fellowtraveller

There is more than a faint whiff of fervent evangelism about atheism these days. Is there much difference in the approach, the marketing between say, Dawkins/Hitchens and somebody like Falwell or the Billy Graham Crusade? I know the opinions are very different, but is there any substantive difference in the fervor? Or does the environmental movement take the crown as the New Evangelism? There is a large dose of faith after all......

This type of comment is borders on the downright stupid. Our miltiary is entirely composed of adult volunteers. 100% adult, 100% volunteer. They understand and accept that they can and wwill be put in harms way by politicians. It is integral to the job they voluntarily take on as adults. The worst thing we as a people could do would be to task them with something dangerous, then senfd them off with inadequate equipment - the way it used to be. Now at least, the govt is willing to give them a chance at surviving the mission by outfitting them with some modern gear. This has not gone unnoticed by the grunts doing the heavy lifting, it is a palpable show of commitment and a sea change from the 90s. If my son or daughter chose to join the military, I would respect their decision because I know it would be a considered and reasoned decison.. They have been raised to think for themselves, unlike some sheeple here

Dental and drug claims are made online, there is zero paperwork. The funds are deposited in my account the same day or next at latest. Unbeatable. I noticed you did not address my point about the delivery of health care services being a provincial reposnsibility. Nothing prevents any province from providing any level of pharmacare right now. They also have the authority and will to impose taxes to pay for it, right now. So take it up with your MLA.

Sure they will. My wifes plan covers my family comprehensively and they have yet to ask a single question about any of us other than names and birthdates. And they pay very very promptly, their administration (Blue Cross) makes the government look laughable. In any case, there is no need for federal involvement. Why? Because health care services remains a provincial responsibility. If a province chooses to spend their dough on pills instead of other services, they can answer any questions their residents may have about priorities.

Can't anybody help me here in identifying The Big Scorekeeper In The Sky? I've been both naughty and nice in the last month, and I'd like to know if I'm coming back as a cockroach or a mole on Angelina Jolies inner thigh. You can see how this uncertainty could cause some stress. Is there any way in Buddhism to buy a little dispensation? Any statues I could gild?

Speaking of gaping holes, find any religions which have a god, that can actually stand up to a logical argument? Besides Deism, Paganism and Buddhism? One of the tents of Buddhism is reincarnation, where the dead reappear at a different plane of existence, somewhere between a cockroach and a human, depending on your behaviour in the current life. I'd like to know who and where is The Big Scorekeeper In The Sky, whatever deity is in charge of assessing current life perofrmance and making the new assigments.

I don't agree that McKenna has a weak association with Carlyle. But I also don't think it will be that big a deal. I still think sitting out the leadership will end up hurting him. While you may have picked Dion I don't think it was an obvious choice. The leadership came down to whoever Kennedy was going to throw his support behind. I honestly thought it was likely to be Ignatieff, but wouldn't have been shocked if Kennedy had gone with Rae. I was flabbergasted that Kennedy went with Dion. I thought Kennedy was a much shrewder politician than that. Forget about what Kennedy wanted, and think about what the Liberal executive wanted. Kennedy was never going to win under any cirucmstances, he just has so little presence outside the Party that he could not win an election. Was it Ignatieff, a charismatic guy that they could not control and did not really know, a wild card? Could he win an election against Harper? Was it Rae, a very experienced politician and tough guy to handle, who was also relatively new to the Party? Could he beat Harper (I think he could have, likely the only candidate who could) Or was it Dion, who was a longtime Chretien/Martin sidekick, loyal minister for many years, but above all he was seen as a safe leader, no threat internally and unlikely to take the party anywhere new or novel. It is what they wanted , what they are getting and it will not get him or the Liberals elected. They misread the depth of the antipathy regarding Adscam, misread the need for change in the Lberals, and opted for business as usual with an old school leader. I don't see what McKenna has been doing as anything remotely resembling retirement! He took the ambassadors post, certainly anything but low profile. He is chairing some big stuff for CanWest and TD Bank, and no doubt meeting and greeting many rich folk. He is emulating what Mulroney did prior to becoming PM. There is a simple reason that McKenna did not run for the last leadership. He knew he had an excellent chance of becoming leader, but a much weaker chnace of gaining a majority government. He will bide his time, schmooze with the barons, gain plenty of support and return when both prizes are attainable. Dion will be gone gone gone unless he wins a majority next time, which he can't do. 'Winning' minorities is not good enough in LiberalLand.

No, Quebec did just fine. That's why the Bloc is propping up the Conservatives. No, it is not the reason the Bloc are supporting the Conservatives, on the budget at least. The bloc are doing it for two reasons. First, it is their turn since none of the Opposition Parties want an election. They all have to find weak excuses for supporting the Tories in turn so they won't be seen as the ones who forced Canadians to the polls, again. Second, the Bloc is in deep, deep, shit in Quebec. An election so soon after the PQ massacre would be disastrous.

I guess the mods are taking the weekend off. I just don't see how a weak association with Carlyle can hurt McKenna that badly. I mean, think of the envioronment- both Martin and Dion survived an association with Adscam that was surely mopre toxic, Dion was elected leader in spite of it. McKwenna has done all the right things for a run at the top job- the ambassadorship gave him some foreign creds that he badly needed, now he is a Bay Street bigwig/world class schmoozer of the rich and powerful. he has no job that ties him to a tight schedule, plenty of time to make and cultivate those people he needs. He reminds me of Brian Mulroney in a way. Bilingual too. I picked Dion 7 months before the Liberal leadership convention because it was obvious. Trust me on this one. He will run at some point, and he will win.

The roads are the worst they have ever been....because there is no money to fix them. The roads are not cleared in the winter...because there is no money to fix them. The EPS is stretched and crime is rampant...because there is no money to fix it. He PERSONALLY owns Evergreen Trailer Park...and it is falling apart (just a sign of his personal commitment) While there is no money for repairing ageing infrastructure and boost law enforcement and thus safety, they: give themselves double digit raises impose double digit tax hikes perform a $15million rennovation to an art gallery a vast majority of Edmontonians have never and will never be to. Oh...and despite the lack of money, there has recently been talk now of eliminating business taxes!! Don't businesses need roads to bring customers to them?! Or sidewalks or buses? And Mandel is shrewd...but I will leave any form of ethnicity out of the explanation Thank god I am not an Edmonton city tax payer right now though. You ARE a born Albertan. I won't hide behind anything. I merely implied something that everyone knows. It is like saying "East Indians all cook with curry"...nobody disagrees with that. And yes...I am proud to be a born Albertan. One who has white, brown, red, black, gay and straight friends. I know who I am and my friends know who I am. And anyone who doesn't know who I am and thinks they do...well, their loss. You implied that it is somehow relevant that Mandel is Jewish because.....??? You're a bigot. Oh yes, that's it! Mandel has been an excellent mayor. He has finally succeeded in pressuring the province into getting regional cooperation to the forefront, a major major issue. Your post is so filled with factual errors it is hard to know where to start. Roads? Bad shape for years from provincial cutbacks, they didn't start to deteriorate on Mandels watch. Taxes? Raised 4.95% this year in Edmonton, about the same as inflation, a remarkable achievement in light if the rampant growth of the city and attendant fiscal pressures. I won't bother expalining market based assessments and mill rates, you wouldn't get it anyway. Mandel does not personally own Evergreen Trailer Park. His family does own Lakeland Vilage which is not in Edmonton at all, but in the County of Strathcona. And so what?

I'm a bit surprised that you would believe Dion is electable once, much less twice. The first would have to be a majority for him to be allowed to stand for a second term. Do you really think that will happen? I can certainly see other Liberals gaining two majorities, but it is very hard to imagine Dion achieving any.

Tobin may not have accomplished much, but he has outstanding hair and is a good adhoc speaker. Kennedy remains mostly unknown outside the Liberal party. Ignatieff may have a better shot next time, but I don't think his heart is really in it. He frightens the Liberal core. He also has good hair and is articulate. Rae is certainly a contender. People inside Ontario will vote Liberal no matter what, does it matter to anybody in the GTA that Rae may or may not have been useless a decade ago. he is a formidable politician and campaigner. People outside Ontario know little about him other than that he was a NDP Premier - which may be a death blow in and of itself. Trudeau also has very good hair, but he about to discover that the story he has been told his entire life- that dad was loved by all - was more fable than fact. I hope he is not crushed by the process. McKenna is my choice, after the next election he will be crowned as leader. he is the former longterm, undefeated Premier of New Brunswick. Bilingual. Has international experience now with the ambassadorship and Carlyle Group. Plenty of chops now in Bay Street, via Can West and TD Bank appointments. Nurtured at the teat of Allan (The Horrible) Maceachern. He was the odds-on favorite (7-2 odds) in the last Liberal leadership race before he quit once he realized that the Old Guard was sticking with the Old Guard.Aritculate and savvy. Also short and does not have good hair. His handlers can fix the hair thing, and they will be careful who he stands next to.....

My understanding from the article is that it is staff within the PMO itself that have commented on the bullying. I'm sure come from the west as that is where Harper's brain trust comes from. Yes, from those very credible and always reliable 'unnamed source' and 'senior Conservative'. Is it real, or just some crap made up by the author? Whatever happened to just telling your readers the facts?

Or did man create God?

There has been a fair bit of grumbling about Dion as leader already, a growing realization that this Chretien/Martin relic is unlikely to inspire many Canadians to vote Liberal. He was elected leader because of those links, he is as safe and comfy as old slippers for the Liberal old d, but it also gave the Tories a much longer run in power. Assuming Dion either gets turfed before a general election, or stays the course and is beaten....... who is next for the Liberals? Wiil either of the other former frontrunners- Bob Rae or Michael Ignatieff still be interested? Will the guy who could have beaten Harper- Frank McKenna - take over? Kennedy? How about the darkhorse, Trudeau? Brian Tobin from the outside?

Fall provincial election Calvert's preference ....something Calvert learned from Danny. Yes, it's all cheap political posturing by provincial (in every sense of the word) politicians. But it appears Calvert, if he actually follows through on his threat, doesn't mind spending government money on spurious lawsuits in an effort to improve his popularity. Calvert had better do something to improve his popularity, and inventing a bogeyman is something he will have learned from Chretien/Martin......... Calvert/NDP are somewhere around 29% versus 55% for the Sask Party (Tories). Even proprep wouldn't have saved him this time.

Very funny. I think Statscan reported that Manitoba gained back from Alberta this year and will be one of the leading provinces for GDP growth as well. However, thanks for the plug. That is all easily explained. Every group of peopple has a few misfits who can't cut it, even in a spociety as open and welcoming and prosperous as Alberta. We are happy that you will look after them from now on, very generous of you. The smart, ambitious and successful will remain of course. Of course, all those billions of handouts from the feds help both the repatriation of the less abled, and to help the province pretend that Manitoba is anything but a financial basket case..

PCs will win in both ridings. If anything else happens, the terrorists have won.

Did you miss the part where Michael Bluth explains to you that Trudeau is running for the Liberals -a federal party, and that he cannot possibly run against a Parti Quebecois candidate because the PQ is a provincial party?

He is an indistinguishable clone, a long term/old time Liberal stalwart. 7 years as a Minister under Chretien, closely followed by two as a Minister under Martin makes it indisputable. He was trained in the traditional style by Chretien, and plucked from the same type of Never Had a Real Job in My Life background as Allan MacEachern and PET. More Liberal tradition..... He won the leadership for this very reason - he was safe- and with the blessing of the inner circle, a serious mistake that will haunt the Libs for a long time, as they don't show any real signs of fixing their grievous error.

I wish Michael Moore would take on the Landover Baptist Church, but then again Old Mike doesn't like anybody that fights back.

Yes, hospitals cost a lot to build and maintain. Albertans are a generous bunch though, they welcome the economic refugees from the Maritimes and Manitoba with open arms and the best medical care we can manage.

\Part of this is inaccurate, the 'charter' schools can be and are part of the public system - and it is an important part.. The Edmonton Public School board has allowed, or more accurately encouraged, schools to become or remain a part of the Board, and nearly all of them are part of the Edmonon public system. There are many Christian schools, Muslim, Jewish, smart kid schools, hockey/ballet/military/soccer academies, girls-only junior high schools and many other 'special interest' schools, all within the publci school umbrella. All of them receive a grant for every student, all of them are obliged to teach the provincial academic curriculum at minimum. Every student is tested at Grades three, six, nine and twelve in standard exams. The hockey academies (junior high age kids) for example has no art, drama or music. Once they've done their 'three R's " for the day, they do hockey. There are very few charter or private schools in existence, what would be the point? The parents that push for these specialty schools are often more involved in their childs education than in mainstream schools, and that is a positive thing. The teachers are all at the same mandated standard since they have a common employer.

Is it just me, but are generalizations and slurs on Anglos now acceptable here and in Quebec?

4000 steps backwards. What an embarrassment.... of course this is Alberta, the land of eager ecological destruction and pandering to the Bush white house. The land of Canadian neo-conservatism... Alberta is a province that is very hard to respect. Andrew I have absolutely no problem with this museum, it seems to me that it is an expression of free speech and freedom of religion. Aren't those things we should foster? I mean really, it isn't like the grotesque Bountiful BC, where grown men have been marrying and fornicating with underage girls for decades......... Besides, this is a place that everybody should check out on their summer vacation. For a truly surreal day, smoke a spliff and hit the Creation Museum first, then catch the nearby and wondrous Torrington Gopher Museum