Great Lakes Machine Guns Raise Ire in Canada

[Gloria]

From the new World Media Watch up now at http://www.zianet.com/insightanalytical
Tomorrow at Buzzflash.com

//The Globe and Mail, Canada Posted at 12:20 PM EDT on 28/09/06

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060928.wlakes28/BNStory/National/home



GREAT LAKES MACHINE GUNS RAISE IRE IN CANADA

U.S. Coast Guard conducting live-ammunition training drills



Margaret Philp



The United States Coast Guard has started to patrol the Great Lakes with machine guns mounted on their vessels and is conducting live-ammunition training drills on the U.S. side to prepare officers to combat terrorists flooding across the border from Canada by boat.



The automatic-weapon drills started earlier this year but came to light only in the past two weeks after information about the Coast Guard's move to create 34 permanent live-fire training zones in the Great Lakes was published in the U.S. federal register.



Since the beginning of the year, the Coast Guard have conducted 24 drills, each time firing about 3,000 rounds of lead bullets about a third of the size of a fishing-line sinker from light-weight machine guns in waters at least eight kilometres from the Canadian border and U.S. shores. Two more target practices are scheduled for this year.


SNIP

“The longest undefended border in the world is gone. It's passé. And this is an example of it.”

Toronto Mayor David Miller chairs a coalition of U.S. and Canadian mayors working to restore and protect the lakes.



He said the target practice violates a treaty signed after the War of 1812 that outlaws military weapons on the Great Lakes, tampering with two centuries of peaceful history.



“This is very much the wrong direction, to militarize the border between these two countries,” he said in an interview. “It's symbolically important and practically important that the border remain open and doesn't become militarized.”




(MORE)

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. Well, we've pissed on every other treaty, might as well piss on that one.

Why bother with following the Constitution since it's now patently obvious that whatever the president wants to do, all he needs is to ask the senate to make it legal.

[jimshoes]

3. All these assaults on our freedoms and treaty

obligations and the freeps and republican uberstupes cheer wildly at the victory for fascism. I feel like I'm in a Twilight Zone episode.

[Old and In the Way]

2. Aha! I thought AQ would invade from the Atlantic seaboard......

obviously, with global warming opening up the Artic Ocean, AQ will try to sneak in via the Great Lakes.

What a totally idiotic thing for us to be doing....what the hell happened to my country?

[Canuckistanian]

4. Why do you think w'eve been practicing our canoeing for all these years?

That's right, we're secretly planning a major invasion of the US, using only our wits and army surplus guns from the War of 1812.

Shh! Keep it under your hat.

[jimshoes]

6. Will you be bringing beer?

I'll give you directions to my house. I like Molson XXX. :evilgrin: P.S. How many cases can you fit in a canoe?

[Canuckistanian]

7. Consider it humanitarian aid

As for your second question, about 6 2-4's, practically.

[atomicdawg38]

13. Hmmmm....

If they bring beer, I for one will welcome our new Canadian overlords :)

[Algorem]

5. it's practice to kill us when we're trying to escape

[Telly Savalas]

8. What the fuck is wrong with these people?

Just because these fucks injested too much lead as children doesn't mean they should be putting the shit in my kid's drinking water.

[CHIMO]

9. Dumbing Down

Sort of keeps simpletons in power.

Plumbism

Lead is a very strong poison. When a person swallows a lead object or inhales lead dust, some of the poison can stay in the body and cause serious health problems. A single high, toxic dose of lead can cause severe emergency symptoms. However, it is more common for lead poisoning to build up slowly over time. This occurs from repeated exposure to small amounts of lead. In this case, there may not be any obvious symptoms, but the lead can still cause serious health problems over time, such as difficulty sleeping or lowered IQ in children.

Lead is much more harmful to children than adults because it can affect children's developing nerves and brains. The younger the child, the more harmful lead can be. Unborn children are the most vulnerable.

Children get lead in their bodies when they put lead objects in their mouths, especially if they swallow the lead object. They can even get lead poison on their fingers from touching a dusty or peeling lead object, and then putting their fingers in their mouths or eating food afterward. Tiny amounts of lead can also be inhaled.

Testing shows that many children have too much lead in their blood. Overall, about 1 in 20 preschoolers have high levels of lead in their blood. Any child can be affected. Children living in cities or older houses are more likely to have high levels.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002473.htm

And I guess it is bringing depleted uranium home as well.

[CHIMO]

10. U.S. arms Great Lakes boats

U.S. arms Great Lakes boats
Treaty of 1814 no longer applies, American coast guard chief says

But the commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard said it’s become necessary to protect the border that runs through the lakes, and he said the treaty no longer applies.

“There has been an agreement since 1814 that those types of weapons would not be used in the Great Lakes,” Admiral Thad Allen said today after three days of meetings with Canadian Coast Guard officials in Halifax.

But both countries signed an agreement in 2003 that allows armed boats on the Great Lakes “in the wake of the events of September 11, 2001,” but forbids such activity in Canadian waters.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1159437777656&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154

[Rose Siding]

11. Treaty, shmeaty

We have to defend ourselves against the terrorists we're building!

[MnFats]

12. Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn...

...was supposed to have gotten this stopped, at least temporarily.
///it ain't just Canadians pissed about this. everybody who lives close to the big lake is pissed.....it's still pretty close to clean, right down to 1,200 feet. what the lake does not need right now is a shitload of lead.

[xchrom]

14. more evidence we've all gone through the looking glass.

[Telly Savalas]

15. Kick to raise awareness off the looming threat of the Marilyn Bell jihad