Tuesday, 12 August 2025

TREE HOUSE NEWS 🏡

Land of Whispering Pines 🌲

Good morning! May the Great Spirit bless you 🙏

It is forecast to rain today, but all I see is a hazy, milky blue sky with the odd puffy-looking clouds, that's it, so far. I heard on the Buffalo weather forecast that heavy rains are coming in from the northwest and moving east, toward the areas with fires in Manitoba and Ontario.

Local forecast for the Niagara Region is:

A possible intermittent thunderstorm, 94° F with 71% humidity.

Let us take a moment to send prayers and meditation to those who have been stricken and left homeless by the nasty weather everywhere. Pray especially for those who are in need, with the fallen and failing federal aid safety net in the US.

The question remains: When America falls apart and thousands of people need help that the American government no longer provides, will Canada's government help? I believe we will, but will Canadians delivering aid to needy Americans be shot at by Trump's forces like aid workers have been shot in Gaza? Or will America become a nuclear wasteland? ☢️ KEEP OUT!

What will happen to America without engineers, scientists, researchers, and science Ph. D.s, from quantum mechanics to healthcare workers, economic developers, and manufacturers? The Constitution is the law of the land, but the Executive Branch and the Congress disregard it as if it were yesterday's newspaper. Trump has taken funding from the program that maintains America's nuclear missiles. Who will keep them safe and ready, or do the maintenance required to keep the country's gears greased and all working parts lubricated? The country's infrastructure will be severely compromised. At least if I had any sanity, if I wanted to be the Grand Poobah Leader, I would have a backup plan to reestablish a new system or regime.

I don't see that happening in America. Trump is obsessed with being the Queen Ant, and the rest are all obedient worker ants. I don't have a fiddler's bow string on the violin 🎻in the Dueling Banjos of an idea where the next stroke on the old banjo will be. 🪕

☮️✊VIVE LA RESISTANCE✊☮️

The True Freedom Fighter of America

How Americans can defend our democracy against Trump

Real political change in America doesn't come from the top; it never has. It comes from the bottom, from ordinary people resisting in big and small ways.

This is an adapted excerpt from the May 24 episode of "Velshi."

In the wake of Donald Trump's second term, more and more Americans are asking a critical question: "What can I do to defend democracy in America?"...

Read More

June 3, 2025, 12:49 PM EDT

- msnbc com -

BREAKING NEWS:

Inflation holds steady, but Trump’s tariffs are boosting some prices

Falling gas prices helped keep overall inflation tame in July; however, a broader array of products got even more expensive last month, showing that President Donald Trump’s expansive tariffs are being passed along to consumers.

Consumer prices rose 0.2% in July, keeping the annual inflation rate at 2.7%, according to the latest Consumer Price Index data released Tuesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Stock futures rose after the data release. Dow futures jumped 210 points, or 0.47%. S&P 500 futures rose 0.45% and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.5%.

Tracking US inflation: How recent numbers compare to the last decade

The Consumer Price Index held steady at 2.7% for the last 12 months ending in July. See Chart:

Read More:

Updated Aug 12, 2025, 9:12 AM ET

- CNN -

Trump wanted manufacturers to diversify away from China. Now many that heeded that call face stiff new tariffs

As US tariffs on China surged over the past decade, South and Southeast Asia became key destinations for foreign and Chinese companies to diversify their supply chains.

But with US President Donald Trump’s protectionist swing going truly global in his second administration, these nations now find themselves caught in the crossfire – facing some of the highest tariffs in the world and a rapidly shifting global trade order that could *pinch American consumers.*

Many regional leaders publicly celebrated the new US tariff figures when they were released last week, keen to remind domestic audiences that they were lower than those initially threatened by Trump. But analysts and economists warn the new levies are still historically steep and should not be shrugged off.

“It’s a gut punch to these countries and they need to try to negotiate it lower,” said Dan Ives, global head of research at financial services firm Wedbush Securities. “The worry is US is trying to cut off China’s export routes and it speaks to the high tariffs facing these nations.” Country-specific tariffs aren’t the only concern for nations and businesses in the region...

The China factor:
‘It’s really lose-lose’:
Transshipment tariffs:
Reshaping supply chains:

Read More:

PUBLISHED Aug 11, 2025, 6:00 AM ET

- CNN -

Excellent example of what I spoke about in my discussion of the day above: The Trade Factor and brain drain, and the Isolation Afterwards. A place where health, well-being, diversity, empathy, solidarity, and happiness go to die. IT'S WAKE-UP TIME! And that means you! Yes, you with the fat bank account, the top of the pyramid cannot exist without the bottom part. You can get very skinny very quickly, especially with the great Wallet Choker Trump, on the loose.

CANADIAN NEWS:

This is our second-worst wildfire season on record — and could be the new normal

Area roughly the size of New Brunswick has already burned this year

This year's wildfire season is already the second-worst on record in Canada, and experts are warning that this might be the new normal.

More than 7.3 million hectares have burned this year so far, more than double the 10-year average for this time of year, according to the latest figures from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) and Natural Resources Canada. "It's the size of New Brunswick, to put it into context," Mike Flannigan, a professor of wildland fire at Thompson Rivers University, told CBC News.

The last three fire seasons are among the 10 worst on record, according to a federal database dating back to 1972, with 2023's devastating blazes taking the top spot

Consequences of repeated fires:

Bad back-to-back fire seasons can have huge consequences

Fire is a natural part of the lifecycle for many tree species, but a forest can become damaged to the point where trees cannot regrow in the area for years, or even decades. It's called "regeneration failure." ...

Read More:

Posted: Aug 12, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

- CBC -

What about a little island of good news today?

This woman found $1,000 left behind at an ATM in London, Ont. What would you do?

Annie Rawdah said stack of bills was sticking out of the drive-through bank machine

It's not every day you find $1,000 in cash, especially in a bank machine.

But that's exactly what happened to Annie Rawdah. The London, Ont., real estate agent said she was at a drive-through ATM on Wonderland Road South on Sunday afternoon when she noticed cash sitting in the machine. "At first I didn't know how much it was," said Rawdah. "I thought, I'll just go inside and give it back to the bank. But it was closed — it was about 4:30 p.m."

Good Samaritans foil Vancouver robbery, save shopkeeper: police

That night, Rawdah posted about the find on two local Facebook groups, hoping the owner might see it. While no one came forward immediately, she said the reaction online surprised her.

"Everybody was saying, 'We can't believe people like you still exist.' I didn't think it was a big deal — it's just returning money that doesn't belong to you. But apparently, people were really shocked."

What would you do if you found $1,000?:

Read More:

Posted: Aug 12, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 6 hours ago

- CNN -

I would say if it were a street person and they were hungry, have at it, Hoss! I have always run that thought through my mind whenever I encountered a monetary discrepancy due to a technical or human error. I prayed that whoever got it, needed it, or it went to someone who needed it. That makes it easier for me to accept the loss of those bucks, thinking that.

Have a Great day, or at the very least a functional one. May the Great Spirit Bless and guide you.

♪♫NATURE'S SOUNDS AND MUSIC TO SOOTH THE SOUL♪♫