dre

Thats essentially right. Programs like welfare actually serve the rich... not the poor. The poor are kept just comfortable enough to stay apathetic. Theyre historically disinterested in politics and vote in very low numbers, leaving the "haves" charge. Limited socialism like we see in western democracies is actually a firewall to prevent more pure forms of socialism. If you allow the underclass to grow large and desperate they will start voting! Like the massive tent cities full of people in abject poverty that voted Chavez into power in Venezuela. Limited socialism isnt about the poor... it was designed BY the rich FOR the rich.

Yes they have lots of rules... laws that govern how we interact with each other, and a framework for settling disputes between people, and for punishing those that break the law. They also have transportation infrastructure... seaports, airports, bridges, highways, and shipping infrastructure and postal service. Communications infrastructure as well... phone, internet, etc. Not to mention an education system that results in a large pool of literate people to draw employees from. All these things promote commerce and result in billions of more transactions than would be possible without them. Your labor is your own, but your wealth is proportionate to what kind of society you live in. The best way to encourage co-operation is too establish and enforce a set of rules that result in stability, and to provide a framework that encourages and facilitates transactions. Not sure what youre getting at with the "stealing someones production" thing. Hopefully its not yet another fallacious garden variety "taxation is theft" claim.

The efforts of individuals, and the commercial framework provided by a stable modern society are BOTH huge factors in wealth. You probably live in the west and make hundreds of dollars per day --- a person with the same work ethic, and IQ as you would make about $10 per day in most of the world. So you accumulate much much more wealth for your efforts+ideas because you live in a highly developed society thats stable, and has rules. Judging by a quick look at wages around the world, the society you live in has an even larger effect on your own wealth than youre own efforts and ideas.

So not publishing a cartoon that has no journalistic value what-so-ever, contains no information what-so-ever, and has no purpose besides insulting a given demographic is "wussing out"? I disagree... I think its good journalism and smart business to realize when a certain piece contributes nothing of value, and might cause needless trouble.

Exactly... where was the "teacher" she was "assisting". Might need to be multiple firings

Yup. They can accuse you something, release your name, and you can watch so called "legal experts" talk about whether youre guilty or not on TV, and suffer damages that youre not allowed to sue for... all without anybody producing a single shred of evidence or testimony against you.

Yeah... youre point is valid. Maybe we could protect the persons name without making the entire trial secret though. Or at least stop the media from using it.

Thats right.... theres lots of coverage, and often full transcripts available. Id prefer if that wasnt the case personally... A lot of times even if a person is found not guilty, theyve been demonized in the press for so long that their lives are still basically fucked. If Im accused of a crime my name should only be made public if Im found guilty or if I want it to be. Theres also big problems with jury pool contamination when you turn the judicial system into a huge media circus.

Im fine with that as long as the information is released after the trial is over. I have absolutely no interest in the judicial system becoming a prime time sit-com like like it is in the US, with TV shit-bags like Nancy Grace loudly proclaiming whos guilty and who isnt on the "News" while the trial is still happening or before it even starts.

Seems like the government refusal to operate in a transparent manner is one of the causes behind our drop in the rankings. Seems like our government consistantly breaks the law in regards to turning over information about the publics business, and ignored recommendations to hold them to a higher standard. Great. The other issue seems to be the right of journalists to protect sources. Seems like our drop in the rankings is pretty well deserved.

The guy is flat out wrong. GDP isnt the pool that money used to maintain the federal debt comes from. That money needs to come from the federal budget, and the important measure is debt as a percentage of the federal budget. The link between GDP and federal revenue is loose at best. Its almost like the author doesnt even know what the federal debt is.

The taxes and violent crime became too much for your ideals?

Thats not a clear choice, its a false choice.

It goes without saying we are accountable for the actions of our government. We pick them, empower them, and fund them. That would be an excellent point... except that its not at all. This guy isnt trying to mooch hes trying to get compensation from people that HOSED him. Next. I gotta ask... What in the ever loving fuck are you even talking about?

Seems like the guy got hosed and should have the right to sue for damages. The governments claim that they withdrew the evidence because it would compromise national security has no credibility. Seems like just more of the same bullshit we hear almost constantly now... government expecting a free pass just by invoking "national security". The sad thing is a lot of idiots are happy to give it to them.

So if youre against bombing a country into the stoneage, then you must be against pressuring them through diplomacy to honor human rights?

Theres no need for AQ to do much as long as Obama is continuing the GWOT. My guess is they will save the next big attack until it looks like you arent taking them seriously anymore at which point theyll have to pull of something else to stay relevant.

This has already been going on for 8 years. An orgy of defense, anti-terrorism, and homeland security spending in respond to relatively small enemy that can operate on a small budget. Again, this is classic guerilla warfare. The ONLY chance they have to win, is for you to do what youre doing now. Youve spent more money swatting at this band of wackos than you spent defeating the Empires of Japan and Germany in WW2.

Most of our crime is a direct result of bad government policy in the first place... for example making a law that says only criminals get to sell pot, and respectable regulated businessmen arent allowed into the multi billion dollars market. The market is there either way... the demand... and the supply. Our government just decided it wanted to have a lot of violence and extortion to go along with the inevitable consumption. NEWS FLASH... Stupid things happen to stupid people. Canadians pretty much get what they deserve.

Its not about whether these people deserve to be tortured or not, its about trusting our own government to operate in a transparent manner, and respect its own laws. If Canada is going to be involved in torture and torture is justified then lets have a national discussion about that, and do whatever we are gonna do in the open. I dont buy the idea of giving any government a free pass simply because they invoke national security. Only a sycophant would be swayed by that fallacious argument.

Wow. Captain Strawman. I didnt say anything about drug companies being evil. Stop inventing stuff. I also never said jack fuckin shit about any conspiracy. And Im pretty sure the 20+ thousand dollars I pay a year in income tax will cover any hospital stays (i live in western canada). Also stop pretending the concerns about drug companies and physicians are only held by consipacy theorists. This is a large and well known problem, that has been documented extensively by the medical community and published on by just about everyone from the CBC, to the NewYork times, to the New England journal of medicine. The problem is especially prevalent with academic physicians who are in a position to recommend to the rest of the industry which drugs are safe for which purposes. Should people be afraid to take all drugs because of this well known corrupt relationship? Of course not. But people should have a healthy dose of skepticism.

I dont think Bin Laden is under any illusion that the odd attack will stop capitalism. He picked high profile targets, in an attempt to trick the US into a costly open ended military action with the hope that the US would spend itself into oblivion. He calls it "bleed until bankruptcy". Hes been pretty successful so far... a bunch or ragtag morons has been able to trick the greatest power in human history into spending trillions and trillions of dollars. He thinks that Americans will get sick of borrowing money from China to fight the GWOT and leave the middle east with their tail between their legs. This is classic guerilla warfare. Guerilla movements know they will never be able to militarily defeat the superior opponent... they win by making it extremely expensive to fight them, so that eventually the superior military opponent has to pack up and go home. So 911 wasnt an attack on either capitalism or freedom. It was bait. Here he even talks about the massive profiteering that would happen as a result of the GWOT... the massive theft of tax payer dollars by US companies and corporations under the guize of security and fighting terrorism. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article7202.htm

Sorry M.Dancer, I meant to reply to blue bloods post not yours. Keep hitting the buttons above instead of below.

Stop trotting out this red herring. They voted against the strategy Balsillie was trying to use. Not the concept of another team in southern Ontario. No sorry thats just plain false. No franchise determines its own boundaries. Theyre either enshrined in legal documents, or determined by the franchiser. The revenue increases mostly came from Canadian cities. All the American teams I mentioned are losing revenue or are revenue-flat. Businesses that dont make money relocate or go bankrupt.