A forum on Current events. Join the debate.
Hillary Clinton is soaring these days. Both her worldwide influence and her domestic popularity are at an all-time peak.
Today Mrs. Clinton, 64, is being touted as a shoo-in for the 2016 democratic presidential nomination. (Or to replace Joe Biden later this year.)
If Hillary were nominated in 2016, she would be very hard to beat. As of now she is one of the most popular women in the United States.
Should Hillary run next time?
What do you think?
Yesterday the Vatican took a blow torch to the leadership conference of American nuns. Rome said the in the nuns’ leadership there was a prevalence of certain radical themes incompatible with the Catholic faith. American nuns did not sufficiently support the church’s teaching on abortion, same-sex marriage and the ordination of women priests. The Bishop of Seattle has been appointed to shake up the nuns’ leadersip conference from top to bottom.
Sister Joan Chittister says this another Vatican attempt to control people just for what they are thinking.
Should the Vatican crack down on American nuns?
What do you think?
The Canadian Medical Journal has released a report that shows spaning makes children more aggressive and recommends that the federal government outlaw spanking. The report’s authors say “no study has ever found physical punishment to have as long-term positive effect.”
The researchers found that families that reduced their use of physical punishment saw a decline in aggression and anti-social behaviour in their children.
The report says th federal government should remove Section 43 from the Criminal Code, which allows physical punishment in certain circumstances.
Should the federal government ban spanking?
What do you think?
A group of 11 advance secret service agents detailed to protect the president on his trip to Columbia did anything but. Before the president arrived they frequented a sex club, drank heavily and engaged 11 prostitutes to go back to their hotel and stay the night. This debauchery was only discovered the next morning when there was a dispute about payment to one of the prostitutes.
Republican Senator Susan Collins asks about this incident. “Who were these women? Could they have been members of groups hostile to the United States? Could they have planted bugs, disabled weapons or in any other way jeopardized the security of the president?”
General Martin Dempsey said “we let the president down”
Should these 11 agents be fired for dereliction of duty?
What do you think?
Yesterday Jean Chretien was touting the advantages of the Liberals merging with the NDP. He expressed confidence the Liberals would hold their own in any merger negotiations and that their predominantly centrist would prevail. Chretien pointed to the merger in 2003 of the Progressive Concervative and Alliance party now in power in Ottawa
Of course Mr. Chretien does not agree with the NDP position that a majority plus one should be enough to break up- a country. Chretien predicted the NDP would abandon this position if it ever became a government.
Should the Liberals mergee with the NDP?
What do you think?
To my astonishment a recent survey reveals that 61 per cent of Canadians favour restoring capital punishment. Thirty-four per cent are opposed.
These figures are hard to believe. Canada abolished capital punishment in 1976.
The main argument for the death penalty is that it is a deterrent. If that were true it would make sense to televise executions in living colour. But it is not true.
Also it costs millions of dollars to keep an inmate in jail without parole.
Should Canada restore capital punishment.
What do you think?
A century after its sinking, why does the Titanic so intrigue us? After all, it was by no means the greatest shipping tragedy. The loss of the Dona Paz in the Phillippines in 1987 killed more than twice as many people.
So what is it about the Titanic that has captured people for a century?
Did the fact the unsinkable Titanic was sent ot the bottom by a chunk of ice shake people’s faith in progress?
When the Titanic sank, so did the old class system.
It was the certainty of the old social order that began to go down on April 14, 1912. Perhaps the actor Kenneth More in his last line in the film A Night to Remember, put it best: “I don ‘t think I’ll ever feel sure again. About anything.”
What is it about the Titanic that still grips our imagination?
What do you think?
Smoking kills about 443,000 Americans every year. Every day 28 Quebeckers die from smoke-related causes.
Cigarettes, not guns or bombs, are the deadliest artefacts in history. If we want to save lives and improve health, nothing else readily achievable would be as effective as an international ban on their sale. For those who recognize the state’s right to ban recreational drugs such as marijuna and ecstacy, a ban on cigarettes should be easy to accept. Tobacco kills far more people than those drugs.
Should cigarettes be banned?
What do you think?
The Harper government has contracted to 65 F-35 military jets for nine billion dollars. But that ‘s not the whole story. Factor in maintenance costs over a 20 year period and that adds another 5.7 billion. According to the Auditor-General the Harper gvernment is budgeting $26 billion over a period of 33 years. And that figure could go as high as $40 billion.
Now in all the ink that has been spilled on this subject, I have seen very little on why we need these expensive jets in the first place. One writer says we need them to protect our sovereignty . This is rubbish. Our sovereignty is guaranteed by our membership in alliances such as NATO and NORAD. To think that these 65 new jets could repulse a serious military challenge is fantasy.
So why are we buying these jets at all?
Imagine if we invested these billions in education and health care. That would make a lot of sense.
Does Canada need to pay billions for new fighter jets?
What do you think?
Eighteen per cent of Quebecers strongly agreed with the following statement. “I have been bullied at my school or workplace”.
That figure was about the same as the national average.
Only one per cent of Quebecers admitted they had bullied others by word or deed.
When I was going to a Catholic school in the thirties, I had to cross a bridge to get back home. A young punk named Turner started to wait at the end of the bridge to pummel and hassle me. It was scary. Finally my father went to see the bullies’ parents and it stopped. What a relief.
Have you ever been bullied?
 | Jim on Neil’s reflections |
| Jim on Neil’s reflections |
| Jim on Neil’s reflections |
 | Janus Bellator on Interviews with Neil |
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 | Daniel Freedman on Interviews with Neil |
