Messages

1

Technology & Science / technology and science

« on: October 15, 2007, 12:22:39 PM »

I have an old iMac that I am so comfortable using that I hate to give it up. Lately though it is just slowing down so much and Microsoft has quit supporting IE5 for macs, which is what my computer was using as a web browser.
My cousin who is an engineer told me about iCab- a free download. iCab which I am now using as a browser for my old iMac lets me see things on the internet that I can't access on the kid's much newer pc downstairs. It has given my old computer new life.
My operating system is too old for firefox but I have downloaded firefox on the pc downstairs.

2

USA / USA

« on: October 15, 2007, 12:06:13 PM »

Sometimes you just have to stare in astonished wonder when an American lectures the rest of the World.
President Bush was quoted the other day lecturing Iran on interfering with Iraq's internal politics and right to self govern- I kid you not!

I think that is one of the scariest things about Usians - their inability to step back and try to apply an objective view towards their own behaviour, just taking it as  a given that US actions and policy may fail but the intentions are always good.

3

Life from a feminist view / life from a feminist view

« on: October 11, 2007, 11:15:05 AM »

Aside: Why aren't there more feminist economists? More? I'd settle for some. A few. One.Back to top
      

Linda McQuaig comes to mind.

4

Life from a feminist view / life from a feminist view

« on: October 09, 2007, 07:16:18 PM »

I had daughters perscription filled the other day- 23.00 @ Zellers which I am told is the cheapest pharmacy.
The health unit near our home is open on Thursday evenings, they give out perscriptions without parental consent and it costs 12.50 for a month's supply. If you can't make it on  a Thursday you are out of luck.

5

Broad Shoulders / broad shoulders

« on: August 15, 2007, 06:45:47 PM »

I've been avoiding this thread because it hit close to home and brought up memories of my dad who was also very young when diagnosed.

I wish I had known of my father's cancer but by the time he told anyone he had known for a couple of months and then they waited until after Christmas to tell the rest of the family (February I think), then he was gone by Mother's Day.There was no surgery for my Dad, just morphine.

You have the chance to share your strength when your mother needs you. Even if the whole ordeal is one every person would rather avoid there are some passages in life that give us the chance to step up.

6

Gardens / gardens

« on: August 06, 2007, 09:15:32 PM »

Thanks for the lettuce info- I went to Victoria Seeds website which specializes in heritage seeds and found an interesting 'winter mix' for lettuce. I think I'll order some as well as some sugar snap peas and see what happens.

7

Gardens / gardens

« on: August 06, 2007, 11:30:47 AM »

My lettuce is all done - does anyone know if you can plant a second crop? We won't get a frost here until November at the earliest , so will lettuce withstand the hot weather of August and be ready to eat in September? Green onions which were lovely are also all finished - I have a packet of seeds so I am going to plant some where the garlic was growing and see if I can get some more before the growing season is finished.

Never buy bedding plants at Wal-Mart. I don't usually shop at Wal-Mart but I was stuck in a place doing nothing around planting time and they were open, so I bought some English Cucumber- which turned out to be plain ordinary everyday cucumber. I bought tomatoes  which were also labelled wrong.

My UFO zucchini (grown from seed0 is almost ready to start harvesting, the squash is also coming along and the peas we've been eating for a while now.

8

Canada / canada

« on: August 05, 2007, 12:23:56 PM »

Thanks for that Croghan, my husband enjoyed that little tune.

Working people all across North America do understand what is happening to them, though I think that a lot of people don't understand that it is happening to everyone.  Connecting the disenfranchising of millions of working people, showing that we're all expendable overhead to the corporate bullies is so important. If working people realise they're not alone they might find the will to create a resistance.

9

Canada / canada

« on: August 04, 2007, 01:14:25 PM »

OK let's look at this the way Harper would look at it - in a completely mercenary fashion with no worry about fallout or who is going to slip through the cracks.
Despite the fact that the CWB has successfully and consistently achieved the highest prices possible for Canadian prairie farmers which as a byproduct has allowed family farms to hang on if only marginally, the free market types want to scrap it. Doesn't anyone ask why? Follow the money is a cliche that works- who would benefit by dismantling the association of farmers- corporations like Monsanto, corporate growers that want the farmer only as an employee not as a land owner and therefore CEO of his own operation, any corporation that handles the grain from stockbrokers to railways, it equals a divide and conquer strategy. Harper would be a hero on Wall Street, Bay Street, and Howe Street and the family farm would be toast, a populist poser gives up his support base and sells out to corporate interests.

The reason that the NDP should be all over this is that it is the right thing to do, protecting the citizen against monopolies. But if Layton were Harper (shudder) the NDP should be all over it because it is their best chance at taking real control of government.

The Conservatives have seats in Saskatchewan, the contest is between the NDP and the Conservatives in most of Saskatchewan and Manitoba. If the NDP could come up with a 'Prairie Producers' policy that addresses the concerns of farmers and hammer home the threat from the Harper government they could take those seats- it is the balance of power between a Conservative minority and a 3 way government. If the prairie situation doesn't produce righteous political activism then self interest should be the obvious second motivator.

10

Canada / canada

« on: August 03, 2007, 08:57:37 PM »

I live in the community of Delta - I know members of the TFN and have worked with some of the community. They live in a beautiful spot and if they wanted to work off of the reserve they have only a 25 to 45 minute drive into the centre of Vancouver.

I have only one thing to say- if Gordo approves of this deal, his developer friends stand to get very rich - end of story.

11

Canada / canada

« on: August 03, 2007, 08:50:48 PM »

I am not sure where it is but I remember a discussion about changes to the law societies as well. Every legislative body that can influence decisions on policy is being fiddled with by Harper.
That would include medical research and human reproductive issues.

12

Canada / canada

« on: August 03, 2007, 04:11:24 PM »

I think I may have said this before somewhere but at the risk of repeating myself, the wheat board issue should be the downfall of the Harperites.

It is a typical victory of the underdog story and a warning against the true motivations of the Conservative party that pretends to befriend Western farmers. I don't get why the NDP isn't all over this story and connecting the dots for a reluctant news media, pointing out the circumvention & subversion of democracy, the government by stealth regulatory fiddling, and please draw the comparison to the fishing industry, lumber, and Canada's water supply. According to the Cons all of these things are just commodities and shouldn't be managed by people that don't have a CEO telling them what to do.[/b]

13

Gardens / gardens

« on: August 01, 2007, 03:01:43 PM »

I absolutely love urban allotment schemes and small city gardens.

South of North Delta where I live is South Surrey (or White Rock as the residents continue to call it) and the beach community there of Crescent Beach has a small area of allotment gardens. For a small annual fee you can have your own garden. The gardens that are there are absolutely stunning because not only do the gardeners help each other they also compete with each other.

I recently saw an article (bbc I think) where the new urban plan for gardening was done on a grand scale using office tower like structures that were all glass with each floor being an irrigated greenhouse to supply large centres with garden fresh produce without transporting it hundreds of miles. I thought it made perfect sense. The architectural rendering placed the design of the office tower greenhouse in New York City.

14

Canada / canada

« on: August 01, 2007, 09:43:15 AM »

This is very good news, no wonder Harper wants control of the courts.

If we had a news media with any guts this would prompt an indepth investigation about how many other areas of Canadian institutions and decision making boards have been tampered with by Harper's 'government by backdoor regulation'.

15

Politics / politics

« on: July 17, 2007, 01:24:31 PM »

Yes Croghan that is definitely one of the contradictions that is Alberta. Talking separatism one minute and crying at the playing of the National Anthem the next.

I see a big disconnect between corporate power and attitudes and those of the general population, which is true everywhere but more pronounced in Alberta. Then there is the disconnect with the rest of Canada - Albertans travelling or living in other parts of Canada have their eyes opened to the fact that contrary to everything they've been told that the rest of Canada does not hate Alberta. In fact the rest of Canada often expresses even more frustration with Ottawa than the West does, and everyday Canadians are far too busy trying to keep their heads above water financially they to have time to sit around plotting  schemes to piss off Alberta.