USA

Detroit hopes Trump’s tariffs will jump-start its car factories

On a freezing afternoon in Detroit, the doors of a giant car plant swung open and workers in hoods and hats began to step out into the falling snow. They were tired and cold after a shift that began at dawn. Many now faced a long drive home.

But at least some took a moment to consider the attention being lavished on them by their new president. On the campaign trail, Donald Trump singled them out as heroes of the US workforce. “These truly great Americans do not get the credit they deserve,” he declared in a speech in Michigan. “I’m pinpointing you for greatness,” he said in another.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"EV's - Electric Vehicles", "Net-Zero Tyranny", Canada, USA

LILLEY: Canada’s protectionist hypocrisy is hurting us with U.S.

“They’ve been very nasty to us on trade. Historically, Canada has been very, very bad to us on trade,” President Donald Trump said on Friday.

The Canadian response to these words has been to scoff and claim that Canada is the best trading partner the U.S. has. Turns out both of those things can be true at the same time, and if you listen to the Americans, they have several serious issues with us.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCanada, USA

Trump officials issue quotas to ICE officers to ramp up arrests

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have been directed by Trump officials to aggressively ramp up the number of people they arrest, from a few hundred per day to at least 1,200 to 1,500, because the president has been disappointed with the results of his mass deportation campaign so far, according to four people with knowledge of the briefings.

The quotas were outlined Saturday in a call with senior ICE officials, who were told that each of the agency’s field offices should make 75 arrests per day and managers would be held accountable for missing those targets. The four people spoke on the condition of anonymity to disclose internal briefings.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCamp Of The Saints, USA

Bobby Kennedy’s assassination is back in the spotlight. Did they have the wrong man all along?

As the Rolling Stones lyric goes, the answer to “who killed the Kennedys” was “after all…you and me”. In Don DeLillo’s novel Libra, John F Kennedy’s assassination emerged from a CIA plot. And in the Ultimate Marvel world, the US president’s killer was, perhaps least credibly of all, Captain America’s son Red Skull.

The assassinations of JFK in 1963 and his brother, Robert F “Bobby” Kennedy, in 1968 have held the American imagination in a vice-like grip ever since.

Conspiracy theories have raged for decades, sparking a plethora of books, films and, more recently, internet posts. For some, no explanation has seemed too improbable. Among many, there remains a reluctance to accept that the simple answers – those to which the bulk of evidence points to – are in fact the correct ones.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inUSA, WTF?

J.D. Vance reveals spiritual turmoil as bishops slam Donald Trump migrant deportation plan

Vice President J.D. Vance, a Catholic man, is disappointed that a group of U.S. Bishops are speaking out over a new order allowing immigration enforcement to conduct raids at churches.

President Donald Trump issued an executive order that removes protections from sensitive places like churches and schools.

This allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other law enforcement officials can conduct raids and apprehend undocumented immigrants from those venues.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCamp Of The Saints, USA

What L.A. Has Lost

In addition to the death toll and the financial cost, the fires have claimed essential aspects of American culture.

Los Angeles is the American city most associated with the future. But contrary to popular belief, it also possesses a rich past. And major parts of it are going up in flames along with homes in Pacific Palisades, Malibu, and Pasadena, as the L.A. wildfires, already among the most devastating natural events in American history, finally edge toward containment. Losses run to the hundreds of billions. But not every loss can be measured in dollars and cents. Along with their property and, yet more tragically, their lives, the people of Los Angeles have lost some of the best parts of their history and culture.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Mother Nature Hates You", USA

Marine Corps Commandant Tells a Whopper

General Eric Smith denied the existence of DEI programming in the Marine Corps, disgracing himself and the entire Corps in the process.

For the first time since I joined the Marine Corps in 1969, I am ashamed of the organization. Until now, no Marine Corps commandant has been accused of lying to the American public. On January 15th of this year, General Eric Smith told a whopper. When asked by a group of reporters what the Corps’ position was, Smith answered unequivocally; “As far as DEI, the Marine Corps has not had DEI programs, never have.” 

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"DEI - Diversity Equity Inclusion", USA

Colombia rejects two US military flights with deported migrants, say officials

Colombian president Gustavo Petro announced on Sunday that he had blocked US military aircraft carrying deported Colombians as part of Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown from landing in his country.

Mexico had also reportedly refused to receive a similar flight on Saturday, according to US officials cited by Reuters and NBC News.

In a post on Twitter/X, Colombia’s leftist leader wrote: “A migrant is not a criminal and must be treated with the dignity that every human being deserves.

UPDATE: Colombia President Backs Down After Trump Threatens Nation for Rejecting Deportation Flights

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCamp Of The Saints, USA

‘Everybody else went off freelancing’: Alberta premier insists she isn’t undermining Canadian case with Trump

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith — who’s stood in staunch opposition to the idea of cutting off energy exports to the U.S. in response to the potential imposition of tariffs — insists she isn’t creating a national unity crisis by publicly opposing her fellow premiers on the issue.

“I think the problem that we saw is that we were getting together as a group of premiers and the prime minister saying, ‘let’s not negotiate this in public,’ and I did my part, saying, ‘let’s focus on the things that we know the Americans care about: national security and border security,’ and everybody else went off freelancing,” Smith told CTV’s Question Period host Vassy Kapelos in an interview airing Sunday.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCanada, USA

C.I.A. Now Favors Lab Leak Theory to Explain Covid’s Origins

The C.I.A. has said for years that it did not have enough information to conclude whether the Covid pandemic emerged naturally from a wet market in Wuhan, China, or from an accidental leak at a research lab there.

But the agency issued a new assessment this week, with analysts saying they now favor the lab theory.

That shift is based on “the available body of reporting,” although the other theory remains plausible, a spokeswoman for the agency said, adding that the agency will continue to evaluate any available credible new intelligence reporting.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"China eats weird animals disease", USA

The rest of Canada should stop vilifying Danielle Smith, and start listening to her

No Canadian has been more visible, more strategic, and more on-the-ground on the U.S.-Canada tariff file than Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. You don’t have to like her approach to recognize that she has been enormously successful in securing an in-person audience with decision-makers in the U.S., to whom she has been making her case for Canadian carve-outs to U.S. President Donald Trump’s 25-per-cent tariff threat. (As she confirmed in a news conference on Jan. 21, she is pushing for a national exemption, and not simply a provincial one.) Her social media feeds have documented her meeting with senators from West Virginia, Florida and Oklahoma, governors from North Dakota, Louisiana, Arkansas, Montana, Mississippi and others in the days before and after inauguration – and that’s following her visit to Mar-a-Lago earlier this month, where she had the direct ear of Mr. Trump.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCanada, USA

Mexico risks Trump’s wrath as it BLOCKS packed illegal migrant deportation flight from landing

Mexican authorities blocked a US military plane from deporting illegal migrants on Thursday after Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown began.

American officials told NBC News a packed jet never took off after authorities south of the border rejected the move.

The flight was one of three that were set to take off on Thursday, alongside two Guatemala-bound Air Force C-17s carrying over 150 people, as part of what Trump has described as the largest mass deportation effort in US history.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCamp Of The Saints, President Trump, USA

Canada is losing the war for American hearts and minds. We’re barely even fighting

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As a wise Canadian once put it, you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone. And when it comes to the partnership with Canada, the average American has no idea what they’ve got.

Before President Donald Trump drives his tariff bulldozer through paradise, Canada needs to launch a crash program of talking to Americans about the world’s most successful economic relationship and friendship, what will happen when it’s gone, and how much that will cost them.

With a PM like Trudeau it’s a wonder they let any of us cross the border.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCanada, USA

US orders halt to virtually all foreign aid except for Israel and Egypt

The secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has ordered a halt to virtually all US foreign aid, but made an exception for funding to Israel and Egypt, according to an internal memo to staff at the US state department.

“No new funds shall be obligated for new awards or extensions of existing awards until each proposed new award or extension has been reviewed and approved … as consistent with President Trump’s agenda,” said the memo.

The sweeping order appears to affect everything from development assistance to military aid – including potentially to Ukraine, which received billions of dollars in weapons under Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden as it tries to repel a Russian invasion.

Canada should end Trudeau’s vanity values spending as well.

Ukraine is OK.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inUSA

Border czar Tom Homan’s simple message for gangster who yelled he’s ‘not going back to Haiti’

Border czar Tom Homan had a simple message for the Haitian gangster who defiantly yelled “F–k Trump, Biden forever!” and how he was “not going back to Haiti” when he was picked up during immigration raids.

“Well, he’s wrong. He’s going back to Haiti, I can tell you that,” Homan told Fox News’ “The Will Cain Show” with a smile as he was played the now-viral clip.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCamp Of The Saints, USA