Mid-Week Post

 

The last mid-week post of the summer ...

(sigh)




If I were the Americans, I wouldn't believe a single thing that fell from Justin's lying, incompetent mouth:

Canada is working to reassure the United States and other allies after a top police intelligence official was charged with leaking secrets, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday.

This is the same hand-puppet who stood by an underling when he accused the entire Indian government of lying about the presence of convicted would-be assassin, Jaspar Atwal, at a state function.

Cameron Otis worked for the same national police force that has suspended the investigation into obstruction of justice in the SNC-Lavalin affair and was only alerted to Otis' activities when the FBI informed it.

Incompetence and corruption go hand-in-hand.




It's an election year!:

Justin Trudeau is promising to do more to boost incomes for seniors, widows and widowers.

He says a re-elected Liberal government would increase old age security by an extra 10 per cent once a senior turns 75, and will boost the Canada Pension Plan survivor’s benefit by 25 per cent.

Trudeau made the announcement at a lawn bowling club in Fredericton, a riding the Liberals picked up in 2015 as part of their sweep of the Atlantic provinces.

Make all of these duplicitous SOBs do the math on the spot. That way one will be certain of their inability to deliver on these promises.




Justin was elected to prance around, not to answer to the public:

If you doubt me, imagine what their leaders would mumble, if cornered, on the following questions that I’d insist on asking firmly and repeatedly with zero patience for evasions, bait-and-switch, impenetrable syntax or pre-chewed talking points:

• Is government in Canada too big? If so, what would you get rid of? If not, how would you pay for it?
• Why can’t we do health care the way the French or Swedes do instead of the way Cuba does? (Anyone who drags in “American-style health care” immediately has their mic cut off.)
• Is China friend, foe or simply a foreign entity pursuing its own national interest?
• Does Canada need capable armed forces? If so, what do we need and how much are you ready to spend? If not, how do we deal with a dangerous world?
• Is the world dangerous? If not, how do you explain the entire course of human history? If so, why aren’t you more worried?
• Why do we deliberately raise the price of food for the poor through supply management? (Maxime Bernier can just sit and smirk during this one. Andrew Scheer can’t.)
• Why is Canada the only democracy without any sort of abortion law (Vietnam also has none but even Cuba regulates late-term ones) when most Canadians want some restrictions?
• Does man-made climate change threaten civilization within the next decade or three? If so, how are we going to get rid of fossil fuels pronto and what will we replace them with? If not, why won’t you call global warming alarmism baloney?
• How should Canada’s national interest factor into our immigration policies? Is there a level of immigration that you believe would be beyond our capability to absorb?
• Do you really think Canadian Indigenous bands are separate nations? If so, when will you explicitly legislate that Canadian law does not apply on their territories and open embassies? If not, why do you pretend to? Won’t they be annoyed when they realize you’re lying again?
• Where do you get your ideas of right and wrong? If “the Catholic church,” why aren’t your policies remotely consistent with Church doctrine? If “from within,” how do you know you’re right? If “there’s no such thing as right and wrong,” how can we trust you to do what’s right?
• How large, of all that human hearts endure, is that part that laws and governments can cure?

Also - just be honest, Jag. You're trailing in the polls and Bernier will only steal more limelight from you:

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said in a letter Tuesday that he is “troubled” that People’s Party of Canada (PPC) Leader Maxime Bernier has been invited to participate in the leaders’ debate and called on debates commissioner David Johnston to reconsider his decision.

“I am troubled by your decision to allow the leader of the People’s Party of Canada in the debates,” the letter reads. “It is wrong that Mr. Bernier be given a platform to promote an ideology of hate that spreads prejudice and disinformation.”

And what is that prejudice and information, Jag?

If I were Bernier, I would make that walking joke answer where he stood.




Why go to a communist dictatorship and why get arrested in China when one could get arrested in one's own country?:

In the coming days, Chinese government officials across Canada will begin hosting events to mark the 70^th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

The events present a dilemma for Canadian political leaders: amidst an ongoing diplomatic row sparked by the arrest last December of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, the continued detention in China of Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, and ever-present concerns about China’s human rights record, do they attend or not?

For Charles Burton, who once served as a Canadian diplomat in Beijing, the answer should be a simple — and unequivocal — “no.”

“I judge it is highly inappropriate for any Canadians to participate in celebratory activities hosted by the Government of China, so long as Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig are being arbitrarily detained,” he said.

“Canadian attendance this year would be morally wrong.”

Having anything to do with any communist country is wrong.





Of course:

The British Columbia government has been ordered by the province’s highest court to reconsider its environmental assessment certificate allowing the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline.

In challenges by the Squamish Nation and the City of Vancouver, the B.C. Court of Appeal ruled the province’s approval of the certificate was based on the original report from the National Energy Board, which was later quashed by the Federal Court of Appeal.

That will not get built while Justin occupies the prime minister's office.


Also - not at all pleased with Iran's drone attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities, Trump has increased sanctions on Iran:

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he had ordered Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to “substantially increase sanctions” imposed on Iran, amid escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran.

He did not give details on the move, which follows weekend attacks on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia that some U.S. officials blamed on Iran. Iran has denied those allegations.

And:

Alberta’s inquiry into the foreign funding of Canada’s green anti-oil activist groups is headed by Steve Allan, by all accounts a solid and objective forensic accountant who is as far from being Joe McCarthy as Mr. Rogers is from being Donald Trump.

The inquiry’s mandate is not without its flaws, but when it reports next year the results could shake a few ramparts in the vast operating arena of Canadian charities. Charged with probing the funding of anti-oil groups, the inquiry has the potential to open a national debate over the tax-free funding of Canada’s environmental organizations. It might also trigger interest in opening the doors into the strange multibillion-dollar world of Canadian charities, through which tax-free money is pipelined in and out of government with little or no accountability.

If one wants to restore trust into Canadian institutions, dissolve them and start anew:

Only 37 per cent said the priority should be on growing immigration to meet the demands of Canada’s expanding economy.

Similarly, an Ipsos poll released in early September shows that 41 per cent of Canadians believe immigrants take important social services away from “real” Canadians, and only 11 per cent agree that Canada would be better off if we let in all immigrants who wanted to come here.

That is a total failure in leadership. It means Canadians would rather see their economy impaired than accept more newcomers to help us grow.

Excuse me, Mrs. Smith, but where are those doctors and engineers we were promised? How many legitimate refugees like North Koreans and Yazidis are grateful to be in Canada and add positively to it? How many migrants allowed in through lax policies are now sleeping on the streets? Above all, why can't we train and hire Canadians to fill the jobs you speak of?

**

More than five years after he fatally stabbed five young people to death in Calgary, the Alberta Review Board on Tuesday heard the case for granting Matthew de Grood increased independence as he undergoes treatment at Alberta Hospital Edmonton.

The head of de Grood’s treatment team, psychiatrist Dr. Santoch Rai, characterized the risk of de Grood experiencing a relapse that is violent in nature as “very low.”

But he said it would likely be of a “high severity” if it did occur.

Well, then, what could go wrong?




South Korea removes Japan from the list of preferred trading partners:

South Korea on Wednesday followed through with plans to drop Japan from a list of countries receiving fast-track approvals in trade, a reaction to a similar move by Tokyo to downgrade Seoul’s trade status amid a tense diplomatic dispute.

South Korea’ trade ministry said Japan’s removal from a 29-member “white list” of nations enjoying minimum trade restrictions went into effect as Seoul rearranged its export control system covering hundreds of sensitive materials that can be used for both civilian and military purposes.

 
I'm sure China and North Korea are much more fair.




No one is sure who the victor is in the Israeli election:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s battle for political survival looked set to stretch on for days or weeks after exit polls following Tuesday’s election showed the race too close to call.

Netanyahu’s main election challenger, centrist party chief Benny Gantz, said on Wednesday it appeared from exit polls that the Israeli leader was defeated but that only official results would tell.

Gantz, a former general, stopped short of an outright claim of victory. But beaming confidence, he told a rally of his Blue and White Party that it appeared “we fulfilled our mission,” and he pledged to work towards formation of a national unity government.

Netanyahu, he said, apparently “did not succeed in his mission” to win a fifth term in a do-over election that followed an inconclusive national ballot in April. “We will await the actual results,” Gantz said.

No. G-d-. Way:

Fans are outraged after Variety reported that Sony Pictures Entertainment CEO Tony Vinciquerra said, "Very famous people whose names I won't use, but they want to redo 'The Princess Bride.'"

The Princess Bride is a cult classic par excellence. The movie's unforgettable lines of dialogue have launched a thousand memes. It combines the elements of romance, sword fights, vendettas, and humor (and yes, more than a little corniness) to create a masterpiece — one many fans would say is perfect.

In fact, Cary Elwes, the actor who played Wesley (and the Dread Pirate Roberts), had the perfect response to the remake news.

"There’s a shortage of perfect movies in this world. It would be a pity to damage this one," Elwes tweeted.

What he said.