Every day on my iPad I am served up an array of alarming events taking place around the world. Some of these, like the uprising in Sri Lanka or the Dutch farmer’s protest, are so bizarre to me that I immediately go to a mainstream media (MSM) site like the BBC to see what the traditionalists have to say about them. Increasingly, these critical events are not reported on or barely noted until they have been going on for weeks or even months.
Maybe no one cares until they are personally affected. Last week the headlines on CNN were full of the Jan. 6th Trump riot, outrage over another mass shooting, an inmate escape and murder, the closing of 16 Starbucks for “safety reasons,” and, oddly, a whole section devoted to “Prime Day Deals.”
It looks very much as if the USA is tearing itself to shreds with violence from within – all while watching for the latest shopping deals.
Canada: a Nation of Passive-aggressive Jerks
Over here we serve up our violence in insidious ways by invoking punishing laws and avoiding the hard questions by suddenly being absent due to Covid. Our country’s leader is the worst, gaslighting anyone who dares to question his narrative. It is as frustrating as any relationship with one of these people often is.
Our worst “enemy” is our own inability to be straight forward. We are more likely to bad-mouth other nations and sulk if we don’t get our own way.
What is Really Going On?
I need to search out all kinds of alternative media outlets, ordinary people posting video on YouTube, and opinion sites. I then take into account the site or person’s political leanings to watch the footage they post.
No one is impartial anymore. All media is paid for by either the state or special interest. Everyone has their audience and caters to that audience. The algorithms demand it. (Further thoughts on media: Media Propaganda is Just Bad News.)
Protests and More Protests
In April, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists was talking about Sri Lanka when there wasn’t a word in the MSM about the crisis. The footage of ordinary Sri Lankan people protesting against authoritarian, out of touch leadership is a warning for any leader who thinks he can do what he wants to “his” people. Here, two people, who promote Sri Lanka as a wonderful tourist destination, show what is going on in their beautiful country. Sky News (Rupert Murdoch, right-wing) picked up the story this week. WION, with its Indian focused view, speculates on which 7 vulnerable countries may be next.
Meanwhile, Rebel News is asking for donations to cover the Airbnb and food costs for the three reporters they have sent to the Netherlands to cover the Dutch Farmer’s Protests. Say what you want about Ezra Levant but this is grass roots guerilla reporting made possible by ordinary people and cheap technology.
Sri Lankan and Dutch Farmer protests are the most covered but there are also rare protests in Iran over a 300% rise in bread costs and in China over Chinese banks stealing deposits. In Hungary, people blocked a bridge over the Danube in protest of the government rushing through punitive new tax laws. In the Congo, they are protesting the UN “peacekeeping” forces. All of these protests are linked.
Incidentally, I once attended a talk Trudeau gave somewhere around 2004 here in my hometown. One of the things he said was that he believed there was no such thing as “peacekeeper” soldiers – they were soldiers, period. He didn’t believe in funding any of it. Of course, he’ll say anything if it makes him popular. Like I said, passive-aggressive.
Gimme Shelter
To economists and financial gurus, these protests are harbingers of economic collapse and/or Ray Dalio’s changing world order. One of my favourite sites to get motivation as well as a great take on the news from overseas is Neil McCoy-Ward’s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTQStG7LGAQ
There are even a group of Canadians that are gathering together to find ways to exit the country – for good. I considered this option but I can’t do it. It would mean leaving my kids behind so what would be the point? Right about now, I consider how I raised my two children the greatest achievement of my life and the one I am most proud of. Much of what I do now impacts them and will impact them for years to come. I know this firsthand from my own parents and the choices they’ve made.
Any way you slice it, now is a good time to hunker down and pay off as many debts as you can. Finding new ways of saving money plays a huge role in helping me to feel safe when the world has gone mad. As the rhetoric increases, I’ve continued stockpiling food and mentally preparing myself for my own personal economic challenge ahead. Here is a simple list from My Money Coach to help you focus on what steps you can take.
I am trying to prepare myself for even more government overreach.
7th Variant 4th Shot
“Ontario has officially entered its seventh wave of COVID-19… expect another four to five weeks in this wave, which is now in about its third week…The province is now reviewing eligibility for fourth doses…”
If you had asked me in 2019 if I was afraid of the Canadian government, I would have laughed at the absurdity of the question.
I am not laughing now.
Being on the wrong side of the government and their mandates tipped me off to what I can expect going forward. (Bullies and Bastards: How to Get Fired and End Up Alone)
Duck, & Cover
Once I made the decision to stay and hunker down – “shelter in place” to use military parlance – it simplified things. I still don’t know what to do if the government gets really heavy-handed or someone drops the bomb but fleeing is off the table.
After the Rogers debacle, where internet was lost for over 24 hours in Eastern Canada and caused debit machines out West to crash as a consequence, having cash on hand is a must. If I had a bunch of money in the bank, I’d be pulling it out slowly, too. When Rogers went down, many banks turned off their cash machines and closed their doors. Talk about a warning! It can happen here, too! I’ve decided to start throwing extra money at my electricity and gas bills as a way to stay ahead of them in case another bank crash happens.
Some things are just too scary to contemplate and that means war.
Midnight Fast Approaches
For the scientifically minded, the Doomsday Clock was reset to 100 Seconds to Midnight in January 2022 and that was BEFORE Russia invaded the Ukraine.
I.Can’t.Even.
If you’re Christian, it’s the End Times…the Apocalypse…the Second Coming of Christ! I really think he can’t get here soon enough. Things are bad and seem to be getting worse.
The line from that Genesis song keeps going through my head, “Superman, where are you now?”
Apocalypse Now
If you didn’t believe in anything before, now might be a good time to start. The Christians on YouTube talk of the Four Horsemen and the Mark of the Beast. Apparently, this is all written in the Bible.
OK, so I didn’t know what any of this was, having only Sam and Dean’s take on it. (My favourite Supernatural episode: Good God Y’all)
Here is what the Bible has to say about the “Mark of the Beast”:
A few months ago, I saw a report where people were queuing up for implants in their hands as if it meant nothing at all.
Wait, what?!
It’s a Conspiracy, Stupid!
One of my fears is that the government will force me to become vaccinated in order to hold a job, earn money, or even buy groceries by demanding I carry a code on my phone. A code that the government can manipulate by deciding that 2 shots is not enough when they declare another pandemic, for example. Wouldn’t it be a very small leap to decide that phones are too easily misplaced or unreliable and that implants are the way of the future?
Is it really far-fetched to believe that this code could easily be tracked so they can see if I’ve attended a protest and cut off my Canada Pension Plan payment? Or deny a request for a gasoline purchase? After all, they froze the truckers’ bank accounts when they attended the protest this year.
Canadian Government Weapon of Choice: Media
Only the private YouTubers showed what was really going on at the Trucker’s protest by filming the actual protests day and night. (My favourite was Ottawalks, who filmed daily without taking sides or offering opinions. See for yourself what really went on and why Trudeau’s heavy-handedness really was shameful.)
My parents still believe that it was a bunch of Nazi-sympathizers down there as they were brainwashed by Global. It was all propaganda, all the time on any major news network.
People on Facebook also told me it was ridiculous to think I’d ever be fired for not being vaccinated. I’d tell them they were dead wrong but it’s not worth going on that platform just to say “I told you so.”
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch
With the news in the world so full of predictions of market crashes, economic downturn, inflation, and the rising cost of living, I am worried about the kids who haven’t experienced a “Recession” before. Even the Big “D” word has been whispered this time: Depression.
Our grandparents never ever thought things would or could get as bad as they did during the Great Depression. It happened so fast that most people were completely caught off guard.
Boom & Bust
The largest cohort of people, born after the war, does not seem particularly worried. Are the Baby Boomers in denial? They are still buying new and larger TV’s, the latest fashion in appliances, or another gadget at Costco. Most are upset by supply chain issues that delay the delivery of their new pickup truck or SUV.
People! None of that matters when food is scarce! Maybe they think someone will always step in to save them. Their parents always did with less so that they could give their Boomer children new runners or put them in Little League. The government – populated by said Boomers, by the way – has stepped in and “fixed” things during their adulthood (the Great Bank Bailout in ’07, Covid-19 bailouts, etc.) Someone will always step in to rescue them or to protect their money. I shudder to think what would happen if they had to survive without the comforts they’re used to.
Night Train
When I was in my early 20’s I had a recurring dream. It was always night and I was travelling on a ramshackle train, dressed in all manner of rags with my belongings in a sack. There were other people on the train – all of us sullen and silent. The train car had windows and every now and then you could see glimpses of concrete piled up in ruins. Concrete as far as the eye could see, with rebar jutting out and bent at odd angles. The train would come to an abrupt screeching halt and we would file listlessly out, without anyone saying a word. Once on the ground, everyone scattered like tattered cockroaches, disappearing under giant mounds of concrete. Solo travellers in a desolate, ruined world.
I’ll Be Back
Maybe these dreams were a reaction to the 80’s recession.
Terminator came out in ’84 and reflected my feelings of impending doom. This feeling is like a constant buzz of uneasiness in the back of my mind. Sometimes it grows louder and more insistent, like it did before the turn of the century (Oh! How I miss partying like it was 1999!) – a complete disappointment but a great learning exercise. After the terrorist attacks of 9/11, it was more insistent. The world as we knew it would never be the same.
Year 1
The first year of the pandemic wasn’t very troubling for me. I felt that with common sense and a bit of time, we could weather it out. After all, our grandparents had survived a ‘flu pandemic in 1918. It was a good time to grow a Victory garden, do a cooking deep dive and rekindle those “do it yourself” skills.
Year 2
The second year of the pandemic, however, was a completely different story. Suddenly, the media broadcast with a single message, universally belittling anyone with a different opinion.
The worst part is the damage done to my friendships. Big Pharma – and governments worldwide – suddenly had millions of little minions bashing former friends and colleagues all over social media for not doing as they were told.
I just can’t vaccinate now that I know Big Pharma funds governments through grants to foundations, contributes to medical schools and teaching hospitals, runs most of the vaccine informational websites, and pays for all the “science” I’m supposed to trust.
Do you think any government can afford to turn down such lucrative funding sources?
Big Pharma spends over $6.5 billion on advertising in the media every year so mainstream media is compromised and unable to report the unbiased truth. Having a program “sponsored” by Pfizer did not seem nefarious until 2021. Now I know differently.
We don’t hear much about the negative effects of Pfizer’s vaccine on CBS’s “Healthline”. Maybe because it’s sponsored by Pfizer?
Lalalalala – I’m Not Listening!
Without a free media, there is no one to report on the way the pharmaceutical companies have infiltrated governments at every level. They actually direct policy at the CDC and the FDA by having their people insinuated to boards of every kind, in every influential body. (The N.I.H., whose Bioethics chief Dr. Fauci’s wife heads, owns intellectual property and a joint stake with Moderna for the coronavirus vaccines, for example.)
It is too late, once you realize how deep and pervasive the pharmaceutical companies’ influence is. (Read more in: SPIT OUT THE BLUE PILL: How Big Pharma Funds Research & Nearly Everyone Except You is Making Money Off It and Big Pharma Pays for the Science & They Don’t Care if You Live or Die.)
My friends did not want to hear it. To be fair, many of them are trying to navigate the world by themselves. This is not easy. Not easy at all.
China…The Future is Now
If you are still with me, let’s take a look at what government control looks like. Here it is in action in China: The Sun Reports on the Eerie moment Shanghai residents scream out their windows after week imprisoned at home amid world’s strictest lockdown (thesun.co.uk) “On Saturday, starving shoppers were filmed looting a supermarket after only being granted paltry government food rations.
Other footage includes the sound of people screaming for food and medical supplies.
In horror scenes, a pet corgi was filmed getting beaten to death by a health worker after its owner reportedly tested positive for Covid.
Children have been forcibly removed from their parents and kept in cages, as China’s government justifies the move as a way to control Covid-19 cases.”
Bai Lan
The young people in China have had it. They’re not just lying flat anymore, they’re letting it rot.
Meanwhile, their parents can’t get their life savings out of banks, with the government not stepping in until the protests got too large and loud. Tens of thousands more are refusing to pay their mortgages and many pundits speculate that collapse will arrive soon.
It’s just in China, you say. Besides the spiritual truth that we are all one and the Chinese people should have our compassion, what starts on the other side of the world will come this way. One world. Be the water.
A Hitchhiker’s Guide
The spiritual people on YouTube are almost universal in their advice not to go all-in on fear-based behaviour. Basically, what will happen just will and it’s best to accept it and ride it out. Mumbo-jumbo? If I’ve learned anything over the past few years it’s that no-thing should be ruled out.
What looks and sounds like madness one day can soon become reality.
Maybe that’s why I’ve been mulling over the idea of alternate realities that are all taking place at the same time. There is the Mandala Effect to explore: What Is the Mandela Effect? (verywellmind.com)
Check out Inspire Nation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InPprGusu5Q or this bizarre Matrix-worthy story: Heaven Awaits: I died and Faced Returning to an Alternate Universe
I can take comfort that somewhere out there is a me who’s enjoying a glass of wine on a flagstone terrace overlooking a glorious blue ocean in the South of France without a worry in the world….
If you join me, I promise not to bring up the state of this world.