SpankyMcFarland

The Sassanid and Byzantine Empires had just fought a devastating war and were in an unusually weak position when the Arabs attacked. Here is one example I'm picking randomly that illustrates the Iranian attitude. There are many more like it: https://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/10/09/170927.html

The shock was far greater for an ancient series of empires that had existed in Iran for well over a thousand years. By comparison, the British Empire was a short-lived global phenomenon which had no deep historic connection to places like India and Africa before it ruled them. The situation with the Arab invasion of Iran would be more like Poland conquering Russia or Wales England. It was a tremendous shock to one of the most advanced nations in the world. There is an aspect here that the Moorish invasion of Spain is not at all similar to.

Childish, petulant remarks will get the headlines if you are foolish enough to make them. The media are obliged to challenge him. It's not personal, Doug. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2018/03/13/doug-ford-sure-disliked-a-lot-of-questions-in-this-cbc-interview_a_23384590/

It's a particular problem in Iran. A great empire was overthrown by a relatively small force of foreigners who brought a new religion with them.

They became fairly keen on it afterwards and the subsequent Persian influence on the other two great Muslim empires in India and Anatolia was profound.

So now we have Rexit. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/photo-essays/2018-03-13/the-rexit-tillerson-is-out This is a new era in US politics.

There's another factor in Canada. Foreign doctors get the jobs Canadians don't want to do in the outback with no residents or colleagues around at night i.e. physicians with the least local knowledge parachuted straight into jobs that require a lot of it. The families are already dubious of a guy whose English isn't perfect and go for the jugular when something bad happens to an elderly relative.

Regarding the original question, the motivations behind choosing one's doctor are absolutely nobody else's business and no reputable journalist should get involved in such a story. As to whether this was racist, my response would be that we humans are all tribally biased and such a tendency must be overcome by each of us. In younger people it is less obvious, thank goodness, because of better education on the matter, but we all have to watch out for it.

Some of them are dodgy which highlights the flawed credentialist approach of the authorities but that sort of analysis cuts both ways. There was a locally trained doctor in my province who was treated so indulgently by our college that the police had to intervene to protect the public. Quite a few years ago, we also had a case of a woman who appeared to have fabricated a story against a foreign doctor that was not believed by police or the hospital but was believed by the college for some reason.

Given the closeness of the referendum vote, you'd think that (Remainer) May would have gone for an ultra-soft Brexit, from half-out to half-in and certainly within the market and customs union. Instead, she ruled that stuff out and made confrontation with Europe inevitable. As a result, the outstanding performer in the U.K. economy, the City, may now be restricted from trading with the EU.

Every nation carries a few strange notions around with itself. The Turks insist on denying their ethnic non-Turkishness and the Iranians remain deeply ambivalent about their Arab neighbours despite adopting their religion.

Ford's considerable task is to stay upright, act normal and avoid unseemly squabbles with journalists.

This is not a good time to be negotiating trade deals with the likes of the US, China and India. The Brexiteers can’t even make up their mind what sort of deal they want from Europe and the clock is ticking.

How in the name of all that’s holy do I get a warning for thread drift and this wacky stuff is allowed?

Let’s not panic yet. This may not be nearly as bad as it sounds. South Africa has had its share of scares before and still survives.

Did I hear Ford saying ‘we’re going to win areas that have never went PC before'? I did: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/doug-ford-toronto-centric-1.457269 How did such a privileged kid end up saying things that? Let’s hope his ability to absorb information has improved over the years.

What country is? I think DT had something to say on this. At least Iran keeps it regional.

Another poster asked about The Crown and I replied. I did not make any error. Usually, my enthusiasm for any information about these people or any parody of them is limited.

It’s hard to tell what Iranians want but I imagine they do not want serious disorder or civil war. Change should be led from within. It will come as the old generation dies off - but over years, not weeks or months.

What country that makes weapons refrains from selling them to despots?

It’s a slow process and we should be careful not to interfere too much a la Russia in the recent US elections. If the reformers are seen as puppets of US interests they will fail.

Just replying to a post which asked about that series.

These steel and aluminum tariffs are a tax on US consumers and hurt America's allies more than her adversaries. Amazing stuff from a Republican president.

Minor quibble: the four provinces referred to above consist of the Maritimes and NL. Together they are called Atlantic Canada.

The much-maligned NHS manages to cover drug costs and it does so more cheaply per person than we do: http://healthydebate.ca/2015/03/topic/pharmacare-2 Our system discriminates against the working poor who aren’t on welfare but don’t have good drug plans at work.