revvvrob

this post makes me so very, very sad

kinda ironic that u were edited for calling someone names ... u're 2 for 2 in this post alone! (KoZed & BTH or BulisTheHabby) also - since this post of mine is clearly irrelevant to the thread, may the mods do with this post as they wish!

mine is cuz i'm a reverend and my name is rob. thrilling, eh? oh wait - the thrill is in the 2 extra v's!!!

yep - u got me good that time! i was loaded at RB & thin at WR - and i did think Stewart was about to take over. i'm glad it worked out for u tho, since even with Williams, i doubt i would have made it back into the race - in my own little way, i'm taking some satisfaction from helping u win it all! congrats on a great season!

i guess Colin's going to have to 'write-in' his age.

it's cowardly to only weigh in unless you win

figured i should weigh in! sure, i'm disappointed in the outcome. i think Obama will lead the US in the wrong direction (not saying Bush led it in the proper direction) yes, i still think Palin was the right choice as VP. it completely motivated the Republican base and before her nomination, the ticket had zero chance. with Palin, the ticket has about as much chance as it ever would have had. the biggest mistake with Palin was the fellow Republicans who failed to answer the questions about Palin's inexperience properly. the answer to the question was "she has as much or more experience as Barack Obama" - then - let the debate go from that point on whether to agree or disagree. all in all - i'm not surprised by the outcome at all. i'm more surprised with how well McCain did in an election the Dems should have found impossible to give away after 8 years of Bush and the state of the economy.

honestly, you're a lucky one then. when i lived in rural Canada (town of about 500) - the doctors out there were pathetic ("if your son turns blue and passes out again, bring him back in" !!!! what??? was he kidding me??? nope. ) plus, it was impossible to get an appointment because they were backlogged with hypocondriacs who had nothing better to do than visit the doctor, clogging up the system. then, when i lived on the edge of the GTA, i never ONCE in 4 years was able to call to make an appointment. always busy. i had to practically beg to get a doctor that would add my family to his practice and at that, our appointments were 10 minutes and kicked out of there. i knew a ton of people without ANY family doctor because no one was adding! finally, the population of Canada fits inside of California. CALIFORNIA!!!! not to mention cities like NY, Chicago, Detroit, Dallas, etc etc etc. the Canadian model barely works for Canada (i'd say it doesn't work - survey ... how many provinces are happy with the federal government transfer fees for Medicare? any?). there's no way the massive population in the US (yes, there will be more hypocondriacs in the US than in Canada - just because of the size of the population) could possibly afford 'free' health care to all it's citizens. 'free' is in quotes because it's never really free. someone pays. i grew fed up of paying taxes so that hypocondriacs could have their weekly visit with their neighborhood friend. forget about the hyperbole and conjecture. i've lived in Quebec, Ontario, Missouri, New York & Ohio. The best doctors were in New York, my best insurance coverage was in Ohio. Quebec was good to me, although i did have to wait months (5) for a surgery i would have gotten in the US within 2 weeks. Ontario was the worst - don't know if it's because I was in Quebec in the 70s & 80s and in Ontario from 1999 to 2006. regardless, US medical system has been better for me and my family than Canada's.

i like both KoZed's & JLP's adds to the analogy. KoZed rightly points out that no one operates in a vacuum when we are part of a community or society, and JLP points out the ugly side when capitalism goes bad. the moral of JLPs story is really if ANYONE gets greedy (either the capitalist little boy with the loot bag or the government with the spread the wealth mantra) society begins to crumble. likely we'd all agree that pure capitalism or pure socialism or pure communism or any other 'ism' isn't the answer. that's why i'll pray FOR whoever becomes the next President of the USA, not against them. i'll continue to love my neighbor as myself and be the good samaritan as often as i can. if everyone else does the same, regardless of who is President, the USA, & therefore the world, will become a better place.

i heard this analogy between capitalism & socialism the other day ... imagine you live on a typical neighborhood street. you send your child out to 'trick or treat' up and down the street. your child had a great costume and was diligent in making sure he/she rang every single doorbell. at the end of the night as they are sorting through their haul, there's a knock on the door. a community worker (government) takes a percentage of your child's earnings to give to the children who decided to not go trick or treating. the more your child earned, the more your child gives away. your child's earnings go not just to the children who CAN'T go door to door for physical disabilities reasons - but for the children who chose to do nothing. so, children who did nothing or children who did the bear minimum get benefit from the children who worked hard. i know if i was a kid in that neighborhood, i'd be happy to give to the kid who had a disability - but - i'd have a real problem with helping the kid who sat at home waiting for his cut of my loot. next year, i'd be inclined to either work less because working more means little or no benefit, or, hide my true earnings from the community worker so i lose less of my take.

if you are saying the USA doesn't understand the rest of the world ... i agree if you are saying the rest of the world understands the USA ... i disagree and your confounded state proves it millions will vote for McCain - millions will vote for Obama. neither are perfect. as long as voters educate themselves and vote for their preferred future (life, liberty & the pursuit of happiness) and then the elected officials do as they promised to serve in the nations best interests - all will be well. the world may not understand (heck, just short of 1/2 of all Americans won't be happy with the election) i guess i've just been scarred by my recent experience with socialism in a small Ontario town for 4 years that i've become such a pure capitalist that my slight right leaning has turned into a full tilt!

hey Colin --- you know i like you - we're friends. i actually agree with a ton of what you wrote. i guess i could go line by line as to what i agree or disagree with, but, i don't want to. your opinions are valid. the one area i will jump in on is "but I just don't understand how the American public has been so badly hoodwinked". i'll tell you this, and because we're friends, i think you'll believe me. the US is different than it is perceived internationally. most Americans don't truly understand how much the rest of the world either loves them or hates them. there is no neutral. those who are anti-American are moreso than they even realize. those who are pro-American are firmly so to a point where they think America can do no wrong. also, since i've moved back and forth across Canada/US a couple of times now, Canada doesn't get the sense of the grass-roots American by watching the US news on cable or internet. Canadians get the news that is either by Americans for Americans (NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, CNN, MSNBC ... you get the picture) OR Canadians get the news that is by Canadians for Canadians (which is automatically filtered through a Canadian understanding of Americans - which - although Canada & US may be similar ... they are different and for Canadians to think they understand being American while not being American is pretty vain & naive, if you ask me). btw - i'm not offended by differing views!

yep. i don't trust Obama one little bit to be Commander-in-Chief. i have read 'The Audacity of Hope' and find that he says what he needs to say to be elected. now, McCain is no saint. I would have preferred a number of other people to have been given the Republican nomination. McCain does what politicians do - and that is often say what needs to be said to be elected ... but I feel McCain has a limit. There is a point whereby McCain will do what's best for the country and not for election. I don't believe McCain will be going for a 2nd term therefore he will govern like this term is his last. Obama has and will always be about his own legacy. He will begin candidating for his 2nd term the minute he is given his 1st term. McCain has been hurt by war and will be LESS LIKELY to go into an unnecessary war. Obama hasn't got a clue - other than what people around him tell him (and Biden isn't the foreign affairs expert the Democrats spin him to be!) so, to answer your question - i believe McCain will be proactive if necessary. Obama will be reactive because it will be necessary. (the hunt for Bin Laden suggested by Obama is ridiculous and McCain's statement that he knows how to get Bid Ladin is just as ridiculous and therefore a wash IMO) as for the socialist threat - that threat is from within the US. and, yes - McCain would not bring in that movement while Obama would welcome it (re. health care & spread the wealth) i doubt i'm going to be faithful to this thread, so, i'll say again so i don't have to later --- i truly hope McCain/Palin win the election. i will truly be concerned about the direction of the US if Obama/Biden win the election. i don't love McCain/Palin - but - they are closer to my views than the alternative. it's not about fear, it's about love. i love the US and will one day be proud to become a citizen (not forsaking my Canadian citizenship, but adding a US citizenship). i love what the US has been and am willing to stand up so that the US will continue to be the greatest (careful on how we define 'great' here!) free nation on earth.

well - either go with McCain and be on the pro-active in defending the free world from socialism & communism & dictatorships & anything else that limits the freedom of its citizens or go with Obama and - in Biden's own words we can expect the world to test the US within 6 months, while he invades Pakistan in hopes of finding Bin Laden (based on some evidence he must have that Bush doesn't have and that he refuses to share with Bush) i'm with McCain. let the battle be on foreign soil with nations that are hostile to US.

you're back!?!?! i started to think of who is dark_faerie ... then ... i was ... like ... it's been so long!!!! btw - on topic - regardless of all the social/moral issues that tend to define the parties in NA these days (for better or worse), i'm pretty much a pure capitalist and therefore lean to the right on economics & national governance. so, i'm glad the Conservatives won. i wish it had been a majority.

i already voted before the poll was edited, so i can't vote for #2 - so - i'll comment here i've always hated the other Canadian teams more - perhaps because of the Oiler Dynasty, perhaps because their fans were more populace around me, but more likely because the media seemed to make it an issue of national pride when to me it's more of a city pride thing. i don't like Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto or Ottawa. i didn't like Winnipeg or ESPECIALLY the Nordiques. i'm gonna have to make my enemy #2 the Sens since when i lived in Kingston i was sandwiched between Maples fans to the west and Sens fans to the east ... and i didn't want EITHER of those teams to EVER have ANY success. the only reason i'm happy they exist is as punching bags for the Bleu, Blanc, Rouge. :ghg:

better question might be who is #2! as much as i wish there was another team i despised more - there is no one i'd be more disturbed about if they ever won the Stanley Cup

that's what i was thinking. i mean - i like it, it's ok - but, i can't imagine the graphic designer had a sleepless night working on this one.

i used to live in Oshawa. admittedly, it's not Toronto - but, there are some great things about Oshawa. feel free to send me a PM if i can be of help.

Lowe put together a team that went to the finals in Edmonton when no one expected them to have anything close to that kind of season. perhaps if Pronger doesn't decide he wants to move back to the US - Edmonton remains a top club for a couple of seasons. i would never confuse Lowe with being among the very elite GMs of the NHL - but - i think Lowe is as underrated as Burke is overrated. personally - i'm really hoping Burke goes to TO next so that Gainey can put him in his place!

a couple of you have chimed in to support Nashville, and i'm just going to pile on - i have a number of friends in the Nashville area and they were talking hockey for the first time to me. i think the Predators have set their roots and hockey is in Nashville to stay. there are certainly other options to be considered first. how's hockey doing in Atlanta?

Svetlana sounds a lot like KoZed impersonnating a girl again ...

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=242393&lid...s=headlines_nhl so - is Halak going to stay with the Habs? or is Denis going to stay in the AHL?

Patrice Brisebois: Habs Michael Ryder: Maples Bryan Smolinski: Thrashers Mark Streit: Jackets

this is the only sentence of BTH's that i disagree with. this talk isn't borderline racist - it's 100% prejudice*. *prej'u-dice, n. 1. a judgment or opinion formed before the facts are known; preconceived idea, favorable or, more usually, unfavorable. 2. a judgment or opinion held in disregard of facts that contracdict it; unreasonable bias; as, a prejudice against Northerners. 3. the holding of such jugments or opinions. 4. suspicion, intolerance, or hatred of other races, creeds, regions, occupations, etc. (copied from Websters New Twentieth Century Dictionary, unabridged, 2nd edition)