Conrad Black: The West has crumbled in the face of a belligerent Russia and China

A group of naval vessels from Russia and China conduct a joint maritime military patrol in the waters of the Pacific Ocean. PHOTO BY RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS

 

There has been no clear statement from NATO or the United States or any serious source over what response there might be to direct Russian aggression against Ukraine, or Chinese aggression against Taiwan

The increasing shambles in post-Trump great power relations is best illustrated by the Russian threat against Ukraine and the Chinese threat against Taiwan. The United States is in a continuous meltdown of sane government, which will only be resolved when the present administration and its allies in Congress have been decisively evicted. Western Europe is in a deepening torpor, most accurately represented by the addled condition of Germany, which is still trying to assemble a government almost two months after the last election. Apart from some of the countries recently emancipated from the joys of Russian Cold War domination, in Europe, Britain and France are the only countries acting like serious powers.

Philip Cross: The government is driving inflation

Bank of Canada building in Ottawa on June 22, 2020. PHOTO BY BLAIR GABLE/REUTERS FILES

 

Governments must work to eliminate their deficits or the upward pressure on interest rates will intensify

Inflation is proving to be more than transitory, reaching an 18-year high of 4.7 per cent last month. Government-created distortions of personal incomes, savings and labour market choices are helping fuel it. These distortions also make inflation harder to forecast, although economists have long struggled to develop a viable theory that forecasts inflation. As a result, many central banks have been slow to react to the price rises.

Rex Murphy: Trudeau and Biden double down on efforts to destroy our economy

U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau converse at the White House during the North American Leaders' Summit on Nov. 18, 2021. PHOTO BY JONATHAN ERNST/REUTERS

 

Here is a perfect symmetry. Trudeau wants to kill the oil and gas industry.

The Three Amigos?

I beg your pardon.

Is that an appropriate nomenclature for a conclave of the three finest minds in the statesmanship of our present-day world?

Matt Gurney: Only dead Canadians will shock us out of our appalling complacency

In this image from the RCAF’s Twitter account, a Cormorant helicopter rescues civilians from a washed-out highway in British Columbia.

 

He got the job after the last CDS got entangled in the sexual misconduct scandal now roiling the military. Given the attention the Liberals usually give the military, this is not a guarantee. Specifically, he warned that increasingly frequent domestic deployments were interfering with the military's ability to conduct large-scale, multi-unit exercises. In typical Canadian fashion, the general reached for a hockey metaphor to describe why such large exercises are essential, and told the CP, «It’s like a hockey team that would never train, never play on the ice together, and then all of a sudden being thrown into an NHL game and be expected to win».

Protective immunity after recovery from SARS-CoV-2 infection

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is now better controlled in settings with access to fast and reliable testing and highly effective vaccination rollouts. Several studies have found that people who recovered from COVID-19 and tested seropositive for anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies have low rates of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection. There are still looming questions surrounding the strength and duration of such protection compared with that from vaccination.

Opinion: Progressives ruined San Francisco, but at least ‘advocacy’ is thriving

Golden Gate Avenue in San Francisco, shown in April 2020. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

 

In 2018, there were 20,933 calls to San Francisco’s government complaining about human feces. In those years, in clement Miami, the unsheltered population declined 50 percent. Last year in San Francisco, there were 6,275 registered complaints about used hypodermic needles in public places. In 2001, the city gave between $320 and $395 cash per month to the homeless while Oakland, across the Bay, gave $24.

David Frum: Going beyond Vimy

Library and Archives Canada

 

You could learn a lot about Canada’s national psyche from the country’s enduring fascination with the battle of Vimy Ridge, fought 95 years ago this past week. Canadians fought dozens of major battles during the First World War. Vimy fully deserves the honour it carries in the national memory. But the exclusive attention to Vimy obscures other Canadian achievements even more deserving of honour.