Chuck U. Farlie

And it sounds like it might be a country of pseudo-cowboys who don't know when to use 'is' or 'are'.

You definately have a generalized view about moslem people Borg. I can't comment on middle east moslems, as I don't know any, but the south-east asian moslems (for the most part) are nothing like what you describe.

The media reports I am reading may not be entirely true, maybe a bit misleading and serving political agendas, but it sounds like the forces in Afghanistan are doing okay. Sure 30 Canadian soldiers are dead, but how many Taliban are reported to be killed? I read about hundreds every other week... not bad for a few pampered Canadians against these 'hardened mountain boys', eh Rue? The latest thing I read is that Australia is recommending that more countries take combative roles rather than just defensive roles. If this happens then Canada's burden will be decreased somewhat. I also wonder why you believe that Ghurkas are the toughest soldiers in the world? I googled them a bit, and all that I found is that the British were 'impressed' with them... thats all. I am an ex-Canadian soldier... and while I was in a position to make comments on our capabilities at one time - which still would have been incorrect as I was only a private and not privy to many different aspects of the forces, I cannot comment on any other nation's capabilities or who is tough and who isn't... I wonder where you get your information that you are capable of deciding which armed forces are capable and which aren't?

WOW you're my hero fellowtraveller.... can I kiss your feet or something?

Another issue is the wide variety of hardware that is available. I am sure, Charles, especially when you first started with Linux you were extremely frustrated in trying to get all of your peripherals to work. Linux, up until very recently, wasn't plug and play what-so-ever. How can you expect any piece of software to cover any potential operating scenerio out there? Anyway... I am heading the wrong way here. I originally posted this because I am AGAINST how things are going with digital media. I think that these companies should do less to alienate customers (i.e. differing media management methods, hardware locks, etc), and should think of better ways of still making profit while distributing this media. Case in point... I have an ASUS laptop - and to me the purpose of a laptop is to have a computer while travelling. However, if I play any 5 DVDs of one specific region (North America being region 1, I believe), then my laptop becomes locked to being able to play only DVDs from region 1. What the hell is the point of this? I should be able to play any damn DVD I want anywhere in the world... that is the purpose of having a portable computer! Its ironic that if I only play bootleg DVDs in my laptop, which have been 'fixed', then I don't have to worry about my count going up - so why would I bother to buy a legit DVD when it will only limit my system's capabilities? Accepting that you are a theif is your moral (or legal) acceptance or not. I am a theif, and I am not ashamed of it. http://www.weblogimages.com/v.p?uid=gonzo&...;sid=pJT58NZat2

It should be the best person for the job... If Mrs. Roy can finally bring a cup to Toronto, I'm all for it!

All right Charles... lets look at it like this: If you get an illegal copy of windows XP, could you be charged with a crime? If so, what do you think they'd charge you with? Piracy? Theft under $5000? It really doesn't matter what you believe constitutes being a theif, but what constitutes being a theif in whatever country you happen to be in can matter (if you get caught).

No. The reason is very simple: you can only steal something that is physical. It really is as simple as that. I don't agree. You can hack someone's bank account and wire the money to your account. You are stealing and what you stole is not physical - at least not until you pull it out of the ATM. You can walk out back and hook up your cable TV connection. What you are stealing is a stream of electrons. You can commit 'theft of services'... you could sneak on the back door of a bus without the driver seeing you. Theft is taking another person's property without consent. Property is (from Wikipedia): So... just because its intangible or abstract does not mean its not property, and therefore, can be stolen, and if you steal it, you're a thief.

Every once in awhile we hear about 'the movie industry has lost $XX billions due to piracy', blah blah blah... Technology companies are continually trying to think of ways of stoping this piracy... through hardware and software means. I admit... I have used pirated music, dvds, and software. I have lived in Asia - its actually harder to get the real version there than the black-market variety. How many of you are pirates? I would presume that a lot of people have valid Windows that came with their system at purchase, but how much of your other software has been copied or downloaded and hacked? I think these industries have a few issues to clear up if they want to combat piracy: 1. Pricing: Throughout South-East Asia the non-pirated versions of music CDs, Dvds, and software are all roughly the same (or more) than here. Yet, in Jakarta for example, the minimum wage is roughly $65USD a month. An office worker typically makes $100 to $150USD a month. A lot of these people do manage to save up $300 to get a computer system, but how are they going to afford $15 for a music CD, $25 for a DVD, and $150 to $500 for software?! You go to almost any mall in Jakarta and you can buy a DVD of the latest movie for $0.60, and Microsoft Office Professional for $1. 2. Their Estimates: Like the estimate listed above, $XX billion has been lost to piracy, but how do they calculate this? 95% of SE Asians with pirated music, movies, or software would not be paying customers if piracy was wiped out. I suspect that the majority of westerners would also not be paying customers -- there is no way I would shell out $300+ for Microsoft Office. I would rather do without. I know they are trying to curtail this loss by implementing digital media management. I think, however, that no matter what they use to block the distribution, someone will figure out how to beat it. Musicians, for example, will have to realize that their income needs to come from live shows - not record sales (when was the last time you bought a CD? I haven't bought one in 3 or 4 years!). What are your thoughts? Do you consider yourself a thief? Should these handful of rich guys producing this crap be getting your hard-earned cash?

Possibly... I can't remember. There are 2 or 3 catholics set to be executed... but they are accused of starting some christian/moslem battle in Sulawesi. There may have been something about some westerners being arrested and deported for trying to convert children.... I'm not too sure, but I do know a lot of people convert on their own accord.

In Indonesia there are a large amount that are getting a bit stricter and certain municipalities adopting aspects of sharia law. Most of this is the result of all the disastors that have happened during the past 2 years - they are starting to ask themselves how they have angered God, and consequently have become more religious. Overall, Indonesians still practice a very lenient form of Islam. The vast majority are moderate with only a handful being of the extreme sort, and probably even more that don't even bother to pray 5x a day, don't bother to fast during rhamadhan, etc.. Malaysia, similar to Indonesia, may have produced a couple of militants lately, but it would be very difficult, in my opinion to elevate Islam to a much stricter degree there. Only about 60% of Malaysia's population is Moslem, as they have a large Chinese population that are Christian and Buddhist, and a large Indian population that are Hindi and Buddhist. At the end of the day, the majority of Indonesians (also known as pribumi or original person), and the original Malaysians (orang asli - original man) are very similar to the people of Thailand, Vietnam, Phillipines, etc. in that they all have in them strong beliefs in and are somewhat animistic. They are very superstitious and believe strongly in the supernatural. Like most South East Asians, they smile a lot, are very kind to strangers, family is of utmost importance, and they are extremely generous. Riddled throughout their cultures are traditions and beliefs that are far older than their religious ties to Islam. The last year and a half that I spent in Indonesia, which ended in May of this year, there were reports of Christianity growing at alarming rates throughout Indonesia. In the past 5 years I have heard from journalists that Islam has declined from about 90% in the 90's to 86% in the 2000 census, and is still declining. That might not sound like much... but 4% of a population of 222 million is quite significant. The one thing I noticed, however, is that a vast majority of the Christians that I ran into were the Evangelistic sort... the very lively and musical services where really drawing them in. Thats my two cents.

While I am not supporting the title of this thread, nor the original poster, I did want to share a bit of an anecdote that for makes me shy away from marriage or a common-law relationship in this country: My brother was married to a woman and had two kids together. Her income was not very much, so consequently he paid the deposit and made 100% of the mortgage payments on the house that they lived in. About 1 year ago, she was found out to be cheating on bro. Shortly after that she kicked him out of the house. She was not in the financial position to take over the mortgage, so the house was sold and any profit over and above what was left on the mortgage was split 50/50 even though he is the one who paid it all. She then bought a house with the man who she was having an affair with, and she gained custody of the kids. Now she has a new house, a new man, a two income salary plus the $600 a month she gets from bro (probably goes towards paying the new mortgage). Now lets look what brother gets: He is kicked out of his home, and kicked out of his family. He makes a whole $30k a year, minus $6k + for tax, minus $7200 for child support. His left-over of $17k a year only allows him to live in a boarding house, as rent where he lives can be quite high, and at the end of the day all he was trying to do was be a husband and father. Meanwhile, her life is probably far from perfect, but she has her own house, a new man, both the kids, and two incomes (plus some) to live on. I don't know what the solution is, but when I hear about situations like this it definately makes me reconsider any notions of getting married or even in a common-law situation. I realize that the kids need to be looked after, and that takes money, but who is being wronged in the above situation?

There isn't much about Islam, particularly the Saudi brand, which I find funny, August. I'll never set foot in a Muslim country Don't rule out all moslem places based on the strict ones in the middle east. I lived 3.5 years in Indonesia, and spent about 2 months in Malaysia, and both are very easy to live in for both men and women - and especially for foreign men and women. But then again, the Islam practiced in South East Asia is a very relaxed form of Islam (in most cases - not the terrorist schools in central Java), and the tolerant South-East Asian mindset seems to take precedence over whatever religion they are practicing.

Perhaps the Lebonese civillians shouldn't have allowed Hezbollah soldiers to use them as shields and to draw the fire into their homes. The Hezbollah don't operate as a regular army. They don't have bases and barracks. Any of those 'civillian' houses in 'civillian' areas could be doubling as a Hezbollah barracks / weapon bunkers / intelligence headquaters, etc.. When you are engaged in a war, you have to fight your enemy.

Thats not the point I was trying to make. I personally don't care what the Pope said in context or not. I just find it ironic that a lot of Moslems, and not just the extremists either, are taking what they THINK the Pope said, and are reacting exactly the way that they THINK the Pope said it. Shouldn't they be reacting in the opposite manner just to prove him wrong?

He did say the above quote. Maybe I was a bit off with "live by the sword", but he did quote some emperor as spreading their faith by the sword, and then some extremists come off saying that Rome will be defeated - which basically proves the point.

Yep... the Pope says that Moslems "live by the sword", and how do Moslems react? With the sword. Kind of proves his point.

How is it that Yam does not get banned for trolling after messages like this? Where are you moderator, are you blind?

Charles, I am not trying to sound like a nit-picky jerk, but can you explain how more than 50% of your income goes to taxes? I looked at the revenue Canada tax rates: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tax/individuals/faq/taxrates-e.html , and the highest I could come up with was if you were living in Newfoundland and you made more than $118k a year, then it seems like you would be paying 47% income tax, but not all of your income would be taxed at the same rate as there are different levels of taxation at different levels of income. I suppose you could include the taxes on your purchases, and that could effectively increase the amount of taxes you pay to be more than 50% of your income, but thats all dependant on how much you spend, not how much you earn.

Well... I'm convinced, how about everyone else? Tsi, Okwahu, Yam, and possibly a couple others are complete idiots that don't even bother to read what we write. Its completely pointless to argue with these lead-heads. Fortunately, most of the natives I have ever met have not been like these guys. I still remember my first time on a reserve. A fella picked me up while I was hitch-hiking from the Sault to Thunder Bay. We stopped in-between on the shore of Lake Superior at his reserve. The place was a shit-hole - nothing but run down trailers, torn apart cars on cinder blocks, and the OPP that passed by was also native (Oh yeah, and I did not have to show my passport to get in . Despite being one damn scared 17-year-old at the time, this fella's Mom made me a BLT sandwich, and me and his 8 brothers sat around having beer and shooting the breeze. They were nothing like Tsi and Okwahu - they didn't have a chip on their shoulders. The ironic thing is that I had absolutely no negative feelings towards natives what-so-ever... that is until these pig-headed arguments showed up on this forum. You are doing wonders for representing your people guys. I'm finished here.

I think this shows that you have never travelled. A Visa is required just to visit very many countries - not merely for residency. That list showed both the countries that required a visitor's visa and those that don't. A visa is very much related to a passport, moron, one is dependant on the other. You can't even think of applying for a visa or being visa free without a passport from a country on their list. I needed a visa when I visited the Chech repubic years ago, and I didn't establish residency there. Since your 'nation' wasn't listed in either, then from that we can presume that the Dutch do not consider your sovereign nation a nation.... Tsi... take a poll of the 200+ countries in the world... ask them which one they think is a sovereign country, Canada, or the Six Nations. I think I can tell you overwhelmingly what the response is going to be. Now I can hear your response already.... you will say that their opinions don't matter.... well the concepts of sovereignty, nationhood, etc, are all human inventions. If 99% of the humans on this planet consider Canada a sovereign nation, and .001% consider the Six Nations a sovereriegn nation, then guess which one I am sticking with?????

Thanks Riverwind... I think that link says it all about the validity of this so-called passport. I found this interesting link concerning Indian soveriengty.... its focus is in the USA, but there are a lot of parallels: http://www.frontiernet.net/~mmulford/indsov.htm "The Myth of Indigenous Americans' Sovereignty"

In the picture of the Haudenosaunee passport, the photo caption says: "Reflecting their claim to soveriegnty, many Iroquios carry passports issued by the Six Nations Reserve in Canada. The passports, bearing instructions in French, English, and Iroquois, are recognized by 36-nations around the world, not including the United States." I find it interesting that it states that they are issued by the Six Nations Reserve in Canada. I also now see where Okwahu et al got their '36 nations accept it" quote.... however, just because it's in a caption in this book does not mean that it is fact. I personally will call one or two of the country's embassies on your list, but so far I have found no verifiable proof that your passports are accepted anywhere - except for this page from some book, which can hardly be taken as fact.

I couldn't call the Dutch Embassy in time today, as I was working.... which makes me wonder what Tsi and Okwahu do for a job, since they always seem to be posting... maybe they work for Ontario Works???? Anyway... I went to The Netherlands Embassy website as it was one of the countries on your list that accepts your passport. Under the Visa section I found this list: http://www.mfa.nl/ott/visas_and_consular/v...n_you_require_a Dutch Visas So, I will have to verify with a phone call, but its not looking good. I don't seem to see Haudenosaunee, Six Nations, Native North Americans, or anything similiar in their list of nations that either need visas or don't need visas.... hmmmmm???? If I have some time tomorrow I will call the embassy, and I have no reason to lie about what I find out Okwahu.

I wonder how to pronounce 'Haudenosaunee'? I think I might call a few of those embassies that Okwahu claimed would accept these passports and see what they say. I doubt they will know what I am talking about.