Canadian $ now at par with US $

[dolphinius_rex]

I don't know how long it will last... but $1 CAD = $1 USD.

Time to place some orders at Amazon.com

[Ian]

Damn.. pretty soon the peso is going to be equal to the dollar.

[MediumRare]

Wow!
The last time the Canadian dollar was worth more than the US dollar was 1976. That ended in Nov. when René Lévesque was elected in Quebec.

G

[LoneWolf]

Wow.

I remember traveling in Canada as a teenager, and what a kick it was to pay a McDonald's in American money and get "more" than you paid for back in Canadian funds as change. So much for that.

[Wesociety]

No offense to Canadians whatsoever, but the US dollar has really gone to shit. Mostly due to our incompetent president and his illegal war...

[SithTracy]

Mostly due to our incompetent president and his illegal war...

I couldn't have said it any better myself (but I probably would have used several more explicit descriptions)

[Ian]

[Waits for Bush backers to show up]

[Dartman]

Where?

[Ian]

Yeah, there aren't many of them around these days. For some reason, my father in law still thinks the guy is awesome.

[LoneWolf]

Yeah, there aren't many of them around these days. For some reason, my father in law still thinks the guy is awesome.

Mine too. But somehow, like many, my FIL has come to believe that when the government (at least the Republican one) says they are monitoring communications, etc. for good reasons (i.e., terrorism) without FISA court oversight, that they still really mean it.

In one of our debates, he asked me if I would rather be a victim of a terrorist attack. I said that preservation of the Constitution and the rights it guaranteed me was more important than my life in the long term. Couldn't get through to him on it, but I don't think I ever will.

LoneWolf (seriously considering donating to Ron Paul's campaign for 2008)

[Ian]

I've had the same discussions with my father in law about monitoring communications. He's okay with it since he has nothing to hide. He doesn't seem to get the fact that we're giving up our constitutional rights or that communist Russia used to do the same things to keep their citizens "safe".

[Wesociety]

In one of our debates, he asked me if I would rather be a victim of a terrorist attack. I said that preservation of the Constitution and the rights it guaranteed me was more important than my life in the long term. Couldn't get through to him on it, but I don't think I ever will.

LoneWolf (seriously considering donating to Ron Paul's campaign for 2008)

I'm also seriously considering donating to Ron Paul's campaign.
Here's his latest video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG2PUZoukfA

[LoneWolf]

In one of our debates, he asked me if I would rather be a victim of a terrorist attack. I said that preservation of the Constitution and the rights it guaranteed me was more important than my life in the long term. Couldn't get through to him on it, but I don't think I ever will.

LoneWolf (seriously considering donating to Ron Paul's campaign for 2008)

I'm also seriously considering donating to Ron Paul's campaign.
Here's his latest video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG2PUZoukfA

I'll admit that I don't agree with him on everything. But at this point, I believe that core Republicans and Democrats have gotten so far off base, and become so much more interested in power/prestige/money than they are in serving the average person that elected them. I believe Ron truly believes that the average voter is important, and for the right reasons, and that because of that, he's willing to listen and respond with in-depth opinions about important topics rather than curry favor by spouting off about hot-button issues that ignore the more in-depth problems we face as a country.

I think that's clinched it for me. $25, on its way now.

[Ian]

I don't think I've ever voted for a Republican for president (I definitely didn't vote for Bush.. either time) but Ron Paul would probably get my vote this time around.

[LoneWolf]

I don't think I've ever voted for a Republican for president (I definitely didn't vote for Bush.. either time) but Ron Paul would probably get my vote this time around.

I once held a Republican philosophy. I say once, because I don't think it's that my values have changed --it's the Republican Party's. They've stopped espousing the principles of federalism, and instead gone for big government over states' rights. Their current views on a number of issues vary largely from what I believe. On the other hand, I have big issues with a number of Democratic Party philosphies as well.

I've come to the conclusion over the past ten years that both Democrats and Republicans are wolves --the only difference is the color of their sheep disguises. Both are at least partially owned by corporations, lobbyists, and others who represent views often not shared by voters. Both seem to degenerate into petty bickering that seems to be more about establishing a power base and keeping hold of it rather than actually holding personal views, or holding their constituents' views as sacrosanct. Both seem to pass myriads of tiny little laws that better serve special interests and make things confusing, rather than clarifying existing law, and enforcing laws already on the books. And both are more interested in a big, all-encompasssing government than in teaching people about exercising good judgement and responsibility on their own.

Those are the reasons that Ron Paul strikes a chord with me. I'm tired of politicians trying to hold our hands when they should tell us to quit whining, shut up, and exercise some responsibility on our own. I want to be told the truth, rather than being spoon fed some candy-coated B.S., even if the truth isn't always pretty. I want to know a candidate's personal beliefs, not what their party tells them to think, even if I don't always agree with them. And, I want their decisions to be guided by what they believe is right, and what they believe their constituents want, not what their party, corporations, lobbyists, PACs, or special interest groups think they should do. I think Ron Paul has the capability to do that, if only enough people stand up and tell the rest of the Republican party to sit down, shut up, and listen to the voters for awhile. In this case, donations are the most likely thing to do that. Hopefully I can give some more down the road in time to make it relevant, and hopefully, enough people see this as important enough to think about, rather than to blindly support a majority candidate.

Ron Paul's donations were a staggering (and unexpected) five million this past quarter, mostly from average Janes and Joes. Hopefully, that continues, because I'm sure it got his party's attention.

[Wesociety]

Great post LoneWolf. I agree with you on many things here...

[Ian]

LoneWolf for President!

[Spazmogen]

I don't know how long it will last... but $1 CAD = $1 USD.

Time to place some orders at Amazon.com

My non-retirement investments are with RBC Dominion Securities. I was given a projection that shows possibly as high as $1.10 in the next few years. As long as oil is high,so is the Canadian dollar.


Here's the upside: March Break 2008 will be the best the USA has seen in years! Canadian students will flock enmass. I am going to Arizona for a week over March Break with my kids.

I have just received another huge order of fly fishing gear from Cabela's and BassPro. It was over $700 US. Only $88 CDN in duties too. I would not have bought if the dollar was not as high as it is.

[Wesociety]

Here's the upside: March Break 2008 will be the best the USA has seen in years! Canadian students will flock enmass. I am going to Arizona for a week over March Break with my kids.

Maybe it's time that I invest in some tourism related companies...

[LoneWolf]

I don't know how long it will last... but $1 CAD = $1 USD.

Time to place some orders at Amazon.com

My non-retirement investments are with RBC Dominion Securities. I was given a projection that shows possibly as high as $1.10 in the next few years. As long as oil is high,so is the Canadian dollar.


Here's the upside: March Break 2008 will be the best the USA has seen in years! Canadian students will flock enmass. I am going to Arizona for a week over March Break with my kids.

I have just received another huge order of fly fishing gear from Cabela's and BassPro. It was over $700 US. Only $88 CDN in duties too. I would not have bought if the dollar was not as high as it is.

Oil just hit another record price today (I think it was $87.66USD/barrel) so you're good for the time being.

As for Cabela's...you should stop down this way and see their giant store in Dundee, MI. They're hoping to build another megastore very close to where I live (Walker, MI); if things go through as planned, it will be quite a boost to the local economy.

[Wesociety]

I finally got around to making a donation ($100). I even captured a screenshot of my name appearing on the frontpage of the RonPaul2008 website.

If you'd like to donate to his campaign, go here: https://www.ronpaul2008.com/donate/

In other news, Ron Paul raised over 4 million in one day yesterday. Here's the article from the NYTimes. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/06/us/po ... 6paul.html

[TheWizard]

This is terrible, according to xe.com:

1.00 CAD = 1.09962 USD

The largest mall in my area (2 hours from the Ontario border) was packed last Saturday. Granted, JCPenney, Macy's, and a bunch of other stores were having sales, but I didn't expect so many Canadians to be shopping there. I would say a third of the cars in the parking lots had Ontario license plates. It used to be the other way around! Americans used to cross into Canada and spend less money, now Canadians are shopping in the US and spending less!

[jase]

It's not just Canada. The US$ is getting dangerously close to the Aussie dollar, something completely unheard of for a very long time.

It's great news for those of us in the UK, where the dollar is only worth about 45 pence now (there was a time in the mid-1990s when it was worth closer to 85p) and means that imports have never been cheaper.

However, the general US malaise is having an effect -- the North of England's biggest bank (Northern Rock) nearly went bust recently because of the US sub-prime mortgage issue.

[LoneWolf]

It's not just Canada. The US$ is getting dangerously close to the Aussie dollar, something completely unheard of for a very long time.

It's great news for those of us in the UK, where the dollar is only worth about 45 pence now (there was a time in the mid-1990s when it was worth closer to 85p) and means that imports have never been cheaper.

However, the general US malaise is having an effect -- the North of England's biggest bank (Northern Rock) nearly went bust recently because of the US sub-prime mortgage issue.

The Feds really screwed up on this one. I admit there's more than enough blame to go around, but some strongly (and loudly) spoken cautions about risky loans by the Federal Reserve chairman probably would have caused at least a few prospective home buyers to think a bit longer. My mind still reels at the stupidity of large banking organizations --we bought our house at the tail end of the housing boom, but even when we started looking six months prior, I thought I had an idea of what was coming, and I still can't see why it took so many organizations (with people I believe to be smarter than myself) by surprise. Mortgage-broker greediness is to blame too, as well as people who didn't do the math or the legwork before buying a home, but if financial organizations hadn't been willing to lend to buyers on such risky terms, we wouldn't be this deep in doo-doo either.

[Jim]

The weak US dollar is good for US companies trying to sell their products abroad. Aside from gasoline, prices domestically aren't rising in sync with the fall of the dollar. I don't feel bad for companies that are hurting because it costs more to import and sell their foreign goods to the US.