playfullfellow

Potentially, any animal cam kill a human. Be it through a direct attack or reaction to a particular animal. This statement is way too broad MS and too hard to define. I know what you mean but we as people also have to respect an animals space. Growing up on farms with all sorts of animals, we learn very quickly you have to respect all animals and treat them carefully. As with people, you have bad tempered animals and good tempered animals, all within the same breed. Rule of thumb, animals that show any agressiveness towards people should be put down. I have owned a doberman, this dog was a watch dog and did his job well, we didn't have any more theft after he joined our home. This dog never ever attacked anyone but we knew the potential was always there and never let the dog out when people were around. We had a dachshound who didn't like kids, they liked to yank her long ears, we kept the dog in a bedroom when young kids were over. I know people who have rotties and they are just big babies. These are all dogs that were raised properly and respected. Any dog has the potential to be dangerous. It has a lot to do with how these animals are raised and treated. Banning the ownership of certain breeds of dogs may seem like a good idea and I am not necessarily against them but where do you draw the line? Here in Alberta we have a law against owning rats and so far that has been fairly succesful.

As far as I see it, there is a lot of difference between sticking panties on some guys head and whacking his head off. I do not condone torture but there is a hell of a lot of difference between the two. As I recollect, most of the beheadings have been towards civilians, right? It's one thing to shot back at someone who is shooting at you but it is an entirely different thing to grab an unarmed civilian and systematically execute him with no trial. You have to be pretty hard hearted to condone any such action at all caesar.

I think Martin is trying to divide and conquer the Premiers right now. He is making individual deals to keep the premiers off balance and keep them distrusting each other. If Martin can keep the premeirs divided, then he can bribe the weaker provinces to back him while making the stronger provinces look like greedy buttheads. If the premiers would stay unified, then Martin would have a tougher time to ink out deals that would benefit only a few while costing the many much. This is just more typical Liberal way of doing politics.

Switzerland also has a mandatory stint in the military and makes it mandatory that all reservists, that includes all males up to the age of 40 or so, have a loaded weapon in their homes. Glad to see you are starting to swing more to the right MS. Also don't forget that Switzerland is a tax haven for the rich, allows criminals to keep vast amounts of money in their banks unchecked.

Sorry MS, Denmark tried something like this in 1975 and it went over like a lwad balloon. The only stores open on Sunday were bakeries but they are open almost everyday except Christmas eve. I think it only lasted about 3 months or so. The only people on the roads were emergency vehicles and people on bicycles. Of course Denmark has a lot of bikes but it would be almost impossible to apply here because of the distances we have here. If people want to shop, let them, if people want to stay at home, they will. If it is not financially feasible, a store wont be open on Sundays.

I agree with caesar, wouldn't getting a bit of a cut of that myself but that is very unlikely. Every yahoo and special interest group will have their hands out. Civil unions will balk at any offer made to them now, they figure there should be more. Health care groups will figure they should get a bigger chunk because they suffer so much already. Qubec will figure they need a larger slice of the pie as they are so hard done by. Gobs of money will be spent trying to figure out why our sub burnt. If the money is going to get wasted, lets see it go to our debt. Proper tax rebates and help our ag industry get it's problems figured out. Maybe even set up a rainy day fund that can earn some interest. Plenty of things can be done but I doubt the Liberals will do anything usefull to the average Canadian.

The same can be said for the UN, why should we allow the UN to dictate how we should live our lives? The UN has lost it's will to do what it was set up to do, stop conflict around the world. The UN of today is a rather different UN then the one of the 60's. The UN has become ineffective. UN troops are not even allowed to get involved in regional conflicts, all they can do is park themselves between 2 opposing forces. If these forces do not shoot directly at these troops, then they can use no force at all. So, everyone shoots around the UN troops and nothing happens. People on both sides get killed but the UN can do nothing to stop it. If you want the UN to be effective at stopping global conflicts, then it has to be given some teeth. There needs to be a permanent global armed force set up that can be mobilized on very short notice and they must have the ability to use force to stop conflicts, not be human shields.

I seem to work Sundays a lot, not because it is mandatory in our company but rather because that is when things seem to break down all the time. We get plenty of calls in regards to broken stoves, fridges and furnaces. At least with a few businesses open, I can generaly get the parts I need to get people heat again if it is not too late in the day. I also find it convinient that since I work 6 days a week, I can do some shopping on my supposed day off. I do not however believe in making people work on Sundays if it interferes with their religious rights. There should be no reprisals if people do not want to work, if management wants the store open, then get in there and work along side the staff. Aside from that, if a store wants to be open on Sunday, let them.

In a perfect world, you ideas would work caesar but we do not live in one. The US is the only super power at the moment. The world has had to rely on the US to help end both world wars in the past. Until the second world war, the US advocated isolationist attitudes but in the end, they were basically brought into the conflicts because someone attacked them. The US vowed no one would attack them again. With the constant threat of the Soviets, they built a massive military. The Soviets collapsed and that left us with the US as a sole super power. Yeah, it has kind of gone to their heads but they are still pretty well the only nation on the earth that can end a conflict once they get involved. All of the nations with a veto will is it to their own benefit. Would Canada be any different? Maybe but who knows, Martin talks through his butt most of the time. The UN has too far away from actually stopping world conflicts by wanting to get involved in everyday life of ordinary people. The UN has been taken over by special interst groups like every other political organization in the free world. The UN has lost a lot of its validitty around the world.

The higher Canuck Buck cna be both good and bad but in the long run, it does more harm to our manufacturing industr than good. Sure, you can go holiday in other places and pay less but what does that matter if you are unemployed. Short term, the higher buck wreaks havoc on the ag industry. Sales drop, commodity values drop, stockpiles increase, value drops more and more farmers go under. Bigger companies buy these farms at pennies on the dollar and wait for the next high prices and ride the wave. Pretty soon you will have about 10-20 companies own the majority of all ag industries and then they will dictate what prices you pay domestically.

Caesar, thats why we have the Heritage Fund.

Caesar, we wont get a seat at the UN until the world can take us seriously as a peace keeping country or a country that has a modern military. Right now we are pretty well pathetic when it comes to our military and frankly, the laughing stock of the military world. Even little Denmark has a better equipped army than we do. Look, I am not advocating becoming the next super power but I do advocate giving our army personel the best we can. They are the one putting their lives on the line for us. It's just like our police and firemen desreve the best equipment we can afford, not some second hand crap that no one else wants. Our troops in Afghanistan had to wear green camo instead of desert camo when they first got there. Green would sure make a nice target out there in those rocks and sand. Face it, our troops get to use second hand stuff from all over the world and that pretty well sucks. A countries military is something we should be proud of but it is hard wehn you know the Liberals have screwed the whole bloody thing up.

SO far this discussion hasn't been so much on a larger military but rather suppliying our troops with better equipment and support. Right now our military is not even capable of helping out in 2 different places at once. We have planes that are classified as antiques, helicopters that need almost 3 hours of repair time for every hour they fly, we have subs that leak, dont move and are a death trap. We have to hitch hike to send our troops to help around the world. We can't patrol our own shores adequately so we can't even keep out smugglers. If anyone invaded us from the sea, we wouldn't know until they arrived in Ottawa. No, if we are to have a military at all, be it for peace keeping or domestic protection, then we need to ensure our troops have the best, not some second hand or outdated crap.

I agree with Newf here, if the Liberals get all swollen headed, they will be brought down. The last few days may have been just posturing and strutting around but it was also a show from the Cons and PQ that they won't take any BS from the Liberals either. The NDP want to look like they are the moderate ones so they will not rock the boat. I think that this will be a good time to introduce a bill on free votes. Lets see if Martin meant that he would democracise our parliament, I doubt it to be honest.

You forgot family MS. That is what we should be most thankful for.

I am not here to belittle anything you say. I truly hope that the maritimes get their resources and Ontario will recover one day but when? For now, Alberta is doing good, why can't you feel good about that? Alberta is not perfect but it is a pretty good place to live. I am a transplant to here but this is where I make my home now. This is where I like to raise my family just like you chose to live where you are. People will go where the work is, no doubt in that. But we are stuck with a situation where we basically have 10 small countries inside of one big one and each one figures they are getting screwed one whay or another.

Can this consequence also not be made towards provinces that become financial dependant on equalization payments due to their own fiscal decisions? I am refering to BC here who used to be a well off province till the NDP wiped the cupboard bare. Saskatchewan has little to no industry aside from agriculture and their own social programs keep them cash strapped. Manitoba has tried for many years to find it's niche in Canada but struggle with a lot of debt. Ontario is manufacturing rich and industry rich. Quebec, well they don't want any English industry there anyways. The Maritimes have been so used to getting hand outs that it is hard to break the habit. They are trying of course but the Liberals just keep bribing them. Of course Canada should be looked at as one nation as a whole but Quebec has made this impossible. We have a very definitive line drawn within our borders and it will be almost impossible to get rid of it. Canada could be one of the richest, most successful countries in the world because of our resources and our red neck attitude could see us achieve such goals. Where the heck would Canada be as a whole if it wasn't for the success of our resource developement? The only thing we would have is our ag industry and a lot of that is in a shambles too now. If we did things your way, we would see the resource industry in Alberta put into shambles and the Alberta economy ripped to shreds. No thanks, we saw enough of that in the 80's.

I dont know about being nuclear free, it seems to me the Fraser river just about glows in the dark at times. All kidding aside, shouldn't our soldiers have the best we can get? Why is it that we always get the stuff that has to be held together with bubble gum and duct tape? It ends up costing a lot more freaking money in the long run repairing this crap. We demand that employers supply their employees with the safest possible equipment, why not the military? I still don't really know that buying subs was a good idea in the first place unless you are talking about patroling the arctic. But heck, even the Danes can land in the north and they are a country the size of Vancouver Island. How long before the Liberals admit they don't know what the hell they are doing when it comes to the military.

I stand corrected on this point. That is in fact the total or pretty close to it. But of this 10 billion, Alberta will pay close to 9 billion. The rest will come from Ontario. So we can say that Alberta pays close to 90% of equalization payments now. Rumours have it that the feds will try to increase that by another billion next year but Ontario may have to pay another 3-4 billion. This is not fact but just some of the things I read. I guess we will be able to tell after Oct 27. I don't mind researching, makes for a better debate. What province has no sales tax? What province gives tax incentives for businesses to start? What province has the lowest income tax levels? What province has a slush fund set aside for a rainy day? What province is just about debt free ( and this is a stretch because they only count currently owed debts, not debts that dont mature for a few years). Are these all not incentives for a business to move to a place that has a business friendly government. I do agree that a lot of companies left Quebec because of their biased language laws but that is not Alberta's fault.

I have no problem with that but Alberta already does pay a huge amount of money through equalization payments to the tune of around 10 billion per year right now. That is around 10,000 dollars for every Albertan that goes somewhere else. What about all the income taxes we send to Ottawa because our wage levels are pretty decent right now? What about capital gains taxes because things are worth more right now? They also go to Ottawa. We have 2 provinces that contribute to equalization payments, the rest receive. Aside from Quebec briefly and BC lately, Ontario and Alberta are the only net contibutors since 1967 ( may not be the exact year). Why is Alberta not allowed to enjoy it's prosperity now? Why shouldn't I enjoy paying less taxes? Maybe if some of the other provinces had more business friendly governments, then they might also grow financially.

I don't really get what this has to do with this thread, I must have missed the connection somewhere. Yeah, this has been good for Alberta but has nothing to do with our resources. If it was in these companies best interest to move to Alberta, well, good for them and also good for me. They could have just as easily moved to any other province but I guess they figured that Alberta offered them the most. But this also is good for the ROC, we have secure jobs, increased income tax payments, less people on welfare, less people on EI. One thing I see missing in this thread is that no one remembers the grunt workers who actually risked life and limb to bring in these early wells. There were a lot of Alberta men and boys that struggled to bring about this boon. What about all the families that have lost loved ones to this industry, I guess they dont count since they didn't invest money in it. If these other provinces offered well paying jobs, lower taxes, more jobs, I doubt that they would have left their home province. What difference doea it make what the cost is to other provinces? This is Canada and we have the freedom to live where ever we want to. If this jobs were in Sakatchewan, Manitoba or Ontario, then the people would move there. How many people moved East in the 60's and 70's because the better paying jobs were there? That cost the provinces too. If the money we pay in taxes was spent wisely, then I doubt any of us would have any decent argument against Ottawa taking more. Right now we can't say that the money is spent wisely. The amount of money left over after equalization payments are taken into account is miniscule to Canada as a whole but keeps Alberta business viable. This means we have job security and a steady flow of income taxes. It also means that we, as Albertas get to enjoy being the first Canadians to be tax free each year by almost a week. Now that makes me happy, I just wish it was a few more weeks earlier .

MS, I still have to disagree with just spending more money on the situation with natives. A lot of natives have made it quite clear that they do not want the white man interfering with life on the preserves. If we make tougher laws, then they scream discrimination. If we prosecute further for violences, then they scream discrimination. Right now a status Indian can have a free home, free education, not pay taxes for items bought on reserve, not register a fire arm, hunt anytime on reserve or crown land, fish where ever they want with no license, receive an endowment when they turn 18, they can get a free education, they get grants to start businesses we can only dream of, free counselling if they want it, free lawyers, free post secondary education, monthly cheques, can bypass local bylaws on reserves, nad the list continues. Where do we stop? We already spend billions of dollars every year on natives. You are still naive enough to believe that we can solve the problem by throwing more money at it. Well, it won't work because there are already a lot of programs available if people want to change but they have to want to change first. It's like you can't force a smoker to quit unless he wants to. You can't force people to change their lifestyle unless they want to. There are a lot of opportunities for them to do so now.

NC, I seem to remember reading this somewhere too. I don't think these subs are meant for any war time missions but rather too keep an eye on our coasts. It's not like we can afford to arm these things anyway. MS, if we were willing to spend a tonne more money on our military, then we might be able to build our own subs. But this would take us years if not decades to accomplish. I have to laugh at the fact that these subs that we bought are real lemons. Leave it to the Liberals to buy lemons but try to convince us they are sweet oranges. I doubt they also got them with a warranty too.

MS, throwing more money at the situation is not going to solve the problem. The situation in reservations can be horrific but that is not due to a lack of money. People have to want to change. I know plenty of natives who have left the reserves and lead very successful lives. I know reserves that have used the money received to better the lives of it's members to great success and they are doing very well. How can you make things better if people do not want to change? Countless number of business opportunities have been set up on reserves to no avail. Businesses that do business on reserve land have to guarantee a certain number of jobs to band members but no one shows up or when they do, they just sit around. What else are we supposed to do? Everything plus wipe their butts too? No, we have to come to a point where there has to be some accountability for the money we spend on reserves. Don't bother calling me biased or racist, I married a part native woman and I personally don't care about anyones race. What I do care about is how they live their lives. Once people decide they want to change, then I feel we should help but until then, more money will not help. It is no use bankrupting the average Canadian to pay for more useless crap on reserves.

I fail to see the US doing any death throes right now so I think they have a few more years of life yet. As for Asia, yeah, they can can become a larger trading partner with us but they will never be able to reach the levels of the US. There are a couple of reasons for this. Asia is even more protectionist minded than the US when it comes to local industry. Also, the return in doing business with Asia is not as high because of the high transit costs. I agree that we need to spread our wings a bit further but let's not piss off our US customers more than we already have. Just rememeber, we are not really doing business with the US government but with US companies.