Sat. Afternoon Update - Now is the time at SDA when we DANCE!
Heh. I love making them do that.
(More - reader Altruistic passes along his suggested edit.)
Posted by Kate at September 1, 2007 1:08 AMTrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/5916
Kate
The irony is positively sublime. As an ex-pat who lives in Not-Saskatchewan I appreciate your efforts.
Hoooowwwwllll!!!
Syncro
Posted by: Syncrdox at September 1, 2007 1:47 AMThe tip was passed along by a reader, as most are. I just put it together!
Posted by: Kate at September 1, 2007 1:53 AMNDP = No Downloads Possible
Posted by: Mr Paul Decker at September 1, 2007 2:00 AMA click on the relevant link sends you to a series of web pages revealing some of the following details:
*11,000 new jobs for young people ages 15-24 last year alone
*lowest car insurance rates in Canada
*no health care premiums
*lowest provincial unemployment rate in 30 years
*wait lists for MRIs down 42% since 2004
*debt down nearly $450 million in the last three years
*budget balanced 13 years in a row
*more than 200 new police officers since 1999, and new officers and resources to combat gangs, find missing persons and prevent sexual exploitation of children
I can well understand why Brad Wall supporters might like to pretend these facts (and many more, besides) aren't easily available, on the web or elsewhere: after all, Brad Wall has made a habit--indeed, a career--of telling people how awful a place Saskatchewan is for some time now.
Too bad for Wall and his supporters that the truth doesn't support their claims.
Posted by: Stephen at September 1, 2007 2:04 AM"...after all, Brad Wall has made a habit--indeed, a career--of telling people how awful a place Saskatchewan is for some time now."(/QUOTE)
Next you'll be asking if Mr. Wall "loves his province."
Posted by: A. Cooper at September 1, 2007 2:18 AM11,000 new jobs for youths probably matches well with the number of people fleeing the province, leaving their jobs behind. It's amazing how ten years of driving people out of the province can improve things such as job availability and medical wait times.
Posted by: pete at September 1, 2007 2:32 AMStephen
For the sake of fairness I went back to the NDP site and tried again. Try as I might, left handed, right handed, standing on my head, lips to the left....I could not get any link when I clicked on the CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD instruction.
Now this is obviously my fault....being an economic refugee from the great Socialist State of Saskatchewan, who moved to the deathstar that is Alberta, I have seemingly forgotten proper english.
Us dumbasses in this galaxy take CLICK HERE to mean click here. Based on your suggestion I dug deep into my tiny brainpan to search for some lost synapse connection that might link me to my ancesetral roots.
After much sweat and two more Pilsner (btw I still love counting the bunnies) I realized that in NDPese CLICK HERE really means click elsewhere.
You know, kinda like the Titanic was unsinkable, black is white, day is night...etc...
Anyways, thankx to your kind guidance I was able to access the pertinent facts.
Baaaaaaa
Syncro
Posted by: Syncrdox at September 1, 2007 2:43 AMNo, I won't be asking Mr. Wall that, in fact.
However, I might be asking him about his (deeply flawed and dishonest) 2004 argument before a Calgary audience that Alberta had outdistanced Saskatchewan since 1905 by adopting a different economic stance from the one that left his home province to suffer serious economic hardship.
It should go without saying that Wall provided no serious evidence to support his anti-Saskatchewan argument then in 2004, just as he and his supporters have provided no such evidence since.
Meanwhile, the real issue isn't 'love,' as A. Cooper suggests: it's honesty about the historical record.
By that measure, Brad Wall and the other Saskatchewan-haters have scored rather low, to say the least.
Posted by: Stephen at September 1, 2007 2:50 AMI guess this underscores a serious problem of how the NDP don't understand the operation of the Saskatchewan Government. SGI, for example, is not the NDP; in fact none of the Crowns are the NDP that have worked hard to provide these low cost bundles.
One could argue, easily, that it is in spite of NPD mismanagement that we have low-cost bundles on a comparative basis. It is more likely the result of the hard work of your neighbor who works at SGI that has caused the low costs than the work of the NDP.
Those administrators and workers in the Crown operate arms length from the government and the NDP has nothing to do with the direction of the Crowns.
There is one policy that seem good considering the highly questionable mistruths found this LIterature; we are pleased to hear that the NDP have hired another 200 new police officers since 1999... this is approaching the number needed to review the NDP provision of alcohol to minors.
Posted by: SDAP at September 1, 2007 2:55 AMStephen
A true socialist. The painfully obvious fact that Not-Saskatchewan has thrived and in fact drained a good portion of the only capital that counts....PEOPLE.... to such a state where the population of Sask could be housed in either of the two major cities on the deathstar will not stand in your way.
To suggest that I or others who take a critical view of the historic operation of Sask's political governance by the socialist scum is to imply I hate my roots.
You sir are an ideological idiot.
You might want to try reading something more substantive than a harlequin romance or NDP propaganda.
Syncro
Posted by: Syncrdox at September 1, 2007 3:41 AMI would bet dollars to donuts that the Yukon has lower car insurance than Sask. We have TOO many Dipper left over policies up here but they never suceeded in gov't governed car insurance.
Our star Dipper ex gov't leader has just been named Entreprneur of the Year by the Bank of Commerce. He started out as a Union Leader in a once prosperous mining town - he was a worker then a union agitator. He went to gov't with the Dipper outfit that got elected on the ticket of higher wages and benifits for workers in his old mining town. The mine could not pay the outragous Environmental/benifits etc.; the town closed down right after the Dippers built a spanking new multi million dollar curling rink - it has never been used - the majority of the Dippers were booted out but the old head honcho has now become a MAJOR capitalist. Things that make me go hummm?
Another "accomplishment" for the NDP. Containing most of that nasty oil and gas business to Alberta with the myth that oil and gas magically stops at the Backward Province's western border.
http://www.prairiecentre.com/capital-punishment.htm
Posted by: ol hoss at September 1, 2007 7:36 AMYou dummies.
The Click Here button only works if you click the Exit Saskatchewan button first.
Posted by: Jose at September 1, 2007 8:42 AMThe NDP brass have started to send some of their supporters here to debunk negative anything against the beloved party.
They truly don't understand why the common person could be angry with them.
They live in a world where pay-offs to sex offenders, having their own hidden agenda (see PST increase in 2004 and Van Mulligan's comments), and massive investment losses are the norm, but it's the SK Party that can't be trusted.
The NDP don't run on their record, because they can't.
Their shrill cries will get louder and louder once the Premier actually gets the kahones to call an election.
And people like Stephen will continue to make fools of themselves, defending the indefensible.
Posted by: The Greek at September 1, 2007 9:01 AMMembers only benefits is the usual sign of a socialist regime.
Posted by: cal2 at September 1, 2007 9:14 AMtry using mozilla.
the only time I go to saskacartoon is to use theat province's air space on my way to vastly more interesting places.
Posted by: tsktsk at September 1, 2007 9:15 AMJema54, what curling rink is that? Is that the arena that was used for the Canada Winter Games in Whitehorse? Or are you talking about a different one?
Anyway, I'll take a decent, hard-working guy like Piers MacDonald (he was a union agitator because he almost died in a mining accident and fought for better pay and protection for he and his fellow works) any day over your current convicted-of-trafficking-heroin-premier, Dennis Fentie.
Posted by: JohnnyRingo at September 1, 2007 9:18 AMStephen, what this proves is all the competent website designers with any understanding of how people interact with and react to a website have moved to NotSaskatchewan. Yes, the "accomplishments" lie behind big buttons on the second layer, but the first layer sets up the reader to believe that one click will do the job. Instead a whole series of clicks are needed to see what the NDP considers to be "accomplishments". Moreover, one of those buttons (the green one) happens to repeat the phrase "Download Accomplishments", which is where one thought they were at in the first place, but even that doesn't lead to any accomplishments list. It's basically a hatchet job of a website. Way to go Lorne. It's time to fire your communications director.
Posted by: Louise at September 1, 2007 9:19 AMWow. The NDP has already sunk to the "Brad Wall hates Saskatchewan" line, reminiscent of the "Stephen Harper hates Canada" attack in the last federal election.
The more desperate the NDP gets, the more shrill and ridiculous they become.
Wall has chosen to get his education, pursue his career and raise his family here in Saskatchewan.
He must really hate it.
Here's the other thing the NDP don't get. The NDP is not Saskatchewan. Many many people love this province but can't stand this NDP government.
We have a great province with a bad government. Can we have an election soon, so we can have a great province with a great government?
I would label "lowest car insurance rates in Canada" as THE iconic symbol that New Democrats would hold up as evidence of successful government-directed policy. Two years ago, I took a look at privately provided auto insurance in other Canadian jurisdictions, mainly, Alberta and Ontario. Just for kicks.
Briefly, of 3 auto insurers which had a significant number of fiscal details (for the calendar year 2004), SGI was the ONLY one which turned a large profit... about $125 million, I believe it was, split fairly equally between earnings from premiums and investments. SGI Auto Fund ONLY.
Of the other 2 companies, Royal & Sun Alliance lost over $100 million (as I recall), while Chubb Insurance earned some $7 million (again, from memory). Automobile insurance ONLY, which was broken out from ALL the other business which these 2 companies did , in Canada ONLY, in 2004.
So what may be deduced from this? Is SGI so sublimely efficient at running an auto insurance fund that private, for-profit auto insurance (with higher premiums) shouldn't exist? Or maybe it's "No-fault" insurance which, frankly, limits insurer liability, as well as comsumer choice in treatment AFTER they get smoked in a bad car accident.
Sure, sure, I know, people now have a choice; no-fault or tort. All one has to do is state which type of coverage one wants when they renew their plate insurance, or purchases new plate insurance for a new vehicle... but if the purchaser doesn't ACTIVELY pursue the tort option, inertia kicks in, and the purchaser is listed as "selecting" no-fault. Or maybe it's simply that Saskatchewan roads are comparatively empty. One million people living on 300,000 square kilometers (bottom half of the province) of mainly empty space. Means fewer collisions, relatively speaking.
Or maybe SGI is just run by gods.
Did anyone here have a good cackle over yesterday's announcement by Sask Energy that they were going to hold the line on natural gas price increases to the Saskatchewan consumers this winter? I want to be the first to say "Thank you, Premier Calvert, for so effectively manipulating the price of NG on the NYMEX in New York!"
He's such a star, that guy!
Posted by: Joe B. at September 1, 2007 11:16 AMGive the communications director a break ... it can't be easy moving NDP programs from accomplishments, and deleting every reference to it, when it turns into a failure.
http://www.saskndp.com/search/search.php?search=1&query=spudco
Posted by: ural at September 1, 2007 11:22 AMWrong finger, Lorne. How is Brad Wall supposed to know exactly what you mean, let alone the rest of us Sask Party supporters?
Posted by: Joe B. at September 1, 2007 11:30 AMHmmm.
"Here's the other thing the NDP don't get. The NDP is not Saskatchewan. Many many people love this province but can't stand this NDP government."
Stan makes an interesting point. I'd like to add my own thoughts, using Stan's well-considered approach:
"Here's the other thing the Conservatives don't get. The Conservative Party is not Canada. Many many people love this country but can't stand this Conservative government."
Whaddaya know? I've been making this argument for some time, and it turns out conservatives have the same mind set!
Posted by: JohnnyRingo at September 1, 2007 11:37 AMThings which people "don't get"?
This statement (Margaret Thatcher, I believe) confuses hell outta New Democrats:
"The facts of life are Conservative".
Posted by: Joe B. at September 1, 2007 11:49 AMSo i guess this means they are just as intelligent as yourself, eh Johnny?
Huh - a socialist calling conservatives intelligent - whoulda thunk it?
The larger issue which could do with some honest conservative disembly here regards the rather bizarre NDP campaign; the questionable NDP claims are notable for two reasons that would benefit from blogger discussion more fully here:
[1] They are apparently obsessed solely with past history issues (and taking what has to be seen as extreme creative license in that matter);
[2] The NDP are not running at all on future policy.
The point the Saskatchewan Democratic Action Party is making is there is a conspicuous absence of direction and ideas relating to what the NDP plan to do in the future... all the NDP are doing are exaggerating and stretching the boundaries of their own credibility in lying about non-existent progress and achievements. Notably the assertion that the accomplishments of Crown Corporations are the accomplishments of the NDP must be seen as interference in the legal autonomy of the Crowns on the part of the NDP.
The NDP also, without color of right, seeks to take credit for the work of dedicated Crown Employees who want nothing to do with the NDP and would prefer to have their work speak for itself rather than having to listen as a captive audience to some parasitic political organization (the NDP) boast about how it did their work. These "Bundle" benefits, therefore, are clearly not the work of the NDP but the work of the Crown employees of every political stripe acting independent of the NDP.
Posted by: SDAP at September 1, 2007 12:05 PMwe seem to be bringing in a new crop of liberal trolls lately.
maybe this is the start of a concentrated effort for them to get into the internet instead of waiting for the MSM to plead their cause. as it is now, CBCpravda or CTV(Tass) rarely have anything on their leader Borat Dion. Is Borat not saying anything or are they self censoring because even they cant figure out what he is saying.
Posted by: cal2 at September 1, 2007 12:08 PMJose, LOL.
tsktsk, I can't tell if you were being serious, but it doesn't work in Mozilla, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, Konqueror, Lynx, or any other browser under the sun. The source code simply has no link on "click here".
Posted by: Eugene at September 1, 2007 12:28 PM"we seem to be bringing in a new crop of liberal trolls lately."
Moths around a bright light; harmless creatures, they can't help their witless compulsion, but they're disgusting and stupid. I suspect the word has circulated though the leftosphere that they all must rise up and do battle at the extremely popular SDA. And this is the best they can do.
Posted by: dean spencer - fox at September 1, 2007 12:31 PMjoe b, one million people?
Posted by: jmorrison at September 1, 2007 12:38 PMStephen:
I am shocked that the NDP wouldn't include "lots of free parking" as another major accomplishment.
I changed the address in my Quick Tax for last years return from an AB to a SK address, and instead of getting a $2700 refund, I would have had to pay over $3,000.
Maybe "overtaxing our citizens" could qualify as another SK NDP accomplishment.
Posted by: John at September 1, 2007 12:42 PM"*budget balanced 13 years in a row"
STOP TELLING LIES. If your total debt goes up, you didn't balance the budget. I really hate this one. By saying it over and over I think they really believe it themselves. A fiscal stabilization fund with no money in it is a credit card.
Geography=Saskatchewan
Government sectors=Provincial and territorial general government
Table 385-00149- Balance sheet of federal, provincial and territorial general and local governments, annual (dollars x 1,000,000)
Net financial debt (% Change from previous year)
1996 11,046 (-0.3)
1997 9,776 (-11.5)
1998 9,890 (1.2)
1999 10,017 (1.3)
2000 10,037 (0.2)
2001 9,147 (-8.9)
2002 9,632 (5.3)
2003 9,877 (2.5)
2004 10,134 (2.6)
2005 9,236 (-8.9)
Source: http://cansim2.statcan.ca/cgi-win/cnsmcgi.exe?Lang=E&Accessible=1&ArrayId=T1518&ResultTemplate=CII\SNA___&RootDir=CII/&Interactive=1&OutFmt=HTML2D&Array_Retr=1&Dim=-#HERE
Maybe the site designer was a Sask Party guy. Good job, then.
That's an easy shot, of course, but this, taken together with last week's Sheep In Peril ad campaign, makes me wonder just how ready the NDP are for an election and what further wonders will be forthcoming this fall. Here's to the future.
Posted by: GDW at September 1, 2007 12:46 PMAccomplishments what Accomplishments?
none thats how many.
NDP= Nothing Done Party
Posted by: huffb1 at September 1, 2007 12:47 PMjmorrison...
just speaking in round numbers.
I contend Saskatchewan would have close to TWO million residents if it had been governed by a party which believes in laissez-faire economics.
The proof that Saskatchewan, with all its natural assets, has under 1 million people (as Syncrdox wrote, "the only capital that counts"), speaks more about past NDP policy than anything they are able to point to today, real or imagined.
Heavy stress on the imagined.
Posted by: Joe B. at September 1, 2007 12:51 PMJohn (12:42 PM):
"I changed the address in my Quick Tax for last years return from an AB to a SK address, and instead of getting a $2700 refund, I would have had to pay over $3,000."
That's Stephen's
"*no health care premiums".
Joe B., you should have compared Sask insurance rates to those in B.C., which also has Mandatory government auto insurance. Example: here in Kelowna,population 125,000, 2006 Toyota Matrix full coverage, $1 million liability, best rate possible about $1150 per year.
ICBC, our government agency, was created by the Barrett NDP in the early 70's, and opposition parties all swore that, if elected, they'd get rid of the damned thing.
Well, about 35 years later, with Social Credit and Liberal governments in power for about 25 of those years, ICBC is still our basic insurer. You can buy privately, but your basic auto insurance must be ICBC.
Seems that ALL governments, of every political stripe recognize a cash cow when it moos at them. A couple of years back, ICBC made a profit of over 130 million dollars, and no Party is going to turn its back on those kind of profits.
SDAP, whatever you do, don't be tempted to change your Party's name to New Saskatchewan Democratic Action Party, even if you've experienced a rebirth and renewal.
Posted by: dmorris at September 1, 2007 1:35 PMdmorris, I hear ya. You're spot on.
I've driven the #1 into Vancouver many times (have got quite a few relatives in the Fraser Valley... former Saskatchewan residents, of course). That's not a knock on B.C. drivers, by the way, but that is one BUSY highway... forget about downtown Vancouver traffic! Simply put, if SGI was compelled to insure drivers in British Columbia, their "lowest car insurance rates in Canada" would be out the window. Period. That's the way "risk" works, in business in ALL its forms.
I remember discussing auto insurance rates about 3 years ago with a co-worker. Her daughter had moved to Alberta a few months before. She informed me that her daughter, mid 20s (24?) had to pay MORE for her plate insurance on her '94 Paseo in Saskatchewan than she did in Alberta.
JohnnyRingo - have you ever been to Elsa? Read about where the present Territorial Leader was, in politics, when that Elsa rink was built - hint: Dipper backbencher.
All this proves that a Dipper is only for the working man/woman when it is good for that particular dipper. Dippers are not achievers so they get rich on the backs of people foolish enough to support them, when they get the POWER to rule they destroy individuals who have achieved something by taxing them and regulating them out of business (eg. Placer miners). When Dippers have inside information and investments garnered from being in power, they flip flop and don the garments of another political belief system; if it furthers the financial fortunes themselves and their friends . Dippers are indeed the mythical wolf in sheep's clothing, but in real time!
Who was the guy in charge of building that Canada Games Center? Who lost millions of tax payers dollars in the construction of the Canada Games Center through cost overruns? Hint: Piers from the Dipper camp!
Why did the Arctic Winter Games, held here in 2000, make money? Why did the Arctic winter Games have lots of volunteers? Why did the gument and the City of Whitehorse PAY the gument workers their regular wages for "volunteering' to 'work' at the 2007 Winter Games? Hint: look at who was in charge of the Arctic Winter Games - he was NOT a Dipper, hence it was fun and rewarding to work WITH (not FOR) him!
My question: what is your definition of honesty?
Posted by: Jema54 at September 1, 2007 2:04 PMSaskatchewan has a great public auto insurance policy. If you drive like a complete moron and smash into everything you see,you can still afford insurance here. In Alberta if you drive like a complete idiot, it catches up to you in a big way in the cost of insurance.
In other words in Saskatchewan there is much less of an incentive to not drive like a moron.
It's the socialist way, punish success and reward failure.
If you are a good driver your insurance is lower in Alberta, in Saskatchewan the good drivers pay the insurance for the dangerous idiots.
Alright, so let me get this straight. As a backbencher, Piers McDonald helped get an arena built for the people of Elsa. And that's a problem for you because...why? Are you trying to say he somehow profited off it? Is that what you're saying? Is that seriously your case against him? A freakin' arena for a tiny little town in an economically-depressed region?
Oh, and the "guy" in charge of building the Canada Games Centre was, first and foremost, Kathy Watson, the then-mayor of Whitehorse, as well as the rest of city council. Piers was not "in charge"! The federal government (via an NDP MP, and later a Liberal, as well as the federal Minister of Sport), the territorial government and the city were all equal partners!
Dippers are not achievers? Where do you get off with that kind of crap? McDonald left behind a $60 million budget surplus when the Liberals won the 2000 election. He introduced reductions in the personal tax rate, a new territorial tax credit for research and development activities, and enhancements to the Yukon's existing labour-sponsored venture capital corporation tax credit program. He also created the Trade and Investment Strategy, a comprehensive Energy Policy, the Progressive Tax Reform, Restorative Justice Strategy, the Forest Strategy, the Local Hire Strategy, among other things.
Yeah, he really gouged those Yukoners, eh? Yeah, he was just getting rich off the backs of the working man. What was this titan of corporate power doing in Whitehorse when he left politics? Oh yeah, he owned the local Subway franchise. A former hard rock miner became premier of the Yukon and turned some small investments into a profitable, job-creating corporation in the Yukon, and you're claiming this guy destroyed individuals and taxed them out of business?
If you're going to suggest this guy actually caused harm against Yukoners, or somehow profited by his policies - a smear you're trying to spread by virtue of your own shaky grasp of political ideology - you don't have a leg to stand on.
Nothing to say about your convicted-of-heroin-trafficking premier? What's his definition of honesty, since he hid his criminal record and jail time from public knowledge until it came out in the 2003 election?
Posted by: JohnnyRingo at September 1, 2007 3:10 PMAll the commie sympahthizers visiting SDA have simply not thought it all through.
Kate keeps posting these stories in order to lure you in like a piece of cheese set in a mouse trap, and you keep falling for it.
Every time you visit here and leave a moronic, inane commie Kool Aid comment, we track all of your internet activity, you know the kiddie pron, bondage, buggery, homosexual debauchery and all the other stuff you Godless communists enjoy on a daily basis.
And when Stephen Harper takes over KKKanada as its new fascist DICTATOR, you'd better watch out.
So think twice before you leave another communist sympathetic comment.
We've literally 'got your number.'
Sincerly,
Heinrich "Doug" Himmler
SDA Staatspolizei
Louise wrote: Instead a whole series of clicks are needed to see what the NDP considers to be "accomplishments".
Maybe this is a form of NDP indoctrination, eh.
I took a look at the source code for that page and it seemed to be AFU.
The aim of the internet is to make access to information easy, not to make people jump through hoops to get to it. Then again, sometimes presentation is more important than content.
Hmmm, maybe I should type that again with a modifier. Too often presentation is more important than content.
Posted by: Paul at September 1, 2007 3:27 PMThe list of accomplishments is quite impressive:
PST cut from 7% to 5%
average family pays $1187 less annually in provincial tax since 1999
oil production doubled since 1991
small business corporate income taxes cut from 8% in 2001 to 4.5%
corporate income tax being cut from 17% to 12%, corporate capital tax being eliminated by July 2008
Oil production doubled? That's that evil black stuff, isn't it?
Lower taxes? Isn't that what the right has been pushing for for years?
It sounds like the NDP is bragging about implementing conservative policies.
Like someone said above, "the facts of life are conservative."
JohnnyRingo - Go back and read my post - your comprehension level is poor. I don't think Piers was ever a backbencher, he was leader of the opposition for awhile when "King Pennicut" baled out of the Yukon after he lost an election to the Conservatives under John Ostashic - a real Yukoner who cared about ALL the people in this territory. John was the man responsible for tax cuts.
The Liberal outfit lost all their support and an election very soon after they were elected - Patty Ducan was never a Liberano/Dipper - she was in the wrong party. Patty was far too right minded for her MPs; they destroyed her in public.
JohnnyRingo - you better watch your 'slander' charging pen. Your last lines are not subtle.
As for the luxury welfare status of the Yukon - you can thank Larry Bagnel and the Liberano Party for that. This is Aline Cretian's "Park" , it is to be kept clean and tidy so the Champagne socialists can get away from the nasty peons (Canadian people) who pay the likes of herself and her husband. In the Yukon all productive enterprises have been shut down and almost all the 'peons' have been rounded up and penned into Whitehorse. The city is totally dependant on the rest of Canada for it's subsistence $$$. IMO Northern Living allowance should NOT apply to Whitehorse - the minions here have a Walmart and cheap airfares - it is less expensive to live in Whitehorse than it is to live in Calgary. Gov't wages are inflated and costs are low - another thing that makes me go humm?
Oh BTW Johnny you have confused the Artic Winter Games with the Canada Winter Games and your time line is all wrong - Cathey Watson was the mayor 9 years ago - you are confusing her with Bev Buckway, the present mayor or Mr. Bourassa the previous mayor.
Elsa was not a depressed area when Piers lived there. Now it is a ghost town.
Posted by: Jema54 at September 1, 2007 3:57 PMDoug, obviously Stephen Harper is actually Hitler's grandson. After all, they are both conservatives, just ask Iberia.
Some of the comments remind me of a politics paper where we were to critique Lenin's argument that capitalism (industrialization) caused imperialism and caused war, proving capitalists needed war to sustain themselves (yes, he actually argued that, though I believe he stole the idea from Engels). When I pointed out that wars were waged long before industrialization, my prof noted in the sideline that Lenin knew this too, but ignored it because it didn't suit his argument.
I'm seeing this sin omission here, mostly from some of the folks on the "left," and to a lesser extent from some folks on the "right" too.
It's not about reading comprehension, it's about denying or ignoring arguments that challenge beliefs. It's a fool's errand.
Frankly, in the days of the blogosphere, you can't get away with that.
Doug I know you were trying to be funny; you failed. To bring up any comparison with Hitler and his henchmen with any politician in Canada is not only intellectually lazy, it is also bigotted.
Posted by: Shamrock at September 1, 2007 4:02 PMThe multiplex was built for the 2007 Canada Winter Games. Get your facts straight. Kathy Watson was mayor when the multiplex project was proposed, debated and when funds were committed to by the city and the territory. You're right, Ernie Bourassa was mayor when the feds stepped up with their portion. But Watson was the mayor when the project was first proposed and then begun, so I'm not sure why you're going on about Buckway. The government changed twice since McDonald lost the 2000 election, so I'm not sure what role he could have had with the territorial government and the city paying its employees to volunteer? Why don't you ask Fentie that question?
I think it's ironic - and perhaps hypocritical - that you choose to attack Piers McDonald, someone who has never broken the law and who has dedicated his life to serving the Yukon. How are you capable of doing that?
Ooooh Johnny, are you a member of Northern Vision?
Posted by: Jema54 at September 1, 2007 4:30 PMzz
Posted by: Western Canadian at September 1, 2007 4:38 PMNo. Are you a member of the Yukon Party? (Not that I'd hold it against you...John Ostashek was one of the classier politicians around, and I was sorry to hear that he passed away this year.)
Posted by: JohnnyRingo at September 1, 2007 4:40 PMAre you a member of the Dipper (NDP/Liberal) Party, Johnny? Northern Vision is an investment company that is buying out small businesses in the Yukon; not a Political Party.
Posted by: Jema54 at September 1, 2007 4:55 PMI was looking at property Sask and noticed that property taxes in small towns in Sask are 4 times as much as small towns in BC. the property in Sask is cheap and lots of it must be left over from those fleeing for a better life. If the NDP gets the boot I will consider moving there.
Posted by: alan at September 1, 2007 6:21 PM"Or maybe it's simply that Saskatchewan roads are comparatively empty. One million people living on 300,000 square kilometers (bottom half of the province) of mainly empty space. Means fewer collisions, relatively speaking."
You might be on to something, Joe B. Several years ago I lived in Manitoba. The further away you lived from Winnipeg, the lower your auto insurance costs were. That was simply because the accident rate in the big city was higher, naturally, than out in the country.
One of the "accomplishments" the NDP claim on their site is 150 more doctors licensed in SK since 1992. A quick Googling for UofS med school reveals that they graduate 60 people a year. That means 300 physicians were produced by SK since 2002 (and the enrollment at UofS is >90% students from SK) and the province was able to keep less than half of them. I suspect there are still a fair number of foreign trained physicians who use SK as a convenient place to enter Canada quickly before moving on to warmer climes. It would be interesting to get a breakdown of how many UofS grads were licensed in SK and how many foreigners, but keeping even 50% of graduating doctors is nothing to be proud of.
Posted by: loki at September 1, 2007 7:10 PMYeah, I know they're not a "Political Party." Northern Vision just got an award from the Chamber of Commerce. I have no membership in any Yukon party. I figured you were a member of the Yukon Party since you were feeling mighty free to criticize the Liberals and the NDP. You probably work for the Yukon Party, right?
Posted by: JohnnyRingo at September 1, 2007 7:49 PMjema54....stop feeding the leftoid. It obviously knows nothing, and you will notice it hasn't answered 1 of your Q's straightforward.Just another dipper afraid of losing it's cushy gubbermint job,although it shouldn't be. Most of the smart flatlanders left long ago. Funny about that HUUUGGGEEEE barricade that keeps all of redneck Alberta's oil/gas out of flatland. I though Maritimers(of which I am one were stupid). Guess the flatlanders want that title.Well,we do have leftard Queerbec/Morontario,might as well have Dipperland in the West.
Posted by: Justthinkin at September 1, 2007 8:10 PMwhat JohnnyRingo neglects to say is that the premier was a dipper when he was convicted of selling heroin 24 years ago. he was a recent floorwalker.
personally I wouldnt have voted for him ,but like Svend , he was a crook on dipper time.
Posted by: cal2 at September 1, 2007 9:30 PMLMAO!! "Thank you for your interest".....That's rich. Ummmm...you brainiacs at dipper central would call it interest....I would charecterize it more as derision but whatever gets it done for ya.
Btw Kate. Do you or any of the savy commentors here charge the NDP for web design consulting?
Naw....probably pro bono being as they are so needy.
Anyways, changing NDP communications strategy one embarassing faux pas at a time has it's own rewards.
Syncro
Posted by: Syncrdox at September 1, 2007 10:48 PM...touche' Kate!
Posted by: tomax7 at September 2, 2007 1:06 AMSASKATCHEWAN AUTO INSURANCE FACTS
In Saskatchewan we DO NOT HAVE CHEAPER INSURANCE!!
What we do have is by far the best system and not because of SGI. In Saskatchewan if you get drunk, drive into a building, at high speed, causing millions in damage, your car insurance doesn't go up one penny when you finally recover and regain your license. What does cost you is your actual driver's license. I know of one person who had to pay over $2000 per year to get his license. This system is set up so that the reckless driver is punished, not the registrant of the vehicle.
By removing the extreme high car insurance rates paid by the most dangerous drivers in the pool, you create the illusion that on average everyone is paying less, which is quite simply not true when all factors are considered. If Alberta or Ontario or BC were to have the same system with private insurance companies, were you insurance the driver separately from the vehicle, the numbers would be more comparable.
In Saskatchewan we are use to the NDP manipulating the numbers in their favour, ie the "Rainy Day Fund".
We really out to send them an invoice for the debugging work we've done for their website.
Posted by: Kate at September 2, 2007 1:39 AM@Stan:
What is your major malfunction? You can't have it both ways, you bleeding idiot: either the NDP is too socialist for you or it's doing the right thing by implementing Conservative policies. How can you possibly deride the government for introducing tax cuts that you would support from the Sask Party?
The problem is that you're as locked in to your dogma as any of the NDP supporters you're constantly mocking. You hate the NDP by virtue of being the NDP, regardless of the policies they introduce which fit within your worldview as being good for the people of Saskatchewan.
Get a life.
Posted by: Stan at September 2, 2007 6:39 AMStan - I rest my case that I made to Johnnyringo. YOU can't have it both ways- you already had your kick at the cat and you Dippers failed. I call people who shed their beliefs when they find it expedient to do so; shallow, IQ challenged mini me's. What do you think?
Posted by: Jema54 at September 2, 2007 1:35 PM"Stan - I rest my case that I made to Johnnyringo. YOU can't have it both ways- you already had your kick at the cat and you Dippers failed. I call people who shed their beliefs when they find it expedient to do so; shallow, IQ challenged mini me's. What do you think?
Posted by: Jema54 at September 2, 2007 1:35 PM "
Ohoh. Now jema54. Poor Stan is going to spend the rest of his life trying to figure out what "shallow","IQ challenged",and "mini me's" are.
How could you be so cruel to one who is just following the herd? Next thing you know,his one brain cell is going to explode! Hehehehehehe.
Even lemmings have more sense then a dipper.Hell,my retriever has more sense.
Justthinkin - Thankyou for answering my question for Stan - he is probably looking for the pieces of his brain, as I write. A question asking for an answer is 'out of the question' for the mentally inept and corrupt Dipper mindset, I should have known that; thanks for reminding me.
Posted by: Jema54 at September 2, 2007 3:39 PMJema: learn to punctuate. Yes, it's a dirty ad hominem attack, but let's be real for a second: you can't claim to have a grasp on politics if you're stymied by grade 6 English.
Where in my post did I say I was an NDP supporter? Of course -- anything that challenges you MUST be from the opposing camp. It turns out that I'm a born and bred big C Conservative who just happens to give the NDP a fair shake every now and then because I'm not closed-minded enough to discount the fact that they do some things right. When they're implementing Conservative-style tax cuts, God bless 'em -- because that's what I want. I don't really care which government's behind it, just get it done.
And while there's a lot of things about the government that I don't like, I don't think Brad Wall is doing a good job in the opposition. Where's this health care plan he talks about in his latest ad? Not on the website. Where's all the policy he said he'd roll out in the months following the end of session? Nowhere. Where was the policy discussion at convention? Oh, right. And how about following that code of ethics you guys made a big deal about bringing in?
On the one side, we have a government in power that all you clowns hate solely because they're the NDP. And on the other side we have a man whose sole aim is a grab for power. There are few things good on either side, quite frankly, and Brad Wall ought to be turfed out of the party on his ass so someone else can do the job properly. He's running the SaskParty into the ground just like he did to the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Justthinkin: biggest misnomer ever.
Posted by: Stan at September 5, 2007 4:50 AM