Sir Bandelot

Those corporations you mentioned do not have a monopoly. That's not the example I had in mind. All corporations now engage in the kind of exclusivity I mentioned, only do business with vetted corporate clients. And the reason for that is clear, so there wo't be any new competition coming up. Because they seek to become monopolies by their very nature. We don't need to worry about what consumers think. There is no vote when a crown corporations is dismantled, for example but I think we can safely bet the consumers want the best quality they can get, with the most variety and the cheapest price. And good services too. In other words direct opposition to what the corporations want. Interesting that you brought car companies into it... the very ones that required a bailout. Seems like they could use some regulatory rules in how they run their business. Obviously the capitalist way, in other words the buck is supreme, screw everyone else, isn't quite working.

Monopolies are generaly bad, right? Because they have no competition, and so they can set the price and the quality of the goods and services they provide. And if they're the only game in town, consumers have no option but to play along. That's without some kind of government regulations, of course, to ensure that things don't get out of hand. Isn't that what the government does best? In theory. So, government regulated monopolies must be better than corporate owned monopolies, because at least with the regulators there is someone supposed to be at arms length, who gains nothing by the transactions but decides what is fair, or not. Corporations take control of industries by dominating the market, and making contractual agreements with their suppliers to only do business with other "vetted" corporations (therebye elininating the little guy, ie. any newcomers to the industry).

I'm sure there's all kinds of creative options. How about offering a ceasefire and a discussion with the Taliban, has anyone tried that? But that's just me, what do I know about it. All I know is what I see in Mr. Obama- Change you can't believe in. This generation is already severely traumatized and fearful. The political and social change can only come slowly. It's been ten years and very little of substance has been accomplished, thats not subsequently bombed by some terrorist or insider working for the police. Ten years from now, things might calm down in Afghanistan, but measurable change will probably only come in decades or generations. We're talking about culture change here, not like winning some life-changing grand prize on "Let's Make A Deal".

He is a party member who prefers to maintain the status quo. He's too humble in front of the old guard. He does not want to ruffle feathers. He's too meek, not bold, not truly innovative, not willing to take a stand for what he believes. Otherwise he would be able to just do the right things, and stop kissing so much ass. - The essential difference between a "Leader" and a "Politician".

I disagree because, some things have to have a paper trail. You need documents to keep certain things on the record. When a politician wants things kept "off the record" you can just surmise as to why.

I could see it coming. Not that electing McCain would matter much, of course. Just the details would change but the overall objective, continues. Obama is a politician, first and foremost. Not a humanitarian, not a leader. If that's the objective, there might have been other ways to have done that. But it's all too late now, isn't it. The ones who live, I doubt that they would have a better life. Maybe the next generation or two down the road, things will have improved. From what I've heard about Afghanistan, I doubt it.

Not me, friend, I actually want him to end the war. I just suspected that he wouldn't. And I condemn the liars who support this charade, and the fools who believed it.

We claim that we are against monopolies, yet say nothing when corporations merge into mega-corporations, essentially turning them into monopolies...

Saw this one coming a while back, and I knew I would end up saying this- "Nobel Peace Prize"... has just become the biggest joke. In our world today, the smiling liars continue to give themselves accolades. All they do is cheapen the image of these once respected organizations. He dithered for a long time, alright. But there wasn't much outcry from the opposition, so something else was up. If this is his decision then I believe that McCrystal will not be pleased, I thought he asked for getting all the troops in his request, or don't bother sending any. Is this more war by half-measures? What is this, some kind of high school project?

I agree. Whatever made us think that democracy is the best thing for people in every circumstance? I think democracy only works with a well educated, civil society, one that has minimal extremism. Muslim clerics have been teaching that democracy is inherently un-islamic. Got that, it is an offence to their God to accept democracy as the political system.

Yeah sorry, I got the name mixed up there. A faux pas. Oh well, we all make mistakes. That's what Peter Mackay says all the time, so... if it works for him it works for me.

You make it sound like anyone here is saying, Pearlmans death is ok, but no one is saying it was ok. Everyone likely agrees it was a monstrous death, murder plain and simple. So that is not really a relevant counterpoint. At least I don't see how it is... please explain more clearly if I have missed the point.

Oh take your medication.

Are you saying this to imply we should do the same? In order to fight the Taliban, we must become the Taliban. And most importantly, are you saying that if such a thing ever happens, torture permitted or condoned, tolerated by Canada, that it's acceptable that the Minister Peter Mackay should cover it up? What if crimes were committed by our government, should we cover that up too?

Those so called bio-degradeable plastic bags are not even enviro-friendly, they just disintegrate into smaller bits of plastic. In the end, the very same chemicals thats in the plastic still enters the environment. So in the long run, it might be better if they actually didn't disintegrate. We always used to use them as garbage bags, so now that we hardly get any bags we are looking at buying packs of garbage bags. But the paper ones I saw were about $0.80 each.

What about the pictures of the guy with the bag on his head, and the electic cord tied to his pee-pee? Do you find that a little disturbing? Or just another Friday night at your place...

What about the reports from the ICRC? They made some reference to the fact that all the agencies, human rights watch, knew about the torture that was going on in Afghanistan prisons. This apparently went on for a long time, not just one incident. If you don't think its possible, take a look at the pictures taken from Abu Graib, this is how the US was deling with the prisoners there in Iraq. The same people, US commander and strategists, are calling the shots in Afghanistan. So it's not much of a stretch of the imagineation.

Doctor Bandelot, at your service... Sorry to outrage you! But yes, I know what a doctor is... generally an ordinary schmuck like you and me, only with a bit more of an arrogant attitude. But I agree that people should thimk more for themselfs These organizations, should only provide the broad guidelines...

I disagree with the panels decision, I think a woman should be ADVISED to get a mammogram at age 40, and then at a certain regular interval. Maybe not necessarily annually, but initially less frequent and then becoming more frequent, as reflected by the risk vs. age. Or whatever other factors need to be considered, these should be primarily medical and scientific decisions. But statistics and inevitably, economics come into play. Keep in mind they are only supposed to be advisements, but at least they give the person some guidance, and as a government regulation, maybe the insurance companies would even pay for it.

So Greg, what I'm saying is, maybe you should just remove the "Insert image" icon in the top control panel, if it doesn't do anything.

Sounds like he was completely oblivious to what was going on.

Not in that way, no. Of course, Harper never got a majority, so

Nazism was not extinguished. Just like so many German scientists and engineers were taken by the allies to work for them, for example in America. So too the models of nazism, and fascism did not die, they too were simply exported to America. To the victor goes the spoils, as they say...

Thanks Greg. You might have other reasons for not wanting images as well. The ability to show images to unsuspecting forum users opens up a whole new can of worms. It might be a detriment to the forum. As long as I can post an image as a link, and the user has the option to click that link, or not, that would be good enough for me.