Donald Trump almost had a good week. And then he did what he does best.
This week, the orange menace gave this first speech to congress, and he didn’t make a complete and utter ass of himself. The fact he didn’t insult anyone, didn’t tell any flagrant lies, and didn’t make any especially incendiary remarks that he hasn’t already made was hailed by a desperate American media as a sign he might be ‘presidential’ after all. Of course, with Trump the bar has been set so low it is pretty much impossible to get under. But of course, the good times did not last. Later in the week, his attorney general was caught lying about meeting with Russians during the election campaign. He was forced to recuse himself was any investigation of Russian hacking of the election. With the pressure ramping up on the Russia file, Trump threw in a random distraction. In multiple tweets Saturday, Trump claimed that the Obama administration tapped his phones at Trump Tower during the election, calling Obama a “bad (or sick) guy!” Where did the allegation come from? Apparently, Breitbart News, the notorious site famous as the motherland of fake news. Now he’s demanding a full investigation, based on zero evidence.
And just for fun, he engaged in another spat with Arnold Schwarzenneger over the failure of the Trumpless The Apprentice.
That’s Donald Trump for ya … one step forward, 25 steps back.
Welcome, rich jerks
I guess this is good news, but I’m not sure.
A commercial real estate agency, Knight Frank, produces a yearly Wealth Report, and it found that Canada has had the fastest growth of “super rich” residents of any country in the world. Canada saw a 15% increase in the number of “ultra high net worth individuals” (having a net worth of $30 million US or more) between 2015 and 2016, the report said. Millionaire migrants are the major reason; the report found Canada is now the third most popular destination for wealthy migrants, behind Australia and the U.S. They are mostly from China, and their destination of choice is Vancouver, which saw the fastest increase in super-rich residents in the world.
So, welcome, rich jerks. Canada welcomes you!
Last word on the Oscars
Enough has been written about this year’s infamous Oscar snafu (which, despite being only a week ago, seems like it happened years ago). Lost in the jaw-dropping fiasco is the fact that Moonlight, a vastly inferior film to La La Land, was awarded best picture. Moonlight is dreary, a long slog even though it’s only two hours. Let’s be honest — this was a make-good award. After last year’s Oscars So White controversy, the Academy members were anxious to show just how “inclusive” the Academy had become. When presented with the opportunity to present a best picture Oscar to an entirely African-American written, produced and acted film — and one whose central character wrestles with his sexuality — the academy couldn’t resist the bait. I haven’t been this ticked off at an Oscar winner since Shakespeare in Love defeated Saving Private Ryan.
RIP
Vladimir Petrov, 69, a key player in the 1970 Canada-Russia series, scoring 3 goals and four assists in that series … Joseph Wapner, 97, the first of the TV judges with the original The People’s Court.
In This Corner 