Big Guy

I think that the next leader will be Martha Hall Findlay. She has always impressed me as an honest broker, she will be acceptable to the young and the old and does not carry any Chretien vs Martin baggage.

It appears that some of the posters here are confusing lust (sex) with sharing pleasuring with someone you love. There is a big difference.

Google US Steel federal law suit settlement. Another example to prove your point.

Just heard that a Canadian helicopter mysteriously appeared as a gift from Canada. It appeared to come from somebody named B. Stronach.

Something similar occurred in my area where US Steel wanted to purchase the old Stelco plant in Nanticoke Ontario just East of Simcoe where we reside. The purchase was evaluated and support from the federal government was based on the promise that US Steel would adhere to certain labor conditions. When the economy went south so did most of US Steel’s business. They started to shut down. The Canadian workers were left without the right for EI or welfare. A year later things got a little better but the federal government took US Steel to court for not adhering to the agreement. The suit bounced in courts and finally the feds made an out of court settlement without informing their co-litigants – the union.Lots of bad feelings all around and lots of angry people. The local economy took a real hit as those previously highly paid workers were off without any income for about a year. It was Tony Clement who was in charge of the original deal. It should not be that much of a surprise. The details can be easily located by Googling US Steel federal law suit settlement.

Bishop Raymond Lahey had pleaded guilty to importing child pornography and has been sentenced. He will probably not spend any more time in jail. He certainly is not the picture of the sinister, unshaven, lowbrow who lurks in the shadows with other vermin. I understand that the criminality of his act is in providing a market for those who actually physically abuse the children to produce the materials and gain financial benefit from the process. That makes one wonder why the courts are so lenient with “john’s” who support prostitution and drug users who finance drug pushers and dealers. Any time another of these child sexual abuse cases comes up, the public reaction varies from “string him up” to “castrate that dirty … “. As distasteful as I find this deviant behaviour against children to be I do wonder why we deal with sexual abuse of children as a criminal act as if the perpetrator is a normal individual who is able to control his his/her actions. To gain erotic pleasure from the exploitation of innocent children is bizarre. The act itself indicates that the person is wired wrong. The behaviour is so repugnantly abnormal that the individual must have some form of mental illness. The recidivism rate tells us that throwing these mentally ill people into jail serves only to temporarily separate them from us at a very high cost of incarceration. There must be a better way.

Law enforcement could very easily eradicate the majority of drunk driving very quickly. Check out everybody leaving bar and restaurant parking lots in the late evenings. Do the same outside of halls which host stags, weddings etc. Drunks would fill the jails and many businesses would go bankrupt. Instead, it chooses to play this game of giving the public a chance to “run” for a bit and then the real process begins. Innocent people keep getting killed and we keep playing this silly game.

I will let the readers into a very well kept secret but one that any wine buff should know; Norfolk County Ontario, the area in which I live is slowly becoming a player in the world wine trade. The collapsing tobacco industry has forced some land owners to switch to grapes which thrive in the same kinds of soils. There are now a number of vineyards who have grown over the last few years to form an association and a marketing plan. Recently, there was a competition in Queens Park in Ontario to choose an exclusive wine to be served at official functions. After a tasting by experts, the winner this year was “The Strip Room” (referring to a tobacco leaf process) a red produced by the “Burning Kiln” located near to Simcoe Ontario. This red sells for $24 a bottle and is great success. The Niagara people are looking over their shoulders and wondering where these rookies are coming from. The “Strip Room” is really worth a taste.

Of course we should accept gays as refugees!! Gays are just misguided individuals with a difficulty in social adjustment based on a malfunctioning ability of libidinal evolution being restricted by a hostile environment – just ask any religious right winger. We should accept them and allow them to see the light and have their malfunctions “repaired”. The solution is a change in environment and lots of prayer! In fact, it might be legislated and called the “Pedro and Buddy” act.

I suggest that the question might be; what is considered to be a “religious country”? One in which all religions are encouraged and most of the population participates - or countries where one religion dominates and is also part of the political process.

We are already guaranteed religious freedom by disassociating government from religion. We already have a judicial system which interprets the constitution and guarantees those freedoms. One sure way of inhibiting religious freedom is to create a “Ministry of Religious Freedom” by which a government can redefine those freedoms according to current political dogma. This is not a good idea.

I do not disagree that Chretien used the excuse of finances to push the Liberal agenda at the time and to bleed the armed forces – that does not make the practice acceptable.

Ottawa has announced a plan to cut $4 billion a year in an attempt to get rid of our $multi-billion deficit. This will include cutting programs, services and workers. Every department was asked to produce a plan for a 10% cut and one for a 5% cut. These plans have been submitted and the ministers have their knives and scissors ready. While the process appears to be sound I do not trust Tony (what $50 million?) Clement and/or his boss in what criteria they will be using to make the cuts. The Harper government has to take much of the blame since under Harper, public service employment shot up 33,000 to a total of 282,000 (not counting defence) and spending has also ballooned, from $209 billion to the current $274 billion. Many pundits have noted that this extra spending went disproportionately to Conservative friendly ridings and causes. Will these new cuts reflect the same domestic pro-conservative criteria? There certainly are a number of programs that have been proven unsuccessful and should be terminated but I fear that effective programs, but ones which do not fit into the right wing dogma, will also disappear. Will this new trimming process be based on fiscal responsibility or another process of right wing dogmatic cleansing? More importantly, with a weak recovery, is this the time to be making cuts?

If one wanted to guarantee not to offend any reader then one would not post. The mere act of posting an opinion suggests that one wants someone to read it and comment on it. If that was not the intent then one would post only to be able to read their own post on their computer screen as part of an opinion board a fact that somehow validates that point of view to the poster. Any opinion will elicit a negative response in somebody. I have been active on anonymous electronic bulletin boards for many years and can remember only two instances where someone was able to change somebody elses opinion and stated that fact as a post. There are interesting studies which include disturbing conclusions as to why some people post anonymously to these kinds of boards.

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I think that the problem and danger with “hate” crimes or “hate” speech is that it is the intent which defines the transgression. Any evaluation of intent of a statement or action is subjective in nature and open to another individuals opinion, sensitivity and possibly his/her personal agenda. I believe that we had crossed the line when we decided that there were people, cultures, religions or events that were “special” and criticism of them be as “hate” to discourage discourse. There is no room in true freedom of speech to provide “special” protections for “special” individuals or groups. We are all and none of us are “special”.

Strange way to describe the Dalton McGuinty who will probably soon be the next leader of the federal Liberals and PM when it is again the Liberals turn. I do not think that Dalton will run again in provincial politics.