🧚‍♀️ TREE HOUSE NEWS 🏡

NEWS AGGREGATOR & COMMENTS

Great Spirit bless 🙏

Good morning, all. I was outside sitting in my Green Space, coffee in hand, just in time to watch the sun come up over the trees. A new day, so fresh and peaceful, before all that cursed construction cacophony starts up for the day. I want so much to have our quiet neighborhood back again. With city parkland on all three sides of this apartment building, it feels like living in the woods.

I remember my dad talking about the Niagara Peninsula when I was a kid. He was considering this place as one of his options for moving to in retirement. Milder, warmer, longer-growing-season kind of climate, warm season is longer than in northern Ontario, he said. He was right.

I was living in Morristown, Tennessee, for a time, nearly moved there, glad I didn't. I CERTAINLY WOULD NOT WANT TO BE THERE NOW! No going south of the border again, ever, now that the Orange Slimeball Jabba the Hutt has poisoned the place.

My partner and I lived in B.C. Lower Mainland for about seven years. Believe it or not, it rained most of the seven years we were there. The Okanogan Valley would have been OK, with a hospitable climate and sunny weather, but it was too isolated. That was another one of the warmest places in Canada. The next possibility: I told my partner about my dad mentioning the Niagara Peninsula Region, and that's where we are presently, and we don't have any plans to move anywhere else except to our final destination ... Beam me up, Scotty 🛸• *•.° *

TODAY'S DISCUSSION:

CLIMATE CHANGE

_*Even here, with our own microclimate, which usually means much more moderate weather than they have further north and south of us, we feel the effects of climate change. Two years ago, torrential spring rains delayed the planting of vegetables for weeks. Meager snowfalls caused winter droughts. Earlier this month, we got two floods within two days here. The flooding rains fell as far north as Barrie. There ain't gonna be anywhere safe when the big one hits.*_

- Google Search -

Question: Did St Catharine's ever have previous flooding to 2026

🔹AI Overview

St. Catharines experienced historic, widespread flooding most recently between July 21 and August 2, 2026

Prior to the unprecedented back-to-back storms of July and August 2026—which dumped over 300 mm of rain and led to a City of St. Catharines state of emergency—the city had not faced a sequence of multiple 100-year storms in such rapid succession

Read More - Google Search -

CONDITIONS CAN CHANGE AS FAST AS A FLASH OF LIGHTNING! You don't even get to hear the thunder.

- Google Search -

Sudden Climate Change:

🔹AI Overview

Sudden or abrupt climate change happens when the Earth’s climate system shifts rapidly from one state to another over decades or less, rather than centuries. These fast changes can be triggered by tipping points, like melting ice sheets or disrupted ocean currents, causing extreme weather, crop failures, and severe ecological stress

Causes of Rapid Shifts

• Tipping Points: Passing a critical threshold can cause natural systems to collapse or flip quickly.

• Feedback Loops: Warming melts reflective ice, exposing dark ocean water that absorbs more heat and warms the planet faster.

• Ocean Currents: Disruptions to major systems like the Atlantic circulation can rapidly alter regional weather patterns.Methane

• Releases: Thawing permafrost releases trapped greenhouse gases, accelerating global warming

Major Impacts

• Extreme Weather: Heatwaves, severe droughts, and intense storms happen more often and last longer.

• Food Insecurity:

• Ecosystem Collapse:

• Societal Stress:

Read More - Google Search -

Well, that will be about it for today. Thank you so much for visiting and reading the Tress House News 🏡

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BREAKING NEWS RECAP:

Exclusive: Navy weighs renaming carrier slated to honor Black war hero, potentially switching it to Trump

The US Navy is working to rename an aircraft carrier under construction that was set to honor a Black sailor hailed for his heroic actions during the attack on Pearl Harbor, three sources familiar with internal discussions told CNN.

During President Donald Trump’s first term, the Navy announced that the Ford-class carrier would be called the USS Doris Miller, recognizing an enlisted sailor who helped defend US forces from Japan’s attack.

It’s unclear what the Navy is seeking to change the name of the carrier to, though two of the sources said there have been internal conversations about renaming it to honor Trump. It would be an unprecedented move to name an aircraft carrier after a sitting president. The Navy is looking instead to rename another warship after Miller, according to one of the sources...

A recent White House executive order on shipbuilding also referred to the ship only as CVN-81,

Many of the US’ active aircraft carriers are named after past US presidents

Read More:

PUBLISHED Aug 20, 2026, 5:00 PM ET - 15 hr ago

- CNN -

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Michael Cohen once called Trump a con man and a cheat. Now he’s back to calling his ex-boss ‘sir.’

The president’s former fixer turned witness for the prosecution was eager to patch things up in a groveling interview.

This was Michael Cohen’s big moment. President Donald Trump’s longtime lawyer/fixer turned nemesis/witness for the prosecution has apparently turned the page on his stint as a #Resistance figure and made amends with the man who is the only reason most people know Cohen’s name in the first place.

Cohen, who testified against Trump in the latter’s 2024 New York “hush money” trial, hyped the previously recorded sit-down with a post on his Substack titled “The Impossible Reunion” and even previewed the discussion with a livestream Thursday afternoon as a must-hear interview between the two convicted felons.

“Loyalty doesn’t mean pretending someone never hurt you. Forgiveness doesn’t mean surrendering your principles. Reconciliation doesn’t mean rewriting history. It means deciding that your history doesn’t have to end with your worst chapter. And frankly, it takes far more courage to extend a hand across a divide than it does to throw stones from behind a keyboard,” Cohen wrote...

Cohen has released only 15 minutes so far — first on New York’s WABC-AM radio and later on Cohen’s podcast and Substack.

• Of all the indignities Cohen has suffered on behalf of Trump, that he couldn’t even get Trump to give him a good soundbite for this reunion show must rank high among them.:

How Iran ended up with 1,000 pounds of “soon to be made nuclear-grade enriched uranium”?

Read More:

Aug. 21, 2026, 6:00 AM EDT

- MS NOW -

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CANADIAN NEWS:

Midnight deadline looms as Canada seeks deal to avoid Trump's steep new tariffs

Sources say Canada-U.S. agreement would lower steel tariffs, include change to dairy import licences

VIDEO | Included:

The Latest

Canadian and U.S. officials are working today to finalize a trade agreement before U.S. President Donald Trump's latest tariff threats take effect at midnight.

Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc's office says he and Canada's lead negotiator, Janice Charette, are slated to meet with U.S. officials at the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) offices in Washington, D.C, at 10:30 a.m. ET.

Sources with knowledge of the talks say the forthcoming agreement would lower tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum from 50 to 25 per cent and also change how dairy import licences are allocated by the government.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has asked the provinces to return American alcohol to store shelves. N.L. Premier Tony Wakeham said all premiers agreed, but Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette said her province would follow suit if the deal is "globally positive." Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew urged people to continue buying Canadian products.

Read More:

August 21, 2026 - Updated33 minutes ago

- CBC -

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• Google Search -

Question: What is Carney's backup plan if the Canadian and American tariff deal falls apart?

🔹AI Overview

If the Canada-U.S. tariff negotiations collapse, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s backup plan focuses on targeted economic retaliation, preparing domestic relief packages for affected small and medium businesses, and accelerating a long-term trade diversification strategy toward international partners like Europe, the UK, and Asia.

Domestic Resilience and Business Relief.

• Targeted Support: Federal planners have readied concurrent relief and financial assistance packages for Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises vulnerable to sudden U.S. border levies.

• Supply Chain Defense: Ottawa intends to spotlight how U.S. tariffs directly spike inflation and costs for American consumers and manufacturers, framing Canadian industry as part of the U.S. economic solution rather than the problem.

Retaliatory Measures

• Selective Counter-Tariffs:

International Trade Diversification

• Market Expansion:

Read More:

I read all this before, and I do pray it holds true, because we will need it.

Canadian International Trade Diversification

 

🧚‍♀️ TREE HOUSE NEWS 🏡

NEWS AGGREGATOR & COMMENTS

Great Spirit bless 🙏

Talk about going over the precipice 🧗 I was thinking about those people who are labeled psychos. I met a few during my 25 years of service as a social worker. The way I see it, there are various types of psychological imbalances. Imbalances usually involve learning disorders or coping disorders of one sort or another. Those people are the shadows on the street that no one notices. Those shadows can think, see, feel, and touch. They have emotions, and many of them are not lacking in intelligence. Many fear or do not trust the world outside of the world they have created for themselves, and some have their true selves locked up inside in a cocoon of darkness where there is no light, like a black hole 🕳️ and never want to let the outside light in.

Most I worked with were recovering alcoholics and addicts, in need of rehabilitation, a helping hand to be a contributing member of society again. I also encountered a few self-proclaimed spychos.

In my opinion, if Canada is planning to grow in the next few years, my search for capable, talented people would include screening the pool of those who have a mental or emotional challenge that wouldn't keep them from doing their part to build a stronger, more prosperous Canada, and I would start casting my wide net today!

WE NEED MORE REHAB CENTERS IN CANADA 🍁

We need more mental health rehabilitation personnel and facilities, especially in Ontario Health Care, which is currently enacting the middle sequence of the sinking Titanic scene 🚢

With all due respect, Prime Minister Mark Carney 🫡

You, your advisors, and the members of parliament HAVE THE DUTY TO SAVE OUR CANADIAN HEALTHCARE SYSTEM FROM PARALYSIS AND TURNING FROM A PUBLIC SYSTEM THAT PUTS PATIENTS FIRST AND INTO A COLLECTION OF PRIVATELY-HELD ENTITIES WHOSE FIRST CARE IS PROFITS! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? ONTARIO IS CLOSING HOSPITALS AND EMERGENCY ROOMS AND IS NOT HIRING OR RETAINING HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS!

MAKE HEALTHCARE IN CANADA A FEDERAL SYSTEM TODAY!

If you wish to have a healthy workforce.

TODAY'S DISCUSSION:

Psychopath or Psychotic Disorder:

Psychological disorders are health conditions that cause significant changes in a person's thinking, emotional regulation, or behavior. They often lead to distress or trouble functioning in daily life. Common types include anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. Effective treatments such as therapy and medication exist,..

Psychotic Disorders: Involve features like hallucinations or delusions, with schizophrenia being a primary example.

• Personality Disorders:

Psychopath:

🔹AI Overview

A psychopath is a person with a personality pattern marked by low empathy, weak remorse, bold and selfish behavior, and trouble following social rules. While the media often shows them as violent criminals, many blend in using charm, and the term overlaps closely with Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD)...

Read More - Google Search -

Psychopathy

🔹AI Overview

Psychopathy: is a personality construct marked by a lack of empathy, poor impulse control, shallow emotions, and persistent antisocial behavior. These core traits are often hidden behind superficial charm. While closely related to Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD), psychopathy is a more specific condition

🔹AI Overview

Devious psychopaths: use charm, mimicry, and profound cunning to mask a total lack of empathy or conscience. They manipulate others for personal gain while avoiding suspicion by acting like normal, caring individuals.

Psychopaths that can feel but hide it

🔹AI Overview

Psychopaths do experience some basic physical and goal-oriented emotions like anger, pride, or frustration, but they lack deep emotional empathy and remorse. Rather than hiding rich inner feelings, they often mimic normal emotional responses—a process called superficial charm or masking—to blend into society and manipulate others.

How does one judge an empty shell 🧆 a cocoon 🥐 of deviousness? 👺 or a bag filled with hate and 💩 Thank you for visiting and reading the Tree House News 🏡

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BREAKING NEWS RECAP:

The Democrats’ one neat trick to try to win a Senate majority

The battle for the Senate in 2026 comes with some fascinating wrinkles: In a trio of races — Idaho, Nebraska and South Dakota — the Democrat has dropped out to help an independent try to win in a red state.

But this strategy has already been attempted in a handful of Senate races in recent years, and it has yet to actually work — at least at the federal level.

• So … could it this year?:

It remains unlikely. But history suggests it’s worth it to keep trying. It at least gives Democrats a better shot of depriving Republicans of seats in states where a Democratic nominee probably wouldn’t have a chance at winning. In fact, when this setup has been tried, Republicans have had some of their worst Senate results in recent history in those states...

So we’ve got the worst GOP performance in the last 20 years in Nebraska, in the last 50 years in Utah, and one of the worst ones in the last 30 years in Kansas — despite it being a very good GOP year. ...

Read More:

PUBLISHED Aug 20, 2026, 5:00 AM ET - 6 hr ago

- CNN -

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El Niño will upend winter weather in the US. Here’s who will feel it the most

The burgeoning Super El Niño will have major implications for winter weather in the United States. Winter is not only when this El Niño will peak in strength, but also when its influence on global weather is most pronounced.

🌊 Watch the full VIDEO Ask a Scientist about El Niño interview only in the CNN Weather app.

• What a typical El Niño winter looks like:
• An early winter forecast for this atypical El Niño:

As with winter temperatures, research shows a warming climate has also impacted snowfall over the decades. Annual snow amounts have dropped in nearly two-thirds of the US since 1970, according to Climate Central.

Read More:

PUBLISHED Aug 20, 2026, 9:27 AM ET - 2 hr ago

- CNN -

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Why Trump’s plummeting approval ratings are even worse than they look

New data shows Trump’s die-hard followers are vanishing.

VIDEO | Included:

Two recent polls show that President Donald Trump’s approval ratings are dropping as low as they ever have for him. But more striking still are signs that his hardcore base is dissipating — which could affect turnout in the midterm elections and render the MAGA brand less potent over time.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll of adults conducted between Aug. 14-17 found that 33% approved of Trump’s performance and 64% disapproved. As Reuters noted in its write-up of the survey, “Trump’s approval rating, down from 35% in a poll that closed earlier this month and ​lower than at any point in his current term, has now tied the lowest level of his prior term reached in December 2017.”

• There are signs that the accumulated discontent is not just hurting Trump with Americans overall but his most loyal supporters.:

Trump’s plunging approval ratings and his loosening grip on his base might explain part of why his endorsed candidates haven’t been performing as well in recent GOP primaries.

Read More:

Aug. 20, 2026, 6:00 AM EDT

- MS NOW -

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CANADIAN NEWS:

Canada, U.S. negotiators meeting again to finalize trade deal ahead of new tariff deadline

Trade minister back in D.C. as Carney asks provinces to return U.S. booze to shelves

The Latest:

• Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc has returned to Washington as officials from both countries work to finalize a deal that would avert new U.S. tariffs on nearly $30 billion in Canadian goods.

• Prime Minister Mark Carney and his negotiators discussed the prospective deal with his cabinet and the premiers yesterday afternoon.

• Carney asked the provinces to return American alcohol to store shelves, and to not specifically exclude the U.S. from their procurement policies, according to Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston.

• A source with knowledge of the forthcoming agreement said U.S. tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum are being lowered from 50 per cent to 25 per cent, and that Canadian officials are aiming to complete the deal by Friday.

• U.S. President Donald Trump also said yesterday he had brokered "a very good deal" with Canada. A statement from the White House said an agreement with Canada is being finalized but did not contain any details.

Read More:

August 20, 2026 - Updated6 minutes ago

- CBC -

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If I were a betting woman! It wouldn't surprise me if he's going to do his best to find a way to screw 🔩 this one too to, weasel 🦦

"We have a deal with Canada": Trump says trade agreement reached

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stsUBBnFqB4

 

🧚‍♀️ TREE HOUSE NEWS 🏡

NEWS AGGREGATOR & COMMENTS

Great Spirit bless 🙏

Be well and be safe on this grey Wednesday afternoon. And I do pray, no more floods. Thank you, Great Spirit of the Universe, for watching over the people. The chosen YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE; just believe! Amen.

- Google Search -

Question: Bible, if you had the faith of a mustard seed

In the Bible, - Matthew 17:20 - Jesus says that if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can tell a mountain to move from one place to another, and it will move. He states that nothing will be impossible for you.

My thoughts: For example, the Tower of Babel, the Great Temples, and the pyramids, etc., were built approximately 12 to 15,000 + years ago. But then it's hard to nail down how many years ago these mysterious stone masons mentioned in the Holy Books were around, as it seems to be just prior to the Great Ice Age and just after it ended, around the same time as the stone masons showed up, 15 to 20,000 years ago. Given that these stone masons may have been here long before the Ice Age, we may learn more about them as the permafrost melts away. How long have these stone masons been around? Just something to think about.

Did we come out of the trees before the Ice Age and learn the great secret of shaping stone like clay pottery? Or did we have teachers?

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TODAY'S DISCUSSION:

Good Morning,

Fuel markets are having a bit of a moment.

Global oil inventories are being watched closely. Refineries are making headlines. And disruptions around the world continue to affect the cost of moving people and goods.

We’ve covered some of these market fundamentals before, but they are important enough to revisit, especially with the large influx of new subscribers who joined our conversation over the past few weeks and for those who may not have seen some of our previous articles.

So, this week we’re keeping it practical: what is driving today’s volatility, why do crude supply and refinery capacity both matter, and what can Canada do closer to home to strengthen reliability?

We also have a special surprise in this edition, so keep reading!

Today’s reading time is 4 minutes.

• How much buffer is left?:

What’s Happening

Reuters reports that as the U.S.-Iran war continues, oil traders and policymakers are asking the same difficult question: are global oil inventories strong enough to withstand another six months of disruption?

The answer is not simple.

• Why it matters:
• Tell me more:

LABOR DAY GIVEAWAY

To celebrate, we’re giving away a Kailani cooler to one Engine13 subscriber.

_______________________________________

Another refinery goes offline

What’s happening

The Associated Press reports that Ukrainian drone strikes have hit the Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat refinery and petrochemical complex in Russia, one of the country’s largest integrated refining and chemical facilities.

The strike is part of a broader pattern of repeated attacks on energy infrastructure over the past couple years of the Russo-Ukraine war and is the latest example of a refinery reducing or suspending operations due to the conflict. In many of these cases, repairs to the damaged facilities are expected to take months.

Why it matters

• Tell me more:

Global disruptions will always happen.

A strong domestic fuel system gives Canada more options when they do.

Read More:

- Engine13 🚗 -

🔹AI Overview

Forwarded Engine13 newsletter discussing oil volatility, refinery capacity, and Canadian reliability.

Content covered global oil markets, US-Iran war impact, and Russian refinery drone strike impacts.

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This is the latest I have come up with as to any idea of what Canada is going to do. I know one thing! They will NOT LET THE LIGHTS GO OUT WHEN WE HAVE OUR OWN FUEL TO KEEP THEM ON, unless we become the fifty-first Nazi state of the Shmukarica and the subjects of Kink Orange Slime Slob Jabba The Hutt.

He's so full of 💩💩💩 now he has to carry the bucket 🪣 in his pants.

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BREAKING NEWS RECAP:

Trump postpones 50% tariff he threatened on some Canadian goods

President Donald Trump, late Tuesday, postponed his threat of a 50% tariff on a wide range of Canadian goods that was set to take effect at midnight and would have affected roughly $20 billion worth of imports.

“I have paused the 50% Tariffs against Canada, that were scheduled to kick in tomorrow morning for a three day period, based on the fact that Canada and the U.S.A., subject to the finalization of documents, have a DEAL!” Trump wrote late Tuesday on Truth Social.

In his post, Trump referred to the Keystone XL pipeline, which he said “may be awoken from the grave!” without providing further details. The tariffs would have covered products including dairy, alcohol, and furniture — about 5% of the total value of US imports from Canada last year...

The US Chamber of Commerce had also warned Tuesday that higher tariffs “would damage both economies

Read More:

Updated Aug 18, 2026, 11:28 PM ET - 9 hr ago

- CNN -

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Trump launches personal attack on CNN’s Kristen Holmes in Oval Office

She’s the latest female reporter the president has targeted, often over their intelligence or appearance, in a way he has rarely gone after men.

VIDEO | Included:

In his latest attack on female journalists, President Donald Trump berated a CNN reporter, telling her to “be quiet” after she asked questions about U.S. military exercises with South Korea.

CNN White House correspondent Kristen Holmes asked Trump on Monday if he ordered the reduction in military activities at the request of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.

“Did he ask you specifically to scale back on those?” Holmes asked. “You’re very disrespectful,” Trump said while seated next to a teenage lifeguard he invited to the White House who rescued a child in California. Trump did not stop there, calling Holmes a “loud, boisterous person.

CNN issued a statement Monday reaffirming its support for Holmes, calling her “one of the most respected and accomplished journalists covering the White House

Read More:

Aug. 18, 2026, 5:17 PM EDT

- MS NOW -

- The Orange House*_ 🟠🏠 -👅👩

“Quiet, piggy,” 🐷 ... Kink Orange Pig 🐖 commands, a female reporter! Yeah, and I belong to the Orange 🟠 Piñatas 👃🏏 beaters Mickey Mouse 🐭 🕍 club. WANNA SEE MY HARLEY?

CURTAINS! |⋮⌣︶🏍︶⌣⋮|

There you go, eh!

Don't worry, I'm just a journalist, not a whistleblower, but I do speak what I believe to be the truth. But I am human and can make mistakes or can be fooled, but I do all I can to substantiate the hearsay before making news from it.

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Pete Hegseth’s effort to campaign for GOP lawmakers makes zero sense

It’s not just inappropriate. It’s also politically self-destructive.

VIDEO | Included:

For what feels like the 10,000th time, I find myself asking: What on Earth is Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth thinking? This time, though, the question arises not from a policy decision but from a political one. For the second time this year, Hegseth hit the campaign trail.

Hegseth traveled to Iowa this week to appear alongside Rep. Zach Nunn, three months after speaking at an event for House candidate Ed Gallrein in Kentucky. On both occasions, Hegseth and the Pentagon have said that he made these stopovers in a “personal capacity” rather than as defense secretary. Yet there is no known precedent for this kind of behavior by someone in his position. Hegseth is a political appointee, but his work overseeing the Pentagon is meant to be conducted in a nonpartisan manner — he’s supposed to be defending all Americans...

• Hegseth is exceptionally unpopular in the Trump administration.:

In the Quinnipiac poll, Hegseth’s job approval is 22 points underwater

Read More:

Aug. 19, 2026, 6:00 AM EDT

- MS NOW -

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Trump pauses 50 percent tariffs on Canadian goods for 3 days

Prime Minister Mark Carney says administration agreed to 'postpone' levies as negotiations continue

U.S. President Donald Trump announced late Tuesday he will pause the implementation of 50 percent tariffs on a range of Canadian goods for three days, posting the decision less than two hours before the crushing levies were set to take effect.

In an initial online post, the president said he delayed the levies "based on the fact that Canada and the U.S.A., subject to the finalization of documents, have a DEAL!"

A White House declaration later said the suspension is "in the public interest" because Canadian negotiators "expressed a commitment" to concede on trade grievances the Trump administration had cited as the reason for threatening the tariffs in the first place...

WATCH | Tariffs to be delayed for at least 3 days:

U.S. business owners don't want to leave their Canadian suppliers, but 50% tariffs might leave them no choice_

These 3 charts show where Trump's new tariffs could have the biggest impact.

• Auto tariffs have been a sticking point: sources:

WATCH | Trade talks expected up until deadline, adviser says:

WATCH | Entrepreneur says tariffs would ruin his livelihood:

WATCH | NDP on the state of tariff talks:

Read More:

Posted: Aug 18, 2026 1:13 PM EDT | Last Updated: 9 hours ago

- CBC -

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Trump hits pause on imposing 50% tariffs on Canada for 3 days

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3GSsNSdXkY

 

🧚‍♀️ TREE HOUSE NEWS 🏡

NEWS AGGREGATOR & COMMENTS

Great Spirit bless 🙏

It's a grand August morning! I made the coffee and went out to sit in my Green Space just as the sun was peeking over the trees. Again, as usual, I sat and contemplated different things. Not seriously making decisions, just kind of like reviewing the contents of the subjects. It is so quiet and peaceful at this time, just me and nature, birds, and silence. Until they start up those cursed sewer pumps and earth-digging machines and jackhammers and all that other happy construction 💩💩💩

I really do wish I had learned to sit on a chair when I was younger, just sit and contemplate things before overeagerly just DOING! and the hell with everything else attitude, as I did in the past. That stubbornness can work, sometimes, but rarely does that train stay on the tracks for long before it derails. Bullheadedness will get you through alright, but not without bumps, scratches, cuts, bruises, and bullet holes, na, no bullet holes, thank goodness, a few sprains and one broken bone, that was about it. "That's Life" If you're not looking before crossing the street. You may get run over by a bus, if you know what I mean. Well, back then I had a bad habit of rarely thinking to look ahead before walking.

It seems that the most popular teacher is the teacher in the SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS, and the teacher there, he or she drives a big yellow school bus. It seems to me that I didn't learn any other way but the hard way. I got the bus bumper marks on my butt to prove it, wanna see?

"CURTAINS!"|⋮⌣︶=•= (‿ˠ‿) =•=︶⌣⋮|

Same license plate numbers 🥹

"Now you can call me bumper butt!"

Contemplating is very much like meditating. A self-discipline in calming the mind and allowing yourself to let go of your past convictions and allow other ideas or POTENTIALITIES to flow through

This reality, in this earthly plane, is made up of potentialities; it could go this way or that way: whatever is possible in this physical world depends on natural forces, and the rest of this planet's history is left in the hands of those who manage and care for it.

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- Google Search -

Question: Contemplation versus Meditation

AI Overview

While both are mental and spiritual practices, meditation is an active, focused exercise using the mind, whereas contemplation is a passive, receptive state of simply beholding or resting in presence. Meditation is the work of getting there; contemplation is the experience of arriving.

Meditation

• Active effort:
• Doing a task:
• Goal-oriented:

Contemplation

• Passive rest:
• Being present:
• Receiving:

Read More - Google Search -

Although I didn't get any benefit from attending primary school, I absorbed knowledge from reading about a myriad of subjects, including journalism. I love putting a little personality in my writing, like my brand of humor, my homespun stories, and homemade adjectives instead of cuss words. I love making those up. Dumping funny stuff on the real dumb dumbs of this world, especially THOSE WHO CAN'T TAKE A JOKE BECAUSE OF THEIR FRAGILE EGOS!

G-D LOVES & BLESS ALL COMEDIANS 🤪😅😂🤣🤡🥳😁🫡👩

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BREAKING NEWS RECAP:

‘One person kind of controls our fate’: Republicans confront growing midterm peril due to Iran war

Some Republicans are growing impatient with President Donald Trump’s war in Iran as it stretches to nearly six months and threatens to further imperil their chances in the midterms.

But in the most competitive House and Senate races, vulnerable Republicans are largely standing behind him, gambling that voters can stomach the economic pain of the war for national security.

“Let’s deal with this now, and let’s get it done,” Rep. Zach Nunn of Iowa, a combat veteran who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, told reporters Monday in his state, painting a contrast with Democrats who, he said, are advocating for “just giving up.”...

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee countered in a statement that Republicans were “blindly following Donald Trump’s ego.”

Read More:

PUBLISHED Aug 18, 2026, 5:00 AM ET - 5 hr ago

- CNN -

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Debbie Wasserman Schultz running in a Black district is brought to you by the Supreme Court — and the GOP

Even if all the district’s Black voters supported someone other than Wasserman Schultz for the Democratic nomination, she could still win.

VIDEO | Included:

In the spring, the big news concerning Florida’s 20th Congressional District was the announcement from Luther Campbell (more popularly known as Uncle Luke from the rap group 2 Live Crew) that he would be challenging embattled Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick in a Democratic primary.

But after the incumbent resigned under indictment (it should be noted that she is running again in the primary), and the Supreme Court’s Louisiana v. Callais ruling gave Florida Republicans permission to redraw district lines to benefit their party, the biggest news is the decision by Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a white woman, to run in the state’s only plurality-Black district. Her candidacy there highlights the tensions between descriptive and substantive representation and the strategic risks that emerge when a large field of candidates run for the same seat.

• Her candidacy highlights the tensions between descriptive and substantive representation and the strategic risks that emerge when a large field of candidates run for the same seat.:

• Should she win the nomination and the general election, the onus will be on Wasserman Schultz to reach out to her new constituents.:

Read More:

Aug. 18, 2026, 6:00 AM EDT

- MS NOW -

______________________________

Trump’s description of North Korea sounds like Kim Jong Un wrote it

Trump appears to be blindly trusting that North Korea’s murderous, prison-state regime has turned a page toward global peace.

President Donald Trump shocked the world — and thousands of American troops practicing for war with North Korea — when he declared Sunday that he was shrinking military exercises already in progress with South Korea.

Why this time? Trump said on his social media platform that his decision was “based on my very good relationship with Kim Jong Un” and because he felt the “costly” exercises “send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile, to a Country that, as long as Donald J. Trump has been President, has been unthreatening and respectful.”

• Trump is unilaterally rejecting American intelligence threat assessments, military preparedness and history. He’s also getting nothing in return for it.:

There is zero reason to believe anything North Korea says when it comes to its intentions.

"Trump apparently gave Pete Hegseth an order to substantially reduce the military in South Korea. Very good relationship with Kim Jong Un!

Kiss me (‿ˠ‿)

Aug. 18, 2026, 6:00 AM EDT

- MS NOW -

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CANADIAN NEWS:

U.S. businessowners don't want to leave their Canadian suppliers, but 50% tariffs might leave them no choice

'We don't want to sacrifice the friendships … but we also have a threshold of what we can handle'

Late last August, Julia Hallman and her husband road-tripped from their home in Massachusetts to spend time with one of their Canadian suppliers at Fromagerie La Station in Quebec.

Hallman sat on the back porch at the farmstead in Compton and watched the grazing cows that would eventually provide the milk for one of her shop's best-selling cheeses: the supple Alfred le Fermier. She's determined to keep buying the cheese to sell at her shop not only because her customers love it, but also because she counts the family as her friends.

"At the end of the day, we want to help support them and get more money into their hands," said Hallman, who owns Formaggio Kitchen, a specialty cheese and artisan goods shop in Cambridge...

• Businesses can only handle so much: owner:

WATCH | Trade talks stuck at an impasse with days to go:

WATCH | Carney on the state of the negotiations as of Monday afternoon:

Read More:

Posted: Aug 18, 2026 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 7 hours ago

- CBC -

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Trade talks continue before latest US deadline | CTV News Saskatchewan Your Morning, Aug. 17th, 2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-_VmjyTfu0