A warning to the news industry: act now or the Joe Rogan/Piers Morgan ecosystem will leave you far behind
The Alberta referendum story took a sharp turn this week when the courts entered the picture.
It’s left the future of the referendum on separation in doubt and the politics of the issue in turmoil.
Jason Markusoff of the CBC tried to make sense of where things stand now:
For Danielle Smith and Alberta separatists, no clear path left for referendum after court loss
Now, if you want an even more direct read on how all this affects separation campaigns, not just in Alberta but elsewhere in the country, read this.
It comes from Clark Ries in The Line. Hopefully, you can access it because it's quite something:
Clarke Ries: How two Alberta judges shot separatist delusions to death
To some, the latest example of an agreement between Mark Carney and Danielle Smith, this one on Friday, points to a slide in Canada’s climate commitments.
We talked about this on yesterday’s Good Talk (see the link later in The Buzz), but here’s an interesting perspective on what’s been happening from a discussion that former environment minister Stephane Dion had with The Hill Times:
‘It’s sad’: former minister Dion says project approval revamp pitch latest in ‘trend’ of climate policy backlash
This has been a wild week here in the U.K.
As the week started, it seemed impossible after being battered in local elections that Sir Keir Starmer could hang on as prime minister. But he has. Starmer seems to have stitched together enough in his party to keep his job. None of that seems to bother the bombastic Reform leader Nigel Farage, who is convinced he’ll be the next PM when the people get to decide. And who does he thank for that? How about Preston Manning? John Paul Tasker wrote this for the CBC:
The Canadian inspiration for Britain's surging right-wing Reform party
Time to promote our YouTube podcasts for this week.
Yesterday’s Good Talk with Chantal Hebert and Bruce Anderson can be found right here.
And Tuesday’s latest Moore-Butts conversation is available at this link.
So, after its relative success in Venezuela and its debacle in Iran, what’s next for the United States?
Cuba is most people’s best guess. But maybe that can actually happen without a fight. Interesting piece in Spain’s national paper of record, El Pais, this week:
The US and Cuba intensify negotiations as the island’s collapse deepens
There’s lots to admire about our electoral system over our neighbours' system to the south.
My favourite difference involves the length of their presidential race. While the next president won’t be inaugurated until January of 2029, they’re already talking about who will be in the race now. It wasn’t that long ago that the initials AOC were being described as belonging to a left-wing radical. Now they’re being described as a leading contender. Check this out in Newsweek:
AOC Surges to Lead in 2028 Primary for First Time—Most Accurate Pollster
Have you been following the Kash Patel story?
If you haven’t, pass on this, but if you have, this is yet another example of how the FBI Director uses his position for his own personal activities, and in this case, a questionable one. AP did the reporting on this:
Emails show FBI Director Kash Patel’s Hawaii trip included ‘VIP snorkel’ at a Pearl Harbor memorial
The fact that Rod Stewart is 81 years old has not slowed him down.
The fact that he’s been knighted hasn’t taken away some of those rough Scottish edges. He still knows how to talk directly, even to his King. Case in point: the “Da Ya Know I’m Sexy” crooner/rocker had some choice words about Donald Trump when he was talking the other day to King Charles:
🔒 Rod Stewart tells King: Well done for putting ratbag Trump in his place
I love these stories.
They come along every few weeks, make the headlines, and then you never hear about them again. But I still love them. I mean, anytime you “find a lost biblical town” it just has to be news, no? So says the UK’s Express:
