Saturday, October 04, 2025

Comments on the passing scene: The Jays battle the Yankees; Carney goes to Washington; What Poilievre gets wrong; plus America updates on tariffs, ICE Gestapo and Trump revenge

Go Jays go! (or at least don't embarrass us)

New! From me! The 2025 Toronto Blue Jays have been the most pleasant surprise. Now what? www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article/...

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— Tao of Stieb (@taoofstieb.bsky.social) October 3, 2025 at 9:32 AM

Listen, normally I'm mostly a "I hope both teams have fun" kinda gal, but I need the Blue Jays to crush the Trump-hand-shaking Yankees in a way that will make them fear the call of that goddamn bird outside their windows for the rest of their careers

— Clare Blackwood (@clareblackwood.bsky.social) October 3, 2025 at 12:46 PM
In The Globe and Mail (gift link), Cathal Kelly writes: 
...Why do all set-tos between Canadians and Americans feel like the weaponization of our national reputation for niceness? “What, you’re mad? I feel terrible about that, loser.”
When things kick off on Saturday, it will be the first time the Jays have played the Yankees in the postseason. Maybe that’s part of it, too. If you’re feeling good about your prospects in a fight, it’s hard to take your opponent seriously until they’ve hurt you. The Jays have never hurt the Yankees in a game that really mattered. They’ve nicked them up, but they’ve never knocked them out.
The last time Toronto was really good – the late eighties and early nineties – the Yankees were mostly terrible. The Jays couldn’t snatch from them something they weren’t capable of grabbing in the first place.
Now, 50 years in, they have that chance.
I make it a practice not to care who wins what game when, but it would be fun to watch the Jays stomp the Yankees at 161st Street.
Carney will go to Korea Washington: 
CTV News talks about Carney's visit next week with Trump:  
Mulcair "If there is one person who can deal with Canada's deficit, it is Carney." 
Oh, and by the way, speaking of the deficit:

Kevin Page is the best of the best when it comes to speaking truth to power and to representing the highest standards of public service. If he says the Parliamentary Budget officer is wrong about the state of our nation's finances -you can take it to the bank. www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

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— Charlie Angus (@charlieangus104.bsky.social) October 3, 2025 at 5:24 PM
What Poilievre gets wrong
The more he yammers, the more annoying he gets.

Pierre Poilievre has built his brand on blunt, memorable soundbites about housing, inflation, and the cost of living. However, many of these claims don’t hold up under scrutiny. Fact-checkers and analysts have found a pattern of exaggeration, oversimplification, and deliberate disinformation. Here are the Top 10 False Claims by Pierre Poilievre from the past year. 1. The Bank of Canada “printed money” and caused inflation He claimed the Bank was ordered to print money, directly driving inflation. Economists call this misleading, since quantitative easing is not literal printing, and global shocks were bigger drivers. 2. Rents have “doubled” under the Liberals Rent increases are steep but not doubled nationwide. Data show rises closer to 50–60 percent in many cities. 3. Canada has the “worst household debt” or “worst housing inflation” in the G7 Canada ranks high but not consistently worst. The claim depends on selective measures. 4. The carbon tax forced two million people to go to a food bank and left 25% of kids hungry No evidence supports this. Fact-checkers call it patently absurd. 5. Average mortgage payments and down payments have more than doubled Costs have risen, but not literally doubled across the board. Comparisons blur prices, interest, and incomes. 6. Immigration is the main driver of the housing crisis Research shows other factors — zoning limits, supply shortages, investor speculation — are far more important. 7. Government spending is like spraying fuel on the fire of inflation Spending played a role, but global supply shocks and energy prices mattered far more. 8. Bill C-69 and environmental rules killed major energy projects Analysts found many projects were canceled due to market conditions, not federal rules alone. 9. Housing costs have doubled under Trudeau Frequently repeated, but not true across Canada. Strong rises, yes; literal doubling, no. 10. The carbon tax is directly responsible for widespread malnutrition and hunger Another dramatic exaggeration with no credible data behind it.

- Glen Lancaster 🇨🇦

Read on Substack
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Americans are getting really mad about those tariffs

Americans are getting a lesson in what it's like to be a Canadian ordering from the States, having no choice but to get it shipped through UPS, and being charged bullshit "brokerage fees" that cost more than the item you ordered.

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— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) October 4, 2025 at 12:10 AM

this is like half of r/ups now

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— lauren (@lauren.rotatingsandwiches.com) October 3, 2025 at 6:33 PM

The ICE Gestapo are demonstrating Weaponized Incompetence



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— MikeM3 (@mikeg80.bsky.social) October 2, 2025 at 10:37 AM
This is from a Substacker who lives in New Mexico and frequently posts about political events there.

Please listen to me. 3 to 4 of every 10 cars on the roads in New Mexico now have out-of-state plates. This is NOT normal. The plates come from a variety of states, but mostly Texas, Arizona, Florida, Colorado, Missouri, Indiana, Oklahoma. Many have “fleet” tags. They appear to be registered to private military contractors. Today, in Walmart in Albuquerque, I was in line and heard two young black men in line behind me with strong Southern accents, talking about how weird they find New Mexico. They did not know each other until that moment. They quickly bonded over the fact they both had been recruited to work for a private company contracted to ICE. Different companies. One said he had been offered early prison release in exchange for an agreement to do whatever ICE asked of him. The other said he was ex military and they enticed him with a huge incentive signing bonus. These were both poor men, marginalized, also fucked over by the system. That's who they're ordering to attack us all on behalf of white billionaires. Which means that if Americans defend themselves against the coming violence, they will be killing people the administration won't miss. What we are seeing in Chicago the past 24 hours is a mere prelude. The official numbers of agents is nothing compared to the prisoners private contractors are releasing to kidnap, disappear and kill their fellow Americans. This suggests the covered faces are less about protecting the contractors and more about hiding from the public that prisoners are being used for this. Armed and set loose upon their fellow denizens on our streets. I suspect it won't be one city at a time when they begin the next phase, but everywhere at once. If you can leave the country, leave. Leave now.

- Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez

Read on Substack

One thing that comes through awfully clearly in these ICE videos is how many of these goons gravitated toward the job because being able to assault people with impunity is a big thrill for them.

— Julian Sanchez (@normative.bsky.social) October 3, 2025 at 3:44 PM

Imagine sending an airborne division after this guy

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— Adam Weinstein (@adamweinstein.bsky.social) October 3, 2025 at 8:38 PM
On Monday night, the ICE Gestapo raided a Chicago apartment building and after terrifying dozens of people, including zip-tying children, they trashed apartments, arrested a few people, and rolled away.

ICE Agents in #Chicago ‘F--- them kids’: ICE agents drag children out of bed, ransack Chicago building It’s the most egregious abuse of our basic rights as Americans I've seen in a long time, maybe in my lifetime,” says Chris Hayes.

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— Meta Resistance (@metaresistance.bsky.social) October 2, 2025 at 10:41 PM

When this all ends, and it will, there can’t be any olive branches extended, especially for ICE. Accountability, punishment, defunding, and ridicule are the only things that need to be on the menu.

— Justin Zimmerman (@jztidecat.bsky.social) October 3, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Trump 2: The Revenge Tour will be playing in Washington from now on:

“The source told CBS News that [Kash Patel and Dan Bongino] asked for "large, beefy" agents to conduct an arrest of Comey "in full kit," including Kevlar vests and exterior wear emblazoned with the FBI logo.” The leadership of the FBI is now in the hands of infantile psychopaths.

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— Scott Horton (@robertscotthorton.bsky.social) October 3, 2025 at 9:26 PM

He's 6ft 8. They're idiots.

— Anne-Maree Gray (@mtramg.bsky.social) October 3, 2025 at 9:44 PM

An FBI agent is “relieved of duty” (fired?) for refusing to facilitate an unnecessary humiliation of a defendant. Reminder that as a defendant, Trump was afforded *every* possible courtesy (like allowing him to turn himself in). www.reuters.com/world/us/fbi...

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— Asha Rangappa (@asharangappa.bsky.social) October 3, 2025 at 6:18 PM
After the speech to the Generals, Governor Pritzker is calling for Cabinet to vote on the 25th amendment. But Johnson and the Republicans are too cowardly to take action:

MADELEINE DEAN: The president is unhinged. He's unwell JOHNSON: A lot of folks on your side are too D: Oh my god, please. That performance in front of the generals? J: I didn't see it D: It's so dangerous! Our allies are looking elsewhere. Our enemies are laughing. You have a POTUS who's unwell.

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) October 1, 2025 at 6:40 PM

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Maybe we should try Ctrl+Alt+Del on the United States right now 🥴🥴

— Harry Dunn (@libradunn1.bsky.social) October 3, 2025 at 8:33 PM

3 comments:

Cap said...

Who's Carney meeting in Washington? Trump hasn't been seen in public since his disastrous speech to the generals. Rumour has it that he's stroked out again. In any case, something's up with his health. A malignant narcissist like Trump can't stay out of the public eye.

Northern PoV said...

Seeing the annouced Carny trip, I can't help but think:
what's he going to give away this time? Looks like our clean dairy supply system is about to go the way of the Wheat Board.

Cathie from Canada said...

Oh I hope not! I could understand Carney's impulse to take supply management off the table because Trump is obsessed with it. But it would be a terrible decision to throw our dairy farmers under the bus for the sake of Michigan cheese.