theloniusfleabag

Dear moderateamericain, To echo eureka's comment...No! They did the bulk of the fighting in the Pacific (only entering the war after they were attacked), but only lamely assisted in Europe. Except, of course, their unbombable factory production was a tremendous asset.

Dear Canuck E Stan, Rumours are double-edged swords, and too often turn out to be BS. Perhaps Mackay is going to take a shot at leadership of the party....

This isn't a joke per se, just something that got me thinking... If the Lewinsky-Clinton scandal had occured elswhere in the USA, it may have broken 'sodomy laws' that are still on the books in some states (sodomy being considered both oral and anal sex)...would someone clandestinely investigating such a breach of the law be conducting 'skullbuggery'? Would the headlines have read "Monica Lewinsky f#*ked in the head"?

Dear August1991, This from the BBC news, No, but they have one for victims fleeing persecution, though. If you'll recall, Ms. Mai was gang-raped under orders of a villiage council (as punishment for the alleged transgressions of her brother) and I for one would think that being a victim in these circumstances would be grounds for fleeing the country. If you'll also recall, Musharraf also tried to prevent her from leaving the country in order to prevent her 'stirring up trouble'. I do not know the details of the case, but two things must be present for this to be a legitimate immigration case. Firstly, rape must be systemic, and secondly, condoned by the gov't or police. It sounds as though both might be true. If Musharraf is of the mind that rape is a reasonable and lawful punishment, especially when it is in a judgement against a different family member, I would say this would qualify as 'undue persecution'. I believe it would have to be a combination of ignorance and misogyny. How does anyone 'choose to get raped'? Choosing implies consent, and therefore isn't rape. I suspect there is more to the story, such as 'a woman chooses to speak out against injustices against women, for which the punishment is rape' for example.

I am inclined to agree with Argus, I would also suspect that Greg offered him one or several warnings, and that no change was effected. There are a couple of other posters that continue to use vitriol instead of debate, and epithets instead of adjectives, so I hope Greg continues with this course, and soon.

Dear August1991, Who the hell is Dr. Phil? In some cases, this is true. Revenue Canada came down hard on some friends of mine who, as a personal favour, wanted to sell me and my wife a vehicle for $1. (It was an 'older', 1997, SUV that was owned by their private company, but they had originally leased it and then bought it outright...) RevCan said "No way, you have to charge at least the book value ($10,000)". Evidently, any sort of 'goodwill' is tantamount to fraud in their eyes. When the contract falls below minimum accepted standards as set by the law of the land. Let's say someone (foolishly) enters a contract, that might be incredibly lucrative, but failure to fulfill the contract means termination of life instead of employment. Should that be ok if both parties agree? Silly, of course. But, what if one of the parties is brought up to believe a certain religion, and that they must marry another person from that religion, or they risk death. By entering into that 'marriage contract', they may or may not have the right to choose an arbitrator, for the religion supplies it's own, which is always unfavourable to one of the parties, and heavily slanted towards the other. The person, in order to avoid pre-acknowledged unfair arbitration, risks death if they don't enter the contract. Therefore, a 'universal minimum' must be applied by someone, and the only one with enough power is the state.

Dear Montgomery Burns, The US was once a great nation....even as far as the 70's...but it is fast becoming a , of that there is no doubt. There are still a lot of great people there, but the overall values of the nation have gone in the toilet. Instead of god, freedom or equality, they generally worship the Golden Calf, 'bling', and Mammon. Instead of 'democracy and fairness', they worship guns, death and 'sue or screw thy neighbour' at the earliest possible opportunity.

Dear newbie, There aren't many secular references, I have to admit. Interesting to note, though, that the 'bible' (at least the first books of the OT, that Jews, Catholics and Muslims all believe in) was written by some of the Diaspora Jews while 'on the road'...

Dear Cartman, Somehow I don't think that we'll ever hear any nation's army (except, perhaps, Canada's underfunded military) adopt the war cry: "Send in the frowns!" Seriously, I think that the 'disabled' are really the only ones that do deserve social support (or, at least should be entitled to the bulk of it). It depends on what you consider a 'right' should be, and to whom everyone should be equal.Again, I do not feel TV is a 'basic human right', (partly because I abhor it) and there are other avenues to get info for all. The text of the ads is available on the website that was linked here, (I do believe) and I expect newspaper ads will also be made. Don't radio ads discriminate against the deaf? I don't think those political 'lawn posters' at election time should have to be in Braille, either.

Dear kimmy, I believe it is, or should be. I was trying to avoid, in this case, using the term 'the Jews', as I did not want it to appear derogatory or 'conspiratorily paranoid'.

Dear kimmy, From your second link... I thought 'the curse' was a euphemism for the menstrual cycle....

Dear newbie, Not entirely accutate, for there are some few references to some events, such as 'the great flood', that actually pre-date the bible. The problem is, religion ran the world for millenia, and became the 'sole record keepers' of history. Not entirely, but certainly the vast majority.

Dear Sparhawk, You raise a good point, and I think Toro missed it... Truly, there isn't a 'rigid caste system' where your last name defines the work you will toil at for the rest of your life. However, where one is born in the US certainly plays a role in the opportunities one will have. Areas such as this, like Harlem, or South Central Los Angeles virtually ensured that a person would spend more time just trying to survive versus studying to attend Julliard or Harvard.To say that there is equal opportunity for all in the US (and even Canada, but we are subject to less extremes) is purely hypothetical.

I think that this is utter silliness. Just as the claim (by a lawyer no less!) that CBC, failing to have commentary on a CFL game, was a violation of Human Rights for a blind 'viewer'. Television is not a 'basic human right', nor should it ever be. There are many ways for the 'differently abled' to access information. If the Conservatives lose that one vote (or several) for lack of closed-captioning, it should be their loss, one they can either ignore or amend, whatever they choose.

Dear Canuck E Stan, I hate to appear addle-pated, or lily-livered, but I do support the move to amend the 'animal rights bill' that is presently on the books. Mind you, I do so for the kinship I feel towards dogs (and cats) more than 'food animals'. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go feed some milk to the veal I am raising in my laundry hamper.

Dear PocketRocket, False Dichotomy (though not Freudian, it is the appropos term)

Dear Argus, Is there a way your employer will pay for language classes? Bi-lingualism is generally helpful, no matter what the language. Exercise for the mind, so they say. My francais is deplorable, but I have picked up a bit of Cantonese (which probably outnumber French speakers by now!), Greek and Punjabi.

Dear August1991, I am getting the impression you are making this up as you go along....

Dear kimmy, Jeepers, you have an 'ambulance-chasing shyst'...er, laywer like that in your riding? That is 'lower than a snake's belly in a wagon rut'. As mirror points out, . I remember a 'customer service pointer' I was told about years ago, about dissatisfied customers. Only 2-5% will ever complain about bad service or quality, and the rest just don't come back.

Dear Montgomery Burns, It has something to do with the server and the new format. You cannot use 10 or more quotes in one post or they go wonky. There is a posing under 'nes and announcements' about it...http://www.mapleleafweb.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3154

Dear August1991, I was under the impression Elijah Harper sank Meech. He was the one to withhold unanimity for it to be tabled and passed by the deadline. It will be difficult to word this next sentence without being accused (or sued) for slander, but...Mulroney was too often involved in 'fiscal shenanigans' to be considered anything but a shyster. The 'helicopter kickback scandal' saw him evade criminal charges due to lack of failing to catch him red-handed, and though there was evidence, he had the balls to sue the gov't for damages, because "he was found to be as innocent as Orenthal". After leading the PCs to a record fall from grace (2 seats! Kim Campbell's impact on this was negligible. Had it been a seasoned tory vet they might have won 10, but why not appoint a 'fall gal' and reward that person with the Ambassadorship to California?), Mulroney then proceeded to sit on a board of directors for a large chemical and food additive company in the USA that was subsequently fined $100,000,000 for price-fixing. Crooked is as crooked does. I am not saying he was without accomplishments that were for the better of Canadians, but then, as now, it is obvious he mostly serves his own self-aggrandized vision, that of his own perceived greatness.

Dear Hawk, It wasn't the right of homosexuals to get married before, they had to fight for it. Now it can be a 'non-issue'. In Alberta, Klein had proposed a similar stance, no marriages for anyone, as McGuinty has done with religious law. Personally, I do not want Islamic law to rear it's 'ugly head' in this country, and I think that what was done was only proper given the circumstances. I don't hear the Catholic Church or any Hebrews demanding that Sharia law be included in the laws of the land, either. If they feel the actions of McGuinty unfair, they should be also championing the rights of Islamic law to be included also.

Dear Hawk, I suppose I had that coming. BHS makes a very good argument with I was raised RC, but became 'agnostic by choice' when I was old enough to see certain patterns and, shall we say, hypocrisy throughout most religions. The crux of the matter is basically protectionism, with McGuinty choosing 'The Samsom option" of all or none. It is a play to keep a certain set of religious laws from becoming 'on par' with certain others. Lets say, for example, Sharia law of Islam becoming equally valid with Christianity and Judaism. (Just as an example). In Sharia law, the testimony of one man equals that of two women, and women get the extremely short end of the stick in many other ways. To prevent this becoming an acceptable form of 'discrimination', there are only two choices, ban one certain set of religious laws (which could only be justified by saying that those particular ones are wrong), or by banning all forms of 'religious law' mediation, which is the only real choice to be made without 'taking sides'.

Dear Montgomery Burns, The US economy is a house of cards, set for a really, really bad fall. Shouldn't be, but Reagan and now Bush spent wayyyy more than they ought to, and not doing the things they need to to in order to stave off future disaster. A better quality of life is a subjective look, at best. Imagine your neighbor gets a shiny new credit card and promptly buys a bunch of shiny new toys. Imagine his income (though larger than yours, he has a bigger house and therefore more bills) is enough to pay his bills and credit debt, but it isn't enough so he gets another credit card. Then, he racks that up, so he gets another card that he uses to pay off the debts on the first two. Then, he gets another and another, racking up larger and larger debt, with nowhere near the income required to maintain that debt. But, he has lots of toys. He will be ok for a while, because the credit companies see that he has several credit cards already, so he automatically qualifies for another. One day, however..... I realize that this is an over-simplistic analogy, but defecit spending can only go on so long as foreign investment makes up the shortfall. To claim that the US is 'rich' by having the largest debt is folly.

Dear Hawk, A society free of 'religious intolerance'? A society based on logic and reason rather than piety and fanaticism? Schools that teach fact as more important than faith? Hospitals filled with doctors instead of Churches filled with gold? Lets hope so!