Cartman

Wow...it sure looks as though there are a few people paranoid that the NDP will have more influence.

He lost his top level staff early summer, they recently fired several more in restructuring (which may or may not be significant) and now some are openly calling for his resignation. Sorry, that is not the result of Liberal bias, that is news. If Layton had 1 or 2 people openly calling for him to resign, anyone would call it news. Same for Martin. The question is whether this is going to expand. Only time will tell.

My favorite one was: "An election is no time to discuss serious issues".

Some really interesting developments here mirror.

C'mon. Are you serious? Maybe because: 1. It is not Soviet and not true. Therefore, it is meant as an insult to those who enjoy the CBC. It is inappropriate to call anything communist, fascist, Nazi like etc., except communists, fascists and Nazis. It is that simple. 2. It is sarcastic. 3. It lowers the overall intelligence of the board and its contributors. 4. It is against the rules. Argus said he could see others using this reference or thinking of African-Americans in such a racist fashion.

I grew up in BC for the most part. While living in Northern Ontario, I went to a liquor store and patiently waited in a long line. After this long wait, I asked for a "half sack". The clerk looked at me completely confused. I repeated my request, but to no avail. I explained that I wanted SIX beer. He annoyingly claimed that they offered no such quantities of beer. So, I relented and asked for "a case", but he sent 24 beer along a conveyor belt. WTF!? He was clearly trying to oversell me! I became angry and sent it back because I only wanted "a case". I said to him that "I only want 'a case'. He responded by saying that he had given me "a case". I explained to him that "a case" was 12 beer and that he had given me " a flat" also known as a "two-four". Hello? I did not want "a flat", only "a case". He told me that "a case" was 24 beer whereas 12 beer was, well, 12 beer. We were angry at each other. A civil society should have comparable measurement methods. Consistent measurements, after all, indicate the level of civilization of any nation. Name me a civilization that does not have consistent measurements. So, being an Albertan hick, is it too much to ask for a translation when French is used? "chercher le butin"? I would love to participate in this debate, but I can only translate 1/2 of this phrase which is the equvalent of a hockey score of 1 to something else. Thanx.

I also heard this today. But just yesterday, I heard the President saying something to the effect that 'Brownie" was doing a good job. Would you remove a person who was doing a good job? Either Bush was not willing to stand by a person who was doing a good job since he suffered political criticism or he hired a person who did not do a good job. Either way, Bush made a serious mistake. Probably the most intelligent thing I have ever read here. OTOH, I think that people consistently vote Liberal for fear of being "fanatical".

MB said: Completely untrue MB. I enjoy thoughtful criticisms of the left. But, I do not enjoy automatic criticisms of the left. For example, when August recently stated, in the "Government Effectiveness" thread, I then retorted that: This demonstrates that I am willing to consider serious criticisms from those outside the left. Consider the significant nature of the criticism! He directly confronted the foundation upon which the left exists. I wonder if you would you ever respond in kind? If I said to you that "the right needs to think about why governments exist and what they can do", would you say you need to think about this criticism in order to provide a thoughtful answer? I could have simply cited examples where Harper has been inconsistent or where mistakes were made by the Conservatives. Instead, I chose to give his criticism some merit. After all, the NDP is not in power. MB said: Silent? When Argus stated in the thread "Hurricane Bush, Where was the US government?": I then said: Clearly, I was not silent because I responded to this statement. I claimed that I was unsure about the potential effects of racism. Being honest, I said that it had crossed my mind. It still does. Even major news anchors are saying as much. I was not silent and I have never stated that I believe race affected this situation; I only said that this possibility entered my mind. Thus far, however, I believe that Argus is winning the debate even though I think that government officials often take too much blame for such events. IMO, I see few reasons why Bush should be in NO when he can order sufficient relief from anywhere. You may consider me an idealogue, but I am not. I have found August's proposition that markets represent cooperation very insightful and most difficult to refute. Though labeled an "extremist", I find Hugo's anarchist ideals most interesting and worthy of discussion. I even used them in a lecture I delivered a year ago. But, given a decision to vote for a party which wants to solve certain social difficulties and possibly spend too much doing so and voting for a party (parties) that do not consider them problems worthy of state consideration, I will choose the former. But, I have said many times that I believe any party could reduce waste and reduce the level of government intervention into people's lives at the same time. I am a "good government" advocate actually.

Gee, thanx for the Alanis comparison. Don't you think it is ironic that you hurled personal insults at him when he is requesting Greg strictly apply MLW rules? You did more to prove his point than your own. Personal attacks make everyone look bad.

Agreed. The Liberals and Tories are robbing us Albertans blind. Large surpluses are ridiculous and politicians should stop bragging about them.

Greg said: Then, in only one miraculous post in the thread "Why isn't Canada helping to promote democracy?, Why isn't Canada in Iraq?" Burns said:

The international response has been good too. I just hope our ships don't sink.

Had you created a thread saying that hatred is evident in any political party, I would have gladly supported your efforts. This is not what you did. I do not believe you read my last post carefully. I never claimed you made such a statement so it cannot be said that I am constructing a straw man. I said that the thread title was inappropriate because it stereotyped an entire group of people and this is impossible to disprove (or prove). The only way to disprove that the left is hate filled, would be to cite a poll demonstrating that people who identify themselves as leftists also have reduced levels of hatred. I doubt that such a poll is available. This is stereotyping "The Ugly Hate Filled Left" This is not "Examples of Hatred from the Left" Not true. I have had several good debates here with people of all stripes. I enjoy diversity, but I do not tolerate stereotyping. You should follow examples of others on the right who post with sincerity and politeness.And BTW, it is not just you IMO. B.Max created a similar thread entitled " The left outed once again: A despicable lot". Individuals on the left may be despicable, but the entire lot? My fantasy? First, please refrain from thinking about or constructing my fantasies. That disturbs me. Second, I just think Greg should warn you, not ban you...not yet anyways.

I love the irony of you attacking another poster for violating MLW rules. Yet more irony due to your previous statement on alphmale behaviour. He?

I am suroprised anyone would say they get enough for their taxes. I feel I do not get enough for money I spend anywhere.

Yeah, its not like they want any of our natural resources or anything. I mean, who really needs oil these days?

Burns, that thread was not appropriate at all and just because you found links that possibly indicated intolerance from leftists does not make it acceptable. If someone were to start a thread titled "Hate filled African-Americans" and used crime statistics (all true) to demonstrate this, it would not be appropriate. Why? Because you are depicting all people from this group as hate filled. As well, how is someone supposed to refute the basis of the thread? Did you expect that people could prove you wrong by generating a link to a leftist's blog that demonstrated he is a really, really nice guy devoid of hate? Explain to me how anyone was reasonably expected to prove the left is not filled with hate? Talk about bias. That thread was illogical, it was non-disproveable and it stereotyped an entire group of people. Ironically, it was about the left being filled with hate? WTF? I stated that it was improper a couple of times. I like political humour, rhetoric and sarcasm as much as the next guy, but some of these threads and posts are insane and turn off good posters. That is why Greg warned people to obey. So, when he gets back I assume a few people are gonna be punted.

As they have raised the rate, would you be willing to now regard it as independent?

Interesting because CNN reported that some people were initially refusing offers for rescue because they thought they may be charged for the helicopter ride.

Living in Alberta, I admit my views are affected by the strong economy here, but I predict a hike.

I think that much of the anger at the authorities demonstrates that they were angry at the slow response of the government, not that they want government to refrain from emergency reponse in the future. Unclear. Are you saying the government will spend less or that people will now begin preparing for disasters on their own? Point taken if only for the moment. I need to give this more thought than a knee jerk reaction.I think that Marx's law of accumulation has been found incorrect. _______ I believe that Katrina is going to hurt the Republicans come next election. Part of the reason that Bush sr was not re-elected was the less than perfect response to hurricane Hugo and it was nothing like this.

How can it be biased if it reported that they lost 30 people in the last year? I thought this article was interesting not just because he lost a few staff, but because he turfed 15 in one day and more importantly, some top level people throughout the summer. They do not want to talk about it either. Go ahead and compare them to the Liberals, but I would say they are not exactly organized right now either. They are facing serious debt and likely another minority government. How long will Martin last after that? Even CTV cannot say the word Conservative without some sort of hidden agenda and conspiracy being suspected by right-wingers.

Wow, more Conservatives turfed. It sure seems as though they have either lost or fired a lot of their workers. http://tinyurl.com/7o3k4

You make a good point about people being short sighted at times (the house). But this is not just about being short sighted or even about being unable to prepare for such events. After all, the relief effort is ultimately paid for by long-term taxes anyways. People simply do not always act in their own best interests. They are not simply rational, economic actors. In fact, some people (rich or poor) will do just the opposite and find the money for tobacco, alcohol and other harmful drugs despite constant warnings and full knowledge of their ill effects. I am not sure everyone has the same capacity/imagination for acting in their own long-term interests and this is partly why government is generally effective (and comes with its own unique costs). I was defining government as a form of socialism not like say Marx or Fourier etc.

"Let them eat cake!"