jkf
27d ago
Most of the parties in question pulled snap Covid elections to cement their mandate (despite the dEadLY pANdemIC going on at the time) -- the timing in Canada anyways was such that a hypothetical politician with some shred of understanding about inflation could have hung in there with a Sweden-level response and reaped the rewards of a strong dollar (vs the US, always a political win) and low inflation.
You're right that most of these people probably believed in what they were doing, but the fact that the consequences were eminently predictible and they did it anyways leads me to believe (or hope at least) that some politicians might notice the correlation between "not believing stupid things" and long term electoral success/legacy. Politicians who go from 'strong minority govt' to 'scrabbling to maintain second place' are not generally treated kindly by the history books.
jkf
27d ago
Nobody cares that you went to McGill though -- maybe the odd lawyer who also went to McGill. It's the Harvard of Canada, but that doesn't make it Harvard.
jkf
28d ago
We're talking about Canada here -- there are plenty of jobs in logging, mining, and O&G plus the processing of these things that more or less need to take place in the hinterlands. These jobs pay much better than anything else an immigrant who isn't already a doctor or something will get, and the cost of living difference borders on an order of magnitude if you're comparing to Vancouver/Toronto.
I'm not sure your second point is actually true, other than the extent to which there are areas of the GVRD/GTA that have been essentially taken over by specific immigrant groups such that immigrants can live indistinguishably from their home country -- if one doesn't happen to be a member of the right group, I'd imagine things could be unpleasant. Certainly the first-gen immigrants that have trickled out to my section of the hinterlands assimilate very well. My impression would be that in many cases they are more Canadian (in terms of the values of 30+ years ago) than the white progressive community. (which is very much the dominant memeplex in the aforementioned urban agglomerations)
jkf
28d ago
I guarantee you that almost every swing Tory-Labour in the UK, Liberal-Conservative in Canada, or Labour-National in the New Zealand hasn't suddenly decided COVID policies were the wrong way to go.
True -- but they are also Noticing that things kind of suck ATM and seem likely to get worse before they get better; this is what I mean by the electorates' inability to put 2 and 2 together at least not hindering them in making sure the incumbents reap what they've sown.
Note well that this isn't really a left-right thing -- the British Conservatives are probably getting hammered by a Labour party which in it's Blair iteration was to the right of the current Canadian Liberals -- who are set to be hammered by a Conservative party that is a bit incohate at the moment, but certainly very left wing by American conservative standards.
jkf
28d ago
This is a myth that the PMC has bought into fully.
American PMC I would say -- there isn't really even such a thing as prestigious colleges in Canada/Europe. (I mean there kind of is, but nobody will hire you because you went to Queen's instead of UofA)
England is something of a special case in that the prestigious colleges are something of a class marker as well -- my impression is that this is mostly impactful only for certain types of job however.
jkf
28d ago
Donno man, the guy was turning up tens of thousands for boring (?) rallies at the height of a Deadly Pandemic (tm) -- say what you will, the man can turn a crowd. The money thing I'm pretty sure he proved false in 2016 -- as I recall he raised like half as much as Hill-dawg? For Trump, the media does it for free -- Biden does too to a great extent, we'll see how he campaigns but much of his messaging is actively distasteful to the black/hispanic (and now maybe Muslim, depending on the path chosen re: Israel) demographics.
jkf
28d ago
Also worth noting the Trump was not running in those elections -- to the extent that the guy has some reality distortion field going on, it does not seem to extend to his hangers-on; this does not me that it's not still working for him.
Agreed -- one would like to think that it might act as a lesson to politicians that it may not be the best idea to jump off a bridge just because everyone else is doing it, but hahahaha not likely.
jkf
29d ago
I've been Noticing lately that governments with any significant period of incumbency during the Covid period are tending to get hammered into the ground in the first 'dust-clears' election available. I suppose it's too much to think hope that voters are putting 2 + 2 together on the 'sky-money + forced business closure --> inflation + impending doom' thing -- but the 'inflation + impending doom' thing does seem to be enough.
jkf
29d ago
There are plenty of cities & towns far from the border -- you could build more houses there if necessary, but the existing ones already go pretty cheap. (particularly by comparison to Vancouver/Toronto, but attractively so even by the standards of saner markets)
The trouble ('trouble') is that hardly anyone who's family hasn't already been in Canada for a few generations seems to want to live there -- no idea what anyone finds attractive about present-day Vancouver/Toronto (Vancouver used to be nice, Toronto has sucked longer than I've been alive AIUI) but nobody is forced to live there.
The immigrants that do penetrate to the hinterlands seem to get along just fine, so I'm pretty sure they aren't being hemmed in by racist rednecks -- maybe they just like terrible cities better? I would fully support a 2-5 year stint north of ~55ish as a citizenship requirement though.
jkf
29d ago
I think he was liquidating anyways though -- so if he sells on day 1 for market price, he's not getting any appreciation regardless.
jkf
1mo ago
No plans to ding the 4chan tier memery that's getting popular around here (including among members of the mod team who ought to know better) while you're at it I suppose?
jkf
1mo ago
The women who are quality (and have at least some self-awareness of the fact), but are stuck going out with some jackass because they live in buttfuck nowhere and that's all they could find -- are often available. It can be hard to tell though.
It sounds like the author under discussion is himself something of a jackass, so it probably wouldn't work for him -- but lots of stable relationships form this way in small towns.
jkf
1mo ago
Hey @ZorbaTHut @cjet79, I've got an idea -- instead of banning Hylnka, why don't you make him a mod again? (see parent)
jkf
1mo ago
In bumfuck nowhere, few women are single, but many are available -- there is a knack to picking up the signalling there; not sure it's different in the city or not.
jkf
1mo ago
He was pretty much getting this way before the benzos though -- frankly it seemed all downhill for him once the Culture War become his focus, and the slide accelerated as he had some fiscal success with it.
I take it as a cautionary tale TBH; could happen to any of us. Maybe it's OK so long as we are doing it for free?
jkf
1mo ago
As for you guys arguing the bat is better... come on eggheads. Try swinging versus stabbing motions.
Can't you use the bat more like a baton than in Double Dragon? Two hands somewhat far apart for leverage, poking motions where appropriate to keep the guy out of arm's reach, wear him down with rib shots? It would seem awfully hard to get a stab in this way, and trying to take the bat away while holding on to the knife with the other hand is out of the question.
It's my understanding that this is more how bats are used in 'teaching people a lesson for money' circles; even a partial swing choked up or a poke to the solar plexus is going to be pretty tough on a guy, and you don't exactly need to be Jackie Chan to figure it out.
jkf
1mo ago
Yes -- they make shitloads. Even lower-tier sites make absolute boatloads on subscriptions if managed somewhat intelligently. There's a certain amount of whale action, but a lot of it actually amounts to 'drunk horny dude wants to watch the rest of one of your videos and puts a $10 subscription on his visa". On aggregate there are a lot of drunk horny dudes, and a certain number of them are also less-than-conscientious about cancelling subscriptions. You can certainly fuck it up, but if one is moderately savvy it's a lucrative business.
jkf
1mo ago
There were several, but the shut down the public API for IPO$/fuck you reasons and now they are all broken.
Flaw.
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