suds

Yep, it doesn't get any worse than that. "Show me the man, and I'll find you the crime" .....Laurentiy Beria (Soviet Secret Police Chief)

Trump has claimed in the past that the U.S. Justice system has become too politicized. Prominent Democrats claim the U.S. Supreme Court has become too politicized and have even issued threats against the Court itself. Both Democrats and Republicans have a habit of questioning the validity of elections but only if the other side wins. My opinion is that politics is what's behind everything that's tearing America apart today. A two party system makes it even all the more polarizing. Maybe in Trump's case (as the leading Republican candidate) a more neutral Judge and a more neutral location could have been selected. Combine all that with a highly politicized media. You're going a little overboard with the totalitarianism nonsense. Things are what they are in the States and hopefully they'll work things out.

I'm not claiming the system is 'rigged'. Only that Judges can be incompetent, can make mistakes when directing a trial, or can have conflicts of interest. That's why there's an appeals process. If you really want to know what a totalitarian justice system looks like, read Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago.

Hogan.... "respect the verdict and the legal process" Part of the legal process is the right to appeal. Trump is neither above the law or below the law and has the same rights as any American. Not respecting a verdict such as in this case (which can be appealed) is not being undemocratic.

Ok, you win. Everything was just handed to the Israelis. No blood spilt. No sacrifice. A piece of cake really. All partitions should go as smooth as this one.

No, you said it was given a country. Big difference.

Let's be clear about something. The British received a League of Nations mandate to administer the formerly held Ottoman territories that became known as Palestine and Transjordan until they were capable of governing themselves. Transjordan which was 3 1/2 times the size of Palestine was set aside entirely for the Arabs in 1921. Palestine was intended for Palestinian Arabs and for a Jewish national home due to their historical ties to the land. Transjordan became a country in 1946 when it was granted its independence. The British Mandate then runs its course and the U.N. partition plan for Palestine comes into effect with the Jews agreeing to the plan and the Arabs being against. Israel declares its independence and becomes a country by its own making. Then war breaks out. Israel fights its own wars and battles and wins. Sorry to say it, but whether you agree with the course of events or not, to say that Israel was just handed its own country is sort of dumb.

So you believe the plights that Jews have struggled through for the last 1500 years (including today), has been a product of their own making? I find it admirable that they're still around, never mind having their own country and being loyal to their beliefs. Maybe you could offer an explanation of how they brought this on themselves.

Xenophobia has always been a worldwide problem (anti-semitism flourished in a predominantly Christian Europe). Jews are often blamed for Christ's crucifiction (who also happened to be a Jew). The Nazis murdered millions of Jews (and others) in an insane attempt to reach racial purity. Muslim/Jewish hostilities date back to the early days of Mohammad when all attempts to get Jews to convert to Islam were rebuffed. What's changed today is the left sees the Israelis as 'colonizers' associating zionism with racism, and expects them to give up their rights to self-determination. Except they don't hold other forms of 'nationalism' or the policies of other nation states to the same high standards. They might have some good points but it's the hypocrisy that gets me. And then there's politics and this crazy idea that Jews somehow want to rule the world. There's something wrong if one can legitimately criticize Israel to your heart's content, but criticizing China (over their racist policies) is racist. But again, this gets back to politics.

That was some rabbit! 😉

Doesn't firing 5 rounds of bullets into a school sort of send a different type of message than someone spray painting or busting a few windows? It's a pretty dumb question if you ask me.

Consider that if Hamas really wanted to put international pressure on Israel all they'd have to do is release every last one of the hostages. That would be the smart thing to do. But a few are profiting greatly from all the humanitarian aid that's been flooding in and don't want it to end. The 2 state solution is dead because neither side wants it, nor is it something that can be legislated by the ICC.

Great. So we're stuck with an expensive mediocre healthcare system with a severe doctor shortage that's only going to get worse. And there's nothing we can do about it except throw more and more money at it.

Under France's plan everyone must pay compulsory health insurance which is 5.25% of earned income. It also includes dental. After paying a doctor or dentist's fee you get back a reimbursement from the government of 70% but it could be 100% for long term illnesses. For example, you pay for a root canal you get back 70%, but with long term cancer treatments you get back 100%. There's more to it than that but that's basically it. I like the idea that everything is not free and that it includes dental. I wonder how it would go over if we introduced a similar system here?

You, yourself, has stated that government does a poor job at running services. If that's the case, then why not let amazon (for example) take a crack at it? Can it be any worse?? So what's Trudeau's plan other than throwing another $200 billion into healthcare over the next 10 years?

If that's the case, why not just simply privatize the entire healthcare system, let capitalism work its magic, and then regulate the hell out of them like they do the telecoms?

I suppose, but one thing covid taught us is that they have to do some real serious money printing to make inflation a serious problem. On the other hand, if we were all forced to pay a percentage of the doctor's bill (depending on income) out of pocket as an extra, then that could be seen as a pay increase. No? Obviously, if we want to see more doctors get involved with family medicine then we have to pay them more, some way. some how. There's no other way around it.

Under the 'Physician Services Agreement' in Ontario (which expired in April 2024), physicians billed OHIP $37.95 for a typical patient visit. When one considers staff, rent, and overhead, $37.95 doesn't exactly go a long way to cover all the associated costs. Which is one of the key reasons a smaller and smaller number of doctors are choosing family medicine. There are 2.2 million living in Ontario who don't have a family doctor and which is projected to double by 2026 unless somethings change. Consider that if you own a pet and bring it in for a yearly veterinarian exam it's going to cost you at least double that. And who came up with this wacky idea that nobody pays nothing, just simply present your OHIP card?? Everyone except for kids and those under 18 should pay something according to income. It might cut down on frivolous visits to the doctor's office. So pay the doctors more and start charging for services depending on income. And we'll see. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-family-doctors-pay-compensation-ohip-billing-fees-1.7137716

We know Hamas was behind Oct 7th. We also have to presume they knew well in advance what any Israeli response would look like. So by any stretch of the imagination, how would it make life better for the average Palestinian? It wouldn't, it would have quite the exact opposite affect. The worse things get the more foreign money comes flooding in, and those in power get wealthier and wealthier. That's why Hamas has got to go, and ceasefires don't work. Unless one is under the opinion that Israel is simply going to roll over and play dead.

When you thought it couldn't get any worse, at least one walk-in clinic that I know of has cut it's hours drastically (and I mean 'drastically') due to a lack of physicians. I wonder if this is a sign of things to come? It says so right on their website. Like it or not, we have a 2 tier healthcare system. Those who have a doctor and those who don't. This is really going to take years to sort out isn't it? Sort of like the mess we got into with our severe shortages of housing. I can understand why so many are so upset. The system is failing us in ways I never thought possible.

The first thing we have to do is fix the doctor shortage. Whether it's public, private, or whatever, just give us something that works. It's amazing we have no shortage of dentists.

My gut feeling is that the guy shouldn't be deported for doing something really stupid. So the Judge is giving him a second chance by the only means at his disposal. He still has to face an inadmissibility hearing with immigration but with the right to appeal.

I'm not sure what you mean exactly, but I get the gist of where you're coming from. It would be nice to have a constitution and laws that applied to everyone equally. Equality under the law is what any society should strive for. But that should only apply if everything is fair for everyone to begin with. Personally, as long as the courts (and Parliament) don't screw around with my rights, I'm ok with with the courts treating minority or disenfranchised groups a little differently if the goal is to add some degree of fairness into the system. Just don't go overboard, which I have no reason to believe they've done. This is my last post on the subject and it's time to move on.

We're on the verge of one of the largest transfers of wealth ever witnessed in the western world when the baby boomers start dying off in mass droves. How will that affect the housing market if we also cut back on immigration?

Our Canadian Pension Plan has assets totaling over $790 billion. Out of that $790 billion, 13% are invested in Canada while 40% is invested in the U.S. If we really wanted to increase our economic productivity, maybe we should consider bumping up that 13% figure just a tad.