Traveller

In general, you are correct. I should have been more accurate in my previous comment. They did opt back in in 2008, but with conditions. They still do not participate in the Nuclear Planning Group nor have they added any forces to the general NATO pool, nor do they contribute any funding to the organization. So again,yes the French participate , but in that uniquely 'French' way that we all know and love

Agreed. In a free society such as ours, we should not need a reason to make something legal but rather, government should need a reason to make something illegal. As you pointed out - that has never happened.

France. They voluntarily withdrew from all military aspects of NATO back in 1963 (which is why NATO HQ moved from paris to Brussels). They retain diplomatic and political/economic ties with NATO, but they do not participate in the NATO military comand and control structure.

Hear, Hear! This issue is currently dead and it needs to stay that way.

He's not even an Evangelical - that was Day's bag. Harper is however, a backroom policy wog with all the personal interaction skills of a rock. Remember he was Reform's Chief Policy Officer before he was ever a candidate for office. While he's a social conservative, he has actively worked to avoid 'moral' issues (abortion, same-sex marriage, etc). Don't forget he broke from Manning and Reform over populist issues, not returning until Manning was out and Day had dragged the Alliance into 'Stupid-Land'. I'm no Harper fan; but he's not an Evangelical.

As negative examples of the above, I direct your attention to Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Pat Robertson, to name three examples.

Your arguement, and the entire premise of the thread, is based on female prostitution. I accept that any other form is the exception, not the rule; but we must view the arguement in non-gender terms. Legalizing prostitution implicity includes male prostitution, so trying to base a response on the opinion of 'wives' is a bit ludicrous. It also ignores the reality of customer/clients who are not in a relationship - ie, single. Far better that the argument and the point be made in the abrstract - enough people will object to legalization without trying to specify wives/spouses as a sub-set of opposition. For my own perspective, the question legalization is being addressed in reverse. Proponents should not be looking for reasons to legalize; rather, they shold be arguing that there is insufficient reason to make it illegal. In a free democracy, the onus should be on government to substantiate reasons to outlaw an activity; not to legalize one. For myself, I find the current arguments against prositituion to be insufficient.

Sir John A. MacDonald, speaking to the people of Canada: "If I had influence over the minds of the people of Canada, any power over their intellect, I would leave them this legacy: ‘Whatever you do, adhere to the Union. We are a great country, and shall become one of the greatest in the universe if we preserve it; we shall sink into insignificance and adversity if we suffer it to be broken."

Oh come now - have some faith in the perfidy of man. No American involvement woudl simply have meant Pol Pot would have overthrown the SHanouk regime instead of the Nol regime...the coup against Shanouk simply delayed the inevitable.

"One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors." Attributed to Plato

An amazing piece of history recvoered. Hopefully, I'll get to see the finished product - I'd consider it a treat...

I'd go with the wake-up call thing - and it looks like Boston needs another one. To be elading 3-1 with 12 minutes left and then end up losing 4-3 in triple overtime - something went wrong in Beantown...

National Aboriginal Day = 21 June (annually)..... why this even came up as an issue, I don't understand. I will observe that Elizabeth May is no longer mentioning it...

ooooh - can I be Spotteswoode? I love cocktail hour! LOL

Very true - but from a land of committed bourbon drinkers - I was pleasantly surprised by the wide variety. I hope my friends in Kentucky can forgive me