Gowch

"Everyday occurrence?" You're joking, right? Cutie-pie-award-winning, blond girlchild is ravaged and killed in circumstances that leave little doubt that her killer is a member of her own wealthy family. Family members behave bizarrely, refusing to co-operate with authorities, hiring spin doctors and leading a media blitz during which they meet more often with Larry King than with police investigators. With the crime scene contaminated (by a family member) and the only witnesses to the crime being family members who have circled the wagons, the cops are stymied and eventually abandon the hunt, leaving the murder of a six-year-old girl unsolved, an apparent perfect crime. Everyday occurrence? I think not. -IG

How did the the U.S. compel Diefenbaker? I can not find convincing evidence that it was compulsion as opposed to just a business deal. It looks like Canadians were screwed over by their own government. I am an Americasn who thinks we should have bought the Avro. The problem may well have been that without American purchasing power the project didn't have a large enough market to justify the cost. "The Americans were kept posted on the progress of the Arrow. A brochure on the Arrow design and performance put out by Avro in 1954 has the notation, "This brochure has been specially prepared for the Canadian and United States Governments and their attendant Services."(35) Some critical testing was also carried out at American facilities. It can be safely assumed that the Americans were well aware of the success of the program. "U.S. support changed with the introduction of the SAGE - Bomarc defensive weapon system in the mid fifties. Canada's active participation was necessary for the success of this system. Considerable pressure was put on the Canadian Government and the end product of this pressure is indicated in a recently declassified memorandum from the U.S. Secretary of Defence dated June 1, 1960.(36) "'Prior to the NSC (National Security Council) paper (December 1958) and following a visit of the President to Canada in July 1958, Canada took the following actions with the understanding that her defence industry depended upon the U.S. channeling defence business into Canada: cancelled the CF 105 (the Arrow) and related systems contracts; decided to make maximum use of U.S. developed weapons, integrated into NORAD; worked with the U.S. toward a fully integrated continental defence'". [http://www.dewit.ca/archs/avro_shaw/index.html]

Can you name me one system that has produced more wealth for a greater percentage of the people? Can you show me one totalitarian system that did not greatly enrich its rulers? Can you show me one capitalist system that did not greatly enrich its rulers? The Berlin blockade? The brutal suppression of rebellions, by Soviet troops, in Hungary (1956) and Czechoslovakia (1968), and pressure on Poland (1981) to do the same? Those were, indeed, all, examples of nasty behaviour by the Soviets. But give me a break. When it comes to predatory behaviour on the world stage, unwarranted and illegal interference in the affairs of sovereign nations and military suppression (by U.S. troops or proxies) of nationalist movements in a host of countries, the United Snakes is the undisputed champion of the world. Do you REALLY want me to publish a list of the countries -- mainly in Central and South America -- that have, since the 1800s, sufffered U.S. invasion, or subversion of their democratically elected governments? You won't like it if I do. In that arena, the Soviet Union did not even come close to the U.S.'s disgraceful record. I am pro-choice to a limited extent. Mighty white of you. But there is no such thing as "limited" choice when it comes to abortion. Women are either the sovereign masters of their bodies and anything growing therein (as are men), or they're not. You, it seems, are pro-choice only when it suits you. Not good enough. Has anyone thought through the effects of SSM on rights of creditors, insurance, rent controls? What about same sex divorces? What are the rules there? There's no reason whatsoever for the "rules" governing same-sex unions to be any different than those for traditional ones. Pretending there are special difficulties with gay marriage is nothing but a backhanded, dishonest and hypocritical way of opposing it without seeming homophobic. But then dishonesty and hypocrisy ARE hallmarks of conservatism, as I said. For some yes, for many it is a choice. Absolute, unadorned bullshit. No one chooses to be homosexual. How old were you when you chose to be heterosexual? When the US put in welfare reform in 1995, the rates for abortion, premarital sex, and crime began plummeting. -Gee, do you think perhaps the fact millions of women suddenly found themselves cut off welfare, and that among them an uncounted number suddenly could no longer afford to get needed abortions and thus had to bear unwanted children, had anything to do with that (if your assertion is true in the first place, which I doubt)? -If you have any evidence that welfare "reform" lowered the rate of premarital sex, you'd better cite it, because that claim sounds like utter horse manure. -Crime has been dropping for decades, a function of demographics that has nothing whatsoever to do with welfare "reform." Welfare "reform" added millions of people to the ranks of the impoverished and acted, if anything, to boost the crime rate. Maybe this serves people's idea of justice. No doubt. But that doesn't change the fact that the death penalty does not deter murder, as falsely claimed by conservatives. Tin foil hat material Is that so? In that case, there is a growing host of experts and others wearing those beanies today, pal. Remember the video clip of those N.Y.C. firefighters discussing with each other how they heard bombs go off on various floors of the World Trade Center immediately before the buildings' collapse? Were THEY wearing tin foil hats too? Yeah right. There's absolutely zero chance that a bureaucracy accountable to no one, like the UN, will spend money on faceless, voiceless people waving their arms in misery. What are you talking about? The UN is not only accountable -- it's accountable to the entire fucking world. The so-cons sure got that one wrong. As they are wrong about everything else. -IG

What a hilariously imaginative post! The truth is that everyone who is not utterly brain-dead knows that it is conservatives whose every article of faith is either a bald-faced lie, or simply wrong. For example, conservatives believe that they are in a position to unilaterally declare what are "society's values" while, in fact, except for ultra-conservative regions in the U.S. South and Midwest and Canadian West, they are 'way out of the mainstream of North American thought. Consider the key tenets of North American conservatism: - The capitalist, free-market system is the best there is. That may be true for the greediest, most powerful and most ruthless, but it's a disaster for billions of the world's people, in the Third World and elsewhere who are, basically, left to starve, while a tiny handful of folks wallow in an excess of riches that would embarrass the gods themselves. - Soviet communism's ultimate aim was to take over the world by force. Damned lie, that. Although the Soviets certainly thought their socio-economic model would eventually supplant capitalism, there was never -- never -- one iota of evidence that Soviet leaders were plotting a military takeover of Western Europe, let alone the rest of the world. It was, in fact, the U.S. and its capitalist allies who plotted, from the moment the Bolsheviks ousted the Tsarist regime in russia, to crush the Revolution and make that country safe, once again, for exploitation. - Abortion kills babies. Another damned lie. Abortion destroys fetuses, which are not persons and thus, have no rights, and are in essence, worthless and exist only at the pleasure of their hosts. - Same-sex marriage is bad for society. The fact, of course, is, that committed relationships between people are GOOD for society, with not a shred of evidence of negative effects thereof, either economic or otherwise. - Homosexuality is a "lifestyle choice." A growing body of scientific evidence has left little doubt that homosexuality is, in fact, hard-wired, genetic and no more a lifestyle choice than hair colour. - Liberal policies "encourage out-of-wedlock pregnancies and associated juvenile delinquency and welfare dependency." Again, not a mote of evidence exists that this is anything but a vile, paranoid fantasy. - Capital punishment deters murder. A puzzling insistence, that, in the face of decades of studies that have left no doubt that the existence of the death penalty appears to *encourage* murder in those jurisdictions in which it is practised. - Islamic terrorists brought down the World Trade Centre and attacked the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. Islamic terrorists may well have been involved, but there is incontrovertible and growing evidence that the Bush administration either organized it, colluded in it or, at the very least, had foreknowledge of it and allowed it to hbappen for its own puposes. - The United Nations is ineffectual and corrupt. Conservatives hate the UN because it is the only world body where all second-tier nations have a forum in which to criticize the exploiters that are in charge. Since humans are involved, there are no doubt instances of corruption, but in the history of that body, credible charges of corruption are few and far between. For examples of real, systemic corruption, see Republican Pary, U.S. If The UN is indeed ineffectual in forestalling wars and improving the lot of the world's poorest people, it is because it was deliberately set up in a way that ensures the ability of the United Snakes and its capitalist allies to ensure that it is so. - Terry Schiavo is alive and well and simply adores being a vegetable. 'Nuff said about this for now. -IG

So do to many scientists including the likes of Einstein. Horse hockey. Einstein spoke of his sense of wonder about the universe, but he harboured no belief in the religionists' view of a living, intelligent, anthropomorphic deity. And don't even dream of citing that oft-repeated quote of his that "God does not play dice" with the universe, which was obviously metaphorical and not a statement of belief in the supernatural. Einstein was an atheist. "I cannot conceive of a God who rewards and punishes his creatures, or has a will of the type of which we are conscious in ourselves. An individual who should survive his physical death is also beyond my comprehension." -Albert Einstein "The idea of a personal God is quite alien to me and seems even naïve." -Albert Einstein "I see only with deep regret that God punishes so many of His children for their numerous stupidities, for which only He Himself can be held responsible; in my opinion, only His nonexistence could excuse Him." -Albert Einstein "I have repeatedly said that in my opinion the idea of a personal God is a childlike one." -Albert Einstein Any questions? -IG

There is no "private" when a criminal suspect shoots off his mouth in front of a police officer who is, I'll remind you, a government official. Regarding that "bitter person in the police station" who leaked the story to the media, more likely it was someone who was pissed off that the police brass, awed by Gibson's celebrity, tried to have the official record changed to protect the reputation of their rich and famous suspect. It says here that whoever the leaker is deserves a good-citizenship medal. -IG

I discount the entire premise of these statements. Canada has always had problems of one sort or another. There is simply no reason to blame the USA for our problems. The differences between our two nations stem from minor disputes in business, in political terms there is very few problems between our nations. With all due respect our economic attachment to the USA is beneficial, and could be advantageous with a little tinkering. World opinion is becoming polarized. The economic giants actually get along fine with our southern friends, it is the third world countries for the most part that are causing problems. I suggest you consider that those Third World countries "cause problems" because the United Snakes and its fellow Western "economic giants" have for years colluded to rob them of their resources, while excluding them from world markets where they might compete successfully with the USA and friends. Those Third World nations don't "cause problems" because of irrational spite, or jealousy or bloody-mindedness. They "cause problems" because they are acutely aware that their poverty isn't an unfortunate result of geography, the inferiority of their people or happenstance. They know damn well that they are being kept poor by Uncle Sam and his avaricious collaborators. If you have even the slightest doubt about the truth of this, just do a bit of research into the history of the incessant and incessantly futile world agricultural trade talks, in which the U.S., Canada and major European powers consistently bar Third World farmers from offering their products on markets on which they can't possibly compete with rivals who are heavily subsidized by their governments. If the Third World "causes problems," it is because the Third World is all too aware that it is being screwed by the First and Second Worlds. -IG

But considering his status (being a celebrity and all)...I think anyone who has the power to influence others should take the responsibility that comes along with it. It may've been just a stupid drunken comment....but a racist comment nonetheless....a racist comment that can influence others. I agree totally. Having bestowed upon one all the benefits society has to offer -- fame, wealth, pussy galore -- confers upon one a responsibility to act responsibly. I wouldn't want Gibson jailed or otherwise sanctioned legally for his latest outburst, but I think it would be just (and overdue) if people simply decided that the guy was an annoying nutbar whose movies are no longer worth producing, acting in, distributing or paying to see. Bye, Mel. Who could have suspected that in your mind, Mad Max was actually fighting the 12 tribes of Israel when he battled those desert bikers? Go figure, eh, mate? -IG

I think that to most scientists, trying to disprove evolution is much like trying to disprove the heliocentric model of the solar system. Both are considered as irrefutable to most scientists. Maybe in Alberta, but not in Ontario where I graduated high school. Actually, I never even learned about evolution in high school (though I never took OAC biology, but we didn't learn about it in gr 12 biology). Also, at least in Ontario, those biology classes are electives so you don't actually need to learn evolution to graduate high school, unless you want to become a biologist I think the solution that makes the most sense is to teach evolution in biology, but any student who wishes not to be exposed to the theory of evolution can sort of opt-out and do an alternative project instead. That might not work in provinces with standardized tests though. And teach ID or creationism in church only. That way nobody has to be exposed to any teachings that they do not want to be exposed to, but everyone has the option of learning about either. Great idea, but why stop there? Why not give special dispensation in history classes to students who maintain that the Jews actually started WWII? And should those who believe that, say, blacks are inferior to whites be forced in civics classes to learn about attempts to create racial equality? Why not permit all students who are inclined to dispute certain scientific or historical facts to "opt out" of those studies so that they don't have to suffer having their precious delusions discredited? But I have a better idea: Why not have our schools teach those things that have gained wide acceptance by the scientific and academic communities without interference from those to whom ideology or religious dogma is more important than knowledge. Those students whose religious beliefs or other prejudices are offended by reality-based education are free to drop out and pursue careers that won't challenge their preconceived notions. The world needs residential refuse collectors and servers of yummy sandwiches at McDonald's, and who gives a rat's ass what those people believe? -IG