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TIME VERSUS PRIORITIES

It is one of the ironies of our time that despite countless time-saving devices, we have less time for ourselves and our friends than ever before. When we suggest to get together with someone, a common response is: "I would like to, but I am just too busy right now. Some other time perhaps."
But it really isn't a matter of time at all, but a matter of priorities: that same person who doesn't have time to spend with you would mysteriously find time for a meeting if a significant promotion were to be discussed or a profitable business deal would depend on it. Strange as it may sound: people always find time for the things they really want to do and they always do what they really want. You may wish to challenge that by asking: "What person would not rather be on a tropical beach than face another day of stress at work?" But that person goes to work instead of on holidays, because (s)he prefers to make money rather than spend it.
Similarly, if someone has an important appointment and is behind schedule, (s)he may decide to exceed the speed limit and risk getting a ticket in order to be on time. (S)he may just as easily decide to drive the posted speed limit and be late to avoid getting a ticket. Indeed people always do what they want to do by choosing the option that appears to be the best one. The fact that sometimes they choose the wrong option does not change this reality, for every act in life is judged not on the basis of its merits, but on the consequences that flow from it. There are many examples to illustrate this point. Here is one:

You have to sell your house within the next three months. After only one month you get an offer. You decide to reject it, believing you can get a better deal. If soon after you DO get a better offer, it obviously was a smart decision to reject the earlier one. But if you don't get any more offers for a year and then finally one that is lower than the one you rejected, you obviously made a mistake. Nevertheless while the two scenarios are very different, your decision is the same and you did what you wanted.

THE DEVALUATION OF HEROES

It used to be that the word "hero" referred to a person who risked his or her life to save that of another. Today US soldiers in Iraq who are killed by insurgents are commonly referred to as heroes when all they have done was being at the wrong place at the wrong time, namely being in Iraq at this point in time.
These military men and women are not heroes--just unlucky dupes deceived by the Bush administration into believing that the carnage and massive destruction inflicted by US troops on this oil-rich country is to improve life in Iraq and make the US a safer place. American news media report that right now (June 2005) nearly 1700 US military (most of them only in their 20s) have given their lives for freedom and democracy when in fact their lives were snatched away from them as the price for being where they have no right to be.More and more Americans are beginning to realize that you cannot destroy a country and kill its people and expect their support. It did not work in Vietnam and it clearly doesn't work in Iraq. At least 100,000 Iraqis have been killed and billions of dollars damage has been caused since the US invaded Iraq two years ago. Now the US is once again trapped in a quagmire of its own making from which it will be costly to extricate itself. The plan to invade Iraq received worldwide condemnation and rather than stabilizing the Middle East the invasion has resulted in the largest terrorist recruitment program ever launched.
But one does not have to be a dead US soldier to be called a hero. The word has been so trivialized that scoring a winning goal in a basketball game or football match is already enough to qualify for being called a hero.

JACKSON TRIAL AND OUR DRIVEL-DRIVEN SOCIETY

The world-wide interest in the trial of Michael Jackson demonstrates the shallowness of public opinion and the news media's trivial pursuit feeding into it. Jackson's acquittal on 10 sex-related charges dominated the news June 13 in the US, Canada and various parts of the world generating jubilation among millions of the pop star's fans. One woman --camped with some 200 other fans near the Santa Maria courthouse-- on hearing the jury's verdict gushed: "This is the happiest day in my life." A psychologist on the Nancy Grace CNN program explained the woman obviously has no life of her own and like so many other fans lives her life vicariously.
More than 2000 journalists covered the trial which cost the State of California and the celebrity defendant many milions of dollars. And although evidence at the trial showed Jackson has shared his bed with young boys on various occasions (A fact admitted by Jackson in a taped interview) and some of the young boys testified having been sexually molested by Jackson and pornographic material was found in his Neverland home, the 12 jurors (Eight women and four men) managed to find "reasonable doubt" about the validity of all 10 charges.
And so ended the trial which produced more news coverage than any other trial in US history, including the O.J. Simpson murder trial which also ended in acquittal which is still widely regarded as a miscarriage of justice.
Our drivel-driven society is evident in countless other ways. For example, the international contests to determine who can eat the most hot-dogs in a prescribed time! Many movies, TV programs, tabloid stories, so-called musical hits and TV commercials are an insult to anyone with an IQ above that of a carrot
Some titles alone prove the point: MOVIES: Dumb and Dumber, Flesh Gordon Meets the Cosmic Cheerleaders, Killer Tomatoes Strike Back. The Girl With Brains in Her Feet (Billed as a comedy-drama that received a three-star rating out of a maximum of four). TV PROGRAMS: Martha Stewart Living. Temptation Island. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Ants in Your Pants. TABLOIDS: Clinton Dates Three-breasted Woman. Elvis Is Alive. Adam's Sandals Found. Woman Gives Birth to 80 lb. Baby. (Remember tabloids are a multi-billion dollar industry which thrives on the ignorance of millions of mental midgets). HITS: Screaming often replaces singing and antics such as smashing guitars are common. Some rock stars like Marilyn Manson have urinated on some of their fans all in the name of art, of course. TV COMMERCIALS: Many are so inane I for one refuse to buy products promoted by stupid commercials. A Sucret commercial shows a man in bed asking his wife asleep beside him: "Barbara are you up?" French mustard had a commercial featuring a young boy spreading the product over a bare piece of white bread, eagerly waiting to sink his teeth into this useless food item. Chrysler had a commercial showing a group of cars and trucks with the line "Changing the landscape." Well, yes, but not for the better. General Motors claims their trucks are built like a rock. Apart from the fact that rocks are not built, any direct encounter between a truck and a rock in the same weight class is always won by the latter.
Drivel and trivia also dominate most conversations. You can find out for yourself by listening to what people talk about in restaurants, buses, pubs, etc. (eavesdropping may not be polite, but it is sure educational!). Topping the trivia topics is of course the weather. In second place are usually conversations about other people. Financial matters and relationships also make the top ten. It appears that the main motivating forces in our society are making money and making love. It is interesting to note that the two are often interchangeable: money can buy sex and sex can generate money. For example, a recent TV news item showed the latest outdoor "sport" in the US: Bambi Hunting! Men with paint ball guns chase and fire at naked women darting from one place to another. Even more disgusting are American hunting parks where wild animals are kept in an enclosed area and "hunters" shoot and kill a lion, a gazelle or whatever trophy they want (and can afford!) to decorate their home. Moral degradation is clearly in bloom.

REALITY CHECK ON THE VATICAN

The Vatican does not take a back-seat to anyone when it comes to show business. One has to question the intelligence of the multitudes of people partaking in these religious rites. First there are millions who pray for the recovery of the pope and when combined with medical intervention this fails, they turn their attention to the funeral circus. Dressed in their finest and most colorful vestments, the cardinals parade around as if they were in a fashion show. But the sadness about the passing of one pope is quickly replaced by the incomprehensible joy people show with the election of another. The fact that the new pope served in Hitler's army doesn't dampen the enthusiasm of the robotic crowds. Hitler himself was a Roman Catholic and was never publicly condemned by the Vatican for his brutal policies. On the contrary, after the Second World War the Vatican helped many Nazis escape to South America.
What generates this interest in the Catholic Church? Is it its wealth accumulated over the centuries or its psychological control over its
   Pope Benedict XVI        followers? Rites, relics and pageantry certainly play a major role, but so does intimidation and superstition Remember, these are the same folks that brought you the Inquisition, forgiveness of sins by prepayment and widespread sexual abuse by its clergy. Papal history includes poisonings of rivals, heading up armies, adultery, fornication and whore mongering. For example, Pope Sergius III lived with the notorious harlot Marozia whose grandson became Pope John XII.
The rule of celibacy has been violated since it was imposed by Pope Gregory VII in the latter part of the 11th century to ensure that all earthly possessions of the clergy upon their deaths would go to the Church. For example, the Bishop of Liege had fathered 65 illegitimate children by the time he was deposed in 1274. Sexual relations by Catholic clergy continue to this day. An Italian proverb illustrates this practice quite aptly: "A priest is called Father by everyone except his children who call him Uncle." Obviously, Roman Catholicism and sex have never mixed well.
The Catholic Church has been very successful in accumulating wealth over the centuries. Globally total current assets of the Vatican exceed those of any other institution in the world and quite possibly surpasses that of any corporation. It even has its own currency and bank. The church's alleged concern about poverty is brought into doubt by the fact that its wealth is more often produced by its followers than being shared with them. For example, the interior of the Church of St. Francis in Salvador, Brazil is plastered with 800 kg of gold --an island of opulence surrounded by a sea of abject poverty and misery.
Like its competitor Islam, the Catholic Church's largest base of followers is among the poor and uneducated. Hence about half of the world's Catholics live in Latin America which was plundered by the conquistadors in the presence of monks and priests since their arrival in the early part of the 16th century. The Inca population of 6 million was decimated to less than one million while tons of gold ornaments were melted into ingots and shipped to Rome and Spain.
It is interesting to note that most Catholics are female. Interesting, because for centuries women have been persecuted by the Church and to this day women are denied equality with men. Their allegiance to the Church's completely patriarchal hierarchy is eerily reminiscent of the Stockholm Syndrome. It should also be noted that while the church officially condemns homosexuality, it is nevertheless widely practiced among its ranks. Pedophile priests are not defrocked, but recycled to other parishes. Even high-ranking clergy such as former Cardinal Law of Chicago --condemned for inaction in cases of sexually abusive priests-- now enjoys a cushy job in the Vatican.
The anachronistic customs and rituals of the Vatican demonstrate that religious hocus-pocus and superstitions can still thrive in the 21st century. The Catholic Church is not only out of step with the present, but also with the values and beliefs of the past. With the present since it deplores poverty yet bans contraception, thus ignoring the link between the two and with the past when early Christianity shunned materialism. To demonstrate this latter point try to picture Jesus in the pope mobile and dressed in fancy clothes that rival those of Cher and Liberace. The irreconcilable contrast is inescapable.

THE POLITICS OF DYING

Being alive should not be equated with living. When extending life is reduced to prolonging suffering without any realistic hope for recovery the patient should be allowed to die with peace and dignity. It is both tragic and reprehensible that the sad case of Terri Schiavo was turned into a political issue by right-wing elements in the US to promote their so-called pro-life agenda. One wonders how many pro-lifers would prefer being artificially kept alive in bed for 15 years instead of being allowed to die. Would any of them embrace an existence that precludes eating, swallowing, going to the bathroom, let alone a dance, a swim or a family dinner?
President Bush and his right-wing cohorts claim the US is "a culture of life." Strange coming from a man who as Governor of Texas presided over more executions in that state than anywhere else in the US. A "culture of life?" Tell that to the more than 1,000 people in the US prison system waiting to be killed by the State in the name of justice! There can be no doubt that some of the already-executed were as innocent as those set free by DNA evidence after decades of incarceration.
Extending one's life against one's wishes violates a person's legal and constitutional rights. Right-wing zealots are using this tragic and sad case of Terri Schiavo for their own political advantage claiming that life in any condition and regardless of the horrific circumstances should never be ended except in cases of capital punishment or the bombing of non-American civilians in faraway places like Iraq and Afghanistan.
The price of birth is death. We must all die. No one can change that. It is beyond our control. What we can control --unless the State intervenes-- is how we die: with peace and dignity or after needless and prolonged suffering which benefits no one, least of all the patient.
Everyone has the right to define the minimum quality of life making life worth living. To protect your right to reject life-support systems when illness or injury make recovery impossible should be put in writing. For your own sake and that of your doctor and loved ones make sure your wishes are clearly spelled out in a Living Will. A sample copy of a detailed Living Will and a form to appoint a Health Care Agent are provided below. Print a copy, fill in the blanks, sign and have it witnessed. Provide copies to your loved ones and to your doctor provided (s)he agrees to honor your wishes.
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LIVING WILL

To: My Family, my Physicians, my Lawyer, any Medical Facility in whose care I may happen to be, any individual who may become responsible for my Health Affairs, and All Others Whom It May Concern:

I, , born on at being
of sound mind and over 18 years of age, hereby issue a directive, which I intend to be legally binding, which shall become effective at some future time, only under the following circumstances:

1) When I become unable to make my own decisions or express my wishes; AND

2) If I have a terminal illness; and I am permanently unconscious and under the following circumstances:

Dementia, Severe neurological illness or any other permanent disabling condition.

Also I wish to make additional directives (about life support equipment and other matters);

If I cannot eat or drink enough because of my irreversible medical conditions: I DO NOT want transfusions, NO intravenous feedings or tube feedings, NO cardiopulmonary resuscitation, NO all life prolonging invasive medical interventions. NO antibiotics. NO mechanical ventilation. If Kidney failure; NO dialysis.

Allow me to die should I enter into a coma or become irreversibly incompetent; using intravenous morphine and sedatives. In other words COMFORT CARE TREATMENTS directed exclusively to relieving symptoms and alleviating suffering.
Then I direct that my dying not be unreasonably prolonged; AND I wish to have COMFORT CARE ONLY, which is directed only toward relieving pain and suffering, regardless of the progress of my disease.                                                                                                                                .../2

LIVING WILL/2

In the absence of my ability to give directions regarding the aforementioned life sustaining procedures, it is my intention that this directive shall be honored as the final expression of my legal right to refuse medical treatment and to accept the consequences of such refusal.

I understand the full importance of this directive and I have signed it after thorough consideration of the nature and consequences of my refusal of such extraordinary life support procedures, including their benefits and disadvantages. This directive is in accordance with my strong convictions and beliefs and is made freely without any inducement or coercion from any person or institution.

_____________________________ ___________________
Signature                                                     Date

I hereby certify that I am over 18 years of age and that I have witnessed the above declarant's signature.

__________________________ ________________________
Witness Signature                      Witness Signature

__________________________ _________________________
Printed Witness Name                Printed Witness Name

__________________________ ________________________
Witness address                         Witness Address

_________________________ __________________________

Date                                         Date

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HEALTH CARE PROXY

I ,                                           , hereby appoint the following person as my HEALTH CARE AGENT, to make any and all health care decisions for me. This Proxy shall take effect when and if I become unable to make my own health care decisions.

_______________________________________ __________________________
NAME OF HEALTH CARE AGENT                PHONE NUMBER

________________________________________________________________________
ADDRESS

______________________________________________ _______________________
NAME OF ALTERNATE HEALTH CARE AGENT       PHONE NUMBER

________________________________________________________________________
ADDRESS

Unless I revoke it, this Proxy shall remain in effect indefinitely

__________________________________ __________________________________
SIGNATURE                                          DATE

I hereby certify that I am over 18 years of age, and that the person who signed this Proxy above, appeared to do so willingly and free from duress and that he signed this Proxy in my presence.

______________________________ ____________________________
WITNESS                                       WITNESS

_____________________________ _____________________________
WITNESS PRINTED NAME           WITNESS PRINTED NAME

_____________________________ ______________________________
WITNESS ADDRESS                      WITNESS ADDRESS

_____________________________ _______________________________
DATE                                             DATE
__________________________________________________________________________________

QUOTES BY JOHN MOELAERT

It takes two to tango, but only one to turn the music off.

The best part of one's life is rarely recognized as such at the time.

Every action is ultimately judged not on its merits or lack thereof, but on its consequences.

Proof of love is not in words but in deeds.

If you can't say something to someone's face you should not say it behind that person's back.

The strongest proponents of sharing everything fifty-fifty rarely have fifty.

The best way to make friends is to be one.

Life is genetic roulette.

If it were as difficult to produce a child as it is to raise one, the human race would have become extinct a very long time ago.

The most valuable degree is a degree of common sense.

Capitalism is far more about feeding greed than meeting need.

We can't always be cheerful, positive and happy, but we CAN always be kind.

The primary cause of all conflicts is people imposing their will on others.

HUMAN-ANIMAL HYBRIDS NEXT?

The idea of crossbreeding humans with animals dates back to Greek mythology, but soon the myth may become reality. Best-known mythological creatures were the centaur which had the head, arms and torso of a man and the body and legs of a horse and the chimera which was a fire-breathing female monster with a lion's head, a goat's body and a serpent's tail.
Crossbreeding between animals is no longer rare, e.g. tigons are a cross between tigers and lions and mules are the offspring of a horse and a donkey. With cloning and DNA mapping already a reality, inter species breeding between humans and animals is a looming possibility, but the ethical implications are even more complex than the scientific hurdles.
Animals with human organs could be created as walking parts suppliers. SEE: Ear on mouse. Humanoids bereft of moral restraints could be mass-produced and serve as future armies. Unintended microbial contamination from hybrids to people could result. Sexual relations between hybrids and humans could cause unforeseen complications, including new diseases and by extension pandemics that could lead to the extinction of the human race.
Tinkering with inter species reproduction may open new frontiers to eliminate diseases as well as create new ones. It represents a Pandora's box of great possibilities and grave risks. As nuclear weapons have shown it is not possible to de-invent life-threatening technologies.
For detailed information on this topic go to: HYBRIDS

FASCINATING FACTS

Amazing coincidence or diabolical planning? The number of days between the Sept. 11 attacks against the US in 2001 and the Madrid train attacks on March 11, 2004 is exactly 911 days.
The day after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon a complete list of the names and faces of all 19 hijackers was issued by the US government. In the meantime several years have passed since various anthrax attacks in the US were perpetrated --some with deadly results-- without any arrests of suspects. This is all the more puzzling since it is widely believed the anthrax attacks were most likely carried out by domestic criminals who obviously are much easier to track down than foreign terrorists.
Getting back to 911, fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudis, but. for retribution the US attacked not Saudi Arabia, but Aghanistan and Iraq, although none of the hijackers were Afghanis or Iraqis. Nevertheless most Americans still believe Saddam Hussein was responsible for the attacks.
Here is another unrelatted curiosity: if one moves the last two letters of Santa one space to the left the new word is Satan!

THE WAR IN IRAQ: MOST AMERICANS JUST DON'T GET IT

You can't make friends by destroying their country and killing its people It didn't work in Vietnam and it is not going to happen in Iraq. (The most conservative estimate is that 100,000 Iraqis have been killed by Americans --more than Saddam managed and at least he did not destroy Iraq's infrastructure and buildings).How would Americans feel and react if foreign troops destroyed their country and killed its people? Would they not fight back house to house as the insurgents do in cities such as Falluja and Mosul?

Most important the US invaded Iraq under false pretexts --notably WMDs-- and contravened international law thereby inviting worldwide condemnation. Now the US wants the UN (which it scorned prior to invading a sovereign member nation) to extricate it from the costly mess it got itself into.For a nation that portrays itself as the champion of freedom and justice, it doesn't mind snuffing both of them out if it is in its economic and strategic interest.

Death is very much misunderstood and even less appreciated in our society. That's strange, because as Francis Bacon put it: "It is as natural to die as to be born, but men fear death, as children fear to go in the dark; and as that natural fear in children is increased with tales, so is the other."
The best way to appreciate the importance of death is to try to imagine our world without it. For example, without death, tyranny would be endless and suffering would intensify, because brutal tyrants like Genghis Kahn, Hitler and Stalin would be with us forever.
Without death, but with continued reproduction, there would be standing room only on this already overpopulated planet. We have to question the sanity of scientists who are striving for immortality by keeping people alive through various means, including transplanted organs as well as genetically and mechanically produced organs and other body parts.
Without death there would be no incentive to rush things. Any task could wait till the next day, year, century, millennium. Death, or at least the threat or possibility of it, motivates us. As anyone who has been unemployed or on vacation too long knows, too much time on one's hands makes life very boring. Eternal life would be unbearable.
Suffering comes in countless forms and when it becomes intolerable, death is the welcome stranger that brings an end to it. Thomas Browne wrote in Religio Medici: "We all labour against our own cure, for death is the cure of all diseases."
Many things would be impossible without death. For example, murder, retirement, life insurance, the funeral business, near-death experiences, capital punishment and so on. Without death religion would have to undergo major revisions if it were to survive at all.
Life is the epitome of brevity. Death is the quintessence of eternity. To grasp how short life is, measure it against the length of death and you will realize you owe it to yourself to make the best of each day. Don't fret about the past, for it can't be changed and is only good for one thing: to learn from it. Don't worry about the future, for no one knows its mysteries. Only the present affords you a measure of control. So use it wisely.
Time is a priceless and irreplaceable commodity, so don't waste any. Remember: life's today is yesterday's tomorrow and soon will be tomorrow's yesterday, but death has no tomorrow--only yesterdays. So make each day count for your own fulfillment and the betterment of others for the world is only as bad as each one allows it to be. As William Hazlitt wrote On the Love of Life: "Our repugnance to death increases in proportion to our consciousness of having lived in vain."
Death destroys all dreams and stokes the fires of fear. Birth makes it inescapable. Everyone should contemplate the full spectrum of life and the inevitability of death before bringing children into this world and thereby subjecting them to both.

AMERICAN DREAM IS AN ILLUSION

Most Americans are very proud of their country, but WHY? The American Dream is just that: an illusion. They are conned by politicians and other reality distortionists into believing that the US is a bastion of freedom and democracy, the world's leader of justice and morality. But these comforting myths are contradicted by the harsh facts of reality. For examples --all provided exclusively by US news sources-- click here
Americans also love to talk about freedom as though they invented it. The same government that portrays the US as the world's leading defender of freedom. passed the Patriot Act which takes much of that venerated freedom away -- all in the defense of freedom, of course. Any American taking the freedom to visit Cuba is liable to severe punishmen and anyone who smokes a joint stands a good chance to lose his or her freedom and end up in prison. There are more than two million prisoners in the US, the highest per capita prison population in the developed world.

           
THE POLITICS OF CELIBACY

Celibacy has nothing to do with sexual morality, but was imposed to ensure that the estates of its clergy would go to the Church rather than to their offspring. It is a policy that has paid off handsomely: the Catholic Church now owns more real estate than any other institution or corporation in the world. (SEE: Vatican's assets). US author Richard Sype, who specalizes in Catholic affairs, has pointed out there is also a psychological reason for the imposition of celibacy, i.e. if one can control a person's sexuality one can control any other aspect of that person's behaviour as well.
In the meantime the rule of celibacy has been and continues to be widely violated. Some overdid it, like the Bishop of Liege who was finally deposed in 1274 after he had fathered 65 illegitimate children. (Read Sex in History by Reay Tannahill) Many popes similarly enjoyed the forbidden joys of the flesh. Pope Sergius III (904-911) lived openly with the notorious harlot Marozia. They had a son who became Pope John XI who was later imprisoned by Marozia. Her grandson became Pope John XII (955-963) who was killed in the very act of adultery by the woman's enraged husband.
Sex and religion have never mixed well and while celibacy has enriched the Catholic Church mThe Catholic church's policy of celibacy is an invitation for sexual abuse. Anyone with a basic knowledge of human biology knows that the sex drive, particularly in young men, is very strong and second only to the survival instinct. Without normal outlets for their sexual urges, priests commonly turn to each other or to children and women, using their position of authority as a powerful means to get their way with their victims. As any psychologist can tell you, suppressing one's sexuality often causes serious problems ranging from depression to violence. The sex drive demands outlets for the libido and when no natural outlets are available, immoral and illegal means are often used.The rule on celibacy was first imposed in 1139 during the Second Lateran Council and took a century to phase in against strong opposition from those affected by it. It must be understood that the Church's rule on celibacy has nothinaterially, its violations have caused devastating emotional injury among its victims. Most of these sexual violations remain hidden. The number of sexual abuse cases by Catholic clergy in the US alone runs into the thousands of cases, but instead of defrocking the guilty priests and higher ranking clergy, the Church in most cases simply transfers the offending priest to another parish. Even Cardinal Law of the Boston diocese who was forced to resign his post was subsequently given another post by none other than Pope John Paul. Sexual abuse cases have cost the Catholic Church more than a billion dollars in the US alone in legal settlements. It has brought some of the parishes to the verge of bankruptcy. There is no doubt that it will take a lot of church bingos to pay for the pleasures of the flesh among its clergy.

MONARCHIES ARE A COSTLY ANACHRONISM

A hundred years ago almost all countries in the world were headed by monarchs (king, queen, emperor, empress, tzar, sultan or whatever). Today there are only 29 monarchies left. Some are little more than symbols (Denmark, Holland, Norway), but others have virtual absolute power (Saudi Arabia, Nepal, Lesotho). They are all expensive. The most expensive monarchy in Europe is the United Kingdom which cost tax payers 35.3 million British pounds ($64.4 million US) in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2002. SEE: http://www.centreforcitizenship.org/monarchy/mon5.html

The cost of a monarch is always exorbitant, but to make matters far worse other members of the royal family (sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, cousins, nephews and nieces) sponge off the same royal trough. They not only each get a generous slice of the fiscal pie, but also titles such as dukes and duchesses. Unlike presidents and prime ministers they cannot be voted out of office. Royal positions are lifetime positions.And what do the "subjects" of monarchs get in return? Well, apart from huge bills, royal images printed on bank notes and stamps, ribbon cutting ceremonies and reading speeches written by staff members. By sheer accident of birth, members of a royal family never have to work while living in luxury.
The current total of 29 monarchies is likely to continue to dwindle. Australia is moving towards cutting all ties with the British Crown and like South Africa may before long also be a republic. The same change may take place in Canada. Right now it still recognizes the queen of England as its head of state who is represented federally by a costly governor-general and in each province by a lieutenant-governor. Recent surveys have shown that 48 per cent of Canadians believe Canada should end formal ties while 51 per cent disagree. One per cent is undecided.If Canada's formal ties to the British monarchy end, an elected Governor General with limited responsibilities (39%) or a republic with a prime minister as official head of state (37%) are the top choices to replace the British queen.Monarchs are a remnant of the feudal past. (Some date it back to the Stone Age). Kings, queens and other such costly and useless potenates certainly don't belong in the Space Age. The sooner the world rids itself of this parasitical system the better.

THE UNEMPLOYMENT MYTH

People have been conned for years into believing that unemployment is the inevitable result of a shortage of work and money, but the reality is that there is plenty of both to employ every person who is willing and able to work.
In the '60s computerized technology promised for the first time in history to eliminate mind-debilitating jobs and economic bondage. The challenge of the future--as seen then--was how to keep the masses happy with a three-day week for working people and a guaranteed annual income for all others. All that free time worried sociologists and criminologists who predicted that the resultant mass idleness and boredom would create crime and other forms of anti-social behaviour.
The cliché of the day was automation--a word long since fallen into disuse. The expectation was that smart machines would soon do all the boring jobs from counting bank notes to issuing speeding tickets. In fact, today automation has taken over many boring as well as complex jobs, but most of the benefits have accrued to large corporations in the form of increased profits. Automation has not produced a shorter work week, full employment, better health, free education and more recreation time. Quite the opposite: many people today work more hours than in the sixties, sometimes holding on to two part-time jobs with minimum pay, few if any benefits and without any job security. As any doctor can tell you, current stress levels and depression rates are at an all-time high.
There is no justification for unemployment, because there is no shortage of work. We are living on a dying planet. Millions of people are urgently needed right now for major environmental remedial actions from large-scale recycling programs to replanting the clear-cut areas that scar the global landscape. The quality of health care and public education is rapidly deteriorating. We need many more qualified people for both. The list of work projects is endless. In a world where more than a billion people are hungry, millions are homeless, illiterate or ill, there is an acute shortage of workers--not a shortage of work. Nor is there a shortage of money to pay for all the work that needs to be done.
Remember, whether the unemployment rate changes from five to ten or fifteen per cent, the amount of money in existence does not change. What does change when there is a recession is that much of the existing money supply is not released by those who control it. No matter how depressed the economy might be, if there were a major war tomorrow the necessary money would appear as magically as it seems to disappear during a recession. Moreover, the end of the Cold War was supposed to be the beginning of switching billions of dollars from military to civilian use such as low-cost housing, education and improved health care. But these so-called "peace dividends" never materialized.
It is important to understand that the economy is controlled jointly by the federal government and big business. The government prints money, sets interest rates, pegs the dollar, collects taxes and is mainly responsible for the rate on inflation. Big business which, of course, includes financial institutions such as banks, largely controls the size and working conditions of the active labour force. Collectively corporations can fine-tune the unemployment rate to within a percentage point to serve their interests. Business leaders learned a long time ago that when unemployment is low, demands for pay hikes and social benefits are high. Conversely, a high unemployment rate means employers can hire the best at bargain wages.
It is also important to understand that in employer-employee relationships the employee is always disadvantaged. That is because the most valuable asset anyone has in this life apart from one's health is time. To work means trading one's time and often risking one's health in exchange for money. This in turn means employees always lose, because money is replaceable and time is not.
Since there is neither a shortage of money nor of work, there is no justification for unemployment. Thus it should be clear that the real problem is not unemployment, but the unfair sharing of our collective wealth, political power and social responsibilities

REVERSE BANK ROBBERIES

When people rob a bank they are severely punished, but when banks rob people they get richly rewarded instead. Consider this: the interest paid on most savings accounts is less than one percent, but the interest charged by banks on credit card balances hovers around 18 percent.  That is legalized robbery! Worse, if a bank customer pays part of the balance on his/her credit card (s)he nevertheless gets charged interest on the full amount. In other words the customer is obligated to pay interest in part on money (s)he doesn't even owe.

THE CORPORATE PARASITES

We live in a very unjust society. The most valuable of its citizens are paid the least: farm workers (without them we would all die for a lack of food), while the most useless and most damaging members of society are grossly overpaid: the corporate parasites.
Heads of major corporations commonly receive millions of dollars a year. Some are paid millions in severance pay, e.g. the former head of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) received more than $200 million just for stepping down. Other CEO's supplement their income through swindling, e.g. Enron executives. No one realizes (let alone cares) that nobody can possibly EARN such enormous amounts of money.
One of the most obscene scenes is the close of trading at the NYSE when the bell clanks, the gavel is brought down and key lackeys applaud another day of gambling and exploitation.
People who produce most of the world's true wealth (farm workers, miners, tree planters etc.) get the smallest piece of the economic pie. Many of them are forced to live on subsistence wages despite their high-risk work and countless thousands live in conditions rich people would not accept for their pets. These workers should be admired, but they are largely ignored. Admiration is reserved for money moguls like Bill Gates, Donald Trump and other members of the Forbes 500 clan.
The rich increase their wealth on the backs of the poor. Millions of dollars are made merely by shuffling and signing papers. Huge rival companies merge and small companies are simply squeezed out of business. People who buy assets and sell them for more than they paid add to the cost of those assets without adding a penny to their actual value whether it is real estate or any other commodity. Such transactions often contribute to inflation. No one can ethically justify making money on selling for example mining shares, while the workers who actually mine the minerals end up with low wages and high health risks. All of this demonstrates that capitalism is based on waste and driven by greed.

THE FANTASY OF ROMANCE

In most cases romance is triggered by hormones. People thus inflicted often behave irrationally, can't concentrate on mundane matters and commonly experience sleepless nights. They will make promises they can't possibly keep and say things they can't possibly mean. Popular songs, which are basically mating calls, are based on romantic hyperbole. People commonly mistake lust for love, not recognizing the difference until arguments start --sometimes as early as the honeymoon!
In Canada and the US about half of all marriages end in divorce. which doesn't mean that the other half of the couples are well-adjusted happy people. Most of those who stay married do so for reasons other than love with MONEY, children and "appearances" topping the list. Only between 15 and 20 per cent of marriage partners would marry the same person again if they could start all over. Who would board a plane with such a low success rate of reaching its destination?
It is interesting to note that most operas end with one or both of the protagonists leaving the land of the living. Once the flames of passion have died down, there is little left to write or sing about. Consider some famous operas: In La Boheme Mimi dies of tuberculosis, Tosca leaps to her death after her lover Mario has been executed, Carmen is knifed to death by an admirer and Madame Butterfly kills herself while singing her heart out. There is no opera where lovers live happily ever after. Apparently no composer has ever succeeded setting marital boredom to beautiful music. 

 ISLAM AND TERRORISM

"Those who you can make believe absurdities you can make commit atrocities." Voltaire.

Only demented minds can believe that shooting fleeing children in the back is rewarded with a shortcut to paradise. Moreover, these Muslim monsters believe that by dying as "martyrs" they will each have 72 beautiful virgins waiting for them in heaven (Except female martyrs, of course). Only insane individuals can possibly believe that they can advance their cause by murdering children and beheading innocent hostages, all for the love of God, of course. Anyone with no more than a grain of humanity in him is repulsed by those cruel cowards hiding their faces with balaclavas and pointing their guns at their defenceless hostages. Of course it can be rightfully argued that US pilots dropping bombs and killing innocent Iraqi civilians is no less brutal, but two wrongs don't make a right.
In the meantime the terrorism toll is growing each year in the world surrounded by a media Muslim myth, i.e. that the vast majority of Muslims are peace-loving individuals known as moderates. This raises two critical questions:

1. How many mullahs, ayatollahs and imams are there who condemn the atrocities of Muslim fanatics and state so in mosques and in public? Zero is a distinct possibility

2. From whom do you think the terrorists get their money? From so-called Muslim moderates. It is hardly a secret that much of the funding for terror attacks comes from influential Muslims in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria and even from some of the eight million Muslims in the US.

It may not be politically correct to say this, but it is nevertheless a fact that Muslim leaders have declared war on the West and on non-Muslims from Russia to the Indian subcontinent. For most of the world's billion Muslims religion and politics are closely interwoven and in fact interdependent.
For those in the West who point out that Islam is basically no different than other major religions which all have their own fundamentalist factions, ask yourself how many planes have been hijacked and schools been blown up by Buddhists. Of course, there really are kind and law-abiding Muslims, but their voices for love and peace are barely audible. Have you ever seen a large demonstration of Muslims protesting the barbaric acts of their fanatical brothers or the stoning of women and pubic beheadings in Islamic states? If you still don't get it, reread Voltaire's quote above.

THE FLUORIDE PUZZLE

As anyone knows the more ingredients go into a product, the higher the cost. But there is one strange exception: toothpaste without fluoride on average costs five times as much as toothpaste with fluoride. Moreover, most stores do not carry fluoride-free toothpaste.
No genuine health-conscious person will use fluoride toothpaste, because fluoride is more toxic than arsenic and mercury. It is also a carcinogen. According to Dr. Dean Burk of the National Cancer Institute "fluoride causes more human cancer death, and causes it faster than any other chemical."
Fluorine is an extremely volatile, electronegative element that is never found alone in nature, and compounds readily with many elements. Fluorines were used as battlefield gas in both world wars and sodium fluoride is routinely used as a constituent of rat poison.(PP 104 Cancer Why We're Still Dying To Know The Truth by Phillip Day).
The chemical industry in collusion with the government is subjecting the public to a major health risk while an alternative, i.e. fluoride-free toothpaste, is no longer manufactured by the major toothpaste producers. The last major brand without fluoride was Pepsodent.