Molly

To whom are you addressing that?

He certainly didn't plant the seed- just plain too late for that task- but he nurtured it to abundant flowering. People just leaned a little farther to the right until he arrived. The Salmon Arm salute and the NEP, 18% interest rates and 'Why should I sell your grain?" gave them concrete reason to turn and spit at the word 'Liberal'. They'll keep doing that until the generation that vividly remembers that era and his open disdain for all things West, dies.

I've been advocating a wholesale cutting of the strength of parties for decades. We elect a representative. If that rep is a gutless, mindless, integrity-less dog... then we get the party line and the party newsletter. If we've got someone who's there to actually represent constituents, then party corruption is defeated; fair play abounds, because no ones interests can be sold out for the benefit of the party; quality people are available to offer their suggestions.... basically it cures everything that is wrong with Politics. Like-minded folk getting together is okay, but when it goes so far that it is pointless for quality people to even seek office... focusses all real power in the backroom strategists offices, and not in the hands of parliamentarians... then it has become 'the problem'.

LOL I still have to say that I'm a _Progressive_ conservative. Fairly libertarian, economically conservative... a firm believer in K.I.S.S. small government. I figure it's in our economic and social best interests to help folks out when they truly need the help, and to limit unfair advantages, but for the most part, the government should butt out. (And I've never bought the load that Harper is selling. I started out willing to give him a chance, based largely on the integrity of Preston Manning.... promptly had that willingness scuttled with the cabinet post for David Emerson. Mannings integrity was not part of the package.)

I really do find the school response troubling. That threat of expulsion is..... stunning. If he had been in other fights or had a record of making trouble, then maybe, but expulsion on a first offense? Particularly, a threat of expulsion for one, without the same/similar for the other, or a darned good explanation why not... no understanding of who started it, or how or who threw the first punch... If it occurred in a manner that even faintly resembles the reports (big if, I know) then that principal/board really does have something serious to answer for, and the attitudes within the school structure require some serious scrutiny.

This thread is devoted to the feeding of the troll, Cybercoma. I have to admit to finding it interesting to see the way the dogma operates/ the thinking processes, the points at which the 'La la la.' begins and ends. (We are, after all, currently infested with that ilk. We didn't stamp out smallpox, for instance, without first understanding smallpox, what causes it and how it works.)

Trust me, I share your disgust.

My greater concern is for the harm done by the removal of others to the kids who do remain in the classroom. As long as public education is a group activity, progress is limited by the least advanced of the group, whether by classroom time/resources being spent doing 'remedial' or by curricular efforts to work around the biggest, most common gaps... Just as a math class will not progress well on algebra when some portion of the group don't 'get' basic addition, when a portion of the class is kept ignorant of basic science concepts, the rest are stuck working within the confines of a greatly reduced collective science background, and are thus prevented from progressing as quickly as they can/should.

I particularly enjoyed this observation pointing out the internal conflict in the NDP position on fixed elections. Yes, yes, they do support and promote the very thing that would most effectively strip them of any negotiating legs at all, render them them utterly irrelevant, and remove them from the national stage.

LOL If you look at recent history, I think you'll find that Mike Harris got the boot for saying almost exactly what you are proposing. Since McGuinty's house is built on being anything that is not Harris..... and Mcguinty was chosen by the electorate.... I figure you can safely assume that measureable results or clear goals are not a priority.

From here, I'd say that the 'suppliers will be fine' crowd are out to lunch. There are dozens of small enterprises around here that specifically serve Honda. They came into being solely to support Honda, and when Honda suspends production, there is ZERO alternate market for their product. The Frank Stronachs of the world will be fine... but the folks who assemble wiring harnesses, or the guys down the road who manufacture struts, or that little shop in town that makes seat belt assemblies... they're the sort of guys who will be dust. They aren't big enough to be portable. They aren't unique/high skill enough to be worth the corporate bother. They are replaceable elsewhere.

Those dismissals would be as much of an unbalanced overreaction as the arrest. Everyone errs from time to time, and events such as this cannot be entirely prevented even under ideal circumstances. Let's wait to see what they do about it before we throw them out. But yes, I do also also agree that prevention through education is far more effective than this excessive punishment. (However, it reminds me of a question asked by a very wise man: "If the master knows nothing, then what is the pupil to learn?")

In stable populations, lots, but in transient ones, not so much. We are becoming increasingly transient. The greater value of it (IMO) is in terms of self-identification, rather than what it says to others. Many a child has been girded to avoid bad behaviour, because 'Smiths just don't do that kind of thing.'

"...Canada would be a better country if Stephen Harper had a majority in our federal parliament." *shudder*

Bjre, the truth is that the charge is not likely to cost him anything with regard to university entrances. In the first place, the charge sounds quite likely to be withdrawn if the reports are accurate, but even if it is, there remains serious doubt about conviction. Even if the charge remains, and he is convicted, he is still only 15- a child- and it won't stand against him, won't appear on his record. If that was not enough, universities worth their salt are specifically looking for diversity of experience and background. Gifted students with 'interesting' events in their lives are more, not less, desireable. That said, I do agree: "The education system does not easily generate talented students; the legal system easily destroys them."

DIVERSITY WHY DO WE NEED IT? For a start, without it, johnny-come-lately white guys wouldn't have been allowed in....

LOL "F***in' Chinese" vs " F***", in Chinese. What, exactly is the Chinese word for 'F***'? I'd honestly love to know. (edit: And how much more 'Chinese' does that nice white boy speak?) ('nother edit: The 'Chinese kid' is Korean.)

Bill... out of our last 10 PM's, 4 came from PQ, 1 from Ontario (Lester Pearson), 1 from Sask, two from BC and two, including the present one, from Alberta. I wouldn't exactly call that being shut out. Regionalism is running high... but I don't see that as translating into anyone facing the prospect of 'never being club president'... and our next Prime Minister will be from Toronto.

Um, no. That's not what was said. You might want to read a link again. (What's that up the road? A head?)

Quit being a jerk. If perfect English was a requirement here, none of us would last a day.

McCain was directly responding to Napolitanos comments having been debunked. Napolitano made an asinine, embarrassing comment- was very publicly rebuked for it, corrected, and then ran around stamping out the public relations fires by claiming to have misunderstood the question, and of having mis-spoken... ( In other words, she retracted it, admitted that it was a false statement, and publicly claims to have had it completely wrong). and then McCain pops up to defend her by chummily claiming that 'we all know that the comment she's disavowing was actually true...' You tell ME who is most deserving of ongoing eyerolls.

"Values, religion, and sex education" don't have anything to do with evolution.

The assault charge sounds like poo-for-brains overreaction. Two suspensions make a lot of sense. If there's an expulsion in the wind, they got the wrong kid. (But it would be awfully interesting to hear/read an interview with the kid with the broken nose....) ....................... It was fascinating to read the comments accompanying those news reports. Lots of comments about banjos, trailer parks... a reference to Keswick as 'a punch line', and overall, a great deal of curled-lip disdain for, essentially, all things rural. My experience, though, says that if you want to witness over-the-top racism and insularity, go to urban setting, 'cause that's where it's rampant. Stupid stereotypes abound.

I don't really think that it IS fair to say that Canada is a 'majority Christian country'. Fewer than a third of Canadians attend ANY religious services even as often as once a month. (Of those who actually practice any religion, the majority are seniours who are rapidly dying off, and/or immigrants, who aren't all that likely to be Christian.) It would therefore be more accurate to say that Canada is a majority agnostic nation, or a majority secular nation.

Does it not occur to you that perhaps others HAVE taken a 'real look', considered the Xtian creationist POV, and found it preposterous at worst, non-illuminating at best? The flat fact is, if you are talking creationism, you aren't talking science; you are talking religion. It isn't even a conflict between science and religion overall, but rather the pet issue of one arcane sub-branch of one larger religion, that has a special hangup over one of it's dopier articles of faith being dismissed as unsubstantiated and irrelevant in the circles that are single-mindedly devoted to evidence and discovery. WIP used the term 'GODDIDIT'... That's a good package term. 'Goddidit' is a wholly inadequate answer- an end to discovery, not a beginning. Even if accepted (on faith) as truth, it doesn't contribute a jot to answering any other questions (like when, why, or how) and so believing it or not is simply an irrelevancy.