tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post9140045338609191988..comments2024-03-22T05:20:44.167-07:00Comments on The Disaffected Lib: How Did We Become a Land of Cowards?The Mound of Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-11799468553726350742015-03-12T11:02:40.570-07:002015-03-12T11:02:40.570-07:00Mind you, I have a certain sympathy for certain ki...Mind you, I have a certain sympathy for certain kinds of cowardice.<br /><br />I mean, I'd prefer not to be at war. And I'd certainly prefer not to be aggressively attacking people who are either leaving us alone or would be if we weren't fucking with them. If I don't want to die violently, one good way is not to go around killing people. <br /><br />But if I were at war, I'd definitely prefer for the other side to be dying and me and my side not to be. That's true whether it's a matter of bombing people who can't shoot my bombers or using IEDs instead of having a line of people shooting at the enemy's armoured vehicles so they can wipe us out nice and easy. At what point does "good tactics" turn into cowardice?<br /><br />The problem is less cowardice as such and more simultaneously being an asshole and cowardly. For instance, if someone says to me "I'm going to dodge the draft because I don't want to die in the war, and by the way I don't want anyone to die in the war whether our guys or theirs" I can sympathize with that. Who wants to die? On the other hand, if someone says to me "The war is a necessary and great thing and I support my people dying in it but I'm still going to dodge the draft myself or keep my personal kids out of it" then they're just vile hypocrites.Purple library guyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01930984683714519212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-68985257875014541612015-03-11T19:29:04.578-07:002015-03-11T19:29:04.578-07:00Mound: You may or may not know this in Lotusland b...Mound: You may or may not know this in Lotusland but in the last Ontario election (last year), Angus Reid, using the similar online panel polling methodology had wrongly predicted that Hudak and the PC party were statistically tied with the Liberals. <br /><br />Turned out the Liberals won by a quite strong majority. There were two polling outfits (EKOS and Forum) that had correctly predicted the Liberal majority. Both EKOS and Forum had used a random polling model (IVR, telephone calling) and not an online panel methodology. <br /><br />Thus while it is unknown how skewed the AR panel was towards Cons, it was very clear that it was as it had predicted a significantly higher Cons support than was the case.<br /><br />BTW, Angus Reid was not the only outfit that had got the Ontario election wrong. Using the similar non randomized online panel methodology, both Abacus and Ipsos Reid had also got it wrong. Abacus had also predicted a statistical tie between the Liberals and Cons. Ipsos took the cake: their likely voter model actually predicted a strong Cons majority.<br /><br />In summary, when reading about a poll, always check the methodology used. These non randomized online panel methodology are very dubious polls of the true public response. My impression is that if they do get it correct, it is perhaps because a stopped clock could also tell the correct time twice a day. LolAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-9239899710801492992015-03-11T18:34:58.713-07:002015-03-11T18:34:58.713-07:00"Excuse me, your boot is kind of on my face. ..."Excuse me, your boot is kind of on my face. Sorry." Hughnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-88912098303636453982015-03-11T18:22:08.921-07:002015-03-11T18:22:08.921-07:00@ Anon. Do we know anything about this Angus Reid ...@ Anon. Do we know anything about this Angus Reid panel? If they're skewed, by how many points?<br /><br />@ Dana - yes I fear conversations like this will be targeted by C-51. Harper will deny it but he's never been willing to play by the rules and he'll game everything to the maximum extent possible to suit his purposes.<br /><br />@ Sal. When did the war memorial get the honour guard anyway? All my years in Ottawa we only saw military personnel during events such as Remembrance Day, etc. In any case it's a good thing that our war dead can't talk, good for Harper that is.<br /><br />@ Karen. I agree totally. We're doing exactly what the Americans did with the Patriot Act. No scrutiny of how what they use to justify their new laws happened, why, or what could easily have been done within the existing laws to prevent it. If they can't properly enforce the existing laws why should we entrust them with new powers?The Mound of Soundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-15469383805042237312015-03-11T17:41:43.490-07:002015-03-11T17:41:43.490-07:00@Dana: You asked why you should be comforted that ...@Dana: You asked why you should be comforted that a significant number of people were willing to express an opinion on something they apparently know little about? <br /><br />Let me try to clarify .... because they belong to the Angus Reid panel and are not the true public response. :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-69080416924530512432015-03-11T17:23:29.332-07:002015-03-11T17:23:29.332-07:00.. in case folks don't get how screwed up thin..... in case folks don't get how screwed up things are ..<br />National Defense wants armed Ottawa cops to defend unarmed ceremonial sentries.. at the Cenotaph ..<br /><br />Can't wait for the rationale... and the name of anyone who dreamed this up. Arm the sentries fer cryin out loud. They're reservists.. and if you aren't going to arm them..then why issue them rifles?<br /><br />http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-police-may-guard-unarmed-military-sentries-in-the-capital-1.2990843the salamanderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06853337802990122289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-23459093766858215732015-03-11T16:32:32.303-07:002015-03-11T16:32:32.303-07:00The real danger C-51 sets out to attack is a conve...The real danger C-51 sets out to attack is a conversation exactly like this. Danahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12465953801145126160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-63694441445586096782015-03-11T16:11:28.499-07:002015-03-11T16:11:28.499-07:00I can't imagine why anyone could support this....I can't imagine why anyone could support this. The whole idea (and its marketing) is bizarre. The incidents that may be ostensibly the impetus for this were actually illegal acts. The police killer in New Brunswick, the driver who killed the soldier in Quebec and the parliament hill shooter broke existing laws, or snuck under our spies radar. We don't need new laws, or more laws. Maybe we need better trained law enforcement officers and more competent spies. I don't see Bill C-51 doing either of those things.karenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11131927710530023725noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-86267150117527875082015-03-11T16:02:10.894-07:002015-03-11T16:02:10.894-07:00I may be an optimistic fool; but with all the &quo...I may be an optimistic fool; but with all the "consent manufacturing' going on in the political landscape, I highly doubt that this bill is supported by any number exceeding the CPC base.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04567555294832520698noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-87492040897672328532015-03-11T14:57:41.795-07:002015-03-11T14:57:41.795-07:00I'm not sure why I should feel comforted that ...I'm not sure why I should feel comforted that there's that significant a percentage of people willing to express a strong opinion on a subject about which they know next to nothing. <br /><br />Unless they all have MBA's. <br /><br />I still wouldn't be comforted but at least that percentage would be understandable.Danahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12465953801145126160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-91454352074902174862015-03-11T14:50:00.548-07:002015-03-11T14:50:00.548-07:00thanks for the clarification, anon.thanks for the clarification, anon.The Mound of Soundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-15975214556017454652015-03-11T14:47:55.234-07:002015-03-11T14:47:55.234-07:00Mound: I think this point needs to be repeated. 82...Mound: I think this point needs to be repeated. 82% of the Angus Reid panel members, not Canadians, supported C-51. Big difference, eh? <br /><br />The Globe & Mail ran an updated disclaimer, after the article had appeared without it, that the poll was not a random poll: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/new-poll-finds-harpers-anti-terror-bill-is-a-political-juggernaut/article23067983/. <br /><br />Note the paragraph in italics at the end of linked article. Translation: the results might not have represented, and likely did not, the true public response.<br /><br />And then there was the gem in the survey that some 50% of the polled panel members admitted that they knew virtually nothing of the bill that they had claimed they supported.<br /><br />In other words, that AR poll was likely virtually worthless in terms of measuring true public response.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-64550410609143974352015-03-11T13:42:00.862-07:002015-03-11T13:42:00.862-07:00Yeah, there's a certain grotesque irony there....Yeah, there's a certain grotesque irony there.The Mound of Soundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-5817748581782072352015-03-11T13:07:17.654-07:002015-03-11T13:07:17.654-07:00It's an interesting mental exercise to map the...It's an interesting mental exercise to map the journey from "they hate us for our freedoms" to our democratic leadership deciding that the most appropriate way for them to respond is to start restricting and eliminating those hated freedoms.Danahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12465953801145126160noreply@blogger.com