America is now a police state - why isn't this being widely reported?!

[John Skelton]

while an estimated 46 million (yes, 46 million) Americans are living below the poverty line and 'tent cities' are springing-up everywhere.

Indeed. I wish the Occupy Movement every success with 'Occupy Homes' http://observers.france24.com/conten...-east-new-york

With stories like this http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16472310 coming out of Greece, with The Lancet reporting http://www.thelancet.com/journals/la...556-0/fulltext it's clear that this is a crisis vividly demonstrating the human costs of capitalism and the neoliberal 'consensus' (which is also the consensus of Merkel and Sarkozy, of course).

[pmartel]

I worry what could happen if an ultra right wing Republican gets in.

My partner is American and I'm Canadian.

On frequent bust trips to the U.S from Canada, you truly DO get an interesting perspective of things and see things from a different viewpoint.

On one bus trip to Cleveland, a group of us got into a very interesting discussion on the current President stating they weren't happy.

I piped up and got into the discussion, being NOT AFRAID to talk politics.

By the time we were finished, I had managed to sway the discussion in favour of Mr. Obama, stating that the current alternatives could be worse than BEFORE Mr. Obama.

Based on what I see in the current Republican line up, it does make me extremely nervous as my partner had stated that with Mr. Obama, it felt like the United States again

[handsomefortune]

It was all war and the Biible and (Iraaaq) and Iraaan and Chiiina and how such countries are a threat to the USA

same old same old then budapest!

I worry what could happen if an ultra right wing Republican gets in.

me as well pmartel, as i have family/inlaws there too. the current President stating they weren't happy. better the devil you know in many peoples' opinion. but then i never met one george bush supporter in california while there, and then he became president. darn it!

good to read you btw! (not for this thread, but i'm wondering how canadian public broadcasting is going, don't forget to keep us up to date )?

[pmartel]

Handsomefortune, thanks and as you say 'better the devil you know. I have seriously considered moving to the US for several reasons one stating the obvious and I have NEVER lived anywhere in 54 years of my life.

All I can say is THANK GOD S/P is NOT running in this election

I LOVE politics and when I was a 19 year old political nerd, I shook Pierre Trudeau's hand during a campaigne swing and I guess it rubbed off.

As for Canadian Public Broadcasting, send me a PM and we can talk more on this without hijacking the thread, look foward to hearing from you.

But yes, it is 'better the devil you know' than having someone who is completely ballistic in politics which I could see happening.

While it is far from all roses in the U.S, I DO BELIEVE that if Mr. Obama is given a second term, things will change for the better and this is what Americans need.

[Budapest]

John Skelton, thanks for the interesting links (all horrifying stuff - and I will add that the suicide rate has shot up in recent years in Greece). It's even worse in America. Here's just one example: The scandal of the Alabama poor cut off from water (BBC News report).

pmartel, years ago I used to live in Canada (Calgary in the late 80s and Vancouver and Vancouver Island in the early 90s). Whilst BC back then was very American, and also Alberta to a lesser extent, Canadians were very proud to be a different entity from the USA. Nowadays the Canadian provinces just seem to be further States of the USA?

While it is far from all roses in the U.S, I DO BELIEVE that if Mr. Obama is given a second term, things will change for the better and this is what Americans need.

Many people think that we won't get to a Presidential election in November, because there will be some kind of an American revolution before then; and if you're in North America, there's absolutely no point in stocking up on firearms, because you don't have a hope in hell against well trained and well equiped Government forces, who will make mincemeat of you. As with most revolutions, it will only be successful if enough of the government forces go over to the side of the people.

[pmartel]

Budapest, interesting comment.

Yes, we were a very proud lot at one point, but things have changed.

Hard to say how, but I could possibly say a few things and one might be 'political correctness'

The 'landscape' of Canada has changed drastically since you lived here.

Whether the provinces have become state like is debatable.

Living in Toronto is an entity unto itself, Toronto likes to think that Canada revolves around IT.

Last year, I had a chance to get outside of Toronto and see a different side of our country in Quebec as it was my first time in La Belle Province and it truly is. The language issue is another thing, but thankfully co-workers had given me a refresher course from my 1974 high school French.

As far as no election in November, that's absurd who ever said that is, well, a bit daft.

What COULD happen is a more extreme version of the 'Occupy' movement.

We had that in Toronto and I decided to do a walkabout video shoot which actually came out rather well. Unfortunately, the Canadian version of that was a bit tame and no real focus to deliver solutions to the current problem

As you had stated and I quote ' As with most revolutions, it will only be successful if enough of the government forces go over to the side of the people.' I think this was the ORIGINAL POINT of the 'Occupy' movements that had good intentions.

Had these movements built up some real steam, it could have been the modern equivilant of the 1930's riots.

Either way, I DO NOT want to see the US fall victim to a 'police state' as was the original comment in the thread, or worse. It IS unfortunately happening as we know in Arizona based on immigration.

IF it get's sufficiently bad based on what I see on frequent visits, which ave been fine so far, I WILL bring my partner up here

[Budapest]

pmartel, thanks for the update on Canada. I've lived/travelled in a lot of places in the world and I've always liked Canada (although I've never been an ice hockey fan).

As far as no election in November, that's absurd who ever said that is, well, a bit daft.

I only wish that were so. In legal terms the United States of America is now a police state (I'm not just talking about the NDAA 2012 but every act that's been passed since the 2001 Patriot Act, and acts that are going to be passed in the future as well). Perhaps the question that needs to be asked is: why on earth are they putting in place such totalitarian laws? If there'd been a 9/11 every year since 2001 you could perhaps understand it. There hasn't been a major terrorist incident on US soil since 9/11.

Next question is: has there ever been a government on earth that once it had gained such powers did not abuse them?

US citizens no longer have any civil liberties left, and are now waking-up to the fact, and this is on top of one of the worst economic recessions in history (enabled by the very people who are in government). It seems highly likely that there will be civil disorder (if a law like the NDAA 2012 was passed in Europe there'd be riots). How large and widespread this civil disorder will be only the future can tell. Whatever the level of disorder, the US Government can now quite easily, and with a large majority consensus of both Reps and Dems, impose martial law. Martial law means that elections are put on hold. If American citizens have got any sense they'll kick down the whole rotten edifice - which they're quite entitled to do, as written in the Second Amendment of the Constitution. Either way, it might be a bit risky to lay money on a Presidential election this coming November.

If you thought 2011 was an eye-stopper (very few people predicted the Arab uprisings), 2012 might well have you prostrate on the chaise longue with a damp towel and smelling salts.

[pmartel]

Budapest, it could VERY INTERESTING to see what happens this year, it's not even a month old yet.

As you said, who expected the middle east uprisings?? I guess when it boils down to it ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.

When I break down my expenses to my American friends, they shake their heads in disbelief how expensive it is here.

UNTIL my partner and I move in together, or I win the lottery, I'm STILL a single person paying a mortgage, taxes and maintenance fees and monthly transit pass.

My entertainment consists of my photography, videography, concerts via the internet and my weekly bottle of wine as opposed to the 'liquid' whine I get with my job. Oh yes and the fact I'm a pipe smoker is my other enjoyment, we are a rare breed.

Where does one draw the line when it come to how much is TOO MUCH to pay for things

I would be LOST without my computer and internet and I DON'T have cable even though I work for it.

My other enjoyment is getting on the bus to the US to see my partner, NOT OFTEN ENOUGH

As you said and I quote 'If you thought 2011 was an eye-stopper (very few people predicted the Arab uprisings), 2012 might well have you prostrate on the chaise longue with a damp towel and smelling salts.' I'm a fairly tough individual Sgt Bilko style.

Now if you want to see what Canada was like during the G20 summit, that was truly awful. That was pretty much a police state for our country

The only other time it was bad in this country was in 1970 with the FLQ crisis when Pierre Trudeau brought in what we call the 'War Measures Act'

Anyone from Quebec was suspect over the kidnapping and assasination of Pierre Laporte.

It could happen here too. Look at the riots in Vancouver over the hockey game last year, that was just ugly.

We have our share of history and some of it is not pretty

[Boilk]

amateur51 I did a little research and found that all [Republican candidates] apart from Romney appalled me considerably. Some are bland yet dangerous. Ron Paul is frankly worrying.

Any chance you could qualify why he is dangerous? Bringing America to default on its $13 trillion debt (soon to be nearer $15trillion) sounds like a dose of sanity to me. Does anyone believe it is likey to ever be paid, they're just kicking the can down the road for the next bunch of politicians to solve. Short-term pain is more sane than putting the next two or three generations of Americans into debt they didn't create. The dollars they keep printing are backed by nothing except lies ... which is why every City person I know is putting gold or silver into their portfolio, we're on the precipice. Allegations of mass fraud to keep the silver price artifically low only add fuel to the fire.

He is the only candidate openly speaking about the criminality of the US (and global) banking system and the need to restore the gold standard. No wonder the meida dismisses Paul as unelectable, the establshment has become too currupt to stomach politicians like Paul who, unlike Obama, would never become a puppet of Wall Street and reward the oligarchs who created the crash of 2008 with high governmental positions. Paul is at least addressing the root causes of the BIGGER issues which are dragging America ever lower into a cesspit of corruption.