Robert Wolfe

The proportion of Canadians who have a positive view of the US is about the same as the percentage of those who have a positive opinion of Saudi Arabia. Gives you a good idea of the damage Donald Trump has done.

In Hungary, Rubio says Trump is committed to PM Orban's success President Donald Trump is committed to the success of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban because his leadership and rapport with Trump are crucial to U.S. interests, U.S. Secretary of State Marco R...

Under Viktor Orbán, Hungary is consistently ranked as one of the two most corrupt (with Bulgaria) member states in the European Union
And Marco Rubio just told Orban in Munich:
"Trump is deeply committed to your success because your success is our success"
www.reuters.com/world/europe...

Bashing Trump’s tariffs is slowly becoming a bipartisan sport [FREE TO READ] Even the feeble congressional Republicans are recognising how disliked the president’s import taxes are

My Trade Secrets today. Even the congressional Republicans are twigging how unpopular Trump’s tariffs are. For trading partners trying to negotiate them away, it’s a question of promising him stuff you can renege on and hoping he won’t dare bring them back when you do.

Photo of Prime Minister Carney with President von der Leyen of the European Commission and President Costa of the European Council.

Canada is now the first non-European country to be granted a membership in SAFE. This is a gamechanger program that means Canada can rearm our Canadian Armed Forces members more effectively and scale up our defence industries with more contracts overseas.

It’s good to see this unity.

Carney and Polievre were reportedly encouraged to hold hands by an Indigenous leader - and they listened. The result is powerful, because of the unity it displays and bc of how rare it is in our political climate.

Sending so much love to the people of Tumbler Ridge.

While this is true, nobody in the Trump admin or MAGA movement believes this.

Rubio skips Ukraine meeting with European leaders in Munich US secretary of state cancels attendance at last minute in move that EU official calls ‘insane’

US Sec of State Rubio skips Ukraine meeting with European leaders in Munich. He canceled attendance at last minute in move that EU official calls ‘insane’
www.ft.com/content/fdd6...

Please enjoy our research paper on how Bluesky is the preferred home of academics of all stripes, including professors of rare moths. (Yes, we actually have lots of entomologists here).

academic.oup.com/icb/article-... 🧪

Just saw the footage of the five party leaders standing shoulder to shoulder, alongside locals, at the memorial in Tumbler Ridge, a small town I've been to many times. I think it's good we have a country where a moment like this can occur. I think we should strive so moments like this don't need to.

so is he the real trade min sister now? Who will go to WTO MC14 next month?

Rubio just made a speech to the European defense community in Munich that did not mention Ukraine. Or democracy. Or US business deals with Russia. Or the administration's plans to support the European far right. But there were lots of nice words about our common civilization.

😀

Picture of a gray haired woman wearing a shirt that reads on the back “come see my daughter’s film A Woman’s Work at Santa Barbara Film Festival 2/11 at 11:20am 2/12 6:20pm I am a Jewish mother seeking a girlfriend/future wife for my filmmaker daughter (she is multilingual and has an adorable dog). Please inquire with me”

Best advertisement I’ve seen so far at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival

Canada aims to fix industrial carbon pricing. Here’s how to make it work Industrial carbon pricing is a critically important policy lever, but as it stands this tool is broken and needs immediate attention.

👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻
www.nationalobserver.com/2026/02/12/o...

Right, another key thing that historians do is working with important records that have not been digitized.

And the vast majority of the world’s records *have not been digitized* and thus do not exist in any format that LLMs/AI can work with.

Carney cancelled his trip. Today he is Tumbler Ridge BC at a vigil for the victims of the school shooting

Snort-inducing from @alanbeattie.bsky.social, sunny and optimistic as ever on the proposals for a rare earths coalition.

www.ft.com/content/bd81...

Just found five AI-generated, completely fraudulent submissions to the journal that I edit. Submitted rapid-fire by a gmail address affiliated with researcher who does not exist.

The era of AI slop in academic journals is here, right now. The fraudsters will only get better from here.

there's a gem in this story. Canada did step up controls but purely for performative reasons--there was virtually no fentanyl crossing the border in January 2025. So removing the egregious tariffs on Canada will make no difference whatsoever to the fentanyl trade

insidetrade.com/daily-news/h...

Last week Canada announced it will develop its own tailpipe standards for GHGs. That's about to get way more urgent. When EPA repeals the endangerment finding its GHG tailpipe standards, which are predicated on that finding, will immediately be defunct. Cdn law references US regs that won't exist.

1/ I know I'm biased because "waves book" but I think you should be able to make the case that the US is a critically important market for Canada without lying.

The US takes 75-77% of Canadian exports, but experts only account for about a third of Canadian GDP.

75% of 35% is not 75%.

Why are fertility rates collapsing? Gender roles A big part of female graduates’ decision to have children depends on how they expect their husbands to behave

Martin Wolf absolutely on the money here. Declining fertility rates are about structural changes in society- more equal opportunities.

Reform and voices on the right want to turn back the clock on women's opportunity. Progressives should give it short shrift.

giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

the rollout of the mRNA vaccines was one of the greatest public health triumphs in history and the end result has been the all-around triumph of the antivax movement and I will never get over it

always have to ask who was the last lobbyist Trump spoke to

Why curling rocks come from just two spots on Earth The rocks used in the Olympic sport of curling come from one island in Scotland and one quarry in Wales. What makes them so special?

Had a blast speaking to curler and geologist Derek Leung about the geology of curling rocks. 🥌 🧪

UPDATES: Timeline of the WTO agriculture negotiations from 2021 Timeline with links to some key documents and news.

WTO agriculture talks continue, amid zero public interest since they have not moved for years.

Two new papers landed in Jan, sadly circulated as secret by Indonesia and the African Group—not that anyone would look at them even if they were public. Another failure at next month’s big meeting? Maybe.

Classic dilemmas of trade agreements.

1. Bilateral or group agreements discriminate against non-participants.

2. Preferences for the poorest countries can be eroded by trade barriers lowered for others, and they can be withdrawn.

3. Multilateral deals are fairer, but difficult to conclude

A post-Trump restoration is still possible His presidency may eventually be seen as an aberration rather than a permanent shift

A post-Trump restoration is still possible ft.trib.al/GX2fiqG

The Chinese Factory That Opened in the U.S. and Clobbered Its Rivals President Trump has pressured trading partners for investment in U.S. manufacturing plants. What if local industries can’t compete?

This WSJ story about a Chinese auto-glass plant in Ohio is interesting less as a China story than as a window into the challenges of U.S. industrial policy going forward. 1/

www.wsj.com/business/tar...

If Vance isn’t able to attend an Olympic event without an entourage of armored vehicles that looks like he just landed at Normandy in 1944, maybe he shouldn’t go.