Queenmandy85

Way back many posts ago, I did not express myself well. Isis is no more a feature of Islam than the IRA is Roman Catholic. Isis is a vehicle to make money and get power over people. The Syrian civil wars are more about power than religion.

Try the 1970's to the 1980's. Tell it to the young Catholic girl who comforted a British soldier as he lay dying in the street. Gerry Adams had her tortured and murdered. Tell it to the families who lost loved ones in pub bombings.

I find it hard to see any distinction between islam and Roman Catholicism. Both have the reputation for oppressing women, persecuting other faiths and denominations, and persecuting gays. Both have a reputation for terrorism. Both are burdened by reputations they do not deserve. They are blamed for a few whackos like ISIS and the IRA, neither of which represent Islam or Christianity.

The Court ruled that the bequest went against Public Policy, not that it was illegal. When you die, the assets you had no longer belong to you because you are dead. I am not a lawyer but it appears to me that in view of the fact that it is the Court that disburses those assets, the assets revert to the Crown and it is the Crown that decides who gets what. If someone dies intestate with no claims on the bequest, the assets do go to the Crown. In this case, the Court determined the will was contrary to public policy and few people would disagree.

B.C would get swallowed up by the Americans and Canada would be cut off from the Pacific rim. The same goes for Ontario. If you split the country, it cannot survive.

Blackbird, your concerns over pot enforcement overlooks the fact that people are already driving stoned. Developing roadside tests may reduce the cost by introducing a credible deterrent.

Gritbuster, I am curious as to what specific issues are not being represented in Ottawa? What sort of a check do you envisage on the House of Commons if you were to abolish the Senate? How do you maintain a coherent national policy if you strip the Federal Government of it's powers? If people are so concerned about first past the post, why not have run-off elections in ridings where the top candidate fails to get 50% of the vote? Proportional Representation means your Kootenay East -Revelstoke MP is appointed from a list drawn up by the party and will no doubt some bagman from Toronto. I gives way more power to the political parties. The current system gives you some control over who gets nominated and who gets elected. If the guy you campaigned for doesn't win, that's your fault for not working hard enough in the campaign. Hauling your body out to vote is not enough. If you didn't campaign, you have no right to complain. You don't need a constitutional amendment to get rid of the position of Prime Minister. The office does not exist in the constitution. If you have fixed terms, how do you avoid the two year election campaigns like they have in the U.S.? "No appointing judges" How do you have a judiciary without Judges? If you don't appoint Senators, how do you move away from having politicians in the upper chamber. Remove the Prime minister's involvement in these appointments as well as the judiciary. These appointments are the prerogative of the Crown and that is the appropriate avenue for non-political positions. Giving nationhood to Quebec would split the country in two and fatally weaken us.

The Monarch is the personification of the State. Louis was right. Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada is, by tradition, the personification of Canada. She is the second longest reigning monarch in our history. Louis XIV was the longest and he was also the personification of Canada.

By the same token, decisions made in Victoria also might as well be moved to Ottawa or the moon. People in Vancouver think once you get past Hope, you are in Alberta.

Democracy is not a prerequisite for membership in NATO. Greece was a military dictatorship in the early 1970's. Turkey voted to change the constitution. That is democracy.

Blackbird wrote; "Another thing that should raise alarm bells with Canadians is the Calls to Action, a long document with incredibly demands on Canada, as a result of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report. People should read the demands for action. If the government actually accepted all these demands, Canada would be totally bankrupt and the country would be turned over to the aboriginal people completely. " Didn't the country belong to the aboriginal people in the first place? Perhaps you would rather pay rent, say, $10,000 a hectre, per month, retroactive.

In Canada, the Queen has all the authority and no power. The Prime Minister has the power but no authority. No General, Judge or politicial can legally have that ultimate authority. The Crown is the ultimate check on the actions of the Prime Minister. She appoints him and she can dismiss him."Can you have a parliamentary republic that has no head of state position whatsoever?" Yes, but it would be unwise. It is important to deny that ultimate authority to someone with power.

Blackbird, I note that you say you don't believe in the effect of greenhouse gasses on re-radiation of energy. You can demonstrate this effect in any under-graduate lab. If you project energy into an atmosphere made up of the current gasses in the Earth's atmosphere, the energy re-radiated is measurable. If you increase the levels of carbon dioxide and / or methane, the energy re-radiated declines and the atmosphere heats up. The temperature rise is predictable and measurable. The levels of carbon dioxide and methane have been increasing at an accelerating rate, much of it due to human activity. The details of how this will effect atmospheric and oceanographic conditions in the short term depend on so many variables that detailed prediction is very difficult. However, in the long term, the results are clear. This is not a question of belief, it is a matter of science. As I say, the manner of how this manifests its self is a matter for on going research, but the end result is dire in the extreme.

B-C 2004, you paint a very clinical picture. Think about what it would be like on a human level and then consider how people would survive in a society without hospitals, electricity, communications, clean water, anything that depends on computers and electonics.

Perhaps I was misinformed. My source was Colonel Nichols, CO of CFB Comox and his previous appointment was Canada's senior officer in NORAD during the early 1970's. I do believe you are underestimating the lethal effects of fallout. However, conceding your point, 100,000,000 American fatalities and an unknown number of surviving casualties, the destruction of infrastructure, the effects of radioactive fallout on agriculture, the issue precipitating a war between Nato and Russia and/ or China had better be worth it. I hope that a pissing contest would not qualify. In my youth there was a phrase, "Better to be red than dead."

While I agree NATO must stand together and an attack on one member is an attack on all, requiring a full nuclear response, it is chilling to note that such an action would result in the death of 95% of the world's population in the first week. The rest would die in the next few days.

What is usually referred to as private property in Canada is actually a 'Freehold Lease.' All land is owned by the Crown. If the Crown terminates your lease for, say the construction of a road, the Crown pays compensation. Sometimes, as in the case of the Regina GTH, the Crown pays an unusually large sum.

I am probably projecting, but it seems to me Americans are more fearful. American customer service is far superior. Canada has a centre of the Universe (Toronto) while the U.S. power is less centralized. Americans look inward and Canadians look to the U.S.

I never type anything into a computer that I don't want to read on the front page of the New York Times. No banking, income tax, or anything I wouldn't want my mother to read. Nothing is private and never has been.

Be careful of what you wish for. I worked for twenty plus years to become Prime Minister of Canada and if it were not for a small obstacle (not enough votes or support) I would be Prime Minister now. We would have the fourth largest military in the world, and a defined benefit pension for everyone administered by CPP (and the highest taxes in the world). Thank your lucky stars the good people of the Kootenay-East- Revelstoke Progressive Conservative riding association lacked the vision to nominate me. You have no idea of what a bad PM can be.

We should be rebuilding the rail system in Canada, powered by nuclear generated electricity. Western Canada is the Saudi Arabia of uranium and, while we do not possess the thorium resources of some other countries, we do have sufficient reserves and the Candu reactor can be converted to thorium. There will always be a need for petroleum but burning it is wasteful and catastrophic for the planet. Right now we are virtually giving oil away. Why not hang on to it until the rest of the world has used up their reserves and we can charge what ever we want.

It takes that long because of under-funding of the court system. Voters hate paying taxes. Everyone wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die to get there.

Argus wrote, "So the courts have released a murderer because of the colossal incompetence of the judicial system in bringing him to trial. He's been waiting trial for 56 months now, four and a half years, for he brutal slaughter of his wife, but now he can walk free. " From your opening statement, it appears the this person was charged, but not convicted. Therefore, he is innocent unless proven guilty by the court. In other words, an innocent man has spent almost five years in custody. I remember the court case of a nurse accused of murdering a number of children at Sick Childrens Hospital. We all knew she was guilty...that is until it was pointed out that she was not even in the Province at the time of at lease two of the murders. She was exonerated. I don't know about you, but should I ever be charged with a crime, I would like to be presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.

Dog, you keep referring to the Quran but it isn't that different from the Holy Bible in some aspects. Leviticus is the most popular example of pronouncements and rules that, if observed today, would land you in jail. For instance, I've always wondered what would happen if my neighbour mowed his lawn on the Sabbath and I stoned him to death.

In the free marketplace of theology, Islam has been pretty successful. As a conservative, I have to applaud that. Compared to the Christian religion, Muslims demonstrate a remarkable devotion.