A bunch of players, many of whom might play for the Edmonton Oilers, narrowly defeated a bunch of other players, a couple of which have an epsilon chance of making the next round of cuts for the Vancouver Canucks. (0 <ε<<1, of course). Edmonton was apparently using this game to test the forwards, as common understanding is that Mac-T was fielding the defensive pairings that he is planning to pencil in on opening night. That's more than a little bit scary. So what else is concerning me? There is an article up on the Human Events website about Maher Arar entitled "Don't Blame Canada". The American take on the Arar situation is apparently one mostly of blaming Canadian authorities for giving bad information and ultimately making the U.S. look much worse than they feel they should have appeared. As you well know, I remain convinced Maher Arar is a terrorist.
The Canadians shared other inflammatory misinformation with the U.S. government, including the assertion that Arar had abruptly left the country after refusing to be interviewed by the RCMP. In fact, Arar had agreed to an interview under conditions the RCMP rejected, he left for a trip to Tunisia with his family five months later, and they were visiting his wife's ailing father, not leaving Canada for good.How should I take all of this? No clue. Sorry.
All of my fantasy baseball matches are too close for comfort. Down 5-7-0 in the buddy league on Sunday, I've returned to 7-5-0 today, which means it can swing back. 5-4-1 for the Edmonton Separatists, down from 6-4-0 earlier in the week. The Alberta Mariners have recovered slightly, now down only 3-7-0 instead of 2-7-1, but that's it for good news. The Royal Alberta Navy? Oddly enough has recently climbed the charts, now 8th place (half a point up on the rapidly dropping 9th place team). So I'm not sure how to take baseball developments. Similarly, I don't know who I want to win the AL Central. Kind of rooting for the Twins, but I feel Detroit could use one huge season to thank their fans for dealing with a team that has just recently started finishing above the Kansas City Royals.
The Edmonton Journal reported that on Tuesday, City Council did a lot of things including something about "Whyte Avenue and other high-traffic bar strips" but didn't specify. The current news releases from City Hall don't mention it either. The Journal also mentions the weekend parking ban on Whyte will be extended (question: does that really make any difference whatsoever, and why would they think it does?), but no clue if that's the development that is mentioned in their other article. What the hell are they trying to pull on Whyte Avenue now? Not sure what to make about any of that either.
Scrapping the ARTC bad for small businessI have no idea what my opinion should be on the Alberta Royalty Tax Credit. I have no idea what my reaction to the debate on what the royalty rates for oil extraction should be. Is that bad? I mean, I'm politically well-informed, know more than my fair share of economics, am an awfully clever scientist, and despite all of this I do not have the slightest clue what my opinion should be on these two timely issues in Alberta. Am I for it? Or a'gin it? No clue. Suggestions and recommendations would be appreciated.
September 25, 2006
Edmonton –In response to Minister Greg Melchyn's surprise move eliminating the Alberta Royalty Tax Credit Program the Alliance leader Paul Hinman expresses his disagreement and grave concern on the direction of this red Tory Government.
“This government is no longer pro small business. Perhaps our biggest worry is no longer the Federal Government but our own liberal infested cabinet who are undermining our economy,” said Hinman.
The government has elected to make these changes at a very inopportune time. Rig utilization is only 39% this week due to low gas prices and the government continues to hammer away at small oil and gas producers. Melchyn recently clawed back 186 million from the industry and has now grabbed another 111 million.
“This government is completely disconnected from small business and the economy. They are reacting to calls from the Liberal and NDP opposition rather than using some common sense,” said Hinman.
Gas Prices have dropped from January highs of $12 per MCF (thousand cubic feet) to a low of $3.84 per MCF this past week. Oil prices have dropped from their highs of $74.80 USD per barrel to $60 USD per barrel today. And now the government decides to take another bite out of small producers and explorers.
“It was wrong to eliminate the ARTC. However, adjusting the formula to remove large profitable corporations receiving the credit would have been appropriate. Doing nothing is better than what they have done,” concludes Hinman.
