*You’re

I see you’ve not yet been to Canada.

There is something that I’m having trouble reconciling:

FTFA: “The Commission broadly agrees with this analysis and the overall increasing fragility of the Russian economy. This underlines the importance of the international community’s ongoing efforts to limit the Kremlin’s capacity to continue its war of aggression against Ukraine,” he said.

If it’s sanctions and war spending that’s eroding the economy, wouldn’t it underline the importance of keeping the Kremlin at war even longer? To totally collapse the Putin regime? I mean, I wouldn’t wish that on my Ukrainian brothers and sisters, but if we’re on the cusp of putting Putin dick down in the dirt, why would we take our collective foot off the gas?

That’s not true at all. It really depends on environment and proper curing. Where I live, carpenters will rarely use dimensional lumber that’s been stored indoors for these very reasons. It’s stored sheltered outdoors, where the air is dry but temperatures can fluctuate between +30C and -30C depending on season. When it’s been through that, it doesn’t automatically screw up like a silly straw the moment you bring it indoors into a warm and more humid environment.

Slowly grown wood is going to be as crooked as fast grown wood

No, it’s not. Slow growth leads to a tighter grain, greater density, and reduced moisture content. All of those things make it stronger and more stable. That means less twisting and warping.

But because it is increasingly rare, it is generally more expensive.

I recently did a renovation on my 1953 bungalow. The Douglas fir studs I removed from a wall are both laser straight and tough as guts. That wood is so hard that you can’t drive a modern nail into it without drilling a pilot hole first.

I learned to hate Phillips-head screws with a passion that’s lasted the rest of my life so far

You sound Canadian. You’re ready to enter the wonderful world of Robertson screws.

I’d be asking my employer to cut my pay to 0 and simply ‘tip’ me the same gross amount every month.

What amazes me is that Americans still talk about the Cold War like you haven’t lost it. And without a bullet fired.

I think fire is required to kill that

The republicans came within a vote of defunding Obamacare in 2018 and have talked about kicking out immigrants for a generation. To say that neither of those things were on the ballot is incredibly naive.

Boy, you coulda just said that you don’t subscribe to any philosophy that doesn’t fit on a bumper sticker.

Canada, most of Western Europe, Scandinavia- All have a greater blend of public and private responsibilities. Because there are some areas of interest that *benefit *from monopolies. Single payer health care. Industries vital to national security (resource ownership like Norway or Mexico as an example). Canada’s government-created Telsat celecommunications put the first commercial telecommunications satellite in orbit in the 70s, and now as a former crown corporation is set to have a better high-speed competitor to Starlink operational by 2026. Fire departments. Policing. Schooling. There are lots of examples where a socialist approach is preferable to unfettered capitalism.

Capitalism also gave us The tragedy of the Commons, which is playing out in the environment on a worldwide scale. You want to see poverty? Just wait until climate caused widespread displacement kicks in in earnest.

Wealth inequality is gaining traction. The standard of living of the average poor American is better today than it was in the 1960s. What has changed is how we feel about it. Wealth inequality makes us mad, but it has not resulted in worse overall living standards on an absolute scale.

How you can manage to speak with your head so far up your own ass is an amazing magic trick. Wealth has been decoupled from productivity for more than 50 years now. That’s just facts.

In his heart he turned towards the camera, rolled his eyes, and made the jerk off motion.

A 7 iron works best

Like the way California people say their O’s

As a Canadian, it’s all I can hear when they speak.

As a guy not big on the whole consent thing, I doubt Trump understands Never particularly well.

Temu Trump

Well that’s bullshit. And I’m from rural Alberta

‘Do-nothing centrist’? The guy has been PM for all of two months, and won his first national election on Monday. Maybe give him a few months.

And by the way, he played a key role in orchestrating the bond selloff with the UK, France, and Japan on tariff day that caused Trump to back down. No other PM- none- could have conceived of let alone pulled off that.