International
De Bruin wins monobob bronze, Canada roars into women’s hockey final
BEIJING — Christine de Bruin wore an Olympic medal around her neck for the first time in her career, and the Canadian bobsledder liked the feeling.
“It feels awesome,” she said of the bronze medal she claimed in the Olympic debut of the monobob. “It feels heavy. It’s nice.”
No doubt, the feeling of two medals would be even nicer.
The native of Stony Plain, Alta., picked up Canada’s first sliding medal of the Beijing Olympics on Monday when she raced to third place in the monobob in a time of four minutes 21.03 seconds.
She will have a chance to add to Canada’s coffers in the two-woman event on Saturday. She said the knowledge of the track at Yanqing National Sliding Centre gained during her monobob runs should serve her well.
“It means that I have a really good understanding of the track and with Buj (Kristen Bujnowski), my brakewoman behind me, we have a very competitive push,” de Bruin said.
“Put the two together and we should have a great result.”
Kaillie Humphries, de Bruin’s former teammate, led a one-two punch atop the podium for the United States with a dominating time of 4:19.27. American veteran Elana Meyers Taylor took silver in 4:20.81.
Humphries picked up her fourth Olympic medal. She won two gold and a bronze in the two-woman event as a competitor for Canada before switching to represent the United States after the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.
Elsewhere on Monday, Canada assured itself of at least one more medal in Beijing with a 10-3 win over Switzerland in the women’s hockey semifinals. The Canadians will face the winner of a later semifinal between the United States and Finland for gold on Thursday.
Canada’s women’s curling team rebounded from a three-game losing streak with an 11-5 win over Russia, and looked to even its record with a win over Britain later Monday. The men’s curling squad improved to 4-2 with a comfortable 7-3 win over Italy. And the nation’s snowboarders look poised to add to their success after a total of five athletes qualified for the finals of the men’s and women’s big air events.
Max Parrot will be looking to follow up his gold-medal slopestyle performance from last week with a similar result in the big air, and appeared on form after topping the men’s qualifier.
Parrot said he was “stoked” by his performance, despite making a mistake on his third jump, but said his focus was firmly on the future.
“I’ve got my ticket for the final so really just focusing on that,” he said. “That’s what’s important. It’s not to finish first in (qualifiers) or second or third, it’s to make it to the final.”
Teammate Mark McMorris was eighth and Darcy Sharpe finished 12th to secure the last spot in the final. Sébastien Toutant, the event’s defending champion, fell twice and did not advance.
On the women’s side, Laurie Blouin qualified fourth for the big air final and Jasmine Baird was 10th.
Seventeen-year-old Olivia Asselin also qualified for the finals of the women’s freestyle skiing slopestyle. Asselin finished in 11th after scoring a 64.68 on her first run at the Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou. Megan Oldham, who finished fourth in the big air, did not advance to the final.
Humphries’ first gold medal sliding for the United States came after a trying four years that included an acrimonious split with Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton — the sport’s national governing body.
Humphries filed a harassment complaint with the organization in 2018, claiming she was “repeatedly and horribly verbally and mentally abused by the head coach.”
Todd Hays, who led the U.S. women’s team from 2011 to 2014, has been Canada’s head coach since 2017.
The allegations remain under investigation.
Asked if she had any words for Canada, Humphries started off by saying “not really” before continuing.
“I’m still Canadian,” said the dual citizen. “I will never forget my time as part of Canada, and I am so proud and honoured to still consider myself Canadian. I am also American. To me, it’s not a rivalry. I’m not picking and choosing one country over the other.
“Canada will always hold my past. Every single time I represented Team Canada, I did so with my heart and soul. The U.S.A. has my future.”
Toronto’s Cynthia Appiah was eighth on the 1,615-metre, 16-turn track located about 90 kilometres north of Beijing.
In women’s hockey, team captain Marie-Philip Poulin scored twice and Claire Thompson had a goal and two assists as the Canadians set a new Olympic tournament record with 54 goals.
“I know when you look at the Olympic scores, you kind of think it has been an easy road for us, but that could not have been any further from the truth,” forward Sarah Nurse said.
“We want to generate a ton of offence but we know we have to clean things up defensively. I know going into the championship (game) we will have to tighten some things up defensively.”
In figure skating, Toronto’s Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Unionville, Ont., finished a disappointing seventh in ice dance in what could be their last Olympics.
Gilles and Poirier botched a rotational lift, which was reflected in their score of 204.78.
Gilles fought back tears as she tried to explain what went wrong. Poirier said to her gently: “You were amazing.”
They could still capture a medal in the team event, pending the decision on the Russian team. Canada was fourth in the team event, but Russia, which was first, could be disqualified after it was revealed that 15-year-old superstar Kamila Valieva tested positive for a banned heart drug.
Valieva was cleared to continue competing by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Monday, but any medal she wins could still be taken from her.
Those issues will be dealt with in a separate, longer-term investigation of the positive doping test that will be led by the Russian anti-doping agency.
The International Olympic Committee said Monday afternoon that if Valieva finishes in the top three, there will be no medal ceremony during the Games. There will also be no ceremony for the team event.
Canada’s Marion Thénault was seventh in women’s aerials. Thénault, from Sherbrooke, Que., just missed out on the superfinal with a 91.29 on her second run of the final. Thénault was part of the team that won the bronze medal in the mixed team aerials event.
China’s Xu Mengtao won gold with 108.61 points in the superfinal.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 14, 2022.
The Canadian Press
International
Kennedy Exposes the Swamp – Vivek and Musk Appointed to DOGE
Government corruption is not isolated to Washington. The media, academics, lobbyists, think-tanks, pharmaceutical companies, big tech, and perhaps every organization with ties to federal agencies compromises the corrupt system. It is finally time to drain the swamp.
I often speak on how bankers simply never serve time in prison because they hire the people from the agencies who are supposed to regulate them. Goldman Sachs, for example, may pay a fine but they never send their own to jail. Any fee paid is never even close to the money they actually made, rather, it is just a pay-off. We see the same system throughout every organization or university that government has tarnished. They have become above the law.
A study entitled “Lobbyists into Government” (Benjamin C. K. Egerod and Joshua McCrain (2023)) examines what occurs when a lobbyist transitions into a role in government. Lobbyists are trained to influence and persuade government officials to act on behalf of their corporation. Lobbying firms often hire men and women with prior government experience to gain access to their connections. There are no laws preventing these individuals from entering the government, as both sides of the aisle are drenched in corruption. It has become one giant revolving door. As they say, “It’s one big club and you’re not in it.”
Anthony Fauci acted as the director of the National Institutes of Health while also acting as a top funder of bioweapon research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Stephen Hahn once served as the FDA commissioner in charge of regulating Moderna, one of the pioneers of the COVID-19 vaccine, and then Hahn went on to work directly for Moderna. Scott Gottlieb played the same move with the FDA and Pfizer, as did Mark McClellan with the FDA and Johnson & Johnson.
Kennedy said that the new government would listen to whistleblowers like Edward Snowden, who had been forced into hiding for speaking out against blatant corruption. Countless individuals have risked their freedom and lives to raise the alarm on the magnitude of government corruption. They have been demonized by the media as conspiracy theorists or even domestic terrorists.
The swamp has expanded to every corner of the US. Universities and think tanks produce studies to align with their funders’ political interests. We must starve these corrupt actors of government funds. Then, the new administration must examine how extensively this corruption damaged American lives. We allowed bad actors like Fauci to sell us on the idea of a never-ending pandemic blamed on Chinese peasants at a wet market when he was actively funding gain-of-function research. Kennedy, in particular, has a bone to pick with Fauci.
The Biden Administration focused on multiplying the public sector and expanding government oversight. Trump has appointed Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). “Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies — essential to the ‘Save America’ Movement,” Mr Trump added.
Elon Musk said he looks forward to draining the swamp in Washington. “All actions of the Department of Government Efficiency will be posted online for maximum transparency. Anytime the public thinks we are cutting something important or not cutting something wasteful, just let us know! We will also have a leaderboard for most insanely dumb spending of your tax dollars. This will be both extremely tragic and extremely entertaining,” he posted on X. Vivek posted that they “will not go gently” on corrupt officials.
In addition to damaging American society and aiding in the demise of our very civilization, this corruption is extremely expensive. Trump noted: “Importantly, we will drive out the massive waste and fraud which exists throughout our annual $6.5 Trillion Dollars of Government Spending. They will work together to liberate our Economy, and make the U.S. Government accountable to ‘WE THE PEOPLE.’”
This is one of the main reasons why they attempted to assassinate Trump. The politicians crying that Trump will have them imprisoned know they were acting with ill intent. Our public servants must serve America and American interests. Our food, medicine, education, and every area of life must be free of exploitative practices that only benefit the establishment. IT IS TIME TO DRAIN THE SWAMP.
Daily Caller
‘A Tremendous Boon’: Trump’s Sec Def Pick Will Give Pentagon Its First Real Wake Up Call In Decades
From the Daily Caller News Foundation
By Jake Smith
President-elect Donald Trump’s decision to tap Pete Hegseth for secretary of defense has sent corporate media and the wider defense establishment into a tailspin, with critics taking aim at the veteran’s lack of policy-making experience. Yet, national security experts argue that Hegseth could bring much-needed change to a Pentagon that has lost its way.
Trump announced Tuesday evening that Hegseth would be taking over the nation’s top defense role, touting him as “tough, smart and a true believer in America First.” Hegseth will face a series of challenges that started under the Biden-Harris administration’s tenure, including a recruiting and retention crisis, weapons stockpile shortages, hot-button left-wing policies and two global wars that have dragged in the U.S.
“He wasn’t on my bingo card, but I just finished his book and was incredibly impressed by what he had to say,” Morgan Murphy, former Pentagon press secretary and national security adviser to Sen. Tommy Tuberville, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “I think it’s a really good pick by the president.”
Hegseth is in lockstep with Trump’s “America First” approach, having vocalized his rejection of neoconservatism while also not appearing to be in favor of isolationism, either. Hegseth also spoke on the Shawn Ryan show in an interview published on Nov. 7 about the need to strip the Pentagon and military of left-wing policies that some argue have hindered the military’s readiness.
Many corporate media outlets reacted with shock at Hegseth being tapped to head the Pentagon. A number of officials and defense insiders who spoke to some outlets expressed outrage at the choice, arguing that Trump should have picked a Washington establishment figure for the role.
“Who the fuck is this guy?” a defense lobbyist, who has hoping for “someone who actually has an extensive background in defense,” told Politico.
“Folks are shocked,” one current DOD official told the outlet. “He’s just a Fox News personality that’s never worked in the government.”
Democratic lawmakers, too, have raced to cast doubt on Hegseth, voicing similar criticism.
“There is reason for concern that this is not a person who is a serious enough policymaker, serious enough policy implementer, to do a successful job,” Democratic Washington Rep. Adam Smith told The Associated Press.
Yet some people well versed in the national security and foreign affairs world feel differently; though Hegseth’s appointment was a surprise, it could be just what the Pentagon needs right now.
“Hegseth understands the needs of our service members and is committed to refocusing on readiness and core defense priorities, which will help address some recent challenges within the Department of Defense,” former senior Pentagon official Simone Ledeen told the DCNF.
A Princeton graduate, Hegseth joined the military in the early 2000s, serving in Cuba, Iraq and Afghanistan, and was an infantry platoon leader. He has also been active in veterans affairs, having worked for Vets for Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America in the late 2000s through the mid-2010s.
“He has personally fought in the wars that Washington has signed the nation up for, in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Murphy said. “When I look at his resume, that’s what jumps out at me … when you have been a guest of your government in our foreign interventions, I think it gives a perspective that we have not had from a secretary of defense in a long time.”
The ultimate cost for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars is estimated to be between $4 and $6 trillion, with both conflicts resulting in over 7,000 U.S. servicemember deaths and countless others wounded. Further, 13 U.S. servicemembers died during the botched Biden-Harris Afghanistan withdrawal, which initially left thousands of Americans stranded. Around $7 billion in U.S. military equipment was also left behind, ending up in the hands of the Taliban.
Hegseth joined Fox News in 2014 and has been with the network since. He was interviewed by Trump at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Tuesday and was chosen for the role on the same day, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal.
Hegseth has publicly voiced his strong belief in conservatism, especially when it comes to national security affairs.
“[Hegseth]” will be an amazing leader,” former acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell wrote in a postto X on Tuesday. “He loves America and wants to protect her.”
The incoming defense secretary will inherit a number of challenges plaguing the Biden-Harris administration, including the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and Middle East conflicts. He will also deal with the growing threat from China, which has become increasingly hostile to the U.S. and is rapidly expanding its military.
During an interview with Shawn Ryan last week, Hegseth also raised the issue of the ongoing recruiting and retention crisis in the military. Several branches of the military under the Biden administration have missed their recruiting goals in recent years, prompting the Pentagon to lower some standards to boost enlistment.
That’s an area where Hegseth is likely to fare better than Austin, Murphy told the DCNF.
“It’s going to be, I think, a tremendous boon to recruiting to have a secretary who has served,” Murphy said.
This is my next Secretary of Defense and he’s going to start by firing everyone responsible for pushing woke ideology in the military — and I cannot wait.pic.twitter.com/6uXV3kbySv
— Marina Medvin (@MarinaMedvin) November 13, 2024
Hegseth is also likely to address a number of policies that the Biden administration and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin have embraced in recent years.
Austin has overseen the implementation of several left-wing initiatives at the Pentagon. For example, the military has established diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) quotas for recruiting and retention. In another example, the DCNF previously learned that the Air Force set a “goal” to reduce the white population in a key recruiting program while setting specific targets for other races.
Austin also established a policy where the Pentagon reimburses servicemembers for travel fees if they have to go to another state to get an abortion.
Trump is already quickly filling spots in his cabinet and administration. The president-elect has selected Tulsi Gabbard to head national intelligence, Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz as attorney general, adviser Susie Wiles as White House chief of staff, Florida Rep. Mike Waltz to serve as his national security adviser, Tom Homan as “border czar,” North Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as Department of Homeland Security secretary and John Ratcliffe as Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director.
Republican Florida Sen. Marco was also confirmed Wednesday to be Trump’s pick for secretary of state.
Those picks are a major shift from Biden’s current officials. Hegseth will replace Austin; Wiles will take over from Jeff Zients; Waltz is set to take over from Jake Sullivan; Noem will replace Alejandro Mayorkas; Stefanik will take over from Linda Thomas-Greenfield, and Ratcliffe will fill Bill Burns’ role. Rubio is slated to replace Antony Blinken.
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