A very special musical interlude.
Two days ago, the US started what many are calling its “Golden Age“.
It’s time for some musical selections to reflect that:
And for Garth Hudson, the last remaining member of The Band, rest in peace:
Politics
Your Afternoon Musical Interlude – Justin Trudeau Edition!
A very special musical interlude for a very special almost-quitter.
This song was meant for Justin (not safe for the office or some such thing):
Canadian content but just as apt:
Does anyone remember the 16 tons of personal protective equipment Justin handed to his Chinese bosses?
I do:
Boris Johnson goes down swinging: ‘These people are only in parliament because of me’
It was the meeting Downing Street said would not happen and this weekend they may wish it hadn’t. But when Boris Johnson met Rishi Sunak in the prime minister’s House of Commons office a week last Friday, he claimed to have come in peace.
Johnson urged Sunak to approve his resignation honours list. In return he would bury the hatchet and campaign hard for the Conservatives in the “red wall” seats at the next election.
Mixed feelings is how I regard Boris. Promising but a let down more often than not.
Emperor Naruhito to Attend Royal Funeral
Here:
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako will travel to London from Sept. 17 to 20 to attend the state funeral for Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, their first overseas trip since Naruhito ascended the Chrysanthemum Throne in 2019.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno announced at a news conference on Sept. 14 that the Cabinet will grant official approval on Sept. 16 for the couple’s visit to London. Elizabeth’s funeral is scheduled to be held in Westminster Abbey at 11 a.m. on Sept. 19.
While it is unusual for the emperor to attend the funeral of a member of a foreign royal family, the government took into account the traditional close ties between the imperial family and the British royal family.
The late queen, the world’s longest-reigning monarch who died on Sept. 8 at age 96 after 70 years on the throne, had interactions with not only Naruhito but also his father, Emperor Emeritus Akihito, and his grandfather, Emperor Hirohito (1901-1989), posthumously known as Emperor Showa.
“Although the plan was shelved by the outbreak of the global novel coronavirus pandemic, the queen herself had invited the emperor and empress to visit Britain,” Matsuno said of the major reason behind the latest decision.
He added that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and other Japanese government officials will not attend the funeral.
According to Imperial Household Agency officials, Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko attended the state funeral in 1993 for Belgian King Baudouin, the only other time an emperor has attended a state funeral for a foreign head of state or royal family member.
If We Are So Worried About China, Why Trade With It?
Indeed:
The French foreign minister said Wednesday that the war in Ukraine will not overshadow France’s commitments to the Indo-Pacific region, where India and its allies view China’s rising influence with suspicion.
Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna and her Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar discussed the security situation in the region and the consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including concerns about food security and rising inflation, officials said.
Colonna said the two countries share the same concern about China’s role in the region.
“We spoke a lot about the general situation in the Indo-Pacific and the many challenges that have emerged because of China. We have basically the same analysis, we also share the same concerns, because we know the role the Chinese are playing and we want to make sure that there is no imbalance in the Indo-Pacific,” Colonna said at a news briefing.
Jaishankar said that it was important for like-minded countries to work together in the region to ensure peace, security and prosperity. “We consider France as an Indo-Pacific player that has a long-standing presence in the Indian Ocean,” he added.
Indian and Chinese soldiers last week began pulling back from a key friction point on their disputed border as part of efforts to lower tensions in a more than two-year standoff that has sometimes led to deadly clashes. The two countries have stationed tens of thousands of soldiers backed by artillery, tanks and fighter jets along the de facto border, called the Line of Actual Control.
In June 2020, India said it lost 20 troops and China said it lost four soldier when the two sides fought with clubs, stones and fists.
Jaishankar said Wednesday that the disengagement of troops was completed.
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The Chinese ambassador called on Japan for caution in dealings with Taiwan at a symposium in Tokyo on Sept. 12 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of normalization of ties between Japan and China.
“We hope (the Japanese government) is cautious in its words and actions with regard to the Taiwan issue, not sending a wrong signal to people supporting Taiwan’s independence, as well as not participating in any provocative moves that use Taiwan to keep China in check,” said Kong Xuanyou, the Chinese ambassador to Japan.
Russia Imports North Korean Military Kits
Vladimir Putin’s forces are being forced to source equipment from North Korea and Iran as the impacts of sanctions and military losses in Ukraine bite, defence experts believe.
British defence intelligence analysts think that Moscow is “increasingly sourcing weaponry from other heavily sanctioned states” as its own stockpiles are depleted.
An update published by the UK’s Ministry of Defence pointed to claims that Ukrainian forces had shot down an Iranian-made drone as evidence of Moscow’s use of systems sourced from Tehran.
Ukraine claimed it shot down the drone near Kupiansk as part of the offensive that has punched through Russian lines around Kharkiv on the eastern front.
The image suggested the Shahed “suicide drone” had been shot down by Ukrainian forces and had not detonated on impact as designed, though little information was released by the authorities in Kyiv.
If it makes everyone feel better, Justin relies on South Korea to pull its fat out of the fire:
Canada has asked the government of South Korea to produce and deliver more artillery rounds to backfill supplies that Ottawa sent to war-torn Ukraine.
(Sidebar: this article is dated June of this year.)
What’s worse is that Justin will bore South Korean president Yoon Sok-yeol later on this month.
Poor Mr. Yoon.
Music legend Alice Cooper says rock ‘n’ roll shouldn’t be political — and leftists blast the ‘School’s Out’ singer as ‘out of touch’
Still going strong at age 74, Cooper surprised — and some might say put off — some fans after going on the record in the last week by declaring that rock ‘n’ roll should be “anti-political.”
He added to the outlet, “I don’t think rock ‘n’ roll and politics belong in the same bed together, but a lot of people think it does — because we have a voice, and we should use our voice. But again, rock ‘n’ roll should be anti-political, I think.”
Outspoken doctor quits group advising Doug Ford on COVID
“More recently, I find myself increasingly uncomfortable with the degree to which political considerations appear to be driving outputs from the tables, or at least the degree to which these outputs are shared in a transparent manner with the public,” Dr. David Fisman, an epidemiologist at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health, said in a resignation letter he shared on Twitter.
Follow the Floor Stickers and All Will Be Fine
Never trust snowboard instructors and graphic arts designers to do real scientists’ jobs:
Pandemic stay-home orders and lockdowns were so widespread it cost the federal treasury more than two-third of a billion in lost gas taxes, according to finance department accounts. Fuel tax revenue will remain “well below expected GDP growth” for years to come, wrote staff: “Revenues are projected to fall by 12 percent.”
**
The Department of Health receives an average 100 reports a day of opioids lost or stolen from pharmacies nationwide, says an internal audit. The department had a backlog of 20,000 reports it failed to track, and no idea of the volume of drugs diverted to the black market: “I’m dumbfounded the system could allow that much loss and not do anything about it.”
**
Why, that doesn’t sound suspicious at all!:
The Privy Council Office is concealing hundreds of thousands of records on pandemic mismanagement, the Commons health committee was told. Disclosure of a few records to date detail favouritism in contracting and attempts to hide supply shortages: “Who in government is responsible?”
PPC Candidate Hosts Speech On His Own Property and Is Surveilled By the Cops
This occurred in the Niagara region where many who work in rural areas have been affected by the lockdown. People are frustrated and angry.
Below are clips of PPC candidate and local businessman, Peter Taras, hosting a speech on his property and the reaction of the crowd to the police presence there:
Singh’s Brother-In-Law Involved In Confrontation
It’s a melting pot … of cultural hatreds:
A widely viewed video appears to show Singh’s brother-in-law pushing a pro-India demonstrator to the ground at an Ontario rally, an incident now under police investigation. The man is also related to Liberal MP Ruby Sahota.
“Health Minister” Whines That Canadian Bishops Are Making a Note of Morally Sketchy Flu Shots
Some of these so-called vaccines are derived from aborted babies. Ethically, this presents a series of problems, mostly for bishops who must advise their flock, as is their vocation.
That sort of discernment is most troublesome for a government that has been used to being morally and politically corrupt and inept:
Health Minister Christian Dubé has criticized the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops over its vaccine advice.
The bishops suggested that Catholics should “prefer” the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines because they are more “morally acceptable” than those being produced by AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.
It’s Just Money
There is plenty to printed or taxed:
Tax write-offs cost more than $3.3 billion last year, an increase of millions over 2019, according to an internal Canada Revenue Agency audit. The report disclosed the Agency typically “stockpiled” unrecoverable taxes for write-downs: “An uncollectible amount can be written off at any time.”
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A bill to expand carbon tax exemptions for farmers is crucial as cabinet hikes rates every year until 2030, the Commons agriculture committee was told yesterday. “Farmers are struggling now,” said Conservative MP Philip Lawrence (Northumberland-Peterborough South, Ont.), sponsor of the bill.
To be filed under “Justin Trudeau Is An Arrogant Piece of Crap“:
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau yesterday would not set any date for a federal budget, the first since 2019. Trudeau told reporters pandemic management was a greater priority: “Of all the money invested in helping Canadians get through this pandemic, eight or nine of every ten dollars has come from the federal government.”
Norman Bethune Wasn’t a Good Doctor Nor Is He a Hero
But don’t take my word for it.
Blacklock’s Reporter, an Ottawa-based news site focused on government business, reports that Parks Canada will use Mandarin-language services at Bethune Memorial House in Gravenhurst, Ontario as part of a bid to “move visitors, volunteers and partners to act as proud ambassadors of Bethune’s values, achievements and humanitarian ideals” and “introduce Parks Canada to a broader audience, in particular of Chinese descent.” Noting that Bethune’s birthplace is one of Canada’s least-visited national historic sites, it hopes to have it recognized by 2027 as “a place of inspiration.” …
He remained relatively obscure in Canada until former prime minister Pierre Trudeau — who had a soft spot for strongmen like Mao and Cuban dictator Fidel Castro — visited China in 1973. The government bought the Bethune house the same year, turning it over to Parks Canada as a national historic site. Bethune has since become the sort of figure who — like James Naismith or the Mad Trapper of Rat River — gets immortalized in official Canadiana as evidence we do indeed have a fascinating past filled with interesting people.
(Sidebar: quelle surprise.)
Jody Wilson-Raybould to Write a Book on SNC-Lavalin Affair
Former Liberal cabinet minister Jody Wilson-Raybould is set to publish a political memoir that’s promising to shed new light on her final controversial days in the Trudeau government.
HarperCollins Canada says it has acquired the rights to the former Liberal justice minister’s book, titled “‘Indian’ in the Cabinet: Speaking Truth to Power.”