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RichardJR

@electricbluesfan.bsky.social

1.9K followers 1.5K following 35K posts

Proud grandfather to four amazing grandchildren. Interests: history, politics, space science, electric guitar blues, environmental science, computing science, philosophy, heart-healthy recipes, vinyl recordings. 313 ppm Ad astra per aspera!

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RichardJR @electricbluesfan.bsky.social · 6d

Danielle Smith taking $14 million of our taxpayer dollars to flog her delusional pipeline pipedream.

ZERO Private Funding Interest!

RichardJR @electricbluesfan.bsky.social · Jul 21

1/31 🚨 TAXPAYER ALERT: WE COULD SOON FACE A FINANCIAL PIPELINE DISASTER 🚨

$1.3B LOST on Keystone XL. $34B on Trans Mountain with $5-18B taxpayer losses projected.

This isn't bad luck. It's systematic failure.

Alberta wants more pipelines 🧐

Analysis by RichardJR.
#TaxpayerRisk #Pipelines #ABppli

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Reposted by RichardJR

True Oak @trueoak.bsky.social · 2h

This is the most important point. The UCP can promise more teachers but how and when. What’s the plan to educate, attract and retain teachers?
Are they anticipating teachers through immigration? I seem to remember them wanting to reduce immigration.

a man says well whats the plan in front of a red flag

ALT: a man says well whats the plan in front of a red flag

media.tenor.com

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RichardJR @electricbluesfan.bsky.social · 4h

9/9
The takeaway from Tuesday's meeting? This is not international diplomacy. It’s a gangster flick.

As Harris concludes, "It’s about a big guy extorting someone smaller. The ending for Canadians, happy or sad, will take some time to be written."

Michael Harris, The Tyee
thetyee.ca/Analysis/202...

Carney’s Caught in a Bad Gangster Movie | The Tyee

Wish the PM could win a faster deal with Trump? Don’t forget how mob bosses work.

thetyee.ca

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RichardJR @electricbluesfan.bsky.social · 4h

8/9
The author argues that Canadian pushback against Trump isn't "anti-American," it's "anti-Trump."

"Canadians, like a lot of Americans, have watched in horror as the United States has lurched toward #authoritarianism under #Trump," he writes, a distinction the ambassador fails to make.

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RichardJR @electricbluesfan.bsky.social · 4h

7/9
When a former Canadian finance minister called Trump's tariffs an act of economic "war," #Hoekstra bristled, calling the term "a dangerous place to go."

Harris notes investor Warren #Buffett also described the tariffs as an "act of war," asking if Hoekstra considers him anti-American, too.

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RichardJR @electricbluesfan.bsky.social · 4h

6/9
"What drivel," Harris writes. "No one is passionate about getting mugged and maligned."

He argues #Hoekstra ignores the context: #Trump has called PM #Trudeau a "lunatic," falsely claimed #Canada can't exist without #U.S. subsidies, and levied ruinous #tariffs on Canadian goods.
#CanUS

RichardJR @electricbluesfan.bsky.social · 4h

5/9
Harris reserves special scorn for the U.S. ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra, calling him a "partisan stooge."

After becoming ambassador, Hoekstra complained he was "disappointed" to find it "very, very difficult to find Canadians who are passionate about the American-Canadian relationship."

RichardJR @electricbluesfan.bsky.social · 4h

4/9
Then there's Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine advocate with bizarre medical theories and a history with Jeffrey Epstein.

As conservative lawyer George Conway put it: “If you were actively trying to harm the country, these are the kinds of people... you would pick.”

RichardJR @electricbluesfan.bsky.social · 4h

3/9
One just has to look at Trump's team, where "loyalty above qualifications, subservience over integrity, are what matter most."

He points to FBI head Kash Patel, who fired agents for protesting racial injustice, and Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem, who wrote about shooting her puppy.

RichardJR @electricbluesfan.bsky.social · 4h

2/9
The author compares Trump's language to that of a mob boss.

"We want Canada to do great," Trump said. "But you know, there’s a point at which we also want the same business."

This is followed by the smiling threat: "We have natural conflict. We also have mutual love."

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RichardJR @electricbluesfan.bsky.social · 4h

1/9
🇨🇦 PM CARNEY'S CAUGHT IN A BAD GANGSTER MOVIE 🇨🇦

In a scathing analysis, Michael Harris argues that Prime Minister Mark Carney's meeting with Donald #Trump wasn't diplomacy—it was a shakedown by a gangland boss running a racket with no scruples.

An opinion for The Tyee
#CdnPoli #USpoli #Carney

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RichardJR @electricbluesfan.bsky.social · 5h

7/7
Canada puts a major, controversial, energy project that Trump wants back on the table. In exchange, the government hopes to get much-needed relief from the tariffs that have hammered Canadian industries, particularly steel and aluminum.

Rosemary Barton for CBC News
www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

Carney raised Keystone XL pipeline revival in meeting with Trump | CBC News

Relief for Canada from U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum may come thanks to renewed interest in a pipeline project first proposed more than 15 years ago.

www.cbc.ca

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RichardJR @electricbluesfan.bsky.social · 5h

6/7
Carney's pitch comes just as Alberta Premier #DanielleSmith is pushing for her own "fictional" #pipeline through #B.C., a plan B.C. Premier #DavidEby has vehemently rejected.

The federal revival of KXL would be a massive development in Canada's domestic energy politics.

RichardJR @electricbluesfan.bsky.social · 5h

5/7
The Keystone XL #pipeline has a turbulent history. First proposed in 2008, it was shut down by the #Obama administration, revived by #Trump during his first term, and then killed again by the #Biden administration in 2021.

Trump has publicly called for it to be built "NOW."
#KeystoneXL

RichardJR @electricbluesfan.bsky.social · 5h

4/7
This explains the vague "energy" component mentioned after the meeting.

Trade Minister Dominic #LeBlanc had announced that both leaders instructed their teams to "quickly land deals" on three "priority files": #steel, #aluminum, and #energy.

RichardJR @electricbluesfan.bsky.social · 5h

3/7
Interest in the #KeystoneXL #pipeline appears to be key to unlocking a deal on tariffs.

It opened up the potential for real movement on the crippling 50 per cent duties currently being applied to Canadian #steel and #aluminum, and that "material progress" was made on the issue.
#Tariffs #Energy

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RichardJR @electricbluesfan.bsky.social · 5h

2/7
According to a source with direct knowledge of the meeting, Carney expressed renewed Canadian national interest in the pipeline, which would run from Alberta to the U.S. Midwest.

President Trump, a long-time supporter of the project, was reportedly "receptive" to the idea.

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RichardJR @electricbluesfan.bsky.social · 5h

1/7
🇨🇦 CARNEY RAISED KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE REVIVAL IN MEETING WITH TRUMP 🇨🇦

In a surprise move, #Carney pitched the revival of the long-dormant #KeystoneXL #pipeline to President #Trump as a path toward relief from punishing U.S. tariffs.

Rosemary Barton, CBC News
#CdnPoli #USpoli #KXL

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RichardJR @electricbluesfan.bsky.social · 12h

11/11
Asked how much longer Ukraine can holdout against a much larger enemy, the commander YG gives a simple, resolute answer.

"We’ve been at war with the Russians for 300 years," he said. "We can hold on for a while longer."

Robert F. Worth, The Atlantic
www.theatlantic.com/internationa...

How Ukraine Turned the Tables on Russia

Russia assumed time was on its side, but a new Ukrainian strategy is yielding surprising results.

www.theatlantic.com

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RichardJR @electricbluesfan.bsky.social · 12h

10/11
Nine months ago, Ukraine appeared to be in real trouble. But now, there's a new confidence.

"Russia cannot win unless we in the West totally quit," a retired U.S. general says. Time, which once favoured the Russians with their huge demographic advantage, may be shifting to the Ukrainian side.

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RichardJR @electricbluesfan.bsky.social · 12h

9/11
This hatred is a reminder that for #Ukrainians, the war is elemental. They see it as a fight for their very existence against an enemy that, in its state media, portrays them as "rats, hyenas, and filth."

This belief fuels their resolve to continue the fight, despite the exhaustion and losses.

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RichardJR @electricbluesfan.bsky.social · 12h

8/11
The psychological toll of this high-tech, intimate war is immense. The author notes a callousness among soldiers, who watch drone footage of enemy soldiers being "slow-cooked" in their tanks.

"We hate them for the fact that we have lost our compassion," a field doctor tells him.

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RichardJR @electricbluesfan.bsky.social · 12h

7/11
The #drone units look less like military bases and more like tech offices, with "long-haired young men in T-shirts hunched over screens."

The author meets one #FPV drone pilot who looks like an "adolescent gamer." He has killed about 200 #Russian #soldiers in the past year.
#Drones

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RichardJR @electricbluesfan.bsky.social · 12h

6/11
The command posts reflect this imperative to minimize casualties. They are hidden in private homes, not military bases, and are designed to be evacuated instantly.

Soldiers even drive ordinary civilian cars to avoid being targeted by Russian drones, which will hunt a single person in uniform.

RichardJR @electricbluesfan.bsky.social · 12h

5/11
This caution is a stark contrast to the Russian approach, which commanders describe as a "caste system."

"Some troops they see as disposable," YG says. He tells a story of overhearing a wounded Russian soldier pleading in vain to be evacuated before ultimately amputating his own leg.

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RichardJR @electricbluesfan.bsky.social · 12h

4/11
This means more careful use of #artillery, more precise troop movements planned on phones, and better rotation plans to conserve #soldiers.

A key part of the strategy is using technology—especially drones—to inflict losses on the enemy while minimizing Ukrainian casualties.
#Drones

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