On August 9th 2021, Canada opened its border to all fully vaccinated Americans allowing tourists from the United States to visit the country once again. The US border remains closed to Canadians, however, and American authorities recently extended the border closure until September 21st citing COVID-19 transmission rates south of the border as well as […]

Most Canadians are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Consequently, Canadians are starting to think about international travel again, and are beginning to research possible vacation destinations. This leads to the question, which countries can a fully vaccinated Canadian visit? As of July 2021, Canadian citizens who have received two doses of the Pfizer, Moderna, or […]

Here are some tweets and comments and blog posts, reading the tea leaves.The election: No More Mister Nice Blog Steve M Trump is toxically masculine……Trump is seen by millions as a capable problem-solver because most Americans experienced at l…

More comments about why the Trump election happened, and how to (maybe) survive it:New York magazine, Jonathan Chait: Trump’s ‘Unprecedented and Powerful Mandate’ Is a Lie Do not surrender in advance.
…There is a quadrennial tradition in American pol…

Well, I don’t know if this feeling is just my own, or something others share. But I realized today that I just don’t care what Donald Trump does anymore. In his first administration, every day there was a “he said WHAT??” news story and a “h…

Remember this? That terrible photo of Alan Kurdi, age 3, washed up on a beach in Turkey when he and his family tried to escape Syria in 2015. That little drowned child is one of the main reasons Harper lost the 2015 election. Canadians were sadden…

The Taking of Vimy Ridge, Easter Monday 1917 by Richard Jack
…Supported by a creeping barrage, the Canadian Corps captured most of the ridge during the first day. The village of Thélus fell during the second day, as did the crest of the ridge, once t…

“Stories from the Internet” is an occasional series.Here’s a story I saw on Facebook: 
The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That’s an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used? Well, because…

As we watch the United States take a right turn and go sailing off the Trump cliff, I have been looking for articles and tweet threads that give advice on what for God’s sake we can do about it. Here’s the initial batch that I found: First of…

If we are going to save liberalism in Canada — the federal Liberals and maybe even Justin Trudeau also — then we have to reach Canadians and tell them the story of what Liberalism is. The more we learn about what went wrong with the Harris campa…

…While some of Trump’s nominations for top jobs fall into the general realm of what you might expect in any administration—folks like Marco Rubio to State or Mike Waltz to the NSC, Susie Wiles to White House Chief of Staff or John Sauer to Solicitor General — people you might disagree with but who you have to acknowledge were qualified to hold the jobs for which they had been nominated — some clearly were not so much nominations as they were tests. 

Nominating a TV talk show host with a history of advocating for war criminals to be Secretary of Defense or a guy with no health experience and head full of conspiracy theories, bad science and a brain worm to be Secretary of Health and Human Services or a woman of dubious loyalties to be the top intel official in this country or a guy who is fresh off being investigated for sex trafficking to be Attorney General are more than just affronts to our sensibilities or judgments. They are both a statement of the intent to tear down our bureaucracy as we know it (and do so in the service of bad policies) and they are a public showdown with every Republican in the United States Senate. 

Trump is saying “Accept my nominations no matter who they are, no matter what your concerns, no matter what your oath to the Constitution may require you to do. I am the last word and the law in Washington now. I set the standards. Advise and consent is a thing of the past.” 

While it is too early to tell whether the John Thune-led incoming Republican majority in the Senate will capitulate completely, it is already apparent that most of these completely inappropriate, dangerous nominees will, one way or another, end up in the jobs designated for them by Trump. Just as Stephen Miller will be Deputy White House Chief of Staff … and just as Elon Musk will play some kind of amorphous First Oligarch role despite all the concerns many have about him and his myriad conflicts of interest. 

Last week, when Trump won, I was concerned but felt it was important that we not borrow trouble, not anticipate and react to every possible threat he may pose. Now, a week later, some of the real threats are coming into focus. They should not be minimized. They must be seen for what they are.

And a few more problems:

🇨🇦WAKE UP, CANADA🇨🇦

Here’s PnPCBC’s David Cochrane bluntly confronting dumbfounded Conservative pundit Gary Keller today with a very chilling scenario for Canada under Poilievre.

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— Jeff’s Fact Checker (@thunderbayed.bsky.social) November 15, 2024 at 9:23 AM

Conservative Albertans are excited about the prospect of a Trump presidency. They’re almost certainly going to live to regret that. #cdnpoli #abpoli www.nationalobserver.com/2024/11/15/o…

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— Max Fawcett (@maxfawcett.bsky.social) November 15, 2024 at 9:23 AM

Tucker been saying it for years. Trump recently talked about our water faucet. The next fool who tries to tell me American politics don’t matter to Canada can fuck all the way off #cdnpoli 🇨🇦🇺🇸 https://t.co/IPJzIbVAzH

— Laura Babcock (@LauraBabcock) November 13, 2024

I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet for most Democrats: if/when Trump/Elon gain power, the next step for fascists is to round up, imprison, or execute their opposition. History offers plenty of examples. Buckle up, this is real.

— Cranky Canuck 🤘🥶 (@crankycartoons) November 9, 2024

As Canada hunkers down to survive another Canadian winter, we may be starting to see some signs of a turn-around in Liberal fortunes. Liberals are trending a little higher in the polls:

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Federal Polling:

CPC: 39% …

So Poilievre thinks bluster and combativeness will intimidate Trump? Or is he just trying to impress Canadians by boasting about what a great fighter he would be for the Canadian economy – you know, the economy he has been calling a disaster for t…

Following up from my post last week, I have been seeing more commentary lately which discuss misinformation and disinformation as the main problem that progressives now have in getting their messages out to the public. Several of the items I found for …

So sad. America just Brexited itself.— Cathie from Canada 🇨🇦 ✍🏻😷🏳️‍🌈 🇺🇦 🇮🇱 (@CathieCanada) November 6, 2024 And the impact of a Trump win on Canada is incalculable — on tarrifs, cross-border manufacturing, refugees, Ukraine, Gaza, NATO…Seth Abramson…

Beautiful photo of (I hope) President Harris and the First Gentleman.“Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane.” —Me right now— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) November 2, 2024

  Post by @sunday_driver_in_ny View on Threads

My fello…

The closing moments:The Next President of the United States #SNL #NailedIt pic.twitter.com/tMl8iFdD5o— Abraxsys (@Abraxsys) November 3, 2024

Kamala’s SNL hit was a Slamala Dunkala!— Tea Pain (@TeaPainUSA) November 3, 2024

Some final ads:

Our clos…

After being closed for nearly 19 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, on November 8th 2021 the United States land border officially opened to all fully vaccinated Canadians. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced they will be staffing their border at pre-pandemic levels, but warns that wait times may be longer than in […]

As of April 1st 2022, the Canadian border will no longer require a pre-arrival negative COVID-19 test from fully vaccinated travellers entering or returning to the country. Previously, a rapid antigen test or a PCR test indicating a person does not have COVID was required by border authorities. This rule change should encourage Canadians to […]

On October 1st 2022, the Government of Canada removed all COVID-19 border measures such as required proof of vaccination, random testing, and mandatory isolation for high-risk travelers. For the first time since early 2020, the Canadian border is operating under “normal” conditions. For example: Americans interested in visiting Canada no longer need to download the […]

A week ago, when Poilievre’s lack of a security clearance first hit the fan, because of Trudeau’s testimony to the foreign interference inquiry, reporter Stephen Chase tweeted a statement from Poilievre’s office — they tried very very hard to perish t…

Carla Beck may well be Saskatchewan’s new premier, according to today’s Mainstreet poll:This is such great news:Final Mainstreet poll predicts Sask NDP will win the popular vote in a close race to the finish. https://t.co/TKJNkMwQkg— Sask Votes 🌾 🗳️ (@…

Can’t really describe how terrified I am about the US election — I hope and pray that Harris can close the deal with the American people. Her rally last night in Houston was epic, as was the Kalamazoo rally today.But talking earlier tonight with …

I just saw this amazing thread from Regina Poster Boy about the Sask Party’s parade of screw-ups and I had to share it tonight — our Saskatchewan election is Monday!  Its very long, but I’ll break it on Monday night when I post another tweet. The…

So NDP leader Carla Beck came close, but it doesn’t look like she will be Saskatchewan’s new premier:Latest update from Saskatchewan election website44.53% so far270,000 advance100,000 election day ? pic.twitter.com/a6mqROe2i7— 🇨🇦🩸Jennifer vaxxed, mask…

Just a short post tonight, to highlight some remarkable articles published recently. First up, look at this “corrective map” of the world: It is one of the fascinating maps from this great article at Everything is Amazing by Mike Snowde…

We always used to yell “Halloween Apples” when I was trick-or-treating, I’m not sure why because if anyone ever gave us an apple we threw it out because razor blades. Anyway, Halloweening is a great memory – circling through the neighbourhood, run…

I think we’re reaching “Fuck Around and Find Out” time: In Canada, Poilievre’s blithe “Of course I’m going to cancel programs to fund a GST reduction on new houses” and his equally-blithe “of course I’m not going to get a security clearance” is st…

Things are certainly weird in the Trump campaign these days: I grabbed this great photo combo from an X post

Trump seems to be unable to stop himself now from talking about sex all the time — first it was Arnold Palmer’s junk, then it was anothe…

CBC calls out the Conservatives version of “freedom”:Christian Noel / CBC

Poilievre’s office maintains tight control over what Conservative MPs say and do
Party staffers monitor caucus for signs of message indiscipline and fraternization with other MP…