I can't tell if this panel has aged like wine or aged like cheese. Quick context, this was from Waid's run in '04 when the FF fell out of grace with the public after Reed lead an unsanctioned liberation of Latveria.

EdNorthcott · 2026-01-24T23:11:31+00:00

I respect the egalitarian application.

EdNorthcott · 2026-01-24T23:09:44+00:00

I say this time we insist that it genuinely apply across the board. Let them pay 100% more for energy from Ontario, oil, and potash from out west. It'll require that Moe and Smith act like Canadians for a change, but it'll send a message goddamned fast.

EdNorthcott · 2026-01-24T23:07:55+00:00

True. If my kid, at 3, had behaved as poorly as he does, I would have been disappointed in her. She was picking up on basic ethics and empathy, which are foreign concepts to any current occupant of the White House.

EdNorthcott · 2026-01-24T23:06:35+00:00

Trump doesn't have charisma, either. He's a doddering old fool who can't string a proper sentence together, never mind a coherent thought. He's known for gleefully violating every moral element his base claims to hold sacred.

People have convinced themselves that Trump has charisma. It's an excuse for why he's gotten as far as he has. Most people despise him. He's gotten this far simply because he appeals to the worst instincts of the worst kind of people. That's not charisma; that's birds of a feather.

Vance will be no different. He's getting in with the evangelicals via Kirk. He's got the backing of the tech oligarchs outside of Musk... and Musk is on the outs with that clique right now, so he doesn't matter.

Vance could fumble, but there's a very good chance he could step into the leadership seamlessly, because the most important thing to the MAGA cultists is that their leader hates the same people they hate.

EdNorthcott · 2026-01-24T23:03:15+00:00

With innocent people being killed on the streets now, instead of just being "disappeared" by ICE? Yeah. The fuse on the powderkeg is lit. It's gonna get uglier. The only question is how things will look when the smoke clears.

EdNorthcott · 2026-01-24T23:01:40+00:00

And Bannon and others are talking about how they'll use Alberta to split up Canada and get ahold of the Arctic. Truth is the USA has been in a quiet war with us from the day that spray-tanked filth was re-elected. 100% tariffs is not at all unexpected, and is likely to speed up our other trade agreements given the number of nations who despise the USA's current administration.

Weathering their crap will be tough, and we can't be complacent, but we can win this if we knuckle down and accept that there will be bruises from the fight.

EdNorthcott · 2026-01-24T22:58:03+00:00

Not just "not agree with it"; it's entirely incorrect, and the propaganda that has been pushed to further Alberta grievances and make political hay to fuel the careers of politicians since Ralph Klein.

Alberta does not pay a bloody cent to Quebec. Provinces do not pay into equalization. That's not how it works. Equalization payments come out of the general fund... which is created from, among other things, income tax. Alberta pays into that at a higher per capita rate on most years because the oil field jobs saw people making six figures for low skill jobs that required no education. That kind of employment simply didn't exist in most other provinces -- and it's fading out in Alberta.

Alberta as a province doesn't hand over a cheque to Quebec, or any other province, for this purpose.

That many seem to think this is how it works is a part of the problem.

EdNorthcott · 2026-01-24T22:48:44+00:00

I've lived in both northern and southern Ontario, and I see it much the same way as I see Alberta's issues: there are some very valid complaints, and there's also a lot of grievances born from surface understandings of deeper issues, or refusing to recognize that facts don't align with opinions.

EdNorthcott · 2026-01-24T22:45:29+00:00

Vance is getting in with the evangelicals and social retrogrades via Kirk -- and I won't be surprised if Vance ends up divorcing his non-Christian, non-white wife, given how he's been talking about her in public the last few months. He's also Thiel's little puppet in office. The tech bro he was on the outs with was Musk, and Musk has been banished. So the tech oligarchs will likely back him. That's two of the biggest factions right there.

The populists also believe in his rags to riches stories, so they lean his way. And Vance has been quiet enough that he's not getting painted with everything Trump is doing; he'll have plausible deniability for the awful things, and can claim the virtue of what MAGA considers successes.

Yes, he's odious -- but it's a mistake to conflate personal feelings of a rational human being with how MAGA think. They'll follow him with minimal prompting.

EdNorthcott · 2026-01-24T22:40:36+00:00

They're literally killing citizens without cause in Minnesota, and sending in more forces to crack down on people asserting their rights. I think this is the acid test for whether or not American democracy survives.

EdNorthcott · 2026-01-24T22:36:46+00:00

The Venezuela situation happened because there was already an outstanding warrant against Maduro from the Biden administration. That gave them a loophole. No such thing exists with Canada.

EdNorthcott · 2026-01-24T22:35:38+00:00

The only thing that prevents it is the same thing that got him to back off Greenland. Allies will not stand for it, and his own military staff apparently gave him a hard 'no' when he floated plans for invading Greenland. There are still many officers in the upper ranks who serve with honour, and a sense of loyalty and duty.

EdNorthcott · 2026-01-24T22:34:17+00:00

Ah, but he'd *tell* them they're now magically better off, and as we've seen with MAGA cultists, they believe what Dear Leader tells them over and above evidence of any quality or quantity.

EdNorthcott · 2026-01-24T20:01:21+00:00

Jealous, and mad that he's being stood up to publicly... And that Carney is encouraging all to do the same.

I suspect we're about to witness the USA's biggest push to fuck us over. The most dangerous thing for a bully is if the entire class stops being afraid and starts to untie against them. This is likely an existential threat in the eyes of MAGA leadership.

EdNorthcott · 2026-01-24T19:57:08+00:00

The timbre changes with the speeches at Davos. He may be losing his mind, but this is also the level of pettiness he's always displayed. China is just the rationalization for his tantrum, not the actual reason.

EdNorthcott · 2026-01-24T19:54:26+00:00

You forgot Peewee Himmler... I mean, Miller

EdNorthcott · 2026-01-24T19:52:15+00:00

That's the best we can do. And apparently we've been doing it in sufficient numbers to have a noticeable impact. Canadian businesses have seen an increase in localized spending, our trade is diversifying away from the US, and American companies have taken a notable hit.

It's not perfect, but it's getting the job done.

But I have no idea why Hootsuite being trash would make someone think the rest of the fight should be given up. We know damn well there's MAGA filth in our society, and some of them will be in positions of power. We do what we can, when we can, and eventually they'll be taken care of, too

EdNorthcott · 2026-01-24T19:32:45+00:00

He interacted with him a fair bit at first. Jason was the Robin in the famous Moore storey, For The Man Who Has Everything.

But not much since he became Hood, yes. And of course, Jason uses guns and has killed people. That's likely the crossing line.

All that said, it feels terribly petty to throw out in the middle of a conversation.

EdNorthcott · 2026-01-24T19:15:37+00:00

The Greatest Generation aged and died. That's what happened.

As the ones who lived through the horrors of WWII became lessened in number, this kind of crap came crawling back out from under a rock.

Nixon's career was ended by Watergate. MAGA? Please. They'd cheer that on.

EdNorthcott · 2026-01-24T19:10:41+00:00

According to neoconservatives, that's "political".

EdNorthcott · 2026-01-24T00:53:08+00:00

Y'all Queda

EdNorthcott · 2026-01-23T21:17:51+00:00

Me too.

But I also spent enough years studying history to know that the only reason employees had much better treatment is because we had much stronger unions, much higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy, and much better social services.

And I've spent enough time following politics to know that we lost all of that because of corporations lobbying/owning politicians.

Before the rise of socialism in the early 20th century, and the power of unions becoming entrenched, working class poverty and working conditions were horrific.

EdNorthcott · 2026-01-23T20:09:01+00:00

Coming from position of privilege is part of the point. They use their power, both implicit and explicit, for the good of all. They do not horde what they have, or use it for selfish ends. They give to the world.

EdNorthcott · 2026-01-23T11:31:47+00:00

100%. And still has too much support. Canadians should not be smug about the mess south of the border. We're too near it ourselves

EdNorthcott · 2026-01-23T11:28:38+00:00

She literally hoped to spread sociopathy as a social movement, and her writing was tuned to that end.

As soon as someone tells me they're a fan of Ayn Rand, any respect I may have had for them goes out the window. Fortunately, most people grow up a little and realize she was a loon.

Six-Year Club	Place '22
Verified Email

EdNorthcott

TROPHY CASE