theloniusfleabag

Dear PocketRocket, I love those! I can't seem to find one though...If America is looking to end 'evil influences', they need look no further than the television...and it's own culture.

Dear moderateamericain, As Black Dog states... I have indeed downplayed the US WWII contribution, perhaps too much, but this is mainly in response to the fallacy (which was not just yours) that the US 'single-handedly' won WWII. Glad to see that you are willing to admit error. Well done. Apart from this obviously being a 'flame post', perhaps, Mr. Burns, you could stand to do some reading on the subject. Canada was actually somewhat reluctant to join the war, and voted on the issue, while Australia joined immediately, out of obligation to England, with Curtin saying "Where she goes, we go, where she stands, we stand".

Dear August1991, Not sure if you are being facetious or not, but I thought you (and the 'right') believed that the 'rich' were the 'creators of wealth', so it would only make sense to give the rich more than the poor, so they could 'create more' for said 'poor'...

Dear Sparhawk, Look at Milton and Air Canada...making millions a year while taking the company down the toilet with bad decisions, yet expecting (and knowing) that the feds will bail him out again and again...

Dear shoop, Admittedly, but I didn't mean the press, just the narc squad. However, if just a few people did 'go public', cocaine traffic just might be seriously hampered.

Now, I admire his courage to stand up and tell (some of) the truth, but... link... http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/20...e_20050920.html Now, if there is a coke dealer in the second floor bathroom of 'Parliment Hill', that is something that needs to be known, at least by the authorities. Most likely it was a 'friend' who supplied the coke, but if Boisclair will not 'come completely clean' on where he got it, is he not abetting a criminal?

Dear Cartman, Indeed, but how can people overlook the fact that Ralph is merely saying "We fleeced you so badly, we decided to give some of the wool back?" Further, this is an old ploy of Ralph's, buying favour by sending out cheques. (Remember the 'energy rebate cheques' that came out after privatizing energy but before an election?) As if an opposition party could stand up and say, "Elect us, and we promise to send cheques out to every Albertan!"

Dear August1991, It is too late, they can now say that they were 'duped'. They should have been on the dock with the recipients, if the intention was to punish all wrongdoing.

Dear Argus, .... You had it right the first time... Who wouldn't be surprised to see the fox get fat guarding the henhouse? The main reason Canadian voters are so apathetic is they do not see 'politicians' in any other light, no matter what the party. Otherwise, people would be flocking to vote in the party that was known for NOT sticking their snout in the trough, or otherwise wasting it. The people would say, "Hey, let's vote for the party that doesn't accept kickbacks or graft, or vote themselves raises and expense tab increases at every opportunity, and vote for that party which puts the needs of the common person ahead of the wants of themselves..." August1991, Sadly, nope. That is, if he had a brain in his head, he will still have contacts, and his fingers on the end on certain strings, that will be seen as 'value-able' to, at least a couple, private concerns.

Dear Argus, I suspect you may be right, Argus, but here is a point to consider...(again, I refer to "Yes, Minister") Pettigrew may not hang out with drivers, but other drivers do. Thus, lots of otherwise unknown information may come to light to a minister through 'the help', and if one of them is particularly astute, (and loyal), it could be that Pettigrew does derive benefit from that person's acumen. I'll bet the housekeepers and chauffeurs at Sussex, or Downing Street, know a lot more about who does what (or whom) than we'd care to imagine.

Dear Shakeyhands, Though I have partaken in the jocularity of the matter, I am certainly no 'homophobe'. One of my best friends is gay, and we both joke with each other all the time about it. You are correct, though, that his orientation is of no matter in the case. the issue is whether or not the expenditure of gov't funds was useful for the country, or just Pettigrew personally. Besides, if Pettigrew was suspected of cavorting with a female secretary, the 'Monica' jokes would be flying like 'wads of Bill's'.

Dear Sparhawk, But then he/she would pay tax on the bonus, and possibly at a higher tax rate. Besides, the 'bureaucracy' would be paid for by private enterprise. The doctor has little time to do his/her own taxes, mostly these would be done by firms or agents, or private accountants. The exemptions would be standardized, so it would probably be no harder to implement than a change in the regulations for 'capital gains'.

Dear Montgomery Burns, There seems to be some sort of 'sympathetic collusive victim' psychology about this. If someone were to break into your house, and say, steal $20 off your kitchen table, most everyone would be mad as hell at being robbed. Then, the next day, you find out each and every house in your whole neighbourhood was robbed, people tend to say "Ok, I don't feel so bad now, because it happened to everybody". There also seems to be adangerous trend of 'lenient precedent' that is being followed, across the board, for sentencing. (actually, I know why this is...it is simply a cost-saving measure)

Dear Cartman and Canuck E Stan, Check out the "Bid Requests" on the ledgermarketing link. That will tell you 'how' the polls were made. As to 'how they make money', they are a 'target market research group', and they help (larger) companies target potential consumers by collecting information on demographics. What you buy, how much you spend on what, etc is all information collected by many, many firms, whether you are aware of it or not. Hell, that is what 'internet cookies' are for...So, imagine you are paying to have a poll conducted, and decide for yourself whether or not you want it to serve your interests, or do you want the truth... that is the secret of 'bid requests'.

Dear Montgomery Burns, No, the Swiss said they would blow up the mountain tunnels if Germany invaded, making invasion extremely difficult and time-consuming. In the end, it served all sides to have Switzerland neutral, the Germans because the could hide much of their plunder there, and the allies because they ran spy operations and escape conduits through there. eureka has explained the discrepancy of the cause of the rapid rise in the numbers, quite adequately. It was not due to an actual 'gigantic leap in break-ins due to the gun laws', but a re-configuration in the paperwork.

Dear I Miss Trudeau, Justice would mean that this offensive poster would see some 'hard time' in an all-gay biker prison. Argus, I certainly see you as a conservative, just as Hugo was (albeit to the extreme), and to a large degree August1991, I Miss Reagan, etc. are. I should say that this forum has a very equal distribution of 'right vs. left', but there is a small minority that just spew verbal diarrhea, and add nothing to debate, not even humour value.

Dear August1991, Both are politicians, full of bluster and good photo-ops. Also, remember you are mostly reading Western news sources. I do not believe that they are the same woman. That detail does not matter. What really matters (to the purpose of this thread) is whether or not rape is systemic, condoned, and a legal or legitimate claim to 'persecution' for immigration purposes, and whether or not Paul Martin thinks so. If the problem is systemic and condoned or endorsed by state or religion, you can leave the word 'rape' out of the sentence, as it is incidental.Don't forget, the PM P.M. can call an election at any time, so if he appears to be taking 'a tough stance' on things, you can be sure the election call will be sooner rather than later.

Dear kimmy, I saw a bit in the newspaper today about it, but didn't have time to read it yet. It depends on definitions. Asset: a valuable addition or possession that gives value commesurate to cost, or) a little piece of ass.

Dear August1991, I agree wholeheartedly. I believe in taxes, and that they should be solely used for the betterment (or 'easement) of society and the economy as a group. I do believe that tax incentives can be used to 'socially engineer' society for the better, rather than simply serve 'the market', when both could be done. As I understand it, First Nations peoples have a 'tax exemption card' for certain goods. Why not use this as the 'carrot' to keep doctors in Canada? Family doctors (that see the 'regular people') could be tax exempt, while cosmetic surgeons etc. could be free to chase the dollar wherever they wish. ER surgeons get a free ride while newspaper magnates and you and I pay full (or subsidized, or insurance-enhanced) fare.

Dear Argus, Well, it is all relative. If Iraq had invaded and conquered Europe, started in on Russia, and was bombing the UK mainland, I would think that the rest of the world shouldn't wait for their turn at bat.

Dear eureka, Don't forget, China has a huge population and the majority are dirt poor...most don't have enough money to produce an offensive fart, let alone 'industrial emissions'. Conditions in China are deplorable, CO aside. Industial waste is dumped straight into rivers, or onto the soil. It will take way more than Kyoto to clean up China.

Dear eureka, I agree with your statement that many gov't workers are 'hard workers', as I know several. This statement, though, I disagree with. It is not because they are gov't employees, though, but because they are unionized employees. I had, some time ago, applied for a job with a 'national railway company', which was a union job. They asked the strangest questions at the interview...for example, "What would you do if a fellow employee said "slow down, you are working too fast and making the rest of us look bad...." (followed by a multiple choice of: slow down, ignore them, rat on them...(in fact, a lot of the questions had the same choices for the answers) A long-time friend of mine once had a job with the old ALCB back in the 80's. There was no work for him to do one day, so they put him in the bottle depot to give him some hours...the person he was working with told him several times, "Slow down, we have to make this last all day" and, of course they could not be fired for being 'slow', and were making, as union employees, on loan from another, higher paying department, more than double what a regular 'bottle sorter' would make.

Dear Sparhawk, You are entirely correct. What the 'benevolent owner' of the company found irksome was that she built the company from the ground up, into a multi-million dollar enterprise, and she felt she should 'be able to do whatever the hell she wants with her money'. We all understood why RevCan made us pay the 10,000 for the vehicle, but then they also tried to dictate the payment terms....

With regards to B.C having higher prices, and I think the quick (and best) fix would be to abolish unions. B.C. is a heavily 'unionized province', where seniority, instead of ability, is sacrosanct. A customer of mine travelled through there recently, and saw someone who recently awoke from a nap in his truck. He casually asked the guy, "Gee, it must be nice to get 'paid naps", and the reply he got was "Hey, I've put in 20 years here, they owe me". Explain that one to god...

Dear Argus, Indeed, the Torch landings were the US' first taste of modern battle, and they were fighting the hard-pressed, retreating and under-supplied Germans. Still, the US troops managed to panic and run away in a couple of fierce battles. To be fair, they were quite 'green', while the Germans and the UK troops had been 'well blooded'. (eureka, there is a good book called "Alamein: War without Hate" by Colin Smith worth checking out)Then, Argus, in the Ardennes, (the Battle of the Bulge) the Americans actually dropped their guns and ran away, (a noted and incredibly brave exception was McCauliffe at Bastonge) and Montgomery had to temporarily assume command of the US 9th Army 'to stop the rot'.