kengs333

And shootings are very uncommon, which means that these kinds of things are inspired from outside of the culture. Both in this case and the one a year ago, Columbine was such an inspiration.

Limitless applications is no better. Humanity has existed for how many millenia, yet only in the last three or so centuries has there been a need for "scientific advancement". Sure, science improves our lives in the short term, but what if in the end it brings about our demise or spawns uncontrolable problems (superviruses) that make life miserable. As is stands we have a standard of living that is excellent--need we really advnce beyond this point?

Or for that matter, should taxpayer money be used to support people who make a living by using gun violence posting disparaging remarks on Internet message boards--about gun violence, ironically enough--about their fellow citizens who are less fortunate?

Yeah, but the notions for this kind of gun violence comes from Hollywood movies and American school-shooting like Columbine. It's not much different than Muslims using suicide bombings as their choice of tactic: it becomes culturally ingrained. And there is no denying that much of the western world takes its cues from the USA, unfortunately.

Well, no, Canada did respect its own laws, but Canada since the 1960s is a very different place. When a new generation comes along with a different ideological outlook, they go about changing what happened in the past. It doesn't mean that Canada at the time was not acting lawfully, it means that they the future generation disagrees with the laws or how they were interpreted. Sure they were about education. The Indians were taught how to read and write, and behave in accordance with modern Canadian society. The Canadian government realized that the standard of living for Indians was poor and one solution was that education was the answer. It was part of a wider initiative throughout Canada to make Canada a modern and literate society. A modern and progressive society cannot be created if some citizens can't communicate properly, if some of its citizens live in a constant state of moral depravity. Please refrain from personal attacks and mudslinging.

Limitless implications are a good thing? Remember all of the great things that TNT was supposed to bring us? I don't think that massive artillery bombardments on the Western Front during World War One were in mind...

A very tragic situation, and another example of how American "culture" is having a negative effect on the rest of the world: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/09/23/f...h-shooting.html

Honestly, with Pakistan having the terrorist problems that it does, if I were a security guard and a big truck came crashing into the security booth and a small explosion went off, I would think that something was up and would be running for the hill, not grabbing a fire extinguisher and trying to put out the subsequent fire.

This is such a grievously ignorant and insensitive statement, I can't believe that people can still think in such terms. This is also why the Conservatives habitually have the problems that they do with their candidates, because many also possess this kind of mindset now that the "progressive" aspect of the ideology has been conveniently discarded.

It's very relevant, in fact. The Canadian government does respect its own laws when it has dealt with Six Nations and other natives throughout it's history. When Canada created laws allowing for natives to receive an education, it enforced those laws in an effort to provide for the betterment of illiterate Indians, yet now Canada is being criticized for respecting its owns laws (by natives who are now literate and educated). Canada had a right to provide Indians the same educational benefits as other Canadians--to deny these Indians an education would have been a violation of their fundamental human rights. Moreover, it could be argued that "elders" who wanted to keep their children out of school so that they could live lives as illiterate hunter gatherers were essentially attempting to deny these children their human rights.

In order for people to be employed, there has to be work available. Not everyone is suited for the work that is available. The type of work that people on welfare are likely to be employed in is the type of work that always seems to be being exported or subject to cost cutting, etc. There will never be the possibility of full emplyment in this country--this is simply the reality of the capitalist system that you love. We do not live in a society like that of a century or two ago where someone with five dollars in their pocket can walk off a boat and get free land and good credit to start farming, or can walk into a factory and ask for and receive work, or start up a business from scratch. Unless we have a government that is willing to protect Canadian jobs and to seriously invest in job creating in cities, then there is really no legitimate reason for complaining about the unemployed.

The problem is, however, undeniably coming from the black community, and getting worse in a city that is now about 50% foreign born.

Ever heard of a concept called logic? When making an argument, in order for it to be valid it has to present a logical relationship between evidence and conclusion. Your assertion that there is higher economic disparity in the US as opposed to Canada with your apparent claim that you've disproved it ("So much for...") is not valid. Why? Well, your claim that "the rate of property crime... is about the same (or lower)" is: a) inconsistant with the OP, who referred to violent and gun crime. you provide no supporting facts/statistics c) you assume that because you say it is so, it is the truth Dawkins, with no "g". I'd ask you for evidence, but we've already seen how you operate.

Most people on welfare don't receive enough to get by, so basically you are just advocating for an increase in welfare then? Actually, people on welfare are probably not "leaching" all that much from society given that people on welfare tend to spend their money locally and probably are keeping local businesses in poor areas of a respective city from going under, hence creating American-style ghettos of utter poverty and dispair. Moreover, most people on welfare if truly physically capable would gladly work if suitable work was available, but in Ontario, for instance, so many manufacturing and industrial jobs have been exported overseas, that it's becoming much more difficult to find work. Our economy can't simply function as a service industry, and not everyone is suited for that kind of work. Moreover, enough research has been conducted to show that increased poverty is a necessary and deliberate product of a capitalistic economic system. If you support a party that supports free market capitalism then you are supporting a government that tacitly approves of the kind of poverty and hence welfare "leaching" that you complain about. Of course you'll deny this given the limited scope of your ideological worldview.

Interesting. Didn't you just say the other day that members of Six Nations aren't Canadians? Don't members of Six Nations when they show up in court (on the criminal side, that is) claim that Canadian (and Ontario) law has no jurisdiction over them? I have no connection with McHale, and you constant claims that I do just shows how detached you are and/or how you are trying to hijack, flame and lower this discussion to a mere mudslinging match. I believe you have been instructed again on how to conduct yourself properly, and I hope that you choose to abide by those rules. Some of the things you write make you come across as a complete fool and one can only hope that you don't conduct yourself like this in public.

Funnily enough, none of them are McHale. During an election, the media thrives on this kind of stuff, yet for some reason, they haven't (or can't) done (do) anything to McHale (yet). Whatever the case; I'm certainly no defender of McHale. I think there may be more to him than he's letting on, so I'm not going to side with anyone who I'm not sure about. This is a lesson learned in part from my past support of Native issues, when I blindly accepted their racism and extortion tactics as acceptable recourses for getting "justice". Not to mention the overidealized and outright lies these people perpetuate about their "culture" and history.

Are you still in high school?

You know what, the real underlying reasons for this problem are not--and never will be--addressed. First of all, cities by their very structure and nature are in part to blame. Secondly, economic disparity (the Cons support a capitalist system that creates the problem then without a sense of hypocracy insist on draconian measures to clean up the mess). Thirdly, a city's demographic plays a role. Cities have always been the centre of crime, social breakdown and decline in a society not at war. I think Canada was fortunate to have come from a British and Christian tradition that instilled values in citizens to be generally non-violent and respectful of others, even when commiting a crime. But with the breakdown of our society thanks to a number of factors (of course Dawkins and his ilk will never feel an ounce of guilt) that is bound to change. American gun culture and social issues are overtaking Canada and throwing more money at the problem and building more prisons won't solve the problem.

Please refresh my memory: how much did the Cons spend between June and September of this year? Also, according to Harper the economy is doing just fine and we're not in the same bind the US is in. So if your leader is claiming everything is okay, then why are you suddenly all concerned about the economy now that the Liberals have produced a platform that includes spend not on the military in the billions of dollars range. Let's face it: the Liberals are the ones who rescued the country from the dysfunctional spending habits of the the Mulroney government, and I'm quite certain that they will be more inclined to spend responsibly.

This is beyond mere childishness. Do you honestly believe that you are doing SN any good by mouthing off like this?

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLO How much more of this are the Cons going to be able to take before they implode????

Oh, yeah, the Americans never screw us--if they get things there way...

lol. you're a joke. you may want to change/delete the word m----tory.

Quite frankly, Europe should be our key partner: we should be looking to Europe and not the US or Asia, or anywhere else. The US is a mess, culturally, socially, economically, and it's best that we distance ourselves from it again, regardless of its proximity.

If the Bloc suffers the setback that it apparently will in this election, I'm wondering if this will finally convince them to run candidates outside of Quebec. If we have to be governed by a regional party, I would prefer it from a party based in cultured and historic Quebec than from the Wild West, which is the case at the moment. Aside from Duceppe's strident antipathy towards our monarchy, he does seem like a decent guy with some good ideas (high speed rail), and I appreciate the Quebecer's appreciation of and concern for heritage, something that the rest of Canada lacks.