Some thoughts on the Ernst Zundel situation, after reading he is going to be held for another couple of months in a Canadian jail, as the powers of the country decide whether or not he is a terrorist or something.

- what I have learned over the few years of my life is that "they" - anyone in authority, as it were, from government through religious and business leaders - lie a lot - lies that, in general, help them maintain their power, their authority, over all of us.

- as far as Zundel goes, and the Holacaust claims - well, really, it isn't of any immediate effect in my life, so doesn't occupy a lot of my time. That isn't being harsh or cruel or unfeeling or ignorant of history (I expect I am considerably more aware of history than most people) - it just reflects the reality that all of us live mainly in the now. We should certainly be aware of the past, and try to learn lessons from it to make our world today and our path to the future a better one - but we should not be consumed by it. That gives no honor to those who were there, and offers no hope to those who will follow that we are trying to make a better world for them to start from, to improve in their way for their times. What would you wish for your children - that they spent their lives living and growing and making a better world, or that they wasted away with bitter thoughts about whatever bad things happened to you, their parents? We all have bad stories, bad things that happened to us - some worse, much worse than other, to be sure - but we should not burden our children with those stories, nor should they burden themselves. Be aware of the past, yes, as I have said - but use those memories only as they apply to making your own life and times a better place. There are many tragedies from the past that should inform the way we think and live today (just off the top of my head, for instance, what about the genocide committed by the first generations of Europeans in the Americas (North and South) against all of the original inhabitants of these lands? the American terrorist bombings in WW2 of places like Dresden, Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Curtis LeMay, the American general who ordered these last two, has admitted that at least these latter two would have qualified as a war crime) - it has always been a bit unclear to my why this holacaust story has become the unquestionable mythology it has, with so many other tragic events in world history.



- remember again that, as has oft been noted, winners write the history books - and what winners have written history books that made themselves look bad?

- it is also very much the American way, as we are seeing, to create "devils" to self-righteously go stomping out and eradicate - and why should we suppose that behavior is a recent trait? We know that the US government of Lyndon Johnston created an artificial incident (oh hell, just call it what it was - a lie) to justify dramatically escalating their invasion and slaughter in Vietnam, for nothing more than political purposes; we know now almost for a certainly that the great Franklin Roosevelt knew well ahead of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbour that it was coming, and could have taken defensive measures that would have prevented it, but did not, because the American people were very unwilling to get involved in the Eurpoean war and he needed something to get them angry enough to enlist (not to mention that the Japanese leaders had been trying to surrender for several days before the atomic bombs were dropped, but the Americans wanted to test those weapons in a real situation so ignored the Japanes entreaties); and for a good part of the last year we heard George Bush peddling incessantly the most outrageous lies to incite his sheep - excuse me, citizens (do you have to any certified ability to think independently to be called a citzen? we should look into that someday...) into supporting his invasion in Iraq - oh, indeed, the list is long - military-political adventurism is almost always based on lies - so we cannot simply assume that stories now circulated about WW2 are for some reason bound to be true.

(Lest the fanatics go tearing off on some crazy tangent, let me note that by talking about western lies I am NOT glorifying Hitler at al!! - certainly, Hitler appears to have been a leader with big ambitions and ready to do some rather brutal things to achieve those ambitions (why does the word 'Bush' keep coming to mind as I write about Hitler, I wonder? - or American-Industrial Complex, Reagan, Thatcher, Pentagon - Bush wasn't around for the recent Kosovo excursion, or CIA - American excursions into South and Central American) - the weight of evidence seems to indicate he and/or his followers were responsible for the Reichstag fire which he used to take power, and he accused Poland of being a threat to Germany so he could undertake a "pre-emptive" invasion there to 'protect' the Motherland (whooo - sound familiar??)- but it would be - has been, really - the grossest folly to assume "they" are terrible and evil, but "we" are pure at heart - history shows otherwise. Too bad a few more people haven't read 1984, and understood what Orwell was talking about - it's been happening. Us vs Them - who exactly 'they' are is flexible, but they are always terrible and evil and (for some never explained reason) just want to kill us all and do bad things to us, and WE are always good, only wanting freedom and democracy and good stuff, and have to defend ourselves. These kind of lies are also propagated throughout our society - from kids comic books through popular fiction and (most insidious of all) television - that great indoctrinator of the last 50 years.

Another rather telling point, to me, is the venom that greets Zundel's work - such aggressive hositily, it has been my experience, is usually reserved for those with rather important things to cover up, and any opposition must be shut up quickly before things start coming to light they do not wish to be there in the light. Innocent people let the truth speak for itself, given the opportunity. We can again note a parallel in America - the absolute insistence of the American government that there WILL BE NO!!! investigation of the 9/11 situation speaks volumes about their involvement - without such an investigation we can not be sure of what did happen, but to any impartial, outside observer, it is quite obvious that a substantial amount of complicity or guilt rests within the upper levels of the American government.

If Zundel was obviously spouting lies and/or garbage, why the great fear of his words?

No, my friends, by far the most effective way to deal with Zundel is to give him his freedom to speak. For those of you so concerned about his words, so certain he is wrong - challenge him to open debate in an open forum, where his words and evidence can be measured against your words and evidence, for all to see. Most of us will get closer, at least, to the truth from such a process - and if the first debate is unsatisfactory, or unresolved - why, have a second, where you and he can address points made the first time that you were not perhaps prepared for - again, those of us watching will get closer to the truth. Do it again, and yet again, if you must - but it will not take too many times, and most of us will be fairly content that any serious lies have been exposed, and we have a fairly good idea of what happened - and get on with our lives, and pay no attention to Zundel anymore (if we ever did in the first place) - assuming, of course, it is he and not you who has been exposed as the untruthful one.

No (I hear you argue - even if we destroy his arguments, he will just surface again somewhere...) - it need not surface again and again - there are many ways in this modern world of recording such a debate or debates, and making them available to everyone - why would you not want this? I do fear your insistence on trying to stop this man from speaking does not put you in a good light. The innocent welcome the bright light of day - it is only the guilty who wish to stop others from talking. As one who has always generally accepted the truth of the evils perptrated by the Nazi government, I find this fear of one who denies many of those evils to be troubling.

One of the evils we learn about Hitler's regime was that he tried to control what people thought by book-burning - we should learn from that, and not try to control what people think in our own time. If we raise our children well, and give them freedom and a decent society in which to live - they will think good thoughts and do good things - human beings are like that. It is only repressed and brutalised people who sometimes choose the path of evil and violence, as a way to protest and express their great anger at the evil that has been done to them.

In truth, I fear I must say, the only 'hate speech' I am hearing in this situation is emanating from yourself, insisting I must hate this Zundel person, and throw him from my life and country - because of the words he speaks - and you would prevent me from even hearing or seeing his words! I would prefer to hear his words, and yours, and decide for myself which of you is to be believed, and which to be not allowed in my life (although hopefully not hated - that is a very destructive emotion). Either way, I do welcome the truth in my life - the lack of truth in my society and my Diogenes-like search through the fog of self-serving lies surrounding me is indeed the driving reason for this website - and will continue to search for it - and that means I will listen to this Zundel person, and decide for myself which of you speaks with more credible words.

(Just ran across a great quote attributed to Hitler's arch-enemy - "Men occasionally stumble over truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened." ---Winston Churchill)

make of it all what you will.

And just coincidentally, as I was getting through THAT ramble, I ran across this - Heads They Win, Tails We Lose - Jewish media myths leading us toward World War III by a writer named John Kaminski (The RM archive copy - read it all here if the original link has problems), talking a bit about this in passing, who writes quite a lot of very good stuff, mostly found (at least by me) on the Serendipity site, which is one of the many places on the net looking for truth, including probably the most thorough examination of the 9/11 coverup. Alright alright - I know "the truth" is a pretty subjective term, in many ways - one man's truth is another's lie sort of thing - but note I say "looking for..." the truth, unlike many people who claim to KNOW the truth, and are by god willing to do what they have to to make you accept THEIR version of it (one reason I have become atheist over the years - religious fanatics are of this latter bent, whether their particular version of "the truth" is based on God or Allah - and generally this "truth" places the promoters of it in positions where THEY give the orders and YOU go out and die for them - or they're usually perfectly willing to kill you themselves if you don't accept their doctrine). The places I like are the places that lay out the info, and tell you up front one way or another that this is their belief that they offer for your perusal - but we all have to make up our own minds about things. That's the kind of stuff I like to read. Kaminski and Serendipity are like that. Zundel appears to be like that. The Holacaust promoters - well - they don't seem to see much room for debate. DO AS VE TELL YOU!!! (whoops)

"Hopelessness kills and hopefulness with opportunity is a prescription for good health," Romanow said.

He then laid out an ambitious six-point plan to move from treating illness to building a healthy, resilient society:

• Governments must make a concerted attempt to narrow the growing gap between rich and poor. A large, vibrant middle class is the best guarantee of a healthy population.
• Investing in children must become a national priority. If a child spends his or her first six years in a healthy, stimulating environment, he or she will be well-equipped to handle life's ups and downs.
• Employers must rethink the rigid workplace hierarchies that trap millions of Canadians in dull, unrewarding jobs. One of the best ways to improve people's health is to give them some control over their lives.
• Policymakers must address the shortage of affordable housing. Crowded hostels and substandard rooming houses are breeding places for infection and disease.
• Degradation of the environment must be treated as a serious health hazard. Contaminants in the air, water supply and food chain can cause everything from birth defects to cancer.
• Citizens must reach out to one another to build strong, inclusive neighbourhoods. People who are involved in the life of their communities are much less prone to ennui and illness.

Like others before him, Romanow argued that investing in people before they get sick would cost less and have a bigger payoff, in the long run, than pouring money into hospitals, pills and treatments. Unfortunately, the logic of this proposition has always eluded politicians. They like cutting ribbons and handing over cheques better than preventing health problems that are likely to occur long after they have left office.
The RM archive copy - read it all here if the original link has problems

RM Comments:
Well - what could be more common-sensical? And why can we be basically certain that the corporate-controlled politicians are not going to do this? Oh, they understand that it would be good for everyone, and they will pretend to more or less support it - but that's about as far as it will go. When it comes to programs for their corporate masters (tax cuts, NAFTA, deregulation, privatisation, etc and etc) they can move pretty quickly with their new bills and laws and treaties - but anything that would benefit the people of the country - hahahah. Good luck jack. How long did it take to pass new laws reducing your freedoms and so on after the so-called 911 terrorist attacks? How long did it take for Mulroney's FTA and Chretien's NAFTA to get passed? When the big idea about forcing everyone to wear seatbelts magically appeared out of the ether, how long was it before evrey province passed laws forcing us to use them? Mmm-hmm. What about effective action on child poverty over the last 20 years? A National Pharmacare plan? Mmm-hmmm.

And as long as you people out there keep voting for them, and validating their behavior, they're going to keep on doing just that. Until YOU show them that THEIR actions will result in unpleasant consequences from you (i.e. they lose their cushy jobs), why should they change what they're doing??

And that's about all for now - supper and the missus are callin. Saving the world is ok, but I gotta eat too. Write if ya want.