More than 110,000 federal employees—approximately one-third of the total workforce—took home six-figure salaries in 2023, according to an advocacy group focused on taxpayers’ interests.
The number of federal workers reached 357,247 in 2023, marking a roughly 37 percent increase compared to the 262,817 workers reported in 2013, according to government data.
Arthur Engoron, the New York Supreme Court judge in the real estate case brought against Donald Trump by the state attorney general, has fined Trump and members of his family $464 million. This raises the question of whether the fine – which does not reflect damages actually done – is “excessive” under the Eighth Amendment of the US Constitution, which reads as follows: “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”
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On behalf of my mother and our family, it is with great sadness we announce the passing of my father, The Right Honourable Brian Mulroney, Canada’s 18th Prime Minister. He died peacefully, surrounded by family.— Caroline Mulroney (@C_Mulroney) February 29, 2024
Former prime minister Brian Mulroney dies at 84
Ottawa adds funding to CBC; broadcaster will get $1.4B budget
OTTAWA – Canada’s public broadcaster is getting an increase in funding, despite executives insisting that a request to cut CBC/Radio-Canada’s budget for the next fiscal year was one reason they announced layoffs for 10 per cent of staff.
Documents Canadian Heritage released on Thursday show CBC will get a $1.4-billion budget in 2024-25, an increase from the $1.3 billion it spent in the previous fiscal year.
It’s about a $90-million increase, documents say.
h/t Mauser
Cannabis use — whether smoked, eaten or vaporized — is associated with a higher number of adverse cardiovascular outcomes, according to a new study.
Published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Heart Association, the research found that risk of coronary heart disease, heart attack and stroke increased with any kind of cannabis use, with heavier use associated with higher odds of negative outcomes.
For daily cannabis users, for example, odds of a heart attack were 25% higher compared to non-users and 42% higher for stroke, the study found.
h/t DS
A former British Airways employee has allegedly fled to India after being arrested for allegedly helping Indian citizens get around immigration laws so they could claim asylum in Canada.
As initially reported in The Times of London on Tuesday, the employee who worked at Heathrow airport in London, U.K., is said to have enabled people without proper documentation to get on flights to Canada so that they could claim asylum upon entering the country. He allegedly charged £25,000 per person or about $43,000. The alleged scam is estimated to have made 3 million pounds or over $5.1 million.
A massive vigil was held for Laken Riley. If not for X, you would've never even known about this.pic.twitter.com/Lg0AH3adDC
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) February 29, 2024
h/t Mauser
How did Ashleigh Merchant find evidence of Fani Willis’ personal involvement with Nathan Wade and the conflict of interest and personal benefit it created for her? For the last few weeks, most assumed that it mainly came from Joycelyn Wade, the soon-to-be ex-wife of the RICO special prosecutor in the Georgia v Donald Trump et al case — and some of it did, especially the travel receipts that emerged to force the two to admit to their involvement.
Financial concern a key reason Canadians are having fewer kids: poll
The rising cost of living appears to be dragging down Canada’s birth rate, which recently hit its lowest level in recorded history.
Ipsos polling done exclusively for Global News found most Canadians are having fewer children than they would like because it’s too expensive to raise them.
The poll looked at responses from 1,001 Canadians between Feb. 16 and Feb. 20 on Canada’s falling fertility rate. Nearly half of respondents said they consider two the “ideal number of kids.”
Blue-collar Hollywood crew members are reportedly struggling to find work as the end of “peak TV” plus deep budget cuts across major studios have brought about a marked slowdown in production.
The result has been economic devastation for the so-called “below the line” people who keep Hollywood sets up and running.
Hollywood will soon be pumping out their woke crap for a lot less thanks to AI.
Bureaucracies usually have a purpose. The public health system cares for the physical bodies of citizens; the justice system (ideally) keeps the dangerous from the normal; the immigration system controls entry and exit.
Soon, you may have to add to the list a “digital safety” bureaucracy, designed to regulate feelings and ideas, and the places where these things are expressed. This is what the forthcoming online harms act, tabled Monday in the Liberals’ Bill C-63, will do. Individuals who value their ability to discuss controversy online should be wary — as should any major social media company that happens to operate in Canada.
First son Hunter Biden affirmed during his Wednesday impeachment inquiry deposition that his father, Joe, was “the big guy” referenced in an email about a business deal with a Chinese state-linked energy firm that yielded millions for Biden family members and other associates — but rejected the notion that the president was ever penciled in for a 10% stake.
“At one point, we asked Hunter about the 10% for the ‘big guy,’” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a member of the House Oversight Committee, told Breitbart following Hunter’s six-hour, closed-door deposition on Capitol Hill. “We showed him the email … And he said, ‘Oh, that was after my father left office.’”
Citing everything from troop shortages to dwindling ammunition stocks to aging equipment and technology, a growing number of current and former defence officials are raising alarms about the state of the Canadian military.
Even by its own estimates, only 61 per cent of the Canadian Armed Forces is considered ready for operations, according to the most recent data(opens in a new tab). In an increasingly volatile world, some say that’s serious cause for concern.
Around the time Bashar Murad was four, Sir Terry Wogan was greeting the onset of another Eurovision. “It’s supposed to be bad,” mused Wogan. “And the worse it is, the more fun it is.”
This year, against the backdrop of the war in Gaza, the song contest threatens to be very bad indeed.
Canada is taking in more immigrants than it ever has. But new data suggests that fewer and fewer of them are becoming citizens.
The proportion of eligible permanent residents acquiring citizenship has dropped significantly, especially during the last census period. A study released by Statistics Canada on Wednesday shows the proportion of permanent residents who acquired Canadian citizenship after they met the residency requirement has decreased from 75 per cent in 1996 to just 46 per cent in 2021.
While the rate of newcomers acquiring citizenship has declined consistently during the past six censuses, the drop was steep in the latest national survey, particularly among recent immigrants with lower levels of education, lower family income and lower language skills.
Another Trudeau legacy – Migrants with ZERO loyalty or concern for Canada.
