the watcher

After the attempted coup, I thought America only had one last chance to pull them back from the brink dand that would be their judiciary system. But it has failed. 

It is getting weird/ scary. I was fuelling up a slip tank at a cardlock yesterday. A guy about my age that I didn't know pulled in to fuel his pickup and came over to talk which is normal in a small town.
Dude : Getting rready to go to the field
Me: If it ever dries up
Dude: Boy I wonder what that will cost you when you get the bill ? 
Me : I don't know but it won't be cheap.
And this is where the conversation went right off the wall.
Dude : Well, I hate to say it ( looking around ) but someone should shoot that Trudeau
Me : ( after a few shocked seconds ) You mean because of the carbon tax , because that's got nothing to do with why the fuel price rocketing up. It's just whats going on in the Ukraine and that being used as an excuse to charge more money here.
Dude: Well Trudeau is sending them fuel ! ( Edit : He also said they are trying to make us drive electric cars like it was some horrible thing)
At that point I gave him a whatever and got busy strapping my tank down. But I find it unnerving that a random stranger would assume it was OK to say that to me about ANY leader. The world is collectively going off its nut.
 

It is getting weird/ scary. I was fuelling up a slip tank at a cardlock yesterday. A guy about my age that I didn't know pulled in to fuel his pickup and came over to talk which is normal in a small town.
Dude : Getting rready to go to the field
Me: If it ever dries up
Dude: Boy I wonder what that will cost you when you get the bill ? 
Me : I don't know but it won't be cheap.
And this is where the conversation went right off the wall.
Dude : Well, I hate to say it ( looking around ) but someone should shoot that Trudeau
Me : ( after a few shocked seconds ) You mean because of the carbon tax , because that's got nothing to do with why the fuel price rocketing up. It's just whats going on in the Ukraine and that being used as an excuse to charge more money here.
Dude: Well Trudeau is sending them fuel ! ( Edit : He also said they are trying to make us drive electric cars like it was some horrible thing)
At that point I gave him a whatever and got busy strapping my tank down. But I find it unnerving that a random stranger would assume it was OK to say that to me about ANY leader. The world is collectively going off its nut.
 

That potential is always there as the Stanford Experiment proved.

It is getting weird/ scary. I was fuelling up a slip tank at a cardlock yesterday. A guy about my age that I didn't know pulled in to fuel his pickup and came over to talk which is normal in a small town.
Dude : Getting rready to go to the field
Me: If it ever dries up
Dude: Boy I wonder what that will cost you when you get the bill ? 
Me : I don't know but it won't be cheap.
And this is where the conversation went right off the wall.
Dude : Well, I hate to say it ( looking around ) but someone should shoot that Trudeau
Me : ( after a few shocked seconds ) You mean because of the carbon tax , because that's got nothing to do with why the fuel price rocketing up. It's just whats going on in the Ukraine and that being used as an excuse to charge more money here.
Dude: Well Trudeau is sending them fuel ! ( Edit : He also said they are trying to make us drive electric cars like it was some horrible thing)
At that point I gave him a whatever and got busy strapping my tank down. But I find it unnerving that a random stranger would assume it was OK to say that to me about ANY leader. The world is collectively going off its nut.
 

2 different mass shooting in Milwaukee after the Bucks game, then a mass shooting in Buffalo at a grocery store with 10+ dead. Thoughts and prayers and pass me my gun

There are no words to express the horror and sadness. America as we know it is doomed.

If we as Canadians and our representatives do not forcefully condemn this, we are headed down the same path as the US.

Currently reading an interesting book - Authoritarian Nightmare about the rise of Trump and why people follow him. Very interesting stuff, especially the part about the psychology of his followers. Co-authored by Manitoba's own Bob Altemeyer, an expert on authoritarianism. Canada is at risk too.

If those are the only three issues holding up a deal, the CFL should be willing to work with the CFLPA.  Those seem like fairly reasonable asks, IMO.
 

Kind of big news...
 
 

On Thursday, May, 12, The Ukrainian Armed Forces confirmed they hit the Vsevolod Bobrov, a Project 23120 logistics Russian ship. 
Serhiy Bratchuk, a spokesman for the Odesa Regional Military Administration, Ukraine, reported on Telegram that the Russian ship was hit, damaged and set on fire as a result of a Ukrainian strike, as reported by Ukrinform.
“As a result of the actions of our Navy, the Vsevolod Bobrov logistics ship, one of the newest in the Russian fleet, set on fire. They say she is limping toward Sevastopol,” Bratchuk said

I think more than anything, we can see where the threats are coming from. We'll maintain strong connections to Europe but we're going to be further and further isolated from our nearest neighbours. 
Both Dems and GOP pose a threat. Traditionally, Dems have used economic means to attack Canada (protectionist) but the GOP valued our strategic partnership. However, with the recent antidemocratic, pro-fascist actions by the GOP, we're going to be in tough.
That poison is seeping into our country and a major political party is mouthing the same rhetoric. 
The US is a threat to our democracy aa they turn away from it. 

I really like this picture, thought I would share.
 

 
The look of defiance and the embodiment of the indomitable spirit of Ukraine.

Missouri Looks to Ban Pharmacists From Disputing Efficacy of Ivermectin
-Getty
When the Missouri state legislature on Wednesday passed a standard-issue licensure bill for physical therapists, few noticed a clandestine provision on its 32nd page banning pharmacists from telling patients about the potential dangers of using unproven drugs touted by conspiracy fringe groups as “forbidden cures” for COVID-19. The measure in the bill, passed unanimously by the state’s General Assembly, specifically bars pharmacists from disputing “the efficacy of ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine sulfate tablets for human use” unless specifically asked by a patient or physician. No evidence has been produced to show that ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine are effective treatments for the coronavirus, and in some cases they have been found to be actively harmful to patients. Lindsey Simmons, a former Missouri congressional candidate, was one of the few who did notice the measure, pointing out in a thread on Twitter that “nevertheless, the Missouri legislature has chosen to ‘own the libs’ by issuing a gag order against every pharmacist in this state from offering their medical opinion on taking either one of those medications—even if it could kill their patient.”
The bill currently awaits a signature from Missouri’s Republican governor, Mike Parson.
(Ivermectin ought to be the mandatory treatment for all GOP republicans if the contract COVID in any of its forms)

I never thought the American idiocy would gain popularity in Canada. But after watching videos of what Jagmeet Singh put up with yesterday I'm   worried. Its pretty impressive how cool he remains during all that. Plus I watched a few minutes of the Con. debate and made the mistake of taking a peek at the comments section. Yikes ! While I still believe this country will not slide into the abyss that the US. has it is worrisome. I don't think it's a large movement but they sure are vocal.

I never thought the American idiocy would gain popularity in Canada. But after watching videos of what Jagmeet Singh put up with yesterday I'm   worried. Its pretty impressive how cool he remains during all that. Plus I watched a few minutes of the Con. debate and made the mistake of taking a peek at the comments section. Yikes ! While I still believe this country will not slide into the abyss that the US. has it is worrisome. I don't think it's a large movement but they sure are vocal.

Source unknown:
 
I was thinking of the "free exchange of ideas" last night. You know, it's not like a market, it's like a potluck. Everyone brings their own ideas and you sample others and some are familiar with a twist, some are interesting but not to your taste, some are bad, some are lifechanging. You can get into a discussion about recipes or technique, or what have you as people talk about the food. If someone brings mashed potatoes, you can debate the appropriateness for a potluck: is it too bland? Will it get cold on the table? Do potatoes make up too much of our diet? But if someone puts a steaming platter of dog **** on the table, we're not going to debate it. And when we tell them to take it off the table, it's not because we are afraid of eating their dog **** or we think that it's going to revolutionize lunch and we don't want that to happen. We tell them to get it off the table because there is no debate to be had. It's dog ****. It's not an open question, it's not a matter of palettes or picky eaters. That's why we don't engage with neo-nazis and white supremacists, and it's why we don't (or shouldn't) let them come to the potluck

@the watcher this is mostly what I was referring to a ways back in the thread. Hostility like this, often based on conspiracies and misinformation, emboldened by many members of our opposition party. Like the US needed true Republicans to stamp out Trumpism and didn't, we need real conservatives to harshly criticize stuff like this and call it for what it is rather than use it for political gain.
 

We moved out of grain in the mid 70's because there was no money in it, so I will have to take your word for it on the CWB after that time. The cost of hauling grain to market all depends how much further you have to go. In some areas it was minimal, but others it was quite expensive because the distance was further. My brother now has to haul almost 100k to sell his grain.
My brother was the eldest and took over the farm. Our farm wasn't big enough to support multiple families so I went my own way. I think I made the right decision. To answer your question though, I loved cattle farming and hated grain farming. My brother operates a few head of cattle for me that I butcher and sell at auction each year, in exchange I look after the livestock for him a couple weeks each winter while he goes South somewhere.

Fair comment. One difference I would point out: fewer large semis vs. many small grain trucks

One of the costs that is rarely thought about is what all that traffic does to our roads. My property borders the highway and there was a massive change in the amount of semis on the road once we lost our rail line. And we are generally not keeping up to the wear on the highways any more. On top of the damage and wear to roads you could add in the cost to the environment .100s of trucks vs one train. 

One of the costs that is rarely thought about is what all that traffic does to our roads. My property borders the highway and there was a massive change in the amount of semis on the road once we lost our rail line. And we are generally not keeping up to the wear on the highways any more. On top of the damage and wear to roads you could add in the cost to the environment .100s of trucks vs one train. 

I think you mean 1850’s. 

This is only the latest evidence that the USA has become irredeemably contaminated with racism, hatred and fear. There are no guarantees that we in Canada will devolve into something similar and all we can do is care for each other and learn from the insanity south of us. We need to learn and live what many Americans have chosen to ignore: that which diminishes one of us diminishes all of us.