Surplus ???

[cowman]

cowman, the bum, if he happens to be in Calgary has a state of the art shelter to stay in overnight, food in the morning and likely other places to stop during the day for a hot meal courtesy of some volunteer group who are funded by the generosity of citizens like you and I. The riches of this province provide opportunities for free enterprise thinking and for others who wish to work in the spin off industries.
This province has done a fairly shabby job of taking care of those that through no fault of their own ( I do NOT include those who choose to 'p' everything they get away on dope and booze) are not able to care for themselves. The continuing care review has given the province and its health regions a fairly black eye and certainly we have seen far too many cases of abuse etc. in foster homes so obviously social programs for kids in distress need to be looked at and improved.

[cowman]

cowman, the bum, if he happens to be in Calgary has a state of the art shelter to stay in overnight, food in the morning and likely other places to stop during the day for a hot meal courtesy of some volunteer group who are funded by the generosity of citizens like you and I. The riches of this province provide opportunities for free enterprise thinking and for others who wish to work in the spin off industries.
This province has done a fairly shabby job of taking care of those that through no fault of their own ( I do NOT include those who choose to 'p' everything they get away on dope and booze) are not able to care for themselves. The continuing care review has given the province and its health regions a fairly black eye and certainly we have seen far too many cases of abuse etc. in foster homes so obviously social programs for kids in distress need to be looked at and improved.

[cowman]

sorry for the double post, too quick on the trigger this morning !

[cowman]

You were probably too darned anxious to get out in that gas guzzling SUV and burn up some more miles of our roads! LOL... just trying to be funny.
I wonder how come if Calgary has all this support, we always hear about all these bums freezing to death? Do you think it is just the media sensationalizing things?
I do know in Red Deer they have a virtual "tent city" on the west side of town and the food banks do a rock and roll business. Must be kind of brutal living in a tent when it is forty below?
I guess everyone makes choices in their life?
The growth of the crystal meth business seems to be snaring more and more people in the area and I guess it is a pretty ugly scenario.
I would hope our government would consider giving more aid and support to the down and out...no matter how they got there? Unfortunately in Alberta it is a dog eat dog environment and the politicians are more into taking care of the "haves" than the "have nots"! Tough world.

[cowman]

Edmonton has street ministeries that have a tent city in the downtown core handing out hot soup and coffee all hours of the day and night. The most unfortunate part of any programs for the down and out is that so many of them have no clue how to access those programs. Also, many of the down and out either don't want to or can't change their lifestyle so they are dependent on the rest of society to look after their basic needs of food and shelter.

There are a lot of kids in crisis in this province, many because the adults in their lives have scewed up so damn much that the poor kids have nobody to look up to or no role model to help them along the way.

The meth issue is horrible, kids as young as ten getting hooked on the stuff.

[cowman]

Regarding the gas guzzling SUV cowman, actually yesterday I was in the pickup instead hauling a load of salt and mineral home for the cows. Have to get out and mix it this am and put it out for the 'girls'. For some reason they are going through mineral this summer like never before.

[cowman]

I know what you mean with the salt/mineral thing! The cattle on the 320 acres we bought last year are eating me out of house and home!
I can be very much a cheapskate when it comes to inputs but one thing I have never compromised on is a good salt/mineral mix. I get a custom blend from Innisfail minerals. They do it right at their plant in Innisfail and though it is a bit more costly than over the shelf products, I believe it pays in the long run. The owner is a nutritionalist and is very helpful at giving you what you need.

[cowman]

I have high sodium content in my well water so have to use a custom blend to ensure that the cattle are getting what they need, as sodium ties up so much of the essential minerals.
Even the calves are going after the mineral like crazy, I can hardly keep enough in front of the herd !! I am with you on ensuring that they always get adequate minerals. An ounce of prevention in my opinion.