Wednesday Nights #2284-2286

Just before Christmas we became aware of the University of Toronto Faculty of Music Gospel Choir and its Harmony in We Shall Overcome, performed by U of T’s gospel choir. We were inspired by the brief AI Overview to weave thoughts of the harmony that could -should- come from the blending of cultures, thoughts, ideologies
Harmony in Faith:
finding unity, peace, and common ground across diverse spiritual beliefs, focusing on shared values like love, justice, and the human quest for meaning, while also referring to internal alignment between belief and action within a single faith, promoting inner peace and ethical living, and building community among believers. It can be seen as a movement for interfaith understanding or as a core principle for personal spiritual growth and communal unity, emphasizing dialogue over division.

We were preparing our thoughts on Harmony in thought and relationships when we were seized by the most unharmonious GrinchGrippe from which we and many of you have been suffering. ever since

And so, we have missed Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve and are only wobbling into January with some suggestions for debate – next week, we promise to be more coherent and focused.

Welcome back, Southern belle, Gloria Calhoun, who comments “I have been looking forward to rejoining you, but I had no idea that I would be utterly speechless when I did “, while Byron elaborates: (The Upside of Dissonance)
I find the cognitive dissonance we face these days is something too important to not explore – the upside of an everyday power we have, but often ignore.
From a man who leaves a trail of disasters behind him but walks away personally unscathed, as a historical fact, including a term as POTUS where a mob attempted to burn down Congress and hang a Vice President, “American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again,” as President Donald Trump declared Saturday, may fall into the category of famous last words for the rest of us in America.

Venezuela, Canada, Greenland …?
Ian Bremmer: America built the global order. Now it’s tearing it down.
2026 is a tipping point year. The biggest source of global instability won’t be China, Russia, Iran, or the ~60 conflicts burning across the planet – the most since World War II. It will be the United States.

The ‘Donroe doctrine’: Maduro is the guinea pig for Donald Trump’s new world order
Shortly after US special forces captured and extracted Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on January 3, Donald Trump said that the US would now “run” Venezuela.
Whatever Washington’s plans for the future of Venezuelan governance, this show of US force in Latin America looks like the first manifestation of a more assertive American foreign policy outlined in the national security strategy published in November 2025. This plainly asserted the Trump administration’s intention to “reassert and enforce the Monroe doctrine to restore American pre-eminence in the Western Hemisphere”.
Rather than force regime change at this point, Trump has indicated that he is willing to work with Maduro’s vice-president, Delcy Rodriguez, who has been sworn in as president. Rodríguez has adopted a conciliatory tone, inviting the US government to “work together on a cooperative agenda”. For the US president, “cooperation” will involve giving US oil companies unfettered access to Venezuela’s oil reserves, the largest in the world.
Announcing the raid at a press conference held hours after American forces snatched Maduro, Trump appeared to issue threats of similar interventions in Colombia, which he said was run by a “sick man who likes to make cocaine and sell it to the US”. His secretary of state, Marco Rubio – the child of Cuban exiles – also hinted at US intentions towards Cuba, saying: “If I lived in Havana and I was in the government, I’d be concerned at least a little bit.”

White House says Greenland purchase is an active discussion, Trump is committed to NATO

After Venezuela, Trump could put Canada ‘back in his crosshairs,’ Charest warns
The former Quebec premier says Canada must act urgently to reduce economic and military dependence on the U.S.

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We Shall Overcome, performed by U of T’s gospel choir
February 18, 2024

The end of an era?
Engineers order issues $75,000 fine and lifetime ban for former SNC-Lavalin CEO Jacques Lamarre
Lamarre said he was “deeply disappointed” by the ruling but will not appeal it.