Editorials

Though Mexican President Felipe Calderón and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper have done everything to maintain the status quo on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), President Barack Obama has promised to "push the restart button" on several trade deals. While it's debatable how much his administration actually differs from its predecessor in these areas, trade activists remain hopeful that Obama will stick to his promises to renegotiate NAFTA and reconsider its expansion through the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP).

Vince Li has been found not criminally responsible for the gruesome murder and beheading of Tim McLean on a Greyhound bus last summer because he is mentally ill.

Li's trial took only two days and heard from only two witnesses. Both were psychiatrists who testified Li suffers from schizophrenia. They testified Li heard what he thought was the voice of God

Unbeknownst to many, the Leaders’ Summit on North American Relations was held in Quebec in June of this year.  It represents yet another facet of North American integration.  This should not be confused with the upcoming North American Leaders’ Summit which is scheduled to take place in Mexico on August 9-10.

There may be as many as 503 billion barrels of oil in the Bakken Formation that runs under Saskatchewan, Manitoba, North Dakota and Montana

Bill Gates Patents a Device Aimed at Halting Hurricanes

The applications made public by the U.S. Patent Office last week describe floating devices that could reduce the strength of hurricanes by drawing warm water from the ocean’s surface and channeling it down to the depths through a long tube. A second tube would reverse the process and bring deep, cold water up to the surface.

Canadians need to understand the context of today’s announcement that Mexican citizens will require visas to visit Canada. We also need to understand the root cause of the rising number of Mexican refugees coming to Canada. 

Failing democracy, globally, (and in Canada) parallels and connects with the potential environmental collapse of the planet.

Honduras recently began a move towards a real and effective democracy.  The military – trained and equipped by the U.S.A. – stopped it…in order to protect the rapacious, oppressive, so-called “democracy” in place.

The U.S. president has muttered…things…and the coup regime remains because U.S. power in the world cannot have “Bolivarian (peaceful) revolutions” in Latin America delivering real democracy and a just redistribution of wealth, taking away the right to destroy people by Capitalist corporations.

 The prospect of an ever-declining voter turnout is scaring the shit out of most of the elites that have managed to make a damn good living by becoming "career politicians".

July 10 (Bloomberg) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev illustrated his call for a supranational currency to replace the dollar by pulling from his pocket a sample coin of a “united future world currency.”

“Here it is,” Medvedev told reporters today in L’Aquila, Italy, after a summit of the Group of Eight nations. “You can see it and touch it.”

Canada has fallen to last place in the latest G8 Climate Scorecard, after the United States moved up in the annual rankings based on recent climate initiatives announced by the Obama administration.

Energy expert and former CIBC economist Jeff Rubin says global economy will get the "shock of its life" within 12 months of the end of the recession when oil prices hit triple digits and the age of globalization starts to come to an end.

Gov. Perry calls special legislative session on transportation
 

Opponents of the controversial Trans-Texas Corridor believe Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry is proceeding with toll road plans under the cover of a special session of the legislature.

Perry's stated goals include extending the authority of the Texas Department of Transportation, TxDOT, to operate for two more years with an allocation of $2 billion in state funds that could be targeted for building toll roads along Interstate Highways 35 and 69 in what was previously called TTC-35 and TTC-69 under the Trans-Texas Corridor plan.

30 June 2009

[23 miles off the coast of Gaza, 15:30pm] - Today Israeli Occupation Forces attacked and boarded the Free Gaza Movement boat, the SPIRIT OF HUMANITY, abducting 21 human rights workers from 11 countries, including Noble laureate Mairead Maguire and former U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (see below for a complete list of passengers). The passengers and crew are being forcibly dragged toward Israel.

"This is an outrageous violation of international law against us. Our boat was not in Israeli waters, and we were on a human rights mission to the Gaza Strip," said Cynthia McKinney, a former U.S. Congresswoman and presidential candidate. "President Obama just told Israel to let in humanitarian and reconstruction supplies, and that's exactly what we tried to do. We're asking the international community to demand our release so we can resume our journey."

North American integration is a deep-rooted agenda that continues on many different fronts.  This has not changed under an Obama administration.  Posted on the U.S. Department of State’s website calendar of events is the fifth annual North American Leaders Summit, which is set to take place August 8-11 in Mexico.  Much of the foundation and framework for a North American superstate has already been achieved through NAFTA and the Security Prosperity Partnership (SPP).  The latest leaders summit could be used as an opportunity to revive stalled SPP measures and launch a new strategy that would further build off past continental integration initiatives.

Hey Canada, it’s July 1st once again. You’re supposed to be happy.

On the hill in Ottawa, the CBC will provide its annual embarrassment of “entertainment” for the television cameras … supposedly depicting what we Canadians are all about … complete with bullshitting politicians and the Prime Minister will get off his fat ass to take advantage of the photo opportunities that abound.

The reality is best summed up in the words of that old, popular song, “Sixteen Tons” … with apologies to Tennessee Ernie Ford: “It’s July 1 and whaddaya get …. Another year older … and DEEPER in DEBT as Herr Harper’s “government” panders to the elitists and continues to put every Canadian, including generations to come, deeper in debt by gifting this corporation and that with your tax dollars. And YOU don’t even get kissed.

But, hey, you should be happy … you’re supposed to be happy … THEY have commanded you to be happy, dammit.