Icebound

Before we get all excited, know that the vote is ideological and "has no legislative teeth". The German Transport Minister does not intend to approve it. http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/future-cars/news/a31123/german-transport-minister-calls-internal-combustion-ban/

When Trump re-energizes the coal industry, you WILL! I already lived in an era when coal dust covered the snow...... I'll pass on repeating that.

No it is NOT illegal to sell dog meat in Canada for food. https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/06/24/dog-meat-not-explicitly-illegal-in-canada.html But it has to be inspected. The reason horses, etc. are not widely available for food.... has to do with the drugs in them, and not illegality per se.

.. When eating meat becomes illegal.... what are all those animal lovers going to feed their dogs and cats? ..

http://www.businessinsider.com/7-stories-of-putins-thuggish-behaviour-2013-6 http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/article/2016/jan/04/does-vladimir-putin-kill-journalists/ http://uk.businessinsider.com/list-of-people-putin-is-suspected-of-assassinating-2016-3 https://larussophobe.wordpress.com/putinmurders/ Putin has the resources to be a lot more subtle about it than most.. Castro has not been a danger to any foreign nation for 25 years. Those who want to continue living in 1963 might think that he is. He was a convenient pawn of the USSR to tweak America's nose, and when the USSR fell apart, so did any real danger of Castro's aggression. Putin... and a lot of other current dictators.... have the resources and inclination to be clear and present dangers NOW.

We have the conservative hero Reagan supplying Saddam with armament, We have Harper lavishing high praise on King Abdullah when he died, we have Trump's love of Putin, and just everybody loves the Chinese. All of these have atrocious human rights records.... and all of these received various level of praise from the west at one time or another..... But what make Castro different is that nobody could make a buck off of him. Hence Abdullah deserves praise, but Castro doesn't... and Trudeau's gesture, no doubt in part because he sees Canada making money in Cuba... gets him into hot water with all of those who have not been able to. Remember, we will all have to be praising Trump as well, because praise is what he lives for... if we want the USA to ever help us in NATO or anything else, ever again.

There is a quote from somewhere: "Rep. Gabbard stands on principle, not politics, and that makes her an impeccable choice for Secretary of State. " ... if "principle" is what one wants.....

If Batista had continued behaving the way he did, and the American corporations where making a lot of money, you can be sure that somebody would be eulogizing Batista. Read the statement carefully. Like any funeral, only the positive. Yeah, sure. I would have been happier with a slightly less fawning tone... but remember that this is politics, too. You are going to be dealing with his brother for a few years to come.... you don't go bringing up the dead brother's vices at a funeral.

Fidel's and Raoul's popularity ratings among Cubans in Cuba is 47percent, more in Havana, and even more among older people. What was the popularity rating among Canadians of Lisa's previous Leader? Was that 32 percent? Misguided or not, there ARE Cubans who have a "deep and loving affection" for Castro, whatever his faults. I am also not sure what she is talking about "exporting terror". Has Cuba really been involved in anything in the last 25 years? Other than FARC, and based on recent developments, FARC were the good guys. Trudeau's statement was actually carefully worded to include only the positive facts, like one might at any funeral.. The closest to "approval" was that "my father was proud to call him friend", which reflects on the father not Justin. Yes, Lisa, now is the politically correct time to publicly chastise and shun the dead leader of a country which Canada (your previous leader included) is recognizing as a growing economic partner.

about 1000 per year

Trump's broken promises in Scotland: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/trump-fails-to-create-promised-jobs-and-investment-in-scotland-locals-say-a6801466.html "The first project on the coastal Menie estate started almost a decade ago with plans to invest $1.5 (£1.02) billion, numbers that were repeated by former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond in 2009, to build a five star hotel, a golf course and 1,500 houses. Mr Trump also said he would create 6,000 jobs. There are currently 150 people directly employed on the Menie golf resort. " "According to documents from UK public database Companies House, the Menie estate golf course has made multi-million pound losses over the last three years. The estate made a loss of £1.3 million in 2014, a loss of £1.8 million in 2013 and a further loss of £1.7 million in 2012. “The Menie estate has been valued at £30 million - and it has lost millions since it opened in 2012,” Mr Baxter said. Local councillor Isobel Davidson said there was no evidence in the short term of Trump creating 6,000 jobs. "

Castro was a dictator, and it will be argued in these pages how many deaths he is responsible for... However, the question is: .... what would have been different with Batista? Do we seriously think that there would have been any less repression? Oh, I am sure American businessmen would have done very well, along with Batista's family and friends.... but what would the Cuban health and education systems looked like? Remember how the USA's corporate and political elite have so disillusioned the "little guy" in the heartland, that he voted in a bombastic outsider to shake things up? Well, those "little guys" are the ones that love Castro... and it is the elite that find him reprehensible. Be careful of our "little guys" and their picks. Cuba's repressive state incarcerates something like 510 people for every 100,000 poplulation. The democracy-champion USofA? 693. In summary... sure: Dictator, tyrant, self-serving, hated by many, loved by many, Pretty much the average world leader, these days.

Expert adviser K. T. McFarland had predicted in early 2015 that ISIS would "thrive" because of Obama policies. It is still on her website. Has ISIS "Thrived" or "declined"?

You have to remember that it not not just enemies that you are attacking. Your shells will be killing a large amount of civilians, as well. Iraqi forces on the ground claim that a surprise attack would have given ISIS way more momentum in their recruitment drives.... whereas now, the civilian population clearly sees their atrocities for what they are. Also, the slower approach is providing some intelligence from the civilian underground. It is not stupid at all to save civilian lives.

Sample quote from the definition of Free Enterprise: http://classroom.synonym.com/advantages-enterprise-2562.html Quote: Firms that do not adapt to changes in demands will be forced out of the economy: essentially the system adjusts itself to produce the goods and services that people want and stops producing things that are no longer needed. :unquote I find it somewhat ironic that the nation which champions "free enterprise" has been turned upside-down by the very people which "free enterprise" has left behind.... those where were unable or unwilling to modernize along with the rest of the world. By definition, election of Trump on the basis of "being left behind" means that a large part of America is re-thinking "free enterprise", even if they don't realize it yet. Even more ironic is that the very embodiment of American Capitalism was chosen to make the change... and who is now planning to curb free-enterprise activities such as free-trade agreements, or allowing the free flow of money and labour???

Is not the whole idea of "politics"... to find people who can successfully keep their constituents from killing each other? ? ?

I don't pretend that we pay less taxes. But YOU pretend that the US pays less taxes. The taxes are spread out differently. Other costs and fees are spread out differently and priced differently. Trying to compare, is apples and oranges. Check out the happiness index between the two countries, regardless of what it "costs".

Carter was in a de-facto war state with Iran because of the Hostage issue. Syria is not. Sure you can ban anybody you want. It does not make sense, but you can do it. But a blanket ban on Syrians was not proposed. It was a ban specifically on Muslims. Nobody said anything about banning Christian Syrians?

We have city income taxes???

Sure. would he be banning "all" emigration / refugees from "any region" because they are "all" rapists and terrorists? Actually, other than Mexico, I don't believe any other "region" was specifically mentioned. It was more like religion, not region.

Is that why they have income taxes at the Federal, state, AND city level? as well as state and city sales taxes?

Sure. legitimate issues that should be dealt with within the context of human rights. But Leadership's rhetoric counts. And when the Leadership legitimizes bigotry against certain people or classes of people... then there are always somebody with a slogan on a t-shirt ready to take up the cause.... There has been a surge in hate crimes following Brexit in the UK, and you can be pretty sure to see something similar. For the people on the receiving end, yes, "civilization" is seemed to be ending.

Ah, but you are trying to find a LOGICAL explanation. The people do not vote on logic. "woman leader bad"; "celebrity good"; "I don't need to hear anything else". George Clooney would have beat him, yes.

Did anybody notice that Trump did not end his acceptance speech with the usual "may God Bless the United States of America" ? Is there anything to be read from that?

Well.... nobody knows that, really. And it might depend on the colour of your skin, whether you feel civilization has disintegrated or not. Trump may not bring about the downfall of civilization all by himself, but he has opened a can of racist worms that society will now have to contain.