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.”
...
..
.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Canada - True North Strong and Free
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.
...
..
.
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.
...
..
.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Diligence
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.
...
..
.
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.
...
..
.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
With Heads Firmly In Place: Universal Dental Care
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.”
...
..
.
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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