Blazingcatfur – Page 134

Nearly 80% of Canadians say cost-of-living outpaces their income: poll

OTTAWA — Despite saying they earn a decent salary, more than half of working Canadians say they’re having trouble making ends meet.

That’s according to a new survey commissioned by H&R Block that paints a bleak picture of Canada’s ongoing affordability crisis, with those in Atlantic Canada reportedly the most concerned.

U of T economist, Josef Steinberg responds: "I get that this elbows-up crap plays well politically within Canada, but as Kevin A. Bryan, Chief Economist, CDL Toronto states, it's "economic malpractice." Our physical proximity to the US isn't a weakness—it's one of our most… https://t.co/aocwHjxdxs

— MikesMoneyTalks.ca (@moneytalkstweet) April 21, 2026

by Blazingcatfur•April 21, 2026April 21, 2026•0•"Homelessness & Affordability Crisis", Canada's Corrupt Liberal Government

Germany wants reservists up to 70 as troop shortage bites

The Reservist Association of the German Armed Forces has called for the government to raise the age limit for army reservists from 65 to 70 years.

As Bastian Ernst, the association’s new president, told news agency RND today, this was necessary to counter the army’s manpower shortage problem:

“We should raise the age limit for reservists from 65 to 70. In our view, this makes sense in many respects. After all, the retirement age is rising in other areas too.

by Blazingcatfur•April 21, 2026April 21, 2026•0•Germany

Mark Carney’s fuel tax cut in effect — what can you expect?

Canada’s fuel excise tax is now frozen until September.

It sounds promising, especially when you see the signs at gas stations, but what does it mean for Canadians right now?

by Blazingcatfur•April 21, 2026April 21, 2026•0•"Homelessness & Affordability Crisis", Canada's Corrupt Liberal Government

Two CIA officers die in Mexico accident after counternarcotics operation

Two U.S. embassy officials who died in an automobile accident in northern Mexico as they returned from the scene of a counternarcotic operation worked for the Central Intelligence Agency as part of a significantly expanded role in battling narcotics trafficking in the Western Hemisphere, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The deadly car crash Sunday in the state of Chihuahua also took the lives of two Mexican officials and prompted Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to say she would investigate whether the operation ran afoul of the country’s national security laws.

The CIA declined to comment.

by Blazingcatfur•April 21, 2026April 21, 2026•0•Mexican drug cartels, Mexico, Mexico - Failed State, USA

Sudanese Canadians don’t feel western nations care about Sudan’s humanitarian crisis and that means you’re probably a racist say experts

Sudanese Canadians, former politicians and humanitarian groups are ramping up pressure on the Canadian government to take more action to aid Sudan — in what the United Nations has called the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

But in marking the three-year anniversary of the brutal civil war, those same groups say they’re concerned that Canada and other western nations aren’t giving the same attention to Sudan as they have to other war-ridden nations.

According to experts, those reasons range from security to racism to political ties.

by Blazingcatfur•April 21, 2026April 21, 2026•0•Sudan, WTF?

Trump says Strait of Hormuz won’t reopen until Iran strikes a deal with US

President Donald Trump said in a new interview that the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the United States and Iran reach a peace deal to end the ongoing war.

The two nations are set to begin a second round of peace deal talks this week in Islamabad, Pakistan, as a two-week ceasefire is expected to expire.

WATCH IN FULL: President Trump's interview on CNBC. pic.twitter.com/pPzI2iImSe

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) April 21, 2026

by Blazingcatfur•April 21, 2026April 21, 2026•0•"US Israel Iran War"

A network of YouTube accounts is promoting U.S. annexation to Albertans, researchers say. It has 40M views

The mispronunciation of Regina — as in, the capital of Saskatchewan — was a clue. Then there was the reference to B.C. MLA Dallas Brodie, a woman, as a “he.”

These slip-ups helped lead researchers at the Media Ecosystem Observatory (MEO) in Montreal to what they say is a network of affiliated YouTube accounts that appear to belong to concerned Canadians, sympathize with some Albertans’ grievances and push the idea of American annexation.

“The video narrators performed ‘Albertan,’ but there were these moments where you’re like, ‘OK, so this person is not from here,’ ” said Chris Ross, the senior analyst at the Observatory, who led his team’s recent probe into thousands of suspicious YouTube videos.

Who is behind this? Who stands to gain? Russia? China? Liberal Party members? Likely the latter.

AI makes it easy to create a click-bait video the creator(s) may have simply found a rich vein to mine for cash.

by Blazingcatfur•April 21, 2026April 21, 2026•0•"Western Alienation Separation", "Western Independence", Alberta, Canada, Canada's Corrupt Liberal Government, USA

The Perils of a Grand Bargain with Iran

Both the president and vice president have thrown out the term “grand bargain” in recent days to describe their aspirations for a deal with the Iranian rump regime.

It’s a term fraught with past failures that screams Iranian deception, not the interests of America First.

Bill Clinton was the first to use the phrase toward the end of his second term to describe his aspiration to end a low-intensity conflict that had been simmering for 20 years.

by Blazingcatfur•April 21, 2026April 20, 2026•0•"US Israel Iran War"

‘An overstay has repercussions’: Officials promise action after damning report on international student program

OTTAWA — Immigration officials submitted a plan of action to House of Commons committee on Monday, following an auditor general’s report that highlighted serious integrity controls in the international student visa program last month.

Part of that is ensuring voluntary compliance by student visa holders.

by Blazingcatfur•April 21, 2026April 20, 2026•0•"Immigration from incompatible cultures", "Mass Immigration - Follow the money", "Mass Immigration Weaponized As Electoral Strategy", Canada's Corrupt Liberal Government

German woman arrested over ‘suicide bomb attack’ in Russia

Russia said on Monday that it had arrested a German woman found with a homemade bomb in her backpack in an alleged Ukrainian plot to blow up a security services facility in southern Russia.

In a statement published by state media, the FSB security agency said that the woman, born in 1969, was to be used as an unwilling suicide bomber in the plot and had been dragged into it by a citizen from a Central Asian country, who was alleged to be working on orders from Ukraine.

by Blazingcatfur•April 21, 2026April 20, 2026•0•"Ukraine - Russia"

Mark Carney gets mixed reviews for response to ‘Donald Trump’s war on Canada’

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney’s view that Canada’s “weakness” stems from its longtime close trade ties with the U.S. was mocked by the Conservatives Monday, and met skepticism by an Eastern premier who warned it will likely further anger the U.S.

In a video message posted Sunday on YouTube, Carney said the U.S. “has fundamentally changed its approach to trade, raising its tariffs to levels last seen during the Great Depression. Many of our former strengths, based on our close ties to America, have become our weaknesses, weaknesses that we must correct.”

Carney’s choice of words was no error.

(more…)

by Blazingcatfur•April 21, 2026April 21, 2026•0•"Canada - China's 24th Province", "Canada - USA Tariff Wars", "China - Communist Slave State", Canada's Corrupt Liberal Government

UK Revokes Immigration/Islam Critic’s Entry Permit

In a move that has reignited the debate over free speech and government overreach, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has officially intervened to block U.S.-based MAGA influencer Valentina Gomez from entering the United Kingdom.

Gomez, a 26-year-old Christian conservative originally from Colombia, was scheduled to address the “Unite the Kingdom” rally in London on May 16th—an event organized by populist figure Tommy Robinson (Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) and expected to draw significant crowds following the 100,000-strong turnout in September.

by Blazingcatfur•April 21, 2026April 20, 2026•0•"Islamophobia", Islam, Islam and violence, Islamization of the West

Punishing young Canadians for leaving doesn’t solve the problem

Earlier this month, during a panel discussion on the Canadian economy at the Liberal Party convention in Montreal, former Google CFO Patrick Pichette suggested that the government should restrict the ability of young Canadians to work in the United States, because Canadian taxes had funded their education. A clip of these remarks went viral, and for good reason: as Shopify founder Tobi Lütke said in response, “making Canada a cage” is not the right strategy to build a strong economy.