A Thumbnail Roundup: America's new National Security Strategy tells Europe and Asia to pound sand. But they still think they run the Western Hemisphere.

Tonight I saw great posts and commentaries on today's news. Warning: some of these are lengthy reads.

America has released a new National Security Strategy (pdf link) - which is telling Europe and Asia they're on their own, while vowing to interfere with the western hemisphere.

TLDR:

My impression is that Putin has outlined a vision to Trump where the U.S. withdraws from Europe and Asia, and in return is given a free hand to focus on dominating the Americas. This is where the Greenland and Canada annexation talk comes from.

— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec.bsky.social) December 4, 2025 at 11:12 PM

The National Security Strategy released by the Trump administration is such an odious, obscene, fascistic document that isolationism — the “let’s ignore the rest of the world” approach — would actually be a big moral and strategic improvement. Interesting times, indeed.

- Dan Gardner

Read on Substack

This is a shocking document in every way. Looking past the Trump-worshipping nonsense and distortions of history, it represents the final shift of the US away from Europe and an explicitly interventionist policy in the Western Hemisphere. It seeks to export Trumpism and promotes far right concepts such the so-called “replacement theory”. It supports Russia over democracy and essentially demands unfettered access for American social media platforms to spread hate and propaganda. It is Stephen Miller’s flop sweat in AI written form. A total train wreck. https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2025-National-Security-Strategy.pdf

- Black Cloud Six

Read on Substack

About Conspiracy Theories : "grime building up on the window until you can see only the outlines of shadowy figures"

I'm seeing posts recently about conspiracy theories, and related events -- mainly, how crazy they are and how they're going to get people killed! 

Then today I found a couple of great charts that show all of the recent conspiracy theories and particularly how they all sort of fit together. 

So under the category of "know your enemy" I'm printing them here: 

Got all that?  

Don't you feel better now that at least SOMEBODY knows what's going on....

Today's News: "this moral slum of an administration should nauseate Americans"

Of all the things Trump has destroyed that America used to be proud of - charity, fairness, openness, diplomacy, rule of law - it turns out to be the war crimes that are angering Americans the most. They used to take such pride in their military - "best in the world!" they always boast. 

Those times when the American military did not live up to the ideal - Abu Gharib, My Lai, Gitmo, Bagram (taxi to the dark side) - the American people were ashamed of what had been done.

Now the unprovoked bombing of Venezuelan fishing boats is another shameful chapter for Americans. 

The guys are feeling a little squirmy about war crimes…

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— @NewsJennifer (Jennifer Schulze) (@newsjennifer.bsky.social) December 2, 2025 at 11:30 AM

Today's Commentary about Carney, about Ukraine, about Trump, about Venezuela, plus our "Mostly Harmless" B-Ark

I found some good commentaries to share tonight, plus a bit about the B-Ark.

Commentary about Carney's progress: 

Wayne Horton has started a fascinating series called The Carney Letters - an unauthorized series by Wayne Horton. Here is how he explains it:

...These letters imagine what Mark Carney might say if he could speak freely to Canadians — not as a Prime Minister bound by diplomacy, but as the thoughtful economist, public servant, and citizen he’s always been. They’re written from the desk he’s never actually had: the one where he can set aside decorum and speak to the country without filters, handlers, or the fear of headlines.
In an age when political communication has been stripped of candour, these “unauthorized” letters restore the voice behind the restraint. Each entry draws from Carney’s real words, gestures, and silences — the things implied in his tone and timing but left unsaid in public. Together, they form an imagined correspondence with a nation he’s trying to rebuild: pragmatic, principled, and just a little weary of the noise.

And here is an excerpt from his letter from yesterday:

Dear Team Canada — Day 218 — Who Cares? We Do.
...when I said “Who cares?”, what I meant was:
Who cares about the theatre when the real work is happening elsewhere?
I shouldn’t have said it that way. But the sentiment — the prioritization — was not wrong.
As one senior official in my Johannesburg briefing dryly remarked:
“The U.S. is a partner. It is not the plan.”
And increasingly, that is true.
Meanwhile, the Economy Delivered Something Remarkable
Last week’s national accounts confirm what many analysts doubted was even possible:
-Canada’s GDP grew at roughly 2.6–2.7% annualized in Q3.
-Inflation remains near the 2% target.
-Unemployment is stabilizing rather than spiking.
These are not small accomplishments.
They happened during:
-a heated tariff war,
-a deliberate attempt by the Trump Administration to damage our manufacturing base,
-a global energy price shock, and
-accelerating geopolitical instability.
You do not get GDP growth and anchored inflation in those conditions unless something deeper than luck is at play.
As one economist put it to me this week:
“Prime Minister, this feels like watching a plane climb during a stall warning.”
In aviation terms, that’s not supposed to happen.
In policy terms, it means the strategy is working — and the stall warning may have been premature.
Still conservative commentators in Canada and the United States insist the economy is “running on fumes,” yet every week I meet with more world leaders eager to invest in Canada, and more Canadian business owners preparing to expand. The irony, of course, is that conservative media does not actually want conservative economic strategy to succeed — because the results would benefit all Canadians, not just an elite few.
We are not clear of turbulence. But the wings are holding — and the lift is real.
...Canada has formally concluded negotiations to join the European Union’s Security Action for Europe (SAFE) initiative — the central procurement and financing pillar of Europe’s Readiness 2030 plan. ... SAFE mobilizes up to $244 billion in loans for EU member states to rearm — part of a broader $1.3 trillion European defence modernization effort. As Europe urgently acquires ammunition, drones, artillery systems, missiles, and next-generation infantry technologies, Canada will be the only non-European country with preferential access to that massive demand...
For Canadian workers, engineers, and manufacturers, this is the largest defence-sector opening in generations...

Cue another Poilievre re-brand "The key to success is sincerity. If you can fake that, you've got it made"

At the Parliamentary press gallery dinner this weekend, Pierre Poilievre actually made fun of himself:

Right wing journalists were ecstatic. "Poilievre steals the show at parliamentary press gallery dinner" posted Rebel News.

Pierre Poilievre's Parliamentary Press Gallery dinner speech, with comments by Moose on the Loose. LOVE it!! Way to go @pierrepoilievre!
Pierre CRASHES Ottawa Press Gallery Dinner With HILARIOUS Speech No One ... https://t.co/gUO1tLRN6y via @YouTube

— 🇨🇦 tbdawn 🇨🇦 (@tbdawn) December 2, 2025

So I suspect we're seeing the start of another Poilievre "rebranding" attempt

As George Burns once said "The key to success is sincerity. If you can fake that, you've got it made."

Sunday Funday: Brittlestar, The Beaverton, I know you are but what am I, Amazing stuff, Comments on the passing scene, TrumpWatch, and Animal Crackers

Hey, I'm in a better mood tonight -- it was a beautiful sunny day here today, so that was great!
Anyway, here's some funny stuff and interesting stuff I found this week.

Brittlestar to start things off:

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Today's News: Fed up with awful news

Maybe I just felt grumpy because it's snowing, but today I saw so many news stories that really pissed me off. 

First, an incredibly disrespectful and dismissive remark from Natural Resources minister Tim Hodgson:

Does Tim Hodgson understand how *spectacularly* shitty he comes off with this? Treating Indigenous leaders as obstacles instead of negotiating partners is so deeply disrespectful 😡

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— scott dagostino (@scottdagostino.ca) November 28, 2025 at 12:34 PM

He later apologized, sort of:

Minister, are you aware now that a lot of Indigenous communities lack the access to high speed reliable Internet that make a Zoom call possible?

— Christina DiEdoardo (@ChristinaSFLaw) November 29, 2025

Tim Hodgson is meeting with Eby to "mend fences." There is a definite pattern emerging from the Carney government about bulldozing through and asking for forgiveness later. #PnPCBC

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) November 28, 2025 at 4:05 PM

2 months ago Coastal First Nations asked Minister Hodgsons for a meeting. The liberals got back to them Wednesday and said they could talk on Friday- after Carney announced the pipeline. Hodgson's is a Goldman Sachs buddy. This isn't going to end well. www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

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— Charlie Angus (@charlieangus104.bsky.social) November 28, 2025 at 8:42 AM

The Carney-Smith energy & pipeline MOU - is Carney crazy like a fox?

From Victoria Times-Colonist newspaper

Lots of opinions tonight, pro and con, about the Carney-Smith energy and pipeline MOU and the subsequent resignation from Cabinet of Carney's Quebec lieutenant and official languages minister Steven Guilbeault.

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Carney and Smith are uniters! They have been able to get environmental activists and climate denying Alberta separatists to unite in their opposition to the MOU.

— Duane Bratt (@duanebratt.bsky.social) November 27, 2025 at 1:28 PM

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Today's News: Cartoons on parade!

Today I'm seeing so many great political cartoons and comments about daily news I just want to share a few of them.

First up, Carney and Smith

I don't know enough about pipelines and oil production to say anything sensible about what Carney is trying to do with Alberta oil pipelines, but I think this cartoon has merit:

Now Smith says separatism is off the agenda at the upcoming UCP meeting. So maybe that's progress. Yes, I know it was always just BS on her part, but there are rabid right-wing people in Alberta and Saskatchewan who take it all dreadfully seriously.

Updates: "Who cares?" is trending, Mamdani v Trump shows us 'this is the way', and some good news from xkcd

Seems like a lot of the news today was really just an update of the news from the weekend. 

So here's some good commentary and update posts: 

"Who cares?" is trending

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"Who cares?" is trending on social media across the country:

Canadians don't care about Carney's "Who cares?" (to the CPC's irritation) for a simple reason. We're sick of Trump--sick of hearing him & about him, of his existence. Unlike those in Canada's tiny far-right treehouse, we're not fascinated by Trump & don't care if he likes us..,

— James Christian Parsons (@Dred_Tory) November 25, 2025

OMG and its only Tuesday! The weekend news roundup - Carney's "Who Cares?" riposte, Why a new pipeline? Why war with Venezuela? What if AI is just a house of cards? And Dutch Strong!

So its only Monday but it seems like its already been a busy week. 

Carney's "Who Cares?" riposte
and cue the Poilievre hissy fit tempest in a teapot. Here's the story that Canadian Press reported:

...While taking questions from reporters in Johannesburg on Sunday, Carney was asked when he last spoke with Trump and replied, “Who cares?”
“I look forward to speaking with the president soon, but I don’t have a burning issue to speak with the president about right now,” he said. “When America wants to come back and have conversations on the trade side, we will have those discussions
The prime minister made the remarks to reporters while he was attending the G20 leaders’ summit, which Trump boycotted.
Conservatives zeroed in on Carney’s comments during question period in the House of Commons on Monday. Leader Pierre Poilievre pointed out that Carney campaigned during the spring election on his ability to deal with the Trump administration.
“We care about the workers who have lost their jobs and don’t have paycheques to make their mortgage payments. Why doesn’t he care?” Poilievre said....

Yeah, because Poilievre always was a Friend to the Working Man! Here's the video of what Carney said:

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Sunday Funday: Good Cartoons, Canada stuff, US stumbles, Funny comments and posts; TrumpWatch, Animal Crackers

Here are some good cartoons that I enjoyed

Here's some good stuff about Canada

Elizabeth May lays it DOWN!

Elizabeth May is our old school common sense voice of reason in a world that is quicky (and wrongly) coming to believe AI knows everything and can do magic.

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— Scott in Montreal🇨🇦 (@scottinmontreal.ca) November 22, 2025 at 1:27 PM

Russia-Ukraine War update: the world is hoping that Ukraine can still fight on

Didn't we always think it would come to this?

To his everlasting shame, Trump is turning tail and getting ready to pull America out of supporting Ukraine in the war with Russia. What a gutless coward. 

Ukraine is grappling with despair:

President Zelenskyy said after a call with US Vice President JD Vance that Ukraine agreed to work with the US and Europe towards a peace plan with Russia. Earlier he told the country it faces one of its most difficult moments as it weighs a US proposal that gives major concessions to Russia.

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— Al Jazeera English (@aljazeera.com) November 21, 2025 at 2:21 PM

The stupid, it burns!

I try not to pay attention all the time to the crazy stuff happening in the US, but some days.....

Today's commentary: the F-35 v Gripen decision, and Carney's role in the world now

First up tonight, the fighter jet decision - F-35 v. Gripen - has become a Canadian loyalty test and rightfully so. The idea of spending our millions on American jets right now just sticks in Canada's craw.

Sweden's Gripen is a mostly-viable alternative. 

That Trump will be furious is a feature, not a bug, as far as Canadians are concerned -- though of course our government cannot be so cavalier about the decision when US tariffs are affecting the livelihoods of so many.
Here are some tweets about the issues, and some interesting commentary about the pros and cons of the purchase decision.

Looks like Trump's loss may become another win for #Sweden as more allies shun the F-35 for SAAB Gripens & Eurofighters. The #TrumpRegime is losing on Trade and in Military Contracts Canada "didn't get enough" out of F-35 deals with Lockheed Martin, looking at Saab's Gripen: Joly search.app/339kk

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— Prairiesunshine (@scottishox2.bsky.social) November 19, 2025 at 1:59 PM

Of course the American ambassador Pete Hoekstra has to stick his nose into it and start issuing threats:

Looks who's back? MAGA Pete Hoekstra. Working with the Swedes on building Gripen fighter jets looks better all the time. BTW Pete could you tell us if you have any knowledge of the $500 Mil slush fund offered to Alberta separatists? #foreigninterference www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

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— Charlie Angus (@charlieangus104.bsky.social) November 19, 2025 at 3:44 PM

Which is enough to make every red-blooded Canadian want to give the entire contract to Sweden immediately.
And personally, I don't think Carney would have invited such a large Swedish delegation to Canada and entertained them at a state dinner, if Canada ultimately intends to stiff them.

#Sweden and #Canada signed a major security and trade deal yesterday. Have you noticed any far-right idiots attacking Canada's Prime Minister, Carney, or the Swedish King? No? That's the difference: countries that sticks to sound values and openly turn away from the cesspool that the MAGA US is.

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— julibluesky (@julibluesky.bsky.social) November 19, 2025 at 12:48 PM

And Sweden says it doesn't threaten people into a deal.

There's Meat On Them Swedish Meatballs Dept. #Saab #Gripen

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— Scott in Montreal🇨🇦 (@scottinmontreal.ca) November 19, 2025 at 9:12 PM