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Connor Hellebuyck US ice hockey goalie who turned in 41 saves for the 2-1 win by US over Canada at Olympics in Milan 2026. He had a 96% saved percentage in the Olympics and a 92% saved percentage for the Winnipeg Jets for last 3 seasons. And yet he struggled in some periods when he was not at his best. No one knew he would turn in his best performance ever at this game.

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Anything that smacks of the status quo or keeping the elites is frowned upon in 2026- Clinton/Obama and Bush/Bush elites that cost America $20 trillion in wealth transfer to China and EU/Canada/Mexico, 5 million manufacturing jobs, and reduced growth to 2% after 2000 (these are USTR Lighthizer and Jamieson estimates in 2026 Foreign Affairs magazine). Call it the TRIPLE BLOW- 5-20-2- or 5 million, $20 trillion and 2%.

 

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Meet Pvt Hunter 80 years, and Pvt. Patrick 70 years of Canada's Rangers, an army reserve unit that acts as the eyes and ears of Canada's regular army for the vast region in the north, and conducts night rescue missions. Alistair Macdonald provides an exceptional account of an indigenous army reserve unit that sees age as no barrier as it brings together men past 70 years with younger men in their thirties and fifties, and patrols the vast Arctic region as well as northern Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia.

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Iranian public reaction to the air strikes Feb 28 2026 and death of Khamanei- within Iran disconnect with the government policies and economic hardship. Outside Iran a similar situation with open expression unfolds. Iranian diaspora pubic reaction to US strikes on Iran and death of Khamanei March 1 2026 following protests in Iran in February, is covered in the Washington Post. There are about 1 million Iranian refugees in US and Germany alone and another 1 million in Arab countries Kuwait, UAE and Turkey. And half a million in Sweden and Canada, 250,000 in Israel. 

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US Defense Spending charts as percentage of GDP since 1929 startling fact seen in this chart of Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis- that in 2026 we are seeing 1929-1937 levels of military spending to GDP ratio of 2-3% just before it jumped to 45% in 1940 in World War II. It is a cautionary tale not to spend too little (2-4% is a danger point), as lack of military modernization means a lot more spending soon after, almost 10 times that- 10 times 4% or 40%. Message to the US is not what Starmer and company are saying in Europe- it is that don't invite the existential crisis of 1940 again for western (US, EU, Canada, UK) and eastern democracies (India, Japan, Indonesia, Australia) by ignoring costs of military modernization. And 2-4% of GDP for military spending is not going to do this.

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Britain becomes the worst performer in the G-7 countries with growth in the 1st quarter of 2017 of only 0.2%. Germany at 0.6% and France at 0.4% surpass the UK. The decline in the British pound and higher prices is slowing the economy following Brexit vote.

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Borg Brende, a former foreign minister of Norway, resigns from leading Davos Economic Forum over Epstein connections- astonishingly he interviewed Merz other leaders on Davos Forum broadcasts. This is one more reason that Davos or Switzerland is not where one should look to or for a real understanding of what is happening in the world that extends to places that have little in common with Switzerland, and look very different, from Japan to India and China, from Spain to Italy, and from Canada and the US to Britain and Australia, from Brazil to Chile and Argentina. So many other forums exist and so much happens there, there is also the G-20 and other world gatherings, and meetings of regional leaders where so much more happens.

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After 3 by-elections in Toronto and Montreal Carney likely to have slim majority in Canadian parliament with 173 seats. The Liberals party has a 10-15% lead over the next party the Conservatives. Under Justin Trudeau Liberals had fallen behind the Conservative party in polling, only to be revived by Mark Carney of the Central Bank of England who sidelined some of the more controversial parts of Trudeau policies and gaining a big win in the recent elections. Carney has tried to find a way to keep Canada independent of US policy and able to chart its own path in the face of US tariffs and trade policy.

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FBI's Kash Patel enjoying himself at US Olympic mens hockey finals in Milan as US get Olympic gold in overtime 2-1 against Canda, first win in 46 years. He makes time for the exciting game in a busy schedule. Patel plays ice hockey and is an ardent hockey fan. 

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It is not far away as India and Canada have a long relationship in the British Commonwealth of Nations as prominent members. India and the Eu relationship was also building up for years to get to the takeoff stage with huge potential. The US India trade relationship will also benefit from the deals signed with Germany and EU as it gives new approaches to do trade with US.

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US Canada relations in a downward spiral after Carney's words about "economic coercion" and China at Davos. In this case it has incensed Luttnick and Bessent. Bessent has called for US to have relations with Alberta. The Liberal Party had run into problems with its attitude towards the US in the western hemisphere under Trudeau. Carney was supposed to fix this but Canada under Carney has sought to stoke Canadian identity as a way to win elections, when throughout  most of its history Canada and particularly after Dominion status has linked its identity to the US. In fact British constitutional expert Ivor Jennings has pointed out that Canada's trade patterns within Canada are an aberration as it would normally trade with its neighbors north to south (Quebec/Ontario with New England) not east to west  (Ontario with Alberta) as it has done when Canada became a separate state in North America. As Carney and DJT engage in tit for tat it remains unlikely that the USMCA will be negotiated and renewed, creating new uncertainty for the Canadian economy that Carney was expected to address with immigration, housing and other problems left behind by Trudeau's Liberals. ...

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Startling fact seen in this chart of Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis in the adjoining article next to this one- that in 2026 we are seeing 1929-1937 levels of military spending to GDP ratio of 2-3% just before it jumped to 45% in 1940. It is a cautionary tale not to spend too little (2-4% is a danger point) as lack of military modernization means a lot more spending soon after, almost 10 times that- 10 times 4% or 40% in World War II.  Message to the US is not what Starmer and company are saying in Europe- it is that don't invite the existential crisis of 1940 again for western (US, EU, Canada, UK) and eastern democracies (India, Japan, Indonesia, Australia) by not doing military modernization. And 2-4% of GDP for military spending is not going to be enough to do this.

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In extended diplomacy Carney visits Beijing, China and says middle powers are seeking ways to interact and trade in a world of big power rivalry. His visit is followed by visits by UK's Starmer and Germany's Merz, and preceded by Macron. At the same time Merz visits Ahmedabad for a kite festival and signs a new trade agreement with India, followed by Leyen and Costa of the EU who sign a EU-India trade agreement for 27 countries of the European Union. All this suggests carefully planned effort in Europe to create new channels of trade and reorient existing trade relationships that will be more resilient with the US shifting to focus on Monroe Doctrine idea of the Western hemisphere as its region of influence and security. This report shows pictures of Starmer and Xi meeting at the Plough Pub in UK in 2015 and reflects on how this has changed 11 years later with China now  a dominant power with the world's 3rd largest economy and a third of world's manufacturing and logistics. How does this change the relationship with China in 2026 for UK and Canada, and the EU? At the same time Germany-India and EU-India relationship creates a 2 billion people market with capital, technology and labor potential to create the largest potential driven economic group in the world, combining EU's 20 trillion to India's $4 trillion economy and mutually complementing, which has potential to rival the US at $30 trillion by 2030 as India grows rapidly in the new EU/Germany/India market and the EU gets a new boost with the complementarity of the two regions by 2035. This suggests that something new is happening and Germany after a lot of soul searching have hit on something we should see blossom by 2030 in the way China has grown since that picture with Cameron of Xi at the Plough Pub in UK. A problem China faces as it continues to push exports is that EU/ India and US will take in less exports and there is only so much it can put in Latin American and African market, UK/Canada market leading to industries with massive oversupply. Major economic redirection may result from the Merz/Leyen/Costa visit and firming up trade agreements with India if the EU, Germany and India have the determination to seize this opportunity in the 21st Century. As Leyen said it has the potential to create a stable world with values of the Bible, the Bhagavad Gita, and Mahajima Nikaya of the Buddha supporting the industrial states that emerged from the Industrial Revolutions. ...

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The US could put 25% on Canada and Mexico starting February 1 for inadequate border security to stop the flow of illegal drugs, fentanyl and migrants to the US. By executive order DJT asks agencies to report on the issues of trade by April 1.

US Canada two way trade is about $1 trillion. Three quarters of Canadian exports go to the US and US imports half of imported oil from Canada. Canada's Trudeau says Canada will respond dollar for dollar to US tariffs.

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US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer says this is not chaos in tariff policy because you don't change 70 years of policy overnight. He says China's is highest because it has the highest trade deficit, then EU, Japan, South Korea at 15% because of the smaller deficits with these nations, Vietnam because it is used  by China to send products to the US, India because of geopolitical reasons buying Russian oil. See Dasha Burns, Politico White House Bureau Chief's  interview with USTR Jamieson Greer.  He says about India- Jamieson USTR calls India "an outlier" and says "I'm confident we will get a deal with India in the near future." India he says has largely corrected its imports of Russian oil and negotiations are underway for a deal.  ON USMCA Greer says of the $31 trillion in trade with Canada and Mexico $29 trillion is us right. trade between Canda and Mexico is small. So he says it makes sense to negotiate separately with Canada and separately with Mexico. This suggests that there doesnt need to be a USMCA- separate deals are just fine says Greer. Mexico has gained much in automobiles under USMCA- US wants to make more in the US including auto parts which it can do by negotiating this with Mexico. It does not make a ton of economic sense to marry the three economies together, says Greer, as the import export profiles, lab,or situations are all different. Are Tariffs good for the economy and do they lead to higher prices? Greer says inflation was down in the first DJT term in trade with China and tariffs. Greer says there is never a 1 to 1 with tariffs. It tariffs become a kind of leveage in getting agreements. That is the style of these tariffs. You tell Ecuador or Brazil we don't make these here so there will be no tariffs on bananas and on coffee. Says Greer- we have seen inflation in check, imported goods relatively low priced. We have seen that we can have growth and higher wages with tariffs at the same time. The growth in 2025 third quarter at 3.8% annual growth, and Atlanta Fed predicting 4.2% growth in 2026. And tariff money can be used for paying down the debt and financing America's reindustrialization, Greer says members of Congress are asking about this.When a new administration comes tariffs will still be part of the playbook. ...

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India protests actions by Canada's Trudeau for his support of separatists in Canada. India is a nation of many communities and languages and it does not approve of efforts to separate parts of the country in the way the US has done from the period of the Civi War and Lincoln, and as seen today in Spain, or in the efforts to reintegrate East Germany into West Germany after the cold War. Trudeau belongs to Quebec, a French Canadian province that is part of majority English Canada. Canada's very existence as a federation depends on this nonacceptance of separation of Quebec. It was not long ago that General De Gaulle used the language Vive La Quebec on a visit to Canada leading to protest all over the world and Canadian provinces respecting the integrity of Canada. Mr. Trudeau is president of Canada for that very reason that he and his father Pierre before him respect the idea of Canada as an independent sovereign nation, something he fails to do for political advantage to stay in power with a coalition because of diminished support for his Liberals party.  ...

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Canadian steel and lumber industries get government aid, as talks to end US tariffs are halted over an ad on Reagan misrepresenting him on tariffs by Ontario state.  Canada's steel and lumber industries will get the aid in the form of railway costs cut in half with rail subsidies, and tariffs on US steel imports into Canada to reduce domestic steel costs for other industries. Stellantis shifts car production for a new Jeep from suburban Toronto to Illinois, GM cut a shift at a pickup plant and closed a electric van plant in Ontario. Not all imports to the US from Canada face tariffs. Other products enter the US from Canada under a free trade agreement USMCA that went into effect July 1 2020. Canada is also shifting policy under Carney's Liberals on climate change, as it seeks to reorient its economy to export oil to China and India- a new pipeline is now approved for oil and gas to be shipped across the country from Alberta. Since it's independence with Dominion status in 1867 Canada's economy has struggled with the idea of building a economy separate from the US so that trade between the northeastern Canada and Northeastern US which is next to each other is foregone for trade with distant provinces in the western states such as Alberta and British Columbia. In Brazil Lula's Worker's Party is also slowing efforts on climate change for the economy as it approves oil and gas projects in the Amazon, at the same time as it holds COP30 at Belem port in the Amazon. Even Biden had shown flexibility on the economy to support cost of living measures that are in conflict with climate change action. In DJT's second term climate change action has taken a back seat to cost of living concerns when a large majority of people are living paycheck to paycheck. ...

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The drop in oil prices and the credit crunch is driving a push for mergers in the oil industry. Suncor Energy of Canda is acquiring Petro-Canada for about $15 billion in stock,bringing together two of Canada's oil sands and oil companies. To do the deal Suncor will giv each Petro-Canada shareholder 1,28 shares of the combined company for each share of Petro-Canda. Suncor will shareholders will end up owning 60% of the new company and Petro-Canada shareholders 40%. Suncor founded in 1953 is the second largest oil sands producer. It posted profit of $4.1 billion on sales of $24.3 billion, debt load of $5.8 billion and has market value of $23.4 billion. Petro-Canada was established by the government of Canada in 1975 and in involved in exploration, production and distribution of oil and natural gas, with operations in Canda, Trinidad and Tobago, and Syria. The government reduced its stake to 19% in 2004. Petro-Canda had operating profit of $7 billion on $22.2 billion in sales, and $2.7 billion debt, with market value of $11.6 billion on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Its stock has suffered a larger decline, and shareholders like the Ontario Teachers Pension Fund, which owns 3.3% of Petro-Canada, was looking for ways to get more value out of the company with pressure to sell some of its assets or the whole company. Both companies have cut spending by a third, amid falling oil prices....

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U.S. president Trump pulls back from a threat to pull out of NAFTA trade agreement after calls from U.S. business, and calls from the leaders of Mexico and Canada. Mexico said the threat would hurt constructive negotiations, Mr. Trudeau told Trump it would hurt jobs on both sides of the border. Canada is facing headwinds for growth as business is reluctant to invest under the uncertainty for NAFTA. U.S. businesses lobbied heavily including the American Chamber of Commerce. Trump administration aides say they had used this as an effort to get Congress to act- delays resulting from a 90 day rule and from negotiations not to start till Congress approves of the new trade representative Mr. Lighthizer. Helping the situation was the effort by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross showing Trump the states that had voted for Trump that would lose jobs, and that nothing was to be gained from the action of pulling out when constructive negotiations were possible- and when Mexico and Canada were eager to start negotiations to reach a new agreement. Mexico is also eager to renegotiate NAFTA because president Nieto faces a strong competitor from the left parties in coming national elections. ...

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Max Fisher of the NYT points out the unique approach taken by Canada in the U.S.-Canada relationship - to cultivate a grassroots network of Americans in legislatures, business, and at different levels of government. This has enabled the Trudeau government to build a relationship with president Trump, and at the same time have relationships at different levels of government and with business in the U.S. to tackle issues where the Trump administration has acted in ways unfavorable for Canada. Provincial governments in Ontario and Quebec lobbied against a New York state government provision for Buying American on state contracts worth over $100,000. By emphasizing the $10 billion in exports from New York to Ontario this lobbying persuaded the New York legislature to cancel the provision. Premier Trudeau's popularity helps and the proximity to the U.S. means Canadians can visit quickly and understand the U.S. as a close neighbor. Still Premier Kathleen Wynne of Ontario says Canadian businesses are nervous about the uncertainty from the Trump administration.   ...

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The concerns that China was going to overtake the US and become the largest economy is a misconception of how countries have developed through industry and technology. Britain and the other countries of Europe, Germany and France, went through rapid development in the 1930's and 1960's then at some point after saturation were relatively stagnant. China for the first time in 250 years of the Industrial revolution began to develop rapidly and urbanize in the 1990's. China is at that same point of saturation and it's economy moving to relative stagnation with 4% annual growth in 2026-2030 and 2-3% annual growth beyond to 2047. India is taking place of China as parts of India (large states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra with population 500 million) can achieve 15-22% annual growth in 2026-2030. A quick idea of this can be seen here in the WSJ. China as a percentage of the global economy was 18.5% in 2021 and has since declined to 16.5% of the global economy in 2025. China was three fourth of the US economy when it peaked in 2021 and has since declined in 2025 to two thirds of the size of the US economy. As a percentage of the global economy China will go down to 12% over the next 5 years as India advances, and the population of US, Canada, Australia with their continental spaces continues to grow and with it GDP growth. This is validated from the Japanese experience of peaking at becoming 18% of the world economy by 1996 and then dropping by 2006 to about 11%, 2016 to 6% and 2025 to 4%. The combined effect is to reduce the size of China's economy as a percentage of the overall global economy at a point of time in the future 2030, 2040, 2050. Japan is a good example. There are other factors in play including technology and capital access as technology and capital shifts to other parts of the world where it can be better deployed and conditions are suited for rapid development as in India/Indonesia and in the US/Canada/Australia regions of 1.6 billion people and 450 million people from China (saturation overbuilding), the Middle East (wars and mismanagement). ...