US Foreign Policy

Moving to Canada

This entry was posted in US Foreign Policy on by

From CBC News:

For all they share economically and culturally, Canada and the United States are increasingly at odds on basic social policies – to the point that at least a few discontented Americans are planning to move north and try their neighbours’ way of life.

Jaquandor provides this perspective:

Believe me, I occasionally understand the sentiment. Hell, I’d love to live in Toronto for the dim sum alone. But America is my home. It’s my country. And as a democracy, it’s intended to be a self-correcting mechanism. But the problem with self-correcting mechanisms is this: by definition, a mechanism therefore has to be “incorrect” now and then if it’s going to correct itself. That’s what is meant by the old saw, “My country, right or wrong: when right, to be kept right; and when wrong, to be put right.”
And besides, no matter where you live, there will always be no shortage of stuff that nauseates you, no matter what your political or religious beliefs may be. So, packing up for Canada is just postponing the inevitable. Plus, it will probably annoy the Canadians, and we can’t have that, can we?

And just how long will it be before Canada rises to the top of the bushies list?

“We’re going to get better over time,” promised Lawrence Di Rita, a special assistant to Rumsfeld. “We’ve always thought of post-hostilities as a phase” distinct from combat, he said. “The future of war is that these things are going to be much more of a continuum
“This is the future for the world we’re in at the moment,” he said. “We’ll get better as we do it more often.”

Foreign Policy Economics

This entry was posted in bush Economics Iraq US Foreign Policy War on Terrorism on by

I have not seen any statistics on the impact of the many cries to boycot French products we heard during the buildup to the Iraq war and I wonder just how happy the bushies corporate funders will be if current foreign policy has a large negative impact on worldwide sales.

Echoing harvard Professor Business School Professor John Quelch’s April warning:

Selling the American dream has paid off handsomely. Eight of the ten most valuable brands in the world, according to the Interbrand consultancy, are American, and each derives more than half its sales from outside the United States. But now a deepening opposition to American foreign policy is threatening the long-term strength of these brands.

Newsweek reports:

Does the rising tide of anti-Americanism hurt American multinationals? The vocal antiwar protesters would like to think so, but there hasn�t been much evidence for a broader consumer turnoff, until now.

Reporting on the same study the Independent headlines:

Americans are used to resentment of their global dominance. Since the war on Iraq, however, this hostility has begun to hit them where it hurts: in corporate balance sheets.

Countering the gloomy reports Nike and Mcdonalds say that their European revenues are respectiviely either up or flat. It will be interesting to watch these figures over the next 6-12 months.
Via Alternet.

Dealing with Nukes

This entry was posted in US Foreign Policy on by

Are the bushies planning to use these to take out these?

Perhaps some wildfire will clear them out soon and we will get an administration that can clearly articulate why North Korea’s nukes are not an equal or larger problem then the non-nukes of Iraq and Iran.