Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Being on my way to New York I want to wish all my close friends and colleagues a merry merry Christmas and a joyful New Year. May all sorrows and worries be left in 2007, and may 2008 bring only joy, happiness, success, good health, money (always good) and lots, lots, lots of love.

I wish also to note that my friends and acquaintances happen, imho, to be the coolest bunch of people to walk this planet.

See you all in 2008.

PS Grinch role 2007 goes to Czech Airlines for screwing up my parents's luggage and doing nothing to ship it.

Spain bans smacking

Spain outlaws smacking kids altogether. How sweet, laying the foundation of a society that knows no authority and having a vague notion of order.

Corporal punishment in public institutions (like schools) is greatly unadvisable. I'm for one against it. At the same time, disciplining an unruly kid does at times require a mild but determined hit with the palm of the hand on their bottom. I got some in my day, just enough to know that discipline and hierarchies exist. These socialists, from Labour in England to the PSOE in Spain fail to see the enormous divide between violence and educational discipline. Thus discipline can only go down the drain. When government interferes, it is clumsy.

One more country increases its risk of drifting towards contempt of authority, with ridiculous side effects such as a UK boy filing a lawsuit against his parents who forced him to get out of bed and going to school. I remember the story either in the Telegraph or the Daily Mail, but can't find the link as of now.

Beware of Socialists and their meddling with family matters. Violence is evil, but discipline is necessary. When will these reds leave some room for common sense rather than legislating on everything? Where does their control mania stop?

Stephane "porridge" Dion

How preposterous of Stephane Dion to define the Conservative government as underachiever based solely on one poll result. His cockiness isn't even funny anymore, nor is the Liberals' feebleness. As a successful politician (he seems to style himself such) he should have learned in his long honorable career that the only poll that counts happens at the ballot box, and that for centuries man has known the simple truth: statistics is just another form of lies.

The simple reality that the Liberals are trailing the Conservatives is a sufficient indictment of his policies and his tenure as Leader. However controversial Grits make the Tory legislation sound, Canadians are not ready to board Dion's Titanic, nor will they in the near or far future. Furthermore, excessive emphasis on opinion polls, Mr Dion should have learned from his Labour Party inspirers, conveys an impression of lacking determination and focus on policy.

If Mr Dion were a true leader and true to his party's ideals he'd whip his MPs to bring down the government instead of waiting for favorable opinion polls while betraying his voters on absolutely unacceptable bills from a Liberal perspective. Being a leader involves knowing how to lose with dignity and a clear conscience.

Dion's policy of abstaining isn't "rigid", he says. I guess "runny porridge" describes it better.

Long to Reign Over Us

HM Queen Elizabeth II Became today the oldest British monarch, overtaking Queen Victoria. This is a remarkable achievement for HM, especially considering her wisdom, authority and style untouched by age and the changing times.

We all wish Her Majesty a solid health and more years of wisely reigning over all her loyal subjects and Dominions.

God Save the Queen!

Mitterrand doctrine alive, expanding, deadly as ever

News tell us that France is prepared to house the FARC rebels freed under an agreement that would see certain high-profile hostages freed. Again, a European country that is suffering at the hands of terrorist forces yields territory, muddling politics and justice. France has a dubious habit of entertaining relationships and indeed greeting individuals whose hands are tainted with the blood of the innocent and on whose souls watch the ghosts of misery, destruction and hardship.

In the “years of lead” that plagued Italy, red terrorists who fled to France were usually sheltered from extradition to Italy citing an unconformity of Italian law with European standards. Curiously, that legislation was UPHELD by the European Council of Human Rights. The Mitterrand doctrine is summarized as follows:

Les réfugiés italiens (...) qui ont participé à l'action terroriste avant 1981 (...) ont rompu avec la machine infernale dans laquelle ils s'étaient engagés, ont abordé une deuxième phase de leur propre vie, se sont inséré dans la société française (...). J'ai dit au gouvernement italien qu'ils étaient à l'abri de toute sanction par voie d'extradition (...).

This doctrine excluded those involved in “active, actual, bloody terrorism”, and the whole concept is summarized as France protecting anyone who bothered to cross the border after inciting to commit, planning or committing acts of the utmost violence and vileness, finding some political justification for shielding these assassins from the sword of Themis whose sharp edge they deserve to feel. The feebleness of the French attitude in the face of violent threat to the incolumity of their territory or of their citizens makes the country a total liability in the global fight to eradicate terrorism in all its forms from the world.

Same goes for the classical Italian attitude of paying ransoms whenever its citizens are kidnapped. This has made Italians the most highly demanded hostages, especially in dangerous zones such as Afghanistan or Iraq. By paying up the Italian government, yesterday full of hypocrites with felon friendships and today full of hypocrites with anarchic and terroristic sympathies bankrolls the politics of murder, endangers its own citizens and vilifies the country on the international arena.

Ahmed Zakaev, the ideologue of the Chechen separatists, lives peacefully in London. Former Italian red terrorists live peacefully in Paris. Kidnappers can make cash flow plans, confident of subsidies from Rome.

The global fight against terrorism in all its forms, the perverse ideologies it stems from and the bloodthirsty perpetrators of its acts is fought on the internal front too. If we want to win over terrorism we have to take action against those who provide a safe haven and money for assassins to spread their gospel of death and escape the reach of Justice.

The policy of feebleness, double standards, politicizing justice and justifying the spilling of human blood is the backdoor our enemies are discovering and using with increasing zeal. The problem is not just in Kabul, Baghdad, Islamabad, Riyadh and Sana’a. Our problems stem from Paris, Rome and London.

All criminals must face the full rigor of the Law, and no politicking or weakness can silence the cries of the murdered.

Luca's ramblings on political correctness

Just before leaving the office yesterday I stumbled on this excellent commentary in Spiked, which got me thinking about the English-speaking world going crackers on political correctness. It is true that many stories are inflated or outright made up, and the burden of guilt lies entirely on the authors and spreaders of these pearls of falseness. Many newspapers that thrive on making people’s guts shake every morning make a good business of blowing PC rumors out of proportion and pointing the finger at the PC killjoys.

But these stories are believable not because we are irrational beings but because it does sometimes happen. The complaint about the London Met police officer mascot isn’t an invention of mine. Neither is the UK’s definition of a hate crime as “any incident, which constitutes a criminal offence, which is perceived by the victim or any other person as being motivated by prejudice or hate”. Shady at best. Harassment and intimidation laws are already in existence and linking them to the person's perception is not just a slippery slope but a well-lubed descent into judicial wrangling by anyone who lacks the vice (or in this case virtue) of laziness. On the other hand, we have black police honchos saying that more black people should be stopped and searched to stop the shootings that marred the south London streets earlier this year. Mind you, these news can be found in two minutes searching only one newspaper's database.
All this genuinely alarms us because it is the sign of the re-emergence of superficiality whereby the form trumps the substance. It is the de-evolution of the mind into our jungle-like primitive state, the triumph of force over mind, the prevarication of unamovable truths by ephemeral moods of destiny.

In her commentary Munira Mirza further mentions the depravity of Oldham council which, for the sake of avoiding the fascist BNP speaking, placed never-seen-before restrictions on freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. This is not all part of the liberal PC conspiracy as many would have us believe, but please no-one come telling me that the system and the uncertainty of race relations in a globalized society aren’t being exploited to curtail our freedom and scare everyone into being a drone of mediocrity.

Yes people don’t trust the system because those up high often don’t care about people’s trust. Sir Ian Blair is famous for despising the London public by openly saying that he had a position and if anyone knew of a way to remove him he was welcome to try it out. Yes people are scared into silence by the various “diversity training” boondoggles dished out to professional destroyers of community relations. Yes when people ask themselves why they are scared they become angry at whoever they perceive as their silencer. And yes, people are angry when they know race and origin and looks trump merit .

I don’t care whether the person defending my right to be safe is white, black, man, woman, christian, muslim or a Martian for that matter. If police officers be selected based on the community they serve why not have mostly white policemen in mostly white areas? I am afraid people with few scruples are trying to fit under the banner of “community relations” and “social cohesion” any kind of muddled concoction of badly designed and opinable legislation.

This extends to the debate over religious holidays and insignia, with Christmas being the main victim in this case, whether perceived or actual. And again religion should be left out of legislation and out of social interaction. A holiday is an occasion for celebration, so let’s not polarize the fun at least, eh?

I don’t care if you believe in Christ or not. If you want to partake in some mince pies with me, maybe some mulled wine if you want, sit down with me at the Christmas dinner and have some merry times you’re welcome in my house. I wouldn’t evaluate an invitation to a menorah lighting based on its religious context, I’d accept enthusiastically. Same if I were invited to an Eid celebration. One believes something is a cause for celebration and I not only respect the belief but I would most of the time partake in the fun.

Whether certain factions in the community don’t like me or others celebrating our own occasions, they can in all honesty go get stuffed. Far from being the panacea for the ills of society, political correctness is the virus of fear that infects us in stages, sickening the social fabric, making it feeble and prone to tear. No longer able to confront its divisions and prejudices openly, society harbors them underground, letting the evil stew cook in the cauldron of ignorance, heated by the fire of fear and resentment. All in the name of fostering good community and race relations.

We need to ditch political correctness, confront the mediocrity and prejudice within us openly, open the gutter, clean the rot and reaffirm the primacy of the higher rules of society. Every day.

Let me paraphrase Maggie Thatcher as a conclusion. There’s no such thing as community or race relations. There are individuals, beliefs, the Law and Merit.

Pigs fly in Cuba

Reports of smashed windows and increased farmers' frustration at trying to catch their flying hams-to-be are flooding in from Cuba's capital after a letter from Fidel Castro was read out on state TV HINTING at the fact that he might step down, mentioning "younger leaders" and passing on the experience. (from the BBC)

Younger leaders to perpetrate the abuses of communism, an ideology buried by history, and experience of brutalizing and oppressing a nation? I hope not!

What Cuba needs is for the Castros to be gone for good and for some decent-minded folk to take over the island and get it out of the socialist pit it has been digging for itself for the past decades. Is Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven up for some more socialism-kicking? [smile]

Guns before butter, and lacking brain matter

I would like to treat my Tory (and not) colleagues to a circus show. Or at least it would be one if it couldn't kill us sometime.

When relations with the West get cranky, Russia got into the habit of firing up one of those long cigars that should go up into near-space and then come crashing on the heads of evil Westerners turning them into a mushroom cloud. They did this several times, once being when the USA got a bit too pushy for their taste on the issue of Chechnya. Now their smokey tools went up again, so Russia must be losing its patience on some issue. Again.

Now I am not one openly supporting weapon development and deployment, although I really don't mind knowing I sleep under a well-guarded nuclear umbrella. However Russian ministers and generals seem to have swallowed their brains together with their vodkas, as the Reuters report shows us. Its own missile commander says the new anti-missile bases in Poland and the Czech Republic might be regarded as legitimate targets should circumstances arise.

I really hope these words were the result of some latent drunkedness or a bad hangover headache. The commanding officer makes no secret of the fact they'd have a plan to neutralize part of the European defence system, i.e. strike both Nato and EU members. These words amount to a threat and are a re-opening of the Cold War for God's sake. The Russkies' brains have frozen over! Europe is no threat to Russia and they know it all too well. They just consider Eastern Europe their backyard where no-one should tread.

Poland has been repeatedly walked over by Russia over the course of history, and the whole of Eastern Europe had a taste of Russian socialism and Russian guns, it is more than fair for them to seek some shelter from a clumsy bully who hasn't come off a domination trip yet. The Czech Republic and Poland are sovereign nations and as such exercise their full rights over their own territory, which includes honoring military alliances. No-one has the right to bully them and threaten them, especially when NATO and the EU have definitely other worries than Russia.

I see no alternative but pledge full allegiance and support for the Atlantic Alliance and pray for the fast deployment of defence systems in Eastern Europe. As the BBC's correspondent puts it "russia is an enormous country with a just as huge inferiority complex". It feels threatened by anything and anyone who doesn't agree to its hegemony.

I can sleep serene: the USSR lost the Cold War without a single shot being fired. If they restart it, they'll lose again. Yes the West balks at lack of democracy at its borders. Russia can balk at the West's expansion of prosperity and partnership. The West wouldn't have interfered with any election anyway, and Russia could have gone on doing its own business and harassing foreign firms. But it shouldn't complain about others wanting to join the Western club and looking East suspiciously.

It just boils down to the simple reality that Russia has no skill at making or keeping friends among civilized and democratic nations. An armed loner. We should all be worried.

Product safety finally moving

The Government of Canada is tightening the grip on food and product safety, at last. Importers' liability for the safety of their goods, as well as the "guidance" for companies to build safety into the supply chain are measures that do not distort the free market but make sure the consumers don't get conned out of their health.

Next step should be the allowing of those businesses that can't vouch for their safety onto the market on the proviso that their products are labeled as not conforming to Canadian safety standards, ergo Canadians will know what they buy, and expect a farthing price for the junk they were peddled as quality stuff just a few months earlier.

Care for the consumer is on the move.

Who let Mulroney into the job?

CBC treats us to a good comment by Heather Mallick on Schreibergate, or Mulroneygate, or however you want to define this can of worms. I haven't followed this story too closely, and I surely will not soil my holiday spirits with investigation into the stink around the former PM and his German drinking buddy. My country went through Mani Pulite: the dirt in Schreibergate is nothing compared to what flew around in the early nineties in Italy. But it is nonetheless a good incarnation of what we don't want to see in our leaders.

When you are representing people or heading a government you must adhere to a moral code of conduct that dictates the utmost integrity. By dealing with Schreiber Mulroney contravened any kind of moral integrity code. Whether the money was taken before or after he left office does not diminish the relevance of the former PM's dealings with people of the most dubious background. His replies to the ethics committee regarding more aspects of the story that hadn't come out in ages (I wonder why) are all more puzzling. Why a US deposit box? Why all the secrecy? Why not say these things earlier? Why not come clean? Ultimately Mulroney's demise reminds us that everyone is a human being, including the Prime Minister of the time, and thus prone to error. And for errors we must pay.

Despite the notion that power corrupts (which I doubt applies in all cases), and considering Mulroney's not really shining clean record even before becoming really important, one question dogs me:

Why was Mulroney ever allowed to take the top seat?

Look beyond the culture

The family of the murdered Mississauga teenager decided to have a private burial, without the media or anyone else knowing. This sad story is following the same pattern: hushing, minimization, dismissals, contempt of the public, hiding, lies.

What angers me is the attempt by many individuals and organizations to divert the attention from or dismiss the importance of this case. This is definitely not just yet another episode of domestic violence. Neither is it the straw to break the camel's back in the cultural bruhaha being kicked around by whoever isn't too lazy.

It is an episode of intolerance first and foremost. An episode of intolerance of individual freedom and blatant contempt of life and the Law. Secondly it is an episode of violence, aggravated by premeditation, complicity and futile motives. The third aspect of this matter is the alarming mix of both denouncement and concealment, with the father turning himself in and the following hiding of the core motive for his frenzy, although the coldness of the planning stages of this assassination don't warrant the use of such a word.

The multiple facets of this issue do not reflect merely culture and criminal responsibility, as such events can occur in any household where those above do not know the basic rules of respecting other people's desires, who regard their children (or spouses, or younger relatives) as property to dispose of at their will. This can happen both in Islam and outside of it, and Canadians should wake up to this if they haven't already done so.

As usual, I reiterate that the issue is not merely religion but the underlying culture of rights, or absence thereof. With proper civic rights education for all Canadians and immigrants many of these tragedies can be averted.

Let me conclude with a remark about others giving or not giving warning of such events brewing up in their community. A greater involvement of citizens with the State forces such as the police and the prosecution service can be achieved when the media and politicians stop looking at cultural or religious characteristics in criminal events but say once and for all that murder is murder, premeditation is premeditation and futile motives are just that: futile motives. Full stop. Who's got the ears to listen will understand.

Russia's defence systems too dumb to cope with defence missiles in Poland

For once I would like to praise Poland for standing up to what is possibly nothing but Russian bullying. I am vehemently against the expansion of the nuclear shield in Eastern Europe, but Russia's claim that a launch of a defense missile might be interpreted by the Russian radars as a ballistic launch and trigger a nuclear response amounts to the following statement: "Our dumb and out-dated nukes, run by cranky computers and not-so-bright officers might make a mountain out of a molehill and launch a payload of destruction for no reason". The obvious response to such moronism is dismissal.

The solution is information sharing. Establish a connection telling the dumb Russian computers that the launch is not ballistic. The Cold War is over (militarywise, not informationwise) and I really doubt anyone would use that kind of link to decoy the Russians while some nuke flies to Moscow. Come on! Alternatively, Russia might actually update some of its systems. Why not?

The shield's expansion is a crap idea, but it's a matter to be resolved between NATO members. Russia has made its point and its proposals. Now it's telling us its systems are too dumb to spot a defence missile from a ballistic one. Geez!

Teach the values, not the belief

Some of the objections raised to Quebec's plans to roll out an ethics and religious awareness class in schools revolve around the fact that it isn't Christian enough, and that parents might prefer catechism classes rather than a general ethics and awareness class. I wish to criticize this approach and outline a better curriculum.

I am stunned by the short-sightedness of this veiled kind of Christian fundamentalism, and for once I might, God forbid, side with Quebec. These classes should have no kind of religious bias, because the values we all share are born of a deep moral awareness that goes beyond the mere religious belief of the historical and actual majority. Catechism has to do with this as much as cabbage with dessert. If these classes are highly focused on other religions the reason for this choice is pretty clear: political correctness and the fact that we live in a Christian country, thus the Christian message reaches us already and there's no need to hammer it excessively through yet another medium.

These ethics classes, however, should focus on what defines our society, not just on religion. Christianity doesn't define Canadian society on its own, Canada would be just as great and just as free had it adopted the same civic values and remained atheist or Confucian or whatever. Religious belief is just what it is defined as: a privately held belief that should have no place in public life or in the public education system. Fostering awareness of others' beliefs doesn't go half the way towards creating a united social fabric.

The manifest desire of certain factions of our own Christian majority to impose broadly shared moral values through a religious optic misses completely the point of ethics, values and morality, and is a symptom of greater reliance on the government to sanction irrational and anti-democratic backlashes against fellow Canadians guilty of sharing a cultural heritage different from our own.

The true values that shape a civilized society are to be found in writings of atheists and devout practitioners of many religions alike. As the Bible and the Gospel might hold certain founding principles of the society we see today so we may share and indeed unconsciously endorse principles enshrined in the Tao Te Ching or the US Declaration of Independence.

If classes in schools have to promote awareness and a cohese society I propose that we don't limit ourselves to the narrow optic of religious beliefs. Actually, throw religion out of this altogether and teach the foundations of our society with the words of the thinkers that shaped it. Teach the culture of individual rights through the great writings of the 18th and 19th century libertarians, the orations of James Otis against the writs of assistance, the great European thinkers who contributed to shaping modern society and modern economics, instil in the youngsters the spirit of the US Declaration of Independence and the Declaration of Human Rights, teach them the inviolable rights and freedoms every one of them and every single human being has to enjoy. If one wants to avert the sad facts of Mississauga one teaches the young and the newcomer immigrants that in Canada everyone has the right to live as he or she pleases and no-one can impose behaviors not explicitly sanctioned in Law upon them.

Regardless of anyone's religion.

I want Maggie!

Recent news from my home country had me seriously worried about the sanity of its government and the future of Italian society in general.

Truckers, again, barricaded the barricable and put a stranglehold on the whole economy. Gas stations ran out of fuel, supermarkets started running out of supplies and all major roads were blocked. Those responsible transporters who wanted to work had their physical incolumity threatened or violated, their tires cut or stolen and generally prevented from doing their job.
Most Italian transporters are independent workers, i.e. they bought their puller and do contract work. Most Italian transport is done on wheels rather than rail or sea. Many Italians fail to realize the challenges posed by an open and free market. All but few Italians expect the government to do something to shield them from anything that might hurt them.

Recent hikes in the price of oil (coupled with Italian gas companies hiking their prices tenfold) had the price of gas skyrocketing. Competition by cheaper East European truckers is eroding the Italians' business base. The rest is details.

Now I am the first to recognize that the trucker's job is a hard one, the initial investment is enormous and the price of gas is a major cost factor. However you bend it, no good reason is good enough to justify the choking of a country for a strike. One can interrupt service, and this is legitimate. Those who have a speck of intelligence and civic responsibility will deliver essential fuel supplies and medicines.

What definitely sickened me was the weak response of the Italian government to this kind of terrorist activity. It appeased and negotiated and appeased again. The outcome is further anti-dumping measures and safeguards against gas price increases. No defense of the citizen was carried out, no attempt was made to enforce people’s right to work if they so wish, no guarantees of people’s right to travel freely were shown. The truckers had an easy ride and will not face the consequences of their misdemanors.

When truckers choke your country you do three things:

1) Bulldoze the barricades
2) Arrest the barricaders
3) Sue the strikers for breach of contract, fire them on the spot and hire cheaper foreigners

Furthermore, once legitimate requests and protests degenerate into terrorism as they did in Italy, the State should cut off all negotiation and restore legality by force, as it is mandated to do by the very essential concept of statehood. The laws, the police forces and the Army exist for a purpose.

The State of Italy, with the current administration incapable of any strong decision making necessary to overcome the tough times the country faces, is in a vegetative coma. Judges play politics, politicians meddle with justice, self-employed workers strike asking for government meddling, the job market is stagnant, special interests dominate the scene, rights are walked over and no-one gives a damn.

Every country needs an Iron Lady at some point in its life. Italy needs one now. I pray that someone with Margaret Thatcher’s decisiveness and moral strength comes soon on the Italian political scene to restore the legitimacy and presence of the State on the territory.

I miss Maggie.

Bali lies

After three weeks of almost complete silence due to university deadlines catching up with me, I finally have the time to write here again. FTA is back for some more news deconvolution, anti-statism and advocacy of rights. OK, well, mostly for some genuine opinion expression.

Anyways it really angers me to hear Canada being bashed in Bali at the climate change talks by people who shouldn't be preaching or who should at least try to see world problems from a broader perspective.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071210.wbalicanada1210/BNStory/International/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20071210.wbalicanada1210

If the UN honchos bothered to look into the Throne Speech a little deeper than the Liberals want them to, it is crystal clear that while Kyoto was botched up, new targets have to be set and they have to be binding right from the start, so one can't procrastinate on them for years only to end up like Canada did: having to curb 10-years worth of emissions in just a few years. That's obviously impossible unless you're high on something new and potent. The current government is realistic, not hypocritical. Kyoto's mostly gone, and one can only save what can be saved. If you want real government action, make it a resolution with balls. Canada's asking just that, what's unreasonable or hypocritical in its stance?

Which leads me onto the fact that one of the critics is China. Erm, do I need to comment further? The country thrives on coal and hydro among others, with mines blasting up and dams built where they shouldn't really be built. The smog in the big Chinese metropolitan areas isn't Canadian. They should clean up their own act before lecturing Canada or anyone else.

Thirdly, all the honchos are on about government intervention. Government here, legislation there, targets to the left, quotas to the right and whatever. Ontario's and Quebec's distancing is just another sign of the solution we should be embracing: point to the local governments and the individuals if you want to reduce emissions and pollution in general. What might be feasible for Ontario possibly won't be feasible for Alberta and vice versa. A system of carbon credits and an efficient price system for these is the perfect solution, especially if placed within an international trading framework. The more I read around the subject the more I'm persuaded that government intervention through direct legislation and quotas is either inefficient or completely dictatorial, distorting the free market or blowing the country's coffers.

Bali has to be told the truth: emissions will be cut when it will be worth cutting them, and scaremongering tactics predicting the apocalypse will not achieve this aim. If I am the owner of a polluting factory the potential death of all polar bears won't affect my thinking in the slightest. What affects my factory's profits, instead, will grab my attention the second it comes on my desk.

Carbon credits, incentives for efficiency, rewards for other kinds of pollutant reduction. Local community involvement, individual responsibility, individual decision and choice power. Research and education. That's what's needed for countering climate change. The government can only be a responsible umpire and no-one should ask it to do more.