Sir Bandelot

Yes, you're definitely the smarter of the two.

Then we could spend all our time sitting around toking, and jacking off?

Of course you do it all the time, and right here in this thread.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2005/11/15/pension-surplus20051115.html

Of course you did. You act like your attitude represents that of all Americans. You and your compatriot do it all the time. But you do it more.

No surprise that lust for debauchery would be a factor in technological progress. Same goes for lust for power, violence, and getting high. Yay, porn. And, yay technology

Agreed that Martin's financial reforms have put us in the favourable position we are in today. Some of this has now been undone by the current government. But more to the point, Martin also used surplus money from the Canada Pension Plan and Employment Insurance to pay off the national debt. Some criticized him for doing this, but the results stand for themselves. I'm not sure if such an option is even available to the United States. Also seems to me that their level of government services has always been leaner than ours, being as we come from a socialist background. Example, healthcare. Martin downloaded responsibility for health care finances to the provinces.

"Fierce" is somewhat overblown. As with most sensationalist things, a few loudmouths in the media get all the attention, while the rest of us don't make no nevermind. But in as much as this topic is concerned, America IS different. The US economy plays a major role worldwide. So whither it goes, there we all go. And when you do bad because of dumb things people on your side of the fence do, the rest of us who might suffer for it will get mad at you. My mortgage rate could go up. That's certainly a normal reaction. Also when you screw people over to make a buck off them, it's a normal reaction too. At least it's seen as that way by the ones who get screwed. Personally I look to Canadian leadership to insulate us from potential damage caused by the irresponsible or greedy actions of others. Whether it be American, European or Chinese. After this situation blows over I think we're going to see globalization get turned down a notch. That's the only way to go.

As a person who is not against gays let me say this. People who are not gay don't give a care what gay people do, in the privacy of their homes. But I don't want to hear about gayness, I don't want to learn about gayness. Some of us are repulsed by it, the same as we would be repulsed hearing about bestiality or sex with children. And I don't see any need to force the education of school kids to learn about it neither.

One person does not speak for a whole country. Something you two seem to forget. As well, your attitude displayed here is not necessarily representative of 'merkins in general. Lets not forget, while you're confident there will be a solution, as am I, much of the hype about the danger of this crisis is actually coming from people on YOUR side of the border!

I'm assuming by this you mean he was gay. I don't see why it's relevant. If we don't need to include information on someone who is historically significant, that they are hetero, then why do we need to specifically point out who is gay? It speaks to the main condition of gays or sexual deviants, that they identify themselves primarily by their sexual nature.

dumb

I think they (American govt) will sort this out before its too late but for now we are seeing political posturing, with the GOP doing whatever it can to not help Obama. With the election coming up the GOP wants recognition for any possible solution, and is willing to put some strain on the system, in a way to make Obama look ineffective. The question I have is, can they come up with something that will give them a long-term solution that eventually takes them out of this problem, or are they putting in stop-gap measures for now, hoping that things might change over time. Either better economic situation for the US, or worse for the rest of the word which puts them on a level playing field. The immediate question I have is, who is going to pay for this. The typical answer in the past has been, Joe average plumber who had little to do with bad policy decisions, will have to take the cuts, either by loss of income, loss of services for their tax dollar while the top dogs see no losses. I hope that will not be the case. Meanwhile, expensive and pointless wars that do very little to benefit the US public grind on.

Bingo, that is the major course of the problem. These buildings are DIRTY. I've seen some where the door handles are black and sticky with filth, and this continues for weeks on end. I know, I work in one of the places that has problems with this outbreak. It is very difficult to get rid of. Hence the name, C. Difficile. It tends to go into a spore and hibernate for a time, during which it cannot be killed by disinfectant cleaners. So, even if a surface is wiped down, the spores might survive. But the thing that really exacerbates the problem is, these hospitals are dirty crap-holes. What you see as a visitor is only the front end, kept the cleanest (except for the admin areas, which are the very cleanest of all) and if you go into the basement, or in the staff-only areas you'll see so much dirt that you would be appalled. And bugs too. The cleaners in our place are not the same as the person you described, but they are very lazy, and not properly trained to clean a medical facility. And the unions protect the workers who do the least of all. Their managers should be ashamed of themselves for allowing this to continue, even when patients have died from it. Those patients died, although they came in for different reasons. Don't go to hospitals.

I don't even know our national anthem anymore. It has undergone several changes during my time, including mandatory sections that were to be sung in French, then the revised English version. Then "From far and wide" (gratuity toward immigration.." and now, this. Don't get me wrong, I support these ideas, equal opportunity for immigrants, equality of the sexes, only I don't agree they have to keep tinkering with a song to embody them. In doing so, they have only further dilute the concept of a Canadian national identity. Our anthem is become obscure to us. But I believe that Canadians WANT to have a national identity they can recognize, only they won't find it in this song. A Harveys hamburger commercial has more national identity to it, if you know which one I mean.

Oh oh, "Brothers of Italy..."

I recall vids of Don Rumsfeld shaking Saddam hand and sealing the deal to provide nerve gas. Was Saddam a good guy then?

Well in the United States it is now being openly touted as economically impossible to change the law. Never mind valid arguments. From prohibition to criminalization to incarceration, millions of people would lose their jobs. And "in these times of fiscal restraint..."

Clearly there is still a threat there, and the situation is not resolved.

"Survival Trumps Economics" - S Bandelot

"Three coins in a fountain". Not a good song to sing on buses.

The only really effective means would be the peoples vote. Having said that, the Canadian public gave this government a majority, despite clear evidence that they are lying scum. So now, let Canadian voters take responsibility for everything that happens as a consequence, within Canada and abroad.

Was he a Zeke?

America did not accept Jewish refugees neither. In the years before and during World War II the United States Congress, the Roosevelt Administration, and public opinion expressed concern about the fate of Jews in Europe but consistently refused to permit large-scale immigration of Jewish refugees. In a report issued by the State Department, Undersecretary of State Stuart Eizenstat noted that the United States accepted only 21,000 refugees from Europe and did not significantly raise or even fill its restrictive quotas, accepting far fewer Jews per capita than many of the neutral European countries and fewer in absolute terms than Switzerland. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_the_United_States#Refugees_from_Nazi_Germany If you don't like that link I'm sure I can find many others to back up the assertion. Speaking of 'irrelevant'...

I am sorry that you don't care. You being a professed Jew I find that rather ironic and eye opening. Or maybe it just says something about your personality and agenda? Sorry, I don't want to attack you but these things do aggravate me more than usual, and I find your position rather 'curious'. Getting back to my point, here it is most concisely- No one in the world wanted the Jews. Absolutely no one. And when they went to Palestine, the Palestinians reacted the way the rest of the world did. The Jews were backed into a corner and had to fend for themselves. So it leads me to raise the most difficult possibility in regards to the question raised by the OP, "Why do Poland and Russia Not Have to Give Back Territory... but the Jews do?" Because they are Jews.