[ALL CANNABIS CANADIANS VOTE GREEN]

the gentle fact is that it will take federal control (the US is a good example) to further criminalize marijuana... because in local environments its practically legal.

here in beautiful 'bud' bc, possession of small amounts of marijuana will see it confiscated without charge. there simply is too much use of it by otherwise completely law abiding people. and people who are high pose no threat to society whatsoever.

the other side of it is that this is one of bc's biggest cash crops and a staple of our economy! money talks!

it is quite alarming to see stockwell day on tv talking about how strong marijuana is these days... there would appear to be no listening to experts on this matter. marijuana does not affect dopamine centers of the brain like the opiates (heroine, crack, cocaine, crystal meth etc) and nicotine. according to the dean of medicine at harvard it is about as addictive as coffee.

so my question is for those people who oppose it... what the heck is the problem? is it simply a fear of something one doesn't understand?

[Perhaps its time....]

i've been thinking about this lately too... because its obvious that democracy is hijacked by party politics and the pay to play scheme.

i think an 'independents party' would be ideal. an entire party structure with finances to support a party that is in all ways a political party with one major difference... that all elected members would be expected to vote in a manner that supports the desires of their local constituents!

not a radical idea by any stretch... what democracy is supposed to be about.

[Hundreds of rich pay no tax: Study ?]

You are talking about a US when you talk about guarding borders and immigration.

i'm talking about willingly letting in people to saturate our job maket.

i apologize if my words implied that i agreed with current immigration policy... lets keep that to another thread.

my point was that implementation of _any_ policy takes money... tax money.

[Poor Code Pink]

Neither the US nor Canada has a libertarian democracy...

dosen't this whole thread prove just that! well said!

my premise was that while the idea of 'liberty' may be a wash at the moment that it _is_ a desire of both of our cultures!?

"Libertarianism is a political philosophy that upholds the principle of individual liberty. Libertarians maintain that all persons are the absolute owners of their own lives, and should be free to do whatever they wish with their persons or property, provided they allow others the same liberty."

"Liberal democracy is a form of government. It is a representative democracy in which the ability of the elected representatives to exercise decision-making power is subject to the rule of law, and usually moderated by a constitution that emphasizes the protection of the rights and freedoms of individuals, and which places constraints on the leaders and on the extent to which the will of the majority can be exercised against the rights of minorities (see civil liberties)."

[Hundreds of rich pay no tax: Study ?]

What does that say about the electorate? What does that say about democracy?

that democracy is constantly being hijacked by the richest! that the electorate need to stop treating politics like a frikin sporting event ("i'm a life long conservative!", "go senators!"), tell anybody who trys to sell political parties or personages ("dion is a leader you can trust!") and start focusing on the details of specific issues that collectively affect ones quality of life and vote for people (not parties) who pledge specific actions.

and while i am completely off topic. ALL POLITICAL PARTIES SHOULD BE BANNED! they are the instrument used to hijack the democratic process.

[Jack Layton's NDP]

Why does everything always lead to immigration?

because hatred for cultural, racial and religious diversity is the cornerstone of the reform party voting block (aka conservative base). of course, conservative politicians are not financed by these yahoos... they are financed by culturally, racially and religiously diverse rich people who only want more concentration of wealth.

[Poor Code Pink]

Further, there are degrees of "repression." If you had some experience with other countries, you'd be able to distinguish between, say, Amin's Uganda and Bush's US. Putting someone on a list for the perusal of a neighbour is hardly equivalent to taking someone into a field and shooting them.

"Civil disobedience is the active refusal to obey certain laws, demands and commands of a government or of an occupying power without resorting to physical violence."

and it is a conerstone of our libertarian democracy. it should be respected at all times because the next government may want something _you_ don't want to do and you'll want people to respect _you_!

i think what is important here is that someones ability (and most of us consider it a 'right') to travel has been hampered because of their opinions! and put on a secret list that those persons probably were unaware of and have no recourse over!

[Hundreds of rich pay no tax: Study ?]

oh yeah... and one more thing.

as far as 'corrupt' politicians are concerned. who puts them there!? they don't get there without MONEY! its a pay to play game and the big money makes the rules.

[Hundreds of rich pay no tax: Study ?]

i've never seen such a load of crap that avoids the obvious in such a thread (ok, maybe i have).

READ MY EARLIER POST ON THIS THREAD!

any chat about anybody making $250,000 as T4'd income is boulderdash. how many people in canada do you think really have this income from a T4'd job?! those with this kinda income are making it from shareholders income and have their assests protected behind a corporation.

again, last year i grossed $200k and paid less than a 10% effective combined tax rate. and its all legal. now, how fair is that compared to someone who is taxed at source? and i'm a little guy!

its hilarious to see posts about immigration by people who don't want anyone to pay tax. who the heck will guard the borders then?

people seem to think that clean drinking water, electricity, roadways, telephone lines, law enforcement, fire services, military protection, democracy, border services, environmental protection, health care, central banks etc etc etc would somehow happen if no one were paying taxes!

and who wins?

well, if i pay my taxes and i get all of the services above (because believe me, if you are taxed at source then you _are_ paying for it) then i get this lifestyle and i should be happy. and one of the richest canadians in the country who draws upon a workforce of hundreds of thousands of well fed, healthy, educated people that are able to get to work reliably and are prevented from taking company stuff home etc etc...

then should the rich guy be paying the same _amount_ as the taxed at source guy or the same _percentage_?

isn't the rich guy actually using tremendously more of whatever services are provided?

what do you think the wealthy would say if there was no more taxation?! and they would be responsible for the roads to their businesses, and educating their workers, and providing for their health care etc etc?! they much prefer the current system!!

wake up out there!

[Poor Code Pink]

ah yes, civil disobedience now a serious crime in the good ol usa!

read your history books my friend... for that matter there are plenty of other countries that you would chose not to live in where the same rules apply.

funny how some people are so against doing whatever big government says... and yet telling other people that they must abide by the rules?

[Hundreds of rich pay no tax: Study ?]

"The wealthy DO pay more tax than anyone else"

in actual dollars, probably... but in percentage of income, not a chance!

in fact, lets imagine a wonderland where the less one makes, the more one pays in tax as a percentage of income... so if i make $100 million then i pay .00001 percent and if i make $10k then i pay 10%.

would you vote for such a scheme?

hang on! its the fabulous flat tax scheme! the poll tax! the head tax! regressive taxation! HILARIOUS!

[Hundreds of rich pay no tax: Study ?]

read the fine print...

THE RICH ARE GETTING RICHER AND EVERYONE ELSES BUYING POWER REMAINED THE SAME FOR THE LAST DECADE.

the reason that that fact is not spread over the first page in every news paper in canada can only be attributed to the fact that the wealthy own those news papers. the fact that the average canadian has not seen an increase in the buying power of their dollar while equity has seen triple digit growth for the same time period is truly criminal.

what i'm curious about is

1. is the increase in population of this tax bracket respective of the increase in population over the same period (i suspect it is and the fact its not reported shows bias in the opposite direction than conservative freaks accuse)

2. how many of these people obtain their main income from a corporation for which they are shareholders (another bias, don't want to let any cats out of any bags, do we!)

this year i grossed just over 200k and paid a combined (personal and corporate) effective tax rate of just under 10%. all one needs is a good accountant. i'm not in the upper 5% of wage earners as my reported income is only 55k this year. i suspect one would have to have a similar situation as mine and making $300k to make it to the top 5%.

losses for incorporated upper income earners are a joke. next year i plan to sink more money into my company by borrowing personally and then lending to the company. any money i get paid back will be non-taxable. any money made by the company gets the usual write offs (oh yeah, my whole life is a write off) and lower corporate tax rate. if my company decides to stiff me for the money... hey, thats a huge loss! i can just imagine what kind of 'losses' some of canadas billionaires can come up with! hilarious! most of them own nothing... their corporations own everything.

as you can imagine, every time government talks about a reduction in personal tax that will save the average tax payer a few hundred bucks then i have a GOOD LAUGH.

and conservative governments will NEVER raise corporate tax rates! need i repeat myself yet again?... IF YOU ARE A T4'D INCOME EARNER AND YOU SUPPORT ANY KNOWN CONSERVATIVE PARTY, THAT I KNOW OF, THEN YOU ARE THE BIGGEST SUCKER THERE IS!

so, please keep pushing... so i can retire early!

[neocon death watch]

libbey gets 30 months in the pen! oh yeah!

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/06/05/cia...rial/index.html

don't bend over in the shower, scooter!