breakfastmtn

The incoming German chancellor, more convinced than ever that the defense and trade relationship with Washington is crumbling, has made plans to execute on his goal of “independence from the U.S.A.”

He’s not the only one.

The new Canadian prime minister said last week that “the old relationship we had with the United States” — the tightest of military and economic partnerships — is now “over.” Poland’s president is musing publicly about getting nuclear weapons. And the new leader of Greenland, host to American air bases since World War II, reacted to the uninvited visit of a high-level American delegation with indignation.

. . .

These are the results so far of President Trump’s threats to abandon NATO allies whose contributions he judges insufficient, his declaration that the European Union was designed “to screw” the United States and his efforts to expand the United States’ land mass. The main reaction is resistance all around. Now, into this maelstrom of threats, alienation and recriminations, President Trump is expected to announce his “Liberation Day” tariffs on Wednesday.

. . .

Mr. Trump is already showing signs of concern that his targets may team up against him.

MBFC
Archive

Dozens gathered at Brennan Park in Squamish Sunday to bid farwell to the beloved goose

A Canada goose named Wilson — who spent months with an arrow lodged in his rump — is finally flying free.

The bird was released Sunday at Squamish's Brennan Park field, where dozens had gathered to cheer him on to freedom.

As the cage door opened and Wilson took a few tentative steps, he turned toward a nearby flock of geese and took flight, marking the end of a months-long rescue effort that brought together a local photographer, veterinarians, wildlife rescuers, and an entire community.

Leafs had a real win-win today outside of this game:

The Toronto Maple Leafs . . . are on the cusp of clinching spots in the post-season, however, fate isn't entirely in their hands just yet.

Here's how they could get the job done Sunday:

• Maple Leafs: If they defeat the Anaheim Ducks in any fashion AND the Montreal Canadiens lose to the Florida Panthers in any fashion. source

Montreal won today so no clinching a spot. But the Panthers lost, so there's a chance to get 3 point separation from Tampa and Florida in the Atlantic

Projected Lineup:

Matthew Knies — Auston Matthews — Mitch Marner
Bobby McMann — John Tavares — William Nylander
Pontus Holmberg — Max Domi — Scott Laughton
Steven Lorentz — David Kampf — Calle Jarnkrok

Morgan Rielly — Brandon Carlo
Jake McCabe — Chris Tanev
Simon Benoit — Oliver Ekman-Larsson

Joseph Woll
Anthony Stolarz

Scratched: Philippe Myers, Nicholas Robertson

Injured: Jani Hakanpaa (lower body), Max Pacioretty (tightness)

Status report: Neither team will hold a morning skate.

On a spring morning two months after Vladimir Putin’s invading armies marched into Ukraine, a convoy of unmarked cars slid up to a Kyiv street corner and collected two middle-aged men in civilian clothes.

Leaving the city, the convoy — manned by British commandos, out of uniform but heavily armed — traveled 400 miles west to the Polish border. The crossing was seamless, on diplomatic passports. Farther on, they came to the Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport, where an idling C-130 cargo plane waited.

The passengers were top Ukrainian generals. Their destination was Clay Kaserne, the headquarters of U.S. Army Europe and Africa in Wiesbaden, Germany. Their mission was to help forge what would become one of the most closely guarded secrets of the war in Ukraine.

MBFC
Archive

*gift article

Keir Starmer should fight back strongly against Donald Trump if he imposes punitive tariffs on British exports, senior UK and EU diplomats said on Saturday night, amid heightened fears that the US president could trigger a global trade war with devastating effects on the UK economy.

British government officials in London and Washington are working frantically this weekend to try to persuade Trump not to slap duties on more key UK industries on what he is calling “liberation day” on Wednesday. The US president has already announced plans for 25% levies on imports of cars, steel and aluminium to the US.

. . .

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) warned last week that a 20% increase in tariffs between the US and the rest of the world would cut UK growth by 1% and “entirely eliminate” the £9.9bn of fiscal headroom that the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, restored in the public finances by a painful programme of welfare and other cuts in her spring statement last week.

MBFC
Archive

What explains John Tavares’ goal-scoring bonanza this season?

On the one hand, it’s pretty simple: A world-class shooter is having the best shooting season of his NHL career — and in a contract year, no less.

Tavares has scored 33 goals on 19 percent shooting.

The timing is curious, and not only because Tavares is 34 now and in his 16th NHL season — a time, in other words, when he should be slowing down. It’s also odd because last season Tavares had the worst shooting season of his career: 29 goals in 80 games on 10 percent shooting and a mid-season dry spell that saw him score once in 13 games.

From one extreme to the other, then. But that doesn’t feel like the whole story.

Archive

The Kings are a tough team to play that keeps the goal totals low at both ends of the rink. The Leafs need some game breaking offence and a good performance in net tonight.

Pontus Holmberg is supposed to draw in per Craig Berube, the forward coming out is yet to be determined. Otherwise, the lines will likely be unchanged. source

Projected Lineup:

Matthew Knies — Auston Matthews — Mitch Marner
Bobby McMann — John Tavares — William Nylander
Pontus Holmberg — Max Domi — Nicholas Robertson
Scott Laughton — David Kampf — Steven Lorentz

Morgan Rielly — Brandon Carlo
Jake McCabe — Chris Tanev
Simon Benoit — Oliver Ekman-Larsson

Anthony Stolarz
Joseph Woll

Scratched: Philippe Myers, Calle Jarnkrok

Injured: Jani Hakanpaa (lower body), Max Pacioretty (tightness)

Status report: Neither team will hold a morning skate. … Holmberg will play after being a healthy scratch for the past two games; Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube did not say who would come out of the lineup. … Stolarz could start in goal, Berube said Friday.

A federal judge late Friday froze parts of President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting the law firm Jenner & Block, one of two firms linked to the Robert Mueller investigation Trump has sought to punish.

The temporary restraining order, announced by Judge John Bates at the end of a hastily scheduled Friday hearing, pauses parts of the order instructing agencies to terminate contracts with the firm and its clients, as well as the order’s directives seeking to limit the firm’s access to federal officials and buildings.

The Jenner & Block hearing unfolded minutes after a different judge in the same courthouse heard a similar request from the law firm WilmerHale, which was also targeted by Trump in an executive order issued this week.

MBFC
Archive

In the annals of ill will between California and the Trump administration, Thursday may have been a record-breaker.

The U.S. Education Department announced early in the West Coast morning that it would challenge a major state law protecting transgender students. Two hours later came the revocation of federal waivers that had let California colleges include undocumented students in certain programs that receive federal aid.

The afternoon brought a flurry of investigations into suspected affirmative action in California higher education: The Justice Department said it would investigate whether Stanford University and three schools in the University of California system were violating a Supreme Court decision that banned the consideration of race in admissions. Then the Health and Human Services Department said it was looking into accusations of similar discrimination at “a major medical school in California.”

By sundown, the Agriculture Department had sent Gov. Gavin Newsom a letter saying it would review its education-related funding in California in connection with transgender protections. And the Justice Department announced that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department was under investigation for allegedly taking too long to approve applications for concealed-carry permits.

MBFC
Archive