‘Putin’s critics have a choice: flee Russia or rot in jail’

Ilya Yashin had always known that his time as a free man was rapidly running out. The Russian opposition politician was determined to use whatever weeks or months were left to tell his fellow citizens the truth about the war in Ukraine. But the truth is a dangerous thing in President Putin’s Russia.

In early March, eight days after Russia invaded Ukraine, Putin approved a new law that made it a crime to promote “fake” news about the actions of the Russian army. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in a prison camp. Scores of people have been charged under the law in the six months since it was adopted.

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

Colby Cosh: Myles Sanderson’s brutal crimes spotlight a disgraceful justice system

On Thursday morning, while catching up on the news about last weekend’s massacre on (and around) James Smith Cree Nation in northern Saskatchewan, I ran across a truly remarkable Globe and Mail headline: “Saskatchewan suspect’s case draws new scrutiny to statutory release.” I hardly knew whether to laugh or cry at this exercise in the journalistic privilege of agenda-setting. The crimes of Myles Sanderson, who died mysteriously in police custody Wednesday after stabbing 18 people and killing ten of them, ought to “draw new scrutiny” to about a hundred different things about the Canadian state and its philosophy of criminal justice. One hardly knows where to start with the list-making.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCrime

‘We Did That’: Afghanistan a Year after the US Surrender

Afghanistan is a Terror State, Al Qaeda Is Thriving

July 31st 2022. Kabul, Afghanistan. Ayman al-Zawahiri is killed by an American drone strike. His death is described as a victory against Islamic terrorism and a success for the Biden administration. Zawahiri was an Islamic terrorist, head of al-Qaeda; his death was good news. America’s intelligence services showed they still could obtain precise intelligence in hostile countries and strike enemies of the United States wherever they are. Was the elimination of Zawahiri, however, really a victory against Islamic terrorism?

It was right to have left Afghanistan.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inAfghanistan

Opinion: Our climate warriors forsake desperate Europe

Europe’s structural dependence on inexpensive hydrocarbon energy from its now-hostile Russian neighbour has had two crucial outcomes. It has amplified and accelerated destabilizing dynamics already in play, bringing about a transformation of the international energy landscape. And it has starkly exposed the spectacular failure of Europe’s 30-year, market-distorting climate policies, in particular its delusions about a renewables-based net-zero energy transition.

Reality is a merciless mistress: remove hydrocarbons and net-zero energy magic vanishes, exposing Europeans to the truly shocking social and economic fall-out of decades of wishful political thinking fundamentally divorced from reality.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Ukraine - Russia", Green-Scam

AOC Is Afraid She Won’t Live Through September Because You Hate Women

Please pause for a moment and say a prayer for the vulnerable and terrified Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Mars), a key member of Amerikkka’s marginalized community of color. So marginalized, despised, discriminated against, and harassed is AOC that she had to take to the pages of GQ, that plucky, ragtag samizdat mouthpiece of the people, to explain just how marginalized and harassed she is.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inWTF?

Canada’s revolving-door justice system has cost innocent people their lives

Reasonable people will ask how a man with 59 criminal convictions as an adult was ever allowed to roam free in Canada. Surely after three strikes (and an additional 56), along with a history of violence, domestic assault and robbery, an individual would lose his or her ability to live among the public – at least until authorities could be reasonably sure public safety was not at risk.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCrime

Cold showers and al dente pasta: Italy eyes end to Russian gas dependency

A plan by the Italian government to reduce the heating in homes this winter to slash dependency on Russian gas has been mocked by Moscow as “economic suicide”.

Rome said it wanted radiators in Italian homes used for two weeks less this winter and, when turned on, to be set 1C lower, with daily usage also reduced by an hour.

Heating in urban blocks of flats is controlled by city authorities, which are likely to heed the government ruling. Households with independent heating will be asked to comply on a voluntary basis.

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

Joe Oliver: Liberals risk drowning in the Poilievre wave

The conventional wisdom that Poilievre cannot win a national election is wearing thin

As the Conservative leadership campaign approaches what now seems certain to be Pierre Poilievre’s coronation, progressives are unnerved by the huge crowds of all ages he is attracting across the country, which point to an expanding Conservative base. Predictably, the Laurentian elite and their media loyalists have dissolved into full-blown derangement syndrome, while providing cover for Liberal missteps. Intriguingly, they are less protective of an increasingly unpopular prime minister.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inConservative Party

Will King Charles III do his duty and abandon politics?

King Climate Scold

Queen Elizabeth II’s long life is over.

Now, Britain’s new monarch, King Charles III, faces two immediate challenges: first, to comfort and reassure a grieving nation even as he mourns the loss of his own mother, and second, to show he can abandon his former penchant for political interventions.

This second point bears special note. After all, the first responsibility of a British monarch is to serve as chief officer of that nation’s unwritten constitution — and not, that is to say, as a privileged voice for particular politics or social preferences.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Woke Royals"

Blackie’s Star: Only Crazy People Disagree With Us

Surging angry, dangerous Canadians have no arguments, so they can’t be argued away

Anger stalks the land, and Canada is finally talking about it. You could blame the pandemic, but as with just about everything, the pandemic exacerbated existing conditions. The seeds were already in the ground.

But we need to remember something: a great deal of the current anger in this country is based on grievances that aren’t real. We can glaze over the use of “conspiracy theories” or “misinformation” as a catch-all descriptor, but we’re talking about people being angry over largely imaginary problems. A lot of it isn’t based in the real world at all.

It’s all in your head!

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCanada's Corrupt Liberal Government, Canada's Government Owned News Media, The F$CKING Toronto Star, The Media Lies

Blue Checkmark Pundits Delight in Death of Britain‘s Monarch Elizabeth II

While many people around the world are mourning the death of Queen Elizabeth II, various blue ticks on Twitter have been celebrating the monarch’s death.

Many critics of the monarchy — even those who have links to armed struggles against the Queen and her United Kingdom — have been polite enough to express their condolences to those mourning, but parts of blue checkmark Twitter have not had such class, instead thinking it best to express open delight.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inWTF?

The new King Charles III emerges to lead a nation in mourning

An emotional King Charles III emerged for the first time today as Britain’s new monarch as he left Balmoral to address the nation just hours after the death of his beloved mother.

Both the King and his Queen Consort Camilla were visibly upset as they left the Scottish estate to make their way to London just before 11.30am this morning.

Charles and his wife stayed at Balmoral overnight after racing up to be at the bedside of the Queen, whose death was announced to the nation yesterday evening.

Not sure I’ll get used to “King Charles.”

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inRoyals