While I appreciate the passionate remarks about Transit and Olympics etc. realpaul, NONE of the projects that you talk about are Metro Vancouver projects. I understand that you are angry, but blind rage never solved anything.

For a person that claims qualifications in Urban Economics, I would think you would know the difference between the Federal Government, Provincial Government, Regional Government, individual municipalities, Translink, VANOC, and individual developers. So I would caution you against whining and complaining about every poor government decision and blaming everything on an individual organization that had as much control over the projects you describe as you do.

Well, it really is irrational evening, isn't it? Typical of the purile level of the argument on this blog (cogent posters such as Patriotz etc aside).

read on:

#65 read on, are you really as stupid as you come off. Get your head out of your ass. Are you a girl? Talk about an over sensitive limpo. Were you breastfed until you twelve?

D was right missy, Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Get a life.

it will be interesting to see whether the UBC line goes ahead given the current turmoil. On the one hand, cost will be a consideration, but on the other, a great make-work scheme (infrastructure) while contracting costs are lower than boom times.

dear yaletowngirl:

"DIR re # 57 this ‘read on’ twit is obviously a troll. "

——-

How on earth am I a troll? Denial makes blanket statements about salary and conditions across ALL fields, and then loses it when someone contradicts him. In some fields (and only some, as I make no claims as to the general picture of living standards etc), professionals in Canada ARE better off then in the US and the UK. In MY field (and that is all I am commenting on) things are better in CA than elsewhere. I'm talking specifics, not generalities.

So, instead of addressing the poorly constructed nature of his/her argument, Denial retreats to the fortress of the ignorant: ad hominem attacks. Good luck with that.

Skytrain is like any real estate investment, inflation/population growth/currency debasement make it a good call. Ten years from now the millenium line cost will look like chump change. The source knows these things.

This has to be the most irresposible comment from a banker that I've ever heard, ""This is a good thing for the home-buying market," John Turner, director of mortgages for BMO Financial Group, said in a conference call. For example, Turner said, the prime-rate cut brought the rate on BMO's five-year variable-rate mortgage to 3.05 per cent from 3.3 per cent, which would reduce payments on a $200,000 mortgage by $26 a month. While it doesn't sound like a lot, Turner said the reduction of rates "brings more consumers into the market who likely may not have qualified before." Wait just a freaking minute. If a 'buyer' is $26 dollars away from qualifying for a mortgage ( or not) is it a good idea to try and shoehorn the poor smhuck into a deathgrip ( latin for mortgage) at the… Read more »

punface:

#59 punface, just curious, which systems in Europe are you referring to? I too have travelled extensively in Europe, so I would like to hear about your experiances with the transpo systems compared to here. I disagree with you but I'm willing to listen to what causes you to have such a disparate opinion.

PS, great rants D, keep the trolls in thier place, we get some real losers trying to defend the main stream message of bullshit. It's either psychois, denial or desperation.

read on: Thanks yaletowngirl, but I can handle this fool #57 read on , you;re obviously a wannabe baiter a troll and a fucking narcissistic dipshit of the lowest order. Do you think anyone here is your mommy, to pat your hurt little bum bum when the the bid bag blog world tells you to put up or shut up? OK READ On, Wahhhhhhh Wahhhhhhhh Wahhhhhh, is that better for you? Did you have a good cry? Wahhhhhhhhh. You misread the context of my comment twice and you don't have the guts or the intelligence to back up your claim and now your smacky little bum is sore and you're trying to retaliate with a hissy fit . Well fuck you newbie, no one here is your Mommy. Read my comment again, use a dictionary if you have to. Put… Read more »

DIR re # 57 this 'read on' twit is obviously a troll. I get the point you're making. We have had a comparable lower standard of living in Canada for decades. It sucks. I've always hated the fact that we have to offer Canada on sale to foriegn buisness because we can't compete unit for unit according to the government. It's demeaning.

dear denial:

"he fact is that you are paid lower on average and have a lower standard of living "

and

"Again, you missed the point DOOFUS. THE CANADIAN STANDARD OF LIVING is lower. Who gives a fuck about you?"

—————

Dear denial retard – when you make statements such as "you are paid lower on average" when replying to me, you are addressing ME. Hence my point is entirely valid. Please learn to construct an argument using general terms if you wish to make a general argument.

Bad GM news being kept out of the CDN papers, why? Has the BOC news been so bad that the papers have been ordered to cool it? We've heard that the CAW and GM are negotiating. It may not matter if all the plants are closed anyway. What's up? DETROIT — Thousands of GM workers could learn as early as Thursday that they will be idle for up to nine weeks this summer as the automaker's plants stop making all but its most popular cars and trucks. The move is a result of slumping sales and growing inventories of unsold vehicles, but some analysts and dealers fear the plant closings could further scare car buyers already made nervous by talk of a GM bankruptcy. General Motors Corp. is planning to temporarily close most of its U.S. factories for up to… Read more »

recessionwatch:

I should have also mentioned that our BOC governor stated today that no recovery in Canada 'is possible' until 2011. he's moving the goal posts out yet again. Don't you just love these government retards and thier ability to 'revise'the numbers when it's inconvieniant to speak the truth. He's just said that you can expect nothing but bad news for at least another two years !!!!!!!

ECONOMIC NUMBERS KEEP IMPLODING. UNEMPLOYMENT UP AGAIN. RECOVERY FAR OFF. HOUSING NUMBERS FALL AGAIN. Jobs, housing data undermine recovery hopes Jobless claims rise while homes sales drop; recession may be slowing but recovery far off Thursday WASHINGTON (AP) — Worse-than-expected news on unemployment and home sales Thursday dampened optimism that a broad economic recovery might be near. Many analysts don't expect the housing slide to show signs of stabilizing until the second half of this year. They said layoffs may be at their high point, but that the jobless rate, already at a 25-year high, will keep rising until the middle of 2010. The Labor Department reported Thursday that initial claims for unemployment compensation rose to a seasonally adjusted 640,000 last week, up from a revised 613,000 the previous week. That was slightly more than analysts' expectations of 635,000. Meanwhile,… Read more »

read on:

Again, you missed the point DOOFUS. THE CANADIAN STANDARD OF LIVING is lower. Who gives a fuck about you? Your obvious lack of information comprehension and retention has me concluding that you are bullshitting us. Post your information and prove what you say, other wise you are really just looking like another lying troll.

You are at risk of Permanent Layoff. The Government wants you to know. Heres the proof. Unemployed people and poor scared people are easier to control. Your Government is not your friend. "Permanent Layoffs in Canada: Overview and Longitudinal Analysis Issue information Canadians are increasingly concerned about permanent layoffs, as many feel job instability and the possibility of job loss has increased in the 1990s. Governments, confronted with a large number of permanent layoffs each year, need to know how to respond to improve labour adjustment and the possibility of quickly finding a new job for displaced workers. Within this context, this paper uses a new longitudinal data source on the separations of workers to address three issues. First, has there in fact been an increase in the permanent layoff rate in Canada in the 1990s, as one might anticipate… Read more »

dear denial:

#22 read on, you missed the point Einstein. The fact is that you are paid lower on average and have a lower standard of living on average than everyone in the developed world who is doing a similar job.

————

Again, do not project your issues onto me. In my profession, I am paid better than 80% of comparative positions in the US and the UK (the other two major markets for my profession), and have much better conditions to boot.

God luck.

#22 read on, you missed the point Einstein. The fact is that you are paid lower on average and have a lower standard of living on average than everyone in the developed world who is doing a similar job. Those are just facts. Read a bio of the CDN economy under the Trudeau-LaLonde to Chretian Liberal Party years and you will quickly realise ( any semi literate person will) that the economic policies of the Liberal Party under those regimes and in the interim periods affected by Liberal policy were specifically designed to keep the standard measures lower in for stated socioeconomic goals held by the Liberal Party. It's in the library pally, read on. One good example ( one of many) is "The Seven Percent Solution" doctrine dreamt up by Pierre Trudeau, the great CDN patriot ( excuse me… Read more »

read on: