Canada’s RCMP On Country’s Inevitable Decline

Canada’s RCMP On Country’s Inevitable Decline

Canada’s RCMP On Country’s Inevitable Decline

The Scottish Enlightenment Is Over

The Gravediggers of UK Conservatism

Stopping the AfD

DNA Tests and Incest Secrets

Every weekend (almost) I share five articles/essays/reports with you. I select these over the course of the week because they are either insightful, informative, interesting, important, or a combination of the above.

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For most of my life, Canada has been this quiet, affluent country that most others never thought about. For those few who did, their views were generally positive about “The Great White North”. It was a country that was peaceful, friendly, and safe, and one where you could build a good life for yourself and your family, knowing that things would get increasingly better over time.

For at least the last decade or so, there has been a notable negative tide concerning the views of Canadians about Canada. Never a passionate lot, this negativity does not come across loudly, but is instantly recognizable through the defeatism and fatalism expressed by Canadians when asked about their country. It’s not a temporary blip either; this pessimism about the future has increased since COVID-19 and shows no signs of abating. The general sense is one of malaise and helplessness, in that the future is never going to be as bright as it once was.

In the Anglosphere (and elsewhere, as well), there has long been a compact between rulers and the people: you support our ruling democratic system, and we will ensure that your lives get better generation after generation. This compact has broken down in many places, with Canada being one of them. An economy based around resource-extraction and burdened down by high taxation and significant barriers to entry, productivity has trended downwards since the 1980s. Even though Canada has everything that a person or family could want in terms of purchasing, it is not an attractive place for capital markets when compared to the USA, China, or even Germany. This has led to a stagnation, one that has seen Canadians become poorer when compared to their immediate neighbour to the south.

Canadians tend to be a politically apathetic lot, but something broke the trance during COVID-19. This is not to say that Canadians have become overly political, but they certainly have become much more political than they were just a few years ago. You don’t have to believe me, but you should believe the RCMP and the secret report that they complied for internal use and for “decision makers in the federal government”. Not only does the report inform the targeted audience that things are definitely going to get worse for Canadians, but that civil strife is also a possibility:

A secret RCMP report is warning the federal government that Canada may descend into civil unrest once citizens realize the hopelessness of their economic situation.

“The coming period of recession will … accelerate the decline in living standards that the younger generations have already witnessed compared to earlier generations,” reads the report, entitled Whole-of-Government Five-Year Trends for Canada.

“For example, many Canadians under 35 are unlikely ever to be able to buy a place to live,” it adds.

Up until a half-decade or so ago, Canadian real estate was ridiculously expensive in key urban centres like Vancouver, Toronto, and Calgary. Since then, outlying areas have also seen the price of real estate zoom upward. There are many reasons for this, but the fact that immigration has ballooned so significantly these past few years is the one that stands out as the most obvious.

Right from the get-go, the report authors warn that whatever Canada’s current situation, it “will probably deteriorate further in the next five years.”

The report states that the economic situation is definitely going to deteriorate, with the overall situation ‘probably’ deteriorating.

Erosion of trust:

Another major theme of the report is that Canadians are set to become increasingly disillusioned with their government, which authors mostly chalk up to “misinformation,” “conspiracy theories” and “paranoia.”

“Law enforcement should expect continuing social and political polarization fueled by misinformation campaigns and an increasing mistrust for all democratic institutions,” reads one of the report’s “overarching considerations.”

Ironically, among the report’s more heavily redacted sections is one carrying the subtitle “erosion of trust.” “The past seven years have seen marked social and political polarization in the Western world” reads a partial first sentence, with the entire rest of the section deleted by government censors.

The censor’s pen also deleted most of a section warning about “paranoid populism.” “Capitalizing on the rise of political polarization and conspiracy theories have been populists willing to tailor their messages to appeal to extremist movements,” reads the section’s one non-redacted sentence.

The RCMP is following the FBI and NSA’s lead here, as are intelligence agencies throughout the West.

Back to the economy for a second:

Canadian productivity — measured in terms of GDP per capita — has been trending downwards since at least the 1980s. But this has accelerated dramatically in recent years — even as per-worker productivity rises in many of our peer countries.

An analysis last year by University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe found that if Canada had merely kept pace with U.S. productivity growth for the last five years, Canadian per-capita earnings would be $5,500 higher than they are now.

Meanwhile, housing affordability has reached “worst-ever” levels in most of Canada’s major markets, according to a December analysis by RBC. On average, even condos are now so unaffordable that only 44.5 per cent of Canadian households had sufficient income to buy one at current prices. As for single-family homes, only the richest 25 per cent of Canadian households had any hope of obtaining one.

“Economic forecasts for the next five years and beyond are bleak,” reads the RCMP’s assessment of the rest of the decade, even adding a quote from French President Emmanuel Macron that “the end of abundance” is nigh.

In order to be a conservative, people have to have something to conserve. Traditionally, a home of your own was one of these things. The Canadian economy has been structured in such a way that home ownership is becoming a luxury. This is a breaking of the compact that I mentioned up above. Is it any wonder why people’s trust in ruling institutions is collapsing?

Rather than doing the hard work on addressing these concerns and trying to fix systemic and structural issues within Canadian economics and politics, its government (and don’t think for a second that parties in opposition would do anything different if they were in power) has decided that online censorship is the better and more sustainable path forward:

Public
Trudeau Demands Life In Prison For Speech Crimes
To protect children from sexual exploitation, Canada must pass the Online Harms Act, says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government. “I am the parent of two young boys,” said Justice Minister Arif Virani. “I will do whatever I can to ensure their digital world is as safe as the neighborhood we live in. Children are vulnerable online. They need to be protected from online sexual exploitation, hate, and cyberbullying…

To protect children from sexual exploitation, Canada must pass the Online Harms Act, says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government. “I am the parent of two young boys,” said Justice Minister Arif Virani. “I will do whatever I can to ensure their digital world is as safe as the neighborhood we live in. Children are vulnerable online. They need to be protected from online sexual exploitation, hate, and cyberbullying.”

But Virani’s bill is totally unnecessary to protect children. Its real goal is to allow judges to sentence adults to prison for life for things they’ve said and for up to a year for crimes they haven’t committed but that the government fears they might commit in the future.

As such, Trudeau and Virani’s Online Harms Act (Bill C-63) is the most shocking of all the totalitarian, illiberal, and anti-Enlightenment pieces of legislation that have been introduced in the Western world in decades.

It sounds too unbelievable to be true, but it actually is true: Canada is readying itself to throw people into prison for what they say, and to put people under house arrest for “pre-crime”:

But the government spokesperson went on to confirm the shocking truth about the legislation, which is that it would put people in prison for life for things they’ve said, specifically, “advocating genocide.”

“Bill C-63 would increase the maximum penalty specifically for advocating genocide from 5 years to life imprisonment,” said an unnamed spokesperson for the Canadian government, “and from 2 years to 5 years, on indictment, for the willful promotion of hatred (section 319 of the Criminal Code)” [emphasis added]

This means someone who writes something that a government official decides is “advocating genocide” will face a longer maximum sentence than someone who rapes a child.

And what might count as “advocating genocide”? Today, there are prominent politicians around the world who say that supporters of Israel are advocating the genocide of the Palestinian people and that supporters of Hamas are advocating genocide against Jewish people. Imagine if they were in power. Under Trudeau’s legislation, would they not be able to send their political enemies to prison for life?

“But Nic, this is for advocating genocide”, you might say. Okay, check this out:

To enforce it all, the proposed law would create a new Digital Safety Commission with incredible powers to police content. “The breadth of powers is remarkable,  noted legal analyst Michael Geist. The Commission’s “rulings on making content inaccessible, investigation powers, hearings that under certain circumstances can be closed to the public, establishing regulations and codes of conduct, and the power to levy penalties up to 6% of global revenues of services caught by the law.”

The Trudeau government spokesperson emphasized that Canadian laws allow the government to issue a “peace bond” to incarcerate people before committing any crime. “Peace bonds are well-established tools in Canadian criminal law that are used to prevent an offense from being committed in the first place,” the spokesperson said. “A peace bond will only be imposed where a court is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to believe that an offense will be committed.”

But it’s not just advocating genocide or the willful promotion of hatred that can now carry life sentences. Under the new bill, if anyone breaks any federal law and the courts find that the law was broken for hateful reasons, that person can also be subject to life in prison.

“People can be jailed for up to 12 months just because other people fear they may commit future hate speech,” noted Joanna Baron, the executive director of the Canadian Constitution Foundation. “The options are a year of imprisonment or wear an ankle bracelet, submit to DNA tests, submit to ongoing monitoring.”

Again, it sounds too fantastical to be true, but this is the new trend in the West, as you will see in another item that I will share with you below.

Rather than recognize failure, the ruling elites are choosing censorship to maintain their rule.

For those interested in reading more about Canada’s economic structural problems, here’s a great essay from five years ago: How Not To Build a Country: Canada’s Late Soviet Pessimism.

Government censorship of speech in the so-called liberal democratic west is a trend that is trend upward. Cloaked by appeals to “protect children” or “minimize harm”, the actual intent is to try and seize back total narrative control through its willing partners in the media oligarchy, a control that was negatively impacted by the internet, a technology that truly democratized speech.

Whether through the outsourcing of censorship to social media giants or through direct legislation, the prospects for free speech in the West are looking dimmer and dimmer. Scotland, one of the historical centres of The Enlightenment, is a case in point:

The Scottish Enlightenment will die on April 1st 2024, exactly 327 years, eight months and 24 days after the incident that provoked it. For on April 1st the Hate Crime and Public Order Act (Scotland) 2021 comes into force, an Act which will criminalise speech and opinion deemed ‘hateful’ even if spoken in the privacy of your own home.

On January 8th 1697, Thomas Aikenhead, a 20 year-old student, was marched the two miles from the Old Tolbooth Prison on the High Street to a windswept sandy hillock just to the west of the causeway that crossed the marshes between Edinburgh and the port town of Leith, known as Gallow Lee. Surrounded by the pious prayers of the clergymen of the Kirk (the Church of Scotland), Thomas was hanged by the neck until he was dead.

What was Thomas – a murderer? A rapist? Was he one of Edinburgh’s notorious ‘Resurrection Men’? No. Young Thomas’s crime was that in an Edinburgh tavern on Christmas Eve 1696, he had a drink and went on a rant offending the Church and its stranglehold on Scottish culture. He was reported, arrested and tried: “The jury found Aikenhead guilty of cursing and railing against God, denying the incarnation and the Trinity and scoffing at the Scriptures.”

Thomas Aikenhead was the last person to be hanged for Blasphemy in Britain. As such he became a martyr and inspiration. The hanging of a young man for the crime of having a rant in a pub late at night became seen as an act of tyranny and oppression so heinous it was the spark that turned a barren minor nation on the north west fringe of Europe into the blazing furnace of ideas that was the Scottish Enlightenment. Ideas that would change the world forever.

What Scotland is doing is returning blasphemy laws. The only difference is what is being blasphemed this time around.

As a Scot who grew up in the 1970s in the drawing rooms of Edinburgh’s New Town, the architectural manifestation of the Scottish Enlightenment, I am truly appalled that the legacy of Aikenhead and the Scottish Enlightenment – a historical event far more relevant to the modern world than the War of Independence of the early 14th century that so enthrals the SNP and its activists, an event which put Scotland on the map of the world and one of which the nation can be rightly proudhas been trashed by the Scottish Parliament and the Yousaf Government. From April 1st 2024, saying the wrong thing at your own dinner table, let alone in a drunken pub rant like young Thomas did, will once again land you in significant trouble with the law, 327 years, eight months and 24 days after Thomas died.

That’s right, Scotty. Off to gaol1 you go.

Mr. Yousaf, his ministers and those who drafted and will enforce this law would do well to remember how history judged those who hanged Thomas Aikenhead on that bleak winter morning on the road to Leith. In doing so they should recall that this gross act of overreach and tyranny was the high tide of the power of the Kirk, power which was swept aside by the forces unleashed when the people said ‘enough’.

The UK has quite a lot of problems these days, one being the mis-allocation of police resources. Thousands of people have been tossed into the clink for “social media crimes”, while violent criminals are repeatedly spared prison time. Sam Francis coined the term “Anarcho-Tyranny” to describe a condition where actual criminals were largely free to roam around and thought criminals were the ones being tyrannized. Prophetic?

In 1984, Canada’s Progressive Conservative Party swept the federal election by winning an incredible 211 parliamentary seats, leaving the incumbent Liberal Party with just 40. Brian Mulroney ushered in the formal end of the Pierre Trudeau era, only months after the long-serving Liberal PM had stepped down from his position.

Fast forward nine years later, and Brian Mulroney stepped down from his position as chief Progressive Conservative on the eve of a national election. His party, then in power, were completely wiped out. The Liberals had managed to win a slim majority of the seats in Parliament (177), while the PCs only managed to win 2. This number fell below the threshold needed to qualify as a political party in Canada’s Parliament, meaning that those two parliamentarians were stripped of party recognition and the budgets that came with them. The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was history.

These things do happen from time to time….and this very precise thing now threatens the existence of the UK’s oldest political party, the Conservatives. On the receiving end of an absolute beating in the polls, they are at the risk of being wiped out like Canada’s PCs were in 1993, and for good reason as well; they have been horrible in office, refusing to do anything that they promised to do when elected, ignoring their constituency, ignoring the well-being of Britons, and focusing on issues that the common man has no interest in (except for hobbyists and opinionated types). The most stunning example is how they have repeatedly stabbed their anti-immigration/immigration-reduction constituencies in the back, going so far as to invite almost three times as many immigrants to settle in the UK per annum than their Labour opponents when they were in power.

Betrayed supporters of the Conservatives aim to inflict discipline and/or punishment on them in the upcoming election which Labour is slated to win handily…..not that this will change much in the UK anyway. Aris Roussinos has written a wonderful essay about “The Gravediggers of British Conservatism” that aims to put into context just how horribly these past several Conservative governments have performed while in office:

As such, Kondylis wrote, it was already dead: for “outside this social and intellectual historical framework, conservatism can only be referred to metaphorically or with polemical or apologetic intent”, or indeed as “the epitaph of a process that has already (essentially) run its course”. With the 19th-century victory of bourgeois liberalism — and its replacement, in turn, by “mass democracy”, of which both fascism and Soviet Communism were extremist sub-categories — conservatism was left a meaningless husk, a rhetorical flourish to distinguish one form of liberalism from its electoral rivals through the mere narcissism of small differences. 

Kondylis died in 1998, and therefore only partly witnessed the total intellectual collapse of Britain’s Conservative Party as a vehicle for Right-wing politics. Yet had he survived to observe the last flailing days of Europe’s oldest political party, still squatting in office to no discernible purpose, even he would surely have been shocked at the vacuousness and self-defeating liberalism of the faction which in Britain bears conservatism’s name. We can only hope that the party’s coming crushing electoral defeat will herald not only its ejection from power but its total dissolution: for even at the modest task which Kondylis assigns conservatism, the temporary preservation of yesterday’s liberalism, the Tories are abject failures.

Aris rhetorically asks: “what have they managed to conserve”?

Self-annihilation:

Last week’s redefinition of political extremism by Michael Gove, the party’s sole intellectual and most competent administrator, is a case in point. While the 2011 definition brought in by Cameron’s government was unnecessary and objectionable in itself, its notional appeal to “fundamental British values” could at least have served conservative ends if applied by a competent Right-wing government. Yet Gove’s redefinition strips out even that one marginal good, declaring that extremism is “the promotion or advancement of an ideology based on violence, hatred or intolerance”.

Leaving aside the question of political violence, which the law already adequately proscribes, it is not difficult to foresee how the technocratic liberal managerialism of the coming Starmer administration will interpret its vague definition of “intolerance”, defined as “creating a permissive environment” to “negate or destroy the fundamental rights and freedoms of others”. Like the 2011 Prevent definition, its 2024 replacement is a knee-jerk reaction to a perceived Islamist threat that, through moral cowardice at defining its opponent clearly, will instead disproportionately fall upon the political Right. That the liberal Left’s initial reactions to Gove’s tinkering centred on whether the party’s donors could be defined as extremists, or whether Gove’s chosen reading material defined him as one himself, highlights the inevitable direction of travel. 

In an attempt to make short-lived political capital at the disquiet over recent pro-Palestine protests, Gove has created a powerful weapon against the Right. Just as Blair’s Human Rights Act enshrined progressivism into the state’s essence, the new definition will shrink conservatism’s space for querying or opposing the most sweeping progressive innovations. It is of a piece with the Online Safety Act, a hurried piece of legislation brought in as a response to a Conservative MP’s murder by a jihadist, which instead functions as a muzzle on “harmful” Right-wing discourse. None of the alleged “culture war” dividing lines on which the Conservatives have rhetorically sought to distinguish themselves from Labour — on mass immigration, the ECHR, gender politics or progressive activist judges and civil servants — will survive the expansive interpretations of “the fundamental rights and freedoms of others” that will surely follow. If the Conservative Party is to be judged on its actions, and not on its rhetoric, it is not a vehicle for the implementation of Right-wing politics but for its suppression. In its last days in the Westminster bunker, the Conservative Party has chosen suicide as its final act.

Populism’s trust in liberal democracy as a reason for its failure:

By any reasonable analysis this is absurd thinking, but this is the narrow and destructive path into which British political discourse is increasingly channelled. In Britain, almost uniquely in Western democracies, the space available for political reform is shrinking. The failure of the populism of the 2010s, both on the Left and Right, lay in its belief that the political system actually could be reformed. Yet rather than a threat to democracy, as technocratic centrists claimed, British political populism was undone by its touching faith in its existence. Twice in the past decade, through both the original Brexit vote and the 2019 vote to actually implement it, the British people have voted for total change: twice the British political system closed ranks to prevent reform. Brexit voters, a narrow majority of the country, were characterised as either extremists or the unwitting dupes of a Russian plot, as a wave of conspiratorial fantasising overtook the country’s political establishment.

Elites stuck in the 90s:

During the Nineties, through a combination of misguided intellectual fashions and vague Boomer idealism, the belief took hold across the elites of Western societies that the unfettered movement of goods, money and people across national borders would herald a new era of cosmopolitan prosperity and social harmony. Eventually, reality intervened: as with other Western societies, only more so, Britain is now poorer, unhappier and less harmonious as a result. Yet the mental maps of Britain’s political class are still those of Nineties Britain. With no existing conservatism to temper their political innovations, liberals have brought about a world that threatens to eat them whole. 

To the horror of our political class, trapped in their Nineties reveries, George Galloway’s recent election victory reveals the actually existing Britain of the 2020s. A more or less open opportunist, who rides the dissatisfaction of Britain’s most solidly Muslim constituencies with Western foreign policy as his vehicle to power, Galloway’s understanding of Britain’s new political faultlines cannot be faulted: he is a realist, who navigates the country as it now is. If anything, Galloway’s open contempt for Westminster’s pieties more accurately reflects the opinion of the average voter than anything else in British political discourse. Yet the electoral Right flounders in a country it no longer understands. Lee Anderson’s defection to the Reform Party after accusing Sadiq Khan of being an Islamist highlights their outdated mental maps; Khan is not an Islamist, but instead a generic progressive, a cookie-cutter Twitter-brained liberal whose power rests on London’s transformed demographics, an optimistic globaliser of a kind that already looks outdated.

For if Britain’s politicians have locked themselves away in an eternal Nineties, the wider world has moved on. The world of the 2020s is an unstable, threatening place, sliding towards global war. Locked in political stasis, unable to reform itself or correct its drift, the British state will meet the coming storm in a dangerously brittle fashion. Britain’s economy is stagnant, its populace is restive and disenchanted, and its underequipped armed forces and non-existent industrial base poorly match the hawkishness of its foreign policy. 

You may remember that we recently discussed Galloway’s shock victory in the recent by-election in Rochdale.

Aris too clearly understands just how wide and deep the gulf is between the rulers and the ruled in his country (and elsewhere), and how this divide continues to widen and deepen.

I’ve written quite a bit about how Germany is moving towards banning AfD, the purported ‘far right’ party. It’s not a certainty that it will be banned, but moves are afoot to make it so. The biggest problem is that AfD is now polling above 20%…a number large enough that banning a party with such a significant number of supporters puts your democracy at real risk.

Rather than repeat myself again and bore all of you, I’m sharing this very long piece on the subject today’s Germany and AfD. There is much that I don’t agree with in this article (such as classifying AfD as far right even if far right elements are present within it), but it is well thought out and argued:

In “The New German Question,” published in the May/June 2019 issue of Foreign Affairs, the historian Robert Kagan argued that German pacifism since 1945 is the result not of a permanent transformation in the country’s nature, but of the suppression of its immutable nationalist instincts by American power. By threatening to dissolve America’s traditional support for multilateral institutions, Kagan explained, Donald Trump was risking “the return of resentful nationalism and political instability” to Germany, and “the reemergence of the economic nationalism and bitter divisions of the past.”

Kagan’s suggestion that Trump was both a would-be Führer at home and enabling the rise of a new Führer in Europe created a stir at the American Embassy in Berlin—in part because he also accused the U.S. Ambassador Richard Grenell, whose office I worked in at the time, of “encouraging right-wing nationalism and the dissolution of pan-European institutions.” This was news to Grenell, who maintained a policy of nonengagement with the rising right-wing nationalist party Alternative for Germany (AfD), even as officers in the embassy’s political section urged him to engage the pro-Putin, anti-NATO Left Party. But the point of Kagan’s article was not to paint a precise picture of what was happening in Germany; it was to use Germany as an object lesson in what you get when voters deviate too much from the traditional preferences of the U.S. foreign policy establishment. After his colleagues at the The Washington Post and the Brookings Institution had spent three years warning that Trump was summoning Nazis in America, Kagan was simply layering on the claim that Trump was also conjuring “literal Nazis” back from the dead.

Yet if Kagan’s ideological pre-commitments required him to insinuate that Trump was pushing Germany to rebuild the Wehrmacht and invade Poland, they also spoiled what would have been impeccable timing for a less preposterous warning about the direction Germany was actually headed—which was alarming enough.

The author calls “bullshit” on Kagan’s argument, and rightfully so.

The unnerving reality was that the deep social trust which has underpinned German society and kept it out of trouble for three generations was breaking down for reasons that had nothing to do with Donald Trump. If anything, the resurgence of populism, extremism, and even political violence in Germany was a consequence of the increasingly incoherent yet firmly anti-Trumpian policy consensus that ruled the Berlin establishment as much as it dominated Washington—a kind of open borders, Green New Deal, China-dependent mélange of politically correct ideas presented as high-minded answers to the crude populism of the unwashed.

It is no surprise, then, that four years after Kagan’s article and more than three years into the Biden administration, the AfD now polls as the largest political party in the east German states of Brandenburg, Thuringia, Saxony, and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. In October 2023, it became the second-largest party in the western state of Hesse and the third-largest in Bavaria, making significant gains among young voters in particular. According to all nationwide surveys, it is polling between 18% and 20% across the entire country—higher than every party in the current German government.

The breakdown of deep social trust…..as discussed in the first piece on Canada up above.

Kagan was right that Germany is the West’s canary in the coal mine, given its catastrophic 20th century and its enviable peace and prosperity since. But if there is a lesson for Americans in the resurgence of political extremism in Germany, it is something like the opposite of what Kagan warned. If centrists continue to respond to dissenting populists with outrage, legal action, and repression of reality for the sake of preserving dogma, they will turn a manageable problem into a genuinely menacing threat.

Western governments are adamant about testing this theory out, with their recourse to overt censorship and lawfare as the best examples.

The author goes on to give us a good overview of post-war German politics and economic policy, and it’s well worth your time to read it. For the sake of brevity, I will jump straight to the conclusion:

It was Robert Kagan who first suggested in 2019 that we look to Germany’s past for a glimpse of its future if Americans failed to stop Trump at home. Five years on, if there is a lesson in Germany for Americans, it seems quite different from what he thought. If you really want to stop people from voting for the extreme populist right in your country, you might start by moderating your outrage at their attempts, however manic, to dissent from your leadership—and start taking them seriously.

I’ll go one step further: if you want to blunt the rise of populism, it’s best to co-opt some of their key policies in order to deflate them. Believe it or not, but doing what the people want actually earns you votes.

We end this weekend’s SCR with a look at how the explosion in popularity of DNA tests is uncovering the actual prevalence of incest, with it being much more common among certain communities:

In 1975, around the time of Steve’s birth, a psychiatric textbook put the frequency of incest at one in a million.

But this number is almost certainly a dramatic underestimate. The stigma around openly discussing incest, which often involves child sexual abuse, has long made the subject difficult to study. In the 1980s, feminist scholars argued, based on the testimonies of victims, that incest was far more common than recognized, and in recent years, DNA has offered a new kind of biological proof. Widespread genetic testing is uncovering case after secret case of children born to close biological relatives—providing an unprecedented accounting of incest in modern society.

The geneticist Jim Wilson, at the University of Edinburgh, was shocked by the frequency he found in the U.K. Biobank, an anonymized research database: One in 7,000 people, according to his unpublished analysis, was born to parents who were first-degree relatives—a brother and a sister or a parent and a child. “That’s way, way more than I think many people would ever imagine,” he told me. And this number is just a floor: It reflects only the cases that resulted in pregnancy, that did not end in miscarriage or abortion, and that led to the birth of a child who grew into an adult who volunteered for a research study.

Click here to read the rest.

Thank you once again for checking out my Substack. Hit the like button at the top or the bottom of this page to like this entry, and use the share and/or res-stack buttons to share this across social media. Leave a comment below if the mood strikes you to do so. And don’t forget to subscribe if you haven’t done so already.And don’t forget to join me on Substack Notes!

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420 with CNW — VP’s Comments on Marijuana Suggest Campaign Shift on Legalization

420 with CNW — VP’s Comments on Marijuana Suggest Campaign Shift on Legalization

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Vice President Kamala Harris, speaking at the White House to a group of individuals who received pardons related to marijuana offenses, expressed her support for the legalization of cannabis, marking a potential change in the administration’s stance as the November elections approach. An attendee at the meeting disclosed Harris’s statement, which came after her public call for the DEA to expedite the rescheduling of marijuana.

Harris, who had previously advocated for cannabis legalization as a senator and during her 2020 presidential campaign, has not publicly championed the cause since joining President Joe Biden’s ticket. Throughout the campaign and her tenure as vice president, she has aligned herself with President Biden’s more moderate approach, focusing on ending cannabis-related incarceration and providing pardons for select offenses.

The White House hosted a diverse group for the discussion, including Governor Andy Beshear of Kentucky, rapper Fat Joe, and others, reflecting the administration’s efforts on marijuana clemency. Harris’s call for cannabis legalization, while made in private, marks a significant departure from the administration’s previous reluctance to embrace federal marijuana reform openly.

Despite the administration’s reluctance to endorse federal legalization, Biden has pardoned numerous individuals for federal marijuana possession and directed agencies to review marijuana scheduling.

In the public portion of the meeting, Harris emphasized the urgency of rescheduling cannabis, criticizing its current classification alongside drugs such as heroin. However, Harris acknowledged that rescheduling alone wouldn’t equate to federal legalization. She recognized the complexity of the issue and the need for further action beyond mere reclassification.

Although the White House recorded the closed-door discussion, including Harris’s remarks on legalization, no materials have been released yet.

Harris’s evolution on marijuana policy — from her prosecutorial days in San Francisco to her current support for legalization — reflects a nuanced journey. While the primary focus of the meeting was on the administration’s clemency initiatives, it also served as a strategic move to win over voters, particularly young voters, in light of the upcoming November elections.

Social media was recently abuzz with commentary about Biden’s congressional speech, in which he acknowledged his cannabis pardons and administrative actions. However, his mischaracterization of the pardons, implying they expunge records, could pose legal challenges for recipients.

Nonetheless, it seems Harris is taking on the role of spokesperson for the administration’s cannabis policy leading up to the elections, potentially benefiting both her and Biden’s campaigns.

Leading cannabis industry companies such as Trulieve Cannabis Corp. (CSE: TRUL) (OTCQX: TCNNF) are unlikely to be too excited by the statements attributed to the vice president because the industry has learned that it takes a lot more than opinions to enact reforms at the federal level, especially on matters of drug policy.

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Save Some Green, Go Green By Reusing Growing Media

Save Some Green, Go Green By Reusing Growing Media

Everyone is looking for ways to save money and grow sustainably. All gardening inputs can be managed to serve you more efficiently, including your growing media. You can use most growing media multiple times. However, you must ensure the media is suitable for reusing.

For example, a build-up of nutrients, diseased plant matter, fungal spores, or soil-borne pests can render a medium unusable. Therefore, it is essential to maintain it throughout each growth cycle and prepare it properly before reuse. Here, we will look at each popular growing medium and go through what you must do to reuse it safely.

Growing sustainably

Growing sustainably

Coco Coir

Prepare coco properly before reusing it, or crops will face many challenges, including salt toxicity. With each growth cycle, minerals and chemical compounds from plants and nutrient products accumulate in the growing medium. Too much salt in coco will stop nutrients from reaching the crops, resulting in nutrient lock-out. A salt-based nutrient lock-out can look like a nutrient deficiency, causing leaves to discolor and wilt. Nutrient lock-out will kill a crop if untreated.

To clean coco sufficiently, break it up and physically remove any remaining roots. Next, wash it in distilled water to remove any remaining salts. Soaking the coco in an enzyme solution to remove decaying roots from the previous crop is essential. Finally, add amendments such as mycorrhizae and other beneficial microorganisms.

When reusing coco multiple times, it loses some of its lignin structure. Therefore, replacing it entirely after two or three crop cycles is recommended. Some growers mix new coco into older coco to extend its life. However, it will still break down after a while and struggle to hold onto roots and maintain an optimal moisture level.

Coco coir

Coco coir

Once coco has been reused several times, discard it in the outdoor garden, making for a fantastic soil amendment. Used coco is suitable for outdoor flower beds and gardens or other areas where the soil has compacted. In addition, it will bring back aeration and improve water retention.

Avoid using recycled coco for seedlings or young cuttings, which are fragile; it is best to reserve reused coco for healthy, thriving plants. When planting new crops into reused coco, water profusely with calcium-rich, coir-specific nutrients and a good rooting stimulant until run-off occurs.

Potting Soil

As with coco, excess nutrients from previous crops will be left in the soil. Flushing these out is essential so you do not burn or lock out new crops with excess salts from the last harvest. It also means you can accurately dose your crops, knowing no significant nutrients are left in the soil.

Flushing the soil with a nutrient flush will rinse excess salts and heavy elements, leaving the soil cleaner. Even if you have already washed your soil in the final stages of your growth cycle, it is advisable to do it again if you plan to reuse it.

Give the soil a rest period and allow it to dry out, preferably in the sun. Many pathogens that growers encounter originate in the soil, including powdery mildew and root rot. Without this rest period, you risk infecting new plants. Allowing the soil to dry completely will drastically reduce disease spores. Don’t worry about any dry roots and stumps, as these will break down to form compost.

To reuse soil in pots, remove as much of the old root system for an even texture. Then, add soil amendments. For example, worm castings will help improve fertility, while perlite or peat moss will increase aeration and moisture retention.

Use a mycorrhizal inoculant before planting new crops in recycled soil. The mycorrhizal fungi form a symbiotic relationship with the plant roots, allowing for better nutrient and water uptake and improving growth and stress resistance.

If you have flushed the soil correctly, there will be relatively no nutrient availability, so a good feed at planting time is recommended. This will encourage rapid growth and reduce plant stress. In addition, maintain a proper fertilizing schedule to keep microorganisms and plants healthy.

soil types

soil types

Perlite/Clay Pebbles/Grow Stone

While made of entirely different materials, these growing media can be recycled similarly to potting soil and coco. However, a small amount will inevitably be lost to the plant’s root system as it extends around and grips onto the small pieces. Smaller roots may also break off and remain attached to the media. These must be removed, as small bits of root matter will decay and release CO2, suffocating fledgling root systems and transferring diseases to future crops.

To prevent this, soak the growing media with an enzyme wash. Enzyme flushes are commonly used during the growth cycle to break down dead plant matter washed out of the reservoir or made available by the plant. Once the roots are broken down, give it a good rinse and let the medium dry out for a few days before reusing. Like potting soil, allowing it to rest will help keep it sterile.

Reusing growing media is an excellent start to becoming a more sustainable gardener. However, there are limitations! Never go this route if a precious crop is diseased. If you’re not up for preparing and using old potting soil, you can still make the most of it instead of throwing it out. Disperse it directly into the outdoor garden or wherever you need to fill holes or eroded areas. You can also try mixing it into compost piles. This way, the old media can still help make you a more sustainable grower and save money at the same time.

420 with CNW — VP’s Comments on Marijuana Suggest Campaign Shift on Legalization

Lexaria Bioscience Corp. (NASDAQ: LEXX) Hires Contract Research Organization to Perform Important GLP-1 Human Pilot Study

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  • Lexaria, a global innovator in drug delivery platforms, recently hired a Contract Research Organization to perform their second GLP-1 human pilot study which will test a dissolvable DehydraTECH-GLP-1 oral dose formulation
  • The announcement follows Lexaria’s WEIGHT-A24-1 animal study announcement examining diabetes and weight loss effects of DehydraTECH-processed GLP-1 drugs and cannabidiol alone and in combination
  • The move aligns with the company’s resolve to focus on their ability to enhance the delivery of GLP-1 diabetes and obesity drugs

At the beginning of the year, Lexaria Bioscience (NASDAQ: LEXX), a global innovator for enhanced drug delivery platforms, announced its intention to double down on GLP-1 clinical studies for the 2024 calendar year. This followed a successful, active year of R&D in 2023, which saw impressive results from its patented DehydraTECH(TM) technology for the improved delivery of GLP-1 agonists (glucagon-like peptide 1) used to treat type 2 diabetes and weight loss. According to Chris Bunka, the company’s CEO, these initial results fueled the management’s optimism in this new direction, emphasizing its superior pharmacokinetics and safety/efficacy performance of GLP-1 drugs when formulated with the technology.

“Given the overwhelming interest in the GLP-1 sector, this will be a main focus. We are not at this time planning additional 2024 research in the antiviral, nicotine, or PDE5 sectors. We have solid early-stage data in each of those areas that will allow us to build upon those at the right time,” noted Mr. Bunka (https://cnw.fm/xDUGc).

In early March, Lexaria announced a 12-week animal study, WEIGHT-A24-1, to examine diabetes and weight loss effects of DehydraTECH-processed GLP-1 drugs and DehydraTECH-processed cannabidiol alone and in combination. The study, which will have 12 study arms, will involve a total rat population of 72 animals, with over 1,500 blood plasma samples collected over the duration of the study. Lexaria looks to build on the success of previous animal studies, which demonstrated, through brain tissue examination, that DehydraTECH can enable higher levels of drug delivery across the blood-brain-barrier and directly into the brain tissue (https://cnw.fm/98K1V).

Everything is on track with this and other studies, with Lexaria hiring a contract research organization (“CRO”) to perform the second DehydraTECH-powered GLP-1 human pilot study. This randomized, crossover, placebo-controlled investigation will compare three dose formulations, each at a 7 mg semaglutide dose. So far, the manufacturing of the test articles is expected to be completed within 30 days, although Independent Review Board approval will be required before the study commences (https://cnw.fm/FT38Z).

“DehydraTECH has previously shown an ability to improve the delivery of certain drugs destined for the bloodstream through the buccal/sublingual tissues of the mouth and throat,” noted Mr. Bunka. “If this new study is successful in demonstrating efficacy and safety, the potential for a new era in GLP-1 delivery without the need for painful injections or stomach-upsetting tablets could be within reach,” he added.

These milestones highlight Lexaria’s confidence in its DehydraTECH technology for enhancing drug delivery, and its understanding of its potential in the GLP-1 industry.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.LexariaBioscience.com.

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to LEXX are available in the company’s newsroom at https://cnw.fm/LEXX

About CannabisNewsWire

CannabisNewsWire (“CNW”) is a specialized communications platform with a focus on cannabis news and the cannabis sector. It is one of 60+ brands within the Dynamic Brand Portfolio @ IBN that delivers: (1) access to a vast network of wire solutions via InvestorWire to efficiently and effectively reach a myriad of target markets, demographics and diverse industries; (2) article and editorial syndication to 5,000+ outlets; (3) enhanced press release enhancement to ensure maximum impact; (4) social media distribution via IBN to millions of social media followers; and (5) a full array of tailored corporate communications solutions. With broad reach and a seasoned team of contributing journalists and writers, CNW is uniquely positioned to best serve private and public companies that want to reach a wide audience of investors, influencers, consumers, journalists and the general public. By cutting through the overload of information in today’s market, CNW brings its clients unparalleled recognition and brand awareness. CNW is where breaking news, insightful content and actionable information converge.

To receive SMS alerts from CNW, text CANNABIS to 888-902-4192 (U.S. Mobile Phones Only)

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420 with CNW — VP’s Comments on Marijuana Suggest Campaign Shift on Legalization

Software Effective Solutions Corp. (SFWJ) Completes Key Acquisitions, Is Committed to Becoming Cannabis Market Leader

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  • MedCana adds to portfolio with strategic acquisition of two cannabis companies
  • First acquisition represents “leap forward” in SFWJ’s commitment to innovation, excellence within the cannabis sector
  • Second company holds key production, processing and exportation licenses that will strengthen MedCana’s operational chain

Software Effective Solutions (d/b/a MedCana) (OTC: SFWJ) is growing its footprint in the cannabis space through savvy acquisitions. In the past few months, MedCana, a leading holding company in the cannabis industry, has announced two new acquisitions as the company keeps its eye on making strategic additions to its portfolio.

Last month, the company announced that it was in the final stages of negotiations to acquire its sixth cannabis company in Colombia (https://cnw.fm/iPY1a). This strategic acquisition is extremely significant because the targeted company holds a unique cannabis genetics license, which MedCana believes will revolutionize its potential to create and register unique cannabis genetic varieties for production and commercialization.

“The addition of this new company to MedCana’s portfolio represents a significant leap forward in our commitment to innovation and excellence within the cannabis sector,” said MedCana CEO Jose Gabriel Diaz. “By integrating this company’s cutting-edge genetics capabilities, MedCana will be poised to develop proprietary cannabis strains, enhancing the diversity and quality of our product offerings to meet the evolving needs of consumers and medical patients alike.”

Earlier in March, MedCana completed the previously announced acquisition plus the acquisition of a second company, bringing the number of companies in MedCana’s portfolio to nine (https://cnw.fm/P9n9N). The second company holds key production, processing and exportation licenses that will strengthen MedCana’s operational chain, supporting a seamless integration of supply from cultivation through to global distribution and ensuring the company’s position as a fully self-sufficient entity in the cannabis market.

“These acquisitions represent a monumental step towards our vision of becoming a world-leading integrated cannabis company,” said Diaz. “With seven cannabis-producing companies, one agriculture technology and infrastructure company, and one software company under our belt, MedCana is exceptionally positioned to innovate, produce and deliver high-quality cannabis products globally.”

MedCana is committed to developing clients and companies in Latin America, initially in Colombia, and partnerships with laboratories, research facilities and hospitals throughout the world. These recent acquisitions reflect the company’s focus on scientific advancements and sustainable practices as it works to achieve the broader goal of leading the cannabis industry through strategic growth and pioneering research. The company is excited about the future prospects these new assets bring to its operations and the vast opportunities for innovation they unlock.

Software Effective Solutions/MedCana is a holding company focused on developing companies in the agricultural technology and cannabis industries. As MedCana moves forward with its expansion plans, the company remains committed to delivering on its promise of building a solid foundation for future growth of its holdings.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.MedCana.net.

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to SFWJ are available in the company’s newsroom at https://cnw.fm/SFWJ

About CannabisNewsWire

CannabisNewsWire (“CNW”) is a specialized communications platform with a focus on cannabis news and the cannabis sector. It is one of 60+ brands within the Dynamic Brand Portfolio @ IBN that delivers: (1) access to a vast network of wire solutions via InvestorWire to efficiently and effectively reach a myriad of target markets, demographics and diverse industries; (2) article and editorial syndication to 5,000+ outlets; (3) enhanced press release enhancement to ensure maximum impact; (4) social media distribution via IBN to millions of social media followers; and (5) a full array of tailored corporate communications solutions. With broad reach and a seasoned team of contributing journalists and writers, CNW is uniquely positioned to best serve private and public companies that want to reach a wide audience of investors, influencers, consumers, journalists and the general public. By cutting through the overload of information in today’s market, CNW brings its clients unparalleled recognition and brand awareness. CNW is where breaking news, insightful content and actionable information converge.

To receive SMS alerts from CNW, text CANNABIS to 888-902-4192 (U.S. Mobile Phones Only)

For more information, please visit https://www.CannabisNewsWire.com

Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the CannabisNewsWire website applicable to all content provided by CNW, wherever published or re-published: https://www.CannabisNewsWire.com/Disclaimer

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420 with CNW — VP’s Comments on Marijuana Suggest Campaign Shift on Legalization

Zoned Properties Inc. (ZDPY) Seizing Real Estate Opportunities in Growing Cannabis Industry

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  • Cannabis industry retail opportunities growing amid evolving regulations, increasing consumer demand, and shifting public attitudes
  • Demand for specialized, direct-to-consumer properties includes dispensaries, manufacturing or processing centers, and distribution hubs
  • ZDPY is a technology-driven property investment company that focuses on securing direct-to-consumer real estate opportunities in the regulated cannabis market
  • ZDPY has recently secured and acquired investment properties in Michigan, Arizona, and Illinois with 100% occupancy and a weighted average lease term of 10+ years
  • All ZDPY properties are occupied by commercial cannabis tenants, company anticipates $2.5+ million from its property investment portfolio in 2024

Changing regulations and attitudes towards cannabis use are transforming the industry, leading to new opportunities in the real estate sector. Zoned Properties (OTCQB: ZDPY), a technology-driven property investment company, focuses on seizing direct-to-consumer real estate opportunities in the rapidly growing and regulated cannabis market.

Cannabis businesses are expanding significantly as regulations evolve, leading to an increased demand for specialized, direct-to-consumer properties that include dispensaries, manufacturing or processing centers, and distribution hubs. Real estate investors are capitalizing on this demand by acquiring properties for rental income generation while potentially realizing significant property value appreciation as the industry grows.

A case in point is Michigan, where investors, developers, and brokers swiftly pivoted to procure targeted property investments focusing on the needs of cannabis-specific businesses. Along with retail locations, other requirements in Michigan include warehouses, industrial spaces, and growing facilities (https://cnw.fm/Y3372).

In alignment with the evolving market, ZDPY has recently secured and acquired investment properties in Michigan, Arizona, and Illinois. All properties in ZDPY’s portfolio boast 100% occupancy and a weighted average lease term of 10+ years. Each leased property is occupied by a commercial cannabis tenant, and the company anticipates more than $2.5 million from its property investment portfolio in 2024.

Zoned Properties Brokerage has closed over $80 million of commercial real estate deals nationally since 2021. The company reported revenues of $720,450 for the quarter, ending September 30, 2023 – a 17.2% year-over-year increase. In addition, ZDPY reported a positive net income of $114,523 for the September 2023 quarter compared to a net loss of $77,328 last year.

ZDPY is also leveraging digital innovation through its proprietary cannabis technology platform, called REZONE. Similar endeavors have leveraged data-driven insights, analytics, and artificial intelligence to identify potential investment properties, streamline processes, and enhance efficiency.

Overall, industry experts are optimistic about growth prospects for the industry as public attitudes shift rapidly in favor of increased liberalization. In his State of the Union Address, President Biden called for cannabis reform, specifically his intent to review marijuana rescheduling and possibly issue pardons for thousands of users convicted of possession (https://cnw.fm/DZFZ8).

Based in Arizona, Zoned Properties is led by Chairman and CEO Bryan McLaren, whose background in community development and strategic leadership informs the company’s forward-thinking strategy. As the cannabis industry continues its forward trajectory, Zoned Properties is favorably positioned to capitalize on real estate opportunities in the rapidly expanding market.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.ZonedProperties.com.

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to ZDPY are available in the company’s newsroom at https://cnw.fm/ZDPY

About CannabisNewsWire

CannabisNewsWire (“CNW”) is a specialized communications platform with a focus on cannabis news and the cannabis sector. It is one of 60+ brands within the Dynamic Brand Portfolio @ IBN that delivers: (1) access to a vast network of wire solutions via InvestorWire to efficiently and effectively reach a myriad of target markets, demographics and diverse industries; (2) article and editorial syndication to 5,000+ outlets; (3) enhanced press release enhancement to ensure maximum impact; (4) social media distribution via IBN to millions of social media followers; and (5) a full array of tailored corporate communications solutions. With broad reach and a seasoned team of contributing journalists and writers, CNW is uniquely positioned to best serve private and public companies that want to reach a wide audience of investors, influencers, consumers, journalists and the general public. By cutting through the overload of information in today’s market, CNW brings its clients unparalleled recognition and brand awareness. CNW is where breaking news, insightful content and actionable information converge.

To receive SMS alerts from CNW, text CANNABIS to 888-902-4192 (U.S. Mobile Phones Only)

For more information, please visit https://www.CannabisNewsWire.com

Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the CannabisNewsWire website applicable to all content provided by CNW, wherever published or re-published: https://www.CannabisNewsWire.com/Disclaimer

CannabisNewsWire
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www.CannabisNewsWire.com
303.498.7722 Office
Editor@CannabisNewsWire.com

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