Sunday Funday: Poilievre's last chance, let's dance, some oddball sports, random funny stuff, NSFW cartoons, Elbows Up!, TrumpWatch (special Alaska edition), and Animal Crackers

Poilievre's last chance is the Battle River-Crowfoot byelection is Monday and I'm NOT looking forward to Tuesday.

Poilievre promises Battle River-Crowfoot if elected they will never see him again

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— The Beaverton (@thebeaverton.com) August 16, 2025 at 12:54 PM

A natural mistake:

Someone asked me today about my plans for “the fall” and it took me a moment to realize they meant Autumn and not the collapse of civilization.

- Gary Trujillo

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Another Trump embarrassment: "That summit could have been an email"

I couldn't stand to watch even a minute of the obsessive news coverage about the Trump-Putin "summit", so I missed what may well go down in US history as the beginning of the end for Trump.

Even Fox News thought he blew it, looked inept and old and tired and defeated.
If you want to read about what happened, I found a good play-by-play summary here: ONEST Network Olga Nesterova article titled AUG 15: Trump–Putin in Alaska — What Was (and Wasn’t) Said - a very interesting piece.

A three hour meeting, probably half of it taken up by translation. And then decision to end it, before expanded meeting or working lunch, and separate statements made with no questions taken. Many signs it was a bad meeting.

— Laura Rozen (@lrozen) August 16, 2025

Pictures of BEFORE and AFTER the meeting. Your thoughts?

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— Olga Nesterova (@onestpress.onestnetwork.com) August 15, 2025 at 6:16 PM

Things that make me say hmmm......

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What made me say "hmmmm...." the most this week was, of course, Trump and his shenanigans. 

One of the most pathetic things about Trump is his obsession with winning prizes. 

What kind of childhood did he have, that only external "validation" matters and it doesn't matter if its a lie?

Remember when it was found out in 2017 that he lied when he said he had been considered for Time magazine's Person Of The Year and he had made a fake Time cover for display at Mar-A-Lardo? 

And remember when last month he stole a gold medal from a soccer team?

As he ages, he is actually getting worse - he thinks he can get a Nobel Peace Prize just like Obama did:

Trump cold-called a Norwegian minister to ask about his bid to win a Nobel Peace Prize.

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— Politico (@politico.com) August 14, 2025 at 9:53 AM

Current mood in Norway regarding Trump and peace prize

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— alfhvatne.bsky.social (@alfhvatne.bsky.social) August 14, 2025 at 4:39 PM

Norway can do the funniest thing in human history by awarding Donald Trump the first-ever Nobel Peace Prize Participation Trophy.

— Rex Huppke (@rexhuppke.bsky.social) August 14, 2025 at 4:33 PM

Will Poilievre win the byelection battle but lose the leadership war?

To begin with, I think anyone who expects Pierre Poilievre to lose the Battle River-Crowfoot byelection next Monday is living in a dream world.

Its an understandable dream, of course, but just a dream nevertheless.

Here are 338Canada polling results from August 10:

Battle River-Crowfoot is a CPC riding. 

The total vote in this riding in April was 65,000 people, and 53,000 of them voted for the CPC. 

For the last quarter-century, the Conservative vote in the riding has never been less than 70 per cent.

This time independent Bonnie Critchley has run the highest profile campaign against Poilievre -- likely her vote is most of the "Independent" 11 percent in the top chart. 

But as for the chance that she might actually win the seat? Nope.

However, winning the byelection doesn't mean that Poilievre's problems are over -- in fact, they may be just beginning.

If his winning percentage is as lackluster as 338Canada is predicting -- just 70-ish percent, in the strongest conservative riding in Canada -- the party isn't going to be impressed. 

And Poilievre's boasts about how he increased the CPC seats and votes in April aren't going to cut any ice with a party that sees itself being dragged further and further down by an unpopular leader who can't lead and won't follow and isn't getting out of his own way.

If you go down to the woods today....

I don't know if Maple MAGA will ever accept that climate change is real, but apparently trying to deal with its implications - like dry forests with pine beetles -- just drives them around the bend.

 

(My apologies for the screenshots - these BlueSky posts won't embed)

Today's News: on Sask's deadname law, on tariffs, on rage, on luck, on heroes, on Trump and Putin, and on The Stupid

Just some news and comments:

First, I was thrilled to see this: the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal just ruled that, regardless of its notwithstanding clause, our courts can still decide whether Saskatchewan's Deadname law violates constitutional rights.
(And yes, I call this the Deadname law - the government spins it "parents' bill of rights" and most media make it innocuous by calling it a "pronoun policy". But what this law actually does is to require teachers to deadname their trans pupils unless the school outs the student to the parents.) 

Brandon Harder / Saskatoon Star Phoenix

Sask. pronoun consent law case can proceed following appeal court ruling
Four of five judges of Saskatchewan's highest court say a lower court can decide whether what's known as the Parents' Bill of Rights violates constitutional rights, despite the use of the notwithstanding clause.
Saskatchewan’s highest court has ruled that the provincial government’s use of the notwithstanding clause does not shield its pronoun consent law from judicial scrutiny of whether the law limits certain constitutional rights.
As a result, a legal action brought by UR Pride Centre for Sexuality and Gender Diversity (UR Pride) may proceed in a lower court.
...the government argued in September 2024 that, given the invocation of the notwithstanding clause, the court no longer had jurisdiction to weigh in on whether the law violates sections of the Charter listed within the law’s text. They argued the case should have been dismissed for being moot and suggested the addition of a further constitutional challenge was an attempt to get around the government’s lawful actions, amounting to an abuse of process.
UR Pride disputed the government’s positions and argued there is nothing precluding the court from declaring whether the law violates certain constitutional rights.
The majority decision, written by SKCA Chief Justice Robert Leurer and representing the opinion of four of five judges who ruled on the case, dismissed the government’s appeal in all but one area. The decision says the portions of UR Pride’s action seeking to have the policy that preceded the law declared unconstitutional “must be struck for mootness.”
But the majority ruled that the Court of King’s Bench has the jurisdiction to decide whether the PBR (specifically, what is now Section 197.4 of the Education Act and concerns “Consent for change to gender identity”) limits rights under sections 7 and 15(1) of the Charter and to issue a declaration to that end.
Further, the SKCA majority decision concludes UR Pride may also seek a declaration that the section of law is of “no force and effect” based on a violation of Section 12 of the Charter, which protects Canadians from cruel and unusual treatment or punishment.
...Egale Canada, a LGBTQ+ rights organization providing legal support to UR Pride, circulated a statement saying it was pleased with the outcome of the appeal.
“The Court of Appeal’s decision upholds the rule of law in Canada and, in particular, reinforces the critical role of the courts in determining the constitutionality of government action.”

Also, here's some more good news:

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Sunday Funday: Some funny posts and some good music stuff, plus TrumpWatch and Animal Crackers

First, here are a few apt comments about the news:

Yes, in the good old days we thought W was the worst president ever...

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Things that make you say "hmmm....." -- a Poilievre action doll, the BR-C ballot, our Purrr Minister, the grandiose White House, plus other odds and sods

Maybe Poilievre is just an action figure doll now? 

I don't know who did this, but isn't it great?

The advance polls are open in Battle River-Crowfoot. As this video shows, its quite a ballot. And now I wonder how badly mis-spelled "Pierre Poilievre" needs to be before the election workers will refuse to count a ballot?

A record 214 candidates, including Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, are running in the Aug. 18 federal byelection in Alberta's Battle River-Crowfoot. Voters at advance polls had the chance to flip through a thick booklet of candidates to make sure they spelled the names right 👇🏻 #cdnpoli

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— Yahoo Canada (@yahoocanada.bsky.social) August 8, 2025 at 5:40 PM

Today's News: Mboko wins, South Park wins, Carney carries on, Conservatives panic, and Trump trashes Washington

Congrats to Victoria Mboko, winning the National Bank Open in Montreal tonight - outstanding, gutsy:  

Enfant Mboko et une jeune Andrescu. Deux Canadiennes 🇨🇦 à avoir gagné le Tournoi 🇨🇦 🎾🏟️ dans les 50 dernières années. Mboko est un bel exemple de persévérance et de discipline pour le parcours de sa jeune carrière et pour sa performance today. 😉👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 #VickyMboko #Mboko #WTA #Montreal #Championne 🇨🇦🎾🏆✨✨✨

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— TiCoq-Rouge Hendy (@ticoqrouge.bsky.social) August 8, 2025 at 12:37 AM

Not The Beaverton? Not the Onion? Sure sounds like the August crazies are here!

I can't remember whether August has always been so bizarre -- maybe this craziness happens every year and we just forget all about it after school starts again. 

Maybe its the Perseids - their peak time is next week.
Or the phase of the moon - the Sturgeon Moon (AKA Wild Rice Moon) will rise just after sunset on both Saturday and Sunday this week.
But whatever the cause, we're seeing some truly funny stuff happening. It is to laugh....

Here in Canada, so little is going wrong with the Carney government (that is, unless they dump Pharmacare!!!) that MPs have to get mad about stuff the federal government didn't actually do.

Dale Smith reports on the handwringing about upgrading BC Ferries:

On Friday, the Commons transport committee met to wring their hands and express their dismay at BC Ferries’ decision to buy new ships from a Chinese firm, and lo, there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth. Chrystia Freeland expressed her dismay. Gregor Robertson expressed his disappointment. The representative of the Canada Infrastructure Bank pointed out that they don’t make any decisions on procurement, and that their loan was secured before that decision was made. And the head of BC Ferries pointed out, once again, that no Canadian shipyard bid on these ships, if they did, it would take them a decade to deliver them (at least), and that the Chinese bid was $1.2 billion cheaper than any of the others.
That of course didn’t stop opposition MPs from doing the performative song and dance. Conservative Dan Albas demanded the government cancel the loan—which the government can’t do because the Infrastructure Bank is arm’s length. And now they want all documents and emails released, which is going to tell them yet again that no Canadian shipyards bid on this contract. Perhaps most galling of all was Bloc MP Xavier Barsalou-Duval wanted an apology from the government and from the Canada Infrastructure Bank because it’s “unacceptable” that the government plans to invest in foreign infrastructure when our own steel industry is facing tariffs from Trump—but the federal government isn’t investing. BC Ferries, a provincial Crown Corporation is, and the loan from the Infrastructure Bank is a fully repayable loan. You would think the Bloc of all people would rather the federal government respect a decision by a provincial body, but apparently that only matters if it’s in Quebec...

Random Roundup: that canny Carney; the diddler on the roof; no-seat Poilievre

Just a few commentaries tonight, mainly about how well Carney is dealing with Trump and the tariffs, as the American economy begins to collapse. 

Guy Lawson / Rolling Stone 

Why Canada Isn’t Sweating Trump’s Mob Tactics 

The Gang That Couldn’t Govern Straight: Under Trump, Canada’s most-favored-nation status endures, suckers 

Keeping a straight face has been perhaps the greatest achievement of Mark Carney's brief tenure as the prime minister of Canada. For months, Donald Trump has railed against Canada, threatening to turn America’s ungrateful northern neighbor into the 51st state, come what may, an achievement worthy of his visage gracing Mount Rushmore — in the same way Trump will annex Greenland, reclaim the Panama Canal, free Brazil’s corrupt former President Jair Bolsonaro, repeal the laws of climate change and gravity, and then impose tariffs on all of America’s nefarious trading partners, like the evil-doer Canada.
The only hitch, as the canny Carney has known all along: America has a thing called a “treaty” with Canada. Not one of Trump’s “deals,” the chaotic, almost certainly worthless and delusional transactions that involve the president imagining himself astride the world, TV remote in hand, a colossus of reactionary stupidity and cruelty finally delivering his promised revenge.
...The pervasive terror displayed by American institutions has disguised the fact that it is actually possible to stand up to a bully — as unassuming Canada just proved with its support for a Palestinian state. The truth is that under the terms of the USMCA, 95 percent of the goods and services that Canada exports to the United States arrive duty free, leaving a relatively small five percent subject to Trump’s imperial 35 percent tariff. But even that doesn’t capture the absurd reality. While Trump imposes across-the-board tariffs on countless countries, for reasons that escape any rational economic explanation, Canada is now perhaps the single most favored trading nation on earth. While scores of countries face Trump’s punitive tariffs, Canada largely trades tariff free with the United States because it doesn’t need a “deal” — it has a treaty.
Canada's prime minister Carney possesses degrees in economics from Harvard and Oxford, and they likely provided him with sufficient education to see the truth behind Trump’s nonsense — and ensure he has the social graces and political intelligence to not laugh out loud when the president imposes symbolic tariffs like a carnival barker. Leading the Bank of Canada during the global financial crisis of 2008 and the Bank of England through the Brexit catastrophe of 2016 certainly have endowed Carney with the fortitude to quietly keep an eye on the larger prize and persist through times of economic lunacy.
In recent months, Canada has come to occupy a unique place in the world. Sent as a canary into the coal mine of Donald Trump’s addled mind, Canada has emerged from the toxic subterranean atmosphere alive and with the urgent news that it is possible to survive the craziness that has besieged the American body politic. Lay low and say as little as possible is Canada’s message, denying Carney the cheap political thrill of telling Canadians how incredibly fortunate they are that Trump is so stupid — and risk riling the vengeful and easily humiliated Trump.

- Cathie from Canada

Read on Substack

About that wildfire smoke: "The rest of our lives will be smoky"

 Our weather here in Saskatoon wasn't too bad today, but CTV News was certainly covering the hell out of the smoke in Toronto -- in Canada, the weather is not "news" unless its happening in Toronto! -- and the forecast is more smoke  - here's the latest wildfire map I could find.

The anti-Canada sentiment on X because of wildfire smoke in the northeast US is crazy tonight. 

Some seem to want Trump to invade Canada to put out the fires and stop the smoke from affecting their nice summer. 

Yeah, right. Poor babies!

Here's a few posts I saw on X (which now deletes the poster name on embedded posts, I don't know why...)

Fuck Canada: The Air Quality In Chicago This Weekend Will Be "The Worst In The Entire World" Thanks To Canadian Wildfires https://t.co/i2uMpb4ERF pic.twitter.com/IWuS5ocde8

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) August 1, 2025

I'm almost in support of Canada becoming our 51st state just so we can start prosecuting the arsonists and put an end these never ending Canadian wildfires! pic.twitter.com/wzYEBDJunR

— MNRick 🇺🇸 (@MNRick_v3) July 31, 2025

We the USA need to annex Canada by force and only let Alberta vote because:
-they’re poisoning our skies with their wildfires
-they tolerate greater security threats
-their people need to be liberated from tyranny
-many Albertans are based

— Ben LeNeave (@Ben_LeNeave) August 5, 2025

Sunday Funday: Windmills, doomscrolling, and all the other crazy stuff going on, plus TrumpWatch and Animal Crackers

A good idea for responding to the tariffs:

Here's a good one, too:

 

These ugly windmills are killing the motherf*€king whales 🐳 😂😅🤣

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— 🍁🇨🇦Team Canada Forever🇨🇦🍁 (@teamcanadaforever.bsky.social) July 31, 2025 at 4:07 PM

Canada should cut off electricity to USA for 35 minutes per day, everyday, in retaliation for the 35% tariffs, and at a different time every day to mirror Trump’s erratic decision making

— No Guns In Canada 🇨🇦 🇺🇦🟧 (@NoGunsInCanada) August 1, 2025

I think America finally understands they may be completely f*cked

These days I often think of Paul Simon's American Tune:

...For we lived so well so long
Still, when I think of the
Road we're traveling on
I wonder what's gone wrong
I can't help it, I wonder what's gone wrong...

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Elbows Up, Canada!

Well, that's that. 

And Canada says "fuck you very much" to Trump:

This is Canadian diplomatic speak for "Trump can go puck himself"

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— White Rose Resistance (@whiteroseresistance.org) July 31, 2025 at 11:06 PM