the watcher

Thanks for that post. The Ukraine certainly took some awful abuse from Stalin. I'm not entirely up on that history but I know he took all the grains produced in the Ukraine at one point as a punishment . The number I recall is 10 million starved to death. On another note I also really wished I had talked more to the generation before me and written it down. I've pieced some things togeather but wished I had more.

In my mind there are 2 choices : 1- A full on choking off of Russia financially and in trade. A shunning of them in any other way ( sports, culture.... ) Or as was said " Canceling them " ( I actually like that term in this instance ) or 2- NATO joins the fight. That could engulf the entire Eastern part of Europe....or more. The risk of nuclear war would probably be at its highest since the Cuban missile crisis. Hmmmm, let's see.....Maybe " Canceling Russia " is an awesome f**king plan.

I think it's really hard for most people in Canada and many other countries to understand just how big , powerful, extreme and frankly delusional that segment of the US population is. We saw that a bit in the pandemic. I view them as no different than the radical segment of Muslims dreaming of their virgins as they strap on a bomb.. Nutters all.

What chance did Britain have against Germany after the fall of Europe ? What chance did Vietnam have against the might of the USA ? What chance did the Afghans have against Russia ? What chance did the Taliban have against the combined force they faced. It has happened many , many times. It takes good leadership and a good battle plan. The Ukraine is already winning the non battlefield war. In today's small world that is extremely important. If the Ukraine surrenders it will be the end of the Ukraine for the foreseeable future.

Apparently you can be trained in 1 hour on how to use Javelins and Stingers. If they can access enough of them and with the ground swell of resistance happening that could be a game changer.

An opinion piece on Putin https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/feb/27/vladimir-putin-russia-ukraine-power

It takes some brave people to protest in Russia. Putin has hunted down and murdered people who have criticised him in print and film..

It's everyone's business.

Even me with my " hang am all and let God sort it out " attitude was glad to see us move on from the WMA .

This should be posted on Rider Fans.

It's a funny political scene. The Liberals who keep getting elected despite placing 2nd in popular vote and suffering multiple "scandals" that would normaly get them put out, are benifiting from a Conservative party that is to busy cannibalizing itself to be a real threat or to table intelligent platforms. The NDP despite having a very competent, intelligent leader just don't seem able to make the leap or even take full advantage of having the balance of power. I'd like to be able to disagree with you but I can't. It's not just the Conservatives that are supporting this BS but the rest that are remaining quiet

Now that I agree with. It just struck me that when Trudeau Sr. implemented the War measures act during the FLQ crisis I believe he had the full support and backing of the Conservatives.

Agreed I wouldn't call inflation rampant YET. But it is heading that way. All I said was having lived through it, in an industry that carries heavy debt loads it scares the hell out of me. I dont find it at all a joking matter.It changed my view of the business, politics and economics and the world.. Interestingly it moved me to the left.

Yes, but we were subjected to skyrocketing interest rates due to a falling dollar. The falling dollar had alot to do with poor economic decisions by the government and rampant inflation. You may not want to call it " hyper inflation " ( as in prewar Germany ) but it was " hyper " enough to be the basis of a near collapse. My point was rampant inflation is no joking matter. To belittle it , and mock the fear of it is ridiculous. I

I lived through %20 interest rates. I saw real good people lose their farms out of nothing other than bad timing. So that's their business, their homes , their lifestyles and dreams. It took damn near a lifetime to recover. So ya, it scares the hell out of me. It's not a joking matter. I'll just add I don't really care about " agendas," left or right or the name on the party. Just decent government. I have voted for both Doer and Harper.

As someone who absolutely dislikes Trudeau and won't vote for him I have to give him credit for his handling of this. I doubt he runs again , he had such a low % of the popular vote. % 32 , which is lower than the PCs had. ( that happened in the last election as well mind you ) But if this protest has done anything , it has probably increased his popularity. Many of the Conservatives are pandering to a segment that will vote for them regardless. They are pushing away the more centralist segment of the population. It's the old " cutting off your nose dispite your face " bit. It's going to cost them.

This was the risk with not responding with a heavy hand right away. ( and I understand the hesitancy) . Now a path to success has been laid for every nutbar group around the world. Whether it was successful or not doesn't matter , as it is seen as that.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/20/ottawa-protests-capital-police-clear-blockade The delusional led by delusional cowards.

Agreed, it's mostly about the melt. The other issue is the drainage that has occurred. Previously as the snow melts the water would fill the sloughs and lower areas which would lower the peak flows. Many of those areas have been drained and ditched and that melt water just fires through. It's been an odd winter. My life lately consists of snow blowing my close to a mile long lane. I don't ever recall getting Alberta clippers like this. There's been no big Colorado lows ,just non-stop clippers. As Spock use to say "Fascinating"

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/feb/21/mark-finchem-trump-arizona-elections-secretary-of-state Their system contines to crumble.

Gardwine is running ads for truckers every morning on CJOB. They make a point of "saying without saying " that they can still use unvaccinated truckers. When this whole thing started I said that it was all BS. I seriously could find a job for any competent trucker vaccinated or not in an hour. That's not an exaggeration.

It's hard to believe the same species that is doing this is also carrying on like idiots here on the ground.

Funny, I've just been taking stock of the misconceptions and ignorance . It's another pandemic. No seems to know : - What the Charter of rights and freedoms really says -What freedom in a society means - the difference between want / desire and right - whether you like a particular leader or not is inconsequential. They were elected by our democracy. - What a Nazi is. In particular that neither our current PM Trudeau or our previous PM Harper are or were Nazis - What an Anglo- Saxon is , or the history of them. - That there are no real " pure races " - Lastly , history. There seems to be an amazing lack of knowledge about the history of the world, from ancient to recent.

Depending what happens over the next decade we could easily become the USA 's " Ukraine. "