August 30, 2026 - Nepal Casualties to Rival 9/11

The trade fight with Canada escalated again this week. 

Prime Minister Mark Carney walked away from trade talks, then announced matching tariffs on American goods, some as high as 50 percent. On Thursday, President Trump signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario as "Lake America." Carney noted the name traces to a Wendat word and dates back more than 400 years: "This lake is called Lake Ontario - today and forever."

There is a case for the pressure. The White House points to a persistent average annual goods trade deficit of roughly $50 billion over the last decade, and to Canadian barriers that keep American access from being reciprocal. Trump leveled up NATO when it needed leveling. I want this fair, too, and I want it kept fair.

But something else is going on, and David L. Cohen named it. The former U.S. ambassador to Canada was in my SiriusXM studio this week when I asked him what it will take to repair the relationship. His answer: "We owe them an apology." He said that he continues to travel to Canada where he is well-received, and that he does just that.

"I'm apologizing for two things," he said. "I apologize for the aggressive and unjustified financial treatment of our current trade policies, and I apologize for the tone of the rhetoric that has been applied ... from certain quarters in the United States to Canada." Including the 51st state talk.

SiriusXM reaches much of Canada, so we took calls that hour and heard almost exclusively from Canadians. They were not angry so much as hurt. 

Here is my observation: never in my life have I gone to bed worried about our northern border. They are good people and have been good neighbors.

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At least 675 people are dead and nearly 2,500 missing — including about 100 Americans — after a massive ice and rock collapse on the Nepal-Tibet border triggered catastrophic flash floods and mudslides that have devastated Himalayan communities.

NBC News

Ontario Premier Doug Ford unveiled a giant "Lake Ontario. Now and Always" sign near Grimsby in response to President Trump's executive order directing U.S. agencies to rename the lake "Lake America," as Canadian leaders answered the move with mockery amid collapsing trade talks.

The Hill

Far-right British commentator and former Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos, a vocal ICE supporter, was deported from the US after being detained at a New Orleans airport over an expired visa and a final removal order issued in July when he skipped an immigration hearing.

The Guardian

As jurors deliberate in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial, they must weigh competing testimony over her mental health, medical care and whether postpartum psychosis left her criminally responsible for killing her three children.

Associated Press

A survey, commissioned by Breakstone, of 2,000 U.S. adults found the average American's energy starts fading at 2:48 p.m., with 82% saying they run their lives on autopilot and 71% skipping or delaying meals about 3.4 times a week because they're too busy.

StudyFinds

The FBI quietly relaxed background-check standards in June so that past prostitution, employer theft, and even bestiality no longer automatically disqualify applicants, as the bureau contends with more than 1,100 special agent departures in 2025.

CBS News

Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed apologized to Jewish Democrats at the state party convention in Lansing for saying "hurt people hurt people" after the March Hezbollah-inspired attack on a synagogue near Detroit, telling reporters his remarks may have been misconstrued as justifying the terrorism.

CNN

Anne Hathaway will star opposite Tom Cruise in Paramount's sequel to the 1990 racing drama Days of Thunder, with Cruise reprising Cole Trickle and Hathaway playing a team owner and engineer; Jonathan Levine directs from a Will Staples script, hitting theaters and Imax on June 2, 2028.

The Hollywood Reporter

Campaigners in the U.K. are urging cinemas to pull Sacha Baron Cohen’s new Ali G film over accusations that its portrayal of the character is outdated and racist, while reports that a major chain has already agreed to boycott the movie are inaccurate.

Variety

As extreme heat intensifies, aging and underfunded public pools are increasingly being recognized as essential climate infrastructure that cities must invest in and preserve.

The Atlantic