'Canada "Must Hit Back Hard and Fast as Trump Declares Economic War': largest private sector union'

 Canada must retaliate swiftly and definitively to the unjust imposition of a sweeping 25% tariff on Canadian goods and 10% tariff on energy imported to the United States, says Unifor.

"With the implementation of these tariffs, President Trump has declared a trade war with Canada and with Canadian workers," said Unifor National President Lana Payne. "Trump's decision to go to battle with America's largest trading partner will hurt working people on both sides of the border and inflict real economic damage to both countries."

The U.S. tariffs are reportedly scheduled to come into effect on Tuesday February 4, 2025.

"I believe Trump has underestimated Canadians. He has failed to realize that he has enraged and united an entire nation that is ready to fight to defend every last job in this country," said Payne. "We will never forget this act of hostility against our workers, and we must take every measure possible – utilize every ounce of creativity we have – to  build a strong, resilient, and diverse economy to never be held hostage by America again."

Payne, a member of the Prime Minister's Council on Canada-U.S. Relations, has called for a strong response to tariffs in addition to other measures including Buy Canadian protocols, leveraging procurement policies to support Canadian jobs and industries and better management of strategic national resources through industrial policy.

Unifor has also called for enhanced income supports for workers with improved access to Employment Insurance benefits and emergency relief programs to mitigate risk of layoff and sustain companies in their operations.

Read Unifor's recommendations to protect jobs and shore up the economy here.

Unifor is Canada's largest union in the private sector, representing 320,000 workers in every major area of the economy. The union advocates for all working people and their rights, fights for equality and social justice in Canada and abroad, and strives to create progressive change for a better future.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/canada-must-hit-back-hard-195700562.html

Israel's Netanyahu says negotiations start Monday for next phase of Gaza ceasefire

  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will start negotiations on the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire when he meets with U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East Envoy, Steve Witkoff, on Monday in Washington, Netanyahu's office said late on Saturday.

Netanyahu is scheduled to depart Israel on Sunday for Washington, where he is to meet next week with Trump at the White House to discuss Gaza and the Israeli hostages held there.

During his meeting with Witkoff, Netanyahu will discuss Israel's positions in respect to the ceasefire, the prime minister's office said. Witkoff will then speak with officials from Egypt and Qatar, who have mediated between Israel and Hamas over the past 15 months with backing from Washington.

Israel and Hamas last month reached a complex ceasefire agreement, to be implemented in three phases, that has halted the fighting in Gaza. Hamas has so far released 18 hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians that are held in Israeli prisons and detentions.

There are more than 70 hostages still held in Gaza.

https://www.aol.com/news/israels-netanyahu-says-negotiations-start-205838307.html

ICE aims to lower US immigration detention standards to encourage more sheriffs to aid crackdown

 The Trump administration aims to lower its existing detention standards to allow more U.S. jails to participate and open up more bed space to detain immigrants in the U.S. illegally, Trump's border czar Tom Homan said at an event in Washington on Saturday.

Homan said at an annual meeting of the National Sheriffs' Association that the administration was working to allow U.S. jails to detain migrants using their state-level standards instead of ICE's more rigorous guidelines and to reduce the number of inspections of the facilities.

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2025-02-01/trump-administration-aims-to-lower-immigration-detention-standards-to-let-more-jails-participate-border-czar-says

Trump orders steep tariffs on goods from Mexico, Canada, China

 U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday ordered 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports and 10% on goods from China starting on Tuesday to address a national emergency over fentanyl and illegal aliens entering the U.S., White House officials said.

Here are some comments from strategists and investors:

DUSTIN REID, CHIEF STRATEGIST, FIXED INCOME, MACKENZIE FINANCIAL, TORONTO:

"I think it’s quite negative for equities – they will be sold off, along with other risk assets. If the tariffs are implemented as seems likely now, they will have a very significant impact on price levels in the U.S. very quickly, which also will put a dent in equities and high-beta assets. I think it’s very likely we’ll see reciprocal tariffs announced. I’m assuming that happens as soon as this evening."

MARK MALEK, CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER, SIEBERT FINANCIAL:

"Until now the market has really been on Trump's side, but this is something where that could change and the market could challenge him for the first time. The unknown will perturb the market, no question about it."

RICK MECKLER, PARTNER, CHERRY LANE INVESTMENTS, FAMILY INVESTMENT OFFICE, NEW VERNON, NJ

"These generalized tariffs that cover a much wider range of products and are targeted toward social policy have usually proven to be a mistake. I think that’s why the market has looked at this skeptically, and with anxiety, all along. With any delay in implementation, there will be some view that this is still a negotiating ploy."

"I would expect to see the market rattled by it if it’s signed and issued, in the form we understand it might take.

"A full reaction won’t be reached until it’s clear this is the policy, however."

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-orders-steep-tariffs-goods-224811563.html

Army helicopter was warned about American Airlines plane twice before DC crash

 The Black Hawk helicopter that crashed into an American Airlines plane was alerted to the plane’s presence by air control twice, the first time at least two minutes before the deadly crash, according to a Washington Post report.

Aviation experts reviewed Wednesday night’s radio transmissions, obtained by The Washington Post, and said that a soldier on the Black Hawk requested “visual separation” so that the helicopter crew could maintain a safe distance from the plane, which it could see. Both times, the request was approved by air traffic control.

At 8:48 p.m., about 12 seconds after the second air traffic control tower alert, the helicopter and passenger plane collided.

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The Black Hawk helicopter that crashed into an American Airlines flight was alerted to the plane’s presence by air control twice, according to the reports.AFP via Getty Images

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At 8:48 p.m. on Wednesday night, about 12 seconds after the second air traffic control tower alert, the aircraft collided with each other.

According to the aviation experts who reviewed the recordings, these warnings show that the helicopter crew had plenty of time to react and avoid the plane, but may not have because they saw something else in their line of vision — but not the American Airlines flight they eventually crashed into.

“If he was looking at the right airplane, he wouldn’t have hit him,” retired National Transportation Safety Board investigator Scott Dunham told The Washington Post. “They were miles apart. … The resolution literally takes seconds.”

Flight path data shows another plane behind the American Airlines flight and about 11 miles from the helicopter.

According to Dunham, the second airliner may have been difficult to distinguish from the American Airlines plane arriving from Wichita, especially at night.

The mid-air collision claimed the lives of 64 people on the plane and 3 soldiers on the Black Hawk.

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Flight path data shows another plane behind the American Airlines plane and around 11 miles from the helicopter.JIM LO SCALZO/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

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The mid-air collision between the helicopter and an American Airlines jet claimed the lives of 67 people.Petty Officer 1st Class Brandon Giles/U S Coast Guard/UPI/Shutterstock

Officials said Friday during a news conference that they have full confidence that they will be able to recover all 67 bodies. So far, the National Transportation Safety Board has confirmed the recovery of 41 victims.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash over the Potomac River.

As of Friday, the agency has been able to recover the Black Box recorders from both of the aircraft and believes it will be able to recover all of the data within them.

https://nypost.com/2025/02/01/us-news/army-helicopter-was-warned-about-plane-two-minutes-before-dc-crash/

Sen. Schmitt to Patel: US Founded On Idea People Could Say What They Want Without Fear Of Government

 Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) questioned Kash Patel on Thursday in his confirmation hearing for FBI director. Schmitt told Patel that he has all the faith in the world that he will restore the trust of the FBI.

SEN. ERIC SCHMITT (R-MO): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It's good to see you, Mr. Patel. It's great to have your family here.

I know they must be very proud. I have to tell you, I saw up close and personal how politically weaponized the FBI had become. In my former job as Attorney General of Missouri, we brought the Missouri versus Biden lawsuit, which uncovered this vast censorship enterprise where the federal government coerced and colluded with some of the biggest companies in the history of the world to suppress speech.

And not just that, actually to pre-bunk the Hunter Biden laptop story. The FBI had the laptop in November of 2019. They met with senior executives.

Yoel Roth, who was the main guy at Twitter at the time, signed an affidavit saying they were talking specifically about the laptop. It could be Hunter Biden's pre-bunking it, calling it a Russian hack and leak operation. They knew it was true.

They knew it was his laptop. So, the rot is deep and the time for you is now. And I'm glad because reform is needed.

Senator Durbin referenced your book. I actually think, I think it's a good, everyone should read the book. Because I want to ask you about some quotes that are in the book, because a lot's been made of it.

Usually just some of the end notes, but the content of the book. Did you say in the book, American justice must never be selective. If the law is applied unevenly, democracy crumbles.

Did you say that?

KASH PATEL: I did, Senator.

SEN. ERIC SCHMITT: When agencies like the FBI and the CIA prioritize politics over truth, the nation suffers. Did you say that?

KASH PATEL: I sure did, Senator.

SEN. ERIC SCHMITT: Accountability isn't optional. Those who violate the public trust must face real consequences, regardless of their rank or title. Did you say that?

KASH PATEL: I did, Senator.

SEN. ERIC SCHMITT: Okay. There's a lot more in there. And I know that that Senator Tillis has got the game of bingo.

I'd like to play another game. Would you rather?

KASH PATEL: Let's have at it, sir.

SEN. ERIC SCHMITT: Would you rather the FBI prosecute and persecute parents who voice legitimate concerns at school board meetings, or should it investigate domestic terrorists who commit school shootings and threaten the lives of American children?

KASH PATEL: Absolutely investigate, prioritize the safety of our children and any actual and real domestic terrorists, as I've prosecuted in my past in the Obama Justice Department.

SEN. ERIC SCHMITT: Would you rather the FBI be weaponized by investigating presidential candidates, political opponents, spying on and wiretapping candidates' advisors, or should the FBI get its back, get back to its core mission and get politics out of the FBI?

KASH PATEL: There should be no politics in the FBI. And having been a victim of the weaponization of law enforcement against me, I know what that feels like. And if I'm confirmed, I will make sure no American feels that sleight of hand ever again.

SEN. ERIC SCHMITT: Would you rather the FBI target traditional Catholics as extremists, or should the FBI focus on investigating actual threats posed to the American people by cartels pumping fentanyl into our communities through the southern border?

KASH PATEL: A hundred thousand deaths due to fentanyl drug overdoses in one year. I'd rather the FBI focus on that and save our children.

SEN. ERIC SCHMITT: Would you rather the FBI ignore when thugs threaten to harm and plot against Supreme Court justices, or should the FBI actually investigate that and get to the bottom of it?

KASH PATEL: I'm so glad you brought that up, Senator. This body passed a law to protect our justice of the peace, including the Supreme Court, and every single justice of the peace deserves that enforcement of that law so they can do their duty.

SEN. ERIC SCHMITT: Would you rather the FBI pressure social media companies into censoring conservative viewpoints, or should it focus on what the FBI should get back to, which is investigating interstate crimes that threaten the well-being of Americans?

KASH PATEL: No censorship. Let's focus on investigating interstate crimes.

SEN. ERIC SCHMITT: Would you rather the FBI raid the home of a former president and chief political rival, going through the first lady's personal belongings, spreading out documents on the floor staged, or should it raid the homes of terrorists who seek to harm citizens?

KASH PATEL: Let's let our men and women in law enforcement kick down the doors of terrorists and narco traffickers and pedophiles and put those people in prison where they belong.

SEN. ERIC SCHMITT: So, I mean, I could go on and on, but let me tell you what I think is really going on here. What I think's going on here is that the folks on the other side can't actually believe and can't come to grips that they're in this position right now, that they're in the minority, and that President Trump is back in office. Because what they did was, after he was out of office, they tried to destroy him.

They tried to financially ruin him and his family. They tried to intimidate him. They tried to throw him in jail for the rest of his life.

They tried to demonize half the country. Their opening and closing argument for the last four years has been that President Trump and Republicans are a threat to democracy. The American people sat in a jury box, and they watched, and they weighed the evidence, and they heard all the facts, and they rendered their own verdict.

And their verdict was for reform. They don't believe that the people who've been doing this in these positions have done a particularly good job before. They think the deck is stacked against and they saw how our justice system was turned against political opponents in a Soviet-style justice system, which moniker was, show me the man, and I'll show you the crime.

You, and by the way, I don't think they can believe you're sitting where you're sitting at right now. But guess what? You are.

And you're going to get confirmed, and you're going to lead this agency back to what it always should have been, which is to protect the American people, to fight crime, to put the bad guys in jail, not to execute a political agenda like some banana republic form of justice where you point to the person on the other side that you want taken out, and you go do that person's bidding. This country was founded on the idea that people could say what they wanted, they could believe what they want, and that the government wouldn't come after them. The government's job is not to tell you what you should think or what you can say or what you can do or what you believe.

And this Justice Department under Christopher Wray and under Joe Biden and Merrick Garland has done just that. And that's why the trust has plummeted. So you got a big job.

You got a big, big job. But I have all the faith in the world in you that you're going to restore that trust because you believe in the rule of law. You have an incredible personal story.

You're going to get confirmed. And I wish you all the best. And you have my vote.

KASH PATEL: Thank you, Senator. Appreciate that.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2025/01/30/sen_schmitt_to_kash_patel_this_country_was_founded_on_the_idea_that_people_could_say_what_they_want_without_fear_of_government.html