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United States Tariffs: Can Canada Handle the Heat!?

As stated by BBC news on the recent and constant tariffs changes by Trumps administration being hurled across the borders of North America toward Canada like embargo missiles, the altering is ‘too little, too late’ says Canada. The destructive tariff attacks are on their way, and they are shaking American products right off the shelves and menus of Canadian businesses, and how is good old Youppi effected?... not as much as the United States might want or think, in fact the tariffs and plans of the Trump administration seem to be blowing up in Uncle Sam's face, an explosion using imported gunpowder.

A statement by the Canadian government has a strong message, one of anger and annoyance to those across the border:

‘The Government of Canada has a comprehensive plan to fight back against the unjustified U.S. tariffs imposed on Canadian goods while supporting Canada's interests, industries, and workers.’

But its not just the government fighting back, Leah Russell, manager at Toronto's Madison Avenue pub, began to remove products made in America from her restaurant and bar shelves. A decision which not only small local businesses have followed, but large Canadian supermarkets, some of the largest importers of American have began to side line them. Pushing them out of the eye line of Canadian consumers and pushing Canadian made goods to the forefront.

“the boycott was a no-brainer… pretty set in stone… even if the tariffs themselves are not… I'm glad that we're getting rid of American products and supporting local businesses… I think it's an important thing to do." – states Leah Russell.

Is America in danger of loosing more money due to the Trump administration? Only time will tell… but the signs are obvious, and those signs clearly state NO TRADE!!!

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From Body Horror and Biopics to Comedies: The SAG awards.

Formed from two committees of 2,100 members, the SAG awards, established in 1995 to celebrate actors, directors and everything film has quickly risen to be one of the most important award ceremonies to spread across todays media. Vying for importance and influences with their much older cousins of the Oscars and the Golden Globes, the titans of Hollywood award season. Is SAG rising up past them to be the king of award ceremonies? Does the awards of 2025 show this? Are the SAG awards as white man washed as others?

Demi Moore won a much-deserved award for her leading role in the Horror film ‘The Substance’ which along with Margaret Qualley tells the story of ageing out of the acting industry being an actual worry for women in the industry. A topic that is touched upon using the Cronenbergian horror of a fading TV work out coach and actress giving what can only be described as ‘spine birth’ to her younger self.

Moore in her acceptance speech states “I’ve been doing this a long time, like over 45 years, and this is the first time I’ve ever won anything as an actor… That corroded me over time, to the point where I thought a few years ago that maybe this was it, maybe I was complete, maybe I had already done what I was supposed to do”

This award highlights one of the many problems of award ceremonies, that is that those in minority and women are often over shadowed and overlooked, the SAG awards of 2025 are changing that. Along with Moore the cast of Shogun also where recognised and awarded for their abilities.

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The Battle of Little Big Oil: the north Dakota pipeline and the greed for American fuel.

“In September 2016, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe mobilized thousands of people to protect their land and water resources in Cannon Ball, North Dakota, against a proposed $3.88 billion pipeline intended to transport at least 570,000 barrels of crude oil daily.” Stated Dana M. Olwan when talking about the  issue of the North Dekota Access pipeline.  The pipeline is owned by Dakota Access, LLC, and controlled and operated by Energy Transfer Partners since its completion in 2017. The protest by the Sioux in 2016 failed to stop the pipeline and its damaging effects it had on the land which surround it.

However that was not the end of the war for the pipeline as in 2020 it was reported by multiple news articles that the Dakota Access Pipeline had been ordered to suspend production by a US judge, with the environmental impact of its use being sighted as a main issue. But with Trumps presidency well under way and climate change being pushed aside by his administration will the small victory by the Sioux remain or will it be destroyed in the name of oil and ‘progress’?

With Trumps new rallying cry of ‘Drill, Baby, Drill!’ echoing down the halls of the American government, Trumps plans for the future may set a grim picture. But seemingly there maybe a ray of hope through the dark skies above Dakota as even with his declaration of a ‘National Energy Emergency’ Trump does not have the power to reinstate the use of the pipeline, but what if he does, will Dakota ever be the same, will the climate?...

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Trump, Nixon, Kennedy, Harris: the story of the 2024 American Election.

Ever since the groundbreaking election of Abraham Lincoln, and arguably before, the elections of a United States President has been a widely social event. Although many witnessing the highly televised event of the 2024 election will not be old enough to remember the election of Kennedy and Nixon some in America will be able to harken back to that election. Many see the election of nineteen sixty as this first widely televised presidential election. A reason that can be contributed to Kennedy’s win, a young well put together and well-spoken man from Brookline,  Massachusetts, and the loss of Nixon. A balding, sweaty, overweight man in an ill-fitting suit from Yorba Linda, California. And now years later. A tall well-presented older man with a noticeable lack of a criminal record and a long working history within government, then later on a friendly approachable young, experienced lawyer from Oakland, California. Or a balding orange blabbering millionaire with a noticeable and extensive criminal record, harbouring demagogical ideas for America. But unlike the presidential election of nineteen sixty, the on paper less favourable candidate won. Was this because of the use of television, or was it because of something else, an unforeseen unaccounted-for outlying circumstance.

In the election of 1960 and its ground breaking televised debate of both candidates. Famously broadcast through a cold September Chicago night. Sat on the right, Nixon, sweeting and fidgety. On the left, Kennedy, the poster child for Modern America and the atomic age of space travel and progress.

Nixon lost the election. It could have been down to anything, his policies, his detachment from the voting base, the changing America before him. Or it could have been down to a camera that added ten pound. Television. In the election debate, sat there and sweating, Nixon lost votes. Many voters, able to see the candidates for the first time from the comfort of their brand-new Pickett fenced homes with all the modern appliances they could wish for; saw an out of shape politician behind on the times and struggling to catch up.

Why would the general public, both young and old, vote for a man, who advertised living in the past as a good thing, returning to the America of yesteryear? A republican no less. Why would they do that when they could sit comfortably cruising into the future? Ultimately they didn’t, leaving a politician advertising the past, missing out on the next four years?

On January 6th 2021, the home and the very heart of American democracy and ‘freedom��, Capitol Hill, Washington DC was attacked. A mod of right-wing Republican voters stormed the Capitol, a riot that gained wide media attention both critical and not so critical, fox news always the outlier. A see of red hats lit up the pixels of flat screen TV’s all across the country. Sat in their homes, surrounded by the modern technology of a fast-growing age of AI and ever-present social media. Surrounded by their Alexas, amazon boxes and with a Tesla sat in the driveway. The American general public looked onwards to a future of political uncertainty their eyes glued to the screen in front of them. Whether mounted to the wall or in their hand, the general public of America just couldn’t look away.

MAGA or as trump likes to yell “make America great again” hats retail on average for $50.00 each from the Trump store. A fact I had to research and forever damage my laptops search history by doing so. A statement by the FBI reported that there was an estimated two thousand to two thousand five hundred rioters who entered the capitol building with many more outside occupying Washington DC. If we exclude those outside the building and presume that every rioter inside bought a hat, a symbol of support for their president of a ‘stolen election’ at fifty dollars apiece. Trump that day made a staggering $125,000. A slogan making money for a president banking on then memory of the past to get him elected. A far cry from the failing of Nixon in the nineteen sixty election. So what changed?

Although many American voters looked on watching the January 6th riots through their screens in their new modern houses surrounded by the lates of consumer electronics, with a brand new 4 door family wagon in the drive. Many of those voters watching the coverage on the news are not the same voters who voted for trump.

The great American rust belt. No, it’s not a national park. Instead it is a collection of states, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. All though these states span a large rejoin with many differences, they all have two things in common. They all suffer from the retreat of American industry, and almost all of them voted for trump in the 2024 presidential election. But why is this?

Many outside the United States and its comically strange presidential election race, most likely have a preconceived notion of what the rust belt contains. Rows of trailers in trailer  parks, a man in a Carhart work jacket and a baseball cap smoking Marlboro reds in a plastic lawn chair. Old rusted pickup trucks taking people to and from work at their manual labour blue collar jobs, then out once again every Sunday to church. A shining stereotype of a traditional Trump supporter. A stereotype of the working class. But is this correct?

Trump voters on average, as researched by the University of Cambridge, value the traditions and values of a bygone American age. And nine out of ten of them think that those same values are the way forward into fixing the American economy and creating job security. Job security is a worry that many Americans have at the center of their hearts. A worry that Trump sunk his talons into just in time for the 2024 presidential election.

Trump like both sides of the political spectrum warned voters about the attack on democracy. How if the Democrats got their hand of the presidency, that life would change, and not for the better. How so many of Americas treasured values would be eradicated and replaced with the ideals of the evil woke left! And so with it would their jobs.

How does he spread his message? How does he warn people about the woke mob threatening them, and how does he convince America that he is the way to fight it. Television? No, that didn’t work for Nixon, why would it work for trump. The answer, Social media. A lawless wasteland filled with echo chambers, disinformation, and to do my best trump impression ‘fake news’. A labyrinth of content where only one many can lead you out, Trump himself. Why else would his own social media platform proudly be titled Truth Social?

Back in 2021 Trumps twitter, now retitled X by one of his buddies, account was ‘permanently suspended’. During the twelve hours of chaos that followed the Capitol riot of January 6th Trump took to twitter, addressing many of his loyal followers and commending those who took part in the riots, calling them Americas patriots.

"The 75,000,000 great American Patriots who voted for me, AMERICA FIRST, and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, will have a GIANT VOICE long into the future. They will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form!!!"

-Trump on Twiiter.com

Being a key leading voice in the insurrection of the Capitol and the riots, and deaths that followed. Trumps message of a stolen election. A message which, for a man who claims to fight against fake news, has no factual backing nor information that would illuminate Trumps claims as anything but a lie to the public.

But one thing this lie of Trumps did was set the social media circuits ablaze. Heading into 2024 and barrelling towards the election, Trump, now with the help of his best friend Elon Musk, the new owner of X, formally twitter. An ardent Trump supporter who over the course of the 2024 presidential election donated up to $75 million to his campaign. Was taking social media by storm, filling both X and truth social with as much MAGA rhetoric as he could. Through this he firmly planted himself as a serious candidate in the race.

Know matter if your sat in front of a flatscreen tv, with your Alexa on tuned into the stock market with a Tesla in the parking garage of your Manhattan condo. Or your sat on the porch of your trailer home with a rusted-out pickup sat in your drive and a cigarette between your lip. What you both will be holding in your hand is a phone. Something that Trump and his marketing team seemed to have realised early on. Every ones got a phone and every phone has social media. This was no longer the presidential election fought and won by television but the presidential election fought and one on the dusty battlefields of the wasteland of social media.

Unlike Trump. President Joe Biden, the decidedly Kennedy of this analogy, both in his forward-thinking future message and the party that he represents. Took to television, a tried and tested method for winning an election. Taking to Democratic, with a capital D, news channels such as CNN, NBC and PBS. Staring prominently in the American news cycles Biden became a public image in American homes and on their televisions. Much like Kennedy before him. Returning to do so for his second run at the presidential position in the race of 2024. But being a public figure and a reoccurring face on the news circuits doesn’t always promise the glowing result known to Kennedy. For Nixon the camera of television added ten pounds, for Biden the camera highlighted his slip ups. Stumbles, pauses and forgetting lines where all caught on camera, turning the vision of a  tall well-presented older man and current president into a stumbling confused old man. The Kennedy of the 2024 election, had now become Nixon.

This didn’t go unnoticed by Social media, an important pit stop in the presidential race, a pit stop which trump was now refuelling at ready for the next part of the race and while he did so he worked hard to highlight the flaws of Biden and the many slip ups which the news had highlighted. The most focused topic, age. Although Trump, being 78 and only four years younger than Biden focused on the age of the soon to be former president, a focus that had an unforeseen impact of the presidential race.

Entering the race late, but with no less enthusiasm and determination to find herself in office. A prolific politician and attorney and currently the 49th vice president, she took over Biden in the ever-changing presidential race of 2024. Younger than both candidates, and ready to show it, Harris entered the race with large promises and much to prove to modern America. The former Attorney General of California and District Attorney of San Fransico, Harris used her prolific knowledge of law and the fountain of experience that she had collected in these revered positions to focus her political message and Attack Trump.

Having been convicted of multiple felonies and narrowly avoiding the charge of inciting an insurrection. The result of his appearances before and endorsement of the riot at the Capitol over twitter and other social media websites. Harris found herself in the unique position of running against a presidential candidate and ex-president of the united states to have impeachment proceedings started against them. Hello Nixon, making an appearance once again. A golden chance for any politician running for president, but did Kamala make the most of the rare opportunity, she found herself with?

Harris, being no stranger to grilling politicians in the halls of American politics spent no time at all diving head first into the election. Setting up her defensive positions and planning her next step of attack she was ready for the fight for the presidential election that was ahead of her. Using her position as the first female vice president and not only that but the first black woman to hold the position, she used her status as a minority to gain a sweep of votes that trump had alienated throughout his multiple rallies. Harris, learning from her predecessors mistakes took to social media to drum up support for her election campaign, using the song ‘Freedom’ as her rallying cry and election anthem. ‘Freedom’ noticeably sung by another groundbreaking minority member and female role model Beyonce. A strong female candidate with a strong message, she focused on many highly divisive issues such as Abortion, using her opponents message of reinstalling the ideals and values of the past to show how behind he was, and that she was the one needed to drive America forward and help as many women as they did so.

But was this steamrolling drive forwards and the sweeping attack on the republican political battleground and their despotic candidate with his red hatted mob to late? Had Harris got to social media in time? Or had she alienated the American votes she needed by talking issues so decisive? Entering late into the race, she was at a disadvantage. Known only as a vice president, a curse that had befallen a former president, she struggled to claw back lost time against Trump and his white-knuckle grip on the presidential position. With a tight hold on social media and a repetitive thunderous cry of ‘Make America Great Again!’ took the position on the podium of the presidential race as its winner. A win that many hoped not to see, and by its results even more wanted to take place.

Has trumps dictator like rhetoric and his historic second win of the presidential election changed America and its political landscape and battlefield forever? Has a presidential candidate harnessing the force of social media shown that the days of Nixon and Kennedy and that legendary night in Chicago are no longer the way forward. Has television and its mass control over the political climate had its day? With billionaire owners of social media platforms endorsing candidates and a president funding his own social media platform. Although everything may have change a few things remain the same, catchy slogans, plenty of memorabilia and knowing how to look good on the publics screens is something every candidate needs in their president elect tool box. But does 2024 show something else. Americas will accept a felon as president and the fond remembrance of the American past and its conservative values has seemingly grown in the last few years, even with many outspoken voices against Trump and his conservative despotic ideas for Americas tomorrow, what will happen? Will America remain republican or will voters change their mind in the next four years, who really knows?

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A Very White (House) Christmas

With the Christmas season being all around us the Whitehouse has began to deck the halls with all sorts of Christmas joy. With the First Lady happily releasing a message stating “As we celebrate our final holiday season here in the White House, we are guided by the values we hold sacred: faith, family… and the power of community and connection.”

However, this once more illuminates the huge incoming change of the new year. This being Trumps incoming second term as president of the United States. But one question that accompanies this change that still remains unanswered is; what effect will the change of first lady have on the position and the Whitehouse as a whole.

In Melania Trumps first term as First Lady her Christmas decorations and ornamenting of the Whitehouse was markedly different from that of Jill Biden’s decorating. 2018s White House Christmas decorations where clinical and polished, matching the image that Melania Trump presented many times while in the position of first lady, with the Christmas theme of “American Treasures” reflecting the somewhat totalitarian aims of the presidency, will this return? I bet most definitely.

Comparatively Jill Bidens White House Christmas decorations harken back to those displayed in the White House around the 1970s and 1960s with the theme being presented as “A Season of Peace and Light.” A decorative choice that reflects the presidency to some, that being old and outdated but with a sense of familiarity. This leaves the question, does the decorative choices of the First Lady reflect the presidency? Or is it just holiday fun?

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Thou shalt not be ‘Subtle and sinister’

With the news that schools in Louisiana will be required to display the ten commandments in all public schools starting January first 2025 under a bill titled HB71, many have been raising questions and concerns about the decision.

Schools will have to follow strict guidelines when displaying the ten commandments, being required to display the commandments in a 11 by 14-inch poster in easily an easily readable font. With such strict regulations being placed upon public schools and the classrooms within, it makes many worry about the encroachments on their rights and personal liberties. But many also see this choice as hypocritical by the state.

This is because Louisiana is one of the state that have band the teaching of homosexuality in public schools, stating; “No sex education course offered in the public schools of the state shall utilize any sexually explicit materials depicting male or female homosexual activity”. This worries many as with this, the attempted banning of “Drag” performances within schools by states including: Montana, Tennessee and Texas. Many fear that the LGBTQ+ community are facing an attempted eradication from public schools and life in America.

With the expansive growth of the right-wing republican part and their war on what they see as “the woke mob”, many worry that the state constitutional instituting of religious texts in public schools is another step towards removing LGBTQ+ lives and history from modern America. Furthermore, many worry that this will have a catastrophically negative impact on young school age LGBTQ+ Youth.

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Boiling Coffee and E-coli, McDonalds Criminal Negligence.

With the resent reporting of an E-coli outbreak across America being linked to the fast-food chain McDonalds, questions remain as to the safety of their beloved menu items. Menu items such as the famous quarter pounder, and other food stuffs have been linked to the outbreak, namely the onions used within the burgers.

McDonalds have, for a while now been battling allegations of mishandling “food stuffs” such as in  2022 when McDonalds faced multiple lawsuits for using PFAS or “forever chemicals” which they used to keep their food “fresh”. However this is not solely linked to McDonalds and includes other well-known American fast-food restaurants such as Burger King, Chick-Fil-A and Arby’s. However something that has not been linked to these other restaurants is the multiple lawsuits linked to the McDonalds E-coli outbreaks. With reports of children suffering from Kidney Failure and other severe symptoms as a result of eating the tainted food from McDonalds.

However with McDonalds being such a beloved American institution, the question still remains; will this conglomerate be affected by this? With all the lawsuits surrounding the outbreak, it makes many think back to the coffee lawsuit McDonalds faced in 1992 of Liebeck v. McDonalds; wherein Liebeck, a 79-year-old, was left with severe burns on a large portion of her body after being served near boiling coffee, however both McDonalds and the general public swept this under the rug stating a use of “frivolous litigation”.

So although currently the McDonalds E-coli outbreak is fixed in the public eye, the question remains if it will stay there.

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An off-putting Musk of a Trump

With the recent events of the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump by Thomas Matthew Crooks, the presidential debate has become even more publicized and followed than ever before. And ever the harnesser of news, Trump has grabbed onto this with all his might. One of the more influential choices of which was to include, Tesla CEO and Billionaire Elon Musk, in his presidential campaigning. Which began with his campaigning in Butler PA, and Elon Musk’s surprise appearance at the event. Wherein he danced around the stage drumming up support for Trumps campaign, and offering incentives for the amassed crowd.

But of course this comes with the same amount of controversy that anything surrounding Donald Trump includes. Such as Elon Musk’s promise to “give away $1m (£766,000) a day to a registered voter in key swing states until the US presidential election on 5 November”. This is worrying for many reasons, chief among these being that; many who support Kamala Harris find this news “deeply concerning”, and that this could prove concern form meddling in the election, rather than just another one of Trump and Musk’s publicity stunts, like returning to the sight of Trumps near assassination once again.

Is the actions of Trump and Musk going to have a drastic effect on the outcome of the 2024 election, or is it going to fade back into the past thought of the public consciousness of America, like the capitol riots of January 6th 2021, which was also “endorsed” by the presidential elect.

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"Fuzzy as a Georgia Peach"

with Trumps "Make America Great Again" slogan being prevalent in the minds of many Americans, Jimmy Carters promise to heal Americas wounds, sounds not to dissimilar. However this couldn’t be further from the truth. He would as a president, strive to fix Americas social and economic problems and his main way of doing this? His southern background and charm.

With his main claim being the 39th president of the US, Carter is also known for being the son of a peanut farmer and grocery store owner, the president brought a down to earth personality and approach to politics, which aided him in his political endeavours, such as: creating the Department of Education and expanding the National Parks Service along with more serous claims such as mediating peace between Egypt and Israel.

But where these successes in part to due to his southern charm, or are his successes down to his political prowess and experience. Although using his  southern charm to carry him through the election, using his then trendy “fuzzy peach” manner to get him into the White House. Once he got there his political expertise and experience took charge. Challenging racism and pushing forward civil rights movements and other looming big issues… that was all him.

“You can argue over whether Jimmy Carter was America’s greatest president, but he was undoubtedly one of the greatest Americans to ever become president. He and Rosalynn eliminated fatal diseases, championed human rights, and literally negotiated world peace. He still believes in us.” – Jim Barger Jr.

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A Death of a F.R.I.E.N.D.S

With the 30th anniversary of one of Americas best known Sitcoms fast “FRIENDS” approaching, one of the main questions being asked is, how are they going to tackle the death of Mathew Perry, most well known for his depiction of Chandler Bing for the shows 10 season run?

Mathew Perry also known for his role as “Benny” in Fallout New Vegas was found dead of a suspected drug overdose at his  Pacific Palisades residence on October 23rd 2023, at the age of 53. His problems with drugs during his life was not a secret for the actor, as he openly talked about it many times including in his book “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir”.

With his large part in the show FRIENDS, his death is going to have an even larger impact on the shows 30th anniversary. With fellow cast member Matt LeBlanc, who played Perry’s on-screen roommate Joey, stating over social media: “It is with a heavy heart I say goodbye. The times we had together are honestly among the favourite times of my life,”. And other cast members repeating the same feelings of loss and sadness. This asks the question, will the 30th anniversary have a different feel now that one of the key cast members are gone, and will it ever be the same again?

A death like this will affect not only the cast and crew of the famed show but also the community of fans it has fostered over the years.