note to america: if you're going to write a foreign policy with bases in an unaligned foreign country as it's strategic basis, it's a good idea to consult them before you publish it.

the arrogance was jaw-dropping to experience. and it's of no surprise that it backfired.

what a disaster....

want to know the most warped part of it? the americans have been angling for this. they want to recreate europe as an american export market, and they seem to be dipshit enough to think they can force them into against their will, and they'll just smile and eat their shit sandwich.

turkey is kind of important, guys. but europe won't interact with them on anything less pathetic than white christian supremacist terms. so, this was a matter of time due to economic isolation.

absolute, total incompetence: thy name is free market capitalism.

direct access...!!1!!

fools....

the end is near.

it is their despicable cuteness that they use for their nefarious ends.

expect policies to be crafted for eucalyptus terraforming. this should act as confirmation of my prophecies.

we may still defeat the koalas, if we act together, but we cannot expect any help from elected state officials. we must declare our own war on koalas, and we must do so at once.

i'm sorry, but why exactly were they arrested?

i think it's counter-productive. but i don't disagree with them. and i don't see any reason to remove them.

we like to pretend this is shocking, but it's old news. der speigel was doing this in the immediate post-war period. and, the new york times and washington post are also known to post stories written by intelligence. i've caught myself more than once yelling at the screen "who wrote this the fucking ci...yeah....". the idea that we have this free, open press is largely an illusion; it's just that the state manages to run it's state propaganda by coercing and intimidating the private sector, rather than taking direct control of it. it's mafia fascism, rather than direct totalitarianism.

the french are claiming they want the uk kicked out of the eu.

well, they do smell of elderberries.

the international community should have absolutely no tolerance for japan breaking chinese air space.

further, given the historical realities, china is fully justified to a response that would - and should - be viewed as offensive in just about any other circumstance. i'd argue that they have a right to shoot upon near encroachment.

it's a unique circumstance. china has no obligation to be patient, and the international community should not expect patience.

whether america is cognizant of what it is doing or not, it is aligning itself on what is not just the wrong side of some future history but the wrong side of existing history. nobody will tolerate this.

nobody should.

that goofy poll is not so strange if you look at the undecideds. it may suggest that the liberal-ndp swing just imploded. that is frustrating, but not entirely surprising.

let's be clear: stephen harper is irrelevant in the election. stephen harper has been irrelevant in every election he's run in. he'll get around 30% - higher if turnout is low. he won't swing liberals. he won't swing dippers. his numbers are stagnant, have been stagnant since he started and will remain that way until he finally goes away. he is not a popular leader. his policies are not popular. when he wins elections, as he has, it has had very little to do with him. despite him winning several elections, canada has never voted explicitly for harper. canada is not going to vote explicitly for harper. this is for the simple reason that canada does not agree with much of what harper has done, has to say or promises to do.

rather, there's an epic struggle on the left that neither party seems able to win. once that resolves itself, harper will be instantly destroyed. nary a tear shall be shed.

something that's consistent is that harper has no potential amongst undecideds - if you're going to vote for him, you've decided to already. so, when you see a poll that has tories 30%, undecideds 20%, ndp 22%, liberals 20% (or whatever it was), you can instantly translate that to: ndp 34, tories 30, liberals 28%. and, then that's every other poll.

a little bit of sneaky bs from a conservative pr firm. it won't be the last time.

but, if there's something to this idea that the undecideds are really that large, then there's reason to worry on the left.

i've said from the start: there are two possible outcomes of this election. if the left splits (as such as an undecided vote might suggest), then harper wins a sweeping majority with 33% of the vote, or whatever it is. all he needs to be is the most popular in the riding. and if the ndp and liberals split their 60% majority 30-30 across the board, he needs to average 31% to win.

unfortunately, he can do that. because that 30% is the conservative floor - outside quebec.

if one of the parties on the left pulls ahead, they sweep. the liberals basically can't do this, they can only contribute to the splitting. but if the ndp get that boost to 35-36%, then they get over the floor enough to sweep.

there will not be a minority government, as some conservative-friendly models are predicting.

nor will the uccb swing the election.

===

the tories are going to reduce turnout as much as possible, and push their own base. they have no appeal outside their base. they have to try and stop their opponents from voting.

the ndp are going to want to swing a small - but uniform - percentage point or two from the liberals. if they can stabilize at 35, they have a good chance of winning a majority.

the liberals do not have a strategy, besides hoping that the conservative base suddenly dies of old age. they would need an unrealistically large uniform swing from the ndp - upwards of ten points to compensate for their inability to compete in quebec.

this is going to be what actually sets off reform: massive anonymous leaks leading to spontaneous systemic failure.

they've acted like children. they have nobody but themselves to blame.

as difficult as the conditions in these regions are, these immigrants are raised into environments where they expect state organized health care. they expect that, regardless of everything else, the state will step in to provide care - because that is how almost the entire world works. they are shocked when they find out that this is not true in america. they cannot fathom this.

that is the sad irony of this situation.

note that the conspiracy theorists hate trnn. that means they're doing this right.

all i can contribute are my thoughts. hopefully, they're worth a little more than two cents. or two cents adjusted to inflation...

actually, i think whether he gets in those debates is a good indication of how co-opted he is.