ceemes

What riding are you in and who is running? Good question. I've recently moved into Delta BC, not even sure what my riding is called to be honest. During the last election I was in Port Coquitlam which went CPC.

Which ever party that had the best chance of denying the CPC and Harper my riding. I want Harper to lose so badly, that he and the rest of his ultra-right wing. neo-con lite evangelical crowd are forever ousted from my Progressive Conservative Party.

It says the hospitals have agreed to use Verichip as the standard, not that they're going to start implanting everyone who walks into the emergency room. That's the same as saying they're going to use Windows as their operating system in the hospital. I don't see anything that says that anyone in any position of power has proposed wide scale implantations of the devices. It still sounds like paranoia to me. Paranoia? Perhaps. But lets face it, we will use any technology when it becomes available. Today's government may be completely against the use of such technology as a means of identifying and tracking its citizenship, but who is to say tomorrows government wont be for it? I think that is the real fear many have, the what about tomorrow factor. So perhaps it would be a good idea to put in place laws to insure that these technologies cannot nor will not be used as a means to control and limit our freedoms in some not so distant future.

Being a mod or Admin on most boards is a pretty thankless task. You have to be some kind of maso-sadist to want that job. No matter what you do, some people will find fault and jump all over you and the others will be demanding you take extreme action against another poster. On one hand you will be considered a egocentric power-mad Fascist dictator and on the other, a spineless lapdog playing favorites. Yup, a pretty thankless job, and as a Mod on two boards and an Admin on another I speak from experience. The mods here do a great job in my opinion.

Has anyone considered the huge data trail we leave behind us each day as we go about our lives? Did you use your credit card or ATM card today? Well unless you used it to withdraw money you have just left a wealth of information to various marketing firms. However about that Safeway club card? You know the one that gives you discounts and freebies? Same deal, one swipe of that card enter into a database, who you are, where you bought your food, what items you bought, when you bought them and how much your spent. That is a hell of a lot of data. Forgot your club card, no problem give them your phone number to the cashier and it'll be cross-referenced for you. Don't believe me? Try this, next time you go to Safeway, don't give them your club card but your phone number and see if the cashier doesn't use your name when saying good bye, even if you pay with cash. Got a library card? Odds are it has a magnetic strip on the back and each book you take out is recorded on a database somewhere The idea of RDIF chips is just more of the same. Walmart says its to better track inventory, I don't buy it. When I was studying Logistics I did a study of the Walmart inventory control processes. They already have in place bar-coding and a centralized inventory control system. Every item in a store is noted in the ICS database, and when sold, it is automatically deducted in real time from that stores inventory. Each store is linked to their regional Distribution Centre which automatically resupplies the store when its inventories reach a pre-set level. And each RDC is linked to the main DC's which in turn are linked to their suppliers. A very slick and tidy system. The only thing RDIF chips will do is identify each individual SKU to its purchaser. IE, item 100 of Stock B was bought on this day by Mr. So and So from store X. The only way to avoid being tagged like this is to pay cash. Another great potential tracking scam is the GM On-Star system. Yeah its great for telling you where your stolen car is, but what other information can it gather and relay back to some database? That you have a habit of speeding? In the US, that information could be relayed to your Insurance Company and cost you higher insurance rates? Forgot to get that oil change 10,000's ago, sorry your warranty is now void. The thing is, we are becoming all to complaicant about the type and amount of personal data we are leaving behind us daily. RFID chips do scare me, they are already being used as a means of tracking lost or stolen pet and about a year ago I read that someone in the US proposed they be implanted in children as a means to protect them from kidnappers or the like. Scary stuff if you ask me.

Oh, and here is some more "good" news from Iraq. Now not only do the troops have to worry about getting shredded to pieces by IED's, RPG's, Mortars, AK-47's and the odd case of friendly fire, they now have to worry about getting gassed. Chlorine truck bombs sicken hundreds of Iraqis Toxic gas reportedly kills 2, makes 350 Iraqis and 6 U.S. troops ill So, tell us again how well things are going over there.

A better metric would be the number of wounded. IE, has the number of wounded dropped by 60% as well? The fact of the matter is, many of those who survive their wounds in Iraq today would of died twenty years ago. Advances in front line medical treatment, faster evacs and better protective equipment have all made the survivability of a front line troops greater then less the a generation ago. The down side of it is, a lot of those who would of died in past wars from their wounds are suffering greater post-trauma debilitating injuries. The shear number of troopers surviving sever head and brain injuries is staggering, and is to the point where VA can no longer support them properly. It sounds good that more and more of the wounded survive, but how many have come back as drooling basket cases and are hidden away from view? That is a picture that no one wants to see or show isn't. Better to say a soldier was wounded in action and will survive and not mention that he basically had his brains turned to jelly.

Seymour Hersh, the New Yorker writer had an article this month saying that the war in Lebanon was going to be used as an excuse to hit Iran. The war ended sooner than the plan could unfold. It's no wonder Iran would want a nuclear deterent themselves, eh? Too right, if I was Iran, then I'd want to lay my hands on as many nukes and others nasty pieces WMD as I could. Someone needs to take Coren out behind some dark alley and bitch slap some sense into the man. What the man is advocating is the whole sale slaughter of a people or in other words genocide.

Actually, I think the ability to criticize one's government comes first. Unfortunately, these people aren't "so-called" repressed, they are repressed. Thanks to the Korean War, South Korea is a vibrant, prosperous country, opposite that of North Korea. Things may have been similar had the communists not prevailed during the Vietnam conflict. One thing you have failed to mention, that South Korea like Taiwan have only become a true democracy only very recently. Democractic institutions, including a truly free press, the right to belong to opposing Political Parties, the right to citicized the powers that be, the right to unionize, the right of free association took a back seat to economic development in both nations. Indeed, to this day the Government of South Korea steps down hard on student and labour activist. And you would be amazed at the amount of citicism that is leveled at the Communist Part in Vietnam by the Vietnamese people, especially at that street level. For a repressed people, they are very out spoken. I think the biggest problem we in the west have with countries such as Vietnam and China is that they for the most part rejected us and went their own way. They took what they liked and could make work from both the Communist and Capitalist systems and created a third way, one that works for them, but may not work for us. North Korea on the other hand went completely the Stalinist route, much to the detriment of its people. North Korea is seen by many in both Communist China and Vietnam as an aborition and an eye sore, however they see she does play an important role of diverting US and Western attention way from their own gains in the world.

I have a number of friends and business acquaintances in that so-called scorned nation and I think they would be very surprised at your assertion that they are lacking in "freedom" or that it needs to be "returned" to them. Most of us in the west still cannot wrap our heads around the fact that the people of Vietnam for the most part not only choose their form of government, but actually fought and bled for it. True Veitnam is run by a Communist government, but it is not a Stalinist government by any stretch of the imagination. Vietnam has for the most part adopted the same model of today's China, a blend of hard core capitalism and communist ideals. And like in China, it seems to be working for the Vietnamese people. Economically speaking, Vietnam is about where China was about 10 years ago, with free markets, investment and private ownership of land, houses and means of production. One of the bench marks we in the west use to judge the amount of freedom so-called repressed people have is access to outside information via the internet. In Vietman, Internet Cafes are doing a roaring trade, indeed I was a minority partner in two Internet Cafes in Ho Chi Minh City. The profit from those two were astounding by Vietnamese standards, about C$2000 per month each. Even with the stiff competition, our cafes were always full from opening to closing, with chat and online gaming being the biggest draws. We sold them both off an made a tidy little profit. One of my partners was able to afford to send his daughter off to Japan for two years to study the Japanese language and to make business contacts. He did this without help or hinderance from the Central Government. Life for the peasent classes has improved, although it has not changed all that much. Farming and family are still the staples of life for many of the Vietnames people. But now their children have access to education and a better chance of advancement in life. Universal Military service is the norm, but for the most part it is only for about six months after high school, enough to just get your basic training. Vietnam still has a long ways to go, but it is making head way under its own terms and is no longer being dicated to by foreign powers such as France, China or the US. If you are looking to cash in on the Asian Century, then I suggest you consider Vietnam. However, bewarned, there are a lot of scammers there and you still have to deal with the infamous Vietnamese "Directors".

The oil question is rather multi-facetted. Here is a Link that will give you lots of interesting reading and a few things to think about.

They were funding different terror efforts aimed at the US and more frequently its allies. Further, they constantly verbalized a threat of use of chemical weapons and WMD's. Even if they didn't have the capability the threat of same cannot be ignored and an unenforced, paper UN resolution is not enough. Well, you have your Bushie talking points down pat, I'll give you that. Problem is, everyone of them is either erroneous or misleading. Lets take a look at them individually shall we? The only financial support or terrorism funding that has been proven against both Saddam and Iraq prior to the invasion, was that Saddam cut a few cheques for a couple of grand to be be given to the widows and children of Palestinian suicide bombers. As bad as Saddam's régime was, it was secular in nature and was itself a target of Islamic Extremism. But what has been proven beyound a shadow of a doubt is that the two biggest funders of AQ, Hezbolah, Hamas and other Islamic terrorist groups is the House of Saud (Saudi Arabia) and Pakistan. Both these nations have close ties to AQ and the Taliban. Indeed, the majority of the the proported terrorist that attacked the US on 9-11 came from Saudi Arabia, and zero, nada, zip, SFA, bugger all came from either Iraq or Iran. And yet, both Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are so-called ALLIES in the war on terror. In fact, Bush ordered Pakistan to be removed from the US's State Departments list of terrorist supporting nations. Wrong, wrong and wrong. Prior to Gulf War I, the threat of Iraqi chemical weapons was very real and a major concern. But even when Saddam realized that he had lost his Kuwaite gambit, he did not resort to using this arsenal of WMD's. After GWI, Iraq was isolated and hemmed in and began to disarm its WMD programmes. UN inspectors including those from the US have pretty much free access to all Iraqi weapons sites and when Iraq did deny access to a site, US and UK fighterbombers that were enforcing the no-fly zones paid a loud visit to Baghdag and other Iraqi cities. Right up to the start of the Iraqi Invasion, UN and US inspectors were stating loud and clear that Iraq was all but completely disarmed and that 10 years of sanctions had bankrupt Saddam's weapons programmes, as was the CIA, MI5 and other international intelligence agencies. The Iraqi's also stated over and over again that they had no WMD's left and never verbalized as you say a threat to use them. However, Bush and his Neo-Con handlers did not want to hear that and instead listened to and trotted out proven Iraqi liars and conmen such as Ahmad Chalabi and Adnan Ihsan al Haideri. Worse yet, Bush and the Neo-Cons knew that the claim made by men like these were complete and utter fabrications and yet they still used them to make a case for war. This along with the cherry picking and manipulation of intelligence data and the use of know false intelligence to launch what has turned out to be a right BALLS UP CLUSTER FUCK of war should considered to be high treason. Again wrong, wrong and wrong. The Bush Administration knew beyond a shadow of a doub that Iraq had no WMD's of note, had no means of delivering WMD's, had no or at best minimal ties to AQ or anyother terrorist organation nd was not in any way involved with the events of 9-11. As for the US paper resolution being unenforced. Sorry, but UN Inspectors along with members of the US Armed Forces weapons inspection team and various intelligence agencies were crawling all over Iraq up until the point where war was a foregone conculsion. They only pulled out of Iraq when it became perfectly clear that Bush and Co were going to have their little war no matter what. And when the UN did encounter Iraqi resistance, US and UK fighterbombers patrolling the no-fly zones quickly made the Saddam and his people exactly what the price would be. Just as many bombs few on Iraq during the embargo era as did during the entire GWI. The UN sanctions isolated Iraqi, USN, RN, and RCN naval units blockaded Iraq by sea, USAF and RAF blockaded it from the air. Iraq was a broken nation and no threat to anyone anymore.

Martin Luther, Malcom X and many others paid the price in their own blood. Sometimes it does not take the blood of your oppressor to win your own freedom, but often it does take the spilling of your own blood.

All wars entail some loss of civil liberty. Really, are you truly ready and willing to surrender some of your liberties in order to gain a sense (a false sense at that) of security? Well a couple few people with better minds then you or I could ever hope to possess would differ. A smart man ole' Benjamin don't you think? But let's see what Dorothy Thompson had to say of the subject. Or as Edward R. Murrow stated Sounds about right, if your rights, freedoms and liberties are taken away from you by force, you can gain them back with force. But if you give your freedoms, rights and liberties away then you have little or no recourse. Do you honestly trust ANY Government to return to you any of the rights, freedoms or liberties you surrendered to them? If so, then you are sadly a fool and a slave in the making. Evidence to date strongly suggest you are wrong here. While the Afghanistan invasion can be tied to the events of 9-11 and terrorism, the main war in Iraq cannot. Even Bush and his cabel have publically stated that Iraq and Saddam had absolutely no ties to the events of 9-11. The Iraqi War may not be a war of choice for most Americans, it is however THE War of Choice for Bush and his merry band of Neo-Cons. The planning of the Iraqi Invasion by the PNAC core goes back to the Clinton Administration. After Bush was selected (not elected), all they need was an excuse and pretext to execute those plans. The events of 9-11 gave them that excuse and they ran with it. So far the Iraqi Adventure has proved to be a major dismal failure. It has cost the lives of almost 2500 US servicemen and women, all but bankrupt the US treasury (The only thing keeping the US from defaulting is continuing handouts from Mainland China and Japan, god knows what will happen when they call in their markers), created a terrorist training heaven in Iraq, destroyed the good will off traditional US allies around the world and shown once and for all, the US is little more then a paper tiger. North Korea is laughing itself silly at the US, China holds enough US debt to bankrupt the US overnight if it so wished. Nations such as Iran and Venezuela are cutting major deals with China to sell oil in Euros and not US dollars. These are just a few of the many things that the Bush Administration's ill planned and poorly executed War of Choice in Iraq have brought to the American people.

Here ya go Bushbot...........someone (not the articles writer tho) seem's think along the same line as you do...so much for freedom, democracy, free speech, free press, free will.....roll on the 5th Reich, American Style. Fill Article Seems we have a lib-bot here too. Only idiots equate Bush to Hitler. Look at these zealot Muslims and look at Bush -- which would be the greater evil? Would you rather be under the rule of the Taliban or Bush? The enemy we fight wants to do to us what Hitler did to the Jews. Bush has been fighting this fight for 3 years now, is that what he is doing? Did you give one second of thought to what you posted before you posted the drivel your leaders are feeding you? There are much better fronts on which to fight your fight. Lib-bot? LOL, sorry to disappoint Jr, but up until the merge of the Progressive Conservative Party and the Canadian Alliance, I was a card carrying member of the the PC's, now I am a proud independent centralist who kowtows to no one. As for living under either the Taliban or Bush, the answer is neither. As far as I am concern each is as bad and as evil as the other. One is group of radical Islamic fundamentalist and the other is backed and part of a group of radical Christian fundamentalist. Both would try to control yours and mines lives, how we live it, how we think and even how or who we screw. I say a pox on both their houses. If either gained control of Canada, I would don my combats once again, grab a rifle (you can still get your hands of the old FN-C1 or FN-C2 if you know where to look and who to ask) and start/join the insurrection. And Bush has been fighting Muslim Fundies for the past three years? Oh really? Where? Afghanistan? Right, there’s a good fairy tale for you. Afghanistan was where AQ was based out of and the fight against the Taliban is still on-going. However, Canada and NATO are now fighting that fight in the main, the US has all but pulled out, deciding instead to concentrate on Iraq, a nation that had nothing to do with 9-11 and was not home to AQ, until Shrub decided to go in and make it terrorist friendly. Bush has done more harm then good in the so-called War on Terror and has proven he is indeed “a uniter”. Trouble is he has united much of the Islamic and Arab world against the west all the while; he has caused a huge divide not only among the American people but has turned most of America’s traditional allies against him. At the same time he has all but bankrupt the US and depends on handouts from Communist China to keep his economy and war afloat. But let’s get back to the original post shall we? The poster was calling for the deportation of all Liberals. I seem to recall two other nations that went that route, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. As I said in my first post, so much for democracy, free speech, free thought, free will, the right to dissent and all the other trappings of a free and just society. I have a number of friends in the US from both sides of the political spectrum, Liberal (Democrats) and Conservatives (Republicans) and although they differ on many issues, the one thing that they are united on is that the US is in serious trouble and the root of that trouble lays squarely at the feet of one George W. Bush and his base of radical Christian fundamentalist and the neo-cons who have taken over the Republican Party. In mind that choice is cut and dry. Bush is fighting for a level of freedom. In my mind that's what its all about. The Islamo-fascists are fighting against freedom. They scare me much more than the religious fanaticism that seems to scare you so much. Many of the views of the religious fanaticists are largely not popular enough for them to be legislated. As such, that is the major stumbling block to the religious fanaticists along with liberal courts that on the whole overturn every gain they make. The islamo-fascists would just force it upon us and kill those of us that do not comply. I really fail how you can call one as evil as the other. And if they got the US, what do you think happens to us? With an afterthought for a military and a bunch of liberals that refuse to use it short of sending them out to their pet causes as glorified social workers they'd take Canada before dinner. This really is WW3. It won't be a traditional war in the sense of WW1 and WW2. It will likely be fought over 20 or more years in a series of battles on many different fronts. I like my way of life. I want to win it. If we have to kill a few of our enemy to do so, whatever. Because of liberals and the media we're actually being handcuffed because they're insisting we fight politically correct battles where it would be much smarter to go in and win each quickly and decisively because each time we show any sort of weakness our enemy is further embolded to continue. I consider Bush a bad president because he has no clue how to run his homeland during wartime. Having said that, I have to laud him for fighting for what I think is right even though it is unpopular. I have always hated politicians that govern by the poll. Screw the poll. Do what you think is right now regardless of its popularity. The other party will likely undo it in a few years if you're wrong anyway. I don't want such a *insert your favorite breed of pussycat here* for a leader. To say Bush is fighting for freedom is akin to you saying you are screwing for virginity. When you take a look at what has happened not only within the US since Bush's first term but also where ever the US has taken its fight, then you know want I mean. PATRIOT ACT's I & II, proposed national id cards, so-called free speech zones, illegal and warrentless wire tappings of US Citizens, Abu Gabia (sp), detention of anyone suspected of being against the US, torture, you name it, it has happened under Bush and Co. During the Vietnam War, it was said that in order to save the village, they had to destroy the village, Bush has taken this up a couple of notches. In order to save the US, he must destroy the US and the same can be said again for the world. Bush is fighting for his corporate masters for the most part and for some god foresaken and bastardized Endtimer vision of return of the Corporate Jesus. The assults against intellectualism, science and non-Evangelical Christian beliefs within the US is frightening and are almost on par with the identical assults made by the Taliban in Afghanistan when they were in power. And I find it laughable that you call the press "Liberal", Christ on a crutch boyo, the vast bulk of US and even Canadian press are front line cheerleaders of the Bush Administration. The only real media dissent against Bush comes from forums like this where people can actually speak out and give voice to their oppinions. I am a retired soldier and just right of centre Conservative and frankly what I see going on down south scares the ever living shit out of me. Sorry for the crude languange, but there you have it. If you love your way of life and the freedoms you enjoy, then you should be manning the anti-Bush barracades, and cease being one of sheeple drones of the Bush Camp.

SFA kimmy, SFA

Here ya go Bushbot...........someone (not the articles writer tho) seem's think along the same line as you do...so much for freedom, democracy, free speech, free press, free will.....roll on the 5th Reich, American Style. Fill Article Seems we have a lib-bot here too. Only idiots equate Bush to Hitler. Look at these zealot Muslims and look at Bush -- which would be the greater evil? Would you rather be under the rule of the Taliban or Bush? The enemy we fight wants to do to us what Hitler did to the Jews. Bush has been fighting this fight for 3 years now, is that what he is doing? Did you give one second of thought to what you posted before you posted the drivel your leaders are feeding you? There are much better fronts on which to fight your fight. Lib-bot? LOL, sorry to disappoint Jr, but up until the merge of the Progressive Conservative Party and the Canadian Alliance, I was a card carrying member of the the PC's, now I am a proud independent centralist who kowtows to no one. As for living under either the Taliban or Bush, the answer is neither. As far as I am concern each is as bad and as evil as the other. One is group of radical Islamic fundamentalist and the other is backed and part of a group of radical Christian fundamentalist. Both would try to control yours and mines lives, how we live it, how we think and even how or who we screw. I say a pox on both their houses. If either gained control of Canada, I would don my combats once again, grab a rifle (you can still get your hands of the old FN-C1 or FN-C2 if you know where to look and who to ask) and start/join the insurrection. And Bush has been fighting Muslim Fundies for the past three years? Oh really? Where? Afghanistan? Right, there’s a good fairy tale for you. Afghanistan was where AQ was based out of and the fight against the Taliban is still on-going. However, Canada and NATO are now fighting that fight in the main, the US has all but pulled out, deciding instead to concentrate on Iraq, a nation that had nothing to do with 9-11 and was not home to AQ, until Shrub decided to go in and make it terrorist friendly. Bush has done more harm then good in the so-called War on Terror and has proven he is indeed “a uniter”. Trouble is he has united much of the Islamic and Arab world against the west all the while; he has caused a huge divide not only among the American people but has turned most of America’s traditional allies against him. At the same time he has all but bankrupt the US and depends on handouts from Communist China to keep his economy and war afloat. But let’s get back to the original post shall we? The poster was calling for the deportation of all Liberals. I seem to recall two other nations that went that route, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. As I said in my first post, so much for democracy, free speech, free thought, free will, the right to dissent and all the other trappings of a free and just society. I have a number of friends in the US from both sides of the political spectrum, Liberal (Democrats) and Conservatives (Republicans) and although they differ on many issues, the one thing that they are united on is that the US is in serious trouble and the root of that trouble lays squarely at the feet of one George W. Bush and his base of radical Christian fundamentalist and the neo-cons who have taken over the Republican Party.

Here ya go Bushbot...........someone (not the articles writer tho) seem's think along the same line as you do...so much for freedom, democracy, free speech, free press, free will.....roll on the 5th Reich, American Style. Fill Article

Daily TelegraphKotlikoff is a professor of economics at Boston University and sits on the board of the St. Louis Fed. (I somehow doubt that he could be characterized as one of its key members.) The Daily Telegraph seems to have gotten this from Kotlikoff's Feb 2006 paper: LinkGiven the recent growth in US GDP, these scare tactics seem misplaced. And I always ignore any claims about "leaving bills for our grandchildren". (Unless someone has invented a time machine, it is impossible to borrow from the future. OTOH, we can leave the future a polluted, uninhabitable planet but that's another issue.) Without going into the details of the Gokhale & Smetter paper, suffice to say that attempts to discount to the present the future value of government liabilities is fraught with danger to the point of absurdity. (Indeed, the projected bankruptcy of the US government turns critically on future medicare liabilities.) OTOH, Kotlikoff's main point - once he's gotten people's attention - is an interesting discussion about how the US federal government must and could implement tax reform. For example: This would mean the US federal government would institute a GST but do away with existing federal taxes. (In the Canadian context, Kotlikoff proposal would mean raising the GST to about 22% and then abolishing the federal income tax.) Kotlikoff's GST rebate would be universal and would almost amount to a negative income tax since it would be the same for all. (My guesstimate of a Canadian 22% GST is a lowball. Kotlikoff has a US GST at 33% which would cover rebate costs and a larger tax take.) I have to say that the proposal makes alot of sense. Unfortunately, VATs are exceptionally unpopular and politicians who introduce them usually become pariahs. No candidate in 2008 is going to propose this. Only a president not facing re-election would enact it, assuming Congress would ever go along. IOW, economists must learn how to design tax systems taking into account the political system in which they would be enacted. Otherwise, it's a debate about the sex of angels. Kotlikoff also has suggestions about social security and health care reform. His social security proposal is interesting and even contains a viable transition process but it misses the critical issue of who will have control over investment decisions. (Kotlikoff proposes an identical global equity index fund for all.) As to his proposal about medicare, speaking as a Canadian, all I can say is that Kotlikoff is very naive. It's interesting that on these three proposals, Canada is well ahead of the US in its understanding of the associated problems. We have experience with a federal sales tax, we have understand well the problems of State-organized health insurance and we know about political interference in State-pension investment decisions. ---- So then, is the US bankrupt? Well, if you discounted to the present the various promises I've made to people, and then discounted to the present predictions of my future revenue streams, and then ignored that I have the power to change my promises (and my revenues) at will, then you might conclude I'm bankrupt. IOW, the US government is not bankrupt because the US government can change at democratic will its obligations and its revenues. The government is simply not like you or me It has been argued that the US has already gone bankrupt back in 1971 and was only saved by Nixon cutting a deal with the House of Saud and OPEC. Energy bulletin link The biggest threat to the US as a military, economic and industrial power comes not from its ballooning debt, dependence of foreign goods, pending spike in pensions to baby boomers or even welfare moms, but rather from the Proposed Iranian Oil Bourse which will trade in Euro's and not in US Greenbacks. Added pressure is coming from China and Venezuela, who recently penned a major deal where China will buy oil from Venezuela and invests in the Venezuelian oil industry using Euros, not Greenbacks. Other OPEC nations, especially those who export and import mainly to Europe are also looking into trading in either just Euros or a mixture of Greenbacks and Euros. If the Euro replaces the US Greenback as the currency of choice for both oil exporters and importers, then the US dollar will crash to new lows, which would cause a major sell off of US dollars and causing nations such as China and Japan to call in their loans. That is the true treat to the US, not some rinky dink terrorist outfit or hordes of welfare moms.

Actually that is not entirely true. There is VAT in Alberta, but it is hidden and built into the costs of goods and services sold. I've recently returned to BC after spending a few months in Alberta servicing a contract. The costs of most goods in Alberta are equal to or even higher then those same goods in BC. My professional field is that of Transport Logistics and I can tell you honestly that the costs of bringing goods into Alberta, either via road or rail especially from the US or other parts of Canada is not all that much higher then it is to bring them into BC. In some cases, it is actually cheaper to bring goods into Alberta then into BC. Another Albertan myth is that you take home more of your pay cheque, again after comparing my BC take home pay and Alberta take home pay, I found no meaningful differance. Both Provincial Governments hand their hands in my pockets for almost the same amount of coin per dollar. And giving the cost of living in Alberta, where a tiny one bedroom apartment in Calgary with hot and cold running cockroach's (if you even find a vacancy that is) will set you back $900 per month, Alberta is no bargin. Yes you can earn $15 an hour at the local Timmies, but you need to earn at least $20 just to keep a roof over your head and food on the table. As for Alberta's oil moola going to Ottawa, I remember a time not all that long ago when Alberta had its hands in the Federal pocket pleading poverty and need. Now that the price of oil has reached almost obscene heights, Albertans are bemoaning the fact they now have to contribute to the rest of Canada. Funny how that works. If oil suddenly drops below $20 a barrel ($20 a barrel is the break even point for tar sands extraction), Alberta will once again become a have not Province, begging Ottawa for a handout or two.

With the aid of millions of dollars in massiving polling to let him know which way the winds were blowing both inside and outside the party. Dunno. The Australians sent troops to Iraq. I don't believe they've even taken one casualty. Certainly they've had far fewer than we have in Afghanistan. Incorrect, Australia have lost two soldier in Iraq and New Zealand one. Total Iraq Casualty Count...very grim reading

You got me lost there. Please explain how Mulroney was a traitor to this country. most likely a referrence to NAFTA, which has done more harm then good for Canada. The only good thing about NAFTA is, what the US quite cheerfully did to Canada under FTA, Mexico did to the US under NAFTA.

I'd rather see my sons coming home in body bags than living under tyranny and in fear. An interesting statement, as a retired member of the Canadian Armed Forces and a former card carrying member of the Federal PCP, I would be very interested in knowing exactly how many sons you currently have in the services and if none, how many are of service age? It is all too easy to say "Stay the course", "Sacrafices must be made", "Support the troops" when you own ass or the asses of your kids are not on the line. As for Steven Harper, I met him during the drive to "unite the right" and found him to be a combination of a Televangelis + Used Car Salesman + Snake Oil Salesman, which is to say an two-faced git who would say anything to get elected and I trust him about as far as I could toss both him and Stockwell Day together. I voted no against the merger.

I am not sure if anyone posted this elsewhere, but I believe it does have some bearing on the debate here. It should be noted that not only is the writer is a professor of political science at Tel Aviv university, but also a retired Lt. General in the IDF. Link

What . . .you mean the two of them. What about the hundreds of untried, unconvicted prisoners Israel has got then? Thats why hezbollah captured these two in the first place. A desperate attempt to free illegally siezed lebanese civilians. I have yet to see even one tiny bit of evidence in support of this claim. The only mention I've seen of Lebanese prisoners on Lebanese forums has been two or three terrorists being held by Israel. Israel is well known for kidnapping, arresting and detaining without trail or due process of those she feels a risk. AI has a long file of Israeli held detainee's. A quick Google search brought up 12,300,000 hits for Israeli Political Prisoners in 0.30 seconds. Here's the Link, it should provide you with hours of interesting reading and research.