This Week’s News
A Victory for Trump is a victory for…? – In a blow to the “anyone but Trump, please” crowd, former President Donald Trump crushed his opponents in the Iowa caucuses this week making it increasingly likely that the next president will be either Trump or Harris…sorry, jumped the gun there a little…Biden. To give you an idea of just how dominant this win was for Trump, prior to this year the biggest margin of victory for someone who wasn’t the incumbent president was in 1988 when Bob Dole beat Pat Robertson by 12 points. As for Trump’s Primary opponents, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, and someone with the odd name “Other Candidates,” I’m sure they’ll do much better next week in New Hampshire. 🙄
Canada caught in population trap – Over at the Financial Post, Pamela Heaven details how a National Bank of Canada report finds that Canada is caught I a population trap, which, “according to Oxford dictionary, is when the population is growing so fast that” increases in the standard of living are impossible. Immigration rates are clearly having an impact on the housing crisis where new housing starts sit at one “for every 4.2 people entering the working-age population” compared to a historical norm of 1.8.
Everything old is new again – While “world leaders and experts” at the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, discuss "Disease X" and the dangers of another pandemic could pose, Chinese scientists are busy experimenting on “a mutant COVID-19 strain that is 100% lethal to “humanized” mice.” Despite the apparent synchronicity of these two stories rest assured that any future pandemic will no doubt be found to have originated in a wildlife market. Nothing to see here!
Trudeau heads to Nunavut for signing on transfer of powers – Given the geographic size of Canada and the heterogeneity of the people, a more decentralized approach to governance is the only logical approach. This effort to give Nunavut responsibility “for public lands and resources” is a step in the right direction.
'The state is the problem' – in a speech given to the World Economic Forum, which at times seemed to channel US President Ronald Reagan – “government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem” – Argentinian President Javier Milei warned against the dangers of socialism and collectivism and praised “free enterprise capitalism” as “the only morally desirable system” to end world poverty.
What I’m reading
The Battle for Normie Ridge, by John Halpin over at The Liberal Patriot, argues that the “real contested battle for the presidency lies among a mixed group of less engaged Americans who fall into two basic categories of what are often called “normie voters”: people who dislike politics, don’t care much for either Biden or Trump, hold mainstream views, and just want stable and secure lives for their families without a lot of drama.” How many of them will bother to vote at all?
Christine Granville: The Polish aristocrat who was Churchill's favourite spy - Tim Stokes over at the BBC tells an interesting story about “Britain's longest-serving World War Two spy,” who was also the daughter of a Polish count and “an heir to a Jewish banking family.” Nothing to do with modern politics for a change…unless you think Nazism is on the rise again.
Scheduled to Die: The Rise of Canada’s Assisted Suicide Program - Rupa Subramanya at The Free Press describes how “Canada is poised to become the most permissive euthanasia regime in the world, including for minors and people with only psychiatric illness, having already removed the foreseeability of death or terminal illness as an essential condition to access euthanasia or assisted suicide.”
Democrats! Time to Re-Embrace Merit, Free Speech, and Universalism – Oh how I’d love to return to the left. Well, that’s overstated, I’d be happy to vote for any party that behaved remotely rationally. These days that seems to be too much to ask though. In this piece, Ruy Teixeira at The Liberal Patriot has a radical suggestion for how Democrats might attract more of those of us in the sane center.
My Podcast Recommendation(s) of the Week
The Michael Shermer Show – Michael Shellenberger Explains Government Censorship of Social Media
Last week I listed The House Judiciary Committee hearing on the “Weaponization of the Federal Government”
I had this topic listed amongst the most underreported stories of 2023 in last week’s News Roundup and, coincidently, I listened to this podcast the day last week’s article went live. It’s a fascinating interview and Q&A with Michael Shellenberger who was involved in the analysis and reporting of some of the findings in the “The Twitter Files.”