Jerry J. Fortin

There is a zero hope for Harper to cave in, he would lose too much face for that. It would political capital that he cannot afford to spend.

Why is that a folly?

I have begun to seek out independents to support. There isn't always a candidate, and in that case I am stuck voting for the best one of the bunch, party affiliation has no weight with me in that case. Part of our problems stem from the lack of a provincial constitution, but most are simply because of partisan politics. Which is fine during an election but it really screws things up when it is time to sit down and actually govern. I may have to become a candidate soon, independent of course, just to prove the point. I couldn't care less if I don''t get elected but just having the opportunity to turn the tables on the partisan candidates in my riding would be reward enough. If by some strange circumstance I ever manage to get elected, the fun would really begin. With nobody to be accountable to outside of the riding, a representative could cause utter chaos in a legislature. Getting the time to speak is in fact a real problem, but there are always another way to skin a cat. At any rate the public is almost ready to start throwing support to independent candidates with the current trend of minority governments at the federal level, and in Alberta the PC's are getting a tad old. The Wildrose Alliance folks will likely make a dent next time around with a new leader. I think it will be Daneil Smith, smart cookie, and not to hard to look at either. That said the party has some issues before they run the next election. Some of the executive is a little off centre and some of the members are a little off the wall, but that is okay because it reflects a nice full spectrum sort of grass roots association. They are all free market capitalists and slightly to the right of the current PC government. So they at least have some traction out of the gate in the Land of the Red Neck. To return to the point, a representative of the people instead of another representative of the leader of apartisan group is something that has people talking out here in Alberta. Folks know that you can either support your leader or get tossed out of caucus in a heartbeat. When it come time to stand up for your riding, instead of your party leader, start packing up your pencils because you have lost your seat at the table with the grown ups. It is clear how the system works, and it does not favour the citizen it favours the party.

Are we positive about the polar axis of Betelgeuse? Is it not possible that massive energy discharges can cause axis shifts due to reduced volume and therefore mass?

I had a big fight during a union meeting about this very thing. Donating to the NDP. Eventually we decided to support nobody, but it wasn't pretty.

Ir would seem to me that folks are reaching for some ideal political stripe to paint on themselves. We not just conclude that you are an individual, and support an individualistic approach to politics. When you finally dust yourself off you will find yourself seeking an independent representative.

BC you are 100% right. I will now change my tune.

There is only one way to stop this kind of thing and that is to reject partisan candidates at the next election. Vote for an independent.

The capability will be improved upon day by day and year by year. We are heading into automated warfare, get used to the concept.

Hamas is willing to talk. Their word is not worth crap, but they are willing to talk. Meanwhile they will of course continue to bomb and murder with reckless abandon. How many rockets fell on Israel this week?

When Hamas gets the boot, or those poor folks quit killing Jews, I will support efforts of peace. Until that day the terrorists can live by the sword and expect to die by it.

The latest cruise missiles are cheaper than they used to be with increased abilities. The next generation of cruise missiles will have a programed memory of target potentials. It will know what a tank looks like, or an artillery piece, air defense systems, and lots more. They already have loiter ability now as well as the ability to change targeting information in flight. The next step is enhanced computers that will allow a search and destroy ability to look for and take out targets of opportunity as well as a return to base feature availability in forward zones to recapture an unused missile for refit and refuel making it available for reuse. UAV's are now armed as well. This makes them far more capable than simply recon. Technology improves almost daily.

That money should never have been made available in the first place, but since the politicians love to fan the flames every once in a while, the program was made available. I think its intended use was to inform the public, and these fools actually think that their partisan views accomplish this task. At any rate the concept is valid and the practical application sucks, as per usual with the government sadly enough.

Since when do the concerns of citizens mean a damned thing to politicians? If our feelings had anything to do with their agendas we would be paying less tax and there would be a damned sight less spending going on. Had the feelings of citizens been taken into account would we have bailed out the auto companies?

I think that tweak is a very mild description for what will happen. Iggy will have had some influence, but the party writes policy at least until he forms a government.

I am! Of course I have to find an independent candidate to support in my riding.

Yet Canadians will get an election very soon, one way or another, either this fall or next spring.

The rules apply to everyone. The political parties are cleaning up their collective acts. The next election needs a reason to happen, that is the reality we face.

Neither are fools, they avoided the election nobody wanted, a summer one. They agreed to do what was a buzz topic before summer, that was to talk about EI reforms, during the summer when no politician works anyway. Layton is now saying vacation time is over and he wants his dose of limelight. Guess what? Its still summer and nobody is back to work yet.....shocking! Look, Harpers government is getting a little old. The cabinet needs a shakeup, and the party needs some good economic news before it rolls out of bed. Iggy was and still is cash poor, he needed some time to line up ducks and get ready. So the NDP has to tough it out. It sucks to be them, even now they are stuck in single digits, and there is damned little hope that will change anytime soon. Stretch out doing anything about EI and soon the issue dies on the vine. That was the government plan and it worked just fine. Iggy had his chance and didn't take it. Layton has one small hope and that is coalition. If he can attach himself to Iggy's coat tails he may be able to do something. Iggy doesn't have the numbers to beat up the Conservatives to the extent that he wants, and he sure as hell doesn't want to "share" power with the lefties, because once you go there you get to carry the label. So everyone is stuck where they are at over the summer.

The money is not being used properly.

I would hope that we do not because we don't really have much for a foreign policy. Until we do, I don't think it wise at all. Minority governments have that effect on our public, a lack of true concensus all the way around.

There simply isn't enough in any one riding that will cause a vote swing.

The F35 is a fine piece of equipment but there are competitors. MIG 35, SU 30, these things are fine aircraft, don't kid yourself.

The F22 is done like dinner. Even the Air Force doesn't want more of the damned things. They are hangar queens, and very expensive ones at that. They never have and never will see combat, simply because of the hanger queen status. I like the bird myself and think its worth fixing, but that is just me. As it stands the program is dead, there will be no fixing anything, except when it breaks, and maybe not even then. I fully expect these things to get boxed up and sold off.

I have to admit the project was a failure. I mean more than 50K per hour to fly the damned things is a tad expensive. The skin problems account for 50% of the maintenance, which is about 30 hours service fro every hour flown.