JGowans

Greg, this comment for some reason reminds me of Bush's "Bring It On" statement the other day. It should be abundantly clear that violence solves nothing and this whole "eye for an eye" mentality is simplistic to say the least.

Uh huh?

Sad that they died. It got me wondering though, if I were conjoined to someone, whom would it be? I can't decide between some hot actress or someone that'd be more likely to stimulate the old grey matter. What about you?

The U.S. and Britain are signatories of the Geneva convention though. Why do lawyers have nothing to do with it Greg? I am not suggesting innocence and don't want to seem insensitive to what preceeded this situation, but merely want to suggest that the rules have been bent or broken once again, and had the shoe been on the other foot, this would not be allowed to happen.

Question: If 2 Americans had been held by a foreign country for the past 2 years without access to lawyers, against the terms of the Geneva convention, their charges were never communicated, they weren't allowed to call any witnesses or present evidence, and faced being sentenced to death in a secret military tribunal, would you be outraged? Two British citizens currently face that prospect in Guantanemo. Maybe they are indeed guilty. Of what, I and no-one else has any idea. I do think though that they have a right to a fair judicial process. Just more rantings from a leftist Euro liberal though.

Just an FYI Fairweather, that I'm a bit more than a guest in as much that I've been educated in the U.S., am a homeowner in the U.S. and have been paying taxes in the U.S. for the past 9 years. I think I've earned my right to an opinion.

come on. i'm sure you can do better than that. Currently, there's about 95 other countries that can beat Scotland (in soccer). Surely there are some things that are uniquely American that make you proud and happy to be American?

- Convenience. Drive thru banks? Drive thru coffee? Excellent! - Low low gas prices - American college football - Baseball - San Juan chips n' salsa

In the spirit of July 4th, how about we focus on the positives of this country. What do you love about it?

Whatever happened to the stickers that Timmy was soliciting input for? I wanted to sticker all the SUVs belonging rich oil barons in Russia a la Jim style with big bad horsecock bar codes. Also, when I was gone, did he finally post Team Snafflehound's TR or are we still waiting for it?

If this site were run democratically, we could all vote MtnGoat off. However, it's run by an elite band of power mongers that pull the strings and hence he lives to battle another day. Down with the tyranny of cc.com! The majority is no longer shackled and we will petition until we die, or at least for the next 10 minutes anyway.

Cool. My anti-blindingly-pro-USA detector system worked.

Just curious Greg, In your opinion, what consitutes anti-American? In saying that I wish some things were different in this country, am I considered anti-American? DIE COMMIE PINKO FAGGOT! Fuck off you stale cum rag.

I'm not going to argue PP. I think there's no doubt that America has done an immense amount of good in dragging the world beyond the rubble of WWII. However, that has been tempered by the list of damaging things it has done, and the list lengthens under the stewardship of the current POTUS.

There is already development north of whistler in Pemberton. I guess I'm the only one, but I'm glad to see the Olympics come to Vancouver. It'll be a great festival of sport and a chance to see some of the elite athletes of the world competing on our doorstep. I do understand where you're coming from with respect to over-development, but let's face it, Whistler is already Disneyland on Ice.

Greg, socialism is not tantamount to collectivism. Nor is capitalism tantamount to individualism. This is not a struggle of ideologues in my opinion. Rather, it's a dilemma of a silent majority grappling with the fallout of a half century of selfish pursuit that has benefitted a few and damaged the majority.

I don't know. I'm not elite. Actually, naturally, there is an elite echelon in every nation. However, with the U.S. in such a dominant position, I suppose the actions of the elite of this nation are more amplified and the consequences of their actions are felt throughout the rest of the world more than most. When I say elite, that also implies the major corporations with which they are typically affiliated. I don't think hatred for america is a manipulated outlet. That would be a bit much to think that the elite actually want a poor perception of the U.S. from which to further their agenda. No, I think that hatred is a genuine emotion directed at the U.S. (not always justified) due to an elite not giving a shit what the rest of the world thinks. If they can do it without arousing the ire of the citizens of their "partner" nations or indeed their own population, then great, but no big deal if they do because they have an unbeatable military to pummel anyone that dares to speak out or of course they have their "partners" now so dependent on their money, to dissent would be folly.

True, but this is exactly the scenario that was protrayed in "Atlas Shrugged"; corruption on a grand scale behind the scenes of the collectivist ideology. Good point. You're right there.

Are you referring to this quote? 'They treat me like a spreading plain tree, to which they run for shelter under in a storm, but which, when the weather is fair, they tear and pluck at as they walk by.'

I used to be a big proponent of objectivism until I read Ayn Rand's biography. She hid behind the veil of her intellect and manipulated those around her especially her husband as evidenced by her numerous episodes of infidelity which she then tried to justify philosophically. Regarding the whole world going collectivist: I think that in every day scenarios that may hold true. Political Correctness to the nth degree is a good example. However, I think that it's not so simple as to just see this as a cosmic happening whereby humankind has aligned itself so. Rather, the masses have been consistently manipulated by the elite using the media as their primary vehicle and ably backed up by power hungry politicians that are more than eager to appease their needs in exchange for much needed campaign funds. That's not really collectivism as such but merely corruption on a grand scale. This house of cards I'm sure will come crashing down someday, but you and I will both be long buried by then. If they've honed cryogenic freezing by then though, I wouldn't mind being in Galt's Gulch either. Who is John Galt?

See, here we are talking about some issues, and you then have to jump into Ayn Rand's camp and label the rest of the world a bunch of collectivists. Are you trying to imply that the U.S. is the strong Howard Roark that's going against the grain for ideological purposes? Come on man. Your amateur philosophizing is ridiculous to say the least. I didn't read his shit, but being a reader and believer in Ayn Rand's philosophy there is NO way you can make the stretch you made. The U.S. has sold out on it's original principles long ago; more like Peter Keating if we're keeping with the "Fountainhead" metaphor. That's exactly my point. Trying to paint this in terms of Ayn Rand's objectivism versus collectivism is absurd.

You just validated what I've been trying to portray all along Fairweather. You are indicative of the malaise. Because I'm not American, my opinions are worthless and invalid. If America will only listen to fellow Americans, then doesn't that say something as to why we're in the predicament we're in where, quite honestly, the U.S. is becoming increasingly marginalized and alienated on the global stage. It's quite an affront to the many U.S. citizens that do give a shit about the world beyond U.S. borders and care about the sustainability of the globe and the quality of life for this planet's inhabitants.

See, here we are talking about some issues, and you then have to jump into Ayn Rand's camp and label the rest of the world a bunch of collectivists. Are you trying to imply that the U.S. is the strong Howard Roark that's going against the grain for ideological purposes? Come on man. Your amateur philosophizing is ridiculous to say the least.

You do not change the content, merely the tone. Don't take undue credit. While the rest of us can find flaws in the others' arguments, we tend to take it as a whole and deal with it as such. You on the other hand, don't argue the points, but rather the semantics of each and every sentence. That's what I mean about you taking macro-level questions and applying a microscopic perspective. It's complete drivel and not in any way productive to the conversation. It's quite pointless to argue with you because you pick apart single sentences and focus uon the minutia which is neither here nor there. That's all. Cunt.

Incidentally, I've called you names before in other threads. I tried to keep it civil here, and refrained from doing so yet was accused anyway by you. So, I reckon that you're now fair game and I can legitimately call you a ball licker and wish that a plague of locusts would infest your skiddy Y-fronts.