Oopsie! My bad! Turns out Epstein was working for Russia, not Israel!

Ya, I obviously got it wrong. Seems all that stuff I read over the years, claiming Jeffrey was Mossad, was Russian disinfo all along! I should have known! Silly me! My face is... not just red, but bright cherry red, or maybe even fire-engine red!... or, God forbid, "red" like Red China! The New York Post spilled the truth today. In hindsight, it's so obvious. All those billionaires and famous people flocking to Jeffrey's island were closet commies hoping to support Putin's rebuild of the Soviet Empire! I noticed traffic to the previous post stopped a couple of hours after posting. Hopefully this confession will fix that.

Haiti in the headlines

Frankly, I'm shocked we don't see headlines about Haiti more often. After all, Haiti is practically in our back yard. It's barely a four hour flight out of Montreal or Toronto. Kyiv and Tel Aviv are at least ten hours away, yet you hear ten times as much from those compared to Haiti. I figure that's mainly because Ukraine and Israel both have powerful lobbies in Canada, powerful enough to get attention, and results, in Ottawa. Haiti has nothing comparable. Sure, they've got Michaelle Jean, the first Black Governor General of Canada, but she disgraced herself in the eyes of official Ottawa, by starting a foundation to lobby for reparations for Blacks in Canada. In official Ottawa they just roll their eyes and mutter, "after everything we've done for her." But back to Haiti, which has actually warranted a few news stories lately. Back in August, there were stories on multiple semi-reputable news sites, including CBC, about Erik Prince signing a contract with whoever passes for government down there, to bring in one of his private "contractor" armies to take on the gangs. I'd be delighted to provide a link, but unfortunately my ability to do links on this platform disappeared around the time the warning showed up that I'm violating community standards, so forget links - I'm glad to be able to publish at all. In case the name doesn't ring a bell, Prince is the billionaire Trump pal who got rich by subcontracting US military jobs, because as we all know, the private sector can do everything more efficiently. And Blackwater, his mercenary outfit, was so efficient at killing Iraqis that they've had to change their name every few years just to stay ahead of the multiple lawsuits they're facing. That was in mid-August. Hardly a month later, Haiti hits the headlines again! Erik's company, currently known as "Vectus Global," looks like it's keeping up the Blackwater tradition of mowing down civilians in the interest of peace, security, human rights, and, last but certainly not least, profits! Eight children dead and another six wounded in a drone attack, according to CBC. Ironically, on the same day, the Global Affairs Canada website announced a $60 million contribution to the security of Haiti. Hmm... I wonder how much of that will find its way into Erik's pockets?

Moderate rebels take Syria - Democracy and Pride parades coming soon!

Finally! There’s a whole lotta gloatin’ goin’ on today in certain circles. Washington, the Pentagon, Langley… What I’ve read at the JPost today is a little more nuanced. Yes, it’s a happy day in some ways, but… and there’s the rub. While it’s good that Assad has been vanquished, the Israelis know the “moderate rebels” better than anyone. Remember a few years ago when Canada rescued about 100 of those brave Syrian White Helmets that were trapped by Assad’s forces? Chrystia Freeland was even honored as an “Honorary White Helmet” by the White Helmets themselves! The White Helmets were first responders who worked exclusively in rebel held areas of Syria. That’s because they were rebels! And how moderate were those rebels? Moderate enough for Canada, but not nearly moderate enough for Israel. Although those humanitarian White Helmets escaped Syria via Israel, Israel was adamant that not a single one remain there. That’s because they know the truth, and the truth is, today’s moderate rebels are just the latest rebranding of the ISIS head-choppers and the Al Qaeda terrorists who allegedly brought down the twin towers. To my complete shock, CNN aired an interview with the HTS (latest acronym after AQ and ISIS for the usual head-choppers) leader that actually broached this subject! The CNN interviewer quizzed al-Julani on his remarkable path from terrorist Al Qaeda operative to ISIS leader to moderate rebel leader celebrated by CNN. It’s a stunning exercise in narrative management and well worth a look. She even brought up the fact that HTS is listed as a terrorist entity by the USA and its vassals, and brought up the $10 million bounty the FBI has on him. We’re supposed to believe all his terrorist activity was just youthful indiscretions, the Islamic fundamentalist version of an Amish kid out on their “rumspringa.” Sure… What we know for sure is Israel is now rid of Assad, and instead, has a collection of Islamic fundamentalist whackos next door. Good luck with that!

Mysteries of the "deep state"

As you know, the folks who run America’s democracy theatre have a big event coming up in a few weeks; the election. You know the main characters; in the red corner, the Black Hat, Donald J Trump. And in the blue corner, the White Hat, Kamala. Due to the limited intelligence of the average American voter, the script-writers like to keep things simple enough that your typical WWE enthusiast can follow the action. Polls tell us the race is too close to call. In order to shake things up, the brain trust running the White Hat’s campaign sent her out on a media blitz recently. I’ve seen the Opra interview, the 60 Minutes interview, and her appearances on Colbert and The View. Sending Kamala out to meet the people has been, in my opinion, a tragic mistake. The woman has exposed herself as a complete airhead. “So what will be your policy priorities, Kamala?” “Well… before I address that, I just want to say how much I love the American people. I grew up in a middle class home, and you know, ambition and work ethic! I love the American people because we have dreams… we have aspirations… we work hard… we have dreams…” Other than that, and badmouthing Trump, she ain’t got nuthin! Meanwhile, what’s the Black Hat up to? As we know, Trump is a bad guy who can’t wait to end democracy in America. What do you expect from a Putin fanboy? And he’s ready to stab Ukraine in the back! Who can even imagine such an outrage? Ukraine, the plucky little country fighting Putin so democracy can survive, not just in Ukraine, but all over the world! And Trump wants to pull the plug on our support for this bravest of all democratic nations! And let’s not forget that Trump’s number one backer is the odious Elon Musk, the world’s richest man! The man who bought liberal, freedom-loving Twitter, and turned it into a hate-spewing fascist propaganda organ! There you have the broad outlines of the narrative, the plot, so to speak, for the Big Show. Now let me step back for a moment and play theatre critic. Aside from being the world’s richest man, and an enthusiastic promoter of far-right conspiracy theories, who is Elon Musk? Why, he’s the beneficiary of $hundreds of billions in financial support from the US government for his various deep-state-adjacent enterprises. Like Space-X. If you suspect NASA was privatized and Elon ended up with it, you wouldn’t be wrong. Which brings me to the Atlantic Council. That’s the “intellectual” think-tank arm of NATO. It is funded by the US government and a gaggle of defence contractors. It is 100% committed to the doctrine of American exceptionalism and is a “deep state” creature through and through. Every year, on the occasion of the UNGA shindig in NYC, the Atlantic Council celebrates a few world leaders for their service to Empire by bestowing upon them the “Global Citizen Award.” This year, one of the recipients of the Global Citizen Award was PM of Italy, Georgia Meloni. If you recall, when she was elected, the mainstream media couldn’t give you enough scare stories about how she was the reincarnation of Mussolini! Pro-Putin and anti-American! Fortunately, on winning the election, she came to her senses and soon embraced the urgency of standing with Ukraine for as long as it takes. And who presented her the award? None other than that anti-establishment rebel, Elon Musk! Yup, the same guy bankrolling Donald Trump, the anti-establishment once-and-future swamp-drainer! Wow! Well, clearly this two-horse race could go either way. Luckily for freedom, democracy, and human rights, these two diametrically opposed candidates can agree on one crucial thing; they both 100% support Israel, no matter what.

Mass graves discovered at Gaza hospital after retreat of "most moral army in the world"

Most moral army in the world? That pungent flower of PR supremacy is wilting fast. Most of us who follow these things are so relieved the face-off between Iran and Israel has been tamped down, at least for now, that we’ve almost forgotten Gaza. But the genocide continues. The death toll has passed 34,000. Gazans, especially the youngest and most vulnerable, are starving to death - if they live long enough. And let’s not be deluded about why they are starving. The food that would prevent their starvation rots in tractor-trailers that sit at the gates of Gaza, while Israel slow-walks aid via 1001 petty obstructions. Al Jazeera is the only major news source available in the West that reports out of Gaza without Israeli censorship. That’s why you can’t hope to be reliably informed if you limit yourself to BBC/CBC/CNN/MSNBC/Fox. The “mighty Wurlitzer” of American Empire propaganda ensures we see only the side of the story that is convenient to the Empire. The story we were treated to today was that Israel’s retaliation against Iran demonstrated Israel’s strategic dominance. The Iranians were cowed into standing down, and global nuclear war was averted. Whew! Here’s a more plausible scenario. While we were told the first Iranian direct attack on Israel in history was an abject failure, the reality seems to be somewhat different. We were told 99% of incoming was taken down by a combination of Israel and its allies. We now know some missiles got through the various defences and hit at least three strategic military targets. That was a wake-up call for at least some of the senior IDF guys who don’t pull their strategies out of 3,000 year old religious texts. That’s why Israel’s response was, in the words of Itmar Ben Givr, Minister of National Security and far-right religious nutter, “lame.” It’s comforting that their are some sane folks left at the top of the IDF. Whether they can prevent the Greatest Leader since Moses taking the country into the abyss remains to be seen.

Apocalypse Joe says USA "still beacon to the world"

Biden claims US is still a beacon to the world... sure thing, Joe! 10,000 migrants wading across the Rio Grande every day can't be wrong! Biden’s speech from the Oval Office last night was an unofficial declaration of WWIII. We must not waver in our support for Ukraine. And we can never ever waver in our support for the Chosen People. Ergo, we must gird our loins for the coming battle against evil-doers. Airy-fairy shit like the Climate Crisis is obviously gonna have to wait. We are embarking on the ultimate struggle between good and evil, and if you think we’re not the good guys, you’ve obviously been poisoned by Putin’s propaganda. Meanwhile, reports were already coming in about missile attacks on illegal US outposts in Iraq and Syria, and that was before Apocalypse Joe even finished his speech! Meanwhile, the IDF has the green light to roll into Gaza… Meanwhile, Hezbollah has promised it’ll send missiles to Tel Aviv and Dimona if IDF enters Gaza… Meanwhile, USA has carrier strike force in East Med, with a second carrier strike force on its way… Meanwhile, Russia has hypersonic missiles that are eager to meet that US fleet… The times are getting way too interesting for my liking.

US-backed forces doing God's work in Syria

Today's Sunday Star presents an AP story that confirmms our belief that US-backed forces are doing great stuff in Syria besides liberating Syrian oil. "US-backed forces free women, children at ISIS camp." Well, thank goodness for US-backed forces. Writer Bassam Mroue is so thrilled to report the good news that "US-backed" appears six times in a 300 word story. Don't they have editors anymore at Torstar or Associated Press? So what were the baddies up to that drew the wrath of US-backed forces? Oppressing women and children, if such an outrage can be imagined. In fact, the evil-doers are so vile they have killed 44 people this year. Sounds to me like we could use some US-backed forces to clean up Chicago. After that, maybe they could pay some attention to Syria's neighbour, Israel, where over 80 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces thus far this year... Oh wait... those ARE the US-backed forces.

Israel braces for fresh round of Islamic terror

Here's a fact you might want to ponder, at least if you're keen on peace in the Middle East.

Half the Palestinian population in greater Israel is under twenty years of age.

In their lifetimes, what has PLO/PA done for them?

If they are in Gaza, what has Hamas done for them?

Palestinians under both Hamas and the PA have known nothing but humiliation.

Along comes ISIL, Islamic State, with a promise of restoring Palestinian pride.

Driven out of Syria and Iraq after wreaking immense havoc, these toxic fundamentalists, with whom the IDF played footsie while they were on our side in Syria, seem to have a foothold in greater Israel today.

This can only get much worse before it gets better.

Don't let facts disturb your faith in covid vaccines

I’ve often said that if we want to understand the pandemic, we need to look to what’s happening in Israel. That’s because Israel was first off the mark with mass vaccinations, and has one of the highest rates of fully-vaccinated people in the world.

Here’s a timely ten minute read, published yesterday; Israel is overrun with Covid. The vaccines have failed.

Long story short, Israel is on the second booster shot - four doses of Pfizer’s safe and effective vaccine, and they’ve got more covid than ever. This is not a new story and the trend has been evident for some time, but that’s done nothing to rein in media fear-mongering.

One wonders if that’s just due to will-full ignorance, or is something else at play? 

Bye-bye Bibi

I've been waiting to write those words for quite some time, so this should be a happy day. While I'll miss mocking The Greatest Leader Since Moses, there are storm clouds on the horizon.

First of all, I don't see Bennett and the Arab list co-existing in the same coalition more than a few weeks, or at least till Netanyahu is safely out of the picture. Then there'll be another election.

What I said a few years ago, that in the current climate Bibi is a moderate, is going to be proven true.  The next new government after the new government forming today will shed the Arabs and the "centrists," bind with the post-Bibi Likud, and take Israel even further right, if such a thing can be imagined.

Secondly, we're in the midst of a sea-change in US public opinion. Last week I saw a headline on MSNBC that read, "Israel needs to address the Palestinians in a new way. We need to address Israel in a new way."

That's MSNBC, folks.

There are words going into the Congressional Record these days that could not even have been imagined before the Biden government came in. Those in denial will say that's just because he's pandering to the radical wing of the party.

He is! But that's what should be cause for second thoughts among the Israeli political class. Traditionally, the party pandered to its Jewish wing.

A further tilt to the extreme right, just as American support is wavering, is a disaster waiting to happen.

What you don't see while you're watching 24/7 Trump news

The New York Times had a story the other day about how the Reverend Al Sharpton and Donny J are the best of "frenemies."

Of course they are! Both of them have always been ruthless publicity hounds more than willing to butter one another's bread for mutual advantage. They have a lot in common!



Photos like this wouldn't have raised an eyebrow before Trump declared his candidacy for the 2016 election.

Then Trump won that election. Then he became a racist. Then he introduced lying to US politics. What a disaster!

It's been a godsend for American media of course. They quickly made the man they suddenly love to hate, after thirty years of obsequious slobbering over him, the number one news story all day every day. He's been a ratings bonanza for them.

American mainstream media obsessively focus on largely irrelevant "outrages" perpetrated by the liar in chief. So he called Baltimore a "rat-infested dump?" Cue a thousand hysterical op-eds denouncing his egregious racism!

That is neither news nor racism. Plenty of folks have made the same observation before Trump. But while nothingburger stories like that hog the headlines, what are you missing?

How many hysterical op-eds did you see when Trump made Jerusalem the home of the US embassy?

How many hysterical op-eds did you see when Trump gave the Golan to Israel?

How many hysterical op-eds did you see when Trump gave himself and his billionaire buddies (the same crew who own that mainstream media we're talking about) the biggest tax break in history?

How many hysterical op-eds have you seen about America's military budget going up by almost 50% since Trump was elected?

Next to none, I'll wager.


Wake up America! Your "free press" buries the important stuff while burying you under an onslaught of fear-mongering bullshit.

A PLO sympathiser considers the Kushner peace plan

I can't say I've met a lot of Palestinians. There was the guy I worked with at Kearney's, who hailed from the West Bank and dreamed of owning a corner store. One day while shopping at Zehrs, he slipped on a grape and hurt his neck. Miraculously, he made a 100% recovery shortly after winning enough of a settlement from his lawsuit against Zehrs to stake his store.

A few years later, whilst a student at the U of G, I recall attending a presentation by a Palestinian guy who represented some Palestinian solidarity cause, no doubt a PLO front. There were a handful of ADL types doing their best to be disruptive, but that only served to make the guy more appealing to the activist undergrad audience.

Shared a few pints at the Brass Taps with the guy later on. The "two state solution" was still a viable thing in those days, or at least that's what people thought.

Only a completely deluded moron would think that today.

Which is why the Palestinians should take the money. The two state solution is long dead, but the one state solution is an inevitability. Fifty billion dollars will put a lot of food on a lot of tables as Palestinians continue to struggle, peaceably, towards a single state wherein the Palestinian citizens have in every aspect the same rights as the Jewish citizens.

A generation or two from now, Israel could be a real democracy, in which some Jews vote for Palestinian candidates, and vice-versa, because of the candidates platform rather than their ethnicity.


That may not be what Kushner envisions, but take the money and keep working towards that goal.

The Globe and Mail as propaganda organ

The Globe and Mail brain trust deserve a smidgen of credit for their smidgenly attempt to inject a little balance into their coverage of the Huawei affair; a single opinion piece by Michael Byers in which he correctly concludes that this imbroglio was entirely avoidable, and is primarily the result of the staggering ineptitude of the Trudeau-Freeland team.

Reportorial balance dispensed with, we are elsewhere in today's paper treated to:

• a half page news story on A3 informing us that the US vows to fight for the Canadians detained in China in the wake of the Meng Wanzhou arrest
• two thirds of page O2 given to long-time China critic and cheerleader for American exceptionalism Brahma Chellaney, who implores us to stand firm against Chinese bullying
• the lead editorial slagging China and celebrating our close relationship with the US
• seven of eight letters to the editor on the topic being stridently anti-Chinese.

Yes, China is a bully, whereas the US, in the words of Mike Pompeo, tirelessly lobbies for "...every citizen unlawfully detained around the world..."

That's a head-spinning bit of sophistry, that is. Every citizen of the world unless they happen to be unlawfully detained in Gitmo, or in prisons in al-Sisi's Egypt, in Israel, in Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, or even in Incarceration Nation itself.

Yes, aside from all those and many more, the US remains the shining city on a hill, tirelessly advocating for the downtrodden and oppressed, at least in that handful of countries reluctant to take direction from Washington.

As Canada's national newspaper of record, I'd like to see the Globe and Mail go a little further in promoting an independent foreign policy for Canada, and rein in the glaringly obvious toadying to American interests.

Ramping up the hokum at Global Affairs Canada

Never imagined I'd say this, but I miss Bullshittin' Baird.

Those were simpler days, and Big John always wore his heart on his sleeve. When John was "deeply concerned" you always got a sense that, at some level, he probably was.

With the Trudeau crowd, you're pretty sure they're only "deeply concerned" if the object of their concern has passed muster with the usual partisan focus groups.

With the Harper Gang, the hypocrisy was hit and miss.

With the Sunny Daze Gang, the hypocrisy is systemic.

Take a gander at the Global Affairs website. The last three news items are about gender equality in Ethiopia, Canada's leadership in global gender equity, and Canada's leadership role in calling out the horrific human rights situation in Iran.

You know Iran; the only Middle East country outside of Israel where Jews are constitutionally protected, and a country where women have never NOT had the right to drive cars. Ya, that country. We're really upset about their human rights...

Yup, no way we'd ever sell those guys military hardware, because that would just be wrong, and besides, our besties in Likud wouldn't like it. We'll call out human rights in Iran, but we'll spout nonsense non-stop about Israel's right to defend itself while the human rights of Palestinians are trampled underfoot.

And while the KSA is setting liberal hearts a-flutter by allowing some women to drive, we'll not get too bothered about their overall track record on human rights, because, after all, they buy military stuff from US branch plants in Canada that employ Canadian workers.

And how lovely that we're gung-ho for gender equality in Ethiopia and beyond.

By the way, women in Canada are still a good distance away from achieving gender equality, but that's no reason not to champion ideals globally that we've not yet achieved here at home.


How about we address the beam in our own eye before we lecture the rest of the planet about the mote in theirs.

Storm the embassy!

This Khashoggi stuff is just over the top, isn't it?

We should just storm the Saudi embassy to express our displeasure!

As an aside, I can't figure out why that name is now pronounced with a soft "g" by all the news readers. Maybe it's because the powers that be behind the scenes would prefer we not confuse him with his hard "g" cousin Adnan.

This crisis foregrounds the pivotal role media plays in letting us know who we need to be pissed off at.

Obviously, we need to storm the Saudi embassy.

But those towellers aren't the only ones sticking a finger in the eye of our virtuous institutions here in the Nations of Virtue.

Putin.

Need I say more?

Of course not. Everybody knows it's Putin and his industrial-scale troll farms that subverted America's democratic process and got Trump into the White House!

Let's storm the Russian Embassy!

And while we're storming embassies, let's not forget Israel.

Those IDF snipers honing their skills by kneecapping Gaza children from two thousand metres away surely deserve the wrath of our political correctitude...

STORM THE ISRAELI EMBASSY!!!

Looks like us progressives have a lot of storming to do...


Or you could just spark up a fattie and put this on.

TRUMP TREASON REVEALED!!!

And it wasn't the Mueller investigation that revealed it; it was the Entous investigation.

Adam Entous, formerly of the Washington Post and the WSJ, has a fifteen page expose in the June 18 issue of The New Yorker detailing the Trump team's collusion with several foreign powers. Seems that Mueller's been looking at the wrong foreign power. His year and a half investigation has thus far served up some woefully thin gruel from which to make a case for Russian meddling in America's sacred democracy.

Instead of Russia, it seems he should have focused on Saudi Arabia, UAE, and, especially, Israel. Entous' investigation reveals collusion between agents of those foreign powers and the Trump team virtually 24/7 throughout the lead-up to the 2016 election. This collusion occurred at the highest levels, including between the future President and the heads of state of these foreign entities.

Entous' story has been out for well over a month now, so I'm surprised there's been no outrage in our major media about this foreign meddling. Surely somebody's going to be calling for sanctions on these rogue states any day now!

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!

Hark, the war drums beckon!

Big Steve and a gaggle of like-minded neocon has-beens wasted no time offering Mafia Don props on a job well done.

Trump abrogates the Iran deal on Tuesday and Harper & Company have their rancid diatribe in the New York Times the very next day!

Only the greatest leader since Moses was quicker off the mark than this sorry lot; he managed to launch a major missile attack on Syria even before Harper et al launched their bought and paid for op-ed!

And who can blame him? After Trump's announcement of the US embassy move, after Trump delivers the imbecile MBS to the Israeli camp, after Trump unilaterally dumps the JCPOA agreement, Bibi obviously sees green lights all over the place.

No wonder they love Trump in Israel!

Harper is concerned that Iran "oppresses its people" and "commits violence against the people of Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon..."

Hmm... does Iran oppress its people more than, say, Saudi Arabia?

Is the war on Yemen not a Saudi project?

Has not the US committed far greater violence against the people of Iraq than has Iran?

And no one has inflicted more death and destruction on Lebanon than our good friends, the Israelis.

Even though fifteen of nineteen 9/11 terrorists were Saudis, and none were Iranian, Saudi Arabia is our ally, and Iran is the enemy?

But forget all these trifles! The free world must come together as one and teach those uppity Persians a lesson they won't soon forget.


I'll bet old Eric Arthur Blair is enjoying the greatest stiffy of his life, even though he's been in the grave nearly seventy years!

Sticking it to the Ayatollahs

ACTIONS NOT WORDS screams the all caps headline on page O3 of today's Globe and Mail. It's the only story in the entire paper with an all caps headline, so it must be very important.

The gist of the piece is that Canada must do more to bring freedom and democracy to Iran, where a "freedom movement" erupted into widespread street demos in December. The caption under the picture informs us that "Iranian protesters chant slogans at a rally in Tehran, on Dec. 30."

That was my first chuckle. Those may well be Iranians chanting slogans, but they're carrying placards bearing the likeness of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Some doofus photo editor used a picture of a pro-government rally to illustrate an anti-government screed!

The authors of the piece should set off some alarms if you were expecting an honest opinion piece on the state of freedom and democracy in Iran. Nazanin Afshin-Jam Mackay, we are told, "is a long-time Iran human rights activist." She is also the wife of former Defence Minister Peter "Pinocchio" Mackay. If you follow her "activism" you'll be well aware it consists mostly of pining for the good old days of Iran's liberal democracy that prevailed from 1953 right up until the Ayatollahs came along and wrecked everything in 1979.

Her co-author is Shuvaloy Majumdar, whose last headline in a Canadian paper came after Trump announced the US embassy move to Jerusalem in December. Majumdar thought that a jolly good idea and argued that Canada should follow the American example, just to, you know, promote peace and human rights in the Middle East.

Majumdar turned up in Harper's inner circle after spending a few years in Afghanistan, spreading freedom and democratic goodness on behalf of the "International Republican Institute," one of the numerous US government "Non Government Organizations" charged with meddling in the politics of other countries. He was the mastermind behind Baird's decision to sever diplomatic relations with Tehran in 2012, a self-defeating exercise in idiocy unmatched in recent diplomatic history.

But it got Baird and Big Steve a pat on the back from Israel's PM Netanyahu, another long-time activist for human-rights in Iran. Funny how so many "human-rights activists" who are tireless advocates for the oppressed in Iran never have a word to say about the human rights of people who live under Israeli occupation. By all accounts, Jews in Iran enjoy far greater freedom and human rights than Palestinians in the West Bank.

Given the authorship, the opinions expressed are pretty much what you'd expect. Us good, them bad. We must therefore help freedom flourish in Iran the way it's flourishing in Iraq and Libya and Afghanistan and all the other beneficiaries of our meddling, and never forget that those Ayatollahs have rendered their country an isolated pariah state.

In fact, more countries have embassies in Iran than in Israel, so we should perhaps take more care in who we label a pariah state.

Ironically, the Mackay - Majumber rant shares page O3 with another opinion piece about the December demonstrations, this one penned by U of T luminaries Farhaan Ladhani, Peter Loewen, and Janice Gross Stein. They actually did some research to measure support for the protests by the Iranian public.

Their conclusion? "We found that support for the protests is thin. Only 27 per cent of respondents agreed that they supported them... "

Hmm... looks like the National Endowment for Democracy and the International Republican Institute and the Open Society folks have lots more work ahead of them before Iran is ripe for the plucking.

What up in the Kingdom?

Doug Saunders, Canada's answer to Thomas Friedman, laid a bit of an egg with his opinion piece in the Globe yesterday, if you want to know my six dollars and thirty cents worth. I mean, what was that other than another not-so-thinly veiled plug for his book?

Ya Doug, we know! You've got a book coming out. Maximum Canada... I hope a hundred million Canadians get to read it someday. Now try to write your column without mentioning that you've a book coming out.

By the way, I'm guessing you've noticed by now you miss-spelled the name of Canada's Immigration Minister. Five times in one editorial. Come on, Doug, pull up your socks! I pay $6.30 every Saturday to read this shit.

But anyway, what's afoot in The Kingdom? Looks to me like the boss princeling is working overtime putting his stamp on things. Let's see... so far, he's engineered the Yemen war.

Epic fail.

The collapse of global oil prices.

Epic fail. As far as I can see, that ambitious strike against Russia and Iran turned out to be a near-mortal self-inflicted wound more than anything.

Let's not forget the brouhaha with Qatar. The only question about that fail is how epic it'll turn out to be in the final analysis.

And now, the putsch. The "night of the long knives" as some are calling it. The KSA hasn't seen this much intrigue since Bandar Bush went AWOL for a spell a few years ago! The Hariri angle is the icing on the cake.

Netanyahu went overboard trying to make hay out of that one. Hmm... maybe Hariri knows something? Maybe he knows that the immediate future of his country is looking rather bleak, and he'd rather spend the next few weeks in Riyadh than in Beirut?

But back to the putsch. One thing I'm wondering; was this a preemptive strike? Did Crown Prince MBS get wind of something and decide he'd rather be the hammer than the nail? In any event, looks like there could be a rush of "high net worth" Saudi refugees looking for a roof soon.

Or a luxury suite. Or a few floors of a five star hotel. Luckily, Canada has the infrastructure in place to accommodate this imminent refugee flow.

The Lebanese won't be a problem either, once the fireworks start. I mean, half those folks already hold Canadian passports. They won't even be refugees... they'll just be coming home!

Hezbollah today, here tomorrow! That's OK too. At least it'll get easier to find a decent tabbouleh. And that divine Bekaa Valley Blonde those people are renowned for.

I wouldn't worry about the Israelis either. Most of those people already hold US or German passports, so let them go there. The rest we can take in as refugees. That would make up for the shame of the MS St. Louis debacle back in '39.

So between a half million Israelis, six million Lebanese, and whoever can escape the clutches of the Insane Clown Prince, I figure we could be welcoming a good ten million refugees in the next few months.

Looks like we'll be well on our way to Maximum Canada!