Tuesday, 1 September 2026

🧚‍♀️ TREE HOUSE NEWS 🏡

NEWS AGGREGATOR & COMMENTS

Great Spirit bless 🙏

Hi friends 👋💁‍♀️🙇‍♀️🙅‍♂️🙆‍♂️🙋‍♀️🚶‍♀️🚶🚶‍♂️👫👬 I can only pray 🙏 that today will be a good day ☀️ for both my friends and followers, here online and in person out there. Be happy 😊 be safe, and be blessed 👼

I am doing terribly today with the typing stuff, like a five-year-old on a typewriter. One error after another. The laptop screen is bouncing all over the place, like an old toad 🐸, which doesn't help either. That breaks up my concentration, and then my mind goes blank. I took five outside in my Green Space to chill out. At least it's a splendid, sunny, warm first of September day today.

Dear Prime Minister Ford,

YOU'RE ON THE RIGHT TRACK FOR ONCE, PLEASE DON'T MESS IT UP

Well now, we are learning more about our fine premier Doug Ford 🐷🔱 maybe, and I do pray that maybe he's having a change of mind, or should I say he's growing some ethics. And ethics aren't some exotic spice you use on your barbecued steak. Although if you had ethics, it's quite possible it would improve the reaction of your taste buds for the sake 🥩😉

TODAY'S DISCUSSION:

REVIEW: A total ban on all American contractors,

- Google Search -

Question: August 31, 2026 Doug Ford cuts out all American contractors in Ontario

🔹AI Overview

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has not instituted a total ban on all American contractors, but his government has restricted U.S.-based companies from bidding on new provincial public-sector procurement contracts.

On August 31, 2026, Premier Ford issued a strict warning to architects and engineers, demanding they stop specifying American building materials for public infrastructure projects, heavily weaponizing Ontario's "Buy Ontario" laws amid an escalating Canada–U.S. trade war.

Ontario Construction News

Key Facts of the Procurement Rules:

• Targeted Restriction: The rules specifically target access to new provincial public-sector contracts. It is not a blanket ban on existing operations.

• Exemptions Apply: The province's procurement restriction policy does not apply to U.S. companies that employ more than 250 Canadian workers or those already authorized to do business with Ontario.

• Retaliatory Action: This enforcement is part of Ontario's retaliation against the U.S. administration's 50% tariffs on Canadian goods.

• Other Retaliations: As part of the economic friction, Ontario canceled its $100-million Starlink contract with SpaceX and threatened to restrict electricity exports south

Impact on Infrastructure Projects:

According to updates from Ontario Construction News, the provincial government is aggressively reviewing supply chains. Designers who mandate imported products when domestic equivalents exist are being flagged. The province expects its $30 billion annual procurement budget and $200 billion infrastructure plan to prioritize Canadian suppliers.

*Read More - Google Search -*

More To Come:

- Google Search -

Question: Doug Ford threatens to cut off power to the US August 31, 2026

🔹AI Overview

Ontario Premier Doug Ford threatened to cut off electricity and critical mineral exports to the United States in late August 2026 amid an escalating trade dispute over new American tariffs.

- Mining-com -

What Happened:

• The Threat: Ford warned that Ontario would place a 25% surcharge on electricity exports to the U.S. and completely shut off power if President Donald Trump continued to escalate trade measures.

- PBS News -

- PBS NewsHour -

• The Reason: The warning followed the U.S. implementation of 50% tariffs on roughly $20 billion worth of Canadian goods, including autos and steel.

- BNN Bloomberg -

• The Target: Ontario shares transmission lines with states like Michigan and supplies power to parts of the U.S. Northeast, making energy a key point of economic leverage - CNN -

Current Status

• Unified Approach: Ford later noted that he cannot act completely on his own and called for a coordinated "Team Canada" approach with other energy-exporting provinces.

• Cooling Rhetoric: After initial harsh comments during press conferences, Ford appeared on several U.S. television networks to tone down the public feud, as detailed by The Associated Press.

- CTV News -

Now that is all I have for you on Mr. Ford today at the moment.

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BREAKING NEWS RECAP:

USPS whistleblower describes new plans for voting by mail hidden from the public

The US Postal Service effort to develop a sweeping new system for verifying mail ballots has invited a host of IT concerns among agency officials, with some describing the process internally as a “sh*t show,” according to a new whistleblower report released Tuesday by a Democratic senator.

The unnamed whistleblower is alleging that some of the procedures USPS is planning – under mandates put forward by President Donald Trump – have been hidden from the public. Those procedures will make an already complicated and risky plan even more vulnerable to potential mass disenfranchisement, the whistleblower says.

The new report – which was assembled by the whistleblowers’ lawyers and released by Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal – comes as multiple courts are considering the legality of the proposal, which would require that states submit to USPS lists of their mail-in voters. The agency will not deliver ballots to states if there are any discrepancies between the voter information in the USPS system and what’s captured by the agency's scanners on the ballot envelopes...

Haphazard development and testing process:
Verification procedures with no room for error:

PUBLISHED Sep 1, 2026, 6:01 AM ET - 4 hr ago

- CNN -

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Bond selloff deepens and stocks drop as oil prices stoke inflation fears

Summary:

Companies

• Japan's 10-year bond yield hits 3% for first time since 1996

• tocks drop, with US futures down 0.6%, as borrowing costs rise

• Shein slides on lacklustre debut in Hong Kong

TOKYO/LONDON, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Global bond yields hit major new highs on Tuesday as renewed fighting in the Middle East lifted oil prices and traders braced for interest rate hikes, putting pressure ‌on stock markets around the world.

Japan's 10-year benchmark yield hit 3% for the first time since 1996, pushing up government borrowing costs, as investors also fretted about ever higher public debt.

Make sense of global markets with the Trading Day newsletter. Sign up here. Britain's 10-year yield hit its highest since 2008 above 5.25%, while the equivalent German yield rose to a 15-year high at 3.36%...

STOCKS WILT AS BORROWING COSTS RISE

Money markets were also fully pricing in a further rate hike from the ECB this month.

Read More:

August 31, 20269:46 PM EDT - Updated 2 hours ago

- Reuters -

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Lost island in northern B.C. lake located, says B.C. Hydro

Newly formed island found along shore of Williston Reservoir after drifting for 30 kilometres

A newly formed island in B.C.'s largest lake has been located.

B.C. Hydro said Monday that the forested land mass, bigger than a Canadian football field, landed ashore after drifting some 30 kilometres northwest of its last known location in the middle of Williston Reservoir.

The island's curious appearance, and seemingly sudden disappearance in the massive man-made lake in northern B.C., has captured international attention and intrigue since boaters first made the discovery in August...

An island mysteriously appeared — then disappeared — on B.C.'s largest reservoir

WATCH | A floating island in northern B.C.'s Williston Reservoir:

LISTEN | An island mysteriously appeared — then disappeared — in northern B.C.:

MAPS | Included:

Read More:

Posted: Sep 01, 2026 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

- CBC -

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As Hegseth’s Pentagon purge intensifies, will anyone save the U.S. Army?

It is far past time for President Trump to recognize the lasting harm that Pete Hegseth is inflicting on the Department of Defense,” one senator said.

VIDEO | Included:

About a week ago, The New York Times reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s personnel moves have been so dramatic that he has left the U.S. Army “essentially rudderless” during an ongoing war in the Middle East. This week, conditions went from bad to worse. MS NOW reported:

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll has submitted his resignation amid tension with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the ongoing U.S. war with Iran, two sources familiar with the matter told MS NOW on Monday. […]

The news comes as the U.S. war with Iran, which military leaders have reportedly cautioned is unsustainable, reaches its sixth month.

And that’s just the Army — the purge list related to the other service branches is significantly longer — and it doesn’t include other officers whose promotions have been needlessly blocked by the hapless Pentagon chief.