Mexican conference on drug policy says prohibition has failed

Experts, academics, and activists meet in Mexico City as the Mexican drug war continues its bloody viciousness. The conference is hosted by an organization called the Collective for an Integrated Drug Policy.

These are the conclusions that they reached:

• The so-called war on drugs has failed and, without doubt, we need "winds of change" to advance toward alternative policies to address the problematic of drugs across the globe.

• The prohibitionist paradigm has been ineffective, and furthermore, for the majority of countries it has implied grave violations of human rights and individual guarantees, discrimination, and social exclusion, as well as an escalation of violence that grows day by day, ever broadening the scope of impunity for organized crime.

• Drugs are never going to disappear. Thus, a more realistic drug policy should focus on minimizing the harms associated with drug use -- overdoses, blood-borne diseases like HIV/AIDS, and violence. This concept is known as "harm reduction," and must be the backbone of any drug policy.

Gerry Nicholls on Maxime Bernier

One of the top five political minds in Canada has praised Maxime Bernier as giving "a little hope to those Canadians who believe in more freedom and less government."

Considering all the speculation of a possible Bernier leadership campaign, this is a positive endorsement for Team Bernier.

The Tories Raise Taxes

The Conservative government is increasing flying fees to pay for security at airports. At the same time Minister John Baird is denying that this is a tax increase. His argument is that it is a user fee and thus not a tax.

John Baird was once removed from the Ontario Parliament because he threw a violent fit at Dalton McGuinty for bringing in the Health Premium. I can hardly believe that this is the same person.

Not a tax? It has all the characteristics of a tax. If you want to fly in Canada you don't have a choice but to pay this 'fee.' If you try to avoid paying the fee you will go to jail. Just because it is meant to pay for security doesn't make it not a tax. It just makes it a dedicated tax, much in the way the Health Premium is a dedicated tax.

A friend of mine commented that Mr. Harper should rename the income tax to the "government services fee," thus, by Mr. Baird's argument, eliminating taxes in Canada. I somehow think that the Canadian people won't notice the difference.

I suppose the point is that a flower by another name smells the same, and so does a pile of manure.

Greece should be asked to leave the EU

A week ago I wrote that the Eurozone should kick Greece out. This week I read on the BBC web page that the EU Commission is bringing Greece to the European Court of Justice on a complaint that they have provided tax breaks that were in violation of EU competition rules.

The Achilles Heel of the EU project has always been enforcement. It is difficult to force a member state to comply to edicts if they refuse to do so. The ultimate punishment (besides invasion) that European community could possibly deal out is expulsion. Greece is in violation of the Eurozone budgetary limit and the competition rules of the single market. The former is incredibly annoying to the EU, the latter strikes at the heart of the whole mission of the European Union.

Combine this with the natural Greek hostility to Turkey, and Greece has proven nothing but a liability for the EU. Perhaps it is time to simply ask them to leave.

(as a side note you probably shouldn't accuse the people you are begging money from of stealing)

Canada better at defending property rights than the US

The Western Standard is reporting that according to the International Property Index, Canada enforces property rights more consistently than the USA. This flies in the face of some who claim that ideas of individualism and personal liberity are purely American values. They are values that are rooted also in Canada's culture and (to a lesser extent) Canada's politics.

Still we shouldn't be complacent about this. The United States is not the only yardstick we should measure ourselves by. Canada is in 12th place and Finland is in 1st. Which means we have some catching up to do!

Fighting Fascism with Fascism

Durham University in the UK was scheduled to host a formal debate with the proposition: This House believes in Multiculturalism. The debate was going to take place with political commentator Kulveer Ranger and Conservative MP Edward Leigh on one side and British National Party (BNP) member Andrew Brons and BNP Member of European Parliament Chris Beverley.

The Durham Union of Students (DUS) was forced to cancel the event by the UK’s National Union of Students (NUS). The NUS sent a threatening letter to the DUS. In the letter the NUS said that if the event was to take place they would mobilize and send “coach loads” of students to protest the event. They then added, “If any students are hurt in and around this event, the responsibility will lie with you.”

So the NUS are using intimidation and the threat of violence to prevent a political party and elected representatives from speaking in public. There reason to do so it because the BNP has often been, rightly, connected to fascist philosophy. Fascism is bad, among other reasons, because it encourages the use of intimidation and the threat of violence to prevent people from speaking.

Well at least the students of Durham University do not have to worry about that sort of thing.

Canada should stop funding athletes

Some in sporting community are in an uproar because the federal government is declining to increase its spending on the "Own the Podium" program by $11 million. It seams that private and provincial funding is going to end soon and the Canadian Olympic Committee is trying to pressure the Federal Government to make up the short fall.

I applaud Minister of Sports, Gary Lunn, for saying that “You shouldn't just always reach to government and say ‘Oh, it's your problem.'” In fact I think we should extend this idea and cut all spending to Olympic Athletes. If you want to spend your life perfecting your going up and down big hills technique, then you should have to do it on your own dime.

I never fully understood why the government would fund the Olympic Games. Oh, that isn't exactly true. I understand it, I just do not like it. The only reason why our money is being given to these people and their hobbies is petty nationalism.

I respect people who want to spend government funds to help the poor. I agree with their generally good hearted intent even as I disagree with their methods. But funding Olympic Athletes does not even have the virtue of a positive moral desire. It is pure tribalism; some misguided attempt to make people happier that they are Canadian.

I am proud of Canada, and I am proud to be Canadian. I truly feel that Canada is one of the best places to live. Canada is one of the freest most open societies, not just in the world but in human history. I am eternally grateful to have been born in the time and place that I was.

Not one ounce of that will be diminished because some fellow Canadian can not skate as fast as someone else. I will not feel any less satisfied with my home of birth because the US team scores more goals than the Canadian team. Seriously does anyone feel less Canadian due to any defeats during the Olympic Games?

In a time of crippling deficits and ever growing debt, I would think that this would be the obvious place to make cuts.

Guy Earle and Ezra Levant on Free Speech

Comedian Guy Earle and Ezra Levant talking about the Human Rights Tribunal and free speech on a CBC show. Mr. Earle is a comedian who is being taken to the HRT because he insulted a couple of hecklers at a stand up show he was acting as the MC in.

Read a blog post I made back in 2008 describing the incident.

Listen to the podcast here.

(Thanks to Dr. Roy for posting this podcast on his blog.)

Poll says people are divided on the PMO

The Globe & Mail is reporting that people think that the Prime Minister Office has too much power. Yet this spin on this Nanos poll ignores the numbers that the G&M reports.

42% of Canadians think that the PMO has too much power.
40% think that the PMO has the right amount of power.

It does not seem that you can conclusively claim that the people are demanding reform.

It was Danny Williams' choice

The Premier of Newfoundland has laid out his ultimate defense for avoiding wait times and going to the United States for his medical care. His defense is that it was his health and it was his choice.

He is absolutely right, and frankly who can blame him? In such a situation I would want the best care that I could afford as well. Anyone who would say otherwise would either be lying to you or lying to themselves. So no, I hold nothing against Mr. Williams for his quite reasonable decision.

I do, however, point out that this illustrates a truth about our healthcare system that has long been ignored by policy makers. We have a two tiered health system, the Canadian system and the American system. The idea that our system is somehow universal and egalitarian is a myth. If Universal Healthcare was brought to Canada to make sure everyone got equal care than it has failed.

So instead of perpetuating that failure why don't we take a serious look at reform? Why don't we give up on what is clearly an unreasonable goal of equality and instead try to figure out the best way to deliver healthcare? Too much of this debate is filled with foolish rhetoric and thoughtless assertions.

It is time that we all get a chance to make choices in healthcare.

Gay rights

The most heartening part of this video is the large amount of booing:



Way to try and use philosophy to justify your prejudice. But fortunately his propositions do not hold up to much muster. Natural rights are not rooted in human nature in a biological sense but in a sapient sense. That is, we have rights because we are rational.

Joe Pantalone vs Sam James

Joe Panatlone, Toronto city councilor and deputy mayor, is running for mayor of Toronto. Regardless of your political stripe, everyone should oppose Pantalone because he could destroy Toronto. As councilor he has given a lot of trouble to local business owners, specifically restaurants, bars and cafes. While I may not agree with it, I can understand why many politicians on the left try to block big box stores such as Wal-Mart from opening up. Pantalone takes his anti-business crusade further, to the small business owners.

One small business Pantalone tried to prevent opening is the amazing Sam James Coffee Bar. Sam James is a young Toronto barista, who has previously worked at Manic, Hanks Cafe and Dark Horse, and wanted to open up his own coffee shop. He found a small spot on Harbord Street that he thought would be perfect. Sam James was obviously taking a risk opening up a business, but he didn’t need the added trouble that Joe Pantalone was going to give him.

Pantalone’s problem seemed to be that he didn’t think the business could work, therefore, it shouldn’t be allowed to open. The coffee shop is just 200 square feet, but Sam James thought that was good enough for him (isn’t that all that should matter?). Pantalone was quoted as saying, "I wouldn't call them stores. I'd call them cubicles. We're not in Japan here where people can rent cubicles." Aside from the mild racism against the Japanese, where does Pantalone get the gall to oppose a small business owner from taking a risk? When has a coffee shop opening ever hurt a community?

Cities need small businesses, such as Sam James Coffee Bar, to open up and thrive. They do not need an anti-progress mayor, such as Joe Pantalone, to try and stop them at every step. Luckily, in spite of Pantalone's best effort, Sam James did get his business license and his shop appears to be thriving (read reviews here, here and here). Any coffee lover (or Pantalone hater) should definitely check it out if they haven’t already. I promise you will get one of the best cups of coffee you've ever had in Toronto, if not the best.

As Pantalone was trying to prevent another small business from opening (I'll post on this later), Sam James said, "As a mayoral candidate he has left a negative impression on a lot of people as far his support of small business and community. It is something you do not expect from a politician of that tenure. But to each their own, everyone is welcome to dig their own grave." Couldn't have said it better myself.

(pictured above is a cappuccino I had made by Sam James back when he worked at Hank’s Cafe)

Winning Scotland by selling out Thatcher

The Conservative Party of the United Kingdom has a reason to smile today. According to the Times they have a good chance of winning more seats than the separatist Scottish Nationalist Party. At the very least they are showing the same level of popular support as the SNP in the lead up to the election.

If the Tories achieve some sort of breakthrough in Scotland, the SNP and Labour Party will no longer be able to accuse them of being the "English Party." Furthermore, the more seats that they win in Scotland the closer they will be to gaining a majority government (at the moment pundits are predicting a 'hung Parliament').

Sadly this was achieved by selling out the great hero/monster of the past: Margaret Thatcher.

In the last couple of years David Cameron, the Tory leader, has distanced himself from Lady Thatcher. Proclaiming that he is no Thatcherite and giving credence to the harshest critics of her Premiership. Thus leaving no major political party to defend the legacy of the best post 1945 Prime Minister in Great Britain.

It reminds me a little of how John Tory tried to distance himself from Mike Harris. It did not work. All he managed to do is piss off his own base. It may, however, work for Mr. Cameron.

And that makes me sad.

The Economist on the Wildrose Alliance

The Economist covers the recent development in Alberta party politics. The magazine suggests that there is an echo of the Tea-Party movement in the Wildrose Alliance. Besides a similar agenda of smaller government this claim is pretty unsubstantiated. But the rest of it they got about right.

It is impressive that a political party with only three seats is receiving international press. According to the CTV, Premier Stelmach is unconcerned, or at least he says he is.

The truth is that he should be concerned. Unless the PCs dump Mr. Stelmach at their next party conference, the Progressive Conservative dynasty is coming to an end.

Global bank tax or "Tobin Tax" is dead

The Financial Post is reporting that Canada plans to oppose taxing global bank transactions at the G20. This destroys any possible chance that such a tax would be implemented, though the chances were pretty slim even before. The UK Conservative Party opposes the Tobin tax and they are the most likely winners in this Spring's General Election (though they do have stupid ideas of their own).

I am glad that the "Tobin Tax" has not been able to get off the ground. Gordon Brown looked silly proposing it. Yet the danger is not over. There is a political appetite for this sort of proposal and whatever idiocy they come up with next might be more plausible.

Canada's Debt

Andrew Coyne has a good point, it is a bit silly that the government is lecturing us about debt. Take a look at this.

I don't have more than $15 000 to spare...do you?

Bring the UFC to Ontario

PC leader Tim Hudak is urging Premier McGuinty to lift the ban on Mixed Martial Arts in Ontario. This is the best proposal I've heard in a long time. The argument that Mr. Hudak used was that it would boost tourism dollars, which it might. But a more important argument is that it will allow people a little more freedom in their personal choices.

Mr. McGuinty seems unhostile but uninterested, claiming that it wasn't a priority. Really? You don't have time to get this done? How long could it possibly take? You are assured the support of not only your own caucus but the Progressive Conservative caucus. Which means that 88.7% of the MPPs would pass this on the nod. What on Earth could be the possible hold up?

I think Mr. Hudak has an explanation:

Hudak said McGuinty seems more interested in banning things — like candy in schools and pit bulls — than he is concerned with bringing tourism dollars to Toronto and Ontario.

The strongest beer in the world

Brew Dog Brewery is a controversial brewery in Scotland. They have been attacked for the amount of alcohol in their drinks and for their labels. Yet these fine men are not detoured. When Alcohol Focus Scotland tried to pressure them they responded with a beer that is 1.1% called Nanny State.

The only people that seemed capable of stopping these beer loving Scots were the the Germans. Brew Dog was proud of having the strongest beer in the world but a German brewery raced forward to release a beer that was even stronger. Never fear though, the Scots have counter attacked.

Cato: Tea Partiers Should Get Serious

This article came out today from the always interesting Cato Institute:

Tea Partiers Should Get Serious

Anyone who's been to a Tea Party rally knows this is no Astroturf movement. These are ordinary citizens, rightly furious that the federal government has sold the country a junk mortgage on its future, sticking America with an unsustainable debt.

Yet there are those who doubt the new activists' sincerity, asking, in effect, "Where were you when George W. Bush was spending faster than Lyndon Johnson?" It's a fair question.

The Tea Partiers insist they're nonpartisan, devoted only to staving off our looming fiscal apocalypse by any means necessary. If so, they can prove their authenticity by backing substantial cuts in entitlements and defense.

Read More

Eurozone should kick Greece out, not bail them out

The Greek economy is in danger. They have a debt burden larger than their economy and a deficit that makes the Obama Administration appear to be prudent. Things are so bad that if Greece was not already currently a member of the Eurozone, the Euro wouldn't touch them with a ten thousand kilometre long stick.

This poses a problem for the common currency countries. The Greek economy is disastrous enough that it is dragging down the Euro, thus creating potential problems for the other sixteen Eurozone countries. They are forced to contemplate a bailout of the Greek economy to save themselves from being dragged under with them. They are being rather hesitant on what form that bailout will take, but they have at least tentatively pledged support.

Bailing out Greece will be a mistake. Yes the financial crisis has hurt the Greek economy just as it has hurt everyone's economy, but that is not the source of their problems. The Greek political leadership has constantly acted irresponsibly and have continually refused to rein in spending or reduce debt. The Greek government has no one but themselves to blame for their predicament.

If the Greeks are bailed out this creates a dangerous precedence. Countries with similar debt level, such as Italy, will take note. If a politician feels that they can do whatever they want and turn to the Eurozone to avoid the consequences, then the Eurozone will suffer from moral hazard.

Today Greece, tomorrow Italy, perhaps the next day will be Spain. Where exactly will it end? Where would Germany, the country that will bear the greatest cost, draw the line? I suggest that they draw the line not at Greece but before Greece. That is to say, do not bail out the Greeks.

Instead kick them out of the Eurozone. This would cost the remaining members nothing of significance (in fact it would likely increase the value of the currency) and it will serve as a sharp lesson.

The lesson will be: even in Europe, there is no such thing as a free lunch.

The alcohol debate in Scotland

In Scotland they are debating setting a minimum price for some alcoholic beverages. This is meant to fight the Scottish culture of binge drinking.

The theory is that with higher prices people will be less likely to buy so much alcohol. This theory is, however, unproven. Even the expert proposing this policy admits that there is no evidence that it will actually work.

Dr. Petra Meier, the expert, told a Scottish Parliamentary Committee:

The idea of modelling is you haven't introduced a policy, you're trying to project what is going to happen. It's like the weather forecast, you don't evaluate it afterwards, it's a model.

She also said that the world will be "looking to Scotland" to see if this policy will work. It's nice that she is willing to use the coercive force of the state to test out her theories. I mean really that has worked so well in the past.

I like how the whole debate here is disregarding one simple truth: price floors hurt poor people more than rich people. Any time the price of a good goes up without wages increasing it hurts the purchasing power of everyone in the society. The people that can least afford to lose purchasing power are the people that have the least power to purchase.

That is to say, the supposed "social democrat" SNP are pushing hard for a policy that will do damage to the demographic they claim they want to protect. Or is it simply that they want to control our lives?

Schmidt fights for food freedom and raw milk

Michael Schmidt has been charged with distributing raw milk. He was found guilty and then appealed the decision, and then he was found innocent. Now the government of Ontario is appealing this decision to the Supreme Court.

A few things have to be made clear here. First of all, as the article I posted above says, it is not illegal for a farmer to drink his own milk. Second of all, those that drank the milk were all part owners of the cow. This may or may not be characterized as a loop hole, it doesn't matter. That is the law.

Second thing that has to be made clear is that the health risks involved in drinking milk is doubtful. Ontario's lawyers failed to demonstrate anyone has been made sick by this practice. So the damage that is being done here is likely zero.

The final thing I want to point out is that the first two points don't matter. The question here isn't if this man is guilty or if it is healthy to drink raw milk. The question here is about an individual's right, or perhaps duty, to make his/her own decisions. The government should not be telling people what they can or cannot do.

If I decide to drink this milk, who am I hurting? At the very worst I am hurting myself.

Just myself.

No one else.

Do you see? I am making a decision that only affects me. What business is it of some government official?

In short this is about freedom; the ability to make your own decision. And I wish Mr. Schmidt all the luck in the world.

Ted Morton is prejudice against flowers

The Wildrose Alliance has released a seven page document outlining what their budget would look like if they were the government. This is a good move on their part because it helps demonstrate that they are a party capable of being the government. It is also a good way for a party with few seats in the legislature to participate in the budget debate.

In response Alberta Finanace Minister Ted Morton takes aim at...the WA's name?

According to the Edmonton Journal he said:

"Any party that has the name of a flower and the adjective of wild in the name isn't going to get elected."

What is in a name? Would a rose by any other name be so wild?

Frankly I don't care if Danielle Smith is leading the Chicken Fetus Party. She is the best person to be the next Premier of Alberta, and the PCs are unlikely to convince anyone otherwise by making dumb comments like that.

Maxime Bernier and the Gold Standard

I am behind the Western Standard on posting Mr. Bernier's amazing recent speech. In addition to this speech, Peter Jaworski was good enough to post this almost equally amazing video:

Maxime Bernier lays out a true conservative agenda

This is a heart warming speech (heart warming for anyone who believes in smaller government) given by Maxime Bernier to a riding association in Calgary-Centre.







"Maxime Bernier for Prime Minister" I have long said and I say it even louder after such a speech.

This is Andrew Coynes rather amusing take on this.

Ignatieff is just as ideological as Harper

First of all allow me to come out and say that I am pro-choice. I am pro-choice for deeply theoretical and philosophical reasons. Through philosophy and discourse I have, over the years, developed a perspective and conceptualization of how to understand reality. This can also be called an ideology.

Every human being has some sort of ideological underpinnings to their view on life. It may not be very deep or very complicated but it is there. The person who decides to trust a stranger blindly is adhering to a certain philosophy of life; just as a person who distrusts a stranger is adhering to an opposing philosophy of life.

Anyone, especially someone has spent their life in academia, who claims that they are not ideological is either an idiot or intellectually dishonest. Either they are too stupid to understand their own limited perspective or they are purposely misleading people to win an argument.

Dr. Ignatieff gives a good example of what I am talking about on the issue of abortion. The leader of the Liberal Party has demanded that Prime Minister Harper not be "ideological" and allow funding to world health groups that perform or discuss abortions.

Now even Dr. Ignatieff admits that there is no indication that Mr. Harper plans on doing this, which makes it clear that this is nothing but idiotic political grand standing. PMO spokesperson Mr Sodous rightly discribes this as pathetic. But just for the sake of an intellectual exercise let's pretend that the government really did mean to do what the Liberals say.

“We don’t want us to go that way,” Mr. Ignatieff said. “We want to make sure that women have access to all the contraceptive methods available to control their fertility because we don’t want to have women dying because of botched procedures, we don’t want to have women dying in misery.”

This is not an objective statement of values (if such a thing even exists), it is a philosophical statement springing from an ideological position. There are several inherent assumptions made in these sentences. The most important of which is that a woman's control over her fertility is more important than the life of the fetus. Also there is an assumption that the fetus should not be treated as a full human. You can agree or disagree with this position but either position is undeniably ideological.

So why am I bothering to write this? Why do I care that the Liberal Party, and other political groups, throw the word ideological around like it is a pile of manure? Because:

a) The word ideology is not bad and should not be used in a bad way.

b) Those that use the term ideology in that fashion inherently assume that they are being objective. Those nasty conservatives (and libertarians) are ideological, while us Liberals are perfectly rational and objective. We know how the world really works and they are just fools. Again I say that someone who makes such a claim is either stupid or dishonest.

The reality is that no human being can be 100% objective. Even if we were able to gather all the facts that would allow us to be objective, our minds couldn't possibly contain that much data. We have to build some theoretical way of understanding the world around us.

Dr. Ignatieff has spent his life in academics, he knows this, he couldn't possibly not know this. I'm only half a year through a Masters program and I've already had this truth drilled into me in several classes. So why is he trying to use the word ideology like a swear word?

Either stupid or dishonest, take your pick.

Ignatieff's childcare announcement ignores reality

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff has reopened a can of worms in promising a government ran early childcare program. He is a bit sketchy on the details but I imagine that it will be something along the lines of Paul Martin's plan. It was a scheme that was not proven overly popular four years ago, so I don't understand Dr. Ignatieff's political calculation. How is this going to win him anymore votes than what he already has?

Furthermore the Liberals have just lost all credibility in attacking the Conservatives for the deficit. The Liberals could have scored major points as the party with the history of deficit slaying. Yet this will lose its credence if they are simultaneously proposal a massive expansion of the state. Since there is no money to pay for this, what is Dr. Ignatieff proposing to cut so that funds can be made available?

In the article I linked above Dr. Ignatieff said this:

"I am not going to allow the deficit discussion to shut down discussion in this country about social justice."

Which really is another way of saying that he isn't going to allow reality to enter the political debate. Or at least he's going to do his best to ignore reality.

That certainly does not make good government.

Rob Elliott for 7th VP of the Ontario PC Party

The Ontario PC Party's AGM is coming up soon and a new executive will be elected. I assure you that it is of significant importance who will be on the executive for the next couple of years. There is an election in 2011 and the executive will be playing a role in building the sort of party that conservatives want to see in government.

The last few years the PC Party has suffered from a top down attitude. Overly clever strategists had taken control of the party and tried to "position" the PCs on the political spectrum. The truth is that these people rarely know what they are talking about and too often ignore the input and aspirations of grassroots membership.

Robert Elliott is a strong proponent for grassroots participation. I've known him since we were both in the youth and campus wings of the PCs and he has been consistent in his principles. As Policy Director of OPCYA and as 6th VP he has acted as a stalwart for grassroots.

If the PC Party is going to be a party of more than just conservative in name we need people like Robert Elliott on the executive.

Check out his website and join his Facebook group.