Old Guy

Antisemitism is defined as hostility or discrimination towards Jewish people. I have critiqued the way the Zionists have conducted the war. Specifically their over-reach. That is not antisemitism but if it were all the Jewish people inside Israel and in other countries protesting the conduct of the war would be anti-Semites. That would be akin to saying they disagree with the way Trudeau has governed the country is un-Canadian. The Zionists have used the label to shut down honest discussion. Friendship is a two way street and I don't think I can bring to mind when Canada has shown friendship towards Palestinians. One thing I have learned in my travels is that people generally all want the same thing regardless of their religion, the political system they grew up in and even the things they value in life. But for some reason we've become better at spotting differences than commonalities and to be afraid of those differences rather than curious.

In 1967 I spent 4 months travelling through Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Iran. I was living in Jordan when the six day war broke out. I realize a visit that short doesn't count as research or make me an expert but the people I met were good people, I visited them in their homes and on at least one occasion visited a Palestinian refugee camp. The fact is that I believe that the Zionists will never agree to a two state solution and will never stop until they have all of Palestine. Your right Israel did tell the UN Peace Keepers to abandon their posts. But since Zionists are not in their chain of command they refused. I know that the Zionists have been ordering people to move here, there and everywhere this past year and have probably come to think they are entitled to do so but no they can't. Here is a news report that will explain.

Unless the Zionists are prepared to kill every Palestinian child in Gaza and the West Bank they are creating a generation that will grow up knowing that their mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, friends were killed when a missile or a bomb demolished their home. What do you think they'll want to do when they grow up? I honestly don't think you have any concept of what it might be like growing up in a prison. Palestinians used to have a homeland which has been seriously shrunk and which they have to ask permission to leave. As an "Army Guy" I would have thought you would be appalled to hear that two Peace Keepers were injured when they came under fire by Zionist forces. A short news report on the incident can be found here Re-read what I wrote I actually said they (Zionists) needed to rein in their over reach or they would loose support in Europe.

I guess in 1891 they didn't have the term Managed Capitalism. Amazing, given that has been practised widely after world war ii. I provided a link that explains it.

The problem is Zionism coupled with a religious belief that God gave them all the land between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. Zionists believe its theirs and that they don't have to share. Their over reach is astounding and has reached the point where they are bombing UN Peace Keepers around the Red line. They will if they don't rein in their blood lust loose the support of their allies in Western Europe.

Leaving aside the issue of exchange rates, another variable I didn't see controlled for was taxes. Taxes are affected by populations and services. There are all kinds of ways to measure quality of life one way is income. For the Fraser Institute it is often centred on the need to lower taxes. Comparing Canada with the US is disingenuous. Ask yourself would you rather live in Canada or West Virginia.

Just a couple of things worth noting "our incomes" = per/capita income. Median is the income at the exact center. This is a very minor point but as a pensioner I make more than the 30,000 reported for British Columbia. More note worthy is that they use the Canadian dollar. Again no big deal except that the exchange rate meant that their dollar was worth 1.35 Canadian. I read the article but didn't see how they controlled for this variable.

Just out of curiosity what would the budget items in your budget?

I used Capitalism because it better describes the US than free markets. This short article is interesting in that, according to the Heritage Foundation, which compiles an index of economic freedom, ranks the US as 25th. Since it was the US under Reagan that engaged with the USSR in an arms race which the US won with its robust manufacturing ability and since the OP wanted to compare communism I took the liberty to insert capitalism. The article also lists countries that are often considered socialist, because of their well developed social welfare systems, in the top ten of countries on the economic freedom index. Showing that free markets can exist in socialist systems.

No not nearly smart enough to be an AI but I do believe that evidence that support assertions make any discussion more productive. Name calling (and I'm not talking about you August) will always ensure that the discussion goes sideways. I really am an old guy and have learned a few things in my 78 years. If you don't mind me asking, is 91 the year of your birth. Cheers

A well honed practice that has been going on for far too long.

So according to you climate change is no big deal, over population is a hoax perpetrated by Satan and if only we accept JC everything will be fine, if not in this life then in the next. That was the line that the priests who invaded Central and South America with the conquistadors from Spain and Portugal used on the indigenous.

So what is next for the conservatives that aren't MAGA. Are they a strong enough faction to form a new party. Or could they retake the Republican party leaving MAGA to start a new party?

I don't understand your point since as far as I remember Pence was the Republican VP. I'm sure that there are many republicans who would do what Pence did and would not have a problem doing so but there are also many who would not.

I provided a list of the 50 richest countries, but here it is again. You are free to disagree and BTW I was responding to Taxme but you are right we were both off the thread. If you were to read through the thread I think you would see the context. Cheers

This article seems to be an attempt to make sense of a several conspiracy theories that are meant to frighten people from addressing a number of issues facing the world we all share. The last thing that theists want is peace unless, of course, it is a peace that conforms with their beliefs. If you take a couple of steps away from the cool-aid you will see that there is little or no chance of that happening. The more likely scenario is that we end up destroying ourselves. And what is your god doing? Well lets not expect too much because, after all, nothing can do nothing. Theists get around this by believing that destroying his creation was his plan all along. A circular argument that fits perfectly with theism. So along comes a group that says we have to live within our means and here are some ideas for how to do it. And theists grab their placards and bullhorns and take to the streets yelling that, "the communists are at the gates". It could be that what worked on bronze age goatherders and their offspring don't work on more and more people, who through education have learned to think for themselves rather than relying for someone to tell them what to think and how to behave. There is a reason that the more fundamental a theist sect is the more they will try to limit education. It is harder, after all to control people who are educated and enjoy thinking than those who follow blindly.

You've made 4 assertions with no evidence. Reagan obviously didn't roll up his sleeves and defeat the soviets. In this context what do you mean by soviets.? The people of the USSR? the country Soviet Union? You could make a case that the arms race between the USA and the USSR contributed to the collapse of the USSR. In this regard the US could produce more arms and maintain a high standard of living while the USSR could not. Capitalism, in this context demonstrated its superiority over Communism. I would also contend that the free market economy became less free during this arms race. Due in part to the fact that big companies grew bigger and absorbed smaller companies willowing down competition. Your 3rd and 4th assertion don't deserve comment because they are so vague. How many black markets then compared to now. When was then? What is a black market and why should there be fewer under a free market economy than under a communist economy. What numbers? This could be an interesting topic but how about rephrasing it: Capitalism Vs Socialism Which is better? Then there is the question of measurement. You could use Gross National Product but that doesn't say tell how individuals within a country are doing. You could go for a broader picture and use the Human Development Index which blends social and economic wellbeing by measuring: The health aspect of the HDI is measured by the life expectancy, as calculated at the time of birth, in each country, and normalized so that this component is equal to zero when life expectancy is 20 and equal to one when life expectancy is 85. Education is measured on two levels: the mean years of schooling for residents of a country, and the expected years of schooling that a child has at the average age for starting school. These are each separately normalized so that both 15 mean years of schooling and 18 years of expected schooling equal one, and a simple mean of the two is calculated.3 The economic metric chosen to represent the standard of living is GNI per capita based on purchasing power parity (PPP), a common metric used to reflect average income. The standard of living is normalized so that it is equal to one when the GNI per capita is $75,000 and equal to zero when the GNI per capita is $100. Whatever you measure you would have to contend with the fact that there are no purely capitalist or socialist states in the world, some countries are more capitalist than others and some more socialist than others. Cheers

It means, as I said before, living within your means and not spending our children's future. Countries working together could mean fair trade treaties. Harmonizing some laws for example laws against child pornography, sex trafficking, creating standards around imports to keep food safe for example. Many of these things already exist. It would seem that the only ones complaining are criminals and conservatives who don't want any limits placed on what they can do. You have to be quite paranoid to see this sentence as one world government. Well how about this I do my best not to result to insults and I don't respond to them. But because I believe in your right of free expression you just go ahead. Since your whole argument is based on a single book its kind of rich to accuse me of not having common sense. I never made the argument that religious people are forcing me to believe anything. My concern is that when religious legislators pass laws that are based on their religious beliefs that affect others living in their jurisdiction that is a problem. Abortion bans in the US are a prime example. Where these laws have been put to a popular vote they have been overturned but while they have been in effect they have caused harm. Well I suppose I was thinking of the example of the trucker convoy in Ottawa where trucks blared their horns for five weeks keeping families awake late into the night. In that case freedom of speech did impinge on others. Not religious but still it shows what can happen.

No what I meant was the disloyalty of Vance for refusing to say he would do what Mr. Pence did and certify the electoral college vote if it went against his favored candidate. Pence was under tremendous pressure to refuse to certify but he understood that his duty was to the constitution not to Trump. His reward was a mob chanting hang Pence. It would appear that in Vance's mind loyalty to Trump is more important than loyalty to the constitution. I don't understand why Republican voters aren't concerned with that misplaced loyalty.

It so interesting that you can come to that conclusion from what the op stated. All I can conclude from your post is that any threat to split the right is seen by conservatives as a threat and must be attacked, preferably with name calling.

I thought Christians have been predicting a one world government, isn't that what the second coming is meant to achieve. And what a bloody affair Christians are hoping for. All those who don't accept JC are sent to hell sounds a bit like your description of Stalinist Russia. If you don't believe you're killed. I read the document you linked to and didn't see the phrase one world government. I did see a lot about achieving sustainable development and countries working together. Sustainable development would suggest living within your means, a pretty conservative principle wouldn't you agree. South and Central America are largely Christians who also believe in the bible so perhaps you can explain how their Christianity differs from yours. Different Christian sects have a long history of killing each other. You are right blathering on about fairy tales doesn't limit ones freedoms. But surely you must see that passing laws that reflect a religious belief is in fact imposing. Imagine you live in a Muslim country and you are expected to praise god five times a day but if you don't you can lose your job or worse. That is imposing religious belief on the body politic. Or imagine an ultra sound shows that the fetus in your womb has died but the state you live in has a strict abortion ban and as a consequence the fetus rots, the mother gets septic and dies. That is imposing a religious belief on people whether they share that belief and puts their life at risk. So if you come knocking at my door with your fairy tales I will ask you to leave. If you stand out on the sidewalk with your bullhorn that too is an imposition that limits my right to have a good nights rest. Here is the oath: I swear (or affirm) that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King Charles the Third King of Canada, His Heirs and Successors and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Canada including the Constitution, which recognizes and affirms the aboriginal and treaty rights of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples and fulfil my duties as a Canadian citizen. The Charter of rights and freedoms are embedded in the constitution. If you read the constitution and the charter it does not allow Christians to force others to believe what they believe. That is why successful countries have a separation between church and state.

I'm not sure if this site has a whiney award but if they do your post is a definite contender.

But he didn't and so he demonstrated his fear of Trump and disloyalty to the country.

Please have a look at some actual data America is not the richest country per/capita

I suppose you have source, perhaps one of the other 4, who will refute her claims with facts. Here is an article that supports her analysis.