Oh and my pet monkey is typing this down for me.

Sounds shady paying 5 bucks to pick a candidate for a party I won't vote for. The guberment already takes a third of my paycheck for tax purposes, why should I give them more money?

I haven't really being paying much attention in so far as who I would vote for. I'm definitely not about to pay $5 to become a member of a political party for whom I wouldn't vote, just to cast my vote for the least shitty candidate. However the reality is that in Alberta the winning candidate is practically a shoo-in for the premiers position. I'll be shocked if it's even close regardless of who it is. It's win-win for them to be sure...

Incidental question for the floor: Given that (I assume) most of the readers/contributors here aren't the biggest provincial PC party flag-wavers, what are your thoughts on the calls by organizations (particularly, the ATA, provincial unions, and the AMA) for their members to cough up the $5 to become PC party members and vote in the leadership race?

Or, for that matter, thoughts on the leadership race, itself?

For myself, on the first question, I can't quite square it away. My neighbour a couple of houses down was door-knocking for Dave Hancock, and he prefaced his spiel by saying that it was the only way we could vote for the Premier of the province. I asked him if he thought that was something we should be concerned about. I mean, what does it say about our democracy, when you have to pay $5 to a political organization (let's not forget the Tories are going make a killing on this) to have a say?

On the second question, (given, of course, that I'm probably not going to buy a membership or vote, anyway) I can't say that I've read enough to decide among any of these people. I've read Dave Hancock's policy platform and, when he actually has some substance, it seems reasonable, for the most part. But, as I've said before, the candidates who were key members of cabinet and are now voicing concerns over decisions made when they themselves were in positions of influence really bother me. If you thought it was a bad idea then, why didn't you stop it then?

Beer?:

Jim Dinning says it's time governments recognized the cost of post-secondary education includes not just tuition fees, but other costly items like accommodation and transportation - and beer.

"Today students have to cobble together a budget that doesn't reflect the full costs of books, supplies, living accommodations, transportation - and, frankly, beer," he told reporters as he laid out the education plank of his Tory leadership platform.

I thought something terrible happened, but it turns out it was just a pack of overpaid lawyers and their cash. Wait....

Insurance Companies and Lawyers make me sick.

Well, at least since December. A better question is how long it will continue to be around, given the Goo-tube thing.

there's a google video? how long has that been around?

Oh, and Andy, the term I was trying to remember was a MacGuffin. It didn't really apply to the movie last night, but there are other good examples on the wikipedia page.