Soldier Sacrifices (editorial)

Try this.

SOLDIER SACRIFICES
The Edmonton Sun 2006.07.26 Editorial/Opinion

The deaths of Cpl. Francisco Gomez, a 44-year-old member of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry in Edmonton, and Quebec City native Cpl. Jason Patrick Warren, 29, of the Black Watch, the Royal Highland Regiment of Canada, in a suicide bombing last weekend in Afghanistan brings the death toll for the dangerous mission to 20: 19 soldiers and one diplomat.
If those numbers make you uncomfortable, good. We hope they do.
Because if people are uneasy with those statistics it means they still care, one way or another. It means they're either gutted by the fact that our soldiers have to pay such a high price in order to try to bring stability to a war torn region as part of the war on terror, or they're outraged at how our soldiers' lives are being sacrificed for a futile cause.
As our readers know, we completely support the Armed Forces' mission in Afghanistan. And it grieves us whenever we at the Sun get the notification that another soldier has died, because we know all too well by now that these aren't automatons programmed to go into the Afghanistan mountains to kill. They're flesh and blood human beings with families back here in Canada - spouses, parents, children - who are suffering the worst kind of grief imaginable.
And with every death, the tentacles of pain, sorrow and despair spread further across the military family and the greater Edmonton community, which has embraced our soldiers with open arms.
We know that not all Canadians share our view of this mission. That's the democratic right we enjoy in this country - to disagree with public policy without fear of reprisals, official or otherwise. And we know that according to some recent polls, Canadians are growing increasingly uneasy about the Afghanistan mission. One poll last week found that 41% of Canadians surveyed believe Canadian troops should be pulled from Afghanistan immediately, while only 34% say they should remain for a limited time of at least two years.
But that's OK. Because it means people are still engaged. They're following what's happening to our soldiers. And they're naturally concerned.
We've gone through that extended period when Canadians were utterly indifferent to our soldiers. We lived through the time not that long ago when the ones who died in so-called peacekeeping duty overseas had their deaths relegated to the back pages of newspapers from coast to coast, if they were even reported at all.
We don't ever want to go back to those days. We don't want Canadians to be
apathetic about our soldiers and the lives that they put on the line in the
blazing Afghan sun - or anywhere else - every single day.
We don't want people to look at a picture of a dead soldier in the paper and
shrug it off as another one.

the wheels may be turning...

Public observation is one of the things I love most about taking public transport.

Yesterday on the bus going to work, I saw this pudgy odd-looking thirty-something guy on the bus going through one of those 101 Mind Puzzles books (you know, the ones insecure brainiacs find amusing).
Anyway, he must have been particularly pre-occupied with his puzzles yesterday morning because he rang the bell to get off, opened his book, turned the page, closed the book again, and pulled the cord a few times to ring the bell again (even though the "stop requested" light was already lit (by himself just 20 seconds earlier)). Plus his wrinkled black polo shirt was on inside out.

So I'm thinking, this guy's wheels may be turning, but they're obviously not touching the ground!

more my kind of warfare

"We have tried to reduce the sound and we are reviewing the songs. I don't mind Barry Manilow, but I'm more of an ABBA and Celine Dion fan."
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/07/17/australia.manilow.ap/index.html

oh yeah!

Seeds of Wrath; or, Unfortunate Pettiness

"When bombs are going off around you, it doesn't matter whose name is on the label. It's not about politics to those on the ground. It's about trying to stay alive."
-Lisi Tesher, "Relating", Ottawa Metro, 25 July 2005

Today's wars of ideology become tomorrow's wars of revenge. Though I sympathize with Israel for the difficulty they have in fighting their insidious shadow enemy, this is precisely why I disagree with their approach. Israeli strategists must realize that attempting to supplant Hezbollah in Lebanon is like trying to weed a garden downwind of a dandelion field; you cannot avoid seeing the current war as desperate, disproportionate, and ineffective in this light. Furthermore, this violation of a sovereign state (giving Lebanon the benefit of the doubt here) will raise the ire of its citizens, foster further misunderstandings, and add fuel to the underlying tensions between these great civilizations.

(sigh)

It's unfortunate that we have to wait for the next ice age (the one that Al Gore is promising) for humanity to realize it's true place in the world.

Canadians being evacuated

There is some noise about whether the 40,000 or so Canadians being evacuated from Lebanon should actually be considered Canadian - some say these "citizens of convenience" (who maintain their dual citizenship but haven't resided in or paid taxes to Canada in many, many years) do not deserve to be assisted out of their real (by all practical accounts) country.
Hogwash I say. If they are Canadian citizens and hold valid passports, it is our duty to extend whatever resources we can obtain to help them, just as any other citizen. However, one of the lessons we should learn from this situation is that perhaps our citizenship rules need to be revisited in light of the anticipated rise in world conflicts?
Questions we (via our officials) should discuss should include:
Do we want to continue allowing dual citizenship?
If so, with all or some countries?
If only some, which? How often should the list of acceptable countries for dual citizenship be updated? What do we do if we scratch a country off the list - give current passport holders in those cut-off countries 3 months notice then cancel those whose bearers choose not to return?
Do we want to have two classes of people - those who are citizens AND permanent residents of Canada, and a lesser class of citizens who are NOT permament residents of Canada that our embassies would not provide the same level of assistance to? If so, are our leaders prepared to make that discrimination in times of crisis? Finally, are our embassies equipped to handle that distinction in times of crisis?
For the time being, those who were attracted by the priviledges of a Canadian passport, and played by the rules to get one, must be entitled to every measure of protection we would extend to any other Canadian citizen. Personally, I would like to see Canada shoulder it's part of international responsibility by assisting all displaced people in Lebanon, regardless of citizenship. After all, we (the rest of the world) failed to
effetively deal with the causes of these tensions before the situation ever escalated.
That so many Canadians are contented by yet another photo-op for the PM flying to the rescue in his shining Canadian Forces armour is just sick.

more thoughts on taxes

"I'd rather have a dollar to share than none at all."
"I'd rather have half a pie than a risk a full one stolen."
-Me

It's funny cuz it's true ???

During a photo-op in France earlier today, at a ceremony commemmorating the Battle of Vimy Ridge: (source)

Stephen Harper, a servi une raillerie aux médias qui l'accompagnaient ce matin (mardi) à une cérémonie commémorative à Vimy.
Il a dit que dorénavant, l'ennemi ne transportait pas d'armes à feu, mais des caméras de télévision.

Rough translation: The PM joked that "In the future, the ennemy won't be the one carrying fire-arms but television cameras."

In this case, I hope its not true because it certainly isn't funny; I am rather apprehensive toward the prospect that we will be fighting a war of disinformation with the NeoCons, not unlike the grassroots opposition to Nazi party propaganda that was quickly eliminated...

And why is this not reported in the English news I wonder?

peacemaking credibility lost

The world just became a more dangerous place for Canadian soldiers. http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/07/18/graham-israel.html
Thanks, mr. prime minister.

malthusian predisposition

Last night I pondered on the thought that "politicians don't have values or a vision for anything other than their re-election/re-appointment" and by extension, will do anything to maintain support of the masses.

Now by coincidence I read that "Terrorists are not acting by their own free will, they are always the brainwashed faithful, out of their minds, controlled by religious and economic priesthoods."

So what state of the world are we in that nurtures this malthusian predisposition of both these groups to whip themselves into a fanatical frenzy and set out to free the world of all the evils they've convinced themselves exist?

Meanwhile, the bulk of the population is more concerned with the goings on of a few teen celebrities who've inherited their fortunes than with actual factual and meaningful news, adding further pressure on professional journalists to cave in to the greedy stakeholders desires to cash in on the infotainment approach to the news. How little we've learned from the middle ages...

disproportionate response

so... a labelled terrorist organization kidnaps a coupla israeli soldiers, and israel attacks civilians and civilian infrastructure in response, knowing full well that escalation would be inevitable. Meanwhile, Harper and Dubya (both self-proclaimed defenders of democracy but with neo-fascist tendencies) sit back and say, well, the other guys started it so they should learn their lesson and return the soldiers they kidnapped. That's not how my parents settled the fights between me and my younger sibling, let me assure you.

Anyway, I've spent time with the military, and I'm not sure I'd want Canada to start bombing and killing citizens of another country if I was ever kidnapped. I would rather suffer in the hands of my captors for peace and the greater good, than allow my government to use me as an excuse for military rampage. Military personnel are usually sworn to protect their "King and Country" - not just the King, especially if he (or whatever governing body) is acting illegally or irrationally. In most circumstances, I would rather die a traitor to the imposed governing body than live despite the principles I believe in, much like Churchill's Baker Street Irregulars just before the outbreak of WWII.

why I don't believe in the stock market

As Ed Deak writes (ref.):

Corporatism is fascism, as it doesn't recognize the " one person one vote system", but relies on the voting power of the artificial entities of corporate shares.
Therefore, any political ideology, or economic system, based on the decision making, voting power of artificial entities, controlled by a power elite, is a form of fascism.

Mind you, it has has provided the financial means necessary to a few well-intentioned forward-thinking individuals to ease political resistance and develop/implement technologies that would prove to benefit millions of people through employment, improved safety/creature comforts, and relative stability.

It's not a bad thing - it just needs the right checks and balances.

Manipulation

"It's not the people who vote that count; it's the people who count the votes."
- Joseph Stalin

Same thing could be said about people who make the news vs. people who report it...
I'm slightly concerned (though not conspirational) about the seeming trend toward "The New Fascism," defined here as:

(a) the rule of private corporations (b) the elevation to power of people adhering to The New Fascism (c) the wholesale use of press and media to lie to the population about the meaning of democracy (d) the destruction of health and safety codes, of limits upon police action, and of all publicly owned services and institutions (e) and total subservience to the USA in order to end Canadian sovereignty.

Every time Canadian media chains are allow themselves to be tempted by the lucrative "infotainment" formula in lieu of proud and professional journalism, proponents of "The New Fascism" faces one less hurdle.

Appealing to Americansa and American-wanna-bees

ahh- following in the footsteps of former (slightly overweight) president Bill Clinton I see!

From the Prime Minister's Web Site
Public events for Prime Minister Stephen Harper for Tuesday, July 11th are:
10:00 a.m. - Prime Minister Stephen Harper will attend the Hull Home Pancake Breakfast.
7:00 p.m. - Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mrs. Harper will attend the Calgary Southwest BBQ.

Slinkies

Here's an amusing quote:
Some people are like Slinkies,
They don't really have a purpose,
But they still bring a smile to your face
When you push them down the stairs.

POTUS on foreign relations

http://www.forbes.com/technology/feeds/ap/2006/07/14/ap2878966.html

Looks like President G.W.Bush wants to have his pork...

But it is Bush's fierce support for Israel that puts him at odds with some of the other G-8 nations.

...and eat it too:

Bush finished his German visit by joining Chancellor Angela Merkel for a wild boar barbecue feast.[...] "Let's go eat," he said.

ecological footprint = shift the tax to where it belongs

I'm really glad to see that awareness of the "net energy balance" of various types of alternative fuels is starting to take root.
I would like to apply the same idea to consumer goods in terms of net ecological footprint: the product would be taxed based on not just the energy required to produce, package and ship it, but also to recycle the packaging and the product itself at the end of its useful life. Those costs would inevitably be flowed-through to the consumers (easing pressure off municipal taxpayers).
No doubt a political hot potato, I think something like that might actually reward earth-conscious consumers (rather than have to pay a premium for thinking green as is the current practice).
And maybe, just maybe, it just might get manufacturers to improve their product and packaging designs.
And maybe, (now I'm really stretching it) maybe the higher costs will get some people to rethink their habits of not looking after what they've got, because it's more ecological than replacing it even if it's oh-SO-last-week. That would ease a bit of the pressure on the already overstuffed landfill sites and like I said earlier would reduce the homeowner's tax burden a bit.
Not to mention, we would all breathe a little easier too, and our kids just might get to enjoy the same planet we grew up with.
This will probably take a few more years and somebody younger, smarter, more telegenic and more eloquent than yours truly (yeah I acknowledge it's a pretty low standard), so just remember you heard it from me first.

FW: Quiz: who said it? Ann Coulter or H

One of my friends commented on a quiz going around that asks people to guess whether the source of various quotes is Ann Coulter or Hitler. (I did it but found it rather useless, so I will only provide you with the link if you ask for it.) She said "I can't believe than Ann Coulter has a following."

I've concluded that people will follow ANYbody that distances themself from the pack: some out of sheer curiosity; some to gleefully support the stirring of the pot; some to create a story, be part of history and get their 15 minutes of fame; some who study the movement of the "enemy" to better oppose it; and others because they thoroughly believe it is good for mankind.

As dangerous and misguided as the latter group may seem, change invariably creates strife, strife challenges complacency, and these kinds of disturbances force about a Darwinian selection of emerging ideologies. As individuals we learn to better relate to ourselves and to others, and we as a race learn to adapt. So, in the end, conflict is good for mankind as long as one party is not in a position so strong as to obliterate the other(s); the continous ideological tug-of-war is necessary to keep humanity flexible.

You've often heard me say "Equilibrium must be maintained." My point is that universal equilibrium will be maintained, with or without us. It's up to humanity to stay flexible and adapt to the changing world or be overwhelmed by a massive malthusian check (like the looming disasters related to CO2 emissons).

Anyway, in response to those that believe that "Equilibrium can be maintained without the dangerous filth that spouts from Ann Coulter, a one-woman threat to everything democracy stands for," I partly agree, but want to add that she still might serve a higher-level purpose by fighting complacency: sometimes the silent majority needs a shot of the ridiculous to wake up and defend what they know is right. Otherwise, like Canadians lulled into a false sense of confidence with the Conservative government (and who will certainly elect them into a majority) you get what you deserve. I'm just not ready to accept that we deserve that kind of fate.

Precision

I think "love of the ideals we enjoy in this country" is probably more accurate than "love of country" in his speech on June 3, 2006 (exerpt below). Other than that, kudos for the fine text:

Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued the following statement on the occasion of the 5th annual Canadian Forces Day, June 4, 2006.

"Canadian Forces personnel have served our country with pride and honour in times of war and in times of peace. Often, they faced great danger - with some even giving their lives. But through it all, these men and women have shown great bravery, dedication to duty, and love of country.

changements

J'ai eu une discussion intéressante avec un collegue ce matin à propos de la longue fin de semaine qu'on vient d'avoir :
* le peu de temps libre n'a pas permis de prendre de l'avance sur les besognes domestiques;
* la vitesse de rattrapage n'atteint rarement la vitesse de retard, nécessitant occasionnellement des changements quantiques;
* "si tu fais toujours ce que tu as toujours fait, tu auras toujours ce que tu as toujours eu";
* d'où le besoin pour les changements quantiques.
Assez profond pour le premier matin après un long weekend, n'est-ce pas? :)

Harper marks GST reduction

Hmmpf. From http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?id=1230:

"This single tax reduction will mean nine billion more dollars will be kept in the pockets and bank accounts of Canadians over the next two years. [...] The Government is committed to further cutting the GST to five per cent, which will result in more savings for all Canadians. [...] Under Canada's New Government, Canadians are saving more money. In Budget 2006, 29 separate tax cuts were introduced, representing more tax relief than in the four previous federal budgets."

How realistic is it to expect that Canadians will actually keep these nine billion dollars "in their pockets and bank accounts over the next few years"? Rather, I suspect most would prefer to spend this on more goodies they think they need.
You cannot create wealth - if all Canadians had more money, that money will simply be worth less. Sure it will help a lot of people in the short term, but by creating the illusion that they have more, most will buy more (mostly gizmos from offshore) raising consumer prices and accelerating both the productivity decline in Canada and the damage being caused to the planet (exploitation and waste of natural resources, garbage, etc).
Personally, I think it's a brilliant way to win the next election while covertly advancing an agenda that harvests the dumb and further empowers the rich through the inflation that these tax measures will surely bring about.

Great speech

The Recent address by the Prime Minister to the third World Urban Forum on June 19, 2006 in Vancouver, BC, communicates a great vision and generates optimism and confidence in our society.
Except for the recurring erroneous blip about the "violent crime is growing" and the possible inaccuracy about the persistence of biker gang problems in Quebec (there have been massive crackdowns by provincial police in the past few years), this is a beautiful speech.

just can't shake the feeling

... that the current gov't (the self-proclaimed "Canada's New Government") is directed by people who aren't quite clear of the meaning of "dystopia" à la 1984.

For instance, through constant "war", the Party can keep domestic peace; when freedom is brought about, the people are enslaved to it, and the ignorance of the people is the strength of the Party.

Somewhere out west an English teacher needs to be fired.

more on taxes

During my vacation visiting the "summer cottages" built in Newport's Gilded Age got me thinking. These multi-million dollar mansions were built in a time when there were no such things as income tax or labour laws, when most corporations shouldered responsibility and recognized the importance of suporting the communities that provided the workforce for them. Some (probably most) corporations didn't, so the government (being an instrument of popular intention) came along, made that responsibility mandatory thru income tax and imposed themselves as middlemen.
That, plus labour laws and anti-trust laws, supposedly make such incomprehensible personal fortunes impossible today, according to the tour guides. Obviously they aren't aware of Microsoft or Exxon...

FW: Speech / Discours

Le 22 juin, le PM a fait une allocution sur la réparation des torts causés aux immigrants chinois pour la taxe d'entrée qui leur a été imposée.

je me demande pour quand les excuses pour la deportation des acadiens?

Canada boosts security funding

CANADA'S NEW GOVERNMENT TO INVEST $254 MILLION DOLLARS OVER TWO YEARS TO BOLSTER CANADA'S TRANSPORTATION SECURITY INFRASTRUCTURE
http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?category=1&id=1207

Terrorism threatens all free and democratic countries. Canada is not alone. Canada's New Government is tackling terrorism at home and abroad.
"We need to better ensure that Canada does more to prevent terrorism at home," the Prime Minister said. "Although we witnessed how successfully our security and intelligence services work together two weeks ago, we need to do more to protect our people and our institutions."
"Canada can choose to ignore terrorism, but terrorism will not ignore Canada," the Prime Minister concluded. "Our new government is prepared to act and the measures announced today will better secure Canada and help protect the Canadian way of life."

I wonder when they will formally announce the creation of the ministries of Peace, Truth and Love?

Ministry of Love

In a speech delivered to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities on 2 June 2006, I find it interesting that the Conservatives are spending $161 million to hire 1,000 new RCMP officers and federal prosecutors, up to $800 million for affordable housing in the cities (with up to $300 million specifically at improving housing for Aboriginal Canadians who live off-reserve).
Meanwhile, programs aimed at preventing young people from succumbing to crime in the first place only get $50 million.
So, we're paying a little bit to get them active and engaged in our society, which can ultimately lead to their interdependance, and we're paying a lot more to house them and punish them if they go astray. This current direction reinforces my impression of the "daddy-state" the Conservatives are imposing: "I'm paying for the roof over your head so you'd better behave, or else!"
I wonder if this alienating move isn't another deliberate step to recreate a class structure and further disengage society from government, so he can freely pass whatever laws his corporate totalitarian buddies are pressing him for?

fax machine from hell

User-interface people take note:
The stupid fax machine here has only one volume setting "LOUD SO EVERYBODY CAN HEAR IT" and lets you listen while it dials, polls and handshakes with the other fax when it picks up. However, it does not allow you to cancel a job when "The number (beeep) you have dialed is not in service (beeep). Please check (beeep) your number and try your (beeep) call again. Le (beeep) numero composé n'est (beeep) pas en service...." I'm sure you can imagine how annoying (and embarrassing) that can be.
At least I sleep soundly at night knowing it is "Y2K Compliant".

vacation

Just came back from a brief (8day) vacation. Being out of the country (was in the USA) , the exposure to the lifestyles of the rich and famous of Newport's Gilded Age, meeting good friend and their 3day old baby and new grandparents, and travelling with my mother-in-law and our own baby, gave me plenty of things to think about and opportunities to reflect. It goes without saying that I really missed having my blog to braindump into, cuz I've forgotten all the paradigm shifts I had made that would of course have solved the worlds problems (at least from my pov).
On the other hand, it was a good thing for me to have to communicate my thoughts the old fashioned way for a change...

media walkout

tee hee

Global cause

An Inconvenient Truth
(currently playing at the Bytowne Cinema in Ottawa)

Excellent film. Outstanding presentation. Crucial point. Go see it and become part of the solution.

"but he started it!"

Amazing how I'm still affected by stupid arguments that I lost to as a kid. For example, while looking for a unilingual English copy of a DVD for a friend yesterday:
Salesgirl: Personally I think it's dumb [to have bilingual DVD covers].
Me: I actually think it's a good thing.
SG: I'm against anything bilingual in Ottawa.
Me: Oh? Why is that?
SG: Well, when you go to Quebec, all the signs are French.
Me: So?
SG: Well, I can read a bit from school and stuff, but I can't read any of their signs. If they're not bilingual, why should we be forced to be bilingual?

(sigh) Obviously she paid as much attention in Canadian History class as she did in French class.

overheard just a minute ago: "boss, 1st rule of management: you can tell whatever lie you want, and as long as everybody thinks its true, you can't go wrong."

Sounds like the Conservative party is exerting a greater influence than I suspected.

human nature 101

After a rather painfully disillusioning discussion yesterday, I learned the following lessons:
-Manager's role is to "create a positive climate so that people want to come back;"
-Fear and hysteria trump cool logic as tools to influence a decision; and
-When faced with a decision between what's "most pleasant" and "what's best for the cause" the outcome is unfortunately easy to predict.

So I ask myself, why do I keep trying?

"I got mine"

A rather portly man walked by in a T-shirt this morning that read "THERE IS PLENTY OF FOOD FOR ALL OF GOD'S CREATURES - I just choose not to share."

Another feather in the cap of deconstructionist tendencies that I choose to stand against.

The Parent Trap

The Liberal governments under Chretien and Martin (especially aligned with the NDP), were accused of turning Canada into a Nanny State. Now under "Canada's New Government" under Harper, I get the impression they are trying to set up a "Daddy State." Why do I feel like I'm a kid caught in a messy divorce?

a flame still burning in a darkening world

ad wars

There's a storm brewing on the horizon, one that threatens the low-cost structures that we currently have in place and that everybody can afford, and taken to the extreme, undermines the fundamentals of democracy.
GlobalTV is claiming freedom of expression to strike down the laws against pharmaceutical advertising, because they want to put more money in their pockets. But where will that money come from? They don't care, but we should. They want to use our pockets to pad their bottom line, and the insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, ad agencies and marketing firms will each take a cut in the process. Sure, that may sound like a libertariainism success case, "the way capitalism works", and while it may contribute to short-sighted economic indicators like job creation, it flies in the face of the philosophy of Objectivism because "no one has the right to take what belongs to others by physical force or fraud." Anybody who claims that we each have the right to make pharmaceutical decisions for ourselves is obviously forgetting the reasons why we collectively gave doctors and pharmacists (and all other professional orders) the mandate to do what is best for the public and police themselves accordingly. Devolving that responsibility into the hands of every Tom Dick and Harriet (along with other deconstructionist tendencies currently taking the upper hand) will eventually bring us back into the Dark Ages where people, uneducated and untrusting, can be controlled by unscrupulous leaders through the use of intimidation, emotional blackmail and force.

whole health industry going mental

Now THIS is my kind of rant! Go Vinograd!

PUBLICATION: The Ottawa Citizen
DATE: 2006.06.09
EDITION: Final
SECTION: News
NAME: Letters
PAGE: A13
BYLINE: Caveat emptor.
SOURCE: The Ottawa Citizen

Drug firms keen to gain from mental 'disorders'
Re: Road rage identified as a mental disorder, June 6.

From May to September 1963, I did my first internship at a psychiatric hospital in Weyburn, Saskatchewan. One of my first patients was a young woman who had been hospitalized for many reasons, but whose main symptom was hysterical paralysis of her right arm and hand.
Using hypnosis, I was able to "cure" her "paralysis." When I informed her that I was soon to return to Ottawa to continue my formal training, her "paralysis" recurred.

Today hysterical paralysis is extremely rare. Do not believe for a moment that psychotherapists such as me, through diligent research and practice, have wiped this mighty scourge from the face of the planet. There is not a Jonas Salk among us.

What has happened, it seems, is that hysterical paralysis has fallen out of fashion.

Just this morning I read the latest of the latest: "Road rage identified as a mental disorder." Woe is me: I think I have another mental disorder! If a child has trouble sitting still for periods of time that are unreasonable to expect, he or she has attention-deficit disorder (ADD). If an adult is experiencing major turmoil in his or her marriage, the magic words presented to the psychotherapist are "I am depressed." Instead of probing the antecedents to the marital strife and attempting to resolve them, grab the DSM IV (Diagnostic & Statistical Manual) and pick a label, any label. Then medicate, medicate, medicate!

If the reader concludes that I am poking unnecessary jibes at the DSM IV, the authors of which determine what is and what is not a mental disorder, I draw your attention to the fact that an inordinate number of these scientists have an unusually high rate of direct and indirect connections to pharmaceutical conglomerates. And the remedies they recommend? Drugs and more drug therapy.

In fact, it seems to me that all we know about mental disorders is that some people say other people have them.

Caveat emptor.

Dr. Dov Vinograd,
Ottawa

Death of Senator Forrestall

First, my sympathies to the family and friends of the late Senator Michael Forrestall.

Excerpt from Statement issued by the PMO:

Prime Minister issues statement on the death of Senator Michael Forrestall
June 9, 2006
"I was deeply saddened to learn of Senator Forrestall's passing. For four decades, he served the people of Halifax/Dartmouth and Nova Scotia, first as a Member of Parliament and later as a Senator. Both I and members of my caucus benefited greatly from his advice and support, which was based on his extensive parliamentary experience and his commitment to the people he served."

So... he and his caucus "benefited greatly" from his four decades of service, yet he wants to prevent future senators from achieving such "extensive parliamentary experience" by limiting their terms to 8 years... is it just me or is this incongruent?

time to reign in the radicals

Harsh words in this article but the clarity of thought is refreshing (abbreviated and with minor editorial changes)

SOURCE: The Ottawa Citizen
EDITION: 2006.06.07 Final
PAGE: A1 / Front

The 17 men accused of plotting to bomb sites in Ontario shouldn't be seen as Muslim terrorists, but as idiotic thugs, if the allegations against them are true, says a University of Toronto psychology professor. If charges are true, these men are misguided idiots and to call them terrorists only serves to romanticize their cause, he argues.
"To call them Muslim terrorists in my estimation is a mistake. They're misguided totalitarian cowards and they're out for revenge," said Jordan Peterson, who studies the psychology of terrorism. "It's dumb and cowardly and they're in the same league, in my estimation, as bone-headed skinheads in Eastern Germany."
Mr. Peterson, an associate professor in U of T's Psychology department, said that calling such people terrorists only romanticizes them and gives them the notoriety they are seeking -- potentially leading others to join their cause.
"People like to think that those who are plotting against us are smart, because no one likes to think our society can be attacked by idiots," he said. "(But) they are low-ranked idiots. ... Their lack of intelligence, forethought and courage should be at the forefront."
The 12 men and five youths arrested in last Friday's sweep were allegedly led by 43-year-old Qayyum Abdul Jamal. A volunteer at the al-Rahman Islamic Centre in Toronto, Mr. Jamal had been heard to rail against Canada's involvement in Afghanistan and accuse Canadian soldiers of raping Muslim women, according to Toronto Liberal MP Wajjid Khan.
"I think (Mr. Jamal) is frustrated and vengeful. He sees himself as a victim and justified in attacking the people who victimized him," Mr. Peterson said.
Regarding the young men who allegedly followed Mr. Jamal, Mr. Peterson said it's no surprise. He said most violence in society is committed by men between the ages of 18 and 26, who are hard-wired to be status-seeking and to gravitate toward groups.
"Young men, they're gang creatures," he said. "There's no reason to presume these people are anything other than gang members who picked something contemptible to do because of a sense of victimization."
Mr. Peterson argues that, if the allegations against the men are true, they are more totalitarians than Muslims in their ideology. For someone who benefits from all the advantages of Canadian society, to turn around and attack Canada, is hypocritical.
"He's preying unethically on the suffering of others to make himself into the champion of the oppressed," Mr. Peterson said.
"It's lies and it's cloaked in a sense of adventure."

The article also talks about the effect of the war in Iraq and the recent "Canadian episode as a reflection of [the greater worldwide] trend of second-generation emigres who have sought in Europe and in Canada a better life. While they have found that better life often, what they haven't found is cultural acceptance."
Dr. Post said there is a tension within Islam itself, between those who want to move more in step with the western world and those who want to return to more traditional and fundamentalist values.
"There is a sense of collective identity that's being preached [among the muslims radicalized by society]... concerning an idealized version of what Islam stands for, against this corrupt, secularizing world. These young men see themselves as (being) on the cutting edge of a faith that they have to defend against what they see as western imperialism," he said.

Personally, I think its time for us reasonable non-corrupt and non-imperialist Canadians to retake the stage from the corporate hooligans and fear-mongerers currently running the show, and prove that fundamentally, our humanist values are not that different from those in Islam after all. Moving the wood away from the coals and letting the fire die out by itself exposed and naked is surely a more effective method than burying it with dirt and have it spread underground.

global warming

According to Jay Leno's opening monologue tonight (roughly quoted from memory):

X-Men 3 made 150million this weekend, while during the same time, The Inconvenient Truth made 2million. So, according to the box office, people are more interested in fake people saving a fake Earth than real people saving a real Earth.

It's sad but kinda nice to fantasize about what state the world would be in today if Al Gore had become president...

Toxic Nation report

We cannot let the Canadian government turn its back on the evidence of environmental contamination on humans. Toxic chemicals emitted by industry and released through contact with, or use of, consumer products are measurable in Canadians. To protect people today and safeguard the health of future generations, the Canadian government must set a course to ensure that all citizens, no matter where they live, how old they are or what they do for a living, will not be exposed to toxic substances. Part of this, and it would fit very nicely in the Tory platform, would be to make and hold industry accountable for its chemicals, and regulate toxic chemicals in consumer products.
However, I suspect that the Canadian government is heading towards corporate totalitarianism, and that trend may be irreversible due to public ignorance and apathy. After idly watching Harper renege on our Kyoto commitment and not offer any replacement programs, (dusting off Republican excuses that it would hurt our economy), I doubt we will see any progress at all on this issue. (Side note: economy is derived from ekos, meaning household. Exploiting natural resources without regard for the environment is akin to selling the goose that lays the golden eggs.)
Meanwhile, Canadians should reduce their personal exposure to toxic chemicals wherever possible. Sources of toxic exposure are varied and numerous, and small changes in lifestyle and purchasing habits can make a difference in the level of pollutants each person carries.
If this concerns you, please visit http://www.toxicnation.ca and read the full report. If you aren't concerned, please read the full report and pay attention, because you should be.

commitment to so-called commitments

so... the PM talks about "long-term predictable funding" and projects of national significance, right after quashing long-term funding for a national day-care program, all while preaching accountability?

Canada's new government delivers on commitments to communities
June 2, 2006
Montréal, QC

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today outlined the measures his Government has taken to support Canada's communities and promised to continue reducing the fiscal imbalance between Ottawa and other levels of government.

In an address to delegates at the annual meeting of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities in Montréal, the Prime Minister pointed out that the recent federal budget provides $16.5 billion in new, long-term funding for local governments.

[...]

"The federal role must be defined to deal with projects of national significance," Prime Minister Harper said. "Federal funding must be put on a predictable long-term track and we must ensure accountability to Canadians for infrastructure investments by all levels of government."

capitalist evolution = social devolution

This article describes some of the reasons why I dislike the stock market system so much:

The earlier [capitalist] model said that corporations had a duty to ensure the well-being of employees, and an obligation to the community (chiefly but not exclusively fulfilled through corporate tax payments).

That model has been replaced by one in which corporation managers are responsible for creating short-term "value" for owners, as measured by stock valuation and quarterly dividends.

The practical result has been constant pressure to reduce wages and worker benefits (leading in some cases to theft of pensions and other crimes), and political lobbying and public persuasion to lower the corporate tax contribution to government finance and the public interest.

This evolution offends me to the core (even more than individual self-deresponsibilization): The emphasis on the bottom line has resulted in way too many things being left off the balance sheet, such as all the intangible benefits (e.g. reinvesting in the worker population by paying taxes) and environmental costs (e.g., pave paradise put up a parking lot, and all the packaging for single-serving commodities that ends up in landfills). I could go on...

corporate totalitarianism

This piece is an interesting discussion of how multicultural policies passively advance corporate totalitarianism. I never made the association before, and it will take some time for me to rethink my position on a few issues... Anyway, I think this is an interesting article and the discussion sure is thought-provoking. Not a fast or easy read, but I think it is well worth the time to consider these rather non-mainstream views.

"good vs evil", or "marketing vs holisticity"

finally some sense!
now we have to start asking the coffee industry how they correctly predicted that so many people would be willing to pay $2 a cup for something delivered in a recipient destined for a landfill site, even when it can can be brewed at home for less than 30 cents and without producing any non-compostable garbage?
Ecologists recommend buying products with the least amount of packaging per serving - if this means buying a single box of 1000 coffee filters and the occasional 1kg can of ground fair-trade coffee, both containers being completely recyclable, then that's the type of product for me.
I think that the starbucks marketing lady hit the nail right on the head when she said "it gives [these morons] an ego-boost". How about if people treated each other nice for a change, we wouldn't need our cup of instant ego-saving environment-destroying liquid safety blanket!

Thanks Vu for the opportunity to rant on this!

Second Cup clears up size issue
PUBLICATION: The Ottawa Citizen
DATE: 2006.05.31
EDITION: Final
SECTION: Business
PAGE: D1 / Front

In the movie You've Got Mail, Tom Hanks memorably describes the modern cafe environment as being designed "for people with no decision-making ability whatsoever to make six decisions just to buy one cup of coffee."
But now, Second Cup has read the writing on the mochaccino-coloured wall and is changing its cup sizes to include just small, medium and large. In an industry characterized by unnecessary complexity, the Canadian coffee franchise's directive seems nothing short of revolutionary.
"For the longest time, we've had four sizes in the marketplace -- small, medium, large and jumbo," says Rachel Douglas, spokeswoman for Second Cup. "It made ordering confusing because some people would want small and say medium, or want medium and say large."
Under the new system, a small hot drink holds 12 ounces and a small cold drink holds 16. A medium hot contains 16 ounces, but a medium cold has 20. Finally, a large hot drink contains 20 ounces and a large cold drink holds 24.
So depending on whether or not a customer's fix contains ice, a small could really be a medium, a medium could be a large, and a large could be extra-large. That's as complicated as it gets.
Starbucks, on the other hand, champions complex coffee-talk. The venerable Seattle coffee company utilizes Italian cup sizes, which some say engage customers with the brand by making them feel they're in the know.
"Stores understand what is meant by small, medium and large, but those terms are so generic and out-dated," says Suzanne Brown, an international coffee-marketing expert based in Atlanta.
"When customers are able to order specific sizes and beverage preferences in a brand's lingo, it gives them a kind of ego boost ..."
In 2004, Starbucks even issued a pamphlet acquainting patrons with a long list of insider terms. In addition to choosing between tall (12 ounces), grande (16 ounces) and venti (20 ounces hot, 24 ounces iced), Canadians were suddenly empowered to request their drinks come "unleaded" (decaf), "dry" (more foam, less milk), "with legs" (to go), or any other term in the 20-page lexicon.
Sandy McAlpine, president of the Coffee Association of Canada, suggests Second Cup may find a competitive edge through its simpler system, if only by standing out from the widely imitated Starbucks model.
"Having been in the coffee business for 25 years, it's quite startling how much of this new or novel coffee lingo is used," he says.
Over at Tim Hortons, the company vernacular is just as important as cup hierarchy: The term "double double" -- two creams and two sugars -- is so ubiquitous among Canadian coffee-drinkers it was included in the Canadian Oxford Dictionary in 2004.
At Timothy's World Coffee, brand knowledge is demonstrated through awareness of the four-tiered cup system: small, regular, medium and large.
"What's really funny is when a customer goes into a shop and orders in the coffee lingo of another store," says Ms. Brown.
"They may be purposely trying to trip up the barista, often chuckling when the barista doesn't have a clue what the same version (of another cafe's drink) might be."

"Accountability" à la Harper

I wonder... How many elections were won due solely due to "manipulative timing"?

The only thing fixed election dates will accomplish is to make the parliamentary process more partisan, divisive, inefficient and disconnected from the people than it already is. What impact will that have on confidence motions? Despite all his propaganda about accountability, this is yet another example of stripping Canadians of the power to bring down an unsatisfactory government through a non-confidence vote by the opposition parties.

WRT to the Senate - I agree it needs to be tweaked, but right now nobody's looking out for the long-term benefits to Canadians and represent the cultural needs of (ironically enough) the common people, without fear of losing their job for speaking out or acting against the whim of a particularly charismatic and opportunistic prime minister bent on corporate totalitarianism, regardless of what party he/she may be from.

From: PMO-CPM
Sent: Friday, 26 May, 2006 16:27
To: ALLNEWS_BE@LSERV.PMO-CPM.GC.CA
Subject: News Release / Communiqué
From the Prime Minister's Web Site (http://www.pm.gc.ca/)
Prime Minister Stephen Harper to deliver on democratic reform
May 26, 2006
Victoria, B.C.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today promised Canadians that he intends to move forward on democratic reform and will propose fixed election dates for the House of Commons. The Government has also served notice it intends to propose some reforms to the Senate.
"We will do more than just talk about the need for democratic reform," stated the Prime Minister. "Steps are needed that are practical and that can be achieved without full scale constitutional negotiations."
The Prime Minister announced that the government will introduce a bill calling for fixed election dates every four years. Fixed election dates will put an end to governing parties manipulating the timing of elections for partisan advantage. The Government's bill will propose the next election take place in the fall of 2009. The Prime Minister also reiterated a campaign pledge to make the Senate a more modern and democratic institution to better reflect the voice of Canada's regions. "A 21st century legislature cannot remain dominated by appointees who may sit for decades, without a democratic mandate and with the ability to thwart the elected government."

not-so-hidden ambitions

hmm... I'd be curious to know exactly what Harper's vision of "our shared global agenda" is...

From: PMO-CPM
Sent: Friday, 26 May, 2006 13:33
To: ALLNEWS_BE@LSERV.PMO-CPM.GC.CA
Subject: Statement / Déclaration

From the Prime Minister's Web Site (http://www.pm.gc.ca/)

Prime Minister to meet with President Bush
May 26, 2006
Ottawa, Ontario

Prime Minister Stephen Harper will be in Washington on July 6, 2006 for a working meeting with President Bush. This will be the second meeting between the two leaders; following on productive discussions that began in Cancun, Mexico on March 30-31. The two leaders will discuss a range of bilateral and global issues, and explore areas where there are opportunities to deepen our bilateral ties and advance our shared global agenda.

FW: News Release / Communiqué

hmm. $40 million, of which $20M goes to emergency efforts and $20M goes to some coordinating agency. Isn`t this the same government that just a few weeks ago scrapped the EnerGuide program because they believe canadians don`t want the government to run programs where only 50cents to the dollar actually goes to the end user? On CPAC they defended that decision as a change from the "years of irresponsible spending of the previous govt," a not-so-subtle attack on the liberal party.

Maybe this is the kind of self-contradiction that Harper is so paranoid about hiding that he's limiting media's access to his MPs?

Anyway, somebody reflected that only 50% overhead on a federal program is actually pretty good mileage, so how exactly do they justify scrapping the energuide program and attacking the previous government so shamelessly?

From the Prime Minister's Web Site

Prime Minister announces humanitarian aid and support for peace in Sudan

May 23, 2006

Ottawa, Ontario

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today announced that Canada, following the recent signing of the Darfur Peace Agreement, will increase its financial support for both urgently needed humanitarian assistance and peace support.

The Prime Minister was joined by Minister of International Cooperation Josée Verner, and Peter MacKay, Minister of Foreign Affairs for the announcement.

“Canada will act. And I am here today to announce how,” said the Prime Minister. “Our government will pursue a two-pronged approach, splitting our efforts between the provision of humanitarian aid and peace support assistance. Combined, these efforts will help to normalize and stabilize the region, the first step necessary if the peace process is to succeed.”

Canada is immediately increasing financial support for Sudan by $40 million. Of that amount, $20 million will be used for urgent humanitarian needs, such as the provision of food aid, water and sanitation, basic health care, the protection of, and assistance to, displaced populations in Sudan and in neighbouring countries. Partners will include key UN humanitarian agencies, the Red Cross Movement, as well as Canadian NGOs.

"Canada remains committed to providing humanitarian assistance to the people of Sudan as they work toward a lasting peace," said Minister Verner. "Today's funding will help ensure that the basic needs of the most vulnerable people are met."

In addition to Canada's ongoing contributions to the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS), an additional $20 million will go specifically to enhance AMIS's ability to assist in the initial implementation of the Darfur Peace Agreement and lay the groundwork for a successful transition to a UN mission.

"Canada is committed to helping the people of Sudan achieve a durable peace focused on the protection of civilians. Peace building efforts are absolutely critical in order for humanitarian workers to have access to the people in the region and deliver much-needed aid," said Minister MacKay.

Further information on Canada's efforts to address the conflict in Sudan can be found at www.canadasudan.gc.ca.

homeopathy isn't holisitic

very interesting.
I fully agree with Pce Chuck's perspective as quoted in this piece:
"I do believe most strongly that we should not view health as something that exists in isolation, but forms as a direct consequence of our communities, our cultures, our lifestyle and the way we interact with our environment," Charles will say. But I fail to see how some groups can see that as support for homeopathy. What's homeopathy got to do with communities, culture, lifestyle and environment? Chuck's view is a heckuvalot larger than just some meds that are watered down to the point that they are no more than (hopefully) harmless concentrations of chemicals that get lost in the noise of the chemical soup we eat and breathe and drink everyday; even if it works as a placebo, all it does is sustain people's naivety with regards to their unhealthy lifestyles and irresponsibility toward the environment, which in the end, hurts all life on the planet.

freedom of expression vs petty politics

Of course you can enjoy the freedom of expression, just be ready to face the consequences if you choose to exercise it. In this particular case, petty politics worms it's dirty ways into military and academic circles.
http://www.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=1676d0af-e431-49a6-9530-6fc3cf3c57a0

Supremacist Canadians for Language "Fairness"

Ref. City of Ottawa sued over bilingualism bylaw
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/05/19/language-fri.html

I say Let the english unilinguals freeze in the darkness of their ignorant jealousy.

friendly local bus drivers

Dialogue between military woman passenger about to debark, and a little too happy public transit bus driver this morning:

D: hi there! where's your uniform? (in a light québécois accent)
P: it's casual friday
D: casual friday! lucky you! well, have a nice day.
P: thanks, you too.
D: you go girl!

"You go girl?" hilarious. I'm glad to see the Société de Transport de l'Outaouais doesn`t pay their drivers for their inhibitions!

afghanistan

so... if the US doesn't consider the Taliban to be terrorists, who (or what) are we fighting in Afghanistan, exactly?

Budget Report Card (issued by LPC)

Received by email 3 May 06: (support requests and French translation have been removed)
Please note that I am not campaining on behalf of the liberal party, I am merely trying to balance the pro-conservative spin that the media haven't bother to buff out of Harper's press releases.

One month from assuming power, Stephen Harper and his Conservative government has begun to undo all the work that the Liberal Party did to put Canada at the head of the G-7.
Liberals did not send us to Ottawa to vote for this vision of Canada. That is why we will vote against this budget.
I am asking for your support as we expose the plans of Stephen Harper.

Tax Relief: F
Eliminating Liberal income tax cuts in favour of a 1 per cent GST cut is a plan that will benefit higher-income Canadians at the expense of lower and middle-class families.

Income Taxes: F
Mr. Harper is hiking income taxes – increasing the basic personal amount by $200 and increasing to 15.5 percent the lowest tax bracket.

Child Care: WHAT CHILD CARE?
The Conservatives are scrapping the most comprehensive Child Care plans this country has ever seen – meaning provinces will lose stable funding through the previous Liberal agreement!

AND as if $20 a week for child care isn’t bad enough, low-income parents will be losing the young-child supplement of the Canada Child Tax Benefit!

Children lose on this deal – and at what expense?

Environment: F
This government has eliminated climate change programs and is getting set to pull out of the Kyoto Accord.

Canada’s Aboriginal Peoples: F
Stephen Harper has chosen to ignore the historic Kelowna Agreement signed last November , cutting planned funding by 80 per cent, from $5.3 billion to just over $ 1 billion.

Education and Innovation: F
The Conservative budget provides $200 million – less than one-tenth our commitment of $2.5 billion for university research.

As for student aid, our election platform would have provided up to $6,000 per student for tuition over a four-year period. Mr. Harper’s plan covers $80 for text books.

As we move ahead to chose a our next Leader – and next Prime Minister – I vow that your Liberal Opposition will not let Mr. Harper throw Canada back into deficit and dismantle our country, one puzzle piece at a time.

Bill Graham
Leader of the Official Opposition

sweatshop-free ottawa

I'm very pleased (and quite proud) of the City of Ottawa for recently (or imminently) passing a motion to boycott suppliers that purchase from sweatshops. This may cost a few extra dollars per year, but encouraging fair employment practices (by UN standards) is a matter of principle that we can (and ethically must) afford. BZ.

Electoral reform - unfortunate timing

I received a letter inviting me to participate (as a randomly selected citizen) on the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform.
This would be a perfect opportunity to deepen my understanding of both democracy and people's priorities and build credibility for future engagements, while actually allowing me to contribute to meaningful social reform.
Unfortunately, with an ankle-biter at home to look after, I am just not available for such a time-intensive commitment.
I really appreciate how my wife knows how difficult and painful it is for me to let this go.

party-centric propaganda

ome of the reasons I truly, truly dislike our current PM is expressed in this article and follow-on comments:
http://www.vivelecanada.ca/article.php/20060426104544226

other interesting article:
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/04/28/account-060428.html

and on the topic of propaganda:
http://www.vivelecanada.ca/article.php/20060427020230893
specifically the question Authored by Deacon on Friday, April 28 2006 @ 12:21 PM MDT, what can we possibly do? What examples in history can we compare our situation to, how did they get out of it then, and would it be feasible now?

Canada's "new" govt? act 1 scene 2

Harper seems to have missed yet another opportunity to implement any of his rhetoric about electoral reform and an end to patronage appointments. Personally, I think it's a good thing every time he doesn't do something he promised.

Canada's "new" government?

PMO News Release:

“This Agreement reflects the commitment of Canada’s new Government to help small and medium-sized businesses in Atlantic Canada compete in North America and around the world,” said Prime Minister Harper. “We want to assist Atlantic Canadians in bringing more of their goods and services to the world.”

Then, buried in the media backgrounder:

The original Agreement was signed in 1994 for a total value of $3 million. In 1997, the Agreement was extended for three years and $2 million in funding was added. This second extension was for $8 million over four years, ending in 2004. Today, the IBDA announced a new Agreement for $10 million with an end date of March 2010.

So, what's so "new" about extending a $2M/year agreement that was started by the Liberal gov't 12 years ago? I suspect the autor of this particular release slipped past Harper's Ministery of Truth...

against the grain

Did you ever notice, when tearing out a newspaper article or ad, how the paper usually tears easily horizontally (with the grain), but zigzags out of control vertically? Well, that same characteristic applies just as frustratingly well to an even bigger staple in our daily routines: toilet paper. Every time I misjudge the grain of a cheap roll of TP (in office buildings, usually) as I try to tear off a few sheets and end up with a couple of three-foot streamers, I can't help but wonder why the industry doesn't standardize the grain horizontally so it tears off nicely. That way they could even save money by eliminating those impish little perforations!

softwood lumber: sellout?

Hmm. I don't know much about the issues and am therefore not sure what I think about this situation yet. Nonetheless, I wanted to see how foreign news agencies reported the breakthrough. I found the following snippets particularly interesting:

From the Seattle Times:

If the agreement holds, analysts said Americans buying new homes probably should not expect a price break from the deal.
"This is all organized to keep competition down and prices high for U.S. producers," said Gary Hufbauer, an economist at the Institute for International Economics, a Washington, D.C., think tank.
Said Jerry Howard, executive vice president of the National Association of Home Builders: "For an administration that espouses free trade, there is no logical reason to ... engage in one-sided negotiations that would provide a massive subsidy to the U.S. timber industry at the expense of millions of American consumers."

From the Washington Post:

Shares of Canadian lumber companies dropped Thursday, as analysts derided the deal.
Jack Layton, leader of the opposition New Democratic Party, strongly criticized the Conservatives for letting the United States keep $1 billion in penalty duties despite numerous rulings by the World Trade Organization and other panels against the U.S. levies.
Roy Nagel of British Columbia's Central Interior Logging Association, said it seemed aimed more at creating peace with Washington than helping the Canadian industry.

From Canoe:

It remains to be seen whether Canada's willingness to compromise on softwood lumber could set a precedent for other industries. He said other sectors might be tempted to challenge parts of the free-trade agreement.

Which also included this one little ray of sunshine:

"To be very blunt about it, the U.S. forest industry owns Capitol Hill, owns the White House, and calls the shots," he said. "As a result you have had successive presidents and successive administrations acting in the most outrageous manner on the orders of the U.S. industry. . . "The president (George W. Bush) appears to be a little more reluctant to play the kind of thuggish game that the U.S. industry has been demanding."

Despite all the bitterness and accusations of "selling canadians short" on this deal, I believe that securing stability and predictability of market access for the years to come is certainly more important that collecting all the (illegally charged) import duties.

hiding the human cost of war

The new Conservative government has taken "two important steps to restore tradition, which in nearly all cases, is the proper thing to do things" (that attitude is, to me, inherently short-sighted but not the object of this particular rant).
The Liberals started ordering the flag atop the Peace Tower at half-staff for fallen soldiers in 2002 after a friendly-fire incident in Afghanistan. I welcomed this as our country reaching a new level of social maturity, when all Canadians could grieve and reflect on the ultimate sacrifice which we demanded of them by putting them in that situation. This continued for the next three rounds of military casualties, but they chose not to extend the honour to a soldier who died in a vehicle roll-over accident. Critics immediately decried the "picking-and-choosing" attitude of the Liberal gov't, meanwhile, veterans and other military associations stated they preferred that ALL fallen comrades be honoured on Nov.11 (which makes a lot of sense to me). The CBC's backgrounder has all the details.

Aside: there is such a thing as flag etiquette, but that's not the object of thois rant either.

Resistance to change is a normal human reaction, and typically, once the dust settles, life goes on just as happily as before. So why would the new Conservative government revert to the original tradition? Personally, I suspect they are trying to lull Canadians into a blissfully ignorant state, avoiding drawing any negative attention to the expanded and dangerous mission in Afghanistan. This suspicion is reinforced by today's announcement banning reporters from events marking the return of bodies of soldiers killed in the line of duty.
I agree with Kevin Newman's perspective indicating that public participation in the grieving process provides the mourning families more effective sympathy and support, helping them cope with their losses, than if they are left to deal with it alone and forgotten by the very country that caused their loss.
It just doesn't make sense to me that former politicians (PMs, cabinet ministers, governors general, etc), having served in the plushest of offices, should be honoured such after dying of natural causes, when young eager Canadians who die in the harshest of conditions protecting our social interests aren't allowed to share their final chapter.

misguided efforts

It's really, really too bad that high-profile celebrities choose to focus their efforts on ending the control of the overabundant seal population, rather than saving polar bears from impending extinction due to global warming!

accountability?

"Today we tabled in Parliament the new Federal Accountability Act, a bill which contains a number of measures aimed at cleaning up the federal government," said Prime Minister Stephen Harper. "Once implemented, this Act will: Put an end to the influence of big money in federal political parties; [etc]"
http://pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?category=1&id=1097

I just can't see how this is going to be good for our society for a number of reasons:
-Who donates most to federal political parties? Rich people who have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo and/or advancing a certain agenda. These people won't go away just because of the act, they'll just go underground where they cannot be traced.
-Interested people join social organizations like the labour unions and church groups because they believe that collectively they have better bargaining power with the government (through donations to political parties). If these orgs don't reflect the values of their constituents, then their funds dry up and they fall apart due to the laws of the free market. Preventing these social organizations from representing their members' values will also cause them to fall apart as they will have lost their raison-d'etre. Who then will bargain with the government to tackle specific issues and implement changes that people really want?
-What does it really mean to "be held accountable to the people of Canada" anyway? What methods do we have as citizens? Really, our only (and most important and fundamental) power is our vote. But the recent election and its aftermath has shown us how the government really cares about our votes - just ask the thousands of constituents of Burnaby BC - and how they twist protest votes against the liberals into votes "for" their five key priorities - and how the minister of the biggest spending federal department is appointed to the senate, bypassing "public" scrutiny in the House of Commons and flying in the face of having democratically elected cabinet ministers leading the country, and who says he intends to run not as soon as possible in a by-election, but only at the next general election...
-Further empowering Officers of Parliament (information commissioner, privacy commissioner, auditor general) and protecting whistleblowers, while restricting access to information and starving the media's need for question opportunities, means you will only be able to fight the system from within, and wouldn't that be an inconvenient conflict of interest... Remember Radwanski?

In the end, it seems that the only tools we would have left at our disposal to change the course of a majority government between elections are:
-Demonstrations to grab the media's attention, at the risk of tarnishing our "pristine" image abroad;
-Demonstrations to grab the international media's attention, but we've seen how ineffective that is against China;
-As the situation gets more desperate: riots, rebellions, violence, kidnappings, etc., and the government has ample experience quashing such events (October crisis, Riel Rebellion, etc).

Sure I'm taking this to the extreme, but to me, these are all warning signs on the road to a totalitarian state where the government and the people are isolated from one another, the only bridge being the elections every 4years or so (note: at the sole discretion of the Prime Minister) and the propaganda that the current conservative government seems to be so good at already...

taxing my understanding

The Cons want to lower the GST among other tax-reducing promises (http://pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?category=1&id=1100).

Meanwhile, in the last Parliament the Liberal government passed a budget that reduced income taxes from 16% to 15% on the first tax bracket and also increased the personal exemption by $500. The savings to the average Canadian family making $60,000 with two children was about $400, which will probably be cut. That family would have to spend $40,000 on taxable goods to get the same tax savings. (According to Mr. Paul Szabo (Mississauga South, Lib.), as quoted in Hansard Address by Pierre Lemieux, MP for Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, Response to the Speech from the Throne, April 3, 2006, page 5)

Lowering income taxes means *only* those "hard-working honest Canadians" that actually declare their income get to keep some of their hard-earned money. Reducing the GST means *all* Canadians get to keep some of their money. Sounds good in the media.

But what does this mean to our society? Those who will benefit most are the rich and the crooks. An income tax is a disincentive for declaring your revenue - it only hurts those that choose to declare their meagre incomes; meanwhile money hidden away in the black market or offshore accounts can't be touched. A sales tax skims everybody evenly: if you want to save for a rainy day, it costs you nothing now; if you want to buy big expensive toys right now, you pay more.

I believe this is a short-sighted communications (public relations) attempt, since repetition is the key to a successful marketing campaign, like water dripping on a rock: Everybody pays the GST several times a day, but only a much smaller population segment pays income tax, which happens only once a year.

In the end, I guess people prefer to get screwed with a smile than looked after with responsibility.

Poor forecasting

Glad to hear the PM is keeping his promises...
http://pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?category=1&id=1098

...but maybe somebody should tell him that computers running models are too busy to notice what province they're in?
http://www.cbc.ca/nl/story/nf-forecasts-20050316.html

Another fine example of the mindless masses blinding common (and financial) sense.

conservative propaganda on taxpayers' time

Been watching a bit of CPAC during the days I stay home on diaper duty.
The Conservatives are getting more annoying than ever.
Every first speech by a new/returning MP was, I'm positively certain, written by the same guy (or girl, which for some reason would surprise me) that wrote their "5 priorities" election spiel. Anyway, it goes something like this:

Thank you mr (deputy) speaker, congratulations on your (re)appointment. First I would like to thank (family members). Next I would like to sincerely thank the people of (riding) for (sending/returning) me to this (fancy qualitative) chamber/house.

(Repeat entire election platform spiel about the "five priorities." Don't deviate from pre-election speech and DO NOT go into any more specifics).

(Emphasize "how important these five priorities" are to the (good/ hardworking/ honest) people of (riding). )

(Underhandedly slam the previous government for all the evils in the world (even if the things refered to occured under Chretien over 10 years ago and Martin canned most of those involved since) (ignore the fact that the Mulroney govt did the same stuff even before that, nobody important will remember that far back anyway.))

Their strategy is obvious: that by repeating the same bloody crap over and over (and over and over) again AND preventing any member from voicing any independant thought (by muzzling their members, writing their speeches for them, and cutting off the press' accessibility other than for well-rehearsed photo-ops with the military and little sick kids), people will start to give in to this obvious self-promoting and slanderous propaganda and give them a majority next time around. Seems like a funny way to ensure "fairness and accountability to the people" to me...

The second amendment

New Quebec: The second amendment
Who knows, maybe this is what they really meant?

taxes

I like taxes. It reminds me that I'm fortunate enough to make money and gives me the (false?) good feeling that the money is going towards making the whole of our society better by giving to the needy so they don't break into my house or mug my friends or family in the street.

Now, if only the government could tap into the gazillions of profits our oligopolous banks are making off our backs as effectively as it taxes us at the gas pump (right now they're all being declared in offshore tax havens), maybe that money could we finally go to fixing the health care system rather than buying new plasma TVs and collection Ferrarris for the already uber-rich foreign mega-shareholders...

five things

I think the five following things are necessary for motivation and success, at any level, be it personal, professional, industrial, cultural, even national.

1. talent (capability)
2. capital (have the means to apply, e.g., pay the entry fee, start a business, or bribe a diplomat to "join the club" whatever that club may be)
3. desire to achieve (desire to apply)
4. vision (direction, guidance as to apply it wisely to improve chances of achieving the desired impact)
5. confidence in your chances of achieving (believe it is accessible)

The USA has more of all of the above than any other country today, which makes them appear a little arrogant (could it be jealousy?). I believe that collectively, we canadians have the talent, capital, vision and confidence (1,2, 4 and 5), but for some reason we content ourselves with doing little more than shipping our natural resources to the USA so we can buy back finished goods. That's fine if you're content to be no.2 in North America, and somewhere in the top 10 in the world, but I think we could be a lot better, if we only had the couliones (sp?) , the desire to take a little risk and be no.1 in a few things (other than things the rest of the world has banned, like GM foods).

I might have snubbed our yankee neighbours on a few occasions, but in all fairness, I think we have to admit economically we're about as adventurous as buzzards, living off the remains of the kill once the yanks are done with it.

(Thanks NN, RW, DL for helping me come about to see things this way.)

you will respect my authori-tie!

Ref:South Park featuring bleeding statue
Since when do people get so riled up about cartoons?
I can just imagine how much self-restraint it took Parker/Stone NOT to sketch a face-off between Cartman and a Zoo-Kneeland bishop!
Luckily, it backfired, restoring my "faith" in the world. :)

too simple for government

Clarification: When I previously mentioned that I don't expect a city to be run like a private enterprise, I meant a "for-profit" private enterprise.
There are a lot of things the city could learn from not-for-profit organizations like fan clubs. (DL: I'm with you on this one, all the way)
BTW, weren't not-for-profit orgs once called "non-profit"? Does it mean that if they accidentally-on-purpose make a profit, is that ok now?

rest in peace; Good Government on back-order

Why is the CDS meeting with aghan village elders?
Now I know it's important for the 4-star general to support his troops, but to do their job for them? Hillier is not the mission leader, there is another canadian general in charge of that, PLUS he himself has appointed another general in charge of all foreign operations. Why is Hillier intervening/ interfering like that with his own generals?
Afghanistan isn't the only place in the world we've got troops committed to. And meanwhile, who's looking after all the rest of the Canadian Forces that he's in the process of breaking and re-organizing, not to mention the brand-new defence minister? Is he trying to create a diversion from more important but thorny issues? This, combined with the recent splurge of state VIP appearances at military ceremonies and funerals, appears to be yet another unfortunate exhibit that our government is following the US example of favouring political spins and fancy photo ops over good governance. >:(
Note that despite my opposition to these alleged photo-ops, I very much appreciate how important all this is for the families of the deceased. However, I'm concerned that the government (and the media and the general culture) become more focused on glorifying the dead and the mission, than determining whether the mission (and the means) really is in the world's best interest...

today's online poll

Submitted to metronews.ca editor earlier today:

In addition to the poll whether Canada should pull its troops out of Afghanistan or not, you should poll your readers whether Parliament should have a vote so our elected representatives can decide what's in this country's best interests. After all, aren't they the ones we entrusted (and pay a lot of money to) to make these decisions for us?
While I commend you for raising social awareness on this contentious issue, offering people the chance to express their opinions in such a convient pill-popping manner (outside of the system) is damaging to our democracy.

M.Labreche
Ottawa

I just don't get it

What is peoples' obsession with the rich and famous? Is it because they are symbols of everything that we might achieve one day? Is it because people so bored with their own lives that they live the glamour life vicariously through the RAF? Why do people buy magazines about them or obsess over their movies or buy their products? What is it about human nature that makes us instinctively rally around somebody RAF and make them even more RAF? What's in it for us? Gratification when we see them succeed even more?

I find it all so, illogical... and silly... and shallow.

Centuries ago it was royalty, then it became politicians, now it's becoming celebrities. Why do we do this to ourselves? Why can't we content ourselves with what we have, and work hard at making it better for ourselves and those in need? What is the benefit, other than amusement of the poor and the desperate in this completely perverted version of Robin Hood, or this passive-aggressive attempt to destroy our society by rotting it from the inside out?

On this note, the teaser for Mel Gibson's Apocalypto had an applicable quote, something like: "A civilization can only be conquered from the outside when it has already been destroyed from within."

what's good for the good is good for the gander

This is plain senseless:
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/03/08/plagiarism-software060308.html
What is wrong with teachers checking their students' papers against a plagiarism service when there is a doubt? Of course any respectable student will string together eight consecutive words from another source, and he/she has the responsibility to give the original author credit for it. If he/she doesn't, then its plagiarism. Copyright and author's rights aside, does the freedom to cheat override the right to an education? With the increased availability of others' materiel online to students, teachers should have access to an increased ability to check!

Democracy v. Religion

Cet article m'a fait réfléchir...
La raison principale pour laquelle je suis contre les fusions municipales, c'est l'anonymat que ressentent les élus et les employés face aux citoyens qui les emploient. Il est très difficile pour qques conseillers surchargés de changer la "culture du moindre effort et des droits acquis." Toutes les réductions de poste de conseiller ont eu pour effet de transférer le pouvoir décisionnel des élus aux non-élus, qui a eu comme conséquence certaines décisions controversées et donc le besoin croissant d'accomptabilité. Me semble que quand t'as un bon ratio citoyen-conseiller, et que les employés de la ville sont chargés du bien-être de leurs propres cartiers, me semble que ces gens seraient mieux disposés à bien servir, si ce n'est que par la pression des voisins...

Comme j'ai déjà dit: plus les élus sont eloignés, moins les citoyens se sentent impliqués, plus les gens se tournent vers d'autres formes de pouvoir, notamment la religion. C'est triste car les religions sont fondamentalement anti-démocratiques, et plus un groupe est fanatique, moins il encourage l'éducation et la liberté de pensée, confiant l'autorité sociale à certains individus qui n'ont pas de "check and balance" autre que la guerre. Cela suggère qu'ils sont contre la guerre mais pas juste pour le bien-être des gens, plutot pour le statu quo de leur pouvoir...

History repeating itself

Isn't it something like this that resulted in the anglican church?

Down another notch

"Back in Ottawa, New Democratic Party Leader Jack Layton is calling for a parliamentary debate on what he calls a changing and increasingly dangerous mission. But Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay said on the weekend that, with more than 2,000 soldiers deployed in Afghanistan, the time for debate and a vote in Parliament has passed."
Source: CBC News

What good are greater accountability and transparency if the government is only going to do what it wants to do anyway?

if I could set the rules... (2)

In schools:
-No junk food in school cafeterias. I don't care that it would violate the freedom to choose what you eat. It's dumb, the kids have little control over it, and many of them will regret it later.
-More general primary and secondary education: it's the time to learn and appreciate various activities and discover your passions (or realize you have no interest in certain things at all). So more languages, music, art, logic, math, philosophy, ecology, geography, etc.
-More phys.ed. in school: team and individual sports, gym, field and pool sports. Especially for those like me who sucked at it. I wish I knew how not to score in my own goal at soccer, for example.
-Find a way to change university funding programs to reduce the incentive on them to drop their standards, recruit like mad, and pump out grads that really won't be able to apply much of what they learned cuz they never got it. That's not doing anybody a favour, plus it's expensive.
More to follow...

if I could set the rules...

• no more stupid pennies
• bury the sales tax in the sticker price: no more guessing if you have enough change to buy something or time wasted counting pennies at the cash
• state broadcaster would air shows about the wrongs english canadians did to french canadians on ENGLISH channels, and vice versa on french channels. We don't gain much by them showing same-sided propaganda.
  
• french canadian film crews would spend more effort publicizing on english media (try to find "les invasions barbares" at a Kanata blockbusters, or even a clerk there who's heard of it). There are a lot of great french canadian movies; english canada could learn a thing or two.
• Increased funding for sistering cities across the country and student exchanges between them - we have a lot to learn from each other.
• Put municipal power back into city council - city amalgamations made the reduced number of councillors a bunch of high-profile rubber stampers who don't have time to actively get involved in real decision-making, resulting in more bureaucrats preserving their self-interests.
• No more splitting utility bills into fourteen different line items - just show me the bottom line. Ditto for marketing campaigns - advertise the bottom line dammit!
  
• Governments at all levels should remind us gently that we all have a responsibility to share what we can with society to make our cities great places to live.
  
• If I wanted our governments to be run like private businesses, I'd live in a timeshare.
  
• I'd have a closer look at companies that post record gains and multi-billion dollar profits quarter after quarter, while their clients (us) have to pay more and more for less and less so their shareholders can further fatten their own pocketbooks. I call that gouging.
• I'd also want to take a closer look at the benefits ratio between CEOs and their lowest employees. As mens' hockey Team Canada proved in Torino, you don't necessarily get someone's heart into something if you only lead them by the chequebook.
• No more celebrity TV shows, if nothing else at least stop the "star sightings". Why are we discouraging multi-million dollar movie stars from leisurely touring and shopping (i.e., redistributing some of their wealth)? To benefit pre-pubescent girls? c'mon! After all, they're real people who happen to be connected, and no matter how much you follow them and shop in the same stores, you won't be any more famous. Get real.
• Everybody should lighten up, not take themselves so seriously. It's ok to be wrong sometimes, it's even better to simply admit you're not sure in the first place. Oh and don't trust anybody who says they have "the truth". Turn around and run. Run like hell. Screaming. And make sure everybody else notices so they remember not to get suckered in next.
• More to follow...
  

even if this isn't how it started...

... most organized religions seem to have evolved as if it were...
(This is a more cynical view than even I usually take!)

life and taxes

Tax is a good thing. It ensures that some of our money gets recirculated in our society, so that not all our money gets turned into profit for a select bunch of already super-rich foreign investors. Taxes keep the rich from getting richer and the poor from getting poorer. Now if only there was a way to prevent bureaucracy from taking such a generous cut...

human rights vs social responsibility

The CRTC is considering granting licences to Chinese state-run television station(s). Protestors demonstrated outside the CRTC today against turning a blind eye to the human rights abuses and licencing the "communist propaganda outlets." The CRTC is proceeding because apparently they have received thousands of requests, which somehow brings me to ponder the larger issue whether stupidity a basic human right, or does the state (i.e., society) have an obligation to curtail self-destructive behaviour?

this year's "get real" award goes to...

"We in Hamas welcome any foreign aid as long as it's not conditional money."
http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/02/27/eu-palestinian060227.html

I agree that democratically-elected governments need (and generally deserve) the right to determine what is best for their constituents, but this absolutely must to be balanced with the "no taxation without representation" principle and the general policy in civilized society against bullying.

value portayal, or betrayal?

what happened to the whole "transparency" promise?
http://www.cbc.ca/national/rex/rex_060222.html
Supreme Benevolent Dictator Dina, could you politely smack our PM upside the head about this?

If You're a Christian, Muslim or Jew - You are Wrong

According to this guy, at least.

It's an amusing read. This line is particularly interesting:
Sanity is an island battered in an ocean of frothing delusion.

Quiet revolution, silent devolution

I very much appreciate Quebec's Quiet Revolution - there was so much oppression and occasional abuse "in the name of God," especially under Duplessis, that Quebec intellectuals banded together and politely exorcised religion from all branches of politics (government, public hospitals and schools, etc.) and replaced it with a mode of governance that focused on the well-being of society as a whole. This is very much in the spirit of the "peace, order and good government" line in the Canadian Constitution.

I sincerely regret the gradual extinction of intellectual politics, as bible-thumpers and peace-makers are once again taking it upon themselves to "fix" everybody else's problems. Does anybody else see a parallel between "it's our duty to export peace" and the crusades of the middle ages? The American government has already embarked on that mission, with less than ideal results, and I hate to see us follow them down that path.

God bless WHOSE Canada, Mr.Harper?

Harper recently closed a speech or something with "God Bless Canada" and created some commotion. See http://redtory.blogspot.com/2006/01/harper-gives-canada-finger.html for an amusing sample.

If this were a standalone incident, I would shrug it off. But with the american talibangelists oops televangelists (thanks Ryan) and other right-wing nuts out there, I am disappointed he would break the very Canadian "keep religion OUT of politics" custom and am therefore quite uneasy.

This, coupled with the Chief of Defence Staff breaking the "keep politics out of the military" custom and publically voicing his political opinion are a GREAT CAUSE OF CONCERN. (Yesterday he commented at a press conference against the Liberals and expressed gratitude for having a Conservative government.) He also said "we have to export stability, or, if we do nothing, we will end up importing instability."

This is a subtle but significant shift in the tectonic plates of our society. Both the CDS and Harper are following the Republican example a little too eagerly, without regard for the progressive, independent and secular social bedrock that defines and ties us together as Canadians. I AM AFRAID. VERY AFRAID.

Ignore the Karla film

I received a petition today to boycott Karla, the film about Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka. Rather than add my name and forward it (e-petitions have no credibility and thus carry no weight) I will just post it here.
There's a fine line between waking the social conscience and profiting from other's pain. Having read a few reviews that qualify this movie as a complete dud with cardboard characters and does not take into account later admissions or findings, I sadly must assume that pure greed was the motive.

"A dear friend of Leslie Mahaffie writes:
Dear All,
I was fortunate to have grown up as a dear friend of Leslie Mahaffie. She was a wonderful person who had a heart of gold and a beauty that radiated from inside. She was a gentle soul that never wanted to hurt anyone. When you remember this tragedy, please remember that these were young, innocent girls who's only mistake was being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Creating a movie and profiting from their torture and deaths only makes this deplorable act worse.

Please take a personal stand against this film. Do not pay to watch it at the theatre and do not rent it. Influence those around you to make the same
decision. By refusing to financially support this movie we can make our
voices heard.

In case anyone forgets or never did know, Paul Bernado and his wife Karla Homolka were both found guilty of murder in the deaths of two Ontario girls and Karla's younger sister, with all three deaths being sexual perversion as well as torture. To give these two fame by making a movie about them is obscene and must not be permitted. So I urge everyone to add their names to the bottom of this petition and forward it to everyone one you know. Thank you. Please add your names. Let's be decent - let's be Canadian.

NOTE: The parents of the two teenage girls that were victims of sexual assault and murder have been trying to prevent this film from being made. Let's see what protest we can make to support them in their efforts. Let's keep this petition moving right along quickly."

For more information : http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/petition/bernardo.htm

Sometimes I wish I had the guts to do this too

http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/01/31/toronto-fightphotos060131.html
Related pictures at: http://www.citynoise.org/article/2770

I'm a little disappointed the photographer (prudently) chose not to post the picture with the licence plate - I'm sure he would have ended up with a lot more than just one key scratch! I just hope the police will follow up and lay proper charges against this jerkwad.

Anyway, I just wish there was some way to potty train all the inconsiderate assholes that throw their cigarette butts, napkins, cups, cans, etc out their car windows or anywhere creating not just an eyesore but a road hazard as well. Each time I've witnessed such behaviour I've been tempted to honk or flash my high beams, only to decide that the slim chance they would get the message, if they even noticed, wasn't worth the noise or distraction it would cause other drivers. (sigh)

Meanwhile if anybody's looking for me, I'll probably be busy picking up cigarette butts and wrappers, kleenex and doggie doo from my front lawn.

Why the Internet will soon be censored

Got this in my inbox today. 1h20m movie that presents a well constructed and well researched conspiracy theory about 9/11, without the Michael Moore-type spectacle (
it didn't mention the plane(s) that gathered all the Saudis (etc) despite the no-fly order, nor did it accuse any politicians of personal gain.) More based on information that was said then retracted or "forgotten" ala true conspiracy.
Loose Change

For every point there is a counterpoint. Read the critique here and make up your own mind who you want to believe. Personally, given their industrial ties, I think the apparent conflicts of interest are too important for the White House not to address.