ENOUGH OF CHINESE JUNK

     This morning I threw out a brand new, 12V Motomaster  air compressor that I bought last fall. Used only a few times, the compressor quit. Being handy, I pulled it apart, to discover that the wires were totally corroded. I guess the poor bastard working his 16 hour shift in a Chinese factory sweatshop just couldn't keep up and skipped cleaning off the flux. I can't blame him.
     But I can blame the greedy sons of bitches that run our Corporations, who, not happy with the tidy return they got when they made things here in North America, put millions out of work by moving their buying to China, just so I can get stuff on the cheap. But is it really a bargain?
I had an American 12V compressor that lasted me ten years; now, I am going to be buying my fourth one, made in China, in the last three years. So far I am out close to a hundred bucks and I don't have anything to show for it!

Well, come Hell or high water, from here on in I will gladly pay for goods made in Canada or the USA. As a matter of fact, even Mexico makes better stuff.

When I was young and the Japanese were clearing away the destruction from a failed war, we often used to refer to Japanese goods as junk. Had I realized that they were making our toys with discarded Coke cans, I would have cut them some slack.
The Japanese swallowed their pride and, within twenty years, they forged their way out of the junk market to become world leaders with the highest quality goods.

China, on the other hand, in spite of the massive influx of technical assistance, cannot seem to get their noses around trying to cheat the system. They think we are suckers, and they are right.

Lets get our people back to work making good stuff. If the Scandinavians and the Germans can do it, why can't we?
Oh, that's right; we are too busy letting the Corporate crooks tell us about how we have to be more efficient to compete.

Maybe if they took a little less money out of the system, there would be enough to go around.

The 99 %

How refreshing it is to see, finally, a stirring of discontent amongst the people.
It is reminiscent of the early 80's, when the Polish shipyard workers in Gdansk laid down their tools and struck. It was a brave thing to do, especially since the oppressive hand of the Communist governments of Poland and their Russian masters weighed heavily in the daily life of the Poles.
Then, as now, there were no leaders, just a heartfelt swelling of resentment towards nothing in particular and yet everything.
And after a matter of time, one person, then an obscure electrician named Lech Walesa; and to-day, in America, it will be someone else who will climb up above the others and speak with the simple language of a Will Rogers.

We have witnessed the Government's attempts to stave off economic disaster by shoring up the banks and Wall Street; it was done with the best of intentions, but these financial institutions betrayed us.

Now is the time for America to say,

"TO HELL WITH THE BANKS, HELP THE PEOPLE!"

The only thing we asked of the banks was to ease lending enough to see the economy sputter and start; and what did they do? First thing was to hand each other bonuses, after all, you wouldn't want them to go somewhere else...
These people destroyed the financial system and the powers that be are worried about them going somewhere else? How about jail?

If the Government is going to print money to pay off the financial system, why doesn't it let them stew in their own pot and start lending the money at a very low interest rate to the people instead, so they can pay off their mortgages and debts and start producing goods at home, so people can have manufacturing jobs, earn a decent salary and pay taxes?

What the Hell is the government going to run on when everybody is working at Walmart for minimum wage and paying little or no taxes at all?

ATTACKS ON PEACEFUL PROTESTERS

Watching the videos of Police attacks on peaceful demonstrators, one can't help but notice that it is senior officers that are the ones using pepper spray and batons. It begs the question; ARE THEY ACTING AS 'AGENTS PROVOCATEURS', to goad the demonstrators into violence, so they can justify corporal action, mass arrests and Martial law? Be careful, America.

THE KIRPAN: CAN'T ACCOMMODATION BE A TWO-WAY STREET?

(Written as a letter in Jan. 2011, to The Gazette. Not published)

In his opinion piece, "The National Assembly should not be a rights-free zone", Pearl Eliadis correctly observes that Section 27 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms means that Multiculturalism is an interpretive provision and not a free-standing right.

While M.Eliadis uses the Charter section as the basis for allowing Sikhs to bear the kirpan into the National Assembly, consideration can also be given to the use of this same section to deny that right, as it is not a free-standing one.
As an example, to deny a Sikh the right to enter the National Assembly on the basis of his religion, his sex or his political preferences, would infringe on a free-standing right. The wearing of religious attire, on the other hand is an accommodation accepted whole-heartedly by Quebecers and their government.

I believe that Quebecers understand and accept that the kirpan is an integral part of the Sikh religion, having much the same role as the Star of David, the Crucifix and the Crescent for their respective religions. I do doubt, however, that a Christian would be granted access into the legislature with a substantially-sized wooden crucifix, but yet the wearing of a symbolic cross does not pose a problem.
There is the crux of the matter; why can't a Sikh do the same? Is it so difficult to accord a compromise by wearing, when flying or entering buildings such as the legislature, a school or other area designated as a neutral, weapon-free zone; to compromise by wearing a replica made from some harmless material? We are told, after all, that the kirpan has never been drawn as a weapon.
M.Eliadis says that as long as the individual declares upon entry that the kirpan is a symbol of personal restraint and social justice, he should be permitted to enter, while not declaring the hidden weapon constitutes a threat. In this I agree with M. Eliadis.

I have, for the 15 years I was a firefighter and for another ten since carried, on my person, in a sheath, a four-inch folding knife that I have used almost daily in a peaceful manner. This folding knife is not legally constituted as a weapon and I have the right to bear it. My family, friends, colleagues and clients have never, in the past 25 years, ever felt threatened.

And yet, even if I declare my intention of defending Justice and Democracy, I will still not be able to enter any of the fore-mentioned places. I ask you; whose rights then, are being compromised?
Sikhs should be willing to accommodate a society that renounces the carrying of weapons in these places, just as I do; or society should be reasonable and allow me to carry my folding-knife.

DON'T ALLOW PROTEST GROUP IN GAY PRIDE PARADE
The organizers of Montreal's Gay Pride parade are wrong to let the protest group known as "Queers against Israeli Apartheid" enter the parade as an organized protest group with banners.
Years ago, much to the disappointment of my accompanying young son, I refused to join my other Board members of Alliance Quebec on a float in the St. Patrick's Day parade because they were running banners protesting election ballots. I didn't feel that a celebration of the Irish community was the proper place to voice a grievance.
And although I might share sympathy with the cause against Israeli policy, I don't think a Gay Pride parade is the place to do it either. Let them hold their protest on their own and allow the participants and spectators of Gay Pride to enjoy their day in the manner as is meant to be: a celebration, not a demonstration.

ISRAELI ATTACK OF AID SHIP
At least nine people died, and another 30 were wounded when Israeli troops boarded a flotilla of ships carrying aid for Gaza. In spite of warnings from Israel not to proceed towards the coast of Gaza, but to go to a designated port controlled by Israel to unload cargo for arms inspection, the flotilla of ships carrying NGO's and peace activists headed towards an Israeli blockade.
Last week's opinion piece in the West-Island Suburban begged the question: "What would the readers have done?"

In response, I would posit the following: In spite of clutching at legal straws to justify the incident, there never should have been such an attempt to board an unarmed passenger ship in international waters before arrival at the blockade.
Israeli authorities claim that they did not expect any resistance from a ship laden with peace activists. And yet the ten commandos, young navy conscripts, descended upon the ship at 4 a.m. in full battle gear, faces covered, resembling Darth Vader's troopers. If I truly believed that I would not encounter resistance, I would have had these ten men dropped from the helicopter during daylight hours after announcing my intentions, and my soldiers would have been wearing standard uniforms and armed with sidearms, not battle gear.
The occupants of the ship were just as much entitled to defend themselves in international waters from an obviously aggressive incursion upon the boat, and Israel has no right to claim it was simply defending itself when they were the instigators of an armed commando-style incursion. This was not the act of a policing operation.
Furthermore, after the incident, the commander responsible for the assault would have been ordered to make a public apology for an act that bordered on stupidity.

Now allow me now to put on another hat, that of a Gentile who, for over forty years, has believed in the right of Israel to exist. I enjoy the luxury of living outside of the Jewish bubble, which unfortunately does not seem to allow its occupants, who, through a collective angst, judge incidents not according to their merit, but through an emotional maelstrom, as if any criticism of Israel is an attack upon the whole. Secondly, there is a lack of judgment in the overuse of the words 'anti-semetic', to such a degree that those outside of the bubble are wont to disregard such calumny.
If leaders in the Jewish community could but once in a while disagree with Israeli policy, allowing others to see the same good judgment that we witness and enjoy to our benefit from the Jewish men and women in our communities, from the scientist, and the doctor, to the people in our daily life, it would greatly benefit Israel's cause.
History has proven time and time again that hatred cannot be weakened by the 'eye for an eye' mentality that is Israeli policy. It is not through the barrel of a gun that Palestinians will become brethren. It is when they have jobs, hospitals and schools. Israel must lead by the same examples that Jews set in Canada every day, through charitible institutions and volunteerism. Yes, there will be casualties in the beginning, but the final solution will be prosperity for all in the Middle East.
Otherwise, to continue the present trend of overt aggression will do nothing but swing the tide of world opinion, until Israel is marginalized.

When will we see the end of the Office de la langue francaise?
It is one thing to ensure that francophones are entitled to communicate freely in public institutions, but that right should not be at the expense denying someone the ability to work in their field.
For over twenty years anglophones have used a health system where many of the clinics and hospitals are staffed with unilingual francophone employees, and although there have been some instances of miscommunication or denial of accommodation, in general the norm has been that Quebecers can sort things out for themselves.
When Dr. Ambreen Dadabhai failed a portion of her french test, it had absolutely nothing to do with her field of expertise, which is medicine.
Not only has her right to work as a physician been denied, she was refused the results of her test for receiving under 50%.
Obviously the Office de la langue francaise is more concerned with sullying the purity of their ministerial goal than helping a doctor become proficient in french.
This pathetic excuse for protecting the French language has done nothing but sew dissent amongst Quebecers, deprived us of a badly needed family physician and made Quebecers look like pedantic buffoons.
Quebecers can resolve language issues on their own, thank you, and the courts are there to settle any problems that do occur.

Bonus Fraud
The collapse of the financial system was not an unforeseen heart attack; it was a slow, progressive disease in which the doctor's advice was ignored while the patient continued fiddling like nothing was wrong.
The financial wizards of Wall Street accused their critics with a perverse sense of dismay; how could the Emperor have no clothes, they replied, did we not get fat performance bonuses for our good work?
Now that the dust of the market collapse has subsided, the public can see that greed, not performance, was the engine driving the dizzying fall.
The people who took those performance bonuses in the year before the collapse did so fraudulently, and if the taxpayers of this and the next generation have to pay for Wall Street's mistakes, then let us get back the property and bank accounts of these criminals so they may not enjoy their ill-gotten wealth and return this money to the public purse.
How ironic is it, that the Free World should pursue a man living in the caves of Pakistan and Afghanistan for destroying the World Trade Center.


Cliff Oswald