Patrick's Notebook

by John Tamny

“COVID Has Killed One of Every 100 Older Americans.” The previous headline made the front page of the New York Times in mid-December of 2021. In the subhead it was noted that as virus-related deaths reached 800,000 in the U.S., “Three quarters Are Age 65 and Older.”

Up front, the statistics prominently reported by the Times aren’t brought up to shrink the meaning of the virus. Real people died, and real people lost loved ones. At the same time, it can at the very least be said that it’s rarely a tragedy when someone over 65 passes in the way it is for a toddler, a teenager, or a young parent. Thank goodness a virus that by many accounts spread faster than the flu largely spared those who could still claim youth, or children. Better yet, as the aforementioned headline made plain, the virus has proved pretty meek when met by old people too. » Read the rest of this entry «

by The Burning Platform

“All tyrannies rule through fraud and force, but once the fraud is exposed, they must rely exclusively on force.” ― George Orwell“Every war when it comes, or before it comes, is represented not as a war but as an act of self-defense against a homicidal maniac.” ― George Orwell

The smell of tyranny is in the air. The level of propaganda, disinformation, and mistruth has reached astounding heights, as the ruling oligarchy/Deep State/globalist cabal are thrashing about violently because their frauds are being exposed on a daily basis. This shift to the tyranny of force has massive implications for everyone on the planet. When every quote from Orwell’s 1984 applies every day to everything swirling around us, you begin to realize we are in the midst of a dystopian nightmare which gets more ghoulish by the day. » Read the rest of this entry «

by José Niño

With Russia launching a military invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the corporate press has grown shrill in its calls for punishing Russia with draconian sanctions, supplying Ukraine with increased military aid, and diplomatically isolating the Eurasian power as much as possible. The Two Minutes Hate against Russia has been cranked up to eleven, making any nuanced analysis of why the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has reached such a point almost impossible.

The failure of policy wonks to understand why Russia took decisive action against Ukraine is emblematic of a flawed grand strategy that has dominated DC foreign policy circles since the end of the Cold War. Once the dust from the Soviet Union’s collapse settled, international relations specialists were convinced that the US had entered an “end of history” moment where liberal democracy would become the governing standard worldwide. Former Soviet Union states would be the preliminary trial ground for this new liberal democratic project. » Read the rest of this entry «

by Tim Kirby

The Ukrainian military has also now stated that they are not planning an invasion of the breakaway Donbass region. Which in our bizarre 21st century doublespeak means “yes we are going to invade” but more on that later.

It would seem that the defining theme of the Ukrainian Crisis in 2022 up until the last few days should be “lots of action via inaction”. The Mainstream Media has really been making it seem like by February 16th Russia would either liberate or invade the Ukraine depending on how your political views interpret the situation. Even Russian media figures on nationwide television, which are generally willing to bend over backwards to make peace and concessions, seemed to be willing to sign off on finally just ending things the hard way. This stunning “about face” was a great cause for concern that only someone living in Russia would be able to understand. The narrative shifted from a perpetual begging for peace and cooperation from the good ole Global Hegemon to “fix bayonets” overnight. » Read the rest of this entry «

by Ryan McMaken

It has become something of a habit in both the American and Canadian media to insist that the Canadian trucker protest against vaccine mandates is an “illegal protest.” They are “illegal border protests,” one American news affiliate proclaims. Canada’s National Post dutifully refers to the protests in its headlines as illegal acts. The term “illegal” has been used a multitude of times by Liberal Party politicians in the House of Commons. The premier of Ontario—one of Canada’s most hysterical politicians—not only paints the protests as illegal but as a “siege.” Other opponents of the protests refer to them as an “occupation” and as an “insurrection.”

“Lawbreaker” as a Political Slur

So why the obsession with labeling the protests illegal? The idea, of course, is to cast suspicion on them and portray them as harmful and morally illegitimate. We could contrast the rhetoric surrounding the trucker protest with that of the Black Lives Matter protests. In the case of the BLM protests, illegal acts were downplayed and ignored, with one obvious riot labeled a “mostly peaceful” protest. when it comes to protests and other acts of which the regime approves, legality is never an issue. » Read the rest of this entry «

by Katabella Roberts

Amazon has removed Black Lives Matter from its charity platform AmazonSmile amid growing concern over the organization’s lack of financial transparency.

The decision comes after BLM leaders failed to disclose detailed financial reports on up to $60 million it had received in donations.

An Amazon spokesperson confirmed to The Washington Examiner that it had removed the political and social organization from its Amazon Smile platform, which allows customers to support charitable organizations every time they shop, on Feb. 15. » Read the rest of this entry «

by Michael Lind

The main federal agency guiding America’s pandemic policy is the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, which sets widely adopted policies on masking, vaccination, distancing, and other mitigation efforts to slow the spread of COVID and ensure the virus is less morbid when it leads to infection. The CDC is, in part, a scientific agency—they use facts and principles of science to guide policy—but they are also fundamentally a political agency: The director is appointed by the president of the United States, and the CDC’s guidance often balances public health and welfare with other priorities of the executive branch.

Throughout this pandemic, the CDC has been a poor steward of that balance, pushing a series of scientific results that are severely deficient. This research is plagued with classic errors and biases, and does not support the press-released conclusions that often follow. In all cases, the papers are uniquely timed to further political goals and objectives; as such, these papers appear more as propaganda than as science. The CDC’s use of this technique has severely damaged their reputation and helped lead to a growing divide in trust in science by political party. Science now risks entering a death spiral in which it will increasingly fragment into subsidiary verticals of political parties. As a society, we cannot afford to allow this to occur. Impartial, honest appraisal is needed now more than ever, but it is unclear how we can achieve it. » Read the rest of this entry «