Canadian Politics from my viewpoint - The Conservative Party
The Conservative Party - Stephen Harper
Okay. As I said before, Harper doesn't have it ALL together. But he is making the most effort to change our country for the better.
A lot of people are getting on Harper's case about not doing all he planned to do, or that he should have done more and things like that. But we've had so many years of the Liberals ruining our country that we can NOT expect Harper to clean up the Liberals' mess so quickly!
Of course, Harper does do his share of finger-pointing, but he is working to examine his own flaws as well. Dion and Layton are just constantly bashing Harper.
Some of his plans that really stand out to me are:
Elimination of House Arrest House arrest is not truly a punishment. One can still live a nearly full life at home, and house arrest allows them to enjoy anything they normally would at home, making it not even a punishment.
(In addition, I believe jails should NOT be as cozy as they are. TVs, pool tables, and the likes should NOT be in there! Jails are for punishment.)
"A belief that all Canadians should have reasonable access to quality health care regardless of their ability to pay" (as quoted from the Conservative web site at http://www.conservative.ca/EN/4679/ ) actually provides hope for low-income families or individuals. I like this.
"A belief that good and responsible government is attentive to the people it represents and has representatives who at all times conduct themselves in an ethical manner and display integrity, honesty and concern for the best interest of all" (quoted) is simply common sense. there's no point too an unethical, unhonest government.
"A belief that the purpose of Canada as a nation state and its government, guided by reflective and prudent leadership, is to create a climate wherein individual initiative is rewarded, excellence is pursued, security and privacy of the individual is provided and prosperity is guaranteed by a free competitive market economy" (quote) is exactly what we SHOULD be striving for in a country!
"A belief that it is the responsibility of individuals to provide for themselves, their families and their dependents, while recognizing that government must respond to those who require assistance and compassion" (quote) is a great plan for the government, and is precisely what should be happening.
Canadian Politics from my viewpoint - The Green Party
The Green Party - Elizabeth May
The Green Party is smaller than the NDP, and really don't have a chance of winning. Especially after May called Canadians stupid. Bu as my dad's blog says, "Hey May, aren't you Canadian?" That was a completely stupid way to present herself. If I supported a politician and they said that, I would immediately reject them, because calling Canadians stupid really shows how much she cares about our country.
I haven't bothered to listen to anything more she has to say, because the battle is really between the Liberals and the Conservatives.
Canadian Politics from my Viewpoint: The New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party - Jack Layton
This is definitely going to be a short post. Jack Layton will not get into power. He won't. The NDP party simply doesn't have enough supporters. My dad and I were discussing politics the other day, and he made a really good point.
"Layton is throwing out promises and saying whatever he can to buy votes, not expecting to have to follow up on them."
I completely agree with this.
http://www.ndp.ca/page/6962
I agree with him that a carbon tax will hurt the financial situation of many, if not all, families in Canada, but lowering gas prices (which is what he seems to say he'll do instead off a carbon tax) will just encourage people to use more. This will not help situations with pollution and the likes. I've unfortunately heard nothing about his plans to "target big polluters" and "create incentives to radically reduce carbon production", so I can't give a complete opinion on this.
In fact, I haven't heard much of anything about his plans, so I don't exactly have a complete opinion on Layton's plots, but they're a small enough party that it's not a big deal to me if I hear what he has to say or not.
Canadian Politics from my viewpoint - The Liberal Party
There is an election this October, so I'll be blogging several times with what I think about the candidates and all that.
I just watched the Liberal party leader Stephane Dion speak on TV again today, and I keep getting confused. All he seems to be doing is bash the Conservatives, repeat his point, and promise billions of money, covered by tax raises. Whoopie. Anyway, I'm going to address him first (in this entry).
I try not to let my views be determined by a bias, but I'm not sure how much that works.
Liberals - Stephane Dion
The "Green Shift" seems to be one of the base objects in his platform, with the catch phrase "Richer, Fairer, Greener."
Before I say anything I have to point out that Dion played the fear card in introducing his Green Shift plan. Global Warming is a fallacy. In other words, NOT HAPPENING. First, the people who examined it in the first place called it Global Warming. Then they decided to call it Climate Change. Then they said that we were heading for a new ICE AGE! They can't make up their minds! Their indecision, I believe, is caused by the fluctuation of weather between years. For me to believe in Global Warming, it would have to be NOTICEABLE. I can't wait for their stupid little doomsday clock to run out of time (they'll probably make sure it doesn't until the true End, I would assume) and for them to be embarrassed like crazy...
Anyway, onward!
A quote from the Liberal web site in the Platform section says,
{quote}
"Liberals are proud to continue our tradition of strong economic and fiscal management," says Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion. "Fiscal discipline is now part of the Liberal DNA. We were the party that turned a huge deficit into eight years of surpluses, and we will continue to put fiscal responsibility first. A Liberal government will never put Canada into deficit. Period."
We are committed to balanced budgets, which is why all the commitments in this platform are set within a prudent fiscal framework that includes a contingency reserve of $3 billion a year to be applied to the debt if it's not used — a prudent measure irresponsibly abandoned by the Conservative government.
{un-quote}
A definition of Fiscal discipline is Discipline of or pertaining to financial matters in general. The Green Shift completely contradicts their claim of having Fiscal Discipline.
Quote from the National Post 9http://www.nationalpost.com/todays_paper/story.html?id=813942):
"...the Liberal platform anticipates spending and foregone tax revenue of $55-billion over four years. This would be partly offset by $40-billion in revenue from the carbon tax. The remaining $15-billion would be covered by the surplus from current operations. (Budget 2008 estimated an operating balance of $17.5-billion over four years, when planned expenditures are subtracted from anticipated revenues.)
The biggest problem for Mr. Dion is not that he won't be able to raise $40-billion within four years from the carbon tax.
...
This is the fundamental flaw in Mr. Dion's Green Shift -- the carbon tax that he eschewed for so long suddenly became attractive as a means of funding an unfunded commitment to reduce the number of people living below the poverty line by 30% and the number of children living in poverty by at least 50%. Over four years, this package of measures will cost nearly $15-billion at a time when economists are urging that no party should promise to move spending or tax cuts beyond the Budget 2008 plan because of the risk of running a deficit."
In his speeches, he hasn't been mentioning it though. All he says is that it's the only plan that will work in Canada (or something like that). He hasn't elaborated on his original point of the carbon tax, the funding and the likes. That's one of the things that is so frustrating about him.
Stephane Dion also constantly points the finger at the Conservatives. Half of what he says is a 'slam' on Stephen Harper. for example: http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?content=n090829A is a simple example. The Liberals (and the NDP) need to stop pointing fingers at others' flaws and observe their own. Harper may not have it all entirely together, but he's definitely the best of what's there.
Here's another link for you to consider:
http://returnofthetory.btblogs.ca/2008/09/08/whos-the-liar-stephane/
In Conclusion: Dion's way of addressing issues and answering questions make him look like he has the intelligence of a mealworm, which also comes from his flawed Green Shift plan. He is a person I would NOT vote for. If I were 18. Which I'm not.
Had to write a six word memoir for school (learned about them on the John Gormley radio show) that describes my life, and put it on my blog. Dad is marking it.
Here it is:
**Daily learning, working toward big dreams.**
Wish me luck!
*EDIT*
Here are a couple revisions that take on the same theme.
...... It's Friday. I'm supposed to have Master Student today. And I do, but I don't have a blog entry this time.
..It feels so weird!
I've started a new game (Conquer Online) recently which is really cool. I have to go finish my school so I can play it with Dad.. He's getting ahead of me! (in levels.)
--We like to stay around the same level so we can do the same things together... So I have to go.
Also, my friend may be calling me to come over and play video games (Woo hoo!) tonight, so there's another reason to be done.
Think back to a time when you were called upon to answer a question in class. Describe it. I didn't really know how I was going to word my answer so I rambled a bit before answering in a confused manner, and when I was finished, I kind of ducked and hid behind my book.
This chapter, I discovered that I... Tend to try to resist being a fool, when it is a necessary experience in life.
CHAPTER 10
List ideas that may help you resolve conflict here. Feed Back Meaning - p. 294
Notice non-verbal messages - p. 296
Get to the point - then elaborate - p. 300
Use a mediator - p. 301
See the Conflict within you - p. 302
Are we ever really free? This question jumped through my head as I unhappily cleaned the house just earlier today. Are we ever free, or are we bound by the expectations of others, and more, the endless stream of work that we create for both ourselves and others just by living our daily lives?
The more I think about it, the more strongly I am convinced that peoples' ideas of "free living," whether it be alone in the cave of a mountain, or in a city, being able to buy what you need. Either way, we are still not free from ourselves. We have to worry about getting food, and when we prepare it to be eaten, we make another mess for ourselves to clean up later! We have to worry about cleaning this mess up, and when we'll have time to do it or if we have what's needed to do it completely!
And the more I think about my conclusion, I think of how glad I am to have God in my life to support me when this stuff gets to my head and gets me upset. Without Him I definitely wouldn't have the mental strength to keep myself from giving up. I feel so grateful that He's here with me when I need Him.
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Sorry for my ramblings, it was unprepared thoughts that I wanted to write down. Anyway, I guess that's all I want to share. Let me know what you think in a comment, it's never turned down.
Gather several print advertisements or taped TV commercials. Identify any techniques that the advertisers are using to persuade you, such as appealing to emotions or playing on fears. Below, describe ads and techniques.
foreign children fund things use appeal to pity and appeal to emotions (guilt trip stuff) to get sponsors. Good cause, flawed and bad commercials.
Do the techniques work on you now that you've noticed them?
I've known about them for a long time, they've never worked on me.
This is my 70th post. Go me. I rock.
Here's some more master student. LOL
Describe a time when you felt stuck in your thinking, unable to choose among several different solutions to a problem or several stands on a key issue in your life.
I couldn't think about anything else till I resolved that problem..
I discovered I might be able to improve my thinking skills by... Not being so dang LAZY!!
Focus and let go
cultivate creative serendipity
keep idea files
collect and play with data
Ha ha ha okay, bye then! I'm not saying anything more except I have schoolwork to do so I'm going now!
Students, ever find yourself in that kind of rut? I'm talking about the one I'm in now, the one where you have a hard time with learning a chapter/module in a schoolbook, and then you have to study more and re-write a test, but the longer you take, the longer you work, the shorter your Christmas break, so you want to (or someone else wants you to) do that AND the next part at the same time, splitting your attention and not letting you do as well as you can, making you do worse, have to re-do it, taking longer so you eventually won't get a break at all. That rut.
It's 11:20 AM and I already need sleep. It's going to be a looooong day.
