ReeferMadness

Punitive rules to inflict pain on low income people living outside the USA but little taxation on billionaires living inside the country. I'm not surprised.

Keep him.... please.

Alberta hasn't had a leader worthy of the position since Peter Lougheed. They're deep in denial and still drifting along the same path set by Klein. Don't worry, be happy and let the price of black gold fix whatever ineptitude or corruption goes on in the province.

I don't know how I missed this terrifying story but it appears that the USA is actually being run by lizard people. It's important that people know this so they can recognized which presidential candidates are most likely to be lizard people. Here are some of the common traits. Bizarrely enough, it seems that Donald Trump is not a lizard person. green, hazel or blue eyes low blood pressure keen eyesight or hearing love of space and science ESP ability to disrupt electrical appliances Here is some important information about lizard people that everyone should know: Be warned and educate yourself. Your boss, your spouse, your kids - they could be anywhere.

Classic boom-town economics driven by a short term gold rush mentality. If the government had the discipline to control the rate of rate of growth and focus on maximizing the return on each barrel of sludge produced, you would be in much less of a mess. But hey. The people get the government they deserve. Translation: while the the poor got crushed during the boom (as what they got paid failed to keep up with rising costs), the middle class will get crushed during the bust. Don't worry, though. The rich will be just fine no matter what happens. So, my main point was that Alberta will be left with a big mess and in all likelihood Canada will need to step in to help clean it up. But I see hardly anyone gives 2 craps about the environment (and the rate of cancers being suffered by the local populations, particularly downstream natives) so let's talk money. So, energy is 24.6%. Let's look at the other big components of the economy. Construction is 10.7%. I wonder how much of that is directly or indirectly tied to the energy industry. Probably most of it. Finance and real estate is 13.5%. What's going to happen to real estate if the oil companies pack up and leave? Business and Commercial Services is 10.6%. Again, how much will be left when the oil companies leave? Transportation and utilities and manufacturing combined make up another 13%. They'll definitely be hit when the oil giants pack up. What's left? Agriculture, a traditional bedrock industry in Alberta comes in at just 1.9%. And tourism (which would also be hurt by a declining oil industry) is at 4.4%. With the amount of angst being generated by this downturn, what is it going to look like when the party is finally over? The only question I have is this: if there is another boom, will Albertans be smart enough this time to leverage it instead of becoming dependent on it?

The correct question is "What happens when the process of extraction of oil from tar sands stays uneconomical"? If it isn't today, it's just a matter of time. And the answer can be found in Saskatchewan, where a right-wing, free market leader is currently asking Ottawa for $156 million so he can pay workers to go and clean up abandoned wells. Only in Alberta, the mess will be hellacious and likely last for centuries. Corporations will go under and there will be nobody left to sue. And there will be no tax base in Alberta that will be able to even make a dent in the disaster area.

Conservatives like Saskatchewan's Brad Well normally hate subsidizing industry - except when it comes to the oil industry. This guy, who pretends to be about the free market, is actually a king of government subsidies - as long as they're for a dirty extraction industry. When the Alberta NDP government initiated an oil royalty review, he undermined them by appealing to the oil industry to move to his province. Now, he is asking Ottawa for $156 million to clean up the messes left behind by oil companies abandoning wells. So, not only is Mr Wall against ensuring that oil companies pay the people a fair price for the oil they extract, he actually wants to spend public money cleaning up after them. And the mess is not a surprise to Mr Wall and his "Saskatchewan Party". Four years ago, Saskatchewan Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk warned the government of the growing mess being created by an industry that loves profit but isn't always around to clean up when the party's over. No wonder Canada is a world leader when it comes to polluting industries. We pay them to pollute.

I watched it in 2 days. Who knows about truth or innocence but based on the show, I would say the following: Establishing proof beyond a reasonable doubt and discovering the truth are sometimes 2 very different things Be careful about talking to police without a lawyer and never let your kids talk to police alone It seemed to me like the lack of DNA or blood and the enormous amount of conflicting testimony should have created reasonable doubt for Avery I don't get how anyone could return guilty verdict over a coerced confession from a 16 year old boy with an IQ of 70; with no physical evidence whatsoever.

The growth rings would be suspicious but they wouldn't prove anything. Just don't forget to look to the skies on March 20. The aliens may show up and explain it for us.

Regrettably, the aliens didn't hang around and hold a press conference.

I don't know of any evidence that the abduction of Travis Walton was a case of mistaken identity.

I don't find it any stranger than a lot of commonly held (and deeply held) beliefs. Walton and 5 of his 6 companions passed polygraph tests. He claims that the trees in the area are now growing 36 times faster than they did previously

Indeedy. It seems the energy companies themselves are trying to set a much more conciliatory tone. Look at their newfound concern for the environment! They even believe in climate change now!

Tsk. BCSapper, I get the sense you are mocking and derailing my thread. Please desist. Meanwhile, for those of us that are eagerly awaiting Alien Abduction Day, here are some exciting ideas to prepare!

Wow. I don't know how I missed the date but the 40th anniversary of one of the most famous alien abductions ever just passed. For those of you not familiar with the Travis Walton case, he was abducted in Snowflake, Arizona by a saucer like craft. And good news, everyone. Because, even though we missed the 40th anniversary reunion, Alien Abduction Day is coming up next month. Mark it on your calendar.

No, I actually mean appealing to people who don't want prostitution anywhere, anytime. Otherwise, they would agree to prostitution in certain zoned areas. I don't recall anyone describing the law as horrendous. Regressive, pointless, ineffective, unfair, harmful, condescending and stupid. But not horrendous.

Politics makes for strange bedfellows. In this case the interests of right wing moralist prudes who think that prostitution (or any sex outside of heterosexual marriage) is the work of the devil happen to line up with the interests of some feminists who believe that prostitution is simply an extension and continuation of centuries of male subjugation. The latter may have a point. And yes, this was the work of the Conservative Party appealing to its regressive, moralistic right wing base while simultaneously putting progressives in a defensive position by appealing to a certain group of feminists. Regardless, the law fails to address the root of either of these issues and is therefore a failure.

So... you have nothing to add then. Good on you for not letting that stop you.

They were designed to be failures. Harper was exploiting people's ignorance of the law and the constitution and drawing on the well of resentment towards "judicial activism". There are lots of people who were outraged and energized when Harper's bills were overturned. And so he designed bills that he knew would be overturned. Harper. The lost years of Canada. What a waste.

I think there is more than one side. There are systemic biases and for that reason, there are some points of view that you're rarely if ever going to see represented in the MSM. Still, I try to verify that facts are being reported in more than one source if possible. And when it come to theories or points of view, it comes down to fundamentally, whether the point of view being expressed makes sense. For example, could 9/11 have been allowed to happen by certain individuals who wanted to have an excuse to invade Afghanistan and Iraq? It's possible but I haven't seen the proof. Could 9/11 have been caused by planting explosives in the buildings and flying a missile into the pentagon? That would require a much bigger conspiracy and it's hard to believe it could be hushed up. Having said all of that, there are things about 9/11 that don't make sense to me and will leave me wondering indefinitely.

So is MLW trying to be all things to all people? I don't want to see anyone censored. However, when I see an 8,000 word thesis on why the scientists who've spent their lives studying climate change are out to lunch or a deep conspiracy theory backed up only by documents of dubious origin and websites that specialize in trading in wild conspiracy theories, I have to wonder if there aren't other discussion forums that are more appropriate for them. Just saying.

Well, I think everyone should lead a productive life - and what exactly is productive? Take a look at the following and tell me who's being productive: - A stock broker who talks municipal pension funds into buying collateralized debt - Someone who quits a job to care for a dying parent - A divorce lawyer who's made millions convincing her clients to sue, even though she knows it generally leaves them poorer and bitter - A day trader - An corporate lawyer who specializes in acquiring companies and splitting them up to be sold for parts - Someone who quits her job to travel the world - An IT worker who works 80 hour weeks for 3 years only to have his project canceled - A guitar player who isn't good enough or maybe doesn't care enough about money to be successful but enjoys playing with his friends - A gold mining executive who's littered the world with toxic tailing ponds - Someone who works as a gas station attendant on at an intersections where there are competing gas stations on each of the 4 corners. - Ad producers who market sugar filled breakfast cereals to kids Know what? I don't care. I know lots of what people do in paid work is useless, wasteful and in some cases just plain wrong. I think we should be (and maybe are) moving to a world where paid work is an option. So, as far as I'm concerned, your friends are futurists. They may not be contributing financially but they're also not consuming much in the way of scarce resources. Meanwhile, there are lawyers out there wrecking peoples lives who are making a fortune. And consuming a fortune. You go right ahead and listen to the Fraser Institute and the various taxpayers associations when the tell you to be outraged that somebody's making a few hundred bucks a month on welfare. And just ignore the day traders and hedge fund dealers who are sucking money out of your pension earnings. Who do you think is paying for all of the advertising that bombards you daily? YOU are. You just don't have the Fraser Institute bombastically telling you how evil it is.

Well, lucky for him. The CTE will be reserved for people who got paid a tenth the money taking hits so he didn't have to and to make him look good. Looks like pro football is just like the rest of life.

Peyton Manning is almost 40. He better live it up because lots of NFLers wind up like Iron Mike Webster. A lot of retired NFLer's come down with CTE, a brain disorder caused by repeated hits. Autopsies of guys in their 40's and 50's show brain deterioration more consistent with 80 year old men with Alzheimers. I've seen estimates that 3 out of 10 NFLers have suffered brain damage that will become apparent in their retirement. Happy retirement, Peyton Manning.

Wow. I'm glad you were able to get that off your chest. I think it's fair to say that some people place an enormous value on being rich and generally, they're the ones who tend to wind up that way. Others have other values. You can look down on them if you want. But here's the thing. You wound up getting paid the big bucks in Alberta, in part, because your the people you are denigrating in Atlantic Canada had different values from you. If more of them had picked up and moved to Fort Mac, then you and others like you wouldn't have been able to command the premium you did. Wages would be lower and the oil companies would have made even more money. So maybe instead of denigrating your friends and family, you should be thanking them. Harper gave voice to all kinds of bigotry in this country - those who don't like other religions, those who don't like people from poor countries, those who look down on people who reject the idea that their lives are nothing but money. And I don't give a flying poop what he got for it - I'm more concerned that what we got for it was 10 lost years.