Stop The Presses

I am done with the mainstream press. It’s as simple as that. I will no longer allow puppets to set the agenda for my life. Amid the intricate cogs required to keep the wheels of democracy turning, the one labeled Fifth Estate is seized. It’s FUBAR. A free, independent press is the cornerstone of democracy – without it, the rest crumbles to ashes. Well, look around you. That ship has sailed, and in large part that is due to the fact that the press was nothing more than a cheap whore standing on the corner, wearing a short leather skirt and letting her boobs hang out, reminding politicians and the corporate elite that absolutely anything, even cornerstones and democracy, are up for grabs. It is this fact, and this fact alone, that has destroyed democracy, and is to blame for the loss of countless thousands of lives.

Gone are the principled, tenacious Woodwards and Bernsteins who, despite being ordered to back off, could smell the blood in the water and demanded of themselves to find out where the bodies really were. Of course, having done that and discovering that there was a bigger payoff in movie and book residuals... These two men were my idols growing up. They did what was right. It was an unrepeatable event, I know – that thing that happens only once in a lifetime, but I am so very thankful that I saw it at least once in my lifetime. I am not so sure that my children will ever see something like that in their lifetimes.

Now our mainstream media is nothing more than the paid propaganda machine, the Joseph Goebbels of our time, telling us what they want us to hear. They aren’t totally to blame. We have made the choice to listen, despite knowing that what they are saying isn’t totally accurate, or that the main part of the story is neatly tucked away where we’ll never find it. We have Brian Williams admitting to lying about a story, and perpetrating that lie for years. We have Amanda Lang keeping secret a massive conflict of interest, and allowing that to skew the true story. We have CNN and, well, every other media outlet, looking for the best, catchiest, cutest title for whatever story they have decided will own the day, and they will cover nothing else but that story. We have Peter Mansbridge selling his soul to ask the most ridiculous, softball questions of a crooked Prime Minister, and challenging absolutely none of the blatant lies he is offered in response. We have Fox... well, let’s not even go there; this is about news media, and anyone who does not or will not see what Fox is doing then deserves the crap that will befall them. Even Sarah Palin readily accepts and states that Fox is – ‘a quasi or assumed Conservative outlet’. The press is not doing its job when it can be labeled as supporting one side; you know, it’s that pesky unbiased, fair thing that catches them up in this regard.

We have a lot of problems in this world. Funny thing, though, is that all of them work to the advantage of the corporate elite. All of it makes money for them – the war on terror in particular. Listen to politicians and the media talk about this. They work overtime to inflame the situation, daily widening the chasm between two groups of people. Ask yourself who benefits from all of this. It’s the people who make the weapons. The more they can stir up shit, the more weapons they sell, and they stack the deck, because they arm both sides. Where did ISIS get their weapons? When are we going to learn? In every conflict the same shit happens, and we sit on our sofas and allow this BS to spew forth from our sets, lapping it up and fearing the Russian, Cuban, Columbian, Mexican, North Korean, Muslim – you pick – hoards. The biggest winner in the Gulf Wars was Haliburton. There is no question there. Look back on other conflicts and see where the weapons came from. I’ll give you a hint – there will only be a few names that pop up.

Canada just signed a deal to give more military supplies to Saudi Arabia. We have a law here that says we are not to sell arms or supplies to countries that will use those arms or supplies against their own people. I guess that only applies when the people are women – then it’s open season. I guess those laws also don’t apply when we know that Saudi Arabia is passing some of those supplies on to our own enemies, either directly or through back door deals. War is guaranteed income. If we don’t fight, there is no more money to be made. That means, to the puppet masters, war is essential because people like the Bush family will never have enough money.

The other benefit though, is that while we are being inundated with looped video of beheadings, the stories we should be hearing are ignored. We’re too busy fearing that ISIS is going to knock down our door and cart us away. We’re too busy giving up our freedom to speak, to write, to think. We’re too busy allowing the government to have access to everything we do, without cause or oversight. The governments are doing this because to them, there is nothing more important than being in power. They love it. Hey have to be there because no one else could do it as good as they do, and because there are definite financial benefits to paving the roads for the beautiful people to drive on. Voters? Who needs them? Democratic elections are nothing more than fraud now. The gerrymandering, the money raising, the robocalling... none of this would be accepted in a democratic, free world.

The politicians, though, aren’t controlling the string. The media has been bought out, and has sold us out, pretty much across the board. Why don’t they cover the slaughter in Nigeria? Because there is no economic plus to it for the people selling weapons. Why, at the time of every school shooting, are people not asking about the guns? Well, you know why. You know the way to solve the problem, but instead it’s just so much easier to allow the NRA and fear screw with your judgment. Why are we hearing every day about Christianity being threatened? Because it’s how you make war. Say what you will about religion, it is sure to always and forever be a money maker for fear mongers and arms sellers. Why are there still people debating the science of climate change? Because it’s not convenient to those who want to make the money from war and oil. Why are people like Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee still given air time? Because they are morons and easily led, despite the absolute utter hypocrisy of their words and ideals: they are fear mongers of the finest kind, and critical to keeping the rest of us cowering and looking in the wrong direction. Why are we being told to panic about the economy right now? Because it’s all designed to make us believe that the only way to salvation is pipelines, pipelines that will do nothing for us. It’s a bit of a Hail Mary pass on the part of the oil companies, but put the value of a barrel of oil into freefall, watch currency fall, watch jobs disappear, and watch the people come running begging for a damned pipeline, giving the oil companies everything they want and more.

The media isn’t the pawn in this game, though. They aren’t being moved around on a whim. They are controlled from within, and are now masters of prestidigitation, their sleight of hand never better as they dazzle us with Snowmagedons or Shock and Awe. It's about stacking the deck against us, against the small business, the upstart, the working man. It's about keeping us in our place, and the best way to do that is to keep us distracted, poor, and working our asses off so we're too tired to notice. We listen to the rote answers, repeated dozens of time, word for word, in an attempt to make us not question, or not think, reminding us that we’re really nothing more than petulant puppies and that whacking us with a newspaper enough times will get the

message through to us. The truly criminal part of all of this, though, is that we’ve let them. The only chink in the armor, for the last 80 years, has been the exposure of Watergate. It’s the one thing that we should remember, daily, because the press did what it was supposed to. It hasn’t happened since. I suspect it never will, at least not in the mainstream media. Mission accomplished? Oh yeah, a lot of missions accomplished, just not the ones the rest of us were privy to, and certainly not ones that are intended to help us. They play us well. 

CRUD OIL

DATELINE: ALONG THE NORTHERN GATEWAY PIPELINE ROUTE, DROWNING IN DILBIT -- It is hard to believe that this is possible, but then again, we are living in the world of Stephen Harper, so nothing should amaze us anymore. The federal government has approved Enbridge's Northern Gateway pipeline. It's amazing how easily bought politicians can be when there is big oil money on the table.

Let's play a game. Let's say we all live in the Mount Royal area of Calgary -- we all come from old money and live in big houses. It's a great life. We have beautiful parks to play in, we spend hours soaking up the sun, we live the high life with everything we want right within our grasp. We are in paradise.

Then one day one of us discovers that by opening up one of the parks -- just one of them -- so that the local sewage rises in great bubbling delight, easily accessible and available to all of us, he can solve all the world's problems. This one person tells us that they have made a startling discovery -- he has learned how to turn this effluent into food that he can then export to all the starving people of the world. It will be a wonderful thing, because it will create jobs because other people will want to learn how we do it. It will boost the economy, put the people who aren't working into gainful employment, and will fill an international need for jobs and food.

None of the rest of us are totally pleased about the smelly mess, and many of us have our doubts about what this might precipitate, but it fills needs, so it must be a good idea... plus we can all make a little coin in the process. We learn that there is a flaw in the plan -- that the bacteria found in the effluent isn't totally removed from the finished product, but we tell ourselves 'what's a little bacteria in the grand scheme of things' and continue to act like this is a wonderful plan. The money we're making proves that.

Some of the water of the coast of BC where large tankers are expected to
navigate. This is one of the four most treacherous water passes in the
world, and has some of the most protected, pristine species in the world.

We then discover that the effluent, while in a quasi-liquid state, won't move down the pipelines we have built, because it is just too thick and sticky, so we add some chemicals to it -- some naptha, perhaps some of the chemicals and ingredients used to help get the effluent from the ground, like arsenic and strychnine, but we really aren't allowed to know what exactly is used to help make the effluent flow. We see evidence of how it eats through the metal of the pipelines, but we tell ourselves that's just the cost of doing business, and when it lands on the ground at one of the spills, we pretend that it really isn't such a big deal, even though those things added to it to make it flow (and that eat the walls of the pipeline) have now contaminated the land, the water and the air all around the spill. It really isn't our concern that no one knows for sure how to stop the leaks, especially when they happen under water, or how to clean up the mess so that the land and water can be reclaimed. After all, it's not in our backyard, and we still have water and food to eat... and money still rolling in. Secretly, though, we shudder at the realization that the bacteria-filled effluent is now being used to water the crops and livestock in the area so they too will be contaminated from it, because the people who live there have no idea what they are doing, and if they do, they have no options because there is no other source of water.

People along these pipelines start to get sick. They get aggressive cancers and ulcers. They find it hard to breathe and they bleed when they go to the bathroom. They can see effluent in their water, but still they are told that it's not a problem -- they just have to trust us, because we would never lie to them, especially while we are still raking in the money. Scientists and medical specialists start to point to the effluent, saying that it is making us sick, so we make laws that say they cannot speak about it anymore... because the money is now flowing like never before, and we have actually convinced people that they NEED our effluent. They WANT it, both the money from it and the jobs it will create to put the pipelines through their towns, because there is really no other source of food for anyone. They have heard the stories about the heinous diseases and sickness associated with it. They have heard about the waterways that are destroyed, and the wildlife and plant life destroyed, about the homes that are inhabitable and standing empty for years because no one can return there; the air, like the water and the land, is toxic from all the things put in the effluent to help it flow down the pipelines. None of that matters, though. They have been told they need this, that this is the holy grail for society, that with this pipeline all their worries and needs will be solved and they too will live in paradise.

If this was a children's story, it would be totally unbelievable. A child would laugh at the stupidity of it, mocking the possibility that people would actually allow something like this to happen. These are educated people, smart people, who plead for shit to be pumped over their land, spilled on their land, and injected under their land. There is unrefuted evidence that the chemical cocktails used to extract and to move this shit cause cancer and cause death and destruction to people, plants and animals, and that it makes the water completely undrinkable, yet they still want it. They have evidence that the scientific community and the medical community have been legally silenced, and that the exact details of what is in the chemical cocktails are kept secret by law to protect the companies making them... yet they still want it. They logically know that the huge number of jobs is a gross misrepresentation, that the jobs will be there for one year, or at the most two, then will be gone because once the pipeline is built, there is no need to build any more... yet they choose to ignore this fact as well, because the shit is manna from heaven.

Yes, I drive a car. If I could buy one that ran on something other than gas, I would. As it is, my vehicle is parked 27 days out of the month. Yes, I know that we need oil for plastics and manufacturing, and we probably always will need oil, but there are safer, better, cleaner ways of getting it, and we all know that. There are incredibly innovative programs and plans, some proven and in use already, but we all want one solution that is 'easy'. Wind generators are ugly (but greasy smelly oil derricks are not?) and they don't work where there isn't wind (well, duh) so they are no good. Scrap that plan. Solar energy is good, but expensive (how much do you think the pipelines, the tar sands and all that goes along with it costs?) and won't work where there is limited sun, like in the north, so let's scrap that entirely as well. Sadly, this innovation and research would put many more people to work, for a lot longer, than any pipeline will, but we don't want to see that either. I suppose it doesn't really matter anymore, though. We have come so far, and are so hoodwinked by politicians and their campaign-funding oil chroneys, that the damage is done.

It is a very sad day when the government of a country sells out it's people. it's health, it's food supply, it's water and it's ethics for the sake of a pipeline that has been decried by experts in every field, from around the world, as a disastrous project.

My friends in the United States, please please please understand that it is NOT oil that will be pumped down those pipelines. It is NOT crude. It is dilbit, a cocktail concoction that eats at pipelines, that cannot be contained when spilled, that cannot be stopped once it is in water or land or the air (the chemicals, when a leak occurs, leach into the air making it toxic). Spend some time looking at the dilbit disaster that is still ongoing in Kalamazoo four years, and $1B after the fact. Understand that the driving force behind the politicians and the oil companies is that they are making not millions, not billions, but trillions of dollars while you are taking ALL the risk as their poison, their shit, moves across your land. Please take some time to learn about what is involved with this process, and what harm it does, and what jobs it will truly create. Weigh their gain against your loss. Research the number of leaks that have occurred in these pipelines, and the damage done -- you will be amazed at what you have not been told, and at the lack of commitment and honesty shown by the oil companies, especially when money is on the table. You still have time... not a lot, but enough that you can stop this stupidity from going any further into your country. Canada once was a paradise. Don't destroy yours as we are so intent on destroying ours. Don't risk another dance with this devil.

We're On The Eve of Destruction

DATELINE: IN A FRONT ROW SEAT FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF DEMOCRACY – By May first – in 32 days, for those of you without a calendar – the Fair Elections Act will pass in Canada. Well, ‘pass’ is a rather inaccurate term, as it will be more a case of it being shoved down our throats, not unlike hemlock in ancient Athens. Of course, the title of the bill is akin to referring to laws regarding rape as the Demand for Love Act. You can put lipstick on a pig, but… well, you know how that one goes. Of course, the Harper Conservatives don’t see it this way. Nooo, they see it as the only way possible for them to win another election – by hook or by crook, as they say. They will steal the House of Commons, because there is NOTHING that is more important to Stephen Harper than being Boss.

Never in the history of Canada has one party changed the rules of election without thorough consultation with the other parties and without agreement from the heads of Election Canada. That is because we are a democracy, and the prime tenet of a democracy is the ability to have fair, honest elections. Without that, democracy is a farce, a cheap façade worn by power mongers who give not one single damn about the people who elected them, and who care even less for those who did not. Of course, there is the valid argument to be made that the current government, the one making these changes, is illegitimate anyways, and God knows this is not their first ‘never in the history of Canada’ achievements.

They were the first government in Canada to be found in Contempt of Parliament. That alone should have been signal enough to the electorate, but what did Harper do? He prorogued parliament in order to avoid scrutiny or asking questions (another first). In fact, he prorogues Parliament whenever the kitchen gets a bit too hot for him. His was the first government to set fixed election dates then was the first government to break that rule as well. His was the first (and second) election in Canada’s history to involve voter fraud – fraud that WAS determined to be committed by the Conservatives. In fact, this government’s record for respecting and working within the bounds of democracy is absolutely abysmal, the rules of democracy and elections discussed by them with derision, offering more than enough proof that they cannot and should not be trusted to unilaterally change the way in which they are elected.

My rage about this, however, is not at the Harper government any longer. That rage is pointless. I have written to the Governor General – a textbook definition of ‘waste of time’ since Rideau Hall is so far up Harper’s anal cavity that they have given up polishing those austere marble floors anymore and have just accepted the brown slime on said floors as a byproduct of Harper’s ravenous appetite. It’s understandable. The man gobbles up people and poops out oil – well, dilbit, to be exact, so undoubtedly they believe the floors of the GG’s mansion to instead be christened with black gold. Certainly the perks and benefits received by the government of the day, including the GG, have that rancid stench of oil clearly attached to them.

I have written to every member of the Senate. When the Fathers of Confederation dreamed up this country, they saw a bi-cameral house, where no one side could run amok with the country they so lovingly created. The Senate was to be non-partisan, a home of the wise, the worn, the well-seasoned, who would provide sober second thought and stop any monkey business should the government of the day attempt some. It’s as if they had a premonition of Stephen Harper taking a chainsaw to their glorious architecture, and wanted to have checks and balances in place to stop it before it could happen. Of course, they didn’t see that corporate greed and obsession for power would override absolutely every other principle involving government, or that their beloved Senate would be completely bastardized, turned into nothing more than a house of government whores working for a pimpish PMO.

My rage is wasted on Harper. It will change nothing. He is what he is – another in a long line of megalomaniacal (misogynist) power mongers, who dreams of more authority every night, and works for more money in his bank account every day… and the people of the country (and the country itself) be damned.

So, what can we do? Do we sit back, raise a glass to the Canada we once knew, and thumb through boutique catalogues from new corporations like Surviving Hitler, or Fascism International, hoping to find something we can use to make our ‘new’ lives more tolerable under this new regime? Our middle class has been decimated, our upper-class has been more empowered, and as we all sink to the depths of the impoverished and enslaved, we find out that this very oppression is what will prevent us from having a right to vote. Harper is creating a self-fulfilling prophecy that will crown him king of his own country in time. Is my explanation extreme? Perhaps… for now. Give the man some time.

Instead, I now ask ‘What the hell are the other parties doing about this?’ Well, I do see some of them on television, arguing the bill, but so what? What are they going to do? When it comes to stopping it, they are in the minority. As government representatives, they are completely impotent to stop this train wreck, and it shows. Flapping lips; sinking ships. I am astounded and dismayed at their lack of actually ‘doing’ something. I have waited for over a month now for them to figure it out, but it seems they just can’t. Party alliances – partisanism – runs too thick in their blood, and the need to be ‘in charge’ is too all consuming for them to be able to see beyond the trees. Because of that, all of us, and our country, and our country’s amazing stellar reputation hang in the balance.

Instead of sending out emails every fecking day of the week asking for more campaign money because ‘we have to collect more than the other guy’, how about doing something to educate the people across this country? How about doing something to organize them? Media pundits say that the public is lazy and indifferent. No, assholes, they are not! They do, however, need some guidance to get organized, and the word has to reach people who don’t have computers in their homes (yes, there still are some, and they are the ones who will be disenfranchised the most from these changes). Why are the local arms of the political parties not getting out there and talking about this to everyone? Why are they not in front of the media locally? Why are they not holding town halls, sending out fliers, AND talking it up on the social media and every other place possible? Why are the provincial arms of the political parties doing nothing like this to inform and organize? Why are the federal offices doing nothing? This is not a time to JUST sit in front of Robert Fife, Rosie Barton or Evan Solomon to pitch the same party lines and listen to the same BS spewed by Conservative members who have no intention of answering a question or providing an explanation. Is it up to just the likes of Katy O'Malley and Andrew Coyne to try to explain what is at stake here? Why are the parties doing more? Well, because they can’t go into those election coffers to spend money prematurely on THIS because then what will they campaign with next year.

This is no longer a situation where political dichotomy can rule the day. WHY ARE THE PARTIES NOT JOINING TOGETHER IN THIS FIGHT? That’s where my anger is. Get the Liberals, the NDP and the Greens together, because the stakes are pretty fecking extreme. Show the people of Canada that you can work together, that you DO care about Canada. Forget raising money for the next election, because if this bill passes, the next election is moot. It’s like saving money for a child’s college fund, then watching that child die because you didn’t want to spend the money saved for college on the medicine he needs now. Canada needs the medicine now! 

There was a time when Canadians were proud of what we did. We were the peace brokers, the calming influence. If there were elections to be held in other countries, where democracy wasn’t as entrenched in their psyches as it was here, WE went to help, to oversee, to teach them about the beauty of casting a ballot, knowing that it was done on a fair, level playing field. Canada, like Rome, wasn’t built in a day, but like Pompei, the Canada we know can be wiped out in one fell blow. For us, it will be Mount Harper that will be our demise, and I have no doubt that he’s up to the task. I only wish our opposition parties were as well.

Canada is under attack… from within. 

Perspective and Priority

Washington, Illinois November 18th, 2013

I came to the realization that today is a very sad day. It’s sad for a number of reasons, all of them calamitous, some for many, some for few. Years ago, I recall reading the riot act to a young RCMP constable I worked with, who blew off a young boy who had come in to report that his bike had been stolen. The boy was about 8. A stolen bike is not a career-making case for a police officer but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a tragedy to the child.

I remember being barked at by a nurse in the hospital one day when I was very pregnant for the first time. I reminded the doctor when he chimed in that while he might deliver babies every day, I didn’t, and it would be nice if he could remember that. I also reminded him that I took car accident reports every day, but never once did I minimalize his trauma when he was in a fender bender. That same doctor, several years later, held my hands and cried when he told me that while he had delivered the news to someone about a diagnosis of cancer, he never really understood what those words meant to the patient, until he heard them himself. He thanked me for helping remind him from time to time about perspective.

When I was a telephone operator, we were taught to cut in to a call in case of an emergency, but that we had to confirm it was a real emergency. The problem is, as our supervisor was careful to point out, emergencies are not always what we think they are. Her experience had been that she cut into a call for an emergency call to be put through to that number. As required by the phone company, she stayed on the line to ensure it was, in fact, an emergency. The caller who requested her to interrupt the current call was in tears, but her emergency when she finally got through was to beg for someone to bring her some curlers for her hair. An emergency? Well, maybe not in our everyday worlds, but it was definitely one for the caller. It was her wedding day, she had one hour to get ready, and her steam rollers had died. Her hair was a disaster on the most important day of her life. Even emergencies, I suppose, can be relative.

The point about all of this is that all of these stories are about perspective and priorities. Each story, each situation, has several perspectives and each has to be looked at according to priorities. Why is that so hard for us to remember or respect these two facts? Why is our judgment of what is important so skewed?

Last night, in Washington, Illinois, disaster struck. It blew into town, hell bent on destruction. Homes were ruined, livelihoods were destroyed, some lives were taken. It happened in winter, where night temperatures, even in what I might consider a southern climate, can be brutal, especially when you have absolutely nothing left. Unfortunately, instead of talking about this disaster, the story fell in line after twenty minutes of Rob Ford, the infantile over-indulgent mayor of Toronto in his mid-life Justin Beiber wannabe crisis.

Tacloban, Philippines Nov 18, 2013

Last week, there was a typhoon of epic proportions in the Philippines. Bodies are still being uncovered. Aide is still desperately needed. Entire communities are lost, and the prospects, like in Illinois, are not promising for the families touched by these storms. It will take weeks, years in fact, before life can possibly turn to something sort of resembling normal for these people, who will forever be haunted by what can happen in the fury of a storm in the blink of an eye. Instead of telling us how to help, what organizations actually move the aide forward instead of using it to line their own pockets or to pay for their high corporate first class flights and five star executive offices, we have to hear more about... Rob Ford and his lunatic ravings.

Radioactive sea water from Fukushima Nov 2013

Last year, there was an earthquake and tsunami in Fukushima, Japan, that caused extensive damage to the nuclear reactors there. Ten days ago, they started work to try to get the reactive cores out of the plants, a task that is so fraught with danger, one slip of one fraction of an inch could result in an explosion many times that of the bombing of Hiroshima. While this is going on, though, radioactive contamination is spilling into the pacific at about the same speed as a BP oil leak. The nuclear contamination is spreading hundreds of thousands of square miles into the ocean, already almost on the shores of that ecological gem, Hawaii. It is less than a year away from the shores of North America. There is no contingency plans, no assistance being accepted, no protocol for dealing with what is happening in our water, something that could destroy the majority of ocean life on half of the globe. What is the news covering? Rob Ford, his crack and his wife's bountiful attributes.

Today, the Center for Global Development released their statistics, stating that Canada was at the bottom of the barrel – the very bottom of the barrel – in their commitment to providing aide, in various forms, to the poor of the world and in our commitment to protect the environment. Our Environment Minister also stood up today and knowingly, unabashedly lied about Canada’s commitment to the UN Climate Change Conference, stating that we are making progress that even documents from her own department show are false. One has to wonder at the sad irony of these news stories all playing out right now, where climate change and record-breaking weather anomalies, caused by climate change, are destroying lives by the tens of thousands. What did we hear on the news today about this story? Nothing. We were watching Rob Ford knock down fellow city council members and proclaiming his Jesus moment that made him turn over a new leaf (however temporarily that leaf may be turned). 

No Mo Ro Fo -- Rob Ford, Mayor of Toronto

I readily acknowledge that the claims made against the mayor of Toronto are news, and do need to be taken seriously. It is abhorrent to think that a public official at such a high level in the largest municipality in Canada has opened the doors, putting his family, his council and his co-workers at what could be immense peril because of his criminal connection and business. He has opened his children up to ridicule, and to danger. He is dealing with a criminal element, by his own admission, on more than once occasion, in a manner that is absolutely not acceptable. He can play his word games, he can thunder around and bully, because that is what we seem to reward in politics and business these days, but it doesn’t change the fact that because of his actions, people could have been killed, kidnapped, extorted, injured, or illegally financially rewarded. Yes, this is news, but it is not 20 minutes at the top of every news show for days on end. We know what he has done, we are aware of the allegations. Let the city council now do their job to mitigate the damage this moron and his brother can do, and relegate them to where they belong in the news cycle – after the serious, new news. The people of Toronto deserve better. The people who live off the ocean, or eat the fish, or swim in the water deserve better. God knows, the people of Washington, Illinois and those in the Philippines definitely deserve better. It’s time for the media to step up to the plate, own their share in this mess, and get back to being reporters of news. 

Perhaps the Horse Needs Obamacare?

DATELINE: THE HORSE IS DEAD BUT WE ARE STILL WATCHING THEM FLOG IT – On March 23, 2010, in the United States, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) became a reality. That’s how it works in politics – bills are proposed, presented, voted on and either passed or rejected. Not everyone is happy about it; that’s also how it’s supposed to be. Those who saw problems with the bill should accept that the majority had spoken, and turn their attention to helping make the program as effective and efficient as possible. That’s their job. That’s what they are paid to do – for bills they like and the ones they don’t like. Let’s face it, there is nothing that will be passed through any political body that makes everyone happy; that’s simply not possible. Those opposed have perspective, though, and should then use that to help make it the best possible.

Since March 23^rd, 2010, there was a presidential election. Because that election returned Obama to the oval office, his PPACA was, in essence, given majority approval by the population of the United States. Nevertheless, also since March 23^rd, the US Congress, led by John Boehner and the GOP, has voted AGAIN on the Affordable Care, not once, not twice... but 42 times. This by itself is inconceivable. No other bill in no other government has gotten 42 do-overs, still losing every one, yet still insisting on one more kick at the cat.

While they are doing this, issues of banks run amok are not addressed (then again, with Mrs. Cruz being a regional director for Goldman Sachs, Teddy certainly doesn't want to see the banks regulated). Issues of unemployment and underpay are not addressed. Issues of national security are not addressed. Issues of paying the military are not addressed. Instead, these petulant children are still stomping their feet, throwing a temper tantrum that they did not get their way. This sort of dedication is not impressive; instead it begs the question ‘what is really motivating these morons?’

Now though, the GOP has attached a rider to their attempt to quash PPACA. They have decided that if they don’t get their way, they will refuse to make available the money necessary to keep the country running. That means that, first and foremost, those people in the military will again take it on the chin. It means that those who depend on their pension checks are out of luck. It means that crime will run amok as prisons are unattended. Think about what your government does... then imagine no one doing any of that. This is a tactic that will not hurt any corporation and it will not hurt anyone sitting in Congress or the Senate because, well, they have already taken care of themselves.

Ted Cruz stood for 22 hours in a very deliberate attempt to stop the wheels of congress, to stop debate and discussion. He talked about the outrage of the people of the country because nothing is being done. HOW THE HELL DARE HE! He said that the people of the country are getting frustrated. HOW THE HELL DARE HE! He is reading Green Eggs and Ham, a book about trying things that you are 100% opposed to, as he throws his tizzy about having to swallow ‘Obamacare’. Wow. Absolutely everything he is doing is blatantly a slap in the face to the working, struggling people of the country, and he knows it.

Ted Cruz’ actions would be less disingenuous if he offered options to the problems he sees with PPACA. He would have much more credibility if, rather than supporting the gouging insurance companies and taking political contributions from big pharmaceutical companies. If he wasn't firmly and comfortably ensconced in the pockets of Corporate America, people might give a shit about what he has to say. His objections have nothing to do with the working people, the sick people, the tired people, the struggling people or the retired people of America.

Conveniently enough, issues like oil pipelines can’t be discussed or debated – they don’t want that because that might mean scientific and statistical information might come out that doesn’t support their position. They can’t discuss GMO’s and fracking, things that can and will kill hundreds of thousands of people, while politicians sit back and plead ignorance about letting the companies doing these things run roughshod through peoples’ lives. There are too many issues that they just don’t want to deal with, so let’s waste time flogging an already long-dead horse.

So, neglecting their duties for two years, while pulling in huge paychecks and donations from their corporate sponsors, while people continue to suffer in ways that they should not be suffering, wasn't enough. Playing silly-bugger with the government finances, imposing even more hardships on retired people and the military while they carry on with this charade of legislating FOR the people was not enough. That wasn't enough of a threat. It didn't work, so now they threaten to shut down the entire country. I guess you don’t have to look very far to find those new-fangled American home-grown terrorists, because they ARE playing with peoples’ lives, they are threatening livelihoods and ways of life and they are using fear and trying to force capitulation. Beware the enemy within.

The GOP has more than proven themselves to be nothing more than self-serving thugs. In essence, all thugs are self-serving; the only way to stop them, though, is to have someone with the balls to stand up and be counted, to say ‘Enough!’ Washington is, apparently, infested with thugs – corporate and political. Sadly, I have no idea who the hero will be in this scenario, who will stand up for the people, who will actually do what he/she took an oath to do. All evidence so far, though, shows that it will not be Obama. He was a man who talked the talk, but he sure as hell doesn't walk the walk. More’s the pity, and good hardworking Americans continue to foot the bill. 

Another Stellar Political Performance

Scandal! Caught playing iPhone game at

3+ hour Senate hearing - worst of all I lost!

DATELINE: KNOWING WHEN TO FOLD EM - I sat for three and a half hours yesterday, watching the US Senate hearings regarding a response to the crisis in Syria. I did this because, as a Canadian with many attachments to people on the southern side of the 49^th, I believe this is a very critical point in history. I did this because I recognize that the results of this decision WILL impact me – it could result in more threats to security to all of us, it could require that friends and their loved ones will be required to serve in Syria, it definitely could set a precedent for future diplomacy around the world and it very much will have an impact on the global economy, especially if the wrong decision is made. I felt it was important because trillions of dollars and tens of thousands of more lives, Syrian and American, could be at stake. I watched because I wanted to know if there was more information, more learned opinions who are familiar with the situation offering possible alternatives or different insights as to whether or not someone should interfere. I watched this because it could change how regimes are dealt with, how civil wars are dealt with in the future. I needed to know more because I am concerned about the credibility and efficacy of the United Nations, and in particular the UN Security Council, that appears farcically impotent at best. There were many reasons to watch, or to at least keep tabs on the discussions and questions.

I was not paid to be there, as every one of those people in that senate chamber were. In fact, they are paid damned handsomely for sitting in there. As I listened, though, I thought about family members who had fought in wars, who had been injured in wars... I have interviewed many over the years in the course of doing research, and I thought about every one of them, and how they talked about war. I thought about their perspective of war – the perspective of men and women who agreed to defend the country, who are paid peanuts to do so, but who nonetheless do as they are ordered, despite their own personal concerns or disapproval of the action. There was none who didn’t have a story about an asinine order issued from a commander. Now, commanders are human, and they make mistakes. Some of them do what they think is best for the right reasons. Overall, they accept that the person one rank higher than them always had their backs, that someone would be watching out and making sure the stupidity was cut off at the knees. It is imperative for those in uniform to know, to be able to trust, that those making decisions are doing so in a dedicated, informed, responsible manner.

So, enter Senator John McCain. This is a man who wore a uniform, who spent time as a POW, who has tried to become President of the United States, and probably, sadly, will try again. Not only does he disrespect... blatantly disrespect... the people of the United States, the people in the countries around the United States and around Syria, the people of Syria, the men and women wearing uniforms but he also disrespects... blatantly disrespects... the other people in that senate chamber, by playing god damned games on his cell phone instead of paying attention. It was three and a half hours. He can’t sit and pay attention for that long? Well, then, Mister McCain, it’s time for you to check into the senior’s home and see if you can handle a whole game of scrabble in one sitting. God knows the troops who could end up involved because of a misstep by the US government would be committed to something a hell of a lot longer than three hours.

So, while I was incensed by McCain’s indifference and disrespect, his tweeted response and all his subsequent responses today should have him standing in a dock facing treason charges. He blows off the concerns by flippantly complaining that he lost pretend money? We’re talking lives and potentially trillions of dollars, and a global economy, and this moron is seriously making comments about his poker money? He is implying that people have no right to be mad or question him. He is implying that a three hour meeting is more to expect from any human being... what with their crystal water glasses, plush chairs, and minions waiting on you. If I was paid to sit in a meeting for three hours and I pulled out my phone to play a game on it, my ass would be out the door so fast, my head would be spinning, so how the hell dare you, Mister McCain, how the hell dare you criticise people for expecting that you at least pay attention.

It is to be hoped that the next time John McCain next appears on a ballot, that those who support him are too damned busy playing on their cell phones to be able to find their way to the voting booth. It’s hard to believe, though, that they would not just laugh him out of the state.

I HAVE A DREAM; IT SURE AS HELL ISN'T ABOUT WAR

DATELINE: SITTING ON THE AIRRAFT CARRIER, WAITING FOR THE 'MISSION ACCOMPLISHED' SIGN TO UNFURL... AGAIN -- This, on the week where we watched, celebrated and remembered the words and deeds of Martin Luther King Jr, is unbelievable. You simply can't make this shit up. Those who know me, know that I am not heartless. Seeing an image of a child sick or hungry will bring me to tears. When researching history, I am sickened by the horrid things man has done to man, for the sake of power, for the sake of some asinine religious ideal, for money and fame. I have made no secret of the fact that I believed that there was a need to diplomatically intervene in the situation in Syria, to work towards stopping the brutal regime of Bashar al Assad. That said, it sickens me that there is any sort of discussion regarding any other country using military force. It astounds me that, again, we haven’t learned.

What is to be accomplished by a military response in any fashion? Only strategic military targets will be attacked? Well, that’s nice, but Assad is not a fool. He has moved his targets, left nothing but empty shells of buildings for anyone else to aim at. Munitions will be in hospitals, schools, residential areas where he can use his people, the people who were demanding change from him two years ago, as his shields. He has moved some supplies out of the country, with the help and under the protection of whatever bat-shit crazy despot of the day is calling the shots in Iran, and with the support and assistance of Putin. There is no reason to believe that other countries are not also supporting Assad, whether or not they agree with what he does but because they have to on principle – they cannot afford to have other countries interfering in what they do, and they will want to stop that before it happens again. Iraq is still fresh in their momories.

So there is no effective target to take out. It requires an escalation, so more missiles are fired, more bombs dropped, more guns fired. Why is going to be hurt by that? Well, the people who are living there, just wanting this to end. Yes, technology makes aiming a weapon more exact, but even with that, please look at the number of people who have perished in Iraq and Afghanistan. Adding more weapons, and more soldiers, puts more people at risk. How, then, does all this end? Well, if it’s Afghanistan or Iraq, it doesn’t. Every other war has ended with diplomatic negotiations. Why can’t we skip the middle-man, avoid the extra deaths and thousands of maimed people, and cut right to the chase?

Wait! Let me answer that. We can’t because our politicians are in the pockets of the people who are sitting back with shit-eating grins on their faces, applauding the President of the United States for taking the bait – and yes I really do believe it’s bait; Obama, through his own self-righteous stupidity in drawing ‘a red line’ that was unenforceable, backed by a lot of bullying in the media, is walking into a trap from which there is no escape. Think about how much one plane, one missile, all the technology, the bullets, the guns cost. It shouldn’t be hard. The last two wars have cost billions of dollars each year, and countless lives that should not have been on the bargaining table in the first place. The people who own those companies, who also support their political party of choice (which tends to be whichever one is in power, because they like to hedge their bets) are over the moon about this. Ka-ching, Ka-ching, they can hear those new cars rolling up and those new mansions being built, with no regard for the hard work of taxpayers who foot the bill, or for the blood that will be spilt. Missiles are their blood diamonds.

But there is another equally as pertinent reason for not going into Syria. It’s not anyone’s business. Harsh? Hell yes, but this is not a time to be pussy-assed about it. The Syrians are using chemical weapons on their own people. Well, the US government used Agent Orange in Vietnam, exposing civilians and their own soldiers to an incredibly cruel, heinous death. They didn’t know it would do that? Bullshit. They knew it would do that, because it did that to the people exposed to it ten years earlier in Korea. They then buried the crap in landfills, near water supplies, still knowing what it would do, hoping that by forbidding anyone from talking about it, things would be perfectly fine. Weapons of mass destruction? Does that include Napalm? Where the hell does the US or any other country, get off in condemning anyone for doing what they have already done with impunity.

Don’t get me started on the allowing of the contamination of water, which is no different than throwing Poison in the town well, and their back-pocket association with companies who daily add poisons to our food, genetically modifying it so that it has no nutritional value but does keep the coin rolling in for Monsanto.

The other reason it is no one’s business is because this is a civil war. The people of Syria wanted change, and they stood up, impassioned, determined, wanting to own their freedom and their future. It is no different than what black people did in order to get to sit on any bus seat or eat in any damned restaurant they wanted to in the US. It was no different than the American North going to war against the South over a principle. What would have happened if France had lobbed bombs and put soldiers on the ground in America during that war? What if Germany had said ‘we are opposed to that, so we are going to come in and pick sides’? Would there be an African American US President if the country had not been allowed to deal with the issue the way they had to?

Yes, war is ugly. It’s ugly on the battlefields and in the homes of the people caught in the middle. It is even uglier, yet better disguised, in the back rooms, the marble halls where decisions are made over cognac and caviar, while businessmen dream of counting the cash they will have in their vaults. It’s time people wake up. War IS hell and it should always, and forever, be a last resort when a sovereign nation is threatened by another. The people of Syria have the right and the need to deal with this, to cause the changes they need and demand in their lives, and it is no place for anyone else to try to pick sides.

 

One again, we hear that this is necessary for international security and safety. Sorry, that ship sailed. The argument has no credibility. The last time, we found out the argument was nothing but a string of lies. The argument is stronger that for the sake of international security and safety, military involvement must be avoided. Declaring war on Iraq because of their WMDs did nothing to make the world a safer place. Now Mr. Obama is referring this issue to Congress, that austere body of politicians who cannot even agree on the purchasing of a damned stapler, and talk of reinstituting the draft raises its ugly head.

So, do I want to sit here every night and look at the torture Al-Assad unleashes on children and families? No, absolutely not, but what I want in this regard is not germane to the discussion. The answer, though, is in diplomacy and in legal avenues, not war. If Al-Assad is guilty of crimes against humanity, charge him, lock him up, try him and deal with it, while letting his country heal and rebuild. Provide him a place to meet with HIS enemy, broker the deals, do the backroom diplomacy that proves the worth of a real leader. A real leader works to keep his people OUT of harm’s way, works to make the world better, and he does that by example, through dialogue, through empathy, through patience, and through tolerance, exampling all these things along the way. We have created international laws and international courts; why can’t we give them the opportunity to work?

Bashar Al-Assad is evil. There is no debate about that. There are a lot of evil men in the world, and the way to deal with them is through the courts. He should have been reined in two years ago, being held accountable to international courts. Instead of adding more lives to the cost ledger in this civil war, fix the United Nations, which is nothing more than a pathetic, sick joke. There is much that needs to be done, and much that can be done. More military involvement is not one of them.