For my Canadian friends

Forget that, you already know ... .
What may be more concerning, what appears to be a dismissal of concern over Trump annexation of Canada.


That seems to be a conclusion without extensive detailed analysis of various trade & or military annexation scenarios. BUT !
Don't dismiss Trump's arrest of Venezuela's Maduro.

That certainly does not make it right. But it seems to have been effective.


It's a mistake to conflate probability with risk.

The military lesson America learned at her birth was the Red Coats gave up and went home, because they could.
The colonists couldn't, didn't.
The U.S. was at the opposite end of that lesson in Vietnam.
The survivors of the peasants we slaughtered there couldn't give up and go home, so we did, eventually.

Relevance to Trump / Canada?
Even if Trump were to attempt it and fail, there's a spectacular amount of damage Trump could do, to physical infrastructure, to our joint economy,
to our long-tenured socio-political liaison, to one another.

Here to fore we haven't even considered such a catastrophe. Common human decency was enough to insure against it.

Common human decency is not a constraint in the Trump white house.

With Maduro, we got away with it since Maduro was not all that popular.
But not only is annexation never going to be popular in Canada, but I think the EU will be more attractive to them.
 
That is nonsense. And you know it. If it isn't please provide a legitimate article from a peer reviewed journal supporting your claims.


Even my kids schools require a laundry list of vaccinations.


And that is crazy - even more than the normal BS that RFK Jr spews.

In the US, no one is required to get a vaccination normally.
You have to provide a written reason, such as religion, but no one can be forced to vaccinate in the US.

{...

What are medical exemptions?​

Parents can ask for a medical exemption if a vaccine wouldn't be safe for their child. Reasons that children can get an exemption include:

  • They have a disease or take medicine that weakens their immune system.
  • They have a severe allergy to a vaccine or an ingredient in it.
  • They had a serious reaction to a vaccine in the past.
To get a medical exemption, parents need to have their child's doctor sign a form. Many states ask whether the exemption is temporary or permanent. And almost half of states require doctors to sign a new form every year or so.

What are religious exemptions?​

This exemption allows parents to opt their child out of vaccines based on their religious beliefs.

Some states ask for evidence that the family belongs to a religious group that objects to vaccines. Only a few religions object to vaccines, including Christian Scientists and some faith healing groups. But in most states with this provision, you can simply sign a form stating that you have religious reasons to opt-out.

What are personal or philosophical exemptions?​

This exemption is based on parents' personal beliefs about vaccines. Some parents are concerned about vaccine safety. Others believe that getting sick is good for the child because it strengthens the immune system. Many of these concerns have been debunked, such as a theory that vaccines cause autism.
...}
 

{...
The United States spends much more money on healthcare than Canada, on both a per-capita basis and as a percentage of GDP.[2][10] In 2024, per-capita spending for health care in Canada was US$7,301; in the U.S., US$14,885. The U.S. spent 17.2% of GDP on healthcare in 2024; Canada spent 11.3%.[2][10] In 2006, 70% of healthcare spending in Canada was financed by government, versus 46% in the United States. In 2006 total government spending per capita in the U.S. on healthcare was 23% higher than Canadian government spending. In 2006 U.S. government expenditure on healthcare was just under 83% of total Canadian spending (public and private).[11]

Studies have come to different conclusions about the result of this disparity in spending. A 2007 review of all studies comparing health outcomes in Canada and the US in a Canadian peer-reviewed medical journal found that "health outcomes may be superior in patients cared for in Canada versus the United States, but differences are not consistent."[12] Some of the noted differences were a higher life expectancy in Canada, as well as a lower infant mortality rate than the United States.
...}

A lot of US citizens I know go up to Canada for less expensive health care.
 
"But not only is annexation never going to be popular in Canada, but I think the EU will be more attractive to them." R5 #701
That's a compounding absurdity of Trump's rhetorical "America First" slogan / policy.
Under the obvious false guise of prioritizing U.S. interests by insulting / offending our long-time neighbor / trade partner / ally,
Trump may be imagined by the double-digit IQ MAGA horde to be effectively / ruthlessly advancing U.S. interests.

The opposite is obviously true.
Trump has severely weakened U.S. standing with Canada, and with NATO.

Undermining U.S. / Canada trade relations so severely Canada turns to the E.U. is monumentally destructive, detrimental to the U.S.

It may not mean much to the MAGA-mindless, but it forfeits the benefit of goodwill slowly accumulated over human generations.
There may be precedent when such high a price has been paid, for net gain.
What has been gained for the U.S. in this case? Destruction of the irreplaceable ?
 
Just a major correction
a) format !
b) If we admit "single-digit" the other side has one. right? far-right?

- meanwhile -

Canadian Tourism Commission​

Industry-led, market-driven, and research-based, the mission of the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) is to increase awareness of and interest in Canada as a premiere four-season tourism destination.
 
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