tango

Racism is not 'loving your neighbour as yourself'.

I was very disappointed too, to see that it was Jewish students who hurled the first insults, before even allowing him to say a word. That's too bad.

You are reaching back to find racist insults to hurl ... Palestinians have not engaged in that, by agreement, since 2005.

That's simply not true. However, some people are having difficulty with the manner in which Israel is implementing the so-called Jewish state.

No I never said that. I said all of the poor are poor, but for some it is a temporary condition. I never said that either. I believe those requiring assistance, and those in minimum wage jobs should be paid enough that they can live without hunger. Currently we punish them for being less able than most of us by paying them less than is required to live in good health. I also believe in a guaranteed annual income for everyone, and it should be well above poverty level. The 'means-testing' required for our current social safety net is a red tape boondoggle that consumes billions of our dollars, and that money could be spent instead guaranteeing that every Canadian can live without hunger. The obsession of some with demanding that the poor prove that they are 'deserving' costs us far too much money. http://www.progressive-economics.ca/2006/0...-annual-income/ Senator Hugh Segal: A guaranteed annual income or basic income is the concept of a floor income provided on a continual basis varying on family size, age, and other sources of income. Now, more than 20 years since Macdonald’s recommendation, the newly released report by the National Council of Welfare paints a scathing picture of the assistance programs currently available in Canada to our neediest Canadians. It concludes that those on welfare were actually worse off in 2005 than they have been since the late 1980s when the council began tracking the numbers. According to the report, 1.7 million of our fellow Canadians are forced to rely on welfare; more than 500,000 of these people are children. ... For more than 30 years, I have been a relatively lonely Conservative proponent for a guaranteed annual income, or a basic income floor. I do not believe that, in a country such as Canada, fellow citizens must live so far below what we consider a poverty line that they are unable to provide the basic necessities of shelter, food and clothing for themselves and their children. And based on the current allowances provided by the welfare system, I also refuse to accept that people purposely choose to avoid employment in order to subsist on such a paltry income. More here... http://www.thestar.com/News/article/188196

bs The only thing hampered by the unions is Harper's union-bashing. Concessions from the workers have absolutely no effect on the comnpanies' ability to do business.

Bush is a Texan, a southern 'oil man', not a "Northeastern conservative" financier. Bush is no longer a political opponent at all, and he never was one of mine as I'm Canadian. Yes the WTC it is the work of monsters ... sociopaths, actually, whether Al Quaeda or American. And I think you will find some support for the possibility that he was surrounded by them. Do the names Cheney and Rove ring a bell? All that's required to be a sociopath is to have no conscience, and they cannot be detected in ordinary interaction. http://community.marketwatch.com/groups/us...paths-our-world To help understand this peculiar situation, I have repeatedly recommended that us ordinary folks read a book by Dr Martha Stout, entitled: The Sociopath Next Door: 1 in 25 ordinary Americans secretly has no conscience and can do anything they want without feeling guilty. ... Some professionals believe that a disproportionate number of politicians and corporate executives are sociopaths, drawn to power like a moth to a flame. We have no problem in accepting that Hitler, Stalin, bin Laden, and hundreds of others guilty of murdering multitudes of innocent ordinary people are sociopaths. But when it comes to our own leaders, somehow we cannot accept that many of them are driven by similar forces we're not able to feel nor understand. How many times have you wondered how such extremists imagine they can get away with their aberrant behavior? It's because you have a conscience, and they do not. Certainly, GwB, Cheney, Rove & Co, along with their NeoCON string pullers, fit the definition. Daily involved in murder, not one of them has ever expressed sincere feelings of guilt nor remorse for their actions. Sociopaths cannot. A sociopath can look you right in your eye, and tell you lies without blinking. It happens to us every day. Usually sociopaths hide themselves behind a pretense of being able to feel what the rest of us feel. Their very survival depends on being able to blend in, by imitating what they see around them, but cannot themselves feel, ever. Those most successful are those who con us best. Sociopaths are drawn to positions of power, of course, and we have no screening mechanism to keep them out of politics that I am aware of. 1 in 25 ... 1 in every classroom ... think back people ... do you know who the sociopath in your classroom was? They might be the bullies ... especially the sly and cunning bullies who get others to do their dirty work for them. It's naive to think we don't have them in politics in Canada too. It's disheartening to me when people de-humanize the defenceless poor, as has also been done on this discussion board. You are not seriously suggesting Bush had altruistic motives for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq?

Your words, not mine, nor my thoughts. I have no problem supporting Israel ... always have done so. I do have a problem with their recent behaviour towards Gaza, yes. It's important to make the distinction, rather than try to put words in people's mouths and create discrimination where none exists.

Irelevant.

My point is it was a controversial decision even with the attack on the WTC, and certainly the American people would not have agreed to the war without the WTC attack. So there was good motivation for Bush to engineer mass destruction and maximum death.

North America itself migrated here. What's your point again? Fact is, there were existing civilizations here but the Pope deemed them non-Christian savages, and declared their land "unoccupied". We recognize now the fallacy of that decision, both in humanity and in law. The Doctrine of Discovery "Terra nullius" no longer holds any legal power. And likewise the genocide-for-land that it spawned is recognized.

You are intentionally ignoring the fact that you may have the ability to do so, but others may not, due to a variety of factors. That's disingenuous. A fallacy that you are promoting, that all Canadians have the ability you have. Simply not true. At any given time, about 20% of Canadians live in poverty. For most of them it is temporary, but for some it is unending. At any given time in our schools, 20% of children are deemed to be at risk of academic failure due to learning disabilities, temporary or permanent mental and physical health issues, or just the 'luck of the (genetic/environment) draw. The similarity of these facts is not a coincidence, but a reality that should be addressed as such. Insulting and denigrating the poor is an extremist arrogance born of perpetrating false information about the poor - ie, deluding yourself that every person is as capable as you are. You are the one who needs the realization.

2 mommys, 2 daddys. isn't socially engineered. It is just a fact of human life, 'God's engineering'. Deal with it. Religious education in the curriculum, however, is social engineering, imo.

That's a good argument for getting rid of the bureaucracies caused by 'means-testing', and implementing a simple guaranteed annual income, above poverty level, for all Canadians. And I would include the rich too. (If they don't want it they can donate it to the charity of their choice, but I don't think we should leave them out.) We could save the money required for a GAI by getting rid of the 'means-testing' bureaucracies. imo

You have touched on the crux of a problem. Intellectual, and problem-solving and environmental adaptation skills are not distributed equally among all people. It behooves those of us who are genetically and environmentally fortunate and advantaged, through no efforts of our own, to recognize our own advantages and the disadvantages of those less able, and seek to compensate for it, instead of denigrating and dismissing those who remain poor. You, for example, had ability, a job and good prospects. How long would your motivation have lasted if there was nothing in your future but unending poverty?

The Soviet Union was corrupt. The money went to politicians and their cronies, not to the poor. Bad example. Perhaps it hasn't been done yet. What countries have a guaranteed annual income above poverty level for everyone?

I saw a picture of that hole, and it's really weird: They claim it was caused by debris falling from the other tower, but there is no debris in the hole. Neither is there any explanation for how the fires were caused. hmm...

No? omigod. How naive you are! (or pretend to be) It was soooo close ... many people opposed the war. The only thing that put it over the top is that Americans believed they had been attacked. You cannot deny the contribution of that emotion to the decision to go to war. That's just silly. Nato refused to go initially. The UN refused to endorse it. Canada refused to go on that basis, encountering anti-Canadianism from Republican Americans that continues to this day. I encountered it myself ... at a family wedding! No ... the destruction of the towers and massive death count was absolutely necessary to the war initiative. Hell ... Afghanistan offered to hand over Bin Laden on production of evidence of his involvement. The US refused, and went to war instead. What does that tell you???

Citing the unusual exception to the rule only proves the rule. In Canada, it is undeniably true that organized religions - the bureaucracy, not the worshippers - support the regime in power, and the corrupt system that works in their favour. For example, the churches 'laundered' Indigenous land for the government, and still cover up that involvement today.

Geez, lictor, for the first time you said something of interest! However, it's a derail here. Would you start a new thread and present this theory for those who may not be familiar? It's a fascinating topic, and most people are not aware that the original people of North America were/are Caucasians. The mysterious 'haplogroup x' and mysterious 'Mound People'. More about this please! In another thread. I want to know what you know.

By the way, has it not dawned on you yet if Israeli soldiers were the monsters some paint them to be, they would not speak this way? You can review the thread to check if you like, Rue, but I know I have been very clear that I do not blame the soldiers. These who have spoken out are definitely heroes. Soldiers follow orders. I blame the chain of command, wherever it goes to. I blame whoever said all the people remaining in Gaza are terrorists because "They didn't leave". I blame the Commanders who gave the orders to clear houses by shooting everyone in them. I blame the Commanders who gave the orders to use white phosphorous on civilians, including children (because they are all "terrorists"). I blame those who gave the orders to bomb clearly identified UN buildings full of civilians. And I blame the Israeli state for blockading and cruelly oppressing Gaza in the first place. And I doubt that the Israeli soldiers are any longer free to "talk openly and candidly" I think the Israeli definition of all people left in Gaza as "terrorists" is the crux of the issue, because it was used to justify methods that are illegal even in war, where civilians are involved. I think an impartial international court has to rule on this 'definition' and its use in justifying actions that are illegal in war, and thus war crimes. If Israel refuses to cooperate with an International investigation into its actions ... what does that say? If Israel was confident in its decisions, then they would want to cooperate with the investigation to clear themselves. I have no problem with holding Hamas to the same standard, either. But it has to be recognized that the Israeli-controlled blockade of Gaza is an act of war itself. There must be an independent international force used at the borders, but Israel has refused.

Except for Harris. Harris was definitely a weasel in his methods. Eg In his reporting on academic performance of our students in an international context he reported selectively and incorrectly. Countries ranked in order: X X X X Ontario When the actual result was this: X X X X X X X X Ontario X X X X X X X X So other than Harris the weasel, I agree.

I agree with Wild Bill!

Well said! Why is it that organized religions always zealously guard the regime in power? Fringe benefits?

A U.N. racism conference on the eve of Israel's Holocaust Remembrance Day disintegrated into chaos moments after Ahmadinejad became the first government official to take the floor. Two protesters in wigs tossed the noses at Ahmadinejad as he recited a Muslim prayer to begin his speech. Now that's disgusting! No one should be rude when someone is saying a prayer. A Jewish student group from France later took credit for causing the disturbance, saying members were trying to convey "the masquerade that this conference represents." Imagine how upset they would be if a Muslim threw something at a Jew reciting a prayer. I think western media is biased, so I'm checking AlJazeera Ahmadinejad told delegates at the summit in Switzerland on Monday, that after the Second World War the United States and other nations had established a "cruel, oppressive and racist regime in occupied Palestine". "The UN security council has stabilised this occupation regime and supported it in the last 60 years giving them a free hand to continue their crimes," he told delegates at the Durban Review Conference hall in Geneva. Ah I see ... he is referring to Israel's actions against Palestine. You know, I can't disagree with what was said either. Israel is racist toward Palestinians, does oppress them in their own state and especially in Gaza, killed children without conscience there. However, saying that at the conference is guaranteed to create a backlash against Muslims, so it was a lousy strategy and not sophisticated enough for their concerns to be taken seriously. "They resorted to military aggression to make an entire nation homeless under the pretext of Jewish suffering," he said. yes, I see ... He did make racist statements. Jewish suffering was not a "pretext". What a mess! But I still think we should be there to be heard, and most importantly to vote against any racist language.