Feb 132022
 
 February 13, 2022  Posted by at 9:53 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,


Giuseppe Arcimboldo Four elements – Earth 1566

 

New Zealand Plays Barry Manilow To Repel Parliament Protesters (BBC)
Canada Truckers Protest: After A Police Raid, What Next? (BBC)
Blockades on Canada-US Border Continue As Protests Swell (AP)
Democracy Demands That The Truckers Get A Fair Hearing (Burney)
Biden Tells Putin Ukraine Invasion Would Bring Decisive Response (R.)
Giant Ukrainian US Lobbying Campaign Revealed (RT)
The Chinese Bat Virus That Never Shows Up in Any Chinese Bats (Geraghty)
COVID Booster Loses Potency After 4 Months (Y!)
Clinton Campaign Paid To ‘Infiltrate’ Trump Tower – Durham (Fox)
Trump Demands Prosecutions, Reparations After Durham Revelations (JTN)
John Durham Highlights the Tip of the Iceberg (CTH)

 

 

 

 

Maher Trudeau: They take up space
https://twitter.com/ezralevant/status/1492485385708052484

 

 

Early treatment 2 years in.

 

 

Protests all over the world.

 

 

McCullough Vaccine deaths

 

 

24,200 reports of myocarditis in 2021

already in 2022… 8,392 reports of myocarditis. 1/3 of all reports in the first month.

 

 

Ardern attacks Babylon Bee. Or is it Babylon BBC?

New Zealand Plays Barry Manilow To Repel Parliament Protesters (BBC)

Authorities in New Zealand have been playing Barry Manilow’s greatest hits in an attempt to dislodge protesters camped outside the parliament building. Songs by the US singer are being played on a 15-minute loop, along with the Spanish dance tune, Macarena. The demonstrators, who are angry at Covid-19 vaccine mandates, responded by playing songs such as Twisted Sister’s We’re Not Gonna Take It. The protests began on Tuesday when a convoy of vehicles drove to parliament. Inspired by large rallies against vaccine mandates in Canada, hundreds of protesters arrived in the capital, Wellington, to rally against Covid restrictions. They adopted the name “Convoy for Freedom” and blocked streets in the city.


By Wednesday their numbers had dwindled to the dozens, but they increased again at the weekend. On Thursday police arrested 122 people and charged many with trespassing or obstruction. Tactics used by the authorities to try and get rid of the protesters involved turning on the water sprinklers on the lawn where they were camped on Friday. But protesters retaliated by digging trenches and building makeshift drainpipes to re-route the water, the Associated Press news agency reports. With sprinklers proving ineffective, Parliament Speaker Trevor Mallard settled on a new approach: blasting out Barry Manilow’s greatest hits, which include Mandy and Could It Be Magic, as well as the 1990s hit Macarena and Covid vaccine messages.

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The police raid failed. Now what?

“..vehicles are no longer the problem, says Jason Bellaire, deputy chief of operations for the Windsor Police Service. The problem is the people..

Canada Truckers Protest: After A Police Raid, What Next? (BBC)

A police raid on the bridge blockade at Windsor, Ontario, failed to shut it down. With protesters in Ottawa also digging in, what will it take to get them to budge? They arrived by the bus load – police in balaclavas and carrying long guns, ready to oust dozens of protesters blocking roads leading to the Ambassador Bridge. There were pickups and SUVs festooned with Canadian flags, anti-vaccination slogans and anti-Trudeau epithets, as well as some heavy commercial trucks. About 100 vehicles have been parked along the roughly 2km (1.25 miles) of road leading up to the bridge for almost a week. The Freedom Convoy, as it’s been called, began as a protest against a mandate requiring truckers who cross the US-Canada border to be vaccinated.

But the group is not united by any one occupation – rather, they share a distrust of vaccines, a concern for government overreach and a general dislike of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. More than 12 hours after a court issued an injunction ordering the Windsor site to be cleared, the police moved in on Saturday morning. A number of vehicles agreed to leave immediately, although not without a loud honk or a shout of disapproval. More were ticketed and towed in the evening. But vehicles are no longer the problem, says Jason Bellaire, deputy chief of operations for the Windsor Police Service. The problem is the people, he says. “We need to make it exceeding clear they’re not welcome to stay here, they’re not welcome to disrupt our bridge traffic, they’re not welcome to disrupt our community,” he told the BBC

[..] “They’re going to have to move us out. We’ll be peaceful and we’ll lock arms and show unity,” said Dan, a protester who did not give his last name to the BBC. That leaves both sides in a standstill, with police trying to negotiate with protesters to go home. “We’re negotiating with them, we’re talking to them, we’re doing everything we can to resolve this peacefully and convince them to leave,” says Deputy Chief Bellaire. About 750km (466 miles) east in Ottawa, the protest group that has taken over the nation’s capital also shows no signs of slowing down. Unlike the Windsor crowd, which has been limited to a few hundred people occupying one major road, the Ottawa protest has essentially taken over the centre of a major city, with thousands of people flooding the streets with Canadian flags.

[..] But while French police fired tear gas to prevent their own Freedom Convoy from advancing, that’s a tactic Windsor police don’t seem to want to use. “It will take as long as it takes,” Deputy Chief Bellaire said. “I’m not giving them a timeline.” One thing working in police’s favour is Mother Nature. With temperatures dropping to -17C (1.4 F) overnight, it will not be a pleasant evening for those trying to tough it out.

Read more …

““It’s a win-win,” Koss said. “The pandemic is rolling down right now, they can remove the mandates, all the mandates, and everyone’s happy. The government does the right thing, and the protesters are all happy.“

Blockades on Canada-US Border Continue As Protests Swell (AP)

Protesters opposed to COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other restrictions withdrew their vehicles from a key U.S.-Canadian border bridge Saturday though access remained blocked while other demonstrations ramped up in cities across Canada, including the capital, where police said they were awaiting more officers before ending what they described as an illegal occupation. The tense standoff at the Ambassador Bridge linking Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, eased somewhat early in the day when Canadian police persuaded demonstrators to move the trucks they had used to barricade the entrance to the busy international crossing.

But protesters reconvened nearby — with reinforcements — and were still choking off access from the Canadian side late Saturday, snarling traffic and commerce for a sixth day. About 180 remained late Saturday in the sub-freezing cold. In Ottawa, the ranks of protesters swelled to what police said was 4,000 demonstrators. The city has seen that on past weekends, and loud music played as people milled about downtown where anti-vaccine demonstrators have been encamped since late January. The protests at the bridge, in Ottawa and elsewhere have reverberated outside the country, with similarly inspired convoys in France, New Zealand and the Netherlands, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security warned that truck convoys may be in the works in the United States.

[..] Surrounded by dozens of officers in Windsor, a man with “Mandate Freedom” and “Trump 2024” spray-painted on his vehicle left the bridge entrance early in the day as others began dismantling a small, tarp-covered encampment. A trucker honked his horn as he, too, drove off, to cheers and chants of “Freedom!” But hundreds more arrived to bolster the crowd and settled into a faceoff with police about two blocks away, waving flags and yelling. While there were no visible physical confrontations, the crowd still controlled the road to the bridge, and traffic had not resumed as of the evening.

Windsor police tweeted that no one had been arrested but urged people to stay away from the bridge: “We appreciate the cooperation of the demonstrators at this time and we will continue to focus on resolving the demonstration peacefully. Avoid area!” Protester Daniel Koss said shortly before police advanced that the demonstration had succeeded in bringing attention to demands to lift COVID-19 mandates and he was happy it remained peaceful. “It’s a win-win,” Koss said. “The pandemic is rolling down right now, they can remove the mandates, all the mandates, and everyone’s happy. The government does the right thing, and the protesters are all happy.”

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“When law-abiding citizens are provoked by indefensible government edicts and denied any hearing by those in power what are they supposed to do? ”

Democracy Demands That The Truckers Get A Fair Hearing (Burney)

The ability to choose whether or whether not to be vaccinated is a fundamental civil liberty and that is what the Canadian truckers’ “Freedom Convoy,” now being emulated in the U.S. and Europe, is about. The convoy has been infiltrated by a few disreputable elements and has been disruptive in such cities as Ottawa, but the movement has been largely law-abiding, even cheerful. As a Wall Street Journal editorial commented: “When you’ve lost even Canadians, arguably the most law-abiding people on the planet, you’ve lost the political plot.” The concerns protesters are expressing deserve respect from the government and not the prime minister’s dismissive comparison with demonstrations he has supported, such as those of Black Lives Matter.

BLM protests in America erupted into violent criminal behaviour, arson and extensive damage to public and private property in many cities. Having stunted Parliament for two years, the government seems afraid to face real opposition. The prime minister’s claim that the truckers are expressing “unacceptable views” has an authoritarian ring. “Unacceptable” by what definition and in violation of what law? Ottawa’s mayor declared a state of emergency, which he has limited power to enforce. His eminently sensible suggestion that an honest broker be appointed to mediate was ignored by the government. Astonishingly, former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney described the protest as “sedition,” whereas NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh uttered a peculiar dog whistle about white supremacy.

In an emotional, unsubstantiated rant, Ottawa’s police chief said the protest represented an “insurrection” (prompting the thuggish arrest of a great-grandfather for honking his horn). Comments like these debase legitimate public protests that have featured neither violence nor vandalism. When law-abiding citizens are provoked by indefensible government edicts and denied any hearing by those in power what are they supposed to do? [..] Before we condemn ourselves to a similar fate on the next pandemic, we need to take a deep breath and analyze carefully what went wrong and why. The political paralysis in Ottawa is mind-boggling. The prime minister cannot hide behind a “science” that is being overtaken by events. Give the truckers, now being joined by farmers and others across Canada, a fair hearing. That is what democracy demands, not pompous stonewalling by timid politicians.

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@Nat_Vasilyeva· “Zelenskiy in a live broadcast on the US intel: “If you have additional, 100 percent-certain information about a Russian invasion of Ukraine, please share it with us. I cannot agree or disagree with what hasn’t happened yet. Right now there is no full-scale invasion of Ukraine.”

“BREAKING NEWS: Anonymous US intelligence sources say they have concrete evidence that the Russians will invade Ukraine yesterday.”

Biden Tells Putin Ukraine Invasion Would Bring Decisive Response (R.)

U.S. President Joe Biden told Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Saturday that the West would respond decisively to any invasion of Ukraine, adding such a step would produce widespread suffering and isolate Moscow. In the latest effort to manage growing hostility, the two men spoke by phone for an hour a day after Washington and its allies warned that the Russian military, which has 100,000 troops massed near Ukraine, could invade at any moment. Moscow has dismissed those warnings as “hysteria.” Neither side said there had been any breakthroughs. A senior Biden administration official said the call was professional and substantive, but that there was no fundamental change.


The Kremlin said Putin told Biden Washington has failed to take Russia’s main concerns into account, and it had received no “substantial answer” on key elements including NATO’s expansion and the deployment of offensive forces to Ukraine. The senior Biden administration official said it was unclear whether Putin was committed to diplomacy even as he agreed to stay in touch with Biden. The call took place as Israel, Portugal and Belgium joined the list of countries that have urged their citizens to leave Ukraine immediately. The U.S. State Department ordered most of its embassy staff to leave Ukraine. The Pentagon said it was withdrawing about 150 military trainers.

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Been going on for a long time. Hi, Hunter!

Giant Ukrainian US Lobbying Campaign Revealed (RT)

Ukrainian lobbyists contacted US congressional offices, think tanks, and media figures over 10,000 times last year, according to an analysis of Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) filings reported by the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft on Friday. The Quincy report pointed to the “extraordinary” scale of Ukraine’s lobbying campaign, noting that the lobbying efforts of Saudi Arabia – known as one of the largest foreign lobbies in Washington DC – pales in comparison. According to the report, most of Kiev’s persuasive efforts focused on members of Congress, who were deluged with over 8,000 contacts – emails, phone calls, and meetings – in an effort to convince them of the need to block the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, among other issues.

The Ukrainian Federation of Employers of the Oil and Gas Industry (UFEOGI), the country’s largest energy trade group, would reportedly cite Ukraine’s PM, arguing that the pipeline was “no less an existential threat” to Ukraine’s “security and democracy” than “Russian troops on the border.” The pipeline, which is completed but still has to receive the green light from German regulators, would allow Russia to export gas directly to Europe without having to pay Kiev billions for the transfer of gas. UFEOGI lobbyists apparently centered their efforts on Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who took just several days to channel the Ukrainian PM on social media. In his own message, Cruz likewise referred to the Russian pipeline as an “existential threat.”

The trade group also sought to reach out to senators who had previously backed legislation to thwart the completion of the pipeline, including several members of the Foreign Relations Committee with a history of anti-Russian votes. Cruz, Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), John Barrasso (R-Wyoming), Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-New Hampshire) were all contacted at least 100 times last year, with some of these contacts resulting in their staffers meeting directly with Ukrainian energy lobbyists, the report claims. The bill proposed by Cruz would have imposed bans on doing business with US companies for those involved with the Nord Stream 2 project, in addition to travel restrictions and asset freezes. It failed to pass, however.

A separate legislative proposal, put forth by Senator Bob Menendez (D-New Jersey) and dubbed “the mother of all sanctions,” would punish senior Russian officials and banks in the event of an invasion of Ukraine. The Quincy report noted that one of Menendez’s former staffers, Brittany Beaulieu, now represents UFEOGI, as well as the ‘Civil Movement for a Just Ukraine’. Apart from the US lawmakers, Ukrainian lobbyists also reportedly courted pro-NATO think tank the Atlantic Council, contacting it hundreds of times. The report noted that one of the richest men in Ukraine, Victor Pinchuk, is also one of the Atlantic Council’s international advisers, while his foundation is a major contributor to the think tank.

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“To modify Jon Stewart’s memorable metaphor, this is like finding chocolate everywhere except in the Hershey’s factory.”

The Chinese Bat Virus That Never Shows Up in Any Chinese Bats (Geraghty)

The MIT Technology Review offers a long and mostly even-handed look at the hunt for the origin of Covid-19, featuring many new quotes from Shi Zhengli of the Wuhan Institute of Virology and an account of a tour through the facility’s labs. The piece is generally skeptical of the lab leak theory, but notes that Peter Daszak, who is a prominent advocate of the natural origins theory, “has potential conflicts of interest,” “there are still concerns that the biosafety standards in the Wuhan lab might not have been rigorous enough to prevent research activities from causing the pandemic,” “some of the Wuhan institute’s behavior has certainly raised red flags,” and “instead of tackling the publicity crisis directly, China has exacerbated mistrust by running obfuscation and disinformation campaigns of its own.” It is worth reading in full.

But there’s one line in the MIT Technology Review article I want to focus upon for a moment: “But one year after the WHO’s visit to Wuhan, the disease detectives have yet to find the guilty animal or other indisputable evidence of natural origins.” The WHO team visit to Wuhan was in February 2021, so this means after two years of looking, and “tens of thousands” of samples, no one has found SARS-CoV-2 naturally occurring in animals in and around Wuhan, China. As noted earlier this week, SARS-CoV-2 is spreading like wildfire among American white-tailed deer. The CDC affirms “many mammals, including cats, dogs, bank voles, ferrets, fruit bats, hamsters, mink, pigs, rabbits, racoon dogs, tree shrews, and white-tailed deer can be infected with the virus.”

Gorillas at the Dallas zoo, snow leopards at a Bloomington zoo, lions at the Akron Zoo, – you name the animal, there’s a good chance they’ve caught Covid-19. And of course, we know how contagious this virus is among human beings. So why is this virus so hard to find in Chinese bats? If this virus originated in a bat, and naturally evolved to maximize its ability to infect bats, and is genetically most similar to other viruses found in bats in China… why is SARS-CoV-2 proving impossible to find in bats in China? To modify Jon Stewart’s memorable metaphor, this is like finding chocolate everywhere except in the Hershey’s factory.

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Fauci’s reaction? “Vaccines and boosters have proven incredibly effective, and offer the highest level of protection..”

COVID Booster Loses Potency After 4 Months (Y!)

A fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine might be necessary for some Americans. New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finds that the mRNA shot’s protection begins to decline after about four months, according to a study released Friday. Although vaccine effectiveness against COVID-related hospitalizations was at 91 percent during the first two months after a third dose, it decreased to 78 percent by the fourth month. The study, which was conducted during the Omicron-dominate phase of the pandemic, focused on those who sought medical treatment for COVID symptoms. It did not include a breakdown of age or whether their third dose was a booster or part of their primary inoculation series, which the CDC recommends for some immunocompromised people.

“There may be the need for yet again another boost — in this case, a fourth-dose boost for an individual receiving the mRNA — that could be based on age, as well as underlying conditions,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, told reporters Tuesday. Fauci clarified that recommendations for a fourth dose will likely not be made “across the board for everyone,” adding: “It very likely will take into account what subset of people have a diminished, or not, protection against the important parameters such as hospitalization.”

The CDC’s update comes after the COVID-19 death toll in the U.S. surpassed 900,000 last week, less than two months after it reached 800,000. President Joe Biden urged Americans who hadn’t gotten their shots yet to get vaccinated as he marked the tragic milestone. “Vaccines and boosters have proven incredibly effective, and offer the highest level of protection,” he said. “Two hundred and fifty million Americans have stepped up to protect themselves, their families, and their communities by getting at least one shot — and we have saved more than one million American lives as a result.”

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“The “Tech Executive” in the Durham filing is Rodney Joffe. Joffe’s direct point of contact with the Hillary campaign was Jake Sullivan. Yes, that Jake Sullivan.”

“Jake Sullivan’s wife is a top adviser to Merrick Garland. We have no idea if she has recused from any oversight of the John Durham probe.”

Clinton Campaign Paid To ‘Infiltrate’ Trump Tower – Durham (Fox)

Lawyers for the Clinton campaign paid a technology company to “infiltrate” servers belonging to Trump Tower, and later the White House, in order to establish an “inference” and “narrative” to bring to government agencies linking Donald Trump to Russia, a filing from Special Counsel John Durham says. Durham filed a motion on Feb. 11 focused on potential conflicts of interest related to the representation of former Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussman, who has been charged with making a false statement to a federal agent. Sussman has pleaded not guilty.

The indictment against Sussman says he told then-FBI General Counsel James Baker in September 2016, less than two months before the 2016 presidential election, that he was not doing work “for any client” when he requested and held a meeting in which he presented “purported data and ‘white papers’ that allegedly demonstrated a covert communications channel” between the Trump Organization and Alfa Bank, which has ties to the Kremlin. But Durham’s filing on Feb. 11, in a section titled “Factual Background,” reveals that Sussman “had assembled and conveyed the allegations to the FBI on behalf of at least two specific clients, including a technology executive (Tech Executive 1) at a U.S.-based internet company (Internet Company 1) and the Clinton campaign.”

Durham’s filing said Sussman’s “billing records reflect” that he “repeatedly billed the Clinton Campaign for his work on the Russian Bank-1 allegations.” The filing revealed that Sussman and the Tech Executive had met and communicated with another law partner, who was serving as General Counsel to the Clinton campaign. Sources told Fox News that lawyer is Marc Elias, who worked at the law firm Perkins Coie.

60 Minutes

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“provides indisputable evidence that my campaign and presidency were spied on by operatives paid by the Hillary Clinton Campaign in an effort to develop a completely fabricated connection to Russia..”

Trump Demands Prosecutions, Reparations After Durham Revelations (JTN)

Former President Donald Trump demanded Saturday that there be prosecutions and reparations after Special Counsel John Durham revealed in an explosive court filing that Hillary Clinton’s campaign plotted to infiltrate the Trump campaign and White House computer servers years ago to concoct false Russia collusion allegations. Durham’s latest court filing “provides indisputable evidence that my campaign and presidency were spied on by operatives paid by the Hillary Clinton Campaign in an effort to develop a completely fabricated connection to Russia,” Trump said.


“This is a scandal far greater in scope and magnitude than Watergate and those who were involved in and knew about this spying operation should be subject to criminal prosecution,” he added. “In a stronger period of time in our country, this crime would have been punishable by death. In addition, reparations should be paid to those in our country who have been damaged by this.” Durham’s court filing said lawyers for the Clinton campaign paid a technology company to “infiltrate” servers belonging to Trump Tower and the Trump White House to create an “inference” of Russia collusion in 2016-17, hoping to get federal agencies to investigate.

Obama arrest
https://twitter.com/PapiTrumpo/status/1492665540992770050

Read more …

When will they try to silence Durham?

John Durham Highlights the Tip of the Iceberg (CTH)

Against the latest court filings by John Durham, highlighting the tip of the political surveillance iceberg, I have been asked to re-post the deep dive into the totality of the scale of the iceberg. I will add some of the latest information into the outline to show how it all connects. Barack Obama and Eric Holder did not create a weaponized DOJ and FBI; instead, what they did was take the preexisting system and retool it, so the weapons only targeted one side of the political continuum. Together they recalibrated the domestic surveillance capabilities, the internal spying systems, so that only their political opposition would be targeted. This point is where many people understandably get confused.

In the era shortly after 9/11, the DC national security apparatus was constructed to preserve continuity of government and simultaneously view all Americans as potential threats. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) were created specifically for this purpose. What Barack Obama and Eric Holder did with that new construct was refine the internal targeting mechanisms so that only their ideological opposition became the target of the new national security system. This is a very important nuance to understand as you dig deeper into this research outline. Washington DC created the modern national security apparatus immediately and hurriedly after 9/11/01. DHS came along in 2002 and within the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 the ODNI was formed.

When Barack Obama and Eric Holder arrived a few years later, those newly formed institutions were viewed as opportunities to create a very specific national security apparatus that would focus almost exclusively against their political opposition. The preexisting Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Dept of Justice (DOJ) were then repurposed to become two of the four pillars of the domestic national security apparatus. However, this new construct would have a targeting mechanism based on political ideology. The DHS, ODNI, DOJ and FBI became the four pillars of this new institution. Atop these pillars is where you will find the Fourth Branch of Government.

We were not sleeping when this happened, we were wide awake. However, we were stunningly distracted by the economic collapse that was taking place in 2006 and 2007 when the engineers behind Obama started to assemble the design. By the time Obama took office in 2009, we sensed something profound was shifting, but we can only see exactly what shifted in the aftermath. The four pillars were put into place, and a new Fourth Branch of Government was quietly created. As time passed, and the system operators became familiar with their new tools, technology allowed the tentacles of the system to reach out and touch us. That is when we first started to notice that something very disconcerting was happening.

Read more …

 

 

 

 

 

CNN rooting for the tank

 

 

Canberra

 

 

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Home Forums Debt Rattle February 13 2022

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  • #101007

    Giuseppe Arcimboldo Four elements – Earth 1566   • New Zealand Plays Barry Manilow To Repel Parliament Protesters (BBC) • Canada Truckers Protest
    [See the full post at: Debt Rattle February 13 2022]

    #101008
    sumac.carol
    Participant

    This is my last post and visit here at TAE. The reason is a failure of this blog to recognize the threat of fascism within the leadership of the trucker protests and within the police response. I accept the threat represented by vaccines but the threat of fascism dwarfs this threat.

    I wish all of you the very best as we navigate these dark waters.

    The lineup of speakers today at Ottawa’s trucker protest includes Maxime Bernier, head of the People’s Party of Canada, which includes in its formal platform a denial of climate change, advocates against immigrants and multi-culturalism, along with the usual pushing of the military industrial complex (overt focus on veterans and resource extraction).

    Position of Amnesty International on Canada’s trucker protest:

    Amnesty International Canada Statement on “Freedom Convoy” Blockade
    OTTAWA – Amnesty International has been following with great concern the developments relating to the “Freedom Convoy” blockade in Ottawa.
    “Amnesty International Canada is deeply troubled by the reports of violence, harassment, intimidation, and hate speech which have surfaced since January 29th,” said Amnesty International Canada Secretary General Ketty Nivyabandi. “Nazi flags, Confederate flags, and other symbols of racism and hate exhibited have no room in peaceful protests. Equally concerning is the affiliation of some of the Convoy organizers with overtly racist, white supremacist groups.”
    The failure of law enforcement agencies to respond swiftly and appropriately to reports of violence and harassment demands a prompt, thorough, and impartial public inquiry. The inquiry must also address instances of interference with residents’ rights to public health and social services delivery, as well as the harassment of healthcare workers, reporters, people living with disabilities, and racialized and other marginalized persons.
    “Authorities hold an equal international obligation to protect people from violence and harassment, and to respect the rights of all protesters to peaceful assembly and expression of their views. Violence and harassment however are not part of exercising the right to freedom of peaceful assembly. Amnesty International calls on authorities to take immediate and appropriate action to facilitate peaceful protests, while investigating and holding those perpetrating violence or inciting hate to account,” added Nivyabandi.
    Throughout the demonstrations, racialized workers and residents have reported being singled out for abuse. Over 400 hate messages are under investigation by the Ottawa Police. Frontline services have expressed concern about the impact of the ongoing demonstration on their ability to provide to already vulnerable clients. People with disabilities have reported disruptions and delays in receiving supportive care, given ongoing street blockages by demonstrators. Journalists experienced threats and harassment, both online and while reporting from the demonstration zone. Until a recent court injunction, residents were subjected to almost continuous high-decibel noise levels, including honking, air horns, train whistles, street parties and fireworks since the demonstration began at the end of January.
    The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, Algonquins of Pikwakanagan, the Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation Tribal Council, and Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg have also expressed concerns about the misuse and appropriation of sacred, traditional objects and ceremonies.
    Further, Amnesty International Canada notes with great concern the permissive response afforded by the Ottawa Police to a largely white-dominant protest group. This response is in sharp contrast with how law enforcement authorities have mistreated Indigenous and racialized protesters in the past.
    “Amnesty International Canada expresses solidarity with the frontline organizations, including homeless and women’s shelters whose operations have been impacted by these protests, as well as 2SLGBTQI+ and racialized communities – particularly Jewish, Muslim, Black and Indigenous communities – who have been targeted by hate propaganda,” said Nivyabandi.
    Further Background on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly
    Peaceful protests are a fundamental part of a vibrant society. The right to freedom of peaceful assembly is a vital means of political engagement, with a long history of being a valid and effective means of bringing issues and grievances to light. Facilitating and protecting the right to freedom of assembly contributes to the protection of other human rights, including freedom of expression.
    The right to hold assemblies and demonstrations on public roads has been consistently upheld by regional and international human rights bodies, which have established that urban space is not only an area for circulation but also a space for participation. The UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association has affirmed that “the free flow of traffic should not automatically take precedence over freedom of peaceful assembly.” However, these rights are not unlimited. They can be restricted in order to protect the rights of others, public order and public health. The UN Human Rights Committee has said that “an assembly that remains peaceful but which nevertheless causes a high level of disruption, such as the extended blocking of traffic, may be dispersed, as a rule, only if the disruption is ‘serious and sustained’.” In any case, the onus is on the authorities to justify any restrictions.
    Under international human rights law, states also have the obligation to prohibit and eliminate racial discrimination, including in the enjoyment of the right to security of the person and protection by the State against violence. The UN Human Rights Committee clearly stated that “… peaceful assemblies may not be used for propaganda for war (…) or advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence (…). As far as possible, action should be taken in such cases against the individual perpetrators, rather than against the assembly as a whole.”
    Amnesty International has produced reports outlining good practices on the policing of assemblies, as well as guidelines on the use of force by law enforcement officials.

    Amnesty International Canada Statement on “Freedom Convoy” Blockade

    #101009
    Mister Roboto
    Participant

    This is my last post and visit here at TAE. The reason is a failure of this blog to recognize the threat of fascism within the leadership of the trucker protests and within the police response. I accept the threat represented by vaccines but the threat of fascism dwarfs this threat.

    Well, you know what they say, don’t let he door hitcha….

    #101010
    Mister Roboto
    Participant

    #101012
    Mister Roboto
    Participant

    I’m just so sick and tired of the left, there just aren’t any words for it. As soon as I can figure out how to change my icon on this Byzantine platform, I will do that.

    #101013
    Dr. D
    Participant

    Aw Sumac, I’ve been too hard on you. And I was just penciling a more productive, less negative post into your reservations and what was the most strategic way to accomplish positive change.

    Did have this from Russell Brand though: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PghoRUr-wo

    Including “Trucker organizers said it was vital to keep politicians out” — that’s everybody, because that’s not the point and they don’t want to be hijacked.
    “The last thing we want is to have this whole idea of unity amongst Canadians from across the political spectrum, to have that be detonated by politicization.”they said.

    Note, “Across the spectrum” is by definition “the other guy way over on the side I don’t agree with”, otherwise it would be “Across my party only” which is totally non-inclusive and doesn’t get things done.

    Brand says: “Don’t you think it’s possible that whenever there’s a protest, there’s a vested interest in finding a way to dismiss and undermine that protest? If I say these people are all racist bastards, would that undermine the protest? … Um, yeah. Well then, coincidentally, they’re all racist bastards!” Problem solved. Protest ended.

    Basic point is the same though: All I need to do to win is hire one guy to carry a naughty flag, and the whole protest disperses. It’s magic and only costs 50 bucks!

    Or “Action Item #1” you could make 40 yards in this protest, then since you’re now active and mobilized, you continue on after making 40 yards and make 20 more yards by knocking off the politicians that were there and you don’t agree with as “Action Item #2”. I mean, you weren’t going home were you? You weren’t going to stop, right?

    Instead you don’t make the 40 yards AND you don’t make the 20 yards? And in fact, with the ending of legal protests in Canada, lose 20 yards? Is that really wise?

    I wouldn’t believe Amnesty International or any other NGO for a nickel without double-checking everything they say and all their biases first. Just as it’s cheap and easy to buy a protestor and a naughty flag — the folds still in it from non-use — it’s only slightly more expensive to buy an NGO and insert your people into it. As we’ve overwhelmingly seen in Snopes, but especially SPLC and headlined in the formerly honest and freedom-loving ACLU. We’ve seen nothing these last 10 years but people made powerful with financialization use their fortunes to “donate” and immediately thereafter affect all policy and insert their own people. Those people then “manufacture consent” to support the status quo. The piper calls the tune.

    And what do we at TAE have to do with this other, outside political thing? I’m not in the Trucker Protest. I’m just some dumb guy on the internet.

    #101014
    chooch
    Participant

    It get the impression that the bridge is open this morning and the number of protesters is less than a 100. No definitive news on it, just trolling tweets and comments.

    #101015
    Dr. D
    Participant

    “after two years of looking, and “tens of thousands” of samples, no one has found SARS-CoV-2 naturally occurring in animals in and around Wuhan, China.”

    I’m constantly too generous and too naive. That’s even worse than I thought. AND they all knew it, all along, because that particular fact they would all HAVE to know. So every article, and every doctor and scientist that used the word “bat” in the last two years is lying. Also suggests 99% that it’s an engineered, and therefore bioweapon.

    It’s a win-win,” Koss said. “The pandemic is rolling down right now, they can remove the mandates, all the mandates, and everyone’s happy. The government does the right thing, and the protesters are all happy.”

    Just comply and it’ll be over: the government will get their rights back. So since what he’s saying is true, what’s the resistance? Certainly not science. So they’re AGAINST science and are dragging their feet to oppose it for some reason. Which shows Science and safety are the last thing on the governments’ mind.

    “Surrounded by dozens of officers in Windsor, a man with “Mandate Freedom” and “Trump 2024” spray-painted on his vehicle left the bridge entrance”

    Why did they describe this ONE man of thousands? What specific thing did this man have that the other thousands didn’t?

    “honest broker be appointed to mediate was ignored by the government. Astonishingly, former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney described the protest as “sedition,” whereas NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh uttered a peculiar dog whistle about white supremacy.”

    We’ll do anything but ask them. We’ve tried everything but talking. And we follow anything but science. This is a nice article, and is shows me that losing the consent of the governed is a PROCESS. A long one, like anything having to do with crowds. Probably the larger the body, the longer it takes. Does drive me crazy though.

    “Jake Sullivan”

    So we have probable security breach Watergate-on-steroids “dirty tricks”, and constitutional felons serving in the Biden administration? What was that about “Conspiracy Theories”? Or as we call them now, “Spoilers”? Right again. So Facebook is going to permanently ban CNN and Maddow for “disinformation”, right? Citi will shut off their bank accounts?

    No, because “they recalibrated the domestic surveillance capabilities…so that only their political opposition would be targeted.”

    This is why all government documents must be open and FOIAs must be responded to immediately and openly. …But of couse this is why George Bush put this into place to begin with: they immediately started surveillance of Congress and anybody opposing the Derp State, and in fact a few were targeted (with Ft. Detrick anthrax) and others died. The point is, ANY surveillance is political, which is why you can’t allow it, and it has to be authorized, open, and well-tracked. That’s the 4A for a reason. In history ALL governments fail for this reason, as a secret police of some flavor claim “Classified”, go secret, and then immediately direct and eventually topple the government. Ours is no different and we’ve been fighting them tooth and nail since Eisenhower.

    This is also the point of defining looting as “speech” but visiting the rotunda unarmed as “sedition”. You set the words according to your beliefs – like the shibboleth of vaccine compliance – then arrest everyone who stands up. MY flag is love, but YOUR flag is hate. Because i set the definition. I am arbiter of all flags. As Jon Steward said yesterday, the question is: “which is master, that is all” WHO decides what is “Misinformation”? Who decides there are WMD and ties to al-qaeda, they’ll greet us with flowers and are throwing babies out of incubators? We have news so we CAN decide which is true. We don’t know the second something reported. That’s what history books are for.

    “BREAKING NEWS: Anonymous US intelligence sources say they have concrete evidence that the Russians will invade Ukraine yesterday.”

    Love it. Shows how it’s impossible to lampoon these people. They are already a parody. The sad part is, because the people are also a parody they don’t notice.

    “the two men spoke by phone for an hour a day after Washington”

    …But Putin refused to abandon the Rostov and Voronezh Oblasts, so there has to be war.

    “ Giant Ukrainian US Lobbying Campaign Revealed (RT)”

    That’s funny: they’re one of the poorest countries on earth, far away, with no trade, and having nothing to do with the United States. Why would they lobby and where’d they get the money?

    A: Money Laundering. This is almost their sole industry. Understand why they’re so important now and a Congressman’s best friend and prime destination? And what happens if the money laundering nexus gets shut off? How are Lockheed and Pfizer supposed to buy any Senators? We must defend them to the death!

    Trying to follow this fabricated War nonsense. So do you think Biden put up the concrete around the White House in anticipation of invading Russia, or for an invading citizenry? Noting that the date they started construction is therefore similar to the date they decided to start ANOTHER war of Anglo aggression, halfway around the world with no supply lines. All to hide Powell’s inevitable rate hike that will break everything.

    News: “The Pentagon has confirmed Saturday it has ordered soldiers who were in Ukraine training national forces out of the country, amid US fears that a Russian military offensive is imminent. It appears the US is moving its military assets out of the way, not wanting them to be targets”

    So much to unpack here. Biden sent in 3,000 men. So he is both deploying AND removing assets? Does he not know what he’s doing? Does he not know our response?

    So if they’re being REMOVED, then we are retreating, not supporting Ukraine, right? Right?
    We’re also removing all our “assets”? That is to say, our military hardware? So again are we fighting or retreating? And since when does the Pentagon consider their “assets” to be “targets”? Military assets are meant to make OTHER people targets, not be hapless victims themselves.

    So we’re a poor wee victim, in retreat? Is this what I’m hearing right? But we’re standing up the bully by…retreating? Well I have to say that’s the best personification of Woke behavior since, well yesterday I guess.

    Looking for more? “Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin identified that the some 160 Florida National Guard soldiers who had been in the country since November would be moved “elsewhere in Europe”. The Secretary made this decision out of an abundance of caution — with the safety and security of our personnel foremost in mind.”

    160 whole men? Wow, surely they’d stop the Russian advance. And “Safety”? Yes, that soldiers never, ever get hurt is truly foremost in our mind. If war is dangerous or something I guess they’d have to stop it and go home. A war where 160 are killed is our upper limit.

    In good Anglo fashion, they added: “”This repositioning does not signify a change in our determination to support Ukraine’s Armed Forces, but will provide flexibility in assuring allies and deterring aggression,”

    Yes, retreating is no indication that you aren’t wholehearted in support of your allies. And leaving is deeply assuring to allies and when the soldiers are safe in Ft. Leonard Wood, they can deter the aggression in Europe the mostest.

    Since none of that is true, would you like to tell me what you really mean?

    Moving on, “Later in the day the State Department revealed that in a call between Secretary of State Blinken and Russian FM Lavrov that there was no signal from Moscow that it intends to de-escalate.”

    De-escalate? The Russian Army is in Russia. Should they de-escalate by leaving and invading Iraq like we did? Or should they just disband the whole military because they border another nation? I’m sorry, what exactly do you mean by de-escalate? You’ll have to be more clear.

    I mean other than there is no escalation, so undoing what you never did is impossible. It is simply meant to cause WWIII. Or WW IV, depending how you count it.

    So my bet remains this whole thing exists to make Biden an idiot and crash markets. How can we tell it’s made up? Selling the oil reserves, no movement of goods, firing the soldiers, no mobilization in Europe of all the military assets they don’t have, going on vacation, the usual.

    But what makes you think it’s only two people on the field here? Or Three, as nobody is bothering to discuss or consult Ukraine? Or 4/5 with France and Germany? I mean why not have Blackwater and Halliburton and CNN hire some Mercs and a camera-lugging White Helmet and a squirt gun of ketchup? Heck if I were Powell, I’d hire them myself. …Noting that Powell works for Morgan, Sachs, HSBC, Citi, UBS, and nobody in Congress or government.

    Starting it or trying it doesn’t make it a good thing though. What if they use the old playbook, everybody knows it, it comes out on the front pages and discredits them more? This is what I expect, with some action, but I don’t know where. (cyber, Poland, London, gold markets, oil, Taiwan: target-rich environment)

    Commenter: “The support for war in the US is so low as to be irrelevant . The credibility of US government and all media outlets will go down even further if there is no invasion by the end of Feb.”
    True and true. However this means that if there is a war, they will lose. AND if there isn’t a war, they also lose by falsely nattering on about one. So Lose-Lose?

    Other comment: “Throwing Ukraine under the bus to regain control over Germany and France is what Washington and London are after. Cutting their losses, while choking Europe through denying it access to Chinese goods, and eye-watering technical advances, and Russian raw materials,”

    I see that, pretty fair. That fits the “attack by retreating” dialogue well. Bankrupt Anglos throw money-pit Ukraine under the bus, then blame Putin for “invading” it. Like the “Mouse that Roared”, but in reverse: tossing Russia the hot potato. Maybe they’ll catch it. If not, who cares? Blame them for the mess.

    “4. Natural gas use will be rationed in New England due to its lack of pipelines and dependency on LNG.
    It will reduce use of the dollar as the reserve currency since Russia will never accept the US dollar again. It will accelerate China s policy of using its currrency in trade transactions in the future . Between these two countries dollar use in trade transactions will fall bellow %50 from its current %57. Because of less demand for the dollar , the price of the dollar will tube and precious metals will soar. Any imported goods to the US will also soar in prices causing even more inflation .
    Riots will happen in Europe as more and more reports highlight how people are freezing . Germans and French will blame the US for this and will back off the most extreme of the sanctions . This will be the beginning of the end of NATO and with it the end of US power in Europe.
    Biden’s approval ratings will go to the lowest levels in history. Protests will start in the US over the rising prices of everything. By the time that the new Congress is sworn in , article of impeachment against Biden will be drawn up.”

    Yes, that would happen, so they won’t take actions to cause that…or not intentionally at least.

    Naughty flags indeed. But some flags are more equal than others. Flags of pure hate — if they are Communist — or t-shirts of murdering Che-che homophobes — if they are communist — are actually pure love and tolerance. The only hate and wrong is on the other side. My side is pure as the drive snow. …But then they drifted.

    #101016
    John Day
    Participant

    @Sumac Carol:
    We already have a form of fascism, Sister.
    I agree that right-fascism, as in WW-2 becomes the threat if this left fascist synthesis fails, because totalitarianism, driven by mass formation, remains the easy-way-out for elites to turn angry, frightened and increasingly hungry masses against NOT-THEM.

    Be patient. Stick around. Lurk if you need to. Our healthy conversations should continue.

    #101017
    John Day
    Participant

    https://www.johndayblog.com/2022/02/investigating-reality.html

    I keep having an epiphany, or maybe a delusion; I’ll call it a hypothesis, that our stories of how history happens and why, the mechanisms we hold responsible, are fabricated, just fabricated, before, during and after. That is a mundane statement about the general dishonesty in human civilizations, the cynical or sincere dishonesty which creates control-narratives that a society can agree to accept, so that it can work in-concert. “Noble Lie”, Plato called it in “The Republic”.

    This creeping (mis?)understanding is that things happen. We have minds that seek meanings, and which seek the protection of predictive explanations of the world. When our predictive calculations are a little off, we may adjust our narrative or do nothing. When they are grossly wrong, and for a whole society, the story in retrospect becomes completely different than what it was projected to be, and portrayed to be during its unfolding. The losers don’t write history.
    That is still mundane, but it is getting closer to saying that “reality” is NOT what we expect it to be, or what we experience it AS, while we hold the models of the world which we have learned, the models which we believe from our experiences of life, as well as our childhood indoctrinations.

    “Scientism” is a core component of most people’s world-views these days, including immigrant workers who I have served medically in recent decades, but it was not the dominant worldview in the former plantation workers I served medically in North Kohala, Hawaii. I was frustrated in my attempts to explain medical diagnoses and treatments scientifically. It was a foreign tongue. What did work, and allowed me to provide good medical care, was my sincere connection, my efforts to connect and help, which were readily understood, but it took a long time each time.
    My efforts to sustain the clinic finances failed, despite my giving up all other efforts on the island. I came back to “the mainland”. I learned something, maybe, that there are societies which shop at Costco and drive Toyotas, work at the resorts, and enjoy a completely different worldview, within the world which I assumed to accept scientism.
    I had not seen it quite the same when I worked on the Navajo Reservation. The Navajo people speak no more than necessary, tell me that “they do not think in words” They do appreciate sincere actions in service, and accept people who show them that. I know there is something very deep and strong and unspoken there, which I could see and engage, and which changed my life in the context of a Native American Church purification-sweat, in my benefit.
    I also worked for it, but the mystery was wrought upon my being, reshaping my life by those spiritual practitioners.

    Scientism is not science per se, but it is mostly a mechanistic interpretation of physical reality, which Isaac Newton described mathematically. Newton did not personally accept “mechanics” as being the dominant form in human life. Newton’s mechanics was a tool he described for practical purposes, like understanding planetary motion, and building machines, and bridges. Isaac Newton was an alchemist, a spiritual metaphysics of his day. Natural-Philosophy carried broader existential concerns in that day than “science” does these days. It was philosophy, not technocracy.
    “Scientism” is a faith-based religion as it is practiced. There is a hierarchy. There are compliant levels in the hierarchy.

    The correctness of the dogma is not much questioned, but the focus is on compliance, so as to be without sin, without non-compliance. This can be all consuming.
    I think this explains how good doctors and medical professionals have been turned to conformity with a system which results in harm to patients, not treating with antivirals for COVID, while experiencing all of the suffering in their compassionate hearts, serving long hours in a system, within which they sought devoutly to comply. Many of these dedicated medical professionals were becoming emotionally exhausted and overwhelmed in these long months of service.

    I remember not questioning protocols when I was in training. I was learning and doing my best, and I did both. I remember volunteering as a subject for the AIDS-Vaccine trials around Y2k, without question, as soon as I heard that there was a trial site in Austin, and a doctor I knew was a co-investigator.
    I was lucky, as it turns out. I recently learned that the trial was halted early, which I had been told at the time, because vaccine recipient gay men had a higher risk of contracting AIDS than the gay male control group. I was never told that.
    I was not at that particular risk, and I had happened to be randomly assigned to a non-active-vaccine arm. I suspected that I might have been given adjuvant-without-vaccine, because I did have various symptoms, which I duly recorded. Maybe not, though.
    AIDS was the disease of my medical school years, described the summer I started working in research at the med school, before starting fall classes. I learned hard. I saw a lot of strange hypotheses about the cause of AIDS rise and fall. I saw a lot of bad advice given. I saw a lot of people treated like lepers. I saw fear and disgust among some of my peers. I saw some of my peers in med school working as gay prostitutes in Houston. I never questioned the official narrative once it was formulated. I did my best to serve within that narrative. I took an elective with an AIDS specialist in residency.
    Did I sometimes mistreat people based upon recommendations which would later change? Probably. I did my best, and that was always appreciated.

    So I was trained as a scientist, beginning in engineering, and drifting into pre-med when I got a job in a hospital, working my way through college. I did well in scientific research in college and med school. I was suited to asking questions, finding potential answers, and testing whether they were actually right or not. I was good at that kind of scientific process, and good at working with lab animals (RIP), but I also accepted the hierarchy as being right most of the time, at least as my initial assumption. I did not really question the whole format, but I did learn that some of the better funded labs “always got the results that were expected” and were well funded with grants as a result. This was a subtle denigration, but I knew what it meant. They were scientific prostitutes for hire.
    I was fortunate to work on NASA grants for weightlessness-deconditioning research. NASA wanted the truth. No inherent conflicts…

    Scientism is prostituted, and that has been the advancing business model as corporate grants fund the parts of science which can justify the use of patents to make exclusive profits on scientifically-proven products, processes and drugs, to pay for more scientific studies to prove that profitable things are uniquely good.
    When the same corporations “capture” their government regulatory bodies (“revolving door syndrome”) and buy up the print and broadcast media after people quit buying subscriptions, and own the internet monopolies, the game can be played very hard, very fast and very loose. That’s what we have been living through for 2 years.

    This time around, I was following news, available to me through the internet, which gave me about 3 months of personal information analysis lead time before official narratives were released or updated. I was incredulous at their stupidity for a long time, until appearances became more sinister. I still did not get it , but was frustrated when Trump’s advocacy for early treatment, which I already knew was helpful, was met with political denunciation, followed by medical denunciation, despite the available data. The VA and teaching hospitals stopped using it. Anecdotally, from a trusted source, mortality rates worsened, but there were a lot of other variables in the first half of 2020, also.
    Right after the HCQ, Azithromycin and zinc protocol was made anathema, and forbidden in my clinic, the ivermectin, zinc and doxycycline protocol was used to excellent effect (Thanks Thomas Borody MD!) in Bangladesh. It was supremely safe; no need to check an EKG before treatment. I started prescribing it and saw immediate benefits from the very start, reliably improved symptoms within 2 days, and very few hospitalizations.

    When the narrative changed to deprive the “unvaccinated” of legal and medical rights, to deprive them/us of personhood, I saw the pattern I had warned our kids about at Dachau, the Anne Frank House, and Tuol Sleng museum in Cambodia.
    I declared my permanent refusenik stance on moral grounds, not merely on science, but humanitarian grounds.

    I put my own flesh on that line. It was a metaphysical act. https://www.johndayblog.com/2021/08/in-crosshairs.html
    That kind of personal action is in concert with science, with morality, and more. I sense that it is coherent within Navajo and Pacific Island comprehensions of Reality.

    I was puzzled to learn from a really excellent Physics Professor in college, who did a consummate job of explaining relativity and the uncertainty principle, that he did not let this concern his practice of religion, that he, and others he knew, did not try to synthesize these models of reality.
    I asked this because I was really trying to do that, and thought that he might be of considerable help to me. ZERO.
    That was the same response I had gotten from Deacon Brubaker almost a decade earlier, “I wouldn’t worry about it”.

    Many of us have wondered what madness overcame whole societies, such as overcame cosmopolitan Germany in the 1930s. Carl Jung and Hannah Arendt lived through this time, and studied “Mass Psychosis” (aka “mass formation”) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09maaUaRT4M

    In October 2020 I asked “What is the Body Politic?” https://www.johndayblog.com/2020/10/the-body-politic.html
    I hypothesized a complex interconnection, through “collective consciousness” and/or “collective unconscious”, which are terms Jung used to describe the dynamic he was seeing, a dynamic of social cohesion which transcended, or preceded intellect.
    Intellect would explain this wave of perception, but he did not view it as the underlying cause of the wave of perception and massed cohesive societal action.

    Do we have “free will” or not? Or sometimes?
    Do we have “freedom” to explain what we did after we just did it, to make up an explanation for our impulsive actions?
    Do some people have more freedom to actually decide what actions to take than do others?
    I know it’s hit and miss for me.

    I have different free-will now, in middle age, after being a doctor for 35 years, than I did earlier in my medical career, when I was more blithely accepting of medical narratives. (I already knew military narratives were lies, and I still remember that.)

    I find myself experimenting, flesh-in-the-game, with “reality narratives”. Any real physicist can and should tell you that all of physical science is an incomplete model, and does not adequately describe or predict “reality”, which is a term we use. There is the :uncertainty principle” which embeds this fact in the current best models. Albert Einstein expressed his deep intuition that “God does not play dice with the universe”. Einstein “did not believe in a personal God”, nor was he deterministic/fatalistic, nor did he completely accept the “randomness” in the Quantum mechanics model, prompted by his own work describing the photoelectric effect. What did Albert Einstein mean? He mostly clarified what he did not mean…

    There is an assertion in the “mind only” school of Tibetan Buddhism that universal consciousness is the “substance” or context within which all of reality exists.
    This assertion cannot be logically proven, nor can it be logically refuted. Would it have implications?
    Might the hypothesis be testable by a human, such as myself? How did Jung know what he seemed to know and described so well?
    His writings ring-true to me. How does a concept “ring true”? What is the mechanism. How does that concept-resonance work?
    Is it a spiritual affirmation given to the human consciousness when it seeks truth? “Seek and ye shall find”?

    I just looked up whether Jung and Einstein ever met. It turns out that they did. Einstein repeatedly tried to explain his nascent theory of relativity to Jung, which he could not actually do.
    Jung wrote, “When he was just starting to work on the theory of relativity, Einstein came often to my house, and I bombed him with questions about the new theory. I’m not good at math and imagine the problem that the poor guy had to explain relativity. He didn’t know how to explain it. Faced with the difficulty of it, I felt insignificant. I wanted to sink into the ground. Until one day he asked me something, and psychology was my revenge. The expertise is a big disadvantage. The intensification is such that you can’t explain.” https://carljungdepthpsychologysite.blog/2019/11/21/carl-jung-on-meeting-albert-einstein/#.Ygh6_1XMLFg

    So Jung and Einstein, the guys whose deeply insightful work I am trying to draw upon, spoke repeatedly and earnestly and could not adequately understand each other. They could see the value, and they really did try.
    I can relate to that.

    If the universe is not simply mechanistic, but has “unknowability” as I might ask to call it, which is delineated in the uncertainty-principle of quantum mechanics (a useful tool), how does that correlate to “Karma”, the workings of which I have repeatedly observed and experienced in my life. Karma has predictive-value in my human experience, but I never know exactly what the blowback will be, though it’s pretty clear when it comes, and I long ago figured that I should stop testing it. Really stop testing it. That’s enough of a test for my satisfaction. If karma works, then the universe cannot be simply mechanical. That agrees with spiritual models and it does not necessarily disagree with physics if the “uncertainty” we observe in physics experiments is a reflection of “unknowability” through that mechanism of investigation, and not an inherent “randomness”. Randomness works in that model, which looks at very specific subatomic interactions, but quantum mechanics has broad implications for all of physical reality. Physical reality cannot be mechanically deterministic because of it, though general relativity works quite well in the macro prediction of planetary movements in space time, even when space-time gets a little bent by gravity and high speeds.

    If the universe, all of “reality”, exists within universal consciousness, could our observed “uncertainty” be the subtle space where universal consciousness adjusts the “uncertain” mechanics of our experienced “reality” in order for spiritual cause-and-effect to be a fundamental natural law?
    It’s still not provable or refutable as a theory, is it?
    I’m pleased enough to be unable to refute my own tentative hypothesis in my own mind, but I’ll readily admit how low a bar that is…

    I’ll permit myself to pretend I made some progress justifying the concept of relative freedom of choice based upon relative comprehension of physical and spiritual law, which I still seek to synthesize.
    We all tend to explain what we just did, as if suddenly asked by an adult how that broken jam jar got to be on the kitchen floor.
    Jung was able to observe mass psychosis/formation without becoming entrapped within it. He did always sincerely seek to understand human behavior, and was a spiritual practitioner, who did not seek to intellectually distance himself, as did Freud. I experience Jung’s observations as being consistent with my own life experience, and I discern his sincerity and personal-engagement, his skin-in-the-game style of investigating the fundamental workings of human perception and engagement with life. Jung studied the jelly jar on the floor thousands of times over decades. He really did want to know, in an adult way, how the broken jelly jar came to be on the kitchen floor, wanted to completely know.
    Is mass formation/psychosis a self-controlling mechanism of human societies? Is it “good” sometimes and “bad” sometimes? Does it function with or without sociopaths to get half the people to kill the other half of the people when the harvest is poor? Do we just make up these stories as control narrative, all of them false. Do we believe one false narrative while we scheme to deceive others with a false narrative we are concocting for their betrayal?
    Just wondering, and thinking that free-will seems variable when I examine it closely.
    “Knowing the truth and being set free” seems more like an incremental discovery process than a satori-awakening.

    Where this leads me is to hold the best intentions for the good of all, while catching myself subtly cheating and wishing some people ill, rather than improvement of their lots. That’s a lot of ongoing work and I don’t want to tattle further on myself right now. I’ll try not to tell myself creation-stories about the unfoldings of history around me.
    I’ll keep trying to see if my observations match various models of “reality”, and I’ll try to be honest with myself about it, so that I might observe subtleties, and find ways to understand and communicate them.

    #101018
    John Day
    Participant

    When I read about them playing the Barry Manilow loop tape at the protesters in Wellington “Mandy” started playing in the cab of my mind.
    I won’t send a link. I assume you know the song, but that evoked this song about “The Highway Cafe Of The Damned” with the line “The radio is playing Barry Manilow incessantly, it almost drives me MAD!…”

    (What were ‘the seven vices on his mind”?) Really, listen, and you might like “The Ballad of Ronald Reagan” too 🙂

    #101019
    Formerly T-Bear
    Participant

    At the waste of space and time a.k.a. Sumac Carol # 101008,

    How much time did you waste on that raging screed you just posted? Of late your commentary shows that you have the same failure of judgment as the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. Oh you are erudite as can be and can weave your point of view into a cloak that conceals the deceptions you feed yourself as to the morality and sanctity of your self. Morality is an absolute and is the foundation stone of all dictatorships known. It was this tribe, following the deceits of R. M. Nixon’s ‘Law and Order’ that opened the doors of destruction o the historical U.S. constitutional government – the repugnant ‘Moral Majority’. I trust you are still proud of that fifth column political escapade.

    Also in the indictment charges against your tribe is the destruction of labour as a political force and as an economic force that at one time stood athwart managerial paths to power. No more, the juncture and fusion of business and governmental powers now is complete, thanks to your ‘morality’ and self deception. You are about to reap the moral winds you’ve sown; enjoy the whorl-winds of your plantings. Needless to say I find the recent facet of your character repugnant so shall second the advise about the door and your derrière. In future your commentary here will join deflationista’s and bozohorrorwitz in flyover worlds. Careful of the door behind yourself.

    #101020
    Red
    Participant

    If a state can present its power as legitimate in the eyes of others, it will encounter far less resistance to its foreign policies and agendas. Further, if the Western states’ (non) culture and (illusory) ideology are desirable, other states will more willingly acquiesce. This is an area where the NGOs excel. They do so by never referring to their own “leaders” as dictators or fascists, yet more than willing to apply these derogatory terms to leaders targeted for regime change. Simultaneously, while reporting on human rights abuses or environmental violations in states exploited by industrialized capitalism, the NGOs neglect to comment on their own states’ escalating assault on “democracy.” Most important, the non-profit industrial complex certainly does not address the fact that industrialized and globalized capitalism (imposed by hegemonic rule) is the crux of most all suffering and ongoing crisis in the very states they criticize and deem culpable. A continuous subtle undertone of support/belief in their own states’ democracy is achieved simply by never opening a dialogue on the legitimacy of power structures within their own (imperialist) states.

    This from somewhere on this site: https://www.theartofannihilation.com/
    When looking for an NGO to support search the above site to see if it isn’t without influence by the ones that hate us proles. Hint: follow the money. While a lot of the folks on the ground believe they are altruistic the direction over all generally isn’t. Charity starts at home.

    #101021
    Red
    Participant

    Opps, ‘This from somewhere on this site:” should read “The above is from somewhere on this site”

    #101022

    Carol,

    you’ve made your point about a few people among the protesters in the past. But now all of them, their intentions and their characters, get judged on those few people. And me, plus many commenters here at TAE, are as well. That’s quite a statement. And it’s wrong.

    #101023
    chooch
    Participant

    #101024
    chooch
    Participant

    #101025
    boscohorowitz
    Participant

    Sumac, some times it’s good to examine yourself as closely as others.

    #101026
    those darned kids
    Participant

    Their name was Justin, they was a showx
    With yellow journos in their hair and a budget pumped up to there
    They would harangue and do the tsk-tsk
    And while they tried to be a star
    Ol’ Klaus always tended bar
    Across the crowded globe, they worked like 1984
    They weren’t smart but they had each other
    Who could ask for more?

    At the WEF (WEF!) WORLD$$$FORUM (Davos)
    The hottest spot since Mussolini (here)
    At the WEF (WEF!) World$$$forum
    Vaccines and fascist were always the fashion
    At the WEF…. they fell in love

    #101027
    boscohorowitz
    Participant

    chooch: thanx for Ethel and Bowser. 🙂

    #101028
    those darned kids
    Participant

    Trudeau APPROVES $14 Billion Saudi Arms Deal, EXEMPTS From Carbon Tax

    “Canada’s single biggest military export to Saudi Arabia is light armoured vehicles (LAVs), many of which are equipped with machine guns or cannons – part of a $14-billion deal brokered by the Canadian government.”

    Liberal Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne quietly made the announcement to resume the approval of export permits. Mr. Champagne said an internal review of arms exports to Saudi Arabia had concluded there was “no substantial risk” that current exports of military goods would be used by the Saudis to commit violations of human rights.

    ••••••

    nope, we’ll save the good violations to be used right here at home..

    #101029
    boscohorowitz
    Participant

    I will miss Sumac. I suspect she will miss us.

    ***

    JohnDay: “…looks like we MADE it!….”

    One must fight Barry with Barry:

    Oh Baby

    If you listen closely, you can hear that they have enough cowbell. Bravo!

    Let’s not forget the other Barry. We’ve heard way more of him than we realize:

    Out of Africa

    #101030
    boscohorowitz
    Participant

    Took me awhile to remember the Copacabana tune your parody is based on, tdk. Fun stuff.

    #101031
    Grodley
    Participant

    • New Zealand Plays Barry Manilow To Repel Parliament Protesters (BBC)

    Gotta love James Blunt…

    #101032
    Grodley
    Participant

    This was his response to Neil Young’s Spotify threats, if you missed it at the time 🙂

    #101033
    those darned kids
    Participant

    thanks, bosco. sure wish we could edit. “fascist” should read “fascism”.

    #101034
    blues surfer
    Participant

    Climate fascist accuses people trying to win back their freedom of fascism. It’s like antifa protesting FOR the mandates, go figure…

    #101035
    zerosum
    Participant

    Compare this Freedom convoy demonstrations with other demonstrations

    No litter
    No garbage
    Clean streets
    The exponential growth around the world.
    MSM could not find destruction, arson, violence, and abuse.
    MSM repeatedly reported hateful, false messages from the ruling snobs

    #101036
    Mister Roboto
    Participant

    @tdk: You can edit, you just have to have a thoroughly up-to-date computer for that function on this site to work properly. I wouldn’t be surprised if next year at this time, it stopped working for me.

    #101037
    zerosum
    Participant

    Today, the police are blocking the bridge traffic in Windsor, and the legal movement of people.

    #101038
    boscohorowitz
    Participant

    “thanks, bosco. sure wish we could edit.”

    When it won’t let you, copy the text, log out, log back in, and try posting again. Mess around with it. It’s an inconsistent software platform (as most are becoming these days). But don’t wait long to do it.

    #101039
    Oroboros
    Participant

    @John Day

    Let’s talk sterility for a moment.

    Did you every have to tell a man he’s sterile and can never father a child or ever have children of his own or a family because of a ‘vaccine’ he was coerced to take by his government?

    I didn’t think so.

    Ever have to tell his wife too?

    I didn’t think so.

    Well, ‘doctors’ are going to have to break the bad news to millions of men shortly.

    How do you think that will go over John?

    Do you think most of them will just shrug it off with graceful resignation?

    Oh, and no chance of grandchildren for any of them either, as a bonus.

    Let’s talk about the spontaneous abortion rate of 82%+ for women who got the DeathVax in the first and early second trimester when the average historical rate had been 16% for decades.

    Because accurate medical data has been intentionally hidden or negligently or premeditatedly not gathered, it is unknown as to whether the 82% of women who had spontaneous abortions due to the DeathVax were made permanently sterile.

    Maybe the DeathVax only killed their babies this one time and did not permanently damage their uterus and other parts of their reproductive system and they can still get pregnant.

    Or maybe not, maybe they are all permanently sterilized.

    Or maybe these women will have a sky high risk of having babies with major birth defects and the crushing medical bills to with it?

    Time will tell.

    As to the men, I’m hearing reports from lab tests of very high rates of permanent sterility.

    This is not ‘theoretical’, the permanent sterility of young males is just starting to manifest itself.

    Wonder how young police officers will feel on a personnel level about not being able to ever have children.

    More importantly I wonder how young police officer’ wives will feel about not being able to have children with their husband.

    Oh well.

    Same with military personnel, sterilized by the DeathVax they were coerced to take.

    Like a permanent irreversible vasectomy you didn’t ask for.

    I wonder how many cops and service men saved some healthy sperm before the Clotshot.

    My guess, next to none.

    So sad

    Gonna be a long lonely life for a lot of men and women in uniform because of the Plandemic Deathshot their Lords & Masters on High commanded them to take.

    I guess they will just have to grin and bear it by the millions with love in their hearts.

    To the men and women in uniform

    Which Side Are You On?

    #101041
    boscohorowitz
    Participant

    Random spambot noise)

    So Google News, which I skim regularly to see what the propaganda weather is, posts this:

    Waning 2-Dose and 3-Dose Effectiveness of mRNA Vaccines Against COVID-19–Associated Emergency Department and Urgent Care Encounters and Hospitalizations Among Adults During Periods of Delta and Omicron Variant Predominance — VISION Network, 10 States, August 2021–January 2022

    from the CDC. I won’t read it. I’m just intrigued that GNews, home of the dumbed-down headline and pablum content, shares a clinical science paper whose summary statement is this:

    “Summary
    What is already known about this topic?

    Protection against COVID-19 after 2 doses of mRNA vaccine wanes, but little is known about durability of protection after 3 doses.

    What is added by this report?

    Vaccine effectiveness (VE) against COVID-19–associated emergency department/urgent care (ED/UC) visits and hospitalizations was higher after the third dose than after the second dose but waned with time since vaccination. During the Omicron-predominant period, VE against COVID-19–associated ED/UC visits and hospitalizations was 87% and 91%, respectively, during the 2 months after a third dose and decreased to 66% and 78% by the fourth month after a third dose. Protection against hospitalizations exceeded that against ED/UC visits.

    What are the implications for public health practice?

    All eligible persons should remain up to date with recommended COVID-19 vaccinations to best protect against COVID-19–associated hospitalizations and ED/UC visits.”

    Actually publishing a clinical paper as a headline story: never saw that before from any lamestream news. Said paper admits mistakes but concludes that we should stay the course.

    Smells pretty desperate to me. A “limited hangout”, especially the bolded text.

    Not that this is about any virus anymore or, for that matter, vakzine.

    It’s about CYA, looks to me. Strategic retreat, Sort of like moonwalking:

    Billy J.

    Notice how the forward extrapolation of moonwalking (around 1:30) looks like someone with diabetically crippled feet trying to walk with gum on their shoes. The Trudeau Shuffle or something.

    #101042
    Oroboros
    Participant

    The Left Really Hates Workers When They’re Truckers

    The Left Really Hates Workers When They’re Truckers

    :…Karl Marx never spent a moment in a factory. He was a rich kid who became a journalist. Of course he was. But for more than 150 years, Karl Marx inspired generations of other rich kids who also became journalists to repeat his line or variations of it….”

    #101043
    Bam_Man
    Participant

    I may have posted this quote here before. Even if so, it is worth repeating.

    “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both.”

    — Frederick Douglass

    #101044
    oldandtired
    Participant

    “ This is my last post and visit here at TAE. The reason is a failure of this blog to recognize the threat of fascism within the leadership of the trucker protests and within the police response. I accept the threat represented by vaccines but the threat of fascism dwarfs this threat.”

    @sumac.carol. You don’t know many truckers, do you? Fascist? No. Independent? Yes.

    Progressive policies.
    Progressive programs.
    Progressive states.
    Progressive nations.

    All have the same endpoint. Communism.

    #101045
    boscohorowitz
    Participant

    I’ll just WTF? and leave this Mental Health Influenza… or something

    #101046
    Oroboros
    Participant

    The Workers’ Revolution Is Here, and the Left Hates It

    https://www.nationalreview.com/2022/02/the-workers-revolution-is-here-and-the-left-hates-it/#slide-1

    With the truckers’ protest, Trudeau’s government has maneuvered itself into a class conflict that could rapidly get out of control.

    “…Not only is the Left disgusted by it, but it refuses to recognize it is happening. In the same way that a nonfeminist woman is degraded to the status of not a woman, or a racial minority with the wrong politics is accused of multiracial whiteness, workers taking political action that isn’t controlled by the Left are deemed not workers at all. Returning to their orthodox Marxist categories, they sniff that the majority of these workers own their rigs and are thus more like the middle class…..”

    #101047
    boscohorowitz
    Participant
    #101048
    boscohorowitz
    Participant
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