Author: Blazingcatfur

The New McCarthyism

January 6 is providing a pretext for a politically motivated crackdown on dissent.

Since the storming of the U.S. Capitol by outraged supporters of President Donald Trump on January 6, 2021, the growth of political intolerance in the United States has reached toxic levels. Trump’s adversaries immediately branded the incident as an insurrection and accused the lame duck president of trying to stage a coup to invalidate the results of the 2020 election. Los Angeles Times columnist Doyle McManus warned, in a column headlined “Warning: Jan. 6 was not a one-time event,” that Trump and his right-wing backers might use similar tactics to overturn future elections. With rare exceptions, both the mainstream legacy media and the newer social media powerhouses fully embraced the “insurrection” narrative.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Criminalizing Dissent", USA

The end of the age of globalisation

How Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could hasten the demise of the US-led economic order.

The economic consequences of Russia’s bloody and despicable assault on Ukraine are very much a secondary consideration to the immediate human and geopolitical implications. And since the various national responses to the conflict are still so fluid, it is far too early to be able to identify the war’s precise longer-term economic effects. Nevertheless, it is possible to tentatively suggest what could unfold on the international economic front.

At least in the short term, the direct and indirect disruptions to economic relations arising from the invasion will almost certainly damage prospects for economic growth and boost inflation far beyond the combatant countries. In particular, the relative toughening of sanctions will generate economic difficulties in many areas beyond Russia itself.

Global banking system faces split as Russians turn to Chinese

Nissan and Levi have become the latest major brands to join the Great Cancellation of Vladimir Putin’s Russia – as Visa and Mastercard also pulled out of the country along with Netflix and TikTok.

… It comes as the global financial system looks set to split in two as Moscow turns to a Chinese payments system as a substitute for Visa and Mastercard.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Ukraine - Russia", Globalization

War and Persuasion

Vladimir Putin has unleashed a war of militaries and also of narratives

Like Thrasymachus in Plato’s Republic, Vladimir Putin clearly believes that justice is whatever serves the interest of the strongest. It’s the code of the mafia godfather—and, for a supposed master manipulator of information, Putin has wasted little effort trying to cloak with fine ideals his application of brute force against Ukraine.

The pretext for the conflict—a “neo-Nazi” regime in Kyiv conducting “genocide” against ethnic Russians—seemed almost intentionally lame. No attempts were made to persuade or demoralize the public, either in Ukraine or in the Western democracies, ahead of what was to be the most egregious act of aggression in Europe in at least a generation. Even Russian troops at the front have often looked uncertain about the nature of their mission.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Ukraine - Russia"

FUREY: Judging by their actions, Canadians rightly believe COVID is over

FUREY: Judging by their actions, Canadians rightly believe COVID is over

The other week I was at a fairly sizeable indoor gathering in Toronto full of people who hadn’t seen each other in a long time or hadn’t met before. There was a lot of milling about. There were handshakes and some hugs. And there weren’t really any masks, aside from when people first entered the facility. This was also right after the vaccine mandate had ended in Ontario.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"China eats weird animals disease"

It’s just a coffee maker.

I was making coffee Sunday when it hit me. I remembered very clearly the day I purchased the coffee maker.

It was late fall in 2020.

I asked Kathy if she’d like to come for the ride to Costco to pick it up but she was too fatigued to tag along.

At that stage she seldom had energy to go out.

As I walked along in Costco I was numbed at the realization that I was going to have to get used to doing things without my shopping buddy.

One box ticked on the anticipatory grieving check list. You learn terms like “anticipatory grieving” from the folks in palliative care.

We began mourning the day Kathy was diagnosed but yes we hoped and prayed for a miracle that never came.

Kath was far more realistic about her chances than I had courage to face.

Grieving is like a derailed train in a tunnel. You clamber over or through or under the wrecked cars. Each has spilled its own cargo of emotion and there’s no escaping it.

Loss. Loneliness. Anger. Regret. Survivor guilt. Victimization. Hopelessness. Self-Pity.  Name it you’ll encounter it at some point to some degree.

There are times when I catch myself holding on to the grief out of fear that I may one day forget her. Worrying that I might dishonor her memory by absent mindedly enjoying a moment without wishing she was there to share it. It’s a childish notion but my mind works the way it works despite knowing Kathy only ever wished me happiness.

Sunday was a lovely spring like day. It was the exact sort of day to be shared with a loved one.

I walked to the Farm Boy. Kathy had looked forward to its opening.

I chatted to her on the way back remarking on the day and the shopping hoping she was just off my shoulder tagging along.

That was the first time I’ve noticed the weather in a long while it seems.

The one year anniversary of Sainted Irish Mom’s passing was Saturday March 5th.

She was a great old gal. The family remembered her.

Not a day goes by that they aren’t in my thoughts and heart.

Today I was sorting the documents needed to file final taxes for both Mom and Kathy.

Thankfully one of our readers volunteered to handle their tax filings for last year and this.

I can’t begin to tell you what a relief that has been.

Thank you Jo. And thank you all.

Amazing what a coffee maker can brew up.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inKathy Shaidle

Lying Punk Trudeau defends Canada’s military spending below NATO target

 

… “The Americans and the Brits have sent much more sophisticated pieces of anti-air or anti-armour equipment than we have,” he said. “You could do more damage, more accurately, to more sophisticated pieces of Russian gear if you’ve got the better weapons.”

Mr. Perry said Canada would also rank better among its NATO allies if it spent the money it has budgeted for defence, but the most recent numbers show the government underspending by about $3-billion. He said that’s in large part because of lengthy delays in buying new fighter jets and the slow progress in Canada’s ship-building program.

Canada’s underspending on defence is a “much bigger” issue now than it was before Russia invaded Ukraine, he said. “We’re seeing the impact of not meeting that” target.

“If you don’t actually spend money on this stuff, and buy things on schedule … then your options when you face a massive crisis, like the one we’re looking at right now in Ukraine, are drastically limited.”

According to NATO’s 2021 numbers, the Dutch spent slightly more on defence than Canada at 1.45 per cent of GDP. Mr. Rutte told reporters on Monday that his government in January decided to “ramp up defence spending by billions of euros” to bring the country close to the target.

Go incognito

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

Russia threatens to close main gas pipeline to Europe as the West ramps up sanctions

LVIV/IRPIN — Russia warned that oil prices could surge to $300 a barrel and it might close the main gas pipeline to Germany if the West halts oil imports over the invasion of Ukraine as peace talks on Monday made little progress.

The incursion, the biggest attack on a European state since World War Two, has prompted 1.7 million people to flee, a raft of sanctions on Moscow, an exodus of foreign firms, and fears of wider conflict in the West unthought-of for decades.

Sieges and the bombing of Ukrainian cities continued.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Ukraine - Russia"

Russia trying to recruit Syrians to fight in Ukraine, says Pentagon

Russia has been trying to recruit Syrians to fight in Ukraine to bolster Moscow’s flagging invasion, according to the Pentagon.

A senior US defence official said it was unclear how many Syrians Vladimir Putin is seeking to recruit, but said “we find it noteworthy that he believes he needs to rely on foreign fighters”. The official added there was no evidence of Syrian fighters having arrived in Ukraine so far.

The Russian recruitment effort was first reported by a Syrian news website, DeirEzzor24, which said Moscow was seeking volunteers to act as guards on six-month contracts, for between $200 and $300 a month. The same report said the Russian mercenary firm Wagner had been equipping its Syrian operatives, who had served in the Libyan war on the side of the general, Khalifa Haftar, to transfer to Ukraine.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Ukraine - Russia", WTF?

Kamala Harris Attacks Truckers for Pollution as ‘People‘s Convoy‘ Protesters Hit D.C.

Vice President Kamala Harris criticized the levels of pollution caused by heavy trucks on the same day a group of patriotic truckers circled Washington, DC.

“Pollution from heavy-duty trucks and buses has made the air poisonous to breathe and this pollution is also, of course, accelerating the climate crises,” Harris said during a speech near the White House on Monday. “Threatening the future not just of our communities, but of the entire world.”

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inUSA, WTF?

Alberta to pause collection of provincial fuel tax to help consumers shocked by high prices

The Alberta government will help hard-hit consumers by pausing the collection of its 13-cent per litre provincial fuel tax on April 1, Premier Jason Kenney said Monday.

“This massive tax relief is a response to skyrocketing costs at the pump and is going to provide Albertans with the relief that they need when the cost of everything is going up,” Kenney told a news conference.

“Albertans told us they needed relief from rising costs. We’ve heard them loud and clear.”

I bet Trudeau will go ahead with his thievery and increase the Carbon Tax.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCanada

Trans Activists Funded By Big Pharma Push Biased Research Promoting Medical Transitions For Children

Researchers are churning out biased studies promoting medical gender transitions for children, often supported by pharmaceutical companies and activist organizations, and the media frequently promotes the conclusions uncritically.

A March 2021 National Institute for Health and Care Excellence comprehensive review of nine studies failed to find evidence that hormonal therapy and puberty blockers were helpful. The review pointed out common flaws in transgender treatment research, such as confounding variables and bias resulting from observational studies that lack control groups.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"They really do want your children", Big Tranny

Have We Cornered Ourselves?

When Hungarian rebels arose in 1956 to overthrow the Communist regime imposed by Joseph Stalin, President Dwight Eisenhower refused to send U.S. forces to aid the Hungarians.

Ike would not take America to war with Russia over a small country in Central Europe.

While the Hungarians were heroic and inspirational, Hungary was neither a member of NATO nor a vital U.S. interest. Moreover, it was on the Soviet side of the Yalta line dividing Europe, and agreed to by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill at Yalta in 1945.

For similar reasons today, President Joe Biden has refused to send U.S. troops, ships or planes to attack Russian forces invading Ukraine.

Food for thought.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Ukraine - Russia"