fellowtraveller

A guy I know works for the Post Office, actually he is retired but they keep bringing him back on contract for a month or three. Even Canada Post is feeling the pinch of labour shortages, despite offering $23/hour, great benefits and relative job security. They've lost plenty of carriers and drivers to greener pastures. Those used to be very difficult jobs to secure, not anymore.

Oh. Is this what you're all amped up about? There is lot of water in Alberta. The problem is, most of it is in the north end of the province (ie, where Fort McMurray is.) Water in the Fort McMurray goes north to Lake Athabasca, then to Great Slave Lake and the Arctic Ocean, via the MacKenzie River. It never goes anywhere near Edmonton, Calgary, or most farmers in the province. And that's somewhat beside the point, anyway. I'm skeptical whether the nuclear plants will use much more water than is already being used by the fossil fuel plants. Why? Because the fossil fuel plants are being used to make *steam* for the oil extraction process. -k Good article on this kimmy, which has some excelelnt and thoughtful responses: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/realityc...d/20070111.html Fort MacMurray is at the junction of the large Athabasca River and the smaller Clearwater River. The source of the Athabasca is in the Rocky Mountains some 400 kilometers away to the south. When the Athabasca departs the community of Ft MacMurray, it heads north through uninhabited bush country for a relatively short distance until it dumps into Lake Athabasca, then to Great Slave Lake, then into the Mackenzie River and on to the Arctic Ocean near Inuvik about 2000 km later. The level of the river at Ft MacMurray has nothing at all to do with the level of the Athabasca in most of Alberta, and nothing to do with the tar sands activities . The Athabasca is low because of a series of winters with a low snow pack. This years heavy snow pack won't make a lot of difference anyway since there are no dams for storage.

I can confirm that this is absolutely true. If you are capable of metabolzing, you're hired. There are several fast food joints in my community near Edmonton that are fully or partly closed due to lack of staff. Burger King (nearly new) is closed, KFC severely restricted, one A&W restricted hours, and so on. Thses businesses also suffer because they operate on volume and smallish margins. Labour costs are a significant component. When you have to pay everybody at least $10,50 instead of $7.25, you still have to offer that gutbusting combo meal for $3.99 plus GST. Tough times for some.....

The principle that we should pay to reduce GHG emissions at lowest cost wherever they occur in the world should not be confused with Kyoto's baseline year of 1990.Why was 1990 chosen? Well, gee. Think about it. In 1997, when Kyoto targets were negotiated, Germany and Russia knew exactly what it meant to choose 1990 as a baseline year. (Excluding China and India and almost all underdeveloped countries made it easy for them to agree to Kyoto.) In the case of Russia, it's particularly galling because the 1990 numbers are entirely based on fictitious official statistics. (Under Kyoto, each country was supposed to make its own inventory of its 1990 GHG emissions. The UN has never verified these numbers.) The US has always noted these flaws and the chance of the US Congress ratifying Kyoto was basically zilch. Nevertheless, the principle of Kyoto and the idea of trading emissions rights is perfectly sound. In the long run, it is the only way we will ever properly solve this problem. In the meantime however, I think we'll need a Kyoto II with sensible national targets. Ah, an answer to my prayers, somebody who can now explain why sending several billion Canadian dollars to Russia, for zero overall reduction in GHG is a good thing for our planet. Go ahead.

I think the Euros are worried less about missiles from Russia, North Korea or China. They are likely more concerned about Iran, as they should be.

Russia had many smokestack, heavy industrial operations go belly up at the most convenient time- when Kyoto targets were set. These industries will never be restarted, and are a terrific source of GHG credit for the country. Canada may buy these credits, but the reality is that GHG gas emissions will not be reduced at all. It simply transfers a few billion from Canada to Russia, both countries produce the same or more GHG. I need somebody to explain the upside to that, aside from the obvious fiscal benefit to Russia and the increase in smugness to some folks in Canada that somehow feel that something noble has been accomplished. Another candidate for Kyoto near-fraud is Germany. Their 1990 baseline includes all the moribund smokestack industry from the former East Germany. Closed factories are a great aid in achieving their Kyotot targets at little or no cost.

Jack Layton is getting inceasingly desperate to get his face on TV. The good old days, propping up a corrupt Martin government and appearing to be relevant, are a distant memory for the electorate. I don't think there is anything Layton can do to prevent his caucus being halved in an election now or later in the year. His biggest problem is that he is now indistinguishable from the Liberals.

My father in law ran into an old friend he had not seen for several years, who had moved overseas where his wife died suddenly. My FIL blanked out briefly on the fact that the poor mans wife had died. They exchanged pleasantries for a few moments, catching up on things, when my FIL truly put his foot in his mouth and asked 'How is Ethel? (the dead wife)". Just as the words came out of his mouth, he belatedly remembered she had died, realized his major gaffe. To his complete horror, the next words blurted out of his mouth were "Is she still dead?". He told me he thought of turning and running in shame at that point. His old friend stared at him for a minute, then burst out laughing, laughing so hard he could barely stand. They went for several unscheduled beers, the friend said later the laughter was a cathartic release for him. They are closer now too. as friends. And our family has a classic story about one of its members.

The best show on CBC last night has not been mentioned: 'Intelligence'. It is good enough that I don't understand why it is on CBC.

Corporations are new tribalism.

but that is simply NOT a fact. In the past, CO2 in the atmosphere increased AFTER warming trends to suggest a symptom, not a cause. We don;t know what increasing CO2 before or during the warming trnd will do AT ALL. no one does. Your assumptions are just that. And they are very simplistic one's. You are not in kinsergarten anymore. all you are doing here is displaying the simplistic rationale in your beliefs. You were an 'easy sell'. He has faith.

I would describe it as more than that, perhaps The New Evangelism is more apt. There are strong parallels between environmentalism and fundamentalist religions, the most striking of which is the basic requirement to have faith in 'truths' that are difficult to prove or disprove. It is something that is less than science, but more than blind faith.

Back to the milk thing, the dairy business must be pretty safe, and pretty profitable..... The Netherlands has bought out many of its dairy farmers, since the subsidies to farmers there are very high, and Europe is awash in unwanted milk already. Some have come to Canada, and at least a few have bought up dairy operations near Edmonton. The realtor who sold a couple of these multimillion dollar operations said the Dutch buyers had little interest in the facilities, and were only looking at the quota numbers. They knew that as long as farmers had quota, and a supply management system, their investment was both safe and quite profitable. Something basic is wrong with that equation.

As a taxpayer, I still wonder what happened to my money, and why no politicians have been charged. So far, just bureaucrats and ad agencies. Is that the end of the trail? Where exactly did the money end up? Why have no forensic audits been done on Liberal riding organizations in Quebec? Did Chuck Guite suddenly decide one day to open the Montreal Yellow Pages, select some agencies at random, and award them $200 million or so with no expectation of... anything in return? Yes, I guess that is what happened, or what we are expected to believe. We are also expected to belive that Dion, a Quebec based Cabinet Minister throughout this affair, had no clue. Yeah, right.

Catchme said: That is incorrect. The Britsh PM Blair has only condemned the methodology of the execution, not the act. Others have said differently, but Blair is the PM. You can read about it here: current story on Blair and Saddam

1. Unless I choose to live in a large refrigerator box under an overpass, I have to live somewhere. 2. I accept that either renting or owning, I will be paying a mortgage, either mine or my landlords. 3. At retirement, i want my monthly overhead to be as low as possible. Renting does not get me there, unless you believe the old kneeslapper that you can pay rent all your life plus set aside extra dough for retirement, then continue to pay rent off that investment. 4. I also like the opportunity to leverage my home equity quickly into liquidity for investment, when I run across those occasional great deals in real esate

There are more issues than what people might expect. A government is not a travel agency, and any accomodations should be more than fully compensated. This should be understood before any arrangements are made. Second, what dangers should a second or third party assume to accomodate someone's expectations. What about their compensation? Third, timeliness is relative. What is slow to some might be quick to others. In the end, if you travel to places, especially places on "Do Not Travel To" lists, regardless of your nationality, your country should not have to call out the army for YOU. It is unfair for the rest of the rational thinking citizens for anyone to expect such. If only it were that simple. I've travelled extensively outside Canada, and regard the compassion of my government, and its willingness to help a citizen in trouble, as one of the things that differentiates my country from others. If you check the Foreign Affairs website for travel advisories, and heeded the warning about foreign countries, you wouldn't leave your home. Obviously written by a govt lawyer, nearly everywhere is a hotbed of nastiness. I know at least a couple of individuals that were repatriated by the government. One had been very ill and nearly died in West Africa. The other had been raped and robbed in the Middle east. Both were required to repay the costs of flights and other items before they could renew their passports. With interest. But they got out alive, thanks to our government.

Of course, when they established residency, they would have to pay Canadian taxes until they could re-establish their nonresident status elsewhere.. And by abandoning their child, they display their character. The tax issue is moot anyway. If you are a citizen and resident, you have certain social benefits. Big deal.

One theory on the steady decline of the NDP is that anybody who has seen a porn movie has seen a moustache just like Laytons. Everybody is thinking 'hey, where have I seen that guy before?', and it is not a positive association.

If I am a citzen of Canada and find myself in an emergency not of my own making, I fully expect official help up to and including repatriation to Canada or to a safe haven. Repayment for same is a separate issue.

Be safe and thank you.

Y'all don't have any clue what you're talking about. First clue: rednecks don't drive cars, unless their truck is in the shop getting flames or a mural painted on the box.

100 or 150+ years from now should give us plenty of time to diversify. Energy has dropped from the high 30's to the high 20's in share of GDP since the NEP. Alberta already has some significant diversification. Agirculture was #1 in Canada until a few years ago, high tech industry is growing and white collar sector is booming. Forestry is also on the rebound.

IF Canada can even afford to have that health and pension programs at all in the future. Paul Martin put $41 billion back into health care and improvements have been made. But most importantly Paul Martin set up the Canada Pension Plan to be viable for many, many years. As long as Jimmie Flaharty keeps his grubby mitts off the CPP fund and forgets about using it to balance his "net" debt. Yes, but that was quite a while after he stole $50 billion from the provinces health care money, and created a series of 'surpluses'. But I can sense that you will forgive him anything.

Stuff like this just makes me laugh at the inherent bigotry....... The legislation is supported and specifically allowed by the Supreme Court of Canada.......mighty AC likely sees them as a bunch of rednecks too....