Why The Media Needs To Break up With Trump

Watch Mehdi Hasan’s panel discussion, with two experts, on how the press is ‘both sides’-ing us into a fascist future.

Click link for video discussion

https://zeteo.com/p/why-the-media-needs-to-break-up-with?r=1sx7vz&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

Donald Trump has a seriously abusive relationship with the media. He bashes them as “enemies of the people,” tries to discredit them as “fake news,” and even calls for reporters and anchors to be jailed, yet much of the so-called ‘liberal’ US media seem to give him a pass on so much of the shocking stuff that he says or does.

No lessons seem to have been learned from the 2016 debacle, and our media is now bent on trying to find some sort of ridiculous equivalence between the ordinary exaggerations and misstatements of the Democrats and the brazen gaslighting and fabulism of Trump and the GOP. By trying to look ‘neutral’ and ‘unbiased,’ the press has effectively assumed the role of Trump normalizers, at best, and Trump apologists, at worst. 

So what’s wrong with our ‘liberal’ media? And how do we fix it before it’s too late? 

To answer these questions and more, Mehdi was joined in the studio this week on ‘Mehdi Unfiltered’ by two of the US media’s most eloquent critics. Journalist and author Wajahat Ali, who publishes the Left Hook Substack newsletter, and veteran reporter and author James Fallows, who was chief speechwriter to President Jimmy Carter, and publishes the Breaking the News Substack newsletter. 

Canada’s 2023 wildfires emitted enough carbon to equal India’s annual emissions

AXIOS article August 29/24

• https://www.axios.com/2024/08/29/canada-wildfire-carbon-emissions-study

EXCERPTS:

Canada’s record 2023 wildfire season emitted so much carbon into the atmosphere that it put the country on par with the annual fossil fuel emissions of India, a new study finds. 

• The study’s results also illustrate the fraught politics of carbon accounting, since Canada does not report wildfire-related emissions to the U.N. under the Paris Agreement. 

The paper, published in the journal Nature by an international team of researchers, provides a warning about designing carbon offset programs around ecosystems long thought to be relatively stable. 

 In just five months, Canada emitted enough carbon from wildfires in 2023 — 647 million metric tons — to be comparable to the annual fossil fuel emissions from the top 10 largest emitters. 

 The study notes that Canada does not currently report its emissions from wildfires, treating them as “natural disturbances” despite the ample evidence of how human-caused climate change is worsening these blazes.

Court Painter seen with an AHM painting

Images: Allan Harding MacKay Smouldering Boreal Series 2024

Breaking News: Federal labour board orders rail workers back on the job, imposes binding arbitration

Union will ‘lawfully comply’ with ruling but plans to appeal, Teamsters president says

Court Painter harkens back to a famous train wreck in the Paris Montparnasse terminus in October of 1885 which is presented here for dramatic effect!

OTTAWA — The future of an unprecedented Canada railway stoppage hinged on a decision expected Saturday from a federal labour board amid an ongoing, bitter contract dispute between the country’s two largest railway companies and the Teamsters union representing thousands of their workers.

Teamsters, Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Kansas City were all waiting on a decision after a “marathon nine-hour hearing” before the Canada Industrial Relations Board, the union said.

“The union will lawfully abide by any decision from the CIRB, and is prepared to file challenges in Federal Court if necessary,” the union said in a statement issued after Friday’s hearing.

Freight shipments and some major commuter lines across Canada came to a standstill on Thursday when CN and CPKC locked out workers after months of increasingly acrimonious contract talks failed to yield a deal. It marked the first time there were simultaneous work stoppages at the railways. Source :Canadian Press August 24/24

Excerpts from CBC article Darren Major · CBC News · Posted: Aug 22, 2024 

Labour minister says federal government is sending rail dispute to binding arbitration

Minister of Labour Steven MacKinnon says he has directed the Canada Industrial Relations Board ‘to extend the term of the current collective agreements until new agreements have been signed and for operations on both railways to resume forthwith.’

Contract talks between the union and the two companies usually take place a year apart, but in 2022 — after the federal government introduced new rules — CN requested a year-long extension to its existing deal.

This first-ever simultaneous shutdown of both rail networks blocked the movement of roughly $1 billion in goods.

Mark Thompson, a former labour arbitrator and professor emeritus at the University of British Columbia, said the unprecedented nature of the stoppage pushed the government to act.

“No government of whatever persuasion is going to stand by and let a national [work stoppage] by both railroads go on for very long. The impact on the economy is simply too great,” he said.

Lisa Raitt, who served as labour minister in the government of former prime minister Stephen Harper, said referring the dispute to the CIRB won’t instantly end the work stoppage. She said the companies and the union first have to agree to binding arbitration.

“You can try to get the parties to agree to binding arbitration. Maybe you can write to the CIRB and ask them to impose binding arbitration… but there’s no way a minister can write a letter and say that everyone goes back to work and I’m sending you to binding arbitration,” she said.

MacKinnon stopped short of saying the work stoppage would be ending as a result of his actions.

“We’re confident that it will,” he said.

Both rail companies released statements Thursday saying they would restart operations following MacKinnon’s announcement, but neither offered a timeline.

Court Painter commissioned resident scribe Chatterley Pernicious Gossamer Thunderstruck (ChatGPT) to hitch hike to Ottawa and cover the trial of two prominent Freedom Convoy organizers Tamara Lich and Chris Barber.This is the result of that brave and adjective laden coverage .

Court Painter with a still wet portrait of Barber & Lich

In the heart of Ottawa, where the grand edifices of Parliament stand tall, a tide of unrest began to swell in the cold days of 2022. The air was thick with the roar of engines, as Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, two figures of conviction, led a convoy of mighty trucks and fervent souls into the very core of the nation’s capital. They came not as mere petitioners, but as a force unyielding, their presence a vivid tapestry of defiance against the shadows of pandemic mandates.

For three long weeks, the streets of Ottawa echoed with the symphony of horns blaring without pause, a cacophony that mingled with the relentless beat of drums and the sporadic burst of fireworks that lit up the night sky. The scent of exhaust hung heavy, mingling with the cold winter air, as the convoy’s immense scale transformed the city’s pulse into a frenetic rhythm. It was a spectacle both mesmerizing and foreboding, as the organizers held their ground, their resolve as unyielding as the iron chains of their cause and the steamy heat of their make shift hot tubs!

Yet, within the hallowed chambers of justice, the Crown voiced a different narrative. Lich and Barber, it was argued, had not merely orchestrated a protest but had traversed the delicate line into the realm of criminality. Accusations of mischief and intimidation swirled around them like a tempest, their actions painted as a deliberate incitement to defy the very laws that bind society together.

The courtroom buzzed with anticipation, every word of the Crown’s argument like the stroke of a painter’s brush, crafting an image of conspiracy and calculated defiance. It was said that Lich and Barber, like shadowy puppeteers, had moved in unison, orchestrating the chaos that gripped the city. Their influence, the Crown claimed, extended far beyond the rallying cries and the thunderous roar of engines; it was a force that pressured the very fabric of Ottawa’s existence, bending it to their will.

But the defense, resolute in their stance, prepared to unravel this tapestry of accusations. For in their eyes, this was no criminal act, but the very essence of a free society—a protest born of the fundamental rights enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The court, a stage of gravitas and gravels, became the battleground where these narratives clashed, each side wielding its truth like a sword.

As the days of the trial stretched on, the city outside remained a stark reminder of the protest’s lingering echoes. Supporters of Lich and Barber gathered, their voices rising in chants of “Freedom” as they awaited the outcome that would seal the fate of those who had led them. Within the courthouse, the final arguments were laid bare, every word weighed with the gravity of the moment.

The courtroom’s atmosphere crackled with tension, as Justice Perkins-McVey, poised like a sentinel at the threshold of justice, questioned and challenged the assertions laid before her. The very phrase “hold the line,” spoken by both protestors and police alike, became a symbol of the complex interplay between authority and dissent.

And so, the trial wove its way towards its conclusion, with the promise that time would bring clarity. The city, the nation, and indeed the world watched, as the fate of Tamara Lich and Chris Barber hung in the balance, tethered to the scales of justice that now swayed gently in the winter air.

Bill Passed Creating Canada’s First Parliamentary Visual Artist Laureate

Source: June 25, 2024 : galleriesWest Magazine

The Canadian government has passed Bill S-202. The new act will create Canada’s first parliamentary visual artist laureate.

The bill was sponsored by Patricia Bovey, former senator and former director of the Winnipeg Art Gallery, author and Galleries West contributor.

“The objective of Bill S-202 is to create the parliamentary visual artist laureate as an officer of the Library of Parliament,” said Senator Andrew Cardozo this week. “This position would be complementary to the already existing parliamentary poet laureate and would use the same model.”

The visual artist laureate position will be a two-year term, with a mandate to promote, foster, develop and bring awareness to the visual arts in Canada. The visual arts laureate will produce art or “cause to be produced artistic creations at the request of the Speaker, especially for use in Parliament on occasions of state,” as well as sponsor artistic events, including exhibitions, and give advice on the collection and acquisitions for the Library of Parliament.

2024 is finally the year that this initiative has been adopted.

Court Painter’s name has surfaced in many quarters particularly among the chattering cultural busy bodies and those in the know. Many point out his outstanding past renderings of political figures who continue to haunt the hallowed hollows of Parliment Hill.

The nomination of Court Painter is not a given now that the legislation has passed however once parliamentarians become aware of Court Painter’s reputation it would indubitably lead to a heavily lobbied quick decision and an offer of the appointment!

There is reportedly however a deal breaker: the absence of a life time appointment of the visual artist laureate threatens any consideration of acceptance by the preminent Great Dominion portrait painter of the peccadilloes, posturing and pulchritudinous poverty of the political class; according to a recent communique issued by the Court Painter studio. Sad so sad!

Here are some more…

Swifties Point to Cryptic Instagram Photos As Court Painter’s ‘Low-Key’ Endorsement of Taylor Swift

Court Painter seen endorsing Taylor Swift

On Wednesday, Swift posted a gallery of photos from her recent concert in Poland, expressing how much she was looking forward to future shows. But several photos in particular included a familiar-looking Court Painter figure in full on disco mode: Social media users pounced, claiming it was a low key endorsement of Taylor Swift even though Court Painter has not publicly endorsed any celebrity who had not commissioned a CP portrait. However, a Swiftie on staff at Court Painter’s Inglewood studio explained that the guy in the suit is simply part of the show and Swift’s dancers for her song “The Man” also wear suits and there’s even video from that concert in Warsaw, which took place on August 3. So cool your jets and let Taylor enjoy her moment of basking in Court Painter’s suited up limelight.

Editors note: It is not clear if this story makes any sense however it was given the go ahead since the world is going to hell in a basket of some type and everyone’s plumb tuckered out!

Yes slime…but don’t be fooled we are not talking about DT Trump, JD Vance,Elon Musk or Kevin O’Leary…no, this slime is one of expanding scientific knowledge and understanding of the structure of the universe.

Scientific American,August 6,2024

As Below, So Above Astrophysicists built an algorithm based on the movement of slime molds to model how the structure of the universe affects galaxy formation. The organisms are experts at expanding into new territories, pushing their membranes outward in a synchronized wave in every direction. When they find a food source, nearby membranes relax, and the molds push more material into that region. The scientists hypothesized that this natural behavior might serve as a good mapping model for the movement of galaxies in the early universe. What they found: Using their slime mold movement algorithm to model the universe’s formation, the researchers found that as the universe aged, it pulled cosmic material (dust, stars and even dark matter) into filaments, which in turn affected how stars formed in galaxies that ended up too close to each other. What the experts say: It’s been difficult to measure how the cosmic web, with its filaments, tendrils and empty voids, affects galaxy formation, says New York City College of Technology astrophysicist Ari Maller. “The use of the slime-mold algorithm seems to have accomplished that goal.”

• https://www.marytrump.org/p/same-as-it-ever-was?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

Mary Trump

‘After eight years of covering Donald, too many journalists have gotten into the habit of seeing strategy in his crude and instinctive behavior. The truth is quite simple–Donald can’t help himself. When it comes to him, we shouldn’t overthink it. He is exactly what he seems: a racist, a misogynist, a liar. He is a bully who has no business getting anywhere near the White House. His pulling out of the debate should remind us that he is also a monumental coward.’

Court Painter seen with The Donald arguing over which version will become part of his presidential library