BARBER: Canada’s European Union flirtation is a betrayal of Alberta — and a blueprint for economic decline

BARBER: Canada’s European Union flirtation is a betrayal of Alberta — and a blueprint for economic decline

The French Foreign Minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, the former German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, Finland’s President Alexander Stubb, and other European figures have speculated about the possibility of Canada joining the European Union (EU). Prime Minister Mark Carney has dismissed the notion of Canada joining the EU but has advocated for closer, stronger ties with the bloc. If he were inclined toward EU membership, it would be imprudent for him to announce it at this time. It would be far better to continue aligning Canadian laws and regulations with those of the EU before making any formal announcement. Joining the EU is a slow, multi-year process that often takes a decade or more.

(Incognito)

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U.S. and Canada Are Stronger Together Against Global Narco Networks

U.S. and Canada Are Stronger Together Against Global Narco Networks

COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho — Today I deliver a keynote speech at the annual training of the Washington State Narcotics Investigators Association. The talk is densely packed with cases and analysis — Vancouver casino ledgers, United Front banking cells, the Six Nations–Sinaloa grow-op corridor, the Canadian encryption shops that have become the nerve endings of a hemispheric cartel network. The presentation is complicated.

In a nutshell: hostile regimes in China and Iran are attacking North America in partnership with Latin American cartels that operate with state-like capacities in technology and intelligence, and they are using Canadian cities as a “center of gravity” for transnational operations.

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This can’t be happening at Rideau Hall

This can’t be happening at Rideau Hall

With the very notable exception of promising to learn French, then failing to do so, Mary Simon has not been a terrible Governor General. She spent money rather freely, of course, but they all do, and Parliament makes the budget, after all. You didn’t hear much from or about her, which is Job One for a governor general. That is, except in the francophone media, where she is a constant thorn in nationalists’ side because of her linguistic shortcomings.

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Trump: It’s highly unlikely I’ll extend ceasefire

Trump: It’s highly unlikely I’ll extend ceasefire

Donald Trump said he was “highly unlikely” to extend the ceasefire in Iran and threatened to resume bombing if a deal was not reached by Wednesday night.

On Tuesday, the US president said he would not be “rushed into making a bad deal” as JD Vance prepared to travel to Islamabad to lead a second round of peace talks.

But uncertainty hung over the prospect of direct negotiations after Iran refused to say whether it would attend the talks as the clock on the two-week ceasefire deadline ticked on.

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McGuinty says ‘things have changed’ with U.S. but defence ties still strong

McGuinty says ‘things have changed’ with U.S. but defence ties still strong

Defence Minister David McGuinty said Monday he agreed with Prime Minister Mark Carney’s message that Canada’s relationship with the U.S. has changed, but stressed that defence ties between the two countries remained strong.

The minister added the federal government’s strategy in responding to that changing relationship was evident in recruitment numbers for the Canadian Armed Forces, which McGuinty announced have hit a 30-year high.


I suspect he is dreaming in technicolor.

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AfD: Stop Cash to Ukraine Because of Nord Stream Sabotage

AfD: Stop Cash to Ukraine Because of Nord Stream Sabotage

Reporting on the Nord Stream gas pipeline attack has picked up again over recent weeks, long after it first hit the headlines in September 2022—especially following revelations about Kyiv’s involvement in the blast.

According to Bojan Pancevski, an investigative journalist for The Wall Street Journal, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky knew in advance about—and, indeed, authorised—the operation, from “early on,” and only told military officials not to go ahead due to resistance from the U.S., which was also in the know. Pancevski this week explained that “the command went ahead with the operation anyway.”

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WAGNER: Pierre Trudeau’s vision is destroying Canada

WAGNER: Pierre Trudeau’s vision is destroying Canada

Currently, there is growing support for independence from Canada in two provinces, Alberta and Quebec. In Alberta, for the first time in history, an independence referendum will be held in October. In Quebec, the Parti Québécois, a sovereigntist party, is leading in the polls.

Two provinces at each end of the country — East and West — have significant numbers of citizens wanting out of Canada. Yet, Alberta and Quebec are very different in almost every way — language, culture, history, and economy.

(Incognito)

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‘We wasted a lot of lives’: CIA spymaster’s caution over past Iran intervention resurfaces from beyond the grave

‘We wasted a lot of lives’: CIA spymaster’s caution over past Iran intervention resurfaces from beyond the grave

In New York social circles, he was known as the “Jewish James Bond”: a refugee from Nazi Germany whose gratitude to his American hosts was such that he volunteered to join the US army and became the CIA’s first station chief in Berlin as a mere twentysomething, filing early warnings about Soviet activity that have been credited with ringing in the cold war.

Like 007, Peter Sichel also appreciated a fine tipple, and after leaving the US foreign intelligence service it was he who briefly turned a sweet German white, Blue Nun, into one of the best-selling wines in the world.

A film released in UK cinemas a year after his death aged 102, however, shows Sichel as something more akin to a Jewish Jason Bourne: a former agent who grew increasingly disillusioned with CIA meddling and turned a trenchant critic from beyond his grave of US foreign policy – especially in Iran.


I remember Blue Nun alright.

The consequences stemming from the overthrow of the Mossadegh government are certainly worthy of debate but there is no comparison to be made with today’s Iran given its status as a terror state and the broad anti-regime resistance of the Iranian people.

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Doug Ford’s private plane flip-flop is proof he’s lost his grip on his man-of-the-people brand

Doug Ford’s private plane flip-flop is proof he’s lost his grip on his man-of-the-people brand

There is no English equivalent for the French political concept l’usure du pouvoir. English has tried with “voter fatigue,” “the wear and tear of office,” and “time for a change.” But none of these captures what the French phrase actually describes. It’s best defined as the gradual corruption of a leader’s judgment through prolonged exercise of power.

It is less a matter of erosion or exhaustion, than the moment when a leader stops asking why they sought power and starts taking it for granted. It’s a time when arrogance hardens and reality disappears from the room. It’s when the person wielding authority becomes convinced that the authority itself is justified by the simple fact of holding it. Gradually, decisions that would have been unthinkable at the start become possible, even if unacceptable.

h/t Patti Jo

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