Romania is one of our strongest friends, a friend with whom we share common values, a friend with whom we share a belief that those who are fortunate enough now to be on the right side of history's divide in terms of liberty and freedom have an obligation to those who are on the other side of the divide and have not yet had the blessings of liberty and freedom, that we have an obligation to them to extend those blessings.
- Condoleezza Rice from Romania. i'm tempted to leave the post at that, it would be such a revealing post. but: apparently she is in brussels thursday, a NATO foreign ministers' meeting. NATO is such a righteous organization.
we just had an election, but it seems we are to have one again. if i were running in this election i would make various campaign promises including the following. some of these probably aren't under federal jurisdiction, but i would not let that stop me.
- absolutely divorce the corporate world from the political.
- encourage a greater voice for municipal gov't, establish grassroots municipal councils with a selection of legislative powers; this would pave the way for formal proportional representation
- scale back the canadian military, use saved funding to develop a sustainable economy not reliant on petroleum/plastic
- impose strict regulations on advertising
- tariffs on gas exports to the US. use albertan gas for canada, not chicago.
- retaliatory tariffs to end the softwood lumber dispute.
- pull canada out of NATO, become a major voice for UN reform
- reject NAFTA. build stronger ties with pacific rim countries and south-central america.
- increase foreign aid from 0.28% to 3%
...all i can think of off the top of my head. it's also why, if i were running in this election, i wouldn't get further than my next-door neighbours.
a beautiful night, dark, very cold.
