The National Today: Russian doping, Trump fundraising, cow burps

Welcome to The National Today daily newsletter, which takes a closer look at what's happening around the day's most important stories. Sign up here under "Subscribe to The National's newsletter," and it will be delivered directly to your inbox Monday to Friday.

---

Russia faces another doping ban

The chances of Team Russia competing at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics are now slim, and approaching none, after the World Anti-Doping Agency again ruled the country "non-compliant."

The WADA decision, handed down this morning at a meeting in Seoul, South Korea, wasn't exactly a surprise, given this week's revelations that there's new proof of government-organized Russian cheating. And the Kremlin's continued refusal to admit that they've been caught out.

Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren produced two bombshell reports detailing the extent of Russian doping before, during, and after London 2012 and the Sochi 2014 Games. And in their wake, WADA laid out a "road map" to rehabilitation. But the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) has failed to meet two key conditions:

• Admitting the existence of a state-sponsored doping program
• Giving WADA investigators access to a sealed Moscow laboratory and its stored athlete testing samples

The International Olympic Committee's executive board will meet in Lausanne, Switzerland, December 5 to 7 and a full-fledged ban on Russian participation at the 2018 Games will now be on the agenda.

The Kremlin is decidedly unhappy at the prospect of its flag, anthem and many of its best athletes missing a second straight Olympics.

"These two [WADA] demands are obviously of a political nature," Russian Sports Minister Pavel Kolobkov told a state sports network today.

Alexander Zhukov, president of the Russian Olympic Committee, accused the WADA compliance committee, headed by Jonathan Taylor, of creating fake news. "Taylor's committee has been inventing reasons not to reinstate RUSADA; the accusations against RUSADA are simply a joke!" he told R-Sport.

Zhukov seemed unclear on where this all leads. "It's a deadlock, we do not recognize the [McLaren] report, they do not withdraw the demand," he said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says WADA decision not to reinstate anti-doping agency RUSADA "unfair"

— @gabrielletf

"WADA is the NATO of sports," says senior Russian lawmaker. You heard it here first. https://t.co/wb3xVMpIhl

— @ARothWP

Russian President Vladimir Putin has blamed the United States for the doping controversy.

"In response to our alleged interference in their elections [in the United States], they want to stir up problems during the Russian presidential election," Putin said last week, noting that the Games are in February, and that his voters go to the polls in March. "There are vast suspicions that all this is being done to stoke an atmosphere necessary for someone where sports fans and athletes are disgruntled over the fact that the state is allegedly involved in breaches and it is responsible for that."

Although it should be noted that it's not just the Russians who are in trouble with WADA.

Equatorial Guinea, Kuwait and Mauritius also declared non-compliant by the Board.

— @wada_ama

And one country that was on the anti-doping naughty list in Dec. 2016 — Kenya — has been given a full reprieve. WADA found Kenya, with the help of Norway, has "greatly enhanced" its testing efforts, instituted "biological passports" for its athletes, and has set up a committee to track 'therapeutic use' exemptions.

There was also a bit of good news for Canada.

Here to stay!

The Government of Canada is pleased with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Foundation Board’s approval of the Executive Committee’s recommendation to renew the Montréal headquarters agreement from 2021 to 2031.

cc: @MarcGarneau #WADA #CdnSport #CdnPoli

— @kenthehr

Andrew Chang on assignment

Cows burp. A lot.

And when they do, it's primarily methane that comes out: a greenhouse gas considered up to 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

With 1.5 billion cows on the planet, they're basically one of the worst polluters out there, accounting for about 10 per cent of the world's anthropogenic greenhouse gases. (Their GHGs are classified as deriving from human activity, because we're raising them.)

Enter Joe Dorgan. When I flew out to Prince Edward Island to meet him, he approached me with a hearty handshake. His was a great big paw of a hand - the kind you imagine must have seen a lifetime of work.

He explained to me how he stumbled across a supplement that could reduce the amount of methane cows burp out. But much to my surprise, it wasn't a pill or some chemical concocted in a lab.

It was seaweed.

The results were startling, even for Joe: cows munching on seaweed burped out about 20 per cent less methane. If it sounds crazy, it's not (although Joe told me he 'doesn't give a Goddamn' if people think it is).

Researchers have since spent a lot of time and money verifying Joe's findings -- and one in particular has taken the discovery to a whole new level...

Find out more about "The Fix" for burping cows tonight on The National.

Dialing for dollars

The art of modern politics is all about forging a direct connection with voters. And Donald Trump is proving to be a master.

If you ever had any contact with his presidential campaign, the proof can be found in your inbox on an almost daily basis — regardless of whether you actually live in the United States.

The emails purport to come directly from Trump, his children, or members of his inner circle like Vice-President Mike Pence, or Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the house. They all begin with the salutation, "friend." And most beg for money to fund his fight against the Democrats, U.S. media, and Washington "elites."

Whether the news is good or bad doesn't seem to matter. Trump's surrogates can always find a way to spin the day's events into a referendum on his leadership. For example, less than two hours after the news of the indictment of his former campaign manager Paul Manafort broke late last month, millions of people received a plea from 'Eric Trump.'

"There's a new opposition against my father and this Administration every day," the president's second son wrote. "But as a loyal supporter, I know you know the truth." Then came the ask. "Please make a contribution of just $1 to help us crush our goal this month."

It's not a new strategy. Televangelists had been doing it for decades. And it was Barack Obama who first adapted it for presidential politics. His second campaign in 2012 raised a record $219 million US from donors who gave $200 or less.

Trump, however, is proving to be even better at the short game.

In the 2016 race, he raised $239 million from small donors — a full 69 per cent of his take from individuals. In comparison, sub-$200 donations made up 44 per cent of Bernie Sanders fundraising, and just 22 per cent of Hillary Clinton's.

Trump, who raised a total of $408 million for 2016 — about half of Clinton's $794 million war chest — isn't shy about trumpeting his grass-roots accomplishments.

Can't believe I finally got a good story in the @washingtonpost. It discusses the enthusiasm of "Trump" voters through campaign....

— @realDonaldTrump

...contributions. The RNC is taking in far more $'s than the Dems, and much of it by my wonderful small donors. I am working hard for them!

— @realDonaldTrump

And the trend continues — despite the bad press and his slide in the approval ratings.

The latest quarterly filing for Trump's 2020 re-election bid shows that he took in just over $10 million for the three months ending Sept. 30. With 31,920 individual contributions, the average gift was $317.

But factor out the three largest donations, transfers from previous fundraising campaigns all in the $2 million range, and the average drops considerably to $113.

And it seems that the his supporters are taking Eric Trump at his word. The smallest donations recorded are for 75 cents, and there are more than 70 of them.

A too-cool-to-miss video

Man drops camera at volcano. It gets engulfed by lava. The video card survives.

• WATCH: GoPro Gets Engulfed By Lava, Somehow Survives (Digg)

Quote of the moment

"These allegations have been a shock and a disturbing surprise to many of us. It is incorrect, unfair and irresponsible to say that everybody knew. But as a result of the investigation, what we have learnt is how better to call out this behaviour in future."

– Matthew Warchus, artistic director of London's Old Vic Theatre, on 20 new allegations of "inappropriate behaviour" levelled against his predecessor, Kevin Spacey.

What The National is reading

• Family spends $15K to get back to Canada after WestJet cancels Puerto Rico flights (CBC)
• Charles Manson, 83-year-old cult killer, seriously ill in hospital. (LA Times)
• How Donald Trump walked into Putin's web (Guardian)
• U.S. Army drops plan to allow drug abusers and self-harmers to enlist (USA Today)
• It's been 25 years since the New York Times got punked by a grunge fan (The Ringer)
• British explorer seeks remote headhunters, goes missing, found alive. (South China Morning Post)
• New NASA forecast shows which world cities will flood as ice melts (BBC)

Today in history

Nov. 16, 1958: The Avro Arrow smashes Canadian air-speed records during a test flight, then wrecks on landing.