kimmy

Are you seriously comparing gay marriage to murder? This has to be one of the most poorly thought out analogies I've ever heard... -k

You're always being evaluated. Remember, you never get a second chance to make a first impression! -k

If you tell me what you were searching for by private message (or carrier pigeon...) I could attempt to help you -k

I share the misgivings about the lack of any specifics, and the poor quality of the writing on the website. Leaving that aside, though, is the overall concept *really* so bad? If not with outside assistance, then how is change to occur? All of the levers of power are in the hands of self-interested elites who would do anything to resist change to the status quo. (some would argue that the same can be said of western democracies too, but you'll concede that Joe Average in our western democracies is in a far better situation in every respect than his counterpart in most African countries.) If not with outside assistance, what's the remedy? Imagine, for a moment, that against all odds this "Cagintua" movement becomes wildly popular in some African nation. Imagine, for a moment, that the ruling strongman and his generals recognize that if they don't take action there is going to be massive bloodshed, and that rather than resort to senseless butchery they decide to appease this huge Cagintua movement by appealing to Europe for help in establishing a new and modern democratic government. "You know that whole thing the US is doing in Iraq, with elections and a new government? We would like to try that in our republic too, but without the insurgents. Please come help. You won't even have to invade us. We want to do this." And suppose the west responds by sending a contingent of experts to help create a new constitution, with that country's own representatives involved to assure the people that their interests are being represented. Laws and rules put in place to make sure that the country actually benefits from its natural resources; social programs could be put in place; money could be provided by the west to modernize infrastructure with confidence that it wouldn't be used to buy weapons or line the pockets of a dictator. International representatives would be sent to monitor elections, like in the Ukraine last winter. And western help could be provided as long as was needed to ensure things got going smoothly. Consider that even in Iraq, despite the bloody insurgency and the ongoing sabotage of every effort to establish the new government, the majority of voters still participated in the elections. Imagine the same experiment being applied in a country that actually wanted to change, without all the geopolitical factors that are at play in Iraq. Doesn't it seem like such a movement could be success? Doesn't it at least seem better than the status quo for many African nations? Doesn't it seem like something that really could be a "beacon of hope" for neighboring countries? Sure, the chances of something like this getting off the ground are miniscule. But is the underlying idea really so bad? -k

I will stand up for Mirror. He does start a lot of threads, but most often they are good topics. He creates a lot of good discussions. As you mention many of the top threads on the board were started by mirror; the reason they stay at the top is that people keep replying to them. As well, I would mention that while most of us know where the mainstream news sites are, Mirror often finds news and opinions from outside the mainstream and gives us the opportunity to evaluate viewpoints we might not have heard from the usual sources. I do have one suggestion for Mirror: rather than starting a new thread to post the latest poll results in, I think it would be better to put all the poll results in one thread called "Latest Poll Results", and update the thread each time new polls come out. Aside from reducing clutter, this would also give people a convenient way of going back and checking previous poll results without searching for old threads or old web-pages. I will conclude by saying that I have noticed Mirror has made great strides from when I first saw him on this forum. His messages show a great deal more thought than they used to. He has shown willingness to consider new viewpoints and to discuss issues logically; a year ago I did not think him capable of doing either. The quality of his writing has also dramatically improved. In summary, I think he has made a real effort to provide good contributions to this message board and I am glad that he is here. -kimmy!

Yes. Dissent and undermining the war effort aren't necessarily the same thing. So far so good, Bill. Well, yes. Pretty much by definition, right? Whoa. WHOOAAH, Bill. Hold on a minute. Didn't we just say a minute ago that dissent doesn't mean undermining the war effort? Jeez, Bill. Paying lip-service to the idea of free speech and then 30 seconds later calling for the mass arrest of people who exercise it... ... ...well, whatever. I don't know much about Bill O'Reilly, but when ever I hear about him it's because he's made an ass of himself. -k

It is, as I said in another thread, the proverbial "elephant in the room," the subject that is too large and obvious to ignore, yet to awkward and uncomfortable for people to address. It should be of concern that the Wahhabi branch of Islam is the one spreading so quickly thanks to generous funding from the Saudis. A Christian analogy might be ... imagine if the Snake-Handlers had near-infinite sums of money to spread their faith. The tenets of the Wahhabi branch of Islam are to reject modern ideas. I won't elaborate here; there is a wealth of information about Wahhabi political and social views available to anyone who cares to do a little research. I simply request that anybody who wishes to stick up for the Wahhabis do some reading before they take up the issue. What to do? I honestly don't know. We do have our own zealots right here in Canada. Recall Sheikh Younus Kathrada from Vancouver, whose hate-fueled anti-Jewish rantings came to light only after the accidental publicity Kathrada's mosque gained when one of his flock turned up dead in Chechnya after fighting Russian troops. We don't actually know how many more we have in Canada; we might not find out until it's too late. -k

eureka, try going to http://www.tinyurl.com which is a service that should let you generate a smaller link to the page you're trying to send us to. That should work better. -k

I disagree that the issue has become higher profile. It has been high controversy for months. If anything, this latest development should allow it to fade from the spotlight as it should have been allowed to months ago. -k

Legalized SSM is not going to put gays at greater risk of being beaten or killed. Gay bashers are not going to check for marriage licenses before they start beating people up. Gays are not any more or less safe than they were on Tuesday. We're talking about attitudes that take years or generations to change. It's an issue that's been blown far out of proportion by people on both sides of the issue. While I'm sure same-sex marriage will have personal meaning to those getting married, it will have very little impact on others. I doubt the gay community in urban Alberta is going to become more visible. And in rural Alberta, the gay community will continue to be pretty much invisible. I'm not sure if the writer of the article expected Calgary to turn into San Francisco sometime between Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning. Perhaps he was expecting rainbows painted on grain elevators and oil rigs. That's just silly. People live as they know how to live, and if Alberta homosexuals are in the habit of being more discrete than their Toronto counterparts, a new law isn't going to change the way people live their lives overnight. -k

Careful, BD... you're coming dangerously close to mentioning the "elephant in the room" that "lefties" fear to mention. Many who rationalize the insurgency wish to discuss it in secular terms. "It's not about religion, it's about foreign invaders," etc. People have been extensively quoting a study by some Pape guy who seeks to unlink religion from terrorism. And eureka even mentioned "secular Sunnis" at one point last week, which I thought was an intriguing turn of phrase. But you're acknowledging that religion is very much an issue here, which is good. I am most pleased. As you mention, the Sunni insurgency might not give a crap what Iran has to say... but Shiites are the large majority in Iraq, and I'm sure that they would care. The insurgents would love for the fight to be "Iraqi citizens vs American invaders" because if it became viewed as "Sunnis vs Shiites" within the Arab world, that would be a disastrous perception for the insurgents. So again, I suggest that being treated well by Iran's government is good for Iraq's government but not good for the insurgents. If the Americans attack Iran, it's not going to play well in Iraq under any circumstances. I think that's fairly obvious, isn't it? -k

Yay! It is always exciting to hear of big operations moving to our humble city! Especially as we often lose out to Calgary when it comes to head offices. Will Alberta ever overtake Ontario as Canada's dominant province? Not in our lifetimes... not while Ontario has such a large advantage in population. However, I think that success breeds more success. Calgary has already achieved the "critical mass" needed to be an important city for business and commerce. Edmonton is a ways behind, but might get there too. Once upon a time companies looking to do business in Canada would naturally locate their head office in either Toronto or Montreal. Clearly there are other players on the field now. -kimmy

I don't think a turban in any way affects a Mounties' ability to his do his job. Maybe not, but I don't think that was the question. Did the RCMP agree to make changes to accomodate their religious beliefs? (did they? I don't actually know. I just recall it being a big issue at one point.) What about kirpans in schools? I recall this was a big issue at one point, as well. The point is, accomodations could easily be made for civil servants who do not wish to solemnize same-sex marriages for religious reasons. eureka's suggestion, for instance: -k

Surely people who support the right of adults to make their own choices should be in favor of some sort of food-labelling requirement? Inaccurate or non-existant labelling is in direct opposition to the notion that people should have the right to make informed decisions. -k

Indeed. He/she is free to go and find a job that he/she is actually willing to do. and The civil servant is entitled to his own beliefs, but if those beliefs interfere with his or her ability to perform their job, they should find a job where their sensebilities won't be threatened. I understand the logic of the position. But is it consistent with Canada's treatment of similar issues in the past? (such as sikhs wanting to wear turbans while in uniform with the RCMP, or wear their kirpans in locations where wearing a knife is not allowed?) -kimmy

I tend to agree with that assessment. In discussions last week, me and my drinking buddies (a "right wing think tank," some might suggest...) considered that West Edmonton Mall could be a longshot target as well. Such an attack could potentially kill hundreds or thousands of tourists as well as up to 3 Edmontonians. This latest attack sounds like amateur hour, so I will go with 1 or 2. Based on the CCTV images of the suspects, I'm guessing that they're not right-wing extremists, so I'll go with copy-cats. -k

hmmm, I dunno. It might not please the Bushies that they're making friends with Iran, but ultimately having people in the region recognize the Iraq government as legitimate and independent is the most important step. If neighboring regimes are treating the new Iraq government as the real deal, it can only help its credibility. The insurrectionists would no doubt prefer to see their neighbors refusing to recognize the new gov't, and Iran-- a country not beholden to US interests-- moreso than most. -k

Toronto sunrise and sunset on March 1: Mar 1, 2005 6:54 AM 6:06 PM And for November 1: Nov 1, 2005 6:53 AM 5:08 PM That hour of sunlight between 7am and 8am is probably mostly wasted anyway. People who are out of bed at that time are most likely in their cars and buses on the way to work or school. You don't really need sunlight to stand in a bus-stop or while you're on the freeway. Between 5pm and 7pm, on the other hand, almost everybody is awake and almost everybody is doing activities that require light. That extra hour of daylight that we wasted at 7am would be awfully handy to have. Also, consider the load on the power grid at the different times. Power companies often ask people to try to save energy during supper hours, because electric stoves and cooking takes so much energy. In the morning, on the otherhand, the power-grid is probably at a fraction of capacity, because nobody is doing much that needs electricity. So, if you asked the power companies when it would be best to have people using electric lights, they'd probably much prefer at morning than at suppertime. -k

Out of curiousity, IMT, have you lived in other parts of Canada? -k

Thanks for the link. That seems to be a veeeery credible website. It's not even an anti-war site, it's a site actively promoting Jihad and glorifying Osama. Forgive me if I doubt the objectivity of their claims. I guess I should thank you for bringing that to our attention. Reading through that site and some of their partner sites has certainly reinforced my views of these people. I strongly encourage anybody who has any questions about the mentality of the Islamists to visit some of these sites and read about them in their own words. -k

The "Tastes of Thailand" festival invited Toronto's own Natalie Glebova to open their event, only to discover that... Miss Universe is not welcome in Nathan Phillips Square. "Activities which degrade men or women through sexual stereotyping, or exploit the bodies of men, women, boys or girls solely for the purpose of attracting attention, are not permitted on Nathan Phillips Square." Personally, I think it's awesome. We are bridging the cultural divide! For ages, it seemed like the Bible-Belt & Burqas types had nothing in common with free-thinking urban sophisticates. But hark! Common ground emerges, wearing a sash and a tiara. The PC whingers and the frowning religious grumps can at least agree that young women, and perhaps all of society, need to be protected. I feel safer already. -k

The two situations (military occupation by a foreign power versus civil governance) are simply not analagous. The U.S. invasion precipitated the breakdown of the civil order in Iraq, therefore it is the occupiers' responsibility under international law (and their own standards) to uphold civil order. By summarily dismissing the entire Iraqi army, police, and security forces shortly after the war (without a back-up plan for maintaining order), the U.S. S. created the conditions for increased crime and lawlessness. Furthermore (as evidenced by the flurry of post-Saddam looting) the U.S. failed to fulfill its obligation to maintain public order. The only way your analogy would work is if the government of Canada first disbanded the RCMP, instituted mrtial law, but neglected to intercede in the resulting civil strife. I can buy that the occupying force should be held responsible for maintaining public order. However, I believe that the occupying forces and fledgling Iraq government are making reasonable efforts to do so. Lumping organized resistance in with general crime and lawlessness is absurd. -k

That's a ridiculous standard to hold the occupying authority to. We don't even hold our own government to such a standard. That's comparable to holding the Government of Canada responsible for homicides (or even deaths from drunk driving) by failing to uphold law and order. -k

...the French? -k

The current Nobel Peace Prize holder is a Kenyan woman most known for planting trees and promoting the belief that AIDS was invented in a lab by white-people to kill black-people, correct? Well, why not give one to Geldoff. Sounds like he's qualified. -k