Wednesday Night #2269

Another Canadian giant gone!
Ken Dryden, former Canadiens star goaltender, dies of cancer at age 78
Ken Dryden, the Hall of Fame goaltender whose long resume in and out of hockey included six Stanley Cup victories and helping backstop Canada’s generation-defining victory at the 1972 Summit Series, died Friday at the age of 78 after a battle with cancer.
A key member of the Montreal Canadiens’ 1970s dynasty, Dryden’s career in the spotlight was only just getting started when he retired from the game – and while at the top of his own game – in his early 30s.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said Dryden’s legacy went far beyond his Hall of Fame playing career, pointing to his balance of education, public service and sport as a model for Canadians.
“Few Canadians have given more, or stood taller, for our country,” Carney wrote in a post on X.
Ken Dryden was a national hero. Now that he’s gone, he has no replacement
Andrew Caddell joins the legions of tribute writers:Ken Dryden: A role model for all of us
I first met Ken Dryden in the Montreal Canadiens dressing room at the old Forum in the winter of 1976. I was covering the great Habs team of that era. I was only 23 and a student at Carleton University.
At one point, as the other reporters moved away, I asked him a non-hockey question: his opinion of Ralph Nader, for whom he had worked in Washington in the summer of 1971. He became genuinely enthused about the question. As I recall, he said “working for him was one of the best experiences in my life.”

The Horrifying Assassination of Charlie Kirk
The shooting of the conservative activist is the latest act of political violence in the United States.
Charlie Kirk, Charismatic Right-Wing Activist, Fatally Shot in Utah
Mr. Kirk, 31, a close ally of President Trump, was killed while speaking in front of a large crowd at Utah Valley University.
His killing prompted outrage from politicians of both parties, who called for an end to politically motivated violence, and grief from prominent media figures.

Congratulations to Kyle Matthews on his appointment as a McConnell Professor of Practice at McGill University’s Max Bell School of Public Policy. He is a great acquisition for the Max Bell School. Win-Win!

Alireza Najafi-Yazdi notes: It was a pleasure to welcome Mr. Mitch Davies, the president of National Research Council Canada / Conseil national de recherches Canada and the NRC leadership, Dr. Julie Lefebvre, and Dr. Peter C. Mason to visit MonarQ hashtag#quantum computer deployed at Calcul Québec on the campus of École de technologie supérieure. It was a great opportunity to discuss our tech roadmap and potential areas of mutual collaboration with NRC.

Turbulent Times
Trump/s and Putin’s actions become increasingly unpredictable.
North and South Korea
Trump is proposing to meet with Kim Jong-un while ICE alienates loyal ally South Korea
Russia NATO EU
Drones in Poland are another unsettling post-Alaska escalation by Russia
Kremlin’s war in Ukraine has spilled over into Nato country – but whether to create fear or test response, aim is unclear
Poland invokes NATO treaty Article 4 after drones shot down during Russian attack on Ukraine
Israeli strike in Qatar targets Hamas leaders as they weigh Gaza ceasefire proposal
Israel struck the headquarters of Hamas’ political leadership in Qatar on Tuesday as the group’s top figures gathered to consider a U.S. proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. The strike on the territory of a U.S. ally marked a stunning escalation and risked upending talks aimed at winding down the war and freeing hostages.
Israeli airstrikes ‘killed any hope’ for hostages in Gaza, says Qatari prime minister
Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani calls for Benjamin Netanyahu to be ‘brought to justice’
Israeli strike in Qatar targets Hamas leaders as they weigh Gaza ceasefire proposal

China
C. Uday Bhaskar: In summit full of symbolism, China lays out vision for multipolar order
The context of how Beijing sees its place in the evolving international system was conveyed in a subtle but unambiguous manner in Tianjin
(SCMP Opinion)The two-day Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit that concluded in Tianjin on September 1 was a significant diplomatic triumph for President Xi Jinping and Beijing. The forum sought to burnish China’s geopolitical profile as a reliable interlocutor and an alternative voice for stability in global governance.
SCO summits tend to be low-key and do not garner much notice. This time, though, China used the opportunity to signal it had arrived at the global high table at a time when US credibility and reliability are in tatters thanks to the mercurial and petulant US President Donald Trump disrupting long-established international policy and diplomatic norms.

As the 80th Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 80) begins (9 September) there is a flurry of activity in the hope of sorting some problems out before the high level sesssion starts on 22 September.
The UN Turns 80 — and Faces an Era of Doing Less
As in years past, the anniversary is being used as a catalyst for reform. But unlike the 60th and 70th, the reforms now on the table are not about expanding the UN’s reach. Quite the opposite. As the UN turns 80, the agenda championed by Secretary-General António Guterres and many member states would shrink the institution—preparing it for an era in which it must do less with less.
US and UN discuss Gaza reconstruction plan before general assembly
Talks aimed at preventing row at UN conference, where several countries plan to recognise state of Palestine
A potential UN-endorsed reconstruction plan for Gaza, including a one-year technocratic government, an international stabilisation force, disarmament of Hamas and a rejection of mass deportation of Palestinians, is being discussed with the US to prevent the UN general assembly descending into a bitter row about the symbolic recognition of Palestine as a state.
… It is almost certain that the UK, France, Canada, Belgium and Malta will recognise the state of Palestine at a UN conference on 22 September to be held on the sidelines of the general assembly, in the week when world leaders deliver major speeches.
Britain had suggested it may not recognise Palestine if Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire, but the Israeli government has adamantly rejected a ceasefire and announced an intention to capture Gaza City. Benjamin Netanyahu… has increasingly spoken of a permanent Israeli presence in Gaza and annexation of the West Bank.
Iran Steps Back From the Brink With UN Atomic Watchdog Deal
Iran took a step toward breaking the impasse with United Nations inspectors over access to its nuclear facilities, with a top-level meeting in Cairo yielding the groundwork for a return of monitors potentially as soon as next month, according to two diplomats familiar with the situation.
Whether the agreement between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and the International Atomic Energy Agency is enough to forestall the re-imposition of punishing UN sanctions will be decided in the next two weeks, the diplomats said, asking not to be identified discussing restricted information.
An agreement between Tehran and the United Nations’ atomic watchdog will provide the UN agency access to all of Iran’s nuclear facilities and require Iran to report on the whereabouts of material that was at sites attacked by Israel earlier this year, the head of the agency said Wednesday. The accord was announced Tuesday after a meeting between International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty. Details of the agreement were not immediately released. In an address Wednesday to his agency’s board of governors in Vienna, Grossi said the document “provides for a clear understanding for the procedures of inspection notifications and their implementation.” The agreement “includes all facilities and installations in Iran and it also contemplates the required reporting on all the attacked facilities including the nuclear material present at those,” Grossi added, noting it will “open the way for the respective inspections and access” without specifying when that would happen.

Canada
Carney Says Major Projects Coming to Combat Trade War ‘Crisis’
Takeaways by Bloomberg AI
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will announce the first wave of major projects to be fast-tracked under a new law on Thursday.
The law aims to speed up regulatory reviews for projects deemed to be in the national interest, with the goal of permitting them within two years.
Carney’s government plans to unveil several initiatives in the coming months, including a government homebuilding agency and a new climate competitiveness strategy.
Quebec
Shifting the deck chairs on The Titanic
Legault unveils shuffled cabinet with veterans and new faces
Bernard Drainville becomes environment minister, Sonia Lebel takes on education file
Legault said Wednesday that his four priorities ahead of next year’s election are economy, bureaucratic efficiency, security and identity.

AI Is Coming for YouTube Creators
At least 15 million videos have been snatched by tech companies.
Over the past few months, I’ve discovered more than 15.8 million videos from more than 2 million channels that tech companies have, without permission, downloaded to train AI products. Nearly 1 million of them, by my count, are how-to videos. You can find these videos in at least 13 different data sets distributed by AI developers at tech companies, universities, and research organizations, through websites such as Hugging Face, an online AI-development hub.

Ian Bremmer: Trump’s attacks on the Fed will backfire
President Trump has made no secret of his longstanding desire for lower interest rates to juice the economy and reduce the cost of servicing the $30 trillion federal debt.
President Trump has made no secret of his longstanding desire for lower interest rates to juice the economy and reduce the cost of servicing the $30 trillion federal debt. But his attacks on the Federal Reserve will prove self-defeating, driving up borrowing costs for American consumers, businesses, and the federal government.
For months, the president has threatened and insulted Fed chair Jerome Powell for refusing to cut rates, even toying with the idea of firing him over supposed (and nakedly pretextual) cost overruns on the renovation of the Fed’s headquarters. Yet despite the bluster, he has stopped short of the one move advisers warned him could turn financial markets against him: actually sacking him. Why risk it when Powell’s term as chair expires in May, at which point Trump (who appointed him in 2018) will get to select a replacement more willing to do his bidding?

Varia
Schwartz’s wins hearts and stomachs in Italy while staying dear to Ken Dryden’s family
It was while he was in Tuscany that [Schwartz’s general manager Frank] Silva got word of the passing of Ken Dryden, a Schwartz’s regular when he played with the Habs. Shortly after getting the news, Silva was told that Dryden’s son Michael contacted the deli, asking if it would be possible to supply smoked meat for his father’s funeral in Toronto on Tuesday. “I spoke to Michael from Tuscany and gave him my condolences and said it would be our honour to send the smoked meat and take care of everything,” Silva says. “He said Schwartz’s was his dad’s favourite restaurant. Ken was one of my all-time favourites. He came all the time — a quiet, super-nice gentleman.”
Grove of giant sequoia trees burns in California’s Sierra National Forest
To protect the majestic trees, some estimated to be 3,000 years old, fire crews laid sprinkler lines to increase ground moisture, wrapped the trunks with fire-resistant foil blankets, raked flammable material away from trees and patrolled the area looking for hotspots, he said.
Passports, an airport lounge and ‘luxury’ air stalls: How horses fly into the Spruce Meadows Masters
More than 100 horses were flown in for the Spruce Meadows Masters tournament in Calgary. But the journey to bring those international horses to Canada began well in advance, involving all kinds of planning, paperwork and precision to make sure the horses arrived on time and in the best condition possible. …every competing horse has to have a passport issued by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports. [Upon arrival] they were brought to the International Animal Lounge situated in the Calgary International Airport, a facility outfitted with 12 custom-designed horse stalls.
Blackwater founder and Maga disciple Erik Prince pitching services in Ukraine
Sources say Prince, whose firm’s contractors committed 2007 Iraq massacre, eager to get into valuable drone sector

Events
-28 September
John Little Exhibition
10am-5pm
Aislin (Terry Mosher) posted: “The Montreal urban painter John Little was my mentor and godfather. There is an excellent exhibition of his paintings plus insights into how he worked at the excellent CHATEAU RAMEZAY in Old Montreal, 280 Notre-Dame East, across from City Hall. If you love Montreal don’t miss this! Exhibition closes on September 28th.”
John Little has been one of my favorite artists since I was in my late teens.

6 October
12-5pm
Health and Climate Change: Solutions to meet new risks in Canada
Join The Globe and Mail to hear about climate change impacts on health, and the solutions. The event will bring together care providers and consumers, community and sustainability leaders to share actions for healthier people and a healthier planet.
IN-person or virtual attendance

Long reads/videos
Gwynne Dyer: Qatar strike makes clear Israel has no interest in a ceasefire
Israel bombing America’s closest ally in the Gulf puts every Arab country on notice that nobody is safe.
Russia Tested NATO in Poland. NATO Flunked.
A drone incursion shows the limits of an alliance without America at its head.
Anne Applebaum on the growing ties between autocracies
Fareed Zakaria speaks with Atlantic staff writer Anne Applebaum about this week’s meeting between China’s Xi Jinping, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un — and the growing ties between autocratic states.
There is a global information war, and America is unilaterally disarming: The U.S. is reorienting its foreign policy to help autocratic governments manipulate and suppress information.
America Surrenders in the Global Information Wars
The U.S. is reorienting its foreign policy to protect governments that manipulate and suppress information.
By Anne Applebaum
Highly recommended: The Substack blog of one of our favorite Atlantic writers Open Letters, from Anne Applebaum. Her latest post is on America’s destruction of its own counter-propaganda operations Unilateral Disarmament – America Surrenders in the Information Wars
“On August 29, the State Department leadership gave official notice to staff that it was terminating more than two dozen agreements reached with countries around the world. These agreements had been designed to create common language and tactics to push back against Russian, Chinese, Iranian, and terrorist influence campaigns overseas.”
Kyle Matthewws reminds us that MIGS [has launched] new report Wired for War: How Authoritarian States are Weaponizing AI against the West.
Written by Kyle Matthews and Marie Lamensch, the report offers an initial assessment of how emerging technologies— particularly artificial intelligence, deepfakes, bots, and algorithmic amplification—are accelerating the scope and scale of foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI) operations and cognitive warfare.