Let's go quickly
through the Irving press.
Section A news is
small town boosterism, and village gossip. As for editorial and
commentary, only two of the columns have anything to say. Norbert
raises questions about District Education Councils. He doesn't have
answers – but at least he raises questions that should have been
raised a long time ago.
There's also an
excellent column by a Law professor at University of Ottawa arguing
that Canada should hugely increase its health care spending for
refugees. So it should. Quite apart from the obvious requirement of
human compassion, we have helped the United States to create this
horror so that oil billionaires can get richer.
Oh, I know, we could
hold a special service at that temple to Christ, the Irving Chapel.
And we could pass around the hat to all those enjoying coffee and
fellowship in the barn. And then we could use the collection to send
all those refugees subscriptions to the Irving press.
Canada&World has
only one story worth reading. It's on B7. “Climate, evolution,
shorten bumblebee's tongues”. It seems that climate change has
destroyed certain types of flowers that require long tongues to get
at the pollen. So the bees have evolved to shorten their tongues to adapt to the flowers that are replacing the old ones.
Of course, the story
isn't true. We know that because the oil industry has assured us
there is no climate change.
There's a long story
on the Pope's visit to Washington. But it doesn't say much. In
particular, it goes light on the pope's condemnation of capitalism as
anti-Christian. Well, that just goes to show you, doesn't it?
Obviously, he's never seen the Christian purity of Irving Oil Ltd.
Then there's the
news that wasn't in the Irving press.
In Saudi Arabia, a
boy of 17 (and so a minor) may or may not have taken part in a riot.
We don't know because the trial was secret. And no
defence lawyers was permitted. Under international law, a person
cannot be executed if the killing was committed when he was a minor.
(And, I've said, there's no evidence he killed anybody, anyway. His
greatest offence may be that his father is a political critic of the
King of Saudi Arabia.
But he has been
sentenced to death by beheading, and then crucified for public
display. This is in the country of our good friends of Saudi Arabia,
the same ones the U.S. is supplying with bombs to drop on some of
the poorest people in the world and is also helping to starve the others to death. Onward, Christian soldiers….
Even by the
standards of capitalism, drug companies rank among the slimiest.
Here are some recent cases. From the start, drug companies have
claimed they face high costs in developing drugs. For the most part,
though, drug companies are liars. They feed off the research done by
university teachers – usually at minimal cost or no cost whatever to the drug
companies. Lately, we're seeing jumps to price increases like the one of 5,000% in one day – and that for a drug that has no research
costs at all because it was developed over sixty years ago.
Often these are
drugs essential to save lives, which means some people will have to
pay tens of millions of dollars just to stay alive.
The whole industry
is a corrupt and corrupting racket. When U.S. drug companies sell
drugs as medical aid to suffering countries and it is paid for by the
government, they normally demand full retail price for every pill
sent.
This is capitalism
at its finest. This is what it's all about. Pope Francis is not just
talking from a cloud. Capitalism is vicious, selfish and, despite the
stories, it does not create jobs. Instead, it imposes poverty all
over the world.
Note that all the
stories above come from CBC news which has the best and most honest
news coverage in North America. That's the one that Harper is eager
to destroy.
Note that one of the
above companies is suing Canada for trying to lower the cost of a
wildly overpriced drug. If you think that's bad, just wait till you
see the Trans-Pacific Trade Partnership Harper is working on. That
will enable any capitalist to sue the government for anything – such as environmental protection, minimum wage laws..... They will be
permitted to forever destroy lands and waters as much as they like –
just as they are doing in Central America and Africa.
Capitalism has no room for social wellbeing or human life. That's why
the world has tens of millions of refugees and millions murdered or
orphaned. This is reflected in the site below.
We often think of
the past century as being one in which evil forces arose (Naziism,
fascism, communism, etc.); and that we fought off those evil forces.
That's not really what happened at all.
The two world wars
were the products of the collapse of the west European empires, and
the maneuvering of U.S. capitalists to replace them. And they have
succeeded with the westernized parts of those European empires, parts
such as Canada and Australia. Britain, itself, is now a part of the American empire.
Communism was never
a factor in all this because it never really existed, anywhere. Both
Russia and China tried to establish states in which governments ruled
(though without democracy). Both failed. Now, both are capitalist
states which are as cruel and greedy as all capitalist states.
The techniques of
Hitler in torture, domestic espionage, propaganda and thought
control are thriving in Canada and the
U.S. today. And, in the same way, our political, business, and
journalism leaders win our support by drawing on our bigotry. In reality, there
is no difference between Hitler killing Jews and us killing Muslims.
And, if Hitler's
Germany had citizenship ceremonies, you can bet that no man would be
allowed to wear a yarmulka (skull cap) while reciting the oath.
Freedom and
democracy? They're long since gone in the U.S. And they are
threatened species in Canada.
Hitler, Mussolini
and Emperor Hirohito were not interruptions in what we thought was a
rise in democracy and freedom. They were a part of the same process
we are living through today. Fascism, Naziism and imperialism with
their mass murder, social destruction and gross cruelties are very
alive today. The difference is that we call it capitalism. That is
why the pope says capitalism is unChristian.
That's why I think
he's right.
And that's why I
avoid unChristian places like the Irving chapel no matter what its
special music might be – even if it's the Irvings playing the
service's special music in four-part harmony by farting.
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