Sunday, 16 March 2025

I cannot believe I have to say this about Equalization Transfers!!! Weekly Rant 15 Mar, 2025

 Getting a head start on next week's Rant, so grab a drink before reading LOL.

Check out this post. My sister could have made it, but she refuses to be on FaceBook; whereas someone locally has made this post (in part).  

 
In it, she stated:

 "The liberals are trying to do away with the oil and gas in Alberta, and, forgetting that Alberta and Saskatchewan are sending millions east in transfer payments."

[copy/pasted] Font is mine. Called "
Homemade Apple"


 
Really? Liberals want to get rid of Alberta's Oil/Gas? What about all that oil/gas off the East Coast?  Get rid of all that too?  Seriously?

Can I see the documents stating so? Links please?

Transfer of Payments? What kind? From who to whom?

Y'see, what I learned in school about Canada's government, was that the taxes that the Feds collect from every citizen and Corporation ends up in a General Revenue ledger, along with all other "profits" the government may collect (think border taxes, port fees, etc). One big happy account. From there, payments are doled out as required to perform the duties of Canada's Government. Nothing political about this at all. It is a fact! 

You know folks, this is actually is enshrined in our Constitution! It rally states that the government is "committed to the principle of making equalization payments".

Kinda tough to get around that, eh?

Methinks Albertans have a thin skin.

Equalization Payments is just one that come out of General Expenses from the main account, as dictated by the formula.


THEN, now read this carefully, THEN, and only then, does the Government dole out a certain amount of money from that General Account to Provinces that have difficulty attaining the same standard of living as the rich Provinces enjoy.

They utilize an agreed-upon calculation formula to dispense funding to each Province based upon their needs - compared to all the other Provinces.

So now, you truckers that want to separate, listen closely.
Transfers of Payments for this money only flows ONE-WAY - from Ottawa to the Provinces.

Not ONE Province Pays a Transfer Payment/Fee to the Federal Government.

Not One!!!

What Albertans pay as Federal Taxes has no impart upon the Provincial Government, because, the Provincial Government has NOTHING to do with this taxation money other than when ministers/Premiers/Provincial Financial Ministers get together in Ottawa to discuss this formula.

And even then, it is a National-level discussion, and not a Provincial one.

Sit down, Governor Smith!


This is a falsity that was made up by the Alberta Conservatives to create an excuse to start unwinding Alberta's connections to the rest of Canada. Think of the GOP's lies to start off their latest campaign...

Taking the CPP back to Alberta - asking for over half the Federal total amount is kind of over-reaching, don't you think? The napkin-math just does NOT add up.

But, IF Alberta did get their hands on these funds, you may have to kiss your retirement funds goodbye, because they will simply absorb the funds into their own Investment Managers Portfolio - famous for losing vast amounts of money in it's charge. Run by a friend of the Premier and previous Premier(s). And I'll bet the fund will perform "poorly", creating less and less available funds for retiring Albertans.

But, somehow, the elite keep on getting richer and richer, including all those in Power. Hmmmm, I'm thinking creative book-keeping. There is no Federal Government around any more to keep us honest, so...why not, right?

It is something that is also happening in the USA, although much faster rate than is hapening here in Alberta.

Has no one noticed how the UCP have started removing our "rights" to Federal funding, Municipal Election autonomy, Insurance choices, and now, under the radar, the UCP is once again trying to get Coal Mining in the foothills of Alberta a real thing again.

Why?
When we have gas/oil aplenty?


Again, it's the money thing. Just like sTrump, I'm waiting for Governor Smith to say "We're just trying to make Alberta great again, get everyone richer and make things better than ever.

Pleeeeze - tell your lies to someone else, "Governor Smith".

Oh - Didja know that some Americans consider Alberta a "Red State"??? However, when metrics are compared, Alberta is "hardly a Red State", according to the numbers.
Quite interesting, really. A good, short read. [Link at bottom]


Seriously! In reality, Alberta is a group of Red-State pussy-wannabe's.

I'd say that is sick, but is the truth really ever "sick"???

But no one seems to give a damned. You want change? Then make it a change for the betterment of ALL Citizens, not just the ones with get-rich-quick schemes, and those wanting to take Alberta back to the 1950's:

Poorer Education (for the masses, that is, unless you are rich, then you get to go to a                       private school with all the best teachers, equipment, etc),
Poorer Healthcare,
Poorer Policing, 
Rampant Misogyny,
Rampant Bigotry, religious persecution, (for non-Christians) 
Only one religion, and that has it hooks deep into the Government agencies to ensure their agenda for a "better" Alberta meets the Bible's rules.

That is the beauty of Confederation. We share, and share alike. No grubby "it's mine" sort of folks allowed here.

Except for Alberta. 
Alberta seems hell bent on taking it's toys and going somewhere else to play.

Odds are, Alberta would end up part of Montana or Washington.
Whatever.
You deserve it, then.

Let unwonted gun deaths, Fentanyl deaths, Gang Wars, daily street shootings and car thefts help offset your newfound broader "freedoms".
 

JMHO, as always. Remember, opinions are based upon experience with other facts related to the issue. That's MY dog house!!!

And for those of you looking for balance reporting, may I suggest an online news site that offers all 3 viewpoints (politically) when presenting articles on the same subject. I'm talking about Ground News. I make no money off this link, so shaddup, losers! It's a fantastic tool for sorting out your news!

You have the chance to read what the Left, Center and Right balanced newspaper reports, and how Ground News sorts these out for you to better understand the entire story.

Ground also offers a host of other tools to get a better feel for what is really happening around the world. For example, if a Right and a Left newspaper reported the exact same thing, then one could suppose the information is true, without slanting opinions.

But if one is wildly out to lunch, it is readily proven to be "other" than mainstream reporting.

Give it a check. Ground.news/!
Yes, it costs under $4/month, but they have to do a lot of work to sort out all the news articles, read them, rate them discuss them and then post the whole shebang onto their website, so yes, it'll cost a few pennies.

No DOGE coins, if you please!

As always,

Peace

Edwin
-.- . . .--. / - .... . / .--. . .- -.-. . -.-.--
 
.- .-.
 


Some other sources of interest:


Why are Albertans so mad about the equalization program?

Ground.news/

How conservative is Alberta by American standards?

Tuesday, 11 March 2025

A Rebuttal to a Conservative's post - a bit of a rant, perhaps?

A member of my family - name not required - is at political odds to my leanings.

In Federal and Provincial parties, in any case.
And I just found out, in International Politics as well. 

This family member sent me an email, which will be in blue lettering, outlining their complaints.

My responses will be in Black lettering so you can get a feel of MY responses.

I admit, I over-think some things, and then over-write about them, however that is MY burden to carry.  I know I have this issue. I have tried to remedy this problem but have now decided that this is my issue, I'm going to own it, and the rest of you can just muddle through. 

Why?  Because MY Blog is just a way for me to express myself without resorting to online postings such as Facebook and BlueSky.  I'll save those for uplifting messages LOL.

So, let's get started, shall we?

 https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W2SB2iVdDMc/WitFQILdUSI/AAAAAAAAVIo/RCicbSg1BEENRv0Wveey-BILMfBuImQyACLcBGAs/s1600/20171010_084853%2Bcopy.jpg


Trump just announced that the U.S. will continue imposing 25% tariffs. 

♦That is not our fault. That is the plan of Poutin/Trump/Vance/Musk to destabilize the N. Am market, weakening the USA and allowing for Russia to simply walk into the White House unopposed. THAT is NOT in the “Project 2025” plan laid out by Billionaires, however, it IS one of their plans to become Oligarch's such as Russia and China have.

Meanwhile, the Bank of Canada says we’re basically heading into a depression.


Well, yes, that "could" happen, not “will”, and if it does, it will not be a deep one IF we can keep our shit together.

Companies are already jumping ship to the U.S., and Trudeau’s over in the UK pledging another $5 billion of our money to the Ukraine—money we don’t even have—along with more military equipment we barely possess.

Ok, take this one point at a time.

US companies ARE jumping ship to the U.S. Let them. Just shows that they could not operate at a profit unless mother-corp was available to them.
Not our loss.
Theirs.

♦Trudeau pledged $5 Bn in Russian assets/funds being held by Canada, not Canada's money, but Russia's.
It's a smart move, costing us NOTHING!

♦We never did have a lot of military equipment, and anything we give, we can replace, because our gov't had continually let Canada down when it comes to military procurement, and now realize that they have to get off their keesters!

(IMHO) With the new EU leadership stepping up and taking over Security in the Northern Hemisphere, they may very well demand that Canada up it's spending to 5% to meet European Standards, and we can easily meet that by stopping foreign investments, and instead invest in a modern weapons industry. Like Billions to foreign companies to hire foreign workers (see near bottom about Edison Motors).

(IMHO) We have the talent, the industry and the wherewithal to create an effective arms industry to defend Canada without needing to go to the US or Europe. We have not done so because of previous US/Canada trade agreements and Political will power. Now that they are toilet paper, it is time for us to get off our collective asses and start making some inroads to self sufficiency.

(FACTS)

Build our own fighter jets – Sweden said they would build a factory in Canada if we buy the much cheaper and just as effective fighter, the JAS-39E/F Gripen (Griffin).
♦Further range than than of a F-35
♦Half the size of a F-35,
♦faster, super-cruise,
6 tons of bombs (9 hardpoints on wings/fuselage for attaching bombs, missiles, EW Pods, etc.
F-35? It has 2 hard points on the INSIDE of the fuselage and can carry a couple small Sparrow missiles on the wing-tips, but that totally wrecks it's radar invisibility, so they don't utilize them when stealth is required. So...2 A/G, A/A missiles or 2 bombs.
Rough road landing. F-35? Not so much. Think...*crash*
♦F-35 - for twice as much as as a Gripen fighter jet. Gripen regularly beats out F-16 in contests as it is a modern fighter, it is built from ground-up to be the best fighter jet in the world.
The F-35 is not a fighter despite the nomenclature “F”, but in reality is a Stealth Bomber with a machine gun in the wings – it is NOT a fighter jet, despite the “F” nomenclature – it is a sneaky bastard that comes up, drops it ordinance, the buggers off, the targets not being able to track that aircraft by virtue of it's stealth.

♦So, the F-35 is kind of useless for patrolling Canada's Arctic and vast shorelines that will soon play a very important part in our sovereignty!

The Gripen can land on rough landing fields/remote fields for refueling, maintenance and so on, with a minimum of tools or personnel – it was designed that way! It even carries it's own “starter motor” to warm up the aircraft before starting the main engine/avionics.

The F-35 – not so much. Large Crew, highly trained. Many different tools for many different connectors, etc. Harder to maintain. Requires more hours maint per flight hour. Gripen, not so much! Spends more time flying!


Oh, and let’s not forget the 20% carbon tax coming in 30 days, right after the tariffs hit.

♦ Okay, firstly, Carney stated that he
will be scrapping the “Consumer Carbon Tax”.
Period. It's gone!

That 20% will NOT be applied to the average Canadian. Anything else is simply fear-mongering.

The way I understand it is that only larger energy-using corporations and Energy Producing Companies will be handed those taxes, and any money that is left over/recovered is given to Canadian Citizens for use to upgrade furnaces, Solar Panels, windmills, geothermal and other energy sources, and NOT back to the taxed Company.

This money will be in a pool for all Canadians to access to upgrade their energy requirements – most will be grants, and some will be interest-free loans – depending upon the application, however, most will come in the form of easy-to-access grants.

Acting PM Carney laid that out quite nicely. Folks are panicking because they think they have to pay 20%, but that is just creating confusion and fomenting unnecessary hatred, IMHO. In reality, folks will win more back than they “think” they are losing, FFS.

My only concern is that somebody will create some fake agency to “sell” these grants and loans to Canadians – for a portion of the take.

Just like the B.C. Government did with their own electrical vehicle grants and loans fraud and kickback scheme. Turns out the agency was a gov't put-up, with politicians taking a cut, and the agency only giving portions of the money allotted, IF applicants were “friends” of the agency.

Just look at what Edison Motors had to go thru to get B.C. Funding, and discovered this blatant theft/illegal use of Provincial funding, and it became, and still is, an issue with the B.C. Gov't.

Check out Edison's Logging e-Trucks (now moving to Golden, B.C.) on YouTube and Tic-tok to learn what they discovered illegally happening within the BC Gov't and how average citizens like the inventors of Edison Trucks discovered trying to access these grants/funding the amount of kick-back corruption was happening in the B.C. Legislature! They mention it in this Tik-Tok video:

They also go on to mention how Canada is giving Millions and Billion$ of dollars to foreign companies to hire foreign workers. Money that could be utilized right here in Canada, building pipelines, building industries support e-commerce, e-transportation, e-banking apps, alternate energy production companies, reinforcing our Northern Passage for foreign use/tolls. And so on.

But hey, no worries—Team Canada is killing it in hockey, and we’re supposed to keep “buying Canadian” because that’s what they’re telling us to do.

♦YES! We should have been buying Canadian all along, but we got lazy and entitled. Take oranges – we can get then for 1/2 the price from Brazil, but don't. Why? Free Trade Agreement – which is now toilet paper. Just ONE of many alternatives from NOT the USA!!!

♦The EU has said that if we have any shortfalls because of the USA, they will endeavour to help supply us with our essential needs – they have access to foodstuffs right down to southern Africa, Middle East and all of the EU. Oh, Mexico also did the same.

Don't you just Loooove the Mexican President? One smart lady, and one that is not afraid to speak her mind! She's welcome to our home any day!!!

The EU has our backs. If you don't realize this, what hole have you just crawled out of?

But seriously—when do we all stand up, put our differences aside, ban together, and say enough is enough?

I agree. But does that automatically mean we have to radically change the direction of our Province - and our Country – because if you look at what is happening in D.C., that might not be the best of ideas. And jumping onto their bandwagon may also not be the most intelligent, seeing as how D.C. is handing the USA to President Putin. Really!

Our Premier is now in the USA, Stumping for a known radical Conservative, a MAGA extremest, racist, anti-trans, climate denier, slavery denier, anti-abortion and is actually against "political correctness", and most likely is also an anti-vaxxer
- Ben Shapiro


Or do we just wait until we’re standing in food ration lines, watching the banks take our homes, and witnessing our children’s futures being erased?

♦The only food lines will be in the USA as more and more folks fall into poverty and start die'ing from poor medical services. Canada has enough home-grown food and access to many other countries produce that we really do NOT need the USA. Mexico is just a short sea-trip for a cargo vessel to Halifax/Montreal/Vancouver/Prince Rupert.
Oh, yes, PR is becoming a large cargo ship transhipment port, and is growing yearly. As well, the Natural Gas loading plant is being built to ship gas for foreign use, so Alberta's gas supply is not going to be restricted.
♦Why the Fuck have we not already built a pipeline to Quebec, New Brunswick or Nova Scotia? They all have their own Refineries, and they could stop taking Saudi Oil by tankers instead of Alberta Oil. We have enough to still sell to other countries. Europe, btw, is VERY interested in our Gas supplies.


All in the name of “climate change” and “democracy”.

♦ Climate Change is a fact. Get over it. And folks commonly get “Democracy” and “Capitalism” mixed up, conflagulate them together, or simply do not give a damned as to the definitions.

Democracy, as you well know is the Gov't working for the People.
Capitalism as you well know, is an agency taking advantage of folks to turn their hard earned wages into profits for the corporate investors, and nothing else. There is no more least empathetic group of folks as there is on a Corporate Board.


The USA is a Democracy that practices Capitalism as a financial and marketing method of creating wealth for a few people in a large population.

Socialism, as you well know, is where folks share their products, as well as their profits with each other and the Government so as to provide other services (health, transportation, security).

Social-Democracy is a strange bird whereas a Democracy utilizes Socialism to ensure everyone reaps the rewards of national production between everyone else, ensuring that no one goes hungry.

Now, the problem here is simple. One runs only on strict rules, no feelings, no understanding, no empathy, only profit counts, not the people. Thats Capitalism.

The other one also has strict rules – rules that are steeped in empathetic outcomes that do not distress the populace. That is Social-Democracy.
Or it should be.

Interestingly enough, we DO know it works.  Just look at the following countries!
This is what Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Iceland all utilize as their form of government.

And guess who are the happiest folks on the planet?
And guess who are among the richest folks on the planet?
And guess who are among the best educated on the planet?
And guess who treats prisoners like people, and not herd animals?
And guess who has free childcare?
And guess who has the most paid vacations?
And guess who has...well, I could go on, but I think you see the comparisons I'm drawing.

Canada IS a Democracy, but is it either an Empathetic Democracy, or a Soulless Democracy.

Conservatives apparently want a Soulless Democracy – A non-empathetic branch of Democracy, where Corporations and Big Bucks means more than simply the conditions Canadians have to live in. This leads to more, and better control of the populace and more and more profits for the “great leaders”.
To the detriment of said populace.

Communism is a Soulless form of government.

WE have a choice. And trust me when I feel that the Federal Conservatives are not displaying a lot of confidence in controlling the US activities and what they are doing, or want to do to Canada.

Personally, I think Trump is using the Trade Wars for his own nefarious purposes – Distraction? Looking for an Excuse to start a war? Because if the US does get involved in a war, Trump can ditch the Constitution and truly become the Dictator he wants to be.

And he might be using Canada/Mexico as an excuse to start one somewhere...

And the Billionaires/Oligarchy can truly start cracking down on employees – halving wages, creating class-structures, trust-structures. leadership-structures, all empowering the Oligarch's to continue the flagrant abuse of employees. Like Hitler did in Nazi Germany in the '30's.

We are the only generation likely to leave the next with nothing. Our kids will graduate from college or university, praying AI hasn’t already replaced them, try to start a family, and by the time they’re 50—maybe, just maybe—they’ll have enough saved for a down payment on a home.

Don't let AI throw you off. No matter how smart AI becomes, it will never replace skilled humans. AI can, at most, do 1 or 2 physical things at once. With Billion$ in programming.

Humans can do up to 8 tasks simultaneously. AI's will be there us “assist” and “supplement” what humans can do. Like reach into a -237° container for a frozen sample without needing gloves. Or reaching into a 1,000° mini blast furnace to remove a tiny, specially created metal item.

Humans control the AI, the AI does the “fine” work that a human simply cannot achieve. Used together, it becomes a future that is required to make all the smaller and smaller devices that we depend on daily, but at a much lower price point.

It's like the Auto Carburetor going the way of the dodo. And the Fuel Manifold doing all the work, but in a much simpler, faster, efficient and fuel-saving manner.

This doesn’t sound like a future. We want to blame Trump, the media, and our politicians tell us it’s his fault.
Yes, we do!
But the Liberals (and the NDP, which might as well be pegged as the Liberal Party now) are the ones we need to point the fingers at and hold accountable.

Look at the Ukraine war: instead of pushing for real solutions, they just tell us they’re “standing for democracy” and that we *must* support them as they continue to give our money away, in the name of “democracy”.


You do realize, that since 2014, The USA, Canada and the EU have signed over 20 peace treaties between Ukraine and Russia, and Russia violated them within days? Then who do YOU suppose we should throw at the Russians next? Trump? Russia's now well-known KGB-GRU Asset since 1997 when he was recruited?
Facts. Documents. Testimonies.

Yet folks will continue to deny, simply because they have partaken of the kool-aid of MAGA. So sad...

They always pin us as the victim in all of this and now they’re doing the same with the tariffs—no solutions, no effort to try and make a deal or resolution with the U.S., just “Canada is not for sale” and the usual line that we must stand up against Trump because it’s all his fault.

It IS Trumps fault!

Oh, I'm not talking about the Russian Invasion of Ukraine, but the dumbing-down of the USA, in preparation to turning over to the Russian Oligarch's and Putin's highly anticipated arrival in D.C.

To take over the reigns of “Democracy” - Russian Socialist Style!

Trump got a feeling with his first Presidency, and in the intervening years, took classes at the knee of President Putin and his ilk, on how to make a shit-load more money for one's self.

And in the meantime, Trump, or MAGA organizers searched high and low for fellow-thinking folks. MAGA first found JD Vance, and sort of hoisted him up next to Trump. 

Trump hated Vance.
Mutual feelings.
But both are Like-Minded.
Both lack empathy.

Then Trump was "cornered" by Muskrat - and by dropping nearly $300 million on Trumps election run, he earned the "rights" to be at Trumps side to ensure his "investment" reaps a huge profit for himself.  And, interestingly enough, Musk also is non-empathetic. But IS a Billionaire.  A double win for Trump! 

And here you have it.


And yet, the 25% tariffs are moving forward. Prices will surge, businesses will collapse, and more jobs will be lost as companies continue heading south.
Yup, you are not wrong!  But it will be much worse in the US than in Canada.

Everyday Canadians will be left to pick up the pieces while politicians play the blame game.  What else is new?  Sooner or later, you gotta trust someone!

No contingency plans, no relief measures—just more slogans and empty promises while the cost of living skyrockets. The ripple effects will hit every sector, from manufacturing to agriculture, leaving Canadians struggling to afford even the basics.

The truth is, these leaders have destroyed any hope for our children’s future. 

Okay – which leaders and how did they destroy our children's futures? The US Politicians? Russian Politicians? Ukrainian Politicians? Canadian Politicians? European Politicians?

Or are you trying to blame US for starting the Ukraine war?

Look. Fact is that Russia invaded Crimea in '14, and Ukraine has been fighting since then.

The war didn't start in 2021. It started in 2014, and only intensified when Russia tried to invade Northern Ukraine/Kiev in 2021, a new “front” in the same 'ol war, that no one except Canada, Europe and a few other countries tried to help with from the very git-go!

Canada sent soldiers to go train Ukrainian soldiers in modified modern battlefield warfare management and solutions. Note how the Ukrainians were able to hold off a significantly larger force when attacked from the North? That's thanks to NATO troops on the ground in Ukraine, Poland, Germany and England, training Ukrainian troops and officers to be better in battle than their Russian counterparts.

And it shows. My pride for Canada's soldiers can never be higher than it is now. There are STILL many overseas continually training soldiers headed to the front lines of Ukraine. And my pride for my relatives in Ukraine for utilizing this training with the conniving intelligence that Ukrainians are famous for inventing tools, technology or other under utilized weaponry against the Russian aggressors.

Does that make it OUR fault that we are supporting Ukrainians defending their home country?

And I think many people don’t want to admit it because, deep down, admitting it would mean they’d have to do something about it.

But we are literally at a point in time where we are all looking into the crystal ball, seeing what our future holds if we, the citizens of this amazing country, allow these fools to run our government and make decisions that support the World Economic Forum’s agenda and benefits—not our own.

Firstly, the World Economic Forum is comprised of non-governmental agencies – not governments.

Their goal is “to improve the state of the world”. Sure, some win, some lose, but we would like the poorest folks/countries to be in on the winning too, not at the feet of rich countries, but given the same opportunities.

Think of the WEF as a sort of an International Lobby Agency.  Sure, they have agenda's.  Sure, they make plans and offer solutions that are not optimal for everyone, but sometimes compromises have to be done, and complaining about an agency that is trying to help the planet makes me suspect the rationale of this denial.

I do, however note, that our new PM, has sat on dozens of boards, of which the WEF was but one. So, to make our new PM less “edible” for the masses, one only has to denigrate the WEF to imply that our new PM is also to blame for WEF's "bad" policies.

The leader of the Federal Conservatives? I think he attended a debate in college...

It's a no-brainer which one I'd like leading our country.

It is a poor tactic to distract the populace from the real facts – which in this case should hopefully be sorted out with the ousting of Trudeau (thankfully!)

The NDP? Well, as soon as they get a leader that is not a wishy-washy the sky is blue kind of leader and get someone more pragmatic, and I might, juuuust might, vote NDP again. Sorry, not now. Grow some balls, eh?

All of our family and friends, even the ones we don’t see eye to eye with, will feel this.
Yes, it's impacting the entire planet, not just us! S. Korea is on high alert because N. Korea is getting uppity because of Putin.

China is getting Uppity about Taiwan, America's largest Chip Manufacturing and tech development on the planet.

They will be impacted.

So as much as this may seem like some sort of rant, I’m truly asking a real question: When is enough, enough?
When IS enough, enough? Great Question. Also WHAT is enough?

When we can freely walk down any street in Canada, free to do whatever we want to legally do without fear of oppression, fear of police brutality, fear of loss of homes (when we have an actual home-shortage!!!)
When we can rely upon our neighbours and friends to stick with a mutually agreed upon Free Trade Agreement across N. Am.?
When we can live in peaceful co-existence with every other country on the planet?
When we can help others when we have more than they will ever see?

When we can alleviate pain and suffering in impoverished areas?

When highly armed countries no longer push poorer countries against their will. Yes, Israel, I'm staring daggers at you!!!

You tell me. When IS enough, enough?

Copied...feel free to do the same

He is saying EXACTLY what I've been saying & believing all along. Just thought I'd pass this along for another POV.

When you say “He” - I truly hope that you are NOT talking about President Trump?

Look, I understand how folks may think his farts don't smell (but they do, according to a LOT of folks), and yes, I understand the plan to remove the fat, the bloat, the waste and the theft, of government funding models, and yes, I do think there is a bit of everything that Canada could do better. 

I understand such a mandate by an elected government, but when that plan turns into a preparation of takeover by a hostile - but now interestingly enough - a friendly Dictator, then you should KNOW that things have hit a wall and require sorting out first, before getting back to sorting out internal issues.

However, Trump and Muskrat are literally tearing everything apart to find a mouse-sized problem and fix with a sledge hammer. In the meantime, average citizens will pay with their lives.

And the Military, Intelligence, Border Security, Air Transport, Sea Transport and so on are all in a Hodge-podge as American Agencies try to fend off unwonted destruction upon a working society – by fly-by-night agencies (Musk agencies, apparently) that are NOT official agencies of the US Gov't.


What do YOU think of Musk taking the US Air Traffic Control systems down and replacing with SpaceX Satellite connectivity? So that the entire US ATC system is then dependent upon SpaceX?

Musk and his satellite company Starlink wants to provide "better systems" than ones purposefully built for the task by very high-tech American companies?

Or do you trust Muskrat's one-finger control over America's airspace, with which a single finger press would disable the entire damned thing.


HOW is that better?
HOW is it better that Trump calls Putin weekly for advice?
HOW is it better that Trump stops intelligence, so that Ukraine has no idea when
Russia's missiles will land, and where.
Women and children killed indiscriminately.
War Crimes.
HOW he then ordered Britain NOT to share intelligence with Ukraine?
THAT is just sick. No Empathy!!!

But Trump and Vance don't even consider this. They just want a “win” for the books, and not for the people. Trumps psychology is a black/white one, where it is win/lose, inconvenient truth/lie, his fault/everyone else's fault.

He even lies on his golf scorecard. Many have so stated. They cannot all be wrong, eh?

Notice that Trump only hires sycophants to replace Professionals he fired? A FOX TV Host FFS, to run an entire agency? A felon to run the FBI?

There's a helluva lot more going on here than a simply failure of the Canadian Government (Trudeau, mostly). We are being caught up in world-changing events, and it is NOT a good time to stick our heads into the sand and ignore everything else that is going on.  It IS a good time to get our shit together, however, and I think with this new PM, things may start to change.

We either stand united, or divided we WILL fail. And that, IMHO, is what the UCP are hoping for. Total failure of Canada's govt so Alberta can separate under a Christian Flag.

I think you all know by now that I detest Fairy Tales as a form of government, and I especially detest using Fairy Tales as a basis for separation. I'm, of course, talking about the Bible. JMHO, mind you.

Finally, I will end off with the following piece of information.

♣Everything President Trump has done to date, has been done because he is a Sociopath. So is JD Vance – which is why Trump cannot stand him.

♠Elon Musk is also a Sociopath and also sits upon the autistic spectrum – labeling him a “genius” as some on the spectrum are also alluded.

♣Trump likes that Musk gave his election several hundred million dollars to fuel more fake TV commercials to suck kool-aid drinkers into following MAGA.

♣Musk, the sociopath spectrum sitter, is also well known as non-empathetic boss.

♣So is Trump.
♣So is Vance.
♣So is Putin.

I'm sensing a pattern here...


Peace,
.- .-.


Wednesday, 5 March 2025

FB is just killing the Anti-Conservative Meme's. Here's why.



 

 
Forward

I don't know why Religion is getting so involved in National, Provincial, Municipal and hell, even School Boards' makeup.

Lets let the Canadian Constitution guide our daily living.  Let the Canadian Supreme Court decide major issues. Let local Courts decide local issues (if legal "advice" is required, that is).  But until then, simply letting good business practices, good neighbourhood management and social connectivity help elevate Urban and Suburban area living conditions.

Lets let modern Ethics, Morals, and for the working folks, a good sense of Ethos, to guide  beliefs that are more in tune with one's Community, Nation and Ideology.  It is the balance between Caution and Passion.

There is so much more in the simple word "Ethos" than one may realize, and more and more, big business and even Military's are starting to insert Ethos" into their workplace management systems.  For good reason - it expounds upon Ethics and Morals, giving direction to make good decisions, and to live a comfortable socially healthy lifestyle, whatever kind it may be.

And that is why so many Liberals have issues with Conservative More's - because they are so restrictive, and come from what many believe is a work of fiction. 

Remember a famous Science Fiction Author who wrote a diatribe as a form of Therapy?

If not, then try reading L. Ron Hubbards, "revolutionary" thought experiment called Dianetics - which then evolved into today's Scientology , but it was originally thought by the Author to be more of a form of "Therapy".

Riiiiiight.  Any I play drums at 63 to ease the Tinnitus in my ears.

Discussion:

Look at what is happening in the Canadian Politics and News, and also on FaceBook, and suddenly I see a marked "agenda" to both sides - but which one is more advantageous to the average Canadian Citizen?

 I think a melange of both, a more "Centrist" view is the best, taking the strongest, self-supporting, factual, and most adopted agendas that strengthens Canada's commitment to itself, it's Citizens and it's women and children. 

Some folks may need to swallow some pride, but that is part of growing up and learning how to get along with others.  Unlike Communism, where back-stabbing everyone you know is looked upon fondly.
 
At top are two contrary images, the first being the "initial" post image that got the discussion thread running.  The second image is one I found further down in the discussion feed, that I believe was posted by someone who was just disgusted with the whole thing, threw that graphic on the Feed, and then went to bed. 

Good for them!  I wish I could do that.  But alas, I cannot.
 
So, here are two verbatim posts at opposition to each other, and I want to discuss each.
First one.
 
"Let's reframe this. All conservatives want is:
-People to look at data
-loyalty TO truth
-enough wealth to share liberally
-the ability to practice any religion freely without criticism.
-all people with voices, including the unborn.
-freedom with consequences
-knowledge and for a knowledgeable society.
- no pride, just hard work.
-self honour for the hard work we have done.
-order AND justice, including for the unborn and our children.
-no praise, again just hard work.
-power over our own lives."

Thursday, 12 December 2024

Moskva sinking, Ukrainian weapons development, and a wee bit of ranting, of course.


 So, of course, someone re-posted the sinking of the Moskva as if it happened last week, when in fact, it was sunk in April of 2022!  Apparently, over 520 men went to their graves that night.

Sadly, the topic became twisted, and folks started hating onto Ukraine.  Others defended it.  Such as myself.  The haters started complaining that Ukraine "had to accept the western fighting doctrine".

Well, kinda. It was offered.  First to ground troop training, then the other services.  Offered.  And Accepted.  Gratefully, I may add. This was back in 2014, when Canada, Denmark, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden, the UK and the USA provided Joint Training under the name of "Operation UNIFIER"

It wasn't "had to accept", it was "Do you want to learn the modern battlescape and other stuff?".

Of course they said "sure"! I mean, Ukraine wants to join the EU, and a quick hand up to modern equipment, modern Ethics, Battle Procedure, NCO training, and more were like a Genie offering 3 wishes. Of course, they said yes!


Then Western countries sent our soldiers to the Ukraine and Poland to teach face-to-face with their soldiers that were already, or may be soon fighting the Russians. This happened right after Russia took the Crimea. And the Ukrainians fighting for Crimea learned these lessons, went back home and suggested changes that would work best in Ukraine.

Of course, money was always an issue, and while donations were coming into the Ukraine like crazy, training on all the different weapon systems, tactics, team-building and so on happened quickly using regional equipment and supplies. Modern weapons were a gift, initially. Now, they are becoming a burden because while they now have trained and transitioned to the new "modern" weapons, they have no new modern ammunition to fire on these systems.


Shortly after taking office in 2017, then President
МудакTrump started sticking his nose into the Crimea business, stating that Russia owns it now. Then accuses Ukraine of money laundering and other political gaffs, that in reality, simply did not exist. Then, finally, trying to blackmail the Ukrainian president to lie for President Trump, or no weapons. So disgusting!

Let me be very clear here -
МудакTrump was the single worst President in American History. He is so in the back pocket of Putin that he actively worked against the Ukrainian people. And American interests.

How?

  1. МудакTrump took Russia's side when the conflict began. In 2014, when Ukraine ousted the Pro-Russia regime, Russian troops soon invaded the Crimea. Within weeks, МудакTrump praised Putin for how he handled the takeover of Crimea. Then he began to deny activities that Russia did to further their goals. He denied that Russia shot down a civilian airliner that killed 298 people. МудакTrump sowed doubt about that affair, embracing Putin's denials.

  2. МудакTrump mixed record on arming Ukraine.
    In 2016 during the GOP Convention, the party blocked language from the party platform that called on the US to send lethal arms to Ukraine. In 2019, trump with-held $400 million in military aid to pressure President Zelensky to announce sham corruption investigations into Biden and his family's business dealings. This caused his first impeachment. GOP Senate acquitted Trump.
    Apparently, the GOP are really Russian "Hawks", and
    МудакTrump continuously pushed a litany of false claims about Ukraine - in public and private.

  3. МудакTrump led an anti-Ukraine smear campaign.
    Throughout his presidency,
    МудакTrump continued to push a litany of false claims, and never missed an opportunity to criticize Ukraine. МудакTrump believed "Ukraine was a corrupt country, full of terrible people." I wonder where he got that idea from???
    Even knowing that Russia helped
    МудакTrump win the 2016 election, he claimed it was Ukraine, which he repeated dozens of times, that he was the victim. They downplayed Russia's brazen attack on US democracy, while simultaneously smearing Ukraine. 

  4. МудакTrump repeatedly undermined Zelensky.
    In 2014, Zelensky was a fledgling politician that Trump and his cronies took advantage of as part of a ham-handed attempt to smear candidate Biden. Veteran US Diplomats in Kyiv tried to get more shipments of American weapons, and Zelensky wanted to meet
    МудакTrump at the White House. These diplomats were smeared and sidelined, and were soon replaced by a band of Trump loyalists  who made his demands clear. Admit Ukraine was investigating Biden and Family, and Trump will release weapons to Ukraine.

But, since then, we've (Canada) had soldiers on the ground training them in: firefight doctrine, advance-to-contact that Canadians perfected, tactics, methodology, S&R, Prisoner Control, Trench Warfare goodies, weapons control and team building for infanteers and tankers alike. Additional training teams are still helping train Ukrainian soldiers on vehicle systems, comms, mine clearing, and many other topics, some very technical. Also on the training calendar were our Engineers showing them "alternate" methods of developing or even utilizing weapons. Officers and NCO's were taught leadership - Western Style, where NCO's can make decisions based upon the orders of officers. Many independent tank commanders are either frocked NCO's or are still NCO's.

To underscore my point about Ranks and Leadership, the Ukraine approved new ranks, NATO-style amendments to military instructions. Because each rank is a higher "trust" level, that Russia does not subscribe towards.

Getting back to how Ukraine may be underdogs, but they are masters at taking old stuff and creating a new weapon. Or to use doctrine that western armies do not necessarily utilize. For example, I would never have thought of using a tank to clear entrenched positions. Usually there is a fireteam behind each tank to do the clearing, while the Tank protects them from enemy vehicles.

I am not a "tanker", so do not know if this is old, or new doctrine, but look, each tank shell costs between $500 and $1500 depending upon application/use. I will innocently assume that the $500 round is a simple HE round. High Explosive. Perfect for trench clearing???

5.56mm (USD$.32 each) or even 7.62mm (USD$.42-.86) bullets are at most, under a dollar each. A .50cal, is a bit more around USD$3.14 each , but what a bang for those bucks, eh?

Recycling and repurposing old out-dated Russian Arms into modern weapons on the cheap. Some teams are still in Poland assisting the ongoing training for Ukrainian soldiers, sailors and airmen. (No NATO soldiers allowed in Ukraine...)


Ukrainians have always been "jacks of all trades, masters of none", but seem to always come up with brilliant solution to seemingly complex problems.

It was probably obvious that Drones would eventually be incorporated into their Weapons Vault, initially only for Recce's! And now, they have their own fledgling industry building their own Bomb-laden Drones, LR-Drone Airplanes and ELR- Drone Missiles.

For example, personal weapons built under license, such as the Israeli "Fort-221 (TAR-21) Bullpup 5.56mm, RoF=750-900 rounds per minute.

And so much more!

Doctrine has been radically challenged by the Ukrainians as well - for example, no need for armoured taxi's in the rear areas when Upgraded SUV's work just as well, and are a helluva lot cheaper than a Bradley or BMP-80. And several non-profit agencies have been and continue raising money to purchase upgraded SUV's, many of them donated, then shipped to Ukraine for small artillery transport, or fireteam relocations. Real non-battle-taxi's.

Why add wear and tear on armoured vehicles moving a couple guys in the rear areas 20 km, when a SUV will suffice?

Save the armoured veh for front-line replacement!!!

And now, as more armoured vehicles are landing in the Ukraine, (Such as the Aussie monster, the "Bushmaster"!), so these SUV's can stay in the rear areas making transiting between HQ's much faster, if not a bit more comfortable too. Let the Bushmasters do the front-line taxi service, eh?

SUV - 4 soldiers w/kit. 40km move, perhaps 15L gas. One driver.
APC - 4 soldiers w/kit, 40km move, perhaps 80L Diesel. Plus Driver and Crew Commander, and perhaps a gunner. So 3 folks taken away from other duties.
Plus extra maintenance, oil, track/wheel repairs...

For example, the Bradley IFV has a 0.75mpg US Gallon) average fuel consumption. (Yes, I looked this up, and it's true, apparently...)
This is why the Bradley also has a Secondary Generator to provide power using a much smaller motor, when static. Oh, and the metric mileage? Conveniently, that works out to about 175L/100km! Can you just imagine???


Yeah, the Ukrainians are not dumb. Just willing to try stuff out, making us look like fools. I mean, it took Canada 20 years to decide on, purchase, develop and finally start to receive the new choppers. Still waiting for the last 2. It would probably have taken Ukraine 2 years to do the same purchase. Decide what they want, put out tenders, sign ironclad contract, start receiving goods with a couple years.

Big Difference, but that is just my opinion - based on how slow Canada is to get new kit for it's warriors!

Today, dozens of Ukrainian companies are making drones that play a critical role in the war. Many of those drones are doing reconnaissance work or carrying out attacks along the frontline inside Ukraine. But increasingly, Ukraine is sending attack drones deep into Russia to hit air bases, weapons depots and fuel storage sites.

"Most of the companies here are the companies that were created a couple of years ago, or even a couple of months ago," a representative of the drone company Airlogix, stated.

I hate to say it, but Ukraine runs their arms industry like Мудак Elon Musk runs SpaceX. Fast iteration.

I cannot wait to see what they come up with next.


Slava Ukraini!

Ukrainian report by NPR on latest developments, builds and uses of Drones

4 things to remember about Мудак Trump.


 Whups!  Wait a second

Hold on folks, I'm sure you have some questions about the colouring of certain lines of text. 
Check it out!

Color Coding - I hope to enact and carry this out from now on:


Black will be regular text, the story.
Bold Black will be regular Headers.
Light Blue will be links to other articles outside of this one.
Red/Brown will indicate that which I think is my own opinion or knowledge based upon my old training/education.
Dark Blue will be "researched facts", and IMO, is the truth as I understand the fact.


Perhaps more will come out with feedback, etc.

Epstein Saga linked Internationally to espionage?

 Hey, y'all, Dumble-Nuts here, trying to work through about 5 days of #5-6 levels of pain, drugs notwithstanding. So...Epstein. Being a ...