Higgly

Blame anybody who puts business above human rights. I knew you'd understand.

Thanks. I knew you'd understand.

There is a scene I remember from the Sopranos. The gang has just put way a big feast at a restaurant. For gang hierarchy reasons, one of the members gets stuck with the bill, which is over a thousand dollars. He doesn't like being stuck with the bill and he leaves a $27 tip. The waiter comes after them out in the parking lot. "Was there something wrong with the service?", he asks. "I have kids in college." He scowls and turns to walk away from them. One of the Soprano gang picks up a rock and hurls it at the waiter. Hits him in the skull from behind. The guy goes down and is lying on the ground shaking. Clearly there is serious brain damage. One of the Sopranos looks around to see if anyone is watching, pulls out his gun, and executes the guy at point blank range. Is this the kind of business you were referring to? There is an expression you hear a lot on this show. "It's just business." And this show has won many awards. Is that the business you are thinking about in Burma? \Nothing personal. Just business?

Do we want a forum where people can debate the social currents at work in the world, or do we want a forum where certain cultures are evil? Do we want a forum where people can debate the issues at work in any given society, and discuss those issues intelligently, or do we want a forum where anyybody who says bad things about one side or the other is a racist or an asshole? Do we want a forum that is informed and aware, or do we want a forum that is driven by ideology? Equiring minds want to know.

My point is that you need to shit or get off the pot. You have your own forum? Good for you. Go to it. Don't go away mad, ScottSA. Just go away.

Don't you have your own forum? What exactly is your message to those of us who devote all of our political discussion time to this forum? Can you put it in a post and let us bat it around for awhile?

There are a lot of heads who would rather toke up than drink. Well OK, they can appreciate a good wine. You seem to have never been a part of the pot culture - university educated 1965 to... Not trying to deprecate you, but you are out of touch with the mainstream. There are a lot of people out there who enjoy marijuana. The polls will tell you that a majority of Canadians think this is a red herring.

Yes they do. And that's because it is regulated. Drive under the influence. "Ca-ching" goes the insurance bill. "SHRED" goes the drivers licence. And so it should be.

This discussion is about whether the law is just or not. Sayng that people got in trouble because they broke the law is irrelevant. Nothing personal.

Sure they did. That is part of their reporting on the market. Nothing personal. Just business. But watch that stock price. Mwa hah ha....

Good point. I guess this is how they get the money to pay for those hydro projects. Hmmm.... Talisman Energy has had a multi-year discount on its stock price because it once had production in Sudan. There is nothing that hits company execs like a sell-off in the company stock because so much of their compensation is in company stock. Hmmm... Mwhaa ha ha...

As an afterthought, I think the Globe and Mail deserves great credit for the attention it has been paying to the situation in Burma. This is a democracy - shit or get off the pot situation; the Post has more or less ignored it and the Star has only given it lip service. I do not undertsand why we can't have a media forum here. The media control what the public sees and it is critical to politics. What am I missing?

Geoffrey York has a very good article in the Globe and Mail (Saturday, Oct 6) about the people pulling the strings behind the Burma situation. He is saying that Burma is getting support from India, China, and Thailand. Nature abhors a vacuum, any physicist will tell you; into the vacuum created by the western sanctions against Burma, these guys have stepped in. So here we have 3 countries that are making megabucks out of the Western economy and they do not respect democracy. Hmmm.... He says that China has won several hydro electic mega-projects in Burma. So how is Burma paying China? Enquiring minds want to know. There has been a lot of press about poppy production in Afghanistan. Funny nobody ever mentions the Golden Triangle, huh?

Wow August1991. What great thread. I can't say that I think women or men are more less one way or another, but I do agree that there is a tension in society between compliance and entrepreneurship. People who lean towards compliance will be exclusionary. People who lean towards entrepreneurship will be inclusionary, but only as far as it will produce some gain for them. And then there is the third way... mwha ha ha... In terms of all this stuff about calling 911 versus vigilante justice.... I'm on the side of 911, but only if it's securely tethered to a well-functioning justice system. No way do I want to see the fate of the accused abandonned to the hands of the police. That is a police state and the police by definition are not the arbitrors of justice. They are the accusers. I would no sooner see justice in the hands of the police than I would see it in the hands of the criminals. And no I am not drawing some sort of moral equivalency between the police and the criminals, thank you very much. Vigilante justice is a society of sociopaths. No thanks.

Genetic mutation is responsible for evolution. It's why every living thing is no longer a single celled creature. Natural selection decides who gets to stick around. An interesting article, but only in a scientific sense, IMHO.

Execution of convicted criminals is a dumb idea. The legal system is not perfect. Look at Steven Truscott and the many others who have been found innocent in the past 10 years. What are we up to now... 8? Good grief. How can anybody even entertain the idea of state executions? It's sick.

There are people whose financial life is in ruins because they are "addicted" to shopping. These people are not addicted, they are habituated. Physical addiction is something different and has a neurochemical etiology. I agree with you about coke, crack or heroin, but pot is not the same thing at all.

Personally, I believe it's time to learn the correct use of the apostrophe and the difference between a body of water and an element of geometry.

I'm not sure I'd agree that Steve has engineered this. How could he count on Liberal incompetence? Dion was the worst possible choice for leader - a member of the Chretien cabinet. How bad can it get? They would have been much better off going with "Beaker" if only he'd have wanted the job. Oh, wait. Ignatieff. Here's a guy who hasn't even lived inside the country for the latter half of his life. Approves of torture under "necessary circumstances" (notice how we haven't heard from him with the latest flap over the Bush administration's use of... wait for it... stressful interrogation. O man. You gotta love it. Bush probably got someone from Blackwater to come up with that one. They should have gone with Rae. Say what you like, but the guy knows where the buttons and levers are and I believe he understands Canadians better than Steve does.

Here is the Wikipedia article on ASEAN. Burma (Myanmar) joined in the late 1990s. It enjoys great trade benefits from its membership. If China starts shaking the ground under Burma, these guys will follow like barking dogs. They are afraid of China because it is the 900 pound gorilla in the room. I believe that this provides them with an opportunity to make China sit up and take notice. This is a tipping point for East Asia. The Olympics. The Burma situation. This might get interesting. GostHacked has it right. When the monks start getting upset, the fat lady is starting to sing. Maybe this time it won't just go away.

If he didn't have kids, I'd wonder if he's ever tried sex.

Good idea. Why don't we call it Civics and Social Science?

Marijuana is less harmful than alcohol by virtue of the fact that it is not physically addictive. Marijuana is classified as a narcotic by politicians. Medical science does not call it a narcotic, but classifies it as an inebriant. When the Chretien Liberals brought forward their decriminalization bill, the RCMP and the Association of Chiefs of Police were on side. I watched the hearings on CPAC and the RCMP guy testifying said so. Only the Police unions and Steve were against it. Steve of course was worried about what the neighbours would think. Silly Steve.

Ha ha. Good one, Dancer.

Well first of all, there is always democracy. And capitalism. I mean capitalism with shareholder rights, informed consumers, and watchful governments. In other words, democratic capitalism. A system you can be taught and that can be made to conform to its own rules. And if you are getting mystical, how about physics, its mother mathematics and its children, chemistry and biology? A system that can tell us what we in turn must conform to. If God were to speak to us all directly, that would be great. But when you have a bunch of yokels in robes, well, that's where I'm sort of losing focus... If there is a God, then God has given us everything we need and it is up to us. God has moved on to other things and we need to wish God the very best of luck.