SpankyMcFarland

That is true.

Putin will take whatever he can. That’s his mindset. He’s not very bright and he won’t change his thuggish outlook now. The Baltic states are preparing for war, as is Finland. If Trump wins and abandons NATO I fully expect a larger war in Europe started by Putin.

We are talking about the US economy on Planet Earth here, are we?

Actually, Netanyahu has been doing an excellent job of stopping that without any recent help from Hamas although he was friendlier with them once upon a time. He’s dedicated his political life to that cause, as well as taking bribes of course.

I’m not sure how people can claim the economy is worse than it was. By many measures it is improving. One key question - how are you personally doing? - elicits a much more positive response than questions about the economy in general. Most people are not economists and anyone watching Fox News would reasonably think America is in a catastrophically bad state. So the economy is doing quite well. However, Biden’s credibility took a serious whack today with the release of the special counsel’s report. https://apnews.com/article/biden-memory-age-special-counsel-report-doj-f4232bc8316e556ed467185b67c3e0a8 In this century at least, a political system on British lines tends to weed out those no longer hitting it out of the park at the major league level long before they reach Biden or Trump‘s condition. Regular televised debate with peers, under rules where misleading parliament is a serious matter, lets a lot of sunlight in. By contrast, America’s model looks as antiquated and unfit for purpose as its current leaders.

What if we just start by investigating whether incompetence was the cause? That’s far more likely to be the explanation when there is a serious intelligence failure, and there is a substantial body of evidence to back that theory of the matter up. Systems are imperfect. By contrast, conspiracies on this scale are fiendishly difficult to pull off and highly unlikely.

Have you ever described yourself that way to an ordinary British person?

I’m sure I value many of the things you do. I’m grateful we did not become part of the US. Countries can always be improved and should reflect the times they are in.

Then why support the monarchy? Even worse, some foreigner who has no real connection to this country?

There’s a difference between valuing one’s history and being a slave to it.

It is regrettable but you’ll get over it. No doubt you’ll bring the same crusading zeal to every mistake PP makes. The events involved are now half way between us and Confederation. I would rather focus on the problems of today, at home especially and in Ukraine. BTW who has ever bothered to ask whether Soviet vets in this country committed war crimes? Many of their comrades certainly did as they swept across Europe, leaving ruin in their wake.

Mistakes were made, we looked foolish for a moment on the world stage…and then everybody else forgot about Canada again. I want to see fixes for the numerous serious problems we face as a country. We all have some version of that list.

I think there are lot of Chinese students at Waterloo in the science areas. I imagine they’d also be competitive for the staff positions.

My requirements for the head of state position. 1. Lives in Canada. 2. Good health. 3. Good character. 4. Under 75.

Politics is a complex, learned set of skills. If you wander in from the outside to take the top job you are likely to cause mayhem.

Of course, head of state. I suspect he will be obliged to divulge more about his condition before somebody else reveals it.

What democracy anything like our size, apart from another hapless place on the other side of the globe, has an absentee head of state? In addition their deputy here is effectively appointed by the PM. I wish to assure readers that these arrangements don’t keep me awake at night but they seem to be a decidedly odd way of doing things.

Yes that is possible. However, I doubt he would have insisted his core duties will be unaffected if he was facing life-threatening surgery any time soon. And we know it’s not a benign skin lesion because cancer (malignancy) was already described. I would also imagine a low grade malignancy of the skin like basal cell carcinoma would have simply been announced and dealt with. I think we may have to wait a little longer for a visit from our head of state. https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/canadian-diplomat-says-king-charles-could-visit-canada-within-several-months/article_ed1513f2-4f86-542a-9296-10169d3fb8f3.html Isn’t it 14 years now?

The King lies at the heart of a global publicity machine that his family stoke constantly. That’s fine when you’re well but the pressure to tell all will mount inexorably. The press hyenas may say nice things about him generally but they are still hyenas.

It has already been revealed he will be receiving outpatient treatment so I doubt it’s a massive tumour in his colon etc. or they would not have let him out.

What about this guy: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/19/biden-netanyahu-two-state-solution-israel-palestine And this guy: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/01/uk-could-recognise-a-palestinian-state-before-a-two-states-deal-david-cameron

Here is the statement: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-68205659 In the last line, it is claimed that this has been made public ‘to prevent speculation’ but that will not be the case because so many details have been withheld.

King Charles has just been diagnosed with cancer. Apparently, it’s not prostate cancer according to CNN and was discovered incidentally during his recent hospitalization for benign prostatic enlargement. So one might wonder about leukaemia or lung cancer found on routine pre-operative screening with blood tests or a chest radiograph. Let’s hope they give us more details soon to prevent the sort of needless and alarmist speculation I have just indulged in. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/live/2024/feb/05/king-charles-cancer-royal-health-latest-news-updates

I find it curious that none of our resident monarchists have commented on our head of government’s cancer diagnosis yet. Apparently, it’s not prostate cancer according to CNN and was discovered incidentally during his recent hospitalization. So one might wonder about leukaemia or lung cancer. Let’s hope they give us some more details soon.

Russia would have its hands full taking on Austria these days - a full blown invasion of any of those neutral countries is highly unlikely. However, there is concern with recent Russian naval activity off the coast of Ireland where many cables and pipelines run. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468294220300605 https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/feb/04/russia-china-iran-could-target-uk-irish-backdoor-thinktank-warns