Cartman

I do not see this happening for a long time if ever. In part, this is because Albertans do not really allow other parties to get a foothold; plurality is perceived as dissent and weakness. Many want a solid front to Ottawa. As well, it seems as though Albertans simply want smaller governments. Of course, all things change and perhaps when times get tough, people will change their minds. Whether the NDP will still exist is another matter.

Wow, real great debate going on here.

How the hell does Martin keeps those numbers up?

Conservatives cannot accept that they do not get elected because they are not offering what most people want. They always blame Liberal scare tactics and that is just not true. I am no Liberal myself, but I think that most Canadians like much of what they offer.

I actually had to look up "smarmy".

One positive effect of globalization appears to be greater communication and integration of people. Of course, this takes a lot of time. I suspect that some day there will be few differences between people and "culture" will be something studied by historians. I am not convinced that this is a bad thing as "preserving culture" seems to be a good way to exclude. The only Ricardo I know is a British economist. I have never read his work only a few second hand sources on him some time ago. I believe Marx drew upon his work in Das Kapital.

There will be more talk about it but absolutely nothing will come of it. They (Separation Party) have not even been able to manage their phone number let alone challenge for power. I think Western alienation is important but separation will not happen.

I still think that Quebec should be more afraid of globalization than Canadian society. Separation does not equal saving Quebec culture.

High River was hit hard but the worst is over I believe. Some folks had sewage back up and that sucked. Calgary was getting kinda scary and the river in Lethbridge was very high with a few places flooded and the water treatment plant working at capacity. The weather in Calgary is nice today...finally.

Sweal said: How are the other two options not liberal at all (while the Liberals are)? I believe that the Liberals and Conservatives are pretty much the same and that explains why we seem to hear of so many defections going to the other side.

Eureka is right. The divorce is usually worse than the marriage. I am really sick of all this separatist crap whether it comes from Quebec or Alberta.

Was it a big mystery to this fella that the Liberals were going to introduce SSM when he decided to run as a Liberal in the first place? He should have run as an independent to begin with. Too many people are shifting alliances. I am starting to think Hugo has a point about government being a form of organized crime. On the other hand, maybe they should just do it like hockey and the leaders could trade MP's.

August1991 said: RB said: Why should August give it a rest? Why? MS made some mistakes but his contribution was quite enjoyable and valued by many. He added an "edge" to the forum. The ban does not have to be permanent. Greg is a good moderator but decisions do not have to be set in stone and modifying a decision is NOT a sign of weakness. I am sure MS has learned his lesson. I think the question should be: "can MS now be allowed to post despite the mistakes made in the past"?

You mean like the responses to this? August wrote: B.Max Joined: 2-January 05 And yet another bold response. Interesting how expressions of hatred are usually filled with errors (spelling, grammar, logic etc).

Slavik44 Hugo Greg does a good job moderating here, but I challenge the assumption that he does not report to anyone. In fact, I believe that is partly why he tries to keep the site clean. My understanding is that this site was created by the political science department of the University of Lethbridge; a public institution. Or is it a "fact" that it is now a private institution with no tax dollars funding it?

Well put August. I agree entirely.

Well, it was a compliment for the most part. I agree with August on this issue. I do not like it at all when people use profanity, rhetoric etc., but most of us have done it at some point. Considering the number of posts made by MS, it is logical that s/he would have more of these kinds of posts in absolute numbers. Most of MS's posts are honest and designed to add to the discussion and not simply disrupt it. Many posters are content to simply refute the ideas put forth by others rather than contribute with their own. I do not think that we can say the same for MS. I would truly hope that some kind of a compromise could be made about this matter. Slavik, by quoting the profanity you are making the same original mistake you complain about.

Evidence that prions are not only found in the spinal cords and brains of infected animals. http://www.cbc.ca/story/science/national/2...cow-050120.html

Good question. It must be when they make a legal identity change (BCert., license etc) or if they are in the process of change and can prove it because they are seeing a psychiatrist? It must be institutionally sanctioned in this case I assume. Otherwise, Shakey might carry out his plans, incognito.

Female reporters already have this right in the US when interviewing NFL footbal players. It was quite an issue because male reporters were generally allowed to interview players in the locker rooms but women were not. Thus, male reporters got all the sports interviewing jobs. It was ultimately considered a sexist policy and women were eventually allowed in. I understand now that some female reporters feel taunted by these guys exposing themselves. There was also that issue of the women who waited in line for a really long time and could not get into the female bathroom at a concert or something, so she went into the relatively empty male room. A guy got upset and the matter went to the courts where she received no punishment 'cuz she really had to go. Some hospitals offer unisex bathrooms too. Surrey Memorial, for example, has a few as well as separate ones. I am not even gonna ask how you know this Caesar.

Admittedly, I know little about this matter, but the whole thing just seems insane to me. Why should we allow for multiple justice systems? It seems to me that the justice system is pretty fragmented as is, now we are going to create even more variance in punishment? One person will get a really stiff punishment/law applied to them for doing X, but someone else can do the same thing and get a much lighter sentence/law applied to them?

Lex talionis would be difficult to implement because you will always have problems with individual cases. For example, what are we to do with a member of a First Nation who was continually molested by a religious leader, physically and mentally abused by teachers, mistreated by his family, turns to alcohol and then ends up a violent individual? What about someone like Andrea Yates who killed her children? There was evidence of psychological problems here as well. Did she know right from wrong or not? It would have to be consistent. My concern about such a punishment system is that you might have errors (the wrong person) or there would be appeal after appeal to the extent that the victim is further victimized. In the US, it seems that those on death row get an incredible number of appeals which take time and big $$. Might it not be better to just make them rot in jail and suffer longer? I wonder which is more "barbaric"?

Is it universal to have sex specific washrooms? I recall reading something to the effect that they were a Victorian construction amidst fears of adultery as women increasingly entered the workplace.

I wonder how many people here work for minimum wage and want to see it eradicated?

Yeah, I kinda wondered about this myself esp. after the UN declared that they were going to keep tabs on such promises. What's the use; how are they going to enforce them?