SpankyMcFarland

The news on the Oxford vaccine was initially highly encouraging but the peculiar divergence in immunity between two groups in the trial is causing considerable scepticism. https://www.bbc.com/news/health-55086927

Of course, Boris is a big picture guy too, leaving mere details to lesser folk. His embarrassing performances at Question Time against the new Labour leader Keir Starmer combined with poor management of Covid make it quite possible he will be replaced by his own party before the voters get a chance to do so.

An interim deal sounds like the sensible thing to do while the British resolve their never-ending Brexit process with the EU.

Whom would you trust less to deal with budgets and immigration? O’Toole may not be that different from Trudeau but he is a safer pair of hands. On the purely personal side, I’d say we’d see fewer unnecessary scandals with him as well.

I’d prefer a new day to celebrate the sacrifice of our veterans that lacked the symbolism of WWI, that absurd, amoral clash of European empires. When I think of Flanders fields, poppies and all that, these lines written by Wilfred Owen, a soldier killed just seven days before November 11, 1918, come to mind: Dulce et Decorum Est Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs, And towards our distant rest began to trudge. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots, But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of gas-shells dropping softly behind. Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time, But someone still was yelling out and stumbling And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime.— Dim through the misty panes and thick green light, As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. In all my dreams before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,— My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori.

RIght-wing is in the eye of the beholder. I would take a mainstream Canadian view on where it is. As for differences In policy in 2019, I see quite a few here, starting with budget deficits which are a non-trivial matter as we may find out in this country soon enough: https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/elections/federal/2019/party-platforms/ No serious party is going to run on a Bernier-style policy platform in Canada because the votes are simply not there, as was recently demonstrated. Whom would you prefer: Trudeau or O’Toole? That’s the choice you will have to make. Yes, immigration is a big issue across the West and should be a concern for all parties and factions within parties these days - even US Democrats will be looking at it again in light of theIr poor congressional results - but Trump has done a lot more than build on reasonable worries about illegal immigration and even the scale of legal immigration. Some of the ‘good people’ he refused to disown in Charlottesville were chanting “Jews will not replace us”, a bizarre preoccupation of some white nativists. He constantly panders to these extremists and that is extremely dangerous in a multiracial society. The US does need immigration reform and such legislation would require require bipartisan support which he didn’t work to achieve.

The political marketplace is what it is. If you want to try and sell a platform way to the right, prepare for nobody to buy it. I suspect there may be room for deep right populist, Trumpian ideas, e.g. anti-immgration, anti-free trade, but out-and-out libertarianism isn’t going to fly. Despite flirting with the Christian crowd during the leadership contest, O’Toole sounds reasonable again, closer to the traditional Chrétienist centre of Candian politics than Trudeau, more concerned about deficits and reassuringly dull. I would consider voting for him.

I’m not defending Canada’s treatment of indigenous nations.

Looks like more divided government is in store south of the border. That’s just not a good way to run things in a hyper-partisan era. The British system is better. The lower house should choose the head of government and that person should not be the head of state.

The Russians were keen to flog Alaska to anyone but the Brits. That’s different from an invasion. We can’t know what would have happened but looking at America’s constant expansion before the Civil War it’s reasonable to assume more pretexts for war with neighbouring countries would have been found.

And the US was going to 'liberate' BNA? People from all three traditions North of the border could already see what a crock that was. The Civil War stopped the relentless expansion of the US across North America and may well have saved Canada.

1812 showed what a lie that was. Even your reference to the 'new sheriff in town' gives the game way. The Yanks encountered resistance north of the border because everyone could see what they had already become, a dangerous nation.

I haven’t a clue about the historical details but I would tend to blame crusty old men like myself more than the younger ones for WWI. Its sequel was perhaps different, harder to avoid, given what the Nazis had in store for the world?

Is this thread about the origin of WWI? The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, unstable empires, dangerous alliances...that stuff?

The challenges plastic poses are only beginning to be understood, e.g. microplastics.

Here’s some excellent news...for the Sackler family - a fine and they’re off scot-free: Like our banking chums at HSBC who laundered hundreds of millions for the Mexican cartels, the Sacklers are going to get a slap on the wrist with no prison time.

Here's an article on a Métis doctor who went back to a low carb traditional diet and saw dramatic results: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/checkup/what-s-the-best-way-to-tackle-canada-s-weight-problem-1.4558944/revisiting-my-big-fat-diet-how-a-métis-doctor-lost-weight-with-a-traditional-indigenous-diet-1.4562134

When one sees obese parents and children together, the situation may not be simply about bad parenting. Some research suggests that obesity is largely caused by an inherited vulnerability to environmental factors. The real wonder is how some people manage to stay thin despite the ubiquity of high calorie food today but they do, again partly due to genetic factors: "This research shows for the first time that healthy thin people are generally thin because they have a lower burden of genes that increase a person's chances of being overweight and not because they are morally superior, as some people like to suggest," says Professor Farooqi. "It's easy to rush to judgement and criticise people for their weight, but the science shows that things are far more complex. We have far less control over our weight than we might wish to think." https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/01/190124141538.htm Some crucial determinants of how fat we get lie in the neurohormonal control of appetite which is an intricate system only partially understood.

Here’s an opinion on the safety of the White House under Trump: I wonder what crazed, preening Marxist came up with this breathtakingly false slander?

So an elderly geezer with a potentially contagious disease and fluctuating oxygen levels, recently started on multiple powerful new meds including steroids, absconds from his hospital bed, arrives home and promptly takes off his mask for a photo-op. Oh yes, and he’s the US president with his finger on the nuclear button.

Same knowledge base here. What does strike me is the weariness of the two sides at the lower levels that do the suffering. Many Azeris are sceptical of this war, seeing it as an attempt by a ruthless autocrat to divert attention from an economy in serious trouble. To their credit, neither side seems motivated by religious zealotry but reports that Erdoğan has sent Syrian rebel fighters to the front are disturbing if true.

The ME and Caucasus throw up strange teams. This time it's Israel and Turkey versus Russia and Iran. As for the core players, compromise is the only sensible path. When the dust settles in the mountains and everyone else has moved on, they'll still be stuck with each other.

Just to go even more off-topic for a moment, here's an alarming development: https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/armenia-recalls-ambassador-from-israel-over-arms-sales-to-azerbaijan-1.9202125 If true, that's a risky favour for Azerbaijan against an embattled Christian country and could cause problems in Washington...when they can notice what's going on in the world again.

A small war has broken out on Iran’s border between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the Armenian-majority enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. Turkey is openly supporting Azerbaijan whereas Armenia’s allies are more discreet. Russia may be arming both sides, small Soviet republics in the good old days, but has closer ties with Armenia historically. The other ally may come as a surprise to some. Iran supported Armenia in the original N-G war of 1988-1994 and is now denying, i.e. confirming, that trucks passing into Armenia are bringing arms. Azerbaijan has developed a close relationship with Israel. Quite the pickle.