We had to bring back the goat again. He's just too perfect for this story.
There is no doubt that Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China is a dictator. And a nasty one at that.
He is also a bully and a very smart politician. So when he smells someone he can bully, out come the fangs. Such is the case with Justin who is clearly way, way over his head when it comes to diplomacy. He cannot charm his way into Xi's world.
Xi Jinping was seriously ticked off when he found out his conversation with Justin was made public. Justin's response: "In Canada, we believe in free and open and frank dialogue". That is true, but does Justin know that in China that is not the way business is done? Does he know that he undermined the very thing he was trying to accomplish - increased trade with China - and he's failing miserably at it.
Jinping is an evil person. He's also very astute. By making their short talk so public, Justin undermined his own credibility in knowing how diplomacy works.
It is to be noted that this is the first meeting the two men had in three years, since the Meng Wanzhou/Huawei fiasco, which led to the imprisonment by China of the two Michaels - Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.
It is well known that the Chinese are very secretive people - not a good thing for sure but something Justin and his 'entourage' should have known. To allow their private conversation to leak out - intentionally or worse, accidentally, is beyond dumb. Justin strikes again.
There is no doubt that we are watching Disney World slowly, painfully, implode. What used to be a place for families to go has become a place that is quickly becoming a place for the very rich and very famous.
If you thought Disney's prices were nuts until now, just wait until they increase on December 8, just in time for the vacation period.
Currently, the lowest price for a one-day ticket to any of its four Orlando theme parks is $109. But now, Magic Kingdom prices will start at $124 and skyrocket to $189 depending on the date and demand. Tickets can only be booked on the day you want to go because if there is an increase in the amount of people trying to buy tickets, they jack up the prices.
Epcot’s ticket will be hiked to between $114 and $179, while Disney’s Hollywood Studios will cost $124 to $179. Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be the only park to keep its current price range at $109 to $159.
The Incredi-Pass (giving you access to all four theme parks) will increase to $1,399 from $1,299 - per person dearies.
Those running Disney world have officially lost their minds. And this has nothing to do with their new woke policies. They are out of touch with reality.
The great Nexus debacle is growing and becoming more public.
We had occasion to try to use an expired Nexus card while crossing into the USA. We had already applied for a new card but as the offices are all closed and there is a wait of no less than 260,000 people ahead of us, our turn is going to take years.
The Government of Canada website says we can use an expired card, but the US border patrol is ignoring that edict.
We thought that the issue was the fault of the US. Zut alors - it is, as always, a Justin problem.
Is it the fact that at those manning US borders are allowed to carry a gun and in Canada they cannot? Or is it that if an American border guard commits a crime they will not be prosecuted here, rather sent back to the US. Which is it? Both, one or none of the above.
Nexus helps to greatly alleviate the mess at airports. Those who have that card are pre-cleared and breeze through customs. Holding 260,000 people hostage because the government can't get their act together is incompetence.
Here's a headline: Get the Nexus issue fixed or lose your job Minister Marco Mendicino. If you worked on commission or performance, you would have been fired a long time ago.
Target executives revealed on Wednesday that organized retail theft contributed to a $400 million decrease in gross margins. Organized retail theft? Wow.
Organized criminal behavior has negatively impacted earnings and required new levels of security spending.
As many as 81.2% of retailers said that the violence and aggression associated with organized retail crime increased in the past year, while nearly 90% of respondents said that the pandemic worsened the risk for their companies through higher degrees of shoplifting, employee theft, and organized crime.
Thefts executed by packs of robbers have become very common during the crime wave of the past two years, with some retailers spending heavily on new security measures or closing locations in particularly dangerous cities.
There ya go. Now you know why some people don't have to work. They just go en masse to a store as a mob, do their 'shopping' and leave. We are guessing that more and more stores in the not-so-nice neighborhoods will be closing as Target is not in the business of losing money.
Like we keep saying, the grass is not greener anywhere else.
Thundersnow. That's a new one on us. It means a thunderstorm that accumulates snow instead of rain.
To that end, four to six feet of snow is heading for Buffalo New York in the next few days. Get this one: They are expecting 4 inches of snow per hour for many hours.
Dat peeps, is a lot of snow.
Here's a piece of advice from the frozen chosen: Don't try to shovel that amount of snow - it's a heart-attack on a shovel. Instead, go buy food and hunker down until - well, until some of it melts or it's spring - whichever comes first.
We want DeSantis as president. He is the only person in the US- or so it seems - going up against the woke culture BS.
A federal judge recently halted a key piece of the “Stop-WOKE” Act put forth by DeSantis, blocking state officials from enforcing what he called a policy restricting how lessons on race and gender can be taught in colleges and universities.
The DeSantis administration is likely to appeal the judge's decision.
The law, directly inspired by DeSantis, expands Florida’s anti-discrimination laws to prohibit schools and companies from leveling guilt or blame to students and employees based on race or sex.
It takes aim at lessons over issues like “white privilege” by creating new protections for students and workers, including that a person should not be instructed to “feel guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress” due to their race, color, sex or national origin.
One thing we can say with certainty: If DeSantis is not afraid to go up against the woke culture BS he will have no problem dealing with Donald Trump.
We are taking bets as to which of czar legault's ministers repeatedly used unfair practices and numerous irregularities in the allocation of funds to different organizations to the tune of $60 million. Somebody - as yet an unknown person - blew the whistle.
The "close relationship" between the political staff and the heads of the organizations in question meant that decisions were made in someone's office, when the files should normally have been reviewed at the administrative level - aka bureaucrats.
The scheme went so far as to turn recommendations to the minister not to award grants into positive recommendations. That's a good one.
Organizations have even received government funding without ever having applied for it or submitted a project. Noch besser - even better.
Czar legault's minions have taken the adage it's who you know to a whole new level. Let's see how much huffing and puffing the czar is going to do when this one really hits the fan. One would think he can't ignore this. Thinking here is the operative word. The czar thinks he can do and get away with anything.
Good Shabbos
We'll talk...