sharkman

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.

Nope, we forgot about him.

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. 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?

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.

I can agree with that, and Chavez is both.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Yaro, actually Venezuela has been unstable on a few fronts, one of them oil production. Try googling "venezeula" and "oil" or "strike" and see. As well, here's a link regarding their shortfalls http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/d.../2005/0520.html Also, the oil supply has indeed tightened up with Katrina and then Wilma keeping oil companies scrambling to get their oil rigs on line. At one point 27 rigs were MISSING! Add to this the long term demand from China's exploding economy and you can see how the world supply from day to day including spare capacity is under pressure. The reasons for $6o+/barrel include this demand, it didn't just happen because of the war and terrorism.

Would Alaska being opened up for drilling affect the world price per barrel if they find enough oil there? Then too, out here in B.C. we have huge fossil fuel reserves off shore and if they could be opened up(something the Liberals take a hypocritical stance with since they're all for Newfoundland drilling off shore) That would help. To that add Alberta's oilsand project which apparently has been recognized as bigger than Saudi Arabia's reserves, and you've got an oil glut baby! But no, for some reason our government won't allow drilling off the B.C. coast. I guess they'd rather let unstable countries who have huge variances in their productivity like Venezuela jerk the rest of the world around. Of course, the fact that a new gas refinery hasn't been built in the continental U.S. in over 20 years doesn't help. In 20 years consumption has gone up l lot, but the supply side has been stretched to the point that if one refinery goes off line for unexpected maintenance the prices fluctuate. I haven't seen any refiney facts for Canada but with all the rampant enviros in Cda, I'm sure it's not much better.

Wrong Scotty, you should have picked B: the conservatives and NDP. The Libs stink to high heaven and it's finally becoming plain to Joe Canadian. Hard core liberals will always cling to their party regardless of all the billions they waste and the fibs they tell about it.

The attempt by ministers of the United Church to unionize shows they feel their vocation is just another job. But it's not. It's a calling, something they feel deep in their hearts and know that they would not feel happy doing anything else. Because it is a thankless job for the most part. Most of the time they only get feedback when there are complaints, like the music is too loud or the wrong style, the sermon was not biblical or too long, members of the congreation are having a 'disagreement' and many more. The hours can be pretty much 24/7 and the money is peanuts unless you are in a bigger church, and the benefits minimal. Why do they do it? Because they feel God has called them to it, and He will give them the strength to care for His people. To try to unionize shows that the ministers of the United Church have completely lost touch with the calling from God part. Their approach is to consider it just another vocation, and since that's all it is, well they better improve their working conditions. And since they remove God from the equation, he can't bless them and make them the people they could be.

And here's another reason France was so reluctant to support the war in Iraq. They've got a reported 5 million muslims, mostly of Arab or African origin, all highly anti-American. Chirac dare not do a thing without considering them. I haven't heard of a curfew being enacted even after 11 days of this anarchy in France. I have heard reports that the police are ordered not to fire on the rioters. It seems the rioters are doing a variation of the Palestine strategy - create as much bedlam as you can without killing anyone and they won't be allowed to shoot us. So far it's working as Chirac seems to be without any answers. I look with interest to see how France, a suposed shining example of liberal socialism, will solve this problem. And they absolutely have no place to look down their noses at the U.S. response to their own problems. Not that it will stop them.

The mainstream media proves themselves to be biased every day. The latest case where they had to make a retraction was when the USA Today doctored the Condi Rice photo to give her demonic eyes. War with Islam? No, the small minority of Muslims who have become rabid about jihad and ignore the rest of their holy book have started a 'holy' struggle. The war, if it is one, is with them, not the peaceful God fearing Muslims who make up the vast majority of that religion.

Yeah, I don't get it. He promised to call an election after the Gomery Report was released. Apparently there's more to come early in the new year. So he's asking for at best 4 more months before an election, unless he's planning to not keep his word. Can't solve all the issues he's naming in 4 months, or at all with a minority government that has to pay off the NDP every time they want to get something done. And of course Layton is trying to squeeze as much out of them as he can. I think it's all about posturing. The conservatives are putting the onus on the NDP for calling an election. Martin's trying to make them both look bad by wanting to go to the polls, while at the same time knowing he can't get anything done without them. And he's trying to get more time so he can try to massage the latest polling numbers. Meanwhile our waiting times in Canada are still not being helped and Martin's advesarial relationship with the U.S. is only making things worse for major sectors of our economy and ticking off our biggest trading partner.