Canuck E Stan

The Iraq file: Who wants to fight shoulder to shoulder with the U.S. now?

Gore quotes we will always remember:

So Stephane Dion steps up to the hot dog cart with his fork and knife and says: "Make me one with everything." The hot dog vendor fixes a hot dog and hands it to Dion, who pays with a $20 bill taken from a brown envelope. The hot dog vendor puts the bill in the cash drawer and closes the drawer. "Where's my change?" asks Stephane. The hot dog vendor responds: "Change must come from within."

A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. Like so many others her age, she considered herself to be a good NDP-er, and was very much in favour of the redistribution of wealth. She was deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch Conservative, a feeling she openly expressed. Based on the lectures that she had participated in, and the occasional chat with a professor, she felt that her father had for years harboured an evil, selfish desire to keep what he thought should be his. One day she was challenging her father on his opposition to higher taxes on the rich and the addition of more government welfare programs. The self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be the truth and she indicated so to her father. He responded by asking her how she was doing in school. Taken aback, she answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let him know that it was tough to maintain, insisting that she was taking a very difficult course load and was constantly studying, which left her no time to go out and party like other people she knew. She didn't even have time for a boyfriend, and didn't really have many college friends because she spent all her time studying. Her father listened and then asked, "How is your friend Audrey doing?" She replied, "Audrey is barely getting by. All she takes are easy classes, she never studies, and she barely has a 2.0 GPA. She is so popular on campus, college for her is a blast. She's always invited to all the parties and lots of times she doesn't even show up for classes because she's too hung over." Her wise father asked his daughter, "Why don't you go to the Dean's office and ask him to deduct a 1.0 off your 4.0 GPA and give it to your friend who only has a 2.0. That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA and certainly that would be a fair and equal distribution of GPA." The daughter, visibly shocked by her father's suggestion, angrily fired back, "That wouldn't be fair! I have worked really hard for my grades! I've invested a lot of time, and a lot of hard work! Audrey has done next to nothing toward her degree. She played while I worked my tail off!" The father slowly smiled, winked and said gently, "Welcome to the Conservative Party".

This is unlike top dog Dion's long slide from 40% in the polls back in December, all the way to the present fork n' wiener 30% to 33%. Liberals the lead over Tories What happened to Dion, once he got it up, he just couldn't keep it up.

And fix them......VW is one of the worse for costly repairs, check their record on line before you do.

From the other link Lemon Aid 10 Biggest Auto Myths 1. You get what you pay for. No, cheaper cars are often better than luxury lemons. 2. Mercedes makes the best cars. No longer; even German drivers say they prefer Toyota and Lexus. 3. Hybrids are the future. Don’t bet on it; fuel economy is over-stated by half and they can fry you in an accident. 4. Saturn is a different car company. Yeah, it is a pain in Uranus. 5.Toyota and Honda have impressive reliability. No longer; Trannies, engines and sliding doors are their nemesis. 6. New cars are better than used. Only if you are a new car dealer.. 7. US car companies are on the rebound. Call it a ‘dead cat bounce’ before rigor-mortis sets in. 8. You get a better deal paying cash. Only if you are from Bogota. 9. Dealers are more honest today. No, they just cheat you differently. 10. Cars are better made today. Partly, yes. Bodies are safer and more durable; engines and transmissions are less reliable and costlier to fix. Honda and Toyota are no longer what they were, and Toyota's quality is now questionable as Lemon Aid states. Is Toyota's Quality Slipping?

The best source for information about autos is Phil Edmonston's Lemon Aid The best way to pick a car is based on it's past history. Generally the first three years of a car's life is repair free, after that, the real breakdowns occur. Lemon Aid tells it like it is, including the "hidden" warranty info. Worth the purchase. Consumer's Report tends to evaluate newer autos and sets their stats from reports from those who send them info,but they do give info on used cars(best and worse) and this is type of information a buyer should look when considering a vehicle,new or used.Consumer Reports rates reliability of 1998-2005 models A auto division may make the best list and the worst list with two different models(e.g. Lincoln) and the best way to find out about a vehicle's future repair costs is to ask the dealer a simple question like how much to change the spark plugs in a car? Or how often do you have to change the timing belt and how much? These questions in some cases will be real eye opener to a buyer, and the cost can be quite different. Some cars need three hours to change the plugs(at $100.an hour and $30 a plug) and a bill of $900 for a timing belt change that is required by the manufacturer to be changed every 100 k for warranty is the norm for many cars.Not something the back yard mechanic would want to do. I believe the north american cars tend to be engineered for easier repair than the foreign models.

and let's not forget that he also said.....

........and the rest of the story that wasn't quoted.

You need to join a private club forum made up of individuals like yourself. This way you can keep the riff-raff you tend to want to reject away from your forum. I personally accept the public air-waves of this internet forum and think Gregg is doing a decent enough job in getting rid of the extremes. No one is making you stay here,you can venture to other forums and not return.No notice is required. No one will care and many others will take your place.

Ho-hum. An industry lobbyist writes an article lobbying for special measures for his industry. What special measure? He wants a tax break for his industry. Why doesn't he advocate an across thye board income tax break? That would benefit employees and shareholders in his industry - and everyone else too. He also wants lower electricity prices: (He fails to mention that Canadian electricity prices are among the lowest in the world.)IOW, he also wants Canadians to subsidize his industry through low electricity prices. (While Canadians are paying world prices for gasoline.) But what I really admire is how this lobbyist wraps himself in the flag and presents his personal (or induistry) problem as a problem for us all: Suddenly, the threat to this industry is a threat to all "well-trained and educated" Canadians. ---- There is a simple answer to this guy: the Sun competes with all of Canada's hydros. The Sun offers energy and light more cheaply than Hydro-Quebec, Ontario Hydro and BC Hydro could ever generate it. Should we give special tax breaks to Hydro employees because the Sun can provide light more cheaply? Any time a lobbyist complains that foreigners can do it cheaper, just think of the Sun and Hydro. Thank you August and Catchme for offering solutions to the question of what we can do to bring manufacturing into Canada. If industry is getting all these advantages,why isn't there more of it in Canada? We do have a problem in this country with manufacturing and I hear your complaints,but I don't hear your solutions. 150,000 lost jobs since 2002,what's your answer to bringing them back....bitchin' isn't going to convince anyone to come here or stay here. Solutions will,what's yours?

I don't think that's true, look at the Toyota factories in Ontario. The workers there make more than the workers of the CAW and have a product that is in high demand. The offshot of a place like Toyota provides even more secondary jobs. I agree with geoffrey, the government has done a poor job on bringing jobs here and spends too much $$$ trying to keep them from leaving. So how do we get more of these jobs into Canada?

Any predictions for the seat outcome on May22 ? 2003 election Liberal 2 NDP 35 PC 20 ------------------------------------ Here's mine for 2007 Liberals 1 NDP 33 PC 22 Green 1

Interesting article from the Globe and Mail written by Richard Paton,president of the Canadian Chemical Producers Association. Losing Manufacturing jobs in Canada Even thought the headline says one thing, obviously written by an editor who didn't read the whole article the article gives kudos to the committee on industry for their work. But there is a problem with keeping business here. How can we provide a climate in Canada to encourage business to stay and to build the manufacturing sector. Where have we gone wrong and how do we turn it around.

More like making parliament looking ineffective. All parties will be blaming the others for the ineffectiveness. In the end the public will decide who the worse offenders are.

I'm not sure they can but you're welcome to believe that. You seem to think anti-government Albertans can.

That's not quite what you stated before. Sounds like you did some wishful thinking.

I'm just trying to figure out from your statement where anti-government Albertans and trusting particular Federal institutions are somehow related. I'm sure Separatists in Quebec can still trust particlar Federal institutions without being pro-government.

Probably because they are in the graphs that are in the newspaper itself. Pointless providing a link that doesn't support your statement.

Nice deflection. The only ones dumb enough to print a 200 page book on taxpayer money would appear to be the Tories. Taxpayer money?

According to the link the poll shows how 1000 people in Canada feel about Federal institutions, and how Quebecors feel about them. I couldn't find any reference in the article about how Albertans as a group feel.

Retired and still raising a family? You're the one living in this condo,I would never do it or even consider Vancouver as a place to retire.Raising a family in a 600 sq. ft. condo? Why would you do that to you and your family? If living in Vancouver means that much to you, then you get what it gives you. And if you can't figure out how to get out of that situation by cashing out, then you deserve what you got.

Yes, it's the Tories and not the opposition that's holding up all the bills by trying to ammend the crap out of every last one of them in the House and the Senate.

Jets promised to Winnipegers And the Liberals.....they probably say they are looking too.