"...we have to find ways to pretend to ourselves that our self-interest isn’t playing a role in warping our choices. That’s the thing about the patronage network — it may pay handsome dividends in terms of money and opportunities, but the price paid is the loss of our independent minds — it’s to wake up one day to realize that your body, mind, and soul are now being bent in servitude to an invisible leash. Sure, you could walk away from it all in a heartbeat and no-one would stop you, but would you want to? What price are you willing to pay to own your own mind?
https://juliusruechel.substack.com/p/the-rat-king-and-his-patronage-network
“Biggest Transnational Crime Group on Earth”: Why Canada Must Break Free From China
A group of top national security experts is sounding the alarm: Canada’s relationship with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has crossed from economic engagement into a full-blown democratic threat.
At a Dec. 6 forum in Toronto, former RCMP proceeds-of-crime director Garry Clement called the CCP “the biggest transnational organized crime group ever seen,” warning that Beijing is actively infiltrating Canada’s political, business, and cultural institutions. Through the United Front Work Department, the CCP co-opts elites, business leaders, community organizations, and media outlets—while intimidating and surveilling dissidents “on a daily basis.”
Clement also linked Beijing to the fentanyl crisis, saying the CCP could shut down precursor shipments to Canada “if they really wanted to,” but instead allows the flow as a form of “disruptive warfare,” echoing the tactics of the Opium Wars....
