nicky10013

It doesn't. There were no exercises when they tested nuclear weapons. There were no exercises when they tested their last missile. They do this kind of stuff when they think they can get away with it to ratchet up tensions in order to squeeze concessions.

You obviously can't read. The article posted was in regards to him resigning during his current stint in politics with the Liberals.

I did follow the link. There are no percentages. It provides the average population desired per seat. I'd like to see the deviation from the average in both the senate and the house as expressed in percentage points. You can say that the senate wasn't based on population because there is a much larger deviation in terms of population per seat, but that's to be expected since there are fewer seats representing the same amount of people. Naturally, the numbers will be larger. The percentages shouldn't be nearly as skewed.

Ok, well, we'll see what happens to the 25,000 American troops on the DMZ when those bombs start falling.

Also, for those that love sanctions:

A populous one at that. The reason why the senate is so misrepresented is because it hasn't been balanced. That doesn't change the intent of why each region was chosen. Population.

Ontario isn't a region. Ontario is a province. Just the fact that they felt they had to define Ontario as entire region speaks to the fact that the division of regions had to do with population. I never said it was a perfect rep by pop system, but a rough one.

Of course the numbers are going to be less skewed because there are number of seats in the houes rather than the senate. I'd like to see the percentages.

You realize by saying they didn't get 24 seats until they had as big a population as the east proves my point exactly, right?

You can count. Congratulations. Not much else, I suppose.

Yeah, but both nations reasons are the same. Responding with a heavier hand and causing a wider war just isn't worth it over the incident that happened today. It sucks, but the consequences of war on the Korean peninsula are too bad to allow war over a lost ships or a couple of shells.

The power structures in these countries are much different than in western nations. Often in totalitarian dictatorships, rather than actually having intelligence analysis departments, raw intelligence output is given directly to the leader and he makes the call. Stalin had the German ambassador himself tell him that Hitler was about to invade. Stalin didn't believe it and it ended up in millions of Soviet soldiers killed or captured. We just don't know what the North Koreans believe or don't believe, be it the actual government or the military. No they didn't. There was almost war in the early 80s due to NATO wargames. The entire Wasrsaw Pact was put on alert. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Able_Archer_83 North Korea hasn't laid claim to anything. They're provocating to get a better deal at the negotiating table. It's the standard MO and nobody strings together past incidents and puts it into context. Recently, there has been scuttlebutt that the 6 party talks will resume. North Korea has had a history of pulling this kind of behaviour before these types of talks, from firing missiles into the Sea of Japan, to testing nuclear weapons, they show up willing to trade weapons for food and electricity. This is more of the same. Considering this has been happening for decades, that's decidedly what will NOT happen. North Korea for how crazy they "appear" to be knows where the line is and they've yet to cross it. They were complying with Agreed Framework of 1994 until the US under Bush cut off aid and applied sanctions. They were allowing in weapons inspectors and their nuclear facilities were sealed. The attacks have been getting better. In the 70s they were kidnapping people and blowing up airplanes. It's very much the other way around. The country with nothing to lose is North Korea and their government has absolutely no legitimacy so they don't have to worry about the physical act of going to war. Like all authoritarian governments, they're incredibly worried not about their people but their regime. If they feel their government is threatened they'll lash out. Considering the North has nuclear weapons, I feel that the much more mature South has a duty to contain things, and not be "painted" into a corner.

I think the incidents are related, but I don't think it's because the west actually provoked the North. These type of exercises happen all the time. The North just picked this opportunity to escalate tensions. They do this all the time. They act provocatively to squeeze concessions out during negotiations. There has been wide speculations that the 6 party talks re: NK's nuclear program are going to start back up which is why many people believe just last weekend they unveiled a brand new uranium enrichment facility.

The South returned fire with 80 rounds of artillery, so to say there was NO response is simplifying the matter. As for the larger question of why doesn't the South "respond" with a heavier hand? Well, the North has I believe the 4th largest standing army on the planet and has nuclear weapons with a leadership, and more importantly a military command, willing to use it. The South doesn't do anything larger because the entire peninsula would be damaged.

Yeah, and I've constantly asked the same question about the distribution in the HoC. Distribution in the house is just as wacky. The distribution just has bigger numbers because there are less seats in the senate than there is in the House.

I ask again. If there was no thought of population at all, why are Ontario and Quebec their own regions? Oh yeah, that's right, because they created regions based on population.

Honestly, the only way I could see a full blown land war breaking out on the peninsula is if the North invades the South.

South Korea can talk tough but there really isn't much the South or the US can do about it unless they want an incredibly bloody war. China is far more cooperative than everyone gives them credit for. They appear to be the "puppetmasters" but in the end, all they want is for North Korea to stay relatively stable no matter what government is in place in Pyongyang and they've supported measures that restrict the north's activity. Since the DMZ is probably the worlds largest mine field, the only way to go to escape the country is through the northern border with China. If the country collapses, millions will flood in and China fears it can't handle that.

Why don't you ask why Ontario has one of the worst ratios of people to reps in the HoC as well.

Talking to me is like talking to a while? Is there ANY proof to back any of this up?

There isn't "2 classes" of provinces. They did it based on population.

You realize this isn't a flip flop, right? See, saying the government has the right to forgo a vote while still supporting a vote aren't mutually exclusive positions. Jack Layton claiming he'll never support the CPC Government, and then all of a sudden saying he will cooperate with the Conservative Government after Ignatieff threatened an election last fall, well, that is a flip flop. Every party changes their policies. Every party flip flops. Might want to tone down the hypocrisy. Then again, considering the NDP will never be elected to government, I guess you have the leeway to through around absurd accusations and promises knowing you'll never be called on to actually live up to them.

I said roughly, didn't I? The very fact that they gave Ontario more seats speaks to the fact that their regional split was based on population. You just can't get around that. Before you call me a wall with no facts, which is bullshit considering I completely destroyed your little lesson with, you know...accurate history, perhaps you should provide some facts of your own. Me saying the senate is roughly based on population isn't crazy. You claiming that Ontario got senate seats while the west got a railroad, well, that's a crazy claim. Back it up, or have a nice day.

They? Who is they? Might want to lay off the pipe, dude. There was no puppet master controlling who got what. The east didn't get more senate seats in exchange for a railway in the ewst. It was due to population. For the record, the people from the east built the railway in the west. They bought all the land that the railway was planned for at penny prices and sold it back to the government at 1000x the price. Macdonald lost an election due to that corruption. It had nothing to do with senate seats.

It was set up on a rough rep by pop system. If the seats were distributed on a purely regional basis and not based on population why is the "west" region a culimination of 4 provinces while Ontario is it's own region? Oh yeah, population. Furthermore, bringing up senate seats by population is just as ridiculous. In the House of Commons where it's literally done by rep by pop and the citizens per representative is just as volatile in terms of the ration. What you've posted proves absolutely nothing other than the fact that again, you've no idea what you're talking about. Transit stimulus only creates bus driver jobs :lol: :lol: