and oh let's just keep free riding off the US military, Pharma and health care sectors shall we. Dat's da Cdn way.

Sharia overrides all legal codes extant in any jurisdiction. This attempt to debase our jurisprudence only confirms to me that Canada and its so-called 'intellectual elite' hates itself and its society.

Morgan, thanks for the post. Ties in with my other posts that France, Germany and Russia fund terrorist regimes around the world. The Frogs and Ruskies made $7 billion per year on average during the 1990s in the 'Oil for anything' program run by their friends at the UNO. Iraq was the UN's largest revenue generating program and the UN made a clear profit of about $21 billion over 10 years from Iraq [i have posted numerous sources on this site on these #'s]. Not bad for a bunch of socialists who supposedly hate the profit motive and believe that capitalism is causing global warming. Gee, is that why the UN and France and Russia opposed Gulf War II - over money ? Or was it morality, concern for the Iraqi people and respect for UN processes ? Duh, i see a pattern involving doneiro. Iraq was the Frog's single largest foreign client for weapons, munitions and and hardware exports !!! Chirac and Primakov had campaigns financed by Hussein. How much did US firms sell to Iraq ? How much did US politicians make off Hussein ? Nothing you say. Interesting. But hey don't let reality intrude your view that 'America stupid, UN/France/Canada/Islam Smart.' Don't fall off the turnip truck now Homer, might hurt that cement head.

Boyd, good info in your post. Sharia law usurps the Constitutional laws of Canada, overrides the Charter, and is a deeply warped attempt to multiculturalise Canada. In fact it is not only warped, perverted and unjust, it is downright illegal. This is just another sick example of Western loathing for its own traditions and cultures - and the hatred of its stupid white men. Sharia Law - the problems with it: 1) All Muslim law is based on the teachings of Muhammad. An equivalent would be to base Canadian law on the detailed contents of the Bible. Under sharia, there is no separation of religion and state. This is a great idea. I look forward to forcing Muslim women to stay indoors, or walk around together wearing tents so no one can see them. A right to abortion? forget it. Ditto for the right to drive, have sex or belch or free speech. Oppression of the evil female can continue apace in Canada. 2) In Toronto [where else ?] there is now a 30-member Sharia council. The council will establish a judicial tribunal to be known as the Islamic Institute of Civil Justice (Canada). And the IICJ will dispense Muslim justice under the Ontario Arbitration Act. The rulings of an arbitrator can no longer be appealed to the courts. Civil law decisions by the new Muslim arbitration tribunal will therefore be final. Great so we now have the Mullahs regulating their own little world in our society. 3) The obvious danger of a sharia arbitration system is that it will not really be voluntary. A Muslim man or woman who opts for a secular court instead of the local kangaroo arbitrator would be expelled from the Muslim community. Fallacy of Sharia: Arbitrators should be required to apply Canadian legal principles and values, not imported ones. That way, a Muslim could still be an arbitrator, and Muslims could still go to him for justice. But his decision would have to rest on Canadian judicial principles, or the arbitrator would be delicensed and the loser given recourse to the courts. What is wrong with idea ? Nothing - it is just too damn logical for Canada, as it rushes into its post modern comatosy. Is Canada so deeply perverted and weird that it actually hates itself ?

I did some quick searches on the BBC and CBC's 'Impartial' [suppressing laughter] 'news' sites. The BBC is applying for a domestic US broadcasting license and a bigger share of the US news market. Frightening. Why Bush would allow this, is beyond my ken. On the BBC site I found: 1) BBC's reporting of U.S. President George Bush's pledge of $15 billion to fight AIDS in Africa makes a good case study. Approximating as it does to four times the entire GDP of Zambia, one might expect that such a gigantic aid package would be reported positively. However, a search of the BBC's Web site reveals an altogether different picture. >Of the articles that relate to the AIDS initiative, one reports President Bush's summer tour of five African countries, entitled: "Is the US Africa's friend or foe?" Within the piece its author remarks: "others saw ulterior motives behind Mr. Bush's visit. Some of the AIDS cash is dependent on deals with U.S. pharmaceutical companies, while others saw America's thirst for oil as the key motivation. Meanwhile the U.S. has refused to commit help to Liberia during [the] recent heavy conflict." >This is one way that the BBC achieves "impartiality" -- countering positive, real news about the U.S. with hostile "quotes" ascribed to anonymous "sources" or rent-a-rant pressure groups. The CBC adds 'The president's interest in the continent is a big change from his attitude during the 2000 presidential campaign, in which he called the continent a country and said the U.S. had no "national strategic interests" there.' Again not adding that Canada does nothing on AIDS relief and has no pharma industry to produce an antidote to the disease. They side swipe Bush's package with belittling comments. 2) When the BBC reported how U.S. troops had unearthed in early May a mass grave containing the bodies of 15,000 Iraqi men, women and children murdered by Sadam Hussein's regime, the BBC's radio newscaster announced the discovery thus: "Human-rights groups have today criticized the U.S. military for failing to protect the site of a mass grave in Iraq." In other words, the BBC reported the inconsequential (invented?) anti-U.S. reaction as the main issue rather than the far more newsworthy event vindicating U.S. policy from which that reaction emanated. The CBC adds: 'Some people who lost relatives told a CBC news crew that the world should be ashamed of itself for not doing anything to help protect them from a brutal dictatorship until now.' Again the CBC does not state that the war was moral, justified or a force for good, nor does it add details on the US efforts to secure the mass grave sites or the lack of Canadian efforts in anything to do with Iraq qua grave sites, security or military aid. It sticks on its front page to: There isn't a situation, event or initiative extolling conservative principles or institutions which the BBC or CBC does not actively seek to diminish, distort or alter completely through the inclusion of extraneous matter. Impartial ? Surely you jest.

The media is still crying about the lack of jobs - and this is hurting the stock market - unnecessarily. A better indication of job recovery is the misery index and household job surveys. The so-called misery index -- the sum of the unemployment rate and the core inflation rate -- is currently lower than it has been for most of the past 35 years. It's a touch over 7% -- compared to a peak of over 20% in 1975 and again in the early 1980s. This is good news and the current 5.9 % US jobless rate is approaching full employment. The household surveys indicate that 1.5 million jobs have been added in the past 18 months. [The Bureau of Labor Statistics' survey of 60,000 households uses a different methodology and showed an even greater gain, of 589,000 employed workers, last month. This survey recorded a four-month gain of 1.1 million employed workers and shows that total employment today is now higher than at the start of the recession.] The job #'s from last week are based on payroll data - but as people contract, start up firms, and become self employed - a huge and massive shift - they fall off of the official employment stats. So be aware when job #s are reported - they exclude non payroll job additions. In general the job #s down south are stronger than official stats indicate.

The Useless Nattering Group - eating up $10 billion per year of rich northern taxpayer money is incapable of living up to its own rhetoric - whether that rhetoric deals with Iraq and the protection of Iraqi civilians pre Gulf War II - or with Human Rights abuses. The UN is anti-Semitic. On Nov. 26 a resolution condemning terrorist attacks on Israeli children failed to make it through the General Assembly while one on Palestinian children was adopted with only four states opposed. Israel was forced to withdraw its resolution because Egyptian amendments deleting "Israeli" before every mention of the word "children" were guaranteed an automatic U.N. majority. Last week a draft resolution on anti-Semitism -- which would have been a first in the U.N.'s 58-year history -- was withdrawn in the face of Arab and Muslim opposition. Daily incidents of anti-Semitic violence around the globe are reported in the media. Yet while leaders of the Free World condemn synagogue bombings in Turkey, firebombings of Jewish schools in France, and the hate speech of Malaysia's president who now heads the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the U.N. moves in the opposite direction, encouraging the proliferation of anti-Israeli/Jew hatred. But of course the Useless group defends the highly civilised and cultured Muslim religion. A special rapporteur mandated by the U.N. Commission on Human Rights reports regularly to the U.N. on "discrimination against Muslims and Arab peoples in various parts of the world" including any "physical assaults and attacks against their places of worship, cultural centers, businesses and properties." An entire 2003 Commission resolution "combating defamation of religions," mentions only prejudice against Muslims, Arabs and Islam. Poor Arabs. Who would thinkt that after blowing up a few pizza parlours, that somebody might take vigilante action against the homicide bombers ? The UNO has enshrined anti-Semiticism in its 'Durban Declaration' which excluded virtually all references to anti-Semitism and the Holocaust when it came to the specifics of taking action. The UNO appeased the EU and Arab states by permitting minimal reference to anti-Semitism in exchange for including a condemnation of alleged Israeli racism. Last week the U.N. General Assembly permitted reference to anti-Semitism in a resolution on follow-up to the Durban Conference, knowing that the United States and Israel would be forced to vote against. Again, why is Canada supporting such a racist and entirely immoral organisation ?

Nice post. The UNO and global governance issues have little in common with freedom. The UNO strikes me as a little more than another instance of Egyptian Pharaohnic empire building. Northern lands would be vassals to the King's estate based in Geneva and New York, beholden to dumb ideas and dumber leaders such as Mugabe. No thanks. The PC/multicultural nonsense in Canada is so out of hand that we now have a legal system that will allow Sharia to be used in disputes between Muslims in Canada. How long before it is used between Muslims and anyone else to settle disputes ? In Civil disputes in Canada between Muslims and the rest, the Darul Qada can adjudicate a Koran based judgement that will be enforced in secular courts. MADNESS. Canada is a Judeao-Christian country, not some polyglot, Multi-cultural UN summer camp.

Morgan, great post again. Harper is a rarity in politics: 1. An ideologue who understands both the theory and practice of political science. Ask Chretien or another mind dead liberal on the major tenets of realism, socialism, liberalism, or rationale theory, and you will be met by dumb stares. 2. Acutely aware of history. As your quote ably demonstrates Harper is aware that Trudeau's socialism came very close to bankrupting the country. Chretien's cabinet and advisers were stocked with Trudeau liberals and Martin did not cut nary a program [except provincial transfers] and did nothing to truly reduce taxes [the US has a $1.3 Trillion tax cut, Canada - $40 billion]. 3. Consistency. He has reiterated in speeches and written articles the same themes of fiscal orthodoxy and social conservatism. Unlike the PCs and Lie-berals Harper has never sought to buy votes through program expansion. 4. Honesty. People who know him, state that like Bush, he is direct honest and passionate about his beliefs. 5. Has a professional team in place that understands the massive bias directed against them by the Cdn media. Harper is now just starting to get some positive press. He outdistances anything the Tories can put forward.

The Greatest threat to prosperity, peace and rising living standards is not terrorism, fanatical Islamism, or fractured Christianity - it is the new religion of the self serving Liberal elite - Eco-Imperialism. There is a great book out by Driessen called, Eco-Imperialism: Green Power, Black Death." Read it. He is a former socialist, that saw the blinding light of reality and has renounced his previously erroneous ways. Driessen, is now a senior fellow at the Atlas Economic Research Foundationand a FORMER member of the Sierra Club [that craven organisation of doom and gloom] and Zero Population Growth [another liberal anti-reality group] reveals how the ideological environmental movement -- essentially comprised of wealthy, left-leaning Americans and Europeans -- wants to impose its views on billions of poor, desperate Africans, Asians and Latin Americans. Driessen states in his book, correctly, that eco-imperialism violates these people’s most basic human rights,and denies them economic opportunities, the chance for better lives, and the right to rid their countries of diseases that were vanquished long ago in the U.S. and Europe. Kyoto, Global Cooling, Global Warming, Environmental accords that contravene the WTO, non-tariff barriers in the form of Environmental protectionism, Environmental regulations that discriminate against the third world, and of course the dream of World Gov't, headed by Maurice Strong and King Kofi is so obnoxiously abhorrent that only a sadist could ever support the Eco-Facsist/Imperialist movement. The New Religion of today is Eco-Fascism and it is something that we must destroy. It is too obvious but the EU and their liberal friends view this religion as a permanent method to chain down Gulliver.

Morgan great post. Thanks. This piece is very telling: From the books and articles i have read from people on the CIA desk, the above quote fits in perfectly with their analysis. These people maintain that WMD will ONLY be found with the aid of those who know where the caches are. If the above quote is correct it will take a VERY long time indeed to find WMD, far longer than originally suspect. 100 Tonnes or 50 or 25 of chemical compounds can be hidden in a half dozen basements or a few large holes. Your article just reinforces my view that we can take NO chances in today's world and that pre-emption is necessary AND moral. Great post Morgan.

His comment is justified. A nation built on self loathing expressed through adolescent envy of a larger neighbour has serious social-psychomatic problems that need redressing. Truth, directness, energy, reforms, and eschewing post modern BS is refreshing. Freedom and honesty always triumph regardless of what the CBC tells you in it biased commentary. Let's enjoin the conflict with the socialist pyschos who tend to treat every issue and resolution as the purview of government. At least now Harper and the UA can give the population a reasoned alternative. Harper must be the leader for the UA to have credibility.

Goldie you make two important points i believe; 1. The conservative view that morals, ethics, and values are the cornerstone of a well functioning society and should not be subject to whimsical rewriting. I agree. 2. That renewing these faiths and morals takes someone during a time of social ferment, to re-establish or recreate these principles and 'sell' the ideal to the population. I agree. These 2 important points are different than giving them legitimacy through a supernatural link ie. messenger from God or dictates from God. God is an abstraction, a feeling, a spiritual sharing, a communal energy, a hope. There is nothing wrong with believing in a God, but we have to be realistic as to why 'Gods Persist' [Karen Armstrong] and how the Bible was created and built. Losing sight of reality obscures the more fundamentally important role religion can play in society. Spirituality and realism can be combined in harmony.

The Guardian [and the BBC] are virulently anti-American. Their op ed pages seethe with rage and illogicity about the US. The Bush visit to Britain emphasised this sad sorry image of the Guardian and other soft headed newspapers using vitriolic anti-US nonsense to sell papers. It ranks up there with photos of Sarah getting her feet sucked as muck raking idiocy. The CIA published many reports of the danger of the Iraqi regime. Its chief was fully behind the invasion. Their intelligence was faulty - but so was the intelligence of every nation and the UNO - all of whom reached similar conclusions. CSIS published a paper last fall which i have posted elsewhere on this site claiming that Iraq posed a direct threat to Canadian assets. The war was justified. What is not justified is bad journalism at left liberal papers who are just too pissed off to admit that on every major issue - they are wrong.

Sorry Manning is the past, we need a future. Manning is not telegenic, not quick enough on his feet, and whatever his other many merits, and his has an abundance of intelligence and skill, is not the man for this hour. Let Harper do his job, support him, and help him guide the United Alternative on a policy platform that emphasises 5 or 6 main themes and is, unlike Day for instance, entirely consistent, rationale and professionally presented. The hope would be to form a powerful opposition, gain legitimacy during the next 4 years and build up a cadre of competent managers and MPs that demonstrate to the public that the UA is mature and coherent and ready for governance. The UA has no chance of winning the next election, it does have a good opportunity however of forcing Martin to act in the country's [and not in Martin's] best interests.

Putin has not only trammeled on legal rights by holding at gunpoint Russia's richest man, he has now, fused the State and Party together into 'United Russia' - a movement that mimics the PRI in Mexico - basically a one Party state. Canadians would understand and welcome the concept most likely. I for one find it abhorrent that Putin has hi-jacked Russian politics and built a system around 'the leader'. Stalin anyone ? Time to accept Russia for what it is becoming - a one party state, where politics and not liberal freedom is the ruling creed.

Harper should win and let's hope he does. He is the brightest and the best qualified and commands increasing respect in the media. The 'CA' must control the fiscal agenda of the new party. Joe Clark and his cohorts moved the PCs far to the left and they have no credibility on fiscal affairs and no economic vision. Joe Clark is in short - an unmitigated failure and disgrace. Mackay is an unknown and as evidenced by his decision to do a deal with that moron Orchard, not a man that is a heavy or deep thinker, or one that abides by principle. The Tories can aid in modifying the social conservatism and repackaging it to appear to be at least 'neutral' for Eastern voters. Combined the new entity if it hammers 5 or 6 key and large themes, and stays consistent [unlike the old Tories and blow with the wind Joe Clark], should have a good chance at forming a reputable and respected opposition with real power.

Get serious. The bible was written over a 1000 year period. I suggest you do some reading on the topic. According to your world view, the guy at the Eaton Centre in Toronto, who stands outside my gym every Saturday screaming with a bible in his hand that he is Jesus and that I can be saved, should be taken seriously. I should accept, blindly, ignorantly, that the guy with the beard and bad breath, is the son of god, and if i just accept his vision of the world, i will be 'saved' and my 'soul' cleansed. I don't need to question, use induction reasoning, or ask for proof. If the man with the beard and bad breath tells me that the bible is from the hand of god, according to you, i need to believe him. NO thanks. Anyone who is knowledgeable about the Bible knows that many people wrote it over a long period of time and that during the early medieval period it was in many countries, translated, enhanced and adorned by various writers as well. It is full of superstition, contradictory tales, and inaccuracies. It is a historical - romantic work and nothing more. Learn the topic before posting please. Or if you really believe that God handed down the bible, than good for you. I just choose not to remain ignorant.

You are obviously foolishly misled and blinded by your ideological nonsense. Toronto needs the 10 reforms i listed. If you believe that the left wing nimbobs at City Hall can do it, then list in DETAIL, how they will do it. The rest of your crying philippic does not address one single issue i raised. There has not been one significant policy reform in Toronto at City Hall - a government dominated now for decades by left wing clowns - capering and dancing on the taxpayer accounts and claiming that all sundry programs MUST be funded and provided. The most basic reform is keeping tax dollars in the city and reforming the political process. This will NEVER happen with a left wing union supported council. If you analyse the Toronto Budget about 40 % of it, is completely unnecessary spend. The TTC for instance survives off of debt and bond issuances and could use the funds eaten up by other nonsensical programs [arts, minorities, social services, special programs, various gov't projects and building, debt interest etc.]. The City is not allowed legally to run deficits - but it does - through accounting legerdemain - and hiding numbers off the balance sheet [oh but that is illegal for the private sector isn't it ?]. The City's credit has been marked down last year and rates are now higher. Its credit worthiness is under review and its finances extremely weak - based primarily upon obscene property tax rates. Without keep tax dollars in the city, the city will never be able to rebuild its poor infrastructure including its pathetic little subway system. The Gross debt has increased by 2.5 x in the past 10 years and now the left wing lunatics want the Cdn taxpayer - from coast to coast - to fund the Waterfront redevelopment project - a $13 billion [it will be far higher once the usual govt overruns in time and money and FRAUD occur], publicly funded exercise with NO accountability, no financial ROI and no public vetting of the funding or benefits. The City spent millions in parading around power point slides with pretty pictures on the Waterfront project. I went to these 'hearings'. The old gray hairs went ooh and ahh over the pretty powerpoint slides since they can take their dogs and cats down the parks and let them piss on flowers and bushes, but when i asked the Board directly at these meetings about the finances and ROI, I was told by Fung and group that the #'s are not important and not to be discussed. They refused to answer a simple question on the ROI ! This is the way gov't runs - assume people are stupid, tell them what to think, and make pretty marketing pictures. Big deal. Meanwhile back in the real world, developers, lawyers, engineers and friends of politicians are gleefully stuffing their bank accounts full of tax payer money. Welcome to Toronto, - a city that expects 1 million immigrants in the next 20 years but has NO plans on renovating its infrastructure to handle the influx.

The enemy - insurgents, terrorists, homicide bombers - are abetted and aided by nation states. Each nation state that harbors terrorism will have to eventually be invaded and the existing regime eradicated, if and when, it is decided that they will not reform themselves or like Iraq, pose a sizeable threat to our geopolitical interests. In any event, Iran, Syria, Egypt, SA and Yemen are high on the hit list. Muslim extremism is the main enemy, not the tinpot lunatics in North Korea, where China, Japan and Russia all have vested interests. Just watch the US do a U Turn on Taiwan - all to get China to help them contain and then dismantle NK. Focus focus focus. The Middle East is where the battle is won or lost.

From DNS, good quote: I agree DNS Harper is clearly the brightest of the bunch. However the Libs will easily win the next election: -Corporate sponsorships and greased palms support Martin -CBC and most of the mainstream media will support Martin -The Libs will appeal to socialism and welfare and 'Da Cdn way' and explain to the public that Harper is the anti-christ -Stats Can and CBC commentators will convince most Cdns that life here is better, safer, and more moral than in the savage lands of the USA and that Harper and his crew are masquerading Rush Limbaugh personalities who will eat babies if given a chance Harper's main impact will be on what he FORCES the Liberals to do once in opposition: -Reduce spend and taxes -Reduce the outflow of skilled labor from this country -Increase our military spend and security spend -Reform health care and obliterate regional/corporate subsidy programs to pay for the military -Parliamentary reform The new PC/CA party needs to pick 5 or 6 ideas and ruthlessly pursue them, in the face of the babbling left's moronic posturing and howling. This would be a great service to the country.

RTOR, great post. Russert is a democrat by the way and was on Clinton's staff. He was interviewed on CNBC and was scathing about the 9 midgets running for leadership of the Dumbo party. The Dumbos have no hope of doing well in 04, [irregardless of what CNN, which now states that it will be a close race], since hating the incumbent President has never won an election. US voters expect reasoned plans and an engaged foreign policy; not tax hikes, spending increases, trade protectionism, or isolationism. The Democrats have no reason to exist, they offer no strategic vision, and pander as you stated to various special interests - namely; unions, teachers, tort lawyers, and Ivy league academics. Hardly a group that anyone should trust. Dean will be historically linked with McGovern. I hope you are right and that the Dumbo's fracture and fall apart - perhaps into warring factions within their sorry party, or better yet, into 2 distinct parties. Then the adults can stay in the White House for the next 12 years.

The Useless Group has to have these jamborees, paid by northern taxpayers, so they can tell us: -White men are stupid -Rich countries are evil -The fact that the preconditions and institutional settings are abundant in the richer world economies, and allow us to innovate and expand technology's reach is narcissistic. Don't you understand you stupid rich people that the poorer, corrupt, mis-managed and backwards societies of the world have as their human rights, the right to access the Internet and other communications media ? These 10.000 UNO dolts and their insufferable pontificating allies will come up with a plan to close the digital divide between north and south. No doubt they will build up a Kyoto Plan for transfering wealth and technology to the poorer nations. Is it any wonder that sensible people view the Useless group as nothing more than a jamboree session for the anti-reality crowd ? If you want poorer countries to develop, then increasing trade, helping them build domestic institutions and helping them to stop killing each other, would be good first steps. Most importantly they themselves have to get organised. All the foreign aid poured into these corroupt regimes has not helped any of these countries one whit.