USA & Canada : News, Updates & Discussions

That story is a blast from the past! His story was the talk of the playground growing up. He really was a champion of the people here.
Playground growing up ?? That incident was from 1982 when I wasn't even born . How old are you anyway ? I always thought of you as someone in his late 20s perhaps & from the East Coast or the mid West .

Are you from Californication ? Coz then we'd have two of you with the the other one being sweetie . I'm sure you're acquainted with sweetie. Sweetie's so conspicuous that even in a sniper's camouflage sweetie would stand out. Sweetie's that campy. Ja ? @Innominate
Fun fact his fine was reduced because his lawn chair wasn't on the list of things that requred an air worthiness certificate. Not so fun fact, he basically failed to monetize his stunt and he committed suicide 10 years later :(
Oh that's unfortunate !

His line will live in though - "A man can just sit around. "
 
Playground growing up ?? That incident was from 1982 when I wasn't even born . How old are you anyway ? I always thought of you as someone in his late 20s perhaps & from the East Coast or the mid West .
Youre basically right, but there were so many iterations of his stunt as commercials and jokes on late night TV even 10-20 years later. The dude really was a cult hero, especially among children.

The Simpsons and Spongebob had episodes where they redid his stunt and of course the movie UP took a lot of inspiration. There was always some pervasive belief that enough colorful birthday balloons would help you fly.
 
  • Like
Reactions: _Anonymous_

President Donald Trump said Friday that his administration has entered a sweeping agreement with Venezuela that, if realized, could give the U.S. access to vast amounts of the South American country's untapped oil reserves, at cost.

Trump in a social media post announcing the agreement said it was negotiated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez.

"The United States of America has just entered into an Agreement with the Country of Venezuela on, THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY!" Trump wrote.

Rodriguez's government in a statement said the deal involves the development of 17 fields with a proven potential of 65 billion barrels. It said the agreement could draw $100 billion in investment into Venezuela's oil industry and yield over $209 billion in taxes for Caracas.

Rodriguez in a posting on Telegram predicted the deal "will have a significant impact on our nation's revival."

The agreement allows for the United States to partner with an unnamed private operator in Venezuela to create a new private company to take hold of the reserves, according to a U.S. official familiar with the contours of the deal.

The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity, added that Rodriguez granted the company 100-year rights to develop the oil fields.

The deal gives the United States 55% effective output of the new private company -- including an ownership stake and rights to buy oil at cost. The company would be the second largest corporate holder of proven reserves after Saudi Aramco, according to the official.
 

As Canada’s dollar-for-dollar counter-tariffs come into effect, U.S. officials continue to threaten Canadian companies, the Canadian dollar and Canadian sovereignty. The Power Panel reacts to some of the U.S. president’s most recent social media posts and discusses what's next in this trade war.
 

The Department of Energy is investing $500 million in U.S. battery companies to challenge China’s dominance. But with $24 billion in projects already canceled since the administration first came into office, industry experts say closing the gap will be difficult.
 

The average price of a gallon of gas has now hit $4.30 – up 18 cents since last week – and diesel passes $6 per gallon for the first time ever.
 

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney welcomes dozens of global investors to Toronto this week, hoping to lure investments for more than 160 projects that he says are key to steering Canada's economy through a trade war with the United States.

Carney, a former Goldman Sachs executive and central bank chief, on Monday ‌held bilateral meetings with attendees including BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and Blackstone President Jon Gray, his office said.

The summit, to be held mainly on Tuesday, will host discussions for future investments, although ‌major deals could take 12 to 18 months to materialize, a government source said. Carney has pledged to attract investments of C$1 trillion ($721 billion) in the next five years by cutting red tape and developing mining, energy, technology and infrastructure projects.

"The world's largest investors, managing over C$120 trillion of assets, will come to 'peer into our shop window' because the world is looking at Canada differently," Carney said at a welcome reception on Sunday.

Attracting investment is crucial for Canada's economy to weather mounting tariffs imposed by the United States, Canada's top trade partner. Carney has sought to do business with new partners in the Middle East and Asia and to strengthen Canada's alliance with Europe.

Carney has tried to address past concerns of a tedious and time-consuming regulatory regime and lack of large-scale investment-grade projects in the country.

On Monday, Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said the federal tax agency will prioritize advance income tax ruling requests for investments of C$1 billion or more ‌to help investors get a binding decision quickly on how tax law ⁠will apply to a proposed deal before they commit capital.