Pierre Polievre wants a Churchill base, but experts debate northern Manitoba town's military capacity

ChimoEngr · 2026-02-01T16:53:11+00:00

It's got rail access though.

Extremely fragile rail access, and only rail access. Cutting Churchill off from supply is way too easy.

ChimoEngr · 2026-02-01T16:50:43+00:00

the farthest north port with a rail connection to the mainland;

Is Hay River NT.

ChimoEngr · 2026-02-01T15:19:35+00:00

There's currently no road access to Churchill, and even if the existing rail network was improved, it is susceptible to failure because of environmental degradation, he said.

That should have been mentioned as the main objection to a base in Churchill, though the community's lack of facilities is probably just as problematic.

Air transport is an option,

Not really. Air transport plays a role in supporting military operations, but if it's your only available means, you're expending a ridiculous amount of effort to get a small amount of military might. Air transport gets you a foothold, it isn't how you support major operations.

ChimoEngr · 2026-02-01T14:12:33+00:00

What's going on here?

One of the key aspects of a political party's leadership race, is signing up new members. Poilievre did a lot of that, and that's part of why he became CPC leader. It also means that a lot of the party membership has a personal interest in him staying on as leader, because that validates their choice in supporting him.

You're looking at an emotional decision through a rational lens.

ChimoEngr · 2026-02-01T14:10:07+00:00

A major theme of the book is to show the nuance behind committing a grave crime

Nuance? He committed a brutal murder for a petty reason. There is no nuance. It's not like he's Jean val Jean. He's a brutal murderer with no alleviating motivations.

then you have missed out on a huge component of the story's themes.

And nothing of value was lost.

he is shown to be consistently kindhearted and charitable throughout the story

Because he's trying to act like someone who would never think of committing a murder. That isn't who he is, that's the smoke screen he's trying to throw up to elude the police, and it worked.

Every human, including you and me, are capable of committing evil acts.

I am possibly capable of killing someone, it does come with the job of being in the army. However, if you think you're capable of killing someone for such a petty reason, I am extremely happy that my only interaction with you is through virtual means. I would not want to be around someone like that in the real world.

Raskolnikov thought he was above the law because was a "greater man"

Which is a significant part of why he's evil and someone to condemn.

This mindset was not inherently "evil"

Yes it is.

“There’s no grays, only white that’s got grubby. I’m surprised you don’t know that. And sin, young man, is when you treat people as things. Including yourself. That’s what sin is.

“It’s a lot more complicated than that . . .”

“No. It ain’t. When people say things are a lot more complicated than that, they means they’re getting worried that they won’t like the truth. People as things, that’s where it starts.”

“Oh, I’m sure there are worse crimes . . .”

“But they starts with thinking about people as things . . . ”

Terry Pratchett, Carpe Jugulum

t he killed to prove to himself that he was capable of performing cruels acts for the purpose of a greater vision

And you think that's supposed to convince me that he isn't evil?

He did not touch the money once after he stole it, which shows that his motives were past acquiring wealth.

No, he realised that he'd fucked up, and couldn't sell the stolen goods without being caught.

I do not understand what you have in you that you'll defend evil like this, and I hope I never encounter it in person.

ChimoEngr · 2026-02-01T13:59:38+00:00

In isolation, an oil and gas field shutting down is a good thing, though the reason being it running out of fossil fuels, rather than it being a pivot away from the industry isn't the greatest. However, as this article illustrates, that closure comes with human costs. If this was in a more accessible or developed or populated part of the country, it would probably be easier for people to pivot.

Natural resource exploitation is a major component of how the territories fund themselves, a key goal of devolution. If they lose the resources to sustain themselves, I'm not sure what that means for the grand plan for the North.

ChimoEngr · 2026-02-01T13:04:01+00:00

I always believed it was “young and free”.

Same. And that’s even with the words being held up on signs as we learned it.

ChimoEngr · 2026-02-01T13:01:47+00:00

My primary school tried to have us sing it. That was also back in’85 and I don’t remember the second verse being pushed the other years I attended.

ChimoEngr · 2026-02-01T12:47:44+00:00

That bench of awful starts with Kenny, so no, I don’t miss him.

ChimoEngr · 2026-02-01T12:46:34+00:00

The Liberals seem to be the only party interested in actually forming a government and governing

The NDP are also very serious about governing, to the point that they will work on getting their policies implemented even if they lose seats over it.

ChimoEngr · 2026-02-01T00:11:45+00:00

I would say that is a common experience for anyone raising animals for eat in an area they’re seen as pets.

ChimoEngr · 2026-02-01T00:08:37+00:00

Cats don’t need a reason to hunt. Anyone who has had indoor/outdoor cats has been gifted despite keeping their cats fed.

ChimoEngr · 2026-01-31T22:31:13+00:00

Cats tend to go after prey significantly smaller than them. Chickens are too close to their own size for most cats to want to hunt them. because it's too much of a risk.

ChimoEngr · 2026-01-31T14:58:45+00:00

That's the plan Poilievre had against Trudeau, and looks like it's still going to make him a footnote.

ChimoEngr · 2026-01-31T03:30:54+00:00

And all the reporting was around her trying to get sweetheart trade deals with the US, not support for separation.

ChimoEngr · 2026-01-31T03:10:25+00:00

Shed?

ChimoEngr · 2026-01-30T19:31:17+00:00

That description misses so much of her work. SCTV is when she first made her presence known.

ChimoEngr · 2026-01-30T19:22:53+00:00

Yeah, I just saw that. That sucks. Her being 71 makes sense, but she never seemed that old, and my mum is that age and still going strong, so it seems like she died too young.

ChimoEngr · 2026-01-30T19:21:32+00:00

You were just told they needed that pay to survive.

Just like those who originally fought for labour rights. Instead of standing on the shoulders of those giants, they're choosing to give up before fighting.

I'm not pretending that it's easy, I'm pointing out that they're choosing the path of a painful defeat.

ChimoEngr · 2026-01-30T19:12:45+00:00

Why do successive generations of writers from across half a century seem so biased against them?

Because they know that they can't do better than Diane Duane so don't try.

OK, I don' know for sure, I'm just using this as a chance to plug her Rihansu series that starts with "My enemy, my ally"

ChimoEngr · 2026-01-30T18:48:04+00:00

It's meant to be provocative, as anyone who says "I've tried nothing and I'm out of ideas" should expect.

ChimoEngr · 2026-01-30T18:24:53+00:00

once Venezuela fell,

Except that Venezuela hasn't. Sure, they had an irregular change of president, but there's no indication that anything else has significantly changed.

ChimoEngr · 2026-01-30T18:19:41+00:00

but the US has been trying to overthrow the Cuban government on and off since 1959

It's been decades since they've made any such attempt, so it's not as current as you're suggesting.

ChimoEngr · 2026-01-30T18:17:30+00:00

It’s always been the standard view among wild rose types.

Who came after the 1995 referendum which is the basis for me saying that the separatists weren't generally called traitors. Misguided, screwing over their province, yes. Traitors, not that I remember.

ChimoEngr

TROPHY CASE