U.S. Moral Authority in the World

Although the US has a black President, the discrimination and subjugation of blacks and other minorities is not over.

You have to travel into the Southern US and you will see more blatant examples of such human rights violations. How can America tell other nations about human rights and democracy given its own past record of slavery and its ongoing human rights violations. Yes Hitler was evil and no one can, or should, condone his atrocities. However, dropping a bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was not any less cruel. Unfortunately it is winners take all and winners are not made accountable. Now look at the atrocities committed in Iraq. Millions of men, women and children perished, millions others are refugees in neighbouring countries and still millions others live in squalor with no proper sanitary conditions or food. Is that the example of human rights and democracy? Similar atrocities are being carried out in Afghanistan and now are being extended to Pakistan. Is that spreading democracy?

Every effort is being made to disarm the Middle East and Iran. But what about arming Israel to the teeth with over 200 nuclear heads and drones. Drones which are regularly used to kill Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. Israel carries out the slaughter of its neighbours at will and takes Palestinian land on a daily basis, destroying their homes and building new settlements. Is that an example of democracy and human rights? To bring peace in the Middle East Israel must be disarmed too.

When US has that kind of brutal history then how can it tell other nations that they are unjust societies. Let justice begin at home. When it comes to the violations of human rights, nationally and internationally, US makes top of the list. As long as that continues we will see no peace. It is a very sad state of affairs. Injustice breeds more injustice.

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Stephen Harper's anticipated trip to China

In the past, Harper made a big deal that he would not meet Chinese leaders because of China's human rights record. Now he wants to follow the example of Barack Obama and visit China. What happened to human rights record now? Also we have joined the big league with the US on the issue of torture. The recent disclosure is that Afghani detainees are routinely tortured when handed over to Afghan authorities by the Canadian military. We can deny all we want, but what how are we going erase the evidence? Our own senior diplomat is saying that such torture exists in Afghanistan. Can we tell other nations now with straight face that their human rights record is not good? The Harper government is not even willing to do any further investigation into such allegations.

"The Canadian government is dismissing calls for a public inquiry into the alleged torture of prisoners handed over by Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.
Defence Minister Peter MacKay defended his government Thursday in light of allegations that detainees were routinely abused.

"There has not been a single, solitary proven allegation of abuse involving a transferred Taliban prisoner by Canadian forces," MacKay said in the House of Commons.

His comments came a day after Richard Colvin, a former senior diplomat with Canada's Afghan mission, dropped a political bombshell on Parliament, alleging that suspects handed over by Canada to Afghan authorities were tortured."

Click here to read the full story/.

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Stephen Harper's Trophies and Awards

What else can one say?

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A Day in China

Stockwell Day has no problem visiting China now. Not long ago, he and his boss Harper were harping about the poor human rights record in China. Now, suddenly, it looks that the violation of rights slate has been wiped clean in order to increase trade with China. After all, China has over 1.5 billion population and is the largest country in the world by population. Also, it is a fast growing economy. For Harper and Day, now that there are hard economic times, it is time to set aside the human rights facade.

Who are they kidding? Does anyone believe that Harper and his underlings believe in human rights and that they are champions of human rights? It was some ego problem Harper had when he first ran into the Chinese leader. Yeah they are "spreading human rights in Afganistan" and if you believe that I will sell you the CN Tower. Sorry Flaherty is already selling that, so I will sell you Confederation Bridge which links New Brunswick and PEI.

Then of course when Harper was Right/Wrong Honourable leader of the opposition, he full-heartedly supported the Iraq war. That must be a record breaking human rights promotion, over 100,000 Iraqis killed and the mayhem has not ended yet. Then more recently Harper backed Israel to carry on murder and mayhem in Gaza. If they are champions of human rights, then who needs humanity. I suppose if the Tar Sands continue to develop at the current speed then Harper, and now Iggy, have contributed towards ending humanity. Yeah human rights in abundance – talking about charades.

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George W. Bush's expected reception in China

I am disappointed with my American friends, they are objecting to Bush attending the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics because China has a poor human rights record. Of course, there are many serious human rights violations in China, I would not dispute this point. But the bigger question that must be asked is, what kind of human rights record does George W. Bush have, and shouldn't he be held accountable for it?

Bush lied to Americans, misled them about Iraq so he could carry out an illegal invasion. Now tens of thousands (maybe even hundreds of thousands) of Iraqis are dead, with many more displaced. Four thousand American troops have died in Iraq. All because of this illegal invasion.

Mayhem and murder continues in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Given all this, can Bush preach to the Chinese about human rights when he hardly has a human rights record of his own?

Furthermore, Bush repeatedly disregarded the Constitution of the United States over the course of his Presidency as he ignored the seperation of powers created by the founding fathers. He also disregarded habeus corpus for detainees kept in Iraq and at Guantanamo Bay (apparantely there are also detainees being kept on ships in deplorable conditions).

Dennis Kucinich and Robert Wexler, both members of Congress, have rightly asked that Bush be impeached, citing a record that is nothing short of criminal. I one-hundred percent agree with these members of Congress and I would strongly urge my American friends to take cues from these two individuals and protest against the criminal and mass murderer who calls himself President of the United States.

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Harper the King!

Canada turns crucial corner
Thomas Walkom
NATIONAL AFFAIRS COLUMNIST
OTTAWA - Canada is on its way to becoming a civilized country again. The Supreme Court has ruled that if the government wants to lock up people indefinitely without charge, it has to at least let them muster a defence. Click Here to Read More.

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