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One Year Later
It was a year ago today, that Mark Carney and his liberal party won an election, resulting in minority government. Only three months earlier, the liberals had been given up for dead. Pierre Poilievre and his conservative party had an over 20% lead. Then two things happened. Justin Trudeau, resigned and Donald Trump became president of the United States. A series of election blunders, by Poilievre, significant of which was not going after Donald Trump and his tariffs resulted in Carney’s victory
One year later, following a series of floor crossings by conservative members to the liberal party and three by election victories, Carney now now has his desired majority government
Mark Carney‘s honeymoon. period it’s still in place. With a near 60% approval rating, his approval rating, after one year in power, is higher than those of Stephen Harper and Brian Mulroney, after one year in power.
Meanwhile, Pierre Poilievre’s approval ratings keep sinking to near 20%.
Mark Carney has higher approval ratings in areas such as foreign policy trade diversification and his handling of the Trump administration. Affordability in both housing and day-to-day living is still an issue for him as it is with all leaders of the western world
How long will Mark Carney‘s honeymoon last? That remains to be seen. If an election were to be held today, which it won’t, Mark Carney would probably win over 200 seats. Carney has two things going for him. Being captain Canada against Trump and the ineffective leadership of Poilievre. Carney has also gotten a number of provincial Premiers on his side, which also helps. So his honeymoon could last for a while yet.
That’s all I have for today.
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Traitor?
Marilyn Gladu is the liberal representative of Lambton county which includes the city of Sarnia. Last April 28, she won this riding for the fourth time, with the first time being in 2015. However, she won all four times representing the conservative party. She crossed the floor to the liberals earlier this year.
As a conservative member of Parliament, she did the following.
She opposed the legalization of cannabis. She wanted the military to come in and break up the pipeline protests. She promoted uses of controversial medication for Covid such as, hydroxychloroquine. She voted against ending conversion therapy and she opposed abortion.
Ironically, she supported a petition, in January of this year, requiring that a by election be held if a person crossed the floor.
If you look at social media, supporters of Gladu and of the conservative party are red faced angry at her betrayal. Since her floor crossing, she has not been seen in Lambton County. She has refused media requests for interviews. She’s gone silent.
It is said that she would most likely not run in the next election as she will probably retire. So, in that sense, she would not suffer any consequences to her future political career, given the likelihood of retirement.
Lambton County is conservative. She might not have any future political consequences, but she might want to move out of the county once she retires.
As you all know, I am a supporter of the liberal party and I am a supporter of Mark Carney. But this smells.
That’s all I have for today.
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Dinner Plans Changed
Donald, apparently I missed most of the excitement last night. I was watching Toy Story, with my grandkids, when I got a text, saying someone tried to kill the president. So, should I skip the rest of the movie or catch what’s happening on cable news? I compromised. I watched the rest of the movie and then got home pretty quick.
But enough about me. The dinner kind of didn’t go the way it was planned. I knew there would be fireworks, but not the kind that ended up happening. Fortunately, none of the attendees, including yourself, were hurt. So that is a very good thing. It really is Donald.
We could’ve had a designated survivor situation. You know the TV series that started Kiefer Sutherland. The one where the Capitol was bombed during a state of the union address. Everyone killed except for the designated survivor, who was not on location. Pretty well most of the cabinet, the house speaker, and a number of congressional members were at the dinner last night. All at one place and all at one time, ironically, at the same hotel where President Reagan was shot. What if last night’s attacker had succeeded in gunning down a number of the attendees. Fortunately, the Secret Service and the FBI along with the police were at the top of their game last night. They are receiving, justifiably, a lot of praise this morning
One thing, though I hear it is a rumor, is it true that both Kash Patel and Pete Hegseth, when they heard the shout of ‘shots fired’ raised their hands and yelled out ‘ tequila’?
Well, I’m glad it all came out well. But did you have to mention during the press conference you had afterwards that this never would have happened if your boondoggle of a ballroom had been built? Not a good look, Donald.
That’s all I have for today.
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Suckers
“There’s a sucker born every minute.”
That phrase was attributed to showman P. T. Barnum. Actually, he was not the one who said that. It was, in reality, a banker, in the 1860s talking about the gullibility of people.
Donald Trump must love this phrase. He is now suing his own IRS department for $10 billion, due to leaks of his tax returns. It’s like a CEO suing his own company for personal gain. This is a guy who claims he can walk down fifth Avenue shoot somebody and get away with it.
Americans are hurting right now. There have been cutbacks in programs such as healthcare subsidies. But even with the cutbacks, the leader of his country, wants to take $10 billion from the economy for his personal gain
When Trump became president, for the second time, he must’ve felt that he struck gold. Furthermore, the US, with nothing in the financial cupboard is considering a massive bailout of US dollars, to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The excuse given is that the UAE has been hurt financially by the war with Iran. It is only a coincidence, sure it is, that Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner has accessed nearly $2 billion from the UAE for investment purposes. It is also, only coincidence, that the UAE is a large minority holder of Trump’s cryptocurrency scheme.
These are just two examples of Trump playing the system and exploiting the suckers, that being the American voter.
That’s all I have for today.
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Seriously?!!!
Mother Nature, you do realize it is April 24, correct? What is this white stuff doing on the ground? Give your head a freaking shake. I know that I live in Northern Alberta, but enough is enough. I know that April showers bring May flowers, but with this crap are we gonna be getting May snow sculptures? Just up your game for heaven sake.
That’s all I have for today.
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Entry Fee
Donald, are you freaking kidding? You want an entry fee before trade negotiation start with Canada? You have lost your freaking mind.
We have already made a few concessions and we have received nothing in return. And now you are setting up one sided rules before the game even begins.
Your commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, is saying it is outrageous that American liquor is not being placed on Canadian shelves. What world are you and he living in? After your tariffs on aluminum and steel, you have the gall to complain about Canadians, not putting your liquor on our shelves.
This is what our Prime Minister had to say about your tactics.
“It’s not a case of the United States dictates the terms. We have a negotiation, we can come to a mutually successful outcome, it will take some time and we will take some time.”
You are such a bully, Donald. You are not used to opponents fighting back. You see what happened to you over Greenland, you are seeing what’s happening to you with Iran and now you will see that we in Canada will do. What we won’t do, is roll over. Elbows up.
That’s all I have for today.
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TACO Bully Outplayed
Donald, plain and simple, you are a bully used to getting your own way. Last year and a half, however, you have run into opponents who won’t back down. Your tariff wars really have backfired on you. It has made you turn TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out) a few times, same thing with Greenland and now with Iran.
You’ve extended to ceasefire yet again. You’re using any excuse possible to explain you chickening out again, but no one buys it. Even worse, Iran is not buying into the ceasefire, at all, saying it is just a trick before a surprise attack. And even worse, as mud in your face, they seized a couple of ships this morning.
Donald, they are playing you so badly, and, you being a bully, you have no Plan B. You have no idea what to do next. Anything you do will be a lose lose.
Let’s say you attack Iran and try to get the uranium out. The uranium supplies are deep inside Iran.
It would be a weeks long process to safely get the uranium out. You would need thousands of troops to take over the various sites, and then defend the sites while the uranium is being safely taken out
Your blockade is not really doing anything given that Iran is blocking the Strait completely and some Iranian ships are still getting out
Public opinion is way against you. So you’re stuck Donald. Could not have happened to a better guy. The sad part is it’s not only you paying the price, but everyone who buys gas.
The irony of all this, too, is that the country you hate the most, China (though I guess Canada is pretty up there too since we don’t back down either) is least affected by this because of their growing green economy.
That’s all I have for today.
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Long Game My Ass
This is what Press Secretary Karoline Nitwit (yes I know beneath my dignity, but still, I cannot help it) said about the current state of negotiations with Iran.
“Anyone who cannot see President Trump’s tactics to play the long game are either stupid or willfully ignorant.”
Karoline, do you actually know what’s coming out of your mouth at times? Do you have any idea what long game means? OK here’s a bit of a refresher.
Jimmy Carter spent over 400 days negotiating the release of the Iranian hostages back in 1980 and 81. The hostages were not released until the day. Ronald Reagan was inaugurated, as a slap in the face to Carter by the Iranian regime.
The deal that Barack Obama made with Iran took over two years to negotiate with the final document being 160 pages long. Trump keeps saying that this was a terrible deal. Did he even read the document? Did he even get past page one? Probably not.
So here we are, over eight weeks into this war which Trump predicted would be over, at most, after five or six weeks, and, Karoline, you are saying that Trump is playing a long game.
Do you know who is being played, Karoline? Trump is being played by the Iranians. Iran has been at this game for over 2800 years. They know how to play this game. They are in no rush to close a deal. Why should they? They have control of the Strait. With this two week ceasefire they’ve been able to build up their weapons capability. They know that if Trump starts bombing again, it will, in a sense, make him look weak. So they’re getting what they want.
Iran, to an extent, cost Jimmy Carter his job. Iran is doing the same thing to Trump, which will become evident in the midterm elections in November.
Karoline, you have no clue, neither does your boss.
That’s all after today.
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The Lord Our Gun
America, just had its 114th mass shooting of the year, yesterday. This time it was eight kids, I will say that again, eight kids, shot down and massacred in Shreveport, Louisiana
The shooter was father of seven of the kids. The eighth was a cousin of the seven kids shot down. After a car chase, police shot the shooter dead.
The shooter had mental health issues. The shooter had two prior convictions one was illegal use of firearms. How the f#%k did this guy have access to guns to begin with?
Nothing will change. We knew that after Columbine. And if we had any doubts, Sandy Hook sealed that deal.
But in America, the gun is king. No one dare take away their guns. F#%k the kids, f#%k the sanctity of life for nothing can come before our Lord the gun.
America, you are sick. You are a sick freaking country and I would say you deserve what you get, I can’t because what that means is that more lives will be lost needlessly and nobody deserves that.
F#%k it.
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Here We Go Again
Like, seriously, here we go again. It is like déjà vu all over again and again and again.
Iran announced late last week that the Strait of Hormuz would be open and stay open. The stock market jumped by 1000 points and the price of oil went down by 10% and all was good in the world. Further negotiations were set for Monday. So the world could breathe a sigh of relief.
But Donald Trump decided to keep the blockade on Iranian ports in place. To add bluster to his stupidity, he said that Iran had agreed to all of his negotiation points. Like the matador waving a red flag on a bull who is chilling. Well the bull saw the red flag and started charging. The Strait is again closed and Iran took pot shots at a couple of tankers. Given that this is a Sunday the markets won’t open until tomorrow, but anticipate a downturn and anticipate a sharp increase in the oil prices. Trump once again is threatening to obliterate Iran if they keep the Strait closed. We are into week eight of this now and nothing has changed. Things are getting worse for countries in Asia, where they are running out of oil and for countries in Europe, where they are only a couple weeks away from running out of jet fuel.
So this thing better be settled soon or the economic repercussions are gonna get worse than they already are.
I should’ve stuck to just watching the playoffs.
Bird's Chirp
So I don't have to put it on Facebook anymore….