Harper is taking a page out of the US propoganda book

[I miss Reagan]

This Andrew guy reminds me of a confused family member who after the London bombings said "I feel sorry for the Muslims in London". Uncle Andy is that you??

I suggest switching from Chomsky to Kaplan. Try Warrior Politics: Why Leadership Demands a Pagan Ethos.

"The most sincere and heart-breaking truth of the ancients is the vast gulf that separates political-military virtue from individual moral perfection," he writes. "It is such a truth that may help define the twenty-first century, as we are forced to choose in the midst of high-tech war between what is right and what is unfortunately necessary."

[GostHacked]

I live in Ottawa, and let me tell you, there are a fair share of cops/security around. And I do not even hit downtown (used to live there). I see cops on my way to work, security personelle along the transit routes. "Security" cars running around doing their checks for the jobs they were hired for.

Ottawa is blanketed with police forces. Do I feel safer? Not sure.

It would be much cheaper to appoint a privacy commissioner who'll go along with video cameras on every street corner, like in London. They would never have known who the subway bombers were without them.

Those cameras are there to help control crime. London is plastered with CCT cameras. They took pics of the bombers, we know who did them and all, .....but yet were very ineffective with preventing the crime. So was it worth it?

Let me sell you a rock that protects you against bears.

[killjoy]

They took pics of the bombers, we know who did them and all, .....but yet were very ineffective with preventing the crime.

They were never installed with the idea in mind to prevent crime, only to try and discourage it and collect evidence and identification to help find and prosecute.

It's really no different than the police. Ask any one of them and they'll be glad to tell you that 99% of their job involves tracking down criminals after the fact.

This idea that cops or security cameras prevent crime is just plain wrong. They don’t. They never did. They never will. If you're going to live in a free society then you have to put up with the fact that anyone can commit crime if that's what they choose. Unless you want to live in "1984' and have a cop on every corner complete with assault rifle.

If you think police or cameras were ever there to be at the right moment at the right time and prevent crime with any sizible effect then I have a stone that prevents bears from attacking you.

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[Charles Anthony]

If you're going to live in a free society then you have to put up with the fact that anyone can commit crime if that's what they choose. Unless you want to live in "1984' and have a cop on every corner complete with assault rifle.

I would rather have more armed cops on the street than be the victim of crime.

[killjoy]

I would rather have more armed cops on the street than be the victim of crime.

We do and we are. You can multiply the number of cops until we're all cops and they still won't prevent crime. Steel bars on windows, loud alarm systems, decent work, decent jail sentences and friendly dogs all prevent crime more than the police can.

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[GostHacked]

I would rather have more armed cops on the street than be the victim of crime.

We do and we are. You can multiply the number of cops until we're all cops and they still won't prevent crime. Steel bars on windows, loud alarm systems, decent work, decent jail sentences and friendly dogs all prevent crime more than the police can.

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If everyone was a cop, then that would mean alot more can abuse the system. We know that there are shady cops that are trying to 'server and protect'. I know shady cops that abuse the system. I have been friends with them. And even other cop friends of mine say that the shadyness exists in the police forces. How can they protect and serve us and actualy make a good arrest when the cops themselves are the ones doing worse crimes.

[Charles Anthony]

You can multiply the number of cops until we're all cops and

You mean the right to bare arms. I will take a page out of the US propaganda book if you let me.

If you are going to take my money (and call it taxation) and spend it on law and order, then make sure we have law and order on the streets.

If you are not going to provdie law and order on the streets, then give me back my money and let me protect myself.

[GostHacked]

You can multiply the number of cops until we're all cops and

You mean the right to bare arms. I will take a page out of the US propaganda book if you let me.

If you are going to take my money (and call it taxation) and spend it on law and order, then make sure we have law and order on the streets.

If you are not going to provdie law and order on the streets, then give me back my money and let me protect myself.

Something I can get behind. Awesome point.

[killjoy]

You mean the right to bare arms. I will take a page out of the US propaganda book if you let me.

If you are going to take my money (and call it taxation) and spend it on law and order, then make sure we have law and order on the streets.

If you are not going to provdie law and order on the streets, then give me back my money and let me protect myself.

I have no problem with the right to own arms, within reason.

But a cop is more than just a guy with a firearm.

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[Argus]

I live in Ottawa, and let me tell you, there are a fair share of cops/security around. And I do not even hit downtown (used to live there). I see cops on my way to work, security personelle along the transit routes. "Security" cars running around doing their checks for the jobs they were hired for.

Ottawa is blanketed with police forces. Do I feel safer? Not sure.

Ottawa has the lowest number of police per citizen of any major city in Canada. It also has, not coincidentally, the lowest crime solution rate of any major city in Canada. In some districts there is only one car assigned at any given time. Ottawa Police are severely undermanned and have been for many years. You might see them wandering around near the Parliament buildings, but anywhere in rural Ottawa you can wait half an hour for a cop. There are large commercial areas which suffer repeated break-ins without any success by the police in either solving or preventing more break-ins. We just had an Ottawa city council committee recommend the removal of bus shelters with walls along rideau street near the Rideau Centre, because, they were told, of heavy drug dealing, gang activity and other criminal presence. One must wonder why, if the presence of crime is so prevelent the police don't wander over there now and then. As for transit police - swarming is routine along the transitway, and some transit stations are unusable after dark unless you are very large, and go in large numbers.

[Argus]

Imagine if you tripled the number of cops in Toronto. Do you think anyone would get away with shooting it out on the main street outside the Eaton's Centre?

I thought they caught that guy.

No. They caught a couple of Jamaicans on the subway, one of whom had a gun (and a record for armed robbery) but they have not been able to match them to the shootings, and there were a dozen people involved.