overthere

"I believe that the membership (with the $10) to the party is not a legal document." True, the NDP will just revoke your membership, keep the $10, kick you out and confiscate your corduroy clothing.

"The suggestions are creative and worth considering. " No, they are neither of those things. To review, in order: -swear onscreen. Big fucking deal. See? - create Candian dramass and shows: they've wasted billions on this for decades and failed horribly. Good money after bad -they don't have any choice about getting out of sports as their competitorsd have outbid them at nearly every turn - CBC TV already spends megabucks on news, and nobody watches. More of the same crap that does not work - CBC radio already has national shows. Their answer: make it all national when what people want to hear on their way to and from work is what is happening now in their area: trafiic problems, weather and events. -don't replaicate others: yeah, lets not do something that might... be economically viable -corporate doublespeak. mandate, core values, mission statement.....Translation: we don't have a fucking clue why we exist anymore. Let's have a meeting. Andrew Coyne has an interesting column on the CBC today. he moved it up a notch from the tired old rhetoric about the cost of the CBC vs value. He's wondering about the whole ball of wax: CBC, CRTC, CanCon and the future of network TV... He points out that it is not just CBC networks that are quietly dying. All traditional networks are seeing their ad revenues eroding fast. Cable companies are in trouble. People are getting much more from the Internet, a reality that is pretty much irreversible.

Universities are filled with scholars who know very well exactly what Ali was all about. Honorary degrees are not common, she would have been vetted carefully. Her name was not picked out of a hat at random. I don't know what you mean by her 'stated extremism'. She is simply candid and honest about her views. The University would know them well, they were why she was selected for a degree in the first place. She was invited to come from her position at Harvard - yes Harvard- to be honoured. It is certainly possible that gutless political correctness was part of it, but a rush of sanity? No. Perhaps they discovered some sympathy (after her invitation) for Israel in her writing, That would be enough to doom her at most universties. No, they chickened out and deserve censure for their cowardice.

Peter Dinklage is such a terrific actor. At the end of the episode, he is wonderful standing all by his small self holding the (perhaps poisoned) wine cup with a profound WTF look on his face while Cersei vents her rage at him.

Good point about Daffy, it is just plain mean to compare him to Anders or Liepert. Daffy, I apologize and hope you can forgive me. I think you need to do the same for Bugs Bunny, the coolest dude in cartoons, ever. You don't choose it in the NDP, which I believe is the only major party that REQUIRES, not requests, no other affiliations. THe AB provincial PCS stick to a couple of curious party election protocols.... The first is the open door, anybody- with- a -pulse-can-join practice. The second is the weighted voting for their leaders. Between them, they have had two surprises in a row (Stelmach and Redford) as leaders, and still have not changed either method. Anybody in Alberta can join, and they have done just that in great numbers on at least three occasions to influence the outcomes(Klein vs McBeth/Bettkowski, Stelmach defeating the dragons Dinning and Morton, and Redford beating Gary Mar) It certainly insures some frisky campaigning and interesting outcomes, but it also means the party hardcore does not have complete control of their affairs. Interesting experiment in direct democracy.

Very interesting comment... in the sense of how very much our societal norms have shifted in such a short time. "Social services" like welfare, education, shcild care were- for thousands of years- provided by families/tribe members. Then we invented deities, which begat followers, which begat churches- another form of tribalism. These social constructs: families, tribes, churches- were responsible for supporting those who could not support themselves. The weak, the sick, the elderly. The price paid for that support was the usual- you had to contribute what you could, and you had to follow the rules of the church or tribe, or you were out on your ass in the cold. That hasn't changed much, but what has changed is the newish notion that our government is responsible for the types of support you used to get from your family, your tribe, your church. There is no price paid, an accident of birthplace qualifies you to get the gravy now.

Shame, shame , shame on Brandeis University for being such utter cowards.

Anybdoy over 18 with $10 can join the provincial Tories in AB. They don't care if you're a card carrying Commie at the same time. Not so with the NDP, no two timing or wavering on the dogma.

It hurts both car owners about equally, doesn't i?. Rich people drive fat cars, poor people drive junkers. Seems very fair to me to deny both of them the opportunity to kill my kids with their vehicle. You agreed with means tested fines previously, this is exactly the same. And here's the problemwith your complacency a with the efficacy of drunk driving laws: they are not working, or not working well enough:http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/canada/archives/2013/01/20130110-102902.html If they did, drunk driving would drop dramatically, and road crashes- many involving impaired drivers, would not be a leading cause of death for young people. You may be content with the results, but I'm not. Not good enough. Change is required, something that will make people stop before they drive because getting caught will hurt. who cares? Do whatever you want with the fines or proceeds of crime, it won't affect real or potential recipients replace their dead friends and relatives. But seizing a drunks car, every time, will defintiely keep a lot of them from doing it in the first place.

I only said half that. CBC used to be respected, back when it had a purpose. But all the farmers have satellite and high speed internet now. I certainly never claimed it was ever well managed. if it had been, they would not be where they are now. Anybody interviewed who don't live on the public teat, past or pensioned?

You are deterring the much, much larger group of occasional drunk driving offenders by seizing vehicles. Why do you continue to pretend otherwise? Need a translation of that one. If you don't want to give the money to victims of drunk drivers, burn it. Throw it away. General revenues. Pay for the rehab of Senator Brazeau. It doesn't matter. What matters is that a serious penalty for drunk driving will produce the desired result: keeping the casual offender from committting what can be a horrific mistake, because the consequences are real and large and inevitable. When do you get your license back?

In Canada, the samller portion of the work force that is public sector is about 70% unionized. The larger private sector is around 18% overall. Merit has little place in union work in establshing wages, promotions, bonus money. Let's not pretend otherwise. There is nowhere for such notions in CBAs, or you'd have to also allow for penalties for poor performance. It is simply true that non union environments are far more likely to recognize performances on either end of the spectrum. Grey enough for you? And now you are claiming that somebody said all union employees are lazy. Let's shift those goalposts yet again

Interesting that you'd be drooling to be buy a membership in CPC, which allows anybody to do it.... while at the same time your beloved progressive NDP forbids any affiliations/memberships with other parties while you are a NDP member. Why do you hate freedom? Glad to see Anders gone, simply on the fact that he is a major idiot. Liepert is an upgrade but a hologram of Daffy Duck would be too.

Nope. The realtiy is they went from 29th to a playoff berth and did it against a great division, and made it look easy. Ever see them play? They are big, fast and strong- all the thing the Oilers are not. When they play Edmonton, the Oilers rarely have the puck. You're delusional if you think any goalie could have done anything with the Oilers defencemen in front of them, and half the forwards goalsucking on any given shift. Its hard to imagine them being worse.

??? if you lease a vehicle and it gets seized you still have to pay for it. There is no difference whatsover between leased and owned in terms of owner liability for paying for the vehicle. For the third time, I agree it will not deter chronic offenders. Nothing will. It will deter many.many causal drunk drivers. The innocent parties I have sympathy for are the victims of drunks on the road. Are there other innocent parties?

If cost was an issue, why do so many people get caught drinking and driving? The money is not a deterrent, clearly. Leased vehicles ahve exactly the same financial implications as an owned vehicle. Obviously. If you're stupid enough to lend your car to a drunk, tough luck. It likely wouldn't be insured anyway with a drunk behind the wheel. Seizure of vehicle would absolutely be a deterrent for the majority of drinkign drivers.

CKUA is a an unqualified, listener supported success story. They still broadcast across the province, Like CBC, it had no purpose and basically no listeners or support in the late 90s because their programming was crap and the provincial govt saw no purpose in continuing to fund the bloated bureaucracy that had no clue how to move forward. The govt appointed a pack of hacks and cronies to complete the evisceration of a rotting carcass that the network had created themselves when times were good and nobdoy had any accountability. Yes, I'm still talking about CKUA and not CBC. It creates quite a quandary for CBC listeners in the province. They hate CKUA for being a success when CBC is clearly heading for the cesspool, weighed down by the millstone own hubris. Their clarion cry: i WANT SOMEBODY ELSE TO PAY FOR MY ENTERTAINMENT does not have much traction with the majority who simply don't watch, listen to or care about the very expensive dinosaur that CBC has become. It used to be a vital part of our society, now it is becoming a caricature. At the same time, CBC supporters love the programming, love CKUAs access to local and visting artists, and know that CBC is ultimately dead as a nit unless they do something similar. And that means they'll have to pay out ofg their own pockets instead of picking the pockets of everybody else. How much have you sent to CBC Waldo?

entitlements, booze, coke, whores. An old story.

http://www.macleans.ca/education/uniandcollege/why-albertas-education-system-is-better/ they led Canada and nearly all the world for about 10 years until 2012/13, and have slid back a bit since. Socialist hates Alberta Education because they have mandatory student assessement testing at grades 3, 6, 9 . The info is pulsihed on a school level. Some think it is also a teacher assessment tool, although there are no instances of any teacher being censured for chronic poor class performance. The principals(also union members) are clever enough to put strong teachers into those grades.

Bob Hartley has done a great job in Calgary. They have worked really hard for him.Contrast the effort level of the OPilers last night (none at all) vs what Clagary does every night. Eakins will be back next year but if they have anything like the start they had this year he'll be gone by about Halloween. He is a McTavish hire and has three more years, so MacT will be reluctant to flush him. There are 2000 to 3000 empty seats in 'soldout' Rexall Place every game now. Last night they were booed hard and often. It won't get better soon. Many are starting to wonder just how skilled our skilled players really are, shouldn't it be shown once in a while. Colrado finished 29th last year and have 40 more points than the Oilers this year. Duchesne/Landeskog/McKinnon vs Hall/RNH/Yakupov? No contest.

What issues are those? Alberta spends megabucks per capita on non conservative issues like public education, public medicine, public infrastructure etc. I would categorize the province as being extremely liberal in action. Of course, we all need stereotypes to demonize.

Very good question. There used to be a public broadcaster in Alberta called CKUA, it is actually the oldest public braodcaster in Canada and predates CBC by a few years. They too ran into an intransigent funder(AB govt), like CBC had no real purpose anymore as the world had changed, and faced oblivion. Instead of blubbering and moaning on internet discussion boards, they took charge of their own future. Today they are mainly supported financially by listener subscription and enjoy the support and respect of both the arts community and subscribers. They are doing well, having just moved into a new building. They're an institution that is likely to survive,and they are thriving at the very heart of the arts scene. For the record, I pay $20/month. http://www.ckua.com/

You are wholly ignorant of the hiostory of Alberta in education(btw, the province led Canada and much of the world in the PISA student assessments). The Edmonton Public School Board is a titan of public education and has done many bold things to ensure the health of the system. There are very few private schools in Edmonton because of what they have done. That good work was largely done by a gent called Emery Dosdall, who was met by threats and hysteria by the BC teacher unions when he came to BC to try and make some sense out of your mess. It's been copied elsewhere

Where does the Canada Health Act specify that abortions are medically necessary? I hope it never does mention abortion specifically, because that specificity is exactly what Right to Lifers love to get into court. Keep it vague. The Act allows provinces to define what is listed and covered. Provinces can list and delist what services they want more or less, and every probince has different coverage of medical services. They face the risk that they will be penalized for not follwing Ottawas interpretation. That has kept provinces careful about extra billing, for example..

Since abortion on demand is readily available for decades in Alberta without any of that 2 doctor nonsense, I don't get your assessment of AB as the msot conservative province in Canada.