overthere

Saw a terrific Canadian movie last night called Mommy. It's a dark, harsh story about a very troubled son coming home to a mother who has her own problems. Not much light here, but it rings true and is very well written, acted and directed.

The Allied tanks including American tanks were no match at all for the fast, powerful German tanks either. The single most bizarre thing about Fury is the age of Brad Pitts character. It would be very very unusual for a 50 year old man to be anywhere near the front, much less in a combat role. Wars are for the young, often very young.

Just curious, but how do you arrive at your conclusion that Justin Trudeau is the better leader'? Supporters of Harper or Mulcair could come up with examples of things both have done so far in their lives to support that ideas. But what specifically is it in his past or present that makes you state that as a fact?

Many of us spend our time arguing here and get bound in endless disputes about the small things that separate us. But the killings of two Canadian Forces members had some very special moments, things worth noting. Corporal Cirillo had several people around him after the shooting and before ambulances arrived. One woman was doing mouth to mouth, a man was doing chest compressions, others stood by to help and none of them knew if they were at risk too, none knew if the attack was over. The one that grabbed me though was the woman who knelt by his side and told him as he died that he was loved, that he was not alone. I think it is the older grey haired woman seen in many pictures of the scene. As a parent I would be so grateful to her if it was my child, to try to help him with his fright and pain in that way. When Cirillos body was transported back home to Hamilton, the overpasses and roads were lined with people showing their respect. Reports said many people stopped on the highway, and stood by their cars as he passed. A mosque in Cold Lake, Alberta was vandalized a couple days ago with anti-Muslim graffiti. (Cold Lake is a town of 10,000 close to the airbase that supplied the jets going to fight ISIS). The town responded with many offers of help to the Muslim community to clean up, and to tell them personally that they were valued neighbours and friends. But before that, soldiers and airmen from CFB Cold Lake came to the mosque and covered the graffiti. I know these are small things. But they aren't. They are what makes this a great country. It makes me realize what a privilege it is to live here.

All. Any new homes built here at least have not had household delivery since 1985. must be nice to live in ontario. Only some farms get householder delivery in Alberta and that is temporary. Most either have a box in town or at a community mailbox. Pretty much all acreage developments have been on community boxes for a long time.

Yes, you can walk onto a plane wearing a ski mask, but you cannot go through security wearing it. So, you suggest restricting basic Charter rights because you find another persons attire unnerving? Luckily, having native Canadian feminism tainted by a whiff of fascism is totally allowed under that same Charter. Aren't we lucky to all live in such a society, brown and white together? Tolerance is more than just an allowable amount of variance in machine parts. It means accepting things that are not in your personal comfort zone.

No. Because they are apparently the only party obliged to meet in the basement. This is not prime space.

No. It has no impact on my life whatsoever.

Trudeau suffered a bit of a PR setback here IMO. All day the media yammered on about how the full Government caucus was meeting on one side of the hallway where the gunman was shooting and shot. The Official Opposition was meeting on the other side of the hallway. I wondered where Trudeau and the Liberal caucus was..... eventually somebody noted that the Liberal caucus meets in a room in the basement..... The basement? Yikes.

No problem at all for me if somebody wants to wear anything or nothing. Except where establishing identity is required. Getting on a plane. Getting a passport or drivers licence. Testifying under oath. Like that. Once it is certain who the person is, they can cover what they like.

People who pay the same costs for postal services yet get no home delivery are the majority in Canada. You're the minority. They're subisdizing you. And where exactly in Canada do you live where you get daily delivery to your driveway in the country? Hmmmmm?

There are many peace officers that are not specifically police. Park wardens, provincial game wardens, sheriffs, some bylaw officers, transit cops in some cases, some CBSA officers and so on. I know Parks Canada wardens have police powers, and they can lay charges under the National Parks Act, Criminal Code and provincial highways Acts.

sounds tough. maybe you should move.

There are circumnstances where it is essential that it be clear as to identity. Getting a drivers license or passport photo. Testifying in court. Being required by a peace officer to identify yourself. Swearing a legal oath. Using your passport to travel. Taking an oath of citizenship would also require that officials be certain you are the correct person. Once they have established that you are who you claim to be, you can wear anything you want.

I posted the Rideau center shooting 20 minutes ago

shovel that blistering snow? I ahve home delivery and haven't gotten mail every day for decades. Somehow there is almost never anything on Fridays, and more on Mondays. Funny that.

I checked a couple years ago and could not find any deals for name brand tires that I could not match at Costco in Canada. Lemme know if you find a cheap source in WA. The impact for people from BC is zero as they are not eligible for the Washington state tax rebate. Only places that have no sales tax- like Alberta or Oregon- get the break at the till. The greatest impact is on WA businesses, who get trade from Oregon they would not normally have, and they get it becuase their prices are lower in WA. I have not noticed the giant outlet malls in Oregon that are found in a few places in Washington. Makes sense, it is quite a drive from BC to Oregon, but not far at all to the malls on I-5.

The media I am watching right now are doing very little speculating. Its a confused scene and they acknowledge that continually.

Ottawa police reporting another shooting incident at the Rideau center, no details yet

CBC has footage inside the Parliament buildings and a lot of gunfire, from an hour ago.

No problem. The Chief Electoral Officer acting under the authority of the Act has the authority to permit persons the right to vote. He exercised it in this case. The Supreme Court did not make the legislation, neither can they repeal the legislation. Sometimes that obliges the government to act to serve the public interest, but they retain the right to enable or disable legislation. So you are 100% wrong in saying they 'struck down the law". They didn't. They cannot, under the very Constituion they interpret. A little reading will reveal that many, many Acts have provisions, usually called Regulations, that are part of the Act but have measure of flexibility usually at a Minsters discretion. These are often changed or used to permit exceptions.

The program is not profitable. It has a surplus. Different thing. The main reason it has a surplus is because the economy is in fair condition overall, despite being in crap condition in the places in Canada where it is always in crap condition. The poor, elderly and disabled do not collect EI because in general they are unlikely to have jobs. EI is only barely an insurance fund. It is so weighted with political freight and uneven treatment of claimants by region it barely quailifies. Really, in some of the country it is a social benefit, in other parts really hard to get and for reduced time periods. Yes, it is most defitniely a program the government gets to screw around with, since it is a part of the economy of the country that they govern. Its pretty generous now, don't expect that to last forever.

But have you seen a squirrel with two heads?

I don't think lettermail will lose money, the big increase in rates is intended to offset the requirement to deliver everywhere. Cutting home delivery, which is mostly first class mail, also helps. Break even will do, but I think they still make money on it overall. But they don't have money to plow into subsidizing things like admail, where they go head to head with commerical companies, the ones that deliver flyers. That business is also on the edge, thin margins and perhaps shrinking. Remember CPC enjoys autonomy on an unwritten premise: don't come begging for money. They've done OK with that, and i some ways are not responsible for what has happened outside their control. What we see now is mostly their response. If their parcel plans don't work out as they must, and lettermail continues to shrink, they will be faced with much bigger problems than a dustup with their unions and some customers.