Stop the Idiocracy: Canada

Showing posts with label Canada. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 29, 2025

Thank you, Canada—for standing firm against the new Nazism, for this victory of reason, and for honouring my great-uncle’s sacrifice

Carney leads the Liberals to victory: a triumph of sanity—and a resounding rejection of Trumpism. {AP 29 April}

Canada holds profound significance for my family—from sheltering Loyalist ancestors (17th-century Puritan stock) post-Revolution, to my Yorkshire-bred 5th great-grandfather fleeing industrial upheaval in early 1800s England. It also protected a portion of my German forebears (most of my Germanic ancestry comes through my paternal grandmother—God rest her soul—who was fully German and Danish. Yet my grandfather's lineage proves equally fascinating—originating from the same region of modern Baden-Württemberg as my great-grandfather, my grandmother's father who settled in New Jersey with his family as a young boy in the 1890s; somehow, I doubt my grandparents ever knew this, a strange twist of fate).

Canada is in my blood. Though I've only visited Quebec and Ontario, I pray to someday muster the energy and wherewithal for that ten-hour drive to Prince Edward Island—to finally walk my ancestors' homeland, that is if average Americans will even be permitted to visit Canada going forward. Not a given, but I digress.

My great-grandfather, Oswald, born in 1903 near Dundas, Kings County, PEI, left for Boston in 1920—joining family and countrymen who'd settled in Lower Mills since the 1870s. Thus explains my now-unfortunate residence behind enemy lines in these former United States. From all accounts I ever heard, Oswald died a miserable and probably abusive drunk in 1965 (and his son, my grandfather, the same in 1989). I knew his widow, my dear great-grandmother Caroline, d.1988, and the primary source of my Puritan/Loyalist lineage, God rest her soul. But it would be Oswald’s younger brother—whom he'd only known as an infant and likely never recalled—that gave his blood for Canada. The family's profoundly unsentimental nature—the whole lot were/are bipolar, myself included—meant I uncovered my great-uncle's wartime deeds through research, not relatives. Precious few survive today, and neither knew nor cared—nor ever will.

My great-uncle Sidney Ulysses (b.1918, Kings County, PEI; pictured above, full name withheld for privacy), a lieutenant corporal, fell on Normandy's shores with the North Nova Scotia Highlanders, 9th Infantry Brigade, in the fight against Nazism on 7 June 1944 (click here for an excellent documentation of the unit’s actions on 6 June, and of their specific mission in the massive invasion). He rests at Reviers Canadian War Cemetery, having given his life for our freedom.

Any embrace of right-wing totalitarianism anywhere dishonours his sacrifice. Thank you, Canada, for honouring his memory and rejecting Fascism's resurgence from across your southern border.

Arthur Newhook, 29 April 2025, Massachusetts Bay Colony.

P.S. Go Maple Leafs, Go Oilers. First all Canadian Cup final in 36 years, this is the year to make it happen. The Bruins are not in the playoffs, and #Murica does not deserve a Stanley Cup this year.

Copyright 2025, Arthur Newhook. @Sunking278 on X-Twitter, and at the same handle on FACEBOOK. BLUESKY - @arthurnewhook.bsky.social. DONATIONS GRATEFULLY ACCEPTED at https://tinyurl.com/ArthurNewhook.

Monday, January 6, 2025

Elon threatens the United Kingdom, and NOW is the time to put a full stop to this madness

I can scarcely marshal coherent thought—such is the magnitude of my astonishment and anger at this moment in time. President-elect Musk and his ignominious orange marionette, acting in concert with other shadowy forces (Putin), are now brazenly threatening to invade and annex not merely Canada and Greenland, but also the United Kingdom. And how do we in America respond? By somnambulating into submission, placated by the (false) promises of cheap fuel, eggs, or whatever trivial justification prompted so many to cast their ballots—so they thought—for Donald Trump. And what, I ask, is President Biden doing in response? Assert your authority whilst it yet remains, Mr President! Arrest Elon Musk forthwith—he is a menace to humanity and a terrorist. Should any American dare to lay hands upon Great Britain, I shall defend my ancestral homeland to the very death! God Save the King, you fascist pigs!

Copyright 2025, Arthur Newhook. @Sunking278 and @FloydEtcetera on X, and at the same handles on FACEBOOK. MASTODON - @ArthurNewhook@mastodon.world, BLUESKY - @arthurnewhook.bsky.social. DONATIONS GRATEFULLY ACCEPTED at https://tinyurl.com/ArthurNewhook.

Wednesday, December 11, 2024

About Trump’s quip—if indeed it was that—regarding the sovereign nation of Canada becoming the 51st state of the United States

Photo: BBC

NBC News: Trump mocks the 'Great State of Canada'

Were Canada to be incorporated into the United States, either as a singular political entity or, more plausibly, as multiple federal states, the resultant nation would surpass Russia in geographical extent. Moreover, were Canada to be admitted as a unified state, it would immediately become the most populous among all American states, slightly exceeding California's total.

Canada is not Rhode Island or Delaware, and whilst considerable portions of its territory remain sparsely populated, its population substantially exceeds that of Alaska. Regardless of whether the Orange Puppet’s proposition was intended in jest, the hypothetical absorption of Canada would constitute a monumentally complex undertaking, even presuming the acquiescence of the Canadian populace—which, one might assert with considerable confidence, would not be forthcoming. Quebec, in particular, would be problematic in that regard. There is also the matter of Canada being a Commonwealth nation and recognising His Majesty as King.

Canada stands as America's sister nation, formidable in every conceivable way, and is deserving of commensurate respect, honour, and dignity. Indeed, Trump’s previous facetious (or not facetious, whichever it was) suggestions regarding the acquisition of Greenland were inappropriate enough; serious matters of sovereignty and international relations ought not to be the subject of ill-conceived attempts at humour by one whose office demands the utmost gravitas. Thou art not a comedian, Mr Trump; cease pretending to be one.

Naturally, we have yet to address the genuine locus of power within this impending regime, nor said locus’ aspirations for global domination. For the moment, however, we shall content ourselves with the assumption that Trump, the Orange Puppet, was merely being his charming self when discussing our noble neighbours to the north.

Copyright 2024, Arthur Newhook. @Sunking278 and @FloydEtcetera on X, and at the same handles on FACEBOOK. MASTODON - @ArthurNewhook@mastodon.world, BLUESKY - @arthurnewhook.bsky.social. DONATIONS GRATEFULLY ACCEPTED at https://tinyurl.com/ArthurNewhook.

Wednesday, May 17, 2023

School avoidance: Students refusing to go to school a growing crisis post-COVID

AI generated image via Hotpot API

'School avoidant behavior, also called school refusal, is when a school-age child refuses to attend school or has difficulty being in school for the entire day. Several mental health experts told USA TODAY it has become a crisis that has gotten worse since the COVID-19 pandemic.' The only reason I was not one of these kids was out of extreme fear of authority (most of all, my parents), along with outright ignorance that I even had any option of opting out. Back in the ‘80s and early ‘90s - at least in my area - even the most rotten kids still did not dare cut classes on any sort of regular basis. One time, late in senior year, we took off in some kid’s car to eat lunch at a local pizza joint, and were relieved that we didn’t get caught. I may have snuck out of a pep rally or two, but that was about the extent that I would ever dare ‘play hooky.’ In retrospect, I should have just said ‘f**k it’ and not have cared. For all the good earning decent grades, dutifully following the rules, and dealing with my a**hole peers ultimately did me; I may have even turned out a more healthy person than the one I became. Still, I would not want to be a kid today for anything, and I do not blame these ones for pushing back against the hellscape they were born into. {USA Today 5/15}

MORE

Colorado man attempted to evade DUI arrest by switching seats with his dog. {BBC 5/16}

Total jackasses caught on camera riding their bicycles inside Boston’s Tip O’Neill tunnel during Friday rush hour, forcing drivers to slam on their brakes. {WHDH 5/16}

Self-checkout kiosks are now asking customers for tips, prompting some to ask if ‘tipping culture’ has gone too far. {Deseret News 5/16}

Twenty percent of Canadians polled say medically-assisted suicide should be legal to any adult, for any reason. {National Post 5/16}

Sunday, April 24, 2022

Macron wins French presidential election in an apparent landslide

Christophe Ena/AP

Emmanuel Macron easily reelected in France, turning back far-right populist Marine Le Pen - Approximately 58%. That is a decisive win, far larger than anyone seemed to expect. If forced to choose between these two, #Murica would probably have elected the Fascist bitch. Vive le France, at least somewhere in the world sanity still prevails. (AP 4/24)

Former Utah Republican Senator Orrin Hatch dies at 88 - The man was a fairly visible figure during his many years on Capitol Hill. The longest-serving Republican ever in the upper chamber. He had quirks, but was not a total nutjob like the sorry bunch up there now. Remember, it was Orrin Hatch’s retirement that led to Mitt Romney winning the seat. Thus becoming a major thorn in Trump’s side. (AP 4/24)

Getty Images

Rest in Peace, Guy Lafleur - Montreal Canadiens great dies at age 70. (TSN 4/22)

Miguel Cabrera makes history, becoming only the 33rd player in all of Major League Baseball history to reach 3,000 career hits, and only the seventh to reach that milestone with more than 500 home runs (ESPN 4/23)

Saturday, April 9, 2022

Boris Johnson visits Kyiv, the first Western leader to do so since Putin began the war of aggression against Ukraine. Also, nationalism runs amok and Anglophones are an endangered species in Quebec, and a young NFL player dies a strange death

The ‘courage of a lion.’ Boris Johnson visits Kyiv, meets with President Zelenskyy and pledges ‘120 armoured vehicles and anti-ship missile systems’ to Ukraine - Tons of credit to British PM Johnson for stepping right into the middle of a war zone and sending a clear message to Putin. A great orator, and a friend to Ukraine. If only most of our ‘conservative’ party in the U.S. would show the same class and dignity, and not cast their lot with the enemy. (BBC News 4/09)

‘President Biden said on Friday that the United States would place a Patriot missile defense system in Slovakia after that country provided a Russian-made S-300 air defense system to Ukraine.’ (NPR 4/08)

Graham Hughes/Canadian Press

Nationalism runs amok in predominantly Francophone Quebec, Anglophone residents ‘angry like never before’ - Another reminder that, even in the most peaceful of lands, ethnically based populism and bigotry will always lead to oppression. Scapegoating unpopular minority groups and individuals is the exact point of nationalist populism, the quiet part (sometimes not so quiet) that its adherents inherently understand and are eager to carry out. Whether it is in Quebec, where Anglophones are being increasingly burdened with laws and regulations restricting their language and lifestyle; or among the majority of Russians who are propping up the world’s most evil tyrant as he slaughters their cousins in Ukraine; or with the vast hordes of nationalist populists in #Murica, particularly in the southern states that for centuries have been a bastion of hate, poverty, and despair (in spite of the best efforts of its best people to change this); or in any given tinpot dictatorship at any given time in history. Racial and ethnic populism will always lead to bloodshed, and it will come to that in Quebec if the Francophone political establishment continues to make life as hard as possible for the Anglophone minority. Indeed, these Francophones live in a mostly English-speaking country, and are bordered to the south by an English-speaking country. If anybody should have to ‘adapt,’ it is the Francophones, but the best solution for all parties, of course, has always been bilingualism. People, wherever they are in the world, should make efforts to learn a second or third language. (I am trying myself with German and, to a lesser extent, French, but I am also 44 and do not retain new information well. In my school days, I studied Spanish but simply did not take it seriously at that time.) No matter, Quebec’s Francophones appear determined to eliminate any trace of the English language in their little enclave, and Quebec will be poorer for it. (André Pratte, National Post 4/09)

I care nothing about any left-wing organizations calling themselves 'Antifa,' but I am 100% and more against Fascism. Fascism is death. Cease and desist in this march toward eternal darkness, Republican Party and every single one of your supporters.

Pittsburgh Steelers, former Washington Football Team QB Dwayne Haskins is killed by a dump truck while attempting to walk alongside a Florida highway - Condolences to the man’s family, friends, and fans. But what the hell was he doing walking on a highway? (ESPN 4/09)

Wednesday, March 30, 2022

Wednesday morning: Self-proclaimed ‘people’s’ convoy runs out of gas, President Biden signs historic legislation that would have been the news of the day back in more normal times, the real COVID-19 fraud, and more. Nothing about Will Smith and Chris Rock

Leah Millis/Reuters

D.C. ‘people’s’ convoy calls it quits after three weeks of largely being ignored - Of two minds here: Why would anybody show up for them now, when everyone has caved to the Covidiots and few mandates or lockdowns are in place anywhere outside China? That said, I am surprised the D.C. convoy wasn’t more successful, given how these types never miss an opportunity to cause a scene and wave their Trump and ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ flags. Or Confederate flags, or Russian flags. The convoys in Ottawa and elsewhere in Canada were very successful and galvanized the base, but this fell flat. Trump apparently had a rally this past weekend that drew only a few thousand in Georgia. I’m not really sure how to explain the low attendance at these events, given that public opinion appears to be moving the GOP’s way and away from President Biden and the Democrats. (Daily Beast 3/27)

AP/Evan Vucci

‘President Biden on Tuesday signed a bill to make lynching a federal hate crime, which came after Congress failed more than 200 times to pass anti-lynching legislation.’ - Over 200 times, and the United States Congress could not agree that lynching is a hate crime? What does anybody think lynching is, an act of love? Another big achievement for President Biden. (CBS News 3/29)

Breathless MSNBC reports President Biden’s approval rating at new low - Screw you and your phony poll, MSNBC. Which is to say, I do believe the majority of Americans have gone cold on President Biden, and even in its better days Americans have always tended to petulantly believe public opinion is the be-all/end-all of everything. In the age of social media and hyper-tension, that tendency has been sacred, unwritten law. Says to me President Biden is doing what I voted for him to do if he is violating such absurdity. Says to me Americans do not want a leader, they want a cheerleader and enabler. 44 f**king years on this planet, I well remember the final years of the Cold War, and then the halcyon days of the '90s. Nothing was ever perfect, but the collective psyche of America was in a much better place. It was the peak of post-war prosperity and global power. Everything has changed because people have changed. For the worst. I don't see that in Joe Biden, though; he served 36 years in the Senate, and certainly wasn't ready for the presidency, or the man he is today, in 1988. He grew as a man, while too many of us regressed in our humanity. Maybe that is the real, subconscious reason why so many are so determined to hate him. He is a relic of a past we venerate for its entertainment, but are collectively ashamed of politically, socially, and culturally. That, and the media is leading them on, resentful he won in 2020 and took their cash cow/blood rival out of the direct spotlight, hurting MSM profits. Yeah, I stand with President Biden, full stop with the garbage. (Do not actually click on the above link as MSNBC so desperately wants, only there for reference.)

Adobe Stock

Nebraska lawmaker backtracks after spreading an unproven allegation that schools were putting litter boxes in bathrooms for students who identify as cats - The Republican Party, at all levels, is not putting its best and brightest out there. The dumbing down and the gullibility, is deliberate, and exactly what their base demands. Vladimir Putin and this country’s enemies are delighted. (Washington Post 3/29)

‘(T)he largest fraud in American history.’ The looting of the COVID relief plan, PPP, by individuals and businesses for anything and everything but COVID relief - Remember when we used to talk about things like fiscal responsibility? (NBC News 3/28)

Enrollment in skilled-trades programs up, enrollment at community colleges down - More Americans learning real skills is an absolute positive. Ideally, enrollment at colleges and trade schools alike would be thriving. (NPR 3/28)

Saturday, February 19, 2022

Trudeau finally shows some backbone, as police clear Ottawa of belligerent truckers protesting vaccine mandates

Reuters

Disrupting industry, blocking critical infrastructure, and threatening violence against anyone opposed to their agenda will never be legitimate forms of protest, and the police should have authorized to suppress this insurrection from the very first day the convoys began amassing. The protests against COVID mandates and the Capitol Hill insurrection of January 6, 2021 are emboldening nationalist populists (also known as Fascists) the world over to impose their anti-intellectual, anti-science, and various other deluded beliefs onto others. It is America – the nation that once brought down European Fascism and liberated millions – that is leading the world into a new totalitarian nightmare. It is the ones who shout the loudest about their ‘freedom’ that are most set on bending society to their will, by any means necessary. Via the New York Times -

OTTAWA — Police officers on Saturday cleared out the central area of a sprawling demonstration in Ottawa, moving from truck to truck and arresting protesters as they continued to subdue the occupation that has disrupted the Canadian capital for weeks.
Starting about 10 a.m., police advanced on trucks that had been parked on Wellington Street, the thoroughfare in front of the Parliament building, drawing guns on some vehicles and banging on doors as they searched for any people inside. They arrested several as other demonstrators shouted “Shame on you!” from nearby. In the heart of the main encampment on Saturday, the police pushed people back with batons and irritant spray and made more arrests.
One demonstrator, David Paisley, a HVAC technician who has spent the protest broadcasting updates from a fishing shack on the back of a flatbed truck known as “the shed,” described the moment an officer entered the vehicle to arrest him.
“He had a big military rifle, he pointed right at my chest, he yelled at me to get down, on the ground,” said Mr. Paisley, 33, who captured the moment of his arrest on a recorded livestream. “It was like a movie scene.”
A recording played in French and English, as the police advanced. “You must leave,” it said. “Anyone found in the zone will be arrested.”
The police operation appeared to be a final salvo in the government’s belated effort to break up the occupation. In recent weeks, the demonstrations, which began with truckers rallying against vaccine mandates, have attracted a variety of protesters airing grievances about pandemic restrictions, claims of government overreach and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s stewardship of the country.
By midmorning, police had cleared the demonstrators from what had been the occupation’s core, Wellington Street, and set up barricades. The Ottawa Police said that as of Saturday evening, 170 people had been arrested and that 46 vehicles had been removed. The police declined to discuss their tactics but in a tweet on Saturday, they asked the public to stop calling emergency phone lines “to express displeasure about the police action” to end the protest, noting that making unnecessary calls to 911 was a crime.
While significantly throttled, the protest was not completely disbanded. As police pushed demonstrators away from Parliament, some congregated on side streets while police warned that there were children in the crowd. “We are seeing young children being brought to the front of the police operation,” the Ottawa police said on Twitter. “This is dangerous and it is putting the children at risk.” (Read more)

Monday, February 14, 2022

Alberta: RCMP confiscate fire arms from anti-vaxxer truckers and supporters, eleven arrested; ‘large farm tractor and a semi truck attempted to ram a police vehicle’

Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press

Violent extremism is on the rise in America, and it has infected our neighbors to the north. Via the CBC -

Alberta RCMP have arrested at least 11 people after searching three trailers and finding weapons at a protest against pandemic restrictions near the main U.S. border crossing in southern Alberta.
Mounties said in a release Monday that they became aware of a small organized group within the larger protest at Coutts.
They say they had information that the group had access to a cache of firearms and ammunition. Officers seized long guns, handguns, multiple sets of body armour, a machete, a large quantity of ammunition and high-capacity firearm magazines.
"We haven't had many incidents involving violence, but unfortunately an investigation started after a period of time when the initial protesters arrived," Supt. Roberta McKale of the RCMP told media around 2 p.m. on Monday.
McKale said that RCMP began to receive information about potential threats, which took time to investigate, and led to arrests on Sunday night.
"We have since made another arrest involving this, the escalation of violence towards the members, including having someone break one of our checkpoints this afternoon and just about hit one of our members on the road," McKale said.
McKale also added that the different charges and different acts has created a situation where the Mounties are investigating conspiracy to attempt to commit murder. (Read more)

Sunday, February 13, 2022

Canadian authorities begin regaining law and order, shutting down trucker protests that closed the Ambassador Bridge border crossing

Robin Buckson/Detroit News

About time law enforcement pushed back against these petulant assholes. Via the Detroit News -

Windsor — Canadian police removed protesters camped nearly a week near the Ambassador Bridge, a critical U.S.-Canadian border crossing, and regained control Sunday.
The bridge had been blocked to traffic in Canada since Monday evening, when a protest at the Capitol in Ottawa spread to other cities across the country. The protesting over COVID-19 restrictions and a trucker vaccine mandate has threatened the economies of both nations, the countries' leaders have said. The bridge remained closed Sunday night as authorities continued to crack down on the remaining scattered protesters.
"Today, our national economic crisis at the Ambassador Bridge came to an end," Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkins said. "Border crossings will reopen when it is safe to do so, and I defer to police and border agencies to make that determination."
Windsor Police Service Chief Pam Mizuno said 25-30 arrests were made during the crackdown and 12 vehicles were seized that were in or near the blockade on Huron Church Road near the bridge. Authorities did not disclose how many police officers were deployed.

Despite the crackdown, there was no immediate time frame when the bridge would reopen. "We are working as fast as we can to restore traffic flow and reopen the bridge, and as soon as we can make that happen, we will," Mizuno said. (Read more)

Not merely ‘hysteria.’ White House National Security Adviser warns that Russia is going to fabricate a pretext for invading Ukraine

AP/Mikhail Metzel

‘Hysteria’ the Russians say of the global alarm over the Ukraine crisis, knowing full well what they’re about to go in for the kill. The only things the Russians do well in this world are gaslighting, bullying, and murder. They are never to be trusted, and neither are any of their various mouthpieces and fans here in the United States. Take heed of the administration's warning. -

WASHINGTON/KYIV, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Russia could invade Ukraine at any time and might create a surprise pretext for an attack, the United States said on Sunday, as it reaffirmed a pledge to defend "every inch" of NATO territory.
Russia has more than 100,000 troops massed near Ukraine, which is not part of the Atlantic military alliance, and Washington - while keeping open the diplomatic channels that have so far failed to ease the crisis - has repeatedly said an invasion is imminent.
Moscow denies any such plans and has accused the West of "hysteria".
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, on the eve of a trip that takes him to Kyiv on Monday and Moscow for talks with President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, called for Russia to de-escalate and warned of sanctions if Moscow did invade.
A German official said Berlin did not expect "concrete results" but diplomacy was important.
In Washington, President Joe Biden's National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said an invasion could begin "any day now".
"We cannot perfectly predict the day, but we have now been saying for some time that we are in the window," Sullivan told CNN.
U.S. officials said they could not confirm reports that U.S. intelligence indicated Russia planned to invade on Wednesday.
Sullivan said Washington would continue sharing what it learned with the world in order to deny Moscow the chance to stage a surprise "false flag" operation that could be a pretext for an attack.
It would also "defend every inch of NATO territory ... and Russia we think fully understands that message," Sullivan added in a separate CBS interview. (Read more)

Friday, February 11, 2022

The White House puts the screws to weakling Justin Trudeau, demands Canada crackdown on trucker blockades at the border

Cole Burston/Getty Images

Disrupting the lives of ordinary citizens is not a legitimate form of protest. Rather, it is terrorism, and these truckers ought to be treated as terrorists. But pretty boy Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has his thumb up his ass, sitting back and doing nothing. These petulant bullies are already causing great harm to the economies of both Canada and the United States, and they are beginning to inspire copycat protests in the U.S. and around the world. It has to be stopped. -

The Canadian government is coming under increasing pressure from the United States to resolve anti-vaccine mandate protests that are impacting the economy in both countries with border blockades, including a 5-day shutdown of the vital Ambassador Bridge.
The “Freedom Convoy” by Canadian truckers opposing a vaccinate-or-quarantine mandate for cross-border drivers, mirrored by the U.S. government, began with the occupation of the Canadian capital, Ottawa. The truckers then blocked the Ambassador Bridge earlier this week, and shut down two other smaller border crossings.
The closure of the bridge, North America’s busiest international land border crossing and a key supply route for Detroit’s carmakers, has halted some auto output and left officials scrambling to limit economic damage. (Read more)

Saturday, February 5, 2022

Memo to Canadian PM Justin Trudeau: Stop being a coward, take charge of your country, and crack down on the convoys

Reuters/Mathieu Belanger

Fascists continue to disrupt life in Ottawa and other Canadian cities with almost complete impunity, while nurses who are counter-protesting are being told they cannot wear their scrubs in public, and ordinary citizens are being physically assaulted for wearing masks. Justin Trudeau is a weakling if I ever saw one. Declare Martial Law, send in troops and clear the streets by whatever means necessary. Do you, Mr. Trudeau, want your country to be a right-wing s**thole as America has become in the Trump era? Take it from an American, Canada should not want to emulate us. It’s time to bring a full stop to all this Covidiocy everywhere. From Reuters -

TORONTO/OTTAWA, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Thousands of people demonstrated in Canadian cities, including the financial hub Toronto, on Saturday as mostly peaceful but noisy protests against vaccine mandates spread from Ottawa, the capital.
The "Freedom Convoy" began as a movement against a Canadian vaccine requirement for cross-border truckers, but has turned into a rallying point against public health measures and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government.
“We're all sick and tired of the mandates, of the intimidation, of living in one big prison,” said Robert, a Toronto protester who did not give his last name. "We just want to go back to normal without having to take into our veins the poison which they call vaccines.”
Protesters have shut down downtown Ottawa for the past eight days, with some participants waving Confederate or Nazi flags and some saying they wanted to dissolve Canada's government.
"The protesters in Ottawa have made their point. The entire country heard their point," said Transport Minister Omar Alghabra, who urged protesters to "go home and engage elected officials."
Ottawa police said hate crime charges were laid against four people and they were investigating threats against public figures jointly with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The well-organized blockade, which police say has relied partly on funding from sympathizers in the United States, saw protesters bring in portable saunas on Saturday to combat frigid temperatures.
One man rode through the area on horseback, carrying a Trump flag, social media videos showed. Former U.S. President Donald Trump has spoken out in support of the truckers against "the harsh policies of far-left lunatic Justin Trudeau who has destroyed Canada with insane COVID mandates." (Read more)

Monday, January 10, 2022

‘The United States is coming to an end. The question is how.’ Canadian author outlines scenarios for the coming civil war

Leah Millis/Reuters

Americans damn well better start listening and paying attention, but they will not. Most people in this country today want tyranny, just so long as it is directed toward those groups and individuals one doesn’t like. The rest just demand to be entertained constantly. It appears to me that we have become a nation of pathetic, incompetent, and hateful people, and that’s the perfect recipe for collapse. Abandon all hope, for the biggest problem with America is the American people. As for Canada: When we fall to full-on Fascism, they will likely be invaded or otherwise taken over by Nazi America. Trudeau and his government are powerless, and useless. Sometimes I wonder the same about our current administration, as much as I try to support President Biden. Via Dean Obeidallah -

(CNN) "The United States is coming to an end. The question is how." Those are the jarring opening lines of Canadian author Stephen Marche's new book, "The Next Civil War: Dispatches from the American Future." Released the same week as the anniversary of the January 6 attack on our Capitol that signaled how dangerous our political polarization has become, Marche's book shares different scenarios of how the United States could collapse.
Marche isn't the only Canadian worried about their southern neighbor's future. Just days before Marche's book released, political scientist Thomas Homer-Dixon -- the executive director of the Cascade Institute, which focuses on ways to address threats to society -- penned a powerful op-ed in Canada's "Globe and Mail" that begins with a similar warning. "By 2025, American democracy could collapse, causing extreme domestic political instability, including widespread civil violence," Homer-Dixon writes. "By 2030, if not sooner," he adds, "the country could be governed by a right-wing dictatorship."
As Americans, our first instinct when a person from outside of the US says something critical of our nation is often to dismiss the comment (or mock their country; be honest!). In this case, though, neither Marche nor Homer-Dixon wrote their words to belittle America or to make Canadians feel better about their country. (Read more)

Saturday, October 23, 2021

The far-left origins of the far-right anti-vaccine movement

The nationalist populists are the loudest and most numerous faction in the anti-vaccine movement and get most of the media attention, but there does exist a contingent on the far-left that is also rejecting vaccines. In fact, most of the silly talking points the right are using now actually originated – long before this pandemic – in leftist circles. Via Jon Entine and Patrick Whittle -

Nowhere is the politicization of science more evident than in the pernicious absurdity of the anti-vaccination movement, which has received fresh impetus during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The internet and social media (not to mention malevolent bots and trolls) have enabled the rapid spread of vaccine misinformation. But what role do broader political beliefs play in fueling anti-vax sentiment and suspicions about science in general?
We know this is happening on the Right, especially in the United States, where resistance to COVID vaccines has become a marker of political and ideological identity among Trump supporters, even though their leader was among the first politicians to avail himself of the shots. Vaccine rejectionism fits comfortably with traditional right-wing opposition to certain types of science (such as evolution and the reality of anthropogenic climate change), but in a fiercely polarized political climate, it has been inflamed by suspicion of liberals who endorse vaccination. For some conservatives, a childishly contrarian resistance to the “progressive establishment” constitutes a kind of principled libertarianism.
But before the Left allows itself to become too smug about this particular right-wing rejection of science, a little history is in order. Seldom discussed, let alone acknowledged, is that right-wing vaccine rejectionism has its roots in mainstream left-wing doctrines. Twenty-five years after Alan Sokal’s celebrated hoax, anti-scientific nonsense from the Left continues to inspire and inform anti-vaxxers’ absurd abuse of science. Consequently, vaccine rejectionism in the US is now endemic. In the decade preceding the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States saw a 10 percent overall decline in the number of parents who believe that it’s extremely or very important to vaccinate their children (from 94 percent in 2001 to 84 percent in 2019). An astonishing 11 percent say that vaccines are more dangerous than the diseases they prevent. In 2015, almost two-in-five respondents to a Canadian survey stated that “the science on vaccinations isn’t quite clear.”
Before the pandemic, resistance to vaccinations in the US was fairly evenly divided between Left and Right, at least according to polling data. But the reasons were different, and telling. Conservatives were more likely to believe that vaccination should be the choice of a patient or parent, while leftists were more likely to embrace conspiracy nonsense. Many of the movement’s most ardent conspiracy-mongers were progressives and the largest pockets of anti-vaccine sentiment were in liberal US counties. The 2015 California measles outbreak, for instance, began in the wealthy, liberal enclave of Marin County, and the progressive San Francisco collar counties were the hotbed of opposition to the California law—passed in 2016 as measles cases soared—banning personal belief exemptions for children entering kindergarten. (Read more)

Friday, October 22, 2021

Twitter algorithms found to promote nationalist populist content over other political posts

Getty Images

Sure, let’s just keep whining that ‘big tech’ is biased against ‘conservatives,’ by all means (and they will.) Washington Post -

An internal evaluation of Twitter’s recommendation algorithms concluded that they amplify right-leaning political content more than left-leaning content, company researchers announced Thursday, undercutting allegations by many conservatives who contend they are being censored on the platform.
Twitter researchers analyzed millions of 2020 tweets by elected officials in seven countries — Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Spain, Britain and United States — as well as posts that linked to political content from news outlets. Researchers relied on outside experts to determine what was right- or left-leaning rather than deciding for themselves.
“Our results reveal a remarkably consistent trend: In 6 out of 7 countries studied, the mainstream political right enjoys higher algorithmic amplification than the mainstream political left,” the researchers said in a 27-page report. (Read more)

Monday, August 9, 2021

As of today, Canada has begun allowing vaccinated Americans to visit, but the U.S. is not returning the favor for Canadian residents until at least August 21

Photo: AP/Elaine Thompson

With Delta raging across the continent, and the process for verifying vaccination murky and subject to fraud, perhaps Canada would be wise to wait a bit longer before opening the border. The White House is planning a phased reopening of the borders with Canada and Mexico, and incrementally is the only way we’re working our way out of each and every aspect of the pandemic.

AP - Canada begins allowing vaccinated U.S. citizens to visit again

Thursday, July 22, 2021

Week in Review, 07/15 - 07/21

A ‘pretty dark story about what’s happening in the U.S.’ Life expectancy dropped by 1.5 years in 2020 as COVID raged the country, and may continue to drop in the years ahead as the pandemic’s long-term effects become more apparent

Very discouraging, and a direct result of all the disinfo, myths, conspiracy theories, and blatant falsehoods that far too many Americans are desperately clinging to: U.S. COVID cases rise as Delta variant spreads

‘With vaccination rates still not at the threshold needed to stop the spread of Covid-19, most Americans who are unprotected will likely contract the rapidly spreading Delta variant, one expert said’

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky: ‘This is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated’

Starting to feel as though all the progress we made in the last few months is about to be completely lost: Arkansas Children’s Hospital doctor warns of critically ill kids with COVID-19

From a doctor in Alabama, last in the nation in vaccination rates: ‘One of the last things they do before they’re intubated is beg me for the vaccine. I hold their hand and tell them that I’m sorry, but it’s too late’

'Pandemic profiteers' are using deceptive tactics to peddle products and subscriptions; ‘Federal Trade Commission is under pressure to crack down.’ If America were a sane society, spreading vaccine disinfo for profit during a deadly pandemic would be a felony and worse. We’re done for

President Biden slams Facebook, says ‘they’re killing people’ for allowing vaccine disinfo on their platform: Spreading blatant and deadly falsehoods in a time of national emergency is not ‘free speech.’ All rights and privileges can, and will, be abused. Social media companies should not be in the business of enabling such abuse; not when lives are on the line

The Los Angeles Times editorial board argues that it’s time to force the unvaccinated to get incolucated

Fox News host Brian Kilmeade compares choosing not to get vaccinated to cliff diving, saying people are making the ‘choice’ to die: The unvaccinated do make a ‘choice to die,’ so to speak, but it’s not the choice of people they may be spreading their germs to. Is that not bloody obvious by now? Oh, but it’s ‘not their job to protect anybody,’ he says. A-ha. This is what we’re up against

FAA and TSA sound alarm on sharp increase in in-flight incidents involving unruly passengers, the overwhelming majority of these being mask disputes. ‘(M)ore than 85 physical assaults on TSA officers since the beginning of the pandemic’

Unvaccinated Trump supporter on Cape Cod who spread vaccine conspiracies dies after battle with COVID: Of course, many are saying the lady got what she deserved. But it’s very sad. Just so much death that could have been prevented

India’s COVID death toll is estimated to be up to ten times higher than the 415,000 reported by the nationalist regime: By my very rough (possibly incorrect) calculations, if Indians are dying at the same rate as they have in America, then about 2.5 million would be dead. But this report says it is somewhere between 3.4 and 4.7 million, meaning they are dying at a higher rate than Americans

Coming soon to America, no doubt. Mucormycosis: India records more than 4,300 'black fungus' deaths, mostly affecting COVID-19 patients

‘Africa is now in the deadliest stage of its pandemic, and there is little prospect of relief in sight’

Trudeau: ‘Canada could open its border to fully vaccinated Americans for nonessential travel as early as mid-August’

States that ended federal unemployment benefits see no clear-cut job gains: A lot of people are getting fed-up with being taken completely for granted in return for peanuts. We’ve heard a lot of talk of that lately, and these stagnant numbers would appear to back that up

New revelations emerge in the ‘Kremlin papers,’ with intelligence agencies confirming the Russians had compromising information on Trump and he was therefore viewed as the person to ‘destabilize’ America (mission accomplished)

Another omen that institutions are failing and the constitutional republic is in worse shape than we even realize: The most powerful man in the U.S. Armed Forces feared potential ‘Reichstag moment’ aimed at keeping Trump in power

It’s as though we’re becoming some Northern Ireland, only much larger and messier: Two men charged in plot to blow up Democratic Party headquarters in California

The Arizona recount - A scam of epic proportions, but #Cult45 sheep will commit Harakiri before ever admitting how badly they are being duped. Or are they even being duped? So long as their pet hatreds are being stoked, they are forever loyal to their leader and will always play along with the lies: We now know exactly what the Trump-backed Arizona ‘audit’ is going to do

‘Support for secession is growing among every partisan group in the months following the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol but particularly among southern Republicans, a new poll found.’ America is not going to remain intact. Sometime in the next decade or two, it’s all coming apart. Simply because Americans want nothing more than to tear each others’ throats out. We really do not like one another

‘Free speech’ does not drown out bad speech. The ‘ugly truth’ of how Facebook enables political extremism may just be that Zuckerberg is a naive dope with a little too much faith in people. At least that’s what a new book essentially claims

A local judge ordered a New Jersey Trump supporter to take down anti-Biden banners over obscenity complaints: Would wager anything that if this stupid woman lived mostly among fellow Trump supporters, and an outspoken Biden supporter moved in among them, she and her fellow travelers wouldn’t be so kind to that individual. Trump supporters have proven time and again they only care about their rights, and not yours. Liberty for me, but not for thee. At the core, they are overgrown schoolyard bullies

Yeah, we’ve got a real Bolshevik in the White House alright (/s). President Biden: ‘Communism is a failed system -- a universally failed system. And I don't see socialism as a very useful substitute.’ Deems Cuba ‘a failed state’

White House to issue advisory to companies about the risks of doing business in Hong Kong; ‘The situation in Hong Kong is deteriorating. And the Chinese government is not keeping its commitment that it made how it would deal ... with Hong Kong’

Anti-Semitic activists hiding behind specious, misleading, and very selective human rights concerns to punish the Jewish State for having the gall to exist is a great evil. Thankfully, unlike Ben and Jerry’s, not that many corporations have bowed to the pressure from the likes of BDS, and are still doing business in the region

‘Several of the central figures under investigation by the Haitian authorities in connection with the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse gathered in the months before the killing to discuss rebuilding the troubled nation once the president was out of power’

The days of pretending climate change isn’t a reality are long past, as extreme weather events only continue to increase in frequency and intensity. A terrible tragedy unfolding in Central Europe as at least 120 are dead in widespread flooding, 100 of those alone in Germany

Continued prayers for all: Merkel and German lawmakers approve emergency relief aid for those affected by deadly floods; dozens still missing

At least twenty-five killed in massive flooding in Henan province, China

Mysterious illness killing songbirds in several eastern states; Massachusetts officials urge residents to remove bird feeders and bird baths

Wednesday, February 17, 2021

Week in review, 02/10 - 02/16

Don't have any definitive proof or documentation, but this picture has been going around and apparently the turtle is named Jonathan and is 189 years-old. Born in 1832, when Andrew Jackson was president, and still alive. God Bless this marvelous creature ...

‘This coronavirus is going to be here to stay. Eradication of this new coronavirus is basically impossible.’ Doctors warn that COVID-19 will become endemic, a seasonal illness like the flu

MIS-C syndrome in children is growing in numbers, and cases becoming more deadly

President Biden declares there will be enough vaccine for 300 million Americans by the end of July: Light at the end of the tunnel, but only if everybody were to do their part. Millions steadfastly refuse to do so

Massachusetts: ‘Hundreds of doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been reported as "wasted" to the Department of Public Health’

It’s going to take awhile to catch up after the previous administration’s dreadful handling of this pandemic. Gov. Charlie Baker: Massachusetts is not seeing anticipated increase of COVID vaccines from the federal government

First case of the South African variant (B.1.351) confirmed in Massachusetts; patient had ‘no reported travel’

‘Hundreds of students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst could face disciplinary action after officials said they disregarded Covid-19 protocols, contributing to a spike in cases and a number of new restrictions at the school’