Biggie

I remember the first time he ran, I saw a politically cartoon, with teh three candiate (sorry cant remember thier names) but the republican was saying "I stand on my record" The democrat was saying "I stand on my morals" Then had perot standing on a pile of cash ;) It was Bush and Clinton, and they all had piles of cash under them.

I personally would rather vote for an independent person. I don't believe political parties exist to serve people's interests, but rather their own.

Uhh, his win was confirmed after a 2 hour debate. There will be no debacle.

Yes, that is true. He got sick of continuously blocking people. He gave his new address to several of us who have his trust.

Of course, every single person held as an "unlawful combatant" should either be charged or released. As a civil libertarian, I disagree completely with what's going on there. When I talk about treating terrorists as criminals and as a law enforcement issue, I mean instead of using the army to go into foreign countries, use the FBI and CIA to gather intelligence, either at home or abroad. I think of this as almost a new Cold War.

It's better than what we have, because you vote for a person who is able to express their own personal ideas and beliefs, as opposed to Canada, where you vote for someone who really needs to stick close to the party platform or the government will fall.

All countries need eyes and ears to protect their citizens. I'd much prefer the US arrest terrorists and treat them as criminals as oppossed to invading countries.

The Eagles

I'm a fan of the College Years. The new chicks were hotter.

Yeah, I talk to him sometimes, but he doesn't want people giving it out. I can't violate that trust. Sorry.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid...e=thread&tid=25 Found some info about that. It's shitty that he faces charges for his peaceful protest, but I can see how standing in front of a government building with wires coming out of your body could be perceived as a threat (we are in a post-9/11 world, afterall).

Plus, Germany has outlawed far-right parties to a certain degree, hasn't it? And Matt, I don't like the Electoral College either. I was referring in my post more to the election of Congresspeople and Senators, where the election of the executive is totally separate. In Canada, when you vote for your representative in the House of Commons, you're also throwing your vote behind the executive (PM). I know many Americans who voted for a Republican for Senate and a Democrat for Pres. This isn't possible in Canada.

When I say freedom of the press, I mean freedom from government interference. Yes, the establishment media is owned by about 5 or 6 corporations (Disney, Viacom, General Electric, NewsCorp, AOL-Time-Warner...), but there is more out there. When was the last time you got your news from only those sources, anyways? The vast amount of print sources available (especially now with the internet) allow us to get many perspectives of news stories and I would say that the monopoly that these corporations have is weakening. Blogs are another new innovation that are really changing the way people get their news. The days of reporting digging up a story are still very much with us. CBS and New Yorker writer Seymour Hersh broke the Abu Graib story. It's good to view the media critically, but it's possible to be over cynical. And can you show me proof that the FBI arrested someone for simply wearing a t-shirt or saying something, or where women's rights are being attacked? I'm not going to comment one way or another about that until I can read evidence, but I know the Constitution is still very much alive. I totally agree with you about the computer voting machines with no paper trail. I can't believe there isn't more of an uproar over these, because there is such a large opportunity for fraud (the CEO of the company who makes these machines is a Republican supporter.) However, I still stand by the assertion that the US, until proven otherwise, is a million times better than any dictatorship any day.

Or build a time machine.

I seriously hope to god Narnia doesn't suck. My favourite book as a kid. Frankly, I'd have prefered they didn't make movies out of the series.

Just off the top of my head, I've seen him in Traffic, Out of Sight, Boogie Nights... Is Nick Nolte the guy who had the DUI last year?

I'd rather have a parliamentary democracy over proportional representation. With a PR system, there is absolutely no way to vote for an individual. You simply vote for a party, and the party selects from its own list who will represent the people. What I believe is the ideal is the American republic style, where you vote directly for an individual to represent you in the House or Senate, regardless of what their party is. I utterly hate political parties, and I find that in Canada, MPs stick to party lines far too often instead of representing their riding's interests, since the government is dependent upon the confidence of the House. Yeah, I am. Which prime minister allowed American nuclear weapons on Canadian soil? Pearson. Which prime minister cozied up with American business elites? Pearson. Dief and the Tories were the nationalists. I highy recommend the book Lament for a Nation by George Grant, if you haven't already read it. It's a fairly quick and easy read if you know a bit of Canadian history.

You know, to add to what you said, the fact that any initial nuclear attack is bound to destroy humanity creates an incentive for a country not to use them, and (maybe ironically) possession of these weapons creates a degree of stability. One of the reasons why the U.S. and Soviet Union never reached the point of nuclear war is the idea of mutually assured destruction. I don't care how nuts Kim Jong-Il is, it's very hard to believe he would launch a nuclear attack against the U.S, which would basically be suicide. Again, it's been said many times in this thread, the greatest threats to American national security are terrorist attacks. The U.S. would probably benefit far more to invest this money into the CIA and other intelligence programs.

I'm just not a conspiracy theorist. ;)

This is why the Westminster parliamentary system is a really bad type of government. Oh, and the Liberal Party has done far more to erase the border between Canada and the US in the past 50 years than the Tories.

Comparing Syria to the United States is fair. Which country has free elections, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, women's rights, and which one doesn't? Why should a government like Syria's have an equal voice in the general assembly? States which oppress their people and are not based upon popular consent are not legitimate and do not deserve a say within the international community. I disagreed with the war in Iraq, also, but 50 million people are rid of a dictator and if a democratic government can successfully be established there's no doubt it will have positive consequences for the region.

The interesting thing about the United Nations is that it's terrible at solving conflicts, which it was designed for, but is (usually) good when it comes to humanitarian crises, which was never an original goal of the organisation. It's just a debate society and it needs reform. I would start by removing any state that isn't a transparent liberal democracy. States should have to earn the right to sit at the international table, and not be automatically accepted simply based upon being a part of Earth (thank you, Paul Martin, Sr.) :angry: The fact that Syria or Saudi Arabia have an equal say in the UN General Assembly as the US or Canada basically legitimizes tyrannical regimes and erases any moral authority that the UN might have. (Not to mention states like these ludicrously being in charge of committees like the Human Rights commission. ;)) The UN also needs to be far more accountable financially to its member states. I really hope this Oil for Food scandal blows the doors open on that, but I doubt it.

Some things. I'm a libertarian, and disagree with a lot of Matt's more left-wing and statist views. But I would die for his right to say them. ;)

Where are you? Toronto?

I cried during Troy, because I wasted my $10.