overthere

I do like a a spirited discussion, here and IRL. I have also taken both sides of an argument, sometimes it is fun to do so in a group and see if anybody notices. I'm sure everybody here shares my fondness for oiled vinyl undergarments too.

Canadians will be evacuated in a flotilla of Royal Navy 16 foot aluminum boats powered by trusty 20 HP Johnson outboards. Fishing gear will be suppied to ease the boredom of the long Black Sea crossing.

No I have it right. The treaties were obviously a sop to First Nations at the time of signing. The treaties were mainly done to ease the conscience of the colonizers for the outright theft of the continent. There was nothing much the First Nations could do about it then, perhaps a bit more now. You don't understand the relationships, or the stance of First Nations. They don't want a peer relationship, a business relationship, with either the provinces (who control the resources by and large) or any oil companies(because they a soveriegn nations and want to deal with the only othger soveriegn nation, the govt of Canada). The feds ahve a constitutional duty to First Nations, but not much control over the business deals cut between oil company and province for extraction. It's a clusterf%$#! The oil will come out of the ground. It will get to overseas markets. And there will be blood.

"Do you know what a hybrid is PIK?" A hydrid is a vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine with assist from electric motors that are powered by energy that also comes from the internal combustion engine. Hydrocarbons are the only fuel used.

Just saw Out of the Furnace, and thought it was very good. It blew through the mainstream theaters quickly, so I guess not many others agreed. Stars Christian Bale and he is excellent as always, one of the best actors working today. It also has Woody Harrelson*, who has become an actor worth seeking out. He plays a very nasty sort to perfection. Casey Affleck has a strong turn too, proving again that big brother Ben is the second best actor in the family. The movie probably didn't do well at the box office because it is more or less unrelentingly grim. It takes place in steeltown Appalachia, with poverty and hard times creeping in everywhere in peoples lives. It's a bleak world with a lot of people doing their best to get by. The director is Scott Cooper, who also did Crazy Heart. *(Harrelson is now in a pretty interesting TV show called True Detective. Matthew McConagaughey also stars and they are both excellent. Woody has dropped the 'Cheers' persona altogether, he has become a first rate actor. Same with McConaughey.)

"So now...who is presuming to speak for whom, here?" You are presuming to speak for me,when you make this clear and unequivocal statement. "Which means, explicitly, "why don't you support the foreign policy as it involves the military?" That's what it means to you, not me. Any rational person can separate foreign policy from personal support for the military. It's not hard to separate what they are ordered to do from an appreciation of their personal sacrifice/willingness to do it. Well, it's not hard for some.

First Nations claim they are the wards of the environment on their land, often land ceded to them by treaty with the federal government. Resource ownership and extraction in Canada is largely a provincial responsibility under the constitution. Bands are trying to enforce their treaty rights, but the whole legal framework of ownership, control and yes, money is a quagmire. The bands are often impoverished and have no resources to fight eoither government, so they blockade roads to stop the only element in the whole fandango that they can see and recognize: oil companies. There will be blood.

Those are lakes and rivers still under federal jurisdiction. All the rest are under provincial jurisdiction, and the provinces have their own assessment procedures. You wouldn't want the feds interfering in a consitutional duty, now would you?

"near Young’s massive 1,500-acre estate" 1500 acres is not massive, I doubt you could make a living farming anything on that, not taday (weed, poppies and intensive chicken operations excepted) "neil mention his 300 acre ranch " That would be the worlds smallest ranch........

Keerect on the first bit. He doesn't care. His middle East policy has been a refreshing, independent change from the 'let's not offend anybody' of previous administrations. His action regarding Iran is part of that, he correctly sees them as a strong and destabilizing villain in Palestinian(and in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq) affairs. He puts paid to the ridiculous, persistent notion that Canada is in any way a neutral country. We never have been neutral and we do have a foreign policy and many treaties that reflect that reality. We have contributed to peacekeeping tasks, but we are also willing to go to war. That ain't neutral. Wrong on the second bit. It is not only his professional view as PM, but a private view gained through his family values and appraisal of history. Being a Christian has nothing to do with supporting Israel, or Palestine for that matter.

Every so often though the main stream media gives a little clue. They'll talk about a dustup in some very remote spot like Congo, Somalia, Colombia,Yemen, Lebanon et al. A few months later, the presence of 'covert operations' will leak out, very likely that a very few Rangers, SEals or SAS was there all along. Watching from under cover, maybe acting once a in while.....

As you wish. But.... I also think that the primary, #1 duty of government is to ensure the safety and security of its citizens. Rule of law enables.... everything we like about our lives in Canada. Rule of law is also probably the most important reason that people want to move here. It is relatively safe. A big reason it is relatively safe is that we are protected from the most dangerous people. Behind bars. No doubt they might get rehabbed, they might get punished. But above all, they are kept away from you and I. That is why protecting the public against those who would harm us is primary. Rehab is a fix that can be done from inside or outside a jail, but protection cannot really be managed outisde the walls. I think several hundred years of jurisprudence agree with me. Both our law and our practices give the longest sentences in the tightest prisons to those that are most deemed dangerous: killers, rapists, the chronically violent amongst us.

Thaks for the translation

Maybe they were unknown to Scahill, but JSOC was far from a secret. Richard Connaughton(one example) wrote of JSOC and ISAF command clashes in his 2008 book Modern Warfare, about events in Helmand province and Afghanistan in general in 2005/20o6 where ISAF and JSOC worked independently, to a mutual lack of positive outcomes on the battlefield. Thanks for the recommendation I will watch for it. irecommended it elsewhere here but if you like political documetaries The Gatekeeprs is pretty astonishing. It's a view of Israeli/Palestinian relations as seen by the last 6 directors of Shin Bet, Israeli domestic security force. Not at all what I expected. I just got a notice from Netflix that they have The Square available,a new Oscar nominated doco about events in Egypt, Arab spring. Might be worth a look.

??? I related two good performances against many, many shitty ones in his career so far. I;d go so far as to say that I probably wouldn't go to see Walter Mitty or future movies because of his involvement. He was having a change of life? No idea. I was having a change of life??? No. Things could change for Stiller, they did for people like Ben Affleck and Matthew McConaughey who had some pretty lightweight jobs for a while and now work on better things. Stiller is far more likely to follow people like Adam Sandler and Eddie Murphy into one septic tank after another. Presume what you like about my gender, are you looking for a date?

Why not allow both: increased CPP contributions mandatory, contribution to tax schemes like self managed RRSPS? Not all people pay big fees for their investments, and you can trade in equities and do many things from within a self managed RRSP. Why would you not allow that?

The reason FOR building pipelines, extraction plants, refineries, upgraders, rail cars etc etc is singular and simple. Profits. Big pipelines weren't built before now because the existing lines served their markets. The oilsands plants increased the supply to meet increased demand. The pipelines are required to match up supply and demand. There's no magic or mystery. Corporations own the oil(once its out of the ground), the pipelines and all the equipment on both ends. If the deal is right, it all gets built and the corporate investment money flows. If the political climate is such that there is major delay, the money goes somewhere else in the world, because money is like rust- it never sleeps( Neil Young reference there.....).

Starting wages for airport security people at Edmonton Airport is about $21/hour. They would not have too much trouble getting reasonably competent people for that amount, given that it is clean, indoor work that is not overly physical. On the down side: shift work, dealing with many idiots, and public transit to Edmonton International is poor. Of course, the person(s) who wanted to let this guy cack onto the plane with a bomb would not fit the description of 'reasonably competent'. Paying more would not mean they did not hire the odd idiot. The minimum wage in AB is $9.95, though a great many businesses pay more than minimum because they simply cannot get staff otherwise in a tight labour market. When taxes are factored in, AB has the second highest minimum wage in Canada.

The primary role of incarceration is neither punishment or rehabilitation. It is, or should be, protection of the public. That is how Khadr should be assessed in terms of what prison he is locked up in, and how much of his sentence( a sentence he agreed to on advice of counsel) should be served.

That is what it means to you. It is not what it means to me. My support for foreign policy depends on the policy. My appreciation and support for our military is not related to a political position. What it means to me is that I appreciate their wilingness to put themselves in harms way on my behalf. Military service is unlike other public service. I don't feel the same level of potential personal sacrifice is there at, for example, the Passport Office. Please do not presume to speak for me.

Alberta has had veterans plates for several years and ham radio operator plates for a few decades. You can also get vanity plates that say nearly anything you want. All of them are issued by the Alberta government, current premier is named Redford. The PM is named Harper. He lives in Ottawa. It's a different government. Hope that helps.

as is waldo saying we are now at the other extreme from 20 years, which is no review, and is obviously not the case. Everybody had their turn at the microphone and then some. See above. A couple of years should be plenty for an established technology.

Kimmy that is a great clip. I really hope a) they can keep the cast of GOT together while Martin writes Martin lives to finish it.

I get it, you'd like to have a review process that takes 20 years. Then there are the appeals and lawsuits to follow. Building a pipeline is not rocket science, they've been in the ground and running throughout BC for over 60 years and counting.. There are 25000 km of pipeines in BC and over 100000 in AB. Approve it, deny it, but get on with it. A 20 year process is exactly the same as a denial without review. Which you well know.

No shootouts in the playoffs, assuming they make the playoffs