So, I read a lot of articles and posts that support my worldview on things.
Trump bad; Mandami good
Poilievre bad; Carney good
Danielle Smith bad; Wab Kinew good
You get the picture.
I fear though that in my way, I may not be much different from some old Maple MAGA broad who devours extreme right-wing conspiracy nonsense. Maybe I just lean the other way. Like kibbles and bits but different.
I don’t think my opinions are drawn from conspiracy blather of the left-leaning variety, but maybe I’m wrong. I realize my notions are frequently intensified by the writing of the cranky among us. However, I believe I also seek out considered, well-informed insight from reputable sources. I feel, therefore, fairly righteous about my opinions, believing them to be, in truth, informed by fact, fair, and balanced.
But how do I know that the opinions I think are balanced are not, in fact, as loonie-tunes as those of some fruitcake in MAGA land?…

Yes, I wonder about myself sometimes too.

In his substack, Charlie Angus recounts a tale of trying to find someone in our government who might care about foreign interference. You’d think there would be SOMEONE, wouldn’t you?
I Stand Corrected:

…Canada is being inundated with offshore actors attempting to create division in our country, and discussions have been made with top officials representing a government that has stated we don’t have the right to our sovereignty.
That’s as serious as it gets. But the concern at Public Safety Canada is that people are being directed to the wrong mailbox.
When it comes to foreign interference, Canadians are on their own.

In his substack, Bruce Anderson has an interesting update on Canadian attitudes toward our trading relationship with the US, with surveys showing that only 27% of Canadians now think that Canada will be worse off than before the Trump tariff conversation started.

…How is it possible that the level of anxiety and urgency that was evident in January 2025 has shifted so much?
In my view, there are several factors that are contributing.
First, many people sense that Trump’s tariff policies have been chaotic, temperamental, and that his “deals” with other countries have been fragile, to say the least. Canadians understand the risk of seeming to want a deal so badly with someone who can’t be trusted to keep their part of a bargain.
Second, Trump’s tariff agenda has created resistance in the US, and may not survive past Trump’s Presidency, or perhaps even much beyond the mid-terms this fall. US courts have pushed back on the tariff agenda, Americans are tired of inflation and do not believe that tariffs will lead to a great reshoring manufacturing renaissance.
Canadians sense that Trump’s power may be waning, that Americans don’t like these tariffs, nor the constant friction with allies.
Third, except for certain sectors, the impact on the Canadian economy so far has not been as dramatically negative as people feared. Much of the country’s trade remains protected under USMCA. There is a growing acknowledgement in America that Canada “has cards”, especially when it comes to aluminium and potash, and that Canadian lumber and energy would be very hard to replace. Canadians sense that our negotiating position has not weakened, but possibly firmed, when it comes to the fundamentals of how the trading relationship works.
Finally, Canadians see a federal strategy which is a combination of aggressive and ambitious efforts to diversify our trade and make our economy less dependent on the US, while at the same time, approaching the US as an ally and trading partner, with constructive ideas, but no sense of desperation. People are optimistic that the world wants to invest in Canada and do more trade with Canada, even if this transition will take time.
Trump has fought with Meloni, Macron, Starmer, Werz. He’s insulted and threatened and bullied them. Skirmishes with Carney have been qualitatively different. In the end, Canadians sense that the world is not going to capitulate to Trumpism…

In his Mid-Week Update on the Iran War, Phillips O’Brien evaluates how the peace negotiations are going:

…the USA is now negotiating without much, if any, leverage. That really is extraordinary. The Trump administration has put itself in a position where it cannot go back to the use of military force, cannot put much if any real pressure on Iran, and therefore will have to concede most of the main points to the Iranians. And as the past week showed, the Iranians understand this.
Personally, I have never seen the US in such a position of weakness.
Because the US has no significant leverage over Iran, the Trump administration (as it has been for months, it needs to be said) will simply have to dissemble about non-existent Iranian concessions to try and make it seem that they have not been completely routed….The US government has reached the stage where the default assumption must be that it is lying when it comes to Iran making any concessions. For months the Administration has been claiming that Iran was agreeing to this concession or that concession—and none of these claims has been true. Now that the US has even less leverage, the lies will probably get larger.
We are witnessing the most extraordinary negotiating moment in the history of US foreign relations, and that alone makes it worthy of note….

Next, I’m seeing a lot of comments about the Democratic primaries on Tuesday and they just don’t get it, do they? Mamdani is the new kingmaker in the Democratic party and that seems to be a surprise only to out-of-touch Democrats.

This was the entire NYC DSA contingent during Occupy Wall Street in 2011.

15 years later, DSA has the mayor, five members of Congress, and almost 20 members on the state and local level.

The world changes quickly.

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— brent is Astoriapilled 🌹 (@therealbrent.bsky.social) June 24, 2026 at 5:32 PM

if mamdani was born in the us he would be the ’28 frontrunner. his backing is going to matter big time.

— Oliver Willis (@owillis.bsky.social) June 24, 2026 at 10:30 AM

www.npr.org/2026/06/24/n…

Last nights victories in New York prove the democratic socialists are building a winning coalition. The democratic socialists are speaking to a base of growing voters that want the war to end, tax the rich and abolish ICE.

#SheShed #BSC1

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— #BlueStormComin1🌪️🦋🇺🇸 #Resistance 🦋🙌🏻 (@bluestormcomin1.bsky.social) June 24, 2026 at 9:17 AM

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— Jess Piper (@piperformissouri.bsky.social) June 24, 2026 at 6:02 PM

The people with the most money in politics just discovered a painful truth:

You can flood the zone with cash.

You can’t always buy the outcome.

AIPAC lost.
Big Pharma lost.
Big Oil lost.

Voters won. 🔥

An excellent read from Dean Blundell:

#USDemocracy
#Pinks

open.substack.com/pub/deanblun…

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— Marie 🇨🇦 (@pawbaby2.bsky.social) June 24, 2026 at 6:44 PM

Zohran Mamdani and AOC aren’t the main reasons democratic socialists are getting elected.
Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Donald Trump and Mike Johnson are the main reasons democratic socialists are getting elected.
Eventually, people start to realize who’s keeping them poor.

— Mark Jacob (@markjacob.bsky.social) June 24, 2026 at 6:01 AM

The terror spreading across the country this a.m. because in some more progressive corners of the US progressives won elections is telling. The reason the reaction is so over-large is because progressives unlike centrists and the right, are the only group who pose a real threat to established power.

— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf.bsky.social) June 24, 2026 at 7:35 AM

Democrats should be ecstatic that their message is being heard. But some are stupidly pissed off

ZOHRAN: *parachutes in to help wildly unpopular congressional Dems get more popular* 🦸🏻‍♂️

ESTABLISHMENT DEMS: “wHY iS He TRyiNg tO KiLL tHe PArTy?”

— The Tennessee Holler (@thetnholler.bsky.social) June 24, 2026 at 8:35 PM

NPR is calling the Mamdani-backed candidates “far left” which I guess is shorthand for “would like to give healthcare to their constituents somewhat”

— Denny Carter (@dennycarter.bsky.social) June 24, 2026 at 5:40 AM

Not only does Mamdani not work for Congress,

but the idea that it’s a problem that he is

*good at his job*

which inspired other people to want public servants to also be

*good at their jobs*

(or to do them, at least)

is …

well, there are a range of Yiddish words for this.

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— Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg (@theradr.bsky.social) June 24, 2026 at 7:37 PM

I mean, he’s not wrong.

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— Tabatha Southey🇨🇦 (@tabathasouthey.bsky.social) June 24, 2026 at 8:45 PM

If I could chose between Carville and Hunter Biden, I would pick Biden any day:

the lesson is not to come across like mamdani the lesson is to come across as sincere and authentic as yourself i say to no one in particular in los angeles

— darth™️ (@darthbluesky.bsky.social) June 24, 2026 at 5:00 PM

But at least Trump’s attempt to force Republican senators to support his vote-stealing plan didn’t go well today:

REPUBLICANS IN DISARRAY

Trump torpedoed a bipartisan affordable housing bill that Republicans could have run on in the midterms. Instead, they’re back to defending him to angry constituents.

Later a shouting match with Cassidy.

It’s almost like he doesn’t give AF whether Republicans win or lose.

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— Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline.com) June 24, 2026 at 11:11 PM

World Cup stories
It always worries me when a team loses its way into the next round, instead of winning to get there.
Canada lost on Wednesday, so they dropped to second in the group, while South Africa had to win to make it to second in their group. Same result, really, because both are now in the Round of 32, and Canada should actually be thrilled to be in the next round when so many other teams are on their way home. But now the attitude and the momentum are so different.

MATCHUP CONFIRMED!

Canada will take on South Africa in Los Angeles on June 28 in the Round of 32! 🇨🇦🇿🇦 #FIFAWorldCup

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— TSN (@tsnofficial.bsky.social) June 24, 2026 at 8:59 PM

Great reportage from @theglobeandmail.com on the Canada/Switzerland game. 😅

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— Shona Cook (@shonacookto.bsky.social) June 24, 2026 at 3:04 PM

In The Globe and Mail, sports columnist Cathal Kelly analyzes Wednesday’s game:

Coming out for the second half of Wednesday’s game against Switzerland, Canada could claim to have played a faultless opening round of this World Cup. It wasn’t perfect, but it had been under control. Then it wasn’t. And then it really wasn’t.
Canada wanted a World Cup. It just got the World Cup right in the face.
….In an odd way, this collapse marks Canada’s entry in the ranks of World Cup veterans. In this tournament, there are no congratulations for that staple of childhood – the failed great effort. That’s where Canada had been stuck for decades. Don’t cry. You’ll get ‘em next time. Great effort.
Canada has graduated beyond that in the last 12 days. As such, the pressure to avoid small mistakes is heavier, and the critiques you’ll face when you fail in that undertaking more pointed….

Other good stories today: