Stephen Hodge 🇨🇦

Maybe it's just me, and perhaps it's a bit silly, but is it possible many of today's problems tie back to Superhero fandom? A savior rises and saves everyone from impending doom. That seems an awful lot like what MAGA seems to think Trump is. No? A tough guy they think will fix all their problems.

Relations with China breaking down. Relations with Elon Musk breaking down. Relations with Europe, Asia, allies, higher education, etc., all breaking down. Can you find the common element with all these disintegrating relationships? I'll give you a minute if it's not obvious…

The Toronto Maple Leafs need more, not fewer, fair weather fans. Until the business side of the team starts to feel the same pain their fans feel, they'll continue to play competitive, but lackluster teams year after year. You want to see seismic moves made to the roster? Leave seats empty.

Reading all the Americans reacting to the Canadian election as though it's a great repudiation of Trumpism. Meanwhile Liberals drew 43.5% of the popular vote to the Conservatives 41.4% share. Furthermore the government will be a minority, which is comparable to a Dem president with a GOP Congress.

Not one thing on this list is particularly radical. They are all things commonly found in other wealthy developed economies. It's not outsiders making life hard for American citizens. It's tax cutting billionaires, lobbyists and politicians who want your tax dollars working for them, not for you.

If anyone in Canada is thinking they don't need to vote because this election is already decided… get off your ass and go vote! If you think your candidate is in for an easy win and don't bother going to the poll then that's exactly how your candidate ends up losing - your vote matters so go do it!

Trump's greatest fear is coming true. If his popularity remains well below 50% for long enough, Republicans in Congress might start to realize he's no longer their meal ticket. They might even grow a spine and start to remember what they once stood for… they might even oppose something someday!

Seeing Poilievre's remarks on the Pope's death is jarring. Given he himself is Catholic, it really seemed as though his comments were perfunctory and clipped, as if he found the topic more of a nuisance than a meaningful moment to Canadian Catholics. He just never brings empathy to his persona.

Everything is so fucked up. Nobody knows what to be angry about except for… everything. Which is just an ineffective way to push back against anything. It leads to people saying stupid things like kidnapped citizens are just a distraction. It creates rage machines spinning out of control. #Bluesky

When (if) sanity once again holds the seats of power in the White House and on Capitol Hill, it's past time for America to update its core political tenets. Term limits for Congress and SCOTUS, rein in (ban) corporate spending on elections, and more robust checks and balances are clearly required.

So what's on Bluesky's mind today? Renditions? Tariffs? Constitutional crises? Mishandling sensitive military information (remember that)? Racism? Inflation? Farmers? Attacks on government and private institutions? Democracy? Sigh, such a great time to be alive…

US tourists are scared to travel abroad, even to Canada. Well, they should be, but for a different reason. Canadians are angry and frustrated with Trump, but not at all Americans. We're still happy you're visiting. But be wary on your return because CBP is what tourists should be scared of.

Innocent until PROVEN guilty. Better to let ten guilty people go free than to convict one innocent. These were commonly accepted principles of justice. What happened to the basic underlying legal philosophies keeping government and judicial overreach at bay? Have they been forgotten, or discarded?

As human rights are violated around the world we watch. The Uyghurs in China, genocide in Gaza, journalists arrested in Russia, or thousands of children stolen from families in Ukraine. We look on, outraged but helpless. Soon the world may be looking at the US that way. Something to think about.

America as an idea. America as an aspiration. America as a nation. Going, going…

Colgate had a stranglehold on the toothpaste market deciding they no longer needed to advertise. In months Crest became the leading brand, stayed there for decades. Tariffs will do the same to the entire American economy. A short term policy disaster will lead to years of lost opportunities.

I watch international news sources make clear Trump's tariff pause still includes a blanket 10% for all countries. US media just reports it as a pause. He raised taxes for American consumers 10% on everything brought into the country. According to US news nothing has happened and won't for 90 days.

If the SAVE act passes and gets written into law, I think it might be time for the United States to simply stop calling itself a democracy. Every adult citizen (save a few SERIOUS criminals) should get to vote and that vote should be obtained in the least difficult way possible.

How will The Guinness Book of World Records measure the greatest loss of wealth, over a short period of time, in the history of the world? Do they set the time period? Do they look at when the losses startand finish? Do they figure out the average lost every day? Trump's entry must be comprehensive!

People are calling the recent markets turbulent, unstable, tumultuous - none of which is accurate. These descriptions work if things are down and up, but they're not. They're just down and looking to go down further still. The markets are tanking, that should be how it's getting reported.

The American economy can't fail… US billionaires won't let that happen. Reality check: billionaires are stateless. They and their private jets and mega-yachts can live anywhere. If crashing the economy is profitable they'll do it. If it's no longer a country worth living in, they'll leave.

American multinationals are going to be faced with a quandary. Cave to tariff threats, move production to US production and face international backlash or… defend the current system in the hopes today's tariffs will be removed before new US factories could be built. Eight billion vs. 350 million.

I don't see how America retains its place in the world economy as the bearer of the reserve currency. By becoming unpredictable and destabilizing as a nation, former partner nations can't continue to rely on the strength of the US dollar as its international currency of choice for trade.

For all those Americans planning on attending protests today, wear a medical face mask. They will be taking photos, they will be holding grudges, they will be looking to violate your first amendment rights.

"This is a great time to get rich" says the Orange Overlord… yet I, without a lot of money and not being in the US directly, I've still seen my savings for retirement drop a sickening amount. I sure feel like I'm getting richer… 🙄

Trump focussed his tariff threats on Mexico and Canada, while other world leaders mumbled things about how awful they'd be, under their breath, hoping they wouldn't be noticed. Now that Canada and Mexico have been left more untouched than expected, let me say loudly: TARIFFS ARE NOT THE ANSWER!

American voters declare party affiliation, like they're somehow on the team. This reduces choice, as people stick with their team even when becomes unrecognizable. Some Canadians will join a party, but most feel much more free to critically consider and to shift their votes as issues evolve.

Currently American businesses have access to a market of 8 billion people. Trump is looking to improve that situation by opening the American market to Americans, thus giving American companies access to 350 million people. And 350 is way more than 8, so… yay! Trumpnomics wins again. 😐

Jagmeet, low interest rate mortgages are what drove prices up in the first place. Will your low interest mortgages not put more upward pressure on prices, or get mortgagees in trouble when they look to refinance m at market rates? Feels like kicking the problem down the road, not fixing it.

Why, @mark-carney.bsky.social, would risk all of your good momentum on defending a candidate, who has thoroughly offended the ideals of what Canada is, when it's indefensible? Cut him loose, feel bad about it, and move forward. Politics is a blood sport, you just can't fear getting bloody.

I understand the inclination of sticking with the horse that brung you - but that horse resigned. Battling Carney on trivial history and schoolyard taunts might appeal to a part of their base, but it's not winning a competitive election. www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

Word of warning to the Americans who are appalled at what their current government is doing. Isolating itself from the world. It's working… fast. And while you may be looking to find a way to turn the clock back six months, it's already too late for that. Damage done. The only fix now is forward.

I feel for Tesla drivers who purchased a car to help reduce the impact of carbon emissions. Now people, who largely agree EVs, are treating these drivers like they're somehow responsible for fElon Musk's behavior. Tesla needs to act on behalf of its customers and stock holders - fire Elon.

Danielle Smith: They want me to shut up. I will not be silent - I'll keep doing undemocratic things, attempting to conspire with foreign governments in shaping the results of our Canadian elections. Liberals: No, no, we've never said shut up. In fact, keep talking, it's only going to help us.

Tulsi Gabbard should lose her job simply over her inability to remember fantastically simple details like which country she was in last weekend. Early onset Alzheimer's isn't an ideal condition to be dealing with while handling the nation's most sensitive secrets! Being remarkably dishonest… same.

Senior Trump administration officials involved in the group chat scandal should disappear into anonymity, or perhaps as a footnote in a history book discussing embarrassing failures of the Trump years. How much do you wanna bet Jeffrey Goldberg is arrested under some nonsense charge instead?

It is IMPERATIVE that you #WATCH and #REPOST

Democrat politician: makes a relatively harmless but ill advised quip in a media scrum and is run out of the party at the end of a flaming pitchfork. Republican politician: commits rape, fraud, incites violence, is racist, sexist, and sympathetic to enemies of the state… you get the point.

Pierre Poilievre's lack of security clearance ought to be disqualifying. All the leadership candidates have clearance, save one. He claims it would hinder his ability to speak on important issues, but it also means he's woefully uninformed about those issues. No one said the job's easy PP.

Trump says America is "a fat, dumb, foolish country," which may explain why the country elected a fat, dumb, foolish president. But don't those words sound like he's repeating verbatim something Putin said to him? Of course Republicans have been pushing this version of the country for decades.

For decades, workers have seen real wages decrease, making saving for retirement more difficult. Now, the beneficiaries of those cheaper wages, billionaires, are looking to make Social Security and Medicaid more difficult to access by cutting service and undoubtedly eventually payments. Criminal.

As if anyone needed another reason not to visit our US neighbours. It's difficult to believe what's described in this article could be seen as anything less than government sponsored corporate human trafficking.

Trump, knowing how unpopular he is in Canada, has suggested he'd rather deal with a newly elected Liberal PM, knowing full well his endorsement will hurt whoever he backs. Make no mistake, he'd rather negotiate with Poilievre and he's trying to nudge Carney's support back into negative territory.