Mark Shainblum

GameStop Canada to be rebranded EB Games after acquisition by Quebec toymaker | CBC News GameStop Canada says it has been acquired by French-Canadian entrepreneur Stephan Tetrault from the video game retailer's struggling parent company.

So after spending hundreds of thousands (millions?) of dollars rebranding EB Games to GameStop during the meme stock bubble, the parent company is selling the Canadian operation and they're going to un-rebrand them back to EB Games across Canada.

www.cbc.ca/news/busines...

Pennsylvania police make arrest after suspected arson at governor's mansion | CBC News Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family were evacuated overnight from the official governor's residence after someone set fire to the building, police said Sunday.

So Governor Shapiro's official residence in Pennsylvania was torched at 2 AM. The suspect's name is Cody Balmer, age 38, who admitted he haboured "hatred" against Shapiro.

Gee, Cody, I wonder why you would hate a man named Shapiro so much?

www.cbc.ca/news/world/p...

Should Canada explore developing a nuclear weapons program? Amid a changing global security landscape and ongoing sovereignty taunts from U.S. President Donald Trump, one military expert says Canada may need to reconsider its position on nuclear weapons.

See? I knew this would come up the moment we could no longer count on the USA. Even if Trump cools down his 51st state nonsense, we still need to worry about Russia and other bad actors. We need to defend ourselves.

Terrible for non-proliferation though.

www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business/int...

So two science fiction anthogies I co-edited, and one that I wrote a foreword for, are all in LibGen, the pirated book database that Meta (Facebook) used illegally to train its AI.

Search for your own writing here:
www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

Canada to partner with Australia on early warning detection system in the Arctic | CBC News Prime Minister Mark Carney announced investments into the military’s infrastructure and presence in the Arctic and into Nunavut infrastructure while visiting its capital of Iqaluit on Tuesday — the fi...

This is the way to do it! Co-develop sophisticated defense technology with a reliable, Commonwealth ally like Australia. We don't need the Americans to do this, and if Trump eventually realizes Putin isn't his friend, he can ask nicely to use these radars for NORAD.

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

This is why Canada has plenty of eggs — and the U.S. doesn't While the U.S. grapples with an egg shortage caused by avian flu, eggs remain plentiful and affordable in Canada. There are reasons for that, including that egg farms there tend to be smaller.

Imagine, you can avoid egg shortages and avian flu by managing supply and preventing agribusiness from driving small farmers into bankruptcy.

The horror!

www.npr.org/2025/03/18/n...

Carney says 51st state comments ‘will have to stop before we sit down’ with U.S. Prime Minister Mark Carney, while speaking from Canada House in London, says U.S. President Donald Trump's 'disrespectful' comments calling Canada the 51st state ‘will have to stop before we sit down ...

Goddamn right they will. You can't talk to someone who questions your right to even be at the table.

www.cbc.ca/player/play/...

Canada could scrap $13 billion F-35 fighter jet deal with US Ottawa's reported move comes amid growing trade and political spat with the Trump administration.

FAFO in a nutshell. Even if Trump cancelled all the tariffs tomorrow and apologized, how could we ever trust the US again as a supplier of major weapons systems?

www.newsweek.com/canada-f-35-...

Trump’s talk on annexing Canada ‘real,’ Trudeau says in hot mic moment - National | Globalnews.ca The federal government is hosting a summit in Toronto Friday aimed at bolstering the economy in the face of Canada's rapidly changing relationship with its largest trading partner.

It's absolutely real. Trump is trying to turn the USA back into a territorial empire like it was after the Spanish-American War in the 1890s. When they took Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Phillipines from Spain and decided to keep them.

globalnews.ca/news/1100859...

Attempting to annex Canada would spell disaster for the U.S. at home and abroad Canadians would never passively accept the loss of their national identity — any forced integration would be violently opposed and quickly devolve into a nightmare scenario for both nations.

Not that I think this scenario is terribly likely, it's probably just more of Trump's "look over there!" distraction technique. But with him, you can never be 100% sure.

In any case, accurate assessment in case the impossible does happen.

theconversation.com/attempting-t...

A sneaky plug from my day job at the Ottawa Library.

Sat, Dec 7, 2 PM we're hosting Super Authors!

Comic book writer Jack Briglio and me will discuss writing comics & graphic novels, at the Manotick Branch of the OPL. If you're interested, please register.

biblioottawalibrary.ca/en/event/sup...

This is an important article, from The Ottawa Citizen.

Antisemitism suddenly seems cool (again), across a wide swath of the population. And y'know what? It isn't. Supporting Palestinian rights, which is legitimate, doesn't give anyone a free pass to shit on us.

ssnews.page.link/buR4F12T8Thx...

Hi again, everyone. 7 months after my first post, I'm back again, in the midst of the great abandonment of Twitter.

Since I virtually never use Twitter, this is really just adding a social rather than replacing one, so we'll see. I'll still probably be more active on FB.

Thanks Troy!!

Seems like it! Thanks Ranylt.

Thanks Chris!

Thanks Robert!

Hi Dwight!!

Hey Chadwick!!!

Thanks Keith!!

Hi folks! My first post on Bluesky! Please note the moment of historical importance. ☺️

Not much to say right now, but if you're a resident of Ottawa, please note that all branches of the Ottawa Public Library are accepting donations of your used eclipse glasses, for shipment to South America.