kimmy

I keep hearing kooks talk about this, and the only evidence I've ever seen them come up with is normal multinational agreements. Trying to conflate normal multinational trade and security agreements into some sort of plot to merge sovereign countries into a single police state is just paranoia. Yes, policing and security is a big business right now. Governments have made commitments to provide more security at ports and airports and borders, and more policemen on the street. Security is a big issue for many voters. What's that got to do with a conspiracy to amalgamate North America? Oh? I wasn't aware. Links, please. uh-huh. Not only is he a secret operative of the New World Order, but he's so brazen as to publicize the fact by using it as a witty double-entendre in the name of his show. Just like Rumsfeld tipped off the whole world to the "stolen $2.3 trillion" the day before the big operation to cover it all up. This sort of logic reminds me of the fat-ass redneck who is sure that the NAU is already in place because he saw a Canada/US/Mexico logo on a truck on a highway once. Are you sure he's not a 12 foot tall lizard? He could be. I could be one too... -k

You dislike spending your money on companies that advertise... are as scrutinous of other sorts of business practices (financial bonuses for the CEO, opening or closing of company facilities, use of union or non-union labor, for instance?) or is advertising the only one that gets you riled up? Because advertising, like the others, is just a business decision. Companies, whether it's soft drink manufacturers or grocery stores, don't advertise just for laughs. They advertise as a business decision. They advertise because they believe it will improve their volume of sales. If you don't feel like shopping at Safeway or some other chain that advertises, you can most likely find a corner store near by your home where you can shop instead. It's probably run by honest, hard-working immigrants who just want to improve their lot in life. So there's no reason not to shop there... as long as you don't mind paying $4.89 for 2 litres of milk. The difference between Safeway and Habib-Mart is that Safeway sells hundreds of cartons of milk each day, while Habib-Mart sells only a handful. With their volume of sales, Safeway doesn't need nearly as much margin, while Habib needs a big margin on what he sells just to survive. Safeway believes they can maintain or increase their volume of sales through advertising, theoretically allowing them to maintain a lower margin than smaller competitors. Is Safeway right? Does advertising actually work? I can't tell you that for sure, but I am pretty confident that Safeway wouldn't spend money on advertising if they didn't believe it was a good business decision. -k

The threat itself is a serious criminal matter, even if it was perpetrated by dumb-ass kids who have no idea how to make a bomb and no intention of ever trying to. Even if the whole thing was intended as a joke, it's a very serious matter and I see no reason why the law shouldn't search vigorously for those responsible and punish them to the maximum possible extent. Personally, I'm almost hoping something happens. Obviously I am not hoping that anyone gets hurt, but at the same time I think that if this was for real, it could start a chain of events that drives the final nails in the coffin of Quebec separatism as a legitimate political movement. -k

The athletes and movie stars get paid millions of dollars because, basically, the public has-- --wait a minute. Did he just say Maury Povich? That's hilarious! Anyway, the athletes and entertainers get paid millions of dollars, because, basically, the public has decided that is what they wish to spend their money on. People choose to pay $12 to go see a movie, or $30 or $50 or $80 to go to a sports event, or to sit through paid advertisements during a television program. The conclusion seems to be that the athletes and actors are providing something that the consumer considers valuable, and they're paid accordingly. -k

I think most of us have kind of a mental picture by now... -k

Yesterday's AFC game was one of the best ever! Yay! What a comeback. Who could have imagined how the game would have turned around after it went to 21-3. Who would have anticipated what the Colts did to Bill Belicheck's defense in the 2nd half. Has a Bill Belicheck defence ever been dismantled, crushed, and stomped like that? Really, the Patriots D got humiliated. And the Colts D came up so much bigger than advertised. They coughed up the big lead, but once Peyton started giving them time to rest, they slowed the Patriots down when it mattered. And I'm so glad the Patriots aren't going to the Superbowl yet again. I'm just so tired of them. I'm tired of the whole mythology around Tom Brady and Bill Belicheck. The curb-stomping they received in the 2nd half yesterday has to put a dent in that aura and mystique. And Peyton Manning didn't just get the 800 pound gorilla off his back, he got that ape off his back and kicked the living crap out of it. -k

No. The existing North American Union amalgamates everything from police to meat inspection as well. They are putting the police state into place for a reason - because when you see the North American Union you will not like it. Canada isn't being absorbed into a transcontinental police state. There's no concentration camps. I've seen your video of the rail-yard, and it's the funniest, stupidest thing I've seen in my life. Anderson Cooper is not a CIA agent. Dubya Bush is not a 12 foot tall lizard. -k

I thought you wanted to keep this thread focused on monetary reform? The ideas that Riddell and Griffin and others (and yourself) are promoting have been around for decades. Good ideas might be unpopular at first, but this particular idea hasn't gotten any more popular with age either. The North American Union, in the real world, only exists in the form of trade and security agreements such as NAFTA and SPP.The North American Union that your paranoid friends are all amped up about only exists in the imagination of American right-wing ultranationalists who are scared shitless that waves of brown-people will be coming north from Mexico to live among them. -k

Where d'ya think? -k

That certainly sounds prestigious! Odd that a prestigious committee would have a website that looks like it was designed by grandma. The domain registry indicates that "www.comer.org" belongs to John Riddell, who was (not surprisingly) a Canadian Action Party candidate in the last election (he received 82 votes, which means he's one of the few Canadian politicians who have the distinction of having been trounced by a Marxist-Leninist Party candidate.) His biography ( http://www.ctv.ca/mini/election2006/candid.../35095_CAP.html ) describes him as an "earthologist" and "concrete poet". -k

Which top experts, exactly, are on board with the Fred Griffin/Jeckyll Island version you're promoting here? -k

I think that there are radicals in the Muslim community. I also think the T.O arrests were a stitch-up. So where am I on this continuum? I'm not sure that it's a continuum. However, I'm curious about this "stitch-up". What do you believe happened? Was it entrapment? Were they framed? Or was the whole thing an elaborate hoax carried out with actors? -k

Ah. He's back now. Oh well. -k

Oh. Is this what you're all amped up about? First off, Moorhouse doesn't seem to be very aware of geography. Alberta's a big place. Fort McMurray and the oilsands are in a different drainage area than Edmonton, Calgary, the vast majority of Alberta's population, and the bulk of the province's farmland: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athabasca_River There is lot of water in Alberta. The problem is, most of it is in the north end of the province (ie, where Fort McMurray is.) Water in the Fort McMurray goes north to Lake Athabasca, then to Great Slave Lake and the Arctic Ocean, via the MacKenzie River. It never goes anywhere near Edmonton, Calgary, or most farmers in the province. And that's somewhat beside the point, anyway. I'm skeptical whether the nuclear plants will use much more water than is already being used by the fossil fuel plants. Why? Because the fossil fuel plants are being used to make *steam* for the oil extraction process. -k

I noticed they repeated the premiere this Monday, which seemed like kind of a brain-fart to me. An unprecedented viewership for last week's premiere, and instead of a new episode, they air a repeat? Maybe they were afraid that Jack Bauer would come in from the other channel with both guns blazing and ice their entire cast. However, it sounds like last night's episode was a new one. -k

The oilsands make a massive financial contribution to Canada. You like having a government that can fund healthcare and education and social programs, right? If greenhouse gasses from the oilsands are going to be reduced, nuclear power is the only way to do it. You do want the government to reduce greenhouse gasses, right? -k

Nobody, aside from maybe MikeDavid000000000, claims that they're *all* radical.We just claim that there is an element within the community that does hold radical views. Even this claim is too much for some to believe, judging from the number of people who insist that the Toronto arrests were an elaborate hoax or a frame-up job. This aspect of the investigation was well documented at the time. It's somewhat encouraging. -k

Clock management is an important part of football. A team's ability to squeeze a lot of plays into the final 2 minutes, or their ability to make the final 2 minutes vanish, is an element of strategy. And it doesn't take that long. If a team has all 3 time outs, plus the 2 minute warning, that's, what, 3 minutes extra? And if they're doing that, it's because they want to score, and will probably run a lot of quick plays and maybe a hurry-up offense during their possession. The one thing that bugs me right now is the video reviews. It seems like every critical moment of the game, out comes the red flag and a lengthy video review. Like the way goal reviews were in the NHL a few years ago, when almost every goal was reviewed because the "in the crease" rule was so chintzy. You didn't even celebrate goals until after the review was over. It just killed the flow of the game. NFL video reviews are getting to be the same. I'm getting so sick of hearing "did he Make A Football Move before he lost the ball?" I think basketball has the worst final moments of any sport. It's a non-stop parade of fouls and free throws. The team that's trying to catch up always takes fouls during the other team's possession, to stop the clock, then hope the guy misses his free throws, then get possession back. Non-stop free throws. Yawn. Disappointed by the Chargers. They literally fumbled the game away. The Patriots didn't shut down LT in the second half, the Chargers shut him down by turning the ball over and keeping New England's offense on the field. Booo. Stupid football. Wasting the time out to challenge a play that everybody knew was going to stand was dumb too. It could have given them another play and put that last fieldgoal attempt within range. -k

I'm curious to see what this week's ratings are like. I've got a hunch that a large portion of the 1st week's viewers were people who checked in to see what all the fuss was about and decided there wasn't much to see. I taped the show, but I haven't watched it yet (I was hoping for MikeDavid00000's review first. ) -k

It's Thursday, and I just nooticed that n00b hasn't signed in since Monday. Do you think the Rockefellers got him? -k

Wait, it's the Islamists who made the transmitter coins? yikes. I bet they were pressed at the Mullah Moolah Mint of Mississauga. -k

My mistake, then. I've only ever heard the word applied to military strongmen seizing power through undemocratic means, and I thought you were implying that the Bush regime is an example of such. -k {will be having coffee with my Junta later.}

Is there any explanation for the OTF's apparent interest in anti-Israel activism? Is this a grassroots policy within the federation, or is it from somebody at the top with an axe to grind? -k

Junta?