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Post by Cabi.net on Dec 16, 2011 16:00:49 GMT -6
I forgot to mention college in my big rant. I thought that I talked about that enough in the podcast but I feel as if I should add a little bit more. College is relatively cheap over here (Despite what many Irish people will tell you) at around €2,000 per year up until you get to Masters level degrees. Then it goes up to a couple of grand more. (I'm not sure of the figure, they vary from course to course. Games Development costs ~€12,000, I know that much.) These costs aren't too bad though once you factor in the grant system. If you meet two criteria out of five you can get grants for the course, travel to and from the college, your books, your accommodation if you need it and various other things. These can vary from half grants to the government paying for nearly everything if you fall into a certain area. The only catch is that these grants are limited and, while pretty easy to obtain, are really tough to apply for. I was screwed out of a grant because the government wanted reports of our taxes from two years ago, despite every other grant looking for last years taxes. That's more or less it on college. For now at least. We had our budget released earlier this week. Taxes went up and people were shocked that some government handouts were cut by a whopping €8. Now there is a bunch of Socialist TD's saying that they will boycott a house tax. I'm pretty annoyed that they are doing this. Right now we don't have any control over what we need to tax and cut. We had to run the Budget by Germany first to see if it was okay! Now there are people complaining that stuff was cut by a tiny amount and that cigarettes now cost a little more. The only thing I am pretty annoyed at is that we now have a "fat tax" on food that contains sugar. It's pretty damn stupid and exploitive and no-one is giving out about that. vOv
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Post by HomicidalChicken on Jan 14, 2012 16:24:05 GMT -6
A major one is general ignorance about Islam... I'm in agreeance with that, I knew next to nothing about it until a few months ago. Hell, I didn't even know the faith was called Islam. I also agree the ignorance is much more widespread than that. Homelessness, abuse, corruption, discrimination and misinformation are all prevalent and rarely adressed and occasionally even bragged about how good we are with it. The biggest problem I've had to deal with in Canada is the health care system. Something else that is bragged about but from personal experience, it is terrible. I have chronic migraines, I am currently at about thirteen months of a constant migraine. I have gone through nearly every therapy several times, tried a plethora of medication (Most of which had me fearing for my life) stumped one of the top specialists in Ontario, potentially Canada, along with countless other therapists and doctors. I spent nearly a year waiting for the specialist (I had health issues before this started as well) to have her tell me she has nothing and now have an appointment twelve months from now with another specialist. The most helpful of any of the people I have visited is the non-government funded naturopath. She has come up with more ideas and found more treatments than any of the others, but when my already stumped family doctor was told of the treatments we were trying (things that have actually been beneficial to me in other ways, but no effect that I was hoping for) he reacted rudely and tried belittling the methods we were trying and outright mocking them. We needed tests from him, so that was the only reason we stayed. But after we got the results, we saw even more that doctors know absolutely nothing outside of their expertise, they just look at the charts and look for the range. I was borderline anemic and deficient for multiple vitamins ( 8 on a scale of 5-200) but the doctor didn't care because it was within the range. Talking with someone who had been a lab technician and to the naturopath I was informed that it was nowhere close to where it should be and gave me supplements to improve it. There is a huge rift between conventional medicine and anything that is an alternative. As an example chiropractic work is portrayed as dangerous and pointless when in reality it is incredibly safe and the only reason it's portrayed any differently is because of practitioners of conventional medicine working to keep it that way. I've just recently started into Chinese medicine with an actual acupuncturist ( I have done acupuncture before, but with a physiotherapist and a massage therapist) and their approach is entirely different as well, and points out some flaws in what I had been doing with the naturopath, so there is even a slight rift there, but not quite so large as with conventional medicine. After this, the only medications and treatments left to try are botox, which is still in an experimental stage for adolescents in Canada, and medical marijuana, which I support but most are against because of cultural prejudice and misinformation (outright lies). Just for some additional information, I am currently missing school and am being taught at home by a teacher, which is still very difficult to do and if you've had a migraine or know anyone who has them you'd understand why. We have spent thousands of dollars on treatments not supported by the government (thankfully we do have some benefits to use). This is long enough as is so I'll end it where it is for now.
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Post by chaoman45 on Jan 31, 2012 18:42:10 GMT -6
After reading a newspaper, I forgot that sensationalism over nothing is a problem. Biggest example is the Republican nominations. Yes, it's important to choose the best contender, but the way some of these papers headline who's in the lead every week is inconsistent and annoying.
"SANTORUM OMG" "ROMNEY UP FRONT" "WAIT NO LOL GINGRICH IS" "RON PAUL? WHO'S HE?"
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Post by Cabi.net on Feb 1, 2012 8:14:36 GMT -6
I'm pretty sure the only reason the media are doing that is because that's what it's actually like. Until last night Romney and Gingrich have had a very, very close race. The media can't discount Santorum because he did win in Iowa. Then they have to mention Ron Paul because he keeps getting booed in the really southern states because he doesn't want to start any more wars for some reason vOv.
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Post by Gooman on Feb 1, 2012 22:07:09 GMT -6
Ron Paul is also important because he's the only one who's not a frontrunner. He's stayed at a steady 2nd or 3rd because he actually has a loyal following of people who believe in him and his politics, as opposed to everyone else who ride surges of popularity in a society of people with the attention span of a gerbil. (I'm still supporting Obama, but if it's any republican, I'd say let it be Ron Paul.)
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saberoflink
Expert Trainer
We Bring Silent Death!
Posts: 902
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Post by saberoflink on Feb 2, 2012 1:26:46 GMT -6
Ron Paul is also important because he's the only one who's not a frontrunner. He's stayed at a steady 2nd or 3rd because he actually has a loyal following of people who believe in him and his politics, as opposed to everyone else who ride surges of popularity in a society of people with the attention span of a gerbil. (I'm still supporting Obama, but if it's any republican, I'd say let it be Ron Paul.) Ron Paul believes Lincoln was an awful President...that makes me sad. Someone in this day and age would attack a man dead for 150 years. I mean, it's gotta be all dust by now.
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Post by Cabi.net on Feb 2, 2012 6:59:08 GMT -6
Ron Paul has a few good ideas but he also has some really crazy ones that he should never be elected for. All of the GOP candidates are pretty awful right now. Obama isn't great but he's the least likely to go completely insane (Gingrich, Paul) and he isn't a cold hearted robot (Romney). I've been keeping a close eye on the Republican nominations for two reasons: because you don't know what they will come out with next and because the person who gets the nomination may be the next president of the country I hope to live in soon. You have'ta keep your eyes on these things. I will say that Ron Paul has the best fanatics though. Who else would think of fusing a man with a train? GOD BLESS AMERICA
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Post by Gooman on Feb 2, 2012 14:10:32 GMT -6
Herman Cain has his face on a bus.
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Post by Cabi.net on Feb 2, 2012 14:13:47 GMT -6
Herman Cain has his face on a bus. I need a link to this image now.
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Post by Gooman on Feb 2, 2012 14:22:31 GMT -6
Have two.
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Post by Cabi.net on Feb 2, 2012 14:23:37 GMT -6
Awww. I was expecting his face to be on the front.
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Post by Gooman on Feb 2, 2012 17:38:21 GMT -6
I don't really see the difference.
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skypaw298
Novice Trainer
Lucario of Epic Proportions!
Posts: 46
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Post by skypaw298 on Feb 13, 2012 8:30:00 GMT -6
Some bad stuff in America: economy and the government. It sucks donkey dick... o-o
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Post by Jafar on Feb 16, 2012 13:14:17 GMT -6
Some Canadian so-called laws that have come to my attention recently made me realize a bit more what types of corruption are in my country. For example, the Canadian and American governments both claimed that the selling of raw milk is illegal, and jailed someone who sold raw milk, when in actuality, raw milk is very healthy. The boiled milk sold in grocery stores in Canada clashes with some people's systems, hence the term lactose intolerant, but one of my friends' mothers said that she's known lactose intolerant people who when they drink raw milk, have no adverse reaction.
Several kinds of legislation in Canada and the United States seem to sacrifice peoples' health in favour of money. Monosodium glutemate, unhealthy for the brain, for example, is sometimes reported as a less-threatening looking label on ingredient lists. One of my teachers said that only if the MSG is 99% or 100% MSG is someone in Canada forced to declare it; 98% or less MSG, and it is passed off as "spices". That's why many of the so-called healthy chip or cookie brands still hurt someone's heart and other parts of the body. The high-priced organic varieties, if someone can afford them, are really the healthiest option.
Since personally like a handful of other Canadians my income is low compared to the national average, I have to buy the middle-level foods, which are those that aren't blatantly unhealthy but also not organic. I'm not too concerned about food and exercise--a friend of mine while living in France saw a T-shirt that translated means, "Eat healthy, exercise well, die anyway"--but I do pay some heed to it so I can be well enough to perform obligations and make progress.
Canada does have a lot of comforts, but also a lot of hidden annoyances. I was born and have grown up in British Columbia, so I don't plan to leave it, which means I'll try to keep my head up about certain potential hazards so I can work against them. This life's full of obstacles, wherever someone lives, but they can be overcome.
Also, something I dislike about Canada is that a lot of people here follow the "majority", meaning they base their lifestyles on what they see most people do, or what they see most famous people do. As a result a fair share of Canadians act arrogant and rude toward those less priveleged than them, and get into destructive things like alcohol and harmful drugs without thinking much about the consequences until a catastrophe like poisoning hits. There are a lot of good-mannered people in Canada, but as soon as their money is threatened, they often get rough and tense.
It's possible for people to be both self-concerned and selfless at the same time, that is, wary of their own actions and wary of the needs of others. Canada has those types of people, but not as many as the government may try to make foreigners think.
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Post by Gooman on Feb 16, 2012 14:14:59 GMT -6
You're probably right about the MSG thing, that was a pretty big scandal when it broke in the US a year or so back. But pasteurized milk is actually safer for you than raw milk. The entire point of boiling is to kill all the bacteria so you don't get infections from your milk. For those who's digestive systems reject pasteurized milk, I'd highly suggest soy milk. And, if they haven't tried it, skim or 1% milk- whole milk is just a recipe for trouble, but they might be able to handle milk with less fat.
And the whole sheeple-following-the-flock is a pretty big problem anywhere you go. I think it's part of the human nature to try to imitate successful people so that you may become successful, as well.
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