kimmy

LOFL! "Harper's attempts to make lying legal on Canadian television is a stark admission that right wing political ideology can only dominate national debate through dishonest propaganda." But many on the left contend that right-wing political ideology already controls national debate, in spite of the existing CRTC rules prohibiting "dishonest propaganda". Is Kennedy wrong? Is "the right" controlling the national debate without "dishonest propaganda"? Or is Kennedy right, and the existing CRTC rules simply aren't effective in prohibiting "dishonest propaganda"? Or are those who point to Canada's corporate media and claim that the right wing controls public debate in Canada simply wrong? Odd, I didn't notice anything about Sun TV being cancelled. Can you elaborate? -k

They may be policies that were once popular and no longer are. They may be policies that were designed to appeal to some segment of the electorate, while the bulk of the electorate made their voting decisions based on other policy questions. They may be policies that have never even been up for discussion in an election campaign. They may be policies that are unpopular, yet the political optics make attempting to reverse them untenable. The idea that if a democratic government has a policy it must reflect the public mood is pretty inane. Didn't we do this in a different thread last month? Do we need to do this again? Come on, it's silly. I don't have any information one way or the other on the subject. However, Michael Hardner's supposition, which I was responding to, is pretty silly. It's rare that Michael has a "duuurp" moment, but that was one. Well, you copied it faithfully. The immigrant-related troubles in Sweden show that the policies this group advocates are no guarantee of success. -k

I'm not sure that our government's generosity to immigrants is representative of public mood on the matter. In any case, Scotty has it nailed: the opening post claims this study shows that Canada is 3rd best in the world at integrating newcomers. But that claim-- and the corresponding headline in the Star-- aren't actually reflected by what this study is really measuring. Porchdawg raises an excellent point as well: if Sweden is #1 on this index, then maybe having a high ranking on this index isn't really that great. And, by the way, who are the "Migration Policy Group" anyway? They're an advocate group dedicated to encouraging immigration and diversity. So let's not assume that their study doesn't have an agenda attached. -k

Gordon Campbell has graciously taken the fall for HST. People will have the chance to vote against it in a binding referendum before they vote in the next provincial election. If it's shot down, Clark can say "the people spoke, and I listened." She can even boast that she fulfilled her pledge to move up the date of the HST referendum. If it's not shot down, then obviously it's not the great political liability people believe it to be anyway. Whatever the outcome, I don't believe Clark will wear the HST. Catherine Callbeck (PEI) and Pat Duncan (Yukon). I had to look it up too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_female_premiers_in_Canada It's a fair point, though. Why do women not do well as leaders in Canada? A number of 3rd world countries have elected female leaders. A number of European countries. There have been no female Presidents of the United States, but I believe a good number of female state governors. What's different in Canada? -k

I think most people feel that waiting to see who wins is no longer acceptable. Most criticism Canada's position on these Middle East uprisings is that we have been too patient in withdrawing support from dictators. We have come late to this party. And the idea that we should continue to support Colonel Moe for the sake of Canadian businesses operating in Libya may be a pragmatic stance, but it is not a moral one, and many blame that sort of attitude for our problems with the Muslim world in the first place. -k

ESPN: Iran threatens boycott The logo is a collection of hot pink blocks with yellow outlines that its designers claim says "2012" rather than "Zion". Personally I feel that the logo is clearly offensive... to anybody with color vision and a sense of decorum. -k

I've been a little skeptical about the spin that's been put on these protests. Were they really crying out for freedom, or were they crying out against Mubarek? Was it really a desire for freedom, or do they really just want a government that's not pals with the US? What does they freedom they're supposedly fighting for actually look like? What really got all those people out in the streets? I'm skeptical of the suspiciously rosy picture the media has painted for me. And then, of course the fact that the people who went out in the square don't speak for the whole country. The protesters may have caused the fall of the regime, but they won't have the only say in what replaces it. When the Lara Logan incident left people asking "wait, are these the happy, hopeful freedom-loving protesters we were told about?" we were assured that no, these were different people in the streets... the freedom-loving protesters had been replaced by a different crowd. Well, that different crowd is still out there, and they'll have their say in what happens as well. Like Mr C, I have a hunch that in a few years we'll look at the Middle East and think "this doesn't look much like the warm-and-fuzzy freedom-loving Middle East they told us was going to happen." -k

I just wouldn't do any of those jobs myself. If I found myself in politics, I'd have to kick my own ass. If I found myself answering phones and forwarding emails and shuffling papers in a cubicle, I'd probably cut my wrists. I'd join the military if my country needed me to... and I doubt they turn away unilingual folks. Hole in the wall? I live in a place where people from all over Canada come to vacation in the summer, a place where people from all over the world come to ski in winter. People work their whole lives in other parts of Canada so that they can afford to live places like this. I get to spend every day of my life in a resort. I wouldn't swap addresses with anybody on this forum. What have I aspired to? I've got a fun, well-paying job that I love, doing active work outdoors in fresh air. And I guess it's my great loss that, if I had just stayed with French, I could have a job in a cube-farm in a grey government building in Hull, working for the French-Canadian equivalent of this guy instead. ...man, did I ever miss out. :lol: My failings in music? I've only been at it for a few months. I haven't failed at anything yet. I just wish I'd taken advantage of the opportunity I had in junior high school instead of wasting my time learning a language I never used. Let's talk about your failings for a moment. You sit here saying "woe is me, if only I had learned French while I was young." Well, why'd you quit? You said the bigots tricked you in to quitting. Let's be honest: if it had mattered to you, you would have kept at it. If you actually used it for anything other than homework, you'd have kept at it. If you actually cared about it, you wouldn't have quit. When you decide to be honest with yourself, you'll realize that the reason you quit French wasn't because of anybody except yourself. And the reason you didn't care enough to keep at it, most likely, is that you felt that learning a language that nobody around you can speak was pointless. Good luck to him. I hope there's a nice cubicle in Hull waiting for him when he graduates! -k

Well, I guess it was useful for you. The only Francos I know are drug-addled mooks. If for some reason I got into their pants, I'd be freebasing penicillin for weeks afterwards. -k

Fun-loving wacky ones, like on the TV show. -k

That's really the only legit complaint out here as well. -k

Seriously, I'm surprised nobody has busted out the "to speak a second language is to have a second soul!" quote. Are you guys just not feeling that cornball tonight, or what? -k

The anti-HST outrage is almost entirely a result of angry mooks, with no idea what the HST actually means, shouting "tax BAD! gobermint BAD!" loudly enough to create a news item. The anti-HST outrage has been fueled by people smart enough to realize that 12% is more than 5% or 7% yet too dumb to realize that 5% + 7% = 12%. Anti-HST outrage has fizzled dramatically now that people have seen it and realized that the HST makes barely any difference to their sad little lives. The only time people even notice the difference is when they dine out, which for the knuckle-dragging deadbeats behind the anti-HST outrage, is when they take their long-suffering spouse out for their birthday dinner to a Denny's or Swiss Chalet for the truly swank among them. The anti-HST recall campaigns targeting MLAs have all fizzled badly, as the anti-HST crowd has been distracted by much more pressing matters like whether Stone Cold Steve Austin will defeat The Undertaker at WWF Revenge next month. -k

Are you sure? User is online Smallc Icon * * as in just a little * PipPipPipPipPip * Add as Friend * PM this member * Group: Members * Posts: 12,269 * Joined: 05-November 07 * Gender:Male * Location:Winnipeg * Interests:Politics and Cars -k

weeeell.... it's not exactly Beaudelaire or Rimbaud... -k

Real life story: a customer calls up our boss, angry that we invoiced him after HST came into effect. My boss says "tell you what... we'll redo the invoice, backdated to before to the HST." Sends out the new invoice, with PST and GST. Customer calls back and says "but... this is the exact same price as before!" Boss says "yep." -k

"Winnipeg" is a remote area? Hey, who cares? French is available to most students. What's lacking for most students is an opportunity to use French outside the classroom. "b-b-but ...government jobs!" "b-b-but ... you could visit Africa!" just doesn't cut it. I learned this shit... and can't speak it anymore, because I just didn't use it. At all. Except for Bleu Nuit, of course. The only reason I even bothered in the first place was that I thought it might be an entrance requirement for some programs at university, and didn't want to limit my options. What a ridiculous fictional reason for deciding to learn something. -k

I think that Christy Clark will beat the NDP, because I think that in their hearts BC voters don't want to go NDP, and the only reason they were considering it was that Gordon Campbell himself was profoundly unpopular. -k

"Generally" is a pretty useless qualifier. I've had no opportunity to speak French with Francophones. I've had opportunities to play music for audiences. Seems to me that music would have been more useful. Yeah, well, "an Alberta public school education" might be considered the stuff of comedy back east, but I had the opportunity to learn both French, and music, and obviously made the wrong choice. -k

I didn't say government work is useless. I'm glad that somebody is there to do is. Just like I'm glad that somebody is there to pick up the garbage each week. It's great that somebody does it. It's just not something I'd aspire to. And I didn't say French is useless. Any knowledge could be useful, in the right circumstances. If I knew a bunch of Persians, speaking Farsi would be tremendously useful. I don't know any Persians. I don't know any Francophones either. I think it's funny that the two of you who are lecturing people for not learning French ... didn't actually bother to learn French either. Ironically... I actually did learn French. I spent 6 hours a week in grade 7 and grade 8 in "French as a Second Language" classes. What an epic waste of time. I spent hundreds of hours trying to learn a language that I've almost never used outside of school. The only time I've actually used French outside of school was when I was living in Ottawa... I could understand French well enough that I could kind of make out the story of the "Bleu Nuit" soft-porn movies on TQS-Hull late on Friday nights. Cultural enrichment! I wish I had those prime learning hours of free instruction back so that I could use them to learn something that would have been worthwhile. I should have taken music instead of French. I wish I had that decision to make over again. The best learning years of my life and I wasted hundreds of hours on French that I could have spent on guitar. It was a big mistake. I'm poorer culturally because of it, and it's more difficult to learn now. -k

Why? Because it's fun. Knowing that Stephen Harper is pushing people like Willie to the brink of sanity is reason enough for me to look forward to another Harper win! -k

I recall hearing a poll that said that Christy Clark would handily whip ass and become premier if she were the Liberal leader, and that was before she'd entered the leadership race and before Carole James had even resigned. I suspect this is an extremely bad result for the BC NDP. -k

That figure specifies "French ancestry", not French speakers. Sure, lots of people out west have French ancestry. I know a Lemieux, a Morin, and a number of Carons, and none of them speak any French at all. Like the Schmidts, Svenssons, and Demetriuks, they decided that carrying on their grandparents' language wasn't a terribly important consideration. (the Changs and Singhs will be there within a generation or two as well.) Not damaging. I think the resentment of bilingualism as an official policy in the west is that it's seen as utterly artificial. Bilingualism is often pushed with the sort of arguments offered in this thread. "...but you could get a government job!" "...but you could travel!" "...but you could move to Quebec!" Who cares? And there's the idea that there's some sort of duty as a Canadian, or something that is owed to Quebecers, to learn French. My ancestors have been in this country for several generations now, and none of them have ever spoken a word of French. It's a little late to try and convince us that it's a duty of Canadians. I think official bilingualism as part and parcel of the sort of "Two Nations" rhetoric that makes most western Canadians physically nauseous. It's artificial. It bears no relevance to life in western Canada. "The French Fact In Canada" is "The French Myth" out here. Special status for Quebec, special powers for Quebec, a sponsorship program to win the affection of Quebecers, referendums, ... I think many westerners are past caring. They just roll their eyes and say "whatever" at this point. I think most westerners reject this stuff as being just plain irrelevant to their existence. Interesting choice of a cut-off date. However, I think the CF-18 maintenance contract makes it in under the cut. I suspect a lot of Manitobans of sufficient age haven't forgotten that a superior Winnipeg bid was passed up for the opportunity to buy votes in Quebec. Which, I think, is the sort of thing that Battletoad was talking about. -k

I watched her fingers closely... it certainly looked believable. And it certainly does look like a difficult thing to play. But ... ugh, wouldn't listen to it again. -k

Good grief, William, if you wanted to ask why the government isn't doing more to encourage people to learn French, why didn't you ask why the government isn't doing more to encourage people to learn French? The word "polymath" describes people like Copernicus, DaVinci, Galileo, Newton, Franklin... people whose breadth and depth of knowledge encompasses many spheres of human achievement. Why doesn't more done to "make" Canadian polymaths? Because such people can not be created by any act of government. To address the real question, namely "why do not de Anglo learn de Francais?"... my response is: why bother? Westerners are largely excluded from that sort of work anyway, if not by language fluency then simply by geographic location. Most federal government jobs in this part of the world don't require French. Few Westerners, even those who've attended "French immersion" schools, speak with fluency to satisfy the government language cops anyway. Who'd plan their educational choices around the idea of landing a government job anyway? Who'd say "I want to be a bilingual bureaucrat some day!" ...it's like saying "I want to drive a Saturn some day!" It kind of makes me sad to think that somewhere out there, some child is thinking "I want to be a bureaucrat when I grow up!" "Serve the French" is what I need to do? Wait, what? I'm committing genocide by not learning French? This is just more of the kind of ridiculous hype that makes people think you're crazy, Willie. There's not a single drop of French blood in me. Why should I help them keep their culture alive? Should I also learn tagalog so that I can help my upstairs neighbors keep their culture alive? -k