Icebound

And then here is yet ANOTHER group that we did or did not know about.... even their self-proclaimed name "Christian Taliban" should make us sit up and take notice.... http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2015/04/taliban-crusade-ukraine-front-lines-150414125522623.html

So we have 10 guys who have accumulated .... say 100,000 each in investments by age 40. That's a million dollars. Lets say they make a paltry 2 percent on their investments. Thats 20,000 dollars of annual income (combined for the ten of them). The margin tax rate is approximately 40%, so the government takes in about 8,000. Over the next thirty-year lifespan of these guys... say to age 70. the government will have realized a more-or-less steady revenue stream amounting to a total of 240,000 dollars... which it uses to provide the services that you and the poor homeless schmuck are getting today. Fast-forward to the new world with TFSAs. They can each hide 10,000 annually hidden in the TFSA. By year 10, all 100,000 each will have been hidden... the entire million (combined). So after year 10, the government has ZERO income for the final 20 years of this period. You think it is not going to replace it with something else? How about an extra nickel of HST? The TFSA is the worst kind of government financial planning there can possibly be.... the worst kind of back loading debt onto grand-children. At least if I borrow (ie: run a deficit) today, especially at today's low rates... I have money now to invest in projects that will benefit the future. And the ongoing revenue stream might actually help me to pay down that debt in the future. The TSFA guarantees that I will Never have money to pay down debt, because I am, in fact, cutting off my revenue stream.... and I am cutting more and more off the further along we go. This is not a sustainable policy... it is a stupid policy... economists have told him so... and by pursuing it, Harper an Oliver are showing themselves to be not the stewards of the economy that they pretend to be. They have already destroyed big gobs of this country's infrastructure, and reducing its revenue stream to zero will ensure its collapse. But there is a silver lining. Consumption taxation makes more sense than income taxes anyway... something economists have also told them... so lets get on with this and implement another nickel on the HST right away.

I know that I am against a government keeping a promise when it is a stupid promise.

the above.... when referring to Ukrainian elections.... has got to be the most hilarious and naive statement that I have seen in a very long time. There were at least 29 parties contesting the 2014 pariliamentary election... who were the morphed result evolving from the sixty-plus parties of 10 years previous. There were 9 or 10 serious canditates in the presidential race....some of whom were expelled by their own parties in the middle of the election campaign. Charges of vote-tampering abound on all sides. There were parts of the country who didn't vote because they didn't want to; there were parts of the country who would have liked to, but couldn't because of the security issues. The country... as reflected more-or-less in its parliament ... has factions that are pro-western, pro-Russian, pro-Nazi, pro-farmer, pro-business, pro-reform, pro-communist, anti-communist, reformist, anti-reformist...... All this .... "isn't really all that complicated..." on about the same scale as Iraq in 2003 was "really not all that complicated".

Gee... If Canada has to "retreat to the Polish border" from their training mission, will they find a friendly safe haven? http://fortruss.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/general-skrzypczak-i-retract-everything.html http://newcoldwar.org/top-polish-military-advisor-completely-withdraws-his-support-of-ukraine-govt/

An insider's opinion is in the Twitter stream from that Ukrainian pianist who was refused by the Toronto Symphony last week: @vallisitsa. Canada is going into a quagmire that it does not understand. It may include good guys, but it also includes neo-nazis, corrupt politicians and businessmen, human-rights abusers, etc. Something like 11 anti-government activists (journalists, etc.) have died suspiciously in the last few weeks. This may be a "friendly" regime, but not necessarily a "democratic" one, at least not in the sense that we understand.

As a result of the GermanWings accident, Canada has mandated that 2 people must be in the cockpit at all times. In 2-pilot flights, this means that a 3rd crew-member must enter the cockpit, should either of the two pilot need to leave to go to the washroom, or whatever. Does this make the situation safer?... ...., or does it add a 33-1/3 percent chance of having yet ANOTHER possibly-unstable person in the cockpit?

When things stop growing, they will start to die. And that goes for societies as well. Today's Canadian society could, arguably, be considered to have been "born", when the European invaders (oops, explorers)... and the native populations... first .interacted. It "grew" with visionaries such as John A MacDonald, sot that he was... who "built" things. It "Matured" during the mid 1900's, especially after the Second World War. It has, essentially, "retired" and started to live off the profits, round about the mid sixties.. Oh, there have been a few spurts of life once in a while, but by and large it simple flat-lined or even decreased a lot of its capability, confidence, and wisdom. It seems to be getting ready to die. Where are the thinkers and leaders that have a vision what this country is going to look like 50 years from now?: How will we travel, how will we earn, what will we use for energy? Most importantly, what do we need to do to get there? If we continue to opt for the Harper model of "here is your tax money ... do what you want"... that is exactly what you will get; everybody doing what they want is defined as: CHAOS. Which degenerates into unrest, then the rise of autocratic strongmen to keep the lid on. Life and growth comes from companies and labour that actually DO something, BUILD something, provide infrastructure, enhance living. Right now, we might argue that many of our physical needs are being met. how many toilets and televisions can we use? But how about the way we do the other bits of our well-being? fixing the frauds in the financial system, better representations in our political systems, more justice in our justice systems, the way we do policing, and yes, care of our veterans and others as being discussed in another thread. A few "entrepreneurs" with foreign money.... which will supposedly provide "jobs".....is hardly the solution that Canada needs. (Such entrepreneurs will be more interested in draining more money out, than they ever put in.... health care is not the ONLY incentive.) We don't need jobs. We need leadership. (Fixing the financial and political systems just by themselves can provide tons of jobs.) And it better get here quick because right now the country is just a few years before life-support. If we do not inject a really good growth hormone soon, it will not remain healthy much longer (along with its infected friend to the south).

Of course we have to cut, cut, cut. We need half a billion just to clean up a few pools of arsenic left behind by the mining industry. By the time we factor in the tar sands clean-up, and all the other toxic dumps around the country, we should just about use up all government revenues for the foreseeable future. After all, we wouldn't want to bankrupt our precious industry to clean these things up, would we? ...

Is there a shred of evidence to preclude the notion that Canada is safer today than a month ago...not because of any changes in laws or increase in armed security.... but because there are two fewer nutjobs with guns in the country? ...

The point is that as a CRA executive or employee... had you tried to use that information or made it public or given it to a third party, you would be subject to severe penalties.... and if not, then maybe it is REALLY time for a change of culture and government in Ottawa.... but if CSIS or CSEC or the RCMP or any such "intelligence" agency were to do so, they would claim "national security" and be by-and-large immune. Also, while the CRA filings may well paint a picture of my life, it is still limited. It says nothing about my hobbies, exercise preferences, extended family gatherings, births, deaths, funerals, marriages, divorces,anything..,my travel habits, alcohol and drug use or NOT, medical status, preferred news sources, etc. All stuff that could be determined from emails, and all stuff that should stay private, if I want to make it so. Sure, some of that stuff IS being collected in databases even now.... but only because our governments and financial institutions have made it too easy, and the public has opted for convenience over privacy, probably without actually understanding how much privacy is being given up..... I think the push-back is already starting. ... ...

It has EVERYTHING to do with it. Discriminatory practices are anti-democratic, and should be abolished. Just because there are discriminatory practices that "can and do differ" does not make it acceptable. ...

No it is not a bad example at all. Part of the idea on democracy is that laws are applied equally. There is no problem with restriction of travel across borders, but in a democracy, that has to be applied EQUALLY. If you choose to restrict somebody strictly on account of their NAME, that is not democracy. Especially if they are innocent in all other respects. It took Senator Ted Kennedy 3 weeks to get his name off the no-fly list. Which shows how easily a piece of stupidity like that can be manipulated into a political weapon.

Well, I could use KeepItSimple's argument: If the no-fly lists were NOT implemented the way they were, would it have changed YOUR day-to-day existence? and for 300 million North Americans, the answer would probably be "NO". Should there be extra vigilance as to who gets on a plane... sure. If you want to include criminal record as a basis for exclusion, by all means... (although the airlines would probably go broke; also the resulting anger might provoke even MORE lone-wolf attacks). Fake id, weapons in your luggage, lying, behaviour... absolutely! Name?....not so much. I admit to not having counted, and correct me if I am wrong.... but is it not true that since 9-11 more airline passengers have died worldwide due to pilots (a la Malaysia) than due to terrorists (Ukraine)? And that one was brought down from the GROUND.

Your experience and my experience are not the issue. About 20 million people in Canada were "not affected" when the war measures act was invoked in 1970.... but several hundred innocent people certainly were. As a simple example.... since 9-11 have there been people put on the no-fly lists, when they should NOT have been? THOSE are the people that you ask whether they have been affected.... not you or me.

Some nice semantics here.... of course it does not "violate" the "rights", if the "law" says that it does not "violate" the rights, in the strict sense of legal definition. But the "legal" law may still violate my own personal definition of "my rights", and the question becomes, at what point does democratic society agree with the "legal" law, and at what point does it agree with "ME". So we do have a framework in the Charter (which helps), but all of the systems for interpreting it are human and subject to human failures and human bias. Is it possible for the court to bend too far in the direction of stifling rights? It is possible for enforcement agencies to interpret the courts' rulings further toward stifling rights.... than the court actually intended? ... and then I have to fight for 10 years to get my life back. And how far is "too far"? For that, perhaps we should study history rather than depending on knee-jerk enforcement. And just as an aside.... whatever technology ends up in the hands of government, eventually also ends up in the hands of criminals and terrorists... whether it is guns, or nuclear weapons.... tanks or electronic eavesdropping. So I would not be so blase about allowing the government to read my emails... email is becoming rapidly the de facto method of doing business, and without secure email, our economy has a good chance of crumbling. Fraud is already costing North America multiple BILLIONS of dollars, and if emails remain unsecured, it can only grow. Which is why private industry if FINALLY recognizing what governments should have mandated years ago... and actually starting to INCREASE the encryption security of electronic transactions.

Nobody. Because if they DO regulate it (too much), it dissappears offshore.. And if you try to regulate the people to the point of saying: "you can't use this device built in a foreign country", then you essentially become North Korea. Democracy was born out of rebellion. And rebellion to autocratic governments will continue forever.... or at least once can only hope.

Somebody in this thread also mentioned "surprise" that there isn't more of these kind of events. The reality is that there isn't all that much desire....and if there IS desire, there is not the opportunity... and if there is opportunity, there is not the resources... And if all those stars align, there can still be an alert sergeant-at-arms....or maybe even an efficient police force... to foil it all.We can let ourselves be governed by television-inspired fictionalized imagination.... Or we could deal with the realities of the situation.

That may be your definition, but It does not make it so... You might want to check out a professional take on "workplace violence" http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/psychosocial/violence.html And of course he had a connection... He was a customer who was denied service. I have an issue with all these "converts to Islam". These guys are not "converts to Islam"...they are converts to violence...and they would have converted to Cathoicism if it had gotten them into the old IRA, It just happens that the extremist du jour happens to be Islamic, but I am betting that any extremist organization would have done equally well.Equating his "Islamism" with his violence is media BS. There are over a million Muslims in Canada, and the streets are not teeming with violence. Yes, it is. I have no reason to die when I walk over to pick up my mail, but a totally random attack COULD occur by some deranged individual with an imaginary grievance. Tell you what... I am going to continue to pick up the mail, and the mailman will continue to deliver it.

This is a very interesting statement. It IS possible for our government to pass laws which COULD, in fact, violate personal rights. For example, we could pass a law that police could enter your home at any time, without reason, just because they are the police. That would make it "legal" as in: "complying with the law", but also a violation of my rights. They don't do that, of course, because such a law would be immediately challenged as contravening the constitution and Pierre Trudeau's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Does this mean that Pierre's legacy is becoming increasingly important in this day and age? Because without it, your statement could prove untrue....

Although I may not be a fan of some of your detractors, I worry when you attack posts without even understanding them.... What is it that you consider "false"? There is no mention of criminality. Criminality is something for courts to determine. Their decision would have, of course, taken into account the mental state of the perpetrator. "Derangement" is a dictionary synonym for insanity. Are you denying that this person was insane at the time?

At the end of the day.... ... what we have here is just another workplace shooting by a disgruntled and somewhat deranged customer.... he wanted a passport and they wouldn't give it to him, so he saw the "corporation" as having wronged him, and he lashed out at it. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those directly affected, and we sympathize with everyone traumatized by these events, whether involved directly or not. But Workplace shootings are not uncommon in Canada. In the US, more than 700 die in workplace shootings every year. Now, in Canada, our gutted Stats Can has not done any studies on workplace shooting for 10 years, but Macleans did a little survey here: http://www.macleans.ca/new/canada/the-shootings-at-western-forest-in-nanaimo-point-to-a-bigger-problem The Muslim connection may (or may not) have been a trigger point....along with drugs, mental instability and the host of factors that usually accompany such events..... But there are elements of media, politics, and society at large, who are trying to stretch this way beyond what it really is. "encouraging fear" could be a partial definition of terrorism, and some of our politicians, our media, and even some of this forum are doing just that.

Another event for resurrecting this thread http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/home-depot-admits-56-million-cards-hit-by-security-breach-1.2770827 Only a $3b cost. How long before some hack destroys a bank or two?

The Land Transfer Tax is so onerous to Toronto's real estate market that the June-to-June downtown core prices increased 11.6 percent for detached.... at over a million per, average.... although number of units fell slightly. But condo and row-house numbers increased about 10% or slightly more. Repealing the LTT would do little to change the price of a house.... but it would give the seller and realtor a bigger share of the pie.... and since most suggestions for replacing the revenue involve increasing property taxes.... that means that widowed grandma in her 1200 square foot bungalow will be dinged extra to subsidize a real-estate-agent's fees, and to add a little extra to his client's million-plus sale. I might be tempted to treat RENOVATION BUSINESSES a little bit specially, but only if they register the business as such.... and when they buy a house, that would be a tax-deductible expense, and when they sell it, a taxable income. ... and apply the LTT only upon sale by the business, and not on the purchase by the business. Or treat it like the GST... payable, but refundable for qualified business. But if you buy a house as a principal residence, renovate it and flip it, you are already benefiting from not paying tax on the capital gain. LTT for you.

Interesting semantics on the term "invade".... So if the premier of Quebec were to make a phone call to Paris, and the next day a couple of thousand troops show up in Montreal and QC, France signs a declaration that Quebec is France..... then that would NOT be an "invasion of Canada", because if was requested? Am I getting that right? ...