Here’s the latest on the scene there, in from AP:
Venezuelans take search for the missing into their own hands in earthquake aftermath
The thing about this earthquake story is that it wasn’t just one; it was two, both within seconds of each other.
That’s rare, and obviously it can be, and in this case, is, disastrous. The New York Times looked at the science:
🔒 Why the Venezuelan Earthquakes Happened, and What to Expect Next
Do you think Mark Carney still concludes Donald Trump’s Iran war was “worth it”?
That’s what he said a week ago. If he does still think that way, then he’s in select company. Well, maybe “small” is a better description of the company rather than “select”. A new survey of Americans was asked whether they thought what their President did was in fact “worth it”. The answers weren’t pretty. This is in the latest edition of Military Times, a U.S. publication read by a lot of American military types, some who actually fought the war:
Just one in four Americans believes the Iran war was worth its costs
Meanwhile, some Canadians aren’t too happy with the prime minister's frequent flattery of the U.S. president.
One of them is Toronto Star columnist Susan Delacourt. Here’s what she thinks these days:
🔒 Opinion | Mark Carney’s flattery of Donald Trump is a game that needs changing
If you believe the things Donald Trump says, and I know that’s a stretch for most people, then you’ll remember him boasting about this in the past.
He would say, and in fact he still says, that wherever he goes in the world people thank him for, as he claims, how great he’s made America. Really? Then he’d better not read this next survey either.
Trump Gets Negative Reviews Internationally as Fewer Say U.S. Is a Reliable Partner
Is it too soon to be writing the political obit for Doug Ford?
The Ontario premier has won back to back to back majority governments, and that’s not easy, no matter who you are. But could he win a fourth, or are things starting to creep up on him? Robyn Urback of the Globe has thoughts on that:
🔒 Opinion | Is this the beginning of the end of the Doug Ford era in Ontario?
Just one Bridge YouTube podcast to promote this week, and it’s interesting to listen to in light of what you just read from Robyn. It's this conversation between James Moore and Gerald Butts about when it's a good time to consider quitting politics. You can find it right here.
Buzz readers and Bridge listeners know I like to occasionally check in with Andrew MacDougall for his take on things.
Andrew was Stephen Harper’s top Comms guy back in that day, and now he’s a consulting strategist based in London. So, he had a bird’s eye view of this week's political upheaval in the U.K. He feels there are lessons for Canadian leaders in what happened across the pond:
🔒 Opinion | This leader’s resignation offers one lesson for Carney and another for Poilievre
Speaking of assessing the stakes for Canadian leaders this summer, my friend and political strategist Tim Powers isn’t shy in this piece for the Hill Times:
🔒 Summer stakes are high for Carney, Poilievre, and Lewis
I’m going to end this week with the kind of piece that I have to set up a bit.
This may take a few minutes, but stay with me. Let’s have some fun – after all, it’s summer, and why not?
I remember the actual day I first realized that I was losing my hair. It was in April of 1976. I was sitting at my desk, tapping on my typewriter, in the CBC newsroom in Regina. I was the National’s correspondent in Saskatchewan at the time, and I was banging out a script on a story destined for that night’s broadcast. In those days, the great Lloyd Robertson was in the CBC anchor chair. I can’t remember what the piece was about but it probably had something to do with grain. The Toronto editors at the time assumed that anything about Saskatchewan had to mean grain. If you didn’t have grain in the story, the odds were it didn’t get on the air. That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but only slightly.
Anyway, as I was tapping away, my friend and colleague Sandra Lewis came up behind me and almost screeched, “Peter, you’re going bald!” At first, I thought she was joking, but quickly realized when others chimed in, she wasn’t. I was horrified. I wasn’t even thirty yet. Bald? My life was over.
A month later, I was in China on an assignment and happened to be in a medical clinic of sorts in Shanghai. I thought, why not ask, so I did.
“Do you have anything to prevent baldness?” I whispered to one of the attendants through a translator. So much for the whisper. The place erupted in laughter.
By the time I left, I was carrying about a thousand pills that I was assured would deal with the issue. By the time I had the pills checked back in Regina, I was assured they’d do nothing for my hair. They were, I was told, aphrodisiacs. But that’s another story.
After that, I accepted reality and moved into the cover up phase. Those were the Rene Levesque days where it seemed anything up to and including combing up from the armpits was acceptable to cover a bald spot. Or dark makeup. I tried that for a few years, too.
Then it was plugs. My colleague and eventual CBS correspondent, John Blackstone, was an advocate for plugs, and he convinced me to go see his doctor in Toronto. I did, but I almost ran out of his office when he ran his fingers through my remaining hair and said “You’re a transplanter’s dream”. No way, José.
Over the year, I have finally grown to just accept things as they are. Bald is bald. Still, it wasn’t easy last year when Josh, my barber (he also does the Blue Jays!), convinced me that it was time to cut off the final remaining strands on top. I think there were five. That was a moment. But it liberated me.
Which brings me to the reason I’ve told you all that. At last, you say!
My transition has apparently not been done alone. It’s now the thing. Let it go. Bald really is beautiful.
Check this out in the Wall Street Journal:
