Jerry J. Fortin

Ouch ! That is harsh dude.

The F35 is a good bird, and we need a replacement for the F18. If not this bird than which one?

Of course we have large numbers of ignorant citizens still, yet they are at least educated to a large degree. The trick is to find an issue of relevance to the public, one of consequence. That done, the public, the great unwashed public can be mobolized in dramatic fashion. The only sticker is finding the issue to use as leverage! The entire public needs to be invited to participate in the system, that is the key! Democracy is for all, and it is as much of a responsibility as a right. We need to drive this home through the education system as we put the boots on the ground of the political landscape. We need a broad based approach to our political and cultural evolution. Those two things are as sure as the sun rising, and they need to be considered with care. WE need to carefully design changes to society. Change is always happening, in one form or another. It is the only true constant. Changes achieved by design are far more powerful and effective, waiting for it, as a "social engineering" tool. That is what we are really talking about, so lets not hide behind words.

A good start, yet it doesn't really get there from here does it? I know what you are saying, and I do not disagree with what you have said, but I still maintain that politics have been kept away from the people since the dawn of time. Mostly for good reason, an educated position is far more valuable than an ignorant position. That was fine when most of the population were ignorant, but such is no longer the case. Thats really what it boils down to. We are now educated to the point where we have earned the right to self determination. Is that not where our society has lead us? We can and do choose what we do for the most part, and for most of us things work out okay. We are not children, we are citizens living in what is supposed to be an already enlightened society. Surely we deserve the opportunity to participate in a political process that often has determined the course of lives.

Why not start with Peoples Proposition # 1, whatever the hell that may be, as a rally point for at least some form of functional participation in the political process. The public needs to be actively persuaded to participate by means of referendum. Its just that simple, once the ball rotates around it will gain momentum quickly, numbers alone drive this equation. It needs to happen for all our sakes. On the near horizon we can already see the shape of things to come in terms of ecological impact. Since 2008 we have the economic impact to consider as well. The next step is of course a political one in which the lines are once again drawn in the sand on a global scale. This nation is uniquely able to profit from neutrality, which is closely linked to direct democracy. Short of an invasion, what would compel the people to declare war on another nation? In other words the true efforts of national security can best be served by declaring ourselves neutral. That we may benefit from the effort in more ways than one is simply a reward for doing the right thing and avoiding the sanctioned violence of warfare. Empowerment of the people should be the prime concern for a political faction, instead we have the empowerment of the partisan faction that seeks control of the populace. WE need new politics and new tactics in order to step forward into an evolved and enlightened society. Ask all the citizens you want, but you will get the same answers from each to a question of what is more important to our society, education and health care or foreign policy and the military? What direction does that lead to folks? Certainly away from any military industrial complex of that there is no doubt. If the citizens had their way health care and secondary education would be at state expense ! Trust me on this folks, direct democracy would change the face of this nation like the work of a good plastic surgeon. With that in mind, I suggest we go slow with any concept of change.

Well said. The problems are more accurately begun instead of over, that would be my only point of contention with your post.

Substantive change. To date we have had lip service and grandstanding yet a lack of action from the standpoint of the average citizen. For the most part folks and the government are on opposite sides of the street. Yet the few dominate the many by means available to them for their own advantages. That is the political reality of the current system. There is reason to believe that would change using a direct democracy system. On the one hand, you can be sure that a more social friendly government agenda is supported, but on the other hand a free willed society determines its own fate. A more functional system developed for future use will likely promote education and research within a governmental framework. From my viewpoint I see more bureaucracy not less and I find it troubling. The entire direction society takes depend on the political will of the citizen. That will must be carefully formatted and even filtered to achieve prosperity and longevity. Those two goals are the only ones of relevance to society as a whole. The one thing we all share is that we all want to die old and happy, and there is room to build on our commonalities. That is the direction I seek. One of commonality not division with my fellow citizens. We should be all over the concept of nation building.

Ya gotta love that statement !

So this is what it comes to? A debate about a court ruling has turned into a government accountability thing?

It like any other system is not perfect. The only thing is the citizens DO have a say in legislative efforts.

Very true! The Swiss situation and its history are rather unique to say the least, yet not really relevant from other than an historical perspective. The Swiss have justified it to themselves and adopted it. We would need to study it and reach our own conclusions of course. I favour the system over ours, but that is just me. They, the Swiss, are nuetral. No power bloc for them. Smart play.

I would and could work, as is proven is the nation where it was first tried.

Thats right, its an updated more democratically advanced system than ours. It therefore has been around for less time.

Look at the Swiss system, its been working for decades. I only wish!!!!

I think that folks need to get their heads around a few semi-important facts. The first being the reality of the court ruling. The second is the history of the industry. The third is the cost to society of doing anything about the situation one way or another at all. Let me now bring to mind the true state of democracy which would allow for the rule of the majority during the legislative process. It is time for the citizens of the bible belt to be seen as what they are, zealots seeking to control society by means of political effort. Huge costs are the reality of this industry, society spends much to discourage it with little to no success to show for the effort over literally thousands of years, yet the "moral majority" demand that we continue this senseless approach. Society needs to wake up and understand that legislating morality is a fools mission.

Lets not worry about one partisan faction or another. At the heart of the issue is personal choice. That is a right that needs to be considered. To each their own, and to all a home from which to do battle with those who would oppose our right to speak or choose as we please. That should be the essence of government, to protect the individual citizens from those who would seek to eliminate choice.

We gained nothing and lost a great deal. It is time to consider our international position from a domestic standpoint. Make our relations a matter of public debate during an election campaign. Put the cards on the table.

People that break the law deserve to be punished. If those arrested were involved in breaking the law, then they deserve what they get.

Dressed or undressed they are still beautiful humans. I don't think we should worry abut this at all. It needs to be legalized anyway, in order to control the trade. Tax it, regulate it, clean it up, get the young girls out of it, get rid of the pimps and the drug dependencies and then you can start to deal with the health issues and the protection of society. We need to grow up and realize that the trade exists and it has issue that effect society.

All true, unless of course you do what needs to be done. What I mean by that is buy the damned production facilities outright! There is a window of opportunity here, those companies are broke and the government can't do squat about it, because they are broke as well.

Its all politics. The citizens pay for it in more ways than most think. At any rate the UAE was making demands, not asking for favours or negotiating changes. There is a difference and in this case our government did the right thing.

They have been trying to build some very interesting aircraft over the last number of years. Having the financial means to do so is another story. Have you seen this http://warfare.ru/?linkid=1608&catid=255

Pretty sure about that are you?

Are we treating them badly?

Max is far too pro-Quebec and anti-Alberta for me and most likely everybody else in the west.