Trump Escalates Pressure on Venezuela, but Endgame Is Unclear

The Trump administration is rapidly escalating its pressure campaign against Venezuela, with America’s largest aircraft carrier, the Ford, about to take up a position within striking distance of the country, even as President Trump’s aides provide conflicting accounts of what, exactly, they are seeking to achieve.

Mr. Trump held back-to-back days of meetings at the White House over the past two days, reviewing military options, including the use of Special Operations forces and direct action inside Venezuela.

It is still not clear whether Mr. Trump has made a decision about what kind of action to authorize, if any. On Friday, he told reporters on Air Force One that “I sort of made up my mind.” “I can’t tell you what it is,” he said, “but we made a lot of progress with Venezuela in terms of stopping drugs from pouring in.”

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LILLEY: Here’s all the reasons Olivia Chow should not run for Toronto mayor again

Mayor Olivia Chow has mused that she may not run again in next year’s election. If so, that would be good news for the city because her policies are not what Toronto needs right now.

Chow was appearing on the Can’t Be Censored Podcast with Travis Dhanraj and Karman Wong when she mused about her political future.

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How American and Chinese Drone Arsenals Stack Up

The U.S. is falling behind China in one of the defining technologies of the modern battlefield.

Drones have proven indispensable in conflicts like Ukraine, where troops rely on them to destroy tanks, lay mines, evacuate wounded fighters, and deliver food and medication. Advances in artificial intelligence increasingly allow unmanned systems to operate with minimal human direction, such as tracking and attacking targets on their own.

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‘It’s a bloodbath out there:’ Tech workers forced to take ‘survival jobs’ as AI cuts swath through workforce

The technology sector was supposed to supply Vancouver’s jobs of the future. But fresh graduates and laid-off workers say job searches now take months, even years, forcing some to walk dogs or stock shelves to pay the bills

Throngs of 20-somethings dressed in blazer-jean combos and armed with paper résumes were asking senior tech leaders about how to break into the industry during a brunch networking meeting in October at the KPMG LLC office in downtown Vancouver.

It was yet another technology-focused event — from networking brunches to mentorship walks to artificial intelligence (AI) workshops — in the city that has attracted sold-out crowds of fresh graduates and young tech workers pursuing their first jobs in the age of AI.


CORPORATE CANADA’S RESPONSE: Recruit more foreign workers, especially the one’s Trump is denying visas to!

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney says he sees an opening for Canada to attract global tech talent now that the United States is introducing a $100,000 fee for temporary visas for workers with specialized skills.

… According to Pew Research, about 60 per cent of H-1B visas issued since 2012 were held by people in computer-related fields.


That article quoting Carney is from a month ago. No matter what the question the answer is always “More foreign workers”.

An unanswered question is how many foreign students are among the unemployed “tech workers” discussed in the FP piece.

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Trump says he will take legal action against BBC over Panorama edit

US President Donald Trump has said he will take legal action against the BBC over how his speech was edited by Panorama, after the corporation apologised but refused to compensate him.

Speaking to reporters on board Air Force One on Friday evening, Trump said: “We’ll sue them for anywhere between $1bn [£759m] and $5bn, probably sometime next week.”

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Poll shows more young women want to leave U.S. — their top destination is Canada

WASHINGTON — A record number of younger American women now say they want to leave the United States — and their most common destination of choice is Canada.

Those findings come from a new Gallup poll that says 40 per cent of American women aged 15 to 44 report they would permanently leave the United States given the opportunity.

That’s substantially more than the 19 per cent of younger men who told the pollster they want to leave the United States for good. Gallup said the 21-point gap between the genders is the largest it has ever recorded.

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Bondi directs SDNY Attorney Clayton to investigate Epstein’s links to Bill Clinton and Democrats after Trump’s request

President Trump called on the Department of Justice to probe late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s links to Democratic bigwigs and institutions like JP Morgan Chase – a request Attorney General Pam Bondi was ready to launch Friday.

Bondi instructed the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, to oversee an investigation, vowing it would be handled “with urgency and integrity.”

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WTF?

Read the whole thread.

h/t Patti Jo

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Jamie Sarkonak: It’s not just the ostriches. Cattle farmers rail against CFIA incompetence

It’s not just the ostriches. Farmers of all sorts of animals are doubting the competency of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

Cattle, elk and poultry farmers have all raised concerns with government-ordered cull operations. It turns out that the CFIA has a reputation for bad communication and inconsistent decision-making when it comes to culls.

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How author Michael Wolff acted as adviser to Epstein on Trump

Michael Wolff – Sleazebag

Newly released emails reveal the Fire and Fury author advised the paedophile on using his connection to Trump for ‘PR and political currency’ in 2016

The Jeffrey Epstein emails released this week have exposed how the author Michael Wolff advised the late sex offender on how to deal with Donald Trump while he was running for president.

Wolff spent time interviewing the two men as part of research for his unauthorised biography Fire and Fury, a bestseller that exposed claims of dysfunction at the heart of the White House during Trump’s first term.

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Boy testifies about adoptive moms’ bizarre rules as Ontario murder trial sees haunting video of his brother — zip-tied into a wetsuit and helmet

Becky Hamber, Brandy Cooney Killer Moms

A 13-year-old boy was forced to relive disturbing memories from the five years he and his brother spent inside a tightly controlled and turbulent Burlington household, where surveillance cameras watched their every move and daily life was governed by his adoptive parents’ strict rules and bizarre practices.

Among them: A “restraint system” including being zip-tied into a tent to sleep; days with no talking; and the punishment — captured on video and played for the boy in court on Thursday — of being forced to meekly pace up and down a flight of stairs.

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Birmingham is a failing city – and a worrying harbinger of Britain’s future

Birmingham England

The nation must start paying proper attention to the tragic disintegration of Birmingham. There was a time when the city’s canals promised to make it a Venice of the North. It was the engine room of the UK, a town of a thousand trades producing everything from guns to buttons.

Even as industry began to crumble, it showed promise to pivot into a cradle of innovation. Not only was it the birthplace of heavy metal and the Odeon cinema chain, it was also once the crucible for creative giants, from J R R Tolkien to Robert Plant.

Today it is the poster child for national decline. The mention of the city evokes images of striking binmen, rats as big as cats, “no-go” Islamic enclaves, “slum” neighbourhoods and a stillborn city centre strangled by a ring road. The city is a cautionary tale in the perils of Left-wing complacency and the follies of progressive utopianism – one the nation must heed to move forward.

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