Chuck U. Farlie

The idea is to follow the boom. Go where the money is. When the tar-sands are gone, time to move on. The problem with Alberta and why I will likely not go out there is the lack of affordable housing (apparently). A buddy in Calgary recently mentioned, although he may have been exaggerating, that a trailer in a trailer park could cost you upwards of $300000 there! Those are some rich (or heavily debted) Trailer Park Boys!

I agree completely Kimmie, and it's happening around the world. That, and the Arctic ice sheet is far from what it used to be as well. If this is not evidence of a world wide warming trend, then I don't know what is. The questions remain, are we the cause of the accelerated warming? Possibly. Is there anything that can be done at this point, or is it already too late and we will just have to live with the changes that come? I read somewhere, sorry no reference, that the carbon cycle effects are something like 50 years behind (although I have seen the time lag being from 7 years to 60+ years). So the effects we are seeing now are from the industrialization of 50 years ago. If that is true then even if we stop releasing as much greenhouse gas as we are now, we will still be hit much harder in the future.

I, for one, think that atheists are the most illogical of all, followed closely by believers. Atheists are just on the pessimistic side laying claim that nothing exists as opposed to something surely exists. Better to have an optimistic outlook than a pessimistic one, in my opinion. Afterall, how can you say with conviction that something simply doesn't exist anywhere in any form? I think it's being pretty egotistical about your own level of knowledge (or lack thereof) to be able to make that claim. At the end of the day, we are only one measly species on one measly planet - what the hell do we know absolutely (absence or presence) about anything? I mostly agree with what lionusfleabag has been saying here, but I don't accept the portion of the agnostic definition that says that we cannot know. I would like to think, but have no way of knowing, that IF there is a god like entity, then it could make itself known to us lesser beings.

$29/h is not bad at all to start, do you arrange housing too? I have an AZ and my record is spotless, but I don't have much experience on tractor trailers... almost all of my experience (9 years worth of heavy vehicle experience) has been on straight trucks.

I have seen a few people mention on this site, likely exaggerated, that wages are excellent in Alberta these days.... that even fast food workers are getting $15/hour, for example. What is the true picture for employment out there? Looking on the Canada Job Bank I noticed that truck driving jobs, for example, are paying roughly the same as here - about $20 per hour for local Class 1 (AZ drivers). Also, tell me about housing. I am hearing rumours here that people are going out there for work, but can't even find a place to sleep - they end up sleeping in their cars. Is this so? I was briefly considering looking for work in Alberta as it's booming and I should be going to where the money is at this stage in my life. I have a MSc in GIS/Remote Sensing, and failing work in that field I have an AZ (Class 1) license to fall back on. I would also be willing to learn aspects of oil-rigging as that would open up lucrative work in other parts of the world, and I love to travel. Any suggestions or ideas from you Alberta nationals? Hopefully you don't say 'just stay in Ontario and leave us alone' . Oh yeah, and if any one has a good job to offer me, PM me with the offer!

I am surprised no one brought this up before now, at least not that I could find when I searched for it: What are your thoughts? If something like this were passed, I could see it result in more crime - an incentive to be incarcerated. Think about it... you can't find work no matter how hard you try, and you are going further and further into debt paying your rent, utilities, food, etc.. However, if you commit a serious enough crime to be locked away you not only get your food and housing for free, but you could potentially save $10000 a year (after tax)... spend 20 years in and you could save $200000 not including any compounding interest. Could be a career move!

The problem is, and has been pointed out already, is where does it stop? Okay, make cell phone use while driving illegal as it's distracting. Also make eating while driving illegal. Also make drinking hot liquids while driving illegal because if you spill it on yourself that can be very distracting. They had also better ban women from dressing sexy or even just having nice asses - because Lord knows that can be distracting while driving down the road - how many rear end collisions have happened because of that? In fact, maybe we could argue that mandatory wearing of burqas would significantly reduce summer time rear-end collisions.

Thanks for the link RB... I, for one, got tired with academics - especially that which falls within the Environmental side of things, which very often GIS and remote sensing does. Many academics are dreamers doing study upon study of mostly pointless things that will never happen. For example, I did my Masters thesis regarding the spatial distribution of the forest fragments remaining in Hainan province, China. The whole point was refining the spatial statistical process of analyzing forest fragments... but it still seems completely pointless to me, even though it passed dissertation. I even considered doing a PhD, but I could not fathom another 4 years of Uni surrounded by academics.... I would have either become crazy or an alcoholic. In my personal experiences some of the most intelligent people I have met have been completely un-educated (formally)... and I have also met some extremely educated people that seem pretty dumb. I personally think that University is over-rated. Any intelligent and motivated person will seek knowledge irregardless of getting a piece of paper worth $50k at the end of it all. If only I knew how to calculate opportunity cost before going to university... either that or I should have listened to my old-man, who became a millionaire running a construction company, when he said don't bother with university.

The one thing to be noted, if it hasn't been said yet, is that each person has significantly different skill levels. For a hobby I fly ultralight aircraft. We have to communicate with landing strips and other pilots while flying and thinking in 3 dimensions rather than in just 2 such as when you are driving - nevermind the thought we have to put into meteorology, thermal lifting, crosswinds, etc.. But there seem to be a lot of pilots who can think about many things at the same time. By the way - I have had conversations on a cell phone while flying an ultralight... it's no big deal. Now consider truck drivers... they have GPS systems, cellphones, drive 14 hour days, radios, time limits, log books, and traffic to consider... all while controlling 40000 pounds plus of equipment. Some people can do many things at once, some can't. Personally I do my best thinking while driving or operating something... ultralight, motorcycle, car, truck, whatever.... my driving is instinct and routine, meanwhile my mind can wander and consider whatever is going on in my life. Perhaps this should be part of the licensing process... if you can drive and talk at the same time... fine... if you can't, you have a condition on your license. Conditions already exist if you can't see well enough, for example, so why not create a condition in that you can't do two things at once? I am also annoyed everyday at the people driving 10km/h below the speed of traffic, people that switch lanes without looking, or people who fail to recognize traffic conditions all because they are on the phone.... but to make a blanket law that covers everyone fails to recognize that different people have different skills. I think the laws that exist cover the problem. If an accident occurs, the police have an investigation, and if the accident is the fault of a certain driver for any given reason they get a careless or dangerous driving charge. At the end of the day, you can judge your own skills... be realistic and don't do something you are not capable of.

No, they can't be considering my marks as I don't submit transcripts - and if I did it shouldn't be an issue - have an 81% average for my undergrad and 86% for my masters. My field, in case you are wondering, is GIS/Remote Sensing. The main problem must be experience or lack there of. I do have experience (although somewhat limited), but since I am not getting call-backs despite re-working my CV countless times I am assuming that they must have a lot of candidates applying with similar or better credentials. The other turn of events has been a down-grading of the types of jobs that GISers get. Back in '96 to '98 when it was an emerging field, fresh graduates were starting at $40 to $50k as GIS technicians. Now if you take a look, GIS techs get about $25 to $30k a year to start - which is pathetic... I am better off driving truck for a living at that pay. Perhaps I chose the wrong field of study... and I am fully willing to retrain... the question is, what to retrain for where the jobs will still be there? Living in Toronto, I see Professional Engineers (immigrants) taking jobs stacking boxes... there are a lot of well-educated people in this country. It seems a bit crazy that I spent about $50000 getting my university degrees (the masters was paid for by scholarships and teaching assistantships), and took 6 years of my income earning life. Therefore the opportunity cost for me going to university was $50k + 6 x ~$30k = $230000 - and the pay back isn't there. If I were to address a room of high-school students about to embark on their post-secondary education, I would advise them to choose very very carefully about the investment they are making. I, for one, think that university courses are for the most part over sold. So many people would be much better suited to go into trades, but when I was leaving high school there seemed to be an implication that trades were for the 'dumber' kids... the smart kids go to university. Who really were the smart ones?

How about degree deflation? A bachelors degree no longer means as much as it used to as so many people have degrees these days. I have a masters degree and have been having a hard time sustaining employment in my field primarily due to the amount of competition that I have. The result is that due to a desire for job security, I am working in a field completely un-related to my degrees, and for considerably less money that what I would expect in my field. I don't know what to suggest to my daughter when she needs to decide on a career in 10 years. It's very hard to choose what to study and to be confident that you will get a good job after investing so much money in your education. In retrospect I should have become an electrician.... I would be earning more now and have spent considerably less time and money on education.

You've gotta love the Dutch... they allow open drug use, euthanasia, no real drinking age, prostitution is legal, and everyone is encouraged to stick their finger in a dike, but burqa's are illegal... hilarious... I am glad I am Dutch descent.

Grade 13 was eliminated when the majority of schools went to the semester system. They became OAC's... for the next 10 or so years you needed at least 6 OAC's to apply for University. Most people doing their OAC's had already graduated - we graduated in grade 12 as everyone received the same diploma, the OSSD. The crunch that you are referring to occurred a few years ago when they eliminated the OAC's... in effect the Universities had the OAC year and the grade 12 year coming at the same time. The confusion arises in that even though they were OAC's, most students still called it grade 13, even though it was incorrectly used.

I remember when I was in high school.... after Grade 13 was gone, but before OAC's were wiped out, between 1990 and 1994... in those days we only had to have 1 history credit out of the 30 or so credits needed to graduate. I, like most, took Grade 9 history and never thought about it again... I had way too many Maths and Sciences to take as thats what interested me and what I wanted to study in University. Since I studied sciences in University, I didn't have any history classes there either... about the closest resemblance to Canadian History was during a Human Geography class in which we learned about certain Native land claims and treaties... which I completely wiped from my brain the minute the exam was over.

Yeah Malamute, your timing is way off. The super continent of Pannotia existed between 600 and 540 million years ago, then started to break up eventually leading to how the earth is now. Any creature within the Homo genus, including modern humans, neaderthals, etc, only came about between 1.5 to 2.5 million years ago. No where near in the same time period of the super continent. Even more so, the idea that the so-called natives evolved here simultaneously as humans evolved elsewhere on the planet, yet they became the same species capable of inter-breeding is laughable. It just goes to show that you no understanding of even the simplest biological concepts which may be called theories (in the scientific usage of the word theory, not the general English usage), but in reality are working proofs shown thousands of times using bacteria, insects, small mammals, etc.. Anyway, all of this biological and geographical talk is pointless in regards to our modern problem. I am in agreement with Riverwind et al in that there should be no special treatment given to any Canadian. Everyone should be equal under the law irregardless of race, colour, sex, religion, sexual orientation, or whatever classification you can come up with. Giving special privileges to some only serves to create racism and animosity.

I'm still waiting to hear why a sovereign nation would bother to pay the Canadian government 'tax' on the cigarettes they produce and sell and why they would consent to allow a Canadian police officer to monitor their business... If you are sovereign, like you claim, then why are you being push-overs to the Canadian Government.... come on guys, stand up for yourselves.

I'm curious Scourge... If FN are sovereign, then why do they pay this 'tax' at all? In fact, why do they allow a RCMP officer on their land to monitor their business? I can't understand why a sovereign nation would allow the Canadian Feds to do such things... are you a bunch of push-overs?

This is all a pointless thread. Even if the circumstances existed that somehow the existing human sapien species could split into two or more seperate species, the amount of time it would take, based on our life span and reproductive rate is too great for any of us to have a meaningful discussion about - we'll likely end up killing ourselves off long long beforehand. We can talk about evolution in insects... fine, we can witness it firsthand due to their short lifespans and rapid breeding cycles. Consider, for example, un-natural selection. Humans have been selectively breeding dogs for roughly 15000 years, give or take. Despite this amount of time selectively breeding these animals for the desired characteristics, they are all still the same species. One key way that biologists define a species is based on their reproductive capabilities. A german shepard can breed with a wolf, and the offspring will be reproductively fertile. They are the same species: Canis lupus. Certain closely related species, such as a donkey and a horse, may repoduce but their offspring are infertile. Other species - species to relationships produce nothing what-so-ever... just ask Angus the sheep-shagger. So... to get to my point... if 15000 years of selectively breeding dogs, which have relatively short lifespans and short gestation periods, in controlled environments fails to produce speciation then THERE IS NO WAY POSSIBLE THAT HIGH CLASS VERSUS LOW CLASS HUMAN SPECIATION WILL EVER OCCUR! In fact, even the weak-jawed human idea would have to be purposely selectively bred as a trait. You would have to ensure that only weak-jawed males bred with weak-jawed females, and you would have to cull the non-weak-jawed offspring.

Detroit has slipped, but it seems I say that every year.... San Jose looks good. My canucks get to tangle with them tommorow night, should be good game. San Jose is good hey. Very promising. Calgary plays the Leafs tomorrow, now that should settle the differences between me and the rest of the posters here when Calgary wins it. What happened with Calgary winning it? Sundin sure had a good night!

Just searching around on the 'net... and found this site which included a page entitled 'common misconceptions of islam': http://www.allaahuakbar.net/misconceptions/index.htm In here, there is a supposed reference to a quote in the Koran why women must cover themselves... apparently its to avoid molestation. This is ridiculous. Is rape that much of a problem in Muslim countries that they must force all women to cover up? Wouldn't it be better to punish the troublesome men, not the innocent women?

Shit... if it ever happens to you call the taxi's dispatch... tell them the cabbie won't give you a ride. They'll can his ass soon enough, after all, what are taxi's used for at night time but to cart drunks around? On a side note... when I first moved to Indonesia 6 years ago, me and my British housemate used to buy some beer and go ride the public buses to see where they went... nobody ever said a word about us drinking - in public - on a public bus - in a muslim country... good times... except for having to get off the bus every 20 minutes to piss. Good thing we didn't bring any BLT sandwiches though...

I know a little bit about this, as I nearly married a foreigner once, and my brother has done so. When you marry a foreigner they are not automatically a Canadian. You have to apply. The immigration process in this situation is much easier than the other methods (i.e. work or study reasons). If she is considered a refugee, then she must have applied for refugee status for some reason. Basically they would have 2 options: If they are married and not in Canada, they would apply for canadian citizenship in the family class. He would have to prove that he can support her in Canada, has work, etc.. They would have to wait for approval of her Permanent Residency outside of Canada. If approved and granted permanent residency, then she would be entitled to a SIN #, health care, etc... If they are married and are on Canadian soil, it is similar to above except that she can stay in Canada on a renewable tourist visa (without SIN # or health benefits) until the decision regarding her PR is made. From everything that I have read on the Canadian Immigration site, I have seen nothing that would suggest that a lesbian would have an easier or more difficult time coming to Canada...

In another thread, this quote below was posted regarding caucasians essentially being discriminated against because government hiring practices supposedly choose minorities first: Over the years, I have heard this rumour many times. I have heard anecdotal evidence about white males who considered themselves the best candidate losing out to a visible minority or a woman. Is there any basis to this? I have my own anecdote to add. I recently applied for a position at Canada Post. During the hiring procedure about 40 people were called in to write a Canada Post test - a kind of postal aptitude test. This room full of 40 people had maybe 10 caucasian men, 1 caucasian woman, maybe 5 black men, and about 15 asian/south asian men (these numbers are approximate). Before writing the test we all had to fill out a form that says if we are a recognized minority or not. This test was somewhat difficult - not due to the caliber of the question, but simply due to the amount of time given versus the number of questions. Many people with English as a first language would have some difficulty with this test, those with English as a second language would have great difficulty. Eleven (11) people, including myself, passed this test. Approximately 4 caucasian men, 1 caucasian woman, 1 black man, and 5 asian/south asian (East Indian) men passed. Only those that passed the test were called to interview. I, for one, got the job. So despite the minority survey that we filled out, it seems to me that Canada Post's hiring practices are pretty fair... they are based on the outcome of the written test and doesn't take into account your race or sex.

Another crazy day for guns at schools.... 2 schools closed in vegas and reports of deaths at a school in pennsylvania.... What the hell is happening to a society where guns at schools issues are becoming multiple in the same day!? How many gun deaths at schools in North America have there been in the past month?... Help me out... Montreal, the drifter who molested and shot a girl, some 15 year old who fatally wounded his principal, gunman spotted and two schools closed in Vegas, and now 6 reported dead in Pennsylvania... Seems a bit crazy to me... glad I am not a student anymore!

Yes, Indonesia was a bit mellower for a while. The Bali attacks, and the murder of Christians and Chinese, take some of the positive edge off the Indonesia story. The recently resigned PM of Malaysia made vitriolic anti-Jewish statements. The Muslim insurgency in the Phillipines is notoriously bloody. The Muslims' suppression of East Timor has been ruthless. Which Southeast Asian Muslism do you mean? Yes they had the Bali attacks... then again Oklahoma lost nearly an equal amount by a home-grown non-moslem terrorist... Yes some Christians have been murdered by Moslems... and some Moslems have been murdered by Christians. Yes some Chinese were killed during the riots of '98. I don't think that was much to do with religious differences, that was more based on economic disparity. And anyway, you must have missed where I said 'for the most part'... the regular every day people... the people that I ate with, worked with, and travelled with. They were nothing but the friendliest people, and not comparable what-so-ever to the way that Borg described his Moslem experiences. There is violence throughout the world... some of it is Moslem, non-Moslem related, some is not. You don't need to over-generalize.