Ampas comments

it’s not going to happen despite whatever conspiracy theory website you link

Articles quoting IMF and World Bank statistics qualify as conspiracy theory websites now? Don't let the facts get in the way of your opinion.

The OECD is 40% of world gdp and Russia isn't getting that business back.

Can you name one G7/EU country with higher GDP growth than Russia in 2023?

https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/NGDP_RPCH@WEO/OEMDC/ADVEC/WEOWORLD

Dedollarization does not exist.

Yes, it does.

https://theconversation.com/why-the-world-is-turning-away-from-the-us-dollar-220093

Russia is a desperate doggy with no one to take care of it.

Desperate in terms of ...? The Russian economy is doing well enough even after decoupling from some G7/EU nations, 80% of the world has maintained relations, international settlements now take place in currencies other that the dollar, the line on the map of Ukraine is moving in one direction, they maintain huge military hardware advantage over Ukraine while the West has shown no signs of wanting to escalate things to World War 3.

Smaller nations need to stick together if they want to keep free of the tentacles of China and Russia.

The tentacles of the global US military footprint sees China and Russia stick together. Relations have never been better between the two.

Yup. Advisory ONLY.

Hand picking the next president is 'advisory only'?- remember Victoria Nuland's remark "F#$@ the EU" when discussing who should be the next Ukrainian president after they engineered the downfall of Viktor Yanukovych.

You can have military and soft power at the same time.

If that military power remains within your borders, yes this is true. Spreading it around he world - not so much.

41% of the world's gdp in the OECD don't like Russia. China might like them as a good boy. The ME might like them as fellow dictatorships. The rest just want the $ from whoever will give it to them.

Such simplistic and condescending views of other nations. 80% of countries did not place economic sanctions on Russia after they entered the Donbas. Maybe these countries realize the eastern part of Ukraine is ethnically Russian. Maybe these countries see little difference between Russia entering the Donbas and the US invading Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, Vietnam, etc. Maybe these countries do not like being lectured to by America on how to run their countries and who they should have as friends and enemies.

If they took it over by non-military means, its completely legal. I realize soft power is a foreign concept to the authoritarian: it basically means not acting like a scumbag.

Please read up on US involvement in Ukraine, especially in 2014. And soft power? As in 750 military bases in over 80 countries around the world? It might come as a surprise to some just how much real soft power Russia has, and more importantly just how isolated the US is becoming outside its G7/NATO junior partners (although even some of these countries are becoming increasingly frustrated).

... or that the US took over Free Ukraine militarily.

Remove the words 'Free' and 'militarily' there and you're getting closer to the mark. It's not a matter of making things up. It's more along the lines of choosing not to ignore inconvenient truths.

The US didn't start the major wars in progress now.

That's a matter of interpretation - it depends on when you believe the major war in progress now really started.

The US policy of antagonizing and vilifying anyone unwilling to yield to its globalist agenda, and then hitting on junior partners to help foot the exorbitant bill is nothing new. It's still unfortunate to see Japan so willingly get sucked into the military industrial complex's endless money pit.

This young Russian Federation is not a normal country. It should probably split up to so that its inhabitants, especially its ethnic and religious minorities, can enjoy the freedom and prosperity of other nations.

As was enjoyed by the majority Russian-speaking populations of Crimea (77%), Donetsk (75%) and Luhansk (70%) after the 2014 coup?

Imposing restrictions on the use of Russian (banning it from being used in schools, etc.) is what led to the Russian speaking Ukrainian armed forces in Crimea defect to the Russian army in 2014, as well as the referendums in Donetsk and Luhansk in which 90% of people voted for independence from Ukraine.

Interesting that this article specifically mentions salmon and crab ($1 billion/year) but not LNG, oil and coal ($10 billion/year). Perhaps this is so as not to remind us of Japan's exemption from restrictions agreed upon by other G7 nations. Not that I mind benefiting from relatively cheaper energy than Europe, Canada, etc.

Americans are fed up of brutal inflation, ever growing defense spending, and the continued funding of an unwinnable war. These issues will not be alleviated by re-electing Biden. Despite Trump's repellent personality, he is seen by many as the lesser of two evils. Unless the democrats bring in someone new, Trump will be back.

"Marijuana is a gateway drug"

I didn't say that - more along the lines of a gateway policy decision.

First decriminalize marijuana, then a few years later ecstasy, and then meth, then crack/cocaine, then more recently opioids such as fentanyl. All of these have been decriminalized in some places, such as Vancouver, and the result this has had on society speaks for itself.

Decriminalization of marijuana, which subsequently led to other drugs, has worked wonders in North America and Europe. Thankfully it is unlikely Japan will make the same mistake.

So Jon is now being welcomed back into the fold after having done his time for being a little outspoken on COVID and Joe Rogan/Spotify?

Perhaps the powers that be figure he's learned his lesson, and will now assume the role of lackey for the powers that be, a la Jimmy Kimmel.

Correct. Strawberries have nothing to do with a Christmas cake.

A Japanese Christmas cake vs a traditional European Christmas cake - the former is enjoyed/finished quickly, the latter ends up partially eaten and sits in the fridge for a month or so before being thrown away.

The current government of Canada is one of the most corrupt the country has ever seen. None of the legacy media organizations are truly independent - they all receive federal funding.

Now Trudeau and his cronies want to cash in from tech giants flush with cash and use this new source of funding to further exert control over Canadian media. At the same time, laws are introduced that make life difficult for independent online news organizations. It's a very unhealthy situation.

U.S .media cited law enforcement sources as saying there were two people in the car, which had passed through one border checkpoint where it was selected for a secondary check.

There is now video footage that contradicts this. The video footage shows a car flying down Main St. in Niagara Falls, NY, launching itself off a grass embankment, and then crashing in flames in front of the US Customs and Border Protection building, which is before the border checkpoint. The car made no effort to enter the border checkpoint. The car did not come from Canada, nor did it try to cross the border.

This resembles more a Monty Python sketch than a safety drill, and apparently it's the top story of the morning - nice one JT.

But I guess promoting a climate of fear helps prepare the masses for increased military spending and the requisite tax hikes.

They are expensive, they need to be replaced more frequently that other forms of heating technology, and they are slow at warming up a cold room. But then they are the darling of eco-warriors, politicians in the EU, Canada, and certain other countries, as well as news wire services such as the AFP.

I'm looking forward to dusting off the fan heaters again this winter - packing heat for a fraction of the cost.

Sad to see that. But Kirwan has always been an outspoken pundit and recently he has been so obsessed with the use of TMOs. But listening to Sam Cane and Beauden Barrett speaking after the game, they are both class acts as I am sure are the majority of the All Blacks.

The complaints about the officiating seem unwarranted. All of the big decisions were correct - they were in line with the laws of the game. Prior to the advent of the TMO there were much bigger issues. If the current laws of the game are at issue, this is for World Rugby, and not Wayne Barnes and Tom Foley.

Is Osaka Castle all that popular? I thought Himeji Castle attracts far more visitors.

Glad to see England not involved in the final. The amount of whinging after losing would have reached new heights.

Good to see they are not going to make the same mistake again.

I was a bit disappointed in the previous match the boks played, nothing like their 2018 performance.

The last time they played England? Or the quarterfinal against France? Last week's match against France was one of the greatest games of rugby ever played.

Who'd a thought England would be the only unbeaten side left in the semis?

Not at all surprising - England has enjoyed a most fortuitous ride to the semifinals. After topping the weakest group in the pool stages they eked out a narrow win over the lowest ranked team (tier 2 Fiji) among the quarter finalists.

Stranger things have happened, but if they somehow manage to overcome South Africa this weekend it would be one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history. More likely they will lose by 30 + points.

They (Iran) wanted to sabotage Israel-Arab World normalization. and they succeeded.

Israel occupies more and more territory while 2.4 million are Palestinians confined to an area less than 2% the size of Israel. Perhaps normalization is not possible under these circumstances.

Japan's economic sanctions on Russia do not apply to seafood exports?

I hope they don't win nothing, they play dirty.

Dirty play on the part of the All Blacks last weekend allowed the Springboks to destroy them - so many penalties leading to yellow cards and one red card.

Ireland, despite being number 1 in the world rankings, have never impressed at a world cup. The only team that can prevent South Africa from winning again this year is France, but I don't think they will.

The master of political opportunism strikes again.