Moonlight Graham

I never said anything about the CRTC so i have no idea what you're talking about. Depends on what you mean by "free". Freedom of speech and the press, yes. But limits on those too (ie: CRTC and "hate speech" laws. But whatever, i never said i'd want to ban a Fox News North, i just said that its big bro down south is propaganda truth-twisting pile of garbage. But if people want it here that's their right.

Having a conservative news channel in Canada would be fine, great in fact. It's healthy to get different viewpoints on issues. However, i wouldn't want something like FOX News. Too much B.S. and twisting truth. Have people on there like Lowell Green, a conservative who criticizes left-wing policies in Canada but is well informed & doesn't spread complete B.S. Canwest is conservative-leaning though (the newspapers more so than Global TV i find) so it's not like the right doesn't get a voice in Canada.

But they DO have power. They don't need to hold elected office to influence legislation & politics. They influence public opinion and which issues are talked about. Glenn Beck & Bill O'Reilly together rake in over 5 million viewers daily (which includes the repeat of O'Reilly's show at 11pm that has higher ratings than Olbermann's primetime show!). Beck and O'Reilly are arguably the 2 biggest political pundits in the US. As for MLK, he was a proponent of non-violent resistance & i know he certainly was much against the Vietnam War. But the truth doesn't matter much if people listen to Beck and then believe whatever he says rather than stick their noses in some history books. Anyone who thought Beck was an idiot wouldn't be listening to him or reading all his books. People like Beck (like any pundit) have the power to change/influence opinions, and make them believe "facts" even if they are not so.

re: a republic of Canada: In principle i support the idea of a republic, and in principle i support the idea of banishing the monarchy from our government. However, unfortunately in reality these things would likely cause more headaches than not if implemented. A republic could easily cause parliamentary gridlock if the PM and president were from different parties and the president was given any real power, among other problems (such as re-opening the Constitution, which has caused havoc in this country when this has historically been done) Having an elected Senate would also cause many problems, re-opening the Constitution and parliamentary gridlock among them. It would be nothing short of a mess, although at first glance it seems like a desirable idea. There's a reason why we haven't instituted an elected Senate yet. There's also tons of academic literature examining on the topic of Senate reform if anyone is curious about the possible risks/options. Here's any excellent recent overview by Jack Stilborn commissioned by the federal gov: http://www2.parl.gc.ca/content/LOP/ResearchPublications/prb0742-e.htm

The difference is that the above were elected to office, Duffy and Wallin not. But at least Duffy & Wallin were in the news/journalism business, so they probably 100% uninformed on issues. They are both dumb appointments, but i could think of far worse...like Wayne Gretzky or Polkaroo.

I don't know what to make of intent of the rally. Were Beck/Palin sincerely trying to feed and echo off the civil rights movement of MLK, or were they using that date to give the rally more controversy and media-attention (if so, it worked!)? I think it may be a combo of the 2. It doesn't matter the exact number of the crowd, the aerial shots show a big crapload & that's what matters. Glenn Beck is a hyper-active intellectual lightweight bordering on lunacy, but this doesn't frighten me. What is frightening is that such a mass of people show up to hear him speak at the rally & listen intently. What's frightening is that 2.5 million or so viewers tune in everyday to hear what this guy has to say. This man has a lot of power. It's disturbing when so many people tune in to watch a TV channel to get their "news" when it is essentially a propaganda machine where all information goes through a ideological spin-cycle before it reaches viewership. Left-wing propaganda like MSNBC isn't much better. It doesn't so much bother me that something like FOX News exists, rather that so many people embrace it & fill their minds with its garbage. Similarly disturbing is the large political support for another intellectual lightweight such as Sarah Palin. Like her a commentator? Fine. Support her for POTUS? I fear for this world. It's also a good thing signs were discouraged. Nothing like nutjobs waving racist hate to bring down a rally held in the shadow of "the speech".

Just too funny. Linky

Are your fingers broken or something? Search yourself for yourself.

Dunno about the Plame leak stuff, but i agree with Shady's general argument here. Mr. Wikileaks should not be posting these things without very careful consideration & investigation of the effects/impacts a given leak may have. He didn't do this in this case, he just plopped all this stuff on the internet and now the lives of an untold number of Afghan civilians who've helped us are at risk, and Afghans will be more reluctant of helping NATO in the future thanks to this bozo. Some good has come of the leak, but much more bad will come of it IMO.

Lictor, you see things as you want to see them, not as they really are. You make up crap or dig for other people's crap in order to legitimize your own anger and hatred. I can spot your posts a mile away because of the unique warpedness of your mind. Culture is social. It is rooted in your environment, in traditions, customs, geography, experiences etc. that you learn and/or live within. I think race can't be 100% discounted as a minor factor in some cases, but i agree with Bonam.

Where did this come from??? Why these cities? Have any stats or polls to back this up in any way whatsoever??? What an odd, sweepingly generalized statement.

There is no excuse for the attack. People have the right to protest what they feel is wrong. This "embolden" stuff is garbage.

I love classic rock. But man, i never could get much into Rush. Most of songs just don't do much for me, and the lead singer's voice doesn't help. They go off and do some weird jazzy stuff.

Don't authorities keep watch on radical websites/forums etc.? They may have followed up on them based on online activies. We'll find out eventually i'm sure in courtroom. There may be more people they are tracking and more arrests to come, so i don't they may not want to tip their hand right now. ie: They arrested a 3rd guy today in London.

How has our govt encouraging different cultural groups to maintain their culture in Canada contributed to you existing or not? As i believe someone else noted, there is a difference between immigration and multiculturalism.

LOL LOL LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Omg the funniest thing of all-time in the history of politics!

According to your article link, these must be fashion terrorists?

In terms of being educated/informed on the true motivations/actions/ramifications of their government's foreign policy and on international relations/global politics as a whole, the vast majority yes. I was a smart lad but knew poop-all at 18 and, politically, thought mostly what my parents thought. That clubhouse is a big one.

I`ve seen on news sites some comments where people say a game depicting the Afghanistan war is `too soon`. Well, "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" came out last year and is one of the biggest selling games of all-time, and had levels of military gun-fighting taking place in Afghanistan, not sure if the Taliban was involved though. The game is only letting you play as the Taliban in the online multi-player mode, and in games like these (ie: Call of Duty) in my experience you are much more concentrated on shooting the other team in the face than having any realization of what "team" you're on, whether US, Britain, Chinese, Soviets etc. It's really a small issue. It would be much different if you were actually playing on a scripted single-player campaign and going on missions killing NATO soldiers or civilians as the Taliban.

Heck, maybe it might even have a positive influence. Instead of the usual glorification of western military gore (which i play on Xbox Live!), the people playing it will get a different perspective on the war and the "enemy".

Why? They both sign up for the same bologna. And if he/she signed up 2 years ago (18th bday), they should be well aware of the post-9/11 deal. But of course they probably aren't aware, as they are only 18 y/o.

Hey, i think Obama forgot to tell everyone about all the private mercs still in Iraq contracted by the US gov. The 50,000 troops left are to "help train Iraqi troops". BAHA!!! I'm sure no more Iraqis will be killed by the US gov now that the "combat troops" are gone

Which i'm sure was a direct order from God and/or Jesus. Paul kinda seems like a sexist jerk.

yuppers it seems fixed. thanks

i may be taking a course about Islam this fall, and i'm sure it will deal with Sharia law. OMG!!!!!