Alberta and Canada Election 2019

[Realitycheck]

6 minutes ago, Queenmandy85 said:

"The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was to convince people he didn't exist." - Verbal Kint

Mr. Kenny is caught with the same situation as Prime Minister Trudeau. Unrealistically  high expectations and no way to accomplish the goal the voters want. BC wants to protect its environment and the Saudi's control the price of oil. Rather than trying to cling to an industry in trouble, the new government should look to taking an alternative course such as nuclear power. Go into partnership with Saskatchewan and Ontario to build a non-carbon economy.

The greatest lie ever told is the myth of god and jesus. Kenny and Scheer appeal to a poorly educated and low IQ category of voter. There is no tap he can turn off. he lies.

[DogOnPorch]

2 minutes ago, Realitycheck said:

Kenny and Scheer appeal to a poorly educated and low IQ category of voter.

 

Deplorable knuckle dragging troglodytes...oh, how I loathe them all!

[Realitycheck]

Just now, DogOnPorch said:

 

Deplorable knuckle dragging troglodytes...oh, how I loathe them all!

True, even if you are being sarcastic.

[DogOnPorch]

Just now, Realitycheck said:

True, even if you are being sarcastic.

 

It's always expedient to dehumanize the competition. 

[Realitycheck]

4 minutes ago, DogOnPorch said:

 

It's always expedient to dehumanize the competition. 

 

  Hide contents

 

 

 

Especially when they verge on being subhuman.

[DogOnPorch]

1 minute ago, Realitycheck said:

Especially when they verge on being subhuman.

Indeed.

[OftenWrong]

5 minutes ago, Queenmandy85 said:

the new government should look to taking an alternative course such as nuclear power. Go into partnership with Saskatchewan and Ontario to build a non-carbon economy.

Excellent suggestion, but I believe these kind of initiatives can only really come from the Feds. Unfortunately, liberal governments are notoriously reluctant to promote anything nuclear, as it conflicts with their rigidly ideological views. Nuclear weapons bad, nuclear power bad.

In the US, the government has recently made substantial financial commitments to the research and development of new nuclear technologies. This was provided under the wise oversight of Rick Perry, Secretary of ... Energy.   

This Liberal government is not making the same kind of ambitious investment in nuclear. There's not much hope for an initiative as you suggest here for Albertans, or anyone in Canada for that matter, until this goverment is replaced.

[mowich]

On 4/17/2019 at 10:18 PM, WestCanMan said:

Is anyone else alarmed that Notley's NDP still won 24 seats? WTF were people thinking? We hate jobs?

 

After decades of one party rule, Alberta finally broke the trend when Rachel's NDP government was elected.  She had no easy job and I give her some credit for trying to stand up for the provinces interests.  The die was cast against her for many reasons not the least of which was a back-lash against the anti-oil antics of the little potato's government.  My friends in Alberta who voted UCP told me they did so more as rebuttal of the Feds then as a full-out support of the UCP. 

[mowich]

2 hours ago, Realitycheck said:

Especially when they verge on being subhuman.

Ah, Realitycheck - you really need to live up to your moniker.  

[taxme]

19 hours ago, WestCanMan said:

Who would make your "Top 5 Greatest Leaders Of All Time" list?

Best American Presidents?

Best Canadian PMs?

America: Donald Trump. That is it. 

Canada:  Zilch. Canada never had a real leader after old man prime mistake Trudeau came on the scene. Now all we get and have gotten for several decades now is nothing more than a bunch of rip off artist politicians, and in my humble opinion, was and still is made up of a bunch of thieves, cheats and liars. None of them deserve any kind of respect today. My opinion. 

[egghead]

On 4/17/2019 at 10:18 PM, WestCanMan said:

Is anyone else alarmed that Notley's NDP still won 24 seats? WTF were people thinking? We hate jobs?

 

It meant that there were more non-petroleum industry jobs at the alb that most of us thought.

[egghead]

2 hours ago, mowich said:

After decades of one party rule, Alberta finally broke the trend when Rachel's NDP government was elected.  She had no easy job and I give her some credit for trying to stand up for the provinces interests.  The die was cast against her for many reasons not the least of which was a back-lash against the anti-oil antics of the little potato's government.  My friends in Alberta who voted UCP told me they did so more as rebuttal of the Feds then as a full-out support of the UCP. 

May be it was the same reason for Rachel's NDP government was elected. 

[Argus]

6 hours ago, Realitycheck said:

The greatest lie ever told is the myth of god and jesus. 

And would you say the same to devoted Muslims and Sikhs? 

 

[Realitycheck]

5 minutes ago, Argus said:

And would you say the same to devoted Muslims and Sikhs? 

 

All religions are predicated upon falsehoods. There are no gods. 

[Zeitgeist]

2 hours ago, Realitycheck said:

All religions are predicated upon falsehoods. There are no gods. 

I’d rather believe in a higher source of all things, even if I don’t understand it or if I’m unable to prove it to be there, than some political leader or material object.  Many so called religious people anthropomorphize the spiritual.  We project our own values and limitations on what a higher being might be.  Authentic faith tries to understand our human purpose while recognizing that we miss the mark because we are fallible.  Totalitarian regimes pretend to have all the answers and require submission to a leader who then becomes a kind of god.  I’m not into golden calves or false prophets.  I respect people of faith and atheists alike.  Don’t try to dictate people’s beliefs.  

Edited April 20, 2019 by Zeitgeist

[Realitycheck]

3 hours ago, Zeitgeist said:

I’d rather believe in a higher source of all things, even if I don’t understand it or if I’m unable to prove it to be there, than some political leader or material object.  Many so called religious people anthropomorphize the spiritual.  We project our own values and limitations on what a higher being might be.  Authentic faith tries to understand our human purpose while recognizing that we miss the mark because we are fallible.  Totalitarian regimes pretend to have all the answers and require submission to a leader who then becomes a kind of god.  I’m not into golden calves or false prophets.  I respect people of faith and atheists alike.  Don’t try to dictate people’s beliefs.  

Believe as you will. There remains no "higher being" save in the minds of whose who must believe in such silly things.  

[August1991]

On 4/17/2019 at 1:14 PM, Argus said:

The notable part of this column on the UCP election win is a kind of angry denunciation of how Notley thought she could get respect and cooperation from the rest of Canada if she did everything she could to improve her province's environmental record. THe point of the columnist clearly is that now Kenney is in charge, the pie in the sky hope of fair treatment is no longer going to impact Alberta's policies. I suspect anti-Canadian sentiment is rising very high in Alberta as its economy continues to be thwarted by Trudeau, BC and Quebec.

That hollow argument may be all Notley has to defend her pipeline legacy, which has so far produced only embarrassment for her and anguish for the province, with the oil-export bottleneck costing a fortune in revenue and jobs (Notley even had to recently force companies to curtail production to ease the glut). But even if she somehow manages to hang on to power after Tuesday, Albertans are far more jaded than they were when she took charge in 2015. Notley tried selling in Alberta a long-lost concept — a faith that Ottawa and the rest of the country would play fairly, in the name of co-operation and unity, with just a little bit of give and take from everyone. That misplaced faith was betrayed repeatedly. It won’t soon surface again.

Instead, while Notley forced Alberta to give till it hurts (could there have been a worse time to impose new, investment-killing climate rules than during a historic oil-price rout?), the rest of Canada has only taken. And taken. The Trudeau government cancelled Northern Gateway and created new bans on tankers carrying Alberta crude (but not other kinds) from the province’s north coast to appease anti-oilsands activists there. It scared off the Energy East pipeline proposal, appeasing Quebec, by continually raising the regulatory threshold until the owners walked away. It layered new levels of additional Indigenous consultation onto Trans Mountain, even after it received regulatory approval. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau even promised to eventually “phase out” the oilsands entirely (while global demand for oil continues to grow). And his government has created a new project-approval process with Bill C-69, currently awaiting Senate approval and unanimously opposed by the industry for its vague and unmeetable tests, like assessing the “gender impacts” of an underground tube and weighing “Indigenous knowledge” against scientific evidence.

https://business.financialpost.com/opinion/kevin-libin-on-election-day-alberta-confronts-the-betrayal-that-notley-made-possible

I tend to agree.

Nixon: Detente

Reagan: Collapse of Berlin Wall.

[Zeitgeist]

8 hours ago, Realitycheck said:

Believe as you will. There remains no "higher being" save in the minds of whose who must believe in such silly things.  

Why, because you say so?  There is as much scientific explanation for why there had to be a Big Bang as there is for a creator.  Into this world we’re thrown.  We’re great at understanding reactions but not the first cause.  I’m spiritual and somewhat agnostic, though I see the value in Christian mores.  Nothing wrong with healthy, functional belief systems.  I certainly see a lot of lost people today.  

In the context of this topic, I think everyone should ask themselves, what values drive political policy?  Both Canada and Alberta should balance stewardship of the Earth with the message of the three talents parable, which is to use your talents.  We must grow our economy but do so responsibly.  

[Realitycheck]

1 hour ago, Zeitgeist said:

Why, because you say so?  There is as much scientific explanation for why there had to be a Big Bang as there is for a creator.  Into this world we’re thrown.  We’re great at understanding reactions but not the first cause.  I’m spiritual and somewhat agnostic, though I see the value in Christian mores.  Nothing wrong with healthy, functional belief systems.  I certainly see a lot of lost people today.  

In the context of this topic, I think everyone should ask themselves, what values drive political policy?  Both Canada and Alberta should balance stewardship of the Earth with the message of the three talents parable, which is to use your talents.  We must grow our economy but do so responsibly.  

There is absolutely no scientific explanation for gods. Science does not concern itself with the mythical. Xian mores? Have you read the dam Book Of Lies? Or merely the parts the churches and clergy want you to focus on? A careful reading will reveal the bible promotes incest, rape, sexual abuse of women and children, murder, was genocide. Xian mores would have women deprived of their civil and human rights to control their own bodies. But, the biblical god is very much in favour of murdering children;   https://ffrf.org/component/k2/item/25602-abortion-rights. If you call all these facts signs of a healthy, functional belief system you also haven't been been paying attention to either history or current events.

[Zeitgeist]

1 minute ago, Realitycheck said:

There is absolutely no scientific explanation for gods. Science does not concern itself with the mythical. Xian mores? Have you read the dam Book Of Lies? Or merely the parts the churches and clergy want you to focus on? A careful reading will reveal the bible promotes incest, rape, sexual abuse of women and children, murder, was genocide. Xian mores would have women deprived of their civil and human rights to control their own bodies. But, the biblical god is very much in favour of murdering children;   https://ffrf.org/component/k2/item/25602-abortion-rights. If you call all these facts signs of a healthy, functional belief system you also haven't been been paying attention to either history or current events.

You have a very shallow understanding of the Bible, which I’ve studied as a book of literature, not even as a religious text.  I’m assuming you’re under a political ideological persuasion, perhaps Maoist.  I’ve lived in Russia and studied the histories of atheist totalitarian regimes.  No thanks.  I value the sense of community and values that churches provide.  I think synagogues, mosques, gurdwaras, etc., play similar roles.  One doesn’t have to be religious to feel a sense of connection to a wider community or to develop a social morality, but we have reasons to be concerned about isolated, displaced people who have little or no moral example or community.  It’s the source of many psychological or social problems.  A thoughtful atheist appreciates the power and truth of mythos, whether or not one believes such stories are true.  Learn more.  

[Realitycheck]

12 minutes ago, Zeitgeist said:

You have a very shallow understanding of the Bible, which I’ve studied as a book of literature, not even as a religious text.  I’m assuming you’re under a political ideological persuasion, perhaps Maoist.  I’ve lived in Russia and studied the histories of atheist totalitarian regimes.  No thanks.  I value the sense of community and values that churches provide.  I think synagogues, mosques, gurdwaras, etc., play similar roles.  One doesn’t have to be religious to feel a sense of connection to a wider community or to develop a social morality, but we have reasons to be concerned about isolated, displaced people who have little or no moral example or community.  It’s the source of many psychological or social problems.  A thoughtful atheist appreciates the power and truth of mythos, whether or not one believes such stories are true.  Learn more.  

 So, in favour of your position you ignore the foulness the bible promotes and the long history of murder, war, rape etc iof which all religions are guilty. Got it. Religion causes more psychological and social problems than it cures. You are far in fact, a xian posing as an atheist.   

[Zeitgeist]

9 minutes ago, Realitycheck said:

 So, in favour of your position you ignore the foulness the bible promotes and the long history of murder, war, rape etc iof which all religions are guilty. Got it. Religion causes more psychological and social problems than it cures. You are far in fact, a xian posing as an atheist.   

I’m a Christian or at least I would like to be.  I believe that people are people and can be decent whether or not they are religious.  I certainly don’t blame the world’s problems on religion, which is a mostly cultural phenomenon, though there is a religious impulse in the human psyche, which finds its way into officially atheist states as the dear leader is foolishly treated as a god.  I’d rather have Jesus as my deity than Vlad Lenin, Mao, Pol Pot, Hitler, Stalin, or Kim Jong Un.   

Edited April 20, 2019 by Zeitgeist

[Realitycheck]

2 minutes ago, Zeitgeist said:

I’m a Christian or at least I would like to be.  I believe that people are people and can be decent whether or not they are religious.  I certainly don’t blame the world’s problems on religion, which is a mostly cultural phenomenon, though there is a religious impulse in the human psyche, which finds its way into officially atheist states as the dear leader is foolishly treated as a god.  I’d rather have Jesus as my deity than Vlad Lenin, Mao, Pol Pot, Hitler, Stalin, or Kim Jong Un.   

Why do you need any diety at all? You do realize believing in imaginary beings, people who never existed and events which never took place is a classic indicator of mental illness do you not? Religions are for people who are basically insecure and unable to deal rationaly with reality. 

[DogOnPorch]

1 minute ago, Realitycheck said:

Why do you need any diety at all? You do realize believing in imaginary beings, people who never existed and events which never took place is a classic indicator of mental illness do you not? Religions are for people who are basically insecure and unable to deal rationaly with reality. 

 

Very brave...

 

[Realitycheck]

11 minutes ago, DogOnPorch said:

 

Very brave...

 

Facing and dealing with reality is neither brave nor difficult...unless one is religious of course,