August1991

In the 1850s, the American states were more severely divided. In the late 1960s, America was also divided. America will survive this division of the 2010s.

Confused? Hodad, how is Biden different from Trump? Think what you are saying. ==== Make no mistake. I think Americans are good neighbours. And I admire their way of doing things: Americans eventually find a solution to their problems.

I am no Trump fan. I think that Trump is a boor/buffoon. True, Trump said that he would put Hillary in prison - but when President, he did not do it.

Disagree. John Neumann is the character. Born in a civilised Europe.

In Quebec, I can choose between private and public healthcare. You don't do this elsewhere in Canada? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaoulli_v_Quebec_(AG) ==== I was recently in Ontario and I asked a (wealthy, older, born 1950) woman about her cataract surgery. Private or public, I asked. She was perplexed. Public, she said. I did not ask whether the new lens was an IOL. She merely pointed to her left-eye. Her right-eye was due in a few months.

The FLQ kidnappers of James Cross were given the right to a Cuban exile.

Disagree. Our country is not broken. We Canadians get along - we avoid wars. We compromise. We go along to get along. This is not survival. We Canadians compromise. We get along. This is the secret to Canada.

Dougie, this is bureaucratic bafflegab. NATO was designed to restrict the Soviet Union. (Correctly in my opinion.)

Disagree. Democrats? Republicans? The world is far better because you Americans can choose.

I think that everyone can agree that Soviet communism failed. Did it fail because of Reagan? Reagan was elected in 1980. ==== 1980s? I remember these times. Reagan and Thatcher. Brezhnev, Andropov and then Gorbatchev. I travelled in Europe then - crossing the Iron Curtain often.

In October 1970, there were tanks/soldiers in front of Cegeps. But agreed. Generally no.

God knows. But as a foreigner - a Canadian, what the Democrats are doing now against Trump and the Proud Boys, it is Third World. The Democrats are using the power of the State against political opponents. In Canada, we don't do this. ===== During the FLQ crisis, even Trudeau Snr negotiated a deal with Cuba and its Expo 67 pavillion.

Like SEATO, NATO was designed to restrict the Soviet Union. IMHO, the Vietnam War was, like Dunkerque, a successful battle in a larger war. You Americans won. The Berlin Wall is no more. ==== Since 1991, the world needs a new way of organising itself. NATO, nowadays, is just a Washington DC bureaucrat bully.

Show me data. ==== In BC (and federal Canada), provincial governments are now doing things right. We Canadians are paying taxes - more than what we receive. Overall, our government debt-to-gdp ratio is falling.

I understand what you are saying. I understand the logic of your Constitution. ==== But your Constitution was written before anyone knew about a Central Bank. (I happen to think that an independent Central Bank is as important as an independent Supreme Court.) 2nd Amendment & Guns? In the late 18th century, who knew about nuclear weapons or RPGs. The right to bear arms at least added the term "well-ordered".

I disagree. The people of BC generate a tremendous flow of income. The BC government can tax this flow. As long as the government does not take more than the growing flow, then the system is sustainable. The measure is debt-to-GDP ratio. If the government debt-to-GDP ratio is rising, it's a Ponzi scheme. Politicians need new taxpayers to pay for their promises.

I agree that no one is above the law. Votes irrelevant? I disagree. In a democracy, votes matter Trump got many, many votes in 2020. Everyone in the world can see this. What the Democrats are doing now is Third World- in Canada, we don't do this.

I disagree. You compare your Civil War of 1861-64 with the events of 6 Jan 2021? You are wrong.

Here's another example: The new (federal) Champlain Bridge was designed for tolls: that was the Harper plan. The federal Liberals in 2015 decided no tolls: anyone can drive without cost. ==== To protect the environment, Guilbeault wants to tax people in Alberta. But for seats, federal Liberals do not want to tax people on Montreal's South Shore who cross the bridge. Imagine: A bridge built by Harper.

To me, this is evidence that the current "protect environment" and CO2 taxes are a fraud. For example, if people in Quebec and its government were serious about the environment, they would have the SAQ collect/recycle old bottles. In Quebec, grocery stores must collect plastic bottles and aluminium cans. The SAQ refuses to collect/recycle anything.

Disagree. Strongly. ===== You Americans have a federal constitution that protects State government rights. The US is not a single country or a single State like France or the UK. It is 50 small countries. I don't think that you Americans quite understand this - or why your society/federal country is so successful.

As a Canadian, I prefer that we get along. Some of us live here; others there. We negotiate our differences - and live without death and destruction.

Disagree. Strongly.

This movie is a mess. I saw it because of good reviews but IMHO, it is awful. It has too many short scenes. Too many cuts. It moves between the past and the present quickly. It is sometimes in B&W and sometimes in colour. It has two women at various times - it is not clear which woman is which. Matt Damon is critical in this movie: he made the story sort-of make sense. (Credit to Damon, not Dolan.) This movie shows scientists inaccurately. I strongly advise people to check YouTube for Richard Feynman's description of Los Alamo. More important, Feynman's description of a visit to Tennessee. This was the true Manhattan Project: after Chicago and Fermi, figuring out a way to filter uranium/plutonium isotopes. True, there were spies and leftists - in the 1940s, everyone smoked! While watching this movie, I thought of David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia. This was released in 1962 - about 50 years after the events. Nolan's movie is about 70 years after a similar enigmatic character. Nolan's movie has too much music in the wrong places.

Mob? MAGA cult? I suggest that you look at how Rutherford Hayes became president. ===== Some 70 million Americans voted for Donald Trump in November 2020. Trump wants to be a candidate in 2024. I am Canadian - a foreigner. We foreigners can all see that what Biden and the Democrats are doing is wrong. This is not the America I know. In Canada, a sitting federal PM could not have an Attorney-General put a leader of the Official Opposition in jail. Our House has a sword of distance.