theloniusfleabag

I must admit, I would love a crack at PM. I am (I believe) a true Canadian, and would love to stop the erosion of our culture and values. I think Canada has the resources and the people to be the best country in the world, but I fear we are moving in the opposite direction.

Dear Big Blue Machine, "We need to keep the CIA and FBI and these intelligence orginzations." Intelligence and 'intelligent' are two different things. I cannot see it ever happening. Since the CIA headquarters was recently re-named "The George Bush Center for Intelligence",tehy are finally admitting just who has influenced US foriegn policy for the last 25 or so years. The CIA has (through coups, murders and semi-secret support of 3rd world dictators) helped ensure the growth and safety of the economic wealth, and global dominance of the US.

Dear maplesyrup, I ordered this book a couple of weeks ago, I hope to pick it up this weekend. Should be interesting.

Dear maplesyrup, Haven't you heard? God is dead, and we killed him. Actually, I think Hollywood was responsible, or Mammon. not sure who stuck the knife in, but if anyone reiterates the cry "et tu, Brute?", it would be God, for sure. No question, though, the 'opiate of the masses' has surely changed. God just isn't needed to cow peasants like he used to be. 'American Idol worship' collects far more tithes than any church.

Dear Argus, There are a large number of Arabs who live and work in Israel that are quite happy with the democratic process. Arafat does not represent them all. Rarely have I heard such blind racial ignorance such as this.

Dear Big Blue Machine, They could if they had the guts and the brains, but they have neither. Tax incentives, tarriffs, etc. heavily applied in the right areas would work wonders. The only problem is that the politicians fear repercussions from the US. Screw 'em, I say. Canada is a hugely resource rich nation.We sell our softwood lumber, oil, etc for dirt cheap and buy manufactured goods back from them at huge mark-ups. The same goes for Ikea.Part of my paycheque goes to subsidize farmers who get ripped off by US owned meat packers, and part of it goes to subsidize re-runs of Seinfeld. Enough is enough.

Dear Argus, I would suspect that is why the fence is going up. Once the Arab population exceeds the Jewish population, the Israelis will have to discard democracy. 'Making Aliyah' is what the 'Jewish right of return' is called today. It is openly encouraged for one religion, discouraged for another, and ironically all are the same race, the 'Semites', and one could argue, beleive in the same God, or G-d. Would a God by any other name be as cruel?

Dear Stoker, The US serves Mammon. It owes no other allegiance. Israel is a source of 'economic flow' and therefore, is also a servant of Mammon. The 'House of Saud' is also in the service of Mammon, hence it's despisal by Osama.

Dear Argus, Furhermore, I suggest you read up on 'The Stern gang' before you pass judgement on 'Intifada'.

Dear Argus, It would seem that your take on the matter is incredibly one-sided. The Israelis call it 'making aliyah. The chosen ones of G-d have that right, but no one else. For the Bible(at least theOld Testament) lays down the 'legal' deed to the land.

Dear KK, Actually, it was not a war. If it were, it would have been illegal. The US did not officially declare war on Iraq, only on terrorism. Which, in itself, is utterly ridiculous. The US has been trying to play every angle, though, which have made some of their actions illegal. For example, with no declaration of war, the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay had no Geneva Convention rights (which the US agreed with and used as a 'point of law'). They also had no US constitutional rights as they were being held 'technically' outside of the US. (That is a load of bunk also, as the US defends every base and embassy of theirs as 'soveriegn US soil'). So, in effect, those prisoners were kidnap victims, as no other classification seemed to apply. I realize that those prisoners were from Afghanistan, but no official war declaration was filed against that nation either. (With Iraq, the US claimed to be enforcing a UN resolution, so it felt that no declaration would be needed.) Saddam Hussein cannot be considered a P.O.W. without a declaration of war either. The problem lies with the fact that an aggressor nation declaring war on another becomes responsible for the welfare of that nation, and must bear the costs of occupation (and the stigma that goes along with that name). Something that the US is keen to avoid. As for 'war crimes', again, a war must be declared. Certainly torturing prisoners to death would be considered one, but only the interrogators and Rumsfeld could be held accountable.

Dear Hugo, You claim and yet you quote and so how can one dicker over that which does not exist?

Dear maplesyrup, An interesting question, whether we post here just to vent or to actually try to make a difference. Or whether an individual can make a difference. The internet is just another (albeit vastly more influential) mode of the communication of biases (read individual interaction). 'Blogger' has merely, idiomatically, usurped the label 'agitator'.

Dear Black Dog, I would believe that the unsaid answer would be that change is also 'absolute'. So, one either supports no change, or all hell will break loose. Gay marriage isn't the real issue. It is about condemning or condoning. Anyone who does not do either, has had neither exposure to the issue nor any sort of religious upbringing.I'll go out on a limb here, and try to requalify 'homosexuality'. Some have said that 10% of people are inherently 'gay'. I must say it must be more like 9%, for more than 11% must have tried it, (and not preferred it) and at least 11% must have not tried it at all. However, there are no limits as to how 'change' can be interpreted. For some, speculation does not stop at the ridiculous.

Dear caesar and eureka, and KK as well... While it may seem that KK is stuck on arguing point of law, it is valid to do so insofar as 'right and wrong' are meaningless if us, ourselves, ever wind up in court. We must remember that the US and the UK themselves drafted Resolution 1441, and the UN legitimized it. My question to KK would be, from a legal point, would be ... If any member nation of the UN could have invaded Iraq to 'force compliance', would the US/UK have supported that nation (even if it were Israel, or, say, France!?) and allowed the 'rebuilding contracts' to be awarded to 'that little red hen'? Legal standpoint?... it is moot, since the US/UK did it first. ( I'm sure KK would agree) Secondly, what is keeping other nations from 'enforcing compliance' of other passed resolutions? The wording and legality, of course, but what keeps other nations from drafting their own resolutions with the wording 'enforced' in it to legitimized armed intervention regarding said resolutions? One need look no further than the IMF, The World Bank, The Carlyle Group, The Council on Foreign Relations and their proximity to the World Trade centers.

Dear KK, Here's an interesting take on the matter...it could be argued that Iraq was in compliance with the UN disarmament resolutions. They indeed destroyed their WMD stockpiles (but did not provide proper documentation) and the UN inspectors were there to prove (or disprove) that compliance. However, the US/UK coalition simply called the Iraqis 'liars' and invaded, under different auspices other than the UN resolution, namely, a 'regime change'. Robbespierre, defending Louis XIV, (I think) had a very interesting argument regarding the trial of the king after his overthrow. He claimed that if the trial were to be fair, there must be the possibility that the king could be found innocent, as well as guilty. If there was a possibility that the king could be found innocent, then the overthrow itself was not justified. He claimed that the overthrow WAS the judgement of the people, and therefore a trial was not neccesary.

Dear g-bambino, Thanks for you input, I have not spent a lot of time looking into the nuances of 'constitutional monarchies'. Interesting, though, that Iraq was 'formally' formerly a democracy. Saddam Hussein was the democractically elected leader of Iraq. The elections were a farce, of course, with Saddam claiming not only 100% of the votes, but also 100% voter turnout. However, the US cannot claim it was 'instituting democracy' as a new idea to Iraq. They should have said 'fair elections' instead.

Dear April, So it seems that all agree, 'in principle', that quota systems are not the best system in a 'fair' world.Racial quota systems inherently deny that no matter who the 'others' are.

Dear Stoker, Navies have been marginalized, especially for countries like Canada, to the point of near folly. Coastal defence, for Canada, is reduced to smuggling interdiction (of both humans and drugs) and for illegal fishing. A small well-armed Coast Guard could accomplish the same thing. We are not like the US, where our 'business interests' often rely on supporting third world dictators to ensure contracts. We don't need aircraft carriers or 'gunboat diplomacy', because often, Canadians are fair, and can be trusted.

Dear JWayne625, Actually, I protest that cable companies bundle American drivel into the basic cable package, so that I must subsidize it whether I want it or not. I do not watch TV, but my wife likes A&E, TLC and a few others. We have never watched 'Seinfeld', nor 'American Idol', yet still have to pay for such drivel in order to watch anything of substance.The CRTC recently banned Fox News, while allowing AlJazeera, and it does make me think. Fox is unabashedly pro-American, and will disregard the truth, or not show it, based on whether it is 'good for America' or not. At least whith Aljazeera, I can get some bit of news, even if it is biased. (as they both are). For example, the Los Alamos Nuclear Weapons facility recently shut down all classified work after top-secret information went missing. I read it on BBC, AlJazerra, The Asia Times, and a few others, but I could find nothing from any western news stations, including Canadian ones. I asked someone in the industry why this was so, and that person replied, "you have no idea how incestuous the media is". A few people control what the masses get for information in the western world. Another example was that Aljazeera ran a story about Halliburton being probed for it's dealing with Iran, contrary to US law regarding 'conducting business with a terrorist nation'. Halliburton's explanation was that they were conducting business in Iran through an offshore subsidiary in the Cayman Islands, so that technically they were not breaking US law. I do not think Fox news will rush to cover the story. Even If the US invades Iran, and has to 'destroy the country in order to save it', Halliburton will probably be awarded the rebuilding contract to rebuild their own facilities in Iran with taxpayer money. Again.

Dear KK, No offense intended KK, it was intended to be a small joke about your staunch defence of pornography. Mind you, that was some time ago, but please forgive me, it was facetious and not meant to be derogatory.William Burroughs once gave a speech regarding homosexuality and society's moral structure. Specifically, the teachings of St. Paul, and how those dogmatic mores were intend for all people, for all time, and forever. It was an interesting speech, I guess his main point was that 'that which is regarded as the functionally healthy model at one time may not be the only way, especially under different circumstances, at another time.'

Dear takeanumber, Actually, they get both free, including university education if they choose to take it. I believe most of the situation is purely cultural. The peoples of the First Nations had (and a few still have) a vastly different outlook on life and mankind's place in it. I worked with virous members of several of the First Nations in Alberta, including some Tribal Councils, and indeed I do understand a great deal about what 'factors' have influence their 'assimilation' into modern 'western' society. I believe the abolishment of racial quotas is the policy to go with. If, for example, a gov't agency had more than 50% First Nations peoples in it, would it be fair to deny other qualified ones because another 'identifiable group' was under-represented? Even if the others weren't qualified?

Derar DAC and August1991, I own a business in a part of town rife with crack-cocaine, stabbings, prostitution and you name it. I see crack dealers occasionally get arrested and be back on the streets within hours. I see crack use in front of my business every day, and worse, the police don't come when me or my staff, or adjacent businesses, call anymore. (They claim to respond to every call they get, but due to chronic underfunding we have often gone home for the day by the time they can get around). I overheard of fellow(who looked like he was recently kicked out of the Hell's Angels for looking like a psycho) state to someone else,"It's great now, I can pretty much do anything I want and all they (justice) do is give me counselling!" I cannot see Svend earning greater punishment than this person. The Canadian Justice system needs a swift kick in the pants, but Sven, idiot though he may be, deserves the typical punishment, which is unfortunately not much.

Dear bibby, America has no friends, nor does it want any. It only has competitors. Israel never has, nor ever will, 'put it's soveriegnty on the line'. This is farcical at best. I urge you to go to Arutz Shiva, 'Israeli National News' website and see what the editorials and news stories have to say. Definitely not 'pro-american'. Read 'The Samson Option' by Seymour Hersh to see exactly why the US rushed military aid to it's 'imperilled ally'.

Dear Big Blue Machine, Sometimes I get bored with the same sex over and over again too. KK, on the othe hand...well, I think one of the K's stands for 'kinky'.Seriously, the death penalty should be on the table for this one too. Democracy should decide by majority vote what the gov't legislates, and in Canada(and many other countries) you don't always get what you vote for. However, with some cases such as abortion and the death penalty, this country could be 51-49% on monday, and 49-51% by Friday. Luck we haven't had an election featuring a devout Pro-Capital Punishment candidate right after arrests like Paul Bernardo or Charles Ng.