TZA

about to listen to the new Poison the W- NEUROSIS????? AARON TURNER???

Pre-drop scoop: Joe loves Canadians, and maple syrup.

In mid-February, I joined police Chiefs from Canada and the United States, on a visit to Israel where we met police and community leaders in several cities. I spent time with police officers from Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Druze faiths representing a wide range of cultural and ethnic backgrounds. I also met with Muslim community leaders who shared openly about their concerns and their reasons for working with police. These officers and community leaders operate in an environment that demands extraordinary vigilance - managing crime, counter terrorism, supporting community and crisis response all amid extreme complexity. Police to police we were able to talk about the toll this work takes on the people who do it. We talked about building trust in communities where there is little trust. We were able to get a glimpse of the undertaking required to police in complex environments. I am grateful for what I was able to learn and share with those we visited and among my North American peers. These missions offer a great deal of insight and valuable perspective. I am grateful for the continued leadership and support of the Edmonton Police Commission who have supported me in this. As police we focus on behavior, not beliefs. Where I have felt challenged this week is in the implication that any community group should have the right to direct where we can learn. I stand by my decision to take the trip to Israel and continue to view it as valuable, among multiple learning experiences I will have in this role. I remain focused on my longstanding and ongoing commitment to dialogue, learning and connection across communities and across boundaries.

Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack is an object lesson in how the Canadian left has lost its moral bearings. He is attacking Edmonton’s Police Chief for a study trip to Israel with other big city chiefs. But within weeks of becoming Mayor, Knack flew to the People’s Republic of China for an official visit. So let’s compare: ISRAEL - The Middle East’s only real democracy. - Famously independent judiciary that includes Arab judges, a system that has sentenced Israeli Prime Ministers, Presidents, and IDF officers when found guilty of crimes. - Has a dynamic Parliamentary system that includes Arab parties who have been part of governing coalitions, and held the balance of power. - The only modern state founded by an ancient indigenous people in their historic lands after millennia of colonial occupation and genocide. The most successful historical example of decolonization. - The only Jewish state on Earth, whose raison d’être is to be a refuge for the victims of history’s most durable and pernicious hatred, born out of the ashes of the Holocaust. - Has been attacked by hostile armies repeatedly, including on the very day of its creation and recognition by the UN. - Has been the target of endless campaigns of violence by groups recognized under Canadian law as terrorists, including a pogrom two years ago involving mass rape and kidnapping that was the largest massacre of Jews since 1945. - Relative to its size, is the most innovative economy in the world, with more per capita patents, successful tech startups, and Nobel prizes than any nation on Earth. - The world’s most experienced police agencies in dealing with terrorism. PRC - Dictatorial one party state - Seven decades of violent oppression of political dissidents, ethnic, and religious minorities - The destruction of tens of thousands of Buddhist (mainly Tibetan) monasteries and temples; Muslim mosques; Christian Churches, and other places of worship - The ongoing prosecution of an active genocide (according to the Parliament of Canada, et al) against the Uyghur Muslim minority - The invasion, despoliation, and partial ethnic cleansing of Tibet. - History’s largest state sanctioned famine, the Great Leap Forward, during which 30 to 45 million people were killed. - Until recently, a brutally enforced One Child Policy that involved countless forced abortions and sterilizations - The continued use of forced labour concentration camps - The long standing world leader in executing people. - Currently engaged in the largest military expansion in world history - The publicly declared intent to use that military power to invade Taiwan, a peaceful neighbouring democracy, by 2027. - An expansionist / imperialist agenda in the South China Sea, including the creation of artificial islands as military bases, the harassment of Filipino & other fishing & naval fleets - Flagrant violation of Hong Kong’s Basic Law, including elimination of political and press freedoms, and the imprisonment of dissidents like Jimmy Lai. - Massive industrial and political espionage, including against Canadian targets, involving patent and IP theft - Massive interference in Canadian elections through the United Front Work Department - 25+ years of violating WTO obligations through massive unfair trading practices, currency manipulation, subsidization of key industries, et - Repeated arbitrary application of tariffs against Canada, including Alberta canola farmers during Knack’s PRC visit - Arbitrary arrest & imprisonment of Canadians, including diplomats, and Canadian Muslim Hussein Ceilil who has been imprisoned, without consular access, since 2006. - World’s largest & fastest growing source of GHG emissions. - Key ally of the world’s worst regimes, including Putin’s Russia and the Mullahs’ Iranian terror state. Etc. Let the record show that Edmonton’s “progressive” Mayor kowtows to the world’s largest dictatorship, but condemns the democratic Jewish homeland. For shame

this scene in particular was one of my biggest inspirations when I was younger.