How Canada stands up to Trump

Canadians generally and Canadian media in particular have an ingrained antipathy toward Donny J. We are, after all, a sophisticated, educated, and morally superior nation, and Trump is...well, just so darned yucky and gross.

Today, Jaime Watt's column in the Sunday Star is titled "Trump is running against democracy." Who can even imagine such a thing! Trump is so yucky and gross he is running against the very democratic ideals that make civilization possible.

Star columnist Vinay Menon, meanwhile, advises his (presumably Canadian) readership to "seek out the remarkable healing power of Biden," although evidence that Biden has "healed" much of anything in almost a half century in politics is threadbare at best.

While these A-list Canadian pundits are polishing our smug and sanctimonious superiority complex, the Royal Canadian Navy was, for the fourth time in four months, sending a warship through the Taiwan Strait. While Canada is blessed with an abundance of coastlines, none of them are anywhere near China, so it's not as if we're over there "defending our interests."

No, what we're doing is "standing with our allies" in a signal to the commies that we're a vital part of the coalition of "liberal democracies" ever anxious to keep the Yellow Peril in check. The leader of the "liberal democracies," also known variously as "the free world," the Nations of Virtue, or simply Uncle Sam's Club, is of course America's Donald J Trump.

One could question just how sound America's claim is on either liberalism or democracy, but aside from the ubiquitous Trump bashing, these questions don't come up. It's as if our pundits believe that America was that "shining city on a hill,"right up until January 20, 2017, when the light of freedom was suddenly snuffed. If we all wish hard enough, perhaps it may flicker back to life after November 3rd, when we can once again huddle under Uncle Sam's skirts without embarrassment.

In the meantime, our allies UK and US, sail through the Taiwan Strait on a regular basis, and it is imperative that we "stand with our allies," the same "liberal democracies" currently busying themselves with destroying Julian Assange in revenge for exposing their war crimes.

Here's the problem; talk is cheap. It costs nothing to write anti-Trump op-eds. On the other hand, it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars per day to sail a Halifax-class RCN frigate through the Taiwan Strait. And our frigate fleet is getting long in the tooth. We need to upgrade the fleet if we are to continue standing with our allies.

To that end, Canada is forging ahead with plans to build 15 state-of-the-art frigates at a cost of 45 billions. The lead contractor is US military supplier Lockheed Martin. For all our Trump-bashing and anti-American posturing, it is clear that, virtue-signalling aside, Canada's ruling elite remains as desperate as ever to ingratiate themselves with the Big Dog, regardless of who sits in the Oval Office.

As UK and US collude to crush Assange, CBC, Globe and Mail avert eyes

For anyone with even a remote interest in human rights and truth, Julian Assange's extradition hearing In London over the past three weeks should be the biggest story in the world. You wouldn't know it from reading our leading "news" outlets, however.

Two august "liberal democracies" are openly destroying Assange for exposing their crimes against humanity. You'd think the Globe and the CBC, both of which claim to do journalism, might find a story there, but no such luck.

The Globe did find space for a 3,000 word hagiography of famous "human rights advocate" Irwin Cotler in today's paper. Cotler is the guy who made his name fighting apartheid in South Africa, but he can't see any in Israel. There is a curious pattern in Cotler's human rights advocacy; he can only find human rights violations in countries on Uncle Sam's shit list. If you're a human rights abuser in Iran, Russia, or China, Irwin's coming for you.  If you're an IDF sniper kneecapping Palestinian children at the Gaza fence, Irwin's got your back.

Here's a particularly telling quote from the Globe's story: "Mr. Cotler is also a member of a panel that advises the British and Canadian governments on how to improve press freedom."

Yes indeedy!

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While we await that panel's recommendations, here's a couple of recommendations from me if you're interested in stuff the CBC and the Globe and Mail don't consider newsworthy. 

Consortium News is your best bet if you think the state destruction of Julian Assange is a news story. 

For an alternative view on Irwin Cotler's human rights advocacy, check out Yves Engler here.

Trump goes to Walter Reed... and is never seen again?

This Trump-Covid shit is starting to smell fishy to me.

I think maybe the dude over-exerted himself a bit the other night, and I can understand why he might be a little "fatigued," but generally speaking, you don't go to Walter Reed for a touch of fatigue. Nor are you hospitalized for "moderate symptoms."

And he's apparently getting shots of "experimental treatments."

Hmm...

Sure hope Novichok isn't one of them.

Covid cases surge while covid deaths flatline

 As the drumbeat for more restrictions gets incessantly louder, it might be a good time to check out these graphs from the World Health Organization.

Sure enough, cases are indeed surging, from 2,667 the week ending August 10, to 8,545 the week ending September 21. That's over a 300% surge, and that's the number people use who want to scare the crap out of you.

Meanwhile, what does the death graph say? It's basically been a flat line since the middle of July, averaging under 50 deaths per week. Canada would expect 5,500-5,600 deaths per week from all causes this year had Covid-19 never happened. 

<50 /5,500 is statistically irrelevant. It is bupkis, my friends. It's a teensy-weensy nothing-burger.

Which is why people who want to scare you whack you across the face with those surging case numbers every chance they get...

OH MY GAWD WE GOTTA SHUT 'ER DOWN AGAIN!!!

Planet of the Humans

Finally got around to "Planet of the Humans," and I think it's the most consequential thing that's ever had Michael Moore's name on it.

I watched it because I chanced across this story. What a disappointment it was to read about how hard one of my heroes, Naomi Klein, worked to have this doc go away.

But I guess that's the way it goes, now that the billionaires make the rules. You can either cave and join the billionaires, as Naomi has done, or you can toil in obscurity. 

Luckily, Moore retains enough schlep, at least for the time being, to get this film out, regardless.

The very thought that we can enjoy infinite economic growth on a finite planet is bogus on the face of it. That fact should be even more obvious in this time of pestilence. It takes a lot of money to convince the public that things can be otherwise.

What a tragedy that so many environment groups and progressive thinkers have fallen for the money.

Bibi bans protests to stop spread of disease and anarchy

 The only democracy in the Middle East just imposed some none-too-democratic restrictions on personal freedoms in an attempt to curtail the spread of both the pandemic and anarchy, which have been growing in lock-step.

The anarchy manifests itself primarily through protests in front of the home of The Greatest Leader Since Moses, where assorted malcontents have been agitating for the demise of the Prime Minister's long, long political career. They wave rude slogans like "Hail to the thief," and "Crime Minister," alluding to the alleged crimes that have made it all but impossible for Bibi to take a well-deserved retirement for fear of losing his parliamentary immunity from prosecution.

The new regulations will confine Israelis to within 1km of their homes. Netanyahu anticipates that few of the anarchists live in his immediate neighbourhood, so hopefully he can look forward to some peace and quiet on the weekend... and perhaps it may slow down the virus as well.

Two birds with one shot!

America's "democratic process" even more embarrassing than expected

 Canada's state propaganda network, the CBC, set aside an entire evening to cover the Trump-Biden debate tonight. That in and of itself gets my dander up. Like, that's why we support CBC with our tax dollars?

That quibble aside, the debate itself was utterly cringe-worthy on every conceivable level.

If you take a few steps back and consider the big picture, there's not a lot of daylight between the two parties on any substantive issue.

That is why it is a triumph of epic and even historic import that the folks who own our information infrastructure have convinced a goodly slice of the populace that THIS IS THE MOST CRUCIAL ELECTION IN THE HISTORY OF DEMOCRACY!!!

I would say the most embarrassing part of watching democracy at work in the Exceptional Nation is the realization that this spectacle is the model they're relentlessly imposing on the rest of the world.

But, as a tactic to keep the rabble riled up against one another, I'm guessing our masters have scored a great success.