Politics

[OxfordTheCat]

Yep, but when I did it you had to graduate grade ! What a waste of a year that was!

Hate to have to pull two of your posts in quick succession to take issue with, but I am on the other side of this one:

It really doesn't sit well with me that 15 year olds have to plan courses to prepare for a future university path, and they're euchred if they have a change of mind or an inspiration in a year's time. The extra year gave some much needed maturing room and ground for young people to actually get exposed to more things and more possibilities, before having to try to decide on a life path.

As one of those not blessed with knowing what they wanted to do in life at 10, I appreciated the extra year. As I recall the follow on studies found that Ontario students fared poorer in university following the elimination.

... As a corollary, a senior highschool year where everyone can legally drink had a certain je ne sais quoi and definitely introduced a certain whimsy to the proceedings, and things like the spare period card games.

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

Doesn't seem that has changed any.

By my count I try to be as respectful as anyone who wades into this thread. I recently offered a public apology to a member I felt I had wrongly lashed out at. You were simply not among those I felt I had wrongly insulted or frankly worth much consideration at all except for entertainment value and the chance to direct criticisms at you which make points I wish to bring to forum but otherwise lack the words to do so tactfully. The fact you haven’t reasoned that out for your self says more negatively about your perception than I’ll ever blatantly point out.

 

[WAB]

Hate to have to pull two of your posts in quick succession to take issue with, but I am on the other side of this one:

It really doesn't sit well with me that 15 year olds have to plan courses to prepare for a future university path, and they're euchred if they have a change of mind or an inspiration in a year's time. The extra year gave some much needed maturing room and ground for young people to actually get exposed to more things and more possibilities, before having to try to decide on a life path.

As one of those not blessed with knowing what they wanted to do in life at 10, I appreciated the extra year. As I recall the follow on studies found that Ontario students fared poorer in university following the elimination.

... As a corollary, a senior highschool year where everyone can legally drink had a certain je ne sais quoi and definitely introduced a certain whimsy to the proceedings, and things like the spare period card games.

For me it was a waste. Freshmen calculus, drafting and chemistry were all a repeat of what I took in grade thirteen. I’m glad it was beneficial for you.

 

[OxfordTheCat]

If I were king for a day in Canada, Canada would be negotiating with China to fund the trans mountain pipeline from Hardisty to a West Coast export terminal. Those mid continent, US heavy oil refineries would have to switch to Venezuelan crude as the US does not produce the appropriate grade of oil for them. Specifically Wood River and Pine Bend, two of our most important refineries.

The US does not hold all the cards, but Canada lacks the leadership to play theirs properly.

The problem is customers and demand.
While I'd certainly like to see more export partners, we're not fully utilising the existing pipeline capacity we have now, much less the volume from a major expansion.

And at the end of the day oil is a fungible commodity. There is zero incentive for huge expansion under the current market conditions.
Unless our plan is a tandem move to build Transmountain and simultaneously mine the Straight of Hormuz, I'm not sure we have the buyers for a huge expansion that doesn't involve the US.

 

[OxfordTheCat]

For me it was a waste. Freshmen calculus, drafting and chemistry were all a repeat of what I took in grade thirteen. I’m glad it was beneficial for you.

I feel like we're on different sides of the same take:

Is that not feature, not a bug?
The handful of non-Ontario students in residence got worked over pretty well by some first year courses. It was some nice reassuring A's on my side

 

[WAB]

There are checks, but they don't seem to be working as designed at the moment when the President is quite content to govern via EO, and threaten any of the judiciary who deign to object.

The image below is from the US Holocaust Museum. How many of those can you spot in the new administration?

Actively threatening the sovereignty of neighbours and allies, constant complaints of stolen elections, shunning all traditional media like the AP and Reuters and limiting their reporting, threats against the judiciary. The list goes on and on.

Coupled with reporting like in this article?
US Could Lose Democracy Status, says watchdog

".... it refers to ongoing events in the U.S. as unprecedented, mentioning Trump pardoning 1,500 criminals who supported him; firing independent agency watchdogs without process; purging apolitical police and military brass; ignoring laws; and his unilaterally deleting federal programs, and even a whole organization, created by U.S. Congress.

In the last few days alone, Trump has smashed past several new milestones.

He's just called his predecessor's pardons void and vacated. He gave a bitterly partisan speech at the Department of Justice, demanding the prosecution of the media and certain adversaries. He threatened numerous universities with sanctions. He invoked a 227-year-old war measures law during peacetime — for the first time ever — to deport accused gang members without due process. And, most importantly, when that deportation plan wound up in court, he may have — although it's still in dispute — defied a court order, cracking the ultimate constitutional safeguard.

It's not just the scope of what Trump's done that has Lindberg envisioning the once-unthinkable: removing the U.S. from the democratic list and shifting it to the second-lowest tier among five, to a so-called electoral autocracy. It's also the speed.
.... "

We're a hundred years removed from OG fascism, and for the rest of us, what we're seeing looks an awful lot what neo-fascism might look like in 2025.

I do whole-heartedly agree with the sentiment about broadening data input, especially and particularly for Americans.

View attachment 673256

I don’t like much of what you’ve pointed out any more than you do. However, there is a big difference between a bombastic statement and policy. As to the EO’s. Any that don’t pass constitutional muster will be reversed in the Supreme Court.

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

The problem is customers and demand.
While I'd certainly like to see more export partners, we're not fully utilising the existing pipeline capacity we have now, much less the volume from a major expansion.

And at the end of the day oil is a fungible commodity. There is zero incentive for huge expansion under the current market conditions.
Unless our plan is a tandem move to build Transmountain and simultaneously mine the Straight of Hormuz, I'm not sure we have the buyers for a huge expansion that doesn't involve the US.

The energy east pipeline and use it domestically , 60 percent of Quebecers voted in favour of an easterly pipeline in recent polling. Which never happens.

 

[WAB]

I feel like we're on different sides of the same take:

Is that not feature, not a bug?
The handful of non-Ontario students in residence got worked over pretty well by some first year courses. It was some nice reassuring A's on my side

I was bored silly and honestly, it made me lazy. Got one hundred plus percent on calc one, calc two, phys chem and drafting without really working at it. It made the second year more difficult as I went into it thinking it would be another cakewalk, wrong! We started roughly one hundred and twenty freshmen and graduated twenty two. Roughly sixty of those were eliminated in our sophomore year. It was quite a wake up call!

 

[John Wasmuth]

I didn’t write this so don’t kill the messenger but it sounds plausible….
Wondering what would possess a federal judge to order planes in the air filled with illegals who are gang criminals to turn around??? How about the Judge's wife being the founder of an ABORTION NGO funded by USAID??? and his daughter, Katherine, whose employer is Partners for Justice, an organization that provides legal support to criminal illegal aliens and gang members. PF receives 76% of its funding from government grants. The organization actively opposes deportations, mass incarceration and laws targeting violent gangs like Tren de Aragua (from Venezuela and deeply invovolved in human trafficking, drug smuggling and violent crime). PF takes credit for eliminating 5,000 years of prison time for illegals since 2018.

Shortly after investigative journalist Laura Loomer connected these dots, Katherine Boasberg deleted her Linkedin and Instagram accounts in an attempt to scrub her connections from public view.

This connection raises a major ethical red flag. The Code of Conduct for U.S. Judges states that judges must disqualify themselves from cases where their impartiality could be questioned. Specifically, it states that a judge should step aside when a close family member has an interest that could be substantially affected by the outcome of the proceeding.

Loomer’s reporting makes it clear that this is not just a minor ethical issue—it’s a serious conflict that could impact national security. The judge overseeing these deportation cases should not have any personal connections to groups that stand to gain from his rulings. And yet, here we are, with a sitting U.S. judge making decisions that align perfectly with his daughter’s professional interests.

 

[OxfordTheCat]

Yes, and it will be delivering cheaper crude that Canada will be begging to sell, once Trump's "Drill baby drill" gains traction for american energy independence.

I feel like you don't know much about the US energy industry.

The US is the world's top oil producer, and has been for quite a few years now.

But "oil" is in vastly different densities. Used for different products, abs requiring different technologies to refine and utilise.

The oil the US imports is different to the oil it extracts.
And the refineries can't really mix and match.
US oil production could double (which it did, between 2011 and 2024, without any help from Trump, because the market does the work), and you'd still have to import oil.

And convince oil companies to dump a few dozen billion dollars into changing infrastructure.

Oh, and Canada already sold oil to the US at a substantial discount. With an appropriate overseas buyer that sees the value in converting existing refining capacity or building new to handle our output, Canadian oil companies will likely come out ahead compared to selling to the US at a pittance.

 

[OxfordTheCat]

I was bored silly and honestly, it made me lazy. Got one hundred plus percent on calc one, calc two, phys chem and drafting without really working at it. It made the second year more difficult as I went into it thinking it would be another cakewalk, wrong! We started roughly one hundred and twenty freshmen and graduated twenty two. Roughly sixty of those were eliminated in our sophomore year. It was quite a wake up call!

Ha, fair.
Reality catches up.

And I knew you were trouble when I saw chemical engineering.
I legitimately knew a math major that couldn't handle first year chemistry adequately I knew enough in highschool that chemistry makes Calc look easy

 

[WAB]

The problem is customers and demand.
While I'd certainly like to see more export partners, we're not fully utilising the existing pipeline capacity we have now, much less the volume from a major expansion.

And at the end of the day oil is a fungible commodity. There is zero incentive for huge expansion under the current market conditions.
Unless our plan is a tandem move to build Transmountain and simultaneously mine the Straight of Hormuz, I'm not sure we have the buyers for a huge expansion that doesn't involve the US.

Interesting point. I wish we could discuss it over a glass of whiskey.

The Chinese are coal rich and oil poor. Their recent alliances point to their energy interests. They are also quite good at heavy oil conversion. As you obviously know, all oils are not the same, and China’s technology points them square at middle eastern, South American and Canadian heavies.

 

[Tanks]

...
Just wait until Trump restores American energy independence, the keystone pipeline....

Keystone pipeline was to bring Canadian crude to the USA to be refined. I think that ship has sailed.

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

Interesting point. I wish we could discuss it over a glass of whiskey.

The Chinese are coal rich and oil poor. Their recent alliances point to their energy interests. They are also quite good at heavy oil conversion. As you obviously know, all oils are not the same, and China’s technology points them square at middle eastern, South American and Canadian heavies.

That aligns with the rumours of Chinese interest in an Irving oil buy out.

 

[OxfordTheCat]

I didn’t write this so don’t kill the messenger but it sounds plausible….
Wondering what would possess a federal judge to order planes in the air filled with illegals who are gang criminals to turn around??? How about the Judge's wife being the founder of an ABORTION NGO funded by USAID??? and his daughter, Katherine, whose employer is Partners for Justice, an organization that provides legal support to criminal illegal aliens and gang members. PF receives 76% of its funding from government grants. The organization actively opposes deportations, mass incarceration and laws targeting violent gangs like Tren de Aragua (from Venezuela and deeply invovolved in human trafficking, drug smuggling and violent crime). PF takes credit for eliminating 5,000 years of prison time for illegals since 2018.

Shortly after investigative journalist Laura Loomer connected these dots, Katherine Boasberg deleted her Linkedin and Instagram accounts in an attempt to scrub her connections from public view.

This connection raises a major ethical red flag. The Code of Conduct for U.S. Judges states that judges must disqualify themselves from cases where their impartiality could be questioned. Specifically, it states that a judge should step aside when a close family member has an interest that could be substantially affected by the outcome of the proceeding.

Loomer’s reporting makes it clear that this is not just a minor ethical issue—it’s a serious conflict that could impact national security. The judge overseeing these deportation cases should not have any personal connections to groups that stand to gain from his rulings. And yet, here we are, with a sitting U.S. judge making decisions that align perfectly with his daughter’s professional interests.

One would think it would be concern over whether or not the act ordered by the President, who has demonstrated a limited understanding of the Constitution, the role of the judiciary, and the authority of the Office of the President, was actually legal and enforceable; irrespective of the nationalities, legal status, or crimes committed by the prisoners in question.

In other words, sounds an awful lot like a judge being a judge.

 

[Brent in Az]

By my count I try to be as respectful as anyone who wades into this thread. I recently offered a public apology to a member I felt I had wrongly lashed out at. You were simply not among those I felt I had wrongly insulted or frankly worth much consideration at all except for entertainment value and the chance to direct criticisms at you which make points I wish to bring to forum but otherwise lack the words to do so tactfully. The fact you haven’t reasoned that out for your self says more negatively about your perception than I’ll ever blatantly point out.

So.....you went from angry high school misfit, to an angry fisherman, who decided to constantly lash out at American voters and the president we voted for, eh?

My perception is razor keen.

Maybe you should be more concerned about the Justin Trudeau 2.0 that will be running(Ruining) your country in the very near future.

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

Interesting point. I wish we could discuss it over a glass of whiskey.

The Chinese are coal rich and oil poor. Their recent alliances point to their energy interests. They are also quite good at heavy oil conversion. As you obviously know, all oils are not the same, and China’s technology points them square at middle eastern, South American and Canadian heavies.

Just so happens I’ve got three chairs and and several brush piles left to burn I can probably even find a good bottle of whiskey on the bar if you an Oxford want to have a sit down and talk politics. Canadian whisky of corse. I’ll pour and keep score.

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

So.....you went from angry high school misfit, to an angry fisherman, who decided to constantly lash out at American voters and the president we voted for, eh?

My perception is razor keen.

Maybe you should be more concerned about the Justin Trudeau 2.0 that will be running(Ruining) your country in the very near future.

On the contrary I went from an angry high school misfit to an angry fisherman who likes to lash out at select American voters namely you while engaging the more intelligent forum members in discussion on politics and world events. I’m completely comfortable with my standing in our community , want to take a guess at the number of respectable gentleman who have messaged me privately and told me that trying to reason with you is a lost cause? Or that have written anything you have to say off and have you blocked.

I notice your quick to respond when you feel you can score points in an insulting manor why then do you not try to argue the numbers i put forth regarding the trade deficit? Math to hard to do with orange crayon? Or maybe is it because the numbers are actually facts and easily verified.

 

[steve white]

Prove it?
That is unbelievably ignorant. Anyone with with a grade 9 education in history in Canada sees how Trump demonstrates every day that he is a fascist, autocratic, narcissist.

Have you ever heard of Mussolini or Hitler. It sounds like you don't even know what the words fascist and autocrat actually mean. Do you know that currently autocracies are taking over countries around the world? Do you see what is happening in Russia?

You and millions of your county men, Tump supporters, are very poorly informed. It looks like you going to learn the hard way, how history can repeat itself if a nation has too many ignorant people.
You are in for a hard education.

I can recommend a good anti-depressant...still, you are not providing EVIDENCE for your rantings. I would tread lightly around the moderators on this site. They have little patience with name calling or insulting remarks. Have a better day!

 

[OxfordTheCat]

Maybe you should be more concerned about the Justin Trudeau 2.0 that will be running(Ruining) your country in the very near future.

Mark Carney is already Prime Minister.

He was born in the mining town of Fort Smith, North West Territories (which has a population of 2100 as of 2021), before being raised in Edmonton.

He went to Harvard on scholarship and government loan for a degree in economics, with a Masters and PhD from Oxford in economics following. Following that, more than a decade with Goldman Sachs in London, New York, Tokyo, and Toronto; ending as an MD in investment banking.

From there, to the Bank of Canada before being pulled into government finance as a Deputy Minister with the Ministry of Finance under both Liberal and Conservative governments, before being appointed Governor of the Bank of Canada.
Heralded by the Conservative government for navigating the 2008 financial crisis, he demonstrably performed by taking an opposite stance to US and European banking policy during the crisis and anticipating the contagion period.

Chairman of the Settlements Committee of the Global Financial System, Chairman of the Financial Stability Board of international regulatory authorities. Then the first and only foreign Governor of the Bank of England.

Following that, vice-chair on the board at Brookfield Asset Management, on the board at Stripe payments.

Mark Carney is the furthest thing from Justin Trudeau.
And he's the only actual Conservative leader (not a right-wing populist) in North America.