The Stupid, It Burns!

They call economics "the dismal science". And now I know why. 

We are all, unfortunately, learning more about international trade policy than we ever wanted to know.

tbh i didn't know one person could destroy the global economy

— derek guy (@dieworkwear.bsky.social) April 9, 2025 at 10:18 AM

What a crazy day it has been today -- either Trump cancelled the tariffs because he panicked when his idol Goldman said there would be a Trump recession. Or he engineered a blatant insider trading scheme so he and his sycophants could buy low, announce the tariff cancellation, and then sell high. Or maybe both?

So Trump pauses implementing HIS OWN tariffs, the markets surge because nobody likes Trump’s tariffs, and Trump then takes credit for the markets surging. We live in such a stupid time.

- Joe Walsh

Read on Substack

There are always wheels within wheels when dealing with Trump:

Actually the real story today—not the bullshit tariff thing—is that Trump does not have enough Republican votes to get his budget passed in the House. He’s destroyed his air of invincibility and is now officially a lame duck.

- Andy Borowitz

Read on Substack

"Too big to rig"? It's really just another Trumpism

I'm seeing some more references about "sore loser-ism" and how Conservatives are now convincing themselves that their large rallies in Pentiction (3,000) and Edmonton (15,000) must mean Poilievre actually has the election in the bag. 

They think the polls showing Carney and the Liberals ahead by double digits must be rigged, but they think the massive Conservative voter turnout they are anticipating will make the election "too big to rig". 

And when Poilieve loses the election, they will think the Liberals cheated.
(Even though Poilievre himself is the only party leader in this election who had to sign an Elections Canada compliance agreement in 2017 because he had broken election rules as a cabinet minister when he got cutesy at a government funding announcement.)
So I thought it might be useful to bring a little more attention to this issue.
Last night, I posted Dan Gardner's ominous note:

Trending in Canada on X is the slogan “too big to rig.” That last word caught my eye. It’s one of Donald Trump’s favourites. Everything he doesn’t like is “rigged.” And sure enough, that’s exactly how it’s being used: People are sharing pictures of big crowds at Conservative rallies and saying Conservative support is so huge that the nefarious forces out to rig the election won’t be able to. Or they exhort people to get involved and vote and make the outcome “too big to rig.” It is, in other words, a manifestation of the cynicism Trump has promoted from the beginning of his political career: If we don’t win, it was rigged. For a healthy democracy, that is poison. Let’s not do this, fellow Canadians. Whoever wins, wins. Period. Grumble over your beer but accept it, and have at it again in the next election. Delegitimizing outcomes you don’t like simply because you don’t like them, and can’t imagine they could happen in a fair election, is the path to social disintegration. Let’s not go there.

- Dan Gardner

Read on Substack

Here are some remarks about the "too big to rig" delusion:

When does “Too Big To Rig” change to “Stop The Steal!”?

— Sneaky Jiggly 🇨🇦 (@JigglyPants44) April 8, 2025

Things I saw today: some great videos and interesting posts, Klippenstein on Iran, Krugman on tariffs, Scrimshaw on Alberta

Three great videos today:

This funny 'American Pie' parody bites hard — from a comedy show that went out a few days ago in the UK

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— Ian Johnson 🔆 (@mrianjohnson.bsky.social) April 6, 2025 at 11:56 AM

It was only a matter of time before someone did the Hitler downfall parody and Trump economics.

- The Irish Politics Newsletter

Read on Substack

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Weekend funny stuff: Being old(er), the history of Europe in bubbles, a few good posts and jokes, Elbows Up, and Animal Crackers

I know you're only as old as you feel, but really....my score on this is zero.. 

Oops!

Trump Monday

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— Sister Golden Bear (@sistergoldenbear.bsky.social) April 6, 2025 at 11:07 PM

An incredible observation:

A tricky thing about modern society is that no one has any idea when they don’t die. Like, the number of lives saved by controlling air pollution in America is probably over 200,000 per year, but the number of people who think their life was saved by controlling air pollution is zero.

— Hank Green (@hankgreen.bsky.social) April 6, 2025 at 10:13 PM

A short guide to European history:

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Today's News: Big Daddy Carney, Elbows Up, and Hands Off

Big Daddy Carney
Isn't this hilarious?

As I reported yesterday at a rally in Scarborough a woman shouted from the crowd "Big Daddy, lead us!" and everyone laughed. Now its a meme - this photo was posted at EhBuddyHoser on Reddit.

A recent CPC attack on Carney accused his father, who was principle of an indigenous school, of denying the damage caused by residential schools. Here is Carney's reply:

#MarkCarneyLiberalMajority

- #CanadiansAgainstPoilievre

Read on Substack

Some of the attacks on Carney are getting sorta extreme:

I heard Mark Carney once cut through Sears Canada to go to the mall without buying anything. https://t.co/oRd6tCYs5Z

— Sears Canada Parody (@SearsStores) March 29, 2025

Mark Carney messed up, big time.
Sources say they have proof of the Prime Minister swimming less than an hour after eating a large meal.

Everyone know you're supposed to wait a full hour!

The Liberal Party is bracing themselves for the impact of this newest bombshell.

— Canadian Albertan (@furmsies) March 29, 2025

Today's News - Teflon Carney; Collapsing America; Trump's Shame

Teflon Carney - they keep throwing stuff at him but it just doesn't stick 

One of the most impressive attributes that Mark Carney brings to Canada is respect, both given and taken. 

As he is going across the country, meeting people and giving speeches, Carney shows such respect for all the people he deals with -- he isn't arrogant in the least, he doesn't have to show off how smart he is by putting down ordinary people.

This dude got Carney to sign his jersey. pic.twitter.com/uDlHEqlGum

— Glen E. McGregor (@glen_mcgregor) April 4, 2025

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Carney even shows respect for Trump as the American president, though he doesn't hesitate to call him out for the damage he is doing to the world economy. 

Just as Carney respects others, he also demands respect for himself and his office and his country -- before he would even speak to Trump, he demanded that Canada be respected as a sovereign independent country -- I don't know what Carney said during that phone call but we aren't hearing any more "jokes" about the 51st state and "Governor Carney" crap. 

Poilievre and the CPC are trying desperately to come up with some smear that will stick -- they're tried sneaky, Brookfield, the blind trust, plagiarism, poor French, Jeffrey Epstein, his father's job as principle of an indigenous day school - all stupid and pointless. Carney just rises above it - replying "look within yourself, Rosemary" whenever his character, integrity or truthfulness is questioned - and it slides right off his back, forgotten within a news cycle. 

Today's News: Carney says "We are masters in our own home" and Poilievre gets a "killer" endorsement

On Thursday, Carney gave a major speech about the US tariffs and it was great:

"We must respond with both purpose and force," he said. "We are a free, sovereign and ambitious country. We are masters in our own home. We will fight to bring these tariffs to an end." Ottawa "will do everything in our power" to protect workers, including with financial assistance, Carney said, while promising to direct all tariff funds raised by taxing American goods toward helping employees affected by what could be a very tumultuous time ahead. 

Carney also said in the shorter run, while the US economy is likely going to fall into a recession, Canada can do better than the US if we put support and investment measures in place. In the longer run, he said, if the United States no longer wants to lead in the world economy, Canada will,

Carney: Canada must be looking elsewhere to expand our trade, to build our economy, and to protect our sovereignty. Canada is ready to take a leadership role in building a coalition of likeminded countries who share our values… If the US no longer wants to lead, Canada will

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— Acyn (@acyn.bsky.social) April 3, 2025 at 11:38 AM

Today's News: Trump has a sad that the world is mean to America. Well, bub, you ain't seen nothin' yet! #ETTD

Listening to Trump's babbling at his big Tariffs press conference this afternoon, he was talking again about his yearning for the Belle Epoque -- those golden olden days at the end of the 19th Century, when the US government was small enough to be financed by the tariffs it collected, meaning that the poor and the middle class ended up paying a disproportionate share of their income for those tariffed goods, while the wealthy paid a relative pittance. In Trump's mind, that was just marvelous - noblesse oblige and all that. 

So this afternoon, he again talked about what a mistake it was in 1913 that the US decided to collect income taxes instead of financing everything with tariffs.
Then he went on about how poorly the United States has been treated by the world -- yes, we're all been so mean to the poor poor United States, forcing them to pay for the best military in the world and to put up those bases all over, demanding to use the US dollar as the world currency, requiring them to fight wars everywhere, making them develop world-class universities and industries and lead the world in democratic governance -- have they ever had it rough!

Then he holds up a placard with a list of tariffs on it that nobody could read, and keeps on talking.

I expected a marching band and a juggling act too, but then CBC cut away so I didn't see them whenever they showed up.

As Alex Ballingall at the Toronto Star wrote in their live coverage piece:

This feels very Trumpy to me: a global audience fraught with anxiety about how his actions will vapourize wealth and jobs, learning how hard they’re getting hit by squinting at a placard the president is clutching in the White House Rose garden.

I see that Trump, as well as rambling like an idiot, is using state of the art (circa 1980) presenting techniques with his Eurovision style scoreboard to describe his new tariffs.#trumptariffs #trump pic.twitter.com/oxLNbZsyuC

— Marcy Jay (@wisebirdswords) April 2, 2025

Today's News: CTV scurries away from Rachel Gilmore

 

I am appalled that CTV would hire Gilmore then fire her immediately because of Conservative push-back. Are they so out-of-touch with Canadian social media that they didn't realize they were going to get this kind of crazy reaction from the Cons, and they would need to expect it and figure out how to deal with it? 

Its like the CTV bosses have no idea that the journalists they want to hire are prominent because they have an independent profile and national standing (oh yeah -- Lisa LaFlame!)

NEW: CTV cancelled a fact-checking segment in response to political pressure from Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives An audio recording obtained by PressProgress shows CTV cancelled an ‘election misinformation’ segment with journalist Rachel Gilmore after online backlash from conservatives

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— PressProgress (@pressprogress.ca) April 1, 2025 at 3:31 PM

I won't repeat the blow-by-blow that LeBrun reports, but here is how his article ends:
Luke LeBrun / Press Progress

CTV Cancelled a Fact-Checking Segment in Response to Political Pressure From Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives
Audio recording shows CTV cancelled an ‘election misinformation’ segment with journalist Rachel Gilmore after online backlash from conservatives
...Gilmore says she worries about the message CTV is sending to other journalists, especially women, people of colour and younger journalists, who will feel chilled about covering issues impacting vulnerable communities and democracy for fear they will suffer professional consequences if they become a target too.
“Newsrooms should stand by their journalists,” Gilmore said. “These campaigns are disproportionately deployed against women and against people of colour, and that means that those are the people who will be disproportionately taken off of the airwaves when newsrooms give in to these bad faith campaigns.”
“The only way you can control it is by reducing your presence online and not covering the kinds of stories that piss these people off … The reason these people initially hated me was because I covered vaccines, the Freedom Convoy, the far-right and rising neo-Nazi and white supremacist movements within our country.”
Despite the threat of online harassment and pressure campaigns designed to make journalists pay a price professionally for using their voices and exercising their right to free expression, Gilmore says she will “not stop telling stories about things threatening our democracy and our society.”
“I didn’t get into journalism because I wanted to see my name on CTV News,” Gilmore said. “I got into it because I want to make the world slightly less shitty.”
“I cover these stories because they help people.”

National television network known for its what-could-possibly-go-wrong editorial decisions makes another one.

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— Christopher Dornan (@chrisdornan.bsky.social) April 1, 2025 at 9:47 PM

Looks like Trump is creating new world alliances. But they're against America...

It has only been five months since America voted for Trump instead of Harris, but the world is changing rapidly in response to what Trump is doing to America.

Tonight I'm reading about the alliances that are forming against America now. Trump and his goblins thought they could have all of it their own way, but that isn't going to work out very well, I don't think. 

As fascism in America rises, people are beginning to flee:

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75% of US scientists may leave for Canada or Europe #USpol #CanadaSky www.nature.com/articles/d41...

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— JonChevreau (@jonchevreau.bsky.social) March 30, 2025 at 7:48 PM

People can move but nations cannot. 

Weekend funny stuff: our awful weather, some funny posts. house hippo warnings, American cartoons, Animal Crackers, and Elbows Up!

Speaking of the weather, hasn't it just been awful:

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At least baseball season has finally started.

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Today's News: This is what losing looks like.

Don't tell Trump that he lost on Friday.

But he did:

Trump defeated again and has caved to Canada as the Prime Minster confirms the old relationship with the US is over. 24 hours later Trump groveled to Canada via a tweet where he stopped calling it the 51st state or referring to the PM as the governor. #cdnpoli www.bbc.com/news/article...

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— Anonymous (@youranoncentral.bsky.social) March 28, 2025 at 12:35 PM

Today's News: Poilievre is crashing while Carney is leading "like Churchill with better lighting"

(Chart from Tom Parkin Data Shows)

So I opened my tablet today and this is what I read in the news:

Robert Fife and Laura Stone / The Globe and Mail

Doug Ford’s campaign manager warns Poilievre on track to lose federal election
Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s campaign manager says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre will lose the federal election unless he quickly pivots and responds to Canadians’ fear and anxiety over U.S. President Donald Trump’s economic war against Canada.
Kory Teneycke, who oversaw Mr. Ford’s three back-to-back majority government wins, bluntly told an Empire Club of Canada discussion about the election Wednesday evening that alarm bells should be ringing loudly in the Poilievre campaign.
....“You got to get on that issue,” Mr. Teneycke said. “And you know, you might not totally win, but you can’t lose by 20 points on it. You can’t get blown away on it.”
He later added: “If they don’t get on it, and get on it quick, they are going to get obliterated.”
...According to internal Progressive Conservative polling shared with The Globe by Mr. Teneycke, the federal Liberals hold a significant lead in Ontario, with 48 per cent compared to 33 per cent for the Conservatives and 11 per cent for the New Democrats...

The Toronto Star is also on it:
Robert Benzie / Toronto Star

Doug Ford’s internal polling paints grim election prospects for Pierre Poilievre in Ontario
Ford’s campaign manager warns that unless the Tories “get on it quick, they are going to get obliterated.”
....Teneycke expressed grave concern at the direction of Poilievre’s campaign, which remains fixated on tax cuts while Carney is focused on the threat of U.S. President Donald Trump’s 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods.
“For the Conservatives ... in the campaign cockpit, every buzzer and alarm is going off and the plane is like going ‘bzzzzz’ and it’s like, ‘Pull up, pull up, pull up,’” he told the 200 attendees at the event.
“You’ve got to have a pivot that’s taking some of the momentum of that issue shift and direct it towards things that are yours. It’s not going to happen if you’re talking about the World Economic Forum or the Century Initiative or God knows whatever other thing that is ... of little or no relevance to voters.”
That was a reference to Poilievre’s preoccupation linking Carney, a former Bank of Canada and Bank of England governor, with “globalist” elites.
...“He looks too much like Trump. He sounds too much like Trump. He uses the lexicon of Trump,” he said, noting the CPC campaign slogan “Canada First for a Change” mirrors the president’s “America First.”
Campaigning in Coquitlam, B.C., the Tory leader would not specifically answer a question on Teneycke’s comments and played down public-opinion polls that show his party trailing Carney’s Liberals.
“We’ll wait for Canadians to make their choice on election day,” Poilievre told reporters.

Oh, we will, we will.

In fact, we can hardly wait...

Ok, this is pretty funny -- some comments that will make you laugh

So here are some funny posts about some maybe-not-so-funny events.  

But we do need to laugh sometimes, don't we:

About the election campaign:

Someone clearly advised Pierre Poilièvre to smile more.

He really shouldn't.

— True North Eager Beaver Media (he/him/Mr Beaver) (@TrueEager) March 25, 2025

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They’re like the missing teeth in the Canadian smile.

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— Barney Panofsky's Best Intentions (@mynamesnotgordy.bsky.social) March 26, 2025 at 1:57 PM

Lol. Pretty sure the people who are most enthusiastic about her shutting the fuck up are the federal Conservatives.

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— Mary Gillis (@marygillis.bsky.social) March 26, 2025 at 11:11 PM

Today's News: Carney knocks it out of the park; Poilievre is stuck in FAFO

First, Carney's National Corridor for Canada proposal is the kind of big-picture thinking that Liberals seem to do best. 

Dean Blundell

Canada Just Checked Trump’s Ego: Carney’s Super-Corridor Sets Stage for a Global Power Shift Without America
The Maple Curtain Drops: Carney’s Corridor will turn Canada into a Global Superpower as America Watches Helplessly
...By trying to bully us, Trump only succeeded in awakening a sleeping giant north of the 49th. Canada’s answer? Build our own path to prosperity and power, no permission from Washington needed.
Carney’s masterstroke is a National Energy/Shipping/Travel/Digital Corridor, a coast-to-coast-to-Arctic strategy to unite the country like never before.
This isn’t just a pipeline or a highway—it’s everything. Imagine a multimodal lifeline spanning 7,000+ km—road, rail, pipelines, power lines, fiber-optic cables—all in one corridor. That’s the vision. The concept has been called a “visionary project that could unlock extraordinary economic potential.”
Now, it’s government policy.
Carney outlined a First Mile Fund to connect remote energy sites to the grid of roads and rails. There will be no more stranded resources; if we dig it up or pump it out, we’ll ship it out. A “one-window” approval process will blitz through red tape for nation-building projects while still upholding top safety and environmental standards. For once, Canada is acting with wartime urgency in peacetime—because economically, Trump declared war on us. Well, game on.
This corridor strategy is already putting runs on the board. The federal government chipped in $200 million for a new Indigenous-led LNG facility in BC, ensuring Canadian natural gas reaches global markets
Another $175 million is reviving the rail line to the Port of Churchill on Hudson Bay – our Arctic deep-sea gateway​. That investment will “expand and open new transportation corridors” and help get Canadian products to the world​. In short, we’re spending big to ship big. Ottawa is finally betting on Canada’s own infrastructure, not U.S. goodwill.
The corridor doesn’t stop at the Arctic Circle – it embraces it. Climate change is melting polar sea ice, opening up the coveted Northwest Passage for navigation. Canada isn’t going to watch from the sidelines as others rush in. “Climate change is increasing access to Arctic resources and shipping lanes… heightening competition”, warned Canada’s Defence Minister. Damn right, it is – and Canada now plans to win that competition. By investing in Churchill and northern infrastructure, we’re staking our claim as gatekeepers of an emerging superhighway of global trade.
Just how valuable are these Arctic routes? Hugely. Scientists project that summer sea routes over the pole could be 30–50% shorter than today’s Suez or Panama Canal paths, cutting transit time by 2+ weeks
That’s a logistics revolution, and those who control these routes will reap the rewards. The Arctic is loaded with natural resources, too – oil, gas, critical minerals, and fish stocks – a potential goldmine as the ice recedes. No one will gift us our share of this bonanza; we either assert control or get sidelined. As one analysis put it, control over Arctic waterways and resources are “ripe for dispute and potential conflict,” and a “race to build infrastructure to support and control navigation has already begun”. Canada is now decisively entering that race....