Wednesday Night #2305

GO HABS GO!

Once we were able to exhale after the conclusion of Monday night’s squeaker Game 7 — Did you see that Fans celebrating Canadiens’ Game 7 win cause microearthquakes?— we could consider  news of the past week including at least one of the more unbelievable revelations.

But first:
We mourn the passing of Stephen Colbert’s unique late-night presence as the final curtain falls on “The Late Show,”
Why Stephen Colbert’s ‘Late Show’ mattered
As the final curtain falls on “The Late Show,” a brief history of the evolution of the late-night tradition and Stephen Colbert’s satire.
How Colbert crushed on Canada — from roasting Canadian bacon to making Windsor the butt of the joke
Late Show host’s affection for Canadian culture was fodder for a long-running bit set to come to a close
David Byrne Welcomes Stephen Colbert for “Burning Down the House” in Third-to-Last ‘The Late Show’ Episode

China summits first Trump, then Putin
Trump went to China to meet with Xi. Paul Krugman comments My President Went to China, and All I Got Was Even More Expensive Gasoline, or, as the South China Morning Post (SCMP)  put it: Trump leaves China after much pomp and pageantry, but little to show for it — US president’s much-anticipated summit with Xi Jinping in Beijing resulted in more fanfare than concrete policy change, analysts say
Vladimir Putin arrives in Beijing for state visit hot on heels of Trump We are  slightly puzzled by GZERO’s comment Putin-Xi summit wraps with… not much.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was in Beijing this week for talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, but the high-profile encounter – Putin’s 25th trip to China as president – yielded little. The two sides failed to reach agreement on a key agenda item: a massive but long-delayed Russia-China gas pipeline. It appears Beijing, by far the dominant economic partner in the relationship, is still holding out for better pricing.

Israel
It is hard to imagine any other government that has worked so hard to alienate so many potential allies. We remember  the praise that was heaped on the country by western allies in the early post WWII  – and then came Bibi and his right-wing allies.   
The attacks on the Gaza flotilla are only the latest example. The malicious treatment of Palestinians by West Bank settlers is unforgivable. Will Bibi be reelected? Can the opposition rally sufficient support to overturn him and will policies then change?

Iran
What were they thinking? Or are we missing something?
Ali, normally calm and highly rational in his opinions almost burned the electronic lines when he saw and shared Early War Goal Was to Install Hard-Line Former President as Iran’s Leader
An Israeli strike designed to free Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from house arrest in Tehran, U.S. officials said, was part of an effort to bring about regime change and put him in power.
Days after Israeli strikes killed Iran’s supreme leader and other top officials in the opening salvos of the war, President Trump mused publicly that it would be best if “someone from within” Iran took over the country.
It turns out that the United States and Israel went into the conflict with a particular and very surprising someone in mind: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the former Iranian president known for his hard-line, anti-Israel and anti-American views.
But the audacious plan, developed by the Israelis and which Mr. Ahmadinejad had been consulted about, quickly went awry, according to the U.S. officials who were briefed on it.
Meanwhile, bulletins are issued by The IRGC
The IRGC claims to maintain control over the Strait of Hormuz despite the US blockade on Iran’s ports. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has said it coordinated the transit of 26 vessels through the Strait of Hormuz in the past 24 hours, as talks between Washington and Tehran over the resumption of traffic through the narrow waterway remain stalled. And a new organization arises: Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) published a new map of Hormuz on X, marking a controlled maritime zone that vessels will not be able transit without its authorization.
While once again, Trump backed away from his threats Trump threatens ‘a big hit’ if Tehran does not make deal soon

Around the world
The crisis in Sudan continues relentlessly, while The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Ebola disease outbreak caused by a rare virus in Congo and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern. The virus spread undetected for weeks after the first known death as authorities tested for a more common type of Ebola and came up negative, health experts and aid workers said. In the Americas, Trump continues his cat-and-mouse game with Cuba, but may find the Cubans not as tolerant as the Venezuelans.

Canada/Quebec
Andrew Caddell devotes his Hill Times column to Quebec’s self-defeating political stance that offers mostly disincentives to the DSRB (the NATO Defence, Security and Resilience Bank) to be headquartered in Canada. The new multinational financial institution will provide military and security project financing for NATO members. The DSRB would bring 350 prestigious and high-salaried international positions here. The multiplier effect could be in the thousands of jobs. The question became: where would the headquarters go? A fierce competition arose, with five contenders: Vancouver, Ottawa-Gatineau, Toronto, Halifax and Montreal. In Quebec, the lobbying began immediately. New Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette told reporters, “We need this organization,” adding “We have expertise in finance, expertise in defence, as well as the aerospace industry… and we speak French; our multilingual population is an asset in this context.”

Orcas could be casualty in Carney’s push for pipeline, environmental groups fear
Environmental groups in Canada fear endangered orcas could become a casualty of Mark Carney’s push for a new oil pipeline, as the rush to develop fossil fuel infrastructure collides with laws meant to protect threatened species.
The Guardian reports, the federal government plans to accelerate its reviews not by increasing its own efficiencies, but by lowering public standards.
Its plans would create new “Federal Economic Zones” where established nature protections would not apply, and they would empower Ministers to license businesses to wipe out endangered species.
At Issue | Carney’s energy-climate balancing act
Prime Minister Mark Carney juggles fighting climate change while pushing energy development — but is caucus with him?

Varia
‘Smallest statue in the world’: Irish councillor proposes monument for mosquito that killed Cromwell
Irish city council to consider the proposal to honour the pest linked to death of English invader

The Haskell Free Library and Opera House announces that the end of the Infrastructure Overhaul is in sight. The official opening of the door is June 10 at 11am, and all are welcome. Visit the website for photos and updates. With the start of the summer season, an amazing array of summer shows, concerts, movies, fashion show and plays.

Long reads
How ‘kowtowing’ acquired a negative connotation in English
The practice dates back to the Qin dynasty, when subjects prostrated in front of the emperor as an act of respect, but it was only after foreigners visiting China found the practice disdainful that the word came to mean ‘submissive’

Bob Rae: The Permanent Joint Board on Defence and the Slide from FDR to Trump
… The American Institute of Public Opinion in Princeton New Jersey had been following closely the evolution of public opinion on the war. Coincidentally, my father Saul had, after completing his doctorate at the London School of Economics on “Public Opinion and Its Measurement” and doing a post-doc term at Oxford, joined George Gallup in Princeton to work on precisely this subject from 1939 to 1940, when he joined the Department of External Affairs in Ottawa.
A Gallup Poll taken in November 1940 revealed that 83.8% of Americans supported the establishment of the Permanent Joint Board on Defence, which followed a June 1940 poll where 81% of Americans supported sending troops to Canada in the event of a foreign attack. It is important to recognize, by way of contrast, that in April of 1941 two thirds of Americans polled opposed sending troops to Great Britain. …

Israeli settlers burn vehicles, install caravans in occupied West Bank (video)
Palestinian residents say Israeli settlers burned vehicles, sprayed racist graffiti, and installed caravans near Palestinian communities, in the latest example of settler violence and settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank.

Why College Grads Are Booing Their Commencement Speakers