bleeding heart

Ah. After Shady's remark, I knew that this had been cribbed from somewhere.

You're simply not thinking your own argument through. First of all, female contraception sometimes is used, directly and unequivocally, to help with medical problems. That you are unaware of this is 100% your own fault (given the philosophy of "personal responsibility"). Second, Viagra is often (perhaps mostly) prescribed not because of genuine Erectile Dysfunction, but rather because, for fifty year old men ( a crucial Republican bloc, hence the conplete silence on the contradiction), it's simply a matter of things not working quite as quickly as they used to. Which is not a "medical condition"; it is, as you say, "the biological realities of life."

That's probably wise. Yeah, I was being facetious, and I agree with you. Limbaugh is an effect, not a cause.

But you said it's crossing a line, which I thought implied some sort of moral position, a "don't criticize my country, you" way of thinking. Which, incidentally, part of me gets, in a sense, though I consider patriotic reflexivity to be, at bottom, a weakness. Not patriotism itself, which is at best good, and at worst, trivial. But the "don't badmouth my country" theme is another matter.

I don't know just what they're thinking. It's a bit surreal. Maybe it's just that the controversy erupted with Mr. Limbaugh, and they take their "dittohead" responsibilities too seriously.

You could well be right, but I think the spirit of AW's and my argument is correct, even if in letter it's too flawed by shorthand and brevity. The real point--the central point--is that there are no doubt pedophiles--lots of them--who did not decide to be pedophiles, who would prefer not to be, and who have never and would never act on their desires. I'm not denying the massive complexity of nurture/nature in matters of sexuality; there are a lot of factors at play, no question. I'm only saying that the complexity doesn't in any way undermine AW's argument, which I think is solid.

Sssh. Men talking.

"It's turtles all the way down!" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtles_all_the_way_down

Well, sure...he's male. The distinction matters.

I have, for better or worse, been subject to an awful lot of essays, articles, and academic papers which build on the philosophies and ideas of earlier thinkers. It is rare for the adulation to be so evident. Because, while the humanities (certainly the "dismal science") by no stretch employ the same rigorous methodologies as the hard sciences, there is nonetheless, thankfully, a philosophical culture that makes an iamportant nod towards attempts at objectivity. The "great man" theory does not help in this endeavour. We have never seen any "ism" work. Hence the near-univerally agreed upon compromises of mixed economies. But again, it seems a bit promiscuous to too literally compare the Residential School fiasco (no doubt supported by the "voluntary co-operation" of the public at large...it's not as if European-heritage Canadians were screaming at the Government to Please Stop) to the contemporary public school system.

Right. So if I "ask" whether same sex marriage is ruining Canada, for example, it's an innocent question, with no hint of agenda or opinion at its genesis.

I don't think you meant "low risk people," but at any rate this is crazy talk. "Intimidate the banks"! Please, the banks' little wee-wees have never been as hard as they've been in such a foolish (albeit temporarily profitable) era of practices.

If you bothered to do a simple wiki search of New Brunswick Premiers, you would already know that your thesis is incorrect. This province votes Conservative regularly, and always has.

Westguy doesn't represent mainstream Alberta opinion. He's part of the fringe, American-wannabe minority. Alberta will never separate from Canada.

It's true that this sort of thing is a very real issue in democratic politics generally.... But here in the Maritimes, we repeatedly vote for the same parties as people do in most of Canada. The Conservatives and Liberals, mostly. And a few "traditional voting" ridings aside (a silliness that every province endures), we tend to switch back and forth regularly between these two giants. (With the very rare exception of an NDP government.) So I agree with your premise to a degree, but I'm not sure how our voting patterns are distinct from the rest of the country. Very well said, WB. And yes, often sheer practicality dictates a move, most obviously to a fine and beautiful place called "Alberta." But people, for good or ill, often tend to feel visceral connections to the regions in which they've spent their lives.

Not at all. I'm waiting for your declaration that Great Britain is no longer a civilized country...or is at least open to the notion of abandoning civilization. And according to one British Embassy official, the tentative plan was made at the behest of the United States...so there's two alleged Bastions of Freedom declaring a war on civlized behaviour!

Ah...so you no longer hold to all your "facts" (not speculations, but declarative sentences) about climate scientists? Look at the rather oversized, industry-proselytized mote in thine own eye, first. No, not heretics. That suggests a certain amount of rebellious legitimacy. They're clowns.

That's because, as you well know, jacee was joking, unlike the shivering little mouthbreathers to whom she is alluding; and, as you also know full well, the word "slut" only truly applies to women, especially as a negative.

How close to the line has Great Britain come, by theatening to storm the Equadorian Embassy?

I wholeheartedly disagree. And maybe you'd get none. But that doesn't mean you'd have done anything wrong.

Please. They can't begin to match the sheer, childish lunacy of the denier camp.

Really good point. I could argue that Conservatives need to re-evaluate their stance and methods...using the mid-century Fascists as my example. Not quite fair to take the most extreme case imaginable as the template.

No. Only that sexual proclivity may well be innate. Perhaps it's more complicated, but she wasn't writing her Doctoral thesis, and her point is likely broadly true.

Now I know you're not serious. rue vs bud on the nastiness scale? Not a contest.

Like I said, the very fact that, during the Iraq War, US officials expressed outrage at the "foreign interference" of Iran in Iraq is telling...and jaw-dropping, were we able to be surprised anymore.