Opening Statement



Monday 18 January 2021

Welcome To 2021: The US + Abroad!


Another year! Another lockdown! 
Hello Covid pandemic! Hello Capitol Riots! 
Goodbye President Trump! 

Welcome to 2021! My new year inauspiciously starts stuck at home, on the couch, watching TV. Squirming uneasily, I scratch my head. Fire up a spliff. Wondering what comes next?!? 

I planned to speculate at great length about US President Joe Biden in this blog. It made sense with his Inauguration this Wednesday. But only two weeks and a bit into the new year, everything is changing so fast! It's impossible to keep up anymore! 

Instead, a very basic "Watch-For" list must do: 

Watch For USA ....

Watch for the Democrats to use the Capitol Riots as a very handy wedge issue to divide the Republicans in Congress. Complicity runs deep, throughout the house and Senate. The FBI, CIA, National Guard, Capitol Police and army too. That might help the Democrats muster enough bipartisan votes to impeachment Trump. If not, the various legal investigations will still continue to be an albatross around the GOP's neck, in all matters Trump. Not just for the first year of the Biden presidency either.

Watch for Trump's re-election hopes to quickly go up in smoke! Lots of mainstream voters were really turned off by the Capitol Riots. Non stop video reruns will keep it that way. Sans Twitter and Facebook, they won't be tuning Trump back in either, not like before. A presidential pardon can't save his sorry ass. It won't cover his tax returns, sex scandals or Russian real estate deals, anyway. Basically, it's all down hill from here!

Watch for medical complications from the virus to slow down and kill Trump. Next time you see him on TV, listen carefully to his voice. Watch his face and demeanour. Trump's old, fat and very stressed out. He's not taking good care of his health. He won't die right away, but pretty soon, over the next few years.

Watch foBiden to make little progress with gun control, racism and police violence anytime soon. The underlying issues are far too systematic. Any real solutions too "radical socialist" for the moderates in both parties. The progressive's will get quickly sidelined as the Democrats court the soft Republican votes. Decisive action? Ha! Expect some pretty, wishy-washy, half measures, instead. 

Watch for Biden's globalist free trade agenda to quickly trump "America First". A return to free trade will prove a very popular, unifying force, for the many reps from both parties, dining at the corporate trough.

Watch for President Joe Biden to die in office before completing his first term in office. Dunno why really, could be his heart, it's just a hunch. Kamala Harris will become America's first black, south asian, female President. The prospect of change then ends up in her hands.

Watch for the Covid virus not to mutate and become resistant to the new vaccines. If it does, it'll spread like wildfire. There will be nothing anybody can do. America's social structure, like the economy and medical system will collapse. Millions will die a horrible, painful death. The pandemic will spread like wildfire until it eventually burns itself out. It's game over. Nothing will ever be the same again.

Watch for Trump's big lies, and the threat of white domestic terrorism to be his lasting legacy. The violence will continue off and on, to varying degrees, for many decades to come.

WATCH FOR ABROAD

Watch for China to wait and see what Biden does next. They're still busy building their economic and military resources. Lining up their political ducks. China's star is on the rise. America's isn't. They know it. Won't do much, even in the trade war, until they're absolutely ready. Won't be this year.

Watch For Biden not to lift the US economic embargo of Cuba, at least not this year. The Democrats will pussy foot around the Cuban American vote in Florida for a bit, carefully considering their options. Hopefully, Cuba will be removed as Trump's last minute addition to the State Department terrorist list, a sign of their good intentions.

Watch for Iran to seek payback against Trump: Remember Qasem Soleimani? They do! Trump is no longer president. The Iranians figure he owes them one, bigly! Picture a surprise drone strike. Maybe on the golfing greens at Mar-a-Lago? Not nice I know, but beats dying from Covid complications, eh!

Watch for Mexican fence mending rather than Mexican walls. Biden will treat them with more respect like a North American free trade partner should. Plus it's a lot better way to fix border problems. 

Watch for NATO to quickly regain favour as Biden quickly moves to restore the US's leading role. Unpaid fees will matter far less than the many other benefits from this important military alliance with many of America's leading trade partners. 

Watch for North Korea's Kim Jung-Un to step up testing his rockets and nukes in 2021. He liked Donnie. Won't waste any time now. Like it or not, NK's is a member of the nuclear club. Probably the biggest wild card for the incoming Biden administration!

Watch for the Russians to come under lots of close scrutiny and pressure. The UkraineBaltics? Cyber Warfare? And the election hacking too? The hawkish Democrats will quickly begin tightening the screws as soon as they take office.

Watch for South America to continue bearing the full US imperial brunt of Manifest Destiny. Venezuela for sure! Bolivia, maybe not? The Democrats will continue to stir things up, for their own economic ends, throughout the troubled region.

WATCH FOR CANNABIS 


Watch for the MORE Act to be passed by the end of the year. Or perhaps a similar bill. Legalization 
was the only clear winner in the 2020 election. The referendums won in a huge landslide victory, both in red and blue states alike. The Republican are about to have a "praise Jesus" moment. Jump onboard with a passion. They'll realize that buying and selling weed is just good, old fashioned, grassroots capitalism. It makes perfect business sense. Bet they really kick butt, now that Trump is gone. Help end the impasse. 

Watch for lots of countries to start jump on the global legalization bandwagon. The UN has removed cannabis from it's most dangerous drug list. In 2021 countries around the world will start getting ready so they can cash in too. More out of greed than any high principle, but so it will go, and on and on and on .....

COMMENTS:

Monday 11 January 2021

Welcome to 2021: On The Homefront!


There's only sure one thing about 2021 -the Covid-19 pandemic! 

The second wave is rapidly growing in strength. It could soon turn into a huge tsunami. 

Covid quickly skewered my "2020 Vision" blog by March. But now, it's mutating. Will it spread even faster? Grow resistant to the new vaccines? Become almost impossible to contain? 

If so, end of story! We're royally screwed! 

Even if not, It's highly unlikely that the crisis will end this year. Not with the half assed measures and lack of leadership that we've seen, in both the US and to a lesser degree Canada! 

My first "Welcome to 2021" blog focuses on what we might reasonably expect this year here in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The next will cover the US and the rest of the world.  

ONTARIO


Whatever Premier Ford does next, it's a case of too little too late.
 He's wasted too much time throughout 2020. He's created a "perfect storm", listening to the business lobbyists, largely ignoring the medical communities expert medical advice. 

Ford will be his own worse enemy! His credibility will continue to be stripped away, due to sheer ineptitude and folly. However, he'll still continue to rule Queens Park by default, largely unchallenged.

The NDP opposition like the Liberal party, will be mostly
missing in action. Both will keep their gunpowder close to the chest, for the 2022 provincial election instead.

Our neutered media watch dogs will pander to Ford. It'll mostly be business as usual at his highly staged press conferences. They'll cheerfully greet him from behind paywalls, blunting their investigative edge, frightened of offending their "friend".

Members of Ontario's teacher and labour unions will largely be stuck on their own at work. Don't expect any collective, union, work refusals
, in our unsafe workplaces and  schools. 

Virtual at home learning will become the new norm. Lots of students will give up in frustration on their studies, while teachers are forced to pass them along anyway. Hopefully, more in school, safety measures and family supports will be put in place for this fall, but don't count on it! 

Many factories, warehouses and offices will close due to widespread workplace spread, after it can't be hidden anymore.

Ontario's hospitals will soon become overcrowded. Field hospitals will follow to provide more ICU beds. If they fill up, we'll need to be told to just stay at home instead. [+]

Hopefully, there's no further delay in the vaccination roll out. Our doctors, nurses, and medical workers should come first, along with the seniors at our LTC nursing homes. Frontline workers must be immediately vaccinated too. Otherwise, it will be impossible to halt the spread. 

Ford will continue to endlessly fiddle about with various half measures and provincial lockdowns, throughout the year. His inconsistency will prove confusing and chaotic. Police will need new, emergency, enforcement powers. If the situation continues to deteriorate, the military will be called in to re-establish law and order.

Fortunately, Mayor John Tory will keep pressing for much stronger measures in the City of Toronto. Along with Prime Minister Trudeau, he'll try to humour and focus Ford, with mixed results.

In the worst case scenario, the virus will continue to mutate, become resistant to the vaccine and spread like wildfire. The economy will collapse, along with our social supports. Ontario will descend into complete mayhem and chaos, until the pandemic burns itself out, with catastrophic results. [+]

Our best hope is that Ontario's vaccine rollout is completed by September and it works. Afterwards, those who've "recovered" will continue to get sick and die from other long term, medical complications, sometimes in large waves. That'll place a very heavy burden on our medical and social service net, for years to come. [+]

CANADA


Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be hamstrung, 
as the provincial clown shows continue unabated.
 He'll keep up his daily "We Are All In This Together" directives and incentives. Hope the provincial premiers act more responsibly, knowing that ultimately he has little
 power to make sure they do. 

The Liberal's will largely stick to their corporate, globalist agenda, while Covid continues to exposes Canada's social, economic and political fault lines. Universal pharmacare? A guaranteed income? The Keystone Pipeline? Or indigenous treaty rights? Who'll hold their feet to the fire? 

As for O'Toole's CPC Covidiots? Singh's wishy washy NDP? Our stump Green Party? To varying degrees, given half the chance, they'll dance the corporate, globalist jig too.

Despite more and more scandals, there likely won't be a federal election this year. Basically, everyone knows that it wouldn't go over well, at the height of a pandemic. However, the party intrigues and grandstanding will continue, with more empty election threats being made.

The Biden's Presidency won't necessarily be good for Canada. Trump has provided a strong impetus for a " third option" via our new trade deals with the EU CETA and the TPP Pacific Rim countries. Trudeau will continue diversifying our trade portfolio, to offset Canada's heavy economic dependence on the US. Watch as he subtly focuses on further developing our relations with Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, NZ Singapore and the UK. 

President Joe Biden will kill the Keystone Pipeline Deal. That'll resolve a major political impasse. Canada's indigenous peoples, along with our environmentalists and progressives will be happy, while Albertans consider it a major blow. It'll further fuel the western separatist movement to no avail. 

CANNABIS 


The US legalization "Green Wave" will prove very good for Canada's struggling LP's [Licensed Producers]. CBD's will lead the charge. 

Canada's legacy producers and sellers will increasingly gain access to the licensed retail market. That'll siphon off profits from the underground market, while improving quality and pricing in the legal marketplace for consumers too.

Government interference will continue to put the brakes on legal weed sales. The ridiculously low THC limit for edibles and drinks will keep giving the underground an upper hand. Likewise our ridiculous safety, advertising and packaging rules, will remain an albatross around the licensed market's neck.

Licensed lounges and maybe home delivery too, will be prohibited in Ontario during 2021. However, a clear double standard throughout the pandemic, will ultimately help strengthen the case against prohibition.

AT HOME

On the home front, Janet and I 
look forward to continuing our world travels asap. Our next stop? Back to Cuba and Japan!

We should be vaccinated by June, along with the province's age 50-75 cohort. Everybody else before this fall.
 However, much 
of the world won't get vaccinated this year. We are still very wary of flying in an airplane too, no matter what the airline "experts" say.

Next month is our 
20th anniversary. Hopefully the pandemic will be long over by our 25th, so we can pull out all the stops, fly off somewhere special then. 

We won't be going very far this year, that's for sure. 
Most likely, half of 2021 will be spent in our Toronto home, the rest at our summer residence by the lake. 

This May will be the 10th anniversary of my site. I should also reach a milestone 2 million views, early in the new year. [**] Afterwards? I'll try to pace myself better, so it's not so all consuming. Doesn't stop being fun.

The lockdown provides lots of time for me to write. B
asically writing is what I do. And so it goes and on and on and on .....

Still, we face a very long, dark Covid winter ahead. I'm doing fine with my computer, music and books. The weed helps smooth down the edges. Lately, I prefer edibles, drinks and vape over smoking weed. Easier on the lungs, and less smelly indoors too! 

Without doubt 2021 will take a "Busload of Faith" to get by. Like Janet, I can feel the cabin fever setting in. Thankfully, with creeping old age, it seems to get easier to keep it together through better and worse. 

In 2021, we just plan to keep safe. Stay the course, in hopes of still being around for the much more, happier times to come.  

Hope you do too!

David C

[+] = Read John M. Barry The Great Influenza [LINK] The Covid pandemic has been unfolding very much like the 1919 Spanish Flu. Check Barry's chapters on the second and third wave, for more info on what comes next!

[**] = See the site meter below my masthead, at the top right of my your screen.


Next: Welcome To 2021: The US + Abroad!

COMMENTS:

Communist Girls ARE More Fun!

Communist Girls ARE More Fun!
See below ...

Communist Girls Are More Fun #1

Communist Girls Are More Fun #1

Communist Grrrls are More Fun #2

Communist Grrrls are More Fun #2

Communist Grrrls Are More Fun #3

Communist Grrrls Are More Fun #3

Communist Girls Are More Fun #4

Communist Girls Are More Fun #4

Art at the Paris Louvre: What does it mean?!?

Art at the Paris Louvre: What does it mean?!?
A careful analytical study!

Help! I Have No Arms!

Help! I Have No Arms!
Please scratch my back.

I can't find my underwear!.

I can't find my underwear!.
Have you seen them!

Weee! I can fly!

Weee! I can fly!
Look! I can crawl thru walls!

I have a headache!

I have a headache!
And a broken nose.

I have a square hole in my bum!

I have a square hole in my bum!

Here try this, it's very good!

Here try this, it's very good!
No. You have a bird face.

I have an ugly baby!

I have an ugly baby!
No I'm not!

Let's save all our money + buy pants!

Let's save all our money + buy pants!
OK but I need a new hand too!

Oh no! I got something in my eye!

Oh no! I got something in my eye!

You don't look well.

You don't look well.
No. My head hurts +I have a sore chest.

Would you like a bun?

Would you like a bun?

Chichen-Itza: Lost Maya City of Ruins!

Chichen-Itza: Lost Maya City of Ruins!
The Temple of Kukulkan!

Gotta love it!

Gotta love it!
Truly amazing!

Under Reconstruction!

Under Reconstruction!

Temples + Snakes!

Temples + Snakes!

The Snake!

The Snake!
It runs the length of the ball field!