octave

Fact check: Is Joe Biden weakening Iran sanctions? Note: I have not even read this article so it may support or contradict your assertion.

Absolutely. The equivalent in this country would be Peter Dutton being elected and giving Gina Rhinehart access to the government department that has our social security and tax records and is responsible for paying pensions etc. As someone who follows space flight, I can tell you that although some higher-ups in Space X have the highest security clearance with NASA Musk does not. Why Elon Musk doesn't have access to all of SpaceX's top secret work: report and yet he has been given access to sensitive information including private information. If this doesn't raise alarm bells with Trump fans I don't know what will

Firstly illegals are not pouring in across the Canadian border into the US in fact more are going the opposite way. Fentanyl crossing the border by the US's own figures is minuscule and in fact drugs also pass the other way as well as guns. You seem to be confident that YTrump would not tariff Australia however he did impose a 10% on steel exports during his first term and backed down Donald Trump, Malcolm Turnbull hit on deal to exclude Australia from new US tariffs Will there be tariffs this time? Plenty of analysts think it is possible. ‘We have to stand up to him’: Trump tariffs could hit Australia Trump said in an interview that Canada treats the US badly and one of the issues he sights is the US banks cannot operate in Canada. The only problem is that Trump was lying (or ignorant. Trump wrong, U.S. banks can and do operate in Canada, association and professor say Trump would probably get less pushback if he did not make stuff up.

Here is an interesting explainer on how tariffs work

Yes but whole industries that rely on exporting to the US will be in serious trouble. It is not just about what Canadians pay for US products it is about industry and jobs.

The article I read had that as a headline however reading the whole article it said. "Mulino stated that the agreement is set for renewal in the next one to two years, and his government will evaluate the possibility of terminating it earlier. "We'll study the possibility of terminating it early," he said. Panama initially joined the initiative in 2017 under a previous administration. "I do not feel that there is any real threat at this time against the (neutrality) treaty, its validity, and much less the use of military force to make the treaty," Mulino said, adding that it will be important to have face-to-face talks with Trump." There is a real risk of this bullying buffoon driving some countries away from the West.

I am not ani tariff. tariffs are often used to protect local industries from cheaper imports such as the tariffs Australia had on imported cars to help our local car industry (when we had one) Tariffs can also be used to punish such as tariffs on Russia. The tariffs on Canada seem to be not about protecting particular US industries but to punish Canada or perhaps to persuade it to become the 51st state. What is Canada's crime? Trump promised to end inflation on day 1, did he? No. Will adding 25% to the things that Americans buy from Canada - No

In the case of Canada, the last year for which they have the figures (2023) showed more Americans crossing into Canada than Canadians crossing into the US. Minuscule amounts of fentanyl cross the border from Canada 19 Kg seized compared to 9600 from Mexico and indeed fentanyl passes from the US border into Canada with 10.8 pounds seized that year. (I am happy to post the sources for these figures. So how do tariffs on Canada which will cause damage to Canada and the US make sense?

this is an interesting article. Tariff On Canada Not Justified By U.S. Immigration And Drug Claims Furthermore, the migration flow is not one-sided. In 2023, the last year for which we have statistics at the moment, more people crossed illegally from the United States into Canada than in the opposite direction. With Canada experiencing a labor shortage and increasing economic opportunities, it is likely that the number of individuals moving north in 2025, both legally and illegally, will continue to surpass those moving south. In Fiscal Year 2024, USCBP seized 21,148 pounds of fentanyl at the southwest border, mostly smuggled from Mexico. In contrast, only 43 pounds were intercepted at the northern border. This means that less than 1% of all fentanyl seizures occurred at the U.S.-Canada border. Furthermore, drug flows are not a one-way street. In 2024, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) seized approximately 10.8 pounds of fentanyl coming into Canada from the United States. In comparison, CBSA reported that 17.6 pounds of fentanyl were smuggled from Canada into the U.S. This suggests that the trafficking issue is not as one-sided as the administration claims.

My understanding is that Canada is not a huge source of drugs compared to Mexico. This surely this should be something that the US has some control over at its border. How much Canadian fentanyl crosses into the U.S.? As the opioid epidemic raged in the United States, killing thousands, Congress in 2020 established a commission to look into ways to reduce the flow of the drugs into the country. The commission found that “Canada is not known to be a major source of fentanyl, other synthetic opioids or precursor chemicals to the United States, a conclusion primarily drawn from seizure data,” according to its February 2022 report. Last year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents intercepted about 19 kilograms of fentanyl at the northern border, compared with almost 9,600 kilograms at the border with Mexico, where cartels mass-produce the drug. As far as trade imbalance goes. In 2023, the goods and services trade between the two countries totalled $923 billion. U.S. exports were $441 billion, while imports were $482 billion, resulting in a United States $41 billion trade deficit with Canada.[1 This hardly seems enormous, especially given the differences in population US 345 Million and Canada 41 Million. What is Canada supposed to do, buy stuff it does not need? Trump sees the fact that the US buys more from Canada than Canada does from the US as an injustice but it is just about what one country has to sell and what another country needs to buy.

It is not clear to me what the tariffs on Canada are supposed to achieve. Perhaps one of the Trump supporters here can explain the game plan.

Trump’s treasury secretary gives the world’s richest person entry to one of the most sensitive US government databases

When it comes to public toilets I can think 2 facilities that are unisex nearby. One is by the water near the pier. It is two long columns of cubicles with a long row of sinks. The other is in the arts centre. This facility is pretty swish. It is a large area of sinks, mirrors hand driers etc and around the outside of the walls are cubicles some marked unisex others marked male or female for those who care. As FH pointed out this is old news in many countries. I remember my father telling me that when he travelled to Japan 40 years ago. He was momentarily surprised when washing his hands at a sink that there was a young woman next to him putting on makeup. He had not realized at first that it was unisex and thought maybe he had gone into the wrong toilets, but he was fine with it. Whilst I can see that change causes issues that will need to be sorted such as sport, I can not see why people get so flustered by this. I have a neighbour who moved in about 5 years ago. This young woman seemed very reluctant to engage in conversation, That was fine, I am naturally inclined to chat to anyone. Gradually I noticed that they were transitioning. It did sadden me that this person probably thought due to our age that we might be hostile, nothing could be further from the truth. Four years later my wife and I are pretty good friends with this person. Their defining characteristics for us are their wit, intelligence and kindness. I don't give a toss what their chromosomes are.

Oath. Perhaps not having his hand on the bible is like making a promise with your fingers crossed behind your back.

Yes, we should rely on peer-reviewed science from well-respected scientists and organisations, not from unqualified think tanks masquerading as scientists.