OT - was Re: ArcNet and the Pursuit of Multiple Topologies

This is my last OT comment, since we ARE a classic computer mailing list and just went thru that rash of OT msgs. Again, my apologies. Don the point that I was trying to make was not that you obviously have foreign investment in the global economy, but that the US government exerts it's considerable economic and media clout to further it's corporate presence and ideology in countries around the world to the detriment of most of those country's people. For example years ago an attempt was made to restrict the virtual monopoly Hollywood has on the distribution of films in the Canadian market, thus encouraging the production of Canadian films, which would be on the no longer h-wood monopolized theatre booking lists. Jack Valenti, h-wood's main lobbyist campaigned very vigorously against it in Washington and the Can government was forced to bow to US pressure. We now have little or no Can films being produced independantly. A similiar thing happened to advertising tax exemptions in the Can editions of US magazines. Time, etc. just throws in a few extra pages, calls it Canadian and gets all the benefits meant to encourage canadian press.The Canadian government passed a act to disallow it amidst screams of outrage pressures less than about a month later. During the oil crisis, oil destined for Can was diverted to US ports which ultimately caused PM Trudeau to set up a Can company to prevent this happening again. As happened in the US when the big agribusiness corps like Cargill forced the small farmers off the farm, the same thing is going on here. But since Cargill and others are US businesses supported by thier government there is much less accountability to the plight of the poor farmers. Our medicare, beloved by all Canadians, is under threat now due to the avericious propaganda by US assembly-line medical mega-corps greedily eyeing the Canadian market and US government efforts to undermine it through International trade agreements. At present if hit by a major medical expense our homes are not at risk. Our lumber exports to the US were just hit with a prohibitive tax due to US lobbying by timber interests, throwing thousands out of work (and incidentally, increasing the cost to US consumers). Not to mention the decimation of our manufacturing industry and more by the implimentation and manipulation of NAFTA. These are but a few examples, the tip of the iceberg. Of course,since, but for a few exceptions like CBC and local media, the US media overwhelmingly controls what most Canadians see and listen to, we are very much influenced by it to our own detriment in many cases. And this is to the US's closest "friend" and largest trading "partner". Imagine what it's like for more distant countries. 'Nuff said. Lawrence Reply to: lgwalker(a)mts.net