UPDATES: CANADA AND A BROAD

 

RE: META MEDDLING. In an earlier post I mentioned how Facebook and Google have baulked at a piece of legislation made into law on June 23/23 by the Federal government, Bill-18, the “Online News Act.” The purpose of this Act is to ensure Canadian legacy news organizations are compensated for their content when it is used and disseminated by the social media companies on their digital platforms. Australia had enacted similar legislation in 2021* and met with similar headwinds, particularly from Facebook. At the time, Australia’s new law had the ability to order Facebook and Google to negotiate deals with legacy media companies. Facebook⁺ protested and “unfriended” local news coverage throughout Australia on their platform. Several days later, amendments to the bill made the law less stringent, leaving aside the government’s ability to “designate” (i.e., compel) the tech companies to negotiate with local news content providers. Subsequently, Google and Facebook inked private deals with dozens of Australian news outlets, and in the meanwhile, Facebook’s stunning news blackout was lifted. 

 

IN CANADA, Bill-18, like the original Australian bill, compels the social media giants to pay compensation to Canadian news providers, utilizing the CRTC (Canadian Radio and Telephone Commission) as its regulator. Hence the rolling news bans by Facebook in June and now the threat to ban local Canadian news entirely from its platform. (Same with Google and its algorithms.) And there appears to be a battle royal brewing between the federal government and the social media companies.

 

"Facebook ... would rather block their users from accessing good quality and local news instead of paying their fair share to news organizations," Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge said in a statement Tuesday. 

"Google and Facebook earn 80 per cent of all digital advertising revenue in Canada. Meanwhile, hundreds of newsrooms have closed. A free and independent press is fundamental to our democracy, and Canadians expect tech giants to follow the law in our country." (Toronto Star)

 

REGARDLESS of whoever wins, the scope and power of such companies and their stranglehold over news and information in this country will be highlighted. And even if Google and Facebook strike a deal to provide monies for a fund to support local Canadian news, this will go only so far addressing the anemic and hollowed-out state of journalism in this country.

 

“Peter Menzies, a former vice chairman of Canada’s broadcast regulator, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, told a parliamentary hearing in September that Bill C-18 will “permanently entrench the industry’s dependency not on the loyalty of citizens, readers, viewers, but upon the good graces of politicians and the ability of offshore, quasi-monopoly tech companies to remain profitable.” Menzies added that the law might ‘keep the wolves from the door of a few legacy companies for a few more years, but it won’t save journalism.’”

 

PERHAPS the federal government wants a dysfunctional fourth estate? Reporters ask such troublesome questions, after all. Just a thought....

 

RE: JEDDAH. The recent US sponsored peace talks summit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia was a wet squib mostly, with several countries, including BRICS representatives from China, Brazil, India and South Africa, stating that substantial peace negotiations to resolve the crisis in Ukraine must have Russian involvement. Mexico’s representative said that talks that did not involve Russia were “pointless”. Brazil’s delegate agreed: “Any real negotiation must include all parties. Although Ukraine is the biggest victim, if we really want peace, we have to involve Moscow in this process somehow.”

ONE WONDERS what the Chinese envoy may have said in private to the Ukrainian head delegate at the summit because initially there was speculation around Ukraine softening some of the ridiculous  demands in Zelensky’s ten-point peace plan. However, this was not to be the case, because, later in Kiev, Zelensky’s chief spokesperson made an announcement following the summit’s conclusion that Ukraine’s peace proposal stands as is. In other words, it's a non-starter. Oh well.

 

“While the summit did not end with an official communique,[Gobbledygook meaning the delegates couldn't come to a unanimous agreement. Ed]  the Wall Street Journal reported that Ukraine refrained from pushing its peace formula requiring the withdrawal of Russian troops from all territory Kiev claims as its own. Ukraine, however, denied that it had given up on its plan, which rejects any compromise on the ground with Moscow, (RT)

 

A third summit (again, sans Russia) is scheduled for December in which Zelensky hopes to once more sell his risible proposals to world leaders. He’d best give an inch, or the Russians will take a mile. Let’s hope there is a Ukraine left by then.

As an aside: Recent marine and air drone attacks on a Russian military vessel and an oil tanker, as well an earlier attack on the Kerch Bridge that links Crimea with the Russian mainland, may augur a change in tactics on the part of Washington Kiev, with asymmetric warfare tactics developing on the Black Sea ¹ ....

 

RE: ALASKA. Earlier this week, Alaskans got a shock when eleven Chinese and Russian warships sailed in international waters of the southern Bering Sea off the coast of the Aleutian Islands between Russia and America. American warships from Alaska Command were sent to shadow the flotilla in what Newsweek called the “Aleutian Islands Standoff.” The language is a tad hyperbolic, I think. Fortunately, NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense) thought the same and didn’t launch hypersonic missiles at the fleet (because they don’t have any), stating simply that the ships were in international waters and posed no threat. It’s swinging dicks time, I guess: American warships in the waters off China and Russia; the Baltic Sea becoming a "NATO lake". Now it's Chinese and Russian vessels sailing off the American coastline. What could possibly go wrong? It’s a signal to the Washington fuktards neo-cons in charge of war-making in Ukraine that Russia has the capability of “asymmetric warfare” initiatives in other parts of the globe, should it become necessary. The Americans have their fingers in so many pies these days that it would be smart to consider that Russia might start nibbling on a few, here and there. Best to take a loss and make a deal in Ukraine. Now....

 

RE: SANCTIONS #11.5. Rinse and repeat. Gosh, I thought sanctions had all been used up. Haven’t they run out of things to slap Russia on the wrist? I thought the Russian economy was supposed to be in “tatters” by now, as EU President Ursula von der Leyen is fond of saying. Nope. They haven’t worked yet, but let’s keep trying. It’s like cranking the ignition key again and again hoping your dead battery will come to life. (Isn’t the definition of insanity, as Einstein quipped, repeating the same thing over and over and expecting a different result?) Sanctions ‘eleven point five’ seems a pretty lame: It’s just US toadies Canada and Britain imposing additional travel bans and freezing assets of a handful of Belarusian politicians.² [Canada and Britain and the Collective West had placed sanctions on Belarus since its 2020 election they claim was fraudulent. Ed.]

 

“On August 4, 2023, to mark the passing of three years since the fraudulent presidential election in Belarus, Canada further amended the Regulations to list an additional 9 individuals and 7 entities. The individuals are government officials, judges and family members of currently listed individuals.” (Global Affairs Canada)

 

Canada, under the effervescent Justin Trudeau, goes the extra mile to add these additional sanctions to #11, even as a twelfth package is being cobbled together in Brussels. But, Russia is still standing. It's economy is in better shape than most Western nations. And it's winning the war in Ukraine despite over $150B pumped into the Nato proxy. Is the bloom coming off the sanctions rose? ³ ....

 

RE: WEST AFRICA. The current instability in West Africa—with Niger’s military overthrow of the democratically elected president last month—may bode ill for the region. There have been several coups in West Africa in recent years:

 

“West Africa has recently been rocked by military uprisings. In the past three years, rogue soldiers have overthrown the presidents of Mali (August 2020 and May 2021), Guinea (September 2021), and Burkina Faso (January and September 2022).” (Foreign Policy Research Institute)

 

THIS MOST RECENT coup comes amid tensions between Russia and the West; with Africa becoming a growing arena for geopolitical maneuvering, resource competition⁴ and regional conflicts, not to mention jihadist insurgencies. Nigeria, Niger’s powerful neighbour to the south, along with ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) threaten to send in troops to restore President Mohamed Bazoum.

Victoria Nuland, the execrable United States Deputy Secretary of State, made a whirlwind stop to ‘urge’ (i.e. threaten) the coup leaders to stand down. Seems they are not as supportive of former colonial powers (i.e. France) or the United States, and increasingly are looking to Russia and China for more favourable partnerships. Incidentally, the United States has a $100M drone base and a couple thousand troops stationed there, along with France. [Who knew? Not me. Ed.] And the junta has just announced it would like to call on the Wagner group to supply additional troops to keep order! Oopsie! Things are brewing over there. Hopefully, they won’t boil over....

 

RE: PAKISTAN. Speaking of coups, the democratically elected prime minister of Pakistan, ousted by a vote of no-confidence in April 2022 and beset with legal problems and political shenanigans ever since, has been arrested to begin a three-year sentence for “corruption”. While PM Imran Khan had fairly middle-of-the-road economic policies, for example, borrowing from the IMF (International Monetary Fund)—infamous for its austerity demands that usually accompany any loans. Nevertheless, the neo-liberal institution was pleased with his economic policies even though he initiated welfare reform legislation.

 

 "Khan's government introduced reforms to Pakistan's social safety net and the system of welfare in Pakistan more broadly. This included broadening welfare payments which was initially for widows only, to include the disabled as well as provide health insurance coverage." (Wikipedia)

 

 It’s his foreign policies that may have gotten him in hot water: He made a state visit to Moscow, the first in nearly 20 years from a Pakistani PM, days before Russia announced its special military operation in Ukraine last February. He remained neutral with respect to Russia’s invasion. He congratulated the Taliban when it regained power after the embarrassing American retreat withdrawal last summer. He even opened trade talks with them. He refused to call Osama bin Laden a terrorist. He refuses to acknowledge Israel until the Palestinian question is resolved. He forged greater ties with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states. He made pipeline deals with Russia. In other words, he irritated the West, particularly the United States. “Khan claimed the US was behind his removal because he conducted an independent foreign policy and had friendly relations with China and Russia. His removal led to protests from his supporters across Pakistan.” (Wikipedia)

 

True? Maybe. Oh, don’t forget: Pakistan has 70-90 nuclear warheads in its arsenal. I don't know about you, but I like my nuclear powers politically stable and reasonably sane. Just sayin’....

 

RE: AUSTRALIA. Finally, from the land down-under three or four quick points: In September 2021, Australia became a member of a defense alliance with the awkward acronym of  "AUKUS" (Australia United Kingdom United States). At the same time it cancelled diesel-powered submarines from France, pissing the French off to no end. Instead, Australia is buying nuclear-powered submarines from the Americans. Now, lickspittle Australia will host testing of US hyper-sonic missiles. 

 

"One thing Australia has in spades is long distances and relatively unpopulated land,” Wormuth [American Secretary of the Army] told the AFP news agency. “A challenge for us in the United States when it comes to hypersonics … is to find open spaces in the United States where we can actually test these weapons.”

 

The United States will also help Australia build missiles, for its own and AUKUS militaries. Oh, how the Military-Industrial Compelx grows!

Will Australia's involvement in Washington's next wet dream--that of wrecking China--bode well for Australia, or will visions of turning the country into a giant ashtray keep the  boys in Canberra awake at night?

And will all that dough coming into Australia from the United States affect the case of the journalist Julian Assange, an Australian citizen whose treatment at the hands of the US state department has only recently been criticized (tepidly) by the Australian government. [The Americans want to extradite Assange from England to stand trial in the US for "espionage" and related charges that could see him serving 175 years in a maximum security facility. Ed.] Will Canberra grow a pair and say enough is enough and demand Julian's release? And mean it? Well, I'm not holding my breath. These days, money speaks louder than words....

 

RE: OUR PRIME MINISTER. Justin (“I 💖 Barbie”) Trudeau. Pictures speak louder than words, especially when they SCREAM in pink!! Give it a rest, Justin! Please. For your sanity. And ours....

 

DID YOU KNOW: At UPS (United Parcel Service), in America, the average full-time driver will soon earn about $170,000 annually, including healthcare and other benefits, by the end of their five-year contract! I did not know that. UPS has the “biggest unionized workforce of any company in the US with over 300,000 workers” and is represented by the Teamsters union. If I can improve my double-parking skills, I know where I’ll be sending my resume, ASAP!

 

p.s. I just realized I could go on forever updating news stories. Best stop before my head explodes!

Cheers, Jake

_____________________________________________________________________

 

* Called the “News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code”. 

 

+ Google, similarly, used its algorithms to send search queries away from Australian news sites in protest of the new law. 

 

1. IT IS UNCONSCIONABLE that leaders in the Collective West do not call for an immediate ceasefire and negotiations in the Ukraine war. If this conflict continues, Ukraine (or what's left of it) is destined to become a lawless, troublesome rogue state at the tail end of Europe. The Black Sea may become a dangerous sea with a significant decline in trade and shipping. YET, more money is pounded down the rat hole in Ukraine: President Biden is set to ask congress for $25B in aid; twelve billion in emergency relief for fire-ravaged Hawaii and thirteen billion for Ukraine. Ukraine is the priority for this lackluster US administration, not the American people.  What a clusterfuk!! 

AND there is talk of sending long-range missiles (500km range) from France and Germany. Toadie Germany said it would send its missiles if the United States sends in its niftily-acroymned ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System). Recall last time when Germany made a similar offer with its Leopard 2 tanks. It would send them to Ukraine if the US sent in its advanced Abrams tanks. The US said sure. Go ahead. So, Germany sent in their tanks and then the Americans said their tanks would be ready for delivery--by year's end. Gotcha! It's called a sucker punch. They're still waiting for those Abrams.

LET'S PRAY that feckless dolt of a chancellor, Schultz, isn't fooled  again, and that those German missiles (which can reach Moscow) ARE NEVER DELIVERED. 

p.s. do they want to start World War Fucking Three!?!

 

2. Belarus recently has signed a security agreement with Russia and now hosts Russian strategic missile bases on its soil. There are thousands of Russian soldiers stationed there, as well as brigades from the Wagner private militia group. 

 

 3. It should be remembered that the EU and the United States currently look for ways to freeze foreign assets of Russian individuals, companies, banks, etc., operating in the West. Now they want to seize those monies, properties, securities, and so on. Hundreds of billions of dollars are at stake, including monies belonging to the Russian central bank on deposit with Western financial institutions that had been used for international trade. The EU and the US are looking for a legal loophole to steal all those Ruskie doubloons. They haven’t yet found one yet, but what’s stopping them from just taking them? Like the US took billions from the Afghani central bank when the Americans made a beeline for the border in August of 2021? Or when they turned over Venezuelan gold stored overseas into the pockets of the phony Juan Guido ‘government in exile'? (What a stooge he was!)

HERE'S THE RUB: The rest of the world is watching the EU and US and their high-handed financial hijinks, and they're starting to have second thoughts about how secure their monies are in Western institutions. After all, in Canada, the Trudeau government seized funds and froze bank accounts of legitimate protestors in Ottawa last year, seemingly at the push of a button. Easy-peasy! If Canada can do it, then anyone can.

 

AS AN ASIDE: the US had its credit rating downgraded for the first time by Fitch rating service:

“The agency—which lowered the US from the highest AAA classification to the notch lower AA+ rating—said the slight downgrade was due to a “steady deterioration in standards of governance” in recent decades on fiscal and debt matters, among other issues.” 👎

Cracks in the façade are becoming obvious to anyone who is watching.

 

4. Niger’s uranium exports are particularly important to France with its large nuclear power infrastructure. France is threatening military force if the Niger’s former president is not returned to office.

 

 

FREE JULIAN ASSANGE! FREE JULIAN ASSANGE! FREE JULIAN ASSANGE!