Cinderia

Exaequatio wrote:

I won't be able to do Saturday at all, I'll be busy all day that day. Sunday is spotty for me right now, too. For Friday, I have an appoint I forgot about at 1 pm EST, so I'd have to leave like from 12:30 and wouldn't be back til probably 2 or so (I think that's 6:30 to 8 PM CET) if that's okay.

Sure, I can come on after 8pm-ish CET. Since I usually go to sleep after midnight anyway, I guess we'll have some time.

If also can't really do next Friday either since I have ti be at the airport once saturday at 4:50am and if I want to get some sleep in before that an evening videocall is a bit impractical...

Took faster than I though, I'm available now!

Given everything that's been going on the past two weeks between the USA and Canada, my opinion is now that America and its people are nothing more than a blight on the world.

Roelandia wrote:

Well, it is getting to that point, isn't it. The USA is bleeding goodwill at an unprecedented rate and I think diplomacy, goodwill and the building of friendly relationships will be more important then ever in the world going forward. It may even outway geopolitical pragmatism in importance. The trend towards globalization has ended and it will matter where the supply of raw materials and industrial goods will come from, from a strategic perspective (rather then just price). The current US administration has not understood this and acts like a big playground bully believing itself to be untouchable and invulnerable. It will soon find out that the reverse is very much true. I can only hope the EU will leverage the goodwill it has around the world. And I do believe of the big three powers in this world, (the USA, China and the EU), the EU at the current moment seems to have the most goodwill left. And for all of its structural issues, this might prove to be its biggest advantage going forward.

What do you think of the Canada - EU dynamic at the moment?

For Canada, I would say it is firmly past that point.

The USA has:
Broken its previous agreement with Canada
Lied about why the trade talks broke down
Insults Canada constantly
Keeps threatening to annex Canada

Trade talks broke down cause the USA wanted to control Canada's rare earth minerals and have a say in the terms of trade agreements between Canada and other countries, while also having Canada remove the requirements for goods to be in English and French, effectively turning Canada into a vassal state of the US with these terms.

Yesterday, one of the US's top admirals stated that, yes, he would invade Canada if President Trump ordered him to. So America presents a clear military danger to Canada's continued existence. Shouldn't be surprised, really; it was only with the end of WW2 that the US decided to finally abandon their dreams of conquering Canada, until now. That's over a 2:1 ratio of the US being hostile/friendly to Canada.

It will take decades for Canada and Canadians to trust the US again, if they want to.

I and probably many other Canadians now do not feel sorry for anti-Trump Americans anymore. Its been 11 years, and America and Americans have gone from being a nuisance under Trump to being an existential threat to my country and my way of life. What sympathy should I feel for them now?

As for Canada-EU relations, don't know much about it. It probably doesn't matter too much as the EU is all the way over there across an ocean, while the US is right beside us.

Exaequatio wrote:

Did you like it?

Well, I get what you were saying about the metaphorical nature of much of the movie. Where you're not actually seeing what is really happening but more like a representation of the emotional state or thoughts in that moment which is a neat concept.

One thing escapes me though and (spoilers ahead for anyone who hasn't seen it yet), Sebastian rushes Mia to her audition, she gets it and her dream (professionaly speaking) becomes reality. However, Sebastian then tells her she has to "give it her all". Implying she won't have time to rekindel their relationship. And okay, I get the setup here, years later she drives along with her husband and ends up at what turns out to be his jazz club (Sebestian's professional dream), we get a metaphorical scene of the "what if" and then the story ends, as in: they both achieve their dream but in the process they lost each other and it all feels very bittersweet. I do understand the irony and melancholy that was set up here, I just have trouble understanding why it ended up like this. Because, if Mia managed to find the time to find a husband and start a family, then why did she and Sebastian split up at the start of her big break? That makes little sense to me. Or at least it makes little sense in the way that it was explained. That part seems a little "thin" to me. This might just be me though, yet I felt that needed a deeper reason to be really believable (or did I miss something?)