SpankyMcFarland

That’s like a Spartacus moment. Thank you. I too have no notion what will happen in Ukraine, obviously. In truth I knew nothing about the country before the war. All I can do is voice my support for those heroes who are fighting to defend Europe and freedom.

I’m afraid police states are highly durable. Look at Iraq after the Gulf War or Syria under the Assad crime family or the post-Soviet Stans. Or Mr. Putin himself. They may be the default condition that we will all end up in sooner or later, far closer to our natural state. Perhaps AI will teach us of liberal democracy’s many follies?

Maybe I’m too much of a pessimist but I do see a larger role for nature than that and a smaller one for nurture. For example, I have seen striking examples of violent criminality within families and they are well described in the literature. However, we can accept the power of genes in our lives without giving up on our own responsibility to take ownership of what we do. And we have all seen kids who never got a chance because of their upbringing. Homosexuality? A big topic I know nothing of but holding forth on such matters seems to be what this site is for. If it isn’t entirely genetic it certainly starts very early in life. No question on concerns for euthanasia. In threads on the topic here, I was surprised how liberal, ie enthusiastic, many would be on letting people go. For me it should be a last resort and under no circumstances should anybody with a physical challenge feel pressured to do the ‘decent thing’. Nobody under 40 with just a serious psychiatric condition, e.g. bipolar disorder, should be offered it. I’d be more OK with older, previously healthy, people taking the off ramp. We’ve had our fun.

Does the historical figure leave the lot of man better than he found it? That’s the key question. Take the example of Thomas Jefferson, the intellectual mover behind the founding of the American state. Revelations about his personal life have given the term ‘Jeffersonian democracy’ an ironic twist but there’s no question he was a force for human progress and liberty overall. Or Aristotle, perhaps the greatest thinker in human history, who was keen on both slavery and the oppression of women while taking a dim view of the barbarians beyond Greece. I believe tribalism is a fundamental human impulse that each generation must struggle to master. If we put it up there with other sins we are heir to, we’ll waste less indignation on our forebears.

Kennedy’s anti-vax ranting is not only absurdly wrong but also dangerous. Parents could easily believe this man, given his family’s reputation, and fail to protect their children from deadly diseases. Thus it’s not enough to dispute what he says; he should be ignored and denied any public platform at all. Any network or show that has him on runs the risk of giving his allegations credence they certainly do not deserve. As Mr. Hitchens put it: “What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence.”

What large, peer-reviewed studies are you talking about?

The poor man is deranged. It’s cruel to encourage him.

RFK Jr. is clearly a very disturbed person. He shouldn’t be running for any public office, let alone to run the country.

You do realize media organizations make mistakes all the time? Is there any proof of an actual plot?

Globally, health care is both public and private. What makes it conservative is the subject - us. A great-looking treatment can end up being a disaster if implemented too quickly.

Is there any evidence to substantiate that rather serious charge?

Generally speaking, people on the right are keen to cut the ‘socialist’ state up the point where benefits precious to them are lost. To his credit, Scott seems a little more candid than most on what cuts in government spending might mean for popular programs. https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/bad-idea-mitch-mcconnell-rips-151102060.html

I think ChatGPT is the tip of the iceberg. Google’s DeepMind has worked out millions of protein structures. https://www.cnet.com/science/biology/googles-deepmind-ai-predicts-3d-structure-of-nearly-every-protein-known-to-science/ Helping to manage illnesses will be a dawdle by comparison.

Those countries do not have public broadcasters as we understand the term. Come to think of it, China doesn’t have any opposition politicians to apologize to and Putin’s critics have a tendency to fall out of windows or eat something that doesn’t agree with them. At least let’s avoid melodramatic comparisons with dreadful alternatives.

I believe that citizens most affected adversely by immigration, e.g. some lower income people in Toronto, esp. renters, should have a disproportionately large say in how many more we take in. Instead they seem to play little or no role in the debate at all.

It’s like bearing bad news to somebody and getting into an argument about it. They don’t want to believe it, you don’t want to believe it, but there it is.

Whatever about the above, I very much doubt Farmers and the other companies made such decisions on the basis of woke ideology as alleged by Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis: https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/us/news/breaking-news/florida-cfo-we-will-hold-bud-light-of-insurance-farmers-accountable-452446.aspx

That era which began when our effect on the planet was so large it could be seen in the geological record and ecosystems.

It won’t be better for all the species that will disappear, courtesy of the Anthropocene.

I don’t think Erdogan’s Turkey belongs in NATO. Hungary looks dodgy too.

I wouldn’t fault him on appearance at all. Plus he’s young, energetic, sober, healthy and isn’t scandal-prone on personal finances or other fronts. On that basic stuff, which does matter, he ticks the boxes.

Parties should go into coalition more often in Canada. This is even more appropriate these days when the major parties are significantly less dominant on their own than they used to be in popular vote terms. But does it matter how a politician feels about something if that’s not reflected in their political behaviour?

I’d say most people recognize his ability. He must be one of the best debaters in the House. Was Harper ‘defiantly anti-abortion’? He didn’t want his MPs talking about it.

There’s nothing overwhelming about these numbers until they are converted into seats in Canada’s FPTP system. The Conservatives are getting just over a third of the popular vote here. Whoever wins should bear in mind the large majority of voters who didn’t choose them before contemplating any radical change.

That’s more like it. Unfortunately, being right in this debate brings no prizes.