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My dear happygirl. Since I do not know you I do not know what your politics are. Since you do not know me you can only guess my politics by a few remarks that I have made. So, how can I possibly think that you are stupid or ill-educated, even if you did vote for the fat little Napoleon or for that matter, for the moron. You don’t have to agree with me. But then, neither do I have to agree with you. Let’s try to get along, shall we? Are you Canadian? Can you say “eh?”. And can you say “Maher Arar”?
Cheers.1. I was not calling you a Nazi. I don’t know you.
2. I am not a Nazi. You don’t know me. However, you have just slandered and defamed me in calling me a Nazi which is not permitted on this forum. (Um..Scott? Are you reading this?)
3. As I said in my last post (pun not intended) please educate yourself regarding the facts before blasting us with these emotional rants.
4. Have you ever heard of Maher Arar?
5. Have a nice day. : )So then, drwaltz, on one hand you are ranting at some of us for being concerned about the erosion of civil liberties in North America, while you yourself have already suggested that imposing martial law and suspending civil liberties will be necessary? Do you know what happens when martial law is imposed? It means that anyone can be arrested without warrent, held in detention without warrent, have their homes invaded, searched and ransacked by police, without warrent, taken away in the middle of the night without warrent, held in indefinite detention, without warrent, held in solitary confinement, tortured and murdered without anyone knowing what has happened to them. This is what happens under martial law. This is what happened in Germany, formerly a democratic and free society before the Nazis were voted into power, and this is the kind of danger that is currently facing both our countries and all because of people like you who voted that moron Bush into power and all because of certain stupid and ill-educated Canadians who did the same with that fat little Napoleon Harper. Drwaltz, please do everyone on this forum a favour and do some research and learn what is reallly going on in your own country and in this world before boring us with such ridiculous proposals.
Here in Canada we drink beer. Which presents its own problems. And speaking of problems our own fat little Napoleon in Ottawa (that’s the capital city of Canada, btw)
se encanta para chupar el tracero de su propio presidente. Still, I’m glad I don’t live in the U.S. with the even rapider slide towards fascism your country seems to be taking (and Canada is not far behind, I’m afraid). Speaking of being afraid, I wonder after reading all these recent posts if that is part of the problem. That we can easily become paralyzed by fear of what our governments could do to us as they pull our freedoms out from under our feet. And of course we have good reason to be afraid. But not to let them paralyze us. Not to let them think that they can control us with fear. Can we do this? Remain informed, alert and concerned, but not hobbled by fear. Can we continue celebrating life, and loving those dear to us in spite of what our governments are doing? Even with all the risks that are incurred? We have a lot of ground to regain and we have to take it back step by step. They are not going to willingly return it to us. We have to take it from them. It is ours. It always was. Even the smallest mundane act can have a sweeping and revolutionary impact, if we remain aware, mindful, informed, and thoughtful. Taking back our lives is not going to be an easy quest, but this is what we have to do, regardless the risk, regardless of the power that our governments have taken from us. We need to remember that love and truth are infinitely more powerful than fear and lies. We need to keep reminding ourselves of this. We need to remind each other. Let no one rob you of your joy.First of all, not everyone on this forum is an American. I am, as I have repeatedly said, though some people don’t seem to get it, a Canadian. I also don’t see things in black and white. I am not ashamed to be a Canadian, but I would hardly call myself proud, and I have no immediate plans of surrendering my passport, especially after having waited for nearly four months for the damn thing to get delivered (for which I can thank your darling president and the huge wave of paranoia his administration has sent across the continent with his patriot act and homeland security.) Now, you say your wife talked to some Iraquis. Which Iraquis? I don’t think that all Iraquis are going to be in agreement about the war being waged on their soil, especially after half a million of their compatriots have been wiped off the earth, any more than all Americans or Canadians (that’s right…Canadians. Can you say Canada? Especially now that our dollar is worth more than yours?) are going to agree. I also find your evaluation of Hugo Chavez simplistic. I don’t disagree that he shows authoritarian tendencies but so also does our own prime minister (that’s…Canadian), Stephen Harper (“Steve” to your own Dubya), who has turned out to be quite the fat little Napoleon, and please don’t let me get started about your own Bush (some bushes make me wish I was a little dog), and for the first time in their country’s history, many of the poor in Venezuala are finally beginning to see a decent standard of life and better opportunities for education. This likely does not excuse Chavez’s heavy-handedness, and like the good king of Spain I also wish he would just shut-up, but real life is made up of trade-offs, often unattractive trade-offs, and this is something we all have to live with. And please, don’t get me started about your country’s benevelont military and some of their acts of protection in Central American (eighty thousand dead salvadorenos can’t be wrong). Can you say “Monroe Doctrine.” There is no way to peace. Peace is the way.
Tom, thanks for the extra info. By the way, I will be in Alajuela next April and might be interested in checking out the Spanish speaking church you visited there. What is it’s name?
While I’m not aware of the church scene in Costa Rica, it might be worth your while to check out one of the Spanish speaking congregations. You will find that a number of Ticos do speak English, and this could be an excellent opportunity for getting to know people in the local culture.
“Military Intelligence” is an oxymoron. So is “Just War”. I believe it is Einstein who said that if we ever survive World War III we will end up fighting World War IV using rocks and sticks for weapons.
How many libertarians does it take to change a light bulb?
Two: one to buy the lightbulb, the other to sell it back at a profit.Um…, hey, Scottbenson, I’m not sure if you really read my message. I don’t have a U.S passport. I’m Canadian. I didn’t suggest that Costa Rica is “superior”, simply that I like their global example of building a functioning society without a military. Yes, they still have problems funding education and health care and social programs but they are, by their own admission a poor country, and they have done admirably well with so little to work with, and can you imagine how much worse off they would be if they had to support a standing army as well. As for your other claims, would you be willing to provide some links so I could verify them?
Sprite: when you say that you would like to scour every religion off the face of the planet this sends chills through me. How would you propose to do this? Take us out and shoot us? Put us in internment camps? Are you aware that religion, (even Christianity) isn’t all dark? That to fulfill your wish you would be denigrating and spitting on one of our most fundamental human rights? Is it possible to disagree without promoting hostility and intolerance? This, incidentally is not just the property of religion. Political and other secular ideolgies can be, and often are, also carried to such extremes. Don’t tar all of us with the same brush.
Has anyone here also mentioned that Amnesty International has not been permitted to enter Cuba since 1988? It seems that many western intellectuals were making similar excuses for Stalin before his death in 1953 and the magnitude of his crimes against humanity was revealed.
No problem at all about Cuba. I disapprove of violence as a means to an end, whether revolutionary, reactionary, Marxist, fascist, left , right, U.S., Canadian, Cuban, Mexican, British, Russian, Chinese, Iranian, Christian, Muslim, Jewish or Hindu or____________(fill in the blank) A bullet is just a bullet. Every mother who loses a daughter or a son is a mother who has been robbed.
Thomas Jefferson was a slave owner. He also said a lot of brilliant things. That’s nice.
Che had noble ideals. He also had anger management issues. Sometimes a bullet is just a bullet. Had he not been good-looking do you still think so many people would be wearing his puss on their t-shirts. I can only guess how many of them he’d have had shot as counterrevolutionaries. I also understand that he had no appreciation for music and was known to be completely tone-deaf. Excuse me? He was from Argentina, Land of the Tango, fighting a revolution in Cuba, the country whose name makes me want to dance? A revolution without music?!! The horror! The Horror!
And who the #@&*% is Ron Paul?
Love and smoochies from Canada.
See you all in Alajuela this April and in Guanacaste in May.This is one of many things that attracts me to Costa Rica. Here in Canada our government is getting increasingly warlike, and the rhetoric and propaganda is being revived again. It’s quite disheartening really. We have just finished our annual Remembrance Day observances and as usual it’s nothing but a Victor’s Banquet that still tries to glorify war or at least justify it as a solution to international conflicts. What I like about the Costa Rican model is the way this is proving to the rest of the world that this can be done, that it is possible to establish and maintain peace through means other than the barrel of a gun. In fact, I would go as far as to say that any peace that has to be militarily enforced is no peace at all, because it lacks justice and voluntary good will. War is the ultimate failure.
