tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68349562011-12-14T21:38:01.629-05:00My two interests: Technology and Politics.csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.comBlogger971100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1150077640944090712006-06-11T18:23:00.000-04:002006-06-11T22:00:41.056-04:00

The big news these past few days has been about the 17 men arrested in the GTA for plotting a terrorist attack on targets in Southern Ontario. While there was one man who was older, I believe he was a bus driver in his forties, most of them were young men from middle class families living in the suburbs. They attempted to purchase 3 tons of fertilizer that could be used in a bomb similar to the

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1149280574434405382006-06-02T16:10:00.000-04:002006-06-05T08:35:25.363-04:00

It was 25 years ago that HIV and AIDS first appeared. It was first seen as a rare form of pneumonia, or other AIDS related illnesses, that affected gay men in the United States. It was a few years later that it was discovered to be the monster virus that it is known as today. When scientists found out how it behaved they realized there was a pending epidemic; the extended dormancy of the virus (

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1148965765278048442006-05-29T23:21:00.000-04:002006-05-30T01:09:25.990-04:00

Sometimes I wonder about the state of democracy in our country. Prime Minister Harper has rejected the free press on Parliament hill. The PMO has said the PM will not answer questions from reporters in press conferences from the regular press gallery. The PMO said they will select the people that are allowed to ask questions of the PM. The press gallery rejected these restrictions and walked out

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1142901480991988472006-03-19T15:47:00.000-05:002006-03-27T01:18:24.833-05:00

The Whitehouse has released its updated National Security Strategy; the first revision since the last publication in 2003. In it the US Government lists countries which it regards as despotic regimes that are a threat to security or are outposts of tyranny. The list includes Iran, Syria, North Korea, Cuba, Belarus and Zimbabwe. These countries certainly aren't the most democratic of places. Iran

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1141885968792680992006-03-08T21:30:00.000-05:002006-03-14T10:40:50.063-05:00

Slobodan Milosovic died in his cell a few days ago. It was reported that he died of heart attack as he was known to have heart problems for quite a long time. Some people however, particularly his family living in Russia, have questioned the treatment he was getting and even go as far as saying he was poisoned and murdered. I doubt that would happen, especially under care of an international

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1141618978269520022006-03-05T23:12:00.000-05:002006-03-05T23:22:58.286-05:00

George Bush was visiting the subcontinent the past few days. Apart from some niceties with Manmohan Singh and playing some cricket in Pakistan Bush was there for an agreement with India. The US government will be providing India with nuclear technology for generation in return for India opening up some of its generation stations for international inspection. The hypocrisy of this when compared

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1140073584100296232006-02-15T23:04:00.000-05:002006-02-16T02:06:24.150-05:00

Haiti is in turmoil in the wake of the recent Presidential election. The election marked a hoped return to democracy but has now been blemished by scandal and corruption. The most popular candidate has been former President, and ally of the deposed Jean Bertrand Aristide, Rene Preval. Large groups of people, predominantly the country's poor, have been saying they don't care about the official

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1139208189841392622006-02-05T21:09:00.000-05:002006-02-06T01:43:09.893-05:00

The row over some cartoon's published in a Danish newspaper of Muhammad the Prophet of Islam has grown enormously over the past couple of weeks. The newspaper which requested artists for the drawings published them in efforts to fight for free speech and in opposition to growing fear of backlash for publishing something against Muslims. After the publication many Muslim countries, including most

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1138745851777265972006-01-31T11:27:00.000-05:002006-02-01T11:56:04.270-05:00

Chile has made history by electing their first female leader Michelle Bachelet. Bachelet, a doctor and single mother, has promised to bring more social justice and better represent women and indigenous people. Moreover President-elect Bachelet has promised to give half her cabinet posts to women including finance and defense posts. This bold move is something only achieved by two other countries

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1138295369730748072006-01-26T09:26:00.000-05:002006-01-27T11:17:49.286-05:00

In the recent elections many people said they voted for the traditional opposition not because they necessarily wanted to support them but because they wanted to punish the existing government. They were fed up with the continued corruption and ineffectiveness of the party and even the former opposition was surprised at some of the gains they made. Surprised though excited that some of their

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1137637985968983012006-01-15T16:57:00.000-05:002006-01-18T21:33:06.000-05:00

Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party are poised to form the next government of Canada. The Conservatives, like the Liberals and NDP, released their full platform last week. Harper has even been musing a majority government which might be possible if the Conservative popularity continues to rise (read:Martin/Liberal support continues to errode). Though there will probably be a number of

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1136748654578890692006-01-08T13:16:00.000-05:002006-01-08T14:30:54.620-05:00

Arial Sharon has suffered a major stroke and severe bleeding in his brain. He's been under heavy sedation for a couple of days in an effort to control the pressure and swelling of his brain. It now appears that Sharon will not recover fully and will not be able to lead Israel any longer. This has been a hard hit for the Kadima party which Sharon newly established after leaving the hard right

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1136438031684336332006-01-04T23:44:00.000-05:002006-01-05T00:13:51.733-05:00

Ahh the new year. When we meet each other, stay up far too late, eat and drink too much and make a bunch of promises to ourselves that we won't keep. Isn't it wonderful?Well I've made one resolution that I definitely intend to keep and that is to make more time for myself. I've been so busy with activities for this group or the other that I've barely had a moments rest to catch up on things I

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1135665355911154822005-12-26T22:45:00.000-05:002005-12-27T01:36:52.893-05:00

Well it's Christmas time and lots of people are getting their holiday spirit on. Starting with the spirit of rememberance. There were commemoration ceremonies in Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and other places for the tsunami that happened one year ago. I watched a portion of the speech given by Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The massive natural disaster brought forth a massive

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1135144378312140462005-12-21T00:36:00.000-05:002005-12-21T00:52:58.320-05:00

I saw King Kong tonight. The movie was fantastic. At three hours it's quite a commitment; but with amazing action sequences, terrific performances, and an incredibly moving story, it's well worth the investment. It's a great, classic tragedy. And it's definitely worth seeing on the big screen, though I'll probably grab a copy when it comes out on DVD.

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1134521117979412662005-12-13T19:03:00.000-05:002005-12-21T00:27:17.983-05:00

Those are the words that Stephen Harper apparently couldn't say. During the start of electioneering last week Harper, when asked if he loved Canada, hemmed and hawed while trying to answer. Martin of course pounced on this fumble and stated very clearly that he loves Canada. Moreover Harper has since stated that he likes the idea of privatizing health care when his party said that they would

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1134438295041424572005-12-12T19:58:00.000-05:002005-12-12T20:44:55.093-05:00

Many people have been waiting to hear word on the fate of four men taken hostage in Iraq. The four men include a Briton, an American and two Canadians. They were working for a Christian peace organization in Iraq trying to help free captives and oppose the American occupation. They're being held hostage by a relatively unknown group calling itself the Sword of Righteousness and they threatened to

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1133352765654940112005-11-30T06:49:00.000-05:002005-12-05T12:25:24.913-05:00

Tomorrow is World AIDS Day. This years theme is "Stop AIDS. Keep the promise." World leaders have pledged (in the 2001 UN Special Session on HIV/AIDS) to reduce the number of young people with HIV by 25% by 2010 and in the most affected countries by 2005. Another significant promise was 3 by 5: to get ARVs to 3 million people by the end of 2005. Neither of these promises will be met but, for 3 by

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1133053855622283572005-11-26T19:16:00.000-05:002005-11-26T20:10:55.673-05:00

André Boisclair has been elected new leader of the Parti Québécois. His main opponent in the race was Pauline Marois; but Boisclair soundly defeated all others, Marois included, with a strong mandate. He's the youngest leader the party has ever had. He also went to Harvard, is openly gay, and is seen as slightly to the right of the main party. None of these tidbits however are of great interest

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1132717685148133542005-11-22T22:30:00.000-05:002005-11-22T22:48:05.176-05:00

The Martin government is set to fall next week. The opposition parties voted on and passed a proposal from NDP leader Jack Layton to call an election in January. Because it wasn't a proper confidence motion however the Martin Liberals have just chosen to ignore it. Having tried to offer a compromise, which the Liberals would have none of, Stephen Harper is going to introduce a confidence motion

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1132025836657011562005-11-14T19:29:00.000-05:002005-11-14T22:37:16.696-05:00

I listened to some of this year's Massey Lectures. Stephen Lewis was the lecturer and he gave 5 speeches across Canada ending in Toronto. I attended the last lecture and listened to a few on CBC Radio. They were great: informative, insightful, saddening and hopeful. He spoke of the many problems in the developing world, focusing on issues such as women, children, education and AIDS sufferers. His

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1131514758972507332005-11-08T22:14:00.000-05:002005-11-09T00:39:19.016-05:00

The death toll from the South Asian earthquake, last I checked, was expected to be around 80,000. There's still great difficulty in reaching the victims and survivors because of the remote locations and limited number of helicopters. There is a campaign to collect tents and other supplies to help shelter the survivors because another wave of victims is expected as soon as winter sets in (and it's

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1127620442001307312005-09-24T23:53:00.000-04:002005-09-24T23:54:02.006-04:00

I went to a lecture about dark matter and dark energy. Dark matter and dark energy are unknown theorized substancse that can balance out the discrepancies observed by astrophysicists. Dark matter is some type of physical matter with apparently very low density, but makes up a vast amount of mass in each galaxy. However it is unseen and does not directly interact with light except through the

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1127097447758951182005-09-18T20:13:00.000-04:002005-09-18T22:38:20.786-04:00

I've been really inspired lately and have met some very interesting people. I've attended some really interesting speeches and am set to attend some more. It's been refreshing to see some political viewpoints that differ from the vast dogmatic malaise that's too common nowadays. It's sad to see the degrading state of economic and political well being.The strike at HydroOne is over after some 3

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1126496360840869622005-09-11T23:08:00.000-04:002005-09-11T23:47:15.643-04:00

Just read about the Debian Common Core Alliance (DCC Alliance). It's a group of Debian distros that are banding together to help get a core of Debian packages that will meet with the LSB 3.0 requirements. I'm a Debian fan (even though I've been using Windows and my iBook more often lately). From the day I got Debian up and running, it's been my favourite OS. While the text based installer is just

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1125947204323538212005-09-05T15:04:00.000-04:002005-09-05T15:06:44.330-04:00

Yes my favorite place to beIs not a land called Honah LeeMentally or physicallyI wanna be in New Orleans-- RHCP, 1991

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1125894854747415412005-09-04T16:07:00.000-04:002005-09-05T00:35:56.183-04:00

The wake of hurricane Katrina is still being felt in New Orleans. With the city some 80% underwater the convention centre and Superdome have finally been emptied of refugees, since they've been sent to Texas. The number of dead, expected to be in the thousands, is still increasing however, since the rest of the city had become like a war zone with snipers and gunfire everywhere along with other

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1124933977777204202005-08-24T21:04:00.000-04:002005-08-24T21:40:09.466-04:00

Pat Robertson, the super-right wing evangelical leader known for the 700 Club, made comments on a talk show saying that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez should be assassinated.1 Apart from the sheer audacity and inappropriateness of the comments, they're actually not that suprising compared with other things this guy has said.2 Looking at his claims and statements, there's really no option but to

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1124154873177214372005-08-15T21:12:00.000-04:002005-08-15T21:14:33.183-04:00

Following in their tradition of ignoring international laws and agreements the US administration has rejected the ruling of a trade court on the softwood lumber issue. The Canada-US dispute has been going on for ages and in a final decision the court ruled that tarrifs placed on Canadian lumber imports were illegal and against the NAFTA treaty. The US promptly replied that it didn't care and it

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1123356917442226362005-08-06T15:34:00.000-04:002005-08-06T15:35:17.446-04:00

Paul Martin has announced that prominent French Journalist and documentary film maker Michaëlle Jean will be the next Governor General of Canada. The Haitian born Francophone is well known in Quebec for her role in CBC, but lesser so in English speaking Canada. Her family fled the Papa Doc Duvalier regime to come to Montreal where Michaëlle grew into an outstanding intellectual and journalist.

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1123284933764737282005-08-03T19:34:00.000-04:002005-08-05T19:35:33.770-04:00

Lots of news, lots of news... An Air France plane crash landed at Pearson International Airport in the Greater Toronto Area. Miraculously all 300 or so passengers and crew on board were all able to escape the plane after it skidded past the end of the runway into a ravine near the 401 (the busiest highway in the country), the tail and wings fell apart, and it burst into flames. Some passengers

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1122724153030127082005-07-30T07:48:00.000-04:002005-07-30T07:49:13.036-04:00

British police have arrested 4 men who they believe carried out the attempted bombings on the London tube and bus two weeks ago. Heavily armed police captured three of the suspects in West London, and the fourth man was caught in Rome, Italy.On Friday however another man was gunned down by police in a London subway station. The man was said to have been wearing a heavy coat and ran away from

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1122078615667514612005-07-22T20:29:00.000-04:002005-07-22T20:30:15.673-04:00

I haven't posted in a while, but I've been working a lot and travelling a bit. In that time there have been two terrorist attacks on the London subways. The first, two weeks ago, killed dozens and injured hundreds. The second which happened today only caused one casualty. It seems, thankfully, that the detonators the attackers used failed to go off. It could have been much worse. Since the bombs

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1119494287330349802005-06-22T19:45:00.000-04:002005-07-05T07:31:26.176-04:00

Over the last few years, and especially since the heated debates over the war in Iraq and the US elections, celebrities seem to have become more and more politically involved. Many celebrities have become outspoken in expressing their political affiliations and opinions. I think that's just fine because I certainly support expressing opinions, political or otherwise. Even still, I don't think

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1118805352191160172005-06-14T22:39:00.000-04:002005-06-14T23:15:52.233-04:00

So the big news is that the G8 have decided to give total debt relief to 18 heavily indebted nations.1 This includes removing all IMF and World Bank debts and loans that are owed by the countries (which include South Africa). The relief, however, hinges upon the country meeting certain democratic standards and removing corruption. Also, it does not include money for development and aid. But since

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1118007979721376402005-06-05T15:33:00.000-04:002005-06-05T17:46:19.760-04:00

Bernard Landry has decided to resign as leader of the PQ. This surprising move comes after he won 75% support in a confidence motion against his leadership. Unlike Martin, who only won the slimmest of majorities for the budget vote, Landry felt this wasn't enough to stay on as leader. That is, however, very low in comparison to the amount of support other PQ leaders have had. This deals a blow to

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1117415771131365782005-05-29T19:59:00.000-04:002005-06-01T00:20:52.983-04:00

Amnesty International released its annual report on human rights and there was a fair amount of attention given to US violations in places like Guantanamo and the other military prisons. The report condemned the US administration for holding people without charge, without communication and in miserable conditions including torturing them. The Nobel Prize winning NGO went as far as saying

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1116653722589034242005-05-20T23:48:00.000-04:002005-05-22T22:57:56.970-04:00

Canadian politics for the past week or so has completely revolved around Belinda Stronach. Paul Martin's Liberal government has survived a hard fought non-confidence vote from the Conservative and Bloc parties. It was a real squeaker,1 passed by just one tie breaking vote from the Speaker of the House. A key vote was cast for the budget (which is the confidence motion they were voting on) was

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1115944897527542132005-05-12T20:25:00.000-04:002005-05-15T21:37:25.480-04:00

I've been thinking about a lot of stuff lately so this post will be a little scatter-brained, but that's why it's my blog. Please note that some of the stuff is a little disturbing, fair warning.The opposition in the House of Commons has settled down a bit. Harper and the opposition members were disrupting the progress of parliament since they tried to hold a confidence vote, which the Liberals

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1115688357707047622005-05-09T20:42:00.000-04:002005-05-09T21:26:29.383-04:00

Blair won another majority in his fresh, new third term in office. No sooner had he finished giving his thanks that members of the Labour party began calling for his resignation. Labour won a majority, but far less of a majority than it previously held, indicative of a loss of confidence in the Labour leadership. The loss was picked up mostly by the Liberal Democrat party and the Conservative

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1115170439392751682005-05-03T20:48:00.000-04:002005-05-03T21:34:30.540-04:00

The future of Paul Martin's Liberal government is up in the air. Martin's tv gambit seems to have given him a bounce in the polls; apparently knowing that an election will be called once the Gomery inquiry is over was good enough for Canada's voters. I don't know that this really instills any more faith in Martin, but waiting for an election early next year is ok for the election wary populace.

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1114358577903519712005-04-24T12:02:00.000-04:002005-04-24T12:07:20.213-04:00

Prime Minister Martin made a televised address the other night. The PM addressing the public on tv hasn't been done since Jean Chretien appealed to Quebecers before the last referendum. Martin made a plea to Canadians to hold off on an election call until after the final report from the Gomery inquiry. He said that within 30 days of the report being released an election will be called.1

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1113781375098389152005-04-17T18:56:00.000-04:002005-04-19T19:55:46.446-04:00

The House in the US has passed a bill, that's now waiting for Senate approval, that institutes major changes to US bankruptcy laws. The bill is supposed to hold people who declare bankruptcy more accountable, but in reality it will make it much harder for people to declare bankruptcy and be protected from creditors. The bill predominantly affects those that file for Chapter 7 where your assets

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1113392571699942812005-04-13T07:42:00.000-04:002005-04-13T21:35:03.770-04:00

Jalal Talabani is the new President of Iraq. This is supposed to be a big deal because he's the first non-Arab to be the head of state of an Arab country.1 The position is largely ceremonial but, also being the leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Talabani can have significant influence on the Kurdish independence movement. This would of course be worrisome to Turkey2 which, along with a

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1112480819168487352005-04-02T16:49:00.000-05:002005-04-02T17:26:59.170-05:00

Canada and the European Union have raised retaliatory taxes against certain US imports. The move is in reaction to the Byrd amendment, named after Democrat Robert Byrd,1 that gives duties collected from anti-dumping laws on foreign companies to US companies. The US law was condemned as illegal by the WTO and the US trading partners and relatively minor retaliatory duties have been instated on

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1111371025215111692005-03-20T17:03:00.000-05:002005-03-26T22:14:14.440-05:00

In the course of my regular surfing I came across a funny description of the current Bush international policy plan, that is, an "Orwellian nightmare". I can see what he means with the US international face being Condi Rice, John Bolton, Wolfowitz and of course Bush himself. But I don't think this type of positioning of hard right wingers is totally new. Most of the key players in Bush's cabinet

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1111240355686442832005-03-19T08:52:00.000-05:002005-03-19T08:52:35.690-05:00

The blockades in Bolivia have ended as Carlos Mesa agreed to raise taxes on exported natural gas. Rather than the 18% he initially proposed, or the 50% demanded by the populace, the tax will instead be set at 32%.1 Bolivia's energy minister has called the increased tax 'economic suicide'. With news of the tax change the opposition leader Evo Morales asked his supporters to end the blockades.

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1111033236103957452005-03-16T22:36:00.000-05:002005-03-16T23:21:41.253-05:00

Two men have been found not guilty in the longest, most protracted trial in Canadian history. Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri were both acquitted on charges of being involved with the 1985 bombing of Air India flight 182. The verdict, which was some 20 years in the making, crushed the hopes for justice for families of the victims. During the course of the trial there were many calls

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1110865450708030832005-03-14T23:49:00.000-05:002005-03-15T00:51:56.923-05:00

Documents were recently released that show US intelligence officials knew about the planned coup against President Hugo Chavez in April 2002.1 This was widely expected anyway because of the strong support the elite oil managers in Venezuela get from the US. The US also came out strongly in support of the coup after it happened only to get egg on their face when Chavez triumphantly returned.

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1110741480217621112005-03-13T10:13:00.000-05:002005-03-13T15:55:21.740-05:00

This past week in Lebanon there was a massive pro-Syrian demonstration organized by Hezbollah with some 500,000 people attending in Beirut. The old guard of Syrian allied government officials seem to be taking hold again as well. There is, however, another anti-Syrian demonstration planned and the majority of people still want more independence from Syria. Generally, from what I understand,

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1110123608410075562005-03-06T09:55:00.000-05:002005-03-06T10:41:16.630-05:00

President Bush on Saturday morning called Prime Minister Martin and took a conciliatory tone.1 He wants to move past the disagreement on BMD and on to bettering relations between the two countries. While the US Senate just voted and passed a ban on Canadian beef imports, Bush said he'd use his presidential veto to strike it down. Perhaps they've realized that it doesn't really matter what the

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1110066421053276422005-03-05T18:40:00.000-05:002005-03-05T18:47:01.053-05:00

I watched The Daily Show a day or so ago and John Stewart used the NAMBLA reference again. So while just surfing around, out of curiosity I wanted to check if any NAMBLA urls were being used. I was surprised to find .org actually is! And it's not a South Park fansite (as I would have thought), it's actually a freaking NAMBLA site! The site looks pretty shabby so I thought it might be someone's

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1109534897567592662005-02-27T14:57:00.000-05:002005-02-27T18:32:17.650-05:00

Gmail and Hotmail have been really crappy lately. Hotmail in particular for the past week or two, but Gmail in the past couple of days as well. I figure it's probably growing pains or something since Hotmail has greatly expanded it's services and Gmail has massively increased the number of available invites. But it's terribly frustrating logging in and then getting an error message when I try to

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1109486579974107592005-02-27T00:55:00.000-05:002005-02-27T01:43:08.483-05:00

There was a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv a couple of days ago. I belive 4 Israelis were killed and a dozen or more injured. This was really testing the patience of the Israeli military, though they've come out publicly saying they feel it's most likely the Syrian based Islamic Jihad movement. Though it does seem to have caused an impasse in some military talks between the Israelis and Palestinians

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1109041112152263782005-02-21T20:15:00.000-05:002005-02-21T21:58:32.156-05:00

Internationally a few things of interest happened lately, there was of course the Iraqi election outcome, but I'll get to that in a minute. In North Korea, Kim Jong Il's government has confirmed to the world that it possesses nuclear weapons. In response, the United States has razed every city in the small nation, completely obliterating it... well not really. They're instead continuing the 6

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1108530972297941382005-02-15T19:15:00.000-05:002005-02-16T23:39:41.480-05:00

Former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri was assassinated yesterday in a car bomb attack in Beirut. Hariri, a billionaire construction magnate who was good friends with several world leaders and had close relations with the ruling house of Saud in Saudi Arabia, was Prime Minister of Lebanon twice, and resigned both times over disputes with Syria. Lebanon is supposedly an independent country,

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1108223023858307502005-02-12T11:15:00.000-05:002005-02-12T11:58:18.286-05:00

Just when you think the Republican party can't get any more shameless they come along and dazzle you with their brazen stupidity. Jeff Gannon a conservative reporter, and apparent rookie in the White House press core, shot to attention when he was given the opportunity to ask questions to the president and was asked to appear in a federal grand jury investigating the exposure of Valerie Plame,

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1108227420479529912005-02-12T10:44:00.000-05:002005-02-12T11:57:58.760-05:00

The Walmart chain has decided to close its store in Jonquiere, Quebec. This also happens to be the only fully unionized Walmart store in North America (the employees joined the United Food and Commercial Workers Canada 6 months before). Walmart representatives claim that they cannot sustain the store profitably with the demands the union is asking for so it must close. The union has asked for

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1107911264138993052005-02-08T19:23:00.000-05:002005-02-08T20:09:17.323-05:00

A cease fire was agreed to by Ariel Sharon and Mahmoud Abbas. While the leaders were in Egypt they managed to negotiate a cease fire, which Hamas promptly said it was not bound by it. But I'm not certain how long the cease fire will last since just last week the Israeli government seized land in Jerusalem using some decades old law.1 If Sharon's government keeps talking about peace while taking

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1107136942385327742005-01-30T19:44:00.000-05:002005-01-31T23:20:13.623-05:00

The Iraqi electoral polls have closed and the day came off without a hitch. Sure there were a couple of small explosions but, compared with the regular level of escalating violence, it was comparitively quiet. There were reportedly 10 suicide bombs, but that was still less than the normal level before the election. And turnout was apparently good... Reaction from people about the election was

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1106893397978659562005-01-28T01:23:00.000-05:002005-01-28T22:17:58.523-05:00

There's been some speculation about covert operations the US is conducting in Iran. A lot of focus has been put on Iran as the next target for freedomization.1 The nuclear weapons program has apparently been put on hold thanks to that agreement with the EU, but Iran is continuing it's nuclear power programs (which is what the US has been covertly investigating). When this was brought up however,

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1106621509921900502005-01-24T21:51:00.000-05:002005-01-28T01:33:29.980-05:00

Some of the details about President Bush's visit to Canada were revealed recently; specifically about his insistence on Canada cooperating with ballistic missile defense. Martin was hard pressed trying to get Bush to understand the majority of Canadians don't want ballistic missile defense. A little more disconcerting is that the Liberal government was quite willing to go along with missile

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1106428622906731642005-01-22T11:40:00.000-05:002005-01-22T16:17:02.906-05:00

The Indonesian military has reportedly been attacking, and has killed, a number of people in Sumatra. The attacks were said be to against rebel fighters. This is why they've been trying to keep the movements of journalists and foreigners under strict control. But without foreigners and journalists in the area, the only source they have is the Indonesian military and given its history, that's not

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1105901984949611282005-01-16T10:28:00.000-05:002005-01-16T14:10:21.573-05:00

The amount collected for tsunami relief globally is over $5 billion now. It's amazing that so much money can be found for donations in such a short time. Though, frankly, it's a little disheartening that all the other crisis that were going on before the tsunami which are still happening now, such as Darfur (+100,000 dead), Iraq (+100,000 dead), starvation in North Korea (2 million dead in 5

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1104787820230616682005-01-03T14:36:00.000-05:002005-01-03T16:30:20.230-05:00

The death toll in southern Asia because of the quake/tsunami disaster has apparently gone past 150,000 and will continue to rise. Thousands were lost in southern India and Thailand, and hundreds in the East coast in a couple of African countries. But worst hit were Sri Lanka, which lost close to 30,000 and Indonesia where the current count in Sumatra is somewhere between 80,000 and 100,000 dead.

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1104265490683970472004-12-28T14:09:00.000-05:002004-12-28T15:24:50.683-05:00

The tsunami that struck in southern Asia has claimed some 24,000 lives so far. Caused by a massive earthquake off the coast of Aceh region in Indonesia, the wave generated even reached Somalia though there wasn't the same level of devastation there that there was in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand. The quake was the most powerful in 40 years, a 9 on the richter scale. The massive

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1103781573643205112004-12-23T01:25:00.000-05:002004-12-23T00:59:33.643-05:00

It looks like I was very tired when I wrote my last post. I'm a little surprised it's even as comprehensible as it is... but anyway... I've had discussions with people about over population and famine across the world. I tell people that I don't think there is any food shortage in the world; that the problem is with difficult and unequal distribution. Some seem to have a hard time believing that.

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1103698604839479092004-12-22T01:56:00.000-05:002004-12-22T01:57:40.410-05:00

Libyan dictator Momar Khadafi is enjoying his new found popularity among western leaders. With his agreement to stop nuclear weapons research and renouncing terrorism, the leader of the oil-rich country is being courted by many leaders including Canada's own Paul Martin. Speaking of dictators, Pakistani dictator/president Musharraf has decided he will go back on his word and maintain his position

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1102274793233705452004-12-05T14:23:00.000-05:002004-12-07T23:54:30.630-05:00

Some interesting information I've learned in the past little while concerning some contentious contemporary issues. The dispute in Ukraine has died down a little since the non-confidence vote passed and another runoff has been called. Yushenko has asked his supporters to continue their demonstration in the streets of Kiev for the time being to make sure the runoff goes through as planned. While

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1101947580336436342004-12-01T19:30:00.000-05:002004-12-01T19:33:00.336-05:00

Today is World AIDS Day, but before I get into that a few items to cover. Tom Ridge resigned as chief of Homeland Defense. The move was widely expected so no surprise there. Bush is also visiting Canada for a couple of days. He was received in Ottawa with some chilly weather, and a lot of protesters. Bush happily quipped about this saying there were still plenty of people waving at him with all

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1101702902911062682004-11-28T22:55:00.000-05:002004-11-28T23:35:36.096-05:00

I've noticed recently that I haven't been listening to as much music I normally do. That is, over the past few months I've rarely listened to anything but news in the car and I don't have any music playing while I'm working on my computer or laptop at home. This may have something to do with my losing interest in a genre I had been listening to recently; but I don't really want to go into that...

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1101535685798718342004-11-27T01:08:00.000-05:002004-11-27T01:10:45.203-05:00

The people of Ukraine are up in arms over the fraud perpetrated during their federal election. Incumbent Prime Minister Victor Yanukovych apparently won the crooked against opposition candidate Victor Yushenko. The improprieties by the incumbent party have sparked revolt in the country and sympathy from Ukranian protesters in western countries as well as condemnation from many in the

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1101189520992852582004-11-23T01:34:00.000-05:002004-11-23T00:58:40.993-05:00

Just a couple of news items about Iraq that I wanted to mention. The first is about new IP patent protection laws that have been introduced to bring GM foods to the Iraqi people. This is part of an aggressive drive to turn the Iraqi people into a captive market for the genetically modified and patented crops produced by big American bio-tech companies like Monsanto; crops that cannot be planted,

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1101089985945019682004-11-21T20:52:00.000-05:002004-12-01T19:39:25.156-05:00

A few things have happened in the past few days so there's a lot to cover. US forces say they have broken the core of the resistance with their successful invasion of Fallujah, forgive me if I'm a little skeptical. Colin Powell resigned from his position and was replaced by National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice. It was also announced a little while ago that John Ashcroft will be replaced by

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1100225447568575442004-11-11T20:38:00.000-05:002004-11-11T21:14:53.873-05:00

It's Remembrance Day. And Yasser Arafat passed away last night. His funeral will be in in Cairo, Egypt, where he spent some of his youth. There is a mixed reaction to his passing among different groups. The majority of the Palestinian people are upset with his passing but many are hopeful that it will bring a new opportunity and a new era of leadership for them. Some in Israel share this

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1099888301782530662004-11-07T23:16:00.000-05:002004-11-07T23:34:01.143-05:00

So as everyone knows George Bush was re-elected last week. Some were surprised at how effectively the Republican party was able to get the vote out among the conservative Christian right. Putting gay marriage amendments on the ballot in several states certainly helps. Others are trying to be optimistic and are suggesting that Bush can be more progressive in the next 4 years since he doesn't have

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1098643883656545672004-11-02T14:50:00.000-05:002004-12-07T23:54:42.086-05:00

So bin Laden released another tape blaming Bush for how horrible the September 11, 2001 attacks turned out. He said he didn't believe the President would abandon 50,000 people in those burning buildings to read about goats to some school children. Makes me wonder, I saw that referenced was in Michael Moore's film Fahrenheit 9/11 (though I'm sure it was mentioned elsewhere), so do terrorists watch

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1098358499097571972004-10-21T07:32:00.000-04:002004-10-24T14:49:05.086-04:00

The US elections draw closer and Bush is once again (slightly) leading in the polls. With just over a week to go it will be a close race. Let us, however, take a look at some of the other elections, recent and upcoming. John Howard was reelected in Australia to an unprecedented fourth term a couple of weeks ago. What was expected to be a close vote turned out to be a strong win for Howard.

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1097993944113980752004-10-17T02:08:00.000-04:002004-10-17T15:19:19.166-04:00

I watched the third debate a couple of nights ago and it went pretty much like the first two. The third debate was about internal policy and the typical issues received attention: health care, education, economy and national defense. The debate was moderated by Bill Schieffer who also moderated the debates in the early 1860s during the start of the civil war. Sorry, I shouldn't joke about his age

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1097359778783959892004-10-09T18:09:00.000-04:002004-10-12T22:30:01.943-04:00

I watched the second debate last night. It was a town hall type setup, citizens from St.Louis, who are supposedly undecided voters, asked questions for President Bush and Senator Kerry. The process was moderated by Charles Gibson. Gibson, at the beginning, made it clear that he had preapproved all the questions, and they were to cut off anyone that asked something else; thus eliminating all

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1096682786847915362004-10-01T21:17:00.000-04:002004-10-01T22:06:26.846-04:00

Ok, so the debates went off pretty much as expected. The first rich guy questioned the actions of the second rich guy. The second rich guy said the first rich guy can't make decisions. But seriously, the main topics of discussion were Iraq, nuclear weapons, North Korea, Iran, and national security; though virtually everything that was said was disingenuous. There were a couple of topics where

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1096591867529323692004-09-30T20:31:00.000-04:002004-09-30T20:51:07.530-04:00

The presidential debate will be starting a little while. I figure I might as well watch them, if nothing else, for the entertainment factor. Generally I can't stand watching Bush speak; something about him just really upsets me. And I don't like getting angry, it makes me rude and irritable and interferes with proper judgement. The debates seem to carry some importance in the outcome of the

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1095988986186560972004-09-23T21:23:00.000-04:002004-09-23T21:28:06.083-04:00

I heard on CBC this morning that no sitting president has ever had as much criticism and venom published against him as the current president Bush has. It's rather indicative of how polarized everything has become. It's probably also why people have actually *asked* me for my thoughts on the current political situation (rather than me offering them and making everyone bored stupid). A lot of the

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1095653338168674282004-09-19T22:21:00.000-04:002004-10-19T00:38:09.776-04:00

I heard an interesting piece on CBC a couple of days about Reuters complaining that the Ottawa Citizen and the National Post (both owned by Canwest Global Communications) have repeatedly changed words in their stories to specifically change the slant and meaning of the story. Moreover, this changing of words was done in accordance with a normal policy at Canwest to change specific words and

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1095214434410433132004-09-14T21:43:00.000-04:002004-09-14T22:13:54.410-04:00

Woohoo! I got a GMail account and Canada won the World Cup. Can this day get any better? Now, to be fair, my Hotmail account has been with me for many years now; almost since Hotmail was first introduced. And, unlike so many others, I don't really get spammed there. I've never put my email on usenet or used it for signing up on spam-lists or websites. It's actually pretty easy to avoid most spam,

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1094471973404243062004-09-06T07:00:00.000-04:002004-09-06T07:59:33.406-04:00

I was talking with someone recently about how we're influenced by our friends or those around us. Some people can certainly be negatively influenced by their friends, picking up negative stereotypes or bad habits. But looking at how I've influenced or been influenced by my friends, I think it has been rather positive. The ones that come to mind first are two the helped me greatly expand my

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1093794094794368922004-08-29T11:01:00.000-04:002004-08-29T11:43:07.906-04:00

I have few friends that I would consider avid readers. I'm not sure I could consider myself an avid reader. While I, and my dad and my brother, are news freaks, reading the news doesn't give you the same experience as reading an interesting book. I definitely used to be an avid reader. In my younger years I would read a lot of books, and I had a penchant for reading big, thick, or difficult books

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1093492416493576922004-08-25T23:53:00.000-04:002004-08-25T23:53:36.493-04:00

Ah the many annoyances of everyday life. When driving there are only a couple of radio stations that I'll listen to, like CBC (our national media organization). Because I like classical music I listen to CBC radio 2, but I also listen to another classical station in the city. The other station, like most radio stations, is supported by ads and sponsors; but this station's ads happen to be

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1092935012089106942004-08-19T09:07:00.000-04:002004-08-19T13:47:58.076-04:00

I saw an interesting op-ed piece in the paper the other day by Gwynne Dyer. While only mentioned in passing, the democratic opposition to mass privatization comment was very interesting. This is something that very key in defining a friendly democracy. And there's a long history of examples to show this. Some recent ones would include US support for Suharto in Indonesia. The Clinton government

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1092171955986159392004-08-10T15:20:00.000-04:002004-08-10T21:01:54.713-04:00

The US House of Representatives passed a bill preventing UN observers from overseeing the presidential elections. There will be some international observers though. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will be watching the elections and publishing a report about them after they happen in November. They also observed the 2002 congressional elections and said that many of

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1091667785840693412004-08-04T18:07:00.000-04:002004-08-04T21:03:05.840-04:00

Chasing the tails of the Democratic Convention in Boston, Tom Ridge and the Bush administration have released news of an imminent terror attack on financial industry locations in the US. They claimed that the release is not politically motivated (yeah right), but it just so happens that the intelligence for this release happens to be 4 years old. It was from before Sept. 11 2001. So why the hell

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1090030548666698402004-07-16T21:40:00.000-04:002004-07-27T11:11:18.760-04:00

Watching just bits of the US election coverage is like watching some circus sideshow. The way utterly banal issues are discussed, and real issues aren't given anything more than typical, superficial mentioning, it simply makes a joke of what they claim is the 'bastion of democracy'. Kerry and Edwards have been referred to, in a disparaging way, as the most liberal senators in office. Now there

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1089352202570167222004-07-09T00:42:00.000-04:002004-09-14T23:01:44.643-04:00

John Kerry announced a couple of days ago his running mate. There's been quite a bit of excitement to the announcement because Kerry hadn't made much noise about his decision until shortly before he announced it. There was also the looming notion that whomever he chose would actually be his second choice since he was originally thought to have asked widely respected Republican senator John McCain

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1088918779908557142004-07-04T01:15:00.000-04:002004-07-04T01:43:46.160-04:00

I saw Fahrenheit 9/11 last weekend. I enjoyed the movie, which follows in the tradition of Moore's Oscar winning "Bowling for Columbine". Of course the movie has received scathing criticism from the republican right wing for its attack on Bush and his actions as President. The film, however, has also received some serious criticism from the far left because of many things it doesn't say. Moore

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1088105709133242542004-06-24T15:13:00.000-04:002004-06-24T16:06:38.980-04:00

Saudi Arabia is offering a one month amnesty for all terrorists to give themselves up. The recent beheading of a South Korean in Iraq, and previously, the killing of an American in Saudi Arabia, have highlited the continuing inability of the armed forces to prevent such attacks. In Saudi Arabia, the US is telling all Americans to leave the country and it has previously said it will pull out

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1083596677234385882004-05-03T11:00:00.000-04:002004-05-03T11:08:50.106-04:00

Interesting news items: US and British soldiers abusing captured Iraqis in the same prison that Baathists abused their captives. Pretty ironic considering that US and British are supposedly the liberators of Iraq. Ted Koppel read out the names of more than 700 US soldiers that died in Iraq during this past invasion. Prime Minister Paul Martin told the US we won't participate in the Bush/

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1082909962023141762004-04-25T12:18:00.000-04:002004-09-19T14:27:44.386-04:00

Created a new blog on Blogger @ Blogspot.

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com