August1991

Disagree very strongly. Imagine the cost to Canada of a child born here. (Birth, primary education etc... ) Now, what is the cost to us of a person at age 18 who steps off the plane? ======= Our problem in the world is not climate change or even more kids; our problem is civilised adults. In Canada, we're good at that.

Gimme a break. The reason for high rents is because land prices are high. And why are land prices high? I was recently in Portland Oregon. City regulations of land use are totally f*-up. In Montreal, our land regulations are better but not perfect.

Absolutely. ===== Lester Pearson - a soldier in World War I - won a Nobel Prize because he managed to make leaders of other countries negotiate.

Leftist Americans! See yourself! ===== Truthfully, I have no idea what is going on but I have a suspicion: Biden wants to take Putin down. Why? Because competitive people like Biden are like that. Moreover, Putin is supposedly anti-gay - so Biden has many westerners on his side. Lastly, Biden (and the US Democrats) are now like Putin: my way or the highway. Except Putin only wants to control Russia, Biden and the US Democrats want to control/change the world.

On the contrary. I'm very pro-American. I admire the US Constitution - its first amendments. Heck, while Americans are often loud, I generally like them.

In your opinion. Many people view the history of Crimea, the Donbass, Galicia differently. And more critically, they view the world differently: a world where people negotiate. ==== Our elite diplomats politicians could have avoided this terrible civil war; that now has horrific potential for the rest of us.

If the purpose of this war is regime change - taking out Putin - then this escalation is an obvious step. ===== The wars of 1914-1945 started by a dramatic event - like the sinking of the Titanic. And like the Napoleonic Wars - or the Thirty Years War. But at the time, everyone thought the escalation was minor. Or they thought it would be a short war.

This is a disaster. I have a map of Europe 1912.

Putin, after 2008, realised that he was Lee Kwan Yew. Now he's a scary tbought: Biden knew it before.

I suspect too that the Fed is putting pressure.

Aristides, We Canadians have largely avoided wars - killing ourselves. And we Canadians, whatever the religion or language, live to together in peace.

Victor Hugo - wonderful novel

Moonbox, Increasingly I think that Putin and Biden are similar players. In the case of Putin, I understand why. In the case of Biden, I am terrified ,

And in Canada, we never had a civil war.

Good point. Equalisation is costly. But in Canada, we have no federal education bureaucracy. No HEW.

Pearson in 1956 walked these people away from war. Poilievre can do the same.

As you wish. ===== NATO, 2023? This is game theory: I win-you lose. Biden wants to defeat Putin. Regime change.

The Bank is trying to land a helicopter on a building in high winds. So far, I would say that it's doing well.

Turkey agrees to Sweden joining NATO - if Turkey joins the EU. ===== Biden -like Putin- is a tough player. Not my kind of leader.

Anthropocene? is that a technical term - like when elevators were supposed to stop on 1 Jan 2000?

For the past several centuries, you Americans are peaceful - except around 1860. Europeans? Crazy violent. 1789-1815, 1914-1945. ===== I'm Canadian. We get along.

In 1989, the Wall fell. In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed. You good ordinary Americans won. Kuwait? Since then, the US has more or less f* up everything. === The world needs a counterweight. And the US constitution is not sufficient.

NATO is one thing. The European Union another. ==== Like Thatcher and Trudeau Snr, I too prefer counterweights.

There's a debate among historians/social scientists: "Do great men matter?" IOW, do single events change history? Or is history an accumulation of events?

Our current federal PM cannot leave NATO. He needs the Slavic/Ukrainian votes. I reckon Poilievre could leave NATO. Pierre Trudeau? - Given the current world situation, no question. Like de Gaulle, we would leave NATO.