SpankyMcFarland
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Posts posted by SpankyMcFarland
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They’re a diverse set of countries that have had their run-ins with the US over the years - more substance in their enmities than in their love, to paraphrase Mr. Yeats. If they were able to sink their many differences they would be a serious force in geopolitics. For the ME nations, keeping in with two of their major customers and neighbours seems like a prudent move, albeit a worrying one for the West. What will the new acronym be?
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13 hours ago, Moonbox said:
Longer history of progress? It took Japan less than a century to go from the Shogunate to being able to humiliate Imperial Russia and China. China's progress feels very familiar, it just happened later.
Certainly there are parallels - with the benefit of hindsight I perhaps should have mentioned them - but also differences. At the time of its defeat, Russia was a developing nation and the war occurred at the very edge of its empire where it had serious logistical challenges. As a result of these failures, Russia reformed the army and by the time WWI happened its speed of mobilization surprised the Germans. Imperial China was in no position to defend itself against an industrializing power like Japan so defeating it was not a great achievement.
Japan in the Thirties was an aggressively expansionist dictatorship but one which lacked the manufacturing base and sheer scale to seriously challenge the US as the subsequent war showed. America was even able to keep Russia supplied while defeating Japan. China today should be more frightening to us, posing a bigger threat to the existing order than Japan ever did. I think it’s correct to say that Japan has never had close to 20% of the world’s population?
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2 hours ago, Moonbox said:
Umm...Japan?
Yes, one of the closer peers but a smaller country with a longer history of progress. I can recall when China’s GDP per capita was similar to that of many African states.
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On 1/17/2023 at 2:23 PM, Aristides said:
Iceland is great but expensive. Like Newfoundland and Scotland, you don't go there for the weather.
If you go, try the Hakarl.
This time last year in NL, I met a couple from Joshua Tree, California who were escaping the heat of their hometown. Expect to see more of that in our very interesting global future.
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On 6/1/2023 at 9:12 PM, Mako said:
Kennedy has a better chance against Trump than Biden.
Show me a serious pundit who believes that. Kennedy talks dangerous nonsense about vaccines, nonsense that could kill children, and has no record in the major leagues of politics, management or anywhere else. The presidency shouldn’t be a job just anybody considers themselves eligible for. A political apprenticeship in Congress, a governor’s mansion or as a mayor of a major city should be the minimum political experience necessary.
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On 8/19/2023 at 11:58 PM, Aristides said:
These are short-term events. China led the world in many areas for centuries. We would be foolish to think this couldn’t happen again, especially given its extraordinary rise in the last few decades, an event for which one struggles to find parallels in human history. The big question really is what will China’s influence on the rest of us look like in the future? If that country continues on its dreadful totalitarian path, we should expect the cold hand of the Central Committee on many collars in many countries. The immediate worry, of course, is Taiwan. Let’s hope Putin’s current difficulties will cause hesitation there.
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On 8/16/2023 at 9:50 AM, Nationalist said:
Ya Europe is more interested...in the flood of Ukrainian refugees living off their work and tax funds.
But who caused that flood of refugees? Let’s be crystal clear on that question before we start blaming victims.
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Should have put money on Spain! They were always going to dominate possession, the only question being whether they would remember to score as well. Which they did.
Women’s soccer may be transitioning to the serious soccer countries now.
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20 hours ago, I am Groot said:
Nobody cares what the poor have to say. The Liberals and NDP barely even care what blue collar workers have to say. Only the Tories pay any attention to them.
Blue collar types, and the poor, don't have the right lingo down pat. They don't understand or even approve of intersectionality or critical race theory and disapprove of the the government giving preference to gays or visible minorities ahead of them for jobs and grants and other programs. They are our 'deplorables' because they don't approve of the progressive's obsession with identity politics and aren't willing to bow their heads in shame for the supposed crimes of their ancestors.
Well, I did use the word ‘should’ there.
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On 8/18/2023 at 1:16 PM, I am Groot said:
What do you think of the population estimates for the Liberal's Century Initiative?
This includes increasing the population of megaregions. It suggests a population increase Greater Toronto Area from 8.8 to 33.5 million, the Greater Montreal region from 4.4 to 12.2 million, the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor from 2.8 to 15.5 million, the Greater Vancouver region from 3.3 to 11.9 million, the National Capital Region from 1.4 to 4.8 million, the Southwestern Ontario region from 1.2 to 2 million, and the Winnipeg Metropolitan Region from 800,000 to 1.7 million.
Let me say once again: those most negatively affected by immigration, in our country the poorer inhabitants of large cities, should have the biggest say on the numbers involved. Across the Western world, we have seen what happens when this isn’t the case.
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On 8/18/2023 at 3:00 AM, CdnFox said:
It was your claim. YOU were the one who said that density is key - it is up to YOU to explain why. It is not up to me to defend your position. I clearly explained why it wasn't - it's up to you to defend your claim that it was.
As to the information - You're turning into yet another disgusting left wing !diot who prefers dishonestly to discussion. What a shame. I mean the first question is answered in the article i posted for this thread. It's got lots of info on how we're doing for housing. But you're going to pretend i didn't post anything about how we're doing for housing and ask i look it up for you. Even tho its what the thread is about. Couldn't even wait till a new thread to pretend i hadn't posted the info.
And then i've given you very specific information about what is 'unique' - more than enough for you to do your own research in 5 seconds. But rather than discuss the points you're going to demand i do more research for you. And then more and more and more - we know how this game works. You're as bad as @Moonbox, all you left wing degenerates do the same thing and refuse to actually address the issues at hand. Sealioning is all you care about.
Is there not a single honest left winger anymore? Are you ALL like this now? Not one of you cares about discussing the issues honestly? Man, that's pathetic.
Is this some sort of avant-garde art piece satirizing trolling? You’re getting yourself all excited and that’s not good for anybody. Of course, any proper socialist would not regard me as a kindred spirit at all and in no European country would I be considered left-wing either. Only in the ‘redder’ parts of the US and few battier corners up here, e.g. the Toronto Sun readership, could I seen as relatively left-wing.And on density, it is one well-recognized factor to be considered in the mix that will help us ease our problems. Its mention shouldn’t cause hysteria. This is a challenge all Canadians are involved in one way or the other, whether they live in large urban centres themselves or not. The more we take politics out of the discussion, the quicker the progress we will make. I’m happy to wait until this thread has cooled down and we can discuss these matters in a useful fashion.
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On 8/16/2023 at 8:32 PM, CdnFox said:
So are you admitting you can't answer the question about why density is a big part of the solution? LOL - Spanky! C'mon bud, step it up
As to Canada there are quite a number of unique issues. First - for the last 10 years we've been slowing down building in relation to population growth significantly - and it wasn't great before that. This is due to a number of factors but what it boils down to is that the way the system is designed at this point, it seriously punishes developers from building enough homes in advance of need. Construction will ALWAYS trail need . That's not the way it is in most countries.And that creates problem number 2 - we're SEVERELY behind in the number of homes we need. While other countries kept up we are at the bottom of the list in homes to population, so at this point just to get back to where others are and get on solid footing we need about 1 million MORE homes than we usually build AND we need to increase the number of homes we build.
The liberals knew this was an issue in 2015 - they ran on fixing it, it was part of their platform. It's been noted that since 2016 we've built 100 thousand homes per year FEWER than the MINIMUM amount needed to keep the problem from getting worse.
We also have challenges that are unique to canada for municiple provincial federal roles that must be addressed.
But the number one issue is that in the last half decade immigration has gone bonkers and is about to go mega-bonkers. Canada has always had a world leading immigration rate but trueau is sending that skyward.
So we- unlike most others - were not building enough homes already. NOW we're radically increasing the number of homes we need. That is a uniquely Canadian issue.
There are other unique to canada factors but that should start you off.
I'm very disappointed you chickened out over defending the density thing
Hey, this is your thread. It’s up to you to keep it going and provide resilient data for it. I’m happy to emphasize I’ve no expertise here. Thus I’d be grateful for some references for what you are saying there, first to show what Canada is doing on housing units (which shouldn’t be hard), but secondly to demonstrate this ‘uniqueness’ angle. Let’s first talk about the number of housing units built in Canada by year since 2000 as a percentage of total housing stock. Do you think Canada is the only country with a recent problem housing people in the face of immigration and a rising total population?And on density of units in large cities, what are you claiming exactly?
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4 hours ago, CdnFox said:
It's the kind of thing people tend to parrot without understanding the math. But- perhaps you've studied it more than most, explain to me why it is a substantial part of the problem and show your math. Obviously it's going to be a little general but you should be able to demonstrate where this would solve anything.
What is unique about Canada’s housing problem? And if there are unusual factors, there are also surely many that are seen elsewhere? I have no particular expertise in this area but I know what we’re doing isn’t working.
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1 hour ago, CdnFox said:
That is the weakest and most loser - oriented reply you can offer. There is NOTHING about any other country that's causing this in Canada. This is entirely a home made issue and trying to excuse it like that is mildly disgusting.
Quite an animated response. Does no other country have similar problems at the moment? Would a Conservative government have completely avoided this problem? 100%?
1 hour ago, CdnFox said:densities are already pretty high. If you go higher it means building very tall buildings - which is vastly more expensive. It costs about the same to build a 500 sq ft apartment in a high rise as a 1000 sq foot townhouse or apartment in a low rise. So after a certain point density just drives costs up. Cities love it because higher prices means higher tax revenues.
So no - density really isn't the solution. Especially in a country that is closer to the bottom end of people per sq ft.
Greater density is part of the solution along with proper mass transit systems etc.etc.. Toronto’s rail and subway system is rudimentary. And look at Calgary. The LRT started well and then expansion ground to a halt.
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Buzzin’ - how English players describe their feelings tonight. What a game against Oz. Spain aren’t as impressive at heading or running but they excel at passing. The final should be quite the contrast in styles - possession football versus a more direct approach.
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In fairness, these headlines are transferable to many countries at the moment. We need greater population density in Canadian cities. The ranch-style house and large garden are no longer fit for purpose in our suburbs. The nimby geezers will have to be taken on and that calls for rare political bravery.
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52 minutes ago, eyeball said:
Sure, it looks like lots of people in Ontario are quite pissed off at the spectacle of lobbyists getting behind closed doors with a politician to cook up a sweet deal for themselves.
But like you say, they're probably just jealous it wasn't them.
Of course, even if that were true it would be irrelevant if actual wrongdoing is discovered. Lobbyists, their backers and politicians are all well aware of lobbying legislation and how to get round it. Unless we are constantly vigilant bad things will happen behind closed doors. That is just human nature.
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4 hours ago, ExFlyer said:
No we don't, it is none of your business what business is doing with government.
Wait a second. It becomes my business if something illegal is being discussed.
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1 minute ago, CdnFox said:
Well - they don't have a choice. There's no party mechanism to remove a sitting prime minister. Basically their entire party system is based on "if you lose an election you're gone, otherwise you're good". They went through this with chretien tho obviously he was no where near as hated.
Their only real choice would be to force an election by voting against him, which they COULD do but thats obviously going to result in many of them losing their seats and why would they. They can pressure him, cajole him, beg with him, bribe him, threaten him... but they couldn't force him. And i think he's determined to stay till the end. Anything could happen and you can't even have a chance to win if you're not in the game, as the saying goes
I think it should be his call. He has earned that right but he really should go as he has become a lightning rod for dissatisfaction about the state of the nation. Even in democracies our leaders get such delusions about themselves.
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35 minutes ago, BeaverFever said:
Yep time for JT to step aside, everyone is tired of him, including his wife. It’s hard to imagine what LPC hsd to gain by keeping him on. He never had any substance anyway, he was never more than an empty spokesmodel that LPC just used for image and PR but that currency is spent
JT has had quite the innings. It’s remarkable how far energy, good looks, a famous name and a brass neck can get one in life. I couldn’t see anything in him at all when he was a humble MP and hoped the astronaut would win but he learned in the top job and greatly exceeded my expectations, such as they were. However, the time has come to disembark from the ship of state as a grim moment looms ahead. Better to leave all that to somebody else. PP looks in good shape for now - he has yet to break his promises.-
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38 minutes ago, BeaverFever said:
So clearly you missed the part of rhe AG report - which I also mentioned in my post - that stated greenbelt land was NOT needed to meet the government’s housing requirements as ample non-greenbelt land is available for development.
Is this non-greenbelt land explicitly described in the report and is it in large pieces suitable for similar development right now?
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Another big thing is increasing the density of our existing developments. There’s way too much sprawl in Toronto and surrounding areas.
It is difficult to explain to foreigners how a basically empty subcontinent is unable to do a better job at this.
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3 minutes ago, ExFlyer said:
Provincial.
Well, the land is there and what is it there for? To be used in the future, when needed. So,a tiny part in 2 separate areas is now needed.
Any govt or administration at any level in this country, from federal to municipal, should have been able to avoid such blindingly obvious pitfalls. I agree we need lots more houses.
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The Republican Classic crowd, like Romney and the Sununus, had something to contribute. Turns out spending is a problem and Putin can’t be trusted. Their successors don’t seem to have the same ambition to manage America efficiently and lead the world. It’s all reactive clickbait.
BRICS admits Saudi Arabia, Iran, UAE, several other nations.
in The Rest of the World
Posted · Edited by SpankyMcFarland
Those two do seem to be working on their relationship of late and a full-on war between them looks less likely than it has for decades. China will be an ever bigger factor in their calculations.
https://www.mei.edu/blog/monday-briefing-saudi-iran-rapprochement-amid-regional-and-global-shifts