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Everything posted by SpankyMcFarland
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Trudeau invites refugees to Canada, taunts Trump
SpankyMcFarland replied to Argus's topic in Federal Politics in Canada
A foolish move. Twitter is a very dangerous place for politicians. The weekend has been extraordinary already - chaos and confusion caused by Trump as usual - but our PM should say as little as possible until the dust has cleared. -
America under President Trump
SpankyMcFarland replied to betsy's topic in Federal Politics in the United States
I suspect non-citizen foreign medical graduates based in the US (esp. from the seven countries already targeted) will be showing considerably more interest in Canadian posts over the next year. Iranian, Iraqi and Syrian physicians are generally excellent. -
America under President Trump
SpankyMcFarland replied to betsy's topic in Federal Politics in the United States
Platitudes are underrated - too many people trying to be original these days. They are generally inoffensive and often true. -
America under President Trump
SpankyMcFarland replied to betsy's topic in Federal Politics in the United States
You have nothing constructive to offer. -
America under President Trump
SpankyMcFarland replied to betsy's topic in Federal Politics in the United States
Platitudes. Well now. You are perfectly entitled to your opinion. -
America under President Trump
SpankyMcFarland replied to betsy's topic in Federal Politics in the United States
You seem to take a rather dim view of South Asia's capacity for change. My solution involves trade. Prosperity empowers people and makes them more ambitious for their kids. -
A while back somebody asked why the 'obsession' with Trump. I hope they can see why now.
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America under President Trump
SpankyMcFarland replied to betsy's topic in Federal Politics in the United States
I didn't know you cared so much for the huddled masses beyond our shores. BTW what's your plan for helping South Asia? -
America under President Trump
SpankyMcFarland replied to betsy's topic in Federal Politics in the United States
We Canadians cannot compete in that industry any more. We cannot do it cheaply enough. If we try, we will lose our shirts, so to speak. Across South Asia, jobs in such areas as telemarketing and manufacturing are empowering the disadvantaged castes and creating a more meritocratic and just society. Every year, the cars at Dalit meetings increase in number and size. -
America under President Trump
SpankyMcFarland replied to betsy's topic in Federal Politics in the United States
People that poor and uneducated can make good shirts which should be evidence enough for us to get out of the business. -
America under President Trump
SpankyMcFarland replied to betsy's topic in Federal Politics in the United States
Those jobs are good jobs in Bangladesh. Granted we should monitor the safety of sub-contractors there better than we have but clothes can be made far more cheaply there than here. Industries come and go. -
America under President Trump
SpankyMcFarland replied to betsy's topic in Federal Politics in the United States
Chaos, confusion, uncertainty - welcome to the new normal. Not good for business. -
America under President Trump
SpankyMcFarland replied to betsy's topic in Federal Politics in the United States
This ain't 1945 any more. Other countries will respond. It's great news for isolationists and anti-capitalists everywhere. Can you imagine how cocky the US Border boys will be now? -
America under President Trump
SpankyMcFarland replied to betsy's topic in Federal Politics in the United States
Tariffs are a tax on consumers. -
America under President Trump
SpankyMcFarland replied to betsy's topic in Federal Politics in the United States
Hurting the Mexican economy through punitive tariffs will increase the number of people who want to immigrate to the US and, surely to God, one of the best ways to discourage such illegal immigration would be to prosecute the biggest employers of illegals. So Trump is doing something that will tend to increase the supply of illegal immigrants while failing to take an obvious and relatively simple step to fight this flow at the demand end. That wall better be big. -
Black Boxes and Open Data
SpankyMcFarland replied to Michael Hardner's topic in Health, Science and Technology
We are not funding the journals which examine the research and attempt to filter out the dross. Good journals have a lot of moving parts. -
Waterboarding. Is it really that bad?
SpankyMcFarland replied to sharkman's topic in Moral & Ethical Issues
You're going to have to explain that timeline to me there because I am not that familiar with it. On the date of the crime, had there already been a democratic election in Afghanistan turfing the Taliban? -
Ontario's Sunshine List is Out again
SpankyMcFarland replied to Argus's topic in Provincial Politics in Canada
I would not equate universities and hospitals. Your proposal would mean that the boss of the hospital would earn a lot less than some of the doctors he or she is in charge of managing. -
Waterboarding. Is it really that bad?
SpankyMcFarland replied to sharkman's topic in Moral & Ethical Issues
1. I did not say against his will. 2. It is a fact that he was taken to Pakistan and Afghanistan by his family, isn't it? He did not travel there on his own. At what point should Omar Khadr have left his family and come back to Canada? And whom would he have stayed with here if he had? 3. I understand how actions can be taken against persons deemed terrorists in other countries but if you invade a country, that country has the right to call on all residents, citizens or otherwise, to defend it. It is hard to see how actions taken in Afghanistan, sanctioned by the government, against an invading foreign power, can be deemed to be terrorism. There is no pure and simple about it unless we think 'we right, they wrong'. -
Waterboarding. Is it really that bad?
SpankyMcFarland replied to sharkman's topic in Moral & Ethical Issues
I just feel (right or wrongly, no idea) that a young guy like that (not a volunteer, brought to Afghanistan by his family) could more usefully be coaxed to give up intel, given that he might have some trivial detail about somebody in the leadership that nobody would even think of asking. Many of his family WERE fanatics so who knows. -
Waterboarding. Is it really that bad?
SpankyMcFarland replied to sharkman's topic in Moral & Ethical Issues
I do not believe that torture would be the best way to get that kind of info. Khadr was not a hardened fanatic by any stretch of the imagination. You'd want him talking freely, giving up details of OBL's preferences in coffee and other apparent trivia. And do you not think OBL would have moved on by then? -
Waterboarding. Is it really that bad?
SpankyMcFarland replied to sharkman's topic in Moral & Ethical Issues
I would concede there is a case to be made for torture in the ticking bomb scenario (which is why Dershowitz makes it) but I don't see any awareness of the slippery slope here that would give the green light to all sorts of cases. The punishment for breaking the rules would have to be severe. -
Waterboarding. Is it really that bad?
SpankyMcFarland replied to sharkman's topic in Moral & Ethical Issues
The Khadr case is a good example of stupid torture. There was no possibility of a ticking bomb there. -
Waterboarding. Is it really that bad?
SpankyMcFarland replied to sharkman's topic in Moral & Ethical Issues
Unscrupulous interrogators will jump this chasm as often as they can. Once you open up that crack, it will widen rapidly. -
Ontario's Sunshine List is Out again
SpankyMcFarland replied to Argus's topic in Provincial Politics in Canada
You could ask that about CEOs as well. The pool of people willing and able to run a large hospital is small. You're handling bad news publicly all the time. In my own province, we had to recruit from Ontario in at least one instance and offer a better package than the person was already getting.
