NDP...DO NOT FIX WHAT ISN'T BROKEN

For 44 years the Progressive Conservatives have ruled Alberta. I believe all that needed to be done were 2 basic things in order for either a Progressive Conservative minority win or a Wildrose minority win. 

For the Progressives to have had Redford prosecuted like the Canadian senators. No IFS, ANDs, or BUTS about it. 

She took the Albertan taxpayers for millions and got away with it and the PCs allowed it. The gluttony of the Progressive Conservatives at its best shined through and allowing Ms. Redford to get away with abusing her title of Premier, that alone threw the voters in Alberta into defiance.

Danielle Smith screwed the Wildrose party so badly crossing the floor AFTER Redford burned the taxpayers. It was her biggest political mistake and she will go down in history as the dumbest leader of the opposition. 

The Wildrose Party would have taken this election BECAUSE of Redford, had the defectors not crossed the floor. They burned their bridges doing so and made it possible for a majority New Democratic Party win.

Albertans have shown that they are fed up with Progressive Conservative gluttony and with the Wildrose untrustworthiness...Liberals will not rule in Alberta and the Alberta Party are too new. 

With the defection of the Wildrose party leader and cohorts, Albertans saw a coalition between the Wildrose and the PCs happening if either had a minority government in this election and too many decided they did not want to see that happen, because of course…NOTHING gets done with a minority government and you end up going back to the polls in a year anyways with a minority government. 

With a minority NDP government the Wildrose and the PCs could have had a coalition to block anything that the New Democrats tried to do, even any good.

Change has to happen. Is this a good change? I have no clue, I have never lived with an NDP government, but that is not to say every NDP provincial leader cannot learn from the mistakes that others have made in other provinces.

All we can do is hope that the government is smart enough to do what only needs to be done and not overstep their bounds.

DO NOT FIX WHAT ISN'T BROKEN.

I know that the New Democrats like crown corporations, but…

Leave the roads and financing for the roads ALONE.

Leave the things that are working ALONE…

They are working and do not need your fingers in the mix.

ONLY FIX WHAT NEEDS TO BE FIXED.

Taxation has to be in degrees. Someone who makes $12/hour should not be paying the same tax rate as someone making $500/hour, but that person making $500/hour should not be paying more in taxes than corporations that are making billions and then laughing with their money as they run away.

Small business owners should not be paying huge amounts of money in taxes, like corporations, where they cannot make ends meet. These are the people who are hiring locals, paying employment benefits and pension plans, they do not deserve that. Keep taxes low for the small business owners.

But it is time for corporations to start paying their due. 

For instance, those heavy equipment operators drive huge trucks carrying huge loads of other equipment up and down highways; those highways take a beating from those trucks. You can see it in Saskatchewan. These companies are making billions off of the resources of our provinces and not putting money back into them. They use our roads to transport their heavy equipment and their oil.

The highways were not prepared for the Oil sands being opened to Oil companies in Saskatchewan and they are taking a thrashing. The Oil trucks were going 24/7 on these highways beating the crap out of them...That is where I stand by my statement of…

DO NOT MESS WITH THE ROADS!

Good luck NDP, you have the chance to make history with a GOOD socialist government example here in Canada. 

Don't screw it up.

Why Do Countries Trade?

Canada and the United States are allowing one family to decide that one of our natural resources is going to be worked, refined and sold off our continent and make BILLIONS doing this while ALLOWING another area of the world to do the same in North America?

Do you know how STUPID the voters of our countries sound right now?

We are allowing the bought and paid for politicians by the Koch brothers to decide what is done with our natural resources while allowing another country to profit off of our taxpayers.

Why do countries trade?

We have forgotten why we trade. Countries trade because we cannot get what we NEED where we are. We get it from other countries while giving those countries something they NEED in return.

Other than that, we should be self sufficient. If we can grow beets, we grow beets for ourselves, if we can raise livestock we raise it for ourselves and if we can harvest our oil or lumber we do so for ourselves BEFORE we sell it off to the highest bidder. This goes for all countries.

We TRADE for what we need. Canada has a particular climate that growing tropical fruit isn’t possible, so we trade for it. Canada can produce numerous amounts of potatoes…so which tropical country would like to trade potatoes for bananas?

Is that too simple? It is just an example. We have much, much more to offer here in Canada than potatoes, potash being one of the leading exports for our country.

The issue is we have made it about money and how much we can make instead about what we need to survive on.

An example, McDonalds in South America should use South American beef thus promoting their economy. McDonalds in North America should use North American beef for the same reason; along with every other restaurant in these countries.

“Free Trade” is not free to the average individual. It is costing us our self sufficiency. We are giving away our resources that our countries need to survive.

China’s greatest trade for many, MANY years was Silk. The Han dynasty TRADED it for things like cucumbers, walnuts and figs as well as new skills like using grapes for making wine. They brought new ideas, products and innovation to their lives to become more self-sufficient while selling something they had an abundance of.

Now, and for many years, the secret to producing silk has been out. What China has had to do is revamp what it trades. The problem, they are trading cheap labour to companies that take advantage of the over abundance of the population and the products that are made by that population. These companies make millions on cheaply made products that these people work hard at making. It is not only that the product is poorly made; it is that it is cheaply made and that has to do with the company…NOT the workers. 

We keep allowing companies to push our governments into “free trade” deals that allow companies to take our resources, natural or otherwise, and ship them to other countries to make into products that we do not need OR if we do need them, they are taking our resources away from trading it out right for the product. 

Why would the Canadian government not trade its oil with China on its own for a quality product that Canada needs from China? Why would we need the Koch brothers as a go between? Why do the Koch family need to own any oil rights at all for that matter in Canada?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/03/20/the-biggest-land-owner-in-canadas-oil-sands-isnt-exxon-mobil-or-conoco-phillips-its-the-koch-brothers/

Should we not be using our OWN natural resource before purchasing it and making another country or one family very wealthy?

Should we not use our own natural resource before selling it to other countries and then selling or trading what we have left over?

We are buying a natural resource we have from other countries and selling our own oil in order to line the pockets of one family. Why are we doing this?

Just like we tell families when the economy goes in the toilet, back to basics…we keep what we need to be self sufficient, sell what we have extra and buy or trade for what we need with that extra.

Back to basic economics. Take care of our own, pay our own, feed our own, and clothe our own, help where we can and buy or trade for what we need.

I know it sounds to simple…but sometimes simple is best.

Busy Days for Me.

Busy, busy, busy.

For those who are interested, I haven't blogged for awhile in how things are going for me. 

Medications were switched last year and are working well. The stress from last year was overwhelming me and had put me into a depression but not as severe as the last one. 

Since last summer things have been a lot better and I have been working very hard at getting myself back into a mental state of being able to return to work. YAH.

There are a few options, but many are quite expensive as it would cost more in fuel than I would make...but the Dodsland Arena which is not even five minutes away is looking for a caretaker next season...starting in October...and that would give me a bit of time to 1. make darn sure I am mentally up for it and 2. I would be able to get my gardening done and dealt with for the season. Which is all to the good.

Keagan keeping me busy with the driving to the school for track and field now and badminton before that has helped boost my get up and go spirit as well. Finding her a Cello teacher who lives 20 minutes away is also a bonus. 

It is a 20 minute drive there and back to the school three times a week and a 40 minute drive to Cello once a week. There is no funding for fuel cost to get Keagan to these programs, all out of pocket so the cost of fuel is going to skyrocket for me but it is worth seeing her busy and happy. 

Gardening is getting started the flower beds are getting cleaned out and flowers are starting to sprout all over. Some bulbs my Aunt gave me last Easter are coming up this year so it will be nice to see what they look like. :) 

I have moved our specialty gardening boxes out of the gardening area so we will have more area to plant peas, carrots and beans. While still having the space to plant our lettuce, radishes, zucchini, cucumbers, etc. 

original site

new site

Keagan will be helping me this weekend by loading the trailer and pulling it with the tractor to fill the boxes with dirt from the garden area after I put the landscaping fabric down under them. 

I am going to leave a few boxes empty this year only because if the landscape fabric does not keep the grass from growing through I will dig out the sod by hand this fall and fill it in properly, but why do all that if the fabric works right?

The dirt I am hauling for the boxes is from on the other side of the lilac bushes you can see in the distance in the second picture. I have been doing it with the wheelbarrow, and my legs can tell you that...but it will go much faster with Keagans help...I hate driving the tractor and I know she loves to...;)

She does well with a standard tractor and her first driving lesson with the car went well. She is becoming a very smart,independent, young lady. She will need a doctors note to say she will be able to drive as she is missing her left hand and legally she will have to drive with her prosthetic...I cannot wait until the 3D printing prosthetics are available worldwide for all...but how many of us actually drive with two hands?

We all have our stresses, I am trying not to take on other peoples stresses only trying to advise where I can and not getting upset if my advice isn't taken...

I smile and nod when they screw up because they didn't take my advice, instead of screaming like I used to. 

While Brandon lives with his father 3 hours away, we do talk and spend time together. I feel close to him and he has been told numerous times that he can come to me about anything, which he has. We have even discussed his moving out to the farm...something that would make his mother immensely happy but now that he is an adult it is completely up to him. 

Brandon tells me that living on the farm has mellowed me out and it is good for me. I don't yell anymore. Like I said, I allow others to make their own mistakes without yelling at them or tell them "I told you so"...well, that one slips out once in a while yet, 

But on the whole I am trying to communicate better with others, which is difficult for me because I hate asking others for help or asking for things. 

Anyways, while it might seem like I am down because of the topics I discuss things are going well for me. I discuss these topics because I think they are important, not because I am depressed. 

Thank you for reading and have a great day.