the watcher

The US has lost all semblance of a functioning state,

Not really. I know lots of smallish farmers that wanted it gone. Lots wanted it kept. Often the split was aged based. Young farmers are pretty savy about marketing their crops. It really didn't make sense that a couple of their crops couldn't be marketed like the rest. Canola, corn , soybeans, and special crops have shrunk the wheat acreage anyways. The wheat board was a good way to battle the big grain companies but it had also morphed into a gigantic bureaucracy. I was producing non wheat board products at the time so had no dog in the race. I could see both sides of it. But I did find it odd that you could grow wheat in Ontario and market it however you wanted. But not here. You could market your canola however and where ever you wanted. But not your wheat.

The UK started building facilities last April after the pandemic arrived. They developed and produced their own vacine since then. They have now vaccinated about %46 of their population. And this was done in a toxic political environment. Our Federal government should be ashamed of itself. They attempted a poorly arranged joint deal with a Chinese government that has few ethics and was already angry at us. What a surprise it fell through. They then sat on their thumbs for months. Kudos to our provincial government for putting money into a Alberta/ Manitoba made vacine even though it won't be available till maybe October. Those guys were beating on the Feds door for a long time and couldn't get action.

Agreed nobody to blame but ourselves. But we had the time, knowledge and money to be doing our own vacine. It's a major screw up that is costing lives.

My theory on UBI is it is an absolute must. Robotics ( or whatever term you choose ) is ending jobs worldwide. The answer to that has always been " but it opens high tech jobs ". Those jobs will dwindle as well as our technology begins to both repair and develop itself. And thats here. It is one of the main reasons that the very, very rich are increasing their wealth. At a unprecedented rate. It no longer trickles down and the tap is getting shut off. Alot of our current social unrest both left and right can be attributed to this. Fair and equitable taxation for Corps, rich and Joe shmoe and UBI can solve or perhaps halt some of the ugliness we are seeing. Or we continue on as we are and tailspin to oblivion.

Here's an interesting story. I know a former high ranking cabinet member in Filmons government. About as co servative as you get. We were sitting around having coffee after dinner and I asked " what's your opinion UBI ? " His answer was " It all depends on what it replaces "

I always thought Gary Doer was a good example of fiscally responsible and socially left. There was a good reason Harper sent him off to be the US ambassador . I think he scared the hell out of him. If the Federal Libs had got a hold of him he would have been tough to defeat.

Think Jean Chretien and Paul Martin . They worked hard and succeeded reducing a debt built by Pierre T. Caring for people doesn't necessarily equate with throwing money at whatever makes you popular. That's it ! Interestingly there is a conversation on CJOB about being a " political orphan." Which is a good way to describe it.

I tend to be fiscally Conservative and socially left. I have voted for all the major parties at different times for different reasons. I had great hopes that O Toole could move the party to a more sensible and electable platform. Silly me. This isn't good for Canada's future. A sitting government with a unethical PM that says all the right things but acts in the complete opposite. And spends like a drunken sailor just into port. A PC opposition party that won't look at science and facts ,determined to remain in the 1970s . And a NDP party led by a someone I doubt we are open minded enough to elect and who has got way to cosy with the current Gov. It's going to be a tough choice

I feel like I'm standing at a roulette table. " Come on 63 ! Aw, 65 again. Damn it ! "

The whole thing makes me nervous as hell. I love the CFL game . I have no friggen idea if there is a solution other than tieing ourselves to an unsuccesful American leauge but you would think there would be. To me it smacks of curing a painful broken leg by shooting yourself in the head. I hope I'm wrong.

I know I shouldn't have, but I went off on a guy in Superstore. Him and his 20 something daughter were walking around no mask, no space with other shoppers and I just lost it. Then he said he didn't have to worry about Covid because Jesus was his salvation. That really put me over the top. It got a bit ugly. I must be getting Covid fatigue to get sucked into that. Hurry up vaccines . ( I'm getting close )

Some what. Renewables, (wind and solar )most countries that source them heavily require another source that is more reliable. Thorium reactors /natural gas, supplemented by wind and solar would do it. But its not cheap or easy. That Coal is cheap and already exists is probably the only reason it's still there. That and the private energy companies ( USA) that won't change unless they are forced. To pretend this is simple is wrong. To ignore global warming is wrong. A practical working temperature for super conductors would be a game changer for the world but I have heard very little on that for a long time. 10 or 15 years ago there was a huge amount of excitement about them.

Boy that's a wholesale uprooting of the school system. It will be interesting to see how it turns out

I thought the carbon tax was a way for the current government to throw out a quick bone and say " Look at what We are doing " I really question it's effectiveness and who the money will go to. A good example was the 12 mill. to Loblaws to fix their refrigerators as soon as the program started.. As if they couldn't do that themselves. We definatly need action . But it is really friggen complicated. Alot comes down to how countries are generating power. Some studies are showing that electric cars are causing more CO2 than combustion cars if the electricity is being generated by coal ( alot of the USA ). Norway is interesting as they have been stowing away their oil money for years and years and are now using it to promote and advance the use and sale of electrics.( Rather than a punishment model like us ) Canada with our massive ( like Norway ) hydro electric systems are definatly going to benefit with electric vehicles. The thing is we create such a tiny percentage of the world's CO2. And our massive forests eat that and alot more up. Despite the way it is often worded and the hate layed on the Tarsands we remove more CO2 than we produce. Now if you can tell me some way to get China, India and USA on board I will vote for you as King of the world. What really pisses me off is that both the Oil industry and the more extreme Greens talk so much bullshit. Global warming is a real threat. The extreme green don't need to twist things to make it worse. The Oil industry would do us all a favor if they admitted to it. My answer ? Thorium reactors ! They should be at the heart of every green discussion.

Then they failed at getting experience. To my knowledge she never came to the riding. What politician or even someone who is interested in politics would not bother to send a bio and a note on their beliefs to a newspaper when asked.It was the total lack of effort that blew me away.

Let me tell you about the candidates that ran in my Provincal riding. But first I got rearranged and am now in Turtle Mountain. I'm 40 minutes from Morden/ Winkler. I am there at least once a week. .... My current MLA. has his office in Virden. About a 3 hour drive away or a 6 hour round trip. 2x as far as I am from Winnipeg. But back to my candidates. The Pcs are going to win here no doubt but the NDP candidate was a young women who lives in Winnipeg. Born and raised in Eastern Manitoba. I never saw her. No phone call. No meetings. No one came to coffee shops to talk. Nothing. A local small town paper contacted ALL the candidate's but only the Pcs and Green responded to give a bio and get some FREE advertising. At one point I promised myself that I'd vote for the 1st candidate that asked for my vote. So apparently the NDP a party that started out as a farmers party doesn't believe there is one person in the riding that covers almost half the width of the province, worthy of being their candidate. I'll add in, I'm the voter opposition parties want . I've voted PC, Liberal and NDP in the past. It's alright to complain that these rural ridings that could run a poorly trained seal and still go PC but that will never change till the other parties at least try.

I don't get it. They are trying to figure out a way to play a season. Is this supposed to help with that ? If not, if it's a separate plan or idea, why now ? Why tie the CFL to a wanna be league that has never worked ? This makes me nervous.

My hands and shoulders started hurting just remembering those days. I kind of miss the sound as well. Man some guys could make them snap !

I'm one of those lucky people who work at something that is what I like doing. ( not the bookwork part ) I retired from working out a few years ago and started a business with my son. More of a hobby gone out of control lol.

Hey guys I REALLY need to get cracking on getting my bookwork done but just want to thank all of you for a great discussion. It's not always easy to find these days.

That's a shame. He will be missed

I've been a history/ religion/ political buff all my life. I find it fascinating, especially the story behind everything . But when I read things like this I don't know if the US survives it. At least the US we know now. In all what's happened since November the crucial point was the vote to impeach in the Senate. They had their chance to say the country is more important than me. And they failed. They had a chance to step back, to pull their country back from the precipice and they chose power and money. I really believe they are f##ked. I suppose I should still hold out hope for them because when I grew up I would never have thought that the violence in Ireland could reach some sort of settlement . But the US has a long way to go. Crap like you just posted ( not your posting if you know what I mean ) shows just how far they need to travel.

And the demonization of the other party is killing them. Its pretty easy now to look at the Republicans and do that but it is that hate of the other side by both parties that got them there. The very fact that Trump came close to winning again and during the pandemic should shake he Democratic Party to its core. But it won't. I see similarities ( not as extreme ) in Canada. We elected a Prime Minister based on his name and looks because of the demonization of Harper. I had a relative that called him a Nazi and a Dictator when he porogued parliament yet was perfectly happy when Truedeau did it. It's never a good thing to get that view. I struggle not doing it with our current Federal Gov. but I keep working on it.

I always figured you could blame communisms failure on Lenin' s Vanguard Party idea. Which may be comparable to what the US has now with their 2 parties. Here in Canada we have a long history of new parties springing up both Federal and Provincal that change the political scene and the county's mindset . And don't forget what the great philosopher Shrek said " Change is good donkey " Parties like, CCF/ NDP , THE BLOC, Reform, Social Credit, the Quebec Sepratists have made huge changes to our society even when they don't hold power. The US has lost that ability to foster new ideas. It is basicly a bunch of people ( mostly old white men ) clinging on to power and wealth at any cost including the failure of their country.