jdobbin

In the last few weeks there have been attacks on property of Jewish and Islamic buildings. I think that would come under the category of racism. However, there have also been broadsides in speech and words over the last days regarding both Israelis and Lebanese that crossed lines between mere disagreement over government and military tactics. It was, for lack of a better word, hatred. In a broader sense, Canada often has had a history with intolerance. A mere prejudice then becomes a hatred and degrades to categorization of people according to colour, religion, gender and the like. Canada likes to think of itself as a tolerant place and it generally is but it can be a cruel place if you are slightly different.

You mentioned antagonistic in early discussions. When you use the word "you" in a discussion as in "you don't get it, do you?", it takes the form of antagonistic rather that a straight forward explanation of what you believe. We'll just have to agree to disagree on the subject of racism.

And not without reliable energy supplies. But this isn't so much about China as it is about Canada. In 2017, I believe there will be more mineral resources headed to China and likely to more Chinese ownership of Canadian mining companies.

Often when some on the right have no evidence to support their claims, they allude to race, nationality or religion in general as being the source of the problem. Hatred toward a certain types of people are barely disguised in some discussions. Is racism a myth? Is it just a difference of opinion when a Jewish temple is vandalized this week?

Racism isn't a theory when it manifests itself in hatred.

I agree that Chinese companies are behind in many area of technology and design. It will be some time before they make the next jump in technology and productivity. At the moment, they can use brute force manufacturing to provide cars and other goods for their own markets. For the international markets, it is manufactured goods that there generally designed elsewhere. It is just cheaper to manufacture it in China.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/internet/07/2...e.ap/index.html They've been getting a lot of mileage out of Bush's massage of the German Chancellor. <heh> So what else do you think happened at the G8 kegger? Humerous reponses only please. I am looking for a good Saturday laugh.

Here was the Israeli reponse to Arbour: http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/20...ador060721.html

They found in recent years that the decline in prices paid for manufactured items such as clothes, have allowed North Americans to spend more on other things, especially housing. Many of the companies have seen their stock prices go up because they no longer manufacture but work on design instead. It's a shift in the economy that I am not an expert on. But the gist of it is that people have to shift to increasing more skilled work to increase productivity. I don't know that resources will be go out of demand so long as Asian continues to grow. We have those reources. They don't. Many see no end in sight for the increasing prices. I'm just curious how many head offices of major resource companies we will have left. Some of our biggest companies are tripping over themselves to sell to foreign interests who promptly close the head offices in Canada to save money.

It is hard to predict where a new threat of terrorism might come from. But given that Osama bin Laden is alive and that we are in Afghanistan and there are many "soft targets" to hit here, I fear we are likely to see attempts and quite possibly a successful attack. Ah, I see what you mean about by death rates. Japan, this year had its population decline for the first time in its recorded history. I'm not an expert on the Baby Boom aside from knowing that they refuse to take aging lying down. I suspect that we will increased demand on healthcare because that generation has out a strain on every aspect of the system as the grew up from housing to education to jobs. Centuries from now they'll still be writing about the Baby Boom and what it did in Canada and the United States. I hear ya on real estate. A story in the States said that many markets are seeing a retreat from ever increasing house prices. You're right. A lot of Baby Boomers are going to reassess their living quarters. Many will ask "Is a four bedroom house in the suburbs right for me with all that empty space?" or "I am having trouble maintaining such a large property." I think you might be right that there will be an increasing number of seniors moving out, seeking condos and assisted living places. Prices are harder to predict because we have had such a huge housing boom coast to coast. I think we will see prices stabilize sometime this year for houses and go up for condos.

I know the U.S. is adamant about a fence with Mexico. But Canada has huge lakes, mountains and territory that would make a wall something that the Chinese wouldn't even have dared to think. I agree we'll have to probably be more vigilant about people landing here enroute to the United States. However, one of the things that makes trade in Canada and the U.S., the biggest two way relationship is the speed by which we get it to one another. Both American and Canadian critics of passports have said that one hour delays or more will drive up costs into the billions and beyond.

It wasn't the hurricane that Bush was to blame for but for not heeding the warning about just how precarious New Orleans situation was going to be if that hurricane hit dead on. This is all came out in the Congressional hearings afterwards when there was a debate about when Bush was warned about all this. In several polls over the last year, Bush's popularity has been hurt in areas vulnerable to hurricanes because of a shaken faith in the federal response.

Nicely done.

I agree English will be firmly entrenched as the language of international commerce. China is going crazy teaching English to its people. Some of the territories you mention could be the source of great resource wealth. If the United States had the opportunity to take Canada in as a territory or state, they might seriously consider it.

<heh>It's never too hot for a cancan.

This is why is Bush going to them for help on Lebanon?

If it is a major issue, Harper can introduce it as legislation or as policy next time it happens. I'm sure some people would pay if there was a mechanism in place. Many tried to get out before the crisis but all airlines were booked.

If the media is licensed in Canada, the same rule would apply to the foreign owned as well as locally owned companies. We already have some American minority owners of things like Discovery Channel, etc. If Discovery in Canada was taken over by Discovery in the States, they would still have to conform to Cancon.

I apologize for that then. I thought your non-sensical remark was antagonistic to the subject matter. You have since clairfied your reponse. I still think it is too early to tell what Harper's style in the relationship is. I do think he cautiously trying not to do Mulroney's style. For example, he didn't sing Happy Birthday, Mr. President with everyone else at the news conference. That would have been embarrassing! Can you imagine the cartoons back in Canada with Harper hopping out of a cake ala Marilyn Monroe? Eek! Mulroney did have Reagan and Bush's implicit trust and a lot of legislation was written in favour of Canada because that relationship. We didn't win everything back then and a lot of it was controversial but it was a significant change from years past. Mulroney might have had the popularity to continue as a prime minister even longer if it wasn't for the incredibly bruising constitutional battles. I think Harper will have to increasing have to stand up to Congress even if he has a reasonable and respectable realtionship with Bush. There are too many yahoos there who still think we let September 11 terrorists into their country. There is no way to be polite about responding to that. That answer is, "You are incorrect. They didn't come from Canada. None of them. Zero. So take it back."

1 - Canada in 2017 will be a country based of visible minorities. 2 - Canada along the way will suffer from a terrorist attack 3 - Underemployment will be rampat. Degree's required for driving a truck 4 - Our policital system will be Liberal and cator to minority groups. 5 - The average person will no longer to be able to buy a home. Instead we'll look more like Russia with condo's and apt's everywhere. 6 - An Islamic polical party will have formed. In 2025, the Islamic party will put a motion forward to seperate from the rest of Canada. 2030, our falling gov't will sell portions of Canada to other countries. ie: The city of Surrey in Vancouver will become an official state of India and Canada will no longer own the land. Mark my words. I think you're right that Canada will have more visiible minorities. But there will also be many more second, third and fourth generation visible minorities. At that point, there is a lot more integration of cultures that happens, more intermarriage, stronger ties to Canada. Do you think there will be a more dominant ethnic group or nationality in the next year? I tend to agree that we will probably have a terrorist attack. What I'm not sure is if it will be something like eco-terrorism, homegrown ethnic terrorism from a disaffected group from First Nations or Quebec or...Alberta or outside terrorism of whatever political or religious extremism. Why do you think we might be underemployed? Technology or the like? I know we have a huge shortage of truck drivers. Why do you think that is? I don't think they require a degree but it is a hard job regardless given the hours and deadlines. Do you not think that as the population ages, there will be a shift to condos and apartments anyways? It might affect the price by 2017. The latest increase in price is a combination of low interest rates, higher incomes and employment levels and growing economy. We're at the high point now. There could be an easing. Five or six years ago, the housing market was stagnant and some prices had collapsed. There is some indication in the U.S. of an overbuilding happening and prices are due for a drop. There are many branches of Islam. Will the one in Canada be extremist or moderate? And what area do you think would separate? You think it will possible to sell parts of Canada to other nations?

It isn't PC to get angry about hatred of Blacks and Jews or any other group. Hatred for no other reason than for what a person is is unacceptable. As for statistics, put up the Maclean's link or any other that is up there. I have no idea what the proportion of crime is related to a certain ethnic group. It isn't PC to identify a certain ethnic group that might have a disproportionate amount of crime amongst its people. In Canada, First Nations people make up a huge percentage of people locked up in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. It's a fact. What's not a fact is that all First Nations are criminals. Statistics related to how many Jamaicans come to Canada would be nice. Under what category did they come in? Where did they settle? Is there a legitmate problem happening there? These are all the things I want to know before making a sweeping generalization. Hutterites don't defend Canada either. They were exempt from conscription. It isn't an issue now but it once was. Since then, there has been more cooperation but they remain a distinct ethnic group in Canada. There has been an accepting tolerance of who they are and what they contribute to Canada.

Cancon rules haven't hurt the profitibilty of radio. The costs involved for that are just not as great. TV is the tricky one. I think you ease foreign restrictions and maintain Cancon rules. However, the costs are a lot higher and can't be recouped easily from commercials in Canada. It means there should be more co-productions and more export of product. And there should be less fear about Canadian themes. DaVinci's Inquest is a huge success in the syndicated market in the U.S. Several other Canadian shows are also doing well. It's good for Canada. It good for the U.S., one of the most voracious consumers of TV product.

My newspaper is now owned locally. I think jbg might be right about shares being too jbg mightr be correct that very limited shareholding might not give media companies enough capitalization. Another danger of widely held shares is that management often develops a sense of entitlement and abuse the shareholders. Tough question, really. I think most people would agree that to much media in too few hands can and does cause problems. Ottawa and Winnipeg still sting from the same day closing of the Winnipeg Tribune and Ottawa Journal. This was a monopoly agreement between two companies who wanted to have one market to themselves each.

Since 1995, I'd say that September 11 has affected us greatly. Security between Canada and the U.S. that was never a real question in the last years has become a major issue. Afghanistan is a place I don't think any Canadian could imagine themselves being in back in 1995. What would a culture of death be like? And what about real estate? Going to look at the link now. Technology is the most astonishing one to think about. In 1995, the public Internet was just beginning. Even people like Bill Gates couldn't see what it would become. No one did.

Do you think that the Canadian economy might be dominated to branch plant status or will there arise a renewed Canadian business sector?