9/11...25 Years Later Part 1...The Fall of Harry and Meghan...Canada Bans Israeli Imports..Tariff Day Has Arrived...

Twenty-five years ago, September 11 fell on a Tuesday, a beautiful, crystal-clear fall morning that gave no hint of the horror about to unfold.

We were working in our synagogue, then located in Decarie Square. Looking back, it was a time when we took a certain innocence about the world for granted. Computers were only beginning to become part of our everyday lives. News did not follow us everywhere. There were no smartphones in our hands, no constant stream of alerts and beeps.

And so, when the first plane struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 that morning, we were oblivious.

At the time, there was a Tuesday class at the synagogue that began at 10:00 a.m. It was shortly before that class via a phone call from a friend that we learned what had happened.

We had no internet and no television in the synagogue. Before the class began, we went down the hall to the gym, where there was a TV, and watched in horror as the unimaginable unfolded in New York.

It took a while for the news to come out: four planes had been hijacked that morning. Two were flown into the World Trade Center. A third slammed into the west side of the Pentagon. And then there was the fourth plane. United Airlines Flight 93.

Through final, heart-wrenching phone calls to their loved ones, passengers aboard Flight 93 learned what had already happened in New York and Washington. They understood that their plane, too, was going to be used as a weapon, most likely against the U.S. Capitol or possibly the White House.

And they made an extraordinary decision.

Rather than sit helplessly and wait, passengers and crew fought back, attempting to overpower the hijackers and regain control of the plane. Flight 93 never reached its intended target.

At 10:03 am it crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. All 40 passengers and crew members were killed, along with the four hijackers. But because of the heroism of the passengers and crew in the final minutes of their lives, countless others on the ground were saved.

Twenty-five years is considered a generation. One has to wonder how, in the span of a single generation, we got from the world we knew to the one we are living in today.

Was there a pivotal moment? An exact point when something began to change, something that overrode shared borders, families, businesses, friendships, history and, on that terrible September morning, something much deeper: our shared humanity?

There is a movie that should be required viewing for every North American. It is called Come From Away, and it tells the remarkable true story of what happened in the tiny town of Gander, Newfoundland in the days after 9/11.

On September 11, when American airspace was shut down, 38 planes carrying nearly 6,600 passengers and crew were diverted to Gander. Think about that. Thousands of complete strangers suddenly landed on the doorstep of a small Newfoundland community, literally a dot on the map.

They needed somewhere to sleep. They needed food. They needed clothing, showers, medication and telephones to call terrified families. Mostly, they needed people to take care of them. And Gander did.

People opened their schools, churches, community centres and homes. They cooked. They found beds. They gave away clothes. They took strangers into their homes and treated them like family at a moment when much of the world was terrified of strangers.

There were no questions about tariffs. No talk about trade deficits. No political calculations about who owed whom what. People needed help. Canadians helped them.

And here’s the kicker.

Twenty-five years later, ask the people of Gander if they would do it all over again. Of course they would. Without hesitation. Maybe that tells us something. In a world that has changed so much since that terrible September morning, perhaps some things haven’t changed at all.

Which makes the question of how Canada and the United States got from there to here all the more worth asking.

***

This year, 9/11 falls on the day before Rosh Hashana, the New Year for Jews. More on that in our next blog. In the meantime, it behooves everyone to watch this one minute recap of that day... https://www.historicacanada.ca/productions/minutes/heritage-minute-gander-and-911

And then, go and watch Come From Away and send it to every American you know.

In case Harry and Meghan thought that by moving back to England, there would be some kind of reconciliation with his family, they were wrong.

Of all the dumb things this dynamic duo did to stick it to Harry's family, and they did a lot of dumb things, writing that book The Spare and revealing inner family secrets wins the prize.

Wisely, the couple moved to the Cotswolds, a two hour drive from London so they won't be running into William or Kate or anyone else from the royal family buying eggs or cheese in the local store.

Yesterday King Charles made very clear his stance on his son's return to England by issuing a formal edict: they are not part of the royal family.

We are making an educated guess that this edict was initiated by William who is incensed with his brother's behavior. We're pretty sure that as far as William is concerned, Meghan doesn't exist. It's a great pity that two children are going to be deprived of a relationship with their extended family.

And while we're at it, Harry best get his affairs in order before his father is no longer around as when William becomes King, Harry's life as he knew it, is over.

As for the edict, it was deemed that Harry and Meghan will not be addressed by their Royal Highness titles, will not perform any royal duties anywhere, will not attend parties, church events or anything to do with the Royals. In other words, they are persona non grata.

Clearly moving back to England has changed nothing with regard to Harry's sad family relationships, even if it were done because Harry's father has cancer.

We have said this here before and we will reiterate the obvious: Harry is damaged goods for two main reasons: a)the terrible way his mother died when he was 11 years old and the lack of proper emotional support at the time and b) he was the second born son and always lived in the shadow of his brother who was born to be King. Harry was always the spare. Always.

Why do we so dislike Meghan? Because she has done all she could to stoke Harry's obvious fragile emotional state instead of nurturing him and pushing him to get the mental health care he so obviously needs. Feh.

One has to wonder what Canada, Great Britain and France have to do meddling in Israeli affairs. We'll help you with the answer. They have nothing to do with what Israel does. Nothing.

Today, the new prime minister of Great Britain, Andy Burnham who came to power a short 7 weeks ago, announced, with great stupidity, that they will ban the import of goods from 'illegal' settlements in the 'West Bank'. Oh really now. And who decided that Israel has illegal settlements?

Here's a history lesson: The west bank belongs to Israel, the country bestowed upon the Jewish people by G-d Himself. The 'west bank' includes Judea and Samaria. It also includes Hebron where the Jewish patriarchs and matriarchs are buried.

Why is Canada et al so busy with the west bank? Because arabs consider that land indispensable to palestinian state. Most two-state proposals envision that state being based principally on the West Bank and Gaza.

We will reiterate again - there is no such thing as palestine or a palestinian state. That name was made up by Yassar Arafat in 1969 with the establishment of the PLO - the palestinian liberation organization.

All of the west bank belongs to Israel including gaza. The fact that Canada, France and Great Britain decided that terrorists in gaza need their own state is like giving New Jersey it's own country with Hell's angels as the government. We are guessing that would not go over well with the state of New York.

Israel is the size of New Jersey and giving arabs their own country within Israel is nothing short of a suicide mission and that will clearly not happen. All of the countries banning goods from the West Bank can go suck a lemon.

There is not a shred of doubt that Trump can be a royal pain. Yes, he's good for Israel but certainly not for Canada. In fact, he actually thinks that Canada should become the 51st state. Clearly that's not happening.

Given that, the adoration shown to Mark Carney for his handling of Trump is beyond the theatre of the absurd. It is delusional.

Carney has duped sleeping sheep Canadians into believing that he knows best what is good for them. That he is the only one who can deal with Trump. That he is the only one who has a 'plan'. People think that his 'speeches' to strengthen Canadians against Trump are the be all and end all. They are not.

In fact, the exact opposite is true.

We are now in a position where everyday products coming in from the US are going to be taxed by up to 50%. So until now, 15 year old girls who never heard of Carney and don't know what the word tariff means are going to be in for a big surprise.

They are going to find out when they go to Sephora, their favorite brand of makeup has gone from $12 to $18. And then, they are going to be mighty ticked off, not a Trump but at Mark Carney for imposing these ridiculous tariffs which in the end will do nothing to stop this tariff war.

What is most gauling, what is most egregious is Mark Carney's silence, his steadfast refusal to inform Canadians what exactly is in the deal from Trump that he rejected. Why?

Because peeps - you and I are the plebs and he is the 'leader' who is the smartest person in the country, who knows better than anyone what is best for you and who will decide when or if you merit knowing the details.

Politicians think themselves unaccountable and in fact, they are. They wreak havoc, as Valerie Plante did in Montreal by destroying the downtown core and then just leave as though nothing has happened.

Carney is doing the exact same thing with one important caveat: He is making himself unaccountable while in office.

By not giving us the details of the tariff plan nobody can go after him. Instead, he is encouraging people not to buy eggs from the US. And that is going to make a difference? One has to wonder exactly how stupid, how simple Canadians are.

We don't believe for a second that Howard Lutnick killed the tariff talks. We believe that it was a two-way street. But we will not know for a long time because Carney is a sneaky, scheming person who, at all costs, needs to save face and to do so will remain silent.

By the time Canadians wake up, many companies will have quietly left Canada causing rampant unemployment. And then...one day Carney will disappear back to his World Economic forum buddies, totally unaccountable for wreaking havoc in his own country.

We strongly suggest you watch this video to see what is really going on. Mark Warner is an international trade lawyer. He knows what he's talking about and we are getting shafted by our own government who are mishandling Trump.

https://x.com/FoodProfessor/status/2097323754967724061

We'll talk...