I was relaxing in the little park next to the marine police station, on the last day of a long sweltering weekend, when Callum came running up with the shocking news.
Mohammed bin Salman aka MBS, the perfumed crown prince of the barbaric Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, had declared war on Canada for not showing him enough respect.
And not only was he now trying to bully us into submission.
Saudi Arabia lashed out at Canada on Monday for criticizing the recent arrests of Saudi rights activists, and threatened to break off trade with other Western countries if they too spoke out about political repression in the kingdom.
Some of his agitated supporters appeared to be threatening a 911-style attack on MY neighbourhood !!!!!!
So needlessly to say I was not amused eh?
And I didn't find this apology too convincing or reassuring.
After social media users pointed out the threatening nature of the photo, Infographic KSA deleted the tweet and posted an apology.
"The aircraft was intended to symbolize the return of the ambassador," read the tweet. "We realize this was not clear and any other meaning was unintentional."
Not when it's coming from those living in the nexus of terrorism, and the plane bringing the ambassador home looks like its going to land on the CN tower...or in my bedroom.
And this sounds like a threat Vito Corleone, as played by Marlon Brandon, might have made:
As the Arabic saying goes: He who interferes with what doesn't concern him, finds what doesn't please him.
Before leaving a horses's head at the end of my bed.
So I was very happy to see Chrystia Freeland basically tell the Saudi misogynists and head choppers to stuff it.
“Canada will always stand up for the protection of human rights, including women’s rights and freedom of expression around the world,” she said. “We will never hesitate to promote these values and we believe that this dialogue is critical to international diplomacy.”
Especially since I feel it's the Saudis who should be apologizing for their barbaric behaviour, including the imprisonment and torture of Raif Badawi.
The blogger and peaceful human rights activist who never should have been imprisoned let alone flogged, and should be released tomorrow.
But at least this sorry episode should allow us to erase yet another chapter of Stephen Harper's foul legacy.
And hopefully lead to the cancellation of the deal he roped us into to supply the Saudi barbarians with armoured cars.
It's too bad we can't count on the support of Donald Trump, since as we know he's a big fan of the Saudis and their billions...
And I wouldn't be surprised if the Con clown Andrew Scheer sides with the Saudi government just like he sided with the Indian government in his desperate and never ending attempt to destroy Justin Trudeau.
But judging from the comments in the New York Times, I think Trudeau and and the rest of us have a lot of friends on the other side of the border:
And probably all over the world.
So while we shouldn't let those compliments go to our heads, for we are only doing what all countries should be doing; standing up for human rights.
I think we can be proud of our government, and the way our prime minister is always standing up for the human rights of all people.
As he was doing at the Pride parade on Sunday in Vancouver...
And if the Saudis don't like that too bad.
Hell, or Saudi Arabia, will freeze over, before this country surrenders to barbaric bullies like them.
You know, I made this little video a few years ago during the ghastly Harper years, to let him and his Cons know that we don't do surrender...
And that still means no surrender now, and no surrender ever.
Down with the Saudi bullies, long live Canada.
And of course, free Raif Badawi tomorrow...
38 comments:
We need to start treating subversive Canadian bloggers like yourself the way Saudi Arabia handles their own.
Good post, Simon! Not only did we stand up for Raif Badawi, but also for his imprisoned sister Samar.
One small point of correction: Harper wasn't PM in 2016 when the Canadian arms deal with KSA was signed. Trudeau locked us into that. As Mulroney once pointedly said to Turner, "You had an option, sir. You could have said, 'I am not going to do it.'"
I love that graphic of Andrew Scheer. Maybe he should change his name to Abdullah Scheer. His views on women and gays are not much different from the Saudis, and the fact that he hasn’t yet condemned them shows once again that he is both a traitor and a coward.
I wouldn't be surprised if the Cons borrow that "9/11 comes to Canada" photo to use in one of their attack ads. "Justin is letting in Muslim immigrants and letting them go to college -- where they'll learn to become AIRLINE PILOTS! A Bombardier loaded with refugees is going to fly out of his father's airport and KILL US ALL!" (Emphasis on the "Bomb" text in "Bombardier." 72-point Comic Sans.)
'Course, they'd probably juxtapose it with that anonymous refugee man with a suitcase, just Photoshop a turban or a keffiyeh or some other "foreign-looking" article of clothing on him instead of the jacket and jeans and baseball cap. "Do we really know what's in that suitcase? Trudeau must answer for the dancing Liberals in the rubble of CN Tower!"
To make matters worse, there's discussion as to whether this was all a way of deepening ties with the Trump maladministration via the Kushner/MBS connection. Stupid, arrogant, authoritarian MEN. If that was Harper or Scheer in the PM chair, they'd all be buddies right now gloating over heretics being punished for their blasphemy. Sipping Diet Cokes at Mar-a-Lago, willfully ignorant of all the decent people who hate their guts.
But as for the rare bright side you don't often see in the Internet commenting sections, you're absolutely right Simon: like '70s songstress Dinah Christie sang in that "sunny" pop tune she recorded to celebrate the newborn future PM, Justin -- and Canada -- have many more friends than they ever will know. (Jackie waves hello from USA.)
And of course, at least one troll slips through the cracks and threatens violence against someone he just doesn't like.
Go to Riyadh and eat camel dung, Andy. Or go to Moscow with the traitor U.S. congressmen and eat dirt cakes. Your type isn't welcome in civilized society.
Abdullah means slave (or servant) of God; Scheer wouldn't mind that at all. Fundies are brothers in their hatred of women, LGBTQ+ people and independent thought.
Yes, free Raif and Samar Badawi.
Uh huh. And you would have to go through people like myself in order to do that, keyboard tough guy.
mr perfect
While the Maple Leaf Forever is a beautiful tune, I was perplexed by your choice of it in light of the offensive language in the first verse, celebrating Wolfe's conquest of New France. I looked it up, and alternative lyrics have been proposed. Though some of these still overlook the founding Indigenous nations...
But hell, the important news is Ford announcing his plans for the sale of $1 pony piss! https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-doug-ford-announces-1-beer-by-labour-day-weekend/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Maple_Leaf_Forever
Andrew Scheer is nothing but a traitor. He betrayed this country during the NAFTA negotiations. He betrayed it again by siding with the Indian government that played him like a fiddle. And now he’s selling us out to Saudi Arabia. Why does he hate Canada so much?
Abdullah Scheer was always a traitor, but if we can hang this one around his neck it will do him some real damage. We should rent a camel and turn up at one of his meetings, I bet he’d really shit himself.
OMG when I first saw that post with the jetliner headed to the CN tower and the news they were halting flights to TO, I immediately thought: JT better step up our readiness and be prepared to scramble the CF-18's for escort duty of all Saudi airline traffic over Canadian airspace. That level of intimidation is as revolting as the House of Saud's human rights record.
Another Liberal troll and likely paid hack/operative chimes in. Here’s the stance on the issue....
https://twitter.com/MichelleRempel/status/1026898391807143937?s=20
Liberals...all stupid all of the time.
Sadly, what I get from this is reinforcement of the Michael Moore assertion that Saudi Arabia had more to do with 9/11 than I think we'll ever truly know.
And it WAS Harper that got us into the General Dynamics deal. Trudeau tried to break it, but it would cost Canada billions. Another steaming turd left behind by the Conservatives.
I don't like calling Mr Scheer Abdullah. I have a friend in France named Abdullah, who is anything but a fundie. I'd prefer to bestow one of those names common among fundamentalist Christians on him.
Camels were important long-range beasts of burden. Look up the silk road. They did not only carry silk or jewellery.
The Cons are all about money and influence so we already know they are not going to call the Saudis out on this one but at the same time most Canadians would consider it unpatriotic to publicly support the Saudis. What to do? Why not test market a few third party attack strategies and pick the best. So far its ... chide Trudeau for being weak as no Nation dared insult Canada like that in the good old Harper days or test market the idea that Trudeau bumbled into another trade war. If they resonate expect to see Rempel or Poilievre staging the parliamentary video shortly. No public policies or moral compass of their own. Just attack clowns willing to support those offering money and influence over the oppressed. They don't even pretend to support the little guy (Christian fundamentalists excluded) on the international stage so why would anyone believe they support them in Canada.
RT
I have been anti Saudi since the 1973 oil crisis. No other nation on earth has bought friends and influenced people like this. There is a Saudi, Israeli, US axis that is trying to remake the Middle East in their image.
@anon 3:38 -- I'm sure we'd all love to read what Michelle has to say (sure we would, yup...). Pity though, she's blocked everyone on Twitter who disagrees with her in the slightest and dares call her and the cons out on their BS. That leaves only a few legitimate Rebel cultists plus whatever generated bots and sock puppet accounts in Marshall's server farm are tracking her account and Andrew Akbar's. Not Doug's, though, as he follows quite a few porn bots and that probably doesn't sit well with the "devout believers" of the Conservative madrasah network. But I digress.
At least Justin has the courage to leave his feed open for public input, even the vile hatemongering that you Rebel scum spew at him, his whole family (even his kids) and Liberal MPs and cabinet members all day from your mother's basement or whatever GRU-funded Internet café you're perched in for 18 hours a day in Macedonia or Moscow. But go ahead, call us paid operatives. I'm still waiting for those Soros salaries you guys say are a gold mine in the making.
Conservatives: All stupid, all projection, all the time.
Hi anon10:29 AM....The armoured car deal was signed in 2014 when Harper was still prime minister. None of the parties in the 2015 election suggested it should be scrapped. So although the Liberals signed export licenses in 2016, the deal was done and Canada would have been liable to massive penalties if it had defaulted. So it was Harper who roped us into the deal, and the whole thing was more murky than you seem to be suggesting...
Hi anon@11:00 AM...i’m glad you like the graphic of Scheer of Arabia, and you’re right, it is bizarre that Scheer should take so long before making his position clear on such a big issue. He clearly puts his own crass political interests before the interests of his country. And should be treated with the contempt he so richly deserves...
Hi lagatta...I wasn’t aware of any offensive lyrics in the song, but that’s irrelevant since my video was only a musical track. I do have a special connection to that song however. When a big storm knocked down the maple tree that had inspired the author to write the song, I cycled over to his house, retrieved a few leaves, and pressed them between the pages of my grandfather’s Second World War RCAF log book which is one of my most precious possessions...
Hi anon@1:49 PM....I have no idea why Andrew Scheer hates Canada so much. The only thing That might explain it is his longtime attraction to the U.S. right wing scene, and his belief that Canada is a socialist welfare state. Which just happens to be what Stephen Harper thinks about this country, and made clear in a famous speech to a group of Americans. Coincidence? I don’t think so, but it is the stuff of traitors...
Hi anon@3:38 PM...It really amuses me when Con trolls like you call decent progressives liberal trolls. Troll is a word best used to describe Con scumbags. And speaking of scumbags please don’t make even more of an idiot out of yourself by quoting the increasingly desperate low life racist Michelle Rempel. I have no interest in knowing what that cowardly lush has to say about anything...
Hi Jackie...yeah that’s what I should have told that Con troll and Pathetic Rempel groupie. No wonder they are more afraid of you than they are of me. 😉 But yes, Con trolls from Hamish Marshall’s troll farm calling others trolls. I realize they don’t have have much grey matter in their Neanderthal skulls thanks to their enlarged fear glands, but their slobbering stupidity is truly mind boggling...
Hi Scott...It is a shocking graphic, and coming from that bestial country is definitely meant as an attempt to intimidate us. So I agree with you, we need to take every necessary step to protect ourselves from a terrorist attack. Canadians are a pretty placid people, so it really infuriates me to see a blood soaked barbaric regime threaten us for merely speaking up for human rights. It’s simply outrageous and they must not be allowed to get away with it...
Hi anon... I have always believed that the Saudis had more to do with 911 than most people know. The attack wasvacSaudi operation, and since that day spoiled Saudi princes have financed one terrorist attack after the other. From the Iraq war to the creation of ISIS which they financed to try to destroy the hated Shia. If there was any justice the whole of their corrupt royal family should be put on trial for crimes against humanity...
FYI: Speaking of comment sections, I just had a look over at some of the WaPo articles about the Canada-KSA-USA rumble. Full of trolls -- including a few who have it in for Sacha (!) bringing up the old, tired "he's an Iranian spy" angle. Probably Saudis is my guess, although I've seen this conspiracy theory come up from domestic wingnuts in Canada and the U.S. Example below:
PM Justin Trudeau's brother Alexandre has made propaganda films for the Iranian dictatorship. During Justin's election campaign, he also came on board as a foreign policy advisor. Now the Liberals are renegotiating Canada's relationship with Iran. How do you think that will turn out...?
The cons need to quit playing partisan nitpicking on this issue or STFU. Considering what these wackos threatened and what we know they're already capable of, all hands need to be on deck to protect Justin Trudeau and his entire family. And with the rogue usurper in D.C. being buddy-buddy with the macho jerks in KSA, and having a personal hatred of PMJT for numerous petty reasons that are justified only in his own diseased mind, anything is possible at this point. I don't trust Salman, the cons or especially Trump any further than I could throw them.
Seems that the Saudi king rapped juniors knuckles for giving Jerusalem to the Israelis in exchange for the Trunpkin squashing (nuking?) Iran. Now the US is still on the hook for a proxy war with Iran without the payoff. Fortunately Harper is gone otherwise Canada would be there as well as Saudi money and Netty love were an irresistible combination.
RT
Hi RT...you’re right, Scheer and his scummy Cons are caught between a rock and a hard place. They can’t support the government or risk boosting its fortunes, and they can’t side with the Saudis or look even more like misogynists and traitors. No doubt they’re hoping the media will turn on Trudeau like those Con stooges did during that fake India scandal. And then they’ll be all over him like bugs. They are truly evil, and we need to give those clowns the hook...
Hi Steve...yup, the Saudis have helped turn the Middle East into a nightmare of sectarian warfare. Their rivalry with Iran is so virulent it could eventually turn the region into a giant slaughterhouse, and even lead to the Third World War. The idea that those barbarians think they can lecture us is absolutely hilarious...
Hi RT...yes I saw that, the crown prince was embarrassed by the senile king so he is taking it out on us. Great eh? And yes we’re lucky Harper isn’t prime minister or he would certainly be kissing the king’s ass and getting us involved in a war with Iran, if only to please his boyfriend Benny Netanyahu. Thank god for small mercies...
Hi Jackie...yes I’ve noticed the number of trolls in the times and the Post. Some are clearly from the Hamish farm, but others seem to be foreigners, Saudis or Russians or whatever. Justin has made some powerful enemies in the sewers of the world, and let’s just hope that those who protect him are up to the job...
We have a very bad regime without a hint of democracy or rule of law promulgating with billions of oil dollars the most extreme dogma possible. These are our friends. The other regime are not Arab, they are Persians closer to the West than Arabs have ever been. They have elections and there is a transfer of power. There is a legal system. These are our enemies. Two bad states but I think we have the sides mixed up.
Lovely story!
Saudi Arabia likes to traffic in economic terrorism. What they are doing to Canada, they've already done to Sweden and Germany for the same reasons. This is just an old M.O. that S.A. follows. I'd much prefer our country does not do business with the likes of S.A., who is never going to improve their human rights record.
Its seems so ridiculous that the U.S.A. criticises Iran, but thinks S.A. is just fine. They seem to forget it were Saudi's who flew those jet liners in the Towers on 911. The Saudis export terrorism all over the world and disguise it as promoting their version of Islam, Wahhabism, which is considered by many as "causing disunity within the Muslim Community. It has also been a source of global terrorism and has helped the rise of the hOuse of Saud.
If Putin and Trump are supporting S.A. we know Freeland's comments were right on track. They don't want Canada taking a stand on human rights because it draws attention to their horrific human rights records.
Lets not forget the war Saudi Arabia is wagging on Yemen and the tens of thousand of people who are being killed there. S.A. is bombing the country into rubble. We criticise Syria, but S.A. is no better. The U.N. is trying to get the Saudi's to stop bombing yemen long enough that they can get health care workers in there to vaccinate children against cholera. S.A. doesn't seem to want to cooperate.
I'm proud of Freeland and her comments. I'[ll be happy when S.A. takes their business elsewhere. Doing business with S.A. is no different than countries having done business with Hitler. Business may be business but at some time you have to draw a line. For those who think business ought to take priority, go and live in S.A. and see how you like it.
The only people in S.A. with rights are the royal family and then only if the Crown Prince things you're on his side. he can go to hell. Its what he has turned his own country and Yemen into.
Iran is light years ahead of S.A. We may not like what they do at times, but there are elections and women do have more rights. Its just been easy for the U.S.A. to "light up" Iran as the bad guys so we don't look at what S.A. is doing. Now S.A. has threatened Canada. That airliner heading towards the CN tower is no mistake.
S.A. aggression has taken place over the years against Sweden and Germany for saying the same things Ms. Freeland has. there is no way to negotiate with idiots or terrorists or maniacs and the Crown Prince of S.A. is all 3 in my opinion. The House of Saud is closely linked to the export of terrorism via their Wahhabism sects. they most likely thought we'd buckle under if they thought we might be attacked.
My advise to our government is get out of all contracts with the S.A. If they want to pull their amabassdor fine. We need to increase our military spending to protect ourselves, because believe me, if an airliner was sent to the CN towers, the U.S.A. would not prevent it. It would have Trump and Putin's blessing. Remember what Saudi Arabia is doing to yemen. Now do we really want to go to a cocktail party with murderers of children? If my pension portofolio takes a hit, so be it. You don't do business with guys like Hitler and you don't do business with guys like the Crown prince of S.A.
We ought to let any students who want to stay in Canada apply for refugee status. They really don't have much to look forward to at home.
As solar and other renewables take over S.A. will simply crumble along the way. We can help it along by not purchasing their oil and not having them invest in our economy. We have enough oil in Canada for all of our country.
It is terrifying, and in that sense a form of terrorism. (No, I don't think it should be prosecuted like actual terror attacks, but the intent is obvious, with the CN Tower as symbolic of Toronto as the WTC was of New York and its financial power). I was working on my old teal-coloured Imac back then, and at first, the first plane seemed like a horrible accident, until the second followed, when people had just arrived at work on a beautiful late-summer day.
And we must remember that Saudi-sponsored or inspired terror is not limited to major cities in the "Western world". Poor Yemen. Most of its victims are actually Muslim people.
I just saw on the news that the USA and their Saudi friends just bombed a school bus full of children in Yemen. It was horrific. The USA hates brown children, if they can’t cage them they’re now bombing them.
We need to rethink who our Allies are, at least until the Russian is removed from the Whitehouse and help Yemen. I’m afraid Trump will nuke us if his Saudi and Russian Handlers order it. They’ve already threatened to 9-11 us and yet Akbar Andy sides against his own country because of his jealousy of Justin and hatred of our freedoms and of course he needs the alt- crazy Nazi vote. Good people would never vote for him and he knows it. All he has is the Deplorables and the Nazi’s.
Looking forward to a Super Majority in 2019 and the humiliating defeat of Akbar Andy, Traitor to his country. Sunny Ways Simon and good people. ❤️🌞🇨🇦 Pamela.
♥️ Pamela 🌞🌞🌞
Post a Comment