control – Sommer Season all year

For a long time, I (#blogger #blog #somseason #YA #authors) have thought our Canadian governments are “losing it;” acting in strange and even draconian ways. Our Prime Minister, Mark Carney, was elected on the basis he would stand up to President Donald Trump’s tariffs, but then he meets with Trump and caves, as the article, Canada’s Carney talked tough on Trump – now some say he’s …, says. Since their initial meeting, Carney ‘disappointed’ as Trump increases tariffs on Canada to 35%.. Let’s not forget that the Liberals aren’t planning to table a budget this year. I guess Canadians have been conned. Why would Canadians think former Prime Minister Trudeau’s advisor would save us from Trump? I’m scratching my head—for those who don’t know, the phrase “scratching my head” means to have difficulty understanding something.

Let’s talk about the insane behaviour of some of our provincial governments. Nova Scotia recently told its citizens that they were no longer allowed to walk in the forests because it could cause a forest fire, facing a $25000 fine if they do so. This is a video with the announcement.

The Globe and Mail says, The people opposing Nova Scotia’s ban on accessing the woods don’t understand our culture. I scratched my head at that one. This has caused huge public outcry, with some claiming this is the beginning of climate lockdowns, as the article ‘CLIMATE LOCKDOWN’: Nova Scotia Bans Citizens From Going into the Woods suggests. If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, read the article, The Push for Climate Lockdowns – Is This the Next Step?

The New Brunswick government followed suit, as the article, ‘Get out of the woods,’ NB premier asks as wildfires threaten province. The premier used a different excuse for her government’s decision. She says (paraphrased) if you break a leg, they won’t be helped by emergency rescue personnel because they’re too busy with forest fires. Yes, that’s right. That is what the premier said. Listen to her address in the article. I’m scratching my head once again.

Next was Newfoundland. Their premier says, ‘We mean business’: N.L. hikes fees and prison time for violating province wide fire ban. The province has banned all off-road vehicles, as the advisory Public Advisory: Province-Wide Restriction on all Off-Road Vehicles says. My take? This all appears to be government rhetoric to blame Climate Change to justify Climate Lockdowns. The opinion peace, Canada’s Creeping Authoritarianism: Forest Bans and the Shadow of Control, argues:

Across Canada, a new storm is gathering — and it has nothing to do with weather. Provincial governments are rolling out sweeping bans on outdoor activities under the banner of “keeping forests safe.” Hiking, camping, even stepping foot on certain public lands is suddenly off-limits. The official story? Fire prevention. The unofficial reality? Control.

I have to agree. This is about removing more and more rights under the guise of keeping us safe. Let’s face it, banning walks in the forest doesn’t start fires. There are some who think governments are starting these fires, paying arsonists to start fires. That may or may not be true, but many forest fires are started by arsonists, as the article, Saskatchewan volunteer firefighter who set 30 fires in a month and

Quebec man who blamed 2023 wildfires on government pleads guilty. Why are people starting forest fires? Are governments ‘forest banning’ to prevent people from catching an arsonist? That may sound crazy, but some people have asked that question. The article, Claims Canadian wildfires are caused by arson and not climate change are misleading, tries to discredit the idea of arsonists starting fires, with statements like, “Human caused does not necessarily mean arson.” Instead it is attempting to manipulate so you believe that Climate Change is to blame, with statements like, “Climate change has led to areas, like in parts of Northern Canada, experiencing hot and dry conditions earlier than expected…”

This is not just happening in Canada. In the United Kingdom, All UK households told to sleep downstairs…for key reason. What’s the reason you ask? The article says, “Every household across the UK is being advised to relocate their sleeping arrangements downstairs starting… This guidance follows warnings of scorching temperatures reaching 33C…” Now I have four things to say about this story. First, more and more I am seeing governments telling us what we can and can’t do. Now they are telling people where to sleep. What is next? Are governments going to tell us what time to go to bed? Now you may say, they are just concerned about us. I call bullshit. This is about control. Second, am I to assume citizens of the UK are not intelligent enough to know if it is too hot to sleep upstairs, that they wouldn’t know to sleep downstairs? Do governments think we are stupid? Thirdly, when I was a kid, 33 degrees was just a really hot summer day and there were never warnings about scorching temperatures. Sounds like fear mongering to me. This leads to my forth point, which is that all this is government rhetoric to justify Climate Change and Climate Lockdowns.

Continuing with the UK, people are being urged not to drink popular drink this weekend during weekend. Why you ask? The article says, “As the UK is set to bask in a sizzling heatwave this weekend, Brits are being warned against consuming a popular beverage due to the soaring temperatures.” I’m scratching my head too. According to Gov.UK, water and diluted squash are recommended for staying hydrated, while fruit juice and sugary fizzy drinks should be consumed with caution due to their high sugar content, which can worsen dehydration. These are the same people who told us Covid “vaccines” were safe. Do some research on that one.

Now this story really had me ‘scratching my head.’ The government of Canada has banned water craft, except canoes in all Yoho National Park lakes. The bulletin Restricted activity: Fishing and watercraft use in all areas in Yoho National Park states:

Prohibited watercraft include but are not limited to: kayaks, paddleboards, canoes, inflatable boats, or any other vessel. Fishing and the use of waders and wading boots is prohibited in all waters.
The following exceptions apply: Use of rental canoes at Emerald Lake.

Why you ask? The article says “to prevent the spread of whirling disease. This parasitic disease affects some fish species but does not present any health risks for people or other animals.”

Yup, you can’t make this shit up. I have just one question. How do non-rental canoes spread whirling disease but rental canoes at Emerald Lake do not? Please enlighten me. This is about control once again. Governments are slowly removing our rights to control us.

Kananaskis consists of nine provincial parks and over 50 recreation, wilderness and natural areas where outdoor adventures can occur and its wildlife habitat is protected. Now all of Kananaskis Country is under a bear warning, some trails closed. My son and I have hiked in Kananaskis Country many times and never before has the entire area been issued a “bear warning.” Yes, the odd trail has been closed, but never more than that. This sounds like fear mongering to me. Again, is this another way to implement Climate Lockdowns. In 15 years of hiking in mountainous back country, we’ve never encountered a bear. We hiked knowing bears are around. We just carried bear spray, and made lots of noise.

I’m going to end with this story, because I am still scratching my head. The article, Speaking English Might Spread Coronavirus Quicker Than Other Languages is baffling. The article, Why Speaking English May Spread More Coronavirus Than Some Other Languages says, “New research suggests that English speakers put more droplets into the air when they talk, which may make them more likely to spread COVID-19.” I call bullshit on that. More rhetoric. This is merely governments trying to distract us from the real story. Do some research on masks and the spread of Covid.

All of this slow removal of our basic rights is bullying (#bullying, #antibullying). Our governments are acting as dictators. Abraham Lincoln during his Gettysburg Address said, “Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.” That seems to have reversed. Governments are not for the people; they seem to be against the people. Does that mean if something doesn’t change regarding our governments, we just may perish from the Earth?

The Guardian this week had a news article titled: Facebook and Twitter restrict controversial New York Post story on Joe Biden. The article says Twitter blocked tweets that contained links or photos to the New York (NY) Post’s report on alleged emails that show that Hunter Biden offered to introduce then Vice President Joe Biden, and now Democrat presidential candidate, to an executive of a Ukrainian gas company. Joe Biden’s son has faced accusations of corrupt behaviour from both Democrats and Republicans. Users attempting to share the story were shown a notice saying: “We can’t complete this request because this link has been identified by Twitter or our partners as being potentially harmful.” My question is: Harmful to who?

Facebook also took steps to limit the spread of New York Post—a newspaper that is part of the mainstream media—article placing restrictions on posts linking to the article, saying: “This is part of our standard process to reduce the spread of misinformation.” The article goes on to say that Republican senator Ted Cruz wrote Twitter saying: “Twitter’s censorship of this story is quite hypocritical, given its willingness to allow users to share less-well-sourced reporting critical of other candidates.”

Are social media companies censuring? I (#blogger #blog #somseason #YA #authors) personally have had Facebook posts that I shared declared “misinformation,” and YouTube videos which I saved to watch later to discover them removed from YouTube.

According to the NY Post’s article; Ted Cruz slams ‘unbelievable’ Twitter censorship of another Hunter Biden story, Twitter locked down some accounts of people who shared the report, forcing them to delete the story from their feeds. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany refused to delete her tweet and remains locked out of her personal account, which has 1 million followers. The article also reports that Twitter blocked Ted Cruz from sharing the article. President Trump has had many tweets blocked by Twitter, and the company has even temporarily blocked the Donald Trump`s re-election campaign Twitter account (see US Election 2020).

A September 29th study uncovering global perspectives on online censorship using citizens in the United States of America, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Russia, Norway and Sweden, showed large segments of people in each country do not trust the integrity of information they find online, and many suspect censorship is at play. The study reveals 37% of Canadians and 54% of Americans feel that they’ve experienced internet censorship. The Toronto Sun has an article: BIG TECH CENSORS: Social media continues to gag conservative voices, stating YouTube nixed thousands of videos under the pretense it was removing hate speech.

Are we being controlled? If we aren’t being controlled, then why are so many users unable to speak their truth without being censored? New Zealand-born writer, Juliet Marillier, says, “There is no truth on this island of yours. Rather, there are as many truths as there are stars in the sky; and every one of them different.” American photographer, John Szarkowski, says, “Because we see reality in different ways, we must understand that we are looking at different truths rather than the truth and that, therefore, all photographs lie in one way or another.” We all like to think we hold “the truth.”

We need to ask questions, such as: Have we been controlled and manipulated with the use of fear tactics to keep us silent and out of our truths? Let’s face it, if we are being controlled and manipulated, then we are being bullied. Bullies (#bullying #antibullying) intimidate and torment others to control them. Start asking questions. First ask yourselves: Who is doing the censoring? Why are social media CEOs censoring? Who is telling them to censor? Secondly, ask yourselves who and what are they censoring? Are they censoring people who are speaking truths that are not the truths of those doing the censoring? Are they censoring truths that they don’t want us to hear? I have to wonder why the social media giants are attempting to prevent a New York Post article about the possible illegal dealings regarding the Biden family from being read? I guarantee that if a similar article about Trump came out, it would not be censored. We’ve seen lots of examples of that. The third question to ask yourself is: What are those doing the censoring afraid of? After all, censorship is the voice of fear. What are they hiding? Who are they not censoring? Could it be they are not censoring individuals that have the same agenda as them? Are they allowing the truths to be spread that are their truths? I am merely asking the questions while remaining neutral as best I can. Do some research to find the answers to the above questions if you feel called to.

I was under the illusion that everyone had freedom of expression or freedom of speech in the ‘free wold.” The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects our rights and freedoms, including freedom of expression and the right to equality. It is part of the Canadian Constitution. The First Amendment of US Constitution guarantees freedom of expression by prohibiting Congress from restricting the press or the rights of individuals to speak freely.

So, ask yourselves are we manipulated and controlled? Have we always been? An article titled: Fear-Based Manipulation: How Politicians, Marketers and the Media Create Panic to Control the Masses, explains how this could be done. Another article: How the Media Controls Your Reality explains how media could control our lives. I encourage you to read them.

American singer and songwriter, Jim Morrison, once said, “Whoever controls the media, controls the mind.” Soviet politician, Nikita Khrushchev, said, “The press is our chief ideological weapon.” Malcolm X, an African American Muslim minister, says, “The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses.” British television writer, novelist and non-fiction writer, Dresden James, once said, “When a well-packaged web of lies has been sold gradually to the masses over generations, the truth will seem utterly preposterous and its speaker a raving lunatic.” Could that be true?

If we really do have freedom of expression, which our constitutions say we do, then we must respect and tolerate everyone’s truth. As German-born physicist, Albert Einstein, once said, “We must not only learn to tolerate our differences. We must welcome them as the richness and diversity which can lead to true intelligence.” We must remain neutral, no matter how difficult that may be, and stop labelling things as right or wrong. Really, there is no such thing as right and wrong. As Ufuoma Apoki, founder of Petra Ministries, says, “Right or Wrong, most times, merely depends on perspective. It takes humility (not necessarily logic) to let go of our egos to see through the other person’s eyes. But I guess even I, myself, can’t let go to see why you’d object.” In other words, right and wrong are relative.

Some people might claim there are absolute truths, meaning a truth that is true at all times and in all places; a truth that is always true no matter what the circumstances. Perhaps there is, but that would require more study.

If we are ever going to live in peace and harmony, then all truths need to be respected and tolerated, and the use of censorship to control others needs to stop. Let’s face it, we live in a diverse world; a world with an infinite number of truths, and that is okay. I don’t have to accept your truth, nor do you have to accept my truth, but we do need to understand and accept that your truth may be different from my truth. When you attempt to impose your truth onto someone else, then you are acting as a bully.