Darfur - Money Not Spent

It just blows me away to think about how the situation in Darfur gets no attention and things like Iraq and Afghanistan get daily attention. It also blows me away that such a war like the on in Iraq can have have Trillions of U.S. dollars spent on it, even though it is an unnecessary war. What do we have to do to get nations like the United States to do something about Darfur? How can a nation spend so much money on Iraq and spend so little on something that really matters, so much human life lost yet it gets little or no attention on the world stage. Similarly recently in Myanmar (Burma) with the cyclone that hit, instead of helping the people, we pick at the government for being a military dictatorship. I believe in a crisis such as this it should not matter who runs the country, people are dying and thats all that matters! So help the people, sort out the issues later! Why is it so hard for people like us (in the west) to spend a little money and share a little compassion? why are we so stuck up and ignorant? Is this maybe why the rest of the world hates us?

Oil Prices - Everyone Elses Fault?

As we all know oil prices have been rising steadily for some time, everyone is paying through the nose for something that we practically live on. This is a problem and it is everyones problem but watching the news I hear Americans going on about how its not their fault and that the reason why this is happening is because of developing nations such as China and India taking from the worlds global supply of oil. The United States does not believe they are the problem even though they use more oil then anyone else in the world. They say that the only way to fix it is to curb the use of oil in China and India, this is completely untrue. If the United States wanted to solve the problem they would start with themselves instead of casting blame on other nations, but the United States does not want to fix the problem because of the fact that most of the worlds richest oil companies call the United States home and they are making record profits!! You can blame Hugo Chavez in Venezuela for holding back oil supplies you can blame China and India for using too much oil but in the end the United States needs to worry about the United States not everyone else!

Free Speech An Illusion?

I’ve noticed people going on about how were so lucky here in North America to be free and have the right to free speech but I don’t see it that way, sure were lucky to be relatively free but were not completely free. I believe that our right to free speech is slowly being taken away from us, It’s allowed in small dosages as long as it doesn’t cause any real harm to the government but when free speech actually starts to take off and there is enough people to actually create change, thats when the government tends to crack down on free speech or use the media to discredit it. I remember this one time, I was watching the news and President Bush was visiting somewhere and he had all these people around him praising him and then one guy saying bad things about him, that one guy was quickly arrested and taken away. Are we not allowed to speak against the president in his presence? It always seems we have a choice to do what we think is right but in the end we realize that we have no choice at all and whenever we speak out against the government we are the ones that suffer. This is not how democracy and a free society should work and I’m not saying that we don’t have the right to free speech because we do, we just seem to be losing what little rights we have recently in the name of ’security’ and the ‘war on terrorism’ which seem more and more like ways to control the population then to protect it.

Christianity And Those Who Embrace It

I was reading a part in a history book about Emperor Constantine of Rome who was the first roman emperor to truly embrace Christianity and spread it throughout the Roman Empire, some scholars believe that he wasn’t truly Christian that he just anticipated that Christianity would begin to spread with or without him so he decided it was in his best interest to be on the Christian side. History also dictates that he did not truly become a Christian until the day he died, anyways, this got me thinking…how many people claim to be religious because of the status and power of it? After all if you don’t have much to lose embracing religion to get ahead in life in some form of another probably isn’t such a bad idea. There are those who truly believe in Christianity and they have every right to do so but do we have the right to claim religious ties for personal gain? I’m not usually one to defend the sanctity of religion but I can’t help believing its wrong to use religion for personal gain and I know this is happening but on what scale? How many people are truly in it just for the benefits? I suppose in the end everyone is using Christianity for personal benefit, I mean they all want to get into heaven, so I guess the people who use Christianity for other reasons are just following what they are taught. Religion is a perfect tool for those who hunger for power and wealth, it’s incredibly easy to manipulate people if you say it’s the word of god. I’m not saying that Christians or members of any other religion should be watching each other to see if someone is misusing religion, but you should take a step back and wonder if your following the ‘right’ word of god.

The United States & Torture

I think everyone knows that recently in the media there has been talk about waterboarding and whether or not it’s torture. I have to ask this question, does anyone else think its crazy that we are even asking this question? of course its torture and of course its wrong and whether or not your torturing someone for important information or not its still wrong! It’s actually quite funny, the United States started off saying “We don’t torture!” then it moved to “We may torture…” then it became “We have tortured and will do it again”. So what makes the United States any better then their enemies? Nothing. The United States has continually said one thing and has done the other, they have continuously done the same things they say they despise and they are becoming worse then those they claim to fight! This really ties in with the whole weapons of mass destruction in Iraq thing, they began saying one thing so that we would believe them and join them, once everyone was on board and already fully committed they come out and say that it was all a bold face lie. They lied and we know it, yet we still support them. By support I mean the governments of the west…not really people because I know few people who actually support the wars that the United States have started, at least here in Canada, I can’t really say what it’s like in the United States itself. I recently saw a clip from a 60 minutes episode with Supreme Court Justice Scalia and when the reporter asked “If someone is in custody (referring to a terror suspect) and is brutalized by a law enforcement officer does cruel and unusual punishment apply?” hes answer shortly was “No” he goes on to say “Has anyone ever referred to torture as punishment?” so basically because you can say your not punishing the terror suspect your just beating the living crap out of them, smart. I certainly hope I’m not the only one that is scared of the fact this man is on the Supreme Court of the United States of America, because with people like that making decisions you can only imagine whats next….

Boycotting Olympics

Alright, since when did the Olympics become a political stage for the world. Human rights abuses in China are bad and I acknowledge that, but the Olympics is a time where we put aside all that, thats what it was meant for! So I’m kinda angry at the people who ask us to boycott it because they are making a political circus out of what is supposed to be a time of peace. So I think that people should leave politics and their crazy little thoughts of world domination at home and just have fun for a few weeks and relax, we can’t save the world all the time and we don’t have to ruin it for everyone because we think that we are superior to those holding the Olympics and we have to prove it. We are all human and we all have much to learn, why don’t we learn to work together for once?

I know that there are a lot of people who do not agree with what I just wrote and thats okay, doesn’t matter. Sometimes you just have to give people a chance to do the right thing without forcing it upon them, this is one of those times.

Nuclear Weapons - Whats The Deal?

I say “whats the deal?” because I see on the news talk of Iran and North Korea having nuclear weapons and how they are dangerous and must be stopped and I just think why are we so concerned about them having nuclear weapons when the United States and Russia several thousand not just one. I think of it this way, the United States has used nuclear weapons before, twice, so shouldn’t we be more worried about them? Oh wait, no cause’ they are considered the world police they wouldn’t do anything to harm anyone, right? I sincerely think that if one nation is allowed to have nuclear weapons all nations should be allowed for the same excuse the Americans use, self defense. If the United States wants to save the world by regulating nuclear weapons then they should lead by example and get rid of their own! Of course that would never happen because that is their advantage and they would never give up an advantage!

I’d just like to state here that when I say Americans I mean the government and those that support it. I don’t want any angry emails from good citizens who are mad because I grouped them together! ;)

Multiculturalism VS Assimilation

I have always been a fan of multiculturalism because I think its beautiful to experience other cultures here in my home country of Canada. Others disagree with multiculturalism because they say it breeds a sort of criminal or separatist sub-culture, I believe that by not allowing immigrants to freely express themselves in their own culture breeds a separatist and sometimes criminal sub-culture. Some believe that immigrants should ‘assimilate’ to the host country’s own unique culture and forget the culture of their homeland. Although I agree with some aspects of assimilation such as learning to speak the language of the host country I do not believe it is our right to force people who come to the a country to have a better life to give up everything that makes them unique. As far as speaking the host country’s language, we must assist immigrants in learning a new language instead of thinking they will find out on their own. This means government sponsored language schools to assist immigrants to learn the new language, especially English which is one of the hardest languages to learn. By assist I do not mean force, I just mean have the resources available for immigrants and let them decide when to go or if to go. After all if you claim your a free country people should be able to speak what language they wish without prosecution. Living in a semi-multicultural society here in Canada I have learned a great deal about the world without having to leave my country and I think thats a benefit we can all agree on. All I ask is that people be a little more accepting of those who come to our countries in order have a better life for themselves and their families, I’m sure most of our ancestors were in their position once and they would have not liked the treatment we are giving immigrants today.

North American Union - Do We Get A Choice?

Okay, I’ll admit it…i had no clue this was really going on…I have truly been out of the loop for some time, anyways getting caught up I find out about the plan to basically merge Canada, The U.S. and Mexico in some sort of North American Union. This unholy union would merge such things as security and commerce throughout the three countries, I am deeply opposed to this and the fact that our governments feel fit to do this without our permission or a vote shows that democracy is truly dead. I suggest anyone who is as upset about this as I am should stand up and fight back for our right to decide what happens in our countries! This is yet another way for the rich and powerful to steal away what little rights and freedoms the common people have and this is a trend that has been going for far too long and yet we continue to let them gain power. The governments of these 3 countries believe they can do this without our permission..I believe it will be harder then they think and I’m sure the people will prove me right!

Are We Ready To Give Up Religion?

If the question was asked “are we ready to give up religion?” the answer would be no, because of course your probably asking a religious person, but I have noticed something. I have noticed that many people are now straying from their religions to either join a scientific perspective or a spiritual perspective and lately its becoming a trend to be more spiritual then religious. Regardless of what people are turning to, they are turning away from religion and me not being a religious person myself I cannot figure out why, are people realizing that they gain nothing from practicing their religion anymore? Is religion not giving us enough answers? The main reason why I have always believed in a scientific perspective is because I don’t always have to accept what people tell me, I can find out for myself. As for religion your basically told what is and what isn’t, no questions asked. I believe there is a point in the future where we will give up these notions of gods and truly excel scientifically, and I believe the move towards that end has already started. I think people are sick of religion and I, frankly, don’t blame them. As far as I’m concerned religion solves nothing and people gain little from it unless they are at the top showering in the gifts of the masses that worship them…the Pope for example. So to answer the question I asked, are we ready to give up religion? I don’t think so, are we ready to start exploring new ideas? Certainly, It’s human nature!