jacee

with Conrad

No evidence of that myth: http://www.ipb.uwo.ca/rates.php

@Pliny What's your evidence of the existence of these lib-left straw men? How odd that you equate human worth with financial worth. That bizarre valuation would never occur to a lefty. Sigh ... just another disgruntled middle-aged white male with a 30 year old chip on his shoulder that Affirmative Action redistributed some of the white male 'pie' to others more deserving. . I've observed that those most vehement about this old issue are those who just can't cut it when white maleness is not an advantage. - Yawn -

Yah no one ever said corporations had to obey the law and fulfill their legal contract obligations ... /sarcasm

If the workers controlled profitability it would make sense, but when the bosses screw up the workers lose: Thus, profit sharing does not make sense. FALSE: Not on strike: LOCKED OUT because US Steel refused to bargain in good faith, insisting on concessions "preconditions" before even coming to the table. FALSE: Mostly over US Steel insisting on a precondition of ending cost-of-living increases for current pensioners. FALSE. They voted on whether they would hold a vote on the 'contract' and the majority said no. Gee ... what were the US Steel bosses thinking when they knew all this and still signed a contract with gov? Do you think they were lying then too? If you want to make a point, get your facts straight. A few workers are willing to sell out the pensioners but they are a minority.

You mean like Mulroney?

Isn't that true of all laws? Are you saying that laws don't matter unless governments want them to? Are you saying that governments are above the law?What about the judicial branch of government?

There is some truth to that. We are 'labouring' on their land and they are entitled to a share of the profits from their land.

Canada is a signatory to international conventions and our courts do recognize international law. An Aboriginal person from Peru oversees Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission to ensure it meets UN standards. This is a result of court orders.Our governments may negotiate in bad faith, but the courts are not anymore, and the judicial branch of government does have jurisdiction. Your comments suggest you think Canada can continue to abuse Aboriginal rights and Aboriginal people without consequence and that isn't so.

No but my tv has. Not a digital converter to be found - all sold out. Guess I'll have to break down and buy a digital tv. I'm sure not going back to paying for cable. That Shaw stunt just reminds me why. They're sharks.

The NDP won't unite with the Liberals history of pandering to big business and kickbacks. . Any Libs that want to join the NDP are free to. Not sure what the fuss is about. It's a no brainer!

'Special status' is not conferred by the constitution. Changing the constitution doesn't change the treaties we agreed to. Aboriginal rights exist outside of any written law. The constitution simply "recognizes and affirms" what is already a fact of law.

If we only demand that corporations are accountable for profit, then that's all they'll measure. If we make our governments and corporations accountable for their full impact on society and the environment as well as the economy, then that's what they'll measure, report and be held accountable for: From Wiki, General Progress Indicators: "GPI is an attempt to measure whether a country's growth, increased production of goods, and expanding services have actually resulted in the mprovement of the welfare (or well-being) of the people in the country. GPI advocates claim that it can more reliably measure economic progress, as it distinguishes between worthwhile growth and uneconomic growth." However, we have to raise our collective voices to demand government regulation of corporations. I believe it is more accurate to say that we have allowed corporations to operate in a destructive manner, for the jobs we need and the consumption we crave and I think it is all understandably human error in measurement.

I've been using homemade 'rabbit ears' for over a year now and getting all the stations I need (about 10). Now I'll get a digital converter and see how the same setup works with that. Has anyone tried it yet in S Ont. And how many stations do you get?

I see no reason for private health care in Canada. The rich will often choose to go south or overseas for specialized care if they don't want to wait, or want a certain doctor or facility. I see no need to have private health care in Canada, and I think it would just drain expertise from the public universal system and create two qualities of care.

Two monarchies and associated aristocracies were taken down. How long were they there? How long does it take for democracy to settle? (Only long enough for the new aristocracies - corporate oligarchies to corrupt them. Now it's time for more revolutions to get out from under them. Real consensual participatory direct democracies are very slow and messy. May take hundreds of years to settle. Do we have the time?

They are not the youth who protest. Yes I'm aware that we all pay for those guns and bullets.

Youth are getting killed in the Middle East for daring to protest the dictator puppets of Big OIL. Youth in Canada and the US know it's Big OIL that pays for the guns that are doing the killing. In Canada we taxpaying dupes of the corporatocracy subsidize Big OIL (sands) to the tune of over $2b per year. So what do we do ... ignore the fact that we are paying for the bullets that are killing young people? I'm no 'youth', but I understand the feeling that we have to own up to our role in the Middle East. Kids are dying for protesting. Barring some crazy with a gun, it's unlikely anyone will die in these anti-corporate protests, but if the hired guncops that we pay to protect and serve us get slap happy again, thinking they work to protect Big OIL against us ... then things could get hairy.

The behaviours you describe are associated wiith the Wahabi and other Salafi sects, the state religion of Saudi Arabia (home to the Bin Ladens) and evident in small minorities in other countries, and the Taliban, Al Quaeda and other militant groups. Its relationship to mainstream Muslim denominations is qquestionable, similar to that betwee mainstream Christianity and Mormonism: Many Christians prefer not to call Mormons "Christian", just as Muslims may not call Salafis "Muslim".Of course, you could google it to find out more, but I believe Salafi is an ancient 'religion', overlaid with a Muslim veneer, somewhat like Celts overlaid Christian practices on their indigenous ('pagan') practices, to evade the wrath of their Catholic Christian invaders. All dogs will run in packs. It's their natural way.

The police are responsible for preventing violence against demonstrators ... I assume you mean by disgruntled motorists ...? Who are responsible for their own illegal actions Interpersonal violence is not acceptable of course. You do recall that the G20 police attacked cooperative protesters and innocent bystanders in QP too? No one will ever agree to that plan again! Getting people to pay attention, learn about and think about the issues, is the purpose of public demonstration and we have that right. Violent road rage is not a right. You cannot, for example, attack motorists whose fender bender (eg, from texting while driving) is delaying you either. Is it really delay, not demonstration per se, that might enrage some to personal violence? Are those not likely the ones who fear real democracy, prefering to keep 'the masses' hungry,indebted and thus fearful and docile?

Only for effect. Eta: "tired of tipping their hats to the lairds" is how my elders explained why our family migrated to America. Unfortunately, the lairds sent their second sons (without inheritance) here too, to continue the pillaging of our common public property, but here we stand, "In a young and poor country where the sons of rich and favoured families alone receive education at the public expence - where the many must toil to support the extortions and exactions of a few; where the hard earnings of the people are lavished on an Aristocracy, who repay their ill timed generosity with contempt and insult; it requires no ordinary nerve in men of moderate circumstances and humble pretensions, to stand forward and boldly protest against measures which are fast working the ruin of the Province."(Joseph Howe, Nova Scotia)

Why would that piss anyone off? That's friggin hilarious! Sounds like street theatre.

Shouted down by a mob of stockbrokers, office workers, street people and shoppers freely expressing their rage. Arrested for their own protection. Charged with counseling to commit... Trampled, arrested and charged. Nobody promised that freedom of expression was without consequences in responses from others also freely expressing. However you hit on the fact that there are verbal crimes - counselling to commit a crime... , endangering public safety... that are crimes in themselves. These are not typical political demonstrations.

Hell no! Who wants women to have the vote, a democracy instead of the oligarchy of the Family Compact, redistribution of the illgotten wealth of the gougers?I can see your point. Ya it's better to just cast our eyes down and tip our hats and our pockets to the lairds and let them run us into the ground for greed and sadistic pleasure. Or we can stand up for our hard won rights and expose and correct anti-democratic forces. Some good thoughts there. You do that. We all paid for the streets. We all pay the police and governments to work for us. We all subsidize the corporations. Protesters only block a few streets a few times. The rest are still more than your share at a given time. Fender benders block roads all the time. Perhaps you could protest them. Or counter-protest demonstrations. That's the beauty of free expression. Whatever turns your crank.

It's nice if police respect the agreements they make with protesters, but unfortunately in this and other situations they don't. Instead, they use the agreement to create sitting ducks out of protesters.I used to believe it was good to negotiate agreements with police but never again. The Tamils are entitled to free expression. Sure there were safety issues, but that week their Tamil friends and family in Sri Lanka were being chased down and killed en masse in complete violation of all law and no other country would raise a hand or a voice to help. They were desperate and extremely agitated. Police handled it right.