dialamah

I didn't see it at the theatre and didn't have popcorn ....

I saw Moonlight, and wasn't at all uncomfortable even though I'm a whitey, so now I'm curious why you think it would?

An oil industry executive says that countries should charge carbon taxes to help phase out use of oil and coal. His company also plans to invest 1 billion a year in renewable energy development. http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/shell-oil-warn-fossil-fuel-industry-carbon-taxes-ben-van-beurden-renewable-energy-a7622211.html

You were made a moderator when?

That's funny. According to the definition of "Middle Class", I've been beneath that threshold for my entire life. I feel like I'm always struggling, but my life is still so much better than many others. I don't even care if I pay more taxes if I know that money was going to help people who remain less fortunate than me. It really bugs when my taxes go to pay huge bonuses and pensions to politicians, senators or to give tax breaks to organizations who are making record profits or individuals who make hundreds of thousands or more a year. Too bad every wealthy person who complains about 'too much tax' and says 'why should I help people who didn't do as well as I' couldn't be transferred directly into the lives of some of the people they deem undeserving of help from the rest of us.

I'm in a townhouse, and natural gas comes in but I don't think running it to the hot water closet is going to be an option. Last time I checked a few years ago, on-demand electric for the whole house needed a 220 outlet, and I don't know if that's available in the hot water closet. I thought maybe a smaller hot water tank, with a point of use in the kitchen might be an option that would save electricity/money.

Did you watch the video? I think that as resources that contribute to climate change become more expensive, people will *choose* different solutions. Suggesting I want people to 'abandon' their homes is ridiculous, but perhaps if they decide to renovate, they would make more 'green' choices. I need to replace my hot water tank over the next year; I'd like to install an on-demand system, if possible, instead of heating and keeping hot 30 or 40 gals of water all the time, only heat the water I'm using 'right now'. Did you watch the video? What did you think? Did it help you understand how carbon pricing can make a difference and the different ways it can be implemented? I found it quite interesting; it was part of a 'recommended' series from work. I work with a BC Ministry which has to take the effects of climate change into account in their future planning.

That is the point, though - move people away from using resources which release chemicals in the air which increase global warming. Here's a video explaining carbon taxes and various implementations. It's simple enough even I understood it.

LOL. This kind of optimism is such a British trait, is it not?

Whether it's a man-made phenomenon or a natural cycle it is still going to affect humans, so mitigation seems like a good idea to me. From BC Gov Website At some point in the past, the BC Gov also wrote this: However, it's not all bad. Climate change is already affecting fish, farmers and ranchers in BC, who are working on finding ways to mitigate those effects: Climate change effects on animal behavior have been noted since 2008, including this one: Regardless of whether you believe that climate change and global warming is natural or man-made, the fact is we are going to be affected; no doubt, whether the change is ultimately good or bad only history will tell - but what's coming is a sea change for humans. Our generation is just starting to feel the effects, but the ones after us are going to be getting the full brunt of it. Hiding your head in the sand and yelling "It's a leftist plot" is just dumb.

I keep finding points of agreement with you. But I do I think we're in the Elite seats, us Westerner types, along with Saudi Arabians and others from rich countries. Some lesser lights get coach, while Syrians and their ilk get the roof. Hope hell is what people expect for themselves.

My pool has ladies only times, where mostly middle-aged white women come to do aquacises and sit in the hot tub, and a few random teenage girls play on inner tubes till the pool is opened to the public (and boys) again. Is that a problem for you? Shall we decamp to SA because the pool offered ladies-only nights that include aquacise training in the hopes of getting us older gals out? I'm grateful that the pool is empty and that when I go to use the hot tub, it's not filled with a bunch of hairy guys, some of whom stare a little too much. My pool is closed for renos but when it reopens, I'm taking advantage of the sexism and ageism that provides me with a near empty pool, no young kids screaming and splashing all over me and no men who stare too much. Thank you very much.

Muslims and Muslim countries also "behave racist", despite what the Quran says. Despite your conviction that Islam is some panacea "If only people followed it", Muslims are no better at following the best tenets of their faith than any other religious group. There are wonderful Christians and wonderful Muslims; there are mediocre Muslims and Christians and absolutely horrific Muslims and Christians. Right now, at this point in history, Islamic countries and Muslims have some catching up to do with regards to women's rights and minority rights, not to mention the ridiculous laws against apostasy and heresy some Islamic countries impose. Perhaps you could work toward the betterment of Islam in regards to these things, rather than endlessly repeating how 'right' the Quran is.

Why is the hysterical refrain of "OMG, Sharia Law is coming" because some Muslim women might want to swim without men in the pool NOT fear-mongering? How is spreading false stories about how 'Muslims demand menus change to suit them = OMG Sharia Law is coming" not fear mongering? Why is a story about a Muslim man groping women in a pool nation-wide and world-wide news, while the daily activities of non-Muslim pedophiles is ignored? Why is the severe over-reaction to a motion for study on religious intolerance NOT fear mongering? How is claiming that Muslims are inherently violent/barbaric with no redeeming qualities NOT fear-mongering? Perhaps when I see you objecting to those kinds of comments, instead of giving them credence, I will start believing your claim that you are objecting to 'both' sides of what you see as extremist statements.

The same themes as were used against Jews in Nazi Germany and Japanese in second world war Canada are the same ones being used against Muslims today. It's a method that is well established to marginalize a particular group of people, whether it's Nazi's against Jews, Muslims against Christians or Westerners against Muslims: They are a danger to our society; they are out to get us; they lie to us; they don't understand our values; they will rape our women and children; unless we protect ourselves, they will over-run our society, and we'll become 'them'.

Perhaps if killing them had continued for decades you would have.

I will have to check this movie out. Don't usually go for horrors, so hadn't really considered it at all.

Things are not going to get better any time soon, I'm thinking. Muslims are looking more and more like 1940s Jews in Germany, but on a worldwide scale. Our 'side' has been invading and killing Muslims in their home countries for decades, whilst we sit in our safe little living rooms and are delivered our sanitized stories about making life better for these people (and safeguarding oil). After decades of this, some Muslims start to fight back - and they're the 'bad guys'.

Third time - I do not think you wrote the Quran, only that you believe wholeheartedly. If this is the level of your comprehension, it must have taken you such a very long time to understand and believe Islam's message. But I just don't have the patience of your teachers; I'm done with this idiocy.

Do you consider yourself in the "middle"? It's rather ironic that you decry political 'polarization' and then proceed to blame the 'left' for every perceived problem.

It's your faith, so you tell me. Was your revelation and conversion sudden, or did it happen over time?

When they do, nobody shouts it from the rooftops the way they do bullshit stories about Muslims demanding special 'rights' or 'implementing Sharia law'. If the media spent hours or days covering stories where Imams and Islamic scholars condemned these practices, perhaps we'd be as familiar with these teachings as we are of the extremists and their beliefs. Perhaps so many wouldn't have such a one-sided view of Islam as a religion that exists solely to be violent. http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/muslims-have-been-standing-against-apostasy-laws-for-a-century-30313530.html https://ageofjahiliyah.wordpress.com/2007/09/01/abdal-hakim-murad-on-jihad-apostasy-rights-of-muslim-women/ Here are several more Muslim leaders who condemn apostasy laws. And here's a whole slew of Muslim leaders who have condemned the extremism practiced by ISIS and similar groups.

So what? Enough people who call themselves Christian follow (cherry-picked) teachings of the OT that I don't see any point in pretending they're separate.

I think that is why it's important to focus on the other interpretations of Islam - the ones where murder is wrong, where compulsion is wrong and make those what are well-known instead of the same ones that ISIS et al use. Unfortunately, too many people are too willing to accept the worst and doubt the best (on both sides) and so mutual fear and distrust grows.