If it isn't clear already whose side the law is on...

Ban on Coke and Pepsi overturned in India

Sorry, people of Kerala. You'll just have to deal with further contamination of your well water while your children gulp down that battery acid we in the West like to call "soft drinks".

This is yet another in the long line of black marks on our species, for if our laws are allowing major business outfits to poison us in order for their profit margins not to be compromised, then we should be ashamed of ourselves. Of course, I have to give some credit to the Kerala government for announcing that they will challenge the high court's ruling.

As an added bonus, have a peek at this June 1999 article documenting European customers falling ill after drinking Coca-Cola.

Jesus Christ

"Jesus Christ" by Woody Guthrie

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jesus Christ was a man that traveled through this land;
A carpenter, true and brave;
Said to the rich, "Give your goods to the poor",
So they laid Jesus Christ in His grave.

Jesus was a man, a carpenter by hand;
Carpenter true and brave;
And a dirty little coward called Judas Iscariot
Laid Jesus Christ in His grave.

The people of the land took Jesus by the hand,
They followed Him far and wide;
"I come not to bring you peace, but a sword",
So they killed Jesus Christ on the sly.

He went to the sick, he went to the poor;
And he went to the hungry and the lame;
Said that the poor would one day win this world,
And so they laid Jesus Christ in His grave.

They nailed Him there to die on a cross in the sky,
In the lightning, the thunder and the rain.
Judas Iscariot committed suicide
When they laid poor Jesus Christ in his grave.

One day Jesus stopped at a rich man's door.
"What must I do to be saved?"
"You must take all your goods and give it to the poor",
And so they laid Jesus Christ in His grave.

They nailed Him there to die on a cross in the sky,
In the lightning, the thunder and the rain.
Judas Iscariot committed suicide
When they laid poor Jesus Christ in his grave.

When the love of the poor shall one day turn to hate,
When the patience of the workers gives away;
"Would be better for you rich if you never had been born",
So they laid Jesus Christ in His grave.

This song was written in New York City,
Of rich man, preachers, and slaves;
Yes, if Jesus was to preach like He preached in Galillee [sic],
They would lay Jesus Christ in His grave.

Rationality... how about we give it a try?

For your reading pleasure, an article on taking a rational approach to the Pope's putting his foot in his mouth.

I'd like to see it applied all over the world, not just in this situation. As a city dweller in a capitalist society, rarely do I come across rational behaviour. On many occasions, I have witnessed (directly and otherwise) people lose it over a scratch on their cars. Hell, we've all gotten ourselves in serious shit with our parents for damaging their possessions.

Let's all try some rational behaviour for a change.

How does one "support" troops?

Stephen Harper wants us Canadians to wear red on Fridays to show our support for our troops in Afghanistan. I find the red an apt colour to wear, given that it happens to be the colour of blood.

I write this today because I wonder what it truly means to "support our troops". Does "support" mean cheer them on from the comforts of my home while they kill and get killed? Perhaps I can wear my favourite red sweater while I do it. Or maybe I can slap a yellow ribbon on the back of my gas-guzzling SUV while my brothers and sisters are taking bullets for pipelines.

Whether just or not, war never warrants cheerleading, not when so many lives are at stake. If you want to "support the troops", rally for peace, so that they may return home to their loved ones. After all, they are not the ones who start these wars, nor are the people they fight: wars are never started by the people who have to do battle in them. It is the elite of our species who is responsible for these wars. It is this group who drew the borders we see today.

These people beat the war drums and get us to throw our support behind them by crying "freedom" and "patriotism". They claim war defends the freedoms we enjoy today, such as the freedom to choose between Pepsi and Coke, between McDonald's and Burger King, between Ford and General Motors. The only "freedoms" I have are controlled by corporations. The "freedoms" I enjoy come at the expense of billions of people who dwell and toil in the poorest of nations. You talk of "freedom"? Ask the starving people on the streets how they're enjoying their "freedom". Ask the recently-laid-off factory workers how "freedom" is working for them. Ask the starry-eyed graduates who leave the scholastic life with hopes and dreams only to discover that the only way up is in a three-piece suit.

If you want to wear red for the troops, so be it. Cloak yourselves in red to match the bloodshed you support.

So it's "terrorism" you fear...

Behold: terrorism.

Another Lesson on "Responsibility"

I'm glad Maher Arar has made it back into the news. His story should be told until every ear has listened to it.

I noticed this story in the news today. I was tickled pink to read all about the Liberal party's tongue-lashing of the ruling Conservatives, particularly because it was the Liberals who were in power when Mr. Arar was detained, deported, then subsequently tortured and imprisoned.

The Harper cabal won't try to solicit any sort of admission of fault from Washington, no matter how loud the opposition's cry, for anyone who remotely gives a damn knows how eager Stevie is to be Georgie's bestest buddy on Earth. What I want to see is an apology from the cabinet at that time, and if it has to be presented on their behalf by the current edition of the Liberal party, so be it.

Because our government and law enforcement earn our tax dollars as their keep, we, too, are responsible for Mr. Arar's suffering. We listened to our new government preach to us about "accountability", but whose responsibility is it to hold our elected officials accountable for their actions?

Ours.

We are responsible, yet we failed, and we continue to fail because we're too busy drowning out the noise reality makes by switching on our television programs and driving around in our SUVs and sports cars. We piss and moan about our tax dollars being squandered on scandals and welfare, but don't bat an eye when they fund death and despair. We should be ashamed of ourselves. We all owe this young man, a simple engineer, a fellow Canadian citizen, an apology.

Mr. Arar, I have shamed myself, and I have shamed you. I'm sorry.

Five years later...

...and I feel I will be uttering the same lamentation every year. Five years later, and I feel no more safer than I did on this day in 2001, listening to the same tired rhetoric from the same tired politicians.

We should consider ourselves fortunate to be able to lament through lavish ceremonies of solemn rememberance. Many people, like you and me, can't take the time to sit and grieve, as they have to contend with our bombs falling on their communities day after bloody day. While they spend every day trying not to die - and we have the nerve to fear for our lives on this side of the barrier - our elite class gets wealthier and wealthier with every bomb dropped and every oil field seized and will continue to do so as long as "We, the People" buy into the official story.

So today, while you're force-fed your reminders as to why you should fear Muslims and condemn voices of dissent, keep this in mind:

When the truth comes out about how this great tragedy came into fruition, the entire world order will be turned on its ear.

Ralph al-Klein, Emir of Alberta

Ralph Klein steps down from his post soon. Read about his legacy in the Tyee. Behold the glory that was and is the King of the great Emirate of Alberta.

"The Israel Factor"

Click here and see how the American presidential hopefuls rank in terms of how they would benefit Israel... of course, by "Israel", they mean the state of Israel and not the people living in the region, for I have yet to come across a politician who gives a flying fuck about us common folk.

Our government has a woody.

Most Liberals are expected to vote against Canada-U.S. softwood deal

Although bickering over tariffs may not rank as high as human rights abuses, it is still a key indicator of how relations between our two governments are going, and if it isn't obvious to you, Dear Reader, how things are going, here's a small sample:

[Liberal house leader Ralph] Goodale said it is obvious the Harper government has played hardball with Canadian softwood producers to get their support for the deal.

"I just wish they'd been as tough and played as much hardball with George Bush," he said.

I don't know the nuances of this issue, but I know that every time I hear or read about it, the courts are always ruling in Canada's favour, only don't mention any of that to our fearless leader, Father Stephen, who insits this is the best we're ever going to get, so our industry might as well bend over and take it.

Mind you, even if this government is brought down, the only alternative seems to be Liberal ineptitude.

All this deal stands to accomplish is a pat on the head for little Stevie by his big buddy Georgie.

Church and State

Pope scolds Canada on gay marriage, abortion

The Pope has his knickers in a knot because we Canadians have excluded his "God from the public sphere". I thought God's inclusion within constitutional law is irrelevant, so long as one takes these beliefs to heart. Why does anyone's "God" need to be in our constitution when we are not anyone to judge others? If you want to go on a crusade to save unborn children, please include the plight of the living ones in your thoughts while doing so.

I always get a bit of a chuckle when I hear talk of preserving the traditional family unit, for families are and have been the most dysfunctional groups of people we've ever seen. In the traditional "family", the patriarch exercises dominion over the others - "Father knows best", after all. All too often, his dominion is exercised via his fist, but as long as he has his bible in tow, he's alright in the eyes of the Pope. Not that I've had a violent upbringing, but I personally know people who have, and even if your parents weren't smacking you stupid, they're quite capable of significant psychological damage if they prefer to rule over you than raise you.

If you wish to believe in this man's "God" and his structure of beliefs, by all means, feel free to do so, for one of the great things about living in Canada is the fact that its citizens and guests are free to practice their religious beliefs (so long as they aren't hurting anyone, of course).

Could you be a hero?

Well, could you?

"We're safer, but we're not yet safe."

Are you sure we're safer? They're shitting themselves something awful over at the Post, it seems. I don't know how safe people can feel while their country is at war.

I guess they didn't have time to train you enough commands.

The last three multi-term Republican presidents have been kookier and kookier each time...

...and each time, they scare the shit out of me more than the last.

Tidbits from the world beyond our immediate field of vision...

While you're enjoying your Labour Day holiday - be it sleeping in late, taking care of affairs around the house, enjoying the backyard barbecue, preparing the kiddies to be sent off to school tomorrow - here are but a few things happening in the world:

Chinese government harvesting human organs from Falun Gong practicioners (read more here)

Canadian forces, among others, continue to occupy Haiti after usurping democratically-elected Jean-Bertrand Aristide (read more here)

We can report on our forces in Afghanistan, but not in Haiti. We can chastize the Taliban for their human rights violations, but not the governments with whom we do business.

This leaflet I have contains the contact information for our prime minister (small p intentional for obvious reasons), the loveable Stephen Harper, and foreign affairs minister, Peter MacKay, airer of Master Harper's dirty laundry. If you're reading this, please call and harrass and pester all you like until their administrative assistants start pulling their hair out.

Stephen Harper can be reached by telephone at (613) 992-4211, by facsimile at (613) 941-6900 and by electronic mail at pm@pm.gc.ca.

Peter MacKay can be reached by telephone at (613) 992-6022, by facsimile at (613) 992-2337 and by electronic mail at mackay.p@parl.gc.ca.

I doubt this will actually work, but, if we can annoy high-ranking government officials, we've done our part. What's wrong with an employer asking how her/his employees are doing, anyway?

Life as an Arab-American

Have a look at Raed's latest entry in his blog.

One particular remark strikes me most:

"It sucks to be an Arab/Muslim living in the US these days. When you go to the middle east, you are a US tax-payer destroying people's houses with your money, and when you come back to the US, you are a suspected terrorist and plane hijacker."

The idea behind taxation is that the funds would be used to benefit the community as a whole. Sadly, this has rarely been the case, if ever. Century after century, tax dollars have fueled war. One half of a trillion dollars from the pockets of ordinary Americans falls into the hands of the so-called "Defense" industry each year. Half a trillion dollars spent on killing.

Even if you condemn this war, what do you say to the people whose lives your tax dollars destroyed?

All that comes to my mind is: "I'm ashamed of the fact I allowed these people to speak for me."