Displaying 811 To 840 Of 889 Comments HATE IN AMERICA, Part 2: Hate Speech and the First Amendment No offense taken Khirad – your assessment is humiliatingly correct 🙁 . I don’t know about me giving you the scoop on Canadian politics – you sound incredibly knowledgeable already – Grits!! Impressive 🙂 » Posted By Mightywoof On February 9, 2010 @ 4:01 pm Be careful what you wish for Khirad! Harper has been in a minority position since the conservatives were first elected. I don’t like his party’s policies and I don’t like the undercurrents in the membership of the party (fundamentalist christianity, social conservatism). I believe, if he and his party are ever elected with a majority, we will not know what hit us! Still – I do think he’s nowhere near as rw as the most lw of Republicans. » Posted By Mightywoof On February 9, 2010 @ 2:42 pm Yeah e’cat – there are racists in every society and I’m sorry you had to find out that even ‘nice’ Canadians can be jerks as well. There was a time when Canadian society was extremely racist – jews, irish, native canadians/first peoples, let’s not forget the french, ukrainians – anybody, in fact, who wasn’t a WASP. There are still pockets of that kind of attitude around but I think (believe, hope in my heart) that the vast majority of us work really hard at rooting out any racism within ourselves and actively speak out when racism is seen or heard. It’s not Camelot up here by any means and we still have work to do but I don’t see in our msm the same kind of things that I read in the American msm – perhaps I’m not reading those kinds of msm articles – just call me Pollyana! » Posted By Mightywoof On February 9, 2010 @ 10:04 am 😆 Yes – it was, IMO, the pinnacle of what was the best about this country. But I’m an admitted member of the Trudeau fan club! It may surprise you to know 🙂 that the rw up here are the biggest complainers about judicial activism, the Constitution as written and Trudeau!! Luckily, the Constitution would be very hard to change up here AND we don’t have as radicaliized a rw movement as you have (give it time, give it time – eek!!) » Posted By Mightywoof On February 9, 2010 @ 8:19 am The Canadian Charter of Rights & Freedoms does not have an absolute right to free speech contained therein (unlike, I believe, the American counterpart) …….. it reads “[it] guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.” Canadian courts, particularly the Supreme Court of Canada, have very narrowly (rightly so, IMO) defined what constitutes hate speech and the Human Rights Commission of Canada (a non-criminal inquiry board to which any citizen has the right to submit for redress against hate and discrimation) have faithfully followed this narrow definition. This, perhaps, explains why we have fairly rigourous and free speech north of the line without the rabid racism that seems to be so evident south of the border. Up here, your legal rights as a citizen come with legal responsibilites. I haven’t done anywhere near the research you have, Cher – I’m afraid, when confronted with legalese, my eyes glaze over and my brain shuts down – but it would seem to me that one of the major differences between our two countries is found in the constitutional language on free speech. In the States, from all that I have read and heard, the individual reigns supreme even at the expense of any harm to society – in Canada, which has been internationalist in character for most of it’s history, society is given legal weight as well as the individual. At all times the courts have striven to only minimally infringe on individual liberties and confine the use of legalese within a very narrow range. If you can wade through this document this link will take you to a recent Canadian Human Rights Tribunal relating to what is hate speech and who may or may not be guilty of it. http://chrt-tcdp.gc.ca/search/files/t1073_5405chrt26.pdf On the broader aspect of your article – should free speech always be free – I share you uneasiness whenever challenges to that freedom arise. Simply because speech is disgusting and vile and totally beyond the pale should it be prohibited? My principled approach is NEVER ….. but that’s hard to hang on to when you read or hear some of the garbage that’s out there. Like you, e’cat, I may not always agree with the ACLU’s stance but I admire their dedication to principle. » Posted By Mightywoof On February 9, 2010 @ 7:29 am Hey – maybe Canada should build a few nukes 😆 (we don’t like to be left out of things after all!!). Shouldn’t joke about this – it’s deadly serious and bloody stupid – grrrr. » Posted By Mightywoof On February 11, 2010 @ 1:52 pm Choice under new attack from Operation Rescue The Fathers of Salem would be very proud to know witch hunts are still a going concern 🙄 I remember the first day when, as a woman, I truly felt free – it was when the then Prime Minister of Canada announced the government had no business in the bedrooms of the nation and introduced freedom of choice legislation that passed both Houses – that was back in the 70’s. Abortion was illegal in most of our childhoods and I’m sure we all remember horror stories of wire coat hangers, hot baths and gin …….. never, ever let these arseholes take women back down that road again!! » Posted By Mightywoof On February 6, 2010 @ 3:42 pm I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought they were about to read an article about a great singer, Nellie – the first paragraph threw me a bit 😆 » Posted By Mightywoof On February 4, 2010 @ 5:08 pm I remember, back in the dark ages (when I was a teenager), I was walking down the street and a pedestrian was hit by a car. I didn’t see it as it happened behind me but I heard the thump as the car hit human flesh and to this day that sound remains in my head. Nowadays, it seems to me, most folks would whip out their cell phones to take pics for Youtube (a generalisation and an unfair one I know but it’s my perception). I went searching the web this morning for an anti-thesis for wts and found a paper that measured response time in helping a victim between groups that had been playing violent video games and groups that had been playing non-violent video games. The response time difference was small but statistically significant with the former group taking longer to assist and showing less victim empathy than the latter group. I saved the link on my other computer so I’ll try to remember to post it tomorrow. This is a fascinating subject wts – thanks for the article!! » Posted By Mightywoof On February 4, 2010 @ 4:55 pm You’re a kindred spirit, wts!! I cannot understand – nor would I watch – the kind of movie that has no redeeming feature in the amount of blood spilled or flesh rent. Even in ‘redeeming’ movies I find violence hard to watch – I can imagine the violence, why would I want to sit there and watch it? I also, am no prude, Kalima, but I have no wish to sit and watch two or more people of whichever sex making love (and then some) – I pine for the days when the suggestion of lustiness was achieved by the arching of an eyebrow 🙂 An interesting thesis wts – without doing a ton of research to come up with an anti-thesis, I have often wondered if society is, in fact, becoming sociopathic. The Me generation, I want ‘mine’ and I want it now; empathy for the other seems to be vanishing making it very easy to watch man’s inhumanity to man without being at all bothered by it. Or maybe today’s generation recognizes it for what it purports to be – entertainment. Did you find any studies out there on the underlying cause of why people watch this type of stuff?? Bread and Circuses anyone? » Posted By Mightywoof On February 4, 2010 @ 6:00 am An Open Letter to Dr. Rachel Maddow Bravo Boomer!! This could become a Manifesto 🙂 . Life shouldn’t be this hard – not when our parents and grandparents struggled all their lives to make a better world for their kids to grow up and thrive. My Nanna grew up very poor and told tales of having to scavenge for lumps of coal in the small Cornwall village of her childhood. It seems to me that we are struggling to merely hold out heads above water; forget trying to leave things better for future generations. Are we doomed to slide back to where our grandparents lived? I hope it’s not true but very much fear that it is. Sorry for the pessimism 🙁 » Posted By Mightywoof On February 4, 2010 @ 6:57 am Take it from an ex-dancer – the photo is fake. The angle of the head is all wrong 🙂 » Posted By Mightywoof On February 3, 2010 @ 5:48 am Un(der)reported News, Saturday Edition LOL – I learned all about their evilness the following summer 🙂 . I didn’t know their seeds were viable for a decade – now I’m depressed 🙁 …. I’ll never win this war! » Posted By Mightywoof On January 31, 2010 @ 2:56 pm Garlic mustard is the bane of my existence Questinia!! I made the mistake of ignoring it in my garden one year – YIKES!! If you ever visit Canada – drop by my place with your flame-thrower – pleeeeeease 🙂 » Posted By Mightywoof On January 31, 2010 @ 12:38 pm Are We Really Liberals and Progressives? About the same time I found the politicalcompass quiz, I ran across this online paper/book by Bob Altmeyer, associate professor of psychology of the University of Manitoba. He’s originally from the States but came to Canada to teach and never left 🙂 . When I first read his book I kept getting that light bulb over my head – “oh yeah, that explains it”! Apparently John Dean used a lot of Altmeyer’s research when writing his own book, Conservatives Without Conscience. Anyway, the paper – The Authoritarians – is a reasonably long read but well worth your while in attempting to understand the Republican mind-set …….. and it comes with another quiz in chapter 1 🙂 http://members.shaw.ca/jeanaltemeyer/drbob/TheAuthoritarians.pdf » Posted By Mightywoof On January 31, 2010 @ 12:36 pm Nellie – I really think you hit the nail on the head with this one!! While it’s important to be aware of what is happening in your Party and agitating for change from within the MOST important thing is to reach out to folks who are wavering about voting! You can agitate for all the change you want within your Party but if people don’t turn out to vote you’ve lost!! It’s not the President you should be going after – it’s fairweather liberals/progressives who will stay home come the next election. Those are the people you have to persuade that change IS happening, that the last 8 years will not go away overnight, that if they don’t turn out to vote for their Democratic candidate they will be bringing back more of the same old same old, that even if they have to hold their nose and vote for a Democratic candidate they should do so – the change they want WILL come but not if the Republican party gains power again. That should be, IMHO, the one and only thing that the ‘left’ should be working on right now. To achieve change is a long term goal – and that will never happen if you lose the next election and the one after that and the one ………….. » Posted By Mightywoof On January 30, 2010 @ 5:26 am There are bloody idiots in every language and they all go by the name troll 🙂 ……. penguins???? That’s as bad as looking to ski in July – har har! » Posted By Mightywoof On January 28, 2010 @ 1:54 pm Freakin’ cold 🙂 » Posted By Mightywoof On January 28, 2010 @ 1:52 pm Naomi Klein, while born in Canada, holds dual citizenship – both parents were American; or so I understand. I have some problem with your stance that only Americans should be able to comment on American politics. The US is a behemoth – whatever you all decide to do in an election affects not only you but the rest of the world. If that were not the case, I would be as uninterested in US politics as I am of politics in Botswana. We non-Americans may not be able to vote but I do believe we have a right to comment – perhaps we may even be able to persuade enough of you not to inflict another Bush on the world. I also believe/hope that having non-Americans contributing to this site was part of the intent of PlanetPOV – otherwise it would have been called AmericaPOV. I know you were talking about RW idealogues and/or progressives who have taken to bashing BO but it is only a short leap to insisting that any non-American comment is illegitimate. I support your concerns and anger towards corporation, media, politicians etc – they are, after all, a global phenomena – but not your misplaced (IMHO) anger towards someone who makes comments on American politics due to their citizneship or lack of it. Respectfully – Woof » Posted By Mightywoof On January 28, 2010 @ 11:20 am It is a fun test isn’t it 🙂 . I’ve found it useful to start nudging pedantic right-wingers just a little off their perches. So many folks take their political positions from a label – I don’t like liberals so I’m a conservative – without actually examining what their personal beliefs are and what party best represents those beliefs. A bit like the canard that only conservatives can manage a national budget – HA! is all I have to say on that. Which I guess goes back to what you all seem to be saying on PPOV – do you support a party, right or wrong, or do you walk away in disgust if you don’t get everything you want. My answer is NO – you don’t walk away. To do so is to relinquish any chance of having your voice heard – if a party closely matches your fiscal and social belief system, you should stick with it ‘cos sure as eggs is eggs, the other parties will not represent what you want to accomplish in your life. » Posted By Mightywoof On January 29, 2010 @ 7:02 am I agree that labels such as conservative or liberal have, in and of themselves, absolutely no measurable meaning AdLib. A more measurable label would be socially conservative or fiscally liberal but even that is not a true measure of where a person stands on the political scale. A really neat site I discovered a few years back is The Political Compass – a friend of mine, who swears she would never, ever vote anything other than Republican, took the test and was mortified to discover that she was only fiscally conservative – socially, she was very liberal in her views. http://www.politicalcompass.org/ I’m happy to say I’m further left than both Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama 🙂 » Posted By Mightywoof On January 29, 2010 @ 5:31 am You Can Run Scientific Experiments in Your Own Home I’ve heard of the SETI project but I didn’t realise that it was not the only distributed computing project out there!! Fascinating KQ – now I’ll have to Google ABC Conjecture (I assume it’s not about reading or writing skills). I do enjoy your science articles – even if I don’t understand it all!! You are so good for my IQ 🙂 » Posted By Mightywoof On January 24, 2010 @ 5:15 am Corporations Are People Too! by Dr. Suits You and me both, boomer – intimidated that is!! At least I feel that my intellect is stimulated, my IQ is going up by the nanosecond, my interest is engaged and me and my belly’s doing a lot of larfing whenever I come in here 😀 » Posted By Mightywoof On January 22, 2010 @ 2:53 pm I’m totally in awe of your writing AdLib – youse brilliant, yes sirree you is 🙂 » Posted By Mightywoof On January 22, 2010 @ 12:50 pm The All-American Basketball Alliance Oh Kalima – that’s a real bummer!! …… what a delightful video, boomer – it’s started off my day with a big smile on my face!! Big thanks – and a perfect response to the idiocy down in them thar southern parts 🙂 » Posted By Mightywoof On January 22, 2010 @ 6:06 am Round One of the New President Obama: The Populist 800 lb gorilla 🙂 . Do you know what frosts me – those cars made in Canada, costing 3-4 grand less than those made in the US, still cost us up here a considerable amount more than the same car sold in the States. Do you think, somehow, somebody somewhere is getting the shaft. But I do agree that, economically, those countries with socialized medicine are far more competitive than the US – except of course those countries with slave wages! » Posted By Mightywoof On January 21, 2010 @ 6:09 pm I really should follow the news from the UK more closely; I was born and raised there and my sister and brother still live there. Every time I speak to my sis and she talks politics I can’t follow her for more than 5 minutes! She cannot stand Brown – but she’s a Thatcherite (I love her in spite of this defect 🙂 )so that’s not surprising. So many Conservatives pay lip service to ‘our wonderful public health system’ and then go on to savagely gut it in the name of so-called streamlining and efficiency (govspeak for finding the money somewhere to give yet another tax break – grrrr). » Posted By Mightywoof On January 21, 2010 @ 6:02 pm Watch for news either this year or next – those social safety nets have been creaking for years (I can only speak with any authority on what is happening in Canada). We (Canada) have balanced our government budgets for years and were actually beginning to pay down our debt to foreign nations. The stupid conservative government came in and, true to form, started giving tax breaks to everybody and their mother. Along comes this ‘recession’ and we’re now in the hole for billions – and the talk has already started about cutting back, pulling in our belts and balancing the budget. Hells bells – the last time we did that our health system got royally screwed – there is no more fat in the system! And thanks to NAFTA (it’s as unpopular up here as it is down there) the minute a private company is allowed to be part of the health care system, the gates are opened and can never be shut again. Sorry – this seems to be my day for ranting – this is the third one for me today. Anyway – the social safety nets in Europe and Canada ARE in danger even if they’re kind of coping right now. » Posted By Mightywoof On January 21, 2010 @ 2:20 pm I can’t argue with your statement KQ – although I do so hate to hear to pessimism in your ‘voice’. Globalism has a lot to answer for in terms of sustainable economies and job creation (unless one accepts the thesis of competing with labour that earns 50 cents a day if they’re lucky). Chin up as my Mum used to say! » Posted By Mightywoof On January 21, 2010 @ 2:06 pm I don’t think it will help Main Street, KQ – at least, not in the short term. In the long term, it is essential to separate the investing (gambling) activities from commercial/retail banking. Is this what the Glass/Steagel Act was all about? In Canada we had what was called the 4 pillars of finance: Banks, Insurance, Trust/Credit Unions and Brokerage. About the time Glass/Steagel was repealed (or shortly thereafter) our Banks started making noises to tumble those pillars down – and they succeeded; they now have insurance companies, they bought out brokerage houses and trust companies. The one thing they were NOT allowed to do was to reduce their Capital ratio – although there had been a lot of rumbling to loosen up the banking requirements for that; those rumblings stopped very abruptly when the whole rotten house of cards collapsed! Anything the American government can do to limit both the risks that can be taken and the exposure to the national economy in the future is a good thing – even if it doesn’t help Main Street or create jobs, jobs, jobs right now. OT – I’m so sad that HCR looks to be dying before it was born. Folks just don’t seem to be able to get it through their heads that your private health care system is sucking money and jobs right out of your economy – to say nothing of the personal hell people like you will go through if HCR dies. » Posted By Mightywoof On January 21, 2010 @ 1:04 pmComments Posted By Mightywoof
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