Alberta, Canada...loved it...been to Edmonton, Banff, Calgary and through that Jasper National glacier park west of Edmonton. Fantastic mall in Edmonton. Very colorful...noticed all the different colors...reds, blues, greens, etc of the roofs on the houses. Brightly painted traffic signs. Very neat.

Crazy cops though...one ran right out in front of me pointing me to the side of the road...I was speeding on my way to work at the University one early morning. But I was very relieved that he let me go when he found out I was a crazy American. Thank you! Thank you! And I did watch my speed after that shocker. I liked the maze of tunnels and passage ways that connected the tall buildings in the center of the city...must come in very handy during the winter snows.

Must be nice to have all of that wealth from the oil and gas reserves.

"Government revenue comes mainly from royalties on non-renewable natural resources (30.4%), personal income taxes (22.3%), corporate and other taxes (19.6%), and grants from the federal government primarily for infrastructure projects (9.8%).[60] Albertans are the lowest-taxed people in Canada, and Alberta is the only province in Canada without a provincial sales tax (but residents are still subject to the federal sales tax, the Goods and Services Tax of 5%). It is also the only Canadian province to have a flat tax for personal income taxes, which is 10% of taxable income."

This quote first says that personal income taxes are 22.3% but then later states that there is a flat tax for personal income of 10%. Interesting!

"The Alberta personal income tax system maintains a progressive character by granting residents personal tax exemptions of $16,977, in addition to a variety of tax deductions for persons with disabilities, students, and the aged.[62] Alberta's municipalities and school jurisdictions have their own governments which (usually) work in co-operation with the provincial government."

"As with all Canadian provinces, Alberta provides for all citizens and residents through a publicly funded health care system. Alberta became Canada's second province (after Saskatchewan) to adopt a Tommy Douglas-style program in 1950, a precursor to the modern medicare system."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberta

Yup, it sure sounds conservatively privatized to me! ;-}

And you don't have to worry because no one but the police have guns...right? Oh, wait, what's that? "U of A shooting: Mother begs accused shooter to turn himself in (video)"

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Three+dead+after+shooting+University...

Suspect wanted on three murder charges in deaths of armoured car guards in Edmonton

Sounds like a nice place to live...

oh, and God Save The Queen!

It's odd how we can celebrate and praise the fortitude and bravery of our founding fathers who weren't much into "gun control" back then...yet the same people who belch forth self-righteous platitudes about "home of the brave" are such cowardly chickens who would let the ruling elite take away the people's only means of breaking from their tyranny.

So, you'd prefer the overwhelming numbers of ACCIDENTS to the relatively few MURDERS? Either way people die! So, do I understand that you believe that it is better to have hundreds of thousands die in auto accidents than the few that die in gun crimes? And that we need to concern ourselves with the later instead of the former?

If the proposed answer to preventing needless MURDERS is to prevent people from having guns then wouldn't it make more sense to save so many more people from needlessly dying by preventing them from having those automobiles? And if people don't have guns...they'll just use knives...or their cars.

Wouldn't it make more sense to concentrate more on cracking down on the corporations that poison us in the foods we buy, the GMO or other carcinogens that take many years to manifest as cancers, than to concentrate on the many fewer MURDERS by guns?

So you think MURDERS are something we can prevent more than ACCIDENTS? People go nuts behind the wheel all the time and murder people with their cars...and it is usually chalked up as ACCIDENTS. And even if it was a clear cut intentional MURDER by automobile...it is usually not played up in the news media as much as gun murders are. Since ACCIDENTS happen all the time, there usually isn't the same kind of "shock value" that happens when some gun man goes nuts. It's not played up in the news media, over and over again, as gun murders. Why do you think that is?

The media is owned by the ruling elite...the ruling elite feel threatened by a well armed citizenry who can put up a lot of resistance to their oppression and exploitation. ie: It would be a lot harder for the wolves guarding the chicken coops if the chickens were well armed with hollow point beaks!

And I have never even heard of an anti-automobile lobby...but there sure is an anti-gun lobby. The ruling elite has effectively created many left or liberal sounding organizations and mouth pieces for the purpose of convincing fellow liberals to give up their guns.

And how do you feel about the illegal invasion and continued occupation of the Middle East, murdering innocent civilians by the same military that may very well aim their weapons at us one day? They already have lots of practice in murdering people...especially unarmed civilians.

Yes, I agree that it is very unfortunate that occasionally someone goes bonkers and MURDERS a few people. It would be great if we could prevent that. We should be talking about the underlying factors and not the knee-jerk, reactionary reactions of wanting to ban all of our guns.

But, the unprecedented media coverage LOVES the shock value and despite their trying to put on a concerned or shocked expression...THEY ARE LOVING IT! And those people who believe that no one should have any guns at all are JUST LOVING IT! They believe that it will help disarm us all. But, one day, their ebullient and smirking chimp, just below the surface demeanors, will change to "damn, we should have kept our weapons...now what are we gonna do?"

As corporatocracy is now ruling the roost..guarding the hen house...and feeding us GMOs, carcinogens, and saw dust, and continuing to tax us lower classes to pay for their illegal wars..etc..etc...one day, as our emaciated bodies, struggling to fight off the terrible diseases THEY gave us....it will be too late to rebel. They will make, or already have made, freedom of speech illegal and punishable by death. Sieg Heil, chickens!

You're probably right, Thom, but that sure is a sweeping conclusion. Population density, the internet, and whatever else you want to throw in the pot will correlate just as easily. It's that causation that is oh so tough to prove.

I believe it has to get worse before enough U.S. citizens wake up to start a mass movement for fundamental change. I figure the murder/suicide index must go up a few more points before that happens. I’m voting for the Green Party knowing that Romney might win because of it. Romney will certainly increase the murder/suicide index sufficiently to amass a popular uprising. At least the Green Party offers a real alternative where Obama clearly does not. Voting for the lesser of two evils is a wasted vote.

Gun laws are the one singular place I disagree with liberal philosophy.. I realize simple handguns cannot equal our governments military.. But when we see the cops in America attacking peaceful protesters with cameras, maybe it's time for the revolution the American founders spoke about.. And we need guns for a revolution.. America has become fascist, with the cops and politicians under big business (money) control..

leighmf,

I agree with you, just trying to put a spin on the issue, I apologise for the boy running around naked, people are gunning for him, paparatzi, sad that his streaking has got more press here than the shooting,our thoughts are with the loved ones of those killed and injured.

I don't think so. Some of us like our flag and have a distaste for Royal dominance.

Please don't put limiting or interpretative qualifiers behind "YES" and "NO" without adding "NONE OF THE ABOVE" There's not much about basic "YES" and "NO" that most of us don't understand. Qualifiers create gaps in the YES/NO universe.

How many deaths by this cause must there be, I glimpsed at one reply above stating its nothing compared to vehicle accidents, ACCIDENTS, not one person has pulled a trigger by accident, deliberate MURDER. I live in the UK ,no system is perfect ,but it seems to be that certain gun laws fail your American way, of which i'm glad weve not followed maybe, only maybe it would be better if our flag was still flying there?

The water supply here in southeast Arizona is privatized (unless you own your own well), and has been ever since I've lived here. Trust me, it's not an answer to anything.