reed writes

Dear Mr. Lobb,

I wrote to you weeks ago with some thoughts and a few concerns.

You sent me back a form letter, which I thought was quite rude, since you were on vacation, you are a backbencher and you had time to reply if you wanted to or if you cared.

But you didn’t.

Well – Wednesday is “Speech-from-the-throne” Day…and I am sure you’ll be in your seat, listening closely.

I’m hoping that sooner or later you will send me a real reply to this letter.

Sincerely,

Jim.

____________________________________________________________

Letter to My Member of Parliament,
Mr. Ben Lobb,
Member of Parliament,
Riding of Huron Bruce,
Ontario, Canada.

Dear Mr. Lobb,

(more…)

Ehud Barak

According to Ehud Barak – Apartheid is standing in Israel’s doorway, and if it hasn’t already, it is about to take a seat at the table.

Ehud Barak, is Israel’s Defence Minister.

Is he too an anti Semite…?

Stephen Harper might Think so. You can read his remarks here.

The worst crime of all, of course, is to take the life of another person.

Close on the heels of murder, is denigration of others because of their race, religion, ethnic background, physical appearance or anything else that is meant to degrade or humiliate someone.

When it comes to anti-Semitism, as with all racist behaviour, we must all be vigilant. (No expression of racism should go un-noticed).

N.P. Knocks B'nai B'rith

The National Post criticizes a B’nai B’rith Report, which says that during the year 2009, there was an increase in acts of anti-Semitism. Here’s what the N.P. said in an article on the subject:

“If B’nai Brith wants Canadians to appreciate the importance of the information in its 28-year-old census of anti-Jewish attacks, it has to stop using this one-size-fits-all approach, and begin highlighting the relatively small number of truly alarming assaults. Raising the hue and cry over the desecration of a cemetery is sensible. Raising the hue and cry because adolescent classmates haze each other with juvenile religious taunts is not.”

The National Post is charging that the anti-Semitism survey is misleading, because it conflates minor incidents with major ones. But what is a “major” incident? It seems to me that any act of racism is wrong and needs to be examined. And then we – as a society – need to examine our behaviour and ask the obvious question.

Why are any of these things happening?

Why is any racial, religious or ethnic group victimized?

• Is it because our education system is deficient?
• Is it because some event occurred that caused certain individuals to commit acts of vandalism and/or harassment?
• These and many other questions should be asked and explored.

It’s unfortunate that The National Post editorial neither asks the questions, nor does it offer any answers.

Thoughts on the Canadian Budget -

It’s interesting to me…and obviously to others as well…that one place to cut costs is the military budget, which has been bloated by the present government and the one before it. We spent hundreds of millions on tanks that were never used. (The enemy we are fighting is not intimidated b y tanks and/or fighter bombers).

Get real.

Harper is planning to spend billions on fighter bombers we do not need. Neither we nor the Americans have an enemy with an air-force.  If money is to be spent on the military…it should be spent to improve public relations and intelligence gathering.

We can cut the military budget drastically…by at least 20 billion dollars.

Further advice -

• Provincial transfers must be maintained, perhaps with some performance conditions attached.

• Correct the number one Conservative mistake and restore the 2% cut in the GST.

• Invest heavily in scientific and industrial R&D.

• Initiate a credible search for alternative means of energy production.

• Examine more creative and productive approaches to the rehabilitation of offenders and the operation of prisons in general.

• Focus on improving our educational system from bottom to top.

• Develop a national rail transportation system that improves on the one we have now; invest in railway technology and tir in more closely to U.S. rail road systems.

• Increase taxes on those individuals earning 250,000.00 or more, by 10%.

• Provide tax incentives for Canadian manufacturers employing up to 50 workers in rural areas. (The term “rural area” to be defined.)

• End the prohibition on marijuana and re-classify it and tax it as a legal drug in the same manner as alcohol and tobacco. For a rational argument on this issue, see Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. (Click Here).

• Have the Auditor general conduct a review of Crown Corporations and Crown-owned assets, with respect to their viability. Those that work well will be retained and those that do not, will be shut down or sold. The Auditor General’s Report on this matter would be discussed and debated in Parliament and acted upon by the House of Commons as a whole.

• Make a serious commitment to open government, accountability and transparency, thereby dramatically increasing Canadian confidence in the federal authority.

• Institute a freeze on all government salaries, including those of elected members and their staffs. This would also include the setting of a ceiling on the salaries of politicians and their staffs.

* For guidance on the above point, take a look at Elections Canada, which pays relatively low wages, for a relatively high return in terms of productivity.

*And finally, make a commitment to the exercise of common sense in government decision-making.

I have the feeling that a majority of my fellow citizens would agree.

Thanks

Much deeper than any of us can imagine.

Salutin’s column today is worth reading, because in a way, it’s a warning.