This year marks the 55th anniversary of the release of Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece, A Clockwork Orange. But what is perhaps even more disturbing is that in 55 years since the film was originally released, certain elements of this sci-fi saga are shockingly becoming true.
00:11:15.100Alas, what follows next is Alex enduring a severe beating at the hands of these two constables,
00:11:22.700proving that you can put a thug in a uniform, but what remains is still, well, a garden-variety thug.
00:11:30.300And I make mention of this scene because of an incredible news story that broke earlier this month.
00:11:37.100Check out this story by Sky News, headlined,
00:11:41.740Dereliction of Duty, Met Police Relaxed Vetting to Meet Recruitment Targets.
00:11:48.860Incredibly, it was revealed that the Metropolitan Police in London had hired more than 130 officers who were actually convicted criminals.
00:12:01.180This included David Garrick and Cliff Mitchell, both of whom are serial rapists.
00:12:09.580Mitchell, 26, was given a life sentence for attacks on two victims over nine years and was initially rejected from the police force because of a previous allegation of child rape.
00:12:26.460But Sky News notes that a vetting panel wanted to reduce so-called disproportionality towards ethnic minority groups.
00:12:38.140So, the panel overturned the decision and Mitchell was indeed allowed to join the force in August 2020.
00:12:47.660As for Derrick, he is described as one of the UK's worst ever sex offenders.
00:12:55.420He joined the Met in 2001, but a re-vetting error in 2017 meant he was allowed to work as an armed police officer until he was arrested in 2021.
00:13:07.700Even so, somehow, the likes of Mitchell and Garrick and more than 100 others were deemed to be the right stuff.
00:13:24.260They got to wear police uniforms and carry guns, much like Alex's former partners in crime, Georgie and Dim.
00:13:35.400I flagged this example because it increasingly seems like Canada is only about five years behind the UK when it comes to wackadoodle liberal policies meant to jettison democratic principles.
00:13:55.120Things don't go according to plan for the government in A Clockwork Orange.
00:13:59.580Indeed, in the end, the film hints that Alex will soon be reverting back to his thuggish ways.
00:14:07.980Even so, in the final scene, Alex is literally being spoon-fed in a hospital bed by the Minister of the Interior.
00:14:17.260The Minister also lavishes gifts upon Alex and offers him a well-paying public sector job.
00:14:24.540I don't know, kind of like convicted murderer Omar Khadr being given a $10.5 million check due to this homegrown Al-Qaeda terrorist experiencing hurt feelings.
00:14:39.640So, from reprogramming wannabe jihadists via poetry classes, to hiring convicted criminals to serve as police officers, to emptying out jails to make room for political prisoners,
00:14:55.860It would appear that the world that was depicted in A Clockwork Orange has shockingly morphed from speculative fiction to entrenched reality.
00:15:10.000I wonder if author Anthony Burgess and director Stanley Kubrick are rolling in their graves right now.
00:15:17.680Well, folks, a ton of response to my commentary about the curious case of Stephanie Redlick.
00:15:32.780She is the woman in North Toronto who allegedly runs a horse rescue operation.
00:15:39.000The funny thing is, horses that fall into her stewardship need to be rescued, otherwise they get sick and often die.
00:16:12.800But when it comes to being a psychopath, I truly believe in her case, there is an element of mental illness here in terms of what she does to these horses.
00:16:23.980And hopefully, she'll get help for that.
00:16:31.100What is remarkable is Stephanie Redlick's glibness in her responses to David Menzies' questions, even in the face of the most incriminating facts he confronted her with.
00:16:43.680Also notable is her persecution complex and repeated blame shifting.
00:16:49.660It has been noted by some authors that these are classic traits among sociopaths.
00:16:56.380Well, I think you're absolutely correct, Peter.
00:17:00.260What was disturbing, too, was when I asked her about why everyone is ganging up on her, her words, animal welfare services, various police services, the equine community.
00:17:19.200Basically, she said they were jealous of her success.
00:17:28.620And it's a preposterous argument to make based on the documented evidence, based on the photographic evidence.
00:17:37.700Stephanie Redlick is a horse's worst friend.
00:17:41.360And Paul Schofield comments, About halfway through her very slick rap, I got the feeling that she doth dissemble too much, trying to prove Mr. Lincoln wrong in his assessment about fooling all the people all of the time, I suppose.
00:18:00.040Well, the thing is, no matter what, it is never, ever her fault.
00:18:18.180If she was a genuine caretaker of horses, why are there so many angry people?
00:18:24.080People are bound to disagree, but so many people, that makes me wonder, let's hope this woman is found guilty of any of these crimes and put away for a long time.
00:18:38.680What the real tragedy is, is how the system is broken.
00:18:42.420Even with all this preponderance of evidence, even though Stephanie Redlick's reputation is trash, she can still, today, go out and buy a horse.
00:18:58.740That has to be changed, and that's on the animal welfare services people.
00:19:05.920Make sure animal abusers don't get the care for animals in the first place.
00:19:11.740Well, folks, that wraps up tonight's edition of the Ezra Levent Show.
00:19:16.160Ezra, as you may know, is in Israel on a very important mission.
00:19:20.520There will be another guest host in this space tomorrow night.
00:19:24.680In the meantime, stay safe and stay sane.
00:19:34.780It's not just on the outskirts anymore.
00:19:37.500Alberta's independence is at the forefront here in Canada, particularly this year.
00:19:42.460A referendum is expected to take place later this year in the fall.
00:19:46.200And for the time being, groups like the Alberta Prosperity Project are going around collecting signatures from Albertans who say that they will vote for independence in this referendum.
00:19:55.880There are hundreds of thousands of signatures being collected and sought during this process and at events like this here in Calgary.
00:20:04.160Now, throughout the day, from 11 a.m. going on to probably 11 p.m. tonight, people have constantly been coming in to sign that they want to leave Canada, leaving Canada's confederation specifically.
00:20:14.940So we got in there, we talked to some of them and the organizer, Geoffrey Rath, of this event to find out a little bit more about what exactly is happening here in Alberta.
00:20:23.480Is it time for Alberta to leave Canada?