Moonlight Graham

If you're sticking to JFK's ideals, you should have tried a lot harder and sacrificed many more Americans for "liberty". "...that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship..." Look at me my chest is puffed out me a big tough American and strutting around rah rah rah, America do whatever we please! Canada is weak America strong! HULK SMASH!!!!! BRAH!!!!! Most any country can invade whatever country it pleases. But it will suffer the consequences of those actions.

I never mentioned anything about "keeping wealth" in that sentence. What about trade policies that severely take advantage of poor countries because they have little to no leverage? When you buy a t-shirt or a cup of coffee or absolutely anything, you are making a political act. But obviously you don't give a rip because getting your goods at the lowest possible prices likely trumps most other concerns (don't feel bad, most people are like this too). And this is what makes the world a better place. States and people always acting in their own self-interests. Awaiting the typically arrogant BC response...

Yup the clock is all screwy for me too. It's exactly 5 hours ahead of what it should be, and my settings are correct.

My position in the OP was just an idea i threw out in the wind. Yes, somewhat arbitrary. My position from my last post is different from the OP and not compatible with my original "idea". My overall position is that IMO it is immoral for extremely wealthy people to keep so much of their wealth while others die, suffer horribly, or otherwise cannot attain a humane standard of living due to lack of wealth & social services. It could also be argued that it is immoral for a regular joe like you and I to buy a 50" plasma HDTV while many die/suffer throughout the world from very preventable causes, when we could easily get along with a 27" TV and give the difference to the poor or development agencies. "Guilt trip"? If one's actions/inactions or those of their government are directly or indirectly responsible aka "guilty" of furthering the suffering of human beings, yes i guess that's what you'd call it. How do you legitimize it on your own mind? Do you prefer the commerce/industry/govt of your own country to secure you the very best deal at the expense of the well-being if not survival of other human beings around the planet? All the while continuing to legitimize it with how you vote and how you spend your dollars? Yup. And so does this dude.

What constitutes "poverty" is certainly relative. But i don't quite understand what you're trying to say. Please clarify. I criticize those who have billions or hundreds of millions of dollars, how is that my "benchmark"? Enough would be when a large majority of people in the world (among those who freely choose to have it) have access to basic necessities of life such as clean drinking water, subsistence caloric intake, proper sanitation, basic health care etc. Obviously some people may not be able to have this due to the politics where they live, and the policies of the west, but that is a whole other discussion. I'm the arbiter of nothing but my own opinion. You asked for it, i gave it.

I have taken time to think about this. For a ridiculously rich person (let's say a Canadian) who has more money than they can possibly spend to have that money while 1 in 10 children in Canada live in poverty and 1 in 4 aboriginal children live in poverty, and given the fact that half of the world's population lives on less than $2.50 U.S. a day (less than $1000 a year) and many in disgusting conditions where they are drinking water laced in feces and digging for food in garbage dumps...then yes i believe it is immoral.

Link Yes, of course he wasn't Mr. independent U.S. military judge Colonel Patrick Harris. Predictable, no? Who can believe any ruling coming out of this "fair trial". It's a joke. And the Harper govt doesn't give a hoot.

Typical. Did anyone expect anything different?

Except for Vietnam. Significant US casualties (but not compared to Vietnamese casualties) and they let liberty fall. They also don't seem to have much of a problem with the undemocratic Saudi Arabia, whose citizens formed the majority of the attackers on 9/11 and who form the majority of foreign fighters opposing the US in Iraq, as long as the Saudis help fill American gas tanks. Also didn't have a problem helping remove the democratic gov in Iran for the Shah for oil. The above quote is b.s. It should read "...Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty, but only as long as it advances our own self-regarding interests." All states are ultimately self-regarding in terms of foreign policy, screw this liberal bullcrap. And before you say it, no Canada is no different. And i'm sure you well know that the U.S. did not invade Iraq simply in the name of liberty and spreading liberalism/freedom.

"Avalanche", his 1st solo album, was a much better album than Underdogs, and The Audio of Being was a much better album when they were still together.

ditto. This is just the PM mouthing off. Not a decision.

LOL i just said that i hope Iraq becomes a liberal democracy, but that i am very skeptical it will happen. It's called reality. But I do hope i am wrong. I'm not rooting for violence and authoritarianism/totalitarianism.

Which countries are you speaking of. You are saying that if taxes on the very rich were raised dramatically in, say, Canada, that our democracy would corrode & be replaced by some kind of authoritarian regime? i don't see the connection.

"End of War in Iraq"...hahahahahaha It's MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! all over again. Some troops leave, yet the war marches on. As Matthew Good aptly puts it: On tuesday, 81 Iraqis were killed. and 178 wounded across the country. The war continues, newspaper headlines or not. Democracy in Iraq? Iraq has been unable to form a govt since "democratic elections" f'ed up in March. Whatever happens with this current govt situation matters little, as civil war in the country is likely at some point. It would be great to see Iraq turn into a legit liberal democracy, but like Afghanistan i'm not really that confident. What kind of "democracy" is it if you need occupying foreign permanent military bases & a massive "embassy" to keep the democracy from teetering into chaos. We'll check back in 20 years & count how many chickens have hatched. Glad to see that democratic "domino effect" of Bush's working so well in the middle east , about as accurate a prediction as the "domino effect" feared from a communist Vietnam. Ah well, a crapload of civilians died in Iraq so a crapload of people in the U.S. and elsewhere could make a few bucks. In who knows how many U.S. congressional districts bullets, guns, missiles, equipment, body armour, replacement parts for tanks/aircraft/ships etc. were manufactured so the military-industrial machine could keep churning and make America lots of jobs and $$$. The war in Iraq continues despite what your CNN/FOX anchor tells us, and it remains a complete farce to a public too stupid to realize it and a fourth estate too cowardly & headline-hungry to report it. As Matthew Good again points out: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!! The war is over, yet the casualties continue.

Sums it up nicely kimmy.

And to those who don't, they can go eff themselves. These and other generations helped build & defend this great county we now live in and whose fruits we all enjoy.

I can see part of both sides of the WTC mosque debate, but this is just ignorant, hateful, and hilariously hypocritical bigotry at it's worst: A new "Ten Commandments"? Alright!!

I don't care if it's boring or not. It's incredibly important. For Canadians to have no idea where they came from or have little clue about their country is disgusting. It has destroyed Canadian nationalism in this country. Both of my grandfathers fought in WWII, i don't want their efforts forgotten by future generations. My mother was an army brat and went to school in the U.S. for a few years growing up. She said the U.S. schools just hammer the U.S. history and civics into students. Americans are proud of their history and proud of their country, and feel a strong attachment to their past. They are much more educated about their own history and politics than Canadians. This is one thing i admire about the U.S. compared to Canada.

Yes. I'd say no less than 95% of the movies Americans and Canadians watch are the same. The movie industry here is crap. You might get 1 Canadian-made movie hit mainstream theaters once every few years, and even then they usually bring in mediocre sales. Last ones were probably Passchendaele and Bon Cop, Bad Cop. We do make some very good documentaries though, but they don't really hit the mainstream theaters much & i usually pick them up on DVD. Pretty much, yes. At least compared to U.S. politics/history. I actually find it interesting, but i'm a history/poli nut and i'd gather most Canadians don't find it interesting.

Mostly agree. I think this is a good attempt to add more democracy to the Parliamentary system. Refreshing. I'm also skeptical of what kind of impact this will have on policy, but i'm optimistic it will have some kind of influence & it really can't hurt from what i can see.

With help from the CRTC, there's lots of quality Canadian tv programming and Canadian music on the airwaves. Pretty sure the CRTC has no hand in what movie theaters can/can't show, so it is smaller Canadian films with meager budgets competing for a spot in one of the 10 screens at your local cinema against Harry Potter, Avatar, Borat etc. Money talks, so theaters screen what sells to the young movie crowd. There are a good amount of quality Canadian tv movies and mini-series' though. I highly recommend the tv flick "Terry" about Terry Fox made in 2005 if you can find it, they even put it on DVD and i found it at Best Buy. woops sorry i messed up on the "invading countries" stuff. But still, pies in the face aren't as interesting as the JFK assassination, and stealth fighters are a lot cooler than 30 y/o aircraft.

That's kinda how i feel. The community centre/mosque being built so close to the WTC seems very much like these particular Muslims are just thumbing their nose at non-Muslim New Yorkers/Americans. As for Islam, i'm not a huge fan of any religion, but Islam is probably the most f'ed up of all the major world religions. But i still make a huge distinction between the extremists that kill civilians and the majority of peaceful Muslims.

For most Canadians, yes you're right. Probably most of this has to do with the fact that U.S. politics and history is a part of U.S. pop culture, which Canadians are greatly exposed. TV yes, but Hollywood movies are huge also in educating Canadians on U.S. politics/history. Unlike TV where Canadians watch both American and Canadians shows/channels, the movies Canadians watch are virtually identical to those that Americans watch. The very rare Canadian-made flick will make some noise in cinemas, but i can't name any popular films about the Vimy Ridge, Canada in WWII, the FLQ crisis, Quebec referendums etc., but just like Americans we inhale the tons of U.S.-centric Hollywood flicks about WWII & Vietnam, & all those Oliver Stone & Michael Moore political movies etc. Compound this with the pathetic lack of Canadian history taught in schools (I can barely remember any history taught in elementary school, and maybe only 4 courses throughout grades 7-12). The first time i ever heard of Samuel de Champlain or Jacque Cartier was in a grade 7 class. It's quite pathetic, and it's no wonder Canadian nationalism is so weak. It must also be said that U.S. politics are admittedly more exciting that Canadian politics. PM's don't get assassinated and we don't invade countries or drop A-bombs.

Wrong. You keep criticizing Canadians who compare Canadian politics to American politics. You're hung up on it.

Similar to how it is seemingly impossible for some Americans to communicate a domestic political concept without reference to Nazi/fascist Germany or communist Russia/China/Cuba? Get over it man.