Trump and War Crimes

 

Annie Crabill, Senior digital editor at the Economist, reports:

If Donald Trump goes ahead with his latest threats against Iran—every bridge “will be decimated”, he promised on Monday, and every power plant “out of business, burning”—he will probably violate the laws of war. Strikes on civilian infrastructure may also fail to achieve their primary objective: to rob Iran’s regime of funding. The civilian economy has long been in a dire state. The regime relies on other sources of income, and war has been good for business. (Crabill, n.d.)

International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands.

(International Criminal Court, n.d.)

 

Jayme Poisson, correspondent with CBC Front Burner, broadcast, on April 7, 2026, a check-in on Israel’s expanding wars in Iran and Lebanon, violence in the West Bank and details of a new law that could see the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of deadly attacks. Meron Rapoport returns to the show. Meron has been reporting on Israel for over 30 years, and was formerly the head of news at Israel's Ha’aretz newspaper. He’s now an editor with the Hebrew-language news site Local Call. Israel cannot conquer Lebanon and Iran, certainly not at the same time, even as Netanu claims that Israel is going to be a “Super Sparta” CBC transcripts (Poisson, n.d.)

Canada is a member of the International Criminal Court. The United States and Israel are not. If President Donald Trump or Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu were to find themselves in one of the member countries of the ICC (125 countries are States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.) does that country have the power or responsibility to arrest them and charge them with war crimes and retain them in custody prior to trial at the International Court of Justice at the Hague, charged to bring justice to leaders of Nazi Germany.

References

Crabill, A. (n.d.). Trump and War Crimes. The Economist | Go beyond breaking news. Retrieved April 7, 2026, from https://www.economist.com/ 

International Criminal Court. (n.d.). Wikipedia. Retrieved April 7, 2026, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Criminal_Court 

Poisson, J. (n.d.). Front Burner. Trump and War Crimes. Retrieved April 7, 2026, from https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner 

VENN at SCANS

 Alex Bickerton got into Food, Cuba and Jazz courses( in person) and Zoom..Cancer, Gaza and Travel (on ZOOM).

SCANS IN PERSON

Ray Cooke got into Food and Gaza live plus cancer on ZOOM.

SCANS ON ZOOM

David Macpherson is zooming Food, Cancer, Gaza In person for Spy School, North of 60, Cuba 

See you at SCANS!

Life for Ordinary Cubans

 Peter Kornbluh, senior analyst at the National Security Archive and author of ‘Back Channel to Cuba: The Hidden History of Negotiations between Washington and Havana.’ was interviewed recently by Jayme Poisson on CBC Podcasts News Front Burner who asked …

Havana Harbour

“And what about life for ordinary Cubans on the island?”

There's a lot of controversy about Fidel's legacy in Cuba. On the one hand, he universalized education, he made sure that all Cubans had health care. He expanded Cuba's doctors program not only to create many, many doctors for the Cubans themselves, but also a surplus of doctors to send around the world. They are still in countries now, although the Trump administration is pressuring those countries to expel Cuban doctors. And you know, so the Cuban Revolution had for a while great fame for its levels of education and the levels of health care but of course, there were no kind of democratic rights, there was no opposition. There were no political parties besides the Communist Party that Fidel led. He was in power for over 50 years. And then, of course, his brother took over from him, Raul Castro. So, you know the, Cuba is, I think, a great mixed legacy. In the end, when the revolution in some ways depended on having subsidies from first the Soviet Union and then from countries like China and then finally Venezuela. So in some ways the revolution was kind of made possible by these very unique arrangements that Castro was able to secure but once those arrangements were no longer possible, as is the case today, the Cubans are looking at the United States once again becoming the dominant patron and dominant power in Cuban society, Cuban economy and Cuban politics. And that's where we are today. (Kornbluh, 2026)

References

Kornbluh, P. (2026, March 25). America’s long standoff with Cuba - Transcript. CBC Radio Front Burner. Retrieved March 31, 2026, from https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/americas-long-standoff-with-cuba-transcript-9.7141962 

Some Action by Christian Leadership in Trump Times

Christian Leadership Path

The Way to Survive Trump Times

Bishop won't apologize for asking Donald Trump to have mercy on immigrants, trans Americans

Episcopal Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde stands by her sermon after Trump demanded an apology on social media

Kevin Maimann · CBC News · Posted: Jan 23, 2025

Trump After Pope Leo XIV’s Call for Ceasefire in Iran: ‘We’re Not Looking to Do That’

EWTN News White House Correspondent Owen Jensen asked the president about the Holy Father’s calls for dialogue instead of war in the Middle East conflict.

Cardinal Parolin to Trump, Israel: End the war as soon as possible

Responding to questions by journalists on the sidelines of a book presentation, Cardinal Pietro Parolin shares what he would say if face-to-face with U.S. President Trump: "Put an end to it as soon as possible because the real danger is that an escalation is just around the corner."

Leave Money in Their Pockets

Premier Tim Houston spoke with Jeff Douglas of CBC Mainstreet about removing the bridge tolls and reducing the HST as a means for the NS Government to leave money in people’s pockets.

Student Money for Transit?

Some of the people who cross the bridges with Halifax Transit see no benefit by removal of the toll. Many people who bring their cars across the bridges can afford to pay for the infrastructure that benefits them when crossing the harbour.

The HST reduction leaves more money in the pockets of people who can afford to buy expensive goods and provides a little relief for those who cannot buy expensive items.

As a 40 year retired resident of suburban HRM who travelled to work in Dartmouth and Halifax on the bus, and who, now, often chooses Halifax Transit to avoid street congestion and parking difficulties along the harbour, I can testify to the benefit to students of a bus pass. If the students or their financial supporters are denied help with the cost of transit, money will be removed from the pockets of another group that often has very little disposable income. A petition to restore the bus pass is available to sign for submission to the Premier.

The hardship that the Premier is concerned about is likely to increase for young people and low income residents and be even more unlikely to over-tax the residents who may not notice the 1% HST reduction.

State of the Truth Address

FactCheck, a nonpartisan, nonprofit “consumer advocate” for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics, has monitored the factual accuracy of what was said by President Donald Trump in the State of the Union Address on February 24 2026. Their goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding.

Fact Finding the State of the Union Address

Trump SOTU Fact Check Full story here: https://www.factcheck.org/2026/02/factchecking-trumps-state-of-the-union-address/
	Trump’s State of the Union Address	Fact Checking the SOTU Address
1	Trump falsely claimed that he inherited “a stagnant economy” with “inflation at record levels.”	Annual growth in real GDP was 2.5% or higher each year under former President Joe Biden, and the annual inflation rate was down to 3% from its peak of 9.1% peak when Trump took office.
2	The president went on to claim that the economy “is roaring like never before,”	Real GDP growth in 2025 was down to 2.2%, according to a federal estimate. Also, the unemployment rate has increased slightly under Trump.
3	He misleadingly claimed that prices are “plummeting downward” because of his policies.	The annual rate of inflation has declined, but prices overall are still increasing.
4	Trump’s claim that “more Americans are working today than at any time in the history of our country,”	while accurate, doesn’t account for population growth. Job growth slowed a bit last year.
5	The president misleadingly claimed that Americans “will now pay the lowest price anywhere in the world for drugs.”	The administration’s negotiations with drug companies may have lowered prices for some specific drugs in certain situations, but there is no evidence of a widespread decline in prices.
6	The president continued to exaggerate the decline in gasoline prices, saying they are “now below $2.36 a gallon in most states.”	In no state was the average that low. And the nationwide average is $2.94.
7	He claimed to have presided over a “tremendous renewal” of religion in America,	Recent polling has found the opposite.
8	Trump claimed that $1,776 “warrior dividend” bonus checks paid to military personnel came from tariff revenue.	It was actually a reallocation of funds initially earmarked for an increased housing allowance.
9	The president repeated his unsupported claim that many immigrants came from “prisons” and “mental institutions,”	He wrongly claimed that the Biden administration allowed in “11,888 murderers.”
10	Trump boasted about stock market gains since his election	The gains were less than each of the last two years under Biden.
11	He exaggerated when he said his signature legislation eliminated tax on tips, overtime and Social Security benefits for seniors.	The tax breaks are substantial but do not apply to all individuals.
12	As he has for years, Trump insisted, without evidence, that “cheating is rampant in our elections.”	He claimed legislation was needed “to stop illegal aliens” from voting, though evidence suggests that’s rare.
13	Trump claimed that the federal budget could be balanced “if we’re able to find enough of that fraud.”	The most recent budget deficit was $1.8 trillion, more than three times higher than the highest federal estimate of government money lost annually to fraud.
14	Trump claimed that he inherited “rampant crime at home” and later boasted that “last year, the murder rate saw its single largest decline in recorded history.”	Crime and murder was down last year, continuing a trend that began in 2022.
15	Trump made the dubious claim that his increased tariffs would one day replace income taxes,	Something many economists say doesn’t add up.
16	Trump claimed that the U.S. “obliterated Iran’s nuclear weapons program” last year.	Experts have said the program was damaged but not destroyed, and Trump is now considering military action over Iran’s nuclear program.
17	Trump said “American oil production is up by more than 600,000 barrels a day,”	Crude oil production increased by 334,600 barrels per day in his first full 10 months in office.
18	He also claimed that U.S. natural gas production increased to “an all-time high” because he “kept” his “promise to drill, baby, drill.”	Production of natural gas was already at record levels before he took office.

Fact Finding the State of the Truth Address February 24, 2026

Trump’s Feb. 24 address was longer than any prior SOTU, clocking in at over 1 hour and 47 minutes, as measured by the American Presidency Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

References

By Robert Farley, D'Angelo Gore, Lori Robertson, Jessica McDonald, Kate Yandell, Saranac Hale Spencer, Sanjana Juvvadi, Andrew Noh and Ashley Wang. (n.d.). FactChecking Trump’s State of the Union Address. FactCheck.org - A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center. Retrieved February 25, 2026, from https://www.factcheck.org/2026/02/factchecking-trumps-state-of-the-union-address/ 

Oil Blockade hurts Cuban Private Sector

Hugo Cancio, a Cuban-American businessman reporting in OnCuba News, a digital newspaper with information about Cuba, the United States and the World notes the benefit of allowing the private sector to import fuel is a practical, urgent, and deeply human decision, and is not for an abstract entrepreneur.

Havana 2017

The primary beneficiary is the Cuban people. It also benefits a mother, a sister, or a child whose family lives abroad. We all benefit from the effort and risk assumed by the owners of thousands of “mipymes” that sustain supply chains on which our families depend, inside and outside the island.

Here, a legitimate question arises: if the United States administration has repeatedly expressed its support for economic opening in Cuba, is this not precisely one of its clearest expressions? Is allowing the private sector to import fuel not a real, concrete, and measurable economic opening that recognizes the weight, role, and responsibility this sector already holds in the country’s current economy? (Cancio, 2026)

References

Cancio, H. (2026, February 18). When Fuel Runs Out, Life Comes to a Halt. OnCubaNews. Retrieved February 20, 2026, from https://oncubanews.com/en/cuba/when-fuel-runs-out-life-comes-to-a-halt/