charter.rights

There is a difference between responding and commenting on the issue and denigrating the people doing it. This is where you are so like McHale in that you are both quick to condemn "natives" as a race of people for the actions of one or two while at the same time ignoring that the IDiots in Caledonia, including the import McHale are have a get out of jail card because they are non-native. That is what makes you, like McHale racists, while those others making comments about action around Caledonia are only concerned citizens. Now what I would like to know is why would a guy from Richmond Hill, who rips off the bank for the money owed on his house, and who is arrested for trying to incite a riot be your hero while natives legally standing up to protect their land from development encroachment be your enemy? Sounds an awful lot like a double standard to me......

It must bug you that McHale can't go into Caledonia to be part of the anti-native protesting that is going on. I mean even if YOU were running as an independent like him, you couldn't use the position as candidate to stir the pot so to speak. Although I know you think that you, like McHale are a reincarnated Martin Luther King Junior, neither one of you could promote your racist agendas on the streets of Caledonia without the police intervening. After all that is not what elections or political forums are all about. And like McHale on the streets of Caledonia you are as transparent here as he is in Caledonia. Although you don't represent yourself here as the same kind of joke he presents himself as on the streets of Caledonia, Brantford or Deseronto. You certainly have that going for you.....but you still don't fool me or anyone else with your agenda...... I wonder.....do you consider yourself as a Loyalist too?

I disagree. I think the way to democratic freedom and back to the original concepts of a federation is to follow the way of the Bloc and create provincially-focused parties. Government would then become a coalition of similar interests.

Damn! Now you are sounding like a politician trying to get elected! Can you make up you mind please? Are you a Martin Luther King Jr. wannabe, a defrocked minister or a failing politician? I certainly wish you would make up your mind! Ontario NEEDS the west. Where else are we going to send our unemployed bums or kick the Newfoundlanders straight on through?

You have described the symptoms of corporate conditioning. By "towing the line" being "afraid of change", "acceptance and apathy towards injustice", "avoidance of confrontation" and "supporting the status quo" corporations can maximize profitability and control their ranks to unquestionably serve the corporation. Those who go against the grain, are independent thinkers and who are not afraid of standing up for injustices don't last long under the corporate regime, even if they are members of the lower ranks or are unionized. Even our politics are driven and controlled by corporatism. That is why there can be no democracy so long as we accept their hierarchical control of our our political institutions. True capitalism is the antithesis of corporatism in that it encourages independent thinkers and pragmatic grass roots exploration of solutions. In contrast, corporatism demands that solutions be corporate generated so that they can control the release of solutions to either maximize profits or to gain market advantage over competitors. People have been conditioned to believe that corporatism equals capitalism and society has been conditioned to believe that corporations have our best interests at hand - either through innovation of products or through the protection of our economy. Without society's blind compliance with corporate agendas, we would not be living in a society where nearly 20% of the population are at or below the poverty line, or where resources are recklessly scratched from the ground and the process wastes poured into our lakes, rivers and forests. Corporatism is the destruction of independence and freedom and we all know that if too many complain they would simply be replaced with robots or computers, in the blink of an eye.

A poster who follows another around the discussion board and does not but try to interfere with reasonable discussion IS a troll. Certainly I don't think the moderators will ban anyone for telling the truth and trying to steer discussion back on topic.... BTW. You are quickly becoming a nuisance as well. Perhaps if you can't stay on subject you should just hit the ignore button as well. There is nothing to gain by falling into troll status either.

Do you know how to use a library Angie? Perhaps you could go look up the books I mentioned earlier and have a real read instead of trying to find some lazy internet hype to dismiss the discussion.

Banned for what? Exposing you for the cheezy-loving violence agitating media whore you really are? Or should we just ignore your platform of free speech and ignore your own two tier justice advantages?

"....the Conservative Party offers Quebeckers with the best option." Somehow your statement and Harper's participation in calling for a "western firewall" don't jive.

Reach any conclusion that you want. It hasn't stopped you before. But your conclusions don't resemble the facts and that is the separation between reality and your conditioned fantasy.

This from a troll who is trained to kill and can't see anything else.

Ah! An early Monday morning troll. What a better way to start the week.

You've LOST the argument WHEN..... you try to use fiction to make your point. No war has created freedom, peace and security - ever. It is only through negotiation that freedom, peace and security can be maintained. At the end of a barrel we all become the enemy and peace cannot exist when one is being subjected by the other. What is happening in the Middle-East is not about US freedom, security or peace. It is about advancing western imperialism on a region that rejects the acculturation of their societies. It is about opening Middle-East markets to the over-expanding US greed. And of course it is about oil - not about Iraq's oil per se, but a reminder to the OPAC countries how not dealing with the US can turn out. The US calls it "stabilization" but it is just a bunch of enemies at the end of the barrel of a US M16. You do remember from what country the 9/11 hijackers were from, don't you? I'll give you a hint. It WASN'T Iraq or Afghanistan.

Take it to another thread.

In my municipality all the major sports clubs / associations participate in the "Every Child Plays" program. If the parents demonstrate that they can't afford to pay for their child(ren) the club will pick up the tab. There a a few abusers of the system but most of the kids deserve to be in a sports program if they want. BTW as far as slum landlords failing to properly maintain their rental properties, the City of Ottawa is the worse offender.

Hogwash! You miss a very important point. It was not difficult to move when you were only moving 30 miles down the river and everything you needed could either be obtained there or was brought through contact and trade with other traveling native people. As centuries passed moving villages (just like migrating to winter and summer camps) was relatively routine and an anticipated event. Imagine being able to pick up roots at will and move to a more prosperous area without any concern that your livelihood needs would be met. And while farming like this was not an easy or simple event, ceremonies were created so that the entire community participated in the planting, weeding and harvesting of food. Slash and burn technology was only used when clear-cutting a new village site and occasionally scrubbing existing farm fields after a move. There was no massive or repeated destruction of timber lands, or massive contamination of rivers and streams, like modern farmers do today. You point about cannibalism being an option is about obtuse as anyone can get. Where did you get that idea from? An America Revolution memorabilia bubblegum card? Next thing you know you'll be trying to sell us that the Wendat occupied the lake shore region and that Gandesetaigon was really at Pickering on the Rouge River - another of the many myths started by people who haven't got a clue.

No that's a wrong assumption. What we see today on reserves - especially where it concerns the disrespect of the land - is the result of our colonial influence on people. Being pushed onto a reserve and demanding that to come off it requires compliance with our way of thinking is the cause of these problems. Those native people that are returning to a more traditional life show much more reverence and respect of land than most settler types and they engage the season and nature in their everyday life, as well as preserving and practicing principles that are the foundation of their societies. And of course that is the root of the problem in us trying to judge them both in modern and historical terms. We try to use examples of the worst of native society to bolster a "they are not anywhere as good as us" mentality. And what we are really judging is the worst of our influence on them - not their traditional way of life. And further this is the root of the misinformation formed from elementary grade history in that "the poor savage" mentality is as far as most people want to go in looking at history. Once you get past your own prejudices and inferiority complex then you can see authentic native culture for what it is - not a superior OR inferior system, but one that is completely different from our own. The practice of agriculture is hardly as simplistic as a gully full will imply. Rather it was (and is) one built on communion with nature. The essential ingredients to survival are contained in their practices - a survival that has spanned thousands of years and reached into today. Without our oil we could not sustain modern farming practice. Without ancient knowledge farming would quickly erode with the soil. Yet our farmers today have adapted many of those practices that were employed by the Iroquois farmers more than 300 or 400 years ago. Companion planting, crop rotation, no till planting, seasonal timing etc. in order to reduce their dependence on oil products and chemical soil enrichment. Yet we are still prone to crapping and pissing on our land and ingesting the bacteria and pharmaceutical passed through our system into the food chain, at least we are beginning to realize that OUR lifestyle and practices are not sustainable. Yet we can't convince corporations that our food is a vital resource and NOT a commodity to be played with, we still must convince the dumber parts (and often most educated types) that trading for shares in cucumbers and potatoes and betting they will get to markets 2500 miles away is a poor investment. Unless and until we begin to take responsibility for our food, like the traditional Iroquois people are, we are doomed for starvation. The sad fact is that the majority of city dwellers would have little resource to survive if suddenly their food supply was cut off, even though many of think think (like some do here) that grass has nutritional value. Half of them could not identify their local food sources and the other half would be too disgusted to eat it. Still they prefer listeria-infected meat by-products, e-coli tainted Mexican salad greens and pretty chlorine laced carrots to real food grown organically by local farmers, whose knowledge stems not from advanced scientific research, but from tried and true methods which originated with aboriginal technology. If anyone can wonder about the extent of Iroquois agricultural practices, just consider this: Corn originated in Central America and was brought north by pre-Iroquoian cultures. Corn that populates the world today was hybridized and selected by natural propagation by the Iroquois people over centuries to proliferate in our colder climates and shorter seasons. To understand and select the relationship between the weather, the seasons, planting and harvesting times, pollination and the selection of species was not some fluke occurrence. It was careful attention to the full cycle of life over generations, seasonal influences on the plants and the selection and preservation of seed strains that gives us corn today. And while scientists attempt to tinker with the varieties available today, the old seed caches still exist today, just in case they get it wrong. Personally, I'm grateful to my Iroquoian friends for teaching me the importance of acclimatising my seed stock to the soils and seasons in my own garden. I now have about 10 years worth of seed supply that I have been re-using over a 25 or more period that not only gives me plenty of yield in organic soils, but enough that it will give my children and grandchildren plenty of heritage seed in their lifetimes to survive upon free and clear of the poisons, biological contamination and genetic modifications that the rest of your food is sourced from.

What you are suggesting is that McHale can emote a lie and get away with it......do you think that voters of Haldimand are really that dumb and gullible?

In an idealistic world that would be achievable. However, in our reality, in our system, the system itself is inherently corrupt. It isn't even salvageable as many a politician has promised reforms - promised open and accountable government. The reality is that this last promise by the Conservative Party of Canada produced the most secretive government in the history of Canada AND their leader refuses to be accountable for the cheating they did to get elected the last time. It isn't so much that we need change, we just need more people than a party of one, leading the government. Even when the system is corrupt and being involves corrupts those with good intentions there will always be the possibility that one or two will spill the beans. However, when there is only one man - the Prime Minister - calling the shots and all the rest are told to shut up and just be counted, then corruption reigns. Absolute rule means absolute corruption. (.....and I'm sure that if we heard what the REAL Conservatives across this country thought, that even card-carrying members would cringe. That's why Stephen Harper works in a dictatorship.)

Why don't you just shut up and read a little and maybe you'll learn something. Rather than act like a little kid taking his ball and running home, why not try to exemplify the type discussion you prefer, rather than engage in mindless child-like banter? "If you aren't part of the solution, then you are part of the problem".

Not likely you are older than me or more "native" to the area than the majority of my friends.. Onkwe'hon:we is THEIR word. It is what THEY call themselves. It is not a modern adaptation. It is an old word which is derived from their creation story. Maybe you should look into that a bit further to understand why THEY ARE the Original People.

I guess you won't mind the other two since both of the words mean "original people".

Physicists and astrologists are also consulting with the Navajo. Seems the Navajo have an advanced understanding of the universe AND the physical world that the scientists believe will help them bridge some barriers they have encountered. Terrible isn't it, how some ancient oral history can exceed the understanding of modern scientists?

Imagine the putzes that called them "Indians" and those who through institutional racism still try to control them through the "Indian" Act. Most of the my friends prefer to be called Onkwe'hon:we or Anishinabe and they call us o'serron:ni.

As opposed to say clear-cutting forests for profit, leaving the slash behind to catch fire and burn out towns and villages? And do you suppose Mann was there? Or is he speculating based on a narrow interpretation of the practice? The fact is that yes tracts of land were cleared in order to farm the land and to encourage small game but this is no less harmful than a farmer doing the same thing after his tillable land gets gobbled up by greedy developers cashing in cheap farm land.