500channelsurfer

Agreed 100% ... but as the title of this thread reads, my answer to that is definitely NO. Britain is no more a world superpower than Sweden or Japan. When Britain was a world superpower (pre-WWI) they were not of any "free" world by any meaning, they were among the most domineering and war mongering superpowers in world history (British Empire). The USA even had to start a war to secede from them. Even the British people themselves were not really "free" with the politics (still completely unelected Senate/House of Lords and officially a Kingdom) and economics (think Charles Dickens' world) of Britain during the British Empire. But with US power diminishing, in a zero sum game world view, yes, Britain might have moved up slightly. However Boris Johnson or Theresa May or whoever comes next are not in the right position to be seen as "Leader of the free world." The British office of Prime Minister still does not have near the same international recognition as the White House or the Kremlin. The British army is not small but also not near the top of the world's largest armies. Their technology might be advanced but is typically not the most cutting edge and not necessarily the most reliable: Have you driven a British car lately? Germany also ... considerable for sure to be a or THE European continental power, but same as Britain not complete to be a world leader. "Free" is also not a word to describe Germany historically as per the last two times Germany amassed powerful armies.

648.44 are we testing text or e-mail? (text might not work for multiple reasons including international wireless agreements which might not be specifically political in this instance)

How could USA sue China for Covid, when China successfully kept Covid contained for three months before it spread worldwide, and it was the USA and western countries that reacted wonky and never had it under control for even an hour once it reached their shores? If anything, it should be the other way around: A country that successfully and repeatedly contained and controlled the spread of infection should sue countries that at first denied Covid, then did not trace or test properly, did not shut down international or domestic travel effectively, could not get their own citizens to vaccinate or mask up, and ended up costing the originating country more economically as an industrial supplier than the consumer countries that still fail to get the virus under control with their many but clearly ineffective policies. If a similar virus emerged in USA or a western country, it would reach China far earlier than the three months it took the virus to get out from China.

I think the Conservative base would appreciate passing what legislation Conservatives have in common with Liberals, much as the Liberal base would appreciate passing what legislation Liberals have in common with Conservatives, instead of causing another premature election.

While the consensus is that Trudeau and Singh will be working together, in the next Parliament after this election, I am not so sure. After this election, I am quite seriously thinking the Liberals and Conservatives might choose to co-operate in Parliament, rather than Liberals form a formal coalition or long-term co-operation with the NDP and/or Bloc. I am thinking of the following points: The Liberals chose to have an election rather than to continue to make deals with the NDP and Bloc; Parliament is now not much changed The Liberals have continued to move more and more from the left to the centre throughout their previous mandate; examples are stance on pipelines, willingness to bail out and subsidize businesses during pandemic and unwillingness to adopt NDP-inspired tax reforms The Conservatives have continued to move more and more from the right to the centre throughout the election campaign; examples are stance on gun control, acknowledging the need to address climate change and encouraging vaccinations The Conservatives would not likely start moving further to the right as further-right voters such as those who voted Libertarian or Peoples' Party are too small of a voting bloc to be worth chasing after, as opposed to the more centre voters Conservatives need to win and would lose by moving right Trudeau might not be especially picky in terms of who he co-operates with in Parliament this mandate as he seems to imply another election in another 18 months or so is likely Trudeau is unlikely to co-operate on many issues long-term with the Bloc as they are his main rival in Quebec Trudeau is unlikely to co-operate on many issues long-term with the NDP as they are his main rival on the left The Green Party was no longer a political force in this election; Green voters are winnable by Liberals; Greens have no power in parliament; Conservative co-operation therefore may have become a negligible threat to Green-turned-Liberal voters, especially as the Conservatives have acknowledged the need to address climate change A Liberal-Conservative co-operation (most basically meaning no voting YES to any non-confidence motions) would ensure that Parliament lasts longer than it would under any other arrangement

Very generally, viruses morph and spread to be less dangerous and less deadly to their hosts. Biologically, species that kill off their prey too fast cause their own extinction. Over the very long-term, Covid strains will therefore become less virulent to the point where a vaccine may no longer even be needed; most active Covid strains will eventually become just like a common cold, if they do not fizzle out altogether like the 1918 flu strain. In the meantime, yes, I do agree a few more vaccines might be developed as some Covid strains might still be dangerous and potentially deadly.