Wilber

GostHacked To begin with the fighters were sent up at air traffic control's request to have a look at Stewart's aircraft to try to find out why it was not responding and off course, not to shoot it down. They followed until it ran out of fuel and crashed on its own. Until 9/11 there had been no case of a civil airliner being hijacked and deliberately crashed with the intent of killing people on the ground. Civil aircraft are monitored and controlled by civil air traffic control, not the military. There is no reason or need for the military to even know why they were there unless they were somehow violating designated military airspace or unless the civil agency had notified them and requested their assistance. Bearing this in mind, you are assuming that someone would have had to get fighters airborne within minutes of being notified and within just a few more minutes make the decision to pull the trigger on airliners full of civilians without actually knowing what was going on. Also assuming they were notified in time to even get them there. That's a big stretch IMO.

I don't think it would be unsafe to say that a majority of Americans were opposed to slavery prior to the civil war. All those slaves Canadians helped didn't make it from the slave States to the border without help from Americans. You did fight the most costly war in your history over the issue didn't you? It was a war between the US and a colonial power brought on by the stupidity of the British when it came to respecting the neutrality of the US, combined with a desire of some in the US to use the Brits preoccupation with Napoleon to absorb the whole continent. Today it has far less importance than the next Olympic hockey game between the US and Canada when it comes to anti Americanism. Certainly there have been Canadian's adversely effected by the free trade agreement but by and large, Canada has done rather well from it. It exports far more services, manufactured and high tech goods to the US than it ever has. I know of several local companies which have over 90% of their market in the US. It's true the US has made some big blunders when it comes to foreign policy but it is hard to criticize them for acting in their own interests. Every one else does, they just have more means to do it therefore it follows that their mistakes will be larger. I wonder how much peace and democracy there would be in the world it the US had never existed. Sure you can point to Central America, the Middle East and Viet Nam when comes to what was bad or misguided but you can also point to the fact the US was largely responsible for the democracy's victory WWII and footed most of the bill for rebuilding a defeated Germany and Japan after that war. You can point to the US for defending a free Western Europe during the cold war and eventually forcing an end to that war. You can also point to the fact the Republic of Korea would not exist if it hadn't been for American blood and money. At times he may be a jerk and not too bright, but in no way an asshole. Let's face it, we all fit that description at times.

This is pretty much the case. The Arrow was by far the most expensive defense project in Canadian history and would have needed a large export market to come anywhere near breaking even. It's a shame but the government of the time decided Bomarc's and F101's equipped with nukes were a more cost effective way to go when it came to defending against manned bombers, which after all, was what it was all about at the time.

Must be because those war mongering Swedes spend so much on their military. Sweden is 18th in percapita defence spending. Nice little Canada who some would so much like to be neutral like Sweden is 30th.

All these flights departed from either Newark or Boston which are fairly close to New York. You think it strange that the airforce did not react quickly enough to shoot down aircraft belonging to US airlines over US airspace when nothing remotely like this had never happened before. I would think it very strange if they had.

Are we independent or do we support multilateral efforts. Which is it? Or is it we support multilateral efforts as long as they don't involve Americans? Most of the time I have no idea what this guy is talking about. Then again, I think I do, but I don't think he does.

So the US government convinced a bunch of Saudi Arabs to commit suicide by running US airliners full of Americans into US buildings so the US can take over the Middle East. Makes sense to me.

Of course it's a good idea. We need more taxes. There is nothing that can't be solved with a tax.

No. My point is the Muslim community is making this awful result inevitable. I don't agree. I think you are saying some Muslims actions justify abandoning our principles. I don't believe that is either desirable or inevitable.

The question is whether it is in Canada's interest to make the US mad and if so how mad can you make them before it is no longer in Canada's interest. That has always been the Canadian dilemma but whether we like it or not, it is a real one. We are a sovereign nation but that doesn't mean there won't be consequences to our actions from outside our country. The US really does not have this one right. My state, New York, "decriminalized" pot back in 1977 or 1978 in exactly the same manner as the previous Liberal bill did. Bush might as well through up a barricade to keep New Yorkers apart from residents of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, Pennsylvania and New Jersey (the states with which it has a border). I generally support Bush, but for once he is wrong on this one. I'm not saying Bush is right but Canada is the mouse sleeping with an elephant and keeping that in mind is a reality Canada has always faced when trying to figure out what is in its best interest.

But Irishmen and Quebecois made it clear that these were pariah organizations. Are the Muslims doing likewise? Not all Irishmen or Quebecois condemned them and some who did probably sympathized with what they were trying to accomplish even if they disagreed with their methods. There are still lots of Irish who want a united Ireland and there are still lots of separatists. Some Muslims are condemning them but that is not the issue here. Do you think someone should be thrown off an aircraft just because they are a Muslim and another passenger objects to that fact? It seems that this is just what happened in this case, nothing more. I say that is unacceptable in our society and sets a dangerous precedent. If you think catering to the opinion of some ignorant drunk makes you safer when you get on an aircraft, you are dreaming.

The question is whether it is in Canada's interest to make the US mad and if so how mad can you make them before it is no longer in Canada's interest. That has always been the Canadian dilemma but whether we like it or not, it is a real one. We are a sovereign nation but that doesn't mean there won't be consequences to our actions from outside our country.

You're missing the point. The problem is that the "Muslim community" is doing and saying nothing about the terror emanating from within its community. So you are saying they are all guilty by association and therefore they are not entitled to the same protection under law or the same rules as the rest of us. It's kind of logic that was used to justify the Holocaust. Be very careful when you try and justify it because it can be turned against you just as quickly. That's their game and what makes us different is the fact we don't play it. It makes us vulnerable in the short term but ultimately, defending those principles is what makes us stronger. Fundamentalist Islam is basically trying to turn the clock back 1300 years. No one has succeeded yet and neither will they. I agree that Muslims should expect to be under greater scrutiny than others but that doesn't make them all guilty. If you want to play that game we are all guilty of something in which we had no personal involvement because we didn't speak up, unless of course you don't stand for anything but that would make you guilty of everything. Every Irishman was not an IRA member nor did they all support their terrorist acts. Every Quebec separatist was not an FLQ member nor did they all support their terrorist acts.

I'm just an armchair quarterback. All of us who have never had to live in fear of being attacked are armchair quarterbacks, who when it gets down to the nitty gritty, really don't know what we are talking about.

Not my line of reasoning at all. When you screw up and someone suffers for it, you apologize. My line of reasoning is no more complicated than that. Today's biggest problem with terrorism is coming from some people in the Muslim community. It makes sense that Muslims should come under more scrutiny than other religious groups but that doesn't give anyone a Carte Blanche to treat all Muslims like crap.

From what I have read it would seem that this guy is definitely owed an apology from the airline. The security people and the police have both said the airline over reacted. The idea that a bigot with a few too many drinks in him can demand someone be taken off an aircraft and the airline will back him and not apologize when they have obviously made a mistake is disturbing. What will be next, flights get closed an hour earlier and all the passengers have a session of boarding lounge "The Missing Link" to decide who doesn't get to fly? From the limited amount I've seen it seems to me the drunk should have been the one removed. The more I see of these incidents the more I think the same mentality that had Japanese North Americans stripped of their belongings and sent to internment camps during WWII, while German and Italian Canadians were left alone, is not far below the surface in our present society.

The problem is that the benefits of free trade are diffuse and small to individual homebuyers. The benefits of protection are huge to the plutocrats who feed on "welfare for the rich". Fighting our own battles (yes, I am a Yank) is harder than you realize. Thanks for your appreciation of the plight of the average American trying to make ends meet. I have sympathy for anyone who is trying to make ends meet like the people in my province who have been thrown out of work and communities that have been devastated because of lumber tariffs which have been repeatedly called unfair by NAFTA panels, but it is up to Americans to look after their own government's policies, not Canadians.

Damn right, separists should have great big bulls eyes on them, they are trying to break up the country. Why would I respect that?

The rain falls on the just and the unjust.Since July, the federal government has been mailing out cheques to families with children under 6. Should separatist families refuse to cash the cheques? What does providing services have to do with financing political parities? Any political party and particularly a so called national party. I agree with Riverwind.

People in Quebec (including separatists) pay federal taxes like anyone else. They are entitled to receive services from the federal government. Are you suggesting that separatists not use Canadian airports because the federal government funds airports? What does providing services have to do with financing political parties? I agree with Riverwind.

Need the deal? It is the smaller lumber producers who get put out of business by trade restrictions. Hunh? Are you advocating for free trade in lumber or for trade restrictions in the lumber market? Canadians lose too. For starters the smaller producers need their hunk of that 4B to satisfy their creditors, this fight has maxed them out. They don't have the money to continue it indefinitely. You say smaller producers will be put out of business by restrictions. You are talking theory, I am talking reality. Even if you are right, it is better to be bought out by someone bigger than go bankrupt. I am in favour of free trade but don't believe we are going to get it when it comes to lumber. How do Canadians lose more than they are already losing?

What a senseless thing to say considering no one is burning Arab Muslims at the stake. People have a right to be suspicious considering the evidence and track record of terrorist who just happen to be mostly ALL Arab Muslims who have been responsible for the extremely large majority of concerning acts of terrorism. You don't have the right to point at someone and have them thrown off an aircraft for no other reason than they are a Muslim and look like they may be from the Middle East. The time to screen people is before they get on the aircraft not with knee jerk reactions instigated by any nervous twit who happens to be near by and a mob who decides to follow him. I know no one is considering burning Arabs at the stake but it is the same mentality that did get people burned at the stake.

The US administration has always been able to say they can't control Congress as a reason for not coming to an agreement. Harper is playing the same game by making it subject to a confidence vote with a minority government. Make us a deal we can live with or you risk winding up with no agreement and dealing with another Liberal government. Be interesting to see how it shakes out. It is the smaller lumber producers who don't have the deep pockets to continue this fight who need the deal most, not the big guys. It killed off Doman Industries, the largest remaining family run forest company in BC a couple of years ago I have no sympathy for US home buyers. It was their government who instigated this. Let them fight their own battles.

It's ironic that if the rest of the world hadn't failed so abysmally when it came to respecting the human rights of Jews, culminating in Hitler's atrocities, there would have been no reason to give them a homeland where they would be able to protect themselves. Riverwind is right when he says that Israel has no incentive to return land when there are neighboring countries and organizations openly committed to Israel's destruction. On the contrary, there is an incentive to occupy more land to act as a buffer for when they are attacked, as they have been told they will be.

If the people you are having a particular problem with are Muslims, it makes sense to look at Muslims but reacting to the hysterics of just anyone or succumbing to a mob mentality is not the way to do it. That's how people were burned as witches.