Wilber

The US Pacific fleet lost almost all of its battleships in the Pearl Harbour attack. The Army Air Force lost most of its ground based air power. If the fleet had lost its carriers it would have been screwed. Their fleet survived a near run thing at the Coral Sea and while they new that Midway was an objective, they were outnumbered and their decisive victory was due as much to luck and a poor decision by the Japanese as anything else. A loss in either of these battles would have left Hawaii open to invasion and the West Coast open to attack. There may have been mistakes made but knowingly letting the attack happen without warning is ridiculous. When it comes to historical accuracy Tora Tora Tora is probably one of the best war movies ever made. Hindsight is easy because it doesn't have to deal with the fragmented chaos of the time.

If that were the case why hasn't the void they created been filled by foreign manufacturers like it has in the auto and electronics industries?

BC did the same in 2001 when it was getting equalization but it was only part of a program to get the economy moving and get us out of receiving equalization, which has now happened. Will Quebec do the same or just keep bellying up to the trough?

It seems only American consumers are dumb. A common refrain on such programs as Fifth Gear and Top Gear in the UK when they review American cars is the number of inane placards that come with them pointing out the obvious which only a moron who should never be let near a car let alone given a driver's license should need. All legal ass covering.

One particular case over 20 years ago a 20+ old Cessna crashed because the seat tracks were worn out, the pilots seat slid back after take off resulting a loss of control and the deaths of 4 people. There was 20M plus award against Cessna because they hadn't informed owners that they needed to be inspected. If it was a hidden defect, I might have some sympathy but this is a part that can easily be seen with the naked eye without removing anything and should be expected to wear. It is placed on all those who have to buy liability insurance and their customers. In the case of aircraft being bought for commercial use it is placed on the customers customers. One thing I didn't mention about Millar. His tactic failed not because he wasn't successful in drastically cutting claims against him. It failed because suppliers wouldn't serve him because he didn't have insurance. Catch 22. Even though he cut claims to 8M he was still forced to pay 25M for insurance with a 15 M deductible to stay in business. Bottom line is, he couldn't. Such is the fear of litigation in the US. A historic company fails and its employees are out of work. Most of the rest of the industry went with it. All the innovation in light aircraft for the past 30 years has been with amateur and kit builders. Regular manufacturers can't absorb the cost of innovation and the risk it presents. Read an instruction manual for anything you buy, up to 50% of it is legal ass covering that has nothing to do with operating the thing. General aviation aircraft manufacturers. In the sixties you could buy a 4 place light aircraft for not much more than a loaded Caddy or Lincoln. Now you are looking at closer to Bentley and Ferrari prices.

Which are not enforceable when it comes to state sponsored terrorism.

Nothing can be built which will last forever. You cannot hold the builder liable forever. It has nothing to do with planned obsolescence or building inferior products. If you use something, eventually it will wear out. It wasn't like foreign manufacturers took over from Cessna and Piper because their products were inferior. Brand new light aircraft of any origin are rare these days and the price of older ones has gone through the roof. I sold a 1964 vintage Piper Cherokee in 1988 for 18K CAD. It would easily be worth over 50K now because the price of a Warrior III, the latest version is over 200K US. The liability problem is not just for the aircraft manufacturer alone but the manufacturer of every nut, bolt, bearing or other part in it. As an engine shop guy once said to me when I was bitching about the price of some part. "I can show you a $200 bearing. You can probably buy the same thing from Timkin for $20 but it isn't certified and doesn't have the right part #." Why? largely because of certification costs and a huge amount of liability for a limited production part. It wasn't just Cessna, most companies didn't survive and Piper also had to be resurrected by new owners.

Isn't that exactly how equalization works?

The lawsuits are merely following the malpractice. Drs and hospitals are their own worst enemy. Putting a cap on lawsuits would be ridiculous. It would keep the same Drs mistakes happening time and tme again. Rising premiums are not just due to lawsuits either. They are a result of poor management of investments, and to be honest the market was bad, and poorly managed premium targets . I dissagree, things like product liability and malpratice litigation have been an anchor around the neck of US productivity. Open ended product liability destroyed the light aircraft industry in the US. Courts were awarding monster settlements after crashes of 30+ year old aircraft because the company didn't warn the owners that certain parts like seat tracks would eventually wear out and fail if they weren't inspected and maintained. Cessna, the largest aircraft maker in the world in volume stopped building general aviation aircraft all together and has just restarted limited production since there have been some limits put on liability. Piper said that each aircraft cost them more in product liability than the labour it took to build them. They are basicaly hand built. Cessna said it cost them an average of over $60K per aircraft built. People need to be held financialy responsible for their actions but the US has gone overboard. Their huge settlements penalize far more people than those directly involved. In the words of Stuart Millar the former owner of Piper at an EAA seminar at Oshkosh. "I hear a lot of people say I don't like lawyers. I like em just fine if you cook em right."

Me to.

How long will this thread continue to go round in circles? The same stuff is being rehashed over and over. I hope you guys are just rattling Poly's chain and not trying to reason. This is not a theory, it is an obsession and anything that contradicts that obsession is either not to be tolerated or must be ignored. Reason, if it ever existed, departed long ago.

We accept a great deal of risks everyday, and people DELIBERATELY trying to kill us is one of them, it goes on everyday, in every city, town and country. We have accepted laws to deal with criminals who attempt to kill people. Yes we have and we have also accepted the possiblilty that going to war might be neccessary in order to deal with the ones ours laws cannot.

Then it must be said that more respect is due the Loyalists of yesterday than the Leftists of today. They actually left! I don't know. If you love your country isn't sticking around and trying to change it instead of running away the respectable thing to do? It's easy to talk about leaving but quite another thing to do it. Unless it comes to an armed conflict between the left and right in the US you can't really compare the two. I think the country has grown up since then.

We accept certain risks as a part of life. People deliberately trying to kill us is not one our society considers acceptable.

Most probably not with a minority government but they are the exception and of course a government cannot function if it doesn't have the confidence of Parliament, so an election would have to be called. I am in favour of them for no other reason than they prevent governments from calling elections based purely on political advantage, particularly majority governments who have no other interest than padding or maintaining their majority.

Well that's completely different. In that system, fixed dates are needed. In the current system, it can't work. Why not? It is working so far in BC. There hasn't been any speculation on an early election since it was brought in six years ago because we know the exact day of the next election.

Unless it is a loss of confidence, governments always call elections on the premise that they need a mandate for something. The real reason is almost always that they feel it is the most opportune time to advance or hold on to their own political fortunes. It is never because they need a mandate on a specific issue regardless of what they say.

Apparently it doesn't stop you. Fact: She's not born in Canada. My point: she's not born in Canada. So how am I wrong here? Fact: She has no qualifications for a job with really low qualifications. My point: she lacks qualifications. So how am I wrong here? Being born in Canada has never been a criteria for any public office in Canada. I was skeptical of her appointment originally but now think she has done credit to her office. She is also drop dead gorgeous.

True enough. Of course it won't prevent a minority government from having to call an election if it looses the confidence of Parliament but it will prevent any government from calling one for no other reason than political opportunism which is the case most of the time. Games will be played and minorities may be able to engineer their own defeat at times but it would be more difficult to screw around with the system using fixed dates.

Have had them in BC since 2001. Half way through the second mandate using a fixed date.

I see little point in debating which religion has the most violent history. There is enough guilt to go around. Today, the overwhelming amount of violence being committed in the name of religion is being carried out by those who would call themselves Muslim. That is what we are dealing with.

The Chinese will eventually become a big player but people are looking for quality not cheap when it comes to cars even when it comes to basic transportation. That is why the Japanese have been so successful. They don't dominate the market on price, they do it on their reputation for quality.

Please say there is an investigation going on. I haven't heard of one. The incriminating documents have been provided to the RCMP, have they not? Apparently documents have been provided. It is up to the police and prosecutors to decide if they are incriminating. That's the way our system works.

It depicts war in a more realistic light, it doesn't show it as something glorious. Good movie but the ending never made sense to me.

I can't believe they choked and gave the 'lanche a shoot out win. Grrrrr. Sucks alright. That's about the third time they have blown two goal leads in recent weeks.