SpankyMcFarland

Neither side will listen to us if we try to get involved so why bother? The Chrétien method seems sensible: say something incomprehensible and leave it at that.

Is there a BC election thread here that actually tries to report what’s going on, including details that wouldn’t necessarily be more widely known beyond the province?

Most developed countries experienced peak inflation during Covid and are recovering but prices are still up, of course. Go to Europe and you’ll hear people complaining about the price of everything there as well. https://www.visualcapitalist.com/g20-inflation-rates-feb-2024-vs-covid-peak/

Who has ever listened in Russia to what a Canadian PM has to say? We can reassure ourselves on that score.

I think it might be reasonable to limit the golf as much as possible until after the election. Apparently, it was a late addition to his schedule. It adds a security problem that is in no way essential or election-related.

For some reason the obvious answer to inflation - it’s a global problem after Covid in peer countries and the US is managing better than most - is considered unacceptable. So when asked about the economy, Harris went off on a tangent that included crowd size and wouldn’t you know poor old Donnie jumps right into that trap. I don’t listen to conservatives much but the ones I would pay attention to, eg at National Review, were furious at Trump and felt he missed many opportunities to put his case. I don’t think any reasonable person can say he didn’t lose that debate. Given that he spent so long telling us how talentless Harris was she had a low bar to clear which she easily did on the night.

What many FPTP systems are seeing is wildly unrepresentative elections like we had in 1993 where a regional party gets far more seats than a national party with a larger vote share. But that’s a manageable problem. Unstable government is a much bigger issue and PR would only make that worse, I’m afraid, unless we get used to idea of (trigger warning, big breaths) coalitions in this country. There, I said it. That is, formal coalitions with every coalition partner at the table in Cabinet fully committed to a program of government, not this namby-pamby supply and confidence malarkey. Otherwise we are going to face many more minority governments clinging to power for a few years.

I doubt that the Liberals will entirely disappear. If they do, something centre-left will naturally rise up to replace them.

A lot of people don’t believe this, though. If politicians are constantly maligned as a class then their skills will naturally be undervalued and people will tend to think ‘I could do that’.

The fortunes of parties rise and fall. Most will disappear. This is a good thing.

I once thought I’d open a restaurant because I liked eating in them. Thankfully, that pipe dream never materialized. Politics looks way easier than it is - like somebody improvising in a jazz number - but do not try this at home. Politicians take years to learn how to restrain their thoughts, edit their speeches and keep their smiles going. Governing is another nightmare as one’s real enemies are in the same party. Former CEOs who think they can change things pronto are woefully ill-prepared to deal with the snail’s pace of progress that can be made. Everybody says no, or maybe, or let’s do a study. Danny Williams was a classic example of a brilliant lawyer and businessman who was not ready for political prime time when he became premier. In addition to possessing the creativity and energy of the entrepreneur and the eloquence of the salesman, the successful politician is incredibly resilient, able to take dog’s abuse from every quarter, and patient, ready to spend years shepherding legislation through so many hazards to reality. On the administration side of things, politicians must think like civil servants to some extent. They have to be cautious and careful - it’s not their money they are dealing with, after all. Procedures have to be meticulously followed and the natural temptation to do favours for friends resisted ruthlessly. So we’re talking about a veritable decathlon, or polyathlon, of skills here. Some of this is innate, of course, but it also has to be learned. This is why I think letting civilians waltz into Cabinet is a serious risk. I would prefer to see at least five years of MP experience before that. In summary, I am very much in favour of career politicians.

PP will probably get a majority of seats in the House next time but that looks like being the exception going forward. If we want to avoid the instability of minority government and the increased frequency of elections it brings, we should start getting over our collective phobia of formal coalitions in this country. Nothing stabilizes a multi-party government as much as Cabinet posts - give an MP a seat at the top table and they will be loath to leave it. Coalitions are a fact of life in European politics and the roof hasn’t fallen in over there.

Russia has been striking deep within Ukraine for years. The situation is intolerable. Ukraine must be able to defend itself. As long as he remains in power, Putin will never have normal relations with the frontline states of Europe. He desires constant conflict with the West. I say call his bluff. Putin knows his regime and he personally are doomed the day he uses nukes. Are you saying he’s a fanatical lunatic? I see a vicious criminal, not a martyr.

Thomas Crooks was a Democrat? I think it’s fairer to say his political stance was unclear. He registered to vote as a Republican but gave money to a Democratic group.

Was the first assassin a Democrat? The fact of the matter is that America is a very dangerous place. Lots of disturbed people have access to guns that no civilian should be using.

The debate illustrated yet again that Trump has zero impulse control. Not a person to trust with any serious matter, let alone the US presidency.

Dukakis was just sticking to his principles there.

I suspect Trump would have benefited from sentencing before the election. It would have fed into the martyrdom narrative and given a boost to the followers.

Did he not appoint three justices? Those advising him had a very clear idea of their judicial philosophy as we saw with abortion.

In one way it isn’t a win. AFAIK delaying sentencing means the Supreme Court cannot become involved again with this case until after the election.

I don’t recall him ever saying he lost before by any yardstick so that is progress.

One theory favoured by Nick Lane is that life may have arisen in a particular type of ocean floor vent with an alkaline pH that would have favoured the development of chemical and electric gradients seen in cells. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292978084_The_Origin_of_Life_in_Alkaline_Hydrothermal_Vents

Well, enough bad news. There’s always somebody doing good work to lessen the queues. I mentioned in another post that in Ontario an orthopaedic surgeon performed 14 hip replacements in one day, the sort of thing they manage in Belgium of all places. Each one takes only 35 minutes. The surgeon spends his day moving back and forth between two ORs. When one procedure is finished, the cleaning team come in and get the room ready before the surgeon is finished with the other case. https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/1.7054389 https://hospitalnews.com/hyper-throughput-operating-rooms-increase-efficiency/ https://deo.care/professor-corten-belgium-efficiency-for-direct-anterior-hip-surgery/ There is a catch to such extraordinary productivity. OHIP won’t pay for that number so they have to fund the excess through donations at the moment. In my local hospital the surgeons would be lucky to be allowed 2 hips on a list. At the moment the province is trying to move the orthopaedic surgeons to other more remote hospitals now and then where there is available OR time. You’d have to wonder whether one centre could do a large proportion of Canada’s hips and knees more efficiently and with fewer complications than hundreds of independent institutions? Maybe one centre in each region, however defined, run by one national group? Quality control would be a much simpler issue then. Yes, there would be endless arguments about the money but it might be worth a try. Whatever happens, there’s no question that Humber Valley have just set the bar a lot higher.

The good thing about this is that it illustrates the creative destruction in our political system. Parties should come and go as they fail to satisfy the demands of voters. Pity the poor Americans who seem stuck with the same two parties for the foreseeable future. That’s better than one party but it’s not ideal.

For a change, I’d like to highlight a good news story from a hospital in Toronto. Drawing on the success of a similar Belgian project and on work in the US, Humber Valley now does hip replacements in 35 minutes. One surgeon managed to do 14 hips in one day, a feat also achieved in Belgium. https://hospitalnews.com/hyper-throughput-operating-rooms-increase-efficiency/#:~:text=“Hyper-Throughput Operating Rooms break,result in big time savings. https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/1.7054389 https://deo.care/professor-corten-dr-vanbiervliet-belgium-blueprint-for-a-hyperefficient-or-for-total-hip-surgery/ One snag which I presume will be remedied - the hospital is exceeding the number of hip replacements OHIP is willing to pay for and has to get the extra funding from donations!