Jerry J. Fortin

Some do, to see what I am doing, and some don't. I must ask what business it is of yours what my children do or say or read Benny? But lets get back to the point shall we..... what are you so frightened about with respect to Alberta?

Oh dear a spelling mistake! Is that a good enough reason to bomb me?

So you suggest that there mat be some risk to the population of the planet due to....what?

Are you sure? I mean you think I am imposing risks on the population of this planet, right? Sounds kinda screwy to me.

Your tinfoil hat is screwed down too tightly.

Pardon me? I live here and I work here. Now I could lift my clearance and work anywhere west of Thunder Bay. But I don't want to do that because my family is here and their friends are here and the kids still have a few years of school left. I never said it was too cold here, and by the way I work outside all year round. I simply said that I like warm weather. Hey Benny, bite me! I am free to live where I want, and of all the places to live in Canada for me its either here or BC. If that doesn't suit you, then too bad for you.

By whom? It won't be Americans.......

I will when I retire, but until then I am stuck here.

Well guess what? I am on your side of the street! I still think killing the Arrow lead to this problem we now face. Yet the reality is that Canadians suffer from the delusion of entitlement. We live in a nanny state with cradle to grave benefits. Changing that mindset is the reality before you. I would suggest that we could and should do something about the problem. I even know how we can do it, but I would get burned at the stake for trying it.

I actually look forward to global warming, I call it summer usually.

I am not sure that is the right way to go at all. First of all we cannot afford to do this with cash flow, so we would have to go into more debt under the current system in order to do it. Secondly, I question whether or not we actually need to do so. Can we actually stand up and say it is not okay for Iran or any other nation to have nuclear weapons and then actively pursue the acquisition of these weapons for ourselves? Should we not be addressing internal problems within our own society before we even attempt to head of the reservation on some quest for military power? Why should we pursue an arms buildup while citizens both starve and freeze in the dark living on the streets and grand parents cannot afford or cannot access medical treatment? These are pressing issues within our society that need to be considered before we try and take on anything else. Face it, we would be adding to the problems we already have without cause. We are not at war, and are not in danger of getting into one. Afgan is little more than a small engagement and of little consequence to most citizens. While our soldiers are indeed fighting and giving their lives for this nation on foreign soil, this nation of ours is simply not involved in a war.

Call it climate change instead of global warming if you want, but I will call it weather. I don't know whether or not nor do I even care whether or not we, mankind, is responsible for whatever flavour of the day trend some scientist or tree hugging citizen points a finger at. The sun will rise in the morning and it will set in the evening. Whether or not there are clouds or whether or not it will rain or snow because of them are things that we cannot control. Nor should we waste money trying to do so. The rule of thumb in nature is adapt or die, so we can either figure out how to live with the changes or die because of them. I do not think we are able to turn back the clock and change any damned thing at all. So why bother? We need to identify the effects of the changes that appear to be occurring and to act in a manner that would serve to reduce the impact to us through those actions. Cap and trade is little more than a tax scam that will result in increased prices to the consumer and realize no net impact to the environment.

The price of freedom is high. In our case that price is financial debt and political debt. Canada is unable to defend itself, but that is because we are unable to arm ourselves. If we had the latter we could accomplish the former. This nation instead chooses to buy arms from other nations to fulfill our needs. This creates both debt and dependency, two evils which detract from sovereignty. The only thing that can change this is a political will and financial skill. Neither of these things rate very high in this nation.

There has been dozens of those giant machine shipped west by rail in the last couple of months. Anybody know where they are going?

There has been dozens of those giant machine shipped west by rail in the last couple of months. Anybody know where they are going?

You suggest we perpetuate the mediocrity of the partisan system by entrenching it within an elected senate. Even as you do this you exclude the choice of the Quebec people, that will not fly very well. To make the Senate do its job (defined as a means of provincial representation at the federal level) then the Senate should be elected. There should be an equal number of Senators per province. The PM should simply appoint individuals at the direction of the democratic process in each province and territory. The Senate should be given a focus of federalism and the Senate should have responsibility for social programs. The House of Commons should be responsible for ALL external affairs including the military, as well as all other national efforts outside of the scope of social programs.

Special Ed, our wise leader still hasn't figured out that the only smart move is to refine everything here and slap another tax on unrefined products for export.

It is not! That is like saying anywhere where a vote is constant is a radical location.

A radical ideological world. So in your view; 1) Conservatism is radical 2) Calgary is a world unto itself Conservatives and Calgary folks are beginning to sound rather full of themselves of late. That would explain Harper though come to think of it. The idea that conservatism is radical may make sense in a pro-labour environment or a Liberal hotbed region, but to make that suggestion in Alberta is pretty funny. If you are from Alberta then you can understand the attitude though, Calgary is well known for its elitist self concern.

As long as the Senate remains an unelected body it will hold no importance to me. It is indeed a place where the regions should have a voice, and could preform a useful function. It remains however the pinnacle of patronage until the day comes when reforms are instituted.

How do you figure MSJ?

I think bailing out corporations is a very bad habit to get into. I would rather of had the government nationalize the damned thing in the interest of keeping jobs. They could then sell it off piece by piece when it became viable again. This way we are NEVER going to get back the investment of tax dollars. We are required to sell our stake in a fixed time frame, seemingly without regard to the cost of doing so. The tax payer got screwed on this big time.

It can be done without much trouble at all, or expense for that matter. It could be setup to work on landlines, cellphones or on the internet, the medium is of little consequence. The reality is that power would be transfered from governments to the people, and knowing that begs the question; will government ever support this proposition?

Good point BC! Now what do you think the chances are of not funding these programs or changing the qualifications are in political terms?

Exactly.