Moonlight_Graham

thats usually how most people vote, including me, unfortunately.

who is she?

Kwas, all i'm saying is that Canada needs basic military funding to give a slight upgrade to what we have now (which is a joke). Thowing money around gets votes, which is why the Liberals have taken funding from our military budget (among other things) and funneled it to other programs....leaving our military in a decripid state. Its really that bad. We either need to fix some of the holes we have in our military, or just scrap it altogether because its barely functional now. And as i said, i think a country like Canada needs at least some basic military defense. I don't want us to be a large military force, i just want our soldiers to fly their helicopters without them crashing into the sea (ie: Sea-King helicopters). If you never heard of that Sea King accident, here's the news link: http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/02/27/iroquois_crash030227 In the article, the NDP even agree we need to upgrade our 40-year old helicopters:

holy crap i never knew people liked Prime Time so much! i voted for My Out of Style

deja vu i think

thats another part of it. Like the madcow crisis in Canada. We are the US's bitch because our farmers are losing tons of monye not being able to ship Canadian beef to the US.

John Manley sucks. I can't stand the guy.

interesting. just wondering.

doesn't answer my question. do you have to email MG alot or something?

i see this section on matthewgood.org, with readers' blogs linked on MG's site. I see even our own Saturnine has his/her blog featured. How does own get their blog on this mg's website?

As for troops themselves, like i said, we had to use their naval transports to transport our troops to Afghanistan (i believe that was the country). It was not a sign of friendly "international co-operation" as you say. It was a big news story at the time, and was viewed as an embarassment to our military. We don't even have the means to transport our own troops around the world where they need to go, which is a pretty basic military need. As for the U.S. military doing anything for Canada? Well, they may not do a ton of things directly, but their mere presence as our geographic neighbours means that we use them for protection every day. Its like living in a house next to a cop; the cop doesn't walk up and down your driveway looking for burglars, but his mere presence provides security for your home & street. If Canada was located where Austrailia is, you'd bet we would have a much stronger military. Like the gov't not paying for Karla Homolka's free university education? Yeah that would be a shame. I like most of the social programs Canada has and i don't really want most of them cut, but the gov't does waste a lot of money and stupid things.

Personally i think flag burning, in most cases, is wrong & shows a complete lack or respect for the people who live in that country. I wouldn't burn my own flag in protest, or the US flag or North Korean or any other flag if i disagreed with their policies. The only exception would be that i would have is burning a Nazi flag during WWII or something. But i wouldn't burn the German flag because many Germans in WWII weren't Nazi's and didn't support them or commit terrible crimes.

all i know is that the Queen doesn't do dick all for Canada and means next to nothing to most Canadians, so why should she some meaningless symbolic figure. dumb is all.

whoa i never said that. Prime Ministers and politicians, the good ones at least, certainly deserve to be on our currency. I just don't think think politicians should be the only ones worthy of consideration, since their have been many Canadians who have made great contriubutions to this country. Oh, and i'm not 100% gung-ho with Gretzky on our money. I mean, it would look kinda weird with his big mug on our bills, but i don't see a problem with having a pic of him skating on the back of our quarter. Oh, and my original point remains: any of these people would be better than the Queen. Kayriss, yes Canada would be part of the US if not for Britian and we owe them our respect, but does that mean we still have to be a colony? You make a good point, but do we need to be repaying this debt forever when the Royals have long outlived their relavancy and usefulness? Why don't we just have a "hooray for Britain Day" or something ;)

The Liberals are socialist. The NDP are even moreso. Or call them more "liberal" or "left-leaning". Whatever you want. I think my point is clear, and arguing a word i say because it may or may not be technically correct is fallacious. Anton doesn't have enough server space to fit the entirety of this answer. Not sure if i understand your 1st sentence. Do you think i said people who've committed crimes shouldn't be incarcerated (i never said that)? Or is that what you believe? Yes i believe that the reasons why criminals fell to crime should be addressed & there should be some forms of rehab for them. But i also don't believe that an unremorseful, sick, cold-hearted killer like Karla Homolka should be given a free university education (which you and I pay for), while the rest of us have to work and pay for our own education. moronic. I never argued that and don't disagree. Wow. Do you realize how decrepit our military has become? Our helicopters are 40 years old, haven't you seen the footage of the Sea-Kings crashing into the ocean while trying to take off? We don't have the ships to carry our own troops overseas for peacekeeping missions. Its a joke. We do have a need for a military. EVERY country needs a military. Why? To defend its sovereignty. We depend on the U.S. to protect us, and therefore we are their bitch. If we have at least SOME BASIC capability to defend ourselves, then we can regain some autonomy from the US, & "allies". And do you really think we're currently militarily "imposing ourselves on neighboring countries"? Is that how you'd describe our anti-terrorist efforts in Afghanistan? Or how our peacekeepers helped in the Rwanda genocide? So its better to say/do nothing and be loved by all, than to stand up and do whats right and risk being hated/hurt by some? Wow thats courageous. A wonderful philosphy to live life, and for a country's foreign policy. Its not our place to police the world? Then who's is it? As English philosopher Edmund Burke once said, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing". I don't want Canada to be a huge or agressive military power, but i'd like us to be able to defend ourselved in a basic way. And if we had any sort of military we would have some respect again in this world where our peaceful voice would have influence in world/U.N. matters. Yeah after they raise our taxes 300%. And economical stability my butt. If this is "fact" as you say, may i see some evidence and/or links to these studies, preferably from a reputable media source?

and the Queen isn't a joke? And a large portion of our politicians aren't a joke? Gretzky isn't just a "hockey player", he's arguably Canada's greatest ambassador. I'm not saying i'd want some entertaining-but-moron person like Don Cherry on our money. Just great Canadians. Who says only politicians can only be on our currency? What about the scientists like Banting as others have mentioned, or David Suzuki? Also Alexander Graham Bell. Sorry, I'd rather these people on our bills than Jean Chretien or Brian Mulroney.

;) You're nuts. am I? how so?

i say hell yes. Free us from the Brits. Why the heck is the Queen still on our coins and $20 dollar bills? She has nothing to do with our country! She's just a figure-head, a symbol and nothing else. And not much of a symbol. I'd rather have Terry Fox or Wayne Gretzky on my freakin' money than that old bird. Somebody who is TRULY Canadian.

Liberals practice something called Brokerage politics where basically they try to be "everything to everyone".The conservatives do this as well. Both just try to be as open as possible to get votes and then work on thier real and intended plans once in office. you are very right on there canuk. The Liberals are extremely good at what they do, and that is to make promises to everyone and pander to those who will get them the most votes. (& sometimes they go against those promises, ie: McGuinty) The Liberals only care about getting votes & staying in power. They have no opinion on anything, since their opinions are always what is the most popular at the time and/or what will get them the most votes. Pretty smart i say, also quite slimy. I just despise the Liberals. They need to taken out of power, at least for a term or 2, to give them a much needed wake-up call. They have become far too complacent and corrupt because they've been in power too long. fuckers. Stephen Harper is not right to lead this country because he is so far from what most Canadians think, but at least the man has some convictions and takes a stand on some issues that are not necessarily popular. Thats why i have respect for Harper, even though i disagree with him on most social issues (but agree on many economic). He was for the war in Iraq, for missle defence, against gay marriage etc. The Conservatives did try to hide some of this during the last election to get some votes, to their discredit. But anyone informed, or smart enough to go to their website, could figure it out. It would be best for the Conservatives to get rid of Harper since he is more right-wing than most of the party (remember, half the party is PC). I have some respect for the NDP because they have their own convictions & are generally very caring people at the core (ie: socialists). However, many people i know who vote for them have no idea what damage they'd do to the country. NDP (as do most socialists, like the Liberals) have no idea how to run a country economically. They'd raise taxes, spend-spend-spend on social programs, and kill our economy. I'm all for compassionate gov't & social programs, but when you run a gov't you've got to run it like a business also & keep a strong economy & not just a charity organization. The NDP are way too socialist for me, and the Liberals are a tad too socialist for me also, and Harper's Conservatives are a bit too conservative for me. But i vote for the Conservatives because Canada is totally out of whack with logic and reality, which the Cons would help swing the balance back a little. Our justice systems is a joke & and lets criminals off with a slap on the wrist while giving them free university educations. Our military is non-functional & severely under-funded (the latest Liberal Budget is a lie). We let terrorist groups like Hezzebolah (sp?) live free in this country because "they've done nothing wrong". Thanks for letting me rant.

looks like someone missed the point completely. haha, it is YOU who has missed the point completely! For i was being sarcastic. i love irony!

where's Swamp Thing?

Agoraphobe is AMAZING. I wish it were longer.

Since Canada has probably more problems getting people (especially younger voters) interesting in Canadian politics, it would be cool if MG took more of a stance and spoke out more. I'm not a big reader of his blog, but i've never seen MG write about the spondership scandal or the elections. I don't really know what he thinks of Martin, Chretien (good riddance), Harper, or the other politics leaders/parties. MG wouldn't influence how i think, but i'm curious to what he thinks. If anyone can point to any articles/blogs where MG speaks about Canadian poltics i'd be appreciative.

i agree, i never here Matt talk about Canadian politics. Maybe he is a socliast liberal lover and has nothing to complain about. But i agree, he's more into human rights than actual politics. If Martin dropped some bombs on some deaf kids then he'd likely make a ruckus.

i don't get the deal with Freebird. ok song at best, but i could name 100 better songs off the top of my head.