I don't know if it was worse than your experience which was pretty unscrupulous, but my daughter got a letter from Pepsi Cola trying to recruit her for a college. Like I'd send my daughter to a university who is in bed with Pepsi Cola? NOT!
I agree with Kettch in that not being exposed to Television and video games etc during the impressional years is a great asset to people but teens are very impressionable so you're not out of the woods yet.
Where I disagree is that ADD/ADHD and similar brain disorders (invisible disabilities) are caused by environment. Nothing could be farther from the truth. These disorders are genetic and/or caused by brain trauma and/or injuries. Those who equate boredom with attention deficit disorders downplay a very real and tragic disability.
The new Educational bill recently voted upon by our USA senators have made it possible for
teachers and principles to further marginalize these disabled children and arbitrarily expell them for things they have no control over... like impulsivity and constant distractions of the class environment. The Bush administration call this act BEST or Better Education for Students and Teachers. What it does is weed out (expell) those students that are square pegs trying desperately to fit into round holes. What a sad thing for the future generation.
do you think any IT Director with half a brain is going to suggest letting Microsoft a) handle authentication to their sensitive data nad b) allow that data to be stored @ microsoft? I didn't think so
Think again:P. There are a myriad of corporations out there that have IT dirs and mgrs (as well as VPs+) who are complete M$ bigots, read nothing but pro-M$ literature, cannot tolerate any deviance from their stance and will weed-out any employee who suggests any other application other than M$.
What you failed to grasp in your analogy was that money marries money... corps follow what other corps do blindly because in order for monopolies to exist, there has to be complete cooperation among the "old boys".
I'd like to think this a conspiracy theory but cannot. Why else would so many huge corps (and gov't agencies) still hang on to and even upgrade their M$ o/s's no matter the cost or proven lack of support, reliability and speed. It aint rocket science folx.
Re:Overall union membership has been on the declin
on
Dial U for Union
·
· Score: 1
If you think unions are so good, why can't they keep manufacturing and other industrial jobs from going to Mexico and overseas?
Non-union sites are shipping Merican mfg jobs overseas as well. The fact is that unless Mericans are willing to work for $1/day or "free", mfg'g and other jobs will be going overseas. Ever heard of the bottom line kid?
Companies have cut to the bone inside and outside the tech sector. Its trendy and fits right in with the WTOrder. Unions are not just about wage negotiations and fair o/t practices, they are also about negotiating for benefits and employee plans such as pensions and health care.
When AOL bought out TimeWarner they slashed and burned 7000 jobs across the nation. They have a skeleton cd mfg production facility here in the USA but the bulk of the Merican jobs are now in Taiwan. The staff that is left have seen negative wage increases, health care benefits switched to Aetna (nuff said), stock options and bonuses dropped, and their hours doubled or tripled to make up for the lack of staff without o/t pay or comp. time. The attitude is "your lucky to still have a job".
Unions may not have had the clout to stop these arbitrary actions on behalf of AOL/TW, but is sure as hell would have slowed it down. We're not talking small to medium size companies here.. this is mega corporation and the story is the same across the board of corporations. Ah aren't trade agreements wonderful? Who was it that said the third world (developing) countries would come back to haunt us?
Climate change could vary easily have
contributed to the extinction.
At one time I had my doubts about the ice age wiping out prehistoric animals and man as well, but in January 1998 I lived in Kingston Ontario during the ice storm and that effectively erased any doubts I had about the theory of the ice age being a factor in extinctions.
Two thousand miles of land were effected to the point that it brought all of our modern innovations to a screeching halt for weeks on end.
Indeed, in parts of Quebec, normalcy was not restored until May that year.
This was caused by three days of constant freezing rain that coated everything with 2" of ice! It was hard to sleep at night because all you heard were large tree limbs crashing to the ground under the weight of the ice. It wiped out hundreds of miles of forest and threw thousands of people into a state of absolute awe at the destructive powers of nature. Many people lost their lives.
It is highly unlikely that early man wiped out great creatures. They lived in tribal communities and lived off the surface resources of the land alone. To say they were primitive savages is more than ignorant... they invented fire and tools without which none of our so-called civilized inventions would have been possible.
These foraging societies were indeed in tact with all seven social systems in place and endured at least 40,000 yrs. The agricultural age followed which endured 10-12,000 years with all seven social structures in tact. Then the Industrial society came along... it's 100 years old and has witnessed the most catastrophic rape of nature of any society. Unlike foragers and agriculturalist, the modern industrial society dug deep into the earth's crust causing all kinds of adverse effects to nature with no regard to future generations (indeed present generations) in the name of profit.
Did man wipe out extinct large mamals? Yes, but not with spears and rocks. Got doubts? Well take a swim in the Hudson River and then swallow a nice glass of that water daily. Throw out your asthma medication and your suntan lotion. Keep supporting the massive daily destruction of the rain forests (our oxygen tent) and bring back coal and other fossil fuels. That will take care of you and I nicely:).
Because you are FREE to purchase or trade with any country that the USA does NOT deem it's ENEMY like Cuba, Lybia, Iraq, and formerly South Africa under aparthied. That's limited freedom but yet a Canadian can travel to Cuba on vacation (although restricted for good reason) with no problem at all and smoke Cuban cigars till they puke:P.
Why restricted travel in Cuba? Maybe they learned from history in Cuba. When the Americans were allowed in Cuba they did as Americans do... they bought up all the prime beach areas and other desirable realestate, they established gambling and all vices that come with it, and they proceded to not only disrepect the culture and laws of Cuba, but also to impose their culture (or lack thereof) on Cuban society with no regard or respect for Cuban culture and mores.
They also dominated the economy to the benefit of the USA and established Cuba as a hinterland... use the resources up (including the people) and leave the cleanup to the host country... Cuba while sending all profits back to the USA.
When Cuba fought back they became the ENEMY. I hope that one day the USA does not have to suffer the indignities they imposed on Cuba and countless other sovereign nations whom have had the misfortune of allowing US interests into their countries.
Whenever the US declares another ENEMY I tend to look a little deeper than the nightly US news.
I agree with this post. I hate to see ignorant posts like the "USA saved France twice". Those people are watching too much American propoganda movies and TV.
France went up against a super power that was sweeping across all of Europe with great success. France put up a valiant attempt considering the odds but fell like most of Europe to the Germans.
Despite this, they continued with a strong and very effective underground movement called La Resistance. They risked their lives and the lives of their families much like those Europeans who sheltered jews from the slaughter.
Now as for the USA.. well they were dragged kicking and fighting into WWII and only after Pearl Harbour. At best they showed up in 1942. Considering the rest of the world was involved since 1939 and stayed for the duration, I hardly think it's wise to claim the USA saved France during WWII. It was the total allied forces with the RELIEF efforts supplied by the "better late than never" USA.
Now for Vietnam. The French were in VN for 20 yrs before the USA came in and the French warned the USA that it was a futile war and that the gorilla warfare going on was unlike anything that France (or the USA) had ever encountered and had little chance of winning. You can't tell that to the good old USofA. Hell no, they have a sad history of always underestimating their so-called enemies. So they ignored the advise and plunged into Vietnam to their perile. They did not save Vietnam any more than they saved France.
I agree also with a former poster who suggested some of you pompus Americans pick up a history book - preferrably one printed outside the USA:P.
As for the French Judge's decision to attempt to stop Yahoo from posting nazi promotional material internationally? Well the Internet is not nationally bound. It is borderless and let's hope it stays that way. If France wants to block Yahoo then let them do so, but don't impose their laws internationally. I think Yahoo is a target case that will eventually spread to the whole web. I hope Yahoo stares them down:).
Vive la Net Libre
That's like going to your friendly ATM machine and when the screen comes up with "Do you agree to this charge? Yes? No?" Press No and it effectively blows out your transaction.
Smart-tags? Press disable and your Linux powered PC blows out? heh
How about a boss who steals credit for everything his employees do and claims it as his own initiative even if he so much as received an e-mail from the employee with the complete project from start to finish? How about that same boss demeaning the employee to his superiors while claiming the employees work?
How about the time, effort and money the employee invests in his own training that is not compensated by the company but is used by same?
How about a program development that is used by this company in their world-wide organization without even so much as a *nod* to the developer?
How about the company who accepts further development from the self-taught and self-trained employee and does not offer patent or compensation for such development. How about the same employee who has SAVED the said company 9 million dollars, 4 million dollars and much more without even getting a thank you for it? Indeed, the employee was written-up by the manager for spending too much time on the same programs that cut mfg. steps in plant-wide, company-wide production from 35 steps to 2 saving 2 hrs. production time per shift over 3 shifts.
How about the employee who finally had enough and wrote a rebuttal to a poor review and was consequently ignored by HR because his manager had friends in high places? How about one yr. later the loyal employee of more than 15 yrs was fired - along with 7,000 other people for performance issues?
How about that employee now working for a service industry who treats him with the respect and integrity the other should have recognized all along? How about that side of the coin kind sir or madam?
I agree that comparing working conditions in the huge multi-national corps is not comparable to slavery unless you consider the fact that companies here in the USA are shipping mfg. jobs out to places like China (free prison labour) and Taiwan (bargain basement labour prices) and Mexico.
Point in case... AOL cd's are mfg in Taiwan where they used to be mfg'd. in PA. The mfg. plant still exists and reaps in the benefits of state tax incentives for providing employment, but no longer provides those jobs. The once gainful mfg. plant becomes a distribution center for goods made overseas (China preferably where prison labour is free... slavery?) or Taiwan, Mexico, or other third world nations where the labour is cheap and
environmental impact is of no concern.
So who is employed in the new distribution plant? Part time workers and preferably p/t workers who are new immigrants under a working visa. Not that there is a shortage of qualified people here to do the job and do it well (they have been doing it for 15+ yrs), but rather because the foreign workers can (and are) held hostage by the company under threat of deportation (10 days after they lose their employment) if they do not work for min. wage (or less) and work unpaid overtime at the company's discretion... oh let's say 60-70 hrs/wk.
Consider also the cost to the communities brought on by these slash and burn job cuts. People lose their jobs, they lose their homes (eventually) and they lose their sense of pride through no fault of their own. Small businesses that were created to serve the needs of the working community dwindle and eventually die.
This in the name of grossly inflated profits?
Something's wrong in paradise methinks!
How do they do it? Year (usually start with a 00 yr like 1900 or 2000) divided by 4.
Then year divided by 100 + year divided by 400 = modulo 7 = day. Gives you Jan. 1 If you want Apr.22, Jan. 1 + number of day for each month.
Did this guy make money on this?
HAH! There used to be a sucker born every minute, now it's every second:P
Finally someone who sees that the dems and reps are one in the same. Identical agenda!
Wait! were there any other parties running in the last federal election? Not according to the mass media. Ah.. democracy *cough* in action.
Absolutely it means something. Consider that the mass media is owned and operated by huge monopoly corporations like AOL/TimeWarner for example, who have directors sitting on the board of the largest of the corporations mentioned in the article.... General Motors. It is not in their best interests to have facts like those stated on the website get out to the masses.
Most people in the industrial world get their news (propogranda) from the couch. It's *fast* and *easy* that way. This is referred to as ROTE LEARNING.
These same people (the masses) don't even know what the WTO is even though its provisions will directly affect their standard of living and their so-called freedoms. Anything of content surrounding the WTO is conspicuously absent in the mass media yet its conferences are enthusiatically attended by all leaders of major corporations and heads of government from at least 43 nations.
The masses would be better informed if they signed on to unsponsored (and thus unbiased) websites like http://www.zmag.org for their information. I'm not suggesting people ignore the mass media (propogranda has its place in every society), but rather gather information from several sources and compare them (bring them up to a topic of analysis) to arrive at an informed decision.
During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act--George Orwell
Yours is probably the most accurate description of American media I have heard in a very long time. If you are under the impression that the American mass media monopoly does not control your thoughts, opinions, beliefs, and needs (as opposed to wants), I suggest you pick up a copy of Ben Bagdikian's Media Monopoly.
The language situation in Quebec goes way beyond language. It is reverse-racism. 99% of all government jobs are held by Francophones in Quebec which screams of discrimination. Being bilingual in Quebec holds no weight at all. The government and fully half of the population (if the last referendum is any measure) exclude anyone who even has an English name (first or last). The day-to-day lives of people in Quebec who are not "de souche" (of pure French ancestory on both sides) or pur laine" (sounds a lot like arien no?") is intolerable.
I left Quebec because I was distraught at being treated like a 2nd class citizen in my home. I can trace my Francophone maternal ancestory back to 1640 and my Anglophone paternal ancestory back to 1850. I sent both of my children to French schools (voluntarily) only to have to withdraw them and place them in the English school system by grade 3. Why? Because they were suffering verbal and physical assult in school simply because their mother had some trace of English (a name).
While I agree with the preservation of the French language in Quebec and realize how fragile it is clustered between a sea of English, I do not agree with the underlying condemnation of anything non-Francophone to the point of absolute racism.
Slashdot Mirror
I don't know if it was worse than your experience which was pretty unscrupulous, but my daughter got a letter from Pepsi Cola trying to recruit her for a college. Like I'd send my daughter to a university who is in bed with Pepsi Cola? NOT!
Hell yea and a year ago trade with China was a GOOD thing too !! LOL and they want US to pay attn?
I agree with Kettch in that not being exposed to Television and video games etc during the impressional years is a great asset to people but teens are very impressionable so you're not out of the woods yet.
... like impulsivity and constant distractions of the class environment. The Bush administration call this act BEST or Better Education for Students and Teachers. What it does is weed out (expell) those students that are square pegs trying desperately to fit into round holes. What a sad thing for the future generation.
Where I disagree is that ADD/ADHD and similar brain disorders (invisible disabilities) are caused by environment. Nothing could be farther from the truth. These disorders are genetic and/or caused by brain trauma and/or injuries. Those who equate boredom with attention deficit disorders downplay a very real and tragic disability.
The new Educational bill recently voted upon by our USA senators have made it possible for teachers and principles to further marginalize these disabled children and arbitrarily expell them for things they have no control over
do you think any IT Director with half a brain is going to suggest letting Microsoft a) handle authentication to their sensitive data nad b) allow that data to be stored @ microsoft? I didn't think so
:P. There are a myriad of corporations out there that have IT dirs and mgrs (as well as VPs+) who are complete M$ bigots, read nothing but pro-M$ literature, cannot tolerate any deviance from their stance and will weed-out any employee who suggests any other application other than M$.
... corps follow what other corps do blindly because in order for monopolies to exist, there has to be complete cooperation among the "old boys".
Think again
What you failed to grasp in your analogy was that money marries money
I'd like to think this a conspiracy theory but cannot. Why else would so many huge corps (and gov't agencies) still hang on to and even upgrade their M$ o/s's no matter the cost or proven lack of support, reliability and speed. It aint rocket science folx.
If you think unions are so good, why can't they keep manufacturing and other industrial jobs from going to Mexico and overseas? Non-union sites are shipping Merican mfg jobs overseas as well. The fact is that unless Mericans are willing to work for $1/day or "free", mfg'g and other jobs will be going overseas. Ever heard of the bottom line kid? Companies have cut to the bone inside and outside the tech sector. Its trendy and fits right in with the WTOrder. Unions are not just about wage negotiations and fair o/t practices, they are also about negotiating for benefits and employee plans such as pensions and health care. When AOL bought out TimeWarner they slashed and burned 7000 jobs across the nation. They have a skeleton cd mfg production facility here in the USA but the bulk of the Merican jobs are now in Taiwan. The staff that is left have seen negative wage increases, health care benefits switched to Aetna (nuff said), stock options and bonuses dropped, and their hours doubled or tripled to make up for the lack of staff without o/t pay or comp. time. The attitude is "your lucky to still have a job". Unions may not have had the clout to stop these arbitrary actions on behalf of AOL/TW, but is sure as hell would have slowed it down. We're not talking small to medium size companies here .. this is mega corporation and the story is the same across the board of corporations. Ah aren't trade agreements wonderful? Who was it that said the third world (developing) countries would come back to haunt us?
LOL you go pops! I'd love to get you old foggies on the net and OFF THE DAMN ROAD! :P
Hugz Pops
Climate change could vary easily have contributed to the extinction.
... they invented fire and tools without which none of our so-called civilized inventions would have been possible.
... it's 100 years old and has witnessed the most catastrophic rape of nature of any society. Unlike foragers and agriculturalist, the modern industrial society dug deep into the earth's crust causing all kinds of adverse effects to nature with no regard to future generations (indeed present generations) in the name of profit.
:).
At one time I had my doubts about the ice age wiping out prehistoric animals and man as well, but in January 1998 I lived in Kingston Ontario during the ice storm and that effectively erased any doubts I had about the theory of the ice age being a factor in extinctions.
Two thousand miles of land were effected to the point that it brought all of our modern innovations to a screeching halt for weeks on end. Indeed, in parts of Quebec, normalcy was not restored until May that year.
This was caused by three days of constant freezing rain that coated everything with 2" of ice! It was hard to sleep at night because all you heard were large tree limbs crashing to the ground under the weight of the ice. It wiped out hundreds of miles of forest and threw thousands of people into a state of absolute awe at the destructive powers of nature. Many people lost their lives.
It is highly unlikely that early man wiped out great creatures. They lived in tribal communities and lived off the surface resources of the land alone. To say they were primitive savages is more than ignorant
These foraging societies were indeed in tact with all seven social systems in place and endured at least 40,000 yrs. The agricultural age followed which endured 10-12,000 years with all seven social structures in tact. Then the Industrial society came along
Did man wipe out extinct large mamals? Yes, but not with spears and rocks. Got doubts? Well take a swim in the Hudson River and then swallow a nice glass of that water daily. Throw out your asthma medication and your suntan lotion. Keep supporting the massive daily destruction of the rain forests (our oxygen tent) and bring back coal and other fossil fuels. That will take care of you and I nicely
Because you are FREE to purchase or trade with any country that the USA does NOT deem it's ENEMY like Cuba, Lybia, Iraq, and formerly South Africa under aparthied. That's limited freedom but yet a Canadian can travel to Cuba on vacation (although restricted for good reason) with no problem at all and smoke Cuban cigars till they puke :P.
... they bought up all the prime beach areas and other desirable realestate, they established gambling and all vices that come with it, and they proceded to not only disrepect the culture and laws of Cuba, but also to impose their culture (or lack thereof) on Cuban society with no regard or respect for Cuban culture and mores.
... use the resources up (including the people) and leave the cleanup to the host country ... Cuba while sending all profits back to the USA.
Why restricted travel in Cuba? Maybe they learned from history in Cuba. When the Americans were allowed in Cuba they did as Americans do
They also dominated the economy to the benefit of the USA and established Cuba as a hinterland
When Cuba fought back they became the ENEMY. I hope that one day the USA does not have to suffer the indignities they imposed on Cuba and countless other sovereign nations whom have had the misfortune of allowing US interests into their countries.
Whenever the US declares another ENEMY I tend to look a little deeper than the nightly US news.
I agree with this post. I hate to see ignorant posts like the "USA saved France twice". Those people are watching too much American propoganda movies and TV.
.. well they were dragged kicking and fighting into WWII and only after Pearl Harbour. At best they showed up in 1942. Considering the rest of the world was involved since 1939 and stayed for the duration, I hardly think it's wise to claim the USA saved France during WWII. It was the total allied forces with the RELIEF efforts supplied by the "better late than never" USA.
:P.
:).
Vive la Net Libre
France went up against a super power that was sweeping across all of Europe with great success. France put up a valiant attempt considering the odds but fell like most of Europe to the Germans.
Despite this, they continued with a strong and very effective underground movement called La Resistance. They risked their lives and the lives of their families much like those Europeans who sheltered jews from the slaughter.
Now as for the USA
Now for Vietnam. The French were in VN for 20 yrs before the USA came in and the French warned the USA that it was a futile war and that the gorilla warfare going on was unlike anything that France (or the USA) had ever encountered and had little chance of winning. You can't tell that to the good old USofA. Hell no, they have a sad history of always underestimating their so-called enemies. So they ignored the advise and plunged into Vietnam to their perile. They did not save Vietnam any more than they saved France.
I agree also with a former poster who suggested some of you pompus Americans pick up a history book - preferrably one printed outside the USA
As for the French Judge's decision to attempt to stop Yahoo from posting nazi promotional material internationally? Well the Internet is not nationally bound. It is borderless and let's hope it stays that way. If France wants to block Yahoo then let them do so, but don't impose their laws internationally. I think Yahoo is a target case that will eventually spread to the whole web. I hope Yahoo stares them down
That's like going to your friendly ATM machine and when the screen comes up with "Do you agree to this charge? Yes? No?" Press No and it effectively blows out your transaction. Smart-tags? Press disable and your Linux powered PC blows out? heh
And Apple stole its interface from Xerox! Do you know why there's only one bite out of the Apple logo? One bite and you spit it out UGHHH!
How about a boss who steals credit for everything his employees do and claims it as his own initiative even if he so much as received an e-mail from the employee with the complete project from start to finish? How about that same boss demeaning the employee to his superiors while claiming the employees work? How about the time, effort and money the employee invests in his own training that is not compensated by the company but is used by same? How about a program development that is used by this company in their world-wide organization without even so much as a *nod* to the developer? How about the company who accepts further development from the self-taught and self-trained employee and does not offer patent or compensation for such development. How about the same employee who has SAVED the said company 9 million dollars, 4 million dollars and much more without even getting a thank you for it? Indeed, the employee was written-up by the manager for spending too much time on the same programs that cut mfg. steps in plant-wide, company-wide production from 35 steps to 2 saving 2 hrs. production time per shift over 3 shifts. How about the employee who finally had enough and wrote a rebuttal to a poor review and was consequently ignored by HR because his manager had friends in high places? How about one yr. later the loyal employee of more than 15 yrs was fired - along with 7,000 other people for performance issues? How about that employee now working for a service industry who treats him with the respect and integrity the other should have recognized all along? How about that side of the coin kind sir or madam?
I agree that comparing working conditions in the huge multi-national corps is not comparable to slavery unless you consider the fact that companies here in the USA are shipping mfg. jobs out to places like China (free prison labour) and Taiwan (bargain basement labour prices) and Mexico. Point in case ... AOL cd's are mfg in Taiwan where they used to be mfg'd. in PA. The mfg. plant still exists and reaps in the benefits of state tax incentives for providing employment, but no longer provides those jobs. The once gainful mfg. plant becomes a distribution center for goods made overseas (China preferably where prison labour is free ... slavery?) or Taiwan, Mexico, or other third world nations where the labour is cheap and
environmental impact is of no concern.
So who is employed in the new distribution plant? Part time workers and preferably p/t workers who are new immigrants under a working visa. Not that there is a shortage of qualified people here to do the job and do it well (they have been doing it for 15+ yrs), but rather because the foreign workers can (and are) held hostage by the company under threat of deportation (10 days after they lose their employment) if they do not work for min. wage (or less) and work unpaid overtime at the company's discretion ... oh let's say 60-70 hrs/wk.
Consider also the cost to the communities brought on by these slash and burn job cuts. People lose their jobs, they lose their homes (eventually) and they lose their sense of pride through no fault of their own. Small businesses that were created to serve the needs of the working community dwindle and eventually die.
This in the name of grossly inflated profits?
Something's wrong in paradise methinks!
How do they do it? Year (usually start with a 00 yr like 1900 or 2000) divided by 4. Then year divided by 100 + year divided by 400 = modulo 7 = day. Gives you Jan. 1 If you want Apr.22, Jan. 1 + number of day for each month. Did this guy make money on this? HAH! There used to be a sucker born every minute, now it's every second :P
Finally someone who sees that the dems and reps are one in the same. Identical agenda! Wait! were there any other parties running in the last federal election? Not according to the mass media. Ah .. democracy *cough* in action.
Absolutely it means something. Consider that the mass media is owned and operated by huge monopoly corporations like AOL/TimeWarner for example, who have directors sitting on the board of the largest of the corporations mentioned in the article .... General Motors. It is not in their best interests to have facts like those stated on the website get out to the masses.
Most people in the industrial world get their news (propogranda) from the couch. It's *fast* and *easy* that way. This is referred to as ROTE LEARNING.
These same people (the masses) don't even know what the WTO is even though its provisions will directly affect their standard of living and their so-called freedoms. Anything of content surrounding the WTO is conspicuously absent in the mass media yet its conferences are enthusiatically attended by all leaders of major corporations and heads of government from at least 43 nations.
The masses would be better informed if they signed on to unsponsored (and thus unbiased) websites like http://www.zmag.org for their information. I'm not suggesting people ignore the mass media (propogranda has its place in every society), but rather gather information from several sources and compare them (bring them up to a topic of analysis) to arrive at an informed decision.
During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act--George Orwell
Corporate America has already previously converted a huge population of intelligent individuals into a vast ARMY of LAMERS ... Americans!
Yours is probably the most accurate description of American media I have heard in a very long time. If you are under the impression that the American mass media monopoly does not control your thoughts, opinions, beliefs, and needs (as opposed to wants), I suggest you pick up a copy of Ben Bagdikian's Media Monopoly.
The language situation in Quebec goes way beyond language. It is reverse-racism. 99% of all government jobs are held by Francophones in Quebec which screams of discrimination. Being bilingual in Quebec holds no weight at all. The government and fully half of the population (if the last referendum is any measure) exclude anyone who even has an English name (first or last). The day-to-day lives of people in Quebec who are not "de souche" (of pure French ancestory on both sides) or pur laine" (sounds a lot like arien no?") is intolerable. I left Quebec because I was distraught at being treated like a 2nd class citizen in my home. I can trace my Francophone maternal ancestory back to 1640 and my Anglophone paternal ancestory back to 1850. I sent both of my children to French schools (voluntarily) only to have to withdraw them and place them in the English school system by grade 3. Why? Because they were suffering verbal and physical assult in school simply because their mother had some trace of English (a name). While I agree with the preservation of the French language in Quebec and realize how fragile it is clustered between a sea of English, I do not agree with the underlying condemnation of anything non-Francophone to the point of absolute racism.