Steal This Budget!!

I have several beefs to pick with this patheticness of a budget the Convservatives just vomited onto the Canadian populace. I'll handle this on a point by point basis.

1. The increase to the retirement age. I'd like to thank the Convservative government for forcing my family and I to now have to work for two more years to collect a pension. This is a blatant slap in the face of the people. It cannot be argued that this is addressing a manpower problem. Part of this budget allows people to work for five years longer than the minimum retirement age while deferring their pension. That's a solution! If people want to work longer, then legislate that employers cannot forcibly retire people until 70 years of age! There are two points to help foreign skilled immigration, those being refunding the $400 application fee for the skilled worker program, and adding job categories to the recognized foreign qualifications list. Those are solutions. If there's a shortage, bring people in when needed. There are millions of people out there who would love to come to Canada, so why not let them? Keep our economy healthy and stocked with skilled people who can be more easily managed. Raising the retirement age keeps people in jobs two years longer, occupying positions that could go to new university or high school graduates entering the workforce.

2. The reduction in cross border duties. The Convservatives want to create jobs? How does this help create jobs? If anything, this move will reduce jobs in the retail and manufacturing sectors, as it allows people that live close to the American border to purchase more goods in America before they pay duties. The 24 hour limit on purchases increased by 400%! Why are we helping the American economy?

3. A $7.5 million Elections Canada funding cut. I view this with major suspicion and would like to know why an organization vital to the democratic process is having it's budget cut. So far I can't find a reason in the media. Let us not forget about Harper's stance on Democracy, visible last year when he tried to cut political party subsidies.

4. Foreign aid and international development is being cut by $377 million by 2015. Call this what it is: an abandonment of the Third World.

5. Reduction in the environmental review process for resource development projects. Combine this and the point above and it's easy to see how the Conservative government is systematically destroying the respectable international reputation that Canada enjoys. Canada currently is home to the largest envirnomental disaster zone in the world (oil sands), and the government wants to cut environmental review even more? Did we not look bad enough in the eyes of the world when we withdrew from the Kyoto Accord last year (I won't defend that treaty, I thought it was unproductive, but it's the principle of it)? It's clear our government will bend over backwards for oil companies, not for the people of the land they love.

Here's a quote from a Jan.1st, 2012 news article on CanadianBusiness.com: "Profitable Canadian businesses are set to reap $2.85 billion in additional income tax savings in 2012". Am I missing something here? That's half of the $5.2 billion that Flaherty plans to cut in the budget! Elminate the 1.5% Federal rate cut to corporations and save half of the nineteen thousand government jobs that are on the chopping block! The article also addresses a quote from Harper, where he complains about all the private money "sitting on the sidelines". I have an idea, tax it and turn it into public money! Just take a look at the debt clock to the right and see how badly this needs to be done.

I do commend the education boost to First Nations, the reduction in the defense budget (and no provision for the F35 Joint Strike Fighter), and the sale of diplomatic properties overseas. I do not, however, think these steps make up for the failings that punctuate this budget. 

Computer Down

My computer is in the shop having it's hard drive replaced, so my posting will be limited for the time being. Expect me to be back online and ranting within a couple weeks.

Weaponizing the Stock Market

A couple weeks ago I did a post on Flash Trading. Here's an interesting development reported by Zero Hedge, where it shows how these programs can be used as weapons.

Out With the Outpost

Just as I post my thoughts about the progress the world is making, the Israeli Supreme Court rejects the state's attempt at delaying the destruction of a settler outpost built on Palestinian land. Hopefully this signifies a more tightened stance on the legitimacy of these settlements, which I believe are one of the biggest threats to peace in the region. They are a violation of the UN Charter and the UN Security Council Resolutions demanding they be ceased and demolished have been repeatedly vetoed by the US and Israel.

The evacuation deadline for the Migron outpost will be August 1st, so on August 2nd I predict a propagandic news release showing Israeli settlers being dragged away kicking and screaming and their houses bulldozed. In truth, the state had offered to build them new homes, and settlers are offered monetary incentives to move to these settlements, so to me the whole forced evacuation charade seems suspicious.

For Better Or For Worse?...Better.

I'm sure by now my blog sounds very cynical and negative, but I'd just like to say that this is not my outlook. It's easy to say that my views sound very conspiracy theorish if you look at these facts individually, but if you put everything together in the big picture, it's easy to see that it truly is a conspiracy by a wealthy and powerful elite to gain more control of just those things, wealth and power. And if you still don't believe in it, simply ask the question: Historically, have people tried to do just that? Of course the answer is yes. Alexander the Great, Julius Casesar, Genghis Kahn, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Adolf Hitler are just a few of these people. Is it logical to say that in the past fifty years that's changed? Definitely not, it's just taken on a new face.

Now to my negative outlook. I do highlight negative things simply because outrages demand attention. I believe the first step to change is awareness, and I try my best to spread the true facts and encourage others to stop relyiing so much on this business controlled, propagandic media machine to deliver the facts to them. I am not negative about the way the world is headed. I used to be, but now when I see one hundred to two hundred thousand people protest tuition rate hikes in Quebec, or thousands of people gather to demonstrate for the justice of Trayvon Martin. These protests are part of a greater movement that is sweeping the world, the demand for change that is taking place on the streets and in the parks. Not even during the Vietnam War were anti war protests so strong as they were against the Iraq War. I look at these events as signs of hope, hope that we can achieve a better future for ourselves and for our children.

Guns! Come Get Your Guns!

Zero Hedge did a piece the other day about Sturm Ruger, an American arms company that has just suspended orders because it is sold out of weapons. That's right, sold out of weapons! This really doesn't mean they just simply sold out of stock, it means that there are so many orders that they're so backed up that they cannot take anymore! This makes me wonder just how many weapons were put out onto the streets of America last year, where there are already millions.

I look at this and actually become fearful. One can look at the past few years and see the growing discontent and dissention that is happening within the US populace and easily conclude that guns do not positively influence this situation. Having even a few thousand armed people causing civil disorder is disastrous. One example of this is the 1967 Detroit riots, where snipers plauged the city for days and the army had to be brought in to suppress the violence.

I believe that the more the wealth gap increases in the US, the more people are forced into poverty, the more social injustices are inflicted on them (like Trayvon Martin), then the more chance there is for violent riots or armed insurrection to occur. It's easy for people in the Western nations to feel safe in a bubble, but Greece is a perfect example of how things can turn to shit when people are desperate.

Dirty Oil

Doesn't anyone think it's a little odd that Obama is now seeking to fast track a part of the Keystone pipeline? Shortly after his inauguration into the White House, he stated that the US did not want to buy Canada's "dirty oil", but now he's pushing forward part of the pipeline that leads straight to it.

Strange what $4/gallon gasoline will do to approval ratings...

We should have sold our dirty oil to China and done business with the rising star, not the falling one.

A Piece Of Justice

Al-Jazeera reported today that Brazil has announced it will file charges against seventeen executives from Chevron Corporation and it's drilling contractor, Transocean, and has barred the executives from leaving Brazil. This looks like a small start to justice for South America against Chevron, which has a bad reputation for environmental exploitation and damage on the continent, particularly with this latest spill in Brazil and other incidents in Ecuador. Chevron is the fourth largest corporation in America, and has operations worldwide. Considering this fact, we'll see how the US government responds to these charges. My prediction is that the US government will not allow it's executives to be prosecuted, and we'll intervene on their behalf. And if I'm right, it will further highlight the American corporate imperialist ignorance to which the world is subjected.

Another thing to note here is the environmental risk posed by offshore and deep water drilling. Have we not learned enough from BP and the nearly dead Gulf of Mexico to see that these drilling operations are simply not worth the risk. These giant oil corporations control too much power in the world, wielding it to influence policy in their favour to increase profits at the expense of our world. Prosecutors in Brazil are demanding $10.6 billion for reparations from the spill. This is just over half of Chevron's $19.13 billion annual income in 2010. Enough of the oil craze, let's cut ourselves from this noose around the neck of the world and find some other alternatives!

China's Game

It is fair to say that World Trade is not. It's balance is manipulated to be tipped in favour of the Western powers, often at the exploitation of the third world. Except in China's case. It constantly pursues it's own path, not willing to follow the "guidelines" of the US or the World Trade Organization. This can be seen in it's rare earth program, which they control with an iron fist. Today, the US, Europe and Japan have formally complained to the WTO about Chinese restrictions on rare earth exports.

Rare earth is an combination of elements that when found together, are very useful in the production of electronics. China's restrictions on rare earth exports is simply a move to boost high tech manufacturing at home (which are the core of upper middle class jobs), instead of exporting their valuable resources to other nations. In the past they have undercut rare earth prices to keep their large position in the world production market. Of course other superpowers will be critical of these moves, as it undermines their national manufacturing jobs, as corporations move their offices to China to secure cheaper resource contracts and wages. China doesn't care about this, and can you blame them? They're not interested in Imperialism. This is simply about looking after the interests of Chinese citizens, and it's working. Criticize their human rights record all you want, but I've been to China, and what I've seen there is everyone is well taken care of; in my two months there I saw two homeless people. Contrast this with the standard of living distribution in the United States and you really have no argument about who's doing a better job for it's citizens.

These policies are going to quickly elevate China's world status even further, bringing it into even more direct challenge with the United States over resources. World opinion will only swing into favour with China, as China uses diplomatic negotiation to secure resources, while the US continues to use bombs.

KONY Credibility

Has been completely destroyed.

NAFTA and War

I am highly critical of the North American Free Trade Agreement. I could rant for a long time on the consequences and disadvantages of this treaty, but right now I'm going to focus on one; one that nobody really talks about.

NAFTA is a direct threat to Canadian sovereignty, most notably in our ability to dictate our policy towards war. With the takeover of Canadian companies and investment in Canadian resources by American corporations, we lose the ability to decide whether or not we will contribute to a war effort. Chapter 11 of NAFTA basically allows American or Mexican companies to sue the Canadian government if it imposes policies that affect their investments. So basically if the Canadian government wants to block molten sulphur from being sold from the Scotford Upgrader in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta to defense companies in the United States to be used as components in bomb manufacture, or stopping DOW Chemical in Fort Saskatchewan from exporting Agent Orange to the US, it legally can be sued for this. These two examples do and have happened, respectively. Another example was the former Canadian company SNC-Technologies, which partnered with General Dynamics in 2005 to take on a $1.2 billion contract to produce munitions for the US Department of Defense[1]. Undoubtedly some of these bullets were used in the Iraq War.

In effect, this treaty allows the US to use Canada as an industrial base to support it's war effort, undermining our moral sovereignty and exploiting our resources for the purpose of causing death and suffering around the globe.

Good On You, Canada!

As reported by the National Post, former Vice President Dick Cheney has cancelled a trip to Toronto, claiming Canada was "too dangerous". This is a reference to a trip he made to Vancouver last year, where protesters turned violent. Canadians view Cheney, correctly so, as a war criminal.

I say GOOD ON YOU CANADA! When I heard this I thought it was funny as hell, but seriously, this is a major symbolical event. The citizens of a country effectively prevented a war criminal from setting foot on their soil. They have affirmed that they will not tolerate war crimes and condone the people that commit them. Although he may never be put on trial for these crimes, I'm glad citizens of the world are rejecting him altogether. This event makes me proud to be Canadian.

Size Does Matter

As reported by Gallup Polls, fewer Americans think America is the number one military power. Who do they think is???? I'd assume the next logical choice would be China, so let's look at the comparison of military spending in China and the US for 2012 [1] :

US - $530.5 Billion

China - $110 Billion

The United States' de(of)fense budget is nearly five times that of China, which has increased their defense budget from $65 billion in 2004 to secure China's position in Asia from US hegemony. The next biggest military is a close third to Russia. If we want to look at a very specific example of US dominance, let's look at their navy, which has a total fleet displacement greater than the next thirteen strongest countries combined.

The US Navy includes:

282 Ships

3700+ Aircraft

11 Aircraft Carriers (more than carriers of all other nations combined)

9 Amphibious Assault Ships

22 Cruisers (with advanced AEGIS missile systems)

60 Destroyers

27 Frigates

71 Submarines

What do they need this gigantic fleet for? The obvious answer is not terrorism, as the Administration would have everyone believe. Terrorism is best fought clandestinely and with small units of special forces. America's Supercarrier allows them to project military power everywhere in the world, and that's exactly where they always are. They can enforce American dominance, and are a primary tool of American Foreign Policy. And right now, nobody can challenge the supremacy of this incredibly powerful military.

Jews Against Zionism

I watched this video today on Al-Jazeera, and found it very interesting. Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss presents some interesting and thought provoking points on Zionism and the Jewish State of Israel. I find the most interesting part of this point of view is that it's coming from a person of the Jewish Faith; it really makes a person ask: who has the wrong point of view here? It's obvious that Rabbi Weiss has the more peaceful and progress stance compared to Israeli President Binyamin Netanyahu. I wouldn't go as far as to demand the dismantling of Israel, but I do believe the idea that Jews are entitled by God to the lands of Palestine and have the right to take and keep it by force is quite a radical one indeed.

Here is the website to Jews Against Zionism.

The Straw That Breaks The Afghan's Back

Just as things calm down from the Koran burning a couple weeks ago, another incident happens in Afghanistan. This time it was outright murder. A US Military Staff Sergeant apparently left a US base in Kandahar in the middle of the night, fully armed and equipped with night vision. He wandered into a village nearby and killed sixteen civilians, including three children. He is in custody after returning to the base and turning himself in, now a full war criminal.

This is going to be a hard one to fix with the Afghan populace. Burning Korans is one thing, but the cold blooded murder of innocent women and children is an atrocity. In my opinion this person should be turned over to Afghan authorities and face trial which will surely result in the death penalty. While I do not support the death penalty, I do support the Afghans receiving fair justice for these crimes, which they will surely not receive if this criminal is tried in American Military Court. We can only look to the examples of the Haditha and My Lai massacres, where nearly all of the charges against the accused were dropped, and the ones they were found guilty for had been reduced to trivial offences.

Right now I'm very glad the bulk of Canadian forces have been withdrawn, because there will be further ISAF blood shed due to this incident.

Further Bloodshed In Gaza

BBC reported today on further air strikes in Gaza. Israel claims these are in response to recent rocket attacks by Hamas. These air strikes come nearly two weeks after Israel's raid of two Palestinian private TV stations in the West Bank, in a deliberate attempt at censorship of regional events.

I am highly critical of Israel's role in this whole situation. It's policies hardly have a humanitarian overtone, have succeeded in exacerbating an already bad situation in the West Bank and Gaza, and have cemented a deep hatred within the Palestinian people. It's not rocket science to see that if you oppress and kill people of a certain ethnic group enough, they will develop hatred toward you, and that hatred will be deeper routed in further generations, and as the road to peace becomes more narrow and rocky, outright genocidal feelings will develop. This is plainly obvious to see when you read Arab opinions on Israel. A number of the governments reject the Israeli state, and have attempted to crush it in the past. Those days of Arab supremacy are, however, in the past. Modern day Israel possesses a very powerful and highly experienced military, totally backed by it's ally, the United States. It also possesses the only nuclear arsenal in the Middle East. At this point in time the actual threat to Israel is very minimal, contrary to the over exaggerated victim it seeks to portray itself as.

However, the home made threat to the Israeli nation is growing. This threat lies in Islamic Fundamentalism, which is a growing cause in the Middle East. Places like the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Lebanon are perfect culture dishes for which Islamic Fundamentalist organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah can grow and expand. The desperate conditions in these places, created by and maintained by constant violence and economic suppression, leaves the people no choice but to look to these organizations. Hezbollah runs a large social development program, which includes hospitals, education, and economic support programs. It's clear that popular support for them will continue to grow as these programs increase the quality of life in Lebanon, something Israeli bombs fail to do. As they become a larger part of Lebanese politics, inevitably so will their hard line Islamic values. This will further galvanize the divide between the Arab and Israeli people.

My view is that Israel has to back down. It must demolish the barrier fences around the West Bank and Gaza, stop and demolish it's settlement program, withdraw behind the Green Line, stop the blockade of Gaza, recognize the right to dual religious worship within Jerusalem, and support humanitarian programs within these areas. This can all be done in relative security to Israel. It's powerful military can easily repel invasions and counter insurgency action within it's borders, and the new Iron Dome system, when further expanded, will provide security from potential rocket attacks from outside it's border. Only then will a road to peace come back into sight, and the idea of reducing Islamic terrorism be taken seriously.

KONY Fever

I just recently watched the KONY 2012 video, and here are my thoughts on it. I commend Russell on bringing attention to what is a horrible humanitarian situation in Uganda that has been ongoing for decades. It's great to see mass support for humanitarian causes, but I do implore the masses to not simply jump on a crusading bandwagon in a blind push for justice. This video completely simplifies the situation in Uganda, which is actually not limited to Uganda at all, but stretches into the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan.

It's very easy to say simply this man should be brought to justice, as he absolutely should. It's not easy to make it happen. Kony is protected by an army that has been estimated to be in the thousands, and is well entrenched in jungle it has called home for years. Since Kony has declared the only way he will surrender is if he is granted amnesty, it is clear that only a military operation can bring him into a court room. From what I can see from his video, Russell's knowledge of the required military operations to capture Kony is rudimentary. I will not claim to be an expert on African politics or history, but I do know that any conflict fought in Africa is bloody; civilian death tolls are always high and humanitarian violations common. Viewers of the video must understand that bringing Kony to justice will be a bloody battle.

I'm going to adopt a cynical view and say that I can't really take Obama's deployment of advisors to Uganda as a serious commitment to bringing Kony to justice. It's clear that the American Administration does not want to be directly involved in military operations. The one hundred soldiers is really a fraction of the military aid given to Colombia to supposedly fight narcotics traffickers, which has amounted to $8 billion over ten years. If a US Special Operations Group were deployed to Uganda in a direct combat role, I'm confident they would be able to hunt down Kony.

I believe the picture of the twelve US Administration Officials in the video is incredibly ironic and sheds some light on the US Government's response. Two of the officials in the video were very hostile towards the International Criminal Court during their period in office, and those officials are George Bush and Condoleeza Rice. The US has repeatedly rejected ICC rulings about war crimes conducted by the US in Nicaragua. By the laws of the UN Charter and Geneva Convention, George Bush himself is a war criminal. It is clear that if the US gets into the business of hunting down war criminals, they set the standard to bring to light every war crime committed, which could open members of the former Administration to criminal charges, something that former US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales warned Bush about. My view is that Russell and his organization should recognize that dealing with war criminals for the prosecution of a war criminal is both irresponsible and hypocritical.

And the wrap it up, we must not forget that there are many human rights violations and people who perpetrate them all over Africa (Sudanese militias, Interahamwe), and if people are going to commit to one aspect of a cause, they had better be willing commit to the big picture.

Arming the Syrians

There has been quite a bit of talk lately, especially from Senator John McCain, about arming the Syrian opposition. Now there is a lot of debate as to which opposition faction should be armed, and so far nobody has come up with a clear answer. I for one am cautious about this approach. Not only is it short sighted and ignorant, but it could be very dangerous. Giving people the means to defend themselves is fine, but the consequences these actions could have in the future must be contemplated.

First of all, if the opposition wins the war and the Al Assad regime is ousted, a number of heavily armed factions and militias operating in a country with no stable government is not a good thing. This is presently clear in Libya. There, armed militias are presenting an obstacle to the Libyan Transitional Council's effort to rebuild and restore. I meant to make a post on this yesterday in response to Eastern Libya's calls for autonomy, but didn't have the time. And the prediction that was going to be included in that response proved correct in a new development today: Libyan leader Ahmed Zubair al-Senussi is denounced the call for autonomy and said he will maintain national unity with force. Basically Libya is now on the brink of civil war.

The next point holds an example from the Soviet era Afghanistan. During the Soviet invasion, the CIA supplied the Mujahideen with arms, including Sting Anti-Aircraft missiles, which were very effectively used against Soviet attack helicopters and aircraft. Once the conflict was over and the Soviets withdrew, the American Administration expressed concerns that the Stingers might be sold to terrorist organizations (as if the missiles weren't directly supplied to Jihadists in the first place) and used to shoot down civilian passenger aircraft. An operation was then initiated with the goal of buying back these missiles from Afghan war lords, at a cost of $80,000-150,000 a piece. By 1996 there were still six hundred unaccounted for, and most of the money spent to repurchase the missiles ended up in the hands of the very same warlords who reduced the country to rubble during the Afghan Civil War that followed the Soviet withdrawl. There have already been concerns that opposition factions in Syria could have ties to extremist groups, so this fact has potential to become a problem if handled incorrectly.

My stance is that simply giving the Syrians guns and hoping there will only be one shootout is irresponsible planning. I'm hoping that Russia will step up pressure on it's ally, al-Assad, and convince him to grant a cease fire and/or peace settlement.

Return of the Papa

Well, it's official: Ol' Papa Putin is back on the throne of the Kremlin, taking a whopping (and suspicious) 65% of the vote, compared to 17% of the vote taken by the next candidate. It's plainly obvious to see why people are calling this a fraud. We'll see what happens in the next couple weeks, but I expect that Putin will hang on to power, and tighten it even further. I also expect heightened tensions with the US and NATO over Syria, and further conventional and nuclear arms racing.

The Body Count

I found an interesting website today, called www.iraqbodycount.org, that provides a body count of civilians killed in Iraq since the illegal 2003 invasion by the United States of America. It's amazing how violence in Iraq have taken a back bench in the American media now that American troops are no longer the target. In CNN today, out of seventy five stories I browsed through about the Middle East, one of them was about violence in Iraq, and it was about an American teacher that was killed by a Kurdish student. There was not one story on MSNBC or Fox News. There have been deaths every day for the past week in Iraq, and the corporate controlled media could care less. The complete lack of responsibility for the situation that was created by an American military action is nothing short of appalling. This is exactly why I support and follow independent media, notably Zero Hedge and Democracy Now, and follow mainstream media sources (that are MUCH less biased) like Al-Jazeera and BBC. I'll throw in a note here: The US government hates Al-Jazeera, and has even gone as far as shooting a missile into their offices in Kabul in 2001.