An Introduction by Doug Draper, Publisher. Niagara At Large
In my humble opinion, Jimmy Carter may just be the most decent person who ever lived in the White House across the border in my lifetime. I was just a kid when John Kennedy was blown away, and who knows if he might have been the president who would have drawn an early end to America’s involvement in Vietnam, or done more to fight for the civil rights of his own country’s people.
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is highest American citizen yet to speak out against Canada’s Harper government Keystone tar sands pipe
What is sad about Carter is that so many Americans seem to dump on him for being the guy who tried to rescue the American hostages in Iran in a mission that failed and who just happened to be running his country when gas prices, no fault to him, went through the rough.
Some may care to remember that when Jimmy Carter was president, way back in the late 1970s, he was the first president of the United States t – and the last to this date – to honestly try to plot an agenda for energy independence based moving toward renewable energy sources like solar and wind power.
Some may remember that when Carter lost a second term in office in or around 1980, the new U.S. president, Ronald Reagan, made a point of ripping the solar panels Carter had placed off the roof of the White House. The rest – hail the petro-chemical industrial complex in the U.S. and now Canada – is history.
So how heroic it is that Carter, still alive and caring enough about this stuff, is saying no to the God-awful tar sand pipe Canada’s Tar Sands PM wants to sell on America. Thank him for, at his old age where he doesn’t have to give a fig about running for anything anymore, still giving a fig about that.
Maybe Carter still caring ought to be given a little consideration by those of us in Canada, other than Dykstra and the other potted plants in Harper’s government, some pause for thought around the future of our planet for our children and grandchildren.
Here are the first few graphs of a story on former U.S. President Jimmy Carter’s views on the Keystone tar sands pipe and a link following to the whole story.
Jimmy Carter urges Keystone XL rejection
Former president says oil pipeline shouldn’t be approved
The Associated Press Posted: Apr 16, 2014 12:09 PM ET Last Updated: Apr 16, 2014
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter urges the current U.S. administration to reject the Keystone XL pipeline.
For the first time, a former U.S. president has come out against the Keystone XL pipeline.
The ex-president in question is Jimmy Carter.
The 39th president joined a group of Nobel laureates to sign a letter urging the current commander-in-chief to reject the pipeline from Canada.
The letter tells Barack Obama that he stands on the brink of making a choice that will define his legacy on one of the greatest challenges humanity has ever faced — climate change.
To read the whole CBC , Associated Press story click on http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/jimmy-carter-urges-keystone-xl-rejection-1.2612326?cmp=fbtl .
(NOW IT IS YOUR TURN. Niagara At Large encourages you to share your views on this post. A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.)
Niagara At Large 
The “Very” right wing Republicans who piously cal themselves CONSERVATIVES hate the very ground this “Gentleman” Jimmy Carter, walks on and this is indicative of a country lost in the sludge of their own making.
The Corporate media in the U.S.of A has tarred and feathered this gentleman while completely ignoring the tremendous honesty and integrity exhibited through out his life time, from his days growing up in Georgia to his ascending to the highest position in the land as President of the United States.
His truth and honesty is beyond reproach where his group has scrutinized elections in many countries of the world and in fact gave the highest marks to the recent elections in Venezuela even though the U.S.A, has vested corporate interests in that country and would want to have a different view. His actions and association with Habitat for Humanity is legendary as is his integrity relative to love of the common folk leaves a breath of fresh air at a time when corruption, greed and entitlement seems so dominant.
This Gentleman so hated by the so called Republican Conservatives in the U.S.A is a pathetic reality of a country so divided that it now finds itself on the brink of bankruptcy and total disarray.
Yes I, like many other sane peoples of the world revered this Gentleman and find it so difficult to believe that a media that once knew truth is now a pawn to corruption, greed and entitlement and spawns hatred of Jimmy Carter where revere is more deserving
“The freedom of the press is a flaming sword, that it may be a servant of all the people, Use it justly; hold it high; guard it well.”
WHAT HAPPENED TO INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING, TRUTH AND HONESTY???
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I absolutely agree Doug. Americans dump on Carter. The crooked Reagan crew did everything they could to make him a one term President including clandestine dealings with Iran re the hostages. They tried it with Obama too but it didn’t work after the disastrous term of the idiot Bush & his puppet master Darth Cheney! The downward spiral begun by Reagan, Thatcher & Muldooney (sic) has continued to this day. Trickle down economics is a great term because nothing more than a trickle drips to the 99%.
My friend & I met President Carter & his wife in Nepal in 2008 where he was an election observer. Then in his 80’s, he was bouncing all over the country in a Land Rover. He was a real gentleman, gracious & very humble, not to mention extremely intelligent. When asked where we were headed, we said to have supper & he said, “Let’s go then”. The next morning I sat at a table next to his son Jeff & in our conversation he volunteered that his father was the best dad anyone could ever have. His son was also very genuine & open.
President Carter also should be remembered for the Sadat/Begin Camp David accord. He also stood up for Canada when “Argo” came out saying it was a nice adventure film but Canada was responsible for sheltering & smuggling out the hidden Americans, not the US.
As Joseph mentioned, his devotion to Habitat is amazing and the Carter Institute has made great advances in control of diseases like malaria & guinea worm.
Today’s politicians aren’t worth his spit. I think he was just too bloody honest & perhaps naive to be a ruthless politician. Even at his age, he still fights for human rights & peace & unlike many politicians today who side with one nation against the other, he has the guts to speak up for places like Palestine whom nobody wants to defend by saying there can be no peace if discussions are made with only one side. He did it with Egypt & Israel!
Why on earth this man has been treated unfairly is beyond my comprehension. Most Canadians I know admire him. My opinion is furthered by his stance on the filthy tar sands.
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Using the river analogy, it is said that the perception of far left or far right depends on how far one strays from midstream in the other direction before finding one’s viewpoit.
Mr Carter may be a “gentleman” and indeed likely a gentle man, but age has not imparted new wisdom to this aging “appeasenic”, who sold out Eastern Europe and the Middle East, and set the table for today’s turmoil.
Much like Mr Obama, he is consistent with this duplicitous misunderstanding of global imperatives of our adversaries.
Energy is but one.
One need not be a “right winger” to see that Mr Putin is busy exploiting the niavete of current US “leaders”. Mr Carter has shown the way to our Iranian foes that when the Democrats are in office, the US can be had.
And so in “bravely” playing to his peanut gallery of media sycophants in a late attempt to reclaim his lost legacy, he has declared war on the Canadian working man. Canadians don’t declare fatwas and are generally too polite to fight back. And if he tried this stunt elsewhere, say Venezuela, not exactly a “right wing” country, he’d be clapped in irons.
With Tom Steyer’s encouragement and likely his money, Mr Carter has embraced charlatan Al Gore’s odious campaign against CO2 as the raison d’etre for his behavior. As it is becoming clear, CO2 is neither a pollutant nor the cause of global climate fluctuations, but a consequence of these fluctuations. In fact CO2 has been shown not to be a “greenhouse” gas; that title rightly belongs to water vapour.
In closing, one need not be a “right winger” to conclude that Mr Carter’s mendacity is driven by the selfish motives of an aged legacy seeking failure of a foreign politician. We as Canadians should not be gulled by his saccharine personality. He is no friend of ours.
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Chris – Do you suggest we start a war over the Ukraine & if so, will you volunteer? Are you a chicken hawk?
As for global climate change, try reading a few scientific studies. No doubt you believe a cold winter negates any claims. This winter fits the scenario since Arctic warming has weakened the Jet Stream &, like a river, when the flow is slowed it meanders, in this case south, AKA the polar vortex while the Arctic had record highs. Weather is not climate but world wide trends. Your ignorance is appalling. read for eg the 20 year University of Queensland study done by many climate scientists worldwide, the recent IPCC study, UN graphics of diminishing glaciers & Arctic ice cover or view NASA photos of the diminishing ice cover (no doubt doctored). How about the increasing desertification of the Sahara & changing wind patterns carrying Saharan sands to the UK increasing respiratory illnesses? How about melting glaciers, the previous sources of water that millions rely on in Africa & the Indian subcontinent – the droughts, fires & record temperatures in the US west, Australia, etc – the shrinking of places like Lake Chad upon which millions rely (1/10th it’s size in 50 years), & Lakes Powell & Mead, the water source for the SW & its agricultural lands (there go food prices), where evaporation is 20X greater than precipitation? If you think stuff like CO2 & CO are harmless, try sticking your mouth on a tailpipe.
Deniers are foul & a danger to humanity. If one acknowledges a problem there is a moral necessity to take action. Ignore it at EVERYBODY’S peril. That is the sad part, it affects us all when some present obstacles in this specific case.
As for “selfish agendas”, who fits that description? The deniers are funded by big industry, the only ones who profit from continued rape of the planet. All the rest of us profit from a CLEAN planet. DUH!
You mention “right wing” so often you give yourself away. This should NOT be an issue of political ideology but of humanity.
In the words of the wise & immortal Dan Quayle…”It’s not pollution that’s doing the harm. It’s the Stuff we’re putting in the air & water”. He can’t even spell potato!
Mr Carter is likely the least selfish & devious man to inhabit the White House. I hope you have children who will have to suffer due to your intransigence. I don’t. YOU are no friend of anybodys with an attitude such as you have. SHAME.
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Dear Linda
My sincere apologies for taking so long to reply.
Re: Chicken Hawk:
I guess you have no familiarity with the etymology of names. I could be German (Silesian), Polish, Ukrainian or Russian. I could be Christian, Jewish, even Muslim (Turkish occupation). You don’t know me, and you certainly have no idea of my family history or if I have a dog in said hunt. Your remarks show a dangerous ignorance of history and the liberation of all the above ethnicities under Reagan, Thatcher, Lech Walesa, and Pope John Paul II.
Such is the soft bigotry of low expectations, and to you I guess I’m just some “polak” to be set straight.
Re: Jimmy Carter:
I have read numerous comment penned by you, and found them quite lucid. I had never expected you to have clung to your teenage crush on this man. All normal people develop these crushes. But at some point we grow up. And those who don’t may sometimes fall victim to their lack of critical thinking. Jonesville is a good example of what can happen if one blindly looks for a father figure. Carter is not the saint you make him out to be.
Re: IPCC
Frankly, I have a problem with their body of work. Many of their reports have been discredited due to politically motivated misuse of data. The IPCC reports are the work of some 20 people and edited by poli-sci grad students. That is why a number of scientists have demanded their names be taken off the report. Raj Pachauri is not a credible spokesman for the scientific community.
Please check out the work of Dr. Lindzen of MIT. His conclusion is that CO2 levels are the consequence of solar activity and organic life generally. The MET Office has also changed its position on linear anthropogenic “Climate Change”. Climate change is normal, and increased CO2 levels have helped re-green the earth as satellite imaging has shown, increasing food production everywhere.
I would urge you to use your powers of critical thinking before blindly endorsing the IPCC. Just remember that Science is never final. Everyone though Sir Isaac Newton had the last word until Albert Einstein came along and showed the world that there was more to it.
Re: Deniers
As the son of a holocaust survivor, I take exception to your use of this pejorative. As Barbara Frum once casually pointed out, anti-semites come in many guises. Scarlett Johansson is Jewish, and Robert Spencer is not.
You can’t tell, nor should you try. Jimmy Carter has made some stupidly blatant anti-semitic comments. Perhaps if Jimmy Carter is your personal mentor, this doesn’t trouble you. But it does trouble most educated people not blinkered by ideology. And that doesn’t make you an anti-semite, but you need to be careful of perceptions.
Re: Environmentalism
Being involved with Zero-Landfill strategies for over 20 years, I can say that some people do, and some people just talk a good story. Perhaps you can tell us what your contribution is other that separating your bottles for the blue box. What was your contribution to Earth Day?
I will conclude with the words of your patron saint, Saul Alinsky – Mazel Tov.
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Linda
A few years ago while shopping in the “gone” Zellers I was approached by Chris and not really knowing him immediately He began by introducing himself to me. Recollection became with a sense of “What the hell does he want?” He followed by asking if I would consider “writing” and collaborating with him? I of course had my own sense of values and did not want to get involved, especially with someone I really did not really KNOW or truly cared to know..
During the ensuing years I have felt a sense of “deja vu” as it seems from rather short conversations with him and with readings of his far, far “Right” philosophical venting that his channel of perspective has narrowed even further.
What I admire about Doug, and about you, Linda is the reality that your minds, and the sane minds of others, are not plagued by hypocritical slander and/or turned away from “TRUTH” by the propaganda spewed forth by some brain washed people, and the corporate owned medias that does so much in enabling the ‘WASHING”.
When I hear the “TEA PARTY” gang doing their thing I walk away feeling they have a right to express their views …… BUT ……..I don’t have any desire to hear their B.S. Canada used to be a :”FREE” country but each day that freedom is being whittled and chipped away by Brain Washed so called Politicians and their servile dependents or in other words Minions
Thank You Linda
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Good morning Joe. Sorry it took so long to reply.
I hope you had an nice Easter weekend.
Joe, if you recall, I had asked you to help write about growing poverty, erosion of jobs in our area, the emigration of our young people out of Niagara and notably the Southern Tier. I was concerned about the hospital issue – both the flawed location of the new St Catharines General, and what my spidey sense told me was going to happen to the Welland Hospital.
It concerned me, and I hoped you, that the demographic of Welland was at that time some 5 years older than the rest of Ontario. As it turns out, it is now 9 years older.
It concerned me that under the McGuinty administration rural communities were being disenfranchised and as it now appears deliberately.
It concerns me that we in Ontario are being pushed into energy poverty resulting in casualties in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors. This is especially true in Niagara Falls, Welland and Thorold.
It concerned me that the politicians at all levels had a tin ear when it came to the impoverished, the unemployed, the disabled, the ill and the elderly.
Writing was but a small component of making a positive contribution to our community. Volunteering is another and it disappointed me when the Salvation Army closed its thrift shop in Welland.
As an environmentalist, working on Zero-landfill strategies has been my 20 year positive way of trying to make a difference.
Speaking up for the tri-centric nature of our region and lobbying for the Welland hospital has also been my passion.
Joe, you can be a very capable writer if you focused on making a positive contribution. Annoying Doug and blog-mates elsewhere, upsetting people like Peter Kormos (may he rest in peace) Cindy and Malcolm to the point they are avoiding the Market, with over the top remarks and vulgar personal insults discredits you as a caring intelligent person.
It’s easy to be against something and throw bricks. It would be nice to see you actually do some volunteering and offer positive commentary. I know you are capable of it.
Enjoy the long overdue spring weather.
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Chris, thank you for the insults. Considering your stance here, I accept them proudly. I DO know history & from an impartial viewpoint. I have no teenage crush on anyone but rather give credit where due.
As for Reagan, Thatcher & their ilk, I saw YOUR idolatry coming like a meteor in a night sky. Reagan had bugger all to do with the Berlin wall other than a propaganda speech. Gorbachev had already proposed it’s removal & the USSR was being crushed under its own weight far before Ronnie Raygun came on the scene. Gorbachev also proposed massive disarmament but Reagan was taken aback by that & refused because he had a pet project, pie in the sky dream of a Star Wars defence system, which never did materialize. Check out that little know fact. His (& Thatcher’s) trickle down economics was the impetus for the current wealth disparity throughout the world. Since his era, the separation in wealth between the rich & poor has exploded. Thanks Ronnie. How about Iran contra & not negotiating with terrorists? Just a tad hypocritical. What did Ronnie do in HIS retirement, ride around in a Jeep? Nothing altruistic for sure.
As far as ANY pope, someone who wears a dress & funny hat & claims to be “god’s” representative on earth should be committed to an asylum, just my humble opinion. Of course, being sensible, I don’t lead my life according to a book written millennia ago by men, always men, who were totally ignorant of science & believed in deities. John Paul ll should have been tried for crimes against humanity for encouraging population growth in an overpopulated planet & preaching against condoms resulting in an EXPLOSION of the deadly AIDS virus, particularly in Africa, resulting in thousands of deaths & orphans. Some hero!
As for anti Semitism, suggesting someone is something which they cannot disprove other then by denial is vile… all because I say you can have no peace when negotiating with only one side of a dispute. That is common sense whether it suits the state of Israel of not. Both sides of the current middle east debate are antagonistic BUT there will be no peace if negotiations are one sided. Even many Israelis are having problems with their own government’s intransigence & with the ultraorthodox segments of their population. I guess you would call them anti Semites too would you? Don’t throw names at people or some just might boomerang.
Pejorative? What pejorative? And what on earth does your name have to do with anything? I NEVER mentioned anything about ethnicity. What are you smoking? Who in hell said you were a “Polak”? Oh, that would be YOU!
As for climate denial, I guess you have as little scientific knowledge as you claim I have historical knowledge. 98% of scientist proclaim climate change is real & anthropogenic. Furthermore, how do you know what I contribute to the environment?
You fit the tea party mold perfectly. Ignorance is bliss. BTW, I have no clue who Saul Alinsky is, nor do I care. I don’t read preconceived ideologies but prefer to think for myself based on facts.
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Remarkable.
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Yes, isn’t it!
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