Harper joins U.S. in Iraq, with support of Liberals

This is something I did not say and you need to stop pretending I am saying things I did not say. This is the third time in the last day or so that you have pretended I have said something I did not say.

What you have put there in italics suggesting is a quote from me is entirely made up by you and I have not even said anything like it.

I don't flag posts often but I am flagging this as it is completely out of line beyond baiting and trolling.

***

--- Your quote: "Flip flop" is still a perjorative immature and aggressive term. ---

Perhaps you might want to make sure that you educate: The CBC, The Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star and others that this is a term you are offended by. Since I used the word it comes across as suggesting I am being immature and aggressive for using it. As well upthread you said I was being patriarchal as well.

I don't accept any of that. And I should not have to put up with these kinds of accusations for expressing opinions here in the same terms that are being used widely in the media and even by others across this board.

It is you that is being aggressive here.

I did not quote you or attribute anything to you in that statement. I expressed my view of the expectation that leaders should not change their minds on issues.

I referred to it as "my comment".  How you translate that into suggesting you said it is beyond me.

I find journalistic use of the word equally pejorative, immature and aggressive unless they are quoting someone. In my opinion it's intended to be insulting and inflamatory which is immature, aggressive and pejorative. I am referring to the term "flip flop" nothing more and nothing less. How you interpret that is up to you.

That's amusing coming from you. I could make a clever comment but I will bite my tongue and await the judgement of the moderators should they choose to act.

opinions that are "just" supporting and enabling the killing of people we've never met, thousands of miles away.

Sean and Pondering, stop filling up the abuse queue with your petty spats. The report abuse button is for serious offenses against babble policy.

... (Basically was already addressed. If a mod could remove this, thanks!)

I know, it really surprised me too.  My immediate impression was that by equating NATO and UN leadership/authorisation, Mulcair has eliminated any lingering NDP opposition to NATO and retroactively alligned the party with past Canadian military intervention that it traditionally would have opposed, such as the NATO-led actions in Afghanistan and Serbia.

Legally, the situation with Iraq doesn't seem to even engage the United Nations. If we accept that a government is free to use military force within its own territory (Responsibility to Protect supporters may argue otherwise), then that same government would also be free to invite others the U.S., France, Canada, etc.) to do so as well. The UN wouldn't be precluded from endorsing or supporting such action; but its authorisation also wouldn't be necessary, either.

But of course, regardless of whether it is legal or if the UN has approved it, that doesn't mean anyone has to take them up on the invitation.

The policy is due for an update, spurred on I believe by recent events.  For inclusion I suggest PMs to the mods should remain PMs, and abuse queue notifications should remain anonymous beyond the complainant and staff.  The precedence of associating babbler names to moderator PMs and Abuse reports here on the board might be a deterrent for others.  Unless that is the aim, in which case let’s put it all out there while I grab some popcorn.

Also, if we're going this way I have a list of people I'd like to complain about.

If my memory is correct, the first time 'flip-flop' was used anywhere in the world to define a political about-face was here in Canada, and regarding P.E. Trudeau I. Expressions like this and 'pork-barrel' are scooped up by Americans without a blink, and they soon become known as American expressions. There was also 'fuddle duddle' and 'Just watch me'.

As a general rule of conduct on this board, please do not mention another person's name in your posts. You can slam what they said until the cows come home, but don't get personal. Remember, in the House, we address the Speaker, and not the other party. There is a reason for this, and it is in that parliamentary spirit that we should operate here.

When you write something, you are addressing the whole world of rabble babblers, both active and lurking. As the Canadian media needs us for their content, try to have an original comment based on externalities and not solipsism. The world does not revolve around what you say. Addressing someone personally is taking a private conversation public, which is embarrassing for all.

If there is a person who flails (and there are a few here), let them flail. It is far funnier when the post is left to hang out to dry and everyone else changes the subject, or does not engage the flailer.

I spoke to a very right wing individual the other day. This man has never voted anything left of the PC Party in his life.  He said "We need to start spending money on the people, and although my parents would roll in their graves, I am voting NDP".

A lot of people in Ontario voted Conservative to stop Jack Layton more than to stop the NDP. There were all these rumours and lies about Layton which were pretty persistent around the Toronto area. Quebec, seeing Layton for what he really was, responded favorably. I was lucky enough to meet Jack a couple of times, and I liked him a lot. This personal thing about Layton is now gone, and it was vicious. The only thing left the NDP has to worry about is the memory of Bob Rae, and that, I fear, is still visceral in some circles.

Social-democratic Liberals (and there are a few) need to follow Mulcair into the NDP. If Conservatives are saying very odd things like the above, I think there is flux.

Mulcair keeps upping his game in the Commons, scoring direct hits on the Government. When the election comes, we will have been at war for some time, and there will be more and more people calling to bring our troops home. If Harper thinks a war is a way to get elected, I think he is beginning to lose his mind. Trudeau seems to want to play both sides of this issue, which is not a nice thing to do when so many peoples' lives are at stake. Again we see that Justin Trudeau is not suitable Prime Ministerial material, and as more people realize that, the Liberal vote should continue to fall.

http://deadwildroses.wordpress.com/2014/10/09/some-recent-history-in-the...

Well the mods have succeeded in uniting Sean and I on one issue. I wasn't flagging posts until I was told to follow the process and when I did I specifically stated I didn't want any action taken, no bans, no public or private warnings, it was just a heads up and I noted I wasn't sure how to respond. I still haven't responded to the post in question.

Apparently both Sean and I have been told to flag posts so that's what we did. I'm fine with not flagging, I wasn't before and I won't do it anymore. The other times you intervened in the past I had not flagged.

If a mod had responded saying the post I flagged recently was perfectly acceptable that would have been informative, or even told me not to respond. It would give me some clue as to where you draw the line. Often times by the time a mod steps in it is completely out of hand so the warning is harsh or it's a ban.

A while back I asked if we should go ahead and flag the spam posts or if that would spam the abuse cue and was told to go ahead and flag because whatever system you have allows them to be easily dismissed from the queue.

You're the board gods so you can do as you please but I don't think it's fair to tell us to flag, then pubically chastise us for doing so. Feels a little like entrapment.

In Saudi Arabia's defense sorcerers like Mohammed bin Bakr al-Alawi were execuited for black magic.  

 What fucking kind of excuse is that? 

Haven't you seen Harry Potter?  Or played Dungeons and Dragons?   The Craft?

A question. Can you tell me or ascertain if it is possible for mods to have access to PMs of babblers?

 Yeah, but that's TV and other forms of media and we don't behead the actors!

Battle For Baghdad: ISIS Now Within 8 Miles of Airport Armed With MANPADS

http://rt.com/news/195072-baghdad-airport-isis-manpads/

"Islamic State's offensive on the Iraqi capital intensified as the jihadist fighters advanced to as far as Abu Ghraib, a suburb only 8 miles away from Baghdad's international airport.

There are reports by the Iraqi military that the militants are in possession of MANPAD anti-aircraft missiles that can shoot down airplanes within a range of 15,000 feet..."

http://abcnews.go.com/International/top-syrian-warns-congress-moderate-r...

 What a fucking mess, born of short sighted American policies.

 And it doesn't seem the bombs seem to be working, IS's advance isn't stopping.

 And how did we go from wanting to over throw Assad to wanting his premission to conduct missions in the region.

 Please remind me why Obama won a noble peace prize again?

 Rabble needs an ignore button, it would help to avoid some of these conflicts and hurt feels perhaps Pondering and Sean could apologize to each other (that is not about asigning fault rather, its about accepting what has been said and showing a willingness to move on) and the same with the conflict between MegB and Sean.

This was also in that article:

The most dramatic instance of this came on September 23rd, when American aircraft bombed refineries and other oil installations in areas of Syria controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS, also known as ISIL or IS).  An extremist insurgent movement that has declared a new “caliphate,” ISIS is not, of course, a major oil producer, but it has taken control of oil fields and refineries that once were operated by the regime of Bashar al-Assad in eastern Syria. The revenue generated by these fields, reportedly $1 to $2 million daily, is being used by ISIS to generate a significant share of its operating expenses. This has given that movement the wherewithal to finance the further recruitment and support of thousands of foreign fighters, even as it sustains a high tempo of combat operations.

I read that they also gain support through providing for their communities. They don't just support their fighters they support their families.

I've been reading some articles about recruitment in the west and I think the threat of terrorism here is very small. Young people, girls too, are attracted to the romanticism. They don't want to come back here and commit some random crime like a crazy person and get caught like the Boston bombers. They want to be part of something larger than themselves. They want to be with comrades and walk around with weapons in a foreign land. Getting killed or captured by police is not so appealing and it is more difficult to act when they are back living in Canada and not surrounded by like-minded revolutionaries. I'm not saying there is no risk, but if the risk were significant it would be happening a lot more frequently. What the Boston bombers did was easy and there are countless easy targets that would injure or kill just as many people or many more. Our trains would be transformed into rolling bombs if the tracks are damaged. There has been time since 911 for thousands of people to be trained and sent back to commit some atrocity.