June/July 2006
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July 29th, 2006
Home Sweet Home
I've made it back home after taking a vacation for the first time in years. I've spent the last few weeks in the
sweltering hothouse that is Southern British Columbia, where the temperature actually exceeded fourty degrees
Celsius some days. Crazy. After spending some time in the madness of big city traffic it feels really good to be
back here in my quiet Yukon. Driving out and back, I came to appreciate just how far away this place is. The 
drive took days, through wilderness, through small towns and big cities, through oil and gas infrastructure. 
If you're into to extreme sports, I recommend driving over the Stikine River crossing near Iskut BC. Imagine 
driving down insanely steep grades around hairpin turns approaching a one lane bridge above a river canyon, 
all on loose gravel, in a downpour no less. I bet its even more fun in the winter. Its good to have made it 
home in one piece. I guess that's all I have to say for now. I will spend the next few days getting myself
organized back here on the home front. I go away for a while and all hell breaks loose in the Middle East. 
More on that later. For now I'll repost an old article. Peace to all of you.
    
Welcome Back - Part 2
Originally Posted October 23rd, 2005

At the end of August, I spent some time in the Arctic. As Hurricane Katrina began its slow final approach 
to New Orleans, I was hunkered down in a remote Inuvaluit community on the delta of the Mackenzie river. 
I had gotten sick, so I confined myself to a hotel room. The town had no cable system, but the hotel that
hosted me had a satellite dish. I had nothing but time to lay around and recover. 

It was here that I got my first good look at the Fox "News" Channel. I used quote marks there because in
the several hours of programming that I watched, I did not see a single journalist. There was no insight.
There was no quality. As Katrina rolled into New Orleans, I knew that the most dangerous element of this 
storm would not be the high winds, but the potential flooding of a city that lies below sea level. To its
credit, CNN reported about the possibility of levee breaks, as did the BBC. (BBC made the levee break scenario
a central focus of its reports) As the storm made landfall, the Fox spin said that since she had weakened to
a category four, Katrina was not the disaster that all had anticipated. In light of the weakening, one early
morning Fox anchor mocked those who warned that Katrina would be devastating. As water poured into 
New Orleans, Fox reported that the threat of Katrina was all hype, and that things weren't so bad.      

Lots of people I talk to despise Fox "News". Many American liberals put a lot of energy into being angry with
the network and its lies. Masochists like the people who work for groups like Media Matters or News Hounds
("We watch Fox so you don't have to") monitor it constantly to provide Americans with accounts of its perpetual
dishonesty. Though what these sites tell us is often comical, I wonder if they're worth the effort. Maybe it 
makes more sense to accept Fox for what it is, a mouth-piece for the Bush Administration, a place for preaching
to the choir. Fox "personalities" like Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, and Ann Coulter are propaganda merchants, 
nothing more. They are liars who promote un-American ideas. They remind me of preachers, always praising the 
magnificence of their beloved leader and his crazy ideas. If they were ever looking for jobs, their experience
would qualify them to work for the Ministry of Information in personality-cult regimes like those of 
North Korea's Kim Jong-Il or Turkmenistan's Turkmenbashi. 

Keeping this in mind, Fox can be useful to the media literate. If you want to know what the Bush Administration
wants you to be thinking, just watch Fox. If you want to see who they'll invade next, or what you're supposed
to be afraid of, just watch Fox. If you want to get inside the head of the sheeple, just watch Fox. The next 
step is critical. After getting a read on what "they" want you to know, (it should only take a few minutes) 
change the channel. Turn it off. Fox is the junk food of a balanced media diet. There is no reason to get angry
about it. There are better things to do than stew about the bias in their reporting. Accept that Fox is owned by
Rupert Murdoch, an Australian right-wing ideologue. The plutocrat has programmed accordingly. The outrageous 
claim of being "Fair and Balanced" is clearly a joke. They reported and then I decided that their network is crap. 

This brings me back to the start of this post, to my gratitude to the CBC for providing Canadians with quality
journalism. The mandate of the CBC is to keep Canadians informed. Profit is not the first priority. The CBC is
not run by an entertainment company, a weapons manufacturer, or in the case of Fox, Mr. Burns. I find it ironic
that public broadcasters are far more objective and critical of governments and their motivations than private 
ones are, but that is the reality. My experience watching US corporate news entities left me convinced that you
will not get accurate reporting from giant media conglomerates. It is not in their economic interest to provide 
people with unbiased and objective reporting. They will not undercut the bottom line. For two months I relied on
info-tainment networks to give me the news. I was confused, but now the fog has lifted. Welcome back CBC. 
Keep on doing what you do best. Canadians missed you. Canadians need you.
 

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July 4th, 2006
Ever So Busy
I'm still in summer madness mode so I haven't had much time to devote to this blog lately. Again I 
promise that things will pick up significantly in the fall when I have a little time. In the meantime, here's an article
about the coming war with Iran. I really thought that the bombs would have begun falling by now, but I
suppose that mullahs and republicans alike are stalling for time. Maybe it will make for a surprising October,
just before the mid-terms.
   
The Build-up
Originally Posted August 13th, 2005

Watch the ticker. It says that Iran is enriching uranium which may or may not be intended for use in nuclear
weapons. Foreign jihadis in Iraq may or may not be coming into the country via the Iranian border. Weapons used
by Iraqi insurgents may or may not have been supplied by Iran. Newly anointed president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
may or may not have actively participated in taking Americans hostage during Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution. 
(deposing the Western puppet known as "The Shah") If you pay attention to the mainstream media, you might think
that the Iranians are up to something. Somehow I am reminded of the not so distant past, the year 2002 to be exact.

Do you remember how Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction? Do you remember how Iraq was very close
to developing a nuclear weapon after Saddam Hussein "sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa"? 
Do you remember how Iraq was 45 minutes away from a missile strike on any Western city? Do you remember how 
the smoking gun would come in the form of a mushroom cloud? Haven't we seen this all before? 

In 2002 the mainstream media failed us. By not questioning the White House line on Iraq, they were complicit in
creating conditions whereby 70% of the American people believed that Saddam Hussein was personally responsible for
the terrorist attacks of September 2001. By allowing White House claims to go unchallenged, the mainstream media
served as a vehicle for White House propaganda. They did not act like journalists. They acted like cheerleaders. 

The Neo-Conservatives who run the US government want to topple Tehran. How they plan to do it is beyond me,
given the fact that the US military is already over-extended with other imperial adventures. It should be noted
that unlike Iraq, Iran has a military. An invasion of Iran would be disastrous for the US; for both its people 
and its economy. If Hezbollah were ever mobilized, they would make Al Qaeda look like amateurs. The present day 
insurgency in Iraq would look like a tea party when compared to what the Iranians could bring, both on their own
soil and ours. Also, thirteen million barrels of oil pass through the narrow Strait of Hormuz every day. Guess where
the Iranian navy would be? The word "chokepoint" is entirely appropriate. Western economies are
completely dependent upon oil, a commodity that is currently trading at around sixty-six dollars a barrel. Take
Iranian oil off the market and that number would likely double. 

Here is some further insight into what we could expect in a war between the US and Iran. 
   
The West has wanted Iran's oil for a very long time. In 1953, democratically elected Mohammed Mosaddegh was
removed from power, with help from Western intelligence agencies. This allowed for the installation of a friendly 
(to us anyway) dictator known as "The Shah." However, the Islamic revolution in 1979 interfered with long term
plans. Since then, efforts to destabilize Iran (arming Iraq with WMD's) have failed. The eventual invasion of Iran
will not be easy. Those who seek it will somehow have to convince their citizens that a long and painful 
asymmetrical war with Iran would be worth it. So the drum-beat has started. Little by little, White House propaganda is
trying to convince us that Iran is not to be trusted and that they are a looming threat. The heat is being turned up,
little by little. When the next terrorist attack against the US takes place, look for Hezbollah to be blamed, regardless
of their actual involvement. Luckily, it is still early in the propaganda campaign. Hopefully, enough people will 
recognize what is happening, and see through the propaganda to the point where an act of aggression against Iran
becomes politically unfeasible.

 In closing, I want to make it clear that I am not a fan of the Iranian regime. Iran's government is not a democracy. 
It is guilty of many human rights abuses. The Iranian people are not free. I do not want the Mullahs to be armed with
nuclear weapons. Having said that, we must not be led into thinking that a military action against Iran is acceptable.
Action against Tehran would certainly lead to a World War, the so called "Clash of Civilizations." This would have 
catastrophic consequences for all of us. It must be avoided at all costs, no matter how scary the press makes the
Persian bogey-man out to be.

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June 20th, 2006
Summer Slowdown
Summer has arrived in my beautiful Yukon, (the sun set at 11:35 last night) and as you may have noticed,
I haven't been posting as much. Its hard to stay focused on blogging at this time of year, especially since the World
Cup happens to be on as well. (Argentina should win it all with Riquelme, Crespo, and Messi in top form) It will be a
busy couple of months for me given all of the little projects that I've taken on throughout the summer. In light of 
that, I ask my readers for a little understanding in regard to the infrequency of new postings. In the fall I will 
actually have a little extra time to devote to this site. In the meantime, I'll repost a few articles that appeared 
last year. I wish you all a great summer. Peace.
More Storms
Originally Posted September 14th, 2005

Its been a little more than four years since a gang of Saudi religious fanatics crashed airplanes into buildings
in the United States. Since that time, the United States has been completely obsessed with terrorism. What should
have been an international police matter became a illegal invasion of an sovereign nation that had nothing to do
with the attack. Shadowy figures hiding in Afghan caves were elevated to the level of super-villains. Americans 
feared a few hundred religious crazies as much as they had once feared the Soviet Union. Obsessed with fighting 
terrorism (with terrorism) the United States Government completely forgot about much more serious threats.

The biggest threat facing Americans (and the rest of the people of the world) is that of natural disasters, 
unnatural as they may seem these days. There is a direct co-relation between global warming and the frequency of
strong storms. However, leaders within the United States Government have refused to recognize that global warming
exists. After all, admitting that our actions have contributed to our current situation would in some way be an 
admission of responsibility for all that is happening. Acknowledging this responsibility would suggest that we need
to change our polluting ways, perhaps by changing our lifestyles and consuming less. Big Oil can't have that.  

As I type this, Hurricane Ophelia is making landfall on the Carolina coast. It will not be the last system this
year. How about next year or the year after? Would it surprise anyone if another major hurricane were to hit the
United States in the next five years? After four major storms hit Florida in 2004, can we really doubt that more
big ones are coming? With all the work needed on the Gulf Coast, will emergency response officials have the 
resources to cope?  

The Bush Administration told the American people that it put their safety first. During the election campaign of
2004, it was suggested that Democratic challenger John Kerry was incapable of keeping Americans safe. Katrina 
changed perceptions considerably. Clearly, the American people were no safer on August 31st, 2005 than they were
on September 10th, 2001. In the face of looming disaster, the United States Government showed itself to be 
incompetent at best, especially when you consider the amount of warning time provided by slow-moving Katrina.
For all that was done in the last four years, the American people were not protected from a predictable event. 
The "Homeland Security" administration failed miserably at what it was supposed to do best.

It can be argued that the world has become a much more dangerous place for Americans as a direct consequence
of the actions of the Bush Administration. Money that should have been spent on critical infrastructure, (like levee 
maintenance in New Orleans) was diverted to an illegal and needless war. The disaster that is the Invasion of 
Iraq has done nothing but destabilize the region, giving many young people legitimate grievances against the
West. Dropping bombs on civilians can only ensure that future generations will be motivated to hit back. We face
decades of struggle and many more terrorist attacks. This did not have to be. Our refusal to do something about
our polluting ways has contributed greatly to global warming, which has resulted in a greater frequency of storms.
This did not have to be. Government has shown itself to be incapable of making us safer and there are many more
storms to weather. Can we take any comfort in knowing that we've done it to ourselves?

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June 5th, 2006
Terror in T Dot
It is said that the mounties always get their man. Last week they got 17 of them. On Friday, the RCMP, CSIS,
and other assorted Toronto Area police forces arrested 17 people. The suspects, ranging in age from 15 to 45, 
are alleged to be part of a terrorist cell inspired by Al Qaeda. They have been charged with knowingly 
participating in a terrorist group. All of the suspects are residents of Canada. All but a few are Canadian
citizens. 
  
The RCMP said that they have seized three tonnes of ammonium nitrate. Ammonium nitrate is a fertilizer that can 
be used in explosive devices. The bomb that destroyed Oklahoma City's Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in 1995
used only one tonne of the stuff. Having acquired such a large quantity of the fertilizer, The RCMP said that the
group had the "capacity and intent to carry out attacks." Since it is clear that these home-grown fascists weren't
into agriculture, it can be assumed that they were actively planning a big bang. Perhaps they were about to knock
over the CN tower or blow a hole in the Air Canada Centre. Kudos to the RCMP for stopping this before it happened.   

Now our Neo-Con Prime Minister is emulating George Bush. His quote in response to the arrests:
  
"We are a target because of who we are and how we live, our society, our diversity and our values." 

Its the old "they hate us for our freedom" line again. I suppose that it played well with the ignorant of America 
after the 9/11 attacks, why wouldn't Harper try it out here? Harper's base and other assorted rednecks will buy it.
Pegging the suspects as evil outsiders lets us avoid some of the hard questions that this incident has raised.
Harper can just say that the people arrested (though they are all Canadians) oppose Canadian values. 

What are these values? Better yet, what are Harper's values? He's only been Prime Minister for a few months, 
but he has already scrapped a national Child Care Program designed to help working families. He plans to scrap
commitments made to improve the quality of life of Canada's impoverished aboriginal peoples. Harper is trying to
pull Canada out of the Kyoto Protocol, ignoring our environmental commitments to the peril of future generations.
Which of these actions are consistent with "Canadian values"?  

If the men arrested on Friday were planning an attack, give them a fair trial and throw them in jail. Good
riddance. Terrorism is never a legitimate tactic, no matter what grievances the attacker may have. There is
never a justification for the murder of civilians, period. Having said that, let's not pretend to be shocked that
there are people who would seek to harm Canadians. We should not be naive about such serious matters. The
suspects did not plan to attack simply because they are mindless evildoers who hate Canada's culture. It is a safe
bet that these alleged terrorists planned their actions in response to Canada's military presence in Afghanistan,
or to its unwavering support of Israel. As much as we'd like to believe that Canada is a perfectly benevolent 
nation, we must accept the fact that our foreign policy (directly or indirectly) sometimes leads to the death of
innocent civilians in different parts of the world. These deaths have consequences. 
 
In light of this, a group of Canadians has become so angry and marginalized that they have sought to kill
their fellow citizens. The suspects in this case are not sleeper agents from far-away places, many are kids
from Mississauga and Brampton. We must learn how to integrate these people into Canadian society. We must give 
them reasons to want to be a part of the Canadian experience. That may not be easy, but nothing worth doing 
ever is. It is time for Stephen Harper to recognize that this issue is not simply one of us versus them.
They are Canadians too.
 

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