Michael Hardner

Good for you. I have posted about McGuinty's absolutely shitty record on these things. Go back to the campaign that made him premier and get some of his promises from then. Incredibly, the people of Ontario don't hold him to any of these promises. It's not rocket science - it's a simple problem of managing basic services, and yet ER waiting lists don't show much improvement. ( That is, when the Ontario government blesses us with morsels of information. ) All Ontarians should be angry with this, not just Conservatives. I protested against Harris, but at least he did something. McGuinty is not any better, it's just the other side of the coin to slash and burn management. Can we have some intelligence for once ? Again, good for you for writing this Argus.

Not to mention the fact that we can now have transparency into any financial or government dealing if we want to. When the nature of information changes, the nature of the markets will change too. As such, all bets are off: libertarianism and Marxism may be reconsidered, it's true, but they would have to modified somehow to take into account the new information infrastructure. What if all government financial dealings were completely public ? What would happen ? Something new will evolve from these changes.

We don't own our labour, it's owned by those who employ us, or those whom we sell our services or produced goods, but ok. The next step is where you draw a direct line between the Kool Aid stand on the corner and the international consortium that is manipulating the market on some precious commodity or other. Morality is constantly being read into rights, whether that is right or wrong. It was also so. Philosophical purity is intensely interesting for intellectuals (alliteration !) but should stay on campus where it belongs. Maybe the idea that a corporation and the Kool Aid stand operator are the same entity and entitled to the same rights is a value too ? I'm hardly alone in having "values" and you're making it sound like the measles. Go down to the US, which is the purest realization of a laissez-faire capitalist society in the west, by the way, and tell me that morality doesn't play into that system. Defining a "disaster" is another example of invoking one's values. Some would say an authoritarian society where one is safe and provided for is superior to, say, a society where one can realize great potential but is more likely to end up in ruin. So, you have the same values as I do but you put the baseline somewhere else, I expect. I get the feeling we're repeating ourselves here. Your position is clear to me, but I don't agree with it. The monarchies that we built our society from had an idea of 'noblesse oblige' and we improved on that by having the commons provide for the common welfare. As society grew richer, and specialization continued the welfare state appeared. I'm interested in what comes next, but it won't be a simple turn back of the clock or a tax cut.

Now watch as CTV discovers there is a town called "To-Ron-To" where they will be celebrating in a videogenic fashion.

The US team played well, and best of all it was a classy and well-refereed game end-to-end.

Bank balances, too, can be interesting. Let's continue...

Point taken - your comments on balance, at large, are appreciated but I question the pot-shots at 'balance' in general.

You're posting to yourself, Oleg. Need I say more ? Again, I follow your posts more closely than Peter Mansbridge, so don't take offense.

That's fine, but I don't turn on the Mexican wrestling channel for the latest financial news either. I appreciate your being off-kilter as long as you keep your kilt on. You may know what balance is, but is that really part of the personal brand that is "Oleg" ? I would rather read your pronouncements on theatre, cinema and the like than your proclamations on the balance of others.

I know you like to be a bit of a gadfly here, but you're inviting ridicule if you criticize the balance of others on the board, don't you think ?

There's more to a human personality than politics. In fact, politics are hardly ever mentioned in many friendships. My parents retired in Florida and their social group is exclusively folks from the Northern States - no politics. Similarly, my US friends (mostly Californians) and I don't discuss politics. I don't know what they are, but we get along great - same sense of humour, same neuroses. They own guns, though... I know that.

If he accepts warming, he's at least shown himself to be open to listening, and reviewing the data. As such, I also have been open to reviewing the criticisms of the climate scientists. Everybody needs to listen more, since the truth isn't yet fully known, and lies somewhere between the extremes. That is a constant.

This research news article from NASA says: Also, no one should overstate the significance of these corrections and attractions, which happen constantly. Professor Lindzen's temperature readings were off because of satellite data that were wrong in the other direction - temperatures were warmer than recorded. No one would seriously raise charges of cover-up etc., not that you have done that here Shady.

But if they find that there has been warming, will you be satisfied ? I think it's a good idea that they have done this, to regain the faith of the public but I'm not convinced that the commentators will be fair about the results. This will be a 3 year project, as noted, and who knows where the debate will be in 3 years' time.

Have you ever argued with anybody on this board ? I mean, have you intended to ? Your posts seem more often to frame or comment on others.

What good music is that ? The Band ? I like them.

No, Oleg has some years behind him and is also an old soul. His take on things reminds me of a famous poster known as Billybob9, but with a theatrical tint.

Did you feel that way in 1969 ?

Bugs, leaving aside these other issues you brought up - don't you think that statement is extreme ?

I suspect that that is a misspelling of my name ? I used to have that nickname on another board.

I don't think the countries are so much different, as I have said. For that reason, I'm out... i.e. I'm not Canada.

Why "used to say" ?

I am, it is true.

I thought about the snipped that Shady has cut from the full quote, and concluded that Shady's quote represents general example of the real problem - the disconnect between science and the world at large. It's always one of three problems isn't it: communication, communication or communication. Auguste, I don't think you read the whole piece though. Jones himself doesn't think it's settled. This assertion is further evidence of intellectual honesty. The "it's settled" quote, I believe came from hog-caller Al Gore. Here's what Jones said:

They trust the ones I refer to as hog-callers, which is the dumbest thing I can think of. These are the commentators such as Glenn Beck, Al Gore, and Rush Limbaugh that misquote, shade the truth and generally use deception. Beck particularly irks me, because he is the most popular one (I think) and he has admitted that he believes in Global Warming, despite devoting major airtime on his show to the opposite viewpoint. See my other thread on that.