Sir Bandelot

Dirty Dems collapsing like a house of cards! The inherent corruption of the system stinks for miles! I do not put the blame directly on Obama for this... unlike Bush and the Republicans, the people he has chosen do actually have some semblance of competency, contrasted with choices like Myers or Palin. However what's at root may still be fundamentally the same problem... I suspect some of these choices have alot to do with loyalty, and promises made behind closed doors with people like the Clintons. This would seem to be his first mistake, capitulating to the demands of the old-boys club. for that he should be blamed. Change cannot come from these people, they are in fact part of the very reason change is needed. Obama would do well to wash his hands of any such dealings, forget about the old guard and look for talent that is not yet corrupted. Given the current political climate, this may be nearly impossible! Poor Obama, may end up becoming a one-man administration.

Is the end of the Conservative era looming? CTV's Chief Parliamentary Correspondent Craig Oliver said Tuesday's budget marks the end of Conservative ideology because everyone's now committed to massive government spending. "That's the end of Conservative economics as far as I know," he told CTV.ca. We should have known it all along, and some of us did, that the so-called CPC party have simply used that name to garner votes from the misinformed public. Another nail in the coffin of Canadian politics, along with the failed Progressive Conservatives (thank you Prime Minster Mulroney) and now the failed Liberals (thank you Paul Martin, ad-scam, and the detritus in leadership that followed). Away with all these worthless gougers of the public purse! Our politicians can no more lead the country. Men of skill and leadership have been replaced by their ill-mannered spoiled sons and daughters. Now only the truly wealthy and well-connected have a chance of getting into positions of political leadership, and with this budget we see why that is so important- protection of the wealth of the elite is guaranteed. What, use the peoples taxes to build infrastructure and reduce poverty? That would only happen if there was real money to be made, my friends. Meanwhile lets give a handout to the rich... they are at risk of dropping below their 20% profit margins. Citizens, awake! Use your brains, and remember! Not more than a few years ago, we paid heavily our tax burden to reduce the national debt. Now in this time of global financial crisis, we are being drained again, as its been determined that our nations debt-load is much too low compared to others who have continued being irresponsible with their budgets. Hence, we must now pay for a bigger slice of THEIR problem! For banks, and investors there are no borders. A better question is- is the end of democratic autonomy looming?

To do what- He could have been leading the country through the coalition, and more importantly, Harper is not leading the country. Instead he has given power back to Stephen Harper, making the liberal party look as though they have no direction. Their real role is to act as Harper enablers, giving him another term as leader and proving, that both the Liberal party and CPC have the same ultimate agenda- US appeasement.

Ignatief proves the "Bigger Idiot theory" applies to politics as well. Ignatieff and the liberals lose, but Harper does not win. Harper only wins in that he gets to play for while longer. Not though, by the will of the Canadian people, who wanted the Coalition. So, the Canadian people lose. Thanks, Iggy. We will not forget it come the next election. Bye Bye, Liberals. For you it's the Day of Reckoning. And if that happens, rightly so... time to decimate the stinking old boys club!

I don't forget these things, I simply don't need to point out EVERYTHING. But that's why we have you... Aside from the obvious fact that the military has had them for 5 or 6 years and did not act. Their time is now up it seems according to Obama. If they wanted these prisoners sentenced, they should have made their move before the Bush term ended. What are they then? Are they really prisoners charged with having committed an illegal act, or just some kind of symbol of US political will and ideology? Personally, I disagree that they should be let free as they will possibly become leaders or used as symbols of inspiration by terrorists. But it has to be done by legal means. It offends my conscience that people can be detained for many years, without due legal process. It also offends my conscioence that people should be tortured. I think torture should be illegal, except for the most dangerous enemies and only with direct authorization from the President.

So then if its a criminal act, it should be dealt with under criminal law. Let him face trial. But if so, his detention was probably illegal already. Welcome to the SNAFU called "legal justice", a little thing old Georgy Boy and his buddies seem to have forgotten about.

For that the brave iraqi reporter threw his shoe at him. This was the answer from the silent majority in Iraq. Here is your thank you from the people. I wonder what ever happened to that guy? I think he was punished quite severely. But if so, that act of violence and unforgiveness on the part of leadership, who could have said a word to spare him, that too will be part of the legacy. I think it sums it up quite well.

Why then didn't the US charge him with murder in the past 5 years? I would think it's in their best interest to prosecute, rather than risk sending them to other countries, where their own courts and constitution comes into play. Canada indicated no interest in interfering... they could have ordered the death sentence and Stephen Harper would not have intervened. I hope there is a short trial in which ALL the evidence is brought out, and get this over with. But even if he got free, should he be released? There is evidence that some Guantanomo prisoners returned to the battlefield, where they might even have some kind of hero-status. But thats not likely to happen. He should be allowed to go free, then open a halal shop, or lebanese cuisine on the danforth, where everyone can keep an eye on him!

Who knows, maybe Harper can just as easily change his ideology like you or I would change a dirty shirt... From what I can tell, it doesn't matter whether Stephen Harper likes it or not, they're sticking him on a plane, and that plane is going to land here. Then that plane is going away, and he isn't going to be on it. At that point, he is all our problem!

Yeah this situation has put Harper in a bit of a tight spot, hasn't it... now he's the odd man out, idoelogically speaking. He supported Gitmo, let's not forget that. First thing Obama does,? Close Gitmo! Now Harper is like the lap-dog, without a master.

I did not take anyones side. Just thinking, it could be like what happened to Maher Arar... Arar case has set a precedent. If Omar Khadr is not guilty, he has the right to pursue his legal options. If his detention was illegal, I believe it cannot be excused, any more so than any other law gets excused.

Now that President Obama has ordered Guantanamo closed down, all prisoners will be either released or sent to detention in other countries. Omar Khadr should be returned to Canada and set free. He was 15 years old when he was taken prisoner in AFghanistan. There is no proof that he killed an American, and the trial has now been ordered halted by President Obama. After 5 years, will he be set free, as are his rights under Canadian law? And if so, can he then sue the Canadian government, and maybe the US as well, for illegal detention, maybe even torture?

I see. So democracy is a complete sham then?

The ponzi scheme upon which our economy is based has run its course. As a result over the past 20 years prices for essential items, food and fuel have continued to climb but wages have not risen to match, for obvious reasons (so the bankers and big business can line their pockets) but now a number of catastrophes have come together to create the perfect financial shit-storm. The icing on this cow-patty is the environment. For years we have heard about the coming environmental crisis... in the 80's we had the introduction of green technology and products. Attempts we made to make "green" tech a profitable venture. But because of the greed of business and lack of real regulation, green tech could not compete with the cheaper old-school alternatives. Then came the rise of the third world economies, much lower prices due to complete lack of environmental regulations. No standards for product safety means, the ability to use cheap alternative chemicals, cheap labour and irresponsible waste disposal. The hope and intentions of green technology was obliterated by the greed of multinationals. But today we at last see the backlash. Consumer spending is way down.. why? People are doing what governments and corporations could never do, they exercise their free will NOT to buy more junk! And no amount of infrastructure spending will change that! Even though people have money, the cheapest credit ever available, they CHOOSE not to spend for the simple fact that they really don't need it. And with the news of global warming, ecosystem collapse, toxic products sold by big business people have, almost subconsciously begun to look elsewhere for there good and services. A return to local economies, fair trade not "free trade", efforts within communities to become self sustaining after catastrophes like Katrina, raised the consciousness of people to a level of distrust of corporations, lack of confidence in government and rejection of the material exess of previous generations. What we see today is only the beginning... as long as the environment continues to worsen and we hear more doom and gloom end-is-nigh statements from scientists and the media, people will continue to withold spending. And rightly so- if we are to survive, the future should be more about increasing efficiency and sharing. So their invstment of trillions of dollars is a mere band-aid solution for the inevitable collapse.

"Conservative Social Justice" - an oxymoron

I'll take that over Bush's sneering scowl and call to war on all things non-Americanized. Did you notice that on Obamas web site change.org, pot legalization was the NUMBER ONE item suggested out of the top ten? What's with that?

War is peace.

If you want to do business with the biggest economy in the world, you have to fight their wars as well. It's blood for corporate contracts.

The political reality is, it's in the best interest of the professional organizations to report problems so they get more funding. I know for sure that certain crises have been deliberately fabricated by special interest groups. Example, some organizations are very sensitive to having too many trained health care workers newly entering the market. By creating a shortage, it benefits these organizations to press for higher wages. I'm not saying that they outright sabatoge the patient care but they do like to keep school enrollments down to a minimum. If you want data, check the website for Cancer Care Ontario, they keep the statistics. I haven't gone there recently but that is supposed to be their responsibility. And believe me it's in their interest to report problems, because thats where the money comes from. Squeeky wheel gets the grease. If you do find it please let us know.

I am not throwing smoke, I actually work in the system and have done for 22 years. I don't need to look it up, I live there. Having worked in several hospitals in defferent cities in Ontario, I have seen crises come and go. Problems were raised, identified, made noise and problems get solved. We are constantly undergoing reviews to improve efficiency. Salaries are the biggest part of the operating budget but its actually insurance companies that drive the cost up through the roof. Thats why the purchase of capital equipment is so high, as medical equipment vendors assume risks they have to guarantee the quality of their equpment, by meeting standards. That's a necessary evil that would not be improved in a private system. As I said wait lines in Ontario for cancer treatment are low, now that new clinics have finally come on line after twenty years of arguing for the need. Right now it works well. This thread is blowing smoke, IMO.

Both my spouse and I work in health care. Although its not a perfect system, none is. Yet I am not acutely aware of any serious problem in the current system today. Nationwide we treat millions of cases, and only a small percentage have problems. The cancer treatment waiting list is not long. Here in Ontario it does work... as best you could expect. Any complex system requires constant maintenance and tuning to keep it functional. That doesn't mean we throw out the baby with the bath water. What's the problem?

What he wrote is not hard to understand, but for those who do not WANT to understand, and come back with nothing but silly ad hominem attacks. My comment on the current situation is, I doubt that Canadians feel nationalistic pride when one of our soldiers dies. Sorrow, yes. Anger perhaps- but not necessarily at the Afghanistanis. We would feel a sense of pride or unity if this was a real war that actually threatened us at home. Since it does not, and the Taliban never threatened to attack Canada directly, we feel disconnected from this war. Most people have very limited awareness or concern over it. It's only something we hear about on the news, if at all and then usually bad news. Who really wants this war anyway... who does it benefit? Lets ask the shoe-throwing Iraqi what he thinks of the war on terror, and the new liberty bestowed on his country. I believe he said "Here is your thanks, you dog".

Does the Taliban control our media? I'm not aware of any Taliban-Canadian newspaper editors. I too would like to know why we hear nothing about any pervceived "progress" in Afghanistan. Since the government is in charge of disseminating or restricting information about the war, and since it would be tremendously in their favour to tell us about the good news, one can onle conclude- there really isn't any.

A communist idea...

Yeah I watched some of it last night. Cry me a river... One can learn to be satisfied with less, and still live a good and honorable life. All else is disease.