Politics

[John Wasmuth]

I'm still scratching my head on whether this is real.
Apparently the CIA released open recruitment videos in China during their holiday to recruit people to spy for them.

This is intriguing and bold.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1917920735684702680

Pretty sure CIA director guy was on news yesterday and confirmed it.

 

[OxfordTheCat]

So you loose your seat in Canada and you can just take someone else’s seat in another district Learn something new every day. From Poilievere.

It is with humility and appreciation that I have accepted Damien Kurek’s offer to resign his seat in Battle River-Crowfoot so that I can work to earn the support of citizens there to serve them in Parliament.

Damien’s selfless act to step aside temporarily as a Member of Parliament shows his commitment to change and restoring Canada’s promise.

I will work to earn the trust of the good people of Battle River-Crowfoot and I will continue to hold the Liberal minority government to account until the next federal election, when we will bring real change to all Canadians

"Take" is perhaps the wrong turn of phrase.

He still has to win the seat in an election.

A by-election will be called and he'll have to run. It certainly is telling that they're picking a seat in one of the safest Conservative ridings in the country though.

He has lived in Ontario for twenty five years, and he'll be parachuted in and running in a riding he's likely never even visited where the CPC received 56k votes, the LPC 7k.

 

[Altitude sickness]

Yes Ratcliff says the ads have focused targets within the CCP. The ads are able to get through China’s firewalls. And there is information on how to contact the CIA on the Dark Web in a safe manner that CCP leaders can not see.

 

[CJW]

Abrago Garcia caught on body cam trafficking illegals.

 

[Wheels]

"Take" is perhaps the wrong turn of phrase.

He still has to win the seat in an election.

A by-election will be called and he'll have to run. It certainly is telling that they're picking a seat in one of the safest Conservative ridings in the country though.

He has lived in Ontario for twenty five years, and he'll be parachuted in and running in a riding he's likely never even visited where the CPC received 56k votes, the LPC 7k.

Thanks for more information. I didn’t know any of that.

 

[Wheels]

Yes Ratcliff says the ads have focused targets within the CCP. The ads are able to get through China’s firewalls. And there is information on how to contact the CIA on the Dark Web in a safe manner that CCP leaders can not see.

Xi/CCP is going to be even more paranoid of their members

 

[spike.t]

 

[spike.t]

Looks like the Donald is affecting the Australian elections as well....doing a Canada and going for the incumbent left wing bunch....

Donald Trump is looming over Australia's election

Foreign policy is rarely a big factor in Australia's poll - but the US president has changed that.

www.bbc.com

Live Results: Australia federal election 2025

Local networks project Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's left-leaning Labor Party will form Australia's next government.

www.bbc.com

 

[Altitude sickness]

Watching this video. It’s apparent that the Russians can’t hang with the US in battle. 50 vs 500. These were Wagner mercenaries. They were for the most part older Russian spec war guys. Terrible Russian leadership.

First acknowledged battle between US and Russian soldiers

 

[spike.t]

Watching this video. It’s apparent that the Russians can’t hang with the US in battle. 50 vs 500. These were Wagner mercenaries. They were for the most part older Russian spec war guys. Terrible Russian leadership.

First acknowledged battle between US and Russian soldiers

A few other youtube videos about this floating around for a bit

 

[spike.t]

News host giving labour and fktard starmer some shit

 

[Altitude sickness]

Trumps $5000 baby bonus is perhaps the worst idea he has ever proposed.

I can see a tax break for additional babies.

Handing people $5000 who are already costing the taxpayer to support them is not what we need.

Hopefully this isn’t in the Big Beautiful Bill.

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

The $5k figure made me think of the following… A while back they were talking about giving everyone $5k of the DOGE savings.. I personally know someone who acted as if this was a sure thing and it was going to happen quickly (virtually any day)… Well he and his wife used that as permission to go spend a similar amount of money in a spree of sorts thinking it was coming right back.. Frankly, this was $5k I was shocked they had in the first place. I was also shocked that anyone would do such a thing….

 

[WAB]

Now how will this pan out...possibly trying to ban one of the biggest political parties in Germany......

AfD classified as extreme-right by German intelligence

The AfD came second in Germany's February elections and has a record number of seats in the new parliament.

www.bbc.com

anyone else getting a serious sense of Deja vu?

 

[Altitude sickness]

It’s funny how inaccurate the prediction of which country would be the next opposition in future wars.

It’s rarely the country or topography we are preparing for.

anyone else getting a serious sense of Deja vu?

the US has a poor track record of accurately predicting future wars. Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates famously stated that since Vietnam, the US has a "perfect record" of predicting the next war, meaning they've consistently been wrong. This includes the long war in Afghanistan and the Russian annexation of Crimea, which were not foreseen

 

[spike.t]

Trumps $5000 baby bonus is perhaps the worst idea he has ever proposed.

I can see a tax break for additional babies.

Handing people $5000 who are already costing the taxpayer to support them is not what we need.

Hopefully this isn’t in the Big Beautiful Bill.

I would have thought it would seriously appeal to the wrong demographic...they already popping out babies left right and centre......usually with different males....

 

[Alistair]

Trumps $5000 baby bonus is perhaps the worst idea he has ever proposed.

I can see a tax break for additional babies.

Handing people $5000 who are already costing the taxpayer to support them is not what we need.

Hopefully this isn’t in the Big Beautiful Bill.

Yeah, another effort from Trump to solve a genuine problem in the most brain dead (but public and quick) way possible.

The pros: The US is in a bit of a demographic crisis, and we're not hitting replacement rates. Doing something about that ain't a bad idea if you don't want to be dealing with the problem China has now in 10-20 years.

The cons: Just giving people cash is patently stupid. It's not enough to provide for a child anyway, it's just an incentive towards no future planning, it'll mostly incentivize the part of the population that a. can't afford a kid in the first place, and b. already have them anyway. Totally pointless in every way.

As a (potentially) better approach, one of the eastern European nations, I forget which one, Hungary, maybe? Is also looking at this issue.

Their approach? Their population are reluctant to have children because they can't afford housing. A real concern for the middle class American as well. They can just about buy a house and cover a mortgage at 35 or so, but can't afford to do that and raise a child. Plus they don't want to have a kid until they own a place. Plus of course, the expendable funds to 'afford' a family are pretty tight until the mortgage is gone, by which time you're probably too old anyway.

So they're offering mortgages with very, very favorable terms (little down, very low interest) to families who plan to start a family. Still means tested, so default rates are no worse than any other mortgage, but very, very low monthly payments by comparison (think 2%APR vs 7%).

The deal is simple. Take this mortgage, have a kid within (I think) 5 years, you keep the favorable terms for the 30 years. Don't, and rates revert to standard market rates, and the government then sells the security onto the market as a normal mortgage.

I think that's a much better incentive structure for the young middle class American, who is primarily the group that simply aren't reproducing. It gives them a place to raise a kid young enough that it coincides with the time in your life you might want to start a family, and gives them a little bit less housing cost pressure so they can afford to do so. If they renege, no major loss, government subsidized mortgage rates for 5 years are a cost, but you can recoup some of it with whatever profit you can make selling on the higher interest mortgage backed security on the open market.

 

[Wheels]

Doubt this works out well for anyone involved.

Shippers rushing to reroute goods to Canada to reduce tariff exposure - Chamber of Shipping

As U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods soar to as high as 145%, a growing number of companies are rerouting shipments to Canada and storing them in bonded warehouses in hopes […]

shippingmatters.ca

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

Doubt this works out well for anyone involved.

Shippers rushing to reroute goods to Canada to reduce tariff exposure - Chamber of Shipping

As U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods soar to as high as 145%, a growing number of companies are rerouting shipments to Canada and storing them in bonded warehouses in hopes […]

shippingmatters.ca

It’ll go great for the discount and junk shops in a few months

 

[Brent in Az]

I won't be able shop like a billionaire on TEMU anymore......