old_bold&cold

If you have been following the Afghan mission closely, you would know that come every fall around this time, the Taliban make a move to push for more territory to hold and be able to draw from. They do this since it almost always falls in the fighting over the long winter. As the Taliban has not really gained much over the summer, they have to do some really big things if they are to be seen as a viable enemy, and then making it easier to find willing recruits, over the slower winter months. If they managed to take anything of consquence, that will be a big plus for their side. But as you have read, even though these have been some of the most organised operations from the Taliban to date, they are being repelled back and taking many casualties with them. In fact they have large numbers of fighters that are surrounded by Afghna and collition forces. This may well be a rout on their side, and that is not good for the winter coming. They need to have wins, and gains in ground and territories, or they will be seen as losing the fight, and that will mean tougher times recruiting people for their cause. Also remember that it is not just the Canadian troops and places that this has happened it has been all over the place, even more peaceful places. It was to be a show of strength for the Taliban, but and I hope, that it does keep them at bay, and severely reduce the numbers of Taliban fighting. if we can do this now, it will be a large turning point for the hearts and minds of the people of Afghanistan.

You do not have to be a Liberal hater to find fault in the poicies of the Liberal party. Yes their leader is some what prone to shooting himself in the foot, but it is the party that needs to take him in hand and guide him to developing policies, and principals, so the voters can see that things have changed. Right now, quilt by association, is the running tool blade that the Liberal party is having the most problem with. Dions musings about whether the Liberal would put the GST back to higher values, if elected, is some what of a dumb move on his part. But it seems that the liberal party have not got together and spoke about what stance on this should be. It is not as if this wasa surprise move by Harper, and face it, it should have been talked about long before this was ever made in the mini-budget. The Liberal party has no party. They have a collection of like minded people, who for now are going to only go about getting elected, by their own policies, and not those of the party. I say this because, these same MP's have given Dion their voice to speak as one, when they probably should be voting as to their own views on things, because Dion can not be trusted to do anything with out harming them as a party. If anyone took the time to look at the Liberals as a party right now, they would come away thinking that there is no way you would ever support them. That is why they fear going to the polls right now. They can not ever let people see them as they are now. That would be the most damaging thing to have happen. But then begs the question of just when and how will they change this? Can it be done before Harper just says enough and calls for an election to put them out of their misery. It is a shame when the opposition has to wait for the government to say have suffered enough and call the election, out of sympathy rather then any other reason. I like spring elections, the weather is better and it seems that the people are always in better moods in the springtime. Maybe Harper will see fit to have it come about then.

I have already posted a link that showed that the misrepresented facts that many here are so quickly posting about pot and its cannabinoid receptors, is being used in ways that are just not true. There are no such cannabinoid receptors the way people are portraying them. The articles these were all taken from were research to see if Pot had any medicinal usages and none were ever found where they actually cured anything. Pot at its best is used to mask things, and does not ever cure any of them. As for the cannibanoid receptors go, these are just used to describe the anadamides as receptors that process the cannabis, as well aa many other of the bodies hormones and things naturally occurring in the body. There are no receptors that are only used for cannibis only. If that were true it would be so easy to develope a blocking agent for this and end much of what we have today. But it is not, and there have been the studies that were done for this and it was all done trying to find out any of the possible medicinal properties that it may contain. People since have taken snippets of this research and then used it to promote it as being truth, when in fact these are taken out of context, and misused. The health risks of using pot, are very nominal for the young people and to some it does not matter if the ppulse is raised and low sperm counts while young and in the prime have never been a problem. As age comes though, these can and will be more of a question of whether the user accpets them as risks, that are still no issue, or some may then see the issues. The ability ot pot to mask the stomach upset after Chemotherapy, is still not a cure, but one of many things that can be done. The fact that pot does not have a very large window where there are no effects to where the effects are such that motor vehicle driving and other attention demanding duties require, make it more an eitther /or type thing. There is no accpetable limit on pot and abilities. Sure most of the population has tried pot. i have tried it and for a while in my youth did so regularly. It pretty much just put me to sleep, so I smoked before going to bed, and had some dreams that I never would have had otherwise. Most of us have similar stories, but for the most part the vast majority of us do not use it today, because we saw no reason for it. Just as in growing up we found that drinking to be drunk was stupid and harmful, and for the most part we now drink only at social gatherings and never to excess. I call it growing up and being wiser. But I am sure the pot heads will disagree. We have all seen the pothead burnout types that just never knew when to quit and knowing that, we have to question that usage is not harmful, as in taking a look around it is not that hard to spot the pot heads, and their obvious lack of control and thinking. Yes these guys probably can all be helped to get back most of what they have lost function wise, but same can be said for heroine addicts as well. But we are not hearing anyone saying heroine should be legal either, are we? The fact that the voters are aware of pot and most have tried it and now are for the most part willing to say that it should not be so that criminal records are given out for simple use, for the first offence etc. But the majority of people still do not think it should be legal. The problem is those who try pushing this always take a small issue of saying no criminal record ad fines for first offence, to mean that these people are willing to legalize it, and that is so far from the truth that it makes me wonder at just what their game is. For now and I would say for the next coupe decades, there will be no majority of people saying pot should be legal. There will be a move to decriminalize its use for first time offenders, and maybe even if we push it for simple possession completely, under 30 grams. But that is about as much as it will ever happen in my life time and in the life times of most people here now. The fact that the pro group will take this and push for way more, and misuse facts to their own advantage comes as no surprise. But the hard facts remain, that the vast majority of peope are not willing to legalize pot. Not today or for anytime in the forseeable future.

It really does not matter what Dion says, as he is a liberal first and fore most so for one thing Liberals never keep promises made unless it will some how pay them to do it. But the fact atht they lie about most promises aside, they do not have a snowballs chance in hell of forming a government in the next decade or so. If you think that is not true then have the Liberals bring the government down on the issue, and let the bloods sport of kicking a liberal begin. The liberals be the snivling cowards they have shown to be are quivering at the thought of even having to think the word ELECTION! that they hide and plan ways to abstain from voting, because they think it will look better The Liberals have pretty much said it before about the GST, when they promised to delete it if they got in and 15 years later they still had it in place. So the fact that talk about deleting anythignto do about the GST is only going to bring back those sores and turn them to open wounds. Way to lead Dion! You just needa good cliff to come along and lead then all to do the right thing.

I disagree that peple would be allowed to grow there own pot if we regulate it and tax it. Much in the same way you can not make your own hard liquor, is the way Pot would be looked at. If it were to go the legal but regualated route, there would be licensing and many other tupes pf regualtions that would follow it and its procduction. There would be no grow your own in any of this. That is why I said pot will be $50.00 / gram. Much the same way liquor and even tobacco, are taxed to 3-4 times their value, the same thing would have to jappen with pot. To think that the govvernment would simply just legalize it and allow just anyone to grow there own pot, is not very realistic. Even as we move more and more towards otlawing tobacco, it will probably just get taxed into extinction before the outlawing ever takes place. Pot will be treated like hard liquor, and there will be strict control on who gets licenses to grow it and just what level of THC it will be allowed to have. then it will be taxed and judging by the taxes we have on liquor and tobacco, the tax will be sevral times what the price is going for now. You do yourself a diservice by not trying to see that, and while your approach is head and shoulders over Shavluk and his cronies, it still is more pie in the sky type thinking on your part. You would like to think thatpot is like tobacco, and it is not. It is a drug and it is not even what we would see as a softdrug, as it has affects that far out weigh the affects of a beer ot two, or a cigarette or two. Basically one joint causes you to be impaired as much as being drunk does. There doe s not seem to be a safe level for pot, that does not impair hand eye co-ordination, or reaction times. This is why it will be treated more like hard liquor then it will be like tobacco. Most of the public will probably see it this way, if legalization + regulation and taxation, are ever achieved. That would be a goal that might get passed some time much later in life. But for now and for quite some time to come, pot will not ever be an issue that will command much attention for the voters. It is a tiny side issue at its very best. Hopefully unlike Shavluk, you will be able to see this more clearly, and understand that what I have said is much more likely to happen then plain outright legalization of drugs period.

I think the CPC have done the right thing, and it has happened at a time when Canadians should soon start to see more buying power from our looney. So yes this will benefit the people and business, without going over board. The fatc that it make Dion and the Liberals loook bad, is just icing on the cake

If pot were legalized the government would want to regulate it and by that I mean the strengths and its THC content. That would mean that there would have to be a large regulated body to do this. But just as tobacco has taxes and many find ways around these taxes, so would the pot growers who already are growing the pot. They will then be breaking tax laws etc.. and we would be in the same position, except now it would be legal for th users. Since the grow-ops have already shown they are willing to break the law, what garantee would there be that they will just not do the same as they are doing now and not pay taxes. You do know that Pot after taxes will be probably $50.00 per gram, right? So do we make it so that those caught still illegally growing pot, are sentenced to 20 years in jail? Kind of does not make sense. It would be better to just leave it alone. If anybody thinks that the costs of regulating and taxing pot will not raise the cost per gram to be at least 5 times what it is now, then you have not looked inot this very hard. If we take the steps to legalize it and tax it along with regulating its content, most people will not like the costs and if we are going to be serious about doing this, we then have to make illegal growing outside the regulation and taxing, need punishments that will deter those from taking that risk. So these are just some of the reasons why pot will never be legalized, regulated and taxed.

I am a CPC supporter and yes that kind of makes me then a Harper supporter as well. It does notm necesscitate though, that I am a Liberal hater, as that is something that the Liberal party has to do themselves to give me reasons to hate what they stand for. I must admit though that they have done that job quite easily, because it is not only their lack of respect for the political system, but their complete inability, to understand that the Canadian people want and expect better forom their elected officials. Take a look at Question period in the HoC. The Liberals are too entrenched to try and make Harper look bad, that they never ask any reasonable questions of the government on the issues of today, that the Canadian people want answers to. They leave that up to the NDP or Block to stand for the people. That in itself would be reason enough for the voters to hate them. It is no wonder they fear having to face the voters and then will do anything to not have to do that yet. Yes the CPC are sitting pretty and today they will give a budget update that will give all kinds of tax breaks and even a reduction in the GST. The voters want thi, and yes it will play directly to them. That is what has Dion in a snit, because it does not do what he wants it to do. But then again he as the official opposition should by now have figured out thta being in opposition is not about getting to do things your party wants, bu to represent what the will of the voters are. That is why he can not turn the liberal party around, because they still do not know what their position should be. They can only see being in power, and nothing else. That is why they are where they are now.

Dion can not do a single thing to stop the CPC from making these tax cuts and as much as he says he is against the GST cut, it will get supportted because he and his party can not afford to be seen opposing much of anything right now. As the goevernment will call them out on it and then have an election. After the buget update today, the CPC will have laid the ground work for its run to have a majority government by next summer. There is nothing the Liberal can do about this other then force it to come earlier, I guess. but either way the Liberal will not be ready for an election, and it will not be pretty for them once one is called. Yes after that the Liberals will dump Dion like a hot potatoe, but there really is no great candidate in the wings. Manley was wise enough to sit out the last leadership race, because he knew it would have only brought too much political baggage to the front, and the public was not ready to forgive that kind of thing yet. I am not sure if he feels different now, but if he did run for leader he would get the job, but I am not sure he can deliver the government to the party. He would be good for the liberals, as a leader who would take command, but he has too many Chretien ties, that much of the Liberal party still can not accept. It would be interesting though

The main driving force behind this is the fact that these second generation women are now better educated and experienced. They still hold the better work ethic from their minority past and that would spell better pay as more employers will see this. I do not see any of this as being of any real importance politically, as it would be more a case of workplace values sought by employers, then anything else. Their visible minority status can be a bonus in some places but a draw back in others. For the most part I think it is a wash as to it being better or worse. I do know that I find that second generation minorities more open to talking about about their families and lifestyle changes between them and others. They feel free to express themselves without the stigma, that others have had, and that is a good thing.

As the article clearly points to Liberals doing only scandel mongering because they have no party platform or direction from the leader, is a good point, and not one that is brought forward much by the media. The liberal party has used the exact same in and out advertising methods as the CPC, and it is only the fact that elections Canada chose to not allow some of these deductions that there ia any money in question at all. If these were allowable deductions there would be no issue at all, and the Tories would be all within all spending limits. The refusal of these deductions was at the discretion of elections Canada, and is in no way without reprive from the courts. But even if the courts ruled against the CPC which is doubted by most in the know. There still would not be much of a scandel in this, as it would be seen much like having an expense turned down on your taxes. It hardly make you a crook. One would think that the Liberals of all people would not try to keep the ideas of scandels alive, since they are the ones who have been behind all the really big ones int he past. The plan to say they are just as bad as us, is not something that will play well. But if you are a Liberal I guess it is better then being the only one who scandel proned. If this is the best Dion can do in opposition then maybe he needs to give over control of question period time to others who will ask the questions about government policy on many things that are important today and also at least ask the questions that the voters are looking for answers to. But, Dion would rather point fingers and try making scandels where none exist, then to actually do the work that the opposition is supposed to do. It is sad and very disturbing that it has come down to this. Maybe we just need Harper to call an election and finish off what is left of the Liberla party at the polls.

Why would you find it surprising that soldiers that are under constant threat of atack by the enemy, and could lose their lives at any given time, are under stress. It would be very wrong if these people were not stressed. They will of course gravitate towards all the things that high stress jobs, usually do to relieve the stress. Many who also know these signs will yes take drugs that are prescribed for this and then better manage the stress without being reckless. What you are not mentioning is the fact that the vast majority of these soldiers will say that they still think the mission is valid and they want to be allowed to continue the fight until the job is done. There are a small number who will not see it this way, but they are few and should be transfered to other positions where they can do support work from relative safety. Now is our military suffering? This is a bad title for this, because if a military were to go into a war that they feel they will never suffer anything, then we will have a large problem. The whole premise of war is that each side tries to make the other side suffer enough to the point where they will pull out and surrender. That is what many activists, want for Canada, but thank god it is not what the majority of people want for Canada. Threads like this are done to create as much dissidence to get people worked up in favour of the points, that they would never actually do otherwise. It is all just so much stirring the pot.

In Toronto during cold snaps the Churches open the doors to people to sleep there and as I said any large stadium or conference buildings not being in use are also opened. There is no lack of space for those who wish to seek it. But as I said there is a large segment that will not go in doors even if you try to force them. Canada does not have very many deaths due to freezing considering it a country that can have temperatures go to 60 degrees below zero.

While $10 an hour is not great pay. So is the service of washing dishes not a demanding job. Most of it is just loading and unloading the dishwashere, and basic kitchen maintenance. It never was meant to be a job some one could aspire to. But the $10 per hour does give that person a basic living where if he had to, he could live in a boarding house and still afford some of the things in life that one wants. It will never support a family though. It is a very good wage for a College student trying to make ends meet. So yes there are many sides to this. If who ever id willing to do dishwashing, has any sort of work ethic, we could easily go on to short order cook and maybe even a chef. But that takes ambition, and I hate to say that many at that level have little of that. In may area there seems to be a large shortage of people willing to do manual work in warehouses etc. Even forklift drivers are in demand and they pay well over $20.00 per for that level. The trades are lacking people willing to enter them and stick with an apprenticeship. These are very well paying jobs and easy to raise a family on them. Canada has lots of opprtunities for people willing to work. The trouble is they also have many social programs to make it just as easy not to work.

In Toronto if there is ever a situation where all shelter beds are full, and it is very cold outside, they open things like stadiums and such to take the over flow. We are not animals here in Canada, and when there is a need and circumstances make it so that need can not be forfilled by our regular social net., we make sure that there are emergency plans kick in. There are not many shortages of beds for those who wish them in Toronto. Yes there are some who will never seek shelters or any of the programs we have. Some may well be due to mental disorders, but there is a very large portion who will just not go to shelters and would rather sleep on heating vents etc., and risk death, rather then be in a shelter. These must be the ones who you are referring to in Toronto, because there are a lot of shelters in Toronto that are not at capacity each night.

You are again misusing the material you have googled and are making statements that are untrue. You an dI had a disagreement on this before and I give in, but said I would research this. I was right, the use you keep saying about cannabiniod receptors, was just a short way to say those receptors that process cannabinniold produces THC etc. These receptors are not as you stated and also as used in the papers you linked to. They are anandamides, which is where you can look up what the receptors are in the actual biology of the brain, and they serve hundreds of purposes, not just for THC processing. What all the links you put forward refrain form actually naming these, which then allows people to mistakenly think these are only for that purpose. When you say they are uniquely able to process THC. that is not as it stand at face value. They are uniquely able, but they are not uniquely solely to that purpose. It is all just about taking things without the full articles to explain what the intention are. This has been done with much of the literature about pot, by both sides. I also looked into the possiblitity that if these were unquely purposed, that it would be easy to block the path ways etc.. The long story shortened is this is in no way even close to the case, and if you blocked these, you would also be blocking many of the bodies processes of naturallu occurring homones and probably lead to death. This kind of research has been given up one by most companies and while it was done in the first place ebcause many people were claiming Pot had medicinal properties, all research showed it never had any effects at curing anything but rather was a masking agent at best. Here is a lnk that many have used where they did actually call the receptors by name, but only after using the term cannabinoid receptors splattered all over the article. Once they named the receptors, it showed they were aware of it. There is a full expalination I do believe from the reports own links etc, about this. http://www.doitnow.org/pages/126.html

Quebec's indentity is one that is rooted in terrorism, I lived through the times where FLQ would bomb department store crowds and anywhere that they could find a prodominently english crowd. They did not care about the innocent lives they took and this was fertile ground for the French Seperatis movement today. Once things came to a head with a kidnapping of Cross and Laport, the FLQ were quieted, but there goals of building hate and desention in Quebec, along language lines was well on the way to becoming political driving issues. Quebec is only different from Canada, in that we alowed the french people to push their agendas, on the provinces people and the Federal Government, did nothing to intervene. The Bill 101 should have been brought down by the supreme court and the same laws governing the rest of Canada should have been imposed. But they wre not and today we have a province that thinks it is above any laws the federal government passes and they even have a federal political party that says straight out they are only there to protect pprovincial interests, and nothing else. We as a nation have let this go on for far too long. But to act now it will mean many very hard feelings being brought to the battle. The federal government has the ability to strike down Quebecs language law and to force compliance to all the laws that the rest of Canada have to follow. But the honey or vinegar approach, is not a fast working solution and if it does not get some results soon, the younger people of Canada will come forward and push the one Canada and one voice, and we will again see Quebec go back to FLQ type tactics. The province was deimated when most large comapnies left the province, during the Separtist government of Rene Levques, and that is where the separtists in laid their own party thinkers in the fabric of Quebec, so that even after the government was defeated, they still then controlled much of the public infastructure, that is Quebec today. If they ever lose that position then they will be truly dead as a party of any consequence. So the question of whether Quebec does have a different idenity from the rest of Canada? Yes, but this is very new and is not as engrained as the separtists would like you to believe. Just as they took over this in underhanded political move, it can again be taken back if done right and without the need to do it in the cover of secrecy. It is more of the question of, does Canada and its federal government have the will to face the Quebec issue for the good of all Canadians? I think that will come in time.

To me a living wage which is not poverty, is when you can pay for the rent with one weeks pay, and the groceries for the month with another weeks pay. That would leave you 50% of your earnings for things like clothes and entertainment, transportation and insurance etc. That would be a good living wage. If you live in an area where rents for most apartments are $1,000.00 then you would need to make approx $1,000.00 per week. But if you live where rents are $600.00 then you wouldf need $600.00 per week This is at the gros pay before taxes etc. If you then have a spouse who works it should be to the addition of this rate, not to be taken as the combined rate. If we followed this more closely we would find that people would start families sooner and have more children, which in its self is good for the economy.

That is a good site Kimmy. I was involved in my youth with putting a 50 HP electric motor in a VW chasis. As I was a mechanic at the time, it was someting I was into. We did mange to get the thing to go mid 11 seconds in the 1/4 mile at 165 MPH. Ellectric cars just have amazing constant torque and depending on the power source, can out rev any other kind of engine, other then jet turbines. There is no need for a properly designed electric car to be under powered, once you get reasonable power sources to drive them. The main problem is that the faster you make them go the more energy they take. The efficiency of electric motors is way higher then any other interal combustion engine. I also like the Tesla badge on that link as I am a huge fan of Tesla and his ideas that we use every day, but never give a moments thought to who really made it possible. Edison would never have gone very far if he had not employed Tesla, and then screwed him on the patents. Too bad Tesla died penniless. His Ideas for unlimited electrical power so plentiful it would not need to be mettered, and of course his Daeth ray for the military. There are many more things he was about.

It does not matter who appointed the Elections Canada director, it does matter that like many others I wil refrain from mentioning, he takes a small non issue and see that by the wording and all that stuff can make a large issue about it. Even though he knew the spirit of the ledgislation, he nit picked this, and yes he won, for the time being. But believe me when I say his political life just went on CPR and will not get any real upward mobility any more. That is what happenes to those who thing that just because the wording is one way, they will ignaore the spirit of the thing being another. These type are soon gone and forgotten. That is a fitting end to those who do such things. Don't you think so?

Kyoto was flawed from it very inception, by the fact that a country could buy credits and do nothing to solve its emmissions. The very first thing that we need to do in any plan to reduce emissions, is allow people from neighbouring countries to sue the large emitters from the source countries, and have minimum awards to be in the millions. This would then stop the factories in the west of one country, to just pollute freely as the winds blow it all over the second country. This would all have to be worked out in the world court and set the rules for this. That would mean that each country can be held responsible for its own emmissions even if they blow away from their own populations. Smoke stack emissions are an easily doable solution and not really all that costly, but until there are methods that will make it so it is a financial positive for that company, they just do not do them. Places like India where most of the rural population still cook over wood fires, will always have large polluting emissions. But we can see the reduction of a lot of this with propane or other type of methods for cooking. The burning of forests to reclaim land from the jungles, is still going on in most third world countries. This should also be solved by foreign aid to show them better ways and methods. But the need for land to feed the masses is always going to be a big issue, even if we can show ways to double crops in any given acreage. If we are ever going to have a true Global emissions strategy that will work, it will have to be one where the wold court can be the overseer and the final say in what the damages are. That way it government will have to make sure its own companies and utilities, follow the wiser more emissions friendly ways. Each government can point to the world court as saying non conformation will have huge monetary affects, and use that to force compliance on each and every emitter. Kyoto never had the will of all the people, and it would be next to impossible to get that agreement by all. If the world court is given this power, then even those who do not recognise the court would soon find that they must folow this or life alone in the world can be even more costly. What is needed is a all encompassing power to independly look at all the data and then make decisions and penalties. That way it would be easier for all governments to get the people to go along with it. If they are any other enities that would do this better then the world court, I would be glad to hear about them.

Mail in ballots have lots of time to be checked and double checked. The voters on election day do not have this ability, so yes photo ID and /or voter registration are required. It was an Elections Canada Director, that took it upon himself to interpet the rules and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, in a way he thought was best. For a time it did look as though he won, but Harper did exactly as he said he would do and pass the bill for Photo Id and facial ID for all voters. The Elections Canada Director has been put in his place and in a while I think he may be a director of small recycling projects and semptic services. Of course we wil not see this coming Before any oof you go getting all lathered up about this, remember this was a non-issue util this guy decided he was powerful enough to over ride what the government had said, and in the nit picking of the wording he got his way. He will now of course over time see just what the costs of that were. The same thing happens each and every day in the working world. So this is not different.

The only time the opposition can trigger an election in a minority government is when it has enough votes to do so. As much as the Bloc and NDP have said they would gladly go to the polls, the truth is the bloc will support the government, on most of the bills that are being past. So the Liberals really do not have to vote for everything that is put forward, but with what has been there, they would be hard pressed to not vote for it. It will be that way for some time to come and I am not worried about a winter election either. The government is governing as if it hada majority, because it does have a majority, pretty much in all things being passed. Sure it really looked bad for Dion and the Liberals for having to support the throne speech the way it was. But that is only because the Bloc and NDP has already shot their mouths off about their demands and if not met they would bring down the government. The Liberals knew full well that they were in no shape for an election and the party was virtually stabbing each other to death. They could not in all consience have voted down the government on such a vague speech. The Liberal party has pretty much wrote Dion off and out no matter where or when an elections is called. So they will let him suffer any indignity they come across, so they can manouver the back room to be more compelling in the next race. Face it their will lose but right now they are trying to make that just a small rout and not a large scale rout. After that Dion will be gone and some new leader will come forward. Probably John Manley, or some other past performer. They will never again go for the likes of another Dion. For now though, the government is working and moving along just fine and things are going to get passed, and there is no poison pill yet in any of the things to be done soon. As we get closer to the spring I will probably see things then start to be more confrontational, and the electorate will be ready to see an election called. If this goes past the spring and into next fall, then I think it will go all the way to Oct 2009. That will only help Harper and the CPC in the minds and hearts of the voters. As for the time in between this, the liberals need to rebuild as best they can. Dion as a weak leader could resign and let soem one else take over, but I do not think he will do this so easily. So, the liberals pretty much have to resign themselves to the fact that they will go into an election, with a fragmented party, putting on its best face, but not having any unifying forces or policies.

You need to first stop yourself from making bigger mistakes, and do some thinking. Who is in control of the mission in Afghanistan? The correct answer is NATO. We are only there under NATO and we do take our mission from that same source. The USA are in Afghanistan by control of? This time the answer is NATO and their own seperate forces operating outside of NATO. The USA is also going to reduce troops in Iraq by next fall, and those troops will probably go into the afghan war effort, to finally finish what was started. As much as Bush does not like it when countries make deals with countries that he sees as bad. He really can not do much about it. He still has some leaway with Iraq and Afghanistan, but he really is crippled by his political foes from doing much more. Of course he will never admit that, but he really has to beg now for money for what already is being done and it seems that he will not get blanket funds anymore, so he really is penned in when it comes to starting new wars. Canada's role in Afghanistan has been combat mostly in the south for the last two years, and yes it would like to pull back from that and do more support in the rebuilding effort. But that is controlled by NATO, and it looks like NATO has already started to push others for releasing troops to rotate Canada out of combat. I would imagine that by the time our troop have been there till Feb 2009, there will be a solid plan to have either have already moved them out or will be moved shortly near that time. But I would guess Harper is again setting up the opposition for a down fall, knowing all this is in the works and just playing hs cards to his chest, waiting for the filibusters and all kinds of threats, before he shows that it is all solved and make the others look like stupid rabid dogs. If you want to follow the NATO mission you need to go to their site and then take what they speak about and think about how that really plays out. Hell, if worst comes to worst, the USA can take 2,500 troops of the 120,000 they will remove from Iraq and rotate Canada to the back end. But it would be better optics for the NATO to do that. As for the cost of this goes, it will be money well spent if it even slows the flow of extremist Islam at all.

Well I can not see where there needs to be much thought. This officer broke the law for which we gave him the right to uphold it. His addiction should be treated and then he should be fired from the job and sentenced accordingly for his illegal actions. Are you saying because he is a police officer that we should go easy on him? That would be wrong, and if anything the fact that he did this while being a police officer should make his sentence even longer then others caught for the same crime. It in no way leads me to think that we should make any of this legal, but you definitely do not see things the same way as most people, now do you?