John F

European nations have a model that works. USA does not.

Let’s not forget: Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan, Barbados (and that’s only to name first world countries). Even some second world countries have reasonable health systems where everyone is covered (such as Chile and Kazakhstan).

Basically every…[Read more]

Enco you really are an expert at taking an over-all comparison and then trying to poke tiny holes in the better example, ignore or gloss over the huge holes in the lesser example and then somehow come out on the winning side. And the little holes that you poke become more and more ridiculous and desperate it is impossible to take you seriously.…[Read more]

LOL Reg. That sounds hilarious. I can imagine an old Madras granny making a high quality dhosa in Ireland and having it drone shipped to a rugged Irish island. That would pretty much define globalisation.

Having said all of that, I do have to admit the New York/Boston/Chicago/Eastern-Canada version of Pizza (a totally utterly different dish in my opinion) is still not bad. There was something memorable about having one of those thick crust and a shit ton of cheese on top pizzas from a good pizza place. Zheesh two slices alone is an entire meal. I’d…[Read more]

Yeah Neapolitan pizza is pretty heavy with a strong sauce. My friend from there told me that a lot of Italians actually don’t like it. It’s fantastic but I actually preferred the pizza in Sicily (in fact with literally every single national dish I and my friend thought everything in Sicily was superior for some unknown reason. In fact it was my…[Read more]

There are many countries I visited where you could easily have the food, just as good in a decent restaurant in some other country. I found there were three big exceptions. Some Indian food was not the same anywhere else (especially street samosas and dhosas). The second was Italian (just about everything, but including gelatti, fried panzerotti,…[Read more]

I’ve used the Canadian, British, German, Belgian and Spanish medical systems (all universal health care). In two cases they were very serious problems with bills that came to well over 100,000 euros or dollars (I don’t know the total cost because they never told me…I just know it was a LOT). The services were top quality. I never paid a cent,…[Read more]

Vaccine guilt is totally reasonable and understandable in essence. I have friends who qualify for vaccines because they super occasionally work with people at a medium risk. Meanwhile there are senior citizens who are still waiting for vaccines. My friends have gotten the vaccines either because it is mandatory or not taking it now would mean…[Read more]

We have regulations and anti-trust laws and have arrived at massive corporate power that creates a shocking gap in wealth.

Most countries have relatively weak anti-trust laws though some European countries can be very strict depending on the industry. Canada has pretty weak ones…especially when it comes to things like Banking and Telecoms where…[Read more]

I’ve spoken with many liberterians who think that the only moral form of society is one where the government takes care of the most sparse infrastructure (roads and maybe a couple basic utilities), protection (the most minimal first responders and military) and the lightest taxation. And to guarantee a few basic rights. Everything else is up to…[Read more]

What would I do with a whole pie to myself?

Mmmm….it’s safer to just get a nanaimo bar 🙂 Then you aren’t tempted to eat an entire pie.

Eastern Canada have great maple syrup festivals. Best part was the “ice sculpture race” where they have a competition to see who can make a sculpture out of ice with a chainsaw the fastest. Total riot those festivals. Thing is…the syrup is so intense and sweet I really think one helping on top of crepes a year and I’ve had my fix! Do you like…[Read more]

Encoginator,

I’ve lived in five countries with generous funded programs. Reg also lives in one and Ireland actually has a very low tax rates, is a tiny economy and population compared with the US and yet funds robust social programs. Canada’s tax rate isn’t that much higher than the US and is a 10th the population and economy of the US and is…[Read more]

To corn just means to preserve (in a brine). It’s a form of curing. No relation to Cornwall or with actual corn. It is definitely not for everyone. Cornwall does have a nice food: the Cornish Pasty (similar to a Spanish or Latin-American empanada but I think better). If you see one in a bakery or hipster food truck…try it! Or make some at home.