Messages

1

Cause we're all in this together / Re: What Hurts?

« on: July 18, 2011, 03:46:41 PM »

At the moment I have two serious health problems. The most obvious one is that I have a tooth ache. (I can make it red, I cannot make it throb.) Left work early to hook up with a dentist, but his office was closed with some cards left on the door. Called when I arrived home and he said to come down about 4:30.
 
Oh! Oh! says I .. no money until payday, Wednesday. (Wed - gov't payday) Okay .. work for the gov't - come down and I will have a look see.
 
The other problem is much more serious. Stupidity is it's own reward. I had a tooth ache this winter and got some pain killers and antibiotics from my doctor. Naturally, grasshopper that I am, when the swelling was down and the pain all gone - I did not bother to do anything more about it.
 
    and any other degrading 'smiley' I can find.

2

Banter / Re: This day in history

« on: July 17, 2011, 05:52:11 PM »

All sorts of things happened in various Julys. This, being the 17th marked the beginning of the struggle against European fascism.
 

The Spanish Civil War (The Crusade among Nationalists,
Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, The Rebellion or
Uprising among Republicans) was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April
1939

Supported by both Labour and Conservative governments in Britain, the Portuguese and Italians the only international support was rather milquetoast aid from the USSR. (Stalin did not get into many conflicts outside of his own country.) He did send supplies to the Republican forces in Spain, even as the freedom loving governments in England and France prevented him from shipping them through the English Channel.
 
Canada contributed the famous Mac-Paps to the Republican side. (without government support) that, as always with Canadian in wars, distinguished themselves in several battles. As Wiki comments: Except for France, no other country gave a greater proportion of its population as volunteers in Spain than Canada.
 
Harper did not invent extra-curricular methods to support his favourite fascist, PM King had his external affairs refuse passports to anyone going to join and (as expected) the RCMP investigated them. Upon reading the entry I got a shiver of deja vu.
 
Occasionally I drop up to Parliament Hill and am amazed there is a memorial to these brave soldiers. (again) Wiki points out that:

The Canadian government continued its policy of ignoring or even persecuting the
veterans of Spain. Money had to be scratched together to get them home; some
were arrested in France. It was not until January 1939 that the government
agreed the fighters could return to Canada. Upon their return to Canada, many
were investigated by the RCMP and denied employment. Even though Canada went on
to contribute vastly to the Allied
side against fascism in World
War II, the battalion’s contribution has never been formally recognized.
Standard histories of Canada rarely mention the Spanish Civil War. A good number
of the Mac-Pap veterans fought in the Second World War, but a number were
prohibited due to "political unreliability".

3

Weather / Re: July Daze

« on: July 17, 2011, 05:13:16 PM »

About 34+ here in Ottawa. went over to Dundonald Park and read a bit. I was amusing to watch as people (me too) moved from bench to bench as the sun trucked across the sky, first shining on one then the other. Shade is important.

4

Environment / Re: Climate Justice and Food

« on: July 17, 2011, 05:44:37 AM »

Good link there, Holly. even if the idea of an  "environmental anthropologist" is dazzling.

5

Banter / Re: sometimes more things have happened in our military history

« on: July 16, 2011, 09:23:25 AM »

Now we come to one of the most contemporary of the Generals - Rick Hillier. He is a darling of the press, the editors of Legion Magazine positively gush over him and he is much loved by the Conservatives.
 
As for me, I prefer to withold judgement: let history make it's judgement before we cannonize the man. The cynic in me is always suspicious of such unquestioned praise. He was put into a situation over which he had little strategic control - were (and you betcha) still are a function of the American military in Afghanistan just as we have been, all too often, adjuncts to the British in their Imperialistic adventures. This has been the way for all of 'our wars': from S. Africa through a couple of World Wars, to Korea, Kosovo and even as far as stationing Saber Jets in Europe for decades.
 
Our Peacekeeping came from our own inititive, but that has been allowed to decline even onto insignifigance. We even took a day off when Israel killed a UN observer that was a Canadian. Not even a "I say, old boy, isn't that a bit over the top, bombing acknowledged non-combatants."
 
Apparently in Afghanistan we did all that was expected and even bit off a bigger chunk than anticipated. Credit goes to him for organizing that, yet he tended to make political statements and this put him beyand the pale of military matters, and so can be criticized through that lens.
 
GENERAL RICK J. HILLIER
Born: Campbellton, Nfld., 1955


 
Much more than a breath of fresh air, Hillier can be described as “an atmospheric change” within the Canadian Forces while serving as chief of defence staff, 2005-2008. His passionate, abrupt and no-nonsense style earned wide respect among military personnel, and appealed to the general public and the media. The CF’s reputation as a capable fighting force (not just peacekeeping) grew in leaps and bounds, mostly due to his hard work and media-friendly public statements on troop support and budgetary issues. Hillier’s frankness also landed him in the hot seat. Other major achievements: commanding military operations during the 1997 Winnipeg flood and 1998 ice storm; a multinational division in Bosnia-Herzegovina; the International Security and Assistance Force in Afghanistan; directing a major overhaul of CF command structure.

6

Banter / Re: This day in history

« on: July 16, 2011, 08:42:08 AM »

IT did not all begin today in New Mexico, near Alamogordo. That honour, if such it may be, goes to Chicago and Enrico Fermi's contraption in 1942. But it was the first time humanity 'bettered' the Halifax explosion.
 
16 July saw the first explosion of a nuclear device - it was called the Trinity test and the bomb called The gadget.
 
Here is the website from the US National Labratory at Los Alomos. It explains how using several variation of bomb on mostly uninvolved cities in Japan, ended WWII. (In the same way that sub-prime morgages prevented homelessness in 2008.)
 
 

7

Social Networks / Re: Twitter

« on: July 15, 2011, 10:31:15 PM »

While the hostages were held in Iran about 1980, Dallas was the most popular TV show in the country.!!

8

Weather / Re: July Daze

« on: July 14, 2011, 07:32:11 PM »

Le jour de gloire est arrivé!

(Sung a few years later by Haitian revolutionaries ...)

I take it you mean today as Bastile Day ....
 
(OMG - if I celebrated all the days comemorated in July, my liver would be in worse shape than it is)  )
 
oh well ... here is Edith Piaf.
 
"Arise children of the fatherland,
The day of glory has arrived" 

9

Cause we're all in this together / Re: What Hurts?

« on: July 12, 2011, 09:11:07 PM »

"A" - That is a very impressive rant ... I am going to copy and paste that where I can refer to it occasionally ... thank you. 

10

News / Re: Stephen Harper says you're a traitor

« on: July 12, 2011, 09:08:32 PM »

Trying to watch the Major League Baseball All Star game right now. It is one of the sports events that I often watch - but if I miss do not worry that much about it, I will not change other things in order to see it.
 
As with all such created events, it begins by irking me. They play the national anthems. Actually Oh Canada was nicely done - a local brass band did a rather melodious version.    W-T-G, guys.
 
Then came the American anthem. Well, not quite. Now all during the announcement of the all star players there was a huge MoFer of an American flag out covering the outfield. But first we have to have the presentation of the colours - not sure who they were presented to .. but some marching police came out along with some firefighters, carrying a ridiculous looking ceremonial gold fire ax.
 
The game is being played in Arizona, I expected to see dedicated to Sarah or McCain. Nope - it was dedicated to those hurt in the attack that warmed gun freaks and killed 11 or so in Arizona. After that there was a spiel on how wonderful the little girl that the gun slinger killed was.
 
Major League Baseball teams are owned, mostly, by gazillionairs. The exception being the Dodgers who are, for the moment, owned by some clown that used the team as an ATM for such things as 5 huge houses in and about LA, a 24 hour on call hair dresser for his wife and various trips, cars and limousines.
 
...and the Mets who are owned by 'business partners' of the well respected Bernie Madoff.
 
Other wise they push beer, own vertically integrated oil companies, computer companies and ship building. (Blockbuster Video ex-owner, Wayne Huizenga used to own Florida, where he bought a world series).
 
People have died for my country, I am not all that sure they died to aggrandize this bunch of turkeys. The only group of people more greedy that MLB owners is, of course, NFL owners.
 
I do not want the anthem sung at professional events. I do not want excellence in hitting a hurled sphere identified with my country. I will occasionally nod and comment, okay - this or that person is Canadian, but my patriotism is does not depend upon constant flags and parades. Yes, Canada Day is fun and I try to make it to Armistice Day Ceremonies. That is enough - do not cheapen my country with such trivialities. (Oh - Bautista from Toronto just made a super catch - the game may be ceremonial, but the players take it serous. as one of the commentators says: "They are playing the game the way it is meant to be played." ) Baseball, all by itself has a dignity that is corrupted by injecting chauvinism.

11

Perpetual Threads / Re: This date in history ...

« on: July 12, 2011, 06:33:52 PM »

Older Catholic relatives in Eastern Ontario remembered that with more than a bit of anxiety. No, not quite the Klan, but very nasty bigotry.

Croghan, sad to say, I've never been to Saint John (I have been to Edmunston and Moncton). This must be remedied.

While my mother came from England, Dad was New Brunswick, born and bred. (He was the only one of his brother to be born in Canada, the rest in Newfoundland.) He was also a member of the just formed United Church of Canada (from the presbyterian component) and so had something of a detachment from the violence.
 
He was a teenager at the height of the 'Marching season' before the First Great War. Billy would ride up Broad Street, heart of the catholic and Irish territory, compelete with marchers and bands and signs and singing.
 
The local 'paddies' would take a dim view of this and the suggestion was the every year 2-3 of the marchers never made it home.

12

Perpetual Threads / Re: This date in history ...

« on: July 12, 2011, 06:03:02 PM »

The Glorious 12th.
 
He never makes it any more, but on this date, Good King Billy used to ride about Saint John his white charger on the streets of the south end. (The Irish ghetto).
 
Despite the bolderized version of the Orange Order in the wiki link above, not all irishmen were unquestioned supporters. The Order's people were more English than Irish and were celebrating the victory of a Dutch King over the indigineous forces at the Battle of the Boyne.
 
I recall, as a child being tickled to see some lad prancing about on a big white horse. It was rather forwned upon as we were Catholic and one of the pledges Orangemen makes is:
 

"... he should strenuously oppose the fatal errors and doctrines of the
Church of Rome, and scrupulously avoid countenancing (by his presence or
otherwise) any act or ceremony of Popish worship; he should, by all lawful
means, resist the ascendancy of that Church, its encroachments, and the
extension of its power, ever abstaining from all uncharitable words, actions, or
sentiments, towards his Roman Catholic brethren; he should remember to keep holy
the Sabbath day, and attend the public worship of God, and diligently train up
his offspring, and all under his control, in the fear of God, and in the
Protestant faith...."

Quite a good friend of mine, an Irish Catholic (even if not what you might call devote) used to get rather excited on the 12th. I, a scots Catholic, thought it a rather interesting historical anachonism. and not threatening.

13

Social Networks / Re: Twitter

« on: July 11, 2011, 04:02:29 PM »

That was my point, sparks .... $$ is being withdrawn from scientific sites (where IS that Dept of the Environment    - was around here couple of years ago) and shifted to the sites you mention.
 
No - it is not explicitly stated - but as detectives say: "Follow the money."
 
Money to pay corporations for stuff they can and should do by themselves don't count! (and it mostly engineering - technology, not science)

14

Social Networks / Re: Twitter

« on: July 11, 2011, 05:50:48 AM »

I didn't click through to the link Croghy but it's true that nobody is noticing
their Xtian ideological influence. At least not in any coherent way by say the
opposition parties or the media.

sparks ... it is a review of a book I read a couple of years ago. It does have some deep flaws, but also has some very good research.
 
While speaking to these people on twitter my mind was feverishly trying to come up with some of the things she (Marci) mentions.
 
Yes, the incrimentalism is obfuscating ... keep asking yourself when you see cuts to the NRC and funds to bible-thumping colleges is would I take this as SOP 5 years ago?

15

Social Networks / Re: Twitter

« on: July 10, 2011, 06:41:23 PM »

found an article I remembered ...was in the NatPo, no wonder I did not think of it
 
Don Martin's review of Marci McDonald's The Armageddon Factor ...
 
".... the way McDonald sees it, their policy influence is advancing so  incrementally, almost nobody notices."


Sorry Don .. you will always be one of the 'usual gang of idiots' that wrote for MAD magazine.