NCB

You do know that stress positions are not considered torture right?

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Ustwo

Are all Canadians this offended by someone making a mistake on a AP article? So much for the relaxed neighbors to the north. Welcome back Canada, goodbye Canukistan, its a baby step but I'm pleased.

P.S. they corrected the mistake.

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Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host

Obama - Know a Man by the friends he keeps.

Leto

it's possible. Next election, we should put that question on the ballot. (T-minus 18 months...)

__________________
You said you didn't give a fuck about hockey
And I never saw someone say that before
You held my hand and we walked home the long way
You were loosening my grip on Bobby Orr

http://dune.wikia.com/wiki/Leto_Atreides_I

Daniel_

A President is head of state = he (or she) PRESIDES oer the country.

A Prime Minister is head of a parliament = he (or she) has to carry the vote in cabinet, and on the floor of the house.

In Canada (and the UK, where I am from) the Queen is the Head of State. In both countries the true power rests with the government, and in the UK the Prime Minister exercises the "Royal Prerogative" and can go to war on the Queens behalf, and pass certain amendments to laws using the "Order in Council" process.

Fundamentally however, if the title is "Prime Minister" it is rude to use the wrong title. If GWB was called "Dictator" or "King" or "Tzar" of the "Unified Territories of America" the Marines might just be sent in...

__________________

╔═════════════════════════════════════════╗
Overhead, the Albatross hangs motionless upon the air,
And deep beneath the rolling waves,
In labyrinths of Coral Caves,
The Echo of a distant time
Comes willowing across the sand;
And everthing is Green and Submarine
╚═════════════════════════════════════════╝

NCB

If?? Hell, that's said a lot in here, with the occassional Hitler reference thrown in for good measure

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silent_jay

It always was Canada never was canukistan, that was just a word used by yanks such as yourself who couldn't stand that Canada made their own decisions about what things we should or shouldn't be involved in (Iraq,missle defence)

No one really cares if you're pleased or not, you don't factor into the decisions we make up here and I for one am glad for that. Although I wouldn't be too pleased anyways as has been stated before it is only a minority and they won't be able to do much of anything without help from other parties so don't pop the champagne open yet and think you'll have an ass-kissing government up here.

__________________
Absence makes the heart grow fonder

Marvelous Marv

They appear to be quite a bit faster than Dan Rather in fixing inaccuracies.

__________________
"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money."
Margaret Thatcher

cyrnel

Curse your post, Marv. Now I feel the need for coffee.

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There are a vast number of people who are uninformed and heavily propagandized, but fundamentally decent. The propaganda that inundates them is effective when unchallenged, but much of it goes only skin deep. If they can be brought to raise questions and apply their decent instincts and basic intelligence, many people quickly escape the confines of the doctrinal system and are willing to do something to help others who are really suffering and oppressed." -Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, p. 195

BigBen

I thought Canuckistan was a term of endearment.

/Ben runs off to ask Mal...

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3.141592654
Hey, if you are impressed with my memorizing pi to 10 digits, you should see the size of my penis.

Marvelous Marv

Maybe he could change to one of these "inoffensive" ones. I haven't seen anybody whining about them.

__________________
"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money."
Margaret Thatcher

Willravel

Mine's offensive to Blofelds. Of course, none of the above are blatently racist.

Ustwo

Man I see Canadian liberals are as mean spirited and bitter after a loosing election as American liberals. Just because I'm pleased that the Canadian government has changed hands, even if its only a minority government, that in no way implies that I would expect them to be an American puppet. Despite what your liberal party ran as adds, voting for a government friendly to the US does not mean the US will somehow magicly control Canada. I think its hilarious that the Canadan liberals ran under the banner that a voting conservative was somehow voting for US domination of Canadian politics.

__________________
Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host

Obama - Know a Man by the friends he keeps.

Ustwo

I thought it was quite amusing and its true.

I once 'won' an argument with a liberal and she called me a homophobe, which was very odd since the argument had nothing at all to do with homosexuality.

__________________
Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host

Obama - Know a Man by the friends he keeps.

silent_jay

I've seen Mal use it and it's always been in a humourous sense which I have no problem with at all.

But the context that ustwo used it in is making it seem like we were communists yesterday and today we're 'normal' because the evil liberals aren't in power anymore. Thats what I meant in my post, just to clarify my position.

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Absence makes the heart grow fonder

silent_jay

That was one ad they ran, they hardly ran under that banner, I guess it was the only one you saw though. Not bitter at all, I didn't even vote for the liberals, so I'd hardly call myself a liberal. You may not expect them to be a puppet, but I bet you sure hope they are. Oh well, we'll be doing it all again in a year and a half and then we'll see how that turns out.

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Absence makes the heart grow fonder

Leto

deleted useless contribution

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You said you didn't give a fuck about hockey
And I never saw someone say that before
You held my hand and we walked home the long way
You were loosening my grip on Bobby Orr

http://dune.wikia.com/wiki/Leto_Atreides_I

Marvelous Marv

(Not sarcastic). I missed the racist one. Which one is it?

__________________
"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money."
Margaret Thatcher

Leto

NCB's: it looks like Elphaba to me tho...

__________________
You said you didn't give a fuck about hockey
And I never saw someone say that before
You held my hand and we walked home the long way
You were loosening my grip on Bobby Orr

http://dune.wikia.com/wiki/Leto_Atreides_I

Ustwo

are we seeing the same avatars?

__________________
Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host

Obama - Know a Man by the friends he keeps.

Leto

oh... he changed it. Prior to the button, there was a small figure, in a black cloak singin the 'I'm a little teapot' song . It looked like the wicked witch of the west (her name is Elphaba) of Wizard of Oz fame.

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You said you didn't give a fuck about hockey
And I never saw someone say that before
You held my hand and we walked home the long way
You were loosening my grip on Bobby Orr

http://dune.wikia.com/wiki/Leto_Atreides_I

docbungle

The above comment was made in reference to Daoust's "Mad at American Assholes..." statement.

Both statements are what I see passing for political discourse over and over again. What I don't understand is why. If nothing else, it shows a complete unwillingness to discuss anything political in a real sense. How one can consider this political discussion is beyond me. If it weren't for a few big words scattered around here and there, this thread would appear to have been written by a group of rival cheerleading squads. Go, team, go!

In fact, every thread in politics ends up this way. This is, of course, the same sort of behavior we see from our president and just about every other politician in office. But still, aren't you capable of putting some thought into discussions without trying to turn things into an insulting, juvenile, finger-pointing spiral of pointlessness? And by saying "you" I'm not refering to Ustwo alone, but to the whole group of you who continually have these types of "conversations" over and over again. Regardless of the topic, all that is discussed is "conservatives" and "liberals".

How is that any different from grouping us all into little "Ford vs Chevy" fans? As if every "conservative" or "liberal" really think exactly alike. I find it baffling that someone is immediately labeled into one group or another by stating which television channel they happened to see a news story. Absolutely unbelievable. Do you really believe that? If so, you do yourself an injustice.

Politics is an interesting topic. But, for those who take it seriously, it needs to be discussed with those who are willing to give it the respect it deserves. Otherwise, it's just pointless.

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Bad Luck City

Ustwo

When you have key philisophical differences in opinion, it will be like any philosophical discussion, pointless.

I could debate the merit of a flat tax with another conservative in a respectful manner, but how does one debate the merit of flat taxation with someone who thinks wealth needs to be abolished?

One thought is so alien to the other, so bizzar to their world view, that they would be seen as almost insane to have such a view.

And such is where we are.......

And BTW my story is true and really did shock me. It was 1992, and I wasn't used to dealing with the radical left, her comment blindsided me and I won't ever forget it.

__________________
Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host

Obama - Know a Man by the friends he keeps.

Daniel_

It was one of the Abu Gerhib prisoners...

__________________

╔═════════════════════════════════════════╗
Overhead, the Albatross hangs motionless upon the air,
And deep beneath the rolling waves,
In labyrinths of Coral Caves,
The Echo of a distant time
Comes willowing across the sand;
And everthing is Green and Submarine
╚═════════════════════════════════════════╝

ubertuber

I didn't realize that... I thought it was just some weird internet person wearing a black cloak. Now I understand this hullaballoo.

__________________
Cogito ergo spud -- I think, therefore I yam

Marvelous Marv

That explains it. Although now I'm worried because my avatar is the bad guy from "The Ambiguously Gay Duo."

__________________
"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money."
Margaret Thatcher

Elphaba

I am grateful for the avatar change, whether it was done willingly by NCB or by the insistance of a mod.

Everytime I saw it, I was reminded of what has become of the principles for which I thought our country was known. When those photographs were first published, I saw that we had lost our moral standing throughout the world. I didn't object to the avatar, because I think we should never forget what we did.

Back on topic: My morning paper devoted an entire paragraph to an inside page regarding the election in Canada. That is as equally shameful as Fox getting it wrong.

Willravel

And this is the bottom line. The idea that Canadian politics are somethying insignificant is symptomatic of the center-of-the-universe-itus that infects us. Canadian politics has a great deal to do with international poltics, as well as American economics, politics, and sociology.

It's funny how those who want freedom are considered to be 'wicked', eh Elphaba?

djtestudo

Doesn't the Prime Minister PRESIDE over the House of Commons?

That would make him a president, and his time a presidency, even if that isn't an official title.

__________________
"Final thought: I just rented Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine. Frankly, it was the worst sports movie I've ever seen."
--Peter Schmuck, The (Baltimore) Sun

Poppinjay

I'm thankful for the change because it became somehow tagged with Elphaba, a voice of reason an calm in these grounds. Yay, Elphaba. I'll follow your research to the ends of the Earth. Thanks for the great stuff you've provided.

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I think the Apocalypse is happening all around us. We go on eating desserts and watching TV. I know I do. I wish we were more capable of sustained passion and sustained resistance. We should be screaming and what we do is gossip. -Lydia Millet

Elphaba

I think they are just "misunderstood."

PS: Leto, Elphaba would never sing, let alone sing the "tea pot" song. Elph is from the book "Wicked", not from the Wizard of Oz. The Wicked Witch of the West was never named in the movie or the book that preceded it.

silent_jay

Nope that would be the Speaker of the House of Commons.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaker_of_the_house
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaker...use_of_Commons

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Absence makes the heart grow fonder

Ustwo

Yes, truthout and personal jabs are great reason and research.

Some of her attacks have been quite over the top, she made some wonderful comments about my wife in general discussion.

__________________
Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host

Obama - Know a Man by the friends he keeps.

Willravel

I suspect that you are one of the very few who see Elphaba's enormous and intelligent contributions in this way. And by very few, I mean maybe 2 or 3 people out of hundreds. Why do you suppose that is?
If you'd like a list of your personal attacks against other members on TFP, I can compelate that, but it'll take more than a few weeks.

tenchi069

I have to include my 2 cents ( 1 1/2 cents if you convert it to American funds ). This is my opinion for those that choose to use it to benefit themselves or condemn me for apathy. "Try not to be offended by buttons, shirts, ball caps, or anything else with an expression on them." There is a big difference between someone wearing a button with a saying, slogan, or picture you don't like, and burning a cross or painting a swastika on your front door, or of the place you worship. I used to have a T-shirt that I loved to wear around people that had such phrases that were either anti-African-American or anti-Jew. This is what it said:

"It's all about mind over matter....I made up my mind that you don't matter."

-tenchi

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ERROR- PLBSAK
Problem Lies Between Seat and Keyboard.

Elphaba

Thank you! I warn you that most of it is collected from Truth Out links from other sources. That Ron Paul (R-TX) speech is obviously some sort of liberal/socialist/commie piece that only TO would publish.

I'm pleased that Ustwo has spent so much time in Truth Out name recognition.

Elphaba

Never mind, Will. This is an example of why we are encouraged to use the back button.

Leto

yes, i read the book about 4 yrs ago, and connected the avatar figure with the witch character. I know the name from the book, and the character from the old movie. The avatar was a dead ringer. Not everybody is aware of the goings on of the abu prison.

__________________
You said you didn't give a fuck about hockey
And I never saw someone say that before
You held my hand and we walked home the long way
You were loosening my grip on Bobby Orr

http://dune.wikia.com/wiki/Leto_Atreides_I

Elphaba

I suppose that might be true, but I would have hoped otherwise.

docbungle

And irony is the word of the day, folks.

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Bad Luck City

Leto

it's a question of media exposure. I wold love to be in the know of everything that has occured, globally. And I do know about the goings on of the prison in IRaq, however, a 2 cm avatar figure can be anything to anybody, and it is hard to make a connection sometimes. From what I could see, I still don't see the connection that animated figure and those pictures of prisoners on a leash.

__________________
You said you didn't give a fuck about hockey
And I never saw someone say that before
You held my hand and we walked home the long way
You were loosening my grip on Bobby Orr

http://dune.wikia.com/wiki/Leto_Atreides_I