Friday free for all — Feb. 22nd 2008
It takes a day or so for your your replies to appear. Please just keep looking for them.
This week we were pleased to have three academic giants joins us: Hew Strachan, Niaal Ferguson, and John Mearsheimer. You may want to comment on their appearance, or you may have something to say about the elmination of plastic bags in grocery store checkouts!
It was a great week. I also encourage you to comment on my Afghanistan post that I posted earlier in the week. Just scroll down.
Rant away.
-ak
February 22nd, 2008 at 6:57 pm
I like the idea of going green, want to do my part and try to remember to take my reusable bags with me when I go shopping. I am a senior & the problem I’m finding is that they are so large, if the store clerk fills them, they are almost too heavy to carry so I have to keep asking them to please not put so much in the bag. As well, I have to carry my grocery bags up a flight of stairs and the reusable bags with their longer handles hit the stairs as I walk up - making it a not so easy climb. I currently reuse plastic bags for garbage bags so will definitely miss them.
February 22nd, 2008 at 11:35 pm
My God Andrew..with no plastic bags from the grocery stores……what am I gonna do with the dirty Kitty litter….LOL
February 23rd, 2008 at 1:21 pm
it is nice to hear someone on the radio talk about the issues we are facing today, but canada has drifted far too much to the left. I know people like to
reference vietnam and make comparisons, but the reality is that over fifty thousand americans lost there lives to protect and repel a soviet-backed communist takeover of the country, and so far only 78 brave canadians have lost their lives. The fact is that if america did what leftist canadians and leftist americans want them to do, wich is stop interfering in middle east politics, that Egypt as one example, even though the regime has been brutal in repressing dissent, would collapse under pressure from the muslim brotherhood and EIJ(Egyptian Islamic Jihad,once controlled by Ayman Al-zawhiri by the way) and plunge the middle east into trhe next holocaust. While Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11, and the bush admistration never actually claimed he did contrary to public belief, he was a know supporter of palestinian terrorism, and PUBLICLY anouced that he would pay ten thousand dollars to every family of a suicide bomber who attacked isreal. He needed to be removed for the region to change. The only counter-terrosism strategy that will diminish their ability to recruit and brainwash young disaffeccted muslim youth into believing that the reason they dont have any freedom to express themselves and their legitimate frustrations is America, is to spread hope and at least the possibility of democracy(a government run by the people, for the people) And unfortunatly the only way to change a region that has been so demorilized by radical preachers and imams, is through force, because the regimes will never give up power. There is a statue on the wall of CIA headquarters that says “And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free”. We need to stand by the americans while they show the middle east that even though free speech and elected governments come with their own inheret problems and risk, they have what every human being regardless of race or creed, or religion has, and that is they can share their religion and their hope for the future with the rest of mankind and better us for it. what it comes down to is simple yet old in an article written by a canadian, gordon sinclair in the 70’s, titled the Americans
I HOPE THAT YOU READ THIS TO SHOW THAT THERE ARE CANADIANS WHO SUPPORT BUSH AND WERE NOT BIGGOTED WHEN IT COME TO AMERICA
GORDON SINCLAIR, NINETEEN SEVENTIES!!
The United States dollar took another pounding on German, French and British exchanges this morning, hitting the lowest point ever known in West Germany. It has declined there by 41% since 1971 and this Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most generous and possibly the least-appreciated people in all the earth.
As long as sixty years ago, when I first started to read newspapers, I read of floods on the Yellow River and the Yangtse. Who rushed in with men and money to help? The Americans did.
They have helped control floods on the Nile, the Amazon, the Ganges and the Niger. Today, the rich bottom land of the Misssissippi is under water and no foreign land has sent a dollar to help. Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy, were lifted out of the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars and forgave other billions in debts. None of those countries is today paying even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States.
When the franc was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who propped it up and their reward was to be insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris. I was there. I saw it.
When distant cities are hit by earthquakes, it is the United States that hurries into help… Managua Nicaragua is one of the most recent examples. So far this spring, 59 American communities have been flattened by tornadoes. Nobody has helped.
The Marshall Plan .. the Truman Policy .. all pumped billions upon billions of dollars into discouraged countries. Now, newspapers in those countries are writing about the decadent war-mongering Americans.
I’d like to see one of those countries that is gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar build its own airplanes.
Come on… let’s hear it! Does any other country in the world have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the Lockheed Tristar or the Douglas 107? If so, why don’t they fly them? Why do all international lines except Russia fly American planes? Why does no other land on earth even consider putting a man or women on the moon?
You talk about Japanese technocracy and you get radios. You talk about German technocracy and you get automobiles. You talk about American technocracy and you find men on the moon, not once, but several times … and safely home again. You talk about scandals and the Americans put theirs right in the store window for everyone to look at. Even the draft dodgers are not pursued and hounded. They are here on our streets, most of them … unless they are breaking Canadian laws .. are getting American dollars from Ma and Pa at home to spend here.
When the Americans get out of this bind … as they will… who could blame them if they said ‘the hell with the rest of the world’. Let someone else buy the Israel bonds, Let someone else build or repair foreign dams or design foreign buildings that won’t shake apart in earthquakes.
When the railways of France, Germany and India were breaking down through age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them. When the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose. Both are still broke. I can name to you 5,000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other people in trouble.
Can you name me even one time when someone else raced to the Americans in trouble? I don’t think there was outside help even during the San Francisco earthquake.
Our neighbours have faced it alone and I am one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them kicked around. They will come out of this thing with their flag high. And when they do, they are entitled to thumb their nose at the lands that are gloating over their present troubles.
I hope Canada is not one of these. But there are many smug, self-righteous Canadians. And finally, the American Red Cross was told at its 48th Annual meeting in New Orleans this morning that it was broke.
This year’s disasters .. with the year less than half-over… has taken it all and nobody…but nobody… has helped.
February 23rd, 2008 at 4:39 pm
Quite disappointed that Richard Z passed up the opportunity to put forward his opinions on climate change during the Tom Young show on Friday. He is quick to denounce those opposed to his views on the climate change issue and is extremely articulate in doing so. Unfortunately those such as Tom Ball also articulate their respective positions very well and it would have been nice to have had an informed debate.
February 23rd, 2008 at 10:34 pm
Each morning I check into MM for about 10 minutes while on the way to work.
Frankly, your ongoing rants about Canada in Afghanistan are becoming droll , predictable and really tired. The Taliban and their very good friends Al Quieda have both publicly stated that Western Civilization as we know it must come to an end, to be replaced by Islamic Fundamentalism. Recent history has also clearly shown us they have no regard for innocent human life and will martyr themselves by killing as many North Americans if ever given the chance to do so. So do tell, how is what is happening in 2008 any different from what happened back in the 1940’s. At first I was a bit skeptical but now I’m proud to call myself Canadian, thanks in part to the role that we are playing in the ongoing fight against global terror. Ignoring it won’t make it go away. We have to step up and do our small part. Will we ever win this so called war, probably not because it isn’t measurable… but one thing is for sure.. if we don’t stand now and do our small part, our children or grandchildren could very likely pay the heavy and deadly price. Hmm sounds very familiar doesn’t it. My grandfather said the same thing as we was shipping off to Europe in 1943.
February 24th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Well I gave it a fair shot I read through cover to cover two different copies of Metro. Which has led me to the conclusion that this new Metro paper is garbage you could say oh well its better then nothing but don’t be so sure I’m not sure what their target demographic is but I can’t see what kind of person the content lacking articles would appeal to. There is nothing with any relevance its just a basic outline of whatever topic they chose to write about. I would rather another paper like The Coast (I am a fan of The Coast) then this. I have gone through 2 copies of this Metro but probably won’t bother with it again.
Waste of time and trees.
February 24th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
I want to suggest a topic for discussion on your show and I hope you have the courage to address this very serious situation. I want to know why no one is talking about the unification of North American Governments? It is taking place right now.
In 2005 an agreement was signed between Mexico, the United States and Canada called the North American Union. This arrangement was unannounced to the public, and unquestioned and unchallenged. It merges Mexico, the US and Canada into a single entity without borders. Why have we not heard about this?
This is NOT A TRADE AGREEMENT, this is the total removal of sovereignty from our country, which brings with it the creation of a new form of North American currency known as the Amero. In addition, our Government in conjunction with the United States Government is working toward the creation of a new ‘enhanced’ government ID card that everyone will eventually be required to have. It will be a combination Drivers License ID/Passport type card and linked to a government database in the US.
Groups of US-based Multinational companies are pushing for this to happen right now and I urge you to follow-up on topics related to this for more information:
>North American Union
>Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America
>North American Competitiveness Council
>United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology
The bottomline is, if this happens, our country will cease to be our own, and the idea that one day we’ll all wake up and be Americans is far closer than everyone realizes. With it, we stand to lose our identity, customs, laws, medical insurance system, rights & freedoms and much more.
This was a carefully organized plan that began with NAFTA and will end with the North American Union/SPP. Jack Layton, who you have had on your program is one of the few or perhaps the only Canadian Politician to publicly denounce this idea. Please have him back on your show in the future to discuss this topic.
Thank you.
February 25th, 2008 at 11:48 am
What Cal said…..and also, Paul, do you work for FOX News?? The US is in a bind because they would rather spend several TRILLION dollars messing around in Iraq than spend a few billion to help educate and care for the well-being of their own people.
February 25th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
listen up people, hemp,yes hemp ,is the perfect solution for re placing
all plastic bags. not only that, we can eliminate tobacco in the process!!imagine the gov. giving tobacco co.s one year to switch half thier plants over to hemp manufaturing. in return they will recieve the rights to produce all sizes of hemp bags for twenty yrs. tobacco farmers will be required to switch over to the growing of hemp, with same deal as tobacco companys. after first year , co.s and farmers take up full production of hemp, thus eliminating any tobacco production,ergo smoking!
hemps usage is unlimited, however the big concern is industry and job loss. in this case we would be replacing a health problem ind. with a green solution ind. with little or no job loses right from the ground up..
hemp bags can also be collected as a seperate item and made into compost or it can be just thrown away [for us lazy people ], only to biodegrade with in a short time. hemp can replace every bag we now use that is plastic.
another bonus is hemp could be planted in the areas obliterated by
clear cutting, creating a new crop and also soil retension to prevent landslides. all i see in hemp is an oppertunity for positive change,without the callapse of employment, after all isn’t that the biggest reason we continue to allow smoking in our society? this is a positive change that won’t cost an arm or a leg or a TREE!
hemp me save the world lol
February 26th, 2008 at 8:23 am
I want to respond to the comment by Paul. He backs American intervention and even said he agreed with and supported Bush.I hope he is not among the majority of Canadians, in fact- I am sure he is not.
I would like to express my displeasure over the so-called debate in Parliament over the Afghanistan mission. My idea of debate is when there are 2 conflicting opinions and each tries to convince the other of their position. This is impossible when Harper made the debate over this very important issue a “confidence vote” and then Dion folded like a cheap tent. Now the NDP are being vilified for debating the mission and holding a different point of view. Is that not democracy?
As far as Gen. Hillier is concerned- he is way out of line telling the Canadian people and parliament to shut up about the mission… There is a large portion of the Canadian population that agree with the NDP. We should not be brushed aside as those “helping the Taliban”. I have heard over and over again that Canada and Nato are there at the request of the Afghanistan goverment to help remove the Taliban. If that is the case why were we not there until after the BUSH administration attacked them. I believe our involvement in this whole affair began and still is an attempt to bolster our relations with the Americans.
February 26th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
Dear Dex,
I love people like who feel the need to complain about a free newspaper. By the way….you are a liar. You will pick up another copy of Globe…I can guarantee it.
February 28th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
listened to you today tawkin’ bout “Barack Hussein Obama”,where you seemed to dismiss him as an empty suit with little intellectual or legislative merit to speak of.You need to look a little closer at this guy.
I remember hearing senator Obama speak on CNN in 2005,and being so impressed with his “words”,that i thought ruefully to myself,too bad he isn’t running for the nomination.What an articulate and composed candidate he would make.Little did i think…
I read this article online about his early political career in Chicago
where he was opposed by the Chicago/Daly democratic machine and all
the corruption that they represent,essentially because they considered him too “honest,too “academic”,basically too “good government”.
He ran circles around them an won anyway…just like he is doing right now to Hillary…just like he is going to do in the general election in November to John Mccain if the Rethuglicans don’t manouever Mccain out of the way in time,which they are definitely considering doing right now.
Barack Obama,Graduate of Columbia and Harvard,magna cum laude…First black president of Harvard law review in it’s 104 year history.This guy is the real deal.I truly believe he is a once in a generation leader,with all due respect to Bill(the comeback kid)Clinton.
Shame on you(as Hillary would say)Andrew Crystal.
If i referred to Hillary in a way that seemed to mock her for being a woman,you would be right to call me on it.Making fun of his name as if it were an epithet or he’s some weirdo foreign terrorist for ratings or cheap laffs ,falls into the same category.You can play devil’s advocate without pulling a total Bill O’reilly or Rush Limbaugh.
You’re better than that dude.That’s why i like the show.
Here is a candidate comparison;
In five years as the most influential Democrat in the Senate, Hillary has managed to get the following 20 (twenty) laws and resolutions enacted
1. Establish the Kate Mullany National Historic Site
2. Support the goals and ideals of Better Hearing and Speech Month
3. Recognize the Ellis Island Medal of Honor
4. Name courthouse after Thurgood Marshall
5. Name courthouse after James L. Watson
6. Name post office after John A. O’Shea
7. Designate August 7, 2003, as National Purple Heart Recognition Day
8. Support the goals and ideals of National Purple Heart Recognition Day
9. Honor the life and legacy of Alexander Hamilton on the bicentennial of his death
10. Congratulate the Syracuse University Orange Men’s Lacrosse Team on winning the championship.
11. Congratulate the Le Moyne College Dolphins Men’s Lacrosse Team on winning the championship.
12. Establish the 225th Anniversary of the American Revolution Commemorative Program.
13. Name post office after Sergeant Riayan A. Tejeda.
14. Honor Shirley Chisholm for her service to the nation and express condolences on her death.
15. Honor John J. Downing, Brian Fahey, and Harry Ford, firefighters who lost their lives on duty.
Only five of Clinton’s bills are, according to Morris, “substantive”:
16. Extend period of unemployment assistance to victims of 9/11.
17. Pay for city projects in response to 9/11.
18. Assist landmine victims in other countries.
19. Assist family caregivers in accessing affordable respite care.
20. Designate part of the National Forest System in Puerto Rico as protected in the Wilderness Preservation System
hmmm…….
The list of Obama”s legislative accomplishments is too substantive to post.
During the first 8 (eight) years of his elected service he sponsored over 820 (eight hundred twenty) bills. He introduced 233 (two hundred thirty-three) regarding healthcare reform,
125 on poverty and public assistance,
112 crime fighting bills,
97 economic bills,
60 human rights and anti-discrimination bills,
21 ethics reform bills,
15 gun control,
6 veterans affairs and many others.
His *first year* in the U.S. Senate, he authored 152 (one hundred fifty-two) bills and co-sponsored another 427 (four hundred twenty-seven).
These included:
1. **The Coburn-Obama Government Transparency Act of 2006 - became law,
2. **The Lugar-Obama Nuclear Non-proliferation and Conventional Weapons Threat Reduction Act, - became law,
3. **The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act - passed the Senate,
4. **The 2007 Government Ethics Bill, - became law,
5. **The Protection Against Excessive Executive Compensation Bill - in committee,
6. and many more.
In all, since entering the U.S. Senate, Senator Obama has written 890 (eight hundred ninety) bills and co-sponsored another 1096 (one thousand ninety-six).
BTW John McCain after more than 30 years in the senate,has only 5 or 6 pieces of legislation that bear his stamp,and his “record” of non-achievement is even more embarrassing than that of Hillary Clinton.
February 29th, 2008 at 6:59 am
hurray for paul! if it was not for the yanks canada would be the largest province of russia. perhaps it’s time to break out “old glory” and fly it besides the maple leaf. not above! not below! but side by side! may the stars and stripes and what it stands for fly in glory forever! if she ever falls we are all in for big trouble!
March 2nd, 2008 at 7:26 am
I also support Paul’s comments. The USA is our best friend in the world, they have supported Canada through thick and thin, they are a NATO ally and we should not support Anti-Americanism as a political platform in this country.
March 3rd, 2008 at 1:32 pm
Hey Stephen Brown there is a difference between enacted legislation and a bill. Why are you comparing apples and oranges. How many bills has Hillary sponsored or co-sponsored? How many of Obama’s bills have been enacted? Nothing is accomplished if he cannot move them through the house. I would interested in a more proper comparision.
March 5th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
jon;i have tried to find the information you requested.the only site i know
of that has that information is http://thomas.loc.gov/ which is the library of congress site.i must admit i got lost trying to sort out bills as opposed to enacted legislation myself.
maybe you’ll have better luck than me.hope that helps.
March 18th, 2008 at 7:50 am
Andrew:
I pretty well listen to your show on a regular basis. This morning your are talking to Dan Macteague about the Martin case in Mexico. I agree something has to be done to free her. What I have a problem is your Liberal perspective on every thing! Boy , I can hardly wait for the liberals to get back in because are we ever going have a perfect world . As you know from their past history, they have ALWAYS DONE EVERY THING RIGHT! Come on Andrew, stop sucking up to the liberals! It seems to me you must be told by Rogers to toe the liberal line
June 3rd, 2008 at 11:01 am
Andrew , with the final 3 1/2 yrs of mans final rule on earth fast approaching it is time that people start repenting and change their ways to god.The demise of the united states is about to commence with the detonation of a nuclear device somewhere within the continental US.The stock markets and world economies will be devastated.When these things happen as phrophesied then will the beging of the end of mans rule begin.
To explain in depth with a greater understanding of what is to come,
you should conact and interview Ronald Weinland author of The Prohesied End -Time and 2008 God’s Final Witness.All will be revealed.
September 9th, 2008 at 6:52 am
Andrew:
Did you do a lot of drugs in the ’70’s? That is the only conclusion I can come up with!
PS
You don’t need to answer:)
September 30th, 2008 at 8:02 am
Andrew, Andrew, Andrew,
I cannot stand this! Listen up ……………The Hell’s Angels ARE BIKERS.
November 24th, 2008 at 7:34 am
Andrew,
RE: JFK
The reason so much evidence has been sealed up until the year 2038 (75 years after) is to make sure that anyone that could be incriminated in the assassination will be dead. I believe there was definitely a conspiracy of the CIA, The Mob, VP Johnson, FBI plus more.