Moonlight Graham

Yes, there were idiots who rioted/looted, but many who did not. And many (both those who did and din't riot/loot) had their legal rights trampled on. This is a VERY serious issue. The freedoms and legal rights, like those guaranteed in the Charter, are at the very core of liberty and democracy and have been for centuries. So is the rule of law, and the police did not follow the rule of law in many cases as they trampled on the legal and Charter rights of many Canadians, thus breaking the law themselves (hmm something wrong with police breaking the law, isn't there?). Legal rights and the rule of law have, in their history, a purpose of protecting citizens from the tyranny of the state. When the state police abandon the law to such an extent as they did in Toronto, it should of the utmost concern to all citizens.

A Christian is someone who believes in the words from the New Testament of things that Jesus Christ purportedly said or did by those Apostles/Disciples etc. (some of whom never even met Jesus or was alive when he was) that claim these things did occur. or by those who may have edited their writings afterward.

Ron Paul is a good, smart man (although I disagree with some of his libertarian views) with strong convictions. He says what a believes in instead of saying the things that voters want to hear. That's the greatest compliment I can give a politician. I can only think of a few other politicians in the US or Canada (that aren't bat-shit crazy) like this, and they include Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich, and Jesse Ventura. Ya that's right, i can't think of any from Canada haha! There certainly does seem to at least be some people in the MSM who don't want Ron Paul as GOP nomineee.

p.s. How can Bert and Ernie be "yours" and "on your territory" if you don't even know how to spell either of their names correctly?

Luis and Maria are a married human couple on Sesame Street. From Maria's official bio: Gordon's profile: What if Luis left Maria and Gordon left Susan, then Luis and Gordon got married and had a son named Pedro. And they opened a mini-putt together? And then Maria discovered she had secret yearnings for Susan, so she seduced Susan into a lesbian night of romance, but then Big Bird discovered them doing the cha-cha in his nest and he was like "ahhhh!! what's happening??", and left to get help. Running into Bert along the way, Bert, revealing himself to be gay, explained what "gay" was to Bird and the audience (along with several gay sexual positions) via an entertaining cartoon clip.

They aren't your puppets. They belong to the Children's Television Workshop or Jim Henson's estate or whatever. But culturally they aren't more or less the of domain of heterosexuals than they are of homosexuals, bi's, transgenders, transsexuals etc. Gay people watched Sesame Street growing up too you know. I still think having them get married or be gay is a ridiculous idea, especially given pre-schoolers have little clue about sex.

Palin is uneducated and rather unintelligent. Bachmann was a lawyer (hey, gotta give some credit), but is batshit crazy. I'd rather see the VP go to a rubber boot, because at least the rubber boot can't initiate the launch codes.

Agreed. You would not be living in the US, but a lot of the crap that the US government does certainly has a significant effect on Canada and the rest of the world, the economy being paramount. And as Bill said, we have our own problems and BS in government that I highly recommend you look into before many any huge decisions. Globalization and outsourcing of jobs to developing countries is by far not just a US phenomenon. On the other hand, Canada is always looking for quality immigrants!

We don't need another Texas wingnut in the oval office. Especially a religious wingnut that doesn't understand logic or science. link

I agree with the sentiment. But it would be sometimes hard (and controversial to parents because they'd argue about it) to distinguish between parents whose kids are screaming because the parents suck or simply because they are kids. I suppose restaurants can legally do whatever they want, but i don't get bothered by kids, a bit ridiculous that some people can't stand to be around the natural behaviours of a certain age group of the population. Kids cry and scream, and sometimes you can't stop it. Kudos to the parents who are polite and bring their tikes home when they start to act up, but should they have a right to not bring them home? Tough call.

You bring up some good points in the rest of your post. However, to make any conclusions about the conclusions of the researchers we'd have to look beyond this article and actually take a look at their research study and its methods. How did they operationalize "generosity" or "sympathy" etc.?

Very well said Oleg. And nice story.

Interesting article from Postmedia News that's worth a read & isn't a long article. Intro of the article: This finding was particularly interesting:

Oleg, can I borrow 500 bucks? Just kidding. This thread is in la-la land, most people in the end deserve the debt they have taken on. Unfortunately, some people don't read the fine print, or research what they are getting into properly, or are just plain dumb. Others can also be screwed in the process of the above by the powers that be. What do you do with those who are in debt and in destitute and can't get out of that state because of the debt? Forgive the debt? Will they learn their lessons? I don't know the answer, you can make a case for it for the poorest of countries.

I hope they can work on capturing the other garbage that comes out of those coal stacks.

He is seen that way because he somewhat is. But this isn't just an Obama problem. It's also a Bush/Clinton/Bush/Reagan etc. problem, a Congress problem, and a problem of the American people. To be fair, has Canada done much different? In terms of housing and banking yes, but debt-wise not really. Canada was downgraded to AA+ status in the early 90's too. I'll say it again, in some ways this is a good thing because maybe this will make voters realize that balancing the budget and reigning in debt is something that needs to be done and has REAL consequences that will affect them, not just their grandchildren.

Asian markets are down, US futures down. I predicted stocks would go down at the start of Monday, wow i'm a genius. A true genius.

Can't find the other thread for monday markets, but i predict on Monday stocks will go down at first (who would buy right at the bell? Either they sell or just watch it), then go up and down like a yo-yo for the rest of the day. No clue on the final day tally but likely down overall.

In just about every country people have put up with deficits and debt by their state, and the state not doing much to pay it back. Why? Because spending money gets votes, and there's been little negative consequence felt by the state debt. Now citizens in some countries, including the US, are finally feeling real negative consequences from the debt and consequences they just can't pass down to their kids/grandkids. Crap has hit the fan, sometimes people to feel the bee-sting before they decide to get rid of the nest. Hopefully this debt crisis will sting enough to get voters in the US and elsewhere to pressure their govs to run balanced budgets. Not hopeful though since many people are so stupidly in debt (credit cards etc.) themselves.

But the solution to a debt-caused financial bomb is more debt!

The problems go far beyond just "Obama". Big business, Wall Street, and other interests control the President and the vast majority of Congress. They pay for the campaigns, they mobilize interested voters, they are filled with former members of US gov + current members of the US gov formerly worked for them = ownage. In other news: U.S. credit rating downgraded by Standard & Poor's Lovely, just lovely.

Even if anthropogenic global warming were not occurring, green energy would still be very desirable because it keeps the garbage that burning coal/oil/gas spews into our air, giving us smoggy cities, asthma attacks, and other delicious yummies!

Our leader-led, party-driven democracy is flawed, most people with a brain know it. Reforms to loosen party discipline are needed.

Don't see anything wrong with "Support Our Troops" stickers on gov vehicles. It's not like it says "Support Our Wars".

Yes, extra money should be spend on "gifted" and "special/disadvantaged" kids for them to realize their full potential based on their different needs from the average kid. For "gifted" kids i don't know the best solution (private school vs special classes vs skipping grades etc.), but i'm sure research has been done on the subject.