Morgan

And the Liberals and Democrats want the UN to run the world's army to protect us, when the UN shows itself to be too incompetent to protect its own foreign aid workers??? Who, but the UN, would appoint a lawyer to head security-is it because he warmed the chair the longest? I wonder if CBC will run this story to "update" their initial reporting that implied that the US was at fault? http://news.yahoo.com/?tmpl=story&cid=535&...e_mi_ea/un_iraq U.N. Security Chief Asked to Step Aside -The U.N. security coordinator has been asked to step aside while an independent team of experts assesses responsibility for the lapses in the August bombing of U.N. headquarters in Baghdad, U.N. officials said. -In a letter to over 25,000 U.N. staffers worldwide on Friday, Annan said he planned to appoint an independent team, and promised to take immediate action to implement recommendations in a highly critical report by a U.N.-appointed panel. -The report blamed "dysfunctional" U.N. security for unnecessary casualties. Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, who led the panel, said the United Nations must address the issue of accountability. -Annan told the staff he was "gravely concerned" at the findings and was reviewing "the serious weaknesses" in the management of the U.N. security system as well as threats facing U.N. missions worldwide. -It wasn't clear what will happen to Tun Myat, whose contract expires in the middle of next year. The 61-year-old British-trained lawyer from Myanmar has worked for the United Nations since 1979 and was the U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Iraq before taking the security job.

Chretien's high approval rate may have just taken a nose dive this morning when Manley gave his fiscal update. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/Art...ront/TopStories Surplus vanishes on Martin -Paul Martin will inherit a government that has almost no money in the bank...Mr. Manley announced that the surplus this year will be about $2.3-billion, the lowest amount since the federal Liberals started recording surpluses in 1997. -Up to $2-billion of that money will be given to the provinces for health care, but only if Ottawa decides next fall, when the final figures are in, that it can hand over the money without going into deficit. -That leaves no room for error or economic catastrophe, not to mention Mr. Martin's priorities of spending on cities, defence and early childhood education. -He said the spending of the safety cushion was a one-time change of policy made necessary by the slow economic growth this year, coupled with the costs associated with the soaring Canadian dollar and a string of shocks that have touched almost every region of the country: SARS, the ban on most beef exports due to the discovery of a case of mad-cow disease, fires, floods, hurricanes and blackouts. The surplus would have been $1.2-billion larger had it not been for SARS, mad-cow and missions to the Middle East, Mr. Manley said. ***Don't you love it when the Liberals and Chretien make all sorts of excuses for why the country is running on empty[sARS, Mad cow, fires, blackouts, Middle East Missions? huh?]yet they do not give the same consideration to Bush? Wasn't it just a few months ago that Chretien was preening in front of CBC cameras about his sound fiscal policies and how[tsk, tsk] Bush should take tips from his example? Maybe Chretien would have more money in the budget to throw at the hallowed socialized medical care system if he stopped sending foreign aid to the Commie criminal in Cuba, stopped the bi-lingual language grants to Africa, deep sixed the idea for a museum in Shawinigan, to name a few items of wasteful spending. But what am I saying...the hole in universal health care is a bottomless pit for spending...my suggestions are like putting a finger in a dyke riddled with holes.

If the poll results are genuine, this is very troubling. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml...04/ixworld.html Israel is No 1 threat to peace, says EU poll By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in Brussels (Filed: 04/11/2003) -Europeans view Israel as the No 1 threat to world peace, ahead of Iran and North Korea, according to a European Commission survey yesterday. The Eurobarometer poll of 7,500 EU residents found that 59 per cent deemed Israel "a threat to peace in the world", with the figures rising to 60 per cent in Britain, 65 in Germany, 69 in Austria and 74 in Holland. -In a twist that left analysts scratching their heads, the poll suggested that the British have turned against Washington even more sharply than the French or Germans. Asked if America posed a threat to peace, the "yes" response was 55 per cent in Britain, 52 in France and 45 in Germany. -In Greece, the figure reached 88 per cent, with 96 per cent calling the Iraq war "unjustified". But the EU itself is deemed a threat to peace by 18 per cent in Britain compared with eight per cent for the whole union. Only Denmark continues to back the Iraq war. http://www.euobserver.com/index.phtml?sid=9&aid=13324 Poll controversy as Israel and US labelled biggest threats to World peace - According to the same survey, Europeans believe the United States contributes the most to world instability along with Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and North Korea. **The EU Observer site's headlines are very interesting to browse through.

The Canadian and American media misconstrued and/or buried important points made by Blix, Kay, and David Kelley, the British scientist who recently committed suicide. I will not re-visit reports by Blix because previous posts have covered this area well. But here's an article relating the contents of David Kelley's unpublished article re: how he believed military intervention was needed to defuse the dangers posed by Saddam. http://politics.guardian.co.uk/print/0,385...-111577,00.html "Revealed: How Kelly article set out case for war in Iraq" Kamal Ahmed, political editor, August 31, 2003 The Observer As well, David Kay and Brigadier Meekin have just published letters that challenge misreporting by Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A...anguage=printer "The Hunt for Iraq's Weapons" Saturday, November 1, 2003; Page A21 David Kay, Baghdad The writer is special adviser to the director of central intelligence. Stephen D. Meekin,Baghdad The writer, a brigadier in the Australian Army, is commander of the coalition's Joint Captured Materiel Exploitation Center in Iraq.

Hopefully, this revelation will represent the final death knell for Kyoto... http://www.nationalpost.com/financialpost/...AC-50D9F895E7DE Kyoto debunked: A pillar of the Kyoto Accord is based on flawed calculations, incorrect data and an overtly biased selection of climate records, an important new paper reveals Tim Patterson, Financial Post, October 29, 2003 This has been a nightmare of a year for aficionados of the Kyoto Accord...none may have the long-term impact of the paper published yesterday in the prestigious British journal Energy and Environment, which explains how one of the fundamental scientific pillars of the Kyoto Accord is based on flawed calculations, incorrect data and a biased selection of climate records. The paper's authors, Toronto-based analyst Steve McIntyre and University of Guelph economics professor Ross McKitrick, obtained the original data used by Michael Mann of the University of Virginia to support the notion that the 20th-century temperature rise was unprecedented in the past millennium. A detailed audit revealed numerous errors in the data. After correcting these and updating the source records they showed that based on Mann's own methodologies, his original conclusion was flawed. Mann's original version resulted in the famous "hockey stick" graph that purported to show 900 years of relative temperature stability (the shaft of the hockey stick) followed by a sharp increase (the blade) in the 20th century (see graph). The corrected version of the last thousand years actually contradicts the view promoted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and removes the foundation for claims of 20th-century uniqueness. As a consequence, governments worldwide are now making some of their most expensive policy decisions ever based on uncritical acceptance of an IPCC Report that we now know to be decidedly unsound in itself. Dr. Tim Patterson is a professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at Carleton University.

Blackdog, If you think there's no left wing bias in the media based on information from a 1998 report generated by an academic and an undated, off hand, out of context comment by a political commentator, I suggest you read the up-to-date information at the following sites/reports: The Fraser Institute's October 2003 report, entitled "Freedom in the Press", has several chapters on how media bias shapes the news: http://www.fraserinstitute.ca/shared/readm...?sNav=pb&id=583 CanStats Bulletins frequently tracks media mis-reporting due to liberal bias. http://www.canstats.org/bulletins.asp For instance, this short article in CanStats Bulletins is a perfect example of how CBC mis-reported the events surrounding the California recall based on left wing editorial bias: http://www.canstats.org/readdetail.asp?id=584 October 8, 2003 The CBC’s War on California Ongoing tracking of inaccuracies in media due to left wing bias in the USA: http://www.aim.org/ AND http://www.mrc.org/

Peacefire has joined forces with the ACLU to undermine the rights of parents and of society to protect minors from accessing inappropriate/harmful sites on the Internet. While it may be true that a few "innocuous" sites are blocked as well, minors can still access a wealth of valuable information on the net with blocking software in place. Blocking software is a necessity in this day and age with pornography and sexual predators rampant on the Internet.

With regards to the following cut and paste article, is Lou Cuppens, a retired lieutenant-general and former deputy commander for NORAD, speaking the truth? Or is he just self-serving in his new vocation as a defense industry consultant? Did the Liberal gov't cause Canada to miss out on opportunities for research grants, high tech employment and manufacturing? Is the threat from China and North Korea substantial enough to both the USA and to Canada to justify the cost of a missile defense shield? Is the Cdn. gov't's concern about the "weaponization" of space valid/sincere or is it just a smokescreen for the gov't wanting the US to cover all the costs of the missile defense shield? ie. defense free loading http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article....RTICLE_ID=35320 Canada told: 'Stop being defense freeloader' Former NORAD boss chastises his government for waffling with U.S. October 29, 2003 Canada must give up its passive role as a "defense freeloader" and participate in a missile defense shield under development by the United States, a former Canadian military official asserts. Canada's high-tech defense industry has suffered from its government's political waffling over the U.S. ballistic missile defense program, said Lou Cuppens, a retired lieutenant-general and former deputy commander for the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, the Canadian Press reported. "As a retired military member, I know Canada can't stand around and be a defense freeloader forever," Cuppens told participants at a conference on opportunities for aerospace, defense and security in Eastern Canada. Canadian politicians have sat on the fence for over a decade while the U.S. has sought involvement in its missile shield, Cuppens said. Now that the multibillion-dollar system is nearly completed, he added, Canada is beginning to consider its position, but all the educational opportunities that could have been gained from participating in the technology are lost. Cuppens noted some parts of the system could be manufactured in Canada. "You are being denied one heck of an opportunity," he told the business audience, according to the Canadian Press. "This is high, high tech." The Canadian Press said some government members are worried about the potential weaponization of space, Cuppens, now a defense consultant, insists the critical need for defense, noting the threat from China and North Korea, will push the project toward completion. At the moment, the only thing American and Canadian military leaders can do in case of a first strike is inform the countries' leaders of the likely targets and time of impact. "That's all that can be done," he said, according to the Press. "What's defending North America? Nothing."

Maybe the PC's and Alliance should take a page from Arnie's playbook re: reconciliation and co-operation for the greater good of the conservative movement. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-mc...ines-california Schwarzenegger to Aid McClintock By Daryl Kelley, LA Times, Oct.29,2003 Republican state Sen. Tom McClintock, who refused to withdraw in favor of GOP front-runner Arnold Schwarzenegger during the recall campaign, is now supported for reelection by the governor-elect and is essentially ceded another term by his chief Democratic rival. In a gesture of unity, Schwarzenegger offered last week to speak at a fund-raiser for the veteran Thousand Oaks lawmaker, a spokesman for the new governor said Tuesday. "The election is over, and the time for working together to move California forward is upon us," spokesman H.D. Palmer said. "Throughout the campaign, [schwarzenegger] said that Sen. McClintock was a bright individual who brought a lot of constructive ideas on how to control state spending to the debate," Palmer said. "[schwarzenegger] has pledged to bring our party together, and he's obviously very serious about doing so," McClintock said Tuesday. "And I intend to do everything I can to assist him in cutting spending and balancing the state budget without raising taxes."

Bushmustgo, Bush's support does not come only from older Republicans. Inspite of the eventualities thrust on W's administration( ie. 9-11, world wide recession) young Americans, both liberals and conservatives, support Bush. So if the results of a new poll are any indication,young liberals together with conservatives will vote for Bush in the next election. The poll results are remarkable because this age demographic is usually left leaning. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/s...4p-117538c.html "Under-30s in Bush camp" According to the new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, 62% of 19- to 29-year-olds expressed support for the President...Sixty-one percent say attacking Iraq was "worth it"...And youngsters are more optimistic about the economy, with 58% saying it's getting better...Nineteen percent of the twentysomethings identify themselves as liberal, while 27% said they are conservative...

After the multiple bombings, I read a short quote from an Iraqi Minister of Interior, I think his title was,that has stuck in my mind. This fellow said that the USA's rules of engagement are too narrow, that the American GI's were too constrained by their superiors to properly deal with terrorists, and that the Iraqis themselves should get more responsibilities for their own country's security and better fire power so they could flush out the 'bad guys" and deal with them in the Arab way. He said they were in a better position to identify a foreign fighter hiding in the ranks of ordinary Iraqis going about their business. I think he had a point. Bush and his advisors are trying to have their soldiers act like politically correct policemen in Iraq. Bush needs to let the soldiers fight like regular soldiers at war and use deadly force - forget about taking POW's and he has to arm the vetted Iraqi policemen with fire power today not 2 years from now. Maybe even recall a couple of thousand former Republican Guard soldiers - have them vetted by Iraqis they trust and arm the soldiers, too. Also he should put the search for WMD on hold and emphasize GI's locating and getting rid of munitions caches they find in the Baghdad area.

Bushmustgo, Here's an AP article re: increased consumer confidence, stronger stock market numbers, and upbeat labour market/manufacturing news: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...i_ge/economy_20 Consumer Confidence Rebounds in October By Seth Sutel, AP Business Writer, Oct.28/03 Signs of improvement in the job market triggered a rebound in a measure of consumers' confidence in the economy in October, a private research group reported Tuesday. Lynn Franco, director of the board's consumer research center, said that an improving job market was a "major factor" in the rebound, as was growing hope that employment trends would continue to improve. The data was released the same day that the Commerce Department delivered another dose of good news for the economy with a report showing that new orders for durable goods rebounded in September. The positive economic news helped send stocks higher on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 48.52 points to 9,656.68 in morning trading. The Conference Board reported that an indicator measuring consumers' appraisal of current economic conditions rose in October following five consecutive months of declines. That measure, the Present Situations index, jumped to 66.8 from 59.7 last month. Consumers' short-term outlook also improved. Those expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months rose to 23.2 percent from 21.3 percent, and slightly fewer respondents expected conditions to worsen. The outlook on job conditions also improved. Those expecting jobs to become available in the next six months increased to 19.7 percent from 16.6 percent. Economists keep a careful watch on indicators of consumer confidence since spending by consumers makes up approximately two-thirds of U.S. economic activity.

1. Perhaps the following urls comparing OECD nations re: Purchasing Power Parities and Comparitive Price Levels might help. See page 2 charts in both. For Comparative Price Levels, the chart is meant to be read vertically. http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/61/54/1876117.pdf http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/48/18/4098676.pdf 2. The USA was ranked ahead of Canada in the UN's 2003 Human Development Index list . The HDI measures adjusted real income, in addition to life expectancy and educational attainment. The USA was ranked #7, whereas Canada fell to #8. http://www.undp.org/hdr2003/pdf/presskit/H...R03_PKE_HDI.pdf

Aidan Prydes, According to an article reported today in the National Post, organized crime is flourishing and on an upswing in Canada and a crime researcher blames lax laws and government indifference. http://www.nationalpost.com/home/story.htm...91-BCA13A266885 Organized crime 'widespread':Exclusive: RCMP report reveals criminal gains from streets to markets by A. Humphreys and S. Bell Nat'l Post Oct.28, 2003 Organized criminal gangs are corrupting, extorting and swindling their way into everyday life in Canada -- jeopardizing stock markets, airport security and financial institutions -- says a confidential RCMP report obtained by the National Post. The in-depth police intelligence report presents organized crime as a growth industry often operating with impunity. The Russian mafia is "more widespread than had previously been thought;" new criminal Eastern European groups are taking root here; Sicilian mafiosi have "begun to gain ground;" and Asian-based gangs are resorting to violence to expand their operations, the report concludes. The frank assessment of organized crime in Canada was prepared by the RCMP's Criminal Intelligence Directorate to guide and prioritize large investigations launched by the Mounties. Circulated internally at the end of April, 2003, a heavily edited version of the report was released under the Access to Information Act. Organized crime groups are engaged in a wide diversity of crime, from violent acts of murder, assault and robbery to sophisticated financial crimes, including stock market manipulation, money laundering and counterfeiting, the report says. "[Organized] crime figures continue to use Canadian financial markets to launder money and manipulate stock. Activity of this type has the potential to undermine markets, financial sectors and, ultimately, the entire economy." The groups are heavily involved in the sex trade, migrant smuggling, credit-card fraud, kidnapping, smuggling of illegal weapons, extortion, forging of passports and other official documents, diverting stolen goods into the marketplace, intimidation, loan sharking and other crimes. The financial mainstay of each of the groups, however, is drugs. A prominent organized crime researcher said the massive scale, diversity and seeming impunity of the gangsters' activities in Canada reflect years of neglect by politicians and government officials. "The government and society is afraid of them but they are not afraid of our government," Antonio Nicaso, a widely consulted organized crime specialist and the author of 10 books on the subject, said of the gangsters. "I don't think we will make any progress unless we pay attention to the punishment given under our judicial system. There are many dedicated police officers trying to investigate these sophisticated criminals but I don't see the same commitment from the political side." He said criminal gangs budget for a short period of imprisonment in a relaxed Canadian jail when they are making plans for their drug networks. They expect access to criminal associates during incarceration and rapid transfer to a halfway house and full parole. He said an end to plea bargaining, light sentencing and a parole board that considers drug trafficking a non-violent offence, would go a long way to reducing the incentive of global crime groups to focus on Canada.

Sir Riff, The reason partial birth abortion is more barbaric in the minds of many people after they find out about the procedure is not only the fact that a baby's brains are sucked out of his/her head in the course of the procedure, but also because the baby is no longer a "fetus" or an embryo that society can choose to dismiss. Rather the aborted baby has a face, if you will, and could live independently from the birth mother. You'll note that even die-hard Democrats voted for the ban on partial birth abortion. Perhaps the publicity that comes with the Supreme Court case over the ban on partial birth abortion in the USA will serve to educate MP's and voters in Canada, too.

The US Congress just passed a bill to ban partial birth abortion, which is a barbaric procedure involving a full term 3rd trimester baby. I must admit I had no idea that this type of late term abortion actually ever took place in the USA and Canada. It was pretty disturbing to read the details of the procedure. Bush says he will sign the bill into law. But pro-choice foes said they will challenge it in court because the ban would limit women's rights to privacy. It will be interesting to see the final outcome of the court case. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...ngress_abortion Bush to Sign Partial Birth Abortion Bill By Jim Abrams, Associated Press, October 22

On the advice of Karl Rove, George Bush continues to turn a blind eye to illegal immigration. But the Republican Party may ultimately suffer for its soft stance on border control. The following articles discuss how illegal immigration may favour the Democrat Party in future elections because a)the U.S. House seats are distributed among the states based on the census results every 10 years, irrespective of whether or not the resident is legal or illegal and b)Presidential elections are also affected because the Electoral College is based on the size of congressional delegations. Comments? 1.http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/10/24/102835.shtml Feds Let Illegal Aliens Steal Congressional Representation From Citizens Steve Brown, CNSNews.com Friday, Oct. 24, 2003 2.http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/10/24/112120.shtml States Robbed of Political Voice by Illegal Aliens NewsMax.com Friday, Oct. 24, 2003 3. http://www.cis.org/articles/2003/back1403.html Remaking the Political Landscape:The Impact of Illegal and Legal Immigration on Congressional Apportionment By Dudley L. Poston, Jr., Steven A. Camarota, and Amanda K. Baumle October 2003

Neal, Your wish has been heard. http://www.euobserver.com/index.phtml?sid=9&aid=13199 Seven countries back Christianity in Constitution October 24, 2003 The demand to have Europe's Christian values mentioned in a new European Constitution is gaining increasing support. Now, seven of the 25 countries participating in the negotiations of a new European Constitution support the call, according to the Italian EU Presidency. The seven countries are: Spain, Ireland, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. As the current holder of the EU Presidency, Italy is abstaining from taking a stand on the issue. But it is well known that Rome supports the demand as well. The issue might now be up for debate when the next meeting of the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) is held on Monday (27 October) in Brussels.

No doubt George Bush will ultimately sign the Dream Act, which has just been approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on a vote of 16-3. Perhaps Homeland Security and Border Control should be shut down to pay for this mega entitlement bill. Not only will illegals qualify for reduced in-state tuition rates, but after 2 years of college they can apply for green cards. The Dream Act, together with the Supreme Court decision on affirmative action, will mean that in addition to reduced tuition, illegals will have an advantage to getting accepted at competitive, highly regarded state supported colleges like UC Berkeley, UCLA, Rutgers, U of M Ann Arbor, Penn State etc. Every position taken by an illegal alien will mean that position is denied to a US citizen or legal resident. When Grey Davis initially vetoed an in-state tuition bill for illegals in California when it was presented to him in year 2000, Davis said that based on Fall 1998 enrollment figures at the U. of Cal. and Cal. State U. alone, this legislation could result in a revenue loss of over $63.7 million to the state of California. Source: Governor Davis’s Veto Message to the Assembly on AB 1197, September 29, 2000. That's the projected cost for ONE state, albeit the most populous state. Consider how much the Dream Act will cost US taxpayers annually when all 50 states participate. Shame on the Republicans! http://www.washtimes.com/national/20031023...14720-6881r.htm "Senate panel approves bill on illegals" By Stephen Dinan Published October 24, 2003 The Senate Judiciary Committee passed a bill yesterday allowing illegal immigrant students to gain legal status and to pay in-state tuition rates at state colleges and universities. The bill undoes parts of the 1996 immigration reform. As part of that law, Congress decided states should not be allowed to offer in-state tuition to illegal aliens. Sen. Jon Kyl, Arizona Republican, said it was critical to make sure illegal immigrants weren't receiving more benefits than legal immigrants under the bill. "I don't want to send a signal that the illegal choice carried an advantage over the legal choice," Mr. Kyl said. He offered an amendment, defeated on voice vote, that would have forced any state that allows illegal immigrants in-state tuition to offer the same rates to any legal resident of the United States.

Daniel, There's no right wing conspiracy behind the failure of socialism. There's a limit to how much governments can tax individuals and corporations to support entitlements and prop up inefficiently run government run "enterprises." Ultimately, socialist governments drive away new business investors and also the country ends up suffering "brain drain" of its innovators/the best and brightest. Take a look at what's happening in the EU. The 2 largest economies are in dire straights. That should be a warning for Canada. http://www.techcentralstation.com/102403E.html Liberté, égalité, bankruptcy! By Jean-Christophe Mounicq ...It has not been widely reported to the French public that the European Commission and the OECD evaluate the French public debt as equal to 250 percent of GNP, if one includes future pensions that will have to be paid to their civil servants. The debt of France is 20 times the former debt of Argentina... before it went to bankruptcy... http://www.faz.com/IN/INtemplates/eFAZ/doc...B-A6E4BBDCCFE4} Germany loses appeal for venture capitalists By Angela Maier ...Foreigners have a disastrous perception of German economic policy...

If government does such a bang up job with delivering health services, as an example, how come we have a shortage of MD's? Who do you think will do surgeries and deliver babies in the future...the MP's? Right now Canadian citizens are paying high taxes to support a myth, not a reality. The mantra of free health services to all isn't worth the paper it's written on if you're one of the 3 million taxpayers without access to a family physician, or you're waiting 18 weeks for hip replacement, or you're needing Enbrel or Remicide for arthritis but can't get it because it's not an "approved" drug under the Patented Medicines Prices Review Board. As for the much touted standard of living that politicians are apt to use to justify the burden of taxes, according to the UN's recent survey, the USA beat out Canada, so lower taxes does not appear to have harmed quality of life south of the border.

Do Canadians get their money's worth? In the article, health care is a service that the higher taxes pay for, but free health care is not necessarily good health care. 1. http://www.canada.com/victoria/timescoloni...AC-EFC24A474D6D Canadian tax burden still high by Eric Beauchesne October 23, 2003 OTTAWA -- Canadians last year enjoyed one of the steepest drops in taxes in the industrial world but their tax burden remained nearly double that of Americans, their main trading partners and competitors, new international tax comparisons released Wednesday reveal. In Canada, taxes as a proportion of total economic output or gross domestic product (GDP) fell 1.6 percentage points in 2002 to 33.5 from 35.1. Only Ireland, Greece and Turkey posted steeper declines. However, the tax burden in the U.S. also fell by 0.9 to only 18 per cent of GDP from 18.9 in 2001, according to the OECD report. Many, although not all, economists argue that everything else being equal, a lower tax burden attracts and encourages investment and employment. While Canada's tax burden remains much higher than in the U.S. it's below the 36.9 per cent average for industrial countries, the report reveals. Canada's tax burden is also less than that of all the other Group of Seven major industrial countries, other than Japan. The OECD report notes that the tax burden in some countries, including Canada and the U.S., may be overstated in that the tax-to-GDP ratio does not reflect the fact that some of those taxes are repaid to individuals or families in the form of tax credits, such as for social purposes. However, the tax breaks for social purposes are relatively much more generous in the U.S., amounting to 1.4 per cent of GDP, than in Canada where they account for only 0.7 per cent of GDP, according to the report. 2. http://www.canada.com/toronto/news/story.a...9C-D89274AD1F86 "Hospital waiting times jump in one year: At 'historic' high"by Sharon Kirkey, CanWest News Service, Tuesday, October 21, 2003 OTTAWA - Hospital waiting times in Canada have almost doubled over the past decade, according to a new survey that found most Canadians are waiting longer than ever for new hips, cataract surgery and other treatments. Canadians are waiting a median 17.7 weeks from a referral from a general practitioner to the actual treatment, a 7% jump over waiting times last year, according to the Fraser Institute's latest annual survey, Waiting Your Turn: Hospital Waiting Lists in Canada. The median wait means the length of time within which half the people waiting for a given type of surgery get it. 3. http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/...Story/National/ "Canada's doctor shortage among worst in Western world" Canada has one of the lowest ratios of doctors to population in the Western world, according to new figures from an international body. The scarcity of Canadian doctors is in part the result of deliberate government policy. During the 1990s, provincial governments cut enrolment in medical and nursing schools as a strategy to cut medical costs. In recent years, the federal government has increased health spending and enrolment, but working conditions remain a major complaint. Canada is losing an average of 250 doctors each year, mainly to the United States. Many of them are leaving because they lack the support and facilities...three million Canadians do not have access to a family doctor.

Black Dog, I believe law enforcement officers might disagree with your theory that "legalizing pot will put pot pushers out of business." Police officers feel that lax pot laws have done enough damage as it is and want the existing laws toughened up. http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentSe...ol=968793972154 "Drug war spills onto east-end streets: One 'soldier' killed during gun melee outside marijuana grow operation" by Curtis Rush Oct.22, 2003 Toronto could become like Chicago in the 1920s with organized gangs shooting up the streets if "lax legislation" continues to allow illegal marijuana grow operations to escalate, Toronto police say. Staff Inspector Gary Ellis made the comments after revealing that a weekend murder was the result of a gunfight between competing gangs in a sleepy Scarborough neighbourhood. In another case last week, $2.5 million in marijuana plants was discovered in an industrial unit on Finch Ave. E. "This is an emerging trend we have to be aware of," Ellis said. In the shooting in Scarborough on Sunday, there were 13 combatants, Ellis said. "There were enough weapons to arm an army," said Ellis, who added that these people are "soldiers." The victim didn't have any family in Canada and he had no known job or place of residence. The arsenal included firearms, machetes, clubs and a whole range of weapons. Ellis hopes legislators do something to toughen up the laws because Canada is becoming a haven for these operations, he said. "Canada is known as a soft country on cannabis-type drugs," he said. The drugs from these operations are often shipped out internationally and millions of dollars are at stake, Ellis said.

And because the economies of both France and Germany are currently in the tank, their influence may be further eroded in the EU. It appears that the German Economic Minister, at least, is clued in to the fact that in order for Germany to do well, the USA needs to do well first. Perhaps this is why Schroeder has been less joined at the hip to Chirac lately and has tried to make nice with Bush? http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1431...262_1_A,00.html "With Zero Growth, Germany To Borrow Billions" Oct.23,2003 Just as the German government seeks to expedite passage of one of the most ambitious reform packages in the post-World War II era, it admitted just how badly Europe's largest economy is suffering on Thursday. [Economics Minister Wolfgang Clements ]warned that improved economic growth would only be possible if the government’s reforms of the labor market as well as the proposed overhaul of the health and pension systems were fully implemented. The most important condition, Clement said, is for the global economy to continue to show signs of improvement, especially the expected recovery in the United States. Casting a further shadow over Clement's news on Thursday was an announcement by Finance Minister Hans Eichel that deficit spending for 2003 would exceed €43.4 billion -- billions more than the €18.9 billion originally estimated. The additional expenditures mean Germany's deficit spending will now rise to over 4 percent for 2003 - meaning the country would violate EU monetary policy regulations for three years in a row. The latest round of borrowing is expected to bring Germany's total federal deficit up to €820 billion. Taken together with state and community-level deficit, that figure would grow to €1.4 trillion.

Debo, I think KK was making reference to the fact that Davis approved the drivers license legislation at the last minute after initially refusing to sign it in hopes of winning the legal California Latino citizen "sympathy" vote in the recall election. ie. Davis tried to "buy" votes through "favours" much like Chretien reportedly has done with special interest groups. But what cynics claim was more insidious about Davis approving drivers licenses for illegal aliens, aside from the fact that these immigrants are breaking federal immigration law by being in the country in the first place, was that Davis was ensuring millions of votes for the Democratic Party in future elections from illegal immigrants. In California all one needs is a drivers license to register to vote. Proof of citizenship is not required. Interesting that it was Davis who previously had approved this "motor voter law." Hmmmm...