bud

you're making it sound like israel has not invaded and attacked palestinians numerous times already. a palestinian state would give more power to the palestinians in regards to legality of israel's actions. they can also sue israel for theft of water and other illegal activities. this is why israel doesn't want a palestinian state. they've vowed to never allow a palestinian state for a reason.

you would fully support something illegal like seizure of land? that's cool. thanks for being rational.

i'd disagree that our cultures are 'much' different. it's not like i'm comparing china to canada or india to canada. i've been to portugal many times and i think it's a valid comparison.

can you excuse the palestinian revolutionaries looking for independence the same way?

i've actually looked into china's policies and it's a failing system. furthermore, portugal's population is 10.5 million. 1/3 of canada's. whereas india's and china's populations are over a billion. socially and economically, portugal can be compared to canada, whereas china and india cannot be. so i'm not sure where you're trying to go with your comments.

it has in portugal: Compared to the European Union and the U.S., Portugal's drug use numbers are impressive. Following decriminalization, Portugal had the lowest rate of lifetime marijuana use in people over 15 in the E.U.: 10%. The most comparable figure in America is in people over 12: 39.8%. Proportionally, more Americans have used cocaine than Portuguese have used marijuana. The Cato paper reports that between 2001 and 2006 in Portugal, rates of lifetime use of any illegal drug among seventh through ninth graders fell from 14.1% to 10.6%; drug use in older teens also declined. Lifetime heroin use among 16-to-18-year-olds fell from 2.5% to 1.8% (although there was a slight increase in marijuana use in that age group). New HIV infections in drug users fell by 17% between 1999 and 2003, and deaths related to heroin and similar drugs were cut by more than half. In addition, the number of people on methadone and buprenorphine treatment for drug addiction rose to 14,877 from 6,040, after decriminalization, and money saved on enforcement allowed for increased funding of drug-free treatment as well. link lets assume that u.s. had no say in our drug policies. why shouldn't we look at doing this in canada?

i recommend that you learn a little more about these arabs before coming in here and commenting about what kind of people you think they are. not only do you constantly generalize and give blanket statements, but you're also spreading misinformation. it seems like you've made up your mind about the situation without really knowing the parties who are involved in the situation and all you're doing is parroting superficial comments given to you by the propaganda machine.

why do you keep going to the question of 'destruction'? as questionably as how israel came to be, pretty much all the neighbours and palestinians accept the state of israel. it's no longer a question. the question is whether it's okay for israel to continue annex palestinian land and continue the brutal occupation. are you for or against the theft of palestinian land and for israel to do everything in its power to prevent palestinians to have their own state, within the internationally recognized borders. are you for a real and just palestinian state or against one, like the israeli government?

not sure if it could get any worse than what happened in gaza. the laws of war will apply, regardless. laws that israel broke during operation cast lead. not sure if you knew or not, but hamas has initiated and observed several ceasefires with israel. in fact, as mentioned before, there was an 8 months ceasefire with israel before israel violated it which led to the war on gaza.

the elections were observed by the EU and united states and no corruption or rigging were reported. hamas was democratically elected and this is not disputed by even israel. so please stop talking out of your ass. hamas received most of the votes because they're more than a militant (resistant) group and fatah/abbas are known to be corrupt and have failed in resolving the problem with israel's occupation. unfortunately, hamas has not learned that israel counts on violent responses from hamas to continue the status quo. it seems like they've tried by agreeing to and observing ceasefires but israel is always able to pull them back in (ie; what lead to the war on gaza). hamas is also unable to control the smaller militant groups within gaza and their rocket attacks. hamas needs to come around and accept israel within the internationally recognized 67 border. momentum is on the palestinian's side and it's a matter of time before a plastinian state is achieved. with or without israel or hamas' acceptance.

those are good questions. however, i should mention that whatever the answer is to those questions, it would be a lot higher than if insite was not around.

hamas wasn't around 20 years ago when the PLO (arafat) accepted the state of israel. what has happened since then is that israel has continued to drag its feet and continue to occupy and annex more arab land. hamas is a cause of the occupation and israel's unwillingness to allow a palestinian state. actually, the IDF has been shown to have used palestinians as human shields. this by numerous expert organizations and by the israeli court. The Israeli Defence Ministry will appeal against a supreme court ruling banning the use of Palestinian human shields in raids, officials said. Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz is prepared to make a personal appearance in court to defend the practice, ministry officials added. Human rights groups have frequently condemned the use of human shields. link i never said they're the same but i did point out the similarities. israel uses many of the same tactics the nazis used against the jews in the ghettos. the militants in gaza, just like the warsaw ghetto militants are resisting the occupier. oops. did i get a blank stare about the israeli government vowing to never allow a palestinian state? where is your condemnation of the israeli government? hamas doesn't accept the state of israel and israel has vowed to never allow a plastinian state. it's in their platform. you need to acknowledge this.

you're the one who said the scientists who advocate insite are biased. i'm asking you to show me a research that you wouldn't call biased which shows that insite is not working. what do you suggest should be done about insite? about the research?

sometimes people become 'advocates' because they have proof that it works and believe in it. lets say that the 10+ research that have been done, which show that insite is beneficial, are all biased. why hasn't the federal government, who is very much against the site, have not looked into doing research into it? where are all the opponents' research showing that it doesn't work?

or read the israeli government's platform to never allow a palestinian state. the extremist zionists control israel's government. they want nothing but to stay the course and continue to chip away and annex more palestinian land. just a few days ago, contrary to the road map created by bush and the quartlet, the israeli government approved over 1000 jewish only homes to be built on palestinian land.

i'm comparing two groups, the people of gaza and the jews who lived in the warsaw ghettos. their similarities are striking: - both resisting an occupying force - superior weapons by the occupier vs inferior weaponry by the resistance forces - both are quarantined in an area with no freedom of movement - heavy blockades with an intense control over the limited goods going in - practice of assassination by the occupying force hamas' charter is pretty shitty. kind of like likud's platform to never allow a palestinian state.

During InSite's 3 years, a remarkable consensus that the facility reduces harm to users and the public developed among scientists, criminologists and even the Vancouver Police Department. Research, all positive, was published in 15 peer-reviewed journals, including the CMAJ (2004;171:731-4), Lancet (2005;366:316-8) and the New England Journal of Medicine (2006;354:2512-4). link there is more: In 2003, the regional health authority in Vancouver, Canada successfully applied to the federal government for a legal operating exemption to pilot North America’s first medically supervised injection facility (SIF) – Insite. The exemption was granted on the condition the program undergo rigorous scientific evaluation. Given the controversial nature of SIFs, as will be described in this report, the Insite evaluation was designed to stand up to the highest level of scientific scrutiny. The first several years of evaluation have yielded an array of scientific outputs, including more than 30 peer-reviewed studies describing the program’s impacts. These publications indicate that Insite provides a range of benefits to its clients and the greater community, including a reduction in public injecting, lower levels of HIV risk behaviours (e.g., syringe sharing), and an increase in uptake of addiction treatment among the facility’s clients. Furthermore, studies seeking to identify potential harms of the facility found no evidence of negative impacts. Studies were independently peer-reviewed and published in top scientific periodicals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet and the British Medical Journal. the research summary. are you going to give up fighting a lost battle or are you going to accept that insite has been proven to be positive in every way?

the jewish resistance groups in the warsaw ghettos also fought against the occupier. why didn't they wear uniforms and show themselves in the open?

as it has been pointed out: The same doctor, the same city... long term trending analysis this means that the 1995 research you posted has been canceled.

your analogy sucks. they live and fight in gaza. the number of civilian casualty shows that israel uses its weapons indiscriminatory. it's okay for israel and its supporters if the IDF drops a bomb on a building and kills people inside it, just so they can kill a militant.

does this mean you changed segnosaur's mind about insite?

it's all lip service. more facts that israel is not interested in real negotiation: (Reuters) - Israel approved on Tuesday the construction of 1,100 settlement homes on annexed land in the West Bank, complicating global efforts to renew peace talks and defuse a crisis over a Palestinian statehood bid at the United Nations. link JERUSALEM, Oct 3, 2011 (IPS) - Days after his half-hearted conciliatory U.N. appearance, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had already approved the construction of 1,100 flats in occupied East Jerusalem. the approval of the new construction scheme in the Jewish Gilo neighbourhood-settlement creates doubts about the stated willingness of the Israeli government to start serious talks with the Palestinians. link Israel has infuriated its most reliable West European ally, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, by announcing expansion of a Jewish settlement in Jerusalem in defiance of a US-backed warning to both parties in the Middle East conflict to avoid "provocative actions". link The United States said on Tuesday that Israel’s decision to approve construction of 1,100 homes for Jews on annexed land in the West Bank was “counterproductive” and urged both Israel and the Palestinians not to take steps which could complicate resumption of direct peace talks. “We are deeply disappointed by this morning’s announcement by the government of Israel,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said. link

because i'm posting facts? it's like not taking hamas' charter seriously because it was written in the 80's. likud and the rest of the coalition are against a palestinian state. why do you fight the facts so hard?

there is no question that there is a significant cultural gap in some arab countries. but 800 years ago? really now. not to mention the problem with your generalization. you cannot compare saudi arabia's culture to that of lebanese culture. they're both arab, but they're very different. even egypt and saudi are much different as far as their culture and laws. you should avoid these blanket statements and generalizations. because when you do it, you end up canceling any other valid point you may have made. by the way, ever compare the treatment of women in the ultra orthodox jewish communities in israel to that of saudi arabian fundemental wahhabist communities?

if a police officer encounters someone who he assumes to have used drugs and is under the influence, they will not and cannot charge the user with 'possession' of controlled substances. why does this need to be continued any further? like i mentioned before, american woman will not be able to admit to have made a mistake.