The Canadian Dream

Conclusion - 'The Future - Peace Pays - an essay about Canada

2012-01-27T17:39:00.000-08:00

The Future: Peace Pays - Exploring The Canadian Identity

Canada is a nation coming of age in an historic Moment when we can make a significant difference in determining The Future of the world and our existent civilization.

By deciding to pursue peaceful means and methods and goals we can influence the entire world and help shape The Future into The Canadian Dream of World Peace, prosperity, security and tolerance. We do it all here on a daily basis and have proven that it’s possible for people of all kinds, types and backgrounds to live together in cooperation and peace. And Peace enables discussion, problem solving, solutions and discoveries.

It begins by Canadians understanding who and what they are in and of themselves, and who we are in the broader scope of The Global Village and History. We are unlike any people who have ever lived anywhere at any time. This places a responsibility upon us to act in our collective best interests, which are the interests of all people and nations everywhere.

This is a Moment of Opportunity that could easily dissolve into the mists of history. We must grasp this historic opportunity and act, or lose the slender hope we embody while the world languishes in a fog of violence and destruction.

Canada is a Nation with great potential and great opportunity. We can embrace this opportunity and share our riches with the world or we can perish with our brothers and sisters everywhere. Stepping forward as a leader among nations and guiding the world towards peace and stability in a peace-based economic climate will instill a much-needed sense of hope for people everywhere.

Let's turn our national character into national policy and reach out to a hurting world with the same Compassion we have extended to our fellow Canadians, who are of every Race, Nation, Language and Belief. Together we are one Big Beautiful Red Machine, under the emblem of The Red Maple Leaf.

The World is in crisis and headed for disaster. Canada can help through self-awareness and conscientious decision-making formulated into an “appropriate and compelling Vision” for Canada and for the world. Welcome to the Golden Age of Canadian Culture.

Peace.

'Justice with Compassion'

'Peace Pays more and better than war.'

'Sustainability in ALL things'

Plenty of food for Canadian thought @ Plan of Hope.

“Don’t keep the peace…pass it on.”

...

The Future: Peace Pays - Exploring The Canadian Identity

2012-01-19T07:38:00.000-08:00

The Future: Peace Pays

- Exploring The Canadian Identity -

By John Williams

www.blindmansees.com

Introduction – Navigational Tools 2

Imagining Canada 3

The Mysterious Big Red Machine 4

The Peace-based Economy 6

A World Center For Higher Education

Canadian Culture 7

Software 8

Planning 10

The Export Of Canadian Culture

-Economic Pods

-Canada’s Historic National Dynamic 11

-Multilateralism

-Partnerships

-Trade: Goods And Services

Promotion Of Peace [ From The Military to The Ordinary ] 12

Global Warming and The Reforestation of The Earth

A Home For Research 13

-Alternative Energy

-Science

-Ecological Solutions

-Agriculture

-Distribution and Management Systems

-Medical Research 14

A Place For Quebec

A Place For All 15

-The West

-The East

-The North

-The South

-The Center

Food and Water: A Lesson From China 16

Language – Multilingualism in The Universal Culture

Technology 17

-Applications and Innovations

The Treatment Of People 18

Conclusion 19

“Don’t keep the peace…pass it on.”

Introduction – Navigational Tools

This essay is the third in a set or series. Taken together these essays are intended to help Canadians see where we’ve been, where we are, and where we could go culturally, politically and socially. Our cultural origins are briefly covered in “Egerton Ryerson: Father Of Education In Ontario.'

As sound information and education are essential to the maintenance and operation of a Democracy, it is important to consider our educational practices carefully as these will determine much in terms of what is possible in The Present and The Future. Thus I have put this first in the series. It is a fine line sketch of our Past.

The second essay, which was published first out of the pressing necessity of some serious and threatening dysfunction in our Society, examines our Present. Again I have focused upon our Nation’s strengths and weaknesses and some choices which are available to us. The thesis of “Our Most Precious Treasures: The Rights Of Children”, is that Canada cannot move briskly ahead to our destiny without extending Equal Rights to our children.

Yet we embody tremendous potential. An examination of our education systems reveals that with minor adjustment Canada could easily implement a new education model that would be better suited to our present and future needs and opportunities. It could be a model for the global community.

In this third essay I look ahead to a possible Future Canada. As I see it Canada has lived a life of modest genius. We have quietly, peacefully, diplomatically and effectively built a Nation that is the envy of people of every nation. But by and large Canadians (all Canadians!) seem to be missing a few details in their collective self-perception that may be critical to our continuing success as a political entity; as a nation that is functional, Just and Compassionate.

They do not see who and what they are individually and collectively, nor do they see the beauty of that in a world of dark fear and futility. This third essay,” The Future: Peace Pays [Exploring The Canadian Identity]”, intends to help Canadians see and understand the amazing group of individuals they are, and what that can mean to us and to our international neighbours today and tomorrow. We are in a position where we could make some basic decisions that could help all people of all nations, while fulfilling our collective sense of purpose and moving towards what seems our appropriate Destiny.

We are a strong, smart, Just, Compassionate, Free, co-operative, hardworking, inclusive, creative people forged from people of all Nations. Thus we are equipped to reach back to every nation and every people to share our blessings. This can bring stability, peace and opportunity to all of Humanity and to our home, The Earth.

In getting perspective on Past, Present and Future, Canadians will be better informed about who they are and will be enabled to navigate safely through the dangers of life in 21^st Century. I trust the Canadian people and these essays are a token of that trust. Democracy is about common people making effective practical decisions that serve their real needs, dreams and desires. It’s all about being informed and making choices based upon good information. I hope and pray that my efforts make this journey to The Future easier and more swift.

RJW

Guelph, Canada. May 2006.

Imagining Canada

It is obvious to the entire Canadian population that we are in serious and urgent need of strong Leadership that can guide The Nation through these days of uncertainty. We require “an appropriate and compelling Vision” for the Nation that possesses sufficient strength and stability to enable us to deal with current challenges and crises, while moving us rapidly to the place we must go; a “place” of stability, security, prosperity, hope, safety, and a place of freedom where Democratic Values and Rights and Freedoms are first in our hierarchy of values.

Canada is an extraordinary place where these Values have been planted, nurtured, cultivated and respected. We may literally be the best hope for the future of the world. I have explored these ideas in my (previous) essay Our Most Precious Treasures: The Rights Of Children [Part 2 of 3]. My appeal for Equal Rights for our children is not simply idealistic, it is also pragmatic in that their Rights, as I have argued, are the key to our future.

Canada is a Nation poised on the edge of greatness. We have managed to develop and maintain a society and culture unlike any other. We have peace and good public security that respects and protects the Rights of all under the Law, Constitution, and Charter Of Rights And Freedoms. We have good government at every level and democratic processes to use in governing ourselves.

We have a Judicial system that sincerely and effectively delivers Justice most of the time. We have a strong economy, a moderately healthy population, vibrant education systems, excellent communications and transportation systems reaching to all of the world.

For those of us with any significant awareness of what actually happens in the day-to-day lives of citizens of most nations, Canada is an extraordinary Anomaly; a convergence of a special set of people, conditions, values, resources, and sense of fairness. This is “Cultures In Collision”.

We have found ways to diplomatically and democratically co-exist. Yet this special set of conditions will not remain intact for long. We have a window of historical opportunity. We can teach the world our way of living together in respect, and under fair laws that protect the Rights of all individuals.

The literature of Latin America is a story of dark tyrannical regimes that have made government a blood-sport. The same truth of despotic and cruel regimes has emerged from places around the world in their literatures. However Canada produces a literature of hopeful analysis that has grown in our peaceful society. All aspects of our National Culture bear the same sweet fruit of human liberty, respect, opportunity, and peace.

In order to share “this treasure hidden in our mountain” we require a good Plan. This Plan must incorporate and combine some essential components. The first is economic viability. So how can we bolster our National Sovereignty and Security while moving rapidly to a prosperous Peace-based Economy? In a word, easily.

We already possess all of the resources necessary to move decisively in this direction, and in the process we can share our culture, help the world, and prosper, while we demonstrate to the world that Peace Pays more and better than war.

John Lennon invited us to Imagine, and we have. Now I invite you to Imagine a new Canada with me.

The Mysterious Big Red Machine

Nations are machines. All machines (Nations) are unique and serve the purposes of the designers. They can only do what they were designed to do. Canada is an interesting and unique “machine”, but it’s clear that no one knows what it’s for or how to use it.

Nations are machinelike. These are instruments for government. Canada is like a big red shiny machine designed to carry people into The Future. It’s a beautiful and well-tuned machine that is enjoyed and admired by many at home and in the Global Community.

Allow me to explore this metaphor briefly. Imagine a large brick building with big doors. Inside the building sits a big shiny red machine. People adore The Machine, yet often take it for granted. There is a large team of people assigned to protect, maintain and clean The Machine regularly; all good technicians with the best of training.

Occasionally, on a hot summer day in July The Team rolls The Machine out onto the paved parking lot where throngs of people gather to admire The Machine and to celebrate its existence. It’s a joyful occasion. People climb on The Machine, sit in its many seats, examine its sophisticated tools and gear. They have their pictures taken while sitting in the driver’s seat wearing a helmet.

At the end of the day The Team rolls The Machine back into the building, there to shine, maintain and protect it. They are proudly convinced that this is by far the best machine of its kind. In fact there is no other one like it. This is the opinion of The Team and The Others.

There is one puzzling problem faced by The Team. From time to time a very loud bell rings in the building and distracts them from their duties. Also people come to the doors of The Building seeking assistance with every imaginable problem. These interruptions can become frustrating to The Team Members as they strive with complete dedication to protect and nurture The Machine and its set of futuristic technologies. They have become the envy of every Team everywhere.

One day a fellow wearing their uniform comes to the door. They recognize immediately that this is their superior officer, a person with authority over them, over The Building, and over The Machine itself.

“How is The Machine working?” asked The Captain.

“Working?” asked The Team leader.

“Yes, how does The Big Red Machine work on the job?”

“The job? We didn’t know that The Machine had been designed and built with a purpose.” And so they explained the role and function of The Machine as they understood it.

“So then,” continued The Captain, “let me be clear. You don’t know what The Machine is supposed to do!? Then let me tell you…better still, I’ll also show you.

This machine is called a Fire Engine. That annoying bell you hear is the fire alarm calling you to come quickly to the assistance of those in distress.” So he helped them learn how to use The Big Red Machine.

It is my assertion that Canada is a Big Shiny Red Fire Engine, designed and well-suited to assist the world to put out the fires of war and ignorance and hunger and injustice and suffering as we have done and are doing here at home. With the resources we possess as a Nation and the right Plan we could be tens of thousands of times more effective in our collective effort to bring sanity and stability to a world at war. We don’t really have to change much, except direction.

The world is stuck in a Crisis Mode and requires a way to relieve the overall pressure while moving in the direction of practical peace. The practice of peace is badly needed everywhere. Canada is a dynamic machine that may be the world’s best hope at a critical juncture. We alone have demonstrated a refined ability to include all people equally and fairly under a Just Law.

Presently we are making inroads in many places globally and in every imaginable kind of circumstance and situation. The right Plan will enable a rapid multiplication of the impact of our culture upon world culture. We have cobbled together a society with people of all nations, tribes, languages, and beliefs. We are a nation of unity within diversity.

This is the lesson and blessing we can share with the world and thereby lessen the atmosphere of violent chaos. It would be so easy. And in the process we could prosper through the marketing of peace-based technologies. We can show the world how to “Make Peace Pay”. What follows is a sketch of what could so easily be…

The Peace-based Economy

A simple decision to strategically and intentionally move towards a Peace-based Economy would be a strong statement to the world and an assertion of our Core Values. The energetic pursuit of a select group of economic bases could bring rapid economic growth while providing the means for sharing our Methods, Values and Culture through the mechanisms of a new futuristic economy that excludes the need for bloodshed from the pursuit of large-scale economic gain. We can prove that Peace Pays more than war.

Canada is a world leader in a number of critical areas: education; alternative energy technologies and research; environmental and ecological solutions; scientific research and applications that are peaceful; diplomacy and jurisprudence; legislative responsibility; high-tech communications and media; policing and law enforcement; the Arts and entertainment; agriculture; management and administration; Human Relations.

Policies could be easily introduced that are Global in magnitude that support and reward the development and worldwide distribution of these things that characterize us as a People and unify us as a Nation. Consider the following.

A World Center For Higher Education

Education is a key factor in the formation of cultures and the building of societies. Canada is a highly literate Society. We have somewhere in the area of twenty-seven universities in Canada. Imagine if we doubled this number in ten years and tripled it in fifteen years in order to accommodate students from all over the world. They are already coming and many more want to come.

All we have to do is systematically build more institutions of higher learning until the entire country is part of a system for the education of the world. This will create jobs for academics, scholars, researchers, maintenances staff, building trades personnel, and many others. We have an overabundance of highly educated people who would leap at such opportunity.

These universities, along with a proportional number of colleges, would be distributed fairly across Canada’s entire land mass, in all provinces, territories, regions and areas. The world is crying out for the kind of education we can provide. And those who come and study and spend time here will be infected with our peaceful culture, which I believe to be our most powerful resource.

Hosting International Students could not only make the higher education
systems financially independent and self supporting, it could be
sufficiently lucrative so as to make higher education cost free for all
qualified Canadians. And qualification ought to be flexible and inclusive.
This approach would catapult Canada to the forefront of Global education.

Preparation for futuristic higher education must begin now in our primary
and secondary schools. Current education models are obsolete and there is a pressing need for us to introduce new models that include new Science (- e.g. Quantum Theory), Health and Linguistics studies. We can succeed by believing in our children and equipping them for the complex challenges they will face.

Canadian Culture

Few Canadians understand the power and significance that is imbedded in our Culture. It was Canadian Culture that finally bridged the Iron Curtain with a hockey tournament. It was Canadian Culture and the assistance of an elected Member of Parliament, The Honourable Eugene Whelan, Minister of Agriculture, that helped to dismantle the Soviet Union and introduce Perestroika and Glasnost, the policies which lifted the Curtain of Darkness and brought hope to East Europe.

These policies, according to Mikhail Gorbachev, then Agriculture Minister for The Soviet Union, “were developed on The Canadian Model.” And this transformative socio-political plan was formulated on Canadian soil at Mr. Whelan’s home near Windsor, Ontario.

Few know how I carried Canadian Culture to China twenty-five years ago, a mission which has had profoundly positive consequences that can be seen in the new China as portrayed on the current CBC series “China Rises.” Only a Canadian could walk into the then closed and cloistered China and share democratic ideas. Dr. Norman Bethune, hero of the Chinese Revolution, made this possible for me, one Canadian opening the door of opportunity to another.

This was the first spark that ignited the massive social and industrial and cultural revolution that is now in high gear in the ancient Middle Kingdom. This act of intervention was intended to preempt the dangerous potential of China as it existed at that time. China was a threat to the entire world and much has changed in this regard. Now she is open, prosperous and integrated into the Global Community. This is in stark contrast to the China I entered.

Few are aware that a young woman lawyer from Georgetown, Ontario is in Bosnia, helping that nation to build a future with a new legal code “based on the Canadian model.” And all of the legal codes (criminal, civil, military, corporate, traffic and transportation, international Law) introduced in South Africa at the end of Apartheid were built upon “The Canadian Model”.

More people are aware of former Prime Minister L.B. Pearson’s diplomatic success in the formation of The United Nations organization. He received a Nobel Peace Prize in our behalf for this work. And we know of Canadian heroes like Astronaut Marc Garneau who leads us Spaceward; and Stephen Lewis who, as UN Special Commissioner for AIDS in Africa, is singlehandedly spearheading a Global solution to the horrors of this disease.

We know how to make friends through acts of courageous generosity. We do not kill, we heal. We do not hinder, we help. We do not enslave, we set at liberty. We strive with greater and greater success to be Just and Compassionate with Citizens, visitors, and all people of all nations, faiths and languages. In so doing we have become the hub and envy of the world.

But we know that the entire world can enjoy the blessings we enjoy. And we can teach them, help them, support them, learn from them, befriend them. We have, we are, and we will. We can teach the world the most special thing that we know in the process: how to live together in respectful peace.

We can share our “Software” with the world and thereby enable them to build and possess what we have: freedom, equality, Rights, opportunity, cooperation, prosperity, support, security, efficiency, economy, productivity and peace and hope.

Software

In this essay and elsewhere I have mentioned and made reference to something I call Software. In some cases I have called it Cultural Software, Social Software and Human Software, and sometimes Lifestyle Technologies. These ideas are all related, and in some cases are inter-changeable. The term Software can refer to any or all of these.

I think of this ‘Software’ as the systems, methodologies, practices, traditions, ideas, organizational methods, thinking styles and methods we employ: Lifestyle Technologies. All that Humans do is governed by Values, Traditions, Ideas, Methods, and so forth. These are each and altogether Software. As with Computer Technology, these Softwares often come in packages and we know who invented, designed and implemented them. We know when and how.

It can be something as basic as the way we move goods, people, and services from place to place. One example of this would be our roads, highways and freeway systems. These require road surfaces with hidden infrastructure for power, drainage, et cetera. Then we have signage, traffic laws and regulations, licensing for vehicles and drivers. Add to this traditions and styles of driving.

Many details go into these transportation systems, including the design, manufacture and regulation of these interlocking systems. These systems have proven to be largely and increasingly complex, effective, efficient, safe, productive, economical; some more so than others.

By thinking about these or other systems as Software and as Software “packages” we can better evaluate and improve our culture, society, government, judicial systems, law enforcement, industry and commerce, Human Relations, communications, family life, education, and even our personal Core Beliefs.

The source of this form of thinking in our modern era can be traced back to the invention of “practical existentialism” or Phenomenology. This methodology was created by Edmund Husserl in the early Twentieth Century. Husserl’s “philosophy” has quietly and profoundly affected all of Humanity from the most elevated scholars to the lowest of labourers in field, forest or factory. This analytical method is a central functional component in The Universal Culture, a term and phenomenon which I have explored elsewhere in my essays.

As Canada is situated at the heart and axis of The Universal Culture, and consequently in a position to affect and influence the world, it is vital that we make good choices, and that we write [make] and distribute good Software. For we will be sharing it with people everywhere and it will be put to the intense test of Human life on Planet Earth.

Our “Software” is our strongest asset in Canada. We incorporate it into everything and in every imaginable situation. Canadian Software nurtures peace, economic strength and stability, social and political stability, democratic values and practices, Justice and Equality, the dissolution of violent differences and the reconciliation of enemies. It works at home and abroad. And it does much more and can do far far more still. All we have to do is use our methods to the utmost and the world will be safer, friendlier, cleaner, more prosperous and productive, more creative and rational, more in every way.

Our artists and thinkers and cultural practitioners of all types from lawyers to judges to politicians to bureaucrats to law enforcement personnel and many others embody this remarkable Canadian Culture. It’s in our bus drivers, teachers, athletes, waiters and pretty much everyone. And it has proven to be a powerful force for peaceful change in the world. The increased export of our culture in all of its forms will continue to reshape The Earth into a place that is more friendly for Human (and other) habitation. This initiative can help a desperate and hurting world to find help (self help), hope, and healing.

Planning

Planning helps create success. Good planning brings good results. Sadly most people do not know how to plan. This is an area in which our primary and secondary education systems have proven deficient.

Making an effective Plan is an easy thing to do, and the process is easily learned. It could be easily taught to children. This would eliminate the random waste of resources that is such a plague upon Nation and Citizens. What follows could easily become components of a Plan for a Future Canada. If we can dream it we can make it.

The Export Of Canadian Culture

See my short essays: “ The Transformation of Culture”, “Honey”, “Canada True North and Free”, “The New Patriotism”, “Ice As A Factor In The Development Of The Canadian Character”. @ www.blindmansees.com in Essays.

I am convinced that Canadian Culture embodies special qualities and properties that enable stability, freedom, prosperity, peace and hope. We have been able to consistently discover practical applications for our lifestyle technologies in every part of the world and in every type of activity and endeavour. We need a simple set of cultural tools with which to deliver this antidote for violence and destructive behaviour to all parts of the world in a systematic and economical manner.

Economic Pods

There has been a trend in the Canadian economy towards the application of what I call Economic Pods. These are collectives that are formed for short or long-term projects and have been used successfully by Canadians. From the Federal Government’s Trade junkets to China, Russia and elsewhere, to Quebec’s initiatives to France as a door into the European Union economic market, to small-business people attending trade shows or conferences, Canadians apply our historic ability to be co-operative in order to serve collective needs. And we do it of our own free will, rather than by doctrine. Creativity is always a feature of these Pods.

A clear and strong set of policies that encourage this kind of strategic foray into world markets, coupled with economic and financial incentives, could serve Canada and Canadians well. We also need to strategically and urgently support Canadian artists and cultural workers of all kinds in their efforts to take their goods and services to Global markets. We have a glut of art and artists, just as we have a glut of scholars and academics. We want to keep the scholars and academics home and put them to work, while we export the art and artists who produce the materials, ideas, and outlooks that make Canada unique and important.

Canada’s Historic National Dynamic

Beginning in the era of Confederation (1867) Canada has sought both politically and culturally to build a strong, functional, independent and enduring Nation and national identity. The notion of “from sea to shining sea” was realized and bound together by policy and an infrastructure with a railroad reaching from Atlantic to Pacific Oceans.

Presently this integrated east-west axis is in a weakened state. This is in part due to our cultural, social, economic, political and military ties to The United States of America, the most powerful and influential nation in the world. An excessive percentage of our international trade in goods and service moves on a north-south axis. This puts our national identity, unity, security and independence in a compromised state against absorption and hegemony.

Multilateralism

Canada’s historic Federal policy of multilateralism could be strengthened through returning to an east-west axis that reaches across Canada, then beyond to Europe in the east and China, India and Asia in the west.

Partnerships

The nurture and development of international partnerships, trading partners and allies on a multilateral basis will create greater national security and stability. Partnership is an integral part of the Canadian psyche and culture.

Trade: Goods And Services

Trade in Goods And Services has been a key to Canada’s recent economic success. From oil products to electricity and other energy types and sources to agricultural products, transportation products, tools and technologies, to high technologies for communication and so on, Canada is a world-class trading nation.

Carrying our Goods and Services to every part and corner of the world will strengthen our independence while sharing our lifestyle and values everywhere. It will also bring economic growth and stability. These tendencies are already strongly embedded in Canadian life and could be easily enhanced through policy and financial and tax incentives. An increase in the export of Canadian Goods and Services will further strengthen the tax base while asserting and exerting our position in The Universal Culture.

Promotion Of Peace [ From The Military to The Ordinary ]

Since the mid-Twentieth Century Canada has emerged as a nation characterized by Peace. Politically, militarily, socially and culturally the theme of Peace has been central to our development, maturation and evolution as a Nation. We have come to be trusted internationally as a result of this Federal and social policy.

Canada could easily capitalize on this national characteristic by promoting Peace in a more efficient, intentional, organized and systematic manner. If we exerted ourselves and our resources as urgently and strongly for the purpose of Peace as we (and others) have mobilized for the purpose of war then we could extend and strengthen our influence and demonstrate that Peace Pays. Making Peace Pay will dramatically alter the world economic philosophies. The world needs evidence that Peace Pays more than war.

In order to achieve this we need only apply what I call The Technologies of Peace to every aspect of our society. This is already a widespread and existent phenomenon and only requires broader application and some tweaking. The Canadian military forces are already recognized worldwide as Peace keepers and peace makers. Taking a lesson and example from this noble Canadian institution of our society will help transform Canada and Canadians, from The Military to The Ordinary.

Global Warming and The Reforestation of The Earth

One troubling challenge with which we are faced is Global Warming. This problem is already being addressed to some degree. But what we really need is a Global Cooling and Air Conditioning System to lower The Earth’s atmospheric temperature while providing a large supply of oxygen and filtering the air.

The solution to this problem is simple: trees. Lots and lots of trees across the face of The Earth. See my essay “Icebergs At Risk: Global Reforestation” @ www.blindmansees.com

A Home For Research

Alternative Energy

We need a National Energy Strategy that rewards research, development, and distribution of clean and inexpensive and environmentally friendly energy sources. Canada is crowded with people who are developing and implementing, and in some cases marketing alternative energy sources.

We could easily create a new electrical grid interface that is fed by a conglomerate of alternative generation systems and that could be coordinated to provide adequately for our base energy needs. Then we can export these technologies to a world in urgent search of inexpensive ecological solutions. We can do this.

Science

We need to follow the lead of Canadian communities like Waterloo that has become home to The Perimeter Institute for Research In Theoretical Physics; or The Province of Saskatchewan which has built a research infrastructure that has brought the world’s leading research and researchers to Saskatoon. Creating welcoming conditions will attract the best minds and those who love freedom and all of the beautiful components of Canadian Culture. This is ‘sustainable’ economics.

Ecological Solutions

We need prompt, effective, efficient and economical solutions to our looming ecological crisis: water, soil, and air. And we need a comprehensive strategy that will enable us to achieve healthy environmental conditions quickly and inexpensively. A clean environment will reduce health care costs. We have a world respected leader in environmental sustainability in our midst at The University of Alberta in the person of Doctor David Schindler. We need his kind of expertise applied broadly to our compromised and struggling environment.

Agriculture

Canada is a highly productive nation in the area of Agriculture. We have much to teach the world and we are well along in the process of helping other nations implement similar Agricultural management systems on large and small scales.

Distribution and Management Systems

In Canada we have developed and implemented agricultural management, support and distribution systems that give us access to the best world markets in livestock, fowl, grains, oilseed crops, et cetera. Versions of these methods and systems can be easily shared worldwide. These are also “technologies” and Software.

Medical Research

It is a rare week in The News that we do not see reports of some significant breakthrough in Medical and medicine research by Canadians and Canadian research facilities across The Nation. We need more of the same in order to move us quickly into the era of The New Medicine.

A Place For Quebec

Historically there has been much debate and wrangling over the place of Quebec in Canada. I believe this controversy could be quickly and easily resolved in order to enable Canada to get to the real business at hand, which is the resolution of the all-embracing crisis we face as part of The Global Community.

Quebec has proven herself to be a creative, colourful and innovative leader in Canada. This province has forged a unique place for itself in our midst and, in so doing, has enriched and inspired us all while making everyone more accountable. This is leadership.

Furthermore La Belle Province has produced some of our Prime Ministers and other leaders. Quebec has helped nurture tolerance, respect for Rights, cultural diversity and dignity and linguistic diversity, while creating a persistent tension in Canadian life that has helped us to know ourselves better and find self-respect. And the forceful and unique culture of French Canadians has elevated the entire Nation and others beyond our borders.

Now Quebec is uniquely and strategically poised to provide Canada with valuable options. The Government of Quebec has established unique diplomatic Rights and has used those diplomatic ties (especially with France) to open an economic and political channel to Europe and the Global French speaking community. These established relationships could easily help Canada forge security at home and abroad and would simultaneously help Canada in the pursuit of the broad multilateralism that enables widespread and growing international security.

A Place For All

Co-operation brings better results than strife. Provinces, regions, citizens and the Federal Government should work to ensure that “the other” succeeds. Success for one is success for all. We prove this daily in Canada.

The West

The Gateway To The West is a broad infrastructure project currently underway in Western Canada. Pipelines, power, ports and personnel are creating a doorway to trade with Asia. This is another existent reality that will more easily enable our pursuit of Asian markets and alliances. And it should be an example to Canadians of what we could do in other directions, namely East and South.

The East

A similar “Gateway To The East” could and should be built to enable expanded trade and commerce with The European Union and others. The EU is now the world’s second largest trading market, after the USA.

The North

The development of The North, from North Atlantic to North Pacific is critical to our Sovereignty and National Security. The development and opening of The North will also have long-term economic and financial consequences. Aboriginal self-government and peaceful prompt settling of Aboriginal Land Claims is an urgent component in our future survival and security.

The South

International ties that are strong and extend beyond our immediate neighbors to the South will also benefit Canada. Part of our future self-interest lays in relations with Latin America.

The Center

The “Center” in Canada needs to be Everywhere and regarded as being embodied in each citizen. Decentralization on a broader scale is required in the form of deeper and wider democratization in all regions, institutions, political parties, and so on. Yet a strong Federal Government will remain central to our survival and prosperity in the 21^st Century.

Food and Water: A Lesson From China

China was an Empire with an Emperor for thousands of years. During this time a series of dynasties arose and fell, some brief and some quite lengthy. In order to impose meaning upon this rising and falling of these governmental systems and controlling groups, Chinese historians [ like Ssu-Ma Ch’ien] formulated a theory of history called The Dynastic Cycle.

This theory held that an emperor or dynasty occupied the throne and held the right to govern by virtue of The Will of Heaven resting upon them: this was akin to “the divine right to rule” in European and other monarchies and theocracies. The theory further stated that The Mandate of Heaven could be lost by failing to meet the two central criteria for government. These were that the people be fed, and that the water be effectively managed to avoid water shortages and the ever-present problem of floods.

Although in The West we look for a broad scope of qualities and abilities in Democratic leaders and leadership, these two “conditions of government” remain relevant and instructive. In Canada we presently have more than sufficient food production and accessibility for our own needs. Yet a cursory examination will reveal that we are in jeopardy of spoiling every fresh water source in our land mass. The Auditor General’s Report On The Environment will demonstrate more clearly just how compromised our natural environment has become.

This is a critical situation that could be quickly, easily and economically corrected. Dr. David Schindler, Canada’s leading water management specialist, could easily engineer the recovery of our fresh water sources and their preservation.

Language – Multilingualism in The Universal Culture

Our “language philosophy” is no longer adequate to our real situation and needs. Bilingualism is insufficient to the needs of Canada and Canadians. My own life and situation is a good illustration of my point.

I am technically an Anglophone, though I understand that my paternal ancestors who first came to North America were French speaking Welsh Roman Catholics who were descended from those displaced by the English Protestant Revolution in the Seventeenth Century. They settled in Quebec, coming from France in The Eighteenth Century, and speaking French after several generations of residence in that host nation.

My paternal grandfather was an English speaking resident of Niagara Falls, Ontario. My father made his residence in Northeastern Ontario and was bilingual (French and English) before it was Federal Policy. My hometown of Kirkland Lake is located about fifty kilometers from the Quebec border and has always had significant English and French speaking populations. But my hometown was a blend of people of many languages, notably Italian, Polish, Ukrainian and Chinese, as well as a large Jewish community.

I learned my first French words and phrases from my Father, brothers, and neighbourhood children whose first language was often French. I was delighted when compulsory French lessons were introduced while I was in grade school. Then I had a traumatic experience with a French teacher in high school, involving sexual abuse, which put me off of the study of this interesting subject.

As a very young child I had an interest in China and the Chinese language. I now have a degree in Chinese Studies from the University of Toronto and studied Chinese languages and culture for all of my adult life. At this point I remain bilingual, but in English and Mandarin Chinese, with French as my “third” language and Spanish as a fourth, and so on. As with many Europeans and Asians, I have had to learn at least a little of many languages and I’ve studied about a dozen or more formally.

It is my contention that we (Canada) are living at the axis or center of The Universal Culture, that mix of all cultures, which we have embraced and refined in Canada. The Universal Culture requires multilingualism, which is not to dismiss our two Primary Languages nor the planned addition of at least one Aboriginal Language to this short list.

Rather I suggest that we embrace and value and apply all languages, whether verbal, numerical or otherwise. In “The Information Age“ Communication, rather than language, is the key to our success.

Technology

Canada is at the forefront of technological development, application, manufacturing and distribution. We have demonstrated a capacity for innovation and creativity in science and technology. We could continue to move ahead in this area of economic development through the development and sharing of peaceful technologies and technological applications worldwide.

Applications and Innovations

For instance, Canada could become a leader in extra-terrestrial housing through the development of force-field technologies. Force-field technology could also have application in the placement of levees for protection of cities like New Orleans.

We could become world leaders in the development and peaceful application of this technology as we did with nuclear power and the nuclear technologies we have exported worldwide, along with telecommunication systems, highway and transportation technologies, agricultural technologies, environmental technologies, Human Relations technologies that are effective and respectful, and on and on and on.

Canada is already a recognized center for research, innovation and development. Much of this success is due to our ability to fill small niche markets and then capitalize upon specialization. Force-field technologies could do this for us in The Future, both on the Earth and in Space, as well as in the unexplored Ocean depths.

Canada has found a unique and valuable role in the International Space Station initiative. Astronauts and technologies like the Canadarm have helped make this set of experiments a success. We can do more of the same as the exploration and exploitation of Space continues. And Canadian Aerospace and Robotics developers will also play an important role in the exploration and exploitation of Space.

The Treatment Of People

There remains a tendency in our society to make life difficult for others. Government, institutions, processes and values that are currently existent aim at getting up or ahead at the expense of someone else or others. There is an unhelpful “competitive” streak amongst Canadians. If our purpose is to help, support, assist and elevate everyone, then this is an obsolete set of conditions and tools with which to accomplish our goal.

If our governments sought to do everything in their power to support people, rather than setting obstacles in the way, then we would all benefit. We could make it our goal to remove the obstacles to personal and corporate success and to ensure a minimization of obstacles while maximizing helpful resources.

One major obstacle to Canada becoming everything we could be is poverty. Our current practices, policies and regulations poise government as the enemy of people. People are held in suspicion while financial and other help is withheld that could easily give people a “leg up” out of poverty. Instead we keep a large portion of the population poor: poorly fed; poorly clothed; poorly educated; poorly housed.

We employ systems that pit citizen against government and vice-versa. If we had friendly government, rather than contentious ones, then the results would be vastly better.

We are a Democracy. This means that we imagine, discuss and decide how we govern ourselves. Canadians prefer to be treated with Compassion. And we prefer to extend Compassion rather than retribution. This is a National personality characteristic.

Presently Governments stand in the way of peace of mind; secure living accommodations; stability in families (Children’s Aid is regarded as a threat, and rightly so.); access to appropriate and effective education; equal opportunity for those with no French language skills; political parties that are inclusive and democratic rather than oligarchic and exclusive; a fair distribution of wealth; and more.

The principles and practices of democracy in every aspect and quadrant of Canadian society would better enable the will of the people to be heard and implemented. The Canadian people can be trusted. We are a kind, informed, sincere, gifted, hardworking people who are willing to take risks for all that we believe in.

Generally speaking it appears that we treat people who are in crisis elsewhere with greater kindness, compassion and unchecked support than we do those in our own country who are in crisis. We should do at least as much for Canadians as we do for others. This is an oversight on the part of Canadians and our governments; a misplacement of emphasis.

We are kind to the African or Asian child suffering in and from poverty, but keep our own children in poverty by legislation and policy. We should set goals that lift everyone out of poverty and into a stable and productive condition rather than keeping people in poverty- ridden circumstances.

Conclusion

Canada is a nation coming of age in an historic Moment when we can make a significant difference in determining The Future of the world and our existent civilization. By deciding to pursue peaceful means and methods and goals we can influence the entire world and help shape The Future into The Canadian Dream of World Peace, prosperity, security and tolerance. We do it all here on a daily basis and have proven that it’s possible for people of all kinds, types and backgrounds to live together in cooperation and peace. And Peace enables discussion, problem solving, solutions and discoveries.

Let us turn our national character into national policy and reach out to a hurting world with the same Compassion we have extended to our fellow Canadians, who are of every Race, Nation, Language and Belief. Together we are one Big Beautiful Red Machine, under the emblem of The Red Maple Leaf.

Peace.

“Don’t keep the peace…pass it on.”

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The Just Society...or...just a society?

2012-01-17T06:57:00.000-08:00

I am one of those Canadians who believes in The Just Society. We were led to it by Pierre Trudeau who gave us visionary leadership. The Conservative Party and Mr. Harper seem to prefer the idea of a "just another society."

The Just Society has evolved in my mind to incorporate an important part of Canadian culture that has deep roots in many spiritual and ethical traditions - compassion.

I strive to help build The Just and Compassionate Society. More and more Canadians are embracing the idea of Justice with Compassion and we would be prudent to share this idea with the whole world.

This is an idea that propagates 'Sustainability in all things'.
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Chronic Financial Morbid Obesity

2012-01-17T06:13:00.000-08:00

Western civilization has lost much of its civility as the urgent fever to acquire and accumulate great wealth and fortunes has become the single most sought after theme in daily life. The news, the helpful advisers with their TV and radio shows...and now Internet shows, the educational and professional opportunities all seek to help us build our own reckless fortunes.

Why even the churches have made it clear that nothing is so important as raising money and the more the merrier. Sadly this is not sustainable behaviour and it will destroy our resources for living and life. If this ceaseless and senseless drive to accumulate great fortunes that nobody spends and nobody uses were about food we would arrive at a very different conclusion about this behaviour - waste and pointless greed.

This type and level of consumption and eating is now identified as a health disorder...a mental/emotional health disorder. And it has deep and lasting impact upon the physical health and the general well-being of the afflicted one. I see those great fortunes as HUGE bodies that those who possess them must cart around and you can't get far with that bulk - the so-called "luggage of life".

But morbidly obese people cannot do this alone for they cannot move nor go out nor care for themselves and their huge physical bulk. Obesity can also bring shame and regret. The obese need helpers and family members who facilitate their self-destructive behaviour and urge it on with cupcakes and whole chickens and endless piles of unneeded nourishment that the body will never and can never process in a healthy and useful manner.

I think that it is in large part because my family has had wealth that it is not such a big factor in my life. I can live and have lived without it. The fact is that through the course of my lengthening lifetime I have heard the stories of how great fortunes destroyed my ancestors in some cases and other families and persons.

The man who raised my Dad [step-grandfather by proxy] was murdered and robbed of almost a billion dollars as he slipped into the eternal sleep...killed in his own bed. A great life cut short for greed. And that was back when a billion dollars meant something and there were few who had this much cash to use for pocket change that could be stolen in a New York moment in beautiful Nassau.

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This great rush to own everything is destroying the Earth and the life sustaining environment that we hope will provide for our children, grandchildren and so forth ad infinitum. Humanity needs to take a long deep breath and rethink how we earn our livings and how we plan for the endless and enduring future.

Many simply dismiss the idea that there can be a future. But I know humanity can adapt and adjust just as we have done before. We must evolve. Science, history, math, religion and philosophies of all kinds claim we can do it. Time says we must do it together and quickly.

My own great-grandfather was the driver in one of those worldwide business and economic transformations of an earlier age – the industrial modernization of Canada and subsequently the world. Few realize that much of the global culture that drives markets, industry, communication and transportation has its origins in Canada and nowhere else.

This gentleman, a carriage maker by trade introduced kerosene to the world market as an alternative to whale oil for lighting, and processed crude oil to produce products for lubrication and heating/energy production – thereby rescuing large mammalian marine life from extinction – i.e. - whales. He also invented the asphalt industry with application in roads, roofs and marine vehicles.

Then he discovered oil and invented the petroleum industry and the integrated petroleum company, built the first oil refinery in the world [in Hamilton Harbour], created the petrochemicals industry, ran the first natural gas pipeline, and paved the first highway in the world between Hamilton and Toronto.

When James Miller Williams arrived in Canada from New Jersey about 1841 there was no infrastructure: there were no roads here, no railroads, no banks and insurance companies, no steel industry, no rail-car industry, no metal stoves for the kitchens of the nation and other practical household goods. This man had a strong hand in building and sharing all of these component parts of our modern society and culture which we take for granted.

He then helped to build modern Canada by first serving as an Alderman in Hamilton and then serving that city in the Ontario Legislature as a “Father of Confederation” from 1867-79. This one man gave us all of this and more, enabling fortunes and livings to be made by countless millions of people in his time.

And even today his legacy continues to feed and provide for the global village. Oil remains king and highways are everywhere now while natural gas is widely used. Without refined gasoline there could be no internal combustion engines, no cars, buses, trains, airplanes – no development and no modern world. His gifts to us keep giving to the international community but it started in Canada and few know that.

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Great fortunes are not always what they're cracked up to be. They can bring sorrow, suffering, regret, self and soul destroying lifestyles, and alienation from the main body of humanity – our brothers and sisters in all places.

I participated in a seminar at Princeton University once about the challenges faced by and the care needed by extremely wealthy people. I still recall a moving story about a child growing up within a high and secure wrought iron fenced estate – a little prisoner looking out at other children playing while she could have no friends nor freedoms.

I was taught by my father that Liberty is the single most valuable asset any person can have and that we should cherish and guard it above and beyond all other treasures – even life itself if it comes down to that. “Give me Liberty or give me death!” as one democratic voice declared. In fact it delivers other treasures to us in the exercise of our Liberty.

Ironically I now find that I can and do achieve more with virtually no money than many do who possess millions of dollars and fleets of expensive vehicles. I call this Success with Less and I'm convinced that we all need to learn how to have happiness and security without destroying the Earth and our own families who will follow after us.

I see that “wealth” as bulk weight that prevents people from being quick and nimble which are qualities needed in the Information Age. As Bill Gates so succinctly put it - “Business @ the Speed of Thought”. Any slower technology or method cannot compete in this world whether on personal, family, community, national or global scales. Slim, slender, economical in a Zen simplicity kind of way, and mobile should be the human ideal of personal and financial health and economics for this century. Our children and all people are @ risk and we can still alter the outcomes so we should - with diligence and determination.

We need better stewardship of the gifts we have inherited for a while - water, earth, air, forests, animal life and all things. We need "Sustainability in all things". I can provide practical leadership in this important challenge we face as we try to save our faltering world and reduce the stress and strain upon the planet through environmental healing and protection practices. This is all easy and inexpensive.

In some cases there is no outlay of money required. It only requires vision and will – so look and see the impossible Crisis that is looming then start working on solutions in your own part of life. We can plant great forests to capture the carbon that heats our global systems and we can quickly clean up ALL of our fresh water resources at little cost and perhaps even great profit.

We can also begin to clean up the oceans by designing new fleets of sea vessels that will harvest the fortunes of plastic that circulate there constantly waiting to be turned back into oil and wealth by our business people and sea captains. This will in turn take pressure off of the extraction processes and soften the harm to our planetary home. Fortunes and livings are waiting to be made in this new world of environmentalist opportunity.

We can do more with less if we rethink our methods and we will ALL be wealthier beyond our wildest dreams – with new industries that provide new kinds of rewards and 21^st Century fortunes consisting of healthy environmental practices, scaled back earnings and investment payouts. This will significantly lessen usury in the financial institutions and bullying of citizens by governments and their representatives.

Perhaps it all comes down to what Carlos Santana the great guitarist said, “You ARE your intentions!”

Peace Pays!

Isaac Newton Can’t Do It! - Science in Public Schools

2011-09-05T15:43:00.000-07:00

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.” - Albert Einstein

In the world of Internet Communication and Media blitz the foundational theories of Newtonian Physics are obsolete. Newton’s Laws cannot explain nor make sense of the technologies that we currently employ for common daily tasks.

Something so essential and commonplace as sending an email - which is one of our most frequent personal and collective activities in 2011 - simply cannot be explained nor justified with the Physics taught in our schools in Ontario [and Canada]. They are STILL teaching obsolete Newtonian physics while physicists call for modernization.

Only Quantum Theory [math, physics, et cetera] can enable and give the User a theoretical base that allows for the effective use of neutrons and electrons in communication and in social, cultural, physical, industrial, scientific and political change.

This is a sub-atomic particle era [The Atomic Age] and we know how to use our ‘subs’ with greater and greater facility. This cannot be accommodated by Isaac Newton’s universe and requires a conception of The Quantum. [This reminds me of the idea of The Tao in Chinese Taoism.]

How could I have known and who would have guessed that neutrons are existent phenomena that can and must co-exist in more than one place at the same time and that we can align, arrange and manipulate these electrons in meaningful ways that change all aspects of life, Human or otherwise?

Who would have suspected, given what was previously believed and taught? In fact I can send copies of arranged electrons to countless people all at the same time [cc & bcc]. Newton will not allow this kind of action and reaction, cause and effect.

We must teach our children Quantum Theory and we must do it quickly. In order for this to be possible, teachers and others must become acquainted with the Science of their Age. Presently they seem to know nothing and still struggle in a ‘mechanical universe’ instead of in a Quantum Universe.

Quantum allows and permits and enables miracles by the standards of Newtonian Physics. These Quantum Phenomena make the real condition and Being of the essential material of the universe the subject of a Science rather than a mystery, a technology rather than a miracle.

This is an impediment to our National stability, progress and growth. And this ‘problem’ is rooted in our public schools and the curricula we employ in them. These are outdated, obsolete and a waste of money, time, lives and other resources. Theory is everything!

In Newton’s Universe matter can only exist in one place at a time. Yet we prove on a daily and ongoing basis that this is not true; that matter can be duplicated, multiplied and applied to real situations with real results. Every time we write and send an email we are aligning electrons into meaningful series and then we use these arranged electrons to DO things.

These technologies are tools that enable us to make tools to do other things. This usually involves their duplication and multiplication. Newton was a genius of historic proportions but in light of quantum theory he wrong - or inadequate for our present and future scientific needs and applications. It's quite simple really - Newton can’t do it!

Einstein could and did and he has enabled all of us to do it in keeping with his peculiar and effective view of reality; of the nature of the physical world and the potential that is embodied in the smallest particles of matter and their subcomponents, which are ‘non-matter’.

These tools have no physical being and cannot be located in a place. Still they are a ‘quantum leap’ ahead of their physical predecessors. LOL. The energy contained in these small particles is really difficult, if not impossible to predict and calculate at this point in our exploration and development of this new Science…this new set of sciences.

Teachers require immediate and appropriate training in this Science and other necessary Educational adjustments. This should have been done fifty years ago. Our survival and success depend upon this.

We need good teachers trained in good science and with good technologies available to assist them in sharing these important components of The Universal Culture with all students in all schools. The rules have changed completely in the physical world and everyone must know…quickly. The rules of education must change in order to accommodate the ‘changed’ reality.

One way to begin to address this set of problems is to engage the resources of The Perimeter Institute of Theoretical Physics in a public education “upgrade”. We need new Software…quickly.

“Newton is dead. Long live Einstein.”

RJW Copyright
June 19, 2006. 2139 h [15 minutes]
Guelph, Ontario, CANADA

The Great Canadian Betrayal of Children

2011-08-30T13:19:00.000-07:00

Teachers [Canadian Teachers Federation and provincial wings] are among the most affluent and powerful citizens of Canadian society.

These teachers are also the strongest opponents of "Equal Rights, Protection and Opportunity for children in Canada" [Bill S-209] and have lobbied long and hard to prevent young people from receiving Equal Rights to which all citizens are entitled - as described in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This Bill would give them the Rights that teachers wish to withhold.

Read Senator Cochrane's speech outlining the position of the Canadian Teachers Federation who oppose Equal Rights for children here. She later supported the bill after I wrote to her. In her speech she said she would change her position in a heartbeat if she thought the bill would really help and protect children. I tried to show her how it would help. She voted in favour of the bill in the Senate vote for second reading - true to her word.

Teachers do this [support child slavery worldwide] because they collectively and mistakenly believe that they profit more than any other group from this exclusion of young people from our Franchise of Human Equality.

Individually no Canadian teacher would admit to this, but collectively this is their history of legal action and expensive lobbying and investments worldwide. Ironically we put children in their care in hopes that they will protect them when in fact they are doing this secret harm.

In fact this exclusion hurts us all. This is a case of the richest and most powerful exerting themselves en masse to intentionally harm the most weak and financially vulnerable for secretive personal gain on a vast scale.

Well it's no secret now! See Rick Mercer's Rant on this topic. All of society is awakening to this truth and things must change quickly to protect young people and our Nation.

Our school teachers along with the outdated education systems and personal values they unwittingly embody and defend have become a threat to the Freedom of every Canadian and to Liberty itself.

Sadly they are too content in their habituated wrongdoing to hear polite expressions of concern. So a little public exposure seems to be in order.

I wonder what this "blood for money" behaviour is teaching our children? The Rights of children worldwide hinge upon our children acquiring Equal Rights. Our Rights hinge upon their Rights. If all are not Equal then none are mathematically.

Sadly our teachers oppose this Equality for children at every level and they derive huge personal gain from the inequity. This is how they are financing the comfortable retirement lifestyles that they have come to expect in the Culture of Entitlement that they represent. They do it with child slave labour in remote locations where they don't have to see it, think about it, OR teach it.

The world is one holistic community at this point and teachers are standing in the way of safety, survival and progress- "life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness". They are steadily and smugly hollering about their needs, their safety, their well-being and their incomes.

Meanwhile millions of children starve, are used as slaves, are exploited and harmed in every way and murdered or injured without a voice. All of this is done to provide a comfortable living for lazy public servants who want to retire with benefits and spend winters somewhere warm, shop a lot, have a nice wardrobe, drive a nice car and live in comfort. [To heck with those child slaves!]

Teachers all seem to like chocolate and ironically schools sell it to raise money for good causes. Sadly almost all chocolate is harvested by child slaves. Let teachers go and harvest their own chocolate instead of requiring little slave boys to do it for them!

I hope teachers wake up soon and stop doing this harm to children in Canada and globally, to humanity, to Liberty, and to the Earth. Our teachers need to learn about Peace and Justice and Equality and Sustainability and then teach these subjects by the best of all teaching methods - personal example.

U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child

Peace Pays!
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Sounding The Alarm: Threat To Our Freedom

2011-08-30T12:07:00.000-07:00

Poverty is to be without sufficient money, but it is also to have little hope for better things. It is a feeling that one is unable to control one’s destiny, that one is powerless in a society that respects power. The poor have very limited access to means of making known their situation and their needs. To be poor is to feel apathy, alienation from society, entrapment, hopelessness and to believe that whatever you do will not turn out successfully.

~ Canadian Royal Commission on the Status of Woman, Report, 1970

Curricula in the area of Social Studies have long taught the children of our culture about the democratic values, practices, institutions, struggles, heroes and heroines, and the Rights and Freedoms that have resulted from this tradition of Democracy. We hold these things dear.

Yet while we teach our children about these things we simultaneously infringe upon their Rights and Freedoms as guaranteed by numerous respectable Declarations, from The United Nations Declaration On The Rights of Children to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to The Code of Conduct For Schools In The Province of Ontario.

Children are taught that people have struggled and prevailed against tyrants who would strip them of their Rights, while at the same time the children are subjected to commonplace treatment in our public schools that would be deemed abhorrent by any self-respecting citizen of a free and democratic nation and see themselves shorn of their Rights.

For some reason the adult population, from parents and family, to school employees, to the police and officers of the court, to leaders and legislators, to religious and business leaders are managing to ignore the all-encompassing and unnoticed withholding and withdrawing of Civil and Human Rights that is experienced by children in all segments and sectors of our society.

Even if these small citizens, and some not so small, have been persuaded that they are not and should not be entitled to the same Rights as blacks, women, men, gays, et cetera, and convinced by the withholding of these Rights that this is an acceptable condition by this very withholding of these Rights, it is incumbent upon us to ensure the full and equal Rights of all who dwell within our borders in the first place, and All people everywhere and anywhere that the beacon of Liberty burns in the second place.

Children constitute a large percentage of our “poor population”. This is to say that we are agreed among ourselves as a political entity (the citizenry) that children, due to their vulnerability, should be poor, badly educated and treated in manners that would result in legal action where both parties are within that magical and arbitrary “age of majority”.

Let us not ignore nor forget that many children are more intelligent, better informed and educated, more trustworthy and reliable, are more productive, more conscientious and just plain more than many amongst the adult population and the society of educators.

[This is an excerpt from the essay - Our Most Precious Treasures: The Rights Of Children]

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Addendum - Note -

Teachers [Canadian Teachers Federation and provincial wings] are among the most affluent and powerful citizens of Canadian society.

These teachers are also the strongest opponents of "Equal Rights, Protection and Opportunity for children in Canada" [Bill S-209] and have lobbied long and hard to prevent young people from receiving these Equal Rights.

The Rights of children worldwide hinge upon our children acquiring Equal Rights. It's all one holistic community.

Teachers do this [support child slavery worldwide] because they collectively and mistakenly believe that they profit more than any other group from this exclusion of young people from our Franchise of Human Equality.

Individually no Canadian teacher would admit to this, but collectively this is their history of legal action and expensive lobbying and investments worldwide.

In fact this exclusion hurts us all. This is a case of the richest and most powerful exerting themselves to intentionally harm the most weak and financially vulnerable for secretive personal gain on a vast scale.]

Well it's no secret now! See Rick Mercer's Rant on this topic.

Our school teachers along with the systems and values these teachers unwittingly embody and defend have become a threat to the Freedom of every Canadian and to Liberty itself .

I wonder what this "blood for money" behaviour is teaching our children?
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Helping More Students Succeed

2011-08-30T10:44:00.000-07:00

I've been appealing to the Ontario Liberal Government of Dalton McGuinty to act in the best interests of young Canadians for over six years now. I want young people to feel real Hope and to be able to do the Math and see that this Hope is real.

I'm happy to report that they have stepped up to the plate and hit solidly for several years in a row. Their batting average in this respect is far above most jurisdictions and we have become leaders in the modern education required to survive and succeed in the 21st Century.

Thank you to Mr. McGuinty and his staff who have worked so hard to modernize public education in Ontario.

August 30, 2011 10:00 AM

McGuinty Government Doubles Free Online Math Tutoring To Help Students Succeed

http://www.news.ontario.ca/edu/en/2011/08/helping-more-students-succeed-2.html

Wealth without Money

2011-08-23T09:52:00.000-07:00

I am one of the wealthiest people who has ever lived on planet Earth. By virtue of my citizenship in the Wealthy Society I have benefits, advantages, opportunities, resources, and riches beyond anything any king, queen, emperor or dictator ever had in any previous age.

To elevate and accentuate my wealthy status I have those notable marks of the wealthy – a higher education, influence, protection under the Law, a network of influential contacts and friends, mobility and opportunity. I have greater degrees of literacy as well as access to publicly funded health care which those folks in previous ages did not have.

They could not fly or drive or make a phone call or have an MRI, let alone blog about their political views in a Free and Open Society. I have all of this and so much more. So do many others. We live in a wealthy society and we are wealthy by virtue of this shared set of resources we call Canada.

Wealth without money is part of our daily culture in Canada. Even our poorest citizens have more than the famous rulers and despots and sages of all the ages past – cars, electricity, big wheel trucks and trailer parks, clean fresh water – indoors , plumbing and heating and air conditioning, light, credit, Internet, cell phones, mass communication, Rights and Freedoms, science and medicine and so on. These all make this society and our people wealthy beyond the dreams of those people of ages past.

Even people at the beginning of the 20th Century could not have conceived of anything so remarkable as what we have become and the world we have built. We are amazing and this gives us advantages as well as responsibilities for our more vulnerable friends, neighbours, families – for the whole world.

Together we can build this remarkable dream. Unified we can change the world into the Canadian Dream of peaceful stability with tolerance and shared wealth - Commonwealth. Divided we will fall for anything because “Nature hates a vacuum!” We can do this - just as Jack Layton urged us to do in his last letter to Canadians.

Why not reach for Excellence and Truth in all things? These two things were the core ideas in the emergence of the Golden Age of Ancient Greece in the age of Pericles.

These two simple and powerful ideas have driven Western Civilization for more than two thousand years. Let them drive us forward into and through the 21st Century.

This is the Golden Age of Canadian Culture.
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The Wealthy Society – Tools for Responsible Citizenship

2011-08-20T11:27:00.000-07:00

In Canada we have achieved some remarkable democratic benchmarks. As a result of what I call The Wealthy Society Canadians are [or can be] empowered to impact their own world and The Whole World in ways that are not within reach of most citizens of Planet Earth.

One Canadian can have more personal power than 1000 or 10,000 in the streets of Darfur or many communities in crisis around the world. This truth points to and describes our duty and responsibility to humanity and to the ecosystem.

Our peace and civility and stability and our policy of affordable health care have made so much possible. To throw it away or let it be torn from our grasp would be sad after the struggle to achieve it and the equally stiff one to retain those gains.

I think that when we act we should be clear about why we make choices. We represent those other ten thousand who cannot act for themselves and their families. They need us to act in their behalf and in their best interests.

We can easily help guide the world into a renewed and more hopeful world community. Hope still lives in Canada and we can export it. We have the resources. These are the same resources that have lifted so many Canadians out of poverty and helplessness and ill health.

This help has benefited everyone from Mr. Harper and his political team to the officers of our courts and ALL Canadians rich and poor. We all derive benefit from the common wealth.

Our people are our most precious democratic resource. It is with and through and for The People that I want to see Canada governed. I want to see us ruled only by our own unique democratic devices – Constitution, Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Law and Order, Parliamentary democracy and traditions of Freedom.

These collective virtues empower all individuals, all groups, all communities, all that we are in sum total as a nation and as The People. We are Canada!
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Ambassadors For Peace

2011-08-17T08:29:00.000-07:00

In this possibly terminal phase of human existence, democracy and freedom are more than just ideals to be valued - they may be essential to survival. - Noam Chomsky

The woman [sic] who really loves her [sic] own children...is the woman [sic] that wants to see other peoples' children get their chance too. Nellie McClung

There exists another compelling reality that possesses power to convince us of the need for fair and equal treatment of children in our publicly-funded and
sanctioned school systems. As I mentioned in my opening remarks, Canada is a nation that is coming of age in an historic Moment in which we are badly needed in the Global Community.

There is an emerging sense amongst citizens of The Earth that Canada is doing many things right. We do not seek to harm our neighbours, but rather offer all people kindness and support, especially in times of crisis.

As the world descends into what seems a deeper and steeper spiral of crisis upon deeper and more complex crisis, The Canadian Way is emerging as a beacon of Hope for the community of nations and for the citizens of every part of the Globe.

We have a reputation for making and keeping peace politically and militarily. A frightened and hurting world in conflict is looking to us to discover how people of all types and backgrounds and from every religion and nationality and language group can live together in relative peace and harmony.

We are a microcosm of and the model for a future world that can be responsible and co-operative and just and compassionate, and peaceful.

In order to export this, perhaps our most valuable cultural feature, we will need citizens who know the feel and the zeal of Liberty and are able to co-exist with and value their neighbours as equals, no matter what their condition or age or economic, social or educational status.

There will be no army of Ambassadors for our way of life if we do not provide clear and concrete opportunities for our young people to enjoy the richness that exists in being equal before a Just Law within a functional and purposeful set of Values and guided by a Vision of hope.

If we treat children with kindness and respect they will be much more inclined to remain in school, to get an education and training, and to support the system that supports them in and with appropriate manners.

Children are and can be such able, gentle, kind, co-operative, respectful, interesting, fun, helpful and educational people. Our teachers can learn much from them as students, as do the best of our post-secondary teachers learn from their students.

If we do not actively and energetically, efficiently and intelligently export Peace and our methods of achieving it, then it is highly likely that War will come to visit us in Canada. At that point most concerns around education, teacher employment contracts, availability of resources and so forth will be moot [irrelevant].

Perhaps we can preempt this possibility by acting in accordance with the real urgency of our circumstances and situation. To act now can prevent much
suffering later for Canadians and people of all nations.

Our situation could change suddenly and dramatically for the worse. But we [Canada] can make a significant positive difference. One way is through appropriate and effective education.

Children need Equal Rights in Canada, in our public schools and everywhere.

Peace Pays!

[excerpt from Our Most Precious Treasures: The Rights Of Children - chapter 8]
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Restoring the Earth for Healthy Living - How to Clean the Oceans

2011-08-15T12:14:00.000-07:00

The Earth – our home – has become a toxic waste pile and we need to clean it up...soon and quickly. The oceans are floating current-driven landfills. The air is damaged. The Earth and Water cry out! Toxic and nuclear disasters proliferate.

I have already begun this process of cleaning up the Mess in my own backyard...literally. I turned a rotting and neglected wasteland into a cool and refreshing paradise at zero cost and with a little capitalistic profit.

Now I'm branching out. Lol I want to clean up the whole Earth and see people profit from that set of actions. Billions and trillions of dollars at just waiting to be harvested. In the process of profiting we shall help the Earth.

If we are busy fighting we cannot be cleaning. I say clean! Make life on earth Sustainable and Clean. Together we can do this...Canadians can help.

I have an idea to help clean the oceans. I understand that in the center of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans in the massive circling currents that are constant there are great seas of floating plastic...mostly shopping bags and bottles and sludge and so forth.

They drift and waft in endless circles creating a blight upon this life giving resource – the ocean. These circles of current are called 'gyres” - as in gyroscope.

I have an idea of how to remove that floating waste and derive great profit for many – build an entire new fisheries industry to harvest that plastic. We can refit our idle fishing fleets and build new ones to harvest this floating industrial treasure.

Recently I have seen a new piece of equipment on Facebook that can turn plastic back into oil in a very few minutes and at low cost - see links below. If we equipped fishing boats with the proper gear and sent them out to harvest this new ocean resource, many could be restored to productive dignity and even more to earning and wealth. This would also provide a new reliable source of oil at low cost of extraction.

This is not the whole answer but could easily be part of it. Once we make a start then we can think about finishing the job. It begins with you where you are and in this Moment. Let's clean up the Earth and the ecosphere.

Start now in your own way and in your own part of the world. Don't wait for anyone or anything. Just do your part of any magnitude possible to you...the larger the better.

Canadians can affect large groups and influence outcomes on a grand scale in a peaceful way. We can Dream and build the future we want for our children. Clean oceans are part of my Canadian Dream for our children and many generations to come.

This also appears to be a unique and profitable financial opportunity of a lifetime. Several versions of this technology are already available. All we need is investors to see the potential earnings and environmental savings that exist together in this floating plastic waste.

Japanese version of the machine for small operations anywhere in the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGGabrorRS8

American version which is on a more industrial scale.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWf9nYbm3ac&feature=related

Let's go fishing!

Peace Pays!

“Don't keep the peace...pass it on.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_Garbage_Patch

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Atlantic_Garbage_Patch

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Ocean_Garbage_Patch
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The Global Crisis - What's Wrong with the Economy?

2011-08-12T14:31:00.000-07:00

SUMMARY - The Global Economic Crisis consists of a global children's slave trade PLUS an adult slave trade in the tens of millions, added to a widespread and growing militarism which under-girds and drives the world economic production. Many assume we must kill to prosper and use slaves to build wealth. I disagree. The rest is excuse making. Read on and consider this...

1 - The Ailment

There is much speculation about what ails the global economy and those local ones like Greece, Italy, America, and others which are trembling as though under some great invisible weight.

All of the experts [pundits and analysts on CNN, BNN, CTV, CBC, BBC, governments, and so on] agree that there are certain symptoms which they can read and use to help investors be wise in their decisions. The markets seem to be ignoring their opinions. Of course the Market IS imaginary. lol

I see the whole thing differently. I see a looming and simmering Crisis of global magnitude and historic proportions hovering in the shadows ready to break into the daylight and surprise the experts and the innocent alike. It is my opinion that if we do not solve the two central problems with the global economy then it will fail – irreversibly and critically.

Rapidly escalating war and militarism globally added to a dependency upon slavery to acquire wealth are the core of the real problem. This is not Sustainable and neither is the rapid destruction of the Earth for industrial extraction purposes.

I prefer to live a life that is clean, respectable and ethically responsible and urge all others to do the same – “no murder and no 'footprint'.” Perhaps this is partly the Oriental influence in my life, which teaches Simplicity in living. I call this “Success with Less.”

The causes of instability and of this economic Problem are really no secret. All media sources bombard our children with the details of this complex crisis all day long every single day. Many grown-ups seem able to filter out this Truth. It is the main message of the Data Flow.

Kids HEAR it...loud and clear. They do the Math and want to be part of the Solution and no longer excluded and lied to. This Crisis I describe is the scary Elephant in the dark room of every child's heart.

Yet governments and leaders [and experts of all kinds] pretend it's not happening...and say it must be about houses or oil or gold. Young people see this pretense as a betrayal. This is not economics. It's self-deception on a grand scale - which is a bad thing when managing international economies. It's about greed and bad [self-] government.

The problem is simple in my eyes. The main industry that drives the global economy is militarism – manufacturing of bullets of all sizes, bombs, missiles, drones, radar systems, transportation, satellite, intelligence, and naval systems and all kinds of aircraft - equipping, arming, warring, and all that goes with it – what President Eisenhower called “the military industrial complex”. We need to stop killing and making war for profit.

2 – The Diagnosis

People seem to accept it as – well 'acceptable' to generate wealth by violence. I do not. I refuse to earn a living by killing anyone let alone innocent children on the other side of the world whom I should be helping. And I don't want anybody killing anybody for me even if it does generate great wealth for some rich folks I don't know.

The other engine of the global economy is slavery. This secret underside of the global economy includes tens of millions of child slaves of many kinds - industrial, commercial, household, agricultural [like chocolate], mining & extraction, recycling, manufacturing, child soldiers, child prostitutes and sex slaves of both genders and all ages in many places, and others who make invisible contributions to the Wealth of Nations.

Their child labouring is increased and magnified by the much larger human slavery problem. Slavery requires tyranny and that's a steep and slippery slope away from democracy and free and fair market capitalism, thereby destroying democracy.

The exclusion of some from Equality excludes us all mathematically. It's the turning of the back on decency and humanity. It's the end of all that makes life meaningful and tolerable and wonderful.

I estimate that the profits from slavery constitute some ten to fifteen percent [10-15%] of the GGP [ Gross Global Product]. This is the buffer that western cultures of entitlement believe that they are entitled to. It appears that it actually belongs to others who are presently in chains and despair and in the grip of seemingly inescapable injustice that is driven by our prosperity and justified by our religions.

We can do better than this. We should do better than this. We MUST do better than this or the human and natural worlds will come to collect what we owe them. They will be angry. They will be armed, for we will have sold them the means to destroy us and all whom we love. That's business!

3 - The Prescription

What is my Prescription to end this injustice and self-destructive behaviour that is terrorizing our youth? A peace-based economy and an end to slavery. We can do this.

Democratically minded people in the past have done it and we must do as they did, which requires strength and courage. We must do it to survive and solve the Crisis – which is a combination of military, environmental, ethical and other crises all combined into a destructive complex Menace.

I have not heard any of this analysis or solutions to it from Mr. Flaherty the Minister of Finance or the Prime Minister Mr. Harper. They're putting their money on the banks. This problem I describe here is just not part of their analysis while it is the larger part of the danger that confronts us.

We need a new national consciousness that includes these dirty details about our wealth and how we get – through violence and exploitation and injustice.

4 – Who We Are

All the while we say Canada and Canadians love justice and peace. Nonsense...but we should. If we do not alter these truths instead of ignoring them, they will find us and make us pay.

We are like those sometimes cruel and exaggerated characterizations of the citizens of the Confederate States in the American Civil War – “content in our arrogant cruelty.”

I say pay now out of goodwill and good economics practice. My calculations tell me that the taxes and penalties on that historic debt will be too much for humanity to bear individually or altogether if it continues to accrue interest much longer.

Widespread terrorism is at least partly due to the consequences of this arrogance. We must find common ground that is decorated with Justice and Peace.

Peace Pays!
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How to Effectively Combat the Environmental Crisis and Global Warming - Step up! Speak up! Stand up! Be counted!

2011-03-01T13:38:00.000-08:00

In order to effectively address the linked problems of the Environmental Crisis and Global Warming we do not really need complex and lucrative carbon trading markets, though they can help. We do not need burdensome regulations placed on people and organizations, whether private or public, although some regulation is required.

We need to reforest the Earth. We need to plant and nurture vast and enduring forests to sequester carbon dioxide and cool the planet. What could be cooler on a hot day than a walk in a mature forest? Forests cool the planet.

We need to produce our food close to where we live. We need to implement some alternative energy technologies and cut back on overall energy consumption. We need to learn to want and use less.

We need to stop destroying and compromising the eco-system with the weapons of war, the carelessness of manufacturing production and distribution, and the reckless infusion of pollutants into the atmosphere. Whether in war or movie making dark carbon based pollution is a threat to all life.

We need to stop poisoning our water, our soil, our air, our selves and all life on Planet Earth. We can all make a difference together.

This is NOT complicated. It requires informed and disciplined citizenship. This is what I am calling Canadians to embrace in order to secure our future health, our sovereignty and our economy - in order to deliver real Hope to our children and all people.

Step up! Speak up! Stand up! Be counted! Grasp the Vision and act! We can set an example and lead the world towards enduring hope.
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National Security

2011-02-27T11:21:00.000-08:00

Stephen Harper's idea of secure borders and national security measures is to relinquish responsibility. He proposes that we “sacrifice a certain amount of sovereignty for the sake of trade and security and open borders” - NAFTA.

His plan of betrayal is called Fortress North America and will mean American military and security personnel will be deployed on our soil, on and under our waters and in our air space to 'protect' us and to protect American “national security interests.” What a comedy of errors from the First Clown of Canadian governance – Stephen “Harpo the Clown” Harper.

This is further evidence that Mr. Harper has no idea whatsoever about how to implement National Security measures that are Canadian and effective. We need to raise up and pay our own security forces by enlarging the size of our Armed Forces, our Border Security Forces, our Internal Security Forces and our Intelligence Forces.

Once trained and hired we can deploy them and other security forces to guard our borders, protect our people and resources and interests; and secure our democratic values, institutions and processes which guarantee our Liberties. We have the best Armed Forces personnel in the world. Why should we seek help from lesser soldiers with more violent values?

If once we invite American security forces to do our internal security jobs we will soon be wishing we still had authority to make independent decisions about our resources, our politics, our culture, our business ethos, and our society with its peaceful emphasis.

Look at Lebanon and Iraq and many other countries where Americans have come to help. They have been reduced to ruin and chaos by the best intentions in the world. Canada is too important a resource to put it at risk of careless destruction.

Because Stephen Harper does not know what to do he is convinced that no one else could possibly know how to do it: to do the Prime Minister's job right in accordance with current Administrative methods as taught in all great universities and in keeping with our Canadian Parliamentary traditions. He prefers shallow ideology to science and trustworthy and proven methodology and he has attacked our Liberties and Parliamentary system with great zeal.

Doing this Administration work and National Security planning requires a lifetime of diligent preparation and study of Administration and Governance, history and ideas and humanity and legislative methodology. Stephen Harper has not done that work!

Why doesn't the Prime Minister know? Lack of diligence and skills sets! He also has no Canadian military intelligence and it shows in his thuggish, undisciplined and disrespectful behaviour. So he passes responsibility to foreign powers instead of seeking Canadian solutions.

Mr. Harper seeks the easy way through this security blip on our large Canadian radar screen. He seeks a plan that agrees with and furthers his agenda to sell Canada to the lowest corporate bidder or give it away to his American backers. He has no plan whatsoever for the threats to Canada that are developing in the current Crisis.

Canada is MORE than GNP. We are a remarkable and valuable asset in a world of chaos and violence. I will stand up for and fight for our Canada and not his pale imitation.

Our people are exceptional in every way and this includes our Security Forces of all kinds and levels. We simply need leadership that knows how to implement and deploy them for our own national interests.

Mr. Harper wants to sell Canada for a bowl of stew - “ a bowl of pottage”. He seeks to steal and sell our collective heritage and I mean to stop him and deliver real Hope, first to Canadians, and then to all nations and people in the global community. I will need your help to do it.

Read the brief essay set Building The Canadian Dream and then help us to make that Dream real for all Canadians and for our families around the world. This is an easy and inexpensive plan. It is a dignified and independent action that will help to make the Canadian Dream real for generations to come.

This Plan utilizes that important core Principle of political leadership and economic philosophy of the 21st Century - Success with Less - more success with less investment. Am I the only one who sees how to do this? No more fake lakes! I want to see real lakes cleaned up instead.

We need a real home grown Canadian National Security Strategy that involves investing in Canadians to train them and give them real meaningful employment in our security net. We need to train and hire sufficient security and intelligence forces within our borders to protect ourselves and our neighbours who are stressed and stretched to the breaking point already. This will help to build and drive the new economic model of “Sustainability in all things.”

Presently we are in jeopardy from enemies and friends alike - and even from our Prime Minister and his government. This can be quickly and easily changed. The Plan I have in mind will result in strengthening our independent sovereignty and that of our neighbours, friends and allies. Any National Security Plan must include an Environmental Protection and Recovery component and our Plan covers that too.

Canada must provide an example and leadership and not simply bow and capitulate to other external forces, American or otherwise.

Canada First!

Peace Pays!

“Don't keep the peace...pass it on.”
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Canada - True North Strong and Free

2011-02-16T09:40:00.000-08:00

Canada is an amazing country. We enjoy a level of peace, stability, and public security here that is rare in the world and in history. We are at the very heart and axis of The Universal Culture.

The World is no longer easily compartmentalized into isolated segments. People of all places and cultures now have immediate access to one another through amazing transportation and communication systems and we are exposed to all cultures.

These cultures are being melded into one all-encompassing new culture, which I call The Universal Culture. I have had more exposure to the many existent perspectives than some people and now I see a new phenomenon.

In Canada we have more ready access to data from people in all places and of all backgrounds than anyone ever has anywhere at any time up to the present. We have been accepting and tolerant and welcoming as we have woven The Cultural Mosaic.

These are qualities that are much-needed in a world fraught with intolerance and consequent violence in every nook and cranny of life. Here we have also enjoyed levels of freedom and democratic participation that are rare and beautiful. We have an abundance of food, water, and natural resources.

We have a strong economy and until recently we have had governments that sought diligently to serve the populace and the world. They were fair, kind, humane and efficient and embraced our functional democratic systems, values and institutions. They enabled us to care about and for the weak and the vulnerable in our midst.

We have been a Just and Compassionate Society. But all of that is now in jeopardy. Our current government seems to reject democracy or they sorely misunderstand what democracy is - Government of the people, for the People and by the People.

It is our responsibility as The People to remind them and call them to account...and then to govern ourselves in the manner we desire - with Justice and Compassion.
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Diligence

2011-02-12T11:07:00.000-08:00

Diligence is the persistent, industrious effort to carry a task or enterprise to a successful conclusion. To stay focused, attention fixed upon completing the job, always pressing pressing pressing against all obstacles and opinion, until all is finished: here is a component of Success.

Organized productivity with built up and sustained momentum fixed upon an object, a goal, a desire or achievement is more likely to end with successful results than will sporadic, chaotic, indifferent efforts. Life's like that.

In earlier ages, even in my childhood [lol], Diligence was regarded as a virtue. It was a desirable character and personality trait. Sadly, this virtuous trait has come to be regarded with the same suspicion that has called all classical and/or traditional values into question.

It was another case of “throwing the baby out with the bath water.” Those who have managed to retain or implement this and other virtues have risen above the crowd in this age as in every previous age.

Diligence will be required if we hope to survive and succeed as a nation and as a species.
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With Heads Firmly In Place: Universal Dental Care

2011-02-08T09:10:00.000-08:00

Universal Dental Care In The Province Of Ontario

How do we separate dental health from general health? How can we conceptually deny the intimate connection between a healthy mouth and a healthy body, mind and spirit?

Dental problems are painful, embarrassing, distracting and debilitating. Much productivity is lost in our society due to dental problems.

And dental problems are clearly associated with a wide variety of other health concerns from stomach cancer to kidney and bladder disorders to prostate gland inflammation, all of which place further pressure on our medical delivery systems.

Few common human experiences are more painful and distressing than a toothache. It’s the kind of pain that steals sleep and peace and concentration.

The infection in an abscessed tooth flows freely through the entire bloodstream and cannot be dissociated from the body at a practical level. Even existing definitions of insurable medical conditions have not managed to remove everyone’s heads...yet.

The Canadian Dental Association (dentists) are all in agreement that early and persistent care according to agreed upon maintenance practices are the best policy in caring for people’s teeth (and therefore people).

Their ads on television and all of their individual and collective communications with the Canadian Public say the same thing with perfect consistency. Yet they seem largely agreed that this policy should not be public policy.

So much more could be done for the dental health and overall well-being of people with so much less if this were public policy. Rather these ads become a humiliating message to all who lack complete access to proper care as prescribed by dentists in general. "You cannot get your teeth fixed so too bad for you!"

Dentists should take note that other forms of health care delivery have prospered their colleagues in the medical professions. The merely financial benefits for practitioners from these integrated systems have reached far beyond anything imagined at the moment of conception, or even at its birth. And it has helped all Canadians as well.

Let me clarify that I am not merely suggesting universal dental treatment. I mean dental care. By providing dental care and preventative treatment through government based programs we could reap great benefits as a Province [Ontario], as a Nation [Canada], as a People [Canadians].

For instance, a report about Emergency room traffic in Ontario hospitals revealed that over fifty percent of ER visits were not emergencies and a large proportion of these visits were related to dental problems.

Helping people care for their teeth would also relieve some of the undue pressures placed on hospital staff by sheer volume of clients at Emergency Rooms and other facilities. It would also relieve pressure on the public medical care delivery system, on the Province, and the on Federal Budget.

Healthier people are simply happier, more co-operative, and more productive members of society. Many of our citizens (often the poor or very poor) do not know how to care for their mouths and teeth.

Consequently they’re embarrassed both by the appearance of their teeth and by the suffering that accompanies dental infections and other oral problems. And these people cannot afford to pay someone to help them care for their teeth.

But we have the technologies, the administrative methods, the technologists, the dentists: the system components with which we could eliminate this sad pressure on people and on society. We even have the funding.

All we lack is the Will and a Vision of a Nation where people’s heads are attached to their bodies in the world of political and bureaucratic decision-making.

We need Universal Dental Care in The Province of Ontario. This would help the poor, the artists, our institutions, our finances, our work force, everyone!

Then dental practitioners could see a more even and widespread benefit to their society. They would also find even more reason for pride in their individual and collective work.

Life is a team sport and the collective skill, intelligence and creativity of our dentists could help transform Canada into that place about which we Dream.

Tommy Douglas was recently voted Canada’s “Greatest” citizen by an enthusiastic Public using media technology [TV + Internet + telephones + computers].

This former Premier of Saskatchewan won the hearts and devotion and gratitude of all Canadians through the introduction of “medicare”; government sponsored and supervised medical treatment for all citizens with no user fee.

Apparently the concept has become a hit. In spite of initial hostility and opposition it was soon adopted in all Provinces and became a Federal Government Policy.

This was an act of general compassion towards the Canadian People on the part of Mr. Douglas and his colleagues, the Members of The Saskatchewan Legislature.

Canadians still desire compassion and we like to express it in our societal systems. Let’s embrace compassion and heal the sore mouths, heads, and other suffering parts of Canadians, which result from dental problems.

Let us affirm once again that our mouths are in our heads and that our heads remain firmly in place, attached to our bodies. Our teeth need funding just as our waterfowl do and just as our culture does, and just as our international reputation does.

Canadians are in need of publicly founded, funded and managed Dental Education and Care just as we do for our bodies, minds, eyes, ears, feet, and all other areas of human medical specialization.

Dentists want to help people and such a system will enable a more balanced sharing of resources that will very quickly make us all richer, more productive, healthier and happier. It will make us an even greater nation. Dentists will earn more and the overall costs will be reduced for Canada and Canadians.

Our public medical care system is something that distinguishes us as a nation internationally. It’s an expression of the Justice and Compassion that characterize the Canadian identity. It's a Canadian success story.

Today there is much earnest debate about the future of medicare and many models are being proposed and implemented in response to perceived conditions and circumstances.

Some might prefer to eliminate medicare entirely and let Canadians return to a former and more primitive method of caring for themselves, their families, their neighbours and everyone across this great land.

The Medicare system has served Canadians well as individuals and as a nation. It employs a workforce of competent and well-trained medical practitioners.

Yet costs are skyrocketing and personnel are in short supply. So far no one has successfully suggested that we employ reliable preventative health systems. I know these exist and are available. We could implement these for dental care.

Doctors have also prospered far beyond what most of them would have managed without government medical delivery systems. Everyone wins in these public agreements; at least everyone should win.

When Mr. Douglas introduced the Bill for Universal Medicare in The Saskatchewan Legislature, his plan and dream was not to stop with this step and measure. He pointed out that hospital insurance had been the first step and had been received warmly and economically by the society.

Medicare, he added, was the second step. “Optometrics”, treatment for eyes and access to eye-wear funding, was third. [This is something that has been of great importance to me as a former blind person who received restorative eye surgery which was paid for by the Canadian people via OHIP. Thank you.]

And the jewel in Premier Douglas’ medical crown of coverage was intended to be dental care. After all, nothing gives that final luster to a person like a bright, shiny, healthy smile.

I believe it could be easily demonstrated that we could deliver better and universally accessible dental care to the citizens of Canada with less cost. Rather than tearing away that single thing which Canadians have proven is closest to their collective community heart in choosing Tommy Douglas as The Greatest Canadian, we should complete his Dream.

While others call for a compromise of the health care system, I call for the logical expansion to follow the first three steps already accomplished in this persistent Canadian Dream.

We should institute Universal Dental Care in The Province of Ontario, and then in all provinces, territories and regions of Canada. Dental problems are a plague on our citizens and economy and we could change that easily, inexpensively, and quickly.

These previous Medicare measures have stabilized and civilized Canada and have made this the best place in the world to live.

Be brave. Move forward and grasp The Dream. I call upon Premier McGuinty and all provincial and territorial leaders to embrace this dream and help all Canadians.

Legislate equality in dental care for Ontarions and Canadians!

Peace.

RJW

“Don’t keep the peace…pass it on.”

“Life is a team sport.”
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Shaking the Foundations of History - The Great Adventure

2010-11-04T10:09:00.000-07:00

Civilizations have a set of components that characterize each one as distinct. Each civilization is made up of societies, genetic pools, cultures, organizations, literature, governance methods, technologies, languages, philosophies and religions, arts and so on.

Each civilization goes through a cycle in which they begin, exist for a period and become dominant. Then they recede and eventually disappear into the dusts of history.

Underneath it all there are the foundations of history which are largely permanent. These are the backdrop and the dynamics of the movement of events which together we call history. [I prefer the term Accounts of Human Activity or AHA, for we must distinguish natural and geological history, which influence us, as distinct from human activity.] Occasionally these foundations need to be shaken, renewed and restored.

There have been Momentous crossroads throughout the history of western civilization in which conditions had become untenable and impossible to sustain. This set of conditions forces people to action and reminds us that “Necessity is the mother of invention.”

One example of this phenomenon is found in the Fourth Century when the Roman Empire finally collapsed and left a huge vacuum which no one seemed able to fill. Chaos and despair became widespread. The “Peace of Rome” or Pax Romana vanished and chaos descended upon Europe and threatened everything and everyone. People believed that the end of the world had come. [Many believe the same today.]

Then a book entitled The City of God was published by “Saint” Augustine. He was an intellectual priest and philosophy teacher who had been touched by God. This provided a new Vision for humanity in Europe for a thousand years...well actually 1100 years. For that is when the next BIG crisis of history hit Europe...at the end of The Dark Ages. The solution came in the person of another Christian leader and theologian named Martin Luther.

Like Augustine Luther received his education in the church as it existed at that time...and then he tore down that church and recreated it in keeping with the times, the challenges, the conditions...and the Truth. He transformed church, state, culture, literature, nations, governance practices, understanding of human liberty and dignity and much more. He even gave us the Christmas tree and wrote carols on his guitar. He used all media forms and outlets to communicate his message of hope.

Luther's action is now known as The Reformation and this ushered in what history calls The Enlightenment - the age of science and provable truth. Everything changed down to the foundations. The foundations of history had become loose and lax and weak and useless and needed to be restored with new ideas and new lifestyles and even technologies like the movable print printing press which Luther used to spread his message of renewal.

Big changes were introduced out of sheer necessity but that 'necessity' did not compare with what we face. There has NEVER been anything vaguely akin to what we face in terms of complexity and magnitude. Fortunately we have the examples of those who have gone before to guide us in our striving for survival and success as a nation, as a people, as a species, as a civilization...and as individuals.

Now we are in the midst of a set of challenging conditions that is unprecedented in history. Humanity has never faced such a complex and potentially threatening situation at any time in recorded history.

The widespread militarism that grows and destroys, coupled with an all-encompassing environmental Crisis that is global in magnitude add up to a VERY big threat to our children, our way of life, our planet itself and humanity at large. No one can escape the danger at this point. We must change or perish. We need “a way through the fire.”

So we need viable solutions that recognize the reality in which we live and which reach out to shake the very foundations of history while helping us to navigate safely through the dangers. We must change and we must do it efficiently for time is at a premium now. We are literally at the “Do or die!” stage.

How shall we respond to this threat to our families, communities, nations, values and so forth? Will we capitulate and kow ourselves and let the Crisis wash over us like helpless lambs in a tsunami? Or will we stand and fight for our lives, our children and the world we love...the beautiful blue planet.

What applied to Britain on June 4, 1944 applies to the Whole Earth today, for we now realize that we are an island in a hostile universe...floating in an ocean of dark matter and rapidly destroying our life-giving environment and each other.

The Threat is real and the danger is near. Winston Churchill's words still apply -

We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France,
we shall fight on the seas and oceans,
we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be,
we shall fight on the beaches,
we shall fight on the landing grounds,
we shall fight in the fields and in the streets,
we shall fight in the hills;
we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old."

If we hope to succeed we will have to work together - for the mess is too big for any one person. I am presently engaged in a plan of action that seeks to change far more than our national economy. We MUST change our civilization or we will not survive.

We are standing at a crossroads of history and upon a high rampart where the future of democracy and liberty are at stake and the threatening voice of tyranny shouts for victory with a crooked grin. Shall we believe the loud shouts of a cowardly liar or should we refuse to surrender?

We are in possession of a great opportunity and I propose that we embark upon a Great Adventure...a Great Undertaking to save ourselves and the Earth. If we succeed they will talk of our efforts and time for a thousand years.

If we fail there can be no guarantees of anything. But we have a duty to our nation, people and families to try. What a Grand Opportunity has been given to us, unlike any in any age past! This is the exhilaration of real life on Planet Earth. It can leave you breathless and carry you over the rainbow!

Certainly Canada cannot repel and survive a military assault from a powerful nation, nor can we invade other territories and take things by force. We need a diplomatic, scientific and rational solution and that is what I am proposing – Sustainability in all things.

I urge all people to consider a new economic model that rejects violence, slavery and war as a basis for economic gain - The Peace-based Economy. These cannot be sustained for long at this point. Survival will require peace on a grand scale.

This is the direction of Hope. If we can alter our thinking and behaviour and values enough to cease from destroying the planet and each other, then together we can easily build a hopeful Canadian future in the 21st Century.

I ask for your help in behalf of the children who suffer most from the threat and the fears associated with it. The future is quite literally in our hands. Let us treat it with care, respect, gratitude and generosity.

It helps to keep perspective on history and remember what happened in the past. As the 20th Century philosopher George Santayana famously said, “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

“Let there be Peace on Earth and let it begin with me.”
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The Crisis

2010-10-16T07:22:00.000-07:00

I see everything political in the light [or perhaps in the shadow] of The Crisis. For I am completely persuaded that humanity is facing a Crisis of historic proportions and that there is no guarantee that we, our civilizations, societies and our human world will survive intact.

Some might consider me to be an alarmist. I consider them to be sadly blinded by circumstances and distractions. There is no doubt that we are headed towards what could be a cataclysmic encounter with our bad habits and inadequate values. We have created a Crisis that is increasingly complex and menacing. It is made up of militarism, environmental carelessness and greed.

What deepens my sadness about this threatening situation is that our political leaders are not discussing nor addressing it in any sensible and clear manner. They seem to believe that if they ignore it then The Crisis will simply go away on its own like a lumbering black bear in search of a meal. They are mistaken. Or perhaps they really don't see the true nature of The Problem.

I suspect that many ignore The Problem because they see no way to deal with it, survive it, get through it into a hopeful future. What are they to tell their children and grand-children? It's frightening and frustrating for people.

These young people are startled with fear from the daily reports they hear from all authorities that they are doomed and there can be no safe, sensible and survivable future for them and their children.

How cruel and insensitive a way to treat the vulnerable young! They need to see that we have a real Plan in place that they estimate can successfully confront and defeat their fears.

I see things in a different way from most. I do see a way through this complex Crisis and I see a way to survive and gain some ground against this menacing set of enemies. This “way” is what I call The Canadian Dream.

According to my research and analysis we can Build this Dream with the resources, human and otherwise, that we possess. In so doing we will take a leadership role in a world in need of hope and leadership.

It will require diligence, imagination and political will to do it...to survive and succeed. This will require sustained intentionality and sustained exertion by a large segment of the population. That will require real leadership in the office of the Prime Minister and this Prime Minister cannot deliver it.

Some believe that politics requires them “to lay down and take it.” My Plan requires you to stand up and give your very best.

Peace Pays!

“Don't keep the peace...pass it on.”
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Knowledge is Power – Government Makes Information Age Attack on Canadians

2010-10-07T07:30:00.000-07:00

We all know that “Knowledge is power.” So it is an easy step to observe that in canceling the long form census process in Canada the so-called “Conservative” Government and Stephen Harper are stripping Canadians of the democratic power that drives this nation forward at a pace unprecedented in human history.

The Prime Minister wants us to believe that the census and the information derived from it are insignificant. In reality he simply wants to hobble the news agencies and the government agencies, all NGOs, businesses large and small, religious organizations and any useful program in this country, whether governmental, personal or public.

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The Prime Minister opposes the long form census on principle. This is like opposing the use of language on the basis of principle - or rather ideology. For a census is a tool for communication and analysis.

This all reminds me of what or rather who is in the news today – September 30, 2010. It's the self-named and self-proclaimed “Great Leader” of North Korea who claims to understand democracy and free market capitalism – both of which he opposes. In fact he seems to understand it about as well as Stephen Harper seems to understand democracy and human rights. Neither one does.

It also reminds me of another former Canadian prime minister, the Right Honourable William Lyon McKenzie King who is said to have consulted his beloved little lap dog and spiritual mediums rather than experts in government, finance and administration. He sought his dead mother's advice on affairs of state...during the depression and war! Yikes!

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Mr. Harper seems to have a similar grasp of this census material. His emphasis is certainly more Machiavellian [bullyish and manipulative with no regard for human rights or any rights other than those of 'the prince'].

It is more this than it is a reflection of democratic thinkers like Thomas Paine, Winston Churchill, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John A MacDonald, Étienne Cartier or Pierre Trudeau who died ten years ago this week.

Harper wants to weaken the Canadian people and make us vulnerable in a thousand ways by putting plugs in our ears and blindfolds on our political, social, industrial, strategic and commercial eyes. He says essentially, “Put out their eyes and cut off their ears! All of them!”

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Stephen is NOT a democratically minded person and wishes for enduring and unchallengeable power because he does not understand how to exercise true legitimate democratic power - which we call Authority. Authority is that legitimate power endowed in a person by a group through legal election processes.

Stephen Harper does not wish to be authorized to act in our behalf or in our defense and cares little for our opinion. He wants to have complete power of decision and action.

I say this is offensive and unacceptable and that even I could govern the nation in a more just, compassionate and effective manner....and I would do it democratically because I know how. This is why I know that Stephen Harper does not know how to use democratic methods – because I do know how and I know what that should look like.

I've watched him employ the deceptive methods he learned from Tom Flanagan who was his mentor and professor at the University of Calgary. Flanagan learned these methods and values in turn from his own mentor at the University of Chicago - Leo Strauss the deceptive manipulator and anti-democratic philosopher.

Strauss had the sensibilities and values and methods of a fascist and was not democratically-minded. He is known to have studied with the German existential philosopher Martin Heidegger who was known to have lectured in a Nazi uniform.

He opposed liberalism and viewed human rights and democracy with suspicion. He lived in Germany during WW1, served in the German army, and immigrated first to Britain and then to America in 1937. [Wikipedia]

Steve has learned well and we are in jeopardy because we have allowed him to deceive us and mislead us. It IS noteworthy that even Tom Flanagan who helped Harper to “consolidate the right” has abandoned him and opposes Harper's intentions for us, as has his staunch television support network - CTV News. More and more people are seeing through this laughable facade and his fiscal and economic jargon.

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In canceling the long form census Stephen Harper is weakening Canadians and our democracy. He is blinding and hobbling Canadians. This will make us more vulnerable to enemies both inside and outside our borders.

I suspect that this is exactly what Stevie intends. This is his goal and it is completely consistent with the methods of his spiritual mentor Leo Strauss the manipulative deceiver.

This is definitely NOT democratic thinking and behaviour. Strauss believed only in power.

Peace Pays! War destroys and makes us pay.

“Choose leaders who love you and cherish your liberties.”

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For more relevant information see this link

Tom Flanagan - The Man Behind Stephen Harper

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Break! Spend! Use! Consume!

2010-09-20T07:16:00.000-07:00

There is a great stampede to accomplish this short list of human consumer activities. We are more intent upon spending and using up the Earth's resources than we are about conserving them and living sustainable lives.

Whether at home in our cozy Canadian housing, at work, in stores or at school, we want to use everything up as quickly as possible. Why? There is no possible rational explanation. But here is an [irrational] explanation.

First let us remember that this type and rate of consumption is criminal and unjust to those who suffer wont - those who are hungry and homeless and helpless in the face of a harsh economic climate. We are using the resources that are needed for a sustainable global future. If we do not cease then we will perish.

We are already robbing our brothers and sisters in all nations so we can live lavish and self-indulgent lives while they starve along with their children and parents. Their suffering feeds our greed in our “open market system”.

Some call this “the culture of entitlement.” It includes the benefits we derive from a global slave trade that makes those of previous centuries seem insignificant. This is the source of much wealth and 'disposable income'.

So why do we consume at what is likely the highest rate of any people of any nation in the world or in history? The sad news about that is that we are all caught up in a frenzy of consumerism that is perpetrated by large corporate industry.

This is driven by advertising and marketing that cares only for profit and nothing for the future or for environmental responsibility. [Think about the plots and characters of television's Mad Men.] They need and want us to spend spend spend.

This is what drives corporations – sales. In this way they grow stronger and bigger and richer and more powerful. This happens at the expense of the vulnerable and the Earth.

And the rate of consumption is destroying the earth, the water, the air, all creatures great and small, the Earth's atmosphere, our health and any hope for a happy and safe future.

How can we make it stop and change? By simple self control in our lifestyle habits! Be thrifty with money and resources and time.

Think about how much water and food you use and how much garbage and compost you produce. Some communities do not produce any garbage and prove that our wastefulness is unnecessary. Always do the math.

We can change the world one small decision at a time. We must always consider our children's future when we break, spend, use and consume everything. We are sentencing them to a very bleak future and they want us to stop.

But we ask ourselves, “What could children possibly know that we adults do not?” The answer is quite simple. They know that they will perish if we do not cease and desist in these destructive and self-destructive behaviours.

Search your conscience and ask yourself whether you really want to destroy the hope and opportunities of every future generations of humanity. I know I don't.

So I have been modifying my behaviour with my children and grandchildren in mind, and with their help. I hope you will do the same.

Be economical in everything. Use less and want less. Prudence and economy were considered to be virtues for several thousand years prior to our consumer age.

We should redeem and embrace this heritage of sustainability in all things and teach it to our children as a desirable character trait and as a social virtue.

Peace

"Don't keep the peace...pass it on."

Fight Child Slavery

2010-02-23T10:04:00.000-08:00

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Fight Child Slavery

Stand With Us Against Child Slavery - The Moral and Economics Crisis of our Age

Child Slaves and Chocolate in Africa

One hundred years from now people will look back with horror at the economics and business practices of our era. Just as we look with shock at the African Slave Trade of the 16-19th Centuries, so they will look at us with bewilderment that we could have used children as slaves and that we could build a global economy upon the slave labour of children worldwide. They will be amazed that we could ignore this horror.
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Your Vision of Canada

2010-02-20T12:07:00.000-08:00

Canadians have told me in VERY large numbers how they imagine Canada and what they want their nation to be. Canadians care about others and about the world. This is YOUR Vision. We CAN built it. We should hurry.

Your Canada

A Vision for Canada

The Peace-based Economy
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Leadership - three parts

2010-02-17T10:56:00.000-08:00

The leadership vacuum in Canada is leaving us vulnerable. These brief considerations about Leadership @ the links below are concerned with Federal leadership in the Office of the Prime Minister.

The person who occupies this office will set a trend, style and standards for all citizens. Mr. Harper's standards are not adequate for my own Vision of Canada.

He does not love the Canadian people and property, nor our processes and institutions and values of self-government. He does not understand our character, our dreams, our potential, our independence and our courage. He does not cherish our special brand of democracy.

What Is Needed - Leadership 1

How To Survive - Leadership 2

The Impossible - Leadership 3
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Previous Children's Rights posts

2010-02-15T11:54:00.000-08:00

Children's Rights is the core issue that shapes and causes most of the Global Crisis which confronts us.

From economic collapse and widespread unemployment and poverty to environmental disaster and global warming, Children's Rights is the issue behind the issue.

Analysis proves it. Please consider these observations about what children endure and what that means to the world and its population.

We are faced by and involved in the creation of a crisis of conscience and a moral dilemma with implications of greater magnitude than those of the African Slave Trade of previous centuries.

"The bulk of the modern global economy rests upon the exploitation of [mostly slave] children."

The Children's Holocaust - Part One

The Hungry Beast - Part Two

Children's Rights - The Legal Economic Exploitation of Children - Part Three
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Canada is a nation coming of age

2010-02-12T21:18:00.000-08:00

Excerpt from the essay The Future: Peace Pays [Exploring The Canadian Identity]

Conclusion

Canada is a nation coming of age in an historic Moment when we can make a
significant difference in determining The Future of the world and our existent [global] civilization.

By deciding to pursue peaceful means and methods and goals we can influence the entire world and help shape The Future into The Canadian Dream of World Peace, prosperity, security and tolerance. We can work together to build a secure environmental future also.

We do it all here in Canada on a daily basis and have proven that it’s possible for people of all kinds, types and backgrounds to live together in cooperation and peace. And Peace enables discussion, problem solving, solutions and discoveries.

It begins by Canadians understanding who and what they are in and of themselves, and who we are in the broader scope of The Global Village and History. We are unlike any people who have ever lived anywhere at any time.

This places a responsibility upon us in Canada to act in our collective best interests, which are the interests of all people and nations everywhere. This is a Moment of Opportunity that could easily dissolve into the mists of history.

We must grasp this historic opportunity and act, or lose the slender hope we embody while the world languishes in a fog of violence and destruction.

That's what Building The Canadian Dream is all about. This appears to be our appropriate Canadian Destiny.

Peace Pays more and better than war!
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What Stephen Harper Hates About Canada and Canadians

2010-02-10T10:01:00.000-08:00

Stephen Harper hates...

- The CBC – Canadian Broadcasting Corporation...and Don Newman. That Don Newman was such a nuisance that Stephen Harper had to find a way to eliminate him from the daily airwaves in Canada while making his CTV competitor Mike Duffy a Senator of all things. LOL

In order to remove Don Newman the government disrupted the operation of Canada's national broadcaster and undermined the financial status of this publicly owned corporation. That is "our" corporation.

- The Public Service Commission - look it up!

- Government Departments' bureaucrats and employees. - They're ALL Liberals and opposed to the Government according to Mr. Harper. Well maybe there are some NDP people in the public service too. lol

In fact they are merely Canadian patriots and generally VERY competent at their jobs. This cannot be said of the Prime Minister, for he is NOT competent. We have the best bureaucracy in the world.

- The Judiciary - courts, judges, The Law, lawyers...the whole package. - more "meddlers" in Stephen's mind.

- The Health Care System. Stephen says, "Too expensive and people should have to pay for themselves and not use his [Stephen thinks he owns the nation and its money!] money for the needs of the lazy poor."

In fact the poor are the ones who pay taxes and it's their money. Stephen thinks that the rich deserve that money and the poor and homeless should move somewhere out of sight so they don't ruin our international reputation during the Olympics. This man DOES NOT love our people.

He believes that health care and education are the two biggest wastes of financial resources. Of course the opposite is true...again.

- all media and press scrums - these reporters cause trouble and should obey the Prime Minister and his media drones. He has proven that he CAN avoid the free press who get information for citizens so we can participate in our democracy.

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Stephen Harper hates...

- Her Majesty's Official Opposition and all opposition parties, members, leaders and ideas. ONLY Stephen has ANY good ideas according to Stephen.

- opposition..period! - Stephen wants EVERYBODY to agree with him, no matter how absurd his ideas may be. If they don't agree with him there will be "consequences" for this is a vengeful and petty man.

- the provinces and the Powers and Rights of those provinces - They are supposed to listen to Stephen and toe the line if they want any help [money] from the Conservative Government. You KNOW what happens to those who oppose them don't you!?

- science...especially environmental sciences...and scientists. They ALL seem to disagree with Mr. Harper and he resents that.

- clarity and accountability to Parliament/The House of Commons - Stephen Harper thinks Parliament should be accountable to him...not the other way around as required in the Constitution!

- balanced budgets that make Canada financially and economically strong and secure - good fiscal and monetary policy. He destroyed a surplus left by the previous Liberal government of Paul Martin. He destroyed it with ease and has sunk us all into deep international debt.

- the peaceful nature and values of Canada and Canadians. Stephen likes war..as long as HE doesn't get hurt!

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Stephen Harper hates...

- rational analysis

- bloggers! LOL

- The Canadian Senate - According to Stephen it's a non-democratic, non-elected body who interfere with the secret/secretive plans of the Prime Minister. How sinister on the part of The Senate and Senators. They want to preserve this silly democracy we have.

In fact they are holding him in check as prescribed in the Constitution. They are intended to be a check and balance against out-of-control prime ministers.

American methods are far better and should be implemented here according to Stephen Harper. In fact he thinks we should become part of the U.S.A . and give up on this silly Dream we call Canada! That's what Stephen Harper thinks.

- The Canadian Constitution - It interferes with Stephen's plans.

- The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms - This just gives people reasons to complain. Why does everybody think they deserve Rights and Freedoms? This Charter is our Guarantee against people like Stephen Harper and his invisible "friends" who are rich anonymous people you never see.

It's not our farmers or our artists for whom he is working so hard. But these people are working hard for Canada and the world! These are NOT Stephen's friends!

- a Cabinet of Ministers who discuss and govern as a team - Stephen can "rule" on his own without help or interference from others...even those in his Cabinet and Caucus.

- The Supreme Court of Canada - more meddlers

- The House of Commons - A bunch of people who think they have the Right to speak and ask him questions and embarrass him and cause his plans for personal dictatorship to fail.

- Commons Committees and Senate Committees - always slowing down Stephen's willful efforts to have his own way...and right now darn it! Who invented parliamentary committees anyway?

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Stephen Harper hates...

- The Canadian Wheat Board - the enemy of Canadian farmers along with all agricultural marketing boards that have brought stability to our agriculture industries.

- Atomic Energy Commission of Canada - a waste of taxpayers money. Why should we help the whole world become more healthy through high tech science? Silly waste of time and energy.

- Auditor General of Canada - Stephen thinks that she's a meddler and should mind her own business and let the government mind it's own business. She's actually VERY thorough and competent but the Conservative Government interferes with her doing her duty.

- Governor General of Canada - She's a false authority according to Stephen Harper...but he uses her when he wants to shut down Parliament and silence official debate.

- The Canadian Constitution - This is the same one that Mr. Trudeau brought home from Great Britain and asserted our independence.

- The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms - These are silly ideas that interfere with Stephen's personal ambitions...he thinks.

- Canadian Crown Corporations - These are large successful businesses that have been financed with taxpayers' money and have enriched ALL Canadians. Stephen thinks they should all be sold at an unreasonably low price to his corporate friends...for whom he is a puppet of some sort. Watch out for his nose...it grows.

- free speech - Stephen is the ONLY one entitled to an opinion. I bet his wife quietly obeys in a good Christian way...in silence. Lunacy! [I'm being sarcastic here...but I'm doing it as a theologian.]

- the independent spirit of the Province of Quebec..and of ALL Canadians. :)

- Premier Jean Charest of Quebec! LOL

- The Province of Ontario and Premier Dalton McGuinty..and also Newfoundland and Premier Danny Williams

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Stephen Harper hates...

- Canadian women

- Canadian artists of all genders and cultures

- Canadian children

- Canadian farmers

- Canadian fishermen

- Canadian wildlife

- Canadian workers and jobs

- the Canadian poor and unemployed

- Canadian alternative energy advocates and all environmentalists

- Canadian labour unions of all kinds...and the NDP who support them. LOL

- The Federal Bloc Quebecois Party and Gilles Duceppe their intrepid Leader.

- the Canadian Green Party, their Leader Elizabeth May and all of their silly ideas about global warming and environmental responsibility. These interfere with Stephen's plans for the oil fields of Alberta and Saskatchewan. Who cares about the environment!?

- Canadian prospectors and miners

Canadian religious organizations, churches of most denominations [except for The Alliance Church of which Mr. Harper is a member], clergy and all who are associated with them. People of other religions are certainly not 'Canadian enough' for Stephen Harper. And he does not approve of our efforts to help the disadvantaged worldwide through these organizations and agencies. This is why he has "withdrawn funding" for aid programs.

- the Canadian lumber and wood products industry and all employees of this important Canadian industry...and their families and communities...especially in Quebec.

- Canadian churches of most types. He recently called the Kairos Program "anti-Semitic" and withdrew the funding that these organizations have used for over twenty years to help those who are hungry, homeless, seeking justice and hope around the world.

- Canadian families

- Canadian gays and lesbians and trans-gender people

- Canadian Immigrants

- Canadians with unwanted pregnancies...no matter how that happened. - Steve thinks they should be punished!

- Canadian businesses and business people. He favours foreign businesses and business people...mostly Americans.

- Canadian Research and Development - "Let others be creative and we'll sell them [dirty] oil." says Stephen.

- Canadian water and soil and air and sovereignty and security and our environmental reputation in the wider world as responsible global citizens. He hates them all!

- A National Vision that guides all Canadians and the nation into a safe and prosperous and free future filled with Hope. This is the last thing Stephen Harper would want. He hates this kind of hopeful, optimistic, homegrown Canadian thinking.

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See my essay on this site entitled The Future: Peace Pays [Exploring The Canadian Identity] for a hopeful Vision for Canada in the 21st Century. It's Part Three of Building The Canadian Dream. I have gathered good ideas from many Canadians to create a possible Plan for our Future...a Hopeful future for our children and all children.

Stephen Harper doesn't realize that we are the greatest nation that has ever existed and that we have a responsibility to the global community, to our children and to our selves to act. He is surrounded by genius and does not and cannot see it. We must act and we must act together soon if we hope to survive and succeed as an independent sovereign nation.

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- He doesn't love our people, our communities, our land and water ways, our values, our bush country, our democratic system with it's principles, processes, institutions, personalities and social agreements.

- He doesn't love our First Nations peoples and their annoying land claims and other complaints.

- He doesn't like all of the nations who make up the Canadian Cultural Mosaic.

- Last but not least - Stephen Harper hates the truth. It is certain to hurt him and he knows it. Tough luck!

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This is obviously an incomplete list of what our current Prime Minister hates about us, our nation and our lifestyle. However I think it conveys an important impression about this man and his intentions towards us as Canadians and his intentions about our children,

He wants to rob them, hurt them, put them in harm's way in many ways, and exclude them from the social contract. He wants to punish and alienate them and leave them with a third rate education and third rate employment to go with it. He doesn't believe in our children and doesn't think they deserve The Best. He wants to rob them of their heritage as citizens of Canada and inheritors of our sovereignty. I strongly disagree!

He wants to condemn them to a future filled with environmental disaster and war and want and humiliation and perhaps slavery and fear and violent death. This is a BETRAYAL of the most outrageous type.

I have a better idea!

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Yo Canada!

This all leaves a person wondering "Who and what exactly does Stephen Harper love if not Canada and Canadians?" Who indeed!?

Read elsewhere on this blog for evidence of who Stephen Harper loves and serves. He certainly does not serve the Canadians I know. He embarrasses them and betrays them...but he does not love them.

He wants to make Canada into an oil ghetto. But Canadians want independence and dignity. We are still...Canada -True North Strong and Free!

Our success does not depend upon the sale of oil to foreign countries at great environmental expense. Our success and potential is in the Canadian people, not in the American banks.

"Yo Canada - We stand on guard for thee!"
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Who is Really Stopping Whom from Doing What?

2010-02-08T11:26:00.000-08:00

Stephen Harper has been making belligerent, violent, threatening sounds and moves towards many of our democratic institutions, values, processes and personalities. His targets include: a Cabinet of Ministers who discuss and govern as a team, The Supreme Court of Canada, The House of Commons, Commons Committees, Senate Committees, The Canadian Wheat Board, Atomic Energy Commission of Canada, Auditor General, Governor General, Constitution, Charter of Rights and Freedoms, et cetera.

One of his favourite targets is and has been The Canadian Senate. He claims they are preventing the work of government and society from being done in Parliament. He says they are a danger to Canadian democracy. In fact EXACTLY the opposite is true.

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The Senate is the ONLY part of government that HAS been working

The Senate is the only part of our government that HAS been working, and working hard in spite of inflammatory dishonest rhetoric from the Prime Minister's Office and constant contempt from the Prime Minister and his puppet Ministers. Stephen Harper seeks to misrepresent and malign a dignified and diligent body of loyal Canadians

The Senate is doing the work and Mr. Harper is trying to prevent them from doing so. This is an amusing and disturbing phenomenon that is persistently a trait of our Prime Minister. He seems to have a personality disorder of some sort. He attacks those he claims to love and gives everything to those who want to hurt us. That's the thinking and behavior of a disturbed mind.

Anyone who watches CPAC [Cable Public Affairs Channel ] knows that the Senate is serving Canada and Canadians with due diligence and passion in many areas of government and society. While Harper has harped, The Senate has worked feverishly to help us. There were over one hundred Senate bills derailed by the prorogation of Parliament this time.

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What exactly is "a harper"?

A "harper" is one who "complains endlessly about everything and nothing; someone who is never satisfied and always disgruntled. A destructive personality. A constant source of groundless malicious accusations. The kind of person who always criticizes those around him/her with the goal of humiliating and dominating them. A bully!"

Apparently our Prime Minister is well-named! I believe that this name is derived from the deceptive Harpies in the Greek myth who killed sailors with sweet salutations. The Fit is perfect.

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Reckless Destruction disguised as Leadership

Mr. Harper derailed over four hundred bills in all, including House of Commons or Government bills [his OWN], Private Members bills and Senate bills. And he claims that the Senate is a waste and disloyal to our democratic system and nation.

In fact exactly the opposite is true and like any disturbed malefactor Stephen Harper is blaming the innocent and often the victims. He blames all Canadians for the trouble his government has visited upon us. In the process he wants us to see him as our economic savior during the recent global financial collapse.

The truth is that credit for our economic and financial stability really belongs to former Liberal Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Jean Chretien and his then Minister of Finance , the Right Honourable Paul Martin.

These two men and their staff paid down our national debt by hundreds of billions and reduced our interest payments by more than half. They did this over a ten year period, and they regulated our banks, real estate market, and stock market system. Thereby they saved our nation from the deep suffering experienced elsewhere.

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The Cover Up

Stephen Harper is neither loyal nor honest. He is not a patriot and his economics thinking does not include Canada and Canadian methods. He serves foreign powers and masters.

The truth is that our Senate has been made a part of our Constitution and democratic process exactly because there are always people like Stephen Harper who want to 'rule' rather than work democratically to govern.

The Senate is a stop gap or fire wall against tyranny. Stephen Harper is proving himself to be a tyrant and an enemy of Canada, Canadians and our children.

The other thing Stephen Harper does not seem to like is Justice. He would rather derail our entire democratic and societal apparatus than allow Canadians to see clearly what a rat he has been in representing us in the affairs of Afghanistan.

He lied about his crimes and like David the King of Israel in the Bible story, he now lies and murders to cover his crimes. I believe that it's time for Mr. Harper to retire from his present job and let a democratically minded Canadian begin the process that will heal the nation.

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In a democracy "The People" are The Government and we can decide.

Canada is sliding further and further down and we are at risk of losing our sovereignty in many areas thanks to the irresponsible government administrative methods used by Mr. Harper.

We can turn it around and reach for our destiny in the pursuit of a Grand Undertaking. I hope you will join me in this adventure to help heal the world and the nations.

Stephen Harper wants to reshape Canada into his own image...a tyranny with no democratic options; a set of resources that that can be bought by the highest bidder. That would be a sad waste of some extraordinary resources that Stephen Harper clearly does not understand nor respect.

Harper 'seems' to support our Armed Forces. But then again if he loves them so much why is he arranging for the deaths of so many of them?

Who is really stopping whom from doing what?
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Robert Kennedy Jr. defends claim that Alberta fish inedible

2010-02-03T08:25:00.000-08:00

27/01/2010 10:36:28 AM

I don't enjoy eating fish very much. I especially don't like eating fresh water fish. Our family lived on fresh water fish and other wild game when I was a child in Northern Ontario.

I lost my appetite for it when I was about nine. It was the day my brother choked on a whitefish bone. I did too. Since then I have always attempted to avoid choking. It so happens that I'm prone to choking.

I choke on BS when I hear it. For example what is happening to the world common lands of the province of Alberta is a large pool of global BS. They say it can be seen from The Moon. That BS has clouded the thinking and judgment of the recent governments in that province.

They are destroying their children's heritage and health and probably their sovereignty as Canadians. Governments think it's a “sweet deal” to sell our oil to the United States of America. It's just so sweet. It's “sweet-water”...that is toilet water or sewage.

We Canadians need the honest and brave son of the late Robert Kennedy to come to Banff, the Parks Canada heartland, and tell us that we are out of our poor minds. Read his comments about the mercury content of fish in Alberta at the link below. The same sad tale holds in all parts of the land.

Our federal [Conservative] government has suppressed the Auditor General's Report on the Environment which details exactly how bad things are. About 90% of our national fresh water resources are already polluted beyond human consumption according to that suppressed report. The remainder is being rapidly compromised. Fish cannot live safely in what we cannot drink safely.

This claim is substantiated by our fresh water scientists from The University of Alberta in Edmonton to the University of Waterloo and beyond. These are our best experts and the world's best experts. The government does not want to hear their opinion. I make a point of asking them about the fresh water challenges we face and listening to their reports.

Among scientists it's a consensus. Something is wrong...something is terribly wrong. We can make it right if we know what's going on and understand how to combat it with democratic methods.

The sad fact is that a very influential oligarchy [exclusive small power group] is governing and making decisions about what should be known and what should be done. These people and others like them have been making decisions in our behalf because Canadians don't think they should get involved, often due to shame, a sense of futility, or insecurity.

These people don't want you involved. They want to destroy the Earth and the environment while making very large profits. And they don't want anyone to notice or interfere. Tell your government that you want the Auditor General's Report on the Environment released for public viewing. We pay the Auditor General very well to serve us and Canada.

Not everyone has real life experience in displacing entrenched oligarchies. I happen to have such experience in greater abundance than I wish to recall. It's important to remember that they [the small ruling group] can be removed and replaced. This can and must be done democratically in order to be legitimate.

That's the beauty of democracy according to Abraham Lincoln. Though you can fool some of the people all of the time and you can fool all of the people some of the time, you cannot fool all of the people all of the time...even if you wish real hard like Mr. Harper is doing.

It's laughable and lamentable and pathetic. Poor Mr. Harper. Poor Canada.

http://news.sympatico.ctv.ca/abc/home/contentposting.aspx?isfa=1&feedname=CTV-TOPSTORIES_V3&showbyline=True&date=true&newsitemid=CTVNews%2f20100127%2fkennedy_fish_100127

Robert Kennedy Jr. argues that Health Canada’s regulations are misguided and there are no safe levels of mercury.

“Here’s what I would say to Health Canada: if you want mercury in your fish, any mercury, even a molecule of mercury, you should add it yourself at home,” Kennedy said. “But don’t put it in fish that the public has to eat, and don’t allow polluters to put it into the fish that the public has to eat.”

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Death Sentence

2010-02-01T07:50:00.000-08:00

In my capacity as a children's Rights advocate I do not seek to talk about children. I strive to speak in their behalf and in their place because they are excluded and not given a real voice in discussions about matters that will impact them more than anyone. I speak as if I was one of them. I defend their innocence and value and their Rights.

Young people of all ages from pre-school to thirty-something are concerned about the scary future that our news media sources forecast for them. They tell me so. Why do they tell me? Because I'm willing to listen. Because I care as a parent and person.

The simple fact is that our media savvy kids are being told that they have received a death sentence and that there can be no reprieve. Television, the Internet, magazines, books, experts in every science and discipline, everyone and everything tell them the same thing. That they are doomed!

To change that death sentence and give them a reprieve would require a colossal effort that the grownups of the world are not willing to make or support. We would have to become environmentally responsible and non-warring. Yet there is hope because the majority of humanity wants exactly that.

“Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof.”

- J. K. Galbraith, Canadian/American economist

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The Sorrow of Children

There are corporate pirates [some corporations] who do not care about the lives of our children. They do not have life, nor children, nor anything to protect or defend or get passionate about. Corporate entities are useful but not friendly in many cases. Their single motive has been profit - until the recent introduction of so-called green investments and business practices...which have proven very profitable by the way.

So kids are being written off as luggage that will perish in volatile weather conditions, amidst wars over who will control water and oil and space and other resources. Young people attempt to express their individual and collective concern and anxiety and governments refuse to listen or care. So I speak in their behalf.

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Another Narrative

I have another narrative about The Future. It involves resolve on the part of humanity to make the required changes and to help our children find and build Hope. Join me in this Great Undertaking to save the planet and our children from disaster.

This is why I speak out. I see things from their perspective. They have persuaded me that we grownups are wrong and they are right to be alarmed. My compassion has been ignited for them. Compassion overrules selfishness and egotism in the human heart.

The children of Canada and the children of the world need our compassion now and they need it in intelligent abundance so we can work together with them to save ourselves from the disaster that lays over the horizon. I speak their sense of alarm to governments and people alike...”speaking truth to power in search of Justice.”

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Persistent Compassion

Are you comfortable with the Death Sentence that collective humanity has passed upon our children and all children? If not then help me help them to help us help the world. We all need each other and there is an easy way to make appropriate accommodation for them in our nation and in our world.

Without children we would wither and die of meaningless self indulgence. They teach us to give selflessly...often to them. Lol They help us to laugh and work hard with a sense of purpose. They teach us to love.

Compassion for children has moved throngs in response to the plight of the orphans of the recent Haiti Earthquake. It's heartwarming. Now let us turn this passionate generosity into a plan for all children everywhere.

They are in chains and in pain. They are in in brothels and factories and armies and in fields harvesting chocolate and tin and copper in many places from Africa to Thailand to Ecuador.

They are the sex slave boys of Afghanistan who are regularly abused by gangs of men. They are the millions of boys and young men in all of our North American prisons and penitentiaries and prison camps and jails who are raped daily. They are the little girls trapped in cages in the brothels of Southeast Asia.

They are alone and helpless and in despair. They would help us to love and be happier and more fulfilled if we welcome them into our hearts and adopt them...even from afar.

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Help Them

Think about them. Discuss them with others. Act in their behalf. Pray for them. Meditate upon their plight and solutions to it.

Consider their potential if we rescue them. Above all, if possible, love them in your own powerful way. They will change your lives if you permit them and you will be enriched.

Help me make The Canadian Dream of Justice for all a reality in our generation. End child slavery and give Canadian children Equal Rights to help make that happen. Support Bill S-209 if Parliament ever resumes.

Our peaceful and just and respectful and prosperous Canadian Culture can help to shape the world into a place where children can be safe. We must start at home and then share our peace with the world.

Peace Pays!

“Don't keep the peace...pass it on.”
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Wartime Economy

2010-02-01T07:08:00.000-08:00

Wartime Economy [Part 1]

Our government has told us that we are at war and that this requires “wartime measures”. Wartime measures should be more than the withdrawing of Human and Civil Rights and concealing our government's crimes – for example the torture of Afghan prisoners.

Wartime measures ought to include a wartime economy. Being thrifty and economical was part of the Victory that Canada and our Allies enjoyed in World War 2. If those at home had been wasteful with resources then those at the front would have perished. Then we would have all become slaves to Adolph Hitler and his evil friends. There are people like Hitler living today who would love to kill us and take what we possess.

This could all happen again. An armed, hostile, aggressive nation [or corporation] could invade Canada, defeat our Armed Forces, compromise our government through secret infiltration as they have done and are doing in many other countries. And believe it or not all people in the world do not love Canada as we do.

Our soil could then become a battle ground and would then be destroyed by the conflict that would follow. Imagine war on our soil for just a moment if you will. I'm working hard to avoid that. We would lose no matter what happened and those who came to “save us” would win.

Great fortunes would be made by the great and fortunate while many 'ordinary' Canadians would die, starve, become impoverished, displaced, suffer all kinds of indignities and end in helpless despair. I leave it to your imagination to determine who that “saviour” might be.

'They' could quietly enslave our fat and lazy and distracted and disinterested population and destroy the Dream that we have built here together. This CAN happen. I think it's ALREADY happening. We have to GET READY...and soon...or lose our home and native land. If I can see our vulnerability then it's likely that others who want to harm us can also see it.

Call to Arms...and Legs and Hearts and Brains [Wartime Economy - Part Two]

Obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes are all in the news today. There has been a 125% increase in these conditions in the past ten years in Canada among young adults 14 - 40. An out-of-shape nation is a vulnerable nation.

If we don't get in shape some ambitious entity [nation, alliance, corporation, oligarchy or group] will come in here and take what we have by force or deception. We can only keep what we can defend. We have to get in shape as a nation in every way, including physical conditioning...battle ready and standing on guard for thee.

Yo Canada! Wake up and save yourselves!

I invite you to begin a new period in your life and in the life of the nation. If you can do nothing else and you are able, get out for a walk today and every day. Even if you only walk around the block or part way around, or around your living room, do it every day as if your life and the security of Canada depended on it. It does. Do something for the cause of Canadian independence. Do your bit and I'll do mine. Together we can do great things. Consider this walking to be your duty as a citizen.

Walking or some form of fitness will start to reshape you...Canada's most valuable resource...The People. Let's get in shape together one small step at a time and one day at a time. Invite a friend to join you or walk alone. Walk proud as you serve your country by pursuing good health.

This will take strain off of our tax and health care systems. If we succeed in this first step towards a prosperous and hopeful future, then we will have the strength, the courage and the momentum to choose what Canada will be and who will own it.

Weakness, indifference, laziness, distraction and division will cause us to lose this good life that has been given to us. In order to keep what we have and what is ours, we must work hard, be vigilant, and plan for all contingencies. Others prepared and sacrificed to create this great nation. Now we must prepare and sacrifice to keep it. There is no other way.

Why? [Wartime Economy – Part 3]

Why should we care or try or work hard for our nation?

Canadians have been largely lulled into indifference about their nation and future, about their liberties and possessions, and even about their health. Our society-wide “Culture of Entitlement” has blinded us to our vulnerability.

A top notch health care system is not the solution to widespread ill health. Our machine tools and toys cannot replace strength and mobility. Armies are built upon infantry. A strong and secure nation is also built upon the health of her citizens. [Apparently Captain Canada is a woman!]

Disciplined exercise and good eating habits do more than pills and surgeries. Optimism born of an appropriate and compelling Vision is essential for good health for a person, a family, a business or organization and also for a nation.

We know from the daily media reports and the few remaining democratic news services that there is a war raging out there in the world. We have enemies who want to destroy us and our children. They are willing to sacrifice their own children to the god of fire...Molech...in order to destroy us and our way of life. Those who believe in the God of Life cannot support this kind of activity.

Child sacrifice is an ancient practice...and it is an abominable one that believes that the father [parents] has/ve the right to kill the child...as if that child were his/hers and not God's. As if that child were not a citizen with the Right to Life. We call that murder in Canada and consider it to be a detestable practice...even when it's done on the other side of the globe and for religious reasons. This is SERIOUS Stuff!

Rather than sacrificing our children, we seek to protect and defend them, to educate and enable them. In order to protect and defend our children we are going to have to be strong and fit. After all, our children are “our most precious treasures.”

“O Canada we stand on guard for thee...”

We need a strong sense of Purpose to inspire and motivate us to rise up together and act in our own best interests and in our own defense. We cannot leave it to other nations to defend us. We can't afford that any longer and neither can our allies in NATO.

We have to be able to defend what we possess or we are likely to lose it. We can choose our destiny and the outcomes we live with...or we can let “others” choose for us and they will...gladly. This can be easily accomplished if we choose.

As the late Chairman Mao of China said after the Long March that led to Chinese independence and prosperity, “A journey of ten thousand kilometers begins with one step.” Take that step on the sidewalk outside your home every day.

Walk with me for Canada. I hope to see you on the sidewalk.

This is a Call to Arms. Repell the enemy.

Now is the time for all good Canadians to come to the aid of their Captain...Captain Canada!

“Wake up! Get fit! Prepare! Work together!”
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Canada – More Than An Economy

2010-01-26T19:39:00.000-08:00

Canada is far more than a raw economy – GNP, market trends, stock prices, real estate and so forth. We are also a unique society, a culture, a dream, a land mass, a set of resources, relationships, values, AND people.

We are more than natural resources to be sold on the stock market and torn from the ground at any cost. We are more than water to drive the enterprises of foreign and domestic businesses. We are more than money and precious metals and base metals and lumber and manufactured goods and coal and salt and bauxite and electrical generation and wheat and potash and hi-tech ideas.

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Unique in history and in the world

We are leaders in innovation and science and media and Law and Human Rights and Justice and security and business and Aid and medicine and powerful peaceful nuclear technologies and applications. We are more than buildings and urban sprawl and planning and big box stores and forests for destruction. We are more than the sum of all of these.

We also are a history [many histories combined] and a geology and an Idea and a Dream and a set of Values and Principles that is universally respected. Chief among these Principles is our belief in The Rule of Law and Equality under Law, Constitution, and Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

We are educators and intervenors in places with trouble and we are friends to the whole world from which our people are drawn. We are citizens of the world and people of this hour in history.

We are partners with people everywhere who wish to build a better world and a safer world community. We are Canadians and we love our nation, our children and our place in the hearts of the world's nations and peoples.

We cherish our freedoms and Rights and privileges and duties and responsibilities and our amazing and diverse nation. There has NEVER EVER been a place or society like Canada. We are a miracle.

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The Economics of Leo Strauss

Our current Prime Minister wants to reduce us down to banks and stocks and bonds and budgets and GNP and strategies to confuse one another and maintain control. He does not see the remarkable and wonderful thing that we have become. So he has no interest in advancing it or preserving it.

How can he possibly see our potential when he does not even see the amazing thing we are now? Our social safety net has made us remarkable and now Mr. Harper [who is well named btw] wants to destroy it and dismantle it for the sake of a few more dollars in profit for those who always profit most.

Mr. Harper thinks these wealthy people are his friends and that they will accept him as their friend once he has helped them to destroy our collective Dream. He is in for a BIG surprise when they throw him aside and find another flunky.

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How far is too far?

Will we let him get that far? We need to recognize the danger we are in and act together to pull ourselves out of the tailspin into which Mr. Harper's government has thrown us. This man is not our friend.

He is the friend of America's interests and cannot see the wonderful potential in our beautiful nation and people and society and culture. He is blind to our unique qualities, characteristics, strengths, gifts and potential in a world that badly needs our help.

America will benefit most if we act independently and do what no other nation can do...not even our friend America. We can help them in ways that they cannot help themselves at this point. America in under great pressure and we should help them in our own unique way - The Canadian Way.

A national economy includes people and values and jobs and a Vision or direction – a dynamic. It is activities and so much more. Harper only sees dollar signs and misses the human signs of success: health, well-being, happiness, opportunities, freedoms, dignity, choice, Liberty, democracy, and more...much more than just money. All Canadians are wealthy because of our society and culture – that is, because of our complete economy which was built democratically by our people for our people.

Harper believes that our great Canadian experiment must fail and he has set out to prove his theory...even if he must trip and deceive us in order to do so. This is not the kind of leadership we need and want.

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Quantum Economics 2.5

Mr Harper fancies himself an economist because he studied macro economics in university for a few years. There he was sold on a foreign agenda by foreign operatives in our midst who do not appreciate our hospitality and inclusiveness enough to mind their own business.

As we drift, foreign and corporate powers are moving in to grab and own our heritage – Canada with all of her wonderful qualities and resources. Harper wants them to have what we own collectively as if we had no right to possess wonderful and amazing and lucrative resources that help all Canadians. It verges upon treasonous action. At best it is a betrayal.

A truly competent economist will see the whole picture – lock, stock and barrel. If I can see it with my visual limitations perhaps others can too. Stephen Harper cannot! He lacks the Vision, the Courage, and the Imagination that is required to do good economics and governance in the real world of all Canadians.
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A Good Prime Minister

2010-01-22T08:31:00.000-08:00

Canada has been languishing without clear direction and firm inspired leadership for quite some time. Mr. Harper is not The Good PM we need and hope for.

He is incapable of trusting the Canadian people, of inspiring us and motivating us to do the very best we can for our collective sense of Purpose. He's not on our side nor does he know how to care for and about our children.

As I walk my daughter to school I see the consequences of this leadership vacuum. Drivers are in a hurry but with no where to go really...except to another red light ahead. They go round and round and never really get anywhere.

The Nation is in neutral!

Public employees don't know how to serve as they should - whether in collecting garbage and recycling or in inventing creative solutions to global problems that challenge us all. Budgets at all levels of government are in disarray. Business people are uncertain where to invest. Chaos rules...Harper does not.

Teachers in the school don't know what to teach....or how. Parents aren't sure how to raise their children or what to tell them about the Crisis they will face in their lifetime...no matter what Harper and other global warming deniers say.

The police don't know how to enforce the Law. Judges and lawyers cannot conduct the business of prosecuting and defending - administering the Law - in our courtrooms. Legislators don't know how to make Law and implement changes. The System is faltering and failing because it all depends upon good leadership to give energy and direction to the whole of Canada.

Everyone is flustered by the PM's behaviour, little realizing that THIS is his tactical method of controlling his fellow citizens - to upset and confuse Canadians. This is a pale substitute for what we want and need - real democratic leadership. We don't want to be manipulated and won't stand for it for long.

“Nature hates a vacuum.”

We must look back to the days of Pierre Trudeau and John “The Chief” Diefenbaker or even Brian Mulroney. These people inspired and motivated their fellow citizens and set standards by their personal performances and values and programs. They had visions of various sizes for the Canada they imagined. Their visions were large and asked much of Canadians.

These were all people who believed in our democracy and self-government. They knew how to conduct the business of the nation in Parliament where our representatives debated the pros and cons of ideas and led us forward into an amazing set of opportunities.

Canada was built largely in the debates of The House of Commons and The Senate. A secretive and manipulative PM does not suit Canada and we deserve better. Closing Parliament and preventing debate and discussion and the involvement of our elected representatives will only anger Canadians.

A Good Prime Minister can navigate but also inspire others to follow the route he or she reveals in the Vision. The Vision must show us where we are going and the route by which we can go. It shows us what we will be once we arrive and what we can do en route and after the journey of change is completed.

A good Prime Minister must have Vision above all things. Any old vision will not do in a time of Crisis. We require an appropriate and compelling Vision that can lead us to our collective destiny swiftly and safely.

Without it all that we are and could be will be lost and forfeited forever. This does not need to be the case. We can survive and succeed together and in so doing prove that Canada has what is required to lead the global community into a hopeful future.

A Democratic Heart

Mr. Harper wants to persuade Canadians that basic Administrative maintenance is good enough for Canada and Canadians. Of course this is ALL he has to offer us. He's lost and he's wrong. Because he's lost everything he does is confused and ineffective. He lacks the one key characteristic we desire in A Good Prime Minister - A Democratic Heart.

Like all Canadians Stephen Harper also needs someone to lead him towards a hopeful future for him and his family. He simply doesn't know any better. He wants to believe he's the one that can lead us forward effectively. A majority of Canadians strongly disagree.

"Sight shows us what we are. Vision shows us what we can become."

"Sight shows us where we are. Vision shows us where we can and must go."
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Prime Minister or Foreign Operative?

2010-01-15T10:31:00.000-08:00

“You ARE your intentions!” - Carlos Santana

Stephen Harper likes power and has done what is necessary to acquire some. He can't get authentic power which we call 'authority'. He would need that elusive majority government in order to be truly authorized to act in behalf of the Canadian people. So he deceives his fellow citizens in order to control them, mislead them, startle and confuse them and betray them.

Here is another example of his dishonest methods spelled out in his own words. This is a speech he gave to his American Republican neo-conservative friends in Montreal a few years ago. Check his record against his rhetoric. It's laughable at some level and disturbing at another. These are the people who helped him “consolidate the right” and become the government.

Ironically this 'expose' article was published by CTV- News which has been his most ardent supporter among public broadcasters, generally turning a blind ideological eye to his unscrupulous antics. Even they have begun to see through his intentions and question his loyalty to Canada.

Last week it was The Calgary Herald criticizing Mr. Harper for proroguing Parliament. No one would have believed this possible a couple months ago when Harper had his Teflon hairpiece and sweater vest firmly in place. This week it's CTV calling his disloyal and dishonest bluff as the house of hidden cards falls around Harper's seditious ears. Even 'conservative' Canadian media are worried about this man and his loyalty to the Nation and People and the Idea of Canada.

In this speech Mr. Harper is addressing a group of Americans who met in Montreal, apparently to plot the destruction of Canada. Harper wanted to help them. Since becoming Prime Minister he has kept his word to them, but not to us Canadians.

He has worked to undermine all that most Canadians cherish – our freedoms, independence, values, political system, judicial system, social safety net and so much more that is beautiful to us. We used to call this kind of behaviour sedition and treason. What do we call it now?

Stephen Harper rejects The Canadian Dream of peace, Justice, compassion and goodwill in favour of The American Dream of American military, cultural, political and economic world dominance.

What's most embarrassing is that he did it with really poor grammar and syntax. The man seems barely literate and far from eloquent. LOL Stephen Harper is becoming a laughing stock among those who believe in Canadian democracy - even among those on the so-called right.

This is a betrayal and we must act together to stop this erosion of our sovereignty and independence. Mr. Harper wants to give it all away. In the past Canadians demanded that foreign enemies try to pry our liberty and land from our clenched fists. I propose that we return to those former days and values.

Full text of Stephen Harper's 1997 speech

Canadian Press

Date: Wednesday Dec. 14, 2005 9:20 PM ET

OTTAWA — The text from a speech made by Stephen Harper, then vice-president of the National Citizens Coalition, to a June 1997 Montreal meeting of the Council for National Policy, a right-wing U.S. think tank, and taken from the council's website:

"Eternal vigilance is the price of democracy." - Thomas Paine

2010-01-03T10:32:00.000-08:00

Hi,

Happy New Year to you and yours!

I was chatting with my neighbour in the driveway today and promised to send him some links that might help make sense out of what's happening in Canada these days.

I sent this note to some other Canadians this week. I hope it helps in some way.

My neighbour said you would forward this note for me. Please feel free to share this info with ALL Canadians because it's EVERYBODY'S business. We need open and transparent processes to build trust again in our leadership. See you soon.

Peace on Earth!

John

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Hello to all,

I saw the brief interview on CBC News today [Dec. 30/09] in which Ms. Carol McNeil and Hon. Marc Garneau discussed Mr. Harper's outrageous behaviour - that is behaviour designed to outrage the sensibilities of rational civil people. LOL Please consider these few thoughts below. :)

Consider the possibility that these people [Conservative Government] are seeking to cause confusion and chaos as a strategy as recommended by economics theorist Leo Strauss [University of Chicago and University of Calgary].

Consider the possibility that there are foreign powers seeking to undermine the stability of Canadian society and government as The Walrus article implies. I have a friend who tells me he witnessed the undermining of a certain Canadian tele-com company recently by foreign operatives resulting in the division and sale of this job provider!

Consider this also...that perhaps our liberties and parliamentary system of self-government are in jeopardy. If any of that means anything to you, then please proceed to my blog for more ideas about how to stop this insidious activity. Also please feel free to contact me.

Canada seems to be for sale or rent or wide open to be stolen piece by piece as with recent foreign acquisitions.

There IS a simple and legal/democratic way to stop this degrading of our beloved nation and values.

"Where there is no vision the people perish." - The Bible

Peace

John

Read Building The Canadian Dream HERE -

www.thecanadiandream.blogspot.com

www.blindmansees.com

"Don't keep the peace...pass it on."

John Williams
Community Organizer and Children's Rights Advocate
Guelph - Ontario

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Steven Harper has shut down parliament because he
does not agree with it. Some say this is unprecedented.

In fact, Harper is following a parliamentary tradition.
Consider the following precedents:

1629 King Charles I in England
1799 Napoleon in France
1913: Victoriano Huerta in Mexico
1933: Adolf Hitler in Germany
1936 Fransisco Franco in Spain
1939: Benito Mussolini in Italy
1973: Augusto Pinochet in Chile
2008: Steven Harper in Canada

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The Man Behind Stephen Harper

http://www.walrusmagazine.com/articles/the-man-behind-stephen-harper-tom-flanagan/

China acquires Canadian resource holdings

http://money.ca.msn.com/investing/news/breaking-news/article.aspx?cp-documentid=23161543

Stephen Harper is a disciple of Leo Strauss

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P.S. Note for Mr Garneau - Here's a link to a song I wrote about you on the day you made your second trip into space. It's a song about Canadians. God bless you sir.

Walkin' Steady

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John G. Diefenbaker former Prime Minister of Canada - On Being Conservative

2010-01-02T10:54:00.000-08:00

The Right Honourable John G. Diefenbaker
former Prime Minister of Canada

Excerpts from
One Canada – Memoirs of the RH John G. Diefenbaker [1962-67]

From the Foreword by John A. Monro

On being a conservative

“The Right Honourable John Diefenbaker, like Britain's former Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Arthur Balfour, is a conservative because he is “absolutely certain that no community in this world has ever flourished, or could ever flourish, if it was faithless to its own past.” - p. xi

On perpetuating the democratic principles, values, practices, methods, processes and institutions...

“Mr. Diefenbaker, throughout his three volumes, shows concern with what Canadians have built, and how further to build upon this. Indeed his second volume ends with [Edmund] Burke's admonition that 'it is with infinite caution that any man [sic] ought to venture upon pulling down an edifice, which has answered in any tolerable degree for ages the common purposes of society.' ” - p. xi

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Fellow Canadians,

Mr. Harper has called himself a 'conservative'. I take exception to that because as a conservative myself I see him destroying the legacies, institutions and proven methods of Canadian democracy.

He's offended by and opposes The Senate, the Parliament and our parliamentary legislative processes, the Supreme Court of Canada, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

He's also offended by and opposed to Canadian values of peace, goodwill, tolerance, inclusiveness and by so much of what we understand to be Canada and Canadian. Mr. Harper hates what I love - Canada and Canadians. This is not 'conservativism'.

Rather this is the opposite of conservatism and is called 'neo-conservatism'. It is in no way related to the traditional political philosophy of Edmund Burke, George Washington, Thomas Paine, Abraham Lincoln, John A. MacDonald, John G. Diefenbaker, Sir Winston Churchill, Joe Clark, and others.

This is a kind of betrayal of Canadian conservatism and a misappropriation of a well established political brand name. I intend to strip him of that name and claim it for myself and for The Liberal Party of Canada.

Peace begins with you.

Happy New Year!
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A Hopeful Future for Canada - in Five Parts

2009-12-28T10:04:00.000-08:00

Copenhagen and The Culture of Entitlement – Part 1 of 5

The last Liberal government was defeated under the shadow of them believing that they were entitled to some things. They were perceived as believing that they had an historic 'right' to govern; that they are “the natural governing party of Canada.”

They were caught up in the Sponsorship Scandal and after the subsequent inquiry the public came to the conclusion that a culture of entitlement had eroded the Liberal Party and the Liberal Government of Paul Martin.

Sadly on this day when the environmental treaty discussions in Copenhagen sought and failed to arrive at a global environmental and emissions agreement, the truth about the Canadian culture of entitlement has been laid bare. It was not Paul Martin's Liberals who invented this misapprehension of democracy. It is not only Stephen Harper's Conservative Government that now exercises the assumed 'rights' of the entitled.

The entire nation is being put under the spotlight of international media scrutiny and under an indictment of selfishness, self-indulgence, greed, carelessness, irresponsibility and waste that is rapidly eroding hope for the more vulnerable nations of the world.

But we will soon join them in their suffering and despair if we cannot abruptly abandon this misconception about our own worth and importance in the world context.

Environmental Criminals - Part 2

This week the world has branded Canada and Canadians as “environmental criminals” and sadly I fear they are right. I have tried to do my part to alert Canadians about this looming crisis, only to discover that the “culture of entitlement” does not begin with our governments.

Rather governments are a reflection of a population and we get governments like our selves. We are getting the kind of government we want and like. We are getting government that expresses who we really are - environmental criminals selfishly consuming the world's resources at an extraordinary rate while feeling jolly about ourselves.

This destructive culture is seen in the lifestyles of people who live frivolously in the fast lane, indulge themselves in the distractions of our culture, enter into business ventures that have little or no place in the real world...like Christmas tree farms! These people are out of touch with the Crisis that is threatening to destroy them, their families and all that they know about in their entitled place in the world. They are out of touch with Reality!

Canadians must change if we are going to get the kind of government we want going forward. For democracy is government of the people, for the people, by the people.

Canada has slid fast and hard into the gutter of history and into the bad books of our international neighbours. We have gone from first to worst in the environmental area after a few short years of Mr. Harper's Conservative government.

We are wasting away the hope of the world while we play video games, watch movies, acquire TOYS, grow fat on fast foods that give no nutrition and tell ourselves how wonderful [and deserving] we are.

The Roots of Entitlement - Part 3

Stephen Harper's Government did not create this problem, They simply represent Canadians in the way Canadians want and believe they deserve at this point. “They” are not the problem. “We” are the problem.

But we can also change and solve this historic problem. Canadians can rise up and confront this challenge. We can become part of the Solution rather than the poison tip of the arrow that kills millions without consciousness or conscience.

Almost all Canadians share this attitude of entitlement. Perhaps there are a few [like David Suzuki] who understand how the rest of the world must live in distress in order to support and sustain our greedy lifestyle and sense of entitlement. We must all reflect carefully or live with the dire consequences that will come from inaction.

This Culture of Entitlement is widespread in Canada and it blinds Canadians to the suffering of others...in spite of our compassion and reputation for generosity. We are an oil ghetto and we think we can afford to be generous. But we are causing some of the big problems that we so generously try to help relieve after we have done the damage.

Democratic Representation - Part 4

The tar sands of Alberta is one example of the blight we are creating that touches all people everywhere. Canadians have an environmental foot print that is twenty times bigger than most people who live on the planet.

We are using more than our fair share because we believe we are entitled to it. What exactly makes it so and what makes us believe this nonsense? Is it the Invisible Hand of the Market? LOL No it's irresponsible choices!

Also, Stephen Harper IS representing his constituents. Calgary Center is the home of some of the big oil companies' head offices. He seems to think that since THEY elected him he should do as they please. It actually makes democratic sense at some twisted primitive level.

Here is a comment from the Polaris Institute about that. "Mark Rudolph, a 20-year veteran lobbyist who represents Suncor Energy Inc. and Shell Canada Ltd. in Ottawa, said that lobbying the province of Alberta is virtually unnecessary since, he said, the government is entirely on the industry's side. Alberta, in effect, represents the single most powerful lobby in Ottawa, according to Rudolph." from Big oil's relentless lobby

I believe that much of this attitude about entitlement derives from our colonial history. In large part we have attempted to transcend this sad backdrop to our present prosperity. Our First Nations peoples have felt the hot whip of European and others peoples' sense of entitlement and often still do.

Repentance and Change – Part 5

We need to quickly embark in a different direction. In my Christian faith we call this kind of directional/behavioural/ethical change of direction Repentance. Canada, which sometimes fancies itself a “Christian nation”, should stop, look, and repent. We must change direction 180 degrees for the sake of our brothers and sisters and our human family of today and tomorrow.

I hope you will join me in building The Canadian Dream of sustainability in all things, coupled with freedom, justice, compassion and prosperity in the new emerging economy of environmental responsibility. We can do this but we can only do it together. Once we begin the world will line up to help us.

We obviously need a change of direction and this will require a change of government. Canada and Canadians need new leadership that is appropriate for the realities of the 21st Century. See my other blog posts linked below about the kind of Leadership I believe we need in this dark and desperate hour in history.

This is Urgent stuff that shapes our actions and reputation in the world.

Peace Pays!

"Don't keep the peace...pass it on."

Building The Canadian Dream blog - three Leadership post links

http://thecanadiandream.blogspot.com/2007/10/how-to-survive-leadership-2.html

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Break! Spend! Use! Consume!

2009-12-28T09:35:00.000-08:00

There is a great stampede to accomplish this short list of human consumer activities. We are more intent upon spending and using up than we are about conserving and living sustainable lives.

Whether at home in our cozy Canadian housing, at work, in stores or at school, we want to use everything up as quickly as possible. Why? There is no possible rational explanation. But here is an [irrational] explanation.

First let us remember that this type and rate of consumption is criminal and unjust to those who suffer wont - those who are hungry and homeless and helpless in the face of a harsh economic climate. We are using the resources that are needed for a sustainable global future. If we do not cease then we will perish.

We are already robbing our brothers and sisters in all nations so we can live lavish and self-indulgent lives while they starve along with their children and parents. Their suffering feeds our greed in our “open market system”.

So why do we consume at what is likely the highest rate of any people of any nation in the world or in history? The sad news about that is that we are all caught up in a frenzy of consumerism that is perpetrated by large corporate industry.

This is driven by advertising and marketing that cares only for profit and nothing for the future or for environmental responsibility. [Think about the plots and characters of television's Mad Men.] They need and want us to spend spend spend.

This is what drives corporations – sales. In this way they grow stronger and bigger and richer and more powerful. This happens at the expense of the vulnerable and the Earth. And the rate of consumption is destroying the earth, the water, the air, all creatures great and small, the Earth's atmosphere, our health and any hope for a happy and safe future.

How can we make it stop and change? By simple self control in our lifestyle habits! Be thrifty with money and resources and time. Think about how much water and food you use and how much garbage and compost you produce. Some communities do not produce any garbage and prove that our wastefulness is unnecessary. Always do the math.

We can change the world one small decision at a time. We must always consider our children's future when we break, spend, use and consume everything. We are sentencing them to a very bleak future and they want us to stop.

But we ask ourselves, “What could children possibly know that we adults do not?” The answer is quite simple. They know that they will perish if we do not cease and desist in these destructive and self-destructive behaviours.

Search your conscience and ask yourself whether you really want to destroy the hope and opportunities of every future generations of humanity. I know I don't. So I have been modifying my behaviour with my children and grandchildren in mind, and with their help. I hope you will do the same.

Be economical in everything. Use less and want less. Prudence and economy were considered to be virtues for several thousand years prior to our consumer age. We should redeem and embrace this heritage of sustainability in all things and teach it to our children as a desirable character trait and as a social virtue.

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Fight Child Slavery

2009-10-09T08:38:00.000-07:00

Stand With Us Against Child Slavery - The Moral and Economics Crisis of our Age

Boycott Halloween chocolate and candy! Here is important information for your conscience.

See this

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child slaves and chocolate in africa

2009-10-09T08:19:00.000-07:00

One hundred years from now people will look back with horror at the economics and business practices of our era. Just as we look with shock at the African Slave Trade of the 16-19th Centuries, so they will look at us with bewilderment that we could have used children as slaves and that we could build a global economy upon the slave labour of children worldwide. They will be amazed that we could ignore this horror.

The Ivory Coast in northwest Africa supplies 50% of the world's cocoa for the manufacture of chocolate. Child slaves harvest and process most of this cocoa. Children are also captured in South America and sold as slaves in Europe and elsewhere. In Asia there is widespread child sexual slavery. There is also child slavery in North America and Europe of many kinds.

In North America and Europe we have seen the emergence of a huge chocolate industry with companies like Hershey and Nestle. There is plenty of information about this child slave industry on the Internet. Check this link for lots of info.

“The $13 billion dollar chocolate industry is dominated by two firms: Hershey's and M&M's/Mars. Both of these companies use mostly Ivory Coast cocoa; their products are almost certainly produced partly by slaves.” Many of our schools use these chocolate products to raise money to help children. That's ironic in a heart wrenching way.

The most troubling aspect of this worldwide slave industry is the role we and our children play in Canada, the USA, Europe and elsewhere. Our children are used by this 'industry' to keep those child slaves in their place - in chains and cells and fields of blood and suffering where they labour under horrific conditions and die lonely and painful deaths.

Every time we buy and eat chocolate and coffee and other products of this slave trade, we are supporting those who enslave and exploit children for gain . Our children are slave consumers of these products. They are enticed by intense and effective advertising campaigns by companies who support children's television programming. In this way they are used to maintain the enslavement of children elsewhere. This is sadly ironic!

What have we in the “free" world done to help? We have increased our chocolate consumption and we have supported this 21st Century Children's Slave Trade. We have ignored the global system of slavery that causes this injustice and enables its continued profitability. Shame on us!

Bill S-209 [Protection of Children] is in Second Reading in the Canadian Parliament. It is a first step towards combating this ugly injustice on our soil and then helping those nameless little souls who labour for our pleasure.

Please help to end child slavery in our time! Our legislators will be condemned and castigated for their inaction and we will be branded as criminals for what we do without thinking every day – eating chocolate that destroys our health and enslaves children.

Stand With Us Against Child Slavery - The Moral and Economics Crisis of our Age

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Individuality

2009-03-09T13:36:00.000-07:00

Vision is the art of seeing the invisible. - Jonathan Swift

One of the unique features of our Canadian society and culture is the level and degree of Individuality that has evolved in us socially. This trait is not immediately obvious to those who have only lived within the confines of Western culture in Canada.

I was enabled to recognize this outstanding characteristic in Canadians after
spending almost a year in China where by doctrine and tradition people are much
more regimented, alike, predictable. Whereas in Canada each person is unique,
quirky, individualistic. Each of us is a Towering Individual by Chinese social and
cultural standards.

Individualism can have its challenges and negative expressions, but it is a big
part of who we are. I expect that ways can be discovered, invented and
implemented to respect this important aspect of our culture, which is more
evolved in almost every important aspect of human life than in many societies
and cultures. Again this is due to The Universal Culture which has its axis in
Canada.

So the problem and the challenge is to systematize, organize and even
institutionalize our deeply rooted Individuality. Democracy in general seeks to
accomplish this, so democratic methods are the most likely to bring the desired
and desirable results.

Whether by Chance or Design we are each and everyone unique, from birth to
death. Our culture, politics, society and values respect this truth and reality. Our
schools can and should respect and accommodate and reflect our differences.
Ultimately the differences fit together to create a whole society. Canada still
faces challenges in the area of reconciling differences, but the prospects are
good and hopeful.

An education culture that respects and accepts this will be better suited to the needs and necessities of The Twenty-first Century. Canada was created by people of Vision, courage, diligence, creativity: Individuals. Our people have been nurtured in the bosom of a challenging wilderness amidst hostile climatic conditions and the violent swirls of history. Yet we have sought and found impossible solutions to each demand we have faced.

The Future is upon us and we are busily pulling up our bootstraps for the present challenges. We are no longer impeded by forests and great lakes and rivers and glaciers and prairies and mountain ranges and the sea. Our present impediments and mortal enemies are ecological, environmental, ethical, health related, political, scientific, issues of sustainability, technological, social, economic, doctrinal, Global. We require healthy, strong, educated, creative individuals capable of caring and sharing. Education can give us this if we reach for it carefully, intentionally and with resolve.

Excerpt from Our Most Precious Treasures: The Rights Of Children

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Your Canada

2009-02-21T13:37:00.000-08:00

The vision of Canada that I have absorbed from Canadians looks like this:

- a place where there is justice with compassion for all

- a place of progress, opportunity, options and optimism

- a safe and secure place for people of all ages, conditions and origins

- a healthy population in a healthy environment

- a place that welcomes and embraces ideas, discussion, debate and innovation within the bounds of our democratic Values, Principles, Processes, Institutions, Laws and Charter of Rights and Freedoms

- a community that reaches out to the world to cultivate peace, justice, compassion, tolerance, respect, progress, prosperity and stability

- a place where citizens are democratically engaged and involved at all levels of society

- a place where economy means being careful with resources

- a place that shares in the life of the global community while cherishing ALL of our people of all backgrounds and languages and origins

- a world leader in education, the environment, global security, and the nurture of peace

- a multicultural society

- a place with a strong, diverse and sustainable economy that has and makes cutting edge technological tools and exports innovations to the world

- a creative community

This is the Canada that Canadians seem to hold in their hearts and live out in their time and place. This is the place that we have imagined together and built. This is your Canada.

If we can Dream it, we can make it!

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The Peace-based Economy

2009-02-18T07:17:00.000-08:00

Peace is not sign of weakness, just as violence is not a sign of strength. Peace
requires strength, self-restraint, discipline, and a pursuit of genuine self-interest.

Canada has successfully achieved a peaceful, free and Just Society where
Compassion is a governing principle.

A simple decision to strategically and intentionally move towards a Peace-based economy would be a strong statement to the world and an assertion of our Core Values.

The energetic pursuit of a select group of economic bases could bring
rapid economic growth while providing the means for sharing our Methods,
Values and Culture through the mechanisms of a new futuristic economy that
excludes the need for bloodshed from the pursuit of large-scale economic gain.
We can prove that Peace Pays more [and better] than war.

Canada is a world leader in a number of critical areas: education; alternative
energy technologies and research; environmental and ecological solutions;
scientific research and applications that are peaceful; diplomacy and
jurisprudence; legislative responsibility; high-tech communications and media;
policing and law enforcement; the Arts and entertainment; agriculture;
management and administration; Human Relations.

Policies could be easily introduced that are Global in magnitude that support and reward the development and worldwide distribution of these things that characterize us as a People and unify us as a Nation. Consider the following...

NOTE - This is an excerpt from the essay The Future: Peace Pays [Exploring The Canadian Identity] on this site.

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Economic Recession has a Silver Lining

2009-02-08T22:44:00.000-08:00

If we think of the Earth as a living organism and the global ecosystem as a single system, then we can begin to understand the kind of damage that has been done to this integrated system in recent history. Humanity has been rapidly degrading the health and resiliency of this ecosystem. We have been abusing our home in ways that we would not consider acceptable for any individual.

To put it in personal terms, the Earth has been smoking far too much, drinking far too much, and she has been frantically tearing at her own flesh like some disconsolate teenager with an emotional disorder. The faster that the global economy grew in force and magnitude and rapidity of expansion, the more quickly has the environment become injured and altered and compromised.

However this careless and shameful destruction of the Earth has suffered a serious setback with the downturn in the economies of all nations and the global economic system which binds them together intimately. In one fleeting year we have witnessed a shift from nations squabbling over levels of reduction in acceptable pollution emissions levels, to a situation where these levels have been suddenly reduced far below anything Kyoto would have ventured to recommend.

Bureaucracies and bureaucrats like the Kyoto participants, discussants and signees generally lack boldness, imagination and courage. Their hands are tied by a variety of knotted issues, pressures and constituents to whom they are accountable.

We have been handed a reprieve and the Earth has been given a much deserved and needed moment to breathe and stretch and rest and recover some of its strength and vitality. It is being given an opportunity to heal and revitalize itself.

One year ago the cost of renting a large dry container ship was about $120,000.00/day. In less than a year, due to lack of market demand, that price plummeted to about $1200.00/day. The number of ocean transits has dropped off the charts as has the extraction of crude oil and use of petroleum products. Airline flights have dropped by almost 50% in some sectors. People are driving less, raping the Earth for plastics and metals and woods products less, poisoning the air less, blindly and irresponsibly spending [consuming] less. Everyone is quickly rethinking everything. Many are thinking about the "Re-Greening of the Earth."

We are now in a position where we can choose our future rather than blindly accepting that bleak and brutal and poisoned future that was being pushed down our throats by the corporate and political giants who have acted with impunity and without consultation. As Premier McGuinty of Ontario has recently observed, this economic 'downturn' is a grand opportunity for us to embrace a green economics model and build a clean and hopeful and successful and lasting future.

The Invisible Hand in the Market seems to have acted decisively to provide humanity...and Canada...with a much needed Opportunity. Now we must reach out and take it, embrace it and make it our Vision for the future we can and will build.

Environmental recovery and rejuvenation are part of the silver lining in the economic “disaster”.

A Vision for Canada

2009-02-06T11:48:00.000-08:00

Canadians want and deserve a great Vision. They have worked hard and sacrificed much in order to build a nation and a society that is democratic, peaceful, just, compassionate, fair, supportive, prosperous, inclusive, multicultural, environmentally conscious, creative, productive and much more. We have overcome great odds in order to knit together widely separated regions in ways that help us all.

We don't only seek to help ourselves in Canada. We remember where our families are from [everywhere], whether we are First Nations or All Nations. The great migration has brought us together and we have created something wonderful in the face of hardship, obstacles, enemies, climate, terrain, and so on.

This nation was conceived as a Dream. It was never enough for Canada to simply exist and survive. We had to become something more than we were and perhaps more than seemed possible. In spite of the tensions and rifts in our internal relations, we have managed to work together for the good of all.

In the global age “all” has become much more. We reach out in creative ways to help those who are disadvantaged everywhere on the face of the planet. Look just about anywhere and you will find at least one Canadian fussing over the difficulties of others and pitching in with Canadian advantages to help those who struggle.

A true Vision for Canada must portray and enable us to see ourselves reaching out to the world to share our extraordinary culture, which is unlike any in human history. Here people live in peace, which enables so much more in in terms of productivity, investigation, research, invention, education, implementation, production of ideas, along with a sense of safety and security that is real.

Canada has resources that can quickly bring relief and hope to the world. A large number, likely a significant majority, are already doing this work. Some go abroad to be on the ground with those in need or in danger. Some contribute in their places of worship or work or where they receive their education. But almost all do it, regardless of age or status. This is who we are.

My proposal is that we do this more effectively, efficiently, economically, energetically and intentionally...and that we do it together. The world can be changed to be like us [peaceful] if we share what we have. This proposal is more about ideas and methods and values, which I call Human Software, than it is about money and minerals and wood and oil.

Imagine a Canada that systematically exports our peaceful ways to the world. This will bring stability and hope to the whole world and the suffering throngs who inhabit the countries from which many of our families have come...and it will make us better, bigger, richer, more self-respecting. The whole world has invested in Canada and Canada should invest in the whole world. We will garner much respect and goodwill if we take this route towards a peaceful and hopeful future.

If we do not do this and soon, there will be consequences. We could see a foreign army on our soil, blown out buildings and more dead than can be tallied. We could see Canada disappear altogether, crowded out of existence by the belligerent and the greedy. This is not what we want.

To have peace we must Dream BIG and work hard. We must do it together or we cannot succeed. A project of this magnitude and weight requires all democratically minded Canadians to help shoulder the work and responsibility. This is the cause that can unite us and carry us to a safe, happy and peaceful future.

If we rise up together as in times of war and devote ourselves to peace we might be able to prevent the fire that lays ahead. We can help save the world...and we should.

The Children's Holocaust - Part One

2008-12-11T15:28:00.000-08:00

There is a worldwide holocaust being perpetrated against children. They are dying and suffering all kinds of abuse and violence and betrayal and neglect and exclusion. I have been led to wonder why adults feel and believe themselves justified in perpetrating this outrageous continuum of harm, exclusion and vilification that children experience.

Not long ago women and children were summarily grouped together and characterized as “not needing Rights” by a member of the Royal Commission that helped shape The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It was Châtelaine Magazine's celebrated editor Doris Anderson who stood up against this bigoted opinion. Thereby Equal Rights for women was included in this Charter. At this point much of the violence, abuse and disenfranchisement that was suffered by women in general has been significantly reduced. Women have Rights, though theirs, like everyone's are certainly infringed upon from time to time.

Children DO NOT have Rights. That is to say that they do not enjoy the fullness of Equal Rights as defined in the Charter and judicial interpretations of its contents. Also the Criminal Code of Canada strips children of Equal Rights, protection and opportunity in Section 43 [in locus parentis]. And this Section bestows the children's Rights upon “responsible” adults – parents, teachers, and others who are busy protecting their own share of the social pie.

Again and again “responsible” adults tell me that they are comfortable being in control and empowered while children are murdered, exploited, abused, insulted, mistreated, rejected...and blamed. I now see why it's called a “criminal” code. The intent and consequences of this Statute are criminal and we are the guilty ones.

We gather children in neighbourhood concentration camps – schools. And many do not emerge alive after eight or twelve years in these camps. The camp director, staff and prisoner supervisors make sure the children know they have neither Rights nor recourse. They are helpless, powerless and optionless.

As a child I saw these claims as lies and spent as little time in these places as possible, leaving finally, once and for all, at age fifteen. I found options, choices, safety, respect, meaning and much more outside of the machine. The Ministry of Education and Government of Ontario consider all of this Just. So does the Government of Canada. But...The Canadian Senate Human Rights Committee does not consider it Just or fair or constitutional.

Sadly the entire social analytical apparatus [the media, academia, et cetera], along with the government, institutions, families and others remain convinced that children neither need nor deserve Equal Rights. This belief is poison for the Human Spirit and destructive to a society. Our journalists sleep while children suffer exclusion, harm, exploitation of many kinds, humiliation and death. This in turn causes deep impacts upon GNP and the economy in general.

I want others to see the widespread, vicious, unjust murderous picture of what children face in Canada and worldwide that I see. To me it has the appearance of a holocaust, with countless millions dying every single year. I want my fellow citizens to see the financial, political, social, legal, ethical, moral and other consequences of this injustice. And I want them all to change...quickly...before this injustice proves to be a welcome mat to those who want what we possess – land, freedom, sovereignty, businesses. Everything is in jeopardy and few see why.

I have demonstrated elsewhere that many of these “responsible” adults are not worthy or deserving of the public trust. In fact democratic principles, values and history make explicit the idea that one should never surrender one's Rights to anyone under any condition or circumstance. To do so is to break faith with our fellow citizens and those who strove and sacrificed to win and maintain our Freedom. To do so is to become a slave, according to Abraham Lincoln.

These “responsible” others are really only damaged and alienated children of previous generations. They were thwarted, humiliated and excluded by a system that saw teachers, preachers, lawyers, doctors and so forth as 'above' others, and above reproach. This obsolete and class-ridden idea has been lain aside and then laid to rest by The Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

If women had not been included in the definition of “Human” in Human Rights, Canada would have undergone a social and economic crisis. Now we are experiencing such a crisis as a result of the exclusion of children from the Social Contract.

Canadians must awaken to the injustice in this and to the threat that such injustice poses for those who perpetrate it. It's exactly like Apartheid in South Africa. But in this case the excluded ones with no Rights and Freedoms are children. Adults are in denial. Besides this we urgently need the help of our children to confront the Gathering Storm, just as children were called upon to help in the World Wars.

From Kitchener to the Congo, from Bangkok to Peking, Quito, New York, to London, Paris, Berlin, Baghdad, Cairo, Inuvik, Rio de Janeiro, Palestine, Moscow, Cleveland, Vancouver and in every town and village and region. In all places children suffer a spectrum of horrors and indignities from war to violence, prostitution, starvation and disease, slavery and torture, to internment in our poor excuses for schools, and in our police services, courts and jails.

They disappear, suffer beatings, bullying and abuse from “responsible” adults, have little or no say in their own affairs and destiny, can have their character slandered, their possessions confiscated, their opinions quashed. They receive little or no respect from society, and much abuse. Then their predictable reactions to all of this are put down to lame categories like adolescent or teenager. They are Human and are reacting in a human way to widespread and prolonged injustice. Do the Math!

This Holocaust is of such magnitude and proportion as to overshadow the Nazi Holocaust in each and every year it continues. Yet no one counts the victims. No one traces the causes to see the roots. No one tallies the insults, infractions, assaults, offenses, consequences and lame defenses that attempt to ignore and justify this horrific set of images that fill my mind from media sources every day.

Brothers and Sisters we must cease from making war upon our children, mostly via our social and governmental institutions. They need and deserve our love, nurture and protection. The holocaust must stop or we will all bear the guilt and consequences. If we do not alter our thinking and behaviour soon, we will suffer from the fallout.

Help our children and thereby help the nation and the global community. Support Equal Rights for children in Canada and an end to the silent and endless holocaust children endure everywhere.

Think global. Act local. - The Whole Earth Catalog

John Williams - Director – The Canadian Children's Rights Initiative

December 19, 2007.1500 h
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Children's Rights - The Hungry Beast

2008-12-10T09:31:00.000-08:00

“Love people and use things, rather than the opposite.”

The global economy is using our children to starve and punish children everywhere. [see Legal Exploitation list]

Children are regarded as merchandise in the heartless corporate world and as fuel to drive the economic engines of an interlocked economic system. I suggest that we should honestly ask ourselves if we want to continue to sacrifice children for goods, services and wealth.

How long will we cooperate with this financial and economic protocol?

Let me add that there are other ways to look at children, beyond the perception that they are a commodity to be exploited, a natural resource to create a luxurious lifestyle for an already over-endowed elite.

We can, we should and we must view them as people. In my faith children are the model by which we find God and to which we must aspire. They are, individually and altogether, more sacred to us than all of the cattle of India are to the people of that place.

We are simultaneously robbing them of hope. For hope is the future to which we aspire and for which we reach, knowing that things can and will improve. We are carving up and consuming all of the earth’s resources in one generation.

These resources should be viewed as the basis for life in every generation for endless generations to come. We are stealing their legacy and turning it into garbage of various kinds. And we are doing it at a head-swirling, dizzying rate.

We should love and care for and value our children as a sacred gift, rather than seeing them as a means to gain. And we should preserve the Earth that is God’s legacy to them.

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Children's Rights - The Legal Economic Exploitation of Children

2008-12-09T09:16:00.000-08:00

Who benefits?

[Each of these is a complex interlocking network.]

- government, bureaucracy and public employees

- internet providers, services, et cetera, including software developers/computer and technology industries

- teachers and staff and all employees of all schools & educational organizations

- movie and television and radio industry

- law enforcement

- scholars of many kinds and experts, consultants, et cetera

- the courts

- lawyers

- religious organizations of all kinds

- toy companies, distributors and sellers

- digital toy industry

- drug companies

- food companies

- music industry

- beverage companies

- clothing manufacturers

- amusement companies of all kinds

- transportation companies

- fast food businesses

- candy and confections manufacturers and distributors

- doctors, nurses, medical researchers and professionals of all kinds

- many commercial businesses: convenience/dollar stores/ children’s

- hospitals and their staff and employees

- stock market

- rehab facilities, boot camps and behaviour modification programs of all kinds

- counseling industry

- automotive industry

- pharmacists

- funeral directors and businesses

- cemeteries

- parents

- entertainment industry

- advertising industry

- Christmas industry

- Easter industry

- sports industries

- recreation industries

- cosmetic industries

- religious industries, organizations and cults

- book and magazine publishers, sellers and distributors

Who pays?

Children and their families at both ends of the food chain pay – as manufacturers and as consumers.

This is a HUGE burden for children to bear. They are slave labourers at one end of the manufacturing schema and they are slave consumers at the other. They have no rights nor dignity nor humanity in the eyes of others. They are cogs in a corporate wheel rather than the objects of parental and societal love and protection. Ultimately the entire economy is buoyed up by and built upon the exploitation of children worldwide.

In Canada boys are especially alienated and abused. Large numbers of them are incarcerated, murdered, killed in “accidents” that include auto, labour, play, sports, illness and injury, violence of many kinds, including widespread suicides and drugs/alcohol related troubles. There is no place for them but in jails and cemeteries and hospitals…or the military. This is small-minded and fails to estimate their true character and potential.

"At this point many of the beneficiaries of this exploitation are far far away and do not care about us or our children…in China, India, and USA." - The Global Economy.

We should be caring about them, rather than exploiting them for economic gain.

The Impossible - Leadership 3

2008-12-08T09:39:00.000-08:00

The human family is faced with a set of challenges that appears to be impossible to overcome. If we simply combine the growing global environmental crisis and the growth of weapons capability and availability, and the widespread warfare and violence, then it appears that we are doomed. If we add up the genocide, disease and starvation, then the picture becomes more bleak. Add to this human greed and lust for power and our inability to resolve ancient conflicts, and we arrive at The Impossible.

Now personally I am not very interested in what is possible or easy or within reach. It is only The Impossible that interests me. I dwell with, in, and for the impossible. That being the case, I’m sure it is no surprise that our complex, present and growing Crisis has my rapt attention.

I can tell you one important thing about the impossible. It’s possible. I have spent most of my life proving that.

We need leaders who can, will, and do inspire, enable and guide us to and through The Impossible. Look for this kind of leader. Accept nothing less and no substitute.

How To Survive - Leadership 2

2008-12-08T09:34:00.000-08:00

Do we want to survive, succeed and prosper? Do we wish to remain an independent nation with our sovereignty, liberties and culture intact? If your answer is “Yes!” then the situation in which we find ourselves requires a great exertion on the part of the Canadian people.

If we are to cherish and nurture The Canadian Dream, then we must quickly organize ourselves, embrace our collective reality, and exert ourselves as one. Anything less could lead to our destruction as a political entity and the loss of hope for all of the peoples and nations of the world.

In order to accomplish this unified exertion Canada needs leadership of a particular kind. We need to find those leaders who believe in us and inspire us to do the impossible. For the impossible is what we must do if we intend to maintain our unique democracy and survive the looming global crisis.

What Is Needed - Leadership 1

2008-12-08T09:31:00.000-08:00

A growing number of people in this country are talking about our need for appropriate Leadership. But I haven’t heard much useful talk about what leadership is. People know they need “something” but there seems to be little clarity about what it is. So I’m going to talk about it and write about it in hopes that the leaders that we need can be found, and the solutions implemented in a timely fashion.

We can see many examples of leadership in our society, in the world, and in history. Some leaders have become legends, often for good reason. There has been a succession of great leaders on the world’s stage. Wellington is credited with having saved England and Europe by defeating Bonaparte’s French army at Waterloo, with German aid. Churchill defeated Hitler’s German army with Allied and French aid. Lincoln freed the African-American slaves and Wilberforce ended slavery in the British Empire.

Great leaders are forged in the fire of personal experience and historical crises. As we are facing a crisis of unprecedented magnitude, we need leaders and leadership that can deal with this reality.

What the Conservative Party of Canada REALLY thinks about First Nations people and land claims.

2008-10-13T09:02:00.000-07:00

This article is critical for those who love this country...True North Strong and Free.

Here's an interesting article about Harper's brain trust. Number One is Tom Flanagan. It turns out that Harper's best friend and trusted political advisor and confidant is an enemy of First Nations People...and of Canadian artists and Canadian children and Canada! Hmm.

www.walrusmagazine.com/articles/the-man-behind-stephen-harper-tom-flanagan

Also the article points out these people in the Political Science Department of the University of Calgary have connections to the Pentagon and the US State Department, et cetera. Hmm. I met Tom Flanagan a week ago and that got me looking into his sense of purpose. Rude man. Rude rude man. The article says a lot about why...and how.

He's an American and a Republican. He's also what some Marxists would have called an historical revisionist, which he uses to attack Aboriginal land claims in behalf of the U.S. State Department as an "expert witness".

Perhaps that's where the Arts money will go that's being taken from artists. :) Get THIS! Flanagan received almost a million dollars from the Canada Council. lol And much more from the US State Department.

And they want to build more prisons in which they can put more children and citizens, which will require tax increases.

I hope others will help me and Stephane Dion defeat them. Liberals need your votes and Dion is a devoted Canadian. He fought for Canada's unity when others had bailed on the idea. He's kind, bright, HONEST, collegial, modest, and respectful. I can recommend him to all Canadians after much close scrutiny. We need him and he needs us right now. Please consider it.

The New Patriotism

2008-10-07T09:44:00.000-07:00

An atmosphere of indifference has developed in the course of the past thirty years. While on the face of it Canada has progressed in the areas of consumerism and commerce, beneath the surface there has been an erosion of the very quality that has given us our freedom and a lifestyle that is rich beyond the wildest dreams of over ninety percent of all people who have ever lived on Planet Earth.

While the deceptive voice of consumerism tells us that we are poor if we lack some important new addition to our collection of consumer items, the truth is that we need not and do not starve in this country. We look after one another in ways that are rare. And yes, it is consumerism and the capitalist economic models we employ that make much of this system of benefits possible.

The sad truth is that our citizens are infected with a rampant indifference to the glorious blessings they enjoy. And when we do appreciate something it is more likely to be those consumer goods we or others possess rather than the deeper and loftier treasures we hide in our social closet.

Few speak of freedom and liberty and equal rights as the treasures they hold dear. And it is out of fashion to mention patriotism, which has been analyzed and relegated to the pile of dirty social laundry with such items as masculinity, the warrior society, social discipline, empirical thinking and scientific method.

We would rather be governed by urgent passions; and patriotism does not turn people on. Reason and rationality and logic are remnants of that outdated and irrelevant patriarchal society that still lingers, according to some.

This kind of thinking was within our budget so long as our friends and allies were ready, able and willing to look to our security and defense. But our allies are now hard-pressed to protect their own citizens and borders and we sneer at their suggestions that there is a real threat and that we and our families are targets of these disturbed malefactors.

But we hold this perspective and opinion at risk of our peril. It is a certainty that people scattered across the face of the Earth awaken every morning to plot our destruction. They are energetic and creative and determined in their efforts and they are willing to sacrifice everything up to and including their lives, their resources and their children in their efforts to disrupt and destroy our societies and our culture and our families and friends and neighbours.

The mere recognition of these truths should be sufficient to motivate us to awaken every morning with our superior models of discipline and determination in high gear, saying “We have paid dearly in blood for these liberties and you shall not strip us of them. What has been born of divine design will not be shattered by the evil of hatred and malice and ignorance.”

For it is the Love factor that has made us strong and this alone is sufficient to overwhelm hatred and fear and malice. Love has been manifested in service and sacrifice by our forbears and She calls upon us to give our hearts for the health and safety and security of our Nation, our families, our neighbourhoods and our social systems. Schools, hospitals, transportation and energy systems have all been put in place as expressions of love.

This is the deep hidden heart of democracy where capitalism melds with freedom. We give rich and plentiful gifts to those we love. And we have in fact given them to all who inhabit our Nation, our society and our culture; we have even extended these benefits to our enemies.

The New Patriotism must take into account realities rather than being driven blindly by passion and insincere leaders bent upon our deception. This New Patriotism must enable government of the People, for the People, by the People. As it stands much of our government is of the People, for the corporations, by the corporations.

This is not to argue that corporate citizens should not be a significant part of the decision making processes. The safety, security and healthy development of corporations is a benefit to us all. Our fate and that of the corporate infrastructure are intimately tied.

The final analysis, if that analysis is fair and scientific, will show that what is good for corporate citizens is good for human citizens and vice versa. Oftentimes corporations have not evolved into conscientious and compassionate citizens in the free society, little realizing that the demise of the Nation and the systems that ensure the secure functioning of the Nation will toll the destruction of all Rights, both civil and corporate.

We need a new social contract that takes into account these indisputable truths. The terms of that as yet unwritten contract will help to shape the New Patriotism for which I work and wait.

Let it also be said that some corporations are more mature in their outlook and actions than some human citizens. By this I mean that they are far more responsible, disciplined and compassionate than many people, often because of the accountability that is demanded of them which human citizens need not endure.

I surmise that this is so because of the pure hearts who command and navigate these huge corporate vessels laden with plenty for the masses. In this manner some corporations are delivery systems for the benefit of the millions who could never conceive, manufacture and deliver these goods and services to and for themselves, not in a thousand years. People of genius and compassion and insight act in behalf of everyone, even in corporate head-offices.

This is not to be undervalued nor held in contempt. Rather it is a truth that should be celebrated and enjoyed as we cuddle on our Big Comfy Couch with our cute little well-groomed, well-educated, well-dressed kids watching cable television in our centrally heated homes plugged into electrical and gas grids and dream about where we will vacation in the shiny automobile in our paved driveway.

Granted not all citizens in the nations of plenty enjoy these pleasures as yet. However it is the goal of corporate leaders to see a widget in every home. But the percentage is relatively high here and growing more so everywhere thru quality and access to goods and services extending to more and more people. So we see the spread of these benefits to encompass and embrace the whole world. But the destruction of our systems will pre-empt that dream.

The New Patriotism is a tool for the preservation of what has been achieved and built at such high cost, enabling us to build another level of excellence and comfort into our Universal Culture as it embraces the whole world and citizens both human and otherwise.

We need fire in the heart and brow and arm and will. We need to act now to prevent the collapse of so wonderful a world which has been built upon human imagination and tears and toil. Our parents believed in it and strived to improve upon what had been left to them. We can sit back indifferently and watch it destroyed by people who do not understand us or our lifestyle.

Or we can steel our collective will to resist the intruder and throw back the violent interloper. Terrorism could very well be a blessing in disguise. If it motivates us to take action we will be saved from our own indifference and selfishness.

Rather than fighting endlessly amongst ourselves we need to recognize the true enemies of state and citizen, those who would destroy it to secure a callous and vicious control over all people everywhere. This must not be allowed to happen.

...

Harper said, “Let me be clear...”

2008-10-04T11:33:00.000-07:00

I could not even count the number of times in the course of the Federal Leaders' Debates that Stephen Harper said, “Let me be clear...about this, that and the other fella.”. LOL If it wasn't so sad, it would be VERY funny.

Clarity was the one thing that was absent from all of his contributions to the debate. He was not clear about the current economic crisis, implying that in accordance with his laissez-faire economic model of, “Leave it alone and the 'Invisible Hand' at work in the Market will self-correct.” He merely implied that, and he side-stepped direct questions from Gilles Duceppe about it. He will not act to influence the market and the economy. Mr. Dion will, as Liberals do and have. And he'll kick start the economy within thirty days of taking office. We need ACTION! And we need a plan.

Harper was not clear about any long term economic plan. He was not clear about the environment, nor the manufacturing industry, nor the softwood lumber industry, or anything else. Mr. Harper seems to believe that Canadians are idiots and that we will fall for his nonsense and accept his evasions. Sadly for him, his true character and abilities and intentions are becoming more and more evident and obvious to more and more Canadians. It's far more than his intentions of child abuse that disturb me.

This much is clear to me from what he said and did. He's smug and condescending...”Let ME be clear...” It's not, “Let's work towards clarity together.” Rather, this would characterize Stephane Dion, author of the Clarity Bill which prevents any territory or province from leaving Canada without a clear question and a strong mandate.

Harper also made it clear that he does NOT have an appropriate and effective strategic Plan for the Nation. If he did we can be certain he would have told us in order to gain our support and our votes. He didn't. We are languishing because of his lack of insight and leadership. He also made it clear that he is a disrespectful and dishonest person. He likes power...this much 'was' clear.

Because I represent children in our national debate and public discussion, I have to say that Stephen Harper is a child abuser looking for an opportunity to hurt children. If he forms another government, our children will suffer. But at least they will suffer in company with ALL Canadians, because the nation will fail.

I object to him being my Prime Minister because he wants to hurt and harm children. Let me point out that most rapes [including gang rapes] occur in prisons and the victims are boys and men. Men suffer more sexual assaults than women and it happens in our prisons. But no one talks about it, supposedly because males are not as sensitive or important as other citizens. Harper wants to put boys and girls 14-17 years old in prisons with hardened criminals who live their lives as gay and lesbians prisoners with “sweet kids” to use for their own violent purposes. These sweet kids are sexual slaves.

In prison these children will be beaten, threatened, intimidated, abused, exploited, raped and killed. This is the kind of man Stephen Harper tells us that he really is. This is what he intends for Canadian children. By contrast Mr. Dion promises them equality, justice and protection, along with Hope for a green future and sustainable opportunities galore.

Why would anyone vote for Harper? Even the worst offenders in our worst prisons have the lowest regard for others who hurt children in these ways.

The only thing clear about Mr. Harper's involvement in the debates was that he has no idea what to do.

Elect Liberals everywhere and we will have strong and clear Hope in the coming months and years. Mr. Dion is smart, focused, kind, trustworthy...and he's Ready. He has an appropriate and effective strategic Plan for Canada. He promises us a Canada that will be "Richer. Fairer. Greener." He's a man of his word, committed to this kind of hopeful future for children and all Canadians.

Harper attacks children in election campaign

2008-09-30T06:31:00.000-07:00

Last week the Conservative Party of Canada unleashed an attack on the children of Canada as part of their election platform. Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe put it in perspective. He pointed out that Mr. Harper wants to make children the easy targets of sexual predators in our jails and prisons. Mr. Duceppe is correct in his interpretation of Harper's stated intentions.

As a children's rights advocate I know that Canadian children are already under attack by their government, and at risk. They need us to nurture and protect them, not punish them for the wrongdoing of others. Sadly this is the number one cause of youth crime and punishment in this country - the wrongdoing of others. Our Law says a person cannot be tried for the crimes of another, but children are regularly punished for just that...and they are condemned for being young. They do not enjoy the same civil rights and protections that 'adults' do. Harper offers more of the same.

By contrast the Liberal Party of Canada has revealed that they intend to protect, nurture and care about our children, and the Earth where they must raise their own families. This is the kind of Canada I want for my children, my family and my neighbours. It would be a place where children have "equal rights, protection and opportunity", as intended by a Senate bill [S-209] that recently died in the legislative process as a result of this untimely election. Mr. Dion says we should vote for ourselves and for our children's future - for sustainability and economic policy that is realistic in the current climate.

We should tell Mr. Harper that we disapprove of his tactics and intentions, his methods and values. Rally your self, your family, your neighbours and all Canadians to stop this child abuser before he goes too far. He wants to make war on children. This seems very cowardly to me. I do not want a Prime Minister representing me who endorses and enables child abuse and is a coward. He doesn't even see the wrong in what he's suggesting.

I am particularly offended by the fact that Mr. Harper and his team claim to be treating children badly because they [Conservatives] are Christians, and represent a "Christian" view and Christian values. As a Christian theologian I know that Jesus Christ never treated children that way and He does not approve of the Conservatives saying He would. God would NOT lock children in jails with pedophiles and murders and kill them in wars.

Mr. Harper wants to lock them up like this forever - life in prison for children as young as fourteen years! We have a name for this kind of thinking and behaviour. We call it child abuse. This is legislative child abuse, which lets the worst criminals punish children for the crimes of society. Shocking! This is "cruel and unusual punishment." Knowing this about Harper it becomes clear why he has not acted to have Omar Khadr released from Guantanamo Bay when it would have been easy to do so. We can expect him to treat all of our children in the same way - lock them up and throw away the keys.

Law and society alienate children, driving them from participation in mainstream society. They are abused, exploited and rejected. Then they turn to crime and violence in their frustration. For this we condemn them, rather then adapting the society to give our children their proper place in our midst. They are Our Most Precious Treasures. We should treat them like they are.

Young Canadians and those who love them have an opportunity to elect a government that will care about us, our families, our environment, our future and our collective conscience...and especially our children. The Conservative Party of Canada will not give us these things. They don't have them to give. But the Liberal Party of Canada will. This is certain.

It's up to Canadians to make sure the Liberal Party of Canada gets the opportunity to give us what we urgently need. One of those things is Justice for our children and for all children, and another is Hope. Without these we will become a failed state and others will eat our food and enjoy our resources.

There is much work to be done. Get up and get going! Time is short. Stop this child abuser now!

Here is another opinion from someone Mr. Harper trusts. LOL

Peace Pays...more and better than war.

Killing Christmas

2007-10-24T09:02:00.000-07:00

Five hundred years ago Martin Luther dragged an evergreen tree into his living-room with the assistance of his children and set it up standing. He placed candles on branches and lit them to signify the coming of the light into the Dark Ages and the beginning of the Reformation and Age of Enlightenment.

Since then the practice of using evergreens in our homes as part of the Christmas celebration has spread, first throughout Germany and Europe, then globally. It has been an elaborate distraction from the real meaning and purpose of this Christian holiday. In the Bible Jesus is called “the Light of the world.”

In North America millions of trees are slaughtered every winter in what is described as a “Christian” celebration.

In fact these practices have nothing to do with the documents that define “Christian”. In this ecologically conscious age the destruction of so many trees for a folly seems insane. We need those trees alive to ensure the production of oxygen and the filtering of pollutants, as well as for the cooling effects that trees always create.

These are remarkable organisms and we should be protecting them and increasing their numbers until they blanket the Earth, rather than slaughtering them indiscriminately for an empty and self-congratulatory thrill in the mid-winter. But every year we slaughter millions and millions more, the equivalent of a giant forest.

This is an act of hostile destruction against an already compromised natural environment. Christian ethics and doctrine and the texts themselves [The Bible] all suggest that this is a destructive and wasteful and unchristian practice. We should be planting and preserving trees, rather than mindlessly slaughtering them.

But the destruction of trees is only one slap in the face of Mother Earth and the Christian faith every Christmas. We go to the trouble of manufacturing hundreds of millions of plastic-coated glass lights and the copper or glass wire used to carry electricity to these tree ornaments.

Then we put further pressure upon the environment by illuminating all of these lights. We make electricity to drive the lights and make the trees look pretty. And no, we do not use green electrical sources. Our public policy does not support that. We use nuclear power and coal and oil burning to provide the pretty picture so we can drive around our communities, consuming more fossil fuels in the process and hurting ourselves in the process.

Then we begin every year by throwing trees, ornaments, wrappings and more into landfills. Christmas, as we celebrate it is not Earth and Human friendly. God must weep over such a waste and destruction.

We must water these “ornaments” while we have them in our homes.

Here again we are putting pressure on a rare and valuable global resource in an age of scarcity. Water should be preserved, used carefully, even frugally, shared and conserved. There is no water left to waste.

Sometimes we neglect to water our pet trees. These trees can bring sad consequences to families if left unattended. Many lose their lives, families, homes and well-being through fires in the Christmas season.

On top of all of this we feed large amounts of candy and other non-necessary foods to children and add to the national children’s health crisis.

Problems of obesity, diabetes [which rose over 75% in southeastern Ontario in a recent ten year period], and general ill health result for everyone from this practice and have an impact upon national economies in many ways from health care costs to loss of work hours and many other impacting blows against GNP and tax base.

If we add up the impact of these practices upon the Earth and then measure those results against our modern Christian and social ethics [for these practices are not merely for believing and practicing Christians], then we see that we must change how we celebrate Christmas. We must find a way to bring the same joy and generosity into our lives, hearts and homes without destroying the Earth that sustains us.

I’m not sure yet how we can do it. I don’t know which practices will serve our social and religious needs. But I’m convinced that we must bring our collective brains together in order to address this ugly problem quickly. I would like to see a different kind of Christmas in 2007 which does not destroy the Earth under the guise of loving its Creator.

We must kill Christmas as we know it and reinvent it in a way that is fitting for our time and circumstance. We must kill it quickly before it kills us.

Software

2007-07-27T18:32:00.000-07:00

An excerpt from "The Future: Peace Pays - Exploring The Canadian Identity"

In this essay and elsewhere I have mentioned and made reference to something
I call Software. In some cases I have called it Cultural Software, Social Software
and Human Software, and sometimes Lifestyle Technologies. These ideas are
all related, and in some cases are inter-changeable. The term Software can refer
to any or all of these.

I think of this ‘Software’ as the systems, methodologies, practices, traditions,
ideas, organizational methods, thinking styles and methods we employ: Lifestyle
Technologies. All that Humans do is governed by Values, Traditions, Ideas,
Methods, and so forth. These are each and altogether Software. As with
Computer Technology, these Softwares often come in packages and we know
who invented, designed and implemented them. We know when and how.
It can be something as basic as the way we move goods, people, and services
from place to place. One example of this would be our roads, highways and
freeway systems. These require road surfaces with hidden infrastructure for
power, drainage, et cetera. Then we have signage, traffic laws and regulations,
licensing for vehicles and drivers. Add to this traditions and styles of driving.
Many details go into these transportation systems, including the design,
manufacture and regulation of these interlocking systems. These systems have
proven to be largely and increasingly complex, effective, efficient, safe,
productive, economical; some more so than others.

By thinking about these or other systems as Software and as Software
“packages” we can better evaluate and improve our culture, society, government,
judicial systems, law enforcement, industry and commerce, Human Relations,
communications, family life, education, and even our personal Core Beliefs.
The source of this form of thinking in our modern era can be traced back to the
invention of “practical existentialism” or Phenomenology. This methodology was
created by Edmund Husserl in the early Twentieth Century. Husserl’s
“philosophy” has quietly and profoundly affected all of Humanity from the most
elevated scholars to the lowest of labourers in field, forest or factory. This
analytical method is a central functional component in The Universal Culture, a
term and phenomenon which I have explored elsewhere in my essays.
As Canada is situated at the heart and axis of The Universal Culture, and
consequently in a position to affect and influence the world, it is vital that we
make good choices, and that we write [make] and distribute good Software. For
we will be sharing it with people everywhere and it will be put to the intense test
of Human life on Planet Earth.

Our “Software” is our strongest asset in Canada. We incorporate it into
everything and in every imaginable situation. Canadian Software nurtures
peace, economic strength and stability, social and political stability, democratic
values and practices, Justice and Equality, the dissolution of violent differences
and the reconciliation of enemies. It works at home and abroad. And it does
much more and can do far far more still. All we have to do is use our methods to
the utmost and the world will be safer, friendlier, cleaner, more prosperous and
productive, more creative and rational, more in every way.

Our artists and thinkers and cultural practitioners of all types from lawyers to
judges to politicians to bureaucrats to law enforcement personnel and many
others embody this remarkable Canadian Culture. It’s in our bus drivers,
teachers, athletes, waiters and pretty much everyone. And it has proven to be a
powerful force for peaceful change in the world. The increased export of our
culture in all of its forms will continue to reshape The Earth into a place that is
more friendly for Human (and other) habitation. This initiative can help a
desperate and hurting world to find help (self help), hope, and healing.

The Peace-based Economy

2007-07-27T16:31:00.000-07:00

An excerpt from "The Future: Peace Pays Exploring The Canadian Identity".

Peace is not sign of weakness, just as violence is not a sign of strength. Peace
requires strength, self-restraint, discipline, and a pursuit of genuine self-interest.
Canada has successfully achieved a peaceful, free and Just Society where
Compassion is a governing principle.

A simple decision to strategically and intentionally move towards a Peace-based
Economy would be a strong statement to the world and an assertion of our Core
Values. The energetic pursuit of a select group of economic bases could bring
rapid economic growth while providing the means for sharing our Methods,
Values and Culture through the mechanisms of a new futuristic economy that
excludes the need for bloodshed from the pursuit of large-scale economic gain.
We can prove that Peace Pays more than war.

Canada is a world leader in a number of critical areas: education; alternative
energy technologies and research; environmental and ecological solutions;
scientific research and applications that are peaceful; diplomacy and
jurisprudence; legislative responsibility; high-tech communications and media;
policing and law enforcement; the Arts and entertainment; agriculture;
management and administration; Human Relations. Policies could be easily
introduced that are Global in magnitude that support and reward the
development and worldwide distribution of these things that characterize us as a
People and unify us as a Nation.