cwericb

I definitely read it, and still don't care really. Like I said, who gives a shit when so many politicians say outrageous things. I respect your opinion, but the concern wasn't so much that what was said was outrageous,but that so much just didn't make any sense, he seems detached from reality. You're just sore that Trump keeps winning with Americans and all the predictions of a world-wide meltdown has not happened under Trump's watch. Give it time Cubs, give it time - 3+ years to go if he doesn't end up in the loony bin first. Might give impeachment or assassination another shot - rather than crying over losing. Aaaa ... Jeez Cubs, but the left are such lousy damn shots! Teach those suckers to buck the second amendment.

You're certainly not. And nobody asked you to read anything. Nor did anyone ask for your opinion on something you didn't read. But you offered your informed uninformed critical opinion on something you later admitted that you didn't even read. You're probably clairvoyant. Most of us mere mortals usually tend to make some effort to understand what we are talking about before offering an opinion. Each to his own.

Interesting that both you and Cubs commented on article without reading it and, by your own admission, you had no clue what you were talking about. Kinda tells us what your opinions are worth. 1. Just FYI. There was no gossip in the article. It primarily consisted of actual quotations of statements made by Trump, no gossip... 2. If you actually believe that none of this has any bearing on your life, why are you wasting so much of your time reading and responding on this forum? I suppose it's for the comedic value of reading other people's dumb opinions that don't jive with your own. Got it.

Okay, let's make it simple. Did you read Trump's statements in the article? Never mind the alternatives or lack thereof, do your think those are statements made by a normally functioning individual qualified to be the President of the United States?

It seems that some here either missed the point or intentionally ignored it. The point is not what the article said or did not say about Joe Biden, the Pope, Joe Schmo or someone else. To suggest that is can only be regarded as simply deflection and has nothing to do with the point being made in the article. The point is, that Trump's present mental state is, or should be, very concerning to all simply by judging the words that come out of his own mouth. It doesn't make a shit load of difference if they were quoted by FOX, CNN, or the Guardian. Who quoted him has nothing to do with it. If anyone here thinks that these quotes come from a normally functioning individual then they would need some sort of reality check, because they are letting their prejudices in the way of rational thinking. It is not very logical to say that it is okay for the President of the United States to display serious mental issues because some other guy had some too. Furthermore, it is not anyone's opinion that is the concerning part. It is simply Donald Trump's own words and actions that is alarming. If anyone reads Trump's words and see his present state of mind and think that is normal, than

Can anyone (Right or Left) read this article and not be concerned? .............. He has trouble completing a thought’: bizarre public appearances again cast doubt on Trump’s mental acuity Donald Trump’s frequently bizarre public appearances, which this month have seen the president claim, wrongly, that his uncle knew the Unabomber and rant unprompted about windmills on his recent trip to the UK, have once again raised questions about his mental acuity, experts say. For more than a year Trump, 79, has exhibited odd behavior at campaign events, in interviews, in his spontaneous remarks and at press conferences. The president repeatedly drifts off topic, including during a cabinet meeting this month when he spent 15 minutes talking about decorating, and appears to misremember simple facts about his government and his life. During his presidency, Joe Biden was subjected to intense speculation over his mental acuity – including from Trump. After Biden’s disastrous debate performance in June 2024, when he repeatedly struggled to maintain his train of thought, scrutiny over Biden’s fitness eventually led to him not running for re-election. Trump, however, has largely been saved the same examination, despite examples of confusion and unusual behavior that have continued throughout his second term and were on full display on his recent trip to the UK. Over the weekend Trump, during a meeting with the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, abruptly switched from discussing immigration to saying this: “The other thing I say to Europe: we’ve – we will not allow a windmill to be built in the United States. They’re killing us. They’re killing the beauty of our scenery.” Trump proceeded to speak, non-stop and unprompted, for two minutes about windmills, claiming without evidence that they drive whales “loco” and that wind energy “kills the birds” (the proportion of birds killed by turbines is tiny compared with the number killed by domestic cats and from flying into power lines). The abrupt changes in conversation are an example of Trump “digressing without thinking – he’ll just switch topics without self-regulation, without having a coherent narrative”, said Harry Segal, a senior lecturer in the psychology department at Cornell University and in the psychiatry department at Weill Cornell Medicine. For years, Trump has batted away questions about his mental acuity, describing himself as a “stable genius” and bragging about “acing” exams – later revealed to be very simple tests – which check for early signs of dementia. But Democrats have begun to more aggressively question the president’s fitness, including Jasmine Crockett, the representative from Texas, and California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, and this week alone offered multiple examples of Trump exhibiting odd conduct. Asked about the famine in Gaza on Sunday, Trump seemed unable to remember the aid the US has given to Gaza, and forgot that others had also contributed. Trump claimed the US gave $60m “two weeks ago”. He added: “You really at least want to have somebody say thank you. No other country gave anything. “Nobody acknowledged it, nobody talks about it and it makes you feel a little bad when you do that and you know you have other countries not giving anything, none of the European countries by the way gave – I mean nobody gave but us.” Trump seemed to not realize or remember that other countries have given money to Gaza – the UK announced a £60m ($80m) package in July, and the European Union has allocated €170m ($195m) in aid. And the Guardian could not find any record of the US giving $60m to Gaza two weeks ago. In June, the US state department approved a $30m grant to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a group backed by Israeli and US interests which has been criticized by Democrats as “connected to deadly violence against starving people seeking food in Gaza”. The White House did not respond to questions about Trump’s claimed $60m donation. Segal said another characteristic of Trump’s questionable mental acuity is confabulation. “It’s where he takes an idea or something that’s happened and he adds to it things that have not happened.” A high-profile example came in mid-July, when Trump claimed his uncle, the late professor John Trump, had taught Ted Kaczynski, better known as the Unabomber, at MIT. Trump recalled: “I said: ‘What kind of a student was he, Uncle John? Dr John Trump.’ I said: ‘What kind of a student?’ And then he said: ‘Seriously, good.’ He said: ‘He’d correct – he’d go around correcting everybody.’ But it didn’t work out too well for him.” The problem is: that cannot possibly be true. First, Trump’s uncle died in 1985, and Kaczynski was only publicly identified as the Unabomber in 1996. Second, Kaczynski did not study at MIT. “The story makes no sense whatsoever, but it’s told in a very warm, reflective way, as if he’s remembering it,” Segal said. “This level of thinking really has been deteriorating.” Aside from the confabulation, there have been times when Trump seems unable to focus. During the 2024 campaign there was the bizarre sight of Trump spending 40 minutes swaying to music onstage after a medical emergency at one of his campaign rallies. Trump’s rambling speeches during his campaign – he would frequently drift between topics in a technique he described as “the weave” – also drew scrutiny. The White House removed official transcripts of Trump’s remarks from its website in May, claiming it was part of an effort to “maintain consistency”. It is worth reading Trump’s remarks in full, however, to get a sense of how the president speaks on a day-to-day basis. At the beginning of July, Trump was asked, “What is the next campaign promise that you plan to fulfill to the American people?” He then rambled about meeting foreign leaders and removing regulations, adding: I got rid of – just one I got rid of the other night, you buy a house, they have a faucet in the house, Joe, and the faucet the water doesn’t come out. They have a restrictor. You can’t – in areas where you have so much water they don’t know what to do with it. Uh, you have a shower head the shower doesn’t uh, the shower doesn’t, you think it’s not working. It is working. The water’s dripping out and that’s no good for me. I like this hair lace and [sic] – I like that hair nice and wet. Takes you – you have to stand in the shower for 20 minutes before you get the soap out of your hair. And I put a, a thing – and it sounds funny but it’s really not. It’s horrible. And uh, when you wash your hands, you turn on the faucet, no water comes out. You’re washing whole – water barely comes out it’s ridi – this was done by crazy people. And I wor – wrote it all off and got it approved in Congress so that they can’t just change it.” “Any fair-minded mental-health expert would be very worried about Donald Trump’s performance,” Richard A Friedman, a professor of clinical psychiatry and the director of the psychopharmacology clinic at Weill Cornell Medical College, wrote in the Atlantic, after a stumbling performance from Trump in his debate against Kamala Harris last September. He added: “If a patient presented to me with the verbal incoherence, tangential thinking, and repetitive speech that Trump now regularly demonstrates, I would almost certainly refer them for a rigorous neuropsychiatric evaluation to rule out a cognitive illness.” At a recent cabinet meeting called to discuss the flooding tragedy in Texas, the war in Ukraine and Gaza, the bombing of Iran, and global tariffs, Trump went on a 13-minute monologue about how he had decorated the cabinet meeting room. After talking about paintings which he said he had personally selected from “the vaults”, Trump said. “Look at those frames, you know, I’m a frame person, sometimes I like frames more than I like the pictures,” and added he had overseen the cleaning of some china. As department heads, including the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, and the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, waited to be dismissed so they could go and do their jobs, Trump continued: Here we put out – you know these, these lamps have been very important actually, whether people love them or not but they’re if you see pictures like Pearl Harbor or Tora! Tora! Tora!, you see movies about the White House where wars are being discussed, oftentimes they’ll show those lamps or something like those lamps, something that looks like them. Probably not the reals, because I don’t think they’re allowed to – this is a very important room, this is a sacred room, and I don’t think they made movies from here. You never know what they do. But they were missing, er, medallions. See the medallions on top? They had a chain going into the ceiling. And I said: ‘You can’t do that. You have to have a medallion.’ They said, ‘What’s a medallion?’ I said: ‘I’ll show you.’ And then we got some beautiful medallions, and you see them, they were put up there, makes the lamps look [inaudible] so we did these changes. And when you think of it, the cost was almost nothing. We also painted the room a nice color, beige color, and it’s been really something. The only question is, will I gold-leaf the corners? You could maybe tell me. My cabinet could take a vote. You see the top-line moldings, and the only question is do you go and leaf it? Because you can’t paint it, if you paint it it won’t look good because they’ve never found a paint that looks like gold. You see that in the Oval Office. Er, they’ve tried for years and years. Somebody could become very wealthy, but they’ve never found a paint that looks like gold. So painting is easy but it won’t look right.” The White House pushes back aggressively on the issue of Trump’s mental fitness. “The Guardian is a left-wing mouthpiece that should be embarrassed to pass off deranged resistance leftists as ‘experts’. Anyone pathetic enough to defend Biden’s mental state – while being labeled as unethical by their peers – has zero credibility. President Trump’s mental sharpness is second to none and he is working around the clock to secure amazing deals for the American people,” said a White House spokesperson, Liz Huston. So do his political allies. “As President Trump’s former personal physician, former physician to the president, and White House physician for 14 years across three administrations, I can tell you unequivocally: President Donald J Trump is the healthiest president this nation has ever seen. I continue to consult with his current physician and medical team at the White House and still spend significant time with the president. He is mentally and physically sharper than ever before,” said the Republican congressman Ronny Jackson. In April, Trump’s White House physician, Dr Sean Barbabella, wrote that the president “exhibits excellent cognitive and physical health and is fully fit to execute the duties of the commander-in-chief and head of state”. He said Trump was assessed for cognitive function, which was normal. That report hasn’t stopped people from questioning Trump’s mental acuity. “What we see are the classic signs of dementia, which is gross deterioration from someone’s baseline and function,” John Gartner, a psychologist and author who spent 28 years as an assistant professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University Medical School, said in June. “If you go back and look at film from the 1980s, [Trump] actually was extremely articulate. He was still a jerk, but he was able to express himself in polished paragraphs, and now he really has trouble completing a thought and that is a huge deterioration.” Gartner, who during Trump’s first term co-founded Duty to Warn, a group of mental health professionals who believed Trump had the personality disorder malignant narcissism, warned: “I predicted before the election that he would probably fall off the cliff before the end of his term. And at the rate he is deteriorating, you know … we’ll see. “But the point is that it’s going to get worse. That’s my prediction.” Quoted from The Guardian, August 2025.

Talk about unsustainable !

Agree entirely. DYW000 asks legitimate questions regarding the cult statements as have I and we get no answers, because when they throw out bullshit they can't back it up. Trumpers like to throw out all sorts of misinformation and confused "facts", but when called to account they disappear. Of course this should come as no surprise as this is simply mimicking Trump's methods. Throw out bullshit and then duck any accountability. Several of us 'non cult' posters have asked direct questions regarding questionable statements made. The fact they refuse to answer is an answer in itself. For instance I am still waiting for an answer to: "Who is the biggest US customer, a country that supports so many manufacturing jobs in the US and how is that taking advantage of the U.S." (asked twice - no answer). Obviously it seems they don't know this basic fact. FYI the answer is"Canada" as for taking advantage of the US: "they don't." Second question: "Please justify the statement "Canada forces US pharmaceutical companies to sell at 1/5 the price, that is theft". Of course there is no response. The statement is simply bullshit to think that Canada has the power to FORCE any US company to do anything they don't want to do. As for "theft", well still waiting. It is unfortunate that on a board like this their comeback is often limited to simple childish insults to other posters.

Haha. Ever hear of 'keeping your powder dry"? Unlike some we are in no rush to start throwing crap around. But how about all that Canadian water going to the US, or all that power lighting up the US East Coast or all that special grade oil supplying US refineries at a discounted price. Of course Canadian potash fertilizes many US fields, and then there are those rare earth minerals as well as much needed uranium. And yes, we just shipped the first tanker load of LNG to Asia, if the US doesn't want our LNG, lots of other countries do. Ever try to move goods to Alaska without going through Canada? Hmmmmm, tariffs., tolls ..... Hmmmm..... And, of course you know that Canada is the US's largest customer. Mostly for those manufactured goods that employ so many Americans.... Canada may live next to a bully but we do have some options and we will play our cards as we see the situation develop. By the way, how's tourism down there these days? More US tourists up here this year than normal, but not many Canadians going south of the border. Just sayin.

That is quite a statement. How does "Canada force US pharmaceutical companies to sell at 1/5 the price". It would seem to me that if that were the case US pharmaceutical companies would simply not sell into Canada. Perhaps the question should be why do US pharmaceutical companies get away with charging Americans 5 times too much? Or, Why do so many US states purchase their drugs from Canada? Please explain.

Still waiting for one of you MAGA guys to explain. Who is the US's biggest customer for US exports? Please explain how that is taking advantage of the US via trade.

Pop Quiz for you MAGA guys: Who the United States biggest customer for American products? And then explain how they are taking advantage of the United States.

I am talking in general terms. But I guarantee that tariffs are going to A) cause price increases and B) create inflation for American consumers.

American importers will be paying all these tariffs imposed on products imported from outside the US. Those tariffs will be passed on to American consumers increasing those prices. Then, retailers and wholesalers handling similar US produced products will close the price gap with imported products by raising prices on US products simply because they can make more money by being "competitive". Wait and watch.

Is the American public as stupid as their President thinks they are? Once again, just two days ago, the Chief U.S. Koolaid Dispenser disrespected the American people by announcing: "... if Canada doesn't reach a deal they will just have to pay the tariffs..." What? Wait... Really? What tariffs? WHO is going to pay them? Do US citizens really believe that other countries are paying Trump tariffs? Are they still waiting for that big check from Mexico for the wall? Talk about a cult. Enjoy the Koolaid folks, enjoy the Koolaid.

Can't wait to hear what "No Moat" Brett Horne has to say about Fairfax. Probably still waiting for FFH to slip back to $750 CDN.

Contrary to what one certain certain analyst may think, let's just call him "No Moat", we are starting to see more analysts who do seem to understand Fairfax. One has to wonder how many analysts actually follow this board. One might suspect that some of our members are also among them. Raymond James analyst Stephen Boland predicts a “stellar” quarter for Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd.’s investment portfolio. “Many of Fairfax’s largest equity investments (e.g. Eurobank, Fairfax TRS, Digit) have seen considerable share price gains since the close of 2Q55, and while some of these are equity-accounted (and thus market gains excluded from book value), we estimate the fair value gain on Fairfax’s known public equity positions is $2.4 billion for the quarter,” he said. “We also believe the gap between the carrying value and book value for these investments has widened to $2.5 billion as of 2Q25, up from $1.4 billion at the end of 2Q25 and equivalent to 9 per cent of reported book value. However, Mr. Boland also thinks “the market is well aware of this dynamic,” noting Fairfax shares are up 21.5 per cent in 2Q25, and his revised estimates “suggest the company is well on track to deliver a 20-per-cent-plus ROE this year.” “To be clear, the shares still screen inexpensive; if we adjust our 2026 book value estimate for the current gap between reported and investment fair values, Fairfax is trading at 1.2 times 2026E book value – 36 per cent off our chosen peer group despite a superior (and we argue, more reliable) ROE outlook,“ he said. ”Recall this is a company that continues to execute across all facets of the business – solid underwriting performance, exceptional equity returns, and a low-risk, $2.5 billion+ interest/dividend revenue stream that we view as effectively locked-in for the next 3 years." Retaining his “outperform” rating for Fairfax shares, Mr. Boland raised his target to $2,900 from $2,600. The average is $2,680.31. “Unsurprisingly, Fairfax remains our top insurance pick and among our top picks overall,” he said. “The company has an abundance of excess capital (approximately $6-billion by our estimates), continues to buy back shares at attractive prices, and looks a reformed business since ending its shorting/hedging program in 2020. With the other insurers trading close to peak multiples following several years of hard market conditions, Fairfax remains the cheapest insurer in our coverage, notwithstanding a more diversified business mix that leaves it arguably less exposed to a softer North American P&C cycle. We are moving our BVPS and GAAP EPS estimates higher to reflect the strong quarterly investment gains, while increasing our target to $2,900 (from $2,600).”

Article is behind a paywall but ... What it means is that TWO guys who happened to be in the military had the dumb idea they were going to start some trouble and likely will spend a long time breaking rocks in some military prison. Not exactly a revolution. "Canadian troops arrested in alleged plot to seize part of Québec"... talk about hyperbole ... TWO guys? Really? Must have been a slow news day.

Agree 100%. Of Canada's choice for PM, there was little real choice as Carney is well qualified and has a proven track record. The biggest concern that I have is the boys in the back room that influence the party's decisions. However, time will tell. But Carney is no fool and is a proven factor. Hopefully he will live up to expectations. If not... well it is a minority government and can be turfed out by the opposition.

If you think education and experience are irrelevant in selecting someone for a highly responsible position, I would suggest that you never apply for a position in HR nor run attempt to run a business with employees.

It would seem that you are a staunch Trudeau fan and I see Trudeau as one of the worst things to happen to the country in decades. You question Carney's abilities, but on one hand we had Trudeau, a rich kid who probably never entered a grocery store, hell bent on giving away our tax dollars and who had no training, experience nor even a smattering of understanding economics. While Carney has a long history of running very successful large corporations. I think it is pretty obvious which one is better qualified to run a Country. And just FYI I actually voted Conservative in the last election. The reason was twofold. 1) Canadians don't get to vote for their Prime Minister, as you would be aware, and I have no use for the Liberal running in my district. 2) I wanted to see a minority liberal government as things were so unsettled and hoped the country wouldn't be locked into one government for a full four years.

You seem to ignore Carney's business experience, resume and past very successful history. I don't have time to get into details, but do you think the Brits would come all the way to Canada to hire just anyone to lead the Bank of England through Brexit? Do you realize Canada weathered the financial crises far better than the US and most other countries in the 2008-10 financial difficulties? Would BAM appoint some loser to help lead the Company? Prior to his time heading the BOC, here is some background: "Carney spent thirteen years at Goldman Sachs and worked in their Boston, London, New York City, Tokyo, and Toronto offices. His progressively more senior positions included co-head of sovereign risk, executive director for emerging debt capital markets, and managing director for investment banking. He worked on South Africa's post-apartmheid venture into international bond markets, and was involved in Goldman's work with the 1998 Russian financial crisis. Who would you suggest has a better proven successful track record? I find Poilievre to be a very good speaker, however he is a career politician with little or no actual business experience who was somewhat of a one trick pony who was caught completely off guard when Carney committed to dropping the Carbon Tax. Given Carny's track record I am quite happy with him running the country until or if he proves otherwise. JMHO

Simply put, Carney has an impressive education AND the track record to back it up. I would much rather have a proven, successful businessman as PM than a former drama teacher OR a professional politician, which were our choices. Personally, I have been a capital "C" Conservative all my life, but I am quite happy to have Carney running the Country at this point in history.

Couple more things: Canada's last Prime Minister (Trudeau) was a son of a prime minister whose previous job was as a Drama Teacher. On the other hand.................. Prime Minister (Doctor) Mark Carney, has a: Bachelor's degree in economics from Harvard. Master's degree from Oxford in the UK. Doctorate in economics from Oxford. FYI: Carney's wife is also an economist with degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics and a master's degree in agricultural economics from the University of Oxford and an MA in international relations from the University of Pennsylvania. As Governor of the Bank of Canada, Doctor Carney led Canada very successfully through the Great Financial Crises. Then Britain then hired him away to be Governor of the Bank of England where he led the UK through Brexit. Later Carney held a number of roles in the private and public sectors, including being chair of Bloomberg L.P. and chair and head of impact investing at Brookfield Asset Management. Despite being found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records, numerous bankruptcies and fraudulent businesses, many believe Trump is well qualified to lead the US economically. Prime Minister Carney would also seem to be well qualified to lead Canada, economically at least. Time will tell.

Hi TB, Canada has been blindsided by our American friends and a period of piss poor leadership from our former prime minister. But we are now in the process of getting back on our feet. I think a lot of people here might find this video very interesting. Many Americans don't really know much about Canada, what do you think about this?