We’re not your lab rats any more: Convoy update IV

The post “We’re not your lab rats any more” III — as the world fights back against a lab rat status in the COVID-19 “Trust the Science” Crazy — was getting too big (especially on cell phones). So go here for the whole story up to Canada’s Trudeau suddenly dumping the Emergencies Act aimed at the protestors against ridiculous COVID-19 rules.

Here, I (O’Leary for News) will just keep adding to the story as it unfolds in various countries, putting new items at the top. News added on our usual UD topics starts below this post in the stream.

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Canada February 24, 2022

Just because the Emergencies Act has been lifted doesn’t mean that everything is going back to normal. Justin, Chrystia, and Karen are still in charge.

For one thing, it’s not just the federal government. Provincial governments can cash in: “Ontario shuts down 39 trucking businesses involved with Freedom Convoy. Overall, 27 seizure orders were issued to large truck operators from outside Ontario, banning them from operating any commercial motor vehicle within the province.” We can be sure that some will profit from competitors’ downfall and will not be slow to reward those who brought it about.

Ottawa Lawyer Says Convoy Protest Donors May Have Accounts Frozen, Despite RCMP’s Claims Otherwise Keeping people in suspense is a strategy, of course.

$7.8M Frozen: Targeting of Convoy Supporters’ Bank Accounts Draws Fire at Finance Committee “‘The ability for a financial institution—which by the way, is a third party to act as the judge and the jury without the opportunity for an individual to make any representation—I’m having a hard time understanding how that is compliant with the Charter,’ said Conservative MP Adam Chambers.” Well, it isn’t but the Charter is just a piece of paper now.

As for the Mounties: “CONFIRMED: Leaked RCMP chat shows members celebrating violence against freedom protesters. One of the RCMP members laughed off the trampling incident, stating they’ve “watched that horse video,” calling it “awesome,” and that “we should practice that manoeuvre.” As one commentator put it, “Now just regime thugs.”

We are told that, following the crackdown, posters appeared in Ottawa streets listing the names of residents whose donation information had been at GiveSendGo (Hat tip Krock at 477 at Convoy III):

An individual or a group of individuals are putting up posters around the Ottawa area with the names and email addresses of residents that donated to the Freedom Convoy cause.

The posters also include the donation amount. pic.twitter.com/UMCVoCJ329

— Marie Oakes (@TheMarieOakes) February 22, 2022

The poster creators are probably operatives rather than typical citizens.

Donors names were published on (since removed):

All the people in Ontario (and their names and addresses) who donated to freedom were today exposed on google maps. Complete breach of privacy.

This is a war people.

— CW 4 a New Republic of Alberta4All. Nothing Less. (@alberta_cw) February 22, 2022

A bit more information emerging about Chrystia Freeland, Trudeau’s hench (hat tip Jerry at 478 in the Combox at Convoy III: When boring people turn dangerous:

Years later, she is somehow Canada’s Finance Minister, and what another friend from our Russia days laughingly describes as “the Nurse Ratched of the New World Order.” At the end of last week, Minister Freeland explained that in expanding its Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) program, her government was “directing Canadian financial institutions to review their relationships with anyone involved in the illegal blockades.”

The Emergencies Act contains language beyond the inventive powers of the best sci-fi writers. It defines a “designated person” — a person eligible for cutoff of financial services — as someone “directly or indirectly” participating in a “public assembly that may reasonably be expected to lead to a breach of the peace.” Directly or indirectly?

Indirectly? … Spreading “misinformation,” maybe …?

Meanwhile,

Saskatchewan Premier Calls on Trudeau Government to End Federal COVID-19 Mandates

and

Trudeau Government Facing Lawsuits Over Emergencies Act “Alberta Premier Jason Kenney and two civil and constitutional rights groups say they will continue to pursue legal challenges of the Canadian government’s use of the Emergencies Act even after the measure was revoked on Feb. 23.” But of course. Otherwise, he will do it again, anytime he gets into a snit.

Punditry

Trudeau’s References to ‘Misinformation’ When Justifying His Emergencies Act Are Very Troubling:

Legacy media members and politicos were furious when the New York Times dared to report that protesters had been arrested at gunpoint in Ottawa. One CBC TV host called the Times’ story “false and incredibly dangerous rhetoric” while a CBC radio host called the report “BS.” Trudeau confidante Gerald Butts was enraged on Twitter as he called out the New York Times, implying they would lose Canadian subscribers.

Jesse Brown with Canadaland then published a story that included pictures of people who were indeed being arrested at gunpoint in Ottawa. Gerald Butts dismissed the story as “clickbait,” though the photographic evidence was pretty clear.

The New York Times and Canadaland are both liberal-friendly outlets. The issue that establishment media and Liberal loyalists had with the stories wasn’t inaccuracy, it was that the stories contradicted their own narrative.

Trudeau, of course, wants control of the news. The legacy Canadian media — who would not survive except for handouts from the taxpayer — would be happy to help, as it gets them out of actually reporting news (which is work).

A Canadian writer expressed relief when the Emergencies Act was withdrawn:

The feeling of hopelessness was compounded by the videos I watched from independent media coming out of Ottawa: a disabled Indigenous grandmother being trampled by mounted police, police officers beating citizens, hundreds if not thousands of un-identifiable policemen confronting protesters, the police chief intimidating residents, donors to the convoy being frozen out of society and out of their bank accounts at the behest of the petty, disgusting Prime Minister of Canada and his cronies for the crime of opposing him and his regime. There were so many vomit-level episodes here over the week, it would be difficult to list them all. I felt very dark, very sad, psychologically tormented and beaten down. I did lose sleep over it all.

And then as my deadline approached, news broke of the walking back of the Emergencies Act. I had a feeling last night that getting the Act passed in the Senate was not a slam dunk for Trudeau. I wondered, with all the terrible press from around the world, with the anger and rage of so much of the Canadian population and his utter humiliation on the world stage, how could he keep this up? I think the walk back was a combination of several factors: devastating polling, the legal action that was being launched by provincial and national civil liberties associations, the lawsuit being launched by the province of Alberta and the many public denunciations of Trudeau Tyranny. That, coupled with the inarguable fact that there was no emergency, sealed the deal.

But that’s hardly the end of the story. The same bad actors could do it again if they decide to reset Canada on different principles. Thorough inquiries are needed, which includes a vast replacement — not of average Canadians — but of people who should simply not have positions of power that go much beyond choosing shower curtains and what to order for pizza toppings.

Commentator Dennis Prager asks, “Is Canada becoming North America’s Cuba?”

“A senior government official said … police could gather the names and license plate numbers of people participating in a protest or an unlawful assembly and share that information with FINTRAC (Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada) …

“Banks have been granted immunity against legal action in the event of disputes over whether someone should have been denied financial services. ‘No proceedings under the Emergencies Act and no civil proceedings lie against an entity for complying with this Order,’ the regulations read.”

The majority of Canadians (56%), we are told, currently support this. But then the majority are still dependent on government-funded legacy media for information. Many will find out the hard way what living in a frozen Cuba is really like when it gets round to them. But the way things are going, it may not get round to them — not that they have done anything to deserve the break.

Typical: Joy Break: An Anti-Woke News ‘Freedom Convoy’ Protestor is a Good Samaritan for a Woke News Outlet

When covering the Freedom Convoy trucker camp in Arnprior, Ontario, a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s (CBC) van slid off the road and got stuck in snow. One of the protestors, Tyson Gareau, happened to be wearing a “Defund the CBC” hat. The CBC has been extremely hostile toward the truckers and the Freedom Convoy. But that didn’t stop Gareau from being the proverbial “Good Samaritan.”

CBC’s van slide off the road & got stuck in a ditch beside the protestors’ camp in Arnprior. A demonstrator named Tyson Garneau wearing a “defund the CBC” hat pulled us out knowing we were CBC journalists. He said he’d never leave anyone stuck like that. pic.twitter.com/tNaI2GQPsJ— Ashley Burke (@AshleyBurkeCBC) February 23, 2022

It’s a matter of honour on his part. It would be interesting to know if there was any sense of shame on theirs.

Lastly, some fun:

Ottawa Senators [ice hockey team] Change Name To

“The People’s Republic of Canada must shed the last vestiges of culture that celebrated freedom,” said Supreme Emperor of the North Trudeau. “Ottawa’s beloved team will be renamed as a tribute to my magnificent greatness!”…

In addition to the name change, the team will also adopt Justin Trudeau as their official mascot. The mascot costume will come in two varieties: standard and blackface.

—

World News, February 24, 2022

Iceland Lifts All COVID-19 Restrictions, Says People ‘Need to Be Infected’ Since Vaccines ‘Are Not Enough’ “Both domestically and at the border, all rules on quarantine, social gatherings, and school regulations regarding COVID-19 will be removed, Willum announced. This includes rules on a gathering limit of 200 people indoors.”

Britain has largely dumped the Crazy so the leadership can risk asking some hard questions: “Wuhan lab leak theory ‘accepted as likely behind closed doors at No 10’” Of course the Wuhan Level IV gaon-of-function lab is the most likely origin but never forget that it was once Woke Virtue to emphatically (if not hysterically) doubt that.

Australia

Police confirm use of controversial LRAD device at Canberra protest

What started out at the beginning of the week as the ‘stuff of conspiracy theories’ was eventually confirmed by Police.

Australian Capital Territory Policing admitted that they did use a Long Range Acoustic Device (also known as a LRAD) during the Canberra Convoy Freedom rallies outside Parliament House.

Yes, it’s come to this: The way things are going, when official sources tell us that something is a conspiracy theory, that could just mean that it’s something they think they can keep from people for now.

Premier Daniel Andrews reveals masks to be scrapped in most indoor settings but not for students in year 3 or above at primary school The least likely population at risk… Trust the Science, you ignoramus!

Also, students BANNED from chanting at rowing regatta “COVID-19 cited as the reason behind a call to put a lid on cheer.” Sure thing. Again, Trust the Science, you ignoramus!

and

Useless, complicit media attempts spin to fight back against public awareness of its failure to get the story right: “In a recent episode of Channel 10’s The Project, a segment aired that contained so much projection, it forced the show’s online team to disable all comments from social media posts about it. People saw through it.” That could be happening more now.

New Zealand gets ugly

She just oozes positively Trudeau-ian levels of insincerity, viciousness and entitlement. https://t.co/gqd4uejoTH

— Douglas Murray (@DouglasKMurray) February 21, 2022

Note: The correct usage is “Trudeaupian” levels of insincerity, viciousness and entitlement.

—

United States News, February 24, 2022

As convoys now head for Washington, D.C., some thoughts from Canada:

The truckers meeting in our Nation’s Capital are also protesting COVID restrictions, as well as increased gas prices and critical race theory.

Scranton businessman and vocal critic of the president Bob Bolus is leading the convoy from our area.

He said, “We’ll shut interstate systems down around the country and literally teach them, who are you going to arrest? We’re not coming there just to starve them, we’re going to choke you like a boa constrictor and you’ll have nothing. You’ll either listen to us and listen to one most important thing the ‘we the people.’

A word of friendly advice from Canada to Bob Bolus: Stick to one single issue. The reason people remained united in Canada, despite significant oppression by government, is that we all have one issue here only: End the Crazy. And we judge everything by whether government is doing that or not. Then we can all go home and do other things as we think fit.

For every Convoy I have witnessed here in Victoria, Canada, (now 3), I have seen either a stupid restriction dumped or else more people starting to act like they “get it” about the wittering bureaucrats thinking up rules because they don’t know what else to do — and keeping them in place because they don’t know how to climb down the tree they climbed up. Enough. The Panic should be over now.

So yes, Convoy! But stay peaceful and stick to ending the Crazy.

New Yorkers Hold Rally in Support of Canadian Truckers

The demonstrators chanted, “no vaccine mandates,” “stand with Canada,” “we will not comply, “freedom, freedom, freedom,” “my body, my choice, your vaccine you won’t force” and “coercion is not consent.”

The ages of attendees ranged from mid-20s through senior citizens and included a wide variety of heritages.

Like we said before, please keep it peaceful. Let the government engage in the rough stuff because they’re the ones with a lot to hide. Then, like Trudeau in Canada, they will likely face rebellion from within their own ranks. Eventually, if not sooner, they will face a purge of unsuitable government. Hey, it happened to your Luv Guv and his brother already…

Elite businesses are starting to dump the Crazy: These 3 major cruise lines are set to lift mask mandates as COVID cases drop:

Royal Caribbean plans to drop its indoor mask requirement for fully vaccinated passengers starting Friday. Carnival Cruise Line’s new policy, which will lift mask requirements in most venues, takes effect March 1.

A third cruise line, Norwegian Cruise Line, announced earlier this month that it would let passengers ditch their face masks starting March 1.

If you can afford tropical ocean air, you can at least buy it again now.

More serious medical stuff: Facts Matter (Feb. 22): CDC Caught Hiding Troves of Data: Not Publishing Critical Hospitalization, Booster, and Virus Data Many soourcfdeschose to market panic instead of demanding answers.

The Centers For Disease Control’s Lies Have Destroyed Its Legitimacy:

By refusing to acknowledge the harms of lockdowns, mask mandates, and vaccination, the Centers for Disease Control has brought everlasting shame to itself.

Last summer, guided by the CDC, President Biden claimed, “If you’re vaccinated, you’re not going to be hospitalized, you’re not going to be in the IC unit, and you’re not going to die.” Biden also spread misinformation about vaccinations preventing the spread of Covid-19 by stating, “You’re not going to get Covid if you have these vaccinations.”

Who is harmed the most by health misinformation produced by our president and his agencies? Those with low health literacy. Our rich-poor gap is growing in this country, and lying about health issues only exacerbates it.

There’s an old saying: Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me…

Five reasons why health professionals might not tell you what they themselves know about the situation: Loss of licences, jobs, grants, advancement, and social pressure. All that the coverups are doing is making the situation seem worse than it may actually be.

Worth noting: Big Pharma, domiciled in California, may be contributing to the Crazy there. Follow the money.

And, lastly, another American gets it:

Should we be surprised when all the “liberals” in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States turn out to be fascists in disguise? Should we be surprised that what they truly desire is to exert unlimited power over the lives of others? Of course not. The abuse of power, once power is attained, is practically universal. George Washington rejected absolute authority, and Cincinnatus returned it to the Roman Senate after just 15 days. But in every single other case in history, a dictator remains a dictator until he or his dynasty is killed off.

We are entering the post-Western democracy stage of history. And we’re further along than we thought. No one was shocked when Germany or Austria locked people in their homes during COVID—democracy in a European nation-state has always been a thin veneer. But it was shocking to read of people attempting to climb the fences at Australian COVID concentration camps and being hunted down by the police. It was shocking to see Canada’s party-line vote to prolong emergency powers so they can make protests illegal, imprison political enemies, and confiscate dissenters’ property.

The cost of “Trust the Science!” is pretty steep, it turns out.

At any rate, always remember, many of your neighbors still resolutely believe it:

What is remarkable is the partisan split. Republicans disapprove of Trudeau’s response to the truckers’ protest by an overwhelming 87% to 8%. Independents disapprove by a massive 74% to 21%. But Democrats actually say they approve of Trudeau’s conduct by 66% to 17%.

Most of these people may genuinely believe they are in danger without their masks and lockdowns. Dealing with their mental health status will not be easy.

You may also wish to read:

Let us listen to Dr. Robert Malone, dissenting expert, on the COVID-19 crisis

and, for what’s happening in suddenly famous Canada:

Convoy II : The police swoop in Ottawa: The Constitution? Old news now “Trust the science!” is starting to show its totalitarian face in Canada — but, as they slowly learn the facts, citizens are standing their ground, From the comments: “Canadians: ‘Be polite when you are being arrested.’ u guys rock!” (Sure, commenter. Canada belongs to the people of Canada. And this is how free people fight back. Serfs, by contrast, destroy things and attack people because they have no stake in a free and prosperous society.)

and

What I saw at the Freedom Convoy in downtown Victoria It was all friendly; people were having a good time. There was no violence; I heard no racial epithets and saw no racial insignia. So if media tell you that it is really about white nationalism, etc., remember that the legacy Canadian media are in fact supported to stay in business by the federal government. Because few depend on them for news any more.

You may also wish to read:

Let us listen to Dr. Robert Malone, dissenting expert, on the COVID-19 crisis

and, for what’s happening in suddenly famous Canada:

Convoy II : The police swoop in Ottawa: The Constitution? Old news now “Trust the science!” is starting to show its totalitarian face in Canada — but, as they slowly learn the facts, citizens are standing their ground, From the comments: “Canadians: ‘Be polite when you are being arrested.’ u guys rock!” (Sure, commenter. Canada belongs to the people of Canada. And this is how free people fight back. Serfs, by contrast, destroy things and attack people because they have no stake in a free and prosperous society.)

and

What I saw at the Freedom Convoy in downtown Victoria It was all friendly; people were having a good time. There was no violence; I heard no racial epithets and saw no racial insignia. So if media tell you that it is really about white nationalism, etc., remember that the legacy Canadian media are in fact supported to stay in business by the federal government. Because few depend on them for news any more.

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