Anger and hate didn’t work, Trump couldn’t hang it all on Sleepy Joe 

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre can imitate Trumpian politics to his heart’s content. But that is old, tired, and empty politics.

Excerpted from The Hill Times OPINION | BY MICHAEL HARRIS | November 14, 2022 (click Michael Harris to find article on Hill Times website)

‘The way Pierre Poilievre tells it, everything in Canada is broken. And Justin Trudeau is to blame.

As a political strategy, that might work with members of the Flat Earth Society, or those who think Elvis is still in the building. Regular people know that when a politician tells them the sky is falling, particularly in a country as blessed as this one, it just means he is tired of being in opposition, and would rather have the Big Office.

Understood. Losing is no fun, especially in politics. And the Conservative Party of Canada has had its share of losing in the last three elections. But Poilievre’s modus operandi amounts to the same simple-minded schtick that Donald Trump resorted to in the run-up to the U.S. mid-term elections; and for that matter, when he ran for president back in 2016. The new CPC leader should reflect on the results.

Poilievre can imitate Trumpian politics to his heart’s content. He can try to turn the Freedom Convoy into a moderate “Canadian” event. He can beat the dead horse that vaccine mandates were somehow an attack on civil liberties, rather than a life-saving public policy. He can ignore and demonize the national press. He can defy medical experts on how to handle a resurgence of the pandemic. And he can even claim that everything will be better if only Canadians dump the cause all the distress and dysfunction—Justin Trudeau.

That is old, tired, and empty politics. It is contemptuous of thinking people. It didn’t work in the U.S. and it won’t work here. Canadians would rather have something to vote for, not just against. And on that score, Poilievre’s proposals sound like a recording from Harper times.

The GOP is not the only political party that needs to take a good hard look in the mirror.’

The Capital Order: How Economists Invented Austerity and Paved the Way to Fascism by Clara E. Mattei, published by the University of Chicago Press. © 2022 by the University of Chicago Press.

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• https://youtu.be/ofFR1mD2UOM

Excerpted from publication:

‘Austerity has been so widespread in its uptake over the last century that it has become largely undetectable: the economics of austerity, with its prescribed budgetary cuts and public moderation, is largely synonymous with today’s economics.’

‘ While austerity policies may not be identified by name, they underscore the most common tropes of contemporary politics: budget cuts (especially in welfare expenditures such as public education, health care, housing, and unemployment benefits), regressive taxation, deflation, privatizations, wage repression, and employment deregulation. Taken together, this suite of policies entrenches existing wealth and the primacy of the private sector, both of which tend to be held up as economic keys that will guide nations to better days. ‘

Deep-fake goes legit, with Court Painter’s recent commercial poster

Court Painter’s digital likeness was licensed for use in a NO Smoking commercial poster.

Close up of the digital deep-fake demonstrates how indistinguishable it is from the real flesh & blood Court Painter! We dare you to detect a difference.

Word on the street is that Court Painter’s digital likeness was licensed for use in a NO Smoking commercial poster. As both technology and acceptance of ‘deep-fakes’ like this are improving, opportunities will soon abound for people with value attached to their names and likenesses….think CC (name available upon request).

CC(name available upon request) seen in digital form rocking’ the western vibe in a 10 cent poster.Example is a proof of concept.

So who controls a digital likeness of Court Painter? Can a Sunday painter sell his or her likeness in perpetuity, to paint pets when they’re long dead? Can a celebrity like Court Painter endorse cheap red wine without ever going near it or consuming it?

And what happens to the aspiring conceptual and performance artists who would otherwise have gotten the less-publicized exhibitions that could now go to the mere image of someone way more famous than they are? The possibilities are endless till the end of time!

‘Everything is broken in this country’ Pierre Poilievre says, blaming PM Trudeau

Albertans tire of fights with Ottawa, as Danielle Smith ups the ‘anti’

Rex Murphy: Freedom Convoy was perfectly Canadian in its moderation

Nova Scotia’s only federal cabinet minister, Sean Fraser, says Nova Scotia’s minister of finance is wrong to blame Ottawa for not being able to lower the province’s roughly 15-cents-a-litre tax on gasoline and diesel.

Text messages entered into evidence at the Emergencies Act inquiry describe a testy exchange between feuding Alberta and federal ministers around the time the act was invoked.

Court Painter realizes there are many issues that citizens of the Great Dominion must face everyday emitting from their Twitter & assorted media accounts. The preceding news items were cherry picked by the Court Painter’s cherry picking team headed by his underpaid Press Attache and studio barista A Hardon MacKay.

However, the accompanying images have absolutely nothing to do with the news identified by AHM and his team as Court Painter the painter is unconcerned with any of these issues and any subsequent confusion or contextual comprehension issues arising from this post …simply because Court Painter is a picture maker and not a conjurer of understandings and dot connecting. Make of that what you will!

Union to end Ontario education workers’ walkout after Ford promises to repeal strike law

A union representing 55,000 Ontario education workers who walked off the job Friday says protest sites “will be collapsed starting” Tuesday in response to Premier Doug Ford saying he will repeal legislation that imposed a contract on them and banned them from striking.

Representatives from the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) said at a news conference Monday that Ford had put his commitment in writing, and that both sides would restart contract negotiations. Leaders from numerous other unions were also in attendance.

A statement from Minister of Education Stephen Lecce confirmed that the government will repeal Bill 28 “in its entirety.” The law included the notwithstanding clause to circumvent any constitutional challenge to the legislation. The clause allows legislatures to override parts of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms for a five-year term.

Source: Excerpted from CBC News Nov.7/22

Facing a fateful fork in the road: which road will America choose in it’s midterm elections …a tilt to the left toward survival of democratic values & principles or a tilt to the right toward further authoritarian degradation of governance ?

While we contemplate this question perhaps a glance at paintings by Swiss painter Arnold Böcklin: 1827-1901 , Die Toteninsel “Isle of the Dead” and Die Lebensinsel “Isle of Life”; might visualize the choice facing America. It should be noted that the artist did 5 “Isle of the Dead ” versions and copies or originals were owned by Freud, Hitler and Lenin and Vladimir Nabokov observed in his 1936 novel Despair that prints could be “found in every Berlin home”.

Only one “Isle of Life” was produced by the artist. Make of that what you will.

Note: The 4 th version was destroyed by fire and exists only as a black & white photograph.

Four images of “Isle of the Dead”

Court Painter version of “Isle of the Dead”

Court Painter version of ” Isle of Life”

A high blink rate is often the result of excitement, arousal and stress.
Blinking is the body’s way of preparing us for action as we keep our eyes moist and alert. The normal blink rate is between six and eight times per minute but it can increase by four or five times while under pressure.

A rapid series of eye blinks can also indicate an inner struggle or distress, nervousness and concern.

A high eye blink rate is also associated with lying but it can also be a signal that they are worried about being perceived as liar – so really a high blink rate is only a sign of arousal. One must find the source of the arousal to uncover lying. Eyes that multi-blink where there are a quick succession of rapid eye movement usually signifies high stress and that a person is on the verge of tears. Other times a high eye blink rate means the eyes are dry or that something is stuck in the eye.

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Treated video excerpts from the Freedom Convoy participant & witness testimony of Daniel Bulford during the Public Order Emergency Commission inquiry, Friday ,November 4/22.

Text Source: Excerpted from CBC News

In a statement submitted to the Public Order Emergency Commission inquiry, Friday ,November 4/22, Daniel Bulford, a 15-year veteran of the RCMP who resigned from the Mounties in December 2021, acknowledged he was the subject of a POI Profile made by the Ontario Provincial Police therein it states that it is believed that Bulford had leaked the Prime Minister’s schedule some months prior to January 30, 2022. He denied that he’d leaked any information.

Bulford said in his inquiry testimony that he served as sniper-observer on the RCMP’s national division Emergency Response Team for most of his RCMP career. He said the RCMP revoked his security clearance after he spoke out against the federal government’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate for Mounties, which went into effect in October 2021, and Bulford resigned from the Mounties in December 2021 .Bulford told the inquiry he later joined the self-styled Freedom Convoy protest. He said he was a “volunteer security coordinator” and “police liaison” with the convoy starting on January 26, 2022.

Court Painter acknowledges his daily ability to keep up with the torrent of words on his mini TV as he follows the Emergencies Act Inquiry ,is less than adequate to be of much use to the Great Dominion.

However in spite of sooo much going on and his fragile emotional state , he took time to stop time and create a few images for the pleasure of his many art groupies , potential investors and perhaps capture a Canadian Heritage moment.

Meanwhile : The Emergencies Act hearings continue…

Court Painter staring fixedly at his mini TV witnesses the hearing as it continues and the Convoy participants and organizers state there was so much going on to keep up with common sense and the law…all kinds of stuff…a lot of stuff happening, it was busy chaotic ,lawyers flying in, if it wasn’t one thing it was another…kinda echoing the police authorities complaints…too much stuff going on…beyond training & reason and laws they were to uphold …anyway CP is hanging on every word…so many words…so much deflection, everyone wanted to know about the money, cash, etransfers ,crypto currency, one foot ahead of the other ,fuel /food/ lodging, organic leadership, bags of swag, the spark that lit the fire, logistics ,mother hen ,dropping everything, patriotic good Christian man with deep pockets, honking, didn’t pay attention, road captains, don’t recall, freedom ,fuel, had to believe, passion, hot head, team effort, check your ego, no time to follow convoy participants reason’s for participating, a lot that couldn’t be got to, honking, exit strategy, very fluid, shrink /not shrink the footprint, there was lots going on,Tweets, Peckford, lovefest, honking ,deal/no deal, right reasons, core, part of a story, no regrets it is what it is, things happened the way they were supposed to happen, hindsight 20/20 …tears…..

…oh dear and these are all freedom loving Canadians speaking freely wrapped in freedom…whose going to clear the ice, shovel the walk and flood the rink..?

Source : November 3 /22

Alex Ballingall Toronto Star

Commissioner Paul Rouleau tells Convoy participant James Bauder he’s free to go, but Bauder doesn’t want to leave. Now he wants to pull up a video. No video, but now he’s talking about how he loves unity.

judyatrinh CTV

Commissioner Rouleau wants him to wrap it up- says what Bauder is saying isn’t relevant to the inquiry.

Court Painter staged a ‘why can’t we all just get along’ tea party. He extended perfumed engraved invitations to UCP Premier Designate Smith ,NDP Alberta leader Rachel Notley and Liberal Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.

Everyone who attended had a swell time sipping Earl Grey & Red Rose Orange Pekoe and promised to meet up again for a Bacardi Dark Rum & Coca Cola with a twist of lemon party just before the Holidays.

Court Painter changed from his drab street clothes to rock the Uber cardinal look for the occasion.The attendees felt a bit under-dressed in contrast however were very good natured about it all.

Court Painter also kept a discrete watch on the Emergencies Act proceedings during the fete.

Premier designate Smith plans to shuffle billions of dollars in taxpayer–funded royalty breaks to subsidize energy companies to fulfil their legal duty and clean up old wells.

Critics warn proposed Alberta well cleanup plan a royalty giveaway

Source : Canadian Press Oct 31/22

EDMONTON — Critics fear Alberta’s new United Conservative premier is preparing to bring in a program that would use billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded royalty breaks to subsidize energy companies to fulfil their legal duty and clean up old wells.

The so-called RStar proposal, developed by an industry group, has been criticized by legal experts, energy economists and the province’s own internal analysts.

But for more than a year, Danielle Smith and newly appointed members of her cabinet have been outspoken advocates of the RStar plan, which would enable companies to use reclamation spending to gain credits against royalty payments.

A 2018 joint investigation by 3 major news organizations and four university Journalism Schools revealed that the estimated liability for the clean up cost for Alberta “oilsands mining operations facilities” was about $130 billion.

Changing governments through weak or non existent regulations continue to back the business model of  privatization of profit and the socialization of pollution costs.