theloniusfleabag

Dear Hugo, I think you'll find that these are symptoms across the board, and most are caused by individuals worshipping the dollar, not state benefits. Almost all of the above you state are directly tied to the 'upper middle class'. In fact, I have met several teen mothers in Canada that try to stay pregnant, lest social benefits be cut off. When offered a job, I heard one teen mother say "I can't work, Welfare won't let me".I agree with most of what you say, however, and am an ardent supporter of the notion "Work for Welfare".

Dear Hugo, Perhaps with Marx, you may be right. However, not for me. I am a small business owner who is by no means rich, but very, very happy. I love to go to work everyday, because I love what I do. An anomaly, I admit. As I understand it, most Japanese families care for their own elderly, the 'nuclear family'. It is not like in the US where the individual is tantamount, and the notion of family is becoming a nuisance and an obstacle to personal wealth.

Dear RB, Often, racism exists because people are stupid. However, The peoples of the First Nations had, for millenia, a radically different outlook on the world and their place in it. They didn't have the 'white man's view' of seeking dominion or control over it, they sought to be a part of it.

Dear Hugo, Don't forget Canada also had a program of forced sterilization of the 'retarded'. They are still negotiating payouts, I believe. The USA had a program to test diseases such as malaria on prison inmates, though these were apparently 'voluntary' programs. I am not sure if it led to sentence reduction, or other benefits, which would cast doubt on just how 'voluntary' a coercive system like this would be.As to your question... that is a toughie, but I would say that 'income equality' means that more people can access the basic necessities of life and share in their benefits, rather than having a few with gross excess, and far more with not enough.I think that the accumulation of wealth does not automatically bring happiness nor longevity, and a happy home with a family that is fed and provided for can often count themselves far 'richer' than Bill Gates.

Dear KK, Well done and well said. Many artists, with untold passion, lived and died poor, or at least lived modestly, and their work wasn't worth a lot until years after their death. They painted, or wrote, based on that passion, and as Adolf Hitler, worked menial jobs on the side for their daily bread. I believe that, in the end, art (and culture, such as the French language in Canada) must stand on it's own merit, rather than on subsidy.

Dear all, My sincere apologies if the title of this thread gave offence. My point, however, was directed at those who believe God takes an active hand (or fist) in the affairs of Men. Often pro athletes, as well as others, "Thank God" for helping them score that winning touchdown, or 'saving' average shmoes from some unforseen calamity, or giving someone the courage to fly a 747 into an office tower. Is God that accessible? Does He care who wins a football game? Or is He a product of our collective and brainwashed imaginations? Dear Greg, your point is taken and I wouldn't be terribly upset if you saw fit to rename this thread or remove it entirely.

Dear eureka, I think it is just as easy to deny as to believe. Perhaps not as socially acceptable, atheism, that is, but it relies on the same premise, belief in an absolute answer. If we consider this, then the words 'God' and Universe' (or existence) become interchangable.

Dear Tawasakm As I understand it, the logical argument for the existence of God is the theory of causal causation, with a great big "except for" thrown in.

Dear Argus, Actually, Saddam's regime did provide stability, just as your example of Josip Bronz. It wasn't a good place to live, but it was stable. As for terrorism, yes the 'picket wavers' have given solutions, but the right wing refuses to consider them. The US must move toward energy self-sufficiency, and away from supporting dictators (such as Saddam previously) to ensure that 'cheap energy' and goods at home.

Dear Argus, I think that largely it is a question of 'legitimizing' homosexuality, and partly because of the tax implications of civil marriage. It has been estimated, (and I think this number is fair enough) that 10% of people are gay. Except in China, where 'Homosexuality is not admitted to exist'. Legal charges are brought up under 'offensive behaviour'. In Saudi Arabia, 'Homosexuality is tolerated if practiced discreetly, however maximum legal sentence is beheading'. Homosexuality is across the board for humans, and most of the arguments against are strictly religious. I don't believe that any church should be legislated to recognize it if that is not their wish. However, as for civil unions, I don't see a problem. Just as 'common law' marriages are recognized, so too, should gay marriages. It means that not only property rights and taxes are treated the same for 'life-long sexual partners', but also that sexual orientation (gay or not gay) is not a judgement of one's character.

I believe that the length of some threads is not a detriment to the overall quality of the forum. If someone is 'flogging a dead horse' the other posters always retain the option of moving along or joining in. Besides, I think it would be too much to ask of Greg to monitor and evaluate the quality of the posts and cut it short, when (as in the 'free market system) the other posters will decide if something has merit or not. They will 'buy into something' if they see value, they will ignore it if they don't.

I was taught as a child, that the 3 major 'attributes' of God was that HE was omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. Now, if omnipresent, does thrusting my fist in the air at a hockey game mean that it goes up his ass? How about if I believe/desire it to? Am I 'fisting God' if I believe I am?

Dear stoker, Canada faces no real threat internationally, so 'defending us' isn't a real worry. We use our troops mainly for international 'peacekeeping' and even that is with dubious results.However, that is not a result of 'inadequate equipment or manpower' as much as it is a failure of the UN and it's members to commit to aggressive enforcement of international law. Canada may do better with a militia, rather than an 'Armed Forces' if it is just a question of self-defence.

Dear August1991, You'll have to be more specific, because technically one does have the 'right' to refuse a job, for any reason.

Dear caesar, The US is only legally obligated to repair infrastructure (and keep a civilian death count) if they officially declared war, something they did not.

Dear Argus, If Civil War is such a bad thing, the USA should never have had one, for fear that someone (perhaps thousands) might get killed. If the US does pull out of Iraq, and (as the right-wing fearmongers exaggeratedly extrapolate)millions get killed, I'd never find out because the headlines in the west would be about Janet Jackson's nipple exposure, rather than something trivial like mass deaths in a 'third world country'. Rwanda, anyone? The death toll from the genocide there was 800,000 in just over 100 days, yet it wasn't worth mention in western media until well after the fact. I strongly doubt hundreds of thousands, let alone millions, would die in Iraq.

Dear caesar, Indeed, as can 'collateral damage', and it is often attributed to 'the fog of war'. However, the USA seems to be the 'foggiest' of all. Evidently, one of Tillman's patrol emptied every round he had from his .50 cal machine gun into Tillman's half of the unit.What if they were under enemy attack? An action like that is undisciplined and irresponsible. Especially when he didn't know who or what he was shooting at. In Vietnam, the US had developed the M-16 to fire a 3 round burst, to save ammo from trigger-happy morons.

I urge all to look at the last 100 'recent members', and to check out the 'local user time'. I think you'll find that there are less than 10 legitimate new posters, the rest are one person. Not that anyone from Newfoundland isn't legitimate, but if you look also at the content of the posts, there are remarkable similarities, including the banter between 'socrates' and 'barbarosa'. One post in particular I would like to draw everyone's attention to, is one from "name removed" in which it states 'socrates is right its all about the prisoners' and the name that was removed was "*theloniusfleabag". This person also had created "*August1991" and ".August1991", which were also removed.

I do feel sorry for Pat Tillman, who gave up a lucrative carrer in the NFL to join the US military, and to fight for what he believed in. A courageous man. However, I am not surprised at all to hear he was killed by his own troops. Throughout history, the US has been the land of 'trigger-happy morons'. Even Stonewall Jackson was killed accidentally by his own troops. In WWII, it was rampant. They shot down planes full of their own reinforcements, shelled their allies because they didn't believe their statements or in their abilities, and constantly refused to take much needed advice from other, more experienced veterans. They either drop their guns and run in panic or they open fire on everything and anything. Far from being a 'random tragedy', it is actually very typical.

The following paraghraph is loosely quoted from "Just and Unjust Wars", by Michael Walzer, 1977. "John Stuart Mill had a short essay published in the same year as the treatise 'On Liberty'(1859). He argues that ' it is not our purpose in international communites, (nor is it possible), to create [through intervention] liberal or democratic states, only independent ones" Further, intervention by another power should never 'tip the balance of power' but only complement one side or the other until equality,(or parity) so that those on the inside of the struggle can decide the outcome". Now, if a nation has been 'freed' (such as Iraq) of a tyrant (such as Saddam Hussein), the job of 'freeing' has been overdone, to be sure. However, any further influence becomes, itself, an imposed 'tyranny of external will', and other nations have the moral right to 'once again free the oppressed' from influence that they did not seek nor desire.

Dear Prince Metternich, Wow, the Hapsburgs in Calgary, whooda thunk it. I understand there is a Hohezolleren residing here, and there are lots or Weimaraners in my dog daycare. Looks like Calgary is the place to be for defunct Teutonic royals! Just kidding. I do believe 'easychair' is yet another BS incarnation of the BS poster 'avsfan', having the same local user time and the same M.O.

Dear KK, An excellent post and an interesting read. I have often thought that a proper public transportation system could lessen the number of private vehicles on the roads(especially in the cities) and free them up for commercial use. I spent a few years as a courier in Calgary, and I saw that often (though not always) the best drivers were the truckers, as they were the 'professionals'.

Dear maplesyrup, Here is a recent example...

Dear Greg and all, I have previously called Greg's attention to someone using fake names to submit posts, including mine and August1991's (with an asterisk or a period before or after the name), and it appears this person is still at it. I understand that Greg has removed some of these names, and banned others, yet there is evidence that it is still going on. New posters, such as 'Edgars', 'bboyblu','socrates', etc all have one thing in common. Even going back to my accusation of BigDookie6(a poster who has since been banned), they all are from Newfoundland. The 'user's local time' on perhaps 90% of the last 80 or so new posters are all 3.5 hrs ahead of mine in Calgary. I urge all to ignore all posts by this person, whom I shall call 'avsfan'. If I am wrong, so be it, and may I be booted from the site. I don't think I am wrong, though.

Dear Hawk, I think you've been reading too much US propaganda.Not so long ago, Talisman Energy sold it's operations and withdrew from Sudan. The reason? They were tired of the bad press associated with killing the local populace by proxy, in order to reap large profits. (The gov't troops, funded by Talisman money, would simply kill anyone who wanted to farm the land, or share in the profits) Now, many were Muslims. As in other places where this goes on. Now, OBL is saying to the West," you have killed my brother's family and taken his wealth. You have killed my cousin's family.... now I have had enough and will attack your family until you stop attacking mine". Yet you call him a 'terrorist' when he claims it is ( facts and history will back this up)...self-defence. Is ceasing aggression and 'theft', appeasement? Is a mugging victim who fights back a terrorist?