Drea

IMO The conservatives are making it harder for women to work. The other day, once again, on the news.. A family needs an income (minimum income) of $129,000 per year to buy a house in greater Vancouver. How many men make $130 grand a year?

10 years later and the poor woman is still on nights! Why doesn't she get a day job now that the kids are in school and be there for the evening. So she gave up every evening for the past 10 years because you couldn't bag it? Guess it was your conservative "husband's right" to have sex without birthcontrol huh? IMO, give the woman a break -- you try the night shift for the next 10 years. LOL and Geoffrey says "nothin' wrong with that set up!" Hyuk Hyuk. On the news the other night -- a stay at home mom with a 2 year old, 1 year old twins, and one on the way. She's looking forward to spending the $5000 from the gov't on a vacation to Disneyland. Grrrreat! She's spending MY TAXPAYER DOLLARS in another friggin' country. Un-be-lievable. Another woman, same news broadcast. Is on a 3 year waiting list for daycare space. By the time she gets the space, she won't need it anymore. What a screwed up system the cons are putting in place. Give the "traditional" family a vacation in Disneyland -- while the "regular" family struggles to find a space for their child. The second family (the one looking for daycare space) pays much much more in taxes (2 income earners) than the glorified "traditional" family.

If you just have fun, get involved in stuff (whether it be sports, volunteering, the gym, etc) you will run into the woman of your dreams. The less pressure you put on yourself to find the perfect person, the more likely you are to run into her. Funny, I am currently trying my darndest to find a woman for this single guy I know. He's 43, has his own business, no kids, never been married, and he's hot like crazy! This guy has travelled the world getting laid but now, at 43, he's realizing he doesn't want to be wild and single forever. This guy is middle aged, you're not -- LOL 25 years old is not mid life. IMO 25 is still to young to get married. Wait until you're at least 30. The man I had the kid with... Well, I got married at 18yo -- divorced at 21 (we didn't have kids together), moved away and instantly met my son's father. We dated for a few years and then I wound up pregnant. We were wild and crazy party people and I had no intention of marrying him (he was fun for partying, but not a suitable mate for life). I raised my kidlet on my own until I met a man (set up on a blind date, btw) I wanted to share my life with.

AW guys, it's not entirely your fault. Both of you are quite young and youth tends to be "confused". Comes with the territory. Puppies are confused too, but they eventually grow up and become really good dogs LOL For goodness sake, you're 22 - go get laid. The sad thing is, you will be getting laid for the feeling of power it gives you and the girl you lay with with be getting laid because she thinks she's supposed to. So be nice to her. Don't lie to her and tell her you love her just to get laid. And as aside: women and girls have, for millenia, been the "property" of men. Their only worth was the "level" of man they could attract. Our media hasn't gotten out of the dark ages on this issue, just take a look at the images on our TV screens, in our magazines, etc. The media tells us that a girl's "worth" is in how good she looks, not whether or not she has a brain. Sad isn't it. I, thankfully, am no longer one of the "confused young ones". Really, I never was confused. Went to college, got a job, had a kid, met a great guy. Yup, in that order. Cheer up Jamie, one day, when you grow up you'll meet a real woman. For now, just go have fun, you are waaaay to young to be thinking of mating for life.

The Ontario Library Association refused to drop from its recommended list a book that includes Palestinian children endorsing suicide bombing. This is not a school library. Would you have our libraries refuse to carry controversial books? Are you for book banning?

George Bush is on record saying God told him to invade Iraq. What a religious wacko.

First world countries (the USA, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, England, etc) have a blend of capitalism and socialism. Pure capitalism* cares not a wit for the human equation. Pure capitalism cares only for the fiscal bottom line. *pure socialism doesn't work either, it has to be a blend of both.

What happens March 20? Check this out it's from Counter Currents.org United Iraqi Protests Against US Divide and Rule Policy Somebody is Trying to Provoke a Civil War in Iraq

The are three objectives to the criminal justice system:1) Retribution 2) Deterrent 3) Rehabilitation All three must be balanced. It does society no good if jails are simply places to send criminals do they can learn to become better criminals. Nor does it make sense to set up a system where ever increasing numbers of people need to be warehoused at taxpayer expense. If somebody kills someone while high on drugs they should go to jail. Drugs are no excuse. If somebody breaks into a car then it worthwhile thinking about alternatives that will ensure the person does not break into another car as soon as they get out of jail. I agree. Here in BC a drunk native woman broke into a senior gentleman's home and stabbed him to death. Her defense lawyer is fighting the case on the basis of "she was drunk and didn't know what she was doing" BULLSHIT! She should be jailed for life.

You can't have one without the other. Rehab only works if addicts take it seriously. They will not take it seriously unless there are serious consequences for not cleaning up. Slapping them on the wrist and giving them probation based on promises to try and clean up is the approach we use today and it most definitely does not work in most cases. Jail is most certainly not the place for an addict. Prisons are not drug-free. A better solution would be to lock the addict into a padded cell for 12 months. Give them food, the internet, books, education, whatever... Criminals learn how to be better criminals in prison. Prison doesn't rehabilitate anyone. I wish I could opt into a "padded cell" situation -- I could clean up my drug (nicotine) habit without killing anyone in the process!

Those are good questions. How do Leftists define who is oppressed? How do those on the right define who is oppressed? As a centrist, I personally don't feel we're oppressed in this country. The far left will cry out "natives are oppressed" or "this group is oppressed" but it's not true. If yah get off yer butt and take responsibility for yerself, magic things (like jobs) happen! The far right will call out "my traditional marriage is oppressed" or "I'm being oppressed because my neighbour's daughter had an abortion". If yah realize that people are diverse in opinion and belief you will realize that a gay couple getting married, or a woman having an abortion have absolutely no effect on you personally whatsoever.

I agree with the comparison. I'm a smoker. Addiction is addiction no matter if the substance is legal or not. Doctor tells you "You are going to die if you keep ingesting such and such substance". Does it really matter if said substance is legal or not? The absolute best way to curb addiction is to never start ingesting addictive substances in the first place. Sadly, many people are addicted because it's a coping mechanism. I am exactly like the addicted heroin user -- I absolutely must have my cigs -- he absolutely must have his heroin. There's no difference in the actual addiction itself. Because a substance is legal or illegal doesn't change the fact that the person is addicted to it. A drug user will get his drugs somehow -- a smoker will get their cigs somehow (even if it's 5 am and 7/11 is 50km away and yah gotta hitch-hike to get there!) LOL I laugh, but it's not really funny at all -- I wish I'd never tried that first cig, and I'd be willing to bet that 99% of addicted drug users wish they would've never tried that first hit. I like the idea of forced re-hab, but not an automatic 5 years for falling off the wagon. Addiction is a physical/mental problem that needs to be addressed. Throwing a person in jail for 5 years because they aren't able to cope with quitting is barbaric IMO.

I've not seen anything "that bad". Somebody told me to go eff off, but hey, I don't take these things personally. It's just a forum. Walk away, grab a glass of juice, sit outside and chill for a while ;-)

Point is it's (at the very least) frowned upon in this country to say "Jews are all money grubbing, power hungry elitists who are ruining the world, we should erradicate them" It's not frowned upon to say "muslims are all hate riddled Islamic freaks who are ruining the world, we should erradicate them" It should be frowned upon IMO. NO, I am NOT saying the cartoon is the SAME as denying the holocaust -- but do you get my meaning? If you tolerate one religion, you must tolerate them all. If you ban one religion, you must ban them all.

Here's some links for you.. Not all the same opinions I might add, ALSO, I don't necessarily agree -- just letting folks see what's out there regarding Holocaust Denial Link 1 Link 2 Link 3 Link 4 The only opinion I have on the subject is: If I am allowed to "slam" Muslims then I should also be allowed to "slam" Jews. If it is illegal to "slam" Jews, then it should be also illegal to "slam" Muslims.

My sister is one of these moms. She always dreamed of being a mom (while I always dreamed of a high-falutin' career). She married a man with 4 girls, she had a son of her own and together they had another daughter. That makes six! Her hubby doesn't earn alot and she's had to work for the past 5 years or so. She chose a night shift job so she could be home during the day for the girls. (The boy and two of the girls are all grown up and moved out). I might add, her husband is also the type who takes care of the household chores. When she gets home from work at 1am the house is clean. Gotta love men like that!

When hubby and I got together, my son was 7 and I took a year and a half off work. I was bored stiff! My house was spottless, fresh cookies coming out of the oven at 3pm dinner on the table by 5:30, all the laundry done... Today I work 40 - 47 hours a week, my house is a disaster throughout the week and we all get together and clean it on the weekends. I am much happier now than I was staying at home. When I was staying at home, I went through a period of depression, didn't want to get out of my pj's at all. I felt I wasn't contributing, wasn't pulling my own weight, so to speak. (I've worked and earned my own money since I was 15yo) Of course, this is only my experience and I have only one child. Easy Peasy IMO. BTW, I wasn't envious of the moms because they stayed at home, but because they got everything given to them and I had to work at a crappy job with long hours and little pay and there was no way for me to afford a new vehicle or any special treat at all. LOL there are days when I wish it were 1950 and nothing was expected of me except taking care of the children and hubby. Thankfully those days are few and far between. I don't think that stay at home moms (with more than one child) work less, their work is simply more intangable. As a working mom I still do exactly all the same stuff a non-working mom does, only I get it done on the weekends and after work. My work load has pretty much doubled even though I have a man who contributes almost as much to the "household" chores as I do. I'm thankful I've met an understanding "liberal" man who does not feel it's beneath him to scrub the floors or the toilet (and he does a great job of it too!) Please don't think I'm "slamming" stay at home moms. They are an invaluable part of our society. But I should also not be vilified for working outside the home and "abandoning" my child to the daycare system. In my case it's a choice I've made.

In what way do you feel we are oppressed? Who are our oppressors? Women in some African countries are oppressed -- she has parts of her vulva cut off to deprive her of sexual pleasure. Women in Iran are oppressed -- she is not allowed to ride a bicycle or drive a car. I don't feel oppressed in any way. I am free to express myself in most any way I see fit. I suppose I can't run through the streets naked, so perhaps I am oppressed to a certain extent! LOL

So you do agree that it's ok to teach creation to kids (not college or university, but grade school kids)? They are NOT teaching creation only in "religious" studies, but in science class. In the "where did we come from" category. "Why is the world carved up into countries? Why are there borders at all? We are all just people aren't we?" These are questions a teenager would ask. How would you answer? Would your answer be "political" in any way shape or form? Or would you say "well, son, geographically, the earth is carved up by mountain ranges, oceans and deserts, etc. Countries are "handed out" by God. Humans have no political adgendas behind the creation of this or that country -- that's the way it is, that's the way it's always been -- quit asking so many questions son!" Oh sure, fire those who try to make our children independent thinkers. Hire only those who follow the politically correct doctrine of the day. Don't allow independent thought, don't allow debate. Don't allow dissenting opinion to enter the classroom. Shameful, utterly shameful.

What an arrogant ass. I am so sick of the Liberal assertion that everyone who doesn't support their point of view is stupid, bigotted, racist, etc ... I am so sick of the NEO-CONservative assertion that everyone who doesn't support their point of vew is a.) on the far left b.) immoral c.) hedonistic d.) hates the freedom of the west e.) love and cheer for terrorists f.) the women are dikes and the men are pussies Also this "slippery slope thang"... SSM -- someday some guy will get to marry his dog! Decrim marijuana -- all the kids in school will be high by first period! Stem cell research -- we're going to be getting women pregnant and harvesting their fetuses!

this is priceless. The right arguing with the further right! Drew, thanks for the "normalcy". You are a conservative with a head on his shoulders and don't follow the Bushbots -- how refreshing. LOL -- A flaming right wing bastard. Excellent. I don't agree with equating Bush with Hitler. I do agree with making kids think. MB, think of the life of a teacher for a moment... A teacher is around people of all economic, political, and religious stripes. He needs to be able to relate to each of these differences. He needs to be able to communicate with them all. The only way to do that is to be open and tolerant of ALL ideas, not just the ones that are currently "popular" in the nation. How do you feel about the teaching of creation as actual science? In public schools? Is this the correct thing to do? Should we teach the children to analyse creation and analyse evolution or should we just tell them what to think?

Absolutely BM! In an ideal world one parent would stay home and raise the kidlets while the other parent goes out and earns the bacon. This is not an ideal world. When my son was young I did envy those moms who didn't have to work -- spoiled little bitches (I'd think that!). Driving brand new vehicles bought by their husbands while they "baked" all day (in the sun in the backyard!) I was angry at them then. I worked for minimum wage, I had no husband to help, noone to buy me brand new SUV. Today, my son is almost a teenager -- I work full time at a very rewarding career -- a career, I might add, I would not have today if I'd stayed at home. So I'm glad that things worked out the way they did for me. And I'm no longer envious of stay at home moms. They are making sacrifices too. They are risking their potential futures because you just never know when hubby might come home from work and say "Yer on yer own, I'm leaving you for the secretary". So both stay at home moms and working moms sacrifice something. Personally I am very lucky to have a wellbehaved child who thrived in a daycare environment when he was little. Pity the working mom who has a child with "difficulties".

I think they're a great idea. Not only do they help the police who can't be everywhere at once -- they're good role models for wannabe little gangstas who want to be "cool" and "tough". The Angels are cool, tough and they obey the law! How cool is that!

I think there is a limit... I'm pretty sure that the vast majority of abortions happen in the first trimester; and virtually none in the third. The morning after pill prevents the fertilized egg from adhering to the wall of the uterus.

Welcome to Lotus Land! Waddya mean Limp Wristed Liberals! Out here on the fringes (waaaay out in The Valley) we all vote conservative. (not me personally, but they always get elected -- Chuck Strahl has been our MP since '93.)