politicslvr

It's funny how many of you mentioned Don Cherry's nonsensical ramblings in comparison to Rex Murphy. When I first posted this thread, I immediately thought to myself of how similar the two were.

It's unfortunate that religious bigots like this one have any power to sway the Israeli government's policy making. I just hope that the world understands that these Jews are a minority and do not, in any way, represent the views of the Jewish population at large.

I recently came across an article a friend of mine wrote on the CBC's Rex Murphy and his views on climate change. You can read it here. It's a short article and to the point, so a lot of the details of the story are missing but you can easily pick up on them with a simple Google search. What are you thoughts on the whole "climategate" speculations? Should Rex Murphy be allowed to "spout nonsense" or should he be held to higher standards of fact-checking? I'd be interested to get all of your opinions on this.

For you to say that no one will be Twittering in 3 years is not only ignorant, but you, like many stubborn corporations, don't understand the evolution of the Internet and where it's headed. Social media is the future and for those businesses that just don't get it yet, it's likely already too late. Kudos to the MPs who do get it and use the platform to their advantage.

I don't think I want to expose the professor here on the thread, but if you could give me your input on what course of action I should take that would be appreciated.

I lived in Israel as a child up until the age of 8 at which point my family decided to move to Toronto. I've been living in Canada for 13 years now. I still frequently travel to Israel on a regular basis to visit friends and family, and spend extended periods of time there during the summer months. On remembrance day in Israel, the entire country literally comes to a standstill. A nation-wide siren blares, and everyone stops what they are doing and stands in silence. People driving literally slam on the breaks so they can stand for as much of the siren as they can. The country is entirely unified in its effort to pay tribute to the soldiers that have died defending the country and those that continue to do so. Given these experiences, I was completely stunned at the events that took place in my classroom the morning of Remembrance Day at York University. You can read that story in another post on this forum here. Basically, my professor had no idea what Remembrance Day was. I encourage you to read that thread.

Thanks for the response Gabriel. Do you really think the newspaper would pick up on this story? I thought about emailing a few of them but didn't want to get myself in any sort of trouble with the school or something like that. The professor is in his 60s and was born and raised in Iran. He is a Muslim, and tries his best to be objective and non-biased when discussing issues in the Middle East, but often his anti-Israel ideologies are displayed. I am currently studying business at the Schulich School of Business and am taking this course as an elective.

I completely agree, the university should have been closed to allow students to attend services and reflect on the day. I think the main issue here though isn't the fact that the school remained open, but how insignificant this day is in the eyes of many Canadians. My professor did not even know it was Remembrance Day, or what Remembrance Day is all about.

I went to class because school was not closed and I couldn't afford to miss the lectures. I attend York University, Canada's largest university in terms of student population (50,000+).

What happened in my classroom at York University on November 11th was appalling. It was a Middle East politics class, and this is the conversation that took place on the morning of November 11th: Student: "Professor, will we be observing a moment of silence at 11am today?" Professor: "Why?" Student: "Because it's Remembrance Day..." Professor: "Oh. Well if you want to I guess we can. I don't observe these ceremonies." At 11am, about 75% of the class stood and observed a minute of silence while the professor was fixated on his watch, clearly annoyed. The other 25% sat and fiddled their thumbs in disapproval. What have we come to?

Full article here Is it really true that our government is doing enough to protect our soldiers in combat? The author mentions the $40 000 salaries that many soldiers make and the relatively poor equipment they receive. And is a moment of silence on Remembrance day enough? As an Israeli who has experience Remembrance Day in Israel many times, I feel that the levels of "remembrance" are totally different in both countries, with many Canadians taking an "I don't really care" approach to the day. In my opinion, this is a serious issue, but I'm not so sure what can be done about it.

I think its important to recognize the economic boost BC will experience not only during the game itself (which is a very narrow view), but for decades after as well. The new infrastructure, facilities and expansion of tourist destinations (especially in Whistler) will continue to attract tourists and revenues for a long time into the future.

I think your time prediction is horribly inaccurate. Since the time of your post it has been a couple of weeks and no strike yet. If Israel were to strike Iran, which I think it will, it will take another year or so at best. They still have to give diplomacy a shot, and they need full US support and coordination to make it possible. Iran isn't like what Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon were during the 6 Day War. They are a powerful force that will surely cause major destruction in Israel via its long-range missile capabilities as well as take the lives of tens of thousands of civilians if a confrontation were to occur. This is something Israel has to accept if it decides to attack.

To Islamic fundamentalists, Islam is a religion that seeks peace...by way of brutal violence and oppression of human rights.

I can't afford hiring a personal physician or taking the private jet I don't own to New York. However, I can afford walking into a private health clinic/hospital without waiting more than 10 minutes in line, paying for whatever minor treatment I need, and going on with my day.

This is just another of the many examples illustrating why Canada is a breeding ground for terrorists. Canada literally goes out of its way to make it easy for these people to come to our country via horribly weak immigration laws and border control. What a joke.

You can read the rest of the article here: http://informedvote.ca/2009/11/12/british-columbia-health-minister-kevin-falcon-cuts-crisis-lines-in-first-nations-communities/ Is this something we should be concerned about? It's not an issue I am entirely familiar with and has received fairly little media attention in Ontario. What are your thoughts?

I came accross this interactive map on the globe and mail's website. It reveals the TRUE story behind all of the hype about swine flu in Canada. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/h1n1-swine-flu/h1n1-cases-across-canada/article1352013/ I wonder what the media will cook up next?

How is a government full of people who *we didn't directly vote for* supposed to enhance democracy?

It doesn't help when you hear stories of the Calgary Flames obtaining the vaccine well before the rest of the high-risk group in Alberta.

Agreed - Look at Israel - so many parties that nearly every government is a coalition and there is an election every 2 years. If they don't band together their voices are not heard. Although, looking at the platforms of our Canadian parties, having only a handful of parties that actually gain seats tends to assimilate everyone's viewpoints and we end up with a bunch of parties arguing over trivial matters.

So let me buy my own treatment too!

I disagree with cutting athletes slack. You are right - their livelyhood and careers do rest on their body being healthy. But so does mine, so does yours, and so does everyone elses with a "regular" job. None of us can work when we're strained by injuries and have to wait months to get MRIs.

Source: The Globe & Mail What are your thoughts on the matter? It's not something out of the ordinary for NHL players in Canada to receive extraordinary private treatment. It took my mother almost 6 months to get an MRI - these players get one 15 minutes after an injury!

So what you're saying is that we shouldn't interfere with the inhumane practices of other nations? Nathalie went back to Saudi Arabia without knowing that her husband would turn into an abuser, and sure as hell didn't anticipate her own husband would deny her from leaving the country. I don't see how you can say the responsibility is on her.