dialamah

I agree, but CA did offer me "freedom of expression" in the email I responded to.

I have contributed to that thread, here. Anyway, why would it matter if I'd contributed nothing? That's irrelevant. Oh, BS. The rules on this forum are that personal insults and comments are forbidden and that such will be sanctioned. I'm merely attempting to help you enforce your rules: Be polite and respect others. No Trolling/Flaming. No personal attacks. If I wanted to censor or control fellow posters, you'd be hearing a lot more from me - especially about the Russian bots and trolls that are allowed free rein here. So next time I feel that someone deserves to be insulted, I expect my post to stand as an expression of my "freedom of expression" and to see nothing from you in my inbox. In the meantime, I got a point in July 2019 for calling someone a hypocrite. I expect that point to be removed since the rule against insulting other posters don't really matter.

It is ok to insult people by saying "you racist piece of garbage": Reporting and ignoring was unsuccessful in this instance.

Funny, isn't it, how its the services in the service sector that we've missed the most, eh? Grocery store clerks - designated an essential service. Gas station attendants - didn't see them shutting down. Farm workers - crops grow, even if the harvesters are stuck in Mexico - BC is currently crying out for farm workers. Restaurants, bars, hair and nail salons - people really missed those places, couldn't wait for their reopening. Who hasn't really been missed, even as business dried up and staff got sent home? Those high paying jobs. Lawyer's offices closed, mechanics sitting on their asses, retail giants collapsing, throwing their "professionals" out of work too. That low-paying service sector job is arguably more important to our society than any number of the higher paid jobs in our society. The facts say otherwise. Yes, many of the homeless are addicts, no argument. Many are mentally ill. And many have jobs that don't pay enough for both housing and food, including the "hidden homeless", who couch surf or live in their car. 1 in 7 Canadians currently experience housing insecurity, which means any reduction or interruption of income will leave them homeless. Funny how you never flag the ridiculous hyperbole directed toward "lefties", hmmm. Nope, as a matter of fact you are one of the best at using ridiculous hyperbole to describe the views of any group you, personally, dislike. I think there is a nervana where everyone can get what they "need", but not what they necessarily "want." A place to live, healthy food and medical care - any truly civilized society should be able to do that much for its citizens. Canada does pretty well, better than many countries, and could do better - were it not for backward moral judgements that assume homeless and poverty-stricken people are there of their own volition or that wealthy people are there entirely due to their own efforts. In both instances circumstances out of the individual's control, and even luck, plays a role.

There is no perfect answer, and to expect people - even experts - to have all the answers within minutes, or even months, of a new virus appearing is ridiculous. We'll be learning about this virus for years, especially given that viruses mutate. "Carefully assessing" sounds good - but what happens if there's delay on what later proves to be a good idea? Experts, scientists and governments are lambasted for having moved too slowly. Masks help slow the spread of this disease, the science is pretty clear on that, even if they're not a perfect solution. Yes, people don't wear them correctly, and they touch them and their faces, they take them off and on incorrectly and they reuse them. But if I'm in a grocery store aisle and 4 feet away from someone with Covid but not yet showing symptoms, I'm safer if that person is wearing a mask. Even if it's reused, even if they've touched their face, even if they've taken it off incorrectly - it will still provide protection to me. Wearing a mask isn't about you, its about protecting other people. Like our grandparents did when they went to war. They'd have been plenty happy if they'd only had to wear a mask to protect their loved ones and fellow citizens. But today's snowflakes can't seem to understand the simple concept of even slightly inconviencing themselves for the health and safety of others.

If someone's full time job pays them less than $2,000 a month, maybe that's the real problem. If you had rent of $1000 a month, and a choice between an income of $1800 and $2000, which would you take? Its pretty easy, when you have more than enough money coming in, to forget how hard it is to live on the edge. Many of the "working poor" are already sleeping rough, and there'll be many more of those because of this pandemic, even with the "princely" sum of $2,000. Anyway, most of those jobs are going to be in the service industry, and in the lower mainland and Kelowna we've already had outbreaks related to activity in restaurants, bars and strip joints. Perhaps those people aren't so much lazy, as they are hesitant about putting themselves/their family in harm's way. Not to mention, Canada added back over a million jobs in June, and experts think even more will come in July. There more to consider than just " people are too lazy to work". Righties support throwing children into the street so rich people can get richer.

You're correct, my mistake. Nonetheless, government workers are irrelevant to the discussion.

"Eyeroll". Not relevant to the discussion of increasing income inequality in Canada, the US and in many other parts of the world. Stop trying to derail the discussion.

Thats not the population as a whole, so its irrelevant to the discussion.

Fewer people have access to such benefits, and there's ongoing effort to reduce access and reduce liability. Corporations make record profits, but declare decent wages and pension packages are too expensive. They deliberately hire part-time workers to avoid paying benefits, including pensions, and change the structure of pension plans to pay less to claimants. Here.

I think you miss the point: an income increase of $1,000 a week isn't the same as $10,000 per week. Why are a few people gaining so much more than the majority? Certainly not because they work that much harder or that these increases represent the cost of living; its largely the result of policies that finacially reward a few people while reducing the financial reward to most people. True, Canada has some inequality but not to the extent that the US does. Still certain sectors within Canada actively work to match the US in this regard.

Yeah, was thinking about this last night when Erin O'Toole suggested in his email that there should be a fall election - I'm like, no way. Perhaps in a non-pandemic year I'd support that, but not right now.

Apparently, JT himself isn't, but his brother and mother are. Thats a lot of money for people who don't really need it. Agree, but think it's not particularly unusual among politicians. JT seems particularly careless, I'll give him that.

Yeah right. I wouldn't go so far as to claim a deliberate plan on his part, but I think his natural inclination is to remove as many hindrances as possible to having complete power, including removing anyone or any institution that might question or criticize him. Not so much because he wants to destroy American democracy, but because he doesn't really understand the impact of his actions, he just thinks the President is entitled to do whatever he wants without criticism or limitation. I could be wrong, of course: maybe he's more of a thinker and planner than I give him credit for. I think it's his supporters within the Republican party who aren't too concerned about democracy and see him as their opportunity to reduce or perhaps eliminate political and media opposition. Kinda like letting a bull loose in a china shop, and rather than trying to corral him, just sit back and watch - perhaps with gentle nudges toward certain areas.

Mysteriously, medical professionals have used masks for hours at a time and suffered no ill effects. This has been going on for decades. Your film is is a lie.

1. Most of the time people don't need condoms. 2. You cling to that travel ban like a drowning man clings to a life preserver. Canada is still doing much better, travel ban or not. Trump is still discouraging the use of masks, whereas we've moved on as information has changed. 3. Your point? That Covid is infinitely more catchy than HIV? All the more reason to support the wearing of masks, wouldn't you agree?

Yeah. People who spread HIV because they failed to protect their partner could be charged with a criminal offense and spend up to a lifetime in jail. So endangering other people because you don't want to be inconvenienced by wearing protective gear isn't acceptable. Even if that clown down south does it.

In Tulsa, officials also point to Trump's rally as contributing to the spike in cases there. Herman Cain, who tweeted a pic of himself maskless at the rally, is now in the hospital with Covid. Even if he didn"t pick it up there, he certainly spread it.

Since when does freedom mean I can do whatever the fvk I want, even if it endangers other people? Can people drive as fast as they want because "freedom"? Can people drink and drive because "freedom"? Can people rob because "freedom"? Can people assault, rape and murder because "freedom"? Wearing a mask merely means you care enough about other people to not endanger them. Claiming it infringes on some personal freedom is ridiculous, selfish and entitled. These people are snowflakes who can't handle a small amount of personal inconvenience for the protection of their fellow citizens, their economy and their country. Your president is a narcissistic fool who enables these snowflakes.

Slow and steady wins the race ...

$2000.00 a month is not "well-provided for". Many people have monthly mortgage payments that are more than that, or rent that is half that and more. If their income has significantly reduced or disappeared due to Covid, $2000 a month might help them hang on a little longer, but thats about it. Ohhh, scary ... "downright" socialism! The bogeyman of the elite! The scourge of the massively wealthy! The great levelor of the politically powerful! No socialism allowed here, dammit!

4 cases are not going to even come close to overwhelming hospitals in PEI. Not at all comparable.

Don't know when you were last here; I arrived in 2015, looking (foolishly, I now realize) for insight into politics and political parties in order to make a more informed choice in the federal election. At the time, I didn't really identify as left/right, wasn't even sure of the differences between the two, had voted for both parties at various times in my life. I was quickly shoved into a "liberal" box, most often sneeringly, and accused of hating Canada and Canadian culture, because I support responsible immigration, I think Canada does a good job of screening immigrants to benefit Canada and I believe strongly in helping those less fortunate. Perhaps that does make me "Liberal", but being shoved into a box and insulted isn't going to make me a conservative. Ultimately, the extremism of the comments directed towards me from right-wing posters here has resulted in me being less likely to take conservatives seriously, or vote Conservative, than I would have been 5 years ago. I'm no doubt part of the problem since I stopped trying to discuss with those people some time ago, though I'll still engage with them. I have found more moderate conservatives on Reddit, which has helped repair my view of conservatives overall, and realize that our values aren't that different. I like that sense of kinship, even if ultimately our votes are different.

Thats the position you are arguing against, but it's not the position I'm taking. When I stated my position, you called it sermonizing.

I guess if you just ignore the evidence, it'll remain unsubstatantiated.