Could it happen in Canada?

That's a question you've seen splashed across Canadian media since the murder of fifteen people in Australia on Saturday. I'll answer that for you. Not only could it, but thanks to decades of foolish policies, it's practically guaranteed to happen. Consider these four examples. 1) Somalia. Thirty years ago several Canadian Forces soldiers were found guilty of torturing a Somali teen to death. Since then, we have invited tens of thousands of Somalis to Canada. Some have long memories. Not all of them love Canada. 2) Syria. The same week that a Canadian from Edmonton was handed a stiff prison term for trying to join ISIS, a former ISIS commander was handed the Presidency of Syria by the very same coalition of stinking hypocrytes who pretended for the last fifteen years to be fighting ISIS. In the course of our secret support for ISIS, we brought tens of thousands of Syrians to Canada. We've got over 100,000 now. Not all of them feel gratitude in their hearts for Canada's role in destroying their country. Not all of them are happy to see the Israeli flag flying in southern Syria. 3) Libya. Canada's political leadership was thrilled to play a role in the destruction of the most succesful country in Africa. The most politically and economically stable, Canada proudly led the bombing campaign that destroyed civil society and the place is now an anarchic shithole, thanks in part to Canada. Arabs and Muslims generally remember. 4) Afghanistan. We were happy enough to send Canadian Forces into harm's way. General Rick Hillier promised we'd put the murdering Taliban scumbags to the run, so Afghan women could vote and go to school, and children could fly kites! We know how that ended. We left thousands of collaborators at risk when we skedaddled, and we've been doing our best to welch on our promises to them, to say nothing of our moral obligations, ever since. What are the odds that among the 100,000+ Afghans now in Canada, at least a handful could hold grudges? I rest my case. It goes without saying that the murder of innocents must, without exception, be condemned, in Gaza as at Bondi. In the meantime, we need to change policies that cause people to hate us.

Gaza, as seen through the eyes of Donald Trump

Back in the day, before Trump got famous and flabby, he used to be a real estate developer of some repute. The fame put an end to that. Donny J got so famous that he could just rent out his name to some other developer, and take a slice of the pie without ever developing anything himself! That’s why there were Trump Towers all over the place that Trump never had a dime in. Fast forward thirty-five years, and Donald Trump is, just as Oprah predicted in 1988, President of the USA. That’s an interesting video. Trump was totally dialed in to making allies pay up even then. Now that he’s the Big Dog, he wants to make bank on that NATO protection racket. Turn over 5% percent of your GDP or something bad could happen to that nice country you got there. This is the guy who all the top billionaires have rallied behind, because he’s just the champion of the working shmuck they’ve been waiting for. They loved the Mickey D schtick, and peed their pants over the garbage truck stunt. So today, as Mafia Don is winging his way towards the ME aboard Air Force One, to visit Egypt and Jordan and, of course, the Holy Land, they do a fly-over of Gaza. Trump is truly impressed! The place is a complete demolition zone! Trump sees the opportunity immediately! Yup, this place could be the next Luxembourg or Monaco! Perfect climate, miles of Mediterranean shorefront; everything the super-rich could want in a warm-weather destination, because who wants to hang in Zermatt or Telluride year round? And he’s got a plan for the pesky natives; send them to Egypt and Jordan! That’ll free up Gaza’s sea-front for a whole whack of casino-resorts! Truly the highest and best use for this glorious real estate! Tomorrow is Holocaust Remembrance Day. Eighty years after the Holocaust, we will solemnly intone ‘NEVER AGAIN’ while completely ignoring the Holocaust of our time.

Holocaust survivors condemn Israel's genocide in Gaza

It’s hard to follow the news these days without being constantly reminded that there is an unprecedented eruption of antisemitism around the world. This spike in Jew-hate began shortly after Netanyahu and Gallant announced their intention to withhold food, water, and fuel from the human animals in Gaza, and ramped up further after the ICJ found “plausible genocide” in the IDF’s tactics. Nobody wants to be labelled an antisemite, so we bite our tongues and avert our eyes. That’s why I was cheered to happen across this story today, originally published at Mondoweiss, but only after the erstwhile champion of free speech and human rights, The Guardian, refused to publish it. Ten Holocaust survivors condemn Israel’s Gaza genocide Mondoweiss Below is a letter signed by ten Holocaust survivors condemning the genocide in Gaza and the misuse of antisemitism accusations by politicians. The co-founder of Human Rights Watch, Aryeh Neier, has recently said that Israel is engaged in genocide in Gaza. He’s also said that using accusations of antisemitism to attack Israel’s critics “debases the whole concept of antisemitism.” As Holocaust survivors, we are writing to agree wholeheartedly with Professor Neier — who himself only survived the Holocaust by escaping Nazi Germany as a child in 1939. At a recent Holocaust memorial, Netanyahu declared: “We’ll defeat our genocidal enemies. Never again is now!” Meanwhile, at another memorial, Biden warned of a “ferocious surge of antisemitism” on college campuses. In our opinion, to use the memory of the Holocaust like this to justify either genocide in Gaza or repression on college campuses is a complete insult to the memory of the Holocaust. The dehumanization of Palestinians, describing them as “human animals,” the killing of tens of thousands of civilians, indiscriminate bombing, the destruction of universities and hospitals, and the use of mass starvation — these are clearly stages of ethnic cleansing and genocide. They cannot be defended any more than sending weapons to commit this genocide or refusing funding to UNRWA. With no better arguments, our politicians have resorted to misusing the memory of the Holocaust while claiming that protesting against Israeli genocide is somehow antisemitic. As Holocaust survivors, we have no special authority on the Middle East but we do know about antisemitism. It’s simply wrong to claim that it’s antisemitic to oppose Israeli genocide. It’s also wrong to claim that calling for equal rights for Jews and Arabs “from the river to the sea” is antisemitic. As Holocaust survivors, we are just a few individuals but we want to add our voices to the growing global movement to demand a permanent ceasefire, an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and for the West to stop arming and supporting genocide. Signatories Jacques Bude (Brussels Belgium), survived in hiding in Belgium, parents killed in Auschwitz.Marione Ingram (Washington DC), survived in hiding in Nazi Germany.Stephen Kapos (London UK), survived the Budapest ghetto.H. Richard Leuchtag (Houston TX), escaped Germany in 1938.Rene Lichtman (Southfield MI), survived in hiding in France.Adam Policzer (Vancouver BC), survived in hiding in Hungary.Lillian Rosengarten (Cold Spring NY), escaped Germany in 1936.Suzanne Ross (New York), escaped Nazi-occupied Belgium Suzanne Berliner Weiss (Toronto Ont.), survived in hiding in France, mother killed in Auschwitz.Ervin Somogyi (Oakland, CA), survivor from Hungary.

Maybe Israel is committing genocide after all?

The following is an op-ed from the Israeli news platform Haaretz on 12 November. The writer concludes that yes, Israel is unequivocally guilty of genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza. I find it ironic that this article could never be published in any major Canadian news site because it would be condemned as antisemitic hate speech. *********** Maybe Israel is committing genocide after all? People tend to believe that in order to commit genocide, you have to murder an entire nation. Well, no. You don't have to try so hard. You can earn the designation more easily. Raphael Lemkin, who coined the term "genocide," worked tirelessly to have it recognized as a crime under international law and given special status. Thanks in no small part to his efforts, an international convention was drawn up designed to fight genocide and to punish its perpetrators and their abettors. The treaty also includes a list of what acts a state or people must commit to be considered perpetrators of genocide. Article 2 of the convention lists five acts that make up the definition of genocide. In order to determine whether or not Israel is committing genocide, it's worthwhile examining all five criteria and see how many of them Israel is committing in the Gaza Strip. Here they are, word for word. Article 2a: "Killing members of the group." No problem. We easily meet the criteria for this section. Although the convention does not specify a required number of dead, 43,000 is surely enough. You can put a checkmark on this one. Article 2b: "Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group." Who would ever deny that we have successfully met the requirements of this section as well. We have bombed day and night; hundreds of limbs have been amputated; we ruined the lives of tens of thousands of children and their parents; we have torn them apart with bodily and mental injuries. Definitely put a checkmark. Article 2c: "Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part." The hunger and thirst, delays in humanitarian aid, endless torture and deportation from place to place, the systematic destruction of residential areas, houses of prayer, schools, thousands of people buried under the rubble, the employment of demolition contractors to flatten the city of Rafah (partial list). More than enough to meet the requirements section 3. I am proud to check it off. 4: "Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group." The destruction of almost all of Gaza's hospitals including delivery rooms, emergency rooms, neonatal and maternity wards, preventing shipments of medical equipment, killing medical personnel... Is there any doubt that Israel would look favorably upon the crash of the Palestinian birthrate in Gaza? Put a checkmark with honors. 5: "Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group." Finally, something that Israel has not done. A pity. Maybe taking some children out of the hell we created for them would have saved their lives. But it doesn't get a checkmark. Of the five criteria for genocide, we have performed four exemplarily. That's a fine score. Especially when the execution of one of the five sections, it doesn't matter which one, is enough to be considered a perpetrator. Bravo. Warning: Feigning innocence will not be admissible as a defense. No one will believe that we did all this in good faith, or purely for reasons of self-defense. Nor will public displays of misery and weeping be of any use this time. And above all, it is not worth relying as we do on the Holocaust as a defense. It may provoke comparisons. The treaty, by the way, also refers to those who incite genocide and those who conspire to commit it, and states that they will be punished. In other words, all ministers and members of the coalition. As far as I'm concerned, issuing international arrest warrants for everyone is enough. Their forced respite from roaming abroad at the public expense, due to the very possible threat of arrest, would be a more bitter punishment than death. How nice.

Dementia Joe; the sh!t-show continues...

You’d think the embarrassing spectacle playing out in America’s “Democracy Theatre” would prompt more Americans to question to what extent they actually have a democracy. After the 90 minute cringe-fest Joe put on in the Trump debate, he had a softball “redemption interview” with CNN’s George Stephanopoulos the other night. Joe assured the American people he was doing his goodest work, and was firmly on top of his running-the-world gig. According to multiple reports across the spectrum of America’s legacy news platforms, the Dem party megadonors are soiling their bespoke trousers. They are calling emergency meetings in a too-late attempt to contain the damage. When their boy is doing his goodest work while things are clearly going out of control, they’ve got cause for concern. Before you know it, there’s gonna be way more than the deplorables calling out the Emperor’s nudity. While the stupefied American public is slow to clue in, imagine what this clown show looks like to all those Global South countries Uncle Sam keeps wooing into Pax America. Why would anyone adopt America’s model of democracy, which boils down to the rule of megadonors? The choice between Trump and Biden is a choice between two candidates approved by the megadonors. In Canada, we consider ourselves above the venal money-saturated politics we see south of the border. But think about it; are we any different? Sure, we have a multi-party democracy, but those parties, to the extent they have any profile in our national media, all draw their campaign funds from a very narrow deep-pocketed base. That’s why every single Canadian parliamentarian can see genocide in Xinjiang, but none of them can see genocide in Gaza.

Sh!t happens... life goes on

Me and the Farm Manager were discussing the situation in Gaza. She's got extended family in Israel, so it's a topic she's invested in. Fortunately, all those relations have multiple passports and can catch a flight to Montreal or New Jersey if things go south. That appears to be happening. I read somewhere, and I can't personally vouch for the source, that almost half a million Israelis have left the country since 10/7. But enough about relatives... which brings to mind an anecdote about the New Brunswick born Hollywood mogul, Louis B Mayer. Long ensconced amongst Hollywood's Jewish elite, Mayer had occassion to have Albert Einstein as a dinner guest. Upon hearing that Albert had concocted something called "the theory of relativity," Mayer is alleged to have replied that he had a theory about his relatives too. A lot of big names in Jewish culture were never fully on-board with the Zionist agenda. Mayer and Einstein were two of them. Edgar Bronfman was another. Bronfman was head of the World Jewish Congress for decades. He was a staunch advocate for Palestinian rights. Unfortunately, the WJC was more interested in his money than his advice. History is full of make-up stories. Folks who inflicted assorted war crimes on one another, like the Germans and the French, for example, were inter-marrying and signing trade deals a generation later. Shit happens. It's often ugly shit. It's almost always being manipulated by hate-mongers who seek to profit from division and despair. Here's my advice; leave the shit behind and get on with life.

Canada's reputation has gone for a shit since PM Justin "Fluffy" Trudeau took power

I admit I was a victim of Trudeaumania 2.0 and voted for Fluffy in 2015. It was the Sunny Daze craze, and I was swept along by the zeitgeist. I am ever so sorry. The Great White Hope in black-face has worked non-stop to embarrass himself, and since he's Canada's face to the world, he embarrasses us all with every pratfall. The latest brouha-ha erupted when Fluffy took it upon himself to lecture The Greatest Leader since Moses on the matter of killing babies. It's simply untoward that a little pipsqueak non-entity of a country like Canada, given its own genocidal legacy, deems itself qualified to pass judgement on Israel's genocide in Gaza. We used to care about relations with Israel, but things have changed. Justin has also managed to put India-Canada relations in the deep freeze, for no reason any reasonable analyst has sniffed out. He heard a rumour through the "Five Eyes" rumour reification network and decided on that basis to accuse India of being behind the assassination of a Sikh activist in Canada. Big whoop, you might say, but Modi's sensibilities were offended. We used to care about relations with India, but things have changed. For many, many years Canada worked hard at cultivating relations with China. Canada's China policy under Trudeau the elder paved the way for the Nixon era raprochment between the USA and Chinese communists. We had political capital in China's goodwill bank since the Bethune era. That's all been flushed down the bidet in Fluffy's make-up room. Then China kidnapped the Two Micheals for no reason what-so-ever and you know how that ended... Or maybe you don't. The Globe and Mail revealed on the weekend that the official "Two Micheals" narrative was PR bullshit all along. Ya, apparently there was spying going on, and the Trudeau regime was lying to your face every time they denied it. We used to care about relations with China, but things have changed. What's changed is that there's nobody in the wheelhouse in Ottawa willing to speak out against the idiocy coming from the Mother Ship in Washington.

Blinky's Middle-East tour highlights US impotence and ineptitude

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken wants us to believe that he's been "working aggressively" to free the hostages, get a "humanitarian pause," and bring more aid into Gaza. He's achieved little or nothing on all three fronts. As SecState, Blinken is America's voice in the global community. What he's been demonstrating to that community is that America is weak, indecisive, and not in any way fit for the leadership role it imagines is its due. The Ukraine disaster approaches its last act. Remember "whatever it takes for as long as it takes?" Ukraine remembers. Nobody in Washington does. The war is rapidly approaching its two year anniversary. In the first months Zelensky was on the cusp of a peace deal with Moscow, but was waved off by his masters in Washington and London. "Wait a few months and you'll be negotiating from a position of strength," they assured him. Half a million Ukrainian casualties later, Ukraine is destroyed. NATO is weaker. America is weaker. The EU is weaker. Russia is stronger. Before that war can be put to bed, America faces another test of its credibility in the Middle East. Now Team Biden is standing with Israel as Israel demonstrates to all the world that it will proceed with its genocidal campaign against the Palestinians whether Washington likes it or not. When America's attack dog ignores the commands of its purported master, you have to wonder who's really calling the shots. We know it's not Dementia Joe, and it's not Blinken or Sullivan. But you'll notice there's a serious deep state adult on the case now, following Blinky's footsteps and trying to mitigate the damage. Whether Bill Burns can right the ship remains to be seen, but I'm not optimistic. And remember; Russia and Hamas are just minor skirmishes on the way to the real battle the Apostles of American Exceptionalism have planned for us. Forget the Taliban. Forget Russia, Forget Hamas... Set your bomb-sites on Communist China!

Bubby Lifshitz blows hole in Hamas terror narrative

Within minutes of the first Hamas operatives breaching the Gaza fence on 7 October, Israel’s global PR machine went into overdrive. Beasts! Monsters ! Babies beheaded! Women raped and burned alive! Jewish innocents tortured to death! And things unspeakably worse than all of the above! For three weeks every Israeli official who appeared on our news feeds stressed over and over that Hamas were animals, bloody monsters, savages, etc. Then 85 year-old Israeli grandmother Yocheved Lifshitz, one of the Hamas hostages, was released by the bloody savages, and unfortunately gave a media interview before she had been debriefed by the proper authorities. The kidnapping itself was hell, she said, but once Hamas had her in their underground terrorist lair, she was treated well. The terrorists fed her, provided medical care, and made sure she got the medications she normally took before becoming a hostage. What are we to make of that? Here’s what I make of it. The hostages are a bargaining chip. Hamas, long funded and nurtured by Israel itself (a fact surprisingly reported by even CBC and the Globe and Mail) are sophisticated and media savvy. They understand the value of PR. That’s why all the horror stories need to be independently investigated and confirmed. There’s no logical reason to take Netanyahu’s word for anything. He has built a political career on ratcheting up violence and then swooping in to save the day. The unprecedented security lapse of 7 October is on him. He knows it, but he hopes the Israeli people will be sufficiently blinded by hatred to forget.

When politicians want war but generals don't, who you gonna listen to?

Case in point; the much anticipated Gaza land invasion. Over 300,000 IDF reservists have been cooling their heels at the Gaza fence for two and a half weeks by now. Set the way-back machine to three weeks ago, and a lot of those reservists were doing what? Taking to the streets and protesting against Netanyahu, that’s what! And while every last one is prepared to avenge what happened on 10/7, they’ve now had two and a half weeks to think it through and stew over it… A Gaza ground invasion is going to be a brutal undertaking. They know the odds are good that they’ll be dead. For what? How many of them truly believe killing more Palestinians will bring peace to Israel? How many have come to the realization they’re about to give up their lives for the greater glory of The Greatest Leader since Moses? And you can bet the generals aren’t thrilled either. It’s too bad they never speak the truth till they’ve retired, but any number of retired IDF senior staff talk about Hezbollah having a missile inventory in the hundreds of thousands. Iron Dome is overwhelmed by a few dozens. Meanwhile, Netanyahu still barks war war war… Let’s pray those reservists and the senior IDF leadership can find the courage to say no to more death and destruction. Peace now!

Netanyahu wanted another war and he got it

Anyone who follows Israeli politics is well acquainted with a recurring theme in the career of The Greatest Leader Since Moses; when his political fortunes are on the down-tick, Netanyahu turns up the dial on violence so he can pose as the strongman who can teach the Palestinians a sharp lesson and bring security to the Holy Land. Works like a charm… or at least it has till now. At this point, there is no reason to assume this time is different. Bibi’s desperation to form a government after the last election resulted in him forming alliances with the most racist and extremist settler factions. The shocking deterioration of Palestinian living conditions since the current coalition took power has been obvious to everyone. Settler extremists have had a green light to terrorize Palestinians across the occupied territories. Hardly a day goes by without Palestinians dying at the hands of settler extremists and/or their IDF protectors. The repeated violations of long-standing protocols around access to Al Aqsa has inflamed Palestinian rage, and is cited by Hamas spokespersons as the rationale for launching the current attack. Supposedly, the Hamas offensive took Israel by complete surprise. I find that hard to believe. Every Palestinian resistance entity since the creation of Israel has been thoroughly riddled with spies and collaborators. Israel has enormous advantages in technical surveillance capabilities. It is far more plausible that Israeli intelligence was fully aware this attack was coming, and chose to let it happen. Why? Within 18 hours of the attack, opposition leaders Lapid and Gantz have already agreed to participate in an “Emergency Government.” Just imagine; full support across the entirety of the political spectrum for Netanyahu! You can bet those massive anti-government protests we’ve been seeing for months are over for the foreseeable future. So what happens next? For the moment, Netanyahu has a mandate to unleash extreme vengeance against the Palestinian resistance. But the “what-ifs” are ominous. What if Hezbollah enters the war? There’s been numerous senior IDF officials over the years warning that Hezbollah has a missile stockpile of hundreds of thousands capable of striking anywhere in Israel. What if Iran enters the war? Iran is but the most vocal state supporter of both Hamas and Hezbollah. There are others, and if push comes to shove, even Arab states that have been working at normalizing relations with Israel will be forced to take sides. And let’s not forget that both Russia and China have been stitching up mutual defense agreements with Iran. What if Israel needs to call on its ultimate enabler, the United States, to make good on its promise to ensure Israel will get everything it needs to prevail? Isn’t that the same promise they’ve been making to Ukraine for over a year and a half? And how’s that going? Netanyahu has upped the ante as never before. We live in interesting times.

I thought pounding out your weaker neighbour was bad?

It's certainly bad when Putin is doing it to Ukraine. So where is the outcry when Israel does it to Gaza? There is none. Silence befalls the media landscape. Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East, don't ya know. So shut-up. End of discussion. I propose that to show the world they're not a bunch of two-faced hypocrites, US/NATO lend the same support to Gaza as they do Ukraine. Let's fix the underdogs up with thousands of Javelins and Stingers, and what the heck, maybe even a few long-range howitzers and some of those HIMARs. That "democracy" whoo-whoo is pretty funny when you think about it. The democracy in Ukraine is so democratic it required a US-engineered coup in 2014 just to keep it on the democratic path! The Ukrainians are showing their gratitude by willingly sacrificing themselves in America's war with Russia. You wouldn't want to inspect Ukraine's "democracy" bona-fides too closely. The Z-man has banned all political parties except his own, and shut down all not-government news channels. Israel, on the other hand is a real democracy. Americans only get to elect a new leader every four years. Israelis get to elect theirs every few months! Clearly, that makes Israel the most democratic democracy in the world!

CBC finds 17 stories more important than civil war in Israel

Check out the CBC News home page at the very moment the Middle East teeters on the brink of all out regional war. You're introduced to 17 stories before you learn that "Fighting intensifies between Israel and Hamas." 

Seven of those more important stories are covid related, because hey, if we don't beat the virus, Middle East Peace won't matter anyway.

Then there's a bit about the latest iteration of Quebec's racist language laws, and a spot on how Bill Morneau broke the law with his WE charity hanky-panky, but oh well. Bill is a well-meaning but slightly absent-minded chap who once forgot to declare a villa in the south of France as an asset when first brought into cabinet.

Besides that, we learned the CBC lost a lawsuit, a gay guy is pissed off because he's still not allowed to make blood donations, and a couple of Black kids in small prairie towns bonded over..., well, being Black kids in small prairie towns, which I suppose is a happy enough thing for them, but which I'm sceptical will win CBC a lot of eyeballs in the 18-30 demographic. Oh, and there's one actual news story; Greyhound is shutting down all across Canada.

Only then do we learn that "fighting intensifies..."

The story itself, sourced from Associated Press (because CBC doesn't do foreign bureaus anymore) is relatively even-handed, pointing out the current crisis was triggered by "heavy handed Israeli police tactics" during Ramadan. 

True enough, but we've got historical precedent to draw on as well. Every time The Greatest Leader Since Moses has his back to the wall and risks losing an election, the violence is ramped up to whatever level is necessary, up to and including full-on war, to bring about the desired result. This time, Bibi sees his options as "go big or go to jail." So lets conjure up a really big round of violence, and the land will be awed anew by the steely resolve of their great helmsman.

Right now, the IDF is massing forces for a threatened incursion into Gaza. I'm sure that's a decision made on the political side by people around Netanyahu, because actual soldiers remember how that went last time. And how long do they imagine they'll be subduing Gaza before Hezbollah is drawn in. Then we'll see which estimate of how many missiles they have is most accurate. Various former senior officers have put the number in the hundreds of thousands. Iron Dome will be depleted after the first several dozen.

But if this gambit can keep Bibi's arse out of jail, it's worth a try!

Bibi goes out in a blaze of glory

It was six days ago that Israel's president Reuven Rivlin decreed that opposition leader Yair Lapid would have the opportunity to form a coalition. Meanwhile, The Greatest Leader Since Moses is still in the driver's seat.

Cue the sudden rise in violence. The nation needs a strong hand at the helm, now more than ever. When have we heard this before? Every time Bibi's in trouble?

I'm sure you've noticed how things have been going downhill ever since.

Bibi is down to his last moves to avoid his corruption trial. He's going large. He's doubling down... and doubling down again.

The small change from the Gaza rocketeers isn't at issue here, although they have tragically created some rare casualties of late. What is truly remarkable is that Bibi seems prepared to keep upping the ante. 

The missile that fell a few kilometers from Dimona the other week was a message.

Cognitive dissonance and our "ironclad" support for Israel

The Freeland-Trudeau team like to go out of their way to pose as Trump-defying humanists, stalwarts of the international anti-Trump resistance. That's a pose meant primarily for the domestic audience, where pretend resistance scores a lot of political points among great swathes of the populace.

In the real world, we're 100% in with the Israel-KSA-USA axis of virtue. How else to explain our dithering over our biggest arms sale ever? How else to explain Chrystia's grovelling performance in Jerusalem last week?

The IDF turkey shoot at the Gaza fence continues week in and week out, with nary a peep from our dynamic duo of "feminist foreign policy," save for that one ill-advised slip of the tongue on Trudeau's part back in May, when he accidentally misspoke about the need for an impartial inquiry into the IDF's multiple murders of unarmed Palestinians. That brief outburst of sanity went missing immediately.

Maybe Kushner made a phone call.


No, we're proud to offer our "unwavering and ironclad support" for the Trump-loving Likudniks who are systematically destroying Israel and turning it into a loathsome apartheid pariah.

Israel contemplates suicide

There's plenty of speculation out there that a full-on IDF attack on Gaza is imminent.

The think tank here at Falling Downs figures it won't happen.

Why?

Because the upper echelon of IDF leadership fully understand the idea is retarded.

Sure, it makes great talking points for a lot of hate-mongering politicians, but the serious people at the pointy end fully understand that a ground attack on Gaza would be a nightmare.

It's one thing to send fighter jets to drop Hellfire missiles and Paveways on people with no air defences.

It's quite another to fight block to block and house to house in Gaza City.

To say nothing of the carnage that will ensue if such a war expands to include the Hezbollah rocketeers in southern Lebanon.

So I figure, political grandstanding aside, there's nothing to worry about.


But I could be wrong.

Trudeau's tune-up

On 16 May Justin Trudeau made a public statement condemning the use of excessive force by the IDF at the Gaza containment fence and calling for an independent inquiry into the matter.

The next day I wrote a blog post remarking on how quickly that story had vanished from the major news aggregators.

But, life goes on, and there are always new outrages to get revved up about, and so I never actually followed up that story.

Until today.

Seems that on the very day that I was writing that post, Justin got a phone call from Bibi. They had a heart to heart about how tough it is being the only democracy in the Middle East and how Israel has a right to defend her borders etc.

On the following day, Trudeau's government abstained on a vote at the UN that called for... wait for it... an independent inquiry into excessive IDF violence at the Gaza containment fence!


Little Fluffy's having quite the learning curve, ain't he!?

Middle East problem-solving 101

What with the Trumpian relocation of the US embassy and all the hoo-ha about those brave IDF snipers gunning down unarmed Palestinians, I figure its time to root around in the archives and find us a winning plan.

We got it!

  Ya, it's been three years since the think tank here at Falling Downs came up with this insight, but one thing all great plans have in common is they stand up to the test of time.

Annexing Libya makes even more sense for Egypt today than when we originally released that policy paper. Nevermind Egypt; it makes even more sense to the rest of the world!

Think about it.

Those 2.5 million Gazans get a place to call home.

Another four million West Bankers will surely follow in short order!

Voila, the Holy Land will be totally vacated by the miscreants, and will be totally a blank slate for the Chosen People!

Isn't that what all this Middle East conflict is about? Clearing out the unchosen and moving in the Chosen?

Of course it is...


By God, I think we got us a home run here...

Just send the Nobel Peace Prize to Think Tank @ Falling Downs, c/o General Delivery, Kemble Post Office, N0H 1S0.

Breaking! Mueller team to probe Israeli meddling in US elections!

Just kidding folks!

You already know that neither Mueller nor his team have the slightest interest in such an investigation.

I just thought I'd put that out there, complete with the bogus "breaking" header, to see if I could bust the ceiling of three page views that my posts have been getting since Google declared war on "fake news."

Ya, even pip-squeak sites like this one got buried in that land-slide. I feel for the folks who actually try to make a living off their blogs. Like Sarah Kendzior... oh wait a minute... no, sorry, Google hasn't been messing with her...

But back to Mueller and the question of meddling in America's "democracy."

Mueller's team has been investigating Russia's "meddling" for a year and a half now. What have they found?

Facebook adverts! Yup, some devious Ruskie operatives subverted US democracy by buying tens of thousands of dollars worth of Facebook advertisements!

Meanwhile, guys like Sheldon Adelson quite openly invest tens of millions in subverting America's democracy, but that is not probe-worthy.

Why not?

Because Israel and the USA have "shared values."

That's right! Gunning down an unarmed black man in America has the same value as gunning down an unarmed Palestinian in Gaza.


Shared values indeed!

Can a newspaper be judged by what's not in it?

Took the hounds for a turn down the Bruce Trail the other side of Bass Lake this morning. Turns out the new pup is quite the water-girl. She'll fetch sticks out of the lake that the old girls turn their noses up at. They like to see a decent splash before they commit. The new girl will chase anything.

Lots of good stuff in my Globe and Mail this weekend. I see where the Trudeau gang are screwing over our PTSD-addled CAF vets by cutting back their medicinal marijuana allotment by two thirds. I thought maybe they'd make good on their promise to treat our vets with a little more respect after the lost decade of the Harper years, but it's not looking good.

Freeland's trip to Bangladesh gets lots of coverage. My sense is we're being prepped to open the refugee floodgates for the Rohingya, and why not? After all, according to Saunders' thesis in Maximum Canada, we'll be also-rans on the global stage and in the world economy till we hit that critical mass of a hundred million in population. A million Rohingya will give us a goodly boost in that direction. Let's just hope the Housing Matters crowd succeeds in it's quest to have lots more lux condos put up; we're gonna need a lot more luxury high-rise developments in our big cities to create enough trickle-down affordable housing for a million newcomers.

Made it down to the funeral on Friday. Is it actually a funeral if the guy's been cremated? Instead of a big old hardwood casket, there was just a little box with his ashes up on the altar. Saves on both wood and pallbearers, I suppose.

The deceased always prided himself on his immigrant heritage. He was from East Prussia. How fitting then that the officiating reverend spoke in a noticeably accented English, although I think it was perhaps more East Punjab than East Prussia. No matter; Werner would have been the first to point out that we're all equal in the eyes of God.

Elsewhere in the paper we've got a bit of fluff about the royal wedding and some obligatory drivel about the latest twists and turns in the saga of 45. Giuliani and Stormy Daniels figure in the reportage today. Ya, I know, but apparently it sells papers. That's the thing about Trump. A creation of the media from the mid-seventies on, anyone who follows media, entertainment, and politics will realize that the trajectory of Donny J has been a self-fulfilling prophecy for a society that has for far too long been amusing itself to death.

While Trump hasn't quite made America great again, he's sure given SNL a new lease on life, hasn't he? And I just learned today that Alec Baldwin used to be a busboy at Studio 54 back when young Trump was honing his pussy-grabbing skills at the notorious disco. Hmm...

Aside from a lengthy article about Syrian refugees in Lebanon, (a mere pit-stop on their way to Canada, I'm sure) there was utterly no news about the Middle East. Is that an oversight? A crooked cop in Hamilton gets eight feet worth of column inches and the most explosive tinderbox on the geopolitical map gets next to nothing? How can that be?

The Globe brain trust rightfully found room for a 3/4 page spread on the 75th anniversary of the Warsaw ghetto uprising. That's something we never want to forget.

But not a word about what happened in Gaza yesterday or last week or last month.

That's something we don't want to know.