old_bold&cold

The UK and the USA both have large numbers of troops in Afghanistan. But after the dabacle inIraq, I do not think that either of them have much sway in the muslim world. Britain is looked at as a conquering force for a large part of what was muslim world, but they are now seen as less in the conquering idealology, but now as invading force. NATO has down played their roles even though they do play a major part. Canada being one country where we are seen in a better light, makes us play a front and center force in this. Yes it would be wrong for Canada to just withdraw and leave our NATO allies holding the bag, it is also wrong for the rest of our NATO allies to prevent their troops from taking an active role in things to relieve Canada from its role. I do find that some where ther has to be a line drawn in the sand and a date given for Canadians to be rotated out of the front lines. I also think that the rest of the nato allies need to be more actively involved with training the Afghan army to do its own security work. But for any political party here in Canada to play games with this issue, will be sorry the day they do so. It is quite obvious that what has been lacking is communications with the voters as to just what the mission is and why it must be us doing it. This can easily be fixed and then the backlash will fly into those who used it for political gain. I think that most people will agree, that if the mission was explained properly and its roles defined, that 9it would be supported by the vast majority of voters. So why would any of them keep playing politics with a time bomb that you know can easily back on you? Even in Quebec, it would not be all that hard to make the effort to explain it all and get even them on side. To base an election call on someting like this,...... well it suicidal at best.

I fully like the idea of any of the other political parties forcing an election this fall. But I think that what we are all now seeing is just sabre rattling as it just plain stupid for any of them to even think that they will make any gains with an election being called. Duceppe has the most to lose as he will have given the chance for the people to say the same thin g they did in the provincial election, and that was federalism is going to be given a fair chance and the seperatists are to be taught a lesson of humility. The same thing is still in the air and it will be somethingthat the BQ should have considered. I can see where Duceppe might be ashamed of his flip flop early on in the provincial elections, and now is trying to prove his power and position, again in the BQ. But surely the rest of the BQ can see that ones mans ego is not reason to force an election. The rest of the parties should also see that any forcing of the issue can and will backfire on them big time. Dion is not ready to run an election campagne, and he is not something most people will see as leader material. It will not be a pretty site to see him slaughtered in the debates. The rest of the Liberals have nothing to gain and only stand to lose more in any effort to have an election. As for NDP goes, well they are what they are and they have no power to make deals or to negoiate anything, so while they probably will not gain anything, they will not really lose anything either. Even if they lose seats they will still have no power or means to negiate power. So they will probably roll the dice and see what happens.

I have man questions about this whole event. But what makes me wonder most is why did the Police even have weapons on the front line. There were no weapons brought by the protesters, and rocks are no match for guns. Since it is probably now more likely then not that police were there as palnts to start something, and the protesters wree really mnostly peaceful people then the police used way more force then needed. The firing of rubber bullets should have been met with the same from the protesters and it would or at least should be seen as self defence. I think it is about time thatthe police learn the lesson that if they use excessive force or pull thrier weapons for things that are clearly unjustified that those who these things are used against should be able to use deadly force back at the police. That is what justice should call for. Maybe then people will think twice about things.

I really do hope there is an election this fall. No matter what the polls say, I truly believe that to put Dion in an election would show the world what a useless half wit the Liberal have as a leader. He would almost garantee a CP majority. Hell his chicken little "the waters being sold" f last week is truly laughable and I know we can count on him to fall on his face so much in an election campaigne that he will only become a further laughing stock. The best thing the CP could ever have is this man running against them. The Block will probably lose ground in Quebec as well, so I do not think they will help bring down the government, but to my own view, I would be very happy if the did. Dion will never gain support and he will only lose what ever they they presently have. I do not believe that the Liberal are not aware of this. He can not even perform as an opposition leader with any other then a drab performance. So why would they ever think that he will do better during an election. But as I said bring it on. The NDP will call for elections even though they may well lose seats, but that is the way they have always been. Duceppe may put out some feelers for now about election calls, but can he risk the same fate that the PQ had in the last election, leaking into federal BQ events. It is ripe for that to possibly happen, and it is anyones guess as to who that would favour, but Quebecers still remember the Sponsorship scandel, and I would think PC's are proably going to benefit more then the Libs, once elections are called. I am also in favour of Harper himself making the call for an election due to the Liberal senate holding things up. If I were hime I would give them 30 days to clear all the backlog in the senate, or he calls the election, and can show just how the Liberals are not serious about changing rules to stop scandel, and also not in favour of increased sentences for gun crimes and the like. He can easily make that work in his favour. If an election is called this fall it will be perfectly ok with me and I am sre the PC's.

Ther can ignore it and then let the courts try to do their things and of course appeal after appeal, and maybe in 12-15 years you might see something done. But by then there will have been 3-4 elections and if majorites ever won then the whole court route would just be a penned away at the whim of the government. So why is it you keep saying that this cannot be ignored. It most certainly can be and most likely will be, and as I pointed out it would be a fruitless task for anyone trying to push the issue. But since the Liberals will most likely be sitting on their butts for decades to come, I guess they could try to use this as something to keep their minds busy.

I smile a lot when I read thru this thread. I really wonder at just who really believes that the accuracy of these things is an absolute? They round a billion up here and round down a million there, and then give a ball park figure. Not one that is supposed to be accurate to the penny. If this is what the opposition has in mind to use against Harper in an up coming election.... well majority govenment will soon be coming. It is so sad that the Liberal and NDPer's can not seem to find any substance to cause an uproar. I know this is still summer guys, but that is no excuse for this kind of stupid politics. If this kind of thing is all you can find to gripe about, then just admit that Harper is going to hold his minority government right thru to the fixed election date. Dion needs someone to be able to find something to take a stand on that will have some staying power. Hell after his " the water isd being sold " cry from last week being shown that he has absolutely no comprehension about what really goes on in the world, that the rest of us live, he needs to be taken by the hand and guided back to reality. So instead of crying about exaggerated numbers, first get your leader the help he needs to maybe even be seen as just spaced out rather then totally insane. If this type of thing is how the opposition is going to spend their time and efforts, well then, I do not see there being any real opposition when the house sits.

I take a different position on most of this. I think that these guys really were plants by the police. It is rather obvious that the one was talking to the police in line and it was then that the police grabbed them and arrested them etc. The police will not release who they were and or why they were taken into custody. That is more then enough for me to say that these guys were probably some of thier own. Now were they there to cause trouble or just spy on the protesters? That I cna not say for sure, but it should be obvious that these guys were not there to benefit the protesters. I do not think what they did braoke any laws, but it definitely was not in good taste, and probably was not the wisest of things to do. It was exposed, and in the bigger picture it just shows that you can not trust the police, to do the right thing, but thta has been a thing I have understood since way back when I was a teenager. Time has moved on but somethings never change.

What we have going on here is a lot of hyperbola on the side of the environmentalists and even more voodoo science getting in the news, so it has the public's attention. There really is no scientific proof of most of it, but it has momentum. The environmentalist's do not want to lose that momentum, so they keep spewing reports that can not be shown by hard science, but then say you can see its is true by the weather we are having. Now those with cooler heads are now questioning the science about these claims, and it is not looking good for the environmentalists side of things. The public is all worked up about what the world will be like in 2050, then they are about what is happening in 2007. It does not take much thinking to say that something is totally wrong in all of this. The truth is buried some where in the pile, but no can honestly find it. What bothers me is why is it so imperative to jump in over our heads and hurt ourselves financially, just to do it quicker, then to move ahead more slowly but in the end have the same goal and numbers reached. It all does not make sense to me, and the more rushed it is, the more I feel that it is all based on bad science, so the only reason to rush is to do so before time shows us just how wrong all of this really is. Suzuki has out and out lied about much of the claims he has made and can not reproduce them scientifically to show his peers what he says is true. That is why I just stop listening to him as he has shown to my own thinking that he only wants to promote the envirnmental views and he is bein g well paid to do so. He has sold his sould and all his credibility. Maybe he should stick to kiddy science shows from now on. Yes man has an affect on the climate, but you need to think in fractions of a percent to accurately show just how much so. We are forgetting to look to the past, so we can see the future. There have been so many occurances of global warming by degrees even greater then today, and the world did not come to an end. Why do people think this will be any different then it was in the past. Mans use of technology and science has probably sped up some of the worlds systems to small degrees, but we are way more in danger of poisoning our environment then over heating it. One large meteor passing between the earth and the sun could pull enough solar flares to destroy the earths electronic communications for years, and raise global temperatures by 20-30 degrees. This would kill much of the life we now see on earth, but man would survive, and we would have a much different planet to work with. There proably is a greater chance of this happening then what the environmentalists are askiing us to swallow today. If you want to give me proof of what you say, then give me reproducible scientific facts, or theory based on proven facts but also show the actual probability along with the numbers, so I can see what the chances are. The government was right to kill Kyoto, because it was not based on proper sience and had way too much fear mongering in it. I appaud them for taking a stance where the same results can be achieved over the same time frame, just not so top loaded. Since the hue and cry is about 2050, lets then make that the target for achieving the numbers.

First off, Canada was the host of these talks and therefore Canada should as most hosts do set the stage for the type of dress. It seems Harper was wanting this to be more of a summer casual rather then formal event. But the narrow minded single track thinkers believe that they should have some say in this. Well guess what guys, you were not invited and were not hosting the event so what ever your biased little minds think about the Casual dress set by the host, is not even worth a slight fleeting moments effort. The talks are not even government binding, and are not to even be thought of as formal gatherings. This has been explained already, that the only thing that these talks are supposed to be, are a chance for the three leaders to talk and have their say about the directions they feel things should go on varying aspects important only to todays times and events. There never will be an accord made from these or even binding agreements. That has already been said that nothing during these talk will be politically binding, or even said to be agreed to as in a treaty. Call them Gab fests, and in the interests of just getting the feel for each other and the differing wants and needs they all have. So formal dress is not really required and to tell the truth, to show up in formal dress to what has already been said by the host as being acasual event, is more impolite on the part of the formal dressers then it is on the host. But to all those who seems to put any importance on the dress at these things, maybe you need to get a life. These things are not really important and by basing your opinions on such periphery is just about as crazy as one can get. Most of the worst dictators of the world were dressed formally most of the time they were in public. Hitler comes to mind quite quickly when I think about it. There are just so many others that also come to mind. I think you need to find a better marker of true character, if you want to be more accurate in your assumptions.

I can say though that the federal government should not be the ones supporting the meat packers etc. of Alberta, as the meat industry there has made commitments for all the top sterlig choice meat to only be sold to the USA companies etc. They also have agreements where only certain grades are sent to the eastern provinces and Ont can only get AAA and Quebec is AA grade. The fact that Alberta and their meat packers have this type of arrangement that puts the USA above Canadian interests, tells me that the feds who should be the ones to push this issue, should make sure that these policies are not allowed to continue. Otherwise the meat industry should not get a penny from the federal government. It was my butcher who made me aware of these events when I pushed him to only get me sterling quality beef. At that time the shipments were closed to the USA, and I only got what I wanted while that was going on. Since then I have had to settle for lesser quality or pull some deals that were no all quite above board. But the rules about all this are quite widely known in the meat industry.

I really find it hard to again be taken in by the scary Healthcare and two teirs or three teirs, or what ever they want to call it now. To me I know that I can get my health care for non threatening things is a delayed but starting to be reasonable time frame. If there were another teir to the system, then it would make much more room for those who can not aford it, and therefore quicker times, because those who can afford it can pay extra and get theirs in the ways they want. I no longer fear two teir healthcare, as long as the basic teir has al the same coverages, as the higher teir and on issues where things are life threatening are really as timely as each other. Let me just say that being retired and on pension I would not pay the extra for the higher teir, but I do not begrudge those who think it is in their best interests to do so. Hell those who can afford it always had the ability to fly else where and get special tratment for any and everything. Even organ transplant. So you tell me just why would having two teir be so bad, as long as the basic teir was equal to the present quality of care and rose equally with the same changes over time? The other arguements you propose are also not really things I would want to see an election run on, as there are more important issues with protecting Canada's north and it resources. Being able to defend our lands and have reasonably well equipped Armed Forces. I would love to see the federal government take on some large scale infastructure projects aimed aat allowing better roads across Canada. Such as a truly 4 lane transCanada hwy. or maybe even roads to finally go to James Bay and Hudson Bay. year round roads to our northeren territories. These are the kind of things I would like to see happen. I would also like to know that I can feel secure in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, that no government can over-ride any of these things, no matter if it is times of war or disaster. I want a government that will actually say where the limits are on every agreement they make, and have that put plainly in the first paragraph of all agreements, so we all know the spirit and limit of scope this agreement has. I also want to see that no documents held but our security agencies are kept for the public for the so called publics safety. That has been used to hide way too much illegal activity by the government, and it should not be allowed to go on. So yes I can also say flipancy is not a good way of getting things done, but I can also say that gievn the way things have been getting done is also a good reason for people to be flipant about it. Sometimes it just is an easy way to deal with it.

Oh you have got to be kidding me right? Flap Jack Layton and the NDP do not have any policies that Iwould ever want even considered by any party. I look at the NDP as being the court jester. Also if you look at the ways and methods that they do all their posturing, it would be like babes in the woods for those who are just waiting for a method to go back to the old corruption. I think a vote for the NDP as one less for the Liberals but I never even try to look at it ever being taken from the PC's. I do not mean to be so offensive in my reply but I truly believe that when calling NDP candidates into parliament they should just paly the theme "Send in the Clowns". I may want to see the PC's slightly more left, but never as far left as the NDP. I would rather see the government go down and a vote held then ever let the NDP manage to apply their agendas in anything. Anything done by Harper to get deals made with NDP, would probably be considered by me as the things I disagree with what Harper has done. It is the soul selling that was in the government that I want to see stamped out almost as much as the corruption.

The whole problem of picking a PM is that there really is no one person who would meet everyone's idea of what they wish for in the party and the man. I am old and retired and I have lived thru the likes of many Liberal PM's and I also was so very mad at Mulroney and the ings he did just before leaving, that I wished someone would have just blown head head off. Chretien and most of the liberal party I feel should be jailed for all the corrupt things that went on during their time, so I will never conside the Liberals ever again until I can see that everyone who were members of the party during this time, are gone. I will not forgive any of them, as they all were part of the corruption and they did nothing to speak up about it. So they are all not worthy of holding any office in government ever again, in my own view. Dion is nothing but a place holder only there because he was the lesser of a problem then all the others running for leader. I personally think of him as an idiot, and can not help but smile when he proposes things as he does not do a very good job of explaining anything. I must also say I wonder at those who still support the liberal party, as it does make me try to imagine just how far it have to go before they see that corruption is not supposed to be part of daily workings of the government. So yes you can say that Harper is my man, for now atleast, as there really is not much else to choose fom is there? I do think that he should be given the chance at a majority. Mostly because I think that he may well then go after the rest of the corrupt Liberals who thing they have managed to slide under the legal radar. If it has not been made clear by me yet, I want revenge, and I want to know that those in government who are caught in the corruption, will be tried and sentenced to the maximum allowed by law. Because they who are in those positions of trust, who then use those positions to do their corruption deserve the max sentence, they are far worse then any other kind of criminal. Because of the Liberals I now can not trust anyone anymore. It has made be question even the small things, only because that is where you will see the roots of the bigger things lieing in wait of a chance to again betray the Canadian people. I never bothered much about thinking about how I was being used by the government, until I started seeing just how things were going. I saw here in Ottawa how much of the government courier contracts were being signed and deals made while playing golf at Upplands Golf course. The payback and graft was not even hidden back then. Printing contracts were dependent on donations made to the Liberal Party. I remeber on Printer being very Upset when Mulroney came to power, because that meant a whole new set of things that may or maynot be corruptible, as opposed to the already known and corrupted Liberal methods. There still were many openly questionable practices, where people and companies would work on MP"S cottages for no charge. Does anyone even think that there was not corruption going on for those things to happen. I could go on and on. It was more of the fact that I saw what I did and thought it was not my place to report it and so on. But then it got to be even worse and finally lead up to the Sponsorship scandal. I can tell you that was not even a small part of what was going on. I am glad that the liberals are gone and I hope they are gone for at least 3 decades, because as I said before, I will not ever consider them until I am sure that all those that were here during that time are long gone. Harper has done many things I disagree with but he has also done many that i do agree with. I do not see the corruption in the higher government levels, but the civil service and its apointees, are still getting things done in ways they should not do. I can only hope that once Harper does get a majority, that it look inward to the civil service and give it a good cleaning, as that also is long over due. If I caught Harper being corrupt or his party being that same way, I would drop him in a heart beat. For now I just hope that things proceed on time and on track. The liberal know that to bring down the PC's now, they would probaly still lose and may even give him that majority. So I do not think that will happen. But it does seem to me that the PC's may make it so they themselves can call for an election. The Liberal holding things up in the senate, will soon be enough cause for doing so. It will be interesting to see how that plays out.

Personally I could not care if he greeted them as a nudist. The clothes and the girth of a body means nothing to me in a leader. I would rather look at what he can accomplish. We have already seen that when people get upset about the President, getting a blowjob from a willing young intern, that you then end up with the likes of Bush. I wonder just how many Americans feel so strongly about such things now, and How many would have rather had a clinton type over a Bush type in office. Do not get me wrong, Harper would never win any beauty pagents, but he may win a doughnut eating contest. None of which would make him any different a leader. I will have to see just how well he carries the day and just what discussions have made progress on. Then I will access his ability as a leader, for that time period. If he actually stands up to Bush and does not let Canada be dragged into the police state policies that Bush would love, then I think he will have done as expected. As for the happenings with Mexico, I would like to see Canada make it a point to force the Mexican government, to answer the many disturbing things that have befell some of the Canadian tourists, and that real lack of any explanation. Mackay was completely useles at Foreign Affairs, and it showed quite readily. He accomplished nothing and never really did anything while there. So maybe it is time for the leaders to push for action, as it has been long enough already.

I will bet you that within the next year, you will see that my view of why and what is happening with Russia remilitarizing itself, is close to my view then to any of the so called analysts. I say this mostly because just about every analyst that puts his neck out with his thoughts is more often then not wrong in the way things actually happen. Please do not take offence at this, as it is just my view that is based on my past life and things I have seen. The reason I put so little faith in what governments say and do, and also the analyst who say they know what it really means, have been just as wrong as the weatherman. Maybe I am just getting too old and cranky but the Universities who teach Political Sciences, should change it to Political VooDoo or spin the wheel and throw a dart. It is impossible for even the best political analyst to tell me just what the course will be over the next year taken by our government, and get it even 50% right. In my books that is a failing grade.

JBG I probably should take more time and use my spell checker and yes I can see where my mistakes are. But to me I believe that as long as the meaning is clear then it has made its point. I am old enough that correcting my spelling etc. is not a big thng to me. I probably was more careful back when I was in college. Now I am retired and probably just do not think it a big deal. You will find later in life that to sweat these things will take many years off your life, but yes in todays work world it has been something that way too much emphasis is put on it. If this were something requiring legal staus yes then every error in spelling and grammar would count. See my above post though as to why I still say spirit and intent is all that should ever be that concise.

I used the arguement about Russia backing Canada, if there were any attempts at forceful take overs by the USA, only to make a point of the fact, that while the USA has always been a friend to Canada, and normally would also be quick to come to our aid, it is not the only one who would do so. Russia is once again rebuilding its stance towards the USA, but hopefully it will not go as far as it did during the Cold War. It does not take a genius or a political analyst, to see why this is happening again. My use was only to show those who said the USA could take it all by force etc, were wrong to think it would be an quick and easy effort. I do not really think the USA will ever attack us for our water or our oil. They will however break treaties and agreements and then claim parts of our territoies for their own if given even the slightest chance. That by the way is my own personal feeling. It may well be shared by others, but it probably does not reflect the majority. The one thing that Canada has going for itself is, we are well liked by most foreign nations. This is not because we are push overs, but rather that we are caring in many ways and about many things, that happen outside of our own lands. We readily help out and when peace keeping is required, we are one of the few nations that are prefered to be part of those kinds of operations. Afghanistan has shown as well, that Canada can take combat, and while we my not be as mighty and be as well equipped as the other countries, our troops are quite capable of working the combat areas, and doing so even in the face of adverse political intervention form our own government. But back to water. I explained before that the water table is still all thru the USA, and even with tainted shallow water tables, it is capable if good clean fresh water, if they dig deeper wells etc. The deeper the well the more filtration the cleaner the water. The only problem is the deeper the well, the more sulphur in the water, but sulpher comes out with simple areation. Canada even if it decided to sell our water, could not get more for it then what the costs would be to get it from these other methods etc. (desalination, deep well etc ). Does this mean that we should not care, and just let it go, or do we take the stance that our fresh water must be a Canadian needs first and foremost approach? I am divided on much of this, only because in the past we have signed treaties that had then come back to haunt us with things like oil and gas. There is an agreement with the USA to supply oil and gas at prices that will never exceed our domestic price. This makes it so that even if Canada decided it wanted to set the price for Canadian oil and gas at a rate of 75% of the world price, the treaty's that were signed with the USA would then compell us to have to sell to them at that same price. Of course we could break that treaty, but we as Canadians are not treaty breakers it seems. Even when we know and see that it is wrong to have signed it in the first place. That is why even Alberta can not have a lower price of domestic crude, even though they have the capacity to do it. That is why I am leary of any treaty to be signed on water. I do not trust this government, or for that matter any of the past governments, with doing anything long term, as it seems that every treaty is accompanied with dozens of pages of political crap that hides the true meaning behind them. If an agreement is for 10 billion liters of water at such and such per liter, then that is all that needs to be said. Maybe a few extra lines for differing circumstances etc., but not the 100 pages of legalese that allows things to be changed etc. without notice. I feel that all treaties should say exactly what were the will and meanings were in plain english in the first paragraph and have it so that the first paragraph, is capable of over ruling any other interpetations of what ever follows after. Governments hide too much political manouvoring in the paragraphs after the intitail intents, and that to me is just wrong and should not be allowed. I am all for a treaty on freshwater sales, it it can be made simple and understood, without the hiddeen agendas. I also think the Canadian people as a whole would agree to such. The spirit of any treaty should always trump the legal wrangaling that follows so often. Even the USA could not fudge if things were made clear and concise. As you can tell by my long winded answers that I would never be a candidate to write a treaty, that I would agree to.

The fact taht we share the Great Lakes with the USA, means that we can not stop the USA from building pipelines to these lakes and using the water in any way they see fit. The only way Canada can take control of its freshwater resources is to dam the rivers that flow into the great lakes. That would be very costly but doable. Of course this could reek havoc on shipping in the Great Lakes and yes it would need for Canada to make other plans for internal transport of large amounts of cargo etc. The Steel mills of the USA would have large problems with getting iron ore and many other things because the lake levels would be so low that shiiping would not be possible. I already said that the USA can dig to levels where fresh water is found and that way quench their thirst or desalination of the oceans waters to supply jusut about any need they may have. It is just so much easier to take water from out of the Great lake system then invest in the other methods. So if Canada was to take control of its fresh water supply, it had better be just for Canada's own use, as the price of freshwater can only go as high as the costs of desalination etc.. Anything beyond that would be just plain stupid. So it comes down to this: does Canada want to sell water today, so it can build necessary dams to control the flow, or do we invest in the control now and forget about the sales until later. I personally do not trust the USA in any agreements they make, as we already have seen then break them any time they feel like it. So I would be willing to suffer the costs of dams and control now, over deals that may be used to circumvent water sales later. Or I would say that only one year agreements should be signed until we can get firm control of the water supply. I do ot see Dion as the one who should lead in these talks, and I am not so sure that I trust Harper completely with them either, but better him then the rest. I really do not think the USA will ever use military might as a tool in this as Russia would be here in the drop of a hat backing Canada up, before you could say boo. Canada is on the right course now ascerting its soveirgnty over our lands and resources and it is about time. If the other parties can not get on line with this, then lets have an election and make this the platforms to run on. I do get tired of seeing our government play toothless games because their is not enough backing to get the things done that need doing. It is time Canadians used ourt power of the people to ste the course and hold the leaders to it.

I read just today that the USA debt is now held more by the China then by Japan. The article was in todays Ottawa Citizen. It did not say if the repayment was to be in Yen or USD, but it did say that China also has much higher trade and reserves of Japanese then the USA but that would mean little if China did do a credit call. China could do this and not affect its currency at all, because they are not allowing the Yaun to be valued by the reserves it holds of other currencies. This is why the USA is pushing China to allow the markets to set the yaun's value. Because the USA knows as things sit, its neck is in the nosse and the chair under them is crumbling. If they can force the yaun up in vale to where these reserves have to be taken into its consideration, then they will feel safer about the huge reserves China holds. But as it stands right now, they would be little consequence to china or its economy if it did make the call for the USA to pay out all its USD held by China. China can still keep doing this as long as they convert things to other currencies. If they asked that it all be exchanged to yaun, then that would make the yaun so high in value that it would wipe out much of the trade competiveness that they have now.

Canada can protect its freshwater supplies simply by building dams that alow the water to flow into the Great lakes. This would be the only way we can control it. The water that flows north to the artic watershed, would not need to be protected inthe same way, but yes our Great Lakes and the fact that the USA has no compulsion to even try and conserve, means we need to be able to turn off the tap here in Canada, if we are to have any control over our freshwater resources. It would also mean that the shipping on the great lakes would be affected hard, but maybe we need a large scale contruction project that would build a canal from James Bay to Sault Ste Marie. and also join to the Ottawa River etc This would give Canada control over its own shipping lanes and also give the nortern communities a great big boost. Another canal from Church Hill to lake Winnipeg would also help the west immensely and maybe do something to unite Canada for once. This would in my own thinking be the best way to spend and unite the country and ascert our soveirgnty over the transportation and supply of Canadian goods to and from our own cites, without having to share any of this with the USA. With this shift to middle northern Canada, we could then shift even more north to the artic regions and cap all of our claims to these lands, with little excuses from other lands. Now do I think that Dion has the right idea? No, he is not even capable of any deep thinking, and I can not see anyone much less likely to be able to stand up and fight for Canada. He in my mind is nothing but a place holder, for the liberals. Because there are no real rising stars coming up in their ranks. Mind you, I also think Harper is very limited in his ability to do things, but at this time I would say he is the best of what we have to chose from. I will need to see him get more of a back bone before I can say that I agree with him more then disagree with him. Time will tell just where things will lead. One thing we all need to understand that even in the desert there is a water table beneath the surface. You only need to dig deep enough. I do think that in lieu of that, the USA can spend the money and find freshwater when and where needed. There was a time when a 100 ft well was at the limit of those drilling for water, but now you can find wells in excess of 500ft deep in the Gatineau hills around Ottawa, and not that costly to drill. Also the costs of desalination have dropped many fold within the last decade, and the world being 75% water.... well you can see where that is going. Canada cheap and free flowing freshwater is what is at the bone of contention. That to me is what and why we need to protect it, but not by agreements with the USA, as we all know they break agreements all the time and can not be trusted. So, yes Canada needs to dam the assets and make sure things are followed, by our neighbours to the south.

China can and I do predict in the future will drop their foreign reserves of USD to about 100 billion over the next decade. It will do so as it is obvious that the USD is grossly overvalued. It will seek out other currencies that will be way more stable such as the Euro, the Pound, Cdn, Yen, and also invest in speculation on some of the other currencies that it expects will increase in value. The same thing will be happening with many other countries, as well. This will happen because the world has already said the USD is way over valued, and to keep it held in reserves means that these countries will take needlessly hit if they hold on to this much USD. Again I will point out that the foreign policies of the Bush Admin., are what will be responsible for this happening. It may hold off to see who takes the reins after Bush, but if they are even slightly thinking of taking the same road even in part, then the rest of the world, will send the USA a finacial slap. It is our right to do so and some will say it is our obligation to do so. Russia is again militarizing their nation, and it seems that the USA and its bullying is the biggest reason why. The rest of the world sees this and will try to make a statement without the retoric. I would expect the world to make the USA show that it has the ability to support the amount of dollars it has in circulation. It does not seem possible that the USA economy can afford this, and if as many countries have said, it appears the USA has just printed paper without the real backing behind it. That is why Greenspon had said that China holds about ten times more USD then it did a decade ago and if they were to demand exchange to theirs or other currencies the USA would have trouble. If the USA could back the dollar to it value then it would be no problem. At one time gold reserves were what based the dollar on, but the amount of dollars in circulation are hundreds of times more then all the gold in the USA. In Canada we no longer base our currency on gold, but on our economy, but we can support all calls to the value of our dollar if called to do so. It is when a country fails to be able to do so that its dollar is over valued. The USA is in deficeit every year since Bush came to power. I would like to be a fly on the wall, when the loans that they are getting are negoiated. I bet you that most of them are now set out to be paid in the currecies of the lenders, such as Euros for European money, and Pounds for British loans and so on. I say this because from what I have been told this has been something that has been going on for quite some time now. Canadas debt from many foreign lands but the repayments were always in the currencies of those lands. So when our dollar was .63 USD our debts were 37% more of a burden. Now that the CDN is nearing par with the USD, it will be much less of a burden, and even if we just pay back the amounts we did previously, it will reduce the debt substantially. The same for the European debts that Canada holds as our dollar has gained a fair bit there as well. For a country of such a small population Canada, has been repaying debts quite regularly, and we will soon ( in the next decade be debt free or close to it ). That is one of the big differences between Canada and the USA today. They keep adding to their debt, and when the USD takes a hit it will make paying those debts even harder. Will this kill the USA? No, they will suffer big time, much the same way Russia suffered after their country was virtually bankrupt. But like in llife there are big differences between Joe Blow going bankrupt and Bill Gates. So yes there will be a difference if and when the USA is held to account for the USD value against what it has printed and are now being held in foreign reserves. That day will come, as not to ever have to make an accounting for that, would mena that countries could just keep printing paper, and never have to back up the resources for that paper. Now as for the question of, if the US economy tanks and so does the dollar, would it be good or bad for the USA? Well since the USA imports most things, and a vast majority of manufacturing has been moved offshore, it would mean that times would be pretty lean for the USA. If their dollar was to go to .50 Cdn that would mean $5.00 a gallon gas, and natural gas and heating oil would also double just on the dollars value. The home loans that were usa backed would not be a killer, but any bank or credit organisation that had foreign loans etc., would probaly go tits up. The food grown in the USA would find a balance, but no more imported wines of foods unless you can pay double for them. The government debt in USD would not be a problem as it would have been cut in half along with the dollar. But the foreign owed debt would then be increased to the differences between the two currencies. The USA would not be able to afford large miliary projects as much of the raw material would now be out of reach of the budgets. It would be a good time to start rebuilding the economy and not make the same mistakes that they did before. Lifestyles would be very different then they are today, but that might be a good thing. Debt will be something that people will have learned is something to be used only in emergencies and not to finance a lifestyle, yyou can not afford today. I do not think we would see the arrogance that is there today, but that does not mean they can not be proud. Pride does not have to cost you anything, it can be had just by doing the right thing, when called on to do so.

Even in countries where multiple marriages are allowed there has always been a special status to the principal wife or first wife. All other wives have had less standing and are therefore only supported by the husband after the needs to the first wife have been met. So it would easily be able to use this same policy here in Canada for any benefits that the Husband would have from the government etc. Now I personally can not see having more then one wife, as liek most normal Canadian women, she feels it her god given right to lett me know exactly what I do wrong in just about anything I do that she is dsipleased with. Now do not get me wrong I love her, but why would I ever take number 2 wife so this will then happen in stereo? I feel no need to ever have more then one wife and companion. But that does not mean my neighbour feels the same way, and as long as he can affort to do so and support the extra wives, I have no problem with him doing so. As far as legalized prostitution goes, I am all for it. It can be made as a hospitality industry and with proper medical check ups and health controls, it can even benefit society, thru taxes and tourism. Just see Amsterdam and the tourists who all want to walk thru the red light district just to see, and I am sure some may even sneak back on their own to make use of the services. Hell it is now one of the things promoted by the tourist industry. Many other european countries have this as well. It is open, honest and made as healthy as possible. Maybe it would even give outlets to some of those borderline sex offenders, so they will not feel the need to find innocent people to do their deeds, when you probably could find a sex worker willing and able to perform these tasks at a price.

Some how people have aligned the currency exchange to be like banking and it is not even close. The Chinese have collected this amount in reserve mostly by doing trading with the USA, and this way payment for the work. There are no agreements about how it is done, or how it can be applied. If the Chinees decided they wanted to exchange all the USD for lets say CDN. Then they would simply do so and there would be nothing the USA could do but accept the fact that their dollar is going to take a very nasty hit. Of course that would put the CDN to become a very inflated value as well. But if the Chinese wanted to keep the Yuan low but still destroy the USD, they could just take the USD, in their reserves, and exchange them for many other world currencies, like the Euro, Bristish Pound, Cdn, Russian Ruble, or any of the many other currencies. Which would have not so much a raising effect on the currencies it chose, but would still harm the USD, in many ways. If this happened many other countries would also decide to exchange out much of their foreign USD reserves and go with currencies that would be more stable, as the USD would by now be in a tail spin into oblivion. Now, this is just an example of how China could wack the hell out of the USA, if it was to decide thay have had enough. I am alos sure that this could be done to the CDN, Pound or Euro, to some lesser extent. It is not something that would happen over minor issues, but rather only when hate for a nation, or its practices becomes intolerable to the country that holds so much of the USD reserves. I would point out that it is only been under the leadership of GW Bush and admin, that this kind of hate for the USA has been building. I can only guess at what the situation would be once this president is gone, but I will assume it will take atleast a decade or two, for things to calm down and this type of action to not be a bone of contention in the what could bes of the future. Saudi Arbia also has reserves and holdings of USD that could easily be used int he same way. Do you really believe that since just about all the terroists who have be front and forward in all the terroists actions, have been from Saudi Arbia, and the USA does not do much to go after the country, that gives birth to these terrorists. Do you think that the USA does not know that to piss off the Saudi's would be like asking for the USD to go down the tubes. It is kind of funny to see the way it is all played around the facts, but never really zeroing in on the places where these terrorists are born and bread. Again this is just my own thoughts and I only give them as something to think about. Many will disagree with them and my reasoning, but that is what this discussion is all about now isn't it?

I disagree with many of the things you heard, but one that I know is widely known and is a sure thing, is the one about the USA no longer having control of their economy, and also their dollar, that foreign governments could easily bankrupt the usa dollar, simply by dumping all the reserves that are held now. The real question though is are they willing to do the deed now, or is this something that they will put off to a future time? I was be niauve to think that these things just happened by accident. Since the USA dollar has not been backed by gold reserves for many decades now, it has just printed off paper like there was no tomorrow. Knowing that the rest of the world is not enamered with the present USA and its administration, I would have thought that now would be a good time for things to happen. This whole scenario was also pointed out by Greenspon over a year ago, and I bet you dollars to doughnuts, that when it finally happens you will need many US dollars to buy one doughnut. But only time will tell on this one. If all the worlds countries started demanding to cash in their foreign reservs of USD, then it would not be a pretty sight. Never mind recession, it would be total depression time.

It was foreseeable that the subprime mortgages were one day going to implode, once interest rates rose to what was a more reasonable rate with reasonable risk. The trouble is that many of the people thought that low low rates were here to stay, and that is just not sustainable over the long term. Interest rates shouls be in the 6-7 % range, where risk is probably the safest. Once interests start falling, you will always get those who jump on the band wagon, feeling that they can afford things that they could not normally do in the higher interest rate environment. Many took high interest crdit card debt and mixed that in with their own mortagages, because it looked very cheap. But this only made the longer termed debt much more expensive inthe end, and caused many to think that they could also buy many more things they normally could not afford. Manufacturers saw little gain in having money on hand and then decided to boost sales by giviing interest free funiture for 1-2 year terms. What many who took advantage of these things forgot is that once that two or so time is past they are then hit again with high rate interest. What also hurts them is that the mortgage industry is now much tighter and so these same people do not have access or the ability to just mix this in with mortgage loans. So yes this is a correction and it will be a hard lesson for many to swallow, but the greedy hedge funds and mortgage brokers who just a feww months agao had more then enough people willing to keep the balloon floating high, are now faced with investor jitters, so now everyone wants to get out of the riskier investments and seek more secure investments. This leaves a very large credit vaccum that now has taken our markets to task. Housing prices will fall, but I personally do not think they will fall in large volumes. We may see home values drop by 15- 25 % in the top end market of homes but the smaller family type homes will probably only drop 5-10%. That will not be enough to make it so those who lost their by defaulting, to have any chance of negoiating a deal to let them continue on. Along with this we will see the interest free deals on furniture and big ticket items, to end and be replaced by low interest or even deferred interest plans, but for much shorter periods. We will have to wait and see if the public has caught on to there being no free lunch, and in the end will have to pay interest of a reasonable amount, to again start over. This will hurt the countries economies badly. Canada has no real shield against the events happening here, but we were not as large a player in subprime mortgage game, and so we should feel the pinch a little less then the USA. I am not sure how large the European markets were into subprime but by seeing the problems they are facing, it looks like they will be hurt by this as well. It would be nice it people planned for these things using a normal interest rate of 6-7%, and then only used the subprime rates to shorten the terms of the loans. Any mortgage company that willingly allowed people to extent terms and add other debts into mortgage loans, deserve the problems they are now facing. Yes many of them will go bankrupt, but they were willingly blind when they got into this and they also knew that markets will correct themselves in time, should have known this was going to happen. I can not feel sorry for them. Hell I remember back when I bought my first home I had a 10.5% mortgage for 25 years. That I paid off 10 yera early, as I could see it was the best use of my money. It seems people now see nothing wrong with 30 or even 40 year mortgages, and that mindset is why we are where we are. I guess the schools are not teaching economics the way they did in my time, as the mortgage examples were almost always used to show you the costliest money is the longest termed loans. Will it actaully give us a recession by the terms we use for that today? Probably, but it will not come about for about another 6 months. Just my own view on it, as seen thru my eyes.