Even though the internet is the source of all truth, the only truth here is that everything else is a lie.
We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it. The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intensely.
Maybe it's a good time refocus and ask why the millions of Canadians who have to pay for their own generic drugs are still paying $5 or $10 for a drug that cost $1 in Europe or New Zealand.
There was another War on Gaza last month, a little more than a week the after the US presidential election. The good news is the death toll: Gaza 174, Israel 6, was much lower than last time.
And there was a historic UN vote that granted Palestinenon member observer state status. Canada was one of the very few countries to vote NO. Israel, in retribution for this Palestinian action, has since announced plans for new settlements and has diverted taxes collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority for it's own use. Canada stands by Israel. Canada is now Israel's strongest ally.
As Canada's international reputation circles the great white porcelain bowl, what do our major political parties and their leaders have to say about this appalling turn of events?
Nothing really. Netanyahu has all of these cowards by the short and curly's. And he won't let go.
Bill C-398, a sham piece of legislation that will change Canada's Patent Act, has had two hours of debate in the House of Commons. It now proceeds to a vote scheduled for Wednesday, November 28th.
If this law passes, cheap copycat drugs (for humanitarian purposes) made by Canadian manufacturers can be sold to ANY developing country that might need it instead of the developing countries that take the time to apply for this exemption.
Below are excerpts from these debates that I thought best demonstrated the forces at work here.
The emphasis is mine, sometimes intended to set off either bullshit or irony alarms, sometimes just for highlighting the plain simple truth.
It's quite remarkable to see the left pimping for Canada's Big Pharma.
I'm as cynical as anyone about the decline of newspapers and the sad state of affairs that defines journalism in Canada these days. There seem to be far more columnists than journalists in the media and way too much boot-licker journalism.
But there are exceptions to this. Glen McGregor and Stephen Maher of the Ottawa Citizen are two of them. Their work on the 2011 Election fraud stories have been dogged and brilliant.
Stephen Harper was in New York to accept the World Statesman of the Year award from some obscure organization called the Appeal of Conscience Foundation, founded by an equally obscure New York City rabbi.
He had been invited to address the United Nations General Assembly, but for some reason he is passing on that opportunity. It did not go so well the first time around. As Homer Simpson once said "If you don't succeed the first time, just give up".
Here my top 10 reasons why Stephen Harper has been awarded World Statesman of the Year.
Up until recently, Canada exported industrial asbestos, a known carcinogen, to developing countries. It's use is banned in Canada and many other places because of the risk of cancer.
But in Québec, the land of political pandering. Christian Paradis is the federal member of parliament for the area, a cabinet minister and one of the very few Conservative MP's in Québec.
It's time for a discussion on hypocrisy by our politicians and, more importantly, by some of Canada's mainstream media enablers.
The blog title is little oblique. There was this Russian writer, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn who wrote One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and The Gulag Archipelago. He won the Nobel prize for Literature in 1970.
I decided to add this great YouTube video as an update. Can't wait till Stephen Harper uses his prodigious musical abilities to preform a cover of a Freddie Mercury song at the next CPC convention.
It's been a whole year since my last blog. Maybe this will make up for the long absence.
This started out innocently enough. On a recent trip to Calgary, I went to the local pharmacy to check on the prices of 3 prescription drugs I use; one is taken once a day, another taken only when I need to; and the last one, a needle, only in an emergency.
The Calgary prices were outrageous. So I set out to find out why. That was almost 2 months ago. The blog turned into a manifesto. I hope it's not too boring.
Included are 69 links, 2 dozen images, 3 sound bites from long forgotten songs, and a couple of talking heads.
One surprise in this last election was the blanket support the mainstream media gave the Harper Government™.
It shouldn't be a surprise. The Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) spent a small fortune in advertising on their year-long Michael Ignatieff character assassination campaign.
And the Harper Government™ served up of buckets taxpayer dollars to various media organizations to promote the phony Canada Economic Action Plan.
Forgive me for being a bit late with this, it's been a whole week now since the election, but I needed some time to mourn, some time to reflect, but mostly some time to enjoy the marvelous spring weather with our guests here in Holland. I mean really, there are more important things in life.
You were right, this really was the election we didn't need. Voter turnout took another hit, despite good numbers at the advance polls. But those nine months of negative ads, personal attacks, and bald faced lies (like the $75 iPod tax) seemed to have worked.
As Canada's international reputation circles the great white porcelain bowl, what do our major political parties and their leaders have to say about this appalling turn of events?
I'm as cynical as anyone about the decline of newspapers and the sad state of affairs that defines journalism in Canada these days. There seem to be far more columnists than journalists in the media and way too much boot-licker journalism.
Stephen Harper was in New York to accept the World Statesman of the Year award from some obscure organization called the Appeal of Conscience Foundation, founded by an equally obscure New York City rabbi.
Up until recently, Canada exported industrial asbestos, a known carcinogen, to developing countries. It's use is banned in Canada and many other places because of the risk of cancer.
