Polymarket let users bet on wildfires. Lawmakers warn that could spur arson.

Polymarket let users bet on wildfires. Lawmakers warn that could spur arson.

As wildfires rushed down the hills surrounding Los Angeles in January 2025, Polymarket users were trying to correctly predict how many acres would burn — chasing a payout for getting it right.

Some users appeared to grow uneasy, even as Polymarket let people bet on whether the fires would spread to nearby counties or when they might be contained.

“i hope i lose,” one user wrote in the site’s comments section, adding: “i wont cash out as i’m a man of my word.” Another replied, “Don’t be a man of your word, be a man of your money!”

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inWTF?

Britain faces ‘worst food security crisis in decades’

Britain faces ‘worst food security crisis in decades’

Britain is facing its worst food security crisis in decades as repeated heatwaves risk ruining farmers’ harvests, analysts have warned.

The warning was issued as nearly three quarters of England was declared to be in drought, increasing the threat posed to food production across the country.

Soaring temperatures are damaging wheat yields, vegetable crops and milk production, Shore Capital warned, leaving the UK increasingly reliant on food grown abroad.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Food Insecurity"

Ordinary hard work no longer buys the Canadian dream. It’s time to restore that promise

Ordinary hard work no longer buys the Canadian dream. It’s time to restore that promise

A middle-class society is one where ordinary work creates a real path to ownership. A useful education should lead to a job that pays enough to buy a home and save, leaving room to absorb a setback or take a risk. That is how wages become agency, and how families acquire a durable stake in the country.

Liberal democracy depends on the accessibility of that stake. Citizens who can see themselves advancing have reason to build institutions and accept obligations to the people around them. But when work no longer offers a plausible route upward, the material basis of citizenship begins to erode.

Alternate link

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCanada

Short on US Patriot missiles, Ukraine looks for alternatives

Short on US Patriot missiles, Ukraine looks for alternatives

Russia is increasingly relying on ballistic missiles for its attacks on Ukraine — precisely the weapons that Ukraine’s armed forces depend heavily on Western support to ward off.

However, the crucial US-produced Patriot interceptor missiles are often in short supply.

In other Ukraine news …

h/t Hermes

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Ukraine - Russia"

Canada could lose more than 100K jobs if CUSMA dies: report

Canada could lose more than 100K jobs if CUSMA dies: report

OTTAWA – Canada could lose 102,000 jobs if the Canada-U.S.-Mexico agreement on trade breaks down, a new report warns.

The report, prepared for the Canadian American Business Council by Oxford Economics, studied the potential economic consequences of CUSMA negotiations, including termination of the deal.

The report says the United States would lose 214,000 jobs in 2027 if CUSMA died.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Canada - USA Tariff Wars"

Trump’s Air Force One deception faces scrutiny over use of ‘decoy’ media passengers

Trump’s Air Force One deception faces scrutiny over use of ‘decoy’ media passengers

Democrats called on Tuesday for a congressional briefing over a stunning charade in which Donald Trump was secretly spirited to a different plane than the one the public and press believed he was travelling on. Critics now question why reporters and the public had been deliberately misled.

When US intelligence allegedly found a credible threat that Iran plotted to kill him last month, Trump left Air Force One in a catering truck, an episode first reported by the Washington Post and also by the New York Times. While the president was reportedly snuck out the side door of the plane, more than a hundred aides, officials and reporters were kept onboard to fly towards Britain, without being told there was a threat to their lives.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inUSA

Conservatives call for Liberals to block ‘candy sentences’ for immigrants convicted of crimes

Conservatives call for Liberals to block ‘candy sentences’ for immigrants convicted of crimes

OTTAWA — Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel Garner reiterated her call Tuesday for the Liberal government to amend the Criminal Code to put an end to “candy sentences” that she says allow immigrants who commit crimes to avoid deportation.

Speaking to reporters in Ottawa, the longtime Conservative MP argued that a slew of recent headlines detailing how non-Canadians charged with various crimes but received reduced sentences so as to avoid deportation proceedings was “insane and disgusting.”

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Liberal Party Criminal Abuse Of Immigration Policy For Private & Political Gain", "Mass Immigration - Follow the money", Canada's Corrupt Liberal Government

The Myth of Black Female Exceptionalism

The Myth of Black Female Exceptionalism

Jasmine Crockett recently repeated a familiar talking point: that black women are the most educated demographic in America. However, this false claim is not supported by the data. Yet it continues to circulate in political discourse because it serves a psychological need rather than an empirical one. According to the Postsecondary National Policy Institute, Asian and white women hold bachelor’s degrees at higher rates than black women. Hence, black women are not the most educated group in the country. The statistic that black women are the most educated relies on selective interpretations of enrollment data among narrow age cohorts. It does not reflect overall degree attainment. But the media and political class refuse to correct this error because they are afraid of offending a powerful voting bloc.

Well this appears to be in a school

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inWTF?

In this Canadian city, rent gobbles up 95% of a full-time, minimum-wage earner’s working hours

In this Canadian city, rent gobbles up 95% of a full-time, minimum-wage earner’s working hours

Rents in Canada are so high that minimum-wage earners have to allocate much of their full-time work hours to cover the average cost an apartment, thereby jeopardizing their push for financial independence, according to a new report by Zoocasa Realty Inc.

“Financial independence and stable housing have long been seen as markers of adulthood, but for many young Canadians, these milestones are slipping out of reach,” the report released on Aug. 10 said.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Homelessness & Affordability Crisis", "Mass Immigration - Follow the money", Canada's Corrupt Liberal Government

Holiday-hating Francesca “Crazy Eyes” Hong loses to David Crowley in Wisconsin Democratic gubernatorial primary

Holiday-hating Francesca “Crazy Eyes” Hong loses to David Crowley in Wisconsin Democratic gubernatorial primary

WASHINGTON — Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley narrowly upset Democratic socialist Francesca Hong in Wisconsin’s Democratic gubernatorial primary Tuesday night, despite polls showing Hong in front by double-digits in the final stretch before polling day.

Crowley’s campaign said the 37-year-old state legislator and member of the Democratic Socialists of America called Crowley early Wednesday to concede the race. Hong trailed her rival by more than 3,200 votes out of more than 787,000 ballots cast as of 6 a.m. ET., a margin of 0.41 percentage points.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCommunism, Communists, Democratic Party

Thousands sign petition calling for Pete Hoekstra’s removal from Canada

Thousands sign petition calling for Pete Hoekstra’s removal from Canada

A petition set to be presented in the House of Commons this fall calls on the government to declare the U.S. ambassador persona non grata and remove him from Canada.

The online petition accuses Pete Hoekstra of making statements that undermine the Canada-U.S. relationship and of intervening in Canadian political discourse in a manner inconsistent with diplomatic protocol.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCanada, USA

Mamdani’s Wife Gets Brutal Response After Asking NYPD to Babysit Her in War Zones

Mamdani’s Wife Gets Brutal Response After Asking NYPD to Babysit Her in War Zones

Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office recently claimed the NYPD had strongly recommended sending a security detail with his wife, Rama Duwaji, on her upcoming personal trip to Syria and Lebanon.

As is often the case with the communist mayor, that story fell apart rather quickly. The police department swiftly shut down any notion that they’d be sending officers to unstable conflict zones.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Islamophobia", USA

Catholic Military Diocese Says Prayer Ban Violates Charter by Forcing Chaplains to Deliver Non-Religious ‘Spiritual Reflections’

Catholic Military Diocese Says Prayer Ban Violates Charter by Forcing Chaplains to Deliver Non-Religious ‘Spiritual Reflections’

The Roman Catholic Military Ordinariate of Canada says the military’s prayer ban at official events undermines the principle of state neutrality on religion and may violate the Charter in several ways, including by requiring chaplains to avoid mentioning God or using faith-specific language when delivering mandatory “spiritual reflections.”

The concerns were noted in a recent statement by Bishop Scott McCaig, who serves as Military Ordinary of Canada, the authority that oversees Catholic ministry and spiritual needs in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF).

Pic courtesy – The Chaplain Kit

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"CAF - Canadian Armed Forces", "Peak Woke", Canada's Corrupt Liberal Government