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So Much Bad News
This is what we all woke up to this morning. All of this happened, either yesterday or overnight.
The Iran – US ceasefire is heading into the dumpster, with more attacks by both sides last night. Iran attacked Kuwait and Bahrain with the attack on Kuwait including attack on Kuwait’s airport, resulting in at least one fatality. Meanwhile,, the US bombed a ship heading to an Iranian port
Ukraine launched a number of drone attacks on Russian cities, last night, including the city of Saint Petersburg, where thousands of people will be attending an economic summit hosted by Vladimir Putin. Oil tanks were struck in St. Petersburg sending a cloud of dark smoke over the city.
CBS fired longtime ‘60 Minutes’ correspondent, Scott Pelley, from the show last night, following a dispute between Scott Pelley, and CBS management. The show has been a Sunday night staple at CBS for years. This is the network who let go of Stephen Colbert. Ratings for ‘ 60 Minutes’ have declined since the show, and network, has begun taking a new Trump appeasing direction.
Finally, after acting Attorney General, Todd Blanche, indicated that the Trump administration would drop the $1.8 billion convict slush fund, Donald Trump announced that he is still considering invoking this. Trump’s retribution campaign continues.
All of this happened in the last 24 hours. I’m not even gonna ask what else can happen, because it probably will.
That’s all I have for today.
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Bombshell
If you have been frequently social media sites, such as Facebook and Threads and X, you will see a number of Alberta separatists saying how Canada has been ripping off Alberta and Alberta will be much better off without Canada. You will see a daily deluge of separatist misinformation
Danielle Smith, who is proposing a sovereign Alberta, within Canada, whatever that means, has been all along giving nudge nudge, wink, wink support to the separatists.
The separatist wanted a referendum question on leaving Canada, this fall. Due to a host of legal issues a question will be voted on, but it basically will be a question on whether a referendum is wanted. A referendum to have a referendum. This question along with the number of other questions to be voted on the same day will cost Alberta taxpayers $100 million.
Daniel Smith, since indicating that question will be voted on, on October 19, has since stated that she will vote no on having a subsequent referendum. According to Smith, she has hopes for Canada, again, whatever that means.
In a press conference yesterday, she put a major damper on separatist misinformation. She stated that;
it will cost $400 billion to start up and independent Alberta,
it will cost $25-$50 billion a year to operate Alberta annually
Alberta to stay in NATO will have to put in their proportion of funds to NATO
Alberta will have to make trade deals with every country that they want to trade with
Alberta would have to spend money for border protection on the borders of BC and Saskatchewan
Alberta would have to start from scratch creating a military force
In other words, Alberta would be ripe for a takeover, by the US, to be a 51st state
The next few days will be interesting ones for the separatists,in seeing how they were react to the cold water thrown on them by Danielle Smith.
That’s all I have for today.
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Counting The Ways
So, Donald, what have you got going this week? Let’s see. The gas prices have gone down I guess in reaction to you saying that the agreement with Iran was almost finalized. Oh, Iran just broke off negotiations. They don’t trust you and now this Israel, incursion into Lebanon has screwed things up
Well, forget that for now. You got this freedom 250 celebration going on. What’s that? All the performers are backing down? Well that kind of sucks. So what is this gonna be a ten-day MAGA rally, with you being the main event. I guess you could always get Kid Rock.
Well for your birthday, I hear you’re gonna have a UFC fight on your front lawn. Oh no, not that too. You mean people are upset about the UFC fight on the White House lawn. Don’t they recognize class when they see it?
Well you got your name on the Kennedy Center, anyways. Oh, they forced you to take your name off. So much for the renovations too, right?
Well, at least you’ll be able to pay your friends, including the January 6 insurrectionists, off, for what they did for you. What’s that? Your own Senate is revolting against you, in that one.
You know, Donald, maybe it is better to just stay in bed, today, maybe the whole week.
That’s all I have for today.
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Can You Trust This Man?
How many times has Donald Trump said that a deal is imminent? Each time, Wall Street falls for it with index still going up and big oil falls for it with prices going down until the next flare up.
This week, Trump pushed the idea that negotiations were finalized, and an agreement just waiting to be signed. Again, not true. There was a two hour meeting Trump had with his cabinet on Friday and he sent back the agreement to Iran with changes. Of course he did.
Iran’s parliamentary secretary, commented on the trust he has for Trump and his administration,
“The soldiers of the diplomatic battlefield have no trust in the words and promises of the enemy. What matters to us is tangible achievements that we must obtain, in exchange for which we will fulfil our commitments.”
You cannot con a con and that’s what both sides are trying to do, con the other. Donald needs an agreement of some kind that looks better than the agreement that Obama reached and Trump tore up. If he does not achieve that all this will have been for nothing at the cost of American lives and American treasury.
So given that, this will continue. Trump has said that he doesn’t care about the midterms and I believe him. It is more important that he cannot be shown to have made a mistake, in his eyes. So until something else happens, this 13 week war will continue to week 14 and on and on.
That’s all I have for today.
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Backlash
Another bad week wrapping up for Donald. A federal court judge has ruled that Trump must remove his name from the Kennedy Center.
“Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.”
Trump responded to this by saying he’s been treated unfairly, and,
“I have instructed the Department of Commerce to make all necessary arrangements with Congress to allow a full and complete transfer of this Institution, giving them the responsibility for its Operation, Maintenance, and Management,”
Trump’s $1.8 billion slush fund to the January 6 rioters and to friends such as Paul Manafort, Michael Lindell, and himself is facing headwinds. There were 2 Federal Court buildings on Friday, one blocking the slush fund process and another ordering Trump to respond to claims that he committed fraud in this entire process, in relation to the IRS.
Trump wants to hold a major, days, long, party to celebrate the 250 year anniversary of America’s birth. The problem is that acts lined up for the celebration have been cancelling out. So we might end up seeing days upon days of Kid Rock.
Finally, nothing has been settled with Iran. The Strait is still closed as we enter week 13 of the war. Fun times.
That is all I have for today.
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You Never Know
It was reported, the other day, that Claude Lemieux had passed away at the age of 60. Lemieux over 1200 games and had nearly 800 points. He was a better than average player and a player that fans loved to hate if he was not on your team.
He won four Stanley cups, one with Montreal, one with Colorado and two with New Jersey. He won four and he was a definite contributor in winning all four where most players are fortunate to have one Stanley Cup.
He was the torch bearer in game three of Montréal Canadiens/Carolina Hurricanes Stanley Cup conference final in Montreal, last Monday night.
A few nights later, he passed away. His passing was shock enough, given that he was only 60 years old. Then it came out that he committed suicide, sending shock waves through the hockey community and through the sports world.
You just never know what’s happening out of the limelight. He leaves behind a wife and four sons. Hopefully he has some peace, now.
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Stay In Bed
There are some days, where you checked the news first thing in the morning, while still in bed and are tempted to stay in bed all day.
Being in Alberta, with a forecast of a hot summer, I have five long months, ahead, of heated rhetoric from the separatist camp, until voting day of October 19. Social media is already heating up big-time.
In the states, the redistricting gerrymandering, is forecast to add 10 additional seats for the Republicans. Democracy is dying in America.
Iran and the US are back at it again with strikes launched by both sides. Iran is building up It’s missile capability again as shown in the image above.
Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered his Israeli armed forces to take control of 70% of Gaza an increase over the current 53%. So tensions will flare up big time in Gaza.
And top it off, Ebola is raising its ugly head in Africa. Steps have been made to ensure that it stays in Africa. Hopefully it will. Because if it doesn’t, we could be going back into Covid times
I’m in the interior BC today where it’s gonna be hot. So even though I’m tempted to stay in bed with all this bad news, I won’t be. Maybe we should all just take a break from the news.
That’s all I have for today.
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Travel Day
Back tomorrow.
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Yet Again
An agreement was even closer this time. Just a couple words holding the agreement up. Oil prices went down. The Dow again went up. Peace was at hand after 12 weeks of a supposed four week war. This time it was really gonna happen even if it’s just a one page memorandum of understanding, it really was gonna happen for sure.
So the US bombs Iran last night and Iran is threatening retaliation again and Trump is saying all the uranium is gonna be removed. So we’re back at square one again. Oil prices are back up and, for now, for whatever reason, the Dow is still going up. Great for anybody with 401(k)s.
This time Trump throws in a new wrinkle by mentioning the Abraham accords, an agreement signed by some countries in the Middle East, recognizing Israel as a legitimate entity. This time, Trump is asking for other countries to join in such as Egypt, Syria, and Pakistan. He is suggesting that even Iran would sign into the accord. This is at a time when Israel and Iran are at war with each other, and Israel is increasing its attacks in Lebanon.
The next time this on again off again, circus happens, and it will, I just might use this same post and see if anyone notices,
That’s all I have for today.
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Games On
There are approximately 160 days until Danielle Smith’s referendum to have a referendum will be held, on October 19. The separatist movement is facing struggles right now. It started with the voter ID leak fiasco a few weeks back. There have been linkages to US right wing movements. Also, Danielle Smith’s announcement of a referendum to have a referendum has caused strife within separatist ranks. Many of the separatists wanted a referendum question immediately.
Meanwhile, there were a number of Canada unity rallies in Alberta during the weekend, including in Edmonton Calgary and Spruce Grove.
A look at social media appears to show a strong sentiment for the unity side and less support on the separatist side. That is not to downplay the separatist side at all. They are strong in their beliefs and will push for a yes vote on the October 19 referendum question. So anything can happen between now and then.
One thing that the Canada unity movement has going for it is the upcoming July 1 Canada Day. This is a gift falling into the unity movement laps and they no doubt take full advantage of it.
That’s all I have for today.
Bird's Chirp
So I don't have to put it on Facebook anymore….