-[ Quoting William Elliot , to Dennis Menard ]-
 WE> we have the state of California witch is birthplace of the New Age.
 DM> :)  Many Canadians consider British Columbia to be the California of
 DM> Canada.  Of course, we, in the West, consider Ontario to be the bastion
 DM> of Canadian oddity ... the political hinterland (ie, yogurt has a more
 DM> viable culture than Toronto, or Ottawa, for example).  :)
 WE> Does it invent any New Age stuff?  What do you expect from Maroony?
Invent New Age stuff?  B.C.?  No; I think it's imported.  :)
Expect from Mulroney?  We  him to drown himself (ie, publicly, or
privately; we don't care); but, we are not very hopeful that he will consent
to this honourable course of action.  He is  Samurai.  :)
 WE> Is he gone by now?  Any substitutes?  Of course after RayGun, we had
Mulroney, gone?  Yes ... mostly; though he does pop his head up from time to
time, rather like an arcade duck, just to keep the country inflamed.  :)
Substitutes?  Well, we had Kim Campbell (ie, 1st female PM in Canada) who
claimed to be able to speak about 50 languages because she knew how to count
from 1-10 in about 500 of them ... I may be exaggerating a little.  In fact,
I think she was set-up for a fall by that old smoothy, Mulroney.  Quite a
bad break for her - really.  But, after Mulroney, her party (ie, Progressive
Conservatives, equiv. to Republican) didn't stand a ghost; they were reduced
to 2-seats.  Political cartoonists had them plotting strategy in telephone
booths.  :-)
Now we've Jean Chretien, who isn't literate in either official language, yet
can't speak any others, which is truly a remarkable achievement.  :)
In truth, the difference between the U.S. and Canada is that, in the former,
you vote your politicians in; in Canada, we vote them out!  :)  I think that
our best Prime Minister was, arguably, Alexander MacKenzie-King ... although
he was something of a flake, as well (ie, regularly consulting with dead
relatives, and so on) ... he was, by far, the most competent leader Canada's
ever had, flakiness notwithstanding.  He was, unquestionably, the most and
best-educated of all Canada's PMs and ran the country from 1921-1930 (with a
brief hiatus in 1926) and again from 1935-1948 ... both very tough periods,
as I am sure you'll appreciate.  He died in 1950.  So far as I know, not one
political figure's publicly admitted to consulting with him, from the quiet
of the grave; maybe Nancy RayGun could help?  :)
 WE> Clinton did wonders for my Democratic affiliation.  He ended it.  One
 WE> day he proclaimed the need for a national amendment for school prayer.
 WE> The next day he recanted, but by then I already had changed my
 WE> affiliation.  If I ever had any doubts about abandoning the Democratic
 WE> party, they were completely obliterated by results of the salvage log
 WE> rider.
:)  I have always thought that voting for one party or another is much like
voting for the crook you like vs the one you dislike.  :)  But, in the U.S.,
you really only have 2 parties to choose from.  In Canada, now, we have five
which should make the next election lots of fun.  The Liberals are incumbent
and, although losing popularity quickly in some circles, still may be the
best choice for us next election.  What are the choices: Progressive Conser-
vatives, breathlessly resuscitated from a 2-seat near-death succeeding the
public's backlash against Mulroney by terminating Kim Campbell with a single
stroke.  Reform (ie, Progressive Conservatives ... in a hurry); thus, trans-
forming Preston Manning into Presto! Manning.  Lots of support in provinces
outside of Quebec ... lots of concern with some of the personal ideologies
APPARENTLY espoused by potential candidates attracted to the Reform platform
(ie, racism, sexism, etc.)  I think Reform might actually disappear if, for
example, Preston Manning abandoned leadership of the party; HE seems to be
charismatic, intelligent, competent ... and a "leader."  Then, we have that
venerable institution: the New Democratic Party (ie, some refer to it as
the Neo-Depression Party); Audrey McLaughlin handed over the reigns to the
incumbent Alexa McDonough just before the last election.  It is primarily
concerned with social services and labour and other issues, important to the
citizenry vs big business; I'd fully expect the U.S. to declare war on us,
if the NDP ever get voted in ... probably led by the Republican far-right!!
Short of the incumbent Liberals, that leaves the Bloc Quebecois, the only
party in the country, fully represented in Parliament, totally dedicated to
splitting up the country by a unilateral declaration of Quebec soverignty!
:)  I ask you, is Canada unique, or what?  :)  Personally, I would like to
see a comic book based on Canada's political mis-adventures; of course, may
be that Superman has a more believable storyline.  Still, how many American
people'd believe that the term "Truth, Justice and the American Way" was
invented by a 17-year-old Canadian (ie, Joe Shuster) who, with his friend,
Jerry Siegel, invented "Superman" in 1934 (ie, picked up by DC Comics, with
Issue #1 published in 1938) ... that great American superhero and culture
icon?  Close psychological examination of Superman's personality reveals an
astonishingly clear archetype of the typical Canadian.  :)
As for the Liberals: after 2-terms of the Progressive Conservatives' launch
of our deficit into the stratosphere, 2-terms of Liberals have managed to -
reduce it to zero; they're now attempting to lower our accumulated debt, as
well.  I suspect that Paul Martin - the architect of this economic miracle,
would be well-received as a replacement for the current Jean Chretien.
Ah, well.  Only the next election will reveal the collective fantasy of the
voting public.  :)
I apologize for the detour.  What is: "The Salvage Log Rider"?  Sounds like
the title of a New-Age superhero.  :)  ??
 WE> Religious resurgence, such as fundamentalism comes about when society
 WE> is destablilized, such as NAFTA, down sizing, out sourcing, slashing of
 WE> benefits, etc.  'Tis the handy work of the rich who want more than too
 WE> much, who want everything including unregulated ownership of all
 WE> natural, economic, technological and human resources.
:)  Rather like the greedy farmer who killed the golden goose.  Unhappily,
greed keeps the slave, enslaved ... and the slave-owners, fat and sassy.  It
is the slave who must choose whether he wishes to be free ... or not.  :-)
 WE> The Portland Free Press, a grass roots newspaper that publishes
 WE> irregularly has at it's motto, 'Tell the Truth and Run'
Feets, don't fail me now!  :)
 WE> Paul Revere had both feet in the stirrup.  That's because instead of
 WE> telling the truth, he told the facts. -)
An uncommonly foolhardy bloke!  :)
--
... Useless laws weaken necessary laws.
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