takeanumber

Well, because it was a pie, he's only getting the sentence he's getting. If it was a bullet, he'd be going away for a very long time because it would have been murder, and WORSE, Political Murder, which I think many reasonable people would argue makes it worse. It may be the case that Klein is all of those things, but I can't advocate the public humiliation and assault of a person because they might be a truly horrible person. I think the time nearly fits the crime. It's still assault, so it should have been a bit longer, but I wouldn't go so far as to destroy his life over it. If it was a bat or a bullet: for sure, destroy the guys life.

This is just a partisan question really. Does anybody here really believe anything that Bush says? For instance, he'll say that the economy is getting better, when the leading economic indicators say that they're not. He'll stand in front of a sign that says 'Mission Accomplished', when clearly it hasn't. He'll stand in front of a sign that says "Corporate Responsiblity" while all his pals (and his VP) are clearly being irresponsible. He'll claim that he served honourably -- when all evidence points to contrary. He'll say that Saddam Hussein is linked to Al Queda, when clearly he wasn't. He'll say that Saddam Hussein had Nuclear Weapons capability, when clearly he hadn't. I mean...do people actually believe what Bush says anymore? Can anybody on these boards tolerate even listening to a speech by this man without getting physically sick and changing the channel? I've spoken with many people and they tell me that they've had to change the channel because it makes them ill. Anybody here have the same reaction? This question is about Bush...don't excuse his lies by pointing to Kerry or the Liberals, because those points arn't salient here. Don't try to justify Bush's wrong doing by pointing at somebody else. I'm asking about Bush. (Although I'll agree with many that other politicians are just as bad.)

I'll go on record here. Bush is getting under 50% in many battleground states, even though he's leading Kerry by 6-8 points in many. What does this mean? It means that most decided voters arn't voting for bush, and, historically, the undecideds vote for the challenger. I hope the Rebublicans get cocky. It'll drive down their turnout furthur and clinch the deal for Kerry. Kerry is in fact looking good.

The UN won't call what's going on in Sudan a genocide. The only international laws I still respect are the Geneva Convention, ILO laws, and the laws of air and sea. International 'law' is by and large a dog and pony show. And it's disgusting. Kofi Annan did nothing to help the situation in Rwanda. He's doing nothing to help Sudan. With that, his cred. is gone, so I could care less what he has to say about anything anymore.

I'm not going to defend Russian barbarism. Let's face it, we're all hard pressed to name a country that hasn't had a barbaric episode...even a single one. I think maybe a few pacific islands might be exceptional, perhaps, hmmmm, maybe Laos doesn't have dirty diapers, Singapore..but that's about it...Malta....Gambia, I think every other country has had a barabaric episode, be it domestic or international. That said, if you hate the Bush doctrine, be more afraid of Bush than Putin. See, Putin would LIKE to take on quite a few countries, but he can't, because he doesn't have the power to do so. Bush, on the other hand, you better believe he still has the power. There's a lot to be said for experience. Give those troops a year or two's rest after Iraq, and they'll be ready to take on the tougher nuts. Moreover, the size of the US armed forces are really going to swell IF there's ever a nuclear detonation on American soil. Ditto Russia. That said: In my view, Russia is a good ally in the war on terror. I don't like the fact that they're not going to fight it cleanly. Neither is the US. I prefer the high ground at all times. That, and I can't tolerate torture or genocide. I won't stand shoulder to shoulder with the terrorists, but I'll stand a little bit closer to Russia. --------------------------- On the final point, Russia beat Germany. Hands down. Winter played a part. But the industriousness of the Russian people, who did not want to be relegated to Canadian style reserves guarded by the Nazi's, fought back and won the war.

Walkerton. Ipperwash. Hydro Ontario. 407 SARS Fudgit Budgit Yes, stand in awe and be proud.

It was assault. Worse, it was public humiliation. Klein is a human, whether I agree with him or I disagree with him, he's a human. I can't advocate the assault and public humiliation of another human. Engaging in public life does not entail getting assaulted or humiliated. As to the sentence -- no opinion. I don't know how long is the right amount. I think probably being imprisoned on the weekends for two years or so would be best I think. You don't want to turn this guy into a carreer criminal ... he should be able to keep his job etc... It's Canada, which is why Klein was hit in the face with a pie, instead of a bat or a bullet.

I think most DJ's are just idiots, but I think they speak to most of the public. Dumb people don't like intelligent conversation. They don't like to hear intelligent things. Hence, you get DJ's who speak to the masses. Even in (supposedly) well educated Calgary, you still get Gerry Forbes.

These boards have some of the most myopic leftists and the most religiously hipocritical social conservatives on the internet. There are also quite a few small 'l' liberals and a few pragmatic centrists, Red Tories, and Libertarians who like to hang out here. All in all, it's not a lopsided board.

Ugh. I agree with August with the most part. The difference though between a Soviet bureaucratic diploma and a Canadian bureaucratic diploma is that the Canadian diploma prepares people for the world. The Soviet one prepared people for the Soviets. I think it's really important that everybody know how to read, and do basic math...how else are they going to pay taxes and understand contracts? The next level is how to think. I don't think our curriculum is designed to teach people how to think. Sadly, I don't think many parents are teaching their kids how to think. I believe that before emphasis be placed on math or science, kids need to be taught some basic logic skills. I think all of society benefits when its citizens know how to think. The third level needs to be how to do stuff. Type, run a computer....basic information technology stuff. After that, everybody can go off to either trade schools, university, hair colledges or whatever the hell people do these days. But anyway. Let's not be blaming the teachers. They're just one cog in the machine. You got parents, administrators, and voters to blame too.

Patently oversimplistic. I may hate Bush, but I certainly won't go so far as think that the war in Iraq was completely over Oil. There's no oil in Afghanistan. Counterexample shown. I wouldn't call what BD is trying to do as 'understanding'. All BD wants to do is make charges to support the world the way he sees it. He's deliberately sought to show that Putin, and Slavic Russians in general, are responsible for the gunning down of children. French Socialists deliberately sought to show that their own leader was in on the so-called 'Jewish Conspiracy'. I have rightly argued that radical Islamism is out to destroy the Western World, because the only thing they can produce, as proven by the Afghan experience, is misery and death.

True. I still think that special interests can check each other. I think that's called Madisonian thought. The downside is that the lower class gets neglected, unless something can be done in this country to improve the mobility of the lowerclass. Anyway. The main reason I dislike unions is because, in part, I have a low opinion of Buzz Hargrove, and second, because what has transpired in BC.

LoL TS. I don't think the Wahabist's are going to be happy when they face God and hear the answer. Oh well. Black Dog: You justify their actions. You emphasize political economy, placing blame squarely on the victims. The reason why you can only respond with insults is because you don't have any facts left to defend yourself. You painted yourself into a corner with the Islamists. Enjoy your newfound company, you deserv'em.

I blame parents for their children's lack of respect for adults and teachers. You can't expect teachers to teach your child literally everything, including common courtesy. I'd also be tempted to say that many teachers go bad precisely because of some of the little brats sticking a craw in their plans. I'm sure some of these brats also take away a lot of time from the children who are actually attentive. I wouldn't blame all bad teachers on bad children, but I'd certainly say that it's just one piece to the puzzle.

I'm not justifying anything that anybody does. The news should be about fact reporting and balance. Hence, it shouldn't be called FOX NEWS, it should be called FOX Opinion. I don't enjoy BBC News too much when they report on Palestine, because they're really quite anti-jewish. And they always tend to downplay the bus bombings. I don't enjoy Global News too much because they always seem to downplay the pogroms against the Palestinians. From what I've seen of Al-Jazerra (un-filtered, I visited them myself) they are downright anti-jewish. I think it's fair to say that nobody really does a good job at balancing their coverage, that I've encountered so far. I must admit though, to get a different perspective once in awhile, I like to read People's Daily, the CCP rag. They're view on many world events is really non-Euro Centric (anti-semitic) and non-american (anti-arab), but more like...cold concern.

Why can't BC ever elect a moderate party? Going from the hard left to the hard right, to me, is just insane. You end up cutting too much one year (which acts a drag on the economy) and then spend too much during another year (which racks up even more debt, resulting in higher interest payments, which is a longer term drag on the economy) To me it's just insane that a moderate, centralist alternative never seems to come up in the deck. But that's just how BC is I suppose. The moderate middle isn't large enough.

What a wonderful slice of Marx inspired Canadian Political Economy. This might strike you as improbable, but not everybody from the middle class knows how to chuggle the system. -------------------------------------------------------- The Draft really does screw with personal freedoms. I don't think that draftees are particularly good in combat. For those reasons, and a strong libertarian vein running through my brain, I have to oppose the draft. It's especially ironic that Bush, a draft dodger (lets face it, when you get strings pulled for you to defend Arkansas, and then don't even show up for duty...it is draft dodging), would impose a draft. But that's just the Orwellian nature of Republicans.

Go get a spoon.

Terrorism is a symptom of Islamism. Discredit and destroy Islamism, destroy Islamist terrorism. If you're so interested in fighting for the underdog, why arn't you defending the human rights of secular Iranians? What about their human rights? What about the human rights of women in Saudi Arabia. I'll tell you why. You guys have allied yourself so strongly against liberal values that even when you find yourself standing shoulder to shoulder with Al Queda, you can't justify stepping away from them. I'm on record as advocating the invasion of Afghanistan. I'll preserve my anonymous status though and not point you to the public record. By the way, the same people you're defending, they wanted to make hindus wear special sashes. You seem to be able to argue in favour of the butchering of children, let's see you argue in favour of that.

Asymetrical federalism. It should apply to Alberta too. The equalization deal that is forthcomming should be pretty fun to watch too.

I agree that education needs to be talked about more. I'll just state that I think too many teachers get dumped on. They're not all awful. Granted, there are a few bad teachers. Thankfully, we rotate teachers from grade to grade. There isn't any perfect system.

I'm not in the armed forces for a very good reason. The fact remains that I advocated the defeat of the Taliban long before 9-11. I was pretty much a lone voice. The Right nor the Left wanted any part of it. ------------------------------------------------- The terrorists who caused 9-11 were all rich and well-to-do. The idea that somehow American foreign policy causes people to be poor in the middle east, and then in turns causes desperate people to turn to desperate measures, is clearly incorrect. What's giving rise to it? It's too late to attack the cause. It's akin to asking what caused the rise of Hitler after he rose to power. The train, as you say, has already left the station.

How is it Alberta's fault that the fish went dry? We have regional cycles in this country. Alberta is paying more than its fair share now, and when the oil dries up, I'm sure Newfoundland's growth will outpace Alberta and Newfoundland will be able to pay some equalization Alberta's way. @August Most ppl don't know what Rent Seeking means, which is why I put it the way I did.

I don't think anybody is arguing about redistributing some of the wealth. Of course Alberta should share, after all, it benefits from confederation. The program is called equalization. What I don't understand is why some feel entitled to go in and deny Alberta of its temporary gains, while arguing that they should be allowed to keep their gains without sharing. (As is the case with the Atlantic provinces, Quebec, and Manitoba). Actually, I do understand the logic. It's always easier to take than to make. Steal rather than deal. That's why we got a constitution. So, those of you in Have-Not provinces: be happy that Alberta is still being a good sport about the equalization payments. We transfer 4 grand a head (2001 dollars) out of the province. (Compared to Ontario's 300 bux a head). Demanding 8 grand per head is only going to make things worse.

Alright, Alright. I think I might be wrong about the 10 years thing. I can't remember the latin term for declaring a treaty invalid, I think that's what I was thinking of. If there's a provision for withdrawing from the pact, then it's fine. As far as Israel is concerned, I don't know if they still have nukes. I though as of 1986, they abandoned the weapons plan, and the site where they built the nukes have been disabled or are non operational. But whatever. I'm not going to engage the whole agressor state stuff. Those who are blindly anti-Arab will automatically call any arab state an agressor state because of X, Y, Z, anybody who is anti-semetic will call Israel an agressor for exercising its right to even exist. (and my use of the word 'right' in itself would cause an anti-jew arab to freak out, but it's true, they do they have the 'right' to be there.) No. I'm not jewish or Arab, but it really burns me up when people oppress moderate Islamic Arabs and secular Islamic Arabs, as well as jews. That doesn't imply anybody here fits either catagory, I'm just saying that it makes it difficult to figure out who is being a coy bigot and who is genuinely a good person and is equally appauled by both. That said, glad we can agree on the ideal number being zero. It's on that basis that I cannot support NoKo, Israel, or Iran from possessing nukes. I don't buy into the entire 'plausible deterrent' bs either. What's even more interesting is what should be done to prevent nuclear proliferation. Which, since I have good sense, I won't engage in that debate.