Lew Rockwell Interviews Peter Schiff

Interview with Peter Schiff, “You’re Better off as a Renter”, Lewrockwell.com podcast, Mar 23/09.   Renting vs. home ownership.   Also discussed debt vs. savings, college and tuition vs. work.

Defiance

“Defiance” is a movie based on surprising true events that probably many people haven’t heard of before.  I think it is a meaningful and inspirational movie, and very moving.    It has a positive message about a large group of Jews in Eastern Europe who were rescued and led by the Bielski brothers.  The main character, Tuvia Bielski is played by Daniel Craig (the latest James Bond).   In this movie, the people respond to evil by working together and surviving as an independent and free community.   The movie is very human-paced, and not too violent.  The community never surrendered, and did not let themselves be captured, but escaped to the forest and continued throughout the war to fight for their lives and people.   The message is about staying alive and surviving, maintaining their freedom as determined by themselves, not by the “authorities” who were busy slaughtering innocents.    There is a proper regard in the story for the value of human life and about the difference between vengeance and justice.   So even though there are scenes where this moral code predictably breaks down, it is not abandoned.   For more information on the story, go to http://www.defiancemovie.com/.   Also http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1034303/plotsummary.  A book about these events is also available:  Defiance: The Bielski Partisans.

White Phosphorus in Gaza

Everything about Defiance is “off-message” to what we’re supposed to believe, being contrary to events that are going on in the world now where the powerful bomb the weak, the weak are called “terrorists” and the strong are allowed to kill civilians and destroy homes with impunity.

• Mark Regev admits Israel used White Phosphorus Bombs after cover up
• Israel accused of using phosphorus shells

Galloway Banned from Canada – Speak Out NOW

A disturbing thing has happened, because the Canadian government banned British MP George Galloway, antiwar hero –flawed in ideology but fearless –  from entering Canada.   The rhetoric by the government side is ominous.

See the Channel 4 News videos – the first is an interview with a Canadian government representative, and the second is a video of the confrontation between George Galloway and his accuser, Meir Weinstein of the Canadian Jewish Defence League:

• Galloway:  “The British government just announced it is resuming talks with Hezbollah.… you can’t pick and choose who other people have to represent them.  And both Hamas and Hezbellah have the benefit of … being a democratically elected political force.  Now, I think the reference to Hamas is about the aid convoy that we took to Palestine.  Hundreds of British people, all British citizens, more than a hundred British vehicles, delivering aid to starving people who don’t have the means of staying alive otherwise because of the siege.  The people to whom we gave the aid were the elected representatives of the Palestinian people.  As one democratic politician, I handed the keys to these vehicles to another democratic politician.”

• In response to question about governments calling Hamas “terrorists”,  Galloway said: “they’ll say it today but they won’t say it tomorrow.  If we were speaking to Hezbelloh yesterday, we’ll be speaking to Hamas tomorrow”

I don’t take Galloway’s partisan comments about the Harper government seriously because I know the left-right stuff is nonsense, and Obama is building on Bush’s foundations.  I’ve heard Liberal leader Ignatieff’s comments that were supposedly in defence of free speech, and they were insulting to Galloway, just like the government, so we know where he’s at.

• Later in the video, Weinstein:  “…we are extremely determined to uncover any proxy agents of Hamas and Hezbollah …  WE WILL BE LOOKING INTO THESE ORGANIZATIONS IN CANADA THAT HAVE INVITED HIM, THEIR LINKS TO TERROR GROUPS AS WELL”

• Galloway: “That’s a very serious threat. I was actually to speak in one of the major churches in Toronto, so there is just a warning there that they’re going to be ‘looked into’ …”  (followed by some throw-away partisan comments)

• Weinstein: “We’re going to do our utmost to make sure that proxies of radical Iran are kept away from Canada..”…

• Galloway: “I’ll be there on the border and if I can’t cross the border, then I’ll address those who want to hear me in Canada by other means.  There are plenty of other means…“

• Weinstein: “Therefore if he uses those other means, we will see to it that the Canadian government WILL BE MONITORING EVERY INDIVIDUAL AND ORGANIZATION THAT WILL HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT…”

• Galloway:  “These are very venal and brute threats which are being made by your guest against Christian groups and other peace groups in Canada, and that tells you all you need to know really about him.  My views on Afghanistan are that I want to save Canadian and British and American and other NATO troops from needless and pointless deaths.  I want to bring them home. Whether you agree with me or not, surely I have the right to speak about it, and a debate is what is required.  You can’t get debate by excluding people.”

• Weinstein: “It’s not a freedom of speech issue…”  (?!)

Comments:

Obviously the pro-war people want to keep him out of Canada because they are terrified of Galloway’s ability to communicate, and you can see why.  Who exactly is terrorizing who?   Isn’t it Canadians who are being terrorized into submissiveness by those who use the authorities to police our opinions!

The Criminal Code of Canada is just one aspect of the growing web of offences that are created to trap and control people in actions that may in many cases be morally defensible, legitimate and victimless.   Canada’s list of terrorist organizations currently lists Hamas, the party elected as the government of Palestine, but it does not list the U.S. or Israeli governments who we know use violence to achieve their goals. Legislation that was passed after 9/11  to take away our freedoms was justified on the basis of supposed “terrorist threats”, and the effect of this legislation was to make things illegal that never used to be illegal.

So funding and charity decisions that used to be judged by individuals on a case-by-case basis more and more came under centralized state control and are no longer in the hands of individuals, but in the hands of governments and the financial institutions who are required to snitch on large transactions.

So the Canadian government will not punish the U.S. government for funding dictatorial regimes (http://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/31/world/us-is-reorienting-civil-aid-to-egypt.html)in the Middle East, but will punish individuals for giving for charity/welfare purposes, or supporting some groups or governments they may personally consider as freedom fighters.  Thus these policies help to prop up dictatorial regimes and injustice all over the world.   Taxpayers of various allied governments are of course not punished by Canada either for involuntarily funding their government’s war machines  – but citizens of “enemy” governments (if there are any left) end up as collateral damage.   This is the moral inconsistency of the fraud called the “war on terror”.

But our own freedom of action and conscience is restricted – in a supposedly “free country” where soldiers are “fighting for our freedom”, and we are monitored more than ever as the world is brought under centralized control.    The idea of going off voluntarily and fighting in the equivalent of the Spanish Civil War, which was done in the past (rightly or wrongly) by Canadians, now becomes something unthinkable as we have to contemplate being captured and detained indefinitely or face “rendition” – torture (http://www.thefulcrum.ca/node/2043) – for crossing some trip-wire in the establishment’s massive and escalating web of legislated powers.

Libertarians believe that freedom of speech is absolute (when not aggressing against others) and we should be greatly offended and worried by what is happening.   Libertarians believe in the non-aggression principle, which means that there should not be initiation of aggression against innocent people and property.  The principle also implies that trapping people in a walled-off camp as in Gaza is also aggression.    The principle also implies that we should find ways to negotiate as equals and avoid hurting innocent people, and so avoid responses that are unjust and out of proportion.

When people group together to protect themselves, it doesn’t mean that the government of that group – even if it is “elected” in a “democratic” system – is morally legitimate in every way or defensible in every way.  It’s just one gang claiming to rule.  On the other hand, it has as much or as little moral legitimacy as any other  government.   In fact, moral legitimacy might more accurately be measured based on the number of innocent people a particular government kills.  And we know which governments lose on that score.   Those who think “might makes right” no doubt believe that the more people their favorite government kills, the more legitimate it is, which is screwed up thinking.  And there are plenty of screwed up people to keep them company,  which is why we need to build an anti-war and anti-tyranny movement – across the fake left-right spectrum – to drown them out.

Look, you need to speak up now and tell the politicians and everyone else what you believe in.  Because this is crunch time. Don’t wait for political parties and politicians.   Don’t rely on champions to save you.  There is so much happening now with oppressive federal and provincial legislation that is hitting us all at once.  We get so used to it, but it is still accelerating.   You need to stand up now about everything that is happening – the wars, globalization and escalating attacks on freedom, property rights and freedom of speech are all connected.  The U.S. and U.N. are one and the same at the top.  The major parties are the same at the top.   It’s all ONE group at the top pretending to be different groups.  They are UNITING the different nations – in some cases by force – or under so-called “free trade” or “security” agreements – and they’re not waiting for your approval or input.   This is happening before our eyes.

The website for Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East is at:  http://www.cjpme.ca/mission.shtml – I disagree with the endorsement of “all UN resolutions”, but you can go here to send a message to Canadian politicians about George Galloway:  http://www.cjpme.ca/action_galloway_2009_03.shtml

I omitted the word “Conservative” and just used the phrase “government” because it’s just wishful thinking to believe the Liberals would have very different policies:

“Canada has announced that it will not allow MP George Galloway entry into Canada on the grounds that he poses a security threat. However, none of the clauses of section 34(1) of the country’s immigration act apply to Galloway. This is as an abhorrent move by the government to silence criticism of its policies in Afghanistan.

“This is another case (among others) of the government stifling free speech when the views expressed are contrary to those of the government, or critical of Israel.

“Canada is a democracy and we will not stand for such dictatorial tactics. I demand the ban against George Galloway be lifted immediately.”

Another useful site is nowar.ca.  The contact information and mailing list is here

“The organizers of Galloway’s speaking tour – the Toronto Coalition to Stop the War, the Ottawa Peace Assembly, and Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights – condemn in the strongest terms Kenney’s attack on free speech and our right to criticize our government’s foreign policy. We call on all supporters of civil liberties to join us in challenging these attacks and in reversing Kenney’s ban.”

March 24th, 2009