theloniusfleabag

Dear August1991, I am in complete agreement with you on most every point. Some problems though... Indeed, Gwynne Dyer pointed out (In his book "Future: Tense") that a 20-1, even 40 or 50-1 kill ratio is not to be unexpected given the abilities of a modern superpower versus tribal warriors. However, history has shown that the kill ratio itself doesn't mean squat. History has also shown that it is well nigh impossible to govern a country from afar without resorting to the most brutal and direct methods that today would be unthinkable. Even then, it still didn't work for any length of time (recently). The Nazis tortured and publicly hanged partisans in the Balkans (and elsewhere), destroyed whole towns, and still the partisans managed to be very effective.

I personally am a devout agnostic and make no bones about it. I shun organized religion of all forms. Indeed, most of them are based on the primary notion that someone in the past claims to have met 'god', and then told other people...'God told me that we should eat this and not that, pray this way and not that way, and that you should give me 10% of everything so I can build him a nice, golden temple, etc". Then, someone else came along, and said..."I met god too, and he told me something different'. Apart from the ending of human sacrafice, (which logic and reason should have led us to eventually anyway), I see religion as causing more harm than good. All by man's hand. So, if I believe that man invented man's notion of god (and thereby all religions), it is easy to refute the current belief system, but I do not have the ability to refute whether a god exists. So I live, happily I might add, without caring what the answer to the question might be.

I laughed at so many things in this thread. I lived in Lethbridge, and they have a large number of 'drunken natives'. The Blood Reserve is the largest in Canada, and the Natives from there that wish to get drunk go to Lethbridge. A low percentage of them, of course, but they are highly visible. Galt Gardens (a downtown city park) used to be famous for having lots of 'drunken natives' and lysol cans laying about. Sad but true. I agree with the poster (cybercoma, I believe) who said 'the sign should have read "No drunken idiots', and the employee should have been fired, regardless of work shortages. For those people who wish to boycott Timmys for one person's foolish actions, and especially for those who feel the sign was an act of 'unfounded rascism', I urge them to go see for themselves. Send the reps from the First Nations to Galt Gardens (or wherever the popular spots are nowadays) and ask them afterward if they are proud to have these individuals representing their community.

Dear Canuck E Stan, It is highly likely that certain industries/businesses 'kick back' some monies made from these breaks into political party coffers. As cybercoma states, one way is... Another way would be to abolish unions. The 'market' is basically set up so that the greatest consumers are not also the greatest producers (of any specific commodity, generally speaking).

As a regular beer drinker, I concur that micros are some of the best beers. There are also all sorts of imported beers from all over the world that are also of excellent quality. There are a few from India, such as Lal Toofan or Raj that are great, Tusker from Kenya, Efes from turkey, Almaza from Lebanon, etc that are well worth a few extra bucks. China, too, makes a few good quality brews. Ocikim Porter (from Poland) is one of the best Porter beers in the world. A local brewer in Calgary, Wild Rose Brewing, makes several fantastic beers. To address August1991's OP, if any one of these brews were to capture x% of market share, they too would be 'bought out' by some or other brewing giant. Why, he asks, can't we let everything in Canada be foreign owned? I'd rather not see it, but if free enterprise is to be truly free, bring out the Monopoly [tm] board!

Dear August1991, We may not all be equal in the eyes of a mortgage broker, but we are all supposed to be equal in the eyes of the law. True justice and social equality can only exist when all people are treated equally, in both the best and worst of times.

Dear Charles Anthony, Then you need to read my new self-help book, "Stab Your Way To Financial Success." Not true. But the hypothetically irrational person will seek to impose their values on you. How is that to be defended against, save from the use of force and a 're-distribution of individual rights' (by the one with the force to do so)? Not so, they seek to have individually beneficial trade, and most of the time accept that they cannot have it, unless they wield the force to make it so. Look to the United Fruit Corporation if you don't believe it. They simply move their assets to 'off-shore' holdings, and have countless others who desire wealth above all begging to do business with them.

Dear Charles Anthony, Indeed, just because Mr. Sanford had 'acute angina' doesn''t mean he was a hermaphrodite. I, too, am suspicious of big business media, but a thousand links from certain posters here who believe in 'altenative truth' doesn't make anything they say more credible.

The original statement is a bit misleading..." ". Actually, it is business. The 'market'. The 'market' itself is amoral, there really isn't a moral angle unless one tries to put one there. But then the 'morality of markets' conundrum wouldn't be limited to just the price of gas in it's scope.

Dear madmax, This continued from the 'Oconnor' thread...I read the book long ago, and was very saddened by the loss of Abdul Haq, and I think that he would likely have been the best chance Afghanistan may have had to both win international respect and to replace the Taliban. I am still bitter that the CIA squandered his life in such a worthless and misguided operation. Another person of note in that book was Massoud (of the Northern Alliance), who was also killed by the Taliban just 2 days before "9/11". But they left the CIA's (and Pakistan's ISI) favourite anti-western Islamic extremist, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar alone, even though he was 'in bed with the West'.

Dear ScottSA, I believe that you are right, and certainly not stupid. When I joined the Guardian Angels (Calgary), we were given a bit of training in the 'rights of citizen's arrest'. As it turns out, an 'attack on someone's person or property' are both indictable offences, for which a citizen can arrest someone (provided they have witnessed it...etc).

Dear Charles Anthony, Overall, the United States. I am re-reading a fresh copy of 'Soldiers of God: With the Mujahideen in Afghanistan' by Robert Kaplan (one of our dogs ate part of the original copy I had), and it should be noted exactly why the Muj fought the Russians with such tenacity and zeal. The main focus in the book is Abdul Haq, a young and devoted Mujahideen commander who had personally won the favour of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. He had one central goal, that being the creation of a Muslim Afghanistan run by Islamic law. However, he wasn't a 'radical fundamentalist', and he was eventually sent back into Afghanistan (to his unfortunate death) by the CIA at the beginning of this latest imbroglio. Great book, a highly interesting read. The author meets Hamid Karzai, and writes of him with great respect, long before Karzai became leader of Afghanistan. So, why is Canada in Afghanistan? To prevent the return of an 'anti-western' (read: anti-US) regime and to try to foster at least a 'moderate' one, whether or not it be the wishes of the Afghani's themselves.

Dear jbg, Generally, 'shoplifters' aren't called 'customers'...

Dear Renegade, I am no lawyer, but many things are not worth sending someone to jail over, when a fine may suffice. As with the music industry, they possibly demand charges of theft (there are classifications of say, theft under $500, or grand theft auto) but could also pursue a 'civil suit' where they are basically suing for damages (lost revenue, etc). Sometimes an action can lead to both (OJ Simpson won the criminal suit but lost the civil suit, wacky enough), but to keep court costs to a minimum (and jail costs as well) there was a distinction made as to whether someone should go to jail overy petty crimes anymore, as was the case long ago.

Dear Renegade, I don't know that it would be possible to show a cite that would respond to this statement. However, I would say that it makes sense, in a roundabout (if imperfect) way. For example, in some of the Nordic countries after WWII, thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, were accused of collaborating with the Nazis. They were given a choice, a 'civil suit' (where they paid some monetary fine) or criminal charges. The vast majority paid the money. I think most people would prefer civil vs. legal procedings, especially if they think/know they may be guilty. If the fine is too much, they can declare bankruptcy. But for something that they may be able to buy their way out of, any time in jail is too much of a price to pay.

Dear Charles Anthony, Not so, 'public space' is the most highly defended against dumping, etc. within 'states'. I suspect things would actually be way worse in a fully 'private' system. The multi-nationals would simply buy (or bribe) space to dump, with no consequences. The people downriver of the Nuclear power plant might claim "United We Stand!", but that would only because they had given birth to 4 generations of 3 headed Siamese Twins (or 'conjoined', whatever the PC term is nowadays). Or behind the guise of 'individual freedom', when it is not tempered with responsibility.

Dear Leafless, I understand that this is a popular misconception, but we do not desire to 'rule' anything, except our own selves (within the rule of law, of course). We also wish to encourage and empower others to do the same. We intend to be 'do-gooders', no doubt...but we wish to lead by example. We cannot force any standards upon anyone, nor do we intend to. What we can do, though, is the same as any other citizen...respect the law, report those we witness breaking the law, and if safe (and lawful) to do so, invoke the right of citizen's arrest (especially if someone's life is in jeopardy). For example, what would you do if you saw 2 muggers beating an old lady while trying to wrench her purse free? Call the cops? So would we. However, we have also been trained how to safely detain (safe for us and for them) those 2 muggers until the police arrive. Likely, though the mugging might not even happen, or happen less often, if criminals start to think twice, or look over their shoulder, for a group of citizens that are willing to intervene on behalf of a victim. Not so. We will point it out and be willing to try to change it. It is not just the responsibility of political leaders, but all of ours.

Dear ScottSA, The 'libertarian anarchist' denies not only copyright law, but all law, and all 'rights', save one. The right to 'private property'. In the case of 'property rights', they see only the physical. You may write a book, but you could only 'own' the copies of which you have possession, and not the content. I disagree with this, for I think it would stifle the creative spirit. Anarchism would dictate so, for the problem lies only between the shopkeeper and the thief. The shopkeeper would need to hire security staff to keep thievery from happening, but it may be a transgression of the thief's rights if the security staff perfomed the Heimlich Manoeuvre to recover the coke. Further, he would probably have to discount it if he wished to try to sell it again.

An epic battle, my grandfather and his brother fought there, and lived. My wife is, as we speak, house sitting for a retired Col. who is at the ceremony. We must hate war, but bless courage.

As with geoffrey, (I am in Calgary too) my wife and I switched to Shaw Digital Phone. Free long distance was a great offer, so our phone bill is always the same each month. However, we were told that Telus owns all the phone lines up to your house. When we switched, we applied to keep our old phone # (which we had for over 10 yrs) but Telus refused the request. I heard that they refused some 90% of those requests. We also could not switch our business line to Shaw, as they were not allowed to offer commercial service. Insurance and energy (where prices sky-rocketed after de-regulation) are two examples.

Dear geoffrey, Well said. However, I have met a great number of people in my life, and 'hang out' with very few. I viewed this forum as a 'scotch and cigar and intelligent debate' sort of pub (to borrow August1991's phrase), yet we find ourselves at times surrounded (in the name of 'absolute freedom with no repercussions') by 'ranting bag-ladies'.

Dear August1991, I have to agree. It is almost like we are trying to make a soup or a stew, and everyone is welcome to add their own spice. Yet that means some are allowed to come and piss in the soup too. I don't enjoy this 'pissed in soup' either, but what can one do short of changing restaurants?

Dear Charles Anthony, You are quite correct, The alternative, though, (and I have said this elsewhere) is to have all property rights decided by the 'Law' offices of "Gimme, Gimme & Blam!" Which do you really want? I gather from your posts (and Hugo's) that you wish for neither, but that is fantasy. People didn't learn to rob because 'the state did it first'.

Dear Charles Anthony, Sounds good, as long as you kill off all the humans, too. As an example, we could start off by eliminating pollution/dumping laws. I do believe our dear Hugo said something like, "Since when did pollution become a tort?" Logical yet ridiculous. We choose now, but because of our choices, the options become less and less, and one day we will be forced. Not by legislation, but by neccesity. Trust me, a big choice is coming our way. It shall both transcend and include all.

Dear Charles Anthony, Yes, if it is relevant and contains answers to problems that should be considered. Indeed, tis a lofty goal...but rather than work toward it, we are going in the opposite direction. We worship consuming. The consumerist society that praises excess and cares not a whit for the bigger picture, nor the long term. Hardy har har. Actually, if you re-read what I wrote.... I mean a new reason for driving our economy, a new reason for doing what we do. We can choose one, perhaps even a noble one, or we can continue as we have and have that new reason, that being base survival, come to the fore.