Higgly

I am wondering why it is that we put intelligence above all other genetic traits. The genetic pool is deeper and more complex than we know. Natural selection is more unpredictable than our best guess at the future. I do not understand how anybody can see Africa as anything but an integral part of the human race.

A strange choice. Tweedledum v. Tweedledee.

An obstructionist for hire. I watch the political game a lot and I have yet to see him say anything intelligible about climate change. I'd like to see him interviewed on the technicalities by David Suzuki.

Israel has consistently bypassed direct discussions with its neigbours and with the Palestinians and negotiated over their heads with the the US, with the UK, and with () France. This is why the Middle East is in such a big mess.

I did. I couldn't find a single thing that qualifies him for his present position. What am I missing?

What educational qualifications does John Baird hold? Does anybody know?

What beneficence? The US has been a fickle contributor at best. The US has consistently cut off funding to agencies it disagrees with, starting with the ILO, and working itself up to paying all of its UN dues. The US sees this whole thing like a shareholder sees stock. If you buy 51% of the stock, you call the tune. Problem is that the US does not hold 51% of UN stock and never has.

Hmmm....

Looks like you're gonna need an ambassador for this one.

Mild, isn't it?

Maybe he's saying they're pharmacologists. Has he ever tried driving Indian highways? It's a big fish/little fish world over there and the big fish are all taking uppers.

Norval Morrisseau, the Ojibwa artist who put Canadian aboriginal art on the map, has died at 75. The recognition of Selwyn Dewdney was critical in bringing Morrisseau's art to the attention of the world. Norval Morrisseau lead a very difficult life and has contributed greatly to Canadian culture and world recognition of an entirely new art form. Morrisseau's art put him at least on the same plane as Georgia O'Keefe and perhaps as high as some of the greats of European art. Sadly missed. A great artist. There are others out there waiting to be discovered.

Good debate. This is no different than personal phone calls. I think the Playboy example helps fill that difference out nicely. I don't see any problem with government employees like House members using their computers for personal affairs, but this is a good example of crossing the line. If some MP has a paramour who sends them lascivious messages, then it is none of our business. If The MP wants to use government resources for titillation, then that's another matter all together...

Mild, isn't it?

You know, there is this problem with sacred cows... In India, cows walk the streets unmolested. The idea of eating a cow is so abhorent that there is one menu item that's drastically different at McDonalds India... (warning - heavy loading and popups) .... Think about it.

What do you say to the taxi driver with a PhD in physics? We have a very advanced selection program. Unfortunately, we have a very poor placement system. We have to reconcile the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the right to movement) with the immigration system. If you are going to challenge the right to movement, I'm gonna start calling you names in languages that Charles Anthony will have to research...

OK fine. First of all anybody who sent oil tankers into the Gulf during the Iran-Iraq war was not listening to their insurance agent. I am sympathetic to the 400 civilians who died, but if you can get over your revulsion to Robert Fisk, you might want to read his accounts of this war. This was a nation fighting for its life and responding to what is essentially an unprovoked attack. As for the rest, you are viewing Iraq and Afghanistan through Dick Cheney's glasses. How can you say that the US is justified to put toops in these countries and Iran is not?

This is a hate site. I can't believe the names on here. Woody Allen? How many people have done more to promote the idea of the Jewish Gestalt in America than Woody Allen? I have Thomas Judt's book "Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945". This is a seminal work and one of Judt's central theses is that European nations like France and the Netherlands took far too long to come to terms with their complicity during the Holocaust. How this site could list Judt and Allen as "self-hating Jews" is a mystery to me.

Total absolute control. Jeez. They must be the only ones. Can you cite references for those attacks? If you are leaning on the Iran/Iraq war for the 1980s, Iraq attacked first and the Iranians were defending themselves. Millions died on both sides in that war and it has barely registered on the western consciousness. We tend to assume here that we are the centre of the universe. We need to get over ourselves.

Case closed!

Let's not forget the Finns, the Ukes, the Krauts, the Polacks....

So if Iran exerts its influence over its neighbours, that's a no-no, but if the US exerts its influence over its... well shall we say...brothers of the earth, no problem?

Ezackly.

I can see a lot of resistance from a lot of Canadians to a European Union type merger. The European Union is a merger of more or less equals. There is no equality over here. One has only to look at the NAFTA experience and softwood lumber. NAFTA called for disputes to be settled by a NAFTA panel. When the US lost before the NAFTA Panel, it went to the WTO, which it controls. Look what happened. No sane Canadian would ever trust any merger agreement with the US because the US does not honour its agreements. There are plenty of examples outside of NAFTA with other countries. The US has always abrogated foreign affairs at the whim of Congressional and Senatorial politics. Nobody trusts the US in foreign affairs. It's not prejudice. It's just history.

For centuries, Iran has shown a remarkable lack of interest in invading its neighbours. My guess is that, were Iran to do such a thing, it would be in response to an act of war. This is a very ancient and well-developed culture. We're talking Zoroastrians here, not some tin-pot country the British and French put together with a bloody telegram.