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SpankyMcFarland

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Everything posted by SpankyMcFarland

  1. It's a tax on new houses. People down south will figure that out at some point. Has Trump even got his nominee for trade, Lighthizer, appointed yet? That would be a start.
  2. Having a massive majority may help her force through the deal she'll be forced to take from the EU. It won't impress Brussels much.
  3. Trudeau deserves credit for freely telling a story that many could have told. I hope it is no revelation to anybody here that the rich and powerful get to bend the law a lot more than the poor. I did not say it is okay and neither did JT. His candour is refreshing. And we are not talking about murder but possession of a drug considerably less dangerous than alcohol by any reasonable measure.
  4. How many houses in the US are made primarily of tin or aluminum? Blocks are very common in Europe.
  5. An awful lot of people have got away with it.
  6. Is somebody can point me to a private radio network anywhere that is better than the BBC, I'd be all ears.
  7. Most people aren't paid to be rude - that's what made him a star - and Fox just signed a new contract with him for some strange reason.
  8. Trump needs a fight with somebody, he has to be nice to the Chinese to stop NK, the wall has stalled, so who better than Canada? The milk thing goes down well in the border states and the lumber producers are better organized than the poor yobs who are going to pay more for their houses. It's a political win in Trumpland.
  9. A LOT of people have gone down a similar route as the Trudeaus over the years, a lot of charges have been dropped or never made, which I think is the point of the story, and he deserves credit for his honesty. Possession of cannabis for personal use should not ruin any young person's life when so many young people do it.
  10. The evidence has a way of seeping in over time, though. For example, in places like France and Sweden the ground is definitely shifting.
  11. If you approach any debate in the right spirit you can discuss things amicably, almost (there are exceptions) irrespective of your beliefs.
  12. I've seen a lot more dog-to-dog aggression from 'pit bull' type breeds than dog-to-human. They don't fix their stare on you like Shepherds do. That's been my experience. We had to put down a Shepherd because he attacked a relative - he would have killed him if he hadn't been able to get away.
  13. For England, one place to start: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Catholic_martyrs_of_the_English_Reformation Many of these people were hanged, drawn and quartered. For Ireland, well, start anywhere. British policy was anti-Catholic from the Reformation on. The Reformation did come to all of Ireland and they had an established Anglican Church that Catholic farmers had to pay tithes to until 1871: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Church_Act_1869
  14. May is not an impressive campaigner and she'll be less popular when the real haggling starts with Europe. That she has chosen a shortened campaign with no TV debates says a lot. Remainers should select the most viable pro-Europe candidate in their constituency which might be LibDem, Labour or even Conservative in a few places. Inevitably, though, the Remain vote will be fractured and, given the distortions of FPTP, May could end up with some preposterous number of MPs. I don't think the SNP will become the official opposition but it can't be completely ruled out right now.
  15. To talk of 'liberals' like this is misleading. Only a few people at either end of the spectrum will show such a contrast in values. I would consider myself a liberal but I would not have an unconditional open door attitude to immigration
  16. Followers of Luther and Calvin. Not Luther and Calvin. So there were no Catholics killed in Europe's religious wars? Catholics were never persecuted in Britain and Ireland? This is what religion can do to people if you take it too literally.
  17. We are going to rehash the Reformation debate here. I don't know who these true biblical sects are. Apart from the Quakers, I can't think of anyone else who has set a really good example. The followers of Luther and Calvin were just as happy to kill heretics as the Catholics were. Anyone who takes an ancient religious book literally is bonkers. The Jews have lots of commentaries on what was 'really' meant in the scripture and that's how they all should be read.
  18. Optimism also plays a role. Conservatives tend to be gloomier, glass half empty types - they would perhaps say more realistic.
  19. She's called it because she can win big. Few politicians can resist that, especially one as uninspiring as May. Down the road, she won't look so good after some painful compromises with the EU. It will make her look stronger in Britain but it won't affect the negotiations very much.
  20. Left and right is one political axis; globalist and nativist is another. Many working class people are both left-wing and anti-immigration. In France, the FN is not laissez faire capitalist by any means. A discussion on immigration is possible with most people by agreeing on what we don't want to see and restricting the range of debate a bit. However, there are those who believe there is no such thing as too many immigrants and discussion with them is rarely productive.
  21. The British, the French, the First Nations - they all did their bit to stop the American invasion.
  22. I'm a lot happier celebrating the heroes of 1812 who united to save Canada from oblivion.
  23. It was certainly an event of firsts but the moral landscape was a lot foggier than WWII. We supported our team is about it really and that often has to be enough of a reason. You can't say Britain, France and Russia really looked out for the rights of small nations or treated the subjects of their Empires better than the Germans and Austrians did theirs. My grandfather was in the Inns of Court regiment but had the great good fortune to start training in October 1918.
  24. This is a pitch I have not seen before: http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/boring-gets-the-job-done-tory-candidate-andrew-saxton-releases-defiantly-pro-boring-youtube-video But there's something Canadian about it. Who would object to Saxton in the job?
  25. How does this topic have anything to do with Canada or Justin Trudeau? Talk about thread derailment.
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