Re: Toronto police raid marijuana dispensaries, May 27 Justin Trudeau really should go down the hall and elbow his way into former Toronto police chief and MP Bill Blair's Parliamentary office and tell him he wants to fast track the legalization of cannabis to the end of June 2016. Then Justin might call current Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders and ask him to politely to drop the 257 charges and release any of the 90 arrested in last week's cannabis dispensary raids who might still be lingering in one of his steel cages. [continues 431 words]
In the latest taxpayer-funded mailout to all households in his Hastings-Prince Edward riding, our illustrious member of Parliament asks us if we are feeling safer these days. Daryl Kramp wants our feedback, postage-free (read: We are all paying for this with our taxes), sent back to him in Ottawa. Within that same mailout we are told exactly how the Harper Government has made us safer. So, naturally, our answers should be, "Yes. I feel safer. Thank God for Mr. Harper." [continues 880 words]
Unless it is all a rather nasty April Fools joke, as of April 1, 2014 life is going to be much tougher for medically challenged Canadians who have found using marijuana helps them with their illness. In a March 14, 2014 Health Canada news release, which reads like Harper wrote it himself, the threat of police action and prosecution has now been driven home to those already suffering from sickness. Essentially it says, "Do what we say or the police are coming to your house and you are going to one of the new jail cells Conservatives have built for you with your tax dollars." [continues 595 words]
Today, February 13, 2014, is Marc Emery's 56th birthday. He is spending this birthday as a Canadian citizen in a small cement box decorated with iron bars in an American prison in Yazoo City, Mississippi. Marc is a political prisoner who was put there through a collusion between the Harper government and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) of the United States of America. As an outspoken proponent for the legalization of marijuana, to the tune of contributing over $4 million to the cause worldwide, they wanted him silenced. So they threw him into an American prison for five years. [continues 510 words]
Libby Davies of the NDP, former Solicitor General Wayne Easter of the Liberals and Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party of Canada, stood beside Jodie Emery during a press conference on Parliament Hill last week. All passionately addressed their remarks to Stephen Harper's new Minister of Public Safety, Mr. Steven Blaney. They were collectively pleading for Blaney's signature on documents, already signed by the Justice Department in the United States of America, which would allow Jodie's husband, Marc Emery, to be released from Mississippi's Yazoo Prison so he can serve the remainder of his five-year prison sentence closer to his wife and family here in Canada. There is no question about the fact Marc Emery is a political prisoner. [continues 415 words]
Libby Davies of the NDP, former Solicitor General Wayne Easter of the Liberals and Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party of Canada, stood beside Jodie Emery during a press conference on Parliament Hill last week. All passionately addressed their remarks to Stephen Harper's new Minister of Public Safety, Mr. Steven Blaney. They were collectively pleading for Blaney's signature on documents, already signed by the Justice Department in the United States of America, which would allow Jodie's husband, Marc Emery, to be released from Mississippi's Yazoo Prison so he can serve the remainder of his 5-year prison sentence closer to his wife and family here in Canada. [continues 425 words]
Sometimes when Jehovah's Witnesses knock on my front door I politely take time to talk with them. From different witnesses I have learned that drinking alcoholic beverages is okay within their belief system but drunkenness is frowned upon. When I ask them what they think of using marijuana they simply say it is illegal and they have been told it is bad stuff. When I ask them if they also believe God created everything in Heaven and on Earth they say the Bible told them so. Continuing with my logic I point out that according to their beliefs God must therefore have designed and built the cannabis plant. Then I ask them why they think God put the cannabis plant on His Earth. [continues 836 words]
Re: Liberals' bid to be serious goes up in a puff of smoke (Jan. 17) Jon Chambers' editorial displays a classic mindset based on ignorance, outright lies and billions of dollars worth of American propaganda which has streamed into Canada and around the world since President Nixon started the War on Drugs back in 1972. As we discovered, Nixon was a liar and a crook. As a friend of mine would say, "Jon Chambers' mind is like a batch of cement. All mixed up and permanently set." [continues 523 words]
Wouldn't it be nice if Canadians had a government that got "Smart on Crime" instead of "Tough on Crime"? The Harper Conservatives now have the American spin doctor game almost perfected. For eight years Stephen Harper learned from the Bush regime south of the border that to control a population, first you have to scare them, then you tell them how you are going to save them. Despite the barrage of sensational stories in the media about murder and mayhem the reality, as shown by none other than Statistics Canada, is that both violent and property crime rates have been steadily falling in Canada since 1991. [continues 840 words]
I received a very entertaining and enlightening book for Christmas written by Tom Standage. It is titled A History of the World in Six Glasses. The author chronicles the appearance of beer, wine, distilled spirits, coffee, tea and Coca-Cola while examining how they have influenced the history of the world. Those fluids we humans have sipped on our long march to these modern days have had a profound impact on the world we live in. They shall continue to do so and in these tales there are lessons to be learned. [continues 475 words]
"The Most Powerful Man on Earth" has finally come and gone from our Canadian hinterland. Rest assured you hewers-of-wood and drawers-of-water, that whole range of mad cow/softwood lumber/gay marriage/border security/war on drugs/ missile defence talking points will now be cleared up asap. Prime Minister Paul's newest best buddy south of the 49th told him so. And the President of the United States of America would never tell a lie. But what does George mean by "as soon as possible"? As soon as possible for what is best for the "American national interest" no doubt. [continues 150 words]
Whatever war our friends the Americans choose to fight is now sold to the world as a Holy Crusade of the Righteous. Overtones of Evangelical religious zeal in White House foreign policy, with Ashcroft and Co. joining hands in a prayer circle in the Oval Office each morning, come fearfully close to Muslim fanatics muttering in mosques, calling for their own Holy War against all infidels. The major difference between these two extremes of the religious spectrum is in their respective methods of delivering high explosives to "we, the people." God works in mysterious ways. [continues 465 words]
