tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70760864847147202882024-03-18T20:53:03.037-06:00Al-truismA slave cannot speak his thoughts;
a sage knows when to speak them.Al-truisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469718360794002281noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076086484714720288.post-30178017055584270982014-02-08T00:28:00.000-07:002019-02-28T19:52:58.087-07:00Iceland Nod in Superbowl Spot Subtly SubversiveThe Tim Tebow T-Mobile Superbowl Commercial may not just be a great commercial, but subtly subversive as well.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/by_azY3ELnM" width="400"></iframe>
At approximately 48 seconds into the 1 minute version of the commercial, Mr. Tebow's last words are, <i>"Bottom line...contracts hold you back! Am I right Iceland? You know what I'm talkin' about."</i><br />
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I ask myself, <i>"What are you talking about Tim? And what does Iceland have to do with American football?"</i> But if you ask what Iceland has to do with contracts holding them back, that is an entirely different matter.<br />
<br />
After the Global financial crisis in 2007-2008, Iceland experienced its own financial crisis due to an overexposure of three of their banks to debt. Though similar to the U.S. sub-prime mortgage crisis, where many private U.S. banks were bailed out by legislation imposed on taxpayers, Iceland's <a href="http://guardianlv.com/2013/12/icelanders-overthrow-government-and-rewrite-constitution-after-banking-fraud-no-word-from-us-media/" target="_blank">solution</a> was quite different.<br />
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Though privatized in 2003, Landsbanki served as Iceland's de facto central bank. Attracted by higher interest rates, a wave of foreign investors (primarily English and Dutch) transferred millions into Landsbanki's <i>Icesave</i> online savings accounts. However, on October 7, 2008, being unable to refinance debt, Landsbanki collapsed.<br />
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On two separate occasions, backing vetos by their <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%93lafur_Ragnar_Gr%C3%ADmsson" target="_blank">President</a>, Iceland's citizens voted to reject their government's bailout proposals for Landsbanki and its foreign creditors. Commenting on this in an address on Iceland's National Day, <a href="http://eng.forsaetisraduneyti.is/minister/sdg-speeches/nr/7626" target="_blank">Prime Minister Mr Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson remarked</a>, <i>"Icelanders, as descendants of the Vikings, are highly individualistic
and have difficulty putting up with authorities, let alone oppression.
This was clearly demonstrated in the Icesave dispute, in which the
people <b>rejected an agreement</b> it considered unfair. This position was
later upheld by an international court, which showed that the people's
sense of justice was a reliable indicator to follow."</i><br />
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In light of this, Tim Tebow's nod to Iceland is brilliant, if not a little subversive.<i> </i>And thanks to T-Mobile USA, he was provided with a huge Superbowl soapbox.<br />
<a href="http://eng.forsaetisraduneyti.is/minister/sdg-speeches/nr/7626" target="_blank"><br /></a>Al-truisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469718360794002281noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076086484714720288.post-3927598732431506482011-04-02T17:52:00.005-06:002011-04-02T18:33:05.644-06:00Are government microwave mind-control tests causing TV presenters' brains to melt down?Yes, I know yesterday was April Fools day. But I am not sure there isn't something to this very unusual article from the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1372538/Are-government-microwave-mind-control-tests-causing-TV-presenters-brains-melt-down.html">Daily Mail</a>.Al-truisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469718360794002281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076086484714720288.post-89844483557632244222010-12-29T11:06:00.001-07:002015-03-13T19:28:15.955-06:00Ghandi on truth.<i>"An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it. Truth stands, even if there be no public support. It is self sustained."</i><br />
- Mahatma Ghandi, <i>Young India 1924-1926</i> (1927), p. 1285Al-truisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469718360794002281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076086484714720288.post-32110116023704439732010-06-10T21:08:00.000-06:002010-06-10T21:09:43.056-06:00Churchill Quote<span style="font-style:italic;">"Men stumble over the truth from time to time, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened."</span>Al-truisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469718360794002281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076086484714720288.post-9772392724349041912010-05-06T04:20:00.009-06:002010-12-29T11:11:31.765-07:00Sticky quote<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh78RtntE001-GO4oUayKAjfnjFLTQqhzeC0WQG7-zgkG11xHyqoJFwpGRfwT1ShtBflrj8xKyKof8GYbRtMFNO7hv1vjvHeFXYME-ll9ACYeOZhAfEu41ht28Jcx8UMw_P8PAIo4xMQqk/s1600/DSCF3045.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 166px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh78RtntE001-GO4oUayKAjfnjFLTQqhzeC0WQG7-zgkG11xHyqoJFwpGRfwT1ShtBflrj8xKyKof8GYbRtMFNO7hv1vjvHeFXYME-ll9ACYeOZhAfEu41ht28Jcx8UMw_P8PAIo4xMQqk/s200/DSCF3045.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468103367420661506" border="0" /></a><br />I found this sticker on a light standard next to a bus stop. It is a quote on truth by the journalist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._L._Mencken">H.L. Mencken</a>, so I felt it appropriate to post it here. In case you can't read it clearly, it says:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"The truth, indeed, is something that mankind, for some mysterious reason, instinctively dislikes. Every man who tries to tell it is unpopular, and even when, by the sheer strength of his case, he prevails, he is put down as a scoundrel."</span><br /><br />Further research on his writing located this other quote on truth:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"Truth would quickly cease to be stranger than fiction, once we got as used to it."</span><br /><br />This scoundrel said some interesting stuff.Al-truisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469718360794002281noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076086484714720288.post-76917223832977987162010-03-25T06:24:00.000-06:002014-08-16T23:35:05.719-06:00Paul Craig Roberts on Truth and Liberty<a href="http://www.vdare.com/roberts/100324_truth.htm">"Truth Has Fallen and Has Taken Liberty With It"</a><br />The most recent column from Paul Craig Roberts is germane to the theme of my blog so I have linked to it for your benefit. This is not the first time I've linked to one of his columns. <span style="font-style:italic;">(See <a href="http://al-truism.blogspot.com/2007/01/new-dark-age.html">"A New Dark Age?"</a>)</span><br />However, the appearance of the word "Good-bye" after the article's title did not escape my notice. The following video offers a explanation:<br /><br /><object width="400" height="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QDNLDXQdlBQ&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_detailpage&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/QDNLDXQdlBQ&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_detailpage&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="400" height="300"></embed></object>Al-truisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469718360794002281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076086484714720288.post-28812911280123766142010-01-08T22:00:00.001-07:002010-10-05T21:21:44.317-06:00Wiebo Ludwig's ArrestToday the news media reported that environmental activist (some say eco-terrorist) Wiebo Ludwig, was arrested by the RCMP but has not yet been criminally charged related to the EnCana pipeline bombings near Dawson Creek, BC. Paul Moreau, a lawyer who has represent Wiebo in the past, expected him to be charged with extortion. While Wiebo is in custody, <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=aSoZ.sFoa2TI">Bloomberg</a> reports that 30 RCMP have been granted an unprecedented 5 day search warrant of his farm near Hythe, AB.<br /><br />The suggestion of his lawyer that Wiebo will be charged with extortion, rather than a charge more directly related to the destruction of EnCana's property sounds like the RCMP are on a five day fishing expedition. Watch for the RCMP to find "bomb making materials" on the Trickle Creek farm (e.g. fertilizer, bleach, kerosene.) Also, don't be surprised if the police find a firearm on the property, which they will attempt to connect to his alleged extortion in order to guarantee a minimum 5 years sentence.<br /><br />The charge of <a href="http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/laws/stat/rsc-1985-c-c-46/latest/rsc-1985-c-c-46.html#346.-1">extortion</a> in the Criminal Code states:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">346. (1) Every one commits extortion who, without reasonable justification or excuse and with intent to obtain anything, by threats, accusations, menaces or violence induces or attempts to induce any person, whether or not he is the person threatened, accused or menaced or to whom violence is shown, to do anything or cause anything to be done.</span><br /><br />If charged with extortion, the Crown will attempt to prove that the EnCana bomber was induced by Wiebo to commit his crime. Watch for the Crown to produce threatening letters from an unknown person, (perhaps with intimate details of the crime) that they will claim directly or indirectly implicates Wiebo as being the inspiration for the bombings. The nature of the charge of extortion may allow for blunt offhanded accusations of Wiebo (whom I know does not mince words), along the hypothetical lines of "oil companies like EnCana have been hurting people and our environment for years," and "it might take more bombings to wake up this industry," to be considered the incitement necessary to convict him of this offense.<br /><br />Speaking from my acquaintance with Mr. Ludwig, I have no reservation about assuming his innocence prior to a trial. Wiebo has become far more sophisticated in his activism, choosing the pen and tongue over the sword since his previous criminal conviction. I just hope the criminal justice system won't interpret his occasional lack of tact and diplomacy as an incitement to violence worthy of an extortion conviction.Al-truisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469718360794002281noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076086484714720288.post-27402139768845107892009-12-14T21:09:00.001-07:002010-12-29T11:13:57.704-07:00Truth"<span style="font-style: italic;">In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.</span>"<br />- George OrwellAl-truisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469718360794002281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076086484714720288.post-9342620090775621612009-12-12T11:00:00.000-07:002009-12-12T11:27:34.140-07:00Google's flawed "AlGoreithm"When you start entering a search term into Google's standard search page, Google will display a list of words or phrases with the most "hits" using those letters. For example, if you enter "w-a-t-e-r-g", Google will return suggested search terms like "watergeeks" "water glass" and "watergate". Strangely however, if you enter the letters "c-l-i-m-a-t-e-g", Google will suggesting words like "climateguard" (27,300 hits) and "climatemp" (25,000 hits) while avoiding the term "climategate" (>14,000,000 hits). You don't suppose the anomalous behavior of this AlGoreithm has anything to do with Al Gore being a Senior Adviser to Google?Al-truisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469718360794002281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076086484714720288.post-39592719852916804062009-12-07T23:28:00.000-07:002009-12-08T00:04:46.879-07:00Bert Rutan QuoteAt the Experimental Aircraft Association's EAA Airventure 2009 Oshkosh Conference, the famous aerospace engineer, and designer of <span style="font-style:italic;">SpaceShipOne</span> expressed his views on cap-and-trade:<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">“...if someone is aggressively selling a technical product whose merits are dependent on complex experimental data, he is likely lying. That is true whether the product is an airplane or a Carbon Credit."</span>Al-truisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469718360794002281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076086484714720288.post-81708605003353385472009-12-05T09:25:00.000-07:002010-03-27T02:53:39.832-06:00CBC Documentary "The Unofficial Story"For couple of years now, I have been acquainted with some subversive people. These people, often labeled "truthers," reject the official explanation of what happened on September 11, 2001. They believe that the evidence on 9/11 points to a controlled demolition of the three World Trade Center towers that collapsed that day. To make matters worse, these people suggest that in order for this to have happened, factions within the U.S. Government had foreknowledge of the events of 9/11 and were complicit in their unfolding. An "inside job" if you will. This is what a recent CBC Fifth Estate documentary calls "<a href="http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/2009-2010/the_unofficial_story/">The Unofficial Story.</a>" Those familiar with only the "official" story should watch this documentary. <br />If, after your own personal investigation of the unofficial story, you agree that 9/11 isn't what we've been led to believe, you'll never look at "official" explanations the same way. Your sense of justice will demand that lies be exposed, and that the real truth be told. Then, like me, you'll be called a "truther" too.<br /><br /><object height="240" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/TkYlbpS-vVI&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/TkYlbpS-vVI&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="240" width="320"></embed></object><br /><object width="320" height="240"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/V4xhrJyKGQ8&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/V4xhrJyKGQ8&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="320" height="320"></embed></object><br /><object width="320" height="240"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/femgO-ZYDm0&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/femgO-ZYDm0&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="320" height="240"></embed></object><br /><object width="320" height="240"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qjxrGUujXVc&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qjxrGUujXVc&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="320" height="240"></embed></object><br /><object width="320" height="240"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3XcaORNbh4A&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3XcaORNbh4A&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="320" height="240"></embed></object>Al-truisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469718360794002281noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076086484714720288.post-71289227546890850512009-11-26T15:29:00.000-07:002009-11-27T22:11:58.818-07:00An Open Letter to Canada's Environment MinisterDear Mr. Prentice,<br /><br />I am very concerned about Canada's participation in the United Nations Climate Change Conference - COP15. With the recent revelation that many key climate scientists involved in the IPCC may have misrepresented data, and ruthlessly squelched opposing perspectives to anthropogenic global warming, I think it is absolutely imperative for Canada to avoid entangling ourselves in this thinly veiled pretext to implement a supra-national framework for global governance called "cap-and-trade."<br /><br />Canada cannot afford to sign treaties on the basis of an unproven "chicken little" scenario, no matter how shrill the shouts of believers in their attempts to silence dissent.<br /><br />Please consider the voices of these scientists before embroiling Canada in a policy created by doomsayers:<br /><a href="http://www.petitionproject.org/">http://www.petitionproject.org/</a><br /><br />Regards,<br />Al CruikshankAl-truisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469718360794002281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076086484714720288.post-37756282517639672362009-02-09T01:15:00.000-07:002009-03-10T16:50:53.248-06:00Oil recovery to be taxpayer subsidized?Back when environmentalists were raising the alarm about a coming ice age and anti-war activists had us fearing a nuclear winter, chemical engineers like my father were engaged in "carbon capture and storage" profitably, for the oil industry.<br /><br />My father worked for a large oil company at the time known as Dresser Industries. Dresser's operations based in Edmonton, like many other oil servicing companies of the time was engaged in an enhanced oil recovery technology pioneered by Royal Dutch Shell in 1972 then called "CO2 injection." Today the industry prefers to call CO2 injection "carbon capture and storage (<a href="http://www.energy.gov.ab.ca/Org/pdfs/FactSheet_CCS.pdf">CCS</a>)."<br /><br />Now that Alberta's provincial government is planning on making <a href="http://www.energy.gov.ab.ca/Org/pdfs/FactSheet_CCS.pdf">CCS</a> a showcase of its Climate Change Strategy, should we expect the <a href="http://alberta.ca/ACN/200807/23960039FB54D-CC21-7234-31C3E853089A1E6C.html">2 billion dollars</a> the Alberta Government is planning on spending to create the infrastructure to pump CO2 to oil fields will come from any additional revenues Albertans anticipated from our new oil royalty regime?<br /><br />Though I am tempted to address the tenuous foundation of <a href="http://www.aps.org/units/fps/newsletters/200807/upload/july08.pdf">anthropogenic global warming</a>, I ask environmentalists why the government is willing to pay for the collection and distribution of CO2, a raw material the oil industry paid for since 1972, so that same industry can extract more combustible hydrocarbons generating more CO2? With "climate change" initiatives like this one, it is no wonder multinational corporations like <a href="http://www.bp.com/genericarticle.do?categoryId=9009017&contentId=7016680">BP</a> are on board.Al-truisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469718360794002281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076086484714720288.post-41353355287609398342008-03-06T23:18:00.000-07:002016-04-18T20:00:41.860-06:00Its Payback Time!Though I consider the jury out on whether Premier Ed Stelmach offers an improvement to the quality of government we will receive here in Alberta, I heartily support his decision to follow the recommendations of the Alberta Royalty Review panel's <a href="http://www.energy.alberta.ca/Org/pdfs/RoyaltyReviewPanelfinal_report.pdf" target="_blank">"<span style="font-style: italic;">Our Fair Share</span>"</a>. Accusations by his critics that the Government was unethical or dishonest by increasing the royalty rates in a time when oil is selling for over $100 a barrel is just so much hot air. Without the transparency implied under Alberta's so-called <a href="http://foip.gov.ab.ca/legislation/act/index.cfm">"<i>Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act</i>"</a> (a classic example of Orwellian doublespeak) to scrutinize the agreements involved, Albertans are truly in the dark as to how much of our resource wealth has been squandered to fire-sale prices, and failures to properly collect. Cloaked by the following section of FOIP, Albertans are forbidden from knowing details:<br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">16(1) The head of a public body <span style="color: rgb(255 , 0 , 0); font-weight: bold;">must refuse to disclose</span> to an applicant information </span><br />
<br />
<dir> <span style="font-size: 85%;">(a) <span style="color: rgb(255 , 0 , 0); font-weight: bold;">that would reveal</span><span style="color: rgb(0 , 0 , 0);"><br /></span></span><br />
<dir><span style="font-size: 85%;">... (ii) <span style="color: rgb(102 , 102 , 0); font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: rgb(255 , 0 , 0);">commercial, financial,</span> </span><span style="color: rgb(0 , 0 , 0);">labour relations, scientific or technical </span><span style="color: rgb(255 , 0 , 0); font-weight: bold;">information of a third party</span><span style="color: rgb(255 , 0 , 0);">, </span></span></dir> <span style="font-size: 85%;">(b) <span style="color: rgb(255 , 0 , 0); font-weight: bold;">that is supplied, explicitly or implicitly, in confidence, and</span> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">(c) <span style="color: rgb(255 , 0 , 0); font-weight: bold;">the disclosure of which could reasonably be expected to</span> </span><br />
<dir> <span style="font-size: 85%;">(i) <span style="color: rgb(255 , 0 , 0); font-weight: bold;">harm significantly the competitive position or interfere significantly with the negotiating position of the third party,</span> </span><br />
<div style="color: rgb(0 , 0 , 0); font-weight: bold;">
<span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">(ii) </span><span style="color: rgb(0 , 0 , 0); font-weight: normal;">result in similar information no longer being supplied to the public body when it is in the public interest that similar information continue to be supplied,</span> </span></div>
<span style="font-size: 85%;">(iii) <span style="color: rgb(255 , 0 , 0); font-weight: bold;">result in undue financial loss or gain to any person or organization</span> ...</span><br />
</dir> </dir>Now only 3 days after Ed Stelmach's landslide electoral victory, the Shell and Esso Strathcona refineries are reporting "coincidental" production shortages. Media analysts are speculating gasoline may hit $1.50 per liter ($5.68 a gallon) in the Edmonton area by May. Is this how the oil industry intends to recover lost profits from Alberta's increased oil royalty rates? Only a conspiracy theorist would think so. At any rate, it is time for Albertans to insist on repealing FOIP and replacing it with an Act that will cast sunlight on darkness.Al-truisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469718360794002281noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076086484714720288.post-42713439824207699022008-01-07T23:57:00.000-07:002009-12-25T22:59:33.253-07:00Top Ten Reasons Why Fox News Didn't Invite Ron Paul to their New Hampshire TV Debate10. He uses profanity, calling the <a href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5232639329002339531">U.S. Federal Reserve</a> a “<a href="http://www.house.gov/paul/tst/tst2007/tst040907.htm">monopoly</a>” and saying money is “<a href="http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul125.html">created out of thin air.</a>”<br /><br />9. Though supported by more <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qVmVJJaLkM">U.S. servicemen</a>, he won’t “play ball” with the military industrial complex.<br /><br />8. Former <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Paul#Military_service_and_medical_career">Air Force Captain</a> Ron Paul's legions of supporters will influence voters with their <a href="http://www.ronpaulaircorps.com/">air corps</a> or <a href="http://www.ronpaulmoneybomb.com/">money bomb</a> from their <a href="http://www.ronpaulblimp.com/">zepplin</a>.<br /><br />7. The <a href="http://ronpaulblogs.com/best-candidate/ron-paul-is-the-six-million-dollar-man/">6 million dollar man</a> might use his powers to break through Fox News' stranglehold of neoconservative opinion.<br /><br />6. His supporters are the victims of internet <a href="http://thenewamerican.com/node/6801">mind control</a>.<br /><br />5. People might find out about his <a href="http://www.charlotteconservative.com/index.php/2007/06/ron-paul-has-them/">voting record</a>.<br /><br />4. After finding out about #5, voters might believe he’ll keep his campaign promises, like <a href="http://paul4prez.blogspot.com/2007/07/could-ron-paul-really-abolish-irs.html">abolishing the IRS</a>.<br /><br />3. He makes the other Republican candidates look like the hacks and shills for special interests that they really are.<br /><br />2. Ron Paul, like the proverbial 12 ton elephant, <a href="http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/january2008/050108Bus.htm">won’t fit in the TV studio</a>.<br /><br />1. Ron Paul is not supposed to win.Al-truisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469718360794002281noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076086484714720288.post-83688563128014468222007-05-27T00:26:00.000-06:002016-02-07T08:26:39.637-07:00Favorite E-mail SignaturesScriptural quotations notwithstanding, these are some of my preferred tag lines to my e-mails:<br />
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<span style="font-style: italic;">"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." --Voltaire<br /><br />"Think not those faithful who praise all your words and actions, but those who kindly reprove your faults."<br /><br />"He who knows not, and knows not that he knows not, is a fool...shun him. He who knows not, and knows that he knows not, is willing...teach him. He who knows, and knows not that he knows, is asleep...awaken him. He who knows, and knows that he knows, is wise...follow him."<br /><br />"The true danger is when liberty is nibbled away, for expedience, and by parts." --Edmund Burke<br /><br />"The peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error." --John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, 1859<br /><br />"There are 10 types of people in the world; those who understand binary, and those who don't."<br /><br />"Freedom includes the right to say what others may object to and resent...The essence of citizenship is to be tolerant of strong and provocative words."<br />--Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, April 9, 1970, House of Commons<br /><br />"Men are qualified for liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their own appetites." --Edmund Burke<br /><br />"Let no man turn aside, ever so slightly, from the broad path of honour, on the plausible pretense that he is justified by the goodness of his end. All good ends can be worked out by good means." --Charles Dickens<br /><br />"What will destroy us?-- The things that will destroy us are: politics without principle; pleasure without conscience; wealth without work; knowledge without character; business without morality; science without humanity; and worship without sacrifice." --Mahatma Mohandas K. Gandhi<br /><br />"Being a lover of freedom, when the (Nazi) revolution came, I looked to the universities to defend it, knowing that they had always boasted of their devotion to the cause of truth; but no, the universities were immediately silenced. Then I looked to the great editors of the newspapers, whose flaming editorials in days gone by had proclaimed their love of freedom; but they, like the universities, were silenced in a few short weeks...Only the Church stood squarely across the path of Hitler's campaign for suppressing truth. I never had any special interest in the Church before, but now I feel a great affection and admiration for it because the Church alone has had the courage and persistence to stand for intellectual and moral freedom. I am forced to confess that what I once despised I now praise unreservedly." --Albert Einstein from Kampi und Zeugnis der bekennenden Kirche<br /><br />"The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." --John Stuart Mill<br /><br />"Freedom is the right to be wrong, not the right to do wrong."<br />--Prime Minister Diefenbaker<br /><br />"Little vicious minds abound with anger and revenge, and are incapable of feeling the pleasure of forgiving their enemies." </span><br /><i>--Lord Chesterfield</i><br />
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<span style="font-style: italic;">"The man who never looks into a newspaper is better informed than he who reads them;</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> inasmuch as he who knows nothing is nearer to the truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods and errors."</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">--Thomas Jefferson's response when he was asked why he did not read any of the newspapers of his day<br /><br />"It is better by noble boldness to run the risk of being subject to half the evils we anticipate than to remain in cowardly listlessness for fear of what might happen." --Herodotus<br /><br />"Power is a poison well known for thousands of years. If only no one were ever to acquire material power over others! But to the human being who has faith in some force that holds dominion over all of us, and who is therefore conscious of his own limitations, power is not necessarily fatal. For those, however, who are unaware of any higher sphere, it is a deadly poison. For them there is no antidote." --Alexander Solzhenitsyn<br /><br />"He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself." --Thomas Paine<br /><br />"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free." --Goethe</span><br />
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<span style="font-style: italic;">"</span><span style="font-style: italic;">In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." -- Attributed to Thomas Jefferson</span><span style="font-size: 85%;">(Please let me know if I have misattributed any of the above quotes, or if you know who the unattributed quotes should be attributed to.)</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span>Al-truisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469718360794002281noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076086484714720288.post-82768060654418248402007-03-17T00:43:00.000-06:002008-03-11T11:15:33.889-06:00My E-mail to CTV's "Ask Us"<span style="font-style: italic;">To Whom it may Concern,<br /><br />Though I was unable to catch the "Ask Us" question on March 16, 2007 that Joy Malbon was responding to, her answer contained statements that were at the very least misleading, if not outright wrong.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">First she said that every U.S. President has been a Republican or Democrat since 1776 except for George Washington and the "accidental president", John Tyler (a Whig). She failed to mention that Millard Fillmore was also elected as a Whig. Prior to Abraham Lincoln, today's Republican Party didn't exist, though another party now referred to [by historians] as the "Democratic-Republican Party" elected four Presidents under that [the Republican] name. Also, John Adams considered himself a Federalist, and thus was neither a Republican or a Democrat.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Then she went on to describe the candidates vying for the Republican and Democratic nominations in the current Presidential election. I was surprised she decided CTV is empowered to act as a "benevolent censor" by failing to mention any Republican candidates other than John McCain or Rudy Guliani. Even though her U.S. media counterparts are also guilty of selective reporting, at least they have also generally acknowledge Mitt Romney's Republican Presidential candidacy. Several other <a href="http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig3/sabrin5.html">competent Republicans</a> and Democrats, that have and will be ignored by the U.S. news media, are already registered with the U.S. Federal Election Commission (FEC) as Presidential candidates, have and will be ignored by CTV as well.<br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhDMSP64WWOBJLh8KiHzlM80joIlt0ATlzJEp5Eyd7YqncgvM1tYma2qwGlEFOCEn9vGblH5EHLli1zvXP4irIBZG5dNci3NJ2kfwO1ijiZyBFlLrlJhaWnbSJC_axVdR8SizZeZLqcLo/s1600-h/dum&dee.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhDMSP64WWOBJLh8KiHzlM80joIlt0ATlzJEp5Eyd7YqncgvM1tYma2qwGlEFOCEn9vGblH5EHLli1zvXP4irIBZG5dNci3NJ2kfwO1ijiZyBFlLrlJhaWnbSJC_axVdR8SizZeZLqcLo/s400/dum&dee.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5176533599341357234" border="0" /></a>The choice - Tweedledum or Tweedledee?<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-style: italic;">With so few "legitimate" choices being presented to the public in [elections] by the press and network news media, old media should accept their complicity in the poor caliber of leadership the electorate are left with - Tweedledum or Tweedledee.<br /><br />Such a lack of thoroughness and accuracy belies the increasing mistrust of the public in old media, and their willingness to rely on independent new media via the Internet.<br /><br />Sincerely,<br />Al Cruikshank</span>Al-truisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469718360794002281noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076086484714720288.post-74593015438338478872007-02-04T14:59:00.000-07:002008-03-26T20:53:51.104-06:00Global warming.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/02_1/polarbrsDM010207_468x762.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 228px; height: 371px;" src="http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/02_1/polarbrsDM010207_468x762.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Some believe that all truth and reality are subjective. This is a false belief. Truth does not care if you choose to ignore it. No amount of unbelief in the law of gravity is going to change the consequences of jumping off a cliff.<br /><br />Well, in science you better not call something a truth that is only rooted in a philosophy or belief, no matter how authoritative the source.<br /><br />Years ago, a church messed around with the domain of astronomy by pronouncing that the earth was the center of the universe. Being as this church used its authority to impose its dogma on the state, people suffered. Those who publicly challenged this dogma were even branded as heretics, and were persecuted for their beliefs.<br /><br />Nowadays, many scientists are calling anthropogenic global warming, "an inconvenient truth." Some have even advocated <a href="http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressRoom.Blogs&ContentRecord_id=32abc0b0-802a-23ad-440a-88824bb8e528">silencing</a> <a href="http://www.canadafreepress.com/2007/global-warming020507.htm">heretics</a> who challenge this "truth." Most of these same scientists wish to use the power of the state to reverse the alleged consequences of this "truth." Sounds like dogma to me. Sounds like their proposed prescriptions might be worse than the illness.<br /><br />However, giving these scientists the benefit of the doubt I ask, "<a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-sci-adapt26mar26,1,4555621.story">why not adapt?</a>" Here in Canada, we are liable to have a net benefit from global warming. More arable land, an open northwest passage, and a more moderate climate would be welcome by many a Canadian and tourist alike. Also, needing less fuel to heat our homes may result in cleaner air.<br /><br />Most animals can adapt too. Some won't. My thoughts drift to a photo of a bunch of "stranded" polar bears on an iceberg. Its not like polar bears haven't ended up on icebergs before. If some bears are so dumb they don't know when to get off, maybe they deserve to be removed from the gene pool.<br /><br />In a future blog, I'll discuss a legitimate place for dogma.Al-truisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469718360794002281noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076086484714720288.post-83987497545291048772007-01-07T06:22:00.001-07:002007-01-07T07:28:24.713-07:00A New Dark Age?<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></span><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">"In America today</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family:Verdana;">, each faction's <b> "truths"</b> are defined by the faction's dogma or ideology. Each faction bans factual analysis that it doesn't want to hear. This is as true within the universities as it is at political rallies. The old liberal notion that <b>"we shall follow the truth wherever it may lead"</b> has long departed from America. Think tanks reflect the views of the donors. Studies are no longer independent of their financing. In America, <a href="http://www.vdare.com/roberts/truth.htm">truth</a> has become partisan."</span></span></blockquote>Equally applicable to other Western democracies, Paul Craig Robert's complete column is linked below:<br /><br /><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.vdare.com/roberts/061228_tey.htm">America Enters a New Dark Age of Dogma</a><a href="http://www.vdare.com/roberts/061228_tey.htm"><br /></a>Al-truisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469718360794002281noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076086484714720288.post-87354189258066968212006-12-16T18:39:00.000-07:002007-01-07T07:11:52.142-07:00Time's Person of the Year.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQeO_BtZe_xdydM6aRISwk6IZft1rTa-DYWyl4U7RcSbpVpor80uLdlObZX0xrQ7Vv53C1jT3ZhrnIl3umswVJd60KOvJNnudEEv3Y6Ou7EaD6LYoZ36dT4ZM11XszkEgMCeakzqVfAsY/s1600-h/us_time.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQeO_BtZe_xdydM6aRISwk6IZft1rTa-DYWyl4U7RcSbpVpor80uLdlObZX0xrQ7Vv53C1jT3ZhrnIl3umswVJd60KOvJNnudEEv3Y6Ou7EaD6LYoZ36dT4ZM11XszkEgMCeakzqVfAsY/s200/us_time.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5009568485939712946" border="0" /></a>FROM <a href="http://www.drudgereport.com/">DRUDGE REPORT:</a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />**EXCLUSIVE** 7:38 PM ET... YOU were named TIME magazine 'Person of the Year' Saturday for the explosive growth and influence of user-generated Internet content such as 'blogs', video-file sharing site YouTube and social network MySpace... You -- YES, YOU -- beat out candidates including Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, China's President Hu Jintao, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi... YOU, YOU, YOU.... IT'S YOU!</span><br /><br />Cool. I knew I'd be famous one day.Al-truisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469718360794002281noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076086484714720288.post-80542737955696228462006-12-03T23:32:00.000-07:002007-06-08T15:55:32.841-06:00Ephemeral security.I rent a basement suite where I live, and will be moving to a new one in a few days. My impending move has got me thinking that private property rights are meaningless if you can't own land.<br /><br />Living in our consumer driven society, I have acquired much stuff over the past seven years. However, I found myself looking at the prospect of not being able to find comparable space at a price I could afford. Thus, I must divest myself of some of my possessions in order to fit into a new location. That's why the acquisition of wealth will not motivate a homeless person. What you can't fit on your back (or, if you're lucky, in your car), you can't possess. Of course property values and rent can change. Living in the city "on the grid" so to speak, you are at the mercy of a utility company to provide heat, power and water. So you work. You work to live, to hold onto that which you have.<br /><br />In Canada, our Constitution does not contain any rights to private property. Some may say that those rights exist in practice anyway. However, even if you "own" property, the government has the right to tax it based on its value.<br /><br />So the widowed grandmother must sell her property to pay the tax on it. Its not like there is a little spigot in her house she can turn to cash in on the speculative real estate market she's become a victim of. That why property tax is an oxymoron. It isn't your property if you have to keep paying somebody else for the right to keep it.Al-truisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469718360794002281noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076086484714720288.post-84602638320053589942006-11-27T23:39:00.000-07:002008-12-03T23:14:43.518-07:00On voting.I am frequently frustrated with how often we are required to make important decisions without all the facts. A prime example is in politics. When you vote for a candidate, frequently you know less about who they are than you know about an actor from the role they play in a movie. (I suppose that's how a guy like Arnold Schwartzenegger gets elected.) Information you are likely to get about "major" (i.e. media anointed) candidates is manufactured and packaged to fit polls and focus groups. Other candidates lucky enough to be mentioned by the media, are made to fit a two dimensional caricature that allows you to dismiss them as "not credible." The most credible and sincere politicians I've met prefer to sidestep the P.R. machine (often because they can't afford one), and will try to communicate with you as directly as possible. Blogs are good for that. If you must vote for someone you don't know, look beyond the image.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">“Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.” -John Quincy Adams</span>Al-truisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469718360794002281noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076086484714720288.post-27361014279769196902006-11-25T12:23:00.000-07:002006-11-25T12:47:20.798-07:00Al-truism kickoffDiscernment of truth is one of the most coveted of spiritual gifts. The morally-relativistic mind is "driven with the wind and tossed", has no rudder, and no stars or compass to navigate by.<br /><br />Rest assured, I am convinced absolute truths exist. The challenge is in their recognition. I dedicate this blog to the the discernment of truth from error.Al-truisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469718360794002281noreply@blogger.com1