Worth a read. And it's also a warning to those in Trump's orbit who think Canada can be annexed. They might achieve short-term war goals but the Mission will never be Accomplished. You cannot Americanize the minds and hearts of Canadians. But you can inspire lasting enmity.

I see media narratives dismissing the No Kings protest, saying it isn't enough. This is both true and irrelevant at the same time. Of course one response does not magically change the world. He arrived based on the accumulation of many efforts, he will depart the same way. Every effort matters.

Let's be honest. Western mainstream media focuses on News that is of interest within their audience's attention span and is either breaking news (sensational) or provides entertainment/watercooler value. A daily grind of unseen rubble deaths from unnoticed bombing runs does not meet those criteria.

Fact for today: A new study being published in Lancet estimates between 16,700 and 28,800 children died during the Gaza war. (mean 22,800). 56% of the estimated 75,200 total violent deaths were among children, women, and older people. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

It sounds crazy to say out loud but I think most Canadians now consider the US the most dangerous country on the planet and our greatest threat.

There is a time lag right now between outgoing oil shipments and arrival at ports. That means the impact on the world's oil supply hasn't been fully seen yet and won't be felt until ships stop arriving because they never got through the Straits of Trump. Outlook: Going to get worse.

Having weathered the corruption-laden mortgage-backed security financial crisis, you can guess my opinion on the Trump admin's allowance of crypto-backed mortgages through the federal housing finance arm.

I remember a time when US Presidents at least appeared to be decent human beings.

It fits Trump to a T. “The state was little more than the extended ‘household’ of the ruler; it did not exist as a separate entity.” Weber called this system “patrimonialism” because rulers claimed to be the symbolic father of the people—the state’s personification and protector.

Trump's tariffs have served to add uncertainty to the global trading system and the financial markets that rely on a stable system. His latest misadventure threatens the very oil supply that fuels many economies. Can one man create a global recession? The impossible may be possible with Trump.

Why would someone with a background in math be wasting his time criticizing the world's greatest liar? I think it's because math at its essence has an intellectual purity when it comes to confirming what is true and flatly rejects false claims. Zero tolerance of lies is baked into mathematics.

Trump and/or his orbit have many ways to create wealth while he is in power, including the use of insider information. It would be entirely unsurprising to me if that happened here. Occam's razor applies. www.ft.com/content/1171...

As AI replaces humans in many jobs, then it may well be that the jobs it cannot easily replace become hypercompetitive, lowering wages even for those remaining opportunities. If that's the case, I am unclear how our current consumer spending-based economy can function.

Do we fully grasp how AI will replace much of the workforce? Unlike the last tech revolution, I don't think most STEM jobs will be safe either. In general, employees will be the most vulnerable. Entrepreneurs, corporations, and those with wealth who can leverage AI will be the 'winners'.

One difficulty for Trump is that after a year of lies, the world does not believe him. And after a year of erratic and bizarre threats, claims, and reassurances, the world does not trust him. The rest of the world will act in its own self-interest wherever it can, there is no goodwill left.

I sense we are at a turning point. I wonder how much longer I will be able to trust that posts, articles, even novels, have been written by humans without AI assistance. It reminds me of the time when GMO crops started spreading to nearby fields and soon nothing could be trusted to be truly natural.

This attack on the independence of the judiciary is something normally seen south of the border, usually by Trumpists.

Interesting. Instead of chasing covid variant mutations, this early stage research looks at ways to modify the entry point.

It's not that I oppose Ford simply because he is conservative. I reject Doug Ford because he does not have the capacity to understand how his short-sighted, self-serving actions undermine the long term stability of our democracy and freedoms.

A first step to restoring sanity to US public health and vaccine policies.

Out of the blue: I can't get this Taiwanese tune out of my head. The translated lyrics also hit a chord. There is so much in the world to discover, we see (and hear) such a small slice. www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCt7...

The main purpose of power is wealth and the main purpose of wealth is power. There may be other side motives such as an ideology or personal comfort, but if we think about the main truth, it is easier to explain why decisions were made and predict what comes next and who will benefit.

If the US political system and economy over time was characterized by a mathematical stochastic process, we would see transition states increasingly leading to an absorbing state, one where the wealth and de facto power finally accumulate to a tiny proportion of the population. We're nearly there.

While it is true Ontario Canada has seen a rise in covid-19 hospital cases over the Fall and Winter months (left chart), it is also true that the level of Fall/Winter hospitalizations has dropped substantially from previous years (right chart). #covid

Followup: Ontario Canada's influenza high season did in fact follow Farr's law as expected. I wore an N95 mask for medical appointments during the extreme stage of the flu season. It's only sensible to do so, even if not mainstream in Canada.

Opposition parties are accusing Mark Carney of "undemocratic backroom deals" to attract their members over to his team. I have a simpler explanation: Mark Carney is the leader Canadians most trust to defend our country against Trump's threats. They want to fight against Trump, not against Carney.

This would not be the first time a standoff with Iran weakened an American presidency. It would also not be the first time a Middle East oil crisis severely weakened the US economy.

This billionaire donor class is widespread, entrenched, insidious, and beyond current laws because the US Supreme Court paved the way years ago and one of their own is in charge. "Billionaires made 19 percent of all reported federal campaign contributions in 2024."

Canada must stay away from the Iranian quagmire despite our opposition to the regime. Let Trump sink in deeper all on his own. We will not escape the worldwide financial chaos he will cause but the first rule of Canada-US relations remains the same: "What hurts Trump helps Canada".

Trump/MAGA claim the 2020 election was stolen. # lawsuits claiming illegal voting in 2020 election: 60+ # won: 0 (incl. Trump appointed judges) Trump claimed 1,000's of dead people voted. State audits finding more than a handful: 0 Eg Georgia: Trump claimed "close to 5,000" Actual number: 4

Will Canadians follow Mark Carney's example and travel the world in search of new business relationships? He has not stopped since he became Prime Minister. I'm grateful for the hours and miles he is putting in to help turn our ship away from reliance on the US.

Pew Research/Global News: "While just 47 per cent of American adults surveyed said Americans overall are morally good — the lowest score of any country — 92 per cent of Canadians had a positive moral view of other Canadians, tying with Indonesia at the top of the list."

Either you believe Trump's threats against Canada are just a negotiating tactic or you believe he is serious. I believe he is deadly serious. I hope more Canadians realize this, stop the wishful thinking and rationalizations, and remain united and focussed.

This is just my humble opinion but I don't think the Nobel prize is intended for leaders of countries who wage war to enforce peace.

Fact: Trump and his administration face over 2,000 lawsuits from businesses small and large after losing the tariff case in the Supreme Court. The fact that these are mainly US importers who incurred $170 billion in tariff charges should put to rest the idea that foreign countries paid the tariffs.

Fact for today: 1 in 4 Canadian women aged 40 or older have no children (23.6%). source: www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quo...

I warned a year ago that US media was at risk under Trump and his oligarch friends. Today I see a Trump ally, Ellison, has won a bid to take over Warner Bros. That will place both CBS and CNN under his control. Like sand sifting through an hourglass, the US is running out of independent media. ⏳

Though not in the same league, the odd and controversial way Trump selectively greeted US male hockey medalists over women gave me a similar vibe to the Olympics of 90 years ago when Hitler selectively greeted German Aryan athletes while ignoring a black American multi-gold medalist, Jesse Owens.

One of the promises Trump made to his MAGA followers during the election campaign was that he would release the Epstein files. The NY Times has reported that he was referenced over 38,000 times in those files.

It makes sense in a weird sort of way that a Conservative MP, the party that coddles Canadian MAGA and fascists, would want to root out anti-fascists. I hope we all are anti-fascists.

This caught my eye. Might be nothing or might turn into something bigger politically. (I have refrained from commenting on Epstein file matters until now.)

At some point Trump will realize that spoiling relations with Canada benefits China, his self-described #1 geopolitical foe. I'm waiting patiently for the penny to drop.

🇨🇦 Healthcare facts: Trump told us we'll get better healthcare if we join the US. So let's see: - Canada has the #2 ranked hospital in the world (Toronto General) - Newsweek - We live three years longer than Americans - We spend roughly half as much on healthcare globalnews.ca/news/1170015...

Sorta weird realizing Canada is the only stable country right now in North America. Let's keep it that way.

Canada needs to play the long game with Trump. His self-made facts won't run the economy. He declared the US trade deficit was down -78%. It's actually down -0.2% and the deficit for goods (where he applied tariffs) is actually up. Hope Americans wise up to his "facts". stats source: D. Dale, CNN

Bolsonaro and South Korea's previous president in jail for attempted coups, Prince Andrew arrested over Epstein files, other elite dominos falling from positions of power due to Epstein. But there is a Teflon man and he exerts control over the machinery of the US justice system.

On the 2nd anniversary of the death of the Russian opposition leader Navalny, everyone in the world knows who killed him. This is how it will be when deaths mount from the dismantling of US Public Health, vaccinations, and scientific research. Everyone will know who but won't be able to prove it.

I’m not too excited by a future where AI is controlled by a handful of billionaires and global warming surges past the already obsolete 1.5C target.

The NY Times Editorial Board has updated its Autocracy Index for the US. The index measures the descent from democracy to autocracy across 12 dimensions. (Recall LY, I pointed to Levitsky's historical work on "competitive authoritarianism" - the intermediate stage before autocracy.)

Join us. 🇨🇦