Thursday, January 29, 2026
Wednesday, January 28, 2026
Friday, January 28, 1916. Manitoban women became the first Canadian women to gain the franchise.
Manitoban women became the first Canadian women to gain the franchise.
President Wilson nominated Louis Brandeis to the Supreme Court. He would be confirmed on June 1, 1916 and become the first Jewish justice of the United States Supreme Court.
Last edition:
Thursday, January 27, 1916. Britain introduces conscription.
Monday, January 26, 2026
Thursday,, January 26, 1911.
The United States and Canada entered into their first reciprocal trade agreement.
The US, of course, wasn't governed by a senile chief executive, and for that matter, the chief executive at the time was not given unfettered powers.
Glenn H. Curtiss made the first sustained seaplane flight, taking off from San Diego Bay in his D-Hydro-Aeroplane and then landing on the Pacific Ocean off San Diego. Meanwhile, Roger Sommer set a new record for number of passengers on an airplane, flying five passengers in France thirteen miles.
Life magazine, which came out at odd times of the week, came out.
Wednesday, January 25, 1911. Honduran Revolution.
Wednesday, January 21, 2026
Prime Minister Mark Carney at Davos
Carney is an economist with a doctorate, as opposed to Donald Trump, who is an idiot. His speech not only reflects reality, it marks the day American superpower status came to an end, murdered by Donald Trump.
Today, I'll talk about the rupture in the world order, the end of a nice story and the beginning of a brutal reality where geopolitics among the great powers is not subject to any constraints.
But I also submit to you that other countries, particularly middle powers like Canada, are not powerless. They have the capacity to build a new order that embodies our values, like respect for human rights, sustainable development, solidarity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of states.
The power of the less powerful begins with honesty.
It seems that every day we're reminded that we live in an era of great power rivalry. That the rules-based order is fading. That the strong can do what they can, and the weak must suffer what they must.
This aphorism of Thucydides is presented as inevitable — as the natural logic of international relations reasserting itself. And faced with this logic, there is a strong tendency for countries to go along to get along. To accommodate. To avoid trouble. To hope that compliance will buy safety.
It won't.
So, what are our options?
In 1978, the Czech dissident Václav Havel, later president, wrote an essay called The Power of the Powerless. And in it, he asked a simple question: How did the communist system sustain itself?
And his answer began with a greengrocer. Every morning, this shopkeeper places a sign in his window: "Workers of the world, unite!" He doesn't believe it. No one does. But he places the sign anyway to avoid trouble, to signal compliance, to get along. And because every shopkeeper on every street does the same, the system persists.
Not through violence alone, but through the participation of ordinary people in rituals they privately know to be false.
Havel called this "living within a lie." The system's power comes not from its truth but from everyone's willingness to perform as if it were true. And its fragility comes from the same source: when even one person stops performing — when the greengrocer removes his sign — the illusion begins to crack.
Friends, it is time for companies and countries to take their signs down.
For decades, countries like Canada prospered under what we called the rules-based international order. We joined its institutions, we praised its principles, we benefited from its predictability. And because of that we could pursue values-based foreign policies under its protection.
We knew the story of the international rules-based order was partially false. That the strongest would exempt themselves when convenient. That trade rules were enforced asymmetrically. And we knew that international law applied with varying rigour depending on the identity of the accused or the victim.
This fiction was useful. And American hegemony, in particular, helped provide public goods: open sea lanes, a stable financial system, collective security and support for frameworks for resolving disputes.
So, we placed the sign in the window. We participated in the rituals. And we largely avoided calling out the gaps between rhetoric and reality.
This bargain no longer works.
'A rupture, not a transition'
Let me be direct: We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition.
Over the past two decades, a series of crises in finance, health, energy and geopolitics have laid bare the risks of extreme global integration.
But more recently, great powers have begun using economic integration as weapons. Tariffs as leverage. Financial infrastructure as coercion. Supply chains as vulnerabilities to be exploited.
You cannot "live within the lie" of mutual benefit through integration when integration becomes the source of your subordination.
The multilateral institutions on which middle powers have relied — the WTO, the UN, the COP — the very architecture of collective problem solving, are under threat.
And as a result, many countries are drawing the same conclusions — that they must develop greater strategic autonomy: in energy, food, critical minerals, in finance and supply chains.
And this impulse is understandable. A country that cannot feed itself, fuel itself or defend itself has few options. When the rules no longer protect you, you must protect yourself.
But let's be clear-eyed about where this leads. A world of fortresses will be poorer, more fragile and less sustainable.
And there's another truth: if great powers abandon even the pretense of rules and values for the unhindered pursuit of their power and interests, the gains from "transactionalism" will become harder to replicate. Hegemons cannot continually monetize their relationships.
Allies will diversify to hedge against uncertainty. They'll buy insurance, increase options in order to rebuild sovereignty — sovereignty that was once grounded in rules, but will be increasingly anchored in the ability to withstand pressure.
This room knows, this is classic risk management — risk management comes at a price. But that cost of strategic autonomy — of sovereignty — can also be shared. Collective investments in resilience are cheaper than everyone building their own fortresses. Shared standards reduce fragmentation. Complementarities are positive sum.
And the question for middle powers, like Canada, is not whether to adapt to the new reality — we must. The question is whether we adapt by simply building higher walls or whether we can do something more ambitious.
Canada was amongst the first to hear the wake-up call, leading us to fundamentally shift our strategic posture.
Canadians know that our old, comfortable assumptions — that our geography and alliance memberships automatically conferred prosperity and security — that assumption is no longer valid.
And our new approach rests on what Alexander Stubb has termed "values-based realism" — or, to put another way, we aim to be principled and pragmatic.
Principled in our commitment to fundamental values: sovereignty and territorial integrity, the prohibition of the use of force except when consistent with the UN Charter and respect for human rights.
And pragmatic in recognizing that progress is often incremental, that interests diverge, that not every partner will share our values. So we're engaging broadly, strategically, with open eyes. We actively take on the world as it is, not wait around for a world we wish to be.
We are calibrating our relationships so their depth reflects our values. And we're prioritizing broad engagement to maximize our influence, given the fluidity of the world order, the risks that this poses, and the stakes for what comes next.
And we are no longer relying on just the strength of our values, but also on the value of our strength.
We are building that strength at home.
Since my government took office, we have cut taxes on incomes, on capital gains and business investment. We have removed all federal barriers to interprovincial trade. We are fast-tracking a trillion dollars of investment in energy, AI, critical minerals, new trade corridors and beyond.
We are doubling our defence spending by the end of this decade and we're doing so in ways that build our domestic industries.
And we are rapidly diversifying abroad. We've agreed a comprehensive strategic partnership with the EU, including joining SAFE, the European defence procurement arrangements.
We have signed 12 other trade and security deals on four continents in six months.
In the past few days, we have concluded new strategic partnerships with China and Qatar.
We're negotiating free trade pacts with India, ASEAN, Thailand, Philippines and Mercosur.
We're doing something else. To help solve global problems, we are pursuing variable geometry — in other words, different coalitions for different issues based on common values and interests.
So on Ukraine, we're a core member of the coalition of the willing and one of the largest per-capita contributors to its defence and security.
On Arctic sovereignty, we stand firmly with Greenland and Denmark and fully support their unique right to determine Greenland's future.
Our commitment to Article 5 is unwavering.
So we're working with our NATO allies — including the Nordic-Baltic Eight — to further secure the alliance's northern and western flanks, including through Canada's unprecedented investments in over-the-horizon radar, in submarines, in aircraft and boots on the ground.
Canada strongly opposes tariffs over Greenland and calls for focused talks to achieve our shared objectives of security and prosperity in the Arctic.
On plurilateral trade, we're championing efforts to build a bridge between the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the European Union, which would create a new trading block of 1.5 billion people.
On critical minerals we're forming buyer's clubs anchored in the G7 so the world can diversify away from concentrated supply.
And on AI we're co-operating with like-minded democracies to ensure we won't ultimately be forced to choose between hegemons and hyperscalers.
This is not naive multilateralism. Nor is it relying on their institutions. It's building coalitions that work, issue by issue, with partners who share enough common ground to act together. In some cases, this will be the vast majority of nations.
What it's doing is creating a dense web of connections across trade, investment, culture on which we can draw for future challenges and opportunities.
'Middle powers must act together'
Middle powers must act together because if we're not at the table, we're on the menu.
But I'd also say that great powers can afford, for now, to go it alone. They have the market size, the military capacity and the leverage to dictate terms. Middle powers do not. But when we only negotiate bilaterally with a hegemon, we negotiate from weakness. We accept what's offered. We compete with each other to be the most accommodating.
This is not sovereignty. It's the performance of sovereignty while accepting subordination.
In a world of great power rivalry, the countries in between have a choice: compete with each other for favour or to combine to create a third path with impact.
We shouldn't allow the rise of hard power to blind us to the fact that the power of legitimacy, integrity and rules will remain strong — if we choose to wield them together.
Which brings me back to Havel.
What would it mean for middle powers to "live the truth"?
First it means naming reality. Stop invoking "rules-based international order" as though it still functions as advertised. Call it what it is: a system of intensifying great power rivalry where the most powerful pursue their interests using economic integration as a weapon of coercion.
It means acting consistently, applying the same standards to allies and rivals. When middle powers criticize economic intimidation from one direction but stay silent when it comes from another, we are keeping the sign in the window.
It means building what we claim to believe in. Rather than waiting for the old order to be restored, it means creating institutions and agreements that function as described.
And it means reducing the leverage that enables coercion. Building a strong domestic economy should always be every government's immediate priority. And diversification internationally is not just economic prudence — it is the material foundation for honest foreign policy. Because countries earn the right to principled stands by reducing their vulnerability to retaliation.
'Honesty about the world as it is'
So Canada has what the world wants. We are an energy superpower. We hold vast reserves of critical minerals. We have the most educated population in the world. Our pension funds are amongst the world's largest and most sophisticated investors. In other words, we have capital, talent, we also have a government with the immense fiscal capacity to act decisively.
And we have the values to which many others aspire.
Canada is a pluralistic society that works. Our public square is loud, diverse and free. Canadians remain committed to sustainability.
We are a stable and reliable partner in a world that is anything but. A partner that builds and values relationships for the long term.
And we have something else. We have a recognition of what's happening and a determination to act accordingly.
We understand that this rupture calls for more than adaptation. It calls for honesty about the world as it is.
We are taking the sign out of the window.
We know the old order is not coming back. We shouldn't mourn it. Nostalgia is not a strategy.
But we believe that from the fracture, we can build something better, stronger, more just.
This is the task of the middle powers. The countries that have the most to lose from a world of fortresses and the most to gain from genuine co-operation.
The powerful have their power. But we have something too — the capacity to stop pretending, to name reality, to build our strength at home and to act together.
That is Canada's path. We choose it openly and confidently.
And it is a path wide open to any country willing to take it with us.
Saturday, November 1, 2025
Going Feral: Nesvik tells Colorado to say no to Canadian wolves.
Nesvik tells Colorado to say no to Canadian wolves.
Hmmm. . .it would actually make more biological sense to take them from Canada. . . or Alaska, than a nearby population.
Monday, October 20, 2025
Monday, October 20, 1975. Grain, Cubans, Primates, and AIDS.
The US and USSR entered into a five year grain sale agreement by which the US agreed to sell 6,000,000 tons of grain to the USSR each year, as its collective agricultural system tanked, and by which the US accidentally screwed Canadian farmers.
The Cuban Navy's El Vietnam Heroico, El Coral Island and La Plata brought the first Cuban soldiers to Angola to support the MPLA..
Presumably the El Vietnam Heroico didn't celebrate the numerous South Vietnamese who gave their lives in order to attempt to hold the Communist back South East Asia.
Cuban military support to Angola would lead to the introduction of AIDS into Cuba, that region of Africa having been ground zero for the disease. Myths about the origin of the horrific disease, and a supposed ground zero in New York City, have abounded for years, but in reality SIVcpz, the strain in chimpanzees, was transmitted to humans via contact with infected blood, most likely during the process of hunting and butchering chimpanzees for meat. It was a "crossover disease." It spread undetected for some time in Central Africa, notably by hetrosexual sex, and into the Cuban population by that means of transmission. In much of the Western World, of course, it spread through homosexual sex at first, and then by infected needle transmissions.
FWIW, eating primates is a really bad idea. They're too closely related to us, giving rise to things like this.
It's an interesting example of how war brings plagues of all types.
Last edition:
Tuesday, October 14, 1975. Operation Savannah.
Thursday, October 9, 2025
Thursday, October 9, 1000. Leif Erikson steps foot on North America. . . well probably not but it is Leif Erikson Day.
Today is Leif Erikson Day, commemorating the date on which Leif and his crew set foot on North America, probably on Newfoundland.
Well, it was sometime in the fall, probably, and it was in the year 1,000. . . well maybe.
Anyhow, he did do that.
This day is actually set by the a reenactment ship, the Norwegian ship the Restoration, reaching North America in 1825.
Leif was born in Iceland to Erik the Red and his wife Thjodhild and, probably contrary to what many might suppose, he was a Catholic, the religion of his mother. Interestingly, this was the same year that Iceland converted to Christianity.
Last edition for 1825:
Thursday, March 24, 1825. State Colonization Law of March 24, 1825.
Wednesday, July 2, 2025
Subsidiarity Economics 2025. The Times more or less locally, Part 8. The imaginary lost world edition (and also something about the color of pots and kettles).
Nostalgia combines regularly with manifest respectability to give credence to old error as opposed to new truth.
New products take backseat amid Trump tariffs
Companies work to overcome staff incivility
This perpetual Golden Share prevents any of the following from occurring without the consent of the President of the United States or his designee:• Relocate U.S. Steel’s headquarters from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.• Redomicile outside the United States• Change the name of the company from U.S. Steel• Reduce, waive, or delay the $14 billion of Near-Term investments into U.S. Steel• Transfer production or jobs outside the United States• Close or idle plants before certain timeframes other than normal course temporary idling for safety, upgrades, etc.• Other protections regarding employee salaries, anti-dumping pricing, raw materials and sourcing outside the U.S., acquisitions, and more.
Man who says he can move TikTok to South Dakota is a bust in Wyoming politics: Reid Rasner lost by 43 points in a U.S. Senate race and has offered few details in support of his multibillion-dollar bid, but has won over the Rushmore State’s governor.
June 26, 2025
Wyoming oil positioned to weather Middle East conflict, analysts say: Nation's soaring oil and natural gas production may buffer energy prices if Israel-Iran conflict disrupts global supplies, some industry officials predict.
U.S. Ballistics plans on opening an artillery projectile plant in Cody.
cont:
The Senate parliamentarian has advised that a Medicaid provider tax overhaul central to President Donald Trump’s tax cut and spending bill does not adhere to the chamber’s procedural rules.
June 28, 2025
The US broke off tariff negotiations with Canada, the US's largest trading partner.
Aluminium costs are pressing beverage manufacturers.
June 29, 2025
The Senate voted to take up The Big Ugly, which doesn't mean that it's passed.
For the sake of the country, it should not pass, but it likely will.
Elon is taking note of the impact, which won't please his former ally.
June 30, 2025
CBO on The Big Ugly, as reported by the CST.
CBO PROJECTS TRUMP BILL WILL RACK UP DEBT
PTC is the renewable electricity production tax credit, a per kilowatt-hour (kWh) federal tax credit included in the U.S. tax code for electricity generated by qualified renewable energy resources.
As a doctor in Wyoming for over 20 years, I’ve cared for Medicaid patients my entire career. I understand Medicaid’s importance for the people it is intended to serve. I have also seen its shortcomings.Thanks to Wyoming being good stewards of taxpayer dollars, the Medicaid reforms included in the bill are unlikely to negatively impact our state. Wyoming’s policies are already aligned with a majority of the Medicaid provisions. This includes work requirements for all able-bodied adults enrolled in Medicaid.Medicaid was established to help children, pregnant women, seniors and the disabled. We need to make sure that high-quality care is accessible and reliable to those who qualify for Medicaid. This bill does that.
Dr. John also supported Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., for his current position even though he no doubt privately believes Kennedy is a quack. And he hid under his desk for the most part during the recent public lands issue. Reaction to this story brought out a lot of anger by people remembering that, as it should.
Eight Republican Senators are currently holding out against The Big Ugly.
The GOP leadership has been struggling with getting the Big Ugly passed in general, and in meeting King Donald's arbitrary July 4 deadline. Now the monarch has indicated he has sort of a "m'eh" view on the deadline and he doesn't want things cut too deeply, which must be causing Grover Norquist fits.
cont:
The Big Ugly passed the Senate with J.D. Vance casting the tie breaking vote.
Now its back to the House where the House Freedom Caucus has already criticized it due to its increasing the deficit.
The most amusing vote on the Senate side was Lisa Murkowski, who voted for it, but indicated she was agonized by the whole thing. That seems to be Murkowski's theme. If the Senate proposed a vote to run over kittens, she'd vote for it, but note that the whole thing really bothered her.
Murkowski:
My hope is that the House is gonna look at this and recognize that we're not there yet.
Gutless.
July 2, 2025
The US dollar suffered its worst first-half decline in more than 50 years due to tariff concerns.
Lisa Murkowski is taking a lot of flak for selling her vote for changes to the Big Ugly that benefitted certain constituents in Alaska, including whalers, while she acknowledges the Big Ugly is ugly. She seems utterly surprised that she's now the subject of outright deserved contempt.
Murkowski was just playing politics the old fashioned way, trading her vote for something she thinks her constituents needed, while still not liking the bill. It's the way things are done, in normal times, which these are not.
Murkowski is 68 years old, which I'll mention as the Big Hugly contains tax breaks for seniors.
Well of course it does.
Old Boomers Never Die
They control away. . . *
Footnotes:
*From Old Soldiers Never Die.
Tuesday, June 24, 2025
Wednesday, June 11, 2025
Monday, June 11, 1945. King gets another term. . . but it's a minority government.
A Canadian federal election was held in which the incumbent Liberal Party led by Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King was re-elected to its third consecutive mandate, but this time through a minority government.
It was likely a sign of things to come in the upcoming British election.
US forces captured the height east of Mount Yaeju on Okinawa but an accompanying Marine assault failed to capture Kunishi Ridge.
Japanese forces recaptured Ishan in Kwangsi Province.
The U.S. Supreme Court decided In re Summers, ruling 5-4 that the First and Fourteenth Amendment freedoms of a conscientious objector were not infringed when a state bar association declined to admit him to the practice of law, which seems obviously wrong.
The Soviets began the expulsion of Sudetenlanders from Czechoslovakia.
Last edition:
Sunday, June 10, 1945. Action in the Far East.
Tuesday, June 10, 2025
Wednesday, June 10, 1925. Creation of the United Church of Canada.
Canada's largest protestant denomination, the United Church of Canada, was created by the merger of the Methodist Church, Canada and the Congregational Union of Ontario and Quebec, as well as most of the congregations of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, and the Association of Local Union Churches. The union is surprising in that the base churches had real theological differences.
The Catholic Church is the largest church in Canada overall.
Last edition:
Sunday, June 7, 1925. The Death of St. Max Talbot.
Wednesday, June 4, 2025
Monday, June 4, 1945. Marines land on the Oroku Peninsula on Okinawa.
Today in World War II History—June 4, 1940 & 1945: 80 Years Ago—June 4, 1945: US Marines land behind Japanese lines on Oroku Peninsula on Okinawa.US Office of Civilian Defense is inactivated.
Sunday, June 1, 2025
Wednesday, April 23, 2025
Thursday, April 23, 1925.. My mother.
Monday, April 14, 2025
Sunday, April 13, 2025
Sunday, April 13, 1975. Start of the Lebanese Civil War.
Members of the Phalangist Kataeb militia, a Maronite Christian Democratic party, attacked a bus carrying Palestinian Muslims to the inauguration of a new mosque in the Beirut suburb of Ain El Remmeneh., killing 27 and wounding 18.
This would soon lead to a protracted civil war.
While they modified over time, the Lebanese Phalangist, as the name would indicate, were inspired by the European fascist parties, including those of Italy, Span, and Germany (the Nazi Party).
Chad's president François (Ngarta) Tombalbaye was assassinated in a coup d'état by soldiers led by General Félix Malloum.
The last Canadian airlift of Vietnamese orphans took place.
The U.S. Navy deposited those rescued in Operation Eagle Pull in Thailand.
The 1970s were not great.
Lou Bega was born on this day.
Last edition:
Saturday, April 12, 1975. Eagle Pull.
Wednesday, April 9, 2025
Sunday, March 30, 2025
Monday, March 30, 1925. Cougars win the Stanley Cup.
Newly ordained St. Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer y Albás celebrated his first Mass in the Chapel of Our Lady of Pilar in the Saragossa Cathedral.
He would found Opus Dei in 1928.
The Victoria Cougars of the WCHL beat the Montreal Canadiens 6-1 to become the last non-NHL team to win the Stanley Cup.
Bringing Up Father On Broadway premiered.
Last edition.
Saturday, March 28, 1925. Society Number.
Thursday, March 27, 2025
Subsidiarity Economics 2025. The Times more or less locally, Part 2. The Stupidist Trade War In History Edition.
This will truly be a disaster:
Trump will impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico for no good reason.
At least its one thing that will seemingly be impossible for even the most ardent Trumpist to ignore.
We've discussed Trump here before. Is he stupid? Is he addled? Is he a active Russian asset taking orders? All three are possible and at this point the last one is starting to look rather hard do ignore. What better to take out an enemy than to insert, at the country's head your stooge.
Active Russian agent or not, Trump has done more to wreck the country than any public figure since Jefferson Davis.
And it's going to get much, much worse.
As the trade war starts off, Justin Trudeau announced retaliatory tariffs. Economic genius Gov. Abbot of Texas gloated that Canada can't get by without U.S. Cotton, which is the exact same argument the South made during the Civil War when it went into treason. Turns out they grow cotton all over the globe and, moreover, the type of cotton grown in Texas goes into high end shirts, not cheap t-shirts and skivvies, and the like.
On the plus side, the price of American cotton may start to go down due to this stupidity.
Trump threatened to raise the tariffs even more.
Individual Canadians are boycotting the US in every way possible, and they'll never forgive the US for this. Nor should they. A country that would elect such an obviously stupid man has an electorate that can't easily be forgiven. On a higher level, there are serious discussion of cutting off hydroelectric power to the US Northeast, which would be devastating to the region.
Trump, who lies like a rug, says that this is over drugs and illegal immigration. Next to no illegal drugs come in through Canada, although Canada is a victim of illegal drugs coming into it, as well as illegal firearms.
As for Mexico, it appears Mexico has had enough of Trump and now that between Mexico and Canada the US is in a shit sandwich, it's not backing down either.
Republicans in Congress have become completely spineless and are doing nothing. Locally, they keep smiling and urging Trump on.
Trump is now also threatening to impose tariffs on the EU, which again makes a person have to wonder, at least a little bit, if Putin is calling in some chits.
It may also be the case that Trump dimwittedly is falling for autarky, the economic theory which tried to have everything produced within the borders of a nation. Autarky was the economic theory of Nazi Germany, we'd note, which in part lead to it having to conquer or dominate its neighbors. . . .sound familiar?
Autarky is a universally discredited economic theory. It's never worked, and its not going to work here, if that's the goal.
February 9, 2025
Waffle Hut is imposing a .50 per egg surcharge.
When I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on Day One
Donald Trump.
February 10, 2025
The US has imposed a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imports in a desperate effort to bring back the economy of 1957.
It won't work.
Prices will rise.
February 14, 2025
And now, reciprocal tariffs.
Inflation has risen to 3%
A population level boycott of American goods is on in Canada. Part of that is the cancellation of US vacations, which is already having an impact in the tourist industry.
The government announced a massive purchase of Tesla trucks. Not like that's a conflict or anything.
February 19, 2025
Trump acknowledged in a interview with Fox yesterday (he sure gives a lot of interviews, and plays a lot of golf) that "inflation is back". In fact, in his typical meandering style, he repeated it several times, and then noted "I had nothing to do with it".
Funny, if it was a month into the Biden Administration the Trumpies would be screaming that it was Biden's fault.
Inflation is going to get worse. And whatever its causing it now (bird flu helped, but treating the economy like a toy for tariffs didn't help), it's going to be on Trump's watch.
His loyalist won't see it that way.
February 20, 2025
Wyoming has only two hospitals rated at the five star level according to an article in the Trib, one in Cheyenne and one in Jackson.
The information comes from Medicare.gov, so my anticipation it will be fixed by the Trump administration eliminating the ability to access things like this when it gets around to it.
Casper's hospital once belonged to Natrona County but was privatized. It was having troubles prior to that, but since then it seems to have increased. It's rates a 3.
February 26, 2025
In spite of the fact that it increases the debt. . .
Some Republicans begin to get clear eyed.
They convinced me in there. I'm a 'no.' If the Republican plan passes...we're going to add $328 billion to the deficit this year. We're going to add $295 billion to the deficit the year after that...why would I vote for that?!?
Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, Republican, on the Republican continuing budget resolution.
The dollars thrown around as being saved by Musk are largely fictional, if in fact is rampaging buffoonery doesn't end up costing the government money. Only taxes are going to pull us out of this debt.
the House approved the Trump budget resolution.
The bill calls for $2 trillion in overall spending cuts over the next decade, a triviality, to help pay for $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, thereby being unbalanced to start with. It increases increases defense and border spending, with the defense spending being paradoxical given Trump's isolationist views.
This extends, it should be noted, the 2017 tax cuts, which helped put us in a budgetary crisis to start with. The Republicans recently have used the talking point that this is "unsustainable", which it is.
US consumer confidence dropped the greatest amount it has dropped in four years.
February 28, 2025
And the trade war is back on, of course. The tariffs that Trump suspended on our nearest neighbors are back in play.
Why?
Why indeed.
In part, it may be because the GOP budget, complete with the retention of an income tax rate at an absurdly low rate, is going to skyrocket the deficit and Trump sees this as a way of addressing it. Tariffs are a hidden tax on US taxpayers.
It could be a mere distraction for Trump, who likes to distract the public, it seems.
And as for Canada, Trump seems to have genuine bizarre territorial ambition and weirdly believes that beating up on our neighbor will make them love us.
The only sure thing is that this is going to be a disaster.
March 3, 2025
And, here we go.
The Atlanta Fed is projecting that Q1 GDP will be -1.5%.
That's a contraction of the economy.
Last week's projection was +2.3%, four weeks ago it was +3.9%
Now, younger Trumpers, your word of the week is "Stagflation".
A bright side, however. With all the deportations, you might be able to replace the job you lose with a field hired hand's. . .
March 4, 2025
Chinese response to tariffs:
For pork it goes to 47% with this additional 10%. 5% higher than all other countries.
15% on chicken, wheat, corn, and cotton.
10% on sorghum, soybeans, pork, beef, seafood, fruits, vegetables, and dairy.
So, American farmers who voted for Trump. . . you're getting what you voted for.
Canada also hit back with tariffs.
The stock market fell for the second day in a row.
Trump doesn't care about any of this stuff. It won't impact him personally. Additionally, somebody gave him a Classic Comics edition on tariffs and he really believes they're the cure for American economic ills, which is absurd.
March 6, 2025
And auto industry tariffs were paused after somebody took Donny's Classic Comics on Tariffs away and made him realize he was completely tanking the auto industry, the dumbass.
He's given them 30 days to relocate production inside the US, which won't happen.
The Wharton School of Business must be so proud. . . .
The DOGE pinheads have put the Dick Cheney Federal Office Building in Casper on a list of buildings to be closed.
The building was constructed in the 1970s and ultimately all of the Federal offices that were jammed into the Federal Courthouse, which wasn't being used as a courthouse, were moved there. Then the courthouse resumed being used as a courthouse.
Where the workers would go is another question. I suppose they would just be terminated.
This is a monumentally stupid move and there's some suspicion that this building was listed just as its named after Dick Cheney, who was an enormous hero in Wyoming up until King Donny and the Dixiecrats came to rule what had once been the Republican Party. It'll hurt the state.
Both John Barrasso and Harriet Hageman have offices in the building.
Sell real estate, in general, is a bad idea for anyone or anything if it can be avoided.
cont:
Canada didn't bite and is keeping its counter tariffs on.
cont:
Various provincial controlled liquor distribution entities are pulling US alcohol from the shelves.
Alcohol is generally regarded as a saturated market, so even small differences in sales actually make a big difference. Prohibition demonstrated that once a product is removed, the taste for it disappears and does not revive, moreover. Prohibition in the US lasted, of course, from 1919 to 1932, but it destroyed rye whiskey market in the US for eighty years, and devastated the quality of American beer. Canada, already a major producer of beer and whiskey, will simply fill in the gaps locally. My guess is that Canadian whiskey sales in the US (personally I don't like Canadian whiskey) will increase in protest of King Donny's actions.
March 7, 2025
President Trump’s decision to suspend tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada that comply with the U.S.-Canada-Mexico Agreement (USMCA) is great news for the Canadian, Mexican and U.S. distilled spirits industries. Spirits produced in Canada, Mexico and the United States are all covered under USMCA. The USMCA has helped to ensure the continued growth of the U.S. spirits and hospitality industries, promote job growth and drive economic prosperity across the nation. We are hopeful that constructive dialogues continue between the U.S., Canada and Mexico that permanently brings back zero for zero tariffs for spirits trade between our three countries. We want Toasts Not Tariffs.
Chris Swonger, President and CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.
Well, too late. US alcohol, which amounted to a $1B industry in Canada, is off Canadian shelves and not combing back on.
During Trump's last call with Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau, Trump became so agitated that he started screaming profanities thus forcing U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to step in and give Canada what they demanded.
This is twice in a week where a cabinet officer suddenly acted independently in front of King Donny.
25th Amendment. . .
March 12, 2025
US steel and aluminum tariffs have gone into effect and the EU has immediately hit back by announcing tariffs that will go into effect on April 1. The EU tariffs are targeted and will hit specific American goods, including boats, bourbon and motorcycles.
Poor old Jack Daniels just can't get a break.
March 14, 2025
The S&P 500 fell into correction territory.
Senator Chuck Schumer, Senate minority leader, broke with his party on Thursday and lined up enough Democrats to advance a Republican-written bill to keep the Federal government open after midnight, pretty much proving that the Democrats are worthless in the face of the current crisis.
This will allow the Republicans to destroy the Federal government unimpeded.
March 15, 2025
The stopgap cr passed with the support of Chuck Schumer and nine other Democrats.
March 24, 2025
A coal mine near Kemmerer is laying off 28 workers.
Tesla chargers have been vandalized with swastikas in Rock Springs.
Kemmerer balked at an immigration detention center.
March 27, 2025
Apparently Trump is imposing a 25% tariff on foreign automobiles on April 3.
cont:
Forward bookings from Canada to the U.S. have dropped by more than 70 percent for each month through the end of September.
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