SpankyMcFarland

Croatia looked exhausted and beaten in the first half and then mysteriously came alive in the second. They were the more skillful team and deserved to win. Let’s hope they have some energy left for the final. They will need it to stop the likes of Mbappe.

I don't have to go back that far, of course. One of the 20'th century's greatest writers in English, Vladimir Nabokov, was a reluctant exile from Russia and, in the present day, any country would be proud to have produced a mathematician of Grigori Perelman's stature. Anybody who has major surgery will probably benefit from stapling technology pioneered in the Soviet Union and orthopaedic limb lengthening was entirely developed there: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavriil_Ilizarov The 19'th century was picked merely as an example to show what Russia could do with a modest amount of feeedom - in one hundred years produce a body of literature to rival that of France and better classical music than Britain ever managed. Its military and technological achievements even under communism were impressive - Zhukov was probably the best general the Allies had and the space program was an incredible achievement - but other areas inevitably suffered. Russia is indeed far poorer than Canada at the moment but that's testament to its deplorable political and administrative class. There's no reason why such a situation should be permanent any more than Eastern Europe was doomed to poverty forever. Young Russians are waking up to their plight and asking why they have to emigrate to be as successful as Sergey Brin.

I expect Croatia to beat Russia despite the home advantage and I would definitely fancy their chances against England or Sweden if they can field their current team. Modric is a superb midfielder and the team plays with great fluency as well as being teak tough. England may well be the betting favourites but hopeful supporters play a role there. For that reason, they have been a good team to bet against for fifty years.

The one-off format gives weak teams like England, Sweden or even Russia a chance. Any of them could win the World Cup even though they’d be handily beaten (in my opinion) by France or Belgium in a seven game series. None of them have a guy like Kevin De Bruyne in their squad. Tested against Brazil, he came out on top. Hazard and Courtois were also exceptional.

Rather than get ourselves trapped in ‘we good, you bad’ arguments, let’s make a few predictions. I predict a 1.1 state solution whereby Israel will gradually increase its control of the West Bank, isolating Arab enclaves and creating ever more facts on the ground around them without increasing the number of Arab voters in the Israeli state. There will be no Palestinian state. That’s what I see for 2028.

Communism and authoritarianism tend to do that. Look at the 19’th century, a blizzard of achievement especially in literature and music from almost a standing start. Compare with Canada’s sparse collection of genuine stars in these areas. Then there’s chess as well and the Periodic Table. There’s no reason why Russians shouldn’t be as prosperous as Canadians. Indeed every Russian should be indignant about this wealth gap on a daily basis.

Russia has an extraordinary history of cultural, scientific and technological achievement and there’s no reason why Russians couldn’t enjoy a standard of living similar to Europeans or Canadians if they had better political institutions. As Nemtsov observed (before he was shot), corruption is a problem even in Sweden but in Russia it’s the system. Xenophobia and military conflicts are used to distract attention from the dishonesty and incompetence of those in charge.

I dont think they would be. They sound even worse than the Iraqi National Congress. Of course, I’m just guessing. I’ve never been to Iran and have little knowledge of it at all.

The EU manages free trade between 28 countries. North America can’t cope with three.

Would MEK be acceptable to most Iranians and create a democratic state?

I see Mr. Harper is getting involved: https://nationalpost.com/news/stephen-harper-criticized-for-speaking-at-anti-iran-event-hosted-by-cult-former-terrorist-group Many years ago, I worked with a person who said he was a member of the Rajavi family. He was an ER physician at the time. Disappointed by the low level of violent injuries he was seeing, he soon left us.

A sunset clause would make the deal unworkable for Canada. Sensible US free traders agree with that too. Just google and find out.

Please. Enough of the nonsense. Supply management is a small part of this trade dispute.

I have no dog in the supply management fight other than to say that the US has no business lecturing us about it when they massively subsidize their own agricultural sector. The system has flaws but it's our issue to discuss, and when it is discussed what I generally see are two parallel tracks where everything from the facts up is disputed.

I think VAR has been a big improvement and has delivered justice several times already e.g. Spain's second goal. Let's hope it will be used to catch a few of the rascals pretending to have been fouled. As to who will win - probably not the best team. So much depends on luck in this format.

In a World Cup scenario, where the top players are trying to readjust after big club seasons, you always have a chance. Spain are not quite the great team they were and will be thanking their lucky stars they don't have to face Uruguay next. Too many geezers. They scraped a draw today. Well done Morocco and Iran for giving it everything.

Iran should have gone for the win from the start. They had some excellent chances when they went one down. Spain’s big stars still look tired. Must say I was rooting for Morocco in the other Iberian match. Ronaldo excepted, Portugal are a dreary, negative team and a poor ad for soccer esp. after winning the European Championship. I hope they don’t make the last four.

A shock defeat for Germany today. They were unlucky with their shots but gave a poor display for defending champions. Now they have a big struggle to qualify.

For decades, the Big Four were Brazil, Germany, Argentina and Italy. In recent years, France and then Spain made it to the top table and, of course, Italy aren't even there this time. Germany are always hard to beat even without a superstar striker and Brazil are looking pretty good. Of the dark horses, I would tip Belgium and Portugal for a good run.

Nike's action against the Iranian soccer team was cowardly and unnecessary and sent the wrong message to the people of Iran. Wherever possible, sport should not be mixed with politics. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/global-opinions/wp/2018/06/15/nike-tells-irans-world-cup-team-to-find-other-shoes/?utm_term=.ad9187fa1661 And they're called boots BTW.

Supply manangement has some virtues. At least it doesn’t flood the world market with excess product which is what subsidies tend to do. I have never met anyone who supports our Canadian telecom cartel. There’s nothing cultural worth preserving there.

Defending the Trump team in Canada may get tougher for a while after their many recent remarks about us. Supply management has its flaws but it’s not the worst way of supporting domestic producers. In related news, I see Bernier got the boot yesterday: https://globalnews.ca/news/4270595/andrew-scheer-removes-maxime-bernier-cabinet/ Doug Ford is showing a bit of shrewdness on this issue.

I never said that. I merely talked about the regime’s amnesia. China remains an awful place for dissidents. Pointing to its economic or military power as reasons to trade with it would appear to be a might is right argument. I buy Chinese stuff all the time. My point is that there is a continuum of despotism out there and singling out one tyrannical country for trade sanctions seems a little arbitrary.

There is a serious problem when crimes committed on an enormous scale are not acknowledged by the country they occurred in. China remains an authoritarian dictatorship run by one man for the foreseeable future and is fully capable of mass slaughter again if that is required. Buying goods from China supports that awful regime.

Here’s the estimate for one episode alone: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/maos-great-leap-forward-killed-45-million-in-four-years-2081630.html Communist regimes are just better at killing. Per capita, the Chi-Com crimes may look less atrocious given the size of China but in terms of sheer numbers you’re not going to win this slaughter contest.