Man, if Putin had told Trump exactly what he wanted the US to do to help Iran and Russia and hurt Ukraine, it would have been exactly what Trump did in his war. This is a Russian strategic dream we are watching.
Doug Saunders
@dougsaunders.bsky.social
International-Affairs Columnist, The Globe and Mail. Richard von Weizsäcker Fellow at the Robert Bosch Academy. Author of Arrival City, The Myth of the Muslim Tide, Maximum Canada, etc. http://dougsaunders.net
I just realized that the "fade to commercial" music on Blue Jays TV is the song Fabienk by Angine de Poitrine. I think I've been hearing it for some time. Shortest journey from the avant garde to the primest of prime time in music history.
The American urge to ignore basic hygiene and kill your loved ones did not end with the pandemic
This is what the Heritage Foundation, which now reportedly spends its time debating “who the bad guys were” in WWII and other antisemitic stuff, asked for — and got. A systematic war on poor toddlers
I recently wrote a profile of a West African kid who tried to storm Cueta, right before the last big massacre of migrants there. As I observed, much of this could be prevented (and has been before) with a return to pre-2000s visa policies www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...
Along the trans-Saharan path, African migrants weigh the risks and rewards of heading to Europe
The Globe joins West Africans along the desert route that carries hundreds of thousands through deadly perils and ignites political crises in Europe
theglobeandmail.com
‘In a mitigation hearing a month before the sentencing, she said: “In the eyes of the regime, the real crime is the pursuit of democracy, freedom, and human rights.”’ She’s right.
Hong Kong Free Press HKFP@hongkongfp.com · last wk.Former student leader released after serving sentence over 2019 storming of Hong Kong legislature 🔗 hongkongfp.com/2026/07/29/f...
It’s mistaken to read the nuke deal as about the kingdom trying to get WMDs. It could always just buy them from Pakistan. Instead, it’s the kingdom frantically trying to diversify now that its trillion-dollar be-like-Dubai plan has gone up in flames Still, this is hilarious
Just learned there’s a Prince Andrew Island in the Kawarthas. Named after Mr. Windsor himself, because he went to expensive private school near there. Speaking of islands you don’t want to be visiting
I particularly like how he’s had the AI portray Canada as pristine wilderness and his country as a denuded wasteland of terrible urbanism, crowded sprawl, deprived housing, absent privacy and roads that literally go nowhere
interesting to me that as the administration treats democratic-voting states like conquered or occupied territories, you don’t have pundits demanding the president respect “half the country”
tony romm@tonyromm.bsky.social · 2w agoNEW: In a stunning admission, the Trump administration admitted in court documents that it canceled billions in energy grants to states "based solely" on politics -- and whether that state was represented by Democrats and backed Harris in 2024. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/24/b...
Fresh from playing the voice of the big rolling boulder in Raiders of the Lost Ark Redux, Simon will next be voicing The Brick Thrown at the Bad Guy’s Head in Home Al…
IGN@ign.com · 2w agoFor the first time ever, the Balrog will speak in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 3! Star Trek and Mission Impossible actor Simon Pegg will be voicing the fiery creature, as revealed at #SDCC 2026.
The euro-est possible of euros
Christian Odendahl@codendahl.bsky.social · 2w agoThe winning design. 🇪🇺💶
The surprise of Nolan’s Odyssey is how conventional a telling it is, at least the first 3/4. It’s a 1950s sandal epic, down to the ludicrously on-the-nose dialogue. The morality is mostly polytheistic rather than Christian… and then, like Oppenheimer, it bombs out and goes flat in the final act…
It’s mistaken to read the nuke deal as about the kingdom trying to get WMDs. It could always just buy them from Pakistan. Instead, it’s the kingdom frantically trying to diversify now that its trillion-dollar be-like-Dubai plan has gone up in flames Still, this is hilarious
It is amazing how much of the dramatic politics of the past 2 years, in many countries, have been caused by populations and leaders mistaking the temporary anomalies of the post-pandemic restarting of the world economy -- a burst of inflation, an immigration-reopening spike -- for permanent features
The United States is losing this war in more ways than we previously knew
Aric Toler@aric.bsky.social · 2w agoNew, from me and @ckoettl.bsky.social: Iran has attacked at least nine U.S. military sites in the last two weeks, destroying radar sites, personnel areas, hangars, and other structures, and killing at least three service members. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/22/w...
Stopping all political work seems like pretty normal activity for a libertarian party
Meduza in English@meduza.io · 2w agoThe Libertarian Party of Russia (LPR) is freezing all political activity after Russia’s Justice Ministry added it to the country’s “foreign agents” registry on July 17. The party says it will stop political work and stop accepting new supporters. meduza.io/en/news/2026...
The Iranian economy is in a severe crisis while Iran's infrastructure is falling apart. This war is doing lasting damage to Iranian state and society in ways that will have profound destabilisation risks for the wider world.
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 2w agoSetting aside the potential war crimes for a moment, he really is just stuck, huh? This is the same threat he's been making for months and it's clear Iran is just okay with it.
I have to say, @dougsaunders.bsky.social 's book Maximum Canada is still incredibly relevant 9 years later. The sad part is that our politicians are still not getting it, more that 150 years later. Today's example: expert on forest management and fires says in interview "we lack the man power"
Really nothing is more historically fitting than tomorrow’s contest in which ancient rivals England and France battle to be the number three nation
Well, it is true that the elections in Beijing are, in several regards, the type of elections that the president and his allies appear to be aiming for
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 3w agoNewsmax talking head: "I've lived in Beijing. I can say the elections in Beijing are much better than California and the United States."
Trump’s most aggressive campaigns of persecution and litigation have not been directed at left-wing or Democratic Party-linked bodies, but those most respected for neutrality and impartiality — 60 Minutes, the BBC, CNN, the NYT, Harvard, the federal reserve, the freaking Smithsonian Institution…
This is pretty amusing until you realize that the much, much larger case of insider trading is on the other side of the camera and is going unpunished White House Teleprompter Operator Bet on Trump Speeches, Kalshi Says www.nytimes.com/2026/07/16/t...
White House Teleprompter Operator Bet on Trump Speeches, Kalshi Says
A technical assistant to President Trump won around $100,000, according to the prediction market, which flagged the activity to the federal government.
nytimes.com
Heat got you down? Try some light climate reading! Here's a snippet from Very Serious Mark Carney's book Value(s). "Actions speak louder than words. Credible climate policies should cut emissions from day one to reduce the end point in carbon concentrations." (p.296).
I agree - and as someone in a Northern city, I also don’t need it to be daylight at 9:30pm. Standards time is fine. If Ontario follows suit with this I really hope we stick with that.
Doug Saunders@dougsaunders.bsky.social · 3w agoGaaa! If you’re going to make one of them permanent it should be standard time not DST! This way, it’ll be 2 or 3 hours between waking up and the sun rising in northern cities
Gaaa! If you’re going to make one of them permanent it should be standard time not DST! This way, it’ll be 2 or 3 hours between waking up and the sun rising in northern cities
I’m going out to see Angine de Poitrine, supported by some guy from the White Stripes, at an outdoor venue on the hottest day of the decade. There’s a strong chance I will have no future recollection of anything that occurred, or will return speaking an unknown language