ReeferMadness

Really. Do you have a cite for that? Of course not.... you pulled it completely out of your ass.... The number of people traveling to the US for medical care is roughly one tenth of the number of Americans fleeing their own hideously overpriced health care system for less costly procedures elsewhere.

More Americans have been killed inside US borders by guns since 1968 than in all wars in US History. While Americans spend trillions of dollars waging war in other parts of the world, a much bigger threat is the hundreds of millions of firearms sitting in people's homes inside the country itself.

Ah, I see the usual suspects are sore that their heroes have lost the election and that Trudeau is keeping his election promises. So, we have the usual low-content, high-rhetoric bilge being promulgated. So, to bring a little intelligence into this thread, why don't we take a look at the allies who people claim we are letting down. France/England - The two co-authors of the disastrous Sykes-Picot agreement that is generally acknowledged to be an important contributor to today's problems in the Middle East each have significant issues with homegrown terrorism. Indeed, most of the attackers in the Paris attack came from France or Belgium. So, why are they bombing Iraq and Syria? Good question since it's likely to just make the homegrown terrorism problem worse. Most likely, it's a diversionary tactic to ensure the people at home that "something" is being done. In the case of France, it's almost certainly designed to stem the tide of growing support for right-wing racists since the Paris attack. United States - The USA's actions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and other places have enormously aided (perhaps even enabled) the creation and growth of ISIS. Every American bomb dropped is another recruitment tool for terrorists. Like Britain and France, the American targeting appears to be more related to politics than logic. The 9/11 attackers came from Saudi Arabia and the US responded by invading Afghanistan and then Iraq. The San Bernardino attackers came from California and Pakistan and were reportedly radicalized in Saudi Arabia. The US response has been to impose restrictions on people traveling from Iraq/Syria. wtf? Turkey - Turkey has a large, modern military and a border with Syria and Iraq. It could easily conquer ISIS itself but it won't. The only two forces in the region which have shown any competence and ability to fight ISIS (the Kurdish Peshmerga and the Assad's forces) are both enemies of Turkey. Indeed, ISIS fighters and oil have both flowed freely across Turkey's porous border and Turkey's commitment to defeating ISIS can be fairly questioned. Saudi Arabia - Like Turkey, Saudi Arabia consists mostly of Sunni Muslims, the same as ISIS. Saudi Arabia is also the home of the Wahabbi sect of Islam, which has been widely criticized as a breeding ground for Islamic extremism. Despite this, it's almost impossible to find western leaders who will go on record criticizing the country. Iraq - In the wake of the US invasion, the western alliance has tried to establish Iraq as a friendly power and to that end have armed it. The results have been disastrous. Iraqi units have given away their weapons and in some cases defected to ISIS. Most of the ISIS weaponry came from Iraq. Bottom Line - Not only will bombing fail to make Canada safer, our allies have conflicting interests and no cohesive plan for defeating ISIS.

Wow, thanks for posting the marketing material. What, no glossy brochure? You said "Well I know what will happen when a non stealth fighter meets a steal fighter. It won't." As I've pointed out, stealth is no panacea. And the reason the butterball is so slow, cumbersome and has such a small stealth weapons load isn't just because it's stealth, it's also because they're insisting on using the same basic design for STOVL for the marines.

Passive sensors based on..... infrared. Do you think the F35 has the world's only IRST system? And yet, this link claims the Rafale has 100 km range and the typhoon 90 km. The Gripen NG supposedly has a range of BVR for IRST. Tell that to the Serbs who brought down the F117 with obsolete missiles. They may not be very good ... yet. How long is the butterball supposed to fly and what makes you think they won't get better? So your premise is that good electronics can compensate for a horribly compromised air frame? How long is the air frame expected to last? And how long until the electronics are no longer superior to the competition? See the problem? I have. It's just that the butterball's detractors tell a much more convincing story than the people who have their jobs and financial worth on the line.

Your comments make me wonder how well you understand how stealth actually works. You seem to think that stealth is some all purpose invisibility cloak. In reality, it's rather more complicated. Before a fighter (stealth or otherwise) can shoot down the opponent, it has to use radar to find and track the opponent. And while the radar is turned on, the plane is no longer stealthy. The sweet spot for a stealth fighter is defending friendly territory against non-stealthy opponents. Ground radar tracks the opponent and vectors the stealth fighter to the area where it can take a shot. However, even then, your opponent will detect your tracking radar and missile, know you are there and take counter measures. Radar isn't the only way of detecting you. Infrared (heat) detection is getting better all the time. And the butterball, with its one huge engine is really not great in that regard. So if your first opponent dumps chaff and your first shot misses, your opponent may be within range of IR tracking and you will find yourself up against a faster and more maneuverable adversary. In your one-on-one example, if there is no ground radar tracking, whoever turns on their radar first becomes the target. And if nobody does, it comes down to a battle of "passive" detection methods (like infrared tracking). And unlike truly stealthy planes, the butterball has a round engine exhaust which makes it easier to spot. Finally, stealth doesn't work against all radars. Bottom line: compromising aircraft design to gain stealth is an extremely risky strategy. Having a single flawed design for the entire western world is insane. No matter whose stock prices suffer.

Residents of coastal BC are, in general, quite environmentally conscious. BC Ferries is itself quite sensitive to negative publicity and would take a very dim view of people using its vessels as a platform for dumping garbage in the strait. Finally, if people are caught dumping something like a computer into the ocean, it wouldn't surprise me if the police might wonder whether they're trying to destroy evidence of something.

I've never seen stats that differ from what I said but feel free to post your own.

A few comments that might help: 1. The US has the highest health care costs in terms of percentage of GDP but is well down the list in terms of health indicators like infant mortality rate (the numbers are relatively easy to google). The main reason or this as I understand it is that insurance companies represent a huge administrative burden on the system. Obama was obviously too cowardly to take this model on and has only more firmly embedded the role of insurance companies. 2. I have seen arguments that the European hybrid models outperform Canada's single payer model but I don't recollect the yardsticks used. Again, it's not hard to find. 3. For years, the component of health care that has been rising the fastest is pharmaceutical costs. This is apparently due to voraciously greedy CEO's who look to be about 14 years old.

I can only assume you posted a link without comment because you couldn't wrap your head around the court's circuitous and tendentious reasoning.

Maybe you can but you're asking the wrong question of the wrong person. It's Derek who's kvetching over a Liberal election document looking for answers that aren't there.

Are you not paying attention? The Liberals were sworn in a month ago. There IS no budget!! Derek is getting himself in a tizzy over his interpretation of some election material. It doesn't specify exactly what is being spent, it just says where spending is increased or cut. So, if the Conservatives planned for expenditures, that money is still in the plans. If not, it's hard to blame that on the Liberals.

There are laws against dumping garbage in the ocean. And yes, I've been on ferries many times.

Yes. Just like Dan Brown, the neo-conservatives on the SCOTUS succeeded in divining meaning that had eluded scholars for 200 years. Praise the lord and pass the ammunition. We're all saved. Good thing that they had this "special" group of jurists that could divine meaning differently than others, including earlier iterations of the SCOTUS!! The second amendment is now probably the only sentence in the English language where it's been decided that the first part in no way modifies the second. I was always taught that a sentence is supposed to express a single thought. I suppose the constitution was written by a band of morons who weren't aware of this. I will need to be more careful when I talk to my kids. If I say "Since you're sick, you don't have to go to school", they will rightly point out that the SCOTUS would claim that means they never have to go to school again. After all the first part of the sentence doesn't restrict the second.

Agreed. What is unusual is that serious problems are magically fixed within 2 months.

Sure but did they catalog everything, overwrite the data 7 times and degauss the drives first?

In fairness, it's no crazier than the madness spouted by the NRA.

Good thinking. Instead, when your grandkids ask what part you had in bankrupting your country, you can use that old military excuse. "I was just following orders".

I'm sure that makes you feel better - but it doesn't make the process any less a waste of time and money.

There is a parallel between the US Constitution and the bible here. It's treated as the unalterable voice of righteousness. And it's being interpreted literally, without apparent regard for the context in which it was written. And it is most famously wielded by fundamentalists. And mostly by the same people Funny that.

It's also a good way to get arrested.

And while you were enjoying yourself diverting resources destroying data of probably negligible value, the Chinese were hacking the secrets to the butterball. (luckily, the plane is mostly worthless) Well done!

And you've been able to determine this based on your read of campaign materials. Some may say wait for a budget or two. You can just keep on holding seances.

Trudeau was sworn in a month ago and has spent most of the time since on the road. You think he ordered them and put them on a government credit card?

Good news for all the people worried about Trudeau's childcare costs sinking the budget or underpaid caregiver costs. Trudeau has just announced that he's decided that his kids will be raised by wolves. Another bold move by our new PM.