18 Comments

Good to bring up Norm Geras. I remember him fondly from the early days of the ‘blogosphere’ some twenty years ago. He was a giant.

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I used to read him at “Normblog” I think it was called.

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Yes. Normblog. He profiled emerging bloggers every week with a short interview. It was a coveted thing to get, an e-mail from Norm asking you to be on it.

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Terry, I think this link is broken: Meet the right-wing Canadian influencers accused of collaborating with an alleged Russian propaganda scheme.

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Will fix

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Fixed. Thanks!

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Just a day a two ago The Jerusalem Post reported the IDF finding videos of Hamas torturing other Palestinians who were against them. Terri, please draw the straight line between this and the Syrian torture chambers for any of the pro Hamas imbeciles who haven’t understood what they have been chanting and supporting these past 14 months.

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The only "straight line" is the ideological one that deems Israel to be a settler-colonial project allied with the US and must be destroyed and anything Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, are all "resistance movements" and therefore above criticism for torturing "enemies of the resistance" or suspected "collaborators", misogyny, homophobia, human trafficking and enslavement, illicit drug trafficking, using child soldiers, etc.

And it's not just the crank left who aren't bothered by Hamas's fascistic rule of Gaza whose views of Middle East politics make for strange bedfellows. Sunni extremist Hamas, after expecting Shi'ite extremist Hezbollah to save them from the IDF, has suddenly remembered that Syrian jihaddists are their real allies against the dread Shi'ites, Alawites, etc., and at least some if not most Syrians still see Israel as their enemy, and Hezbollah's current leader is banking on this, pleading with Syria's new governors to not let the IDF shut down Hezbollah's supply line from Iran. Syria's new governors have also asked the IDF to stop bombing sites inside Syria but I've yet to hear similar concerns expressed about Turkey's longstanding bombing campaigns against Syrian Kurds.

Heaven knows how all of the above is going to shake out, but I'm not optimistic.

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The Far Left after the collapse of the USSR had to migrate somewhere and it’s moved onto University Campuses ( And not like in the 70s with Dudes

Ike Hardial Baines) but into the faculty lounges and political parties like the Green Party ( with its incipient anti-semitism) and the Liberal Party which is clearly divided. The Press in Canada at least has degenerated into a lap dog spouting nonesense and failing to actually investigate events preferring to spout the lines fed it by the Far Left.

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I am no scholar on Syria but using CBC as a viable source is like using CNN, MSNBC, ABC, The New York Times, and perhaps The view. If you want to put forward a story on the Russian Collusion (maybe they were duped or more likely it was another CIA/FBI/Democrat operation like what they found in the Twitter Files) but the majority of those people had no idea it was Russian money nor did they ever push Russian propaganda. They never changed their stance or their message that they carried since their conception in the online world. Lorne Southern made mince meat out of those MP’s attempting to scape goat her as a Russian propagandist and made them look as foolish as they truly are. https://youtu.be/IVdlNC2dd4o?si=eJ97_9a0iGYzWYbx. I hope that the fact this is from a Parliamentary Committee it can be used as viable information.

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There is no question that Lauren Chen was funnelling Russian money to various YouTubers, all of whom say they had no idea where the money was coming from. The sums involved were large. Apparently this did not pique their curiosity.

You may not want to hear it but you cannot discount it just because the source is CBC.

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Apparently you never took the time to watch the Committee Meeting in Parliament that I posted to which makes the Liberal’s and the CBC look like the weasels that they are. They are attempting to use Russia as a political interference entity so people, such as yourself (easily misled ), will forget the deep collusion that continues today, with the CCP! Stop listening to the Corporate, Liberal paid, media. You would be doing Canada and Canadians a great service by doing so. Same with listening to the Democrats and their puppet media. I mentioned them above as well.

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Whether they are aware of it or not, the faculty lounge neo-marxists are waging spiritual warfare against the godly anawim that includes both Christian and Jews who get their source of morality and power from their faithful adherence to God's covenant.

This is the crux of the whole dynamic and power struggle between those who bend the knee to the current zeitgeist aided by the authoritarians who get themselves into positions of power and influence - and those who bend the knee to a transcendent deity who is outside the locus of control of the authoritarians and faculty lounge proponents.

This has been going on since time immemorial in various forms.

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I am so grateful to you Terry for the depth and rigour of your research and your capacity to make complexities as comprehensible as they can be to people like myself who, for the most part, must devote most waking hours to the immediate demands of life. I've been a long time fan of your writing and the morally centred thinking behind it, but since October of last year, your contributions have become a bit of an intellectual life line.

I watched Hamas's proudly disseminated videos of 10/7 with horror, but, as many have identified, the real mindf*ck came in the wake, as long time friends and colleagues jumped on the "Hamas/Hezbollah Freedom Fighters™" bandwagon. It has been an extremely isolating and alienating experience.

It has crossed my mind on a number of occasions that the sort of intellectual contortions applied to Israel and Israelis in order to vilify, condemn and scapegoat them are of a nature I have only seen applied to women. It's an impression I am chewing on as I learn more about the history of antisemitism around the world and I have a cold-hearted curiosity about the roots of the human impulse at play in both historic and current persecutions.

But I digress. I just wanted to send a shoutout of gratitude to you for your scrupulous efforts to bring accurate and contextualized consideration of tangly events to the public. I have just upgraded to founding, so please buy yourself a decent glass of something on me. Cheers from over here!

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"Poor George". LOL!

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Saddam Hussein? Bashar al-Assad? George has dined with more questionable leaders than somebody at a Bond villain convention.

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Will the article be available to subscribers?

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I still struggle to understand the apparent alliance between the radical left and Islamic extremists. I don’t think it is a formal alliance but rather a convergence of interests in certain situations, often driven by shared opposition to perceived common adversaries or governments.

So, let’s think through this dilemma. What are some of these potential shared interests?

Both groups critique Western nations, particularly the United States, for their perceived roles in imperialism, colonialism, and economic exploitation. Islamic extremists oppose Western influence on cultural, political, and religious grounds, while the radical left critiques it from an anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist perspective. I have friends (and former friends) who are rational people except for their rabid hatred of the United States.

The radical left tends to advocate for marginalized and oppressed groups, which sometimes includes Muslim communities targeted by discriminatory policies, surveillance, or military actions. Islamic extremists portray themselves as defenders of oppressed Muslims worldwide. They share the narrative of fighting "oppression" and "Islamophobia".

Many on the radical left oppose capitalism, which they see as exploitative and unjust. I don’t see Islamic extremists as inherently anti-capitalist, but they often criticize the perceived moral corruption of Western capitalism, aligning with the left’s critique in a broad sense.

The radical left critiques Israeli policies as colonialist and oppressive. Islamic extremists view the conflict through a religious lens, framing it as a struggle against non-Muslim control over what they consider sacred Muslim lands.

The radical left critiques Western cultural norms for perpetuating inequality, racism, and imperialism. Islamic extremists oppose Western cultural norms they perceive as corrupting or antithetical to Islamic values.

Despite these areas of apparent convergence, the radical left and Islamic extremists are fundamentally different in ideology.

The radical left champions secularism (at least anti-Christian and anti-Jewish) and progressive social values, while Islamic extremists advocate for theocratic governance and conservative values.

The left prioritizes gender equality, LGBTQ+ rights, and other progressive issues, which are fundamentally opposed to the strict interpretations of Sharia law espoused by extremists.

The radical left envisions a world of equality and justice through socialism or anarchism, while Islamic extremists aim for a global caliphate.

So, I am thinking that the perceived alliance is more about shared opposition to specific systems or policies (e.g., Western imperialism or Israeli policies) rather than a true ideological alignment. Any cooperation tends to be situational, superficial, and unlikely to endure because their ultimate goals are fundamentally incompatible. So eventually, they will turn on each other, which gives one a bit of hope.

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