The wife and I keep tossing around the idea of buying some land and simplifying/becoming semi-sustainable. Unfortunately, even bareland is a premium in the areas we are looking

There have been a lot of Ukraine optimistic articles lately. This one certainly paints another picture, that Russia is still slowly grinding away and Ukraine doesn't have the manpower.

The more I see of Carney's government the less I like it.

That's where my mind went too

Not rude, no worries. It's an area of consternation for Canada. And a really interesting balancing act to watch.

I think its wrong to lump the royals in with all Brits, at least Elizabeth and Charles, because they aren't raised to view themselves as purely British. I would argue they dont identify with nation states in the same way us plebs do.

When the royals are in Canada the media often worries that British realpolitik will prevail for exactly the reasons you've outlined. But I've yet to see Elizabeth or Charles throw Canada under the bus. When here, they do represent Canadian views, even when they are slightly contrary to British.

Canadians generally have 'trust' in the monarchy because they have held up their side of the bargain. Will that always be the case? Maybe not.

I'm probably a soft monarchist, I think there is stability in the institution that republics just don't have. I think there is value in the elected leader being reminded they are not the top dog, even if it is a largely ceremonial role. It helps that the royals are far away and the family drama stays mostly in the UK.

Sure, but plenty of people buy things because they want to feel wealthy. I have people in my life who buy fancy cars, holidays, and furniture on loan with bad interest. Instead of saving for an item, they pay too much for instant gratification.

I hate the modern internet

I've never heard of Iran being called fascist. It is a militant theocracy.

Just testing the waters

It is not trolling it's threatening. Don't downplay his psychopathy

I had a friend that used to bring all her first dates to the bar I tended. Just in case.

Costs in general. I just stand there in the grocers thinking "shit, they should nationalize the food chain"

Could also explain why prisons are such a big industry in the US

It could be worse, he could be alive

Nothing motivates unionization more than arbitrary firing.

My parents actually went the other way. They were very conservative while I was growing up until my mid twenties, and nowadays they are the complete opposite.

When they were conservative, I generally didn't bring up politics, but if it came up I didn't argue. I would just say I thought something was mean spirited and just shrug if they tried to argue. I think I accidentally psychologically fucked with them. I think being mean was against a core value of theirs and me repeating that idea slightly tweaked their thought process.

Eventually I started hearing the "mean spirited" comment from them as a reason they disliked a policy or conservative person. And they now vote for liberal or labour parties.

Obviously an F-15 Eagle

The government shouldn't be involved in union busting. AC has no reason to bargain in good faith if the government continues to throw workers under the (air)bus

As a Canadian, I'm very happy that Trump is spreading his bullshit far and wide. Whenever he acts crazy towards Canada nothing but crickets from Europe. Maybe soon people will realize that we are all legitimate targets to the Trump regime and band together.

As an outsider, I can excuse the 2016 vote because I recognize that people were angry at the system. But the subsequent votes are inexcusable, Trump's goals and methods were apparent from the get go.