Political (Or Non-Political) Chat In The Hockey Forum

[digitalmonkey 929]

You are going to hate my viewpoint on this Dale.

 

 

You may be right, but I can't bring myself to give a shit about it. For better or worse, I will likely be fully apathetic until the day it negatively affects me personally or somebody close to me. I do not believe that there is a serious chance of that happening, and therefore, I choose not to care. There's a lot of F***ed up things in this world that I could lose sleep over. The government reading my e-mails and listening to my phone calls is really really far down the list.

 

Things happen gradually. Email and phone monitoring is only a step toward something else.

 

First it was drones overseas.

Then it was unarmed drones on US soil to watch the borders.

Then it was unarmed drones on US soil being used to track a suspect who was on the run.

Now they want to arm the drones on US soil.

 

It's hard to fight to protect your rights. It's harder to get them back once they've been taken away though.

 

[serge 904]

For everyone complaining about losing your rights and freedoms living in the US or Canada, just go take a look at what is happening in other countries around the world..

 

I joke that we live in a communist state in Ontario(ok its tongue in cheek not serious) because we cant buy beer in a cornerstore..

 

But at the end of the way, if the government is going to monitor my phone calls and emails for the greater good, It really isnt a big deal to me..

 

I understand I maybe in the minority..

[FCP Bob 1,321]

For everyone complaining about losing your rights and freedoms living in the US or Canada, just go take a look at what is happening in other countries around the world..

 

I joke that we live in a communist state in Ontario(ok its tongue in cheek not serious) because we cant buy beer in a cornerstore..

 

But at the end of the way, if the government is going to monitor my phone calls and emails for the greater good, It really isnt a big deal to me..

 

I understand I maybe in the minority..

 

 

no you are in the majority Serge

[digitalmonkey 929]

 

 

 

no you are in the majority Serge

 

And that alone should make everyone reconsider.

[mrdannyg 274]

And that alone should make everyone reconsider.

 

lol

[serge 904]

And that alone should make everyone reconsider.

 

18

[digitalmonkey 929]

 

[Babying 613]

And that alone should make everyone reconsider.

I found this to be very funny

[Zach6668 513]

The US is such a ****ed up place.

 

Man shot and killed by SWAT team for betting on sports.

 

http://www.salon.com/2013/07/07/%E2%80%9Cwhy_did_you_shoot_me_i_was_reading_a_book_the_new_warrior_cop_is_out_of_control/

[Zach6668 513]

I laugh any time anyone calls the USA a free country.

[FCP Bob 1,321]

I laugh any time anyone calls the USA a free country.

 

American police are more over the top than Canadian police are in use of force when making arrests but that kinda goes along with so many Americans having guns but people are prosecuted for gambling in Canada as well.

 

Don't forget this dog and pony show.

 

http://toronto.ctvne...cheme-1.1141793

[Zach6668 513]

I don't see a lot wrong with that, from that article, anyways. Makes it sound like they were targeting criminals, illegally operating a gambling site?

 

I get that there needs to be laws against running gambling operations, but can't common sense just win out every once in a while? A dozen guys playing $20 tournaments in a house shouldn't be dealt with the same way as a SWAT team raiding a grow op or something.

[mrdannyg 274]

The US is such a ****ed up place.

 

Man shot and killed by SWAT team for betting on sports.

 

http://www.salon.com...out_of_control/

 

That is insanity, but the guy's family got a $2MM settlement. That isn't an acceptable price for a life, of course, but it is an admissions that things were wrong here.

 

The detective who overheard a guy betting $50 on the local team then encouraged him to continue upping his bets should be fired, of course, but probably got promoted instead. It is so shortsighted and hilarious to make the rules of "running a gambling operation" being placing over X number of bets in a day. Somebody could bet $50 a game on a busy slate of college football...and they're running a gambling operation? Idiots.

 

In the last 6 months, I have averaged well over $2000 of betting per day. Shit, now that I think about it, I'm probably getting close to a million bucks in the last year. Considering I've also wagered well over a million bucks on poker in my life, that is...something.

[mrdannyg 274]

American police are more over the top than Canadian police are in use of force when making arrests but that kinda goes along with so many Americans having guns but people are prosecuted for gambling in Canada as well.

 

Don't forget this dog and pony show.

 

http://toronto.ctvne...cheme-1.1141793

 

I'm with Zach. Unless there is more to this story, sounds pretty reasonable to me. The spokesguy even explicitly stated their targets were organized criminals at a private party, not the general participants.

[digitalmonkey 929]

Those guys must've stopped paying off the cops, or another gambling operation passed them on the ladder.

[serge 904]

Its stupid to go after the small time people..I

[Babying 613]

The US is such a ****ed up place.

 

Man shot and killed by SWAT team for betting on sports.

 

http://www.salon.com...out_of_control/

I read this and SMH

[digitalmonkey 929]

Howie Felterbush lololol

 

http://deadspin.com/usa-today-article-on-zimmerman-verdict-quotes-a-howie-774049646?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_twitter&utm_source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

[serge 904]

Why did George Zimmerman need to carry a gun?

 

While he may have racially profiled the kid, and he may have targeted him...Why the hell does he need to carry a gun..

[Zach6668 513]

Because 'Murica.

[Zach6668 513]

I've been following along with some of the Ottawa Planning Committee meetings recently. If I'm going to enter the planning profession in some manner in 2 years, I may as well get accustomed to how awful everyone is.

 

There's a lady from today's, who is opposed to a condo tower a couple blocks away. She lives in a nearby highrise that was built in 2008. It's 25 stories. When it was built, it was the tallest building in the area.

 

And she's up there trying to prevent other buildings from being developed near her. Does she not realize that when she bought her condo (and she bought before the building was built), that she was blocking other people's views? Why do people expect everything to be the same, and never allow for the possibility of change? It's maddening.

 

There was another guy, opposing the same project, who whined (and even dropped an F-bomb) about the traffic nearby (which he has a real point about, truck traffic to Gatineau has to go through downtown, which is dumb.) He says he was woken up 5 times last night by trucks. I live about a block away from the truck route that they sit on and never get woken up.

 

The other thing both people whined about is how nobody will come visit them because of the lack of parking. Both live in buildings directly on both local and grade separated bus routes, but none of their suburbanite friends will come visit because they're too immersed in the automobile culture from the 50s-90s.

 

Parking is SUPPOSED to be a pain in the ass. The idea is to encourage alternate means of transportation. (At least, ideally, I don't think Ottawa's bylaws necessarily promote that yet, as you see in many other major cities. Ottawa still tries to be a small town, despite having a metro population over 1 million.) And trust me, alternative transportation is alive in Ottawa, even if it's not ideal. The Transitway works very well, and the local buses are just fine. There will also be an LRT line (in a tunnel) going a few blocks west of these buildings (and the entire Market area), to open in 2017 or 2018.

 

 

Anyways, the motion was approved, and they both went home sad (I assume).

[Zach6668 513]

I guess my main point is people are selfish. They won't accept change if it annoys them or hurts them, even if it's best for the city and/or community as a whole. I don't really know if this is, I don't know a lot about the specific development, but you see these people at EVERY meeting.

[iBeaver 409]

Why did George Zimmerman need to carry a gun?

 

While he may have racially profiled the kid, and he may have targeted him...Why the hell does he need to carry a gun..

 

Part if it def what Zach said.

 

The other part is that POS was a cop wannabe. Our neighborhood watch calls the police and dies not take matters into our own hands. Most do. He was one if those oddballs that was looking for any reason to use his gun and everything I've read he was like Dwight on Office. Thought he was basically a cop with all the calls he made reporting anyone he saw and even stalking them like he did. I know this us harsh but I wish Martin got some good shots in before he was killed.

[Dubey 1,035]

Why did George Zimmerman need to carry a gun?

 

While he may have racially profiled the kid, and he may have targeted him...Why the hell does he need to carry a gun..

 

 

He didn't need to carry a gun. But he lives in a culture where he is allowed to carry a gun, and carrying a gun is socially acceptable.

[Dubey 1,035]

Part if it def what Zach said.

 

The other part is that POS was a cop wannabe. Our neighborhood watch calls the police and dies not take matters into our own hands. Most do. He was one if those oddballs that was looking for any reason to use his gun and everything I've read he was like Dwight on Office. Thought he was basically a cop with all the calls he made reporting anyone he saw and even stalking them like he did. I know this us harsh but I wish Martin got some good shots in before he was killed.

 

I don't really want to defend the guy, because nobody knows what really happened, but there was no indication that he truly tried to take things into his own hands. Either in this situation, or others before it. He may have fancied himself a vigilante, but the fact that he called the cops so often indicates to me that he actually preferred not to 'take matters into his own hands' in a literal sense. And to be fair, it's not like he didn't have a pretty good reason to call the cops in a lot of circumstances. There were a lot of crimes and break-ins in the community previously. We can argue whether there should be a "neighbourhood watch" program which essentially puts untrained people into the role of neighbourhood cop, but given that the program existed, how is Zimmerman supposed to handle situations like this? Obviously, he was way off base in this case, but if Martin HAD been a criminal, then calling the cops, and following at a safe distance is probably what he is told to do in situations like this. He shouldn't have gotten out of the car, but there's no proof or even good reason to believe that he actually caught up to Martin and confronted him.

 

The real issue, in my opinion, is the society that makes it acceptable to carry a gun, and acceptable to use it to protect yourself rather than running away, or just taking a beating.