Wil's Rant

The article doesn't really go into the real issues of this one very deeply. So here goes. The U.S. doesn't like this guy that much is certain. He's a little too vocal in his quest for the legalization of pot. The last thing that they really want down there in the "land of the free" is actually freedom of speech. While the lynchings have kind of gone out of fashion, the current attempts at shutting anyone who doesn't tow the party lines mouth are almost as bad complete with the name like traitor having been recently popular. Part of the charges against these guys have to due with the selling of pot seeds over the internet. If in fact they were doing this, I would have to think that they were being particularly foolish indeed. Knowing full well that the Yanks would like nothing more than to have the chance to slap a few federal offences on him, why would an intelligent activist go so far to flaunt the laws of another nation, and laws that have teeth at that. Work for change if you like, but it's not wise to taunt the draconian American Drug enforcement regulations. In them there parts, they put people in jail for an awful long time for relatively small amounts of drug possession. The Pot Party must certainly have known that. Perhaps they might try to fight the extradition on the grounds that to allow it would be a violation of their rights to a fair trial and sentencing appropriate to the crimes they have committed based on the current American laws. I understand these guys fight for logic and ethics within the Canadian legal system when it comes to the subject of pot. At least a case could be made for discrimination. In a court of law it can easily be proved that the effects from pot, while different, pose a much less danger to the body and society than either cigarettes or alcohol. Therefore to make this substance illegal can only be viewed as ignorant and discriminatory. All the rhetoric about organized crime associations have been far overblown, and the ones that do exist are in fact a direct result of the ignorant laws that have been applied thusfar

On the one hand, the Islamic Community is stepping up their condemnation of the actions of the small number who are committing these atrocities. This is in hope of maintaining the peaceful, and pleasant for both sides, relationship that they have developed in places like Canada. Meanwhile the legal pressures continue to build as more nations start to take direct action. The expulsions are only the first likely step in a conflict that may easily escalate into a world wide sanction against all Muslims, not just those responsible for terrorism. We've seen things like that before, the Jewish peoples of the world have long had to fight against racism at a genocidal level. The people of Israel are in some ways still fighting this battle. These types of genocidal conflicts continue to this day in many parts of the world. The question becomes at what point does chaos take over and the fabric of society totally break down?

Or as unusual depending on how you look at it. Now they're raiding the offices of activists lawyers. Doesn't look like there is much chance that Akbar Ganji has much chance of getting out of prison alive. To me that sounds like business as usual in Iran. Oh, by the way, has anyone been reading about the youth executions there. The latest two were executed apparently for being gay. Not exactly a holiday paradise I'd say!

A Congressional Hearing over a video game. No... Really!!! You'd think that these guys would have a whole lot better things to spend their time and money on. Couldn't this one have been dealt with by a much, much lower court. Of course, the Congress wouldn't get all that great media attention that this one is sure to generate... but a Congressional Hearing.. Please, get a grip would yah guys, this is hardly an issue that merits this kind of attention by the center of U.S. Democracy.

Or so it looks to be in some parts of Alberta. What's a girl to do if you call the R.C.M.P. saying someone's coming through your window and your scared out of your mind, and they don't bother to come. In this case, she died is what she did. Now here's the kicker, in Canada, had she killed him instead, she would most likely have done some kind of sentence. Seems you have to be able to prove your life was in imminent danger to plead self defense. I guess she proved that all right!

James Doohan ( Scotty) has gone on to better things. Almost forty years after the original Star Trek, Scotty will for sure not be returning to entertain us as Scotty on the Enterprise. We'll miss him.

Can You blame them? I can't say I'd want the cops to take a wait and see attitude with this one if I were there. An innocent man got shot! Innocent of what is my question? When the cops told him to stop, why did he run? What if the guy had been a real terrorist? Waiting to see could very well end up in many dead, innocent people. So, get used to it. These type of policies are going to become very common in light of the waves of terrorism now sweeping the globe. As I've before, these guys might as well be working for Bush! They certainly couldn't do more to assure his continued rule, and more importantly, the election of another with the same attitudes as George.

More and more the facts are coming out. Rove did it, at least part of it, Bush knew it and likely instructed it, all of which means exactly nothing so far in the new America under Bush. Apparently Bush is nearly invincible to the truth in the modern, terrorism fearing U.S.

Meanwhile, the U.S. is getting worried about Chinese oil pursuits, China is threatening nukes over Taiwan. and a U.S. representative suggests nukes be used against Mecca if terrorists nuke U.S. soil.


Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

Yet another vessel whimpers into port after only hours at sea. Hopefully our government will see at some point that they are dis-honoring us all, not to mention the navy, by their continuing lack of support. I think it's time to put up or go home when it comes to our armed forces. These guys deserve better and should not have to risk their lives due to lack of the proper, operational, equipment.

Talk about over-reacting. A girl defends herself from a group of bullies and they call out SWAT! Sometimes it's all too clear when the cops get way carried away. This is one of them. Judging from the report, the cops themselves are guilty of mental child abuse and un-lawful detention.

Some of the moderate followers of Islam are speaking out against the rash of terrorism now taking place all over the world. They are rightly pointing out that such acts have nothing to do with God. The vicious killers of innocents are bringing the world to the brink of chaos, while attempting to throw us all back into the dark ages. They must be stopped! It is all our faults that these people exist at all, not to mention the acts of people like George Bush who has accomplished anything but making the world a safer place.

The first thing that comes to my mind over this one is the question as to what took so long? Visa has been named as defendant in a lawsuit brought by merchants over it's charges to them. Merchants have to pay a percentage of sale for every transaction put through their service. This amount is over and above the rates they charge card holders. These costs get passed along to all customers, not just credit card users. Therein lies part of the problem, another part is the price fixing aspect of the whole thing.

Another question that comes to mind is bank machine fees. I've heard over and over about how the use of automated tellers saves the bank massive amounts in payroll. I've heard that the use of said machines costs these institutions less that five cents per transaction. Yet we are being charged on average $1.50 per use. Now that is some sweet profit figure. What a remarkable co-incidence that nearly all the banks are now charging about the same amount for this service. Now that is something. 3000 % profit being uniformly charged by all the banks. That's a class action suit if ever I've heard one, both for price fixing and abuse of the responsibility that these guys have to agree to in order to gain a charter in the first place. Any lawyers out there looking to make themselves famous might want to pay attention!

Actually yes, in the long run. I've said it before, having the ability to process the beef right here in Canada is much better than importing processed Canadian beef from the U.S. Canada is meeting the need. Beef processing in Canada is expanding rapidly. Contrary to the thousands of layoffs in the American industry, in Canada jobs are growing. Beef prices here are down while beef prices in the U.S. are way up. I doubt that the Canadian beef producers are real happy about the way things have been going, but from a nations standpoint I'd have to say that the situation couldn't be better!

Another thing there seems to be no end to the supply of is men who use religion to justify what is essentially closed little clubs where young girls are traded, brainwashed and raped. This practice spans the world including the U.S. There are many different forms from the American variety to the Middle Eastern arranged marriages, it all amounts to the same thing. Let the kids grow up for God's sake and leave them alone!

Now that we've had a few ears to assess to war on terror, I'd have to say we aren't exactly winning. In fact terrorism is now a worse problem than ever before. What's going on George? When are we going to see this safer, more secure world we've heard so much about

Meanwhile back in Iraq, the civilians continue to die, the country borders on chaos, and there seems and endless supply of young men who believe that they will get seventy virgins for blowing up innocent people. Oh, by the way, this picture of heaven doesn't seem to apply to both men and women. I can't imagine that the seventy virgins would consider this to be much like paradise, Next!

It's almost too predictable. Now that his buddy Rove is in the hotseat over his actions concerning the infamous leaks, George has stated that he still has great faith in the man. Yeah, faith in the fact that he will do exactly as he is told as he always has eh George! Wink, Wink.

In moves that were predicted a while back, China is moving very quickly to secure it's present and future oil supplies in what looks to become a desperate struggle. China's growth has been both staggering and long-winded. Not to long ago we heard a large scale buyouts in the North American oil companies. Now we read about deals with Nigeria and Russia. This ones going to get interesting real fast!

As the rest of the world tries to make agreements on the environment, the U.S. continues to hold out. As I've stated before this fact can be deceiving. The U.S. may not be signing agreements, that doesn't mean that they aren't making progress. Canada has signed the Kyoto accord but has translated this fact into very little in the way of greenhouse gas emissions. The Americans may in fact accomplish more without signing. More on this in the linked article.

The predictable result of the growing terrorist threat is beginning. In New Zealand, Britain and The U.S. these type of incidents are on the rise. My problem with the whole concept is the fact that it is not very likely that those harmmed by these attacks have had nothing whatsoever to do with the bombings or extremism. That fact won't stop the backlash, though. These types of attacks against the innocent by the terrorists will eventually galvanize the entire globe against them, not exactly a desirable situation for the average Muslim whose life will be made much more difficult in the process.

I can't understand what exactly is the long term goal of the people behind the specific bombing of innocents. Surely they must realize that they are doing anything but helping the average Muslim person. Racial intolerance towards Muslims is increasing around the world. Countries will begin to place more and more strict conditions on all Muslims, not just the guilty ones. I've said it before and I'll ay it again, we are headed for a new religious war. Moderates from all sides must make their voices heard if this is to be avoided. Many Muslim clerics are now speaking out, this is a good thing.

The U.S. courts appear to be siding against the journalists these days as more and more their right to protect their sources is over-turned. What gets me is the fact that this issue is overshadowing the real facts of this case which is the vengeful release of the identity of a U.S. ambassador's wife as a C.I.A. agent after her husband had criticized George Bush.

The real questions remains... will they listen? By all accounts, the concerts were a great success. The reality of the situations is that real change may be very slow in coming. Even the most dedicated politico will have to go up against a corporate and political opposition that may prevent that person from achieving success. Once real assistance is given and a more equitable distribution of wealth and goods is reached, the prosperity of the developed countries will almost certainly go down. Will the voting populace support such moves once this is happening?

What surprises me most about stories like this is how many people rise under extreme duress to perform feats and acts of heroism. We hear about some portion of them but I suspect that the real numbers far exceed those we become aware of. Everything from acts during wars to those in Germany who sheltered Jewish people at horrific risk to themselves. Then there are those like Bob Geldhof who spend huge amounts of energy to raise the awareness of suffering and poverty. When I think of people like these it reminds me of the fact that we are not out of the race yet and there may just be some hope for the species. The end result of the actions of people like George Bush may be to ignite a new grass roots level movement to finally face the issues of global hunger, disease, war, and pollution. We have always had the ability, it simply takes the desire to take the back power from the politicians and multi-national corporations and make them answerable to the people as they should be. That means that the general populace must accept the responsibility of staying informed, becoming involved, and not be content to sit back and trust in our leaders to do the right thing. We should all know by now that they won't. The number of transgressions committed by any given administration seems directly proportional to the level of interest in the respective populace in their actions. History has shown that in many instances a populace has chosen to ignore the crimes of their government so long as those crimes do not affect their lives too directly. This is one of the fundamental changes we must make as a species if we are to survive.

To describe this man as a Canadian Hero would be a colossal understatement. He was so much more than that. Co-founder of Greenpeace might be his greatest achievement, but probably not. The work that he did through Greenpeace dwarfs the accomplishment of it's foundation. He was in fact a world hero. I would have to consider one of his greatest accomplishments was the relationship he enjoyed with his wife and family, definitely a tough one for someone who traveled as much as he did, yet he remained devoted to them. The list of his successes would be a long one indeed, far too many, and well known, to list here. Suffice it to say that we could all learn from his example. One might assume that he was very pessimistic due to his never-ending battle for justice and the environment. That was not the case. He remained positive and optimistic about the future and our planet. Truly one of history's greats. Every person on Earth has benefited from his efforts, we all owe him a great deal of thanks, not to mention the impact that his wife had in his life. Bobbi Hunter stood by him when many would not have. I'm sure that he would have pursued his passions regardless, but I'm also certain that the challenges he faced were made much more bearable by her support and love. We'll miss you Bob, the environment will miss you even more.