August1991

107? No, but I'm good at Fortran. ===== This forum is not Facebook. It has existed for many years. To my knowledge, Lethbridge/Greg are not seeking new members, or new eyeballs. Old works, sometimes. And sometimes it doesn't. Compare Voltaire with Napoléon - the careful thought of people in the Midwest vs mobs in LAX/NYC.

Here's an example of Trudeau Snr (retired at the time) smartly saying "No" in English, while knowing full well that his words would be translated. Trust me, he was speaking in both French and English when he said these words. He understood this country:

Once upon a time, this forum was a simple way for people in Canada to stop by and chat about politics - maybe sports/movies. Now, it's not. The current forum software has too many inserts/links/likes/submits/checks/threads/personal info/options/font styles/replies/media boxes. Let's be honest: mapleleafweb amounts to several hundred Canadians discussing politics - and a few thousand lurkers from around the world. In this crazy world, it's a website of civility. ===== Greg, Lethbridge, please return this forum to the way it once was. I prefer the older forum software. Keep It Simple Stupid = KISS

Marshall McLuhan? Is he a billionaire? ===== I reckon that the world's first trillionaire will be the guy (girl? maybe - 3-sigmas, requires extreme thinking) who figures out how to create a world network.

According to CNN.... Welcome to the world of a politician who says No. ====== And Justin Trudeau never says No. PS. Michael, note above my quote of Bouchard. Mulroney was amazing at saying "No". Chretien invariably said yes. Harper is hated now - he said "No" without any finesse. Trudeau Snr? He said "No" several times but somehow succeeded.

In the 1950s/1960s, many/millions of Americans watched "TV" - 2 or 3 "channels/networks" daily. If someone had a new product to sell, this was an original way to introduce the product. TV channels created content to attract viewers. In the 2010s, many/millions of Americans look at their Facebook page daily. If someone has a a new product to sell, this is an original way to introduce the product. But here's the difference: In the 1950s, several networks had to create the content to attract viewers to see the advertisements. In the 2010s, ordinary people create the content themselves. Facebook is a 1960s TV network, without a competitor and without any production costs. === I always thought that Facebook was about a network, like a phone system. I was dead wrong. Facebook is about eyeballs.

Justin Trudeau is not the Devil incarnate - but this forum software is forcing me to reply to OftenWrong. ====== It is easy to say yes. Smart politicians know how to say no. Trump has learned how to do this. Trudeau Jnr hasn't.

When imposing criminal sentences, judges often offer a choice: for example, $5000 fine or several weeks behind bars. Rich people pay the fine; poor people give their time. ====== In a democracy, IMHO, every voter must have some "skin in the game".

Largely agree with you, BC. I reckon that if we know about this, Trudeau Jnr is looking for votes.

Disagree, fundamentally. 1. You are discussing the difference between "legal incidence" and "economic incidence". Wikipedia those terms. 2. If you're poor, "you got nottin''" - most tax collectors ignore poor people. 3. In a civilised society, I think that everyone should have a stake. However small or large, tall or short, everyone everyone should pay a tax. This Milton Friedman idea of payroll deduction is wrong.

OMG, August. We once had a PM who said that "Canadians earned their place at the table". Now, we have a PM who says that the Canadian table is for everyone. ====== America, You won the Cold War. Forget Russia. You have no reason to have a border/tariffs war with Canadians.

Agreed - sort of. I met/saw/worked with Chretien on several occasions, in different places, different circumstances - Canada/abroad. He loved the crowd, and the crowd loved him. But he was no fool. Tough bastard. Remarkable politician. Mulroney, worked with him. As they say in English, "glad hander". (Yet, I liked him.) Pierre Trudeau (Trudeau Snr)? I met him several times. Scary, laser smart. My greater memory is meeting his compatriot: Jacques Hébert in the late 1980s at the Ritz-Carlton in Montreal. (He decided I was anglo....) Anyway... ========= As Lucien Bouchard famously said about political life, for every person in your office, there are 1000 others too shy/afraid to be there. Or as Peter Lougheed famously said about political life, a day in politics is nothing like a day anywhere else. =================== Bottom line: A successful politician must say "No" sometimes and Justin Trudeau cannot say "No" to anyone.

I've been to Vimy Ridge. No, it was not a turning point in WWI. (The turning point on the western front were the sappers and their explosion in June 1917.) WWI was a foolish slaughter of young men, for no reason. Any claim otherwise is wrong. For those that are curious, go to Beaumont-Hamel - then see the German trenches, still existing. ====== We in the West have much to defend. But August 1914 was a calamity, and its aftermath worse. Yet I still defend western values.

"... who bought all the drinks..." ? With Trump, it seems that scam is over - at least in Germany. ===== Make no mistake: American taxpayers (even ordinary Americans) gave up much so that Germans could feel safe.

Disagree. He gets someone else to say "maybe". He, like his Mom, cannot say "No". ===== His Dad, on the other hand, could lead - like Lucien Bouchard, he understood what it meant to be a politician. Trudeau Snr and Bouchard could say no. Justin's weakness (his kryptonite) is that, like his Mom, he can't be around anything negative. He can't say no.