On paper, [Opposition Leader Stephen] Harper has a B.A. in Economics from the University of Calgary, but given his bizarre pronouncements on this and other subjects, it’s clear that his intellectual capital hasn’t earned any interest. In fact, Harper brings no appreciable skills to public office. All he has is a neo-con, Christian parochialism that makes most Canadians recoil.

"If you want to continue with over-reliance on reporters from mainstream corporate-owned news outlets like the New York Times and the Washington Post, you don’t have to act like they’re practitioners of fearless journalism. Try asking them tough questions about standard media evasions."

"Sometimes – I think there is a plan: whenever there is a peaceful, quiet period – someone is sure to commit another atrocity, to blow him- or herself up, killing and maiming countless innocent people. The radicals rejoice. And the hardliners in Israel use such an action as a pretext to impose further suffering on the ordinary Palestinian citizens: closures, checkpoints, harassment. Or the IDF blows up some houses in Gaza, killing women and children..."

"Despite regional and domestic concerns specific to their countries, Saudis and Lebanese are more optimistic about their futures, more satisfied with their present circumstances, more focused on specific problems that must be solved, and more strongly identified with their countries..."

"Could Israel and Hamas negotiate something short of peace that nevertheless creates a viable Palestinian state and leaves Israel with defensible and recognized borders? It's doubtful given the huge gaps separating even their "interim" positions on refugees, borders and Jerusalem, though not beyond the realm of possibility. Certainly, if Hamas wins these elections and continues to maintain a ceasefire, it and the state of Israel will not be able to ignore one another for long."

"The dilemma faced by the Palestinian president is that those whose gains he hopes to exploit may end up weakening his own position if they perform too well. Palestine could very well emerge from the January elections with internal checks and balances on the power of the PA executive, but because they will have come about through ad hoc politicking rather than serious institutional reform, they may produce a paralyzed Palestinian Authority rather than a more democratic one."

"Palestinians have no choice but to go to elections. Without such elections, the PA will have little legitimacy, either internally or externally, and there will be an increase of lawlessness and internal violence. That may be in the interest of some Israeli circles, but it is in the interest of no one else. In order to go to elections, however, the PA and the peace camp in Palestine need to be encouraged by the parties that have influence in and around Palestine."

"In the first phase of the End Times, moral degeneration will become all-pervasive due to the influence of some philosophical systems which incite atheism and irreligion by seeking to deny the existence of Almighty Allah. Humanity will forget the reason for its existence and thus enter the downward spiral of spiritual purposelessness and moral degeneration."