RANT: WTF! 2.0

 

NEWS OF THE WORLD*

Ø Canada, a NATO member since 1947, Canada has committed over five billion dollars to the money pit Ukraine, including one billion in military aid. In its recent budget, the Trudeau government will loan another $2.4 billion to the Kiev regime. (Good luck trying to collect that tab!) And thank goodness we don’t need the money at home!

 

Ø In a recent Angus-Reid survey, only 23% of Canadians polled thought Ukraine should seek a negotiated peace with Russia, with 55% saying Ukraine should keep fighting. Nearly 25% said they “don’t know.” What's not to know?

 

Ø The same poll notes that 67% of Canadians are fearful the conflict could escalate and go “nuclear”. Yet, sixty-eight percent think it’s a good idea for Ukraine to join NATO. Only 13% are opposed, though this figure is up from 7% since the start of the conflict. Hmmm? I wonder how many Canadians will survive a nuclear winter with radioactive icicles hanging down from whatever rooftops are still standing. If this thing escalates, comrade, it's your ass and mine! F*%k NATO!) Give peace a chance.

 

Ø Canadian author and activist Yves Engler makes the point that medium-sized countries like Canada would do well to pursue a more neutral foreign policy, aligning itself with neither the world’s current hegemon, the United States, nor with its peer rivals (China, Russia). In keeping a middle road in foreign relations, Canada could regain its tarnished reputation as a “good faith” actor, trusted by both sides, and able to forge constructive working relationships with the dominant world powers. Makes sense, n'est pas? Have we learned nothing in all that time spent sleeping with an elephant? Are we strictly a submissive in this relationship? Do we even have a "safe word"?

 

Ø  I recently read that, at the United Nations, Canada has voted in concert with the United States more often than any other country save Israel. “The true North strong and free…” Yeah, right…. Our sovereignty went bye-bye the day they inked the Monroe Doctrine.

 

Ø For those who are tweet-obsessed, Canada’s CBC Twitter account now comes with the label: “Government-Funded Media”. In a snit, the government-funded CBC halted its Twitter activity, complaining it was only “partly” government funded. Twitter owner Elon Musk suggested a compromise label of “70% government-funded”. 

       Again, CBC complained, saying it received less than seventy percent of its funding from government sources. Musk, hilariously, tweeted a second compromise: “The Canadian Broadcasting Corp said they’re ‘less than 70% government-funded’, so we corrected the label.” It now reads “69% Government-funded.” Priceless!⁺ (The BBC Twitter account also has a new label of “Publicly-Funded Media.”) 

      For several days, all that was heard from these newly-labelled news organizations was the grinding and gnashing of teeth. Mainstream media (MSM) orgs like them throw the biggest hissy fits whenever their biases are exposed. And toeing the line by spouting government talking points and consistently not acting to challenge even the most egregious of party lines revels, for me, biases and a compromised editorial and content environment within our so-called "free" press.

      HERE'S A THOUGHT, perhaps honest, investigative reporting [Sy Hersh, anyone? Ed.] and journalism that speaks truth to power might help solve the 'label issue' these news organizations have hanging around their collective neck like an albatross’s rotting carcass. Just sayin’.¹

 

Ø Last year, Canada, along with fellow Arctic Council(AC) members (Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Finland, and The United States) decided to suspend participation in this very important organization to protest Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

  RUSSIA, the current AC chair, is also the council member with the longest coastline in the Arctic, with 53% of the total. It’s another example of how Canada’s political leadership is sorely lacking in foresight and diplomatic skills (as is the Collective West, in general). Instead of using the Arctic Council as a venue for cooperation and communication between Russia and the Collective West (CW), ever-the-toady Canada went along with the rest in a petulant boycott of its council responsibilities. IN THE NOT-TOO-DISTANT future, the Arctic will heat up, not only with global warming, but also through geopolitical manoeuvring as new trade routes and natural resource extraction in the region come on-line. Russia and China are spending billions in Arctic infrastructure and shipping assets.

     Now is the time to forge working relationships and keep contacts alive, even with those countries you don’t happen to like. Refusing to participate at the council because Russia is a member is a stupid decision (one of many) made by the CW, and one that comes fraught with potential future conflict. Good job, politicos!

 

Ø The Trudeau government has recently inked a deal with the pharmaceutical giant Moderna to open a factory in Montreal dedicated to producing mRNA vaccines despite growing concerns over the level of excess deaths due to blood clots and complications caused by “spike proteins” in the body. It seems Canada wants to normalize the use of this (still) highly experimental gene-therapy, one that's only a distant cousin of traditional vaccines. 

      WE WILL KNOW in years to come the consequences of injecting millions of Canadians, young and old (including me!), with this stuff. But corporate profits, tax revenues and assorted kickbacks and swag hold sway in the true north, strong and free.

 

Ø Oh, I almost forgot: The G7 had a meeting of foreign ministers in Japan recently as a prelude to a leader’s session later in May. It was mostly a wet squib, as the relevance of the annual summit of major industrial powers continues to wane while other political associations continue to grow. For example, the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), as a collective, has a GDP that is larger than the G7 (Germany, France, Italy, Britain, Canada, the United States and Japan). MORE COUNTRIES, particularly from the global south, have petitioned to join BRICS. Meanwhile, China brokers treaty negotiations between Saudi Arabia and Iran and offers discussion points to help end the violence in Ukraine. Interestingly, Saudi Arabia has petitioned BRICS for membership and it now thumbs its nose at the United States, saying it will accept rupees and yuan and other national currencies along with American greenbacks for its oil exports. The lay of the land becomes clear, and it's safe bet to say that the  primacy of the "petrodollar" is coming to an end. 

    CHINA'S Belt and Road initiative proceeds apace, forging new trade partners and circumventing choke points in shipping and transit routes. (Additional trade routes will open as the Arctic warms and becomes reliably ice-free during the summer.) RUSSIA’S FOREIGN MINISTER LAVROV visits South America and Africa inking diplomatic and trade deals. More countries purchase imports and cost exports in their local currencies, leaving behind the constraints of using only the US dollar for international trade. (As the dollar loses its   status as a “reserve currency”, the United States will no longer be in the position to ‘export’ its debt, and we will see a massive economic retraction in the American economy. Stay tuned.

SANCTIONS imposed by the United States and its familiars failed to cripple the Russian economy, while economies in Europe and the Collective West stumble due to the boomerang effects from trying to impose such heavy penalties on a major economy like Russia's. The G7’s latest brainchild is a proposal to impose a general trade embargo on exporting goods (minus medicines and food) to the Russian Federation. It is a reckless policy that is unlikely to do anything other than promote even closer bonds between Russia and China, something that is anathema to foreign ministries throughout the West. The writing is on the wall. Such foolishness will further detach Russia, and growing numbers of non-western nations who support Russia, from Western trade and financial regimes which, in turn, will serve instead to isolate America and its vassals allies from the rest of the world. Canada's foreign affairs minister, who attended the G7 meeting in Japan, seems as clueless as the rest. Mélanie: U go, Grrrl! 

MEANWHILE, Ukraine faces a grim time ahead when Russia’s spring offensive begins. Canada foolishly continues to promote Ukraine's destruction by sending it military aide instead of offering diplomatic solutions. Score another goal for Global Affairs Canada!

AND another reminder that the times they are a' changing was seen at last July's G20 meeting where there was push-back from a number of attending delegates, including the meeting's chair, Indonesia, to not strongly condemn Russia for its invasion of Ukraine like the G7 countries (who are also members of the G20) demanded.  As a result, there was only a partial communique issued at the meeting's close because disputes remained over the wording of the summary document. That the G7's demands were challenged here points to it's fading relevance and influence, and highlights the rise of new, emerging power centres in an increasingly multi-polar world. 2023's G20 meeting should be interesting with India acting as chair for the proceedings. Bring popcorn and enjoy the show!

 

"The official G20 finance ministers summit ended on July 16 without a final communique, as differences on how to characterize and respond to Russia's invasion of Ukraine prevented unanimity within the group." (RadioFreeEurope)² 

 

I COULD GO ON, but the point is, the G7 is a spent political and economic force, and one that is rapidly fading on the horizon. Canada needs to stop ragging the puck and start playing for another league. And soon! 

 

Ø In February, Canada decided to once again send warships to Haiti, supposedly to discourage an escalation of street violence among warring gangs there. Canada has resisted U.S. pressure to send in troops and instead it will work to strengthen the local police force. Problem is that some so-called “street gangs” may represent genuine, grass-root protests against an un-elected president and a dysfunctional legislature installed a couple of years ago with Canadian involvement. Canada has a checkered history of gun-boat diplomacy with the impoverished Caribbean nation and, in fact, it may be there less to promote democracy and a functioning civil society than it’s there to promote a rather tawdry set of imperial objectives, its own and those  of the United States. We should mind our own business and let Haitians decide for themselves what kind of country they want.

 

Ø Finally, in Ottawa, politicians addressed gender violence with a display of unity across the aisle that underscored the seriousness with which our political leaders view such crimes and their steadfast resolve to eradicate them root and branch. It was an uplifting, decorous, and heartburningwarming presentation on Parliament Hill last week that left no doubt in anyone’s mind about how willing politicians of all stripes are to step up and fight the good fight against this blight upon our social order. TO A MAN, they walked-the-walk, marching to end gender-based violence in our country. It made me proud to be a Canadian!😖

 

Cheers, Jake

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*[I said news of the world, but Jake was having too much fun with O Canada. My bad. Ed.]

 

+ WHAT the billionaire is doing is taking a poke at “legacy” news organizations (aka mainstream media, "MSM"), highlighting the fact that funders of news organizations may indeed influence their content and editorial independence, whether such influencers be governments, private corporations, or uber-rich individuals.

RT’s (“Russia Today”) and Sputnik’s Twitter accounts come with a “Russia state-affiliated media” label. In America, PBS, and NPR, thanks to Munk, now come with a label that says: “Government-funded” Both American cry babies MSM news outlets have currently suspended their active participation on Twitter because, they whine say, Twitter “falsely imply[s] that we are not editorially independent.” [How independent are they, really? They whine about having a label similar to RT's while continuing to roll out the party line of the US government. Too bad, so sad! Now the shoe  is on the other foot and they're feeling the pinch. Ed.]

 

1. CHANGES occur within social media sites so rapidly that they give me whiplash. I’m glad that I’m not a Twitter user. By Friday, those hissy fits from large (publicly funded) news organizations like the BBC (27M Twitter followers) induced the social media platform to eliminate funding labels it had instituted just days earlier for news organizations that receive money from governments (like the CBC in Canada, or in Britain where citizens pay a tax mandatory “subscription fee” for the BBC service). For days, labels of “publicly funded” or “state-funded" made MSM organizations squirm like grade-schoolers needing to pee.

AS A COMPROMISE, Twitter owner Elon Musk removed funding labels from Russia’s RT Twitter account, as well as from China’s Xinhua news agency  and from all other state-funded or state-affiliated news organization's accounts, regardless of whether they are "mainstream" or not. So, I guess removing references to funding sources for all news organizations, regardless of whether you like them, is fair-ish and about as good as it will get. For now.

 

2. I thought Europe was free? Isn't RadioFreeEurope a holdout from last century's Cold War like another no longer necessary organization I could name? (NATO)

 

 

[I think it's time to go watch a zombie flick. At least with zombies you know they only want to eat your brains, not fuck with them, like some others I could name! Ed.]

 

 "Those GMOs give me a buzzz, Man!"

 

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