Politics

[wesheltonj]

. . .Hmmm, while I like our non-superior brothers in Canada, most Canadians live within 100 miles of the U.S.A. border. I don’t think Canada has many tropical vacation locations. Oh, Canada has great skiing, hunting albeit with certain anti-gun restrictions, and wonderful farmlands and mountains. That stated, not many people vacation in Alberta, do they? . . .

I love vacationing in Alberta. Banff NP, Jasper NP, Yoho NP & Kootenay NP. Granted some parts of the parks are in BC.

 

[spike.t]

I expected India to do something after the terrorist attack a few weeks ago by a group of Pakistan based bad guys in Kashmir.. but I expected the action to be relatively minor... and then the two governments would find a way to de-escalate..

Al Jazeera seems to be giving it more coverage than the big EU and US news agencies.. and while sometimes Indian news agencies are decent, clearly they're biased on this one..

Plenty about it on my bbc app

 

[spike.t]

South Africa's Julius Malema hits out after not getting UK visa

The UK Home Office was unable to process Julius Malema's application in time for his trip, the High Commission says.

www.bbc.com

 

[BSO Dave]

The fact you can’t take 100% or even 50% of what the president of the United States says seriously should not be a position you brag about.

I can and do take Trump very seriously because I possess the cognitive ability of rational thought which allows me to understand, and accept his character and demeanor without an emotional reaction...

The fact that you cannot differentiate between serious policy issues and Trump's trolls is an intellectual deficit. Your emotion is blocking your ability to think rationally... It's the first and most common symptom of TDS...

And, as far as Canada's contributions to the historical wars, I have no doubt they all served bravely and sacrificed equally if not proportionately... My reference was more about the world's foremost nuclear superpower that you happen to share a 5,525-mile border with... With that nuclear umbrella, you really don't need an army at all... In fact, why bother, when you certainly don't have enough to repel the inevitable U.S. invasion... LOL...!

 

[spike.t]

Not good...pushing the cashless society.....wonder if international cards will have same limits....

New Banking Regulations: Card Withdrawal Limits Changed Starting From May 15th – Here’s How They Impact South Africans

New Card Withdrawal Limits - Starting May 15th, 2025, new banking regulations issued by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) will change the

www.ipiafrica.org

 

[Brent in Az]

"Conservative" isn't synonymous with "libertarian", "Republican", or "populist"

Churchill would be well left of US Democrats and unelectable other than in a novelty manner like Bernie.

It's just that the US spectrum is shifted so far to the right.
I don't begrudge Americans for it: The same isolationism that keeps less than half of them from owning a passport also reaches to the more educated in a different form of isolationism and general ignorance. US defaultism.

The type that now insists that running massive deficits, instituting tariffs, abandoning free trade, and just being generally boorish on the world stage is now the default "Conservative" position.

Perhaps in the continental US, but the rest of the world shrugs and looks forward. You'll have to excuse me for being a conservative of the traditional stripe. Not the one that was minted in 2016 and worships a cult of personality. We'll have to agree to disagree.

I'll take a move to balanced budgets with appropriate taxation, a market solution to climate change, agreeable pro-business and pro-development policy, a deference to constitutional laws and norms, and a solid commitment to a free trade agenda in the vein of traditional European conservatism as opposed to what is passing as "Conservative" south of the 49th.

Globally, Canada will pursue closer trade and ties to the UK, EU, China, and India. We'll be better positioned for it in the 21st as China and India rise, and the US wanes.

By all means, you can have the MAGA hats and pats on the back in an echo chamber.

Good luck with that.

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

I can and do take Trump very seriously because I possess the cognitive ability of rational thought which allows me to understand, and accept his character and demeanor without an emotional reaction...

The fact that you cannot differentiate between serious policy issues and Trump's trolls is an intellectual deficit. Your emotion is blocking your ability to think rationally... It's the first and most common symptom of TDS...

And, as far as Canada's contributions to the historical wars, I have no doubt they all served bravely and sacrificed equally if not proportionately... My reference was more about the world's foremost nuclear superpower that you happen to share a 5,525-mile border with... With that nuclear umbrella, you really don't need an army at all... In fact, why bother, when you certainly don't have enough to repel the inevitable U.S. invasion... LOL...!

I got to say you never fail to disappoint Dave, I’m glad your here you give view into the mind of the maga faithful.

 

[CJW]

The terrorist organization said that it would "strike with an iron fist all these renegades," that threaten civilians.​

Hamas’s “Arrow” unit (“Wahdat Sahm”) pledged to carry out on-site executions against three Gazans accused of collaborating with Israel by “slitting their throats.” In a statement circulating online, the unit added that images of the executions and their confessions “will be broadcast to the public in audio and video,” also claiming that “the limbs of 13 thieves and people who incite chaos and anarchy will be amputated and their legs will be shot."

Hamas pledges to execute, amputate Gazans accused of ‘treason,’ ‘theft’

The terrorist organization said that it would "strike with an iron fist all these renegades," that threaten civilians.

m.jpost.com

 

[WAB]

"Conservative" isn't synonymous with "libertarian", "Republican", or "populist"

Churchill would be well left of US Democrats and unelectable other than in a novelty manner like Bernie.

It's just that the US spectrum is shifted so far to the right.
I don't begrudge Americans for it: The same isolationism that keeps less than half of them from owning a passport also reaches to the more educated in a different form of isolationism and general ignorance. US defaultism.

The type that now insists that running massive deficits, instituting tariffs, abandoning free trade, and just being generally boorish on the world stage is now the default "Conservative" position.

Perhaps in the continental US, but the rest of the world shrugs and looks forward. You'll have to excuse me for being a conservative of the traditional stripe. Not the one that was minted in 2016 and worships a cult of personality. We'll have to agree to disagree.

I'll take a move to balanced budgets with appropriate taxation, a market solution to climate change, agreeable pro-business and pro-development policy, a deference to constitutional laws and norms, and a solid commitment to a free trade agenda in the vein of traditional European conservatism as opposed to what is passing as "Conservative" south of the 49th.

Globally, Canada will pursue closer trade and ties to the UK, EU, China, and India. We'll be better positioned for it in the 21st as China and India rise, and the US wanes.

By all means, you can have the MAGA hats and pats on the back in an echo chamber.

Good grief, MAGA hat??? You obviously haven’t read many of my posts. However, I maintain that if you think Canada has a conservative government, you either don’t understand the term, or you’ve missed the positions of the new administration.

 

[Brent in Az]

Not good...pushing the cashless society.....wonder if international cards will have same limits....

New Banking Regulations: Card Withdrawal Limits Changed Starting From May 15th – Here’s How They Impact South Africans

New Card Withdrawal Limits - Starting May 15th, 2025, new banking regulations issued by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) will change the

www.ipiafrica.org

Cashless society. Social credit scores. One world order. Mark of the beast(666).
They start by controlling our ability to buy and sell.

 

[WAB]

Approximately 46% of US citizens have a passport.
70% of Canadians do. That was my point. And facts confirm. If o it want to tilt at that particular windmill, have at it

By your numbers, 98m Americans traveled. Out of 340m
30m Canadians traveled. Out of 40m

The math is left as an exercise to the reader, as the old, before the fancy new curriculum, schoolbooks used to say.

I'm not sure it's the damming indictment that you imagine it to be.
And I certainly don't dispute that there is a preventative of Americans that are well traveled (look at the forum we're on). But to claim its a norm is folly.

I'll cut through the chaff and ask directly, do you believe that the average American is as well educated or informed on international matters, or as well traveled as their first world Canadian or European counterparts?

My position is that they're not.
Demonstrably.

I agree with you on this. When we moved to the US we were shocked at how ill informed most Americans were at events occurring outside their borders. This site is an obvious exception as most of the Americans represented here are well above the norm. The average Canadian is much more aware of international events and tends to travel far more.

I like to joke that the average Canadian is very well informed on international issues but does nothing about it, while the average American is clueless but is going to solve the problem anyway.

 

[Red Leg]

This site is an obvious exception

Not entirely.

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

I like to joke that the average Canadian is very well informed on international issues but does nothing about it, while the average American is clueless but is going to solve the problem anyway.

I’m going fishing again at midnight and me and the skipper argue politics to past the time on the water if you feel your ears burning it’ll be because I used the above.

 

[mdwest]

Longest sniper shot in history? A Canadian took it..

That used to be true.. but not any longer…

Viacheslav Kovalsky of Ukraine holds that record now… 3800 meters on a Russian during the current war…

The previous record was held by Canadian JTF2 sniper Dallas Alexander… 3500 meters… who now lives in the US (Nashville)… he doesn’t have a whole lot of good things to say about the Canadian military and what it’s become these days.. he cites wokeism, political correctness and other liberal policy changes as the motivation for him leaving the Canadian military.. he’s pursuing a career in country music these days…and appears to be making some headway…

Also key to note..he trained extensively with US SOF and Tier 1 units prior to making that shot.. as most JTF2 personnel do…

FWIW JTF2 is an excellent unit.. everyone I’ve worked with that spent time there were solid, professional, highly capable soldiers..

But they get a lot of support from their US and British (and Aussie and Kiwi) counterparts… with dwindling Canadian budgets I suspect JTF2 relies more on those relationships than ever before to remain mission ready and capable..

As another aside, the International Sniper Competition for 2025 just concluded a few weeks ago… 9 of the top 10 teams were US military…South Korea took 10th…the Netherlands took 12th…Sweden took 14th.. Ireland 16th.. Denmark 27th.. Brazil 28th…UK 31st.. Germany 34th…

Canada attended.. but didn’t place…which is a huge shame.. the Canadian SOF guys have historically done really well at that competition…

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1074811728010626&id=100064454272005

 

[Brent in Az]

Thanks to DOGE, a news outlet is claiming that the IRS has lost almost one third of it's auditors.
This, after Biden hired an additional 67,000 agents to go after all of us, small business, and waitress tips.
Cry me a river.

 

[Brent in Az]

I’m going fishing again at midnight and me and the skipper argue politics to past the time on the water if you feel your ears burning it’ll be because I used the above.

If you don't catch anything, Im sure you'll be back around to blame it on Trump, and the MAGA faithful.

 

[WAB]

That used to be true.. but not any longer…

Viacheslav Kovalsky of Ukraine holds that record now… 3800 meters on a Russian during the current war…

The previous record was held by Canadian JTF2 sniper Dallas Alexander… 3500 meters… who now lives in the US (Nashville)… he doesn’t have a whole lot of good things to say about the Canadian military and what it’s become these days.. he cites wokeism, political correctness and other liberal policy changes as the motivation for him leaving the Canadian military.. he’s pursuing a career in country music these days…and appears to be making some headway…

Also key to note..he trained extensively with US SOF and Tier 1 units prior to making that shot.. as most JTF2 personnel do…

FWIW JTF2 is an excellent unit.. everyone I’ve worked with that spent time there were solid, professional, highly capable soldiers..

But they get a lot of support from their US and British (and Aussie and Kiwi) counterparts… with dwindling Canadian budgets I suspect JTF2 relies more on those relationships than ever before to remain mission ready and capable..

As another aside, the International Sniper Competition for 2025 just concluded a few weeks ago… 9 of the top 10 teams were US military…South Korea took 10th…the Netherlands took 12th…Sweden took 14th.. Ireland 16th.. Denmark 27th.. Brazil 28th…UK 31st.. Germany 34th…

Canada attended.. but didn’t place…which is a huge shame.. the Canadian SOF guys have historically done really well at that competition…

Precision, Grit, and Glory: 2025 International Sniper Competition - SOAA

At Fort Bragg, the world’s top snipers went head-to-head in the 2025 U.S. Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) International Sniper Competition. Over five intense days, 21 elite teams from U.S. Special Operations and allied forces pushed their limits in precision shooting, fieldcraft, and...

soaa.org

I need to get a report written on the long range school @cbvanb and I just attended. By far the most impressive system I have seen for first shot kills at distance.

 

[BSO Dave]

I got to say you never fail to disappoint Dave, I’m glad your here you give view into the mind of the maga faithful.

Even though your reference to "MAGA faithful" is meant to be a slight or a half-assed inference that the MAGA ideology is some sort of extreme cult mentality, I wear it as a badge of honor...

I was of the MAGA ideology long before Trump came into power and coined the phrase... The thought of making America great again is actually one of the most patriotic aspirations any real American should have regardless of party affiliation... Anyone, left or right, that blindly and unconditionally opposes everything Trump does even if it is against their own self-interest tells you everything you need to know about them... The problem here in the U.S. is that the true extremists and communists of the democratic party no longer share those basic, common-sense aspirations. ... Their aspiration is supporting fantastical, utopian ideologies at the expense of turning America into a 3rd-world shithole via race baiting, wealth redistribution, identity politics, open borders, the abolition of the rule of law & law enforcement, and the poison of DEI policies...

Luckily, a small majority of Americans are not ready to allow that to happen just yet... If MAGA dies and the left regains control, America dies along with it albeit a slow, painful death...

 

[mdwest]

I need to get a report written on the long range school @cbvanb and I just attended. By far the most impressive system I have seen for first shot kills at distance.

Would love to read it!

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

If you don't catch anything, Im sure you'll be back around to blame it on Trump, and the MAGA faithful.

And if I make a fortune tomorrow I’m sure you’ll be here to give trump all the credit.