Best AI rant hands-down. I can agree with every word there.

totally agree on most points (see my earlier reply in this thread). However dissuading "investment" into property (aka taxation on non-primary dwellings) and keeping returns below inflation will divert investors from the real estate market over time. They will HODL however if not presented with exit strategy. If they are allowed time to divest and exit - they will IMO

not that simple. Trudeu is a jerk etc. But in this case the only reasonable measure that will minimize damage is to prevent further price growth. Maybe allowing growth at "under inflation" rates which could soften the blow to poor saps that are neck-deep in mortgages.

I hear ya, but there's no side-stepping the fact that families who took out mortgages at the peak prices and peak rates and won't be able to sell to cover their cost and sinking deeper in debt. In other words affordability after years of neglect becomes challenging. If all the mortgages are erased or re-adjusted to new market state then maybe... however what to do with families that paid 80% mortgage and their house price dips 50%. They paid real money to the real bank who gets to keep the money while family's deficit from all those extra payments amounts to nothing, esp. if they were targeting it as retirement fund. Thus far I saw no proposals that don't destroy portion of non-rich population. 🙁 Whoever comes up with solution will deserve Nobel prize.

Just because you cannot envision another perspective besides constant war and death that you've been impressively convinced is somehow morally superior- doesn't mean other people can't.

you've got pretty binary view on things yourself. What is the alternative you suggest. Can you spell it out in a handful of sentences?

never cared much for US MIC until recent. putin laid out recipe for any looney toon to grab neighbours territory on a whim. Granted, US war in Iraq smells of the same. However claiming that war in Ukraine costs taxpayers money is plain ludicrous. US has enough economic capacity to both wage war with russia and improve things domestically. Ukrainian war cost is a "drop in the bucket" for US economy. Shall we take a look at how much did US move deficit ceiling? it's in trillions, of which 61B is not even noticeable.

If we take a close look at overall situation: China has imperialistic ambitions, russia certainly does, there's plenty of inflamed pockets throughout Asia and Africa. You need someone with enough firepower to step in. Out of all existing candidates US is the least appauling. UN proved it's inadequacy. NATO exist mainly on paper. There is no other "world police". Unfortunate fact is that US is controlled in large by cynical capitalists who care little for the people. But at least some of the democratic institutions do function and try to bring balance which cannot be said of China or russia.

Last point claiming that Ukraine will eventually break without considering that the same is very much possible for russia is borderline trolling. Tension within russia grows and there is a non-zero chance it will result in regime change and the end of war. Providing material help to Ukraine is the only way to tip the scales at least somewhat in Ukraine's favour. Stating that peace agreement will immediately reduce number of deaths is misguided as portion of Ukrainian population will never accept it and will continue fighing resulting in further retaliating strikes from russia, not to mention a very likely probability of russia resuming it's campaign of Ukraine domination at a later date.

Well then, if we are to go deep enough into history, russia belongs to Mongolia (well, most of it, anyway). Shall we start the "history game" now? Or shall we investigate peculiar fact that russia did not allow any territory to secede (Chechnya?) violently opposing that yet goes to full out war to allow territory of a sovereign nation, whose sovereignty it recognized and guaranteed, to secede? (we can also talk about realities of that secession movement that somehow leads to kremlin bowels). In other words stop repeating russian propaganda pretending that you know history and politics where in fact you come across as an uneducated neophyte repeating someone else's soundbites.

you're either misguided or malicious. Have you been to Ukraine? Have you seen what Russia has done to Ukraine over decades? What "special link"? It is as special as link between Jack The Ripper and his victims. russia is very much interested in restoring empire that includes Baltic states and middle asia etc.

russia had a chance at retaining Ukraine in it's orbit prior to 2014. If they'd spent same amount of money they did on destabilisation of the country, on development instead, promoting Ukrainian culture etc. they could've had Ukraine forever. Honest. Before 2014 there was plenty of pro-russian sentiment in the country to pull it off as old crimes got forgotten and pain dulled. But from 2014 onward it became impossible.

At present if russia wins, either retaining stolen territories or grabbing some more - it will create destabilized zone that nobody in Europe wants in their backyard. russia is not there on humanitarian mission, and itls been made clear - they are on extermination mission. Like they have been multiple times before.

there is some truth to what you say, at least "just enough to keep Ukraine alive as long as possible but not to actually let Ukraine win".

However I would disagree with over-generalised statement "Nobody actually cares about Ukraine except for russia". Poland, for example, very much does not want to have common border with russia, esp. after this war. While US has a luxury of being able to ignore what's happening it is not the case for some (most?) EU countries. Which also explains why some contribute enormously when comparing their contributions to respective country's GDP. Ukraine independence also can be used by US as leverage against russia in the future, so while not humanitarian in principle, US has huge interest in Ukraine status.

There is a chance for Ukrainian win on battlefield without foreign soldiers, but it means lots of equipment. That window is quickly closing and then, yes, the only way to move forward will be foreign intervention.

it doesn't have to. main reason for this war being this long is reluctance of western partners to deliver equipment necessary to keep initiative in present state of war. As a result - Ukrainian army get decimated while russians are getting better and everything awful they do: war crimes, defences, offense etc. Time is running out to help Ukraine and calls to "bust give up now" are self-fulfilling prophecy. I'm a pacifist at heart but in this case there is no way of stopping russian expansion (present and future) than to supply Ukraine with all necessary to win. Otherwise 1-2yr after "negotiations" we'll have v2.0 where russia chomps off next piece of Ukraine (or other bordering country) while the rest of the world will keep repeating "what's the point? we gave in last time, might as well save ourselves the trouble and give up now". Solution by escalation is still possible as russia still has upper limit they are bumping against, but they keep on raising it so soon enough nothing will help, and that's what russians hope for.

doom-and-gloom from a website centered on real estate (investment) and as Canada closes loopholes on foreign investment in real estate... timing is suspicious. Lack of similar coverage elsewhere doubly so.

that's "disaster capitalism (read N. Klein for full understanding of what that entails) mixed with a real sh#tty situation in Gaza that was brewing for a long time. For all I can tell selected elite (on both sides) lines their pockets nicely while people are bring brainwashed and dying on both sides. On some days I really despise humanity...

were we expecting any different from Liberals (or, for that measure Conservatives)? They always will chase higher income voters as those with higher income can donate more... so addressing low income issues (other than swiping them under the rug) is not in their best interest. In other words: our electoral system has a lot to do with the outcome and motivation for parties. They need middle class and up donations and low income class votes. So they use middle-class donations to create illusions of caring for low income folk. We're all being duped here folks.

I've got predecessor to this Dewalt and it's been good. I did build workbench around it when stationary, otherwise it's quite portable and useful for small projects

Fast And Furious, Medieval edition

don't stress out about it - you're on the right path, so just keep exploring. For music, depending on your location, there are various internet stations that broadcast indie and other stuff that is not mainstream. Also go to local concerts and buy CDs from artists - they actually need it. You should've been prepared to forfeit ownership of anything on amazon prime, kindle etc, for amazon has long history of denying people access to stuff they assumed they owned. For movies we collect DVD/Bluray disks as I don't trust any of the streaming providers, nor do I want to share with them my viewing habbits (downside: you need storage space for those). For podcasts I love AntennaPod on Android. For books we always opt for unencumbered epubs, sometimes pdf which are abundant. Audiobooks through librivox are a thing as well. I will repeat myself: don't stress out. Take it as a wild safari and go hunting for new and exciting things that are not entangled with big corps that suck the soul out of everything : artists, consumers, employees, shareholders, etc.

interesting. while annoying it seemed to help

Voyager seems to be OK after upgrade, Eternity however spits 404 errors on upvotes etc

despite the fact that you decided to just ignore arguments I've just laid out, I'll bite. It is not trivial. In certain areas/regions growing vegetables is more difficult than rearing animals that can convert inedible grass/brush into consumable calories. Trucking in non-meat alternatives is carbon intensive. In other words problem lies with industrial food priduction and distribution regardless of kind of food. If food had to travel 1000 miles to get to your table on top of intensive methods of growing it - it's carbon footprint is enormous. Also industrial food production implies heavy fossils use at every stage. It's solving the symptom rather than the cause. Which is why I'd rather see cause addressed before we can turn to symptoms.

Cow is not the only meat. Small example: we use lots of machinery for manicuring lawns, fields etc. This is pollution plain and simple. We use mechanized methods for clearing the brush. Having goats/sheep/other grazers covers both needs without heavy impact on pollution. While it is possible that eat less meat is a thing one has to take into account a lot of other things. Among which eat less period. Obesity pandemic around the globe exacerbates the issue - larger humans consume more calories thus require more production. Food waste is rampant. Estimates pin spoilage at 40%. So, no, I say we should address core issues before we can declare that all options have been exhausted and now we've got to cut on meat consumption.