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This story has nothing and everything to do with Canada. It's about China's over the top response when the general manager of the Houston Rockets tweeted out a simple little support emoji for the people of Hong Kong. Most people probably aren't aware of it but the NBA has been courting China. Basketball is popular there, and the NBA sells a lot of merchandise. NBA games are on Chinese TV, and there are cooperative agreements with the Chinese' favorite teams, like the Houston Rockets. The NBA even plays exhibition games over there. This is an agreement that involves hundreds of millions of dollars. But one tweet from one GM and China, as China does, went overboard, just as it did on Canada. It condemned the tweet, removed all the Houston Rockets merchandise from sale in China or on Chinese web sites, cancelled their cooperation agreement with the Rockets, and cancelled their coverage of the NBA pre-season games. In addition, all the NBA's Chinese business partners have no cut ties with the NBA. The article cited links to others which demonstrate China's bizarre sense of victimhood (hello Donald Trump), and the way their government stokes that sense of victimhood and outrage at any sort of 'humiliation' by foreigners. No matter how slight, the Chinese government blows it up into a huge incident, demanding apologies and promises to never again dare to offend them. And this is so routine there that you can easily see how they're able to cow other companies and countries into silence because even the slightest criticism brings the threat of massive retaliation. Which means that those people who think that all Canada has to do is extradite Meng Wanzhou to the US and things will get back to normal are engaging in wishful thinking. It is clear that the only relationship China accepts, with foreign companies or foreign countries is one of meek servility. Even without the extradition case, even if we decided to send her back to China instead, all future relationships with China, even with some sort of signed trade agreements, will be contingent upon Canada keeping its mouth shut about Chinese human rights abuses and its militant behavior towards other countries, and meekly accepting whatever insults and violations of that agreement the Chinese decide to issue and make. And yet Trudeau, and to some degree, Scheer, still seem to be under the illusion that if they just flatter and cajole the Chinese, and don't respond to their numerous insults directed at Canada, we can somehow 'mend' our relationship and then move on to ever greater trade. China's behaviour says otherwise. You either stand up to China, or act like China's bitch. It seems clear that Trudeau is quite happy to be China's bitch. I don't think the rest of Canada agrees. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/08/chinas-reaction-to-the-nba-is-the-wake-up-call-the-world-needed.html https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/09/nearly-all-of-the-nbas-chinese-partners-have-cut-ties-with-the-league.html

We knew this would happen if our markets were increasingly dependent on China, eventually your chickens come home to roost. China uses its economic muscle to call the shots, and silence the critics. But we didn't do anything, couldn't, as we were too drunk on the easy money, selling our souls by the pound. Donald Trump is the only man today standing up to China. We need to elect more leaders like president Trump. Because only a SOB like Trump can say to China what he says, and stay the course and not give in. That is the way to get their attention. In fact one of the Trump administrations demands is that China do something about stemming the export of fentanyl which is coming out of China and flooding the whole world. Not a single other country/ leader has the gall to stand up to them.

The US marketplace at 10x ours is the logical one to use to fight Chinese aggression. China is not just aggressive in business and trade, it is predatory. While Yurp is also a large market, can you imagine the Euroweenies standing up to anyone? It would be as ridiculous as expecting the moron in Ottawa to rise above his Mr. Dressup personna.

Canada is no longer seen as an "honest broker", no longer has a "seat at the table", is no longer a military "middle power", and has even declined in the peacekeeping roles of the past. Canada is even seen as weak on climate change, despite the virtue signaling. Canada cannot reasonably expect for the United States to bear the most burden in protecting the post WW2 international order while declining on so many fronts. I guess the good news is that Canada cannot get much weaker....with new leadership....things can improve.

Syria is Russia's client state. Russia can save the Kurds. The US shouldn't be there...spheres of influence. It all started with the Percentages Agreement and grew from there.

You are damn right I am being a bit of an ass right now....Canada left Syria and the Kurds long ago. WTF ? Same old crap...Canada writing checks with its virtue signaling mouth that it wants the U.S. military to cash....and keep on cashing. Eff that....Trump is doing exactly what he said he would do in Syria...leave.

Maybe markets was not quite the right word. Industries? For example when they threaten to ban imports of canola oil from us. Whole industries can be shut down because of political disagreement. Another reason why I say screw globalism. We need more sovereignty, more independence. Punish them the way they try to punish us. Mike Pompeo gave out a pretty clear warning today. Doing business with these people is not unlike doing business with criminals. What more do you expect.

He'll have China charmed with his 'yellow face' song and dance routine . . . . Early polls open tomorrow . . .

Turkish army has revealed to me that they will soon be employing a version of the Trojan Horse against the Kurds. Turks will be placed in teams of two and no one will be allowed to eat falafels for 48 hours before the mission, for obvious reasons. (Even the Turks don't like being hot-boxed.) Turkish army will "appear" as an unassuming and innocent caravan of camels just on their way to the oasis, only to unleash their secret weapon - the Turkiye 3000 Ultra Fighter, which is a lethal combination of buckshot and spitballs. The Kurds won't know what hit 'em. Remember, you heard it here first.

Oh, so in your silly opinion, all politicians must have a college or university education to get into politics? A politician does not need any one of those. All a politician really needs is brains, and someone who shows that he cares about his citizen.s, and knows how to do things right, unlike most of the politicians who do have a college or university degree have shown us all that they pretty much lack any brains and appear to be totally clueless as to how to run a country properly. Doug Ford is doing more for Ontario today than any one of his other predecessor politicians like K. Wynne who pretty much wrecked Ontario with her liberal/socialist policies. . Most politicians go into politics to be able to hopefully push their own programs and agendas that most Canadians do not want or will ever ask for. IMHO, most politicians are a brainless bunch of twits. But hey, Canadians admire those types of politicians because they keep voting for them. Incredible. Why some people think that one needs a college or university education to succeed in life is beyond me. It must be a class and a proud thing for some people who like to brag about themselves and their education. There are plenty of multi-millionaires and billionaires out there that never have gone to college or university and they are filthy rich. Bill Gates is one of them. Education is over rated. Remember this. Canada was founded and built up by politicians who never had a college or university education and they created a great country called Canada back then. Today of course, the leaders that we have had for so many bloody decades now have pretty much destroyed this once great WASP/European nation. I guess that was their aim for decades now, and they have done a fine job of messing everything up with their college and university education. I could careless if Doug Ford has a grade two education. As long as he works for we the people and cares about them, and not the elite globalists, what the hell more do Canadians want or need. Aw well, what more can be said, eh?

But the disadvantages for men are baked into the cake of modern laws, judicial precedents, and biology. Men cannot reproduce with a simple trip to the sperm bank, they have no legal rights over the continuation or abortion of a pregnancy, men are often disadvantaged in custody decisions, it is socially frowned upon for them to take paternity leaves, and to be unemployed. It’s all well and good to say that social engineering can change things, but some of this is very biological, not just the ability to give birth but even the male instinct to leave the home, compete for resources, and provide. In fact, it is the protector and provider status that many women look for in a man. I won’t get into the fetishizing of male dominance that many women secretly or publicly seek out in the media, such as in Fifty Shades of Grey. I know some of what I’m saying might be contentious, but I stand by it. You can find these positions in the feminist writing of Camille Paglia and the social psychology of Jordan Peterson. On a more serious note, I do worry about the impact of these factors on male suicide rates, crime, and unemployment. Young men today of all races are vulnerable. Perhaps immigrant males coming from more traditional societies feel more elevated by their source cultures, but they have other struggles. I think we have to be extremely careful not to advantage certain groups or any one group through policy. There is always blowback. We also shouldn’t apologize or carry around guilt for happening to be born into a certain race, gender or country. Our official languages are just fine, as are our cultural traditions. Stick to preventing discrimination and oppression in the workplace, schools, and society at large and we can’t go wrong in safeguarding the Charter protections we value.

Trump really needs a good history adviser. Kurt Schlichter penned the article that Trump referenced and that particular guy...while passionate...seems as dumb as a post. Perhaps that's an insult to posts. He contributed to the Rebel for a while...he's no Sebastian Gorka. Syria was pretty quiet during WW2...Rommel would have been an issue had he won the Second Battle of El Alamein (not far for Alexandria/Cairo). But he lost...

Feelings are not facts. There is still plenty of evidence that immigrants are disadvantaged in the workplace. I agree with this, but I think it has to do with factors other than affirmative action programs. Men are feeling more displaced as women become more financially independent and powerful. Men have long viewed there role as provider and leader, and that role is no longer as available to them; it's a shift we, as a society, should be helping men adjust to. Equal parenting expectations are one way that men can regain their sense of being important to their families, for example. Those kinds of changes are slowly happening, but I do agree that many men are struggling right now.

Not all traditions - religious or cultural - should be celebrated. Nor tolerated, or promoted. There are some religious and cultural traditions that deserve no space in Canada.

Agreed...I worked with Chinese nationals for tech transfer of lamination coatings and interstitial materials processes, and they were very focused on the business objectives without any political BS. They were attentive and eager to learn. Men and women ready to get the job done as a single minded team. The problem with Canada always looking to the USA to lead as a counterbalance to China is that you will get a Made in U.S.A. approach that focuses on American interests, which leads to even more whining and complaints about trade "bullying". The one thing that Canada can control is its economic and military dependencies, but it refuses to take charge of its own fate.

Nor the education. He went to community college for 2 months and then dropped out. Rob Ford was also a college drop-out. I'll still take Doug over Wynne though, that's how bad Wynne was.

Just add a bit more "glory" to Hong Kong mob protesters...

Hard to believe the following statements from Trump. They are real, apparently: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/465098-trump-defends-syria-move-the-kurds-didnt-help-us-in-normandy

You won't volunteer to fight alongside the Kurds. Neither will Rue.

Canada abandoned the Kurds years ago....what part of that fact do you not understand ?

Muslim AND Communists. What could go wrong?

He is sitting right next to Stalin stooging the fire in hell as well.......history has already judged these men, and there is nothing good about either of them....and if you want to say other wise then expect someone to call you out...

Thank you I get that, see my other post. You make good points. I do understand the Kurds are not all angels and alliances are fluid but to turn your back on them this fast is wrong. Also the Taliban were called the Mujahadeen. They were just fine being fundamentalist Muslims as long as they fought Russians. Here is the point. They only became enemies not because of their fundamentalist Muslim views about life and women, but when they refused to let the US tell them what to do. Ask Canadian soldiers why they have ptsd. The people raping the boys in broad day light as normal recreational activity the soldiers were told to ignore were not Taliban they were pro US allies. The poppy growers who the Taliban stopped, were put back in by the US and that is why the Taliban resurfaced. The Taliban when they were Mujahadeen were not screwing boys in the ass and raping girls out in the open as it is today in Kabul. Yah our priorities are phacked Wes. The only reason anyone went into Afghanistan was because its full of Lithium. Now no one knows how to get the Lithium out at this time given how impossible it would be to police the rail ways needed to get it out. As for our soldiers, they went in to protect innocent civilians not justify drug lords, pedophiles, fundamentalist Islam, just basic moral decency. They did not fail, our politicians did using them and telling them to look the other way no differently than Koffe Anan and the UN ordered Canadian soldiers to look the other way as a genocide transpired in front of their eyes they felt they could have stopped because of political considerations, the same ones Trump now engages in to justify abandoning Kurds. I do respect your points. I get them.

Ford lacks the temperament required for a serious political post.

A world gone mad.

https://www.historians.org/about-aha-and-membership/aha-history-and-archives/gi-roundtable-series/pamphlets/em-13-how-shall-lend-lease-accounts-be-settled-(1945)/how-much-help-do-we-get-via-reverse-lend-lease On 22 June 1941, Hitler launched an invasion of the Soviet Union. Stalin was confident that the total Alliedwar machine would eventually stop Germany,[5] and with Lend Lease from the West, the Soviets stopped the Wehrmacht some 30 kilometers from Moscow. Over the next four years, the Soviet Union repulsed Axis offensives, such as at the Battle of Stalingradand the Battle of Kursk, and pressed forward to victory in large Soviet offensives, such as the Vistula–Oder Offensive. please get an education.