theloniusfleabag

I suppose this is what happens in some places in the world, when there is only a goat, a sheep and no pussy for miles around. http://www.tshirthell.com/store/product.php?productid=492

To those above, Well done. Some of the finest and level-headed discourse I have read in a while. I agree with scriblett, Freedom means all or none, and there is no shortage of criticism here for all religions, though Islam may be the 'flavour of the day'. Howver, true strength, faith and fortitude require rising above criticism, not combating it.

Dear August1991, I think you are missing Burns' point. The farther right you go, the more 'state input' (funded by all) is unwelcome (whether it be art or media and especially business), regardless of cost or content. I like the CBC. I prefer it to the low-brow local commercial radio buffoons playing the flavour of the week ad nauseum., punctuated by fart and breast jokes. CBC radio is fantastic in its diversity, from 'up and coming' metal thrashers on friday and/or saturday nights, to "Quirks and Quarks" and other 'knowledge imparting' programs. However, I also listen to CKUA in Alberta, a 'voluntarily publicly funded' radio station that I think is equally brilliant. I think Burn's argument is ...why should one media outlet receive monies forcibly taken from you (ala Hugo and his Libertarian stance) when all others, including some similar, be accountable for their own expenses? Further, what purpose could state-funded media serve (besides itself) that would so outweigh the 'right of choice' of the individual?

Dear Argus, Argus, Argus, Argus....what of the Spaniards and Portugese virtually depopulating and pillaging South America? The Japanese in WWII were arguably worse than the Nazis, and at least the Mongol hordes didn't try to pretend that they were 'religious and enlightened'. Virtually all of the 'western, civilized cultures' were engaged in the African slave trade. History is rife with barbarism, and you are absolutely right that we still see it today, and in some places more than others. I think the saddest part is that, aside from technological advances, humans haven't learned new or constructive (philisophically) ways to get along since Plato, Confucius or Buddha.

Dear Leafless, I have to agree. The UAE are the most 'capital and profit driven' nation in the ME, possibly the world, yet are 90%+ Muslim. (Of those that are indiginous, there is a vast amount of foreign 'labour' there) I think that they have as equal an interest in the security of the ports as the USA. Interesting to note, I found this at 'scotsman.com' earlier in the day, but the link now wants me to pay...screw that.

Dear RB, You make a valid point, what was with the second phone call? However, with sweeping generalizations like this you seem to forget or ignore that there are 'bad women' out there, as well as 'bad men'.

Dear Cameron and August1991, I was under the impression, August, that you feel the private sector only does things that are for the good of all mankind. Or do you feel that only when the Olympics is completely in the hands of of capitalists, it will become a good thing?On the plus side, it (the olympics) is one of the few things that brings the world together, where people of any religion or country can fight and struggle against each other, and celebrate hith hugs instead of hand grenades, win or lose.

Dear Mr. Bedson, Very funny. Funny also, juxtaposed to your above quote,

Dear Mr. Bedson, It seems that you are saying that only a judge can call a killer a 'murderer'. I guess I will have to believe this to be true. So... while someone can break the law, it is only technically illegal if a judge says it is? I sadly, stand corrected. When the head of the UN says it is 'illegal', he would face possible slander/libel charges for making a such a statement in public if it were untrue. However, I have to ask (as I cannot find or do not have the time to find) any 'stand alone' international laws? Were the 9/11 attacks or the USS Cole bombing 'not illegal'?

Dear Argus, Looks that way. He gave a speech in 1989, recanted his claims in the meantime, yet was still arrested some 16 years later. Does Austria have no 'statute of limitations' (or equivalent)?

Dear moderateamericain, Far be it from me to proffer personal advice, but...there is an old story about that Watchstrap and the Hairpin (or scalplock, or something). A couple were in love, but very poor. The husband had a watch, but no strap for it. The woman had long, beautiful hair, but could not afford a hairpin. Behind each other's backs, the man sold the watch to buy his wife a nice hairpin, and she cut off all her hair and sold it to buy a nice watchstrap. (I think the story may have been called "The Lyin, the Watch and the Weird Wrap", but I could have just made that up.) Obviously honesty is important to you (as well it should be). I suggest you ask her what the truth was about that night. If she wasn't out getting you a watchstrap, you'll likely be facing the same thing over again in the future. Ultimately, your call.

Dear RB, I have heard that 75% of men kiss their wives goodbye when they leave the house. I have also heard that 75% of men kiss their house goodbye when they leave their wife!

It seems freedom of speech can get one in a lot of trouble... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4733820.stm

Dear Toro, I have never read a single economic textbook, but I am willing to bet none of them, in their jumble of formulaic numbers and letters, take into account the 'nth degree'.

Dear newbie, Perhaps I am a bit harsh with my statements, but I will readily say that if ADD does exist (and if it did then it probably always did, but didn't have a name until recently), it has been used more often as an excuse or a profitable cash cow, than it has spawned solutions. I disagree with geoffrey here, this is the stuff communist Russia tried, and if capitalism has a free hand, the way our society will go..toward 'A Brave New World'.

Dear Toro, Then with the absence of change as a factor, we have to extrapolate the actions to ends. (August1991 seems to think that current policy 'ad infinitum' is a reasonable expectancy, but I disagree. I think most textbooks would too.)

Dear Argus, On some issues, I am a 'conservative'. On some, I am a socialist, and on others I am a communist. On relatively few I am a 'libertarian', and on even fewer I am like Jesus.

Far be it from me to step in here, but...hunting accidents happen all the time. Trying to compare this to Iraq or Afghanistan is silly. Look at Pat Tillman. If Cheney had been in Afghanistan he would have emptied his gun into his hunting buddy.

Dear Argus, You are not exactly wrong, but... Much of what this says is based on ignorance (which I share, to a large degree) as concern for fellow beings is sometimes greater elsewhere. It too, though is waning, as 'western culture' pervades it. In my liquor pusher's hometown, for example, (in India), he said he remembered when no one locked their door, and if a neighbourhood kid appeared at the door you invited them in and fed them. He says much of this is gone now, but India used to be a much more caring and open society. I suppose he sees the same things you do, and laments their loss. Most of our moral standards, even in the west, predate 1000 years ago, and we still haven't got it right. You are correct, though, that superstition and base aggression haven't changed either, and most atrocities against other humans occur in other parts of the world. How can this be addressed? I, for one, think more openness is needed, more freedom and less borders...but this is against 'free enterprise' and capitalist notions...we feel the need to demarcate what we have.

Dear Toro, The 'income', then is made by the investors, those being foreign holdings. However, the USA is acting as though the investment is 'income', and further it is acting as though it is their 'God-given right' to receive that investment. I would say that a 'glut' isn't the main reason investing domestically abroad is considered 'unsafe'. Mostly political uncertainties drive investors to the safest garage in which to park their money. China is reasonably stable, as is Japan, but the world currency isn't the yen or the euro, (or the mongo or the zloty) it is the greenback. My contention is that; the current fiscal policy, that being spending without taxing (or deferring taxation, which the current US regime seems to think doesn't need to happen) will undermine, over time, the stability of the greenback. 'Pulling consumption from the future' means that they are deferring tax hikes until later...but it seems that this idea has been dismissed as unnecessary. If the US is not willing to 'take the hit' on the economy, it will eventually take it on the currency. I think that result will be far more detrimental, but they seem to be saying..."Let it ride".

Dear August1991, They are taught the same way, but see things differently. Part 'Nature', part 'Nurture', part regimentation, but they are not the same. Equal but different. I vehemently disagree.

Dear Toro, This is the major problem. Rather than have this as a 'happenstance', the US is relying on foreign investment as it's 'income', and is increasing spending without raising taxes. Even economic growth in a system like this is partly 'artificial', because you aren't paying the actual cost of what it takes to make it happen (infrastructure, etc), you are deferring payment.

Dear Betsy, There were no such things as ADD, etc, wheen I was a kid. I was labeled 'hyperactive', and my mom tried to limit my sugar intake. There were some kids worse than me, but the 'old methods' were used. (I still remember a Nun wrestling another kid down to the floor in a headlock in about grade 2 or 3. Would have been in about 1974 or 75)Unruly children got the strap, not excuses and drugs. If you ask me, ADD is a result of someone's thesis that was seized upon and perpetuated by the pharmaceutical industry. Get rid of ritalin, and bring back the strap. Teach kids 'consequences', not excuses and the notion that 'I'm not responsible for what I do'.

Dear Mr. Bedson, Are you saying that there actually aren't any laws, only votes of condemnation?Most of the time, if a law is broken, the act itself is 'illegal', but the offender must be caught and punished. (In rare cases, an illegal act can occur without punishment, such as 'diplomatic immunity') Does trangression without a chance of punishment render void 'illegality'?

Dear Mr. Bedson, You are right, there was no vote. There need not be one for an action to be illegal. As I understand it, international law dictates that the violation of another country's soveriegnty (by invasion, in these cases) must be either from a formal declaration of war, (in which case certain rules apply, such as the conquering force becomes financially responsible for the conquered country, and also for an reasonably accurate body count) or from a UN mandate. Both of these remove the notion of 'illegality'. There was no vote to go into Afghanistan, but there was tremendous sympathy throughout the world, so the US was given a 'wink and a nod' rather than a mandate, with the expectation that the paperwork would be filled out later. Conversely, the USA was voted against, and condemned for it's 'illegal' invasion of Panama, which was called 'a flagrant violation of international law'. These same words have been applied to the Iraq invasion. Of course, the UN is powerless to stop the US, and if they tried, we'd see a pretty big frickin' war.