Category: It’s Probably Nothing

Circling The Drain

Gradually Then Suddenly It's Probably Nothing 6 Comments

If you’ve checked out the price of beef lately or had a look at the prices on almost any restaurant menu, this should really come as no surprise.

Meritage Hospitality, one of Wendy’s largest U.S. franchisees, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Thursday.

At an investor conference in June, Meritage CEO Bob Schermer Jr. said that store-level earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization had plummeted 48% in 2025. Rising beef costs and increased discounts weighed on the franchisee’s profits.

Circling The Drain

Gradually Then Suddenly It's Probably Nothing 6 Comments

Since everyone knows these “limits” are never going to be enforced, the EU is like the father endlessly shouting “don’t make me come up there!”

A ministry source told reporters the public debt would reach 119.3% of GDP in 2026 and 121.7% in 2027, more than double the 60% of GDP reference limit EU member countries are required to aim for.

France is the third most indebted country in the eurozone, behind only Greece and Italy.

Shifting Deck Chairs On The Titanic

#WalkAway Gradually Then Suddenly Great Reset It's Probably Nothing New Governor 48 Comments

It’s odd that associate membership with the EU was never once mentioned during the last election, yet today it is being celebrated by the chattering classes as if it were the best thing since sliced bread.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed Canada becoming the first associate member of the European Union.

Not everyone is cheerleading, however. But you have to go to lesser known publications to see any of that.

Smyth used stronger language in an August article in The Western Producer, writing that joining the EU would be an “unmitigated disaster.”

“The EU bans most of the technologies that have enabled Canadian farmers to become the most sustainable producers of crops anywhere on the planet,” Smyth wrote.

 

Ain’t Gonna Happen

Canada’s Bolsheviks Gradually Then Suddenly It's Probably Nothing nannystate 17 Comments

A balanced budget at any level of government in Canada is wishful thinking on steroids these days. John Q. Voter’s capacity for critical thinking was numbed so effectively by the Covid spending spree that any political party would be wiped out at the polls if they implemented anything beyond token spending cuts.

The Parti Québécois is promising to balance the provincial budget by 2028-2029, a year earlier than the current Quebec government’s projections.

The PQ’s plan calls for a $6.6-billion reduction in government spending over five years.

A Losing Strategy

Gradually Then Suddenly Insufferable Twits It's Probably Nothing New Governor 12 Comments

Brian Lilley recently interviewed Professor Ian Lee who teaches at the Carlton University about Canada’s prospects for winning the trade war with the United States. In a nutshell, we pretty much lost before the war even began.

We’re we’re tariffing a little tiny tiny percentage 25 28 billion of that 400 billion and that 400 billion is 1.5%. So we are tariffing a subset of a subset of a subset of a very tiny number and we have convinced ourselves that this is going to move the needle of this enormous gargantuan economy and it will not.

Left Coast, Lost Cause

Gradually Then Suddenly We Are All Treaty People 16 Comments

Fraser Institute: B.C. government’s land deals with First Nations threaten its ability to borrow money

Like any borrower, for the provincial government to borrow money there must be an investor willing to lend. The lending side has two groups—bond rating agencies and the actual lenders. Rating agencies analyze the sustainability of government debt to help lenders determine credit worthiness and the level of interest they should charge given the financial strength and creditworthiness of governments.

There are already worrying signs, with five downgrades of B.C.’s provincial debt by rating agencies in recent years. And there’s a real possibility that lenders will be increasingly reluctant—or potentially outright refuse—to provide debt financing to the B.C. government as its debt grows and the reality of bilateral agreements, related court cases and provincial legislation regarding Aboriginal title become clearer. This is not hyperbole. Lenders refused to provide financing to the governments of Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan in the 1990s and to Greece from 2009 to 2018. And in the early 1990s, lenders were increasingly worried about Ottawa’s debt level, causing marked increases in interest rates.

For the B.C. government (and thus, B.C. taxpayers), the financial risks linked with these agreements and court cases could result in marked increases in the interest payments lenders demand to compensate them for increased risks. Indeed, a one-percentage point increase in interest costs on the government’s existing debt would equal roughly an additional $1.9 billion this year alone. That means even more borrowing as the deficit increases.

And Victoria has racked up an almost unimaginable amount of debt in recent years, and the scale of the increase is unprecedented. Coming out of COVID in 2020/21, total provincial government debt stood at $87.1 billion and is expected to reach $183.4 billion this year (2026/27) and $234.6 billion by 2028/29, which is a total increase of 169.3 per cent in just eight years.

I, For One, Welcome Our New Self-Driving Overlords (Bumped)

AI It's Probably Nothing 23 Comments

Bumped for additional context…

This post looks like the start of a VERY sophisticated and well-funded PR operation to get support for Democrats to regulate AI into oblivion. Let me show you how it works:

1.) This guy, with minimal followers and no previous account activity, goes to the Wall Street Journal which publishes an exclusive with quotes from him on his resignation 18 minutes BEFORE this post goes up. Planning was clearly done in advance.

2.) Within hours, it has tens of thousands of reposts and the account has 100k+ followers. The post is punchy, quotable, it almost seems professionally written. The first three accounts to quote tweet it all do so within 15 minutes of the initial posting. Remember, this account had basically zero engagement beforehand, so an organic reach explanation seems unlikely.

According to Grok those accounts are @_NathanCalvin (General Counsel at Encode AI), @peterwildeford (Head of Policy at the AI Policy Network), and @DKokotajlo (Head of the AI Futures Project), all of which are up-and-coming AI-Doomer policy advocacy nonprofits.

And posted by a guy who had worked for Anthropic a mere two months. Dave Rubin summarizes.

Enjoy The Decline

Gradually Then Suddenly Great Reset New Governor 21 Comments

Why Mark Carney’s Canada Isn’t the One You Live In (20 minutes) – Analysis highlighting the loss of 42,000 jobs and high unemployment rates across various regions despite government claims of growth, contrasted with the thriving US economy.

Meanwhile, in Banff… With Canada’s very economic future on the line, the prime minister is bringing his team to one of the most expensive and exclusive hotels to meet about affordability

Magical Thinking

Gradually Then Suddenly Insufferable Twits It's Probably Nothing New Governor 52 Comments

Run the same poll three months from now and you’ll probably get a very different result, but for the time being Canadians seem blissfully unaware of the freight train that’s barreling down the tracks towards them. John Q. Voter is either incapable of understanding basic economics or he’s experiencing some sort of psychotic break just now.

This means items that consumers may not regularly see or purchase, but are often required as part of a manufacturing process or supply chain that ultimately could mean higher prices for a wider variety of goods — even if they’re made in Canada.

Three-in-five (60 per cent) of respondents said they are willing to stay the course on Canada’s current negotiating strategy even if it means paying 10 or 20 per cent more for household expenses, including groceries and clothing.

Priorities, Priorities…

Gradually Then Suddenly More Money Than Brains nannystate New Governor 14 Comments

Canada still doesn’t have a coast to coast four lane highway, but it seems the bigger priority is to subsidize water systems for ratepayers in the oil patch. And then there’s the requisite mention of community centers, as if it were literally impossible for such entities to be financially self-sufficient. The mind boggles….

On Tuesday, the federal government confirmed a contribution of up to $29 million to the North Calgary Water Servicing project, funded through the Direct Delivery stream of the new Build Communities Strong Fund…

…$17.2 billion for provinces and territories, $6 billion for direct federal delivery on regionally significant projects and $27.8 billion flowing to local governments for roads, transit, water systems and community centres.

Elbows Down!

47 It's Probably Nothing Juxtapose! New Governor 21 Comments

Surely this is just a massive coincidence, right?

The unemployment rate held steady at 6.4 per cent last month, Statistics Canada said Friday. August’s losses fell short of economists’ expectations for a gain of 15,000 positions.

And just south of us:

The U.S. labor market bounced back in August as employers added a surprising 162,000 jobs, ending a summer of lackluster hiring with a bang.

The unemployment rate remained at a low 4.1%.

 

New Boss, Same As The Old Boss

#Brexit Climate Cult Gradually Then Suddenly Great Moments In Socialism It's Probably Nothing 12 Comments

The new guy doesn’t sound a whole lot different than Starmer. Good luck with your voting choices, Britain. You’ll soon be back to the dreary 70’s at this rate.

He said that greater public control over water, energy and transportation can drive economic growth and ease households’ financial burden, though it’s unclear to what extent he plans to reverse decades of privatization of key pillars of the economy.

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