Israel and the wars to come

As the calendar rolls over, national media are hyping up anti-China, anti-Russia, and anti-Iran hysteria. 

We shouldn't roll over for the propaganda.

If you've been paying attention, you'll know that our mainstream media has been busy getting us to see the nations of the world as the Good Guys and the Bad Guys.

The Good Guys are the Anglo-American Empire, its colonies and camp followers. The EU. NATO. The Nations of Virtue and the Axis of Kindness. We are led by the Light unto the Nations, City on a Hill, the Greatest Democracy and Military and all the usual claptrap ad infinitum.

The Bad Guys are those nations who have notions of freedom from US dominance.

And, led by Xi and Putin, the Bad Guys have been getting way too uppity. They've been making demands and threats all over the place.

Uncle Sam needs to put his foot down, and soon!

Which brings us to Israel, a charter member of the Nations of Virtue.

As everyone knows, Israel has outsize influence in the corridors of power throughout the Anglo-American empire. Israel is by far the biggest recipient of US "foreign aid," which aid generally comes in the form of bombs and bullets.

At the same time, Israel also has cosy relations with two out of three members of the Troika of Tyranny, as the erstwhile warmonger John Bolton has framed it.

When the current cold war with Russia turns hot, it will be interesting to see what US allies do. The recent NATO add-ons in Eastern Europe will be howling for US/NATO involvement, as will the Western world's legacy media.

With the exception of Boris' UK, there isn't a lot of enthusiasm for escalation in the original NATO bloc.

Open warfare with Russia will split NATO. When that war goes south for the Good Guys, the second tier allies like Canada and Australia will melt away.

The fascinating question is, what will Israel do?

As much as the Israelis would like to see Iran obliterated, Israel is up a stump. There have been way too many retired IDF brass speculating in public how many rockets and missiles Iran's regional allies have for Israel to consider an attack on Iran, and Iran has various bilateral mutual support agreements with Russia and China.

When push comes to shove, and American hubris and over-reach leads to the end of the American Empire, I don't think the Israelis will be pitching in for the losing side.

Canada keen to follow USA over the cliff

There has been a very long debate among political scientists and such as to how much information a democratic government can keep from its electorate and still be considered democratic. The self anointed leader of the democratic world operates on the assumption that virtually anything the government does is none of the public’s business. 

That’s why Assange must die.

Ironically, that was also the approach taken by another Joe, Stalin.

Joseph Stalin famously proclaimed that power is exercised by those who govern, not by those who elect.

Although we have adopted Stalin’s interpretation of democratic governance, the leaders of the Nations of Virtue are very concerned about the current leadership in Russia, which has become unacceptably authoritarian.

We have therefore followed a long-term plan to topple that government and install one that is more democratic. This long-term plan has by now brought the Axis of Kindness to the very borders of Russia.

The national newspaper of record today featured an op-ed by three veterans of think tanks sponsored by military contractors. The topic was government secrecy. They believe in Stalin too. Government secrecy is sacrosanct.

Any weakening would put Canada at a severe disadvantage. Our most important intelligence relationship - with the United States, would be gravely undermined by any loss of confidence in the government’s ability to safeguard its sensitive information.

That’s the default position across all legacy media in Canada; we absolutely MUST loyally follow Uncle Sam’s dictats. That’s the reason we need to commit to hundreds of billions in military spending. We gotta stand with our allies when Putin gets too big for his authoritarian britches.

We're the good guys, after all.

It's a shame the opinion pages are so cluttered with writers shilling for the US armaments industry. 

Comfort and joy and pet therapy

Are you the kind of pet owner who gets your cat or dog a Christmas present?

I don't. I figure the scraps from Christmas dinner will be present enough. Not that we would ever do that.

But I'm sitting here in front of the fire, laptop on my lap, of all places, and old Doublewide is purring away right beside me. I'm running my fingers through her thinning fur, and she's enjoying it.

So am I. 

We're obviously enjoying one another's company.

Doublewide has been with us for approximately 8-11 years. We're not exactly sure.

You see, Doublewide arrived at a time when we had a deluge of stray cats congregating in our barn. We were new to Falling Downs, and a friend in town had a cat that just kept having kittens. Instead of advising her to research some possible methods of kitten prevention, we took 'em in.

Well, it's a farm in the country... the coyotes took it from there.

Doublewide well knows what it means to be a survivor.

Bella made my day

Bella lives a kilometre down the side-road where I take my daily walk. 

Back in the day, as I walked by her house with the dog-pack, she would often join us. Bella was a mid-size girl, with collie looks but shepherd markings. She always reminded me of Husso, the first dog I remember having as a kid.

The old pack is long gone by now. Instead, we have Bruno. 

When he's in the mood, I take the mastiff. When he's not in the mood, I don't. And he made a very bad first impression on Bella. I wouldn't quite call it attempted murder, but close.

So today, Bruno opted to stay home with mom, and Bella, for the first time in many months, came out and joined me down to the end of the side-road.

She's definitely getting old. She'll often come out to say hello, but usually turns back after a few hundred feet or so.

Which made today special.

Thanks, Bella!

A fresh start

Turns out the folks next door moved last week, and left their dogs behind.

That would explain why their aggression has been ramping up, to the point where by yesterday, they were standing in front of the house barking, for hours on end. Poor Bruno was afraid to go out for a crap.

We’ve watched the long-term disintegration of the folks next door, so their moving does not come as a surprise. But it pains me to see those beautiful German shepherds suffering because their owners made poor life choices, and there’s no way around it; fentanyl is always a poor life choice.

So yesterday we started making phone calls. We soon discovered it’s not as simple as looking up “dog-catcher” in the phone book.

I called the township. They’ve contracted their dog-catching out to a local shelter. They won’t come and catch the dog, but if you catch it, they’ll come pick it up.

Angry, frightened, and hungry shepherds rushing me with their fangs bared?

No thanks!

I called the OPP. At least they were well acquainted with the neighbours. Alas, they got way more on their plate than barking dogs, but an officer was thoughtful enough to call back a couple times to see if they were still barking.

Late last night, after many hours of barking, I put out a dish of kibble for them. I know that’s not a great strategy for getting rid of hungry dogs, but at least it let them settle down for a few hours.

By 4 a.m. they were ready for breakfast, and the barking started up again. The Farm Manager got on the phone and made another half dozen calls before noon.

Early this afternoon I happened to be standing at the window and witnessed their apprehension.

A white 4 door Jeep drove slowly through the slush and came to a stop. The dogs were already on the road, tails wagging. The driver’s door opened and a hand reached out to pet the dogs. They haven’t barked since the guy stopped. He gets out and puts a leash on one of them and guides it into the back of the Jeep. The other dog follows.

This dude is a serious dog whisperer!

I would have thought these dogs had a bleak future, but after witnessing this interaction I felt hopeful. Get them in a shelter, clean them up and feed them properly, and for the right owner, they would make affable canine companions.

Which is a much better outcome than getting shot!

I’m hoping they get a new start. They’ve earned it.

You know things are bad when the pot-addled hillbilly calls the cops on the neighbours

Because they're fucked up on drugs!

I don't call cops, period.

But I did tonight.

Those poor animals next door have been barking in front of my house for hours. I don't feel particularly threatened, but the big boy only got out for a pee when the shepherds went to bark in front of the neighbour on the other side for ten minutes.

But they're back now.

Constable Priestley, if I got his name right, told me he had got in touch with the neighbour, and while the neighbour wasn't home, someone would come by to coral the dogs.

That was two hours ago, and the dogs are still barking outside my house. 

Who the fuck isn't home while their dogs are out roaming the 'hood?

That does not compute in my world.

But I don't blame the dogs.

In fact, just moments ago, the Farm Manager opined that perhaps we should invite them in the house and feed them.

To which I rejoindered, don't be retarded.

I think the douche-bag next door has moved on and left his dogs behind.

PS.  Almost midnight; after writing the above I put out a bowl of kibble for them. Ya... that'll keep 'em away from the place!

Guns, dogs, and the addicts next door

The addicts next door let their dogs out for days at a time. I assume those are days when the dog owners are off on a dope jag.

Their dogs are a beautiful pair of shepherds, and it's not their fault that their owners are drug-addled assholes.

Nevertheless, after a couple of days of the non-stop barking they do in front of my house, I'm mightily inclined to just get it over with and shoot them.

That's well within my rights according to the country living code of conduct.

At the same time, buddy next door has way more firepower than me. I've got the Cooey .22 single shot I bought at Canadian Tire, back when you could buy guns at Canadian Tire.

The addict next door has the "Don't tread on me" gun rights banner draped over his stoop.

I'm not about to fuck with whatever that might mean.