Category World Affairs
Election Meddling
He’s done it again. Donald Trump has interfered in a foreign election. This time merely by existing. Quebec’s Parti Quebecois has announced that if they win this fall’s election they will not hold a referendum on Quebec separation as long as Donald Trump is president. Previously holding such a referendum had been the cornerstone of […]
Quote of the Week
In 2022, Stephen Marche, a keen observer of American society and politics, published the scariest book I have read in years, The Next Civil War. It was so unsettling I couldn’t write about it here. On Monday I read an essay he published in the New York Times with his thoughts on the Canada-US trade […]
What Benefits?
Donald Trump says Canada: “wants the benefits” of being a U.S. state “without being one.” But he forgot to tell us what those benefits would be. Would it be a country with no universal health care, which Canada has and the US doesn’t? Would it be an electoral system where political parties control district boundaries […]
Winning The War
Friday midnight came and went with no deal. The US is imposing what it hopes will be crippling tariffs on Canadian industry. Canada will retaliate. It is an article of faith in America’s civil religion that no-one can beat them in a trade war. Donald Trump has made it very clear to other countries that […]
Friday’s Question
Deal or no deal? The latest deadline for Canada and the USA to come to a trade agreement is tonight at midnight. What do you think will happen? I suspect that for most people trade talks are deadly boring, so I have not been spending much time here on the ongoing trade dispute. It mostly […]
Signs of our Times
Do they do any good? The rallies, the protests, the signs? Driving through North Conway, New Hampshire, I noted a demonstration against ICE (that’s US Immigration and Customs Enforcement), probably a protest over the recent shooting of an immigrant. Not the first time ICE has killed someone who had committed no crime. i thought about […]
The Problem with War
I wrote this piece more than four years ago, when the conflict between Russia and Ukraine was in its infancy. I put it aside for editing and then forgot about it. Today I finished it. While Justin Trudeau is no longer Prime Minister, the rest remain true. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has framed Canada’s […]
The Power of Money
If Americans want to fix their democracy, they might begin with looking at election financing, When a candidate can receive millions from an individual donor or an organization, you have to wider if there is some influence being purchased. I know the arguments and the court cases that have allowed the system to devolve to […]
Building Bridges
The Gordie Howe International Bridge officially opens today between Windsor (Ontario and Detroit (Michigan). It is perhaps a symbol of all that is wrong with the United States today. There has been a need for a new bridge for years at the busiest border crossing between Canada and the USA. The existing Ambassador Bridge can […]
So True
I think it is because of the heat. At least where I live. It makes the days seem longer. Thursday does have at least one thing going for it. My local pub has chicken wings for half price on Thursday. Every four to six weeks or so I get together with a group of friends […]
random thoughts from lorne 
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