Merry Post-Turkey Day!
Lots to talk about ...
It is not NATO's job, nor is it post-Reagan America's job, to protect or retaliate on Canada's behalf. If Canada cannot or will not prepare for anything North Korea may do or do anything about Russian incursions into the Canadian Arctic, then its citizens will have to learn to live with belligerence, attacks or even occupation. Perhaps someone should remind the fils what era it is:
Today in "Tax All of You Back Into the Stone Age" news:
This.
One prime minister is qualified to talk about NAFTA. The other is a total moron but because his dad was a failure as a PM, he gets a pass for some reason:
Wow, that could be embarrassing if Harper just sounds articulate and Trudeau points to his socks all day. Why, the Americans might assume that Trudeau fils is some kind of moron.
And they would be correct.
Also:
That's passing the buck, Justin.
And:
I was wondering when an excuse might pop up:
By now, this sort of thing is terribly predictable. First, it was one's economic situation. When that excuse was debunked, apologists moved onto public policy. When that became tiresome, things like mental illness or drugs became fashionable to explain away sectarian violence and personal responsibility. And there is always the old "Islamophobia" defense.
Whatever that is.
Also - keeping it in the family:
And:
Child rapists usually do surrender when cornered.
When your government promises taxed ganja but frets over opioid abuse, is it beating a dead horse to complain about the presence of a shoot-up site near a school?
And there is one's problem.
The parents are already subsidising and now enabling hard drug use. They can't turn around and complain when something this harmful is in their backyard, or their children's school-yard, as the case may be.
The Kim dynasty adds another administrative branch:
(Sidebar: Irked? Why? The whole point was to make a won off of someone's back.)
Having had enough, Russians take to the streets to protest Putin:
But who will they say rigged the elections? More Russians?
If the Irish need to be told that Che Guevara was a murderer, hence people's displeasure over their putting him on a stamp, they have reached the Eamon de Valera level of thoughtlessness:
Ignoring that an Irish monk was more instrumental in locating North America than Christopher Columbus was, the statue-demolishing crowd also forgets some pertinent historical facts:
(Merci)
And now, some good news:
Lots to talk about ...
It is not NATO's job, nor is it post-Reagan America's job, to protect or retaliate on Canada's behalf. If Canada cannot or will not prepare for anything North Korea may do or do anything about Russian incursions into the Canadian Arctic, then its citizens will have to learn to live with belligerence, attacks or even occupation. Perhaps someone should remind the fils what era it is:
Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is “extremely aware of the threat” from North Korea to Canada.
“We are NATO’s alliance, which is there to protect and defend all allies against any threat, including of course Canada,” he said, before reiterating the alliance’s support for diplomatic efforts and economic sanctions that put pressure on North Korea.
Stoltenberg’s comments come weeks after an emergency meeting of the House of Commons defence committee heard a NORAD deputy commander say the Americans don’t consider it their policy to protect Canada in the event of a missile attack.
Today in "Tax All of You Back Into the Stone Age" news:
After a furious weekend outcry over a plan to tax employee discounts, National Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier issued a statement Tuesday that says the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) will be “clarifying” its wording on a directive to retailers.
“Our government recognizes the important role that the retail sector and those working in it play in our communities and in our economy,” she said. “There have been no changes to the laws governing taxable benefits to retail employees. We are not targeting individuals working in retail.”
The CRA set off a firestorm after advising employers that it would begin counting employee discounts as income, forcing some of the lowest-paid workers in the Canadian economy to pay tax on the value of discounted meals or clothes offered through their employment.
This.
One prime minister is qualified to talk about NAFTA. The other is a total moron but because his dad was a failure as a PM, he gets a pass for some reason:
Old political nemeses Justin Trudeau and Stephen Harper might literally cross paths. Harper is scheduled to attend a panel discussion on trade Wednesday afternoon, just as Trudeau is a few blocks away at the White House, discussing thorny trade issues with President Donald Trump.
The former Conservative prime minister is on a panel at an event hosted by Dentons law firm that also features Newt Gingrich, a Trump confidant and former top U.S. lawmaker, and a separate appearance by U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.
Some people in the senior ranks of the Canadian government and at Washington’s Canadian embassy were caught off-guard by Harper’s itinerary — those contacted by The Canadian Press last week said they were unaware Harper would be there on the same day as Trudeau.
Wow, that could be embarrassing if Harper just sounds articulate and Trudeau points to his socks all day. Why, the Americans might assume that Trudeau fils is some kind of moron.
And they would be correct.
Also:
When Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets President Donald Trump on Wednesday, he will try to persuade the U.S. leader to focus on Mexico as a source of potential problems at talks to update NAFTA.
That's passing the buck, Justin.
And:
“A lot of auto plants in Ontario have scheduled shutdowns — usually in July — and a lot of those (shutdowns) were extended beyond their normal length of time because of a build-up in inventories,” said Mike Holden, chief economist at the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME) industry group.
“So, they were shutting down longer than expected (and) that’s put a dent in auto manufacturing exports,” Holden said. “There wasn’t much recovery in August.”
I was wondering when an excuse might pop up:
A Canadian teen who admitted plotting to attack New York City landmarks suffered from drug addiction and mental health issues, newly released court documents show.
Letters from defence lawyers and a New York prosecutor filed with an American court show Abdulrahman El Bahnasawy, of Mississauga, Ont., suffered a relapse in prison and tested positive for a prescription drug used in opioid-addiction treatments, a finding that led to the loss of family visitations for seven months.
The letters also said a psychiatrist and a psychologist visited the 19-year-old in prison, but details related to both his drug addiction and his mental health issues are redacted.
By now, this sort of thing is terribly predictable. First, it was one's economic situation. When that excuse was debunked, apologists moved onto public policy. When that became tiresome, things like mental illness or drugs became fashionable to explain away sectarian violence and personal responsibility. And there is always the old "Islamophobia" defense.
Whatever that is.
Also - keeping it in the family:
Italian police said on Sunday they had arrested the brother of Anis Hannachi, the Tunisian man who killed two young women with a knife outside the Marseille train station a week ago in a suspected terrorist act.
And:
More than a thousand Islamic State fighters passed through that room this past week after they fled their crumbling Iraqi stronghold of Hawija. Instead of the martyrdom they had boasted was their only acceptable fate, they had voluntarily ended up here in the interrogation center of the Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq.
Child rapists usually do surrender when cornered.
When your government promises taxed ganja but frets over opioid abuse, is it beating a dead horse to complain about the presence of a shoot-up site near a school?
Parents opposed to a supervised safe injection site near a Montreal elementary school are ready to go to court in a last-minute effort to stop it from opening.
They have hired well-known civil liberties lawyer Julius Grey who said Tuesday he’s ready to seek an injunction or another court ruling against the centre if need be.
But he is hopeful an agreement can still be worked out before Sunday when the injection site is scheduled to open.
“I’m convinced that a consultation in good faith will necessarily lead to a change, a change in location, a change in schedule for the centre and therefore I’m certain that an action will not be necessary,” Grey said.
A spokeswoman for the school said parents are not opposed to setting up an injection site to help drug users.
And there is one's problem.
The parents are already subsidising and now enabling hard drug use. They can't turn around and complain when something this harmful is in their backyard, or their children's school-yard, as the case may be.
The Kim dynasty adds another administrative branch:
Kim Jong Un has promoted his younger sister to a new post within North Korea's ruling party.
The promotion of Kim Yo Jong came at a meeting of senior party members as North Korea marked the 20th anniversary of Kim Jong Il's acceptance of the title of general secretary of the ruling Worker's Party of Korea.Kim Yo Jong was made an alternate member of the decision-making political bureau of the party's central committee. The late Kim Jong Il, North Korea's "eternal general secretary," is the father of Kim Jong Un and Kim Yo Jong.
I wonder if she will be more ruthless than her brother.
Also:
(Sidebar: strike while the political iron is hot.)
**
The trial of two women accused of killing the estranged half brother of North Korea's leader entered its second week Monday, with the court moving temporarily to a high-security laboratory to view evidence contaminated with VX nerve agent.
The judge, prosecutors, defense lawyers and the Indonesian and Vietnamese suspects were to visit the chemistry laboratory to examine samples of the women's clothing before they are formally submitted as evidence.
Such a move is not unusual in criminal cases in Malaysia, where judges often visit crime scenes. In this case, the decision came after government chemist Raja Subramaniam told the court the VX found on the clothing may still be active.
**
Revelations that North Korea has been secretly operating South Korea-invested factories in a joint industrial park shuttered in 2016 have angered South Korean officials, politicians and businesspeople. But there seems to be no practical way to stop the North’s “illegal use” of South Korean properties.
(Sidebar: Irked? Why? The whole point was to make a won off of someone's back.)
Having had enough, Russians take to the streets to protest Putin:
More than 270 people were detained during nationwide protests on Saturday to call for the resignation of President Vladimir Putin and the release of his opponent, opposition activist Alexei Navalny.
Presidential hopeful Navalny was sentenced to 20 days behind bars for organizing unsanctioned rallies ahead of a protest rally in Nizhny Novgorod last week. His campaign organized protests in around 80 cities on Saturday, to coincide with Putin’s 65th birthday.
Protesters called on Putin to allow Navalny to run in elections next March despite a criminal conviction which Navalny says is politically motivated.
In Moscow, around 700 protesters braved the rain to attend the protest, Moscow police told the Interfax news agency. Other reports suggested up to one thousand people attended the rally on Pushkin Square. The protesters chanted "Happy birthday, Putin!", "Free Navalny!" "Russia without Putin!" and "Navalny is our president!”
But who will they say rigged the elections? More Russians?
If the Irish need to be told that Che Guevara was a murderer, hence people's displeasure over their putting him on a stamp, they have reached the Eamon de Valera level of thoughtlessness:
This week marks the anniversary of the death of the Argentina-born figure who helped Fidel Castro topple the Batista regime in 1959. To honour the occasion, the Irish government has released a one euro stamp featuring the image of the revolutionary.
This week marks the anniversary of the death of the Argentina-born figure who helped Fidel Castro topple the Batista regime in 1959. To honour the occasion, the Irish government has released a one euro stamp featuring the image of the revolutionary.
Ignoring that an Irish monk was more instrumental in locating North America than Christopher Columbus was, the statue-demolishing crowd also forgets some pertinent historical facts:
Does anyone who’s remotely honest think that if the technological disparities were reversed, indigenous Americans wouldn’t have tried conquering Europe? If the Taíno and Arawak and Cherokee had written languages dating back millennia, and if they’d possessed the sort of nautical and cartographic prowess that would have permitted them to cross the Atlantic—while Europeans were huddled in caves and still trying to figure out the basics of starting a fire—could anyone really think the North Americans wouldn’t have taken advantage of this situation? And does anyone honestly believe they wouldn’t have erected monuments to their triumph, and, more importantly, defended those monuments in case the conquered locals decided to try getting uppity?
(Merci)
And now, some good news:
A Gilbert, Arizona car dealership plans to give a free truck to the 29-year-old Iraq War veteran who seized a truck and used it to drive critically injured victims to safety after the Las Vegas shooting.
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