Why Maui Still Hasn’t Recovered

A year and a half since fires devastated the historic town of Lahaina on the island of Maui, Hawaii, only six houses have been rebuilt—six out of more than 2,000.

Why is the recovery effort taking so long? Initially, the biggest hurdles were the pace of debris removal and damage litigation. Both were overcome only last month. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers cleared the final lots on February 19, while the Hawaiian Supreme Court ruled that a $4 billion settlement for victims can begin to move forward.

The main challenge now is dealing with a crushing permitting regime that slows or outright bans construction. But local political dysfunction has discouraged state and local leaders from taking emergency action to cut through this red tape.

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Doug Ford says his ‘absolutely swamped’ MPPs won’t have time to campaign for Pierre Poilievre

Premier Doug Ford is reminding Progressive Conservative cabinet ministers and MPPs they will be too “swamped” with their day jobs to help Pierre Poilievre in the federal election campaign.

Asked at the first ministers’ meeting in Ottawa on Friday if he would “let your MPPs campaign with Mr. Poilievre,” Ford did not mince words.

“I want to make sure our MPPs are fulfilling our mandate. We are going to be absolutely swamped,” said the premier, whose Tories were re-elected Feb. 27.

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Trump embraces rumour of US joining Commonwealth

President Trump appears keen to make the Commonwealth great again.

He has welcomed reports that the King could invite the United States to join the 56-member organisation when he makes his state visit to Britain. “I love King Charles. Sounds good to me!” Trump posted on his Truth Social site, linking to a news report that plans were allegedly in the works to make America the next associate member.

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Jesse Kline: For the love of peat — how Liberals let moss block development of the ‘oilsands of Ontario’

A video posted by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre on Wednesday highlights one of Canada’s enduring problems: our chronic inability to get anything done and, by extension, our propensity to handicap our own economic prosperity.

In the video, and at a pre-campaign stop in Sudbury, Ont., Poilievre highlighted a story that should have sparked a modern-day gold rush. In 2007, prospectors found vast deposits of critical minerals — including chromite, which is used to produce stainless steel, cobalt, nickel, copper and platinum — in a remote part of northern Ontario, about 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, that came to be known as the “Ring of Fire.”

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Joy Reid garbles American history and claims Canada would beat US in war

Former MSNBC host Joy Reid has resurfaced for the first time since being fired by the liberal network just to wildly claim Canada would most definitely beat the US in a war.

Reid, 56, joined ex-CNN host Don Lemon on his show to discuss Trump’s ‘absurd’ plan to take over Canada and make it the 51st State.

‘First of all, you can’t make Canada the 51st State without going to war with them,’ she told Lemon on Thursday. ‘And let me explain how that happened, how that worked out the last time we tried to go to war with Canada.

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Blame Canada – South Park is the most politically astute show on TV

On CNN recently, the hosts of Saturday morning show Table For Five searched for the words to describe Donald Trump’s recent suggestion that Canada should become America’s 51st state. “It boggles the mind,” co-host Abby Phillip exclaimed. “They’re one of our greatest allies!” agreed pundit John Avalon. It was journalist and YouTube host Touré, though, whose comments cut through. “It’s not a serious concept,” the writer groaned, at the idea of America annexing their neighbours to the north. “It’s a South Park idea!”

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O tempora, o mores! Oxford to alter Latin for non-binary students

For centuries the Latin used during degree ceremonies at Oxford University referred to “masters, ladies and gentlemen”.

Possibly not for much longer. Proposals to amend the language to make it more inclusive for non-binary individuals are being recommended to the 5,000 academic and other staff that make up Congregation, Oxford’s governing body — often referred to as its parliament.

Change centuries of tradition to accommodate a few confused cranks. Right.

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