ReeferMadness

And do you want to be equally sure that we're not just making the situation worse? Somebody in the countries in the middle east is supporting ISIS, trading with them, funding them, sending them weapons, buying their oil. It seems like it would be a good idea to figure out who that is. And figure out what it is exactly that is attracting people to join in the first place. I don't buy the whole Islam-is-evil schlock.

In what way? Seriously. ISIS grew out of an attack on Iraq and had its roots in Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda grew out of the Mujahideen that was funded by the US to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan. At what point do people sit down and say "jeez, maybe this isn't working?"

Great. And who do you propose to retaliate against?

And where is that? You've said JT needs to go in. Go in where? Get who?

Seems like people want to bomb somebody - I'm just trying to understand who and why.

Going in WHERE???

And you know that this has something to do with refugees...... how exactly?

We don't know who was responsible, where they were from or what if any, relationship they had to anyone in Syria. But you'd like to bomb anyway, just on spec? If we find out that the people responsible are French citizens, should we bomb France?

Oh, thank you for telling me how the planet functions. Please tell me more about Corporate responsibility - I want to know! Sure, these pharmaceutical companies were selling products with labels that lied about the contents but that's just one bad apple example. Surely, there are shining examples of how corporations police themselves. Like Volkswagen and emissions control. Or Barrick Gold's commitment to the environment. Or British Petroleum's commitment to safe and clean deepwater drilling. How about Exxon's commitment to truth about the environmental impact of their products? Or Enron's high standards of honesty? And let's not forget SNC Lavalin's example of corporate integrity. Or almost any tobacco company and their commitment to full disclosure about the safety of their products. Hey, I haven't even scratched the surface yet. You don't get prosperity by allowing corporations to police themselves - you get dishonesty. Government watchdogs should not be in the business of promoting the industry they are regulating. And testing must be independent to be believable.

Clearly, you need some help reading this. Before the Conservatives monkeyed with the rules, over half the products were rejected. Here's how it was under the Liberals. Here is what the Conservatives did. And here are the results Summary: Health Canada used to approve less than half of the products. The Conservatives defunded Health Canada and made it change the rules so that now over 90% of the products are approved in as little as 10 days.

Harper talked about Canada as an "energy superpower". Oil prices already had a history of bouncing around like a kid in a rubber castle. If Harper made his tax cuts depending on a high oil price, he was an idiot. Sorry if you were too busy genuflecting to notice.

So, you're saying that Alberta is now being run by an elected government instead of oil corporations? I can see why you'd find this threatening.

Amazing, yes. And apparently, much smarter than a lot of people here in Canada.

Did you read your own link? It refers to an attack in 1973. Or are you saying that the US had a half million troops in 1968 as a result of a North Vietnamese invasion in 1973?

Oh, I see. Your premise is that Harper's ingenious economic strategy of banking our economic future on a single volatile commodity whose price is known to manipulated by corporations and cartels somehow failed? How could that be? Harper is such an economic genius. Your premise is nonsense anyway. As I said, the GDP has recovered. So, if our revenues haven't it's because of Harper's idiotic tax cuts. I know it's tough for the faithful to see their deeply held beliefs in their greatest prophet knocked down one by one....

Oh, jeez. You didn't even bother to read the link did you? Because if you had, you would have noticed that before the Conservatives got involved, most of the products didn't get approved. So, bring back the sound of those crickets now.

Too soon to tell. It took years for the public to learn of Mulroney's brown envelopes. Harper ran one of the most secretive administrations in Canadian history so time will tell. You mean except for the part where the Swedes actually govern on behalf of the public instead of on behalf of corporate interests? Frankly, Health Canada dropping the ball and compromising the health of citizens is much more offensive to me than Adscam. it would take only a few hundred people getting sick to cost our healthcare system more than Adscam cost Canada. And cheating on elections is much more offensive than whatever Chretien did with respect to his golf course. And I won't even start on the myriad of ways Harper tanked our international reputation. But we're trending off topic here. This thread is about how the Harper Conservatives let their ideology get in the way of Health Canada protecting the health of Canadians. Cuz corporate profits and the GDP are everything. I see you have nothing to say about that.

Oh. Is ISIS a benefit to me? Or all the money the arms industry makes? Or are you telling me that dead civilians are a benefit? You need to be mores specific. Too bad it's not the duty they're told it is. They're told they're protecting their countries, not enriching the arms industry. Well, good for you. If you're going to be a pawn of the arms dealers, you might as well enjoy it.

There's an old saying that the right wing consists of people who believe that governments can't do anything properly and vote for parties that will prove them right. It certainly turned out to he the case with this bunch. I wonder how many more unpleasant surprises await.

Yes, I admit to a devious agenda of wishing that western countries (yours, mostly, let's be honest) would stop interfering in and invading third world countries. Sorry if that sounds "sanctimonious". It's too bad that you and your brothers-in-arms are simple pawns in a great game that mostly benefits the wealthy, particularly the big players in the arms industry. It's even more regrettable that you can't even see it.

Do you have an email subscription to pentagon talking points? It was mainly a civil war until after the US started ratcheting up the invasion.

I wonder how long it will take before the mess that Harper made is finally cleaned up. The latest government disaster is that under the Conservatives, Health Canada essentially became nothing more than a rubber stamp when it comes to its mandate to ensure that vitamins and other health supplements are safe. Trudeau should call a public inquiry into this mess. I'm betting that Conservative ideology, which turned government watchdogs into industry cheerleaders, is what's behind this mess. Canadians need to think long and hard before ever giving the keys to 24 Sussex back to a bunch of hillbilly ideologues.

There are a couple of points you seem to dance around. And I think they are pretty much indisputable. 1. Canada's budget was in a surplus when Harper took over. 2. Canada's GDP has recovered from the recession and is now greater than it was before Harper took over. 3. Ergo, if government revenues can't match expenditures, then it's fair to blame them on Harper's idiotic, ideologically driven tax cuts. 4. JT campaigned on a deficit budget so you can agree or disagree but he has a mandate to do it. 5. Harper lied about the state of the finances. He claimed a surplus but he delivered a structural deficit. Ergo, if Trudeau goes over the $10B deficit, Harper deserves some of the blame. I tried to drink some kool-aid but I found you had already finished it.

OK, fair enough. I meant to say that the Liberals had already started to spend it by time Harper took over and made a mess of things.

I know it's politically incorrect of me but I see a distinction between people who fought the Nazis in WWII or served as peacekeepers to try to prevent war and people who volunteered and were sent to a pointless war in some godforsaken hellhole. The former are heroes and the latter are victims to right wing politics. I have a number of relatives who fought in WWII, including one who was in the 1st special forces and one who was shot down and served time in POW. These guys were farmers who walked off the farm for a cause. I would never encourage my children to join the military. And I'm cautious about engaging in remembrance ceremonies. In my experience, they tend to cross the line into war glorification exercises.