From: Lee Corbin (lcorbin@tsoft.com)
Date: Mon Jan 27 2003 - 20:21:44 MST
MJ (Extropian Agro Forestry Ventures Inc.) writes
> Recently farmers [in Canada] were jailed for refusing to
> pay fines for selling their wheat in Montana and North
> Dakota without Government permission.
Sorry to hear about that. I figured that it was only as
bad in Canada as the United States.
> Security does not always mean freedom.
No, I'm afraid that you are completely right about that!
Thanks for the rest of your report too!
Lee
-----------------------------Original Message-------------------------
There is a major changing of the guard happening here [in Canada].
Cretien is leaving in 6 months. His heir apparent is 65 so is not
there for a long time.
The liberals have governed with a surplus thanks to low interest rates on
old debt.
Some of the brighter lights have been ditched. One in particular, Allan
Rock, the guy who launched the medical marijuana industry in Canada, is off
the roost because he got tarred with a gun registry cost-overrun.
It was first budgeted in 1995 at 2
million and then hid as a budget item so that now is "locked in" to costs
that near a billion. The registry was so poor that the deadline for
200,000 to 2 million as yet unregistered guns to declare/register was
dec31, 2002. The online registry,voice mail and fax were all overloaded
into a reverse denial of service attack the last few days of 2002. I just
left an email on Dec 31 saying that when they had a system able to respond
that I intended to register my 3 guns. A month later I have get a response
or even an acknowledgement.
I joked that it is going to take all the gov'ts profits from a number of
fees and taxes from the imminent take-over of the marijuana industry to
pay for the gun registry. After all you can't have people running around
loose with guns robbing your marijuana stores.. EH!
The conservative party is looking for a new leader. There are no Brian
Mulroney's from places like the Iron Ore Company of Canada at close hand.
Actually Brian Mulroney came back from places like his VP job with ADM
(archer daniels midland) to try to flush out order from chaos.
The Alliance has just changed its name from the Reform party and
reorganized with a young but untested leader after skewering its former
leader. The party paid its former leader's legal bills when he slandered
someone about an abortion related issue.... that and a few gaffs and
missteps had cost him his leadership.
The most socialist, the NDP just elected a new leader yesterday. This guy
and his wife are both Toronto city councilors. The Toronto Extropians
might have comments on this pair.
Is he a "Pierre Trudeau" living from a fringe party?...
So the only thing for sure about Canadian Politics is that an era of one
party rule is about over and the new landscape is not entirely clear.
RE- Europe/USA- my point was that countries like people can become
functional specialists. Not everyone has to be a policeman. The USA
military technology lead however should give them the first shot at
commercializing civilian applications. EU and Canada are better going
after the bio-sector. Global warming could make Canada a many fold major
producer of bio-products.
You are right about the entrepreneurial spirit of the USA. In Canada when
we want something to happen we ask the government to do it for us. In the
USA you buy an investor database and get those phones and business plans
rolling. Recently farmers were jailed for refusing to pay fines for
selling their wheat in Montana and North Dakota without Government
permission. Security does not always mean freedom.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Well, in my own, typically, arrogant, American way; allow me to suggest
that the aforementioned societies you have listed, benefit, in large part,
from the US taxpayer footing the bill for a huge chuck of their security.
:-) I mean, one can't afford socialized medicine, top of the line
education, and keep the Russian Bear (of Soviet vintage) and the Chinese
dragon at bay. Or rather we might, but that also would entail (me thinks)
raising tariffs, and becoming Festung American (fortress).
To do that, it would take more unity of purpose then the US has, so far,
exhibited
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I do think that using the UN to chop down the borders of rogue
states is preferred to all out war. The one thing not to do is
rape a country economically like Germany was after WW1. This
leads to radicalism like the 3rd Reich. The middle east feels
culturally threatened and will risk world war to protect its
culture. The culture is just a bit right of "Klingon".
Cultures do not evaporate overnight. Countries like EU and
Canada are willing to expend social oriented militarism in
preference to supporting first strikes at war. Military
technology to support this can still create civilian spin-offs.
bye for now..MJ
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