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First the tragedy, then the farce

You have to wonder what guys like George Bush and Stephen Harper aresmoking. The war in Iraq and Afghanistan rages on with no end in sightwhile they make speeches about winning. Meanwhile, the military is tellingus that they are losing. A recent U.S. Marine Corps report on the situation inAnbar province west of Baghdad said that the battle was lost there and that AlQaeda has filled the vacuum.

Other analysts have reached the conclusion that the insurgents are learningand adapting to situations much better than the allies.

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Evangelical sabre-rattling won't lead to peace

As awkward as it feels to talk about God in the daily media, the Almighty is an unavoidable player in world events. Presidents, politicized clerics and suicide bombers claim the stamp of divine endorsement. They're all fighting “evil” and they're all claiming the guarantee of ultimate victory.

So depending on what you believe, our world is either engaged in a cosmic battle to the apocalyptic finish, or just mired in raw politics with some players bluffing a divine trump card.

In either case, Christianity currently has the upper hand.

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How can we restore our reputation and sovereignty?

There is a new axis of evil in the world, anenvironmental axis of evil. Its members are Canada, theUnited States and Australia. One expects it from theUnited States, a country run in a moral void by and forthe wealthy élite, but not from Canada.

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Quebec election surprises looming

Jean Charest has to rank as one of the most hapless first ministers Quebec has ever endured. From the beginning, with his sneak attack on child-care workers, and his attempt to undermine the fabled public, five dollars a day, day-care system, he has seemed determined to alienate himself and his government from Quebec society, segment by segment, starting with parents, and moving quickly on to public servants, students, hospital patients and even skiers.

Though governments normally win consecutive mandates in Quebec, Charest looked ready to break the trend, and lose the next election.

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Whose budget is it anyway?

There's a much-used expression in Canadian politics, most often referring to the Liberal Party: “They campaign from the left and govern from the right.” It has been used today about the Stephen Harper Conservative government after the introduction of yesterday's budget.

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Scotland is not Quebec

The election this week of a new Scottish Parliament is expected to result in a referendum on Scottish independence as early as 2010.

The election of the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) is widely anticipated in elections May 3 to the now seven-year-old seat of devolved rule, known as Holyrood.

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Afghanistan: Toward a new Canadian foreign policy

(Mission of Folly: Part ten — 1) For Canadians, the Afghanistan operation has been a mission of folly. Canada blindly followed the United States into a war that is not winnable, a war from which no positive results can be anticipated. Now that American public opinion has turned sharply against the war in Iraq, U.S. involvement in Afghanistan will not long endure. Americans will move on to other engagements, other power struggles and new priorities.

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Defending the French Republic

French protesters took to the streets this past weekend to defend therights of immigrants, who would face possible DNA testing in cases offamily reunification, under changes to immigration law proposed by amember of the French majority government, led by President NicholasSarkozy.

For protesters, including the French Socialist party, high profileintellectuals, a bevy of film stars, and centre right politicians, as wellas immigrant defence and human rights groups, the Mariani amendment,supported by Prime Minister François Fillon, is contrary to the republicanspirit of France.

Op

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Managing our addictions (badly)

Nova Scotia's Finance Minister Peter Christie presented a financial statement just before Christmas. It showed that revenues from liquor and tobacco were down, while those from gambling were up sharply.

This put flesh on a suspicion I've had for some time: that our problem gambling amounts to exchanging one addiction for another.

In real life, there are always addictions and you have to somehow manage them.

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Canada must abandon subservience to U.S.

On the eve of the new session that opened in Ottawa this week, the Prime Minister called on parliamentarians to treat each more civilly. With respect, politeness is not the issue facing the country.

It is the job of Parliament to identify the issues important to Canada's future.

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