Craig Smith: ‘What are we so unhappy about?”

My mom recently sent me this email explaining how 67% of Americans are dissatisfied with the way their country is going. The author explains that Americans are ’spoiled brats’ because we have so much to be thankful for (electricity, running water, freedoms etc.) and that rather than look at the bigger picture we should be grateful for what our leaders are doing for us. Here is my response. I encourage you to check out the original email from Craig Smith, but essentially it’s neatly disguised pro-bush propaganda. Remember folks, interpret all the information you are exposed to and then come to your own conclusions; don’t let anyone think for you.

Dear Mom,

I like the emphasis on seeing the good and appreciating all that we have. We are truly blessed to be alive in the most exciting time in all of human history. Life is an amazing gift and to be able to truly live in the magic of the moment is what God asks of us. Re-read the 9 steps of spirituality by Brother Wayne Teasdale (I believe i sent this to you a long time ago… i’ll look for it again and re-send it to you)….. When you truly achieve oneness with yourself, with the universe, you have reached step 8. At this point you realize that selfless servitude to others to help them along their spiritual journey so that they may also achieve the oneness/satori/the zen etc… is part and parcel of our own spiritual quest. This means making a difference in the people’s lives that mean the most to you… family and friends can gain much strength from each of us…. However, it also means creating change on a more massive scale. Analyzing the politics/policies/laws/ etc. that impact our fellow man’s ability to be free, to have their basic needs met, and to realize that a MUCH better future is very easily possible if we actually become active members of society is how we can influence change on a major scale that ultimately can help more and more of us wake up from our daze and start to live life passionately again.

In many ways the average canadian/american lives life more comfortably than the wealthiest kings of past eras. In many ways our culture/lifestyle is preventing many of us from fully realizing our potential. There is a massive rise of anxiety and attention deficit disorders, depression, suicide, workplace violence, addiction… According to a 1992 World Health Organization study we are 3 times more likely to become depressed than our grandparents were at our age. A quarter of the US population will experience some symptoms of depression during their lives. While we may have adequate drinking water, police protection, clean hotels, etc. we as humans are still in a state of evolution. We work 8-10 hours a day (many of us in a job that we despise), we come home exhausted, put a microwave dinner in the microwave, turn on the reality t.v. and deep inside wish we were alive. Sure this cozy lifestyle is better than a lot of places in the world that experience great political and military turmoil. But are we truly better off and more ‘free’ than that tribe that was recently discovered in brazil that may be one of the last tribes that has not been exposed to the ‘real world’? The old evolution has always been about the efficiency of society… the agricultural revolution, the industrial/scientific revolution…. the new evolution is about the evolution of the individual… the new evolution is about the individual’s growth in the spiritual, emotional, mental and physical realm. Quantum mechanics (science) has come full circle… science originally branched from religion to seek truth and rationality and to get away from faith based logic….. what science is telling us now is that the power of our minds, the power of love, the power of living life in harmony with ourselves and with each other is helping us to realize the potential of our evolution. We are in the dawn of the new era… the age of aquarius is upon us… the spiritual prophets and visionaries have spoken about this time since the beginning of time. This is a new era of human consciousness…. We need leaders who are truly in tune with humanity, with the planet, with themselves to guide us. The policies of George Bush and Stephen Harper are steeped in corruption and evil… they are not true leaders…  They are not spiritually in tune with themselves, with the planet, or with humanity as a whole…George bush can go to church every single sunday but it doesn’t take a prophet to recognize that he is spiritually empty. We are all spiritual beings and we are no better or worse than any one else, therefore we cannot judge. However, we can recognize when someone is ‘in tune’ and we have to use our judgement when electing leaders, especially the leaders who make the most impact on all of humanity and the planet. We have much to be extremely grateful for, but if our good fortune is at the stake of someone else’s than we can not be truly satisfied until everyone has the same opportunities to be free and to pursue their spiritual journey. Killing the taliban and replacing them with warlords is not the solution… how long will it take before we wake up and learn from our mistakes? A visionary like Depak Chopra makes wonderful arguments about the political force of love and spirituality, and 4 years under the guidance and leadership of a man like him could make the whole world wake up. Big business, big agriculture, big pharma, big industry, big oil have benefited from spiritually inept, corrupt, dishonest, deceitful, evil ‘leaders’ like bush, reagan, harper etc. for too long. Unfortunately when a visionary leader comes into power in a country like venezuela or guatemala and tries to free their people from the chains of american ‘big’ interests, they get assassinated. The CIA has mingled in the affairs of every leader who displays courage, a desire for change, a desire to truly help the poor and disenfranchised and the CIA has readily admitted to doing unspeakable things. Read the book “Confessions of an Economic Hitman” to learn more about this, and to verify any doubts you may have. The countries that we love so much have done many horrible and unspeakable things around the world because of the greed and lust for power that our system creates. I love life to the brim; without living in a location as free as Vancouver I likely would not have evolved into the person that I am today. That being said, I think we need to look at the direction that we are headed in as a country and find the strength to do what is right…. in our day to day lives as well as on the political scene.

I have hope for obama. he sounds like he speaks the truth. I am also hesitant to place complete trust in him. I know that he is backed by a lot of very powerful men. I also know that he is upsetting a lot of very powerful men. I hope he is able to initiate major change, and I hope he is able to open up the eyes, the minds and the hearts of the American people to help America as a whole lose their ego. Disconnection from our ego is a very potent spiritual message delivered by many very wise spiritual men and women, and America as a whole needs to lose its ego. Gorbachev referred to it as America’s “winning complex”, the idea that America believes it is the best and needs to always win and be the best. This is a horrible trait in an individual…. arrogant, snotty, ignorant, bullyish, naive….. and it is very evident to the rest of the world that America displays these same traits in both their domestic and foreign policies. Neither America or Israel are any more God’s chosen people than the Australians, the Argentinians, the Bangladesh, the Rawandans, etc. and it is blasphemous to believe that. We are all God’s children, and until America the great wakes up, realizes that, and truly starts to act like that I will continue to be critical.

Yes we are extremely lucky… Yes there is a lot more goodness in our lives than bad… However, the arguments made by Craig Smith are redundant, superficial, and are part of the ‘old-paradigm’ evolution that  needs to be subject to de-emphasis. Sure, pumping money and fear into a war on terror might protect us from terrorists this year, maybe next, maybe even the next year. But eventually we need to take a step back and critically analyze the real issues that are causing terrorism because this ’shield’ is artificial and will crack.

There are many authors, visionaries, poets, politicians etc. that communicate on a very deep level and are very worthy of all of our attention.

Tory attack on carbon tax is dishonest: economist

A prominent resource economist has pronounced himself disgusted with “dishonest” Conservative attack ads on a Liberal carbon tax proposal that’s yet to be unveiled.

“The Conservatives — and I say this with great sadness because I don’t care which political party is in power — but if we’re going to do anything about climate change, we’re going to have to be honest with people,” Marc Jaccard of Simon Fraser University told CTV.ca on Tuesday.

“This is just totally dishonest.”

On the weekend, the Tories previewed ads aimed at the proposed carbon tax, painting it as Liberal Leader Stephane Dion’s “tax on everything.”

The ads are to start running Tuesday.

Jaccard, a co-author of the recent book Hot Air, said the Conservatives’ own policy on reducing greenhouse gas emissions won’t work because it doesn’t put a price on carbon for consumers.

“Their policy is to regulate industry and then have these offset loopholes where industry can subsidize consumers. But those are the types of policies that have never worked in the past,” he said.

The Conservatives have said their plan will cut Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent below 2006 levels by 2020. But many environmental groups join Jaccard in saying the plan won’t work.

If it did work, the Conservative plan wouldn’t see Canada’s Kyoto Protocol target — to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by six per cent below 1990 levels by 2012 — achieved until 2025.

The Liberals are said to be proposing putting a tax on carbon. While the policy has yet to be released, the Grits have said it will be “tax shifting” and “revenue-neutral,” meaning that any revenue collected would be given back in the form of income or other tax cuts.

In the House of Commons’ question period on Monday, junior minister Jason Kenney accused the Liberals of engaging in a massive tax grab to pay for billions in unbudgeted election promises.

Dion said the ads are “misleading and a lie.”

Honest dialogue

“I’m not a fan of Stephane Dion, but when you get a politician out there that’s trying to start an honest dialogue and say to people, ‘you know what? We won’t get our emissions down if there isn’t a price on them and that’s just the truth’,” Jaccard said.

“And to see politicians saying, ‘Maybe I can stay in power’ or gain more power, or maybe a majority government, by distorting this” disgusted him, he said.

“Every one of those ads should say, ‘Oh and by the way, your income taxes are going down if (the Liberals) do put in that tax,’ but it’s not there.”

The Liberals say their plan, unlike the Conservative one, offers offsetting tax cuts.

Dion has said the plan won’t drive up prices at the gas pump, where high oil prices have driven gasoline prices up to record levels.

Some of the Tory ads were to run at gas pumps in Toronto and other parts of southern Ontario.

But Fuelcast, the company that operates the pump-side advertising network, said Monday it won’t run the ads.

The Conservatives have said they have a binding contract with Fuelcast, but if the company doesn’t honour the deal, they will up their radio buy instead.

Manley concerned Afghan panel recommendations not being met

The chair of the panel that examined Canada’s mission in Afghanistan told CBC News in an exclusive interview that he is concerned the federal government may not be acting on key recommendations more than four months after his report was tabled.

In its final report presented in January, the panel headed by former Liberal deputy prime minister John Manley criticized Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government for being too close-mouthed in its communications strategy for the Afghan mission.

The panel also said the effectiveness of Canada’s military and civilian activities in Afghanistan and the progress of Afghan security and government must be tracked.

But in an interview with the CBC senior correspondent Brian Stewart that aired Thursday, Manley said the Canadian government has not helped public understanding of the mission or of the many complex issues surrounding it.

“It certainly concerns me if we are not getting the information out to Canadians,” said Manley, who, along with the other members of the panel, visited Afghanistan for 10 days in November.

“The Canadian focus is less and less on what the troops are doing, what we should be doing and in fact, whether our report is being implemented.”

In March, the Conservatives, with support from the Liberals, passed a motion that would keep Canadian soldiers in Kandahar until 2011.

The motion was contingent on two recommendations of the Manley report: that NATO allies provide 1,000 extra troops to help the Canadian effort and that Ottawa secure access to unmanned surveillance drones and large helicopters to transport Canadian troops around the region.

But details of the Afghan mission are still subject to tight information control by the Prime Minister’s Office, while key departments, such as Foreign Affairs and the Canadian International Development Agency, remain media averse.

During his interview, Manley said the concerns raised by the panel surrounding what the government reveals about the mission are serious enough to threaten the mission’s overall success.

“Our report included a large assessment of how things were going, and it was not a glowing assessment,” Manley said. “In fact, I think we were pretty clear that if things didn’t change, the whole effort in Afghanistan was in real peril of being lost.”

The five-member panel also said Canada must place greater emphasis on diplomacy and reconstruction, and the Canadian military focus must shift gradually from combat to training Afghan national security forces.

Government working on ’signposts of progress’

A special cabinet subcommittee has been set up to co-ordinate Canada’s efforts, as recommended by the Manley report.

Senior government officials insist the cabinet is very focused on Afghanistan, while sources say task forces within Foreign Affairs and CIDA are working to unveil a series of “signposts of progress” on the mission, perhaps as soon as mid-June, the CBC’s Stewart said.

But Roland Paris, associate professor at the University of Ottawa’s Centre for International Policy Studies, told CBC News that despite the urgent need for more information on the Afghan mission, there has been “no significant change” in the level of transparency or detailed reporting from the Canadian government.

“What we’ve been lacking is a very specific set of goals and clear benchmarks that we can use to evaluate whether or not we are making progress toward these goals,” Paris told CBC News.

He added there is “much more detailed, much more unvarnished reporting” on the mission in Iraq than the mission in Afghanistan.

Earlier this year, International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda said the government would increase the number of briefings it offers reporters on the Afghan mission in an attempt to be more open about what is happening there.

“Our goal is to better inform Canadians about Canada’s activities on the ground,” she told reporters at a press conference in February.

But Oda also suggested the media was at fault for government’s difficulty in communicating the Canadian mission’s good news stories.

Harper A Bilderberger

May 27 2006 | www.AmericanFreePress.net

Bilderbergers are nervous about their host for this year’s secret meeting near Ottawa, Canada.

But this is not the first time the new Conservative prime minister, Stephen Harper, has been part of this elite group of secret world leaders. Harper was photographed at the 2003 meeting in Versailles, France.

The Kyoto Treaty to reduce air and water pollution is a Bilderberg baby and Canada signed off on it years ago. Former President Bill Clinton, a Bilderberger, dutifully embraced Kyoto. But test votes showed it would be rejected overwhelmingly by the Senate if submitted for ratification. So it remains in White House files, much to Bilderberg distress.

The new Canadian prime minister may also be ruffling feathers among Bilderbergers.

HARPER ASSAILED

At UN climate talks that ended May 26 in Bonn, Germany, Canada said it is unable to meet a legally binding target to cut emissions of heat-trapping gases by 2012 and that it will take part in an extension only if all nations agree.

“The Canadian government of Stephen Harper is trying to sabotage 15 years of international efforts to address climate change,” the Climate Action Network said.

Negotiators from 163 nations that have signed onto the UN’s Kyoto Treaty met in Bonn to discuss ways to extend it beyond 2012 to prevent climate changes they say cause heat waves, droughts and floods.

Canadian newspapers reported that Ottawa had instructed its Canadian negotiators, saying: “Canada will not support agreement on language in the work program that commits developed countries to more stringent targets in the future.”

Poor nations signed on easily because they are required to do nothing and are exempt from limitations placed on “industrialized countries.” For example, Mexico can build smokestack industries on its U.S. border. If the United States signed, even more U.S. industries would move to Mexico where they have no restraints and are not burdened with U.S. laws on ecology, minimum wages or required benefits, such as paid vacations.

But Kyoto was pushed by Bilderberg for the same reasons it wants a direct UN tax, favors NAFTA and the WTO and turned NATO into the UN’s standing army, among other actions: it is a step on the road to creating world government.

When Bilderberg gathers behind armed guards at the Brook Street Resort near Ottawa June 8-11, Harper will greet the 120 leaders in international finance and politics for the second time in his life. But even as they politely applaud, Bilderbergers will eye Harper with suspicion.

AFP correspondent James P. Tucker Jr. is a veteran journalist who
spent many years as a member of the “elite” media in Washington. Since1975 he has won widespread recognition, here and abroad, for his pursuit of on-the-scene stories reporting the intrigues of global power blocs such as the Bilderberg Group and the Trilateral Commission.

Deafening silence on RCMP scandal

April 3 2008 | www.thestar.com

Ottawa- If there’s any consensus here, it’s that the still unexplained RCMP income trust intervention was the turning point in a 2006 election that sent Liberals packing and brought Conservatives to power. So why is there near silence about one scandal that changed everything and so much noise about another, the Chuck Cadman affair, that changed nothing?

It’s a question that touches democracy’s sustaining legitimacy and needs to be answered before voters again exercise the sovereign right to choose who leads them through what increasingly looks like a rough patch. Sadly, fear of political embarrassment and the search for partisan advantage are stifling curiosity and the need to know.

As David Herle wisely argued this week, every political party as well as every citizen shares an interest in exposing Giuliano Zaccardelli’s shadowy actions to full daylight. Paul Martin’s campaign co-chair put it this way: If the federal force can defeat one government, it can defeat them all.

The problem is the parties also have reasons to perpetuate ignorance. In effect, if not necessarily by intent, they are holding broad national concerns hostage to their narrow worries. Instead of obsessing over what or wasn’t offered for Cadman’s vote, they should be demanding that the defrocked commissioner fully explain his motivation for ensuring an RCMP criminal investigation became public in the heat of the winter campaign.

Zaccardelli’s revealing refusal to co-operate with this week’s public complaints report can’t be left unchallenged. By not clarifying what happened and why, Zaccardelli is further eroding public trust in a crumbling icon while fuelling speculation that the force was settling old Liberal scores while making like-minded Conservatives come-from-behind winners.

Even by Ottawa standards, those theories are unusually toxic. They suggest Liberals, Conservatives and NDP prefer not to draw public attention to abuses more typical of Third World dictatorships than First World democracies.

Here’s what’s germinating in the space left by Zaccardelli’s missing evidence. Liberals who lost the most are so fearful of picking scabs off old internal wounds that they prefer not to revisit events that can’t be reversed. Conservatives who won the most don’t want to raise the spectre of a victory that might not have been quite fair or square. And the left-tilting NDP wants to forget its role in bringing to power the most ideologically right-leaning party in our history.

Two threads bind those theories. One is that Zaccardelli, a Jean Chrétien appointment, seized the moment to skewer Martin for ordering inquiries into the Quebec sponsorship scheme and the Maher Arar affair that his Liberal predecessor resisted and badly damaged the RCMP. The other, strengthened by Stephen Harper’s post-election visit to RCMP headquarters and budget generosity, holds that the force did what it could to elect a law-and-order government.

No self-respecting democracy can leave those hypotheses untested. If either is even partly true, Canada faces the threat of a politicized police force and the challenge of reforming a vital institution rotting from the top.

Urgency is added by a rapidly approaching election and by the risky Conservative decision to appoint a bureaucrat with old Tory ties to lead the RCMP. Canadians need quick and convincing proof the federal police force isn’t so partisan that it can’t be trusted to stay out of federal elections.

James Travers’ national affairs column appears Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday.

Harper announces 20-year, $30B plan to beef up military

May 12, 2008 | www.cbc.ca

The Tory government announced a 20-year, multibillion-dollar plan to strengthen Canada’s military, which includes the purchase of new aircraft, armoured vehicles, ships and helicopters, and a goal to expand the Forces to 100,000.

Referring to it as the “Canada First Defence Strategy,” Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the long-term investments in the military could reach costs of up to $30 billion.

“If a country wants to be taken seriously in the world, it must have the capacity to act. It’s that simple,” Harper said Monday at the Halifax Armoury, joined by Defence Minister Peter MacKay. “Otherwise, you forfeit your right to be a player. You’re the one chattering on the sideline that everyone smiles at, but no one listens to.”

Much of what was announced on Monday has been revealed before by the government.

“The newest thing about this announcement is that it is a long-term plan,” Harper said when asked by a reporter.

Harper said this strategy will focus on replacing some of the military’s core equipment fleets, including destroyers, frigates and different types of aircraft that will end their operational life over the next 20 years.

The plan will also seek to boost the strength of the regular Forces from 65,000 to 70,000 and the reserves from 24,000 to 30,000.

“Renewal of the Canadian Forces is the most pressing priority,” Harper said, adding the average age in the military is rising.

Harper said the plan will also improve surveillance of land and coastal borders, bolster support for civilian authority in the event of natural disasters, and provide security to major national events like the 2010 Olympics.

Harper said having a long-term plan for stable funding will create jobs and opportunities for tens of thousands of Canadians who work in the defence industry and communities with military bases.

PM’s plan will increase troops, update equipment

This war-mongering excuse for a Canadian P.M. has got to go….

Harper unveiled the plan at an armoury in Halifax on Monday, alongside Defence Minister Peter MacKay.

“As the name implies the first priority of our Canada First Defence Strategy is to strengthen our ability to defend our country and protect our citizens,” Harper said.

“The bottom line is that we will substantially strengthen the Canadian Forces, we will gradually increase the number of regular troops and reservists and provide them with more and better equipment to make them as effective and safe as possible.”

Spending on the military will increase to $30 billion over the next 20 years, Harper said.

Part of that money will go to a strategy to recruit greater numbers of regular and reserve force troops — including efforts such as a new television ad campaign currently running.

MacKay said the federal government’s military shopping list includes search-and-rescue planes, combat helicopters and new fighter aircraft to replace Canada’s CF-18 fighters.

In addition, Harper said, the plan will enhance the Canadian Forces’ ability to carry-out surveillance and security in the north and will improve Canada’s ability to contribute to global security and meet its commitments on continental security.

Canada is fortunate in many ways to have a defence alliance with the United Stated that has been nurtured for decades by governments both Conservative and Liberal,” Harper said.

“This relationship however, only works if it is governed by mutual respect, and the way to earn that respect is to ensure Canada shoulders its fair share of the burden of defencing North America.

The prime minister also said the plan will create thousands of jobs for Canadians, thereby providing a boost to the economy.

Harper aide accused of sparking NAFTA-gate (from CBC.CA)

Sources accused Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s top aide of leaking information about Barack Obama’s controversial NAFTA views on Wednesday, just as the prime minister himself was vowing to find out exactly who was behind the leak.

CBC News confirmed Wednesday that Harper’s chief of staff, Ian Brodie, was the source of what is now being dubbed NAFTA-gate.

Brodie allegedly told a group of CTV reporters that Obama advisers had privately told Canadian diplomats that Obama’s promise to reopen the North American Free Trade Agreement was just empty talk aimed at winning votes in Ohio.

Sign an email petition to tell Harper to shape up in Bali UN Summit on climate change

Dear friends,

Right now, a major UN summit in Bali has just a few days left to hammer out an agreement on stopping catastrophic climate change. But instead of helping out, Canada is actually sabotaging the UN talks! On Saturday, experts gave us the global “fossil” award for being the worst country in the world on climate change.

There’s still a few days left to save Canada’s reputation — and the climate — but we need a massive democratic roar to remind our Prime Minister what Canada is all about, and stop him from blocking the world at Bali. Click below to sign the petition and we’ll advertize the number of signatures we get in an ad campaign across Canada this week. Our goal is to get 25,000 people to sign in just 3 days before the ads run. Click below, then forward this email to all your friends and family right away:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/another_canadian_climate_crime/4.php

Enough is enough. Prime Minister Harper’s short-sighted, undemocratic and big oil-driven policy on climate change is damaging the world and destroying our image as a good country. We’re supposed to be the nice guys, who try to do the right thing in the world.

The vast majority of Canadians are hopping mad on this issue — we can win this. We just need to show Harper how serious we are that he change course. Sign up now and forward this email to everyone you know – we’ve got just 3 days to hit 25,000 signatures!

With much respect and hope,

Ricken Patel,
Avaaz.org

PS – Here are links to some more info on this:

David Suzuki (the Nature of Things) calls the government’s spin on climate change “humiliating” and “ludicrous”
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/283829

The former editor-in-chief of CBC news discusses the damage done by Canada’s climate policy to our international reputation:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/viewpoint/vp_burman/2007/12/canada_flounders_on_issue_of_c.html

The Fossil of the Day Award site:
http://www.avaaz.org/fossils