You may have never heard of Thomas Speciale before. I know I haven’t, but he did a couple of things on Thursday night, Oct. 30, at George Mason University, where former CIA director John Brennan was one of the guest speakers at an event that will merit your attention.
JOHANNESBURG—What does it look like when a city stops trying? Visit Johannesburg, where instead of providing basic public services, the government just warns residents not to expect them.
Signs tell you what crime you’re most likely to fall victim to at highway exits and intersections; beware “Hi-Jacking Hot Spot” or “Smash and Grab Hot Spot.” Homeless people routinely direct traffic when the stoplights don’t work. Minibus taxis that ferry workers around the city often drive on the wrong side of the road to avoid rush hour traffic.
Johannesburg, South Africa’s biggest metropolis, markets itself as a “world class African city.” It’s home to some of the continent’s biggest companies and its largest stock exchange. But private firms have gradually taken over public services, from security to healthcare to mail delivery. Insurance companies fix potholes and sponsor fire brigades to reduce claims.
Interesting comments.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Mark Carney was counselled to push back during an April call with Donald Trump if the U.S. president revived his complaints about border security, fentanyl from Canada or low defence spending, a newly released memo shows.
Federal officials prepared the internal memo to guide Carney’s conversation with Trump following the Liberal party’s April 28 election victory.
A concise Canadian summary of the April 29 call, released that day, says Trump congratulated Carney and that the leaders agreed on the importance of working together — as independent, sovereign nations — for their mutual betterment.
That worked great.
Not counting the pandemic year of 2020, the October of 2025 box office earned just $425 million. That’s the worst October showing since 1997.
Except.
It’s actually worse than that.
After weeks of federal government spending announcements leading up to budget day, the biggest unknown remains how large the deficit will be and where and how deep the expected cuts will land.
Prime Minister Mark Carney and his finance minister, François-Philippe Champagne, have repeatedly characterized Tuesday’s budget as a generational one. In this time of “ruptured” global economics and geopolitical uncertainty, the’ve said Canada has to “spend less” to “invest more.”
In the hours after the fatal shooting of the conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Dr Nicholas Kardaras held his weekly college class on the impact of digital media on mental health.
“I walked into my classroom that afternoon and one of my students said, ‘Oh, Kirk was just shot, we think he might be dead’,” said Kardaras, a professor at Stony Brook University in New York and one of the country’s foremost addiction experts. “Then another one — who is getting their mental health degree — said, ‘Well, yeah, but he had it coming’.”
Kardaras, a psychologist who has spent over a decade studying the online radicalisation of young people, was a little taken aback but not altogether surprised by the student’s response.
With just days to go until the Liberal government introduces its much-anticipated federal budget, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre won’t say whether his party will strike down the legislation — instead insisting he needs to read the document before deciding.
“I don’t have telepathic powers to tell you what’s in it,” Poilievre said in an interview on Rosemary Barton Live airing Sunday morning. “If it were to bring down the cost of living — an affordable budget for an affordable living is something that I support.”
AT TIME of writing, two people have been arrested by police in connection with a horrendous stabbing spree of at least ten passengers on a train last night. At least one of the alleged attackers was first shot with a Taser by police officers.
The arrests, in Huntingdon where the Doncaster to King’s Cross train was brought to an emergency stop, mean that legal proceedings are now active. It is highly likely that charges will follow imminently and the media must be extremely careful not to prejudice subsequent court proceedings.
It’s outrageous that British people can’t go anywhere without having to think about theirs and their families safety.
This isn’t how the U.K. used to be, or should be.
Why are the government not addressing the issues? pic.twitter.com/DZhepaJmMN
— Binky (@TheOnlyGuru) November 2, 2025
Emotions ran high in a Sault Ste. Marie courtroom today during a sentencing hearing for the man who pleaded guilty to abducting a nine-year-old boy in Thessalon in 2023.
Manoj Govindbalunikam, 37 of Brampton, appeared in a Sault Ste. Marie courtroom as the Crown and defence attorneys made submissions for sentencing.
In May, Govindbalunikam pleaded guilty to the single count of abduction of a person under the age of 14 in relation to an August 2023 incident in Thessalon.
He hasn’t only disgraced himself — he is trashing Queen Elizabeth’s reputation too
Ihave been surveying the Sandringham real estate options for Andrew. Wood Farm: Prince Philip’s poky former shag pad. It’s already a no. Then there’s York Cottage, a place even the royals — never ones to be that picky about the look of a house — deem glum and ugly. It is “unlucky and sad”.
Park Hall, a now empty nursing home where Diana grew up — well, I suppose that’s the best one. It’s very Andrew. Big, faded, grand; it could easily be tarted up. It could easily — and I bet you these are the exact thoughts that are flashing through his tattered brain as he furiously consults interior decorators — could easily be fitted with a (small) Jacuzzi, a helipad, a spa, even, maybe a 100ft dressing room and bomb shelter, as he had at Sunninghill Park.
Royal Scumbags. The monarchy will have a very difficult time recovering from this if that is even possible.
Figuring out how much Canadians are paying for government climate change programs is difficult because the information is scattered across the three levels of government we have in Canada.
That said, a rough estimate of the cost for federal, provincial and territorial programs alone (excluding municipal governments) is $503 billion, or $12,062 per Canadian.
Grooming gang family members have been applying for jobs at charities to “threaten and intimidate” victims into silence, The Times has been told.
Despite perpetrators being on watchlists or in prison, their relatives have routinely tried to “infiltrate” organisations that support the survivors of sexual exploitation.
Paul O’Rourke, the managing director of Next Stage Youth Development, which has helped four girls abused by Rochdale grooming gangs, said the problem was “really common” in the sector but has been overlooked amid the national outcry.
Islam breeds monsters.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says if elected he’d use the notwithstanding clause to overturn Friday’s ruling from the Supreme Court striking down mandatory minimums for accessing or possessing child pornography.
Friday’s decision deeming those one-year prison sentences unconstitutional not only split the bench 5-4, but has received swift backlash from provincial and federal leaders.
Poilievre added to the mounting condemnation in an interview with CBC News.
A city had a rude awakening when it tested its electric buses for security flaws.
Some cities have gone all-in on their dedication to renewable energy and electric public transportation, but discovering that a jurisdiction does not actually control its own public property likely was not part of the idea.
h/t SC
