...This is the equivalent of a clown taking singing lessons from a goat.
... It was like watching Rent performed on the set of Show Boat.
...There is some criticism rising that Hagel was not properly prepared for his testimony. I'm not sure anybody could have been. How could anyone be properly prepared for Jim Inhofe and Ted Cruz in the same day? Those kind of mushrooms are still illegal.
...jingle dancers across the country have been invited by organizers to dance on Parliament Hill following a rally on Victoria Island.Here's the facebook list of J28 events -- Saskatoon's event is beginning at 11 am (Common Cause) and at noon to 4:30 (Idle No More) at Station 20 West.
In Vancouver, hundreds of protesters plan to march to the Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Building, according to the event’s Facebook page. In Calgary, more than 300 people have RSVP’d for a peace march that will converge in “the biggest Round Dance the downtown core has ever seen!”
In Regina, Sask., 287 people had registered on Facebook to attend an evening of music and speeches. And in Winnipeg, more than 2,000 had registered to take place in a flash mob round dance.
Dozens of rallies are planned for cities across Ontario – including nearly 400 people expected to gather in downtown Toronto – and the Maritimes, according to Facebook.
Just over 250 people had RSVP’d for an Idle No More rally in Montreal, and another hundred people RSVP’d for a sunrise ceremony that then plans to organize transportation to the rally in Ottawa.
In Melbourne, Australia, 61 people were registered for a Haka flash mob in support of Idle No More. In Malmo, Sweden, 115 people said they were attending a rally in support of Idle No More. That rally was set to include dancing and drumming, according to the group’s Facebook page.
And events have been planned in a number of cities across the United States, including New York City, Washington and Las Vegas.
Next time I need a job, I hope Sun News remembers that I supported their "mandatory carriage" campaign.
Wednesday, 22 July, 1959: 10:50 A.M.(h/t)
This morning over breakfast S. asked me why I looked so glum.
“Because,” I said, “everything that exists is born for no reason, carries on living through weakness, and dies by accident.”
“Jesus,” S. said. “Aren’t you ever off the clock?”
Reacting to the outrageous hypocrisy of the Harper government, the artist Aaron Paquette created the brilliant twitter hashtag #Ottawapiskat, eliding Attawapiskat with Ottawa (derived from the Algonquin adawe, to trade.) Margaret Atwood and Naomi Klein quickly gave the hashtag legsHere's some of the tweets:
The Chief in #Ottawapiskat is the 4 th highest paid gov't leader in the world. He makes US$296,400 compared to $42,000 for average person
— judyrebick (@judyrebick) January 16, 2013
In #Ottawapiskat if Chief Harper dsn't like the questions, he closes up t band office 4 months at a time #proroguer #idlenomore
— 350orBust (@350orbust1) January 15, 2013
They act like they're running the place, but they were elected by less than a majority of voters, and many didn't vote at all #Ottawapiskat
— Cathie from Canada (@CathieCanada) January 17, 2013
They ram through new laws that nobody reads or understands, to let them do whatever they want #Ottawapiskat
— Cathie from Canada (@CathieCanada) January 17, 2013
Over the last generation, more First Nations members - particularly women - have been getting educated and are now connected through social media.And historian Jim Miller also explains why meeting with that nice old man in a suit is so important for First Nations:
They may not have a cohesive message but, like the rest of us, they know what's right and what doesn't work. The Ottawa meetings and activities this week indicate that we have only just begun the process of trying to bridge that gap.
The Crown is the symbol of their relationship to the rest of society as First Nations conceive it to be. They insist on the eternal nature of the treaties they made, and choose not to recognize that the rest of Canada has evolved a different relationship to the Queen.
We’re a racist, settler country, and it’s high time we stood up and faced that fact, and dealt with it. How anyone can read the comments threads appended to online media stories about Chief Spence and Idle No More and not smell the magnolias is beyond me. And the dreary parade of white finger-waving pundits in the national media is part of the problem. They give respectable cover to the shrieking bigots in our midst.Sixth Estate, and Simon, and Dawg are doing yeoman's work in exposing the inadequate, embarrassing, blame-the-victim response of the national press to Theresa Spence and Idle No More. As Mr Sinister tweets:
Having looked at both the government and native positions, the media has decided who the real victims are here....It's the media #idlenomore
— Mrsinister (@mrsinisterlefty) January 11, 2013
Harper should have met with Spence immediately, nipping her movement in the bud. Doing so now will be deemed a climb-down. Nevertheless, he must do so. The alternative — to allow this woman to put her life in jeopardy, and perhaps die, for the sake of preserving political pride — cannot be contemplated.The parallel I am remembering now is Cindy Sheehan -- George Bush came out of their 2005 confrontation looking cowardly and weak, and then Hurricane Katrina finished him off.
