tango

The Palestinian people work to support Hamas. These are voluntary actions of the citizens, gathering to defend places under attack. "Human shields" are involuntary, such as IDF sending Palestinian civilians to check for booby traps. The intentional misinterpretation is just Israeli propaganda. It certainly does not excuse Israel's actions.

Jan 2009

That's just speculation. It would have to be negotiated and internationally monitored. lictor the nazi-like character is no friend of mine. Israel can have whatever they obtain legally. However, the land expansion is not legal and is aggressive and oppressive. The attack on Gazans, trapped in a small slice of land, was indefensible and unfortunately means that Israel has lost much support around the world and will be monitored much more closely and will not be believed without verification. Why is it OK for Israel to drive Palestinians into the sea if not the reverse? It's unfortunate Israel cannot figure out a way to live in peace, without expansion and without blockading supplies to Gaza. The "eye for an eye" attitude is a recipe for continuing war. Sooner or later, Israel will lose all support because of aggression. They are not just defending, they are attempting to expand, and that's not acceptable. The Pope thinks he did. They cannot build a state in Gaza. They cannot even fix their sewers or feed their children unless Israel stops the siege and allows materials and supplies in. I ask again ... what feasible solution can you offer?

Such hatred is not attractive, and is unwarranted. http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/22158 UNGA Resolution 3236, of 22 November 1974, elevates the applicability of the right to self determination to the people of Palestine to an "inalienable" right. The Resolution: 1. Reaffirms the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people in Palestine, including: (a) The right to self-determination without external interference; ( The right to national independence and sovereignty; 2. Reaffirms also the inalienable right of the Palestinians to return to their homes and property from which they have been displaced and uprooted, and calls for their return; 3. Emphasizes that full respect for and the realization of these inalienable rights of the Palestinian people are indispensable for the solution of the question of Palestine ... . It was never intended that the Palestine home of Arabs would be taken from them and they displaced forever. It was intended that the returning Jews would find a way, other than genocide, to live with their neighbours. The mentality that says Palestinians should just disappear as a people and become Jordanian or Egyptian is the same mentality that says the Indigenous Peoples of Canada should just assimilate and become Canadians and give up all claim to their land. It just is not feasible. In fact, I haven't seen any hard line supporters of Israel even propose any feasible solution. The only solution suggested is genocide, and that just isn't feasible, especially now that the world is better informed about Israeli aggression. Israel lost it and committed crimes that cannot be overlooked, made its uncompromising genocide agenda clear to the world.

Re-imagining Palestine Self determination, Ethical De-colonization and Equality[1] http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/22158 July 29, 2009 By Omar Barghouti INTRODUCTION With Yassir Arafat's departure, the doubling of the population of Jewish-Israeli colonial settlers in the occupied Palestinian territory, the latest Israeli slow genocide in Gaza and the fast disintegration of the last vestiges of Israeli "democracy," the two-state "solution" for the Palestinian-Israeli colonial conflict is finally dead. Good riddance! This was never a moral or practical solution to start with, as its main objective has always been to win official Palestinian legitimization of Israel's colonial and apartheid existence on top of most of the area of historic Palestine. It is high time to move on to the most just, morally sound and sustainable solution: the secular, democratic unitary state. This is the first time I've seen this concept in print, though Palestinian friends have expressed it. If Israel is a democratic state, it cannot be solely "a Jewish state". It consists of indigenous Palestinians as well, many of whom have been forced out but those remaining must have a voice in a true democracy. Israel is a state under military law, where expansion of settlements beyond its borders is an all consuming goal. Israel wants to take over Palestinian territories and rule them in an autocratic and discriminatory style that is anti-democratic. I agree with the writer that the only long term solution is a secular, democratic unitary state. There's a long way to go before that is possible, but it started this year with the fall from grace of Israel the Jewish state due to its unconscionable attack on Gaza. In my opinion, Israel was never granted the right to displace Palestinians. Jews were granted the right to return to Palestine and find a way to live peacefully with their neighbours, but that hasn't happened.

TYLER KULA The Observer A “moon the balloon” event to demonstrate opposition against a privately-owned surveillance system aimed at Sarnia from Port Huron, Michigan is gaining momentum. A new Facebook group dedicated to the event had more than 70 “confirmed guests” by Thursday evening. Others who can’t make the protest have offered to send in photocopied “moons” so they can participate by proxy. Adam Bush, the group’s creator, said the presence of the surveillance balloon across the St. Clair River is too aggressive. “We don’t know what it’s watching, we don’t know where the camera is,” he said. “It’s not necessarily a fact that it’s an invasion of privacy, but there’s the potential out there. The balloon, owned by the Sierra Nevada Corporation, has permission from the Federal Aviation Association to fly up to 1,000 feet and has a camera that can read the name of a ship from nine miles (14 kilometres) away. http://www.theobserver.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1680077 --- Go Sarnia!! Moon the balloon ... too funny ... I don't blame them. Who wants to be 'observed' by the US.

I'd like to see the link too lictor. Literacy stats are so often sensationalized by the media looking for an angle on a story. Most often when the facts are clarified, it's not so sensational at all. In 1989 Southam News made a huge sensation with great ramifications for education and schools at the time, reporting that 40% of Canadian adults were weak in daily literacy skills. Turned out they were mostly over 65, educated in another era, and had absolutely NOTHING to do with schools today. literacy was strongly related to era of education, with the youngest group (16-18 I think), with learning disabled and those learning English removed, was within the error margin of having 0 illiteracy. Nonetheless, the private sector conducted a strong campaign against education financing in Canada throughout the 90's, resulting in larger class sizes and fewer literacy supports for students. So ya, I'd like to see the data.

The US could blow up the world if they wanted. What's your point? Israel would hardly be so blatant due to international scorn and retribution. As it is, they've lost a lot of support.

I understand that banked sick days are not paid out. They simply amount to a longer term sick leave plan. I don't see that as a big deal.

Isn't that mostly due to the private sector? The private sector is going through a time of massive change, especially manufacturing and all related industries. I sympathize with the workers and, to a lesser extent, the management. We always tend to lash out when facing difficulties, but that doesn't mean it is correct to blaming the public sector.

The comparison should be to private sector managers, and we all know how they spend taxpayer bailout money! Friday is constituency day for MP's. It's nice that they spend some time talking to constituents.

You're right. They moved out in 05. Why were they there? http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=82&CategoryId=4 The concept of Israeli settlements is driven by political and ideological considerations. In practical terms, this dictates that the very existence of Israeli settlements serves the strategic, military, and economic interests of Israel as well as its advocacy of national assertiveness. The establishment of Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank (including east Jerusalem) began in 1967 as a means of controlling and annexing Palestinian land occupied during the “1967 War.” It's part of Israel's expansion aggression.

Such a steaming pile of crap! The public sector is always affected by budget cuts and downsizing during a recession. I think the problem is just an imaginary "the grass is always greener somewhere else" phenomenon in the private sector. It's certainly not based on any reality.

Look at the map. Do you actually know anything about this, or just operate on blind faith?

It would serve Israel's purpose to drive all the Palestinians out of Gaza. It is clear this is a war of aggression to take over Gaza completely. Why are there so many Israeli settlements in Gaza? Just part of the plan. http://www.littleredbutton.com/gaza/map.html I believe that if we all were in the situation Gaza is, under constant siege and aggression and occupation, we would all be "terrorists" too, defending ourselves. The situation Israel has put Gaza in is unconscionable.

This seems very clear to me. Israel and those defending Israel perhaps need to pay attention to the truth of "Operation Cast Lead", including its name, and stop the ethnic slander of always saying Palestinians are lying. It's pretty clear that Israel is lying to itself and the world. It's alos very clear to me that there is a vile form of racism operating in Israel that attempts to reduce Palestinians to subhuman level. I find these attitudes coming from Israel and its supporters to be abhorrent. This was an aggressive attack to try to drive Gazans into the sea, with little care for civilians and children, imo.

Yes, that would be because Mon and Fri constitute 40% of the work week. 2days/5days=40% of the work week. Then 20% on each of the other days. In other words, the proportion of sick days taken is exactly the same each weekday.

Withdraw to where? To the Israeli settlements in Gaza? Into the ocean? http://media.npr.org/news/specials/gaza/mi...gaza_map200.jpg http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://...=1&ct=image Israel has trapped Gazans in a very small territory, pushed them as far as they can be pushed as Israel expanded into Gaza.

Bryan is right of course. We calculate "unemployment" to find out how many people need jobs. We can also count all those who don't need jobs, but that's for a different purpose. We can count all the independently wealthy who do not need employment, and their spouses and adult children. We can count all the moms and dads working in the home, choosing to live on one spouse's income. We can count all the full time students over 18, and those retired on a pension under 65. Those on permanent disability, you've excluded, but at any given time there are many temporarily disabled that we could count too. We do count them for "unemployment" when they are again actively looking for work.

That's 'funny'. The rest of the world knows that Israel is the aggressor. And we all know that Israel wants to take over Gaza too. But of course, that's not going to happen and since you have nothing but snide suggestions, then you are part of the problem. The only solution is for Israel to stop the siege of Gaza, withdraw, and allow an international safe zone.

Israel and its supporters are absolutely heartless about the children of Gaza. Hatred of Hamas has evolved into racism against all of the people of Gaza. That's indefensible, imo. Israel must stop the expansion, stop the siege and withdraw to allow an international safe zone. There is no other solution.

I think you meant 'private sector'. Imagine how much lousier private sector wages and benefits would be without the example of the public sector. If workers can't shut the business down, then they are just slaves with no power. If unions have no power, NO WORKERS have any power and all wages will drop, yours too. If scabs are allowed to work, the power of ALL workers is destroyed. The wage comparisons published by the companies were not based on valid comparisons. They are bs. Auto workers in Canada and the US have comparable wages and benefits. Again, bs. The wages are justified. If companies go under it's because they have not properly addressed their market, or someone is manipulating the market. It has absolutely nothing to do with workers' wages. Many companies take better care of their equipment than they do their workforce. If there were no unions, we'd all still be working 12 hr days 7 days a week, to make bigger profits for the already wealthy.

Israel to allow cement into Gaza A Palestinian youth walks through a polluted stream near Gaza City (13 June 2009) Sewage works have not been repaired due to a lack of materials Israel has authorised a one-off shipment of hundreds of tonnes of cement and building materials to the heavily embargoed Gaza Strip. It is the first official transfer of such goods since Israel's operation early this year in the coastal enclave. Many Gazan buildings damaged during the offensive have not been rebuilt because of a shortage of building materials. Oh let's all praise the Israelis for finally "allowing" Gaza the materials to fix its sewage plants ... 6 months after Israel destroyed them. So ... is anybody still going to claim there is no ongoing siege against the civilians of Gaza?

You can find anything you want in the anti-gay literature. So what? Gay is not a choice. It's simply a reality. If it's not your own reality, butt out. It doesn't affect you and it's none of your business. People who prefer same sex partners are not "mentally ill." People who are hellbent against same sex people, though, may well be mentally ill, imo, because they spend inordinate amounts of time obsessing about something that has absolutely nothing to do with them. (?) I don't like narrow-minded religious bigots. I think they are sick and disgusting. However, that's my opinion and has nothing to do with their right to exist as they please, so long as they do not infringe on the rights of other people. Narrow minded religious bigots, in my experience, are much more likely to infringe on the rights of others than homosexuals are.