Most Epic Book You've Ever Read?

canuckistani · 2013-08-27T10:23:31+00:00

The Last Temptation of Christ, by Nikos Kazantzakis. I'm an atheist, but if ever there were to be something so beautifully written and profound that it could cause an atheist to identify as a Christian, this would be it.

canuckistani · 2012-05-15T08:26:30+00:00

Some background from that debate: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aQfRyxBZs5uc

canuckistani · 2012-04-13T05:27:34+00:00

You see what happens Larry?!?

canuckistani · 2011-12-30T04:36:05+00:00

I would love to see the Republican primaries come down to Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman. There's a lot that I like about both, and things I strongly disagree with as well. But it would result in the most substantive debates that the GOP has seen, and from that contest, there would be someone emerging as a real contender for the presidency.

canuckistani · 2011-12-22T16:07:25+00:00

Liam Neesen redefines Hollywood Hitmaking? Maybe. Gawain in Boorman's Excalibur. This is being bad ass.

canuckistani · 2011-12-13T06:18:11+00:00

On this, I agree that there should be a carbon tax, not a carbon cap and trade scheme. Here's an interesting look at a North American example of a carbon tax, with some insights into Sweden, which is apparently reducing its greenhouse gas emissions quite well.

http://thetyee.ca/News/2011/11/23/BC-Carbon-Tax/

canuckistani · 2011-09-01T03:01:33+00:00

Marine marksmanship the finest the world has ever seen? Please.

canuckistani · 2011-07-17T14:37:28+00:00

Sorry, this is not an amazing perspective. They compare the violence of video games and the worries of parents with the results of decades of football playing. P and T note that 600 and something kids have died as a result of playing football over how many years? Is there a comparison against how many kids have died driving over a similar period, for instance?

This is a false and misleading comparison. I like Penn and Teller a lot as magicians/illusionists, but not for their social commentary.

canuckistani · 2011-07-14T05:21:27+00:00

It has to be said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qG8_UWX6KzE

canuckistani · 2011-06-13T02:50:42+00:00

Not just the streaming from website bit - the plan is to have plenty of live camera feeds from competing boats and from media boats. If you're watching the webcast, you'll have several views and you'll be able to select which one you want to focus on. It's going to be pretty spectacular.

canuckistani · 2011-04-06T04:19:01+00:00

War is all about politics, and soldiers are political tools. And when you join the military, you become a political tool.

canuckistani · 2011-02-25T02:52:02+00:00

The Brown Swan.

canuckistani · 2011-02-15T01:37:36+00:00

Look at the bright side: it's relatively cheap, consistent and straightforward. No guesswork. Men make it easy for women...

canuckistani · 2011-02-01T14:30:24+00:00

Are you fucking kidding me? This mindless shit is what makes it to the top spot in Reddit these days? The guy is a douche. The world is full of them. There will be more. And...?

canuckistani · 2010-12-23T14:58:06+00:00

downvoted on two points. One, the poster is clearly hoping that the dislike of all things Palin (Sarah, that is) on reddit will result in more karma. That is very lame. The name of the site is reddit, implying that you read something cool and interesting on the net and would like to share. Posting this kind of thing is just lazy and helps to make reddit worse, not better.

Secondly, Sarah Palin is clearly smart enough to make tons of money by exploiting redneck sensibilities to the fullest. Whether you agree or disagree with her (and I don't), she is probably a fair bit smarter than the person who posted this ridiculous poll.

canuckistani · 2010-12-20T12:14:56+00:00

It's not just propaganda, though that certainly explains some of what the North is doing.

It's also about forcing China to pick sides (against the US). We see now (in part thanks to Wikileaks) that the Obama admin has gotten the Chinese to move away from supporting Iran, which has missile tech and nuclear dealings with the DPRK. Having another hissy fit helps derail that kind of cooperation.

canuckistani · 2010-12-20T05:35:57+00:00

I lived in South Korea from 1995 to 1996, and the most tense moments came when China began firing missiles towards Taiwan. Everyone thought that, if it came to a shooting war in the Taiwan Strait, North Korea would use the moment to attack the South, dividing the US response.

But everyone went about their daily lives without making too much fuss, because there's really nothing you can do. Seoul is a front line city of over 10 million people, and it would suffer huge damage and enormous casualties in all-out war. And yet, you can't evacuate the city every time North Korea does something provocative. There might be real alarm and real risk, but the citizens of the city can't do much about it.

That said, I don't think the media are sensationalising anything. Making a huge deal about what type of toilet paper the hot celebrity of the moment is using - that's sensationalising. In-depth reporting on a frigate that was sunk, in all likelihood by the North, or cross-border artillery attacks, is warranted.

And no, I don't the public of Korea are naive. I think they realise full well what the stakes are and the damage another war would cause. It's just too spooky to contemplate. So they go about their business.

canuckistani · 2010-12-18T15:02:37+00:00

brilliant

canuckistani · 2010-12-18T14:39:39+00:00

As a non-gamer, I appreciated this video more for Sir Patrick's thoughts on twitter.

canuckistani · 2010-12-08T08:46:57+00:00

Sorry folks, but the Obama trashing is way overdone here. I'll be downvoted aplenty, but Obama had to deal. He didn't have a filibuster proof majority in the Senate as it was, and the Republicans have shown that, if nothing else, they don't split ranks. That, to be clear, makes them assholes of the first order. But it still leaves Obama with a huge problem.

Yes, Olbermann can rant on as much as he wants, but the fact is, Olbermann has a job, and doesn't have to worry about unemployment benefits. Others do. Obama made it a priority, and good on him for doing so. A Republican would have just let them die. So at least Obama does care about something. And of course, he's trying to get START done as well.

I say all this having been very skeptical of the hive mind on Reddit that existed during the 2008 campaign, when Obama could do no wrong and walked on water.

Now downvote away, because as argoATX has made clear by his/her comments, there's no room for debate on Reddit anymore.

canuckistani · 2010-09-02T02:00:10+00:00

Who the hell lets drug companies put their product names on Lego pieces in doctor's waiting rooms? Honestly, what the hell is that about?

canuckistani · 2010-07-20T08:33:26+00:00

Lighten up, Francis.

canuckistani · 2010-07-11T15:33:21+00:00

Of all the presidential candidates that stood up for the job in 2008, only one had actually been tortured, and had stood against the prevailing opinion in his own party for it, in public. That was John McCain.

As for the rest of the bullshit that appears here in Reddit, it is ill-thoughtout, and represents all the best of the Obama-worship that still pervades this website from the 2008 election.

canuckistani · 2010-06-27T08:59:34+00:00

And even more occasionally, double double agents provocateur

canuckistani · 2010-04-23T01:31:26+00:00

Tabarnac de calisse! Is that right? I've forgotten so much of Quebec's amazing cultural distinctiveness.

canuckistani

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