Bryan

The problem with AGW hysterians is that they peddle nonsensical tripe regarding there being no economic downside at all to their pseudo-environmental proposals.

It's exactly the opposite. It's an example of liberal nanny-statism where parents are told how they can and can't raise their kids.

It goes back further than that. Manning, Mulroney, Stanfield, Diefenbaker, etc, were ALL vilified using fear and smear campaigns. Liberals are by far the most likely to use fear to try to spread their point. Conservatives have a long way to go before they catch up to that game. It's not just party politics, left-wing causes primarily use fear mongering as a means of getting people to comply with their wishes. Witness the AGW hysteria.

A lot of people don't realize that eOne is a Canadian company, and they make a lot of shows that do quite well at home and in the US without CBC support.

There was a recent episode of Freakonomics about this kind of thing. We tend to have irrational fears about things that are incredibly unlikely to happen (like stranger danger, or shark attacks), yet have equally irrational faith in very dangerous things like cars. A public park with a bunch of witnesses is one of the safest places for a kid to be, they are far more likely to have something terrible done to them by someone we know who is taking care of them behind closed doors.

I usually go for one part rum to one part cola. In Cuba, it's usually a little more cola than rum, but not by much. Part of it depends on the availability of limes ( the embargo makes everything hard to get, even in the tourist areas). When they can use a chunk of real lime, less cola is better. When they have to substitute lemon juice, you need more cola to balance it out. The quality of the rum is a huge factor though. I used to think I didn't like rum. Then I went to Cuba and I realized that was because I'd never had GOOD rum. A premium aged Cuban rum is a lot like a fine whiskey. The really good stuff, like Barrel Proof, you don't need any mix at all.

Cubata is my poison of choice. 7yr or older Havana Club (or other similar genuine Cuban rum) half a lime Ice Cola for colour. Thankfully, real Cuban rum is easy to come by in Canada. Unfortunately Cuban cola is not. These cocktails just taste better with the Cuban "Tukola" brand. Coca-Cola is an acceptable substitute.

The link you posted is for ELECTIVE surgeries. By definition, that means they are not medically necessary. YOU want it, your doctor does not think it's all that important. So yeah, when it's not medically necessary but you want it anyway (for free), you may have to wait. That's a good system, a very small price to pay to ensure that things that are medically necessary get taken care of quickly. Again though, the waits have been pretty quick for me. Not only was the surgery scheduled much quicker than I expected, I did not think it was right that these things were covered -- I should have paid out of pocket for them for them specifically because they were NOT medically necessary. Called my new doctor today to make an appointment. Come right in she said. If 10 other countries are getting faster service than that, good for them. "Where we live" absolutely does matter. Canada is a huge sparsely populated country, if you choose to live in a remote region, ALL services public and private are difficult to provide. Actually, most private enterprise goods and services are even harder to access than public services are.

ELECTIVE surgeries. No one is arguing that people who don't need care might not get what they want immediately. Even there though, waiting is not nearly as common as that article tries to make it seem. It makes me wonder what elective procedures people are waiting the longest for. The ones I've had were really quick - less than a week.

How old are you? Did you never just go outside and play without any adults around when you were a kid? Parents who don't let their kids play are the ones who should be arrested.

It has been for quite some time.

It would be a dumb thing, if that were what really happened. Actual UN weapons inspectors say the US was lying about this.

Understanding this when others don't is why Apple is eating everyone else's lunch. A company selling a list of specs as their rationale for buying their products does not understand the product category. These are devices that you interact with in every facet of life, it's how they work and how they work together that makes the difference.

Smart phones are a very valuable addition to the tech that allows me to do my job. Sure, there was a time when this technology was not necessary. The technology that I use to do my job didn't then either. The fact that I'm able to work with anyone anywhere at any time, and to send my work to anyone anywhere at any time, means I also need to be reachable.... ANYwhere ANY time. That I can use that tech to keep in touch with others, and use it for a long list of other time saving uses makes the job and the rest of life that much better. My smartphone allows me to get 16-18 hrs worth of stuff done while allowing me to spend less than 6 hrs a day chained to a desk. • No need to put off or cancel family vacations when I'm in the middle of a project -- I can just take the work with me. • No need to fly across the country for "emergencies", I can just send in what I've got instantly. • Never need to miss my kids stuff due to work. • I can multitask appointments. I can read/send emails while standing in line, pay bills and do my banking while watching my daughter's recital, shop for and buy that thing she needs for the next one before we've even left the lobby, etc, etc.

I don't see how it's possible to wait to see a primary doctor, unless you're deliberately not trying for the express purpose of being able to complain about it. I have always been able to get in to see my doctor right away. 90% of the time it's the same day, on very rare occasions it's the next day. So the question becomes, was that just my doctor? Well, I unfortunately had a chance to test that this week, because my doctor had a stroke. It took me exactly one phone call to find another one in my area who is taking new patents, and had open time to see me the same day. Later that same day, I also saw a big Marquee sign outside of another doctor's office in my area advertising that they were accepting new patients.

Nobody should be required to do either. The easiest solution is to eliminate CanCon requirements, the development fund, and taxpayer subsidies to all broadcasters. Consumers should never be forced to take a specific percentage of anything. Nor should providers have to pay into a fund so others can do it. Make Canadian content worth watching, and Canadians will watch it. Don't, and they won't.

If your content is any good, people will buy it. Viewers will rush to see it, and advertisers will trip over each other to give you money. People will even line up to fund your production costs. If you need to extort companies that are making money to pay for your content, all that means is your content is crap. Make stuff people want to see, and the problem will take care of itself. What CBC should be doing, is setting up their own Kickstarter/Indigogo type of site where all the people who claim to be supporters of the CBC can prove it by funding the programming on a project by project basis.

It should be their right to conduct their business as they see fit. Just as some people openly want to cry foul over a company like Chik-Fil-A, a lot of people are specifically seeking them out because they want to know who the christian businesses are. Let business owners wear their convictions on their sleeves, and let the market decide if they will. If one company wants to be a christian retailer, let them. If another wants to be a muslim print shop, good. As long as the business is upfront when they hire people; "these are our company beliefs, do you share them?" there shouldn't be any problem.

You think it's harder for them to point to places they've been to?

Both Bourque and NNW used to be good until they started selling their headlines as ads. They just became gong shows after that. The only one that seems to try to be neutral is City and Press. My only complaint with them is it's a bit of a chore to navigate their collection of separate sites for each city. It would be nice if they had ones for National and International.

I wonder if a more fair questionnaire might be in two parts. First list how many provinces (or states) you can name, then place them on a map. I strongly suspect that most people can name a lot more foreign places than they can pinpoint. A lack of accuracy is not exactly a sign of ignorance of the region. For instance, I know my way around Cuba quite well. I can give you a list of all the places I've been to, and if I had to I could get where I needed to without a map. I would not, however, be able to accurately label more than a handfull of the provinces just by glancing at a blank map.

Multiculturalism is NOT uniting. It is divisive. It says "hey look at how many separations in society we have". Trying to be multicultural is one of Canada's biggest weaknesses.

Snip? Then again, that is covered in Canada (at least in Manitoba anyway). No waiting either.

It's quite remarkable how strong the CPC record has been in by-elections. They've maintained 7 seats, gained 4, and lost only one since they've been in power.

Significantly less. You'd pretty much have to put yourself in that financial position deliberately. example: A buddy of mine recently finished going through cancer treatment. He was off work for a year. He paid literally nothing out of pocket for the treatment or the meds, and received 55% of his salary (tax free) while he was away from work. Sure, he had to dial back his spending a bit during that time, but he did not come out of it with any added debt. The only way he could have gone bankrupt was if he said "screw it, I'm probably going to die anyway" and went on a spending spree.