Two-thirds better than nothing at all, it's...
T H E J U I C E A N D G I N
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Term XLI, Issue 07 (#201)
Weather outlook:
Suspicious.
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* Contents *
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- Editor's Blurb
- Ongoing Events
- Greg's DTK
- Humour
- General Info
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* Editor's Blurb *
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Hey all
Well, that didn't take long. And here I thought it would take at least
a couple of months for day creep to push our publication schedule to
Thursdays. But looky... here we are. And what does that actually say?
Well, for starters were just that much closer to returning to Tuesdays.
But are Thursdays really all that bad? (Didn't someone else have
trouble getting the hang of Thursdays?) No promises, but I'll try to
reign this puppy in and get it launched at a regular intervals. Because
everyone likes regularity. And for good reason.
Until next time,
The little critters of the world, they don't know that they're ugly.
Michael (mailto:nutsinfo$yahoo.ca)
And now, the rest of the story...
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* Ongoing Events *
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[See the Event Calendar on the web site for full descriptions.
--Ed.]
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Pool League
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Mondays
http://nutsevents.topcities.com/events/index.html#Monday
Contact: Dave and Michael (pool$solutionsatsource.com)
View the current players' statistics at:
http://nutsevents.topcities.com/events/pool/index.html
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Indoor Rock Climbing
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Thursdays
Contact: Andrew (akpallek$hotmail.com)
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* Greg's Deep Thought Korner *
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Security Certificates.
If you've been reading the news lately, you've been hearing about these
nefarious things called "national security certificates." Basically, if
you're suspected of somehow being involved in terrorism, the government
can come get you, take you away, throw you in jail forever and never
bring you to trial. That's not an exaggeration. That's actually how it
works.
In the case of three Arab men held since somewhere between 2001 and
2003, these men are permitted to leave Canada, if they wish, but are
under detention as long as they are here. I'm going to have to argue
this much: what if they were Canadian and had no country to which they
could return? Could we just hold Canadians forever on "suspicion"?
That's not the way justice works where I come from. Okay. It's not the
way it *used* to work where I come from. That being that I'm from Canada.
Those who disagree with me are most likely to point out that this is
"Terrorism." It's a new and terrible threat and we must grant the
government and the police all sorts of special powers in order keep us
safe. Isn't our safety worth a little sacrifice of freedom? Are those
abstract "human rights" really that important? What's the big deal?
(And, nudge, nudge, wink wink: they're mostly arresting brown people
anyway, right?)
Um, yeah.
See, here's the thing. If you want to remain free, you have to pay
attention. If you allow the government to trick you in to believing
that "the government gives you rights," you are well and royally
screwed. If rights exist only when governments grant them, then
governments can take them away. On the other hand, if we (those who
elect the government) remain of the belief that the government can only
do the things we allow it to do, we're in a much wiser position.
If we allow the government to arrest some of us, skip trial by jury,
skip trial altogether, in fact skip even showing evidence to support
their suspicion, we are permitting the governmental foot to get itself
in the door to a room where we simply can not have it.
Are we safer because of this? Possibly, but the point is extremely
debatable. The number of deaths due to terrorism, even in the United
States after 9/11, pales in comparison to the myriad other causes of
death (being fat, smoking, driving like a jackass, etc.). But if our
nation becomes one where the government can lock you away forever on
suspicion, isn't that far worse?
We are on the edge of a precipice here, looking in to a bottomless pit.
We are very close now with the use of these "certificates" to living
in a police state. Disagree with the government? You're a terrorist!
Lock him away. You'd like to see evidence? Bah, you're dangerous and
we have a certificate! Rot in jail, dissenter.
Why would anyone trust a government not to abuse this power?
As an aside, I happen to believe that we will find the best safety and
security when people in third world countries aren't being abused and
killed so we can have their natural resources and cheap labour. Locking
away a couple of suspected terrorists here and there is like trying to
cut down a tree by slowly picking its fruit. That tree can make more
fruit. The invasion of Iraq, I believe, has adequately proved this.
Back to the issue of certificates. No, that's not permissible. If you
have evidence of a conspiracy to murder, present it and throw the
conspirators in jail. If you don't, you have to let them go. If
they're here illegally, deport them. If "slow deportation process" is
your excuse for these attacks on our Charter, then speed up the process,
don't hack up the Charter.
Greg.
[Send responses to DTKs or new Editorials to nutsinfo$yahoo.ca]
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* Humour *
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[Forward any good jokes or interesting web sites you see to
nutsinfo$yahoo.ca]
[Disclaimer: The Humour Section may contain content that includes dirty
words, adult situations and jokes that make fun of politicians. Viewer
discretion is advised. --Ed.]
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The Price Of Gas
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Thanks to Linda G.'s Comedy Bucket O' Fun
Three gas station owners report for their first day in prison. The
prison guard asks one of them, "What are you in for?"
He replies, "The government says I charged customers more for my
gasoline than other gas stations. I'm in for price gouging."
The guard looks at the second man. "And you?"
He answers, "I charged less for my gasoline than everyone else. I'm in
for anti-competitive pricing."
The guard looks to the third. "And you?"
He shrugs. "I charged the same price for my gasoline as all the other
gas stations. I'm in for collusion."
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* General Info *
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Contact the NUTS Committee:
nutsinfo$yahoo.ca
The NUTS Website is:
http://nutsevents.topcities.com/
http://torpedo.ca.newbridge.com/mirror/ (for people within Alcatel)
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