Richards

I guess there would be 2 questions to ask. 1. Did our trade with them worsen the situation? 2. Are we capitalizing on unnecessary hardship? My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

You get me all wrong. I am not anti globalism. If anything I am extremely to the right on most issues. I do have problems with the way western countries will benefit via trade with countries that will abuse human rights while turning a blind eye. Lets take africa with the cocoa trade. Human rights groups have reported slavery of children who are worked from morning until night in the cocoa feilds, and beaten savagely if they do not produce enough. This abuse of little children allows us to consume chocolate without paying higher prices. Would you suggest that cutting off chocolate imports with countries that do that would make these kids worse off? I will not play high and mighty here because I do eat chocolate, but if putting a stop to that abuse means that I have to pay 10 times more for a luxury treat then so be it. Just because it would be unrealistic to impose our level of employee standards does not excuse outright abuse. The argument that our economy will suffer if we do not benefit is not a good one. Are we as westerners entitled to maintain a standard of living even if it comes on the backs of brutalised children? Do we have dominion over 3rd worlders as we do the animals? I realize that with globailism we will do better than the 3rd world countries we trade with and that is just the way of the world, but to suggest that we cannot do anything about it is just a cop-out. It's not all or nothing. We are not left to choose between no trade vs getting rich off hideous abuse; there is middle ground and we should be putting pressure on other countries to acheive that. My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

I am not claiming that the existent/nonexistant two party system is perfect, nor that it guarantees actual policy diferentiation. Just that it provides more incentive for accontability than having no party competition. If you feel the existing system needs tweaking then fine. Our liberals were arrogant beyond belief with their power becasue there was no opposition. For years the liberals could do whatever they wanted because there was no other party. I certainly do not think that we have a perfect system now but I am more comfortable knowing that the liberals have to start actually listenning to canadians now if they want to get back into power, and the conservatives who are finally back in power are aware of how fragile their hold on power is so they cannot be complacent. Will corruption and fearmongering be part of each parties campaing...of course. At least now they all feel they have to work for my vote unlike the libs who could just coast and know that they were getting back in regardless. We may be talking apples and oranges here (canada and US) but having a little competition in politics here has forced the key players to start acting like they need our votes (not saying it is even close to perfect). The utter contempt for the voting public is now gone. My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

Understood. Just like having two stores rather than one does not guarantee that they will be competitive rather than collaborative. Having weak competition, and two very similar parties is still preferable to having only one option. My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

nuts - it's not about subjective political views and give and take and consensus. The parties are pushing themselves as pure good vs pure evil, and the masses are lapping it up. It seems to me that this is not the case at all. While you will find those who submit blindly to their party's rhetoric and simplify things to that degree, I see many Americans who have a whole range of opinions on these issues, and who are quite capable of filtering partisan rhetoric. It also seems that even republican voters are getting sick of the good vs evil nonsense. I never tried to imply that integrity was the driving issue. If a party knows that the other party is a few votes away from taking the next election then they tend to try harder (even if being dishonest). As bad as it may seem to you would you rather one party had no competition and realised that no matter what they did they would get voted in anyway? My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

I know at this time there are many who are unhappy with the republican party, primarily out of dislike for the current president (even though republicans are standing up against him now), but do you really want to get rid of the party? In the US you derive great benefits from the fact that you have two parties which over the long run seem to be running a tie. A problem we had in Canada when people were frustrated by the former PM Mulroney was that the Progresive Conservatives had a split off called reform which took a lot of the right wing votes, and left the right divided and thus we had about 12-13 years of liberal rule (and they always seem to be the primary party anyway) which would have continued indefinitely had Jean and Paul not fucked up soooo hugely. When one party (be it your left or right party) feels that there is no real competition they become complacent or even arrogant which leads to abuse of power. As a matter of fact take a look at mexico where they had the same ruling party for about 80 years until Fox came in. Anyone in the US (Republican or Democrat) who wishes the other party gone may regret that if it should happen. A monopoly is a monopoly. and whatever misgivings you may have with one party, remember what keeps your own party from completely going over the top is that the other party is always just a few votes away from taking over and that has served Americans well. My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

Ah. Wasn't following that one. Gracias. My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

It's fine to say keep out the deadbeats, illegals, or the ones who make false refuge claims, but what is wrong with letting in the good ones? What is the rational for keeping out a man who served the UK heroically? Seems rather ungratefull. My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

Eggs benedict, only with baby spinach and pacific (not atlantic) smoked salmon. Side of fruit. My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

Dumb, dumb, dumb,dumb! When you look at the kind of people that many western countries do admit, it always baffles me the ones who don't get in. My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

OK this may seem like a really dumb question so please spell this out for me. I am mising how this relates to getting rid of the republican party. My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

I agree with everything you said except for the bit about cruel and unusual punishment. I have misgivings about this law for the very reason that you have pointed out, which is that it may give incentive to finish them off. I am not however going to worry about how harsh it may be, Guys like that do not deserve any mercy from the courts. I will only concede giving it because the alternative may provide them with the incentive to kill a kid. My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

On a tangent, which citizenship would you then give them? Not my problem. They're gone, they can bang on someone elses door and beg to be let in. Alternately I suppose they could stay in a refuge camp. My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

Rather amusing My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

I actually found this quite funny http://youtube.com/watch?v=XxkkomhESH8 My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

The vandals were cowardly filth. It would be nice to revoke their citizenship (even if they were born here). My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

Scent of a Woman Hoo-ahh! How about this one, "Lets get her out on the water, if anythings gonna happen it's gonna happen out there" My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

My answers were intentionally simplistic, but obviously I realise there is more to it than that. I do wish for a degree of ethical behaviour in international trade, but I realise there will be economic constraints. I do not however beleive that we have to accept complete status quo on this issue either. OK these countries will obviously not have the same human rights standards for their employees as we have but we can at least draw some lines as to what we require for them to do business with us. It is not as though we need them more than they need us. For example, the slavery of children for cheap labour in the chocolate industry in africa. We may not get westerner politicians to be willing to draw a line on issues like oil, but perhaps consumers could be willing to accept higher choclate prices, if that is what it would take to eliminate that abuse. My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

Understood. That is why we need to put legal presure on corporations to conduct themselves in an ethical manner. As a matter of fact even investors can put pressure on a corporation. You should read up on ethical funds and the growing trend of people investing in them. Again we can stop our corporations from outsourcing to these countries, and we can ban imports. You guessed that right. Does that make me weak? My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

"I have seen.....boys like these, younger than these, with thier arms ripped out, their legs torn off; but there is nothing like the sight of an amputated spirit....theres, no prosthetic for that" My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

If we outsource work to countries who will expolit child labour just to keep our own costs down then we are responsible for keeping up the demand for child labour. My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

"As good as it gets" Loved that line My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

Ok. "I see pride, I see power, I see a badass mother who don't take no crap off a' nobody" My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

Agreed. I would make sure that there was no uncertainty that there are consequenses of such actions. While I may not have the stomach to carry out an actual butt-whipping, my wife would be more than pleased to be "bad cop" on that one. The nintendo/tv (and related mind numbing entertainment) would disappear until about a months worth of chores were completed. He would also be under a strict supervision regime, where he would come straight home from school, do homework, only attend organised extra-curricular activities (scouts, hockey, piano lessons etc) until he convinced me that he could be trusted. My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

OK. So it's not christians in general, it is the ones who want to enforce creationism and push for theocratic laws that dictate what is moral to be taught in schools. I agree with you. I read more into the thread than was actually being said. My error. Thanks for clearing that up. Cheers My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.