🔓📜 This Week's Most Popular Must-Reads - 29 July - 4 August 2024

A summary of this week's most interesting news, studies, reports and articles

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• A Trudeau Too Far - Canada is disintegrating under the weight of its prime minister’s far-left ideology. Michael Bonner discusses the struggles of Western governments with issues like debt, inflation, and ideological overreach, highlighting how elites often blame citizens for not accepting their flawed policies. In Canada, this elitist attitude has become policy, with the Liberal Party erasing traditional symbols and promoting multiculturalism to dissolve established Canadian identities. Under Justin Trudeau, Canada has been declared a post-national state, with national symbols removed and the country’s culture criticised as racist. Bonner also addresses false allegations of “mass graves” leading to church burnings, and the harsh treatment of religious communities and "Freedom Convoy" protesters. Ultimately, he argues that Trudeau’s efforts to replace old Canada with a progressive vision threaten the nation’s fabric.

• Paris Olympics: a smug spectacle of wokeness. Brendan O’Neill asks “Is anyone else bored of ‘queering’”? He criticises the pervasive trend of 'queering' various aspects of society, now extending to the Olympic Games, which featured drag acts and provocative performances in its opening ceremony in Paris. O’Neill finds this focus on LGBTQ themes inappropriate and tasteless, particularly highlighting a controversial depiction of the Last Supper with drag queens. He argues that while Christianity is an easy target for mockery, similar ridicule of Islam would provoke severe backlash, revealing the cowardice of the cultural elite. The article contends that the ceremony symbolizes the replacement of traditional values with the new 'woke' ideology and condemns the superficiality and lack of genuine bravery in these provocations.

  

• Boxers who failed gender tests at world championships cleared to compete at Olympics. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has allowed two boxers, Imane Khelif of Algeria and Lin Yu-ting of Chinese Taipei, who were previously disqualified from the world championships for failing gender eligibility tests, to compete in the Paris Olympics. This decision has sparked controversy, with former world champion Barry McGuigan expressing his shock on social media. The controversy stems from the International Boxing Association (IBA), which excluded the boxers based on DNA tests revealing XY chromosomes. The IOC has taken over the boxing event for the Paris Olympics, using more relaxed rules compared to the IBA.

• Engineering a Crisis: How Political Theatre Helps the Deep State Stay in Power. John & Nisha Whitehead describe a chaotic political landscape in the U.S., highlighting a failed assassination attempt and an incumbent president withdrawing from re-election. They argue that this turmoil is engineered by the Deep State to maintain power, comparing it to the Reichstag Fire in 1933, where the Nazis seized control by exploiting a crisis. The piece contends that modern politics is a distraction designed to keep citizens focused on trivialities while the true power remains with the elite, regardless of who is elected. It emphasises that real issues like overcriminalisation, economic inequality, and a pervasive surveillance state persist, suggesting that meaningful change will not come from voting but from the people taking control of their government.

• The Grayzone caused ‘biggest PR fiasco in history’ for US govt regime change arm, leaked emails reveal. The Grayzone’s article describes how a leaked phone call with a National Endowment for Democracy (NED) VP exposed internal chaos and led to the firing of two senior officials. The incident revealed a bitter conflict between the organisation’s neoconservative founders and a new generation of staff focused on diversity and inclusion. The turmoil began when Leslie Aun, a newly hired VP, engaged with The Grayzone to refute claims that NED operated as a CIA front. Her unprepared responses and the subsequent publication of the call led to a significant backlash within NED, highlighting deep-seated divisions over its direction and ideology. The article also underscores the historical role of NED in promoting US interests abroad and the ongoing internal struggle between maintaining traditional practices and adapting to progressive values.

  

• Manufactured Uncertainty. Jeff Thomas describes a predicted period of dramatic change where norms would shift, borders and governments would evolve, and wealth would drastically change hands. He compares the upcoming socio-economic collapse to historical events like the World Wars and the Great Depression, emphasising that those who foresaw the change would benefit while the majority would suffer significant losses. His article argues that governments and major financial institutions have orchestrated events to expand their power and wealth, inevitably leading to a collapse. It suggests that distractions, such as the exaggerated response to the coronavirus pandemic and the widespread riots in the US, are deliberate tactics to divert attention from the true culprits. Ultimately, the article warns that the public's reliance on those in power will only lead to further exploitation and loss of freedoms, urging readers to prepare for an unprecedented economic crisis.

• Are statins really any good? The Conservative Woman delves into the debate over statins, highlighting their widespread use and significant revenue generation against claims of severe side effects and questionable efficacy. While industry-backed studies support statins for lowering cholesterol and preventing heart issues, critics, including Dr. Duane Graveline and Dr. Malcolm Kendrick, argue that side effects like cognitive dysfunction and muscle pain are underreported and that high cholesterol might not be as harmful as believed. The piece also discusses a defamation case where Dr. Kendrick and Dr. Zoë Harcombe successfully challenged the Mail on Sunday for dismissing their research, underscoring the ongoing controversy about whether the benefits of statins outweigh their potential risks.

• We Reap the Harvest of Lies. David Bell explores the disorientation in public life caused by the erosion of trust in truth from media and authorities. He suggests that while deception has always existed, there was once a societal core of accepted norms anchoring us to truth. However, this anchor has been severed, particularly over the past few years, with governments and institutions engaging in unprecedented psychological manipulation and deceit. This environment of pervasive untruth has led to a societal drift, where lies are not just tolerated but have become the default, undermining integrity at all levels. Bell compares this to historical instances of mass deception, such as Nazi Germany, where lies facilitated atrocities. The piece argues that only by recognising our current state, making tough decisions, and supporting genuine truth-tellers, can society hope to overcome this pervasive deceit. Ultimately, he calls for individuals to reject comfort and conformity, and to take a stand for truth, even at great personal cost, to prevent a future dominated by falsehoods.

• How the NYT undermined mask evidence - Leaked emails reveal how scientists were smeared. Paul Thacker discusses the controversy surrounding mask mandates and their effectiveness during the Covid-19 pandemic, focusing on an incident involving the Cochrane medical nonprofit. Initially, Cochrane published a review suggesting that masks have limited impact on virus transmission. This prompted a backlash led by sociologist Zeynep Tufekci, who wrote an essay in The New York Times asserting that "masks work," leading to Cochrane's editor-in-chief, Karla Soares-Weiser, issuing a statement against the review. This sparked internal conflict and media criticism, revealing how political and media pressures can undermine scientific discourse. Thacker’s article highlights that prior to the pandemic, masks were not widely endorsed for virus control, and the ongoing debate has been influenced more by political agendas than by scientific evidence, leading to a broader concern about the integrity and future of scientific inquiry.

• The Right to Not Be Lied To: Making the Case for Truth in Politics. John Whitehead discusses the pervasive issue of government deceit and the consequences for those who expose it, using Julian Assange as a prime example. He asserts that while the First Amendment guarantees free speech, it does not protect citizens from government lies. Assange's persecution for publishing classified information revealing U.S. military misconduct highlights the lengths to which the Deep State will go to silence truth-tellers. This pattern of targeting whistleblowers and journalists, rooted in tactics from the Obama administration and intensified under Trump, demonstrates a broader assault on transparency and accountability. Whitehead argues that this suppression of truth threatens the foundational principles of democracy, urging citizens to defend free speech and hold the government accountable to prevent a descent into authoritarianism.

• Hotez Calls for Police Deployment against “Anti-Vaxxers”. Last week, social media buzzed with controversy after an interview featuring Dr. Peter Hotez of Texas Children’s Hospital, where he called for the UN and NATO to deploy security forces against "anti-vaxxers" in the U.S., went viral. Hotez, known for his contentious views on the Covid pandemic and frequent accusations against his critics of being "anti-science," suggested that health sectors alone cannot address the issue and advocated involving Homeland Security, the Commerce Department, and Justice Department. This isn't the first time Hotez has called for police intervention; he has previously made similar statements in Scientific American and during a 2021 lecture, emphasising the need to combat the so-called "disinformation empire." Despite his polarising opinions, Time Magazine recently recognized Hotez as a "Science Warrior" and one of the 100 most influential people in global health.

  

• Britain is coming apart at the seams. The UK currently feels like a powder keg on the verge of explosion, with recent events such as the Manchester Airport altercation, riots in Harehills, and the horrific murder of three young girls in Southport highlighting a national anger and deteriorating social cohesion. Despite Keir Starmer's recent election victory and promises of stability, longstanding issues remain unresolved. The British establishment's reluctance to address concerns about immigration and multiculturalism, exemplified by the systematic cover-up of Pakistani-Muslim grooming gangs and the rise of Islamist terrorism, has fuelled public distrust and frustration. High-profile cases of foreign criminals committing violent acts while being allowed to stay in the UK, along with a perceived decriminalisation of shoplifting and selective policing, further exacerbate societal tensions. This article calls for an honest national conversation to address these deep-seated issues before the nation's social fabric deteriorates beyond repair.