August1991

Exclude Ukrainians? Assimilating? In the 1890s, North America had its greatest population growth. Immigration ratio to native born. I visited the Kissing Post. Have you?

And I was thinking Pax Plante and John Robarts.

MP. Trump is playing the left.

True, Trudeau Jnr has been borrowing/spending like a drunk sailor. The federal Liberals have hired many millenials to work in federal government jobs. But overall, our various Canadian governments are not in debt. Like Norway, Quebec has a Caisse. Ontario has the Teacher's. Canada's debt/GDP ratio, while rising because of Trudeau Jnr, is well below 100%. ===== The US federal government has made numerous promises to people.

Whatever. In 2008, I realized that many foreigners associate Canada with the US. And yet our two monetary/banking systems are radically different.

I did. I watched guys in Taiwan pour concrete. Sadly. Pour concrete. Taller.

BD, you're missing the point. Years ago I was aboard the HMCS Moncton while it visited Montreal. I bought a hat as a souvenir. Later, I wore it in Vermont. In a cafe, an American asked when I served. I explained that I didn't; who I was. No problem. But I never wore the hat again. For Americans, this is a big deal.

WestCanMan, it's hard to find a dentist who will work for me alone - and not the dentist's pocketbook.

Herbie, you buy Kotex pads in male washrooms?

So why in God's good name are public M/F washrooms around the world the same size? It is obvious to me that women's washrooms should be larger, take up more square meters in the design phase of the building.

We select politicians the same way we choose a dentist: we want someone to act on our behalf. Unfortunately, this is a dentist for everyone. And about 1/3 of the people get free dental. The incentives are completely misaligned.

The CEO, Jensen Huang of NVDIA predicts (Google the quote) that English will replace coding. As if.... AI is very good at recognizing/deciphering patterns. Our DNA is filled with such. AI is not good at extrapolation in a universe where the future is random.

As people will say of Kamala Harris. Herbie, read Crosbie's book, No Holds Barred.

Herbie, you're an American, and you don't know it. You want to control the world.

This is something of an issue in Summer 2024 because the current US candidate for V-P favours tampon dispensers in male washrooms. On this issue, I have no opinion. I have many other opinions on public washrooms. -Note to architects/equality people; Why are women/men washrooms the same size? Women take longer in the washroom than men. There is always a queue for the women's room. I have seen desperate women shepherded to the men's side. -Should we charge for public washrooms? In Europe, this is common. It used to require a person now it is a turnstile. I get the point but frankly, I prefer a tax on everyone to avoid the transaction cost. -Doors. Why do public washrooms have doors? An angle to enter provides enough privacy - although I've seen badly placed mirrors! -M/F together. I understand the plumbing issues but why are both side-by-side? Indeed, the women's is often on the other side of the elevator. -Starbucks/McDonalds effect. Around the world, Americans know that they can pee (or login online) at both places. How much is that worth to the brand? -Same sex toilets. On airplanes, everyone (M/F/whatever) goes into the same room. On planes, we accept to pee in the same place where a M/F/whetever has also peed. Elsewhere, it's separate. -Old age. Older people (and pregnant women) pee often. Depending on the population pyramid, we need more public places to pee.) Rather than subsidize the media, I think we should pay journalists to clean public washrooms. -Street urinals? I've seen them in France. I'm opposed. The construction-worker Johnny-on-the-spot, I understand. In poor countries, men have a tendency to urinate wherever. One of my measures of a civilization is how men pee; I once saw a Mercedes S-600 stop in a city (no country named), man got out, and peed. -Handwashing. Why do we keep this separate from peeing/pooping? Many places have small rooms for men/women but a common place to wash hands. Indeed, meany people go to the washroom merely to wash hands. -Notes not to put tampons in the toilet/block the toilet. -Returning to my first paragraph, in my various travels, I am in various schools and various school washrooms. Aside from the graffiti, another measure of civilization is seats in student washrooms.

Donald Trump is a NYC showman: a blowhard, a buffoon. He's no Hitler. Many, many people just don't get the guy. ===== I'm abroad at present, in a city prone to earthquakes, and I stood for awhile watching construction guys pour concrete into frames for a thirty-storey building. It ran through my mind that Trump negotiated all that kind of stuff. Imagine: No revenue for several years but you have to pay for all these people and the material. What risk! Nancy Pelosi or Biden or the Bushes - they just learned how to spend other people's money.

I agree with ExFlyer. People should not have to pass a civics test to have the right to vote. However, I have a different idea. I think we should abolish payroll tax deductions (an invention of Milton Friedman in the 1940s - Google it) and instead, we should pay our taxes on the same day we vote. You write a cheque (slide a debit card) and then you vote. ===== I am terrified that about 30% of Canadian voters pay no federal income tax whatsoever. They have no skin in the game. For these people, policy discussions of debt, taxes are irrelevant. They will always vote for more government spending.

For food, if I'm standing when I receive it - I don't tip. Zip, nada. If I'm sitting when I receive the food, about 15% of the total bill. I prefer to leave cash near/under a plate.

I recall an interview with a young Eurasian girl about her arrival in Los Angeles "For the first time". she said, "I felt normal.|" ====== Trump married a foreigner. Harris is the product of foreigners You Americans intermarry. You marry across racial/national lines. We Canadians vote across religious/national/linguistic lines. ==== I don't think Americans appreciate this feature of their society. Nowadays, Americans speak of "hypergamy". You Americans marry across religions. ===== I happen to agree with John Mearscheimer on many points. But nationalism? He is wrong about how politicians will use tribal identification.

Good point. My OP is phrased weirdly. Is it "charity" to tip? Pay for a service rendered? ==== BTW, Perspectiv: I too agree that free is best so I avoid giving money. But sometimes I do.

You miss the point, twofold. -To live, farmers (people far from the sea) kill their animals. Farmers cannot be close to humans. Farmers kill their goats and cows. -Fishermen keep goats and cows alive. They kill anonymous fish. ==== Once again, define island.

I used to give to the Wikipedia Foundation. I have stopped. Now, I give to OpenStreetMap Foundation and Organic Maps.

Define "island" people. In Lebanon, one village is an island to another. French Canada is an island in a sea of anglophones. ==== My father, the Newfoundlander, had a more direct view of this. Farm people have to kill their animals and eat them. By nature, farmers cannot get close to people. Fishermen kill fish they do not know.

Guys, get a room. ==== Coyne reminds me of that PBS guy, Capehart - totally predictable. You know what they are going to say before they say it - and you know that it is wrong. ===== In all honesty, I was curious to see how Capehart moved from Biden to Harris. Soviet/Pravda style!

Moot at this point. But I disagree. 1/ The American Left is colour-obsessed. If Trump had a black-guy as VP, it would confuse them. 2/ Scott is smart.