the watcher

I'm disappointed that Wade is heading up that committee, if all that info is accurate. Especially the stuff about entirely eliminating the ratio... 

I just wish they weren't so insisting on closing the test center on my end, I couldn't get the swab all the way up without triggering the sneeze button up my nose and yet it still gave a negative result (no symptoms yet though). I'm going to have to tell my supervisor what's going on and be more insistent that the kids keep their masks all the way on, I don't know how exposed I am because mom was wearing a KN95 this morning

Propaganda video from Iran.
 
 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/russia-says-hitler-was-jewish-1.6437936
Reprehensible comments from Sergei Lavrov. What a ******* garbage human.

The Christo-fascists are doubtless beside themselves with glee. Trump was worth every penny they paid for him, and democracy has taken a body blow in the US.

It's the same thing. You don't explore something you aren't interested in.

Man alive what a pathetic attempt at saving face... how is it misconstrued? By your own admission jackals, you want more discussion on it because you think it makes offense easier. 
Go **** yourself. You voted yes on the "do I want to kill the cfl" question you can't walk that back.

She left dumb a long time ago but does she realize it
 

Fla. law made school book bans easier. So one man challenged the Bible.
The man petitioning to ban the Bible says it is just as sexually explicit and violent as other books facing challenges
 
By Hannah Natanson Today at 11:47 a.m. EDT   It was Florida’s move to reject 54 math textbooks for “prohibited subjects” that made up Chaz Stevens’s mind: It was time to go after the Bible.
Stevens, a 57-year-old tech wizard with a history of pulling wacky political stunts, had already been tracking the progress of a new state law that makes it easier for parents and county residents to challenge books in schools. The provision, which comes amid an unprecedented nationwide spike in challenges to books — particularly those by and about LGBTQ and Black people — was signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in late March. It takes effect July 1. But Stevens decided he could not wait a moment longer.
As of Wednesday, he has filed near-identical petitions with 63 Florida school districts asking to ban the Bible. He has also filed a second petition with one district, Broward County Public Schools, requesting the removal of the Oxford English Dictionary. His three-page petition critiques the Bible for its depictions of bestiality and cannibalism, its “eye-popping passages of babies being smashed against the rocks” in Psalms 137 and its “strong pro-slavery position,” citing Ephesians 6:5-7.
“As the Bible casually references ... such topics as murder, adultery, sexual immorality, and fornication — or as I like to think, Date Night Friday Night — do we really want to teach our youth about drunken orgies?” the petition asks.
Schools nationwide are quietly removing books from their libraries
Stevens’s subsequent complaint against the dictionary calls it “a weighty tome over 1,000 years old, containing more than 600,000 words; all very troubling if we’re trying to keep our youth from learning about race, gender, sex, and such.”
Although Stevens’s petitions are tongue-in-cheek, legal experts said his actions highlight flaws and constitutional concerns surrounding Florida’s new law and others like it — and could lead to serious litigation down the line. Erica Goldberg, a University of Dayton Law School professor who studies First Amendment rights, said Stevens’s petitions could showcase that the new law may cause school boards to engage in “viewpoint discrimination,” or removing information because of dislike of the ideas it contains, which is impermissible per the Supreme Court. She noted that the Bible is replete with episodes of violence and sexual abuse, including the rape of Dinah in Genesis, which leads her brothers Levi and Simeon to kill every man in the city of Shechem to avenge her honor; the incestuous rape of King David’s daughter Tamar by her half brother Amnon; and the brutal dismemberment of a concubine in Judges. She said the Bible is at least as sexually explicit as some of the books parents are labeling inappropriate, raising the question: Why can the Bible stay in the library when those books have to go?
“This stunt is going to illuminate," she added. “Many of our First Amendment rights get meted out by edge cases or by people looking to make statements.” (more) https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/04/28/bible-book-ban-florida/

Yeah they don't like that middle eastern brown socialist guy called Jesus, they prefer angry vengeful old testament God. 
I mean Jesus held some pretty strong views that run very contrary to these evangelical Christian teachings. 

It's a legit question. Every side in a war will at least twist figures to their benefit. Some blatantly make **** up  (weapons of mass destruction as an example ). It doesn't mean a person  doesn't recognise a particular side as the aggressor or as responsible for 1,000s of deaths.

It's a legit question. Every side in a war will at least twist figures to their benefit. Some blatantly make **** up  (weapons of mass destruction as an example ). It doesn't mean a person  doesn't recognise a particular side as the aggressor or as responsible for 1,000s of deaths.

(This Doesn't quite fit here, but interesting nonetheless)
More than half of all American waterways are 'impaired by pollution': study
   
A recent study commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Clean Water Act’s passage shows exactly how the U.S. is failing its commitment to eliminating pollution in the country’s navigable waterways, defined by the EPA as “the waters of the United States, including the territorial seas.” The report by the nonprofit Environmental Integrity Project, titled “The Clean Water Act: Promises Half Kept at the Half-Century Mark,” delves into the millions of miles of rivers, streams, and creeks; millions of acres of lakes, ponds, and reservoirs; and thousands of square miles of bays, estuaries, and harbors that have been assessed based on the most recent Integrated Waters Report submitted to the EPA. Much of these waters are considered “impaired with pollution,” which means they fail “to meet standards for swimming and recreation, aquatic life, fish consumption, or as drinking water sources.”
Of the 1,426,619 miles of rivers, streams, and creeks that have been assessed, 725,856 miles are considered impaired with pollution, accounting for 51%. More than half of the 20,432,238 acres of lakes, ponds, and reservoirs assessed similarly are considered impaired with pollution. Bays, estuaries, and harbors fared better, with about a quarter of the 76,555 square miles assessed considered impaired with pollution.
 

If your 'both sides' comment was directed at me, I was merely asking an honest question about how reliable the numbers are. Nothing to do with a value judgment, just that I don't think you can legitimately take data from either side of any conflict without confirmation from elsewhere. My dad's side is Ukrainian btw.

22 thousand plus deaths which doesn’t include the Ukraine side?!?!
MF. We just get so desensitized to this number when you’re not directly impacted. What a waste of human life due to lunatic and his ardent supporters.

Send the criminal back to the US. We don't want their garbage

I think these are reasonable changes to the rules. Nothing that can't be undone if they don't work out. 

I don't hunt either, but I think it's good that some people do.  The white tails and the honkers no longer have enough predators, and have really adapted to farmland
If no one hunts, then those populations will be controlled by disease epidemics or climate factors - which to an extent already happens
Just one example:
We saw mange run through our local coyote population the past couple winters - I saw one with almost no hair left and literally crying - at our cattle shed
Being harvested by a humane hunter or trapper - would have been a much kinder fate

So just a bit if background. I was a big time gun guy for decades. I owned my own 22 at age 12. I was on a championship Jr. Rifle club team. Our meat diet was 99% wild game for decades. I use to work crazy hours spring to fall then hunt non stop everyday for 3 or 4 months before heading west for work.   I've owned 100s of guns over the years including hand guns at times. I lived to hunt and shoot back in the day. I still have guns but I'm just not into it like I was anymore.
Yes , almost any gun can be turned into a concealed weapon with a bit of work. As far as turning a semi into full auto it was easy with particular gun makes and models but not most.Its tough and makes them pretty much useless. The majority of centerfire hunting rifles are bolt actions. Not to be insulting but most really serious hunters and shooters won't bother with semi auto center fire rifles. We mostly saw them used by casual hunters.  .22s are a different story. Tons of .22 semis are used are used for plinking, gophers .....  As far as shotguns it would be pumps, double barrel, semi, single break then the rarely seen bolt action.
I am in favour of gun laws that make a REAL difference. Laws that actually do something not just make uninformed  non gun owners happy. I'm a big fan of the PAL licence.  Having your background checked by the RCMP before you can own, posses , borrow,  use a gun makes a whole lot of sense.
As far as hand guns. My understanding is about %80 - %90 of handguns that are confiscated have come across the border. So an outright ban isn't going to do alot. I'm not sure what has changed I  the last 20 years but when I owned them I could only leave my property with a handgun to go to a sanctioned gun range at a particular time. I was required to drive directly there and back with no stops in between. I can't remember the last time I heard of a legal handgun owner shooting someone. I'm sure it must happen but not very often in Canada. I really doubt an outright ban would have any real effect. I suppose it would effect the %10 to %20 of gun crimes that are committed with stolen handguns .I really  don't have a dog in that race so it's not all that big of a deal for me.
I see no reason for any Canadian to own military style weapons. Guns designed and made to kill only people belong in the hands of the military only.
I think alot of the American gun  idiocy makes non gun owners in this country assume it's the same here. It jades their  opinion. 

What really bothers me about this is very, very few politicians, etc.. believe all the BS. Almost all of them understand how vaccinations and the vaccination of the vast majority against not only Covid but all contagious diseases are the key to the health and well being of people, countries and the world. But they sell their soul for power, money and popularity.

What really bothers me about this is very, very few politicians, etc.. believe all the BS. Almost all of them understand how vaccinations and the vaccination of the vast majority against not only Covid but all contagious diseases are the key to the health and well being of people, countries and the world. But they sell their soul for power, money and popularity.

So just a bit if background. I was a big time gun guy for decades. I owned my own 22 at age 12. I was on a championship Jr. Rifle club team. Our meat diet was 99% wild game for decades. I use to work crazy hours spring to fall then hunt non stop everyday for 3 or 4 months before heading west for work.   I've owned 100s of guns over the years including hand guns at times. I lived to hunt and shoot back in the day. I still have guns but I'm just not into it like I was anymore.
Yes , almost any gun can be turned into a concealed weapon with a bit of work. As far as turning a semi into full auto it was easy with particular gun makes and models but not most.Its tough and makes them pretty much useless. The majority of centerfire hunting rifles are bolt actions. Not to be insulting but most really serious hunters and shooters won't bother with semi auto center fire rifles. We mostly saw them used by casual hunters.  .22s are a different story. Tons of .22 semis are used are used for plinking, gophers .....  As far as shotguns it would be pumps, double barrel, semi, single break then the rarely seen bolt action.
I am in favour of gun laws that make a REAL difference. Laws that actually do something not just make uninformed  non gun owners happy. I'm a big fan of the PAL licence.  Having your background checked by the RCMP before you can own, posses , borrow,  use a gun makes a whole lot of sense.
As far as hand guns. My understanding is about %80 - %90 of handguns that are confiscated have come across the border. So an outright ban isn't going to do alot. I'm not sure what has changed I  the last 20 years but when I owned them I could only leave my property with a handgun to go to a sanctioned gun range at a particular time. I was required to drive directly there and back with no stops in between. I can't remember the last time I heard of a legal handgun owner shooting someone. I'm sure it must happen but not very often in Canada. I really doubt an outright ban would have any real effect. I suppose it would effect the %10 to %20 of gun crimes that are committed with stolen handguns .I really  don't have a dog in that race so it's not all that big of a deal for me.
I see no reason for any Canadian to own military style weapons. Guns designed and made to kill only people belong in the hands of the military only.
I think alot of the American gun  idiocy makes non gun owners in this country assume it's the same here. It jades their  opinion. 

If memory serves, he was a compulsive chain smoker and fought lung cancer for a long time. There is a lesson here.

GCN20 said " disagree that most serious hunters use bolt action, many favor it due to long range accuracy, but many hunters are taught that semi auto is a more ethical choice by many hunter safety instructors. Serious shooters for target practice won't, but many hunters do favor semi auto. I used to guide for goose, bear and deer and the mix was at least 50/50 of what people used.  I can tell you with certainty that semi auto shotguns are heavily favored by serious 
We will have to agree to disagree. Perhaps it's the group I used to hang with. We were serious hunters/ shooters. Not a semi auto center fire in anyones gun cabinet. Several of them were guides ( big game in northern BC ) several were rifle club instructors and some taught Hunters Safety.  Several have now moved into the super long range shooting now. ( 50 cal stuff )  Never have I heard of a hunter Saftey instructor say use a semi- auto centerfire. It's in no way more ethical. Less accurate equals more wounded and more ruined meat.  If you cant hit what you shoot at , you need to shoot more targets and not take shots that you know wont kill. Over a year I would fire thousands of rounds ( not an exaggeration) so like I said maybe it was the group I hung with.  As far as semi auto shotguns , yes perhaps more are used than I believe but I've seen way, way to many have issues when used in adverse conditions. Almost everyone I shot birds with used pumps.
As far as modifying guns , my only personal experience was glass bedding , filing trigger mechanisms to reduce trigger pull, and a few other minor things for better accuracy.  I did have friends of made full autos out of semis but they were rediculously inaccurate and unmanageable. They scraped them fairly quickly. Many built wildcat calibers but I never got into it.
I will add this bit to end my discussion. The last 15 years I hunted deer were my best. I decided to hunt alone. That is when in my opinion I became an elite deer hunter. I watched them. I studied them. Most evenings I  just watched. I learned more about deer then than in all my previous years. I'd kill 3 a year for food. Most were  standing shots. All but one were one shot kills. My biggest problem those last 15 years were the Yahoo's driving around shooting off the roads at deer on my property and towards me or our buildings.