kimmy

He meant "crooks." -kimmy {with fond memories of rostrums/nostrums}

The video camera that caught her being dragged into a stairwell... do you think maybe it might have made a difference if there was anyone to perform a "security" function at a school that's obviously crying for it ???? Obviously, you share Mike Harris's opinion that tax breaks are more important. It's more important that the tax dollars go to good decent folk with nice houses than being spent on the low-life scum in the poorer schools... It's just too bad this kind of stuff makes it onto the news, isn't it ??? Now we'll have to waste more taxpayers money on making sure the schools are "safe".... Throwing money at them won't help, will it. ???? Do we have any more good Conservative catch phrases to try to distance the Conservatives from the direct consequences of their policies ??? Now that you've got that out of your system, let's get down to business. Thanks for noticing. As the original article mentioned, fear of reprisal maintained the silence. Amongst the coverage of this event, I have read that there was an element at the school that simply did not respect the authority of the administration and teachers. Bringing in counsellors does not provide security. Perhaps some police might have. More on that later. Would it be more likeley that you'd call the cops (councillors) if there were some cops (councillors) to call ??? We'll never know... maybe "market forces" will tell us later.... Now this is particularly interesting. Do you want counsellors in schools, or do you want cops in school? Counsellors are not cops. Did Mike Harris cut funding for school counsellors, or did he cut funding for police? Does Mike Harris even have control of the Toronto PD budget, or is that under City Hall's watch? I'd be surprised if Mike Harris cut funding for police, because more funding for law enforcement has generally been something "right wing" types are in favor of. And putting a police officer in schools has generally been something "right wing" types support. Whenever people propose putting police in schools, "lefty" types cry bloody murder, for a variety of "politically correct" reasons. Lefties don't even like security cameras in public places. Supposing those councillors called the police.... or is that only a ridiculous impractical "lefty" thing that no good red-blooded councillor would do.... Bringing cops into school is something no good "lefty" would support. You could have your membership revoked for suggesting such a thing. -k

The word "Extreme" is extremely overused. Once it meant "of the greatest severity; drastic", "being in or attaining the greatest or highest degree." At some point, the word "Extreme" was applied to daredevil sports, like people who ride bikes off huge ramps, skateboard in half-pipes, or fly their snowboards off cliffs. And about 5 minutes after that, the word "Extreme" was stolen by commercial interests to target marketting towards kids who only wish they were daredevil athletes who could fly snowboards off cliffs. The word "extreme" was applied to nachos, soft-drinks, computer toys and games, and all sorts of other products that are not actually extreme in the least. Here in Edmonton, you can go down to "Extreme Pita" to buy a pita-wrap. "Extreme Pita"? Huh? Pita is flatbread. It's bland, colourless, flavorless, it's not even leavened. From where I sit, flatbread is pretty much the exact opposite of extreme. I mention all of this as background in addressing the description of the Conservative Party of Canada as "extreme right wing". Is the CPC extreme? They're about as extreme as junkfood, computer parts, and flatbread. At any rate, let's get this thread back on topic. I believe Mike Harris got dragged into this because of the suggestion that more school counsellors could have prevented something like this from happening. Does that seem realistic? Not to me. I call "bullshit!" on that. Would the alleged victim have been more assertive if there had been more counsellors at the school? The first report (link can be found earlier in this thread) indicates that the victim did not come forward sooner because of fear of reprisal. And several of the criminal charges laid do in fact have to do with threats. I doubt she'd have felt safer talking about it whether there was one or two or 100 counsellors at the school. She was scared of what might happened to her if she told on the bullies. Would the alleged assailants have been kinder or gentler if there had been more counsellors at the school? Pfff. Haha. HAHAHAHAA. Suuuure they would. Tough guys just looove going to the counsellor to talk about feelings. They looove to share. -k

In Edmonton, natives commit about 50% of violent crime, though comprise only 2% of the population. Gang membership is skyrocketing, and social problems of every description are through the roof. But nobody has the stones to take a serious look at the problem, or even acknowledge that there is one. Is this a CPC support group meeting? Of course not. The CPC, as the other parties, and the media, and polite society, are terrified to discuss this issue. -k

IMT, you've made an obvious error which others have already pointed out. You have offered no support at all for the suggestion that this guy is acting as a proxy for the Conservatives. Joginder Singh Vedanti blasted same-sex marriage when Liberals visited the Golden Temple... is the entire Sikh church also a proxy for the Conservatives? Were the surly homosexuals (with the Sodomobile) who were harrassing and attacking delegates at the CPC convention in Montreal proxies for the Liberals? Are you suggesting that this guy Bill Whatcott is the Canadian equivalent of the Speedboat Veterans for Bush (or whatever they were called) from the US election? And if not, then would you concede that the title of this thread is hyperbole? (much like "The Invasion Begins!!!" thread you started a while back?) -k

Of course it did. Of course not. Of course there are. Everytime somebody who isn't white is charged with a crime, they complain that they've been unfairly accused because "the system" is racist.That said, do you honestly believe that a police department that's been in hot water over racial issues in the recent past would use anything but the utmost discretion in handling something like this? Of course they did. Accusations of this nature are always made towards complainants in rape cases. -k

I think you're terribly misguided. To borrow your "highway" analogy... anybody who drives on the highway has assumed some degree of risk... but you bet your ass that we're going to punish somebody who intentionally drives in a manner that puts others at risk. Somebody who decides to drive has taken on some degree of risk, so that should make it ok for somebody else on the road to swerve into oncoming traffic to play "chicken"? Is that what you're saying? No way. Travis Smith and that other guy deserve what's coming. They ought to be put in prison until their disease kills them. My only regret is that the taxpayer is going to be on the hook for paying for their expensive medicine. -k

Hello! -k

Yes, yes, I realize all that. What I am wondering... is are people upset that he is being held for trial, or merely at the way the trial will be conducted? In this thread I have read a great deal about legal tradition and so on, but nobody really arguing against the overall idea that Omar Khadr should be tried. I'm curious as to whether people would still be upset if Khadr's case were heard in a regular court in the US, or in Afghanistan for that matter. ... Personally, I suspect that a lot of the fuss over Khadr is tempered with the relief at the knowledge that he won't be coming back to Canada. I suspect that Paul Martin won't make a stand on Khadr's behalf (other than asking that he not be put to death) because Paul Martin and his advisors know that getting Khadr sent back to Canada would be a political hot potato that Paul Martin wants no part of. I'm actually starting to wish that the US would just let him plead guilty to some lesser charge (say, loitering) and send him back to Canada. I think it would be tremendously interesting to see peoples' reactions if he were sent home to bump around Toronto as freely as any other Canadian. -k

I earlier made mention of this in the thread where people were lamenting that Edmonton and Calgary aren't sophisticated and urbane like Toronto. I have gathered, from coverage of the angry mothers, that some of them were Jamaican, but I have not heard that all of them were. I'm surprised that Sparhawk hadn't heard that the victim was white, since the parents have made it an issue. The article I linked to last week made mention of that point. A question I haven't heard anyone ask: was the alleged crime racially motivated? It's a question everybody asks when white people are on the attacking end and non-white people are victims. I haven't heard anybody ask it when the situation is reversed. Is the question irrelevant, or are people just afraid to ask, or are they afraid of what the answer might be? I saw coverage following the arraignment hearing on CBC and CTV. There seemed to be a palpable anger. The black people interviewed all seemed to be of the belief that the boys were innocent, the girl is a liar or a nut, the police are racists, the arrests were illegal. I have read message board posts from people who believe that this is all a sham being perpetrated to get the boys into "the system" or to get them out of that school. Judging by the feelings of the people I saw on TV, this will become a very heated issue before it is over. I wonder, if there are convictions, if there is potential for rioting as we've seen in the US following controversial trials where race was at issue. -k

So, to sum up the positions taken in this thread, people are not upset that Omar Khadr is being put on trial, they are just upset with the venue? Is that the sum total of complaints? -k

Uh, doesn't geothermal power use heat from the earth's core, and require special geological formations that are usually only found in mountains or in volcanic areas? I can't imagine your neighbors are getting volcanos installed in their back yards... -k

I hope I'm not putting words in his mouth, but I think Argus is saying that postal-code discrimination or not, the arbitrary application of language classifications will let managers within the civil service maintain their own private little clique anyway. -k

I think it would be cool if Ralph Goodale and Paul Martin could arrange for strolling minstrels to follow them around to play a trumpet fanfare each time someone says "Mini-Budget." -k

I watched an episode of This is Wonderland once. It made me want to jab sharp objects into my skin. -k

I might have been in error... about the "wanna-be" part, at least. Toronto Star: Police charge 16 in abuse of student ... I love the part where the trustee says he's not even surprised. Nice place y'all live. -k

You can mark the moment of the fall of our great nation with such precision as to place it within a 9-month interruption in Pierre Trudeau's 16 years in office? Intriguing. -k {as an aside, I think the title of this threads needs more exclamation points. perhaps "MINI-BUDGET!!!!!" or even "MINI-BUDGET!!!!!!!"}

YAY for Greg!! -k

It's a seldom discussed but widely known fact of professional sports that there's an element of women who make themselves available to the athletes following games (to put it as politely as possible.) The appeal is obvious... the athletes, generally, have some degree of fame, great bodies, and lots of money. Certain women seek them out. A CFL broadcaster and former player (I forget which one, it might have been Darren Flutie) was asked about the situation in an interview, and said, basically, that when the players go to clubs after games, there's a group of women there looking for them, and each city has its "regulars"... the same women going to the same nightclubs after CFL games. I once saw an internet forum for... "rink rats" ... girls interested in getting with hockey players. They compared scorecards, exchanged tips on which places were the best places to find players, kept track of which hotels teams stay at when they're in town, discussed which players were good or not very good sexual partners, discussed which players like to party and which ones won't pick up a girl, discussed the players' "equipment"... all the information one would need to go out and pick up players. It was a little amusing, yet quite disturbing all at once. And no doubt the players compare notes as to which clubs the puck-bunnies like to go to as well. I don't doubt that in some cases there are sexual assaults, as RB posits. However, I'd suggest that in most cases the women know what they're doing. I doubt many of them are under the impression that they're meeting a future husband when they meet a pro athlete for a quickie in a hotel-room. Other CFL players should be worried. And not about getting infected through some bizarre on-field accident where they somehow exchange blood with Travis Smith. They should be worried if they're part of the group that goes to clubs looking for football groupies. If it's the same women over and over looking for players, then chances are pretty good that some of Travis Smith's sexual partners have been with a whole bunch of other players too. The same interviewee (Darren Flutie, I think) said "if people think Travis Smith is the only guy in the CFL with HIV, they're being naive." Anyway, the whole situation is a somewhat disturbing and sad example of how seedy human behavior can be. I agree with people who say that if Travis Smith knew he had HIV and continued having unprotected sex, he should be charged with aggravated assault or attempted murder or something along those lines. -k

Odd, isn't it, that Kinsella is much better at cutting up Martin than anybody the Conservatives have? -k

You're not seriously attempting to compare the US to the Taliban on human rights issues, are you? Because if you were, that would be quite entertaining. Please proceed. -k

The messages you replied to were 2 years old. Michael Hardner has not visited the forum in 6 months. I don't see much point in picking a fight with people who aren't even here. But yeah: giving people $30,000 a year if they commit crimes has to be one of the all time stupid ideas ever conceived. -k

You said you've never lived anywhere else. I have. My dad has had contract work that's taken my family to Calgary, Ottawa, Vancouver, and Victoria. I've lived in these places, I've attended school in these places, experienced traffic conditions and air quality and interacted with people and experienced their attitudes and outlooks. So no, this isn't a rebutal. I'm sharing my observations. You feel country music is horrid; I'm actually inclined to agree, but appreciation of horrid music is hardly unique to Alberta. In Ottawa you'll find widespread enthusiasm for urban thug music, which I feel makes country music seem like Beethoven by comparison. As I've said before, bad taste is coast to coast. Is the Calgary Stampede a sophisticated event? Probably not. I can't bring myself to view it as a quality of life issue. You always have the option of, you know, not going... I'm also skeptical as to whether it's any worse than the crime-marathon that Caribana has become, in the cosmic scheme of things. Do people in Alberta enjoy meat? Yup. Elsewhere? Yup. You complained about smog; I can tell you from experience that air-quality in Calgary is better than in Ottawa or Vancouver. And air quality in the Greater Toronto Area is just ridiculous, to the point of becoming dangerous for people with respiratory ailments. I once flew from Ottawa home to Edmonton for holidays, on a clear, sunny summer afternoon. The flight stopped at Pearson Airport in Toronto, and I thought "goody! I will get to see the CN Tower this time!" But a funny thing happened as the plane descended from the cloudless sky: it got darker. The horizon became less distinct, and finally vanished altogether. The line where the ground ended and the sky begins had become obscured by smog. I finally did spot the CN Tower, so obscured by smog that it was just a slightly darker grey in a sea of grey. You challenged Ontarions to "Just imagine..." Well they don't need to just imagine; most of them live in much worse air than what you're breathing. Vancouver is pretty ridiculous too. 3 million car-crazed people crammed into a narrow valley surrounded by mountains. It's lousy. You complained about materialism. Maybe you've just graduated from highschool and the perspective of a status-symbol conscious heirarchy is fresh in your mind. I promise, that mentality is not unique to schools in Calgary. It's every highschool in every city. I doubt there's been a time and place in Canadian history when people were more obsessed with material wealth than in Ottawa of about 5-6 years ago. You complained about Christians trying to "save you". As I said, there are proselytes all over; moving away from Alberta won't spare you from that. My personal experience was that they were more visible in Ottawa, but perhaps that was just because I lived closer to downtown. As I mentioned, I've never encountered anything like Ottawa's "Fire of God" nutjobs. You complained that living in Calgary has deprived you of "real culture." I'm struggling to grasp what this "real culture" you're seeking is. I'd suggest that living in Calgary has deprived you of the chance to experience the extent to which people in your age group in other parts of the country have adopted American thug culture as their own. Calgary has fake cowboys, other places have fake gangstas. If you're interested in museums and galleries and so on, plan a visit to Ottawa. Make sure you visit the Museum of Civilization in Hull, the National Art Gallery, take a tour the Parliament buildings. It's good to see all those things once in your life. (And once is probably about as many times as most Ottawanians have toured those things, too.) You seem to be under the illusion that people elsewhere are smarter, more sophisticated, more cultured. In my experience that's just not the case. People are on average pretty dumb from coast to coast. People embrace trash from coast to coast; the only variable is the kind of trash they favor. But don't take my word for it. You said you're 18; you're probably going to university now or will be soon. So try going to university in some other part of the country. Experience the country. If you believe life in Toronto or Vancouver would be better, then give it a try. Live the dream. Maybe you'll find it's to your liking. Trying new things in other parts of the country has to be better than sitting at home in Calgary imagining that people are better elswhere. -k

Its not that simple, really. In the global market, a reduction in consumption across all of Canada would have a negligible effect on gas prices. The oil companies would simply sell more to the likes of China and India, nations that are always willing to buy more. Maybe, but that wouldn't work out too well for the people who make a living selling gas in Canada, would it? Bottom line, this is supposed to be a free market, and people are supposed to be able to sell their product at whatever they deem an appropriate price. If people keep buying, why shouldn't they raise their prices? The people hardest hit by high gas prices aren't the ones out shopping for Smart cars while sipping a latte. They're the ones scouring the bargain finder for a car they can buy for as little as possible so they can get to work and keep their job after the last beater died. Fuel efficient vehicles are not the exclusive domain of the wealthy-- traditionally it's been the opposite, in fact (the rich drive SUVs, luxury sedans, and sports-cars while the poor drive sub-compacts.) Car companies in fact have subsidized the cost of compact cars at the expense of large vehicles so that they can sell enough compacts to maintain a sufficiently low corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) number. I'm sure that if you scan the used car listings, you'll find that the trend continues: many of the cheapest cars will be small, fuel efficient cars. (RB's Swift, for instance. ) Likely because you're viewing the issue through decidedly middle class/upper class eyes. I'm viewing the issue through the eyes of someone who gets around quite well with a bicycle and a bus-pass. I know that not all Canadians have the choice of using alternate forms of transportation. For some, driving really is the only option. Some people live in rural areas. Some people work in areas that are not well-served by public transit. But most Canadians live and work in large urban centers where transit is accessible. Most Canadians make unnecessary trips with their cars. What I am getting at is that most Canadians could easily reduce their gasoline bills if they chose to, but simply choose not to. I am of the view that a large portion of gas purchased in this country is used for discretionary, not necessary, purposes. I believe that if gas prices were really such a hardship for Joe Average, he'd find ways to reduce his gas consumption. -k

I think the timing of the final part of the Gomery report is completely irrelevant. The whole rationale for waiting for the Gomery report (and calling an election 30 days later) was that Canadians wanted the facts to make an informed decision about accountability for the scam. We now have Gomery's examination of those facts. The remaining portion of the report deals with recommendations to help prevent future abuses, and is not relevant to Paul Martin's promise to call an election once Canadians had the facts about the scandal. We now have the facts, Paul Martin should honor the spirit of his promise. Instead of scrambling about for means of extending his reign by a few more weeks and trying to avoid having the opposition parties bring down the government, he should be proactive. He could look like a real leader if he simply announced an election date, one chosen so that the campaigning will begin right after the holiday season. That would help him avoid this appearance of desperation, of being a lame-duck PM, and might even earn him some respect from the electorate for being decisive and for doing the right thing. Of course, this is Paul Martin we're talking about, so I won't hold my breath waiting for that to happen. -k