Stephen Harper's Canada

First and foremost, I don't belong to any political party in Canada or anywhere. I don't blindly take side with one political party against another political party. I look at the issues and concerns rationally, and see how our leaders deal with them. Basically, I am a pacifist. I am pro-peace and anti-war. I am pro-diplomacy and anti-destruction. I am pro-negotiation and anti-nuke. I am pro-freedom and anti-fear. 

I am a Canadian. I love Canada, even the whole world. I am very concerned about the Harper Government's domestic and foreign policies. To put it bluntly, I don't like them. But do I still respect Stephen Harper? Yes, he is our prime minister. He is not all bad. Is he a good politician? Yes, he is. Is he a great statesman? No. 

Today's Canada is not the Canada that I used to know. Sad to see that Stephen Harper has joined the U.S. led Fighting and Killing Club.It is my opinion that Canada must not go into Syria to strike ISIS. However bad you think Syria is, it is a sovereign country. Call it a dictatorship, evil empire, or whatever, it is a sovereign country. Without the support of the Syrian Government,  it just doesn't make any legal and diplomatic sense, to go into Syria to fight ISIS or do whatever. Does Syria post a direct threat to Canada? No. Even if it does, the Canadian Parliament must first approve a declaration of war against Syria, before Canada should go into Syria. Have we learned anything at all from 911 and the illegal U.S. invasion of Iraq? Had there not been an Iraq War, there would not even have been ISIS. Do international law and the U.N.Charter mean anything at all ?    

Canada used to stand for Peace and Peace Keeping. What is Canada now becoming ? Now that oil price has dropped drastically, Harper and his gang can no longer boast that Canada is a super oil power. Alberta is moaning. Sorry, no more easy oil money! I feel very sad that Harper is turning Canada into a militarized and war-oriented country. 

I despise politicians who use moral justification in their military actions, to order the fighting of evil with evil, and killing of other human beings, including the innocent, all in the name of god and religion. Adding religion to politics only makes it stink even more.To me, war is the worst kind of organized crime. There is no true honor in killing innocent people, whether they are your enemies or your own countrymen. Can you tell me any war which was not messy, in which there was absolutely no injury or death of the civilians? You can't. Want to talk about moral high ground ? How about Thou Shalt Not Kill ? How about Love your neighbor ? How about Love your enemy ? So many religious and political hypocrites !!! 

Regarding fighting ISIS, I do not favor the military involvement of Canada. I support any humanitarian work, such as helping the refugees and displaced people, which Canada is very good at. I would like to see Canada return to its old peaceful way. Improving homeland security should focus on home soil, not by fighting and killing in foreign lands far away. Again, have we learned from 911 and the U.S. illegal invasion of Iraq? Don't tell me that you don't understand the difference between Defense and Invasion. To defend your country, you must focus on your homeland and its border, not by invading another country or engaging in fighting and killing people far away from home. 

In the past, if you held a Canadian passport, you would be welcome everywhere in the world. After 911, some American travelers pretended to be Canadians, to avoid being targets of the terrorists. Today, the terrorists treat Canadians the same as Americans. Why? Please do some thinking yourself and you will find the answer.

I love Canada, but not Harper's Canada. As said earlier, I don't belong to any political party, but I am hoping that Stephen Harper will not be re-elected in the upcoming election. But there is a good chance that I will be disappointed. He may win again!     
 

Lee Kuan Yew

Lee Kuan Yew, the founding father of Singapore, has passed away at 91. Rest In Peace, Mr. Lee !!! 

Love Pain

Love is the mother of both pleasure and pain. To believe otherwise is like expecting the sky to be always sunny and will never rain. Love pain is neither sweet nor bitter. It is taste-less and hate-less, but it is pain. It is located in the heart somewhere between being hopeful and being hopeless. 

The Wife Is Always Right

A friend in Facebook posted a funny saying which said, " Marriage is a relationship in which one person is always right and the other is the husband."

Humor aside, these are my thoughts and comments:

Not true if you are a billionaire. Both your wife and mother-in-law won' t argue with you. For most people, the wife is always right. In some countries, still, the man is always right. Today is International Women's Day, so please give love and respect to women. Does it matter who's right if there is love ?

I Don't Get No Respect

Politics could be so ugly. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, went directly to address the U.S. Congress, ignoring President Barack Obama and proper protocol between world leaders of different countries. Obama refused to see Netanyahu. He must be pissed off.  

Netanyahu is against any U.S. nuclear deal with Iran being worked on by Obama. Washington is divided over new sanctions against Iran. White House official says Netanyahu "spat in our face". This new tension between Israel and the U.S. cannot be a good thing. It makes things difficult in the already much dangerous and complicated  Middle East.

Even if you were the U.S. President, you may still get no respect. Remember the late comedian Rodney Dangerfield ? It was funny when he said "I don't get no respect". But when Obama said " I don't get no respect", there was nothing funny about it.     

British Royal Visit and Chinese Politics

Prince William is visiting the Peoples Republic of China. He made a speech in English (of course) and said a few words in Mandarin. I have watched a few news videos about his royal visit to China, and here are my random thoughts and comments:  

It is very wise that the Royal itinerary does not include a stop-over in Hong Kong. China did not interfere with Scotland's effort to separate from the United Kingdom, so U.K. should be wise enough not to interfere with the Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong (some people think U.S.A. did). Many Westerners do not know Chinese history, culture and politics well. Hong Kong already has a lot of freedom, especially regarding economic freedom, it is number one, on the top, in the whole world. The Umbrella Movement lasted for months, not days, and largely ended with no bloodshed. Even the so-called democratic (actually plutocratic) U.S.A. would not tolerate a peaceful demonstration of setting-camp and occupation for that long. 

The Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong, some call it Pro-Democracy Movement, is not really about democracy, which already exists in H.K., but rather about candidate eligibility, and the legal form, extent and process of democratic elections. There is no way that the Chinese Government will give up its sovereignty and allow Hong Kong to separate and become an independent country. Anyway, Hong Kong cannot exist as an independent country, even if Beijing allows it. It is like a baby whining to separate from his mother. 

Western Media, especially the conservative U.S. Media, are very biased against a united and rising China, and would support and promote Tibet, for example, to separate. Again many Westerners have so little knowledge and accurate information about Chinese history, culture and politics that they are unwisely brainwashed to blindly take side with Uncle Sam. China has more than 50 minorities, and Tibetans are one of them. The Chinese that the Westerners know are the Han Majority Chinese. Even among the Han Chinese, they are not all the same. 

Anyway, this visit of Prince William to China is a Royal visit very well-done. Chinese people do not have an inferiority complex.They have a superior but humble mentality. If you said to an American, "hey you are very good", the answer would be "thank you." If you said to a Chinese,"hey you are very good", the response would be "Not at all. You only flatter me. I still need to improve." Chinese people like to make friends (not enemies) and money (not war). In the news videos that I watched, President Xi Jingping looked happy to receive an invitation from Queen Elizabeth to visit the U.K

Millionaire Panhandler

In the news, there is a millionaire beggar in Beijing, China. Believe it or not, he earned  enough money from his work and bought two expensive apartments there.

The millionaire panhandler pretended to be a crippled man, and worked near the busy subway stations. After he had been arrested by local police who accused him of violating public order, he confessed that he monopolized his lucrative business by threatening and beating other beggars out of his controlled territory.The police advised passengers not to give money to beggars along the city's highly connected underground lines.

My blog is titled Fast Edi Thoughts and Comments. I am supposed to share my thoughts and comments with you, but while I can't help laughing, I just don't quite know what to say about this story other than the following:

This kind of swindling happened before, not only in China, but also in other places, including the United States and Hong Kong.

In the U.S. (I forgot which city. It was probably New York or Los Angeles), there was a university graduate, a psychology major, who dressed up in shabby clothes each day and worked near the busy subway stations as a panhandler. Then in the evening, he changed to wearing nice clothes and hanged out in the nightclubs to drink, dance and have fun.

When I was a child and teen living in Hong Kong, I remember there was a beggar sitting near the Star Ferry terminal almost every day. He was a blind man (?) always wearing dark glasses and playing harmonica, while people kept dropping coins to his pan. I heard from my friends that he was a rich man who owned expensive real estate and had two wives.

I hope the above stories will not harden your heart, and make you completely stop giving money to the poor and homeless. Yes, it is possible that some panhandlers may be swindlers, or use your money to buy drugs or alcohol, instead of food and necessities, but that is not your negative karma. Your karma is still good and positive, because your motive is to give and help someone. Certainly in each case if you are suspicious, you can decide not to give.  

How do you become a millionaire? Stop buying lottery tickets. Become a panhandler. Just kidding !!!