Wednesday Night #2219

September 25th is National Tree Day 2024. This year, Tree Canada will be celebrating its 13th National Tree Day with community planting events in every province across two days.
The value and role of trees is top of mind as Canadians experience extreme weather events

In case there is anyone on the planet still unaware of the wonderful celebration over the weekend of my 85th birthday organized by Marc Nicholson aided and abetted by his siblings of our blended family, please note that the tumult and the shouting are over, family members and friends are once again spread out across the world, and we are generally in recovery mode.
Byron Haskins and I share our common birth date with the late Leonard Cohen who would have turned 90 this year; it was just about impossible to avoid recordings -professional and amateur- of his Halleluja. Sad to admit that many other parts of the world (ex. Massive Hallelujah Sing-Along in Boston) paid tribute far more impressively than his native Montreal.

High-Level Week opened the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). On Sunday and Monday, leaders gathered for the Summit of the Future, the culmination of years of discussions on how to make the UN—and multilateralism more broadly—more responsive to future global challenges. As described by Mark Leon Goldberg, the pact narrowly escaped disaster and was saved by, of all nations, the DRC.
Three major crises form the backdrop of UNGA 2024 and the adoption of the Pact for the Future:
Israel-Hezbollah-Lebanon; Russia-Ukraine; and Sudan

Breaking news 8pm EDT Israel tells its troops to prepare for a possible ground operation in Lebanon
Drama continues this week with the escalation of Israel’s assault on Lebanon and the consequent impact on Iran’s involvement (Nasrallah Miscalculated, and Hezbollah’s War With Israel Is Now in Iran’s Hands) -‘Unifying the front’ with Gaza was meant to give Hezbollah’s leader leverage over Israel. Now, his every move impacts Iran’s regional standing
As Lebanon Reels From Israeli Attacks, the Future Is Murky for a Wounded Hezbollah
Late-breaking news US, France seek 21-day ceasefire in Lebanon as Israel says ground assault is possible

Ukraine
On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned fellow world leaders at the UN that Russia is making plans to attack Ukraine’s nuclear power plants. He called for global leadership to help him attain peace as his country stares down a cold, dark winter with most of its energy infrastructure destroyed.

Sudan Conflict and governance
Top ministers meet in New York in call for concerted action
With war raging in Sudan and no end in sight to the catastrophic hunger crisis it has created, UN agencies and Member States meeting at the General Assembly in New York on Wednesday prepared to issue a renewed call for urgent action to protect the country’s people.

A new report from the Munich Security Conference, which was discussed Monday at an event on the sidelines of UNGA, found that the US scored worst — alongside Russia, China, and European countries — among five out of nine countries surveyed on whether these actors treat countries like theirs with respect. To put it another way, there appears to be a growing perception in the Global South that Western countries like the US talk the talk when it comes to upholding international rules but don’t always walk the walk.

US Government & Governance
As the US election campaign progresses, political/government junkies worry more about the role of the Electoral College in determining the final result. Thus, considerable interest in this newly-published piece.
Republicans’ Electoral College Edge, Once Seen as Ironclad, Looks to Be Fading
Ever since Donald J. Trump’s stunning victory in 2016 — when he lost the popular vote by almost three million votes but still triumphed with over 300 electoral votes — many who follow politics have believed Republicans hold an intractable advantage in the Electoral College.
But there’s growing evidence to support a surprising possibility: His once formidable advantage in the Electoral College is not as ironclad as many presumed. Instead, it might be shrinking.
According to The New York Times’s polling average, it does not seem that Kamala Harris will necessarily need to win the popular vote by much to prevail.
However, before rejoicing, read Letters from an American September 20, 2024
Heather Cox Richardson
In a country of 50 states and Washington, D.C.—a country of more than 330 million people—presidential elections are decided in just a handful of states, and it is possible for someone who loses the popular vote to become president.
Meanwhile topping the issue of the Electoral College is the incredibly wobbly system of funding the government. On Wednesday evening, we can breathe a sigh of relief now that the Senate sends bill to avert government shutdown to Biden’s desk
(The Hill) Senators on Wednesday passed a short-term funding extension that keeps the government’s lights on until mid-December and averts a pre-election government shutdown days before the end-of-the-month deadline.
What a way to run a country!

The ‘Obama effect’ is coming for Macron and Trudeau
As the French president visits Canada, both he and Trudeau are grappling with declining popularity and the rise of right-wing movements that challenge their political legacies.
Each could be succeeded by someone who is their polar opposite and threatens to tarnish their legacy, as former President Donald Trump did to Barack Obama following the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Emmanuel Macron à Ottawa et Montréal mercredi et jeudi
Selon l’horaire officiel de M. Trudeau, un « dîner en l’honneur du président de la France » est prévu mercredi soir à Ottawa. The agenda includes discussions on supporting Ukraine, enhancing responses to emerging threats like disinformation, and preparations for the upcoming Francophonie Summit in France. Trudeau emphasized the visit’s importance in promoting the French language and fostering innovation in science and research.

In this week’s Hill Times column, Andrew Caddell argues that byelection results, like the recent Bloc Québécois win in LaSalle–Émard–Verdun, can be deceptive. With low voter turnout and the Bloc candidate winning only 11 per cent of possible votes, this outcome highlights the Bloc’s committed base but questions its broader appeal. Contributing factors included discontent among Liberal voters, a lackluster Liberal candidate, and voter confusion with similarly named NDP contender, Craig Sauvé. Despite the Bloc’s celebration, their limited urban appeal may hinder long-term success, while increased turnout in a general election could favor the Liberals. The potential for a Conservative wave in 2025 further underscores the unpredictability of Quebec’s political landscape.

Varia
Could doctors soon prescribe music as medicine?
We know music has the power to soothe the soul, but neuroscientist Daniel Levitin says it could also help heal the body and brain. Levitin talks to Matt Galloway about the power of music as medicine — and how it helped his friend, Joni Mitchell, recover from a brain aneurysm.
I Heard There Was a Secret Chord: Music As Medicine
and some happy news for Montreal and Quebec visitors
Four Montreal hotels nab select One Key rating from Michelin Guide
Four Montreal hotels made the short list of 23 hotels across Canada that garnered One Key and the notable thing is all four are smaller boutique hotels — Le Germain Montreal and Le Mount Stephen, both downtown, and Le Petit Hotel and Le Place d’Armes Hotel & Suites, both in Old Montreal.
Two Quebec hotels made the even more select Two Key category. They are: Manoir Hovey on the banks of Lake Massiwippi in North Hatley and the Auberge Saint-Antoine in Quebec City.
Shouldn’t Canada have a say?
‘Pablo Escobar of beavers’ calls on Poland’s Tusk to cover dams, not shoot animals
The wildlife manager — and self-professed “good guy” — says Warsaw does not need to kill beavers to protect its dams.
It follows that in the wake of a natural disaster, politicians scramble for a scapegoat.
But it was to some bemusement that Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk launched an unlikely war on — *checks notes* — beavers this week in the wake of historic floods that wreaked havoc across the country.
The aquatic rodent — which burrows into river dams and damages river banks — is part of the problem, Tusk said.
Justin Trudeau interview with Stephen Colbert
Brownstein: All Trudeau needed was love. And he got it on Colbert
The audience went wild with cheers and applause as he took to his seat. Trudeau probably hasn’t heard this sort of adulation in months at home. He had the crowd and Colbert in his hip pocket from then on in over the course of his nearly 20-minute schmooze. Where Do Canadians And Americans Butt Heads? PM Justin Trudeau Explains

Long reads
Munich Security Brief: Standard Deviation
Views on Western Double Standards and the Value of International Rules
Accusations that the West is guilty of double standards seem omnipresent these days. According to many governments in the so-called Global South, Western states all too frequently deviate from their ostensible foreign policy principles or follow them inconsistently. But criticism of Western double standards has not only become more vocal. It has also become a proxy debate about the value of universal rules and principles as such
On the cusp of all-out war against Hezbollah, Israel weighs next move
Israel has been preparing for its next war against Hezbollah for nearly a decade, and a full-scale conflict has seemed increasingly inevitable with each passing month since Oct. 7. Now, with Hamas diminished in Gaza, Israel is putting its battle plan in motion.
Why Do People Like Elon Musk Love Donald Trump? It’s Not Just About Money.
… More than any other administration in the internet era, President Biden and Ms. Harris have pushed tech companies toward serving the public interest. Key to their approach is the support of start-ups to counterbalance the dominance of tech giants, whose combined market value eclipses the G.D.P. of many countries. Brian Deese, the former director of Mr. Biden’s National Economic Council, has made clear that “big” companies are not inherently bad. But when they wield their market power, they can unfairly increase prices, narrow consumer choice, lower wages and impede the innovation that comes from fruitful competition.
Related: Department of Justice sues Visa, alleges the card issuer monopolizes debit card markets
The U.S. Justice Department has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Visa, alleging that the financial services behemoth uses its size and dominance to stifle competition in the debit card market, costing consumers and businesses billions of dollars.
Google is on the hot seat. Some want to break it up. Good luck
After more than 15 years as the dominant force in internet search and advertising, breaking up Google is hardly a straightforward business
US considers breaking up Google after illegal monopoly ruling, reports say
DoJ could force divestment of Android operation system and Chrome web browser following antitrust verdict