The Buzz April 27th 2024: Poilievre’s roadside stop, Carney’s budget…

Welcome to another week of The Buzz.

As promised, I’m on the other side of the Atlantic for a while but in our wonderful world of connectivity, you’re never far away anymore. So, sit back, relax, enjoy your Saturday morning with some of my week’s news behind the news suggestions.

Starting with two very different roadside encounters by two of Canada’s leading politicians. We’re going to bookend this edition with those two stories… one that very well may give you cause for concern, the other that may very well warm your heart.

For some reason Pierre Poilievre was attracted to some waving F-Trudeau flags beside a highway on the Nova Scotia/New Brunswick border the other evening.

So, he stopped his chauffer driven car, not to get the protestors to calm the rhetoric but to encourage them. Strange choice thinks columnist Althia Raj of the Toronto Star:

Pierre Poilievre is courting support from groups that spew hate. Is this really the alternative to Justin Trudeau we want? 🔒

Read >

More on this and the week’s other political developments on the latest Good Talk where I’m joined by regulars Chantal Hebert and Bruce Anderson. Catch it on YouTube through the connection at nationalnewswatch.com

Meanwhile, the federal budget is still making headlines and most of them aren’t good.

Pollsters suggest the public wasn’t impressed and as Althia just mentioned, some Liberal heavyweights, or potential wannabe heavyweights, are saying the government missed the mark (no pun intended). Marieke Walsh had this in the Globe and Mail:

Mark Carney says federal budget not focused enough on growth 🔒

Read >

Have you been following political developments in Europe lately?

Some countries are not being shy about how they see the world and they’re pushing for a wake-up call about what’s happening. Many leaders have spoken out and, as often is the case, France’s Emmanuel Macron can sound the most vigorous. Macron went on for two hours during a speech at the Sorbonne. Tom Watling of The Independent wrote about it:

Europe is ‘too slow and lacks ambition’ in the face of global threats, says Macron

Read >

Pranshu Verma and Cat Zakrzewsi had a fascinating piece in the Washington Post this week we should all be reading because it previews how AI could be dominant in upcoming elections.

Remember half the world will have elections over the next year and everyone is trying for the advantage, and most think AI is the way:

AI deepfakes threaten to upend global elections. No one can stop them.

Read >

Twice in the last year, I’ve had minor accidents that I couldn’t really explain.

Last summer I twisted my ankle and tore some ligaments. It took months of patience, physio, and exercise to finally get past it. Almost the day I was better I slipped and fell on some stairs bracing the fall with my shoulder. I’m in my second month of recovery from that. Needless to say, it’s not helping my golf game.

So, what’s the issue here? I’ve never had anything quite like this before. Hmm. Could it be I turned 75 in the last year? That the old body needs more care in moving around than it used to? Perhaps.

Especially now that I’ve read this:

When does ‘old age’ really begin? Seniors think 75 is the new 65

Read >

Do you believe that somewhere out there is alien life? In space? On another planet? Light years away?

Come on, sure you have. You have since you were young enough to think.

At least Lisa Kaltenegger has. And she should know what she’s talking about. Wait til you read about her credentials. Chris Harvey of The Telegraph wrote about her this week:

‘The announcement we’ve found alien life could be just a couple of years away’

Read >

“Oh, baby.” Once you heard it you could never forget it.

Bob Cole’s signature call during hockey games over the decades. We lost him this week but in other ways, we’ll never lose him. I remember the first time I met him, at a Winter Olympics venue in France more than thirty years ago. I was the relatively young anchor of The National. Mr Cole was the veteran play-by-play man of Hockey Night in Canada. But he treated me as an equal, just a truly nice guy with that amazing voice. Read and listen in this report from John Gushue of the CBC:

Bob Cole, the play-by-play voice of countless NHL games, dies at 90

Read >

Okay, here is the other bookend I was writing about.

A very different kind of roadside encounter than the one that opened The Buzz this week. This may be my favourite story of the week.

Premier ‘just like the rest of us’ 🔒

Read >

Now, there’s a honeymoon that won’t be ending anytime soon.

Time for a wrap for this week but sending you a little taste of the Scottish northeast along the North Sea coast. And this ain’t AI baby, it’s the real thing!

Welcome to another week of The Buzz.

For some reason Pierre Poilievre was attracted to some waving F-Trudeau flags beside a highway on the Nova Scotia/New Brunswick border the other evening.

Pierre Poilievre is courting support from groups that spew hate. Is this really the alternative to Justin Trudeau we want? 🔒

More on this and the week’s other political developments on the latest Good Talk where I’m joined by regulars Chantal Hebert and Bruce Anderson. Catch it on YouTube through the connection at nationalnewswatch.com

Meanwhile, the federal budget is still making headlines and most of them aren’t good.

Mark Carney says federal budget not focused enough on growth 🔒

Have you been following political developments in Europe lately?

Europe is ‘too slow and lacks ambition’ in the face of global threats, says Macron

Pranshu Verma and Cat Zakrzewsi had a fascinating piece in the Washington Post this week we should all be reading because it previews how AI could be dominant in upcoming elections.

AI deepfakes threaten to upend global elections. No one can stop them.

Twice in the last year, I’ve had minor accidents that I couldn’t really explain.

When does ‘old age’ really begin? Seniors think 75 is the new 65

Do you believe that somewhere out there is alien life? In space? On another planet? Light years away?

‘The announcement we’ve found alien life could be just a couple of years away’

“Oh, baby.” Once you heard it you could never forget it.

Bob Cole, the play-by-play voice of countless NHL games, dies at 90

Okay, here is the other bookend I was writing about.

Premier ‘just like the rest of us’ 🔒

Now, there’s a honeymoon that won’t be ending anytime soon.

Time for a wrap for this week but sending you a little taste of the Scottish northeast along the North Sea coast. And this ain’t AI baby, it’s the real thing!

See you again in seven days!

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