Angela Merkel looked confused when Trump said people get fired quickly in Germany

By Daniel Paquet (with files from The Globe and Mail and The Bank of Canada)

Trump and Merkel held a joint press conference at the White House after their working visit, which provided an opportunity for an unscripted moment. Merkel looked perplexed when Trump suggested that it was so easy to fire people at Veterans Affairs, "almost as fast as they fire people in Germany."

The world bourgeoisie is also confused.  There is also the old way to rule with Obama, Hollande and Merkel; but it is not likely efficient.  So, they now reckon on the “tough” Donald Trump and the “wise” Emmanuel Macron.

Meanwhile, they count on outdated methods to put to sleep the masses, such as so-called “events” in Great Britain to forget Brexit, wars and all the like; this is part of the ideological struggle of an experienced Right.

A NEW CHILD IN THE BRITISH ROYAL FAMILY

“It’s a boy for Prince William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge

Open this photo in gallery

Britain's Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, left and Britain's Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, show their newly born son to the media outside the Lindo Wing at St Mary's Hospital in London, on April 23, 2018.   DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/GETTY IMAGES

Kate, wearing a red dress, smiled at hundreds of well-wishers and assembled journalists as she left the hospital clutching her baby just 7 hours after the birth. William later put the boy, strapped into a car seat, into a waiting car.

·        

·        

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, depart the Lindo Wing with their newborn son at St Mary's Hospital..

GARETH CATTERMOLE/GETTY IMAGES

Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, the baby’s grandfather, and other members of the royal family and Kate’s family have been informed and “are delighted with the news,” Kensington Palace said.

The official announcement of the birth was made by placing a notice on an easel in the forecourt of the queen’s London home, Buckingham Palace, a tradition that has been in place since it became the sovereign’s official residence in 1837.

“My warmest congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on the birth of their baby boy,” Prime Minister Theresa May said. “I wish them great happiness for the future.”

ROYAL PRINCE

The couple now live at Kensington Palace and last year William gave up his day job as an air ambulance pilot to concentrate full-time on royal duties on behalf of his grandmother, having faced some criticism from British newspapers who dubbed him “workshy Wills.”

“I think he takes on a lot more engagements than he used to,” said royal biographer Claudia Joseph.

“But compared to members of the general public who have full-time jobs, he still has some time off to look after the children, to give them their baths, to put them to bed and I think he’ll continue to do that,” Ms. Joseph said.

On Saturday William joined the queen and other senior royals, with the exception of Kate, as the monarch celebrated her 92nd birthday at a televised concert.

The queen also played a prominent role at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in London last week, where it was announced that Charles would succeed her as head of the network of mainly former British colonies.

MEDIA SPOTLIGHT

While interest in their third child has been more muted than with the birth of their first, large numbers of photographers and broadcasters from around the globe massed outside the hospital, along with some dedicated royal fans.

 “We were here for George and Charlotte and we’ll be there for the royal wedding too,” he said, referring to Harry and Markle.

However, not everyone in Britain is so enamoured.

“Congratulations to William and Kate, but it is a private matter and if people are happy for them then fine but I think the media should just move on and talk about something more important,” Graham Smith, chief executive officer of the anti-monarchist campaign group Republic, told Reuters.

“The monarchy is about births, deaths and marriages and these events remind us how this system works and highlights again the inequality of those born into royalty and those born into poverty.”

One consequence of the birth is that some existing members of the royal family are pushed to the periphery, and this has led to calls for the monarchy to be pared down.

“One of the problems all members of the royal family have is they start quite close to the throne and gradually as time goes on they go further and further away,” royal historian Hugo Vickers said.

“It’s very easy to talk about a bloated royal family but it’s not really fair because the queen has an enormous amount of requests of things to do and her family are there to support her.”

The birth also gives Kate’s own family another cause for celebration after it was reported by British media on Sunday that her sister Pippa, who is married to a wealthy financier, was pregnant with her first child.” (The Globe and Mail, Toronto, April 2018)

NOW, LET US TALK MONEY… OUR MONEY!

 Opening Statement before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance in Canada

Stephen S. Poloz - Governor

House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance

Ottawa, Ontario

April 23, 2018

Available as: PDF

Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and committee members. Senior Deputy Governor Wilkins and I are pleased to be with you today to discuss the Bank’s Monetary Policy Report (MPR), which we published last week.

At the time of our last appearance in October, we saw signs that the Canadian economy was moderating after an exceptionally strong first half of the year. That moderation turned out to be greater and to last a bit longer than we expected. Still, it is important to recognize that inflation is on target and the economy is operating close to potential. That statement alone underscores the considerable progress seen in the economy over the past year.

The slower-than-expected growth in the first quarter reflected two main issues. First, housing markets reacted to announcements of new mortgage guidelines and other policy measures by pulling forward some transactions into the fourth quarter of last year. That led to a slowdown in the first quarter that should naturally reverse. Second, we saw weaker-than-expected exports during the quarter. This weakness was caused in large part by various transportation bottlenecks. Some of this export weakness should also reverse as the year goes on.  

So, after a lacklustre start to 2018, we project a strong rebound in the second quarter. All told, we expect that the economy will grow by 2 per cent this year, and at a rate slightly above its potential over the next three years, supported by both monetary and fiscal policies. The composition of growth should shift over the period, with a decline in the contribution from household spending and a larger contribution from business investment and exports.

Inflation should remain somewhat above the 2 per cent target this year, boosted by temporary factors. These factors include higher gasoline prices and increases to the minimum wage in some provinces. Their impact should naturally unwind over time, returning inflation to 2 per cent in 2019.

Of course, this outlook is subject to several important risks, and a number of key uncertainties continue to cloud the future, as was the case in October.

In terms of risks to the outlook, the most important remains the prospect of a large shift toward protectionist trade polices around the globe. I should be clear that our forecast already includes the negative effect of increased uncertainty on companies’ export and investment plans. Otherwise, it assumes that the trade agreements now in place will continue. The range of possible outcomes is far too wide to incorporate into an economic projection.

The four main uncertainties around the outlook for inflation are the same as six months ago, but good progress has been made on some of them. First, in terms of economic potential, our annual review led us to conclude that the economy currently has more capacity than we previously thought. As well, this capacity is growing at a faster pace than we expected. This means we have a little more room for economic demand to grow before inflationary pressures start to build. That said, some firms, particularly exporters, are operating at their capacity limits but are hesitating to invest. This hesitation may be due to trade uncertainty, transportation bottlenecks, shortages of skilled workers or other reasons. Regardless, it is limiting growth of our exports and economic capacity.

The second source of uncertainty concerns the dynamics of inflation. Here, recent data have been reassuring. Inflation measures, including our various core measures, have been behaving very much as forecast and are consistent with an economy that is operating with very little slack. This gives us increased confidence that our inflation models are working well.

The third area of uncertainty is about wages, and data here are also encouraging. Wage growth has picked up significantly over the past 18 months, approaching the 3 per cent growth rate one would expect from an economy that is running at capacity. However, the most recent figures are being boosted temporarily by the minimum wage increases in some provinces.

The fourth source of uncertainty is the increased sensitivity of the economy to higher interest rates, given elevated levels of household debt. The concern is that as interest rates rise, the share of household income going to service debt will also rise, leaving less to spend on other goods and services, and putting downward pressure on inflation. It will take more time to assess this issue, particularly because new mortgage guidelines are currently affecting the housing market and mortgage lending. However, the growth of household borrowing is slowing, which is consistent with the idea that consumers are starting to adjust to higher interest rates and new mortgage rules.

So, as you can see, there has been some progress on these four key areas of uncertainty, particularly the dynamics of inflation and wage growth. This progress reinforces our view that higher interest rates will be warranted over time, although some degree of monetary policy accommodation will likely still be needed to keep inflation on target. The Bank will continue to monitor the economy’s sensitivity to interest rate movements and the evolution of economic capacity. In this context, Governing Council will remain cautious with respect to future policy adjustments, guided by incoming data.

With that, Mr. Chairman, Senior Deputy Governor Wilkins and I would be happy to answer questions.

(Topic(s): Inflation and pricesTransmission  Monetary Policy Report.  Ref.: Bank of Canada, April 2018)

TERRORISM  VERSUS MASS STRUGGLES

If some desperate individuals believe in “heroic” and personal actions, the struggle must rely on the deeds of working class masses; according to Marxists… even if it is somehow violent, like in 1848 in Europe; or in 1871 during the Commune de Paris.  However, what is the dire reality?

A Toronto van attack

MELISSA TAIT/THE GLOBE AND MAIL

 

ABOUT THE ATTACK

• Ten people are dead and at least 15 were injured after a rental van mowed down pedestrians in north Toronto.
• The van drove south on Yonge Street from Finch Avenue for 2.2 kilometres, leaving a wake of destruction behind it before coming to a stop. 
  
  
• Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the "senseless tragedy and attack" at a Tuesday-morning news conference in Ottawa.

ABOUT THE SUSPECT

• Suspect Alek Minassian, 25 is charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder and 13 counts of attempted murder. No motive is yet known.
• A Facebook post moments before the attack – which, according to a Facebook spokesperson, apparently came from Mr. Minassian's actual account – made reference to an "incel rebellion." The term "incel," or "involuntary celibacy," has been used by so-called men's rights activists and is often linked to mass shooter Elliot Rodger, whom the Facebook post mentioned by name.
• Officials are not treating the incident as a national-security issue, federal Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said Monday.

·        

 

 

Open this photo in gallery

Aerial footage shows the scene after a deadly van attack at Yonge Street and Finch Avenue in Toronto.

CTV NEWS

How it happened

The attack: Around 1:30 p.m. Monday, a white van, which had a Ryder Truck Rental and Leasing logo on its side, mounted the sidewalk at the busy intersection of Yonge Street and Finch Avenue and struck a number of people. From there, the van proceeded southbound on Yonge for several blocks toward Sheppard Avenue. Over less than 25 minutes, the van mowed people down in what Toronto’s police chief described as a “deliberate” killing rampage. The van made it roughly 2.2 km before being stopped on the sidewalk near Poyntz Avenue with severe front-end damage.

THE GLOBE AND MAIL stated, through Trish McAlaster and Tom Cardoso the following:

The suspect

Open this photo in gallery

Alek Minassian, as shown on his LinkedIn profile.

“Mr. Minassian was in military basic training for 16 days in 2017, but was “voluntarily released” before recruit training finished, the armed forces confirmed.

A Facebook post, dated moments before the attack, was made from what seems to have been Mr. Minassian’s actual account, a spokesperson for the social-media company told The Globe. The post praised Elliot Rodger, who killed six people and then himself in a 2014 mass shooting in Isla Vista, Calif. The post also detailed an “incel rebellion,” an apparent reference to the “incel” (or involuntary celibacy) movement Mr. Rodger self-identified with: The label has been used by so-called men’s rights activists who blame women for their lack of sexual activity. Even if the Facebook page is legitimate, it would be possible for someone gaining access to the account to make a post and back-date it to a specific time.

Open this photo in gallery

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and Toronto Mayor John Tory pay respects at the memorial for victims of the van attack. (MELISSA TAIT/THE GLOBE AND MAIL).

ECONOMIC SETBACKS AND CRISIS:  MOTHERS OF POLITICAL TERRORISM

“Given this general prosperity, wherein the productive forces of bourgeois society are developing as luxuriantly as it is possible for them to do within bourgeois relationships, a real revolution is out of the question. Such a revolution is possible only in periods when both of these factors — the modern forces of production and the bourgeois forms of production — come into opposition with each other.

The various bickerings in which representatives of the individual factions of the continental party of Order presently engage and compromise each other, far from providing an occasion for revolution, are, on the contrary, possible only because the bases of relationships are momentarily so secure and — what the reactionaries do not know — so bourgeois. On this all the reactionary attempts to hold back bourgeois development will rebound just as much as will all the ethical indignation and all the enraptured proclamations of the democrats. A new revolution is only a consequence of a new crisis. The one, however, is as sure to come as the other.”

(Marx, Karl, Les luttes de classes en France, Éditions Gallimard, Paris, 1994, page 133)