sharkman
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Posts posted by sharkman
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What I find interesting is how homogeneous the attitudes of that generation are toward today's Canada in comparison to the one they fought for. I have a respect for old people, I have gotten to know many, and my parents are not that far removed from that generation. I know a little about how they conduct themselves in life. They are mentally tough people who hold themselves to a high code (although there are exceptions). I once roomed and boarded in the home of a lady of that generation. She had a difficult life, as most of them did. She's gone through stuff that would get the better of most of us today I fear. But she's proud of it. It's what made her strong. We today have no such experiences to refine our qualities. We are raised by the TV and mother Canada.
What I don't understand is how the old are treated. The attitudes of many towards old people in general are just as homogeneous. To immediately discount his comments as a conservative rant and homophobic just because they don't jive with what's commonly accepted today shows an intolerance that is worse than anything expressed by the veteran.
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The only thing that kept the Russians out of Europe was the threat of nuclear war. They maintained superiority in conventional weapons even with the US support. Without the US you would have seen Britain and France building the nukes to maintain the deterent - most likely with support from Canada (which would have likely gone nuclear).
Yes, I have to agree with your nuclear point. This aspect had a profound affect on Russia and their decisions throughout the cold war.
I wonder if the U.S. will become isolationist after Bush is gone. Americans seem to see no other major threats anymore and success in Iraq has proved almost impossible. Baring any more terrorist attacks in the U.S., my only concern is China. It will soon be a super power and there needs to be a deterent there.
P.S. My history may be a little shaky, but I believe WWII started in Sept of 1939. Japan attacked Pearl Harbour in Dec of 1941, so the U.S. stayed out of the war for 2 years or so.
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And this is a bad thing?
In Canada today we don't realize that we are the envy of the world, living in the lap of luxury and having freedoms that many don't even know to dream of. We have all of these blessings, but we don't understand the sacrifice previous Canadians made to get us here as they volunteered to be shot at, gassed, starved or tortured. That puts us in danger of affecting Canada for the worse, becoming less than the country it was. So I think it's a bad thing to not understand the sacrifice that war entails, it may doom us to repeat past mistakes.
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Some want to discount the war vet's remarks as an old fuddy duddy who probably doesn't like gay marriage. Stick the homofobe label on him and set him out to pasture.
One thing though, I'm just curious. How many of you are over 80? Can you remember a young Canada that became a country after proving herself in the first world war? What kind of people were there back then. Do we really know, except to make shallow remarks about has beens?
I've heard these Canadians were quite well respected the world over. They more than carried their weight during the awful WW years. When the Germans started using mustard gas to kill the allies in WW I, the canadian troops pissed in their hankerchiefs, tied the wet hankerchief around their face to protect from the gas and kept fighting. What kind of person does that? Some shallow know it all that thinks in terms of left wing/right wing who wouldn't join the army unless a government they approved of was in power? Or maybe someone who says that they may kill me today but not before I defend this patch of mud with my blood.
In WWI, our population was eight million and the army we sent over was over 619,000. And they volunteered, they weren't drafted. http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/general/sub.cfm?s...canada/Canada19
In WWII we sent over 1 million soldiers while our population was 11 million. The rest of the population ate little and worked hard to support the war effort with daily sacrifice that I think most of us in Canada today would find unbearable. At the time we had the 3rd largest navy and the 4th largest air force. http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/general/sub.cfm?s...anada2/epilogue Our military forces today are but a fraction of that while our population is over 29 million. We don't understand what it means to go to war.
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So, those of you who see a left wing bias in Canadian MSM(mainstream media), how do you suppose it got that way? The old saying, "Birds of a feather flock together" is certainly true, but how did liberal minded people start to dominate the media in Canada?
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When Bush was saying your either with us or against us it wasn't a broad 'decree' to the rest of the world about everything, but about terrorism. Personally, I don't think it's the bottom line in U.S. policy anymore otherwise they'd attack Iran and Syria, to name a few. Further, it wasn't a threat, just a black and white analysis of others' responses. For instance, Germany strongly disagreed with the U.S. over Iraq, but the U.S. didn't then respond with an attack on Germany.
Are they bent on converting the rest of the world to their 'way'? It seems to me that as far as capitalism and democracy based governing goes, much of the world is operating the same way already. All of Europe, lots of Asia, most of the Americas, everywhere you look. They didn't take over the world, but evolved a new way of existing as a country. And giving people freedom gives them hope and motivation to chase their dreams. So many other countries copied this system.
There are countries, such as China, who remain haters of democracy, thinking that people shouldn't be given freedom, but the U.S. is not figuring out how to 'take them over', but are trading with them. Personally I think that enriching the country that hates you and would like to see you fall as a power (as I believe China does the U.S.) is kind of short sighted, but that's me.
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In recent history (50 yrs) the U.S. would attack to stop communists from taking over. IMO communism had more in common with this violent wing of Islam than America. Wait and see what China does. After 9/11 it became a priority to take out those who the U.S. thought were responsible for the attack.
Many different presidents have been involved in the last 50 years with not all of them being christian, so the religious holy war thing doesn't fit. The bible doesn't advocate holy war, the Koran does. The methods that you want to put under the microscope, so to speak, seem dissimilar too. Americans aren't trying to bring down a government by taking out as many civilians as they can, or strapping explosives to themselves and getting into a crowd of muslims.
But at the end of the day, is it any different? To me, the end result that the U.S. wants to achieve shows that they are not the same.
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Politicians go against their ridings wishes all the time. Only on moral issues is this seen to be improper. Svend has been pro gay long before his Burnaby riding started agreeing with his position since he's been in politics since the late 70s. And that was a true incident I cited about the sign, it shows him to be intolerant in the name of tolerance, among other things. You can find many examples when Svend has had brushes with the law if you google around.
A jaw dropping example of an MP going against their ridings wishes was when Belinda Stronach was elected as a Conservative but when the Liberals offered her a ministry portfolio, changed her loyalties last summer because the price was right. And many examples exist of Prime Ministers doing what they think is in the best interests of Canada even though the majority of Canadians may not agree. Trudeau brought in the metric system, Mulroney brought in the GST and NAFTA, Chretien cut payments to the provinces, gutted the military, and did the Adscam thing in Quebec. Oh yah, he didn't bother to mention the Quebec thing (are you surprised?).
And our supreme court has been involved in social activism regarding the gay marriage thing. I can't remember if we yet have any laws directing the judges on theses matters but they've still managed to invent protection for gay marriage. Whether gay marriage is right or wrong is not the issue here. That the supreme court has been holding the torch for gay rights before there were any laws permitting them to do so is the problem.
So, I don't have any problem if a politician finds once in a while that his conscience dictates he vote differently than his riding. You don't just elect a vote, but a thinking person who may have facts at their disposal that we do not.
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Perhaps the U.S. administration has been waging a PR campaign against Chavez. I'm not, nor have I tried to defend their actions. All I am saying is that Venezuela is unstable. This hurts their oil industry and sometimes production. I guess we will have to agree to disagree.
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It seems there are a lot of illegal downloaders on this forum.
How about this angle. a group of people who eat sleep and drink music their whole lives form a band. Full of hope, they practice until their fingers bleed and start getting gigs at clubs. They soon find out that the music biz is tough since some of these clubs rip them off and they are barely feeding themselves, but they love what they do. Four years of hard work go by, and they get 'discovered' by some big music exec who promises them the world and wants them to sign a contract right now, with a 50,000 advance. In short, they get ripped off again since the contract says the company gets all rights to their music, and bills them for all the studio time, marketing, and various other items.2 more years and they work off that contract and sign with a new label with a lawyer this time. But their music doesn't sell very well and they find out they've spent the better part of a decade getting known only to be ripped off by the public who download their music 10 times more than they buy it.
When you go to download copyrighted material, you're making sure that the artist doesn't get paid for his work. They usually have very short careers and then they're a has been. Most of them are lucky if they can string 3 successful cds together. But who cares, right? As long as you get the music for free, wow, you saved 15 or 20 bucks!
Same for dvds. For every movie that makes a profit there are 5 that don't. Yah, there are rich fat cats at the top of the heap, but there are at the top of every industry. Does that make it right to steal? Rationalizing poor decisions don't change the fact that they are wrong.
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Bullshit! He forgot about us!
Nope, we forgot about him.
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As long as I am living in this country, no such act will ever be passed.
I don't follow. Are you saying that you have the power to dictate what our government does and doesn't pass into law as long as you are alive? Because you don't.
Do you ever wonder why Bush talks in 4 word sentences? Or why the White House representative can't answer simple questions? Or why Donald Rumsfeld manages to go hours with the media without ever really revealing any information? It is because of the patriot act. By allowing the Government to withold information from the general public, we are allowing for lowered accountability, which leads to corruption.So, the patriot act dictates that Bush talk in 4 word sentences? The reason Rumsfeld can talk at length and only reveal what he wants is because he's a sharp guy. Most of the press that cover him are inferior to him intellectually, say what you want about his politics. They are always trying to get him to slip up, but they rarely do. And ALL governments without info from the public! Sheesh, our government did it for years. Ever hear of the Gomery Inquiry? The billion that Jane Stewart lost track of as a liberal HR minister? The finances of the Gun Registry, which were kept from the public for years?
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Any writer from Esquire is hardly a good source for objectivity! He's obviously a talented liberal writer who looks down his nose at middle america, as they have been doing for decades. And intellectual arrogence is hardly reason enough to decide an issue.
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I can agree with that, and Chavez is both.
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First, the politician with faith question. Let's say that Svend Robinson becomes the MP of a riding that changes it's mind about the gay issue and believes that gays should not be allowed to marry. Is Svend then duty bound to vote as his riding wishes? Kind of puts the shoe on the other foot. So if he decides to "vote his conscience" on this issue, is he unfit for office? The fact is Svend would never let voters dictate to him on issues of homosexuality and. And he's respected (by some) for it. Even to the point when he walked up to a priest holding a sign on which were bible teachings on homosexuality. He ripped the sign out of the priest's hands and destroyed it.
Perhaps, then, there is room for a politician to vote based on what he feels is right even if it disagrees with his voters.
Second, to address freshinit's comments, we had a crisis in the media, but it was years ago. What you see now are conservatives, who did not have a voice in TV or print media, start organizations like Foxnews. By the mid 80's the conservative viewpoint was in such decline in media that when Rush Limbaugh started his radio show it took off like a rocket even though he's a bit nutty at times. And remember, this was on AM radio, which was also in decline and probably would have been gone by now. But Rush's and now many others have completely revived AM radio and it's all because conservatives did not have any where else to turn. And remember, Fox is the only conservative news network out there. That is why they regularly have higher ratings than other networks, and are at times #1 in viewers.
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Nah, God gave us freedom to choose whatever path we would follow. The world as you see it is a result of those choices. He lets us reap the results of our choices and actions.
Robertson, as usual, has it wrong. God will not punish the poeple of whatever town (dover?) based on their voting on creationism. He lets people live with the results of their decisions. They want creation out of the classroom, it'll be out of the classroom.
The bigger picture is a strategy among some in the U.S. to do away with any mention of God or Christianity whatsoever. Their country was started by pilgrims fleeing religious persecution in England, and now they are doing much the same to traditional religious types.
Decisions that have more immediate results include the permissive attitudes toward pornography, abortions, and homosexuality. These have changed the landscape of America (and Canada) far more drastically than ID in the classroom ever would.
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Out here on the west coast, drug dealers, car stealers and such are are given suspended sentences or probation with no actual time being served. Recently some twit who stole a car ran a stop sign and hit somebody, killing his passenger. His sentence? probation for manslaughter.
With those kind of sentences, what do you think the going rate is for counterfeiting? And what, pray tell, kind of deterrent do you think nonexistent sentences are for counterfeiting? You can have a pretty good income in Canada as a criminal with only minor brushes with the law.
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Err, if we consider history, many dictators were originally elected, just like Chavez. And like Chavez, they consolidated power. Disbanding the democratically elected congress and replacing it with a body he creates, filled with his buddies gives him the power to do whatever he wants. Consider if Bush did that instead of working with the congress. Would you call Bush a dictator then? Chavez has also silenced media critical of him. They don't have a free press down there. That's scary.
But if you want to look over the last 15 years of Venezuela and call it stable that's your business. However, just looking at all of the events of the last 15 years or so it is easy for many to say it's unstable, without even considering Chavez's actions.
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Harper could do the same on November 15th, but then he couldn't blame someone else if it failed or backfired.
That's right, he can't because he needs Jack's votes. And Jack has shown himself to be condemning the Liberals on one hand and signing deals with them on the other. Harper can't trust Layton to vote for bringing down the Liberals unless the NDP have their name on the motion for a vote of non-confidence too.
So Harper called Jack's bluff when Jack was all hot and bothered about bringing down the Liberals last week. And this week Jack comes up with this nonbinding motion that will not force the Liberals to do anything. Almost makes you wonder if Jack is in Martin's pocket or something.
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Martin's main goal is to stay in power as long as he can and however he can. Therefore he will keep on with the political games, trying to play one side against the other and make whoever ends up forcing an election look like the bad guy.
In yesterday's noon news, their was a report of a kid being shot at on Ontario high school. Wouldn't you know it Martin's ready with another press conference that gets played right after it. He unveiled another gun bill because 'gangs are taking our kids and guns are taking their lives'. All just an attempt to make some hay with the voters out of a poor kid who got shot. More proof that the gun registry is a waste of money.
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Jack layton's motion came after Harper called his bluff about a non-confidence vote. After all that talk the last week about bringing down the Liberals if they don't sign on to his idea of blocking private health care in Canada, Jack responds with a watered down motion that if passed will not be binding on the Liberals and he knows it. They can ignore it like they ignored motion after motion last summer.
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Yaro, I edited my previous post to ad more info on Venezuela, but was too late for you. Here's the new part.
And as far as Venezuela goes, here's a review of the last 15 years or so:
'89 - Food riots and looting see 100's dead
'92 - Military officers stage 2 coup attempts
'93 - Congress impeaches the president
'94 - Half the banking sector collapses with falling oil prices, foreign debt and inflation
'99 - Enter Chavez. He creates a 'constitutional assembly' made up of his allies. He replaces
the democratically elected congress with this.(dictator?)
'00 - Chavez calls in troops to quell protests over his re-election
'01 - Business and labor groups strike
'02 - Workers reduce oil production, mass demonstrations force Chavez from power for 2 days
- General strike brings economy to halt. Chavez silences independant media at this time
'03 - a petition with 3.2 mil. signatures is delivered to government wanting a recall on Chavez
- Chavez delays the referendum for a year, wins with 58%
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0108140.html
When I say Venezuela is unstable, you may not agree, but I think history does.
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I understand in both states they voted democrat back in 2001 when Bush had much better approval ratings, so it's no surprise that they'd go dem now.
Except the media's in shock and awe over it, but that's no surprise.
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Yaro, since you don't think the world oil supply has been tightening up, I'd like to here your thoughts on why the oil prices have been at all time high levels, and how China's increasing oil demands are affecting things.
And as far as Venezuela goes, here's a review of the last 15 years or so:
'89 - Food riots and looting see 100's dead
'92 - Military officers stage 2 coup attempts
'93 - Congress impeaches the president
'94 - Half the banking sector collapses with falling oil prices, foreign debt and inflation
'99 - Enter Chavez. He creates a 'constitutional assembly' made up of his allies. He replaces
the democratically elected congress with this.(dictator?)
'00 - Chavez calls in troops to quell protests over his re-election
'01 - Business and labor groups strike
'02 - Workers reduce oil production, mass demonstrations force Chavez from power for 2 days
- General strike brings economy to halt. Chavez silences independant media at this time
'03 - a petition with 3.2 mil. signatures is delivered to government wanting a recall on Chavez
- Chavez delays the referendum for a year, wins with 58%
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0108140.html
When I say Venezuela is unstable, you may not agree, but I think history does.
The Color of Crime?
in Moral & Ethical Issues
Posted
I believe behaviours are learned and not inherent to race. The black culture n the U.S. is very unhealthy, with poverty, unemployment, drugs, racism and lack of hope all contributing to the problem. It's a troubling report, and the usual response to the bearer of politically incorrect news is to shoot the messenger.