maplesyrup

Hjalmar........just curious. Why did you change or am I missing something? You benefitted from a union situation which helped to provide you with decent work, an opportunity to purchase a home, start up your own small business, etc., and yet you seem so down on the union movement. What has made you so bitter?

Argus.......you tend to gloss over the accountability factor, or at least focus on one side's accountability. The BBC has been accountable. Why hasn't Blair been equally principled? The whole world now knows that Iraq's WMD was a con job. But I don't see any resignations at No 10 Downing Street, nor for that matter at 1601 Pennsylvania Avenue. Why not? Why are you promoting double standards? :angry:

Venezuela's Referendum and the Nation's Poor Deja vu! I am beginning to think there is something obscene about this recall legislation. Like Chavez was democratically elected, so why doesn't the opposition accept the democratic results and just wait for the next election? Does anyone know the history of the recall legislation in Venezuela? I am also wondering to be fair is this similiar to the many Quebec refendums? Like how many friggin' times is enough? Or am I mixing apples and oranges here?

Resist tyranny of the majority Roach has many valid points.

No laughing matter: Clown car stolen

Venezuela set for Chavez vote Today's historic vote should be a good example of what democracy is all about.

Maybe having gun control/registry, as opposed to little or no gun control, has something to do with it.

Fox and Pravda (or truth) were/are no different. Pravda was a puppet for the Communist Party, and Fox is a puppet for the Transnationals. Both were/are just propaganda tools. Pravda (Online Nationalist Edition) With 10 times the pop. the US should have more news outlets but what does that really mean? All it means to me is that the transnational propaganda is reinforced 10 times. As far as news reporting goes, I think that one hour PBS news report each evening, where news is broken down into 3-4 major stories, with 10-15 minutes devoted to each story, has by far the most substantial content. BTW if you want to understand democracy, keep your eye on Venezuela later on today.

Energy minister plugs national power grid Trudeau had it right when he said Canada needs to diversify its trading partners. We need to work together as Canadians to protect our society. The more we can do together the better off we will be.

Given up on the Greens, eh? I don't blame you.

Argus.......everyone made mistakes in the UK over Iraq. The BBC did the honourable thing. What haven't the other parties followed suit? Most Brits felt that the Hutton inquiry was a whitewash stage managed to exonerate Blair and his war-mongering efforts.

Nader vs. the ADL Nader may not win the US presidental election but he has earned my respect for speaking out on this issue. One should be allowed to speak out against Israeli government policies in the US without being accused of bigotry.

No-name party takes on B.C.'s Liberals Well. less than one year to go to get rid of Gordo so this should come as no surprise.

I think the scientific journals are a good place to start: Nature Magazine Do a search on fish farms although you may have to go through a library to access.

Tn.......I agree that students should pay something. The one place I have major concerns with user fees is with health care as I would not want someone to not receive medical attention because they didn't have the five bucks. Basically though I think it is a good idea to make people pay something for using a service primarily to cut down on waste.

It is of no consequence. When is the next election in Quebec? Three years from now? Sovereignists must be very frustrated at the moment because they cannot call another referendum. By the time the next one rolls around, if there is a next one, things will have changed again.

We don't have a proper agreement on softwood. That is part of the problem. So we pull completely out. What have you accomplished? They can then legally put duties over any import they like and with the deficit they run on imports they will. Just listen to John Edwards protectionist rants. Scares the heck out to this Canadian who is active with trading in the US, how about we continue to set up better agreements with more open boarders. Willy.....I don't have any problem with trade, it is essential in today's world, but there has to be a reflection on the overall impact on our Canadian society. Where are the advantages for Canada if our work force lose their benefit packages, and any decent wages they have built up over years of negotiations? If these trade agreements are going to work we should building up the benefits for workers in other countries, not ripping ours down. It certainly sounds like we need a fresh approach in our labour relations where both sides can more clearly see the benefits of working together as oposed to fighting each other every inch of the way. Perhaps Canada's business schools need some fresh ideas, as well as certain sectors of the union movement.

I think some of our Canadian industries and businesses need Canadian government protection just as our cultural organizations sometimes do. Unfortunately the reality is that a lot of our business community would be too ashamed to admit they need government protection because they are unable to think outside the box.

Tale of the tape Standard issues Wells continues the debate with some input about the German situation as well. I am curious what folks here think about his comparisons in his "Tale of the tape".

Would you mind telling me how it would normally play out? That's a laugh -- a union supporter talking about the conciliatory approach!!!! Get used to it. Jobs for life with benefits and pension plan has indeed become a thing of the past. In the years ahead, jobs, as we have come to know them, will become mere tasks. There will be no locked in contracts as people adjust to our changing world of today. As a matter of fact, it has been predicted that by the year 2025 blue collar jobs will have virtually disappeared altogether -- down to about 2%. That is absolutely true with the exception of union workers. All the rest of society has been going downhill. Sort of sad in a way that this one group in our society has been vested with such powers as to diminish the standard of living for everyone in the country except themselves. Union employees have of course shielded themselves from their own wage driven inflation through their own inflationary pay and benefit increases. Corporate executives' incomes and benefits have gone through the roof. It seems that you benefited from the perks of the organized labour movement yet all you seem to do is bash it? What happens when a corporate executive shows up drunk at work? And pray tell how is the carpentry, plumbing, electrical , welding, etc. work going to get done?

There was then and there is now. Society evolves. As Chretien said: "What's a few million bucks when you are trying to keep your country together". As has often been said, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Anytime there is money involved there will be corruption. Often we are not the honest goody two shoes we like to project.

Why is it that the people with good incomes, or the wealthy, you know the Fraser Institute type supporters, always want to promote abolishing government protections for the less privileged in society, and yet the poor never want to do so. Kinda makes one wonder, doesn't it? If we don't have enough incomes to go around, why don't we really start narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor, by closing off all the tax loopholes for the rich, eh? It is time Canadians seriously addressed narrowing the obscene and inmmoral income gap in Canada. I hate to break it to ya, but greed is not a Christian virtue.

There are always going to extraordinary situations, but that is very misleading. In 99% of cases it would not play out that way. Yes, shop stewards, or the union business agents, or whoever can be a pain in the ass sometimes, but are there not ever abuses by management? Let's live in the real world, not this fantasy one you keep dreaming about. I just don't get the union-bashing, anti-worker mentality eminating from posters here. What better way to create a hostile work environment? Did it ever occur to you that the conciliatory approach might be more productive for all concerned? And you say we don't need unions anymore. Trust me, with your mentality, we need them now, more than ever.

Willy.......I have no idea what you are talking about. There is not a shred of evidence anywhere which shows it is cheaper to go the private route in health care. Lets stop believing in all the HMOs' propaganda and start dealing in facts. If I understand Scott's analysis, and he appears to have quite sound credentials, he is suggesting it is not primarily a money problem, but more of a management problem.

CanadaRocks......I agree. Some of the problem with the trades lies in the career guidance offices in the high schools. Many of the people that work in these offices usually have a teaching backgrounds, which means they went to university instead of learning a trade. There is a lot of snobbery towards tradespeople, dirty work, not using your brains, etc., all the typical BS, and they have minimal appreciation of the career advantages of learning a trade. Guidance offices would do students a favour by staffing themselves with trades people as well. Many high school graduates would be well off going to trade school, at least first, before they go on to university, as they will never complete university. But why, as CanadaRocks suggests, couldn't students learn one trade or skill by the time they have finished high school? What are the current statistics? It used to be 13% of high school graduates went on to complete an undergraduate degree.