Northern Ireland has been in the news a lot lately, mainly because of Brexit and the 'Irish backstop' intrigue but ICYMI-

 

Abortion and same-sex same marriage will be legal in Northern Ireland from midnight | https://t.co/zSaTXPzlcR pic.twitter.com/HuQvJpgECW

— RTÉ News (@rtenews) October 21, 2019

Trudeau's party did lose some seats though, and as a result, fell short of taking the majority.

 

"Tonight, we chose to move Canada forward. Tonight, Canadians have charted a path for the future. And I know we will walk it together."

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wins second term in Canada's national elections. https://t.co/FCre7qKHxC pic.twitter.com/gZOsEWb0Hf

— ABC News (@ABC) October 22, 2019

I've seen some talk that this shouldn't have been close, and Trudeau made it close, but the way so many countries are splintering, I'm not sure I agree. Speaking of that, it looks like there's a push from some in Alberta to try to secede from Canada. I have to wonder who is backing that...

 

I looked at some of the tweets about Bernie defending Tulsi, and many were incensed that he had waited several days to speak up. She truly does have a cult surrounding her (nothing new for her...). No lessons have been learned from 2016. She and Bernie seem more likely to help Trump than they already did in 2016.

47 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

I've seen some talk that this shouldn't have been close, and Trudeau made it close, but the way so many countries are splintering, I'm not sure I agree. Speaking of that, it looks like there's a push from some in Alberta to try to secede from Canada. I have to wonder who is backing that...

 

Alberta has made the same threat in the past--they are beginning to sound like Quebec, that has never made good on that threat.  Quebec used to threaten to secede too, which still has yet to happen.

15 minutes ago, DramatistDreamer said:

 

Alberta has made the same threat in the past--they are beginning to sound like Quebec, that has never made good on that threat.  Quebec used to threaten to secede too, which still has yet to happen.

I'm also not that familiar with Bloc Quebecois, the Quebec based party that won 32 seats. If I recall going way back this party was formed temporarily in the early 90'sand was progressive to push for sovereignty. Over the years evolved to become different things. At one time they were pro secession. I am not clear on where they stand now and whether they are still pro secession. I do wonder if they can be tapped on to help form a majority in some sense. The Liberals I believe won 155 seats which is more than was expected. So Trudeau needs to cobble together 15 more seats to gain a majority. And Trudeau also needs to stand by what he committed to. The Canadians for example, led by Trudeau, have been one of the beneficiaries of what's going on in the Amazon. Not the fires but the structured cutting down of the forests for lumber use. Doesn't sound like someone fighting climate change.

Edited October 22, 20196 yr by JaneAusten

1 hour ago, JaneAusten said:

I'm also not that familiar with Bloc Quebecois, the Quebec based party that won 32 seats. If I recall going way back this party was formed temporarily in the early 90'sand was progressive to push for sovereignty. Over the years evolved to become different things. At one time they were pro secession. I am not clear on where they stand now and whether they are still pro secession. I do wonder if they can be tapped on to help form a majority in some sense. The Liberals I believe won 155 seats which is more than was expected. So Trudeau needs to cobble together 15 more seats to gain a majority. And Trudeau also needs to stand by what he committed to. The Canadians for example, led by Trudeau, have been one of the beneficiaries of what's going on in the Amazon. Not the fires but the structured cutting down of the forests for lumber use. Doesn't sound like someone fighting climate change.

 

I'll have to ask my family about this, some of them are Canadian citizens and reside in Ontario, although a few have very strongly negative feeling about the whole "Quebecois" issue (i.e. secession, not the political party).  I will have to ask about the Alberta factor as well. 

 

From what I understand the other party that the Liberals would need to work with, in order to pass legislation are not conservative so that prospect looks a lot better compared to the possibility of having to work with conservatives.

 

Hasan Minhaj did a good interview with PM Trudeau some time ago.  It started out playfully but quickly evolved into Minhaj asking some serious questions and chiding Trudeau on environmental issues, which really put Trudeau in the hot seat.

 

 

 

A quick look on Wikipedia, and it seems that Quebec has something of a special status called "Statut particulier", which gives them a status of being a "distinct society", while still being a part of Canada.

Edited October 22, 20196 yr by DramatistDreamer

Hold on to your hats. Let's see if Lucy pulls out the football, or not.

 

Brexit bill clears its first hurdle as MPs back the deal by 329 to 299 - but key timetable vote is yet to come https://t.co/9iYO6b2o9D

— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) October 22, 2019

Life comes at you fast!  About that football...

 

UK PM Boris Johnson loses vote on timetable for Brexit bill, meaning government could push for a general electionhttps://t.co/C8OwqNZq0x

— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) October 22, 2019

So ok I am unclear on the timetable issue. Did Parliament deliberately vote yes on the Brexit deal and no on the timetable so that it gets delayed and elections happen before the next potential EU exit date? Were both of these votes to stick it to Johnson?

Is it just me, or does anyone else think Parliament is just [!@#$%^&*] with Boris at this point?

 

40 minutes ago, JaneAusten said:

Did Parliament deliberately vote yes on the Brexit deal and no on the timetable so that it gets delayed and elections happen before the next potential EU exit date? Were both of these votes to stick it to Johnson?

 

LOL!  I was thinking the exact same thing, @JaneAusten!  Great minds, lol!

Edited October 22, 20196 yr by Khan

7 minutes ago, Khan said:

Is it just me, or does anyone else think Parliament is just [!@#$%^&*] with Boris at this point?

 

 

LOL!  I was thinking the exact same thing, @JaneAusten!  Great minds, lol!

LOL! Yep

 

I can't believe they voted YES this quickly (I know there is a timing issue) especially with how many times they voted no on May's deal. But I find it hard to believe they would have voted yes while leaving the issue with Northern Ireland so explosive. Or maybe they really just don't care.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For some reason, @Vee, the photo isn't showing up for me.

1 minute ago, Khan said:

For some reason, @Vee, the photo isn't showing up for me.

The photo is here but it was actually punked - a phony done I guess as a joke.

https://twitter.com/drewharwell/status/1186827917126488065