Dana Lund

Electrical Engineer with a minor in Economics

[lubricant @darren_lubedude]

Canada is having a difficult conversation with itself about its economic relationship with the United States.

Much of the current Canadian political narrative treats access to the American market almost as an acquired right. When an American administration talks about reshoring manufacturing, imposing tariffs or favouring American production, Canadians often frame the issue as an affront to Canadian sovereignty.

I think that fundamentally misunderstands how our industrial economy developed.

For much of the post-war period, Canada prospered by becoming an extraordinarily effective extension of the American industrial economy.

Southern Ontario did not independently develop an automotive ecosystem disconnected from Detroit. Windsor, Oshawa, Oakville, St. Thomas and communities throughout Southwestern Ontario became deeply integrated into an industrial machine whose centre of gravity was across the border in Michigan, Ohio and the broader American Midwest.

American manufacturers established Canadian factories and supply chains for many reasons: access to the Canadian market, tariff and content rules, exchange rates, labour economics, geographic proximity and, eventually, increasingly integrated North American trade.

Canada became exceptionally good at this.

We built cars, stamped metal, machined components, produced chemicals, assembled machinery and supplied American factories. Canadian companies also became enormously successful suppliers to that system. Magna is perhaps the greatest example of what could be built from Canada's position inside the North American automotive supply chain.

The 1965 Auto Pact accelerated that integration. Free trade in 1989 and NAFTA in 1994 took it much further.

But then something else happened.

Beginning in the late twentieth century and accelerating dramatically after 2000, North American manufacturing capacity increasingly moved offshore. China became a manufacturing superpower. Global supply chains replaced many domestic ones. American industrial communities lost factories and employment, while corporations discovered that enormous amounts of production could be sourced from lower-cost jurisdictions.

For decades, Canada operated within that globalization model while retaining extraordinarily favourable access to the world's largest consumer economy.

Now the United States is reconsidering the model.

Washington increasingly views industrial capacity as more than an economic issue. Semiconductors, steel, aluminum, automobiles, energy, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and critical minerals are being treated as matters of national security and strategic resilience.

That creates an uncomfortable question for Canada:

If the United States wants its industrial production back, on what basis does Canada believe that production belongs to us?

Imagine a manufacturer that has outsourced substantial production to a subcontractor for decades. The subcontractor builds its business around that work, invests in equipment, hires employees and becomes highly successful.

Then circumstances change. The manufacturer's own facilities have unused capacity and its own employees need work.

The subcontractor may understandably be unhappy when the manufacturer brings some of that production home. But the subcontractor cannot reasonably argue that decades of receiving the work created a permanent entitlement to it.

That, in simplified form, is the uncomfortable position Canada now faces.

This does not mean Canada lacks sovereignty. Quite the opposite. Canada is completely sovereign and has every right to establish whatever trade, industrial, environmental and foreign policies Canadians choose.

But sovereignty works both ways.

Canada has the sovereign right to determine its economic policy. The United States has the sovereign right to determine how much access foreign producers receive to the American market.

Those are two different questions.

Canada has also spent decades diversifying its trading relationships, including developing a substantial economic relationship with China. There are legitimate American concerns about transshipment, rules of origin, Chinese overcapacity and goods entering the United States through third countries. Canada should take those concerns seriously rather than simply assuming that our historical relationship exempts us from American scrutiny.

That does not mean every American tariff is justified, nor does it mean Canada should simply accept whatever Washington demands.

It means Canada needs to understand the leverage in the relationship.

Nearly 40 million Canadians live beside an economy of roughly 350 million people. Geography gave us extraordinary access to that market. Generations of Canadian workers and entrepreneurs then turned that geographical advantage into one of the world's most integrated cross-border industrial relationships.

But proximity is not ownership.

Our automotive plants, stamping companies, machine shops and parts manufacturers have succeeded because they are very good at what they do. They should compete aggressively to retain that business. Canada should make itself the most compelling place in North America to manufacture.

What we should not do is confuse historical integration with entitlement.

Instead of asking, "How can the Americans do this to us?" Canada should be asking a much harder question:

Why should an American manufacturer choose to put its next factory in Ontario rather than Michigan, Ohio, Indiana or Tennessee?

If our answer is productivity, engineering talent, energy, logistics, taxation, regulatory efficiency, currency advantage and a highly capable workforce, then Canada has a compelling case.

If our answer is simply that American companies have manufactured here for the last 70 years and therefore should continue doing so, we have a problem.

The old Canadian model depended heavily on being an exceptionally attractive extension of American industrial capacity.

America is now rebuilding that capacity at home.

Canada's challenge is not to demand that history stand still.

It is to make ourselves indispensable enough that, even when America has the choice to bring the work home, American companies still choose Canada.

@ronmortgageguy @StephenPunwasi @FoodProfessor

[Dana Lund @DPLundCo]

@UScrimeReview @nicksortor I've listened to many. You could do a 3 hour show on this one. I have SO many questions that aren't really about this exact case. The requirement is a unanimous verdict, but a juror can be singled out for their position? After they came back hung, what authoritydoesajudgehave?

[DaxRazorUnplugged @daxrazorlive]

Canada, stop, take a breath and relax

Trump has an abrasive as hell way of speaking, but people always paraphrase it because he does not follow standard syntax which is fucked up.

So when he says "We should make Canada the 51st State" its building on something he said previously which was (shortened for rambling) "Canada acts like a state, they get all the benefits of being a state, that has to change, it only works if they are a State, the 51st State, our cherished 51st state, maybe the greatest state"

So in his head he crazily expects everyone to have that context already, so he just says "They should be our 51st State"

Now normal people hear that and think he is going to Annex us because America has super long history of Invading and claiming territory across the globe. Evidenced by their wars and assimilation of ... uhmm there was Iraq, no... Afghanistan, not there... uhm Germany, nope...no no Japan, no.. no uhmmm Korea, no... whatever there is somewhere I am sure.

Trump stated plainly his was going to fix Trade Imbalances and reshore manufacturing using his tariff plan, now you can argue it you think it wont work or whatever but we don't set US Industrial and Trade Policy, Auto is huge for him, he said plainly I want all Auto manufacturing in America, maybe you did not hear him because you were already yelling at the TV.

He points to the trade imbalance and adds a whole bunch of other things like NATO that we enjoy but were not paying for, and the benefit of not worrying about a national defense force, etc to it and spits out some made up hyperbolic derivative of that number (which is not relevant it could $1B or $1T)

None of this was war it was a heads up, we instead decided we were entitled to retain part of the Auto Industry, and entitled to not get the same Tariffs as everyone else, and entitled to not have to fix sectoral Trade issues. He welcomed Carney, said hey I can work with this Guy, I got him elected.

Canada then said fuck you orange satan we can replace you and the Global Hat in Hand Tour Started.

I am no Trump Fan, but I am a huge fan of reality and accuracy, if you can prove what I just said it not true that he has never said this, feel free and I will put on a hair shirt for you.

[White House Press Office @PressSec]

Trump admin axes refundable tax credits for illegal migrants, saving taxpayers $3B

https://t.co/4vq61F4cIg

[Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent @SecScottBessent]

Under @POTUS, the days of illegal aliens collecting taxpayer-funded benefits are over. The federal law is clear, and @USTreasury is enforcing it. American taxpayers should not be forced to foot the bill for benefits going to those who are barred by law from receiving them. These proposed regulations end the abuse, protect the integrity of the tax system, and put Americans first.

[Roman Helmet Guy @romanhelmetguy]

Every Boomer is a special snowflake who worked extra special hard for what they got and totally weren’t complicit in destroying the most prosperous country in history by spending their youth replacing traditional values with the worship of sex, drugs, and rock & roll, then entering the workforce and voting simultaneously for massive government handouts and lower taxes, then once they were established in their careers, voting to offshore every factory to China, outsource all IT to India, and import the entire population of South and Central America to compete with their kids for jobs, then retiring and voting for property tax exemptions for seniors all while bankrupting Social Security and Medicare with $100T in unfunded liabilities after having already stolen $40T from the future.

[Dana Lund @DPLundCo]

@3YearLetterman The mattress-industrial complex took this from us.

[Dana Lund @DPLundCo]

@landofthe80s It was the mattress-industrial complex.

[Kevin Bass @kevinnbass]

A case study from 2025 on Fauci's chosen method of prevarication.

Scene:

A appearance by Anthony Fauci at the New Orleans book festival, where he explains why "masks worked".

In this clip, he starts by declaring: "masks worked".

Applause follows.

We should ask how applause is appropriate. Whether masks work is a scientific problem. It is not a moral or political position. Should a scientist be applauded for giving his or her scientific opinion?

If they are, then it's not being treated as a scientific opinion anymore. The applause shows just how ideological the whole discussion on masking became--and remains.

But what follows is remarkable. The interviewer pushes back and questions whether masks really worked, whether scientific evidence really supports that position.

Fauci yields and pivots: "there's the rub, Walter, a proper mask, an N95 or KN95."

In other words, the implication is that the cloth and surgical masks that he recommended during the pandemic didn't work, but N95s do. Which somehow still allows Fauci to say, "masks worked".

Isn't this remarkable? Fauci started with "masks worked", i.e. the masks that were widely recommended and worn. And for this he was applauded.

But now, without conceding the mistake of surgical and cloth recommendations, he maintains that "masks worked" but only "N95s or KN95s".

It gets richer.

Then Fauci digs in deeper: N95s and KN95s work, yes.

But, but, but! Only if the N95 and KN95 is "properly worn, all the time".

That is, the mask has to be properly fitted (and that requires professional assistance) with a proper seal, and worn all the time.

Ergo, "masks worked".

We've gone from cloth and surgical mask recommendations to properly fitted N95 and KN95 masks worn all the time.

This is why "masks worked".

Then Fauci digs in even deeper: but you cannot take the mask off to eat! People complain that they took the mask off to eat and got COVID. You can't do normal things and say masks don't work!

The only way masks work if you live entirely abnormal lives.

Therefore, according to Fauci, "masks worked".

Here's the thing: Fauci has just enumerated all of the arguments against masks working in the real world, all the while affirming that "masks worked".

He gets his cake and eats it too:

On the one hand, clinical studies show that not only do surgical and cloth masks not work for respiratory pathogens in a variety of environments, N95s haven't been shown to work to reduce the risk of infection by a respiratory pathogen when worn over the course of the day in normal working conditions either. (This is probably, as other studies show, because the seal breaks within just a few hours--something Fauci alludes to--and because people take the mask off.)

On the other hand, if you mask harder, if you do it absolutely perfectly, then they DO work.

Ergo, "masks worked".

Does anyone else see how twisted this logic is?

I mean, masks don't work under most or all real-world conditions.

BUT, they do in theory.

Therefore "masks worked", and therefore (by implication) surgical and cloth mask mandates were not pseudoscientific or a mistake.

And for that performance Anthony Fauci is applauded and lionized, and he goes on and on. And nobody in the tribe pushes back on the ridiculousness of it.

They just turn off their brains. And clap.

It boggles the mind.

[Wall Street Apes @WallStreetApes]

American has a new 2024 vehicle and is trying to renew his registration in California

He got a letter informing him he’s not allowed to renew his registration until he takes his car into the dealership and handles all the recalls on the vehicle

The vehicle has 4 manufacturer recalls so he needs to drop it off to get fixed before he’s even allowed to pay his registration

Because of this he can’t even go online to pay it. He must go in, do the recalls, get proof, mail everything in, wait, then pay…. All this just to register a car

“State of California. Unbelievable.”

This began in 2024, the DMV expanded recall requirements prior to registrations

It never ends with Democrats

[Ethical Skeptic ☀ @EthicalSkeptic]

ECDO Theory - Oceans warm first... and fast.

"Using only ocean temperature, the model reproduced global CO2 levels with near-perfect accuracy - a correlation of 0.995 and an error of just one to two ppm by 2022."

[Dana Lund @DPLundCo]

@FluentInFinance The engineers seeded the model with bad data. Don't mess with engineers. (Just kidding. I have no idea but I'm an engineer and I would do it.)

[Dana Lund @DPLundCo]

@AnishJaitwar "I wasn't working."

[Dana Lund @DPLundCo]

@shawngorham (With all due respect...) If the business doesn't gross $1M, you're not selling you're liquidating.

[Dana Lund @DPLundCo]

@DisgracedProp Wrong. Marry for money, you can always buy love.

[🇺🇸 🦅Simple Man 🦅🇺🇸 @Soaringeagle45]

10 things Gen X thought were for rich people…

1. A phone in bedroom
2. Cable w/HBO/Cinemax
3. Call waiting/Caller ID
4. A finished basement
5. Fridge with ice maker
6. Vacations that involved flying
7. A home computer
8. Going out to eat at a sit down restaurant
9. Name brand cereal
10. A Nintendo

Add to list 🤣

[Iron Mike 🇺🇸 🗽 @VladDragulya]

@theallinpod @GovernorShapiro @Jason So Shapiro rails on Johnson for backing everything Trump pushes while not saying the same for Pelosi and Dems is just pure comedy. Everything he says can literally be turned the other direction. No real fixes, just more Trump bad.

[I’d Rather Be Golfing @blissful017]

@theallinpod @GovernorShapiro @Jason If Barry Obama and Mayor Pete had a baby, (and according to the Dem party, men can get pregnant) you’d end up w Shapiro

Sounds smart, seems reasonable….

…believes the same ol’ nonsense the rest of the party believes

[Dana Lund @DPLundCo]

@SenMarkKelly This guy......