Elon Musk moved Neuralink’s incorporation from Delaware to Nevada after a Delaware judge struck down his $56B Tesla pay package. Fmr. SEC Chairman Jay Clayton discusses the potential for other companies to leave the state as well.
Atlas Is Shrugging
The transcript of Javier Milei’s speech to the World Economic Forum is a breath of fresh air in a world that badly needs it. I have not seen a political leader as upfront about the philosophical concepts that define a culture of liberty since Margaret Thatcher. Let’s hope he can make some progress and set an example that is emulated elsewhere.
Do not be intimidated by the political caste or by parasites who live off the state. Do not surrender to a political class that only wants to stay in power and retain its privileges. You are social benefactors. You are heroes. You are the creators of the most extraordinary period of prosperity we’ve ever seen.
Let no one tell you that your ambition is immoral.
Smear Job
Individual liberty and free markets are fascist? Who knew?
Javier Milei continues his fascist rampage in Argentina.
He has authorised the Privatising of all remaining State owned industries (thats his donors cashing in).
He has also authorised the sale of all Social Housing and removed all rent controls
It is going exactly as expected pic.twitter.com/uSZS5sP6wt
— BladeoftheSun (@BladeoftheS) December 22, 2023
TC Energy is dumping Keystone Pipeline in spinoff
TC Energy, which I still think of as TranCanada, from back when I built pipelines for them, is spinning off its oil pipelines, which is principally the Keystone system.
I was searching for the best metaphor. “Like hot garbage,” kept coming to mind. I settled on dumping an ex-wife. My column on this: TC Energy dumping Keystone Pipeline like a despised, soon-to-be-ex-wife. The Keystone name is so verboten, it is barely mentioned in the press release or slide deck.
This is entirely because the anti-pipeline, anti-oil movement won on Keystone XL and Energy East. Can’tada and BANANAS USA won, and this is the result. (Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone, Seriously, U Stup1d A@#$#@#)
I Want A New Country
Economic Freedom of North America 2022 is the eighteenth edition of the Fraser Institute’s annual report. This year it measures the extent to which—in 2020, the year with the most recent available comprehensive data—the policies of individual provinces and states were supportive of economic freedom, the ability of individuals to act in the economic sphere free of undue restrictions. There are two indices: one that examines provincial/state and municipal/local governments only and another that includes federal governments as well. The former, our subnational index, is for comparison of individual jurisdictions within the same country. The latter, our all-government index, is for comparison of jurisdictions in different countries.
Full report is here. (pdf)
Related: Move Alberta to the red zone.
What do Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles all have in common?
A Normie Wakes Up
It’s Easier To Fool People Than To Convince Them That They’ve Been Fooled
Only recently did I learn of this quotation. Who knows who first said or wrote it. Regardless, I absolutely believe it to be true. Dave, from Live From The Shed, recently interviewed an Ottawa woman named Melonie. It’s fascinating to watch her reveal her great awakening.
If you live in Southern Alberta . . .
If you happen to live in Southern Alberta, please consider attending this event on Friday evening:
Also, there will be a Freedom Rally in Calgary on Saturday, April 2nd featuring James Topp and his crew.
Canadian Political Prisoner Released
But views differing from The Narrative™ will not be tolerated.
Tamara, MILLIONS of Canadians will forever view you as a HERO!!! Thank you for EVERYTHING you have done for us!
Update: Viva Frei’s analysis
Don’t Take Your Eyes Off of the Ball
Related: Neil Oliver
Speaking Truth to Power
Viva Frei (David Freiheit) has quickly become a modern Canadian treasure. Here he is being interviewed on one of England’s favourite podcasts.
The Virtuals vs. The Physicals
This is a fascinating article that frames the ongoing conflict in Canada, not so much as a Left/Right divide, but in a somewhat different way:
One problem remained: no amount of narrative control could move the trucks. The Virtuals needed to convince the Physicals to do that, but the towing companies in Ottawa refused to cooperate. In the end, a cornered Trudeau went nuclear and invoked Canada’s Emergencies Act for the first time in its history, seizing powers that allowed him to compel the tow companies into moving the trucks after he bussed police from around the country into Ottawa.
But the most striking new coercive measure Trudeau chose to wield was not the police crackdown. It was a government order for banks, credit card, insurers, companies and other financial infrastructure to stop “providing any financial or related services” to anyone designated as associated with the protests (including donors), effectively freezing them out of the modern economy without due process or means of appeal.
h/t David Murrell
2014 Prediction: Why Canada Will Become a Dictatorship Under Trudeau
8 years ago, the HuffPost published this:
The leader of that party does what he wants, when he wants, and no one dares question him. Would a Prime Minister Trudeau arbitrarily whip the vote and outlaw certain moral questions? Could Prime Minister Trudeau be trusted to make decisions for the good of the country, not just for his personal self-worth? Would Trudeau call in the police to enforce his vision? Let’s hope we never have the opportunity to ask those questions.
Some Police Officers Appear to Not Be on Board with Dear Leader
For anyone curious about the mind set of most Police officers, this leaked message from an #RCMP officer speaks volumes.
Back our men and women in blue. #TruckersForFreedom #FreedomConvoyCanada
👇 pic.twitter.com/90MK2o6QWH— That "Unacceptable" Guy ~HONK~ (@BJdichter) February 17, 2022
Related h/t Impfstoff Macht Frei
Mischief is Important
The Day Parliament was No Longer the House of Commons
Future Trivial Pursuit question we hope to never see: When did the Canadian House of Commons become the Canuckistan House of Untouchable Elites? Answer: February 17, 2022
BREAKING IN OTTAWA
Construction workers are building a fence around the parliament since 5 am this morning.https://t.co/VfgKKYKzKr#FreedomTruckers @OttawaPolice pic.twitter.com/y1E4Yu0ZnD
— Alexandra Lavoie (@ThevoiceAlexa) February 17, 2022
Related: Viva Frei live in Ottawa + Live from the Shed h/t Canadian Observer
Solidarity 2.0
41 years ago the workers of Poland engaged in peaceful protests which lead to the end of a totalitarian dictatorship. Now, in 2022, Canadian blue collar workers are rising up against a dictator-on-the-rise. The similarities are striking.
In 1981, the future prime minister of Canada had not yet turned 10 years old and was not yet designated Canada’s “sexiest man alive.” Yet there are clues that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau might have heard and absorbed Soviet anti-Solidarity propaganda. In response to the 2022 truckers’ convoy, Trudeau plagiarized the Soviets, claiming, “We won’t give in to those who fly racist flags. We won’t cave to those who engage in vandalism or dishonour [sic] the memory of our veterans.”
[…]
The media, perhaps responding to a Soviet-style call to “organize statements of this sort,” wrote, “Images shared on social media during the weekend showed protesters waving flags with swastikas on them, as well as U.S. Confederate flags—which civil rights groups say is a symbol of white supremacy.”
We Leave When We Are Free
Heather Heying has published a comprehensive essay about what is going on in Canada. Please read every word.
Why is it so important that we believe that the Freedom Convoy is characterized by white supremacists and louts, intent on violence and social unrest? Why, similarly, was it so important that we believe that the #BlackLivesMatter protests of 2020 were characterized by peace-loving people who were finally standing up for their rights? When, on the first weekend of the Freedom Convoy in Ottawa, a statue of Terry Fox had a sign hung around his neck—a sign that read “Mandate Freedom”—the screaming commenced immediately: how dare they denigrate our history, how disrespectful, how outrageous! But when, across North America in 2020, and into 2021, statues ranging from Thomas Jefferson to Queen Victoria were destroyed—including one in Montreal of John A. MacDonald, Canada’s first prime minister, which was toppled and decapitated, after which a carnal act was theatrically enacted on his now detached head—we were assured that the protests were mostly peaceful, and that if you care about statues, you are revealing that you don’t care about people. Not to mention, of course, the fire-setting, the widespread property destruction, the assaults and batterings, and even killings, that occurred during the peaceful protests of the Summer of 2020.
Why, indeed, has the legacy media coverage of both sets of events been exactly the opposite of what is true?
Related: Mark Steyn shares his thoughts.
Why Canadians Are Protesting
Predictions on How/When This Will End?
In this very interesting discussion, Ezra Levant shares his predictions on how the Canadian Freedom Revolution is going to come to a successful end and much quicker than anyone realizes:
If Ezra is correct, I must confess that the impetus for this ending coming via an external source is one I would not have predicted but his logic seems very sound.
There is a strong counterpoint to Levant’s theory. It’s one I’ve heard from several different sources. Here’s a piece by Alexandra Bruce of why Trudeau or his successor will not succumb to the demands of the Freedom Protest anytime soon. h/t “J West”
Finally, here’s a comprehensive analysis of all of this by Giles Hoffmann. h/t Brian
Whatever occurs, it’s going to take agreement from two parties for this all to end:
- The federal Canadian government and all (most?) provincial governments
- The truckers and other protesters
Who precisely constitutes group #2 is quite nebulous since this is a truly authentic grassroots campaign.
Several days ago, I summarized my own ideas into a two-part list of requirements that I think should be met before things end:
- Minimum requirements that are non-negotiable
- A list of additional things that should occur
I’ve deliberately held off on publishing these ideas because I think it’s much too early. My individual thoughts are unimportant; it’s the ideas of those on the frontlines that matter. But if the protesters were to ask you for your ideas on the Non-negotiable and Negotiable requirements, what would you tell them?