The most unbelievable part of the very weird Pierre Poilievre speech video that The Conservative Party of Canada has now deleted, was that after showing footage of numerous other countries trying to depict Canada, the big finale was to say ...
— Roddy ๐จ๐ฆ (@RodKahx) August 18, 2024
"We're Home."
Absolute farce.
"Do not go gentle into that good night. Blog, blog against the dying of the light"
Monday, August 19, 2024
They pulled that creepy "morning in Canada" video? Oh, waaaahhhh!
Today's News: Kamala and Tim are cooking!
I wonder if they'll ever do it?On a side note, maybe Tim and Kamala could have a "hot dish" cookoff?
— Cathie from Canada ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ท๐ณ️๐ ๐บ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฑ (@CathieCanada) August 16, 2024
With Martha and Snoop as the judges?
I'd be down for that!
If Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris wins the election in November, she may be the first president with a platform on dry-brining turkey.She's in favor, and also recommends a rub of butter and herbs under the skin...."I take it very seriously," Harris said about cooking ...When Harris was young, her mother told her she better learn how to cook, because anyone who loved food that much needed to know how to make it. As Harris became a national figure, she kept cooking. The vice president turned a passion for baking, broiling and sautรฉing, which might have sunk the prospects for female politicians of an earlier generation, into a political asset...
A Hotdish dynasty is born. Get the recipes here: https://t.co/VQrWFSWUq4 Thanks to @MinnesotaTurkey for producing the key ingredient!
— Fmr. Rep. Tim Walz (@RepTimWalz) May 11, 2016
“You know what ‘picante’ is for him?” @KamalaHarris quips about her running mate @Tim_Walz. “Black pepper.” (Harris likes spicy food.) pic.twitter.com/eIblwsJyEN
— Jeff Mason (@jeffmason1) August 10, 2024
I'm so excited about all the great food tips we will get from this ticket. Forget about running the country, I want a 24/7 Whitehouse cooking channel. https://t.co/1iSMPizagd
— EvanJellyCools4Harris (@JellyCoolHarris) August 18, 2024
Sunday, August 18, 2024
Today's News: Our wannabe Emperors
Is it me or does it feel like someone hit a switch and all of a sudden a whole lot more people in this country were like, "Oh, wow, yeah...Trump is f*cking nuts." And then his campaign just started to spiral.
— Rex Huppke (@RexHuppke) August 12, 2024
Meanwhile, in Canada:It’s never the wrong time to start doing the right thing. pic.twitter.com/X5cFY1QZ23
— Veterans For Responsible Leadership (@VetsForRL) August 17, 2024
The #FuckTrudeau flags aren't flying anymore:One month ago I would have said that the CPC had a stranglehold on a majority victory . Today.... not nearly so clear. Linked to Trump implosion? Harris charisma? Declining interest rates? Olympic buzz? Poilievre serial mendacity ? No idea but things have changed.
— Frank Graves (@VoiceOfFranky) August 17, 2024
Someone gave Prime Minister Trudeau some GREAT advice: Don’t release his travel itinerary until he has physically arrived at the event, location, or venue. 3rd Party Contractors who might be indirectly connected to conservatives are unable to mobilize “rent a crowd” to… pic.twitter.com/9RNGxqjRKU
— Clinton Desveaux (@ClintonDesveaux) August 17, 2024
Saturday, August 17, 2024
Weekend Reading Extravaganza: from Da Vinci to Venice; from maps to world wonders; from bridges to train stations; from rock history to Canadian history
Many aren't aware it's a mural, painted on the wall of a church refectory in Milan.
— Culture Critic (@Culture_Crit) July 30, 2024
It's survival today is a miracle — it came inches from destruction in WW2, and has faded so much that monks once felt happy to knock through Christ's feet for a new doorway. pic.twitter.com/AQEwurO2Jr
Friday, August 16, 2024
Today's News: "Poilievre delivered a plethora of lies"
Does Poilievre actually think community newspapers were operating back when Menes was the pharaoh of Egypt -- funny, because papyrus had only just been invented then; The Times of London wasn't founded until 1785. And, as Niagara Now says, it was the internet that has destroyed newspaper profits.Federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre doesn’t believe outlets that serve the nation’s “news deserts” deserve financial help to continue giving Canadians the important and accurate information that affects the areas they work and live.The man who hopes to be the next prime minister of Canada said the Local Journalism Initiative, which provides rural and small community news outlets with funding to hire reporters to cover specific areas outside the reach or interest of large media organizations, is nothing more than a sounding board for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s liberal government.“It is terrible … how local journalism has done under nine years of Trudeau,” he told The Lake Report in an interview last Thursday after speaking to a Conservative-friendly crowd at a NOTL food co-operative.“He’s tried to take it over and basically wants everyone to work for the government so that he can have regurgitated propaganda paid for by taxpayers.”News deserts — areas that have little or no regular news coverage — have grown enormously over the past 15 years as scores of newspapers have closed.Launched in 2019, the Local Journalism Initiative gives grants to independent publishers, such as The Lake Report.Those organizations then hire reporters to cover specific areas, such as agriculture or civic government. Those reporters have no connection to the federal government nor does the government tell the publishers what stories should be covered.Publications pick and choose what news items to cover without threat of reprisal from any form of government.The Lake Report, for example, often tackles issues that do not align with the federal Liberals’ agenda and messaging.Poilievre claimed the program threatens free speech and when asked what he would do with it if elected prime minister, he did not directly answer.“I am looking into it. But more important than that, the question is how do we bring back free speech,” he said.“The answer is journalists getting eyeballs so they can sell subscriptions and advertising, get sponsorships and do what media have done for, I don’t know, 3,000 years.”“How has the media funded itself for 3,000 years?” he asked. “Subscriptions, advertising, sponsorships. That’s how it has worked for 3,000 years.”Today’s journalists have to contend with the internet, where stories are often shared by people not trained in journalism and whose ethical standards or motivations may be suspect. Their work is often distributed free via social media and digital platforms.This practice, combined with online giants like Google and Meta sharing legitimate news items on their platforms without compensating publications for the content, has deeply dug into news organizations’ bottom lines.Poilieve seemed fine with letting what is often illegitimate news be the source of information for Canadians...
This Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre delivered a plethora of lies during his visit to NOTL, forcing The Lake Report to respond with the longest editorial it has ever published....There are a litany of problems with citizen journalism and Poilievre’s mindset that journalism is doing just fine because every Bob and Sue can post on Twitter is not appropriate for someone who wants to run this country.Run it into the ground is more like it.We realize this is probably the longest editorial we’ve ever published. Yet, it might be one of the most necessary editorials yet.Because one of Poilievre’s tactics is to throw out so much misinformation, that it’s almost impossible to fact check it all, especially on the spot.It’s why he often appears to eat journalists and other politicians alive. Because he’s on another planet and it’s almost impossible to have a rational conversation with someone who just makes things up.So it’s our duty as a free press — one that isn’t going to take anything at face value from any political party — to call out Poilievre’s dangerous lies. Or his inability to comprehend the truth.Either he’s lying to you and knows it. Or he’s just incompetent.And because he’s not a stupid man, it’s not hard to figure out. If you think critically about what he says.
Thursday, August 15, 2024
Today's News: Harris/Walz v. the national press
We wanted to know if the enthusiasm for Kamala Harris is real. So we talked to two Trump campaign officials at a golf club in Palm Beach.
— New York Times Pitchbot (@DougJBalloon) August 11, 2024
On his substack, Jeff Tiedrich writes hey media: Kamala doesn’t owe you jackals a press conference, so stuff it...A presidential candidate’s job is to win. That’s it! So pray tell, how does talking to The New York Times or any other national media outlet help that cause? Either journalists will ask ridiculous, shallow questions and waste everyone’s time, or they’ll fish for a gotcha quote they can use to generate “controversy” and clicks. Or they might actually ask a policy question, which … no one cares. Literally, no one. For decades, Democrats issued reams of policy white papers, and no one cared. At best, those policy proclamations are ignored; at worst, they become attack fodder for the other party.There are two candidates this election, and no one is basing their decision on the finer points of a policy platform. They are basing it on values. Republicans have known this and wielded it to great electoral success, and now Democrats are finally there.
...the Times has been pulling this crap for years. they pretend they want to “understand” an issue, so they round up five MAGA dipshits in an Arbys in Midland, Texas, listen to them pontificate on crap they know nothing about, and then write it up as here’s the scoop on what Real Amurricans think.just once, I’d love to see the Times round up five Harris fans in a Whole Foods in Greenwich, Connecticut and ask them what they think.but no, that would destroy The Narrative that it’s only the cOnSeRvATiVes fRoM tHe HeArTLand who are the “real” face of America.......hey, Washington Post, I’m demanding that you sit down for an interview with me. my first question is what the fuck are you doing, publishing this misogynistic twaddle?Without her beauty, Harris might be joining Biden in retirement. All you have to do is imagine her spoken words coming from a less-attractive package. Or put her on radio.Harris remains the person she has been for the past 3½ years: a sometimes bumbling beauty with a stride that conveys confidence if not precisely competence.I shit you not, this is from a Kathleen Parker hit job entitled “News flash: Kamala Harris is not a remake of Barack Obama.” Parker’s premise, in this Year of our Lord 2024, is that Kamala is a vacuous bubblehead who has been coasting on her looks.is Kamala now supposed to reward these journalistic jackoffs with a sit-down interview? I think not.news flash for our media:Kamala Harris does not owe you a press conference, and you have no right to demand one.let’s imagine that Kamala agreed to hold a presser tomorrow. we all know what would happen: it would devolve into a shit-show. the press would waste everyone’s time — and drop our collective IQ by three points — by asking worthless questions.“Madam Vice President, Donald Trump says you only recently became Black. what is your response?”who fucking cares? what fresh insight could possibly be gained by asking these kinds of questions? what’s Kamala going to say, that Donny’s a racist lunatic? we already know this. what would be the point of bringing up the toxic sludge that oozes out of Donny’s rancid anus-mouth“do you still have confidence in Tim Walz despite the controversy over his military service?”by the way, THERE IS NO CONTROVERSY. this is a 100% Republican smear job. stop legitimizing it by pretending it’s real.“when you were Border Czar—”the media and the wingnuts love this completely fictitious talking point: Kamala was in charge of the border and as a result, eighty skillionty illegals are now criming up a storm. they’re jimmying the lock on your frail old granny’s front door right now.fun fact: Kamala Harris was never a “border czar.” she was tasked with —leading diplomatic efforts to reduce poverty, violence and corruption in Central America’s Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.this mission has nothing to do with administering border policy — but Republicans decided that assignment somehow made Kamala the “border czar,” and voila — now it’s right-wing gospel.Kamala doesn’t need to cater to the banal Narrative of the national media. she’s been taking her case straight to the people, and the people fucking love her...
Don't let up on the support of Harris, folks.
— Rocky Mountain Views ๐ชท๐ (@RockyMountViews) August 14, 2024
Hillary was ahead in the polls, too.
“When the Harris team wins and prevents the sudden death of American democracy, we can joyfully return to arguing over marginal tax rates and the role of government in healthcare…”
— Andrew Coyne ๐บ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฑ (@acoyne) August 14, 2024
'Republicans for Harris' hold virtual rally for Democratic ticket https://t.co/bnhe0My1I4
Tuesday, August 13, 2024
Sweeping up the Heart: Molly
Today's News: Commentary on Poilievre v. journalists, and on Harris v. Trump (plus dissing Poilievre's wardrobe)
...Poilievre, who supported the Convoy that descended on and occupied Ottawa in 2022, keeps showing us who he is and this fits with that history. When he’s called out on that support, he simply turns the table, rails against the government and Trudeau, and attacks journalists. Pretending not to know of Diagolon gives him an opportunity to turn things around on the media and generate highly-clippable “gotchas” in a bid to control the narrative....Poilievre may be foolish, but he isn’t a fool. He’ll shun the media until he hears a question that allows him to frame discussions as he’d please – or else he’ll take the conversation in that direction anyway and berate journalists......As he attempts to portray himself as a respectable centrist, why was the leader of the official opposition cavorting with the far right? The best answer seems to be because he supports their anti-government ends....In the face of Poilievre’s cynical politicking, the media and other observers ought to keep up the pressure. Keep asking questions, keep calling out his bullshit and flood the zone with the facts. If he gets aggressive, get aggressive right back. Bullies only understand and respond to power, and so the Conservative leader ought to get a dose of that in return every time he decides to “forget” what Diagolon is, hurls abuse at a wire service for issuing a correction as he did with the Canadian Press, or insists on taking a direct question and using it to attack the reporter who’s asking it, like he did when he attacked Akin.This approach won’t make for elegant and conciliatory politics, but who thinks politics can always be elegant and conciliatory? And when a guy such as Poilievre shows up on the scene, the rules change. We must change right along with them.
And on a side note, before I lose track of this tweet, here is mens-wear guru Derek Guy's enjoyable critique of Poilievre's "t-shirt and jacket" look:I am seeing a shift in Canadian political discourse. Not quite like our American counterparts, but Pierre Poilievre’s control of the narrative is weakening. His anger and hostility do not seem to be sticking or resonating as much.
— Dr. Matthew S. Johnston (@mattjohnstonca) August 11, 2024
This is an opportunity. Do not squander it.
Unconventional pairings like a T-shirt with a tailored jacket can look great if the clothes are cut beautifully. But if the clothes are not cut well—often too tight—they just make the outfit look worse. pic.twitter.com/5CwZQz27by
— derek guy (@dieworkwear) June 25, 2024
Monday, August 12, 2024
Fun stuff: from Olympic horses to Olympic moments, from Fox News to other stuff, from dogs to plate tectonics. And fall is coming!
Post by @jennyjohnsonhi5View on Threads
Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem just broke the world record. He’s from a village called Mian Chunnu, whose residents pooled in money so he could train. He had next to no support from any officials. He had to appeal for funds to buy a new javelin to prepare for these Olympics after his… pic.twitter.com/548G2PFp2P
— ashok kumar ๐ต๐ธ (@broseph_stalin) August 10, 2024
A lot of great moments in the Paris Olympics, but this is my personal favorite. pic.twitter.com/rSjVENVkN0
— Charlotte Clymer ๐บ๐ฆ (@cmclymer) August 12, 2024
Going for Gold in the cellphone Olympics. My favourite photo from Paris so far? Mobile-addicted Millennials not realising they’re sitting next to Mick Jagger. #Olympics pic.twitter.com/6EPOvtpaVG
— Kathy Lette (@KathyLette) July 30, 2024
Sunday, August 11, 2024
Today's news: Wanna know who is "online savvy"? That would be Trudeau, not Poilievre
Oh, give me a break.When it quacks like a ๐ฆ...๐คจ
— ruthko ๐ป ๐8x ๐ท๐ (@ruthmkb) August 9, 2024
"...the (bots) allegation has put a new spotlight on Poilievre, who is known for his online savvy. He’s also faced criticism for tactics that include tagging his official YouTube videos with a # used by MGTOW." #cdnpoli https://t.co/lDOw2Ov8jr
Two weeks of Canadian Olympic success - the whole country is proud and excited - Canada even won a Gold Medal in Breakdancing, for heaven's sake! - and Poilievre hasn't tweeted a word of congratulations to anyone.Let's not forget demagogue Pierre 's umm "online savvy" includes
— Tracey ๐จ๐ฆ/๐บ๐ฆ Victory/BIPOC๐ ๐ณ️⚧️ally/๐ท ๐ (@mustangmadd) August 9, 2024
embedding women hating #MGTOW in YouTube vids
Posting absolute garbage that Nazis were socialists
Or wild antisemitic WEF conspiracy theories
Or anti trans "parental rights" BS
Or insane anti woke ๐ฉ
Or
Or
I spoke to some cons who are boycotting the olympics due to trans gendered people in the opening ceremonies. I think this is what's going on with Poilievre. His base is big mad so he's shut up. It's obvious he would be a PM for his base only. We're being warned in real time. https://t.co/clygabSpiO
— Shaun (@SimulationShaun) August 9, 2024
And could Poilievre and the Cons really be this petty? Yes, I do believe they could!“A few weeks of sport won’t solve the country’s issues. But it is a reminder that we are all Canadian, and that the tedious jeremiads claiming the CBC is to the left of Mao are unmoored from reality.”“https://t.co/n6crZZLsYF via @torontostar
— Colin Frizzell ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ช๐บ๐ฆ (@ColinFrizzell) August 9, 2024
Pierre Poilievre & Conservatives are REFRAINING from congratulation Olympians - because it would just give credit to the Government Sports Funding Policies
— G.T. Lem ๆ ๅฎถ ่ฐ (@gtlem) August 10, 2024
That is the reason why c @Red_Toryism
Sorry. ๐๐ฅ https://t.co/yhkVrMKKTA
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) August 9, 2024
Our Prime Minister knows how to use shade.
— Mike Morris (@1MikeMorris) August 10, 2024
Our wannabe PM only knows how to use an axe. #AxePoilievre
Saturday, August 10, 2024
Today's News: Ukraine's Kursk invasion
Here is a roundup from some of the better sources of Ukraine Russia War information, with their analysis about the recent surprising, and surprisingly successful, Kursk offensive:
Post by @ianbremmerView on Threads
As the war in Ukraine settled into a stalemate, two assumptions became prevalent among analysts: First, that it is nearly impossible to achieve any surprise on a battlefield blanketed by drones. Second, that it is nearly impossible to mount fast-moving offensive operations, given the extensive defenses erected by both sides. Ukraine has challenged both assumptions over the past few days with its surprise, lightning-fast thrust into Russia’s Kursk region — an area familiar to military historians as the site, during World War II, of the biggest tank battle in history.The Ukrainian military shocked the entire world — and the Russian defenders — when it sent an armored column on Tuesday across the border from Ukraine’s Sumy region. There had been cross-border raids by Ukraine before, but those were much smaller operations conducted by Russian volunteers. This was something much more ambitious: a combined-arms offensive utilizing armored vehicles (some of them German- and U.S.-made), infantry, artillery and electronic-warfare equipment. Ukraine reportedly committed elements of four elite brigades to the operation....
Ukraine’s breakthrough seems to have been achieved by massed used of jammers to knock out Russian drones and massed drones to break through the lines -- my take for Forbes @forbes https://t.co/u0xdZvYDuW
— David Hambling (@David_Hambling) August 9, 2024
Friday, August 09, 2024
Did you know its International Cat Day?
August 8 is "International Cat Day" so let's go!
#InternationalCatDay Here's our Marbles, snoozing in her favorite spot - where the dogs couldn't bother her: pic.twitter.com/AObAJmrJ4E
— Cathie from Canada ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ท๐ณ️๐ ๐บ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฑ (@CathieCanada) August 8, 2024
“I've lived with several Zen masters — all of them cats.”#InternationalCatDay #Caturday #CatsOfTwitter pic.twitter.com/KdfGn2cbUi
— Jeffrey Ⓥ (@LiftForever67) August 8, 2024
Thursday, August 08, 2024
Today's News: Cue the Swiftboating
So at first glance, this story questioning Tim Walz's service record really does look innocuous -- another "just asking questions" article in the New York Times:
Post by @murshedzaheedView on Threads
...This is an extremely simple situation: JD Vance is lying about the military service of a fellow veteran for political gain. The story is extremely simple, and extremely important — and it is a story about JD Vance being a liar.Journalists have a responsibility to tell that story, the story about JD Vance smearing a fellow veteran. Vance and Donald Trump want the story to be about a controversy over Walz’s military service. But that isn't the real story, because there is no controversy. There is the truth — Walz retired before his unit was called up — and there is JD Vance lying. Liars telling lies does not make a controversy; it’s just a guy lying.Predictably, Vance and Trump are already getting a helping hand from the news media, which is privileging their lies....The first seven paragraphs of the New York Times article are devoted to recounting Vance’s false claims — without once even hinting at their falsity. The article portrays this as a problem for Walz instead of for Vance — and thus makes it so.This is a classic example of privileging the lie, a phrase I developed in 2008 while at Media Matters for America to describe news reports that centers a false claim (rather than centering its falsity) and thus helps the person making the false claim spread their lie instead of holding them accountable for lying....What Trump and Vance and the New York Times are doing is also a textbook example of “Swiftboating.” During the 2004 presidential campaign, Republicans — led by current Donald Trump advisor Chris LaCivita — smeared John Kerry over his service in Vietnam, where he served on Navy swift boats and was awarded three Purple Hearts.What JD Vance is doing is as disgusting as politics gets. Privileging his lies, as The New York Times has done, is as disgusting as journalism gets ...
Wednesday, August 07, 2024
Today's News: Laughing all the way
Minnesota shares a border with Ontario & Manitoba. Kamala Harris went to high school in Montreal.
— Tom Chapman ๐บ๐ธ๐จ๐ฆ (@realTomChapman) August 6, 2024
Inch by inch... pic.twitter.com/VtWkWVHwV7
With Harris and Walz we are about to enter apostrophe hell.
— Eric Turkewitz (@Turkewitz) August 6, 2024
IT IS NOT! I will die on this Hill as the Granddaughter of the person who wrote the McGraw-Hill Style Manual back in the 1950s -- Harris possessive is apostrophe-no-s, Walz is apostrophe-with-s after.
— dominus (@kdominus) August 6, 2024
If you're going to Walz all night, you'll need some Harris the dog that bit you in the morning.
— Aaron Stuart (@AaronStuart47) August 6, 2024
... I'll see myself out
great choice, Walz, only issue is that he can be hard to get going, you'll say one, two, three! and he'll just go two, two, three; three, two, three
— Marie Le Conte (@youngvulgarian) August 6, 2024
I see the MAGA weirdos are already attacking Tim Walz for suggesting that convicted felons should be allowed to vote
— John Cleese (@JohnCleese) August 6, 2024
Surely that's pretty much the same as allowing them to run for President, isn't it ?
Another fun fact: Tim Walz is the only one in the race who doesn't wear makeup.
— Alex Cole (@acnewsitics) August 6, 2024
I'm not used to feeling hopeful. I don't know what to wear.
— Paula Poundstone (@paulapoundstone) August 6, 2024
And just to follow up on my last post:They ain't coming here. https://t.co/yGRiKmAmQr
— No Guns In Canada ๐จ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฆ๐ง (@NoGunsInCanada) August 7, 2024
Reporter: Thank you for sitting down for this inter...
— Conspiratorial Templates (@mynamehear) August 5, 2024
RFK Jr: My family and I ate Jimmy Hoffa for Thanksgiving in 1975 pic.twitter.com/ZNe0fqWTeF
This might be @StephenKing’s shortest Horror story https://t.co/21pwFvqo5P
— Hal Sparks (@HalSparks) August 6, 2024
Tuesday, August 06, 2024
Today's News: RFK and the dead bear cub
This is even weirder than the dead brain worm story, and that's saying a lot.
The Kennedys: We’ve have enough of death and tragedy in our family to last us a lifetime.
— urban myths, legends (@urbanmyths) August 4, 2024
RFK jr. : Hold my bear.
New Yorker's @ClareMalone obtained a photo of RFK and the dead bear cub pic.twitter.com/UGGp70walH
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) August 5, 2024
I think everyone should just keep saying to RFK jr “I know what you did” and see what other insane things he admits to
— stoned cold fox (@roastmalone_) August 5, 2024