bleeding heart

I wasn't really arguing the case. I only thought the relative imports from the US vs others wasn't necessarily quite accurate.

Well, not exactly. What percentage of the goods imported from the United States are manufactured, grown, or made in other countries? that is, how much are we buying from US the builder, and how much from US the distributor? Because every bit that falls into the latter category is effectively "from elsewhere," and complicates your response somewhat. {edit: whoops, I see MG already made this point.)

This is an ongoing reiteration of official US policy. Almost every administration at least once criticizes the settlements. Clinton: George H.W. Bush: Ronald Reagan: Jimmy Carter:

Yeah, another point I made which to my knowledge has remained unaddressed. We simply can't predict with real accuracy the financial effects of such a massive merger....not to mention that the panaceas of low taxes and low consumer prices (which are not totally without issue in and of themselves, just by the way!), aren't irrefutably going to be the status quo in the future United States of AmeriCanada anyway. I should think that a....well, conservative...approach would be extreme caution.

That's just it. The "focus on the criminals" idea seems to some people a diversion, when actually it is the crucial point. With some small effort, I think we could look at stats of criminals and criminal behavior, and determine whether normally law-abiding Canadians are becoming more likely to kill people based on barrel length, or weapons action. I think the results would show something somewhere between negligible and non-existent.

That's just it. The tendency to romanticize past leaders is a compelling one.

So far, money is the one and single only reason on offer. And not even all that much money....simply moving from comfortable to comfortable, because of cheaper cars and oranges. At any rate, I see you've gone from warming up to the idea all the way to fully embracing it. Which is cool...except that, were it to occur, it would take a very long time, and you and I will probably be gone.

I more or less take the threats to kill as a man so monumentally angry and drug-fuelled he is, well, venting. Sure I could be wrong, but I have my doubts that the "killing" stuff really meant anything.

..............

I think any well-known public figure would receive this sort of attention, given the sheer craziness of the antics. Incidentally, watching Mayor Ford stutter helplessly, obviously without (or without using) prepared remarks, was something I found quite unpleasant. He seemed lost, despairing. Now I'm feeling sorry for the guy. I guess I have no stomach for genuine humiliation.

Sure. But I'm only wondering if and why those who denounce Republicans--or perish the thought, both parties--are anti-American, while those concentrating their ire on the Democrats are not. It's not an issue for me; I'm curious is all.

Oh, I know August. I was only taking the micky. As you say, the internet & co. I doubt this is really true. Now this could well be the case.

Oh yes, I know. See what Kimmy said.

You should ask Lockheed-Martin how they manage it.

Too good. The "juvenile antics" began with a poster observing that his "spankings" resulted from his under-appreciated qualities.

Nope. You were the subject of your post, and so the various Voltaire-like attributes you name are, grammatically, to be applied to the subject. It is arguably implicit that you were applying to all members; and inarguably explicit that you were referring to your own superior qualities of wit and so on...which evidently fly over the heads of the inferior moderators, a point also implied.

But this criticism only holds water if we go back in time, and say that we have only their word that the video exists. We now know they were correct, and were simply telling the truth.

Or maybe are not quite as strong or sharp as the interlocutor believes them to be.

He remarked that when he was poor, such remarks were met with "You're bitter and envious." Now, he's a "hypocrite." In other words, criticism itself is illegitimate.

The Blame-the-media game seems a little off-kilter at this point. Rob Ford is responsible for this mess.

I always suspected that most self-described "patriots" had a rather...promiscuous view of to whom they would doff their caps.

?? I was asking specifically for a list of jobs-creating industry infrastructure was has been stopped specifically because of "enviros." Since the matter is so obvious, it should be easy to produce a whole bunch of them.

Where is the list of jobs-creating, vital industry infrastructure that has been stymied by "enviros," anyway?

Even if I liked this idea (and I don't) I don't agree that it is the way things work. If you look at sea changes in social/cultural perspectives, it seems to me that the Government tends to play catch-up, at best. For example, the smoking bans wouldn't have worked too well if they'd occurred much earlier (in my opinion). Popular sentiment against smoking had to come first...the government followed along. And in terms of democratically-minded societies, a powerful argument can be made that this is as it should be.

Oh, sure, I agree.