Today's News: The photos are the bonfire of the Vanity Fair articles. Plus short takes on Trump, Skate Canada, Poilievre, and hockey refs

Yesterday everyone was talking about the blockbuster Vanity Fair article - Part One and Part Two - mainly on Trump's Chief of Staff Susan Wiles.

And here are gift links to Peter Baker's New York Times articles about the VF pieces - here and here.
The Trumpsters are outraged - OUTRAGED - to be quoted accurately in the article. How dare they?
You know, the same type of thing happened all the time during Trump 45, where some flunky blabbed all over the place then Trump gets mad and the flunky blames the reporter for reporting exactly and accurately what they said:

"We had no idea the conversations we were having were going to be used for a Vanity Fair article!"
"Hey everyone please come to the conference room we have a Vanity Fair photoshoot at 2pm."

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— The Get More Smarter Podcast 🧠 (@getmoresmarter.com) December 16, 2025 at 5:00 PM

I have found several great threads - not about the article itself but about the great photos for this article -- which I thought were worth sharing.

Is Trump going to declare war on Venezuela?

I used to think that the Iraq War was the stupidest war in history.

I was wrong.
It will be the Venezuela War that Trump is going to declare on Wednesday.

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Four days to go to release Epstein files. Which means he’ll go to war with Venezuela in the next three days.

— Mr. Spock 🖖 (@spockresists.bsky.social) December 15, 2025 at 4:49 PM

Today's News: Poilievre loses the media and Trump loses his mind

Poilievre did a couple of big media interviews this weekend, displaying the incisive rhetoric, perceptive analysis and nuanced review of his own performance as leader that we've all come to expect:

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Sunday Funday: A bunch of funny posts, plus TrumpWatch and Animal Crackers

A shorter post tonight, as I have a busy day tomorrow. 

But I did find some good posts this week so enjoy!

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Today's News: "tired of the petty little games"

In my post yesterday I noted that Conservative MP Michael Ma had crossed the floor to join the Carney Liberals - another Festivus miracle!
Today I saw some more good comments about it, including some chuckles about the timing.
Because first, Ma was at the Conservative Christmas party on Wednesday night:

This is a photo from the @thestar.com from the CPC Christmas Party last night. Ma is smiling with Poilievre.

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— Duane Bratt (@duanebratt.bsky.social) December 11, 2025 at 9:05 PM

And then he literally crossed the floor to the Liberal party:

Prime Minister Mark Carney welcomes new Liberal MP Michael Ma on stage at the Liberal Christmas party.

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— Scott Robertson (@sarobertson.bsky.social) December 11, 2025 at 7:57 PM

I'm afraid that Michael Ma doing this to his former Conservative colleagues right before crossing the floor is absolutely iconic. 10/10, no notes:

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— Glonzo In Exile 🇵🇦🇬🇱🇨🇦🇲🇽🇺🇦 (@glonzo-in-exile.bsky.social) December 12, 2025 at 5:04 PM

Things that make me cheer out loud - Canada grows, and Trump declines

So after yesterday's gloomy post, I found some good stuff to share tonight: 

First, Carney keeps growing that Liberal caucus!

Ontario MP Michael Ma crosses floor to Liberals. One short of a majority. 😬

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— Holly Jolly Hoye 🎄 🇨🇦 (@hollyhoye.bsky.social) December 11, 2025 at 5:39 PM

Carney just needs one more now. Who's next?

Live shot of Pierre Poilievre at the Liberal Xmas Party:

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— Edge O. Erin (@edgeoerin.com) December 11, 2025 at 8:17 PM

Things that make me go hummm.... a Russian plot, a tanker hijacking, old man goes crazy and takes America with him. And the world won't forget it.

Today I seemed to see a lot of stuff that was just crazy, so I thought, hey, lets share it!

First, what?

Wow -- Russia reportedly plotted last year to plant bombs on US-bound flights (gift link) giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) December 9, 2025 at 1:33 PM

Next, why?

WATCH: U.S. forces seize oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela

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— BNO News (@bnonews.com) December 10, 2025 at 4:11 PM

Hey if you were wondering whether Hegseth's soldiers are willing to obey illegal orders, let's ask the ones who were last seen scurrying down ropes onto the deck of a Venezuelan oil tanker like contemptible Somali pirates, jonesing to steal some oil as part of a unilateral and unprovoked act of war

— Seth Abramson (@sethabramson.bsky.social) December 10, 2025 at 5:25 PM

People keep wondering why they're going after Venezuela. It's because they want to do regime change and control its oil, then use a big tract of land there to keep a tax free "network state" that looks like Dubai but operates like Rhodesia. They are saying this out loud! Believe them!

— Tim Onion (@bencollins.bsky.social) December 10, 2025 at 12:57 PM

Another Sideshow Bob moment for Poilievre. Another "bite me!" moment for Carney.

Today was the day that Parliament voted on the Conservatives Gotcha! motion about the Canada-Alberta pipeline MOU.
Poilievre stepped on a rake while Carney skated through it. 

In The Globe and Mail, Stephanie Levitz writes:

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s effort to get the House of Commons to vote in support of a new oil pipeline failed after Liberals refused to back an endeavour they described as a divisive political stunt....
During Question Period, Mr. Carney pushed back on Mr. Poilievre for not supporting all of what Alberta had agreed to, and said that if the Conservative Leader did support it, he would have included the entirety of the MOU in the motion.
“I am not a lifelong member of this House, so I don’t know all the rules but I do not think there is a limit on the size of motions,” Mr. Carney said.
The NDP and Bloc Québécois had said earlier Tuesday they would vote against the motion.
Interim NDP Leader Don Davies – who called the pipeline bad for the country – said that given the Conservatives’ mid-debate amendments, the motion amounted to a political game.
“We’re talking about a multibillion dollar issue that has incredible consequences for people across this country, and the fact that the Conservatives couldn’t get their own motion right I think says something about their motivations,” he said....

Dale Smith explains the basic problem:

...The MOU states a “private sector constructed and financed pipelines, with Indigenous Peoples co-ownership and economic benefit, with at least one million barrels a day of low emission Alberta bitumen with a route that increases export access to Asian markets as a priority” whereas the motion simply says “pipelines enabling the export of at least one million barrels a day of low-emission Alberta bitumen from a strategic deepwater port on the British Columbia coast to reach Asian markets,” and adds “respecting the duty to consult Indigenous people.” One of these things is not like the other....
The thing we need to remember in all of this is not the shenanigans, or the Conservatives thinking they’re too clever, or any of that—rather, it’s that they think they can ram through these projects without Indigenous consent. Sure, they’ll talk about “meaningful consultation,” but consultation is not consent, and in their press releases, consent is never mentioned, nor is even consultations. That’s not realistic, nor even legal in the current framework. Of course, they also think a new pipeline will “unblock the trillions of dollars of privatesector energy investment to produce more oil and gas, build profitable pipelines and ship a million barrels of oil to Asia a day at world prices.” My dudes—this is a post-2014 world. It’s not going to be trillions of dollars, and world oil prices are tanking because of a supply glut. All of this is fantasyland...

Prime Minister Carney flips the script on Poilievre: "I don't think there's a limit on the size of motions. And in fact, since the MOU is already translated, I think it would be very easy to take the entire MOU in both official languages and propose them."

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— Scott Robertson (@sarobertson.bsky.social) December 9, 2025 at 1:49 PM

Today in "Christ, what an asshole!" - Poilievre, Tech Bros, and our potash industry

Poilievre's big idea - lets play "gotcha!"
So Poilievre thinks he can fiddle while Canada fights for its life against Trump. What an asshole.
As Dale Smith commented on Saturday:

Because Pierre Poilievre thinks he’s a tactical genius, he has announced that next week’s Conservative Supply Day motion will be about the MOU with Alberta, and forcing a vote on the language about a pipeline to the Pacific, in defiance of the tanker ban.
...It’s a transparent attempt to try and jam the Liberals, at least rhetorically, into supporting the motion in order to show support for the MOU, after which Poilievre can keep saying “You supported it!” and “Give me the date when construction starts,” as though there’s a proponent, a project and a route already lined up (to say nothing about the long-term contracts about who is going to buy the product once it’s built, because yes, that does matter). The thing is, these kinds of motions are non-binding, and really means nothing in the end. So if a number of Liberals vote against it, it doesn’t actually mean anything, other than the rhetorical notion that lo, they are not fully in lock-step on something, which actually sets them apart from pretty much every other party where uniformity and loyalty to the leader and all of his positions are constantly being enforced in one way or another. Maybe he will tolerate differences of opinion—or maybe he’ll crack the whip. We’ll see when Tuesday gets here.

I actually think this might serve the government's purposes. Liberal MPs were looking for a way to say we don't support this. Now, the Conservative Party gave it to them. Carney gets to show the Liberals are a big tent, and he still has a firm(ing) agenda. https://t.co/yv7DgOkei2

— Althia Raj (@althiaraj) December 5, 2025

Funday weekend addendum: Everybody has fun mocking Trump's FIFA Peace Prize

I usually don't post on Sundays, but tonight I'm seeing so many great "prize" posts I have to share them:

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How to buy yourself a needy malignant narcissist? Just offer him a phony, made up "Peace Prize" & he's all your's!!! No need for a formal ceremony as he'll snatch from the box & put it on all by himself. Both laughably pathetic AND pathetically laughable. 🤡 🫣

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— Mark Hamill (@markhamillofficial.bsky.social) December 6, 2025 at 1:57 PM

The Nobel Prize committee should announce the World Cup winner tomorrow

— derek guy (@dieworkwear.bsky.social) December 5, 2025 at 10:29 PM

Sunday Funday: Posts about Oh Canada, Trump Stupid, Wasted Raccoon, and the Passing Scene, plus TrumpWatch and Animal Crackers

Oh Canada!

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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...