Worst Canadian

[Calgarian]

Originally Posted by Gresto

He has no point. He is a purely self-interested, corporatist, worthless asshole.

Yeah he is basically saying that all the super rich people who horde all the wealth are motivation for all the poor people in the world to work harder. What a tool!

[Calgarian]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

This guy just keeps getting classier.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...ticle17912333/

How did this guy ever make it into the Senate in the first place? most people don't go from being in the Senate to being a coke head strip club manager...

[bikegypsy]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

How did this guy ever make it into the Senate in the first place? most people don't go from being in the Senate to being a coke head strip club manager...

I know... besides that, isn't he a little young for this posting? I always imagine senators to be at least 65, and to also have made a life long endeavour at some career.

[SkydivePilot]

Originally Posted by Gresto

He has no point. He is a purely self-interested, corporatist, worthless asshole.

He's sure unique, . . . . and a hard-core Economic Darwinist.

[Xelebes]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

How did this guy ever make it into the Senate in the first place? most people don't go from being in the Senate to being a coke head strip club manager...

He was instrumental in helping Harper convince various aboriginal groups, especially off-reserve, to dismiss the Kelowna Accord.

[VIce]

Originally Posted by SkydivePilot

He has a point; however, of course, at the same time, he is MOST unrealistic.

If working hard were all it took to be rich, the people who made iPhones could also afford them. I make $35,000 a year (I'm a graduate student); I'm in the 98th percentile of annual income on the planet.

[Gresto]

I watched The McLaughlin Group yesterday, with special guest Diane Francis, who was plugging her book espousing a Canada-U.S. merger (perish the thought). The entire half hour was devoted to the subject. At any rate, regular panellist Mort Zuckerman, an expatriate Canadian and centrist (he's usually on the panel's "progressive" side, along with shrewish partisan Eleanor Clift), inanely stated Harper were a great P.M. and would be re-elected in a landslide. Methinks he doesn't follow goings-on in his birth country very much.
Pat Buchanan, who used to be regarded as a far-right loon, regularly comes across as the most modulated and rational of the pundits, though it may well be a rehearsed facade of reason and humility.

[Doug]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

Wow. Just when I didn't think it was possible to sink any lower you've scraped the bottom of the barrel Doug. I struggle to find words you are so pompously full of shit.... Where to start.....

Let's see... The only reason, and I mean the only reason the hardest hit communities in the city (many of which are wealthy) rebounded as quickly as they did is due to the thousands of volunteers who turned up to help from all quadrants of the city. just curious, was that your wife one of our forumers mentioned showing up to help as she sat on a chair directing people to move her shoes? Also I would not qualify the entire Beltline and Mission as being wealthy.

Your arrogant ignorance is astounding. How can someone who supposedly has 3 degrees say such willfully stupid shit?

I'm not married. My significant other has been to Calgary maybe twice ever (Californians don't like the cold) so must be a different person. Not to downplay the role of volunteers, but I stand by my statements. Most of the flood ravaged communities are exceptionally wealthy: ex. Elbow Park, Elboya, Rideau, Roxboro, Discovery Ridge, West Hillhurst. These people have the means to rent elsewhere and start reconstruction without or in advance of insurance payments. Many of them have second homes in places like Canmore and Invermere. My 103 year old grandmother lives in Mission, she may not be wealthy or young but had lots of family and friends who are who took care of her for the 4 months here place was unlivable (see got to spend the summer lakeside in Invermere with friends).

[ozonemania]

Originally Posted by Gresto

I watched The McLaughlin Group yesterday, with special guest Diane Francis, who was plugging her book espousing a Canada-U.S. merger (perish the thought). The entire half hour was devoted to the subject. At any rate, regular panellist Mort Zuckerman, an expatriate Canadian and centrist (he's usually on the panel's "progressive" side, along with shrewish partisan Eleanor Clift), inanely stated Harper were a great P.M. and would be re-elected in a landslide. Methinks he doesn't follow goings-on in his birth country very much.
Pat Buchanan, who used to be regarded as a far-right loon, regularly comes across as the most modulated and rational of the pundits, though it may well be a rehearsed facade of reason and humility.

I can think of one good reason for his gushing opinion on Harper, being a 'Great Friend of Isreal". Also being Americanized I'm sure he views Harper is relatively progressive for a conservative.

On the subject of Harper... while I find a portion of his policies palatable, there are many that I find extremely distasteful. For that reason I wouldn't vote for his party. What I find odious, however, is his and his party's leadership style.

I can only hope if there's a party that I do support that has a leader as lousy as he is, that I'm able to be aware and recognize it.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

How did this guy ever make it into the Senate in the first place? most people don't go from being in the Senate to being a coke head strip club manager...

Because Harper doesn't like to appoint 'elitists'.

[Gresto]

Originally Posted by ozonemania

I can think of one good reason for his gushing opinion on Harper, being a 'Great Friend of Isreal". Also being Americanized I'm sure he views Harper is relatively progressive for a conservative.

Of course. His unwavering support for Israel never occurred to me, vis a vis Zuckerman's approval.
As for Harper or these Conservatives (Reform/Alliance, actually) being relatively progressive compared to Americans, I think that's one of the misjudgments people make about them. He and they are undoubtedly quite far to the right, if perhaps not quite as far as some of the more extreme Tea Party wingnuts. Also, Harper and Co. have been forced to moderate somewhat during their years in power, as all leaders propend.
If Harper had his druthers, our government-funded healthcare system would not exist, we would have joined Bush's Iraq invasion, the banks would have been as unregulated as those in the States were at the time of the collapse, etc., etc., etc.

On the subject of Harper... while I find a portion of his policies palatable, there are many that I find extremely distasteful. For that reason I wouldn't vote for his party. What I find odious, however, is his and his party's leadership style.

I agree with you about his leadership style. His megalomania is totally objectionable. I find few of the party's policies palatable, however. They have their heads in the sand on climate change and unsurprisingly have absolutely zero interest in socio-economic policy or urban matters. With these Conservatives, it's all about business and buttressing business interests.

[O-tacular]

Couldn't have put it better myself Gresto. This Conservative government is very clearly backed by big oil more than any other industry though. If they had it their way we would be a petro state.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by Doug

Most of the flood ravaged communities are exceptionally wealthy: ex. Elbow Park, Elboya, Rideau, Roxboro, Discovery Ridge, West Hillhurst. These people have the means to rent elsewhere and start reconstruction without or in advance of insurance payments. Many of them have second homes in places like Canmore and Invermere.

Just in case anyone from out of Calgary is curious - there's an element of truth here, but Doug is highly overstating the case.

"Many" of the flood-affected areas are fairly well-off, that's true. But an absolute ton of people were just your average median income folks. I know entire streets full of them, because I was out helping them. These certainly weren't people living in their "summer homes" and moving their 8 Beamers in advance of the flood. They sure as shit don't have the money sitting around in advance of insurance repayment. As someone with extensive experience in the insurance industry, I spent half the summer consulting (on a volunteer basis) with dozens of people I'd never even met. These people were not what Doug describes. And they were the majority of people affected.

I will say that one thing that DID help Calgary is that we really didn't have any "poor" parts of the city affected. To be honest, Calgary doesn't have much in the way of "poor" parts of the city period, but what there is, was nowhere near the river. In most cities, you do have concentrations of lower-income people in the city cores and/or on riverbank land. In Calgary, it's some of the most expensive land in the city. This is only relatively recent - if this flood had happened in 1990, there would have been many a crack den flooded out.

[O-tacular]

Another box to check for Harper being the worst Canadian.

http://globalnews.ca/news/1283846/ot...fic-humpbacks/