U.S.A.

"...we all badly need a transformation, in the U.S., in Canada, and the world. Let's hope and pray that American voters will do the right thing and hold an election that really means something."

"Public investment in locally-driven projects directly and most immediately impacts local populations and their organizations. Jobs are created and income is generated at the local level as projects are implemented, which involves labor, materials, and action. Local control, ownership, and benefits encourage the ongoing functioning of community projects."

"This election has been long, and it has been difficult. It has exposed raw nerves at the core of the American psyche: race, and fear of Arabs and Muslims (long a problem, but exacerbated by the horrific terror of 9-11) are problems we must now address. As long as they remain unaddressed, they can be the fodder of incitement, used to prey off of fear and insecurity. No doubt, a dangerous situation. But there is a lesson to be learned from the Gayle Quinnell and McCain episode, and that is: If left unchecked, the hatred will grow, but when challenged, it can be defeated."

"The challenge for the next President will be to develop global alliances that will focus on terminating those political conflicts that spawn terrorism. This alliance is only possible when American foreign policy changes course to reflect America's values of liberty and justice for all, not some."

[Stephen] Harper’s increased standing in Parliament is the result of apathy, stupidity and perfidy. Democracy had nothing to do with it, because no rational electorate would knowingly elect a party of traitors.

"Canada once had the respect of the World as peace loving and fair-minded country. Gone is the legacy of Lester B. Pearson, Pierre Elliot Trudeau and Jean Chretien when Canada’s soldiers were almost universally welcomed as peace keepers and Canada was respected internationally."

"The Jews who dream of ethnic cleansing do not understand how large a contribution the Arab community makes to Israel. Like the other inhabitants of Israel, they work here, they contribute to the GNP, they pay their taxes like everybody else. Like all of us, they have no alternative - they pay value-added tax on everything they buy and they, too, get their salaries only after income tax is deducted."

"The cost of the war has been underestimated from the beginning. The government convinced itself that Iraqi oil would pay for the war; that war taxes were not needed. It would have been unpatriotic for an economist to tell the truth – that fighting two, long wars at once could bankrupt the country. That was a truth that was not to be uttered as far as the militarist U.S. government was concerned."