RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://pjmedia.com/columns/david-solway-2/2022/11/28/a-lament-for-a-nation-or-bye-bye-miss-canadian-pie-n1649327

It is very hard to maintain one’s composure when speaking to ordinary Canadians about the disaster in the making that is Canada today. I have engaged personally and via email over the last two years with literally hundreds of my fellow countrymen from all walks of life on the subjects of the national debt, the deficit, the sunsetting of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the draconian and illegal Covid and vaccine mandates and the turbo maladies that flow from them, the various repressive bills sieving through Parliament, the vicious and lying government and media campaign against the Trucker Freedom Convoy, and the unconscionable behavior of the most vindictive, incompetent and unpatriotic prime minister in the history of Confederation.

With precious few exceptions—“precious” is a key word here—I have come away in a state of profound depression. Some readers of my writings as well as everyday interlocutors have accused me of pessimism, which may be true. I recall a remark of Leonard Cohen’s: “A pessimist is somebody who is waiting for the rain. Me, I’m already wet.” Sometimes I feel completely drenched.

I’ve found the great majority of my correspondents do not know the difference between the debt and the deficit. They draw a blank when I mention the Charter or the Nuremberg Code, let alone Klaus Schwab, the World Economic Forum, and the Great Reset. None have researched the deception or willful ignorance among our politicians regarding the Covid mandates and not one has examined the harmful and even lethal nature of the vaccines and booster shots. None I’ve spoken to have even heard of SADS—Sudden Adult Death Syndrome, which emerged post-vaccine. Bills like C-4, C-11, C-12 and C-18, which are dictatorial measures designed to muzzle and censor the average citizen, are little more than arcana unworthy of consideration. Most people are indifferent to, or approving of, the push for legislated mask mandates, “a result of a compliant populace,” Cory Morgan writes, “willing to shrug their shoulders and give up personal liberties with little complaint.” The government and medical profession’s targeting of parents who resist the sickness of transgenderitis in order to provide a normal life for their children does not appear to move many Canadians.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/china-covid-protests-explode/

Less than a week after World Economic Forum leader Klaus Schwab was brazen and immoral enough to declare China a “role model for many nations” despite its authoritarian rule and human rights abuses (in words that were similar to those of Canada’s Justin Trudeau, who once expressed his admiration for China’s “basic dictatorship”), China has now exploded in unexpected protests over imposed COVID lockdowns. According to the Express:

Protests against strict lockdown orders are growing in China, amid signs that the Chinese Communist Party is losing its grip over the Chinese people. Protesters demanded Xi Jinping step down in a country where any direct criticism of its leaders is rare and often results in harsh punishment.

The protests are already having an adverse effect upon the Chinese economy. According to Bloomberg, “optimism had re-emerged in Chinese markets after Beijing cut quarantine periods and dialed back testing, triggering a rally that’s added almost $370 billion to the MSCI China Index.” Now those gains are suddenly “unraveling due to the protests.”

Caution is setting in despite a growing chorus of bullish China calls on Wall Street that cite cheap valuations and friendlier policies. On Monday, the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index slumped more than 4%.

This rapid hit to China’s economy obviously does not bode well for the country’s larger ambition, as it will play an as yet undetermined role in its future plans and quest for global hegemony and prestige.

What is unfolding in China demonstrates the basic and intrinsic human need for freedom, as well as the lust to enslave humans that is prevalent among the darkest elements of society. The word “revolution” is already being used to describe what has just began in China, more precisely, a white paper revolution. Keep in mind that over in Iran, the people’s revolution is expanding as well.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-innocence-of-jimmy-lai-china-censorship-free-speech-jail-prison-hong-kong-conviction-liberty-guilty-arrested-truth-11669673581?mod=opinion_lead_pos9

Jimmy Lai’s whole life—as a refugee, as an entrepreneur, as a champion of Chinese liberty—has been one long exercise in boldness. Now comes his boldest move of all: insisting on his innocence in a Hong Kong court where he doesn’t have a prayer of winning.

On Thursday, Jimmy, 73, is scheduled to go to trial on three charges related to collusion with foreign forces and another involving conspiracy to publish and distribute seditious material. Others arrested for national security offenses have pleaded guilty with the aim of securing a lighter sentence. Not Jimmy.

This trial is the culmination of two years of prosecution on lesser charges, including a conviction for business fraud. There is a logic here, because prosecutors want more than a conviction and prison sentence. They want to paint Jimmy as a corrupt businessman who worked with foreigners to undermine China.

Under the new national security law, Jimmy faces the possibility of life in prison. There is not a man, woman or child in Hong Kong who doesn’t believe the verdict is already in. The authorities are taking no chances either, having Jimmy tried before three national security judges rather than a jury.

To what possible purpose, then, is his plea of not guilty? Certainly it isn’t for a better deal for himself. If that’s what he was looking for, Jimmy would have left Hong Kong and lived abroad in comfort when it became clear he was going to be arrested.

Simply put, Jimmy is making what may be his last stand for truth. The larger prosecution narrative is that Jimmy is selling out China to the West. But Jimmy has never, for example, advocated independence for Hong Kong or Taiwan and has always insisted protests must be peaceful.

https://apnews.com/article/taiwan-health-fires-social-media-50d7515e5fae00f5054062209e9306cc?utm_

SHANGHAI (AP) — Protesters angered by strict anti-virus measures called for China’s powerful leader to resign, an unprecedented rebuke as authorities in at least eight cities struggled to suppress demonstrations Sunday that represent a rare direct challenge to the ruling Communist Party.

Police using pepper spray drove away demonstrators in Shanghai who called for Xi Jinping to step down and an end to one-party rule, but hours later people rallied again in the same spot. Police again broke up the demonstration, and a reporter saw protesters under arrest being driven away in a bus.

The protests — which began Friday and have spread to cities including the capital, Beijing, and dozens of university campuses — are the most widespread show of opposition to the ruling party in decades.

In a video of the protest in Shanghai verified by The Associated Press, chants against Xi, the most powerful leader since at least the 1980s, and the Chinese Communist Party sounded loud and clear: “Xi Jinping! Step down! CCP! Step down!”

Three years after the virus emerged, China is the only major country still trying to stop transmission of COVID-19. Its “zero COVID” strategy has suspended access to neighborhoods for weeks at a time. Some cities carry out daily virus tests on millions of residents.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19158/the-kafirs-unbelievers-should-be-killed-all

“I heard them. They were shouting in Arabic and Swahili, saying that the kafirs [unbelievers] should be killed, all of them, and make Congo an Islamic state. Shoot all of them. Kill all of them, and burn their houses, these notorious Christians.” — Persecution.org, October 10, 2022 — Democratic Republic of Congo

“The ADF rebels attacked the village, and more precisely the hospital. They looted everything they could find, taking medicines, and at the end they set fire to the building. A nun, who is also a doctor and was on night duty, was burned alive, along with a patient….. [Once the hospital was destroyed] the rebels continued on their way and set fire to another hospital nearby.” — Father Marcelo Oliveira, churchinneed.org, October 22, 2022 — Democratic Republic of Congo

“When they were all gathered, they started asking who is Muslim and who is Christian. Those who identified as Christian, they started tying their hands behind their back and they cut their throats.” — Bishop Alberto Vera Aréjula of Nacala, churchinneed.org, October 5, 2022 — Mozambique

Before long, the video went viral on social media, and was even broadcast as “breaking news” by TV9, which referred to James [falsely accused of blasphemy] as a “sanitary worker”—code in Pakistan for both Christians and the lowest of the low. In James’ own words, “I knew the sensitivity of this news; it was a death warrant against me.” – Voice of the Martyrs, October 12, 2022 – Pakistan

“[It is] an easy way to settle personal scores against someone. People don’t even think twice before using this law against someone, as victims of this law have to spend 8-11 years in prison to prove themselves innocent….” – Nasir Saeed, Director of CLAAS-UK (Centre for Legal Aid & Assistance), vom.com.au, October 22, 2022 — Pakistan

The president of Cairo University, Muhammad Uthman al-Khosht, assigned 31 new directors, deputy directors, managers, and researchers to head a number of departments, including those of agriculture, medicine, engineering, nursing, dentistry, statistical research, and African Studies. Although the Copts—Egypt’s indigenous, Christian, people—make up anywhere from 10-20% of its population, notable among these new Cairo University hires is that not a single one of them is Christian. All are Muslim. — wtaninet.com, October 24 2022 — Egypt

Earlier this year, 98 female judges took the legal oath in preparation for assuming judicial roles in Egypt’s State Council…. [S]ince its inception 75 years earlier, not a single woman had sat on the podium of the State Council court—and now 98 are. Yet, not one of them is a Christian… at the very least 10 of the 98 should have, for proper representation, been Christian. (More examples of Egyptian discrimination are available here.) – copticsolidarity.org, March 7, 2022 — Egypt

The following are among the murders and abuses Muslims inflicted on Christians throughout the month of October 2022:

The Muslim Slaughter of Christians

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19160/iran-samson-option

The new enrichment program is taking place in the Fordo nuclear center which, built deep underground, is supposed to be immune from possible air strikes.

As on the eight previous occasions when this trick was used, Tehran’s message is addressed to Western powers, notably the United States: resume the nuclear talks or else!

The mullahs played that trick with presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump. In every case, except that of Trump, the trick worked.

At the same time, Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian plays reluctant debutante by claiming that the US “is begging us to resume talks.” Over the past two weeks, he has been pestering Omani and Qatari foreign ministers with phone calls demanding they persuade Washington to return to the stalled talks.

Last week, Tehran announced that 41 foreign nationals have been seized as hostages and charged with helping the current anti-regime protests across the country. That brings the number of hostages now held by the mullahs to 81, the highest since they seized 52 American diplomats in 1979.

Will the trick work again? I am almost certain that, had it not been for the current uprising against the Islamic Republic, the Biden administration would have fallen for the trick with a big smile, if only to save Obama’s only legacy while settling scores with Trump.

It is not hard to expose Tehran’s game as a cheap trick. For years, Tehran, through its lobbyists and useful idiots in Washington, has been selling the story that Khamenei has issued a fatwa banning the production of nuclear weapons under Islamic law.

To be sure, no one has ever seen that fatwa except supposedly Obama, who claimed he had some knowledge of it. But if there is such a fatwa and the mullahs don’t intend to build a bomb, why would they need to enrich uranium up to 60 percent?

The mullahs’ game worked for as long as it concerned only themselves and the cynical or lily-livered Western politicians.

This time round, however, a third player is in the field: a good chunk of Iranian people who feel they cannot take it anymore.

The myth of the Khomeinist despotism as a people-based regime, peddled by characters like Noam Chomsky, has been punctured. Even Bill Clinton is now tweeting support for young Iranians calling for regime change in Tehran.

Like a one-trick pony, Iran’s ruling mullahs have played unpredictable so often that they have become predictable in their unpredictability.

https://spectatorworld.com/life/fifa-scored-spectacular-own-goal/
“Everybody in the world knows why the World Cup is taking place in Qatar. It is because the Qataris are very rich and bribed FIFA officials to have the competition in their inappropriately climated statelet. Many people have lamented this, but I think the whole thing has paid off. Rather than covering over the lamentable aspects of Qatari society, the World Cup has highlighted them — as it has also highlighted a range of people who are willing to say almost anything so long as they get to trouser a lot of cash.”

Unlike some fair-weather fans I maintain a fairly constant interest in the workings of FIFA. Not because I especially care for association football, but because I consider myself something of a connoisseur of corruption. I do not spend all my time studying the matter, but I do take an interest in corrupt people and entities. They form a sort of hall of fame in part of my head.

Top of my list is probably Abdalá Bucaram. For anyone who failed to follow Ecuadorian politics in the 1990s, that is the period when Bucaram was elected to office in his country. Known as “El Loco” (“The madman”), the president had a colorful period in power. Among other things, he released a pop single trying to adopt his nickname in a positive light (“The madman who loves”). But he was best known for his fantastical corruption. So corrupt was Bucaram that when the Ecuadorian parliament voted to impeach him, he was caught trying to bribe officials to vote that he wasn’t corrupt. Shortly afterwards he was seen clambering on to a private jet to Panama with what one witness described as baskets full of cash.

Outside South America, you really have to go to international sporting organizations for corruption of this calibre. So it is that very near to Bucaram in my personal pantheon sits Chuck Blazer. You may remember him from a few years back as one of the FIFA officials who was proved to have received bribes to arrange for the World Cup to go to any country that could line his voluminous pockets. For Mr. Blazer was a big man. Indeed so morbidly obese was he that he had to move around in a mobility scooter. He had two apartments in Trump Tower, one of which was set aside for his cats. When the Feds came knocking, Mr. Blazer was on the way to his favorite restaurant on his mobility scooter. And so the Feds caught the FIFA official fairly easily on Fifth Avenue in perhaps the lowest-speed chase in NYPD history.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/the-unspoken-genocide-of-christians-in-nigeria/

Did you know that, all throughout sub-Saharan Africa—in Nigeria, Mozambique, the Central African Republic, Mali, the Democratic Republic of Congo—Muslims have for many years been terrorizing and slaughtering Christians?

Nor is there any hope on the horizon: problems that cannot be honestly addressed are doomed to persist in perpetuity.

Enter the so-called “mainstream media.” As far as they are concerned, the persecution of Christians in Africa is a byproduct of economic and territorial grievances.

One report, titled, “How poverty and corruption fuel terrorism across Africa,” is emblematic.  After citing  an incident where “jihadis” connected to the Islamic State slaughtered dozens, it insists that such terrorist attacks, which  “are on the rise across the African continent,” are “a consequence of poverty, domestic grievances new and old…”

This has been the mainstream media’s argument, and they’re sticking to it — no matter all the mountains of contradictory evidence.

Take the little-known genocide of Christians in Nigeria. According to an August 2021 report, since the Islamic insurgency began in earnest in July 2009, more than 60,000 Christians have either been murdered during raids or abducted, never to be seen again. During this same timeframe, approximately 20,000 churches and Christian schools were torched and destroyed by “Allahu Akbar” screaming Muslims.

According to the World Watch List’s latest reporting, 79 percent of all Christians killed for their faith were killed in Nigeria, for a total of 4,650.

Who, exactly, is behind this travesty?  Two groups, primarily.  First is Boko Haram, Nigeria’s premier terrorist organization, whose full name means “Sunnis for [Islamic] Propagation and Jihad.”  “Boko Haram,” their nickname, means “Western education is a sin” (not “we kill because we’re poor”).  Their stated goal is the establishment of a pure sharia state and the brutal subjugation or slaughter of Nigeria’s Christians.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19130/latin-america-china-backyard

In the next two years, between 2022 and 2024, China, according to its joint plan with Latin American and Caribbean states, and as part of its quest to become the world’s global tech leader, envisages providing states in the region with 5,000 government scholarships and 3,000 training places in education and research in the Chinese homeland.

This cooperation also extends to space, as well as nuclear energy and nuclear technology. The plan also aims to strengthen cooperation in 5G telecommunications equipment and artificial intelligence.

Significantly, the action plan also mentions building networks of sister cities and sister provinces between Latin American/Caribbean countries and China.

“Under the administration of Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, the association [for sister-cities] has been revitalized as China seeks to groom local business, political, and media leaders in countries around the world…” — “China’s Influence & American Interests,” a 2018 report by the Working Group on Chinese Influence Activities in the United States, Hoover Institution Press, November 29, 2018.

China’s trade with Latin America reached $450 billion last year, up from $180 billion in 2010. The World Economic Forum has estimated that trade with the region will exceed $700 billion by 2035, more than double what it was in 2000.

Crucially, 21 out of the 33 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have joined the Belt and Road Initiative. The BRI seeks dramatically to enhance China’s global influence… by making countries worldwide increasingly dependent on China.

Latin America, as one headline noted recently, is fast “becoming China’s backyard.”

China is deepening its involvement in Latin America and the Caribbean, as Chinese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Ma Zhaoxu made clear last year at a summit between China and Latin American and Caribbean states.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19143/qatar-islamists-america-ally

Hamas leaders [who have relocated to Doha]… are using Qatar as a base for calling for the destruction of Israel. Yet this does not seem to bother the rulers of Qatar or its allies in the West, including the US.

This is the same Qatar whose leaders claim that they condemn all acts of terrorism and violent extremism.

It is disquieting, to say the least, that a county that hosts the leadership of a Palestinian group that carried out thousands of terror attacks against Israel is talking about Qatar’s desire to help eliminate terrorism and extremism.

It is also disquieting that Qatar… continues to pour millions of dollars into the Gaza Strip, thereby emboldening Hamas, whose leaders and charter champion violence and call for the destruction of Israel.

Haniyeh is not the only Hamas leader living under the patronage of Qatar. Several other Hamas leaders, including Khaled Mashaal, Hussam Badran, Izzat al-Risheq and Sami Khater, have also been welcomed to move their offices and homes to the Gulf state.

In addition to hosting the Hamas leaders and their families, Qatar has been providing millions of dollars to Palestinians in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip…. [T]he Qatari aid indirectly helps Hamas to hold on to power. Qatar’s beneficence exempts Hamas from its responsibilities towards the Palestinians living under its rule in the Gaza Strip and allows the terror group instead to direct its resources and energies towards building tunnels to attack Israel and manufacturing weapons, including rockets, in preparation for their next war to try to destroy Israel.

The Hamas leaders have often been criticized by Palestinians and other Arabs for leading comfortable lives in Qatar while calling on their people in the Gaza Strip to continue the jihad (holy war) against Israel.

Qatar, however, evidently cares nothing about the interests of ordinary Palestinians, such as boosting their economy and improving their living conditions. What it cares about is embracing the leaders of Hamas to make Qatar appear to the Arabs and Muslims as the main supporter of the Palestinian “resistance” – a euphemism for the “armed struggle” against Israel.

In spite of Qaradawi’s public support for terrorism and inflammatory rhetoric, the Qataris continued to host him and many of his followers, as well as the leaders of Hamas — in this way turning the emirate into a center for spreading global jihad and terrorism.

It is this detrimental role that, in 2017, prompted four Arab countries — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt — to break diplomatic relations with Qatar. The four countries also barred Qatari citizens and closed all their borders to Qatar.

The Saudis accused Qatar of “embracing various terrorist and sectarian groups aimed at destabilizing the region, including the Muslim Brotherhood group, Daesh (ISIS) and Al-Qaeda…” — Saudi Arabian Embassy in Washington, DC, June 5, 2017.

Qatar has long hosted the largest US airbase in the Middle East, but Qatar is not hosting the base out of love for the Americans. Rather, it is a way of distracting attention from its support for the Muslim Brotherhood and other extremist groups.

Qatar might even have convinced some Americans that it is doing the US a favor by allowing the airbase to be there. How comfortable it must be to export terrorism while having the protection of the US military right on your own soil.

Qatar, however, is no friend of the US or its Arab allies. In fact, Qatar’s endorsement of global jihad remains a source of intense concern for many Arabs, who are asking when the US will wake up and see how the Qataris have been using their wealth to subvert America by showering it with gifts, including financial contributions to US universities and think-tanks.

As long as Qatar continues to fund and host the Hamas leadership, and as long as it continues to use Al-Jazeera to encourage jihad and extremism, the only real game that the emirate is playing, apart from the World Cup, is one of successfully deceiving the Americans.