Until recently, the Finnish-Russian border was teeming with life. The high-speed Allegro train, a joint project of Finland’s national VR Group and Russia’s state-owned Russian Railways, took passengers from Saint Petersburg to Helsinki in less than four hours. Further north, the Finnish city of Imatra in South Karelia was a major draw for Russian tourists, who traveled there to shop, enjoy spa weekends, and see the Imatra Rapids, which Catherine the Great made fashionable after visiting in the 18th century.
A Tale of Two Jameses. And a city called Paris.
These days, as you watch Paris burning, you may be thinking of a number of different people – some real, some fictitious – who have wandered its fabled streets. Robespierre. Zola. Piaf. Jean Valjean in Les Misérables. Charles Darnay in A Tale of Two Cities. Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Antoine Doinel in The 400 Blows. Gigi. Coco Chanel.
Me, I think of James. Of two Jameses, in fact – both of them gay men who, born and raised in New Jersey, chose to spend their adult lives and pursue their careers in the City of Lights.
DataRepublican has uncovered a dangerous, homegrown color revolution
You know that horror movie line, “Be afraid, be very afraid”? I think it applies when you learn that hundreds of once well-paid, high-level, and very leftist former government officials and former military and intelligence officers are working with a radical trans academic to bring down the American government. Yet, funnily enough, despite hours of video support, this information isn’t just a conspiracy theory made up from imaginary dots and invisible lines; it’s stuck firmly on X. It’s time to change that.
The anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution shows how far Europe has fallen
Maybe it is because 23 October marks the 70th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution that my reflections on the riots in France have been frequently disrupted by my memories of what I saw and experienced in Budapest seven decades ago.
Canada will be ‘a living hell’ if it becomes associate member of EU, claims MEP
A Member of European Parliament (MEP) said that becoming an associate member of the EU would turn Canada “into a living hell” and asked “is Mark Carney stupid enough to fall for it?” during a debate on Thursday.
Speaking at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, ahead of the EU-Canada summit in Montreal next week, German MEP Christine Anderson accused the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, of looking to wipe out industry, censor speech and “flood” Canada with “even more illegal migrants.”
I see no reason to doubt Ms. Anderson.
Two Former FBI Officials Charged in Lying to Congress about Hunter Biden Investigations
WASHINGTON – Two former senior FBI officials, Nikki Cole Floris, 46, of Alexandria, Virginia, and Bradley Benavides, 56, of Aiken, South Carolina, surrendered today on arrest warrants issued after a criminal complaint charged them with lying to Congress about their involvement in the FBI’s investigations into Hunter Biden, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
If you read the MSM versions the agents are heroes.
The West’s dependence on Washington’s defence tech has become a grave threat
On Monday night, one-year-old baby Anhelina was riding in a stroller through a park in Kharkiv when a Russian-launched Shahed drone circled the park several times, then plunged toward their busy pathway and ended her brief life, its shrapnel burst obliterating her along with her mother, her stroller and half a dozen people standing nearby.
Amid the many Russian atrocities in its 12-year-long invasion, Anhelina’s death was uniquely disturbing in its implications. It can be traced directly to U.S. decisions – and it showed Canada and its allies that they need to change, quickly, their entire approach to military relations and security alliances.
Kick the US out of NATO and refuse their military tech. That’s the ticket!
Public transport hell: Foreigners committed 53% of sexual crimes on German trains in first half of 2026
German Federal Police recorded 98,026 crimes at train stations and on trains in the first half of 2026, with foreign nationals substantially overrepresented among identified suspects in violent, property and sexual offenses relative to their share of the population. In the crime of sexual offenses, foreigners represented 53 percent of suspects.
MORGAN: Mark Carney must restore indigenous financial accountability
On June 2, 2022, then-prime minister Justin Trudeau gave the Siksika reserve in Alberta $1.3 billion as a land claim settlement. In March 2025, I toured the reserve and shot a video showing appalling housing conditions, rampant garbage, wild dogs, and general disorder on what should have been one of the wealthiest reserves in Canada. In response to the video, the reserve charged me with two counts of trespassing. That case is still before the courts today.
Kamala Harris Was Deployed to Rally Democrat Voters in Mississippi. It Didn’t Go Very Well.
The Democrat Party has trotted out an interesting cast to shore up its ranks ahead of the November midterms: former President Barack Obama in Michigan, Twitch streamer and professional provocateur Hasan Piker, and former Vice President Kamala Harris, who failed to beat President Trump despite a campaign that spent at least $1 billion.
Kamala and AOC are my dream ticket.
Terry Glavin: Time for NATO to tell Trump he isn’t needed in Ukraine
U.S. President Donald Trump has disgraced himself by openly siding with Vladimir Putin in Russia’s war of terror and conquest in Ukraine. The sanctions-relief lifelines he’s thrown to Moscow and everything else over the past few days show that the moral squalor of the president’s various interventions can’t be described any other way, so the time has come for some serious decision-making in the NATO capitals.
Careful what you wish for.
WTF?
Kids todays don’t understand this level of vibe 🤠 https://t.co/8Py3HSMxuJ
— Cartoon Fun Club (@cartunfunn) October 22, 2026
Palate cleanser. We were blessed with great cartoons.
The young Americans choosing Y2K cars over shiny new SUVs: ‘I get so much crap from people’
Jack Price joined the Marines in fall 2021 knowing he would need a car to get around base and that he couldn’t afford a new one. A joyless, month-long search through dealer classifieds and Facebook Marketplace listings ended when his mother spotted a 2010 Volkswagen Jetta posted on her office listserv by a co-worker moving abroad. With just 60,000 miles (96,560km) on themeter, the car (a manual!) was mechanically sound, and the air conditioning, sunroof and Bluetooth radio worked too. At $6,000, it was a steal. Price paid in cash.
Jalopies were once the rage.
WTF?
"Do you feel more English or Bangladesh" – "Bangladesh"
"Do you miss Bangladesh?" – "Yes"
"What do you do for work?" – "I don’t work"
"How do you make money and survive?" – "I get benefit"
There are millions more like him in the UK… https://t.co/uDIeJHSXTC
— BRITAIN IS BROKEN 🇬🇧 (@BROKENBRITAIN0) October 21, 2026
White House says the US is lifting tariffs on some Canadian goods
The US is lifting some of its 50% tariffs on Canadian goods, with the White House saying on Friday it was working to “protect the economic prosperity and national security of the American people”.
The exemptions could also boost Republican candidates in the midterms elections on 3 November, as many US voters list affordability and economic pressures as top issues.
Republican Senator Susan Collins, who is in a tight race in Maine to keep her seat in the election, first announced the exemptions, saying they would help her state’s agriculture industry.
