takeanumber

Upon furthur thinking, I have to side with I think it was MS on one point. Every community should keep the criminals that it produces in half way houses in their communities when it comes time for re-intergration. Maybe if they had to face the community, it'll go farther in their rehab. I'm sure there will be another thread someday on the recidicisim (Spelled Incorrectly, I know). I'll reserve some arguements for that discussion.

Alright. I'm going to get attacked by both the Left and Right for this. It's a complicated thing; outsourcing. The Right wing thing to say is to be blind, and say that it's purely a great thing. The Left wing thing to say is to be blind, and say that it's purely a horrible thing. The reality is in the middle. I can cite a number of historical precendents where those who abided by the benefits of 'comparative' advantage blindly, and their countries got really, really bit by it. For instance, basic comparative advantage says that Saudi Arabia, by doing what it's doing (selling oil, concentrating capital in oil, and not developing any sort of domestic production themselves because it's cheapter to import) is the best thing to do. Yet, recall that Spain also had a comparative advantage when it came to gold and silver just 400 years earlier. It was easier for them to hire a Flem to do their weaving than it was for Spain to learn. The long run result? Britain and Benelux built infrastructure with Spanish money, and well....Spain entered hundreds years of economic stagnation, that, in spite of myth, was not caused entirely by the Inquisition. Similar lessons can be learned from Britain. And now we can see a similar pattern with the United States. Sure, the United States is showing a surplus in the administrative (head office) type jobs. Sure, the US can control a lot of the capital in China, but what of the extra capital that China earns from spinnoffs. How long can the US have supremacy? And how soon until domestic capital (as was the case in Spain) takes a permanent flight? Outsourcing has benefits, to be sure. It makes our imports cheaper and allows us to relieve ourselves of excess capital (because according to the Solow Growth Model, you can only use so much capital in your own economy...the goal isn't maximizing production, it's to maximize consumption..and Jesus Christ people, make sure you read up the Solow Growth Model before you come at me on this theory.) There ARE policy alternatives to preserve our place in the world without 'coddling' specific industries while relieving ourselves of excess capital.

Apples and oranges. I read in the newspaper today that Oil is going to stay above 40 dollars forever. I couldn't stop laughing. It's like 1997 all over again. Sigh. They don't learn in this province. We're swimming in the money, and Klein et al can't see past their beer gut little though past the election at the future. It's sad. With a Con government, you expect them to barge into your life and make personal choices for you. And you expect them to actually manage money properly, you know? They deliever on the first expectation, but they absolutely fail on the second one. And what's worse, you get the cons on these boards who come out of the woodwork to defend the wreckless spending, and defend government intervention into people's lives. While accusing the federal Liberals of doing the same. (gun control, taxes, corruption.) Sad.Grim.Pathetic.

Stronach is a class-priveledge tory in the oldest sense. If she does work hard, then fine, she works hard. But that doesn't change the fact that she's been afforded far more opportunities than the vast majority of Canadians based on her birthright. We may have abolished titles in Canada, but there's still quite a bit of lingering Tory-ism aftertaste. As for the Cons, the reason for the dip is obvious. Nobody likes to support losers. It's the bandwagon effect, and in part, what makes the Liberal party so venerable. I'm not saying that it's right. I'm just saying that it happens.

I'm just waiting for the day that the last of the Leonard Jones types dies off already. It says in the Constitution that New Brunswick is billingual. The MAJORITY of New Brunswickers are billingual. Most counties have a high ratio of francophones. With the exception of the heretics living in Charlotte County and the drunks out on Grand Mannan, most of the province is in fact billingual. The Robichaud policies won. COR is dead. Get over it.

Klein has been the worse premier. Robichaud was the best premier. I'd have to say Chretien 1996-1999 was the best PM. I'd have to say Mulroney 1984-1991 was the worst PM.

Try diversifying the economy. You know, the wood won't last forever, at least, not at the rate the terminites of BC were chewing away at them. So -- diversify. If they won't take softwood lumber, turn the lumber into other products that the Americans will buy. Pulp. Furniture. Pieces. Toilet Paper. Common. Try adding some value to our natural resources. I know most people in BC, especially the Chinese, are resourceful, intelligent people. You guys can do it. Build an economy instead of exporting all of your natural wealth without processing it and adding some value. You guys got the capital. Put it in the right place.

It's anti-liberal to take away that choice. If somebody wants to work to 67, so long as they're not collecting CPP while they're working, then I'm for it. If the cout wants to go to 75, go for it. So long as they can do it and it keeps them going, absolutely.

*cough* er...no. I don't know how many papers you mark a week....lol. The first year kids are just brutal when they come in. You know, it just varies by generational competition. Right now there's a lot of echo kids going through, so the competition is a lot stiffer. There are so many asses and so few seats. The standards for getting in, and staying in, are a lot harder now than they were for the busters or the X'ers. As for Grad School, it's really, really hard to get in. We're talking 3.7-4.0 averages, which are very, very tough to get if you actually take some of the hard courses. Which another thing which is being looked at more. Sure...you got a 3.8 average, but hey, kid, you took Astronomy 205 and Geology 205 (rocks for jocks and comits for dimwits) as your science credits....and that's just not going to cut it. Go back and take a few real science courses and then try getting in. But oh well. Kids today really are smarter than those in the 1950's though. They're tested a lot more, and they gotta have a lot more skills. For instance, a kid is expected to know how to type, use a spreadsheet, use the internet, search journals, use a library, and write a formal essay all before getting into university. Plus, their calculators are taken away for first and second math courses. (You try going from tech heavy to no tech in a flash and see how you do.) So it is different these days. The middle class does get screwed a lot, but it's usually the rich doing the screwing, largely by shirking their responsibilities.

I've simply stopped watching. I can't wait to get a TIVO once they're available in Canada. Mrouahahahahhaha. I'm finding the commercials and the chatter that the CBC forces on us during the Olympics to be especially brutal. The dumb kid with the Tim Hortons cup every four seconds. ENOUGH WITH THE ROTATION! I can't watch Global anymore, it's gotten so bad. I just watch my programs on the American stations two or three hours earlier.

You're assuming that Quebec cares what the hell the rest of Canada does. I don't think most Quebeckers care if some polygamist in inner BC speaks french or not. They care about their own culture.

Sure, a lot of wealthy kids and middle class kids benefit from those taxes. A lot of poor kids do to. It's the price we pay for social mobility. And yes, we help each other out. It's one branch of collective security. Just because you personally havn't benefited from the social security net directly, I'm sure you'd agree that it's a good thing for it to be there. Unless of course, you're view is myopic, in which case, may you fall through the cracks.

LMAO!!!!! This is why Conservatives arn't very good economists. The line that you advocate is called 'rent-seeking', and it's something that Tories always try to do, while all the time denying that they're doing it. It's the typical tripe we're all used to seeing. I don't have the time to teach you Econ 367, but look into the term 'rent seeking'.

They gotta be re-intergrated some way. But the attempt at re-intergration should only happen if there's a low risk for them to re-offend. I think that halfway houses should also be located in rich communities as well. That way, it's not only the poor who have to deal with the ill effects. If there's a moderate or high risk that somebody will re-offend, then they shouldn't be allowed out until they're ready. The justice system has two components: punishment and rehabilitation. Just because somebody has 'done their time' should not entitle them to re-intergration if the rehabilitation has not been complete.

Parizeau has his history mixed up. When lawmakers made the decision to enter confederation, they actually consulted their constiuents, and party leaders wern't nearly as powerful as they are today. A referendum is needed to break up the country.

False. And that's just one out of many, many statements that you got wrong. To answer your question, the 45yo grocer pays GST so that a poor person can go to university is because it's a Canadian value. We help each other out. And it's in the national best interest for there to be social mobility. If you disagree, you're wrong. You're simply wrong. And you need to re-evaluate the reason why your a citizen.

So let the American consumer suffer. We'll benefit here at home from lower lumber costs. We should also be keeping our unprocessed pulp from them. And unfinished logs. If it's wood, it shouldn't be going down south.

Just because your rich and pay taxes doesn't mean your entitled to take a seat away from somebody else who has more merit. The rich pay taxes to give back to those who have enabled them to succeed in society. (roads, an educated, well fed, healthy workforce contributes in a large way to the rich.) The fact that the rich pay taxes does NOT entitle them to preferential treatment in the courts, schools and hospitals. If you want Dickens, move to the US or Britain. This is Canada. We have higher standards.

Loans only allow you to take out a maximum of 40 grand for an undergrad. So clearly, 14 grand tuition won't allow somebody who is poor. Moreover, summer work is by definition, low paying. (There are exceptions..but as a rule, it is low paying.) So, how is somebody supposed to save 4 grand to make up the shortfall (excluding books) when they only earned 4 grand for the summer (gross)? It's amazing how long advice and short on reality some people are. "Oh, it's so easy, because when I was going to university, tuition was 800 bux, but that was a lot of money way back in 1980 (not it wasn't) and I worked part time waiting tables, and I graduated without debt." Must have been nice. But tuition fees and books are a hell of a lot more expensive these days. Back then, the student picked up 10 percent of the cost. Today, they pick up 30 percent.

How deliciously anectdotal. Here's one: I went to Washington DC once, and I saw a homeless guy there, and yesterday, when I was downtown here in Calgary, I saw TWO homeless guys. Calgary has become way worse than Washington DC. Oh, and another: I know this guy, from the Intrenet, and he's always dumping on Canada with anectdotes, and he's a Conservative, and in the last election, the Conservatives got their asses handed to them. Because Canadians would much rather vote in a corrupt, decrepid government than to turn it over to people who, deep down inside, hate this country and feel ashamed to be Canadians.

So, the basis of August's thesis is: Social mobility doesn't exist in the US, Britain, or France. It's because of state funding that causes the immobility. Therefore, we should have private schools. So that way, it reinforces the immobility. The way for an elitist idiot spawn brat to get into University is to be, well, born. But, for somebody who is born into a poor family, they have to be BRILLIANT in order to qualify for charity. Which, isn't equal opportunity at all. It creates permanent inequality. Which is the goal of every Tory: Burn the Ladder out of Selfishness and the masses be damned. Well, that's certainly not a very liberal Democratic, nor Canadian ideal. My ancestors came here to get away from feudalism. My ancestors fought in 1833-1837 to prevent such a backslide. My family fought in the first and second world wars, in part for the chicks, in part to prevent a German style of feudalism. So August, I'm not really surprised by your response. Keep on whittling away at that ladder.

Labour hoarding is the biggest problem with the softwood lumber industry. Time to face up to the facts. Let the industry shrink to its real size. The tens of thousands of those who were layed off will need to retrain for better jobs. Some will find worse jobs. Everybody will get what they deserve. The only thing constant is change. I don't see why the laws of economics should only apply to those who live in the cities.

If it gets taken over, it'll be yet another failure on the part of our wonderful Canadian MBA graduates. Bravo!

At first it sounded a lot like Alberta. We have an equally loony Premier here. Seriously though, because that country is an ally on the war of terror, the US allows him to do whatever he wants. It's like a really, really, really bad show on FOX. "When Leaders Attack".

BC politiks are fuct. The province is bipolar. Always has been. I don't see that changing anytime soon. So I think the pendulum will continue to swing from one extreme to the other, with no competent alternative.