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SpankyMcFarland

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Everything posted by SpankyMcFarland

  1. No, it’s Ukraine’s choice to be free and fight on for now. If they want a deal then we are in a different situation. Remember that we are more than a century from this kind of imperial thinking across Europe where everything was determined by a handful of well-dressed megalomaniacs. Disputes between states in Western Europe aren’t sorted out by wars any more.
  2. And what credibility would such a deal have? Putin would sign a deal, then press on, perhaps at first with cyber warfare and terrorism. He’s not going to stop if he thinks he can steal more.
  3. Many people who voted for Brexit now regret what they did. Such feelings even have a rather ugly name: https://www.statista.com/statistics/987347/brexit-opinion-poll/ And immigration remains a problem. https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/25/uk/uk-net-migration-figures-gbr-intl/index.html Britain still has to negotiate trade deals but as one medium-sized country that’s turning out to be far more difficult than predicted by Brexiteers all those years ago. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-uk-trade-cheese-1.7094817 https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/dec/18/joe-biden-signals-he-has-no-interest-in-signing-us-uk-trade-agreement It is said that no man is an island. Well, it turns out that no island is an island either. Any country that desires a standard of living ahead of North Korea’s needs good relationships with other countries. Absolute sovereignty does not exist. Leaving a bloc which contained so many major trading partners was a rash decision opposed in two of the UK’s non-sovereign ‘countries’, more like provinces, Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well as London whose wealth sustains the whole shebang. Such internal divisions make the future of the UK itself less certain. As Andrew Coyne noted recently, many european countries have surpassed Canada’s GDP per capita. They certainly don’t have to depend on intergenerational wealth to live like us. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-canada-is-no-longer-one-of-the-richest-nations-on-earth-country-after/ And as for social mobility by country… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Social_Mobility_Index
  4. Let’s be fair to Democrats. They also do their bit to help the rich. Over the years both parties have found ways to ease the path for friends and donors. And one particularly clever scheme has been perfected by our old friends at the big accounting outfits - if you don’t like the tax rules, change them. From the NYT. The largest U.S. accounting firms have perfected a remarkably effective behind-the-scenes system to promote their interests in Washington. Their tax lawyers take senior jobs at the Treasury Department, where they write policies that are frequently favorable to their former corporate clients, often with the expectation that they will soon return to their old employers. The firms welcome them back with loftier titles and higher pay, according to public records reviewed by The New York Times and interviews with current and former government and industry officials. It was funny to see Republicans vocally denying last night that they will try to renew Trump’s tax breaks for the rich. With Democrats you get high taxes and high spending; with Republicans these days it’s low taxes and high spending.
  5. Both parties have failed. As I pointed out, both Democrats and Republicans employ vast numbers of illegals. Ordinary Americans prefer not to think this matter through. While they may not want to compete with illegals in their own industry, they prefer not to consider their effect on the price of tomatoes or of all the guys who go to work at 4am to keep America clean, not to mention all those nannies and gardeners who come in handy. A radical solution to illegal immigration is very unlikely to happen. So there is an acceptable level of illegality in this matter?
  6. I’m sceptical about arguments regarding the unique evil of a particular group or nation. They’re usually in some way opposed to us for a start. Secondly, do they decide to be evil? That would require free will to exist and I’m afraid the evidence is making the room for free will in any decision ever smaller despite our powerful subjective experience of it.
  7. Everything? So you don’t believe in threatening the employers of illegal workers with jail time? Believe me, over time would have a definite effect on the flow of migrants into the country.
  8. Are the following statements true or false: 1. Many Republican voters and donors to the Republican Party hire illegal workers. 2. The US agricultural sector is currently dependent on illegal workers. Immigration reform has to be realistic and recognize the magnitude of the problem. If Republicans could get everything they wanted tomorrow on immigration there’s no way they would take it because sending everybody home would crash the economy. As far as I can see Republicans are happier complaining about the problem than trying to solve it. Like so many Americans they can’t do without illegals.
  9. I think both parties need to be honest on the subject. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/5-questions-about-president-trumps-use-of-undocumented-workers/2019/12/04/29439928-16a2-11ea-a659-7d69641c6ff7_story.html Why reject a bipartisan bill on immigration? Yes, the law should be obeyed but America has become dependent on work by illegal migrants. Just imagine what would happen to the hospitals etc. down there, not to mention the fruit and vegetables in our stores in Canada, if they were all abruptly sent home one day. One key change would be to punish those who employ illegals. Otherwise America shows it is not serious about this.
  10. Let’s get real here. Why don’t Republicans go after the major employers of illegal migrants in America, e.g. farmers, builders, hoteliers etc.? Might it be because many of them are Republicans too? https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2022/07/21/tim-michels-troubles-expose-republican-hypocrisy-on-immigration/
  11. Is our planet carbon-based? Life is based on carbon but it’s not that abundant in the earth’s crust. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abundance_of_elements_in_Earth's_crust
  12. Insightful, my painful backside, just a bunch of balloons yelling at each other.
  13. Where did you learn this retro vocabulary about Catholics? These days, people with any education in Scotland would be embarrassed by you.
  14. Didn’t I just say I have an open mind about this? Far brighter people than me know about the Wuhan lab and they will go wherever the evidence leads but it has be hard and fast. The actual molecular data etc. doesn’t point either way so far. When it changes, I will change my opinion. Whatever the outcome, be it from a lab, a wet market or something else, the PRC has been highly obstructive to finding the truth.
  15. Perception is not reality. If people stop taking vaccines, let me assure you these plagues will reappear. And what about HPV vaccines? They have the potential to virtually eliminate cervical cancer and its precursors which are a significant threat to the health of young women right now. BTW vaccination played a modest role in the 20’th century decline of TB.
  16. The origin of Covid has been an open question since it appeared. I think it remains so. BTW the alternative theory of wet market origin does not reflect well on the Chinese government either.
  17. So what are the dangers of these childhood vaccines? What is the risk of death or serious illness per million vaccinated? And how does that compare to the risk of not being vaccinated?
  18. It doesn’t assume that but in bilateral relations it is often the case. Us talking to the Americans is not like Belgium doing a deal with the Netherlands because the US is a superpower with an economy that dwarfs ours.
  19. I was talking about his entire career in the quote there. It is impressive to me that a private citizen nearing 80 mark and long out of a major political post would still be as engaged as this. Fortunately, up here we’ve learned to put our leaders out to grass quite a bit before that. Re: NAFTA, like any weaker partner in (effectively) bilateral negotiations we can only do our best to get what we can. That’s how it has always been here, and everywhere else in the world. I think we’ve played a bad hand well.
  20. And then there was the after-sales work long after the warranty ran out, maintaining NAFTA: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/us-politics/article-mulroney-worked-to-defend-nafta-legacy-long-after-leaving-office/ Of this man it could be said, ‘I have done the state some service, and they know't’.
  21. Here is a typical Mulroney quip: Of the criticisms that could be leveled against him, not being conservative (as in pro-free market) enough would be a rare one: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/commentary/article-brian-mulroney-canadas-unabashed-champion-of-free-enterprise/?utm_source=infobox&utm_medium=inarticle&utm_campaign=mulroneyinfobox
  22. Political campaigns inevitably focus on unpopular policies and inconsistency in these matters is not a prerogative of any political faction. Look at the shambles of our military procurement. I’m grateful that both Mulroney initiatives have survived to this day.
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