kimmy

A lot of people seem to look at Ms Guergis' conduct and see a drug freak-out or an outrageous diva tantrum. I see a stressed out traveller who is afraid of missing a flight and angry at all the delays. I looked through this article that MSJ linked to and rolled my eyes at this: Anybody who works in any job where they interact with the public is going to have some bad experiences. And especially so when you deal with people in less than ideal circumstances. When I did technical support, I dealt with angry, frustrated customers all the time. When I waitress, I have to deal with rude and aggressive drunks. A collections agent is going to have to deal with people who are trying to kick his ass. And guess what, cupcake, in your line of work, you're going to have to deal with people who are stressed out and angry. Or this article, where it is claimed that the poor airport workers are still "reeling" from the altercation 6 days later. Are these people so fragile that they are emotionally shaken because somebody yelled at them? Or are they just excited to finally have a sympathetic media to cry to about their job stresses? I don't fly often, but when I do, I've never been left with the impression that the ground staff, and particularly the security people, are there to help me out or improve my flying experience. When I went to Toronto last year, I arrived at the check-in line about an hour and 3 minutes before flight time. But because there was only one agent at the desk, and because he was busy assisting confused elderly folks who were ahead of me, I had to stand there waiting for close to 10 minutes, and by the the time I finally got to the check-in desk, it was 55 minutes to flight time. When I finally got to the counter, he gives me a lecture on checking in an hour before the flight, even though he saw me standing there waiting for him for 8 minutes. No acknowledgment of my patience, no apology for being short-staffed, just a lecture about being late. Then I get another 2 minute lecture about how because I missed the recommended check-in time, he could not guarantee that my luggage would travel on the same flight as me, and how if it didn't I would have to go through some process to claim it when I reached my destination. I desperately wanted to tell him that if we were so short of time, he should put my bag on the conveyor belt instead of lecturing me. But I didn't. Because I was afraid that if I said anything to him, I wouldn't be allowed on the flight. Perhaps he was just doing his job to the letter, which is fine I guess, but it certainly wasn't the sort of encounter that left me with the feeling that they were there to help me or give me a better experience. Just the opposite. The return flight was about as positive. No trouble at the check in, this time. But when I got to the security check in, things went sour. They didn't just scan my pursue, they dumped it out. I was made to remove not just my overcoat and my shoes, but also my sweater. So while other women are going through security in saris and bulky Muslim garb without security staff making any complaint, I had to strip down to my tank top and put my arms in the air while they waved their little scanner over me. I desperately wanted to challenge them over their conduct, but once again I kept my mouth shut because I was afraid I wouldn't be allowed to fly home if I spoke up. So I actually feel kind of happy to here that the PEI airport people are apparently still "reeling". Good. They've probably earned it. I just wish Ms Guergis had been on hand to scream at the security people the day I went through Lester B Pearson airport. -k

You're right, Bill, I replied to the earlier messages before I'd read that. Sorry! Still, doesn't it make you feel safer to know that Konstable Kwesi is patrolling Toronto streets right now? -k

Ok, so now that we've had a chance to read the play-by-play waldo linked to, which part would you say that they should have slammed her on the ground? -k

All over the world, in the sense that displays will be set up on folding tables in the Students Union building of numerous universities in a handful of countries. Of the 40 cities they claim, it looks as though at least 35 of them are in Canada, the USA, and the UK. It's entirely Israel's fault... rainbows and hugs will break out in Israel just as soon as those darned walls are taken down. -k

I am confident that this issue will work itself out. Everything will turn out fine. -k

Suuuure, guys. While this is theoretically an activity that a heterosexual couple could engage in, I think we're all aware that the phrase itself has a strong connotation of homosexual activity and is strongly associated with gay males, not heterosexual couples. When somebody starts off a joke "four blonds walk into a bar..." nobody is picturing four men, and when people are calling the tea party people "teabaggers" nobody is picturing heterosexual couples either. Cooper and Maddow are certainly aware of the connotation, even if you guys aren't. Trying to rationalize the comment by ignoring the gay connotation of the term is just a dodge. Basically, Cooper and Maddow are having fun calling the tea party people a bunch of fags, and you're trying to excuse them for it. -k

The thing is, you can't be a feminist unless you sign up for the full-meal deal. You can't go in and say "I'm all in favor of workplace opportunities, but some of this equal-pay-for-work-of-equal-value theory sounds kind of like socialist interference in the free market..." If you want in, you have to accept the whole slate of left-wing ideology that's more or less universal to all of these groups. Evil Israeli imperialism is one of those tenets that you have to agree to before you sign up. It's like going to Rabble/Babble. -k

The CBC attracts a certain clientele; a rather think-alike group for the most part. The comments section reflects as much. -k

At my place, you could have heard a pin drop during the closing moments of the game. I have never had such a quiet group of customers in my life. I wasn't even sure that they were breathing. -k

That's simply not true. These were regular RCMP constables called in by airport officials. You'll be happy to know that not only is Constable Millington, the guy with the tazer, on active duty keeping Toronto safe, he's also suing the CBC because the CBC's reporting of the Dziekanski incident was "embarrassing" and "stressful" for him. There ARE a lot more incidents like Dziekanski... few result in fatalities, and even fewer are captured on video, so there's little coverage. For the most part they're fine people. However, a fine organization would not go to such lengths to cover up for some "bad apples" in their ranks. -k

I agree that Guergis should have been held accountable for her behavior. However, I can't accept people saying "she's lucky she didn't get tazered, like that other guy". Because what happened to that other guy was a complete and total abomination. If Canadians have started thinking that they're lucky each time they encounter the RCMP without getting tazered and stepped on, there is something profoundly wrong with this country. I realize that you probably have not followed this issue closely. However, if you do some reading about the Dziekanski incident, and the findings of the Braidwood inquiry, I think you'll probably agree that there's nothing remotely reasonable about the RCMP's conduct before, during, or after the death of Robert Dziekanski. The four officers involved: -discussed using the tazer before they arrived on the scene. -used the tazer even though Dziekanski made no physically threatening gestures at all -failed to provide first aid once they realized he was in medical distress -conspired together to get their stories straight -provided testimony blatantly false to a judicial inquiry The RCMP itself: -knowingly issued false statements to the media regarding the incident -seized the video of the incident and only returned it when forced to by court action -cleared the four officers of wrongdoing and had them back on the street with no consequences -opposed the inquiry with every legal means at their disposal -concealed key evidence from the inquiry I don't think I can find words to express how abhorrent I find all of this. I can't recall anything that has been more disgusting to me as a Canadian citizen than the conduct of the RCMP in this incident, and I can't think of anything that has done as much to undermine my trust in our law enforcement officials. AW, You seem to be very interested in events in Canada, so I'd invite you to read about it for yourself... on the surface this might look like an unfortunate accident, but I think it has significance that goes far beyond the death of one man. We've had some threads about this here and here if you're interested in some of the prior discussions. -k

Well, in bonny William's case, it's more a question of basic literacy... August, when we discussed this a few months ago, you seemed to be of the opinion that market forces would sort everything else. ("the matrons of Westmount can affort to pay for quality care," etc.) Why the about-face? Do they need blood ties when they've got cash? -k

If what happened to Robert Dziekanski ever becomes accepted as the standard of reasonable behavior by our police officers, it's time to to take up arms and fight. -k

I do find it odd that the left, and particularly well-known gays like Cooper and Maddow, are finding such amusement from insulting their opponents in terms of being homosexual. -k {shouldn't they append each reference to "teabagging" with the obligatory Seinfeld "Not that there's anything wrong with that"?}

Perhaps we should review your understanding of what the term "noise" actually means. -k

You can order one from the Mapleleafweb Institute for Advanced Physics. email whowhere for details. -k

What if the only "types" of voters it is intended to weed out is ones who don't know anything about the country or the constitution or the system of government? Personally, I think there's some merit to the idea that a voter should have at least a bare minimum of knowledge before they get to participate. How does it make sense to say that an idea should be abandoned forever because it was used for dishonest purposes 50 years ago? Contraception and abortion have been touted as means of reducing the birthrate of "undesirables" in the past. Does that mean contraception and abortion are tainted for all time and must be abandoned as well? -k

If it's unconstitutional, it's unconstitutional. But it's mistaken to claim that the idea itself is racist, despite it having been used for racist purposes in the past. -k

And what criteria would this filter discriminate? Frequency, polarity, magnitude, and size are the basis of many of the filters that we encounter in day to day life. What sort of characteristics might discriminate quantum noise containing a signal from quantum noise that's just quantum noise? Here's what I'm getting at: if there's a signal that can be recovered, it's not noise anymore. If there's a way to recover the signal out of it, it's because there is some discernible characteristic that allows us to differentiate that signal from the noise. Show me that discernible characteristic, and I'll show you how your quantum noise isn't quantum noise anymore. Perhaps you're familiar with the Butterworth filter or the Chebyshev filter. I'd like to introduce you to another filter that I've discovered here at Mapleleafweb. It's called the Boxer filter. It works on the principle that "a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest." This is the filter that allows me to look at a cloud and see a pony or a fluffy kitten. This is the filter that allows you to look at c-r's posts and see a great thinker. This is the filter that allows somebody to do find-a-word puzzles on pages of the Bible and declare that the Bible predicted 9/11, or look at a patch of mold behind their fridge and see Jesus, or pay $1.99 per minute to call the psychic hotline and search for items of personal relevance in Madame JoJo's prognostications. This is the sort of filter that could discriminate information out of quantum noise: a receiver that has already decided what the signal is supposed to be. -k

Is the idea of a "voter literacy test" racist? Or was the historical fact that it was only selectively applied? If somebody proposed a "voter literacy test" that was to taken by every would-be voter, would that be racist? -k

My first reaction was that a "Great Tea Party Ad" is probably a lot like a "Great Dealcoholized Beer" or a "Great Rice Cake". How great could it really be? There IS an interesting question behind what Olbermann is asking. As punked points out, American blacks and Hispanic voters in great majority vote Democrat. And while Olbermann might have been wrong in claiming the "tea parties" are an entirely white phenomenon, it's probably not much of an exaggeration. So ... why is there such an obvious racial divide? Is there anything inherently racist about the "tea parties" or Republican policies in general? I'd suggest, no. It's not the policies and opinions themselves that have a racial attachment. I'd suggest that it's more like a hockey game. Minorities aren't excluded, per se, it's just that there's a perception that it's for white people, and minorities aren't interested. -k

If that's how they wish to introduce their film, they've made a terribly poor decision. They've type-cast themselves and turned away a lot of potential viewers who just can't be bothered to waste time watching what has the appearance of being yet more left-wing shrieking hysteria. -k

You guys really don't get it. Society isn't asking for anything, anything at all, from Tiger Woods. Tiger Woods is the one doing the asking here. "Please, let me continue to sell you a Buick SUV. Please, buy this Swiss watch that I endorse. Please, buy all the other stuff that I endorse. Please see me as a hero again, please buy stuff that has my face on the ads." -k

FFS, Greg, did you actually test any of the changes you've been making before you put them online? -k