Sushi | Feb 10 2022 1:56 utc | 99
oppose the Freedom Convoy – as a group, yes
support the truckers – as individuals, yes
where’s the contradiction?
anyway, half the teachers and nurses will be quitting by summertime. say goodbye to healthcare and education in the US. they sucked already mostly, but adios. there’ll still be people here in July blaming vaccine mandates for their destruction. intentional destruction. you’ll be telling yourself grandma and your kid diabetic from long covid can’t get dialysis etc because of vaccine mandates.

Posted by: rjb1.5 | Feb 10 2022 2:37 utc | 103

Kevork Almassian has an excellent one hour interview with William Van Wagenen.
To smash the Syrian civil society the CIA poured $millions into triggering unrest and disturbances to enable its proxies to attempt to bring down Assad and the entire civil society fabric.
William Van Wagenen, a writer focusing on Syria for the Libertarian Institute, who published recently an essay titled “Creative Chaos: How U.S. Planners Sparked the Anti-Government Protests of the So-Called Arab Spring in Syria”. Here.
Obama = War Criminal

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Feb 10 2022 2:51 utc | 105

I rewatched “Shane” recently. can’t say enough. Americans and their worship of guns and killers. while Shane does his little “wild west show” gun twirling display in celebration of having killed the two main villains in the showdown at the end, the brother upstairs plugs him with a rifle, fatally. why didn’t he shoot Shane earlier? Like the audience, incl little Joey, the spectacle of the gunfight is too much to pass up. He must watch. and showing off is too much for Shane not to do, and it gets him killed.
lots of people in the US in 1953 when the movie was released were calling each other, “lowdown Yankee liar” refighting the Civil War, as today, but now more with cows still trampling everything and the Indians overrun by casinos. we are not building anything. we are just killing things.

Posted by: rjb1.5 | Feb 10 2022 2:53 utc | 107

@83 retiredmecheng
Not sure I’m deserving, but thank you.
Even if there’s an ulterior motive to the Freedom Convoy like taking Trudeau government down (why not the added bonus?), I just can’t stomach the idea that a person must be forced into an injection or else they are not free to travel, work, shop where they need to, or attend school and so on; i.e. be treated like an ostracised pariah.
Just like the Patriot Act crossed the line under providing security, mandatory vaccination also crosses the line under guise of protecting everyone. Both represent serious unlawful violations of personal freedom and manipulation to surrender rights for questionable protection.

Posted by: Circe | Feb 10 2022 2:57 utc | 109

rjb1.5 @ 107; Yep, I just watched “Shane” recently. No wonder we’re such “gun enamored nuts”, here in the U$. But, I think they missed the moral lessons learned from many such “westerns”. Its not about the violence that’s important, but the acquired “justice” in most old westerns.
“Bad actors” losing, and “decent” people winning. Today,the “justice” portrayed in westerns is still a far off dream. Still, sometimes, violence is a necessary evil, but should NEVER be a first option.
I only wish the morons running the U$A could”grab a clue”…

Posted by: vetinLA | Feb 10 2022 3:43 utc | 111

@ uncle tungsten 105
U.S. Planners Sparked the Anti-Government Protests. .
Then Hillary took over. Obama put her in charge of the Syria file. That was job one for Hill, arranging meetings of the shadow Syria government in Egypt, Istanbul etc., also the military forces. Of course the thought was that Assad was doomed.
US: Assad’s Syria a ‘dead man walking’
AP, Dec 14, 2011

The State Department official, Frederic Hof, told Congress on Wednesday that Assad’s repression may allow him to hang on to power but only for a short time.
“Our view is that this regime is the equivalent of dead man walking,” said Hof, the State Department’s pointman on Syria, which he said was turning into “Pyongyang in the Levant,” a reference to the North Korean capital. He said it was difficult to determine how much time Assad has left in power but stressed “I do not see this regime surviving.” . .here

Assad is still there, Obama and Hillary aren’t. But as a result of their actions Syria is half destroyed, with many Syrians dead, injured or displaced. Similar to Afghanistan, Libya and other places where Mr. Hope & Change was given free rein.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Feb 10 2022 4:03 utc | 113

I urge all my fellows to watch his video of the truckers directly addressing the public… I beg you to watch it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D3sYDMNiD4

Posted by: ld | Feb 10 2022 4:33 utc | 115

Don Bacon #113
Very sad tale indeed. Thank you for the post.
I imagine it was all a serious motivator for Russia to come up with the weaponry to force uncle $am to pay attention and piss off. But I guess $am is persistent so we will be witnessing this evil for decades yet.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Feb 10 2022 4:53 utc | 117

Les7 #108 (mistakenly AHB)

Sad to see this site go this way, but the PTB are driven to subvert truth.

This is a free speech site mate. Unless you start pissing in the bar or offending himself. So a bit of respect all round goes a long way.
So you will always find objectionable people having a say. DONT FEED THE TROLLS. Remain calm there is much support for the truckers principles at this site. Some of its patrons/advocates are not so much supported.
All Trudeau has to do is drop the entire mandate story plus the entire medical prohibition enforcement and let this thing run out. He is an idiot and a running dog for the UKUSA empire and the maniacal democrats south of the border, so don’t get your hopes up.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Feb 10 2022 5:08 utc | 119

More about Japan and gas courtesy od Sputniknews.
My emphasis in bold:

Economy Minister Koichi Hagiuda said earlier in the day that Tokyo had decided to answer the US and EU calls for extra LNG shipments and would send surplus cargoes to Europe as soon as it was clear that uninterrupted supply to Japan would be maintained.

😀

“The pundit [international oil economist Mamdouh Salameh] estimated that Japan could only spare a fraction of the LNG it imported from Australia, Malaysia, Qatar and Russia, making reexport of Russian gas to Europe a possibility.

The news report has more.
The US wants war but in Europe all the anger caused so far by rising prices has shown that the NATO countries will face decidedly anti-US (because only Russia is in a position to supply the solution) serious civil unrest and/or political upheaval and maybe even revolution or coups without any Russian energy at all (and blaming Russia for it hasn’t worked).
In their efforts to “win” Ukraine (or rather to use Ukraine to conquer Russia) the US is only losing Europe.

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Feb 10 2022 5:31 utc | 121

Sunny Runny Burger #121

In their efforts to “win” Ukraine (or rather to use Ukraine to conquer Russia) the US is only losing Europe.

Plus it has lost Ukraine itself judging by the recent remarks of Zelensky and his defense minister.
Then it gets the visiting German Chanceller Sholz to eat a US turd in front of the cameras. These morons have no class, no brains, no chance. Meanwhile the Germans ask “please sir, which sphincter shall I kiss next?”

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Feb 10 2022 6:18 utc | 123

I have been a lurker at MOA for years. However, it’s rather interesting and disappointing how the “Freedom” trucker issue has demonstrated that some of the commentators here, who I thought were pretty smart and whose opinion I respected, have turned out to be extremely unpleasant and easily bamboozled, hypocritical fools. Just for questioning who is funding these truckers, I was accused of being a lying troll. I am a Canadian who though currently retired, has been a blue collar worker (including truck driver) and Labour supporter all my life. I have followed this protest movement right from the beginning, and it is a very organized anti-government and anti-Trudeau astroturf movement, not just a bunch of pissed off truckers. When “Fuck Trudeau” is the theme and a whole bunch of unconstitutional and illegal demands are the purpose of the protest, then what reasonable, logical thinkers need to do is ask: who is funding this? I am quite certain it is not just ordinary people. Follow the money…

Posted by: Victor | Feb 10 2022 6:33 utc | 125

@ld, #115:
… I beg you to watch it.
Seeing a plead so compelling, I can’t help but comply with the request. I am glad I did! I now believe the Canadian truckers deserve my support.
I think they deserve everybody’s support. In this era of ‘controlled information disbursement’, of governmental lies and arrogance, of overwhelming power of law-and-order enforcement agents over the common folks, I sensed that these people who appeared on camera to make this appeal feel this is one of their last means to make their voices heard. Theirs is a message I believe all of us, the class of common folks, should hear and help spread.

Posted by: Oriental Voice | Feb 10 2022 6:38 utc | 127

Posted by: c1ue | Feb 10 2022 0:51 utc | 84
Re China military prowess, you might want to look at the 1962 war with India, where Chinese forces completely outclassed their opponents.
I had a very good source on this, which unfortunately I can no longer find to quote from. It is fair to note that the same source said China’s later performance in 1967 was worse. So, as one would expect, the competence of any one military can vary over time, for whatever reasons.

Posted by: Herr Ringbone | Feb 10 2022 6:57 utc | 129

Trudeau brought the anger against him personally by insulting Canadians who were on their way to their nation’s capital to peacefully protest government policies. Had he been the leader of all Canadians he would sat down with and listened to their concerns and in a most Canadian way promptly set up a Royal Commission. LOL. Our voices being heard, most would have gone peacefully on our way. But Turdeau had to insult me and my concerns about freedoms my family had 3 generations of Canadian military service defending. About as many people voted Liberal as support the truckers so does that make the Liberals fringe. I know they will be after the next election.
And by the way that swastika that was spotted was probably just some Azov Battalion member looking for Chrystia Freeland’s office. LOL

Posted by: viking3 | Feb 10 2022 7:06 utc | 131

I have been searching for some indication of a German view of Biden’s arrogant put down of Scholz. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. There seems no outrage and not even Martyanov or Mercouris have broached the subject.
Neither of them are that polite imo. And yet this seems to me to be one of the most significant examples of UKUSA bullying in a year or more.
Can any barflies assist?

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Feb 10 2022 7:31 utc | 133

Sunny Runny Burger #132
Perhaps the femme fatale of Russian FM, Maria Zakharova needs to phone Zelensky and chat him up about making nice and dissolving the ice.
Seriously Zelensky has just about eliminated all wriggle room to survive. (Yes, I have said this before and still the mouse roars.)
Meanwhile when is the next Blinken blunder episode or has that been scuttled for a day or two?

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Feb 10 2022 7:43 utc | 135

Posted by: Victor | Feb 10 2022 6:33 utc | 125
The problem Victor is that you have no evidence of who is funding this, no evidence that common people are not doing so. The video of the apparent trucker convoy leadership posted above and here below shows that Trudeau needs to dust off his phone, computer and engage these Canadian citizens in a reasonable negotiation to end the anti-science mandates and the protest. Trudeau’s lack of crisis management skills, or worse, is the problem here. He is clearly unfit for the position he holds. He could have resolved this crisis before it became a crisis by paying attention to the peoples’ grievances and the actual current science and how it was playing out in other countries.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D3sYDMNiD4

Posted by: Bluedotterel | Feb 10 2022 8:15 utc | 137

@karlof1 | Feb 9 2022 23:59 utc | 80
Hehehe I agreed. Thanks for the association between the Troll Convoy as a reaction to the Trucker Convoy action. You know, like in physics…

Posted by: Idiocrates | Feb 10 2022 8:18 utc | 139

Troll traffic signifies the importance of the Freedom Convoy and its offshoots! Thanks Trolls for confirming our observations.
Posted by: karlof1 | Feb 9 2022 23:59 utc | 80
Jut shut the fuck up Karlof. You are slowly but surely becoming the most annoying and ignorant poster here.
First Nations speak out against trucker convoy
On anti-union stance:
Anti-Vax Convoy Organizers Previously Targeted Picketing Oil Refinery Workers in Alberta

Posted by: v | Feb 10 2022 8:33 utc | 141

@vetinLA | Feb 10 2022 3:56 utc | 112
800K deaths could be a fake in so many ways, it just doesn’t even merit starting a conversation about. That is not the point. The COVID narrative is a psy op first and foremost. The truth (fact) are its first victims. Once you realize that this is a war (psy op is a kind of war) and that the first casualty of war is truth (as they say) the rest falls nicely into place.
No need to get sucked into the whole BS debate about is it a vaccine or is it an experiment. It is neither and both, because that dichotomy serves to further the interests of the psy op (check out mass formation psychosis – Dr Desmet, Dr Malone).
The worst we can do is start going for each other’s throats. The best we can do is go for the jugular of those psy op’ing us. If you don’t see who THEY are, just ask yourself the question: who can you not criticize?
I start with those ‘elected governments’. Elected by Zombie Soros, Zombie Schwab and Zombie Mammon.

Posted by: Idiocrates | Feb 10 2022 8:37 utc | 143

@v | Feb 10 2022 8:33 utc | 141
Temper temper. The Troll Convoy rolls on hehehe.
I recommend you go find Castro Jr and try talking to him about his mother.

Posted by: Idiocrates | Feb 10 2022 8:42 utc | 145

@Webej #95
I’m sure, since there are American troops probably in 3/4s of the countries of the world in any given year for some period of time.
However, they aren’t based there officially nor are masses of American war material, planes, ships based there.

Posted by: c1ue | Feb 10 2022 9:00 utc | 147

@Victor 67
“50,000 trucks? Hahaha. When a tractor trailer is normally 75 feet long, 50,000 trucks would equal to over 700 miles of trucks if they were parked end to end. Millions of demonstrators? Again this nonsense…at most there were 10,000 demonstrators in Ottawa on the first weekend of the demonstration, a city that only has a population of 1,000,000. Geez, use your common sense.”
Let’s see where we start to discard this shit sausage. A tractor + trailer ~ 75 ft. But the truck proper is no more than 15-20 ft. Moreover, just like in battle there are reserves to provide relief and rest ( shift) rotation, not all participating trucks went to Ottawa. Some went to the different border crossings and other cities for a higher impact decentralized protest. Also, no one expected the truckers to mobilize in a single lane of a single highway as per Victor’s (un)common sense. Truckers are smart, they don’t throw all their resources in a single vector. Supporters came either on foot or driving their own pick up truck vehicles and this added to the crowds counted by professionals. For example, the crowd reckoned by the chief of police vastly outnumbers the crowd number guesstimated by Victor.

Posted by: Sun Tzu | Feb 10 2022 9:07 utc | 149

@Herr Ringbone #129
I have not studied the Indian army at all, but I do not have the impression they are a 1st, or possibly even 2nd class outfit. They have a lot of gear on paper, but so did Saddam Hussein.
Note this doesn’t refer to bravery or whatnot – it refers to the ability to execute combined arms combat in the face of a top tier opponent.
I am aware of India soliciting direct military aid from the US in the 1962 conflict (and receiving it), but China withdrawing before said aid materialized, but again it is not at all clear to me that the Indian army would be comparable to Russian, American or French combat formations then or now.
Nor is the 1962 conflict necessarily a good example: again, I haven’t looked at it closely but it doesn’t seem like a fight over the Himalayas in 1962 is representative of combined arms combat today – especially as it seemed neither side used its air force in this conflict. Not clear at all to me, either, if either side deployed front line artillery or armor.

Posted by: c1ue | Feb 10 2022 9:23 utc | 151

@ vetinLA

Or, is Covid really a hoax?, and, 800K deaths a fake? It’s ONLY a public health issue. Nothing more.
And nobody weaponized this issue?
***
Germany has now 1 million cases per week. And Omikron which appeared at the end of December has completely replaced Delta in 5 weeks.
In January, out of 7 million tests, 2.5 million were positive. And therefore more than one or two million with Omikron.

And with Omikron less than 70000 symptomatic cases [≈1%], 727 hospitalizations [≈0.05%], 53 deaths of which 39 fully vaccinated and only 3 under 60.

https://www.rki.de/DE/Content/InfAZ/N/Neuartiges_Coronavirus/Situationsberichte/Wochenbericht/Wochenbericht_2022-02-03.pdf?__blob=publicationFile
The data from RKI is indisputable and unavoidable. Probably easy to read for Bernhard or German readers.
If it was a health issue, now with Omikron providing massive safe natural immunity for 90% of the population, it’s not the case.
If it was medical, the whole world would have taken its cue from either China or Sweden. And would have let doctors treat their patients, including with hydroxychloroquine or ivermectin.

Posted by: Impfstopp | Feb 10 2022 9:29 utc | 153

V @ 141:
If some people involved in the truckers’ convoy are conducting First Nations ceremonies and using First Nations sacred objects, that may be because they themselves are First Nations people.
Perhaps the Indian County journal and the leaders of the various First Nations councils its representative spoke to, at the link you referenced, don’t speak for all First Nations people in Canada. That would not be surprising. In Australia, not all indigenous people here necessarily feel that the organisations claiming to represent their interests actually do represent them fairly.

Posted by: Jen | Feb 10 2022 11:01 utc | 155

Hmmm… Ambassador Bridge blockaded by Freedom Convoyers and supporters, threatens auto parts industry, auto industry which happens to be very unionized.
Tell us what you think, Mr. Volpe
https://twitter.com/FlavioVolpe1/status/1491620100914429953?s=20&t=7PZ_IWjfiGl_iod66KJNyA
Unifior’s Dias is too busy posting about a history-making event in Mexico to comment on the bridge
https://twitter.com/JerryPDias/status/1490371710754897929?s=20&t=M7KD3e0ekS5WJdmND_RrNg
So politics in Windsor: 2 MPs, one NDP (traditionally supported by unions), one Liberal (Team Trudeau). What do they have to say??
From Liberal MP Irek Kusmierczyk, “I want to thank members of our local Ukrainian community…”
https://twitter.com/Irek_K/status/1491533705864785927?s=20&t=eblqnYfZaimri-m621jhnw
From NDP MP Brian Masse, “It was an honour to introduce this bill to create Ojibway National Urban Park…”
https://twitter.com/BrianMasseMP/status/1491516682686320643?s=20&t=cLLyUjGt-99H43Y1a9Y1Xw
Nature abhors a vacuum, right?

Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Feb 10 2022 11:51 utc | 157

@ oldhippie | Feb 10 2022 11:10 utc | 156
And that’s not ONLY a question of numbers.
80% of dead persons were older than 60.
Mostly adverse problems are with people under 45.
With Omicron, mortality under 60 is nearly ZERO. Over 60, not really more than with Tobacco, alcoholic beverages, street food…

Posted by: Impfstopp | Feb 10 2022 12:45 utc | 159

Let’s see what Teamsters Canada has to say:

The so-called “freedom convoy” and the despicable display of hate lead by the political Right and shamefully encouraged by elected conservative politicians does not reflect the values of Teamsters Canada, nor the vast majority of our members, and in fact has served to delegitimize the real concerns of most truck drivers today.
We firmly believe in the right to protest government policies and voice a wide array of opinions, but what is happening in Ottawa has done more harm to Teamsters members, be they Truck Drivers who were trying to deliver their loads, or hotel, restaurant and healthcare workers who were intimidated, abused or prevented from accessing their workplaces, by several protesters.

Posted by: v | Feb 10 2022 13:16 utc | 161

@c1ue | Feb 10 2022 0:51 utc | 84 and others
Regarding the China-India situation, isn’t this the perfect time to put multilateralism into practice and abandon bloc-based thinking? I always cringe when an Indian speaks up, and the “pro-China” crowd immediately reminds him of the … sanitary practices in his home country. For chrissakes, China wasn’t that different when I first set foot there; you think Indians fancy being poor?
Yes, China could bust a few heads and remind India who’s strongest–which would get them exactly nothing, so fortunately they’re not doing it. India’s posture stems from anxieties over China’s rise, which they’re unable to match except in their imagination. They need time to climb down, for which you’ll probably have to wait out the Modi era, hoping the US isn’t too entrenched yet by that time. OK, so it’s difficult. Let me make a guess that the US finds it easy to bribe India’s wonk class; sadly, most of the world works that way.
For a change, I was not with the patriots in the row with China’s hero torchbearer soldier. Could China involve one of their military in a sporting gig? Was there precedent? Yes and yes, apparently; but was it wise? More precisely, the Olympics are a politicized sporting gig, and you should go out of your way to try and make some friends for all the cash you spent. Why would you instead roar and beat your chest–to repeat American mistakes?

Posted by: Ma Laoshi | Feb 10 2022 13:40 utc | 163

I think anti-vaxer, is the wrong term. I prefer; Pro-Covid..
Or, is Covid really a hoax?, and, 800K deaths a fake? It’s ONLY a public health issue. Nothing more.
Posted by: vetinLA | Feb 10 2022 3:56 utc | 112

How about instead of “anti-vaxxer” use
anti-unsafe-experimental-vaccines.

Posted by: librul | Feb 10 2022 14:21 utc | 165

Who the heck buys government *statistics*.
For hecks sake, people.
You should know better.

Posted by: librul | Feb 10 2022 14:24 utc | 167

A historic meeting – indeed. Lavrov looses his cool, and walks off, leaving Truss trussed.
https://twitter.com/Intel_sky/status/1491776063554342913/photo/1
This is the first time I have ever seen anyone make Lavrov react in this way.
****
librul | Feb 10 2022 14:28 utc | 168
Thanks for link.

Posted by: Stonebird | Feb 10 2022 14:37 utc | 169

Sushi | Feb 10 2022 1:41 utc | 91
Agree that truedope has shown himself to be lacking good sense. Allowing chrystia freeland to attach canada to the facist neo nazis of the ukraine was / is a huge mistake. Freelands desire to cleanse her grandfathers evil past is not sufficient reason for foreign policy.

Posted by: James joseph | Feb 10 2022 14:52 utc | 171

How little did we learn from the anglos, you may say anything about the pirates and their ilk, but they flock together. My pain and anguish, watching every day the imbecility of the political class in Spain and the degree of servitude of a country with the immense patrimony at its disposal, always ready for subservience happy to ride on the last wagon while our place is ahead, half a billion Spanish speakers is just a distant dream let’s say for Putin’s Russia and his feeble campaigns for demography. But our specialty is to waste, a great opportunity to reinforce our links with Latin America wasted miserably for that complex that in this negative case we share with Britain, the belief that we are superior to our former colonies. AMLO gave us a great chance during the celebrations of their indepencdence centenary, he simply asked for a statement of recognition about the excesses of the colony, but hubris took the day, how could we! to ask for forgiveness when we gave them culture and civilization, that is the right speaking, the faux left with the agenCIA asset Felipe aka Isidoro and his Tortilla Club with illustrious members like Solana of Yugoslavia and Borrell of Ukraine, dumping manure every day through their “El País” since AMLO blocked a murky new airport business in which Felipe’s boss Slim did not make a few extra billions. AMLO thanked us spaniards for the contribution made by the exiles of our failed Republic, but complained bitterly about the business established during the last three presidential terms, corruption by Spanish companies that are not even Spanish anymore! Our political class is a disaster, they grew under the shadow of uncle Sam and its bases granted by Franco to save his fascist ass, to be replaced by a corrupt monarchy and a fake left with suspicious links.

Posted by: Paco | Feb 10 2022 14:52 utc | 173

So I guess this “Freedom Convoy” is more than just the “Trailer Park Boys” take over Ottawa, eh? Do truckers still use CB radios? I don’t know if anybody here remembers but the USA had a “Freedom Convoy” about 60 years ago. Check this out https://youtu.be/lqYTX7parRw

Posted by: Chas | Feb 10 2022 14:56 utc | 175

Posted by: vetinLA | Feb 10 2022 5:06 utc | 118

Watch the video then let us know your opinion.
https://youtu.be/3D3sYDMNiD4
Cheers!

Posted by: Sushi | Feb 10 2022 15:07 utc | 177

Victor | Feb 9 2022 23:25 utc | 67
I would agree with you, if only the indian state of udar predesh hadn’t defeated covid with ivermectin. Imagine 150 million people and only a handful of covid deaths. This kinda puts to shame our courageous politicians, health boards and big pharma.
Ignorance is no excuse , when the information is/ was available for any and all to see.

Posted by: James joseph | Feb 10 2022 15:18 utc | 179

You can’t make this stuff up.
Iran Is ‘No. 1 Destabilizing’ Threat In Middle East, CENTCOM Nominee Says
The U.S. must use advanced technology and work with regional partners to counter Tehran, Army three-star tells lawmakers. . .here
How does one get to be a general? . .Generally by kissing up and stomping down. . .So don’t ever believe what they say. They have a bad war record, for one thing. Lost every one.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Feb 10 2022 15:23 utc | 181

A good piece by Jonathan Cook
Gives some context for the stuff I’ve been writing here
https://consortiumnews.com/2022/02/09/boris-bashing-the-assange-factor/

Posted by: John Cleary | Feb 10 2022 16:02 utc | 183

Posted by: Paco | Feb 10 2022 14:52 utc | 173
I’ve been aching to say this for some time.
The Republican Spaniard who acts in any capacity as an anti-russian or anti-mexican agent is a traitor.
A traitor “with all the letters” as we would say.
Right now there’s few things more present in my hopes than this accursed husk of a nation to follow through with its time-honored tradition of remaining neutral during world wars… however, with the Borbonic Plague and Francoist establishment having turned this sorry excuse for a country into drooling prostitutes for the gringos, malditos sean tres veces todos ellos, malditos, malditos, malditos; I might as well be wishing for the moon on a stick.
Смерть НАТО, I know how to spell that.

Posted by: Misotheist | Feb 10 2022 16:04 utc | 185

@Ma Laoshi #163
I am confused: Russia not fully allying with China and keeping (some of) its options open by getting closer to India – is precisely multi-lateralism.
Nor is China/India something from the long past (i.e. 1962) – Chinese and Indian troops were fighting each other during COVID.

Posted by: c1ue | Feb 10 2022 16:07 utc | 187

dan of steele | Feb 10 2022 8:46 utc | 146
you are correct. ugh on me, for grossly miscommunicating. Army Times:
“As of Jan. 26, only 3,350 active duty soldiers have refused the vaccine, and only 3,619 requests for religious or medical exemptions remain pending.” another article from Army Times reports 95% or higher vax rates among active duty personnel.
I know that the USM does not allow soldiers to willy nilly opt out of anything. Not even the Trumpsters were dumb enough to do that re vaccination. I meant to be speaking hypothetically, about the consequences to the USM if they were to follow the advice of all the freedom truckers on this blog and in the media. it never crosses their minds to gauge what the US is doing by comparing that to what its enemies are doing. they know the USG lies, and that’s enough for them.
fascists don’t realize that the military is part of society and that all of the divisions within society at large about the virus, vaccines, etc., will reflect themselves in the military. it cannot be otherwise. just look at the diabetes and suicide rates. people that work and live in congregate settings who don’t practice public health measures, as in prisons and barracks, will only accelerate the deadliness and infectiousness of the virus, no matter their vax status, as is already happening. (i’m not equating anti-vaxers with fascists. many of us are uninformed and being intentionally misguided.)
all that said, the US willingness to use a vaccine on its soldiers does not in itself mean that vaccine is safe or effective. soldiers are guinea pigs. and the US military is probably the most corrupt institution ever in history. here’s its job description, courtesy of someone who fought in Crimea:
“Millions of men perpetrated against one another such innumerable crimes, frauds, treacheries, thefts, forgeries, issues of false money, burglaries, incendiarisms, and murders as in whole centuries are not recorded in the annals of all the law courts of the world, but which those who committed them did not at the time regard as being crimes.” War & Peace

Posted by: rjb1.5 | Feb 10 2022 16:47 utc | 189

ld | Feb 10 2022 4:33 utc | 115
“it is time we stop and we declare this pandemic emergency over…this has to come to an end! the science is 100% behind the truckers!” I stopped listening at that point, 15 seconds in, the 1st sentence. they are there to hammer an agenda and roar some engines. they can’t hide it. the 1st speaker is such a little boy who’s tired of his life being interrupted. it’s transparent in the 1st words that come out of his mouth. i know it’s not as bad in Canada, yet, but 200k kids in the US have lost a primary caregiver in 2 years, unheard of in US history. that means less than a fart to the people in that video.

Posted by: rjb1.5 | Feb 10 2022 16:50 utc | 191

v | Feb 10 2022 8:33 utc | 141
thank you v.
when the Canadian gov’t wants to stop a protest, they do it. they shut down pipeline protests and all kind of stuff all the time. the money for the truckers is coming from the US. ffs. thankfully people like Norwegian are here to tell us that not only is the virus fake, so is global warming (no pipeline protests needed, so the gov’t is right to shut those protests down). and oldhippy and co are here to assert as medical fact (e.g., myocarditis from a vaccine) something his ilk provide no context to, no medical background, no nothing, just personal anecdote and nothing. simply b/c it supports their agenda. might as well get advice about covid from your used car salesman.
—
meanwhile, back on planet reality, another day w/o another covid dead among 1.4 billion Chinese. you people arguing about this stuff are really, really deep, “distracted from distraction by distraction”. the US response to the coronavirus is in complete accord, complete harmony, with everything else about the USG: do absolutely as little as possible. don’t allow the virus to shut down the national abattoir and car shop for even 5 minutes, b/c America runs on beef and gasoline. don’t let any public health issue interrupt the war machine. since the US brings its war dead home in secret, if war with Russia starts, Norwegian will be able to declare there is no war.
no body counts, no war. no body counts, no disease.

Posted by: no body counts | Feb 10 2022 16:57 utc | 193

Jen | Feb 10 2022 11:01 utc | 155
maybe those truckers should give up cigarette smoking? not for their health, but b/c tobacco use is “appropriation.”
the opening of the article v linked is identity politics nonsense, most unfortunate that the author feels some compulsion to begin with what is irrelevant, rather than what is salient: the CA gov’t shuts protest down whenever they feel like it. that leaders of the truckers don’t actually support the right of protest, except when it suits them, is hardly worth mentioning.

Posted by: rjb1.5 | Feb 10 2022 17:12 utc | 195

@ld | Feb 10 2022 4:33 utc | 115

I urge all my fellows to watch his video of the truckers directly addressing the public… I beg you to watch it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D3sYDMNiD4

Thank you for sharing that, it was very powerful. I am impressed how the truckers in Canada are handling this difficult situation. Respect.

Posted by: Norwegian | Feb 10 2022 17:23 utc | 197

Taibbi weighs in on the Freedom Convoy
Justin Trudeau’s Ceaucescu Moment

Ceaușescu’s balcony will forever be a symbol of elite cluelessness. Even in the face of the gravest danger, a certain kind of ruler will never be able to see the last salvo coming, if doing so requires any self-examination. The neoliberal political establishment in most of the Western world, the subject of repeat populist revolts of rising intensity in recent years, seems to suffer from the same disability.
There may be no real-world comparison between a blood-soaked monster like Ceaușescu and a bumbling ball-scratcher like Joe Biden, or an honorarium-gobbling technocrat like Hillary Clinton, or a Handsome Dan investment banker like Emmanuel Macron, or an effete pseudo-intellectual like Justin Trudeau. Still, the ongoing inability of these leaders to see the math of populist uprisings absolutely recalls that infamous scene in Bucharest.
…
When an angry convoy descended upon the capital, Trudeau dismissed them in a soliloquy that can only be described as inspired political arson:
The small fringe minority of people who are on their way to Ottawa, who are holding unacceptable views that they are expressing, do not represent the views of Canadians…who know that following the science and stepping up to protect each other is the best way to ensure our rights, our freedoms, our values as a country.
A near-exact repeat of the “basket of deplorables” episode, Trudeau’s imperious description of “unacceptable” views instantly became a rallying cry, with people across the country lining the streets to cheer truckers while self-identifying as the “small fringe minority.” Everyone from high school kids to farmers and teachers and random marchers carrying jerrycans of fuel joined in as Trudeau’s own words were used to massively accelerate his troubles.
Trudeau fled the city, removing his family to what aides called a “secret location” for “security reasons,” a politically disastrous move denounced by just about everyone with a microphone or a Twitter account, including members of his own party.

So much for the theory – put forward by some people on MoA – that Trudeau was quarantining due to COVID.
Also Taibbi clearly doesn’t see the Freedom Convoy as being reich wingers, or a small minority or any of the other commentary put out by a couple people on MoA.

Posted by: c1ue | Feb 10 2022 18:22 utc | 199