August1991

What if the brown liquid were in every respect identical to the liquid sold by Coke?Would that be theft or dishonesty? Hugo, after a long discussion about the definition of property rights, are you now going to argue that "intellectual property" is less in need of protection than "real property"? ----- Let me revist this quote again: I will ignore the word "ethical" and consider whether it would be "legal" or not.ISTM that it depends on the contract and what property changed hands. If I sell you a car and the sales contract contains a condition requiring you to drive the car only on weekdays, such a condition would not withstand a court decision. But if I sell you land and the sales contract contains a condition that someone else can cross the land, you would have to respect that condition. A recent Supreme Court in Canada decision stated that condo owners are not bound by a condition forbidding the installation of a dish on their balcony - as was stated in the sales contract. So, in theory, some property rights are sold with complete freedom and some are not. It depends. As an example, if I buy a DVD of "The Godfather", I cannot show it in a public place such as a cafe. That strikes me as similar to your poem example.

Huh? The Pope? Yeltsin first and then Gorbachev?eureka, your knowledge of these basic facts seems shaky... The more relevant point is that the Soviet Union collapsed. Nothing works as well as free markets. Many leftists in western countries still don't understand this because, fundamentally, these leftists don't understand how markets work. That's sad. And please don't accuse me of being a neo-con, neo-lib oogy-boogy bad guy. I understand how markets work - can we now move on to discussing what the State should do and how it should do it? In Canada, various governments take about 25% of all the good and services produced in the economy. They take another 25% and in effect, redistribute it among ourselves. Lastly, governments regulate in some manner virtually every transaction that takes placed in Canada. In practical terms, Canadians on average give about half their income to government, and then get back half that in transfer payments. Yet, you guys on the left think the government is too small and you want to make it bigger. Have you ever heard that line? "If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. If it stops moving, subsidize it."

The comments on this thread are the indication that something is very wrong in Canada and many Canadians are like ostriches, preferring to put their in the sand. This is what Harper said, according to the CP report: That is all he said, "in areas of jurisdiction like telecommunications and broadcasting". In a sense, Jack Layton, during the election campaign, went further and said he would repeal the Clarity Act. Both of these English Canadians deserve respect for considering various possible solutions to "Our Constitutional Problem". In the last federal election, the BQ won 54 seats in Quebec and 49% of the popular vote. That is a simple fact that cannot be ignored.

I believe Mattel went to court on that very point to protect "Barbie".Coca-Cola would certainly object to you using the name to sell a brown liquid. Coca-Cola owns the name, as they should. They lend it out to others for use.

In fact, we have this separation (or distinctness, if you prefer) now with the CBC and Radio-Canada, as this "Great Canadian" competition and Bakunin have shown. If the CRTC must exist, why not organize it along language lines - at least where regulations concern broadcasting. The CRTC decisions seem to be written that way. As to Belgium, God help us all if we organized our political system like the Belgians. It takes several weeks before anyone knows who won an election.

Hugo, who "owns" an idea? When you express a thought, can you always enforce your ownership rights to it? Strictly speaking, Hugo and TS, if I am aware of a fire in a theatre, I should sell this knowledge to others rather than informing them for free. This would create the proper incentive for people to be on guard for fires in theatres. Unfortunately, as soon as I "sold" the information to someone, that someone could sell it too - unless I could enforce a copyright/patent. IOW, I would be less dogmatic than you in having a simple rule about censorship. Even your criteria of "telling the truth" strikes me as open to interpretation.

Slavik44, I would never dream of calling into question your attachment to Canada. For me, I simply have no other place to live but this place. I have tried.

It was good fun to listen to Landry pretending to be Levesque in French. It was even more fun listening to Landry in English. Landry wants his job (That'll be the English newspaper interpretation, if they bother to report this.) In fact, Landry is finally being honest. The hard PQ and Landry are probably right. PM PM (unlike Trudeau/Chretien) does not have the guts to steal a referendum. Landry (unlike Levesque/Parizeau) does. Let's see what happens.

Yes, Newf, it shows that many Canadians don't listen to CBC Radio or CBC TV: English CBC TV share in English Canada has fallen from 10.0% in 1997 to 7.2% in 2002. (See Table 13 in the link.) Senate Report The story? Some management idiot at the English CBC invented this crazy scheme of "Great Canadians". Alot of English Canadians (about 90%) don't listen to the CBC but enough of them 1) dislike the CBC and 2) heard of this scheme. They voted. Don Cherry makes it into the Top 10. CBC management believes it is the BBC. Well, the BBC doesn't have an English language competitor off its shores. (Don't get me onto Radio-Luxembourg, TV5, Euro-News or Deutsche-Welle...)

Caesar, markets (our modern world economy) use prices in the same way that city traffic uses traffic lights. In both cases, they provide signals of when to go and when to stop.Tampering with the signals causes no end of problems. If the signals don't work properly, a city has major traffic jams. (Even when they work, there are major jams.) Canada's health system used to be a small town where a few stop signs kept things in order. Now our health system has developed into a large city but with no traffic lights. The stop signs are pathetically inadequate. Does this make more sense?

What is wrong with "letting the market decide"? People to this forum profess to believe in democracy. Well, let democracy decide the issue. Not in a referendum as we just saw in Nova Scotia, but in the ordinary dealings of ordinary Canadians. If no Sunday shopping is a good thing, then it won't exist. If it is a good thing, then it will. And it may be that some people don't like it and others do. Some may like to work on Sunday and have a day free elsewhere. Why this need for conformity? Why the need for a government regulation to impose it? And why do people seem to trust more in a choice made by referendum rather than in a choice made in the marketplace?

MS, does this mean *sniff* we're no longer friends? Far be it from me to defend the Sun papers. (I prefer the Journal de Montréal approach - or even Allô Police. Cut to the blood and guts and skip the editorial filler.)But Belinda ran as, well, Belinda. To my knowledge, she never went to university and interviews with her fellow high school students seemed to tend towards "how nice" she was. At the debate in Montreal, her section seemed to be filled with young women in T-shirts. Margaret Thatcher would never have run a campaign like that. (Heck, neither would Anne Mclellan, Flora Macdonald, Sheila Copps or Kim Campbell.) As far as I'm concerned, anyone who runs for the leadership of a national party using only their first name is inviting accusations of being a Ken Boy in a Ken World. Remember Joe Who? Look Kimmy, political operators want to win elections (and shareholders want returns). These people could not give a damn who the person is as long as the goods get delivered. The profit motive killed the old boys network, if it ever really existed. As far as I can see, greed was not invented in the 1960s.

Of the top ten, all are men, seven dead white guys and eight WASPs.This is a big joke on the CBC. The tip off is Cherry. I'll bet either he wins or the CBC is forced to rig the vote. Don Cherry! The CBC! You gotta admit that some Canadians have a sense of humour...

If the consumer of a scarce resource faces a price signal not connected to the cost of delivering that service, a problem will develop. Canada's health system has insufficient stop signs. Insufficient stop signs?We are using stop signs in a city that desperately needs traffic lights. No wonder the traffic is a mess. And it will only get worse.

Good question, Thelonious. I don't know. How best to express my desires as one person among 6 billion?First of all, small countries seem to be more successful than big countries. (The US seems to be an exception but I happen to believe the US is decentralized. Its success stems from its local nature.) So, however a world government is structured, it must be federal. Second, what matters should go to the "central" government and how should they be decided? The writers of the US Constitution were extremely cautious. The US Articles of Confederation might be a model.

I guess Putin and Chirac Good to know we're in good company. [sorry, but I can't help noting that one guy has a Napoleon complex and the other is a crook.]

Holland is my favourite example. Agreed but the issue, IMV, is whether parents would choose to alter the code of a child (before or after birth), or the State the code of an orphan.Since you guys are going off into The Twilight Zone, let me note my suspicion that such a gene would not survive long. Genes must be transmitted to survive. That happens now Thelonious. Kids learn what the Ministry ordains and what a teachers' union agrees to teach. True, individual teachers still have some leeway. Sort of.My argument with Hugo would be about payment in a private system. Rich kids would get good schools, others OK schools and then the rest would get, well, what? If someone had asked me, before my birth, if I would agree to give up one half my lifetime salary but with the understanding that I would get a decent education fand a decent homelife for the first 18 years of my life, I would have jumped at the offer. I know too many people who never got the offer. Let the State collect taxes and pay for non-union teachers working in private schools. This also has the advantage of not putting all our eggs in one basket. (BTW, Canada almost has such a system.)

Now you blame the doctors? WTF?

And you Caesar, are one of those American-hating English-Canadians.I hate to break this to you Caesar, but English-Canadians (meaning you) are the "Americans" of Canada. God speaks English, don't you know? Once you get this idea that I present to you, maybe you'll grow up a little.

Argus, some points:1. Don't worry about trade deficits/surpluses. By definition, the whole world must be in balance. (In fact, Canada is more or less in balance but that's irrelevant.) 2. What's your problem with China? 3. Imagine Martians offered us everything we now produce in Canada in exchange for a glass of water. Should we refuse the deal on the grounds that everyone in Canada would lose their jobs? 4. Trade is identical to new technology. It means we get more in return for giving up less. Both sides gain from a good deal. The Chinese are not ripping us off. 5. What is Calgary's trade position with the rest of Alberta? 6. Argus, do you bake your own bread? Do you make your own clothes? I'll bet you have "outsourced" those activities so that you can do something else with your time. 7. If China is willing to ship us stuff and we don't have to ship any stuff back (your idea of a trade deficit), well, that sounds pretty good to me. If you disagree, I've got some dirty windows that you are welcome to come and clean. Sorry, but I can't offer anything in return. But no doubt, you'll view it as a good deal... 8. All of your points were resolved by economists about 200 years ago. (Well, about 600 years ago, it was determined that the world is not flat. It takes time for some ideas to ideas to filter down.)

So all the stories we hear are false? The Romanow Commission was a lark?When was the last time you went to a hospital emergency room? Have you ever tried to make an appointment with a GP who doesn't know you?

Isn't it odd that no one says anything? If Howard had lost, the reaction would have been very different.

As in Soviet Russia, Canada's health system suffers a great disconnect between the demand for services and the payment for services.If the price of a good or service is held artificially low, don't be surprised if demand outstrips supply, shortages develop and then lengthy queues. This leads to various queue management schemes including priority lists. Corruption always lurks in the wings - it usually takes the form of polite gifts. Good contacts are critical. Soviet Russia was filled with this and Canada's health system suffers from this too, and for the same reason.

Peggy McIntosh? University of Toronto? IRS? Huh?RB, please provide a link and a short quote only. Greg gets touchy about copyright. I get touchy about verbiage. ---- I have spent the better part of my life living in situations where I was distinctly in the minority - whether determined by my race, mother tongue, gender, religion. IME, you either make a big deal of this or you don't. I noticed that any cartel/conspiracy of the majority to gang up on me usually fell apart. Somebody would talk to me. IOW, each of us is a microscopic minority of one and both sides can benefit in a good conversation. Canadians are a minority in North America and French-speaking Canadians are a minority in Canada. Your quote of an American document is ample evidence of the situation. But neither is it a big deal. So, what's your point?

We now judge politicians by the length of queues! That's what people in Soviet Russia did too. Of course, they learned that it makes no difference and the queues just get longer.I have noticed the provincial governments are tightening up health card security. Watch for new "priority cards" to be issued to people deemed to be special cases. (I think this is done now in determining waiting lists.) Bureaucrats have a love of cards, documents, stamps and arcane rules. All of this has been seen and done before....