I am Groot

Yes, I'm aware. All those brainless, pampered progressives at elite universities who have never known fear or want and who divide the world into black and white. Into the Oppressed and the Oppressors. They've decided that the Israelis are the latter group because they wear uniforms and have built a successful society, and the Palestinians represent the have-nots, the oppressed, the victims. I love watching blonde college girls out there chanting on behalf of people who would gleefully rape, torture and murder them, and who have no issue ignoring the brutality Hamas has inflicted on girls their own age, or that they promise to keep doing it. Because Palestinians are the Oppressed, you know. And that seems to excuse everything in their tiny minds. If they just bombed the shit out of everything without regard to civilians (as the lefties claim they've been doing )I'm sure it would be over by now.

I am old enough to remember when things worked. Our healthcare system actually worked. Everyone had a family doctor, and there were no long waits at hospitals or for specialists or tests. The streets were safe enough for me to walk through downtown at 1-2AM frequently and never once come across a homeless person or any drug addicts or drunks. Houses were plentiful and could be bought with a reasonable wage. Canada even had a reasonably well-equipped, effective military - more than twice the size it is now. And there weren't the same divisions within our society. Not for the majority of us anyway. I am trying to think of any way Canada is better off now than it was back then, with half the population, and failing. Even the natives might well have been better off then. Not saying it was good. But at least, there was far less family breakdown and violence in their communities. Ignoring some technology improvements all I see is decades of decline since the first Trudeau took power.

The IDF have killed 40 of their own soldiers in friendly fire accidents. When you're using tanks and fighter bombers and drone missiles in a built up urban area full of soldiers stuff happens.

Jews never had any religious issues with loaning money for interest the way Muslims do and Christians used to. That was a big chunk of the problem right there. Nobody likes the banker, especially when you have to pay him back. Early rulers would borrow money from Jewish bankers, then launch religious pogroms against Jews and drive them out so as to not have to pay them back. The Jews were bankers because others couldn't be. Blaming them for what European rulers sometimes did with some of their money is pretty silly and one-sided, IMO. Muslims see themselves as God's ONLY people, and their religious books basically give them free rein to steal from, murder, enslave, and rape anyone who isn't a Muslim. A lot of Christians think Christians are God's chosen people too. China's rulers have long considered China to be the center of the universe and everyone else a 'barbarian'. Jews tend to be pretty Liberal in terms of social values, and as you yourself already point out, are often at the forefront of social change movements. I'm not sure what lack of compassion you believe they're showing currently unless it's to the people who invaded their country and raped, tortured and murdered so many of their fellow citizens. And few sane people can really blame them for that. As compared to whom?

This is not really a legitimate option for most people. On top of having family and friends and your whole life here you can't just pick up and move - legally - to most countries where you might want to live.

Do you want to do away with the landlords entirely? Because that's not likely to produce more rental housing. I know a couple who bought a duplex, lived in one half, fixed up the other, and then rented it out. Eventually, they took out a second mortgage, renovated it to be a triplex, then bought another house to live in. For years they worked at upgrading the triplex, and took care of repairing everything that needed repairing while dealing very fairly with tenants and paying down mortgages. What exactly is wrong with this story? Other than that they just decided to sell it last year because it was becoming too complicated to deal with all the laws and because of a problem tenant they had issues with. They now eschew any involvement in renting as it's too encased in bureaucracy and regulations, and because if a wrong tenant gets in it can take forever to get rid of them. The number one criticism I have seen is it will discourage investment and thus further damage productivity.

The thing is most big problems are complicated and aren't so quick and easy to solve. Which means it takes time - years. No government wants to have the healthcare, or justice, defense, or native administration system in a mess, like a car that's half put together with its parts laid out on the garage floor, when the next election rolls around. Because then the other guy can say "Look at the mess they made of our car! It's half collapsed and its parts are all out on the floor! Elect me and I'll fix it!" And people are such short-term, stupid thinkers they're likely to do just that. Which is why the big, complicated, systemic problems get kicked down the road.

I'm reading bits and pieces about the Cass Review here and there in various news media. It was a long, complex and rigorous study of there treatment of young people who claim transgenderism. The final report came out last week and basically said there is very little evidence to support the current use of puberty blockers or the 'affirmation' model of simply agreeing with whatever the child thought. It doesn't say it in this particular report but in another I read that almost all the kids who thought they might be transgender - weren't. Many were gay/lesbian/bi or simply had various psychological issues. https://archive.is/XocgM

Now I know what you're thinking. Conrad Black is not someone whose opinion you really care about. And often enough, neither do I. He can be a weird cluck in his continuing belief Donald Trump made a good president, not to mention endorsing Justin Trudeau back in 2015. But his opinion here is mostly a recitation of sad statistics and information that sounds even worse when gathered together. It really will take radical change to break us free from our complacency, and I just don't know if Canadians will accept a government that's willing to do it. Presuming we can find someone to head such a government. Stephen Harper was more of a go-along-to-get-along PM and never really pushed any major changes. Trudeau, of course, is just a disaster in all categories. What I suspect we need is someone who will make huge cuts in government programs and spending, not to mention slashing regulations of all kinds along with the regulators. Among the principal points that have arisen are that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) now predicts that Canada will be the poorest performing advanced economy in the world until 2060, if it continues on its present path. Under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s watch, Canada’s per capita average incomes increased by three per cent, from $54,154 in 2016 to $55,863 in 2022, while that of the United States rose by 12 per cent, from $65,792 to $73,565; for a family of four, that is a substantial differential that puts the average American family in a distinctly higher income category than their Canadian analogue. In approximately the same period, cash generated in Canada and invested outside Canada exceeded incoming investments in this country by about $285 billion. From the onset of COVID in February 2020 until June 2023, the number of private-sector jobs in Canada increased by 3.3 per cent, while public-sector jobs rose 11.8 per cent, and public-sector employees are paid 31 per cent more on average than those in the private sector. We are chronically overtaxed: 45 per cent of the average family’s income is paid in tax, costing an average of over $48,000 a year — by far the largest household expense. The tax increases in the latest budget will only aggravate these problems. We are not only overtaxed and underpaid, the principal costs have been grossly mismanaged. Last year, we admitted around 500,000 immigrants, many of which are in a desperate housing scramble. Notwithstanding that the average American makes more than the average Canadian, the average housing unit in Canada is approximately 40 per cent more expensive than in the United States. Health care, once one of the hallmarks of Canada’s status as a country distinctive from, and more caring than, the United States, is a shambles. In 30 years, waiting lists have increased from nine weeks to 28 weeks. Of 30 countries with universal health care, Canada’s system is the most expensive as a percentage of GDP, has the longest waiting periods, ranks 28th in doctors, 23rd in available beds and 24th and 25th in number of MRIs and CT scanners. It is a disaster that has now stooped to promoting the virtues of suicide through the medical assistance in dying program. https://archive.is/FNMqt

She needs to go. But what can you expect from her? She was an activist, and that's the only reason she was made governor general. Well, and being a native.

No, but they help deter attacks. Especially when a collective of nations are reasonably well-equipped with them so that warlords like Putin and Xi refrain from attacking. Canada has the lowest number of police per capita of any major western country. Far less than most of our European peers. And too little to control any sort of widespread civil disturbances or emergency situations posed by large, armed groups. Are you at one and the same time claiming there could be huge problems from global warming in the coming years, and no widespread civil disturbances or incidents? What about when AI begins to put a lot of young men out of work, especially young men with low skills such as the millions we've brought over from the third world? What happens when all the Uber and taxi drivers, all the truck and bus and taxi drivers, all the doordash drivers and even many of the retail and hospitality workers are replaced by AI and automated equipment? What do we do with all those young men? What are they going to do with us? No, it will not. You keep saying this as though it were inevitable. It's not. You think the US is going to launch nukes against Russia to preserve the territorial integrity of Norway, Denmark, Poland? Italy? Greece? I don't. Perhaps you should let all the Western governments who think otherwise know this. They don't seem to be aware. Oh, for Gods sakes! Listen to yourself! You haven't the slightest clue what sort of technology will be around in fifty years, never mind two hundred years! You don't know what science will be developed in terms of both energy production and global cooling systems. Especially with the aid of AI, which is soon going to grow more powerful at exponential rates. And in any event, nothing Canada does is going to make any sort of impact on world CO2 emissions. We're too small, and the developing world is too big.

Your own cites say they're protesting the government for not bringing the hostages back, not for being mean to Gazans. The last poll I saw said Israelis feel the government isn't bombing Gazans ENOUGH. The Oct 7 attack was the fears of all Israelis for the last seventy years brought out into the light. They've lived in a small country all their lives with the knowledge that every day there are people all along their borders in every direction willing to die to try to get over, under, around or through their defenses just to find a Jew and kill him or her. and Oct 7 wasn't just a couple of terrorists but thousands of people, some of them not even Hamas, but civilians who saw what was happening and eagerly joined in. There is little sympathy among them for Palestinians right now.

Probably very little Canada has 138 generals and admirals and... whatever the air force calls theirs, for about 50k people. The US Marines have 60 for 180k people. The IDF has 24 for 620k

First, according to the UN, which measures the damage potentially caused by global warming by economic losses, Canada's GDP could drop - or rise - by 1% or so by 2100, Not exactly a crisis. Second, there's nothing we can do to stop global warming. Third, that measure of us and other more northerly first world countries is based on how organized and wealthy we are, on our ability to deal with the impact of things like flooding and droughts. That takes a strong economy. Finally, if you're speculating that global warming could lead to a crisis in Canada, then it would be a good idea if we had a reasonably sized, well equipped military in order to handle the security issues, would it not? Lest we fall into chaos and disorder? In what? You're asking us to spend untold billions, hundreds of billions on climate change initiatives we know will make absolutely no difference. An army is used to deter attacks, to respond to emergencies like earthquakes and floods, and to control civil disorder. You're saying none of that is going to be of any value in the next hundred years?

The people in Jerusalem aren't protesting against the war or against Israel. They're protesting against the government. Entirely different.

It starts at the top. Chrystia Freeland has 46. Marc Miller has 25. Mark Holland has 25. Bill Blair has 21. Eisenhower, at the height of the Second World War, had 24. Personal staff. Why would Defence Minister Bill Blair, overseeing our tiny military during peacetime, need almost as many staff as Dwight D. Eisenhower, supreme commander of the Allies in Europe in 1944? And this is in addition to the staff support Blair receives from his departmental and military officials. Johnson: Canada's federal ministers have far too many personal staff | Ottawa Citizen

Depends. Are you protesting alongside people whose goal in life is to destroy your country and then kill you? Then yes.

I do. And they're stupid to do so. They're protesting alongside people who despise them on behalf of people who want them dead against the only Jewish state in the world. And they're doing so as part of a propaganda campaign designed and funded by Iran. https://www.iranintl.com/en/202404158853

And I would say this is the case at the provincial and municipal and school board levels, too. We are drowning in bureaucracy and are so over-regulated it takes forever to get anything done at any level and usually winds up costing twice as much as it should. Why do the heads of hospitals, colleges and universities earn such high salaries? These are not specialized jobs that require massive education and experience. The head of one of Ottawa's hospitals was a former municipal councilor. The head of the University of Ottawa was the minister of Justice before being appointed to the job. If politicians can do it then why are the salaries approaching half a million a year, or in some cases passing that mark? Because when the boss makes $500k, the deputies have to be making close to $400k right? And then everyone around them gets slightly less munificent salaries. How many non-teachers at universities are pulling in considerably more than $100k? The administrative ranks have exploded at post-secondary institutions. And I see far too many at school boards, too. We need a guy with something like a hard-assed Mike Harris mentality that will go in and start laying people off and freezing promotions and hiring. Not to mention eliminating all those high-priced consultants.

And how much did we throw away during the great Covid money splurge? Trudeau has been promising tens of billions in new spending this year on housing, on dental plans, on natives, on the environment - whenever he decides he wants to spend money he has no difficulty just doing it. Cut other programs. I'm sure the Tories won't have trouble finding a lot of those that can go. The Liberals have hired a hundred thousand more public servants in the last eight years in order to administer all their new vote buying programs. Get rid of some of those programs, get rid of the horrific bureaucracy that surrounds doing ANYTHING in this country, and you'll save a mint. While we're at it, stop funding activists. Every activist group seems to be getting its money from the government. No money to any of them! If you want to complain or lobby about something you pay for it! And if it requires a tax increase, as well, then so be it.

And then there are the penalties exacted on that human body for going to those extremes. Even though she was a standout Bowdoin athlete and could bench press 145 pounds and squat 200 pounds, was ranked 4th out of a class of 52 in Officer Candidate School and excelled at Marine Corps fitness tests, Petronio's deployment in combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan took a brutal toll on her 5-foot-3-inch body. "By the fifth month into the deployment, I had muscle atrophy in my thighs that was causing me to constantly trip and my legs to buckle with the slightest grade change,” she wrote. “My agility during firefights and mobility on and off vehicles and perimeter walls was seriously hindering my response time and overall capability. It was evident that stress and muscular deterioration was affecting everyone regardless of gender; however, the rate of my deterioration was noticeably faster than that of male Marines and further compounded by gender-specific medical conditions.” She lost 17 pounds on an already lean body. It's not about small frames. It's about the anatomical differences between male and females. A smaller framed male can still carry more, move faster, will have more endurance, lung capacity, muscle mass, etc., than a female of comparable size. https://mcgazette.blogspot.com/2012/07/get-over-it-we-are-not-all-created.html

So you're saying sanctions are a waste of time. But that it's all Biden's fault for canceling sanctions. have I got that right? Maybe if you hit them hard enough they'll think twice about shooting at you again.

The problems in recruitment and retention are due mainly to the incompetence of the recruitment and training process, and the rusted out, and obsolete if not entirely missing equipment that leaves those who join feeling no real pride in their organization. People who join shouldn't need to wait a year or two to get a phone call to come for training. Nor should it take ten or fifteen years just to sign a contract to acquire new equipment. Properly equip the military and fix the problem with its training/recruitment and you'll be able to recruit up easily enough. As for being willing to pay. I have never seen any groundswell of protest at ANY spending initiative. Ever. Sure, the opposition will whine and complain about any large contract. But that doesn't really represent public concern or anger. The Liberals campaigned vigorously against buying the F15 while they were in opposition, but it was never much of a concern in the election that followed. And almost everyone acknowledges that the military is in terrible shape and has to be brought up to speed. I don't see a lot of opposition to doing so. Quite the contrary. Sure, the Liberals will whine and complain once they're in opposition, but few will care. The military is an insurance policy. And most Canadians understand the need for insurance. The problems with these can be solved by cutting red tape, regulations, and legions of bureaucrats. Education is most certainly not under-funded. It is over bureacratized. And too much healthcare spending goes to bureaucrats not doctors. Housing is an immigration problem. Slash immigration, migration, and foreign workers (and families) and foreign students (and families) and the housing crisis will shrink to a very manageable level. What happened in Israel was that they forgot to keep their military strong enough along the borders with their enemies to deter an attack or hold it in check if they were attacked. And I see no way their enemies are stronger now than they were before. Certainly Hamas is not.