newbie

Word of mouth has not been good and I wouldn't be surprised if its second weekend was well below its reported $77 milllion gross worldwide first weekend.Ron Howard and Tom Hanks have taken up a lot of space on the Hollywood hype bandwidth over the past few months. If this movie doesn't deliver, there are going to be many angry producers. Uh, actually it already has delivered. http://money.cnn.com/2006/05/21/news/davin....reut/index.htm Interestingly enough, it beat the Passion's opening weekend as well. And the book has sold the most copies ever for a best selling fiction in the States. Time will tell though how well the movie will do overall.

I can't believe there are people that buy into this crap. The book was great and I plan on seeing the movie ASAP. And on Hollywood, what are you smoking? Remember The Ten Commandments and Exodus just to mention two of many. Do a goggle search and you will find lots of Christian movies out of Hollywood. But be careful when typing, the keys might light on fire.

And this is a country where the American Idol gets more votes than the President.

And how many were Protestant ? I only mention this because Freemasonry is still considered a "secret" organization by many. It is not a religion either, but it is an esoteric group still shrouded in mystery. I found it interesting that the following Presidents were members: George Washington, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk, James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, James A. Garfield, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, William H. Taft, Warren G. Harding, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman,Gerald Ford http://www.bessel.org/presmas.htm

Seems to me both Bush's were into Skull and Bones. And how many Presidents have been Freemasons?

And some believe that religion in general has caused much of the misery in our world. I happen to be one of those folks.

Round up a few die hard born-again Christians and ask them if everything in the Bible is to be taken as fact. Yes, MANY folks take the black book literally.

Most of the evangelicals are saying the same thing. In fact, a guest on Jim Bakker's show said that the Da Vinci Code (the book) was more harmful than Katrina. And people are buying this??

And with Clinton's hands tied by Congress he still managed this: * longest economic boom in U.S. history * lowest unemployment record in 30 years * lowest crime rate in 30 years * lowest poverty rate in 30 years * created 22 million new jobs * paid off 360 billion dollars of national debt, and * created the largest budget deficit to the largest budget surplus in American history. Now, compare that to Bush's legacy so far.

BHS, you obviously missed this part of the Downing Street Memo: "But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy."

And then there's that nasty Downing Street Memo. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1593607,00.html

Did you read the blog post, or are you just going to stick with the Pelosi-style talking points and ignore an inconvenient explanation that doesn't jibe with your bias? No bias. Just Rummy's words against each other.

Gotta say that Rummy is a great liar. He even said a "missle" went into the pentagon, not a plane. "It is a truth that a terrorist can attack any time, any place, using any technique and it's physically impossible to defend at every time and every place against every conceivable technique. Here we're talking about plastic knives and using an American Airlines flight filled with our citizens, and the missile to damage this building and similar (inaudible) that damaged the World Trade Center. The only way to deal with this problem is by taking the battle to the terrorists, wherever they are, and dealing with them." Parade Magazine, October 12, 2001 http://www.911investigations.net/document8...c387f670efa86dd

There is nothing clearer than what Rumsfelt originally said, "We know where they are." When he said to McGovern that he never said that, that is a bold face lie. Bush apologists can try and manipulate and contort Rummy's words all they want, but the bottom line is Rumsfelt's own words betrayed him.

How does one "disprove fiction"? Sounds like an oxymoron.

Good post August. I think we all watch too much damn news, thus becoming negative and angry. Still, I try and keep a positive outlook and take 'er one day at a time. Go Flames Go.

theloniusfleabag: Only a qualified psychiatrist can diagnose PTSD so I don't see how that can be exaggerated. Sure, I know all about the "suck it up" and "bury it" mentality of the generation that went through WW2, boys/men don't cry and all that crap. We've come a long way and the type of attitude you're suggesting is to deny the advances made in Mental Health. We all have to deal with stuff, but some of us get dealt an emotional burden far greater than we can handle at certain times in our lives. Appropriate psychological counselling and psychiatric medication have been proven effective. Sometimes having the "will" to get on is beyond our control.

IMV, Harper lost all credibility re his Accountability Act by grabbing Emerson and appointing Fortier.

Or slippery pole

I assume that you are talking about post traumatic stress disorder Betsy. It is a real disorder and is nothing to be sneered at. I have seen the effects of counselling for persons suffering from this. I think you exaggerate the need for counselling. That service is available usually when a tragic death or circumstance happens, such as childhood sexual abuse, rape, etc. I don't think it is a "Liberal" thing when a soldier can talk about his feelings after witnessing 4 of his buddies killed in front of him. http://www.ncptsd.va.gov/facts/general/fs_what_is_ptsd.html http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/post-trau...isorder/DS00246

Who makes that determination? We have people on this forum denying that alcoholism is a disability. These "able bodied people" need to be properly assessed by the medical community and placed by rehabilitation and vocational counsellors. BD is right. How many folks came totally unprepared out of Mitchner Centre only to walk the streets of Red Deer or end up in sheltered workshops with severe behaviour problems. Work for work's sake is not enough. What is required is appropriate life and work skills training, coupled with supported employment options and/or expedient placement. So who's training do we pay for? Only those with disabilities? Why isn't my 'training' paid for? How about low income people, do we pay for everything for them too? No reason why they can't work and train at the same time. Work 40 hours a week and hit the training centres in the evenings or what not. Free riders that are capable of physical labour cannot expect society to just hand out everything to them. The training IMV would be for a)welfare recepients that are physically/mentally able to sustain employment, b)persons on disability that are given the okay by the medical field, c)first nations individuals that require further life and daily living skills, d)parolees, and e) low income earners that require further education to compete. Training dollars can come from a combination of industry and government. It might be difficult to understand but having appropriate employment placement can mean the difference to being successful in the work field. As far as training on the job, that is covered under the mandate of supported employment. The whole idea is to make the playing field even.

Who makes that determination? We have people on this forum denying that alcoholism is a disability. These "able bodied people" need to be properly assessed by the medical community and placed by rehabilitation and vocational counsellors. BD is right. How many folks came totally unprepared out of Mitchner Centre only to walk the streets of Red Deer or end up in sheltered workshops with severe behaviour problems. Work for work's sake is not enough. What is required is appropriate life and work skills training, coupled with supported employment options and/or expedient placement.

Not only do I remember, I and all of my friends benefitted from the work programs initiated by Trudeau. I can't recall anyone who was unemployed in the 1970's. Most of us got our start from those programs, even though it cost the country. At the time, it was the right thing to do.

Yes, you're quite right, it was FTA. Turner was a former PM and that qualifies for your argument. It is a proven fact Brian Mulroney lied, READ THE BOOK. He was not a man of integrity, just based on what he said about his follow politicians. He left his party completely destroyed, tried to force Meech Lake by locking in his Premiers (and wrongly blamed Cyde Wells when it was Elijah Harper who was rightly responsible), blew Charlottetown, doubled our national debt, forced privitization, stacked the senate to pass his GST...Yeah, a great legacy. As a public figure, anyone can criticize or support. Hardly an ad hominem. Read more of his blunders here: http://thetyee.ca/Views/2005/09/19/MulroneysWhoppers/

Getting back on topic, I applaude my city for doing the right thing and lowering the flags. Bravo to Lethbridge.