Yet More Global Warming Garbage

The Toronto Sun is running an informal poll on their website today asking readers whether they think the Conservative government really cares about the environment. A better question would be should they care. Of course they should not care simply because it is not an issue. Still it dominates discussion and is the big thing at the G8 meeting, detracting from more important issues on the table. In fact, it's an issue that is stalling the entire political process here in Canada as it dominates House of Commons sessions as the opposition repeatedly attacks the Conservatives for not supporting the deeply flawed Kyoto Protocol. Kyoto would cut emissions dramatically at the expense of an economic recession. Is this really worth putting people out in the cold? These sorts of things usually equal job losses. CAW union president Buzz Hargrove has already mentioned that his union is not in support of Kyoto and that they support the Conservatives on this issue. For everyone else, the science is out and the debate is long over, which it isn't. Many of the world's top scientists do not support the idea of man-made global warming. Even those who do support it feel that the information being put forth by people like Al Gore is padded to fit with their agendas. I can say the majority of scientists do "support" it simply because it gains them research grants, as was mentioned in the Great Global Warming Swindle. (That movie by the way is available on Youtube for those who want to see it. I'm not sure if it's on DVD or if/when it will be shown on Canadian TV.)
Much of that stuff above is stuff I've already said before but it's important to keep mentioning it simply because so many blindly follow it without questioning where the research came from. Science, after all, is about questioning things. You'll find the debate is rarely out on any topic like this, which is what makes man-made global warming an unusual case.

Fortunately, Canadian apathy is working in our favour for once. Though Canadians do believe it, they don't really want to do anything about it. That means we aren't at risk of going into the crap hole... for now. Some disturbing news has cropped up this week that does worry me. I'll start with the least disturbing article of the pair first.

Green Party leader Elizabeth May has suggested we institute a nation wide carbon tax. This tax would roughly amount to an extra 12 cents per liter of gasoline. That would raise the national average price for gas to $1.24 per liter if it were instituted today. That would be an 11% increase in the price of fuel. As it stands, 35% of the price of gasoline in Canada is tax. That's according to GasBuddy Inc, a consumer organization that tracks gas prices across North America. There is a 10cent per liter national excise tax on gas right now. In Ontario, the provincial gas tax is is 24.7 cents per liter. Additionally, a 6% GST is charged on top of those, essentially taxing a tax. The original idea behind gasoline taxes was to repair roads and subsidize public transit. However, most of this money collected goes into general revenue. This is essentially one big pot that is divided up at budget time so the actual amounts of the gas tax that actually go to it's intended places is random. The United States, by contrast, has taxes that only amount to 20% of the price of gas. That money collected usually does go into roads and transit. The highest gas taxes are in Quebec, Newfoundland, and the Maritimes. Many Maritime provinces charge full HST 14% on top of the additional federal and provincial taxes. Nunavut has the lowest gas tax at only 16 cents per liter, three cents cheaper than the next lowest in Alberta. It's important to note though that the people of Nunavut require fuel for survival which could account for their lower taxes in order to ease economic burdens. There was no data on what gas actually costs per liter in the territories. We can expect it to be quite high simply due to logistical reasons.
So there you have it, that's what the government takes of the top of that $1.03 Ontarians are paying right now. For May to suggest taxing more is ludicrous but she's certainly not the first one. Most Canadians, including all currently sitting parties in federal parliament, oppose this tax increase. The idea behind it for May was to get Canadians to drive less. Something her fellow environmentalists share. I don't think it will, and it will just mean more of our hard earned money going to the government when we're already being sucked dry as it is. It proves how out of touch the Greens are with Canadians. However, this carbon tax idea is not going away entirely. Quebec has instituted a provincial one but they are taxing oil companies directly. They have asked them nicely to absorb the cost and not pass it onto the consumer. Yeah right, they're living in a dream world if they think that will happen.

The next piece of news has to do with Kyoto and the Harper government. Seems the federal opposition parties are threatening to call a vote of non-confidence if Harper does not immediately enforce Kyoto. What a flagrant abuse of our parliamentary system that Canadians would be forced to go to the polls for something so trivial and unncessary. This responsible government crap often does more harm than good, which is why I advocate a US style republic for Canada. While this Kyoto fighting goes on, many of Canada's more important problems such as gunplay in our cities, health care wait times, etc, are simply being pushed to the back burner. That's not right. Shame on all the federal parties for doing that. However, the most blame should go to the opposition for making mountains out of mole hills and filibustering their way into an untimely election. Canada does not need this crap right now. We can only hope that when the next election does come around, we will have a Conservative majority and finally put this environment crap to bed.

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No New Taxes: Like We Haven't Heard That Before

I have no idea who Ontario Liberal leader Dalton McGuinty has working on his press team but I think they need to be fired. Either that or McGuinty really is as stupid as I think he is. Dalton McGuinty has announced that if he were reelected, there would be no new taxes for Ontarians.
This is the same man who declared before the October 2003 election that we would not have to pay a penny more under a Liberal government then we would under a Conservative one. He then proceeded to levy the largest tax increase in Ontario history in his first budget. McGuinty was aware of the deficit situation well before he made the no new taxes promise yet refused to retract his statement until after he was voted in. This was just one in a long list of broken promises the Liberals made.

Arguably, McGuinty was only elected because people were fed up of the Mike Harris Conservatives. Running on a platform for change, when elected, McGuinty failed to deliver. The situation in Ontario has not improved and in some cases has gotten worse. McGuinty says he's being honest this time when he says no new taxes but why should we believe that? He's given us no reason too. He's a weak leader and that's not simply because he's Liberal but his personal character has shown that time and time again.

So here's my election prediction. Polls are showing an even tie between Liberals and Conservatives with the NDP making up the bulk of the difference. Ontario is going to have a minority government come October. I don't think there is any way that will change between now and then. Based on the stubborness of Canadians to blindly follow the Liberal party, I'm predicting a short lived Liberal minority. If the Conservatives do win, their minority will also be short lived. Unlike the federal parliament, which has four parties, with the Bloc currently holding the balance of power, that's not the case in Ontario. The NDP is too ideologically different from both parties, though they would be more likely to side with the Liberals. The Liberal minority will last longer but not four years.

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Going Green By Loosing Green

We are being forced to go "green" by ever growing governments who have hopped on the environmentalism bandwagon. To the casual observer, this seems like a noble idea to help clean up pollution but it has costs, big costs. When Kermit the Frog sang "it's not easy being green", he wasn't kidding. Turns out its not exactly cheap either. It turns out it doesn't matter to environmentalists if you're a poor villager in Kenya or a middle class person living in a North American city. We're all being called upon to pay more and more for this initiative, and it's hurting.

Toronto, or as I like to call it "San Francisco North" has become quite overzealous on the green fad. Seems each week, the council cooks up a new scheme to "help the environment." Recent efforts have to do with garbage. Toronto wants to charge you extra, on top of your taxes, for how much garbage you put out. Basically, you pay to "rent" this bin and you pay more for a larger bin. On the outside, this seems to make sense. That is until you consider the fact that the quality of garbage pickup service has been declining across the GTA. Everyone is paying higher and higher taxes each year but getting less service in return. Will this bin system in Toronto improve garbage collection? Well, no, they never said it would. The sole purpose of this bin concept is to encourage people to throw out less garbage for the sake of the environmentalists. It won't improve the system. Not only will it not improve the system, it will encourage illegal dumping. People with large amounts of garbage will just dispose of it elsewhere rather than paying for the larger bin. The REAL purpose of this project is to help Toronto pay for the dumping site it purchased near London for $20 million. What makes matters worse is that large areas of Toronto still do not receive regular recycling pickup.
Of course, once Toronto adopts an idea, the rest of the GTA will likely follow suit. Here in Halton, we used to get recycle pickup once a weak. It was reduced to twice a month. Garbage collection is also inconsistent. Wednesday is garbage day but it has been known to happen, on several occasions, where garbage is not picked up until Thursday. Just another case of paying more for less.

Garbage collection is only one case, in a long list, where this environment fad is forcing us consumers/taxpayers to shell out more of our hard earned money, so the elites in our society can feel good about themselves. Gasoline is another excellent example. Arguably the government's most lucrative tax next to income. We are paying more and more at the pump, and we're being forced to contend with both government and oil company greed. What's worse, environmentalists are demanding that prices be kept high so people use less oil. So basically, we loose our mobility for them to feel good.

Electricity is another example of government greed that is hiding behind the cloak of the environment. We've been paying insane amounts thanks to the McGuinty government here in Ontario. Now he wants us to use smart meters to help conserve. Apparently to reduce emisions form coal plants. Turns out the high price of electricity is making the government a tidy profit and hides their incompetence from closing Lakeview.
Electricity is not only an issue here in Canada. According to the documentary The Great Global Warming Swindle, environmentalists are forcing developing countries to use the most expensive forms of electricity generation there are (solar and wind) rather than cheaper hydrocarbon (oil and coal) based alternatives. Sure, solar panels can run a few lights but they can't be used to run a smelter or an assembly line. Heavy industry requires a lot of electricity and solar and wind power are simply too costly and inefficient to provide it. These countries need heavy industry to develop so they are being kept in an economic hole to "save" the planet. That's why we have so many countries, literally sitting on gold mines, that are dirt poor.

Of course, this is typical. The ordinary person is always forced to pay more in order to keep the liberal elites happy.

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Censorship in 2007: The Internet

I was originally going to talk about China for part 3 of this series. However, this topic has a great deal to do with how China has been censoring its people. It's not simply a Chinese problem but a global one.

The internet, with all it's faults, is truly one of the seven wonders of the modern world. We live in the information age, of course you knew that or you wouldn't be reading this. I can discuss politics with someone in Europe, or play an online game with someone in Japan. Amazing to think that only 15 years ago, that was impossible for the majority of people. The internet was originally created as a free and open environment to share knowledge and information around the world. It does that job quite well. In recent years, this has become more true with the introduction of Web 2.0, so the buzzword goes. This blog, as all blogs are, is part of this concept. This also includes online forums, Wikis (such as Wikipedia), video sharing (such as Youtube) and social networking sites. The internet has become such an integral part of our daily lives worldwide. As such, the demon of censorship has begun to take notice. There are generally three types of censorship that occur on the internet. Government, corporate, and private. Lets take a look at them.

GOVERNMENT CENSORSHIP

Government censorship of the internet in North America isn't very common, not that it doesn't happen but it's still very rare. Cases of such usually include "hate" sites. In other countries, it is far more common. China is perhaps the most notorious. There exists the Great Firewall of China, which monitors all incoming and outgoing internet traffic from the country. Chinese internet users are required to use their real names when posting to blogs and forums. Also, China has blocked certain information from being accessed. In China, if one does a search of the Tieneman Square incident, they will be told this information is prohibited. China's oligarchical government does this to insulate itself from criticism and possible rebellion if people were to find out what actually happened during these events. Though China is no longer a communist country in the traditional sense, the government still operates on the Soviet/Maoist model and is very secretive. China will punish citizens who post information that the government disagrees with. The Chinese government has also put online gaming under their radar and will forcefully "treat" people who seem to be spending too much time in these games. Shock treatment (aka electro-therapy) is sometimes used.

China isn't the only country that does this. Cuba is yet another example that we have plenty of information about. Cuba is a more traditional communist country. Cuba has a state owned "intranet". Cuba's censorship of the internet is harsher than China's in many ways since it doesn't allow most people to access the outside world. When it does, it monitors them heavily. Cuba's reasoning for doing this also somewhat differs from China's. Their idea is to keep Western influence out of the country.

Turkey is another country that has been in the news recently for banning Youtube due to a video that insulted the country's founder. The ban was repealed. Morocco is also suspected of banning Youtube though there is no solid evidence as of yet.

Other countries with substantial and pervasive censorship of the internet include Iran, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Tunisia, Syria, Myanmar, Maldives, North Korea, South Korea, Brazil, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

At this point though, as I know there are some people who think this is censorship, I'd like to draw the line at child pornography on the internet. This is not free speech. It is a criminal activity and I find it acceptable for governments to block those sites.

CORPORATE CENSORSHIP

Corporate censorship of the internet is not as pervasive as government censorship but it does exist. Perhaps the best example is this blog's host, Google. The problem with Google is the fact that has given into certain demands from highly censored countries such as China. Google China prohibits searches for certain topics. Yahoo has done similar things for France and Germany concerning neo-nazi material.
There is also the case of corporate groups such as RIAA and the MPAA trying to censor file shares.

Corporations have also been known to censor employee email though filters to make sure they cannot receive personal emails at work. They have also been known to censor websites. The idea is to keep employees focused on work, but it is still censorship none the less.

PRIVATE CENSORSHIP

Private censorship of the internet is the most common type of censorship that most western internet users will encounter. Particularly with the way in which private, non-corporate websites deal with their members. Comments on this blog as well as it's (unused) companion forum are unmoderated. Private forums tend to be particularly bad. Most forums will censor certain words to avoid being flagged by search engines and attracting undesirable attention. For example, words such as "porn" will be censored to prevent it from being accidentally flagged as a porn site. Swearing may also be edited out of posts if the site has many young visitors. These are both understandable. Most of these communities are heavily moderated, and that is where the problem lies. Moderators on these forums are there to maintain the site and handle member disputes. However, some become overzealous and abuse their power to delete posts and remove people that they have disagreements with, no matter the severity. These sites are not compelled to comply with free speech laws. Censorship here is much more implicit but is a reoccurring problem.

Another topic of private censorship of the internet concerns the recent treatment of sites such as Myspace and Facebook. The latter in particular has become hugely popular here in Canada, especially in Greater Toronto with as many as 600,000 members in that region.
This stems from anti-bullying laws and the new concept of cyber-bullying. There are several recent examples of students being suspended from school for expressing their dislike for teachers and fellow students at school. This type of censorship is done under the guise of anti-bullying but has become more of a way of solving personal vendettas. Since this action happens outside of the classroom, this calls into question school authority concerning the issue. In my opinion, once the bell rings and the student is off school property, then school staff no longer has authority over them. This is what has made the recent Facebook suspensions concerning.


Internet censorship is indeed becoming a concerning trend in society, especially since it was never meant to be censored. Aside from government and corporate censorship, it has now opened the door for private individuals and organizations to censor other web users in order to fulfill their own agendas. It's high time to put the breaks on this trend and return the internet to what it was originally intended to be. The obvious solution is to lobby governments to extend freedom of expression laws in the constitution to apply to non-government organizations and private individuals as well.

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Censorship in 2007: Venezuela

Part two of our look on censorship in 2007 looks at one of the great enigmas of politics in the Americas. That would be Venezuela under it's socialist leader Hugo Chavez. Communism was marred with censorship and abuse of citizens. This is a simple truth that has occurred in every country that has signed onto this political and economic doctrine. Since the fall of the USSR, it has been dying a slow death. There are only five communist countries that remain: China, Laos, Vietnam, North Korea, and Cuba. Arguably, China is communist only on paper now though the abuses continue, which I will address in part three of this series. Vietnam has also largely followed China's path.
So communism is dead, but in comes Hugo Chavez. A mid-ranking military officer, he staged two coup attempts in 1992 against the Venezuelan government. He later became president in 1999 through democratic means. (There is definitly parelles that can be drawn between Chavez and Hitler here) He was briefly removed from office in 2002 after an anti-socialist coup but regained his position two days later. He is the leader of the Fifth Republic movement, an increasingly radical socialist movement that seeks to dramatically change the country. Since Chavez's landmark reelection in 2006, the movement has become increasingly radical. At a recent visit to the UN, he referred to US president Bush as the devil. In ironic choice of words in my opinion considering his political stance and the events of 1992. Chavez hails Fidel Castro, Cuba's long time president. In many ways , Chavez wishes Venezuela to become the next Cuba. He is attempting to stamp out private enterprise, and many of the country's industries have been nationalized under his rule. Chavez has gained a vast number of supporters across Venezuelan society.

The problem with Chavez comes with his treatment of those who do not support the Fifth Republic movement. Though they are the minority, they are a large and vocal one. According to Chavez, they are also a threat to national security. This week, the Chavez government denied RCTV, a popular TV station based in the capital of Caracas, a broadcast license renewal. The station will remain on cable TV (which the vast majority of Venezuelans don't have access to) and will be replaced by TVES, a pro-Chavez, public television station. This move has outraged the Venezuelan political minority. Chavez cited a few reasons why the license was not renewed. He claimed the TV network has supported the 2002 coup attempt against him, something that RCTV denies as the station blocked off by demonstrations during the events. He also claims that the station corrupts the masses through it's pop culture entertainment programs such as soap operas and a popular satire/comedy show that often pokes fun at Chavez. RCTV was the only opposition aligned TV station in Venezuela that has a nation wide free-to-air broadcast range. Today, there are none. This further solidifies Chavez's power as he now controls the media. Any good revolutionary knows that one must control the media to control the country. Chavez has known this since his first coup in 1992. However, by doing this, Chavez is leading Venezuela down a very dangerous and all too familiar path. The government has threatened severe punishment if RCTV broadcasts illegally. This basically cuts off any opposition to his leadership. Without a voice, the opposition will shrink and Chavez becomes a dictator, and Venezuela yet another totalitarian country. I somehow doubt that this is what Venezuelans bargained for when they first elected him. Social change does not mean social silence and no revolution can be legitimate if it doesn't allow people to speak their minds.

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PAC

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Censorship in 2007: The New McCarthyism

This is part one of a series looking at political censorship today in 2007. I'll be examining a variety of countries in which censorship comes from both left and right political forces. Part one looks at the United States.

Society in the United States is collapsing. No, it's not because of Bush but rather small groups with too much power leading a witch hunt against America's most sacred institution: free speech.
First we had the Black Nazis led by Al Sharpton get Don Imus fired for a single comment. Latest on the chopping block is popular comedy show hosts Opie and Anthony. I have XM and listen to that show. I haven't been in my car much this week since I've been on vacation, but when I do go out, I found myself asking why the other comedy show Ron & Fez was running all day. Now I know. Though I don't know the exact circumstances of their firing, it's very disturbing and has me now considering canceling my satellite radio subscription.

This my friends is the new McCarthyism. We'll call it the Blue Scare since it seems like conservatives in the media are being targeted, though many liberals have found themselves targets as well. Indeed, this is something that the two sides of the political spectrum need to get together on.
We live in a feel good age. These days, it's a crime to make anybody feel bad, provided they aren't white males. Boy, if I could successfully sue every person that has offended me, I certainly wouldn't be living in Milton. This trend though is very disturbing. It seems like it takes only one person among legions of listeners or viewers to be offended by the content of the program to get it pulled off the air. I'm no expert when it comes to American politics but I'm pretty sure that's a violation of the First Amendment. Right now, powerful groups on both the left and the right are leading a witch hunt to get offensive things off the air. How does one define something as being offensive though? The thing is, you can't. Of course we don't want programs targeted at young children that talk about graphic sex and what not. However, the programs being targeted by these special interest groups are shows specifically for adults. If you are so offended by a program, why the hell are you even watching it in the first place! Turn it off. That's the problem. Nobody is forcing these people to view or hear offensive content, yet, these interests groups are forcing people not to view it. Isn't that fascism? With increasing FCC fines for obscene content, it seems the US government is on their side.
Why do networks pull these shows though, even when the FCC doesn't threaten them with fines? Well, that's a very good question. It's primarily due to manipulation of advertisers, implicitly and explicitly. Special interest groups threaten product boycotts of the advertisers unless they pull their support from the show. That's how shows with huge ratings that bring in stations huge amounts of money can get pulled. It makes little business sense but it just shows the power that these small groups have. Mind you, these advertisers have nothing to fear as those loyal to the shows (who are in the majority) would probably buy more of a product if the advertisers continued support in the face of a minority boycott. That was the case with Sinefeld DVDs after the Michael Richards incident and the subsequent call by African American fascists for a boycott of his works.

Now what about Canada. Well, that is what this blog is about. I like to ask, can this happen here? Canada is significantly more tolerant of content than the US is. The CRTC and Industry Canada regulate how the communications industry does business but they don't really care about content. Not as much as the FCC does anyway. For example, one of the few countries that allows all South Park episodes to be shown is Canada. Don't say it cannot happen here though. It can. A few years ago, the CRTC pulled the license of a Quebec radio station due to the "offensive" comments of two popular shock jocks. The CRTC received 10 complaints on a show that had tens of thousands of listeners. To them, that was cause to shut it down. There's also some Broadcast Standards thing, that is separate from the government. It's a board made by the industry to self-police. In other words, it's yet another group for the special interest people to manipulate to promote their fascist agendas.

Censorship is running rampant in North American society and it must be halted. People blast the McCarthy era for censorship yet they blissfully ignore it happening today. Do somethign so stop it. Here's US based website dealing with it. It's down for maintenance as a write this now but it might be a good idea to check it out later.
http://www.peopleagainstcensorship.com/

Here's a video from CNN about the issue.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuzdaFajByg

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The War on Sexual Abuse

Child sexual abuse is on the rise world wide, or so it would seem. The media has given a great deal of attention to this issue but it seems to have gone under the political radar. Every week we hear about another internet predator being arrested for assaulting a child. It is truly sickening at the amount of people willing to do such things. I've talked about this in the past but I think it's worth bringing up again.

Last year, the Harper government made a move to raise the age of consent from 14 to 16. Still not far enough in my opinion but a good start. It really should be 18 to bring us inline with the United States. This was done to prevent older men from having relations with young teens, while still allowing teens to have legal relations with each other. Personally, if I found some 40 year old guy having relations with my 14 year old daughter, even though it's legal, I would probably murder him. I sure most sane and responsible men wouldn't hesitate to do the same thing. However, this does not solve the larger problem caused, at least partially, by the internet. Of course it's not the internet's fault that sick people do sick things but it has made child abuse more accessible, and dare I say acceptable to these disturbed people. Therein lies the problem. How do we fight this?

I think we need to start looking at these cases from a different perspective. These people are obviously mentally ill. This activity is not a sexual orientation. They cannot use the same argument that homosexuals as gays are still two consenting adults who understand what's going on. That is not the case with child abusers. A child cannot possibly consent to those actions. Rather than jail, which has proven itself time and time again, we should label sexual offenders who target children as being criminally insane. As such, they will be sent to maximum security mental institutions. This offers numerous advantages over jail. The public is still protected as these people are in these institutions indefinitely until they are well. It also allows opportunity to study and develop better treatments for this condition, which could be used to hopefully cure these people. Sure, it's a long shot, but it makes more sense than the revolving door prison system that these people are subject too, where they're back on the streets to reoffend rather quickly.

In the mean time, how should our society protect children? Well, keeping offenders off the street is the first way. Being smart is the second. In most cases, the offender knows there victim. They aren't the stranger in the car with candy as most people imagine. Be weary of other adults around your children. That doesn't mean you shouldn't trust people, but just don't let them get too close. Keep an eye on your kids. When it boils down to it, suspicious activity is fairly easy to spot out.

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Justin Trudeau: So It's Come To This Again

Pierre Trudeau was Canada's worst Prime Minister. Definitely debatable but true none the less. The laughing stock that Canada became under the Chretien government all roots back to Canada's most questionable political figure. A staunch communist, with friends such as Fidel Castro, Turdeau latched onto the Liberal party as a ploy for power. While there, he did such memorable things as flip the bird to reporters and made smart ass comments. Hardly appropriate for somebody at his level of education, power, and responsibility. It took far to long to get that joke out of office and he seemed to keep coming back like a bad cold. The man died seven years ago. Good riddance, or so we though.

Now we come full circle to a politician who is just arrogant. No, not Chretien. Though Trudeau was Chretien's mentor, he was more interested in furthering his own goals and could hardly be called a communist. No, I'm taking about Trudeau's son Justin. He's now running for office under his father's old Liberal banner. Justin will be running in the next election in the ridding of Pappineau, Quebec. Perhaps the Liberals believe he will revitalize the party as Stephane Dion has proven to be an ineffective and unpopular leader. I caution them that this is a path they do not want to go down again. Considering that Trudeau and his lackey's antics didn't save the party but doomed it to loose. Twice to Mulroney and now to Harper.

Still, the Turdeaus have become Canada's unofficial royal family, for some largly unknown reason. Sure, he did give us the Charter of Rights but even it has its flaws. Native special treatment and legalizing affirmative action come to mind. Other than that, he did relatively little to make Canada a great nation. Arguably, the slump and malaise began during his rule as Prime Minister. Now here comes Justin, seemingly at the right time. Justin though is simply an echo, a clone of his father. He even continues the legacy of questionable actions. While in Windsor recently, Justin Trudeau gave a speech to high school students telling them to question our capitalist economy and suggested that it would bring the downfall of this country. He has suggested that our environmental and social justice records have deteriorated. Is this true? Of course not! Canada is wealthier than it ever has been and is still the sixth best country in the world to live in according to the UN. The UN cites lingering problems with aboriginals as part of our decline from first, though the top five are countries that have been developing very rapidly over recent years. We are still ahead of the US and Japan and we are still one of the eight richest countries in the world. We successfully eliminated poverty in our country years ago. We must be doing something right.

Justin, like his father, is a communist that is just latching onto the Liberals because he knows he would never make it to power as a member of the Communist Party, or NDP. Personally, I think the NDP would feel a little uncomfortable with his ideas as they are very far left. Like his father, he is a friend of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. We all know how well those people are living it up in communist paradise. If the Liberals are smart, they'll keep this man from getting any serious power in their party. God forbid if he ever were to become Prime Minister. I'd head south for good at that point.

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Yet Another Liberal Scandal

When will Canadians get the message. When you elect Liberal governments, they naturally turn to corruption. Once again, we have another scandal. Ontario's sponsorship scandal. It seems that the Ontario Liberals were handing out tax payer dollars to Liberal friendly immigrant groups. One in particular was an Iranian charity that received a huge pile of money only a few weeks after it was registered as a charity. Before, it claimed to be an animal welfare group. Come on.

This is a case of buying votes. Many immigrants will tend to be lifelong voters of the political party that does the most "favours" for their community. The Liberals buying votes? Wow, as if that's never happened before. The Liberals just can't seem to help themselves from sticking their hands in the cookie jar. In the mean time, Canadians are paying record high taxes while services are decreasing. All we're paying half our salaries for is so Liberal governments can waste money on administration and slush funds to help their friends. Of course, Finance Minister Sobara dismissed the issue as an election tactic by the opposition.
What's worse is that Canadians simply just tolerate this kind of behavior with nonsense comments like "better the devil you know." I think I'd rather take my chances by voting in somebody different that to have my hard earned money being handed out to shady special interest groups. Remember that this is the same government who broke all their election promises including levying the largest tax increase in Ontario history after they said they wouldn't raise taxes at all. On average, you have $900 less in your bank account at the end of the year due to that "health premium". (It's hidden in your income tax so it was actually an income tax increase.) Has health care improved on account? No.
Quit being so spineless my fellow Canadians. Open your eyes and see the fraudsters that these people really are.

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Commie Wars: Buzz vs Gore

The Harper Conservatives have found an unlikely ally. Buzz Hargrove, president of the CAW. Once again, the subject is environmentalism and how the issue has become out of control. This is perhaps the only time I agree with Buzz. He's predicting doom to the Canadian economy, especially the auto sector, if Al Gore and David Suzuki get their way. Rightly so. It's a bad time for selling cars in North America right now and American auto makers are struggling. Though I'm no economic expert, I think this is just the tip of the iceberg which will eventually lead to a recession in the auto industries of Japan and Europe as well. High taxes, high inflation, oh my.

The car, arguably the life blood of today's economy, has become public enemy number one for the likes of Gore and Suzuki. Obviously these two men are not gear heads. They've attacked everything from the family compact to your lawn mower. Even ethanol fueled vehicles haven't escaped. Buzz launched an attack against his fellow socialists stating that their environmental plans will cripple the auto industry, forcing the layoffs of possible thousands of workers. With that, you can kiss the likes of Oshawa, Windsor, and Brampton good bye as these cities rely on auto making too keep going. I guess that doesn't really matter to Gore. It doesn't seem to matter that killing industry will alienate a large part of the Democrats' voter base. I guess Gore hopes he can make that up by scaring others into electing him as president om 2008. Global warming is a rich persons, bandwagon issue.
Hargrove called the Conservatives environmental platform more realistic since it takes the economy into account rather than totally ignoring it which the Liberals and NDP have done. Though I suppose if the economy collapsed, we would have reduced emissions. I guess that's their plan. I still think the Conservative plan goes to far. Banning incandecent light bulbs comes to mind. There are many appliances and fixtures that use special bulbs where more energy efficient replacements aren't available. These energy efficient models don't work with dimmers either. I'm off on a tangent now though.

Hargrove likened global warming to Y2K. Remember that. The disaster that wasn't. It became an industry out of people's fear that the world would end. Indeed, global warming has become an industry, and a powerful political machine. As I said, Gore is just in it for the presidency. Suzuki, well, he's just another idiot who was wrongly given a PHD. I'm not sure what his political motives are but I know they are playing a major role.
Gore himself is really starting to bother me. Where's an assassin when you need one. He has the nerve to come into Canada and starts telling us how we should run out country. Rot in hell Mr Gore. Don't bring your election campaign north of the border. At least Hargrove has become an unlikely ally from the socialist side. He seems to be one of the few people who isn't afraid to point out the hoax that global warming actually is. We need more people like that if we want to stop this apocalypse madness.

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Legalize It?

In a classic Simpsons episode, the town is overrun by pigeons. Bart's lizards loved pidgins and thrived and multiplied. Now the city was infested with lizards. The solution was to have snakes eat the lizards, than have gorillas eat the snakes when there was too many of those. When the town was overrun by gorillas, it was hoped that the winter would kill them off.

Now that sounds downright silly doesn't it. Not for author Michael Chettleburgh. He has proposed an odd solution to solve North America's problem of urban street gangs, legalize street drugs. Ah the talk of left wing idealists. It would be nice if things worked like that, but they don't. In order to solve one problem, Chettleburgh is creating another. Two wrongs don't make a right, and giving addicts more open access to the drugs they crave. Sure, it might get rid of the street gangs, and I stress might. However, it does not solve the equally serious problem of addiction in our society, which is considered to be a serious mental health disorder.

The ideal way to stop drugs is to kill the market, not by legalizing but be hitting drug operations in Canada hard and tightening our border with the US to prevent drugs from being smuggled into Canada. Furthermore, we desperately need to increase funding to addiction treatment centers. Apparently the waits for these facilities can be weeks or months depending on the location. The current system is a disgrace.

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Parliament: Canada's Green Circus

Green, that's the new buzz word these days. We're all trying to fight global destruction. However, is this distracting our leaders? In Canada it sure is. It seems that many of our leaders are preoccupied with the green issue, even the Conservatives. All other issues in Canada have gone out the window in favour of this green crap. All the things about the economy, health, gun crime, native issues, they seem to have been forgotten. This is a major problem as the government promised to address these issues, and they are not. All parties are equally responsible for throwing out the important issues.

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Victory for Old Milton, but Questions Still Linger

It's been some time I've posted a comment about our little town. Old Milton residents won a major victory yesterday. I first posted a commentary about this back in November 2006 about the medium sized mall that was planned to be built at the corner of Derry Rd and Bronte St. In a shocking turn of events, the proposal to change the zoning from light industrial to medium commercial was unanimously turned down by town council. Unfortunately I was not able to attend the meeting personally so I don't have the full details in front of me, as the term breaking news doesn't mean much to the local newspaper.

The location indeed was highly inappropriate, with only one known resident voicing support for the complex. Near by residents and developers had been strongly opposed to building the mall. The decision to deny the zoning change simply makes sense because a mall that size would have played havoc with traffic, and would not fit in with the areas overall plan. The idea was to focus Old Milton residents into the downtown without creating box stores in the south within current city limits. The developer who wished to build the mall may still appeal it to the OMB but their case is pretty weak and the opposition is strong. Both Matamy Homes and Fieldgate Homes had opposed the mall as well.

This of course leads to another direction. Oddly enough, with the announcement of canceling the zoning change, what comes up is a plan for Matamy and Fieldgate to help pay for the widening of Derry Road from Bronte St to Termaine through an interest free loan. Now this is owned by the
the region but the timing still seems a little odd to me. Corruption is still there as this is obviously a ploy for some reason as it is extremely rare case that private companies would pay for government projects interest free. Especially for projects amounting to that much money; probably several million dollars worth. Of course, this is all speculation, but something smells off.
Also of note about this particular project is a railway underpass, or rather a lack there of. The loan pushes the widening project start date back from 2009 to 2008. However, the underpass was not slated to begin until 2012. This of course, makes very little sense since they would need to redirect road traffic during construction. The Milton fire department has been pushing for this underpass for years now to no avail. As it stands now, if a fire or accident happens on the other side of the tracks when a train is coming, fire trucks either need to wait for the train or drive down to Main St and back track up Termaine. With the housing going in, this presents a major safety hazard. Milton is one of the few towns that still has level crossings over its busiest roads.

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Kyoto: Death to Canada's Economy

Kyoto, the now infamous environmental accord that the Liberals foolishly signed onto would mean death to Canada's economy. Not only that, it would cost Canadian tax payers and additional $3000 to implement. That's according to environmental minister Baird. I'm inclined to agree. The political parties that have signed onto the global warming lie have all failed to consider how much this would cost our economy.

This simply has to end. The Environmental Bolsheviks have Canadians by the balls by brainwashing people to buy into their false claims about the existence of global warming. I'm pretty sure people think that the sun is going to send out a beam that will blow up the Earth just like the Death Star. The sheep simply follow what ever the left has manufactured in order to gain political power. All global warming really is about is socialism, that is, making the world socialist. The cold war has never really ended in that sense, it's just that Communism has found another front to hide behind.

Then you have the politicians and activists who have been sent out to fight something that does not exist. They are environmental Don Quixotes, out to fight the windmills of global warming. The global warming issue has perfectly illustrated the complete failure of the government, the people, and the media. They are all victims in this conspiracy.

Simply put, the Kyoto agreement is unrealistic. The United States was smart when they refused to sign on to it. If Canada tries to meet its agreement, I don't think our economy could handle it. Businesses will simply pack up and move elsewhere, where Kyoto does not apply. The higher taxes will drain our wallets. Is fighting the windmills really worth it?

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If it Ain't Broken...

The McGuinty Liberals have been proposing some electoral reforms throughout their tenure in office. Of course you all know about the fixed election dates, which was a good idea. Their latest one however, is highly questionable.

Do you know what a mixed member proportional government is? No? I didn't think so. Well it's an electoral system. The one we use now is commonly referred to as first past the post, where the person with the most votes wins. They don't have to have the majority of the popular vote, just the most votes. Mixed member proportional is similar. Here's the mechanics of the new system. The current Legislative Assembly in Ontario would be expanded from 109 seats to 129 seats. 90 of these seats would continue to use the old system. The remaining seats would use proportional representation. Mexico uses this system for its Chamber of Deputies (the lower house), remember that, it's important.
Proportional systems work like this. When you go to the ballot box, you'll have to vote twice. One for a person for your riding as you already do now, and again for a party. The remaining 39 seats will be divided up by this second vote. Say the Liberals get 40% of the popular vote, the Conservatives 30%, the NDP 20%, and the Greens 10%. The 39 seats would then be divided up to directly reflect those numbers. The Liberals would get 16 seats, and so on. Who gets to fill these seats is chosen from party lists. A party selects 39 people and ranks them from first to last choice. In the above example, the Liberals would choose the top 16 people from the list. Voters have no input on who gets on those lists.

The first obvious question about this system is why. Well, the idea is to give fringe parties such as the greens some representation in the legislature. It is argued that it gives more fairness since in a multi-party system, it is unlikely that one party would receive the required 50% plus one to give them a true majority. However, is this system really necessary in Ontario? No. There's nothing really wrong with the current system in terms of how our leaders are elected. If the Liberals want to reform something to make the system more fair and equal, try getting rid of that silly party discipline rule. Secondly, the lists would just reek of patronage positions and elitism. Gordon donated $1,000,000 to the party so he's at the top of the list. Frank is my buddy so he's definitely going on there. How is that fair to voters when they don't even get to choose the people who will represent them? Back to Mexico. The system for their Chamber of Deputies was created by the Institutional Revolutionary Party, a highly corrupted party that has similar ideology to the Liberals here. They set up the system for the same supposed reasons, but twisted it to make sure they would always get the majority of proportional seats. What's stopping the Liberals from doing the same here?

Mixed member proportional representation is just a bad system, plain and simple. It confuses voters it will do nothing to improve democracy. A referendum will be held during the next provincial election in October regarding the issue. Now that you know how it works, be smart and vote no.

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Will Banning Guns End Tragedy

Yet another frosty chocolate nut bar has decided that the best way to deal with his problems is to kill himself and take as many others down with him. I'm sure everyone is now aware of the events that transpired at the Virginia Polytechnical Institute today. A foreign student from Korea,, Cho Seung-hui, shot 32 people before turning the gun on himself. 32 innocent people died needlessly today because some crazy person couldn't deal with his problems in a civilized manner. Police don't know the motive, but it's looking like it could be a case of domestic dispute.

Once again, this has raised the issue of gun control. The issue is already being raised on internet forums and I'm sure both the US congress and the Canadian Parliament will be discussing it in the next few days. I discussed this already back in October of 2006.

Perhaps it is time to ban handguns, as they seem to be more trouble than they're worth. I don't buy the all armed avoids tragedy that some pro gun advocates are making since this would likely have caused even more chaos and perhaps more death. However, I don't believe banning guns all together is the solution either. After all, if we ban guns, what's to stop a crazy person from strapping a home made bomb to themselves and detonating. Most of the people who have died from terror attacks in Iraq have been killed in that manner, not with guns. If a crazed person really wants to kill as many people as possible, they will find a way.

It seems Cho was indeed a very disturbed individual and should have been given psychiatric help before this could take place. Though, it is possible that nobody knew he was capable of this. This incident in Virginia raises many questions such as foreign students and safety on college campuses. I believe our institutions of higher education are as safe as we can possibly make them. These events, while tragic, are unlikely to happen and they cannot be planned for. Unfortunately, I cannot make recommendations at this point.

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Belinda Quits

Well, good news. The bimbo of Canadian politics, Belinda Stronach, is deciding to leave office. Finally. That woman has been no more than a joke, wrapped up in scandals, and accusing everyone of sexism whenever they disagree with her. Not to mention betraying those who elected her by crossing the floor to the Liberals in order to get a short lived cabinet position. It makes me wonder why she would even become a politician in the first place. Well, she's run back to daddy at Magna. That's a good place for her.

Now if only Garth Turner would get the message and quit.

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The High Price of Racial Equality in America

Racism was one of the blackest marks on American history. America has come a long way since the civil rights movement began in the 1950s to the point where African Americans can feel relatively comfortable and should no longer fear harassment. Of course, there are some who would like you to believe other wise.

Once again, another American entertainment personality is back on the hot seat. Sports talk show host Don Imus is felling the heat because he referred to a woman's college basketball team as a bunch of "nappy headed hoes". Imus later apologized but that doesn't seem to be enough. People like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are still dragging the old man through the dirt. I must admit I didn't even know who Imus was until a couple of days ago. What he said was a little inappropriate, and was dumb of him to say, but now people are calling for his job. Spineless advertisers are pulling away support from his show. Americans, black and white alike, should be very, very concerned about this. What people like Al Sharpton and other supposed representatives of the black community are doing recently is a direct assault on one of the most fundamental rights in the United States. The right to freedom of speech.
As radio host Ron Bennington put it, freedom of speech in America today is like being told you can say whatever you want, and then being punched in the face immediately after. That's not free speech. Many people say free speech comes with consequences. No, it does not. Then it's not free speech. In a free and democratic society, you should be able to say whatever you want, no matter how idiotic, without the fear of loosing your job, your livelyhood, or being physically assaulted.
People like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, and all the others who supposedly represent blacks in America are fascists. They are no different than the fascists that exist in Africa, such as Robert Mugabe. They want to silence anybody who says anything they disagree with, they are ultra nationalist, and want to separate black society from everybody else. Hardly the melting pot that some envisioned. I'm sure Martin Luther King Jr is turning over in his grave. Then you have the self-hating whites who feel guilty for slavery who stand behind black fascists, without really knowing what they're saying, simply because they think this is what blacks want.

My stance on racism is that actions always speak louder than words. You can't limit words like the n-word just because some people find it offensive. That's an attack on freedom of speech. Of course it would be nice to have a society where this no longer goes on, but we can't actively silence people for using them, since that goes against freedom of speech. I don't care how deeply it hurts African Americans. Sticks and stones people. If somebody calls a black person the n-word and then beats them with a pipe, that's where I draw the line. That's hate. Words are not. This, I feel, is one topic blacks and whites need to get together on, and fight for their rights. It's time for blacks to disown, vocally, the fascists in their community. If they don't, racial tensions in America will never end.

Of course, I forgot to mention why Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson do what they do. The answer is simple: money and power. They are not for their people, they are only for themselves.

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905ers Will No Longer Have to Pay for Toronto

Some good news in the Ontario budget, which is rare coming from this particular government. The McGuinty Liberals have decided to ax a program that saw 905 tax dollars going to support the city of Toronto. There will be no more 905 money going to the city. It's about time, though still not enough to sway my vote. Of course, this has upset Toronto mayor David Miller. It has not been a good week for him. Both the federal and provincial budgets did not provide any more money for cities. Bad news for Mr Miller, good news for everyone who lives outside of Downtown Toronto.

Mr Miller is a man who has plenty of wonderful ideas, but he wants everybody else to pay for them. Ah, the credit card mentality of our society. Champaign tastes on a beer budget. That whiny little kid he's got running the TTC now, I just want to punch him in the mouth. Almost makes me wish Howard Moscow was still in charge... almost. Tis the hallmark of NDP governments. Always spending beyond their means and incurring massive debts in the meantime, with little benefit to ordinary citizens in return.

What else can I say about the two budgets? They were pretty solid. Nothing really to complain about. Neither government wants to stir the manure pile at this point. I would have liked to see more tax cuts for the middle class though. Especially the axing of the controversial health care premium. Since Ontario is now running a surplus, this is something that should have been done.
In Ottawa, the Liberals and NDP has both stated that they will vote against the Conservative budget. Natch. The Bloc and at least one now ex-Liberal is voting in favour of it though, so it looks like it will pass. Recent polls have shown that the majority of Canadians like the budget and don't want an election. It's not in the best interest of any federal parties to trigger an election right now, since none of them can form a majority.

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Toronto Teens in the Right

While we may never know the exact details of the case, teens protesting outside Birchmount Collegiate in Toronto are in the right. The whole mess started on a social networking website known as Facebook, which is popular among teens and young adults. Five students had been criticizing the school's vice principal. Based on what the media had released, there were no threats against this person, just criticism. The school board, however, felt that they were bullying the teacher and suspended the five students. This has caused outrage on campus, with a protest being held. Of course, with teens in large groups, they get rowdy and four teens were arrested. It's important to note that that was not what the protest's organizers had intended.

The fact is, this should have never gotten to the point it did. The people in charge who originally decided to suspend the students did indeed violate their rights. As long as no threats are made, people are supposed to be free to say whatever they wish about authority figures, especially in private. These students should never have been suspended, especially for remarks made outside of school. The suspensions should immediately be lifted and the officials involved should be made to make either a written or public apology to the five students involved (not the other way around as some have suggested).

Of course, there is always a broader issue. In this case, it's school bullying and teacher unprofessionalism. Bullying has been a part of school since schools have existed. In the last four years, however, there have been serious efforts to try and stamp it out. That's because a few deranged youngsters have committed suicide due to bullying; not to mention the rash of school shootings beginning with Columbine High in 1999. Bullying is a very difficult thing for many youngsters to deal with. Many people have encountered it, most get over it. I don't find anything wrong with helping children deal with bully issues. However, can student's really bully a teacher?
Back when my parent's where in school, the teacher was the unquestioned authority figure. If you got out of line, you'd get the strap, and then another whooping from your parents when you got home. Things are different today. Many parents take a spectator stance on parenting. In those houses, the child never really learns who's boss. When they get into school, the world becomes very bizarre to them. There's this adult who wants to make then do things. Mommy and daddy don't do that. As the teacher tries to assert authority, the child becomes confused and refuses to accept. Child lashes out, and they're at the principal's office with a phone call home. Of course the parents don't do anything. After this happens a few too many times, the child eventually gets put on some mind bending anti-ADHD drug.
It's quite difficult being a teacher today, with so many kids like that. However, that's why they get paid an obscene amount of money. Teacher's have very little to complain about. Teachers are still the authority figure in the classroom. I don't think they can be bullied by their students. Issues with students need to be dealt with in a professional manner. Suspending students, especially for remarks made outside of school is highly unprofessional. In my opinion, the teacher involved was not being bullied at all. That person a sissy, plain and simple. Buck up, that's what the world is like now. If you can't deal with it, you should not have gone into teaching in the first place.

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Milton Fastest Growing Community in Canada

Milton Grew 70% since 2001 and I'm disgusted. Disgusted but not surprised. The destruction forges on as Milton's slime ball council tells news cameras it's for the best. I don't buy this. The original Milton residents are slowly seeing their town die, swallowed up by the slime that is the Torontonian. It's about time these people starting looking for a place to live elsewhere, and they should leave us in peace, immediately if possible.

Yes, harsh words but it's hard to see the town I've lived all my life in destroyed by filthy ex-Torontonians and a corrupt council. An election that was supposed to change things changed nothing. I'm seriously considering moving as soon as possible. We need to close our doors for business, permanently. No more growth.

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No More Money for Toronto

$40 million to add some trees to Nathan Phillips Square? $2 million for office renovations at city hall. Toronto is supposedly in the midst of a huge financial crisis. There's only $5 million available to fix Toronto's crumbling roads this year. $5 million is enough to fix a couple of large bridges, or a few kilometers of roadway. Half of the budget for the City of Toronto is going to the TTC but there is no money to repair the infrastructure it runs on.
Has Toronto received some kind of magic financial windfall that allows them to do these fancy projects? No. Money is being diverted elsewhere. Such is typical of NDP governments.

To Toronto's mayor David Miller, what is Toronto is basically bordered by Landsdown in the west, Victoria Park in the East, and St Clair in the North. Nothing else of any importance exists beyond those borders, thus it is left to waste in urban decay except for those good citizens who try to keep those areas up. The downtown is where it's at and that seems to be where tax dollars are going.

Much of Toronto's recent problems have been caused by excessive spending. Wonder why the federal and provincial government are reluctant to give cash to Mr Miller, there's your answer. Waste is unfortunately a natural part of government but does it really cost $40 million dollars to put a few trees outside of city hall? Of course not. Does the mayor's office really need renovation? No. So why spend the money on trivial issues when the city is suffering from serious urban decay? Nobody really can answer that. Due to population density, Toronto's downtown councilors outnumber the ones from the city's suburban districts. The downtown councilors are all big NDPers and only downtown issues are heard. Toronto tax payers will have to shell out over $2000 each in the next few years to pay for these ludicrous schemes.

You may be thinking "so what? I don't live in Toronto." In a perfect world, Toronto's problems would be only Toronto's problems. Guess who's fitting the bill? The 905 is the lifeblood that powers Toronto's economic engine in the form of labour and a market from the top corporate CEOs to the bottom blue collar labourers. We run the companies who pay the taxes. However, we're now beginning to be expected to keep Toronto afloat because it can't manage it's money. More and more of our federal and provincial tax dollars are going towards that mess of a city, to be wasted. For the Nathan Phillips Square project, Toronto tax payers are not even footing half the bill, they'll only pay $16 million. Not only are 905ers expected to pay out high taxes for our own cities, but then we have to pay more tax to Toronto. Enough is enough. There should be no additional money for cities unless they can prove it's needed for important things. No more of this general revenue crap that gives them the freedom to spend it on whatever they wish. Toronto does not need "greening" of its "gathering places" or additional office space for lazy civil servants at the suburbs' expense. If money is given to Toronto, it should only go to four key areas: transportation, infrastructure, public health, and policing. Nothing else. If Toronto wants to do other things, then it should have to foot 100% of the bill. If they can't afford it, then TS.

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Champion Offices Burn Down

The offices of Milton's Canadian Champion newspaper burned down yesterday. It looks as if the the building has been gutted.

Though I frequently disagree with the Champion on issues and I've been critical of it in the past, hopefully they will be able to get back on their feet soon.

Their website is still up and running at www.haltonsearch.com

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Gas Shortage Conspiracy?

Is the gas shortage in the GTA a conspiracy? I think so. Without mentioning names, I find it odd that a certain oil company would have two mishaps that would shut down two separate refineries in as many months. Though it is possible that it could indeed be a coincidence but I think sabotage is the more likely reason for the incidents. I certainly wouldn't put it beyond an industry who will do or say virtually anything to increase the price of fuel to pad their already record profits. For their actions, they are hurting the entire core of the economy. Many businesses, both small and large, cannot find fuel for their fleets. Goods aren't getting to market. People aren't making money, well most people except the oil industry.
They industry is indeed based on illegal cartels, despite what government officials have claimed. They're all in on it. Artificial shortages are a huge boon to both the oil industry and the government. With the sharp spike in prices, the government gets to collect taxes like crazy. Fuel is one of the most heavily taxed items in Canada, supposedly due to environmental concerns which is yet another conspiracy. Looks like 2007 will be yet another record profit year for oil while other industries suffer at the hands of it.

How do we stop this gouging at the pumps. Cut 100% of the gas tax. The tax was originally brought in to repair roads and to clean up the environment. The majority of the tax goes into general revenue though and never goes where it was originally intended. It is a failed government policy that we simply don't need. Once the government's lucrative deal with oil is cut loose, perhaps there can finally be some fairness for both business and ordinary citizens.

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The Truth is Beginning to Unfold

Though not yet official, Al Gore is not ruling out a run for the 2008 presidency. In 2000, he was criticized for not being charismatic enough to defeat GW Bush. With people swarming to see his movie and hear his speeches, he would likely sweep both Clinton and Obama in presidential primaries as well as an election.

Once again, this reinforces the global warming conspiracy theory. Gore full well knows its a hoax and is using it for a shot at the presidency.

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The Truth on Climate Change is Out There, Somewhere

Al Gore was in Toronto yesterday promoting his socialist agenda against global warming. I'm against global warming too, but not in the way Mr Gore would like me too. I'm against its lies.

Back in 2003, the Media utterly failed in questioning the motives for the Iraq war, and admitted it. Many people in journalism said they would never let that happen again. I've got some news for the media, switching your bias from right to left doesn't fix the problem. That's what's been done with global warming. Not a soul in journalism has questioned the science or motivations behind global warming. Once again, the media has failed the public as it did in the build up to Iraq. It's an issue I've been following and attempting to seek out the truth. I've finally discovered it in the form of a little known series done by the National Post called "Deniers". So far, the Post is the only media outlet that has released an article (not an editorial) discussing the position of people who are against this latest bandwagon issue.

It is still up on the National Post's website but you'll have to search the Canada.com archives to find it. The Post only keeps articles available online for 30 days so I suggest you get it while you can. Click the link below to read the series.
Climate Change: The Deniers

The week long expose examined the issue. Interviewed for Part I, a well respected statistician (one of the top in his field) argued that the majority of research done on global warming was conducted using unreliable historical statistics and failed to use proper scientific method to come to the conclusions. In other words, the claims that the 20th century was the hottest on record cannot be verified. If it can't be verified, it's not science.
A prominent meteorologist who studies hurricanes in Part III tells the tale of how the United Nation's committee on global warming attempted to push him to say that recent high hurricane activity was being caused by global warming. The meteorologist stated that there is no reliable correlation between hurricane activity and global warming. Once again, if it can't be verified, it's not science.
Other articles in the series discussed the limits of predictability, to the limited effects of man made greenhouse gases, to the fact that any climate changes is controlled by external forces such as the sun. These people are well respected scientists, not crackpot conspiracy theorists sitting in a dank basement somewhere. In short, the series shows that a lot of what has become gospel to people such as Al Gore is based on junk science that cannot be backed up, thus violating the most primary law of modern science.

The series also discusses another important fact that comes in the form of its title, the "Deniers". To deny means you refuse to acknowledge something that exists, at least in this case. Those who chose to debunk global warming are very gradually being brought to the level of those who deny the holocaust. That's what's making this conspiracy so disturbing. The big difference is that the holocaust can be verified through accurate historical records and conclusive physical evidence, unlike global warming. If we could but put global warming on trial in a court of law, it's case would be thrown out since it's based purely on hearsay, circumstantial evidence, and outright lies.
Global warming is rapidly becoming a modern religion. Where else could you present lies as facts that people blindly accept. I propose us more intelligent people start our own religion that's based on solid science and reason. A group that sees global warming for what it really is; a lie.

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Germany: A WWII Denier

Germany has come a very long way since the end of WWII. Even in the relatively short period following reunification and present day. The country still has one problem though that it has failed to deal with, and usually tries to ignore outright. That being it's role in the Second World War.

Ernst Zundel was sentenced to five years in a German prison for holocaust denial. Canadians will remember this man for being caught hiding from German authorities in Canada, and the the mess with his extradition. Ernst Zundel is truly a despicable man for saying that the death of 6 million Jews during WWII was all a conspiracy and never happened. I am strongly opposed to his views, but, I don't think he should be jailed for them. I brought this up in my past article about Mel Gibson, where I talked about the way hate crime is handled. I like to draw a line between saying and doing. There is a huge difference between saying the holocaust never happened and actively telling people to do harm to the Jewish community. Though I have not had the "pleasure" to read Zundel's works, form what I've heard, there was nothing that incited violence or property damage against Jews. If Zundel did commit a crime, community service would have been far more appropriate, especially if this anti-semitic man is forced to work in the Jewish community. He'd learn far more about why his actions were wrong in that case, rather than sitting in a jail cell. Imprisoning people for saying something the government dislikes comes full circle back to the Nazis. The sentence was highly inappropriate for a liberal-democratic country that supposedly adopts basic human rights of free speech and freedom of association.

It's not really my business to tell Germany how to run their country, but I think this represents a problem in their society. Germans cannot deal with WWII. They've actively tried to wipe out any evidence of their involvement. In that country, it is illegal to display swastikas and other Nazi symbols in the media unless for specific historical purposes. It's something this country doesn't seem to have a problem with as long as Nazis are made out to be the bad guy. Germany needs to learn that it can't just cover up its history by criminalizing these things. Proper education is the key. Fascism will likely never return if people are properly instructed as to why it was wrong.

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Castro: Dead or Alive

One of the big questions in international politics these days is the health status of Cuban El Presidente Fidel Castro. Spanish doctors have been saying he's either dead or on deaths door, while Cuban officials and Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez both are saying he's making a rapid recovery. Castro had surgery on his intestines several months ago but has suffered form complications.

So what's the deal. Well, we cannot be sure. I'm more inclined to believe the Spanish doctors than socialist propaganda factory Hugo Chavez. Everybody has a steak in the future of this tiny island nation due to it being one of the last remnants of the cold war. Cuba is arguably the most successful communist nation (since China is only communist on paper these days). Where as trade has been opened up between former NATO and Communist rivals, Cuba still remains out there. There are a lot of hard feelings between Cuban exiles who fled to Florida following the revolution.
Cubans certainly did not get what they bargained for when Fidel came to power. For people like Ernesto "Che" Guavara, it was hopped that the team would move from country to country "freeing" them from capitalism. Che continued this but Fidel stayed put. Instead of workers controlling the means of production, everything fell to Fidel as the dictator. One of communism's greatest faults is that it can easily fall to tyranny. The revolution failed Cubans and it eventually fell to be another Soviet client state.
Cuba today hasn't changed much. The country has top notch education and health systems, some of the best in Latin America. Still, people are poor. None of the economic problems that the revolution promised to fix were ever solved. Cubans just trader one dictator for another.

Even if Chavez is correct, and Castro is recovering, it's obvious he won't live forever. The man is 80 and will die sooner or later. His brother, Raul will inherit his position as leader of Cuba. Raul though is not a young man himself. Castro is like Lenin to Cuba, he will live forever in spirit. However, there is no way his death could be hidden from Cubans forever. When he dies, Cuba will likely fall into what the Soviets became after Nikita Khrushchev left office. It will fall into corruption, the people will become poorer, democracy will eventually return but Cuba will take decades to recover. Unfortunately, this is always the case with communist states. China is already in this period. Communism is simply a poor theory due to it's huge holes and the fact it goes against basic human nature. Humans are a collective species but also need some aspect of individualism. We don't like to all be treated the same. That's how the corruption develops in the first place.

The key to Latin America's problems is ending government corruption and scapegoating the north. Socialism in not the magic answer since it has failed in every single country where it was implemented. Unfortunately, I cannot see Latin America ever fixing itself in the foreseeable future.

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Turner Should Resign

Like many Halton residents, I feel betrayed today. Betrayed because MP Garth Turner defected to the Liberal party. I give kudos to the man's political skills, he had even the best of us fooled.
I wrote in my blog several months back chastising Prime Minister Harper for removing Tuner from the Conservative party caucus. His reasonings for doing so have become quite clear in the past couple of days. I'll go so far as to apologize for calling him a lier after Turner was evicted. We all know who the real lier is now. The one good thing about this is that it has restored my faith in the Conservatives.

A year ago, Halton residents went to the polls. They ticked their vote next to the Conservatives and a conservative MP won. Now we wake up to find we have a Liberal MP. Was there an election? No. Were Halton residents asked if this was ok? No. In fact, Halton residents voted for him to stay independent during one of his (now obviously phony) "town hall meetings." This from a man who claimed to be standing up for his constituents. A man who jeered people like Belinda Stronach for doing the same thing. This is precisely why voters have become more cynical and turnouts have dropped. People cannot count on their MPs anymore to represent them. As the Toronto Sun put it, it's all about me me me. All I can do is speculate, but it's likely Mr Dion has offered the dishonorable MP Mr Turner a cabinet position should the Liberals win the next election. The same was done with Belinda Stronach under Paul Martin.

Say what you want about US politics, but these games aren't played down there. At least constituents and lobby groups are given priority, rather than corrupt political parties. Parliament should not be a game of pong where the people just bounce back and fourth from one side to the other. If Mr Turner wants to be a Liberal now, that's his decision. However, if he has any shred of dignity left, he will immediately resign his position as an MP so a byelection can be called. This sort of action cannot be tolerated by Canadian citizens anymore. It's time were send a strong message to those in parliament. In the next federal election, please throw your support behind either the Conservatives, NDP, or Green. Do not vote Liberal else you condemn your country to more corruption.

I will be sending a strong letter to Turner demanding his resignation. I urge all Halton residents to form petitions and write similar letters.

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Toronto Falling Apart

Yesterday, a chunk of concrete fell of the Gardener Expressway in Toronto, nearly missing a car. This chunk was said to be the size of a basketball. Many citizens who use the highway and nearby roads fear that what happened in Montreal a few months ago with a bridge collapse could happen to the Gardener. My Dad is a professional engineer who specializes in bridges. I asked him if he thought the Gardener was safe. His answer came in one word: "no". Even to the untrained eye, the stripped concrete and exposed rusty rebar is enough to start asking questions.

Most highways in the GTA are owned and operated by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO). Three notable exceptions are the 407, the Gardener Expressway, and the Don Valley Parkway. The 407, as most people know, is privately owned. The Gardener and DVP are owned by the city of Toronto. These two roads have become infamous in GTA commuter lore. The DVP is often referred to as the Don Valley Parking-lot for its jammed, slow commutes. The Gardener is not much better when it comes to traffic, and its downright frightening when taking its structural state into consideration. Construction of the raised causeway section began in 1955. I don't know its exact history, but I can tell by the architectural design that the highway today is the original. The highway cost $110 million to build in 1955 dollars, about $700 million today. The road itself receives patchwork repairs every so often but its getting to the point of being too dangerous to drive on, or under. The collapse of the Gardener is not a matter of if, but when.

Toronto in recent history has not been taking its crumbling infrastructure seriously. Once thought to be a clean city, Toronto's core areas are no better known by dilapidated roads, sidewalks, buildings, and a mysterious open sewer smell in the financial district. Old water pipes are constantly bursting, garbage is everywhere. Once proud buildings such as Maple Leaf Gardens have fallen into such a horrible state of disrepair. In an expose on CFTO News, it was found that there are still unwashed dishes from 1999 still in the arena. (Though to be fair, it's owned by Loblaws, but it's still a historical building)
Toronto's Mayor David Miller promised, broom in hand, that he'd clean up city hall in the 2003 election. Perhaps now he should take that broom and use it to clean up the rest of the city. The city has become a disgraceful mess, and it's no wonder tourists don't want to go there. Would you want to vacation in some place dirty with roads at third world country standards?
What's Mr Miller's argument about this? Well, he likes to scapegoat the McGuinty Liberals and Harris Conservatives for downloading costs onto the city and not giving them enough money to deal with the problems. It's quite clear that Big D is becoming irritated with Miller. The new City of Toronto Act gives Toronto huge amounts of revenue powers. Toronto does indeed collect vast amounts of money. Most of it gets wasted on hair brained, socialist schemes to help the homeless bums and Toronto's other human garbage, rather than tackling the city's most pressing issues. The Gardener needs to be torn down and rebuilt. There are no other options for Mr Miller. Take the highway away and make traffic worse, or let it collapse and kill possibly hundreds of innocent people. Think of the law suit there.
Unfortunately, transportation is not on the mind of Miller. He'd have us all riding our bikes to work, like people do in Bejing. Unfortunately for Miller, we are not in the People's Republic of China. Bicycles are not practical in Canada's harsh winter climate. Roads are needed to get goods, services, and people into and out of the city. Without the expressway, Toronto's economy would halt. Mr Miller better find some money soon, or Bay St could become a ghost town. Businesses and people won't want to stay in a city where transportation is a nightmare.

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Not Fair for US To Pick on Canada

Today, the US now requires passports for Canadians flying into the country. Is there a legitimate security risk or is this simply the result of mass hysteria? I argue the latter is true. Arguably, the United States poses the bigger security risk to Canada than the other way around. After all, Canada is the new Mexico for America's criminals. That's mostly the result of our rather lax immigration laws and frightened, unarmed boarder guards than anything else. However, Canada still has the lowest crime rate in North America. Canada is also the leading nation in the war on terror. We've been left with an overwhelming burden in Afghanistan while the US fights their increasingly pointless war in Iraq.

So why has Canada been targeted as a possible security threat? There is simply no logical answer. Big business in the US, which relies heavily on trade with Canada, has been opposed to the idea since day one. So much for them being the driving force in American politics. Much of these decisions have been made unilaterally from the White House. George W Bush is somewhat of an enigma in US politics. They have never elected a leader quite like him. I have remained neutral on Bush politically. Analytically he's a bad leader and a bad politicians.
Canada seems to be an easy target in vain attempts to make it look like the government is improving national security. The problem with us is we are too nice, at least on the international scene. The US must be kept as a close friend and ally, but we must be firm with them. Canada therefore needs to institute strict laws for Americans coming north. After all, the US cannot punish us. It's generally thought that the US can do what it wants in regards to Canada but that's simply not the case. Canada and the US have an economically symbiotic relationship with each other. In other words, one country cannot survive, at least at its current standard of living, without the other. It's time we started letting them know that. I believe most Americans do realize this situation but their executive leadership still does not. Pressure from big business regarding the issue also needs to increase vastly if things are going to change.

In the mean time, the US needs to start concentrating on its southern neighbour. While hundreds of thousands of Mexicans stream across the border every year, taking American jobs and ghettoizing cities, you'd think they'd be the major security concern. It would be significantly easier for terror organizations to enter the US through Mexico than through Canada. We catch our terror suspects.

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Science, Pseudoscience, and the Politics of Fear

Fear. It's driving our world. Not so much in Canada but its there none the less. This fear does not come in the form of Osama Bin Laden and the gaggle of other terrorists, though he's part of the equation.

This entry follows on the heels of my last one. My scathing expose of the world of academics and intellectuals in the realm of politics. Fear perpetrated by academics in the form of junk science. Global warming, for example, I believe to fall under this category. That along with all the other apocalyptic predictions today's academics are making in order to scare people. Whether or not there is truth to these claims is not as important. What is important is that this "science" is being done through partisan eyes. This is dangerous because it scares people out of their wits. Some 33% of Americans think the end of the world will come soon. That's one in every three people. People proclaiming the end of the world is nothing new. If you look back at the history of apocalyptic thinking, the world should have ended hundreds of times over. (I seem to remember the world was supposed to end on New Years Eve, seven years ago. The next possible date is 2012.) What sets today's thinkers apart from those in the past is that these people are scientists, supposedly employed by prestigious think tanks and universities. They spout total crap out of their mouths and people gobble it up like it's fillet minion.

Today, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists moved their Doomsday Clock to five minutes to midnight. Midnight being the doomsday. Obviously this does not represent real time, in fact, nobody knows what this means. Curiously, they ranked 1963 as being the second furthest point we were from nuclear disaster. The same year of the Cuban Missile Crisis where nuclear war was narrowly averted. Fidel Castro reportedly wished the Soviets to launch an attack but clearer heads prevailed. It does show how off base they are in their estimates. The Bulletin's "clock" is a perfect example of junk science.

Fear is a powerful political strategy. However, playing with fear is like playing with fire. Fear is being used by both the left and right wings. However, the left wing is presenting the the apocalyptic version. The fire part is that it starts a panic. It's similar to the riots you get in the wake of natural disasters. The worst part is that academics are using claims that cannot be verified to boost this fear. They simply lie through their teeth while in the employ of left wing political and special interest groups. Never take what the academics say as a given just because of their credentials. Always second guess them. You'll find their "facts" are often pseudoscience.

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Academics Out of Touch With Today's Society

The university atmosphere is suffering a serious problem. This is a problem that has always been around, but it seems to be getting somewhat worse. It is that academics are out of touch with today's society. I consider myself a black sheep in this world. Not necessarily shunned but an outsider none the less. I've tried to write this blog in a simple language so everyday people can understand it, but are not being patronized. This doesn't come out of any comments directed at me, but is rather a critical examination of what is seriously wrong with education today, using the political science field as an example.

Drooling Idiot Syndrome: Academics (including students) tend to classify people into two camps. Those who attend/have attended university and those who have not. They tend to view those who have not attended as being very simple people digging in the manure pile. That belief is about as true as saying Liberache was strait. I think everyday people aren't given enough credit for what they actually know. Many academics in the political field think they won't understand politics unless its given to them in a watered down format like the Daily Show. My conversations with many people ranging from labourers to business people shows that this belief is simply not true. People are listening and they do know the issues well enough to have an engaging debate. Stop treating them as if they have downs syndrome.

"I'm Better than You" Disorder: One of the greatest delusions with academics is their elitist ego. They view themselves as society's upper crust. You must pay attention to them because they are the future and they know EVERYTHING. Simply put, it's impossible to argue with an academic because they view you as the drooling idiot while they consider themselves god's gift to mankind. Even if you know they're speaking complete rubbish, they'll keep insisting that they know more than you. After all, they've studied it. We all know how valuable studies are. Of course, them being the elites, they naturally view themselves as the world's future leaders and the only logical choice for those positions. Never mind the fact that some of the greatest men and women in history were not university educated. In this sense, academics amount to nothing more than snobs and busy-bodies. All they do is look down their noses at others. This whole notion started way back in high school while those who were not good with intellectual work were treated differently. Unfortunately, the real world does not function that way. Many of these academics, if they do leave the ivory towers of universities, may find themselves working for these shunned students. Then what will they do?

Libraganda: Libraganda (pronounced Lib-rah-gan-duh) is a word I made up to describe all the liberal, left wing propaganda being constantly directed at us by these people. Universities have been dominated by left thinkers since the 1960s. That's nothing new. However, combined with the two above states of mind, this makes things particularly irritating. Anyone who holds different views is thought of as a drooling idiot. Since the academics are the elite and they are left wing, then their ideology must be the only ideology. For a group of people who pretend to be tolerant to any and all, they are surprisingly intolerant of those who think differently. They like to group people based on labels, rather than the kind of person they are. This doesn't seem quite right to me, and is certainly counter to their own supposed belief system. I suppose though when you're safely protected within the walls of your ivory tower, you don't have to think about these things.

Keeping Knowledge from the Masses: My favorite website has to be Wikipedia. Why? Well I can get all the news and information on any subject I want for free. It's completely written by unpaid volunteers who want to share their knowledge. However, the site has become controversial in one circle. Yep, you guessed it. Academics hate Wikipedia. Why? Well, they cite plagiarism and inaccuracies. One news clipping that's been posted on a bulletin board at the University of Toronto since November claims that there are 150 articles containing plagiarism on the English version of the online encyclopedia. That's roughly 0.009% of the 1,585,000 articles on the site. Wikipedia maintains strict quality standards so it's likely these articles didn't stay that way for long. However, the academics make this sound like a huge issue. I have found that Wikipedia lives up to its claims as being just as good as any commercially available print encyclopedia. In many cases, its better since it can provide more information and web links.
So why all the fuss? Academics don't hate Wikipedia because they think it's providing false information, they hate it because they think people should be paying them (the academics) for the same information. If academics truly do have a problem with inaccuracies on the site, they could always edit articles to fix them. They purposely want to keep this stuff out of reach of ordinary people, since if people could learn online, this would make the academics obsolete. Indeed its already starting to.

So what to do? Well you can't stop this. For students in or going to go to university, I recommend do your best not to fall into this trap. You will catch yourself falling into this mindset. I know I have, but I've resisted. You must do the same. Trust me. You'll be more successful in the real world.

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Is Mexico Safe?

Three Canadian tourists have died in Mexico. Both in the heart of the popular resort towns of Cancun and Acapulco. This has left some scratching their heads as to whether or not Mexico is a safe place to visit.

I have been to Mexico and studied its history. I went there in 1995. I was only 10 and that was my first vacation outside the US and Canada. I don't remember ever feeling threatened there. I do remember heavily armed police officers guarding the streets. It was during a festival week leading up to Christmas at the time. It was also just under two years after the EZLN's rebellion in Chiapas. This was while the group was still an armed rebel organization. They've since become a political organization.
We were always told that to stay safe in Mexico, one should not venture outside of the hotel area. Sound advice. However, both recent crimes did happen in resort areas. So is Mexico dangerous? In my opinion, Mexico is a dangerous country. Mexicans are xenophobic. Although they like the tourist dollars, they strongly dislike foreigners being in their country. Foreigners in these countries should always watch their back. Though there are many friendly people, when in any strange place, you should treat everybody as though they're about to stab you. People who become too trusting are the ones who get targeted. Mexico is not like Toronto. It has a tradition of violence and has a very high crime rate, even in supposedly safe tourist areas.

Would I advise my fellow Canadians not to travel to Mexico? Depends. Those who are quick to let their guard down should stick to traveling in Canada and the US. Mexico is a very beautiful, rich, and diverse country, but it has a lot of social problems. It's a nice place to visit, but you have to be careful.

Tips for safe traveling:
-Always travel in groups, never go alone.
-Keep all valuables locked in a hotel safe. I recommend taking only costume jewelery and a minimum amount of cash. Use credit cards and insured traveler's cheques whenever possible. Don't bring debit cards with you. If you run out of cash, use your credit card. Carry some sort of photo id on your person at all times.
-Take tours offered by your hotel or travel provider. Don't go out on your own.
-The legal and health systems are nothing like those in Canada. The law is often corrupt and abusive to foreigners. Familiarize yourself with the country's laws and stay out of trouble. There is little the Canadian government can do in these situations.
-Travel only in licensed taxis that are clearly marked.
-Stay in resort areas unless going out on a travel provider's tour.
-If you are unfamiliar with the language, purchase a phrase book before you go and become familiar with it.
-If there is a Canadian embassy in the country, make an effort to find its location and phone number. If you run into trouble, contact the embassy before anybody else.
-Don't get too friendly with the locals. In places like Mexico, many people strongly dislike foreigners.

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Climate Porn?

Toronto Sun columnist Lorrie Goldstine wrote an interesting article about the over-hype of the global warming "crisis". A good read.

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Mom and Mom and Dad

A rather interesting court ruling this week. Apparently, it is now legal for a child to have three parents. No, not in the sense of a step parent, but three full fledged legal parents. That's odd.

An Ottawa area lesbian couple had been fighting for this for a number of years. The biological mother's lesbian partner wanted to become the adopted mother of the child. The father is still alive and heavily active in the child's life. The reasoning behind this is that if something were to happen to both biological parents, the child would still have a mom. That does make sense in a way. The father was married to the biological mother and they are divorced. (I don't know why, two women is every man's dream, right?)

Well, this other woman has finally been granted the right to be the child's full fledged adoptive mother. This opens an interesting can of worms. It's interesting to note that this trial happened with a homosexual couple, rather than a heterosexual relationship. It leads me to believe that judges are being a bit too "pro-active" on the whole gay rights agenda. Something that is not their job. Why do we elect MPs anyway? Secondly, it creates a few legal problems. Does this new ruling apply to strait couples as well? Was it right to do so? I personally found the ruling unnecessary. There are already laws in place that would give the child to a step-parent provided this be noted in the will. Both biological parents did want this women to be the mother if something were to happen.
It's more pushing the whole gay agenda than anything else, with the legal consequences not even being considered. The judge should be disbarred for that in my opinion. This ruling has one major flaw. That is, what happens if the relationship between the two women were broken off. The other woman would still be the child's legal parent. That likely means back to the courts to decide who gets custody, and then the child ends up getting bounced back and forth between three people. That is hardly fair to the child, who has already had to deal with such adult issues at such a young age. Though I think it's possible for a child to have caregivers outside of their two biological parents, it's wrong to start making these caregivers the legal status of biological or adoptive parents, it goes against nature as well. In the human species, it's only possible to have two parents.
Speaking of which, what about adoptions. Something else that wasn't considered that definitely should have been. If say a woman gives up her child for adoption, does she still remain a legal parent? This case opens the door for something like that. Take the US women who recently kidnapped her kids she gave up for adoption and fled to Canada.

I definitely question the Judge's motives on this ruling as it is highly irresponsible. It is always wrong to use children as a pawn to push political agendas.

These sorts of decisions should be left up to the legislature to decide. It's alright for judges to bring up these issues but its wrong in a democratic society for them to have the final say.

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Death of a Tyrant

As I'm sure most know by now, former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussain has been executed. Stick a fork in him, he's done. Too bad the debate over his death is still as fresh as my Christmas tree, still going but stale.

I for one think Saddam being executed is the first positive thing in Iraq since the war started. It finally closes a chapter on the nation's violent past. Saddam was born a thug, he was already a killer by his teens. He ruled his country like a mafia don. The loyal were well treated, those he doubted were murdered en mass. Definitely not a very nice man. He's finally hung for his crimes. If anything, Iraqis can be safe in knowing he'll never be coming back.

However, the debate as to whether or not he should have been killed still continues. Many claim that executing him is in itself a human rights violation, committed by the imperialist United States. Never mind Saddam was tried and executed by his own people, and not the Americans. I suppose mass murdering Kurds and pitting Shiite against Sunni in a brutal civil war is not enough justification. As I hinted at earlier, the Iraqi people would not have accepted anything less than death in order to make sure he wouldn't return to power.

To those who still rant against him being killed, Saddam is dead. Nothing can bring him back to life so you're just beating this issue like a dead horse. Where were you before they were going to hang him?

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Spewing Hot Air

I wish I had the ability to lie and keep a strait face. Too bad I can't so I can't be a politician, or a "scientist". Yes, it was warm today. January 5th and it got up to 11 degrees today. Of course you know what this means? We can't ski! Oh well, I hate skiing. No wait, that's not it. Oh yes, the apocalypse. Yes, this might be my last post on Martin's Mill News. I might be dead tomorrow, and so will you. The world is ending! It's all over people, we don't have a prayer!

Am I crazy? Probably. Does the above statement sound crazy, definitely. Coming for me, it's no different from the homeless guy on the street corner who hasn't taken his meds today. Coming from psudo-scientists, it makes perfect sense. Yes, it's warm today so the world is going to end. Global Warming. A convenient issue. A convenient lie. Especially if you're considering running for the democratic presidential nomination in 2008...*cough*. Global warming is an issue that is really starting to bother me. What bothers me is that it shouldn't be an issue at all. It's all a lot of hot air. I've talked about this before but its dominating the news again. Why won't people just come out and admit it doesn't exist! Why, because they're making too much money and getting too much attention over it. If you read my October 2006 article about it, you'd know my position. Of course reducing pollution is important but telling people we'll all die tomorrow if we don't is pure insanity, and people don't even see it.

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Reflections on 2006, Thoughts for 2007

The world greets 2007 today. One year over and another begins. 2006 was certainly an interesting year to be alive in. We saw the Conservatives rise to power for the first time in 13 years. The Democratic party took control of congress in the US. Saddam Hussain was finally executed for his crimes. War in Lebanon, natural disasters, the deaths of many big names in recent history. It's amazing how much we can cram into 365 days, whether for good or bad.

I think we should look at 2007 on a positive outlook. Recent polls done in the United States show Americans fear an approaching dooms day. For some reason though, I highly doubt the second coming of Jesus is in the cards for the next year. I predict we've still got a solid 5 billion years before we have to worry about the end of the world. So what are my predictions?
-Weather will return to normal with the end of the El Nino cycle, ending global warming fears.
-No chance for peace in the Middle-East but with Saddam Hussain out of the picture in Iraq, at least there will still be hope for that country.
-There will be no terror attacks on US soil this year. Terrorism world-wide will be below normal this year.
-Fidel Castro will die. Cuba will either become democratic or adopt post-Mao Chinese style "communism". US Embargo against Cuba will end.
-Canada will not go to the polls for another Federal election as predicted by some political scientists. With Canada's two biggest provinces already going to the polls for provincial elections, opposition parties will likely hold off until early 2008, or face voter backlash. Dalton McGuinty will (unfortunately) win the Ontario provincial election but will only hold a minority government.
-Caledonia will not be resolved. The OPP will be sued over it.
-Milton will fall further into the sinkhole it dug itself.

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