Wednesday Night #2289

Thanks to Jan Davis for forwarding A Speech for the History Books – A memorable discourse on America’s place in the world, by the leader of a US neighbor and former friend by James Fallows (See Long reads for link), as praise for Prime Minister Carney’s Davos speech continues to resound around the world.
Not so much in the case of his speech at La Citadelle, criticized by all the usual suspects, including former Harper spokesman Dimitri Soudas, but also by such as André Pratte and Chantal Hébert, Daniel Béland explains:
Beyond le Bonhomme: Why Carney’s Citadelle Speech Backfired in Quebec and concludes “Clearly, the political takeaway is that the Liberal party should step up its game by providing better Quebec-related advice to a prime minister who, for the time being at least, seems much more in his element in Davos than in Quebec City.”
Bravo, Andrew Caddell, for a strong defense -backed with solid historical references- of Mr. Carney’s key national unity speech,
Bravo to Carney for speaking the truth
The prime minister dared suggest the Plains of Abraham is the symbolic cradle of Canada. And he was right to do so.

Around the world
Trump’s sudden retreat on Greenland shows that limits still exist
It remains to be seen what lasting damage the episode has done, particularly to how other members of NATO regard and trust the United States.
While it appears that, at least for now, the Greenland takeover threat has subsided, the situation in Iran worsens.

Threat of US-Iran war escalates as Trump warns time running out for deal – US president says armada heading towards Iran is ‘prepared to fulfil its missions with violence if necessary’
A new POLITICO poll reveals 65 percent of Trump voters support the U.S. taking military action against at least one of several potential target countries, including Iran, Greenland, Cuba, Colombia, China and Mexico. And one stands out: Iran.  (Trump voters support military intervention in more countries – so much for the Peace President. )
What Happens Next in Iran: Strongman, Coup, Collapse?
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards brutally cracked down on the protests — and will wield power going forward.

Venezuela is hardly a poster country for the Peace President, at least not as long as Marco Rubio is testifying. Rubio set to threaten Venezuela with military action if U.S goals not met

Israel
As usual not conforming to previous agreements regarding the ceasefire despite the return of police sergeant Ran Gvili’s body which should pave the way for progress on second phase of Trump’s ceasefire plan, Instead, Gaza under Israel fire as ‘desperate’ Palestinians seek supplies
And this: UK, France, Canada among 11 countries condemning Israel’s UNRWA demolitions
Countries slam destruction of UN agency for Palestinian refugees’ East Jerusalem headquarters as ‘unprecedented act’.

Russia-Ukraine Putin’s War
Despite the “positive”/”constructive” initial Russia-Ukraine-US Trilateral Talks, the brutal war continues without any cessation or any hope of swift resolution.
Russian and Ukrainian military casualties in war nearing 2m, study finds
Thinktank says about 1.2m Russians troops killed, wounded or missing to date and 600,000 Ukrainians

Moldova’s leader considers whether independence is still worth it
…as the war in Ukraine grinds on, the president of Moldova, Kyiv’s southwest neighbor, is suggesting just that in hopes of blunting Russian pressure.
During an interview earlier this month, President Maia Sandu said she would vote for unification with neighboring Romania, a European Union and NATO member, if a referendum were held.

Trump-backed businessman Nasry Asfura sworn in as president of Honduras
Asfura’s rise to power was marked with controversy after U.S. President Donald Trump threw his support behind the Honduran conservative in the lead up to the election. Competitors called the elections fraudulent as vote counts dragged on for weeks and Asfura won by less than a 1% lead.
Honduran authorities said Asfura won with 40.27% of the vote, just ahead of conservative competitor Salvador Nasralla with 39.53%. Nasralla maintains he’s the rightful president.

U.S. Immigration, Citizenship & National Security
U.S. news is dominated by the violent events in Minneapolis perpetrated by ICE, DHS and other entities with undecipherable initials or acronyms. The Trump administration seems to be gradually backpedaling on the more aggressive elements of the administration’s immigration crackdown, including demoting (firing) Greg Bovino.
NB Politico notes that president’s recent reversals also suggest that the “TACO” slogan doesn’t get it exactly right. For politicians and policymakers seeking to understand him, it’s important to recognize that Trump doesn’t always back down — but he often will under specific circumstances. (How to know when Trump will back down)

Must read : Heather Cox Richardson Letters from an American January 26, 2026
On right-wing social media, [former Trump advisor Steve] Bannon echoed the language of a dystopian vision of the world that claims immigrants are invading the United States and those protecting them in Minneapolis are dangerous. He told his supporters: “This is just not Minneapolis—this is an organized, well thought through effort to invade the country.” MAGA adherents are embracing the daft idea that the Minnesota people who have come together to protect their neighbors are an organized, paid insurgency.
But the tide seems to be running against them.

Varia
Who are the gargoyle and chimera craftsmen(people?) today?
Kentucky cathedral called ‘America’s Notre Dame’ gets a rehab, gargoyles and all
Workers in recent weeks have been installing new terra cotta gargoyles as one of the final steps of a major, two-year restoration of the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption. The Catholic cathedral’s nickname stems from how its exterior was modeled on the larger Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris — from the pointed arches and flying buttresses to the gargoyles and chimeras with their reptilian grins and piercing, canine eyes.
Research shows virtual sessions with therapy dogs do the trick
The BARK program – which stands for Building Academic Retention with K9s – has been bringing dogs to the Kelowna campus for 14 years, while also publishing research showing that the in-person visits reduce stress and perceptions of loneliness, at least in the short term.
More recently, with virtual therapy becoming more widely practised since the pandemic, the BARK researchers wanted to study whether animal therapy could still deliver similar benefits online.

Brett House on airline pricing “Airline pricing is a classic case that we teach in our core microeconomics courses in the MBA program and at most business schools,” Brett House, an economics professor at Columbia Business School, told me. “There is a great deal of flexibility to segment and version and unbundle the flying experience. And airlines are able to collect data on consumers’ responsiveness to those moves in ways that allow them to optimize that for their revenue and profit.” Why expensive airline “premiums” don’t feel special at all

Associate Professor, Environmental Sciences at Emory University, (Sauvé alumna and dear young friend) Jola Ajibade shares the news that she and her team have received a $1M grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to study the rapid expansion of AI data centers and their impacts on energy systems, electricity costs, and environmental justice in the U.S. South.
$1 million Sloan grant funds deep look at data center boom in U.S. South

“Dreamers and Steamers: The Steamboat Era on Lake Memphremagog.”
Thursday, January 29 at 12:30 pm
Atwater Library
Filmmaker Louise Abbott is screening her latest documentary. The film traces the way a few “dreamers” transformed a swath of the region with steamboat navigation on Lake Memphremagog, enabling the development of tourism and the growth of commerce and industry.
Louise Abbott will introduce the film and after the screening, answer attendees’ questions.
The event is ONLINE ONLY.

30 people dead from effects of winter storm as more freezing cold pummels US creating havoc. Our thoughts are with Marc Nicholson in Houston where Thousands in area without power as frigid temperatures settle in – and we thought the move from Singapore would involve no climate shock! Looks like it won’t get better right away as Forecasters warned that Southeast Texas, particularly in the inland regions, will be in a prolonged period of subfreezing temperatures.Meantime, Jean is with Maya in Boston where they have endured some 20 inches of snow – and poor Jean really feels the cold!
Storm Recovery? That’s a Job for a Tool Library
Tool libraries allow community members to borrow a wide range of equipment for household jobs.
As federal emergency assistance dries up, community tool-lending programs have emerged as a hyperlocal way to fill the gap and improve climate resilience.
After Hurricane Helene struck western North Carolina in September 2024, the community-led organization Asheville Tool Library set up tables filled with tarps, power tools and other equipment that residents can borrow to fix their homes. They also operated repair cafes where volunteers helped people fix their own equipment.
Hyperlocal programs like these can be found across the US as part of the sharing economy. And in times of disaster, they have become critical — especially amid increasingly damaging storms and as federal emergency assistance dries up under the Trump administration. In fact, such community-led responses are often more important than government action,

Long reads
UN Reform
On the United Nations and the Wisdom of Robbie Burns
Bob Rae
(Policy) [In New York] to join in discussions taking place on the 80th anniversary of the first meeting in London of the Economic and Social Council ECOSOC, the United Nations charter body created to focus attention on the economic and social challenges of the world.

Why America intervening in Iran is a bad idea
Regime change imposed by the West on countries in the Middle East has an almost perfect record of catastrophic failure.
Gwynne Dyer

Ishaan Tharoor Looking for signs of Trump’s new world order after Davos
With his so-called “Board of Peace,” President Donald Trump’s transactional new world order takes shape.

James Fallows: A Speech for the History Books – A memorable discourse on America’s place in the world, by the leader of a US neighbor and former friend .

‘Kristi Noem Needs to Go.’ Three Columnists on ICE in Minneapolis.
By Lydia PolgreenDavid French and Michelle Goldberg
(NYT) Matthew Rose, an Opinion editorial director, hosted an online conversation with three Opinion columnists.

‘The Triangle of Power’: A Compass for the New World Order
Colin Robertson reviews The Triangle of Power, by Alexander Stubb, President of Finland
The Triangle of Power is a serious book for a serious moment. It is well-informed and thoroughly  readable. Stubb acknowledges he does not have all the answers: Values-based realism is pragmatic but is probably more ethos than strategy. Institutional reform is easier to affirm than to execute. The triangle, while illuminating, risks flattening regional complexity.
But for middle powers, Stubb’s observation that multipolar disorder marginalizes those without raw power is well taken. Given the differing and often conflicting interests of the countries in the Global South, the argument that it should be treated as a co-author of any new order is problematic. But his central intuition is sound: “only global cooperation can contain competition and prevent broader conflict.”
In a world sliding from order toward disorder, The Triangle of Power is not a road map to certainty, but it is a valuable compass.