overthere

It is not a govt as we know it. It's a massive kleptocracy, and Putin swept out the last batch of thieves a decade ago and replaced them with his friends. They control everything, and very little filters down to the average citizen. Since then, his personal fortune is estimated at $40 billion. Not bad for a guy that was a glorified cop 20 years ago.

Baloney. He wants the resources of eastern Ukraine, and now he has them. With the active pimping and assistance of Merkel and Hollande. He does not have to, since the West will continue to give him whatever he wants. Agreed, He knows that sooner or later a new group of thieves will arise and depose him and kill him. He hinself became leader because he promised Boris Yeltsin that he and his family would be permitted to live after the transition. He will cherry pick nations with resources. Next up for the harsh hand will be Kazakhstan, which has huge amounts of oil and gas and no way to stop Russia from simply taking them. Wrong tense. It WAS a war between the two, and Ukraine lost badly Too late. In any case, Ukraine is much too weak to fight a proxy war even with Westerh weapons. And who would supply these magical weapons. Nobody in Europe stepped up- in fact they have sold out the Ukraine , and the US has no spine for what must be done.

Being a CITIZEN of Canada means this: every single person that is a citizen has the right to do whatever they please within the law. Everybody. It doesn't matter if you are brown or white, Christian or Muslim, wearing a face covering or not. There are no degrees of equailty. It doesn';t matter where you are born, we all have the same freedoms. And that includes the freedom to cover your face at this ceremony if you choose , because the law applies to all of us. You can also choose to ignore those who would try to deny those freedoms.

Fantasy. about 90% of that money has gone to the kleptocrats, which most definitely includes Putin himself.

You don't need to imagine it, Putin has gained control of eastern Ukraine at a minimal cost. And Eastern Ukraine is the resource and industrial core of the Ukranian economy. That's why Ukraine will never again have the option of turning to the West or joining the EU. They're effectively bankrupt and will be obliged to do what they're told by the USSR, sorry Russia. After he waltzed off with Crimea, this latest incursion was inevitable. Yes, that is exactly what NATO should be doing: draw a line in the sand and tell him to back the **ck up. That is the only way to slow him down before he annexes everybody weak on his borders. And he will back off, because he is much weaker militarily than a united West. It won't happen though, and he knows it. The display of spinelessness by Hollande and Merkel must have him laughing. He rolled the dice and knew what would happen before it did.

Probablyn ot, since public nudity in this case probably violates Section 174 of the criminal code. But you are just scrambling to find an easy way out of admitting that covering her face in this circumstance does not really matter. It does matter very much that she be identified as being the person granted citizenship, and she has done that. She has agreed to recite the oath as required. What she does not want to do is, counter to her religious beliefs,is remove her veil while reciting the oath. People wear turbans, yarmulkes and every conceivable manner of traditional dress while at the citizenship ceremony. This is no different.

Nope. The only thing that will back Putin off is a punch in the mouth. He has operated like this all his life. Economic sanctions won't work, there are plenty of countries who must have the natural gas(inclduing much of Western Europe) and plenty of other countries willing to buy what he has to sell. The Russian people love this stuff, the military incursions. Next up for some Putin style bullying: Kazahkstan, followed by some of the Baltic States. Why not, he knows Europe is utterly spineless?

I reluctantly have to tell you that what you think or what I think are not relevant. The woman has stated clearly and unequivocally that it is her choice and strong religious belief to hide her face in public. and yes, her personal right and freedom to choose that in Canada for herself is most definitely a value I wish to accomodate in Canada. I also think that if there is a legal or security reason to be certain of identity, she must expose her face on demand and satisfy that requirement. But the citizenship oath is not a circumstance that requires that- she has already been identified with certainty and speaking the oath is no more than a pointless protocol.

Or, simply mass 500,000 NATO troops on the Russian border with Ukraine. Putin is a bully who knows that his opponents in the West are weak and indecisive. His assessment is correct and accurate. The only thing that will change his mind on that is a visible and substantial threat to his country and himself.. In the abscence of that, he'll do what he pleases.

Lawrence does just fine.

The one thing I loved about Sun News was that it is now to the point that merely uttering the words 'Ezra Levant; makes a lefties head explode.

Selection is not unlike that in America. Gender, ethnicity and above all language are big factors for selection in Canada. It is not so different in America.

The objective comparison of McGuinty, Wynne and Ford is like hefting three piles of feces onto a tabletop and then sampling them for taste, smell and texture. It's hard to pick a winner without vomiting. Just great for the Ontario economy and future. Who wouldn't want to invest in that sort of quality leadership?

Speaking of pipelines, Trans Canada has applied to the US to build another, smaller pipeline across the border.... This one would start in North Dakota and move shale oil abou 450 kms from ND into the proposed Energy East line and take that US OIl to Canadian refineries along with a whack of bitumen. Aside from the monetary aspects and the benefits of not moving this oil by rail(oil from the Bakken deposit here was in the Lac Magantic horror), this to me is a clever PR move by Trans Canada. Lets see what Obama and the State Dept think about this puppy, will it take them 6+ years to not approve or approve it? I don't think so, and either way it will be a domectic s**tshow for Obama and company.

Or, you could just set fire to a $20 bill and save yourself two hours of your life that you'll never get back.

The primary role of the Supremes is to be a check and balance, to ensure that the laws of the land- and how lesser courts interpret those laws- fit within the intent of the Constitution. It is ironic that the Harper Haters never commend him for filling the SC with liberal judges. It must be another, more obscure part of a secret agenda. Really, really obscure.

Seen two lately that I liked: A Most Violent Year, which is not very violent but a very good, quiet and beautifully rendered snapshot of New York 35 years ago. Whiplash, a 'coming of age' movie with a stellar lead performance by longtime supporting actor JK Simmonds.

How could you not watch it, now that Spacey has gotten to his goal...

No. They can get rid of him, but only if they pay a bunch of his salary to whatever team takes him. It won't be easy or cheap. Same with Phaneuf.

Stafford is a rental player, and if he feels like it he can be a big contributor offensively in a plyoff run. His problem is that he is hot and cold, and does not like the rough hardnosed hockey that Winnipeg plays.

Yeah, he is just not on the same level of quality leadership as McGuinty or Wynne.

I read the contract, it was fixed rate as I recall for the term of the contract. Churches and businesses with a bit of spare land or unobstructed rooftop were big customers, about $50k in fitup costs and payback was about 7 years for the capital cost.

Winnipeg has one of the better blue lines in the league now and Myers will make it better. There is no reason not to expect him to thrive, and not a smal;l part of that will be that expectations of him in Winnipeg will be less than they were in Buffalo.

BTW, a similar beginning to the Greek tragedy was the case of New Zealand in the 1980s. They were at the point of national bankruptcy, and chose to completel;y reform their society and culture to dig themselves out of the mighty hole they had dug for themselves with an unaffordable social contract.. Now they do OK for themselves. Greece should read their book.

You should have stopped with 'nor more than casually acquainted'. Shooting off your mouth about fascism and military juntas that deaprted 40 years ago just reinforces your ignorance. The Greeks have been plagued not by vicious bankers or people who twisted their arms to take billions they could not afford- they did it all themselves. They are victims all righty, but victims of their own horrible lack of basic management skills. Now they have leadership that is filling their heads with the kind of self serving bullshit that is applauded by the usual morons in the West. It is almost criminal , what Ts[piras and his gang of idiots is spewing. How can any intelligent Greek believe any of this selfish, cowardly nonsense? How can you believe it? What GReece wanted for the last few decades was this: all the lovely bits of massive social contract that is the cornerstone of the EU. And they got it, by racking up staggering debts that nobody forced on them. They thought they could take the money and never do anything internal to balance their own books- like simply assess income taxes like their EU partners. And now the bill has come due. There is no free lunch, not even when they are serving souvlaki.