Today's News: Ukraine update

I will be travelling over the next few days so I may not be able to put up more posts this week

Tonight, I am trying to figure out the latest from Ukraine. 

They likely will have a few more weeks of decent weather until winter strikes, so I hope they can liberate Kherson and more of the Donbas soon. Meantime, Russia continues to try to frighten the world into withdrawing support from Ukraine. 

I hope it won't work. Here is some discussion about Russia's overall goals:

“Russia’s aim is not to expand its borders, but to forestall the competitive threat posed by free, prosperous countries beyond them. For that reason, Ukraine as a sovereign country must be destroyed.” @edwardlucas https://t.co/i3VU3U4F21

— CEPA (@cepa) October 23, 2022

Right now, Russia is trying to scare the world with talk about "dirty bombs" -- first, it needs to be understood that there actually is no such thing, not really -- it is a "speculative" weapon, in the words of Wikipedia. It might be possible to build a bomb that combines conventional and nuclear explosives, but it isn't clear whether anyone has actually done so. 

But whenever the media mentions "dirty bomb" it sends people into a panic (it reminds me of the police fentanyl panic myth) and this is what Russia is counting on.

False flag? Russia says Ukraine plans to detonate a ‘dirty bomb’ https://t.co/3ahPffnQ72

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) October 23, 2022

2. to leave a whole army of machinery that will enhance Ukraine’s forces in ways even NATO could not match. So Putin thinks his only leverage is to threaten nuclear war but nobody’s flinching. And Putin’s army is still stuck.

— Tim Hogan 浩勤 (@TimInHonolulu) October 24, 2022

The US, Britain and France aren't having it:

France, Britain and the U.S. issued a rare joint statement that rejected Russia’s allegation that Ukraine is preparing to use a so-called dirty bomb on its own territory, calling it a pretext Russia has concocted for escalating the war. https://t.co/QzShIESaaM

— The New York Times (@nytimes) October 24, 2022

More great stuff

What a week -- we really need some great stuff right now, don't we, and I've got some. 

But first, let's consider the nominees for this week's "Christ, what an asshole!" 

Is it Doug Ford?  First he posted a three-amigos tweet that included his fire pit, then twitter exploded because said firepit is not legal in Toronto, so then he just deleted the tweet - Christ, what an asshole!

A nifty three-image story. pic.twitter.com/HyYuESYK98

— Barney Panofsky's Best Intentions (@mynamesnotgordy) October 22, 2022

Or Danielle Smith? The National Post is calling her Canada's first "alternatively-informed" premier.  Smith now seems to think she can override public health orders, abandon Kenney's federal commitments, and basically do whatever she wants - Premier Loon indeed. 

Premier Loon vows to protect Albertans from public health measures imposed by the World Economic Forum.https://t.co/Ie1KeSREGw

— Andrew Coyne 🇺🇦 (@acoyne) October 22, 2022

When roller dung beetles want to mate, the males will form dung balls and roll them past the female, who will hop on the most appealing dung ball and go for a ride. Coincidentally, this is also how the UCP are selecting which policies to adopt at their convention this weekend.

— Aaron Hoyland (@aaronhoyland) October 23, 2022

Or maybe our very own Scott Moe? He heard that Singh was coming to Saskatchewan for the NDP convention and instead of welcoming him as a fellow politician, Moe decided he had to try to insult him instead -- Christ, what an asshole!

Scott Moe is an embarrassment to #Saskatchewan. We need a Premier that acts less like a schoolyard bully and more like a professional statesman. #skpoli https://t.co/hwjuYO112K

— Dr Nasty Woman, PhD (@left_site) October 23, 2022

I can't decide ,... so, I guess it must be ALL THREE! 

But wait, there's more -- I'm wondering if any of the Brain Trust advising Moe has considered whether they are scaring people away from Saskatchewan?

Does he also want the consequences of capital flight from the province?
Montreal used to be the financial capital of the country, until the first referendum, and everyone left and set up shop in Toronto instead. https://t.co/C6GZpU63Bh

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) October 16, 2022

The Globe and Mail is not impressed:

When an editorial board spends an entire column shaming you.

The Sask. Party has made us a national embarrassment. #skpoli
https://t.co/FFDTULb8Oa

— Aleana Young (@AleanaYoung) October 22, 2022

The Globe and Mail writes:

...Last week, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe presented what he claimed was a serious analysis of how federal climate rules will hurt his province. But it was in fact the opposite, a threadbare and mathematically halfwitted sketch that was brutally panned. The episode was much like, earlier this year, the widely lambasted “sovereignty act” put forth by the new and embattled premier of Alberta, Danielle Smith.

In both cases, the Prairie premiers made a basic mistake: They conflated what are ordinary provincial-federal policy debates and disagreements with accusations of Ottawa’s undue constitutional overreach. It is akin to shouting “fire” when nothing is ablaze....

Standing up for a province is one thing; doing so with misleading and disingenuous proposals is another.

If Saskatchewan wants more control over immigration or policing, that’s a reasonable idea. But it’s not reasonable to try to ignore federal climate policy. The constitutional questions are settled. And if Mr. Moe wants to make serious claims that are worthy of debate, he should start with a course in remedial math.

The reason Scott Moe is happy with the UCP selection of Danielle Smith as their leader is because it means there’s finally another Premier in Canada who is as dumb as he is. #skpoli https://t.co/Y7kmnQdqi1

— Larry Hubich (@LHubich) October 22, 2022

Today's News: Buh-bye

Today we said "buh-bye" to Liz Truss. 

The tweets were priceless:

In light of Liz Truss' resignation, I made a chart to explain UK politics for anyone confused pic.twitter.com/uBweUvQU0o

— Lapis (@DegenerateThing) October 20, 2022

Liz Truss lasted 4.1 Scaramuccis

— Anthony Scaramucci (@Scaramucci) October 20, 2022

Just been sent this… Hahahaha pic.twitter.com/4u9z5rb18t

— Anthony Hamilton 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 (@1974Hamilton) October 20, 2022

“The King has asked me to become Prime Minister because this nonsense has gone on long enough.” pic.twitter.com/eFL3fgSfVL

— Larry the Cat (@Number10cat) October 20, 2022

Can a lettuce enter the Conservative Party leadership contest?https://t.co/PyFo7ugNXP

— Daily Star (@dailystar) October 20, 2022

Gotta agree with Larry. Liz Truss and Kevin McCarthy have a lot in common. Bye bye Liz and bye bye Kevin. You don’t get wreck our economy the way Liz wrecked the Brits. https://t.co/2bVtqavavP

— Howard Dean (@GovHowardDean) October 20, 2022

If Larry Kudlow thinks Truss is OK, no wonder she crashed and burned. 

Hey, did you know that Republicans also now want to delay paying Social Security until age 75, and stop paying it at age 90? What, do they think 90-year-olds should support themselves by getting a part-time job at MacDonalds? 

Here's a strange one (Medvedev is a Putin wanna-be, and Musk is...Musk)

just two edgelords living in the moment pic.twitter.com/iouBxhGnkI

— Kevin Rothrock (@KevinRothrock) October 20, 2022

This isn’t a party. It’s a suicide cult for clowns. https://t.co/jrp63BzyGz

— Andrew Coyne 🇺🇦 (@acoyne) October 20, 2022

Today's News: Updates

Just a short one tonight. 

 First, about the POEC hearings:

A lot of people are looking really really bad in this inquiry and none of them are named Trudeau.

— Christopher Byrne 🇨🇦 (@CBinVAN) October 18, 2022

And some of what we are hearing is just BS:

You mean the OPP that was MIA during the occupation? That OPP?

— Deb Gartner (@deb_gartner) October 20, 2022

CSIS, on the other hand, says this:

CSIS worried convoy protests were being used as 'recruiting ground' for violent 'hardened elements' | National Post https://t.co/ZclNguxWZd

— Andrew Coyne 🇺🇦 (@acoyne) October 19, 2022

An interesting point here:

Example of misleading headline but then read the actual article. :p

1) GoFundMe says yes foreigners donated.
2) GFM hacked & revealed foreign national donors.
3) CSIS doesn't define "foreign actors." <<--Typically refers to states or non-state actors.https://t.co/QZeOnnz7aQ

— Mubin Shaikh (@MrMubinShaikh) October 19, 2022

I know what was happening to people in Ottawa during the FluTruxKlan occupation was terrible -- here is an excellent list of everything the FluTruxKlan put them through.

But I think it was the border blockades that really caused the most trouble for the country as a whole -- senseless, chaotic, jeopardizing the economy, shattering international relations.

This was obvious. It was also obvious when the feds began to suddenly and belatedly get engaged. The province was behind until the Windsor border blockade threatened the economy. https://t.co/Ra3Ag9LSqf

— Matt Gurney (@mattgurney) October 18, 2022

The border blockades ranged from 3 days at the Pacific Highway Crossing in Surrey BC, to 18 days at the Coutts, Alberta crossing, and included 6 days at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor Ontario and 6 days at Emerson, Manitoba. 

It was nuts, nonsensical -- even if Canada had been willing to let unvaccinated truckers into the country, the United States was not, so Canadian truckers would still have needed to get vaccinations before they could cross the border.  This made it impossible to negotiate an end to the blockades. No level of government - municipal, provincial, federal - could meet the FluTruxKlan demands because they didn't make any sense.

But nonsense never stopped the FluTruxKlan!

And it was the border blockades that really made this into an international story.

I was getting weary near the end of Mr Morris' testimony, but I thought he did refer to the entirety of convoy blockades & protests across Cda as being national security threats.

And last March, the OPPIB did say there were threats to national security.https://t.co/3VO1TOP29Q

— Lexy Cameron (@LexyCameron) October 20, 2022

Here is the OPP report from the next day, Feb. 8, which states the situation was a potential threat to sovereignty and national security. pic.twitter.com/UuleS48lu8

— Alex Ballingall (@aballinga) October 19, 2022

For those who are calling Doug Ford a "Liberal" for backing away from the Convoy just stop.

Ford has spent the entire Pandemic switching back & forth between kicking sand at @JustinTrudeau when it's convenient & riding his coattails to exploit JT's popularity. 😒 #CdnPoli

— DerekZoolander85 (@dzoolander85) October 18, 2022

Doug's decision to skip boarding the crazy train was the key to his re-election. The CPc ought to have paid attention.

— George Armstrong (@GWA1960) October 19, 2022

I almost feel sorry for the media. They are having a very hard time trying to lay the blame on Trudeau during the Inquiry into the Emergency Act. It’s so obvious that the Conservatives- Federal and Provincial- were supporting the convoy. #CdnMediaFailed

— Canteach (@canteach) October 18, 2022

Today's News: I think we know where this is going

If there are any two politicians in Canada who always know which way the wind is blowing, it's Justin Trudeau and Doug Ford. 

So today Trudeau stood behind Ford and held a straight face -- didn't even roll his eyes once -- while Ford talked about how he had stood "shoulder to shoulder" with Trudeau during the enactment of the Emergencies Act in February.

As Tammy says, its a crock. 
 

What a crock of horse sh*t!

Ford hid at his cottage snowmobiling after he welcomed the protesters, and said
"God bless them"
while his daughter stood shoulder to shoulder with F Trudeau signs, giving
them various instructions in person, and online! https://t.co/3szRcjBEB7

— Tammy 💪🇨🇦🇺🇦💪 (@Tammyocanada) October 17, 2022

But it demonstrates that it WAS necessary for the Trudeau government to bring in the Emergencies Act and that Ford knows it.

Its only Day 4 of the POEC hearings but it is clear even now that something drastic needed to be done about the FreeDumb Convoy (AKA FluTruxKlan), not just in Ottawa but across the country, because they did not intend to leave. And -- as they had also demonstrated during the pandemic -- the provinces were not up to the job.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he fully supports Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's decision to invoke the Emergencies Act to deal with the "freedom convoy" protests last winter. https://t.co/iXJmw5o2Og pic.twitter.com/9ZErBCwSHN

— iPolitics (@ipoliticsca) October 17, 2022

Hmmm... quite a change in tune for Dougie:

“‘Ford and his cabinet ministers refused to take part in what were supposed to be three-way meetings between municipal, prov and fed government leaders to resolve the situation in the first two weeks of February as the occupation dragged on’” #onpoli https://t.co/SNnNsiHhqE

— Meaghan (@megsd_23) October 17, 2022

City of Ottawa - did nothing
Ottawa police - actually welcomed them to park
OPP - SFA
Doug Ford - MIA
Trudeau - gets rid of illegal knuckle dragging occupiers in less than 2 days safely.

— Pete Bear (@MadHabber) October 17, 2022

Hey, I'll take it. As far as I'm concerned, Premier Ford's on my side of the line in the sand I had to draw or lose my mind. The Freedom Convoy, donors, supporters, propagandists, apologists, sympathizers, s'plainers, fence-sitters, neutral, indifferent - are all on the other.🙂

— Kathryn McLeod (@Dumbshowsnoise) October 17, 2022

As much as the Conservatives and their media are still trying to assert that the Emergencies Act was just an "over-reaction" by Trudeau, they can't make the case. 

FreeDumb Convoy Greatest Hits

Now that the Public Order Emergency Commission hearings are getting underway, Canada is being reminded of just how awful the convoy crisis was, not only in Ottawa but also across the rest of the country. 

It was exciting at first, of course -- hundreds of people exorcised their January blahs by lining the highways waving flags and cheering as they watched the big trucks thundering past. There was lots of "freedom!" shouting, and a warm sense of solidarity and joining together for a common cause and other fun stuff.

So the convoy seemed to think a majority of Canadians actually supported them. 

But their Ottawa occupation and border blockades soon deteriorated into a noisy, chaotic, messy, dirty, disrespectful, horn-honking debacle. 

They didn't have the sense or the leadership to just declare victory and leave.

We get 5 more weeks exposing the #FreeDumbConvoy for the complete losers they are with the #EmergenciesActInquiry lol..

Pure joy, losers.

— kris meloche (@krismeloche) October 16, 2022

We are now seeing a determined effort by Conservatives to minimize and trivialize what actually happened during the convoy crisis. I hope they don't get away with it:

The Govt of Canada - aka the city’s biggest employer - was shut down by the blockades. Most of the downtown office towers and hotels were closed. What do you think it would take to say the entire city (and country) was being harmed? https://t.co/iKEcTaa7NN

— Rick Anderson 🇨🇦🇺🇦 (@RickAnderson) October 16, 2022

There’s a lot of gaslighting going on about what the convoy did in Ottawa and other places. It’s outrageous that people are suggesting it wasn’t a crisis. It was. https://t.co/e6QbXLwD26

— Shannon Sampert (@paulysigh) October 15, 2022

So tonight I was checking tweets and also scrolling back through my posts in early February. Hey, remember what actually was happening? And remember the brave people who fought back?

These wonderful people plus the #RamRanchResistance

— Heather 🇨🇦 🎼🌈 (@hbardell1) February 23, 2022

As requested, more heroes of the resistance. The neighbourhood “grannies,” who gave a thumbs down and a “you shall not pass” to a dump truck-lead convoy on their street. Also, blue jacket guy, a bundle of pulsating furiosity who unloaded on some horn honking truckers. 1/ pic.twitter.com/KHv9V1zW4I

— Chris Chuckry 🇺🇦 🇨🇦 (@chrischuckry) February 24, 2022

pic.twitter.com/kvz3LKT2hs

— simon chamberfield (@SChamberfield) February 19, 2022

Can Ram Ranch become a Canadian Heritage Moment now?

Only in Canada could you shut down an insurrection with a gay cowboy song!#RamRanchResisitance #KluTruxKlanGoHome pic.twitter.com/Sm9ZTLP8th

— TFMJonny 🐺 GG 🌈 VTRainbow (@tfmjonny) February 15, 2022

Any final parting words from #Ottawa to the convoy?

I think that sums it up nicely! #GoHomeFluTruxclan #RamRanchResistance pic.twitter.com/vhRq8MC3w8

— Kimberly (she/her) (@kimbo1942) February 20, 2022

BREAKING: #BalconyGuy revealed as fan choice to testify Monday at #EmergenciesActInquiry

**WARNING - NSFW - BUT HILARIOUS AND WORTH THE WATCH!**#FreeDumbConvoy#OttawaOccupation pic.twitter.com/MCmnHm0tiP

— Ryan 🇨🇦 (@ryanpszabo) October 16, 2022

Imagine that... They don't appreciate the noise distracting them. The #FluTruxKlan #FreeDumbConvoy #TimbitTaliban are fucking babies in adult clothing. https://t.co/HuJgr0nGxx

— GeeJay (@LeftCoastG604) October 16, 2022

From the Bookmarks

Here’s what prompted it - a scalding observation by The Economist. pic.twitter.com/lf6Rg1PzVv

— Paul R Bear (@PaulRBear4) October 14, 2022

Here's the Daily Mail live feed on YouTube  

Kwasi Kwarteng served Truss as finance minister for 38 days -- reminiscent of how Tony

Scaramucci served as White House communications director for 10 days in 2017. 

So we now have a new reference for measuring time in politics:

The imperial Scaramucci has been replaced by the metric Kwarteng. 1 Kwarteng = 3.5 Scaramuccis

— Cathy Glover (@Cathy_Glover_) October 14, 2022

Today's "Christ, what an asshole!" is Elon Musk:

Elon Musk wants to turn off internet in Ukraine because someone was mean on Twitter. Seriously.

For context: Musk posted terrible peace terms for Ukraine and a Ukrainian minister told him to "F*** Off." Now Musk threatens to shut off Starlink in spite. https://t.co/tz42jGykOM

— Renew Democracy Initiative (@Renew_Democracy) October 14, 2022

Hey @elonmusk you told an invaded sovereign country to give their land to a dictator. Their cities leveled, women, children tortured and raped. You, some dude with a car company, Aspergers, who plays with rockets, thinks he can handle global politics?
You really should fuck off. https://t.co/QWXlY9LC78

— Titus (@TitusNation) October 14, 2022

From today’s @FT “Musk’s technology raises questions about the extent to which a capricious billionaire should be involved in defence” Ya think ???

— Bob Rae (@BobRae48) October 14, 2022

Today's "fuck around and find out" is the FluTruxKlan:

NEW: The Public Order Emergency Commission has confirmed to me that it revoked the accreditation of this convoy blogger earlier today.

In a statement, @POECommission cited its “policy prohibiting aggression or harassment by any member of the media.”#cdnpoli #cdnmedia https://t.co/ZsN7aBMjg0 pic.twitter.com/GZB4otw8nI

— Luke LeBrun (@_llebrun) October 15, 2022

Today's News: "I'm going to punch him out"

I don't have a lot of stuff to talk about tonight, but I did see some good tweets about the two hearings today - including Nancy Pelosi's "punch him out" line.

Jan 6 Committee hearing: 

Trump knew he lost but he didn't want to admit it.

damnnnn https://t.co/NvXC1eJxwf

— Nicky Woolf (@NickyWoolf) October 14, 2022

Take 7 minutes to watch House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and others respond to the Capitol insurrection in previously unseen footage. pic.twitter.com/qFDdLSuMmM

— The Recount (@therecount) October 13, 2022

While watching this hearing - does anyone doubt for a single solitary second that donald trump would sell our national security secrets to the highest bidder?

— Jo 🌻 (@JoJoFromJerz) October 13, 2022

Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator #January6thCommitteeHearings pic.twitter.com/iceI65a57u

— Editorial & Political Cartoons (@EandPCartoons) October 14, 2022

Even the most corrupt Supreme Court in history gave Trump a 9-0 denial.

— Hoodlum 🇺🇸 (@NotHoodlum) October 13, 2022

Christ, what an asshole!

Back in 2006, blogger Charles Lavoie did a post to assert that all New Yorker cartoons would still be just as funny with the caption "Christ, what an asshole" and everyone was surprised about how well that works. It works with most cartoons and it became a meme. 

So I was reminded of this again today when I saw these posts on Twitter -- they could all just be summed up with the phrase "Christ, what an asshole!" 

 First up -- Putin, of course!

.@McFaul | "Putin attacked Ukrainian civilians. He used incredibly sophisticated weapons to bomb playgrounds. There are no security objectives for Russia here. It's all about his personal ambitions." https://t.co/9Fgp1ouH90

— FSI Stanford (@FSIStanford) October 11, 2022

Alberta premier Danielle Smith:

She's a fascist, genocide denying liar. Were there special schools that unvaxxinated kids were sent to in far away places where they were abused by the Church?#abpoli

— Saskboy from Saskatchewan (@saskboy) October 11, 2022

Elect a fucking clown, expect a fucking circus🙄🙄🙄 https://t.co/7TbEwztGvx

— Janet Wagner (@janetwagner21) October 12, 2022

And Saskatchewan premier Scott Moe:

Um, I have questions. So many questions. What's with chamber lunches in North Battleford? Why are govt announcements done at a chamber lunch, anyway? And why is CAPP involved - 30 of their 48 member corps are fully or partially foreign owned.

Why do I live here? https://t.co/RAK31YBiJc

— Ada Shelby's secret sister (@schraefelhockey) October 11, 2022

Read the full document by visiting: https://t.co/rNXSBCywxL

[3/3]

— Scott Moe (@PremierScottMoe) October 11, 2022

It’s bad analysis. For context, this is saying federal climate policies will shrink the SK economy by nearly 10%! Not credible. Lots of issues with the assumptions used, such as presuming the carbon tax revenues are lit on fire rather than rebated (that’s 25b right there).

— Trevor Tombe (@trevortombe) October 12, 2022

I just hope Danielle Smith and Scott Moe can agree to talk on alternate days. The country can only absorb so much stupidity daily. Let’s pace ourselves Canada. #cdnpoli #abpoli #skpoli

— Steve V 🍁 IAMCANADIAN 🍁 (@FarAndWide) October 11, 2022

The Saudis:

I was an IR major in college and one of my professors, with A LOT of actual foreign service experience, said that at some point someone will eventually push their luck all the way to FTG status.

FTG stood for Fuck Those Guys.

I think that’s where we are now.

— Erik Antener (@Antener) October 12, 2022

Elon Musk:

Calculus for Musk, businessman apparently without a soul, is simple:
1. Secure cheap Lithium from Donbass. As Putin already "annexed" the region, Musk is betting on Putin rather than Ukraine.
2. Bend his knee to China so his Shanghai Tesla factory doesn't get shut down.
3. Profit

— Igor Sushko (@igorsushko) October 12, 2022

.@elonmusk denies @ianbremmer’s reporting that Musk told Bremmer he talked to Putin before he tweeted out Russian-like bullet points on Ukraine. Bremmer is sticking to his story. One of them is lying. pic.twitter.com/zdBXTuz4Fm

— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) October 11, 2022

I know which one my money is on! 

2/ to lend? Yes it sounds conspiratorial but does anyone realize how weird it is that he’s suddenly tweeting about Taiwan needing to become a SAR under 1c2s? What? Did he know before a week ago when Russia conquered Crimea?

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) October 12, 2022

Nova Scotia RCMP are in the news again:

Photo: This seems bad.
RCMP: Actually, the explanation is kinda worse! https://t.co/hrgWQuUpcL

— Josh Visser (@joshvisser) October 11, 2022

This guy thought he could just run a bank out of his house -- what could go wrong?

pic.twitter.com/SU77nJGNzx

— Quantian (@quantian1) October 10, 2022

And Toast the Cat:

The greatest academic acknowledgement I've seen in a while pic.twitter.com/BpxQGKCIbT

— Jonathan Robins (@robinshistory) October 11, 2022

Five questions for the Public Order Emergency Commission

Over the past several months, I have been collecting comments and tweets related to the FluTruxKlan, anticipating the upcoming Emergencies Act inquiry and the likely shit-show we will be seeing in the media .

I expect we will see a lot of hysterical tut-tutting about how the Emergencies Act was all just SUCH an OVER-REACTION by the Trudeau Liberals because all our provincial governments - Conservative (Ford, Kenny, Stephanson) and NDP (Horgan) - were doing lots of great stuff pretty soon right away so everything would have been JUST FINE because any day now they would have got a grip and the Convoy would have faded away and ...blah, blah, blah. 

The Commission into the use of the Emergencies Act to end the protests is supposed to start this week and continue through November. (It had been scheduled for September but was delayed for Commissioner Paul Rouleau's surgery).   

The inquiry witness list was dropped this morning.

The Public Order Emergency Commission (POEC) website is here and they are looking for comments:

Canadians have until October 31 to share their views with the Commission examining the basis for the Government’s decision to declare a public order emergency. For details on options to do so, visit our website https://t.co/tK2DkgyuEP pic.twitter.com/Mu8hIUUFnk

— Public Order Emergency Commission (@POECommission) October 6, 2022

As the months have gone by, we have found out more about what was happening in Canada last January and February, in Ottawa and across the country:

Convoy blockades cost Canadian economy billions in reduced GDP, documents show - The Globe and Mail https://t.co/N9Km4u70F8

— Andrew Coyne 🇺🇦 (@acoyne) August 13, 2022

Intelligence report flagged possible ‘violent revenge’ after Ottawa protest shutdown https://t.co/MdGd3cJbNw

— Andrew Coyne 🇺🇦 (@acoyne) August 18, 2022

Ottawa Convoy Helped ‘Violent Extremist’ Groups Grow, Canadian Counterterrorism Report Warned https://t.co/TuRJ5w7WmJ

— Andrew Coyne 🇺🇦 (@acoyne) August 21, 2022

NEW: Four federal cabinet ministers were targets of “violent extremist threats” ahead of the Ottawa convoy occupation.

An internal counterterrorism report warned “women in positions of power” were at higher risk of being targeted by extremists.https://t.co/5XIbP3BGmD #cdnpoli

— PressProgress (@pressprogress) September 1, 2022

RCMP undercover operation paved the way for arrest of “freedom convoy” protesters who were plotting to bring guns to the Coutts border blockade. These guys weren’t “freedom fighters”: they were extremist thugs who actually wanted to murder people. https://t.co/6wZyxkBQAi

— Gil McGowan (@gilmcgowan) September 7, 2022

Coutts border blockaders were “arming themselves for a standoff against police,” according to RCMP documents unsealed this morning. https://t.co/57RnNZbCb7

— Stewart Bell (@StewGlobal) September 7, 2022

When I review the tweets I flagged over the last few months, I have five questions that I hope the Public Commission will answer: 

1. Whose side were the police really on?

2. Whose side are the media really on?

3. Whose side is the public really on?

4. Conservatives, WTF?

5. Are the hearings going to be a clown show?

Today's News: Congratulations to Brandi Morin!

Congratulations to Brandi Morin, in New York City tonight to receive her Edward R. Murrow Award for her article: A "lingering evil": From residential schools to murdered women.

Edward R. Murrow Award winning article:
A ‘lingering evil’: From residential schools to murdered women https://t.co/B9WfTQ3aWM via @AJEnglish

— Cathie from Canada 🇨🇦 😷🏳️‍🌈 (@CathieCanada) October 11, 2022

For this small town girl who once thought she was nothing. Moved through foster homes, rape, single motherhood to being in NYC right now prepping to accept the top award for journalism in the world here on Monday Edward R Murrow. Unleashing my Voice of Fire! So many laughs/joy pic.twitter.com/4D3yJNCjhQ

— Brandi Morin (@Songstress28) October 8, 2022

I stood strong & proud. EDWARD R MURROW award NYC for our Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls for @AJEnglish with @photobracken
A most phenomenal moment for a journalist to win this top award in the world. Especially for an Indigenous journalist. Our voice of Fire rising pic.twitter.com/nx9A5Qpzdm

— Brandi Morin (@Songstress28) October 11, 2022

Met ⁦@mitchellreports⁩ @ Edward R Murrow awards this evening. This lady is an incredible powerhouse in the media world. She is gracious, beautiful & congratulated me at this Oscars of the journalism awards event @ Gotham Hall NYC. Hiy hiy Andrea ❤️ pic.twitter.com/x4FbLl3WGh

— Brandi Morin (@Songstress28) October 11, 2022

Below are riveting articles by Cree-Iroquois journalist Brandi Moran (@songstress28) on missing and murdered Indigenous women. For this exposé, Brandi will accept the Edward R. Murrow journalism award tonight.

Now let's fix the damn problem.⬇️https://t.co/FI4gzPLAfO pic.twitter.com/LH06EHzsBH

— Steven Donziger (@SDonziger) October 10, 2022

In the United States, today used to be known as Columbus Day but is now becoming known as Indigenous People's Day:

Hello World,

today is #IndigenousPeoplesDay . . .

I don't know if I'm more happy that this day exists
or if I'm sad that there has to be a day like this...

🪶 pic.twitter.com/IJ7dq8NTLD

— Marko Silberhand (@MarkoSilberhand) October 10, 2022

Happy #IndigenousPeoplesDay! pic.twitter.com/D4CXXYlE3E

— Dr. Rebecca Brückmann (@historleans) October 10, 2022

More Great Stuff

Remember Friendly, Jerome and Rusty?

   

Here is an hilarious thread:

DYING at the Canadians in the Zoom talking about The Friendly Giant and the Americans being like "WTF there was a chicken in a bag nailed to the wall?!"

YES AND THIS MADE US WHAT WE ARE. WHY ALL CANADIAN HOMES HAVE A BAG CHICKEN ON THE WALL.

— ChriSCREAMaaaaahhhhh 💀 (@Pepperoni_Salad) October 8, 2022

Heard an interview with a Canadian doc who'd moved to US. She told child to "look up, way up" and the child looked at her like she was out of her mind, instead of immediately answering "and I'll call Rusty."

— Susan De (@SusanFDe) October 8, 2022

That and the "Canada Vignettes" especially the "Log Driver's Waltz". https://t.co/g484CNkCPk

— Brenda Scott 🇨🇦 (@BrendaScottBC) October 8, 2022

And remember The Littlest Hobo? https://t.co/9tdCpTrgx5 via @YouTube

— Cathie from Canada 🇨🇦 😷🏳️‍🌈 (@CathieCanada) October 9, 2022

Here are some other memories of an earlier time:

My mom and dad were perfect parents back in the 80s: they smoked, let me roam the neighborhood starting at age 7, and never once helped me with my homework

— mean Engs I say to myself (@meantomyself) October 4, 2022

Hey, Happy Thanksgiving this weekend, everyone:

Canadian thanksgiving is a tier one holiday. No gifting stress, no pressure to have fun like NYE, excellent food, feels "alt" vs the bloated American version, no religious stuff or pilgrims just a vague "harvest" theme, stuffing, 10/10

— Nick Hune-Brown (@nickhunebrown) October 6, 2022

Today's News: Starting the nuclear conversation

Back in the spring when there was a bunch of chatter about how the US and NATO should save Ukraine by declaring a no-fly zone, Biden categorically refused to consider it, saying that Americans had not elected him to start a nuclear war.

But now that Ukraine is winning the war, I think Putin is going crazy and trying to take everyone else with him. He's been talking about using nuclear weapons to win, which means the world is facing a nuclear war anyway, regardless of what the US or NATO does.

So Biden now must prepare Americans for this possibility -- tonight, he started his conversation with the US public:

“I’m trying to figure out what is Putin’s off ramp? Where does he find a way out? Where does he find himself in a position that he does not not only lose face but lose significant power within Russia?”

2/4

— Ali Velshi (@AliVelshi) October 7, 2022

“I don't think there's any such thing as the ability to easily (use) a tactical nuclear weapon and not end up with Armageddon. I didn’t realize how much serious damage the previous administration did to our foreign policy. ”

4/4

— Ali Velshi (@AliVelshi) October 7, 2022

Biden's words have been reported around the world -- except for his comment about how much damage Trump did to American foreign policy. But we already knew that, didn't we.

Anyway, here is analysis tonight from  CNN White House reporter Stephen Collinson:

...Biden appeared to be making an argument, which Putin will now be sure to hear about, that the idea that the use of a tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine could be contained and not lead to a wider conflagration is wrong.

The entire strategic logic between maintaining nuclear weapons for self-defense is that they are too terrible to be used, and any nation that did would be writing their own death warrant.

The President has now sent a clear signal to the Russian leader that crossing the nuclear threshold in any way could cause an escalation that would lead to a disastrous full-on nuclear war.

“I don’t think there’s any such thing as the ability to easily (use) a tactical nuclear weapon and not end up with Armageddon,” Biden said at the fundraiser.

His comments underscore the most important mission of his presidency – shepherding the world through the most dangerous nuclear brinkmanship in 60 years.

People are also figuring out what might happen if nukes were used in Ukraine:

If Putin were to use nukes in Ukraine, it is very likely that radioactive fallout would fall over Russian troops in the illegally annexed regions in eastern Ukraine he falsely claims to protect. 🤔

Interesting simulations by @ivnstepanov #StandWithUkraine #NuclearWeapons https://t.co/jEWSjU5xV5 pic.twitter.com/9QIBnm4PBY

— Hans Kristensen (@nukestrat) October 6, 2022

And this is a brutal truth, isn't it:

This brutal video does highlight one of the real often overlooked weaknesses of dictatorships and hidden resiliency of democracies. Dictatorships like to project power: but their people often have shallow loyalties. If 700k Russians have fled the country in the weeks…. https://t.co/s2yuNoZJuK

— Phillips P. OBrien (@PhillipsPOBrien) October 6, 2022

Two Russians who said they fled the country to avoid military service have requested asylum in the U.S. after landing in a small boat on a remote Alaska island in the Bering Sea, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski's office said Thursday. https://t.co/drOty9ONs5

— NBC Bay Area (@nbcbayarea) October 7, 2022

World to Russia: Get the fuck out of Ukraine. It’s not your country.

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) October 6, 2022

From the Bookmarks

Just a random selection of stuff tonight.

First, I just cannot understand why anyone in Florida would still vote Republican. 

Here is what the Hurricane Ian storm surge looked like, and the governor and country officials didn't tell people to evacuate until it was way way too late. 

It was impossible to survive something like this:

DeSantis supports decision to not evacuate this area. pic.twitter.com/lIDDsLNPET

— Daniel Uhlfelder (@DWUhlfelderLaw) October 2, 2022

I appreciate what James Carville is saying here. Florida needs to rebuild and DeSantis just isn't capable of leading such an effort:

Carville: Listen to me Ron DeKatrina.. push the fried chicken and the mashed potatoes and the gravy back.. You can suspend your toilet patrols who’s using which bathroom because none of the toilets are working in southwest Florida.. pic.twitter.com/EStWTezAnC

— Acyn (@Acyn) October 5, 2022

With a reasonable chance to win the Senate Republicans nominated an alleged domestic abuser with secret children who pays for abortions by check and a TV doctor who kills puppies.

All because those were the men who seemed most like their cult leader, Donald Trump.

— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) October 4, 2022

Comparing Al Franken to Herschel Walker is absurd. It's apples and oranges. Actually it's more like Albert Einstein and a potato.

— Randi Mayem Singer (@rmayemsinger) October 4, 2022

In a unique twist of irony, women are going to make the GOP wish they were never born in November.

— Kate 🪬🤍🇺🇸 (@ImSpeaking13) September 27, 2022

I don't think the GOP has any idea what Dobbs did to the US electorate. https://t.co/k7UHBn8f44

— Tim Hogan 浩勤 (@TimInHonolulu) September 30, 2022

Today's News: Playing nuclear chicken?

Well, this is terrifying, isn't it? It sounds like Russia is getting set to try to play a game of Nuclear Chicken with Ukraine and the west:

It comes as sources told The Times that Nato had sent an intelligence report to its members and allies alerting them to the fact that Russia is expected to test its nuclear-capable torpedo drone Poseidon, possibly in the Black Sea, which it controlshttps://t.co/NfTI1gMQZ0 pic.twitter.com/hNhxyW7mTj

— Telegraph World News (@TelegraphWorld) October 3, 2022

Oh, I really hope the Telegraph is wrong and these guys are right:

Could not agree more. The footage we've seen shows nothing more than engineering equipment. Most likely scenario? Russia is commandeering niche vehicles for use on the battlefield. https://t.co/eDZL8ZoSU7

— The Intel Crab (@IntelCrab) October 3, 2022

Given how poorly they have done everything else in this war, if Russia does try to play nuclear chicken with the West then it likely won't work out very well for Russia. But as Ukraine wins back more and more of its territory, Putin will be increasingly desperate:

Russia no longer has full control of any of four ‘annexed’ Ukrainian provinces. https://t.co/q9fOtp2RGB

— Diane Marie 🇺🇦 (@DianeMariePosts) October 4, 2022

Canada's decision to support NATO membership for Ukraine surprised me, because in the past it seemed that NATO had always backed away from provoking Putin too much. 

But maybe now the West is realizing that mollifying Putin is no longer an option so so we might as well take it to him:

Canada supports Ukraine's bid to join @NATO, said Foreign Affairs Minister @melaniejoly, and that Canada must, "redouble efforts for the Ukrainian people."

Read more here: https://t.co/EePV6u1zW5
#NATOPA #NATO #DavenportTO @NATOCanada @natopapress

— Julie Dzerowicz (@JulieDzerowicz) October 3, 2022

Fukuyama is making a prediction:

Fukuyama makes observation and prediction. People mock Fukuyama on basis of misunderstanding stemming from the title of one of his long-ago books. Fukuyama's observation and prediction turn out to be pretty well-founded. Repeat.

The cycle of history in the post-history age. https://t.co/Myscml0C6p

— Dan Gardner (@dgardner) October 3, 2022

This was true yesterday, but may no longer be true now:

Yes. But surely you agree that if Moscow goes nuclear, that means that from that moment on, any conventional counteraction will be met with another Russian nuclear reaction? Like with knife gangs: one day, one gang starts using guns. Do you think it will go back to using knives?

— Otto von Bismarck (@ultimiratio) October 3, 2022

.@Angry_Staffer is spot on. A reminder: 2 days ago, Putin announced an annexation of Ukraine’s sovereign territory, then shot missiles at civilians. Why would anyone recommend an off-ramp for Putin? https://t.co/dUHLE5cFTQ

— Mark Hertling (@MarkHertling) October 2, 2022