I still keep seeing Canadian media who seem to have internalized the Conservative smear that Canada is demanding Carney bring hom a tariff deal. In a special edition of his Good Talk podcast, even Peter Mansbridge even started going n this direction – Chantal Hebert and Bruce Anderson shut that down pretty quickly, noting that 75 per cent of Canada supported Carney walking away and imposing our own tariffs. 

And if LeBlanc thinks Canada will ever be eager to resume trade talks with the Orange Fart, he’s absolutely deluded too – though Dale Smith says its just LeBlanc playing hardball:

The Trump administration players continue to try and spin their own versions of how the talks collapsed, with Trump insisting that we’re “nasty” and the “worst” (because we won’t just submit), we also saw Howard Lutnick claim that Carney has manufactured all of this because of the Quebec election and the Alberta referendum, and that once those over, Canadian officials will come flooding back to Washington to resume talks. Sure, Jan. Meanwhile, Dominic LeBlanc has taken notes of their denials over certain files, and is taking those as assurances that the “trade irritants” they keep identifying won’t be brought up any longer and publicly saying so. Clever.
Meanwhile, Trump’s continued tantrum saw him sign an executive order to demand that the US Department of Interior change the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America, which is going to be another loyalty test for MAGA adherents going forward. And of course, we had a bunch of Canadian media outlets falling all over themselves to try and get reactions to this (and a certain CBC guest host was extremely cringey about it), when we don’t need to respond to this. We can just ignore it, guys. Take Shannon Proudfoot’s advice here, and treat this like a toddler having a meltdown in the cereal aisle. He’s trying to get attention, and if you don’t give it to him, he’ll move on to something else, and you won’t have to make an ass of yourself trying to “get reactions” to this bit of nonsense. Nobody wins by taking this seriously, so just stop.

I mean this very, very seriously: It is absolutely an option for us to ignore his idiotic Lake America stunt. We can do that. We can just tune it out like you would block out a child howling at you in the cereal aisle, recognizing that to do anything else would be to give the whiner what they want.

— Shannon Proudfoot (@sproudfoot.bsky.social) August 27, 2026 at 11:55 AM

And anyway, only American federal departments – like the Department of the Interior – have to abide by Trump’s executive orders. No one else anywhere else has to go along with them at all.
And of course, the Trumpsters are lying about what happened during the talks:

@dleblancnb.bsky.social you’re correct but don’t relent. Let them deal with the consequences of their actions.

You have ~80% of 🇨🇦s 100% committed to riding this out. Please support our choice.

Support our vulnerable & hold the line 🇨🇦❤️👊

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— Shamus Brown (@shamusbrown1.bsky.social) August 27, 2026 at 10:54 PM

Tina Brown: “Watching Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney clap back with toe-to-toe tariffs against the United States after walking away from tense trade negotiations on Friday, is so refreshing. Political courage has become such a rarity, we’ve almost forgotten what it looks like.” #Canada

— @RonSupportsYou (@ronsupportsyou.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy) August 27, 2026 at 4:32 PM

Trump is a laughingstock. As Dean Blundell says, Canada knows now there’s not going to be a deal with Trump.

For Americans this is a trade war. For Canadians it’s existential. Joking about making them the 51st state and saying their consent doesn’t matter tends to do that. Good politicians make it easy for the other side to say yes. This made it impossible.

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— Justin Wolfers (@justinwolfers.bsky.social) August 27, 2026 at 6:01 PM

Other countries are also saying goodbye

Wildfire Update
In Canada there are still 610 fires burning today – not increasing but not declining much anymore either.
Here’s an interesting article

Canada’s reactive firefighting model is failing. Experts say we must shift focus to prevention.

Read more:
www.canadianaffairs.news/2026/08/28/b…

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— Canadian Affairs (@cdnaffairs.bsky.social) August 28, 2026 at 9:27 AM

In the Canadian Affairs article, Andrea Keeler writes:

Another summer of intense wildfires is coming to a close. And experts say Canada cannot afford to keep sticking to its old playbook.
“I think the way we used to fight wildfires in Canada probably isn’t the way we should do it anymore,” said Kent Moore, a physicist and climate scientist at the University of Toronto, noting Canada’s firefighting systems and budgets are still geared toward reacting to fires….
Moore, of the University of Toronto, says Canada could dial up its prevention efforts, particularly around communities and critical infrastructure.
Building codes could require the use of more fire‑resistant materials. And governments could incentivize homeowners and municipalities to clear flammable vegetation, build fire breaks, and limit how and where development happens.
“We also have to have a serious discussion about, ‘Should we live in the forest?’” said Moore. “We have to rethink how we do everything.”…
Currently, wildfire preparedness, building requirements and evacuation alerts are largely handled by provinces and municipalities, which results in significant variation across the country. Following in Australia’s footsteps, Canada could implement a national, wildfire-specific building rating system and warning framework.
And Canada could also increase its firefighting budget. …

www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/briti…

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— Kim (@kim2112.bsky.social) August 27, 2026 at 5:46 PM

Trans-Canada Highway reopens near Boston Bar, B.C., after seven-week wildfire closure

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— Unofficial TorontoStar (All News) (@torontostar-rss.bsky.social) August 27, 2026 at 4:54 PM

But fire evacuations continue

The Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) has issued multiple Evacuation Orders and Evacuation Alerts due to ongoing wildfire activity. These wildfires pose a risk to life and safety. Residents and visitors in affected areas should stay informed and be prepared to act a…

— BC EmergencyInfo Threader (@eibcrepeater.bsky.social) August 28, 2026 at 9:18 PM

In California

Two wildfires have expanded along Big Sur’s coast, forcing the evacuation of much of the valley and shutting down a 40-mile stretch of California’s Highway 1 with no reopening estimate.

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— San Francisco Chronicle (@sfchronicle.com) August 28, 2026 at 11:30 PM

And in Algeria

“At least 12 people have been killed and 54 others injured as #wildfires ravaged parts of northeastern #Algeria, an official said, as authorities evacuated dozens of families from the hardest-hit areas.” #climate www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/…

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— Lumpenanalyst (@resisdance.bsky.social) August 28, 2026 at 11:42 PM

Update on Nepal
What a terrible flood that was in Nepal. Here is a New York Times interactive article showing the scale of destruction. (gift link)
I have seen some awful videos showing people trying to escape and likely failing.
The internet has been fascinated with one house that survived:

Jays Win!
Finally, the Jays won decisively on Friday night.

Still 2.5 games back but I hope maybe they can still make it into the Wild Card.

the toronto blue jays are playing with our hearts and we are going to let them

— neongrey (@neongrey.bsky.social) August 28, 2026 at 7:10 PM