Comments on: A litre of gas for a litre of milk

By: John

John — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 20:27:17 +0000

Anyone buying Gold or Silver? In terms of silver gas prices are going down.

By: Dave in Calgary

Dave in Calgary — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 04:55:07 +0000

I guess you learn something new every day… I wasn’t aware of the term and I’m not really in the loop when it comes to neo-nazi or white power lingo.

By: Dom-GTA-Paid off in 3

Dom-GTA-Paid off in 3 — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 01:14:57 +0000

Absolutely, just because I was impressed doesn’t mean I would do it the same way.

! thing I like is the short-term not increasing your standard of living until school loans, debts etc…are paid off…..

I am more the type…make more money not work longer hours…

Being a new renter after 10 years of ownership…I like the idea of a significant drop so I can buy more house for less…I also like not paying property taxes, maintenance, upgrades,etc…..

I also loved having my own home….for all the obvious reasons and none financial….

I think there needs to be a balance and that it was I am looking for.

By: Elvis

Elvis — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 00:10:59 +0000

Dave in Calgary – I don’t think you read Republic of Western Canada’s post carefully enough to pick up on it’s extremely racist statements. His use of the term “mud- people” is language that is commonly used by those in the white supremist and neo-nazi movements to refer to people who aren’t “white” .

What he is doing using a real estate discussion forum to discuss eugenics and it’s positive environmental impacts is beyond me. I think it’s time for him to find another corner of the internet where he will find like minded fanatics.

By: Dave in Calgary

Dave in Calgary — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 22:41:42 +0000

Vultur,

I took “mud-people” as meaning third world (living in mud-huts) which is not too uncommon on three of the world’s continents.

But yeah, it is a little blunt to say the least, and I wouldn’t have said it. Nor can I tell you that you’re wrong. That being said, maybe I should just bow out of this one and stick to real estate (something that I am actually learning about on this site).

By: David

David — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 22:02:42 +0000

Alberta and Canada are getting an increasing amount of grief over oil sands development internationally. The only people who seem oblivious to this are Stephen Harper and Ed Stelmack and a few others. Rona Ambrose had worse than a bad hair day trying to defend Canada’s environmental record not so long ago, so much so, that Stephen Harper quietly tanked her political career. As production gets ramped up over the next decade there is a huge potential for Canada to be branded an environmental rogue state with oil sands development.
The Oil sands extraction is labeled by some as the largest industrial project in human history and one would intuitively think some reflective judgments are in order given the permanent nature such environmental disturbance will cause. Ralph Klein true to his nature and intellect preferred unreflective judgment and virtually approved every proposal to cross his desk.
Alberta’s boreal forests are 40% wetlands which actually absorb atmospheric carbon. Scrape all that off, use copious amounts of fresh water and clean natural gas and sell the world’s dirtiest oil to a hungry USA market with little value added production. Under NAFTA’s proportionality clauses the Federal Government can not even insure energy security for Canadian citizens.
The best educated plants biologist in the world would barely be able to advise a government on how to reclaim natural wetlands to their former state. After 40 years of development the actual amount of dubious reclamation is effectively zero.
Every time the price of oil spikes the Canadian Loonie takes a big jump against the US Greenback. Canada sells more oil and winds up exporting fewer manufactured goods to the USA. Collectively as a nation Canada is paying a very high price for oil dependency both economically and environmentally.

By: vultur

vultur — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 19:53:28 +0000

Dave in Cal- this is what bothered me. Tell me if I am wrong please:

To be useful, you might want to campaign for a secure system to ensure reclamation, or to read research on why aqueous tailing-ponds exist and propose a dry-tailings system instead, or work towards mandatory global birth-control to stop local women from trying to get knocked up faster than their neighbors next door, or from all the mud–people from breeding like rabbits. That will go a long way to reversing global resource consumption, including the insane demand for detached housing.

By: Paid off in 3

Paid off in 3 — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 19:52:47 +0000

Regarding the link from Dom-GTA that refers to the couple that paid off their debt/home in 3 years, I’m not sure whether to be in awe of these people or think they’re totally insane. Taking on 3 jobs, sleeping 2-3 hours a night, and working 100 work weeks for 3 years is not something that any person who values their personal health should be doing. Nice to hear that they survived the experience but I hardly think this is a role model situation. IMHO, this could easily be used as an example of what NOT to do. Don’t get me wrong – I am a firm believer in living within your means but like most things in life, moderation is the key.

By: David

David — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 17:37:07 +0000

Those Norwegians and their Socialist ideas, it all sounds too disturbing. Apparently doing financial planning for the post oil future is unsound. Most of the surplus is invested offshore enterprises, in alternative energy development, retooling the domestic industrial base for exports and generally eschewing passive rentierism. There is no need to worry about any of those type of public policies coming to Alberta anytime soon.
At $25 a barrel cost of production none of the Alberta non conventional oil industry would even exist had it not been for extensive state sector subsidies and non existent royalties. Some people love to cling to free market shibboleths no matter how contrary the facts.

By: Alex

Alex — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 17:15:00 +0000

Should Canada learn from our smart friends from far far south?

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1705518,00.html