I miss Reagan

Rape and pillage no matter the cost eh? Halliburton stocks go up yet? As far as Saudi Arabia goes, the USA has been in bed with them for so long, there will be a continued relationship. But with all that oil under occupied Iraq, who needed ANWR? Every American should have a hummer.

That is good news. Now we can start moving away from reliance on Saudi Oil. As for the environment: Story

I hear a lot about Sweden as I have Swedish relatives. My brother-in-law's sister was actually visiting here from Sweden this weekend and was mentioning how Swedes have to have a $400/ year permit to own a Television. Not my idea of a high quality of life.

You and Mr. Hardner are entirely correct, the market decides prices for these things, and so should it. Now, if a woman walked into a barber shop and said "Give me a US Marine 'Jarhead Special", and the barber charged an extra $10 because the client was a woman, that would be discrimination. You might be right. But what if the woman had longer hair than a man? It might mean more work. Women's clothing and personal hygene needs differ greatly. I think Michael is right in that it would be impossible to discern what is discriminatory and what is not. I think if there really was a way to provide for women's needs at a better price, people would be doing it. That's the purpose of the free market. I hardly think one could argue that drycleaners and beauticians across the country are collaborating to jack women. The truth is it the underlying costs are higher for women.

I totally agree. What's next unfair pricing of egg noodles discriminate against Asians? I think the whole thing is a waste of time and money. Let the market decide the price. If women weren't willing to pay so much for their hair, nails, waxing etc. the prices would drop.

You make a good point Black Dog but that shifts the debate to the ideology of which is better. More or less government. I think Canada wants to move in the direction of the Scandanavian countries but realizes that do so greatly reduces our competitiveness with the US. Which brings us back to the original topic of incentives to keep business and talent in Canada rather than moving offshore.

Where are you getting this. Seriously. Please read: USA Tax Comparison While I won't omit the serious problem that 1/5 of Americans do not have health care coverage, 80% of Americans still recieve better health care coverage than Canadians. A cost covered by both the US government and private corporations. (But let's leave the health care debate to another thread)

Slavic, I'm not sure what source you get your numbers from but it looks like data manipulation to me. In comparison to the USA Canadians bear a much higher tax burden. For instance the lowest income bracket in the US ends at $70,000 and is taxed 15%. In Canada the lowest bracket ends at $30,000 and is taxed at 16%. That is a huge burden. You also need to take into account the value of the US dollar which historically has gone further than the Canadian dollar. The US provides far more tax incentives and write offs than the US. You can write off your mortgage payments!, your vehicle, your kids etc etc. All make a huge difference in the personal tax burden. Of all the G8 countries Canada has the highest tax burden. Of the world Canada is the 5th highest taxed country behind Scandanavia. That's insane, we remain competitive or even productive at this rate. With Canadian's real income not improving since 1990, sooner or later the bubble is going to burst. Canadians are losing their motivation to be productive. There is a growing movement of people who are choosing to work less so as to lower their tax burden. They prefer not working at all to working for the government. Full US and International Tax Comparison I agree, which is the main reason I still live here. However, I think you underestimate human nature. See Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.

Where? Demonstrate. Are you insane? IMR said: You replied: But IMR had never said a word about pre-secondary education. You fabricated his alleged stance agains pre-secondary education out of thin air. Knock that kind of stuff of. It's a sleazy, annoying way to behave. What the hell Hugo ? True I did not mention pre-secondary education. I also didn't mention pre-school and piano lessons. What inferences can you draw from that? That I hate music and little kids? And what's this about asking Greg to see if I edited my post? The fact that two people, who usually disagree with me on everything, are defending me against your insanity should tell you something. I'm just glad guns aren't legal in Canada, what inferences can you draw from that.

No. Anyone who recieves government funding, loans, Metis grants etc. for a post-secondary education should be required to repay that money should they choose to move out of the country. This would be easy. Before you get any government education subsidies you must sign a contract that if you leave the country you must pay for your education.

Anybody who leaves Canada with an education before paying at least 5 years of taxes should have to refund their tax-supported free ride. I think I agree with you Sweal. But only where the government provides significant funding. The only problem is the first 5 years of employment usually don't provide a lot of taxible income. This is why there needs to be tax incentives for people to stay. This also does not fix this issue of corporations taking their wealth and jobs overseas.

How long will it take for the people in this country to realize that you can't continue to tax and spend without damaging our economy. The motivated people will take their wealth elsewhere. According to stats can. offshore investment has increased 8X to 88 Billion since 1990. That includes our PM's ( ) offshore holdings. Still Canadians cry for a nanny state to provide wasteful government programs. The government must cut taxes if Canadians want to maintain their way of life. If not there will be no one left to tax. Post

I love it. It's the same lecturing that comes from those who denounce the US for it's ties to countries like Saudi Arabia. So Bush wants to quit relying on foreign oil but alas that is evil too. But wait he invaded Iraq for oil so he must want middle eastern oil still? Must be Cheney wanting to help his friends at Halliburton .

From Ceasar: Maybe Canada needs to mind it's own business

Anti-Bush bias Not surprising at all. This study involved US news coverage. I can't imagine what a study on Canadian news bias would show. Anyway amazing Bush was able to pull off the win. Imagine if there was fair news coverage how much Bush would've won by.

The difference is alcohol was previously legal and has been a part of our culture for millenia. Legalising a new drug could carry some negative consequences. Take for example the introduction of alcohol to our aboriginal population. Ya I can see how this would be true.

False. In fact I critisize many of the US's policies. Off the top of my head I can think of a couple. For example a special on "Why the World hates the US". Then portraying stereotypes of the violent US soldier with the cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Shouldn't the question be "Does the World hate the US?" Or the show with Ian Hanamansing on interracial marriage where he asks an inter-racial couple from Alberta: "Growing up in Calgary, I can imagine it was difficult to have an inter-racial relationship". Or a report describing George Bush's "cowboyisms" rather than George Bush's "comments". Or the many times I've watched a panel of 3 liberal experts with only one or no conservatives. Or the loaded questions or the so often used statement of fact of: "many are questioning" of "some are saying". CBC Watch provides other examples but here are some more: CBC Blames Israel for Abu GhraibMacDonald Bias Jews oppose MacDonald Other anit-religious bias ...and more You've got too much time.

I used to watch the National and the Journal all the time. I liked getting a Canadian perspective on world events and CBC seems to be the only organization in Canada with enough funding to do the job. Unfortunately the gross bias gave me too many headaches so I quit watching. I don't know how anyone could argue that the CBC isn't blatently anti-Israel, anti-American, and anti-Conservative. (Which is probably why no one else has responded to this thread). CBC Watch

Agreed. There are entire threads dedicated to the defamation of President Bush, such as the "Junior is Mad" thread.

I'm open minded about de-criminalizing pot but I have reservations. It could have a negative effect on society. If it were legal its usage among kids would skyrocket, it does have negative health effects which cost society money, and people are pretty lazy on pot. And alcohol has a hugely negative impact on society and is related to domestic violence, 50% of traffic fatalities, addiction and hangovers resulting in lost productivity at work. A cop told me 90% of crime is alcohol/drug related. Ya, I agree. From what I understand the majority of inmates in the US prison system are in for drug crime. The money might be better spent on drug rehabilitation and education programs. I'd much rather the resources be used to put away violent offenders for good.

Stick to the facts, not insults. Greg Admin I wish you guys would crack down on the Bush/ American and Harper insults with the same fervor.

Aug, All I'm saying is, with respect to this situation, I don't think there was anything that could've prevented it. The natural human instinct is to assign blame to try to make sense of a senseless tragedy. The story seems to be that this guy was a nut who ambushed police officers. In the news I hear people blaming the RCMP for having junior officers on the scene, people blaming marijuana grow ops, people blaming the justice system. Maybe we need to back off of our "jump to conclusions mats".

I knew this would be politicized to no end. The fact is Jim Roszco was a bad guy. Bad people will exist no matter what. It doesn't make a difference if MJ was legal or not. The guy also had stolen cars. If it wasn't MJ it'd be crystal meth. We can spin this into drugs, gun control, police, crime and punishment, society etc. The fact is bad people have always existed and always will.

I completely agree with Kimmy. This is about satisfying the egos of a certain segment of Canadians. And it appears to have worked: Behind the scenes PM( ) is madly dialing Bush in an attempt to kiss a$$ and say "I didn't mean it, I didn't mean it".

Given the decision making by our government lately with respect to asserting our "sovereignty" by rejecting a say in the process. Not to mention such programs as gun control, which punishes the law abiding citizens rather than the criminals, or Kyoto which attempts to curtail the emissions of a natural occurring gas rather than carcinogenic pollutants. I think it would follow if the Liberal Government of Canada cut down all the trees so as to reach our goal of the "One Ton(ne) Challenge". Come on we're Canadian. We're up for a challenge! Forest Fires and Kyoto