fellowtraveller

Aren't you the guy who told us you were paying about half the market rent for your home?

Meaningless. Overall, we have far more wealth than any previous generation. Many middle class people have far, far more equity and assets than previous generations- house equity and pensions that grandma and grandpa did not. And cash or cash equivalents. I agree that some also have debt, but in general we have far more money or equivalents than ever before. It is one of the reasons there are stupid runups in the financial fad-of-the-day(precious metals, dotcoms, stocks, real estae): there are mountains of cash available for investment and few safe places to put it.

Where do you get these curious ideas? I have a no-annual-fee VISA card I have not used more than a couple times in 20 years(CIBC), no problem and I have no other business with that bank. Every five years or so they call me to ask when I expect to use it more, and I tell them I will when their interest rates drop below 10% I will consider it. I have a small($15K) unsecured LOC with BMO I have not used at all since about 1994, and a much larger one with RBC I've never used in the 8 years or so I've had business with them. Who specifically is shutting down unused credit accounts?

You can pay your mortgage, or you can pay your landlords mortgage. Do you think the costs of oownership for rental properties are less than they are for owner occupied homes?

Incorrect. Hundreds of millions of booomers have inheriited easy times, booming economies and trillions of dollars from their dead parents. It has to be invested somewhere.

PC majority, still, though not so easy. Today, for the first time, the Edmonton Journal is dominated by an examination of Wildrose policy and the stated position of some candidates. Smith is trying hard to distance herself from all of it, but she will fail. Even Graham Thompson, a renowned long time Tory hatwer and baiter columnist, is talking about stategiic voting. What will happen between now and election day is a whoole lot of sucking it up and a commitment to strategic voting by hte left and center in AB. The choices of their voting their traditional NDP/Liberal, and watching Wildrose win with a ratsnest of homophobic misogynists vs holding their noses and votiing PC will carry the day for the PCs. Redford is still far more palatable than Smith to the center and left, and that will be enough. The last few days have been filled with contorversy for Smith about the rank homophobia of one oof her boys, and her refusal to associate the candidate with the Party. Today, she has some front page musings about cllimate change denial. The sheep look up. A whole lot of folks are about to get engaged.

True if you believe in The Unified Conspiracy Theory.Another explanation for low mortgage interest rates is that residential mortgages are traditionally a relatively safe place for investors money. Low risk -= low return=low rates. Stock market scary? Put some money in first mortgages. Couple that with the reality that this generation is awash in cash that has to go somewhere, anywhere that has any kind of return and the low rates for mortage investment make sense. Banks like mortgages because they don't make a lot, but they do earn and earn for a long time. People- 67% of people- like mortgaes because it is the only way they can buy a house.

"Ownership class"?? Home ownership is about 67% in Canada, which is typical of Western countries. Pretty big class.

The Skaway crossing does, but only in the most nominal way. They are both very pleasant, sometimes spectacualr trips. Unfortunately, Skagway is an epic tourist trap shithole that exists for the cruise ship traffic. haines is a pretty cool place, I like it a lot. Yep, and that is what I said.

the Jays bullpen and closers look horrible so far, three blown leads in late innings.........

Incorrect first sentence, correct on second for credit unions here. But it is the big credit unions who gobble up small credit unions. They don't like competition either. In my direct experience, credit unions are useless for commericial, business or mortgage brokerage. It appears that they are unable to make timely decisions or approvals

French war technology combined with Indian manufacturing.What could possibly go wrong there? You end up with the worst product for the lowest price and the most work for govt employees, just what you want in a warplane. Reminds me of an alleged astronaut Gus Grissom anecdote. He was asked what he thought of as he lay strapped down in the nosecone of a Saturn rocket seconds before being blasted into space, with all that immense deadly power rumbling and trembling beneath him. He said somehting like " all I can think of is that there are about 50,000 parts in this machine and every one of them has to work right or I die, and every one of the 50,000 went out to the lowst bidder".

Sorry, no returns or refunds after 30 days.Amend the above to remove 'sorry'. Getting rid of Rios and Vernon Wells were two amazing deals by Alex Alphabet. I cannot remember what the Jays got back but it really didn't matter.

There are only two road crossings from Yukon to Alaska on a shared border of 1200 kms. You could cross a few places by river to Yukon, but on all of them you'd be travelling vast distances and paddling upstream, both of which are harder than you might imagine. Yeah, it would be much easier for both Americans and Canadians to drive to Nunavut if there was a road that went there too.eta: there are actually four land crossings, I forgot Haines and Skagway

It's the Prairies son, we don't need any stinking roads. The number of civil service jobs should be based on the need for the service, not the persons need for a job.

You have to love that! And their defence is pretty good. If they can get hitting from uncertains like Rasmus, Thames, Lind.... and even average pitching...... they will be dangerous.

That is not a link to where you demonstrate the NDP agreement that we need new jets.Tip: links often have .com at the end.

You want me to Google Wildrose opinion and policy on abortion referendums?. Look it up yourself.

still looking for your link to the NDP asgreeing that we need new jets.

Should be easy for Obama is more like it.

It has been good, not fantastic. Their season may depend on their closer, two blown saves/two opportunitiesnot where Santos or the Jays want to be. Anybody notice how Lawrie often strikes out on three straight pitches. Needs to change his approach at the plate, learn some patiience.... Great to see Kelly Johnson coming on strong. The team has the faint whiff of potential greatness, still depends m,ostly on pitching. Who will be the fifth starter?

Sure, they could use another good forward, but 190 is thirty pounds short of whast they need up front: some size and grit. Hopkins, Gagner, Hall, Eberle, Hemsky- all very skilled, all really easy to get off the puck. They get pounded and pushed around all the time, skill doesn't matter when your face is smashed against the glass. It is the reason they finished 29th: cannot compete with big teams. I'm not satified with individuals having good seasons, I want the team to succeed first. Not relevant. Neither was a #1 pick , with all the leverage that gives us. We need defenceent, to get the puck out of our end and up to the skilled players we have. Instead, we have the nightly gong show of having shitty D getting pounded in their zone, and the forwards unable to help because they are wee. It also hurts our forecheck, because when Sam Gagner goes into the other teams corners he alm,ost never comes up with the puck because he is too small to play that game or have that role. Their defence needs wholesale replacement. Keep Petry, Smid and maybe Shulz- and none of those are first pairing guys anywhere else. The rest are AHL players. Whitney looks like he is done for good.Here is how bad their D is: Eric Belanger on the power play point for much of the year. He can't shoot, make plays or score but he is better than 4 out of 7 D? In your next quote, you call for depth yet ypou want to trade that depth. Which is it? Gagner is still a marginal top six guy. Pajaarvi has yet to establish anything as a pro player, and his value is now less than it was a year ago. Homers like you and I tend to badly overestimate the value of fringe players. Pajaarvi won't be playing anywhere in the NHL in top six except maybe Edmonton. You don't get top pair D for that, you get 7th D and we already have a bunch of them. Then why take it when your organization needs other types of players urgeantly and immediately? One proviso: if we draft a D like Murray at #2 or #3 and extract another D for doing it, they both have to be capable of playing next year.Until we upgrade out D substantially, we are not making the playoffs. If we wait five years, our supposed cap advantage will be gone, gone, gone when all this young talent is moving into RFA and UFA territory. The need to move forward is urgent. I wonder if Tambellini has the stones for it. Your 'indecisive' comment is spot on, todays Journal has Tambo telling Renney to take a little holdiay and think things over..... Huh?

Yeah, that tortuous 'logic' BS is one of the little ploys used by ProLifers all the time. By removing the option for abortion because the poor cannot afford one, you effectively eliminate any choice. So you can pretend to be ProChoice, while at the same time removing choice. You may think that is clever or cute, but it is in fact transparent. Fail. Try Again, as I know you will. Lets cut funding for a medical procedure that will affect only the poor, who are those who can least afford and least manage an unwanted child. Is that what Jesus would want?

They also confirm that the survival rate and general health of junkies is better. And that is my reason for supporting InSite. Addicts are humans. They cannot help themselves, nor can society help them if they are dead. Insite helps keep them alive. Seems simple. It is true that some will never kick their habits and will die, but it is also true that some will kick, and InSite unquestionably enables that positive outcome. It treats addiction as a medical issue, not a moral drama.

Then why is her party policy to hold referendums on abortion and in the meantime delist it, which means if you want an aboirtion you pay out of pocket? That sound 'prochoice' to you? Smith knows she MUST get centrist votes or they have no hope, her natural constituency is already full developed. She is not going to get any of the Liberal vote waiting to be plucked. It is not that I dislike her or her party, it is that unlike you I am acutely aware of what Wildrose is in this province, and how it came to be. It has been repeated here over and over, you can choose to ignore what they are if you wish, but I choose not to. You are hallucinating if you believe that they are anything but very socially conservative, it is the absolute fucking heart of the party. Here, I'll describe them in three words anybody can understand: A Step Backward.