I’m pretty sure that last decade or so has shown that Europe doesn’t spend enough. It’s not just Russia’s invasion. Military action in Libya was reliant on the US to sustain more than a few days of action.

There hasn’t been direct conflict between powers since it was created, so I’d say you’re wrong. Think we’re far more tense in the cold war era than now.

The UN has largely worked as intended, even now. It’s purpose is to allow the world powers to peacefully interact with each other and control everyone else.

This is becoming a really good case study for austerity working. Argentina still isn’t great, but they were bordering on hyperinflation and are now stablizing.

Everyone should meet someone that worked in the mortgage industry pre 2008. The number of things that were not only allowed, but perfectly legal were absurd.

• appraisal was basically a bribe for any number you wanted.
• no document loans were far more available for anyone.
• mortgages had no real chain of custody after sale.
• there wasn’t any real way to verify the risk of a mortgage security pre 2008.
• variable rates didn’t have lifetime caps on rates, and reporting the details of how they functioned weren’t required.

No, it’s like saying fire extinguishers are bad because someone replaced the real ones with gag ones in a building that burned down.

China is slowly transitioning from a developing country, but it’s a slow process as new agreements are signed and old ones expire.

NA and EU wouldn’t be a rounding error, China wouldn’t magically be more powerful than everyone else combined. The EU can already make the US and it’s companies make concessions, that wouldn’t change with China replacing the US.

As far as emissions China already hit the point they couldn’t ignore it. That’s why they are rolling out so much solar and nuclear, the Internet being flooded with pictures of absurdly bad smog already forced that issue.

Global power doesn’t tend to be a peaceful transition though. If China does make a play to become the dominant force by then, it’s bad news for everyone living right now.

There are benefits China has that will go away as they transition, which could also cause them to stumble. No longer being considered a developing nation, any poverty will be 100% on them to fix, international agreements will expect them to contribute instead of receiving, emissions will be more heavily scrutinized. Other countries will not be a tolerant about the rampant IP theft and extreme protectionism of their domestic markets.

Like most international groups of the doesn’t commit resources to it, their effective reach is greatly diminished. We saw this with Libya, without us fuel and munitions most jets would be grounded in about a week.

There’s plenty of other factories that might even pay their workers.

Cheating is like divorce it’s common if you look at the percentage of relationships. They are both less common if you look at at individuals. Cheaters always cheat again, those who get divorced often do so again.

It’s saying no by saying yes. The hostile No is what Trump wants, a yes that could never be accepted doesn’t give him what he wants.

Canada joining the US individually would radically change us politics though. It would make Democrats or further left a strong majority. The point is Canada making this offer makes Trump is the one that has to turn it down or lose everything, Canada would fundamentally change the us as 10 more states.

Canada should play the longer game and agree to join the US if:

• each province becomes a state.
• more representatives get added to accommodate the additional states.
• French remains an official/supported language.
• poutine becomes a national dish.
• 5 years of no income tax for formerly Canadian citizens.
• favorable conversion to USD

Grapes of Wrath is a slight stretch, but it’s shear length relative to it’s message makes it a very empty book.

I wouldn’t say nothing burger, but they’ve definitely aged poorly.

It’s more than that. There’s also stalker fantasy and a ridiculously overpowered main character.

From a US perspective. Depending on the specialty a PA will do 99% of what a doctor does. In more surgical specialities they tend to do most of the pre and post op work. The US also has NPs (nurse practitioners) which are very similar in function to a PA. The big difference is that an NP is taught medicine from a nursing perspective, while a PA is more explicit in the partnership with a doctor. As a PA or NP you would be more of a peer with a doctor, so you would likely see different sides of doctors and nurses than you currently do.

You can expect different drama, maybe not less. I can’t say what specifically would be the case in Germany. In the US it’s mostly about balancing patient care with paperwork, and battling insurance companies. The ratio of practicing medicine vs bureaucratic bullshit is currently very skewed towards bureaucracy in the US.

I was on a plane that made an emergency landing. It was a lot less scary or exciting than it sounds. Our plane was leaking hydraulic fluid, so we diverted to a closer airport to land while the landing gear could still be lowered with hydraulics. The landing was uneventful, but I did get to see a flash of emergency vehicles with their lights on along the runway.

There’s a balance that needs to be maintained. A general purpose knife like a chef’s knife needs some thickness to it, otherwise it can’t effectively chop through tougher things. It’s also not a knife you are supposed to hold the full weight of when cutting most things. Thin knives are awful for things like cutting a cabbage in half or cutting chicken bones.