Author: Blazingcatfur

Jack Mintz: EVs versus movies (a tale of two subsidies)

Subsidies are in the news. Two in particular: film tax credits and EV support. It’s a sordid tale of doomed subsidy competitions among governments.

Film and movie subsidies have existed for over three decades. The blockbuster Minecraft , released April 4, had brought in US$409 million in ticket sales by May 19, almost 15 per cent of total North America sales over that period. On average in the past four decades, the top 1,000 movies have generated two to three times their production costs, a handsome return to the producers who own the intellectual property rights. Big money is clearly involved, especially for Hollywood producers.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inBig Government

TDS Alert: After the joy of seeing Carney beat his Trump-lite rival, reality has bitten. Canada is an anxious, divided nation

A few days after last month’s Canadian election had delivered a minority victory to Mark Carney and the Liberal party, I got an email from someone I worked with when I lived in Virginia. They asked how I was feeling about the result, a big and complicated question.

Many Canadians I know feel immense relief at what they see as Canada’s rejection of the Conservative leader, Pierre Poilievre’s, Trump-style brand. But underneath it simmers dread about what might be coming down the pipeline.

After all, a good chunk of the country dislikes (and even despises) the Liberal party. There’s the comment I heard about leaving the country if the Liberals get re-elected. The disinformation-laced lament from a small business owner about refugees and “woke” ideology. The friend who insisted Carney, not Poilievre, is more Trump-like. The Conservative stronghold of Alberta is so upset with the result it might hold a referendum on leaving the country. Danielle Smith, Alberta’s far-right premier, said people in her province are “hurt and betrayed” that Canada re-elected the Liberals. Meanwhile, Poilievre has vowed to stay on as Conservative leader, with a pending byelection to secure him a seat in a reliably Tory riding.

This poor deluded woman is happy to have reelected the same evil clowns who have run Canada into the ditch this past decade.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCanada, Canada's Corrupt Liberal Government, WTF?

Schoolchildren taught black people built Stonehenge

Drive to decolonise history curriculums has ‘gone too far’, warns report

Schoolchildren are being taught that black people built Stonehenge as part of “decolonised” history curriculums, a report has found.

The claim is made in the book “Brilliant Black British History”, which is still used in schools across the country, according to research by Policy Exchange, the think-tank.

Written by Atinuke, the Nigerian-born British author, it says that “Britain was a black country for more than 7,000 years before white people came”.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Anti-White Racism", WTF?

Preserving France’s Social Model … by Changing Its Population?

A recent left-wing report argues that France needs more immigration and a strong state propaganda campaign to counter widespread feelings of national alienation.

Immigration is vital for Europe’s old nations: this is the well-known refrain of the Left. In France, it has just been reiterated in a report by the progressive think tank Terra Nova, which recommends welcoming hundreds of thousands of migrants every year to ensure the “sustainability of the French social model.” The Observatory of Immigration and Demography (OID) responded by vigorously defending the exact opposite conclusion, backed by statistics. The battle is not only ideological; it is also economic.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inFrance, The Great Replacement, WTF?

Laura Dawson: Hard truths about trade and migration from a Texas diner

At George’s Diner in Waco, Texas, I learned that trade and migration look a whole lot different from the U.S. southern border with Mexico than from the northern border with Canada.

It’s not a red light versus green light situation where the state is either open or closed to travel and trade. Rather, it is highly specific depending on who (or what) is crossing the border. Those who follow the rules are welcome, but those who do not should be excluded.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCanada, USA

America’s liberal media will pay for covering up Biden’s incapacity

The fact that so many ‘serious’ US journalists denied what was obvious to anyone explains why trust in their reporting has collapsed

There are many causes of the breakdown of trust in Western societies. The breakdown of trust in politicians is easy to map. The breakdown of trust in scientific expertise can be pinpointed to a very specific moment – the Covid years. But the breakdown of trust in the media has been a long time coming and is already having long-term consequences.

In the UK just 31 per cent of the public say that they trust the media. In the US it is 39 per cent. Into that gap of trust a lot of charlatans and know-nothings can now roam. But the old media – or at least much of the old media – only has itself to blame.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Biden Family Sleaze", "Deep State"

Finding a million more Conservative votes: ‘It’s about figuring out a way to speak to women’

Ben Woodfinden, the 31-year-old former director of communications for Pierre Poilievre, understands the challenges faced by younger Canadians. Ten years of a Liberal-led, no-growth government, Ben laments, “means they live in a country that doesn’t work for them anymore.” They want change.

And there’s a flip side, he cynically suggests: Some Canadians are content with the status quo, because it benefits them. They bought houses decades ago that are worth 20 times what they paid for them. It’s in their interest, he argues, to encourage unsustainable levels of immigrants to support existing social programs and to constrain investment in the infrastructure needed to re-energize the Canadian economy.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inConservative Party

Carney must show he hates oil says Star

‘Carney has to pick a lane’: Advocates and opponents worry about mixed signals from Liberals on fossil fuels

OTTAWA — In the span of half a day this week, different members of the Liberal government — including Prime Minister Mark Carney — spoke in different ways about one of the most divisive political issues in Canada: fossil-fuel pipelines.

After his cabinet was sworn in on Tuesday, Carney expressed openness to new oil and gas infrastructure as part of his vision to turbocharge construction of major development projects, potentially including pipelines, as part of a plan to expand the economy and reduce Canada’s reliance on the United States in the midst of Donald Trump’s trade war.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCanada's Corrupt Liberal Government

“Black Fatigue” Goes Viral: Everyone Including Blacks Is Tired Of Ghetto Behavior

The progressive ideal is largely to blame for the monstrous creation that is ghetto culture. The idea that racial narcissism among blacks should not only be tolerated but celebrated has led to a surge in open animosity for societal rules and standards within the US. Far more than any other group, the black community makes up the largest share of physical crime according to their percentage of the population. This includes robbery, aggravated assault, and homicides.

For example, black Americans make up only 13% of the population but commit around 52% of all homicides according to FBI statistics. The recent case of Karmelo Anthony comes to mind, a black teen who admitted to stabbing a white teen and killing him because the white teen allegedly “pushed him” (which he argues was a threat that made deadly force justifiable).

Videos like this litter the web.

h/t DS

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Identity Politics"

Marijuana and the Mentally Ill

Legalization is pushing community mental health to the brink.

America’s ongoing marijuana-legalization experiment will have many consequences. That goes especially for the seriously mentally ill, a sliver of the adult population but overrepresented among the ranks of compulsive pot users. Treating schizophrenia and bipolar disorder is never easy; even when treatment is available, the seriously mentally ill often fail to comply. A schizophrenic who spends most of his days in a dark room smoking weed is not a clinically promising case.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inMarijuana