Patting the wrists, rolling the eyes.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by ironweed
Reparations now, muthafucka!

How is your sig line any different than nfh's posts? except that no one could possibly care about your "news." Do you spend much time updating it? Better you should just masturbate yourself.

[andViolins]

Pat Buchanan is really really really out there. And I think he is moving farther away all the time.

aV

[greatwhitenorthchick]

Originally posted by Spanky
I don't doubt that you are right, but what happens if Quebec has another one of those referendums and they vote to split off. Do those votes have any legal significance or are they just a show of popular will. Would a yes vote on a referendum actually do anything?

After the referendum when the yes vote came close, and there was much hand-wringing, I think the answer was that a yes vote does have legal significance. Of course, you will remember in that case that a drunken M. Parizeau blamed the "no" victory on "money and the ethnic vote." Which shows that he is no beacon of tolerance, but also arguably indicates that Quebec is not a monolithic french society and has a significant minority presence.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by greatwhitenorthchick
After the referendum when the yes vote came close, and there was much hand-wringing, I think the answer was that a yes vote does have legal significance. Of course, you will remember in that case that a drunken M. Parizeau blamed the "no" victory on "money and the ethnic vote." Which shows that he is no beacon of tolerance, but also arguably indicates that Quebec is not a monolithic french society and has a significant minority presence.

that's where the terrorists live mostly.

[greatwhitenorthchick]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
that's where the terrorists live mostly.

Bien sur, in Terroristville (spelled the same in both French and English!).

[Spanky]

Originally posted by greatwhitenorthchick
After the referendum when the yes vote came close, and there was much hand-wringing, I think the answer was that a yes vote does have legal significance.

So if it had been a yes vote what would have happened? You said that there was all sorts of legal issues with the indiginous tribes. In addition, isn't Quebec completely intertwined with the rest of Canda through the health system and every other federal institutions. So the idea of succession is a little bit unrealistic. So what were the separatists planning if they won the referendum?

[Replaced_Texan]

The Minutemen are pussies and aren't welcome in Texas. These assholes make me root for drug runners.

[bilmore]

Originally posted by Spanky
So if it had been a yes vote what would have happened? You said that there was all sorts of legal issues with the indiginous tribes.

Actually, in a secession, the legal rights of the native tribes might well be completely wiped out. The reason they are so anti-secession is that the Quebec government has been pretty cavalier about native lands - they tend to turn them into dams and parks - while the Canadian government is protective of them. Most of the protections available to the native tribes are found in the Constitution, and a secession would remove that doc as the prime mover of the new land.

But, they still haven't even figured out what a "winning" vote means. The Canadian SC decided that "the government" is the entity that must decide whether a majority or a supermajority is required to secede - and so the Quebec goverment said, 51%, and the Canadian (fed?) government said, "we're not sure, but it's higher than that, we think, but ask again later", and then, in a fit of humor, titled that the Clarity Act.

[bilmore]

Originally posted by Replaced_Texan
The Minutemen are pussies and aren't welcome in Texas. These assholes make me root for drug runners.

Don't worry, you'll still get your drugs. The Minutemen are talking about Texas' northern border.

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
How is your sig line any different than nfh's posts? except that no one could possibly care about your "news." Do you spend much time updating it? Better you should just masturbate yourself.

Did you spend much time writing this pointless post? Better you should just blow me.

[Bad_Rich_Chic]

Originally posted by Spanky
So if it had been a yes vote what would have happened? You said that there was all sorts of legal issues with the indiginous tribes. In addition, isn't Quebec completely intertwined with the rest of Canda through the health system and every other federal institutions. So the idea of succession is a little bit unrealistic. So what were the separatists planning if they won the referendum?

My understanding is that the secessionists have put it about that Quebecers would keep their Canadian citizenship, the Canadian dollar, their Canadian pension and health benefits, and the province would remain part of NAFTA in the event of secession. The Can. (and re: NAFTA, US) gov'ts have said, basically, um, no, and you get to pay your portion of the national debt, and have to purchase all federal buildings, infrastructure & land you take with you. You are right that it is a stupid idea that wouldn't work. Doesn't mean they won't still vote for it. Frankly, if they were sane they wouldn't even vote for it - every time they do businesses flee Montreal, not wanting to risk being stuck in what would effectively become an indebted north-American banana republic.

Re: First Nations (I do like that name) land issues, the various indigenous tribes, not anxious to be stuck in a separate country with Francophone Canadians, have basically been arguing "If anyone has a claim to be a "unique culture" and therefore have special rights, it ain't you assholes, so if secession is OK for you, then secession is not only OK generally but must be OK for us, and we can and will secede from you in turn." Which would potentially remove a huge amount of the land area (including much of the hydro power generation). Alternatively, I've heard some suggestions that Quebec, on seceeding, would only be entitled to take historically independent Quebec lands and would have to return all lands granted to the province by the central government - which would reduce Quebec to a few-mile wide strip along the St. Lawrence from Montreal to Quebec City (most of what is now Quebec was, I believe, Hudson's Bay Company land).

As per the legal issues, my understanding is that the gov'ts position is that a one-province referendum has no legal effect, and it would require a national referendum to effectively allow Quebec to secede. That's based on absolutely no independent knowledge, but I was told the Can. Sup. Ct. had a ruling to that effect last time there was a vote.

[Bad_Rich_Chic]

Originally posted by ironweed
I have no problem believing Toronto is more tolerant than NYC, but what other areas in the US have you found to be noticably less racist? I thought we were doing pretty well here -- it's been a while since our last race riot.

Other side of the Mississippi, but not as far as CA. You still find a frontier/pioneer mentality out West: they don't care if you're male, female, white, black, yellow or blue, so long as you pull your own weight and don't fuck up anyone else. There is definitely more widespread bias against hispanics out there, but I've had rather a large number of black and asian friends who have lived both here and out there insist that the difference between living somewhere "very tolerant" of minorities and living somewhere people just don't give a shit at all is like night and day.

I don't think it can be attributed to comparable lily-whiteness, either (i.e.: the critical mass of visible minorities isn't high enough to trigger an alergic reaction). At least one of the places I lived has a quite (surprisingly) large visible minority population and the observation held true.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Bad_Rich_Chic
You still find a frontier/pioneer mentality out West: they don't care if you're male, female, white, black, yellow or blue....

But not red.

[Bad_Rich_Chic]

Going for the hat trick:

no comment from the Peanut Gallery on the leak (subsequently denied) in the online version of the People's Daily that the yuan would be revalued sometime next week?

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by ironweed
Did you spend much time writing this pointless post? Better you should just blow me.

From what I've heard that would take even less time.