August1991

What's that? One of the main motivators of science is simple curiousity. Some scientists believe in God and others don't. Do you mean that only religion can provide morality? Our non-secular legal system is concerned with justice. Very good post, Cartman. It's made me think. I agree, except for... Tawak, the story here I think is really about friendship.IME, a church provides people with a place to meet other people. Now, church-going people tand to have their own set views but they also try to be "good Christians". This means doing "good works" - as they view that idea. Now, it worked in this case. But I'm reminded of the Bible-thumper who has the young stutterer and older paraplegic come up on stage, stand behind a curtain and then invokes the Lord's Power to Cure. Then, there is a loud crash. "Tell us Tommy, what has happened." "Mr-rs Wh-wh-ithers ju-just fell-ll d-down."

This is a serious issue. I suspect that newspapers are facing a steady drop in their circulation. People who used to buy a daily paper, now get content from the Internet. The Internet makes basic reporting of events available as well as a plethora of editorials and opinion pieces. (This forum acts as a trailerpark version... ) What the Internet does not provide is a good editor. Many Internet readers are left with whatever Google News provides. It apparently has a weird algorithm in place of a human editor to choose the position of news links. Unfortunately, there is only one French language version for France. (There are English language versions for the US, Canada, India, UK and Australia.) Clearly, the newspaper business will be radically different in 20 years. (Conrad Black has said as much and this explains his sale of NP and decision to get out of the business.) I think the best solution would be to combine an ISP with a newspaper and sell it as a package deal. (Is that why Bell bought the G&M?) Another solution would be to charge on a per-article-view basis (ie. 2 cents per view) and these charges would be added to the ISP monthly bill. The third solution is to bundle content with advertising. This solution has the advantage that advertising could be targetted to a specific clientele. The article linked above is right about one thing, I suspect. Current newspaper managers are confused about the Internet. The downloadable pdf versions I've tried are really clunky. The idea of combining home delivery and Internet subscription strikes me as dumb, particularly when each is priced separately. In Canada now, the only daily paper with free material on-line is the Toronto Star. In the US, the New York Times is still free. Of course, not all the print content is available on-line. On the other hand, I still like a printed copy of The Economist in my hand. Their site's search feature is great.

I would not expect many on this forum to know who Richard Martineau is, nor even to know the newspaper Voir. Voir is a free distribution, French language Montreal weekly with mostly listings/reviews of cultural events. In Vancouver, the equivalent is Georgia Straight and in New York, Village Voice. (Does Calgary have such?) Richard Martineau has been writing for ages and used to be young and alternative. Now he's, what's the current term, progressive? In fact, Martineau was always a bit of an iconoclast. Anyway, I post this link for those who can read French. Other than defending liberty of expression, the article is interesting for Martineau's attempt to find out what is being said in Montreal mosques. Ricahrd Martineau

Huh? Do you people still use Fahrenheit? Like, ulp, the Americans?

Cato Paper Leftists who are bad at math dismiss the Cato Institute (as some posters here dismiss the Fraser Institute). You've been warned.

Boondoggle's got the Liberal government as witting members of the conspiracy. Caesar, can you say anything good about the US?

Cartman, MapleSyrup, I hate to rain on your parade. The evidence is rather dramatic that when the State takes over child-rearing, the birth rate drops. You should really ask yourself why that is. At the same time, you might ask yourself why people have children. Perhaps this is a good thing. It has been argued that the world has too many people, not too few. That is utter nonsense, Eureka. People have never been as well off as they are now. Think of the conditions in which your two grandmothers raised their children. I find mildly amusing that while you object to employees of a corporation taking care of kids, you seem to have no objection to unionized civil servants doing it. At least McDonald's employees make an effort to be nice and they offer salads. Postal workers have a tendency to go, well, postal.

Boondoggle, you seem absolutely intent on blaming the US (or the West) for the madness in Iraq. You somehow suggest that the US provoked Saddam into invading Kuwait. Then, you suggest that US imposed sanctions crippled Iraq's economy and impoverished its people. The US then invaded Iraq because it wants to give Iraqi oil to Halliburton and establish military bases there. According to you Boondoggle, all the US actions have been planned in advance with, I gather, the purpose of enriching Halliburton shareholders. You're a man on a mission, Boondoggle. You are going to prove by as many weblinks as you can find that the US=evil and Saddam=innocent bystander. Boondoggle, you are a garden variety of conspiracy theory leftist. It would help your case if you were a trifle more objective. BTW, have you seen a chart for Halliburton share prices? Also, provide a link for the Kissinger quote:

Restaurants sometimes charge a cork fee. But in general, they are happy to sell the food.On one hand, the government loses tax revenue with this idea (since wine sold in restaurants is taxed at a higher rate). On the other hand, customers can take a specific bottle they prefer rather than be restricted to the restaurant's selection. Bear in mind that in Quebec, local corner stores can sell beer and wine. The restaurants offering BYOW are usually in the downtown with many little stores nearby. I've stepped out of a restaurant to buy a bottle of wine. Canada has a truly bizarre system for selling booze. I don't think any other country does it our way. Well, the UK used to have weird pub hours, the Scandinavians also restrict hours of sale and India has dry states.

There are horror stories but in fact the system works reasonably well.The problems arise elsewhere: First, Quebec had to take all money previously given to families with children and put it into this child care system. In effect, the State has now taken over the role of raising young children. There is a strong incentive to send children to day care. IOW, families with stay at home kids pay taxes but get no benefit. Second, child care workers are in the process of developing a union and negotiating salary increases. They are a monopolist with access to their clients' bank accounts. The child care system mirrors the health and education system. The difference may be that only children can go to day care and schools. The clientele is limited. In the case of health, the clientele is limitless. Anyone can go to the doctor for anything. Lastly, the evidence is not good for countries where the state raises yound children. Birth rates tend to fall and this is another issue in Quebec.

I would agree if you mean the following:The very first residents in the condo building obtained their apartments in arbitrary fashion (property rights). These initial owners established a common management committee to assess fees and maintain the entry (government). All subsequent residents would have to purchase an apartment from a selling owner and abide by the established rules of the condo. In this case, is the government coercive? Not really, because an unhappy resident is free to sell and leave. ---- IMV, the idea of coercive government arises in the question: why would an individual voluntarily sign a long term contract to stay in the condo building? That is, why would an individual voluntarily submit to a contract that may not be beneficial in the future? The answer may lie in a strategy of commitment.

This technology also has a civilian use. It could be used for Mach 10 passenger jets. Scottish paper

Greg, the topic is obviously popular to MapleLeaf posters. Why close it? For heaven's sakes, look at who posted on the thread discussing computers. After all, other Canadian political fora have such helpful computer threads. Greg, if you don't realize this, and prefer to close the topic, I'm sure your patrons will understand the concept and be willing to discuss it.

Me?Please be more explicit. Greg, your post imitates a message from the Catholic Church (circa 1300) or the CPSU (circa 1930).

Greg, I posted a suggestion about the organization of this forum in public in September. I have still seen no reply nor comment from the moderator. The first reaction came from other posters a few days ago. Greg, I still don't know what you think of my suggestion.

Greg, I agree and disagree. Side One: MS starts crazy threads and makes crazy posts - these are sometimes off topic. Side Two: But maybe I'm wrong. Greg, maybe you're wrong. MS gives life to this forum. S/he has every right to do so. These posts are a benefit to us all. Bottom line? Maple Syrup has every right to post here. I would even happily pay taxes to cover the cost of servers and bandwidth. BTW, where does this Forum get its money? (How do you pay this rare bandwidth? How much are we talking?)

We need a moderator who checks the fora daily, and moves new threads into the proper category.

Goatfucker? As much or worse has been used on this forum to describe another poster. (I once saw "scoop chute" - translate that into Arabic and imagine the reaction). Yet, no one was killed, nor even threatened. Free speech is not the issue at all. There are some people who live in a different world than posters to Maple Forum. In this other world, people believe that if it is Sunday, you must not work. You must pray. Or if it is Friday, you must not work. Remember the purple dinosaur? IOW, we do not face Stockwell Day. We face a fully Stocked Idiocy. How should we confront this new branch of nonsense?

TS, I think Hugo is as thick as a brick. Perhaps I'm wrong. His grammar and spelling are impeccable. In the past (200 years ago), someone signalled their intelligence by their correct spelling and grammar. But maybe in FutureWorld, good grammar and spelling will no longer signal intelligence. They will merely signal "rote learning education".

For Gawdsakes, what do you mean by "outperforming"? I've always thought Canada outperformed the US in seasons. We get a real winter and a real summer.

All Muslims pray in Arabic. Speak Urdu or Farsi or "slang" at home. But repeat prayers in classical Arabic. "Halloweth be His name... Thy Kingdom come..." All Catholics used to sit though Mass in Latin. Go figure. Figure? Imagine the complexity of hip-hop language, multiply by 100, and then imagine how easy it is to be excluded because you "don't get it".

Good question, MS.I did not follow carefully this enquiry but I was aware of it. It cost a fortune, I gather. But IMV, the benefit is greater. (It may be true that "justice" was served and people got "closure". From what I understand, the enquiry was thorough and detailed. Am I wrong?) The benefit in fact arises elsewhere: They can appeal. But in fact, the message is already out to the cops. "Avoid the hassle."No police officer in Saskatchewan will treat a drunk Indian in such a manner in the future. That's the benefit.

Neal, I realize that Internet Forums rely on smiley faces to indicate sarcasm, and irony. I hoped I could achieve the same with mere words. I guess I failed.IOW, Neal, I did not mean that Holland is to blame for this. Instead, I meant that any individual who stands up to a bully may possibly suffer. A peculiarity of Islam is that it arrived after the ability to write down methodically what people say. Hence, there is a definitive version of the Koran. And the words of Mohammed, as reported in the Koran, are considered to be the words of God. He was the witness, or the messenger.A very, very rough equivalent exists almost in English with the King James Version and Shakespeare. For Arabic speakers, true language stopped with the Koran - it contains all the grammar, words and spelling necessary for existence. It is called classical Arabic. You cannot imagine the frenzied debate that can ensue from a misquote of the Koran. ---- To me, Galileo and Voltaire were important people in World Civilization. I could note too Copernicus. They put together what we now call the "Scientific Method". It amounts to being an "intelligent sceptic". In too many countries, people are clueless about this. At most, young people realize that it's cool "to get it". I hope I am not straying too far from the thread's intent but it seems to me that, western education à la Canadienne will probably make many young immigrants sceptically ask why they should marry some one from back home. This is an old issue.

My first instinct reading the G&M article (thanks TS) was to think: the further away something is, the less people know about it. IOW, Canadians are simply giving their honest opinion about something faraway that doesn't concern them: "be neutral". In addition, I thought Canadians are behaving as any small guy looking at the start of barroom brawl. Don't take sides until you know who is going to win. Once again: "Be neutral." Then I read Gottlieb's speech (thanks Stoker for the link) and I thought again. Then I considered Neal's comment: [side Note: Trudeau hasn't been PM for 20 years. At one point, will people stop blaming him?]---- Americans (both South and North) are largely isolationists. When was the last time anyone heard a major peace Middle East initiative starting in Uruguay? What is Chile's position on Israel? In the same sense, the US is also isolationist - or at least, it was up to WW II. English Canada is the exception in the New World. They went to war in 1914 and 1939. Young Canadian men - one generation away from King and Country - were transplanted Brits. Pearson was certainly of this style. In the past 30 years or so, Quebecers have taken a more preponderant place in Canadian politics. (Before 1965, they were lucky to get a job as a driver in Ottawa.) Quebecers are typical "Americans", or New Worlders. They are as isolationist as Mexicans. Unlike Australia, the UK, the Dutch, Canada is not part of the "Coalition of the Willing". This was Chretien's personal decision and it was approved by a tremendous majority of French-Canadians. In fact, many will say that this decision alone changed partly their opinion of Chretien. I have often wondered what the foreign policy of an independant Quebec would be. I'd suspect Sweden and Mexico in French.

Thanks for the tip about the anti-virus programme, Kimmy. I scan for viruses every so often but I don't run it all the time. Another useful programme is HijackThis which has solved numerous problems on various computers I've had to fix. I also use a programme called RegSeeker (for registry clean up), another called Process Explorer (details all the services running) and Mike Lin's start up package (provides better control of the startup). Every so often I run BootVis (speeds up start up). These are all free and can be found through Google. I have been using both Mozilla Firefox and IE for about a month or so. I agree that ActiveX (and Java) seem to be the problems in IE. You can control how IE handles these through the Internet Options. By the way, a great site for Windows tweaking is Black Viper. Does anyone use Linux?